Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. In this chapter, we're continuing where we left off last time, where Ash carries Misty to the pokemon center (And where we'll also get the re-introduction of Team Rocket). Also, for those wondering about mega-evolution and z-rings, Ash will likely have access to those things. He won't rely heavily on them, but once they show up, they will be utilized. Now then, enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokemon series.
Chapter 4: A Family Converges
Unfortunately, while Ash wasn't as injured as Misty was, exhaustion was still a thing for him. Because of that, along with the few bruises and scratch marks he managed to get during the run for his life, he was forced to take a steady pace on his way to Viridian city.
Thankfully, there wasn't any more wild pokemon stopping him or the pokemon from heading to the nearest pokemon center/hospital. And even if any came up, there are three water-types on guard and ready to blast anything standing there way.
'Hang on Misty. I'm not gonna let you die.' Ash thought in determination, not letting himself slow down for even a moment. He doesn't know how long his friend has till she bleeds out, but he's not gonna make any safe assumptions until she's in a hospital bed.
During his run, however, he heard a motorcycle from behind. The sound prompted to stop and turned, to see something coming towards him. And the trainer had a feeling who that was. 'Officer Jenny!'
Sure enough, it was the blue haired officer (Of a very long line of identical blue-haired officers), who drove up to where he was currently at before stopping. "Where do you think you're going? Why do you have that girl in her arms?" Jenny demanded.
Ash had to keep himself from feeling offended. "The girl is hurt! We got attacked by a flock of Spearows and she got the worst of it!" He explained quickly. "I need to get to a hospital or pokemon center as quickly as possible!"
Hearing this, Officer Jenny took in the several scratch marks covering Misty, as well as the few scratches on Ash. "That blasted Spearow flock…" She growled under her breath before focusing on Ash once more. "Get in the side-car. I'll be able to get you to the center with more than enough time. In the meantime, you can give me the details as to what happened."
Ash didn't hesitate to get in. Quickly getting into the side-car, he returned all of Misty's pokemon into the pokeballs, as well as placed Pikachu on top of the water-type trainer, before Jenny took off.
*Johto Region*
"Pokemon of the chosen one, both current and former! Our society has been destroyed; the ultra beasts have come and decimated every region! To save it, we are sending you and your trainer to the past, right before the chosen one starts his journey!"
"Go to him. As soon as you find yourself back in the past, seek out your trainer or wait for him. Prepare yourselves for the fight against the ultra beasts, and keep this devastation from ever happening again!"
"Help Ash Ketchum save the world against the ultra beasts!"
Those words came from none other than the willpower pokemon herself, Azelf. After, Bayleef felt herself black out, before waking up to find herself in her young, Chikorita form.
At first, she panicked, the memories of the attack on her home still fresh in her mind. So many of those foreign looking pokemon were at Professor Oak's field, many of them aiming for her beloved trainer. She and the other pokemon had to use everything they had in order to defend themselves, as well as Ash, from that onslaught.
But after Azelf's words came back to her, and taking in her Chikorita form, Bayleef (Though now Chikorita) managed to calm herself. Ash wasn't dead. The ultra beasts didn't get to him. And now they have ample time to prepare themselves against these beasts.
Time she's using now to look for fellow Johto pokemon. The leaf pokemon is currently going through the forest and grasslands of the region, looking for any signs of Quilava, Totodile, Heracross, or Noctowl. As much as she wants to head to Kanto immediately (She will not wait for her beloved to come here!), she has to find the others first. Not only will they have a better chance traveling together, but they're family. And as Ash has taught them, you don't leave your family behind.
'Come on, where are you guys?' Chikorita thought to herself in slight frustration. The pokemon was currently on top of a tree, looking for any signs of her Johto friends. She was tempted to call out for them, but she doesn't want to attract any dangerous pokemon or trainers desiring to catch her.
So the best option was to just swing from tree to tree, in order to search the sky and the ground.
"Bayleef? Is that you?" A familiar voice called out from above. Quickly, the leaf pokemon looked up at the call of her previous evolved form being called to see…
"Heracross!" Chikorita cried out in relief, the large beetle flying above her. "I'm really glad to see you!"
"I'm relieved as you are to find you!" Heracross stated, with a sigh of relief of his own. Slowly, he flew down and landed on the branch Chikorita was residing on. "So, did you get the same message that-?"
"Yes, I did." The leaf pokemon answered quickly. "I'm pretty sure all of us got the same message."
"So we went back in time. And the entire world was destroyed…" Heracross deflated the last part, remembering what they had experienced prior to the time travel.
"Yeah. By those 'ultra beast', as Azelf called them." Chikorita gave a frown, one of anger and pondering. "What were those things? And why were they targeting Ash?!"
"I know about as much as you do." The single horn pokemon sighed. "I've never seen any of those pokemon before. They look like something from those sci-fi shows." And he hasn't got a clue as to why they were attacking their trainer. Both pokemon knew that Ash was a trouble magnet to the highest degree, but that was just…!
"Well, regardless of our lack of knowledge, we need to find others. Then head straight to head Ash." Chikorita said in determination.
That brought a small snicker from Heracross. "No waiting for him to come to Johto?"
"I am NOT waiting a year for my beloved to come to Johto!" Chikorita snapped. "We're going to him! No excuses!"
Again, the single horn pokemon laughed. The former Bayleef's crush on Ash is well known to the inhabitants of Oak's Ranch, especially the Kanto and Johto group. "I won't argue with you there. I wanna get back to Ash as well." He then bent over towards the leaf pokemon, exposing his back. "Hop on. It'll be easier to scout if you're my eyes in the skies."
There was no argument with Chikorita, as she jumped onto Heracross' back and turned to where the bug-type was facing. "Alright. Let's go find our friends!"
With that, the large beetle took off to the sky once more, both pokemon ready to find Quilava, Totodile, and Noctowl (Plus Phanpy, who's likely still in his egg). However, it wasn't long during their flight before Heracross…
"Heracross, get out of that tree! This is no time for sap eating!"
*Hoenn Region*
Swellow was barely able to process the events that had happened. At one moment, he was alongside the other flying types of Ash's team, doing all they could to push back those strange flying type pokemon.
Next thing he knew, a legendary was speaking in his mind, and he was somehow transported back to the past; back in his Taillow form, and with his flock no less.
'Who would've thought something like this would happen…?' The Swellow-turned-Taillow thought wryly, as he observed his flock of fellow Taillows.
Looking at his flock brought some conflicting feelings. A part of him doesn't want to abandon his flock, especially when it would be so sudden. They're his family, a family that he had led in the past (And is leading now).
However, Ash was his family too; without him, he would never have become the fast and durable Swellow. And he will need all the help he can get for the fight to come. So with a heavy heart, Taillow flew up and faced his flock to address.
"Everyone!" Taillow shouted out, drawing the attention of his fellow birds. "Listen up, I… have to leave now. I'm giving up my position as leader of this flock."
Naturally, the other Taillows were shocked and confused by his declaration. "Leader, what are you saying?" One of them asked, confusion clear in their voice. "Why do you need to leave? What brought this up?"
"There's someone that I need to go to. Someone that needs my help." Taillow told them. "I can't explain everything to all of you; honestly, you wouldn't believe it if I tried. Just understand I must find and help him."
As Taillow expected, they couldn't understand. Many of them protested and demanded answers, wanting to know who this someone was, and why he would need to leave the flock for that person.
But the leader of the flock couldn't give one. Like he said before, they wouldn't believe him if he even gave them the full details. All he can do now is say goodbye and head off to find the others in Hoenn.
*Pokemon Center*
As soon as Officer Jenny brought Ash and MIsty into the pokemon center (And giving the floors tire marks in the process), Nurse Joy and her Chansey took the latter to a medical room for treatment. Jenny, meanwhile, drove out in order to gather a group to catch the downed Spearows, having been told the location of the flying-types.
The healing duo also took the time to heal Ash and Pikachu as well. The trainer protested his treatment, wanting Misty to be the main focus for the medical care, but the nurse didn't take no for an answer.
So here he was, sporting a few bandages, waiting anxiously in the lobby for news about Misty's health. Pikachu was curled up right beside him, having been fully healed by Nurse Joy while Chansey was working on Misty.
'Really wished we didn't have to go through that whole Spearow flock fiasco again…' Ash groaned in his mind. He thought if he didn't be an idiot and threw a rock at one of the birds, then the situation would've been avoidable. Shows what he knows. 'And not only that, but I got Misty caught up in all of that too…'
That was something he couldn't help but feel guilty for. While he couldn't control those birds and their bloodlust, he led them to where Misty was at. And thanks to that, his best friend got severely injured while he only got a few scratches.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp jolt go through him, causing him to jump in shock. "I know that look." Pikachu said from beside him, looking at his trainer firmly. "And I know what you're thinking. Don't start blaming yourself over what happened."
Ash had a conflicted look on his face. "But Pikachu-"
"Those Spearows were the ones who attacked Misty; you didn't tell them to." Pikachu cut him off, not letting him take any guilt. "And we were both focused on just getting away from that flock. What happened to Misty could've happened to anyone who was close by. We had NO control over that situation."
Ash let out a small sigh to Pikachu's argument. He knew that his buddy was right. He knows there wasn't any way that he could make that situation better. Still though… "I still want to apologize to her when she wakes up. While it might not be entirely my fault, I still got her dragged into this."
That got Pikachu to let out his own sigh. "If it'll make you feel better, fine." He relented. "But I doubt she'll let you claim responsibility for that whole mess. If anything, she'll just hit you for being an idiot…"
Ash chuckled at that likely scenario, despite the two being complete strangers at this point. "Yeah, you're probably right…"
"Young man," The trainer looked up from his seat, to see Nurse Joy standing in front of him. "We managed to get young Misty patched up. However, she suffers from a bit of blood loss thanks to the Spearows, so she needs a bit of time to recover. Thankfully, none of the cuts were too deep nor was she infected with anything."
That brought about a sigh of relief from Ash. "I'm glad she'll be alright."
Nurse Joy then tilted her head, a curious look in her gaze. "I'm curious - are you a friend of Misty here? A boyfriend, maybe?"
The second guess prompted a blush from the fourteen year old. "N-No! We aren't dating." Ash denied quickly. "And this is the first time we've met, so I can't say we're friends." The trainer had to fight off a wince when he said. It hurts, saying they're not friends, but while that's not completely true for him, he is a stranger in Misty's eyes. So he can't go calling her his friend.
"I see." Nurse Joy nodded her head. "A little surprising, considering you risked your life facing a Spearow flock to save her life."
Ash blinked innocently at that. "I mean, wouldn't anyone?"
That earned a giggle from the pink-haired nurse. "Not many would, believe me, though I wish it would be otherwise."
"Well, I can't really see how I could just leave her like that, especially when she was getting attacked." Ash reasoned. "Besides… I got her into that mess." A frown entered his face. "The Spearows was coming after me, and she was caught in the crossfire. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did that."
Joy placed a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder. "No need to blame yourself. It's not like you intentionally led the Spearows to her." She told him, a reassuring smile across her lips. "Besides, I say saving her life more than makes up for it."
"See? Nurse Joy agrees with me." Pikachu said smugly from beside him.
Ash resisted the urge to roll his eyes, not wanting to give the nurse the wrong idea. Still, her words did help him feel somewhat lighter.
"By the way, Nurse Joy, how do you know Misty?" Ash asked, looking curious. "Has she visited here often or something?" He's pretty certain that Misty lives in Cerulean City (And that the timeline didn't screw up THAT badly where she ended up living somewhere else). Maybe she stopped here at Viridian during her travels?
The nurse shook her head at that. "No, nothing like that. You see-"
Suddenly, there was an explosion at the ceiling above them, causing the humans and pokemon to look up in shock. For Ash and Pikachu, however, the shock quickly wore away as both of them knew exactly who's attacking them. And they both had to bite back a groan as three silhouettes appeared, in the smoke of the ceiling's newly formed hole.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
Those three again. He completely forgot this pokemon center is where he first met the criminal trio of Team Rocket.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nations!"
And of course, they're doing the same freakin' motto they have been doing in the previous timeline, for the last five to six years. He has to wonder, does every Team Rocket member do this kind of thing? Or is it just unique to these three?
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
A second later, two of the figures jumped down, revealing the redheaded and bluenette members of the thieving criminals.
"Jessie!" The redhead declared.
"And James!" The bluenette said right after, rose in hand.
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!" And just like that, the scratch cat pokemon of the trio jumped in between the two adults.
While Ash looked as if he was already done with the trio, Nurse Joy had a more tense look on her. "Oh dear. It's Team Rocket!"
"That's right, missy!" Jessie stated, in her usual smug tone. "And this pokemon center is under our control now. So you best give up your pokemon or-"
"Pikachu, Thundershock!"
A streak of lightning headed straight for the thieves, causing them to cry out in shock and scattered, taking cover. "Now that's just rude, attacking us while we're making our threats!" James cried out from his hiding spot.
"It's also rude to blow up a hole in someone's ceiling to steal pokemon!" Ash retorted. "Another Thundershock, Pikachu!"
As the mouse let loose the weak electrical attack, the three were forced to dodge once again. "Alright, time to teach this boy some manners!" Jessie growled, grabbing her pokeball. "Ekan, let's go!"
"Koffing, join them!"
The two criminals released their original pokemon team, Ekan and Koffing. Knowing a battle is happening, Ash turned to the nurse and her Chansey. "Nurse Joy, get to cover and take care of the pokemon here. I'll take care of Team Rocket."
Nurse Joy nodded, seeing that she can't do much standing here. As she and Chansey ran to the back room of the pokemon center, Ash put his focus back on Team Rocket.
One of whom went on the attack. "Ekan, use Bite!" Jessie commanded.
"Agility!" Ash gave out his own command. Just as Ekan slithered into biting range, Pikachu jumped up and over the snake, causing it to chomp on air.
"Koffing, go and tackle it!" Immediately, the poison gas pokemon flew over to knock Pikachu into the air.
That didn't take neither trainer nor mouse off guard. "Grab onto it and use Thundershock!"
Holding out all four paws, Pikachu latched onto Koffing and let loose a Thundershock, prompting a cry of pain from the poison-type.
"Oh no, Koffing!"
"Use Acid to get that rodent off of Koffing!" At Jessie's orders, Ekan reeled back to spit out a wad of acid.
"Jump off Koffing to dodge!" Ash told Pikachu, with the mouse using Koffing as a springboard to bounce off. Thanks to this, Ekan hit the poison gas pokemon rather than Pikachu, blowing Koffing back. However, it was still conscious and able to battle.
"You're a jumpy one, aren't ya?" Meowth then held out his palms, white glowing claws glowing from each of them. "Well, let's see if you can handle a three-way attack." With that statement, the talking pokemon launched itself at Pikachu, throwing swipe after swipe. In response, Pikachu ducked and weaved through each swipe.
"Ekans, use Wrap while that jumpy Pikachu is distracted!"
"Use Smokescreen to help out Koffing! Let's get our revenge!"
As Ekans slithered towards Pikachu, Koffing flew over the three pokemon and released a thick smoke right above them.
That did not deter Ash, however. "Use your tail to jump high, then use a wide Thundershock attack!"
The electric mouse jumped back from another Fury Swipe, landing on his tail before jumping up, dodging a Wrap from Ekan and getting away from the smoke. Once he was up high, he released a wide electric attack; one that not only hit Ekan, Koffing, and Meowth, but also Jessie and James. All five let out cries of pain before collapsing onto the floor.
"Are you crazy, you twerp?!" Jessie cried out angrily, her and James twitching on the floor. "That kind of attack would hit all of us, not just our pokemon!"
"Yeah! That includes you too!" James spoke up in agreement with his partner. "Did you really want to twitch on the floor with us?!"
Their throats went dry, however, when the smoke cleared up… revealing a very fine Ash Ketchum, who held up a barrier with one hand. "Oh, don't worry about me; I can handle a Thundershock pretty well." He said, smirking.
"A-An aura user?" Jessie stuttered in shock.
"We didn't prepare for an aura user to be here." James said, sounding just as shocked.
Their reaction caught Ash by surprise. They knew about aura? They know what he was doing was the use of aura?
He shook his head, not letting himself dwell on it for long. He got a team of criminals to blast off. "Pikachu, hit them all with another Thundershock!"
Pikachu, who landed right in front of Ash, charged himself up for one more attack, before letting loose and hitting the three criminal pokemon. The attack pushed them all back, hitting Jessie and James, and pulling them into the electric attack. Both humans and pokemon cried out in pain before all five of them blew up, blasting straight through the hole they created.
"Did we just get taken out by a rookie trainer?!" Jessie cried out, holding her head in frustration.
"It wasn't just a rookie, Jessie. It was an aura user." James corrected. "We didn't prepare for an encounter with one!"
"Still, he beat our butts with mostly his Pikachu. Only used aura to pop a barrier." Meowth pointed out, his body limp from the electric shocks. "And because of that…"
"That Team Rocket is blasting ooofff!"
*DING*
Ash and Pikachu watched as their enemies flew into the sky. "Glad to see they haven't changed any…"
"Yeah. Still a bit too close for comfort though…" Pikachu stated, slumping on the floor in exhaustion. "Could've blast them with one hit at full strength…"
"We'll get here, buddy. Don't worry." Kneeling down and rubbing Pikachu's back, a small frown entered Ash's face. "Changing the subject, I wonder how they knew about aura…"
"I think Misty and Psyduck mentioned it too…" The mouse brought up, remembering how surprised both of them were at seeing Ash using aura. "They both called you an aura user when you brought up the shield…"
Last he checked, aura wasn't that well known. The Riolus and Lucarios are known pokemon, sure, but not humans capable of using aura. Did that change here?
And if it did… does that mean there are more aura users in this world?
*Sinnoh Region*
When Gliscor first woke up in his Gligar form, with fresh memories of the harrowing battle at Oak's Ranch, he immediately got into panicked mode.
A swift hit to the head by his former leader, Paul's Gliscor, stopped the panicking and had him thinking clearly (Though it was after a good cry from the hit to the head).
He traveled back in time; and he's back with his Gligar pack once more, with Paul's Gliscor leading the group once again. He doesn't know exactly who did it; only that Azelf gave them all a message about the world ending.
So after some thinking time, in order to sort out the memories of what exactly happened, he immediately flew out the cave he and his colony were residing in. None of the other Gligars, or even their leader, stopped him or chased after him (Likely due to the shock of seeing him flying steadily). But Gligar didn't think about it as he flew through the forest of Sinnoh.
There's a family he needs to reunite with. And once he manages to find all of his fellow Sinnoh pokemon… they're heading straight to Ash. Back with their entire family.
*Unova Region*
When Oshawott first woke up, he was confused, panicky, and slightly disoriented. He immediately got out of his pokeball, ready to take on any of those weird looking pokemon.
However, he immediately noticed that he wasn't at Professor Oak's ranch, or even anywhere in Pallet Town; he was in Professor's Juniper lab. That when he remembered the message he was given telepathically.
So, with his oh-so brilliant deduction that he and others time-travelled, Oshawott destroyed his pokeball with a razor shell and headed into the forest. No offense to Professors Juniper, as she was a kind caretaker to him and the other starters, but there's already a trainer that owns him and cares for him.
Plus, Professor Oak was just better at tending to pokemon than Juniper ever was. Again, no offense to her.
Now here he was, running all over the forest, in search of any of his Unovan pals. 'C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…' Oshawott thought to himself, his heading turning to every direction of the forest. 'Where are you guys at? Unfezant should at least be nearby, right?'
After half an hour of nonstop running, Oshawott finally stopped to take a breather, hands on his knees and those breaths being heavy. "Can't I get any hint as to where I should look for the others?!" The sea otter pokemon shouted in frustration.
"Stop yelling, Oshawott; a trainer can be nearby, you know."
Oshawott whirled around at the familiar chirp, to see a Pidove flying above him. And he immediately recognized Pidove. "Unfezant!" Oshawott cried out happily, waving both hands around. "I finally found someone!"
"Technically, I found you sea otter." The former Unfezant retorted, though not in an unfriendly way. Landing on one of the branches, she continued speaking. "So, any idea where the others might be?"
"Honestly? No clue." The otter admitted, slumping in depression. "They can be anywhere at this point in time, especially Snivy and Pignite."
That got a sigh from the pigeon. "Well, guess that means we'll have to look for them manually. Go through all of Unova if we have to." Pidove then took off into the sky once more, ready to scan for their friends. "Hopefully, that won't be unnecessary. I'm certain that at least a few of our friends are nearby."
That got Oshawott to shake off his depressed state, pumping his fists in determination. "Yeah. With both of us searching together, we should find everyone in no time!"
And so, both the otter and pigeon set off to find their Unova friends, one searching above ground while the other had eyes below.
*Kalos Region*
Standing on top of one of the trees of Kalos, was a pokemon known for their dramatic flair. The wrestling pokemon, Hawlucha; and more specifically, Ash's Hawlucha, who was currently going through the memories of the current timeline and previous one.
"So, we were sent back in time, likely by Celebi, in order to help our trainer save the world from these ultra beasts." Hawlucha mused to himself. "And sent back to the beginning of Ash's journey no less. Which means finding the others will be difficult."
Thankfully, while he doesn't look at it, he's still a flying type. And as a flying type, he can sweep through entire areas in a quick manner. So, with a dramatic cry, he jumped off the tree he was on and flew off over the forest. He had fellow pokemon to find, a trainer to go back to, and a world to save; there was no time waste!
And that's the end. I hope you guys liked this chapter. As you can see, several of Ash's pokemon are aware they traveled to the past; and all of them planned to regroup, and head back to their trainer. How will they get there, and how will Ash explain an influx of pokemon coming to him (From different regions no less)? We will have to see.
Up next will likely be Misty waking up, and Ash going to the Viridian forest to retrieve two of his first catches. Review, favorite, and follow and I will see you guys later.
