Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thanks for the love and attention you've given this story so far. I appreciate every view, like, follow and especially review its received and hope that you enjoy each chapter more than the last! So, I know it is a bit controversial to give Ash two starters and I know a lot of people don't like the fact that one of them is an Eevee and will be an eeveelution, but I really liked the idea of it and hope it will pan out to be something enjoyable in the future. Ash will have an affinity for dark type pokemon for a while as a side-effect of his condition (which will be developed more at a later date), so be prepared for a definite type slant in his team for a bit. Also, you may have noticed the Cynthia tag. That will happen in the future, but not for a bit, so strap in. Other than that, as always, feedback is appreciated and let me know what you think of the chapter!

Prototype out!

Warnings: Contains swearing, adult themes and supernatural horror

I don't own pokemon. I will change my name to Game Freak if that were to work however.

Chapter 2: Principium

Ash and Gary had been walking for some time down Route 1 after their departure from Pallet Town. They'd made decent progress into the route, seeing quite a bit of the local wildlife in the form of the occasional rattata running in the foliage by the path and pidgeys either nesting in trees deeper into the woods or abandoned nests closer to the well tread passage. Ash and Gary had both discovered early on that it was much easier to keep their starters out of their pokeballs as they walked, making an interesting sight for anyone that may have passed them, though they didn't see another person along their way. Gary had wrapped Regent around his neck, quickly realizing that the surprisingly lazy dragon was fairly light and allowing it to fall asleep from its perch. By contrast, Ash, with an amazingly alert Eevee looking at anything that moved with attentiveness that falling leaves and rustling brush frankly didn't deserve and the wavering cloud of smoke attached to his form and shadow was, while no less odd looking, certainly more confusingly intimidating. The two had made good progress and, as Professor Oak had predicted, made it roughly half way to Viridian before sunset truly began.

The two boys walked a bit off the beaten path, finding a small, shaded grove to set up in. In the form of agreement that only two friends who'd known each other for many years could ever do, both decided wordlessly to set up camp, Ash pulling out the tent he had stowed into his travel bag and Gary doing the same and setting it aside, going to gather wood for a small fire. Ash, in the meanwhile, proceeded to set up both tents fairly close to each other, and setting out a bowl of food for Lux and Regent. After a few moments of settling in, Gary came back with a handful of sticks and a few larger branches, along with a disgruntled Regent who'd been forced to dismount from his shoulders in order to make room for the wood Gary was carrying and was slithering along next to him.

"Help me out here Ashy boy, there should be flint and tinder in my bag over there, I'll set this up. You got anything decent to eat? I only have a few sets of trainer rations and some quick chili mix." Gary grumbled out dropping the pile and starting to orient it into some semblance of an organized fire.

"I've got the flint and tinder, yeah," Ash responded, bringing it over in response. "Not much more interesting choices to eat though. Ma packed me full of granola bars, and enough quick meal ration kits as you could want, but she said that every trainer starts their journey the same. Some sort of tradition." Ash finished, managing to get a spark onto the now set up wood and succeeding in getting a fire going.

"Shitty tradition," Gary muttered standing up from the kneeled position he'd been in. "Couldn't trainers have a tradition of starting with a five course meal and a free stay in the nearest high-class hotel? Whatever." Despite his complaining, Ash could easily tell that Gary was excited to finally be out and on the first leg of their journey, and how could he not be? This was everything they'd dreamed of when they were young. To be the best pokemon trainers in the world would always be their goal. Even after Ash lost his purpose for a bit, fearing that whatever had occurred to him would change his outlook, it only made the fire stronger, as though in defiance of whatever force had run through him and remained in the recesses of his mind.

Both trainers settled in, Gary getting out one of the quick meals affectionately referred to as trainers rations, quick and easy food that simply had to be hung over a source of heat (and some didn't even need that) and shaken to make an easy meal chalk full of protein and vitamins. Unfortunately, as Gary and Ash soon discovered, the meals tasted a bit like chalk in the first place. Both young men wearily looked over to where Regent, Lux and even Nox, though he was less eating and more throwing poke food into the air for Lux to catch in the air and Regent to stare at as it bounced off his head as they were working through their own meals.

"Hey Ash." Gary started.

"Don't even think about it Gary."

"But it looks like they're enjoying it so much better than this shit!" Gary protested.

"They're pokemon Gary. I think that stuff would either kill us or make us double back to town for the nearest secured bathroom."

"I'm just saying alright. Gotta be better than this paste."

"It's not paste Gary. It's more…" Ash trailed off unsure of how to describe the chunky mush they were eating.

"Mashed dirt? Clumps of pokemon droppings stirred into mud? Leftover Grimer?" Gary offered, pointing a spoon at Ash over from his side of the fire.

"So it's not the best thing I've ever eaten, admittedly. It'll still keep us moving though. Besides, you've put worse things in your mouth Gary." Ash finished, cocking an eyebrow at his friend.

"I resent that Ash. It was one time, and it didn't even look like a caterpie."

"You resemble that Gary."

Gary laughed and relaxed against the tree stump he'd been leaning against as he ate. The fire cast long shadows over his face as nightfall had descended during their dinner.

"One time! You aren't going to let me forget one time? Fuck Ashy, whatever. We should probably start packing up, as fun as this is. We should take off early tomorrow to get to Viridian at a reasonable time; try to get a room at the pokecenter and check on the gym."

Ash nodded in agreement, eyes tracking over to their pokemon, who had finished dinner and had either fallen asleep or, in the case of Nox, returned to Ash's shadow. Ash stopped for a moment and a thought struck him.

"Hey Gare," Ash stated, "We need to check and see what moves they know. They aren't normal starters."

Gary started and his eyes became more aware, the spark of the incredibly intelligent trainer who was already a prodigy in the making coming to bear.

"Good point," Gary responded. "They won't be breeder raised. They might have something off or may be missing something we expect them to have." He said, his hand coming up to run across his lower jaw.

Ash took out his pokedex and moved to scan Lux.

"Eevee, the evolution pokemon. It has the ability to alter the composition of its body to suit its surrounding environment. This pokemon is male and knows the moves; growl, tail whip, quick attack, sand attack, tackle, swift, mud-slap, double kick and detect." The pokedex droned out. Ash sat stunned for a moment. That was far more than he'd expected. The snoozing lux was more versatile than he had any right to be.

"Nox, could you do me a favor?"Ash asked the air that wavered behind him. "I'm trying to see what you know how to do and I don't think that this device can scan you in that form."

Nox formed slowly in front of him with a wide grin on his ethereal form, but as Ash thanked him and went to scan his body, Nox destabilized and appeared in a different location around the grove in a rush of gas.

Gary watched in some amusement as Nox formed around the fire, then would dissipate as Ash attempted to scan him. This proceeded for some time as Ash, though remaining stoic, got more irritated as time passed. With that going on, Gary took his own pokedex out and repeated the same process Ash had, but on Regent.

"Dratini, the mirage pokemon. Dratini continually molts and sloughs off its old skin. It does so because the life energy within its body steadily builds to reach uncontrollable levels. This Dratini is male, and knows the moves wrap, twister, thunder wave, dragon tail, water pulse, supersonic and mist." The pokedex said in a monotone. Gary nodded in response. It was a strong base to build off of. He was already running through different combinations and combing over moves that the Dragonite line could learn when Ash suddenly yelled in triumph.

"Ha! Take that you gassy bastard! Gotcha!" Ash said, clearly having finally managed to scan the laughing Gastly, who'd faded back into Ash's shadow after realizing the game was over.

"Gastly, the gas pokemon. Gastly is largely composed of gaseous matter. When exposed to a strong wind, the gaseous body quickly dwindles away. Groups of this Pokémon cluster under the eaves of houses to escape the ravages of wind. This Gastly is male, and knows the moves confuse ray, lick, mean look, hypnosis, spite, curse, will-o-wisp, toxic, disable, night shade and hex." The pokedex started as with the prior two. Suddenly, Ash's pokedex began to flash brightly, a series of grids and numbers flashing across the screen. "Error, error. Gastly knows the move ominous wind. Not compatible with species. Error. Error. Contact the nearest pokemon authority immediately for testing."

Ash blinked stunned for a moment and met the eyes of Gary who had the same reaction. Both boys looked at the ghost in Ash's shadow for a moment and looked back at each other again.

"Well that…" Gary started.

"I think we should probably call Professor tomorrow when we get to Viridian." Ash finished.

"Yeah." Gary finished lamely shaking his head in mild frustration at Ash's blaise reaction.

Both boys shook that peculiar interaction from their heads and packed up the gear they had out, stomped out the fire and bid each other good night, climbing into their respective tents. Both of them had a good hike in the morning to get to Viridian in time.

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Gary was a light sleeper for a multitude of reasons. Whether it be blamed on being raised by an eccentric scientist, the loss of his parents at an early age or even just basic biological sequences, it didn't take much for Gary to rocket to life at a moment's notice from a dead sleep. Because of this, Gary awoke in the grove he and Ash had camped out in to the sound of shuffling.

At first, Gary was unsure of what he was hearing. The only reason he paid any amount of attention to what he now had come to suspect was the sound of someone moving slowly outside his tent upon waking, was because Regent, who'd curled into a coil and slept next to him, was wide awake and staring at the entrance to his shelter. Gary slowly curled out of the sleeping bag he was in and moved forward, a hand on the zipper, and motioning for Regent to be ready to move. The sound wasn't something he'd expect from a thief or poke-napper. The steps were shuffling, as though the person was cuffing their feet across the ground at varied points; an unhurried gait with no clear purpose to it. Gary unzipped the top portion of his tent and peaked out. What met his eyes was a shock; Ash, awake and with the appearance of sleepwalking. Gary quickly rushed out from his shelter and stood, Regent following out quickly seeing the distress of his trainer.

Gary had known for years that Ash sleepwalked, particular since what had transpired to him. Often when they'd gone on trips before or even spent the night together growing up, Ash would occasionally wake and wander as though in a different space. It was no less concerning to see however. The shadows seemed to lengthen near where Ash moved as though a physical force on the ground, Ash's eyes flickering to and from, a distant glimmer in the pitch black pits of his iris. Most concerning to Gary, was Ash was never responsive to being disturbed during these periods often being so deep under that it was as though he were in a trance.

"Regent, stay on alert." Gary said quietly, a deep weight settling on his shoulders. The youngest Oak absently noted as Regent acknowledged his command that Lux and Nox were nearby in a similar capacity, Nox a visible dust of gas fluttering through trees in their grotto and Lux sitting at full alert in the first serious mood Gary had ever seen from the jovial pokemon. One half of the prodigies from Pallet proceeded to do what he always had during these events and observed for any of the signs that it was like the first recorded incident by Delia; eyes peeled for sheets of darkness, changing of light or the sense of fear that was always a subdued feeling near Ash growing to immeasurable levels. To his fortune, none of that occurred as it never seemed to past that first occasion.

After a little over an hour, Gary stood from his sat position of vigil, and moved over to Ash. Ash had stopped pacing in the middle of their patch of forest and stood looking straight up into the star-filled sky. Oak moved slowly over to stand in front of his friend, the watchful eyes of their new friends on them.

"You've got loyal partners, you know that?" Gary said quietly, searching Ash's listless eyes. "For only having them for a day, your boys are very concerned for you. So come back from wherever you are for them ok? Nox and Lux? They hate seeing you like this." Gary trailed off, his jaw clenching and his hands tightening into fists at his sides.

"I hate seeing you like this Ashy boy. Please." Having said his piece, Gary pulled Ash into a tight grip, his hand supporting Ash's head into the crook of his neck. The two boys stood in the grotto like that for some time, one conscious and one not. Gary felt frustration build in him. He hated feeling helpless, a human facing forces he couldn't conceive for the life of him bringing misery to the person he treasured most.

"Why you?" Gary started, gently setting Ash into a seated position that he seemed to take with little resistance, settling with his legs crossed over and eyes still lost in space. "Why the FUCK did this have to happen to you?" Gary felt tears creeping into his eyes, starting to trace down his face. It was with a sense of some surprise, Gary noticed that with his tearfall, sunrise seemed to start in the distance and he idly wondered how long had gone by in his vigil. Gary's mild sense of surprise became pure astonishment however, when with a start Gary viewed something astonishing. His eyes widened as he traced the sunrise, a rainbow seeming to appear in the distance and a wave of hope passing through the clearing like a physical force. The pokemon they were with were in reverence, Lux and Nox being fully visible now and still as though in worship and Regent, with glazed over eyes locked onto the same spot on the horizon that Gary was seeing himself. With the distant vision of what Gary would swear was a bird of some kind, the grass Ash and Gary were on began to waiver rapidly, the trees shifting in a sudden strong wind that should have been harsh but was instead warm and comforting. Oak watched as a trace of nearly invisible rainbow colored flame worked its way in the air through him and Ash and then, with that, Ash gasped loudly and woke up.

The wind calmed and Gary rushed forward placing his hands on Ash's shoulder and meeting his eyes.

Ash grinned sheepishly and with some degree of exhaustion. "Did I do it again?" Ash asked Gary.

Gary pulled Ash into a hug. "Yeah, yeah you did that fucking spirit walk thing again. You ok?" Gary asked, still riding the feeling of whatever had just come through.

"I'm alright. Just tired, like usual. Wish I could remember whatever those dreams are whenever I, you know, spirit-walk." Ash replied, his hands coming up to make air-quotes in regard to Gary's term for his night attacks. "Thanks for watching me. I know those are rough on you."

Gary shook his head, accepting the thanks as he had for years and moving past it just as fast. "Don't worry about it Ashy boy. Not much for it. Just move on. Besides, it's sunrise. We might as well pack up and get moving. Are you feeling up to it, or do I need to carry the princess to her carriage?" Gary asked sarcastically, concern coloring his voice.

Ash smiled in response and stood shakily on his own. "I'm alright Gare, you know these just tire me out. I've still got all my limbs." Ash stopped and looked around, eyes locking onto Lux and Nox still in the clearing, though leaving the state of reverie they had been in minutes prior. "Thanks guys, for keeping an eye on me. These don't happen too often so it shouldn't be regular, but I appreciate it."

Lux moved forward and rubbed his head against Ash's leg and Nox seemed to eye Ash in an odd light for a moment, an indecipherable expression crossing his ethereal face and then resolution, before he dissipated and reformed as Ash's new found gaseous aura.

Regent watched from his position as the two humans began packing up, seeming to try to brush the events of that night and early morning away. They discussed breakfast plans, pokemon they may look for in the future and other topics that Regent had little to no interest in. He had much bigger things to think about. Regent had heard tales from his roost of the many beings that were beyond in the world; creatures who'd ascended mortality and become so much more. So while his new trainer and shadow-touched friend may not have recognized what had occurred, Regent had a somewhat better idea. Afterall, his own broodmother had spent many cycles telling him of the Bringer of the Sun and Life, The Heart of the Skies and the Embodiment of Hope. Regent may not have had much idea of what it would look like in person, but he did know with certainty that the mythical one only appeared in legend to the wishes of the pure-hearted. It was with a reassured confidence that Regent slithered over to his trainer eyeing the ever so slight glimmer of seven-colored light that seemed to hover by Gary and was curled around the shoulders of the trainer. He'd made a good choice indeed.

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Ash and Gary had moved through the morning following a systematic rhythm; making breakfast, setting food for their pokemon, packing their supplies and logging a basic report for Oak's lab of the movesets their pokemon possessed. Afterwards, they progressed back to route one, making their way down the winding paths leading to Viridian. Gary had opted to return Regent to his pokeball, the pokemon being nearly asleep from his perch anyways, though Ash kept both Nox and Lux out of their balls. They'd made decent progress despite Ash's exhaustion from the night prior when as they were coming around a fork in the path they saw another group of trainers. There were four of them total, two young girls both brunettes and a pair of men, one around 17 and one looking to be much older, likely in his early thirties. One of the girls was mid battle with the young boy, her sandshrew chasing the opposing trainer's caterpie around the area using what appeared to be a combination of rollout and sand-attack to obscure her attack route, getting occasionally caught in the string shot traps her opponent was laying.

Gary and Ash approached the group, waving as they got closer and being seen by the trainers who weren't battling.

"Well hey there! Didn't think we'd run into anybody in this area of Route 1. You folks coming from nearby?" The older man asked with a smile and a discerning look at Ash's smoky personage and the Eevee on his shoulder. The girl standing with him was far quieter, though a wide blush had passed over her face when she traced her eyes on Gary, staring at him in awkward fascination.

"Sort of." Ash responded in a low, friendly tone. "We're both from Pallet Town. Figured we'd journey together for safety and a bit of human company."

The older man and young girl shifted attention to Ash as he spoke and the reaction was near instantaneous. The older man's smile strained and the younger trainer nearly flinched physically out of fear. Gary stepped forward seeing the normal reaction to Ash's unfortunate aura.

"Yeah that's us. Regular riot act. You two want to battle? We both just started and are willing to make it a registered match so it's worth your time." Gary said, annoyance entering his voice.

The older trainer paused for a moment. Gary could practically see the money signs flitting behind his eyes, followed by suspicion. Registered matches were a bit of a big deal for trainers. Not only did the battle go into a trainer's official record, it was a match that required the bid of credits. Both trainers in the match would agree to a set amount they were willing to pay forward; anything from a single credit to thousands in currency and whoever won took both a tic up in the official League system and the money home.

"You're both new and want to have a registered match? Are you sure? We've been on the circuit for a few months and have picked up a few tricks so far."

Gary smiled looking for all the world like a young hotshot and Ash nearly groaned, consigning himself to being a part of whatever plot Gary had come up with to fleece the poor people in front of them.

"Well, nothing like going all out from the beginning. Here's my info if you need it." Gary took out his pokedex and opened it, pulling up his trainer ID and flipping it around to show the older man, conveniently opening it to the point it showed his number and date of registry but exempting his name and status. His eyes widened quickly finding that Gary had only officially registered as a trainer yesterday.

"Approval from Professor Oak? So you're actually both from Pallet town? Well, I won't begrudge ya from being enthusiastic. So you wanna fight me huh?"

Gary's smile tilted at the edges, a look that made him seem at the height of excitement. "No," he said, "I want to fight her. I want you to fight my friend. He's the better of us and I feel like you'd like the challenge."

The older man's eyes squinted and then he looked back to Ash, seeming to gage him.

"How much do you want to put on the match?" He asked.

Gary could feel him weighing the invisible odds and threw out the bait he'd been dangling.

"How about 100 credits? We've got more than a bit saved up and tied to our accounts so it wouldn't be too bad of a hit for us."

The man's eyes widened and then he grinned. "Well sure! I guess it's always good to teach rookies a few lessons anyways. You up for it Lass? Wanna fight the nice boys?"
The girl nodded shyly in response, though after some haggling only agreed to fight for the price of five credits with Gary.

Almost on cue, behind the foursome the pair who'd been fighting finished behind them, the girl's sandshrew finally catching the caterpie correctly and knocking it unconscious.

"Well then! Who's up first? You wanna go Ashy?" Gary asked loudly, the pair of trainers who were revealed as accompanying the other pair moving out of the way with some curiosity.

Ash rolled his eyes and moved forward, pulling out his pokedex and the older man doing the same with an older model.

"Two vs. two is good for you?" Ash asked the man, seeing two pokeballs on his belt. The man nodded in response, a wide smile on his face. Both trainers stood roughly twenty five feet from each other and the older trainer pressed the acceptance of the match prompt that Ash sent him.

"Match started between Ash Ketchum, Lab Trainer, and Jackson Maiver, Novice Trainer. Wage of 100 credits registered. Two vs. Two. Basic rules. Begin."

The older man gawked for a moment, along with the other three trainers in their party then stared at Ash.

"You're a lab trainer!?" He yelled aloud. Ash nodded in response, pulling his hat down further over his eyes casting him in a much more ominous light than previous.

"Whatever." The older man grumbled. "I've still got years on ya. Just cause I'm out of practice doesn't mean some privileged youngster can get one over on me. Go, Bud!"

In a bright flash of light, a bellsprout came from the man's pokeball, swaying slightly after its appearance and eyeing Ash curiously. Ash responded without speaking, simply nodding. With that que, Nox formed out of Ketchum's shadow, ominously pulling himself into his sinister grinning visage.

From the sidelines, Gary restrained the urge to laugh. It was amusing to think of the weakened young man from their trek that morning to the fear inducing confidence that Ash now radiated. Ash changed drastically when he battled, even in trainer school when practicing simulations or using the rentals that were allowed access to the students, a dark streak came out of him. Frankly, Ash was ruthless. There was a reason that he was one of the Lab Trainers sponsored by Oak despite the thousands of applicants that flooded his desk on a yearly basis. He was a damn good trainer.

The older man eyed the Gastly floating across from him on the field and seemed to run through an internal debate, then quickly started calling commands.

"Bud! Use growth, then acid! Wash out that ghost!"
Ash snorted aloud. Acid against a Gastly was nearly useless no matter the boost from growth. Gastly were composed almost entirely of poisonous gas in the first place. It was only through incredible control that Nox didn't create at bare minimum extreme irritation on Ash's skin from his found favorite spot in his shadow.

"Nox," Ash said in a dangerous, low tone, "confuse ray. Then, will-o-wisp into hex."

The bellsprout pulsed with energy as it absorbed the sunlight for an extra boost, and then proceeded to spray out a fairly impressive amount of acid at Nox. It may have been effective against a normal pokemon that chose not to dodge, but against Nox, it simply passed through him as he dispersed slightly, the acid that did catch his cloud having next to no effect on him. Nox reformed, having moved to the left slightly, his eyes glowing ominously. Bellsprout made the mistake of tracking his opponent and made direct contact with the ghost's glowing irises. With a flash, Bellsprout reeled back, flailing wildly and throwing a series of vine whips into the open air.

"Bud! Snap out of it! It ain't real!" His trainer desperately cried, though it had no effect. Nox trailed forward towards his hallucinating prey, a wide, insidious grin tracking across his ethereal face. After a few seconds of focus, the ghost had enough concentration to form several haunted appearing flames around his form, shooting them across the small clearing at the grass-type. The fires impacted directly against Bellsprout's form and ignited, flames bursting off of its small form. The older trainer could only watch in horror as Nox tracked forward, a veritable cloud of mist trailing around him and wrapped Bud in a small whirlwind of ghostly energy. Even Ash's eyes widened slightly, seeing how Nox's inclusion of ominous wind to the hex he'd used on Bellsprout caused what should have been an increase to the flames igniting Bud to instead become a raging, eight foot pillar of flame that lasted for roughly two seconds.

The flames dissipated as Nox pulled away from his prey, dissipating and reappearing back where he'd started on the battlefield, eyeing the now very injured and unconscious bellsprout on the ground. There was a moment's silence and then the older trainer recalled his pokemon. The battle had barely lasted fifteen seconds.

The man standing across from Ash scowled, pointedly ignoring the gaping jaws of his travel companions and the now recognizable malicious grin coming from Gary.

"So you got a ghost kid. Fine. I underestimated you. But you won't beat my starter. Go! Toxin!" With that declaration, a fair sized, female nidoran appeared on the field. The rodent looked around briefly then a hardened look appeared in its eyes as it met the vision of Nox floating across from it, a mocking smile on his face. It was with some surprise to the older man that Ash snapped his fingers, and Nox flooded back into Ash's shadow.

"What, don't want to go for a sweep?" The man bit out.

"It's not fair to your team for me to use Nox. You obviously prefer poison type pokemon and Nox would have difficulty losing to anything but the most potent of toxins, which your Nidoran can't produce. Maybe as a Nidoqueen or even a Nidorina, but it would be difficult for you to win unless your nidoran knew confusion somehow in order to keep Nox from dissipating." Ash clinically analyzed aloud. The older man shook his head and sighed.

"So, I'm fighting the Eevee then instead of that monster of yours?"
"He's not a monster. He's a ghost. But yes. Lux."

With Ash's near monotone delivery, Lux jumped down from his perch, comically bouncing back and forth with bounds of energy in contrast to his trainer's serious demeanor. Even the opposing trainer and his tag-alongs had to restrain from smiling at the adorable pokemons obvious lack of situational awareness.

Contrary to the previous battle, Ash began the assault.

"Lux, use a quick attack to get close and then mud-slap." Lux ceased his jumping immediately, a fierce but still adorable look affixed on his face, and tore across the battlefield at an astonishing speed; a literal blur of movement. It wasn't a well known fact of the species, but Eevee's were incredibly fast, famous for being able to escape from nearly any battle in an effort to find an evolutionary stone or method to allow their extremely versatile DNA to force an evolution and boost their combat power for survivability.

The opposing trainer cursed. "Toxin! Dig! Get out of the way of that little speed demon!" With that call, the Nidoran burrowed into the ground quickly, just barely dodging the spray of mud that shot out from Lux's high speed skid into its previous position. Lux, despite his seemingly oblivious demeanor, realized the danger of being close to a pokemon that he couldn't see and maintained his quick attack, darting back and forth around the field. Ash surveyed the field carefully looking for where the little rat would surface and finally saw the rustling of the looser stones and dirt about a third of the way down the field where Lux was about to run over.

"Lux! Detect! Then swift!" Just a moment after Ash's call, the nidoran burst from the ground. To most of the trainers besides Ash and Gary, it appeared that a miracle occurred then, as Lux suddenly barely evaded Toxin's ground busting headbutt at his speed by leaping and twisting around the small pokemon, landing behind it and forming a barrage of starlike energy that slammed into Nidoran's form with an explosion of force. What actually occurred was detect at its finest. The move forced a pokemon to hone its senses to the highest peaks they were capable of, making the user nearly impossible to hit outside of the realm of wide-area of effect moves. Even then, capable dark and psychic type users of the move could force themselves into a state of clairvoyance, able to see moments into the future to evade all but the most dogged of maneuvers.

From the smoke cloud created by the impact, Nidoran staggered out, obviously injured, but still in fighting condition. Ash, though he wouldn't verbalize it, was somewhat impressed. That attack had landed dead center and done quite a bit of damage.

"Toxin! We can still win this! Poison barrage!" the opposing trainer called. Ash sharpened into focus. That was obviously a combination of some kind and that could mean anything was coming.

"Lux. Evade and counter-attack." Ash said. Lux, sensing his trainer's gaze watching the Nidoran that was breathing in deeply roughly eight feet in front of him, tensed and prepared to run. Neither trainer nor pokemon was prepared, however, for the screech of varied tones that originated from the small rat pokemon and slammed into Lux like a rhyhorn.

"Shit!" Ash cursed under his breath. It was a good diversion, calling for what sounded like a huge attack and then launching supersonic at an opponent. Lux staggered around briefly, eyes crossed, though still semi-coordinated and eyeing his opponent. Supersonic was particularly bad on pokemon with sensitive hearing as it scrambled the sense of equilibrium causing intense vertigo in an opponent. The Nidoran, sensing an opening, ran at Lux, throwing a mix of fury swipes and stabbing at him with dripping sharpened whiskers in the Nidoran line's variant of poison sting. Ash could see the confidence returning to his opponent, but he kept a tight eye on the fight, waiting for an opening to exploit in between the hits that Lux was taking. It was in the mix of a particularly ferocious barrage of swipes that Ash saw it.

"Lux now! Double kick!" Ash yelled. Lux, who'd still managed to dodge most of the attacks coming his way despite his lack of balance, had recovered sufficiently enough to launch the double tapping fighting type move, his hind paws glowing as he ducked under a wide swipe from Toxin and kicked up under the rodent's chin launching him roughly six feet into the air. Lux followed up with a move straight out of a wrestling match, jumping rapidly into the air in a tucked roll and repeating the move from the air, slamming the Nidoran back into the ground with an explosion of dust from the impact site, landing gracefully a happy pant back on his face.

Gary's eye twitched slightly, though he was now laughing loudly. He'd thought the pillar of flames was excessive but seeing the pokemon equivalent of The People's Elbow being used to finish a fight was a bit too much.

Needless to say, once the dust settled, the beam of a retrieval pinged out, zapping the Nidoran back to the older trainer's ball. He sighed aloud and eyed the ball then moved forward to meet Ash in the middle of the now dented and scorched field where he had picked up Lux and was petting him under the chin from his returned perch.

"You're a terrifying trainer ya know that?" The older man started, "but the win was deserved. Never seen a fresh-blooded rookie pull moves like that, that's for sure." The man held his hand out to shake with Ash, having sent confirmation of his loss and the transfer of funds on his small walk over.

"He knows how to suplex too." Ash said idly but jokingly, accepting the handshake. "Thanks for the fight. You have a promising team and your Nidoran is very tough."

Gary moved forward, butting into the gathering camaraderie with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Alright! You losers had your fun! My turn! Get over here girly!" He yelled loudly, releasing Regent who blinked blearily at the new humans in his view. There was a resounding silence and then the older trainer, eyeing the Dratini in front of him, turned and started walking down the path, quickly being followed by the other three in his party.

"What the hell!?" Gary yelled indignantly at the retreating group. "I want my fight!"

The girl who was supposed to be his opponent turned sheepishly, still moving away from them.

"I forfeit." She said with a strained smile and a peace sign, answering Gary's battle request, which she'd previously accepted while Ash and the gentleman were fighting, with a loss and transfer of five credits citing a withdrawal.

"Yeah, fuck both of y'alls bullshit." The older man summed up in parting.

There was another moment of silence between the two Pallet trainers as they looked at each other, then shrugged and started laughing, making their way down the path to Viridian.

આગળ ઉપરાંત

Ash and Gary had made good time, getting roughly two-thirds of the way to Viridian when their pokedexes started flashing. Both boys looked to each other in concern; the only time something like that occurred is when the device was being used or for a regional notice. Ash took his out and flipped open the cover, an automated voice meeting him.

"Attention trainers located on or near Route 1. Be aware a flock of Spearow have been spotted and are believed to be headed by a trio of territorial Fearow. An expert level trainer employed by the league has been dispatched to handle the issue, but caution is advised. If you find yourself noticing more of the flock, do not proceed onwards. Thank you." With that, the message cut itself off.

Both of the young Pallet trainers stood still for a moment. To mobilize an expert grade trainer was no small matter, particularly one employed by the league in any capacity. Trainers were graded off of several factors; their trainer records I.D. the number of matches they had, their win/loss ratio, the number of badges they had obtained and their conference finishes. Most trainers would reach intermediate after roughly a year of active duty but to reach expert, it was a considerably higher leap. It was after all, the step below master and only the Elite Four, Champions of each region, and the rare esoteric trainer ever held that rank. Their were some exceptions to the system that allowed for certain tags, Champion being one of the afore mentioned as they were master's who held far greater authority being the military leaders of their respective nations, and lab trainers being another as they could fall under any rank but were often regarded differently due to them being chosen by a region's head of scientific research specifically for being deemed capable of handling tougher missions and duties than the average trainer.

Ash and Gary proceeded on their route, however Gary opted to release Regent to slither along next to him and Ash's partners maintained a higher state of alertness; Nox's gaseous form flitting between the trees and Lux's ears and eyes on a swivel. It appeared for quite some time that no issue would come of the warning as they continued their journey, and the two prodigies from Pallet relaxed slightly, though still kept their guard up.

"So," Ash began, his voice filling the tranquil sounds of the woods around them, "I'm a better trainer than you huh?"

Gary looked at Ash like he'd just told him Arceus was standing in front of them. "Where the fuck did you get that notion?"

"It's what you told that trainer I battled earlier. I'm the better of the two of us." Ash replied with a hint of humor coloring his otherwise straight-laced tone.

"Well then I obviously lied. Better to give him some bullshit to feed that idiot's ego. We both know I'm better than you Ashy Boy." Gary replied smugly.

"I scored higher than you on the performance exams." Ash pointed out.

"Those were theoretical and you know it. I was way better at the practical shit where it actually matters." Gary bit back quickly.

"We tied on the practicals. So that means I'm the better trainer." Ash finished smiling lightly now, a hand on the brim of his hat.

"I am not counting some backwards ass test that you got one more point on! And why the hell are you posing!?" Gary said, pointing at Ash now in indignance.

"Not posing. Just…"

"Posing Ash. That's called posing."

"Gary, hush for a second, something's off."

Gary stopped his joking conversation with his friend and looked around. Ash was right. The air wasn't right. He looked around trying to determine where the off-putting feeling was coming from then realized, his sharp intellect causing him to tense up.

"Ash."

"I know." Ash replied quickly and sharply, tensing as well and looking around trying to find movement. The ambient noise from the forest had ceased. Outside of the sound of Nox's gas quietly brushing around trees and foliage, Lux's panting and Regent sliding across the ground, there was nothing. No Rattata scurrying through brush or Pidgey tweeting in the air. No sounds of Caterpie or Nidoran. Nothing but the wind and them. The boys moved slowly down the path on high alert. Their caution was rewarded moments later when they came to a bend in the route they'd followed, coming around slowly and seeing the worst case scenario; A Fearow. It wasn't a small one either, easily standing around six feet, nearly twice the size of a newly evolved version of the Spearow line. There were none of the smaller birds around on the path, though Ash quickly scanned the surroundings for any followers as the avians were known to congregate close to the roost leaders. Luckily for them, it seemed that at least this one had gone out to hunt on its own and succeeded based on the corpse of a Rattata sitting under it, blood pooling out from stab wounds in the small creature as the Fearow gouged out hunks of meat from the cooling body.

"We either need to get around that thing or go back down the path and hide somewhere." Gary whispered to Ash. Both boys had crouched behind one of the groups of trees that lined the path and were eyeing the wild bird with trepidation.

"We can't get around it. Fearow has incredible vision. If it wasn't eating, it would have already noticed us when we were in view for a second." Ash replied in the same hushed tone. "And if we go back the way we came we risk running into more of the flock. I say we try to injure it. Inflict as much damage as we can and weaken it enough to run away."

Gary leaned against the tree they were still hiding behind and ran calculations in his head. "That's really risky Ash. You think that's our best option?"

"I do." Ash said, a quiet confidence coming from him. "Nox can get the jump on him and then Regent and Lux can use that chance to get close and hit him at the same time. We'll stick to ranged attacks, it won't ever get close. Nox may even be able to put it to sleep with hypnosis."

Gary sat for a moment and then nodded. It was a simple plan, but complicated ones tended to fail more often. Both boys turned to their pokemon huddled close by.

"Regent, are you good with that? If you don't want to fight, we'll try to get away. That Fearow looks older, probably a pretty tough customer." Gary asked his starter.

Ash did the same, though silently looking into the partially formed body of his ghost which wavered back to him in Nox's customary acknowledgement, a bloodthirsty smile on his face, and feeling the reassuring rub on his head from Lux. Regent mulled over the proposition his trainer gave him, seemingly mentally eyeing the bird they were about to attempt to face. His coils tightened and a fierce look affixed in his eyes a moment later. The pride of a dragon demanded that he at least face any true challenge that came his way and threatened him or his trainer. Gary, receiving confirmation, turned to Ash and nodded.

The boys remained hidden behind the tree, now peaking out to watch the Fearow that was still luckily distracted by its meal.

"Nox, get close and then use hypnosis. If it doesn't fall asleep try to poison it with Toxic if you can, and if you can't get close, dodge what it throws at you and use will-o-wisp from a distance." Ash commanded softly.

Nox wavered in acknowledgement and faded into his gaseous form, stealthily trailing his way towards the Fearow. Both boys tensed as a few moments later, the Fearow stiffened and started to waver back and forth from its position and for a second, they thought they may be able to just put it under and get past the bird. Then, with a loud cry, Fearow threw its head back and a look of rage crossed its face, wings unfurling then blasting out a powerful burst of wind from its wings. The boys moved quickly, coming out into the open and distracting the enraged winged beast, turning its attention long enough for the gas form of Nox to rush over the bird, successfully covering it in the toxins that existed within his form. The Fearow screamed louder in fury, now laced with pain and threw its wings out with much more force dispersing the gas of Nox in a wide direction forcing the ghost to reform or be scattered to the winds. Luckily for him, reinforcements arrived, Regent slithering up quickly next to him quickly letting loose a directed screech of multi-faceted sound in a Supersonic. Lux was behind him, having formed a hail of Swift and firing it into their intended target. Both attacks landed, disorienting the territorial bird and exploding in a shockwave of force. Once the cloud cleared both trainers looked at their target with grim resolve. It barely had any impact. The Fearow glared angrily, only slight signs of damage on its form and then spread its wings. Suddenly, in a burst of motion the Fearow took off at astonishing speed, a literal blur, and crossed the distance between the two parties.

"Shit! Regent, mist and twister, then move!" Gary yelled furiously. Ash caught on quickly, having the same line of thought.

"Lux! Sand-attack into the twister! Then use quick attack to evade! Nox, back into the shadows and start throwing will-o-wisps!" Ash called out.

Regent was quick on the draw, a blast of force announcing the arrival of a large cloud forming around his form which was immediately formed into a towering whirlwind of draconic energy that obscured the view of the three starters. Lux jumped and impacted the ground, throwing up a burst of loose ground into it, making the twister into a dirty, misted over visual obstruction to move into, difficult to see in even for the Keen Eye gifted Fearow. Said Fearow, still enraged by the pokemon who had encroached on its hunt, blasted into the cloud as three forms vacated it; one dragon sliding at a decent pace on the ground, one small furred Eevee and the gaseous form of Nox pouring into the treeline.

Gary and Ash, realizing that the distraction they'd thrown up on the fly wasn't going to last long, quickly changed battle tactics with the kind of unison that only two people who were closer than brothers could.

"Regent! Keep evading and stay split up! If it targets you, do the same thing you just did and when it isn't, use Water Pulse and Thunder Wave to slow it down!"

"Nox! Same plan of action! Lux! Focus on evasion! Harass it with Swift and keep evading with Quick Attack! If it gets close, use Detect for as long as you can until Regent draws attention!"

With the lines drawn in the sand, the boys glared into the cloud of mist that was clearing and then blown open with extreme force by their opponent. The Fearow looked around the battlefield for a moment trying to find a target and sighted in on Lux, tearing across the field again in what Ash idly recognized as a mix of Quick Attack and Agility. Fearow dove in, finally reaching its target and unleashed a brutal Fury Attack, attempting to spear the little Eevee that had assaulted it, missing each attack as Lux barely evaded each hit, glowing with the energy of Quick Attack and eyes glimmering with the use of Detect. This went on for a few seconds until the Fearow was interrupted from its assault by a two pronged assault of a blast of flaming orbs from the treeline and a wavering line of electricity splashing over it from Regent's location. Fearow reared its head back in anger and twirled, finding the easier target of Regent and catapulting across the field towards the dragon, clearing the roughly twenty-five feet in seconds. Regent repeated his prior escape maneuver quickly with a large cloud localizing around him and becoming a raging twister just as Lux fired a swift into Fearow's back. Regent quickly ducked out of the cloud that the Fearow flew into spinning with the use of a Drill Peck dispersing the cloud easily, then being impacted by the swift of Lux causing a small blast again.

This pattern repeated several times, all three pokemon harassing their larger adversary and evading at the last moment successfully and after a couple of minutes Ash and Gary started to feel hope. They could do this. The Fearow was growing tired visibly, and it was evident that the Toxic that Nox had landed early was wearing its toll. This new found confidence lasted until a blast of Water Pulse smacked into the Fearow after another unsuccessful chase of Lux and the Fearow reared its head back and flew up into the air.

Ash and Gary watched wide eyed attempting to understand what was happening as the Fearow began to glow with a huge amount of energy. Ash suddenly came to a startling conclusion.

"Gary! It knows Mirror Move! Lux, Nox, retreat!"

Gary's eyes blinked startled then fisted his hands at his side. "Regent! Get the fuck out of there!" Gary yelled as loud as he could.

The three pokemon barreled away from the road they were on, Nox flooding backwards towards Ash and Gary and Regent and Lux running/slithering as quickly as possible in the same general direction. It was too late however. In a truly momentous deluge of water, Fearow fired off a massive series of water pulses that blasted off of the center of the battlefield, sending waves surging out from its focal point and slamming into the bird's three combatants, flooding through Nox's gas form forcing him to reform and dealing massive damage, the ghost flickering in and out of corporeal form and Lux and Regent slamming into trees with tremendous force. The Fearow, finishing its assault, landed and kneeled with both wings tucked around its form, glowing with white energy still.

Ash and Gary watched in horror while the flying type recovered using Roost, their pokemon too damaged to stop it from healing as they attempted to stay conscious. This was it for them. There was no possible way they'd be able to get away fast enough with a fully powered Fearow chasing them at high speeds. With a grim resolve, both trainers drew the knives they had in holsters at the side of their legs and moved forwards, Gary standing in front of the downed form of Regent who'd coiled into a loop and trying to garner the energy to muster an attack and Ash standing in front of Lux who'd gotten onto shaky feet and was glaring at the bird. Ash recalled Nox, realizing he was far too injured to fight and resolved to try to break his ball and free the ghost in the case that Fearow managed to kill him in their final clash. Ash and Gary steeled themselves for what they envisioned would be an early and grim end to their journey when the unbelievable occurred.

"Milo, Hydro Pump." A distinctly female voice called from the woods opposite the boys. The two Lab Trainers watched in stunned awe as what appeared to be a small lake compressed to the size of a six foot blast of water blasted out from the treeline and slammed into the Fearow that was mid-recovery in the road, slamming it down into the roadway and likely breaking every bone in its body. The Fearow was blatantly dead after that kind of fire power. Pokemon could handle incredible amounts of damage, particularly high-level trained pokemon but that amount of firepower would put down most opponents nigh-instantly, especially judging from the fact that it had cleaved straight through a tree and dug a trench roughly ten feet deep through the Earth on its path to its target.

From the treeline emerged an older woman and a large Milotic, steadily walking forward with slanted eyes regarding the target she'd just annihilated. She had long, dark hair with red highlights crossing on the inside of her bangs, deep brown eyes and a calculating look to go with it. Her outfit consisted of a purple sleeveless crop top, showing off her trimmed figure and a pair of dark grey slacks held up by a lavish gold belt and ending in a pair of purple heeled shoes.

"Ash?" Gary started in stunned silence, the question obvious on his lips.

"Yeah. That just happened." Ash finished equally shocked.

"I was gonna say that it was hot, but that also works." Gary finished lamely. The boys took the opportunity presented to recall their pokemon who were close to fainting regardless and moved forwards slowly, sheathing their knives. If this woman had meant them harm, they wouldn't be alive at that moment and they both know it.

The woman in question finished her observance of the deceased Fearow and turned to the boys as they approached her.

"You know, I should thank you. You two did enough damage to force this thing to heal and gave me the opportunity to land an easy shot. Didn't even have to step in earlier. Did good for new trainers." She said with a firm nod. "Name's Luci Azami. Thanks for the help."

Ash stepped forward and extended a hand which was met with a surprisingly firm handshake. "Ash Ketchum. We should be thanking you. You saved our lives."
The now identified Lucy eyed Ash for a moment then laughed, a startling bell-like tone despite her harsh appearance. "You got a scary aura, you know that Ash? Cute face though, so it's all good."

Gary wished he had a camera as he got to see a blush cross Ash's face for the first time in his life. All it took to achieve was for them to get into a life-threatening situation and then be saved by a miracle and an amazingly attractive woman emerging from the woods like a valkyrie.

Oak proceeded to step forward and eye up the trainer, quickly drawing a raised eyebrow from Lucy who appraised Gary in the same way. "How long were you watching?" Gary asked in a defensive tone, having picked up that this trainer had gotten close to their fight and not intervened.

"Not too long hot shot, right around the two minute mark when that beastie started getting frustrated and you two started getting cocky. Figured you wouldn't lose anything though and I was right. Having killed the other two I knew this one wouldn't have too many moves that could take down a Gastly, an Eevee or punch through a Dratini's scales in one shot." Lucy responded with a shrug and by resting a hand on her Milotic that had curled up around her, the massive serpent nuzzling into his trainer's neck. "Sides, Milo had him pegged just in case." Gary nodded in response, semi-placated.

"So you're the expert level trainer that was dispatched then?" Ash asked, having recovered from his flustered state.

"I am cutie. Smart and good-looking? Are you looking for a girlfriend?" Lucy responded, now salaciously eyeing up Ash. His blush returned.

Gary snorted in amusement then returned to a serious disposition. "So they're all cleared out? There won't be more of these things laying around?" Gary said, motioning to the Fearow laying splattered in the divot in the ground.

"Nothing to worry about now. Me and Milo are going to scatter the rest of the flock, but it's just some stray Spearow that will retreat back to the area around Celadon in search of a new Roost-mother."

"Good." Gary said, grim satisfaction on his face. That thing had done incredible damage, though nothing debilitating or fatal, to his starter. He'd have to bust out a potion to help him recover, but it was still not an experience that he or Ash wanted to repeat.

"Speaking of that, I gotta keep moving. So you two stick to the path and you should be in Viridian by this evening. You may want to go quickly, there's a storm inbound." She said, eyes locked on the horizon where there were clouds forming that were dark and ominous. Her eyes gained a mischievous quality as she tracked back over to Ash. "Hope to see you around hot stuff. Look me up on the poke-receiver when you get to the nearest poke-center if you wanna party. My info's public and if ya send me a message I'll probably get around to it." She said with a teasing smolder. There was the hat trick of blushes from Ash.

Gary rolled his eyes and grabbed the cuff of Ash's collar, nearly dragging him away from the pretty older girl who waved them goodbye cheekily, before moving into the forest with her Milotic.

"Come on Ash, we need to get moving." Gary said testily.

"She was pretty."

"Yes, she was. And Ash?"

"Yeah what's up Gare?"

"I want a Milotic. That shit was busted."

"She was really pretty."

"Fucks sake Ash."

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Ash and Gary walked for roughly a half hour before taking out their starters and resting for a moment, taking the time to spray potion onto Lux and Regent and then Ash feeding Nox a few of the Sitrus berries he had on him in order to waylay some of the damage. Though it didn't fully heal them, it was obvious that the pokemon felt some semblance of better with Nox becoming far more substantial, Lux limping less and bouncing more as they walked and Regent regaining a glimmer of strength in his eyes. Gary noticed that Regent was particularly disappointed after his first fight and resolved to solve that immediately.

"Hey, Regent. You did good. That was a sucky opponent that was way out of our league and you still gave him hell. So no sulking got it?" Gary said in a firm tone. Regent seemed to mull that over for a moment and then made some form of inner resolution and returned to his vigil wrapped around Gary's shoulders, though noticeably somewhat perkier.

Ash mulled over an approach to his own team, but quickly identified that they had reached a similar conclusion in the form of Nox's cackling as he sunk into Ash's shadow, or were too oblivious to care about their near death in the vision of Lux bouncing happily along on top of Ash's hat, his new perch for more height. The boys continued walking down the path, making good time until Ash felt the start of a storm.

To the two men, it seemed to come out of nowhere. A drizzle from some clouds nearby to a downpour facilitated by a darkened sky flashing with lightning and thunder. The boys quickly ran to the side of the road under cover of the trees to navigate some of the rain, but realized that they would be better served getting to Viridian after some time of the deluge not ceasing as they were only about a ten minutes run out from the city and the area they were in was infamous for flooding fairly quickly.

Ash and Gary ran as fast as they could through the pelting rain, returning their team members to keep them out of the pouring water, and were about half way there on the last fork before the gates of Viridian would become visible when they saw something that made their blood run cold.

At the start of the fork, there was a reasonably large rock that stood roughly four feet high. On top of that rock there was a small form shivering in the storm under what appeared to be a branch that had fallen from one of the surrounding trees. As the trainers approached, it only got worse. The form was a charmander, the small red lizard pokemon in horrible condition.

Gary quickly ran forward and searched around desperately trying to see any identification of the pokemon's trainer as charmander's were regulated and definitively not found in the wild around Viridian, but there was no luck. Ash moved up next to him and with a quick wordless conversation took his jacket off and threw it to Gary, who promptly wrapped it around the shivering Charmander. Gary cursed, noticing that its tail flame was nearly out, knowing that it was a clear sign that the Charmander now in his arms and wrapped in a jacket was close to death. Both trainers started a mad dash down the fork in the road, sighting the gates of Viridian and sprinting towards the doors of the pokecenter that was a few blocks into the frontier style town. Neither Ash nor Gary stopped to take in the sights, doing their best to save the life of the poor creature that they had found and determined silently to save.

With a slide of the automated doors, both boys entered the sterile environment of one of the pokemon world's premier health services for trainer and pokemon alike. The boys ran to the counter at the front, Ash slamming into where the bell was to alert one of the nurses that a trainer had arrived and hitting it repeatedly and urgently while Gary desperately tried to rub warmth into the Charmander that was rapidly going limp in his arms.

"What is all the racket out there?" Said Nurse Joy, coming around the corner quickly. To her credit as a professional, she quickly ascertained the severity of the situation she'd walked into, noting the two drenched trainers and the flickering tail of the fire-type in Gary's arms. A stern, no nonsense look appeared on her face. "Boys, we need to get that Charmander into a restoration chamber now. Follow me quickly." With that, she turned and started moving down the hallways rapidly, both boys moving after her matching pace.

She moved to a door with a series of markings that made little sense to Ash or Gary and swiped a card against a keypad next to the entrance and the door slid open in a smooth swoosh. Nurse Joy and the two boys moved into the room, revealing a row of what appeared to be sleak incubators. The Nurse moved over to Gary and took Charmander into her arms, quickly moving over to an open incubator and opening it through some command that Ash and Gary missed. With an efficient movement, she set the Charmander into the chamber and the lid swung shut, a steady mist coming out of vents inside coating the little lizard. There was a grim silence as nothing appeared to happen and both boys watched ringing their hands until, with a sigh of relief, they watched as Charmander's tail began to stabilize and his shivering slowed.

Nurse Joy nodded and typed in a few commands on a console that was situated on the side of Charmander's current bed space then indicated for the boys to follow her, where she then led them out into what appeared to be a waiting lounge. She turned and indicated for Gary and Ash to take a seat then affixed them with a stern glare.

"Boys. I want to know why that Charmander was almost dead and allowed to be out in the rain for that long. That was incredibly irresponsible and if there is even a hint that you meant to do that, I will get both of your licenses revoked immediately!" Nurse Joy said, blatant anger entering her tone at the end of her threat.

Gary met her gaze with one just as serious. "He's not either of our pokemon ma'am. We found him a short distance from Viridian in this storm. It was obvious he'd been sitting where he was for some time but neither of us know how long."
"It's true Nurse Joy." Ash said backing up his long time friend. "We couldn't leave him out there in his state so we picked him up and ran here as fast as we could. We have our trainer I.D.s so you can verify our statements." With that, both Ash and Gary pulled out their pokedexes and passed them over to the still severe looking Nurse who took them both.

"I'll go run these through our system now then, but boys, I swear to Arceus that if either of you is lying to me you'll be facing charges of pokemon abuse at best." Nurse Joy issued with a barely concealed snarl and turned, leaving the room. Ash and Gary sagged into the seats they'd taken upon her departure trying to gather their thoughts and the weight of exhaustion seeping into their bones. They didn't have to wait long as after roughly five minutes, the Nurse reentered with both of their pokedexes and an apologetic look on her face.

"Neither of you have Charmander under your recorded pokemon and you couldn't have caught one while you were on Route 1. Plus, you're both registered as Lab Trainers under Professor Oak, so your story checks out. I'm sorry for assuming, it's just that it was more realistic that you were new trainers who took training or a battle too far than the other way around. Forgive me my assumptions."

"It's fine." Gary responded, taking his pokedex back. "We knew what it looked like."

Ash did the same with a quiet nod. "Will Charmander be alright?" He asked with some trepidation.

"It will take him about a day to recover, but after that he should be back to decent enough shape." She replied. "The bigger concern is who his trainer is. He or she obviously left that Charmander there for some time. My best guess is three days."

Gary's teeth clenched and he could feel the silent fury from Ash, his aura fluctuating violently sending waves of terror into the room. "Can you figure it out based on the pokemon?"Gary asked in a dangerous tone.

The answering smile from Nurse Joy was equally dark. "Actually, yes. The signature of the pokeball should still be on him. I can track down the identifier from there and then the trainer that owns that pokeball."

This time it was Ash who spoke. "Good. A trainer who abandons their family deserves nothing less than the worst." The silent conviction with which he said those words, mixed with his normal restrained aura fluctuating so violently it was nearly visible, was something that even Gary found somewhat terrifying. Ash sounded like he would kill the trainer if he ever met him or her.

Nurse Joy seemed oddly unfazed by Ash's words and aura. "I agree. The bigger question is what to do with Charmander when he awakens. He will not be staying with his current trainer and will require another hand otherwise I fear the poor dear will return to that rock and his death doing whatever it was that kept him there."

"Waiting for his trainer to return I'd guess, but that's besides the point." Gary mused aloud. "So what are you saying here?"

"I'm saying that I will release Charmander and one of you will then register him as yours to watch over him." She responded calmly.

The two boys looked at each other and had a silent conversation.

"It should be you Gary. I have two pokemon currently, and it'll be easier for Charmander to cope with a single teammate. He'll be in shock. Plus, Nox is a ghost. He'll prey on weakness or at least target Charmander for amusement if they're on the same team. It's just in his species' nature. Less of a chance if he's with you." Ash broke down clinically.

Gary mulled over Ash's logic and found little fault in it, though that may have been due to the shock of their day.

"Alright. I'll look after the little guy. How do we go about the transfer?" He asked Nurse Joy, weariness seeping into his shoulders.

"If you have a pokeball on you, I'll put it into a receptacle attached to Charmander's chamber after getting rid of the previous signature." She answered.

Gary nodded in response and pulled his drenched trainer bag off of his shoulders and reached into a side slot, pulling out one of the pokeballs within, handing it over to the Nurse who nodded in thanks and left the room, presumably to go through with what she'd previously detailed. The boys waited anxiously and after another couple of minutes, Nurse Joy returned, passing the pokeball to Gary.

"Alright, everything is through. Once Charmander is recovered enough to come out, there's a small clearing behind the pokecenter for you to orient yourself with him. Please take good care of him in his errant trainer's stead. Now I'm guessing you two are exhausted? There are rooms upstairs down the hall that are registered to your I.D.s. Just open your pokedex to the keypads next to them and it'll let you in. I'm going to go back in and look over Charmander." Nurse Joy left the room afterwards to continue care. The two boys got up wearily and marched their way in the direction that was indicated, going up the stairs and finding the rooms mentioned. After opening the doors they looked at each other.

"Day two. It's been two fucking days Ash." Gary said, exhaustion permeating his voice.

"Gary, I'm going to bed. Cuss me out in the morning."

"I'll hold you to that Ashy Boy."

With that, both young men entered their rooms to the sound of the doors swooshing shut behind them. They took enough time to release their pokemon from their pokeballs, set out a basic meal for their companions and then proceeded to flop into bed and fall promptly asleep, set to not awake until the next morning.