46: Ash vs. Zack
Pikachu laughed as it wandered through the barren portion of land with its trainer, taking in the unique landscape. There was no vegetation, nor much hope for nearby food, but the warmth was welcome to the colder areas they'd traveled in recent weeks. "Pika?" Pikachu called as it saw a spout of flame fly from behind a nearby rock. "Pikapi!" it called again, tapping its trainer's leg to get his attention. "Pikachu!" It raised its arms toward the rock that likely hid a large, interesting fire type.
"Why you always bugging me, Pikachu," the boy said, scowling.
"Pikapi, pikachu," Pikachu repeated the information.
Its trainer jumped as he noticed the magmar Pikachu was trying to warn of walking into sight. "That's a huge one! Gotta get more backup. Go, Electrode!" The boy threw out a pokeball.
"Electrode," the pokemon called as it appeared.
Pikachu again laughed as saw its fellow electric type appear. This one moved in a funny way, rolling itself along since it was ball-shaped, even unflinchingly rolling over its own face at times. "Pika, pika," Pikachu called as it walked alongside, trying to keep Electrode's pace exactly.
"There it is, there it is!" their trainer exclaimed, pointing at the oncoming Magmar. "Get it, get it, get it!" he shouted, smashing his hands together loudly as he clenched his jaw.
"Pika-" Pikachu began.
"Not you, Pikachu," the trainer said. Pikachu stood back and let its teammate roll ahead. Electrode eventually hit the magmar and exploded before being returned to its pokeball. "Now, go, Krabby!"
"Pika!" Pikachu called out happily to greet its trainer's latest catch. Krabby was a fun pokemon to be around. "Pika, pika," Pikachu tried to imitate the water type's movement, walking from side to side, trying to pinch together its fingers in an impression of the claws.
"What you doing, Pikachu?" the trainer said with a sigh. "Krabby needs to battle to evolve. Move out of the way."
Pikachu hopped to the side as ordered, looking up at its trainer curiously. Did the boy not want Pikachu itself to battle? Why wasn't it in its pokeball then? It was fun to be outside, anyway, so Pikachu didn't think about it much anymore as it followed its trainer and teammate.
"Krabby, go!" Their trainer swept his hand forward as another magmar appeared. "Do that... That water!" he said.
The water type pokemon called out in a silly way as it shot a large amount of bubbles toward the magmar before the fire type ran away. "Pika pika!" Pikachu congratulated the pokemon on its fun and effective attack before running forward to pop the last bubble. "Pikachu!" it called happily as it made it in time, getting a refreshing mist of water as it did so.
"Pikachu, move!" its trainer shouted hotly.
Oops. They were headed in a different direction now. Pikachu turned and quickly dashed to keep up, letting Krabby take the lead. It watched as the pokemon battled the large fire types a few more times, popping any remnants of its teammate's attacks after the battles. Krabby almost ran into the small electric type after one attempt, but that was when their trainer finally gave Pikachu mind. "You're always getting in the way," he said. "Just keep over there," he said, pointing to a tall rock.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu called with a nod, gladly hopping on it to get a better view of the battle. As Krabby finished and moved on, Pikachu hopped down to follow. Another magmar appeared. "Pika CHU!" Pikachu gave it a quick thundershock to warn it to move away.
Its trainer swore and swung a foot Pikachu's way. Pikachu jumped out of the way, looking up at the angry boy with concern. Had it done something wrong? They were there to train and battle, weren't they? "Just stay there!" its trainer shouted, pointing back toward the rock Pikachu had just hopped down from. "Don't come over until I tell you! Stay right there!"
Pikachu walked backward, hoping it was doing the right thing. It sat, its ears down while watching Krabby battle two other magmar. The bubbling attack didn't seem that fun anymore, even as one of the bubbles floated right by. As they went to approach a third in the distance, Pikachu stood tentatively, wondering if it should follow. However, its trainer quickly noticed its ready stance. "You stay there!" he shouted. "You stay there, right there, don't move until I say! Stay there!"
Pikachu crouched back down and did so, even as its trainer and teammate went further and further into the distance. Even as they got too far away, and then the sun approached the horizon, it still didn't move. Eventually, it got dark, and Pikachu let out a cry. "Pikapi..." Was its trainer okay out there? Why hadn't he come back yet? Maybe Pikachu should go look for him, though that would be disobeying, and besides, it couldn't see anything at all in the dark.
Until suddenly, it could. The light from a magmar's natural flame lit up the area, revealing no other threats. Pikachu relaxed somewhat, before the magmar came running back, this time with many others. "Magmar!" one called out hatefully, recalling how Pikachu's trainer had riled them all up that very day.
"Pikachu," Pikachu called back. "Pika?" Where was its trainer anyway?
The magmar weren't interested in answering, just taking out their frustration on Pikachu itself. They surrounded it and took turns with both physical and fire based attacks. Pikachu fought them off the best it could before it fainted. As it came to, the sky had lit up as it did right before sunrise. "Pika?" Pikachu stood up as much as it could on the tallest part of the rock, looking in all directions and seeing no sign of its trainer, nor any other humans for that matter. "Pikachu..." it cried sadly.
Being in such a visible spot combined with its cry attracted the attention of the local magmar yet again. This time, Pikachu was able to fight well enough that they scattered away from it. But the electric type was still exhausted, panting as it tried to continue to look, first in the last direction that its trainer had gone, but then in other directions as well. There was no telling if its trainer could have gone elsewhere. He'd come back there to meet the pokemon he'd left.
Would it be soon? Was he okay? It was a while before Pikachu started to worry about itself in addition to its trainer. It was hungry, thirsty, and constantly on alert for the magmar that didn't want it to be there. As one approached, Pikachu cried out, panicking. Did it even have enough energy to continue to fight them?
"Pika..." Pikachu gasped as it woke up from the dream. Its heart beat fast in panic from the visions of the past scene, but it wasn't in that desolate area any longer. Instead, it was in a crowded pokemon center on the top bunk of several bunk beds in the room, Ash right nearby. This place was dark, but perfectly safe. Though Brock and Misty weren't nearby, since this area was reserved for current league participants, there were plenty of other humans nearby, all asleep in their own bunks. Everything was fine, but Pikachu still felt upset. "Pipipi..." it whimpered. It couldn't shake the various feelings it had from remembering what had happened with its previous trainer.
"Pikachu?" Ash muttered. He reached around in the dark before finding Pikachu, then petted it. "You okay?"
"Pika... Pikapi." Pikachu cuddled close to its trainer's chest. Ash hugged it, quickly falling back asleep. With the boy so close to it, Pikachu eventually calmed and fell asleep itself.
Eventually, a chorus of voices awoke it, along with Ash shaking the bed by climbing down. Pikachu leaned down from the top bunk, not wanting to get up. The league participants below didn't bother it, caught up getting ready and discussing the upcoming day's festivities. Listening to their happy discussion, the mix of elation and nervousness at the coming day's events rubbed off on Pikachu itself. Battling was fun, and there would be a lot of that this coming day.
"Hey, Pikachu! You ready to go meet Brock and Misty?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed. Ash lifted his pokemon from the top bunk, folded his sleeping bag and otherwise packed before they went on their way.
"Ash!" Misty's voice cut through the rest of the crowd as they went outside. They quickly spotted her, standing next to Brock while widely waving to them. "Are you ready for today? Your battle's one of the first, huh?" she asked as they made their way over.
"Uh, yeah," Ash said. "It's in a little stadium still," he noted.
"Hmph." Brock smirked. "Early on, they try to reserve the main venue matches for the trainers with lots of fans. I heard they were thinking of swapping Gary's next match over there. Wherever they had him apparently got crowded."
"Well, we don't need lots of fans to win," Ash muttered.
"Hey, Astor!" Zack joined them, ramming his shoulder into Ash's before staring the younger boy down, one eyebrow raised.
Ash lifted a hand up to his hat, adjusting it as it was displaced. "Um, you mean me?"
"Yeah. We're gonna have a match. Pallet Vs. Pallet. Pallet Town wins," Zack said.
"My name's Ash..." Ash pointed out.
"Yeah, okay. So, you up for it?" Zack asked, again raising one eyebrow and hyperfocusing the eye on Ash.
Ash pushed him away. "I'm here for any match," he said.
"You're here, but can you handle it? You've going against the greatest of the newest to the league. And..." Zack paused, looking down at Pikachu. "I've got the ultimate evolution team. How many evolutions do you have?"
"Um." Ash considered the question for only a second. "I guess half my team's evolved at least once."
"Only half?" Zack grinned and snickered. "Well, that's enough for three against three. But even if you beat me, you'd never get far."
"What? My unevolved pokemon are good too!" Ash protested.
"Pikachu sucks."
"Pi?" Pikachu hadn't been happy Zack had approached them, but it had more or less being tuning out the typical trainer banter before Zack spoke those words. Now it gasped, that sinking feeling that kept creeping over it coming up yet again.
The tall boy smirked, giving a condescending look to Ash as he glanced from Pikachu to him and back again. "You just get one in Viridian Forest when you're new and you suck. Then you get rid of it when you can get something better. Who's still using one in the league? Only a trainer that sucks!" Zack turned away. "I'm gonna win."
"Pikachu doesn't suck!" Ash protested.
"Yeah. Go on and use it if you think so, then I can win more easy." Zack laughed as he walked away.
"That guy's a joy to be around," Misty said, rolling her eyes.
"Should we just go and find a spot in the stadium before Ash's match?" Brock suggested, motioning toward the area where his friend would be battling.
"Yeah, I guess I'll watch the ones before me," Ash said, folding his arms and kicking a rock as they began toward it. "Do you guys think I should only use my evolved pokemon?" he said.
"Come on Ash, you're asking us now?" Brock said with a laugh.
"You never were that interested in my advice before," Misty pointed out.
"And that's fine," Brock said. "When it comes to advice, you take it or leave it. I don't know what pokemon you should use. I've seen you follow your intuition well enough when it comes to picking which ones should go into any particular battle. Meanwhile, I've only seen Zack brag and lose."
"You're right. All my pokemon are good," Ash said. He glanced back on the path, seeing Pikachu had remained in place on the ground, its expression seeming stunned. He quickly ran back and picked it up, placing his starting pokemon on his shoulder to be sure they stayed together. "Even if it's not evolved, Pikachu's the best one, at least that's what Team Rocket says," Ash said.
"They did, huh? That's because Pikachu is great," Misty said with a wink.
"Pi... Pikachu," Pikachu called tentatively, trying to put itself in better spirits as they entered the stadium and saw the first battle in progress, an energetic golbat trying to confuse a sturdy looking wigglytuff. Golbat flew around in a funny way, going every which way, but hardly seemed to affect the wigglytuff at all with its attacks. Following the amusing match, it was easy for both pokemon and trainer to forget about their upcoming opponent's nasty words.
Of course, they were eventually called out for the actual battle. The referee called them by name after Zack, explaining that Ash's pikachu didn't use a pokeball. Trainers weren't required to keep all or even any pokemon in pokeballs, but they were required to state that at the start of a match, which had been done already, previously without comment. However, this time, Zack laughed and shouted out, "He's not gonna use that worthless pokemon anyway!"
"I'll use whatever pokemon I want!" Ash shouted back before the referee blew the whistle.
Both boys quieted, ready for the match. When instructed to begin, they each grabbed a pokeball. "Go, Kingler!" Zack shouted.
"Go-" Ash began, but before he threw out his pokeball, Pikachu hopped on the field itself.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu called out harshly, its fur rising as it expressed its desire to battle.
"Ki?" Kingler tensed, both recognizing its former teammate and surprised by its fury. "Kingler!" it called, revving up its own enthusiasm for the battle.
"Pikachu.." Ash quickly put down his arm, pocketing the pokeball he'd been thinking of throwing. "We won't let this guy insult you! Yeah, go, Pikachu!"
"Kingler, just drown that baby thing," Zack pointed forward while smirking.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash ordered.
As Kingler scurried toward Pikachu with its claw raised, Pikachu's cheeks sparked. "Pika," it began, lunging forward. "CHUUU!" it called, completing an expertly practiced thunderbolt, the column of lightening hitting Kingler dead on while Pikachu dodged as the water type attempted to strike with its claw. Kingler called out in surprise while it was hit before it fainted, its claws relaxing onto the ground.
"Kingler, what?" Zack shouted. "Keep fighting! Go! Smash that dumb little thing!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu called out in defense of its opponent. Couldn't the trainer see that Kingler had been completely outmatched, and had no further will to continue?
"You can try pinching it," Zack continued. "Pinch, pinch!" Zack imitated the claws pinching with his own hands. "Do it, now!"
The referee blew his whistle. "Contestant Zack's pokemon is unable to battle. Recall your pokemon!"
Zack swore under his breath, but did as directed before taking out his next pokeball. "Go, Electrode! Time to do the exploding thing, get rid of this dumb pokemon!" Before Ash could follow with any kind of direction himself, Electrode rolled itself toward Pikachu, completing the self-destruct technique. Zack laughed along with the sound of the explosion, which shook the area around it. "Take that! That's what you get!"
"What was that?" Ash asked as Electrode rolled to the side as the cloud of debris cleared, looking knocked out itself.
Pikachu shuddered from the effect of the impact. It had seen Electrode perform that self-destructive technique many times before, but never thought about how it felt to be on the receiving end. It really hurt actually, and the effect lingered longer than the average hit. But was that brief explosion going to stop the pokemon that had taken a constant onslaught of fiery attacks after being left in a nest of fire type pokemon? Pikachu stood up. "Pikachu!" it called out its readiness to continue the battle.
Zack's mouth went agape. "Can't you explode again, Electrode? Did you do it right?" he said.
"Contestant Zack, recall your pokemon!" the referee directed.
Zack did so, but not without one further comment. "There's some kind of cheating here!"
"Alright, Pikachu, why don't you-" Ash began.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu interrupted. Ash was going to tell it to come back, give another pokemon a chance, but it didn't want to. It wanted to keep going. All three of this opponent's pokemon ought to lose to Pikachu. Maybe this erratic trainer deserved that kind of humiliation.
"Pikachu..." Ash said, not completing his previous order. "If you really want to battle, let's battle! Get ready to hit your next opponent with thunderbolt!"
After fumbling around his pocket, Zack took out a pokeball and threw it. "Go, Golem!" The moment Golem appeared on the field, Pikachu hit it with the ordered technique. The ground type just narrowed its eyes toward its opponent as it took the electric type attack, seeming unaffected.
"Pi..." Pikachu definitely recalled this pokemon. Before Pikachu itself had been left behind, this one had been left with one of Zack's relatives as a graveler. But now it was a fully evolved ground type, looking much tougher. Pikachu had defeated ground types before, but besides its fully evolved status, Golem looked incredibly tough, and the field was completely dry, unlike the gym match against Brock. Even feeling some pause, Pikachu tensed up its body, glaring forward. "Pikachu!" it called out its readiness for battle.
"Alright Golem, attack now! Attack it! Attack, attack!" Zack shouted with a grin, emboldened by his pokemon standing strong. As its trainer went on and on, Golem stomped forward, the ground suddenly shaking in front of Pikachu.
"Pika?" Pikachu called tentatively as it felt the foreshocks of the attack. It cried out as it took wave after wave, trying to remain on the ground that wasn't steady at all. Once the technique had completed, Pikachu then shocked Golem again with thunderbolt.
"That won't work," Ash realized. "Come on, Pikachu, quick attack! You can do it!"
"Golem, keep fighting! Just smash it! Smash it already!" Zack said.
"Pika!" Pikachu called, running forward rapidly and swiping Golem with the attack. The ground type barely budged, only briefly sneered before stomping forward and slamming against Pikachu with a tackle. Pikachu cried out, but kept on its feet, repeating the quick attack to much of the same effect.
"Pikachu, double team!" Ash shouted.
That was a good idea. "Pika, pika, pika," Pikachu called as it jumped around, seeming to double itself as Golem tried to tackle it again. Pikachu finished the battle with a quick attack, moving away, Golem's next tackle missing as it tried to attack one of Pikachu's shadows.
"What are you doing, Golem? Can't you shake this thing? Punch it again or something!" Zack said.
Pikachu and Golem exchanged blows, quick attack against tackle, over and over, Pikachu being able to dodge many though not all of Golem's attempts. Finally, the boulder-like pokemon again repeated its ground type attack, Pikachu unable to jump away, being knocked up and down without any kind of buffer. "Pikaa!" Pikachu cried, then falling face first on the ground. Hearing the referee's whistle jingle, Pikachu leapt to its feet. It wouldn't be done just like that. "Pika, CHU!" it called as it unleashed its powerful thunderbolt attack. This time, Golem seemed to be more affected, tripping back, though still easily staying on its feet. "Pikachu!" Pikachu called out, expressing its desire to win.
"Golem," Golem replied. It wasn't about to lose to a cruel, vicious pokemon.
"Pika?" Golem's image of Pikachu reflected back incited a gasp. Pikachu suddenly recalled the threat it had uttered at the festival, with Golem right there. Yes, Pikachu had threatened to harm the weak and vulnerable human behind its opponent, a cruel intention indeed. Pikachu itself hadn't ever heard any other pokemon express any wish or intention to harm a human. Of course Golem would think something was wrong with its opponent. Even so, Pikachu recalled the anger that had fueled the sentiment. "Pikachu!" Pikachu called back hatefully, admitting guilt before continuing to rapidly hit Golem again and again with its quick attack.
Yes, Pikachu had indeed seemed cruel. But that boy had more or less tried to kill Pikachu itself, telling it to stand in place, with no access to food or water, in the territory of aggressive, hostile pokemon that could certainly attack it until it died. Pikachu recalled Ash's charizard as a small charmander, also on a rock in a perilous place, whose trainer had said it was useless and should die. "Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted out as loud as it could. Maybe any human like that should be willing to suffer the consequence of a pokemon's attack.
"Golem," Golem expressed simple disagreement with the idea of violence toward humans before tackling Pikachu again. "Golem!" it added as Pikachu cringed. After all, it was up to pokemon to protect humans, the far weaker of the two groups.
"Pikachu..." Pikachu cried as it took the hit, tumbling over several times. Wasn't that what it had been doing, both with its former and current trainer? Pikachu had always been on alert for things that might harm its first trainer when it had been outside the pokeball, then it had protected Ash from many things, and Brock and Misty as well. Even when Pikachu hadn't felt like it at all, it had followed Ash to make sure the young human hadn't gotten hurt. Pikachu knew as well as any pokemon about how it ought to protect humans.
But what happened when the human it was protecting decided it was worthless?
Pikachu hopped to its feet. "Pikachu!" it called out its desire to continue the battle. Despite the aches it had from continually attacking the sturdy pokemon with its softer body, Pikachu was going to keep going. Listening to Ash's encouragement, it continued with another quick attack. Golem hit it before it could continue this time, and it fell to its face again, having just a little more trouble with bringing itself up to its feet, though Pikachu was sure to do so. No referee was going to declare it unable to battle.
"Just change it out already!" Misty stood and shouted from the sidelines before sitting down, even though this time they were probably too far for Ash to hear well. She bit her nails as she commented to Brock, "He's got two more pokemon left. Golem's tough but not that tough, it's already dragging. He's going to win. Why won't he switch?"
"Yeah, come on, Ash, there's no Team Rocket with a hose this time," Brock muttered.
"Pikachu, you can do it," Ash shouted at his pokemon. "Just keep with quick attack, you can win!"
"G-Golem. You can just shake it. Right?" Zack said hopefully, biting his lip.
"Pika, CHUUU!" Pikachu shocked Golem to try and hold it in place, then dashed forward with its quick attack, hitting Golem right between the eyes. The larger pokemon finally fell to its side. It gave Pikachu a disapproving glare before closing its eyes.
The referee blew his whistle. "Golem is unable to battle!"
"You did it, Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he ran onto the field to hug his tired pokemon.
"It's not fair! It's not fair, it's not right!" Zack shouted, a note of desperation in his voice. "It's cheating somehow!" Zack's voice went high in his upset as the referee came over to talk to him, the two of them going back and forth about events.
Pikachu watched Zack from where Ash stood, praising it. The older boy seemed to go from angry to devastated as the conversation continued. Their opponent trainer wasn't the brightest, was he? Zack didn't know the official technique names, and though that didn't matter much to pokemon who understood what humans emoted beyond their specific words, often he didn't even have an actual technique in mind when he said to 'attack' or something similar. He wasn't a good trainer. He was an unpleasant human that blamed others for his failures.
And yet Pikachu hated to see him broken and on the verge of tears then. There was sympathy more than anger or disdain at seeing the sight of Zack's awful failure. If only its former trainer could feel better. What had Pikachu been thinking, wanting him to be harmed at all? Golem was right to call out such an idea as cruel, and Pikachu itself as awful for having thought in such a fashion. Pikachu didn't want that at all. It was there to protect him. It wanted to comfort Zack right then. "Pikapi..." Pikachu called out to him.
Ash turned around to make his way out of the arena, causing Pikachu to lose sight of their defeated opponent. They cleared the area for the next match, then met up with Brock and Misty nearby the exit. "What the hell, Ash!" Misty flicked his ear. "What were you thinking? Poor Pikachu! It shouldn't have to carry you through the whole league!"
"Pikachu wanted to battle, and wanted to win. It could still battle, I wasn't going to make it stop," Ash said, holding Pikachu closer. "It wanted to teach Zack a lesson, maybe. And you did, Pikachu!" Ash grinned at his pokemon. "Now we'll be in the top 64! This is great."
"Pikachu?" Pikachu questioned if it had really made such a big difference. "Pikachu!" it called again, deciding to be content with the result since its current trainer was so happy. Even considering everything else, Pikachu really had listened to its beloved trainer and won in the esteemed league.
Misty sighed loudly, putting her hands on her hips as she took a step back. "We did say we didn't know best," Brock said, exchanging glances with her before turning back to Ash. "Come on, you'd better let a nurse look at Pikachu. It really was working hard down there."
Two nurses cared for Pikachu while commenting on the match, which they'd seen the end of on TV. They praised the pokemon and cooed over how cute it was. "Cute but look how tough it was!" one of them commented. Pikachu felt refreshed after their care when Ash picked it up. It walked next to him, Brock and Misty also nearby as they exited the building.
Right outside, there was Zack again, Golem in front of him. "What were you doing?" he shouted, practically shrieking at his loyal, tough pokemon. "Pikachu's just a bug! You just needed to smash it! So just smash it, smash! Why are you so dumb? You're useless!" Zack kicked dirt and dust up into his pokemon's face repeatedly as he stomped on the path in his frustration.
"Golem..." Golem called, expressing its pain, outright shame before stomping back once. It squinted, waving its head back and forth as it tried to knock some of the loose sand away, just to be kicked in the chin by its trainer. Golem cried out in pain, and Zack got in a position to kick it again.
"Hey! That's going to hurt your pokemon," Brock protested. He, Ash, and Misty hustled over to confront Zack. But Pikachu just stayed in place, numbly observing the suffering pokemon that had defended its trainer so loyally. Useless, was it? Was Golem about to get thrown away as well? What would happen to the devoted pokemon then? The feeling of realizing it had been discarded on purpose came back all at once to Pikachu.
No, no lesson had been learned here.
Who won or lost hadn't ever mattered.
Next chapter: Ash vs. Leah