Chapter 4: Meeting New People
Ingrid was desperately searching for a map or even maybe a police officer to help give her directions to the Sycamore Pokemon Lab. While running, Ingrid was just in luck as she saw what looked like an electronic map and she walked to it to observe it. According to the map, the Sycamore Pokemon Lab was situated on North Boulevard which meant that Ingrid would have to walk a long distance just to get to the lab. "Ah great, more walking" Ingrid said with a defeated look on her face. She then turned back to face the map as she saw an icon on the map that caught her attention. She saw an icon that resembled the head of a gogoat situated on South Boulevard. The text underneath the icon read, 'Gogoat Shuttle.' Ingrid was now excited to know how she at least had some form of transportation to get to the lab.
So she and her bulbasaur, both began heading south toward South Boulevard. Sure enough, once they got there. They saw an elderly man standing next to a bowl filled with money and he was also standing next to a gogoat with a red saddle on its back. He was also ringing a bell, probably to get people's attention.
"Hello sir, can I please have a ride to the Sycamore Pokemon Lab?" Ingrid asked the elderly man. "Sure kid. Just pay me 200 poke first. This is a business after all" the man replied as Ingrid handed the man the money. "Alright you are all set. Now hop on, Gogoat already knows where to go so you don't have to give him directions" the man said as Ingrid picked up her bulbasaur then hopped onto the gogoat, placing her pokemon in front of her. Ingrid then grasped the horns as she did not know what to do from here.
Geez, I guess all those horseback riding lessons from my uncle were all for nothing. But hey, this is a pokemon not a horse after all.
"Um… how do I make him go?" Ingrid asked. "Just lightly nudge your right foot against Gogoat's side and then he will start moving" the man replied as Ingrid did exactly that. Sure enough, Gogoat began to go into an easy trot as Ingrid could not help but look around to see more of Lumiose City. Eventually, Ingrid arrived at the lab as she saw the all too familiar building with the two pokeball statues placed at the building's entrance. She then picked up her bulbasaur as she hopped off the gogoat. "Thank you for all your help gogoat!" Ingrid thanked the gogoat as it just let out a snort in response before trotting back in the direction which it came from. Ingrid then turned around to face the lab right in front of her.
She then began walking towards the lab as once she opened the door leading into the building. The building's interior appeared to be empty. Ingrid looked around as she saw many bookshelves in rows on the other side of the room and she also saw a staircase there leading to the second floor.
"Hello! Is anyone there?!" Ingrid called out to anyone who might be listening. Pretty soon, a blue haired woman in a lab coat and who was wearing glasses came out of a nearby doorway. The two ladies then made eye contact. "Hi, can I help you?" The woman asked Ingrid. "Um… yes, hi. I am here for someone by the name of Ash Ketchum" Ingrid said. "Huh? Are you talking about the boy with the pikachu who returned Froakie here not too long ago?" The woman asked. "Yes I am," Ingrid replied. "Okay well then, follow me and I will show you to where Ash is" the woman said as she began leading Ingrid to where Ash was.
Pretty soon, Ingrid and the woman both arrive in a room where the former notices Ash with Pikachu perched atop his shoulder, looking through a glass window to another room. Ingrid then looked through the glass window as there, she saw an injured froakie inside a big glass container in the other room. "Hey Ash" the woman said as Ash turned to face her. "There is someone here to see you" the woman added as Ash then turned to face Ingrid. An enormous smile then crept over his face as his pikachu let out a happy sound once and it saw Bulbasaur which it did in response. "Hey Ingrid! How have you been?" Ash asked Ingrid. "Oh i'm fine Ash. Say I am just wondering, what are you doing here? I am just curious" Ingrid replied. "Oh see, I tried to challenge the Lumiose Gym. But it did not work out well in my favor since I needed four gym badges to challenge it. But luckily I met two brand new people, their names are Clemont and Bonnie and I even had a battle with one of them. Then I encountered a group of bad guys who I encounter a lot. They are called Team Rocket and they go around stealing other people's pokemon. After they were dealt with, I brought an injured froakie here to the lab and yeah that is what I am doing here" Ash replied. "You know, I am just glad that you were able to find me as I was planning on getting help from the police to try and find you but I am guessing that you were lucky to find me here" Ash added. "Yes, I am guessing it was just the sheerest luck" Ingrid replied before the two began walking through the lab.
Before leaving the room, Ash took one last look at Froakie before leaving the room entirely. With Ingrid in tow.
Pretty soon, the two arrive at a large indoor nature area with many trees and even a lake as well. Ingrid notices many pokemon around her ranging from Psyduck all the way to Helioptile. "Wow! Amazing!" Ash excitedly said as he observed his surroundings. Bulbasaur looked more excited than ever now as it began struggling against Ingrid. "Huh? What is wrong, Bulbasaur?" Ingrid asked her pokemon. "Bulba! Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur replied. "Oh so you want to go down to interact with the other pokemon?" Ingrid asked as her bulbasaur just nodded its head in response. "Alright then, now don't go too far okay?" Ingrid asked her pokemon as she set it down on the ground before it began to run into the direction of a few other pokemon.
"Oh Ingrid I want to introduce you to Clemont over here" Ash said as Ingrid turned to face the Lumiose City gym leader himself. "Hello there, I am Ingrid and it is so nice to finally meet you," Ingrid said, extending her hand for Clemont. "Hi I am Clemont and it too is a pleasure to meet you" Clemont said as he accepted Ingrid's offer for a handshake. "Oh this here is my little sister Bonnie" Clemont said as he turned to face his younger sister who was busy playing with a few pokemon.
Bonnie then turned to face Ingrid as once she did, a very happy expression formed on her face. "Oh my gosh! You are a keeper!" Bonnie happily said as she ran towards Ingrid before putting her left leg down in front of her and extending her left arm. "Can you please take care of my big brother?" Bonnie asked as Clemont nervously blushed out of embarrassment. "Bonnie, why do I have to tell you a million times not to do this?" Clemont asked. Ash and Ingrid both could not help but chuckle.
"So Ingrid I was just wondering, how long have you and Ash been traveling together?" Clemont asked. "Well see Clemont, the truth is that well… I am suffering from amnesia" Ingrid replied as Clemont had a blank look on his face. "See, the last thing I remember is waking up inside a lab to Ash and this guy named Professor Oak. So far they've helped me out as I even got my very own pokemon" Ingrid replied. "Wait! You are telling me that you essentially lost all your memories?!" Clemont exclaimed. "Yes I have," Ingrid replied. "Wow, I wonder how that could have happened" Clemont replied as he furrowed his brow trying to think of a possible solution to Ingrid's amnesia. "Trust me, me too," Ingrid replied.
"Oh Professor Sycamore!" Ash called as the good professor turned around to face Ash. "This here is my friend and traveling companion Ingrid and just like me she too is on a pokemon journey" Ash said. "Well, Ingrid, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Professor Sycamore and I hate to brag about it but, I am the number one pokemon researcher here in Kalos. This is why I have a lab like this here in Lumiose City!" Professor Sycamore replied. "Well it is good to meet you too professor" Ingrid replied.
"So, professor, what kind of evolution are you researching?" Ash asked Professor Sycamore as the good professor turned to face him. "Well, if I told you that pokemon may have an additional evolutionary stage. What would you say?" Professor Sycamore replied. "Are you serious?" Ash asked out of disbelief. "So you're saying that Garchomp can still evolve?" Clemont asked out of pure disbelief. "Possibly. That's my research" Professor Sycamore answered. "Whoa!" Ash just simply said. "Unbelievable," Clemont said. "There have been several reports about different pokemon evolving in a way that we researchers refer to as mega evolution" Professor Sycamore added. "Mega evolution?" Ash asked. "A lot of the mechanics are still a mystery. But we believe that a strong bond between pokemon and trainer, as well as a special stone play a crucial role in evolving!" Professor Sycamore said once more. "Strong bond, huh?" Ash asked. "What's more, a pokemon's able to return to its previous form after it evolves this way!" The professor added. "Ah! It can turn back?" Ash asked out of disbelief.
While Professor Sycamore continued to explain mega evolution, Ingrid excused herself from the conversation because she wanted to try on her new clothes so she called for her bulbasaur to come and follow her back into the lab which it thankfully did. Luckily there was a bathroom in the lab and Ingrid entered it, ready to try on her new clothes.
After getting done with putting on her new outfit, Ingrid began to leave the bathroom. But while she was heading back to the garden where Ash and the others were at, Ingrid encountered a scene in the common room as she stood back observing it. There she saw three researchers, one was a periwinkle haired man, the other was a pink haired woman with her hair wrapped up in a bum, and finally the third did not have hands but was pretty round and also for whatever reason had whiskers. After a while of analyzing, Ingrid's heart nearly fell once she figured out who these people were.
Fuck, its James, Meowth and Jessie from Team Rocket.
Ingrid then looked over to the other side of the room as there, she saw the same researcher who guided her to Ash, a garchomp and the same froakie from before who now seemed to be feeling better. Ingrid now knew exactly what was going to happen as she remembered this moment from the original episode.
She then turned to face her bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur" Ingrid began, speaking in a hushed whisper so that Team Rocket wouldn't hear. "I need you to stay close to me, and I will give you the cue for when we should act" Ingrid said as her bulbasaur just nodded in response.
James then went into his pocket as there he pulled out what looked like a cube of some kind and then held it up high in the air. "So, let's get ready to research," he said.
"Alright Bulbasaur, vine whip on the cube now" Ingrid ordered as without second thought, Bulbasaur used vine whip on the cube in James's hand knocking it out of his grasp. James, Meowth, Jessie all then turned around to face Ingrid.
"Hey little girl! What was that for?! Can't you see that we are trying to do research here?!" James annoyingly asked Ingrid. "No you aren't, you lying fuck! You are only trying to harm that garchomp over there" Ingrid said, gesturing toward the dragon type pokemon. "We promise, we are only doing research" Jessie added in. "Yes and we promise that Garchomp will be alright after this is all over" Meowth added. "Well, I still do not trust you three so get out of here right now!" Ingrid replied as she then turned to face the researcher.
"You" Ingrid began, jabbing a finger in the researcher's direction. "Go get the professor and call the police" Ingrid said as the researcher just nodded in response before running in the direction of the garden.
Ingrid then turned back to face the three Team Rocket members. "Alright you cowards, reveal yourselves!" Ingrid ordered. "He, he, he" the Team Rocket trio all said together before removing their lab coats. "Prepare for trouble, our middle na-" Ingrid immediately cuts Jessie off. "Hey! Get to the point already!" Ingrid ordered. "Ha, ha! You are quite the impatient type aren't you?" Jessie teased. "But hey, if you really want us to get to the point already then sure we can do that" Jessie once again said. "I'm Jessie of Team Rocket" Jessie introduced herself. "And I am James of Team Rocket" James then introduced himself. "Meowth, that's right" Meowth piped up. "Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet exclaimed.
"So since introductions are now out of the way, I demand that you let us get back to our research" James said. "Never!" Ingrid replied. "Alright well… I guess that I will have to take care of ya" Meowth stepped in, unleashing his claws.
"Alright well then… Bulbasaur use poison powder and follow it up with a tackle!" Ingrid ordered. Bulbasaur then unleashed a wave of purple gas in Meowth's direction which much to Ingrid's surprise, Meowth ducks underneath the gas narrowly missing it. Meowth then lunges toward Bulbasaur, sharpening his claws. Luckily, Bulbasaur saw this coming and it then tackled Meowth, pinning it to the ground. "Great now Bulbasaur, use vine whip!" Ingrid ordered once more.
But right before Bulbasaur was able to act, it and Meowth both looked over to see Garchomp who had the cube strapped around its neck and it looked like it was in extreme pain. Suddenly, Garchomp unleashed one powerful hyper beam aimed towards Team Rocket. Meowth then suddenly got up from where he previously was as he then ran over to join his fellow Team Rocket comrades. Suddenly the hyper beam struck Team Rocket, causing a massive explosion and sending them blasting off into the air. Garchomp then proceeded to go on a full on rampage, destroying many bookshelves and even destroying parts of the common room as well.
Pretty soon, the same researcher from before along with Ash, Clemont, Bonnie and Professor Sycamore all arrived on the scene. Ingrid could not hear what everyone else in the room was saying because of everything that was going on in the room regarding Garchomp and also she was trying to find a way to try and remove the collar from Garchomp's neck.
"Bulbasaur, use vine whip on the collar!" Ingrid commanded as Bulbasaur unleashed a vine towards the collar but the move ended up hitting Garchomp's neck instead. Garchomp then turned around, glaring at Ingrid as it had a murderous gleam in its red eyes. Ingrid and Bulbasaur both took two steps away from the massive pokemon staring the two of them down. "Now Garchomp, easy there. I promise I will-" Ingrid was not able to finish saying what she was about to say as Garchomp unleashed a random hyper beam in Bulbasaur's direction. So Ingrid swooped down and scooped up Bulbasaur off the ground with only a few seconds to spare as the hyper beam created a big hole in the ground.
This floor is definitely going to be very costly to repair.
"Hey Ingrid!" Ingrid looked over to see Ash running towards her. "Are you alright?" Ash asked, extending his hand. "Yes I am. Thank you Ash" Ingrid replied as she grabbed Ash's hand and he then scooped her up back onto her feet.
The two both then faced Garchomp only for a sudden boost of agility to cause it to jump up off the ground and through one of the lab's windows, shattering the window upon impact. Ingrid then heard a loud bang coming from across the street as she then heard Garchomp screaming out of pain while bumping into a metal object outside.
Ash then ran over to the window with his pikachu running alongside him. "Garchomp!" Ash yelled as a worried expression entered his facial features. "Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed. "Garchomp must be in a lot of pain!" Ash said, looking up at the same window in which Garchomp went through. "What's going to happen to Garchomp?" Bonnie asked teary eyed as her older brother comforted her. "Let's go after it!" Ash said as his pikachu let out a sound of agreement. "Hey Ash! I'm coming with you!" Ingrid said as she began running towards Ash. "Please be very careful!" Professor Sycamore called after Ash.
But right before Ash, Ingrid and Pikachu could all run out of the door to the lab, Froakie came out of nowhere and blocked them from leaving. "Kie!" Froakie exclaimed. "Froakie what?" Ash asked. "Froa!" Froakie replied. "Great! You want to come?" Ash asked. The group all then left the lab.
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To Ingrid outside was a….
Shitshow.
The entire area was in chaos as people were panicking about seeing a garchomp on a wild rampage. There were the occasional fires as water type pokemon were deployed to put them out and there were traffic jams all over the place with many drivers honking and shouting the occasional profanities at one another.
Eventually, the group arrived at Prism Tower as Ingrid saw Garchomp perched atop the tower as it was unleashing hyper beams in almost all directions. There was also a crowd, a couple news crews and a few police officers near the main entrance to the tower.
"Garchomp!" Ash shouted as he ran towards Prism Tower with Froakie and Pikachu both right by him. "I've gotta try to get close to it" Ash just simply said as Clemont looked at Ash like he was insane. "Ah! But that's dangerous!" Clemont exclaimed. "No, Garchomp's the one who's in danger! I've gotta find a way to get that collar off!" Ash replied with courage building up in his voice. Clemont then thought to himself for a moment before a lightbulb popped up in his head. "I know! If getting close to Garchomp is what you need to do, I think I just came up with a way!" Clemont suggested. "You did?" Ash excitedly asked.
The group all snuck to the side of the tower where no one was looking then hid behind a wall there in front of a combination lock of sorts. "There's an emergency stairwell through that door" Clemont began as he knelt down and put his right hand on the combination. "Good thing I brought my backpack!" Clemont added. "Huh?" Ash asked out of pure curiosity. "The future is now, thanks to science," Clemont said as he adjusted his glasses. "Alright, Clemontic Gear, on! Aipom Arm, go!" Clemont added as he pressed a button on his backpack, activating the Aipom Arm as it began to enter the combination. "Huh? Wow! Check that out!" Ash happily exclaimed.
Pretty soon, the combination was complete. "Now we can get in!" Clemont happily said. "Man, science is so amazing!" Ash happily exclaimed. "You've got that right! It's my brother's invention!" Bonnie replied as Clemont blushed from embarrassment. "I must admit, I'm kind of good at these things," Clemont said.
Right when Ash and Ingrid both entered the tower, Clemont and Bonnie stopped and looked up at the sky as they both saw a purple light that kept on moving towards them at high speeds. Suddenly, the light struck the ground creating a massive explosion as Ingrid, Ash, Pikachu and Froakie all escaped the explosion just in time.
But now there was a massive pile of fallen stone and debris separating them from Bonnie and Clemont. "Clemont! Bonnie! You're okay?" Ash asked. "Yeah, but don't worry about us! You and Ingrid should just get going!" Clemont replied, looking through a tiny crack in the debris. "Okay, we're on it!" Ash replied as he then turned to face Ingrid. "Let's go, Ingrid" Ash confidently said. Ingrid just nodded before continuing with Ash to the top of the tower.
Pretty soon, the two came across a fork in the road. "Alright, I will take left and you will take right, got it?" Ash asked. "Yes" Ingrid replied before she began heading right.
After climbing a few long and tiring flights of stairs, Ingrid finally reached the trap door leading up onto the part of the tower in which Garchomp was at. Once Ingrid climbed out of the trapdoor and onto one of the higher points of the tower, she could not help but look down. She was at least 500 or so feet in the air as all the people below her looked kind of like ants.
Why did I sign up for this? I mean, they could have at least installed safety railings.
Ingrid gulped before moving to the nearby wall of the tower and walking alongside it. Once Ingrid reached the other side of the tower, there she saw Garchomp flying away up to an even higher point of the tower.
I fucking hate Team Rocket.
Ingrid then looked over as she saw a ladder. She then gulped before nervously walking towards it. She then put her bulbasaur on her head. "Bulbasaur, please hang onto my hat" Ingrid told her bulbasaur as it just nodded its head in response. Ingrid gripped one railing and then the next. She was scared af right now but she knew that she had to ignore her fear of heights right now to save Garchomp.
After a while of climbing and almost slipping on one railing, Ingrid finally reached the top. There she saw Ash kneeling by Garchomp as even though it was free from the collar, it was kneeling on the ground panting heavily.
"That must've hurt. Help's on the way. Don't worry!" Ash said reassuringly to Garchomp.
Right when Piakchu hopped on over to Ash, the piece of concrete that it landed on collapsed beginning to fall to the ground. "Bulbasaur use vine whip!" Ingrid ordered as Bulbasaur thankfully reacted just in time to save Pikachu's life. Ash then ran over to his pikachu. "Pikachu! Are you alright?" Ash asked. "Pi-ka!" Pikachu replied. "Thank you for saving Pikachu, Ingrid" Ash thanked Ingrid as she nervously blushed. "Don't worry Ash. My bulbasaur and I will both always be there for you and your pikachu" Ingrid said.
She then heard the sound of ground cracking beneath her feet as she then looked over to see her bulbasaur as it stood on a crumbling piece of concrete but did not seem to notice. "Bulbasaur! Look ou-" the piece of concrete that Bulbasaur was just previously standing on collapsed with the grass type pokemon eliciting a loud yell of fright. Ingrid then ignored everything around her as now her focus was on Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur!" Ingrid shouted as she jumped off of Prism Tower. Pretty soon, she reunited with her bulbasaur as she gripped it tightly.
So this is the end isn't it?
Suddenly, Ingrid felt herself land in a warm embrace as she slowly opened her eyes to see that her and her bulbasaur were in the hands of what appeared to be a pokemon inside an inferno. "Woah, what the hell?!" Ingrid exclaimed, shocked by what she was experiencing.
Pretty soon, the pokemon would land on the ground, placing Ingrid on the ground as the flames from the inferno dissipated. "Thank's a lot!" Ingrid thanked the pokemon. "Blaze!" The pokemon just replied before taking off into the air as Ingrid and everyone else around her all stared in awe at the pokemon as it took off through the air.
"Hey, Ingrid!" Ingrid looked over to see Professor Sycamore running towards her. "Thank goodness you and your bulbasaur didn't get hurt" Professor Sycamore said with a relieved expression on his face. "Ah well it was just the sheerest of luck that my bulbasaur and I are both still here" Ingrid replied. "Isn't that right buddy?" Ingrid asked looking down at her bulbasaur as it just let out a sound in response.
Pretty soon, Ingrid saw at least six reporters all running towards her before crowding her. "What was it like up on Prism Tower?" One reporter asked. "How did you get into Prism Tower?" Another reporter asked. "How strong is your bulbasaur?" One more reporter asked.
Geez, just like Earth the Pokemon World has to have these annoying reporters who do not stop badgering you with questions.
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Ingrid slept like a log as this was probably the most comfortable night of rest she has had ever since she first crossed dimensions.
The next day, Ash, Ingrid, Bonnie and Clemont were all outside the lab ready to bid farewell to Professor Sycamore.
"Hope you all got some sleep, even though it's a mess in there" the good professor said to the group. "Yeah! I slept like a log!" Ash said. "Yeah, best night of rest I have had in a long time," Ingrid added. "Best sleep I've had in a long time!" Bonnie added. "Thank you for everything!" Clemont thanked.
"I guess your real journeys both begin now. don't they Ash and Ingrid?" Professor Sycamore asked the two trainers. "Yep" they both replied at the same time. "Oh, and by the way, have you two received a Kalos Region pokedex yet?" Professor Sycamore asked. "No" Ash and Ingrid both replied at the same time. "Then please take these with you two in your journey, you both might make good use of these" Professor Sycamore said, handing Ash and Ingrid their own pokedexes. "Um professor" Ingrid began. "Back in Kanto, Professor Oak told me that he would give me my own pokedex once he got more pokedexes," Ingrid said. "Oh don't worry because I will just email him and let him know that I already gave you your own pokedex. We pokemon researchers have a close connection with each other after all" the good professor reassured as Ingrid put her pokedex into her backpack.
"Good luck with your research, professor! Bye!" Ash said before turning around and leaving. But suddenly, a foamy object struck Ash in the forehead.
Everyone looked over to see Froakie standing by a pokeball. "Froakie?" Ash asked bending down to be at eye level with the water type pokemon. Froakie then nudged the pokeball before letting out a sound.
"Hey! I think it wants to go with you" Professor Sycamore said. "I can't believe it! Froakie chose you!" Clemont excitedly exclaimed. "It really likes Ash! That's so sweet!" Bonnie happily said. Ash then picked the pokeball up off the ground. "You think so, huh?" Ash asked. "So, Froakie, do you wanna come with us?" Ash asked once more only for Froakie to make its way over to Ash before jumping up and touching the button on the pokeball while letting out an excited sound.
Once Froakie entered the pokeball, the ball began to shake before it stopped making it clear that Ash had officially caught Froakie. "It's awesome you're coming with us, Froakie!" Ash happily said. "Pikachu, Froakie's our first friend in Kalos!" Ash happily said to his pikachu as it just let out a happy sound in response. "Yes! I got a Froakie! Yeah!" Ash happily exclaimed. Ingrid could not help but smile before looking at her bulbasaur.
"Bulbasaur, I wonder when we will meet our first friend here in Kalos" Ingrid began. "Oh well, I guess only time will tell she finished.
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A/N: Well I hoped that you all enjoyed this chapter. I think that I will be updating this story at least two times every month since I think it will be a good schedule for this story. Also, I orginally had a few ideas for this chapter such as Team Rocket throwing a collar onto Bulbasaur's neck and Ingrid getting injured from Garchomp's hyper beam but I scrapped all those ideas since I found each of them too hard to write for. Well I hope that you all are looking forward to the next chapter. Without further to do, see ya!