Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it! :D Any feedback is appreciated! Also, in this Pokemon universe, they are capable of learning five moves instead of four. After all, don't the Pokemon in the anime know more than four? (I haven't watched it in a long time) Nonetheless, enjoy! And I will make each chapter at least 5,000 words to about 8,000 words.
"So, this is it," said Brock. "Make your move, Ash."
"Gladly," responded Ash with confidence in his voice. "Dratini, use leer again! If you keep lowering Rhyhorn's defense, it will be easier to knock out!" Dratini's eyes once again glowed fiercely as she succeeded in unnerving Rhyhorn.
"Shake it off, Rhyhorn, then pulverize Dratini into the ground with stomp!" issued Brock, "and don't show any mercy!" The Rhyhorn was swiftly reducing the space between him and the teal serpent-like dragon.
"Get ready to jump, Dratini!" shouted Ash that almost echoed acrossed the entire gym. She obeyed and prepared to use her tail to spring, but Rhyhorn's attack managed to land first and he stomped on his opponent's tail! Dratini cried out in pain and Rhyhorn used horn attack to remove his opponent from him. Dratini flew in the air and landed against a stalagmite. Ash could tell that Dratini was on the verge of defeat, so he had to think of something fast or he would have to send out Riolu, who had a better a chance against Rhyhorn, but...
"Ooh, that had to hurt," said Erika from the sidelines.
Ash took off his knapsack and he retrieved an Oran berry from a pocket and tossed it towards Dratini, who quickly ate it. After she consumed it, he could tell she had slightly more energy, but he didn't know if it would be enough to hold off Rhyhorn.
"So, just one more properly executed move and I will have beaten your Dratini, Ash," chuckled Brock. "That Oran berry won't help it any, even if it appears more energetic."
"Wait, one more move," thought Ash. "Now, what was it again?" He took out his Pokedex and analyzed Dratini. "Current level, 17. Moves are wrap, leer, thunderwave, twister, and slam. "I totally forgot about Dratini's twister! And she must have learned the move slam from the additional training we did in the forest after beating Akio. Twister will take a lot of energy out of her, but it may bring a victory to this battle!"
"You're absolutely right, Brock. One more move will determine the outcome of this battle! Dratini, create a twister and lift Rhyhorn off the ground!" As soon as that command escaped his mouth, Dratini immediately began to spin around in a circle at a blinding pace, causing dirt to kick up and Rhyhorn growled at this.
"Oh no, you don't; Rhyhorn, stop Dratini with rock slide!" shouted Brock a bit desperately. Rhyhorn charged into the stalagmites, causing them to crumble more than expected, but he still went with the plan and thrashed his head and sent them in Dratini's direction. Fortunately, she was able to send forth the twister of about 10 feet in diameter with her tail, colliding with the rubble, but...it got sucked up and the tornado was still heading directly for Rhyhorn! The tornado was about 20-feet tall in the 30-foot building and shook the dangling stalactites across the center of the field.
"Brace yourself, Rhyhorn, get out of the way!" shouted Brock in concern. The stone rhino ran as fast as he could, capable but the outer edge of the funnel had enough force to flip him over. The Rhyhorn struggled to position himself upright and flailed his legs desperately to stand upright. Ash noticed that Rhyhorn's stomach was a flat, smooth stone surface that did not have the same type of protection as his back. The twister finally ceased and it chucked fine dust from the broken rocks in all directions, hitting all four humans in the face.
Erika coughed and whiped off all the dirt that had caked onto her face and brushed some off her dress and looked back towards the battlefield. "All right, the force of the twister rendered Rhyhorn temporarily incapable of fighting," she commented.
"That's the way to do it. Way to go Dratini!" cheered Ash gleefully. "Use your newly learned move and hit Rhyhorn with slam!"
Dratini sprung into the air and extended her body to full length and prepared to crash right into the smooth stomach that marked as Rhyhorn's weakness.
"Hnn, no, not yet! This isn't over. Get up, Rhyhorn, and use horn attack!" barked Brock fiercely. Rhyhorn flailed himself consistently until he finally had enough strength to push himself over. He planted his feet firmly into the ground then bashed the flying Dratini with the sharp as if it were an uppercut, launching her upwards straight into the air above Rhyhorn and directly towards the rocks!
"Dratini, use wrap on the stalactites to prevent being crushed!" ordered Ash. Dratini used her long tail to constrict around a long dangling stalactite and was hanging about 20 feet from the ground where a furious Rhyhorn was stampeding around wildly in rage from the maneuver the serpent was able to execute. Dratini was getting fairly exhausted from holding herself up like that, and the fact that the twister had damaged the rocks hanging from the ceiling, it wouldn't be long before they would break, despite her 7-pound weighted body.
"Ash, help! You better think of something quick! I'm slipping!" said Dratini telepathically.
"I'm trying! Just hold on, Dratini!" shouted Ash.
The boy had to think of something before Dratini fell and got trampled by the raging Rhyhorn. Ash observed that the Rhyhorn was thrashing about in a pattern, running about in a circular fashion with a radius of about 10 feet around the center of the arena. giving him an idea of how to stop him. But the berserk Pokemon was causing the stalactites to shake slightly, meaning it was crucial to put his plan into action before they came crashing down, along with Dratini.
"Get your Dratini down from the ceiling, Ash!" commanded Brock with a short temper. "And Rhyhorn, stop rampaging around like that! You're going to tire yourself to the point where you can't fight, plus you're giving me a headache!"
Rhyhorn did nothing in regards to the command his trainer issued and continued to run in the same beserk fashion stubbornly.
"He isn't obeying Brock!" stated Erika in a matter-of-fact voice. "What's going on?"
"Ahh, his Rhyhorn is a mystery in itself," stated Jim, causing Erika to look at him with interest. "This isn't the first time that this Pokemon has disobeyed Brock's orders. Rhyhorn are extremely stubborn and sometimes make it a habit of doing things their way when they do not feel content with their trainer's strategies. He is purely seeking revenge on Dratini, and he has entered a fit of confusion for underestimating the opponent, since he thought this would be an easy match."
"Well, we'll teach Rhyhorn a lesson on not to underestimate a Pokemon based on its appearance!" snapped Ash. "Dratini, constrict the surrounding rocks with the lower length of your body and use your upper strength to hold onto a different rock to stay supported!"
"What is he up to?" stated Brock. "Snap out of it, Rhyhorn!" The stone rhino still did not obey his master's orders. Dratini used about a foot of her body and wrapped it around tightly to an adjacent stalactite and used about three feet to wrap around four stalactites that diverged from an even larger one. She exerted a large amount of force from her muscular body until they were able to snap, then she wrapped her body completely around a more stable and stronger one. The four stalactites of about a foot in length and about four inches at their widest point fell to the ground. They were extremely sharp; so sharp that they pierced the ground like a knife through butter, and all except about four inches of each of them were standing out of the ground. Plus, they were right in the path of Rhyhorn.
Brock caught on to what Ash was resorting to and gasped. "Rhyhorn! Stop now!" Rhyhorn finally snapped out of his confusion and planted his feet into the ground in order to stop; unfortunately, he had done this less than a foot away from the rocks that were embedded in the ground and he tripped over them, exposing his relatively vulnerable stomach. Ash also realized that in order to execute this plan of his, he had less than twenty seconds before Rhyhorn would roll back onto his feet, so he had to act fast or he would miss his one and only chance.
Erika, Jim, and Brock all had sweatdrops running down the back of their head as they watched.
"Dratini, throw rocks at Rhyhorn's stomach to weaken him further!" ordered Ash. Dratini used her tail and started breaking off weak fragments of the stalactites and hurled them as best as she could towards Rhyhorn. Some of them hit him dead-on in the belly while others missed the target and chipped the ground after impact, sending bits of rubble into Rhyhorn's face, causing the rock Pokemon to fume with anger.
"The attack is doing more damage than usual since Rhyhorn's defense got lowered twice," remarked Ash with a snicker as he knew that he currently had the upper hand.
"I have never seen anything like this," stated a startled Brock.
"Is that cheating, Brock?" questioned Jim as the referee stood there completely awestruck at the show Dratini was putting on.
"Hmm, there is nothing in the rule book saying that the challengers can't use the ceiling for refugee, but it's an awfully cheap move," commented Brock with annoyance. "Rhyhorn, hurry up and get back on your feet!" Rhyhorn struggled and began to move and that's when Ash realized he had to do something quickly. Rhyhorn managed to smash another incoming rock with his leg and small bits of it were sent right back to Dratini.
"This is it! Dratini, grab a rock with your tail and jump!" ordered Ash. "Use slam attack with the force of the rock!"
The obedient Pokemon nodded and grabbed a heavy-looking stalactite of about a foot long then unwound her neck and let go, using the force of gravity to accelerate and add momentum to her attack. She aimed for Rhyhorn's still exposed belly and slammed the tightly-gripped rock into Rhyhorn before she hit the ground. The impact caused Rhyhorn to groan and a cliche huge cloud of dust formed around them and left the humans with a wandering mind of the result of this attack.
"Dratini, are you okay?" asked Ash with deep concern about his Pokemon; he knew that the fall caused a lot of damage, but maybe it wasn't enough to...
What seemed like an eternity passed before the cloud subsided. There stood Dratini on top of Rhyhorn's stomach as if she were claiming a tall peak that she had just climbed. Rhyhorn lay there with X's in his eyes, indicating that he had been beaten by the small dragon.
"Rhyhorn!" shouted Brock as he ran into the battle field to look at his Pokemon. Dratini immediately moved to the side and a distance away from the gym leader to prevent a possible scolding, but that was not the case. He went and hugged the passed out stone rhino and took out a Pokeball. "Return, Rhyhorn. You did such a good job." Still maintaining his dignity as a gym leader, he walked towards Ash with a smile on his face.
"Dratini, I'm so proud of you, and I'm really glad you learned a new move," complemented Ash. She nodded and moaned in exhaustion; Ash frowned at this and he put took out her Pokeball and withdrew her to start some well-earn rest.
He turned and saw that Brock was standing right next to him, gulping and almost fearing what the leader was going to say. He almost fell backwards when his thought was answered with a warm laugh by Brock!
"Well, you did it! You have beaten your first gym leader! I've never battle anybody as unique as you. And as proof, here is your Boulder Badge and some money for along the way." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small grey octagon and some Yen. Ash took the badge and clipped it onto the inside of his blue jacket, but he was a bit hesitant about the money.
"Go ahead and take it, it's Pokemon League policy that the gym leader awards money to the winning challenger," reassured Brock as Ash finally took the two dollar bills. Each of them were 500 yen and he stashed it away in his pocket for the time being. "And take this with you as well." He gave Ash what appeared to be a a flat, see-through box that had circuits in it and a place to possibly put a Pokeball, but he was not really sure. There also looked like there was an LCD screen on it. He wondered why the gym leader would be giving the boy such an odd piece of technology.
"Thanks, but what is this?" asked Ash a bit confused as he examined it again.
"This is called a TM, short for technical machine," explained Brock. "You put a Pokeball in this opening and it will display on this screen whether or not it is compatible with learning the move. If it can and has the max of five moves known, it will tell you to select which move you want forgotten, otherwise it will automatically learn the move. And this TM teaches the move rock slide; it will summon a number of large boulders onto the opponent and may cause your opponent to flinch, which is a great way to get the upper hand."
"Thank you so much, I guess I'll be heading to Mt. Moon after I head to the Pokemon Center," said Ash as he finally put the TM in a compartment of his backpack.
"If I were you, Ash, I would wait until the police deal with Team Rocket; they are a group of notorious thugs who are willing to steal Pokemon to put on the black market, and with the ones you have, you'd be a prime target!" warned Brock.
"I confronted them the other day in Viridian Forest; they were not a huge threat to me," reassured Ash, "and besides, I have Erika to tag along with me." Erika nodded.
"Of course; with a stunning and powerful girl like her, you should be find," complimented Brock in a flattering tone as both he and Erika blushed, the latter more out of embarrassment.
"...Right..." said Ash a bit creeped, and with that both he and the blue-haired girl left the gym and were welcomed by the warm rays of the sun. "Bye, and thanks a lot!" he said as the door slammed behind them.
"Let's go to the Pokemon center," suggested Erika, "then we will have to go through routes 3 and 4 to get to Mount Moon. It's about a total of 10 miles to Cerulean City, so getting an early start would mean we could get there by tonight, then go to the gym leader tomorrow. I also wish to do a bit of shopping and look at the scenery, if you do not mind."
"I would be glad to do the same, and indeed, that would be the wisest course of action to start now," agreed Ash. "After all, it is only about 11 o'clock, right?"
"Yes, it is 11:18," she corrected as she looked at her watch. "Do you want to eat at the Pokemon Center now, or get some food and have a picnic later? My treat."
"I like that idea quite a lot," commented Ash with a smile. "But you don't need to pay for all the food. I'm willing to chip in."
"No, that's not necessary, truly; I don't like discussing monetary issues that much, but I happen to be quite wealthy, even if it doesn't show," said Erika, "although I greatly appreciate your kindness."
"Okay, how about you meet me at the front of the Pokemon center in 20 minutes?" recommended Ash with a smile. The two of them made their seperate ways, Ash entering the Pokemon center while Erika headed towards a nearby grocery store. He made his way up to the counter where he was warmly greeted by Nurse Joy.
"Good morning, Ash, how did you do at the Pokemon gym?" she asked with a small smile as she received the three Pokeballs and placed them on the machine. He opened his jacket when she turned around and showed her the newly earned badge that sparkled from the reflection of the lights.
"Wow, that's amazing, Ash!" said Nurse Joy as she returned the balls to him. Several trainers who were standing by Ash commented on his feat with subtle hints of envy in their murmurs, gazing upon the boy from the corner of theirs eyes as they tried to hide their glances.
All the sudden, a girl approached Ash and bumped into him, causing him to fall down; she stepped back and didn't even offer to help him. A kind middle-aged woman assisted the young boy to get back on his feet and he shot a somewhat cold gaze upon the rude person who knocked him down after thanking the woman.
"Hey, why don't you watch where you're going, kid?" said Ash, firmly gripping the crutch out of anger. He gasped when the girl turned around. "Melanie!" One of the last persons he ever hoped to see. She was the main one in Ash's class who kept putting him down, making him feel like he couldn't accomplish anything.
"Hey, were you really capable of beating Brock on your first time? While physically handicapped?" said Melanie with a bit of disbelief and a bit derisively. Ash got a good look at her; he hadn't seen her in about four months though she pretty much did not change one bit since they had last met; she was wearing a school girl type dress, and had long shiny brown hair. (Note: She looks exactly like Giselle from the episode "School of Hard Knocks") "He must have taken it easy on you, that poor sap."
"Yes, I did beat him," confirmed Ash a bit haltingly, a bit unsure of what to say. "And no, he didn't hold back. What business is that of yours, anyways?"
"I crushed Brock on my first go with a Poliwag. He didn't stand a chance, but I didn't care that he got mad at me for using, what he called "cheap tactics", even though the moves I used are completely authorized by the Pokemon League. But what really irked me is that he said I treat my Pokemon poorly." She looked down awkwardly at the ground and shrugged off the thought of her encounter with Brock.
"That didn't answer the question of why it's any of your business, Melanie," said Ash.
Melanie completely tuned out what Ash said and dodged his question, changing the subject completely. "Whom did you use to beat him?"
"A Dratini," said Ash, almost a nervous.
"Ash, I don't believe you," shot back the snobby girl.
"I'm telling the truth," swore Ash defensively.
"It isn't nice to lie about what Pokemon you have," chuckled Melanie. "Why don't you show me here then to prove me wrong, Ash?"
"Why do you want to see my Pokemon?" shot back Ash. "They just had a long battle and would like to rest."
"It's just that...I'm having a hard time of envisioning you having a dragon type Pokemon at this early of your journey without the influence of money," snorted Melanie with an increase of volume, causing people around her to look at her muttering incoherently to one another
"What does money have to do with anything?" asked Ash, "and keep your voice down, you're causing a scene."
"As you know, my great grandfather was the founder of Silph Company, and with our inherited money, you can buy anything, including Pokemon, if the price is right, that is. Is it true that your starter is Dratini?"
Again, Ash said nothing.
"Hey miss?" said a male voice.
"What?" she snapped as she turned to the owner of it.
"I saw that kid earlier in the cafeteria," said the random bystander, who was a young lad with what appeared to be camping equipment. "He had a Dratini, a Riolu, and a Scyther."
A few other bystanders verified that what the young male trainer had said was indeed true, making Ash recoil in a bit of panic at the unwanted attention.
"Oh, really? That's pretty interesting and cool, to have a Dratini as well as those other Pokemon at this early stage as a trainer," said Melanie with a small giggle and handed the people small amounts of cash for providing her with the information she was seeking. "I always find out, one way or another. Hey, here's an idea. Why don't we have a trade? My Poliwag for your Dratini? And I'll even throw in a water stone, since that is needed to evolve Poliwhirl to Poliwrath."
"No, thanks," responded Ash immediately. "I'm comfortable with my Pokemon as is."
"What if I added some money?" she asked as she browsed through her purse. "I normally get what I want."
"I don't want your money, miss," Ash said. "And what kinda trainer are you to bribe another one to trade Pokemon with?"
Nurse Joy finally came and put some distance between the two of them.
"Is there a problem?" she inquired the two then she directed her attention towards the lass.
"I was just asking him if she wanted to trade, ma'am," she said gingerly.
"Well, whatever you two happen to be doing, please keep your voices down, as this is a Pokemon center and a lot of people might get upset," she explained as she went back to her spot behind the counter to help the next patient who stood in line.
He immediately left towards the door, earning a scoff from the girl. Melanie frowned at him and went her own way, which was downstairs to the cafeteria.
"Oh, Ash, wait!" called Nurse Joy who walked behind him. He faced her and he smiled.
"Ma'am?" he asked politely.
"Are you okay from the fall? Did she hurt you?"
"Only my pride, but I'm used to it; she's just a rival from school is all," explained Ash.
"I'm terribly sorry to hear that; I was very close to kicking her out of here," said Nurse Joy. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that I called my younger sister in Cerulean and told her that if she sees an Ash Ketchum to help him with any necessary accomidations with his wound."
"Oh, thanks, that would be great!" said Ash. "I still have that herbal brew you made last night to clean the area when traveling."
"Indeed, you must thoroughly and carefully apply that remedy on your wound, and discard all gauzes you use to clean it," she instructed.
"Thank you so much, and I'm sorry I've been a bit of a bother," moped Ash.
"You haven't, so don't worry," she said with a gleeful smile. "Be careful on your journey and good luck, Ash!"
"Bye!" said Ash as he went out the sliding doors and saw that blue-haired girl known as Erika.
"Ash!" said Erika as she was carrying two large cloth bags. "What happened in there? I saw through the doors that you were arguing with some girl, and I wanted to help, but I didn't want things to get messy, especially in a Pokemon center."
"Some random girl from school wanted to trade her Poliwag for my Dratini, and I calmly said no to her," explained Ash.
"Good, cause I can tell that you are really attached to her and she is really fond of you," replied Erika as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Definitely," responded Ash, "I've only had her for a few days, but it almost seems like we're unseperable, as weird as that sounds."
"No, it doesn't one bit; after that night Gloom saved me, we became fast friends," said Erika.
"Hey, Erika, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Of course, what is it?"
"If you've had Gloom for so many years, why haven't you evolved her into Vileplume?"
"I asked her; I simply went up to her a few years ago and asked the first time if she wished to evolve. She shook her head no and said her name in a said way, so I knew that was a definite no. I asked her a few weeks ago and got the same response. I asked her if she wanted to evolve, and I am glad that she does not because I love her the way she is, but I know that if she changed her mind, well, she'd still be the same as a Vileplume. I even asked the same from Weepinbell and Exeggcute, and they gave the same answer. It isn't about strength of physical power, it's about the bond you share with these mystical creatures; I would any day rather have a poorly powered Oddish with a bond as strong as steel than an all-powerful Vileplume who didn't respect me."
"That's very sweet, that you care that much about your Pokemon, and I feel the same way," said Ash. "I'd be okay if they stayed the same way."
The two of them kept walking east until they finally managed to reach the cimit limits after about 30 minutes. They noticed a sign on a post that read "Mount Moon 7 miles west."
"Ugh, seven miles?" groaned Ash impatiently as he briefly stopped and leaned against his crutches. "That will take us about three hours." He found a bench and sat there.
"Yes, but there is some good news, though," answered Erika with an optimistic tone.
"What's that?"
"The amount of ground we must cover in the interior of Mount Moon is relatively small; although the mountain looks huge," she points to it in the distance, "most of it is for research purposes only; normally, for the average person who is not being impided by Pokemon or other trainers, it would take us about 10 to 20 minutes to go through the Pewter City side to the other by Route 5 which leads to Cerulean. If we resume at our pace, there is no reason we shouldn't get that at around 5 o'clock."
"Then I can go straight for the next gym!" bursted out Ash with a cocky laugh and got back up and resumed walking.
"Hold on, Ash, you just had a gym battle not more than 30 minutes ago; are you sure you want to face another one today?" asked Erika with a bit of concern as she walked to the side of Ash and absorbed the late summer warmth.
"Well, we can go look for Pokemon, or even sight-seeing around Cerulean," suggested Ash.
"Off of Route 24 there is a nice cape that has a gorgeous view of the city and the mountains in the setting sun," said Erika.
"I can't wait, let's get going!" said Ash as he exerted as much force as possible into walking with his crutches.
The two of them resumed walking along Route 3 for about an hour until the rumbling of Ash's stomach put their marching to a halt.
"Why don't we have that picnic now?" said Ash as he got on his knees while still holding onto the crutches as he was able to maneuver himself into sitting down without hurting his foot. He stretched his legs out and took out his Pokeballs. He tossed all three of them into the air. "Come on out, guys!"
With a huge flashing of light, all three of them came out and lay on the grass that was soothed by the gentle breeze. Ash smiled at this and caught sight of a small stream.
"Hey, why don't you guys go swimming until the food is ready?" he suggested, Ash, and the three Pokemon didn't need to be told twice as they all headed towards the glistening flow of water with the gentle current that was probably about seven or eight feet deep at its deepest point.
"What a good idea," said Erika as she took out her three Pokeballs and let out Exeggcute, Gloom, and Weepinbell who went to rehydrate their bodies in the crystal-clear mountain stream.
Riolu got a long running start entered the center of the stream via cannon ball, splashing Dratini and Scyther who were both still on the shore. Dratini utilized the muscle in her tail and dived into the stream, creating an almost nonexistent splash. Scyther, on the other hand, was not one for swimming, so he hesitantly tip-toed into the water until it reached his "knees" and just stood there, enjoying the movement of the water that was cooling his powerful legs.
Exeggcute, being a collection of six plant seeds, went to the edge of shore where about three inches went up her body so that the current wouldn't take her out. Gloom was already in water, stubbornly wading in the shallow area while Weepinbell extended her vines to hold onto a tree that was near the stream for support while her body was pushed against the cool water. The trainers looked at their Pokemon and smiled.
Erika laid down a blanket she took out of one of the cloth bags and got some paper plates, a huge bottle of water, assorted fruit that consisted of strawberries, grapes, and kiwi, some tofu, and spinach. She took out a bag of Pokemon food as well as six paper bowls to give their partners some lunch. Ash was disappointed when he saw that there was not any meat, but the fact that she selflessly bought the lunch was more than enough motive for him to be even more appretiative of the kind-hearted girl.
"Okay, everyone, lunch is ready!" called Erika, causing the six Pokemon to gather around the two humans. The eight living beings began to consume their midday meal. The humans and the Pokemon chattered casually among themselves and even watched young trainers, particularly bug catchers and youngsters, battle one another, until they were finished with the meal. Erika took all the garbage and put it in a nearby garbage can and put away all the plastic in a recycling bin nearby.
"That was very pleasant," commented Ash as he hugged all his Pokemon and patted their heads before he recalled them to the safety of their technological spheres. "Next time we do something like this again, I'll be the one who buys food," he chuckled. She went over to the raven-haired boy and helped him up again before returning her Pokemon to their balls as well.
As soon as they walked up, a boy with camping equipment approached Ash.
"Hey, I remember seeing you," said the young male. "You were being harassed by that snobby girl."
"Yeah, and you were the one who told her what my Pokemon are, when it clearly wasn't any of her business," scoffed Ash as to directed his attention away from the boy.
"Hey, I'm really sorry about that," apologized the boy as he looked down with despair over his unjustified actions. "I had a feeling you weren't gonna tell her, and I was getting really tired of her voice, so I thought that the sooner she knew, the sooner she would shut up."
Both he and Ash shared a small chuckle.
"Same here," added Ash. "And to make matters worse, I went to school with her up to grade four, so I constantly had to hear her brag about the new riches her family acquired, and, of course, her harassing of me. I guess you can say I'm used to it, but that doesn't mean I like it."
"I don't blame you one bit; my next door neighbor was like that, except he wasn't rich; he was super smart like you wouldn't believe it for his age," said the camper. "By the way, my name is Gilbert and I wish to become a Pokemon breeder. Let me redeem myself to you of my actions; I live around these parts, so I know this area like the back of my hand. You're trying to get to Cerulean City, right?"
"Yes, that's correct," stated Ash, wondering where the boy was going with his words.
"I happen to know a shortcut and would be glad to show you it, if that's okay with you," said Gilbert, "but...I'd like to have a one-on-one with you, if that's okay, you know, to get some practice in? Although I have had my Pokemon for a few months, battling isn't really my thing, and I wanted to be able to get more experience in."
"Sure, I'm fine with that," said Ash. "How many Pokemon do you got?"
"That's the thing; only one," said Gilbert with a bit of embarrassment.
"Well, okay, that's fine with me," answered Ash as he grabbed his Pokeball and tossed it diligently against the ground, causing its contents to come out.
"Oh boy, it's...Riolu?" said Gilbert with a bit of chagrin.
"Is there anything wrong with that?" questioned Ash a bit cautiously.
"No, it's just that I wanted to see your Dratini in person," confessed Gilbert.
"She had a huge battle with Brock and is still resting, but how about before we depart when we get to Mount Moon I will let you see her?" promised Ash. Gilbert's spirit almost instantaneously picked up upon hearing those words.
"Yes, yes, that sounds cool!" said Gilbert as he reached for his Pokeball. "Come on out!" As soon as the ball opened, a Pokemon that Ash hadn't seen in quite a while appeared.
"Shellder!" said the blue-shelled clam who stuck out his tongue.
"Aw, a Shellder," said Ash as the bivalve was flinging his tongue around and blowing raspberries. He even could tell that the Pokemon was laughing, but he had to check it out on the Pokedex.
"Shellder, the bivalve Pokemon. Commonly found in the water near river beds, it is capable of withstanding most attacks with its hard shell. Its interior is its real weakness."
"Well, let's do it!" commanded Ash with enthusiasm. "Riolu, give Shellder a force palm!" Riolu dashed towards the clam Pokemon and was about to smash his fist into
"Shellder, use withdraw!" ordered Gilbert, smiling as Shellder shut the lid of his shell with hard force, only leaving his pink tongue exposed. The attack hit the bivalve, but it did not leave much damage in its wake.
"Aw, it didn't work," said Ash.
"Well, Shellder's body is as hard as a diamond, so no normal attack will be able to penetrate it," said Gilbert. "Plus the fact that withdraw raises defense. Now, counter attack with clamp!" Shellder opened his shell and closed it rapidly on Riolu's paw, causing him to squeal in pain. He waved his arm frantically and punched Shellder enough times till he finally let go.
"Okay, Shellder, dish out your special attack aurora beam!" Eager to please his trainer, Shellder prepared the attack by making the two "horns" on the back of his body glow a whitish color and a producing a soft crackling-like noise, almost as if it were an electric attack before unleashing then a beautiful electromagnetic wave of cold particles towards the bipedal canine. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the beam was moving at a ridiculously high velocity that it was impossible to dodge it and the icy beam collided with Riolu, knocking him backwards towards Ash. The boy was able to feel the heat escaping his surrounding from such a marvelous attack.
"Riolu, are you okay?" asked Ash as bent downards to pat Riolu's head in encouragement. He talked in a voice that was relatively low, but Gilbert was still able to hear it, granted it was a bit distorted. "Please do your best seismic toss you can possibly do. I have faith in you!"
"Shellder, try to stop Riolu with ice beam," ordered Gilbert as he clenched his fist with anxiety and adrenaline rushing. Luckily for Riolu, Shellder had to spend more time charging his ice beam than aurora beam, plus, he wasn't exactly that agile on land. These factors gave Riolu an excellent opportunity to strike at Shellder and sneaked up behind him, grabbing the "back" of Pokemon and tossing him into the air. Being startled from getting tossed so high in the air caused Shellder to accidentally shoot a powerful ice beam into the river that froze the the top of the water. Riolu bounced in the air to "catch" Shellder by placing his feet firmly in his shell, adding more momentum to the attack. The attack was powerful enough to knock out Shellder, as noted by the swirls in the eyes. He also saw that it even knocked a small chip off of his shell.
"Hmm, either your Riolu is strong enough to break diamonds, or Shellder's shell is not fully hardened to max," said Gilbert as he picked up Shellder.
"Sorry, I didn't know it was going to be that powerful," said Ash as Gilbert called back Shellder.
"It's okay, I'm not surprised in the least bit that I lost, since I haven't battled in a long time," said Gilbert with a small sigh.
"Incidentally, how does your Pokemon know moves like ice beam and aurora beam if he is at a low level?" asked Erika.
"My father is a breeder, and he bred two Cloysters together, and the father must have passed those moves on to the egg," said Gilbert. "He then let me have this Shellder as my starter and we've been inseperable since then. I'm not that keen about battling, and you confirmed that being a trainer is not for me. Now, let me show that shortcut."
"Sounds great," said Ash as he and Erika followed Gilbert. They followed him for about five minutes until he stopped in the road. "Why did we stop?"
"You see, right over this large hill here and about half a mile is the entrance to Mount Moon," explained Gilbert. The three humans looked up and saw the hill that was about 800 feet tall. "If you were to continue on the path that we are on now, it would be winding around for about 4 and a half miles."
"Okay, so how are we supposed to get over it?" asked Ash. "I'm not exactly in the shape to climb."
"Well, you don't have to worrry; the shortcut is a tunnel that Onix and Steelix dug," said Gilbert. "Unfortunately, I can't go any further since I have to go home to take care of my younger sister, but I wish the two of you a lot of luck on your future quests!"
"Wait, here's my end of my promise!" remembered Ash as he took out Dratini's Pokeball. He tossed it to the ground and she appeared before Gilbert. "I promised this boy that I would show you to him as he wants to see you, girl," said Ash as he patted her head.
"Is it okay if I pat her on the head?" asked Gilbert.
"Is that okay with you, Dratini?" asked Ash. She nodded and approached Gilbert who extended his hand to gently pat her on the cool, moist scalp. "Hey, do you wanna come with us?" offered Ash.
Gilbert retracted his hand and frowned. "Unfortunately, I can't go any further since I have to go home to take care of my younger sister, but I wish the two of you a lot of luck on your future quests!" He made his way back west and waved at them while walking.
"Bye, Gilbert! And thanks a lot!" said Ash and Erika simultaneously. The two of them continued onwards for about fifteen more minutes until they finally made it to the entrance of Mt. Moon, all thanks to Gilbert's help. By the entrance stood a man in a white lab coat and a very panicked expression covering his face. In one hand, he had a lantern and in the other, he was holding onto a rock. He desperately stumbled till he reached the feet of the two trainers.
"P-please! I was my looking for fossils and moon stones for research with my assistant when all the sudden Team Rocket ambushed me and I got seperated! Please, you gotta help me!" he begged.
"I encountered them at Viridian forest; were they two members in white uniform, a man with blue hair and a woman with long red hair?" asked Ash.
"Yes, that's them, and I also saw a few members with the black uniforms," replied the scientists. "They are trying to sell steal our work over the course of four days and sell it on the black market! I managed to take a moon stone away from them, but I fear they might come back and look for me! They are also trying to steal some of the rare Pokemon that are in the cave. You've got to do something! Please!"
"Do not worry," started Ash, "we both will take care of Team Rocket and get your assistant out as well as your findings."
A.N. Chapter is almost 7,000 words long. Please tell me who you think Ash should catch; a Pokemon that is not commonly seen in the anime and is one of your favorites is recommended. I will create a poll based on the suggestions and the most popular one will appear. And Melanie is Ash's OC main rival, roughly the female version of Gary or Paul, for instance. Also, I added a new poll. He will catch two new Pokemon before his battle with Misty.