A/N: Ahaha. So I'm still way ahead... *sheepish* Whatever. I'll try to remember to update this, but I missed another story's scheduled update and it made me feel guilty to update this one instead... which is stupid, I know. *sigh* Sorry! But I'll try to do better. I do have some leeway with this story, after all.

Thank you to tylerxc626, MissMoe, and guest for reviewing!

Title: Another Kind of Battle

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Friendship/Adventure

Warnings: AU

Summary: 'An Amestrian battle is different from a battle in any other region. For one thing, a human battles right alongside their pokemon.' 'There were three requirements to be a State Alchemist. First, you had to pass the State Alchemist exam. Second, you had to have at least three pokemon. And third, you had to get the first four gym badges.' (Follows Ed through his Pokemon journey and then skips ahead to a post-2003 anime AU. Post-Hoenn Ash in later chapters.)

Disclaimer: If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist, would I really be here right now? Or Pokemon, for God's sake.

When he opened his eyes again, the sun was just in the sky and he could hear pidgeys and taillows chirping cheerfully. He sat up, yawning, and Riolu opened his eyes to look at him.

Al looked up and spotted him. "Oh, brother! You're up!"

Ed rubbed the back of his head and nodded. "Yeah." He made to stretch and felt his arm creak lightly. "Oh. Crap."

Al chuckled ruefully. "Yeah, I realized that, too. It's on the list."

Ed nodded absently and stood up, looking toward where East City was supposed to be. "Guess we can't waste any more time, huh, Al? We'll need to reach the city in the next few days if we don't want me to start having trouble moving."

Al nodded. "But that shouldn't be hard. We're passing the river today, and we might want to train Plusle and Minun there, but otherwise I don't think there's anything of interest on the way."

Ed grinned. "Great." He looked at Riolu. "You ready?"

Riolu grinned at him, huffed, and nodded, hopping to his feet. Ed stretched again and then started walked, leading the way to East City.

They hadn't been walking for half an hour before they reached the river Al had mentioned. Al was surprised; he hadn't thought they'd gotten that far already.

"Hey, Al, do you think I should get a water pokémon?" Ed wondered, frowning.

"It might not be a bad idea, brother," Al replied. "But let's wait for a bit, alright?"

Ed nodded absently and reached for Minun's pokéball, releasing her. She turned around for a minute before tilting her head up at him. "Minu?"

Ed grinned at her with warm familiarity. "You up for training?" he asked the little pokémon. Minun brightened and nodded; she'd taken to battling better than Ed had expected, which relieved him of a few worries.

Ed bent down and picked up a few stones. "We're not working on power today. We're working on accuracy," he explained, dropping them into his coat's deep pockets. "I'm gonna throw these into the air, and you'll scorch them without moving."

"Min!" Minun nodded seriously and backed up a few steps, little limbs braced for the newest training session.

Ed weighed a stone in his hand for a moment before tossing it into the air. Minun aimed a Spark at it, missing it entirely. Ed pretended not to notice and threw another, which Minun hit, charring it.

Cold water soaked Ed's back and he yelped, dropping the stone he'd just taken out of his pocket.

"Min?" Minun questioned, peeking past Ed while Al laughed.

"I think it wants to play with you," he said, delighted.

Ed frowned and turned around. A Seel waved its tail and grinned at him, showing sharp teeth but not looking menacing in the least.

"You wanna play?" Ed challenged, smirking right back. He glanced at Riolu, who grinned as well and stepped forward, anticipatory growl rumbling in his chest.

"Seeeel!" Seel crooned, flipping in the water and waving its tail again. Another spray of water, still playful, soaked Ed, and he shook himself, scowling at it.

"You were thinking about getting a water pokémon," Al said thoughtfully, taking a few wary steps back from the water. Plusle, on his shoulder, tilted her head.

"Pluuu," she agreed.

"Dew! Dew gong!"

A Dewgong emerged from the water, headbutting Seel. Seel protested this with a swat of its tail and barked. Dewgong looked at Ed and barked, too.

Ed shrugged, fingering an empty pokéball. "Hey, it's their choice," he said evenly, throwing the pokéball and catching it easily.

"Seeeel!" complained Seel. It hit the Dewgong with its tail again.

Dewgong looked hesitant, but it backed off, puffing reluctantly. Seel and Ed both grinned.

The river, Ed could tell, wasn't deep enough to drown in. That assured, he didn't hesitate before dropping his pack and leaping in, making Al protest at the splash.

"Brother!"

"Sorry, Al!" Ed called over his shoulder, stuffing the pokéball into his more easily-accessed pocket.

Seel's expression had changed, focusing, though it still grinned. It turned its back and waved its tail tauntingly, smirking at Ed.

Ed grinned. "Oh, you're getting it now!" he called to it. "Riolu, Quick Attack, just like you've been practicing!"

"Huh!"

Riolu hurled itself from the bank and to the Seel, slamming into it hard. Seel cried out, but Ed still didn't hesitate to lunge forward and grab its tail in one automail hand, hauling it up and over.

"Batter's up!" he called to Riolu, smirking. Riolu smirked and nodded and darted after Seel, and a good old-fashioned Tackle brought it to shore.

Seel, now stranded, flopped a little before it managed to flip onto its front, but out of the water, it had lost its speed advantage, and Ed pulled himself out and called, "Quick Attack, one more time!"

Riolu sped toward Seel and crashed into it full-tilt, and Seel whimpered from where it landed ten feet away. Ed grinned.

"Pokéball, go!"

The pokéball came out of his pocket and he threw it at the Seel. It hit, shook once, twice, three, four times, and then binged.

Ed paused, and then one, two, three moments passed before a grin broke across his face and he punched the air triumphantly. "Got it!" He looked at Al and grinned. "Al, I got it!"

"Yes, you did," Al agreed, amused. Plusle chortled, climbing onto his head and clinging to the spike, legs dangling almost to Al's eyes.

Ed strode over to the ball and bent down, picking it up. He turned around and cocked his head at Dewgong, who 'gong'ed mournfully. Ed's grin faded into something more tired, and he sighed and opened the pokéball.

Seel manifested in the water and swam in a circle before looking at Ed, grinning, and clapping its fins. "Seel! Seel!"

"Deww…" Dewgong sighed, swimming over and nuzzling Seel worriedly.

Ed watched for a few moments before Al said pointedly, "Ed," and he sighed and strode back to the river, slipping in and wading over to them.

"Hey," he said quietly to the Dewgong, golden eyes even. He crouched a little, bringing the water almost to chin level. "I'll take care of Seel, alright? We'll be battling, but he wants that." He was pretty confident in his guess, anyway. "Don't worry."

He firmly squashed the idea of what he was planning on doing out of his mind.

Dewgong looked up at him, then nodded, nuzzled Seel one last time, and turned to swim down the river.

Ed grinned and looked down at Seel. "You must be pretty young, huh," he mused. Seel headbutted his leg indignantly. Ed laughed. "Don't worry about it, that's good. Lots of room for improvement, yeah?"

Seel yelped in agreement, eyes sparkling.

Ed grinned again, recalled him, and turned to Al, chest deep in the water. "That's three," he said with cheer he didn't feel.

"Yeah," Al confirmed, trying his best to sound pleased as well. "That's three."

And there you go! By the way, just because he has the three required pokemon doesn't mean he's got all the one's he's gonna have. While not everyone will have a full team of six - in fact, Ed's the only one besides Grand, who doesn't matter - Ed will. Thanks for reading and please review!