Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Nintendo's Pokémon franchise.
Legend:
"Someone is talking."
'Someone is thinking.'
"A machine is being used."
Chapter Fifteen:
Behind Ash, the cracked Moon Stone finally gave out and, shuddering as portions of rock fell away, revealed something that nobody would've ever expected; the Moon Stone was hollow. And—lying in the middle of its hollow center—was a strange-looking egg that slowly faded from a brilliant red to a pale pink color.
For a few precious moments, the entire cave was silent; the Clefable staring at the Moon Stone in shock and Ash staring at the space that strange Pokémon had floated in.
However, this silence was broken when a young Clefairy pointed towards the egg lying inside of the Moon Stone and yelled. This yell caused seemed to release all of the other Pokémon in the cave—besides the Geodude—from their sudden stupor, which led to them joining the first Clefairy in yelling at the egg.
To these "spiritually-aware" Clefable and Clefairy, they could sense that egg is not of their world. The egg had also defiled and broken the object of their worship, the Moon Stone, which was a crime worthy of a thousand deaths.
The sudden ruckus drew Ash from his own stupor before he turned towards the source. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw all of the Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable yelling at what looked to be a Pokémon egg that rested in the middle of the Moon Stone.
'Wait—!' Ash thought, doing a double take. 'The Moon Stone is hollow? But—How? And why are the Pokémon all shouting at that egg?'
One Clefable broke free from the sudden mob of pink Pokémon, jumped behind the egg, before it addressed its companions, "Clefable Cle Fable Cle!"
"Fable!"
Ash looked on in confusion as to what was going on before he saw the Clefable by the egg pick up a small but jagged piece of the former Moon Stone. His eyes widened as the Clefable shouted something out, his body already rushing forward.
"NO!" Ash shouted as he lunged for the egg—wrapping his arms around it as he fell—before he cried out in pain as he felt something sharp dig into his side.
The Clefable intending to destroy the egg hadn't been able to stop its makeshift weapon, leading it to have stabbed Ash in the side. It was only a few milliseconds later when the Clefable let go of its weapon before it backed up shakily.
Ash grit his teeth as he slowly moved into a semi-upright position before he looked down. His eyes widened when he saw the rock embedded into his side through his jacket and shirt, the growing circle of crimson liquid.
The six Poké Balls on Ash's belt turned bright white and began to shake before—in a stunning flash of bright white light—all of Ash's Pokémon materialized around him.
"Ve." Directly in front of Ash's injured form, Eevee bared her teeth before growling lowly, her long ears flattened against the back of her head.
Pidgeotto landed with a shriek before the Clefable that had hurt Ash, its glare being all that was needed to freeze it in place. If that Clefable so much as even moved a single muscle, then Pidgeotto would unleash all of its displeasure on it.
Rattata chattered worriedly at its Trainer's side—occasionally turning around before it growled at the group of pink Pokémon—as it was unable to do anything else at this point in time.
By Rattata's side stood Clefairy, who looked upon her Trainer with tears running down from her eyes to her fur. She couldn't stand the look of pain on her Trainer's face nor the blood that was seeping through his jacket.
Paras quickly scuttled over to Ash's side before it plucked a small portion of one of the mushrooms on its shell. It then chattered to its Trainer reassuringly before it used its other claw to grab the shard embedded into its Trainer's side before it started pulling.
Ash exclaimed from the pain as the jagged piece of earth was slowly torn out—which caused all of his Pokémon, besides Para, to look at him with alarm. They then looked at Paras who threw away the shard of Moon Stone disgustingly before it soaked Ash's wound with its mushroom.
While Paras attempted to help with Ash's wound, Kakuna was shaking from barely-suppressed rage. The sheer force of its emotion, coupled with its feeling of worthlessness and helplessness, slowly caused it to glow a bright white.
"Beedrill!"
Kakuna—Beedrill, now—now resembled a bipedal wasp, though it only had four legs instead of the standard six. Beedrill's head was round with a slightly pointed mouth, with large red eyes and antennae in the shape of the number seven. Its legs were connected to its body by its thorax, and the first two were tipped with long, conical stingers. Beedrill stood on its other two legs, which were long, segmented and insect-like in shape. Beedrill also had two pairs of rounded, veined wings, and another stinger on its striped abdomen.
With an angry buzz, Beedrill went aloft with its newfound wings before it charged at the Clefable that had dared hurt its Trainer. The Clefable's eyes widened in alarm before it backed up slightly, too late as Beedrill lashed out and left a brutal gash on Clefable's shoulder.
"Clefable!" Clefable cried out in pain as it fell backwards with wide eyes and a hand over its now-bleeding shoulder.
Beedrill took advantage of Clefable's uneven footing and charged forward, its conical stingers flying almost too fast for the eye to see. These stingers mainly small puncture wounds, but occasionally it would leave another gash, causing the Clefable to cry out in pain.
However, it was shortly after Beedrill began its assault that Pidgeotto interfered—landing in between the two Pokémon. Pidgeotto stared at the infuriated, buzzing form of Beedrill before it cawed warningly.
"Drill Bee-ill!" Beedrill buzzed angrily, pointing at the downed Clefable behind Pidgeotto. "Beedrill Drill-e Beedrill!"
Pidgeotto shook its head, "Pidge-to Pidgeotto Pi, Pi-To." It then jerked its head towards where Ash was currently lying. "Pi-To, Pidgeotto! Pidgey!"
Beedrill glared at Pidgeotto for a couple of moments before it gave a buzzed at the downed Clefable before it flew off to Ash's side. Said Clefable looked up at its savior, looking as if it was about to say something, only for Pidgeotto to move towards its Trainer.
Even as Beedrill had been attacking Clefable, Paras was treating Ash's wound as best as it could. The bit of mushroom it had used had spores which had been effective in numbing its Trainer's pain. It had also been effective in stemming, and eventually stopping, the flow of blood from Ash's wound.
The bloodied mushroom was thrown away by Paras—as it had no more use for it—before it ripped off another piece. Paras then gently pressed the mushroom on top of Ash's wound before it frowned.
How was it supposed to bind its Trainer's wound?
"… A-Anabel…" Ash muttered, eyes wide.
Paras looked up from Ash's wound to see that purple-haired female friend of its Trainer had indeed gotten up. She still looked rather tired, her clothing was ruffled and slightly burnt, and her hair messy but, other than that, she was perfectly fine.
Anabel frowned as she walked the distance separating the two of them—Ash's Pokémon parting to allow her by—before she came to a stop. She then kneeled to the ground before ripping off the bottom of her shirt.
"I'll take care of it, Paras." Anabel murmured to the crab-like Pokémon. Paras chattered at her for a moment, weary, before nodding and scuttling half a foot away.
"I thought you were—" Ash began quietly.
Anabel nodded, "I was asleep… until that Pokémon healed me and Abra." Here she smiled, sparing a glance at Clefairy, who had also been healed by that strange humanoid Pokémon. "And it looks like Clefairy is all better too."
Silence descended on that section of the cave as Anabel used the former part of her shirt as makeshift bandages and wrapped them around Ash's abdomen.
"I guess it's my turn to make sure you get better."
Ash looked up at Anabel with a confused expression, "Huh?"
"I heard what that Pokémon said to you, Ash." Anabel admitted as she finished with Ash's temporary bandages. "But…" Here her expression grew fierce before she hit him across the face. "Don't put yourself into that much trouble again!"
Ash hissed in pain and confusion—wondering what Anabel was talking about—hands flying towards his face. It was a couple seconds later when Anabel collapsed on him, whereupon his shirt started to get wet.
They were tears. Anabel was crying.
"Do you know—do you know how I felt? Waking up to see my only friend rushing up here! Seeing—watching him get stabbed!" Anabel balled the fabric of Ash's shirt into her hand, body shaking from the force of her sobs. "How could you—how could you be so… so stupid?"
Ash pulled Anabel closer before her grip tightened and her sobs increased in volume and in strength, "… I'm sorry; Anabel but… there wasn't any other choice. I had to save that egg."
For the next several minutes, Ash comforted Anabel the best that he was able to until she was finally able to gain control of her emotions again. She then backed away from Ash, sniffling, before she rubbed the tears off her face with the back of her sleeve.
"I get that you needed to save the egg… but, next time… don't put yourself in danger." Anabel murmured. Her head lowered until the shadows of her bangs covered her red-rimmed eyes. "I don't want to see you get hurt!"
Ash visibly softened, "I'm not going to go looking for trouble… that I can promise you, Anabel. I promise never to go looking for trouble."
Anabel smiled through a sniffle before she nodded. She then turned in the direction of the egg that Ash had hurt himself protecting—that was now being guarded by all Ash's Pokémon—before her eyes glowed a faint white.
XXXXXX
(Mt. Moon—Cave of the Moon Stone)
When those two Pokémon Trainers and their Pokémon had finally gone, the Clefable, Clefairy, and Cleffa were left to wallow in their guilt.
In their single-minded determination to remove that abominable egg from existence, they had severely wounded a Human. To them, that egg needed to be destroyed because of what it had done, it had destroyed their sacred moon stone, but to hurt another Pokémon or a Human—a Human that had helped them—was near unforgiveable.
Guilty, the pink Pokémon lowered their heads to the ground at their actions.
XXXXXX
(Later—The Kanto Region—Route Four)
"C'mon, Anabel!"
It was the day after they had left Mt. Moon and gone onto Route Four that Ash and Anabel caught sight of Cerulean City.
Cerulean City was a seaside city with the majority of its buildings being cylinder-shaped buildings, though there were a few square-shaped apartment complexes and houses here and there. At the northern edge of the town was a harbor full of multicolored boats next to a shining, crystal-clear sea inlet.
Ash ran down the hill that separated Anabel and he from the seaside city. However, even though he was running, he made sure not to jolt the PokéEgg—currently wrapped up by his jacket—too much.
After all, he didn't want to hurt the Pokémon in the PokéEgg, now did he?
"Wait!" Anabel called out before she began to run after Ash with a half-worried, half-mad expression on her face. "I told you that you shouldn't run! You're still hurt!" There was a brief pause. "Ash! Are you even listening to me!
Ash laughed.
Anabel frowned for a moment—incensed—before her lips quirked upwards into a smile. While he would get a scolding later for possibly aggravating his injury, she couldn't stay mad at him now. His good mood was simply contagious.
The two Pokémon Trainers soon came to a stop half-way into Cerulean City, huffing and puffing, before they looked at one another. Both ten year-old children then broke out into smiles.
"Ash?"
Turning at the mention of his name, Ash and Anabel caught sight of a young blonde-haired girl standing only a couple of feet away. She was wearing a light green shirt, white shorts, and a pair of whitish-green sneakers with a dark-green backpack. In this girl's arms was a young Bulbasaur with its head tilted as it looked at Ash and Anabel with a confused expression.
Bulbasaur were quadruped, reptilian creatures that somewhat resembled toads or young dinosaurs, with a spotted blue-green hide. Bulbasaur usually had three claws growing out of each of their four legs, and bright-red eyes. The most notable feature of this Pokémon species was the onion-like bulb on their backs, which was planted there by its mother at birth.
"Willow?" Ash asked, eyes wide with shock.
"Yeah, it's me." The blonde girl—Willow—stated with a small smile. "I'm glad to see you Ash. It's been a while."
"It has." Ash agreed.
Anabel took a step forward, "I don't mean to be rude but, who are you?"
"Oh. I'm Willow Black and this." Willow held up Bulbasaur, "is Bulbasaur. Now," she began kindly. "Who are you?"
"I'm Anabel White." Anabel answered, before she stepped forward and shook Willow's hand and smiled at Bulbasaur. "It's nice to meet you both."
Willow smiled, "It's nice to meet you to, Anabel." She then glanced at Ash out of the corner of her eye. "I see you're traveling with Ash. Have you been able to keep him out of trouble?"
Both Ash and Anabel winced at the same time.
"… Not really…"
"Really?" Willow asked incredulously. She sighed, "Why are you such a trouble-magnet? I mean , there was the in the incident in Viridian City—"
"Viridian City?" Anabel asked.
Willow looked shocked, "Wait, you don't know? Ash hasn't told you?".
"What happened?" Anabel asked.
"Well, according to the papers, Team Rocket was robbing the Pokémon Center in Viridian City. This guy—Jimmy Sanders—held off Team Rocket for a little bit while Ash here," Willow paused to point at a sheepish-looking Ash, "led Nurse Joy to safety."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Except that Jimmy got beaten by Team Rocket before Team Rocket found Ash and Nurse Joy. The papers don't say what happened in there only that Ash held off Team Rocket until it was too late for them."
Anabel turned to Ash with an unreadable expression on her face, "Really? No wonder you knew those three."
"You're not mad?" Ash responded.
Anabel shook her head, "No. Actually, I'm a bit impressed." Seeing Ash's disbelieving expression, she continued. "I mean, Team Rocket is really tough. It's impressive that you could hold them off by yourself."
Ash grinned, shoulders puffing out slightly, and opened his mouth. He never got the chance to respond to Anabel's statement as Willow interrupted him, pointing an accusing, slender hand at the object in Ash's arms.
"Is that a Pokémon Egg?" Willow almost squealed.
Ash visibly deflated; he had wanted to tell—read; brag to—Anabel about what had happened back in Viridian. However, Willow had asked him a question, and he wasn't about to without information from her.
"Yeah… Me and Anabel found it in a cave up on Mt. Moon." Ash mentally debated for a moment about telling Willow how he had gotten it, and settled upon a half-truth. "It was inside this huge rock… though how it got there, I have no idea."
"Could I look at it for a moment?" Willow asked.
"What?"
"Well, I want to be a Pokémon Breeder. I'm not that good at identifying what Pokémon will come from what Pokémon Egg… but, I have a book that will tell me that information." Willow offered.
Ash's eyes widened in slight shock; Willow wanted to be a Pokémon Breeder? Why hadn't she told him about this?
Pokémon Breeders were Pokémon Trainers that were known for monitoring, taking care of, and hatching Poké Eggs alongside Pokémon grooming and Pokémon nutrition.
In the Kanto region alone, there were at least twenty different companies that focused on Pokémon Breeding. The majority of these companies were focused on Poké Eggs and Baby Pokémon, which people had nicknamed "Pokémon Nurseries".
"Okay."
With that, Willow quickly put down Bulbasaur before she carefully took the bundled-up Poké Egg from Ash. She then gently removed Ash's jacket from it—which Ash took—before she began examining it.
In the sunlight, it was easy to see that the egg was only vaguely oval-shaped, more resembling a chunk of red rock than an actual egg. What separated it from being mistaken as an actual rock was the fact that it was slightly translucent, which allowed Willow to see a vague shape inside of it. It also gave off a steady, pulse-like thrum that signified that the Pokémon inside was still alive.
Willow bit her lip, "Hmm…"
Frowning, Willow retrieved a small book from her right shorts-pocket—tilted "Pokémon Breeding: Egg Encyclopedia"—before flipping it open. She then began flipping through the book with her frown growing the more time she took.
It was only a couple minutes later when Willow eventually reached the end of her book before she closed it with a sigh.
"I'm sorry but I couldn't find what Pokémon this little guy is going to be." Willow muttered.
"Really?" Ash asked a bit incredulously.
Willow nodded, "I checked out the entire book but none of the pictures, or descriptions, matched this egg."
All three Pokémon Trainers were quiet for a little bit while they digested this news. The egg wasn't in Willow's book meaning that it wasn't registered by Pokémon Breeders. This could also mean that the Pokémon inside of the egg hadn't been registered either.
"... What does this mean?"
"Well…" Willow bit her lip in thought. "If that egg isn't registered it could mean a lot of things. It could mean that it could be a fossilized egg—which I know it's not—or… it could be the egg of a Pokémon that hasn't been discovered."
Ash looked at the egg in awe, "… A Pokémon that hasn't been discovered yet."
"Not to be rude or anything but…" Anabel trailed off for a moment, looking uncomfortable. "Isn't it possible that you could be mistaken?"
"Well, I suppose I could've… I mean, my book is a couple of years old… Or my book could be a misprint…" Willow murmured quietly. Then, after a few seconds, she sighed. "I guess if you guys want to know what's inside this egg, you'll have to ask a certified Breeder or a Pokémon Professor."
"Maybe. I think I'm just going to wait to see what this little guy is going to be." Ash stated as he rewrapped his jacket around the egg, Willow having given it back to him after she had finished her examination of it.
A wordless growl echoed throughout the area, which caused Willow, Anabel, and Bulbasaur's eyes to widen. They all then turned towards the source of the noise in creepy unison—Ash's stomach—and saw Ash's cheeks were flushed a bright red.
"Sorry…" Ash muttered with a small, sheepish grin. "I guess I'm hungrier than I thought…"
XXXXXX
(Later—Cerulean City—Pokémon Center)
"Welcome to the Cerulean Pokémon Center!" A smiling Nurse Joy greeted after Ash, Anabel, and Willow had come up to the reception desk. "How may I help you?"
"Could you heal our Pokémon please, Nurse Joy?" Ash asked.
Nurse Joy nodded, "I sure can."
The three Pokémon Trainers smiled before each of them took a tray and put their Poké Balls into the metal holes. They then handed over the trays to Nurse Joy before the pink-haired woman directed them towards the lobby.
"Wait! Nurse Joy, do you think you could also look at this egg I found?" Ash asked.
Nurse Joy looked confused for a moment before she spotted the jacket-wrapped egg in Ash's arms. She frowned for a spilt second but it was gone before any of the three Trainers before her could notice.
"Of course I can, honey. Chansey!" Nurse Joy called.
Within a moment, a pink egg-shaped Pokémon waddled its way out into the area. This Pokémon has hair-like outgrowths on the side of its head, stubby limps, and a short tail. The only other thing of note was that this Pokémon had an empty pouch and that it was wearing a nurse's hat.
Ash took out his Pokédex, "Chansey: The Egg Pokémon. The evolved form of Happiny. Chansey are kind-hearted Pokémon that share their eggs with the sick and injured."
"Chan-sey Chan." Chansey asked of Nurse Joy.
Nurse Joy pointed towards Ash's egg, "I'll need you to take care of that egg while I heal these three Trainer's Pokémon, Chansey."
Chansey nodded in confirmation before it waddled over to Ash. When she reached him, she ended her stubby arms upwards before she grasped the egg from Ash—removing the jacket—before she stuck it into her pouch.
"Chansey!"
With that, Nurse Joy told the three Trainers that she and Chansey would be back as soon as it was possible. The pink-haired Nurse and her Pokémon then walked off towards a nearby door with a needle above it before opening it and leaving the lobby.
Ash's stomach grumbled loudly, "… Can we go to the cafeteria? I'm starving!"
XXXXXX
(An hour later—Cerulean City—Poké Mart)
Like all other Poké Marts, Cerulean City's Poké Mart consisted of a tiled, white floor with blue walls, lit up by white florescent lights. Scattering the floor, were aisles that were full of colorful mechanize, each aisle being in view of the register.
Ash was currently standing before one of the aforementioned aisles—dedicated to PokéChow—with a half-full cart of merchandise resting next to him. Inside the cart was a package of standard Poké Balls, an Egg Incubator, some basic food supplies for himself, and two sticker sheets.
The reason why he was getting sticker sheets was because of the fact that he had six Pokémon, seven if one counted his unhatched Poké Egg, with more coming in the future. If he didn't start to label his Poké Balls, then he would never be able to know which Poké Ball belonged to what Pokémon.
After a brief moment of though, Ash snatched two medium-sized bags of PokéChow before he put them into his cart. He then looked over what was in his cart before nodding to himself, finding that he had everything, moved over to the waiting clerk by the register.
Once everything had been rung up, the grand total came out to be 2500. Ash winced slightly at the price as he had only 3250 at the moment. However, he knew that he needed the stuff he was buying so he reluctantly handed over his Pokédex.
The clerk pressed a few buttons, waited for a little bit, checked the screen, nodded, and then handed Ash his Pokédex back. "There you are, sir. Have a nice day."
Ash smiled back before he picked up his three plastic bags—which another clerk had just finished putting his stuff into—before he walked out of the store.
"Well, well, well… If it isn't Ashy-boy!"
Ash's eyes widened at the all-too familiar voice, narrowing a few seconds later. He knew who that voice belonged to, and he hated him.
Gary Oak slung an arm over Ash's shoulder, "Been a while since I last saw you Ashy-boy…" He laughed, "I still can't believe that you became Pokémon Trainer! What'cha have to do, beg Gramps for a Pokémon?"
Ash blushed in embarrassment, remembering that he had actually begged Professor Oak. Ash's mortification and anger grew as Gary released him, laughing through his shout of "I knew it!"
"Hey!" Willow shouted as she walked out of the Poké Mart with Bulbasaur and Anabel trotting behind her. She stopped before Gary with a scowl, "Stop picking on Ash, Gary."
"Who's going to make me? Gramps? He's not here so… I don't have to, Wi-Wi." Gary smirked at Willow. He knew how like calling Ash "Ashy-boy" get Ash really mad, calling Willow "Wi-Wi" would annoy her quite a bit
Willow looked ready to hit Gary until Anabel stepped forward, "Who are you to be bullying my friends?"
"Me? I'm Gary Oak, grandson of Professor Oak and Pokémon Master in training!" Gary boasted with a grin. "And why shouldn't I? Ashy-boy had to beg my grandpa for a Pokémon!"
"That's no reason—!" Anabel began.
"I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle, Gary!" Ash announced, interrupting Anabel and surprising the three other Pokémon Trainers. He took a step forward to get into Gary's face. "You think your all-that so why don't you prove it, huh? Unless you're…" Ash balked like a chicken. "too chicken!"
Gary frowned, "You're on!"
XXXXXX
(Cerulean City—Seaside Park)
"I will be the referee for this match!" Willow stated as she stepped forward from the sidelines of Ash and Gary's chosen battlefield. She then looked at both boys. "It will be a three-on-three battle."
Gary smirked, "You ready to lose, Ashy-boy?"
"In your dreams!"
"Trainers, call out your first Pokémon!" Willow ordered.
Both Ash and Gary nodded before each of them reached towards their belts. The two boys then proceeded to draw out one specific Poké Ball each before they threw it up into the air.
"Go, Squirtle!"
Out of Gary's Poké Ball came a small, tailed bipedal Pokémon. It resembled a light blue turtle with its most notable feature being the hard, brown shell on its back.
"Eevee, I choose you!"
Out of Ash's Poké Ball came Eevee who began to look around excitedly. When Eevee spotted her future opponent, she yipped before getting onto her haunches.
"Trainers ready?" Willow asked. When she received confirmation from both Trainers, she raised her hand before slashing it downwards. "Begin!"
Gary smirked, "Let's see how you deal with this, Ashy-boy! Squirtle, use your Water Gun attack!"
Squirtle nodded once before its cheeks bulged before it leapt into the air and opened its mouth. A powerful jet of water was expelled towards Eevee, causing Ash's eyes to narrow.
"Dodge it, Eevee!"
Eevee obliged quite happily. She rushed away from her former position only moments before Squirtle's attack hit where she had been standing. A fair amount of dirt got thrown up by the force of the attack before it fell back as a small puddle of mud.
Squirtle came to the apex of its jump before it quickly descended towards the ground. It then landed in a crouch, twenty feet away from Eevee, looking a bit disappointed.
'That smug little—!' Ash thought with gritted teeth, infuriated. His eyes narrowed, "Let's go, Eevee! Use Scratch!"
Eevee yipped happily before rushing over to where Squirtle was. Her speed had improved since the time in Pewter City, which made the twenty-foot run take no more than ten seconds, tops.
"Squirtle, Withdraw!" Gary ordered.
Just when Eevee was about to scratch at Squirtle's head, the Water-Type Pokémon withdrew all of its limbs back into its brown shell. Eevee's claws raked against Squirtle's shell—leaving a small scratch—before the force behind the attack sent Squirtle flying backwards.
Ash's eyes narrowed, "Don't think that'll work, Gary; I've seen that used too much times in the Pokémon League! Eevee, use Tail-Whip!"
Eevee rushed up towards Squritle's shell before she quickly wrapped her short bushy tail around it. The length of her tail wasn't enough to completely wrap around it, but it was enough to get a good, firm hold on Squirtle's shell.
"What do you me—?" Gary began.
"Ve!"
Eevee lifted her tail, and Squirtle high into the air, before she slammed it into the ground. The force behind the attack was sure to disorient Squirtle, if not at least cause a little ringing in the Water-Type's ears, if it had any.
Gary's eyes widened slightly before they narrowed, "I see what you're doing! But, unfortunately for you, it won't work!" He turned to Squirtle. "Bite!"
Squirtle's head peeked out of its shell before it began to look around it somewhat dizzily. Then, seconds before Eevee slammed it into the ground, it clamped its toothless mouth around Eevee's tail.
Eevee instantly released Squirtle and yowled out in pain, bringing her tail close, eyes watering. However, it was already too late for Squirtle. The momentum behind it had Squirtle slam its shell, and head, against the ground before it bounced away.
Ash and Gary locked eyes.
"Tackle!"
Both Pokémon took a few seconds to process the order in their current states before Eevee uncurled her tail and the remainder of Squirtle's limbs popped out. It was only a few seconds later that both Pokémon rushed at each other.
"Ee-vee!"
"Squir!"
With that, the Pokémon tackled each other at full force, only to knock each other away from each other. Eevee groaned weakly as Squirtle clutched its head with its webbed paws, trying to will the pain to go away.
"C'mon, Eevee. You can do it!" Ash called from his side of the battlefield. Eevee started to get to her feet, swaying slightly. Apparently, that had been some Tackle. "That's it! C'mon!"
Gary gritted his teeth, "Get up! We can't lose to Ash!"
Squirtle groaned before it slowly got up, wobbling as everything around it appeared to be bigger than usual and slightly out of focus. The Water-Type clutched its head again and waited for the spinning to stop.
"Scratch!" Ash ordered.
Eevee began running towards Squirtle, though it was at a slower speed and less with less enthusiasm than she had before.
"Withdraw, Squirtle!" Gary countered. He watched as Squirtle instantly retreated into its shell and how Eevee rushed closer. Wait, now! "Squirtle, Water Gun!"
Out of the holes to Squirtle's shell came out five individual stream of water, catching both Eevee and Ash by surprise. Eevee had no time to dodge and took the attack point-blank, causing her to cry out as she was sent tumbling backwards.
"Eevee!" Ash cried, alarmed.
Eevee's back slammed against a tall rock before she slowly fell down, a trail of water following her. It was obvious by her defeated posture, and the swirls in her eyes, that last attack had forced her into unconscious.
As this happened, Squirtle slowly popped out of its shell. What surprised everyone was the fact that there was a deep laceration across Squirtle's face. It looked like Eevee had gotten Squirtle after all.
Ash Ketchum's Pokémon Team:
Eevee
Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Tail-Whip (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), and Growl (Normal).
Pidgeotto
Attacks: Sand Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal), and Peck (Flying).
Rattata
Attacks: Bite (Dark), Tackle (Normal), and Scratch (Normal).
Beedrill:
Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), Bug-Bite (Bug), and Fury Attack (Normal).
Clefairy:
Attacks: Sing (Normal) and Pound (Normal).
Paras
Attacks: Poison Powder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), and Spore (Grass).
Anabel White's Pokémon Team:
Abra
Attacks: Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), and Confusion (Psychic).
Willow Black's Pokémon Team
Bulbasaur
Attacks: Currently Unknown.
Gary Oak's Pokémon Team:
Squirtle
Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Water Gun (Water), Withdraw (Water), and Bite (Dark).
A/N; Author's Note: Well, that's the end of this chapter. Tell me how you guys liked it in your reviews and messages. And, as always, constructive criticism is welcomed while flames will be ignored and, if deemed offensive enough, deleted.
Before I go, I would like to thank both of my Beta-Readers/Co-Authors for helping me completing this chapter, for it would've taken much, much longer if I had done this myself. So, thank you Hironada and Sharkteeth! I really appreciate all the hard word you guys put into this!