CHAPTER 3 – ALARMS SEEING RED
Ash awoke slowly from within the snug confines of his bed, yawning as he luxuriously stretched his arms, his knuckles brushing lightly against the plaster wall above his headrest. Shifting the covers off himself and swinging his legs off the side of the mattress, he saw his oldest friend curled up at the foot of his bed. Pikachu's small yellow body was rising and falling softly as the Electric-type breathed in and out, its lightning-bolt-shaped tail twitching absently as it snored peacefully. Smiling softly at Pikachu's sleeping form, he gently patted a hand on its head, making sure not to wake it up by accidentally putting too much pressure on its pointed ears.
Springing up off his bed and onto the thick carpet, he stretched again, thankful that his mother had drawn the blinds shut. The last few days, he'd woken up from a long sleep after an exhaustive training session the previous night, only to be hit with a face full of harsh sunlight, which had resulted in a few mumbled curses from the Pallet Town trainer on each occasion. Shade was his friend in the early mornings, even when it wasn't hot.
Discarding his wonderings about the previous week, Ash quickly changed into his usual outfit, keeping the blinds down even to shield his room from the morning sun. Pikachu stirred as it felt Ash's shirt flop down on the bed next to it, groggily shaking its head and blinking rapidly as its eyes quickly adjusted to the darkened room. Lifting its small shoulders, Pikachu let out a long yawn, before succumbing to the softness of the quilt it was resting on, its head slumping back onto the covers.
"Pii…" Pikachu mumbled, its ears drooping as Ash stripped off his pyjamas pants and hung them untidily over the chair next to his desk.
"Morning, buddy," Ash said happily as Pikachu scratched its long ears, stumbling to all fours. Ash chuckled and pulled on his jeans, not at all surprised by Pikachu's display. He and his Pokémon had been training like crazy for the last two weeks – just as Gary had suggested – and they'd gone to bed every night thoroughly exhausted. Although Ash considered his training methods to be above par, Gary was orders of magnitude more intense than Ash was in his training.
Pikachu still looked to be a bit worse for wear, Ash noted, particularly after its session the previous afternoon with Gary's Electivire. Although Pikachu had been able to work on its speed techniques and Iron Tail, it still hadn't been able to best, or even come close to besting Electivire in a fair fight.
"Today's the big day, Pikachu," Ash announced, pulling on his fingerless gloves and scooping a still-tired Pikachu up from his bed and propping him on his shoulder. Pikachu tottered to one side before leaning against Ash's head. "Come on! Show some excitement!" Ash said, his voice bubbly. Pikachu made a non-committal noise as Ash walked over and threw the blinds open.
Sunlight streamed into the once-dark room, flooding the interior with brilliance as Ash gazed outside at the clear blue sky overhead. A few sparse cirrus clouds were drifting in from over the top of Mt. Silver to the west, looking like a collection of cotton candy pieces. He shielded his eyes from the glare as he lowered his line of sight, spotting Viridian Forest way off in the distance, a flock of bird Pokémon flying to it from the edges of Pallet Town.
"Wow…" Ash whispered, still staring out the closed window as he conversed with the sleepy Pokémon on his shoulder. "Isn't it a beau—?"
"Ash, get your lazy butt down here already!"
Ash jerked forwards at the noise, smacking his nose against the window before recoiling in pain, clutching a hand to his face. Wincing at the throbbing sensation in his nose—Pikachu grimly holding onto Ash's hat for support—he chanced a peek out the glass pane, quickly dropping his eyes to the ground. His dark eyebrows shot up in honest surprise as he saw that Gary was standing on the front lawn, hands on his hips, face furrowed in a scowl as he glared up at Ash. Ash's face went blank momentarily before he waved sheepishly at Gary with his free hand. Even though Ash couldn't quite make it out from his vantage point—the hand holding his nose not exactly helping matters—Gary's scowl intensified at the gesture.
Hastily undoing the latch on his window, Ash finally took his hand away from his face, tugging on the frame and throwing the window open. "Morning, Gary!"
"Morning?" Gary roared indignantly, making Ash jump again. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" he shouted up to Ash, glaring at him.
Ash's face reassumed its blank look for several seconds, waiting for something to click. Uh… Ash remained still and silent for a good couple of moments before speaking up. "…Breakfast time?" he said sheepishly, shrugging. Gary's mouth fell open.
"Breakfast?" he screamed. The brown-haired trainer held Ash with a serious stare for a few seconds, but after receiving no response Gary groaned, closed his eyes and slapped a palm to his forehead in agitation.
"So I'm assuming it's not breakfast time?" Ash asked innocently.
"Just…get down here!" Gary called up to Ash in a somewhat defeated voice.
"Come on Gary, I've barely been up ten minutes!" Ash whined. "Can't we do some more training after I've at least eaten something?" he offered, thinking with his stomach as per usual, but not helping the matter at hand. Something Gary took note of.
"You can get something to eat on the boat," Gary snapped, crossing his arms and glaring at Ash again.
"Boat?" Ash repeated blankly. Pikachu sighed quietly from its post on Ash's shoulder before jumping onto the chair behind him, digging around in his backpack. "What boat?" he asked curiously as Pikachu tugged something out of the bag and bounded out the door and into the hallway.
"The boat," Gary said seriously. "You know, the one that we're supposed to be taking to the Battleground?" he added condescendingly, gesturing with his hands.
"Oh, right!" Ash yelped. "But," he continued, sensing a flaw in Gary's reasoning, "The boat's not leaving for another two days, right?"
"The boat's leaving in half an hour!" Gary bellowed, tiring of Ash's thick-headedness.
"WHAT?" Ash yelled in shock. "How can it be leaving in half an hour?"
"Because you slept in, you idiot!" Gary retorted. "We were supposed to leave for Vermillion City last night, but you fell asleep after our last training session!" he explained loudly.
Ash groaned loudly, bowing his head and slumping against his bedroom wall, the sunlight teasingly playing on his face. "You sure you got the date right?" he asked earnestly, ignoring the sound of a door clicking open from downstairs. Gary raised an eyebrow at Ash in response, his hands on his hips as if to say 'are you questioning me?' "Alright, alright…"
"Anyways, just get down here, and hurry up!" Gary called impatiently. He'd already been delayed by Ash enough for one day. Enough for a whole year, really.
"Why? The boat's in Vermillion City and we're still here in Pallet Town!"
Gary rolled his eyes from his post on the lawn and gave Ash an odd look. "I know that," he stated flatly. "But I figured out a way around it; why do you think we trained for the whole seventeen days instead of taking the last few off to travel to Vermillion?" he asked rhetorically, Ash's face going almost completely blank for a second.
"…But how're we gonna get from here to Vermillion in less than thirty minutes?" he asked curiously, the smirk on Gary's face telling him that he'd clearly overlooked something. In the short pause that followed, in which Gary chuckled in amusement to himself, Pikachu meandered out onto the lawn, a piece of paper between its teeth. The Mouse Pokémon plonked itself down on the ground in front of Gary, waving up at Ash with its paws, who stared back confusedly.
"Come on Ash, you don't think I've got a plan?" Gary sneered, pulling a Pokéball from his belt and opening it in a quick burst of light, Pikachu jumping slightly at the flash.
A tall, roughly human-shaped creature emerged from the light, standing on two spindly, golden legs which ended in two-toed feet. It appeared to wearing a brown suit of battle-armour over its chest, its thin arms snaking out from under its high shoulders. Covering its forearms were two brown bracers, ending at the Pokémon's wrists and leading way to its three-fingered hands, both of which were clutching a small metallic object. Its vast, V-shaped head looked to be far too big for its thin frame to hold up, but somehow it was maintaining its balance, the Pokémon's flowing, golden moustache twitching as it spotted Ash on the upper floor of his house.
Ash mentally kicked himself as he saw the Pokémon, having encountered several during his time as a Pokémon trainer. "Ugh…forgot he had one of those…" he grumbled, slapping a palm to his forehead.
"Alakazam can Teleport us over there no problems," Gary smirked, allowing himself some comic relief before his tone hardened again. "But we're still gonna need some time to find the right dock, remember?" he told Ash, pulling his boat ticket out and waving it in front of him.
"Pii pikachu!" Pikachu chirped, holding the piece of paper it took from Ash's backpack in its arms. Ash stared down at his long-time companion, eyes widening as he identified the piece of paper as his own boat ticket.
How'd it get that out of…? he mused, spinning around and shooting a suspicious glance at his backpack, which was slung innocently over his chair. He slowly turned back to the window, keeping his eyes trained on the backpack as though expecting it to burst into laughter at him, before he shoved his head outside the gap between window and sill.
"I'll be down in a minute, okay?" he informed Gary, who sighed with relief in having finally gotten through to Ash. With that, he ducked back inside, jammed the window shut and packed his backpack at top speed; Pokéballs, Pokédex, clothes, spare items, you name it. Once he was satisfied with his work, he slid his arms through the loops in his pack, threw his bedroom door open and bolted down the hall, taking the stairs three at a time as he raced outside, saying a quick "bye!" to Delia before hurtling out the front door.
Vermilion City was surprisingly quiet for this time of day, certainly not the bustling town that it was known for. The main streets were almost deserted, very odd for a sunny Saturday afternoon, the glaring sun beating down on the tall buildings at the city centre and throwing haphazard shadows across the grey sidewalks. A salty sea breeze whistled through the quiet city, the evergreen trees lining the streets gently swaying to and fro in the wake of the soft air currents. The odd leaf drifted lazily to the ground from the breeze's buffeting, reflected in the translucent windows of some of the city's larger buildings.
On the outskirts of Vermilion's CBD, a pack of wild Meowth darted amongst the side streets, their keen eyes peering about for any signs of fresh food before scampering off again on their search. Mistaking the swirling wind for the sound of approaching humans, they stuck to the shadows, inching closer to each other for fear of being separated. The group followed their normal route away from the unusually lifeless city centre, foraging through overturned trash cans and the like as they trudged through the alleyways.
Near the city's entrance, one of the Meowth detected an almost inaudible noise echoing across from beyond the city's welcoming arch. Its golden eyes swivelling around to the rest of its pack, it gave a low growl at two of the frontrunners, nodding its head in the direction of the entrance, even though the shed to their immediate left was barring their line of sight. After receiving understanding growls from each other, the three Normal-types slowly made their way to the end of the darkened alleyway, weaving between the rubbish strewn over the ground before coming to a stop just shy of the corner.
"Hey, I told you already, I'm just not used to it, that's all…" echoed an irritated voice from just around the corner, the Meowth tensing slightly as they recognised the voice as belonging to a human. The pack's leader growled warningly, and silence once again fell over the alley as the Cat Pokémon tuned their ears to the outside street.
"Beats flying," said another voice, nasally, and slightly higher-pitched than the first.
"Flying doesn't result in you falling flat on your face when you land," grumbled the first voice.
"Piikaaa…"
One of the Meowth nearest to the corner turned to its fellows upon hearing the Pikachu, giving them a confused glance before boldly sticking its head around the corner. About a third of the way down the street, the Cat Pokémon could make out two shapes—three, counting the Pikachu atop one of the other's shoulder. The other two shapes, in the Meowth's opinion, looked to be human males, judging by their body shapes. One had a mess of spiky brown hair atop its head, the other, black hair hidden beneath a black-and-red baseball cap.
Upon noticing that the two humans were busy talking between themselves, the Meowth relaxed slightly, deciding that they posed no threat to it or its pack. It communicated its thoughts to the rest of its pack via a series of quiet purrs, indistinguishable to most people. Once the message had been relayed, the remainder of the pack went back to foraging whilst the Meowth nearest the abandoned street resumed its lookout duties.
Poking its head back around the corner of the shed, it restrained a yelp as it noticed a fourth figure behind the two males and the Pikachu. It was half a head taller than the humans, rather lanky, and had a golden body with brown pads on its joints. The Pokémon's thin frame shifted ever so slightly as it walked, locking its eyes onto the Meowth and regarding it with an intense glare as it drew closer. Identifying the Pokémon as an Alakazam, the Meowth squealed in fright and ducked back into the alleyway, drawing a berated hiss from its fellows.
"Did you hear that?" Gary asked curiously, hearing a minute noise down the street and looking over at his Psi Pokémon. The Alakazam simply stared back and twitched its long moustache in response, and Gary seemed to get the message, because he gave a casual shrug as he led the motley group down the deserted street.
"Why couldn't we have flown over?" Ash groaned, holding a hand to his stomach as he stalked a couple of steps behind Gary. He wasn't used to Teleporting, by any stretch of the word, and he was still feeling slightly queasy after being Teleported almost five hundred miles in half a second. "And don't say—!"
"Because you slept in," Gary answered smartly. Ash's head slumped forwards, ignoring the soft sound of retreating Pokémon as they made their way further into the slumbering city.
"And remind me why we had couldn't have Teleported straight to the docks?" he said.
"Because the docks are gonna be as crowded as a Combee nest by now," Gary said firmly, shooting Ash's question down. "If Alakazam had have Teleported straight there, we would've either freaked out a couple of hundred people, or we could've ended up Teleporting into someone."
"Yeah, neither of those sound good," Ash conceded, still not liking the fact that they'd had to Teleport to the city's outskirts. "Can't we just stop for a minute?" he pleaded, Pikachu voicing its support from its perch on his shoulder as they passed by the imposing building that was the Vermilion City Gym. The twin lightning peaks adorning the apex of the Gym's doors provided a quick moment of relaxing shade as they walked past, Pikachu enjoying the second's respite.
"No," Gary said simply, not bothering to break stride.
"Why not?" Ash whined.
"We're late enough as it is," Gary explained grumpily, plucking a Pokéball off his belt and recalling his Alakazam in a red flash of light. "The quicker we get to the docks, the quicker you can sit down and rest."
"We'd be there a lot quicker if your Alakazam would've Teleported us a bit closer," Ash pointed out meekly, making sure to keep his voice quiet enough so that Gary couldn't hear. Pikachu suppressed a quiet giggle at the comment, Ash smiling weakly at his Pokémon's efforts. "How much longer until we're at the docks, then?" he asked Gary, who considered the question for a while.
"Ten minutes, maybe?" he offered with a shrug. "Just remember that they're on the other side of the town," he added. "And yes, I was aware of that when we Teleported here," he said loudly, Ash hastily closing his mouth and choosing not to try and retort him.
"Well well well, look who's back in Vermilion City," boomed a loud voice behind him. Ash and Gary instinctively spun on the spot—Pikachu clinging onto Ash's hoodie for dear life—only to find themselves staring at the chest of an extremely tall man wearing a dark brown shirt, which was currently open and showing off his very well-built torso. Eyes snapping upwards to the man's face, they saw a pair of dark eyes peering down at them from behind a rather large nose. His blond hair was spiked upwards into a shape resembling a Zigzagoon's tail, the spikes accentuating his height as he towered above the two younger trainers.
The man's face split into a wide grin as Ash recognised him and took a step backwards. Even though he certainly provided a lot of shade, particularly at this time of day, it wasn't too hard to injure one's neck trying to keep eye contact whilst standing that close to him.
"Surge!" Ash exclaimed in honest surprise. Pikachu shuffled around on Ash's shoulder, nodding at the Vermilion City Gym Leader. Although it had gotten its revenge on Surge's Raichu in their second gym battle, Pikachu had by no means forgotten the beating it had received in the first match. Something Surge seemed to pick up on immediately.
"Now now, Pikachu," Surge said casually, still grinning as he airily waved a broad hand in the air. "You got us good the second time, so there's no hard feelings, yeah?" he offered arrogantly. The Electric-type narrowed its eyes at Surge but nodded happily all the same.
"Wait," Gary interrupted, holding a hand out. "You beat Surge with your Pikachu when you were just starting out?" he asked earnestly. Although Gary had come to respect Ash's battling capabilities in the recent past, there were still a lot of holes in Gary's knowledge when it came to how Ash went in his first year. Admittedly, Gary hadn't bothered to ask or even listen, having been too caught up in his own adventures, but he was still intrigued.
"He sure did," Surge admitted, and Ash was honestly amazed to hear praise in his voice. "Taught me a lot in that battle, too," the American added. Ash blanched in the sunlight, and Surge roared heartily with laughter. "So, how've you two been doin' lately?" he asked conversationally.
"Uh, not too badly, I guess," Ash said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I made the top four in the Sinnoh League," he added nonchalantly.
"Guess that isn't too bad, then," Surge grinned, giving Ash a thumbs-up. Pikachu smiled happily at Surge, thankful that his attitude was different to the last time they'd met.
"How's Raichu?" Ash asked. Next to him, Gary frowned and impatiently checked his watch again, his frown lifting when he saw that they still had a bit over ten minutes until the boat was scheduled to leave.
"He's doing great!" Surge said proudly, taking a Pokéball from his belt and opening it in a quick flash of white. The light quickly condensed into a small, plump shape that reached up to Ash's waist, its long, black-framed ears curling slightly at the ends as the Pokémon raised itself to its full height. As its lightning-bolt shaped tail curved around behind its orange body, Surge's Raichu smirked at Pikachu, its cheeks crackling with electricity as it spotted its one-time adversary.
"Rai!" Raichu cried, eyes glinting as it tried to stare Pikachu down, Ash's Mouse Pokémon not giving an inch.
"I can see that Raichu's certainly gotten tougher," Ash commented lightly.
"I could say de same about your Pikachu," Surge countered. "I heard that the little guy took out a Regice last year."
"True, but—" Ash said dismissively, "I reckon Raichu could still give Pikachu a run for its money, so long as you've been working on those speed moves, eh?" he added competitively, remembering how he'd triumphed over Surge in their rematch all those years ago.
The Vermilion Gym Leader laughed jovially. "Well, whaddaya say to a quick battle?" he offered, Raichu's paws curling into fists in front of him as though daring Ash to accept the challenge. Ash seriously considered the proposal, and it seemed Pikachu was as well, judging by the electricity sparking from its cheeks, but Gary decided to step in.
"Sorry, but he can't battle right now, Surge," he said sternly. Ash turned to Gary in surprise, but Gary shook his head and pointed to his watch. "We've only got nine minutes until the boat leaves. We stop for a battle and we're gonna miss it."
"Boat?" Surge repeated blankly, scratching at his blond hair. Raichu briefly glanced at its trainer before turning back to Pikachu, its interest piqued.
"Yeah, me and Gary were invited to this new tournament being held over in Hoenn," Ash explained, only just now realising that they'd been standing here talking for almost five minutes. Oddly enough, the fact that the street was empty didn't register to him in the slightest.
Surge remained silent for a few moments, brooding over Ash's comments. "Oh!" he said suddenly, making Pikachu jump comically from its perch on Ash's shoulder. "Are you talking about the Summit Conference?" he asked, his loud voice echoing down the street.
"That's the one," Ash nodded.
"It sounds to me like you two should get goin'. I wouldn't want you to miss your boat, now would I?" Surge smirked, jerking his head down the street.
"'Kay then," Ash said. Pikachu nodded at Raichu, who seemed to understand that it wouldn't be getting a rematch today, because the taller Mouse Pokémon mirrored the movement, still smirking at Pikachu. Surge waved goodbye to the two trainers and turned to head back to the Gym, but stopped halfway.
"Make sure you do Kanto proud at that Conference, kid," he said smartly with another thumbs-up, Raichu mimicking him before the two disappeared under the twin lightning bolts and into the gym.
I will, don't you worry, Ash thought confidently. His competitive spirit flared up inside of him, ready to let loose, but it fell back as Gary snatched at his arm and began dragging him down the street.
"Hurry up!" Gary said, breaking into a sprint as he guided Ash and Pikachu through the fortuitously uncrowded streets and towards the noisy docks.
Until next time, keep reading, and don't forget to review~