Chapter 76, everybody! In which we address game mechanics again and somebody finally gets out of the egg….
In other news, while working on this fic this month I spent some time sorting events out in a smoother path, and while I need to finish next chapter and a chapter after that, we should have enough chapters to take us through to August? IDK I have high hopes for having regular updates through the summer and maybe finishing writing up the fic this year because in looking at it I think I have most of the high points between now and Victory Road at least started so…here's hoping.
Back to the fic—yes, Rhydon learns Surf, and has been able to since Gen I. So can Snorlax (fat does float because it's less dense than water), and Tauros has been able to Surf since Gen II. Yeah basically look through the Surf page on Bulbapedia there's a lot of Pokémon that can learn Surf that makes you question the how of it. Pikachu, meanwhile, can questionably learn Surf—until Gen VIII it was by event only or via side games. Also Brock dealing with the instruction booklet is a mood.
"Does the League know about this bug" is a reference to the Stephanie Plum series of books by Janet Evanovich—the actual line in one of the books is referring to Stephanie's Buick and reads "Does the army know about this car?"
Moving on to reviews: Horseman trash, LongNightDragon, Dragonkeeper10, griffin blackwood, Silverwing23, GuardianOfTheUniverse, thor94, talesfanjmf, Terracotta Tortilla, Viruz pirate, Reader, Shadowlight27, and jackster1995 js, thanks for the reviews! Hope I can continue to please! :D
Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo
And now, for something completely different:
In other news, music icon Granbull has released his hit new single, "Timburr." Visit your local music store today for your own copy of this catchy song. Clean version available upon request.
Surf immediately went to Lenny, since that was the obvious choice.
"I'm going to say that when it comes to travelling via Surf, it's better to go with a bigger 'mon that would be a comfortable ride, and we already know that Lenny can carry all of us," Brock agreed, helping Ash to put the HM in the TM reader.
"And this'll work like a TM will," Ash said, watching as he slotted the CD in.
"It's the same basic principle. And while we've got it running, we can see about maybe teaching another 'mon the move, in case Lenny needs a backup."
"Well all my Pokémon but Oddish can learn it, which makes sense," Misty said, sitting on the nearby park bench and poking through Ash's Pokédex as they fiddled with the TM reader. "So can Nidoking, that's interesting. And Snorlax—I guess all that fat helps it float. And…."
"And?" Brock asked, both of them looking over at her when she trailed off.
Her expression was totally dumbfounded when she looked up at them.
"Rhydon learns Surf," she said, tone suggesting she was unable to process this and was in the process of shutting down. "How can Rhydon learn Surf it has a quadruple weakness to water."
"I told you that thing was stupid," Ash said.
"Yes, well—moving on," Brock said, booting up the HM. "Okay, so what you do is hold…right hold on," he muttered, checking the instruction booklet again. "Ah, right—you hold the speaker here to your Pokémon's ear and then press play, or you can put the Pokéball here and press play after…flipping this switch to alternate between the two modes," he muttered, handing the reader off to Ash as he flipped through the booklet again. "Okay. So either way, you use that switch to alternate between the two modes. Got it."
"Maybe," Ash said. "So…it's like an audiobook?"
"Kind of—ah here this helps to explain it—so technically if a Pokémon can learn a TM move it already has like, the potential knowledge there, and a TM sort of downloads it in. According to this it'll transmit the information in roughly five seconds to the Pokémon in question and they'll be able to unpack it from there."
"Seems kind of imprecise," Misty said.
"This wasn't part of what was covered in the meetings," Brock admitted, flipping through the booklet. "Let's see…this light will flash green once the move is transmitted…if transmission takes longer than five seconds please make sure device is properly calibrated, if issues continue to persist please contact us at…warning: TMs are not for human use, Silph Co. is not responsible for any damage to hearing, brain functions, or internal tissues caused by misuse of the device."
"So there went that question," Ash said.
"So that means that I get to keep track of the reader, apparently."
"What happens if a Pokémon can't use a move?" Misty asked. "It doesn't do all that to them, does it?"
"No," Brock said. "TMs usually come with a list from the national 'dex of which Pokémon can learn it—according to this if a TM is loaded that isn't compatible with the Pokémon you're trying to teach a move to, this red button will light up and it'll make a beeping noise."
"Next question is how does it know."
"Reads Pokémon data…Pokémon biometrics," Brock muttered, scanning through the booklet again. "Look, Silph Co. makes the Pokéballs too, so it must run on the same technology that those do."
"You don't know, do you."
"Misty I am not a scientist and this wasn't covered in the meetings. Ask me about a rock and I can tell you about a rock. This—" And here he took the reader back to gesture with it. "Is not a rock."
"And bonking them on the head with it like we would a rock wouldn't help," Ash guessed.
"No it would not. Now do you want to try this or not?"
Despite being told by both Misty and Brock that a Gyarados within town limits wasn't a good idea, Ash preferred to let Lenny out to ask him about the move first. He needn't have bothered—Lenny seemed amicable enough to the idea and was more than happy for them to test it out on him.
"So," Ash said, once the device beeped. "How do we know if it worked?"
"We wait until we're out of town and near a body of water for Lenny to test it," Brock said, watching as Lenny shook his head, like a microbug was bothering him. "Misty, want to use this while I've still got Surf in?"
Squirtle and Omastar were both taught the move. Ash wanted to move on to Ice Fang, but Brock suggested that they let Surf settle in before adding another one.
"Besides, we still have to go on to the next town," he added, packing everything back away and putting the HM in the TM case they had bought along with the reader. "Any ideas for your next badge? We can ask around."
"We're heading for Cinnabar," Ash insisted. "I'm challenging Blaine."
Okay, to be fair Ash was expecting the dumbfounded looks Brock and Misty were giving him. "Ash you don't need us to actually tell you that's a bad idea, right?" Misty asked. "Because that's a bad idea. Blaine took off, remember?"
"Yeah—Professor Oak said Gary couldn't find him," Ash said. "So if we find him then that's something I can hold over Gary's head!"
"Ah, so we're going the petty route," Misty sighed.
"I won't pretend that it wouldn't be a good place to hunt for Fire and Poison type Pokémon, considering the volcano," Brock said. "But that's a mighty big detour based on a what-if."
"Yeah, but Professor Oak says I'm ahead, so it won't be too much of a detour," Ash pointed out. "And if there's some other gym I can challenge on the way there, I will."
"I guess that's enough of a concession," Brock mused. "So that's going to see us heading back to Fuchsia—from there we can surf southwest to Cinnabar. Might hit the Seafoam Islands first, I'd have to check a map."
"That's where Gary is right now."
"Good for him. And I'm guessing we've spent enough time recovering."
"So we're leaving?"
"Tomorrow. I want to have time to make sure everything's packed right."
"I'm going to miss that bed," Misty sighed.
Brock also felt it was proper form to tell Erika they were leaving, since she was footing their bill. This resulted in eating dinner with her at the hotel's dining room, which wasn't a bad thing, all things considered.
"Good luck," she told them when they announced their goal. "No one's heard from Blaine ever since he went postal. You'd be better off challenging one of the lesser gyms that have been popping up. I think there's a few on your way, actually."
"So long as it's not like the dojo in Saffron," Ash said. "I beat them and they wouldn't give me a badge."
"Ash, you did not beat them," Misty told him. "You let Frenzy loose and devastated them."
"Who?" Erika asked blankly. Ah, right, he hadn't used Frenzy.
After releasing him and showing his preferred method of attack—which resulted in several dining room tables meeting a very messy end—Ash returned Frenzy and looked to see that Erika had paled several shades.
"Not that I really wanted it, but why didn't you use that one during the gym battle?" she asked.
"I kinda figured I was lucky enough to get in," Ash pointed out, causing her to duck her head. "Also, the last time I used Frenzy I didn't get a badge, so…."
"I can understand why—does the League know about this bug?"
"Oh good, I'm not the only one who thinks that," Misty sighed.
They left the next day, following the route Erika had pointed out. Training was had, spirits were high, and Ash was ready to challenge the lesser gyms she had outlined on this route.
High spirits ended once the issues with said lesser gyms started popping up.
Several had closed down for various reasons, several refused to battle him because he had too many badges, and one memorable one had refused because he had run out of badges to give because he hadn't expected demand to be that high.
To say that Ash was more than a little frustrated at all this was underselling it a tad.
"It's not fair!" Ash wailed. "All these gyms and not one of them will battle me!"
"I'm surprised so many of them closed down," Misty said, examining the egg that Brock had tugged out of his pack to check. "You'd think, I don't know, that the League would offer support."
"It's natural selection," Brock explained. "Not everyone is cut out for gym life, these ones shut down because they can't handle it. As for the rest…well the League gives out surveys at the end of the championships, asking about gym badges and the experiences trainers had getting them, and that affects fund distribution and whether or not the gym gets a League shutdown instead of a natural death."
"So Cerulean's in trouble, basically."
"Maybe not—the League will be more inclined to grant an established gym more leniency. Eventually, if things don't change there, they might be looking at a League shutdown, but not this year."
"Well that's good to know," she said drily, tapping on the eggshell.
Blinked when the tapping continued after she stopped. "Brock—"
"I heard it," Brock said, scrambling for towels and prepping some generic Poké-formula—Lewis saw, started bouncing around him and yipping. "Ash, help me out here."
"Sorry," Ash said, scooping Lewis up. "That egg's hatching already?" he asked, looking at the egg as he adjusted his hold on the Riolu. "Lewis took ages!"
"Some Pokémon species hatch faster—granted it's mostly prey Pokémon that reproduce quickly," Brock mused.
"How come?"
"Well someone has to take the fall and be someone else's snack," Darkrai offered, floating out of a nearby shadow.
"Right. Whatever this is, you're not allowed near it," Misty ordered, pointing at Darkrai.
"And this hurts my feelings why?"
Whatever potential argument that would have started between them stopped as the egg bounced a couple of times, tiny limbs poking out—
And then the top crumbled, a little crown unfolding.
"Toge-priii!"
"Aw, it's so cute!" Misty cheered.
"'Cute' is a relative term," Darkrai said flatly. "Keep that thing away from me."
"What is it?" Ash asked, checking his Pokédex—wasn't surprised when it wasn't being helpful. "Why do I even bother."
"Because it's a good habit," Brock told him. "Moving on…should it be getting out of the rest of the shell now?"
"Moving on…no, it's supposed to look like that," Darkrai said, pointing at the Pokémon Misty was holding. "That is a Togepi. Togepi are Fairy types. Understand that those are on my short list."
"Oh right Dark is weak against Fairy," Ash said.
"Neither one of those types are native to Kanto and yet you got the type matchups right," Misty observed, blinking blankly at him before returning her attention to Togepi. "And don't worry, we'll keep you far away from that mean ol' Darkrai."
"Don't do baby-talk near me, it's just sickening," Darkrai said flatly. "And you hush," he added, glaring at the Togepi that hadn't stopped chirping. "No I am not your mother stop that."
"You can definitely do better," Misty assured it.
Apparently Togepi thought so too.