Chapter 8, everybody! In which Ash finally captures a third Pokémon….
Pokeevee57, thanks for the review! Aha, yes, but then she might get suspicious. This is true. That—I don't know. I think I remember him just being called Samurai of the Viridian Forest in the anime, but don't quote me. Good question—Splash versus Harden, a battle that's slightly more stimulating that Harden versus Harden. :D Um, more like he was spooking them and spooked them the wrong way, towards Ash and the others. That's true though….Thanks! I hope to continue to please! :D
Deant33, thanks for the review! Yes he is, but don't tell him too many times—it'd go straight to his head. ;)
Thor94, thanks for the review! True and true—and don't worry, he will. And there might be something approaching a backbone, too. Right this chapter, actually….
AgitatedDog9288, thanks for the review! Oh wow, thank you—I hope to continue to please! Me too….
Dragonkeeper10, thanks for the review! Eh, this is true….
Aegorm, thanks for the review! Well, I'm trying to make it so that the Level System is how humans gauge things, and is therefore only present when the Pokedex is checked, but obviously I didn't make that organic enough—I'll work on that. Thanks for the critique!
Hunter Redflame, thanks for the review! Thank you, I'm glad it worked, and I hope to continue to please! :D
Vismur, thanks for the review! It does me too (but what can you do? *shrug*). Yes, Ash has that unique power, the power of the main character….Heheh, thank you, I'm glad you liked it! I love Lenny's personality, such a fun fish to write for. :D Because someday, that little fish is going to be a big sea serpent….Thank you! I hope to continue to please!
Beautiful-Liar13, thanks for the review! Yes, that will be interesting, to say the least….
Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo
And now, for something completely different:
The Pokémon League would like to remind all Pokémon owners that petting their Poison types is an extremely dangerous undertaking. Eighty-three percent of trainer poisonings reported to Pokémon Centers comes from petting a Poison type without protective gloves. The remaining seventeen percent comes from food poisoning, eating unidentified mushrooms, random Poison type encounters, failure to check shoes before putting them on, and failing to examine the area before sitting down. The Pokémon League reminds you to lift the lid and check before being seated.
After spending an evening getting familiar with Pewter City's layout and a night resting up at the Pokémon Center, Ash was ready for a solid day of training.
"I'm going to check out the museum while you do that," Misty said, waving. "Hey, where will you be? I'll bring lunch over."
"I'm going to check out Route Three," Ash said, pointing. "There's stronger Pokémon that way, so it'll be a good place to train."
Plus, it was relatively isolated.
Route Three was most definitely isolated once Ash arrived, and it didn't take very long to divine the reason why.
"Hey, Darkrai," Ash said, waving at the pitch-black Pokémon. "Here we are, ready for some serious training!"
"What, did you want some fanfare?" Darkrai asked, irritated.
"Aw, come on, don't be that way," Ash chided, as Pikachu leapt off of his shoulder and onto a nearby rock. "You said you'd help teach Pikachu Iron Tail, and he's been practicing like you asked. And besides, I still haven't caught a third Pokémon, thank you very much."
"You don't want one that frightens easily anyway," Darkrai said, waving him off. "Come on, then—we may as well get started."
Misty worked her way up the inclining slope of Route Three, lunch bags in hand. The museum had been interesting, even if there was a guy outside trying to sell rocks.
"All right! That's the way!"
And that would be Ash, right on cue. Did the kid even have an indoor voice?
Granted, it was nice to hear him sounding so happy—he would go for long stretches without talking, which kind of bothered her. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought he was listening to someone else.
But that was silly, right?
She crested the hill in time to see Ash looking around, kind of confused. "Hey!" she called, waving. "What's the matter? Lose a Pokémon?"
"Sort of," Ash said, grinning at the sight of the bags in her hand. "Sweet! Lunch!"
During the meal, Misty cemented the opinion that she had generated when they had eaten at the Pokémon Center the last couple of times: Ash had absolutely no table manners.
"So how are things going?" she asked, after finishing her sandwich.
"Pretty good," Ash replied, picking crumbs that had somehow survived and were now latched to his shirt. "Pikachu learned a new move—want to see?"
"Sure," Misty said, trying to think of what was next on Pikachu's move list. Electro Ball, maybe?
"Okay, ready Pikachu?" Ash asked, hopping up; Pikachu swallowed his bite of apple and dashed to attention as Lenny directed his attention to the abandoned apple. "Use Iron Tail on that rock over there!"
Iron Tail?
Pikachu dashed forward, tail glowing a bright white, and jumped into the air, performing a flip so his tail struck the boulder.
The boulder split in two from the impact.
"Wow," Misty noised, as Pikachu struck a victory pose. "That's not a very common move—how did you teach it to Pikachu?"
"I have a friend who told me about it," Ash said off-handedly.
That friend again. "Can you tell me about your friend?"
She figured Professor Oak or one of his aides, to know enough about Pokémon to know about rare or unusual moves. She wasn't banking on Ash looking like he had been struck by one of Pikachu's Thunderbolts.
"Uh…big, dark, and grumpy," Ash said finally. "He's not very sociable."
Misty frowned a bit at that description, but her next comment was cut off by rustling nearby.
They looked to see a male Nidoran edging out of a nearby bush and sniffing at an unopened bag of chips.
"Hey, awesome!" Ash said, pointing his Pokedex at the purple Pokémon.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu exclaimed.
"What?"
In response, Pikachu pantomimed kicking.
"Ash, check Nidoran's move list," Misty suggested quietly, not wanting to startle the first honest to goodness wild Pokémon they had seen in a while. The dearth had been unnerving, to say the least.
A few clicks, and then Ash looked up.
"Nidoran learn Double Kick—it's a Fighting type move."
"Poison types are weak against Ground," Misty pointed out.
"It's still an improvement. Hi," Ash said to the Nidoran, crouching in front of it. "Do you want me to get that for you?"
He ripped open the bag and handed a chip to the Nidoran. The Nidoran sniffed it gingerly before taking it from him.
"That's a start," Misty posed, easing away a bit. If there was going to be a Pokémon battle, she didn't want to be at the epicenter, especially with the potential for poisonous needles flying around.
Ash didn't seem to hear her. "My name's Ash Ketchum, and I'm a Pokémon trainer," he said to the Nidoran as he fed him more chips. "My friends and I are going to be travelling all over the Region battling gyms and getting stronger—do you want to come? We'll have chips."
The Nidoran's ears twitched and it looked off somewhere. Misty guessed it was getting ready to flee.
Pikachu hopped forward and began talking earnestly, gesturing a lot for good measure. Misty didn't understand Pokémon speak, no matter how much she wished to, but she could tell Pikachu was brooking an argument for Ash's case. Or maybe saying that it was safer with a trainer than out in the wild, as he seemed to be pantomiming something big and scary.
The Nidoran looked thoughtful, ears twitching, then looked at Ash and nodded.
"Great!" Ash declared, fishing a Pokéball out. "Let's get started!"
And with that, Nidoran was captured.
"Congratulations!" Misty declared, settling back on her rock. "You've finally captured a third Pokémon."
"Excellent," Ash said, letting Nidoran back out. "We can finish up the bag of chips before we start training. Do you want a nickname?"
The Nidoran looked ponderous.
"How about Chip?" Ash suggested.
"Ash, don't be silly," Misty chided as Nidoran shook his head.
"It was worth a shot," Ash said, offering Nidoran another chip. "Hey, Misty, look at this."
Misty came around behind him to see what he was looking at: the Nidoran's darker purple spots were sprinkled all over his body, including a large spot around his eye.
"Huh," she said. "It looks like he's wearing an eyepatch."
"Yeah—hey, how about Patches? For the nickname," Ash clarified.
The Nidoran perked up before nodding.
"Great!" Ash said, upending the bag to loosen the last of the crumbs. "Well, then, Patches, how about we do some training? You need to be able to use Double Kick before we challenge the gym."
As they started, Misty couldn't help but look to where Patches had looked to earlier. If she squinted just right, one of the shadows of the boulders formed an odd shape. An odd, frightening shape.
Don't be silly, Misty, she chided herself, shaking her head.
But still, the hair on the back of her neck prickled.