Chapter 11
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"Now! Double Team!" Ash ordered.
Kit produced multiple illusionary copies of itself, all of which charged at their opponent. The opposing Pokemon, a Parasect, bristled after laying eyes on the army of Eevees rushing toward it.
"Use Slash when it gets close!" its Trainer, a girl with short brown hair wearing overalls ordered. Parasect braced itself before leaning forward, its claws shining a bright white as it swiped its pincers through the clones, dissipating them. The real Kit jumped over the Slash attack gracefully right before it was about to hit.
"Now! Finish this with Iron Tail!" Ash ordered.
"Parasect, get out of there!" the girl screamed. Kit slammed its steel-encased tail on the Bug/Grass-type, causing it to crumple to the floor and lose the glow in its clouded, ghostly eyes. Parasect was out cold.
Ash's opponent sighed and recalled her fallen partner, mumbling into the PokeBall before reattaching it to her belt. She offered her hand to Ash and he shook it, placing a small stack of bills into his hand in the process. Ash beamed and counted the money. A thousand Pokedollars, enough to cover this week's food bill.
"That was a great battle." she said. "You really caught me off guard with that Double Team. Parasect isn't beaten often, but you really gave her a workout."
"Thanks." Ash responded with a small smile. It wasn't often that you saw a Bug-type being used to great success. Although he did wonder why she'd bring a Parasect of all things to an island famous for its Fire-type Gym. "Your Parasect is pretty strong."
"Same to your Eevee!" the girl said enthusiastically. Ash heard a voice coming from behind her and she looked back before turning to Ash.
"I've gotta go." she said as she started walking away. "Good luck with your gym challenge!"
Ash nodded and they parted ways. He had taken to battling Trainers on Cinnabar Island for some practice, since Nate and Angelina weren't around. He missed them, and they probably felt the same way.
He picked up Kit and stroked her fur, causing her to let out a satisfied coo. "Great job today, girl." he said. "You'll be big and strong in no time!"
He sat on the ground, petting the Eevee while she curled up next to him. Her power and speed had been really picking up recently, and the addition of Double Team, it only improved even more. Dexter even had trouble against her, as her speed made her hard to keep up with.
He was proud of her. Despite not having evolved yet, she was able to go toe-to-toe with Petal and Dexter and sometimes come out on top. He hoped he could come up with a couple of new strategies soon to make her an even more powerful member of the team.
Ash pulled out a notepad and started to write. During his interview with Officer Jenny, he had sometimes zoned out and gotten distracted, which included getting distracted with her notepad. While she had been taking notes, he began to realize the benefits of keeping record of new moves and strategies.
He wanted to try and combine Iron Tail and Swift. Both moves relied heavily on Kit's tail, storing up energy in it to use their respective attacks. However, both attacks had their flaws.
Iron Tail, while powerful, didn't have a lot of range. Quick Tail helped mitigate this problem, but jumping in the air to gain momentum took time, enough time for an opponent to move backwards and counterattack.
Swift was the opposite. It never missed and had range to boot, but wasn't very powerful. Ash mainly found himself using it to dispel attacks.
However, combining the two would allow Kit to cover the weaknesses of both moves. It would take a lot of energy to pull off, but he was confident he could get it down in a couple of weeks.
He started to furiously write notes and drew sketches of the concept. Ash was confident Kit could pull it off, if the results from training and battling were anything to go by. He put down his pen and put the notebook in front of Kit's face, showing the page with the diagrams.
"What do you think?" he asked her. Kit's eyes scanned the diagrams and her eyes lit up and she wagged her tail.
"You like it, huh?" Ash chuckled. "I think we'll be able to learn the technique soon. Let's go inside."
Ash walked toward the Pokemon Center next to the practice battlefields, Kit following close behind. He was about to walk inside when he realized the Eevee wasn't next to him, and he turned around.
Ash's eyes bulged out of their sockets. Just a few feet away from where he was standing, the shining form of Kit stood. She was.. evolving.
Her body continued to glow, but Ash noticed something was off. Her body wasn't changing, and she was shuddering as she was bathed in bright white light. She should've finished evolving into something by now.
Then the glowing ceased, and Kit collapsed.
"Well Ash, I'm surprised your Eevee was able to hold out for that long." Nurse Joy said as she ran diagnostics on Kit, who was on a stretcher asleep.
They were in the back room of the Pokemon Center, where all the Pokemon were being treated. When Ash had shown Nurse Joy the unconscious Kit and explained what happened, she had taken the Eevee from him immediately and told him to come with her.
"Do you know what happened?" he asked worriedly. He'd never seen anything like what had happened. It wasn't natural for a Pokemon to just… stop evolving like that. He was worried Kit was sick. What if she stayed an Eevee forever?
No. He'd still love her like the rest of his Pokemon. Evolution or not.
"I do. Your Eevee didn't want to evolve." Nurse Joy responded. Ash's eyes widened. "W-what? Why?" he almost yelled, stopping himself from waking Kit.
Nurse Joy laughed softly. "There's no need to worry." she said. "It just means she's not ready for her evolution yet, or she just wants to evolve into something else. So I'm going to give her an Everstone. The energy it gives off prevents Pokemon from evolving, and she can discard it when she is ready for evolution."
Ash nodded, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was just glad Kit was safe. He looked over at the Normal-type, whose eyes started to flutter open.
Ash smiled at her. "Hey." he said to her. The fox shot him a worried look. "Don't worry. Nurse Joy's taking care of you. You really gave me a scare when you stopped evolving like that."
Upon hearing that, Kit's face fell, her head lowered, and her ears drooped. Using two of his fingers, he pushed her head up so she looked straight at him.
"I'm not mad," he said with a grin. "It's your choice whether you want to evolve, not mine. You'll evolve whenever you're ready."
The Eevee's face lit up a little after that. Nurse Joy smiled after seeing the boy's attempt at cheering his Pokemon up. "I'm impressed." she said. "I don't know a lot of Trainers who would prioritize their Pokemon's happiness over their evolution. I think you're going to go far, Ash. Here is your Everstone."
She pulled out a flat, medium-sized stone from her pocket. It was white and felt smooth to the touch. Strangely, it felt cold, despite it being in the nurse's pocket. If not for that, Ash would've mistaken it for any other rock.
He beamed. "I appreciate it."
He picked up Kit and walked out of the back room, handing the Everstone to her, and catching the eye of a few other Trainers in the lobby before stepping outside.
When Ash wasn't training, he was busy doing some sightseeing. Cinnabar Island was apparently a large part of Kanto's tourism industry, so Ash wanted to see the sights while he searched for the gym. Numerous shops and luxury hotels were set up throughout the island, all packed to the brim with tourists and visiting Trainers, eager to experience living in Cinnabar.
However, nobody he asked seemed to know where the gym was located, and he scoured the city, desperate for any sign of a building with a PokeBall on it, indicating it was a gym. Nothing came up in the last few days he had been searching for it.
So, Ash decided to take a break and visit the Cinnabar Lab, a facility dedicated to Pokemon research. It was only a few minutes from the Pokemon Center, and Ash wanted to see what kind of crazy experiments happened out of reach of the public eye.
He remembered hearing Professor Oak mentioning that Dexter was made in that very building. Apparently the Upgrade was as well, and Ash wanted to take Dexter to see it with its very own eyes. It would be an injustice to deny his Pokemon the right to visit its own birthplace.
He found himself standing in front of the Pokemon Lab ten minutes later, with Dexter at his side. To his dismay however, it had been turned into a tourist trap just like the rest of the island, with stalls lining the area in front of the building, the voices of shopkeepers and customers ringing throughout the area. Luckily, the building itself didn't seem too occupied, and Ash walked inside.
He strolled into the building with Dexter floating beside him. The automatic doors parted to give him access, and Ash gazed in awe at the interior. Pristine white walls and floors and fancy equipment were just a few of things he was able to make out. Dexter had the same reaction as him, its eyes scanning the building. He walked up to the receptionist's desk, where a tall lady with a pointed nose and brown hair tied into a bun was busy tapping away at a computer.
"Excuse me?" Ash asked to get her attention. The lady looked up from her computer and looked down at the boy with an eyebrow raised. "Do you happen to know who the creator of Porygon is?"
"I'm not at liberty to give out that information." the receptionist said. "Why would you ask that?"
"Well I was hoping that it'd be able to meet its creator again." he responded. The receptionist's eyes shifted over to the robotic bird next to the boy. How'd he even get one in the first place?
"Well I'm sorry but you're going to have to-"
"Say, is that one of my Porygon?"
Ash turned to the source of the voice. A large, slightly plump man wearing a lab coat and an orange undershirt walked up to the group. He adjusted his swirly glasses and peered at Dexter.
"It is!" he exclaimed. "Experiment EK-6! It's me!"
Dexter scanned over the stranger and its eyes shined in recognition. The man rushed over to Dexter, knelt down, and pulled into a hug. The Porygon2 didn't seem to be resisting in any way, which led Ash to believe that this was Dexter's creator.
The man finally noticed the boy's presence and pulled away from the robotic bird, straightening his lab coat. "You must be its Trainer!" the man said. "A pleasure! I didn't expect Oak to give my Porygon to a Trainer… but no matter! It just means I finally get to see one of my creations in person again!"
"Erm… excuse me… who are you?" Ash asked, a little bit unnerved by the eccentric man.
"Ah!" the scientist smacked himself on the forehead. "Forgive my poor manners! My name is Mason, otherwise known as Dr. Akihabara! I'm the one and only creator of Porygon!"
Ash's eyes widened in realization. "Hey, I know you!" he exclaimed. "Aren't you the famous researcher from Matcha City?"
(A/N: Some clarification. Dr. Akihabara and Matcha City are from Episode 38. However, this episode was never released anywhere besides Japan because of the seizures it caused.)
"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" the eccentric man yelled. "I decided to relocate here to Cinnabar! A place like this is perfect for a vacation home! Why don't I show you my lab where the magic happens?"
Ash nodded vigorously and the man grinned.
"Then away we go!" he cried as he ran off down a hall.
Ash and Dexter followed the strange man down the hall, and he stopped at a door before quickly going inside.
He followed Dr. Akihabara into the lab and started to look around. It looked a lot like Bill's house. Papers and coffee cups everywhere, but to a greater extent than Bill, which was probably why the scientist seemed so… eccentric.
"Hello, stranger!" a voice behind him greeted. Ash turned around and yelped. Right behind him was a giant holographic image of Dr. Akihabara's head. A few seconds later, it dissipated into thin air.
The man paid no mind to the mess that cluttered up the lab, and instead motioned for Ash to follow him to his computer.
"I have something I want to show you." he said with a smile. He shifted his computer around so it faced Ash, and he squinted at what was on his computer.
It looked like a disc, similar to a TM, but was violet and smaller. Projected on the screen was a holographic image of it, along with tons of other windows opened up with what looked to be code on them.
"I call it Upgrade Z!" Dr. Akihabara exclaimed. "Now your Porygon2 can evolve into something greater! I call it… Porygon-Z!"
Ash's smile widened. Dexter could evolve… again! He'd be better than ever, and that's saying a lot!
"Would you like the honor of becoming my first test subject?" the scientist asked. Ash nodded his head rapidly and looked at Dexter excitedly. The Porygon2 looked surprised if anything, but Ash was practically bursting with excitement.
"I'm not sure how much longer it'll be before it's finished…" Dr. Akihabara said. "But you can bet you'll be the first to know when it's ready!"
Ash pumped his fist in the air. He couldn't wait.
"Excellent! Go on the offensive and keep pushing!" Ash cheered on.
Kit merely nodded as she rushed toward Dexter and lunged at the robotic bird with a Bite attack.
Dexter swerved out of the way using Agility, creating afterimages from the movement, and launched a surprise Ice Beam at her, nailing her in the side. Kit fell toward the ground in a heap, but quickly got up and growled, before racing toward Dexter one more time with a Quick Attack.
The Porygon2 manifested a Protect and charged up a Psybeam, which Kit jumped backwards to avoid.
Ash watched from the sidelines as the two Normal-types duked it out. Dexter's main weakness was the fact that it didn't have any way to keep opponents at bay once they got close. Gary's Mankey and A.J. 's Sandshrew were two examples. Petal had its spores and Kit and had her speed, however previous battles made it clear to Ash that Dexter needed something to help in near-ranged battles. Agility helped Dexter dodge some major hits, but when an opponent was close, one slip-up was all that was needed to turn the tides in their favor.
Which was why he tasked Kit with keeping Dexter on its guard. The Eevee's forte remained exclusively on dodging as much as possible while getting close to deliver big hits. A training partner like her would help the Porygon2 with its problem.
He looked behind him and saw Petal and Slowbro training on their own. He wanted the Gloom to start practicing Toxic, a move that released a potent poisonous blob that could knock out opponents in minutes. The poison would seep into their bodies, attacking them from within. One could easily tell when Toxic was in effect from the otherworldly purple glow radiating off a Pokemon's body.
He saw Petal spit a small poisonous glob on a nearby fern, which immediately wilted when it came in contact with the substance. Ash could hear a sizzling sound as well, and Petal almost looked… guilty as he watched the plant wilt more and more, its leaves turning a sickly brown color.
He felt a bit sad watching Petal look at its Toxic attack do its work, but it was better than having him test it out on one of his own teammates. It would slowly and agonizingly eat away at their inner bodies until they couldn't find the strength to stay conscious. He doubted even Slowpoke could withstand the move for too long.
Many Poison types were fond of using the technique. It put their opponents on a timer. Even if their prey took them down first, they'd be assured they'd go down with them. New Trainers were encouraged to stay away from most poison types, lest they end up in the hospital. Nidoran and Oddish were just a couple of exceptions, since they weren't strong enough to harness the substance to its full potential, and the latter was usually a docile species anyways.
Ash's eyes shifted over to Slowpoke, who had its eyes closed and was breathing slowly. A faint green aura emanated from its body as it slept. He had asked the Dopey Pokemon to practice Slack Off, which unsurprisingly required loads of sleep.
Slack Off involved the user using its internal energy to nullify pain and heal wounds. Only a few Pokemon could learn it, one of which being Slowpoke. Getting a move that could increase its longevity on the battlefield would help immensely in his battle against Blaine.
One thing that put Ash off about Slowpoke was the fact that it barely moved, even during battles. It never dodged during training, and was more content in sitting around and taking hits without so much as a scratch. The species as a whole had barely any mobility whatsoever, besides Teleport. Slack Off would just be the cherry on top of its above average survivability.
He turned back to Kit and Dexter, who were still locked in a fierce battle. Kit finally managed to nail Dexter with an Iron Tail, sending it reeling back a few feet.
"Stop." Ash said as he held up his hand. The two of them broke their concentration away from their fighting and looked at their Trainer.
"Both of you, great job." he said. "At this rate, we'll definitely be able to beat Blaine." He turned to Dexter. "Dexter, I'm going to give you a couple of new TMs to help you in near-ranged battles."
The Virtual Pokemon nodded and allowed itself to be withdrawn back into its ball. Ash took his TM case out of his bag and sifted through his TMs before he pulled out the two he wanted. Now that Dexter had mastered Agility, he wanted to add a couple more moves to its arsenal.
He inserted the Shock Wave TM he had received from Lt. Surge and the Protect TM from the S.S. Anne into the slot in the back of the PokeBall. The sphere glowed as he inserted both discs in, one at a time.
He hoped Protect would enable Dexter to absorb a hit and dish one back quickly, without having to dodge constantly. While Protect did use more energy, it was more reliable at preventing damage.
Shock Wave was another useful tool that he wanted to put to use. It released a powerful discharge of electricity in a small area, perfect for keeping opponents at bay.
He let Dexter out of its PokeBall, and it looked at him intently. "These new TMs should help you deal with close-ranged fighters much more easily," he said. "Try testing them out on Kit when you two spar."
The two Normal-types nodded and continued their battle, intent on honing their skills.
"Where is this Arceus-forsaken Gym!?"
That was the question Ash was constantly asking himself as he patrolled Cinnabar Island, looking for any sort of sign that could lead him to the gym.
His days of searching had left him with nothing. No clues, no locations, no whereabouts of any sort of battling facility. Harvey had told him that there was a gym here, but he never specified where. He began to regret not asking Harvey the location of the gym. It would've made this wild Swanna chase so much easier.
He took a seat on a nearby bench and sighed. Not many people were out and about at this time, mostly due to the sweltering heat. Ash zipped open his bag and started chugging down a bottle of water to stay hydrated.
"I just wish I could find the gym…" he said to no one in particular. However, this caught the attention of a passerby, who walked up to the boy.
"Gym… you say?" the figure said. Ash looked up and saw a man towering over him, who wore a red short-sleeved shirt, a green beaded necklace, and circular glasses that covered his eyes. His hair was blonde and wavy, and he had a long mustache on his face.
"There hasn't been a Gym on Cinnabar Island in decades." he explained. "The old Gym Leader, Blaine, closed it down after Cinnabar became a tourist trap. He was forced to battle countless tourists who didn't even want badges. So he abandoned it."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "How do you know all this?"
The man bristled. "Ah… I was a… friend of Blaine's." he blurted. "I don't know where he is though."
The boy sighed. "My friend Harvey told me there would be a gym here." He stared at his fingernails, thinking back to his encounter with the ACE Trainer. He had been hoping to use the extra training he'd gotten from going up against Arcanine to great effect against Blaine, but it seemed he wouldn't be able to get his fourth gym badge after all.
This time, it was the stranger's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Well, you sure do look tired," he remarked. He pulled out a small business card from his pants pocket and handed it to Ash. "If you want, I'll let you stay at my inn. Free of charge."
He took the card and stared at it. Spelled in big letters was the name "Big Riddle Inn" as well as contact information… and a riddle?
"If you look near the swings, you'll see my hands. Or at least, my face."
He tore his gaze away from the card to question the man about the riddle, but he had already disappeared into thin air. Ash looked from side to side to try and find any trace of the man, but he was nowhere to be found.
Ash put the card in his pocket and continued his search.
The sun was setting, and Ash was still having no luck finding the gym. At this point, he was getting extremely frustrated, and decided to just call it a day. Harvey had told him there was a gym here, and he was going to find it.
He had checked out of the Pokemon Center in favor of staying at the inn. Despite being free, inns tended to have better service and food than Pokemon Centers, even if they did cost money. Higher class people were able to afford luxury hotels wherever they went, whereas wandering Trainers needed to save money for supplies and relied on the free rooms that a Pokemon Center had.
The business card also showed a hot spring being near the hotel, which Ash was all for trying out.
Ash sat by his lonesome at a park, which sure enough, had swings. The street lights flickered on and off, giving the place a creepy vibe, as if a figure would come out of the darkness and take him away.
"You'll see my hands or at least my face… hands… face… what does it mean…?"
He stepped away from the swing set and looked around the area. He didn't see anyone's hands or face anywhere. He looked up toward the volcano, where he could see smoke rising out of the top. Sitting on the slope of the volcano was a building with a clock tower, which was mostly covered by trees.
Wait… a clock tower. The hands and face of a clock.
Ash ran as fast as he could up the mountain. His PokeBalls bounced off of each other as he ran, creating a clinking sound.
"Ah… there you are!" the stranger from earlier greeted him as he stumbled through the doors of the Big Riddle Inn. "I was about to close the inn for the night. Are you here to stay for the night?"
Ash nodded, too tired to respond. The man walked behind a counter and started to use the computer that sat there. The interior looked like some of the ancient houses Ash had learned about in school. It was fairly rustic compared to the other hotels he had seen.
"Could I get your name?" the innkeeper asked.
"Ash. Ash Ketchum." he responded.
"Ash… Ketchum…" the stranger muttered to himself as he input his information into the computer. He reached behind the counter and took out a key. "Why don't I show you to your room?"
He walked with the man down a hall lined with doors. He could see paintings hung up on the wall, ancient works of art depicting Pokemon. One featured an Arcanine that looked similar to Harvey's, and another showed a giant, red, lizard-like Pokemon that breathed fire.
"Here it is." the stranger said, unlocking the door with a key and opening it. It consisted of one queen-sized bed with a tank for fish Pokemon and a perch for bird Pokemon. A window overlooked the main city of Cinnabar, giving him a great view of the buildings below. It was definitely bigger than the rooms at the Pokemon Center, which was definitely a plus.
"Enjoy your stay." the man said with a smile, dropping the key into Ash's hands and leaving him by himself. The boy locked the door and collapsed on the bed. He sighed tiredly. If he couldn't find the Gym soon, he'd probably have to leave the island and get his fourth badge elsewhere.
His worries soon faded into nothingness as he drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Ash decided to take a break from searching and relax with his Pokemon. Luckily, the inn had hot springs next to it that were heated up by the volcano. After changing into his swim trunks, he walked downstairs. Petal, Dexter, and Kit accompanied him down to the main floor, and once they got down, they were greeted by the innkeeper, who had a Flareon by his side, curled up on the floor.
Kit's eyes sparkled and she wagged her tail after laying eyes on the fire fox. The Flareon opened one of its eyes to look at Kit, and then fell back asleep.
"Good morning Ash!" the man greeted him. His gaze shifted to the Pokemon next to him. "So you're a Pokemon Trainer? You must be taking the gym challenge then. How'd your progress?"
Ash grinned. "Great!" he responded. "I've been on the road for fourteen weeks and I have three badges. These are my Pokemon, Dexter, Petal, and Kit. I also have a Slowpoke as well."
"So you caught one of the resident Slowpoke that live here? A smart choice for a fire-type Gym." His eyes stopped at the little Eevee beside Ash, who seemed to be enamored by the Flareon. Her paws clung to the Everstone next to her, seemingly unwilling to let go.
"Your Eevee seems to have taken a liking to my Flareon," he stated. "I am curious as to why your Eevee is holding an Evertsone though."
Ash rubbed the back of his head. "She's not ready to evolve just yet," he replied. "She stopped her evolution yesterday, which caused her to black out, so Nurse Joy gave her an Everstone to hold."
The innkeeper nodded. "Maybe she's already decided what she wants to evolve into, and is waiting until the time is right." he mused. He then took a look at Dexter, who levitated by its Trainer loyally.
"Quite an… interesting Pokemon you have there," he observed. "I've never seen anything like it."
Ash smiled. "I get that a lot. It's a Porygon2, an artificial Pokemon." he said. "He's my starter."
The innkeeper's gaze stayed on Dexter for a few more seconds before slowly shifting back to Ash. "Well, I hope you enjoy the hot springs, Ash." he said. "Do you want me to tell you where it is through a riddle?"
Ash held his hands up. "No thanks, I'm done with riddles." he said with a nervous laugh. He left quickly with his Pokemon in tow to find the hot springs. He was due for a bit of relaxation, and after taking a few wrong turns, Ash finally found a door leading outside labeled "Hot Springs" and pushed it open.
The area was completely empty, apart from a few Pidgey that he scared off when entering. Ash had only seen one or two people staying at the inn, probably because of its remote location on the volcano as opposed to the more luxurious and easier to access hotels near the beach.
The hot spring itself was made up of a small pond with steam rising out of the water, surrounded by rocks and shrubbery. A fence cut the pond into two parts, and two doors kept each area closed off. One door had a large "B" painted on it, while the other had a "G", showing visitors which side they were allowed on.
Ash walked into the area designated for males and sighed in relief as he entered the water. Relaxation radiated throughout his body, the clean spring water refreshing him and warming him up. He had let out his Pokemon to come and relax with him as well. They had been training hard anyway.
Dexter was gazing at its reflection, doing the exact same as on the S.S. Anne. The Normal-type seemed to be so intrigued with itself that it didn't pay any mind to its other team members.
Slowpoke lazily floated in the hot springs alongside Ash, using weak bursts of Confusion to keep itself afloat. It faced Ash, although its unfocused pupils made it seem as though it were looking in two different directions.
Petal and Kit stayed off to the side, about a foot away from the pool, mainly because of the latter's dislike of water and to soak up sun. Slowpoke yawned and slapped his tail on the water, creating a splash. The water sprayed in all directions, and Ash put up an arm to shield himself. It drenched Dexter and Petal, the former seemingly unfazed. Kit barked in alarm and managed to jump away from the splash, her legs propelling her high into the air on a stone statue of a Gyarados.
A clicking sound was heard, and the hot springs started to rumble, as if they were being hit by an earthquake. Ash jumped out of the water and looked around to see what was going on. The fence separating the two sections of the hot tub started to topple and fell into the pool with a splash, spraying more water.
Kit jumped off of the statue, terrified, and landed on Ash's head, causing him to almost lose his balance and fall into the pool. Her paws desperately clung to him, covering his eyes, and he pulled her off his head and placed her on the ground.
When Ash looked back toward the wreckage, he saw that a large boulder had moved from its position from the back of the hot spring, giving way to a staircase that led into the volcano.
Luckily, no one was on the other side of the fence, and Ash blushed at the thought of accidentally invading someone's privacy.
He withdrew Slowpoke back into its ball, who unsurprisingly, hadn't moved the entire time. He got a clean shirt from inside his backpack, put his shoes back on, and walked inside, the other Pokemon in tow.
Candles illuminated the staircase, lighting the way for Ash as he walked lower and lower. Petal and Kit looked around uneasily, whereas Dexter kept its eyes forward.
Finally, the staircase ended, and right in front of Ash was a large metal door. He reached out to open it, but yelped and recoiled from the handle. Even through his fingerless gloves, the handle was still extremely hot, and he shook his right hand to ease the pain.
"Dexter, could you use Ice Beam on one of the door handles?" Ash asked his partner. The Virtual Pokemon nodded and froze the handle, encasing it in ice. Ash could already see the ice started to melt, but he placed his hand on the door once more and pushed it open.
A large battlefield sat in the middle of the chamber, being supported by chains attached to rocks. Ash could hear popping sounds in the volcano, the product of the bubbling magma that lay below the arena.
He could feel sweat running down from his face from the immense heat of the volcano. Petal and Kit also seemed to be uncomfortable with the fact that they were only a few feet away from the molten rock.
"Blaine's Gym…" he said with awe.
Across the battlefield stood the innkeeper with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "So you finally made it!" he called over to Ash. I'll give you one more riddle. It's not a hat, but it keeps your head dry. If you wear it, it's only because you already lost it."
Ash rubbed his chin and scratched his head, feeling the hair between his fingers. Not a hat… but you wear it. Wait a minute… hair!
"It's a wig!" Ash shouted in realization. The man smirked and tugged on his hair. The wig came off, and Ash's eyes widened.
"I must say… I'm surprised you were able to make it to the gym!" Blaine exclaimed. "I was alerted when you triggered the Gyarados statue and I rushed down here as fast as possible. You're a smart kid, I'll give you that."
Blaine was a stark contrast compared to his innkeeper persona. He was completely bald apart from his sideburns, which were white instead of blonde. In hindsight, it was pretty obvious. Who else would build a hotel on the side of a volcano anyway?
"Now that you've found my gym, how about a three-on-three battle?" Blaine said. "Only you can make substitutions, and the battle ends when either side's Pokemon are unable to battle. So how about it?"
Ash pumped his fist in the air. "You're on!"
Blaine laughed. "I thought so." he said, unclipping a PokeBall from his belt. "You said you only had three badges right? I've still got a challenge for you." He snapped his fingers and an Alakazam levitated by the battlefield, setting up shimmering psychic barriers around the rectangular area. Ash assumed this meant Blaine was serious about giving him a challenge. Psychic Pokemon were only used if it meant the battle was going to be a potentially dangerous one.
"Go, Growlithe!" Blaine yelled.
A canine-like Pokemon black and orange fur, a bushy mane, and a small black nose appeared on the battlefield, its tail wagging. Ash stared at it for a few moments. Growlithe were quick on their feet and had power to back it up, if Harvey's Arcanine was any indication. He unclipped one of his own PokeBalls and threw it.
Slowpoke appeared, seemingly unfazed by the Fire-type's change in demeanor, who was starting to growl at it.
"Hah!" Blaine guffawed. "Predictable! Start this off with Crunch!"
Growlithe yipped and charged towards the Dopey Pokemon, teeth glowing white. Slowpoke stayed unmoving, although its ears twitched, awaiting its Trainer's command.
"Turn around and use Curse!" Ash ordered. Slowpoke turned toward Ash and closed its eyes and purplish energy started to rise from Slowpoke's body, coating its skin with a protective layer.
Growlithe however, turned its attention to Slowpoke's juicy tail, jumped, and latched its jaws onto it. The Puppy Pokemon wiggled its jaws, detaching its tail. Slowpoke however, didn't seem to even register this, and it continued to surround itself with a ghostly aura. Growlithe happily started chomping on the detached tail, forgetting that it was in the middle of a battle.
"What!?" Blaine exclaimed. Ash grinned.
"Now! Water Pulse!" Slowpoke shifted its body towards the Fire-type and shot a high-powered sphere of water, striking Growlithe in the chest, causing it to drop its meal and send it flying back to Blaine. The tail flew out of its mouth and fell into the lava below, and Growlithe looked on sadly as it disintegrated.
"Huh." Blaine said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "I definitely did not expect Growlithe to get distracted by a Slowpoke's tail of all things... but it's time to finish this! Use Howl!"
Growlithe let loose a loud roar, which created an orange aura that swirled around it. Ash gritted his teeth. He couldn't let Growlithe power up or else it'd be able to break through Slowpoke's defenses.
"Use Water Pulse again!" Ash ordered. Slowpoke shot another blue orb towards Growlithe, however this time it nimbly dodged it with ease.
"Now! Take Down!" Blaine commanded. Growlithe's body was cloaked in a white light and it rushed toward Slowpoke, slamming its entire weight into the attack. Slowpoke was knocked back a few inches, but stayed strong. However, as Growlithe jumped back to gain some distance, it winced and gritted its teeth, and Ash noticed the bruise on its right paw from the recoil.
"Slack Off!" Ash called. The Dopey Pokemon surrounded itself with a bright green light, relieving itself of the bruise it sustained from the Take Down.
"Flame Wheel!" Blaine ordered. Growlithe's tail caught fire as it started to gain momentum from running and once it reached maximum speed, it jumped and rolled, turning itself into a rotating wheel of fire.
"Take it and use Zen Headbutt!" Slowpoke braced itself for the impact as Growlithe slammed itself once more into the Water/Psychic, pushing it back a little further. Slowpoke formed a layer of psychic energy around its head, ramming it into Growlithe and sending it flying back to Blaine's side.
"Enough!" he yelled. "End this with Wild Charge!"
Ash smirked. Slowpoke's unbreakable bulk had finally thrown Blaine off his game. Growlithe's body was surrounded by a bright yellow light, sparks dancing off its fur. It raced toward Slowpoke once more
"Now use Surf!" Ash called. Slowpoke yawned, and the ground started to bubble up, before a massive wave appeared seemingly out of nowhere, interrupting Growlithe's attack and slamming into the Fire-type. The last sound out of its mouth was a pained howl as the wave brought it back to Blaine's side of the field yet again, this time with swirls in its eyes.
"Alright!" Ash cheered. Slowpoke seemed content with the fact that it had just won a battle while barely moving a muscle. Blaine smirked and recalled Growlithe back into its PokeBall.
"Impressive." he said. "Slowpoke is your newest team member, correct?"
"That's right." Ash responded. He'd done a lot of training with Slowpoke to take advantage of the toughness of its body. Very useful for a Fire Gym. At this rate, Ash was confident he could win with just Slowpoke, if he played his cards right.
"You've got potential." Blaine said with a nod of his head. "But your battle ends here. Roast them, Ponyta!"
A horse Pokemon with flames running down its body was released from the PokeBall, and it whinnied. Ash wasn't deterred, and he decided to stick with Slowpoke.
"Use Agility!" Blaine ordered. Ponyta's body glowed and it ran around the battlefield, creating afterimages similar to when Dexter uses Agility.
"Use Curse!" Ash ordered. Blaine wasn't attacking, so the best option right now was to increase Slowpoke's defense even more. Ponyta charged in, and he assumed that it was going in for an attack, one that Slowpoke would be able to take again.
Blaine smirked. "Horn Drill."
Ash's eyes widened. Horn Drill packed immense power and was enough to take even the strongest Pokemon out of the battle. It invested a huge amount of energy into increasing the size of the horn, before the user rammed it into the target. However, it was impossibly hard to control, and could be dodged easily. Against a stationary target like Slowpoke however...
Ponyta slammed its supersized horn into Slowpoke's body, launching high into the air and causing it to land with a powerful slam. Ash withdrew Slowpoke back into its ball immediately. The defensive boosts from Curse had done virtually nothing to cushion the blow.
He turned to his remaining Pokemon, who all looked a little wary after seeing Slowpoke being defeated so easily. Ash knew Blaine wouldn't resort to the tactic again against a target that was more mobile.
"Dexter, would you care to battle for me?" he asked the Porygon2. It nodded quickly and levitated toward the battlefield to face Ponyta, scanning over potential weak spots.
"Use Flame Charge, and follow up with Stomp!" Blaine ordered.
"Shock Wave! Keep it at bay!" Ash called. Dexter released a charge of electricity in all directions, striking Ponyta before it could get any closer. The horse cried out in pain and reeled back, giving Ash ample time to call out a move.
"Now follow up with Psybeam!" he ordered.
"Dodge and use Flamethrower!" Blaine commanded.
Dexter charged up a pinkish beam on its beak and shot it at the horse, who jumped over it using its powerful legs, firing a blast of fire back. The attack scorched the Normal-type, which made it reel back from the intense heat.
"Use Rapid Fire!"
Ponyta was hit with a barrage of elemental attacks, pushing it back a few inches for every hit. It gritted its teeth, trying to brave the onslaught. Once Dexter tired, Blaine called out a command.
"Use Fire Spin! Trap it!" he called. Ponyta nodded and produced a swirling vortex of flames that headed straight for Dexter. Before Ash could call out a command, the Porygon2 was engulfed in a tornado of fire, the flames licking at its body.
"Now! Flare Blitz!"
Ponyta's entire body started to ignite and it started to turn itself into a fireball, charging at Dexter at breakneck speed.
"P-protect!" Ash screamed, almost panicking. Even through the flames, Dexter manifested the shield just in time, and the powerful attack bounced off harmlessly. Even so, Dexter had taken quite a bit of damage. While Ponyta looked worse for wear, one wrong move could cost him the battle. He had to end this quickly.
"Finish this with Psybeam!" he shouted.
"Dodge it with Bounce!" Blaine countered. Ponyta leapt high into the air, its legs shining with newfound power, high above Dexter's attack. It's powerful legs must have propelled it at least fifteen feet into the air.
"Now! Do what we practiced! Fireball!" Blaine called up to Ponyta. Ash's eyes widened as it managed to manifest a Flare Blitz as it reached the zenith of its jump, and started to descend straight toward Dexter.
"Thunderbolt! NOW!" Ash shouted frantically. There was no way he could dodge an attack of that caliber and speed. His only choice was to blast it out of the air.
The electric shock was fired like a missile from Dexter's beak, striking Ponyta on its forehead, creating a large explosion midair that sent chills through Ash's spine. He watched with bated breath as Ponyta fell out of the air and landed on the ground with a slam, out cold.
Ash sighed in relief. He definitely wasn't expecting Blaine to have come up with strategies for his gym team. He knew Blaine was much stronger than what he was currently up against, and he could only imagine what kinds of crazy combos he had prepared for anyone unlucky enough to challenge him at his best.
"Such power." Blaine marveled. "You've trained your Pokemon well. But my Pokemon and I refuse to lose! Burn their hopes of victory away, Flareon!"
The red and yellow fox burst out of the PokeBall, raring to go. Ash realized it was the same Flareon he had seen earlier. It looked much more lively than when Ash had seen it sleeping at the inn. Embers danced around its fur, and a toothy grin was on its face.
"Start this off with Incinerate!" Blaine shouted. Flareon spat a large fireball at Dexter, who used Agility to dodge. When the Incinerate hit the ground however, it caused a small explosion, setting the ground aflame.
"Flare Blitz!" Blaine commanded. Flareon's body lit up with the familiar glow of the attack, and it charged towards Dexter. The Porygon2's eyes widened in alarm, and it looked back at its Trainer for a command.
"Thunderbolt!" he called. The attack soared through the air, striking the Flareon and causing it to explode. Ash sighed in relief, but when the smoke cleared, he did a double-take. Flareon was… gone.
"NOW!" Blaine yelled. Seemingly out of nowhere, Flareon charged in with a Flare Blitz on Dexter's side, hitting it hard and sending it teetering over the edge on the battlefield. Ash wasn't worried, he knew the Alakazam wouldn't let it fall. He was more worried about Dexter's condition. It had taken a lot of hits and used up a lot of energy. He needed to end this with an all out attack. That Substitute had caught both of them off guard.
"Hyper Beam!" Ash shouted. He could see the evident surprise on Blaine's face. Dexter started to charge up energy on its beak, gathering more and more power.
"Counter with your own Hyper Beam!" Blaine ordered. Both Pokemon gathered more and more energy to form their respective attacks. Ash squinted his eyes and noticed Flareon's Hyper Beam was brighter and charged much faster compared to Dexter's.
"FULL POWER!" both Trainers yelled.
Dexter and Flareon let loose their attacks in the form of giant, white beams that clashed with each other as soon as they made contact, trying to overpower the other. This would be decided by the user's strength and endurance.
However, the Porygon2 started to falter, and that was all Flareon needed. Its Hyper Beam overpowered Dexter's and engulfed it, blasted Dexter with enormous amounts of energy, kicking up dust and creating a massive explosion.
When the smoke and debris cleared, the Normal-type was on the ground, unconscious. Its durability had prevented the worst of the damage, but Ash knew they'd probably have to be checked out by Nurse Joy.
He took out Dexter's PokeBall and recalled it. "Thanks," he muttered. "You did great. Take a nice rest."
He reattached the PokeBall to his belt and took a look at his two other Pokemon, who were watching with him. Petal seemed to be pretty uncomfortable with the sweltering heat, and looked less than eager to face Flareon. The type disadvantage didn't help matters. Kit however, was wagging her tail and looked at Flareon with a fire in her eyes. She wanted this.
"Alright Kit, you're up." he said to the fox. "Show Flareon how strong you are."
The Eevee dropped her Everstone and jumped onto the battlefield, a smile on her face. Blaine's Flareon had been trained for only one thing. Power. Growlithe had speed and Ponyta had strategy, but when it came to raw damage, Flareon could dish out a lot. Kit's superior speed could really help her here.
He recalled Petal back into his PokeBall to prevent any more discomfort, and turned back to the battle, issuing out a command.
"Double Team!" he shouted. Eight illusionary copies appeared alongside Kit as they rushed toward Flareon. The Fire-type however, stood its ground.
"Iron Tail!"
"Flamethrower!"
Once the Eevee was about ten feet away from her opponent, she jumped high up into the air, all of her copies encasing their tails in steel. Flareon was ready for this however, and blasted all the copies away, catching Kit in the blast. The scorched fox was sent flying back about twenty feet away, but was still able to stand up.
Ash clenched his fists in frustration. It was the same technique that Harvey's Arcanine had used, and he'd fallen for it yet again. He couldn't afford to be sloppy. But the pressure of losing was getting to his head. If the Double Team wasn't going to work, he'd have to go for a more aggressive option.
"Use Swift!" he ordered. Stars were launched out of Kit's tail, striking Flareon in the chest, although they seemed to have little effect as Blaine ordered a Flame Charge.
"Use Quick Attack to dodge and follow up with an Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. Kit ran out of the way of the stampeding Flareon and took her position behind it, before taking advantage and jumping high in the air, slamming her tail on the back of its head. The Fire-type grunted and turned around, trying to swat Kit away. The Eevee seemed more like a pest to it if anything.
"Use Iron Tail again!"
"Double Kick!"
Flareon jumped into the air as soon as Kit did, and before the Eevee could use her own attack, the Fire-type used both feet to pummel Kit in the chest and send her spiraling towards the ground.
The Eevee coughed, having inhaled some dust, although she could barely concentrate on her Trainer's calls as a Flare Blitz slammed into her side, knocking her away like a rag doll.
"Kit!" Ash screamed. He gritted his teeth in frustration. She was too small to fight against Blaine's powerful Flareon. But he couldn't freeze up now, not like what had happened during his battle against Misty.
"Use Quick Attack!" he shouted. He wasn't even thinking at this point, he was just trying to find any way out of the sticky situation he was in.
Kit slammed her weight into Flareon, managing to push back the fox a little, but it only served to annoy it even more as it let loose a Fire Blast under Blaine's command, blasting Kit back to Ash's side of the field again.
"No!" he yelled.
Scorch marks covered the little fox's body, its legs struggling to hold itself. Ash looked on desperately, hoping for something, anything, to bail him out of the hole he had dug himself into. If only she'd evolved- no. He wouldn't demoralize her like that.
"You can do this Kit!" Ash called from across the battlefield. "I believe in you. Evolved or not, you're still my friend! You'll be part of the family, no matter what!"
"Finish this with Overheat!" Blaine ordered, confident that he had won. "Make sure it stays down!"
His Flareon bayed, a sea of flames gathering in its maw. A supercharged ball of fire was blasted like a cannonball out of the mouth of the Fire-type, getting ever closer to scorching the Eevee.
The Normal-type narrowed her eyes. She would not go down without a fight.
Suddenly, Kit's body started to glow. Ash's eyebrows raised. Again!?
Kit howled as her body started to shine brighter and brighter, her two eyes becoming miniature suns. The Overheat hit, swallowing her body in flames. However, this only seemed to fuel the evolution even further, as the flames swirled around the glowing fox, lighting her up even more.
Her tail became bushier and her ears longer. A large mane surrounded her neck area as her body grew larger and larger. Her legs became more muscular and a tuft of fur appeared on her forehead. Blaine's eyes widened as the evolving Eevee soon started to grow taller than his Flareon, the flames still circling around the Evolution Pokemon as if it were putting on a show.
After a few more seconds, the glowing immediately ceased, and the creature standing in Kit's place growled loudly, its cries causing the volcano to rumble.
Ash couldn't tear his eyes away from what had just happened, and scanned her with his Pokedex. "Flareon. The Flame Pokemon." the virtual encyclopedia droned. "Flareon's fluffy fur has a functional purpose - it releases heat into the air so that its body does not get excessively hot. This Pokémon's body temperature can rise to a maximum of 1,650 degrees F. When it inhales, it has the potential to release flames almost twice its maximum body temperature."
Blaine was anything but deterred, and he seemed to be more fired up than anything. His Flareon mirrored his expression as well, eager to have a real challenge.
Ash's jaw was dropped. A Flareon!? But how!? There were no Fire Stones nearby, so Kit would have evolved into something else. What surprised him the most was that Kit didn't try to stop the evolution. In fact, she marveled at her new form excitedly. He would've spent more time gawking at what had just happened if not for the fact that there was a battle going on.
"Use Quick Tail!" he shouted. Kit raced toward Flareon and jumped high into the air, much higher and faster than Ash was originally anticipating. Flareon didn't have time to react as Kit brought her tail down on its forehead, causing it to stagger back and wince, a bruise marking where it hit.
"Synchronoise!" Blaine ordered. Ash hesitated. What kind of move was that?
He got his answer when a powerful psychic shockwave was released from Flareon's body, striking Kit in the chest and sending it skidding backwards. Blaine smirked.
"You think just because your Eevee evolved means you won?" he called. "Hah! You'll have to work harder than that! Use Hyper Beam!"
"Double Team!" Ash ordered. "Finish this with Iron Tail!" He needed to throw off Flareon's aim. He could tell it was exhausted from the hits it received and from the energy it spent using all of those attacks. One more good hit could finish the job, but not if Kit was taken out first.
Several copies of his Flareon appeared and all raced around in different directions to throw off her opponent's concentration. Blaine's Flareon was scanning over each of the copies, trying to find out which one was the real Kit.
The beam erupted from its mouth and wreaked havoc across the battlefield, destroying copy after copy as it slammed into the barriers. When Flareon finally exhausted its power, tons of dust had been kicked up. But Kit was nowhere to be seen.
Blaine's Flareon seemed unnerved by the absence of its opponent, and it tensed for some sort of counterattack for a few seconds. But none came.
Suddenly, an orange blur shot out of the dust cloud and leapt toward her opponent, slamming a steel-encased tail into the Flareon's stomach and sending it careening toward the psychic barriers.
The battle ended when it slammed into them and slumped to the floor, knocking it out. Ash smirked. Atta girl.
Blaine returned his final Pokemon to its PokeBall and lowered his head, although Ash could see his shoulders shaking. He lifted his head and he could see Blaine was… laughing.
"I must say Ash, that battle was amazing! Definitely one for the record books!" he said with a grin. "Beating my Pokemon with three badges is something not many Trainers have the pleasure of saying. Usually people only come here when they have six. So to prove you have bested me, I bestow upon you the Volcano Badge."
He ran over to Ash and pulled a shiny red pin out of his pocket. It was shaped like a flame with a pink gem in the middle. He pinned it to the inside of his jacket and smiled.
"Thanks," he said. "But I couldn't have done it without my Pokemon." He looked down at Kit, who had ran toward him after defeating Flareon and stood by his side.
Blaine nodded approvingly. "I'd love to have another battle once you get stronger. Then I can show you my real team!" he declared. "You have potential, I can see it. What matters is how you use that dormant skill."
Ash nodded. "I'll come back," he said. "I promise."
After Ash left the volcano, he retreated back to his air-conditioned room. Standing in that sweltering hot volcano had been very uncomfortable, and he longed for the cool air of his hotel room.
However, before doing that, he had decided to make a call. He still had so many questions about Kit's evolution. He supposed he could've asked Blaine, but he wanted someone who really knew their stuff.
Which was why he was calling Professor Oak.
The smiling old man appeared on the videophone screen, and waved. "Ash, my boy! It's great to see you!" he greeted him. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm doing fine, Professor." Ash replied. "I actually called to ask you something."
"Another Pokemon related question, eh?" he said, intrigued. "I'm all ears."
"Well, Kit evolved during my gym battle with Blaine." he explained. The Professor raised his eyebrows.
"So you were able to evolve your Eevee?" he asked. "Splendid! Which form did it evolve into?"
"A… Flareon." Ash responded. "But that's the thing. I didn't have a Fire Stone on me or anything. It just… evolved."
"Oh?" Professor Oak asked. "Would you mind telling me any significant events prior to the evolution? Maybe some sort of contact with a Fire Stone that wasn't enough to trigger the evolution?"
Ash nodded, and proceeded to recite what had happened that day, detailing Kit's collapse, then her battle with Blaine's Flareon. All the while, Professor Oak listened closely and intently, occasionally writing down something on a piece of paper.
Samuel Oak finally decided to speak. "Well Ash, judging from the data you've given me, I think I might have your answer. Tell me, what makes an Eevee so special?"
Ash thought for a moment. "Their evolutions?"
The professor nodded. "Exactly. They're some of the only Pokemon with more than one evolution. These evolutions are mainly determined on the Pokemon's habitat and lifestyle. For example, your Gloom. A Gloom with more exposure to sunlight will turn into a Bellosom in order to harness more of that power. A Gloom that relies on using poison to get its food and spends less time in the sun would turn into a Vileplume."
Ash mused. Petal had been spending loads of time in the sun lately. Did that mean it would turn into a Bellosom?
His thoughts were dismissed by Professor Oak's next statement. "However, these evolutions take years, even decades, for them to fully take effect." the man continued. "Some Pokemon may go through their entire lives without fully evolving. Which is why many Pokemon resort to alternate methods of getting enough energy for their evolution. Stones."
"Evolution stones are ways to jumpstart the process without having to wait years for environmental factors to do it for you. No one is sure how they were even created in the first place."
"However, Eevee is different. Due to its unstable genetic makeup, it can turn into the evolution that best fits its environment as it adapts. It still takes a while, but it's much easier to mimic the factors needed for evolution. It's why your Eevee was almost going to evolve just by being with you. Usually friendship evolutions take years to develop, but your Eevee has only been with you for a couple of months."
"It seems that the evolution during the battle was the result of another friendship based evolution. However, the immense heat from the volcano and the Overheat from Flareon, which mind you, should have been about three thousand degrees, was enough to change the course of the evolution."
"Keep in mind that this doesn't happen often. Even with Eevee, the energy that radiates off a stone is very hard to replicate and its generally safer to use an item than the method you had used. It's only because Eevee was evolving anyway that you were able to pull this off. I'd reccomend checking your new Flareon out at the Pokemen Center soon to see if there are any problems with it."
Ash took in the information. Blaine had done him a favor by ordering that Overheat. He highly doubted that he predicted Kit was going to evolve at that exact moment. But the finishing attack had backfired against him and allowed Ash to win.
"I hope that answers your question Ash." the professor said. "Congratulations on obtaining your fourth badge. Blaine is tricky to beat. He has experience, almost as much as me. I wish you luck on your journey."
"Bye Professor Oak."
"Goodbye, my boy."
The screen turned black and Ash took some time to process what had happened during the last few days. He'd almost died, caught a new team member, met someone from the League, met the creator of Dexter, won his fourth gym badge, and evolved Kit.
Was this normal by any means?
Because if so, he knew the rest of his journey would be quite interesting.
Author's Note: Hey guys! School is over, which means I'll have some more time to pump out chapters! Woop woop!
Anyways, for those of you wondering what Upgrade 2.0 is about, that is the name I made up for the Dubious Disc before it was discovered that it had a virus…
Kit's evolution was a bit different than the norm, but the reason why I didn't just have her obtain a Fire Stone is because Petal already evolves using a stone, so I didn't want it to be too repetitive. Besides, I find it weird that you can only use stones to evolve certain mons. Or for Magmortar and Electivire, a manmade device. There has to be some sort of natural equivalent. I didn't choose to have her evolve into Espeon, Umbreon, or Sylveon, since those Eeveelutions are pretty overused. The original three need more representation.
Also, Harvey will be a recurring character. He wasn't just there to help Ash with Blaine. Expect to see him sometime in the future.
I'd love to hear people's thoughts of this story in a review. We're so close to 10k views! This story has come farther than I ever thought it would, and I thank you guys for that. Anyways, here are my responses:
Reaper36: Hey! Thanks for reviewing! So I'm not sure if Ash is going to be going to all eight regions. This isn't like the anime, where Ash loses a conference and goes to different regions each time, with new team members. Ash's team will mainly consist of 10-16 mons, nothing more. I may do some type overlaps if there's a Pokemon that I or the audience really wants, as long as it isn't overused.
Reader: Yep. Except this time Slowpoke isn't giant. And is a permanent team member.
StarwindX: I'm glad you enjoy it, and I wish you luck on your fanfic idea!
Werewolf36: Huh. That's weird. Both reviewers have a 36 at the end of their names. Heh. Anyways, I'm glad you like this chapter as well! Interesting idea with Burn Up too!
See you guys in the next chapter!