A/N
When a Pokémon speaks in poke then there brackets after it that's what it's translated too
Lt Surge's Pokémon appeared before them. It was an electric type-which wasn't surprising no an electric specialist gym-and it appeared to be ready for battle. It was fully evolved, already having met the requirements to do so and appeared stronger than the average.
Charmeleon was pleased, he enjoyed battle and knew this was a strong opponent. It would definitely be worth his time.
"Alright baby, prepare to lose" he taunted looking just as pleased as his Pokémon.
"Don't call me baby" it was the second most annoying nickname Ash had ever been given, Gary having invented the most annoying.
"Baby, that's what I call everyone I beat"
"Ok Charmeleon, it's time for our first battle as partners" Charmeleon gave a slight nod, he didn't know if he truly wanted to be this trainer Pokémon. He called him a 'partner' or 'friend' for some reason that he didn't understand.
He was still surprised that he had lost to the boys Fearow, clearly he at least some power. But that didn't mean he would just serve him blindly. He had served Team Rocket like that and looked where it got him, abused and unable to use his full power without hurting himself.
He frowned at the thought; he knew Ash wasn't like that though. He thought back to Ash coming into the burning building to save him. He still wasn't completely sure why he did it though. Charmeleon wouldn't have tried to save them, he did avoid killing them but that was more out of a lack of interest than anything else-he took no pleasure in causing non-Team Rocket members harm.
"Ready, begin" the referee shouted throwing down red and green flags. Charmeleon had decided; at least for now he would try being this humans 'partner' but he held little hope for it lasting.
Lt Surge grinned, matching the large grin of his Pokémon. His Pokémon was round, a perfect sphere or close enough and had a small face. Its colouring was that of an inverted poke ball. "Electrode let's make this quick, Sonic boom!"
The ball Pokémon began spinning rapidly a white light forming "Dodge it Charmeleon" Ash yelled watching as the shockwave formed heading straight for it. Charmeleon dodged with the minimum effort possible, simply stepping to the side. He didn't understand why Ash told him to dodge, he would do it anyway.
Lt Surge grinned "You think you're pretty tough don't you? Electrode tackle"
"Use smoke screen then dodge" Charmeleon shot powerful torrent of flames shooting from its mouth heading straight for Electrode ignoring Ash's command completely, why use a move to help dodge when he had the power to not need to?
"Light screen" a yellow box of light appeared just before the attack connected absorbing most the damage and allowing Electrode to keep going "Now go into take down attack" he started spinning faster and faster the powerful normal type attack barrelling towards Charmeleon.
This time he wasn't able to dodge in time, he was hit by the full force of the normal type attack sending him careening into the air with a pained "Char"
"Bounce of the wall then hit it with metal claw" Charmeleon did, using the wall as a spring board to bounce back hitting into Electrode and slashing violently sending it flying back. It was good advice so he listened to it, maybe Ash wasn't so bad.
That's how Charmeleon saw it anyway, advice. Advice being something he would ignore if he felt it was stupid. It helped that the battle was incredibly easy anyway, Charmeleon wasn't using his full power and he was glad. He didn't know what would happen if he tried to use his full power.
He thought about it and Ash was kind of like an assistant, Charmeleon did everything Ash just gave suggestions. He supposed having an assistant wouldn't be too bad.
Officer Jenny who was watching noted this. "So, how's Ash doing?" Misty wasn't very familiar with the exact rules of owning dangerous Pokémon but it looked good.
"Hn, he's seems to be mostly in control, at least no major issues…but if things keep going like this I won't be able to pass a full judgement" the Jenny informed still watching the battle.
"What? But Ash is winning" Misty said looking as Charmeleon dodged rollout again.
"That's not the point; the point is to prove he can calm down Charmeleon when it's stressed and angry. I was hoping this gym battle would be enough to get Charmeleon going but" she watched as Charmeleon commanded by Ash continually avoided attack after attack "It's just not enough of a challenge"
Lt Surge couldn't believe this; this little baby was completely controlling the battle. He had to change this "Alright baby, I'll admit you're not half bad" his grin didn't falter for a second "But you're not nearly good enough. Electrode hyper beam now"
"Electrode!" it spun around quickly targeting Charmeleon who was in the air after dodging the last rollout "Electrode!" it shot the powerful yellow beam it barrelling straight for the powerful lizard Pokémon.
"Charmeleon dodge" Ash watched as Charmeleon turned bracing for impact, clearly he had no intention of dodging. As the attack connected he screamed in pain, it then crashed into the wall hard before falling to the ground. "Charmeleon are you ok?" he saw him shakily getting to his feet, clearly shaken up after that last attack.
"Char-Char-Charmeleon!" Charmeleon screamed throwing his arms back fire exploding around it as it unleashed its full power once again "Charmeleon" it charged at Electrode its claws drawn back and glowing ready to deal a powerful attack.
"Now this is interesting, Electrode dodge then use Thunder" he commanded the ball Pokémon dodged easily like Charmeleon had been doing before shooting a powerful thunder at it. It screeched in pain as the attack connected, the electricity flowing through its system devastating.
"Charmeleon, focus use smokescreen" Ash was ignored as Charmeleon continued to use unsuccessful attacks one after another, never each time missing by more and more "Come on Charmeleon, don't let your anger control you" he saw as Officer Jenny watched holding a poke ball of her own in her hand, she was ready to intervene soon if needed.
Charmeleon wasn't enjoying this, it was in pain it was feeling the familiar burn of fire as it unleased the power Team Rocket had put inside it. It could feel it burning inside and out, it could hear Ash vaguely but no clearly. The sound of its own flames consumed his voice.
He continued attacking, unable to think of anything else other than causing the thing that hurt him pain. Its flames grew bigger, growing hotter and more painful as well. It hated it. It seemed the more angry it got the more tired it got and the more pain it felt.
He couldn't stop though. The pain fuelled his anger and his angry fuelled his pain, he continue to attack, not even feeling the counter attacks from Electrode-they were nothing compared to the pain caused by its own fire-as it missed over and over.
"Charmeleon stop, this isn't right" how did Charmeleon hear that so clearly? It sounded like it was coming from everywhere and was louder than even the fire. Charmeleon wanted to stop, but he couldn't. "Charmeleon, if you keep going your just letting Team Rocket win!" Was he actually saying this or was he imagining him saying it, Charmeleon didn't know.
But he knew he was right, he was letting Team Rocket win. He was becoming what they wanted him to be, he was being consumed by his rage. He started fighting, no longer trying to fight Electrode but instead fighting his own fire.
It burnt, he would stop it though. He began forcing it back into himself, feeling the energy forcefully re-enter his body. It burned but he refused to stop. When it was finally all over he saw Electrode, he was covered in burns but Charmeleon knew he was in worse condition.
"Charmeleon, do you want to stop?" Ash called surprising Charmeleon slightly, Ash always seemed to want to know what he wanted to do. He was quiet a good assistant, finding battle for him to participate in and offering advice and he was willing to quit to. He was nothing like the various Team Rocket members who had controlled him before.
Charmeleon nodded returning to a battle ready stand and looking at the ball Pokémon. He felt the energy again, the fire that had burned so much before. Only it wasn't in his body or surrounding him, it was forming in his mouth like an attack.
Charmeleon's body glowed, Ash briefly thought he was losing control until he saw the energy forming in his mouth "What move is that?"
"Electrode another light screen" the previous one had faded but Electrode formed a new one that looked just as powerful. Charmeleon ignored it though, the energy in his mouth definitely wasn't his full power but it was much closer.
With a scream of 'char' he unleashed the attack that barrelled into the light screen; it stalled briefly before it broke though that too shattering it like glass. It hit Electrode with lots of its power still remaining causing it to shriek in pain as it was thrown into the wall.
"Charmeleon, follow up with metal claw" Charmeleon listened thinking it was an alright idea rushing forward and slashing at Electrode as it fell. It was a perfect hit, doing all the damage necessary to leave it lying on the ground with spirals in its eyes. "Yes Charmeleon you did it"
Charmeleon smirked "Charmeleon char-char (I know I did)" he said standing just a little bit taller than before. He was shocked when he tackled him with a hug; throwing him to the floor "Char (Idiot get off me)" Charmeleon yelled shooting an extra weak flame to emphasis the point.
Ash yelped in surprise jumping back "Heh, not a hugger aye Charmeleon" he shook his head getting read of the soot, the flame hadn't really burnt but it left him dirty. "Great job though, now you can rest" Charmeleon nodded as it went into its ball.
Later, after dropping Charmeleon off at the Pokémon centre the three were looking to Officer Jenny waiting for her to pass her judgement now that she had seen the match, Ash was nervous because of it. Charmeleon had lost control, and that was not a good sign. She seemed to be thinking, deciding whether or not this was ok. "Well guys, I think Charmeleon and Ash passed"
They all sighed in relief, but Brock couldn't help but point out "But Ash couldn't control Charmeleon fully and Charmeleon lost control" she just smiled softly.
"Yes, but I knew he would if he was pushed" Brock frowned at this "Yes, Ash definitely has some work to do. But the point of this test isn't to prove that the trainer is able to work well with the Pokémon. The point of it is to make sure the Pokémon isn't dangerous or to ensure that the trainer can control it when it is dangerous, and Ash was able to get Charmeleon though his rage. I have no reason to believe that Charmeleon is a threat to public safety so you can therefore continue to be his trainer, under Brocks supervision of course"
Ash smiled happy, he didn't mind that Brock was technically supervising him. What he really cared about was Charmeleon, if he was safe that was all that mattered. After this Officer Jenny turned to leave "I'll be filing my report now, remember that while you are officially Charmeleon's trainer Brock is the one who recommended you so you need to have him around for at least a year to ensure your safety" Ash nodded, it really didn't make a difference since he was already travelling with Brock anyway.
"Also I have some good news, the missing officers have been found, there location was revealed by the Team Rocket grunts that were still alive and they were found. It will take a while but they should be able to restore order to their town eventually." This made them all happy, it hadn't quiet sat right with them when they had been forced to leave after failing to save the officers. The police had told them they had too, since it was an official matter but they still didn't like it.
Of course once they realised that they had to leave, in order to ensure Charmeleon could become Ash's Pokémon-which was the only way to prevent him being put down-they had complied. But even so, not knowing had really been bothering them.
Then she left, leaving the happy trio alone. No one spoke for a while, no wanting to ruin the happy moment just yet. They just stood at edge of town, waving to Officer Jenny as she rode back to her station.
Later on they would be boarding the S.S Anne, ready to begin their boat ride. Ash was upset they had to leave so soon, Misty in particular seemed excited for a boat trip. They looked at the giant ship before them. "The St Anne…wow" Brock said breathlessly as he looked at the impressive ship.
They boarded quickly, flashing an inspector their tickets as they went up a large escalator. "Welcome aboard he St Anne, this way" he gestured towards the inside of the ship.
When they entered they saw what appeared to be an upper class party taking place in a large room. The floors were red and there were stair cases leading to the next floor across the room. Numerous people were scattered around occupying the seats or standing as they talked to each other.
There were stands across the sides where people were trying to sell various Pokémon related things ranging from balls to the Pokémon themselves. They also saw lots of people who held small cute looking Pokémon as well as larger stronger ones showing them off. Ash released Charmeleon.
"Hey Ash, why'd you release Charmeleon" Misty asked noticing the confused look on the lizards face as it looked around the room.
"Well during our battle there was some …issues, I thought that spending time with him would help with that, right buddy" he knelt down to the small lizards face. Charmeleon fearing another hug quickly shot out a warning burst of fire. "Heh, I know I asked you to warm up to me but…" he shook his head.
"Charmeleon, char-char (Whatever assistant, I'm hungry go get me some food)" Charmeleon said turning away and searching the room for any strong Pokémon to beat. Unfortunately he was left quiet disappointed at a first glance since all he saw were small 'cute' Pokémon.
"Hey guys since we're here do you want to get something to eat" Ash asked rubbing his stomach.
"That's all you ever think about even now when we're on this amazing boat" Misty complained walking off.
"Hey that's not true…sometimes I think about battling to" Ash said rushing to catch up with her, he missed the odd look he received from Charmeleon. Charmeleon was now wondering if Ash understood him, or if it was just coincidence, both seemed possible since he was always thinking about food anyway.
As they were walking Ash noticed a battle where a Raticate defeated a Starmie using Super fang. "Wow Charmeleon, that was impressive. You want to try battle him?" Charmeleon shook his head looking bored. The Raticate really didn't look very impressive.
The man was gracious in victory, stating that he was simply lucky. He was dressed strangely though, wearing formal attire with a top hat, cane and glasses. "Well now, is there anybody left brave enough to battle my Raticate?"
Ash stepped forward happily "I will" he threw his ball forward releasing Magikarp and hearing some snickering from the amassed crowd.
"Now boy, far be it from me to question your decisions but don't you think that Charmeleon of your would be better?" he gestured to where Charmeleon was casually lying to watch the battle.
"Sorry, he's not really in the mood for battle right now" more snickers as Charmeleon gave him a firm nod "Besides, Magikarp powerful too and I need to train him so he can evolve" Ash said throwing out the black fish.
"Any chance Ash actually knows what he's doing" Misty turned to see Brock watching the fight silently "I thought not"
"As you wish" he paused looking at its unusual colouring as the audience discussed it as well "Raticate high jump kick" it launched itself forward looking confident.
"Magikarp let's try splash to dodge followed by dragon rage" Ash advised watching as it did dodge before preparing the orange ball of energy in its mouth. He smirked at the surprised sounds coming from the audience; they didn't know that his Magikarp was special.
He just hoped that all the work to improve Magikarp's endurance would pay off. "Raticate, let finish this with a super fang attack" he yelled his Raticate obeying by lunging at Magikarp. Charmeleon was bored; this fight was far from interesting. Although he was curious as he watched the ball of energy forming in Ash's Pokémon's mouth, he didn't know that Ash had more Pokémon that had the ability to learn dragon type moves.
Just as the super fang was about to connect the energy ball hit, a large explosion following after it as Raticate was thrown to the floor. "Raticate" the man called rushing forward to check on it only to find it on the floor with swirls in its eyes but no major injuries beyond that. "I must say, you've trained that Magikarp of yours very well for it to be able to do something like that"
Ash smiled shaking the man's hand while they returned their Pokémon "Thanks, your Raticate was great too" he shot Misty a smug look, he had heard her saying he couldn't win making it even more satisfying that he did.
"Char-Charmeleon (Assistant, what happened to lunch?" Charmeleon asked walking up and gesturing to his mouth for clarity; Ash seemed to understand and nodded.
Later on the trio were eating lunch, all their other Pokémon were also out (Magikarp, Goldeen and Misty's other Pokémon being places in a water area nearby) and the land based Pokémon being with them as they ate on the outside deck.
The wealthy man from earlier approached the group, a beautiful brunette in a red long dress that hugger her slender form next to him. "So you having yourself a good time?" he asked getting a quick 'yep' from Ash.
"You know that Magikarp of yours is quiet extraordinary" he said before Ash could further elaborate on how good of a time he was having.
"It's incredible" the woman said making Brock blush deep red, the sound of her voice enchanting to him.
"Thank you sir, your Raticate was very impressive too" Ash said nodding and stopping eating to speak.
"If that's the case I'll be direct why don't we trade?" he said sounding excited by the idea.
"Um sorry but no, Magikarp was my first Pokémon and we're very close. I don't think I would be comfortable trading him" the man frowned but still nodded reluctantly. After this they spoke a little more, the man talking about his Raticate and Ash talking about his other Pokémon while they ate
After this Ash's Pokémon decided to take a rest, Magikarp still enjoying its swimming while the others napped. Ash was pleased to see that his training with Magikarp to try to improve endurance had worked since he was able to continue swimming happily despite having used dragon rage.
As he was walking though he got yelled that "You there boy, come here" he turned only to have a Magikarp thrown at his face. He struggled to hold it as the Pokémon repeatedly used splash "Tell me honestly, have you ever seen a happier livelier Pokémon"
Ash looked at it, it did not look happy at all. He walked forward putting back into the open tank and noticed it instantly seemed happier. "Just between you and me this Magikarp is a Pokémon goldmine" Ash nodded not really getting why this man was doing this. "Each of these Magikarp lays one thousand eggs, each of those then lays a thousand that give you a million eggs, then each of those lays a thousand eggs and you sell them for one hundred dollars each and your rich"
Ash wasn't listening to the man at all. Instead he was looking at Magikarp, he felt bad for it. It was trapped in the cramped container, waiting to be sold to who knows. It must be horrible. "How much?"
"I will give you this Magikarp, and an egg laying kit and an education set for just three hundred dollars" Ash shook his head.
"How much for you to release it back into the wild?" the man frowned at him.
"Didn't you just here me? This is a goldmine, you'll be rich beyond your wildest dreams!" he said doing a dramatic slapping of paper against the desk.
"Yeah I'm not really interested in money to be completely honest…I just want to free the Magikarp" the man looked at him irritated.
"Tell you what, I've got ten Magikarp, usually I charge one hundred dollars each. But since it's you I'll charge one thousand for the lot" He pulled back the desk to reveal all the Pokémon cramped together in a tiny little container.
They all looked so sad, unable to swim about and enjoy themselves. He knew he had to help them; he had to help them be happy and free like they should be.
There was only one problem, they cost one thousand for all of them, Ash frowned he didn't have that kind of money. "What's the problem?"
Ash looked up at him sheepishly "I'll give you …50 dollars" Ash said holding his wallet to check that was in fact all he had. He was actually a little surprised he had that much. After that he was chucked out so fast it hurt a little.
Misty was sunbathing happily, wearing nothing but a bright red bikini and big black sunglasses and loving the feeling of the sun on her skin. Then something started blocking her sun, she shifted slightly only to find it was covering everything. Only one thing in the world could annoy her this much. "What do you want Ash?"
Ash jumped slightly, he had been trying to think of the right way to approach this but he didn't realise she knew he was there. "Hey Misty, I was wondering…" he supposed being direct wouldn't be too bad "If I could have a thousand dollars"
She lifted her glasses letting him see her roll her eyes before she lowered them "In case you forgot you still owe me for my bike, I'm not going to give you more money"
He frowned; he was hoping she wouldn't bring that up. "Come on Misty…" he frowned trying to think of a way to persuade her-something he was not skilled at-he had already failed to get money from his mother. His mother had also refused, saying that he wasn't allowed to use him money!
"If you need money why don't you just enter the tournament?" she said rolling away from him. Maybe he should try looking for Brock-his first choice-again; he couldn't find him anywhere though.
"Tournament?" if it was a Pokémon tournament he could do, if it was anything else he was screwed. She pointed to the wall where a poster lay. He walked over and read it. It was called the St Anne tournament-very creatively named-and the prize was. He scanned looking until he saw it, the prize was two thousand dollars, minus the hundred dollar entry fee and he still had money to spare.
Then he stopped. The entry fee was one hundred dollars, he had fifty. "Hey Misty" his tone was the exact same as the first time he begged.
"What?" he really couldn't tell she wanted him to go.
"Can I borrow fifty dollars?" she sat up raising her sunglasses to look at him.
"For the tournament" he nodded "Then…since I'm paying half the fee I get half of the winnings" with that she reached into her bag extracting a fifty and handing it to him. He didn't protest one thousand was more than enough to help the Magikarp.
Later on Ash stood in the lower levels of the boat looking at his opponent list. There's thirty five people entered, but since he was a late arrive he had to do an extra round. That meant he had to win six rounds. He could do that, probably.
"Contestants Ash Ketchum and Rebecca Smith please report to the battle field, your battle is starting shortly" Ash walked out to see the battlefield. It was simple design, a small dirt field with the standard markings. He also noted that there were bleachers on either side that were filled with spectators.
This actually made him a little nervous; he had never been watched by so many people before. But he pushed it out of his mind. He wanted to win this so he could free the Magikarp. "Contestants ready" both he and the short red head across the field nodded. The referee then tossed a coin "Call it"
"Heads" Ash yelled quickly the referee caught the coin slamming it onto the back of his other hand.
"Ash will be starting" Ash nodded grabbing what he hoped would be a good choice. "Beedrill I chose you" the large intimidating bee appeared clashing its pins together.
The girl on the other side of the ring frowned; she reached for her first ball before hesitating and switching to the second. "You're up Sandshrew" she called throwing the ball to reveal the small ground type.
The referee dropped both his flags with a shout of 'begin' signalling the start of the match.
"Beedrill use focus energy" it stood clenched its muscles as a yellow aura surrounded it briefly before fading. "Now use fury attack" it charged forward both arms ready to attack.
"Dodge it" the girl yelled already seeming to be panicking, her Sandshrew obeyed moving from side to side to avoid damage.
"Slow it down with string shot" Beedrill shot out a thick string from its mouth at Sandshrew's legs wrapping them and causing it to fall. "Now fury attack again" Ash yelled watching as the bee Pokémon then hit its mark hitting the ground type repeatedly as it was unable to defend.
"Sandshrew go into a ball then use rapid spin" it curled up into a perfect ball and began spinning rapidly hitting Beedrill and sending it back. Ash just smirked.
"Now Beedrill, more string shot" the thick string instantly encased the Pokémon leaving it completely immobile, "now finish this with twineedle" the stingers on Beedrill's arms glowed a bright white as they hit Sandshrew breaking its binding and smashing it down. After it pulled away Sandshrew was left with swirls in its eyes having been defeated.
"Sandshrew is unable to battle, the match goes to Beedrill and Ash of pallet town" the referee called pointing at Ash with his flag, a roar of applause came from the audience suddenly reminding Ash of their presence.
The rest of the battles weren't difficult and Ash soon made it to the final round where he found out his opponent was called Chris. He was a tall blond boy with short hair and blues eyes. He was looking at with a smug grin on his features. It had already been decided that he had the first move and he seemed very pleased by this.
"Wartortle your up" yelled throwing his ball; Ash felt a ball on his waist shake. He looked down only for a burst of light to appear before Charmeleon-who had refused to battle any opponent so far-forced his way out and appeared on the battle field.
"So you want to battle huh Charmeleon" he nodded giving a 'char' "Great, I'm sure you can do this"
"Hah, choosing to be at a type disadvantage. All day I've been hearing that I should be taking this tournament seriously but if you're the best it has to offer it's clearly a lie" the other trainer said chuckling when Charmeleon's tail flared in anger.
"This final match battle is between Ash's Charmeleon and Chris's Wartortle" the referee called loudly gesturing to the two Pokémon "Begin" he dropped the flags signalling them to start.
"This should be easy, Wartortle use water gun" he ordered pointing at Charmeleon.
"Dodge it" Charmeleon did so with ease charging forward he whole time "Metal claw" by the time Ash said this he had already began preparing the attack meaning that he was ready to thrust it into Wartortle's chest straight away.
"Iron defence" the other trainer commanded smirking when his Pokémon withdrew into its shell and shined before the metal claw attack bounced of harmlessly. "Now come out and hit him with aqua tail" his defence abandoned Wartortle instantly complied jumping up into the air and hitting Charmeleon with his tail.
"Charmeleon, fire fang" the inside of Charmeleon's mouth erupted in flames as he bit down on Wartortle's tail hard.
"Wartortle!" it tried to flail out of it but it Charmeleon held on tight refusing to let go.
"Wartortle use skull bash" the turtle Pokémon winced in pain as it turned despite its tail being caught ramming its head into Charmeleon's chest. This did succeed though and he was freed, dropping roughly on his head while Charmeleon staggered back.
"Charmeleon smokescreen" it shot the powerful fire based attack at its opponent not bothering with smokescreen, what was Ash's obsession with a non-damaging move.
"Protect" a large blue semi-transparent shield formed around Wartortle absorbing all the damage. Charmeleon frowned; there was no way Ash knew that was going to happen! "Now skull bash"
"Dodge it Charmeleon" Charmeleon was about to catch the attack but then he thought back to the last time he had ignored his assistants advice about dodging, it didn't go well, so he dodged out the way-only just making it- and smirking as Wartortle was left completely exposed allowing him to shoot another flamethrower while he was unable to defend himself.
"Wartortle no!" Chris yelled as his Wartortle fell to the ground heavily injured from Charmeleon's attack. Charmeleon went into a battle ready stance when he tried to stand only to drop it when he collapsed swirls in his eyes.
"Wartortle is unable to battle, the round is Ash and Charmeleon" the referee said pointing to Ash with his flag. Ash jumped for joy running out towards Charmeleon only to stop a foot away, he had to really fight hard to not hug him.
Instead he petted the Pokémon on its horn "You were great Charmeleon, we definitely worked much better together than at the gym" Ash said noticing that-while he tried to hide it-Charmeleon was enjoying having his horn stroked.
"Char…Charmeleon (Yes… you were helpful as well assistant)" Charmeleon said pleased as he was petted.
"For my next Pokémon I'll use Jynx" he threw his ball revealing a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon that resembles a bulky woman.
Charmeleon turned and walked of the field "Char (Boring)" and sat watching waiting to be returned to his ball.
"You want to rest in your ball?" Charmeleon nodded "Ok Charmeleon return, you were great buddy" he then grabbed his next Pokémon "Krabby I chose you"
Chris looked at his Pokémon for a second, looking thoughtful before "Ha-ha-ha-ha another pathetic Pokémon, this'll be too easy"
"You're pretty smug considering you've already lost a Pokémon" Ash pointed out smirking as his crab Pokémon's mouth bubbled.
"Wartortle was defeated…but that was just because I underestimated you, you don't even stand a chance against Jynx" he said confidently his Pokémon nodding.
"The battle begins" the referee lowered his flags signalling the beginning of the match. Up till now Ash hadn't used Krabby so the small crab Pokémon was eager to please.
"Krabby bubble" Ash commanded watching as the small bubbles shot from his crab Pokémon's mouth towards Jynx.
"Use powder snow to counter" Jynx blew cold air from its mouth freezing the bubbles causing them to fall uselessly. "Now follow up with ice punch"
"Harder" Krabby gained a slight shin as the hard icy fist connected allowing his to take it "Now vice grip" it reached forward with a claw grabbing Jynx's hand tightly.
"Jynx-Jynx-Jynx" it began flailing around wildly shaking its hand to try and dislodge the Pokémon.
"Grrrr, Jynx use perish song" the desperate trainer called, Jynx then started opened its mouth powerful red waves coming out and hitting Krabby covering it in a strange red light, the red light then surrounded Jynx as well. "Hah, in less than a minute both our Pokémon will be unable to battle"
Ash frowned "One minute huh…guess I'll just have to beat you in thirty seconds, Krabby stomp" the crab Pokémon nodded reaching forward and kicking Jynx in the face knocking it back.
"Jynx is unable to battle, the winner of the round is Krabby" the referee announced gesturing to the Pokémon.
"Great work Krabby, now return" he knew it would be effected by perish song soon so keeping it out wouldn't be smart.
"Grrrr, that's it Machop go" he tried to sound confident, but he wasn't. Machop really wasn't that strong, no way would it finish of the rest of Ash's Pokémon. Again he felt a shaking on his belt before a Pokémon was released.
"Clefairy" his pinkest Pokémon said as it appeared ready to battle.
"Really, a type advantage again. You're stupider that you look" the blond boy mocked his earlier arrogance returning.
"Well I've beaten two of your Pokémon without you beating even one of mine…" he trailed off letting that sink in.
"The final battle begins" the referee called.
"Machop focus energy" it stood in a stance a faint red aura surrounding it.
"Clefairy use encore" Clefairy nodded a white ball forming in its hands before it launched forward hitting Machop leaving him glowing with a white aura. "Now pound" the Pokémon began racing forward to attack.
"Counter with karate chop" Machop went into a stance the faint red aura returning as it got punched in the face by Clefairy knocking it to the ground "Hey, don't ignore me!"
"Now Clefairy use double slap"
"Try seismic toss" Machop once again went into a stance glowing red as it focused its energy before being slapped side to side by Clefairy "Stop ignoring me! I'm your master dammit"
"You do realise that when using encore he can't do anything but focus energy" Ash yelled out feeling sorry for the other trainer.
"Of course I knew that you idiot" he did not.
"Great, then try to stop Clefairy's metronome" Clefairy began wiggling its finger glowing white as it summoned a random attack.
"Machop, do something!" Christ ordered poorly unable to think of anything else to say, Machop went into a stance glowing red as it focused its energy "Not that!" he felt like he was going to cry from sheer frustration.
"Clefairy" Clefairy said proudly as an attack manifested in front of it, a strange rainbow coloured attack that headed straight for Machop hitting it head on and knocking it back. Once it hit the ground its eyes had already been replaced by swirls.
"Clefairy is the winner, the round and the tournament victory goes to Ash and his Pokémon" Ash smiled leaning down to catch the happy Clefairy who jumped into his hands before congratulating it. An old fat man in a white suit with grey haired approached the duo.
"It was an excellent battle, using Charmeleon here was very surprising" he said handing Ash a trophy and the money. "Here is your prize for winning the St Anne Pokémon tournament" he smiled as Ash took it grabbing his arm and holding it up for all to see. 'Stupid bastard, entering into this tournament you tired out all your Pokémon' he chuckled as the crowd started applauding a huge smile on his face; he was really happy right now.
Later on after dropping of Charmeleon at the Pokémon centre and picking up his other Pokémon Ash left to meet Brock and Misty in the halls; he jumped around like a happy child. "Did you see it? Me and Charmeleon worked together!" he cheered throwing his arm in the air dramatically.
"Yeah, it wasn't perfect but it was definitely progress" Brock said smiling proudly, he was glad they were synching so well.
Ash turned to Misty still smiling and smiled wider when she looked just as happy "I'll take my money now" she said holding her hand out with a 'hurry up' look appearing on her features. Ash nodded reluctantly handing her the money. "It was a pleasure doing business with you Ketchum" she said in a lady like voice before beginning to counter her money.
Ash's mind then returned to why he wanted the money in the first place "Be right back, I've just got to deal with some urgent business" Ash said preparing to make the transaction.
Brock briefly wondered what he needed to do but brushed it off. "We'll be getting dinner ok!" he heard an 'Ok' in response from the happy boy as he and Misty-who was counting her money-turned walking towards the dining room.
Brock was then asked "So Misty, finally got Ash to pay you back for the bike huh" she stopped dead in her tracks her eyes wide as saucers.
"Dammit" she cursed turning and rushing after the boy "Why didn't I think of that?" she ran as fast as she could, quickly reaching a fork in the hallway. She checked down each side but couldn't see the bike thief anywhere.
She went left, hoping for the best she ran as fast as she could only to find herself in the now empty battle room. She swiftly turned on her heels, running even faster out the door and not even looking where she was going.
She was so busy not looking that she ran straight into something, something that collapsed as soon as she hit it. "Ash!" she didn't even need to look to know it was him but did anyway and saw the groaning boy "Give me my money"
He sat up pushing her off him "I already did like five minutes ago, d'you forget" he started picking up poke balls of the ground. "Not that money, I want the rest" he turned and looked at her, shaking his head slowly. "You owe me for my bike; a thousand dollars would have covered the cost"
He frowned at her "Uh Misty, I already spent it…but you can have what I brought" he had planned on releasing the Magikarp once he got them but he knew Misty would take good care of them.
She eyed him suspiciously "What did you buy?" he picked thrust his hand out showing her all he balls he had dropped.
"These" she frowned; looking only eleven poke balls she knew he had been ripped off.
"You spent a thousand dollars on ten poke balls" she seethed, he could have paid her back but no, he had to be an idiot instead.
"It's not the poke balls silly, it's what inside them" she gave him a look that said to continue "You see, I found these Pokémon all really cramped and sad looking so I thought that I should buy and release them" her glare softened slightly but she held strong. She would not accept anything stupid.
Finally she asked "So what type are they?" she hoped it was water Pokémon, she wouldn't need that many but she could send the extras home to the gym.
"There's ten Magikarp" she collapsed hearing this; he did not just say that.
"Please tell me you're joking" he shook his head his smile faltering "You spent one thousand pounds on ten Magikarp"
He frowned "They just looked so sad…" she sighed, she knew he was trying to do the right thing but.
"Ash, there's loads of Pokémon that are being kept in poor conditions to be sold. You can't free them all" he frowned, she had a point there.
"Well it doesn't matter, I'll free as many as I can" he said determined walking towards the deck "You want to come with me to release them?" she nodded following after him. They got to the deck quickly and threw out the Pokémon. "So… uh, how do I release them?" he had never really thought he would release Pokémon so hadn't looked into it.
Misty sighed "There should be a button on the poke ball somewhere" she took it and started looking, but couldn't find it. In truth she had never released a Pokémon either.
"Magikarp" all the Magikarp screamed at once, the two teenagers turned to see them being scooped by a net held by the Magikarp salesman.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ash yelled making the crafty man jump.
"Heh, well…once you release a Pokémon anyone can catch it" He said still not freeing the fish Pokémon.
"But I brought them so that I could release them" Ash said clenching his fists; first this guy mistreats the Magikarp now he tries to regain them so he can do it all over again.
"Yes, and now that they've been released it's my legal right to capture them" He said smugly reaching behind them for the balls.
"Magikarp return" Misty yelled taking all the Pokémon back into their balls "We haven't released them actually, so what you were trying to do is called stealing" she put her hands on her hips angrily "You want us to get Officer Jenny on you"
The man visibly panicked grabbing his oar and starting to rapidly paddle away "No need for that I'm on my way" he stopped a short distance from the boat "Just remember, as soon as you release them I'll be there to collect them" and with that he started paddling once more until he disappeared in the horizon.
"Um…shouldn't he be coming back on the boat?" Ash said slightly worried for the strange man.
Misty also thought this was strange but didn't really know where they were, he would probably be fine. "Anyway…I don't think we should release them at least not now…so I'll send them to my sisters at the gym after all" she said Ash nodded.
He hoped they would be happy at the gym, they wouldn't be expected to battle so that would be good. There was lots of room and other Pokémon for them to play with, it sounded great really. After this they went to the transfer room.
"I'll send them now" she put them into the machine and began processing them.
Ash nodded, then smiled "So I guess we're even on the while bike thing" he couldn't stop it, it just came out.
She frowned glaring at the boy "You really think that this makes us even, I took the Magikarp as a favour to you"
"A favour, those Magikarp cost a thousand dollars, that's more than you bike cost" He yelled pointing at the poke balls indignantly.
"Ash there Magikarp, and I'm not even going to keep them my sisters are. This does not make us even" she seethed, was he seriously trying to pay for her bike in Magikarp?
"Then you can't have them" apparently he was "I'll send them to the professor instead" she could tell he thought this would be much more effective a threat then it was. She turned and changed the programming on the machine.
"There you go, send them to the professor and you owe me a bike. Or send them to my sisters…and you still owe me a bike" Ash frowned as he put them into the machine activating it and sending he Pokémon to the professor. "I sent them to the professor" he watched as they teleported in flashes of light one after the other.
"Whatever, lets of go get dinner" he nodded and the two went to eat. Ash was pleased when Misty didn't bring up her bike, instead asking about the Magikarp and if Ash thought the professor would be able to care for them right.
"I'm sure he'll be great, he's a Pokémon expert. He may even want to study them or something" Ash shrugged, "The laboratory has huge ponds and lakes too, they'll be very happy there" Misty nodded glad that they would be happy, if Ash had sent them somewhere without a body of water she would have demanded he send them back so she could take them to her sisters.
"You should call the professor later, we can't now because the lines are down but he'll probably want to know why you got ten Magikarp" Ash nodded as they entered the dining room. They weren't surprised to see Brock already surrounded by food, but Ash was upset he didn't get them any.
"Ah, the last of our guests have arrived" a man noted as they walked in promptly closing and locking the doors behind the duo. After this every other door was slammed shut by other members of staff. Next the lights all went out leaving them in total darkness.
All around them men and women ripped off there cloths; fortunately they were simply doing this to reveal more cloths underneath. Unfortunately these cloths were Team Rocket outfits. Everyone was silent as the man who had organised this, the fat grey haired man walked out from the top.
He approached a microphone and began speaking "Attention everybody, as you may be aware these men are Team Rocket. As you may not be aware so am I, we'll be stealing your Pokémon now" he gave a gesture to the men and they all appeared strange suction devices on their backs pulling at peoples poke balls and soon gathering them.
The crowd flew into a panic madly grabbing there balls and trying to protect them, Ash looked around at Team Rocket and soon noticed "We outnumber them massively" they really did; there was hundreds of non-members to a couple dozen of them "We should fight!"
The crowd roared in agreement throwing out there Pokémon, and beginning to send out orders. "Beedrill I choose you" Ash threw his poke ball only to reveal a tired looking bee Pokémon "Beedrill I know your tired but this is important, we have to fight the Team Rocket so they can't steal these Pokémon" Beedrill nodded turning to find the men with the suction devices now throwing out various Pokémon. "Use twineedle"
The battle was long, and while it was a little confusing it was clear who was winning. Team Rocket was being easily defeated as they attempted to use weak Pokémon to take on everybody's Pokémon. The tournament had worn some of the stronger trainers Pokémon down, but since it was a series of one Pokémon battles-something they did to save time so they wouldn't run the risk of not having an opportunity to steal the Pokémon-the majority of the Pokémon weren't tired.
"Geodude-geo" Brocks Geodude cried linking arm with a group of them and spinning into Team Rocket members and there Pokémon alike knocking them down.
"Starmie, Staryu use water gun together" the attacks joined doubling in size and heading straight for a group of grunt without Pokémon. They took the full force of the attack being thrown back and effortlessly defeated.
"Zubat use supersonic to confuse them" Zubat gave a quick noise of acknowledgement before turning and releasing the powerful sound based attack on a group of grunts leaving them scrambling around confused.
"Squirtle quick dodge it" but Misty's command was too late as the Raticate belonging to Team Rocket hit Squirtle with super fang head on doing severe damage "Squirtle return, you were great. Just rest for now" she said before turning back to the battle with the many grunts.
Ash wasn't interested in the grunts though; he knew that he grey haired man was a leader of some kind so he wanted him instead.
Ash walked up the stairs, searching for the fat grey haired man who had informed them he was a member of Team Rocket. "Now there boy, I'm sure you're awfully confused about why I said I was part of Team Rocket, the reason is…ah fuck it! Abra go" he threw the small psychic type at grabbing a hold of him.
"Paras use spore before-" they teleported away "Never mind" Ash turned and saw that all the other Team Rocket members had been subdued. "Wow, after the last time I fought Team Rocket I was expecting…more"
Boom the large blasting sound resounded throughout the whole ship as it lurched from side to side. Ash sighed; this was what he got for questioning them. He could have just been happy but no, he had to think there was more and was right.
"Ash one of the grunts set of a bomb, the ships going to sink" Misty cried running up the stairs frantically before grabbing Ash and turning to get to the deck "Hurry up we have to get to the life boats" he nodded running until they reached the deck.
"Good, it looks like everyone else got off ok too" Ash said watching as the second to last life boat went down full of people. Ash's eyes went wide when realisation hit him "Where Nurse Joy and the Pokémon from the centre?" he ran to the edge looking over the side for any sign of pink.
"She must be trapped" Brock said also looking "If there was a Nurse Joy down there I would know it"
Ash nodded at the strange statement "We have to go find her" they turned running back in the direction of the centre. They ran as fast as they could, they ignored the rocking of the ship too focused on saving the stranded nurse to notice. They passed room by room, ignoring them all looking for Nurse Joy.
Finally they found the door to the Pokémon centre, but it was impossible to get though it due to the flames. "Huh, I thought we were sinking not one fire"
Brock looked at it for a second before he was hit by realisation "This must be near where the bomb went off, it probably started the fire" they all looked at it nervously "Geodude go" he threw his poke ball "Geodude is a rock type so the flames won't bother him too much. Geodude, go find Nurse Joy and the Pokémon"
The rock Pokémon flew off with a grunt of 'Geo' going to help. They waited and watched, fortunately he was quick and soon returned with an unconscious Nurse Joy over his shoulder and a small bag full of poke balls in the other.
"Is that everything Geodude?" Geodude nodded "Then I'll take Nurse Joy" Brock said blushing slightly as he took her and carried her bridal style "We've got to hurry; this ship could sink any minute"
Unfortunately Brock soon proved right as the ship groaned the whole thing flipping up hitting them all into the ceiling hard. Ash was the first to recover "Is everyone ok?"
Misty groaned trying to sit up "Yeah, I think so at least"
"We need to hurry, the boats capsized so we can't waste any time!" Brock said standing again still holding the unconscious nurse. Geodude floating besides him with the bag of poke balls.
"We should stay calm, as long as there's air trapped in here it'll take time to fill with water" Misty said standing confidently. "Anyway, we can go up or down"
Ash nodded thinking "So since we're upside down that means we have to go down to get to the deck" they nodded running around and quickly finding the stairs, unfortunately the stairs were flooded with water.
"We could dive, but if we come across a dead end we'll be done for" Brock said looking at the water morosely.
"I got this, after all water is my specialty" Misty boosted holding out a poke ball "Goldeen go" she threw the ball revealing the fish Pokémon "Goldeen go down to the deck, if you find a way back bring something from outside"
"Goldeen" its high pitch voice said before it dived swimming down to explore the ship. It swam quickly, ignoring the luggage and furniture surrounding it as it looked for an exit, but when it finally reached the end of a hallway it found it blocked by a sofa and some items.
It then felt something grab is tail and turned around in a panic "Goldeen!" it was Team Rocket, currently blue and barley conscious as hey floated helplessly in the water.
Ash, Misty and Brock had been waiting a while now and it was getting a little worrying. Even if Goldeen did find a way out if it would take this long it wouldn't be any good. But finally something surfaced. Only it wasn't Goldeen, it was James from Team Rocket; he was completely blue and looked exhausted.
They screamed in fright, not wanting to see a dead person even if he was a member of Team Rocket before with a big push Goldeen pushed out Jessie and Meowth as well. Fortunately they were alive shown by them promptly turning over and vomiting up some water.
"Hey it's the twerps" they jumped up new life flowing through them "We have you cornered now, nowhere to run" they said throwing forward their poke balls to reveal Koffing and Ekans.
Ash looked at them incredulously "You want to try and steal our Pokémon-one of which just save you-when we're on a still sinking ship" he surmised looking at them.
They exchanged glances before with a grunt of fine they returned their Pokémon "We'll work together then, temporarily" they put out their hands for a shake.
Jessie and Ash as de facto leaders shook casually and Brock and James shook. They were both trying to squeeze the other ones hand to cause him pain, and James was winning. Brock clenched his teeth murder in his eyes as the flamboyant man crushed his hand. "It's agreed we work together, so now we just need to escape"
Misty looked up smugly "Leave it to me, I forgot to mention I built once" this caused everyone to gasp in shock "It was a model" this caused everyone to sigh on disappointment, she was being smug because he built a toy ship "That's how I learnt all about the structure of the St Anne, since the way to the deck is blocked we'll have to climb to the bottom of the ship. We can cut a hole in the hull, that's how we'll escape!"
They paused thinking "Well I guess we don't exactly have any better options" Ash reluctantly admitted.
Brock looked up and saw a staircase, only problem was that it was on the floor when they were on the ceiling. This made it difficult to think of a way to use it. "Hm, Geodude, Starmie and Staryu should be able to carry people. So should Fearow" Brock said looking to Geodude "Will you help us out?" it nodded grabbing him as he carried Nurse Joy and taking them both though the hole in the floor.
Ash and Misty released their Pokémon too "Ok, Fearow I need you to carry me up those stairs" Ash pointed and was instantly grabbed in Fearow's claws before being roughly carried up then dropped "Thanks…maybe next time a little more gentle though, also can you get Team Rocket" Misty was already casually floating up on Starmie so didn't need help.
Fearow swooped down and began savagely attacking the trio "No Fearow I didn't mean get them as in attack, they need to be carried too"
"Fearow (I know)" Fearow responded grabbing the whole lot-Meowth holding onto James's leg and taking them up to.
"Great work, return" they then continued walking, trying to navigate the halls by memory since it was so dark that no one could see. Then Ash realised something "Charmeleon come on out" The fire lizard appeared quickly shooting a torrent of flames at Team Rocket "No, we're not fighting right now, I just need you to walk with use so your tail flame will light the way"
Charmeleon nodded not really caring as it walked alongside them. "What are you still doing here?" they froze at the sound of the old voice "The ships sunk, you should all be off by now"
They turned to see the man; he was wearing a sailor's suit and looked very old with thinning bald hair. "You should be off as well"
The man shook his head "I'm the captain; I should go down with my ship!" Ash frowned at this; it was the dumbest thing he had ever heard "You shouldn't be here though"
"We're trying to escape, would you help us?" he nodded taking the lead.
"Based on your being here I assume you plan to cut a hole in the hull and escape though it" they nodded "Alright then, I'll take you to the engine room, it's the thinnest there" he walked briskly making it hard to keep up and they soon reached the room.
There was only one problem. The ceiling-which acted as a floor-was on fire and the stairs across we're broken. Before anyone could speak the captain raised a hand silencing them all "Venusaur carry us across" the large Pokémon appeared on the opposite platform shooting out eight thick vines to carry everyone across. Meowth and Charmeleon had to share one, but Charmeleon decided on to scorch him for invading his personal space since it would hurt Venusaur. He could always do it later after all.
The vines were surprisingly stable, not letting them get near the flames so they didn't have to panic at all. Ash might have even enjoyed it if he wasn't dangling above fire. When they were across the captain remained in control. "Have that Charmeleon of yours cut a hole in the ceiling with fire, and then return it quick if you want it to live"
Ash nodded and turned "Charmeleon, this is important. We need this hole if we're going to escape" Charmeleon nodded, he knew Ash was right and wanted to escape just as badly as anyone else. The bottom of the sea was no place for a fire Pokémon.
He started to cut through the ceiling with flamethrower, quickly forming a square that fell though unleashing a torrent of water. He was glad when Ash returned him to his poke ball since it meant he didn't have to deal with it.
"Let it fill the room for a bit, that way you won't have to fight the current. If you have water Pokémon now's the time for them" Misty nodded throwing out all her Pokémon who appeared ready to swim. The captain returned his Venusaur.
"Don't you have any?" Ash asked although he had a feeling he knew what the captain would say.
"I'm going down with my ship" he then turned and started walking.
"Sorry" Ash said and before the captain could respond Ash had hit him with a hard metal bar knocking him out "But I'm not going to let you die just because you're an idiot"
"Huh…didn't think the twerp had it in him" Jessie whispered to James watching as Ash secured a rope around the unconscious man connecting him to Goldeen.
"Yeah, it's certainly was bold. Although I'm just glad he didn't expect us to do it" they nodded before they noticed something. Misty was using Staryu, Brock was using Starmie and Nurse Joy was being tied to Squirtle.
Misty and Brock didn't comment on what Ash did, the situation was tense enough without them arguing and with the water now up their chests it wasn't a good idea. "Krabby, Magikarp I choose you" Ash said throwing out the two water types and quickly tying them to himself.
"Do you think they'll be strong enough Ash?" Ash looked at them, one was a small crab the other a fish.
"Well the others aren't strong enough for two so… there's only one way to find out" they continued to wait the water now up to Ash's neck "We have to float for a bit" they all nodded swimming higher and higher.
"Um what are we supposed to do?" a very timid blue haired man asked suddenly panicking due to the lack of water types.
"Grab a water type, no more time we have to go" they all took deep breaths as the water stopped entering the room so forcefully and they tried to swim out. Misty was first, then Brock and the unconscious members of their group that we're tied to him and finally Ash.
Ash quickly found he wasn't going fast enough, even when he added in his swimming as hard as he could Magikarp and Krabby simply didn't have enough power. He was going to drown before they made it.
He was glad that the others seemed to be doing fine, the stronger water Pokémon making good pace. Then he saw something, a strange white light coming off Magikarp. Magikarp was trying to evolve, he could see the strain. The raw effort it was taking as Magikarp continued pushing himself to achieve his most powerful form.
His shape stared changing; Ash could feel it all as they were tied together. A powerful tail formed and his head taking shape as he grew bigger and bigger until finally he was strong enough, not only strong enough to get Ash out in time, but strong enough to grab the others helping them to the surface as well.
It had finally happened, Magikarp had evolved.
A/N
I felt now was a good time, I had actually toyed with the idea of leaving it even later but this seemed reasonable. If Magikarp continued being Magikarp forever it would have been really pointless
Please review, I especially want to hear your thoughts on Charmeleon on Charmeleon being semi-obedient.
I think it's reasonable since Ash saved Charmeleon and all it took to tame Charizard was to remind him Ash had save him but then I toned it back to the 'assistant' thing. He doesn't really respect Ash all that much but is willing to work with him since he enjoys battling so much.
Also, I could kill of Team Rocket now so review if you want them to live or not.
Please review