Chapter 4:
Ash, Misty and I left the Pokemon centre early morning the next day, Milo, who was sitting on my shoulder let out a joyful cry as we left, snuggling his head on my neck. We both had woken up early to do some stretching and exercising before eating breakfast and waiting for Ash and Misty to get ready. Misty was sticking with Ash until he paid for her bike, like the canon, and since we all were going to Pewter City we decided to go through Viridian Forest together. Well I at least plan on separating in the middle of the journey since I don't want to get caught up when they anger the Beedrills and have to rescue Ash's Metapod. Taking out a map of the forest that I had bought in the Pokemon centre with the money Professor Oak gave me I was surprised to see that the normal estimative of the time that one trainer has to walk to pass the forest is three days, while in the anime Ash takes ten days, one more reason to leave them, I really don't want to get lost.
"Here we are. you ready Milo?" I asked when we reached the entrance to Viridian Forest.
"I was born ready!" Milo exclaims.
Ash, seeing our interaction, turns to Pikachu with a grin and also asks "You too partner. ready!?"
"Yeah!" Pikachu that was on Ash's shoulder answers. Though what he probably heard was something like 'pika'.
The forest was packed with trees growing close to each other with dense foliage, the only rays of sun reaching the floor were the ones that were able to pass between the ceiling of leaves and branches. As we walked further inside the forest one of the buches started shaking and a caterpillar like Pokemon made its way out of it, I quickly recognized it as Caterpi, the first Pokemon Ash catches.
"Keep it away" Misty gave a shriek and rushed behind Ash shriving in disgust, I forgot that she has insectophobia.
"Aw cool it's a Caterpie, it's one of the bug Pokémon" Ash true to the anime notices the little insect and throws a pokeball at it while doing a pose "Go pokeball!" I watched as the pokeball sailed in the air to finally hit the Caterpie in the middle of its head, sucking the bug pokemon inside. After shaking three times it finally made a sound confirming a successful capture "I did it, I caught Caterpie!" Ash made a dance with his newly caught Caterpie pokeball in his hand.
Misty now backing away from ash asked in disdain "Why on earth would you be excited about catching a gross bug?"
A little annoyed with Misty, I turned to her "Misty you should be more accepting of bug types, you do realise there are some bug/water types out there right? What will you do to those?" Misty locked a little conflicted at my statement and I left it at that, letting her think this through.
As we continued to walk I took out one of my books and started to read, since I couldn't talk to Milo without sounding crazy. The rest of the day passed quickly, with me making sure we were walking in the right path and hoping Ash bad luck with direction wasn't affecting us too much. When darkness fell around us together with the cool air of the night, we found a small clearing to set down.
"You okay there Milo?" I asked as Milo looked pretty worn out.
"Never… Better…" He said as he settled on my lap.
I had set down my bed roll and was getting food from my backpack, I am really thankful Professor Oak gave me this backpack. It has a special technology like the pokeball that makes it bigger on the inside than outside. I have always wondered how Brock carried so much inside his backpack, also it serves to explain how you could fit a bike inside your inventory in the Pokemon games.
To my side Ash and Misty also settled down, with Misty putting her bed roll as far away as possible from Caterpie. As we finished eating, Milo and me snuggled together for warmth and fell deeply asleep.
I woke up early with an excited Milo jumping on my chest, not a good way to start my day. Groaning as I got up, I took a container of special Pokemon food made for Milo that Professor Oak teached me how to make and put some in a bowl before putting it in front of him.
"There you go. happy now?" I asked my sadistic Eevee.
With a satisfied look on his face he replied "Yes, very much." to which I simply sighed.
With Milo fed, I took some dried Oran berries from my bag and settled below a tree to continue reading my interesting book on techniques to cooking Pokemon food, before Misty and Ash woke up. It didn't take long as I heard Misty scream because she woke up with Caterpie close to her face, calmly putting my book that I thankfully was able to finish, back on my bag I peted Milo trying to calm him down, since his acute hearing transformed the already irritating scream into a painful sound.
When Milo relaxed I approached the two to see the strange scene of Ash following Caterpie still inside his bed roll, before it clicked its pokeball button with its nose.
"Hey hold on Caterpie!" Ash exclaimed before facing Misty with a scowl "Allright Misty, you owe Caterpie an apology. Pokemons have feelings too, you know." Misty simply turned her back to Ash. Turning to Caterpie's pokeball Ash said "Come on Caterpie, don't you worry, someday we will show her!"
Curious if Caterpie could actually hear what Ash was saying I whispered to Milo my question "Hey Milo, can you hear what's happening outside your pokeball when you are inside it?"
Seeing why I was asking Milo let out a small laugh "No we can't, that Caterpie didn't hear the kid's inspirational talk at all."
Me and Milo looked back as we heard the sound of flapping wings, to see a Pidgeotto flying down, and Ash making a fool of himself trying to catch it without weakening it first. Our amusement ended as he used Caterpie to battle him. I guess he's just a kid, but I still became a little irritated that he used his untrained bug type Caterpie against a flying type. The battle ended with Pikachu lending a helping hand and using Thundershock, and Ash successfully catching the Pidgeotto.
"You're the worst." Misty shouted as Ash tried to gloat of his victory to her "You have no idea what you are doing! It will be a long time before you are a Pokemon Master, like a million years."
"I'm trying to-"
"You should try to learn something about Pokemon first." Misty continues, not letting Ash talk "With Pokemon you gotta use strategy, Pidgeotto is a bird, Caterpie is a worm, birds eat worms Mr. Pokemon Master!" I already knew what they were going to say, but it was very different to watch in person, although her explanation was crude, it did its job of explaining this world's common sense that Ash failed to have, thow I knew Ash never really got it since he continued to make terrible type choices during battles in the future.
"W-well if I just try hard enough things will work out, won't they?."
"No Ash, I am afraid things won't work out if you just try hard enough, the pokemon's trainer judgment is more important than anything else, and unfortunately for you the trainer needs to have a brain!" Misty was all out shouting on Ash's face at this point, and I decided to intervene.
"Although a little aggressive, Misty is right Ash. Caterpie wouldn't be hurt if you would have known that bug types are weak against flying types. Not only that, but you just captured Caterpie, you have to train it before using it in battles." Ash and Misty paused their quarrel and locked at me, with Misty blushing a little when she noticed I had watched the entire thing.
We were interrupted when what I recognized as Jessie and James' voices started their motto "hahaha" "So we meet again." "To protect the word from devastation" "To unite all peopl-"
"STOP!" I shouted interrupting them "We already heard your motto once, I don't have the patience to hear it again." The trio glared at my direction.
"You can't do that! We worked so hard to make our motto." Jessie exclaimed indignantly.
"You little brat needs to learn some manners." James scowled.
"Whatever, what do you want Team Rocket?" I waved my hand nostantantly at their complaints.
Meowth moves forward while pointing at Milo "You may have been lucky last battle, but now we will be taking that rare Eevee from you" Milo growled at Meowth after hearing their plans.
Oh no, did my win at the Pokemon centre made them want to capture Milo instead of Pikachu? I really don't want these dunces following me around, maybe I can make them lose against Pikachu now and make them change their target.
Milo was already in battle stance preparing for the match, but I stopped it "Not this time Milo." He looked at me questionly. "Ash these clowns tried to steal Pikachu at the Pokemon centre right? Why don't you battle them this time." I called out to Ash, who was glaring at the Pokemon thieves. Well it isn't exactly right, they didn't have any interest in Pikachu at the time.
"Yeah, I'll show them to not mess with Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, thow I could see that he was nervous by his body language.
"Look at this James, the brat thinks his rat can defeat us." Jessie moked.
"Wel crush him and take our prize." James added.
Ash was looking pretty irritated now and shouted "Grrr, You'll see, Pikachu go!" Pikachu who also didn't like the trio moved to stand in front of Ash with his cheeks pouches spackling with electricity.
"Akans go!" "Koffing go get them!" Jessie and James trew two Pokeballs releasing their Pokemon.
"You can't use two Pokemon at the same time, it's against the rules!" Ash said surprised.
Jessie smircled at Ash comment "We are thieves, boy, we don't follow the rules."
Angered Ash gave the first command "Pikachu use Quick Attack!" Pikachu shot forward while me and Misty watched from the sidelines.
"Oh no you don't, Ekan use Wrap to trap that rat!" Jessie retaliated, making Ekans slider forward to intercept Pikachu.
"Pikachu evade." Ash commanded. Pikachu easily avoided the slow snake with his small agile body.
"Now koffing use Smog!" Koffing who was behind Pikachu spilled poisonous smoke at James' order, hitting Pikachu directly.
"Oh no, Pikachu!" Ash worried shouted "Hold your breath and use Thundershock!" The electric mouse discharged his electricity that hit both Ekans and Koffing making them fly back.
"Koffing!" "My Ekans!" Jassie and James exclaimed, surprised.
"Meowth do something." Jassie complained.
"I guess I have to do all the work." Meowth said while sighting, it looked at Pikachu and extended its claws "I'll show you to not mess with Team Rocket."
Ash now confident gave Pikachu a last order "Pikachu finish them with Thundershock!" Pikachu released the electric attack, shocking the entire group, causing an explosion that sent them flying.
"Team Rocket is flying off again!" they all screamed. I hope they became impressed enough with this show to focus their efforts on catching Pikachu instead of Milo.
"We did it…" Ash appeared to be a little shocked with his victory "We did it! We won our first Pokemon battle fair and square!" he celebrated
"We did it!" Pikachu also looked happy for defeating Team Rocket.
"Congratulations Ash, I guess you aren't that bad of a trainer after all." Misty praised them.
"You see Misty I will be a Pokemon Master in no time." Ash gloated.
While giving some scratches behind Milo's ears, who seemed very satisfied with Team Rocket misfortune, I approached the two and gave a light punch on Ash's shoulder.
"Ouch, why did you do that for" he looked at me indignantly.
"You did well in your first battle but don't let it get into your head, both your opponents were weak." I tried to lecture him.
He seemed to pout while murmuring that I hit him too hard.
"Since we got rid of that inconvenience I think we better continue, I don't know about you two but I want to spend as little time as possible in this forest." The two seemed to nod at my statement and I helped both pack their stuff and continue our path in the forest.
We had been walking for some hours in the forest with the three of us talking about Pokemon, Pikachu and Milo also were deep into a discussion about their trainers that I think I wasn't supposed to hear. Our calm walk was interrupted when Misty screamed and jumped up a tree, startling all of us and making both Milo and Pikachu jump.
"What's wrong Misty?" Ash asked.
Misty who was now suspended on a tree said while trembling "I-I think I see another bug. Grosse"
"Maybe it's a… Cowterpie!" We all fell at Ash's terrible and outdated pun.
"That's not funny!" Misty exclaimed "You know I hate bugs, and I saw one over there!" She said while pointing at a cute Weedle.
"A Weedle." Ash said while directing his pokedex towards the small bug "Weedle. The stinger on this Pokémon's head guarantees that any attacker will get the point right where it hurts." The mechanical voice announced. "A stinger huh, now there's a challenge"
"Why are you so excited about a bug with a stinger, make it go away." Misty said while clinging to Ash's arm.
"You gotta be kidding, you can't expect a great Pokemon trainer like me to let a Weedle escape." Ash announced "I'm gonna catch it."
I already knew that Ash would fail to catch the weedle, and to say the truth I had an interest in the little caterpillar myself. In the games Beedril was a Pokemon with low stats, but here there are no levels, it all depends on the training, and I could already imagine different training that would make Beedril a reliable and powerful team member.
"Hold on Ash" I said while stepping in front of him. "You already caught Caterpie and Pidgeotto, Weedle is mine."
Ash seemed to want to protest, but couldn't as he had no argument against my logic. Locking at the Weedle that was staring at me I announced:
"Milo use Quick attack, but beware of its stinger." Milo rushed forward and slammed into the Weedle.
The little Pokemon fell back, before turning around and started to run away.
"Don't let it escape, lets go Milo." All of us started to run after the fleeing Pokemon. After some twist and turns a guy in samurai attire stood in front of the path, with a sword pointed at our direction.
"Greetings fellow trainers, are by any chance one of you a trainer from Pallet Town?" He asked.
Ash stepped forward "I'm Ash Ketshum a Pokemon trainer from Pallet Town"
"Then I challenge you to a Pokemon match, let's see who triumphs." I was getting a little impatient, and I didn't want the Weedle to escape so I interrupted them.
"Sorry, but I'm trying to catch a Weedle, and you are blocking the path." He gave a quick look before asking.
"Are you a trainer from Pallet Town?"
"No, I'm from Celadon City, can I go?" I also knew that it was because that Weedle escaped that they were swarmed by Beedrils, something that I wanted to seriously avoid.
"Then I have no interest in battling you." He said while moving to the side.
Already running together with Milo towards where we last saw the Weedle I shouted back to Misty and Ash "See you two at Pewter City!" before continuing to enter the dense forest.
"Milo, can you smell the Weddle's scent?" I asked when we were already a decent distance away. He nodded at me before he started to sniff the floor for the Weedles trail.
We continued to steadily make our way through the trees before we finally caught sight of the little Weedle entering a big clearing.
"Hey wait up." I shouted to the Weedle that looked shocked that it had been followed to this point. Milo and I quickly caught up to it, but paused as we set our eyes on the majestic tree that was in the middle of the clearing. It had an enormous hive attached to its side, with Beedrils coming in and out, some carrying fruits, while others patrulated the surroundings. The Weedle hurriedly made its way to the tree while we just stood staring. I knew it was too late to capture the Weedle without it alerting its nest, and I didn't want to run for my life, so I decided that maybe I could make use of my ability to talk to Pokemons and strike a deal with the Beedrills.
I calmly approached the tree, the Beedrills quickly noticed my presence and readied to atack, but before they could move I spoke "Stop, I haven't come here to fight, I want to talk to your leader." They seemed a little doubtful, but after they traded some gestures between themselves one of them went inside the hive, leaving its partners warily watching me.
It hadn't been more than two minutes, before three Beedrills flew out of the hive. My eyes were immediately drawn towards the middle Beedrill that seemed to be guarded by the two others that were by its sides, but what really got my attention was the fact that it was bigger and had a stronger shade of yellow in its body. After they got close I also noticed that the one I assume it's the queen had a Weedle perched on one of its stingers.
"What is it that you want to talk about, human? After you attacked one of our own and invaded our territory!" The queen asked.
"Queen of the Beedrills. I am a Pokemon trainer that wants to explore the world and become the strongest I can be." I started "I would like that Weedle to accompany me on this journey and grow stronger together with me" After I finished the Beedrills seemed to be surprised that I could understand them, and the queen seemed to take me more seriously.
"This Weedle that you desire is my youngest son, how can you prove that you will treat him fairly and make him strong?" I could feel myself sweating as she turned her cold glare towards me "Multiple of us have a past with Pokemon trainers, but were abandoned because we're thought to be weak, how can you prove that you won't do the same?"
"To me all Pokemon can be strong, it is the trainer's job to make that strength shine, and to cover it's weakness. Queen, I can't prove anything to you, but I can promise, if you would believe my word."
The queen seemed to be in thought before she turned to me "I don't sense the malintent that those vile trainers had coming from you, so I'll give you a chance." My eyes widened as she continued "But you have to battle me, so I may judge your true nature."
I gulped, as I knew I had almost no chance of winning against this powerful Beedrill, but I thought that the choice should be decided by who was going to battle. Turning towards Milo I asked "Milo you're the one going to battle, do you want to do this?" Milo seemed to know that he didn't have almost any chance of winning, but he still took a step forward and nodded.
While the levels don't exist in this world, and the base stats can change according to training, they do give some information into what the Pokemon is naturally good at. Beedrill is a pokemon that relies on speed and physical attacks, the only way to win would be to lower its stats with Sand Attack and Tail Whip, before finishing with Tackle and Quick Attack. Curse Milo's tiny move pool, while it would be less effective Swift is a move that follows the target, while it also can be used maintaining a safe distance.
"Okay Milo I'm counting on you." I said while he took a battle stance and the queen also prepared herself.
"Milo let's start using Tail Whip! Maintain a safe distance." Milo did as commanded and wagged his tail toward queen Beedrill.
I bit my lower lip as queen Beedrill used Agility increasing her speed "Milo, use Tail Whip again to lower her defence!" As he used the move queen Beedrill decided to attack, her two big stingers glowed a purple color and she launched herself against Milo.
Guessing that she was using Poison Jab, I didn't know if Milo would survive one hit from the powerful poison type move. "Milo, quickly use Sand Attack while dodging" Milo trew sand into the air while he moved sideways. The cloud of sand made the queen Beedrill disoriented enough that Milo was able to avoid the attack.
Not letting the precious opportunity pass I quickly commanded "Milo use Quick Attack while she is disoriented!" Withouse a hint of hesitation Milo Charged forwards, queen Beedrill that had just turned around was hit in the chest by Milo. "Milo. Tackle! Don't let her recover." Again Milo attacked, but this time queen Beedrill was ready and her stingers glowed black before hitting Milo, making him fly back.
Immediately running towards where Milo fell I saw him weakly trying to stand up. "Milo it's enough we can't win with you like this." He gave me a defiant look before continuing to try to stand "Milo you did great, but I don't want you to get more hurt when you don't have a chance of winning anymore."
We continued staring straight into our eyes before he finally gave up and fell into my waiting arms. After giving him a hug I took an Oran Berry and fed it to him, to help heal his injuries. Finally I got up and turned around to be face to face with the queen Beedrill that seemed to be watching our interactions.
"I commend your Eevee for still being awake after receiving a direct full powered Assurance, while at your test I have judged you worthy to have my son along in your journey." She moved her stinger softly pushing the Weedle in my direction. "Because of his slightly different color he has been isolated and became quite shy, I think this journey will turn beneficial, and you are a good enough influence." Good enough? I don't know if I should be offended at that. But having a closer look at the Weedle, the queen was right, it had a more golden color compared with your normal Weedle. was the first Pokemon that I caught shiny? I am sure he wasn't like this in the anime, or was the graphics so low it appears that he was normal, well it doesn't matter.
I carefully approached the Weedle "Hey there buddy, sorry for what happened before." He looked into my eyes, before looking back to the queen Beedrill, who nodded. Finally he looked at me again and I gave him an encouraging smile, slowly he got close and let me pet him.
"Happy to have you aboard, buddy, my name's Aaron." Taking my eyes off him I faced queen Beedrill "Does he have a name?"
"Us Pokemon don't normally use names, so he doesn't have one, as a symbol of my trust I will allow you to name him" The Queen replied. Looking back at the small Weedle now weakly clinging to me, I imagine what would be a good name, I want him to evolve into a powerful Beedrill using quick but precise attacks, with sharp stingers and fast movements.
With the only name I could think that fits that description enough, I turned to him. "Will you accept the name Rapier?"
He seemed to think it through "Y-yes." He softly muttered.
Smiling broadly I picked an empty pokeball from my belt and put it in front of him, after a moment of hesitation he touched the button and was sucked in, the ball shaked three times before letting out the sound signifying the successful capture.
Picking his pokeball, I let him out "I prefer to have you out, would that be alright with you?" He gave me a happy nod in response.
"It's getting late and I want a last night together with my son, will you be so kind to sleep tonight at this clearing." The queen asked, but I knew it was more of a demand.
"I would love to." The queen picked up Rapier and went back into the hive to sleep through the night.
After putting down my bed roll and with Milo already asleep in my arms I ate a quick cold dinner, before settling myself comfortably for sleep. The exhaustion of today's battle and walk were enough to quickly pull me into the realm of dreams.