Being a trainer seemed to involve a lot of walking, Ash thought to himself, letting his mind wonder. He honestly should have known that, he did know, but he'd never really considered it before. Everyone had this vision that being a trainer meant constant battles and exotic places.
Instead, he'd forgotten what it actually meant: long periods away from people, a lot of wandering, a few battles here and there. It was awkward, especially since his only company was a loud dragon Pokémon that made noise with every step. He knew damn well that he needed to build a bond with his starter, starters?, but he didnt know how.
He came off as rather standoffish person because of his occasionally too blunt, yet mostly quiet personality. He was used to going unnoticed, well aware of what happened when the spotlight shined on him. He'd spent a long time trying to avoid his mother, and letting her avoid him in return. He wasn't social, beyond his classes, or helping the professor on the Ranch. The people he knew were the same ones he'd always known, with a few exceptions.
Lotus, for example, had been in the same class as the rest of them since they were toddlers. She'd gone by Lolo for years, up until they turned ten. Apparently, she wasn't a kid anymore, and wanted to be called by her proper name, Lotus- Azalea. Sometimes, she'd be fine with just one of her first names, but mostly she preferred both He'd never had to learn anything about her, most of it he just knew because he'd heard her talking.
Neil, on the other hand, had moved to Pallet Town when they were nine. He'd been an angry kid, which was no surprise, given what he'd heard about his family.
Hence, he had known very little about the other boy. He was fine with his lack of knowledge, because, well, he didn't really care. They weren't friends, more like acquaintances, and that was enough.
Being a trainer also seemed to involve a lot of noise. Every single step Astaroth made was echoed with a clank of its, his, scales. Eventually, Ash was certain that he wouldn't even notice the noise, unless he was in a situation that he needed silence, but that day was not today.
It wasn't like Pawniard was silent either, trailing along on his other side. The Pokémon seemed to enjoy sharpening his arm blades as he walked, which made a loud, dragging metal noise that kind of hurt his ears. Not that he'd tell Pawniard that, it wasn't his fault that Ash was weird about certain sounds.
Honestly, what had the professor been thinking? He was being ungrateful, he knew it, but he wasn't sure how to stop himself from being... disappointed.
Yes, Astaroth would be a powerful dragon, he would be a powerful leader, and an excellent match against a lot of other Pokémon. But it felt wrong.
Pawniard, on the other hand felt right for the wrong reasons. For one, he was a dark type, a follower, not a leader, yet that could change in a split second. If Pawniard ever won against Astaroth, then Pawniard would be the defacto leader of the team.
He really, really didn't feel comfortable having two Pokémon so close together being polar opposites. One supposedly a leader, who would demand the spotlight, one a follower who wanted to hide in the shadows.
Then again, he was generalizing. Just because most Jangmo-o and Pawniard were like that didn't necessarily mean his were. Right? He needed to get to know who they were so that they could understand their place in his team.
Which brought him back to his problem: how? How was he supposed to get to know these Pokémon? With Anubis, he'd been getting to know the Sandile since he was an egg, helping the littlest one of the litter hatch. He'd handfed the Pokémon every meal for weeks, until it was big enough to eat from a bowl like the others. He slept with Anubis on his bed, because the Pokémon had some temperature regulation issues, until he got a bit bigger. He'd seen Anubis develop a personality, being a spicy, sassy little creature that grew even more sassy and antisocial by the day.
How was he supposed to compare the bond he felt with Anubis to these two?
He could, he supposed, talk to them. He could tell them about himself, how he felt, his insecurities and exactly how uncomfortable he was. But, how could he know that they would grow to respect him? Both species needed to respect their trainer, and, as of now, he was just some random kid. If he told them about how messed up his life had been, how much he had already suffered, would they start to care for him? Or would they think he was the same pathetic, ungrateful child that his mother did?
He didn't know. He couldn't know.
His dad used to say that the best way to bond with a Pokémon was through battles and grooming, but Ash barely remembered those talks without the memories of the last time he'd seen the man slamming into him. The last thing he needed to think about was his parents.
The professor, on the other hand, had admitted that he bonded with his Charmander through food. Apparently, he'd gained the fire types respect accidents, after making an attempt at chilli that was too spicy for both of them. From there, it had taken quality time, and honesty, for them to become a powerful duo.
Could he do something like that? Cooking? He wasn't exactly a great cook, but very few newbie trainers were. Did that sound right to him?
No, he admitted to himself, cringing slightly at the thought. What kind of trainer was he? What did he want to be?
His answer was usually the same: he wanted to be similar to Lance. When the red haired man came into power a few years ago with his powerful team of dragons, demanding the attention of the Kanto and Johto regions, he'd been in awe. Everything about the man, from his chosen team to his look, was inspired. Lance was someone who looked at one of the hardest types to own, and gained their respect. He had forced not one but two whole regions to look at him with respect, and bow down to his speciality. He was one of the most regal trainers in existence, at least to Ash.
Yes, he'd screwed up the public's view on dragons, with his supposedly unbeatable team. Yes, he seemed to laugh at the general publics fear over his favorite typing. Yes, he was far from perfect. But, he'd held his position for six whole years, and never even wavered.
He respected the man, though, for everything that Lance was. Even if it frustrated him. What Lance should have done, seeing as he took power just a few short years after the war ended, was work on the publicity of the most feared types in Kanto. He should have invited other dragon trainers, along with poison and dark specialists, into the public eye, and educated them. He should have started a program for the visibility of the trio of types, and helped them gain a positive following after so much destruction. He should have found a way to make sure that all three types were there, and visible, when it came to salvaging the wreckage that was Cinnabar Island.
But no.
Instead, he gained more power, putting himself and his team of pseudo legendaries as unbeatable in peoples minds. And legends like that? When they fall, they fall hard.
It was painful to think about what would happen with the next champion, if he or someone else managed to beat Lance. If it wasn't done right, well, there was every chance that dragons could go from the third least like type to the first, replacing poison.
He shuddered at the thought. They already got awful press, considering the number of deaths associated with each of the three per year, he didn't want to consider how much worse it could get. Maybe, he thought with horror, they might exterminate all three types from Kanto and Johto. It wasn't that far fetched, considering only one dragon was technically native to Kanto before the wars had happened, and no dark types were supposed to be found here. There were, however, several poison types that made Kanto and Johto their homes before the war began. The Bellsprout, Gastly, Nidoran, and the Weedle lines to name a few. They weren't rare, by any means, but they weren't liked. A lot of people avoided them, no matter how much Erika, Giovanni, Koga, even Agatha tried to build them up.
A part of him wanted to change it. He knew what needed to happen for their popularity to rise. But at the same time... he loathed the thought of doing it himself. He both wanted the spotlight, and couldn't stand the thought. Wasn't being a kid fun, he thought to himself sarcastically.
Whatever he was going to do, he needed to decide quickly. Originally, he'd planned on going past Viridian City towards Route 22. In the plains next to the city, there were plains that were full of Pokémon that could help him take on his first gym challenge.
He would absolutely not be facing Giovanni's might first. No way, he didn't want his team to die, for one, but he also wanted to get to know them a little better before their first big battle. His goal was at least ten battles before he reached Pewter. He'd like to have two or three more Pokémon before then, especially because he wanted the variety, but he was also fine with waiting.
One thing pretty much everyone who worked at the lab agreed on was that when you saw a wild Pokémon that was supposed to be on your team, you just knew. No one really knew if it was a bond at first sight, or of it was some kind of chemical that appealed to certain people, but everyone agreed on that much.
Assuming he wasn't as defective as his mother always said, which he was already unsure of, maybe he'd know too. Then again, if he did, he would have been able to be enthralled with Astaroth like Gary was with his Squirtle, or pretty much any of them. Minus Neil, since they seemed to be in a similar boat, for different reasons.
Why couldn't he be more confident, he groaned inwardly.
Glancing over, he saw that both of his Pokémon were watching him out of the corner of their eye as they walked. He wondered if they were waiting on him to say something. Why couldn't he have been born a Shellder instead of a human? They at least had shells they could hide in when they didn't want to socialize.
Damn his poor communication skills.
"Um, do you know where the name Astaroth comes from?" He asked awkwardly. Thankfully, this was a topic he knew well. "You see, there are two leading theories to where the world came from, either humans started it, or Pokémon did. Some regions are pretty biased one way or the other, but here, it can go either way. According to legend, if you read the human version, Astaroth is one of the demon lords for the bad after world, which you go to for punishment. He's actually associated with the sin of wrath, believe it or not. In the Pokémon version, he's Hydreigon, but their named the same thing either way. Its funny, when you think about it, how both Astaroth's aren't really respected, or known, compared to the other afterlife deities, but they're also both essential to the mythology behind them. Both of them are associated with the suffering of others, but in very different ways. I really like learning about both sides, myself. I like the version where the deity created the world, and gave humans Pokémon as companions in hopes of a brighter future, but I also love the idea of Arceus being real and creating Pokémon first, then people, so that they could create a balance in the world. Its... really interesting. I kind of want to name all of you after the demon lords, partly because I think its funny, but mostly because of how it would throw people off. When I send you out, people would expect a Hydreigon, and be utterly unprepared for you."
He took a breath, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. The trees were blocking out most of the sunlight in this part of the walk, hiding him and his team under the thick canopy of leaves. He glanced at Pawniard again, consideringly. Which of them would work best with the Pokémon, if he managed to evolve into a Kingambit?
He liked the idea of Beelzebub, maybe. Typically, the name was linked to gluttony, and Snorlax, meaning, quite literally, lord of the dead. While Kingambit wasn't typically associated with gluttony, itself, it was known for its gluttony towards battle. Then again, Asmodeus was the one associated with lust, something much more commonly linked to battles. Asmodeus was also associated with Ditto, meaning a Pawniard would be a huge surprise. Hm.
"I think Asmodeus would be best, he's associated with lust, yeah, but he's also one of the more powerful of the bunch. It's also associated with Ditto, so you're probably the last Pokémon people would expect for that name. Ah. Let me explain. In the Pokémon version, Arceas created seven Pokémon that rose against him, while the rest of his creation did not. They were led by a Serperior called Lucifer the shinning light. They were all supposedly unhappy with their designs, since they thought that they were better than what they were given. Now, this part is a bit different, depending on where you hear it, but most of them agree that the seven were supposed to be the perfect Pokémon for their species, the best of the best, right? When they fell into the afterlife, or the Abyss, they became the seven lords, and the others of their species were cursed to embody the sins of them. So, all of the Serperior line is prideful, for example. And-" he cut himself off, biting his lip.
The two Pokémon didn't really care about why their names were important in two different religions, they either liked the names, or didn't. He was so stupid, he thought, for rambling on like that.
He felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment. Honestly, how was someone like him supposed to gain the trust of his Pokémon when he just... rambled at them?
He was so, so stupid. His mother was right, he was a failure before he even had a chance to try. He was going to be abandoned by Astaroth, and Pawniard was going to follow the other Pokémon. He'd be left alone, by himself, in less than a day.
A slight nudge touched his hand, pulling him out of his spiraling thoughts. Astaroth booped his trainers hand with his nose. He couldn't help the small giggle at the motion, since the Pokémon had to balance on his back legs in order to reach Ash's hand.
"Sorry." He apologized softly. "I don't really know what I'm doing. I mean, I do, I've studied and worked hard to be here, but I'm not... really good at... interacting." He said awkwardly.
He was trying, but his mothers words were like poison in his mind. He could practically hear her hissing that he was a worthless son who couldn't talk to anyone if his life depended on it. The worst part was, she was right. If he was overly stressed, he had a bad habit of going non-verbal, and he always made a mess of his words around people.
It was just so hard to talk! He knew that the topics he was interested in were morbid, and that no one wanted to talk about the fallen when they could talk about the risen instead. He also knew that, to a lot of people, no matter which way they thought, their religions were less of a book of mythology and more of a history one.
He just didn't see it that way. In his eyes, neither was real, but both had the possibility of being real. He couldn't believe one way or another without some kind of proof, and a book that said it was true wasn't good enough for him.
Maybe he was wrong, and one of them was real, but until he saw proof of it one way or another, he'd change his mind, but until then, he was happy believing that both were just mythos.
Maybe his team would become something of a mythos too, he thought with a small smirk. Maybe he'd had a team perfectly built to help him climb to the top.
Another boop pressed against his hand, Astaroth's scales clanking loudly as he gestured up towards the sky.
At first, Ash didn't see anything but the trees. That was, until he stopped in just the right spot to see something flying overhead through a small gap in the thick branches. He blinked at it.
What was that? It had a weird golden aura, and it was clearly a large, bird like Pokémon, but he'd never seen anything like it before. It was too big to be a Fearow, since they only got to about four feet long, and this thing was at least triple that. If not morem the wingspan was way off too, he noticed. It had to be close to twenty feet, he knew, even from this far away.
Huh, weird.
Whatever it was, it was gone in seconds, flying fast through the skies leaving a trail of golden glitter, maybe, behind it. Maybe it was a weirdly oversized Fearow, or a bird Pokémon from another region that he'd just forgotten about. He hadn't exactly studied them extensively, so it was possible.
"That was odd." He muttered. "I've never seen anything like that before. Have you?"
Both Pokémon shook their heads. It wasn't unexpected, since Pawniard was from Paldea and Astaroth was... from wherever it was from, probably not here though.
"Sorry, I went off on a tangent, didn't I? It happens a lot, unfortunately. But, do you like the name Asmodeus, Pawniard?" He questioned carefully. He was sure that if the Pokémon didn't like it, he could find something else, but he really hoped that Pawniard did.
The Pokémon seemed to be thinking about it, taking his time to look around for a solid five minutes while they walked, before finally, slowly, nodding his agreement. Ash couldn't help but smile at the Pokémon. He might shorten their names a bit, eventually, but for now, he was happy enough.
He tried to picture his future, a team full of mighty dragons with Asmodeus by his side. A shiver went down his spine at the thought, but he ignored it, as he normally did when he thought about those type of things. It was what he wanted, absolutely.
Never had he ever dreamed of a different team. Except, no. He had. Some nights, it was a team full of powerful poison types that he led towards victory. Sometimes, it was dark types instead. He tried replacing the thoughts with the dragons that he wanted, but it was... difficult trying to convince his subconscious that wasn't the life he wanted.
He wasn't sure why he wanted to want a team of dragons so badly, in fact, he never acknowledged that it was a forced want while he was awake. Maybe it had something to do with the stories his dad used to tell, about the poweful dragon masters and knights of old. Maybe it was a way to keep his dad's old stories alive, even when the man himself was long dead.
Cameran.
He ducked his head at the thought. It didn't matter. He was never going to pick anything else, even if he wouldn't acknowledge why.
That didn't mean he wasn't ever going to visit the town, oh no, planned on spending some time there, training once he had collected all of his badges needed. He had eighteen months, after all, before the League started up, and he wanted to get as much time as he could to train before he let himself fight for a title he knew he didn't deserve.
Yet, he told himself firmly. He didn't deserve a title yet, but eventually, he'd make sure that it changed. He had the rest of his life to get as strong as he could, and he didn't really want to rush himself. If he wasn't ready by the time the League started, then he'd be ready by the following one.
If he was going to devote himself to this path, and he was, then he needed to do it right. Dragons like Astaroth grew slowly, whereas Asmodeus would grow fairly quickly.
He glanced at them again, first his starter, then his second, consideringly. How many battles could the two handle right now? Both were really low levels, being level three for Astaroth and two for Asmodeus. They were both really young too, and completely unprepared for a good fight.
He froze.
A bush to his left moved, as if a Pokémon was hiding just a few feet away. His head moved slowly to the side, and, sure enough, a pair of glowing yellow eyes looked back at him. He couldn't breath for a moment, considering his next move as both of his Pokémon seemed to straighten up in preparation for a battle.
This was the first thing he had seen, besides the weird bird Pokémon, since he entered the forest.
He could hear it hissing aggressively, slit like pupil contracting in anger. This wasn't a Pokémon to be messed with, and he'd accidentally set it off.
"Astaroth," he said slowly, "do you think you can handle this?" His Jangmo-o nodded, stamping its feet and letting out a loud battle cry as it rushed forward with a tackle.
The Pokémon scuttled back, eight legs working in unison to dodge the attack and finally coming out so Ash could see what they were dealing with.
He grimaced. A Venipede. This was going to be tough. They were known for both their aggression, and their poison, able to paralyze or even kill, their foes. Still, he did have Asmodeus as well, as a back up. Astaroth would be good for hitting the Pokémon with power, since Jangmo-o started building their physical abilities from the time they hatched, but maybe the Pawniard would have been better. Pawniard were known to go in quick and slice their opponents without mercy, but they also were known to ignore their injuries during a battle. Until he knew more about Asmo, he was keeping him back.
This Venipede was pretty average in appearance, just over a foot tall with a hard exoskeleton made. Its body long, and it had eight tiny legs, more like stumps, that it used to zoom around. On its tail, there were two spiked barbs that could easily inject poison into anything that was stupid enough to get close.
Roth charged again, this time hitting Venipede in the side and knocking it further into the path. He roared, glowing purple as his scales started jangling like a knight in armor as he moved. Fuck, it had the poison point ability. Great.
It was a chase, he realized. Roth needed to hit Venipede and keep away from the beak, but Venipede was clever. And worse, he realized with dread as its teeth sank into Roth's hard scales, it was vicious.
Roth reared back in pain, shaking Venipede off as the poison from earlier mixed with the second dose, starting to make its way through the tiny dragon's body. Venipede hissed again, eyes sparkling in golden malice. Both Pokémon were starting to get serious.
Roth dodged a poison sting, then used his momentum to rush into another tackle, roaring as its hard head scales hit Venipede brutally in the eye.
Ash bit his lip, hand hovering over his belt. This Pokémon, he knew deep down, was meant to be his. No one else could handle, and embrace, a Pokémon so happy to cause violence.
He waited a few more second, plucking a spare Pokéball from his belt without thought, as he watched the battle hungrily. Yes, this was right. This was what he wanted. What he needed. His own eyes lit up in malicious glee once Venipede was tackled into a tree.
As soon as he had a clear aim, he sent the primed Pokéball towards his target with lazy confidence. This much, he knew, he could do in his sleep.
Venipede was engulfed in a red beam, disappearing without a trace in less than a second. The Pokéball shook violently. Again. Again.
He watched it carefully, biting his lip as it fought hard. But eventually, the shaking slowed. Then stopped.
Finally, the sound he was waiting for: a click.
He smiled happily, walking over to the now still Pokéball and picking it up. He'd caught it.
Ash blinked hard, mind racing as he replayed the last few minutes in his mind. Why had he...?
They hadn't had a choice in fighting, Venipede wouldn't have let them go. It would have chased them down, but that wasn't an excuse for catching it. He could have just let Roth knock it out, so why?
Dread filled his mind as he remembered what the professor had said. Sometimes, you just knew a Pokémon was supposed to be on your team. And Ash? He'd known within seconds that Venipede belonged with him.
What the fuck, he thought with a hysterical giggle, was that feeling?
He quickly turned his attention away from himself, making a mental note to try and understand later, before looking as his now beat up starter.
Roth had been bitten several times, and several of his scales had been damaged to the point of needing to be removed. They'd fall off soon, on their own, bit it would hurt the Pokémon more for him to leave the injury. He crouched down and put his bag on the path in front of them.
He was positive that he'd packed at least half a dozen antidotes, and just as many potions, just in case. He figured he'd need to buy more once he got to Viridian City, of course. But he had prepared a bit, just in case.
He found the two sprays, one two shades of purple, the other a shocking yellow in color. He quickly got out his grooming kit too, knowing exactly what needed to be done.
Within minutes, the bites were spayed down, and disinfected, and the damaged scales loosened.
He bit back a smug grin, proud that he had known what to do so instinctively. Roth was already looking better, but stayed still and let the antidote work through him anyway. He was so impressed with his lovely little starter.
Though, granted, as a trainer, he'd failed to lead his Pokémon through the fight, relying on Roth himself to take down his opponent. He needed to get comfortable giving commands too.
But Roth? The Pokémon preformed beautifully, brilliant, but a bit monotonous due to his age. And-
Wait.
Roth?
When had he started calling Astaroth 'Roth'? And why?
He mentally replayed the battle again and again until he found it. When Astaroth charged the second time, he'd mentally switched over to a shorter version of the name to keep his thoughts moving quick enough to handle the battle. Had he done it with both of them, without knowing?
A glance at Asmo told him that yes, he had in fact shortened the names in his head for both Pokémon. That was quick. He'd been expecting it to take weeks until he was comfortable enough to shorten their names, but all it took was a single battle.
And a new Pokémon, he thought, half smug, half terrified. Venipede was going to take a lot of getting used to, but he'd wait for that.
He took a deep breath and packed away his supplies again, he had time, he reminded himself. There was no need to rush, because he had all the time he'd need.
That confirmed, he let himself look around, finding a small clearing a bit away. It was pretty normal to find a campsite on Route One, since so many newbie trainers came this way. There were probably dozens within a few miles or less, since every single Pallet Town trainer had to come this way, eventually.
Some, he knew, went more towards the river and followed it north, some stayed on the path, and some veered east or west in hopes of stumbling across something that shouldn't naturally be there. It just depended on the trainer.
Either way, he was majorly lucky to find a campsite so close. While he could have kept walking all day, or simply rushed his way past Route One, he wanted to take his time. At least here, he knew was moderately safe, since Venipede were notoriously possessive over their territory.
He glanced down at his belt, consideringly, before shaking his head. He'd meet and feed Venipede at dinner, but today was about Roth and Asmo. Besides, Roth needed to rest a bit anyways, even with the medicines.
That decided, he started setting up his campsite, pulling out his collapsible tent and unhooked his sleeping bag from the bottom of his carry-on. It only took a few minutes to get the tent ready, since this was one of the skills needed in order to pass Oak's examination. Both the tent and the sleeping bag were the same shade of black and white cameo, leading him to wonder just how long they'd keep their colors. Maybe they would fade quicker if he day camped, but right now, he didn't really care.
After that was done, it was easy to slip inside his tent. He gestured for his Pokémon to enter, and unrolled the sleeping bag so that he had somewhere comfortable to sit.
"You did amazing earlier, Astaroth." He congratulated calmly, "but we do need to work on a few things. Our awareness for one, since Venipede got so close without us knowing. And, well, you seemed to have a hard time stopping once you started moving, but we can definitely work on that. You're made more for physical power, though, and we've got to find a way for you to keep building it up. You on the other hand," he paused, turning to Asmo. "You are built for speed. You don't need to ram into your opponents, or physically fight them because you can get away with short, sharp cuts. We'll probably need to work on your speed, and find you a good sharpening stone too. I'm also going to get some extra iron supplements when we get to Viridian for you, probably."
His mind whirled as it tried to come up with a decent plan. One needed strength, one needed speed. How could he help both, without neglecting the other? Venipede too would need a training plan. Great.
He mentally cursed his lack of antidotes, he had a feeling that unless he had the Pokémon working alone, he'd run out of them fairly quickly. To be fair, he wasn't exactly expecting to catch anything here. He'd been expecting to wait until he found his next dragon, wherever it might be. Now, he had a dragon type, that would eventually become a dual dragon/fighting, a dark/steel, and now, a bug/poison.
He was so stupid, deviating from his plans, but at that moment, he couldn't help himself. It was like he was possessed or something. Weird.
He propped his elbows on his knees, letting his mind wander. How was he going to pull this off? He couldn't work with them both, could he?
Maybe alternating stops. One they would work on strength, the next one speed, and the next on... evasion, he supposed. Yeah, that sounded right.
Now for the hard part: talking again. Blah.
"Okay, so I'd like to tell you two a bit about me, and what I want out of my journey, is that okay? I know I told Astaroth a bit earlier, but I really want to make sure we understand each other. And this is how I think we can do it." He decided softly. It was an uncomfortable but one he knew needed to be made anyway.
He took a deep breath, and let himself start talking.
For his first day, Ash knew hehadnt exactly gone very far. He was still just a few hours walk from home, but he preferred it that way, at least for now. He hadn't realized how much of an exercise in trust just leaving a place he'd known could help if someone went wrong was.
And maybe, he admitted to himself, he had hoped that Anubis would have followed him out of town if given enough time.
He was being stupid again, he knew. Maybe in another world, Anu could have come along, but that world wasn't this one. In this one, he had been a trainer for less than a day, and already had three Pokémon. He swallowed a grimace at the thought. He wondered how the rest of them were doing, and if they were catching anything interesting, or just training.
There was no reason to wonder, of course, he could just call the professor with the phone app on his Pokènav. It would be easy to check in with the man, to make sure he was doing the right thing, but he held himself back. This was his team, not Professor Oak's. They were his responsibility to care for and raise. They were his.
Even if it would be easier to make sure that he wasn't constantly screwing up, he didn't trust himself to not abuse that privilege. Not yet anyways.
On the annoying part, he was constantly having to sip his water, because his throat hurt. He wasn't sure when the last time he had talked so much was, but it had been a very, very long time. Maybe even as far back as his Jon Bomb and Diamond obsessions. Who knew.
It sucked, but he'd talked through his life with his team,being as honest and straightforward as he could about his life so far. He wanted them to try and understand why he was so... off compared to other people.
Then again, it wasn't like he was the only person who'd seen death too young. He knew it wasn't strange for kids to be treated the way he was, even if it wasn't right. His life could have been a lot worse than it was, and he should have been grateful for that little fact. But he wasn't. Not really.
He'd read somewhere that kids weren't born with the necessary coping skills to handle death, and that was true. There was nothing he could have done to stop the suicide, except come home early that day. And he... well, he couldn't change the past, so it was a moot point.
Ash shook himself out of his thoughts, focusing on building up the fire that would help them stay warm for a bit. It was warmer than a usual March, but not extremely so.
He'd gotten his team up to speed, and they had stayed, even if Roth and Asmo exchanged looks occasionally that warned him they weren't completely convinced by anything just yet.
They were watching him, he knew, waiting to see how he reacted to his earlier promise. He had said that he would bring out Venipede around dinner time, and he would. Even if the Pokémon creeped him out a bit.
Everyone warned new trainers about the instant team attachment, but no one had told him just how that feeling would make you narrow your focus to getting that Pokémon and nothing else. No one warned him how heavy and enticing that feeling could be.
It was weird, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but he could see how trainers could easily fall into the addiction of catching new Pokémon. He'd been utterly unprepared for the feeling, but now? Now he knew and could fight it.
He'd have his team of dragons, and no one could stop him.
Until then, though, he had a Venipede to make peace with.
He took a shuttering breath, and reached for the Pokéball on his belt, this one placed behind his hip bone on his right side, in, what was normally, slot four for right handed trainers. Depending on how this went, he'd move the Pokémon around some. If Venipede was trustworthy, then it would stay where it was. If it wasn't, then he'd either move or store the Pokémon for now, depending on how dangerous it was to him.
Easy enough, in theory.
A quick check of his Pokènav told him what he needed to know: Venipede was male, level three, had the ability Poison Point, and only had two moves that it could use. He had a hasty nature, meaning he would be impulsive, but, Pokémon with that nature type were always a bit faster than other ones. On the other side, that also meant that his defense stats were a little bit lower than expected. Considering how young he was, it wasn't much of a difference yet, but it would be more obvious as he grew. Meaning Ash needed to work on Venipede's defense as much as possible, and help the Pokémon gain control over his speed. Fun.
Finally, he couldn't put it off anymore, and called on the Pokémon, making sure that both of his other teammates were close enough to intervene if they needed to, but far enough away that he wasn't crowding the poor creature.
It, he, formed in a beam of solid red light, hissing loudly and baring his sharp poisonous beak to them. Its tail primed in an obvious threat of an attack. For being so short, the Pokémon was clearly used to being a threat.
But Ash.
Well, Ash had played with a Dragonite as a kid, and had seen something actually worthy of fear. This display was more of less just that: a display. Maybe if Venipede was older or bigger, he would have been more afraid than he was, but as they were? Nah.
He crouched down, making sure that he could still throw himself out of the way if it became necessary, but needing to seem like he wasn't a threat. "Hi there. I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town. I just started my journey with these to this morning, and I would love to have you on my team. You're already really strong, but I think I can help you grow up into a Scolipede that could be almost unstoppable. Can I help?"
Eugh, he still sounded so awkward, and he damn well knew it, but had no idea how to change it. Maybe he needed to take a speech class or something so that he didn't sound so pathetic all the time.
Thankfully, Venipede didn't lash out, but he hissed again, eyes lit up in genuine malice.
Ash nodded, understanding that easily. "We'll be fighting a lot of strong Pokémon, yes. Heck, I might even use you against Brock, if you want, even if you're disadvantaged. You can have as many battles as you want, Venipede."
The Pokémon hissed again, this time a more shallow sound compared to the deeper hisses from before. It was a satisfied sound. Venipede liked that idea, apparently.
Ash nodded at the Pokémon, agreeing to its demand for a good fight. "Good, we'll show him how strong you are as soon as we get to Pewter City, okay? Now, let me introduce you. These are Astaroth and Asmodeus, my starter and second respectively. I really want to give you a nickname too, if you're okay with it?"
Beelzebub was probably the one that matched the Pokémon best. While known as the Pokémon of gluttony, and being a Snorlax in the myths, he knew that Venipede would be fine with the name. Maybe he wouldn't be gluttonous, maybe he would, Ash didn't really know just yet, but he knew that it clicked in his head that the name belonged to this particular Pokémon.
"Would like to be called Beelzebub?" He asked. Something about the thought of his opponent expecting a slow, lumbering Snorlax when he called out Beelzebub's name, and getting a quick, yet dangerous, Scolipede instead gave him a strange feeling of satisfaction. Ah, how he loved confusing people.
The Pokémon seemed to not really care, one way or another, so he took it as a sign that it was fine. Good to know.
"Nice to meet you, then, Beelzebub. Welcome to the team."
A thought struck him. Shouldn't he be saving these names for his other dragons? Shouldn't they get the names that held such an interesting place in his head? Not that it really mattered, there were seven in total, and he already had one dragon paired with their name. If he ran out of names, he could pick a different theme maybe. The risen? It would be a nice contrast but that was a problem for future him.
For now, he'd caught a Pokémon, and had his other two take their places on his team. All in all, he'd call it a pretty successful day.
Day two dawned too early for Ash, even with his tent blocking out some of the light. He groaned, rolling over and hiding his face on his pillow. Why was he sleeping outside, he wondered grumpily, he knew that morning always came too early, so why did he...?
There was something touching him. Two something actually. One on his back, and one laying on his legs. For some reason, he wasn't worried about the strange weight, in fact, it felt normal despite knowing, even in his fogged mind, that it had never happened before.
Sleepy gold eyes squinted open, making him turn his head to see what was going on. There was a Jangmo-o sleeping on his back, and a Venipede napping on his legs, keeping him still. He scanned the tent, just checking, and yep, there was Pawniard.
All three of them were where they were supposed to be, he thought to himself. Good.
Wait.
What? Why was...
He blinked a few times, trying to force his mind into awake mode, even if it was pretty much impossible. Oh, right, he'd started his journey yesterday, and the Professor gave him a duo that would be torture to raise. Right.
There was no Anubis to curl under his arm, but this wasn't... bad. Weird, but being awake at the crack of dawn was weird too. He let his face fall back into the pillow.
He knew he should have gotten a blackout tent, but he'd been worried about how much he'd sleep if he did. More than this, he knew.
Everything in him ached from exhaustion. He hadn't slept well in days, and had probably gotten about three hours the night before, he guessed, from how much he hated life. That was about six hours in three days now.
Damn.
He groaned in displeasure, but knew that he had to get up. He'd feel better with some caffeine.
Yet, he couldn't really move, could he? He peeked around again, taking in the positions of his team, before noticing Asmodeus' piercing orange eyes watching him in amusement. He pouted at the Pokémon.
"A little help here?" He asked, voice raspy and rough from a combination of too much talking over the last day, and too little sleep. He really didn't want to startle Beelzebub, Beelz maybe, into stabbing him this early, and he had no idea how Roth was when he was asleep.
Pawniard tilted his head, before turning back to the tent entrance, ignoring his trainers request with a clear look of amusement in his eyes.
"Great. Thanks." He muttered sarcastically. Okay Ash, you can do this, he told himself. Getting up without getting hurt was the name of the game. "Hey Beelzebub, I think there's a Pidgey in the camp."
The Venipede shot up, still half asleep but clearly wanting to fight its imaginary opponent no matter how tired he was. The movement from Beelzebub made Roth sleepily growl at him, clearly not a morning Pokémon, even at the possibility of a battle. Good to know, he told himself.
He turned slowly, letting his new starter fall carefully onto the sleeping bag. Tucking in Roth, and making sure he was comfortable only took a second or two, but made him feel better. "I'll save you some breakfast." He muttered softly, petting the large yellow scale on the Pokémon's head, before getting up himself.
Ash needed to use the bathroom, drink some water, and swallow down a caffeine pill or two. Preferably in that order. Sleep deprivation, especially chronic sleep deprivation, was torture. He knew himself well enough to know that if he hadn't had so much adrenaline running through his veins yesterday, he would have been a zombie without the extra help.
Not that his sleeping habits were anything new, of course. The only way he could sleep for more than a few hours at a time was if he took a sleeping pill, but he didnt really think that was a good option considering he had just started his journey. Maybe when he was in a town, he could knock himself out, but until then, he'd cope, as he always did.
Rubbing his eyes, he let himself crawl towards his bag, pulling a bottle out of the front pocket. He glanced at it, just long enough to make sure it was the right one, before pulling the lid off and downing the two pills of pure awareness.
It wasn't exactly good to take medication so young, especially when he knew it would cause more damage to himself as he aged, but without it, he couldn't function. His diagnosed insomnia mixed with night terrors when he could sleep meant that he was constantly exhausted to the point that the professor threatened to kick him out of the program if he didn't get it under control.
When he had access to it, he preferred coffee most of the time, assuming he wasn't already nauseous. He was very careful to only take the meds when he actually needed them. The last thing he wanted to do was loose his ability to function, and he knew damn well that once he had his first check in with the professor, he'd have to go over everything he ate, drank, and what hours he slept. Not because he was hyper- vigilant, but because there were already a few risks in his journey, and neither of them wanted to have his problems be worse.
Was it annoying? Absolutely yes. Did he kind of need the reminder sometimes? Yes.
It wasn't that rare to need a bit of extra attention. Lotus had diabetes, so she was being asked to travel with a companion when she was starting out, just in case something went wrong. Granted, he was positive that Lotus and Leroy would have traveled together anyway.
Was it dangerous to let kids go out on their own with whatever problems they had? Probably, but as long as they took reasonable precautions, they'd be fine. Most likely. They could start getting attacked by a wild Pokémon and killed, or run into a dangerous situation accidently and be killed, or, well, dozens of other things.
Because the truth of the matter was that there was a possibility that one of their Quintet wouldn't make it the full eighteen months. There was a good chance that if they did survive, they would be different people than they had left as, though, and that was the appeal.
He stretched, finally through with his morning necessities, before pulling his bag out of the tent and setting it down next to the fire.
Breakfast needed to be made. Eugh. He wasn't exactly a good cook, nor did he enjoy it, but he was passable, especially with Pokèfood. He pulled out three bowls, then a bag of general Pokèfood that wasn't type specific. He mixed in the pellets with a bit of water, before topping them with a few oran berries each, just to give them an extra snack. Once they were done, he placed two of them next to the fire. Asmo picked up his own bowl awkwardly, since it was the only one with a fork, and moved to sit next to a tree while Beelzebub dug into his own food, still pouting about not getting to fight first thing in the morning.
The third bowl, and a protein bar, came with him inside the tent. He carefully nudged his starter awake, placing the bowl directly in front of the sleepy dragon. Roth ate, grudgingly, but glared at him with narrowed red eyes the entire time. It was kid of funny.
When they got to Viridian City, he'd stop by and grab some type specific foods, since those helped a Pokémon grow faster by giving them more nutrients.
Since they had basically taken a half day yesterday, he planned on making sure they walked until they dropped, then he'd return them and keep going. According to his Pokénav, it was about seven forty, and they were about a fourteen hour walk from town.
Maybe he'd leave them out in shifts, that way they could have a few hours to rest, and he wouldn't be walking an unfamiliar road in the dark. In three hour increments, which would give all of them six hours in between walking, and it made sure that at least one of them would be battle ready at all times. If he planned in two hour long breaks, one for lunch and one for dinner, they could be in Viridian by around midnight, meaning he could sleep in an actual bed!
If, however, his projected time moved any later, he'd make camp around ten or so, then walk the last few hours on his third day. That was doable too.
Head swimming with plans, he packed up, and returned Asmo and Beelzebub, while he and Roth got a move on. He could do this. He'd be fine.