Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Nintendo's Pokémon franchise.
Legend:
"A human or a Pokémon is talking."
'A human or a Pokémon is thinking.'
"A machine is being used."
Chapter 17:
(Kanto—Cerulean City)
It had been two weeks since Ash had challenged Gary to a three-on-three Pokémon Battle and—after almost having given up —watched as Clefairy unveiled a new technique and knocked Gary's Nidoran unconscious.
The next day, Ash had gone down to the beach to train his team after Willow had told him more about Cerulean City's Gym. This Gym specialized in Water-Type Pokémon and had a battlefield designed for them; a large swimming pool with a few floating platforms.
As he hadn't known whether any of his current team could swim or not—and knowing that his team had never fought an aquatic Pokémon before—it would've been very bad for him to have challenged the Gym. The match would've probably ended very quickly and have been very embarrassing for him.
So, following Willow and Anabel's advice, Ash had signed his Pokémon up for swimming lessons at the Gym. Costing ¥50 per lesson, this was one of the ways that the Gym gained income aside from the monthly stipend that the Pokémon League. Another way that the Gym had made money was through its aquarium, which anybody could walk through and view for ¥150.
It was during these lessons that Ash had learned something interesting about one of his Pokémon; Rattata was a natural swimmer. While not perfect, Rattata could swim pretty well and had only needed a few tips from Lily—the Gym Leader's sister—to make him a 'great swimmer'.
And, while his Pokémon had swimming lessons in the morning, their evenings were dedicated to learning how to combat aquatic Pokémon. To do this, he had started taking his team to Krabby Beach. In the beginning when his Pokémon didn't know how to swim, it hadn't worked out well. At all. He had learned that it was one thing to see land-based Pokémon fight aquatic Pokémon while they were in the water and another to actually do it. He had learned that it was very hard for his Pokémon to hit them when they could duck underneath the surface of the water or swim away. If deep enough in it, the water also allowed the Pokémon to hide from sight of enemies.
While he hadn't known it at the time, Ash had already taken the first step to solving these problems by signing his team up for swimming lessons. As the days progressed and his team grew more adept in the skill, it had been easier to send them in and swim after and battle the aquatic Pokémon.
Then, in the evening on his sixth day at Krabby Beach, there had been a minor 'accident'. Ash had been training with Rattata against a rather tuff little Magikarp when the Magikarp decided it had had enough and tried to flee. Having temporarily forgotten that Rattata was in the water, Ash had ordered Rattata to use Quick Attack and chase after Magikarp.
Magikarp was a reddish-orange, medium-sized fish. Its notable characteristics included large, heavy scales and white fins. Magikarp had two stiff, three-peaked fins on its back and stomach that were both yellow. It also had long barbels.
It was then that the 'accident' happened.
XXXXXX
While in mid-air, Rattata's body developed a white glow before he went under the water. Surging through the water, a 'shell' of water formed around Rattata while a 'tail' of white light formed behind him. Like a torpedo, Rattata quickly cut off Magikarp by slamming into its side as he travelled upwards, sending the fish flying out of the water.
"Magi, magikarp..." Magikarp panted out as it floundered about on the warm sands. It was confused as to how it had gotten there, as all it could remember was swimming away from that other Pokémon, a flash of purple, and then a little bit of pain in its side. Then it was on the sand with a small puddle of water around it. "Karp Magikarp Karp."
Ash could only stare as Rattata lunged out of the water before landing a few feet away from Magikarp. Had what he'd just seen actually happened? How—How was that even possible? He had never heard of, or seen, a Pokémon using Quick Attack doing what Rattata had just done. So, how did Rattata do it?
"Karp, Magi magi Karp."
Hearing this, Ash refocused on what was happening and saw that the Magikarp was floundering its way towards the water. He could wait until he beat it to wonder what Rattata had just done. Right now, they had a battle to win. "Rattata, use Bite!"
Rattata chittered in agreement before he rushed forward. It was only a few seconds later that he Bit into Magikarp's hard, protective scales and winced in minor discomfort. Releasing the fish, he reared his head back and Bit it again, earning a harsh exclamation from the fish. "Karp!"
"Good job, Rattata!" Ash said from the sidelines. "Now, finish it off with a Hyper Fang!"
Unable to respond verbally, Rattata instead nodded briefly. In the next second Magikarp's back fin came to slap him in the face—the fish trying to dislodge him—which actually worked. The force of the sudden blow sent him tumbling backwards over the sand until he finally came to a stop 10 feet away. Now free of his jaws, the Magikarp began to use Splash to bounce itself closer and closer to the water.
Now covered in sand due to his wet fur and angry, Rattata forced himself to his feet. He quickly spotted the fish bouncing closer to the water before his eyes narrowed. With the encouragement of his Trainer, Rattata's front teeth began to glow bright white before he began running. He would show that little fish the mistake it had just made!
"Tatta Rattata!"
Hearing this cry, Magikarp turned around in mid-hop and saw Rattata approaching it. Its eyes narrowed as it fell down, already bringing its back fin to hit the other Pokémon away like it had the first time.
It was only a couple of seconds later when Rattata got within five feet of Magikarp before he jumped into the air. Magikarp attempted to bring down its fin against him, only for it to miss Rattata completely. In the next moment, Rattata's glowing teeth clamped down hard against Magikarp, causing it to exclaim in pain once more.
The two Pokémon hit the ground with a thud, the impact displacing the nearby sand. When it settled, it revealed Rattata standing a foot away from Magikarp. The fish Pokémon had was unconscious with a few bite marks but nothing a bottle of Potion couldn't cure.
That was a good thing as Ash had found out some 'laws' about aquatic Pokémon. The northern sea inlet that Krabby Beach—and other beaches—surrounded had a limited amount of aquatic Pokémon inside of it.
While Pokémon Trainers were free to train their Pokémon and catch Pokémon that found in the inlet, they had to be careful about what they caught. If they didn't, the inlet would become overfished and upset the natural ecosystem of it.
To prevent this, Cerulean City had a team that was always monitoring the inlet, keeping track of everything within it. This team was responsible for knowing the number of Pokémon inside it—including the number of a specific Pokémon species—and to continuously report their findings. These findings would be given to the many newspaper and magazine companies in Cerulean, which would then include information on what Pokémon Trainers could catch.
If any Pokémon Trainer was found to have caught what was not on the list during the period in which that list was sent out, they would receive a heavy fine and instructions to release the Pokémon back into its natural habitat. If the Trainer didn't pay the fine or ignored the law, then that Trainer could face criminal charges and, rarely, jail time.
While Magikarp were on the list of which Pokémon could be caught—because there was an abundance of the hard-scaled fish—Ash didn't want to take any chances. So, after recalling Rattata back to his Poké Ball, Ash removed a bottle of Potion from his backpack and walked over to the Magikarp. Uncapping the bottle, he began to spray over the Magikarp's wounds and waited until they healed before he capped the bottle and put it away.
Ash then bent down before he picked up Magikarp, grimacing from the heavy weight. Not knowing how long he would be able to carry the fish, he trudged towards the water as fast as he could. Once there, he placed Magikarp into the water before he began to pant, hands on his knees.
Boy was that thing heavy!
"Are you done yet, Ash?" Hearing this, Ash slowly turned his head around to see Anabel standing 50 feet away from him with a plastic bag held in her right hand. Even though it was partially concealed by the bag, he could see that one of the items in the bag was a bag of PokéChow. She must've run out of her previous bag or decided to stock up because of that Pokémon she had caught yesterday.
Ash nodded, "Yeah... Just give me a minute..." A couple of moments passed before he straightened up and jogged back to get his backpack. Eevee—who had been resting near his backpack after her earlier training—looked up when she heard him approach. "C'mon, Eevee." He then leaned down to allow her to climb onto his shoulder, picked up his backpack and egg container, before he made his way over to Anabel.
"Are you aware of what time it is?" Anabel asked with a faint smile. She didn't seem to need a response before she began talking again, having probably sensed his uncertainty. "It's almost 2:00 and—" Ash's stomach began growling. She spared Ash a look while his cheeks reddened. "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"
"... I guess I forgot... but, Anabel, you've got to listen! Rattata did something really cool!" Ash began.
Anabel placed a hand on Ash's unoccupied shoulder, "You can tell me what Rattata did when I've gotten some food into you." Her unusually stern expression stopped Ash's protest before it could begin. "It's not good for you to miss meals..."
XXXXXX
(Cerulean City—Joe's Shellder Hut)
Ten minutes later saw Ash, Eevee, and Anabel in line at Joe's Shellder Hut, a rather non-expensive restaurant that was said to have 'the best' clam chowder. While they could have just gotten lunch in the Pokémon Center's cafeteria, they had wanted to explore and get a taste at what the food in Cerulean City was like.
The restaurant itself had a white ceiling, light-purple wallpaper, and light-purple tiles on the floor. It was divided into three sections; the dining room, the service counter, and the kitchen. The dining room possessed five rows of tables, a couple of booths, and a couple of waste bins near the door. The service counter was a long silver counter that had the register, cups, silverware, trays, and the condiments. Behind the service counter was a small, long window that showed some employees working.
"What can I get you, miss?"
Standing in front of Ash and Anabel was a woman with long, strawberry blonde hair that parted into a strand that hung above her teal-colored eyes. She was wearing a white, one-piece swimsuit with blue trim, light-blue sandals, and a thigh-length light-blue jacket with dark-blue cuffs. "I'll take a medium-sized bowl of Clam Chowder and... one order of Fish 'N Chips."
"Alright, miss." The purple-garbed cashier nodded, punching in the woman's order before he looked up. "That'll be ¥80."
The woman nodded before she reached into her pocket and retrieved her wallet before taking out the necessary money. Handing it over to the cashier, she took the offered receipt before she walked over to a nearby booth. There was a faint 'ding' as the cashier put the money into the register before he looked up.
"Next!"
With that, Ash and Anabel approached the counter, having already selected what they were getting while they had been waiting. Anabel ordered a medium-sized bowl of Clam Chowder, a fountain drink, and Oysters 'N Chips for ¥85. Ash, on the other hand, ordered a large-sized bowl of Clam Chowder, Clams 'N Chips, and a fountain drink, so his total came up to be around ¥90.
Once they had put in their orders and gotten their receipts and cups, both Trainers then walked over the pop machine and got something to drink; Ash got some Root Beer while Anabel choose to get some pink lemonade.
After that, both Trainers went over to an unoccupied table and sat down. While they were waiting for their meals, Ash began to tell Anabel about what happened with Rattata at Krabby Beach. At the end of the tale, Anabel was intrigued, having never heard of such an application of Quick Attack before. She wondered why no one ever thought about using it like that since it seemed simple to figure out.
"Here you are—" The purple-wearing cashier stated as he slid a tray of food onto Ash and Anabel's table. "Two Clam Chowders, one order of Oysters 'N Chips, and one order of Clam 'N Chips. Plus some crackers..." He paused. "Do you need anything else?"
"No, we're fine."
The cashier nodded before he walked back over to his counter. As soon as he turned his back, though, Eevee jumped onto the table before she snagged some french fries from Ash's order of Clam 'N Chips. Seeing this, Ash frowned and said 'Hey!', but was unable to stop Eevee before she ate them. He sighed as Eevee went for more french fries with stars in her eyes. "... Oh, great..."
"Don't look so down, Ash" Anabel replied before she looked out the window, "I'm sure she'll leave you some fries..."
Ash grumbled for a bit before he sighed and pulled his bowl of Clam Chowder towards him. With the way Eevee was chowing down on his fries, he would probably lose one of his fingers if he attempted to get some clams. The little glutton.
XXXXXX
It was a short time later when the woman that had stood before him and Anabel in line finished with her meal and disposed of her trash. Walking towards the exit, she paused when she saw Ash and Eevee, and stopped in her tracks. Turning to him, she said. "I saw you at the beach—Krabby Beach?—today. You had a Rattata?"
"Yeah, I do." Ash replied, feeling a bit apprehensive over the woman. Even if she had seen him training at the beach earlier, why would she take the time to talk to him now? Hm. Had she seen Rattata's trick in the water?
"That was a really nice move you pulled off." The woman said, smiling. "I never would've thought that a Quick Attack would produce such effects when a Pokémon is underwater..." She trailed off for a few moments before snapping back to reality. "Anyhow, I saw you and wanted you to know what a cool trick you had there..." She turned, hiding the smirk that had appeared on her face. "It'll be interesting to see how you use that in the Gym..."
With that, the woman left the restaurant before either Ash or Anabel to question just what she meant. From her words, it could be assumed that the woman wanted to watch Ash's battle against the Cerulean Gym. To do that, the woman would have to be at the Gym all the time, or she could miss his upcoming battle. That thought led to them thinking about whether the woman worked at the Gym or not.
Ash hadn't seen her around the Gym when he went in for his team's swimming lessons, though the woman could work somewhere else in the Gym. There did seem like there was a lot of stuff involved in running and maintaining the Gym after all. 'Maybe she's the Gym Leader?'
XXXXXX
To Ash, the days after 'the accident' passed by in a blur. He continued to train his Pokémon at Krabby Beach and tried to have his other Pokémon use Rattata's newfound trick. He had discovered that they could recreate it, though to a lesser degree as they weren't as fast nor as good a swimmer as Rattata was.
While he had developed a strategy based around Rattata's trick, he had also come up with some other strategies in case his first one didn't work out. If he didn't need them, then that was okay, but it made him feel better to have another strategy, just in case.
At the moment, one would find Ash heading towards the Cerulean Gym with Anabel and Willow following behind him. Today was the day that he would challenge the Gym and—hopefully—gain his second badge. If not, well, he could always try again.
It was only a couple of minutes later when the familiar visage of Cerulean City's Gym came into view. The Gym itself was a dome-shaped building with a gigantic painting of a Dewgong swimming. Unlike the Dewgong, the water it was swimming on stretched around the base of the red and yellow-stripped roof. The roof was held up by a series of thin white columns that circled the bottom of it along the wraparound porch. Behind these columns were the tan exterior walls of the Gym which were interspaced with a few sliding-glass doors and windows.
Walking up the small staircase that led to the main entrance of Gym, Ash, Anabel, and Willow entered the Gym. Once inside, they met with Aurora Stone—a brown-haired woman that acted as the secretary for the Gym. "Why hello there, Ash. You're here early."
"I didn't come for swimming lessons today, Ms. Stone." Ash said before he answered Ms. Stone's unasked question. "I'm here to challenge the Gym Leader!"
Ms. Stone nodded, "I see..." She then walked out from behind her desk before she motioned for the three Trainers to follow her. "Do you think you're ready to face her? I mean, your Pokémon have only had swimming lessons for a couple of weeks..." Pausing, she heard Ash say that 'he was ready' before she spoke again. "I sure hope so, Ash."
With that, Ms. Stone opened the opened the door that was in front of her. Inside one could see a massive pool with a few floating platforms scattered within the water. On each side of the pool—as well as near the middle of the pool—were raised platforms. Obviously, those platforms were where the challenger of the Gym, the referee, as well as the Gym Leader would stand.
Speaking of the Gym Leader, she was already there, sitting on top of her platform. Ash and Anabel's eyes widened at the familiar figure; it was the woman from Joe's Shellder Hut! It was only just after the two Trainers had come to this realization that Ms. Stone waved her right arm towards the woman. "Please, let me have the pleasure of introducing you to the Gym Leader of Cerulean City's Gym; Misty!"
Hearing her name, the woman—Misty—looked down at them from her perch before a small smile appeared on her face. "I remember you guys..." As she stood up, she reached into her right pocket before she drew out a Poké Ball. "You're the one with the Rattata, right?" Receiving a nod, Misty's smile grew. "... Well, what are you waiting for? Get up here so we can battle!"
"Do your best, Ash." Anabel murmurred to herself as she watched Ash ascend the steps of the platform. "If you do... I know you can win."
Willow smiled. "I don't doubt that Ash will win; he's to stubborn not too."
Now standing on his platform, Ash took a deep breath before he snapped his head up in Misty's direction. He unclipped his first Poké Ball from his belt and then threw it up into the air. There came a flash of white light before Rattata materialized on one of the floating platforms. "Rattata!"
"So you're going to use your Rattata first? I should've expected that, considering the trick you are able to do with it..." Misty stated before she tossed her own Poké Ball into the air and released her own Pokémon.
The Pokémon in question greatly resembled a seal with a white horn of its head. It had body that appearedwhite, two flippers instead of feet, a tan-colored muzzle with a small black nose, small tusks, round eyes, and a tongue that hung outside of its mouth. Its tail resembled a spout of water. "Seel! Sel Seel!"
"Seel: The Sea Lion Pokémon. Seel can usually be found living on icebergs in the artic. When swimming, Seel uses the horn on their foreheads to break through almost anything that comes into their paths." Ash's Pokédex informed.
'... That must be some horn it has...' Ash thought, frowning. 'I need to keep Rattata away from it as much as I can... otherwise, Rattata won't last that long...'
"Are you ready, Ash?" Ms. Stone asked from her place on the referee's platform. Recieving a nod, Ms. Stone then glanced at both Ash and Misty before she said. "Alright, the first match: Ash's Rattata vs. Misty's Seel! Begin!"
Ash's Pokémon Team:
Eevee (Female): Level 19.
Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Tail-Whip (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), and Growl (Normal).
Pidgeotto (Male): Level 17.
Attacks: Sand Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal), Gust (Flying), and Peck (Flying).
Rattata (Male): Level 16.
Attacks: Bite (Dark), Tackle (Normal), Quick Attack (Normal), Hyper Fang (Normal), and Scratch (Normal).
Beedrill (Male): Level 17.
Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), Bug-Bite (Bug), and Fury Attack (Normal).
Clefairy (Female): Level 13.
Attacks: Sing (Normal), Pound (Normal), and Metronome (Normal).
Paras (Male): Level 15.
Attacks: PoisonPowder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), Sleep Powder (Grass), and Spore (Grass).
Misty's Pokémon Team:
Seel (Female): Level 22.
Attacks: Unknown.
Anabel's Pokémon Team:
Abra (Male): Level 20.
Attacks: Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), and Confusion (Psychic).
? Unknown:
Attacks: Unknown.
Willow's Pokémon Team:
Bulbasaur (Female): Level 16.
Attacks: Unknown.
A/N: Author's Note: Well, that's the end of this chapter. Tell me what you guys think in your reviews and messages: comments, concerns, and all that drama. Flames will be ignored.
In other news, I had a wonderful time at the Bio Expo and got this awesome participation certificate and t-shirt. The people there had such awesome projects, and I was happy to be apart of them. Wish I could go next year.
Hey everyone, a lot of stories and authors are being taken off the site so if you want to help stop this please add your name to the email below and send it off to the system operators.
Chash123 signing off.
Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.
I, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.
For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that (I believe) violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.
It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.
If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.
While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be losing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.
For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.
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