Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
"I honestly don't know why you guys insist I lead...unless you both have as horrible a sense a direction as I do so it wouldn't matter who gets us lost," Ash muttered, making the two look away nervously.
"...Well I'm sure the road's around here somewhere," Brock said cheerily.
"Man, you're so lucky, Ash. All of your pokemon chose to go with you," Misty said, trying to change the subject. Ash frowned at that, thinking on all her pokemon.
"Well, no. I did capture Pidgeotto in the traditional way, but he was just a pidgey then. Caterpie I also caught, but he really wanted a trainer...Mm, well it doesn't really matter to me. I prefer my pokemon choosing to come with me rather than me capturing them," Ash commented happily.
"Hm, don't real pokemon trainers catch pokemon on their own?" Misty asked. Ash only shrugged.
"That depends on what you think a pokemon trainer really is. Just because my main party mostly decided to follow me on their own doesn't mean I haven't caught other pokemon," she said.
"That's true, Misty. You should know Ash has caught eight other pokemon that he's sent to Professor Oak. Ash battled those on her own with one of her pokemon," Brock backed. Misty just sighed in envy.
"Yeah...how are you so good when you've only recently started your pokemon journey?" She asked. Ash just shrugged again.
"I studied a lot and helped out Professor Oak at his lab," she responded.
"What a beautiful beach," Ash commented as the sun began to set over the horizon. She was distracted from the view of the sunset when she noticed a very small krabby scuttle between her legs. She leaned down until she was looking down between them and pulled out her pokedex.
"Krabby: lives near the shore. Its average height is about 16 inches," Dexter informed. Ash looked at the small krabby.
"He really is small for his breed," Ash murmured, her lips quivering with the urge to giggle when the krabby stopped and bubbles foamed out of its mouth. "Aw, I'm sorry, Krabby, I didn't mean to insult you. Rather it makes me want to capture you and make you stronger," Ash commented, taking out a pokeball and tossing it at the small krabby. The krabby tried to snip at it with his small claws and only served to capture himself by pressing the button. She smiled when the red button stopped blinking rather quickly and picked the pokeball up just in time for it to disappear. "Ah!" Ash exclaimed suddenly.
"What is it, Ash?" Brock asked. "Aren't you happy you got a new pokemon?" Ash shook her head.
"It's not that. I'm just worried that Professor Oak might think I sent him that krabby as food because it's so small, but it's too late in the day for me to transfer him with one of my pokemon so I can train him up a bit," She murmured in worry. Ash had forgotten that her pokedex could be used to transfer between the pokemon she had in her party and with Professor Oak until Brock and Misty had reminded her a while back so she had been occasionally switching between her pokemon while they traveled to give each of her pokemon one on one training. So far she had been able to evolve her weedle all the way up to a beedrill, but that was mostly because bug pokemon evolve so quickly. Her clefairy also chose to evolve into a clefable when she offered the pokemon one of the moonstones she got from Mt. Moon. She'd also taught her main party a few more moves, though some were still a work in progress.
"Well, you could always call him, but I doubt there's a phone in the middle of nowhere," Brock said.
"I'm more worried about having to camp out again tonight. I'm sick of sleeping in sleeping bags!" Misty complained.
"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu shouted, catching their attention as he jumped and pointed somewhere.
"Pika?" Misty started.
"Pika?" Brock parroted.
"Look, a lighthouse!" Ash called. "If there's a lighthouse, then there's a keeper and the keeper has to have a phone! I could use it to call Professor Oak!" Ash enthused.
"And there'll probably be some extra beds! A sleeping bag is no place for me to get my beauty sleep," Misty said.
"Yeah and they'll be sure to tell us where we are!" Brock stated.
"Alright, let's go!" Ash called as they all ran to the lighthouse.
By the time the three made it to the building it was already foggy and dark. Ash sighed when they finally reached the doors. "That was farther than it looked," she commented.
"This lighthouse looks weird," Brock commented. The three stared at the door, Ash in awe at all the pokemon carved on it, the first she noticed being that of an arcanine.
"Guess we better ring the bell," Misty said.
"I got it," Ash replied when no one stepped up, pressing the red button on what looked like the intercom. The doorbell sounded off a chilling church like melody of gonging bells. That spooked the trio out.
"Who's there?" A voice over the intercom said.
"E...excuse us sir, but we're travelers and we're lost," Brock answered, stepping up to the plate.
"We've got a small emergency and would appreciate it if we could use your telephone," Ash added.
"We've been camping out for quite a while and I sure would appreciate a nice comfy bed," Misty put in.
"And I'm wondering if I could use your kitchen to make bacon double cheeseburgers for our group and I'd be more than happy to make something for you," Brock added to sweeten the deal.
"That's great. Can you cook without using tofu?" The man on the intercom asked.
"Oh, sure I can cook lots of things without using any tofu," Brock replied.
"That's great. I've been eating tofu since my cook went on vacation. Come on in!" He invited, the large doors opening with a deep creaking sound to reveal a dark high ceiling hallway.
"Would you mind if I borrowed your phone?" Ash asked, her question echoed.
"There's a phone right near you," the voice said, still sounding as if it was coming over an intercom. The trio looked to their left to see a phone in the shape of a bellsprout with a screen next to it.
"Hey, it's a video phone, that's cool," Misty said, making Ash look at her curiously. Don't all Pokemon Centers have video phones?
"I'll just call Professor Oak now. I've been meaning to talk to him about my charmander as well," Ash said as she walked over. "He won't mind if I call him collect," she murmured as she dialed and then looked extremely worried when she saw him boiling something.
"Well hi, Ash! You caught me cooking dinner! My cook is on vacation and I've got to fend for myself until she returns," he explained.
"...you're not eating my krabby are you?" Ash asked him worriedly.
"Don't worry, your krabby is right here," he assured, stepping out of the way to reveal her small krabby in a small fishbowl. Krabby foamed out bubbles at her in greeting. "Anyways, that krabby of yours is too small to make a very hearty meal. On the other hand, the krabby that Gary caught would make a much more excellent dinner! Much better than tofu," he said. Ash sighed.
"Of course Gary caught a krabby as well," she muttered. Oak actually laughed sheepishly at that.
"Actually, he called around evening and heard from me that you caught a small krabby, after that he went out immediately and caught himself a rather large one for himself. Take a look for yourself," he turned the camera to look at the much larger fishbowl with the much larger krabby in it, also foaming bubbles at the mouth and making her krabby feel inadequate.
"Awesome," Brock commented.
"He also wanted me to let you know that he's already caught 45 pokemon," Oak said sheepishly. Ash felt a tick mark growing larger and larger on her head, Misty and Brock backing away from her cautiously, even Pikachu doing the same.
"Well you tell Gary the next time he wants to impress me that he doesn't do it by making my pokemon feel inferior!" Ash shouted at him angrily, making the professor shrink back and laugh nervously.
"I-I know Ash, I tried to tell him as much, but you know how stubborn he is," he replied hesitantly. Ash took a deep breath and tampered down her anger, turning her eyes to her own Krabby.
"Don't you worry, Krabby! First thing tomorrow, I'll transfer you to my team and my team and I'll train you to be stronger than any other krabby out there no matter what size you are!" Ash said in determination, her eyes burning.
"...this is the first time I've ever seen Ash so worked up over something Gary did," Misty whispered to Brock.
"It's only because Gary involved one of Ash's pokemon this time too. I bet if he didn't go out of his way to catch a krabby so much larger than hers, she wouldn't have cared at all," Brock whispered back.
"Pika-chu," Pikachu nodded in agreement with the two.
"By the way, Ash. Just where are you calling me from anyways?" Oak asked, trying to change the subject.
"We're at a lighthouse on a high cliff," Ash explained.
"Oh, that must be Bill's lighthouse! He's a young pokemon researcher who knows even more than me! See what you can learn from him. He can teach you just about everything about pokemon and then some," Professor Oak suggested.
"This is Bill, Professor Oak. Good to hear from you," Bill's voice sounded over the intercom.
"Hello Bill!" Oak greeted. "Please give my friends here a crash course in pokemon," Oak asked. "Uh-oh! Tofu's done," he said as he picked the tofu out and blew on it before the screen blacked out.
"Well, there's no way I can ignore a request from the great Professor Oak," Bill said before suddenly turning on all the lights. "I am Bill of the lighthouse," he introduced himself, turning the trio's attention to a large kabuto at the top of the stairs rubbing its first two claws together.
"It can't be! That's a kabuto! An extinct pokemon!" Brock called out. "I wonder what it's doing here."
"No, I'm not a kabuto," it said. "I'm Bill, the pokemon researcher."
"...Is there a reason you...look like that?" Ash asked delicately.
"This is a costume. I'm stuck inside it!" He explained.
"...do you need help getting out?" Ash offered.
"Y-yes!" He said in relief. "Step up here," Ash jogged up quickly.
"Just tell me what to do," she said.
"Push that button," he pointed with a claw. "I tried to press it before, but these claws are too short," Bill explained. Ash pushed the small blue button and stepped away when it started to beep and pulse with light. The claws popped off first, then the black face and last the shell to reveal a young, dapper man with seaweed green hair. "Thanks for helping me get out. I've been stuck in that costume for hours," he said gratefully, his eyes widening when he laid eyes on Ash, making her shuffle in place uncomfortably when he didn't take his eyes off of her, her face flushing slightly at his attention.
"Did you just come back from a costume party?" Misty asked, making Bill look at her, visibly startled out of whatever trance he was in as he stared at Ash.
"Eh...oh, no, this is a special costume I use for my research," he explained after processing Misty's question. "Getting inside its skin helps me get inside its head."
"I see, you're trying to understand how an extinct pokemon lived by wearing that costume," Ash commented, making Bill look at her in mild surprise.
"That's right. There are many kinds of extinct pokemon and putting on a costume is one way of figuring out what they were like," Bill replied.
"You can understand what a pokemon was like from just putting on a costume?" Misty asked.
"Yes indeed, or I'm beginning to," he walked past us and to the stairs to sit on the first step. "This world was created 4.6 billion years ago. During that time, all kinds of pokemon existed. They had many ways of living."
"All kinds of pokemon...how many?" Misty asked.
"On this planet there are more than 150 known species of pokemon," Bill said. Ash wondered how ecstatic Bill would be when he learns of all the rare pokemon from other regions.
"Over 150?" Misty said in amazement. He turned to Ash with a smile.
"You're lucky to be a pokemon trainer. Your goal is to catch all these kinds of pokemon. That's a great task," he said enviously. "Of course these are just the pokemon in this region. There are still a lot of pokemon we don't know about, so we need to keep searching!" Bill added enthusiastically as he stood again. "No one knows how many there are exactly. The search goes on. There's always something new to look for in our lives and in ourselves."
"Something to look for?" Misty repeated.
"Yes, there's a lot for us to look for, inside and outside ourselves," he trot down the steps. "There's meaning for every creature, a meaning for all the pokemon and meaning for all us humans too," Bill enthused, his arms raised as he walked down the hall, the projections of the Kanto pokemon on the walls.
"A meaning for all..." Ash murmured as she looked at the Kanto region pokemon on the walls.
"Keep looking for new pokemon to catch. It's something that's very important for pokemon research. It's as vital to me as it is to you." He turned back to the trio. "Right now, though, there's only one pokemon I'm searching for."
"What kind of pokemon?" Misty asked. Bill led them to the top of the light house.
"It's probably the biggest pokemon ever, bigger than all of the rest, and no one's ever seen it," Bill said as they looked to the ocean, covered in darkness and mist, only occasionally lit by the spinning lighthouse light. "It's been wandering the world for a thousand years, looking for friends."
"But doesn't that pokemon have any friends or family?" Asked Misty.
"The pokemon wanders because it's alone. It's the only pokemon of its species, one of a kind," Bill replied. "One night I heard this very strange sound coming across the ocean." He took out a remote from his pocket and pressed a button. Suddenly, the strange sound he seemed to have been talking about started playing. "I want...I want to meet you, that's what it said to me." Pikachu gave him a strange look.
"Pika..."
"Some time ago, I recorded a similar sound and played it from the lighthouse towards the ocean...'Let's be friends. I want to meet you.'... One day, I heard the same voice calling back to me from over the ocean. 'I want to meet you, too. I want to be friends.' It was answering me back... Some foggy night, that pokemon might come here to meet a friend it's been seeking for a very long time." He smiled suddenly. "I would be so happy to meet that pokemon!"
"Are you going to try to capture that pokemon?" Misty asked.
"Why would I need to capture it?" He asked in return, turning to them. "Meeting it would be enough for me. Just a chance to study it would make my long wait worthwhile," he seemed ready to speak more until they all heard a resounding answer come from the foggy ocean, making them all return to watching the sea.
There, seeming to stand on the water was silhouetted what Ash easily identified as a dragonite, certainly not the only of its kind like Bill seemed to think, but definitely the largest of its species, as large and tall as the cliff and the lighthouse it was holding. That dragonite was Godzilla sized and might well be the only known dragonite to have ever grown so big.
"The signal!" Bill gasped as the others watched the large pokemon wading towards them ever so slowly in shock and awe. The sound Bill had recorded played in the background as the lighthouse light, for some reason, began to flash in different colors.
"It sounds like it's singing," Misty said softly, closing her eyes, her hands clasped together as she enjoyed the soft melody.
"Would you care to dance?" Brock asked, bowing to Misty like an old time gentleman. Misty turned to him, a little surprised, before smiling at his offer and curtsying in return.
"Oh, thank you." Bill and Ash were still glued to the railing, watching the pokemon in awe as Pikachu swayed cutely to the music.
"Pi~ka~chu~"
"No!" Ash cried when a rocket was shot at the monstrously large dragonite's stomach. She knew immediately who was responsible of course, but it was too late. The dragonite retaliated and destroyed the lighthouse light, making rubble come raining down on them. "Look out!" Ash quickly pushed Bill aside from being crushed by debris and started running down the spiral stairs to escape the crumbling light house with Misty and Brock.
Two more rockets were shot at the poor dragonite as they exit the lighthouse. "Please don't go, pokemon!" Bill pleaded earnestly. "Please stay with us! I've waited so long for a chance to see you here!" Ash looked between the two sadly when the dragonite keened out and shook its large head. "Oh, come on, wait!"
Three more rockets were shot at it before the dragonite got fed up and whipped Team Rocket away with its tail.
"Pokemon!" Bill called too late as the dragonite was already wading back into the misty darkness of the ocean, eventually fading from their sight.
"What kind of pokemon was that, anyway?" Misty asked in awe.
"Who knows," Bill said. "Pokemon live in all ways and places than humans may ever learn."
"But looking for and befriending pokemon can bring all of us together," said Ash with conviction.
"Learning to raise pokemon is another way of understanding how to live with them," Brock added.
"And pokemon are always lots of fun to play with," Misty finished playfully.
"Meanwhile, I'll stand watch for the giant pokemon to appear at my lighthouse again," Bill replied with a confident smile.
"Bill, do you think we'll ever find all the pokemon there are?" Misty asked.
"No, Misty, there are probably as many as we can imagine. Many, many, many more. Maybe there's no limit to the pokemon we can actually find on this planet." He turned back to them. "Ash, you're a pokemon trainer. I'm a pokemon researcher, seeking out all kinds of life on this planet. Even if our paths are different, I think our goals are the same," he said with great joy, his eyes warm and confident. Ash smiled back and nodded.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. In the future, she'll be sure to add Bill to her small list of research colleagues, Professor Oak being the only one on the list, and see if maybe later in her journey she could get Bill a dratini egg, dratini, dragonair, or even dragonite to keep him company as he waited for the return of that ridiculously sized dragonite they'd seen.
She gave it some serious consideration, wondering if it was possible to gift him one before leaving for the Orange Islands and soon after Johto, as they cheerfully waved goodbye to Bill.
The group of three stared up at the Vermillion City entrance sign with sparkling eyes of awe and relief, covered in smudges of dirt after two weeks of being lost and well travel worn.
"Finally! I can't wait to take a long shower and relaxing bath!" Ash cried.
"I know what you mean!" Misty agreed enthusiastically.
"I can't wait to get to the laundromat," Brock said.
"Maybe we should get something to eat first," Ash said as she looked worriedly at her tired Pikachu.
"That's true, we haven't really eaten anything decent for three days now." And with that, the three immediately made their way to the pokemon center.
"My pikachu's tired and hungry from travelling for so long," Ash said softly as she handed a weary Pikachu and her other pokemon(in pokeballs) to the local Nurse Joy.
"We'll fix him right up," Nurse Joy said kindly as she took the pokemon, Misty and Brock staring at the Joy blankly while Ash watched Pikachu. "I know why you're surprised," said Nurse Joy when noticing their stares, smiling. "I look like all the other nurses, don't I? My first cousin works at Pewter City and my second cousin works in Viridian City. I think I'm the prettiest one, don't you?" She said with that same kind, gentle smile and giggle all Nurse Joys wore and used. Ash and Misty just blinked at her while Brock just smiled and agreed.
"Yeah," Brock easily agreed, whatever else he was planning to say interrupted by the center doors opening and a boy's shout.
"Hurry!" The boy cried, calling attention to the rolling cot with a severely hurt rattata on it. "You'll be okay, Rattata," the boy murmured sounding on the verge of tears as the chancey rushed the cart through the lobby. "Hurry!"
"That rattata is in rough shape," Brock noted, face serious. "I wonder what happened." Nurse Joy stood then, hands on hips in disapproval.
"Oh! It's the fifteenth one brought in this month!" She frowned.
"This month?!" Ash repeated, deep seated disapproval of her own settling in her chest as Nurse Joy wordlessly led them to a room full of occupied beds holding various injured pokemon.
"This is terrible," Brock muttered as he took them all in.
"They all lost to Lt. Surge, the Vermillion City gym leader," Nurse Joy informed, upset. She wasn't the only one.
"Oh really?" Ash commented softly, a deep frown on her face, arms crossed. Having been in more than one heavily advantageous pokemon battle as they traveled, Ash knew that you didn't need to so badly hurt the opponent's weaker pokemon if you were experienced and knew your pokemon well, two things a gym leader of all things should be. Ash did not like how this Lt. Surge was so readily destroying his weaker opponents, especially considering most of them are so young and inexperienced.
"Uh-oh, Ash is looking a bit upset," Misty muttered not so discreetly to a now nervous looking Brock.
"We should just be glad it's not us she's angry with," Brock replied in return.
"I almost feel sorry for this gym leader. I wouldn't want to battle with an angry Ash, pokemon or no pokemon," Misty stated, Brock only nodding once in agreement.
"Yeah, that's for sure." Ash's lips twitched slightly in amusement at her friends' confidence in her abilities to kick butt. She hoped it was well deserved.
Suddenly getting an idea, Ash fiddled with her pokedex, switching one of her pokemon temporarily with her paras.
"Nurse Joy, would you mind terribly if my pokemon used some new moves on these pokemon? It's nothing damaging, it'll just help them relax and feel a bit better," Ash offered.
"Oh? What moves are these?" Nurse Joy asked curiously.
"Sweet scent and aromatherapy," Ash answered dutifully. Nurse Joy put a hand to her cheek, tilting her head curiously.
"I don't believe I've ever heard of those moves," she admitted, which made sense to Ash as sweet scent was a generation two move and aromatherapy a generation three. "What do they do?"
"Ah, sweet scent just gives off a pleasant aroma that relaxes pokemon and aromatherapy heals all status problems with a soothing scent. I think they'll work well together and be good for any paralyzed pokemon. It'll also be great practice for my pokemon since they haven't completely mastered it yet."
"My, that sounds like it'd be wonderful for the pokemon. Please, by all means, I'm sure they'd appreciate your help," Nurse Joy allowed with a smile.
"Bulbasuar, Paras, come on out!" Ash released them, the two eager to please. "Let's help these guys out, okay?"
"Saur! Paras!" The two pokemon nodded and smiled happily, making Ash smile in return.
"Alright, Bulbasaur use sweet scent, Paras use aromatherapy!"
"Bulba-saur! Pa-ras!" Bulbasaur released a light green powder from the bud on his back while Paras released a slightly darker green powder from the mushrooms on his shell, both struggling to aim it towards more than two targets.
"Hmm, seems like they're still having trouble affecting a wider range of area and more than two pokemon," Brock commented as he watched the injured pokemon sigh in relief at the relaxing scents, Ash's two pokemon gradually working their way around the room and challenging themselves to master hitting more than two targets.
"Ash was right, though. This is great practice for them," Misty said next as she watched Ash's Bulbasaur celebrate after being able to fully affect three pokemon at once.
As if on cue, once Bulbasaur and Paras had finished their rounds around the room and having received pats of gratitude from their trainers, a bell chimed from the speakers, catching Nurse Joy's attention.
"Oh? That signal means your other pokemon have recovered. Thank you very much for helping those poor pokemon. We all really appreciate it." She happily led us out into the lobby where Ash's pokeballs were waiting on a tray with a content Pikachu sitting by them, finishing a small apple.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried, getting an enthusiastic reply back as the pokemon leapt into her waiting arms and nuzzled his soft cheek against hers. "Glad you're back to one hundred percent, buddy!" Ash cooed.
"Pika-chuu!" He cooed back, enjoying the attention. Their sweet reunion was interrupted by yet another cart wheeling by.
"Please hurry!" The boy trainer cried as he ran along the cot holding his injured pidgey. "Just hold on, Pidgey!" Ash frowned as the kid was younger and obviously far more inexperienced if he went to an electric type gym with a flying type pokemon. That did not, however, excuse the gym leader so brutally defeating his opponents.
"I think it's past time someone took this Surge down a peg or two, don't you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked calmly as she watched the cot disappear around the corner.
"Pika-chu," he growled lowly in agreement, cheeks crackling with a bit of electricity.
"So this is the Vermillion city gym," Ash muttered, tapping her lips in thought as she eyed the building.
"Kind of gaudy, isn't it?" Misty commented, making Ash sweatdrop as she thought of Misty's own gym.
Ash simply rolled her eyes when the doors creaked open ominously to greeting darkness and two adults dressed in punk rock and exercise clothes, male and female respectively. Gym leaders really liked their theatrics didn't they?
"Yo, I'm here for a pokemon battle," I greeted casually with a half raised hand, "you know, to earn a thunder badge?"
The leather jacket wearing punk only smirked and looked behind him, arms crossed. "Hey, boss! Another victim for the emergency room," he announced in his nasaly voice. A shadowed figure walked up between the two in a deeper, more gravelly tone.
"Which one?" He asked as his heavy footfalls thundered against the floor. Ash thought that such an entrance would unnerved a lot of kids, especially when they got a good look at how large and muscled the man was. They were probably only used to dealing with kids their own age or a bit older and none as intimidating looking as this guy.
Of course Ash herself didn't react beyond simply blinking half in boredom and half in expectancy as she waited for the moment they could actually start to battle.
"Whoa! He's huge!" Brock helpfully observed.
"Is he the gym leader you have to beat?" Misty whispered. Both Brock and Misty leaned back when the man spread his arms out wide, towering over the three of them.
"Welcome to Vermillion gym!" He greeted jovially, giving poor, shocked Misty a bear hug, who let out a startled yelp at the action. The man pulled back, but kept his hands on her arms as he leaned over a bit to be more level with her height. "Oh! My next challenge is a cute one! Don't think I'll go easy on ya!"
Ash scoffed, smirking as she deftly pulled Misty out if his hands and stepped in front of her. "Don't worry, meathead, I won't need you to go easy on me," Ash stated almost snootily, unable to help herself as she intentionally flipped her hair back before returning her hand to her hip, Pikachu emphasizing her action by sparking his cheeks a bit.
"Chu!" He growled a bit.
"You?" He blinked at my figure before giving another grin. "Ah, even cuter than your friend here! Okay, baby!" He chuckled in agreement.
"I'm no baby of yours," Ash retorted. "The name's Ash Ketchum, meathead."
"Ha! Relax, I call everyone who loses to me baby!" He announced with fists on hips as if it was something to be proud of. Ash only sweatdropped. What was he, five?
Of course, that was when the man noticed Pikachu standing protectively, half in front of me, glaring up at him and cheeks still sparking threateningly. Ash scowled when the man barked out a laugh at him.
"Heh! A pikachu! Hey, look at this! Baby brought along a baby pokemon," he joked to his two stooges who began laughing with him. Both Pikachu and I growled at the blatant insults.
"There's nothing baby about my pikachu!" Ash growled.
"Pika, pika!" Pikachu bit out in agreement.
"Well, I'll show you why," he said ominously as he took out a pokeball and enlarged it. "Go, pokeball!" He threw it so the pokemon was released right in front of them, the fading light revealing an arrogant but tough looking raichu.
"Rai!" The evolved mouse type called out, a dark smirk on his face.
"A raichu, huh?" Ash muttered, faintly recalling her male counterpart's utter first defeat at his hands. Ash just frowned as she reluctantly took out her pokedex to record the data.
"Raichu," the pokedex started, the one on the screen looking far more friendly than the one before them, "a mouse pokemon of the electric element. Raichu is the evolved form of pikachu. It can shock with more than one hundred thousand volts, enough to render a dragonite unconscious." Ash gave a low whistle at that but figured that only went for untrained dragonite. She doubted a well trained dragonite would lose against a wild raichu.
"Chaauu," Pikachu stood to his full, small height, glaring challengingly at the smirking raichu.
"Okay, baby, if you wanna quit, now's your change," Surge chuckled, mocking them with fists at his waist again, his raichu mirroring his cocky pose.
"Raichu!" The evolved pokemon mocked as well.
"Ha! As if we'd give you the satisfaction of quitting!" Ash retorted.
"Heh!" Surge barked. "What could a baby like that do?!" The man kneeled down behind his raichu. "If yous wanna become a pokemon master, you should make your pokemon evolve as soon as ya catch it!" He said as he pat his raichu's head.
Ash scowled at that bit of terrible advice as she kneeled as well. "There's more to raising a pokemon than forcing it to evolve!" She scolded, gently placing her own hand on Pikachu. "And I like my Pikachu just the way he is," she stated firmly.
The man's two stooges simply laughed mockingly at her words as Surge ticked his finger, Raichu mirroring him.
"Wrong, baby," he smirked. "Electric pokemon are only useful once they've learned all their different electrical atracks. You keep it puny like that, it's no more than a little pet," he snickered.
"Pi-kaa!" Pikachu ground his teeth, cheeks crackling in agitation.
"Can Pikachu beat Raichu?" Misty asked Brock.
"Usually the answer would be no, especially if Raichu knows all the electric attacks," Brock started. "That being said, though, Ash trains with Pikachu the most and he is her first pokemon. He may be short one electrical attack, but he probably knows more moves than that raichu."
"Hmph, there's no way Ash will lose to that jerk," Misty stated with a raised fist, fire in her eyes and making Brock sweatdrop, thinking that Misty really was a big fan of Ash.
"Okay, baby, did ya just come hewe to show off youw wittle pet," Surge mocked in baby talk.
"We came here to earn a thunder badge, and that's what we're going to do," Ash promised.
"Pika, pika!" Pikachu affirmed her promise, cheeks bristling with electricity once again. "Chau!"
"Heh, looks like Pikachu is all ready for this fight," Brock smirked, arms crossed.
"I'm not surprised," Misty frowned, hands on her hips.
"You've got this, Pikachu," Ash murmured in encouragement.
"Pika-chu," he nodded back to his trainer, smirking. Raichu shrugged with a smile that said 'you're hopeless.' Surge mirrored his pokemon this time.
"Oh well, I guess you playing with the big boys will be a shocking experience!" He smirked.
"We'll see about that," Ash muttered, frowning.
AN: Ash's party thus far-(In Progress=IP)
Pikachu(male), known moves: thundershock, thunderbolt, tackle, quick attack, double team, agility, growl, tail whip, swift, slam, discharge(IP)
Pidgey-}Pidgeotto(male), known moves: tackle, sand-attack, gust, quick attack, whirlwind, wing attack, twister(IP)
Caterpie-}Metapod-}Butterfree(male), known moves: string shot, harden, confusion, poison powder, stun spore, sleep powder, gust, psychic, supersonic, tackle, psybeam(IP)
Bulbasaur(male), known moves: tackle, growl, vine whip, razor leaf, leech seed, poison powder, sleep powder, sweet scent(IP), take down, seed bomb(IP)
Charmander(shiny, male), known moves: scratch, growl, ember, smoke screen, slash, flamethrower, fire fang(IP), dragon rage(IP)
Squirtle(male), known moves: tackle, tail whip, bubble, withdraw, water gun, bite, skull bash, protect, rapid spin, water pulse(IP), aqua tail(IP)
Pokemon with Professor Oak(Pokemon caught between chapters or off screen)-
Clefairy-}Clefable(female), known moves: pound, growl, sing, double slap, metronome, defense curl, minimize(IP), wake-up slap, light screen, moonlight(IP)
Weedle-}Kakuna-}Beedrill(female), known moves: poison sting, string shot, harden, fury attack, twineedle, pin missile, poison jab
Rattata(male), known moves: tackle, tail whip, quick attack, bite, crunch
Spearow(female), known moves: peck, growl, leer, fury attack, drill peck
Paras(male), known moves: scratch, stun spore, poison powder, leech life, aroma therapy(IP)
Poliwag(male), known moves: bubble, hypnosis, water gun, double slap, bubble beam
Magikarp(male), known moves: splash, tackle
Goldeen(female), known moves: peck, tail whip, supersonic, horn attack, flail, fury attack, horn drill
Krabby(male), known moves: bubble, vice grip, leer, harden, bubble beam, mud shot(IP), flail
It's been a while since I updated this one and I'm sorry to say it'll probably be another while before I do it again. Watching the episodes bit by bit while writing on a tablet was...troublesome and took me three times as long as it would have on a laptop, something I'm reluctantly without.
I will say for certain that this story and...most of my others are not abandoned, my focus has been centered to my Twilight one now, however, since the reason I wrote it was because of a dear friend who has helped me plan and edit it every step of the way and is eager to see it completed. So, sorry if this chapter is unsatisfying or dry and that I cannot promise you anything close to regular updates, but I hope you enjoyed it and your reads and reviews are always appreciated ,((=w=))/