AN: So anyways, about the anime, as much as I'd like to include all of the episodes, I really don't think I'll have the time. So I'll just gloss over the unimportant ones, and the Team Rocket stuff. Also, I'm making Team Rocket much more realistic.
It was a week after Ash had finished his battle with Gary, and Ash had finally made it to Pewter City. It wasn't that the journey was long; no, it only took him two days to get through the convoluted Viridian forest. Ash was simply training his Pokemon.
His Zoura at first thought he was more intelligent than Ash, and wouldn't listen to him despite his fervent pleas. This was largely due to their first encounter, as Ash didn't even know what Pokemon he was. Eventually, however, he was able to build some trust with Zoura after he used Torchic to beat his unruly Pokemon, as Zoura like Torchic, respected and seeked power. He knew his Zoura wasn't a bred Pokemon, for it wasn't docile, but it must have had a father in the wild that could transfer on Sucker Punch to him. Zoura also had the Illusion ability, meaning that he could take the form of any Pokemon or even a person, and he often took a human form when he wanted to communicate with Ash. As a result, Ash was better able to communicate with his team. In battles, however, Zoura took the shape of a Ratatta, for two major reasons. The first was that Zoura was a rare Pokemon, and many poachers would want him. But the second was the additional surprise factor that Zoura held. Ash didn't face many battles though, mainly from new trainers who weren't very good. After a few days, Ash left to Pewter City through the Viridian Forest.
During his trip through the Viridian Forest, he was able to find one of the rarest bug Pokemon out there: Scyther. Scyther was not commonly found in the Viridian Forest, and he told Ash (through Zoura's translation) that he had escaped the illegal Poke-trade cartel which had captured him, known as Team Rocket. Scyther said they had an ulterior motive, that they weren't just Pokemon smugglers. Then Ash had his first encounter with the aforementioined Team Rocket, division 424, in the forest. It was a platoon of a man named James, a woman named Jesse, and their talking Meowth. Ash was able to quickly defeat them with Zoura and Torchic, and was able to interrogate them for information about Team Rocket. Apparently, they didn't know much, as they were only grunts, the lowest ranked members of the group. What they did know was that their master, Giovanni, was planning something, something nefariously cruel. They didn't tell Ash this information out of free will, either. Ash could be fairly cruel when he was in power. But he was feeling merciful, so after his victory, he allowed the team to run off, warning that if they encountered a second time, that would be the last time.
And after that, his journey was quite peaceful. He was challenged by an arrogant Samurai halfway through, but his Scyther easily defeated the other two Pokemon. Ash had to admit, Scyther was going to be a useful addition to the team. At this point, Torchic could easily beat both Zoura and Scyther, but the other two Pokemon were catching up. Ash believed that Torchic was close to his first evolution, and he couldn't wait to have a Combusken. He figured that Torchic was probably powerful to learn the Speed Boost ability; after all, he was one of the strongest starters Ash had ever seen.
But this had as much to do with Torchic himself, as it had to do with Ash's training. Ash was a harsh trainer; he only expected the best from his Pokemon. He had all of his Pokemon start with endurance training, and all of his Pokemon wore weights when practicing, so that their movements would be more fluid during the actual battles. Scyther and Zoura usually fought to a standstill, but Ash had to give the edge to Zoura; the only reason Scyther could get that far was because of his type advantage. But Ash didn't have Scyther for long, only for a few days, and he knew Scyther would eventually get incredibly strong.
Eventually, the group made it to Pewter City a week later, and the first person they met in the Pokemon Center was, unsurprisingly, Gary Oak. He was standing near the entrance of the Pokemon Center with his cheerleaders standing behind him, his car parked outside.
"So I see you've just managed to make it out of Viridian, yeah?" Gary said. "I bet you haven't even gotten your first badge."
"What do you want, Gary?" Ash asked, annoyed.
"Oh nothing, nothing. If you call a battle nothing. Ya see, loser, unlike you who was probably lost in the forest for a week, I made a beeline to Pewter. After which, I was able to sweep through the first gym, it was pretty easy for me, probably won't be for you. But anyways, after that, I spent some time catching new Pokemon. Guess how many I have?" Gary said.
"I don't care," Ash retorted.
"That's right, I already have twenty species of Pokemon. I bet you still only have two." Gary said.
"Actually, I've got three," Ash said.
"Oh, really," Gary said in a sarcastic voice. "Well, it appears I'm going to have to go easy on you again. Three on three. Let's go."
At that moment, Ash's Pokemon finished being healed, and Ash scooped up the three Pokeballs and put them in his belt. "Okay Gary, you're on."
"Perfect. I know just the place for me to thrash you." Gary said. Ash followed Gary up to an arena at the top floor of the Pokemon center. It seemed that Pewter city's Pokemon center was battle oriented. The stadium was empty, but Gary's cheerleaders followed him up. Gary must have gained a smidgen of confidence.
"Okay, here's how this is gonna work. Three on three battle, no substitutions or your Pokemon's out. Ya ready, twerp." Gary yelled.
"Bring it, dumbass," Ash retorted.
Gary chuckled softly. "We'll see who the dumbass is after this battle. Let's up the stakes. If I win, you pay me 1000 dollars. But if you win, I'll give you five thousand."
Wow, Gary was really feeling confident. Maybe he actually put some effort into training this time.
"Let's go." Ash concluded.
"Alright, pick which Pokemon you're leading, and I don't want any funny business," Gary said.
Ash gripped Scyther's Pokeball as Gary held his. "Ready, set, go," Gary yelled.
Scyther entered the arena brandishing his claws as Gary threw down a Pidgeotto.
"When'd you get a Scyther?" Gary asked.
"When'd you get a Pidgeotto?" Ash asked.
"Touche," Gary said. "Ready?"
"Let's go," Ash yelled.
Ash knew that normally a bug Pokemon would be weak to Flying type moves, however, he had trained Scyther to withstand powerful fire and flying type moves, and Scyther had eventually built up a resistance. While flying type moves were still damaging, it would be better for him to get a leg up while he could than to take the flying move and try to attack back.
"Scyther, swords dance," Ash said.
Scyther responded quickly, spinning his front scythes rapidly, building up attacking power. It was lucky that Gary called on Pidgeotto to use a gust attack, for Scyther was able to blow it away with his swords dance, the blades were moving so quickly, it was like a fan. While it somewhat impacted him, it did not do much damage.
"Scyther, Quick Attack, and follow up with Slash." Ash yelled.
Scyther moved extremely quickly with his scythes still moving, building up power. He struck before Pidgeotto could react, pushing the other Pokemon to the ground, and then, using his sharp spinning scythes, made a slashing motion at the chest cavity of Pidgeotto, and following through repeatedly, allowing the rotational momentum of his spinning scythes to be absorbed into his own body. Once it was obvious that Pidgeotto was out, only then did Scyther relent, retaining the increased attack power provided by the Swords Dance boost.
"Got anything to say about that, Gary?" Ash asked, seeing Gary in a stupor. Gary quickly shook out of it as the cheerleaders attempted to console him.
"Eh, it doesn't matter, she was one of my weaker Pokemon anyways. Now, go Squirtle!" Gary yelled, sending out a new Pokemon.
"Scyther, Bug Buzz," Ash yelled. Scyther was still in prime positioning as he had a swords dance boost and almost no health lost. Squirtle, however, was able to withdraw into his shell just in time before Scyther attacked, thus increasing his defensive capabilities. However, Scyther's attack was able to move the shell of the other Pokemon away from him and back at Gary. Squirtle seemed relatively unharmed, but as Squirtle was coming out of his shell, Ash took the opportunity to give Scyther another Swords Dance boost. Scyther's frontal scythes were spinning again, even more rapidly than before.
"Now Scyther, target Squirtle's underbelly with Slash." Ash yelled. Scyther repeated the same technique as before, only this time, attacking at the underbelly of the opposing Pokemon. Ash knew that the weakest part of a Squirtle is the underbelly, and was able to use that to his advantage, counting Squirtle out of the match.
"Still confident Gary?" Ash asked.
"Eh, Squirtle is one of my weaker ones. I've put in all my effort into training my best Pokemon, so it's understandable that you were able to beat my other two. Now, without further ado, Dratini," Gary yelled, pulling out another Poke-ball.
"Scyther, you know what to do," Ash said. Scyther nodded as he launched into a quick attack with a triple attack boost. It didn't matter what the opposing Pokemon was: a triple attack boost meant that it would be severely damaged. And it's hard for a damaged Pokemon to fight back. Scyther continued with a powerful Bug Buzz, effectively ending the match.
"What? How'd Dratini lose before she could even move?" Gary said. "It's not fair, you must have cheated."
"No, you played a very bad strategy. By allowing Scyther to accumulate so many boosts, you made it very easy for him to defeat your Pokemon." Ash said. "It doesn't matter what the Pokemon or what the move is, with a triple attack boost, it's bound to be powerful. You should have lead with Dratini, or trained up your other Pokemon. But your main problem is that you underestimated me, and underestimating Ash Ketchum is a bad idea."
"Hah!" Gary said. "I never underestimated you. Perhaps I overestimated you, to believe that you haven't been cheating. What, did you get that Scyther from Team Rocket?"
"How do you know about Team Rocket?" Ash asked.
"Those losers tried recruiting me. I turned them down after whooping them in a battle. I'm not one to steal someone else's pokmon, unlike someone I might add." Gary said.
"Who?" Ash asked.
"You. It's obvious you stole that Scyther. You and your father, you're the same." Gary said, then covered his mouth as if he had made a slip.
"My father? How would you know my father?" Ash asked.
"Umm nevermind, I'm gonna go now. I'm heading to Cerulean to take on the second gym. Smell ya, Ash," Gary said as he walked out of the room hurriedly, with his cheerleaders following him, puzzled. How could Gary get thrashed so badly?
Ash took a moment to himself to think about this new development. Apparently Gary knew something about his father, as did Oak, that they weren't telling him. When he tried to ask his mother, she'd abruptly change the subject, but Ash always assumed it was because the event was a one-night-stand. Perhaps this wasn't the case. He knew Oak had said something about his father a while ago, when Ash was spying on their conversation, but Ash wasn't sure if that was just a mess-up on Oak's part. Now he knew for certain: Gary knew who his father was. And Ash was going to find out, no matter the cost.
Ash walked down the stairs of the Pokemon center and went to heal his Scyther again. Scyther didn't really need it, but better safe than sorry. When Nurse Joy was done, he walked out and went out into the city.
Ash walked into the central plaza, which held the gym, and decided that it was best to get on with the gym battle. He defeated a few trainers at the gym fairly easily, then went on to Brock. Facing Brock was a joke, as while Brock was good, Ash was better. Zoura took care of both Geodude and Onix and was able to sweep through both of them through a smart tactical maneuver by Ash. Eventually, Brock handed him the badge, and Ash left the gym, his goal to becoming a Pokemon master one eighth complete.
AN: Wow, I wrote this chapter in one sitting. Plotline wise, not much happened here, as it was a pretty short chapter. Basically Ash went to Pewter and found out that Gary knows who Ash's father is, then defeats Brock. No, I'm not planning on having super-powerful Ash, and yes, he will lose a couple battles here or there.
Addressing reviews:
-kyunaru: The idea for the Poke-sim concept was original, and it came from my playing competitive Pokemon; however, it's not going to be in every chapter. Soon Ash is going to transition more to real battling, but he'll still do the other type of battling.
-Lazer Bright: Thanks for the support, but Ash doesn't have a Ratatta, and the unknown Pokemon is Zoura. I'm going off of the idea from the anime that the ability illusion means that a Pokemon can look like any Pokemon previously encountered, and that's why Zoura looks like a Ratatta. Sorry if that didn't come across.