Sorry for the long wait. I am working on this story again and hope to update a couple more times before I finish my last semester that starts January 20th. Also, please read the author's note at the end before reviewing. I thank you for your patience. (:
Ash was left with no words as he processed the offer that Professor Oak had just made him. Ash was unsure of what to say so he looked towards Erika and he said, "What do you think I should do about Rotom? I haven't even given it a chance to see if I like it or not."
Erika felt that Ash was downplaying the value that a Rotom truly had since it was such a rare Pokemon, but she did not want to dissuade him since it wasn't her choice.
"That's your decision to make, Ash," replied Erika. "You do what you feel is the best." Erika went over to a couch and waited for Ash so they could have dinner.
Ash looked at Dratini and she nodded with encouragement. Ash pretty much felt that he knew what he had to do. "Professor Oak, I'm going to keep Rotom, and I would like to send Clefairy over to get it, plus-"
"Ah. Say no more, Ash," responded Professor Oak. "There are still plenty of options to study Rotom should you switch it out for another Pokemon. It is totally understandable and who knows? You may come across one of these Pokemon sometime along the way."
Ash nodded and he took Clefairy out of her Pokeball. The Pokemon was frightened by so many people but Ash got on his knee and patted the soft fairy's head.
"Clefairy, I am afraid that this will be good-bye for now," said Ash in a calm tone so she could take in this statement. He hugged her greatly and she returned it to him and he set her back down and resumed talking. "I think you should take a rest in a nice calm place like Professor Oak's lab. You will be able to live a more peaceful life for the time being there."
" I am most interested in seeing this Clefairy of yours," said Professor Oak.
After a few minutes, Ash walked over to Erika and showed her the regular Pokeball.
"So, what decision did you make?" said Erika.
"I sent Clefairy to Professor Oak and got Rotom," explained Ash as he clipped the ball onto his hip.
"Wow! I'm sure you will be pleased now that you have a more well-rounded team," said Erika. "Having an electric Pokemon that can change into other types – simply amazing."
"It was a bit hard to decide whom to send, but I think I will be better off with sending Clefairy back for now," explained Ash.
The next day arrived and Ash greeted his four Pokemon; he was unsure if letting Rotom spend the night outside the Pokeball was a good since it could probably manipulate the electronics in the Pokemon center, so he kept it in its ball. Dratini, Riolu, and Zorua all slept slightly more comfortably due to the extra room of not having Clefairy sleeping on the bed. With a big yawn, Ash stretched his body and got ready for the day, returning all the Pokemon except Dratini into their balls.
Ash extended his hand and offered affection to the mystical Pokemon. He truly cared about Dratini with all his heart even though he had known her for less than a month. She felt, in a sense, like a sibling that he never had and enjoyed every day that she was with him. He definitely felt a bit bad since he had her in the Pokeball for a while, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. She gently nudged his hand and wrapped her tail around his arm as her version of an embrace. Despite being only seven pounds, she surprisingly had a strong grip and he could only imagine what her next form, Dragonair, would be like. Even though he had her for only about a month, he was eager and patient for the day that she would evolve and she felt the exact same.
"Dratini," said Ash as he sat on the bed next to her and patted her head again, "why do you think Erika is still following us? I can't help but get the feeling that she is hiding something from us."
Dratini looked into the boy's eyes and transmitted into his mind, "Well, what do you personally think about her?"
"I have been putting various things together and I think that—" He was interrupted by the knock on his door and sure enough it was said figure Erika.
He opened the door and greeted Erika and they went to have breakfast quietly. Afterwards they went out the door and began heading northbound along Route 6.
"We easily can reach Saffron by around tomorrow afternoon," said Erika. It was already 9 a.m. and they had quite a large amount of ground to cover, but Ash had a strong feeling that it would be an interesting day. He didn't have plans to necessarily fight the Saffron Gym leader the next day, but he was just so eager to get that much closer to become a Pokemon master.
"Hey!" said a female voice. Ash said "Oh, no" on the inside. He knew whose voice that was and turned around to see it was Melanie who still had that pompous look on her face.
"What do you want?" said Ash.
"A battle, of course," she responded. "I am heading to Saffron City like you are and want to have a warm-up battle. Is that too much to ask for?"
"Ash," whispered Erika to him, "use this as an opportunity to oppress her for what's she done to you in the past, plus, it'll give you a good workout."
Melanie approached Ash and snickered. She looked down at the Dratini who scooted backwards with surprise at her sudden move.
"What a cute little Pokemon," said Melanie as she extended her hand out to pet Dratini's head. "Such a little Pokemon couldn't hurt anything and-"
SMACK! Dratini used her tail and swatted away the approaching hand and snarled with anger. Ash was surprised at the snarl, but not so much of her smacking the hand of the girl of little compassion. In fact, he inwardly laughed under his breath where Melanie couldn't hear him and Erika seemed slightly amused as well as Melanie stood there in awe. Ash knew that her "compliment" was as transparent and thin as plastic food wrap and probably said that to rowdy Ash.
"Hehe. Feisty one, I'll give you that," responded Melanie who reverted to her "normal" demeanor. "Still willing to take up my offer on a battle?"
Dratini agreed and said her name, showing that she was eager to battle. "Very well, if that's how you wanna be, then I will accept your challenge," responded Ash. He had no desire in the least to battle with Melanie, but he also felt that he could
"Excellent," she said. "How about a three on three?" Ash nodded in agreement and she took out a Pokeball from her expensive purse. "All right, prepare yourself because I'm giving you my all. Go, Absol!" The girl sent out a white canine-like Pokemon with a horn on its head and gave Ash an intimidating glare.
Ash carefully looked at the Pokemon that Melanie had just sent out and used his PokeDex to get info on Absol. He learned that the male Absol was a level 24 dark-type and Ash assessed his knowledge and believed that a fighting type would be the best match against him. He took Riolu's ball off his belt and threw it against the ground and the little aura Pokemon escaped from his technological sphere.
"Aww, how cute!" said Melanie as she started to grow fond over Riolu. "It'll be a shame when I beat him. Absol, get things started by using razor wind!"
Ash was somewhat stunned at the rapid change of emotions Melanie had, but he did not drop his guard. The horn on the snow white Pokemon's head began to glow brightly as he started to gain energy, and Ash had to act quickly.
"Riolu, intercept Absol by giving him a force palm!" instructed the raven-haired boy. With a nod, Riolu began to run towards the snow-white canine Pokemon with a glowing fist, but Absol was faster and released the vertical beam of energy towards the bipedal canine-like Pokemon. Riolu was quick enough to move out of the way of the energy beam, but that didn't seem to worry Melanie since she was contemplating a strategy of her own.
"Show Riolu your shadow claw," she said proudly and without any hesitation. The claws on Absol's front left paw were enveloped by a strange light and they turned a grimly purple. The ghostly claws extended outwards and raked Riolu's abdomen, causing him to cry in pain but he took the abuse easily. Ash did not like hearing his Pokemon's cries of pain, so he said,
"Riolu, I know you can do it. So return the damage by giving Absol a quick attack!"
Eirka, on the other hand, did not seem too pleased of his decision and said, "Do you even have a strategy? She could lure you into a trap if you aren't careful."
Riolu tried to ram his body into Absol, but the dark type was able to dodge it and use another shadow claw, weakening Riolu further. Ash sighed and turned around to Erika and said, "This is the first time I've ever battled her so I'm making this up as I go, plus, I want to see what other moves her Pokemon knows before I make any rash decision."
As if Ash's very words were an indicator, Melanie spoke up and said with a smirk on her face, "Absol, use that new move that I had just taught you earlier today!"
Ash gulped; there was no telling what she had in store for him but he still kept his confidence. "Riolu, keep your guard up and wait for Absol to make his move before you attack," he said with caution. Riolu obeyed the command of his trainer and watched as all the sudden, a glowing icy blue sphere was forming around the mouth of Absol and the white Pokemon was aiming it at Riolu.
Erika gasped and said, "That's an ice beam!"
Ash immediately reacted by saying, "Well, we're gonna dodge it! Riolu, evade Absol's attack and use a force palm!" With elegant agility, Riolu did a cartwheel out of the way and he was able to avoid getting hit by the ice beam…or so he thought. Ash and Erika both gasped; the ice beam had frozen Riolu's tail!
"Haha!" laughed Melanie derisively. "Looks like Riolu became a pupsicle!"
Erika and Ash both shook their heads with disdain at the terrible pun and Ash said, "Not funny. That is cruel to make fun of Pokemon when they get hurt." Ash walked over to Riolu and got on his knees. "Are you okay, Riolu?"
Riolu merely nodded with confirmation and turned towards Absol again.
"I admire your courage," chuckled Melanie. "Prepare another razor wind, Absol!" The horn on Absol's head once again began to glow with energy and Ash said,
"Riolu, use rock slide to block the wind!"
Riolu shivered from the effects of the cold ice that encased his tail. He began to conjure the rocks by holding his hands up, but he stopped since he could not focus properly with a frozen tail. Absol was just about to release the energy from his horn, but Riolu finally gathered enough strength and opened the portals that dropped the rocks. The vertical beam was hurled directly at Riolu, but the rocks he created blocked the attack; an attack so powerful that it smashed them and reduced them to rubble. It was a miracle that Riolu was able to fully execute the attack or he more than likely would have fainted from the razor wind. The rubble and dust lingered in the air and obscured the visibility of the battleground.
Ash saw this as an opportunity to attack Absol while the dark type was still confused. "Sneak up behind Absol and use a quick attack!" he commanded.
Erika heard what he said and merely smiled. She believed that Ash was carefully thinking of using the given factors to his advantage.
"Fool Riolu by using double team!" issued his rival. Absol glowed slightly then created many duplications of himself that encircled Riolu, leaving him in a daze. The real Absol was cleverly hidden by the copies of himself and this left slightly unnerved; he now knew what it felt like when he was battling Akio in the Viridan forest and in a sense felt like it was a cheap trick, but it was a legal move.
Dratini saw the uneasiness in Ash's face and she gently nudged him and said with her telepathy, "You need to remain calm or you'll lose focus. I can sense your `nervous state of mind. Win or lose, Riolu won't hold it against you."
"I'm sure that Riolu can handle himself; it's just that the circumstances make it seem difficult to attack," he said to the teal dragon Pokémon. Ash thought of an idea that he believed would give him the upper hand. "Riolu, is it possible that you can detect Absol through aura?"
"My skills of detecting aura are trivial," said Riolu through telepathy. "The only thing that I can pretty much do is pick up emotions in the form of waves, but…"
"Are you gonna make your move or what?" interjected Melanie with impatience.
"Hmm," murmured Ash, completely ignoring what she had said. "Riolu, can you try to pick up the emotions of Absol? If you can, strike the true one with force palm!"
"I'll do my best," reassured Riolu through telepathy. A small light emanated from the teardrop-shaped appendages on Riolu and the Pokemon analyzed the direction that the dozen or so copies of Absol. His closed his eyes so he could enhance his powers and within a few seconds, Riolu detected the emotions in wave forms and dashed with a glowing fist towards the one that released the strongest as he believed that it was the true Pokemon. The attack connected with a solid object; it was the true Absol, all right, and the attack landed hard. Absol cried out in pain and became disoriented, but he was still standing strong.
"That was truly impressive, Riolu! Great job!" said Erika.
Riolu turned around and said "Rio!" with approval and gave a thumbs up.
"Indeed, that was a well-executed strategy," said Melanie, surprising Ash at the compliment she just paid him. "But this is where we strike back with diligence. Jump into the air and dash towards Riolu and use your shadow claw on him, Absol!"
Ash thought for a minute and assessed the situation carefully before giving Riolu the next command. This reminded him of a similar strategy of what he used in a previous battle with Riolu once and Ash said, "Riolu, jump into the air as well and counter the shadow claw with your frozen tail!"
Riolu did as his trainer commanded and jumped into the air with utmost speed. He easily managed to reach a height of about five meters or even higher until he was at the same level o Absol. Riolu took no time in delaying and he swung his still frozen tail in the direction of Absol's glowing right claw and it resulted in a purple collision that showered ominous crystals of ice on the battlefield. Riolu's frozen tail attack and Absol's shadow claw had both cancelled each other out and both gave one another looks of pure rivalry.
"Riolu, give Absol a seismic toss!" ordered Ash.
"Oh, no you don't! Absol, give Riolu an ice beam at point-blank range!" exclaimed Melanie with a competitive voice. Riolu extended his arms towards Absol and grabbed the white Pokemon who was preparing another ice beam. Riolu got Absol in his grasp and was ready to slam him down, but not before the ice beam was able to make contact. While still in the air some 4 meters, Riolu's upper body became encased with ice, causing him to gasp and his eyes to enlarge big with fright. Despite freezing his target, Absol was still trapped within the grasp of his Riolu opponent and was unable to free himself out of harm's way.
"Riolu!" said Ash and Erika simultaneously.
"Absol! No!" shouted Melanie. The two girls and Ash watched as their Pokemon fell down to the ground with great and caused a huge collision that shattered the ice. After the dust subsided, both Pokemon had run out of energy and were no longer able to get up; the swirls in their eyes further demonstrated this.
"Looks like they both managed to knock themselves out!" said Erika. "Which means that both of you are evenly matched!"
"Poor Riolu," sighed Ash as he recalled the fighting type. "You did well, buddy."
With an apathetic tone in her voice, Melanie said, "Return, Absol." She looked at Ash and said, "You know, that was a pretty cheap move Riolu did."
"Don't insult Riolu like that; seismic toss is a perfectly legal move and-" started Erika.
"Oh, shut up, whatever-your-name-is!" exclaimed Melanie with a tone that was beyond snide. Ash did not take well what his rival yelled and he said,
"Hey, don't you dare speak to Erika like that! You're the one who is being a sore loser! Besides, it was partially your fault; you should've told Absol to hold back the ice beam when Riolu already grabbed him!"
"It doesn't matter. Let's get this battle going!" stated Melanie as she took another Pokeball from her purse. "Go! Butterfree!" The butterfly Pokemon, which Ash scanned with his PokeDex, was different from the one that appeared on the screen; the Butterfree had a pink body with slightly yellow-tinged wings. Ash felt that the battle would be even if he used his bug Pokemon as well, but just as he reached for Scyther's ball, Dratini stopped him by nudging his knee gently.
"What's wrong, girl?" he asked as he petted her cool, slick head as she began to speak through telepathy.
"Send me out to fight Butterfree. I'm angry at what she said about Riolu and I hope to teach her that she should fear the might of a dragon type!"
"But you have no type advantage against Butterfree," stated Ash.
"Yes, I do," said the dragon. "That move you taught me…in Cerulean City…"
Ash paused for a second. She was completely right; he hadn't used that move since he battled Misty that he had completely forgotten about it!
"Yeah," said Ash. "But only as a last resort. I don't want Erika to know that I used that move I found lying on the gro-"
"Are you gonna make you r move or not?!" shouted Melanie impatiently.
"Right! Dratini! Show them what you can do!" encouraged Ash as she used her tail to spring onto the battlefield.
"Like my Butterfree?" asked Melanie. "Got her as a shiny Caterpie. The second Pokemon I caught, and they tell me that it's extremely difficult to come across a shiny."
Ash ignored what she said and gave Dratini the command to start. "Go start things with bubblebeam!"
Dratini inhaled the water molecules in the air and unleashed a huge bombardment of bubbles towards Butterfree some 10 meters away. Melanie just gave a sly smirk in response.
"Stop the attack by using your psybeam!" she commanded to her shiny Pokemon. With a "Freee" as a response, the antennae on Butterfree began to glow a mystical color that was not unlike the way Electabuzz glowed when preparing the psychic attack. A rainbow-colored beam was discharged and collided with the bubbles, causing them to pop and soak the ground below.
"Interesting move; I'm assuming that you taught Dratini that after beating Misty?" assumed Melanie as she kept her guard up as she carefully contemplated her next move against the raven-haired boy.
"Yeah, and it's helped quite a bit, especially during Rock Tunnel," said Ash.* "Along the way, we leveled up and learned the move agility and I have yet to try it out with her."
"You went through Rock Tunnel? You poor thing," snickered Melanie. "After I heard that they were not letting anyone get through Saffron City to Vermillion, my father's company helicopter-"
"Twister!" commanded Ash, immediately silencing the girl so she would stop bragging about her family's success. Dratini began to spin around really fast and began to create a vortex that stirred the dust around. Melanie had a somewhat bored expression on her face and said,
"You are basically using the dragon version of whirlwind. Well, we're gonna do the same thing. Butterfree, use whirlwind!"
"But whirlwind doesn't do any damage and twister doesn't cause opponents to switch out Pokemon," stated Ash.
"Now!" cried out Melanie who was quickly losing her patience. Butterfree flapped her wings and produced a strong vortex that rotated in the opposite direction of the one Dratini produced and the two collided with one another. The opposing forces of the vortex were enough to eliminate one another and both of the Pokemon were in plain sight and vulnerable to the next attack.
"Dratini, prepare another twister! I have an idea!" said Ash.
"Use sleep powder into the twister!" ordered Melanie. While the twister was forming, Butterfree shook her wings and turquoise powder gently fell down and got sucked into the cyclone that was still forming above the teal dragon. The mini tornado turned the same color as the powder and Dratini accidentally inhaled some of the powder, causing her to fall asleep which then made the twister die out.
Ash was left in awe at the maneuver that Melanie just made. Now he was backed into a corner now that Dratini was asleep and Melanie had just gotten the upper hand.
"Dratini…you can do it," said Erika under her breath with great worry as she watched her friend's Pokemon stand there helplessly.
"Dratini, you can pull through this, girl!" said Ash with reinforcement in a amicable tone.
"Blast Dratini with a psybeam!" instructed Melanie as she pointed her finger at Dratini. Butterfree did not hesitate and did as she was commanded. The peculiar ray of mystical energy hit Dratini, but she did not wake up from her sleep. In fact, her movements during her sleep were irregular and this got Ash's attention.
"Looks like Dratini's been confused while asleep!" mocked Melanie with confidence that made her feel that she surely had this battle already won. "Now, use another psybeam-" But Melanie halted when she saw that Dratini's body began to glow!
Ash gasped. "Is it possible Dratini's evolving already?!"
"That glow looks different from when Venonat evolved in Viridian Forest," commented Erika as she watched what was happening.
Ash was confused and took out his PokeDex to see what was happening. Dexter informed him that this was Dratini's special ability called shed skin and that this ability allowed Dratini to cure herself of status problems. Erika and Ash both remembered that Dratini had previously used it when fending off Team Rocket in the Forest, but it had been such a while that Ash did not immediately recognize it. After Ash put away the electronic device, Ash noticed that Dratini left behind a molted exoskeleton that began to crumble away; it was rather odd looking, but once he directed his attention to her again, he saw that she was completely normal and ready to continue fighting.
"Ash is making this battle carry on longer than it should. Why don't he just use that TM I placed on the ground back at Cerulean?" thought Erika. "Maybe he doesn't want me to think he is a thief?"
"I really would hate using thunderbolt in front of Erika, but I want to end this battle quickly," thought Ash as he viewed his options. "Dratini, let's just put a quick end to this battle. Use agility to confuse Butterfree and then stop and use bubblebeam along the way to take down your opponent."
"Psybeam!" shouted Melanie without much thinking as Dratini began to speed across the battlefield, dodging every blast that Butterfree created. Dratini would pause at various moments during her acceleration and fire bubbles at Butterfree. The butterfly counterattacked with more psybeams which continued to miss its target and Ash could tell that Butterfree was losing energy.
"Finish with slam!" said Ash. Dratini used her tail and sprang into the air and applied all her weight onto Butterfree and brought her to the ground. It was very surprising indeed to see Dratini take down an opponent that weighed ten times her own weight, but nonetheless, the velocity she had increased the momentum and took down her opponent. Dratini scooted off Butterfree's body and began to pant as she took a brief moment to rest.
"Butterfree is unable to battle, meaning Ash wins this round!" stated Erika.
"Hmph. Return, Butterfree," said Melanie as she returned her bug type to her technological sphere. "You did really well. I'm proud of you and you deserve a rest." She looked at Ash and said, "I'm giving you my starter Pokemon now. Don't think that this will be easy. Go, Poliwhirl!" The blue bipedal amphibian said his name and looked at the Dratini and he clenched his fists together.
"Dratini, let's do the same strategy," said Ash although he knew that the attacks wouldn't be effective, they would be great for whittling down Poliwhirl's health. Dratini once again proceeded to dash across the battlefield at blinding speed, but Melanie did not seem impressed this time.
"Just stand still, Poliwhirl, and attack once I give the command," she said bluntly as she continued to eye the blur that hurried across her field of view.
Dratini paused at multiple spots and unleashed bubblebeam which made a direct hit, but Poliwhirl did not seem fazed in the slightest bit. She once again bolted across the area and repeated this technique with no damage on Poliwhirl's behalf.
"Why are the attacks not working?" asked Ash who was a bit puzzled.
"Because, Ash, Poliwhirl has the ability of water absorb, which as the name states, absorbs all water-type attacks and recovers health. Shouldn't you have learned that in school?" taunted Melanie as she knew that Dratini would soon fall in a matter of seconds.
"Dratini, continue using agility but use slam instead!" said Ash, hoping for a different outcome with this strategy.
"Use mind reader," said Melanie, "followed by double slap."
Poliwhirl closed his eyes as he used his energy to detect the movements of his opponent. Once he knew how Dratini would move, he approached her and released one slap after the other that did substantial damage against her. She whimpered in pain and was partially immobilized, providing Poliwhirl an excellent opportunity for an attack.
"Finish things off with ice punch," said Melanie. With a frozen fist, Poliwhirl slammed it hard against Dratini and caused her to cry out in pain and then dropped. She was beaten and moaned weakly as all her energy left her body.
"Dratini's been defeated, which means that Melanie and Ash both have just one Pokemon left," said Erika sadly.
Ash walked over to his partner Pokemon and picked her up. "Are you okay, Dratini?" he asked with concern. She nodded gently and he took out her Pokeball which she pressed with her nose and rested inside.
"So, who's next?" asked Melanie as she waited.
"I don't have a grass type, but they're weak against ice punch," he thought. "Wait. Rotom! But this will be the first time using it. I guess I'll give it a shot." Ash nodded to Melanie and a smile formed on his face. "Let's see how you like this Pokemon! Go, Rotom!"
The plasma Pokemon was freed from its Pokeball which surprisingly was able to contain the Pokemon who could manipulate technology. Melanie was quite surprised at the Pokemon that Ash sent out and took out her PokeDex to see what it was.
"Rotom, the plasma Po-" started her Dexter, but Rotom rushed over and entered her PokeDex and its face appeared on the screen and blew a raspberry. Melanie screamed and Ash and Erika both laughed and she put the device back in her purse. Rotom returned to the center of the battlefield and floated around in a carefree manner.
"Poliwhirl, use body slam!" said Melanie quickly.
"Rotom, dodge it!" ordered Ash. Rotom turned its boddy to face Ash, but did nothing as Poliwhirl kept on approaching. Poliwhirl jumped into the air and used all his body weight towards Rotom, but Poliwhril went right through Rotom and smashed the ground!
"What!" exclaimed an angry Melanie.
"Oh, I forgot to mention: Rotom is a ghost type, which means your normal attacks will not do anything!" said Ash.
"Then why did you tell Rotom to dodge it if the attack wasn't going to do anything?" inquired Melanie.
"To confuse you," said Ash with a smile.
"Whatever! Use bubblebeam at full blast, Poliwhirl!" said Melanie as the attack already started.
"Stop the attack with shadow ball," said Ash, but Rotom did nothing and took the full blast of the water move. "Rotom, why didn't you dodge that attack?" asked Ash. The boy was getting upset that his Pokemon was not obeying him.
"You have no business having a Pokemon as rare as Rotom if you don't know how to properly handle it," said Melanie. "Poliwhirl, use your bubblebeam again on Rotom!"
Again, Ash blurted out for Rotom to dodge it, but the same thing happened and the boy knew that he would lose if this kept going on. The same thing happened two more times and Rotom still did not obey.
"Finish this with your ice punch!" commanded Melanie as she was sure that this would be the move that decided the outcome of the battle. Just as Poliwhirl's fist was about to hit Rotom, the plasma Pokemon sent out a powerful shock wave that knocked down Poliwhirl. Ash recognized that the move was indeed the same type of shock wave that Rotom used yesterday, but this one appeared much more powerful since it knocked out Poliwhirl.
"You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Melanie who was beyond infuriated. "That…thing finally decides to make a move and it instantly knocks out my Poliwhirl!"
Erika and Ash both were speechless as well. It was completely unexpected, but Ash won.
"Ash wins the match, somehow," said Erika a bit confused.
"No, I didn't; Rotom did," replied Ash. "Rotom didn't follow any of my orders and used that shock wave just for retaliation against Poliwhirl. It doesn't feel like a true victory to me, but still."
"It'll be okay, Poliwhirl, I promise," Melanie gently whispered to her partner quietly. She returned him to his ball and she glanced at Ash and then turned away. Ash had noticed that her face reddened and it didn't look like the kind from anger. She walked over to Ash and reached into her purse. She took out some cash and she motioned with her finger for Ash to hold his hand out. She placed it in there and said with a completely calm voice low enough so Erika wouldn't hear,
"You've raised your Pokemon adequately. More so than I have. Do not feel bad about taking this large amount of money. You know my family and I won't rub it in. Not this time or the next. I have been taking etiquette classes to control my anger, but don't tell anyone!"
"Promise," said Ash. "Good luck on your journey!"
"Same with you, and I hope we have a more interesting battle next time we cross paths," said Melanie as they went their separate ways. Melanie had disappeared a great distance into the horizon and was out of sight when Erika approached the boy who stood there utterly stunned.
"Ash? Are you okay?" asked Erika as she snapped him back into reality. "What did she say?"
"I honestly don't know," said Ash a bit hesitantly. He never had seen this different side of Melanie and it was rather odd. There was just no proper way to react to it since Ash was always accustomed to her being verbally abusive and flaunting her family's success like it was about to go out of style. He looked down at his hand that clutched the money and eased his grip and looked at it. He counted and saw that there was ¥25,000!
Ash was astonished by the amount of money there was and told Erika. She told him to keep it and even suggested that he send some to his mom. He agreed and called her up on his PokeGear and told her about his encounter with Melanie and the prize money he won. He told her he was going to send her ¥20,000 of it and he'd keep the rest for himself. She was at first insinuating that he keep it all, but he convinced her and said he would use the special device on the PokeGear to transfer the money. The money was sent and she said she loved him and Ash and Erika continued advancing northbound to Saffron City.
Erika had provided Ash's fainted partners with some Revives she had purchased earlier, but it would give them half of their maximum potential. Ash thanked her for the kindness and he placed Dratini on his shoulder as they continued their march. The next day around four in the afternoon, they saw a huge gate in the distance as well as skyscrapers that pierced the air. Erika informed that was the gate to enter Saffron City and they made their way to it.
"Hold it!" said a voice. It was a male security guard and he was fully dressed with military equipment and a few other guards remained by for additional security. "All who enter the city must go through a required search down. After the incident with Team Rocket, we can't take any chances."
"I have Pokemon who are desperately in need of medical attention," said Ash. His statement was not completely false; after all, Riolu and Dratini were not fully healed despite receiving revives and berries. "Plus, I have a PokeDex." He took it out and showed the guards and it authenticated that it was indeed Ash Ketchum, but the security guard was not satisfied.
"A PokeDex is not enough to get through," said the guard. "Cooperate or leave. We are following the orders we received from the mayor. Same with you, miss. Just because you hold a title above a trainer doesn't mean you're exempt from the search. Hand over your Pokemon and your bags and step through the metal detector. We also will take x-rays of you and your Pokemon to make sure they are not carrying anything dangerous."
"Yes, sir. We will fully cooperate," said Erika. "Put please check my friend first since he has injured Pokemon as he had said."
"Very well. Stay there and don't move," said a different guard. "As for you," he said to Ash, "follow me into this room."
Ash followed the man into the room. Dratini was shaking with nerves but Ash reassured her everything would be fine since they had nothing to hide. The man told Ash to stand behind the machine as his image appeared. The man told him he was clean and told him to take out his other Pokemon since some people had used them to hold contraband and it was additional measures. The boy did not hesitate and watched as one by one they were scanned. Even Rotom was cooperating and the man saw no issues with Ash's partners. The man also complimented Ash for his rare collection of Pokemon and told him he was free to go. He also suggested that he should find a Metal Coat for Scyther and trade him so he could evolve into Scizor. Ash took that consideration and mind and asked for directions and headed for the nearest Pokemon Center. Erika had arrived and Ash asked her if she knew much about the gym.
"Yes, I do know about Sabrina. She is an altruistic woman, meaning she has interest in helping others without anything in return."
"Like you?" said Ash with a smile on his face.
Erika returned the smile and said, "Similar, yes, but she's done far more than me since she's significantly older. She's 22 years old, compared to my 15. She's probably been volunteering, which is unpaid work in helping others, since she was the same as I when I learned that word, 'volunteer', so probably since she was 10 or 11? Many people have high regards for her and she has telekinetic powers she uses for the people in their assistance. In fact, she temporarily served my mentor and helped me further increase my love for grass Pokemon, which eventually lead to me-"
"Becoming a gym leader," said Ash with a smile. "I spent time thinking of it over in over in my mind and put the pieces together. I figured it out, Erika. You're a gym leader, correct?" Erika stood there with a blank look on her face as Ash resumed talking. "When the guard said you were at a level higher than a trainer, the man at the train station. Am I right?"
"I…yes. You are correct," she said a bit ashamed. "But to a degree."
"What do you mean?"
"I am not a fully licensed gym leader…yet," she responded. "I was a substitute gym teacher for my older sister, Caroline. But then we had a falling out and we argued and some brutal words were exchanged, saying stuff about how I am too weak and too merciful on opponents and how I would one day be a submissive house wife that would be trampled on by my husband. I am sorry I kept this secret from you, because I thought you'd lose respect for me since you thought so highly of me. I left Celadon and wanted to start my own journey, particularly with Mother Nature, which I idolize so much. I wanted to clear my head and put that all behind, then I heard the roar of the Gyrados and saw you and Dratini. Despite our age difference, you remind me of a little brother I always wanted and I couldn't stand being by myself because I've pretty much have been that way most of my life. I'm sorry it had to be this way and I understand if you want me to leave."
She sighed as if she had taken a huge burden off her chest and she could feel a tear rolling down her cheek. Ash looked at Dratini and he felt really bad for Erika. He was about to speak, but someone beat him to it.
"Erika? You have never told me any of that."
Ash turned around and saw a woman wearing a kimono blouse with autumn colors and dark blue dress pants. She had a saddened look upon her face and Ash finally spoke.
"Are you Sabrina?" asked Ash.
"Yes, I am," said the young woman with a nod and a smile approaching on her face. "I overheard everything that you said, Erika, and I didn't realize you were going through this. You could have come to me for advice, but I see that you are responsible for saving this boy's life. Your selflessness saved him and you should be proud of that."
"His name is Ash, and I didn't want to look like a failure in my role model's eyes," said Erika. "Please forgive me."
Sabrina placed her hand on Erika's shoulder and met her eyes. They all went to a couch and sat down; Sabrina being in the middle with Ash on her left side. "You will be fine. Do not beat yourself up; you are a strong young lady." Sabrina then directed her eyes off of Erika and immediately gave a compassionate look of friendship towards Dratini. "Such a marvelous creature, your Dratini is, Ash. I have never had the privilege of seeing one in person. May I please pet her head?"
"What do you say, Dratini?" said Ash. Dratini used her telepathy and responded with a "yes" to Ash, but Sabrina gasped.
"What's wrong?" asked Ash.
"Your Dratini. She knows telepathy?"
"Y-yes," said Ash who was amazed. "How did you know?"
"Pokemon who know telepathy transmit something called aura when they use that gift and my heightened abilities allows me to pick up what they are saying, kinda like a radar, if you will," said Sabrina as Dratini moved over to the woman's lap. She gently petted Dratini and both of them enjoyed the moment. "I devote the majority of my time outside of the gym helping others and enhancing my bond with people. I can tell by the look on your face, Ash, you want to battle me, correct?"
"Yes," said Ash. "But that can wait. I am only a month in my Pokemon journey and am more than willing to bond with other Pokemon. Friendship is one of the main parts of having a Pokemon, and I will confess that I have been thinking more about winning. It is selfish on my part and I do not want my Pokemon to feel pressured. We have been walking quite a while to get here and I think it is best for us to rest."
"I agree with your statement all the way," said Erika. "You are a good person, Ash. You know the limits, unlike my sister."
Sabrina commented about the methods of Erika's sister would lead to Pokemon who were evil and then randomly changed the subject to a more positive tune. "Allow me to purchase you both, as well as your Pokemon, a snack? Afterwards you can meet me at the youth center if you so desire. I have closed the gym today, but the Fighting Dojo is open late if you have a fighting Pokemon. The head Karate Master, Toshi, is my fiancé, as strange as it sounds since psychic is dominant over fighting. If he is hesitant to let you in, tell him that I sent you. Erika knows where both locations are, Ash, so just follow her."
"That is generous on your part about offering the snack," said Ash, "but I won against a rival who gave me a large sum of money. I thank you for the kindness, nonetheless."
"Ah, I see. Well, perhaps in the future? You are more than welcome to see me, Ash. I have taken Erika under my wing – metaphorically, that is – and anybody she trusts is more than welcome to see me. Plus, I am interested in your Dratini with the telepathy. I must be going now, so see you later." She waved goodbye and left the Pokemon Center and Ash turned to Erika.
"Wow. What a wonderful person she is," said Erika. "I hope one day to find a good boy with her selflessness to take care of me."
"I hope to find the same in a girl, too," said Ash. "You know, I feel kind of bad in a way."
"How so?"
"She's been so nice and getting to know the gym leader like that will make this harder to focus. And if I do win in the future, I'd feel bad…"
"Oh, don't worry," said Erika. "Sabrina is, how should I say, unique. She's one of the closest personifications of an Arceus-sent angel, but when's she's on the battlefield? Watch it. Her personality takes a complete 180 degree spin and you would never know the difference. But even when battling, this doesn't mean she lacks compassion. This is very good advice because some trainers have fled her gym after being scared of her transformation."
"I see," said Ash. "Are her Pokemon aware of this? If being brutally pushing my Pokemon to beat her is the only way to beat her, I would rather find another gym."
"Ash, you have an inseparable bond with your Pokemon, as does Sabrina," stated Erika. "I could not picture you heartlessly forcing your Pokemon to do that. I feel it is not in your nature. And to your first question? Yes, they are aware of the methods Sabrina uses, but they all respect her and love as a friend at the end of the day. The same goes with your Pokemon and you."
"Whatever happens, happens," said Ash. "I believe whoever wins deserves it. I will walk out with my pride no matter what. Let's go see what Sabrina is doing."
"Sounds good. I could use a moment to help someone else," said Erika as they walked towards Sabrina's location. She was inside the auditorium of the youth center lecturing about psychic Pokemon and one of her partners was on stage. Ash pulled out his PokeDex and learned it was Alakazam and he looked tough, but Ash could tell that he had a smile on his face. Most of the people there were young people around Ash's age up to Erika's age and they were new volunteers. Sabrina and Alakazam then performed a rather unique magic show and the crowd was whistling and applauding loudly. After a while, Sabrina told everyone they were going to help repair houses that had been badly damaged from a strong windstorm a few weeks back and she said everyone could use whatever Pokemon they could for help. Ash used Riolu and Scyther to carry wood and cut it, respectfully while Erika attended to planting new trees in the vicinity. They productively worked until sundown and Sabrina thanked everyone by giving them an item called a Soothe Bell which enhanced friendship.
Erika and Ash went to the Pokemon Center in Saffron City and decided to turn in for the night, but not without Erika giving Ash a few words of advice. She told him that a Soothe Bell would work very well on Riolu since he would evolve with high enough friendship. Ash agreed and explained to his little Pokemon what the bell would do and Riolu graciously accepted it and put it around his neck. Afterwards, they all went to bed for the night.
The next morning, Ash woke up and got all his things ready to greet Erika who was already standing in the lobby waiting. After they got breakfast, they went out the Pokemon Center and Ash said,
"Sabrina had an idea. She said something about the Fighting Dojo that is in this city. I think that it may be a good chance to practice with Dratini, Riolu, Cubone, or Scyther, since Zorua is weak against fighting types, and, well, Rotom is probably not going to cooperate. I hope that will change soon since Rotom can become a powerful ally."
"I agree with your statement all the way," said Erika. "Plus, being in a place surrounded by fighting-type Pokemon will probably motivate Riolu greatly. Follow me."
Erika lead Ash and Dratini through the city until they reached a large pagoda. "This is the Fighting Dojo," she pointed out, "and right across there is Sabrina's gym."
Ash looked at the gym. It looked like some sort of abstract circus tent made of stone. Nonetheless, the two entered the Fighting Dojo. A tall man greeted the two of them and introduced himself as Toshi, the same one that Sabrina mentioned.
"Ah, so you met my fiancé," said Toshi. "Lovely lady, she is. Trying to warm up before you battle her, huh?" Ash nodded to his statement and Toshi smiled at them. "Very well. But if you wish to battle me, you must show your might first by battling some of my students in a two-on-two battle."
"Sounds good to me," said Ash.
"And feel free to visit the Pokemon Center in between battles; you'll need all the strength you can get against me," warned Toshi with a grin.
A girl wearing a karate gi appeared and bowed. "My name is Yoko, and I will show you the results of my training. Let's make this interesting; how about a double battle?"
"A double battle, huh?" said Ash. He wasn't that experienced with using two Pokemon at once, but he did not decline what she said and she took out two Pokeballs.
"Go, Makuhita and Hitmontop!" exclaimed Yoko as she took out two great balls from her belt. One Pokemon she released was pudgy and had slanted eyes while the other one was a brown and blue Pokemon with a "horn" protruding from the top of his head.
"Very well," said Ash as he scanned them with his PokeDex and learned they were both pure fighting type. Ash felt it was fair to give his other Pokemon a fair chance at fighting, so he took out Cubone and Scyther.
"Makuhita, use rock tomb on Scyther to make him feel the strength of you training!" commanded Yoko.
"Cubone, use your bone club to intercept the rocks!" said Ash. As Makuhita began to drop boulders on Scyther, Cubone rushed in and swiped at them all with his bone, causing them to shatter and hit Hitmontop.
"Intercept Cubone with triple kick, Hitmontop!" ordered Yoko. Hitmontop turned upside down on his head spike and began to rotate very fast like a child's toy. He did a full 360 rotation of powerful kicks that all hit Cubone, sending him back on his feet, but he did not fall down.
"Cubone, stand your ground and raise your defense; Scyther, dash with agility and use wing attack on Makuhita!" said Ash.
"Makuhita, use endure and follow up with a body slam," said Yoko. "Hitmontop, use swagger on Cubone."
Scyther bolted across the dojo and then followed up with a glowing wing that hit the small sumo wrestler-like Pokemon, but not before the fighting type's body glowed and managed to withstand the attack. He then jumped high and impacted Scyther's body which then paralyzed Scyther.
"Oh, Scyther!" cried out Ash with concern. "Do you want to return?" Scyther shook his head slowly to say "no". "You don't have to continue if you don't want to." Scyther again shook his head no and tried to stand up again. Yoko, on the other hand, had a strategy.
"Makuhita, follow up by smelling salt!" said her trainer.
"Ash, that'll cure paralysis, but inflict severe damage!" warned Erika. Ash feared that Scyther would faint rather than recover from paralysis. It was a huge gamble, but the boy thought of something else.
"Cubone, quickly use bonemerang before Makuhita hits Scyther!" said Ash. He knew that the long-distance attack would give him an advantage, plus he knew that Makuhita was on his last bit of energy.
"Hitmontop, intercept the bone with quick attack! And Makuhita, change smelling salt into drain punch!" said Yoko.
"In that case, dig underground after tossing your bone and use dig on Makuhita!" said Ash.
Hitmontop transformed into a blur and took the damage of the bone, but it was not much, while Cubone dug underground. He popped back up and Ash said, "Headbutt!" Cubone did just that and Makuhita fell to the ground, fainted.
"Makuhita is unable to continue, meaning it is now a two-on-one battle," said Toshi.
"We'll change that," said Yoko. "Now use Brick Break on Scyther."
"Cubone, get your bone and attack Hitmontop with bone club!" commanded Ash. "Hang in there, Scyther, you'll be okay soon."
"Give Scyther a triple kick!" said Yoko.
"Use bubblebeam!" said Ash. "On the wooden floor!"
Cubone did that and the bubbles popped on the ground, saturating the floor and causing Hitmontop to lose balance and fall down, leaving him completely vulnerable and susceptible for an attack. Scyther got on his feet and Ash could tell that the mantis was able to make his next move, but he had to be quick or the paralysis would overtake him.
"Scyther? Use wing attack if you are up to it," said Ash, "but please don't push yourself too hard."
With Scyther's last bit of strength, he was able to hit Hitmontop with increased power due to his skill technician. It was enough to beat Yoko and she congratulated Ash on his victory. Erika offered to take Cubone and Scyther to the Pokemon Center, which Ash allowed, and prepared for his next opponent.
His next opponent was a black belt named William and the fight went underway. Ash learned that ghost Pokemon were completely unaffected by fighting-type moves, so he decided to give Rotom another chance. Ash also sent out Dratini and they faced William's Meditite and Mienshao. Unfortunately for William, Rotom was completely intangible to all physical attacks that his Pokemon knew, but Meditite was able to use confusion which put some hurt on Rotom, who casually floated around the dojo with a smile on its face. Ash once again had to sit through the lack of cooperation from Rotom while Dratini pulled off multiple maneuvers to whittle down her opponents health. Ash also instructed her to use thunderbolt on Mienshao, leaving a ton of damage in its wake. Rotom finally decided to do something and used a super-effective shadow ball on Meditite, which instantly knocked him out. With duel effort and dodging some high jump kicks, Dratini and Rotom managed to take down Mienshao.
Ash's next opponent was not so easy, and he warned that he was easy in comparison to Toshi. The black belt sent out Machoke and Combusken. Ash used some available potions on Dratini and the dragon agreed to resume fighting on the next round. Ash agreed to her wish and decided to use Riolu and Cubone since he knew that the ground-type Cubone would be able to do well against Combusken's fire type. Machoke was a formidable opponent and could easily hold his ground against Riolu but Combusken was a different story. The black belt, whose name was Bret, was not in the same room as Ash when he had used bubblebeam with Cubone and was thrown completely off guard. Riolu was capable of using some force palms on Machoke after taking in heavy damage from bodybuilder's submission attack. With a powerful reversal attack that was amplified by his guts ability, the Machoke turned the tide of the battle and Ash's Riolu was defeated.
Cubone was left against two opponents, and Ash felt he was in a bind. He felt bad that Riolu had fainted, but he would assure his fallen partner that he would not let his defeat be for nothing. Cubone more than showed his resolve and vindicated his fallen ally with several more bubblebeams and bonemerangs, but not without taking damage. In fact, after Machoke used vital throw, Cubone used bubblebeam in mid-air and it was enough to take down Machoke, but as soon as Cubone landed on the ground from the throw, he fainted. Nonetheless, Ash won the match against Bret.
Toshi applauded at Ash's strength and suggested that Ash go heal his Pokemon. Ash did that and returned and Toshi said,
"So. It comes down to you and me. Are you ready?"
"I'm prepared to give it my all," said Ash.
"Very well. Go, Hitmonchan and Poliwrath!" The boxer-looking Pokemon and the evolved form of Poliwhirl came out of their Pokeballs and were ready for action.
"Dratini, are you ready, girl?" said Ash. Dratini responded yes with her telepathy and Ash asked the same to Scyther. The two of them made their stand and were prepared to fight.
"Begin!" said one of Toshi's students.
"All right, Ash, you make the first move," offered Toshi.
"Thank you," responded Ash. "Scyther, use agility!"
"Poliwrath, you use bulk up! Tighten your defenses and attack power!" responded Toshi.
"Dratini, attack Hitmonchan and restrain him with your wrap attack," said Ash.
"Not so fast," said Toshi. "Use mach punch on Scyther and get out of the way of Dratini!"
With impressive acceleration, Hitmonchan easily dodged Dratini who leaped towards him, the latter falling on the ground and defenseless. The swift Hitmonchan was able to catch up to the speeding mantis and hit him in the face, causing him to come to a halt.
"Scyther, use quick attack on Poliwrath!" ordered Ash.
"Poliwrath, you use counter; send double the damage back," said Toshi. Scyther zoned in on Poliwrath and hit him with his body, but Poliwrath did not seem to be hurt badly. With a well-aimed punch, the bipedal amphibian sent back twice the damage to Scyther and jumped back to gaze at his opponent.
Ash was starting to panic on the inside; even though the battle had just started, he felt that he was already losing since his enemy seemed to be one step ahead of him.
"Ash!" called Erika from the sideline. "Use that move you found in Cerulean!"
Ash gasped. "She knows about it? But…how?" thought Ash. "I gotta use it at the right time. Thunderbolt will be a great way to put the hurt on Poliwrath."
"Dratini, send Hitmonchan a twister attack! Let's focus on Hitmonchan for now!" ordered Ash.
"Hitmonchan, show the little dragon your strength by showing her a true fighting Pokemon's strength with a bullet punch," commanded the Karate master. Just as Dratini was almost through finishing her twister attack, Hitmonchan darted by her and unleashed a torrent furious punches with the force of small bullets. The helical wind that Dratini was in the process of creating completely died down as she got punched to and fro and shut her eyes to protect them from being hit by mistake. After a total of about 11 punches, Hitmonchan darted back to the other side of the battlefield and waited for further orders.
Ash took a few minutes and weighed his options out as he thought of what to do. His mind was all over the place and it was rather hard to focus. Toshi casually coaxed him to make his move, and Ash finally said,
"Scyther, confuse them with double team!" said Ash. An overused strategy, sure, but it did effectively through his opponents off.
"Poliwrath, use bulk up again," ordered Toshi.
"Dratini, use twister again!" said Ash.
"Poliwrath, stand still and wait for the twister to form," advised Toshi. "Hitmonchan, you do the same."
Ash was wondering what this decision was for, but nonetheless he let Dratini to continue her attack. Once the twister had formed and was moving towards Poliwrath, Toshi said,
"Now use water gun into the twister! Turn it into a whirlpool!" Poliwrath did so and the entire twister began a clear swirling mass of water. The attack hit Poliwrath, but it failed to leave a mark; in fact, he looked much more replenished!
"Water absorb?" said Ash, recalling his battle with Melanie the other day.
"You know your stuff, kid," said Toshi. "It's your move, Ash."
"Scyther, land a powerful wing attack on Poliwrath!"
"Poliwrath, stand your guard, and Hitmonchan, prepare to launch a fire punch after the attack connects," said Toshi with a cool tone in his voice and folding his arms into his chest.
Scyther was able to strike one of his glowing wings at Poliwrath, but at the expense of being impaled by the flame-covered fist of Hitmonchan. Scyther received a burn and cringed at the additional damage he was taking. Poliwrath looked like he took in only a marginal amount of damage, and Ash knew that Poliwrath was going to be the major challenge since his defense and offense were elevated from bulk up.
"Use mega kick on Dratini, Poliwrath," said Toshi.
"Do another twister, Dratini! I have an idea," said Ash, with the last part at a hushed tone.
As Poliwrath began to run over rather slowly to Dratini, the dragon was quickly forming the twister.
"Quickly change the mega kick to water gun on the cyclone, Poliwrath, then use it to replenish your health!" ordered Toshi.
"Just what I wanted him to do," thought Ash. "Don't stop now, Dratini! Get ready!"
The twister was soaked and formed a whirlpool and that was the moment to strike.
"Now! Thunderbolt at the whirlpool!" said Ash. Dratini's body glowed a yellow and blue hue and she then fired a bolt of electricity at the whirlpool. The whirlpool then transformed into an electric vortex and Poliwrath was right in the middle of it!
"Poliwrath!" cried out Toshi.
Ash had a small smile on his face, but it instantly turned into a frown. Scyther had just fainted from the burns! The vortex subsided and Poliwrath had swirls in his eyes.
"Poliwrath and Scyther are both unable to battle, leaving Hitmonchan and Dra-" started one of the students, but then a glowing surrounded Dratini.
"C-can it be?" said Erika. "Is Dratini…"
"Evolving?" said she and Ash simultaneously. The emotions were different around the dojo. Some students were saying that if Dratini is truly evolving, what a lucky guy Ash is. Some were saying that Hitmonchan may in trouble. Others were congratulating Ash for having such a rare Pokemon to begin with. Ash, on the other hand, was fully getting exponentially more excited with each passing second. The glowing figured elongated and got a little wider and once it finished a beautiful serpentine that was a shade of blue not unlike the hair of Erika. A small horn protruded out of her head and a gorgeous orb of a beautiful sapphire color was at the top of her "neck", just a few inches away from her jaw. Her tail was similar to that of a rattlesnake except it had two orbs that were practically identical to the one on her head except a smaller orb was on top of a larger orb, and a couple of inches of her tail was coming out. Her spiny scale-like "ears" were replaced with marvelous wings that looked like they were inspired by angels. The figure as a whole was something that left everyone in complete awe.
"D-dratini?" stuttered a stupefied.
The gentle-hearted blue dragon nodded to his words and she approached Ash. He hugged her and said, "I didn't think you would evolve this early in the journey, but it was a lot of fun having you as a Dratini. I'm so proud of you, girl." He gave her a hug and she wrapped the top part of her body around him as her form of a hug. The other people in the dojo aww'd at the tender moment. "If we win or lose this match, it will not matter, cause I feel like a winner anyways."
"Thank you, Ash, for giving me your never-ending support," said Dragonair in her telepathy. "I will always plan to stand by you no matter what."
Ash took out his PokeDex and used it on his newly evolved friend. "Dragonair," started Dexter. "The dragon Pokemon and Dratini's evolved form and the stage before Dragonite. Dragonair are said to be mythical creatures since so few have seen one. They have a gentle aura and can change the weather with the energy from the crystalline orbs on their neck and tail."
Ash pushed a few more buttons and learned that Dragonair had just learned dragonbreath, making her current moves dragonbreath, thunderbolt, agility, twister, wrap, and bubblebeam.
Toshi started clapping his hands together and said, "Well done, Ash. You must feel very honored to have such a Pokemon like that. I've never seen one in person and it is such a rare treat to see a Pokemon of that rarity."
"I'll be sure to raise her properly," said Ash proudly. "Now, let us resume this battle."
"It would be my pleasure to face a Pokemon such as your Dragonair," said Toshi. "Hitmonchan, mach punch!"
"Dragonair, use wrap!" said Ash.
Hitmonchan darted towards the mystical serpentine Pokemon and gave her a quickly-thrown punch at her, but Dragonair was able to wrap about 3 of the 4 meters of her body length around Hitmonchan. The boxing Pokemon was unable to move but Toshi did not seem to be bothered by this.
"Hitmonchan, use metronome!" he ordered. Although Hitmonchan's arms were unable to move, he began to wag his fingers in his boxing gloves. Ash gulped; there was no telling what would happen now. Hitmonchan's fingers still were wagging in his red gloves when all the sudden, Hitmonchan's body began to glow a fiery red. Crimson flames escaped his body and showered the battlefield and Dragonair was doing her best to endure it.
"What move is that?" asked Ash as he was amazed that metronome chose such a random move.
"I believe it's called lava plume," said Erika. "Hitmonchan does not have a high special attack, and since Dragonair is resistance to fire, it should not do much damage."
"Dragonair, release Hitmonchan!" said Ash. "We are going to try your new move, dragonbreath."
Hitmonchan finally stopped the crimson flames and paid attention to Dragonair as she produced a seafoam green blast of energy escape from her mouth and hit the punching Pokemon. Hitmonchan was unable to move out of the way and took all the force of this new attack, and he still had a fair amount of strength left.
"Hitmonchan, fire another bullet punch!" said Toshi.
"Dragonair, use thunderbolt!" commanded Ash. Dragonair readied her electric attack and aimed it at the approaching Hitmonchan, but he proved to be far too fast and managed to beat her senseless with the steel-type move.
"I say it's time that we finally settled this," said Toshi. "Hitmonchan, finish Dragonair with your ice punch!"
"Dragonair, prepare to give it your all with one last thunderbolt!" said Ash. Hitmonchan was mere feet away from Dragonair when she finally obtained the energy to set forth the thunderbolt, but Hitmonchan was able to hit her while she discharged the attack. A cloud of dust appeared and both of them were out of sight, leaving Ash and Toshi to wonder who beat whom. Once the dust finally settled, Ash and Toshi both gasped. Both of them had fainted.
"It's a draw!" said someone in the background. Ash was quite disappointed at what happened, but he was proud nonetheless that he got a new Pokemon, so to speak. Toshi got up and slowly applauded and approached Ash who was now confused.
"Well done, Ash, well done," said Toshi. Soon everyone else began to follow the karate master's lead and began to applause as well.
"But…I didn't win," said Ash as he went over to Dragonair and thanked her for doing her best. He then returned her to the Pokeball and Toshi did the same with Hitmonchan.
"You gave me the opportunity to see a Pokemon I've wanted to see since I was little, plus, you had such skill fighting as well as love and respect," said Toshi. "You did a spectacular job today, and as a reward, I want you to have this." He pulled out a Pokeball from his pocket and handed it to Ash. "This is Tyrogue and he can evolve into one of three Pokemon. You seem to be well-attached to your Riolu and vice versa, but it never hurts to have more than one of the same type among your team."
Ash accepted the Pokeball and shook Toshi's hand. Since Ash had six Pokemon already, the ball teleported and he thanked the man again. Ash and Erika then left the dojo and Erika said,
"I'm so proud that your Dratini evolved, Ash. You must feel very lucky now since Dragonair is one of the rarest Pokemon that isn't a legendary."
"I feel lucky, indeed, and I'm proud of her battling skills," said Ash. "But the more important thing is that we stay together through all obstacles. I would have felt just the same if she had lost the battle, but she is getting one step closer to reaching her final form she dreams of."
"Another thing, Ash."
"Hmm?"
"What do you plan on doing with Tyrogue? Are you going to send back one of your Pokemon to get him? Perhaps Rotom since it doesn't cooperate?"
Ash thought for a second as they walked through the morning streets of Saffron. He finally said, "I've been thinking about my mom lately. I feel that she may be really lonely, even though she doesn't act like it. I was thinking of maybe sending Tyrogue to her to keep her company, but I feel like it would be best to talk to him first."
"That's sweet that you think of your mom like that," said Erika. "I really think it would be best to talk to Tyrogue first since it would seem like you were neglecting him by sending him to your mom."
Ash agreed and they made their way back to the Pokemon Center. Along the way, Ash saw a stand that was selling TM's and bought X-Scissor for Scyther, Snarl for Zorua, and Retaliate. Ash healed his Pokemon and planned his next move at Saffron's gym which he would take on tomorrow since he wanted to give his Pokemon some additional rest.
*Although I did not mention it in the story, Ash battled multiple hikers along the way through Rock Tunnel and gained experience with Dratini.
GPS: This will not be the end of Clefairy, I promise you that! They had the lowest votes in the poll and I felt they were the least "interesting" Pokemon. That's why they are out of his party for now. And it was averyhard decision about the evolution and whom Ash acquired; about 2/3's the poll wanted Rotom while the others wanted Spiritomb, the latter in reviews. And Rotom will serve as the electric/other element Pokemon, such as fire or grass.
Also, I'm making Sabrina's personality and appearance (clothes-wise and hair) pretty much identical to that from the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, but her face is the same from the anime. So technically speaking, she isn't fully out of character, I'm just giving her a personality that is different from what almost all stories give her.
Also, for the simplicity of the story, I'll let Pokemon learn more than five moves. They seem to just learn them like that in the anime without asking trainers which move to delete. Despite the fact that Dragonair cannot learn dragonbreath outside of breeding (or TM in Gen II) I decided to make that the move she learned upon evolution to make it interesting.
One final note: There will be a sequel after this (I plan to hopefully make multiple as a future project). Dragonair, however, will not evolve again in this story until either the very end or in the beginning of a future story. Expect another evolution soon.