In the name of the Moon, you will enjoy this chapter!
Undisclosed Location…
The man on the screen observed the three agents standing rigid and at attention. He was not exactly glowering or even glaring at them, but his gaze was measured, calculating. As though he was weighing not only their potential and worth to him but also their very existence.
"Just to be clear." He spoke plainly. "You are telling me that you managed to convince an entire flock of Spearow. To not only join Team Rocket, but also work with the agents they were assigned to?" He demanded.
"Yes Boss!" The three responded as one.
He was silent for another moment. "How?" Were he anyone else, this tone would have been filled with disbelief. But the Boss of Team Rocket would not show such weakness in front of anyone, especially his subordinates. Despite this, the single word was infused with an utter need to understand.
"We met their apparent leader. With Meowth to translate we agreed to help them hunt down a couple of Pokemon that wronged them." James began the explanation. "In return they agreed that they would aid Team Rocket in our endeavors."
"We know that Team Rocket is not in the business of "helping" random Pokemon, but the benefits seemed to make it more than worthwhile." Jessie continued.
Giovanni stroked his chin. "I do admit, arming a large number of agents with aggressive but loyal flying type Pokemon does appear beneficial." His look hardened. "As well as too good to be true. What of these two Pokemon they want you to find. It seems your entire agreement," with a flock of birds, went unsaid, "hinges on your ability to find them."
"Well this is the interesting bit!" Meowth eagerly began explaining. "There's a Pikachu, which shouldn't be too much trouble, but there was another Pokemon the Spearow didn't recognize! But from how they described it, it sounded like a new form of Vulpix! Black instead of red!"
"Put simply, this could be a discovery that Team Rocket can use to gain a foothold in both the Pokemon Black Market, and the scientific community!" James added in.
The Boss said nothing, mulling it over. Team Rocket already had a foothold in both of those things. But then again, getting their hands on a new regional variant of Vulpix, or something similar to it at least…
"I'm sure that we could make use of this particular asset." Giovanni told them. "Assuming you can find it of course."
"We'll never rest!" Jessie insisted. "We'll spend the next twenty five years hunting it if we have to!"
"If it takes that long then either it doesn't exist or you're incompetent." Giovanni snapped at them. "Don't waste my time like that."
That cowed the three agents and they cowered at the fire in their Boss's eyes.
"That being said." Giovanni continued. "You did manage to bring in a large number of Spearow for our organization. If you keep achieving success on that level then you'll have more than proven your worth to Team Rocket."
Their eyes practically sparkled at the almost praise. "We did a good job then?" Meowth checked.
"You did a job." He corrected him. "Keep it up." The video call ended.
"That went better than I dreamed!" James announced.
"The Boss almost told us we did good! My heart is set all a flutter!" Meowth added on, dramatically putting his paws on his chest.
"We just have to bring in lots of Pokemon and he'll be happy with us!" Jessie plotted, willfully ignoring the fact that the man was never actually happy. Unless one could count malicious glee as a form of happiness.
They were so caught up in their fantasies of glorious criminal success that it took a few minutes for them to actually consider what their plans were.
"What do we do next then?" Was the question.
This gave the group pause. They had one Spearow left on hand, the one who had found them and set them on their hunt. But even with that, the trail had gone cold. They'd searched the forest after their initial find along with the rest of the flock but found no trace of this mysterious new Pokemon.
They came to the conclusion that they must have moved on. It made sense, they were at least somewhat injured by the flock and must have fled to find safety and healing. But where had they gone? There had been a Pikachu in Viridian City but no sign of the Vulpix, they could start there again perhaps…
"I have an idea!" Jessie announced after a small amount of contemplation. "We have no idea where this Vulpix and Pikachu might have run off to, right? So it's a bit of a dead end to just wander around hoping we spot something."
"What do you suggest we do then?" James asked. "We want to keep the Spearow on our side and even if we didn't, that Vulpix is a shining jewel for our treasury of stolen Pokemon."
Neither of the others corrected him on the fact that they had yet to actually successfully steal any Pokemon. It was really just semantics, not worth mentioning.
"We keep bringing in hauls like the Spearow flock and keep our ears to the ground! We go and find large groups of Pokemon to capture and while we're there we make use of them and Meowth! Search the area, find rumors for our missing target and keep working our way up the Boss's good graces!" She finished with a clap of her hands.
"Hey, that's not a bad idea!" Meowth agreed.
It was actually a pretty poorly thought out idea, there were a lot of Pokemon in the world and the likelihood of them finding a hint of a whisper of the one they were looking for was not especially high.
None of them realized this though and congratulated themselves on a great plan.
Nevertheless, now they had a goal in mind and they could now head out and claim glory for Team Rocket!
Elsewhere…
Ash and Misty had spent one more day in Pewter City after Ash had beaten Brock. During which time, Misty had dragged him around to look at some of the more interesting things she had found.
This varied from restaurants to stores for the most part. Although a couple of statues did crop up and she did force him through a tour of the local museum too. It was an entire day trip filled with a lot of walking and exploring.
The restaurants weren't really that interesting to Ash, sure some of them had good food, for humans at least, but it was hard for him to find human food that actually matched his palette.
One of the statues was interesting though, apparently it had been dug up nearby by miners over a hundred years earlier and dated back a thousand years at least. Unfortunately it wasn't very well preserved so apart from vaguely resembling a bird Pokemon of some sort it was hard to decipher.
The sports goods store that Misty had them stop at was interesting and Ash did end up deciding to buy a tent, a small one. It was designed long and short, likely it was meant to hold someone in their sleeping bag and also protect them from poor weather conditions. Lucky for him, being able to just drop his illusion, it gave him and Pikachu a decently sized tent for them to move around in if needed.
Misty had for-gone the tent herself, at least for now. She said she had one back home and since they were heading there anyway she could wait until then. She did however get herself a coil of rope and a pair of hiking boots.
"Look we're going to be climbing around and over and through a mountain, I'd like my sneakers to not be completely destroyed by rocks on the way." She'd explained. "You should do the same to be honest."
"I don't wear shoes." Ash pointed out. She glanced at his feet when he said that, raised her finger and opened her mouth for a brief second, reconsidered and withdrew her objection.
They'd made one final stop on their shopping spree that day. Not to buy anything though. Misty brought him to the local bike shop and just stood there looking at him (and to an extent Pikachu) for a few minutes.
"How long do we have to…" His question trailed off as he met her apparently serene expression.
"Just until it sinks in." She told him with deceptive calmness.
With that foreboding message out of the way the day was finished.
The next morning, they set off bright and early. They had a fresh set of supplies and a longer way to go from Pewter to Cerulean than they had needed to go from Viridian to Pewter. The sooner they set off the better.
The first leg of their journey had been pretty quiet. They'd seen a few wild Pokemon but most had stayed out of their way and the ones that didn't had mostly just heckled them. None had seemed even the slightest bit interested in actually coming with them.
While the wild Pokemon encounters were certainly lacking they did run into a few trainers along the way. Most were around Ash's age although there were a few older ones.
They only did a few battles unfortunately (much to Ash's disappointment). They had only just left Pewter City and had a long way to go until they reached another Pokemon Center. It wasn't worth risking a real injury by battling too much or pushing too hard when care was too far away.
Pidgeotto was the most annoyed by this turn of events. She was desperate for opportunities to show off her newfound strength by battling opponents, the fact that Ash had only challenged a handful for days grated her nerves.
As they parted from a slightly disappointed Camper Victor, comforting his defeated Nidoran, Pidgeotto finally voiced her complaints.
"What's the point of being this amazing!" She used a wing to gesture to herself. "If I can't show off?"
"There are plenty of chances to show off though!" Ash pointed out. "We've fought three people since we left Pewter and you've gotten to fight all three! Pikachu could have beaten that second Bug Catcher by himself but he wanted to give you a chance!"
"I could have beaten her by myself too." The flying type grumbled. "But somebody won't let me go first anymore."
Pikachu stuck his tongue out at her. "Seniority rule."
"I'll Peck you, you volt-filled rodent!" She warned him.
"Come on guys, no fighting." Ash pleaded. "I'm sorry Pidgeotto, I really didn't expect there to be so many people on the way, if it makes you feel better I'll make sure to get more medical supplies when we get to Cerulean, that way we won't have to be as cautious on longer roads."
Pidgeotto let the tension drain out of her. "You're right of course. I'm honestly just kicking a bit more of a fuss than I really ought to. I just want to complain."
"I can get behind that." Pikachu agreed. "It can be surprisingly entertaining."
"For you guys maybe." Ash complained. "But I'm the one who has to listen to it all."
"You mean like I'm doing now for you?" Misty cheekily pointed out.
Ash groaned. "Don't you start too!"
"Consider it an incentive." She hinted. "If you can help me figure out how to understand them then I have to share your burden."
"I do not think she's ready to carry the weight of what she asks for." Pikachu spoke with a faux deep and even tone. "She is too young."
Pidgeotto and Ash both snorted at his act and Misty pouted at them. "I'll figure it out eventually you know! And then you won't be able to make fun of me behind my back."
"Of course not." Pidgeotto acknowledged. "Then he'll be able to do it to your face."
Ash lost control and started laughing while Pikachu did his best to bat the bird off of Ash's shoulder without sacrificing his own spot. Rather than risk it, Pidgeotto instead just took to the sky and out of the electric-type's physical reach.
Not much else occurred on the next day apart from a confrontation with someone calling themselves a Youngster. Considering the fact that he looked maybe seven at most it was an accurate statement.
"Are your parents nearby, little boy?" Misty had asked him only to be met with a fierce glare.
"I'm a Pokemon trainer!" he declared loudly, raising a Pokeball. "And I challenge you to a battle!" He threw the ball and Rattata came out, yawning and stretching as though he had just woken up.
He looked at the group of trainers looking down at him and the boy with concern before taking stock of the surroundings. The small Pokemon then sighed. "Ben, what did your parents tell you? Please tell me you didn't wander off again!"
Ben of course could understand none of this and was now demanding that either Ash or Misty send out their Pokemon so they could battle.
Pikachu however decided to take the initiative in the conversation with the other Pokemon this time, considering Ash was stuck in his disguise and couldn't try and interject himself.
"What's the story here?" He asked Rattata after jumping down from Ash's shoulder.
"Ben here." The normal type pointed his tale at the boy. "Really wants to be a trainer. So his parents got me as a sort of house Pokemon to both hold him over and keep an eye on him so he doesn't run off and try doing something dumb."
Pikachu winced. "You have to spend all your time watching a little human kid? I've met human kids his age before, they're insufferable!"
"It's not so bad actually." Rattata admitted. "To be honest I'm a bit of a glorified babysitter but I still get plenty of rest and they pamper me pretty well. Have you ever gone to a groomer before? They have a shampoo that smells like apples. The smell lasts for weeks!"
Thankfully Ben had not run off to Route Three all the way from Pewter or Cerulean, but had run off from his family's campsite as soon as his parents' backs were turned. They arrived to find Ben on his knees literally begging Rattata to attack Pikachu but he was having none of it.
With that small adventure finished they continued on, the trees beginning to thin as they approached the foot of the mountain.
Misty whistled as she shaded her eyes and looked up at the mass of stone. "I don't normally come this way. Ordinarily I go around, I'm not used to seeing it this closely."
"There are other ways to go?" Ash asked, wondering if maybe they could have taken a different route. He still probably would have gone with this one still but he was curious.
"There's a road a few miles that way." She pointed south. "And I know that Diglett's Cave runs under a big chunk of the region and can be used to get from Vermillion to Pewter. I've never gone that way though."
Pikachu winced. "Bleck, keep me away from that place. An entire cave system filled with those little menaces? No thank you!"
"They can't all be bad." Ash pointed out. "I mean we know one bad Diglett, how do we know what the rest of them are like?"
"That's the one who attacked the Spearow right?" Misty checked. "That's still such a weird story to me. How did he even know where you were? Or that you were leaving that day?"
Ash almost stopped walking as the question registered. He glanced at hoping for his friend to have some other information but was met with a similar look. "I… don't know. I didn't really think about it at the time with all the running we were doing but you're right. How did he find us? And why then?"
Pikachu thought on this new matter. "Maybe we should go to Diglett's Cave then. Because that is really weird. It's going to bother me until we get an answer now."
That curious matter held their minds in its sway as the trees finally faded away and they reached the mountain's base and looked up the rocks they'd have to start climbing. There did seem to be a bit of a trail up thankfully, so that would make their climb somewhat easier.
As they began their trek up though, their attention was captured by cries for help a bit of the way up and to the side.
"Help please!" The voice echoed slightly off the cliffs but was still clear. "Somebody please! I was not made for this kind of physical activity!"
The two trainers glanced at each other and with silent agreement changed their path and started making their way towards the cries of fear.
They found a man in a lab coat being assaulted by a small group of Zubat. He certainly did not seem to be the aggressor in this situation, he was cowering on the ground, covering his head to protect himself from the unending assault.
"Hey!" Ash shouted at the group of Zubat. "Knock it off! He's not fighting back, just leave him alone!"
The Zubats, rather than respond like reasonable Pokemon, instead turned their attention to the newcomers and came flying at them. Misty hissed with concern and took a stance next to him and Ash frowned in distaste. At least he could say that he had tried doing this the nice way.
"Pikachu, Thundershock, scatter them!" He told his partner.
"Should I hit any?" Pikachu wondered but the question proved rhetorical as he simply let the attack fly through the small swarm.
That gave the Zubat pause and they stopped their advance. Ash took the opportunity to try telling them off again.
"Come on guys, just stop attacking the poor guy, and we didn't even do anything!" He called out to them.
He still got no direct response, but they seemed to confer amongst themselves. Whatever conclusion they came to, apparently it was enough for them to decide it was not worth risking the electric attacks of Pikachu. With that they flew off towards the mountain and left the group alone.
With the Pokemon dealt with, the group moved to the man on the ground, he'd now gotten up to his knees and was looking at them with an expression of gratitude.
"Thank you so much!" He told them, adjusting his glasses. "I thought I was a goner there for a bit."
"No problem." Ash said. "What was going on anyway, why were they attacking you?" He hoped he hadn't just protected someone who had started the mess in the first place.
"Those Zubat live in the caves here but something disturbed them from their natural habitat!" The man explained as he stood up, brushing himself off a bit. "Oh, where are my manners! My name is Serymour, I'm a researcher investigating the Moonstone so I spend quite a bit of time here. I need to go for supplies and reports obviously but when I came back this time someone else had been going through the cave systems and upsetting the natural ecosystem!"
Misty blinked. "How so?" She asked. "What did they do that would mess with the Zubat like that?"
"Let me show you!" Seymour told them and led them up the slope a bit to a cave entrance. Initially it seemed dark and unwelcoming but Seymour continued ahead unperturbed.
"Should I have Staryu light the way?" Misty asked as they stepped into the darkness.
"No need, this is what I'm talking about, look ahead!" Seymour pointed through the gloom.
Sure enough, just as the light of the cave entrance began to fade away a new glow appeared all around them. Lining the walls of the caves were electrical lights, they certainly allowed for vision at least.
"Someone came through and set up all of these lights!" Seymour explained. "You can't just do that! The Pokemon living here aren't used to this much light and just suddenly adding it is going to upset and confuse them! This is what upset those Zubat you found attacking me."
"Any idea who would do this?" Ash asked him, looking around at the lights around them.
Seymour crossed his arms with a huff. "I've no idea, I haven't seen another soul since I got here. I'd wager that they're here for the Moonstone itself though."
"You mean the evolution stones?" Misty asked him.
"Kind of." Seymour elaborated. "I mean the Moonstone. A giant one that fell to Earth in prehistoric times. It's still here in the mountain somewhere. I've spent years researching it but the Clefairy aren't keen on letting outsiders near it."
"A giant Moonstone?" Ash asked, thinking about what Delia had told him about her journey through Mt. Moon. He certainly would have remembered if she had mentioned a giant Moonstone at some point.
"Indeed, I have a theory that all those years ago, the Pokemon used it as a Spaceship to come here!" Seymour said proudly.
The gathering respect Ash, Misty and his team had begun forming for the researcher suddenly took a harsh dip.
"You think, that, the Moonstone." Ash said haltingly. "Is, a spaceship. That all the Pokemon came to Earth on."
"I think we would know about this if it was true." Pikachu muttered.
"Well…" Seymour had the presence of mind to look a tad sheepish. "It's just a theory."
"But how would that even work?" Misty pressed. "There are so many different Pokemon species, did they all come from this spaceship of yours? Even the legendary ones? Or the ones that went extinct before it crashed here?"
Seymour looked very put out by their vetting. "Well maybe it was just the Clefairy…"
"That still seems unlikely…" Pidgeotto admitted.
The man shook himself. "Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that someone or a group of someones has come here and are causing problems for the Pokemon living here."
That was true enough and the group continued through the well lit caves. Ash was deep in thought, not about who might have put the lights up, but whether or not he and his ancestors were actually from space.
"How did they all fit?" He asked Seymour.
The researcher was taken aback by the sudden question. "What?"
"The Moonstone, if it's a spaceship how did they all fit?" He pressed further.
"Ash, why are you engaging him on this?" Pikachu implored him.
This question seemed to catch the man off guard, as though so many people had just flat out told him that he was wrong, that no one had ever asked about the logistics of it and he was unprepared.
Apparently this question gave him the chance to actually start putting the question to work and he began muttering dimensions and statistics under his breath. Ash only caught every third or fourth word of it but he seemed to be trying to calculate the minimum number of Pokemon for the maximum size the Moonstone could possibly be. It was all very mathematical.
"What did I tell you?" Pikachu took this opportunity to reinforce an earlier point. "Math is for people with glasses."
Ash was slightly disappointed he did not get his question answered, and annoyed that Misty was giving him a look as though she were questioning how he functioned.
He never did get his answer either, as before Seymour could figure it out they were met with a Pokemon coming up behind them, possibly from one of the side tunnels they had passed.
They stopped and looked at the new arrival and were met with their first view of one of the Clefairy that lived here. The Pokemon hopped up and down as they moved forward through the tunnels, singing a little song to herself.
"Deep underground~" She sang. "A young 'mon dreaming of a world~ she never knew~" Her tune immediately cut off as she spied the group in front of her.
"Ah! More intruders!" She gasped and stopped. She looked panicked for a moment but took a deep breath. She raised herself to full height, which was not very tall at all. "Stand back villains! I will defeat you and protect our home!" her tone shook but she repeated herself more evenly. "In the name of the moon, I will protect our home!"
Ash realized he had to be diplomatic again but with Seymour here he couldn't be too obvious about answering the Clefairy.
"Sorry if we startled you." He started slowly, picking his words carefully. "We're not here to hurt anyone or cause trouble, we're trying to figure out who put all these lights up."
She relaxed a small amount at his words but still stood defensively. She was holding a small stone in her… paws? Hands? Whatever they were, she had a small crystalline stone in her grip.
"A Clefairy!" Seymour cheered. "I haven't seen any since I got back from my last trip back to Pewter. I was worried they had been driven out or were deep in hiding."
Now that she wasn't preparing for a fight, Clefairy inspected them one by one. "I remember you." She said looking at Seymour. "You're the funny one who brings snacks sometimes."
Well that vouched for Seymour at least. Ash hadn't really been worried about him lying to them but it was nice to have confirmation. He debated how to continue the conversation but he was spared by Pikachu.
"Let me talk to her a bit." Pikachu told him. He hopped off his shoulder and approached the fairy-type Pokemon slowly. "Hi there, what's going on here exactly? The crazy human over there, not to be confused with the less crazy human or Ash, says that someone put up a bunch of lights in here and messed stuff up. Do you know what's going on?"
Clefairy turned her attention to Pikachu and inspected him. "What are you?"
"Uhhh." Pikachu looked down at himself as though he might have changed suddenly and unexpectedly. "I'm a Pikachu."
"Oh so that's what a Pikachu is." Clefairy realized before answering her question "As for what's going on, some other humans and their Pokemon showed up here and started making a mess of everything! Lighting the sacred tunnels! Picking fights! Digging holes! Asking about Pikachu and Vulpix!"
Ash barely bit his tongue before he repeated the last part. That was a really strange thing to be asking about.
Pikachu clearly agreed. "Why were they asking about Pikachu?"
"They were more interested in the Vulpix but they thought it had a Pikachu with them. I don't know what a Vulpix is though." She looked at Pidgeotto and the humans. "I don't suppose any of them…?"
"Afraid not." Pidgeotto answered for her.
Clefairy shrugged. "I was just curious. It's not like I'm going to tell those jerks even if there was a Vulpix with you." She looked at the stone in her hands. "I actually just rescued this from them. They've been digging into tunnels we've had for countless ages! Ripping the stones out of the walls and collecting them. We've been trying to save what we have and bring it to the Great Ark!"
It all sounded fairly terrible and Ash was getting mad. It was all he could do to stop from immediately declaring that he would help hunt down these jerks and help the Clefairy and the rest of the Pokemon here out.
Thankfully, before his self control ran out, they heard more noises running up the tunnels. Clefairy got a panicked look and jumped back.
"Oh no! They must have followed me!"
Pikachu crouched down in a ready stance and Pidgeotto looked around at the walls in frustration. "Ash, if there's a fight I'm not sure how much help I'll be in here, I've got no room to fly."
Ash nodded at her words and turned to Misty. "Do you want to send anyone out to help?"
"Sure!" She agreed easily and let Staryu out.
Staryu stood proud for a second and looked at the walls around them. "This is the opposite of water. Nevertheless! I shall fight for the glory of water here nevertheless!"
"You said nevertheless twice." Pikachu snarked at him and it took the wind out of his sails for a second.
Any more long winded speeches from Staryu were halted as the chasers appeared around the bend. Those who had been at the Viridian City Pokemon Center were hit with a wave of recognition.
"Team Rocket!" Ash clenched a fist and glared at the trio who looked shocked to see them.
"James, it's those twerps again!" Jessie hissed in fury.
James had gone for his Pokeball. "Not this time you monsters! We'll stop you now!"
"What are you two doing here!" Seymour cut into the discussion, "Why are you doing this?"
"Hey there's three of us here." Meowth interjected. "And as to why? Isn't it obvious? We're here for the Moonstone! Where it goes the Clefairy will follow, not to mention it's gotta be worth a pretty penny!"
Jessie and James froze and slowly turned to glare at Meowth. He looked at the two and held up his paws. "Hey what's with the looks guys?"
Jessie tried to strangle the catlike Pokemon. "You just told them exactly what we were doing you moron! We're supposed to be mysterious and dangerous but we can only be dangerous if you go around telling everyone our plans!"
Meowth pried Jessie's hands away and glared right back at her. "It doesn't matter, let's deal with them and do what we came here to do."
"Not if we can help it!" Ash told them. "Pikachu! Thunderbolt right off the bat!"
"With pleasure!" Pikachu was evidently pleased to be able to use his favored attack with no fear of ground types this time.
The strike hit the trio and they were jolted and fell to the ground in a heap.
"That Pikachu packs a punch huh?" Meowth muttered in a daze.
Something about his words lit a fire in James. "That's probably because he beats his Pokemon!"
Ash stared at the blue haired villain as he struggled to his feat. "You mean in a fight? Because I definitely can't beat Pikachu." This was true and made sense regardless of whether he was a Pokemon or not.
"No! Like you hit your Pokemon!" James stomped his feet out of pure rage and frustration
Ash blinked. "I mean sometimes but that's in training, and I either get hit right back or got hit beforehand."
James seemed to be having a crisis. "Oh no, it's a mutually abusive relationship! We need to separate you two and get you both therapy!"
Jessie had enough of this. "James, get your head in order! We're the villains here! Let them sort out their own toxic relationships and we'll take their money and Pokemon!"
Misty (who had been listening to this entire affair with a pinched brow) finally got sick of listening. "Alright, let's get this done. Staryu use Water Pulse! Wash them away!"
"I'll bring the ocean here!" Staryu agreed and fired off an orb of water that surged forward and burst open as it reached the trio of villains.
Screams accompanied the rush of water that filled the caves. Thankfully they were at a bit of a slope so the only ones who got pushed back and downwards were Team Rocket and they were carried from view. The others still got pretty soaked though.
"That felt easier than last time." Ash admitted as the villains disappeared.
"Also more ridiculous." Misty snorted. "Was he really accusing you of being an abusive trainer? You take better care of your Pokemon than most I know. Not to mention the fact that he literally tried to steal Pokemon before."
"I say again for those in the back." Pikachu declared as he shook himself out. "Humans are weird."
With the crisis seemingly averted they turned back to Clefairy who was looking at them with stars in her eyes.
"You stopped the intruders!" She said in awe. "You guys are heroes!"
Ash blushed at the praise. Hero was a pretty impressive title.
"Those guys aren't that dangerous despite what they say." Pikachu explained to her. "They can be dangerous but they aren't hard to deal with."
She was still staring at them but seemed to be more contemplative. "I couldn't deal with them though. I had to use Metronome and run away. And they would just chase me or come back later."
"Part of it is experience." Pikachu explained, "I can talk the talk and walk the walk, but it's hard to do it without training and exposure! The first time I met Ash he could be me but I got stronger!"
Clefairy seemed to consider this. "You guys are interesting. Come on! You've proven yourselves trustworthy, I'll take you to the Great Ark!" She turned and hopped onwards, continuing her song from earlier, letting the others follow her.
"She looked above~, the trees and mountains heights~, and saw a moon so blue and~"
Deep in the Caves of Mt. Moon…
The pile of bodies that made up Team Rocket groaned with aches and discomfort.
"That could have gone better." Meowth claimed.
"Stupid ginger runt." Jessie complained. "First the Pikachu and now this."
"What do we do?" James whined miserably. "We've been beaten back twice now. And they're probably going to tear all our lights down and make sure we can't get to the Moonstone."
"Which means we can't steal it." Jessie agreed, crocodile tears welling in her eyes. "And if we can't steal it the Clefairy won't follow us and if they won't follow us we can't bring another big group of Pokemon to the Boss!"
"Won't be able to sell it either." Meowth added.
They untangled themselves and stood up, the cave they now found themselves in was unlit, dark and damp, although the dampness was likely a new addition.
"What are they even doing here?" Jessie continued. "Of all the places they could be, why is it always the same place we're about to score big?"
"It's only happened twice so far." James pointed out. "Maybe it's a coincidence."
As the others contemplated this, Meowth squinted in the darkness. "I can barely see anything." Meowth muttered. "Hey James, you still got that flashlight of yours?"
"Hmm?" James glanced in his direction. "Oh right, hang on, it's somewhere here." He patted his pants for a moment before pulling out a small handheld flashlight.
"Thanks." Meowth accepted the light. Even with his slightly better night vision it was still so dark down here there was barely anything for his eyes to register. He clicked the light but nothing happened and he glared at it.
"Darn water must have messed with it." He shook it and gave it a few good whacks with his palm and the light spluttered to life. "There we go!" He shone it around the cave they now found themselves in.
Nothing out of the ordinary popped out to them at first, until he turned the light to a small mound in front of them. There were two larger stones sticking out of the top, almost as though they were on a pedestal.
"Now what are these things here?" He asked and stepped forwards to take a closer look. James followed but Jessie seemed uninterested, instead focusing on wringing the water out of her hair.
"Who cares, they're just a couple of rocks, just use that light so we can find the exit and get out of here." She ordered.
"Hold on a second Jessie!" James rebutted and leaned in to look closely at the rocks. "Meowth let me see the light!" He took the flashlight and closely inspected the rock. "It can't be, can it?"
"What is it?" Meowth asked and even Jessie was intrigued by James's sudden fixation.
"It seems luck may be in our favor after all!" He stood tall and proud. "Take a look at this my fiendish associates!" With that he stepped aside, but kept the light focused on the rocks so the other could look at them closely.
The two rocks were of a similar material to the rest of the stone in the cave but they were misshapen. Speaking of shapes, they had strange ones. The one on the left had an odd dome shape to it while the other had a spiraling helix pattern.
"I don't understand, what are we looking at here?" Jessie pressed as Meowth seemed to realize.
"Jessie, I think these are fossils!" He said.
"Correct my catty friend!" James confirmed sounding quite smug. "Maybe we can't make out with a flock of Clefairy, but a couple of fossils will surely be worth something, one way or another?"
"Elaborate please." Jessie deadpanned. "I mean I'm sure some rich old collector might buy them but that hardly compares."
"But Jessie don't you know!" James took a dramatic stance. "In this modern day and age we have the technology to revive these fossils! The only limiting factor is how rare they are!"
"That means that with these we can get two super rare Pokemon?" Jessie asked, her tone now sounding a bit more positive. "Not quite a herd of Clefairy but still pretty good."
"Indeed! Let's grab these and get out of here." he handed the light back to Meowth and began fiddling with the Helix fossil as Jessie took the Dome fossil.
Moewth turned his attention to searching the cave again, hunting for the exit. It took a moment of checking every wall and crevice but there it was, still with some water trickling down it. Behind him with the sounds of crumbling stone, his teammates managed to pry the fossils loose from the mound.
Another sound accompanied this though.
"Zu?"
The trio froze even as Jessie and James heaved their fossils. Slowly they looked up and Meowth pointed the light towards the roof of the cave.
Dozens of Zubat were facing them with eyeless faces. Probably disturbed by the noise and maybe the unexpected warmth of the light.
"Zubat! Zubat! Bat! Zu!" The cave began to fill with noise and Team Rocket nervously stepped towards the exit.
"Translation Meowth?" Jessie muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
"Uhh." Meowth tried to decipher the cavalcade of sounds. "Its a bit tough with them all talking but I think I'm hearing a lot of 'vengeance', 'I am the night' and I think one of them is just repeating 'swear to me!'"
"No chance for negotiations then?" James checked as wings began to flap.
"Time to go." Jessie decided, turning and fleeing through the cave.
"Right behind ya!" Meowth quickly took off with James taking up the rear.
With a horde of poison type bats behind them the trio fled the caves of Mount Moon, hopefully never to return.
Cleafairy led the group through the mountain for hours. They had to take a break once or twice and along the way found more Clefairy who joined in the pilgrimage.
"There's so many Clefairy here." Misty murmured in awe.
"Mom was right, they have an entire civilization down here." Ash agreed as they continued onwards.
"Civilization?" The first Clefairy they had met, checked. "I guess you could call it that. For us though, it's just our home."
It was night by the time they reached their destination. A massive caldera in what felt like the center of the mountain. The night sky glimmered above them and sitting in the center of the massive cave was a giant single crystal.
Seymour stopped beside them as they entered the cavern and fell to his knees.
"The Moonstone!" He whispered in awe. "It's beautiful!"
It glittered despite being as dark as the spaces between the stars and many Clefairy were gathered in the cave surrounding it. Settled around its base were smaller moonstones, layed out almost like offerings to the giant one. Ash found himself staring at the rock, if it could be called that. It had lay here for who knew how many years, millions maybe. He felt a sense of awe fill him as they looked at it.
"Behold!" Clefairy announced as her fellows continued past them into the large open area. "The Great Ark!"
"Why do you call it that?" Pidgeotto asked.
"It's where we come from." Clefairy explained simply as they slowly continued their approach.
"You what?" Pikachu nearly fell off of Ash's shoulder.
"Well, those might be the wrong words for it. We exist because of it but we did not travel on it." Clefairy elaborated. "Before the Great Ark there were no Clefairy, but when it fell here, it changed the Pokemon who found it. The First Mother and the First Child found it here and were remade by its glow."
Ash was not used to history lectures but he found himself unable to turn away as she continued.
"They brought others here, the Prince and Princess of the mountain came and found themselves given new strength and form. Others came over the years: The Dreamers, the Singers, the Hunters. All bathed in the glow and found themselves given new strength but none were remade so fundamentally as the First Mother and First Child."
"The others are gone now." Clefairy continued sadly. "Gone from this place at least. Sometimes their descendants will journey and revel in this holy place. But they rarely stay. But the Great Ark remains, and it welcomes its children, no matter how far afield they may have strayed."
"That's amazing." Ash muttered as he stared at the stone.
"It really is." Seymour agreed and Ash withheld a wince, he'd almost forgotten the researcher was there. Thankfully he seemed to think he was talking about the Moonstone itself, unaware of the story that Clefairy had told.
Ash felt bad that he wouldn't know how close to the truth he had come. He debated internally and came to a small plan to give the poor man a hand. "Hey Pikachu, could you ask Clefairy to come over here for a second, I want to check something."
He would have asked himself but Pikachu had proven himself as the resident ambassador (as funny as it seemed) and the trio moved off. Pidgeotto took flight while they did this and circled around the cave, enjoying the chance to spread her wings.
"If he wants me to come with you the answer is yes!" Clefairy told Pikachu as they stopped out of earshot of Seymour and Misty.
Ash had not been expecting that. "That's not what I was going to ask." He admitted and Clefairy looked at him in confusion. "I mean, I'd be happy for you to come with us! But I didn't want to ask you to leave your home after your about the others leaving."
"You can understand me?" She was still confused but understood that much at least.
"It's why I asked to move over here, Seymour doesn't know. I'm not really a human." Ash explained.
"You sure look like one." Clefairy pointed out.
"It's a talent of his." Pikachu spoke up. "I watched him practice it, he can do disguises like this, but he's still a Pokemon like you and me."
"I try to keep it quiet, I think of it as a big prank or trick, I don't want someone like Team Rocket finding out and trying to catch me or hurt my family or friends." Ash elaborated.
"Ah." Clefairy nodded. "That makes sense." She paused. "But if you weren't going to ask me to come with you, what were you going to ask?"
"It's about Seymour." Ash started and explained what he knew of the man.
"I did wonder why he hung around so much, but he was nice to us and never made trouble so we left him alone for the most part." Clefairy nodded when he was finished.
"Exactly, I feel bad that he won't know how close he was to the truth and I was wondering if the Clefairy here would be willing to let him come back and learn more? He's spent a lot of time here already." Ash continued.
Clefairy considered this. "I'll need to speak with the Council but it should be allowed. I'll also need to let them know if I do come with you." She looked to Ash again. "Are you sure it's alright?"
"Of course I am!" Ash responded. "I was going to ask you before but like I said, your story made me reconsider, but if you want to come then we'll welcome you to the team!"
"I do!" Clefairy nodded enthusiastically. "You might not consider yourselves heroes but you are! I want to be able to help people like you do! Look at what you're doing for Seymour! You're good Pokemon!" She looked at Pikachu and up at Pidgeotto flying around, and then back at Misty and Seymour. "You all are!"
With that glowing praise under their belts the group reunited and discussed. Clefairy went off to find the so-called 'Council' and Ash didn't mention his idea to Seymour yet, not wanting to get his hopes up.
As they sat and spoke quietly a change came about the room. The Clefairy all fell silent and the trainer group soon followed. Then the Clefairy began to sing.
It was a song without words, it was purely voices rising and falling in unison to create music. As the wordless melody filled the air the room was lit with a bright glow. Far above the moon was over the opening in the roof and its beams fell down onto the Moonstone itself. The Crystal Meteorite was no longer dark and mysteriously beautiful but now dazzling and wonderful!
It glowed like the moon itself was in the cavern with them, its light not bringing warmth, but a comfort all the same. The newcomers were silent with awe and imagination as they listened to the song of the Clefairy and sat in the light.
It continued for what felt like moments but it must have been at least an hour. But alas the glow eventually faded and the song died down. None of them said anything, what was there to say in response to that? But the Clefairy went about their business as usual, as though this was a normal occurrence, and to be fair it probably was.
The original Clefairy returned soon along with another Pokemon. It looked similar but was larger and had wings of a sort on their back. Ash had only seen a picture of one once before but they must be a Clefable.
"So you are the ones who drove back the intruders?" He spoke with an ancient voice. "For this I thank you. We'd tried hunting them down but battle is not our way and they continuously outmaneuvered us."
"We were happy to help!" Pikachu spoke up. Ash contemplated how his friend was much more eager to help Pokemon than humans. He understood why he was like this given what happened to his family but he would still like to help everyone.
"This young one told us of your request and we have agreed to let the human, Seymour, remain here in this place when he comes to our mountain, so long as he does not disturb our rituals or cause harm or damage." Clefable explained.
Ash smiled and would let the mountain dwellers find their own way to explain it to Seymour, maybe they wouldn't and would just let him return whenever he felt like it instead of barring the way and hiding it from him.
"As to the other request, which as I understand it, is not from you but from Clefairy herself, she wishes to journey with you." There was a sadness in his tone. "She is not the first to leave us and I fear she will not be the last, but she has expressed a desire to experience the greater world and has promised she will return whenever she can."
"I will!" Clefairy claimed. "This is my home and it always will be! No matter where I go!"
Clefable chuckled mournfully. "You're not the first to say that and I doubt you'll be the last. Some do return, others don't. I hope you will be of the first sort."
Clefairy stepped up to Ash and made a bit of a show of presenting herself, likely for the benefit of maintaining his illusion. He was grateful for this.
"You're sure you're coming with us then?" Ash crouched down to get on her level.
"Yes I am! I'm going to be my own kind of fairy! A hero who can protect the mountain!" Clefairy remained resolute.
"Do you know what a Pokeball is?" Ash asked her. "You don't have to use it if you don't want to but it's good to be registered to it for a start at least, it keeps people like Team Rocket from just throwing one of their own and running off with you."
"I think I've heard of them." Clefairy admitted. "Do you have one of your own?" Ash nodded and that let her make up her mind. Ash took out a ball and she inspected the odd device. With a bit of prodding she tapped the button on the front and was sucked into the ball. It jerked once in Ash's hand before pinging a successful catch.
Clefairy stayed inside for a few moments before coming back out. "Wow, it is surprisingly comfortable in there!"
"Blasphemy!" Pikachu complained and Ash chuckled with Pidgeotto.
They stayed in the cavern for the rest of the night and through a complex act of what seemed to be a mix of charades and interpretive dance the Clefairy managed to explain to Seymour he was allowed to stay at the Moonstone cavern and return whenever he liked. He was very grateful for this.
"I get to study it up close!" He gushed, but then sighed. "It's a shame though, now that I've seen it, I'm certain it's not a spaceship."
"Was there any doubt?" Misty muttered but Ash was not so negative.
"Maybe not, but you might have been onto something! Keep researching it, just don't mess it up." He added to the end.
"Of course not!" Seymour agreed and rubbed his head. "Gosh, even when I do finalize my research, how do I explain it without accidentally revealing this place to the scientific community. Some are like me and would want to keep it preserved but others might be less tactful."
It was a sobering thought, but not one they had an answer to right now. They departed from the researcher with a warm farewell and continued down another passageway, led on by Ash's new teammate.
"There is an exit on the other side of the mountain this way." She explained as they continued.
"That was an interesting trip." Misty admitted as they continued on. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm glad we came this way."
"Me too." Ash agreed. "We wouldn't have been able to stop Team Rocket otherwise! Or meet Clefairy!"
Misty contemplated his words. "That reminds me actually, how do you tell Pokemon with the same name apart? There were a lot of different Clefairy back there."
"Context mostly." Ash admitted. "But that does remind me." He looked to his team. "Mom gave me and her other Pokemon nicknames. How do you all feel about them?"
Pikachu spoke up first. "I'm good, never felt the need for one. I'm happy being Pikachu."
"Hmm." Pidgeotto was more contemplative. "I've never thought of it before, even when we met Pidget, give me a bit and I'll think about it.
"A nickname?" Clefairy asked. "What's that?"
"Remember how we explained how I'm a Pokemon in disguise?" Ash checked with her and she nodded. Pikachu and Pidgeotto, sensing what was to come, removed themselves from his shoulders. With them on the ground, Ash dropped his illusion and Clefairy inspected him.
"This is what I really look like." He elaborated. "My name is Ash, but I'm actually a Zorua. My Trainer… Mom… Trainer-Mom? Mom-Trainer?" He contemplated the terminology. "My Trainer-Mom nicknamed me Ash when she first got me and that's my name."
"So I could have a different name than Clefairy, but still be myself?" Clefairy verified and the backpack wearing Zorua nodded at her. "I think I will take one then."
"That's great!" Ash told her. "What do you want to be called?"
"Isn't that supposed to be your decision?" She inquired and he shrugged in return.
"I guess, but it is what you're going to be called for the rest of your life, I think you should decide if you can." He told her his thought process.
Clefairy grew thoughtful. "Selene. I like the name Selene."
"Selene." Ash tested out. "I like it, what's it mean?"
"I don't remember!" Selene cheerfully and shamelessly replied. "It has something to do with the moon though so it works for me!"
With that decision made they continued through the mountain and exited it just as nightfall reached them again. The sky darkened and they set up camp for the night. As they prepared their relatively unappealing rations Misty stared at the tree line.
"We should be able to see Cerulean city in the next day or so." Misty told them. "I'm looking forward to getting home."
"I'm looking forward to the gym battle!" Ash admitted. "I don't think we have to worry about another Brock situation."
"Probably not." Misty agreed. "And even if you did, it's not like I'll stop you from challenging me again, especially since we'll keep traveling together after the gym battle."
"Right." Ash agreed and ate some of his prepackaged Pokemon food. He chewed for a moment before Misty's words really registered.
"Wait what?!"
"Did you forget?" She shot him a teasing grin. "I'm one of the Cerulean City Gym Leaders and sure you could challenge one of my sisters but I call dibs on this challenger."
"But… but you've watched all my training!" He pointed out. "Doesn't that give you an unfair advantage?"
"You've seen my training too." She pointed out. "Unless you weren't paying any attention?"
Ash kicked at the ground shamefully as Selene looked between the two in confusion.
"Is anyone going to tell me what a gym battle is or do I have to guess?"
Chapter end!
Mount Moon is done and Cerulean is next!
I had more than a little fun with the Clefairy and more than a few references came out of it, also some pretty nifty worldbuilding if I do say so myself.
Welcome Selene to the team! Third member get!
Before I get to reviews I want to talk about something.
After the last chapter and its massive length, I did a check of how many episodes of the original series there are. I figured it would be about 50 or so, maybe a bit more or elss.
80.
There are 80 episodes to the original series. More if we count some that got banned in the US.
So let's talk about this.
Even when I thought there were only fifty, I was going to skip and merge some episodes. This just reinforces that idea.
I might start next chapter depending on how much I have happen in Cerulean City this time around, but I will definitely be vetting episodes after that. Some are going to be skimmed over, and others may be dropped entirely. I'm going to have to do further research to decide which ones get which treatment.
Also, now that the Brock dust has settled a bit, I wanted to mention that I am still considering adding a third trainer to the group. I have a couple ideas and I'm not sure which one I'm going to run with. I don't plan on using Leaf as a permanent addition but she might tag along with the group for a few chapters here or there.
Anywho, time for reviews!
Bluepigment: I can see why people don't like Goh. I'm not his biggest fan to be honest but I don't hate him. I find him entertaining at best and annoying at worst. So kind of neutral really.
Jonathan-Mandrake: Oh don't worry they're going to realize that they need to address those problems very soon. We kind of see the hints of it beginning here.
PenguinBandit523: Thank you for sticking with me! I enjoy writing Pikachu and Ash. They are definitely best friends. Not sure where the brothers line is drawn but they're probably somewhere around it one way or the other. I haven't done any yet but I am excited to do battles with Psychics. It'll be interesting to say the least.
Battlesny: Is it a spoiler? I addressed it there because that was the last time I have Brock involved for the foreseeable future. Pokedex, written by 10 year olds, for 10 years olds.
Tri-Edge: Leaf is fun to write, she's just a bit of a bubbly wild child. I'm glad you like all the characters so much!
Only a Guest in Disguise: Team Rocket makes a comeback this time! How long will Ash's secret stay secret? Time will tell… Also what's up with the periods and parentheses and underscores in your review?
Branng66: You left a lot of reviews huh? I don't have any solid ideas for aura yet but I am at the drawing board. Unova is a looong way off at the moment. And Ash won't be doing much official battling himself but that Zoroark strat is king. I've used it in Pokemon Showdown enough to know.
Lupercus1944: Discord or not, your reviews are always appreciated! I didn't think of the mentor angle but even still I'm sticking by the decision I've made. I don't want to make too much of a rehash and Brock not joining is just another tick on the Butterfly Effect. Pidgeotto had me a bit worried because she was the first character I felt like I had to build from scratch. I'm glad you like what I've done with her. I spent a while thinking about the first gym battle and how I wanted it to go. I didn't want Ash to lose but I also didn't want him to win immediately. So I compromised! It worked out pretty well if I do say so myself. Chekov is currently loading, we'll see where and when he starts shooting! Also the Kadabra entry is a big maybe. Once again ideas but nothing concrete. On a related note my planning document is getting harder and harder to make sense of. Because sometimes I write stuff down and forget and other times I don't and do remember.
LEGOBRICK13: Just a bit chaotic this time lol. Still fun to go through, I really do need to touch on the Zoroark angle in one of these next chapters because it keeps getting brought up… hmm… Yeah no, Team Rocket don't keep all those spearow with them, they do have one at the moment but the rest are being distributed to grunts across the organization. This is less than good for everyone else. And yeah, Brock's experience with understanding Pokemon would be a bit overshadowed by someone else's ability to literally understand Pokemon.
PokeDan: That idea is too funny for me not to find a way to integrate it. Thank you.
That's for now folks. Until next time we meet!
Discord:
https : / / discord . gg / PRTxHXBD
R&R
~FriTik