A/N
I recently discovered that what I thought was well established breaks by leaving spaces were being deleted at some point before they got posted leaving no break so from now on this: Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon means a skip in time
The actual chapter begins here
Ash, Misty, Brock and the two unconscious members of their group now were on the former Magikarp's back. Brock was checking on the other two quickly, making sure they were ok before they did anything else.
"It seems like they'll be fine, the body has a natural mechanism so that reacts to the cold water. Even though they were unconscious they should be fine" he reassured but he checked on them anyway "Yep, they'll be fine" Ash nodded seriously, but that soon dissolved as Gyarados's head appeared near him.
Ash was now looking at Gyarados, he had a black upper side, like when he was a Magikarp it was so black it had the effect of sucking in light-Ash couldn't see the underside properly but it looked to the usual tan colour, maybe must a little darker. Its crest was a deep red and the fins were also red although less extreme, almost being pink but still very impressive.
He started petting him laughing happily "You evolved to save me Gyarados" it roared in approval Misty trying to move away, something that was very difficult when the only solid around was Gyarados itself. "Misty what are you doing?"
She chuckled nervously still squirming and even considering jumping in the cold water to put some distance between them "It's nothing really, I just have a little problem with Gyarados is all"
Ash frowned at her not satisfied at all with what she just said. "How can you have a problem with Gyarados? It's a water Pokémon, you should love it" he said still petting the head of the happy Pokémon.
"I just do ok!" she moved about some more still having nowhere to go, she especially didn't like being near its head.
"Misty if you're worried about it losing control you don't have to be, from what I've heard most trainer raised Magikarp are able to maintain perfect control after evolution unless they were poorly trained or under lots of stress" she nodded but Brocks words really weren't all that reassuring to her.
"Hey, don't you think Team Rocket should have surfaced by now?" Brock said looking about and still not seeing them anywhere.
"Maybe they didn't make it" there was a heavy silence in the air, the idea of someone dying not appealing to any of them.
"Whatever happened to them, us sitting here won't help them; we need to get ourselves to land if we want to survive" everyone nodded knowing that Team Rocket weren't the type to be stopped easily, they didn't know how but they would survive. "Gyarados, find land" Gyarados roared and with a nod set off in search of someplace to drop of its many passengers.
Just as they were disappearing on the horizon three irate Team Rocket members rose out of the water wearing oxygen masks connected to tanks. "Great, first they leave us to die them they abandon use when we escape" James said sad at the prospect of being stuck here any longer.
"Oh shut up"
"Guys" Meowth interrupted only to be completely ignored.
"But seriously what are we going to do?"
"Guys"
"We'll figure something out; we are Team Rocket after all"
"Guys!"
"What?" they both yelled turning on the furriest member of their group.
"G-Gyarados" they all turned to see that there were in fact several blue sea serpents that looked really angry.
Pokémon –Pokémon-Pokémon
By the end of the journey both the formally unconscious passengers regained consciousness and were highly confused. Right now, as they approached wha they hoped was a habitable island Ash, Misty and Brock were trying to explain everything.
"So, you say those two from Team Rocket attacked me from behind?" the captain Nurse Joy inspecting his head and checking for any signs of further injury.
Ash nodded a completely serious look on his face "Yeah, there only low down members that we deal with all the time, I'm quite surprised they would attack you like that really"
The old man sighed "You shouldn't have saved me, for a captain it's their duty to go with their ship."
Ash frowned "Sorry for saving you" the man just nodded still looking upset.
"Oh come on, your alive and healthy isn't that all that matters. I'm certainly grateful that they saved us" Nurse Joy said from behind him. He just folded his arms looking stoic, apparently a simple thank you was asking for too much.
Gyarados let out a roar to let them know that they had reached the beach of the island; unfortunately this was perceived as an angry roar by most the occupants of the islands scaring them off. "So…need any help getting somewhere specific?" Brock asked praying that Nurse Joy would need some form of help.
"No, we should be fine. You enjoy yourselves, we just need to report where we are so there no need to trouble yourselves" she said smiling as she and the still silence captain climbed of the Gyarados.
"Really it's no trouble" Brock said blushing wilding as his imagination ran wild.
"We'll be fine, good bye" she turned walking off the captain in tow.
"Well we're on the beach, so we might as well have a little fun"
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
It turns out they were at Maidens Peak, a small village with little to do. They were just wondering around looking for something to do when Ash and Brock saw something that Misty didn't. A beautiful girl, she had long flowing purple hair a red head band and wore a simple white dress. She was looking off the coast looking sad.
"She's beautiful" Brock said dreamily, Ash just sighed. Apparently Brock was in love, again! "Don't you think so Ash?" Ash just shrugged, she was beautiful in a way but he didn't have the same feelings that Brock obviously did. "How can you not think she is the most beautiful thing in the world?" he turned away from his staring at her to yell at Ash.
Ash just shrugged again "There's an even more beautiful girl I see every day" Misty blushed at this, clearly Ash was talking about her, she hadn't expected this but she supposed it was ok that Ash had fallen for her, really it was surprising it didn't happen sooner.
Brock was also too shocked to react and so neither one noticed him getting out his wallet and extracting a picture. "Her names Daisy Oak, she Gary's sister" Brock grabbed the photo looking at the girl critically and Misty hit Ash on the arm "Hey, what was that for?" was there something wrong with him keeping the photo of a pretty girl, he never saw anyone prettier so why not?
"Um…" Why did she hit him on the arm? Did she want Ash to be talking about her? Fortunately Brock saved her.
"While this girl is definitely attractive she could never compare to her!" he pointed dramatically turning to where the girl had been only to find her absent. "Ah, she gone we were supposed to meet and get married" he sulked collapsing to the ground.
"Oh Brock get over it, let's go to the festival" the pair picked him up one arm each and literally dragged him into the festival.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
At the festival Ash and Misty were having a great time, Ash stuffing his face with every kind of sweet he could find and Misty, being the much more mature, simply joined Ash in eating the sweets even though she didn't really want them.
Brock couldn't enjoy it though. He was still thinking about the purple haired woman, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and now she was gone and he had no way of finding her. "Hey you there" he turned smiling brightly expecting to see his future wife.
He didn't see her though, what he saw was actually quite the opposite. It was a short old lady with a cane and only two teeth remaining "Ah, you're not that beautiful" he recoiled so far he fell leaving him at her height.
"Who's not beautiful?" she moved with shocking speed and getting a magnifying glass and looking at Brock's face with it. "Beware, not of an old woman like me but of a beautiful young woman, she carries a cruel fate for you"
Hearing this Misty instantly knew what this was about, her of course! "I must be the beautiful girl, but I would never hurt Brock"
"I was talking about an elegant young woman not some scrawny little blabber mouth like you" Ash barley knew this old lady, but he now knew he was going to like her.
"Scrawny, Grrrr… I'm not just going to stand here and be insulted, let's get outta here" she grabbed Brock by the shirt and grabbing Ash's hand as she stormed off. Brock didn't care though; he was still blabbering about the beautiful woman.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
They were now at the shrine of the maiden's greatest treasure. An old man who was a village elder of some kind was telling them the story of the town's namesake.
"For two thousand years this painting has hung within the shrine of the maiden. Once each year it is removed from the shrine and displayed to the public during this festival" he pulled back a sheet revealing the painting of the beautiful woman.
The painting was beautiful, all in black and white but clearly showing a very beautiful woman waiting. A very familiar beautiful woman "Hey she the woman me and Brock saw" Ash said nudging the older man and only be a little surprised to find him to zoned out to respond. Really who could blame him? This was weird.
Brock, and surprisingly James began pacing forward trying to get a closer look at the painting "Stay back, the woman in this painting perished over two thousand years ago. She was in love with a brave and handsome young man, but he left her to sail away and fight in a war. She told him that she would wait forever, and she did wait for a very long time hoping to see his ship on the horizon. But her true love never returned to that place again, still she waited and waited never moving from that spot until finally her body turned to stone, just like the cliff upon which she stood. To this day she waits for her love to return"
"All I need to know is where this rock is!"
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
Brock forced them to go to the rock after this; actually he seemed not to care if they came really. Ash was pretty sure they could both jump of a cliff and he would be too obsessed with her to even notice.
Now he stood staring at the pretty girl shaped rock, muttering about how beautiful it was. "It's the most beautiful rock I've ever seen" that was saying something after all, he was from Pewter City and was a rock type specialist so he had seen several beautiful rocks in his time.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
It had now been hours, literally hours. Brock was still staring and Ash and Misty were still bored as hell. Ash was beginning to wonder what Brock was thinking, would he try to marry the rock? Or would he simply settle for taking it steady, either way it was insane.
"Let's go back to the festival, this is boring" Misty whined standing up from her seated position Ash following.
"You to go back, I'll wait here a little longer" he spoke quietly, as if trying to avoid waking the statue.
"We're staying at the Pokémon centre by the port, be back by curfew" Ash turned to leave but hesitated "Brock, I know she beautiful but…wouldn't you rather a girl with, you know…a pulse" Brock didn't respond, he just kept staring at the fake woman.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
Brock wasn't back still, the clock had just gone off announcing curfew time yet he was still out. They had left to wait for him in the lobby but he still wasn't here. "I'm getting worried; Brock should be back by now"
Ash frowned; he just knew Brock was still staring at that statue "I'll go look for him"
Unfortunately he was stopped by an angry Nurse Joy "Don't you realise it's your bed time, go to bed this instant. Staying up late is bad for your skin, makes your irritable and ruins your appetite and I won't allow it, so get to bed this instant"
Ash just frowned; he supposed Brock would be fine for one night. They camped out all the time after all, but he still wasn't happy about it.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
The next morning Brock still hadn't returned, Ash wasn't very worried by this either. But that changed when they reached the statue and found Brock absent, and he began to get really worried when they couldn't find Brock no matter how much they searched.
As he was searching he then found them, Team Rocket. "You, you have Brock don't you?"
"Prepare for trouble, and make it double" she impersonated James poorly, her voice being way too deep "Doing this alone is a real drag, to protect he world from devastation, to unite all peoples within our nation. To denounce the evils of truth and love,"
"To extend and reach to the stars above"
"Jessie"
"James" they all started looking around wilding, trying to locate the James by his voice.
"Team rocket blast of at the speed of light"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight" he appeared from with a small cabin next to them launching at the group and falling face first onto the ground.
"Ah, he looks awful" he really did, his eyes had huge black bags under them and he had this weird happy look on his face. Brock fell out shortly after looking the exact same
"Ah, Brock what happened?" the duo just made strange noises unable to think clearly.
"So everything turned out just as I predicted" They turned to see the old lady from yesterday still wearing her signature purple dress smiling at them. "Obviously these two have both seen the ghost of the maiden"
The hysterical pair began yelling about love hugging each other happily. "Ah, there possessed" Ash panicked looking as they continued to fawn over her even though she wasn't here.
"I'll fix this" Jessie stepped forward and Ash gave her some room not sure what she would do. She slapped them, hitting them again and again as hard as she could until they stopped smiling.
"Ah, stop that will you" Brock yelled shuffling away.
"I'm James of Team Rocket" she dropped James roughly.
"He's back" he bounded into the air happily screeching.
"But not to normal" Meowth had a point, which was proved by James's continued prancing about with a strange smile on his face.
"All men who pass this way fall under her spell" she began walking into the room James and Brock had just jumped out of even bothering to gesture for them to follow her since there was no way they wouldn't "It's always the same story, we find them here babbling like idiots the life sucked out of them. It's the work of that maiden's ghost, still waiting for her young solider to return! It's just as I warned you"
"So what? Who cares as long as I can be with her?" Brock asked returning to his dream, like state. Ash waved a hand in front of his face but got no reaction.
"I'm scared you got to help me" James yelled hysterically fighting back tears.
The old woman looked at them both completely seriously "There is only one thing we can do" she raised up some pieces of paper with writing on them "These are o-fuda these should repel her" the old woman explained slapping them onto Brock and James and then the rest of the room.
"However" they turned to see her next to a cash register "I can't just give these away for free you know"
Ash face palmed "Oh well, if it's the only thing that'll help"
"We'll stick them all over the place" Misty finished for him also sticking them up outside.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
By nightfall they had plastered the entire room with the o-fuda, they had spent most there money on it so they really hoped it would work. At first it seemed like they were effective, the old lady's promise being true as no ghost appeared.
That is until a sudden gust appeared blowing them off the outside before getting inside and blowing them around too. "She here"
Brock stood "It's you"
"I've been waiting for you" her voice echoed around the room, a strange ghostly effect that creped James out.
"Yes and I've been waiting too" Brock responded completely ignoring James who was crying next to him.
They started floating, the ghost leaving as they were pulled out the room. "Why? Why aren't the stickers working?"
Jessie and Meowth appeared looking a little sheepish "Maybe because we got them for free"
"Free?"
"It was a two for one deal, we got one free for every set they brought" She pointed at the twerps as she explained her actions. "It was a real bargain"
James looked at them in utter horror "I can't believe that you're letting that ghost get me just because you're both so cheap"
She paused suddenly getting serious "You don't want to go"
"Of course I don't want to go" Who wanted to be taken away by ghosts? He lost his grip being pulled outside with Brock where nobody could reach them.
Bang a shot fired heading straight for the maiden only to pass through her. "Hey girl, you can't take him. You haven't a got a ghost of a chance" Jessie yelled as James was released falling to the beach below.
Surprisingly the strange man was able to grab the cliff pulling himself back up "You really do care"
"It's not because of you; girls like her disgust me always waiting around for her man as if she were his faithful pet. Well I say see you later, there are plenty more fish in the sea"
"Wow, someone like you was able to get a boyfriend" Ash yelled out incredulously, the idea itself insane.
Jessie response though was cut off by the sudden appearance of ghost like figures from behind them. Ash, knowing that they must be Pokémon got out his Pokédex to see what kind "No Pokémon entry found"
Or maybe they weren't Pokémon. They flew towards them never making contact but successfully scaring them into a huddle of fear, Misty clinging to Ash for safety "Still searching" he moved it around, letting it scan more and more of the ghosts until it finally landed on the maiden "Pokémon entry found. Gastly, a Ghost Pokémon. It is usually invisible. Its specialty is Hypnosis."
"So you finally figured it out…sometimes I'm the ghost of the two thousand year old maiden, and sometimes I'm the mysterious old woman" she shape shifted her voice changing as she became the old woman who had 'helped' them "But no matter the disguise I'll always be" she shape shifted moving to where the other ghosts were fading them out "Awfully Gastly"
Ash just smiled "Well, if you're a Pokémon that means I can battle you. Gyarados go" he threw the ball the large sea serpent appearing with a mighty roar.
"My hypnotic powers can work on other Pokémon too, I can even look like their trainers" Ash didn't have to wait long for this to be explained as it changed to look exactly like him "Gyarados, look it's those Team Rocket losers let's make them blast off"
Gyarados nodded turning towards them and charging an orb in his mouth "No Gyarados we're working with them this time" he paused hesitating as his other master spoke.
"Gyarados, Team Rocket is evil we would never work with them" the poor sea serpent looked between the two before coming to a conclusion. It turned unleashing the powerful dragon rage attack on Team Rocket blasting them off.
"Team Rockets blasting off for no reason" They called as they disappeared on the horizon.
"…Eh" Ash said not really all that bother that is until.
"Now Gyarados, destroy the fake me. It's a Gastly" Gyarados nodded turning to Ash and preparing another attack, Ash didn't react. He just looked at Gyarados, knowing that he would see through it.
"Um, Ash…in case you haven't noticed he's trying to kill us" Misty screamed grabbing the boy and pulling but he refused to move.
"Misty, don't worry. Gyarados and I have been together a long time, he knows me and he knows I would never order him to kill a Pokémon unnecessarily" he saw his strongest Pokémon falter for a second before his eyes regained focus and he continued charging the attack.
"No Gyarados, he's dangerous. Don't let him live" the fake Ash yelled pointing dramatically.
Ash still didn't react, waiting until the attack was at its most crucial point. Misty trying to pull him away the whole time but he resisted. "Dammit Ash, if I die because of you I'll never forgive you" she yelled still pulling at him.
He looked at her blankly "If you don't trust me why don't you just leave by yourself"
She looked at him blankly "Because…you owe me a bike" even she did believe this one, but he just nodded still making eye contact with Gyarados. It was weird watching the two stare at each other, it was like they were trying to communicate without speaking.
He didn't break eye contact ever, just watching as the attack reached its full power and Gyarados got ready to fire it "Now" he spoke quietly but with heart, the command getting though Gyarados turned and released the dragon rage attack on Gastly.
"What? No my illusion was perfect!" he tried to stop it but it exploded on contact leaving him unable to battle. "This isn't possible; I spent years perfecting my illusions" Ash smiled when he said this, he was glad Gyarados didn't accidently overdo it.
Ash walked over to it calmly "You can replicate my voice, my appearance but it won't be enough. Me and Gyarados are friends, we have a bond that you could never replicate" Ash explained proudly petting the large creature when it smiled next to him.
Dong-dong-dong the ghost jumped up apparently not nearly as injured as it let on "Ah, sunlight I may be a Pokémon but I still hate sunlight. Don't forget the maidens ghost, she and the old hag will return next year" he didn't seem to have been effected nearly as much as Ash thought disappointing him, he really wanted to catch a Gastly.
"Wow…Ash that was amazing" Misty said without thinking, the fact they were no longer in danger all she could think about.
Ash smiled "Yeah, to be completely honest I didn't know if that would work myself. It was really just a gut feeling"
Misty stared at him horrified "You bet our lives on a 'gut feeling'" he nodded still petting Gyarados.
"Yep, I was actually really nervous after he blasted Team Rocket off. But I guess he just doesn't like them"
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
After this the festival went on, Team Rocket return-Ash had no idea how and didn't bother asking-and were now playing various instruments. Lots of people were dancing but Ash didn't join them, he hated dancing and would never do it voluntarily. Instead he was looking into ghost Pokémon, specifically Gastly.
The information was underwhelming to say the least, it just had a little bit on type advantages and disadvantages and that it evolved into Haunter then Gengar. But still it was interesting, they were incredibly rare so he knew he would have to catch one!
"Sorry I'm late" he looked up to see Misty in her pink flowery kimono, her hair was down just about reaching her shoulders and she held a small fan. Ash didn't realise but he was staring, again.
Misty did notice, and was a little surprised. He muttered something under his breath but she didn't hear. If she had heard she would have been much more embarrassed by what he said than the staring made her.
"So um…let's dance" Ash just nodded blankly letting her take his hand and lead him to the floor.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
The three Pokémon trainers were now back on the road, heading towards Saffron City and Ash's next gym badge. After a short journey they had now arrived at a small village near a steep cliff to the ocean. It was a wonderful place; large open fields filled with Butterfree were all around them.
In fact there were lots of Butterfree. Actually it was a little weird how many there were, all dancing around each other and looking happy while people-presumably their trainers-watched from the side talking and occasionally pointing.
"The Butterfree are celebrating their season on love…according to the map…yep this town is Butterfree village. This place has a lot of breeders who specialise in Butterfree; trainers come here so that they can have their Butterfree breed with one of the breeders Butterfree. Their thought to be the best mates possible" Brock explained watching the Butterfree happily dancing with each other.
"Hey Ash, maybe you should call Professor Oak and get Metapod" Misty suggested, she really didn't want to see Metapod but knew that this was important.
"But Metapod won't be able to breed yet, not unless he's evolved while with Professor Oak" Ash thought aloud glancing at Brock who nodded in confirmation.
"Still, we need to go to the Pokémon centre anyway so you could at least check" Brock said walking towards the building the others soon following.
Ash smiled as he looked at all the other Butterfree dancing together. They looked happy, it was nice. He had never really thought about leaving his Pokémon with a breeder, but then when he thought about it that was basically the same as leaving them with Professor Oak. He had been taking care of Metapod for a while now, Ash only saw Metapod if he called up and had a transfer done, so it was essentially the same thing.
As they walked into the centre Ash was still thinking, it was like being on auto-pilot as he ignored Brock's terrible attempt to flirt with Nurse Joy and called Professor Oak. He was only snapped out of it when the elderly man finally appeared on the screen. "Hello Ash, it's been a while, did you call for a particular reason?"
"Hello Professor, I was wondering if Metapod had evolved" Ash explained watching as the old man turned and grabbed a poke ball.
"Sorry Ash but he hasn't, if you want him to evolve he will need more time or to be in battles more often. I would say he's close though, why do you want to know?" he released the Pokémon into his arms moving him so he was more in the screen.
"Hi Metapod" the Pokémon said its own name in response, due to its lack of features it was hard to tell if it was happy or not. "It's great to see you, I was wondering if you've evolved yet because it's some breeding event here and Brock said that if you had evolved you could participate"
The Pokémon began wriggling repeating its name over and over again. "Hn, it appears Metapod might want to go after all" Professor Oak noted getting a nod from the Pokémon in response "Would you like me to make the transfer?"
"Ok, should I send you a Pokémon then?" Ash asked realising that he would have eight Pokémon with him if he didn't.
"That's would be a good idea, can I ask for Clefairy. It's a very rare Pokémon and I would love to study it but unfortunately none of the other trainers have managed to capture one yet" Ash smiled at this, if none of the other trainers had managed to capture one that meant that Gary hadn't managed to capture one which meant he had beaten Gary.
"Ok professor, I'll make the transfer on my end now. Would you like Gyarados as well" he smirked as Professor Oak rushed towards the screen looking like a happy child.
"Do you mean you've done it? You've finally gotten Magikarp to evolve" Ash nodded proudly holding up the ball and making the top go transparent so that Gyarados was visible "It happened when the St Anne sunk, he evolved to save me"
The professor was now bouncing around happily at the news "That's great Ash! I knew you could do it, evolving a Magikarp isn't easy but you did, and in great time too! Would you like to do the transfers now" even as he asked he was already setting up on his end putting in Metapod's poke ball.
"Ok professor, but how long will you want Gyarados for? I have a gym battle coming up so I don't want to have to wait too long" Ash said as he entered in the labs information to the transfer system.
"Don't worry, I just want to have a look, take a sample or two and try to figure something's out it shouldn't take too long" he assured as he started the transfer the poke balls being levitate by electricity into the machine before a single one was deposited. They both checked the balls quickly. "All good on my end"
"Mine too" Ash said looking at his Metapod's ball before releasing him. "I've got to go now bye" Ash turned the call off after Oak said a quick 'bye' as it was quiet clear he wasn't really paying attention to him anymore, the two rare Pokémon in his hands being far more interesting.
Ash turned to see that Misty and Brock were no longer with him. He found them quickly though, as they talked to a tall woman with a pink Butterfree. "Yes it is very rare for this colouring to manifest, that's why I have to ensure that Butterfree only breeds with the best Butterfree around to make the healthiest offspring possible"
The woman had long brown hair tied in a ponytail; she was about thirty and wore a simple outfit.
"Hi guys, I got Metapod" Ash said walking towards them cradling the green Pokémon like a baby.
"Here's Ash" Misty said grabbing the boy and pulling him near so that Metapod was more visible "So, is Metapod good enough?" the woman looked at the green Pokémon appraising and seemed to be genuinely interested as she continued to inspect the Pokémon.
"Metapod is definably in great condition but…I'm sorry, I'm looking for a Butterfree to breed with" She said the Pokémon that was now sitting on her head nodding. Hearing this Ash frowned and was about to say something when he noticed that the Pokémon in his arms had begun to glow.
He then watched in awe as the very shape of his Pokémon changed taking on the form of a Butterfree whilst still glowing, its large powerful wings forming as it let out a joyous cry of victory. "I-I don't believe it" Ash said looking at his newly evolved Pokémon as it approached the pink Butterfree.
The woman just laughed "It's not all that uncommon, every year dozens of trainers bring Metapod's here for them to evolve" Ash nodded watching as his Pokémon began to dance. "Oh, I'm sorry my names Jordon, it's a pleasure to meet you"
Ash shook her extended hand "I'm Ash, your Butterfree's great"
"Thank you, yours is very healthy as well" she watched as her Butterfree continued to stand still while Ash's did everything it could to gain its attention. "But I'm sorry; it appears my Butterfree doesn't want yours as a mate"
"Why not? You just said Butterfree was great" Ash complained watching as his Butterfree sadly flew back.
"If my Butterfree had accepted it they would have danced together, I'm sorry but mating is very serious for Pokémon. It can't be taken lightly" the two Butterfree's parted ways Ash's quickly flying away "I'm sorry I have to go" she waved over her shoulder as she ran after her Pokémon.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
Finding Butterfree was hard, he had flown into the woods so they had to look for all the trees searching desperately for their sad companion but they finally found him sitting behind a tree with big wet eyes.
"It was rejected by someone it loves, it's a terrible feeling. I could write a book about the secrets of love and heart ache!" Brock yelled dramatically looking about ready to cry out of sympathy.
"So I guess that book would be your autobiography" Brock deflated and Ash briefly though he would cry out of self-pity.
"Listen up Butterfree, love is all about attacking your opponent first. Get in a quick punch and surprise them, then when there still weak take the lead and you'll beat them hands down. Trust me I know, that's the best way to win" Ash was horrified this, she made love sound like beating someone up. Did that meant Misty had been flirting with him this whole time? He shuddered at the thought.
"You mean it?" Misty nodded proudly "Ah, I wish I knew that sooner" Brock said planning to be even more annoying-or as he saw it romantic-towards women from now on.
Ash decided to just ignore this, he didn't know a lot about love but he now knew that if Misty ever fell in love with him it would be horrible, he really couldn't think of anything scarier at that moment. He rooted in his pocket finding his Pokédex "I bet Dexter can help" typing in the information.
"Dexter has never been in love Ash, he won't be able to help"
"I can help." Dexter said in a monotone Ash shooting Misty a smug look as he pushed Pokémon mating "Pokémon are often attracted to strong Pokémon, one way of gaining a mate would be to show this strength. This should be done by fighting other males, do not fight the desired female as this rarely goes well"
Ash nodded pocketing the device "Great that means all we need is a Pokémon battle"
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
Finding a battle partner was actually a lot easier than Ash had expected. As soon as they re-entered the village they noticed a large battle field set up with an announcer yelling into his microphone about the battle.
"Today the tenth annual Butterfree village Butterfree tournament will begin, anyone can participate but only Butterfree are can battle" he explained shooting a glare to a trainer who had the audacity to turn up with a Beedrill, naturally this trainer left quickly his head down in shame.
"Well…that's convenient, I'll go sign you up Ash" Brock said surprising Ash; the behaviour was explained quickly though when he saw a beautiful woman was behind the counter.
"Your eyes, there so blue just like how I'm so blue when I'm not with you!" Brock yelled grabbing the woman and crying dramatically as he professed his love for her.
"Misty…this is all, your fault" she opened her mouth to retort, but there was no way this was a coincidence.
"He'll grow out of it" she muttered hopefully as she walked over grabbing the boy by the ear to restrain him. "You're supposed to be getting Ash signed up not hitting on women"
Ash just sighed, his journey just got a little more annoying.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
Apparently the tournament wasn't that big, only two rounds before Ash could battle the champion. He got though them with minor difficulty and was soon against his final opponent, the trainer who claimed to be a Butterfree master.
The Butterfree master had dark skin, a deep voice and wore all black. From his shirt to his trousers, his gloves and shoes too, everything was black.
He claimed to be the best Butterfree trainer around; Ash was hoping his claim wasn't accurate though. His Butterfree was now staring down the other waiting for the referee to tell them they could begin. "Battle begin"
"Butterfree use poison powder" Ash commanded watching as his Pokémon began flapping its wings a thick purple cloud coming out of them and heading for the other Pokémon. The other trainer laughed for a second before giving his order.
"Counter with confusion" the powder started glowing blue before being hurled back at Butterfree. He squealed in pain as he fell a little before regaining control and steadying himself.
"Don't give up, try tackle" Butterfree nodded heading straight for the Pokémon, but the Butterfree master didn't give an order. He connected hitting the Pokémon and sending him back but there was still no order. Ash didn't know why he wasn't giving any order, but he knew it wasn't a good sign. He decided to change strategy "Now use gust"
Butterfree flew back a little before beginning to flap its wings to form the powerful air currents "Counter with whirlwind" the Butterfree master's Butterfree nodded flapping its wings much harder and forming a more aggressive wind.
The attack went straight thought Butterfree's overpowering it and heading straight for the Pokémon. But just when it was about to connect Butterfree dodged, gaining gasps from everyone.
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On the side-lines Misty was confused by everyone's shock as well. "Why would they be surprised?"
Jordan just smiled noticing the slight blush appearing on her pink Pokémon's face "It's very unusual; Butterfree's gust must have been very powerful to reduce the strength of whirlwind by so much. No other Butterfree has ever been able to avoid the attack, usually it's to large"
Misty nodded looking at the battle again, Ash was still on the defensive but he was hanging in there.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
The Butterfree master-Ash still didn't know his name-seemed to be getting excited as he continued to command his Butterfree. He was now mimicking the moves, flapping his arms when his Butterfree flapped his wings and yelling rather than talking.
It was weird to watch. But Ash didn't say anything; he didn't have time to as he was constantly ordering Butterfree. If he stopped focusing for even a second he would be defeated and the Butterfree master would win.
"Butterfree use swift" the master yelled jumping slightly as he did.
"Dive to avoid it" Ash's Pokémon obeyed diving wholeheartedly to avoid the barrage of stars as they flew right to where it had been previously.
"End this, use hyper beam" the attack charge quickly, going straight for Butterfree as it neared the ground.
"Lie flat on the ground" his Pokémon did, going as flat as it could allowing the powerful concentrated energy to pass by it and hit the ground behind it instead "Now before he can recover, sleep powder" Butterfree flew in close, his opponent unable to resist as the powder hit it its eyes drifting shut as it descended to the floor and began to sleep.
"Snore" Ash paused wondering what the strange command was, but he didn't have to for long as a horribly loud noise sounded from the sleeping Pokémon causing everyone even those in the audience to grab their ears in pain and hurting Butterfree greatly.
"Don't give up Butterfree, end this with confusion" the enemy Butterfree glowed blue in sync with Ash's Butterfree's eyes as it was lifted from the ground.
"Sleep talk now" his Pokémon started moving, its eyes glowing pink as a powerful moved formed. It looked straight at Butterfree as the powerful Psybeam formed as pink light heading straight for Ash's defenceless Pokémon.
It hit Butterfree right in the chest, ending the confusion attack and sending him to the ground. His emergency recall didn't activate, but that didn't matter. It was clear the battle was over. Ash walked onto the stage to check on the Pokémon hearing the referee announces the Butterfree master as the winner as he did so.
"You were great Butterfree, you should be very proud" the Pokémon didn't look it though as it continue to lie still looking sad.
"You really were great" a deep powerful voice said, Ash looked up to see the source of the voice was the Butterfree master. "Such a close battle is very unusual, it's truly miraculous" he said leaning down to look at Ash's Butterfree.
The crowd was applauding loudly, pleased by the mutual respect of the two trainers. It was so loud that Ash didn't notice his friends approaching until a hand on his shoulder made him. He turned to see it was Mist who was looking down at his sympathetically. "That was great Ash; I really thought you would win for a second"
Ash nodded but didn't say anything; he didn't know what he should say at a moment like this. Then he noticed that the pink Butterfree was still there, now sitting next to Ash's and saying something he didn't understand. "It appears that someone made an impression"
Ash was confused by this "Butterfree did great, but I thought he would have to win to prove he was strong enough"
The Butterfree master laughed whole-heartedly at this, his large chest bouncing as he did. "Beating me with a Butterfree that evolved so recently is near enough impossible. You doing so well showed that your Butterfree is an extremely powerful one. Her Butterfree should be attracted to it, mine has already began to breed after all"
Jordan nodded smiling as Ash's Butterfree and hers began to do the courtship dance together showing that they had accepted each other as their mates. The announcer then walked onto the stage, raising the Butterfree masters hand into the air.
"This year's winner is the Butterfree master; his prize will be a year's supply of specially formulated Butterfree food" he announced before grabbing Ash who had been ready to walk off the field "And in second place is Ash Ketchum, who put up a great battle, let's hear it for them folks"
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Ash, Brock and Misty now stood outside Jordan house; it was a small pink house with lots of Butterfree flying around it and a nice well maintained front garden. His Butterfree was standing next to its new mate with tears in its eyes.
"Take good care of Butterfree for me ok" Ash said handing the woman the poke ball she just nodded simply before taking a step back to give him some space "Butterfree, this is no different than being at Professor Oak's lab. We'll see each other again soon"
It was weird, Butterfree nodded and Ash felt like he was telling the truth. But they both still had watery eyes. He and Jordan had already agreed to make transfers for battle and at any other time when Ash needed Butterfree. But it still felt different.
It was different. When he left a Pokémon with Professor Oak it was more a case of leaving them there until the end of Ash's journey. There was always the knowledge that, once Ash had become a master he would see them again. But now, with Butterfree it was different. Even when it was all over they wouldn't be seeing each other very often as he would be staying with his mate.
A tear travelled down his face as Butterfree stood next to his mate tears already streaming down his face. "I'm going to miss you a lot" Ash admitted hugging the Pokémon "But this is something you have to do, I want you to have babies and be happy so if this is the only way to do that then so be it"
They both tried to be brave, to help each other though it but it wasn't working. The female pink Butterfree stepped forward saying something to Butterfree making him stop crying. Ash chose this moment to stand. Jordan stepped forward again, smiling at Ash softly.
"Don't worry, I'll take great care of your Butterfree" she said ignoring Ash's sad expression. "I'll even give you a call when the Caterpie are out, and send you lots of pictures too" Ash nodded watching as she then turned walking back into the house's doorway the two Butterfree following.
"I'm going to miss you a lot Butterfree" Ash said waving as he walked through the gate to try to catch up to his friends. He wiped away the single tear that had escaped and smiled as he continued waving to his Pokémon "I'll never forget you"
It wasn't long until they were out of sight and they stopped the goodbye. Ash's arms fell to his side limply at this. He sighed sadly as memories of Butterfree went through his mind, some from when he was just a little Caterpie all the way to when he became a Butterfree.
As he remembered he felt something grab his hand, he looked down to see another small hand now entwined with his. When he followed it to the source he saw Misty, she smiled softly at him and continued to walk. No words of comfort were needed, the simple reminder of her presence enough to act as comfort to Ash.
Brock saw this and smiled, deciding to remain silent and keep his distance for a while. He would definitely bring this up later, but for now he decided to leave it and just let Ash be happy for a while.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
Ash and his friends now stood outside Saffron City gym, a gym that was believed to be very difficult. Ash knocked on the door, only for it to open on its own. He looked to Brock and Misty but they just shrugged so they walked in.
"Ash, this is one of the highest ranked gyms. Are you sure trying to get your forth gym badge here is such a good idea?" Brock question looking around nervously, they still hadn't seen anyone and it was giving him the creeps.
"How can I become a powerful trainer if I'm too scared to battle strong opponents?" Ash countered still walking down the incredibly long hallway searching for anyone but they were now running out of light.
"A brave one …just as my vision foretold" they all looked around for the source of the voice but couldn't see the source, it sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once. "Do not be alarmed" they suddenly felt a weird sensation before everything disappeared quickly benign replaced by what appeared to be a kitchen.
A teenager with dark hair in a kimono stepped forward "Would you like something to eat? I can sense your all very hungry" this put everyone on edge, her knowing this was every unnatural so no one trusted it…except Ash.
"That would be great" he accepted the bowl of rice and began eating happily "Thank you, this is delicious" she giggled slightly when Brock and Misty balked, shocked by Ash's stupidity.
"Ash you shouldn't accept food from strangers, it could be poisoned!" Misty felt the strange woman's gaze on her "Although you seem very nice, so I guess its ok" she drifted off awkwardly taking a seat next to Ash but deliberately not eating.
"So, I'm guessing you're the gym leader" Ash said still eating but glancing up to look at her.
"Yes" she paused for a second before talking "I am the gym leader the man you spoke to described" Ash looked up at her in shock "Yes I did just read your mind, sorry I have a habit to do that it's a little hard to turn off. Your mind was particularly easy to read as well"
Misty chuckled pushing Ash's shoulder to get his attention "Heh, I bet it's because there's nothing going on inside that big empty head huh" Ash frowned shooting her a weak glare before continuing to eat.
"Usually how easy it is to read the mind of someone is linked to psychic skill, most people are easy to read because they have no trained but Ash is partially easy, there was no resistance at all" she explained sitting and eating a little herself. "Oh, I forgot the soy source" she raised her hand in the air and it promptly appeared "Oh dear, you must think I'm a total flake"
Ash just chuckled taking it and pouring some onto his food as she laughed too. "Yes I am a psychic trainer, a good assumption" she responded to Ash's thought before he could say them "Yes I do have other powers, sometimes I can see the future. In fact just recently I had a vision of a handsome trainer coming to me to help him learn about his psychic powers; unfortunately no handsome travellers have arrived yet"
She looked at the sour expression on Ash's face and noticed Brocks matched "Oh, um…I meant no handsome travellers closer to my age, you're a couple years to old Brock and Ash is too young" she explained awkwardly not making eye contact.
Brock nodded, she had a point. He was quiet visibly older than her, not to mention he always had a taste for older women. She clearly was attractive but he felt he would get on better with a Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny; mature women were definitely his dream.
Sabrina wished she couldn't read minds as she was bombarded by Brocks perverted thoughts one after the other scaring her slightly "Brock you do remember that I can read minds right?"
His thoughts stopped dead as he turned blushing "Oh, uh...you didn't see anything to bad right" he asked his thoughts now pure screaming. She just nodded before turning her attention back to Ash.
"I would be happy to have a gym battle" Ash smiled, he was getting more and more comfortable with her reading his mind so it didn't bother him to much, he just had to be careful what he thought so he didn't have an experience like Brock just had.
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
They now stood on opposite ends of the battle field in raised trainer's boxes. Ash had called Professor Oak and had Gyarados returned so was using him in his first gym battle since his evolution while she used a Kadabra.
"Kadabra, a Psychic Pokémon. The evolved form of Abra. It employs powerful telekinetic attacks." That was apparently all the Pokédex knew but Ash didn't mind.
"Ok, Gyarados start off with bite" the large sea serpent launched forward jaws ready heading headfirst for he opponent. But must when it looked like it was going to make contact Kadabra disappeared causing Gyarados to hit into the floor hard. "Teleport huh, ok in that case try hydro pump attack"
Gyarados turned effortlessly shooting a powerful torrent of water at the psychic type Pokémon, but instead of teleporting out the way like Ash expected instead Kadabra raised his hands forming a blue aura around the attack and sending it back at Gyarados. "Gyarados quick hydro pump again"
But, once again Ash's plan failed, as Kadabra and Gyarados both began to glow blue, making Gyarados unable to protect itself from its own attack that connected perfectly throwing Gyarados into the air roughly.
"Gyarados are you ok?" the giant Pokémon tried to stand again but the blue glow wasn't gone and it was once again force to the ground. "Gyarados return, you were great…next time I'll just need to place a little better" Ash said to the ball where his injured Pokémon rested.
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Ash now sat at the dining table with Sabrina and his 'friends' one of which seemed to have made it her mission to mock him. They were eating a nice meal, rice and some other basics that Sabrina had made with the help of Brock it really would be nice if it wasn't for Brock.
"You really shouldn't feel too bad, psychic Pokémon are very rare and are no easy to battle against" Sabrina consoled as she ate her rice a small calm smile of on her features. "Perhaps you should stay at the gym for a while; by watching other trainers lose you may be able to come up with a better strategy"
Ash grinned slightly "I would rather see trainers win" he pointed out and was surprised when she started laughing.
"Ash, I'm the second highest ranked gym. Since the beginning of this year I've given out eight gym badges, other than that I always win" she explained-bragged-as she ate.
Ash couldn't believe it "You've lost eight times"
She shook her head and he smiled "One of them was a draw but since the trainer tried to hard I gave him the badge, so I've only really lost seven times" Ash face-palmed, that was not the answer he was hoping for.
"We told you that gym rankings are important Ash, Lt Surge is the highest rank you've beaten so far and he's only in the top thirty percent" Brock said reading a little book that probably had all the rankings. "Maybe you should try a lower ranking gym"
Ash frowned "I'm not going to just battle the lowest ranked gym"
"You already have" he quirked and eyebrow at this combined with Misty's fearful expression "Based on the most recent results Cerulean is in last place, probably because they give away so many badges" Brock explained showing Ash the book. He looked up at Misty and grinned.
"This isn't my fault my sisters run the gym" he continued grinning shaking his head as well for emphasis "If I was in charge my gym would be the top, no question" she crossed her arms and huffing but Ash just kept grinning.
Sabrina giggled at the antics of the childish duo before standing up and turning to face her assistant "Excuse me, I believe I have a phone call" the assistant nodded "Thank you I'll get it now" she walked out grabbing the phone. When she answered the phone she was shocked by what she heard that 'it' was back.
"I'll be there as soon as I can"
Pokémon-Pokémon-Pokémon
A week later Ash and his friends were at the hospital, they weren't there because they were injured. They were there because Sabrina had been found injured and taken to the hospital and was now in a coma.
"What happened to her?" Ash asked his eyes completely focused on her.
"Sabrina has fallen victim to the dream eater attack" a man in military fatigues with blond hair told them. "She was trying to protect us" he gestured to the rest of the group who were dressed similarly.
"You see, there a powerful Gengar in this area call Black Fog. It appeared suddenly about a year ago, it suddenly appears steals the souls of its victims and then it's gone" the man who was presumably the leader explained.
"Many have given up fighting it; they view it as a natural disaster like a hurricane. But we aren't ready to give up yet; we made a vow to keep fighting till the bitter end. Sabrina made the same vow a year ago, when Black Fog killed all her Pokémon"
Ash looked at Sabrina, the girl who had been so nice to him this whole time. She looked so peaceful, so calm now that she was recovering. 'I can't believe that such a sweet girl could be so consumed by desire for revenge'
A pen beside Sabrina began moving at writing on a piece of paper 'Lavender town' as her Abra focused. "It's Sabrina, she communicating though telepathy" the leader said holding the pad "She telling us where to find Black Fog"
"If she's able to use telepathy that must mean she's still alive right?" Ash asked looking towards the man hopefully.
"One man was brought back from a dream eater attack five days after it occurred, but the Pokémon had to be defeated first. Since Sabrina's a psychic that must mean she has a better chance than normal"
Ash smiled throwing his fist in the air "Great, so all we've got to do is catch Black Fog"
Brock grabbed him angrily "Don't be such an idiot, you can't catch a Pokémon like that"
Ash lowered his hat a little "Well, it's a Pokémon right. So to catch it all we need is a really good poke ball" Brock was about to yell some more but was cut off by the laughter of the captain.
"I can't believe we never thought of that, it is a Pokémon so we should be able to capture it. Theoretically at least" Ash smiled, they were going to save Sabrina. He would save Sabrina no matter what it took.
Even if the only way to save her was by capturing Black Fog he would do it.
A/N
So this is another part that is based on electric tales rather than the anime, this is mainly because the anime and most manga's have Sabrina be evil so I thought I would follow the less common electric tales version of her where she nice-although I made her a little less nice.
Review response
Guest: don't worry I haven't forgotten about Black Magikarp, now that he's evolved he will be Ash's main/strongest Pokémon, it's just hard to find situation where it would be even somewhat appropriate to use a Magikarp
Noshadowone: Thank you for all the feedback, Team Rocket will be captured quiet often. But one thing a lot of stories over look is that they get captured in the anime a few times as well, they suck as Pokémon thieves but are at least decent escape artistes (They are also decent thieves of other things although it is rarely shown).
I'm glad you like some of the other changes like Forrest and Paras; sometimes I change things with the aim ending at being different. The less in common with the norm the more interesting it will be (I hope).
Team Rocket will be getting worse and worse, they aren't going to be minor villainous group with another taking over although others do exist (Obviously) I'm actually a little surprised at the idea of them being viewed as just thieves, I thought it they were viewed as terrorists in all media (The anime tones it down but it's still there) but I suppose each author decided for himself.
Like the idea for Meowth, but I'm not sure yet…it may not be possible to fit it organically, not sure what would happen when it evolved a Persian on two legs would look weird.
The idea of Pokémon sharing was more to improve them as trainers so they work with more Pokémon don't worry, Ash won't be fighting any gym battles with Starmie and Misty will be very independent as well. This way just ensures that they both grow better; Squirtle might be used by Ash. I do have a question though, why would a trainer be able to bond with multiple Pokémon when a Pokémon can't bond with multiple trainers? Sometimes Ash may use her Pokémon in other circumstances (If she isn't able to) the advantage of Pokémon sharing he'll be able to use them effectively but again I'll try to not have this happen too often. This was just another thing that I haven't seen done before so I tried it, it also annoyed me how Ash was so rude to Misty when she offered in canon.
Venusaur will appear but much later, Ash has recently gained two very powerful Pokémon and I don't want him to grow too much too fast and become unstoppable like he is in some stories (He's still got a lot of failures in his future, like Sabrina and the 'Butterfree master (I know I can't do name)' beating him in this chapter) but I have a question Venusaur or Meganium, I like Meganium since it comes from Chikorita which was one of my favourite Ash Pokémon just because it's so embarrassing when it goes to cuddle him rather than fight.
Rin'negan Naruto: Hmm, good point…since everyone was so neutral with regard to this decided to keep them alive but they will only appear when it's interesting (So not hugely often)
QUEENSPELLER67: I have gone back and fixed the errors, thanks for pointing them out although the 'streaker' thing was deliberate Ash makes the same mistake in the episode where he catches Muk so I thought it would be a good embarrassing thing for him to say. Don't worry about Giselle there are no major plans for her right now, I find her annoying too but in the electric tales they are shown together somewhere so I thought that they might be travelling together.
Thank you to all my reviews and please continue to review with opinions good or bad so I can improve the story or just a simple 'good chapter' is very motivating too. Also your thoughts on the change to Butterfree's leaving-although it's not truly gone it's about the same as with Charizard- and everything else that has happened in this chapter would be appreciated.