I'm back, people. Enjoy this somewhat longer chapter! :) Also, I'm sad to say that nobody responded for the second time to my request for a TV Tropes page on this fic. I'm going to mention it one more time, before assuming nobody is interested in creating/viewing such a page, which is a bit disappointing, to say the least. So, if you want to help me out, now's your chance. It'll be appreciated. ;)
~Guest: Come on! Pikachu and Ash are like twin brothers. So whatever happens to Ash, happens to Pikachu too. That's what I believe. So Pikachu should get the same treatment as Ash.
He will, don't worry.
~Guest: Love it.
Thanks.
~Guest: Lopunny's Hidden Ability is Limber. Although Hidden Abilities didn't appear in the anime, with this ability, Pikachu's Static wouldn't be a problem.
Damn. If you were the same guy asking if Pikachu would be smooched by a Lopunny, then you got me here. XD
~Guest: I wish there were more: ''Ash shipped with a female Pokemon'' stories.
You and me both, buddy.
~Guest: Will ash and Meloetta get intimate?
Not any more than they already are.
~Guest: I personally love this story and how Ash is FINALLY winning shit. I know this is alternate timeline stuff, but do you think that you could get Charizard and the others in here? Please, I know it is your story but I really love Charizard.
Sorry, no Charizard in this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon! If I did, Dusk Lycanroc wouldn't be such a lazy design!
''Meloetta'' Speech
'Meloetta' Thoughts
The Laramie ranch is well known in Kanto for preserving and raising wild pokemon. To honour that tradition, a local festival—complete with a pokemon race—is held annually. It usually attracts a lot of curious people, and this year, that's not an exception.
''What do you guys think? Are you enjoying the festival?'' A girl named Lara asked Ash and his pokemon.
''Oh, yeah, definitely,'' the raven haired trainer replied. His pokemon all gave a cry of their name in approval as well.
''I'm very glad to hear that. It's such an honour to have you here, Ash,'' Lara said excitedly.
Ever since Ash made quick work of Team Rocket, his fame had started to rise all throughout Kanto. Now that the cat was out of the bag, he was the most talked about person in the entire region. After all, owning a legendary and an ancient pokemon at such a young age was practically unheard of.
When Ash stumbled upon the Laramie ranch by complete accident, Lara had immediately coaxed him into entering the pokemon race that was held tomorrow. Right now, she was leading him to the registration booth to set things up.
''Gee, I'm flattered, Lara,'' Ash replied while rubbing his head sheepishly at her praise. Both Pikachu and Meloetta snickered; their trainer still had to get used to the fact he was considered a national hero now. ''There's one small problem, though,'' he added, ''I don't really have a pokemon to race on, only if my Dragonite is allowed entry.''
Lara giggled at his joking tone. ''Don't worry about that, I've got you covered.'' She gave him a wink and pointed at a meadow in the distance. ''Those Ponyta over there I've all bred myself. Why don't you pick one as your partner while I'll go ahead and register you?''
Ash looked at her incredulously. ''For real? I can use one of your pokemon?''
''Well, they're not really owned by anyone. I bred and raised them, but officially, they're all wild Ponyta. I must warn you, though. Ponyta who don't trust you have the tendency to burn you, so choose your partner wisely.''
Ash looked at his pokemon with a small smile. ''Would you guys like to help me then, so I don't accidentally burn myself?''
''Sure, lovely,'' Meloetta replied melodically while giving Ash a sweet hug.
''Of course; you would still burn yourself if you tried to bake an omelette, Ash. Letting you wander through a field full of wild fire horses all by yourself seems pretty irresponsible,'' Pikachu teased.
''We will help too, daddy!'' Azumarill said.
''Yeah, let's make a new friend!'' Sylveon cheered.
Lara nodded her head. ''It seems that that's settled then. I'll come check on you in a minute, Ash. I'll be right back.'' She waved before walking off to the booth to register Ash.
''Okay! See you soon.'' Ash waved back. When he was done, he beckoned his pokemon closer. ''Right, now let's find ourselves a Ponyta!''
When Ash and his pokemon had reached the meadow, about two dozen of Ponyta looked back at him curiously.
''Okay, where to start,'' he muttered.
Meloetta eyed Pikachu. ''Shall I filter out the Ponyta who don't trust him right now before he injures himself?''
''Yeah, that seems like the best thing to do.''
''Melo Meloetta!'' She nudged Ash when he was about to pet the first Ponyta in front of him. She shook her head and instead directed him to the smallest Ponyta in the entire herd.
The fire-type in question looked unsure, yet very hopeful and optimistic when Ash approached her with a bright smile.
''Hi there, Ponyta, my name's Ash,'' he introduced, ''and this is my family: Meloetta, Pikachu, Azumarill and Sylveon.''
''Hi Ash,'' she replied cutely in pokespeech. She then looked at each pokemon individually. ''So, is there a reason why you are all here?''
Meloetta nodded. ''Ash needs a partner for the pokemon race tomorrow.''
''The pokemon race?'' Ponyta was immediately interested. ''I've always dreamed of participating, but since I'm so small all the other Ponyta here beat me by a long shot.'' She sighed sadly. ''I don't suppose Ash is looking to take me as his partner.''
''Well, you do seem to trust him,'' Pikachu added with a snicker.
''Huh?'' Ponyta hadn't even noticed that Ash was petting her. His hands went through her flames harmlessly.
''What do you say, Ponyta?'' Ash asked brightly. ''You want to partner up?''
She neighed in disbelief. ''But, but, I don't even have had the chance to practice yet,'' she sputtered.
''You don't have to worry,'' Sylveon squeaked, ''daddy trusts you, so everything will be fine.''
''Yeah, daddy is very good at training pokemon,'' Azumarill added proudly.
''I—I don't know what to say,'' she replied honestly. ''Thanks, all of you. I'm going to do my best and not let any of you down!''
She reared on her back legs for a moment to show her strength and determination, which made Ash laugh. ''All right! Then I choose you as my partner, Ponyta!''
''Oh, now that's a mighty interesting pick, Ash,'' Lara commented. She had just returned from registering Ash for the race. ''You do know I'll be racing on her dad, right?''
At the mention of her father, Ponyta seemed to shrink a little.
''Her dad?'' Ash asked for clarification.
''Yup. This Ponyta you chose is a daughter of the Ponyta I'm racing on. However, their relationship is iffy at best.''
''How come?''
''Because my dad is a huge jerk!'' Ponyta answered for Ash. ''He has never believed in me because I'm small. I want to show him how strong I truly am by winning the race tomorrow.''
''Oh, really now?'' A regal voice brought in mockingly. Lara smiled at the newcomer while Ponyta gasped in fear. ''Ash, I want you to meet my Ponyta. He'll be your opponent tomorrow.''
''It's a pleasure to meet you, Ash. However, I can't fathom why you would waste your time with this dwarf.''
Ponyta's ears drooped at her father's harsh words.
Meloetta couldn't believe what she heard. Being a very small pokemon herself, she felt insulted.
''Watch what you're saying, pal!'' Meloetta hissed. ''You don't want to find out what this dwarf can do.''
''I apologize, lady Meloetta. I overstepped my boundaries,'' he said smartly, and gave her a respectful bow. ''Anyway, I wish you and your trainer the best of luck tomorrow.''
Meloetta crossed her arms and huffed. Ponyta wasn't lying when she said that her father was a huge jerk.
Ash, surprisingly, was very cool about all of it. ''It's nice to meet you too, Ponyta.'' He turned his attention back to Lara. ''Could you maybe excuse me and my pokemon? I need to prepare.''
''Of course,'' Lara replied jovially. ''I'll see you tomorrow at the race then! Come, Ponyta.''
When Lara and her steed were out of sight, Ash gave a long sigh. ''Unbelievable,'' he muttered.
''I can't believe it either. How can you be so cruel?'' Pikachu wondered.
''Isn't he her daddy?'' Azumarill added innocently. ''Then why is he such a meanie to her?''
''I don't know, sweetie,'' Meloetta cooed. ''Some people just do and say dumb things.''
Sylveon was already consoling Ponyta, while Ash decided to give her a warm hug as well. ''Are you okay?''
She gave a sad, low whiny in response. ''I know that must've been a slap in the face for you. But, we're going to prove your dad wrong. Come tomorrow, we're going to win that race!''
The next morning, Ash and a fired up Ponyta were standing at the starting line. They'd almost prepared all night for this moment, got just a bit of rest, and then headed straight to the race. Their lack of sleep was covered up entirely by their sheer determination to win.
''Well, this is it, Ponyta. It's time to show everybody here what you got. I know you can do it!'' Ash stroked her neck in reassurance, to which she gave him a happy glance.
''I will, Ash. Just watch me!''
Just then, Lara and her Ponyta slowly trotted to the starting line as well. Compared to Ash, she was sitting a good bit taller than he did.
''Hey there, Ash! Good luck to you and Ponyta,'' she said
''Thanks, Lara. Good luck to you guys as well,'' he responded.
Lara's Ponyta nodded once to Ash, but didn't give his daughter a single ounce of recognition. He ignored her gaze and instead looked straight ahead.
Meanwhile, Ash's pokemon were in the bleachers, rooting for their trainer and Ponyta. A lot of people came to watch once they heard the hero kid of Kanto was racing as well, so the crowd was pretty huge.
Once all the racers had settled, an announcer began to count down.
''Are all the racers ready?''
Ponyta narrowed her eyes, her muscles tensing and her flames flaring; she was going to give this everything that she had.
''Get set…''
Ash tensed as well, preparing for Ponyta to take off.
''Go!''
A small stampede of pokemon followed as all the racers shot off as fast as they could. Lara quickly took the lead, followed by a guy named Dario on a Dodrio. Ash and Ponyta were comfortably in the middle of the bunch.
''The first part of the race is all flat,'' Ash reminded the fire-type, ''there's simply no way you can keep up with your dad, so don't sweat it. Soon, we'll reach a pretty big hill; that's where we'll make up time with your nimbleness on rocky terrain.''
Ponyta knew the plan. They'd practiced going uphill and downhill a lot, as well as the next part of the race, which involved crossing water on slippery stepping-stones. Thanks to her small size, she was almost like a Gogoat; ascending and descending was something she was very strong at.
Not much later, Lara was the first to reach the hill, but like Ash had predicted, her Ponyta's size made it pretty difficult for her to climb to the top of it, which made her lose the lead to Dario.
Ash and Ponyta all shocked the competition with how efficiently they ascended the hill; they were in fourth place when they reached the top, and they didn't seem to slow down in the slightest.
''How's that possible?'' a woman on a Nidorina questioned; Ash and Ponyta were going downhill even faster, something which would spook the average Ponyta in fear of losing control over their movements, but not this one.
Meanwhile, Dario had reached the stepping-stone part, and crossed it efficiently, as did Lara. In third place was a woman on her Arcanine, but the sheer size of the pokemon lost her a lot of time on this obstacle
Ash and Ponyta didn't have this problem and passed them smoothly. ''Great going, girl!'' Ash praised. ''We're in third place! Just look ahead, I can see Lara and your dad not too far in front of us.''
Ponyta couldn't believe her eyes, but it was true. She had almost caught up to her own dad. 'I'm going to make it,' she thought in disbelief.
The end of the race was approaching. The last portion of the race consisted in making your pokemon eat a whole plate of pokemon food before sprinting towards the finish. Dario met his match here; the three heads of his Dodrio bickered over who was going to eat what. Eventually, Lara passed him to reclaim the first place, followed very closely by Ash.
''And it looks like Lara is in first place, followed very closely by Ash in second!'' the announcer exclaimed to the audience.
'What?' Lara's Ponyta thought. When he looked back, he indeed saw his daughter not too far away from him. Just when Ponyta thought she would catch up and go neck to neck with her dad, he began to speed up and create distance between them.
'No,' Ponyta thought, 'I'm not going to make it. He's way too fast.'
She looked back at Ash, who just grinned. ''Everything that you have,'' he reminded her with a wink. Ponyta smiled back and nodded. She wasn't going to give up now.
'I refuse to lose,' she thought. She forced herself to speed up, while her muscles burned and ached in protest. 'I'm going to win this!' Her breath caught in her throat and her heart was beating like a drum, yet she ignored all of it while her flames burned passionately. 'I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!'
In front of the whole crowd, and to everybody's stupor, Ponyta began to evolve right in the middle of the race. Ash's eyes turned as wide as saucers, because she grew exponentially. When her evolution was completed, Ash was suddenly sitting on a pokemon easily twice the size as before, if she wasn't even bigger.
''Unbelievable! Ash's Ponyta has evolved into a Rapidash! And what kind of Rapidash, ladies and gentlemen. Just look at the sheer size of her!'' the announcer screamed excitedly through his mike.
Ash was at a loss for words. The incredible big Rapidash sped up like a bullet; she had no trouble catching up to her dad and overtaking him, much to his and Lara's shock. Gracefully, she ran over the finish line in first place, and gave a loud neigh on her back legs to show her incredible strength and willpower.
''It's over! Congratulations to Ash Ketchum and his Rapidash for taking first place!''
The whole crowd cheered and clapped loudly for them, a devastating applause earned through hard work and effort. ''See? I knew you could do it!'' Ash laughed and gave Rapidash a kiss on her cheek. ''You should be so proud of yourself!''
She nuzzled Ash back affectionately, and allowed him to dismount her. Immediately, his Meloetta flew in his arms and congratulated both of them, while the rest of Ash's pokemon followed soon after.
''Wow, now that was an awesome race! Congrats, Ash!'' Lara said genuinely.
''Thanks, Lara! It was a close one. You and Ponyta are a very great team.''
At the same time, Rapidash approached her dad with a big smile on her face. ''Did you see me, dad? I evolved! Look at how big I am right now!'' It was true, compared to her dad, she was almost a giant. ''I won! I won the race,'' she added excitedly. Rapidash was so ecstatic right now; this was the best day of her life, and it was all because of Ash.
''So, you won. Well, good for you,'' he sneered.
''Huh?'' Rapidash replied.
Ponyta snorted. ''Did you honestly think I'd be impressed with you now that you won and evolved? Look at you, you're still a freak!''
Rapidash's eyes burned with disbelief and rage at her father's unbelievable choice of words. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks while she looked ready to beat the crap out of him. ''How can you be such an ass!?'' she screamed. ''You've never been proud of me! And now that I finally had the chance to proof myself to you, you still treat me like filth. You unbelievable son of a bitch!''
''What did you just say to me?'' he hissed dangerously. ''I'm your father! I put you on this world, fed you every day and you give me such a disrespectful mouth in return!?'' His eyes shone like fire. ''You don't even deserve to call yourself a Laramie bred; you're nothing but a low, whiny child. Now get out of my sight and never return!''
Her father turned his back on her, and trotted away in pure rage.
''Fine, you pompous bastard! I never want to see you again either!'' she screamed after him. Rapidash turned around, devastated and heart-broken, only to find the warm embrace of Ash's body against her face. There, she cried softly, while the raven haired trainer and his pokemon consoled her wordlessly.
''I'll go talk with Ponyta,'' Lara said after a while. Ash just shook her head. ''There's no need. He won't change his mind. Everybody here saw that he basically disowned Rapidash as his daughter.''
Lara bit her lip. ''I'm so sorry, Rapidash. I never wanted it to be this way,'' she apologized sincerely.
The large fire-type gave a soft whiny in response to let her know that it wasn't her fault. Eventually, her tears stopped flowing, completely evaporating on her warm body while only hiccups remained.
''Ash,'' she then whispered.
''Yeah, Rapidash?'' he responded warmly.
Rapidash looked him straight in the eyes; what she saw made her realize how lucky she was in meeting him yesterday. Compassion, unlike anything she had ever seen, for her. Here was a person who cared for her for who she truly was, just like all his pokemon did. A warmth replaced the cold bitterness she had felt just moments ago, and suddenly, it was all too clear what she had to do.
''Please be my pokemon trainer and capture me. I promise to do my best for you in every battle and train hard!''
A deadly silence followed, which seemed to last for an eternity for Rapidash. In reality, though, it was only five seconds.
''Rapidash,'' Ash replied gently. ''I would love nothing more than to adopt you into my family.''
Meloetta and Pikachu smiled at each other, while Sylveon and Azumarill were jumping up and down in sheer joy.
''Family?'' she whispered.
''Yeah, we're one big family,'' Azumarill said. He was hugging his big sister to show what he meant.
''It's true,'' Meloetta spoke up. ''All of us here, including our friendly giant Dragonite, is family. We all look after each other and love each other.''
The fire-type felt like she was going to cry all over again. This human and these pokemon showed her affection she had never experienced before.
''Family,'' she repeated, like the word was something alien to her. Tears of joy appeared in her eyes. ''I think I can get used to that.''
She gave a happy sigh when Ash finally captured her. All these emotions were running rampant through her new body, but solace and hope ignited a new flame inside of her that roared like a Blast Burn. She was going to start all over again, and this time, it was with people who loved her.
Rapidash could only describe the feeling as true happiness.
So there you have it, folks! Ash's final member. Did you guys like it, love it, hate it? Review please! I love me some reviews. :D Next chapter Ash vs Gary rematch! Until next time. ^^
~Syrup-Waffle