A.N. Tell me how to improve by leaving any feedback or a PM! Thank you! This chapter lives up to the T rating due to some language (to enhance anger) and violence. Also, this is the longest chapter in the story so far, and I would like to know if you think I should make them all this long or shorter.
Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me, just the contents of this story.
"Hold on, Ash, let's not get too hasty," cautioned Erika as she got on her knees to be level with the scientist who was still shaking with fear. "Are you hurt? Did those no-good thugs hurt you?"
"A minor bruise, but they didn't cause it. As I was heading towards the exit of the cave in a frenzy, I accidentally tripped on a Geodude on my way out and it punched me out of anger," explained the scientist. "It's a good thing this lantern is shatter-resistance, otherwise I would not have been able to find my way around after I tripped."
"We should call the police. This may be too difficult for us, and they may also have guns," said Erika.
"They would come too late," said the scientist, "as they had already made a sweep through here earlier and arrested about ten or more Rocket grunts. I assumed that it would be safe as I thought that was all of the members in the area, and I even asked a police officer if it was safe to explore the area. She said yes, so my assistant and I decided to do some research. As for guns, I didn't see any; they threatened to use their Pokémon on us, most of them were weak like Rattata or Zubat, but I did see a Koffing and Ekans."
"I'll teach those buffons a lesson!" roared Ash in anger as he headed into the cave without any signs of fear. "I do not forgive those who cause innocent people harm."
"Wait!" called back the panicking scientists whose knees were wobblinb out of fear. Erika and Ash turned their heads and immediately looked back at the scientist.
"What's wrong?" inquired Ash.
"Oh, nothing. It's just that, before you go, I want you take these," replied the scientist as he reached into his pocket to give Ash some strange-looking objects. "These are max revives; you give them to your Pokemon and they will recover to full energy. I only have three; even if you don't need them when you are going to find my assistant, please keep them as a token of my sincere gratitude."
"Thank you, I hope I won't need them today, after all I did earn my Boulder Badge a few hours ago," boasted Ash with a pride-filled chuckle. Erika shook her head with a small smirk at his antics.
"Well, they shouldn't be too much of a challenge, as I think that these cadets are new," said the scientist as he adjusted his glasses on his face. "They are slow to follow orders, but please be careful!"
"Just wait right here, we'll be out in no time," reassured Erika as she followed Ash into Mt. Moon, but they didn't get very far as the pitch-black darkness seemed to engulf every cubic of feet of atmosphere. They turned back around and faced the scientist.
"May we borrow that lantern, mister?" asked Ash as he pointed while still holding onto the crutch.
"Yes, go ahead, and watch out for Geodude," he warned. "He's near the exit by Route 5!"
"Thanks, we'll get there as soon as possible," reassured Ash as he waited for Erika to pick up the lantern. "Aren't you going to take it?"
"It won't be necessary when you have a Pokémon that knows flash," she stated as she let loose a Pokéball, freeing Exeggcute from the technological ball. "Use flash, but not too bright as we shouldn't disturb the Pokemon that reside in the dark."
The cluster of pink plant seeds agreed and created a weak orb of light above herself/themselves (I honestly don't know, since it's considered one entity, but still) and bounced around, shining the light in about a five foot radius, illuminating the humans a sufficiently bright path to navigate through the cave without damaging the eyesight of the Pokémon that had grown to live a life with minimum light. They looked all around and indeed, there were multiple Geodudes lying around in the darkness. The ceiling was filled with stalactites, not unlike the gym in Pewter, but they still hung lazily into the pitch-black atmosphere.
"I hope that man is okay, since there is no telling what Team Rocket is up to," whispered Erika as she kept walking deeper and deeper into the cave with Ash by her side. Despite her voice that she maintained at a low decibel, it still seemed to gently reverberate off the walls.
"Just think positively," said Ash as he still pressed onwards without turning back. "Both of them will be okay, I guarantee it."
The two of them remained silent for a couple of minutes, arriving into the very heart of the cave where they were unable to see the light of the entrance they had gone through. until they saw a figure moving surrounded by light, but it was hard to tell what it was since it was quite a distance away. Plus, it was also heading in the same direction as Ash and Erika.
"I don't think so, but be prepared to figh, Exeggcute," said Erika as a caveat as the pink seeds began to carefully "tip-toe" with extreme caution. Exeggcute proceeded forward and shone the light on the figure, revealing it was two people: a male and a female. With a better look, granted that the full details were a little bleak, Ash could tell that they were older trainers as they stood quite a bit taller than he.
"Oh, hello, there young trainer," said the male in a calm and polite tone as his figure was completely illuminated by the combination of Exeggcute's flash as well as the other Pokémon's. It was an orange and yellow looking Pokémon with a long black tail that had a lightning bolt at the end. The Pokémon began forming sparks in its cheeks, but the trainer stopped it.
"Steady, Raichu, we aren't battling just yet," said the boy.
Ash and Erika could both make out the features of the boy which consisted of blue pants and a white polo shirt, and hooked to his belt was a long whip. The female walked next to the teenager and appeared in the light blue denim skirt that also had a whip attached to its belt and she had on a light pink polo. (Their styles/looks basically the same as the Cool Trainers in Gen 1). They were about 17 years old who could easily beat him without a blink of the eye, but that did not stop Ash from opening his mouth.
"I'm so glad that we found someone in this cave; we need help," said the raven-haired boy with a small whisper.
"With what, training?" interjected the older female with a bit of a scoff. "Are you looking for a battle? But, I might as well warn you now: I've been battling for probably longer than you've been walking, so I'm letting you go if you wish."
"I'm not in the mood to battle now, thanks," was the only thing that Ash had to say on that score.
"Are you sure?" said the female. "Cause we can give you some pointers to become powerful trainers such as ourselves, and-"
"No, we aren't here to battle. Team Rocket has a scientist trapped and there is another one by himself at the entrance on Route 4," interrupted Erika, "and we don't know how many members there are. They are trying to steal their research and sell it on the black market and there's no telling what they are doing to the Pokemon. Would you be willing to help?"
"Sound pretty interesting compared to our day; all we've been doing is looking for fossils to have revitalized at Cinnabar Island, but we've had no luck whatsoever," said the young man as he scratched his chin. "But it's also risky for that man to just stay out there by his lonesome, plus, I hate people like Team Rocket. Manipulating Pokémon to do crimes for profit makes me sick. I'll go accompany these two and find the scientist; those. Stacy, you go stay with the one by the entrance by Route 4."
"Got it. Good luck, Ben!" she called back as he started down the darkened path. The Raichu followed the girl and they departed towards the entrance. With Exeggcute guiding the three humans, they pressed onwards towards the relatively straight path towards the Cerulean City exit.
"The name's Ben, and that's my younger sister Stacy you just saw," introduced Ben with a voice that finally broke the silence that had been lingering on for about five minutes. "She's always wanting to get in a battle, but I tell her to watch herself since she sometimes picks fights with random people."
"So have you really come to look for fossils here in Mt. Moon?" asked Erika.
"Yes, and no. One of the reasons we are also here is because there are supposedly sightings of Clefairy, a very rare Pokémon. We are actually from Lavender Town and wanted a bit of a vacation, so to speak. Stacy, despite getting carried away with her pugnacity, still is a child down inside and she desperately wants to capture one, even though all of her Pokemon are a lot stronger than these little normal types."
"That's pretty cool; I've heard about Clefairy and they supposedly bring good luck to anybody who manages to catch one," said Erika as she continued her forward advance.
"So, what's the first Pokemon you ever caught, Ben?" asked Ash out of pure curiosity.
"A Machop," he replied. "My trusted partner for eight years. With him, I started taking down the gym leaders back in March and I just beat the leader at Cinnabar Island, but there is no report of where the eight gym leader of Viridian City is. Say, you look really familiar, miss."
Erika gasped then she blushed. "Oh, yeah, I have heard about that missing gym leader," said Erika, completely changing the subject altogether. "The Pokémon League has gotten a lot of complaints about that, so I heard that they are sending a replacement, if I recall."
"Haven't I seen you before in Celadon City?" asked Ben.
"Not that I'm aware of; it's such a huge city and you easily could have mistaken me for someone else you saw," defended Erika.
"So this guy says he's seen her, too. Just who is she?" thought Ash to himself. Ben and Erika continued to talk between themselves and shared a few laughs.
"Oh, enough about me. Why don't you tell Ben what you had just done not to long ago, Ash?" suggested the blue-haired girl.
"I just beat my first gym leader a few hours ago," gloated Ash as he opened his jacket to show Ben the badge. The teenager just smiled at him calmly. "And, I became a trainer just three days ago," he added with a small chuckle.
"That's relatively impressive, I must say," said Ben. "How was the battle with Brock?"
"Oh, I beat him on my first go; he was starting to get the upper hand but I used the battlefield to my advantage and pulled through victorious."
"I really wish I had started pursuing the Pokemon gyms at an earlier age," sighed Ben as he looked down. "I just turned 16 a few weeks ago, but here you are at..."
"Ten," said Ash.
"...ten, doing what I'm doing. But, I must say, I have had a lot of fun along the way."
The three of them engaged in casual chatter for a few minutes until they saw the light of the exit pouring into the cave.
"That scientist said that they would be around this area, but I don't see anyone," commented Erika.
"Maybe they went to a more secluded part of Mt. Moon," suggested Ben. Once Ben finished that sentence, a few voices in the background could be heard, angry ones at that.
"Did you hear that?" asked Ash, turning to both the other travelers who nodded in unison. The three humans and Exeggcute went behind a corridor where they were able to look around to see if there was somebody else in the surrounding. Indeed, there was Team Rocket, and the smart-mouthed feline of theirs, Meowth, abusing the assistant who was tied up to a stalagmite with chains. The members consisted of James, Jessie, and two grunts, one female who had on an outfit similar to that which Jessie wore, and a male who had on pants the same kind as James, except they were black, as well as his shirt that had the trademark red "R" on it, and white boots. They also had a large bag, possibly carrying all the lot that they had stolen from the defenseless scientist.
The scientist was franticly struggling to get off the chains. "I won't tell you where the fossils are, you fiends!"
"The moons stones you provided us are pretty nice, but we can't just leave until we get those fossils that you know are," said the black-suited grunt.
Meowth extended his claws a short bit and scratched the scientist across the, causing the man to scream in agony at the wound. "You betta start talkin'!" said the cat with his Brooklyn accent.
"I won't let you get away with this!" shouted the man who began panting out of exhaustion.
"And what are you gonna do about it?" said James. "We've already taken your Pokémon and we will make sure that no one will save you."
"Somebody will come, I guarantee-" he started before the unknown named female grunt slapped him across the face.
"Oh, shut up!" she roared. "You would be wise to keep your mouth shut. The only thing you're telling us is where those fossils are!"
No longer able to keep his pent-up anger, Ash stepped out of the hidden walls of the corridor and confronted the group with fury.
"Leave that man alone! He didn't do anything to you, you freaks!" he shouted angrily as the sound of his crutches echoed across the cave walls.
The two unfamiliar Rocket members turned their attention to Ash and began laughing.
"Is this some sort of joke?" asked the female in between her gut-busting laughing. "They sent some crippled kid, a girl with a hideous sense of fashion, and a nerdy high school kid to try and stop us?"
"I remember you," said Jesse as she flicked her hair back. "You're the brat we encountered back in Viridian Forest. You got off easily by luck because of the Beedrill swarm, but luckily, we caught all the Pokemon in this end of the cave, so there won't be any outside distractions to bother us."
"Do us all a favor and get lost before you get hurt really badly," advised James, who was holding a rose and displaying a fiendish grin. "Sure, we may be a bit clumsy, but that doesn't mean we can't show you true pain."
"I'll make you cry home to your mommy, kid!" said Meowth as he extended his claws to about three inches long.
Erika frowned at this, but Ben and Ash were both gritting their teeth in anger.
"Not until that man comes back with us," ordered Ash firmly, "and release all the innocent Pokémon."
"Why don't you try to back up your words of showing us true pain when we're kicking your asses?" shouted Ben as he took out his Pokeball. Ash and the four Rocket members all followed suit and all of the Pokemon revealed themselves; Ash sent out Dratini and Ben had let fourth a grey four-armed Pokemon with gigantic bulging muscles, what appeared to be a wrestling championship belt, and black short wrestling tights on.
"Wow, you have a Dratini?" asked Ben incredulously when Ash nodded yes in response.
"Yep, so how she happens to be my starter as well," confirmed Ash with a weak smile.
"Nice. I can't wait to see how you will turn out when you're my age," complemented Ben.
James sent out Koffing, Jesse, Ekans, the male trainer sent out a very long rock snake that made the ground shake violently, much more fiercely than when Rhyhorn was in battle. It was so powerful that Ash almost fell straight on his back if it wasn't for Ben to sustain his weight. The female sent out a huge boulder-like Pokémon that had four arms and short legs. Both of the rock-types looked at Dratini with interest.
"Onix and Graveler, huh?" muttered Ben. "I wouldn't give much worry to that Graveler since it's normal-sized and doesn't look like much of a challenge, but that Onix looks way bigger than a normal one, due to the size of its boulders."
"This Onix is actually about 40 feet long," said the male grunt, "so it definitely is stronger than a regular one."
Ash took out his PokeDex and first pointed it at the rock snake. "Onix, the rock snake Pokemon. With an average length of 28 feet, it is the largest rock-type Pokemon, although some records have indicated it can grow to as much as 45 feet It burrows underground at over 30 miles per hour, destroying any rocks in its way. When its body turns a clear color, it is said that is near evolution."
Luckily, Ash could tell that this Onix was still a boulder grey color, so he didn't fear evolution.
Then he pointed the Pokédex at the huge boulder Pokémon. "Graveler, the rock Pokémon. After evolving from Geodude, it gained legs; however these legs are poorly developed and its preferred method of movement is rolling. It does not care if fragments of its body break off while doing so down a mountain slope."
Ash finally pointed the Pokédex at Ben's Pokémon analyzed it.
"Machamp, the superpower Pokémon. The belt on its waist serves as a restraint for its power; without it, the Pokémon will go beserk. With the use of its four arms, the strongest and most powerful of this species is easily capable of moving Mount Everst about 20 feet by itself."
Ben had a warm smile on his face. "Don't worry, I don't think he's strong enough to move a mountain that big, or any for that matter," he said as he patted the Pokémon's shoulder. "He just evolved a couple of weeks ago, anyways."
"Enough of the Pokémon lecture, let's just get down to the fighting already!" shouted Jessie. "Ekans, use acid and melt that muscle maniac's flesh to the bone!"
"Koffing, use sludge bomb and fill Dratini's lungs full of toxins," smirked James.
The two poisonous monsters both raised their heads and unleashed their special attacks at their respected targets.
"Machamp, get out of the way and counterattack using strength!" ordered Ben whose Pokemon luckily moved out of the way of the caustic fluid that landed on a nearby rock near the scientist and started to dissolve the top layer of sediment.
"Hey, please don't let them kill me!" he pleaded.
"Sorry," apologized Ben with a sweat drop. His fighting Pokémon lifted a huge boulder with ease. Koffing hurled a nasty wad of brown filth towards Machamp, but he blocked it with the huge boulder and chucked it at Ekans who wasn't swift enough to get out of the way. The extent of Ben's training clearly paid off as Ekans had already fallen unconscious and could not combat anymore.
"Nice going, Ben," congratulated Ash.
"Well, with eights year of training, you can expect to take fools down like these who probably don't even have a month's worth of training," commented Ben.
"We've been training for more than six years, thank you," said James with a displeased look upon his face.
"Oh yeah?" said Ash. "Then why was it that I almost had you two goons beaten, hmm?"
"Shut up! This round is different from the last one. Let our actions show how much we've improved!" yelled Jesse as a crucifix of veins appeared on her head with a tightly clinched fist. She realized that she didn't have another Pokémon on her belt, and the Pokemon they had all just caught were pretty weak from being drained of their energy from battling. "Get in there, Meowth!" she shouted as she picked up the Pokémon and threw him directly towards Machamp, hitting the superpower Pokémon in the face. Meowth quickly recovered and withdrew his claws.
"Come on, pretty boy, let's get this fight on!" said Meowth. On the inside, Meowth was actually panicking, but he did not want to embarrass himself in front of everyone.
Knowing that the feline Pokemon did not stand a chance, Machamp folding both pairs of arms and casually stood there doing nothing as Meowth leaped up to scratch Machamp's chest. With a swift rake, he did so, but…
"Meowww!" screamed Meowth in pain as he landed on the ground. His claws, which were at about four inches long before he "attacked" Machamp, had been whittled down to about two inches. He looked at the pieces of his claws that were on the cave floor. He heard a cracking noise and saw that Machamp was cracking his knuckles with a smug grin on his face, signaling that it was his turn to attack. Meowth let down a sweat drop and started to dash back to Jesse and James on all fours, but the fighting-type grabbed his tail and swung him around above his head like a lasso and hurled him at Koffing, instantly knocking them both out. Jesse picked up Meowth and tried to get him to wake up, but it didn't work; James, on the other hand, merely withdrew Koffing without saying anything.
Jesse stomped the ground with her left foot. "Do something, Alice!"
"I'll handle these punks, boss!" said the other female. "Graveler, watch out for that Machamp and use rollout to flatten that Dratini!"
Graveler tucked in its body and thinking back of his battle with Brock earlier gave Ash an idea.
"Dratini, twister!" shouted Ash. "We'll try to do the same we did to Rhyhorn earlier, and—"
"Wait!" warned Ben. "If you use twister, you could damage this cave that belongs to these Pokémon. Plus, it may break the moon stones."
"Oh, yeah, I didn't think about it," replied Ash a bit sheepishly. "Jump out of the way and use slam on Onix!"
Dratini used her powerful muscle stored in her tail and leaped out of the way of the rolling Graveler who couldn't stop until he collided with the cave wall, releasing a powerful shock wave that almost knocked everyone over. During the frenzy of said shock wave, Erika managed to sneak past the view of the four Team Rocket's field of sight and went up to the scientist.
"Exeggcute, use confusion on the chains and free this man," she commanded. The metal restraints on the scientist started to contort by the unknown force that the psychic plant seeds were using from her glowing eyes until the chains managed to collapse, giving the man the chance to escape. She withdrew Exeggcute and began to run back over to Ash and Ben while holding the scientist's hand. However, the members of the notorious gang saw this and stood there, blinking in awe until Jesse snapped out of her trance.
"Eddie, stop them!" she commanded.
"You got it boss! Onix, slam these fools into oblivion!"
The rock snake did not hesitate and lunged about 10 feet of its long body towards the two humans, causing the boulder to which the man was tied to crumble, sending medium-sized fragments of rocks to hit both him and Erika in the back. They fell to the ground unconscious and Ash gasped. He even saw that Erika had a fairly large cut on her shoulder that was visible due to the small tear in the dress it created. The scientist, on the other hand, did not seem as badly hurt, but he still was not responded.
"You'll pay for hurting those two!" he roared with boiling rage. "Dratini, use thunder wave!"
"But Ash, those Pokémon are ground type, it won't work," advised Ben.
"On Team Rocket!" continued Ash, causing Ben to gasp.
She was a bit hesitant of using this move on the humans, but, considering the fact that they were cold-hearted thieves with no sense of integrity, she did not falter and her body glowed with electric charge while giving an intimidating glare.
"Get in the way and block it, Onix! It won't affect you!" said Eddie. But it was too late; Dratini succeeded in discharging the electric current on Jesse and James, making them fall down to their knees as if gravity had the intensity of a Snorlax on top of them, rendering the two white-attired thugs immobile.
"Boss!" said Eddie and Alice who both ran to their superiors.
"It's not permanent, just get those twerps!" ordered the red-haired woman.
"Onix, bind those two weaklings!" ordered Eddie as the rock snake used about half of its body link to wrap up only Dratini, who was unable to get out of the way in time since the experienced Machamp was a lot faster than the low-leveled Dratini.
"Dratini, please hang in there!" called out Ash.
"I'll help out," offered Ben. "Machamp, pry open enough space so Dratini can flee." The four-armed wrestler-like Pokémon gladly ran up to Onix and used his strength to easily push open the coil that Onix wrapped around the small dragon. Machamp grabbed the weakened dragon and headed back to Ash, where he got on his knees and held her.
"So what, you saved your puny dragon, big deal," said James. "We don't care about its primary form; once we capture it, we will force it to evolve into Dragonair, then Dragonite, then sell it off at auction! People will pay huge bucks for a rare specimen like that."
"I'll defend Dratini as well as the others with my life!" defended Ash.
Ben's eyes widened at what Ash had just said. "Do not say that! You know you aren't strong enough to handle them by yourself!" Ash said nothing in response to this.
"I'll tell you one thing, kid; you got guts," said Alice with a smirk. "Graveler, use magnitude! Knock them off their feet!" The Graveler got on top of the boulder whose top layer had dissolved by the acid and was preparing to jump.
"This won't take long, Ash," said Ben. "Machamp, give 'em ice punch!" While dashing as fast as possible, the muscle Pokémon's fist began to release heat into the atmosphere until it became a frosty white color, then with one well-aimed punch hit Graveler in its stony gut, encasing its lower abdomen in ice. The rock Pokémon fell to the ground at gravity's acceleration and the ice prison shattered, followed by the cliché swirls in its eyes. Alice grunted in frustration and withdrew Graveler.
"Wow, nice move," complimented Ash.
"Thanks," responded Ben. "I got the technique from Goldenrod City's department story off in a region called Johto."
"Onix, get out there and show them what you're made of!" commanded Eddie as the rock serpent was just feet away from Machamp."
"Give them another ice punch!" shouted Ben. With a cold fist, Machamp unleashed a powerful punch to Onix's stony body, causing it to recoil a few feet, but it also seemed the attack did not have much effect on it.
"That Onix must have monumentally high defense," commented Ben as he scratched his head.
"Ben, do you have a water or grass-type Pokémon with you?" asked Ash. "I heard that rock-types have low resistance to special attacks and since they have a four-times weakness against either type, it'll be sure to really put the hurt on him! We gotta stop that Onix, quickly!"
"Unfortunately, no; I only have a Magmar, a fire-type, a Tauros, normal-type, and an Electabuzz, and electric-type. But my sister has a Wartortle, but—"
"There's no time!" said Ash. "They could really hurt Erika and that man!"
"That friend of yours has Exeggcute!" said Ben, "but their variety of special attacks is very limited. Does she have any other types?"
"Of course, why didn't I think of it?" thought Ash out loud. "She has a Gloom and a Weepinbell!"
"Yeah, we gotta get one of her Pokémon, and fast!" said Ben. "Machamp, cover me while I go over to her."
"Onix, use wrap on that trainer!" shouted Eddie with a smirk on his face. "But not so hard as you might crush those Pokéballs he's got which have those unique Pokémon."
Onix did not seem to feel any guilt in the fact that he was going to harm a human being, so he used the last five feet of his tail and wrapped it around Ben's waist, completely leaving him helpless with flailing arms as he hoisted him about 20 feet in the air.
"Agggh!" screamed Ben in pain as he felt the rocks squeezing his body. "Let go of me!" He used his free arms to push against the boulders of Onix's body to lessen the force that constricted him, but it only ended in failure.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" taunted Jesse. "A fall from that height could kill you." Ben stopped struggling but still groaned in pain.
"I guess it's up to me now to save him," thought Ash as he returned Dratini to her Pokéball. He quickly "walked" as fast as he could with his crutches over to Erika and the scientist and saw that the scientist was awake and breathing normally but not moving to avoid Team Rocket from hurting him further.
He looked over to Erika and noticed that she was still breathing and was beginning moving, but he feared more about the wound on her back that saturated the back shoulder of her blouse with crimson blood. He got on his knees and touched her arm in an attempt to wake her up. She moaned and finally came to and rubbed her hair.
"Erika, are you okay?" he asked in relief.
"Yeah, but what are you doing?" she replied.
"I need a grass type and reached out to grab one of the Pokéballs, but a voice stopped him.
"Drop that right now!" ordered Jesse, James, Eddie, and Alice simultaneously.
"If you want your little friend here," started James, pointing at Ben, "to get out of this alive, you better not dare use one of those grass-types!"
"Ash, he's gotta be bluffing! He doesn't have the guts to kill a person!" shouted Ben.
"Oh, be quiet," said Jesse lazily. "So. Make your move."Ash calmly placed the Pokéball back in Erika's bag and stood back up; granted, he didn't know Ben at all, he couldn't bear to live with himself if he caused an innocent person to die.
"Good decision," said Jesse. "We'll let your little friend here go if you relinquish all your Pokémon to us and give us the fossils!" She turned to face the scientist when she said these last words. "Don't think I can't see that you're awake. You still gotta find those fossils and—"
Jesse stopped when all of the sudden, a random blast of water came and hit Onix dead-on in the face. He roared and looked in pain, but he did not let go of the human that he was holding.
"Let go of him, you bitch!" shouted a voice. Everyone turned their attention towards the source of it. It was Stacy and the other scientist and next to the girl stood a bipedal blue turtle that was about five feet tall.
"Blastoise!" shouted Ben. "But, you were Wartortle and—" he was interrupted when the voice of the scientist echoed through the cave.
"Patrick!" said the scientist as he was starting to head towards his fallen assistant. Stacy grabbed his coat from the back and tugged on it. He turned around and looked at her.
"Don't go over there yet, George, it may be a trap," said Stacy as the man returned to her side.
"I don't know who you are, nor do I really care, but if you want to see him walk free, you'll hand over your Pokémon!" ordered Jesse.
"Never!" shouted Stacy with a clinched fist. "When you mess with my brother, shit gets personal!" She turned to Ash. "Sorry about the language, but I'm extremely mad!"
"Stacy!" shouted Ben in pain. "Don't test them, they really could. Get out of here or they'll kill me." He looked up at Onix and saw that there was moss (or mold, but like in the anime Pewter Gym battle) covering his face and his strength was dwindling.
"You kill my brother and I will personally see to your execution myself!" shouted Stacy with hatred running through her veins. "We'll settle this now. Use blizzard!" The Blastoise began to suck air into his mouth and with a mighty blow, let out a huge torrent of frigid ice crystals and snow, covering the entire body of Onix and even Ben with a fresh blanket of snow!
"That's my sister, raising hell!" said Ben with a chuckle.
The cold was too intense for the colossal Pokémon and he let go of Ben. Machamp, who was standing about fifteen feet from where Ben would land, dived and slammed his body onto the ground and successfully caught his trainer with the top set of arms. He stood up and placed his trainer down while brushing off the dirt and rubble with his bottom set of arms.
"Thanks a lot, buddy, that could've turned nasty if you hadn't caught me," thanked Ben with a slight chuckle as he shivered slightly and brushed off the snow.
"Ma, Machamp," said his Pokémon with a nod and a smile on his face.
"Here, why don't you take a rest, Machamp?" he recommended as he withdrew the Pokéball. The fighting-type did not resist and returned to the comforts of his ball.
"Quit stalling and get them!" shouted Eddie to the badly injured Onix.
"Blastoise, finish them off with water pulse!" instructed Stacy. The turtle Pokemon opened its mouth and created a large orb of water and hurled it, increasing with size on its trajectory, and collided with Onix, creating a huge splash of water that got all the Team Rocket members wet. Onix roared in pain before finally falling over, causing the entire cave to shake. Eddie took out the Pokéball and recalled Onix.
"Such worthless Pokémon," stated Alice with an angry look.
"You brat!" Eddie shouted. "I'm gonna—". He stopped when all the sudden a small Pokémon who had come in from the outside trotted into view past the paralyzed Jesse and James and caused everyone to gasp.
"It's a Clefairy!" they all said at the same time, but not loudly enough to scare it away. The Clefairy tilted its head in curiosity before suddenly tripping over a small rock, causing it to lose balance to spin around eventually fall on its behind.
"I thought Clefairy were shy Pokémon," said Ben as he scratched his chin a bit puzzled. "Usually humans never see them out in the open."
"That Clefairy looks confused; a Zubat may have used supersonic on it for some reason," suggested Stacy.
"Whatever the reason may be, it's in a vulnerable state and ready for our picking," said Jesse. "Use the nets!" Eddie and Alice both went to the huge bag that Team Rocket was carrying and got a huge net of abou feet.
"I'm not letting you thugs take an innocent Pokémon like that!" said Ash. "I had no intentions of catching one, and it might not like me as a trainer, but it's a lot better than going off with them!" Ash tossed a Pokéball the same time Alice and Eddie tossed the net and Ash began sweating profusely out of anxiety. He knew that if the Pokéball caught Clefairy that it would be trapped in the net. He had to think of something to prevent Team Rocket from getting their hands on that Clefairy!
The Pokéball finally impacted Clefairy so hard that it fell over with swirls in its eyes before being converted into data to be contained in the ball. Unsurprisingly, the net encased the ball and wrapped it up after it stopped shaking, indicating that Clefairy had been caught!
All four of the Rocket Members snickered. "Thanks for the catch, loser!" said James as Eddie ran after the net.
Ash growled and had to act fast before who knew what would become of that poor Clefairy! "Scyther, come on-"
"I got this, kid, don't worry!" said Stacy as she ran up behind Eddie and took out her whip. She flung it forward and it wrapped around his ankle and she pulled with all her might, causing him to hit the ground face first and knock him out cold. The ball fell out of the net and Alice went after it, but she become victim to a similar fate as her partner Eddie. Stacy picked up the Pokéball and turned back towards Ash before a voice started chattering.
"That girl's tough," said James.
"We should look out for them, especially her; she must have ice in her veins to humiliate us like that," said Jesse.
"Oh, shut it; not so powerful now, are you?" taunted Stacy as she walked up to Jesse and James and kicked dirt in their faces. She ran towards Ash and handed him the Pokéball. "I believe this is yours."
"I want you to have it, Stacy; your brother told me that you really wanted a Clefairy."
"Oh, really? He said that?" she said with a small blush. "But, seriously, it's your Pokéball you threw at it and you helped this innocent scientist out. You deserve to keep Clefairy." She handed the ball to Ash and he clipped the ball on his belt.
"Give us that Clefairy!" ordered Jesse with anger.
Stacy sighed with annoyance. "Raichu, give them thundershock to knock them out; I'm tired of listening to them."
Raichu did as she commanded and released a weak thundershock that the water conducted, electrocuting all the Rockets till they were out cold.
"That oughta shut them up for a while," said Stacy as she then ran up to her injured brother and got down on her knees. "Ben, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay, but I'm more worried about them two," said Ben as he pointed to the scientist and Erika.
"What are we gonna do about Team Rocket?" asked Stacy.
"I got it taken care of; I contacted the Cerulean Police and they should be hear any minute," reassured Ben. "When did Wartortle evolve? And why did you come back here? Not that I'm complaining since you saved us, but..."
"Well, I figured it would have taken you guys at the most thirty minutes to save him, but forty-five minutes had passed and I was getting really worried. I feared there may have been something powerful in the cave that stopped you all, so just to be sure if it was the worse, I gave him a couple of rare candies I had saved, and, well, he evolved to this awesome Blastoise!" She patted the tall turtle's shell and the Pokemon gave a smile to everyone.
"Now you're making me want a water Pokemon," chuckled
"Erika, please tell me that you're okay," said Erika.
"It's nothing serious, really; just a few cuts is all, although this one here does some a bit troublesome since it's stained my clothes all bloody," she trailed off.
"How about you, mister? Are you okay?" asked the boy to the young man.
"Yes, just some minor scratches, although my back hurts quite a bit," he said.
George walked up to Erika and Patrick and examined the both of them. Although the two had told him how they felt, getting the opinion of someone with many more years of knowledge would make him feel less tense.
"Please tell me that they will be okay, mister," pleaded Ash to George with water starting to form in his eyes.
"These wounds they have are fortunately not serious in the least bit, but they do need some medical attention to prevent any sort of infection," said the older scientist. "If only I had some medical supplies, I could treat their wounds," he continued as he shook his head in disappointment.
"I got some supplies that Nurse Joy gave me back in Pewter City," said Ash. "Also, do you think that you could check out my foot? It kinda itches."
"No problem, I'd be glad to help," said George, "and call me George. There's no need to be some formal when you are in debt to a young person such as yourself." He took out the supplies and took off the raven-haired boy's shoes and examined it carefully, being sure not to put too much of the special organic antibiotic on the wound with the gauze. Fortunately, Ash realized that his wound had closed up even more than the previous day. Despite the incident occurring only two days ago, it was amazing how much it had healed. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could get back to walking within two weeks? After about ten more minutes, George had patched up both Erika and Patrick, whose bleeding finally stopped, and all of them were back on their feet.
"I'm the one who should be in debt to you, young man," said Patrick as he walked up to Ash and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Since you have a Clefairy now, I want you to have this moon stone; even if you didn't catch it, I was still going to give you a moon stone since several species require it to evolve."
"Wow, thanks!" said Ash as he examined the midnight-dark bumpy stone. He opened his knapsack and gently placed it in a padded area so it wouldn't get damaged. He turned towards the exit when he heard the revving of engines and five police women on motorcycles and two male officers who were driving sedans parked at the exit of the cave.
"Alright, ladies, move out!" commanded a uniformed woman with a curvy figure and spiked blue hair. The four motorcycle women, all of whom had different hair colors and styles, took out handcuffs and slapped them on the wrists of the crooks.
"Thanks for the call," said the blue-haired woman. "I'm officer Jenny and I am the chief of police of Cerulean City. I thought we had taken care of all the Rockets in this area, but somehow we managed to forget these four." She watched as the women assist the men in putting the crooks in two separate sedans. Chief of police Jenny got the attention of a dark green-haired officer and a blonde-haired one and told them both to stay for a minute. "The rest of you, take 'em away! I'll be back in town soon to deal with them myself!" The two motorcycles and the two sedans left the scene and Jenny turned back around to face the group and she caught sight of the large bag that Team Rocket left behind. She went over and examined the contents in the bag and gasped; there were probably about fifty Pokéballs in there and twenty moon stones.
"They said they captured all the Pokémon in this end of the mountain so there wouldn't be any distractions," explained Ash. "Most of them are probably badly injured and need assistance."
"I'll be sure to swing by the Pokémon center and have Nurse Joy look at them," reassured Jenny. "I'll stay here and help these scientists with their work and escort them back to Pewter City. You two, take them to the Pokemon center."
"Yes, ma'am!" said the two subordinates as they headed to the motorcycle. There was a side cart to each of them and the blonde-haired officer helped Ash get in. Erika did not any help and the two women started their engines and headed towards Cerulean City, but a voice stopped them.
"Wait, Ash!" it was Ben and Stacy who were running towards the motorcycle. Ben reached into his knapsack and handed Ash a technological box much like one Brock had given him earlier. The raven-haired boy examined it out of curiosity before he finally spoke.
"What TM is this?"he asked before finally putting it in his bag next to the other TM.
"That's ice punch; teach it to a Pokemon that's good with its fists!" said Ben. "Although, it won't well in the next gym since water type are resistant to ice moves, but I'm sure you will make use of it!"
"I will, thanks!" said Ash as Stacy held out her hand that had a few bubblegum-like candies. "What's this?"
"Rare candy, it levels up Pokemon and brings out more of their potential," she explained. "It's better to use it when they are at a higher level since it gets harder for them to gain experience."
"I appreciate it, both of you," said Ash as he put them away in his knapsack. "Good luck to you both!"
"Same here! Bye!" shouted Ben and Stacy simultaneously as they waved good-bye to the disappearing motorcycle. The mountain began to look smaller and smaller as they drove through the valley and the Cerulean skyline was getting larger and larger as they approached the city limits. Ash never had the experience of riding in a motorcycle and he loved the sensation of the mountain breeze blowing across his face. In about five minutes, the officers stopped in front of the Pokémon Center and the driver helped Ash out.
"I've never been to this city before, and, if you don't mind my asking, where is the Pokémon Gym?" asked Ash.
"Two blocks from here, and you can see it behind those shops," said the blonde-haired police officer as she pointed towards the east., "The leader is Misty, and as you can tell from the exterior of the building, she specializes in water-types."
Ash looked in the direction she was pointing at and saw the gym; it was considerably larger than the one in Pewter City, and on the roof of the gym was a large carbon-fiber statue of a seal-like Pokémon.
The two trainers headed into the Cerulean City Pokemon center and Ash saw that its layout was pretty much identical to the ones in Viridian and Pewter, although the arrangement of the furniture was different. Ash took out Riolu, Dratini and Clefairy's ball and handed them to Nurse Joy.
"I'm Ash Ketchum, and your older sister from Pewter City said that you could help me if needed, am I correct?" he asked in a polite tone.
"Indeed, that is correct, young man," responded Nurse Joy as she operated the machine to heal the Pokemon. "I will provide a key for your room tonight once you show me your identification."
"Of course," said Ash as took out his Pokédex, providing the details as his status as a trainer. She nodded and handed him a key which he put in his pocket.
"Here are your Pokéballs, Ash, and I hope you have a nice stay with us in Cerulean City," she said as she waved good-bye to the two of them who were leaving through the door.
Ash checked his Pokégear and saw that it was 2:41 p.m. "Hey, let's go shopping; I need to buy some more socks and I'm sure you would like to get a new outfit, anyways," suggested Ash.
"I definitely agree to that," said Erika as she smiled. "There are several shops right across the streets and I'm desperate to find something to replace this dress that I've had a while."
"I think it looks nice; if you got the blood out and sewed the hole close, you could still wear it," said Ash.
"That gives me an idea," said Erika. "I could do what you just said and donate it to a used clothing store where someone could get it at a much lower price..."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's explore the city!" exclaimed Ash.
The two of them went across the street and entered a boutique that had a complex French name that Ash couldn't pronounce. There were a few customers but they paid no attention to the two of them once they stepped foot inside. The fashion that the store had contained some of the newest fall wardrobe from the distant region of Kalos and Erika felt like a child in a candy store.
"Look at all these nice dresses," commented Erika as she looked through the countless varieties that were on display. She browsed independently and no one bothered to recommend her any of the newest styles, but that didn't bother Erika at all. She kept muttering under her breath about how some of the "trendy" designs of Kalos were hideous until she found a nice forest green polo-like dress and showed it to Ash. "What do you think?"
"Red, as in your shoes and head band, and green are complimentary colors; I think it would like really nice," said Ash.
"I think so, too, but...I kinda feel that I need a different color," stated Erika. She browsed through the dresses again until she found the same dress, but in yellow. "Now this is what I want!" She went up to the cashier, a girl of probably twenty-years old with a facial expression that one could read as "I really wish I weren't here right now." Erika was starting to take out money when the cashier spoke.
"Um...is that blood on your blouse?" she asked. Upon saying that, several people turned around to face the two trainers and Ash began to get nervous. "And I don't think that we have anything that will accommodate you, young man. I think the two of you should leave." Erika was about to reply but Ash beat her first at it.
"Yeah, we got in a fight with Team Rocket at Mount Moon, not that it's any of your business. Anything else you'd like to know?" asked Ash in a very frustrated voice, leaving the cashier almost intimidated. Erika did not express anger on her face, but she wasn't exactly pleased at the comments that the cashier and Ash were exchanging and she tried to brush off the embarrassment she was putting on herself.
The cashier said nothing else and took the money and placed the dress in a bag for Erika. While heading t he two trainers walked pass a group of onlookers who were conversing among themselves at the spectacle that just unfolded. The two of them went to a bench across the street away from the store and Erika sighed.
"Ash, what you said to that lady wasn't necessary, even if what she said was rude," commented Erika as she looked away for a brief moment. "Plus, you made people look at us and said stuff behind our backs."
Ash stopped walking and took in the words that she had just said. He immediately began to felt regret for the spur-of-the-moment words he just said. "I'm sorry, really; it's just that...you were hurt really badly and I wanted to defend you, so..." Ash released an anxiety-filled sighed. "I am sorry to embarrass you. I had no reason to lose my temper like that and I'll try not to do something like that again. Will you forgive me?"
"Yes, of course I will, Ash," smiled Erika, "but do you know what would make me even happier?"
"What's that?" he asked as he tilted his head.
"About a mile north of Cerulean, past Route 25 is a beautiful cape that overlooks the ocean. It is one of my favorite places in Kanto and I would really like to see it again, and I know you would enjoy the fresh breeze of the ocean."
"Yeah! That sounds great; after all, there is still plenty of daylight to enjoy this beautiful day," said Ash, "and with my foot all clean, I can stay out quite a while!"
"Oh, speaking of clean, let's go to that laundromat and fix this dress of mine," said Erika. "Luckily, there happens to be one right by the Pokémon center."
The two of them silently walked down the street of the moderately busy city and entered the laundromat. Erika headed towards the restroom and came out after about a minute and she had changed into the new dress she had bought. She went over to a machine and purchased the detergent and fabric softener and placed it in the washer.
"Well, it'll take about 15 minutes for it wash, and then about 10 minutes to dry, so what do you want to talk about in the meanwhile?" asked Erika as she sat in a folded chair.
"There is a shop next door that sells clothes, so I may go purchase some socks," said Ash as he headed towards the door.
"Okay, I'll just sit right here," said Erika. "Oh, and would you mind buying some thread and needle?"
"Sure thing, I'll be back as soon as possible," responded the boy. Despite the fact that the he had a damaged foot, he was surprisingly independent on transportation for the most part. Ash entered the store and got greeted by a friendly saleswoman. There were several customers in line so he made his way to the back of it and waited his turns.
. "Hi there, may I help you?" asked the saleswoman.
"I'd like to purchase some low-cut socks, please," said Ash. "Oh, and some green thread and a needle. Could you tell me where they are?"
"Certainly, I will go get them for you," politely said the woman as she left the counter to search for the item that he sought. Despite the fact that he had waited for probably 15 minutes until it was his turn, and the fact that he easily could have gone to look for what he needed himself, he did so in order to pass more time in waiting for Erika to get finished. In less than a minute, the woman brought back the items back to the counter. He took some money out to hand the woman and she handed the socks and small sewing kit which he put in his knapsack. He went back next door and saw Erika was reading a magazine.
"Did you have success?" asked Erika as she put down the magazine.
"Yes. is your dress finished drying?" asked Ash as he sat down on a chair and set his crutches aside.
"Not yet, the dryer still has four more minutes," said Erika as she took the sewing kit that he gave her. Ash propped his feet up on another chair and read a magazine on Pokemon strategies while Erika started tying the green thread into the needle to prepare it for sewing the dress. After the time passed, she finally got the dress out of the dryer and sewed the small hole. After she was finished, she showed it to Ash.
"It looks as good as new," complimented Ash, demonstrating his support by giving her a thumbs up. She placed the dress in the bag that her new dress was in and the two of them walked out of the door and headed towards the north. On the way to Route 24, there was a donation center and Erika walked inside and handed the dress to a man who greatly thanked her for the generous contribution. After they left Ash looked to the west and saw a beautiful crystal-clear lake and on the shore of it, opposite to the city by about 100 feet, stood a large cave that was sealed with a gate. In front of said cave stood a police man with a uniform and armed with the essential police gear. Ash was quite curious of this and squinted to get a better view of it.
"Hey, Erika, what's with that cave over there that man is guarding?" he inquired.
"It's a mysterious cave that holds overbearingly powerful Pokémon, and the police only permit those who have beaten the Elite Four to enter," said Erika.
"Not even to those who have all eight badges?" he asked.
"Afraid not. There are rumors that state an mystical one-of-a-kind Pokémon inhabits that cave, but the truth is, no one knows for sure, since very few have won against the Elite Four," answered Erika.
Ash said nothing and the two of them continued to move forward to the special location that Erika wanted to see. The path involved several trainers who wanted to battle Ash, which he didn't ignore and managed to beat them using Scyther and Riolu. He was skeptical about using Clefairy since he did not know any of its stats or moves at the moment, and he did not want to lose because he wanted to improve himself and not lose against Team Rocket should they come around again.
"Ash, come take a look!" said Erika as she stood by the ledge of the cape and looked out into the calm blue waters that gently moved from the small wisp of wind.
"Wow, it's so beautiful!" he commented and felt the ocean breeze blow against him. He even got a small taste of salt in it and it surprisingly was not unpleasant. "I want to share a moment like this with my Pokémon." Ash was also pretty excited by this, too, since it would be the first time he would meet Clefairy in a normal state. He took out all four Pokéballs and released each one and, except for Clefairy, they all sat on the edge, looking forward into the horizon that was surrounded by the never-ending ocean. Erika did the same and all three of her Pokémon were released from the balls that she kept in her bag; Ash looked at her bag and did see a few others, but he was pretty sure that they were for catching wild Pokémon that she intended to do back at Route 1.
All the Pokemon seemed to inhale and absorb the aroma of the ocean and exhaled happily. The harmony in the air was pretty addictive and it left a good vibe for all the living beings, except for one of them; Clefairy.
"I wonder why Clefairy isn't enjoying this moment," wondered Ash out loud.
"I don't know; maybe you could analyze it with your Pokédex," suggested Erika.
"Good thinking," he said as he took out his electronic encyclopedia. The red device beeped followed by the male electronic voice.
"Clefairy, gender female. Current level: 18. Moves known: Pound, doubleslap, minimize, and metronome. Since Clefairy reside in the depths of Mount Moon away from human contact, if captured, they tend to isolate themselves and require time to adjust to the new feeling of human company. Time required varies among individuals, although for most it is less than three days."
"Well, at least I'm glad that she doesn't hate me and it's a normal thing," said Ash with a lifted spirit. "I'll be sure to give her all the kindness, support, and love a trainer should give his Pokemon, 'cause that's the best way to raise them, right, Erika?"
"Indeed it is," said Erika as she let out a small sigh.
"What's the matter?" he asked with a tilt of his head.
"Well, it's just that, when you said 'love', it made me think of some fond memories I cherish." I used to come here with my parents and I have not seen them in several weeks," commented Erika. "I should contact them soon and tell them that I am okay and that I have someone is traveling with me. I tend to get lonely easily, and although my Pokémon provide me with comfort to help me through my travels, well, I am just really glad that another human is traveling with me." She gleamed Ash a heart-warming smile and it made him feel good inside.
"No, I'm the one that's glad that someone is accompanying me," stated Ash. "If it wasn't for you, I probably would have died."
"I never got to thank you for being so brave back in Mount Moon, Ash," replied Erika with a small smile on her face.
"Yeah, but the only way we got out alive was due to the help of Ben and Stacy," retorted Ash as he looked downward with disappointment.
"Don't feel bad about it; you're a young new trainer, and even if you weren't, it's okay to rely on others," reassured Erika. She looked down at her watch and saw that it was 4:52 p.m. Sh.e got up and stretched her aching joints and turned her back to the ocean and looked straight ahead. A trio of girls was approaching
"Like, totally!" said one of the female voices. The owner had golden straw-colored hair, a light pink fleece jacket with a lime green blouse, and a short denim skirt. Ash turned around and saw the girls, all of whom were about Erika's age, if not older.
"Did you see that one guy with the spiked hair who beat us with his Ivysaur? He was, like, so cute!" said another girl who had dark blue hair like Erika, except it was a lot longer and a bit wavy. She had on a red jacket, a khaki skirt that was almost knee-length, and a yellow shirt.
"Dream on!" said the girl with shoulder-length pink hair, and a orange halter top with blue jeans. "I had my eyes set on the one with that cute Pikachu. I am so glad this is the last day we run the gym." The three of them giggled and finally reached the ledge where Ash and Erika stood.
"Oh, hello. Nice day to be enjoying the weather, isn't it?" said the blonde-haired girl to no one in particular as she looked out into the ocean.
"Hey, are you sure it's okay to be out here with that limp of yours?" asked the pink-haired girl.
"I got stitches on my foot," explained Ash, "and I'm more than careful; after all, I went through Viridian forest and Mt. Moon."
"That's pretty amazing," said the blonde with a smile and the other two nodded in agreement.
The indigo-haired girl walked over to Erika and examined her attire and made a "mhmm" noise to herself. Erika was awkwardly standing there as if a teacher were grading her final test to determine if she passed or not.
"Sorry for, like, evading your personal space, but I'm a total judge when it comes to girls' fashion. That dress is totally cute," replied the indigo-haired female. "But your hairstyle is a little bland, if you ask me. You should grow it out and find a cute hairstyle, that way all the boys would be after you."
"Thanks, but I'm not really interested in dating right now," explained Erika with a small sweat drop on the back of her head.
"Excuse me, did one of you say you run the gym?" asked Ash with a quizzical look.
"Yes, all three of us are, like, the substitute gym leaders," said the blonde. "Do you know we are?"
"I'm afraid not," responded Ash in an apologetic tone.
"We're the Sensantional Sisters, a well-known trio of underwater ballerinas," said the pink-haired girl. "I'm Lily."
"I'm Violet," said the indigo-haired girl.
"And I'm Daisy," said the blonde.
"Ash," the boy said.
"I'm Erika," said Erika.
"So if none of you three is the gym leader, where is Misty?" asked Ash.
"Our little dweeb of sister is currently traveling in the adjacent region of...um...Johto," said Lily as she tried to collect her thoughts.
"She's, like, supposedly catching better water-types for our gym," said Violet.
"When will she be back?" asked Ash.
"Um, she, like, told us an hour ago that she has a ticket for the train that, I can't remember, to be honest, but I think leaves at three in the afternoon, then she rides the bus from Saffron to here and she should be back at, I don't know, six at night? But she'll be wiped out when she arrives, so, you'd probably have to face her the next day," explained Daisy.
"Well, if it's gonna be two days from now, why can't I just battle one of you?" asked Ash.
"Cause, we got creamed by some Trainers who come from this little place called Pallet Town, I think, and we, like, aren't really in the mood to battle anymore today," said Violet.
"I'm from Pallet Town," remarked Ash proudly.
Daisy looked at all seven Pokemon and smiled. "So, which Pokemon belong to whom?" she asked.
"The three grass-types are mine," explained Erika with a joyful smile on her face as she got on her knees to pet Gloom and Weepinbell on their "heads".
"And these are all mine," said Ash as he rubbed Dratini's cool head and Riolu's fuzzy scalp. Scyther poked Ash gently with the dull side of his blade as the boy looked around. "Where's Clefairy?"
Scyther pointed to where Lily who started approaching Clefairy. The little normal-type's back was faced towards the ocean; as Lily moved towards her, the fairy moved backwards. "Aww, this Clefairy is so adorable, I just wanna pick it up and hug it!" All the sudden the fairy tripped on a rock and rolled backwards off the ledge! Everyone gasped and started to panic.
"Clefairy!" shouted Ash. The little fairy was holding onto a branch that was extending from a small tree that was growing on the base of a lower ledge and could fall at any moment! He dropped his crutches and dived to catch Clefairy in the nick of time as the branch snapped. "I won't let go, I promise!" Ash's body was bent in an L shape as his upper body was hanging over the ledge while his legs still remained on the safety of land.
"Hang on, Ash, we'll help you!" said Violet as she grabbed Ash's left leg and Daisy his right. Lily stood there completely dumbfounded over what she had just caused as they pulled Ash and Clefairy up.
"Are you okay, Clefairy?" asked Ash as the little fairy buried her face into Ash's shirt and shuddered.
"Good job, you twit!" said a sarcastic Violet angrily as Lily looked down ashamed. "You got his Clefairy scared to death, no thanks to you!"
"I'm really sorry, Ash," Lily apologized. "It's just that...I adore Clefairies and I have never seen one in person, and..."
"It was an accident, really," said Ash as he took out all four of his Pokeballs and withdrew all them.
"So that we can call it even, I have a way to make it up, and I really hope you accept it," said Daisy as she reached into the pocket of her skirt. "Tomorrow we have a show at 10 a.m., and we would like it if you accept these tickets," she said as she held out two for each of them.
"Wow, really? Thanks!" said Ash.
"No problem, we sold out a few days ago and we were planning on giving these to some cute boys along the way, but we figured this was a better idea," continued Daisy with a chuckle.
"Now we must go back to the gym and practice our routine!" said Violet. "It was nice meeting you both and we hope to see you tomorrow!"
"Bye!" said Ash and Erika at the same time. Erika withdrew her Pokemon and sighed. She looked down at her watch and saw that it was 5:20 p.m.
"It'll take us about 30 or more minutes to get back into town. Do you wanna go eat at the Pokemon center once we get there?" asked Erika as she helped Ash up.
"Yeah, after the events of today, I'm starving," said Ash. The two of them began to head back to town as the sun continued to lower itself in the late afternoon sky and more trainers were leaving the area to head back home as well. The 45 minute walk back to the Pokemon center did not bring up any exciting conversation among the two of them, but Ash had a really strange feeling that something was watching him. Ash was pretty exhausted and Erika was, too; after all, she was damaged and cut earlier. Once having entered the Pokemon center, the two of them went downstairs and ate at the buffet that offered a variety of local cuisines that Ash had never seen or heard of. It was surprisingly amazing food and Ash even got a second plate and a local favorite: strawberry ice cream cake. When that was over, Ash decided to turn in for the day and Erika decided to do the exact same thing. Despite reading for over an hour of some of the many magazines that were provided in the room, the raven-haired boy decided there was nothing left to do and went to sleep to get up especially early tomorrow in order to train for the battle that he had the day afterwards.
A.N. There you go! And I hope this A.N. clarifies any questions that you may ask in a review. Yeah, it did sorta seem like they were on a "date", and yes, Ash cried because he cares about Erika, and most people would in that situation if you thought two people were going to die. I may have posted this earlier, but please keep in mind this is an adventure story and will not have any sort of shipping, for I would have put it in the summary if it were the case. Also, check out the poll and select who you think Ash should catch before his battle (I also added 4 more choices for a total of 7 and I just added it to my profile D:) I'm aware that Clefairy is now labeled a "fairy type", but I'll always think of her as normal. And forgive me if I forget to accent some of the e's. Should I have divided this chapter in half? If you felt it was too long, please inform me and I'll make the next chapter about 5-7k words. Also, do you think it is a bit detailed? I mean, I've submitted about 23K words to one day in the story's universe. Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
GPS