Hey all, sorry it took so long to get this out, but you know how life is with getting in the way and all.

Anyhow, I hope you guys like the chapter as it may be a while before the next since i have classes and work that come first.

Disclaimer: I've never owned the Pokémon franchise and probably never will…no matter how much I wish to.

Chapter 4: Old Rivals and New Friends

-Last Time-

"No, Pikachu, don't you dar-ZAPP-gahh!"

Eyes widening in worry, Cynthia hurried her pace towards the field.

Never noticing the shimmer in the air behind her as something invisible watched on...

-Now-

Ash groaned as he lay on the training field, his form covered in burn marks and his hair spikier than ever before thanks to Pikachu's obvious Thunder Shock.

He just didn't get it. What had he done to the yellow mouse to make him attack without giving him the chance to earn Pikachu's trust?

It baffled Ash to no end. Sure he could understand a Pokémon being disgruntled for suddenly being ripped away from its freedom and being disobedient to its trainer. It was a pretty common occurrence for newer and even some experienced trainers, but that all usually worked itself out within a few days to a month or two at most. While Ash knew it had only been a day since he'd acquired the little rodent, it still bothered him that Pikachu would attack without warning given the slightest chance.

But it was then Ash remembered something, something he'd seen in Pikachu's eyes for a brief moment before he'd unleashed the attack.

Fear

The little mouse was afraid of him!

Ash's eyes widened at the thought. Pikachu was afraid of him but was covering it up with a wall of fury for some reason. It was then a small bit of information from his studies came to his mind. He remembered reading a Pokémon would sometimes cover their fear of human's with an act of fury if they had once had a trainer who had hurt them…badly.

But that couldn't be it, Ash thought; Pikachu was healthy and wild when he caught him wasn't he?

'Unless,' he thought to himself as a less then pleasant idea made its nest in his head, 'Pikachu's been free long enough to heal and regain his instincts!'

The idea was dismal, Ash knew this, and more than a little infuriating for him, but it was the best he had to go on right now.

So pulling himself up with another groan, Ash sat and looked at his Pokémon to see Gible and Deino surrounding Pikachu with dangerous expressions on their faces as they growled to the defiant looking mouse. Though Ash noted Pikachu was watching him out of the corner of his eye; something that added further to his suspicions.

Ash sighed again; he was barely three days into his journey and he already had his work cut out for him.

However, just as he went to stand, Ash noticed the sun was suddenly blocked and looked up, only to gap at the person he saw standing there.

What he saw was a girl with long blonde hair down to her waist that was held up with two black clips greatly resembling bells (1). The girl had gray eyes and wore a black jean jacket over a dark top, trouser pants and sneakers of the same color accompanied the top and jacket. To finish it up Ash saw the girl also wore a black furry scarf around her neck.

All in all she looked a little gothic with all the black and her light complexion, but all that was lost on ash as he suddenly found himself staring at her, he was entranced by her. To him, the girl was beautiful and despite himself Ash felt his face heating up with a blush.

Noticing Ash's stare the girl blushed slightly and spoke, "A-Are you alright? I heard a yell from over here and I thought someone was in trouble." She stuttered at first but quickly regained her bearings.

Ash smiled sheepishly at the girl and chuckled a bit, "yeah, that was me." He admitted, gesturing behind himself, "I was trying to get to know one of my new Pokémon and he didn't like it too much I guess."

The girl quirked a brow at him and his burnt form and looked around him at the three Pokémon she could see. There was a Pikachu, who was looking rather smug she noted, a strange quadrupedal Pokémon she'd never seen before wrapped in bandages and-

"A Gible?" She questioned.

Ash noticed the look and curiosity in her voice and smiled. "Yeah. I know it's a little weird to see one in Kanto of all places but there's a reason she's here." He explained with a nod, turning to face his little group and saw his starter was glaring at the smug looking mouse, as was Deino, as far as he could tell at least.

"None of that now," he told them as he walked over and knelt before them. "I'm sure Pikachu has his reasons for the way he's acting. Give him some time to get used to us; I'm certain he'll come around eventually."

The two didn't look that convinced but relented with a nod and stepped away from Pikachu. The mouse however looked unimpressed and turned away from the others with a huff.

Seeing this Ash frowned, but shook his head, he knew given enough time he and Pikachu would come to understand one another, but also knew that until then he had his work cut out for him.

Cynthia, although frowning at the way the rodent was acting, was somewhat amazed with how quickly the boy had gotten his other two Pokémon to relent, it showed just how much they already trusted him.

From what she could gather just from looking at him, the boy in front of her had only started his journey like her, but yet he was already getting a good understanding of the Pokémon he already had and what to say to them to calm them. That was something she found admirable

It was then that something came to her mind; she didn't even know his name yet.

Quickly clearing her throat to gain the boy's attention she put on a pleasant smile. "Well, I hope it works out with your Pikachu..." she trailed, hoping he'd get the hint.

Ash noticed and smiled back. "Ash. Ash Ketchum." He answered, holding his hand out to her.

The girl's smile widened. "Nice to meet you Ash. I'm Cynthia. Just Cynthia." She replied, taking and shaking the offered hand.

Releasing the others hand, Cynthia suddenly had an idea, "hey, Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"I was actually on my way here to start training my new Pokémon," she informed him, " and I know this is probably a lot to ask, but I was wondering if it would be alright if you and I were to battle?"

Ash looked at the girl in surprise, he was shocked that she would want a battle this soon after their meeting, 'talk about breaking the ice.' he thought in exasperation, but his face soon took on a wide grin.

It was said that two trainers who battled would be able to tell what the other was really like in a heated battle. Ash didn't understand why, but he found himself eager to battle the girl he'd just met. It was almost like something was urging him to do it.

Grin widening, Ash opened his mouth to speak-

"Well, well what do you know, Ashy boy's already here, and it looks like he's got himself some actual Pokémon to boot, I guess miracles really do happen."

-only to be interrupted when someone spoke up from behind them.

Ash bit back a growl at the nickname. There were only two people who knew that name, and he had a feeling as to which this one was as the other was still back in Pallet Town. The two turned and Ash grit his teeth at seeing he was right. "Gary." he spoke bitterly.

Low and behold there stood Gary Oak, grandson of Professor Oak and Ash's childhood rival, his ever so arrogant smirk firmly in place as he stood at the edge of the training ground, his group of cheerleaders not with him for once.

"Friend of yours?" Cynthia asked, put off at the interruption to what she was sure was going to be Ash's agreement to a battle. Ash scoffed.

"As if!" he exclaimed without looking over to her.

"What are you doing here, Gary?" Ash asked, "and what happened to your fan club? Last I checked they were at your beck and call."

Gary's smirk never left his face as he started walking towards them. "Nah, I told the girls to stay at the hotel, and as to what I'm doing here." Gary stopped just in front of the two and the small group of Pokémon. "I heard you were in town and decided to check and see if it was true. I also wanted to see what type of Pokémon you'd caught, if any."

Gary, ignoring Ash's enraged expression, looked over at the three Pokémon beside his rival, gaining an interested look at Gible and Deino.

He pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the former.

Gible's data was relayed to the boy and he gained a surprised look before pointing the machine at the later of the two.

"Deino; the Irate Pokémon. Lacking the ability to see it is unaware of its surroundings. Its body is covered in wounds as it tackles and bites to learn about its surroundings. This Pokémon is normally found in the region of Unova." the female voice of his pokedex rattled off.

By now Gary's smirk was completely gone. "Where the hell did you get such a rare pair of Pokémon!?" he asked, his cool facade breaking as he stowed the pokedex in his pocket.

It was Ash's turn to smirk as he turned to the two Pokémon in question. "As you know I was late getting my starter, so professor Oak called in a favor from one of the other regions professor's and gave me Gible as a substitute. As for Deino," Ash once again winced as he looked at the bandages dotting the small dragon's form. "I rescued him from a group of poachers yesterday and he's decided to stay with me."

Gary grit his teeth in anger, his grandfather had given a Gible, a dragon type and a rare one to boot, to a rookie trainer. And to Ash of all people? On top of that, his rival already had three Pokémon, two of which were dragons, and resistant to any of the four Pokémon he'd caught himself.

Originally, Gary had planned on finding Ash and teasing him about not being able to catch a Pokémon, or about catching weak baby Pokémon if he'd somehow managed to catch any. But now, seeing Ash with two extremely rare Pokémon just three days into his journey caused him to feel threatened. To Gary it was as if his position as the 'top dog' of Pallet was being put in jeopardy. It was something he would not stand for, he was the best, and he would prove it, here and now!

The fact that he had also lost the bet he made with his grandfather could have also been an influence to this decision, but Gary didn't think on it much right then.

His smirk returning, Gary turned his vision back to Ash, "in that case, I challenge you to a battle! Right here right now!"

Surprised at the sudden outburst from his rival, Ash looked at Gary in confusion, that was not normal. If anything he had expected himself to be the first to challenge Gary, not the other way around.

Ash's surprise didn't last long though and pretty soon he too was smirking at his rival, "alright." he agreed with a nod as Gary stepped back a few feet to put some distance between them. "One on one sound good to you?"

Gary inclined his head ever so slightly, "fine."

Turning to the girl beside him, Ash smiled apologetically. "Sorry about this Cynthia, I really want to battle you, but Gary has had this coming to him for a while now."

Putting on a mock thinking look, Cynthia pretended to ponder over Ash's apology.

"I suppose its alright," she decided after a few moments, but then her look became sly, "if you promise to make it up to me that is."

Ash nodded in reply to her, "of course!" he exclaimed eagerly as he turned to face a ticked off looking Gary, who already had an enlarged pokeball in his hand.

"Oi!" Gary called over to him, "stop playing make up with your new girlfriend and lets get to battling! Go Squirtle!" he exclaimed, throwing the ball into the air.

It opened and a bright flash of light later revealed a small blue turtle looking Pokémon with a curly tail and brown shell with a yellow belly standing there, looking ready for battle.

Ash, although blushing from the girlfriend comment, quirked an eyebrow at the turtle. That was Gary's starter eh? Well then, why not play starter with starter? "Alright then, I choose you Gi-""Deino!"

"Eh?" Ash, much like the other two around him, was surprised when Deino suddenly jumped in front of him as he was calling for Gible.

"What are you doing Deino? I was calling for Gible." Ash told the small dragon type as he knelt down to it.

Deino's eyeless face 'stared' at him, "no, no, Deino!" he told his trainer, gesturing between himself and Gible, who looked just as surprised as Ash.

While he couldn't really understand what the Pokémon was saying, Ash got the general gist of it; Deino wanted to battle in Gible's place. "Are you sure about this, Deino? You really haven't had much time to recover from what those poachers did to you." he asked his newest Pokémon.

Deino's response was to turn to face Gary's squirtle in a battle stance.

Grinning at the little dragon's eagerness, Ash stood. "Alright then, I choose you, Deino!"

"De!" the Pokémon cried both as a response and a challenge to his opponent.

"Squirt!" Squirtle answered back in acceptance.

"Alright Squirtle, its time to pummel these weaklings! Tackle!" Gary immediately ordered, he wasn't wasting any time it seemed.

In response, Ash ordered Deino into action, "side step to dodge and use Focus Energy." he ordered calmly. It was a good thing he had looked at Deino's data on his pokedex earlier that morning before coming to the training field, just incase the little dragon should wish to stay. His mother had always said being prepared was the best way to go after all. Deino may have had only two moves, but Ash knew some of the more historic battles had been won with much less.

The black and blue Dragon prepared itself as Squirtle launched itself through the air at him. Waiting until the last second and for the water type to be right on him, Deino quickly stepped to the side, spinning around as he took a breath and focused on the turtle like Pokémon as it sailed by.

Gary frowned to himself as he watched his Pokémon come to a stop and turn to face Ash's. "Once more, Tackle!"

"You too Deino. Meet him half way!" Ash ordered, the corners of his lips twitching the slightest amount.

The two Pokémon cried out there names and charged at each other.

Suddenly, Gary grinned, "now use withdraw!"

Ash's eyes widened as Squirtle drew its limbs and head into its shell, the momentum Squirtle was traveling at left the shell hurtling through the air, right at a still charging Dino.

"Stop and dodge!" Ash ordered a second too late. He could do nothing but watch as the two collided.

The two went flying in opposite directions and landed with small thuds. Squirtle, having been within its shell, was immediately up on its feet and ready to go again with minimal damage. Deino though was a different story.

The small Pokémon had landed on its side and was struggling to get to its feet, a pained expression on its face as it tried to stand.

"Deino!" Ash exclaimed in worry as he watched his Pokémon struggle to stand. However, just as he moved to help him Deino managed to get to his feet, albeit barely.

"D-Deino!" it exclaimed determinedly.

Gary smirked again, "it looks like that Pokémon is on its last legs, Ashy boy. You should quit if you don't want it to get hurt any worse." he told his rival; expecting Ash to do just that.

Ash though wasn't paying attention to his taunts, instead he was grinning at his Pokémon. Another reason Ash loved dragon types was that they were durable and stubborn, like him. Even when they were injured beyond what would be acceptable by human standards, dragons would always try to get back up and do better. Looking at Deino now, Ash saw that stubbornness shining through. He could tell Deino was in this to win, not just out of gratitude but for the Pokémon's own reasons.

Who was he to disappoint him?

"Alright, Deino, use Focus Energy again!" he ordered, turning back to their opponents.

Cynthia looked on in worry as she watched the battle. It was only a few moves in but Ash and Deino were already close to losing, she wasn't sure if he was making the right choice to continue.

However, a small tug on her mind made her stop her worrying and look into Ash's determined face as a feeling of calm came to her. It was like something about his face was easing her fears about Ash's choice and was telling her he would pull through, it eased her heart and Cynthia felt a grin spread on her face. She knew just then that Ash would win .

Complying with his trainer's orders, Deino took another deep breath and narrowed his gaze at the Kanto water starter.

Gary huffed, thinking it was a cowards tactic. "That's not gonna work. Lets end this Squirtle, use tackle one more time!"

Ash grinned again and ordered Deino into action.

"Wait for him to get close then dodge!" he ordered.

Deino responded in kind and waited until Squirtle was almost completely on him before jumping to the side as fast as his legs would let him. Squirtle's charging form had missed him by nary an inch when Ash issued another order.

"Tackle! And give it everything you can!" he ordered. Ash could see Deino was getting tired and didn't have much fight left in him so he wanted to end this as fast as he could. Despite the dragon's determination to win, Ash was not going to risk any more injuries to him than he had already sustained. Though Ash had the feeling that if Deino was anything like Gible, then he was stronger than he looked, so much more.

However, even though he had the feeling that Deino was similar to Gible in terms of strength, Ash, and those watching for that matter, were surprised to see Deino's charging form become outlined in a pale blue aura that quickly shaped itself into the shape of a dragon as the Pokémon gained a sudden burst of speed.

So stunned by the event Gary could do nothing but watch as Deino barreled full force into the shocked still form of his Squirtle with a loud cry of its name.

The blue turtle was sent hurtling straight back into the surprised Gary's chest, knocking him flat on his back and driving the wind from him.

"Wha?" Ash breathed in astonishment, what the hell was that?

As if to answer his unasked question, Ash suddenly felt his Pokedex vibrate in the chest pocket of his jacket; brining it out he flipped it open and pressed a button that was glowing.

The little machine hummed for a second or so before it dinged. "New move identified as Dragon Rush: When using Dragon Rush the user tackles a target while exhibiting overwhelming menace. Dragon Rush may also cause the target to flinch."

"Wow," Ash breathed in amazement. He couldn't believe Deino had managed to pull of such a strong move like he did. He was now certain that Deino was almost exactly like Gible in terms of strength, possibly even stronger to learn such a move in one go and have it be as strong as it was.

Of course that didn't mean that he would be able to use Dragon Rush right away with the same amount of power, Ash wasn't dumb enough to think a Pokémon had a move completely down the first time they used it. No, new moves like this would need training. He would have to train them to the point that a move like Dragon Rush wouldn't be as exhausting to his Pokémon as it looked like it had been to Deino.

Speaking of whom, Ash broke away from his thoughts just in time to see the little dragon collapse onto his side, panting heavily from the exertion from the move and the battle.

Feeling his heart race in worry, Ash quickly made his way over to the small Pokémon to check on his condition.

Kneeling down beside him, Ash made a brief inspection of Deino's condition and sighed in relief when he saw nothing other the obvious exhaustion was wrong with his dragon type. There wasn't even a bruise from the single hit he'd taken from Gary's squirtle.

Now reminded of his rival, Ash took a second to glance over at him. He smirked when he saw Gary still lying were he'd landed; a dazed look on his face and the passed out squirtle still laying on top of him.

A small motion to his side bought his attention and he looked over, only to see Cynthia kneeling down beside him, worry was in her eyes as she looked at the exhausted Pokémon; accompanying her was Gible as she too looked at the form of her new friend.

But the fact that his starter was also there was lost to Ash as he only saw Cynthia there. Seeing her this close was a shock to the raven haired boy and he strangely felt his face heating up and turned his attention back to Deino to avoid looking at the blonde.

"How is he?" Cynthia asked after a moment, concern seeping into her voice.

Shaking his head to ride himself of his blush, Ash responded. "Exhausted, but that's a given considering he hasn't had much time to recover from those poachers."

Cynthia frowned. "Why let him battle then? If he was as bad as you say then he shouldn't have even been battling!" she exclaimed, aiming a small glare at the boy. Now that the excitement of the battle was over, Cynthia's mind registered the fact that Deino was still covered in bandages and remembered Ash telling them (Cynthia and Gary) about his rescue.

Why ash would let an already injured Pokémon battle in place of his perfectly healthy starter was lost to her, and she felt the fact alone earned the boy a glare from her.

Sighing, Ash slung his backpack off his shoulders and opened it to begin rummaging through it. "I'll not stop my Pokémon from battling if they want to, Cynthia. Call it ignorance or a lack of judgement on my part if you want, but I saw something in Deino's eyes when I decided to let him battle in Gible's place." he told her as he found what he was looking for and pulled it out.

A plastic see though bag full of blue skinned berries glinted in the sun as it emerged.

"And that was?" Cynthia asked curiously, eyeing the berries as Ash opened the bag to grab one.

Ash grinned, "I saw Deino's resolve," he said, holding the berry out for the irate Pokémon.

Deino, now breathing easier after a little rest, brought his head up to stare at the berry suspiciously, causing Ash to chuckle.

"There's no need to be so cautious Deino. Its just an Oran Berry; its supposed to give you more energy." he explained.

Deino nodded, still a little cautious, Ash mentally sighed again, he'd have to work on that. He smiled softy when he saw Deino take a bite out of the berry and watched as the Pokémon's poster conveyed his delight. Only the stem of the berry remained a few seconds later, and Deino looked up to his chuckling trainer hopefully, silently asking for more.

"Sorry little one, I've only got the one bag so we gotta save up on these until we find an Oran Berry tree to restock." Ash told him with a grin as he wagged his finger at the Pokémon, similar to how a parent would chastise a child.

Its was weird in a since, since that's basically what a trainer was to their Pokémon when one compares the two.

Frowning in disappointment, Deino nodded meekly in understanding as he went to stand up, but even with the extra energy the berry had given him his legs still threatened to give out.

However, before they actually cold Deino felt a pair of arms wrap around him and lift him into the air. He panicked at first but calmed when he heard his trainer's voice.

"Easy there, bud, I got 'cha." Ash spoke soothingly to the little Pokémon and grinned when he felt Deino relax in his grip.

Going to stand, Ash turned to the blond beside him, "care to accompany me to the Pokecenter? Its not too far from here and I passed by an ice cream stand on the way, if you want to get any. My treat." he offered.

At the name of her favorite treat, any and all anger Cynthia felt at Ash for his recklessness vanished, only to be replaced by a hungry look.

A second later Ash found himself being dragged by the arm as an eager cynthia pulled him away form the field, heedless to his stammering calls to slowdown.

Meanwhile, Gible and Pikachu were left standing there, blinking in surprise as their trainer was dragged away by this new girl.

Sighing Gible looked over to Pikachu and gestured for him to follow as she began following her trainer. Pikachu paused for but a moment to look over at the still dazed Gary and Squirtle before doing as told, thoughts of how this human was different then the other one on his mind.

It would be an hour later before Gary rose from his daze, and when he did he was not happy.

"Damn you Ash! Mark my words, I'll beat you next time!"

(1) Imagine a younger Cynthia in her Sinnoh cloths.

Cut!

So….how was it?

leave your answers in your reviews if you could please. also there is a slight change in who will be on Ash's first and primary team as I have recently gotten an idea for a special dragon; heres a hint, it appears during Mount. Moon in this.