Disclaimer: I only own my story and oc's. The rest all belongs to Nintendo, Gamefreak and the Pokemon Company
Dominion Chapter One
"Damn, hick! What, do they not even teach you about type matchups down in that little shithole you call home?"
Ash sighed once again having to deal with some obnoxious new trainer from Viridian City. He was actually a new himself, but at least he had the decency to not act like a total ass. The majority of boys their age were always ready to try and establish their place in the pecking order, and this one figured that beating an out of towner would be an easy way to raise his social status with his friends watching from the sidelines. Maybe it was because he and his friends had all all been taught by Samuel Oak, the man hating that sort of nonsense. Or it was the fact that they were all so secure in their collective friendship that they didn't, but they had never really went for that sort of thing. When you all were the only kids around for miles, and all the same age it meant that you found a way to get along, or be terribly lonely. For a moment, Ash almost regretted leaving on his journey ahead them, before pushing those feelings down to focus on the task at hand. Ash responded to his opponent.
"Listen man, if you're so confident then what do you say we double the wager? I mean you do have the advantage after all."
Okay, so maybe he wasn't as above it as he thought. That being said, his fellow 16 year old across from him was not one of the friends that he held in high esteem. And he didn't take kindly to the insult to Pallet town where he had grown up, or the slight that his partner couldn't handle the twitchy spearow before him. The boy scoffed, glancing around at his friends and the few spectators that had been out on walks when they encountered a battle about to begin in one of the city's many parks. Even the man sitting on a bench off to the side took his gaze from the paper he was reading, glancing over it to see where this would go. Ash was happy to see them all there. Perhaps the shame of being humiliated in front of more people than just his friends would make this lesson in not underestimating any opponent actually stick.
"Deal! At least that cottonee of yours will be able to soak up your tears when I'm done with you. Or whatever is left of it will be able to!"
"Pfft, okay, whatever you say man." His opponent's face went red at the dismissal.
"Finish this quickly Spearow! Peck!"
"Faye, start with a decoy." Floating in the air in front of him was the foot tall ball of fluff that was his starter. Green leaves stood out to either side of the main mass of her body, with orange eyes peeking out from the cotton that coated her completely With a happy chirp, she used her species' natural ability to rapidly grow her cotton, doubling the size of her body.
The spearow let out its own shriek and sped towards her, intent on shredding her into individual clumps. Faye wasn't having any of that. As soon as the bird pokémon came within range, rearing its head back to strike, she released her decoy. A mass of cotton flew out from her compact body, boosted by a use of the move gust. While it did not have much mass, it was more than enough to slow down or confuse the incoming attacker. And when that attacker was as small as a spearow? The effects became far more pronounced.
Spearow let out a muffled squawk as it impacted the cotton. The threads did their job, tangling in its talons, while covering its head completely. Faye, having used this same tactic against other flying opponents, quickly floated into position above the wildly flapping bird. Ash smiled before giving his next order.
"Now ground it with a fairy wind." Orange specks of fairy energy flickered into life in front of Faye. With a quick spin in the air she sent the fairy wind gusting down into the still blindly flailing bird. Unable to see where the attack was coming from, or to hear its trainers commands, the attack hit it full force shimmering specks of orange fairy energy impacting it and sending it plummeting to crash into the ground. The attack had dislodged the makeshift prison of cotton but it had done its part. It lay stunned on the ground trying to regain its bearings, but it was already too late.
"Finish it off with a leech seed Faye!" Ash felt his excitement grow as the strategy came together, seeds bombarding the bird with vines exploding from them to bind it in place. It struggled against its bonds as they glowed red, starting to drain its energy. To its credit, it did manage to slice through several of the tethers with its beak and talons. Faye was quick to fire off more seeds from her mouth hidden in her cotton though, keeping it contained. His opponent screamed at his pokémon to get up, to do something, but to no avail. Just a minute after the match began it was already over.
Faye floated over to Ash, tangling tendrils of fiber from her body in his hair anchoring her to the top of his head. He originally had brought a hat with him on his journey, but ended up storing it when it became clear his starter would have none of it. He heard the vibration of her happy chirping at her victory, and reached up to run a hand over her soft head, letting her know how proud he was of her. Unable to hold back his grin as he walked towards his opponent, Ash said.
"Now double, that would be what? 300 poké? Yeah, I am just some country kid from podunk Pallet Town so you might have to check my math. I mean 150 times two is 300, right?" Okay, so maybe Ash really wasn't as above asserting dominance over others as he liked to think. "In my defense though, this guy had it coming. I mean talk about annoying!" Ash thought wryly.
The other trainer's friends laughed behind him at Ash's quip, and Ash saw his opponent's face turn red from embarrassment and anger.
"What the hell do you mean?! No way!"
"Oh my bad man, did I not make it clear enough?" Ash stopped and turned his head at an angle as if curious. Faye giggled as she shifted on his head. " Let me clarify since you seem to be misunderstanding. You." Ash pointed at his opponent, before pointing back at himself "Owe me." Faye pulled lightly at his hair. "Sorry us, my bad Faye, 300 clamperls or sawsbucks or whatever slang you want to use for money. Did that make sense to you?
More laughs erupted behind the other trainer, and he started to shake with rage.
"Fuck you, hick! I ain't paying you shit. You battled dirty, whatever that was you pulled at the start wasn't even a real move!" Ash only shook his head.
"Well first of all you as a trainer are obligated to pay the agreed upon sum to the victor of a battle if you should lose. If you were to actually read the trainer manual as you should have, you would understand that. Secondly, that is just a natural ability all cottonee have. Why would I not use something she does naturally to hep in a fight. Last of all it would be "I am not going to pay you anything."" Ash shook his head in a disappointed fashion. "I would think some big city boy like you would know more than some dumb hick like me, but I guess I was wrong."
That was the last straw for his opponent, who started to run at him with a fist back and a scream of rage on his lips.
Ash brought his hands up to defend himself, Faye giving an alarmed chirp. He could feel her fluffing up on his head getting ready to fling cotton at the teenager. Before anything could happen though, a flash of white light filled the space between them, resolving into the lumpy blue form of a truly massive seismitoad. Unable to stop himself, Ash's opponent let out a yelp of surprise before he ran head first into the stomach of the large toad pokémon, bouncing off to fall to the ground on his behind. Seismitoad let out a croaking laugh as its stomach jiggled with vibrations from the impact.
"That is quite enough boys." Surprised eyes turned from all directions to the man who had spoken up. Having set down the newspaper that had obscured his face, Viridian City's most powerful trainer strode onto the field. Giovanni Montella was a man who needed no introduction.
"Here is what is going to happen. You" He looked at the boy cowering before his seismitoad, deep voice strong and showing no hint of emotion. "Are going to pay your opponent what you owe him. The full 300 poké. As a trainer of Viridian City, I will not allow you to besmirch our good reputation by not following the rules by which we battle." He then turned his gaze on Ash, who felt himself flush with shame.
"You will apologize for being antagonistic after so thoroughly beating him. The loss was punishment enough for his hubris. Everything else was simply cruel, and is not something that I will tolerate. We are all trainers here, and as trainers we need to strive to lift each other up. Leave it all on the battlefield and take what you both have done here as a learning experience."
Ash ruefully nodded his head, circling around the seismitoad and extending his hand to the teen still on the ground. Hauling him up Ash said.
"Sorry about that. I may have gotten a bit heated there, and you didn't deserve that especially in front of your friends." Ash let a shiver run up his spine imagining how insufferable Tyson and Gary would have been had he been in that situation. "Yeah that was seriously not cool of me. Are bad man" Glancing over at Giovanni, whose eyes were fixed on him, the trainer said.
"Yeah man, we're cool. I shouldn't have said what I did anyway." He took out his pokédex and with a few presses on the touch screen the agreed upon money was sent to Ash's trainer account. He sent a small smile Ash's way. "I just sent those clamperls your way. And just watch! I am going to totally beat that fluffball some day." Ash felt the tension drain from his shoulders and grinned back.
"Sure, we will just have to see about that."
With a glance at Giovanni, and a nod from the older man, the trainer walked back to his friends who all huddled around him, laughing as they walked away. Ash heard the tell-tale sound of a pokéball returning its charge.
Ash turned to find the Gym Leader of Viridian City standing before him. It surprised him to realize that the man was actually shorter than he was. Ash was no giant, standing at 5'10" after his most recent growth spurt that hit just before his 16th birthday. Giovanni barely came up to Ash's nose though. Giovanni's presence more than made up for the height difference.
Scratching the back of his head Ash nodded at the man.
"Sorry about that, Leader Giovanni, I allowed my temper to get the better of me there." To Ash's surprise, Giovanni allowed a small grin to grace his lips.
"Young man, if somebody said to me what he said to you, they would be sunk to their neck in sand from my hippowdon." Ash felt his jaw drop at the frankness, and the man's change in demeanor. "I was not kidding when I said this was a learning experience for the both of you. You needed to learn when to let victory be revenge enough. A simple lesson, but an important one. The one you taught him though? That is something that he will never forget. From now on he will think twice about every opponent he faces, and not take something as basic as type advantage for granted." His grin grew. "Plus, you just gave him a goal. Rivalry is something that helps mold young trainers into true battlers. Now he has a chance to grow and do Viridian, and by extension me, proud"
Ash smiled back, taking what Giovanni said as a compliment. Ash stuck out his hand, before saying.
"Well, if that is the case, then I will just say you're welcome." Surprise flitted across Giovanni's face before he let out a light chuckle and took Ash's hand shaking it once, firmly.
"What is your name, trainer?"
"Ash, sir. Ash Ketchum." He nodded at Ash committing the name to memory.
"Well then Ash tell me, are you one of the trainers newly sponsored by Professor Oak? I heard that you were from Pallet Town, but not much else. Ash's smile grew.
"Yes sir, I practically grew up on Professor Oak's Ranch! Me and the other four trainers he is sponsoring this year." To himself Ash added "And the last for a long time. Leo and Clare's little brother is what? Five?" It had been five years since Oak had sponsored his granddaughter Daisy, and now it was time for the next generation of trainers from Pallet to rise through the ranks.
"Oh, and where are they? I would think you would all be traveling together."
Ash's smile turned rueful.
"Honestly? I just wanted the chance for it to be just Faye and me for a while" He heard his starter coo before rubbing against his head lovingly. Ash reached up and petted her, content in knowing his partner was close by. Giovanni looked at him curiously for a moment stroking his chin before seeming to come to a decision. Giovanni stretched out his hand and said.
"Hand me your pokédex for a moment Ash."
Ash did so, surprised at the request, but trusting the man. How could he not? Not only was Giovanni the Gym Leader of Viridian City, but the strongest leader in all of Kanto. The only people higher up than him were the Elite Four, and Champion Lance himself! If he wanted to smash Ash's pokédex under his heel, he would let the man do it with a smile on his face. After a few moments he handed it back to Ash open to the map app. Marked on the screen was what appeared to be a random spot in the North-East portion of Viridian Forest. Before Ash could ask any questions, Giovanni began to speak.
"It is rare, Ash, that any trainer, let alone one as young as yourself, would speak to me as candidly and openly as you have. It is . . refreshing." As he said this he took a deep breath as if he was taking in the scent of spring on the air for the first time in the season. " I believe that, as well as your battle prowess, and the bond you so clearly share with the lovely Miss Faye" Faye preened under the praise, making Ash chuckle wryly. The vain little puffball truly was adorable." Has earned you a favor. As you know, I am a Master of the ground type, and as a Master I am aware of many groups of ground type pokémon that live across Kanto. What I have just marked for you is the exact location of Diglett Tunnel. Ash gasped, gaping at the man.
Diglett, and their evolved form dugtrio, were some of the strongest ground types to live in Kanto. Their speed was unparalleled in below ground movement and were fierce fighters able to litter the battlefield with traps that were capable of felling any pokemon that walked the surface of the earth. The thing was, they lived almost exclusively underground, and were extremely difficult to be found in the wild. The only place that they were said to be found in abundance was the expanse of Diglett Tunnel that stretched from the dangerous wilds surrounding Vermilion City to the verdant trees of Viridian Forest. Both of these entrances though were simple holes in the ground ten feet across. In the vastness of the Forest, and the swaying grasses of the Vermilion Wilds the entrances were nearly impossible to find. With this though, Ash had a lead on a pokémon he had always wanted to use. No weeks of fruitless searching. He could go right there, find a diglett and be on his way! Between Faye and a diglett the Pewter City Gym didn't stand a chance. Giovanni's voice broke Ash from his reverie.
"There are conditions though."
"Name them sir!"
Giovanni chuckled.
"A word to the wise Ash, never agree to any stipulations before hearing the terms of the agreement." Ash appeared bashful but still eager to hear what Giovanni had to say.
"The first is this. Do not share this location with anyone else. This is meant for you. You have earned it and you are the one who will benefit from it." Ash nodded, Faye gripping his hair painfully at the sudden motion. "Second" Giovanni's eyes brightened looking excited "When you have beaten the Gym Circuit and I am all that remains, use whatever pokémon you catch there against me. From what I saw earlier you have a flare for strategy. I want to see what you manage to come up with for the ground type. Who knows? You might even surprise me."
For Ash there was no question as to what his answer would be.
"I won't let you down then sir! Just make sure you keep an Earth Badge ready, because I'll be back for it before you know it!" Giovanni chuckled before turning away, raising a hand behind him in farewell before saying.
"I'll hold you to that."
Author's Note: Hands up if you know what in medias res means? It is Latin for "in the midst of things" In story telling that is when you start in the middle of a series of events as opposed to at the very beginning as is typical of most stories. For the way I want this story to work out, and for the proper pacing to be in place for the introduction of characters, I simply could not start from the standard spot. So yeah, don't worry at some point you will hear about the very beginning of Ash's Journey. You will see how he receives Faye and all that jazz. So yeah we start a little later than is normal. If you have any questions feel free to leave a review and I will see about answering what I can. Until then though, I'm out!
-KaladinBrood
P.S. Oh by the way, this is about a third of what I had originally planned for this chapter, but I rather liked where it ended and decided to leave it as is, so expect an update soon.
