Shadows and Ash Chapter 16: Legends Who Lunch, a pokémon fanfic

Chapter 16, everybody! In which Ash battles Misty for the Cerulean Gym Badge….

To be fair, I expected the fairly polarized reactions to the last chapter—when I first wrote it out, it struck me as funny, as it did for some of you; however, rereading it before posting it, and I could understand why people kept saying it struck them as dark. On the positive side, while funny if taken a certain way, it is still a good example of the effect Darkrai is having on Ash. And as a few people pointed out, it is plausible that Bill survived that, as humans have been shown to be more resilient in the Pokémon world and Bill had been fused with a Pokémon…so until the story demands otherwise, Bill is now playing the part of Schrodinger's Cat—er, Meowth.

Pokeevee57, thanks for the review! Glad you found it funny, and I hope to continue to please! :)

Jakeroo123, thanks for the review! Well, in the show, apparently get stuck in Kabuto costumes, attract giant Dragonite, and have Mewtwo on the door décor long before Mewtwo even existed in the show (which gave me a little idea that I'll be implementing). Good question….And also a good question. We simply don't know, as it was never answered in the game either….

Luktopius, thanks for the review! Oh dear….

Hunter Redflame, thanks for the review! Yes…and yes…and…well….To be fair, Darkrai wasn't expecting anyone to be home, and once the thing with Bill got going, he just decided to roll with it. Yes, that does seem a tad odd…and yes, never use Metronome in the house. Thank you, I hope to continue to please! :D

Harmonious Wolf, thanks for the review! Me neither…and good question—I still don't know….

Thor94, thanks for the review! Yes…and if at some point Ash ever gets a Golisopod, he'll be naming it Brundle (compare Brundlefly to Golisopod—the general body structure is strangely alike). Yes, one can only hope….

Ultima-owner, thanks for the review! Yes….

Johnny Spectre, thanks for the review! This is true.

Pokémon Trainer Chaos, thanks for the review! Maybe….And good question—and interesting observations. Maybe that'll be clarified at a later date. Eh, to be fair, the Eevee that Bill gave Ash was the only one in its ball—the others that Bill owned were in the garden behind the house (not to say they weren't singed, so…and maybe Vaporeon doused the house. Hmmm…).

Thanks for the review, Guest! Yes, I knew it was cliché when I wrote it, but I figure it's a thing in the games; glad to see you liked how it was handled, though. :) And that's a good suggestion—I think I'll stick with that for now, seeing as how I have no idea which one Eevee will evolve into at the moment. Eh, I'm working on fixing the chapter length, but glad to know it entertains in the meantime. :)

Foreman88, thanks for the review! Thank you, glad you like the mix! I hope to continue to please! :D

Ardtornismyname, thanks for the review! Soon….Something appropriately ironic, hopefully….

Unrealistic, thanks for the review! Yes….Oh, I wasn't aware you could get a Rare Candy at Bill's—probably for the best that Ash didn't get it. Thank you, glad you like it, and I hope to continue to please! :D

Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo

And now, for something completely different:

You have stumbled into an alternate dimension. Of sight, of sound—listen to your voice echo in the empty wasteland. Watch as it reforms around you. Behold, terrible things come to life. There's your signpost, dead ahead—you have now entered The Distortion Zone.

"What do you mean, you're leaving?"

Oi.

To be honest, Darkrai had been expecting this reaction to his announcement. Cue the peppering of questions.

"Look," he said, deciding to head this off preemptively. "I've been planning this for a while—a Pokémon is entitled to a vacation too, don't you know. And besides, you've got other people to bother now."

Ah, apparently that was the wrong thing to say—the kid looked worse now.

"It's because of me, isn't it," the kid muttered.

"Don't flatter yourself—it's…no, I can't tell you—it's too important to share with a blabbermouth like you."

Bingo—back to annoyingly perky. "What? What is it? You can tell me! I won't tell anyone!"

"I won't either," the yellow rat said, into it now. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you," Darkrai maintained. "It's a secret."

"This isn't going to be like when I asked you to explain girls to me, is it?"

"I knew then you weren't ready."

"Aw, come on—no one reacts positively to being told that snoogy-woogy-wips is one of those love things."

"Wait until you get older and hormones kick in."

The kid frowned at that. "So…you're leaving because you have a girlfriend?"

"Actually, it's a super-secret meeting of Legendaries."

"Really?"

"Oh yes—we had to suspend them for a few years because Groundon and Kyogre got ahold of some bad berry juice and caused El Nino out of season. You should have seen the snow."

A complete lie, but the kid bought it hook line and sinker. And he was most certainly not going to tell him the real reason he was going.

"At least stay to watch my battle with Misty."

He actually had to leave now, to time it right.

"Fine, fine," he sighed, when the kid started with the puppy-Growlithe eyes. "But only if you get it done today—if you waffle and delay it any longer, I'm gone."

"You got it."

Ash ran for the Nugget Bridge as fast as he could, motivated—just show Darkrai how good he was, and maybe he wouldn't leave.

Why would he leave?

Forget it—right now, he had to run for the Pokémon Center and then find Misty—

"Woah, where's the fire?"

"Oh hi Brock bye Brock—"

Brock caught him by his shirt collar and picked him up, causing him to pinwheel a bit before accepting his lack of forward momentum.

Brock right then reminded Ash of Darkrai, uncannily enough, except for the fact that Brock wasn't nearly as caustic.

"So where are you off to in such a hurry?" Brock asked. "I was coming out here to find you—I've got some new recipes I want to try out."

"But I have to get to the Pokémon Center and find Misty—"

"Did Nurse Joy give your Pokémon a clean bill of health?"

"Yes—"

"Did they get injured?"

"Not really; just tired."

"Then lunch will fix them right up," Brock said, putting Ash back on the ground. "And it'll fix you up too. Besides, if you go running around looking for Misty, and she's running around looking for you, you'll keep missing each other."

Ash had to admit the wisdom of that. "So what's for lunch?" he asked, following Brock over to a clearing by a large cliff.

"I was thinking tacos—I've got some Tamato berries I want to try—"

Ash decided that with the possible exception of his mom, Brock was the best cook he had ever encountered.

His Pokémon were of the same opinion, although Frenzy was still peculiar. Brock had made up some special Poké-chow with Oran, Sitrus, Leppa, and Lum berries, and was now trying various other berries to find their favorites. Brock was right—lunch was doing wonders.

Pikachu had stolen the ketchup bottle a while back, and Ash was filling Brock in on his team's progress as he tried to chase Pikachu down. He omitted Darkrai and the experience at Bill's house, instead saying that a trainer had given him an Eevee and some S.S. Anne tickets.

"I've heard of the S.S. Anne," Brock said, stirring a pot. "It travels around the world visiting regions—except Orre. A cruise ship hasn't gone near Orre since the S.S. Libra vanished near there."

"How does a cruise ship just vanish?" Ash asked.

"No clue."

"This cruise ship won't vanish, will it?"

"It'll leave Kanto and go on to Johto, so sort of."

"I meant in the mysterious, Distortion Zone sort of way."

"What's a kid like you doing hearing about a show like that?"

Darkrai liked it—but then again, it gave Ash nightmares, so that may have been why he liked it.

"Ash Ketchum!"

Ash and Brock looked over to see Misty, standing and pointing dramatically, panting.

"I have looked all over Cerulean to find you," she declared between gasps. "I went to a lot of trouble for this, so you'd better give me a gym challenge to remember!"

Ash and Misty stood at opposite ends of one of the lakes, Brock equidistant from them both, acting as referee.

"This will be a two-on-two gym battle!" Brock announced. "The challenger is allowed to make substitutions. The challenge will end when either the challenger or the leader runs out of usable Pokémon. Are you ready?"

"Ready!" Misty called.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Ash said, twisting his hat around. He was shaking—he hadn't been this nervous fighting Brock!

But Brock hadn't entered the match knowing what he was up against.

Pikachu and Frenzy were both out—he hadn't wanted to use an unfair advantage, not against someone he considered a friend, but that only left Patches, Lenny, and the new Eevee.

But he knew what to do.

"Go Staryu!" Misty called, throwing a ball out and releasing a brown starfish with a red gem set in the center.

"Go, Lenny!" Ash yelled, throwing out Lenny's ball.

"Karp!" Lenny declared, hitting the water.

"You're opening with Lenny?" Misty asked.

"We've been practicing," Ash declared.

Misty shrugged. "All right, you asked for it—get him, Staryu!"

Darkrai watched from the cliff, reclining and enjoying the show—so the idiot did decide to go the chivalrous route. This would be fun to tease him about later. Especially after the denial back in Viridian—oh, you just went easy on her because you like her. Ah, the jabs to be done….

At least he wouldn't be delayed for too long. A Magikarp? Seriously?

Especially when that Staryu apparently knew Thunder. Direct hit—ouch.

And then the fish used Flail.

He scored a direct hit, dove under the water, and finished off the Staryu with Tackle.

Darkrai couldn't help but blink. That was…unexpected.

Apparently, the girl thought so too. She recovered quickly though, throwing out her second Pokémon as the rock guy called it. The Goldeen knocked the fish out quickly, forcing Ash to send out his second Pokémon.

"Ugh, you moron," Darkrai groaned, flopping backwards.

"I don't believe you!" Misty called. "You had Pikachu sitting right there, and you pick Patches?"

"Are you complaining?" Ash asked.

"I feel as though you aren't taking this seriously."

"I'm taking this very seriously. Don't I look serious?" Ash asked Brock.

Brock looked to Pikachu. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Pika," Pikachu said, looking from Brock to Ash but pointing at Brock.

"I agree," Brock said. Then, to Ash: "My serious face is better."

Misty shook her head. "Fine, you asked for it," she declared. "Goldeen, Dive!"

"Okay, like we discussed," Ash muttered. "Keep moving."

Patches paced back and forth by the water's edge. It was an effort to give the Goldeen a moving target.

Ash knew that Darkrai, Misty and Brock all thought he was being an idiot, but to be honest, he couldn't take advantage of Pikachu or Frenzy in this match. He couldn't do that to a friend.

"Goldeen, now!"

"Brace yourself!"

Goldeen shot out of the water, Patches dug into the ground—

"Horn attack!" Ash yelled.

Patches locked horns with Goldeen, used its momentum to flip it over his back, and then Double Kicked it on its way to the ground. Goldeen hit the ground, started flopping frantically to get back to the water—stopped when it saw Patches plant himself between it and the water.

Ash glanced at Misty, who was obviously weighing her options. Any water attacks would dry Goldeen out, and it couldn't survive in a dry environment for very long. Any physical attacks without water to rinse out the wounds would run the risk of Patches' Poison Point.

"Use Swift, Goldeen!" Misty yelled. "Get back to the water while it's distracted!"

Ash didn't order Patches to dodge—Swift never missed. "Take it and use Poison Sting!"

Patches did so, tucking his head between his forelegs to protect his face before bristling his spikes and shooting poisonous darts at the retreating Goldeen.

Goldeen's flopping immediately weakened—it was poisoned, and it wouldn't make it back to the water before it fainted.

Misty knew this as well, considering she already had her Pokéball out. "Goldeen, return."

Goldeen vanished in a flare of red light. Brock, meanwhile, made a surprised noise before raising an arm.

"Goldeen is unable to battle," he declared. "And the winner of the match is: Ash Ketchum!"

"Awesome job, Patches!" Ash exclaimed, coming over to kneel next to the Nidoran. Patches ears twitched—maybe he was hoping for more chips.

Movement in his peripheral vision made him look up, then stand when he realized Misty was standing there with something in her hand.

"Well, I guess you actually earned this," Misty sighed, handing Ash a Cascade badge. "I think you're the only one with one who did."

"Awesome," Ash said, accepting the badge. "Hold on a sec."

He leapt up into the air, badge held high. "I won a Cascade Badge!" he hollered as loudly as he could.

"You want to say that louder?" Misty asked. "I don't think they heard you in Johto. Rub it in, why don't you?"

Oops—he had done it so Darkrai could see. Yeah, that had come off as really bratty. "Sorry," Ash muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "I was excited—I seriously didn't think I'd win."

Misty blinked. "Well, yeah—you should have went with Pikachu."

"I figured you were expecting him, so…."

"Whatever," Misty said, waving him off and walking away.

Brock followed, tapping Ash's arm. "I think she likes you."

Yup—Brock very much reminded him of Darkrai. Speaking of….

Ash looked back to the cliffs in time to see a dark blot shoot off into the sky, stark against the sunset.

Ash smiled, feeling bittersweet. It was a start, at least.

And he'd come back.

He hoped.