Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. And I realized how rushed the last chapter was when I read it. I do not own RJ or Dave or… the character of WickedWolfe09's which I shall definitely use once I'm done with the battle, I promise.
Tyrannosaurus Cerato, thanks for the review. I appreciate your character submission and will try to use it, though I think if I do use it it'll be a while… Gym Leaders don't often travel around without having something to do. If I figure it out I'll be using him as well…
And that reminds me; in a while I'll be having too many OCs. Kudos to R'N'Rer to start the submission thing for my story but in a while this'll get tiring. So submit characters while you can (these chapters are still more or less introductions) before I close the submissions (somehow).
Thanks also due to VampireWizard, who swamped my mailbox with reviews. In case you don't know, Dave is an OC submitted by R'N'Rer, and RJ an OC from Bigfoot12310. It's kinda cool to get all these thingies… makes me feel appreciated.
I wish I could draw sprites like that. I can't draw a thing on the computer. I finished a picture of Mudross on my Humanities worksheet which I'll probably be posting up. Is that a Magnemite I see on the Pokémon Mes?
Whatever it is, this has been one long A/N / Disclaimer. I'm afraid Ash really is just winging it and has no idea what he's doing at all, but… well just wait and see! Pokémon Go! chapter 18; begin!
The white Tangela rushed forward as the two Nidoran stood dumbly blinking, stunned by the intense glare of the light.
"Tangela! Vine Whip!"
His voice rang out among the murmurs of confusion in the crowd. They could hear him, but they couldn't see him. Tangela and Machop, however, could.
Which is more than I can say for RJ…
He turned to his partner, who was still trying to shake off the temporary blindness.
"Hey… RJ…"
The trainer nodded his understanding, his spiky hair staying in place remarkably well. Must've been some super-strong hair gel; Ash made a mental note never to play with balloons near him.
"Go ahead. Machop, follow Ash."
The Machop turned and nodded, then looked expectantly at Ash. Ash nodded its way and focused on Ditto-Tangela. As the morphed creature ran between the two Nidoran, vines whipped out, catching both of them under the chin and lifting them into the air.
"Machop… get ready… Focus Energy one more time…"
He turned toward Tangela, who still held the Pokémon in its grasp.
"Now! Tangela… fling the two Nidoran at Machop!"
Tangela hesitated. Machop's concentration wavered.
"Just… do it! Now!"
With a sideways glance at Ash, Tangela flung the two Poison Pokémon at Machop. To give Machop due credit, it continued focusing its energy despite the two Pokémon hurtling towards it.
In the crowd, sight began to be restored, as was indicated by a series of loud gasps as the crowd watched, as one. Ash felt RJ's apprehensive gaze, and nodded reassuringly. The two trainers facing them called out attacks as they did.
"Ray! Use the momentum to power your Horn Attack!"
"Rena! Do it with a Scratch attack!"
The distance between the Pokémon narrowed. Machop still had his eyes closed.
Now… not yet… wait…
"Now! Machop; Counter!"
In a movement so languid it seemed as though in slow motion, he slowly opened his eyes, spreading his feet apart and raised his hand to his chest level, palm facing outward. Immediately there was a sound, of thunder without lightning. For a second the both Nidoran were frozen in front of the Machop, attacks blocked by a single iron palm.
And then another sound, this time of rushing wind. The ground exploded directly in front of Machop, the speed of its attack incredible. The Nidoran flew from one end of the arena to the other, landing in a flurry of dust and dirt. Blink and you'd have missed it.
RJ nodded, impressed.
"I never knew it could do that…"
Ash shrugged.
"You did. You just never had Pokémon rushing towards Machop at such extreme speeds before."
The crowd interrupted their conversation with a gasp.
That's not very polite…
The two Nidoran were still standing. Just barely, but they were.
"Come on, Ditto. Let's finish this. Hyper Beam!"
The audience gasped again as the Tangela metamorphosed into a huge Dragonite.
"Where in Jirachi's name did you get that morph…?"
A/N: And in my story, PokéMorphs don't appear. So no confusion.
"We were watching one of the blue-zone battles till you dragged us away. It's the only attack I know it has, because it just used it… what…?"
He turned as the Ditto-Dragonite began to charge its Hyper Beam attack. Machop ran out of the way. The two Nidoran were unable to move, sitting ducks for the blow. The audience shielded their eyes, but the attack never came. Ditto-Dragonite began to colour-shift from gold to pink and back again; before they knew it Ditto lay in front of them, getting to its feet a trifle exhausted.
The display screen above their heads showed that the Nidorans were in critical condition, with Ditto only marginally better. The only Pokémon capable of fighting effectively was Machop.
"What happened…?"
RJ shrugged.
"I'm guessing Ditto isn't strong enough to handle the full power of Hyper Beam… charging it up takes a lot out of the Pokémon."
Ash cursed, while RJ took charge.
"Don't worry; I'll help you finish them off. Machop! Let's go!"
The Machop seemed to intuitively know what RJ wanted. He barely had to open his mouth as the Pokémon dodged left and right, jumping from boulder to boulder above the spray of Poison Stings they'd directed at him. Springing off the wall, he delivered a Karate Chop to the neck of one of the Nidoran, incapacitating it.
The only remaining Nidoran was male. It might have been tired, but there was still plenty of fight in it. Machop somersaulted onto the ground directly in front of it.
"Karate Chop!"
"Ray; Counter and Horn Attack!"
Bringing its palm down, Machop sought to end the battle, only to be parried by the horn of the Nidoran, Ray. As he was thrown off his feet by the force of the counter, Machop rolled away only just in time; Nidoran's horn caught nothing but air.
Machop stood; then it winced. Staring at its arm, it recognized the feeling of nausea; somehow the barbs had managed to poison him. His vision bleary, he struggled to maintain consciousness; from the right it could just see a purple blur rushing at him.
The spectators knew what was happening, and responded with gasps of surprise. RJ watched as the Nidoran charged toward Machop for a final blow.
"Come on, Machop; don't let me down now…! My father and yours have taught us too well to lose here…!"
In the arena, Machop heard, and felt the pain ebbing away. His father… he had been a great Machamp; his trainer, Bruno, had been one of the most powerful trainers in the region…
"Remember… that in adversity lies strength… if you use that to your advantage…"
His vision cleared. In a state of mind above anything he'd ever experienced, he watched the Nidoran charge towards him at a snail's pace; heard the words of his trainer echo in the back of his mind; felt the adrenaline rush through his system as he moved to obey; like a dream…
"Seismic Toss!"
Gritting his teeth, Machop received the Horn Attack in both his hands, transferring the Nidoran's forward momentum into the direction of his own choosing.
"Back to your trainer you go…"
With a grunt, he released the Nidoran, sending him crashing into the dirt just a few feet from his trainer. Mercifully, it was unconscious.
The crowd erupted into cheers as Ditto and Machop exhaustedly stood the winners of the Double Battle match. A green light flashed above Ash and RJ's platforms, indicating their win. Above their heads, congratulatory messages with their names were displayed.
With Machop back in its Pokéball to rest, RJ mopped the sweat off of his brow; gelled hair did not retain perspiration very well. Then he noticed Ash's hand, offered to him, and he took it.
"I couldn't have done it without you… thanks."
And it doesn't matter who said that line, because either of them could; after all, they won the battle together.
Ash was at the PokéCentre two battles later. The place was starting to get more crowded as it approached noon. While RJ had been ready to go right after getting his Pokémon were healed, Ash was a different story. After all, his Ditto couldn't be healed in any one of the machines; it'd gotten too used to staying out of a Pokéball to keep itself in.
Ash was eating when Dave and Erynn walked in; Dave looked flushed with victory, but Erynn less so. Looking around, Dave noticed that RJ wasn't with him.
"Where's he gone…?"
Ash shrugged from his seat on the couch.
"He's gone back to the Square to keep on battling. Me… I'm tired; and so's Ditto."
Dave thought a moment, and then approached the counter to heal his Pokémon. Erynn returned with her Pokéballs and sat down beside him, to Ash's surprise.
"Aren't you going to go battle again…? You haven't got a sleeping Pokémon, you know."
He looked pointedly at Ditto, who lay between them asleep. The tiny Pokémon looked so cute that she was tempted to smile. But she managed to keep her face straight.
"The point is… I haven't got the stamina Dave or RJ has… you said you were tired, didn't you…?"
Ash opened his mouth to speak as Dave returned. Dave was waiting expectantly for Erynn, who rose reluctantly.
"Eh… Dave; wait a sec."
Ash rose from his seat; he didn't know why he was doing this… it seemed stupid and utterly pointless, but…
"I've got an idea… why not we try switching Double Battle partners…? You know, for a bit of variety…?"
Dave looked uncertain.
"Erynn… you okay with that?"
Ash shot Erynn a look and she returned it, grateful.
"Sure, no problem… it'll be cool for you and RJ to battle together… won't it?"
She added that last as Ash nudged her in the ribs. Speaking in a tone that wasn't hers… it wouldn't help the pretense.
Dave shrugged.
"Fine… Ash, you got any idea where RJ might be…?"
"Err, yeah. He said to look around the green solo battle area… he'd be in one of the Wasteland arenas."
A/N: If you haven't noticed by now I've split the arenas into colours and terrains. Wasteland refers to the type Ash and RJ had first battled at.
She heaved a sigh of relief as the doors hissed behind Dave. She didn't find him annoying, and in fact quite liked him in their group. The prospect of another grueling battle, though, was beyond her. She opened her mouth to thank Ash, who raised a finger.
"Just one thing…"
She looked at him quizzically.
"No more shopping; please."
She rose indignantly.
"I told you I was sorry…!"
She calmed down as she saw the smile on his face.
"Don't worry about it… now I think I'd better take Ditto to the room. The leather doesn't seem to take kindly to him…"
"Omanyte! Finish it off with another Water Gun!"
Green light washed over RJ as his shellfish Pokémon finished off the enemy Ponyta. Stepping off the platform after recalling the Pokémon, he was surprised to find Dave there, alone.
"What are you doing here…? Where's Erynn?"
Dave rolled his eyes.
"With Ash. He suggested I try Double Battling with you."
RJ shook his head in wonder. The two of them might've been older, but they weren't going to get better that way.
"I don't really feel like Double Battling with you right now… I find normal battles more exciting."
Dave froze as though struck by a thought.
"Why not we battle each other then…?"
RJ opened his mouth to speak, but then noticed the Espeon which stood at Dave's feet. Her red ruby glinted in the sunlight. He closed it again.
"Nah… don't want to get creamed by your Espeon."
Which was just as well, Dave reflected. His other Pokémon were no match for RJ's Pokémon, anyway.
"What do we do now…?"
The two of them stood amidst the battling crowd, looking at each other.
"I was going to continue battling till you came along… but since you're here, why not we have lunch first?"
Dave nodded at the suggestion.
"And then Double Battle after that…?"
RJ nodded, a trifle amused. He might've been the youngest of the four, but he wasn't sure that they were better trainers for it.
Ash carefully set Ditto on the bed, closing the door and locking it behind him. Erynn stood outside, waiting for him.
"Hey Ash…" she started.
After making sure the door was firmly locked, Ash pocketed the key and turned to her.
"Have you eaten yet?" His question was abrupt; she didn't have any time to respond.
Food. She remembered the meal he'd been eating when they'd walked in.
"I'm famished. Let's go grab a bite." It was a statement less than an invitation; it was all she could do to nod numbly. In seconds he was already at the end of the corridor, looking back at her.
"… I haven't had lunch yet, so…"
She whispered the words of her unfinished sentence.
Dave and RJ walked along the outside of the Trainer's Square. Around them the shops were already bustling, trainers and non-trainers alike swarming the various stores; the area around the Trainer's Square was packed almost to capacity.
RJ led the way through narrow alleys and past shops which carried signs like
Event special! Only…
They passed shops which sold everything ranging from PokéNav plug-ins to dinner. All around them the crowd pushed; the two of them kept a close eye on their Pokéballs for the stray pickpocket. Despite there having only been two cases of Pokémon-snatching in the year, the Elem region was still not entirely safe; moreover, even if they ad just dropped their Pokéballs, it would be impossible to find in the crush.
"Where're we going…?"
RJ turned to him, indicating the crowds of people around the restaurants.
"If we're going to get a seat in any restaurant, I suggest we get away from the Trainer's Square first."
Dave looked around, unsure of where they were.
"Any specific place in mind…?"
A sound, a bit like a laugh; the spiky-haired boy turned around to face him and kept on walking backwards.
"I may know a bit about the Trainer's Square and this city, but I don't live here… in things like shopping and eating I'm just as inexperienced as you."
And then he walked into a bar. Literally.
The two of them walked along the outer edge of the city, avoiding the crowds which threatened to overflow and flood the banks of…
That's not right.
Whatever it was, they were out of the danger zone. The outer ring of the city was entirely clear of buildings; it looked like one giant park. Occasionally a Butterfree would flutter past, or an Oddish or two, perhaps. Large signs around the edge of the park warned of prosecution for any who captured the Pokémon here.
Very few people walked around this part of town. It was mostly the elderly taking strolls through the park; the benches were occupied with teenagers who were mostly engaged in some way or other… these, Ash carefully avoided.
"Hey… any idea where we're going…?"
Ash shook his head no.
"Not in the slightest."
Erynn's stomach rumbled again. Ash turned to her, opened his mouth, then closed it and walked on.
"You're being very vague today…"
Ash shrugged it off and kept on walking. Erynn stopped trying to elicit a speech from him and looked around at the buildings that passed them by. All shone in the bright noon light; all looked almost entirely empty.
"Erm Ash…?"
He turned to her and nodded. There was that look in his eyes again.
"These are all office buildings, aren't they?"
Erynn nodded. Slowly she reached into her pocket and took her sunglasses out, putting them on. She wasn't sure if he could read her mind through her eyes or not, but this prediction thing was getting too weird. He spoke again.
"Don't worry… I have an idea where we're going. Here."
At those words, he turned in toward the city. She followed as he walked straight on, through a long stretch of warehouses.
"You sure this is the right way…?"
She stopped as their street met at a crossroads with another street. There was a world of difference. She looked around at the many shops and restaurants which thronged either side of the street. Turning to him, she opened her mouth, closed it again, then opened it once more.
"How did you know where to go…?"
Breaking into a smile, Ash tapped his head.
"It wasn't difficult… in the glass flyover… I noticed this place, and, well…"
She shook her head disbelievingly. When it came to food, his eyes turned into long-range telescopes.
"Figures…" she laughed, a little sheepishly.
"So… exactly what do you want to eat…?"
Erynn just smiled, and pulled Ash along.
Ash's horror at discovering a vegetarian restaurant was only matched by Erynn's delight.
A/N: Chapter 18 complete! I finally have time to engage in some other activities besides eating, writing and sleeping! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and erm… everything else.
And I hope you review and all. Stay tuned for the next chapter; tomorrow! Even I have no idea what it's going to be.