Chapter 6

Updated on 29/03/2011 at 19:53 local Belgium time

Kingdark: Chapter has been changed a lot. Starting from chapter seven, it will be ALL new! Oh yhea baby!

Chapter START

Two weeks had passed since both Harry and Ash had lost against each other. Neither really cared about their loss. The fight wasn't really meant to 'win' but to see how well they could fight with their new pokémon and how well they could think for themselves. Thankfully their new friends could do better for themselves than Ash and Harry had feared.

Those two weeks were spend training them and teaching them how to act in what situations. They were taught that they would be able to fight on their own and as their trainers they would only interrupt when they had a better strategy. Doing this required a lot of trust both sides. The pokémon would need to stop doing what it was doing immediately to comply with its new order. And the trainer would need to trust its pokémon to judge the situation properly and come out alive.

Harry and Ash each went their separate ways when they were training their pokémon. They would discuss what they were doing freely, but neither wanted to go and observe unless the other asked.

Every three days they would do a short one on one battle to test their training out. Those battles weren't official, but the referee who had watched them had offered to assist.

"It will be in my off hours. I think the both of you have a lot of potential. These battles won't be official mind you but as an official from Viridian city I can express my opinion should the two of you ever be mentioned."

Harry had been suspicious at this random act of kindness because he didn't know what camp this guy was loyal too. Was his loyalty towards the gym leader? Or was it for the elite four? Perhaps this guy was loyal to just some low level bandits? Or worst case scenario; was team rocket involved?

Ash and Harry did not remain within the city walls though. They ventured outside the walls as well. Looking for a good fight with the wild pokémon there. As well as trying to figure out what travellers knew about the destroyed outpost. Rumours were beginning to flow around but none of them seemed even close to the truth.

The most popular rumour said that the outpost was burned to the ground by an unknown and possibly undiscovered pokémon.

The pokémon in Viridian forest had been identified for decades. The wilds weren't as 'wild' anymore that a pokémon could travel unseen or undiscovered from one point to another. The closest thing to the truth was a conspiracy theory. This theory claimed that the outpost had been from a surviving branch of the Kanto empire that had been trying to conquer it back under a surviving blood heir of the old throne.

Centuries ago, the world had been divided into several big unified nations with a few smaller ones on the side that claimed independence but were actually puppets under one of the three big nations.

At some point in history, someone tried to commit a coup d'etat to take control of all three countries at the same time. The only thing that it succeeded in doing was causing a civil war. Nobody knew who was their ally anymore and so all three nations crumbled. None of the big countries were in any state to make a military move though so they just tried to recover from the crippling civil war instead.

When the civil war was over, and the three big nations had finally recovered somewhat, the big three were divided into several smaller pieces, each claiming independence as well. This caused a situation where neither could act out of fear that a rival would take this opportunity to attack as well.

The situation remained the same for decades. Their official armies slowly crumbled as well. Official support crumbled and supply lines crumbled as well. In the end not even the divided independent countries managed to survive which led to the current political situation.

All city leaders agreed that when a trainer appeared that proved himself or herself to be strong, smart, talented then he or she would be able to take control of the cities as the 'pokémon master' of its region. The other countries agreed with this rule as well.

Gym leaders appeared one by one, as well as their 'badges' to show prove of their defeat. The initial four elite trainers that defeated them took up position. Now wannabe rulers not only had to gather eight badges, they also had to defeat the elite four after proving that they had what it took to be a good leader.

If any trainer could manage this, and could unify his or her region then this trainer could try the same in a different region as well. His or her status as 'pokémon master' would give him or her complete immunity. This wannabe ruler would be able to visit the other regions, catch pokémon, gather badges and then try to defeat the elite four again. There was an equal price with defeat as well as victory.

Should the trainer win, then he or she would take control of a different region as well. If the trainer lost however, then he or she would lost their status as pokémon master as well as the immunity that it provided. The region could then choose to do with the trainer whatever they wanted. Dropping the trainer in the middle of nowhere with no supplies, clothes or pokémon was the usual punishment. If they were even crueller then they would be dropped in human like pokémon during mating season that ate or killed the males afterwards.

Some pokémon species ate the male alive, others would chase the male out of their nest for other predators to eat.

The consequence of losing was enormous.

Which brought him back to the unknown loyalty of this referee.

The six pokémon had apparently talked as well because in the end, they told the true story that had led them to be in that outpost. It is not unusual for captured pokémon to go back into the wild if their trainer is killed in some way and the trainer has no human friends, allies or family to go to. If the captured pokémon go back into the wild they often stick together and usually end up becoming prey to each other. This happened because there was no human to buffer their behaviour or in other words give them enough food to keep their instincts in check.

The story that led the five of them to that outpost was similar to the scenario above.

The oldest pokémon -and the strongest- was Pidgey. The bird pokémon had been injured when she was young and had been healed by a human which would eventually become their trainer.

Nodoka -the name of their trainer- was an odd duck. She preferred to live in the wilds and observe pokémon in their natural environments. It was for that reason that Nodoka had been training really hard to survive in the wild without too much comfort. A small one man tent, a way to make a camp fire safely and more importantly: to keep predators away.

For that purpose she had needed a pokémon. The problem was that she didn't have access to one. Her village was a small one and the one trainer that was their only defense was uninterested in helping a girl like herself out. Nodoka practiced and practiced. When she healed me she was really trying to earn my friendship. When she had it, she began practising in ways that were impossible before. I would sit in a tree and try to watch her moving. It would sometimes take hours before she got there but she got better over time. Patience is a requirement in the wild but she eventually succeeded. She observed pokémon as they lived and kept herself far enough to escape if they conceived her a threat.

How the others had ended up in her team didn't matter much in the end. It was when she had a team of five that Nodoka had decided that she was good enough to leave her village. Since Nodoka didn't have any parents except a whore for a mother that gave just enough money for her to live on for rent and some food she hadn't felt bad at all in just leaving. Her mother had been threatening with teaching her the family job. And spreading her legs for whatever male that thought he had a big enough penis was not something she wanted.

That didn't mean that Nodoka wasn't aware of the differences between sexes. She had done plenty of other sexual deeds but a kick in the nuts was more than enough to convince anyone that her virginity was hers to give away and not anybody else.

They left their village and lived in the wild for several full moons -at least a few months in other words- when she stumbled on a Team Rocket Operation.

The pokémon in that particular area had known about the strange human. They had left her alone except to watch. She hunted them but only for food. If she was attacked her five pokémon would defend her with their last breath. It was her reputation alone that made pokémon tolerate when she was watching. No matter how good a normal human think s/he is, stealth is something most pokémon can detect of a human. Most but not all of them. The plenty meals she had hunted were prove of that.

Back to the Team Rocket operation.

It was only because of her experience in the woods and her experience in stealth that allowed her to stay hidden at first. Living as she did had taught her to appear non-threatening to adult predators. Pokémon that would normally kill a human on sight left her alone because she showed no fear and because she knew what body language to use. Scyther couldn't count how many times they had to run for their lives out of somebodies territory and to be then left alone. They were usually observed by those that did the chasing and then through a lot of pokémon body language their trainer was allowed to watch them do their thing during the day.

Team Rocket are truly criminals. The hides of pokémon difficult to find is worth a lot of money on the black market. But team rocket had no interest in the circle of life; Killing several dozen Pidgey would eventually impact on predators that hunted them. And they in turn would have an impact on their own predators.

And the circle of life was something Nodoka had gained a lot of respect for. So Nodoka had left the area to try and gather the support of the pokémon that had trusted her at least a little bit. She succeeded in gathering a small group of pokémon and attacked. They failed and the five of them were the only survivors. And that was only because they knew each other so well.

None of them knew how long they tried to survive in the wild. Only that they stumbled on that outpost after a long time. They were recognized as human friendly pokémon and allowed themselves to be caught if they could stick together. The humans agreed and time passed. No trainer wanted to take on five pokémon at once. And no trainer wished to take a pokémon against their will. If a trainer did that they usually ended up dead.

The rest was history.

Thankfully Harry didn't have to rely on body language to translate the story. Hedwig had agreed that since they were now allies they should be told of her existence. And since Hedwig was a psychic she could easily translate whatever the pokémon said directly.

Since it was a good way to practice her powers Hedwig had decided to try and spread her power so that Harry and Ash could hear what the pokémon were saying in their own language. It would only help them to become closer all the faster.

Nodoka hadn't been interested in making them stronger other than surviving in the wild. She cared for them but wouldn't send them out to battle only to gain a win. That was the reason why her pokémon weren't that powerful. They had still experience in fighting though.

None of the pokémon knew for certain if Nodoka was death or not. The only thing they knew for certain was that their fellow pokémon were being killed very quickly. They saw their trainer go down and not up again. That had been enough to send the survivors fleeing in every direction.

This story added to the fire that was already burning within Ash to complete his dream. To become a pokémon master and to take control of all the regions, no matter what the risks would be.

Harry and Ash trained for an additional two weeks before deciding they were as ready they were going to get.

A usual 'normal' battle goes like this:

a) both trainer send their pokémon out and when the start is given they give a single command.

b) The battle continues and only occasionally gives the trainer an additional command or a signal to tell the pokémon they could use this or that move.

It was roughly one month later after they had arrived in Viridian city when both trainers felt ready to challenge the gym leader for a badge. Both boys had made a strong friend in Brock as well. The older teenager had been very interested in the duo when the youngest had defeated him. He had underestimated him and it had been his weakest. But defeating a previous gym leader's pokémon still was no mean feat.

Brock had agreed to join the two of them should they come out the winner. Brock wasn't interested in the gym's leader position anyway but the eldest of his younger brother was interested in the position and had been training for it for months.

Viridian city - Main hall

"Another two rookie trainers for me to crush eh?" Flint Iwa sneered. "You are the ones that my... Son has been talking about?"

Neither boy answered the question.

"Just like my son, the two of you aren't worth too much." The man continued. "I'll even give you the first move. Isn't that nice of me hmm?"

"Which one is the first to challenge me?" The man asked after seeing that his intimidation tactics weren't working as they should.

"I will be the first that you have to defeat." Harry declared simply.

"That's good." Flint nodded. "Since I'm the gym leader I can set the conditions that this match will have. Should you loose against me, you won't be able to challenge me again until you have three badges. Your brother can still challenge me should he think he's talented enough. I will use an equal amount of pokémon as you have." Flint told Harry.

"Five pokémon for me-" Harry began. "And "Three pokémon for me." Ash finished.

"Very well then." The gym leader said. "The first match will be five versus five pokémon. Neither of us can switch out except when the pokémon is unable to continue." The gym leader continued.

"There are no further rules. Any objections?" Since neither trainer said anything Flint moved to his proper location as did Harry.

"So the big brother is going to go first eh?" Flint sneered. "Let's see how quickly I can crush you. It shouldn't take long considering..." Flint snickered at a private joke. Harry on the other hand narrowed his eyes.

"This guy needs an attitude adjustment BIG TIME. Let's see if I can't exploit this a little..."

"Are you up for a little bet... Flint?" Harry asked. His tone polite. If only barely. Harry knew that types like Flint demanded respect but didn't want to give it.

"Oh?" Flint said. "And what exactly would the terms be of this little bet? Scared already? Or maybe you want to show me what you do with your little brother in private..." The man taunted.

Harry ignored his taunt and set his terms. "You probably know that we made friends with your eldest. If I win I want him to join us so that he can accomplish his goals and prove to you that being a breeder is a dream worth going for."

"And what would I get if I were too win this little match?" Flint asked casually.

"Name it." Harry said.

"The both of you as my... 'servants' whenever I require your... 'Help'" Flint responded.

'That guy is going DOWN!' Harry roared mentally.

'Deal.' Harry declared. And he followed that up with bring his first pokémon out.

'Gastly go!'

The pokémon appeared on the battlefield and seemed eager for a fight.

'Golem' Crush him.' Flint ordered.

First round. Gastly (Tr. Harry) versus Golem (Tr. Flint)

'Begin!'

Harry had given no command because Gastly already knew what he was supposed to do. Go invisible and try to paralyse the enemy.

Gastly began the fight with becoming invisible. It was his best weapon against any pokémon because that's how wild Gastly survived. Kill their prey through when they were unaware through the poisonous gas that their bodies existed out.

It seemed that the golem had just bad luck because Gastly had moved in immediately and paralysed the golem before it could do anything.

The official referee realized that. 'First match goes to the challenger'! The man declared.

'Golem return.' Flint said simply.

"Don't get exited little man. You just got lucky that's all. I'm going to enjoy bossing you around especially at night." Flint taunted.

'Onix go!'

'Gastly will remain on the field.' Harry told the referee.

Second round. Gastly (Tr. Harry) versus Onix (Tr. Flint)

Harry: one victory

Flint: Zero victory

'Onix dive underground!' The gym leader commanded calmly. "You know what to do after that."

The Onix dove underground as his trainer had told him.

"Don't panic Gastly. Remain invisible and do what we practiced during our training." Harry instructed.

The pokémon had become visible again because he couldn't keep his invisible form indefinitely. Not during the day at least.

Harry could hear a faint rumbling beneath the ground that pointed towards movement of the Onix.

The Gastly had remained where he was and hadn't moved too much. Then the Onix shot from the ground several meters from where the Gastly was floating. The ghost pokémon was still very much surprised by the sudden appearance but knew what to do in return.

The pokémon concentrated and inflicted the curse he had power over on the Onix. Gastly felt his energy drain away and was satisfied to see that the stone pokémon roared out in pain.

Gastly didn't want to loose a second and became invisible again. He changed his gas composition again to make it go asleep. The Onix was still recovering from the pain when it started to become drowsy.

'Onix RAGE!' Flint countered calmly.

The Onix recognized the command and realized that it did have a reason to be angry. The ghost pokémon should be nothing but a meal to its mighty body!

'DIE' The Onix roared. Gastly realized that his attempts to make it go to sleep was halted for now. His poison wasn't so easily shaken off though. The poison was now within the body of the Onix. So Gastly only had to evade its attacks until it calmed down somewhat. Then it had to connect to the poison and increase the rate that it flowed throughout the body. Gastly needed to act quickly though. The gas that was now flowing within Onix's body was part of him. And while it could regenerate on its own, it was also painful to do this.

The Onix only became even angrier when it could feel itself losing the battle to remain awake. It attacked blindly but eventually it had to give up. Onix fell asleep and was thus declared the loser.

Gastly quickly recalled the gasses from within Onix's body and was relieved when he was whole again when the Onix was returned. His poison -even if it was only to go to sleep- shouldn't stay in a pokémon. It could always revert back to its toxic state and that would kill a pokémon very slowly and very painfully if it was only there in small amounts.

Gastly had recalled enough of himself to know that the poison should be destroyed by Onix's body though.

'Second battles of four goes to the challenger.' The referee said again.

Flint recalled the Onix and considering who he should use now.

"Ah I could use my newest addition..." The man thought to himself. "It should know enough to recognize an enemy when it sees one." He snickered to himself.

'Go.' Flint said simply. A beautiful Ninetails erupted from the Pokéball. And it seemed to be fairly new too, because it seemed very nervous.

"Is the challenger going to switch his pokémon or not? If you do then you may send him out again later. You still cannot switch during the middle of a fight. Should you switch out, then the pokémon will be counted as having being knocked out." The referee reminded Harry.

Harry considered the pokémon and nodded to himself. 'Gastly return.' Harry said softly. 'You did well but I want to give the others a change to fight as well.'

Gastly looked like he wanted to protest but then made an agreeable sound. The pokémon changed into energy and was recalled in the capturing device.

"Vulpix and Growlithe don't have a clear advantage of that Ninetails." Harry thought to himself. "Vulpix would be overwhelmed by its evolution and Growlithe lacks the fire power -no pun intended- to win a battle of fire versus fire. I could use pidgey but she doesn't have an advantage because it isn't the open air. And I don't want to use Hedwig except as my secret weapon." Harry nodded to himself and made his choice.

'Come out Vulpix!' Harry called out.

Third round. Vulpix (Tr. Harry) versus Ninetails (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Two victories

Flint: Zero Victory

"You may start battling now." The referee told the two trainers, interrupting whatever tension there was in the air.

'Vulpix, use your speed against it to confuse her!' Harry instructed firmly. He had discovered early that Vulpix needed clear instructions. She was relatively inexperienced and still very young.

The Vulpix did what her trainer ordered her to do and tried to make use of all her speed to confuse her. Unfortunately, the Ninetails was vastly more experienced and was able to take her out with a single flick of her tail.

'Victory goes to Flint.' The referee declared.

'Growlithe go' Harry said. He really wanted to keep Hedwig as a secret weapon. If he had to send her out, it would call a large amount of attention on his head. Something he really wanted to avoid.

Third round. Growlithe (Tr. Harry) versus Ninetails (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Two victories

Flint: One Victory

"Growlithe, use tackle and double team!" Harry ordered as soon as the referee gave the 'green light.'

The Growlithe knew how easily her pack sister had been defeated and vowed to not be as easy. She used all the speed she had readily available, not yet tapping into her limited reserves.

She managed to get a good tackle in, but it did relatively little damage. She followed it up by starting up double team in combination with tackles as well. Hopefully, she could confuse the Ninetails and tackle her for real when she was...

'NOW!'

The Ninetails was becoming more annoyed as time passed. This... PUP thought that she was good enough to defeat HIM? No. Way.

Arrogance had an expensive price to pay though, so when the Vulpix managed to tackle her several times while keeping her double team running, it made the Ninetails even angrier.

'Growlithe flame-thrower and see if you can keep up double team as well!

Translation: try a flame-thrower at the right time and see if you can do double team during it.

Growlithe probed her reserves and realized that they were already dangerously low. This battle had to end and soon!

She grabbed hold of her last energy and boosted her speed during double team as well as preparing for a powerful flame-thrower. It wouldn't be as strong as usual but hopefully it would weaken her enemy enough for the next one to defeat her!

But when the moment arrived that she was supposed to spew her flame-thrower at the Ninetails, Growlithe realized that she was too drained. Making a split second decision she used ember instead.

The fire attack hit her enemy dead on. Growlithe retreated far enough to catch her breath.

The Ninetails was still there. It was weakened but still awake.

Harry realized that Growlithe was dangerously tired. "I'm recalling Growlithe." Harry declared. "This match goes to Flint." Harry did as he said and recalled the pokémon into its Pokéball. 'Good work Growlithe. You did well.' The boy praised.

'Victory goes to Flint!' The referee parroted. Confirming what Harry had said already.

Fourth round. Pidgey (Tr. Harry) versus Ninetails (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Two victories

Flint: Two Victories

'Pidgey go!' Harry said simply. Pidgey was agile enough to tackle the Ninetails a few times. That was hopefully enough to weaken it even more. He still had Gastly and Hedwig in reserve. Flint only had Ninetails and two more pokémon left. It was a slight disadvantage to Harry. But he still hadn't send out his strongest.

'Match GO!' The referee bellowed!

'Pidgey, use agility as best you can and follow it up by tackling it quickly!' Harry barked.

The Ninetails was completely caught of guard by such a fast opponent and since it was already injured from earlier, it was knocked out shortly after.

'Victory goes to Ash Ketchum from pallet town!' The referee shouted.

Fifth round. Pidgey (Tr. Harry) versus Geodude (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Three victories

Flint: Two Victories

The two pokémon readied themselves again.

Flint and Harry gave their orders at the same time.

'Throw rocks Geodude!' Flint bellowed.

'Evade!' Harry countered immediately.

'See if you can grab a few of those rocks and drop em on it head!' Harry instructed.

Translation: pick a rock on the ground and use that to surprise the enemy.

Pidgey did as he was told, doing fake attempts to catch a rock mid air before she dove to the ground, took a smaller but still sizeable rock in her claws and dropping that on the Geodude's head. Unfortunately, the Geodude received very little damage. And before the pidgey could retreat, the Geodude had already tackled it to the ground.

Harry realized that the pokémon could kill his pidgey at this rate and prepared to recall the bird before it began to glow.

'Knock that bird out Geodude!' Flint shouted urgently. An evolution often re energized the pokémon in question. It would give the trainer a 'newly' send out pokémon concerning energy reserves.

Geodude tried to comply but the evolution was able to complete.

'Pidgeotto, use your size to your advantage! Blow sand in its eyes and tackle it again!' Harry instructed quickly.

Flint's knowledge in evolution was only partly correct. It either boosted the energy of the pokémon like it had been fully healed or it drained its energy instead. If it was the last option, the pokémon usually was just a bit more powerful. It also meant that it was knocked out should the evolution happen in a trainer's battle.

'Pidgeotto is unable to fight. This round goes to Flint!' The referee decided.

The Ninetails was weakened to the point that it was breathing very heavily. Flint had no choice but to recall it as well.

"It seems that we are at the deciding match." Flint observed.

Sixth and Final round. Mew (Hedwig) (Tr. Harry) versus Ryhorn (Tr. Flint)

Harry: Three victories

Flint: Three Victories

'This round decides the winner of this match!'

'Hedwig...Go!' Harry said simply with a smirk on his face. He still had two pokémon. And this one was his strongest.

When Flint realized what pokémon was floating before his eyes he couldn't believe what his eyes were telling him. "Y-you" The man began actually stuttering in surprise!

The Ryhorn was one of the toughest pokémon that flint had. But also the most dangerous. It was very stubborn and easy to anger.

The Ryhorn used its natural rage to boost its stomping power. It charged.

'Ice punch!' Harry commanded. While the Ryhorn was a stupid pokémon in general it was still very tough.

Hedwig wasn't Harry strongest pokémon for nothing. The ice punch hurt the Ryhorn a lot causing it to go blind with its anger.

'Psychic! Harry instructed. Hedwig did as she was told and her strongest attack knocked the last pokémon out.

'Ryhorn is unable to battle. 'Victory goes to the challenger!' The referee declared.

"And with one pokémon to spare too." Harry thought to himself. "Ash better watch himself though. I barely won the match and that was only thanks to Hedwig as my Ace. Speaking of which..."

Harry focussed his magic and edited the memory of the gym leader so he couldn't recall what pokémon had beaten his Ryhorn. He would be able to recall that it was a psychic type but not much more than that. It was backed up by a suggestion to get himself drunk. Hopefully that would make him blame the alcohol instead of foul play.

'You won this match... fairly so here is your proof that you won the match.' The gym leader bit out. "Your brother can challenge me tomorrow. Now excuse me."

Ash and Harry watched him exit the building and then left for themselves as well.

"You are going to need a lot of luck to beat him tomorrow Ash." Harry began. When they were a fair distance from the gym.

"Pikachu is very agile. But she can only manage his iron tail three times before being dangerously exhausted. Charmander and Scyther do not have a type advantage over the pokémon that flint used. Chances are that he will use different pokémon tomorrow. He might try to get you to agree to another bet. Don't agree to it unless I agree as well. That man should belong in jail and not be a free man." Harry concluded.

"Why?" Ash asked curiously.

"You didn't get what that bastard implied did you?" Harry asked.

Ash replayed most of the conversation that had happened through his head and tried to look at it from an adult angle.

"I don't see it." The boy admitted. Harry sighed. "Be glad you didn't. At least you still have your innocence a little bit that way. Trust me that it isn't a good thing. If you really want to know I will explain. But its not pretty."

"Never mind then." Ash decided. "I don't want to know.

'Good.' Harry thought to himself. "When Flint appears with a hangover that might give Harry an advantage. Hopefully he will underestimate Ash and we'll get our second victory in a row along with a powerful ally in Brock as well!" Harry finished.

Chapter END

Kingdark: The below is the end result of the match. Which pokémon were defeated and who remained. I don't know the last name of Brock so I choose Brock Iwa. It should mean earth/stone I think. I borrowed the word from Naruto. If any reader knows a better translation for stone/earth/rock feel free to share it.

I changed my mind about using levels. At least officially. It is too much of a bother to me. Hope you won't mind eh?

Ash

'Pikachu'

'Charmander'

'Scyther'

Harry

'Mew' undefeated

'Gastly' weakened

'Vulpix' defeated

Growlithe' defeated

''Pidgeotto' defeated

Flint

Golem defeated

Onix defeated

Nine tails defeated

Geodude defeated

Ryhorn defeated

Kingdark