Ichigo was refraining from cursing up a storm. Right in the middle of the damn mountain, the idiots who had attacked the Pokémon center had returned, only this time they were trying to steal all the Pokémon they had on them. Ichigo and Nel had made short work, and Pikachu proved to be stronger than he looked, but the end was easy to guess.
They had gotten completely lost and were now chasing down some Clefairy who had swiped their badge cases. Ichigo and Nel had their Pokédex around their neck, but Ash had to get his back since his bag had also been swiped.
Brock and Misty had made it out of the cave before the entrance collapsed, so chances were they were waiting for them in Cerulean City with Misty's sisters. Ichigo wasn't an idiot. He had seen Misty's face in one of the books he had read before leaving Oak's lab.
"I hate this," said Ichigo.
"Are we nearly where the Clefairy and Clefable are yet, Ichigo?" asked Ash.
"We're almost there. I can hear them," said Ichigo.
One way or another, he was catching a damn Clefairy and giving it to Orihime. She was one of the few people he fully trusted to have his back, and the fact she had made the request meant Ichigo would go out of his way to catch one for her. He even had the ball ready, as it had a pair of her hair pins crossing each other so he wouldn't forget to give it to her.
Ichigo readied his partners. Emeth would help him catch the Clefairy while Ash and Nel would retrieve their things.
Nel was about to start the distraction, but Ichigo noticed something.
"Uh guys? I think we should wait first."
"Why?" said Ash crossly.
"Because if I'm seeing this right, they're in the middle of their little Evolution dance, and if we play our cards correctly we might walk out of this with a moon stone," said Ichigo. The Clefairy were dancing around like they were hyper or something, and he had seen an episode or two of Pokémon at Tatsuki's house a few times. This was one of them.
As they watched the Clefairy evolve into Clefable, half an hour after it was all over they spotted the trio. Naturally they weren't happy, but Ichigo calmly walked up to them and bent down to eye level. Ash and Nel didn't hear what was said, but the Clefairy nodded and brought back their things.
Ash didn't see Ichigo put one of the fairy Pokémon into the Pokéball he had decorated with those odd markings. It only took another hour and some careful footwork before they reached the bottom of Mt. Moon from the outside. No one had managed to clear the rock slide, so it might be a while before anyone used this to get through the mountains.
'Too bad I don't have Zangetsu or Shirosaki anymore. One good Getsuga Tensho or a small cero could get rid of this... Wait a minute!'
"Hey Nel, can I ask you something?" said Ichigo in a low tone.
"What is it?"
Ichigo whispered his idea. Nel frowned for a moment before she brightened. They were half way to Cerulean when she claimed an errand of nature...and a minute later there was a minor explosion behind them.
"What the heck?" said Ash, turning around in surprise.
Ichigo made a show of turning around in surprise. Behind them the boulder which Team Rocket had dropped on the exit was blown to tiny rubble. Aside from a few rocks falling inside the cave, the rest was relatively undamaged.
Nel came back looking surprised. Ichigo flashed her a thumbs up with a grin, and Ash had no idea what just happened.
An hour later Officer Jenny passed them when she went to inspect the explosion. Ichigo snorted.
"Well at least we know we don't have far to get to the next city. Misty and Brock should be waiting for us there..." said Ichigo.
They stepped up the pace and got to Cerulean in less than an hour. Needless to say only Ash was really tired from the walk.
"So," said Ichigo, clapping his hands together, "Should we hit the Pokémon Center first or the Gym? Ash, if you want I'll let you go first this time."
"Center first, and then Gym," said Ash. He was tired, and he needed food.
"So you were the ones to clear that blockade? How did you manage to blow up that rock?" asked Oak.
"Let's just say Nel had no issues with blowing up rock and leave it at that," said Ichigo.
"Well in any case you saved them a lot of trouble clearing out that rock. Just don't tell anyone it was you two," said Oak.
"Naturally. You think we want to become lab rats? Anyway, do you know a place near Cerulean city that I could find a Grass type? Since they specialize in water none of my current team would last long against them," said Ichigo.
"There is a good sized stream about a mile outside the city. Maybe you can find some Water types there," said Oak.
"Thanks for the tip. Would you like to talk to Ash?"
"Bring him on! I'll pass on any messages to Delia."
Ichigo left the Pokémon Center, leaving Ash to train with Nel for a bit while he went to get some Grass Type Pokémon, or possibly Water Type.
He was about halfway to the stream Oak mentioned (after getting directions and a refill of his First Aid kit from Nurse Joy) when he noticed some kids attacking a red and yellow Pokémon with whiskers. It had fins and was clearly gasping for air.
Ichigo immediately reacted by bowling into the kids, scooping up the fish, and taking it to the closest water source which was a fountain.
"Hey! What's the big idea?!" demanded the oldest bully.
"I should be asking you the same thing! The poor thing was obviously suffering because it was out of the water!" growled Ichigo.
In response the oldest bully and his friends began to crack their knuckles menacingly. Ichigo stood his ground and growled right back.
"So that's how it's going to be huh? Fine by me!" said Ichigo. Who knew you could have a withdrawal from beating up idiots?
30 minutes later...
Ash and Nel had heard about a commotion with an orange haired boy and had come to see what the problem was, fearing Ichigo would get beaten up.
Instead they found Ichigo beating up a bunch of bullies. When Officer Jenny finally came back, Ichigo told her what happened and she promptly started to chastise the boys beating up the odd fish...who Ichigo learned was a level fifteen Magikarp.
Ichigo put the fish in one of his Pokéballs and took it to the Pokémon center to be treated.
"Oh my! How did this poor thing end up so far out of the river?" said Nurse Joy.
"I think the punks I beat up caught him and since he wasn't very strong decided to torture him. I put a stop to it, but I wouldn't want to be them when their parents hear what they were up to by Officer Jenny," said Ichigo.
"Are you going to release him in the stream outside town?" asked Joy.
"I'll leave it up to him whether he wants to join me or not. Just because he's weak now doesn't mean he'll be weak later," said Ichigo.
"I like the way you think young man. Most people overlook Magikarp unless they want to fill their Pokédex, but they never want to work for it's evolved form," said Joy with a laugh.
"What does it evolve into?"
Nurse Joy pulled out a book and showed him. Ichigo stared at it and then her.
"And they don't want to get off their lazy bums for something as cool as that?!"
Ichigo was a boy, and by male standards Magikarp's evolved form was pretty damn cool.
So once Magikarp was healed, he took it out to the stream like had originally planned to go and brought it out.
Ichigo went down to eye level with the fish and gave it the same option he gave Emeth when he first got him.
"Look, I know you probably don't like humans with the way those kids treated you, so I'll give you a choice. If you want to be free to go your own way, I'll release you here and now. But if you want to join me, I'll train you to become stronger. What do you say?"
The Magikarp immediately swam to Ichigo. The boy had saved him from those mean children and was willing to train him instead of throwing him back like most of the kids around here would. Besides, something told the fish that Ichigo was more interesting than half the trainers out there.
"So we're partners, eh? In that case, why don't I introduce you to the rest of the team while we train?" said Ichigo.
"Come on out, Kenpachi and Emeth!" said Ichigo.
"Geo!"
"Hound!"
Ichigo stumbled back into the Pokémon Center looking exhausted. Once he had something to eat, he went straight to bed, to the confusion of Ash and Nel. Half an hour later Nel came into the room they had rented for the night with Ichigo's Pokémon...and noticed the new addition.
It was a long snake like Pokémon with frills along the edges.
Nurse Joy was in shock when she saw it.
"How did he get it to evolve in only a few hours when it was a level fifteen?!"
Ash looked up when he saw Ichigo walk to the table yawning.
"What were you doing last night? Nurse Joy said that you got one of your team to evolve really fast..." said Ash.
"I was training them to avoid water. Wait, he evolved? I thought I had imagined that!"
Ichigo went to the large pond outside the center and released his newest Pokémon.
A long snake like Pokémon with light cream and blue coloring, a short fit and two long tendrils appeared. It's mouth was wide open.
"DOS!"
It spotted Ichigo and nuzzled him.
"Wow, who knew training to avoid water would help you evolve?" said Ichigo.
"Huh?"
"Both of my other Pokémon can't handle water attacks...so I had the Magikarp I saved splash them repeatedly until they learned to avoid water attacks on instinct. I guess it counted as experience, because Aoi here evolved into Gyarados in a day."
The Gyarados in question slapped some water on Ichigo, who grinned.
"So Ash, you manage to get a good lead on the Gym Leader yet?" he said, smirking.
"Yeah, it's Misty," said Ash sullenly. He gave Ichigo the stink eye when the boy started laughing at him.
"You knew?"
"It was in one of the books Oak lent me before we left."
"You suck," said Ash.
Ichigo's eyebrow twitched.
"Just for that, I'm not holding back on practice today..."
"...I'm doomed aren't I?"
"Very. Outside, after I eat something," said Ichigo. Nel giggled.
Ash was on the ground exhausted. Ichigo hadn't been joking, and once he explained what he was doing to Nurse Joy she was entirely for it. Apparently very few trainers bothered to train themselves and their Pokémon.
Ash was sore all over, and Ichigo looked like he had only a very good workout. On the plus side, Ash did finally get started on actual fighting moves, after Ichigo made him swear not to use them on others unless the situation called for it or they were training.
Situations like the brawl Ichigo was in.
"So tell me, did you win against Misty or not?"
"Not."
"My turn today then. Then Nel gets a shot followed by you again."
Ichigo had a very simple system. Since the three of them were trying to get all eight badges needed, they would take turns, unless something came up.
It went Ichigo, Ash, Nel. Brock and Misty joined them because traveling in a group was safer than going alone, no matter how strong you were. Besides, there was something about Ichigo and Ash that just drew them together.
Ichigo went in to get a snack and to wash off the work out Ash had given him for the day before he headed to the Gym. Little did he know it was going to be a long, long day...
Ichigo was battling Misty, who was still a little annoyed at the fact that he had inadvertently gotten them in that mess with the Spearow, despite the fact it was because of Ichigo they got out of there unharmed.
"Go, Kenpachi!"
"Hound!"
"Go Staryu!"
"Kenpachi, use Shadow Ball!"
Blasts of dark orbs hit Staryu, who shrugged it off, though it still smarted.
"Staryu, Rapid Spin!"
"Kenpachi, use Agility and jump onto a different platform!"
Kenpachi ran to the edge of the platform before doing a flip to the next. He landed neatly as the Staryu crashed into the one he just left and sent a wave of water his way
After the hellish training Ichigo made him do yesterday, Kenpachi didn't think twice. A shield appeared before him as he used Protect on instinct.
"Staryu, Water Gun!" yelled Misty.
"Kenpachi, use flamethrower to counter it!" said Ichigo calmly. It would create steam and aid in hiding the dog.
"HOUND!"
A jet of hot flame burst from Kenpachi's mouth, causing the stream of water from Misty's Staryu to turn into steam and cloud the arena. What Misty didn't see because of the steam was that her Staryu was burned because Kenpachi had kept his fire going after the water died out.
"Kenpachi, Odor Sleuth! Find that Staryu!"
Kenpachi worked through the steam to find the scent of the starfish.
"Now use Crunch!"
Misty gaped when she saw Staryu after the steam cleared.
"No way...how could a Fire/Dark type beat a Water Type like Staryu?" she said in shock.
"It helps that I've been in worse battles than this."
"Staryu is unable to battle! Winner is Houndour."
"Way to go Kenpachi! You live up to your namesake!" grinned Ichigo.
"Hound!" howled Kenpachi, before a white glow enveloped him.
Where the tiny canine stood was a large dog as tall as Ichigo with curved horns. The tail was spiked like a devil's spade, and the cuff-like things around his paws had doubled. All in all, he looked more like a hellhound than ever.
Ichigo pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at Kenpachi.
"Houndoom, the Dark Pokémon. In ancient times, the call of this Pokémon was considered to be the cry of the Grim Reaper."
Ichigo couldn't help his snort at that description. He was a former Shinigami, for Kami's sake! He whistled for Kenpachi, who bound over to his trainer for a well deserved ear scratch.
"Way to go Kenpachi! You get to rest while Aoi fights this time, okay? Tomorrow we're going to have a day off!"
"Hound!" said Kenpachi, sitting down with relief. He did not like water.
"Aoi?" said Misty, not liking how that name sent a shiver down her spine.
"Go, Aoi!"
Misty's eyes weren't the only ones bulging at the sight of the Gyarados.
"Where the hell did you find a Gyarados this close to Cerulean City?!" she demanded.
"I didn't. I saved a Magikarp two days ago and put my team through extensive evasion training and at the end he evolved on hs own."
And it was clear that despite a Gyarados' horrible temperament with humans, this one actually liked his trainer.
"Ichigo, sometimes you scare me horribly. This is one of those times," said Misty flatly. Nel giggled on the side.
"In that case, why don't we get started on our next battle? Aoi, use Bite!"
"DOS!"
Aoi lunged at the Starmie, who narrowly avoided the jaws. Ichigo kept his cool, and went over the attacks he found on his Pokédex earlier. Starmie was having trouble fighting Aoi, because Ichigo was rather...odd...in the way he attacked.
"Headbutt!"
Aoi came up from below and sent Starmie flying through the air and into the ceiling. The jewel on the center was pulsing weakly, and Misty doubted Starmie could handle another hit like that.
"Starmie, Recover!"
"Aoi, use Water Gun!"
A stream of water forced the starfish into the wall, and it was clear the Starmie was out for the count.
"Starmie is unable to battle! Winner is Ichigo Kurosaki of Karakura!" said the referee.
"Way to go Aoi!" said Ichigo.