A Journey
Summary: Ash's daughter has NO interest in Pokemon training. So, Ash, being the enterprising young Master that he is, puts her into the middle of the woods in the night while she's asleep with a pack, no map, a Pokedex, and a VERY angry Pichu.
"So what's it up to now, nooblets?" The tall friend said, leaning against a nearby picnic table.
"Time for you to stop calling us 'nooblets,'" Peter fumed, clearly annoyed by the tall friend's smugness. The part that had me laughing was that the boy's smugness so closely mimicked Peter's.
"Wanna battle?" The tall friend asked.
"Once I heal my Bidoof, sure." Peter said evenly, not daring to back down.
"Okay!" He said brightly, and punched Peter in the stomach. Peter doubled over, and croaked out, "What was that for?"
"That was a short battle. You surrender already?" The friend asked with a laugh.
"What the…" Brett trailed off, presumably unable to think of a curse word appropriate enough to describe the situation. He was only ten, though.
Lavender sat next to me, and whispered. "I don't like that tall guy. I hope Peter kicks his a-word!" Kicks his a-word? I thought, amused.
"Maybe you should get to the gym," I said to Peter, "instead of fighting some human Pokemon match with a complete stranger."
"How do you know I'm human, huh?" He asked me, a strange glint in his eye. "I could just be a rare hairless Usaring, a Humaring. But you didn't ever stop and think of that, did you?" He asked reproachfully.
"You're weird," I said.
"I'm not weird. What a strange name! Actually based on the Scottish wyrd. I'm not Scottish, though."
"Yeah, I'll go battle at the gym now," Peter said.
"Are you the leader of this nooblet posse?" The tall one asked Peter.
"We are not noobs, a, and b, yes." Peter said through gritted teeth.
"Careful now, don't want to get so riled up before your 'big gym battle.' Chah, it's in battle that the greatest mistakes are made. You might lose one of your baby teeth in the heat of your battling fervor."
"Mine are already out," Peter growled, and stomped into the Pokemon center, holding Bidoof's Pokeball out.
"But really, Brett, is this guy just allowed to follow us? Can't we make him leave?" I asked Brett.
"I don't know!" Brett said, annoyed that he was the go-to for everything.
"Do you have any Psychic Pokemon?" I asked the tall kid, who was leaning against the same bench, observing us casually.
"No. I can read people's minds already," he said.
"Really, then what am I thinking?" Lavender asked, skeptic but cheerful.
"You're thinking that I should go away before Chief Noobnugget you're drooling over comes back and kicks my 'a-word.'"
"How did you know that I like Peter?" Lavender asked, shocked but smiling.
"Chah, I have really good hearing, just like a Mightyena, and anyone within a twelve mile radius could tell you like him."
"I don't like him, I love him!" She shouted, covering her mouth afterwards, a blush ricocheting across her cheeks. I knew she loved him, I realized, and it would only hurt her more when I had to take him away. I had to have Peter. He was so good-looking, yes, but it was something else. He was just sweet without being too sweet. Goodness was in his nature, along with his conceit, but I could deal with both.
"Oh god, snore, what's with the lovefest here?" The tall kid said with a roll of his eyes. He picked up Maestro and placed him on his head. "Everything's small from up here, huh, buddy?" He tousled Maestro's fur. Maestro play-growled at him.
Peter ran out, and held up his six Pokeballs triumphantly.
"Time to stop screwing around, I can actually go and win this bitch!" I had never heard him be so blatantly vulgar. It must have been the influence of the tall kid. I told our follower as such, and he laughed.
"Tall kid, do you have a name?" Lavender asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"No. But you may call me Ragnarok of the (Bloody) Abyss," he said proudly.
"Or I could call you 'stupid giant who won't leave us the hell alone,'" Brett muttered quietly. I smacked a quiet high five with him, and we shared a snicker. He was a bit immature, but I guess I could appreciate his humor.
Maestro leaped from the tall kid's head, and scrabbled from his lap to jump back over to me.
"You've got awesome arms," he said to Chopin. "You ever heard of fencing? Your arms are like ready made shinai."
"Can you please stop feeling up my Pokemon?" I asked testily. He seemed to have a way of annoying all of us, even Lavender.
"Here we are. Go away." Peter said to the tall kid.
"Nah, it's open season for noob hunting. Chah, no one's really tried this before?" The tall kid leaned easily against the door. Lavender kicked it open from the bottom, and he fell to the floor in a tall, crumpled heap.
"Serious high fives for that one, Lavender," I said, grinning wickedly at her prank.
"Never fear, I shall return!" He said in a deep booming voice that he probably meant to sound satanic, or abyssal as he would say. He then released a dinosaur with wings made out of enormous leaves from its Pokeball. It began to flap the leaves, and the tall kid who called himself Ragnarok of the (Bloody) Abyss hopped onto its back. He soon flew up out of sight.
"That was weird," Lavender remarked, still glowing after her prank.
"Yeah, it was," I said, staring up after the tall kid.
"Time to win!" Peter said, rushing through the door.
"Wait, if you want to fight Roxanne, you have to get through me first." The speaker was a twenty-year old man in a blue baseball cap.
"Sure thing," Peter said, bored.
"Go, Geodude!" He released a living rock.
"Infernape, Mach Punch it." Infernape punched it in quick succession five times, until it fell unconscious.
"That was easy," Peter remarked, as the man he lost against fumed and handed him some money.
"Go back that way," the man muttered.
We walked back through the gym, which was covered in pink floor tiles. We reached Roxanne in the back. She looked to be about forty.
"You have an Infernape, huh? You'll be on my difficulty tier four." She said quietly to herself.
"This will be a two-on-two match. Substitutions are allowed, and the one with Pokemon left wins." Unlike Brawly, she wasn't going to let him dictate the terms.
"Go, Infernape!" Infernape, already out of the Pokeball, put up its fists and prepared for the upcoming battle. We settled into the bleachers, Lavender and Brett on my either side.
"Go, Onix!" I recognized the Onix, but it was one of those awe-inspiring Pokemon that made you feel small every time you saw it. It was twenty-eight feet long, according to the Calcudex, and this one had the ability to be immune to one hit KO moves. I shifted closer to Brett to be able to see this battle from his statistics point of view.
"I bet for Peter," he whispered.
"Cool," I responded in a similarly soft voice.
Lavender edged closer to me. "I'm scared. Just look at that huge snake! Infernape seems so small…" She said this almost sadly. Maestro took this opportunity, as I gazed at the battlefield in front of me, to climb from my lap to my right shoulder. Pichu was already on my left.
"It's okay, there's nothing to worry about. Fighting has the advantage." I whispered.
"If Onix knows any ground moves, then those are doubly effective on fire," Brett hissed.
"You're not making her feel any better. Are you really scared, Lavender?" I asked wearily.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Lavender sounded so ashamed at her fear that I relented a bit.
"If you get really really scared, just grab my hand, okay?"
"Infernape, Mach punch!" Infernape sprang out and punched the snake in one of its middle segments. Onix's head reflexively jutted towards Infernape, and he grabbed onto the long stone horn protruding from its forehead, and with the skill of an acrobat swung over the horn, until he was perched on its head.
"Good job, Infernape!" Peter said, pleased and relieved. He wouldn't have thought to tell Infernape to do that, I know, so it showed that the Infernape had true battler's instincts.
"Onix, Screech!" Roxanne called out. Onix emitted the terrible, grating noise I had only ever heard from Lauren's Ambipom.
"Infernape, Taunt!" Infernape mocked the Onix into using only attack moves.
"Onix, try to shake it off!" Roxanne commanded. It shook and shook, but Infernape had seated itself right at the base of the horn, and he gripped it firmly with his arms and legs; he stayed on.
Sometimes, I realized, a Pokemon battle could be won just like this, with a single good position guaranteeing almost certain victory.
"Infernape, Close Combat!" Peter yelled.
"Ooh," Brett intoned. "It's really really powerful, but it will lower his defenses afterwards by tiring him out."
The move immediately knocked after the Onix, which sank like a stone, to pardon the pun. Roxanne smiled, and recalled the Onix.
"Omastar, go!" She called out, and released yet another Pokemon from my home region. It was a fossil Pokemon, and while I had never seen one before, its primitive looking suckers and heavy, spiked shell made sense to me. It was a really cool looking Pokemon.
"It's almost immune to fire!" Brett said. "It's part water Pokemon!" I winced; this would indeed be hard. Would Infernape's Fighting trump Omastar's Water attacks?
"It's got high defense from physical attacks, like Onix. All fighting moves Infernape knows are physical." Brett muttered. Did he find amusement in Pokemon attacks being harmful, when nearly all of them did nothing to him? I wondered…
"Infernape, Mach Punch!" Infernape instinctively aimed for the soft, tentacled parts of Omastar, rather than the shell.
"Mud shot!" The Omastar shot mud from its suckered beak, and the mud clung to Infernape even after he tried to shake it off.
"Oh no," Brett said. "That move reduces speed. It's ground, too- it's super-effective against Infernape."
Lavender's hand moved to grip mine. Her knuckles were nearly white. The hardness of her grip brought me out of my reverie. Poor Infernape, all slow with his clean fur all dirty.
"Close Combat!" Infernape hit as hard as he could. It was a physical move, however, and unlike with the Onix, he wasn't right at its most vulnerable point. It had dodged in time; he had hit its shell. It had a crack in it, but as the Infernape drew ragged breaths, we knew it was nearly over; his defenses were down. He leaned against the ground for support, nearly bowing to his opponent.
"Hydro Pump!" An enormous spray of water was directed all at Infernape, who got to his two feet too late. He crashed, and fell. Pichu hugged my head tightly, Maestro's claws dug slightly into my shoulder, Lavender held my hand tightly. Here the titan fell, not from the inside, but from the outside. The confusion at least was Infernape destroying himself. Only Infernape could decide when to end Infernape, not some stupid Omastar.
"Return, Infernape." Peter all but croaked. I could imagine why; none of his other Pokemon were prime candidates to be anywhere close to beating the defense-heavy monster. Roxanne saw his Infernape, and assumed that he was an advanced battler; she didn't know that all his other Pokemon barely scraped a tier one.
"Go, Shinx!" He called out, and the electric dog/cat type creature with the star-shaped tail emerged. It was barely half the size of the Omastar.
"Omastar, Mud Shot!" Before Shinx could even get a tiny move in, it was covered in mud, and the mud was so thick that it couldn't even move. It was low-leveled indeed. Lavender's hand had lost its pressure, but she was whimpering now. I raised my left arm carefully, so as not to knock off Pichu, and put my arms around her shoulders, patting awkwardly.
He recalled Shinx, and faced Roxanne morosely.
"That's your other Pokemon?" She asked contemptuously. I remembered how I had thought much much earlier, before Maestro, that all Peter needed to become a better trainer was defeat from an inferior opponent. Now, however, I wondered if he really deserved it; he looked very unhappy, like he had lost something precious.
"You would send out a Pokemon that you'd never battled with before to fight a gym battle?" She was so angry she was nearly hopping from foot to foot. "I have half a mind to take that Pokemon away from you! The first time it's out of a Pokeball, and the first thing it sees is an enemy Pokemon staring it down, and a crowd watching it? How dare you!" She screamed with fury. "And until you can beat me in a tier one battle without that Infernape of yours, you are never getting a badge from me! Ever!" She turned around, let out a huff, and said icily, "Take that poor creature to the Pokemon Center."
Peter walked out gingerly, unable to meet the eyes of the man he beat earlier.
"That went well, didn't it?" Lavender squeaked hesitantly. Peter gave her a withering glance, said, "Well, whadaya think, Lavender?" He said it in a withering voice. Lavender's eyes filled with tears.
"Well, one thing's for sure," Brett muttered angrily. "I'll think twice before betting on you again." He had apparently become more confident because of Peter's recent victories, and had bet—and lost, quite a bit of money.
"Shut up," Peter said bitterly. "I'll win, on a tier one, and you'll get your damn money back. Quit whining."
One thing for sure, Peter was a sore loser. When he lost, he kind of collapsed. How often had he even lost? He must be good if he hadn't lost enough to lose all of his emotional stability.
"I'm fighting her tomorrow. I'm so nervous," I admitted finally. I was counting on a starter with an advantage to carry me through a gym battle, but with only an electric, a normal, and a pacifistic bug Pokémon, how in the world could I hope to win against this cold and foreboding mistress of rock?
"Don't be. You're okay on strategy," Brett said.
"You're so brave! How could you ever be scared?" Lavender asked, high-pitched and cute as always.
"Rock Pokémon have high defenses against physical attacks, like hitting them. If facing a Pokémon that uses many special attacks, they will almost certainly fail. They are very slow, but their attacks are devastating." Brett advised, the glow from his Calcudex illuminating his face.
"Are you just reading that?" I asked Brett. He nodded, and showed me the screen. It contained an E-Book, which said "Battle Gauging for Beginning Betters."
"It's how to figure out what the very first Pokémon a player calls out says about them and how to generally judge for bets. It doesn't contain advice about how to fight, just how to figure out who's the strongest."
"That shit stores books too?" Peter said, eyeing the device with a morose interest.
"Yeah, it was really expensive, but my mommy bought it for me." Brett said proudly. A beacon of information, and yet the kid still talked like Barney the freaking purple dinosaur.
"Your mommy, huh?" Peter said wryly, as if voicing my thoughts. I grinned. He did appear to be bouncing back from defeat.
"We should spar again!" I said quickly. I was extremely worried about my ability to win a gym battle with type disadvantages. I had just seen that type advantages ruled; even the crazy good Infernape fell from a type advantage. Infernape was the strongest Pokémon I'd seen. How could my Pokémon hope to compete?
"You have a water Pokémon though, right?" I asked Peter.
"Yeah. I guess I'll have to use Shellos a bit to beat Roxanne. I haven't trained it."
"Not at all?" I couldn't help but ask. "Haven't you needed water? Why would you catch a Pokémon and not use it? Why are you treating them like slaves?" I could barely imagine what Chopin went through under Peter's ownership, just trapped in a Pokeball for days on end. How could Peter justify that?
"Well," his dander clearly raised, "I wouldn't be so high and mighty if I were you, Ms. 'I'll Train only a Pichu, a rat, and a bug.'" He jabbed his finger quotes into the air as if stabbing something. He was clearly looking for a fight, and I was angry, too; I am not proud to say that I gave him one.
"You only have one strong Pokémon! The rest are pathetically weak!" I argued.
"Says the one who got all three Pokémon creamed by my Bidoof! You're the 'pathetically weak' one!"
"At least my Pokémon like me," I retorted. It was a low blow, and it did hit him where it hurt.
"My Pokémon LOVE me!" Peter said, the corner of his mouth twitching in anger and the same contempt I saw on his face when he first met me.
"You think I haven't noticed," He continued, "how much your Pichu hates you? It's really really strong, but you're not even training it! I'm the cruddy trainer for focusing on my strongest Pokémon? At least I FOCUS on my Pokémon!" Peter ranted, clearly delighting in dumping some of his negativity out on me. I wasn't just going to stand by and take it, though. I wanted to give as good as I got.
"You lost to the easiest gym trainer in Hoenn! I'm new at this; what's your excuse?"
"Bitch," he muttered, and he shoved past me, heading towards the Pokémon Center.
"You shouldn't be so mean to Peter, Twig." Lavender said, hatred etching her every word. I hung my head, shamed by her words, although furious as well.
"I'm sorry I annoyed your little lover," I remarked snidely. Her expression changed from cute fury to real anger and sadness.
"He's not my lover, Twig!" She turned around with a flounce of her skirt, heading in the direction that Peter left in.
"I should probably get going too," Brett said hurriedly, possibly seeing my facial expression and wanting away from it. He ran until he caught up with Lavender.
It wasn't before he left that I realized that I was now alone except for my Pokémon, perfect prey for a narcoleptic attack.