Told you the updates would be regular, didn't I?
For those who were confused about who Jason's supposed to be and don't know what carmine is, he is this continuity's version of Red.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, the battle was a pain in the ass to write.
When Ash had entered the Oak Pokémon Laboratory, he was embarrassed and upset with himself, angry with himself for causing himself to be late to getting his own starter.
As he left the Laboratory, his new partner Dratini coiled around his neck, he felt like he was on the top of Mount Silver, on top of the world itself.
As he left through the doors he entered in, he was snapped back to reality by the shocked (and in Sarah's case, somehow also still smiling) expressions of his friends and rival, and stood there like a Stantler in headlights. Nobody said anything for a moment, and then three of them talked at once.
"You're kidding."
"OH MY GODDDDDDDD!"
"Wait a minute, Gramps was holding out on me!"
This shock only made Ash more excited as it set in just how rare his new buddy was.
"Yep" he exclaimed, still buzzing. "This is Dratini. Say hi, girl" he said, rubbing the serpent's head.
The little dragon in question, still coiled around his neck, hesitantly put her head up for a second, made a noise of discontent, before hiding her head again, nervous about the humans staring at her.
Ash was upset that she felt uncomfortable, and rubbed her head more, trying to coax her out. "It's okay, girl. You don't have to if you don't want to."
Jason, surprisingly, was the first to offer an observation. "She is probably not used to associating with humans yet. Mature Dratini are quite large, so she must have hatched only recently. Perhaps she would be more comfortable around Pokémon?"
Ash and Gary were surprised Jason took the initiative to speak first, but Sarah had no such reaction, overjoyed by the prospect.
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Jay! I'll start, taking a Pokéball out of her bag.
Out of it popped a small green sauropod with red eyes on all fours, light green, with dark green spots all over its body, and a giant closed bulb on its back. Sarah's Bulbasaur was surprised to be out of its capsule so soon, but took the opportunity gladly.
Sarah spoke to her partner. "Hey, Hyacinth, you see my friend over there in the blue?" The Bulbasaur looked to Gary, before making a sound as if to say Him?
Sarah snorted. "No, silly, over there" gesturing to Ash. Bulbasaur nodded.
"His partner is a little shy around humans, so we're trying to ease her into it. I want you to go over and introduce yourself to her. Can you help us, boy?"
The Grass-type nodded, making a sound of acknowledgement, and so wandered over to Ash, who tried coaxing Dratini out from around his neck.
"Dratini, would you be more comfortable around Pokémon?" The dragon put her head up slightly and made a sound Ash assumed meant yes, or something other than no.
The dragon loosened up and Ash put her down gently on the ground facing Hyacinth.
She stayed still, before Hyacinth started to verbalise.
Dratini offered a few sounds to the sauropod, while Bulbasaur offered some back, smiling.
He's his trainer's Pokémon, thought Ash.
Dratini loosened up once more, now more open to the conversation.
Ash breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was more comfortable now.
As the two starters socialised, Sarah turned to Gary and Jason, now watching the interaction.
"Well don't just stand there, you introduce your Pokémon too" she demanded, hands on her hips, frowning.
Jason didn't say anything, before shrugging and releasing his Charmander.
Gary rolled his eyes, responded with a moany "fine", before plucking a Pokéball from his belt and releasing a Squirtle.
The two starters joined their compatriots in the conversation, which made Dratini nervous initially, but in the end, the conversation between the four became more relaxed.
Jason, realising the rare opportunity he had on his hands, took out his PokéDex, and scanned Dratini, before scanning Bulbasaur and Squirtle for good measure.
The other three new trainers took notice, and begun to do the same.
"Damn, Jason, you're on fire today!" Sarah exclaimed, leading the boy in question to blush.
With all the scanning going on, Ash was reminded of something.
"Oh Dratini, I didn't scan you back in the Lab, let's do that now."
He grabbed Dratini's Pokéball and placed the entrance on the bottom of the device, allowing the Dex to scan the information stored on it, which was relayed with a robotic voice.
Greetings, Ash Ketchum, I am DEXTER, your Pokémon Index Assistant.
I am here to register and relay all information about Pokémon you encounter, and register all Pokémon you catch with you, as well as a registration device for functions like the Pokémon League Challenge.
I shall now demonstrate my capabilities:
Dratini, the Dragon Pokémon. This Pokémon is full of life energy. It continuously sheds it skin as it steadily grows larger.
This Dratini is female, has the ability Shed Skin, and has a Timid Nature.
It knows the moves Wrap,Twister,Dragon Breath, andExtreme Speed.
Ash was shocked and excited by Dratini for the second time. "That's an amazing moveset, Dratini! You'll be super-strong in no time!" Hearing such praise from her new trainer made her happy, and she cooed in response.
Gary, who had watched all of this take place, simply scoffed. "Big deal. So the little snake has a few cool moves. All of our starters do. If it's so strong, why don't you prove it?"
Jason, Ash and Sarah were shocked at Gary's dismissive statement. Sarah was frowning, mad that Gary was provoking an argument for no reason. Ash was, contrary to what his friends were expecting, not making an impassioned, aggressive response, instead seemingly trying to glare a hole through Gary's head. Jason just sighed deeply and proceeded to facepalm for the stupidity of it all.
Sarah made to start protesting to Gary, but Ash cut her off, too unnervingly calm for it all.
"Alright then, Gary. If you're game, so am I."
Jason, sensing the newfound tension in the air, tried to put a stop to this whole idea. "Will you both calm down? We just got our Pokémon. This should be a happy moment for us, and here you are starting another ridiculous argument. Stop it."
Gary turned to Jason, with a look Jason did not like in his eye. "No Jay, if Ashy-boy thinks his pretty little serpent is that good, why don't we ask Gramps to use the battlefield out back, and see if he can prove it?" The challenge was now blatant. "You up for it, Squirtle?" The partner replied with a nod, now mirroring his trainer and staring down Dratini.
Ash turned to Dratini. "What do you think? Do you want to battle Squirtle? See what you can do?" Dratini, already a little more confident, made a noise of agreement.
The battle was now set.
Gary went back to smirking. "Well then, let's see if your little dragon's bite is better than its bark, Ash."
Jason now joined everyone else and frowned at his friend, before groaning in exasperation.
Gary and his Squirtle just went into the Laboratory, heading to make the battle official.
Sarah, still upset about what just happened, went to comfort Ash. "Don't let him get to you, he's just jealous."
Ash, sighed, equally as annoyed about Gary's challenge. "I'm not, Sarah. I haven't for a while. I'm annoyed he insulted Dratini. If this is what it takes to shut him up for a bit, I'm more than willing to do it. Besides, I was telling her the truth, I want to see what Dratini is capable of. It'll be good for her to start learning how to battle. I'll be fine." He smiled at Sarah, before heading into the Laboratory with Dratini.
Sarah wasn't convinced about that last statement, but she knew she couldn't stop these two once they got started. She headed after Ash, with Hyacinth in tow.
Jason simply put his head in his hands, and walked into the Laboratory, with Charmander close behind, uttering "Why me?!"
Oak was shocked that Ash and Gary wanted to battle so soon, but was not surprised that it would happen.
He loved his grandson deeply, knew how bright and determined he was, how sweet and positive he could be at times, and he had all the time in the world for Ash and his inquisitive and creative mind. When they were friends, he used to love watching the two play together and telling them about the adventures he had as an active Trainer.
When their friendship soured, it was hard for Oak to watch. His grandson was hurt about whatever silly thing split up their friendship, and he hated the sheer bitterness Gary could exude at times. Ash, one of the most optimistic people Oak knew, broke the older man's heart watching his aggressive defences from Gary's arguments. To see what had become of the best friends made him sad.
Oak was angry at himself for not correcting the issue, but it was a done deal, and the two just about tolerated each other for Sarah and Jason's sakes.
As he looked over the field from the small bleacher he had installed, he could see their two friends with similar drained looks at the bottom seats. They were just as sick of this petty squabbling as he was. Oak tried to stay optimistic. If they could get some of their aggression out through this battle, Gary and Ash could move on to their own individual journeys more relaxed.
He turned to the field itself. Ash was on the right side of the field, Gary the left.
At the centre of the field, officiating the match, in the centre of the emblazoned Pokéball, was Jason's father, Doctor Michael Carmine. He relayed the rules of the match, simple as they were.
"The following match is a one-on-one Pokémon Battle. The first Trainer to knock out his opponent's Pokémon is the winner. Now, send out your Pokémon."
Dratini and Squirtle moved to either side of the field, their trainers focused on the other side.
As soon as Doctor Carmine moved from the field, he started the battle. "Begin!"
Both trainers wasted no time, issuing commands simultaneously.
"Dratini, Wrap!"
"Squirtle, Aqua Jet!"
Dratini moved to wrap around Squirtle, but the speed of Aqua Jet prevented it, as Squirtle rammed into her at full speed, and she was sent backwards.
Ash was concerned about the damage of the attack, but Dratini quickly shook it off. Being part Water-type herself, the water did not hurt her at all, the damage being limited to Squirtle's admittedly hard head, not that her tough draconic scales didn't mitigate that enough.
Ash tried to go on the counterattack. "Get in close and use Twister."
But as Dratini moved in, Gary hit it with a move no-one except Gary and Oak were expecting. "Confusion."
Sarah and Jason were in utter shock, again. All of their Pokémon had crazy egg moves, but a Squirtle with Confusion is something they thought impossible and they turned towards the Professor.
Oak answered their unspoken question. "Squirtle's maternal grandfather is a Golduck" was his only response.
While obviously given Squirtle's low level and not being Psychic, the psychic attack was fairly weak, but did more damage than Aqua Jet did and staggered Dratini long enough for another, more damaging move. "Bite."
Squirtle's beak dug into Dratini's scales, and the poor dragon let out a cry of pain.
It was a brutal tactic, but an efficient one.
Oak looked at Ash, expecting worry. He had a sad face, but his eyes were determined and soon Oak would learn why.
"Dratini, Wrap it."
Dratini did so, extending to her full length and wrapping around Squirtle, before rapidly constricting, squeezing its shell. Now it was Squirtle's turn to scream out in pain, letting go of Dratini as it did so.
Gary was not happy about that turn of events. "Bite."
"Flip it on its back."
Squirtle was flipped onto its back, and desperately tried to wiggle onto its side, trying to get right-side up.
Dratini was scuffed up, and the bite had dug into her blue scales deep enough to draw blood.
Gary's frustration rose. Squirtle maneuvered itself onto its side as Ash and Dratini went on the attack.
"Dratini, Dragon Breath." The jewel on her head glowed bright blue as blue ethereal flames began to build up in her mouth.
Gary was not letting that happen. As Dratini was about to release her attack, Gary yelled "Confusion!"
Squirtle complied, and the momentary slip of control from the attack let to it prematurely exploding in Dratini's mouth.
Oak sighed. There were few things that could hurt dragons, but the most damaging was the attack of another dragon. That was another brutal move, but he could not deny the damage that did to Dratini, now laying, the betrayal of her own move having hurt her badly.
Ash was worried now. "Dratini, no!"
Gary wasn't done.
"Withdraw. Then Aqua Jet, then Bite."
It would leave Squirtle tired, but Gary smelled blood and wanted to move in for the kill.
Squirtle withdrew into its shell, which shined briefly, before emerging and exploding in a jet of water.
As he approached Dratini, however, Ash had a counter. "Wrap it at the last second!"
As the water hit Dratini, she proceeded to Wrap around Squirtle's head, stopping its offense.
Gary was horrified that he had allowed this to happen.
Ash saw light at the end of the tunnel.
"Throw it." Squirtle was thrown to the ground. As it got up, Ash put his bet into motion. "Dragon Breath."
This time, Dratini was able to properly release the attack, and it was a direct hit.
The attack did damage, but it was happened after it that Ash was hoping far.
As Squirtle tried to recover, its movements stopped and electrical jolts ravaged the turtle's body.
Dragon Breath had a chance to paralyze. And it had. Squirtle was helpless for what came next.
"Twister."
Dratini's jewel glowed again, before the wings on the sides of her head glowed, before she spun in a circle and created an energy-infused tornado.
Oak realised what Ash was doing.
The Twister struck Squirtle, lifting it off the ground into the air, draconic energy bashing against the Pokémon.
Twister was the weakest Dragon-type move, but the damage from the move itself was not what Ash was using it for.
As Squirtle was lifted over the top of the Twister, and the attack dissipated, it hurtled back down to earth, its heavy shell dragging it down hard and fast, and being paralyzed couldn't withdraw to shield its flesh, leading to a hard impact, that kicked up a dust cloud.
Everyone present held their breath to see if Squirtle was out. When the dust settled, Squirtle was laying front side up, clearly severely damaged from the fall, but still conscious.
Ash didn't waste anytime, wanting a swift end to this match. "Extreme Speed."
Dratini shot off so fast it looked like it disappeared, before colliding with Squirtle, sending it bouncing off the ground before landing, knocked out.
Ash had done it. He'd beaten Gary, and done it concisely. Gary had dominated early on, but Ash took advantage of Gary's aggressive tactics and used it to defeat him in his first ever match.
Doctor Carmine, realising he still had something to do, spoke one more time.
"S-Squirtle has been defeated, therefore Ash i-is the winner."
Everyone was shocked.
Most of all Gary himself.
He stood there for a while, staring at his unconscious Pokémon, a blank look in his eyes, mouth open.
Eventually, he quietly walked over to the body of the unconscious Squirtle, picked him up off the ground gently, and recalled him into his Pokéball, before suddenly running from the field.
Ash called after him, worried about his former friend was doing. "Gary!"
But it was too late, he had gone.
Ash was conflicted. For two years, ever since…the incident, Gary had tried to make every moment being around him a living hell. For two years, Ash had wanted to slap that stupid grin off his face. For two years, Ash had wanted to see Gary humbled, and knocked off his high Rapidash.
He had gotten exactly what he wanted, but if felt hollow. He had proven his point, but was it really worth all that bluster? Ash was uncertain.
The spectators of the match went to him, with Oak offering Dratini a Potion, which she readily accepted, healing her wounds, her damage disappearing in an instant. Ash recalled her into her Pokéball.
Ash asked Professor Oak timidly about Gary. "Hey Professor, is Gary gonna be okay. I wanted to beat him, but I didn't want to do that to him."
Oak was stone-faced, but was sympathetic to Ash's plight. "I know, Ash. Don't worry, I'll go after him." He stood up, back to his authoritative posture. "You three must come back here tomorrow to receive your Trainer IDs. Go home and get some rest, enjoy this lovely day and bond with your new partners."
Jason nodded and Sarah exclaimed "Thanks, Professor, see you tomorrow."
Ash stayed a moment longer, and Oak told him "Ash, Gary will be alright. Go home and bond with Dratini. I'm sure your mother will be gushing over her. It's been an eventful day for you and you're already tired. Who knows, maybe with all the excitement today, you can wake up early tomorrow." He chuckled.
Ash merely said "Thank you, Professor. For everything" before he headed home.
He's right, Ash thought. Today's been a rollercoaster, and it's time to get off. It's time to relax.
Ash went on to regret that decision.
Ash had gone back home to relax, after the events of the morning had left him drained.
His mother had not registered this decision, instead loudly gushing over Dratini, and demanding he stay put to take many pictures with his new partner.
His mother was asking questions faster than Ash's tired brain could keep up with.
Dratini was comfortable around his mother, which initially surprised Ash, but given that his mother was almost certainly the Breeder that brought her into the world, that quickly dissipated. She was probably the first human Dratini ever saw.
And that revelation made the ensuing crash course on how to care for Dratini make all the more sense, but it sure made his head spin.
He now knew Dratini's preferred type of food (it was sweet), various process of her biology such as signs she was in heat (which he thought was far too much information), how to raise a dragon, how her draconic powers worked, and even how to brush loose scales away. His mother had even given him a specific brush and demonstrated how to use it, in a display that left his Pokémon very happy.
Dratini was tired from the battling, and the socializing, so she went to sleep on a bed usually reserved for his mother's Houndoom, who was out on the Ranch, breeding new Houndour, in Ash's bedroom.
Ash and his mother had gone out to celebrate, Ash wolfing down as many things as he could eat.
By the time he was home, he was practically dead on his feet, and the suggestion from his mother that he go to sleep was something warmly welcomed.
He practically collapsed into his bed, like a puppet with its strings cut, barely having the energy to pull his covers over, and he began to drift off to sleep.
But, just like the night before, his mind was too full of excitement, so he didn't go to sleep right away. He was conscious, but too tired to move. Ash did not enjoy that, but tried to drift off anyway.
He was jostled by a cold sensation running up the front of his body, and his eyes shot open.
His onyx eyes were met with Dratini's own amethyst.
Ash closed his eyes, smiling. And Dratini followed too.
His first day as a trainer was nothing like he expected it to be, but it was a good day, and now he was a fully fledged trainer, he could start to turn those dreams in reality. It was a rollercoaster of a day, but he was thankful for all it had given him. He was thankful for the new friend drifting off beside him.
Ash's hyperactive mind finally gave up and slipped into unconsciousness.
It would be a good night's sleep.
Two hours later, the sounds of electricity filled the air.
The events of the next chapter were supposed to be one giant chapter along with this one, but this one's long enough as is.
If you read this far, thank you, I hope you enjoyed it, I know this one was very wordy.
I (and everyone else) haven't been able to respond to reviews, so once it's up again, I'll get to you.
Next chapter hasn't been written yet, but it should be shorter than the first two.
Goodbye and Good Night!