Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. So, not much to really say this time around, except that we're continuing with Ash and Pikachu fleeing from the giant Spearow flock. Oh, and they're going to meet Misty once again.
Also, for the one who asked if the Alola girls, Chloe, and Risa are going to be in the harem; for the Alola girls, they are a maybe. Chloe and Risa, even more uncertain. I haven't watched Sun & Moon, Journeys, or the rebooted movies. So while I'll take elements from those parts of the Pokemon series, I'm not sure I'll fully integrate them into the fic I'm doing. Which includes the characters residing in them.
So, with all that out of the way, enjoy the third chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 3: A Deadly Flock
It didn't get better. Their current encounter with the Spearow flock is looking even worse.
As the trainer and pokemon duo ran for their lives, throwing thundershock after thundershock, more and more of those cursed birds kept appearing. Ash even swore that he saw a couple of Fearows flying above. And like last time, this flock is aiming to maim both of them, if not kill them.
"What did we do to earn this?!" Ash cried out in frustration, holding his pack above him to somewhat block the wave of Spearows. "I'm pretty sure that I didn't throw a rock at any of them!"
"I'm of the mind that these murderous birds have always been blood-thirsty!" Pikachu voiced out, with some venom, as he threw another wave of thundershock. "More so now than before!"
Ash couldn't deny that possibility. While he did provoke that one Spearow by throwing a rock at it, having the whole flock attack him and Pikachu was overkill. The fact that these Spearows are attacking them, unprovoked, give strength to the blood-thirsty theory.
Some part of this forest must also be their territory or something. It would explain why they haven't seen any other pokemon nearby…
He broke out of his thoughts when saw a Fearow fly directly at him, which answered whether or not there were Fearows in the flock. With a small yelp, jumped and rolled to the side, dodging the Spearow evolution. Unfortunately, that gave half a dozen Spearows a chance to fly straight at him with the ability peck.
Thankfully though, Pikachu jumped right above him and unleashed yet another thundershock attack, knocking out that group and pushing back others close by. As Pikachu landed on Ash's shoulder, he let out a small breath. "I won't be able to do this for long, Ash." Pikachu told his trainer, sounding a tad worn out. "Like I said before, I'm not at my usual strength. While thundershock is an easy attack to use, I can't spam it forever."
Before Ash could respond to that, he saw the Fearow from before flying at them, drill peck at the ready. Growling in frustration, the trainer formed an aura sphere in one hand before launching towards the evolved pokemon. Thankfully, the attack hit it's mark and knocked the Fearow back.
Ash used the chance to run once more, Pikachu still on his shoulder. "Then we'll have to find a way to outrun them." He stated. "I suggest holding on tightly, Pikachu."
"Hold on tightly? What are you pla- WAAAAAAGH!"
Enhancing his limbs through the use of aura, Ash ran through the giant flock in a large burst of speed, Pikachu clinging onto his shoulder tightly. It also caused a shockwave that blew many Spearows back, further freeing the duo from more of the birds.
"Since when could you do this?!" Pikachu shouted over the wind.
"Since I learned how to at the age of ten!" Ash shouted back.
It was one of the many tricks Ash learned as a kid. He's able to enhance his body to pokemon level heights, whether it's in speed, agility, or strength. It doesn't last forever though, and the time gets shortened depending on the amount of aura he used. Still, it was enough to burst out of the large flock.
Seeing that they were free of any Spearows, Ash prepared to stop. Before he could though, the aura user suddenly felt himself run off the ground. For a moment, both he and Pikachu merely blinked, as they both processed that they were now in the air, and not on solid land.
Then they started falling.
"HOLD ON TIGHT, PIKACHU!"
"NO NEED TO TELL ME TWICE!"
Looking down, Ash saw that they were gonna land in a river. So he quickly curled up into a ball right before hitting the large mass of water. After a moment of floating, both he and Pikachu resurfaced, taking in a few gulps of air before swimming to shore.
"Let's never do that again…" Pikachu moaned, as he and his trainer crawled out of the water. When they were fully on land, the yellow mouse slumped right beside Ash.
"At least we… managed to escape…" Ash said, letting out a tired breath.
"Psy?"
Perking up, the duo turned towards the direction of the quack; they were met with a familiar looking, yellow duck, whose head was tilted and held by both arms.
"A Psyduck?" Ash said, blinking. What's a psyduck doing all the way here? Last he checked, these types of pokemon aren't from around-
"Hey, are you two alright?" A female voice asked, a small distance away. A voice that's immediately recognizable to the kanto trainer. "That was quite the fall you and your Pikachu had."
Slowly, Ash looked up from his position on the ground, to see one of his oldest and closest friends a few feet away from him, Pikachu, and Psyduck. Misty Waterflower.
'Misty…' Seeing one of his oldest companions brought an array of emotions in Ash, joy being one of the biggest ones. A joy that felt different, seeing that he only held memories of her in the original timeline. With his mom, Professor Oak, Gary, and Serena, knowing them for so long in the new timeline kept any strong emotions from swelling up.
Now, however, he felt himself having to make some effort in keeping his composure. While he remembered Misty quite well, he knows that she doesn't know him. That this is their first meeting in this new world. Best not to confuse, startle, and/or anger her, by giving her a tight hug or something.
Also best to answer her question now, before she gets creeped out by him staring at her. Or pissed off, thinking he's ignoring her.
"Y-Yeah, we're alright…" Slowly, Ash got himself up from the ground, grabbing his hat and shaking out any water that got in it. Once all the water was out, he placed it back on his head. "If we hadn't landed in the river, we probably would've been worse off."
"Are you sure?" Misty pushed, still looking concerned. "You looked kinda dazed there for a moment."
"We are, don't worry." Ash assured her quickly, waving both his hands in front of him. "I'm just a little shaken up, that's all. No need to worry about us." A part of him wondered why Misty seemed so concerned. Last he checked, when they first met, she was only concerned about Pikachu's state.
And didn't she have a bike with her too? Not to mention she didn't catch Psyduck until later on…
"Well, I guess that makes sense, considering you jumped off a hill." Misty then looked at said hill above them. "Why did you do that anyways? That was kinda stupid, you know. Even with the river here."
In response, Ash laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Didn't mean to do that." He explained. "I was trying to run from the flock of Spearows around here. Was so focused on running that I didn't really pay attention to where I was going."
"A Spearow flock?" The red-head frowned worryingly at that. "I heard that there was a flock around this route; one of the more aggressive groups of pokemon here."
"And we have to deal with more pokemon like these Spearows in the future…" Pikachu muttered from behind Ash. "Joy…"
"If there's a flock of these things here, then we shouldn't stay here!" The trainer heard Psyduck panicked, the duck pokemon waving its arms around rapidly.
Misty, who doesn't have the ability to understand pokemon, turned her frown into one of annoyance. "Stop panicking, Psyduck." She sighed. "We don't even see any Spearows close by, so I think we can relax."
"But why be here if you know about the flock?" Ash couldn't but point out, his own frown forming. "Isn't that just as dangerous as jumping off a cliff?"
Now it was Misty's turn to look sheepish, a small blush entering her face. "W-Well, it was only a rumor I heard, so I figured there was nothing to worry about it." She said a tad defensively. "Besides, I wanted to see if there was any good water-types here at the river, so-"
The sound of several caws prompted both humans and pokemon to freeze up, stopping any further conversations. Slowly, they all looked up at the hill…
And sure enough, there was the Spearow flock waiting just above, three Fearows leading at the front. And Ash wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but the flock looked even bigger than before.
"They found us…" Pikachu growled, taking a battle stance.
"Is that the flock you were running from…?" Misty asked, her voice high with fear.
"Yep." Ash gave a simple nod. "Run!"
Both humans and their pokemon took off, trying to escape from the flock. Unfortunately, the birds were quick and relentless, many of them already surrounding the group, and trying to claw or peck at them.
"Get away from us you blood-thirsty vultures!" Pikachu snarled, shocking any bird that got near the running group. "Give up this chase already!"
"HELLP!" Psyduck cried out, blasting any Spearows pecking at his head. "We're being attacked by blood-thirsty pokemon!"
"We're not gonna get away!" Misty exclaimed, using her own bag to block the waves of tiny bird pokemon. "If this keeps up, we're gonna get clawed to death by these birds!"
"We gotta think up a strategy!" Ash shouted in agreement, finally just deciding to use his own bag to smack these birds away. He was getting fed up with these murderous Spearows. "Maybe we can-"
Before he could say what's on his mind, the flying pokemon near them flew away from the group of four. Before they could even process that, a wave of gust suddenly hit all of them from behind, blowing the group a distance away.
Ash landed hard on the ground, bouncing off a few times before landing face-first on the ground. Misty hit the floor beside him, on her side, while Psyduck had rolled towards them. Pikachu ended up landing on his stomach.
"Was that gust…?" The trainer groaned. Pushing himself on his feet, he spotted the Fearows that were part of the flock. One, he noted, was giving a particularly malicious smirk.
He can already guess that these guys were the ones that used gusts on him.
Any thought about those evolved-forms left him when he heard a pain-filled and terrified scream. Jolting up, he turned his head to see many of those Spearows clawing and pecking at Misty. Near her was Psyduck, who was shooting off confusion attacks at every Spearow he could, though it was slowly getting overwhelmed.
"MISTY!" Without thinking, Ash flared up his aura and burst towards the Spearows attacking his friend, pushing back other Spearows that attempted to attack him. "Get away from her!"
With an angry roar, formed a large aura sphere with both hands and launched it at the birds. It hit several of them, with others being blown back by the impact. At the back, Pikachu shot a larger and wider thundershock attack, taking out the other birds still flying around them.
Unfortunately, the onslaught took a toll on Misty. Claw marks and small holes were across her body, many of the injuries bleeding slowly. The attack also left her barely conscious, with the girl giving out small whimpers of pain.
Ash went to pick her up and carry her, seeing that she can't move like this. However, he stopped, seeing that the Spearows had managed to box the four in, surrounding them in what looked like a tornado of feathers. The storm that had come in made it look even more terrifying.
"This isn't good…" Pikachu murmured, backing up towards his trainer with a tense look. Psyduck was backing up along with the mouse, looking terrified beyond belief at the predicament they're in.
It only took a moment before a wave of these murderous birds flew towards the group, the ability, peck, at the ready. In response, Ash held up his hands and formed a barrier around him, Pikachu, Misty, and Psyduck, blocking that wave of attacks.
Both Misty and Psyduck looked at this in shock, the former momentarily forgetting the pain she's in. "An aura user? We got a frickin' aura user with us?!" The duck quacked in shock.
"You're an… aura user…?" Misty asked weakly, looking up at the boy currently protecting her.
However, Ash was too focused on keeping the barrier up to listen. This is bad. He can't keep up this barrier forever, and he can't leave without abandoning Misty. Trying to carry her through this storm of Spearows could only lead to disaster, and he and Pikachu can't fight off this storm at their current level. Especially with the Fearows leading them.
Briefly… he considered using the gun holstered on his side. However, he quickly shook that idea off. Even if he wanted to, his pistol won't do much to this onslaught around them (Other than just getting them angrier). They're stuck.
'There's gotta be a way out of this.' Ash thought desperately, trying to rack up a solid plan. 'If I don't figure out something, then we'll all… Pikachu and Misty will…'
When looked up at the sky, at the gray clouds formed around them, his eyes lit up in inspiration. "Psyduck, does Mi- your trainer, have any more water pokemon on hand?" He asked, already knowing the answer to that.
The duck stopped panicking, momentarily, in order to process Ash's question. He then nodded his head, though he tilted it in confusion.
"Good. Release them for me. I think I got a plan that may work." Ash requested. It's a long shot, but it may work; and they need to do it soon, before he's unable to hold up this barrier.
Psyduck quickly followed the pallet town trainer's request, releasing a Staryu and Starmie from two of Misty's pokeball. Both water pokemon looked around in alarm, as they took the current scenario. "What the-? What is this? Where are we? Why are we surrounded by a blue barrier and an army of Spearows?" Staryu questioned. As he and Starmie looked around, they finally noticed their injured trainer. "Misty!"
"What happened?!" Starmie questioned fiercely. He then turned towards Psyduck. "Explain yourself, duck!"
"What are you looking at me for?! It's obvious these vicious birds are the one that caused this!" Pysduck cried out, waving its arms indignantly.
"Staryu! Starmie!" Ash called out, gaining the two star pokemons' attention. "We need your help! Misty is badly hurt, and I can't hold up this barrier long. I got a plan to get me and your trainer out of this, but I need both of your help. You too, Psyduck."
Both pokemon faced the pallet town trainer. While they had no facial features to read off of, determination radiated off of both Staryu and Starmie. Psyduck looked less courageous than the other two, but it was clear that he wasn't gonna just cower.
"Thank you. All of you." Ash then turned towards his own pokemon, who was waiting for any sort of command. "Pikachu, I'm gonna need to unleash the widest and most powerful thundershock you can. When I give the word, shock every Spearow out there."
Pikachu nodded firmly, his cheeks sparking. "Not sure if I can knock every single one out here, but I can try."
"I got a plan for that, don't worry buddy." Ash's focus went back to the water types. "Psyduck, Staryu, Starmie, I want you three to soak as many Spearows as possible with water guns; make sure to soak the Fearows especially, along with any stronger looking Spearows. Make your water gun attacks as thin as possible, for a wider range."
A trick he learned about from Squirtle during his time with the Squirtle Squad. Now, he's going to put that technique to practice.
Getting an idea of what the trainer's plan is (Even the usually dopey Psyduck), all three water-types nodded. Ash smiled at them all, before buckling on his knees at a stronger wave of attacks. Seeing that, Misty's water types quickly went to different directions of the barrier, while Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder.
"Everyone, get ready." Slowly, Ash stood back up with gritted teeth, trying to ignore the pecking onslaught. Then, he started pouring as much aura as he possibly could into the barrier, enlarging it and slowly pushing the Spearows back.
"Get…" The aura user spoke, his voice strained. "Away…" The barrier grew even further, pushing back the birds. "FROM US!" And with a determined roar, Ash expanded the barrier to become triple in size, knocking back all the Spearows near it.
And a second later, it exploded into pure energy, further pushing back the flock, and even knocking some out.
"NOW!"
In unison, Staryu, Starmie, and Psyduck let out a wide stream of water. Their first targets were the ones that were flying the highest, which included the Fearows, all of which were attempting to continue their attack. The thin, yet wide, water guns kept them from going any further.
And as the water types continued spraying the Spearows, Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulder, his entire body coated with electricity. "Pika…" The mouse growled, the sparks intensifying. "CHUUUUU!"
And in one fell swoop, all the Fearows and Spearows were enveloped in a wide and powerful thundershock, causing many of the weaker ones to fall, while others thrashed in agony. The water attack they suffered doubled the pain, ensuring their defeat. Along with the trainers and their pokemons' safety.
As the attack ended, Pikachu landed back down on his feet, watching the rain of unconscious tiny birds. "I… win…" He said, with a heavy huff. Then the mouse pokemon collapsed on its stomach, completely wiped out from the thundershock he used. It really took everything he could muster up.
Misty, meanwhile, watched as the flock of flying-types fell from the sky with some disbelief. Honestly, she thought it was gonna be the end for both her and this boy. With that many Spearows, it was only a matter of time till they could get their claws on them.
But that boy managed to defeat all these Spearows, as well as the few Fearows, in one fell swoop. With only his Pikachu, her three water type pokemon, and even his own abilities as an aura user. 'Is this the power… of an aura user…?' That was her last thought, before finally passing out.
Ash himself looked just as tired, on one knee and breathing heavily, sweat shining his face. However, he had a proud smile on his face as he gazed at his pokemon. "Nice job… Pikachu…" He praised his partner.
He then turned towards the water types. "You guys did… good too. Without all three of you… I'm not sure if Pikachu could've… taken down all these Spearows."
"No need for thanks. We would do anything to protect our master." Staryu stated seriously.
"Agreed. It is our duty as trained pokemon to protect the one who cares for us." Starmie added in.
"I can't believe we fought off a wave of Spearows…" Psyduck muttered in bewilderment, looking around at the unconscious bodies. "An entire flock…"
Ash couldn't help but chuckle tiredly at that. He doesn't blame Psyduck for being so shocked; he doubted most trainers could get away unscathed from these murderous birds.
That last thought was quickly wiped away, however, remembering that Misty is far from unscathed. So after picking up Pikachu and placing him on his head, he quickly went over to Misty and slowly picked her up. He tried not to aggravate her wounds too much, but the groans and whimpers told him that he wasn't that successful
"Sorry." Ash told her, looking regretful. "Just bear with it for a bit. I'm gonna get you to the nearest hospital." He then turned towards the three water-types that were still out. "Mind protecting us from any wild pokemon while I carry your trainer?
He got three nods in response, which earned a sigh of relief from the trainer. "Thanks. I'm really grateful for you guys' help." Before Ash could take a single step, however, he noticed the sky clearing up and the sun glowing brightly. Much more brightly than usual.
'Wait. Is it really…?' Slowly, Ash looked up at the sky. And just as he guessed, it was none other than the legendary rainbow pokemon. Ho-Oh.
"Ho-Oh…" Stary, Starmie, and Psyduck all said in awe.
"Who would've guessed that we would see Ho-Oh on the first day of our journey? Again?" Pikachu muttered above his trainer.
Ash could only nod. "You said it, buddy…" As best he could with Misty in his arms, the trainer grabbed his pokedex and lifted towards the legendary. As the machine gave out information about Ho-Oh, Ash grinned. There's no way anyone can deny it now. He saw Ho-Oh, in it's full majestic form.
He didn't bask in the amazing event for long though. He needs to get Misty to the hospital, as fast as he can. He has little time to waste!
And that's the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter. A bit shorter than my last two, but I felt that this was a good end point for the chapter. I also hope you guys like Ash's demonstration of his aura abilities. I don't plan to make him OP (Or at least not try to), but I do plan for aura to be a major thing for him.
Next chapter will be Ash taking Misty to the Pokemon center, as well as the introduction of Team Rocket (Right before they get promptly blasted off). Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.
