Hello, everyone. Happy Easter, and I'm back with a new chapter. I'm actually uploading this one a little late. I normally upload chapters around midnight, ten past at the latest. THIS one, however... half past. Dammit. And... bad news. I don't know whether or not I may get the next chapter out next week, I'm going to be busy. So, if I don't get the next chapter out on time, I apologise. My shout out for my 100th review goes to RJO. Thank you for this amazing landmark review. OK... on with the chapter:
Rock Hard Leader
Ash, Misty, Gary and Pikachu emerged from the trees of the Viridian Forest. They found themselves on a ledge side road overlooking Pewter City. Ash climbed up on a rock close to the edge of the road, and looked out at the concrete city in awe.
"Yay! Pewter City!" Misty cheered as she saw the Pewter sky rise.
"Phew." Gary sighed with relief. "For a moment there, I was starting to believe Ashy-boy got us lost."
"Ha-ha (!)" Ash rolled his eyes at the remark. From below their perch, a dark skinned man with a beard and a red hat covering half his face spoke out.
"Pewter City is grey." He said, in a gruff voice. "The colour of stone. This city has always been famous for stone." Ash looked down at the old geezer.
"Huh? Who are you?"
"Name's Flint." The man replied. "And you're standing on my merchandise."
"Oops. Sorry." Ash blushed as he clambered off the rock he'd sat on. He then realised what Flint had said, and found there were about half a dozen shelf racks holding a wide variety of rocks of different shapes and sizes. "Wait… you mean you sell rocks?" He asked, incredulously.
"Pewter City souvenirs." Flint responded, monotonically. "Pewter City is fairly well known for having its fair share of mineral deposits in its stone. There's also a good history of fossil findings here, too. I take extracts of stone from the richest mineral deposit areas of town, and sell them to whoever has the most interest or use for them. Wanna buy some?" He offered.
"Um… no thank you. I'm not much of a petrologist." Ash declined as politely as he could, while fighting the urge to sweat drop. He walked down a wooden stairway next to which Flint was sat. "I'm actually trying to become a great Pokémon trainer." Flint looked at Ash's Pikachu, who was sat on the stairs and gave an exhausted sigh.
"Well, your Pokémon sure seems tuckered out." He commented. "Why don't you follow me? I'll lead you to the Pokémon Centre." And with that, he stood up and started heading off into town.
"Wow. What a nice guy." Ash commented.
"Oh. By the way…" Flint said, coming back to them. "…that'll be a two dollar charge for resting on my rocks." This comment made the travellers stumble, rather comedically.
After paying Flint his ridiculous charge, Ash and friends were in the Pokémon Centre. Ash had filled a pokéball tray with his pokéballs, letting Pikachu sit on the top, and was handing it to the nurse.
"Can you rest my Pokémon for me, please?" Ash asked politely.
"Sure. Right away, Ash." Nurse Joy smiled. Ash looked at her confusedly.
"Huh? Nurse Joy?"
"Yes, I'm Nurse Joy."
"But… wait… this isn't Viridian City."
"The Nurse Joy from Viridian City is my little sister. I've heard some very nice things about you, Ash. Very nice." The nurse complimented.
"Oh. Thank you. So… I take it that there are dozens of Nurse Joys all over Kanto, right?"
"Right. But not just Kanto. All over the whole. No matter where you go, there'll always be a Nurse Joy."
"And do you all look the same?"
"Yep. And all have the same name."
"Oh. So… you're like clone characters then, are ya?"
"You could say that, yes."
"Well then, I hope I don't start travelling with someone who fancies all you Nurse Joys, that'll get a little tedious."
She felt the fur on her back shiver as a minor disturbance coursed through the air. Naughty, naughty. She silently chided, teasingly. You shouldn't be breaking the fourth wall like that, Ash. I would've thought you'd be raised better than that.She giggled.
Nurse Joy picked up the tray that held Ash's pokéballs, and turned to leave. Before she did, however, she said to him…
"Have you seen that poster?" And left with the tray as Ash turned to look at an official Pokémon League poster. The poster showed a person's hand holding a pokéball, with a caption underneath about the regional championships opening for the year.
"The Pokémon League regional championship. Cool."
"Ha!" Gary scoffed, teasingly, as he stepped in front of Ash, blocking his view from the poster.
"What is it, Gary?" Ash asked, knowing full well what his brother was going to tease him about.
"To compete in the regional championships, a trainer must collect the badges from different gyms in each town in Kanto as proof of victory on their travels. I already have Pewter City's badge Ashy-boy." Gary gloated, opening his badge case to show off the silver Boulder Badge within. "Do you honestly think you can do that?"
"Of course I can, Gary." Ash protested.
The sound of gruff laughter pulled the boys and Misty's attention to Flint, who was making his way over to them.
"Don't tell me you're planning on challenging Brock, the Pewter City gym leader." He chuckled.
"Of course I do. How else would I ever get to compete?" Ash challenged.
"Fine." Flint shrugged. "Just don't expect to beat him." He finished, striding away with a chuckle.
Ash, Gary and Misty sat around their café table, eating. Ash was attacking his food with a little more aggression than necessary, still fuming over Flint's mockery of him.
"Ooh, that Flint makes me so angry." He snarled, shovelling another mouthful of noodles into his gob. "I'll show him what I'm capable of."
"Ash, gym leaders are different from your average trainer. Their job is to challenge trainers and their Pokémon to help them improve, so Brock's not exactly going to be a pushover now is he?" Misty reasoned with him.
"Yeah, Ashy-boy." Gary chipped in. "Even I'll admit it, Brock's no noob at Pokémon battles." Ash stopped his shovelling to pay a smidge of attention to them. Misty smiled sweetly at him.
"Tell you what, Ash. If you ask me really nicely, I'll help you out."
"Kind of you to offer, Misty…" Ash said, placing his bowl down on the table. "…but I'd like to earn Brock's badge my own way. That way, it'll be more like I achieved it, rather than someone else doing the work for me."
"Oh. OK." Misty replied, a little down heartened by the rejection. "But just don't expect to beat Brock at the snap of your fingers." And with that, she wandered out of the café. Gary stood from his chair.
"I've got shopping to do, Ash." He announced. "See ya at the gym mate." He patted Ash's shoulder and followed Misty out the café. Ash caught a glimpse of a slip of paper on the table, and realised it was the flipping bill. Thirty pokédollars! For their basic lunch!
"HEY! You guys can't leave me with the bill. Oi!" He shouted in protest, only to be lumbered with paying the sodding thing.
After lifting the weight out of his wallet, Ash was back at the Pokémon Centre, getting his Pokémon back. Pikachu was sat on the tray, smiling happily, now feeling fresh as a daisy.
"Here we are, Ash." Nurse Joy smiled. "All your Pokémon are now right as rain." She said, sliding the tray forward.
"Thank you very much." Ash replied, collecting his Pokéballs. Pikachu leapt onto his shoulders, and smiled at him. "Now we're ready to face the Pewter City gym." He said with a look of determination on his face.
Ash stood in front of the Pewter City gym, now flanked by Misty and Gary again, who'd both caught up with him not long ago. "So this is Pewter gym." Ash mused. It was a fairly basic, but still pretty impressive piece of architecture. The building was, in essence, a rubble pile, that looked like a flat sided bunker box. Not feeling all too phased by the grandeur of the building, Ash strode up to the doors in confidence, and flung them wide open. "Hello?" He called into the gym. He didn't receive an answer, but walked inside none the less. Inside was darkness. It was hard enough seeing one's hand in front of one's own face, let alone if there was anyone else in the building.
"Who goes there?" Came a rough voice. The voice sounded familiar, but younger than the comparable example. A spotlight lit up, illuminating a young lad with brownish skin sitting cross-legged on a podium. He wore beige trouser, an orange t-shirt and a green body warmer. Ash turned to him.
"So you must be Brock." He assumed. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ash Ketchum-Oak, and I'd like to challenge you to a gym battle."
"Is this your first gym battle?" Brock asked, sceptically.
"Yes." Ash admitted, shamelessly.
"Gym battles are different to your average match. There are specially placed rules, in accordance to the official Pokémon League."
"I know about the league rules Brock." Ash replied. And this wasn't a lie. "One Pokémon is to battle at a time, and the earlier gyms in the region use two Pokémon each. As a trainer earns more badges, more Pokémon may be used in battle." He recited.
"So you've done your homework." Brock stated, nonchalantly. "How long have you been travelling with that Pokémon?" He asked, gesturing to Pikachu.
"A little under two weeks." Ash replied.
"Yes, that's pretty apparent." Brock said. "Your Pikachu is in its cutest state, unblemished from battle." Pikachu fluffed his fur, purring proudly at Brock's comments. "It can't win." But this comment, made the mouse stumble. He growled in rage at the gym leader's nerve.
"You just worry about your Pokémon. And I'll worry about mine." Ash snapped. "Fair deal?"
"Fair deal. As a gym leader, I'm obliged to accept all challenges, no matter what. So let's get this battle over with." Brock said, sounding rather bored. With a snap of his fingers, the walls at the sides of the gym parted, and a platform started to slide into the gym. Ash and Pikachu jogged gently back to the gym entrance, to avoid getting caught in between the two plates. When the tablets met, the arena was assembled. The battlefield that now stretched between Ash and Brock was littered with rocks and boulders, typical of a rock gym.
With the assembly of the arena complete, Brock leapt from his podium into the gym leader's box at the edge of the stadium. "Let the match begin." He proclaimed, holding out a pokéball.
"Alright then." Ash smirked, shrugging off his backpack. "Pikachu. I choose you, buddy." He said to his electric companion.
"Pi ka chu!" Pikachu exclaimed, and he ran onto the pitch, making his way to the centre point.
"Onix! Go!" Brock shouted hurling his pokéball onto the field. The form that emerged in the white light just inches before Pikachu made the little mouse stop and stare in mild terror, before the light dissipated; leaving behind a large serpentine Pokémon whose body resembled a giant chain of grey boulders, with a rocky spine on its head.
"DROOAARA!" The snake roared as it turned its head to glare down at the itsy bitsy mouse before it. Pikachu stood frozen to the spot, terrified. But, if Pikachu was scared… that was nothing compared to Ash.
Ash had grown stiff as a board. Every single muscle in his body had frozen, seized up and deadlocked itself, preventing him from moving a single twitch. Misty and Gary looked at him in worry. Gary facepalmed.
"Crap. I knew there was something I needed to say." He cursed. Ash, by now, was starting to quake in terror. His jaws hissed in a stutter of abject horror.
"SNAKE!" He finally wailed, clutching himself tightly round the stomach in defence. This confused Brock. All he did was release his Pokémon into battle. Why was this kid freaking out? Misty ran to Ash's side, and wrapped an arm around him trying to soothe him.
"Brock how could you?" She chided the tanned leader. "Ash has an extreme phobia of snake Pokémon."
"Yeah!" Gary added. "You could've warned him. Or at least used your Geodude first, like in our match." Gary realised what he said and covered his mouth. A little too late, however, as Ash was now staring at him murderously.
"You knew he had a snake and you didn't warn me!" He snarled. Gary rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Heheh. I forgot. Sorry, Ash." He apologised. Ash's glare didn't soften, though.
"Gerald Samuel Oak, I am going to KILL you!" He snapped, making Gary flinch.
Pikachu had now regained control of his body, and ran back towards Ash, skidding to a halt at his feet. He clambered up his trainer's leg, and tried to press the button on one of the other Pokémon's pokéballs. But before he could finish scrambling with Ash's pokéballs to get a replacement, Ash stopped him. "Hey, whoa, oi." He exclaimed. "This is you're fight, Pikachu, not Scyther's. Now go on." He urged the mouse pushing him onto the field. Pikachu, with a sense of great trepidation, wondered back onto the battle field.
"Onix, tackle attack!" Brock commanded. And, with a roar, Onix lunged at the tiny mouse in front of it, headbutting nothing but dirt when Pikachu managed to narrowly dodge the assault. As the snake straightened up, it watched Pikachu running round the field, and intercepted him with its tail, wrapping Pikachu up pretty tight. "Bind it, now!" Brock shouted. And Onix obeyed, starting to apply pressure to Pikachu's tiny form. The small mouse strained and squealed under the pressure.
"Pikachu, try to break outta there!" Ash shouted, frantically. He knew that electric attacks wouldn't have any effect on Onix, being a ground type. Pikachu tried his best to resist the tight binds that restricted his movement. But every time he wriggled, the vice-like grip got tighter and tighter, causing the poor thing to struggle getting air into his lungs. Ash's shoulders slumped as he started to realise that maybe he was fighting a doomed battle.
This feeling was only worsened as he heard Pikachu begin to cough and choke, as his poor little lungs were now running low on much needed oxygen. This was too much for Ash. He couldn't let this fight end in such a gruesome way. "Call Onix off!" He demanded. "I forfeit." Brock snapped his fingers, and Onix relinquished its foe, who fell to the floor gasping desperately for oxygen.
Ash and his friends were now walking away from the gym. Ash was cradling Pikachu in his arms. The mouse was breathing normally now, but was obviously still shaking. "I'm so sorry for doing that to you, Pikachu." He whispered softly to his fallen buddy.
"Pikachu." The mouse smiled back, resting a paw on Ash's chest, showing him he was forgiven. Misty and Gary looked at the Sun. it was reaching sunset, so they decided to go book a room at the Pokémon Centre. Ash let them go on ahead. He said he needed some time alone. He walked down the path into town, when a familiar figure caught his eye down the path. Ash walked up to the figure and found that, indeed, it was Flint. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Flint turned on his heel and started to walk away.
"Come with me." He invited, to which Ash obliged, and tagged along behind him.
Ash sat in Flint's log cabin, watching his Pikachu sleep. Flint made his way over with a tea set. He sat down and poured himself a cup of herbal tea. "Everybody loses sometimes. You can't let that bring you down." He advised, seeing how Ash was a little cut up about the result of his battle.
"I know." Ash admitted. "But it isn't the loss that got me, it was the fact that if I hadn't forfeited, Pikachu may have been suffocated by that Onix." The boy felt tears start to sting his eyes. "Pikachu's never battled before now, and I threw him right in at the deep end. How could I have been so stupid? I should've trained more. I should know that more than others." He was referring to the training he'd done for himself with Professor Oak and Riolu, not that he'd let Flint know.
"Brock's a very good trainer. His personal talents could easily take him beyond being merely a local gym leader." The old man replied.
"That may be the case." Ash countered. "But if so, why hasn't he competed in a regional championship himself, then?"
This comment stopped Flint from sipping his cup of tea, and pause in thought.
"He has his reasons." He stated, flatly, peaking Ash's interest.
Flint led Ash to a house. They kept themselves hidden in the bushes beyond the house's garden so they could watch the occupants quietly. As Ash looked on, he found that this was Brock's house. Inside were nine little children, five boys and four girls, playing and reading together while Brock was in a little kitchen just beyond the living room, wearing an apron and hair net bonnet as he cooked on the hob. A little girl in an orange skirt came running up to Brock crying.
"I tore my skirt!" She wailed, clinging onto Brock's leg.
"Alright, alright." He said, taking his attention away from his cooking. The tone of his voice sounded… not frustrated with the girl or anything, but more like this was nowhere near the first time she's torn a skirt. "I'll sow it up for you." He offered. He put down his knife and the vegetables he was chopping, and walked into the living room, retrieving a sowing kit from a cupboard. The girl slipped out of her skirt luckily wearing an underskirt as well, and Brock started to patch the fabric.
"Is it done yet?" The girl whinnied, getting a little impatient.
"Just a minute." Brock replied, soothingly.
Ash couldn't help but feel tears well up in his eyes as he watched the scene. Back at the gym, Brock looked so hard. So tough. But… at home… he was like a dad to these nine children. Flint led Ash down the streets of Pewter City, away from Brock's house. The two walked in silence before reaching the local park, where Flint started conversation.
"Brock has nine little brothers and sisters to take care of. This responsibility means he was never free to leave town to enter the regional championships." He informed the boy.
"What of his parents?" Ash inquired. Flint's face faulted slightly, which went quietly noticed by Ash. Flint knew a fair bit about Brock, and that – he suspected – was more than just close community bonds.
"His good-for-nothing father left his family behind to become a Pokémon trainer, and never returned. Nor was he ever heard of again for about a year or so, and he still hasn't turned up. Brock's heartbroken mother tried her best to hold the family together, but she eventually grew tired and bored of being stuck in Pewter City. So Brock told her to leave so she could get some activity in her life, and maybe bring his father back home. However, that of course meant that Brock was left with the responsibility of raising his younger siblings all alone."
Ash was now feeling a lump in his throat. This story was tragic, and Ash could sympathise. He lost his mother, and his father's been missing for a number of years. He knew the heartache of missing parents, but he never had any younger siblings to take care of. He could only imagine how Gary must've felt, having to try and keep Ash in check when Professor Oak was away at conferences and meetings and the like.
"I feel sorry for the poor guy. I'll be honest, I never knew my father that well. He went missing not long before I was five years old. And my mother…" His voice quivered as he mentioned her. Tears started to push at his eyelids. Flint saw this, and hesitantly placed an arm around the boy's shoulder. To his surprise, Ash didn't resist. Instead, he leaned into the man, despite the fact they didn't know each other that well. But Ash knew something Flint didn't know he knew. "I hope his dad returns." Ash hinted, making it seem as if he had no clue. "Then maybe he can travel out of Pewter City and challenge the Pokémon League." Flint stopped and paused, thinking about what Ash said.
"Yeah. Yeah, he could." He mused.
Ash dried his eyes, and straightened himself up.
"Well… I've gotta go get some training done." He said to Flint. "If I'm gonna beat Brock, I need some major, major work." He turned to leave. But before he took a step, he addressed Flint without looking back at him. "Oh, and Flint… leaving your family to become a Pokémon trainer doesn't make you a good-for-nothing father…" He glowered at the thought that drove what he was going to say next. "…never returning to them does." And off he went, leaving a rather perplexed Flint behind.
At the Pokémon Centre, Ash was on the phone, waiting for a response. After a minute's wait, a very sleepy looking Professor Oak answered the phone, wearing a pink Jigglypuff onesie.
"Oh, Ash." The professor yawned, rubbing his eyes. "It's half past ten at night. What's up?"
"Hi, Gramps. Sorry for calling so late, but I was wondering if you'd let me take Riolu out for a little bit. I need him to help me with some training." Professor Oak pondered over this request.
"Hm." He moaned thoughtfully. "Well… I did say it may put you at an unfair disadvantage to use a Sinnoh Pokémon as your Kanto starter…" He said.
"Please, Gramps." Ash begged. "I need him to help me train Pikachu and the rest of my Pokémon. Pikachu nearly died battling Brock's Onix, and he wasn't even sorry for it." He choked on a sob. Professor Oak could see how badly this loss, and near loss of a Pokémon, had affected Ash, and pondered over lending Riolu to Ash for a bit.
"Well… I never said anything about using him as an extra training coach." The professor smiled, making Ash smile with him. "I'll go wake him up and I'll send him over to you right away."
"No need, Professor." Came a voice form behind Ash. Ash turned round to find Riolu standing right behind him, smiling cheekily. It's worth noting here that as the years have passed and Ash has grown up, somehow, Riolu did as well. Not as much as Ash did from when they were five, but both human and Pokémon were now ten years old, and Riolu was perfectly able to comfortable look at the base of Ash's chest with a level head.
"Riolu? Wha- what in the…?" Ash found himself at a loss for words at Riolu's sudden appearance. The dog chuckled.
"I sensed your intentions and used our aura bond to teleport to you, silly." He giggled. By now, Ash and Riolu's aura bond had grown so strong that Riolu could talk to him by speaking, and Ash could understand his Pokémon noises like human speech. He hadn't quite mastered this skill for all Pokémon, yet, however. Just Riolu and Dratini.
"Well, it looks like Riolu's – once again – one step ahead of me." Professor Oak stated, yawning once more. "Now, if that's all, can I now be excused to bed?" He requested.
"Just one more quick thing, Gramps." Ash said. "I know that the official Pokémon League rules state that a trainer can only carry six Pokémon around at one time but is there a way that a trainer can carry more?"
Professor Oak was taken aback a bit at this request. No other trainer had ever asked about carrying more Pokémon before. But, then again, it was normally the accepted system that each trainer was only to carry a maximum of six Pokémon on their person at any one time.
"Hm…" He pondered tapping his chin with his index finger. "Well… there is a loophole in the league regulations that states experienced trainers, or trainers deemed worthy by a Pokémon League official, that states that a trainer can be allowed to carry up to twenty Pokémon at any one time." He said. Ash's face lit up in hope.
"Really? Well… how to I show this Pokémon League official that I can handle twenty Pokémon at a time?" He asked, excitedly.
"Whoa, whoa. Hold your Ponyta there, Ash." The professor warned the excited ten year old. "To be allowed to carry so many Pokémon at once is not a privilege that's handed out willy-nilly. And there aren't any specific tasks set by the league official for you to contrive to do. The official would be monitoring you in secrecy. They'll monitor your training style, your care for your Pokémon, your participation in gym battles, and all other sorts of criteria to see if you're worthy to carry so many Pokémon with you." He explained. Ash looked a little crestfallen by this, however. It'd be hard, then, to be able to train as many Pokémon as he'd need if he were to try hunting down Team Rocket. "But, I have no doubt that you'd be a fine candidate for this honour, Ash." The professor finished, bringing the smile back to Ash's face. "I'll put in a request for you tomorrow morning to the league, and I'll notify you on how they respond. In the meantime, I suggest you get some sleep, young man, before you do any training for your rematch with Brock. You hear me, Ash?"
"I hear ya, Gramps. Night." And with that, Ash ended the call. He turned to Riolu, and the pair smirked. Back at the lab, Professor Oak shook his head.
"He's not gonna sleep tonight." He chuckled warmly, and made his way to bed, yawning.
Ash and Riolu stood in front of Ash's six party Pokémon like army generals inspecting the troops. Riolu was pacing up and down the line up, inspecting each Pokémon thoroughly.
"Yes… just as I feared." He muttered as he finished his inspections. "You're all too weak." He stated, bluntly, much to the other Pokémons' chagrin and displeasure. "None of you have had any more than a week's training, if that much. And that's not gonna be anywhere near as much as you need. You're the sorriest bunch of Pokémon I've ever seen." He critiqued, rather harsher than he needed to.
"Oh, now, steady on, Riolu." Ash chided, a little more playful than the other Pokémon were hoping. "I think they have at least some potential."
"Oh, the potential's there alright." Riolu agreed. "But what's not there is the Pokémon gut. They all look pretty spineless to me." The fox mocked, smugly. Scyther, now sick of hearing this abuse from the small dog made a move, and lunged dangerously for Riolu, raising his claws ready to slash the Pokémon in the back. Riolu, however, was unfazed. He simply side stepped the oncoming attack and threw an aura sphere into the back of Scyther's knee.
"Ooh." Ash winced. "He used to be a fighter like you." He told Riolu, serious. But a smirk slowly crept its way across his face which suddenly became a fit of laughter. "But then he took an aura sphere to the knee!" He blurted out in tears of laughter. Riolu laughed along with him, while the other Pokémon sweat dropped.
Ash managed to calm down, and turned to the Pokémon, with a serious look on his face.
"Alright." He commanded. "We're going to need some serious training if we're going to have a hope in the world of beating Brock. Who's up for little training?" The Pokémon, enthusiastically, agreed.
Why oh why did I agree to train? Pikachu thought to himself. When Ash said he wanted Pikachu to think like a ground type Pokémon, he didn't think he meant he'd need to dig for his life! Riolu had encased the mouse in some hippy rubbish supposedly called an 'aura shield' – some sort of force field that prevented Pikachu moving too much – and Riolu was now, relentlessly, throwing pebbles at him. And I'm not talking pebbles used on driveways. I'm talking pebbles the size of golf balls. Massive great buggers. These are the ones that could crack your skull open if they hit you in wrong place. For the past fifteen minutes the electric mouse had been frantically scratching and clawing at the ground, trying his hardest to escape the stony barrage. But all he'd manage to get were a couple dozen very dark shining bruises and he'd barely scratched through the grass. His paws were getting dirty, his body was getting pelted by rocks, and he felt like collapsing in a heap. And Ash wasn't being much of a help, shouting out orders like a son-of-a-bitch military officer.
"Come on, Pikachu! You can do it! You'll be fine, buddy. You're doing great." Well… at least he's offering support, rather than knocking him down. This gave Pikachu a final burst of energy. He sped up his claws and scratched as hard as he could at the earth soil beneath his paws. And finally, a breakthrough. He was removing massive chunks of dirt from the ground. He kept pulling out lump after lump of earth, and started tunnelling underground. Riolu stopped throwing the stones and smiled, lowering the aura shield.
"Well done, Pikachu." He congratulated. "You've just learnt dig." Pikachu sprang from his tunnel, and gave a happy shout.
Ash walked up to the celebrating mouse, and patted him on the back.
"Well done, buddy." He said, warmly. Pikachu smiled.
"Pika, Pikapi." He thanked. Ash frowned a little. A facial twitch Riolu was quick to pick up on.
"You wish you could talk to Pikachu like you can with me, don't you, Ash?" He asked, knowing full well what the answer was.
"You know me too well, Riolu." Ash smiled.
"Well, we can train you as well as the others." Riolu offered. Ash nodded, and smiled gratefully to his little companion.
Ash and Riolu trained each of Ash's Pokémon in turn. They trained Scyther by having Ash spar with him with a pair of katana swords. The two ducked and dived the others' attacks, parrying when they got too close to the other's throat, and evading without too much hassle. After a solid twenty minutes, Ash was rendered unarmed, and was now pinned onto his back on the floor, with Scyther holding one of his scythe-like claws to his throat. He smiled and laughed as he laid on the ground, defenceless. Scyther chuckled with him, and allowed the boy to stand. The two shook hand to claw. After, Ash turned his attention to Weedle. Now, while Weedle would be incapable of sparring, Ash could still find a way for Weedle to train. He had Weedle try using String Shot on Spearow, Pidgeotto and Butterfree. This would help work on both Weedle's accuracy and the flying types' agility, so each Pokémon was getting a different training method. While Weedle was trying to glob the flyers with String Shot, though, they had another obstacle to avoid. Riolu and Ash shooting at them with aura spheres of gold and blue. This really added a sense of jeopardy to their training, as those spheres were not the softest of things. After a fair bit of time, the flying Pokémon were exhausted, and Weedle wasn't exactly fresh as a daisy either.
Suddenly, the hairy bug's body began to glow, and its form started to morph and shift. When the light dissipated from the bug, a Kakuna was left lying in Weedle's place. Everybody smiled at the newly evolved cocoon.
"Well done, Kakuna." Ash congratulated the pod. "Now I bet we have to wait a week for you to evolve into Beedrill. Won't that be exciting?" He beamed. Riolu stepped up to Ash, and placed a paw on his trainer's shoulder.
"How about we now train you, Ash?" He offered. Ash smiled gratefully, and nodded to his ever-faithful pup Pokémon.
Ash and Pikachu sat in front of each other, as Ash was eager to learn Pikachu's language first. "OK. Focus, Ash." Riolu instructed. "Try to empty your mind of all thoughts. Shouldn't be too long." The Pokémon all laughed at this joke, and even Ash saw the funny side. But, he did as instructed, and blanked out his thoughts. Once he was settled and not thinking, Riolu walked up to him, and rested a paw on his shoulder. The fox's paw began to shine light blue, and Ash's eyes started to glitter with a golden sheen. Soon, the aura from Ash's eyes slowly started to emerge as a pair of golden glittery streams. The powdery streaks slowly crept towards Pikachu, and connected with the mouse's own little eyes. The rodent stood stark still, hypnotised by the aura dust that was taking over his mind. After a couple of seconds, Pikachu's eyes began to shine with a bright yellow tinge. Then, just like when Ash and Riolu created an aura bond when they were five, the auras from both Ash's eyes and Pikachu's eyes started to fuse together, mingling and sharing between the pair. After a minute of mixing, the auras faded, and Ash and Pikachu came back to their senses.
Pikachu blinked, his vision a little blurred from the experience.
"Whoa, that was trippy." He said. Ash smiled calmly.
"Don't worry. We won't need to do that anymore, Pikachu." He promised.
"I should hope no- ARGH!" Pikachu screamed when he realised Ash had spoken to him as if he understood him. "Did… did you just understand what I said?" He asked, a little panicked. Ash just nodded, making the mouse faint.
Pikachu woke up to the feeling of a warm hand stroking his belly. He looked up to find Ash holding him in his arms, trying to coax him awake. "Ow, my head." The mouse complained.
"Don't worry." Ash cooed, softly. "That's normal. It takes a lot of energy to make an aura bond." Pikachu yelped in surprise.
"You're not just making a guess at what I'm saying, are you?" He asked, incredulously.
"Why would I need to do that?" Ash chuckled, putting Pikachu back down on the ground. "I can understand you perfectly." Pikachu still wasn't convinced. He needed a little bit more proof.
"Alright, then… what Pokémon evolves into Raticate?"
"Rattata."
"Who's the leader of the Pewter City gym?"
"Brock."
"How did we meet?"
"You were being hunted by an Ekans, and I came to rescue you." Pikachu stared in amazement as Ash answered each question flawlessly, as if he was having a conversation with another human.
"Oh my goodness, you can understand me." He gasped. Ash nodded, grinning.
"How do you feel about challenging Brock today?" Ash asked, looking rather psyched. "It's getting on for lunchtime now, so I think we can challenge him in about half an hour." Pikachu nodded, and they set off for the gym, with Riolu tagging along.
After lunchtime, Ash and the rest of the group found themselves back at the gym. Ash was now bristling with confidence. He grabbed the door handles and swung the doors wide open. "I'm back!" He called into the gym's darkness. Brock stepped into the new flood of light, chuckling mockingly.
"Haven't you had enough from last time?" He taunted.
"This time, things will be different. We've had a little bit of a jump start." Ash countered. Riolu nodded in agreeance while Pikachu gave off a spark of enthusiasm.
"Ha. Very well." A very smug looking Brock replied.
The group went back to the arena, where Brock laid down the ground rules. "We'll each use two Pokémon. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
"I'll start with Geodude!" Brock yelled as he threw his pokéball into the field. As the capsule hit the dirt of the battlefield out popped a small round rock head Pokémon with two arms sprouting from the sides of its head/body. Ash contemplated which Pokémon he could use to battle Geodude. Being a rock and ground type, and Ash's team being full of flying, bug and electric types, Brock had a major advantage. He felt a tug on his arm, which awoke him to Riolu's presence by his side.
"Ash. Let me battle Geodude." The fox requested.
"Are you sure, buddy?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow. "It'd be a bit unfair." The two of them glanced over at Brock's podium box, and smirked.
"For him." They chorused.
Misty and Gary watched from the balcony above the arena as Ash's Riolu ran into the battlefield smirking at the rocky orb Pokémon that was opposing him.
"Riolu, huh? Can't believe Gramps let Ash take him out this early in his journey." Gary mused. Suddenly, the pair were joined by Brock's nine younger siblings, who sprang from nowhere to watch their big brother's fight.
Riolu stared down the living boulder, smirking confidently.
"Get ready for a grade A arse kicking." He mocked. The rock Pokémon just snorted in response.
"Alright, Riolu. Use aura sphere attack!" Ash commanded.
"Right you are, Ash." Riolu replied, firing dozens of blue spheres from his paws towards his enemy. Geodude was nearly taken by complete surprise by the speed at which Riolu was hurling the glowing orbs, but managed to recompose itself and come back to its senses in time to duck behind a large rock on the field for cover. Ash and Riolu smirked at this strategy, however.
"Oh no you don't that's not going to work." Ash taunted. "Riolu. Get underground and prepare."
"I'm on it!" Riolu leapt forward, and started to drill through the dirt of the field with his front paws, disappearing underground. Geodude creeped out from behind his shelter, and started to watch his surroundings, trying to estimate where Riolu might appear from.
Misty and Gary watched in amazement at Ash's apparent skill in battling.
"Whoa. He's good." Misty praised him.
"He's a natural." Gary agreed. "Well… he is very well training in combat, so Pokémon battles don't come as an alien concept to him either." He explained.
Brock scowled in frustration. Riolu had been hiding for five minutes now, and it wasn't getting funny.
"Alright, kid. Enough of the hiding, just attack already." He demanded. Ash smirked as he saw his plan beginning to work.
"Alright, Riolu." Ash said, calmly. "Time to stop playing hide and seek." As soon as he said this, the ground below Brock's Geodude started to glow bright blue. A second later… BOOM! The arena erupted in spheres of blue as Riolu struck from underground, throwing Geodude helplessly into the air. With a thump on the ceiling, and a crash on the floor, the floating boulder was rendered unconscious. Ash smirked as Riolu leapt out of the crater he'd created from his aura sphere strike, and hopped back to Ash's side of the field. Brock growled at the sneering boy and recalled Geodude.
Gary proudly watched on as his little brother whooped Brock's first Pokémon with hardly any effort.
"He's got a natural talent for battling, I'll give him that." He said, coolly. His face faulted, however when he remembered what Pokémon was next to come. "But I hope he's ready for his rematch with Onix." He whispered.
"Alright, Onix." Brock said to the new pokéball in his hand. "Let's teach this kid a lesson he won't soon forget. Go!" He hurled the pokéball, releasing the dreaded rock snake.
"GROARGH!" The colossus roared, making Ash and Pikachu grit their teeth in a mix of nerves and revenge. Riolu sensed this tension, and turned to Ash, giving a sympathetic look.
"Do you want Pikachu to take revenge on this guy, or do you want me to whip him?" He asked. Ash shook his head clear of his mixed thoughts.
"No thanks, Riolu. You've done your part." He smiled, motioning his head to his side. "Fall back now." Riolu obeyed, and marched back to Ash's side. Ash turned his head to Pikachu, who was growling vengefully at the snake. "Alright, Pikachu. Time for some revenge." Ash smirked. Pikachu nodded, and charged onto the battlefield. He glared at his foe, cheeks sparking warningly.
"Alright, you overgrown pebble necklace, get ready for some major arse-kicking Pika revenge!" He snarled.
Brock looked at the kid before him in frustration, but a little begrudging admiration. This guy seems to know what he's doing all of a sudden. Where'd this sudden boost of confidence come from?
"Onix, let's not let our guard down. This kid isn't as bad as the last three trainers were. We're gonna need our full power for this fight." He warned. Onix roared in agreement. "Alright. Bind it!" Brock commanded. Onix whipped its mighty tail towards the tiny mouse Pokémon, ready to squeeze him into submission once more.
"Not this time!" Ash muttered, venomously. "Pikachu! Underground, quickly!" Pikachu nodded, and buried himself under the arena, making Onix's tail snatch at thin air.
"Oh no. Not again." Brock growled. "Onix, use Earthquake to shake 'em up." Onix raised his tail high into the air, and slammed it into the arena floor. However, instead of causing a massive tectonic disturbance as everyone expected, the rock snake's tail became stuck in the ground, and a vast proportion of the arena floor around the snake had caved in around it, trapping the bulky beast in a mess of rock and dirt, like a pitfall trap. Ash and Riolu smirked as Brock gawped in surprise. "Wha- what the-?" The gym leader stammered, completely lost for words.
"That's Riolu's forward preparation." Ash smirked, petting Riolu's head proudly, earning a satisfied coo from the humanoid fox. "When he dug underground last time, he left a mess of tunnels underneath where I knew you'd release Onix, ready to trap it by caving in if you made any sudden movements. And it worked perfectly." The raven haired boy gloated. "Pikachu! Reveal yourself and use scratch attack!" Pikachu burst out of the soil, leaping into the air, and began to claw furiously at Onix's head.
The giant snake shook its head ferociously, trying to shake the painful mouse off, but Pikachu kept clinging on for dear life.
"Onix! Trying throwing Pikachu upward. Maybe you can gain enough momentum to free yourself from the pit." Brock ordered. Onix obeyed, and jerked its head upward, flinging Pikachu skyward, making him crash into one of the gym lights. As an involuntary reaction, Pikachu let out a burst of electricity, short circuiting the light, and causing it to spark a small fire. Free from the yellow pest, Onix wriggled his tail, managing to free just enough length to reach out and wrap Pikachu up just before the mouse hit the ground. The snake coiled his tail around Pikachu, and started applying pressure.
"Oh no, not again." The rodent strained, painfully. Brock smirked as he finally had the upper hand.
"Good try with the pitfall idea, kid." Brock crowed, victoriously. "But it seems that you're little improvements weren't enough." Ash growled hatefully at this comment. All his hard work. All his effort. That wasn't going to go to waste.
Suddenly, the fire that Pikachu had accidently sparked on the light had started to smoke, alerting the gym's fire extinguishing system. The sprinklers activated, pouring water down on the arena, drenching the battlefield in the process. And, more importantly, soaking Onix as well. Feeling the liquid splashing against his rocky skin, Onix let out an uncomfortable roar not liking the unexpected shower. His grip on Pikachu weakened, and he ended up letting the mouse go altogether. Ash smiled at his good twist of fortune, and wasting no time in taking action with the odds flipped in his favour.
"Alright, Pikachu, quick! Use Thunderbolt on Onix while it's wet. Maybe the water will conduct the electricity, and do harm to him." Pikachu acted as quickly as he could, and zapped the rocky serpent with a large Thunderbolt attack, causing the snake to writhe in agony. "Yeah!" Ash cried, victoriously. "Now, let's finish it up! Let's use… huh? What the-?" Ash felt himself lurch this way and that as many pairs of young hands grasped and pulled him, holding him back from declaring his final move.
He looked down and found all of Brock's younger brothers and sisters holding him, defying him from calling his finishing move.
"No!" He heard one cry. "We won't let you hurt Onix, you big bully!"
"What? I'm not a bully." Ash protested, but the Brocklings still refused to relinquish him. Riolu prepared to remove the children by force, but Ash raised a hand to stop him. "Riolu, don't." He ordered. "Don't hurt them. They're not doing any harm." They were, however, interrupting the match.
"Let him go!" Brock demanded of his younger siblings. "This is an official Pokémon League gym battle. Don't interfere."
"But, Brock, we know how much care you took with training your Onix." The oldest girl of the Brocklings whined. "We don't want to see your favourite Pokémon hurt." Ash thought about the girl's words, and realised she had a point. The sprinklers activating was a complete accident. He was taking an unfair advantage. What kind of a Pokémon trainer would he be if he took an advantage that shouldn't have existed in the first place? In his view… he'd be a cheater.
"She… she's right." He confirmed, must to the surprise of Pikachu, Riolu, Brock, Misty and Gary. "Pikachu, stand down." He commanded. "I forfeit." He declared. Brock was flabbergasted.
"But, Ash…" He tried to reason, as the boy turned to leave. "…you- you were winning. You almost had me. And, guys…" He addressed the Brocklings. "…you shouldn't have interfered. Onix was just fine. He's used to rough battling. You didn't do that when the other three challengers came, so why interfere with Ash's match?" He chided them. Ash turned back to Brock, giving a sad smile.
"No, Brock. They were right." Brock was taken aback by this comment. "The sprinklers activating was an accident, and I took an unfair advantage. That wasn't fair of me. But… hey. I'll go train some more, and I swear I'll earn that badge fair and square third time around." And with that, he left the gym, followed by Riolu, Pikachu, Misty and Gary.
Brock watched them leave, pondering Ash's words.
"Maybe…" He muttered.
Ash and friends were walking along the bank of the river that ran through Pewter City. Riolu look confusedly at Ash.
"Ash, what did you forfeit for? You nearly won." He whined. Ash sighed.
"That, so-called, 'lucky break' where those sprinklers went off was an unfair advantage. I won't to win the gym badges, yes. But I don't want to cheat my way to victory." Ash reasoned. "I'm sorry if you feel that your efforts in that battle were wasted Riolu. You too, Pikachu." He apologised.
"It's OK, Ash. I understand." Pikachu replied, smiling. "Maybe next time, we'll-"
"ASH!" Ash and his friends turned to find Brock chasing after them. Ash sighed, wondering what the gym leader wanted. Nonetheless, they stopped, and Brock caught up to them, panting for air as he leaned against his knees. Once recovered, he stood upright, and held out his hand to Ash, revealing the grey octagonal Boulder Badge in his palm. "You forgot this." He said. Ash looked down at the badge, confused. He looked Brock in the eye, to check if he was having him on. However he looked just as serious as he sounded.
"But… I can't." The Pallet boy protested. "I don't deserve it. I forfeited. Twice."
"That may be." Brock nodded. "However… the second time you forfeited, you nearly had me and Onix defeated. If it hadn't been for my little brothers and sisters, I know you will have surely beaten me. You definitely deserve it." And with that, he placed the grey badge in Ash's hand, folding his fingers around it, securing that the badge was his.
Ash opened his hand to look at the badge, and smiled up at Brock, thankfully.
"Thank you, Brock." He said, sincerely.
"My pleasure." Brock responded. He stepped to the side, and looked out across the river, a dreamy look engulfing his slitted eyes. "In all honesty, I get more pleasure from raising Pokémon than making them battle. I don't care about being a gym leader, or a Pokémon trainer. My dream is to be the world's greatest Pokémon breeder." He mused, contentedly. "But… I can't leave Pewter City, because I still have to care for my little brothers and sisters. Ash… do you think you could fulfil that dream for me on your journeys?" He requested. Ash looked at the leader, smiling. Little did anyone else, with the exception of Riolu, knew… but Ash had sensed a familiar presence that was going to change the situation. Ash politely shook his head.
"Mm-mm. I won't need to." He said. This confused Brock, Misty and Gary for a second… until Flint turned up, seemingly from nowhere.
"Brock." He said, addressing the gym leader. "You go and follow your own dream." He said, almost demandingly.
Everyone, but Ash and Riolu, looked at Flint in surprise. Ash smiled and turned his attention to Brock.
"I think Flint has something to say to you, Brock." He chuckled. Flint removed his hat and fake beard, revealing himself to be an older looking version of Brock. Brock sneered at the man upon recognising him.
"My father." He snarled. Ash nodded, and patted Brock's shoulder calmingly.
"Just hear him out." He advised. All eyes fell on Flint, expectantly.
"I'm sorry for my actions, Brock. Not long after I left Pewter City to become a Pokémon trainer, I found myself completely unable to do anything right when it came to Pokémon battles. I became a laughing stock as a trainer and, because I was too embarrassed and ashamed to show my face to my family, I never had the balls to come back." The man explained. "It's time I step up to the plate for once, son. I'm going to head back home and take care of my family for once. I want you to head out and fulfil your dreams and mine." He said to his son. Brock, who had remained stoic until this point, reached into a pocket in his body warmer.
"First… I have to tell you a few things." He said, simply, pulling something from his pocket and placing it in Flint's hand. "Here." He said. Flint inspected the item awkwardly. It was a needle and thread. Brock then handed him a notepad and pen, and started listing off his siblings' various daily requirements and behaviours. "Suzie's always ripping her dresses, so you'd better learn how to sow, and Timmy only eats cold spaghetti for breakfast. Tommy likes cornflakes for dinner…" He was speaking at such a pace, a normal person's tongue would already be feeling sore.
"Slow down! I can't write that fast." Flint panicked, starting to sweat as he tried to scribble down notes of what Brock was saying about the Brocklings.
"Cindy sleepwalks, so you have to tie a bell round her wrist, the twins neverlike to take a bath…" Brock kept listing at his tongue-twisting speed as the Sun kept setting.
The next morning, Ash and his friends were gathered at the road leading out of Pewter City and on to Cerulean City via Mount Moon.
"Thanks for letting me tag along with you on your adventure, Ash." Brock thanked.
"Don't mention it, Brock." Ash waved, politely dismissive of the thanks. "It'll be fun to be travelling with all you guys."
"Ooh. Yeah… um… Ash?" Gary said, awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "I, um… well… what I want to say is… do you not mind if I just… head out by myself for a bit?" He requested, nervously.
"Huh?" Ash blinked. "How come?" Gary shifted, uncomfortably.
"Well… it's just that… well… I-I'm not too comfortable in big travelling groups. I'm sorry, Ash, I really am. But… h-how about we meet up every once in a while, yeah?" The boy asked, a little nervously.
"Sure. That'd be fine, Gazza." Ash replied. "I understand if you feel a little uncomfortable in a big group. Meet up sometime soon?" He said, holding out his hand in a fist. Gary smiled, and fist bumped his brother, friendlily.
"Deal." He confirmed. "Smell ya later, Ashy-boy." He smirked, giving Ash a small salute as he turned to head off down the road.
"See ya later, Gare Bear!" Ash called after him.
Riolu turned to Ash, apologetically as well.
"Um… Ash… I need to go too. Professor Oak will probably get cranky at me for hanging around you too long." He said.
"It's fine, little buddy." Ash said, pulling Riolu into a small hug. "We'll see each other again soon. I promise." He said. And with that, Riolu vanished in a blue light.
As Ash, Misty, Pikachu and their new companion, Brock, headed out of Pewter City, a familiar dog watched them go. She smiled to herself, contentedly.
It's good that he's making new friends. She thought. I can tell he's never going to be lonely on his travels. Good for you, Ash.She sighed. She looked to the mountain ranges of Mount Moon that lay over yonder, and set out after the humans, making sure she kept her distance as they trekked away on the way to adventure.
And there we go. Thank you everyone who's been giving in ideas for this chapter, and all ideas for a life and death scenario Ash and Ninetails are going to meet with are being considered. And, right now, I'm considering putting multiple ideas together.
Here's a question I've thought of for you lot...
Do you want to see Gary earning a few of these badges that don't exist in the official list?
This would give us an opportunity for an OC competition. And if we were to do that, I could offer a reward like... having the winning reviewer - not only have their OC appear in the fiction, but the reviewer THEMSELVES could make a cameo appearance as a trainer. Or, I could give a shout out to the reviewer and/or a story reccomendation. What do you think about that, guys? Leave me a few reviews tell me what you think of that idea, and we'll see what happens.
Now... this business that I may not upload the next chapter next week... I'm sorry, but next week's going to be chaos for me. Tuesday, I have a driving theory test. Wednesday AND Thursday, I have auditions for university. So... I may or may not get the next chapter up in time for Sunday. If I don't, I apologise in advance, and I'll find a way to make up for it, I promise. If I MANAGE it, then... WIN! LIKE A BOSS! And see you next week (if all goes well).
But... until next time, take care.
Salvador Rider