Note: Hello everyone!

Once again, sorry I'm a bit late again on the uploading schedule. Laziness XD, even though the next 10 chapters are already done (roughly).

A bit about my current life, for those who are interested. Currently working on my masters thesis, though I'm procrastinating, big time. Probably need to start focusing on that more (though I aim to apply at least an hour a day to continue this fic).

I've also gotten wrapped up in the series Kaguya-sama: Love is War. Almost caught up to the manga at this point. It's fantastic (which is why I'm mentioning it here).

Anyhow, likes and comments appreciated. If yall have any questions, I will answer them in the following weeks notes.


Chapter 6: Tyranitarred and Feathered

"Right here," Ash said, staring at a gigantic crevasse on the side of the mountain.

After a night of calm, albeit cramped sleep, the trainers made their way to mount Silver, tracing the geodudes trackways back to their lair. It wasn't far off, and the crew quickly found themselves looking at a massive, rocky cliff face.

"Sooooo we're just gonna walk into a gigantic, dark, possibly haunted cave to find some monstrous pokémon and what? Scare it off?!" Gold said

"Maybe. Whatever it is, it can't be that difficult to calm or subdue, especially if it's just one pokémon," Gary said.

"And… why would it be haunted?" Ash asked

"Just preparing for the worst," Gold said, arms crossed in defensive certainty.

Blue kneeled down to take a closer look at the geodude tracks. He placed his hand down, bristling his fingers in the loosened dirt and sand.

"Hey Blue, what's going on?" Yellow asked.

"The dirt here's loose, very loose. It's likely the geodudes just arrived here this morning. We have to be careful. They might still be agitated."

"Right," Yellow said, the rest nodding. They moved forward, into the maw.


The grandiosity of mount Silver, or any of the gigantic mountains that were noted cornerstones of culture in the many regions of the world, never quite translated to the internal caverns that would wind through these monoliths. Cold, damp, and uneven, they provided the perfect environment for the many pokémon that were partially responsible for the existence of such tunnels, alongside the natural consequences of erosions and time.

The trainers marched onwards, making their way through the interior of the mountain. They received little resistance from the geodudes that preferred to rest after their day of panic. Other denizens of the caves like the blind flying Zubats and Golbats kept their space, preferring to eye the trainers at a safe distance.

"Hey, any of you hear that?" Ash said, placing his hand next to his ear. For a while the only sound they could hear were the echoes of howling wind reverberating throughout the caverns. A more subtle sound seemed to begin to emanate from deeper in the cavern. A low hummed, bellowing growl. It was certainly a pokémon, a big one.

"That… doesn't sound good…" Yellow said

"Sounds big, and nasty" Gold concurred "And probably not a ghost."

"Tread carefully. Who knows what else is in these tunnels" Blue said.

They moved deeper into the cave system, with Ash bringing out Quilava to provide a source of light. The cave began to widen, almost correlating with the intensifying bellows. They crept around one last corner, finally exiting into a chamber. It was massive, with large blue and white crystals jutting out from the floors and ceiling. A subterranean stream flowed through the cavern, splitting it down the middle. On the far side of the cave was the source of the bellowing. A Tyranitar.

The soft-green pokémon turned around, now facing the trainers. It was a truly fearsome pokémon, its large upright body giving it ample height despite its short, stocky legs. Large spikes jutted out of its back and shoulders, adding to its intimidating visage. It emanates a loud roar from its sizable head, its mouth lined with sharp, pointed teeth.

"TYRAN!"

"A Tyranitar? Great…" Gary said, pulling out a pokeball from his belt.

"Guess this is our trouble maker huh?" Gold said

"Likely…" Blue said, his pokeball already in hand.

"TYRANITAR!" The Tyranitar screamed loudly as it charged towards the group, flailing its body and tail to increase its range, aiming to hit as many people, and any other objects in the vicinity, as possible.

"Split!" Blue loudy called as the trainers leapt out of the way of the Tyranitar. The Tyranitar launched itself straight into the wall of the cavern, dust and debris blasting out from the point of impact. The Tyranitar lurched itself out of the newly created hole in the wall, looking surprisingly unfazed.

Ash paused for just a moment. Something felt wrong with this pokemon. Not just in its rampaged state, that was obvious enough to everyone present. He felt a strange sort of deja-vu, an indescribable feeling of familiarity he got when he looked at the pokemon. Pikachu and Quilava leaped in front of him, poised to protect their trainer.

"So what are we gonna do about this, guys?" Gold said in a panic, tossing out a pokeball and bringing out his Pichu. The little yellow pokemon resembled a pint-sized pikachu, with a somewhat larger head-to-body ratio. This one in particular had a tuft of hair sticking out the top of his head, seemingly taking after his trainer.

"Hey Pibu, you ready for a fight?" Gold said with faux enthusiasm to the small pokémon.

"Pichu? Pichu!" The Pichu sneered at Gold, quite displeased with his trainer's decision.

"Yah… sorry buddy…"

From the other side of the cavern Blue released his Charizard. The orange dragon-esc pokémon burst out a plume of fire from its horned head. With large wings almost as prominent as its belly, its presence almost matched that of the Tyranitar.

"Alright Charizard, get in close," Blue called out. His Charizard spread its wings and launched itself at the Tyranitar, hovering just above it. The Tyranitar snarled, snapping and biting at Charizards heels to no avail.

"Blastoise, go!" Gary called out, letting out his Blastoise. The blue turtle-like pokémon sported two massive cannons erupting from his shoulders, and an armored, near impenetrable brown shell. Like Charizard it was quite large in size, something that was quite apparent when it jumped next to the Tyranitar, cornering the opposing pokémon alongside Charizard.

The Tyranitars aggressive snarls turned to higher pitched sneers as its head swung between the multiple pokémon that were encroaching upon it. It eventually backed itself into the corner of the cave, its aggression waning.

"Alright, now what?," Gold asked, awaiting any sort of order.

"It's still dangerous," Blue said, keeping his eyes pointed at the Tyranitar. "We should probably knock it out for now and then…"

"No," Ash rushed past Charizard and Blastoise, standing mere meters away from the Tyranitar. He showed not a hint of fear, nor hesitation.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Gary called out. He considered calling out an attack then and there if Ash wasn't so close to it.

"Please…" Ash crept up slowly towards the Tyranitar, placing his palm outwards. The Tyranitar ceased its panic, eyeing the small human moving towards it. His eyes met Ash's. To the others in the room those eyes were filled with a burning intensity, the look of a pokémon ready to tear apart everything in sight. Well, to the other trainers present that's what it seemed like. Yet…

It was those eyes that made it click for Ash. He had seen them before, the eyes of the scared, the meek, the helpless. The eyes of a lost child, forcefully ripped from the safety of its home. It wasn't just any Tyranitar. It was his Tyranitar. The one he had raised during his time in Johto while it was still a small Larvitar. A Larvitar that had distrusted all humans, but who learned to trust them because of the kindness of Ash and his friends.

"Hey, it's me. Ash. Do you remember?" He asked, merely inches away from the large pokémon. The Tyranitar whimpered, bringing its massive head closer to the trainer's hand. If he chose to, he could have bitten Ash's entire arm off in an instant. Instead, he placed his muzzle on Ash's palm, his face still sullen, but at least calmed.

"You do remember." Ash said quietly, a smile on his face. Tyranitar backed up before lying down, right in front of the trainer. Quilava and Pikachu ran up to Ash, examining their trainer, who in turn sat next to Tyranitar.

"I'm alright guys, thanks for trusting me," He said.

"Pika," Pikachu ran up to Tyranitar, who opened one of its eyes. He smiled, recognizing the little yellow pokémon. Quilava followed closely behind, lying down next to the much larger pokémon.

"Woah… what just happened?" Gold asked, looking at Yellow. "Can he do that whole mind reading thing too, or…"

"No…" Yellow said, admittedly as surprised as Gold. The trainers lowered their guard, as well as their pokémon, loosening their stances and relaxing their faces. Blue and Gary stepped up to their pokémon, congratulating their respective partners on a job well done, somewhat. They kept their distance from Ash and Tyranitar.

"Old friend of yours, Ash?" asked Gary

"I've known this guy since he was just an egg," Ash said, softly rubbing the side of Tyranitars head. "He was stolen by a group of poachers before he hatched. He didn't trust any humans after that. It took a while for him to open up to us." Ash's tone was hoarse when he mentioned the poachers. He never understood how people could be so callous towards pokémon. Granted, he hoped to never understand such villainy.

"Well," Gold proclaimed from across the cavern, falling into a sitting position on the rocky floor. "Another battle well fought I say."

"Pichu pii!" Pibu ran up to Gold, livid.

"What? You did gre…" Gold was interrupted by the electricity flaring in Pibu's cheeks. It wasn't that Pibu wasn't fully capable of fighting a larger opponent if need be, but he certainly didn't appreciate being thrown at one without warning.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Gold begged. Luckily for him, Pibu was in a forgiving mood. He was also more interested in examining the other members in the cavern. Pibu's eyes fell on Yellow. He ran up to Gold, this time tugging at his sweater while pointing towards the straw hatted trainer.

"Huh, oh right. Hey Yellow! I think he wants to see mama!" Gold called

"Huh, oh!" Yellow was startled. Pibu ran up to her, looking up expectedly. "Okay Pibu," Yellow pulled out a pokeball and let out Chuchu.

"Chu! Pika!"

"Pi! Pichu!"

The mother and child spoke diligently to each other, though what they were discussing was anyone's guess. That is until Pibu turned towards Pikachu, running up to him next to Ash. Chuchu followed, with Yellow and Gold trailing close behind.

"Pi?" Pibu pointed at Pikachu, looking quite confused. Chuchu shook her head in response. Ash looked at Yellow, puzzled.

"Yah… so Red also has a Pikachu he named Pika. Chuchu and Pika had an egg a few years ago, which hatched into Pibu," Yellow said, kneeling down next to Ash and the pokémon. "Your pikachu reminds him of Pika, like his father."

"Heh," Ash giggled. "Well Pibu, we'll find your real father very soon." Despite his current, cheery mood, he couldn't have been more earnest in the moment.

"Pika" Pikachu began talking to the smaller pokémon. Chuchu interceded, and soon the three pokémon were in full discussion. While it was common for trainers to somewhat understand their pokémon when they were being spoken to directly, it was an entirely different story to listen in on one of their conversations.

"He's really calmed down now," Yellow said.

"He's tired, thrashing around like that. But he's still scared and hurt… Yellow, can you take a look at him?"

"Alright," Yellow looked at the Tyranitar. On the surface he seemed fine save a few scratches and bruises from rushing into the cave walls. On a closer inspection of the leg however…

"Right here," Yellow said, pointing to a bright, silver scar behind Tyranitars knee. She placed her hands on it, which began to glow.

"So, I finally get to see your famous healing powers in action," Gary said, who alongside Blue had also made his way towards the growing group surrounding the Tyranitar. Charizard and Blastoise stood on guard, just in case.

"I can't do much but dull the pain…" She examined the wound more closely. "It's from a steel type move. Something attacked Tyranitar…"

"Is that right buddy?" Ash asked. Tyranitar nodded before pointing towards the stream that ran through the room. Blue and Gary moved over to the stream, following it to the end of the room. While they hadn't realized it beforehand, the stream led into a large hole in the ground, leading into another chamber connected to another tunnel system.

"I guess whatever attacked Tyranitar is down there," Blue called to the other trainers.

"We should go down and find that pokémon," Ash said, about to stand up. He hesitated however. He didn't want to leave Tyranitars side right now.

"It's alright," Yellow stood up. "I'll go with Blue and Gary and find the culprit. Gold will stay here with you, just in case".

"Yes sir!" Gold saluted. "We'll keep Red-look-alike safe, won't we Pibu?"

"Chu…" Pibu looked at Yellow with a sad expression.

"Don't worry, I'll leave Chuchu here. Have to leave someone responsible here after all, right?" She teased. Chuchu and Pibu giggled.

"Alright, you guys get going. I wanna get out of here as soon as possible, this place is creepy," Gold said. Blue and Gary leapt down the hole.

"Stay safe you guys," she said, leaping down the hole in turn.