Chapter 12, everybody! In which Ash captures another Pokémon….
Chermayne, thanks for the review! I hope I continue to provide interesting chapters! :D
Pokeevee57, thanks for the review! Yes he was—Darkrai requests that that observation never leave this review. Yes….
XT3100, thanks for the review! I'm guessing that's supposed to be Darkrai….To be fair, he does have history that hasn't been brought up yet—although he and Ash do seem to have good chemistry. Hopefully it will be interesting….
Vismur, thanks for the review! Good question…and interesting observations—we shall see. ;) But if he did that, then Ash would be expecting a hug or something like that, and Darkrai hugs are only for special occasions. And yes, Ash does seem to be a magnet for trouble. Perhaps they will….I'm looking forward to Lugia's reaction too, although for now I'm focusing on getting them through Kanto in one piece. Perhaps….
Thor94, thanks for the review! Yes, well…no we haven't…maybe some sort of mouthy black blot being a bad influence….Good question. And also a good question—one does have to wonder at the reasoning of the Pokémon world as a whole, seeing as how no one seems to question sending a ten-year-old off by themselves with no apparent training whatsoever (except for Bianca's dad in Black/White, but he gets his chops busted for it, so…).
Yana5, thanks for the review! I hope to continue to please! :D
Yourfriendlyneighborhoodturtle, thanks for the reviews! I'm glad the story impressed you enough that you had to comment—and that you enjoy the Magikarp teammate. :D I'm glad you like my writing too—I hope to continue to please! :D Also glad you liked the cliffhanger—we'll see more about Darkrai's past at some point, I'm certain. We'll see….
Hunter Redflame, thanks for the review! Yes…those three are remarkably resilient. No, not at all. This is true. This is also true…oh wow, you have a point. :O This should be interesting….
Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo
And now, for something completely different:
In other news, the popularity of Gourgeist among young female trainers has taken an upswing. Those interviewed cite the fact that their newly-captured Gourgeist know classic Justin Bieber songs as a motivating reason.
They waved goodbye to Seymour and the Clefairy and headed down the path as the sun peeked over Mount Moon. The path was as treacherous as Seymour had described, with plenty of half-submerged Geodude—Patches, with the assistance of Misty's Goldeen, made short work of them.
"Ah, finally, sun!" Misty said, as the sun finally made it over the mountain. "I thought we'd never see light again! Those caves are creepy!"
"Pitch black does have that effect," Brock declared.
"How much longer until Cerulean City?" Ash asked, jumping onto a boulder to look ahead—after checking the boulder first; he had made the mistake of leaping before he looked once before and ended up waking an irate Graveler.
"About a day and a half, if we push it," Misty said, examining the territory. "I don't feel like pushing it though—I really need some sleep."
That didn't leave much time—he really needed to squeeze some training in before—
"Eeek! Ash! On your pack! Get it off!"
Ash leaped straight into the air at Misty's shriek, quickly spinning so he didn't twist an ankle on landing and frantically struggling out of his backpack—
There was a Pokémon clinging to his backpack. It had probably been there since Mount Moon, but none of them had seen it before due to the gloom. Ash didn't even need the Pokédex to identify it—not with those mushrooms on its head.
"A Paras!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
"If you're going to catch it, I suggest getting it off your bag first," Brock said, giving Misty—who was currently hiding behind him—a cursory glance. "And don't touch it—Paras are renowned for their Spores."
Ash quickly found a stick and used it to coax the bug Pokémon off his backpack. It went off without fuss.
"So, Paras," Ash said. "You want to journey with us? It'll be fun."
The Paras simply stared at him.
"Do you want a lift back to Mount Moon?" Ash asked, pointing back the way they had come.
The Paras simply stared at him.
"Do you want something to eat?" Ash asked, guessing now.
The Paras simply stared at him.
"Is it all right?" Ash asked his travelling companions, half-pointing at the Paras.
"No, it's not all right," Misty said, sounding like she had her face pressed against Brock's backpack. "The mushrooms on a Paras' head eat its brain. It's the creepiest of all creepy bugs."
Ash winced at that. "Should we take the mushrooms off?"
"I wouldn't," Brock advised. "I've heard of a few trainers who have tried—it always ends up killing the Paras. They have a symbiotic relationship with their mushrooms—they move the mushrooms around, and in turn the mushrooms provide them with more moves."
"I always heard they were zombie Pokémon," Misty muttered.
"I won't deny that either."
Ash shrugged, making his decision. "Okay, we're going to catch it!" he declared, turning back to the bug—it hadn't moved. "Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!"
Pikachu did so, sending a bolt of electricity flying at Paras.
Paras took it, stayed stock-still for half-a-minute, then keeled over.
"That was…underwhelming," Ash observed.
"You'd better catch it before it recovers," Brock advised.
"Oh, right!" Ash quickly fumbled in his pack. Upon finding his prize, he yanked it out of the bag and flung it at Paras.
The Pokéball sucked Paras in and captured it without a struggle.
"Is that normal?" Ash asked his travelling companions, half-pointing at the Pokéball.
"I've never seen anything like it," Brock said, eyebrows up. "Maybe it just liked you."
"Just my luck," Misty muttered.
They found a grassy plateau to stop and eat breakfast on. Brock set to making said meal, while Ash focused on introducing the newest member of his team to the rest of his Pokémon.
"This is Paras," he declared upon releasing them. "Paras, this is Patches, Lenny, and you've met Pikachu. Sorry about earlier."
Paras simply passively observed them, not even reacting when Patches went up to it and sniffed it inquisitively. Unsure how to handle the odd behavior, Ash checked his Pokédex to see more about Paras.
"Okay," he noised, reading. "Male, Bug and Grass type, ability is Effect Spore….Level 9, so you know Scratch and Stun Spore. Hmm…." He pointed at a nearby tree. "Let's see how you do. Use Scratch on that tree."
The effect was immediate and surprising.
The Paras let out a wild shriek and ran straight for the tree, Scratching it frantically and causing no small amount of alarm among the rest on the plateau.
"Woah, woah! Stop!" Ash yelled, wanting to go bodily stop Paras but worrying about getting too close.
Paras immediately stopped.
"What was that?" Misty squawked.
"I…have no idea," Ash admitted. "Paras, come here—easy."
Paras scuttled over to stand in front of Ash.
"Uh, how about we call you Frenzy?" Ash asked. "It seems to fit."
Paras simply stood there, giving neither acceptance nor denial of the name. The Pokédex beeped, however—Ash looked at it to see that it had registered the name. Oops.
"I told you they were zombie Pokémon," Misty scolded, as Brock set out breakfast.
"I don't think he's a zombie-zombie," Ash shot back. "Come on, guys, breakfast."
The Pokémon settled into their bowls of Pokémon food—except for Frenzy. Frenzy was standing right next to Ash. His come here command, he realized.
"So you'll do exactly what I say and nothing else?" Ash asked.
Frenzy stood there.
Ash exchanged glances with Brock, who shrugged—Misty was eating her breakfast on top of a boulder as far away from Frenzy as possible.
"Here, Frenzy," Ash said, pointing at his bowl. "Breakfast."
Frenzy stood there.
"Eat your breakfast," Ash said.
Frenzy scuttled forward and began rapidly devouring the food. Ash watched until Frenzy had eaten every last crumb and began gnawing on the bowl. "That's enough, Frenzy."
Frenzy stopped.
Ash looked at Brock.
"I don't know what to tell you," Brock said, shrugging.
"Maybe he'll get better with training," Ash suggested.
"Maybe. Now eat your breakfast before I feed it to him."