Chapter 14
Ash Ketchum was many things. A Pokemon Trainer. Son of Delia Ketchum. Holder of four badges. One of the four Trainers chosen specifically by Professor Oak to go on a life-changing journey and become one of the very best.
One thing he wasn't? A parent.
And as he held a wailing Cubone by the arms as he scrubbed its skull with a washcloth, his Pokemon watching the scene with feelings of worry or amusement, he started to really question his life choices.
"All done!" Ash said with exasperation. Cubone's screams of bloody murder stopped, and he sighed. "Now you can stop destroying my eardrums." The Ground-type merely huffed and walked away.
They were currently located on Route 7, having lunch. He'd managed to grab a few sandwiches from the Pokemon Center on his way out of Saffron City, which were the most convenient thing for him to bring. As much as he would've liked, it's not like he could shove an entire plate of mashed potatoes in his bag (much to the dismay of Cubone, who liked how soft they were).
As he was munching on his sandwich, while the others finished theirs, he spotted a Pidgey flying towards Kit. It landed next to her sandwich and started pecking at it, but was immediately scared off by a fierce growl from her.
To his right, Ash saw another Pidgey advancing toward him, and he took a morsel of bread off of the sandwich and handed it to the small Flying-type, who gratefully plucked it out of his hands.
He looked over at Slowpoke, who had already wolfed down his sandwich. He'd taken some time to ponder Sabrina's words from several days before. "You must not only learn their strengths, but their weaknesses. You have a Psychic-type yourself, do you not?"
But what exactly did she even mean by that? He already knew their weaknesses! Dark, Bug, and Ghost! Which wasn't ideal, since he didn't have any Pokemon with that type. Did she maybe mean something else?
His eyes lingered on Slowpoke's sleeping form again. If he didn't know their weaknesses, then maybe Slowpoke could show him.
"Ok you two, I just want both of you to spar. Dexter, try to hold back, I mainly want to see the extent of Slowpoke's abilities. Slowpoke, make sure to give it your all, unless Dexter needs to use Recover. Got it?"
Both Pokemon nodded, and took their positions a good distance away from each other. Kit, Petal, and Cubone all watched with mild interest, and Ash crouched behind Slowpoke. He noticed that its tail had grown back almost completely after Blaine's Growlithe bit it off. It wasn't exactly the best tactic, but using the tail would definitely work against many carnivorous Pokemon.
"Begin!" he shouted, and Dexter made its move, charging up a Thunderbolt.
It blasted it towards Slowpoke, who yawned for good measure before bringing up a sturdy Protect, blocking the hit. A wave soon rose out of the ground, crashing into the Porygon2 as the Dopey Pokemon rode it with the same spaced-out expression it always had.
The Virtual Pokemon skidded back, but regained its bearings before launching yet another Thunderbolt at the Water/Psychic, who took the hit with a grunt. It retaliated with a Water Pulse, which slammed into Dexter, causing a small explosion.
When the smoke cleared, star-like projectiles appeared around Dexter, and they zoomed toward Slowpoke. Suddenly, the Dopey Pokemon's eyes flashed, and using Confusion, it redirected the Swift away from it, and the stars crashed into the ground beside it.
Ash had taken some time to have Kit teach his starter Swift. It always helped to have more moves, and since Dexter was limited in terms of attacking moves, he figured it would help. What confused him was why Slowpoke didn't try to redirect the numerous Thunderbolts launched toward it, which would have probably been more helpful in warding off unnecessary damage.
The answer came to him when Dexter fired another Thunderbolt, which was blocked by yet another Protect. Thunderbolt was too fast and concentrated to be redirected. It was like trying to deflect a water balloon, as opposed to a stream of water from a water gun. You could slap away the water balloon, but you couldn't deflect a steady, concentrated stream of water.
Suddenly Dexter blasted a powerful Psybeam towards the ground, kicking up loads of dust. Slowpoke narrowed his eyes, before blasting a Water Pulse in a random direction. A crash was heard, and when the dust cleared, Ash saw a large bruise on Dexter's front.
Of course. Psychics weren't limited to just their eyes. They could lock onto an opponent's location just by reading their mind. Moves meant to obstruct an opponent's vision like Double Team and Smog just wouldn't work.
But what if they didn't have a mind to lock onto? Could that possibly change the tide of the battle?
"That's enough." Ash said, holding up his hands. Both Pokemon halted their attacks, and Ash held up their PokeBalls to return them. Kit and Cubone watched from the sidelines, mildly intrigued, and Petal had taken to making itself a flower crown with some dandelions.
Ash stared at the two PokeBalls he was holding, lost in thought. He still needed more time before challenging Sabrina. Just learning about the Psychic-type wasn't enough. Sabrina had every advantage on her side, from strong Pokemon, to not even needing to shout commands.
He needed experience, not just with Psychic-types. And hey, if Slowpoke and Dexter were doing some training, then why not the rest of his Pokemon?
"All of you, pick an area." the eleven-year old told them. "Slowpoke and Dexter, you two can continue working with each other. Dexter, you're good at dodging, but try and improve your endurance today. You might not be able to dodge every attack, so to be safe, try improving your endurance. Same for you, Slowpoke."
Both of them nodded as Dexter floated off to an area exactly ten feet away from the main path, choosing its area carefully. Slowpoke yawned, dragging himself toward where the Normal-type had gone.
"Kit, Cubone, you both will be working on power." Ash told them. "Cubone, you try throwing your bone as far as possible. Kit will help you get it back if it gets lost, won't you?" Kit nodded, and motioned for Cubone to follow her. The Ground-type nodded, and followed loyally after his teammate.
The Flareon had become a sort of sister figure toward Cubone ever since he'd joined the team. She'd help him train, eat with him, and guard him whenever he was playing with some of the bigger Pokemon. Ash assumed it was because she was the older sister of Nate and Angelina's Eevees, and so the instinct came naturally. Still, it was nice that they were getting along.
"Petal, you'll be working with me." the boy told his Weed Pokemon. Petal nodded with a smile, a bit of drool coming out of his mouth. He led the Gloom away from the others, in front of a firm tree with a thick trunk.
"Okay, Petal. We haven't been too successful with Razor Leaf so far, but I want to give it another try." Ash said. "Are you up for it?"
Petal nodded eagerly, wanting to work on Razor Leaf ever since they left Saffron City. Ash smiled at his enthusiasm and pointed toward the tree. "Okay Petal." Ash said. "Since controlling multiple leaves isn't working, all I want you to do is shoot one sharp leaf at this tree. Just one. Got it?"
The Gloom nodded again, taking a deep breath. Petal concentrated all of his power on one specific spot, and a leaf as sharp as a knife manifested itself into the air. It grew in size until it was about as large as a candle, before Petal thrusted out his arm, firing the leaf toward the tree with as much force as he could muster…
… before it bounced harmlessly off the tree.
Petal visibly sagged, and Ash gave him a sympathetic look. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll guide you through this. I never expected this to be easy. So let's try again."
The Gloom nodded, easing up his nerves before repeating the process. The leaf appeared again, except a little bigger, and Petal tried to put as much oomph into it as possible. However, this time it dissipated right before it hit the tree.
"Try again." Ash told him. They could get this down. He knew they would.
They trained for an hour, and Ash spent time with each of his Pokemon, trying to help them improve their skills. It was his job as their Trainer to make sure they could become as fast, strong, and skilled as they could.
"Maybe try starting Recover before you get hit! That way, if a hit is unavoidable, you can heal it off. If you can concentrate, that is."
"Slowpoke, I know you're tired, but you slept the most out of all of us. I mean, seriously, how do you sleep eighteen hours and have enough energy to eat two platefuls of food? You might need a diet…"
"Kit, go in a zig-zag pattern. It'll be harder for an opponent to track your movements, and you can dodge Cubone's Bonemerang more easily."
However, the team member he worked with the most was Petal. They trained as hard as they could, but to little avail. Ash could see the Gloom's frown deepen with every failed attempt, and after many tries with no success, he told the Weed Pokemon to take a break.
He was worried. They all were. Cubone had given the Gloom a look that seemed to be a mixture of pity and encouragement earlier, and Ash couldn't get it out of his head. It seemed like they were so far away from getting it right, and he felt like it was his fault they weren't getting any closer.
Suddenly, a scream caught his attention, and he whipped around to see a boy around his age running full speed toward him, a Primeape on his heels. What stood out about the boy however, was the Pikachu on his shoulder, an equally terrified expression on its face.
Ash squinted for a few seconds as the form of the boy got closer and closer, and then the urgency of the situation hit him.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" Satoshi screamed. Ash's eyes widened, and he yanked Petal from his spot and put him on his head, with Kit and Cubone following close behind (the latter riding on the back of the former).
Both boys took off, the Primeape squealing furiously behind them. As Ash ran as fast as his legs could carry him, he looked over at Satoshi with a bewildered expression. "Would you mind telling me WHY we are being CHASED by an angry Primeape right now!?" he yelled. Kit yipped, as if to agree with his frustration.
"Well… *huff* it started with *puff* me trying to catch more *wheeze* Pokemon." Satoshi managed to breathe out while running. "And then I found *cough* this Mankey that got so angry at me that it evolved, and well… you know the rest."
Ash rubbed his temple. "Ugh… just what I needed today..." he said with a sigh. "Petal, hit it with a Sleep Powder!"
The Weed Pokemon nodded, blasting the Fighting-type with a potent cloud of spores. Primeape waved its hands in front of its face, trying to block the attack, but breathed the powder in. It blinked, before its eyelids got heavy and it dropped to the floor, sound asleep.
Ash, Petal, Kit, and Cubone all breathed a sigh of relief. Getting chased by a Primeape wasn't a situation you wanted to be in, especially since they tended to be very stubborn, giving chase until they beat their target into a pulp. Suddenly a PokeBall whizzed past his face, and he saw Primeape get sucked into the capsule.
*Shake*
*Shake*
*Shake*
Click! Satoshi walked over to the PokeBall, a smile on his face. "Alright!" he yelled. "I caught a Primeape." His Pikachu squeaked happily, supporting its Trainer. Ash raised an eyebrow. That was supposed to be his catch. But then again, he didn't want to be stuck with something known for its temper. Who knows, maybe Satoshi had the skills to control it.
"Man, I'm so psyched!" Satoshi said, his grin getting wider by the second. "My first Fighting-type!" He clearly had forgotten about the chase that ensued just a few seconds earlier.
"You call that a Primeape?" a snarky voice from behind them said. "You're almost as clueless as Ashy-boy!"
Both boys whipped around to see Gary with his ever-present smirk on his face, and holding a PokeBall in one hand, while his other hand was in his pocket. Ash's mood soured after seeing his rival. It seemed as though he could never escape the red-haired boy's constant jeers and insults.
"Uh… Ash?" Satoshi muttered. "Who's this guy?"
"All you need to know is he's a huge jerk." Ash responded, loud enough so Gary could hear. "Why are you even here, Gary?"
Gary snickered. "I'm catching every Pokemon I can find here. You know, productive stuff. Not like you would understand." Ash rolled his eyes at that. "Anyways, I need a break. How about a battle? I'm sure my Pokemon would appreciate the light training."
The raven-haired boy glared at him. "I'll make you eat those words when I beat you a third time." Ash shot back. "But fine, I'll battle you. How does three-on-three sound? No substitutions, and both of us have to switch once a match is over." He wanted to make sure at least some of his team got a chance to battle.
"Fine by me." Gary responded. "I'll beat you no matter the ruleset."
Ash ignored this and turned to Satoshi. "Hey, do you mind being our referee?" he asked the boy. He jutted a thumb toward Gary. "We kind of need one to make sure this bozo doesn't try to cheat." Satoshi nodded with a smile.
"Sure!" he replied. "I wanna see how you beat me last time and how strong you've gotten! Go show this guy who he's messing with!"
Gary shot a glare at the boy and Satoshi bristled. "Oh… right. Sorry. Erm… this battle will be a three-on-three match, no substitutions allowed. The battle will end when either side's Pokemon are unable to battle! Uh… did I do that right?"
"Yeah, you did pipsqueak. Now start the match." Gary jeered, crossing his arms and tapping his foot with impatience.
"We're both the same age and height, you dimwit!" Satoshi yelled, waving his hands. He huffed. "Whatever! Just start the battle!"
"Primeape, let's do this!"
"Dexter, show him how much we've improved!"
Both Pokemon popped out of their PokeBalls, and Ash gulped. Gary's Primeape was a good foot or so taller than Satoshi's Primeape, and looked twice as angry when seeing Ash, the Trainer who had beaten it. However, the thing that scared him the most was that this was the same Mankey that had barraged Dexter with a flurry of attacks, easily defeating it in Vermillion. He needed to be careful.
"Hah! Too easy!" Gary boasted. "Primeape, let's end this with Cross Chop!"
Primeape sped toward Dexter, bringing its arms into a cross formation. Ash's eyes widened. "Dexter, dodge with Agility and counterattack with Psybeam!"
The Porygon2 assessed its opponent, mapping the most successful path to dodge in seconds, before swerving around Primeape and blasting it with a powerful pink ray.
"Don't let it get away!" Gary growled. "Cross Chop again!"
Primeape squealed in fury and slashed Dexter with its crossed arms, sending it flying back and causing it to close its eyes to brave through the pain. "Hang in there, Dexter!" Ash called. "Use Conversion!"
The Porygon2 warbled, eyes flashing, as its body glowed a ghastly purple. Primeape recoiled, not recognizing the otherworldly powers Dexter had at its disposal. "It's still up!?" Gary yelled. "Just use Cross Chop again!"
Primeape charged forward and slashed once more, but squealed as Dexter phased through the attack. It blinked, before shocking Primeape with a Thunderbolt, causing it to stumble back and screech in anger.
"Gah!" Gary shouted. "Are you cheating, Ash!? I knew you were bad, but going that low?"
"For your information…" Ash seethed, dragging the "n" in anger. "Dexter used Conversion, and gained Ghost-type properties. Not my fault you can't get that through your thick skull."
"Whatever!" Gary yelled with a huff. "Primeape, use Throat Chop!"
"Protect!" Ash commanded. "Gain some distance and use Psybeam!"
Primeape crossed its arms in an "X" shape, although this time its hands glowed with blackish energy. It slashed against Dexter's barrier, the attack doing nothing. The Virtual Pokemon floated away from the Fighting-type, reared its head back, and shot another powerful pink psychic ray.
Gary growled. "Ice Punch!"
Dexter was immediately nailed in the beak by an ice-coated right hook. It warbled angrily, letting loose a Shock Wave that caused Primeape to stumble back, electric socks rippling through its fur.
"Let's change strategies!" Gary called. "Use Dig!"
With surprising speed, Primeape disappeared underground, and Dexter's eyes widened trying to pinpoint where it could be. Ash was in a similar state of mind, trying to look for any sign of tremors in the ground. Suddenly a glowing fist sprang through the dirt nailing Dexter's underside, and sending it soaring. It crashed into the ground about thirty feet, and warbled half-heartedly as it tried to continue levitating.
"Hang in there! Use Recover!" Ash shouted. Dexter's body glowed, healing part of the nasty bruise it had sustained. Gary and Primeape's eyes narrowed.
"Alright, that's it!" Gary yelled angrily. "Use Taunt!"
Primeape squealed at Dexter, pointing toward Ash and making gestures with its hands that seemed very similar to a certain very insulting gesture involving one finger. Dexter's eyes slowly narrowed, and after a few seconds, they flashed red.
Without warning, Dexter blasted Primeape with an Ice Beam, causing it to skid back. With rapid succession, it then sent a Psybeam toward it, blasting it and causing it to squeal angrily, before being pummeled by a Swift.
Ash's eyes widened as he saw Dexter absolutely obliterate Primeape, sending an onslaught of Thunderbolts, Psybeams, and Ice Beams, before being knocked out cold by a final Tackle to the gut.
"Nice job, Dexter." Ash called from his position. Gary clearly didn't know how to use Taunt properly. While it did disrupt opponents and throw them off their game, it also made them extremely angry, depending on how annoying or insufferable the user was. Especially if your Pokemon insulted their Trainer.
"Gary's Primeape is unable to battle, so the winner is Ash and his uh… weird bird Pokemon thing!" Satoshi called.
"Oh come on!" Gary cried, clenching his fists. With a defeated sigh, he recalled Primeape and unclipped another PokeBall from his belt. Ash did the same, figuring that Dexter might need some time to cool off anyways.
While he knew Kit would definitely defeat or at least severely damage whatever Gary had up next, he decided to play with his food a little. Slowpoke could use the exercise after all…
"Slowpoke, let's keep the ball rolling!"
"Exeggcute, stop them in their tracks!"
Slowpoke yawned as he was sent out, blinking for a second before his eyes became unfocused again. Ash studied his opponent, a group of six egg-like creatures with cracks running down their bodies. This wasn't good. Exeggcute were Grass and Psychic types, and were quite adept at dealing with most of Slowpoke's moves. They were coordinated attackers that specialized in dealing with groups of enemies. However, they were still quite a force, no matter what kind of opponent they were facing.
"Heh. Jealous?" Gary called. "Gramp's Exeggutor had her final litter a month ago, and he gave one… I mean six… of the babies to me! I'm the better Trainer after all, it's only fair."
"Slowpoke, Curse." Ash commanded, barely listening. If he was going to waste time talking, it would give him a chance to use a move first. Gary's eyes widened.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Exeggcute, use Barrage!"
The six eggs, coordinated like soldiers, slammed their bodies into Slowpoke as hard as they could, taking turns. However, Slowpoke seemed to barely feel it, closing its eyes, taking the time to surround itself with a ghastly aura.
"Switch strategies!" Gary called. "Giga Drain."
Green light erupted from Slowpoke's body as the Exeggcute gathered their power to sap away at the Dopey Pokemon's vitality. This time the pink Pokemon felt it, squeezing its eyes shut.
"Use Water Pulse!" Ash shouted. Slowpoke formed a ball of water in its mouth, before firing it at the group of eggs.
"Scatter!" Gary ordered. Suddenly they all squealed and hopped away in different directions, causing the Water Pulse to drop harmlessly on the ground. Ash gritted his teeth.
"Surf! Hit all of them!" he yelled. A towering wave crashed into the eggs as they tried to scramble away from the torrent of water, crashing into them and washing them towards Gary's side of the field.
"Hey! We're not done yet! Bullet Seed!"
The six Exeggcutes quickly got up and shot an onslaught of green seeds at Slowpoke, who tried his best to weather the storm as he was pushed back. He was suddenly blasted off the ground, unable to hang on, and landed on his back in front of Ash, legs flailing.
Ash's eyebrows raised and he looked worriedly at Slowpoke. "C'mon Slowpoke! You can do this! Use Confusion to lift yourself back up and take them out with Surf!"
A pinkish aura surrounded Slowpoke as he lifted himself upright, before summoning another wave threatening to wash away Gary's hopes of beating Ash. But the red-haired kid only smirked and called out a command.
"Use Psychic to split the wave and finish this with Leaf Storm!"
Ash's eyes widened in fear and surprise as suddenly the wave was cleaved in two by a powerful psychic force, much more refined than Slowpokes. Before he could call out a command, a torrent of leaves slammed into the Dopey Pokemon's battering it over and over again.
It visibly slumped and Ash could already tell it couldn't battle any longer, and withdrew it back into its ball. Gary had a cocky grin on his face as he withdrew his Exeggcute, and Satoshi looked dumbfounded until he realized what was happening and called the match.
"Ash's Slowpoke is unable to battle!" Satoshi announced. "So the winner is Gary and his Exeggcute! Man… I wanted Ash to win…"
Gary shot the boy a glare. "Hey!" he yelled. "I thought referees weren't supposed to be biased!"
"Well maybe I wouldn't be so biased if you weren't such a dingbat!"
While they were fighting, Ash surveyed his options. There was no doubt Gary would bring out his Wartortle next, it was his starter and strongest Pokemon after all. He couldn't use Dexter, since the rules stated that he'd be disqualified.
So he needed to use his second best option.
"Wartortle, finish this!"
"Stop them in their tracks, Petal!"
Gary's Wartortle landed on its feet, sending a glare toward Petal, who had easily taken it out in their last battle. Petal also recognized his opponent, although instead of a hostile gesture, he gave the Water-type a friendly wave.
"Start this off with Rapid Spin!" Gary ordered. Like a top, Wartortle tucked its arms and legs into its shell and slammed into Petal with surprising speed, causing the Gloom to stumble backwards, clutching its forehead. A noticeable bruise had appeared on Petal's forehead, and as soon as Wartortle's limbs came out of the protection of its shell, Ash issued a counterattack.
"Giga Drain!" he called. Wartortle grunted in pain as it felt its energy being stolen from it, healing the bruise on Petal's forehead. Gary clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
"Ice Beam!" Gary ordered.
"Jump and use Acid!"
Petal dodged the incoming Ice-type attack and spat a glob of goo in Wartortle's face causing it to cry out in anger and pain. Ash used this opportunity to issue another attack.
"Giga Drain!"
"Protect! Then follow up with an Ice Beam!"
Wartortle was able to push through the discomfort and erect a barrier to stop the incoming Grass attack, before blasting another freezing ray to hit Petal square in the chest, although the Gloom was still able to hang on somewhat. Like he expected, Wartortle was a good battler. It had defensive and offensive options at its disposal, and it made sense as to why Gary would choose it. He needed to be a little more defensive from now on.
"Petal, use Growth!" he ordered.
A green light surrounded Petal's body, its body slowly increasing in size. Gary's eyes narrowed, before he smirked. "Alright then, if you're going to set up, we are too!" he ordered. "Wartortle, use Shell Smash!"
Wartortle let out a loud cry, its entire shell practically shining. Suddenly the glowing stopped, and the Water-type's body was surrounded by a red aura, it's face mirroring the cocky grin of its Trainer.
"Now! Aqua Jet!" Gary commanded.
Wartortle's body was surrounded by water, as it rose into the air with surprising speed and slammed its entire body weight into Petal, knocking it off balance. However, Gary wasn't done with his onslaught just yet.
"Ice Beam!" he shouted. Before the Gloom could recover, a blast of ice caught Petal off guard, sending him soaring towards Ash's side of the field. The Gloom barely managed to get up, and Ash knew he had to do something fast. As he looked over at his opponent's Pokemon, he noticed the part of Wartortle's shell covering its stomach looked almost… brittle.
Wait a minute…
"Petal, use Acid and aim for the stomach!" Ash called. The Gloom nodded, spitting yet another glob of the venomous substance. It splatted as soon as it made contact with Wartortle's weakened shell, causing it to stumble back and clutch the spot in pain.
Ash pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!" he said. "Nice job, Petal!" It was only a matter of time before Wartortle would succumb to the poison leaking into his body. While Shell Smash was a powerful asset, boosting offensive power and speed, it decreased the amount of energy used for defense to offset that, and if someone used the move without proper knowledge of its side effects, things could snowball really quickly, as shown as Wartortle laid on the ground, writhing in pain.
Gary watched helplessly as his starter cried out. He bit his lip, before clenching his fists and yelling. "C'mon Wartortle! Shrug it off!" he yelled. "You're my strongest team member and the only one who wants to win as much as me! Show me, show them that you can do this! Show us all how strong you are!"
And just like that, Wartortle started to glow.
Blinding light erupted from its body as it stood up. Its entire body grew bigger, muscles snapping into place. Its shell grew twice its original size, cannons bursting out of its back. Its ears and tail shrunk, but its arms and legs grew bigger and stronger.
As quickly as it started, it stopped, and standing before them was a towering Blastoise. Ash looked on in awe. It looked absolutely massive, standing at an impressive five feet, as opposed to when it was a Wartortle, in which it was only three feet tall. He felt a little jealous, seeing a Blastoise up close.
"Haha! I have a Blastoise!" Gary laughed. "This battle is mine! Blastoise, Rapid Spin!"
The Shellfish Pokemon roared, before tucking in its arms and legs and spinning like a top, slamming into Petal much faster thanks to its increased speed. Petal flew back, crashing into the ground, although thanks to its use of Giga Drain, wasn't out just yet.
"Spore Gas!" Ash shouted. A mixture of potent powders and spores was blasted into Blastoise's face as soon as it came out of its shell. It growled, its senses under attack, before grunting in pain once the paralysis kicked in.
"Ice Beam!" Gary ordered.
"Use Protect!"
The Ice Beam bounced off the shield harmlessly, but Petal looked on in surprise as Blastoise used Aqua Jet once more, washing off the spores and slamming into the Gloom with much force. The Weed Pokemon flew back, unable to withstand the dramatic power increase Blastoise had gone through during its evolution.
"Now's the finisher!" Gary called. "Throw it up in the air!"
Blastoise took Petal by the arm, spun around and threw the poor Weed Pokemon as high as he could. Ash could only watch in horror as Petal sailed thirty feet up in the air, flailing his arms around. He was just a few seconds from being knocked out, and Ash knew he needed to do something.
"Acid!"
"Ice Beam!"
The two attacks hit their mark, the goo splatting in Blastoise's face as he roared in pain, fainting, and the Ice Beam hitting Petal in the chest, knocking him out instantly and sending him sailing into a bush. Luckily his body was cushioned by the leaves and branches, so no serious damage was sustained.
"Petal!" Ash screamed, running over to his faithful Grass-type. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Petal had only really gotten out of the battle with a few bruises and marks, nothing a day at the Pokemon Center couldn't fix.
Then he realized something.
"A… tie?" Satoshi said meekly. "W-who's the winner?"
"Tch. It's obviously me." Gary boasted. "I just recalled Blastoise to spare Ashy-boy his feelings."
Ash shot a glare at Gary. "What were you thinking!?" Ash yelled, moving closer to Gary and rolling up his sleeves. "You could've seriously injured my Gloom!"
"Relax!" Gary said, holding up his hands and backing away. "Your Gloom is safe, isn't it? Think of it as a favor that it got hit by the Ice Beam!"
"A favor!? That's what you think a favor is!? Putting one of my best friends in danger is a favor to you!?"
"Guys?" Satoshi piped up. "The sun's going down. We should probably get going."
"Fine by me." Gary replied. "I need to get my badge from Saffron City anyways. See you losers another time." With that, he slung his backpack over his shoulder, and went on his merry way. Ash looked at Petal, who was in his arms, fast asleep. Today could've gone worse he supposed. But if they'd just gotten Razor Leaf down…
"Hey, Ash?" Satoshi said. "Thanks for helping me catch Primeape. You and that Gary kid are both really strong! I'll have to amp up the training if I want to keep up! I'm gonna get to Celadon City by tonight! Wanna come with?"
Ash sighed. "I don't feel like walking anymore." he said bleakly. "You can go on ahead."
The other boy frowned. "Alright. It was nice seein' ya. I'll see you another time! Maybe in the Conference!"
Ash smiled. "I'll hold you to that."
As he watched Satoshi disappear into the distance, he frowned. Training with Petal hadn't been going too well, and he was afraid his strength would plateau. Would it be wrong to focus on other team members more?
He and the others ate silently by the fire that Kit had made. The Flareon and her (adopted) Cubone sibling were side by side, eating together. Dexter watched them curiously, unsure of what to make of the scene. Empathy wasn't their specialty after all.
Slowpoke had already finished his dinner and had contentedly curled up and fallen asleep. And Petal…
… had been staring at the fire for the last half an hour. Ash decided to just let him collect his thoughts. It had been quite a day.
Twenty minutes later, Ash and the others fell asleep, tired from the day's events.
As he looked over at the horizon, Ash couldn't suppress a grin. Celadon City. The shopping center for all of Kanto. Vermillion had its ships and Saffron had its blend of culture, but Celadon had business.
Ash ran as fast as he could towards the city, anxious to take in the sights. The city had a Gym there as well, which was the perfect opportunity to bring him another step closer to entering the Conference.
Forty-five minutes later, Ash entered the gates of the city, and after doing an identity check, marveled at the sight. There were shops everywhere, from restaurants, to perfume stores, to tea shops. People walked with their Pokemon everywhere, and Ash could identify tons of different species.
Now all he needed to do was find the Gym.
After looking around for a few minutes, Ash finally found it, a large building standing at the top of a set of stairs, its roof very similar to the head of a Gloom.
"Must be a Grass-type Gym." Ash thought. He sat by the stairs, back facing the Gym, lost in thought. He was obviously going to bring Kit to the upcoming battle, as her speed and Fire-type attacks would be invaluable. Grass-types, although docile, tended to have very powerful moves to cover their many weaknesses. Speed like that would be super helpful.
Dexter would also need to be brought. They tended to last long in battles, and so even the Gym Leader would have a hard time getting rid of it.
And he promised Petal, despite his recent shortcomings, that he'd participate in the next battle. Cubone and Slowpoke were too inexperienced to fight in this battle anyways, and they had weaknesses to Grass moves too.
Suddenly he heard footsteps, and a voice behind him. "Heh. That was really easy! Right, Charmeleon?" A low growl was heard, and Ash raised his eyebrows. He'd know that voice anywhere…
He whipped around, and the glasses, brown hair, and Charmeleon only confirmed his suspicions.
"Nate…?"
Author's Note: Chapter 14 is finished! Yeahhh! As always, thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with the story! You guys are awesome! Go eat a giant bag candy or something, you've earned it.
This chapter is short, mainly because I have quite a few things planned for Chapter 15 and 16, and it would be too much to fit that in this chapter. I also re-edited some parts of the earlier chapters, mainly polishing up things here and there, as well as improving upon Nate and Angelina's character traits. Still have some work to do on chapters 6-9, next chapter should be out by early-mid December.
Now let's get to those reviews!
Reader: Thanks! I'm leaning towards Slowking mainly because it won the poll, but also because, as another reviewer pointed out, Slowpoke needs some personality. While Slowbro is dumb and lovable, Slowking is smart, and still lovable, and provides room for some actual character development besides just a derpy hermit crab hippo thing.
Queen of Darkness: Hey! Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like the story!
I don't have much of an update schedule. I used to update every week, but that was because I was on a creative high. Now I update every few weeks or so.
As for your concerns about Slowpoke, his entire thing is… well… being lazy, fat, apathetic, and derpy. Not much to it, the species barely has a brain. When it evolves however, it'll get much more personality.
Combo moves I will introduce soon. Right now, Ash will focus on expanding the movepools of his Pokemon first. Most of his Pokemon will use combo moves, but a couple won't. You'll just have to wait and see.
Guest: So Ash will be getting a Dragon-type, but it won't be a part of the first six Pokemon he gets from the Kanto region, since I personally don't like Dragonite. And Ash will be getting a Pokemon that he met in the anime, but he didn't actually catch. Again, another hint.
Commenter: Yep! Pretty much!
Magdenfan311: Hey! Really glad you like the story, and thanks for the feedback!
So I've already decided on Ash's first ten members. I have two other team members that I'm 90% sure I'm going to include, but I don't know just yet. I might stop at twelve team members, but it depends. There are a few nice Pokemon I would like to include.
I'm glad you like my characterization of Ash! I try to make him competent enough, since we are dealing with a ten year-old going out into the wide, wide world with nothing but a robotic duck thing by his side. He's reckless because, well, he's ten.
I do like the idea for Dragalge, although the main problem is that Dragalge is a sea Pokemon, and so battling on land would be pretty hard for it. Drampa's also a cool pick, and I can almost visualize him burning Gary's house down, since its Pokedex entry states that if it befriends a child who has been bullied, it will burn the bully's house down. Kind of cool and hilarious.
I did get hate on this story, but not because of Ash being competent. Some reviewer was asking me to keep some Ash's Pokemon unevolved. I said no, and explained that the anime only does that so that the Pokemon he catches still retain their cutesy look. They got mad, and I deleted a couple of reviews cause they were being stupid. Ash's Totodile wouldn't have the same fun-loving charm if it were a monstrous Feraligatr.
See you guys in the next chapter!