The beginning was short because it had to be. I said last chapter that I had originally intended it to be long but well, I didn't want you guys to fall asleep or something, not that I think you do, do you!? -presses face to screen- Ahem, well, just to make this clear, I do not and will never own Pokemon but if I did…hehehe, I'd keep Misty in the group for sure throughout all of the seasons, provided if I pay the voice actor of her. Also, Ash would mature slowly over time. I heard Ash's new VA. It's just not the same.
A/N: Yup, revised. I told you in the first chapter. Anyways, those of you reading this again just to figure out what the heck's been going on in VF, I've done a slight change to Misty. Yes, her hair as you can see, I can't really imagine it long because well, it'd feel as if I'd have to change her character a bit as well. But I do like long hair Misty, I do! I just had no idea that the reason she appeared to have long hair was because of a clip-on in those episodes. So Misty still has her trademark hair. I can't get rid of a trademark now can I?
Viridian Fall
Chap. 2: Towards the New Horizon
Ash looked around as the both of them walked along the road. Route 1 hasn't changed since he had last walked it. His eyes then wandered riskily to Misty, whom seemed to not notice them. Although it had been almost a year since they had seen each other, it felt like a thousand since. She had changed in the one year to his surprise. She wore an outfit that seemed like a combination of her old and recent clothes. The top had blue buttons at the top, which was sleeveless with collars. but it was not the usual suspenders she used to wear back when they traveled together, blue shorts that had a white buckle and orange sneakers as he slowly looked up at her figure. She had really changed in the past year, appearing more, what was the word? Well, he couldn't think of the word but he was certain she was that. Her hair was tied up in that trademark style of hers but he really wished that she would let it down. When he looked at her eyes, he soon felt this strange feeling hit him hard. Misty turned to him with a confused look on her face.
"Ash, is something wrong?"
"!"
He turned his head away quickly, hiding his blush. "U-Uh, n-no!" as he quickly changed the subject. "So I wonder what it is that Prof. Oak wanted Tracey to deliver?" he said, glad to change the subject.
"Yeah, I wonder why Tracey hasn't called? Oh no," as she clasped her hand over her mouth. "Did something terrible happen to him!?"
Ash gave her a look that meant, 'What the heck are you talking about?' as she turned to him. She told him about how Kanto had recently become a bit more dangerous while he was gone due to Team Rocket. "Oh, so you're saying that Team Rocket aren't gonna sit around any longer and watch us stop them?" as he thought about how worried she was over Tracey. "Don't tell me that she--"
"Ash, are you even listening to me!?"
He nodded, though he wondered since when did Team Rocket begin taking drastic measures? He turned to her as they continued walking, unbeknownst to two old faces watching them from a distance.
"What do you know? It's that black haired twerp and his Pikachu." the blonde said. Her partner, a teal haired man peered through his binoculars as well.
"Yeah and he's with that redheaded twerp too!" as the blonde suddenly got something mischievous up her sleeves. She turned to her partner.
"Butch, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
The teal haired man's ears perked up. "Wait, what did you say?"
"I said, Bootch are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
The man frowned at that. "Cassidy!"
"I was just joking, Butch, jeez, can't you take a joke. Anyways, like I said before…"
"About them…?" he asked, catching on. She smirked and nodded.
"That's right. Just imagine how stoked the Boss would be if we brought two of the most annoying twerps ever to ruin ours and Team Rocket's operations?"
Butch thought about it and he returned it with a grin. "I see where you're going, Cassidy."
"Say Misty."
"Huh?"
Ash had to point it out. It was bugging him in his head for a while since they had left. "Where's your bike?"
"M-My bike?" "He knows!" as she turned forward to avoid eye contact. Ash could suspect something was up but he wanted to know.
"Yeah, your bike. You didn't walk to Pallet Town, did you?" he asked, as she turned her head to him.
"Wh-Whaa? What are you say--"
He stopped suddenly, as Pikachu stepped in front of him. Misty stopped as well, seeing the two figures in front of them. "Cassidy,"
"And Botch."
"IT'S BUTCH! BUTCH DAMN IT!" the Rocket snapped. Ash rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, whatever."
Ash pointed at them. "Whaddya want? Are you gonna follow me like Jessie, James, and Meowth did!?" "Why can't I ever get a break from Team Rocket for crying out loud?"
The blonde woman cackled lightly. "Why, you're almost on the mark but you missed one thing," as she and Butch pointed at the two. "You two, are coming with us!"
Pikachu began to emit warning sparks, ready for a battle, as Misty quickly enlarged her Pokeball. Ash glared back at the two Rockets. "And…if we don't'?"
"Then we'll make you! Go, Mightyena!"
A hyena-like Pokemon appeared with black and grey fur, it's fearsome red eyes targeting Pikachu.
"Go, Houndoom!" Cassidy called.
The teens watched the black hound appear, baring its sharp white fangs, as Ash turned to Misty. He had a smirk on his face, certain that this will be a piece of cake.
"Go, Corsola!" Misty shouted, knowing she had the type advantage on Cassidy.
The grass blew with the breeze as the two Trainers and Rockets looked hard at each other. "Okay! Pikachu, start this off with a Quick Attack!"
Butch waved his hand. "Mightyena, counter it with Bite!"
The mouse struck hard into the hyena but the Dark type responded with a quick movement of the jaw. Luckily, the mouse had avoided it. "Houndoom, quickly, use Flamethrower on it!" Cassidy shouted.
"Corsola, use Mirror Coat in front of Pikachu!"
The pink coral Pokemon quickly defended the mouse, turning the attack back at Houndoom but due to the Flash Fire ability, it powered up it's Fire attacks, which was not good. "Corsola, Rain Dance!"
The coral creature summoned a rainstorm, as Cassidy glared at the ginger haired girl. "Houndoom, use Nasty Plot!"
The hound began to charge it's Spec. Atk in it's mind as Misty took the opportunity to attack it! "Quick Corsola, use Spike Cannon!"
The spikes were fired off at Houndoom up to four times before Cassidy turned to Butch. "Butch, how are you holding up?"
The Rocket was having trouble when it came to speed. But that was part of the plan. "Okay Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
The teal haired man's eyes flashed. "Sucker Punch!"
The hyena quickly struck the yellow rodent before it could attack, interrupting the attack and sending it accidentally towards Corsola! "Use Mirror Coat to deflect it back for double damage!"
The attack came back towards Pikachu! "Oh crap! Light Screen!"
As the attack was Electric plus the effects of Light Screen, Pikachu was not harmed quite as much and shook the attack off. He turned to Cassidy. With the rain still coming down, he knew what attack to use. "Pikachu, THUNDER!"
"Mightyena, use Payback!" Butch shouted, as the black and gray furred hyena rushed to the front of Houndoom, taking the brunt of the attack before rushing towards Pikachu and ramming straight into the mouse at double the force due to Payback's effect of the attack doubling if the user was hit before using the attack! Also, it was a physical attacks and what made matters more worse was when Rain Dance was over, Butch quickly shouted, "Use Taunt on that Corsola!"
"C-Corsola!"
The Pokemon was unable to use attacks that were not offensive, Cassidy shouted, "Use Sunny Day, Houndoom!"
Suddenly, the sun shone brightly down on them, Misty saw the effects of Light Screen still there. "As long as Light Screen is still there, they won't be able to attack us with Special Attacks. But there's still the Physical Attacks we need to worry about…"
Cassidy could still see the effects of Light Screen still lingering. She couldn't use her secret weapon yet until it was gone. So until then, "Houndoom, use Thunder Fang on that Corsola!"
"Th-Thunder Fang!?"
"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!"
"PIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Pikachu zipped at lightning speed, the force of the collision struck Houndoom hard, sending it rolling across the grass.
"H-Houndoom!"
"Corsola, use Ancientpower before it can attack!"
"Mightyena, use Take Down!" Butch shouted.
With a burst of speed, the hyena smashed straight into Corsola and despite the coral Pokemon's hard body, Corsola took a beating. "We can't lose."
During the battle, the man had long left the port and was walking the Route 1 road when he saw the sparks from Pikachu's Thunderbolt coming back in the direction it came as he turned to the direction of the fight. "What in the world is going on?"
Wrapping his black cloak over him, he pulled the hat over his left eye and rushed off to find out the source.
Meanwhile, the Light Screen wore off, as Cassidy knew that Sunny Day would only last for one more turn but that was all she needed. She turned to Misty and Corsola. "You lose, Red! Houndoom, use Solarbeam!"
"S-Solarbeam!?"
"Pikachu, go and- AARGH!"
"ASH!"
Ash fell to the ground from the Tackle by Mightyena. Misty quickly shouted for Corsola to use Mirror Coat but Butch quickly ordered Mightyena to use Iron Tail, which was a Physical Attack and struck Corsola as Houndoom fired the attack off at it!
"NO! CORSOLA!"
"Quickly Grade, use Close Combat!"
Cassidy watched in absolute surprise as a Gallade appeared at the unknown voice's command, quickly clobbering her Pokemon into defeat with a series of sword strikes before it could unleash the attack! Butch quickly looked around when the voice then said again, "Zor, use X-Scissor!"
The red armored mantis flew out of nowhere, wings beating rapidly and powerfully, arms crossed as the pincers smashed hard into the hyena!
"Wh-What's going on?!" Ash said, slowly getting up. Misty looked around as with the gust of wind, a new figure appeared. It was the cloaked man wearing the crimson hat. He looked under his hat.
"I should've suspected you were behind this, Team Rocket!"
"Wh-Who are you!?"
The man removed his hat off his head, his dark locks falling out as his midnight colored eyes looked at them. "…..."
"Cassidy, I don't know about you but from the looks of what happened, I don't think we stand a chance against this guy!" Butch said. Cassidy nodded, hating that it was true.
"Alright Butch, we're leaving!" as they called back their Pokemon and retreated to the north. Ash and Misty quickly checked on their Pokemon as they turned to look at the mysterious man. The man called both Pokemon back into their respective Pokeballs without uttering a word.
"Thank you." Misty said. "But, who are you?"
The man turned his head to her. "Raven."
Ash walked up to him. "Well, Raven, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"
"I'm Misty, and thank you again for helping us out!" she said.
The man turned his head to the side. "I was…in the neighborhood." he said coolly.
"Uh, well, thanks again for helping us out!" Ash said. He turned to Misty. "C'mon Misty, we gotta get to Viridian City."
The man turned his head back to him. "Viridian City?"
"Yeah, we're going to check up on a friend."
"We're worried something may have happened to him."
Raven closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating on what to do. He opened them back and looked at them. "Do you mind if I join you?" he said finally.
"Of course not! The more the merrier, that's what I always say!"
Misty gave him a look. "Since when did you say that, just now?"
Ash gave her a narrow look before holding his hand out to Raven. "Welcome!"
The man didn't take it. "…Whatever." he said, walking north. Ash looked confused.
"What's with him?"
"I dunno but we can't stay here any longer, what if Team Rocket strikes again? Pikachu might not win this time." Misty said. The mouse didn't show signs of fatigue but he did know he needed the rest. Raven didn't stop walking as he turned his head to the two.
"Are you two done? If not, I won't mind at all leaving you behind." he said, as his attitude suddenly reminded Ash of Paul, his rival from Sinnoh.
"H-HEY! Come back here!" he shouted, running after him. Misty sighed.
"He's not gonna stop, Ash." as she soon realized that she was left behind. "W-Wait for me!"
---
Okay, so I had to make some changes to my first chapter again. I'm very picky when it comes to grammar and such but if you see anything misspelled, I won't mind the correcting. Also, Raven is my own OC. As he is the second human character to join Ash, my intention was to put him there after many should I's and should I not's. Tracey will be in the next chapter. I can't say if Brock will be part of the group again but he will be in this story (Besides, he's had plenty of spotlight.) And I needed to say this but I did just research on the Internet, so if the characters didn't seem to match how they should have acted, then that's because I didn't watch the special episodes nor did I watch the Battle Frontier and Sinnoh Episodes. So sorry if the Pokemon aren't like they're supposed to be; I'm trying to interpret how they act after reading the stories of others, like Aipom and Buizel being traded between Ash and Dawn (yes I've taken that into account now) and Bayleef's affection for him. (which I find amusing) As for the hat, if you know Riley from Diamond and Pearl, just imagine the hat looking like that only mostly crimson and indigo striped.
Well, review and I guess I couldn't really wait to post the second chapter. By the third, I'll wait until I get some reviews, if not I'll get to the fifth but if I don't have ten by then…I'm gonna have to pull the plug. Or I could just hit ten and then check back. My goal is to get ten before I continue so Pokeshippers, Contestshippers, and Ikarishippers, I suggest you read this and although the focus will be AAML, there will be some Egoshipping, Advanceshipping, and Pearlshipping just to make those fans happy, despite how much I dislike those pairings. Oh well, gotta try new things out just once? Also, I did my best to make Misty's new outfit by thinking hard and putting her original and Hoenn and mixing the two together. I suck at describing clothes so if you hate it, just imagine her in her Hoenn. Okay, that's it for this chapter. Chap. 3 will be done in hopefully, a week though I aim for three days: Today, Sunday, and Monday if I have time.
A/N: Oh yes, another revision. After looking through pics of the Pkmn Chronicles episodes and in the Luvdisc episode, I saw Misty with an outfit that could've been what she could've worn on her stay in Pallet Town though I do like the Hoenn one just the same. I guess I could understand why she wore her Hoenn clothes rather than the I've decided to change the nicknames of Raven's Pokémon to know them easily and the nickname of Gallade may seem strange but believe me: Gal, Lade? Oh no, I don't wanna have any raised brows here so that's why I didn't pick them. Glade would've been nice but Grade sounds more fitting (and cool). And Zor…I don't really need to explain what Pokémon looks like a 'red mantis' now do I?