Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or the concept for Aura Bond. Pokemon belongs to Satoshi Tajiri and Aura Bond I believe was first used by dragonwolf12 on his story 'The Chosen One's Journey'. I only own the plot.
The doors of the Pokemon Center of Pewter City opened and Ash stepped inside with Riolu a step behind him. As he walked towards the counter, he discreetly looked around only for his brows to furrow again when he noticed the interested looks that the other trainers sent Riolu/ He understood that he was very rare Pokemon and he hoped that this 'interest' that other trainers seemed to have on him didn't escalate to other, unsavory lengths.
"I feel like a piece of meat on display," commented Riolu dryly as he too noticed the looks being sent his way. He moved closer to Ash and sent them al a glare that had a few looking away. Others just ignored it and continued to stare at him.
"At least they aren't looking you like you think they are a piece of meat you are about to eat," said Gyarados with an annoyed tone of voice as she huffed. It wasn't her fault that they woke her from her nap so suddenly.
"I'm kind of feel glad that I'm a common pokemon," said Pikachu with a giggle.
"Same hare," chirped Pidgeotto as she agreed.
I know that feel, bro. And it's even more disturbing for me since I don't have meat on my body," said Scyther. They were rare Pokemon on Kanto, even if they were uncommon and the sight of him usually gathered many looks.
Ash chuckled as he reached the counter. He doubted that he would ever get bored with a group of pokemon talking inside his head. He wouldn't change that for nothing else in the world. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed the Nurse Joy giving him a puzzled look.
"Why do you look so familiar…" She trailed off before it dawned on her and her eyes widened and a smile stretched across her pretty face. "You are the trainer that saved the Pokemon Center in Viridian two weeks ago! The Joy there told all the other Joy's and sent us a picture of you!" She said cheerily before she reached down the counter and handed him a box that had his name written on him. "This arrived here two days ago. It was sent by your mother. Do you need a room?" Ash just nodded and she handed him a card key. "There you go. Room seventy four."
Ash nodded at her in thanks and he was about to go upstairs but she stopped him once again. "You just got out of the Viridian Forest. Don't you want your pokemon checked up? Although they don't look tired or anything…" She said as she inspected Pikachu and Riolu and found anything wrong with them. They looked on even better health than many Pokemon that belonged to breeders.
Ash shook his head with a smile. "That won't be necessary, but thanks Nurse Joy. Have a good evening," said before he walked towards the stairs, up them and then towards his room, finding it thanks to following the other in the halls ways.
He stepped inside and noticed that the room was exactly the same as in Viridian. He released all his Pokemon, except Gyarados of course for obvious reasons. He watched as Pidgeotto stretched her wings before perching herself on a metal pole that came out of a wall. Scyther also stretched his wings and limbs before he walked towards the wall and sit down, leaning against it. Pikachu and Riolu jumped into the bed and Ash set Gyarados pokeball and the box on the small table next to the bed before he went to take a bath.
After a warm shower Ash stepped out in shorts and a tank top before he picked up the box and sat on a chair. He noticed that Pidgeotto and Scyther were napping and Riolu and Pikachu were wrestling on the bed, with Riolu having Pikachu on a full nelson. He shrugged before he opened the box and took out whatever it was inside. He blinked when he recognized what was inside as a TM case. He flicked it open and his eyes widened when he saw three TMs there: Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt.
Ash called his mom right away and she answered after the third ring. Her eyes lit up and when she saw. "Hello there, honey! Did you arrive to Pewter yet?" She asked cheerily. Ash noticed that she was sitting on her chair, leaning back on it. She didn't have her lab coat on.
Ash nodded his head. "Yeah. Just arrived here actually. Got the package too. A TM case and the TMs for Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt… really mom?" He said with a grin on his face.
Delia laughed merrily. "I got them shipped them from Celadon. But that TM case is special. It can hold up to a hundred TMs at the same time and it can also restore the TM after you use them so you don't have to buy them again if you want to teach two pokemon the same move. You just have to wait for a few minutes before using it again," she explained after her laughter subsided.
Ash eyes widened at that. "Well… I'm going to use the three of them on Gyarados after I beat the Gym Leader here. The trip to Cerulean is about three weeks long so I guess that would give me enough time to get her good enough on using those moves."
Delia nodded her head before giving him a curious look. "So what's your strategy for the Gym? Brock uses rock/ground types."
Ash rubbed his chin. "I won't be using Pidgeotto and Scyther that's for sure. Pikachu has Iron Tail and he is fast enough to avoid getting hit but my best options are Riolu and Gyarados." He shrugged. "I guess I'll just wing it and come up with something effective after I see what Pokemon he uses but I will play it safe with sending Riolu first and then Gyarados to secure my win."
Delia nodded her head in agreement. "That's the best course of action, yes," She said before her eyes widened as she looked at something over her laptop. "I got to go Ashy. Please call me before you leave Viridian to tell me about your battle. Good night!" She waved at him before the screen went black.
Ash just blinked before shrugging his shoulders. He put the TM case next to Gyarados pokeball and jumped into the bed, snickering when Riolu and Pikachu pushed away and into the floor. He ignored their glares before he wished them a good night. He was going to have his first big battle tomorrow and he wanted to be as fresh as he could.
-AM: KOI-
Ash stood outside of the Pewter City Gym and he was mildly impressed with it. The front was apparently made of rock but the rest of the structure was just a long, building that stretched for maybe one hundred meters. Ash looked at Riolu at his side and Pikachu on his shoulder before nodding at them. He opened the set of double doors by pushing them with both hands and went inside.
The inside of the Gym was more impressive than the outside. There was a big battle, rectangular Arena made of small, rocky mountain and ground that covered most of the main room but let some space for stands and the trainer boxes. Ash raised an eyebrow when he noticed that he was actually standing on ice.
"Who goes there?"
Ash looked up from the icy floor to see that a brown haired teen wearing a vest was sitting in the middle of the battle field. He noticed that his eyes were closed but he was directly looking at him.
Ash stepped forward, careful not to slip on the ice. "My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I challenge you to a battle for the badge," declared Ash as he stopped short from entering the rock terrain.
Brock nodded his head before he noticed the two small Pokemon that were accompanying Ash. "I commend you for having a rare fighting type but they are on their smallest and cutest state. And one of them is an electric type. You won't win," said Brock in amusement as he stood up and retreated back to his own box. "But I can't refuse a challenge! We are going to have a two-on-two battle. You are allowed to substitute pokemon whenever you want." Brock pulled out a pokeball before muttering. "Not that it would do much…"
Ash, Pikachu and Riolu glared at him for patronizing them and dismissing them like that but smirked as he nodded his consent at the rules. Brock was going to pay dairly for underestimating his Pokemon, Riolu specially. Riolu jumped forward and landed on a kneeling position in front of Ash. Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he pumped his tiny fist.
"Kick his ass Riolu!"
Riolu stood up and smirked back at Ash and Pikachu. "Don't worry. I'll pulverize whatever he throws at me," he promised as he popped his knuckles, leering at Brock with a snarl on his muzzle.
Brock gave another amused chuckle before shaking his head. He released a Graveler that called out its name with a roar and pounded on the rocky floor with its four fists, making the ground shake a little. Brock smirked and crossed his arms. "I'll give you the first move."
Ash shrugged with a smirk. His funeral. "Bulk up and foresight. Keep them up," said Ash as he too crossed his arms. He would not tell Riolu what to do after this. It was up to him to fight so he could get experience on his own. Riolu tensed and his body was outlined by a fine, white shine before it subsided only for his red eyes to begin glowing.
Brock shook his head. "That was a waste. Graveler! Use rollout and keep it going!" Ash had to give him props since he didn't point at his pokemon in a dramatic manner. Graveler grinned before it took its fore arms into its body and launched itself into rolling towards Riolu at fast speeds. That would've surprised many trainers but Ash was used to see pokemon moving much, much faster.
And so was Riolu. When Graveler was just on him Riolu sidestepped to the right, letting the spinning ball that was Graveler pass by him without even grazing him. He was forced to jump, however, when Graveler stopped in place and changed the direction of his spinning backwards and towards Riolu so abruptly it made his eyes widen before he dodged. It was a good thing that he had foresight one or he would've been hit.
Ash watched as Riolu jumped and stepped out of the path of Graveler's unpredictable change of pace and direction with rollout. While Brock had indeed understamated him, it didn't mean that he was a bad trainer and he was proving that right there when he was pushing Riolu to his best at avoid getting hit. But Riolu was smarter than to keep going like this until he tired out so he acted.
When Graveler attempted to to attack Riolu once again, the blue and black jackal smirked before jumping, revealing that there was a small, rocky mountain behind him and Graveler smashed into it hard. It didn't hurt but the abrupt stop made Graveler a bit confused and when the dust he kicked up cleared, it was shaking its head.
Brock frowned but didn't seem too much concerned. "Rock throw! Then earthquake!"
Graveler nodded its massive body and used its larger arms to rip off a chunk of rock two times its size and hurled it at Riolu. It then smashed its four arms again into the ground, generating a shockwave before the earth began to tremble.
Before the shaking reached him, Riolu jumped and when he did, Ash noticed what was Brock's plan since Riolu was now on the path of the Rock throw. Too bad that Riolu could easily counter it and he did it just like Ash knew he would do it. Riolu extended both his hands in front of him, paws glowing white as he stopped the chunk of rock from hitting him but it still pushed him back. Riolu grunted before he released his double force palm, creating a shockwave that launched the cracked rock back at the surprised Graveler.
Brock's eyes snapped open in shock as he saw his graveler being hit by his own attack and being pushed back as the rock broke when it made contact with him. He watched as Riolu landed on the ground and pushed itself into a sprint towards Graveler with a glowing arm. He recognized the technique as Brick Break. "Stop it with mega punch!"
Riolu closed the distance between him and Graveler in five seconds and cocked his glowing arm back, and action mirrored by Graveler who cocked one of his larger arms back but with a glowing fist. The two attacks collided, making the earth bellow crack inwards forming a crater as a shockwave generated from the point of contact. Graveler smirked as it cocked its other arm back, fist glowing with energy and brought it down to smash it into Riolu's head.
It hit nothing but air as Riolu ducked under it, unbalancing his opponent as it met no resistance on its fight for dominance and Riolu capitalized on this to use a smooth, spinning Low Sweep that had Graveler tumbling into the ground face first, right in the middle on the crater. Riolu heard Brock's call t stand up but he wouldn't let it so he jumped on top of Graveler and pressed two glowing palms on its back and released Force Palm.
Graveler cried out in pain as it's rocky hide cracked as it was pushed into the crater, that got wider due to the force of the shockwave generated by Force Palm, and it soon fainted due to having its vulnerable inside rattled by the attack. It had swirl on its eyes as Brock recalled it in a red flash back to its pokeball.
He pulled out another Pokemon and he frowned at Ash. "It was a mistake to underestimate you Ash Ketchum… but you won't beat my oldest friend! Onix! Let's rock!" Brock shouted before he released the massive rock snake. It roared its name, making a sound that resembled rock grinding against rock and the earth shook a little.
Ash looked up at the onix before shaking his head. "Riolu! Splendid job but I don't want you to keep fighting," said Ash. Riolu nodded, a little disappointed but he jumped back and landed next Ash on the trainer box. "Besides, I have to make due to my promise to her," added Ash through the bond as he reached for a particular pokeball.
Pikachu shook his head. "That guy is doomed."
Ash smirked as he released Gyarados from her pokeball. The mighty sea serpent roared -the sound reminiscent of crashing waves as she regarded her opponent with an appraising eye. She seemed to approve if the glint on her eyes was anything to go by.
Brock's eyes widened to the size of saucer plates as he saw his next foe and he sighed in defeat. "I'm not underestimating anyone again," he mumbled before getting his game face on. "Tackle it! Then use bind!" Onix roared and launched itself towards Gyarados, who roared back.
"Dragon rage then hydro pump," said Ash easily with a grin. Gyarados roared before firing a green blast of energy in the form of a dragon head at the incoming Onix. The rock snake roared in pain as it was hit but it shook off the damage and was about to continued its charge but was met with a gigantic stream of pressurized water hitting it on the face. It didn't even have time to cry out in pain before it was knocked out.
Brock sighed as he recalled Onix. He easily admitted defeat as he was not prepared for a kid like Ash to have a Gyarados and he paid the prize. He walked towards Ash, who was rubbing his Gyarados' tough hide in congratulations. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Boulderbadge and a TM. "Here is your reward for winning in the Pewter Gym. This TM teaches the move Rock Tomb. After you use it once you won't be able to do it again so be wise about it," said Brock with an easy smile on his face.
Ash patted Gyarados once more in congratulation before returning head in a flash of red. He took the badge and the TM from Brock and pocketed the badge and brought his special TM case and out the TM for Rock Tomb away before he put it back into his bag with Pikachu's help. "Thanks for the battle. It was a very good one," said Ash as he extended his hand towards Brock.
Brock grasped it firmly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah but I should be thanking you instead. I was way over my head just because you had two un-evolved pokemon with you but you managed to curve it down." He then grinned in challenge. "I will train harder so I expect you come by here again so we can have an even better fight."
Ash nodded his head with a matching grin. "Sure, why not? And I won't use Gyarados like I did this time. That was the first official battle she ever had since I caught her two and a half weeks ago so I wanted to test her," said Ash as he ended the hand shake.
Brock nodded before he adopted a curious look on his face. "For how long have you been trainer by the way. You used some very good tactics there," complimented Brock.
Ash smirked as he answered. "Two and a half weeks."
Brock's eyes widened as he did a double take. "But you said you were from Pallet Town and that you captured Gyarados that same time ago!" Brock cried out in shock as he gave Ash an incredulous look.
Ash shrugged. "I got Pikachu as an starter from Professor Oak and my mom gave me Riolu. I caught Gyarados on the river near Viridian City by pure luck but I guess that was enough to earn her respect and obedience," explained Ash as if that wasn't a big deal. He had come to accept that.
Brock noticed the two other pokeballs on his belt. "And what other Pokemon do you have?"
"A pidgeotto and a scyther. I caught them in the Viridian Forest on my way here."
Brock could only gape.
Ash shrugged as he waved at Brock before he walked out of the gym. He raised an eyebrow when he side stepped the strange man that had tried to sell him rocks when he arrived at Pewter that rushed into the gym.
"That was weird."
His friends could only snicker through the bond.
-AM: KOI-
There wasn't a lot of things to do in Pewter City other than the museum but Ash wasn't interested in that so that's why after the gym battle he went to stock on more pokeballs, then went to have lunch and after he did all that, he walked out of the city. When he told his mother he was going to go through Mt. Moon, she reminded him about catching some pokemon the lived there for the new terrain she had built and that's why he stocked on so many pokeballs.
He stopped after a few hours of walking. According to his X-Transceiver it was almost three in the afternoon. He could see the massive Mt. Moon in the distance and he deduced that it would take him two days to reach it. Ash shrugged before realizing all his Pokemon. He smiled at them.
"We got our first bade already. Excellent work Riolu and Gyarados. I'm proud of you," said Ash with smile on his face as he praised them.
Riolu shrugged his shoulder. "Not that big of a deal really. After I got that Graveler to stop rolling around it was a piece of cake," said Riolu with dismissal on his voice as he inspected his paws uncaringly.
Gyarados, however, preened at the praise. "It's only natural that I get an easy victory over such an easy opponent," she said pompously.
Scyther and Pidgeotto sweat dropped and decided not to comment on that. Pikachu was snickering uncontrollably as he rolled on the ground. That was what people got for underestimating Ash and not taking them seriously because of their size.
Ash chuckled before he got serious. "The next Gym is in Cerulean City and it is three weeks away from now. Since it is a water type gym, I will be using Pidgeotto, Scyther and Pikachu. I'm going to focus on them the most. Pidgeotto we will work on your speed, endurance and evasive maneuvers along with Tailwind. Then we are going to work on missing it up with quick attack and agility to get you super fast."
Pidgeotto nodded her head. "Alight. I think I am close to mastering that move anyways. Also, I believe that we should work on my resistance to electric attacks and my ability to bend air currents around me with Aura," she said with some hesitantly but resolutely on getting better. She was a proud Pokemon and she wanted to be strongest of her kind. She was sure that with Ash she was going to be able to do it.
Ash nodded at her. "I believe we can work on that too. Scyther, Riolu and Pikachu you will be sparring against each other and battling to get you more experience on using your moves and new ways to adapt them to the way you fight. Pikachu will also be using his aura to expand his electrical storages and working on keeping his control up to snuff with the increase on power."
The three Pokemon nodded their heads in understanding before Ash turned towards Gyarados and looked up at her. "And for you have three moves that you'll be learning through TM and you are going to practice them all until you perfect them," said Ash he pulled the TM case out of his bag and took out three of the four disks.
Gyarados looked in interest. "What moves are those?" She asked curiously.
Ash grinned. "Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Flamethrower," he said simply and he swore that if Gyarados could, she would have matched his grin with one of her own. He returned her and quickly slipped the three disks inside of the pokeball. It first glowed light blue, then bright yellow and finally reddish orange. Ash released her again and he watched as she shook her head before gaining a glint on her eyes.
Ash and his other Pokemon watched as Gyarados firs used Ice Beam, forming a ball of icy energy in front of her mouth that split into three jagged arcs that were shot into the air. Ash shivered as the technique was used. Then she used Thunderbolt and from her crest, a wide yellow blast of electricity was fired to the air. Ash watched as Pikachu shot her a jealous look because it was slightly more powerful than his own thunderbolt but that was alright since it would motivate the yellow rodent to get more powerful. Gyarados then used flamethrower and from her mouth a wide column of red-orange flame was shot at the sky.
The black haired trainer patted her on the side as she preened. "Now you only need to master those moves so you can use it in a moment's notice. Then you can dedicate all your time to use Aura to be able to fly. Next we will work on your water manipulation and you will be all set," said Ash with a massive grin on his face.
Pikachu turned towards the others. "I don't know about you guys but I'm not letting an oversized water snake beat me," said Pikachu before he began to concentrate and channel his aura into his cheeks.
Riolu and Scyther smirked at each other before they moved away so they could spar without holding back. Pidgeotto chirped and began to work on Tailwind. Gyarados began to fire Ice Beam one after the other. Their enthusiasm brought a small smile to Ash's face. This was for what he lived for.
-AM: KOI-
"So…" Pikachu trailed off as he looked at the looming Mt. Moon. It was still a good kilometer away but it still looked imposing even from the distance. "Do we really need to go down that?" Pikachu asked. There was a little tremor on his voice.
Riolu, who was padding next to Ash, gave Pikachu an amused look before snickering. "Is the big bad Pikachu afraid of a mountain and dark tunnels?"
"If it helps… I also don't like mountains," said Pidgeotto.
"Me neither," agreed Gyarados.
"You gals don't like them but he is afraid of them. Is different," corrected Scyther, also snickering in amusement.
Pikachu glared but didn't respond. Ash just chuckled at the banter before setting his eyes on Mt. Moon. He thought that it would take him a little more to reach it because he was going to stop to have as much battles as he could but there had been scarce few trainers and there were less willing to battle. He frowned at that but didn't dwell on it too much. If he really thought about it, it was better this way since he would be able to go across it just by the time night rolled around since it was just a few minutes past noon at the moment.
Ash was about to tell his pokemon to stop giving Pikachu grief about his apparent fear of the dark (He thought that it was more fear of the mountain falling down on them really) when he heard the distress and pained cry of a pokemon coming from the tree line. On instinct, he jumped into a sprint in that direction, Riolu easily following into step with him. They waved through trees and bushes for almost a minute before finding themselves on a clearing.
Ash saw something that disgusted him and made his Aura flare inside of him, making his eyes glow faintly. A male nidoran, clearly hurt, was trying his hardest to get up and there was a raticate and a machop in front of him. Behind them there were two kids the same age as him and they were pointing at the nidoran.
"Machop, use karate chop! Knock it out!"
"Raticate, don't late it! Use quick attack to knock it out first!"
The pokemon heisted for a moment, clearly knowing that this was wrong and unfair but moving to comply with their trainers' orders. Ash quickly stood protectively infront of nidoran and growled deep from his throat. He was not about to let that happen.
"Pikachu, iron tail! Riolu, brick break!" He shouted. His pokemon nodded and moved in to intercept the attackers. Riolu ducked under Machop's reflexive swing when he closed in and buried his paw deep into its stomach, making it cry out in pain before sending it flying back to the feet of his shocked trainer. Pikachu matched the raticate's jump and twisted his body around to use the momentum to smack the raticate with a glowing white tail that sent it back to the feet of the other trainer.
The two pokemon were clearly unconscious. The one of the right was first one to get his wits back and he glared at Ash. "Hey! What's the big idea?" He asked in anger as he returned his machop and pulled out another pokeball.
Ash scowled at him. "I should be the one asking that. Why are you two ganging up on this nidoran at the same time?" He asked with an icy calmness that betrayed his anger. He had inherited that from his mother.
The other trainer returned his raticate before he too glared heatedly at Ash. "We saw the nidoran at the same time and we couldn't decide who was going to catch so we agreed that the one who knocked it out first would have the right to catch it." He then brandished another pokeball. "So beat it. This is not your business."
Ash crossed his arms and stood protectively in front of nidoran, who was looking at him with wide eyes that were shining with awe. "I don't think so," he said simply as he stared down at them.
The two trainer growled and released their Pokemon. It seemed like at least they wouldn't use their more powerful pokemon to beat up the young nidoran since they released a tough looking victreebrel and a angry looking dodrio. They seemed to glare at him. Ash would have loved to battle them had their circumstances been different and he wasn't un such a hurry to heal nidoran and head to Mt. Moon…
…so he released Gyarados.
The two trainers fell into their backsides as the mighty sea serpent was revealed and she roared in anger at the two of them, her mouth filled with flames and electricity flaring to live on her crest. The two trainers saw this, knew that they weren't match for her before returning their pokemon and turning tail deep into the forest. Ash smiled at the wise action before turning around and kneeling before nidoran, eyes filled with concern.
He connected their minds with a tendril of Aura. "Look I'm training to become an Aura Guardian and since I can use Aura, I can make it so I can speak into your mind and you into mine. Can I touch you so I can heal you?" Ash asked with kind and reassuring smile on his face.
Nidoran's eyes widened before hesitantly nodding, said single action being seemingly painful for him. "Please… it… it hurts a lot," said Nidoran in a strained, timid little voice. Ash slowly brought his hand forward and tapped Nidoran on his side and sent a quick Heal Pulse through him. He frowned when he needed to use three more Heal Pulses before he was completely healed, except for his fatigue.
Ash smiled and patted him, making sure to avoid the poisonous barbs on his back. "There you are. You only need to rest for a while and you will be set," said Ash as he stood up. Pikachu jumped to his backpack and Riolu landed on his side. They nodded at Nidoran, who managed to stand up. Ash was about to severe the connection but he was topped from doing so.
"Wait!" While not anymore sounding strained, Nidoran's voice was still small and light like that of a kid. "Can you be my trainer? I don't want for something like that to happen to me again. You seem like a very good human and those two…" He pointed at Pikachu and then at Riolu with his horn, which was large for his breed. "… managed to knock the macho and the raticate out with one hit and that Gyarados respects you so you are a very powerful trainer." pleaded Nidoran with hopeful eyes.
Ash looked down at him for a moment before smiling. "Sure. I would love to have you as a member of my team. I will have to perform an Aura Bond with you that would let us speak to each other whenever we want and will give you the ability to manipulate raw Aura."
Nidoran just nodded before Ash kneeled down again and pressed his palm against Nidoran side and sent the pulse of Aura. When it was returned he stood up and he pulled out his pokedex to point it at Nidoran.
Nidoran: The Poison Pin Pokemon. The male nidoran has developed muscles for moving its ears. Thanks to them, the ears can be freely moved in any direction. Even the slightest sound does not escape this pokemon's notice. It is small, but its horn is filled with poison. It charges then stabs with the horn to inject poison. Nidoran has the ability Poison Point and knows the moves: Peck, Fury Attack, Double Kick and Poison Sting. Note: This Nidoran has the egg move Sucker Punch but it has not been unlocked yet.
As Ash pulled out an empty pokeball and pressed it against Nidoran, Pikachu turned towards Riolu. "I told you he was going to catch every single Pokemon he lets know that he can talk to them."
Riolu nodded his head. "I believe that is to be expected from this point onwards yes."
The ball dinged.
Scyther, Pidgeotto and Gyarados laughed.
And Ash deadpanned.
-AM: KOI-
Once they made it into Mt. Moon, Ash released Nidoran and looked down at him. "I know that you told me that you wanted to train right away but I think that we should first pass this mountain and then beginning training tomorrow. I can also develop a regimen for you to follow," said before looking towards the darkness ahead and pulling out a flashlit and turning it on. "But you'll get to fight the Pokemon in here that don't run when he get near so you'll stay out along with Pikachu and Riolu, okay?"
Nidoran nodded his head and twitched his large ears, which looked a little awkward on his tiny body. "Sure. I can also tell you when there is a pokemon close or something. I got really sensitive hearing," he said proudly as his ears twitched again.
Pikachu and Riolu shared an amused look but decided not on commenting. Ash nodded at Nidoran with a smile and they began to trek into the dark tunnels of Mt. Moon. These tunnels were actually naturally made by the onix that used to leave here. Sadly, these same tunnels made the structure of the mountain too unstable for the onix to live here so they were forced to move to another place, Mt Hideaway if he recalled correctly. He would have to visit that place someday. It sounded like a good place to train.
With the absence of the onix, many pokemon began to use this tunnels as a place to live and feel relatively safety since this was a passageway used by trainers that went from east Kanto to west Kanto and vice versa. Mt. Moon was also the place that housed the mythical Moon Stone that was said to bring the Clefairy line to earth from the Moon itself. Ash thought that it was a plausible theory, only if the other pokemon that also used shards of the moon stone to evolve were proven to also come of the moon.
Ash looked down at Nidoran, who scared away a pair of zubats with a barrage of poisoned needles that he fired from his mouth. Nidoran evolved into Nidorino naturally but to evolve into Nidoking they needed a shard of the moon stone. If Nidoran wanted to become a Nidoking, he would come back here to evolve him using the original moon stone. That would certainly be an adventure to look up to.
Ash frowned when he saw a sandshrew rolling away from then in fright and a pair of paras tucking their limbs into their bodies after they spotted them. While he knew that many pokemon were wary of humans and tended not to get too close, they never showed outright fear unless mistreated by a group of humans big enough to make them think that all of them were like this.
He scowled when he saw three geodude look at him when he turned on a curve and pointed at them with his flashlight with wide eyes before hurriedly floating away. He turned towards his Pokemon. "Something is not right here," said Ash slowly as he began to walk further into Mt. Moon.
Riolu nodded his head as he looked around them suspiciously. "Pokemon do not react like that to humans unless they have been wronged pretty bad by them recently. And they seemed scared even before they spotted you so whatever is causing this is still here," said Riolu as he began sniff and sort out the scents from human and pokemon.
Pikachu stopped sending the roof above them occasional, nervous glances. "When I was a Pichu and was still with my pack, we used to behave like that when a group of humans tried to catch us against our will and by force," he supplied helpfully.
Gyarados hummed in thought. "They are afraid. If seen that look on the humans and Pokemon that have landed their eyes on me whenever I went on a rage for being woken up suddenly."
Ash stopped walking when a sandslash and two sandshrew jumped in fright at the sight of him and hastily rolled away. His scowl tightened around his face before he closed his eyes and released his breath slowly, his face relaxing. "The Aura is with Me," he whispered and his perception expanded and the world bleed blue and black.
Using Aura sight, Ash explored Mt. Moon in a very fast pace, hoping to find the cause of the Pokemon's unusual behavior and after a few minutes he found it and what he 'saw' made his fist tight and for his eyes to glow red behind his eyelids. He could only see the general shape due to using this Aura technique but it was unmistakable. A group of ten humans were forcing row of pokemon into cages that would discharge the ones that fought to get free on a wide chamber of the system of caves a few hundred feet away from them. He opened his eyes and they were glowing bright red.
"They are forcing pokemon into cages and shocking them if they try to break them," said Ash in a tight voice as he glared in the direction of where they were doing the despicable act. He released the rest of his Pokemon except Gyarados, who he was sure as heel going to release on the chamber. It was bigger than the Pewter City Gym so she was going to be comfortable in there. "We are going to stop them."
The five Pokemon that were outside nodded their head resolutely, scowls plastered on their faces to express their anger and Ash could hear Gyarados growl in agreement. They began to make their way as quickly as they could without making too much sound. As they stepped closer and closer to the chamber were the ten humans were locking away the pokemon against their will, Ash noticed that that there were no more Pokemon around and that made him just angrier.
They stopped short of the entrance of the chamber and stayed out of sight. Ash pressed his back against the edge of the entrance and peeked his head out only to get even angrier. There were seven men and three women, all of them wearing the dark uniforms with big 'R's' that identified them as members of Team Rocket. He noticed a bunch of pokemon on the cages: six zubat and two golbat, four geodude and one graveler, seven sandshrew and two sandslash, five paras and one parasect and finally three clefairy.
Ash watched as the cages shocked all the pokemon except for the one containing the ground and rock types. One of the grunts smiled evilly at them as he held up a controller. "If one of you start try opening the cages we are going to have to cause a lot of pain to your friends here so behave yourselves," he said before kicking the cage harshly, chuckling at the glares sent his way.
One of the females approached him. It seemed like he was the one leading the operation. "Do you think these are enough pokemon to keep the tests going?" She asked with some disdain on her voice as she looked at the pokemon with some disgust.
The apparent leader nodded his head. "Yes. That mad doc, Fuji, wanted to test his drugs on rock and ground types, flying types, normal types and bug types. Ever since his daughter died he has been focusing on his research and he needs test subjects," he said with a shrug before raising his voice. "Alright men! Clean up time! Let's take this beasts back to the base."
Ash had heard enough and he turned towards his Pokemon with a glare on his face. "This is what we are going to do. Pikachu, you are going to take care of the generator that feeds electricity to the cages. Riolu and Scyther are going to cover you back. Pidgeotto you are going to give them support from high up and take care of any flying types they might send. Nidoran, you are going to stay with me and Gyarados and help fight anything that gets too close, but I doubt that with Gyarados out that would happen," whispered Ash, getting nods from all of them.
Ash took a deep breath before he let his Aura flow throw his veins, his eyes glowing red. He grabbed Gyarados pokeball and let out the air he held. His eyes closed has he breathed again before snapping open. "Go!"
Riolu, Scyther and Pikachu cloaked their bodies in the enhancement of quick attack and agility before their charged forward through the entrance. Scyther and Riolu flanked Pikachu as they made a straight line towards the Rockets and the caged Pokemon and they were instantly spotted. The chamber was wide enough to give the Rockets enough time to get out of their shock at seen three pokemon closing on them fast out of nowhere and release their pokemon: five raticate, two ekans, two koffing, five zubat and a grimer.
The leader grunt snarled as he pointed at the three incoming Pokemon. "I don't know what the fuck is happening but stop those pests," he growled pointing at Pikachu, Riolu and Scyther who a few seconds away from reaching them. The Rocket pokemon cried out in anger before they charged and met Ash's three pokemon in rather unimpressive clash. Riolu sent flying away a raticate with a blaze kick and backhanded a koffing with brick break, Pikachu shocked two zubat with thunderbolt and then sent a ball of electricity at en ekans and Scyther rammed one of his glowing wings into the other ekans sending it away before baring his fangs and blades at two raticate that pounced at him, also with bared fangs.
Ash came running out of the entrance next and he watched as Pidgeotto began to fight with the three zubat, knocking one out of the sky with a well placed wing attack before opening her beak and sending a thin funnel of winds that forced the two other zubat to separate so she could pick them off one by one. Nidoran ran at his side and he approached the battle between his pokemon and the rocket's quickly and he noticed that slowly, but steadily, his pokemon were winning.
He spotted one of the grunts pointing at him with a scowl on his face. "Hey! He is just a kid!"
The leader growled as he too noticed that their pokemon were being defeated. That was they got for going with quantity over quality. "We have to retreat now! Our Pokemon are no match for this kid's!" He shouted and the nine that were with him nodded their head before turning tail.
Ash was not let about that to happen though. "Gyarados!" He shouted as he threw her pokeball, using aura to give his arm enough strength o hurl it over the battle and the rockets. She was released in a flash of white light and the vile members of team rocket were forced to jump back, most landing on their backsides as they stared at the roaring beast that was leering at them with hateful red eyes.
Riolu knocked out a raticate with a force palm that sent it flying into one of the cages, shocking it. He looked around, recalling that there had been five raticate when the fight begon. He spotted Scyther finishing of the two that attacked him with two well placed slash attacks and then turned towards Pikachu who made the other koffing trigger an explosion by firing a thunderbolt at it and then hitting the grimer with an iron tail, making it splatter all over the place. His eyes widened as he jumped back as a zubat landed on a heap in the place where had been standing on and managed to see the last Raticate running towards Ash.
"Ash! Watch out!"
The black haired trainer heard the call and his own eyes widened when he saw the Raticate pouncing at him from scantly five feet away from him. He was about to form an Aura Sphere to protect himself with it but it wasn't going to be necessary as Nidoran jumped and intercepted the Raticate with a drop kick, hind legs glowing. They rolled on the ground a few meters away from Ash but Nidoran managed to stay on top and rammed his long horn into raticate, making it cry out in pain as blood was drawn and poison was injected on his system. It trashed about for a few seconds, managing to scratch Nidoran who grunted but kept injecting the poison, before it want slack, unconscious.
Ash turned towards where the main fight was taking place and he saw the last of the pokemon being knocked out and the last zubat falling down to the earth. He smirked as he noticed the rockets paralyzed in fear before Gyarados but he decided to paralyze them for real. "Pikachu use thunder wave on them! Then deal with the generator and the cages!" He said before bringing up his X-Transceiver.
The Pewter City Police Force would like to know about this.
-AM: KOI-
The Police officers had arrived just a few minutes after he called them because they had Alakazam that could teleport and they had tracked the coordinates of his call. They were at first shocked that a kid managed to stop a cell of ten rockets but after they laid eyes upon Gyarados, Scyther and Pidgeotto they didn't comment on it. They quickly apprehended the criminals and confiscated their pokemon before scolding him, thanking him and promising a hefty sum of money for his services.
After they were gone, Ash had turned towards the freed Pokemon who expressed their most sincere gratitude towards him and an his pokemon, even if most of them were wary of Gyarados but soon eased up when she had eye smiled at them. Ash told them that it was no big deal and that they could repay him by letting him capture them to send them towards his mother's lab where they would get an steady income of food and a wide area, similar to this one too live peacefully. All of them, except for the clefairy and zubat, had agreed and he quickly caught them and sent them to his mother, who called him right away to promise him another reward for when he reached Cerulean.
Ash stepped out of Mt. Moon and he noticed that it was dark already. He turned towards Pikachu and Riolu who were the only ones out. He had healed Nidoran and then returned him to his pokeball after everything was sorted out. He wanted to be out of Mt. Moon as fast as he could and he didn't want to put a strain on Nidoran before they began to train. "Cerulean is actually a week away but since we are going to use the same system that we used in Viridian of training in the mornings and battling in the afternoons as we walk then we are going to take much longer to get there."
He paused as he began to walk on the path, looking for a camping site where he could spend the night. "Pikachu, Riolu and Scyther will work on improving the techniques they already know and increasing their power output but you are going to be battling most of the time. Nidoran, I'm not sure what we are going to work on but I'll look into it in the morning but you will be also battling regularly. Pidgeotto, you are going to finish master Tailwind and work on manipulating the air currents with Aura and work on your endurance, evasion skill, speed and resistance to electric attacks. Gyarados, you keep working on perfecting Ice Beam, Flamethrower and Thunderbolt and start on learning how to fly with you Aura."
Ash saw Riolu and Pikachu nod their head and heard the mental confirmation of his other four Pokemon as he found a campsite and began to walk towards it. "I'll also step up my own training. I want your trainer, and as such, I feel that I need to fight alongside you when these kinds of situations happen. I know you will never let me down and I'm sure as hell going to make sure that I never do it neither," said Ash with tightened fists and red eyes that glowed bright behind his cap.
Riolu saw this and he looked up, smirking he saw the biggest and brightest start in the sky shining brightly, pulsating with the power of Ash's Aura. Arceus did make the best choice for a Chosen One it seemed.
Holy shit that was awesome! So Ash got his first badge (Pretty easily due to being underestimated and his luck at having caught a Gyarados before hand), found a way to make Gyarados even more scary and powerful thanks to his mother, saved and captured a male nidoran from two idiotic trainers and saved and captured even more pokemon from team rocket for his mother's ranch. That pretty much sums it up.
I think the fights were realistic. Riolu is a experienced fighting type that fought against a graveler, a much slower opponent and with a type disadvantage on his favor and a fight with a Gyarados and a Onix I'm sure will go like that most of the time. Rockets pokemon are barely trained since they rely on numbers but Ash's pokemon are so fast they couldn't hit them and they were capable of making a lot of damage so the fight was fast an easy for them. Also there was Gyarados the scare the shit of everyone. Nidoran is a hero and got some kind of revenge since it was also a raticate that was attacking him before Ash interfered and saved him earlier in the chapter.
Riolu (M): Quick Attack, Foresight, Counter, Force Palm, Blaze Kick, Aura Sphere, Low Sweep, Double Kick and Brick Break.
Pikachu (M): Quick Attack, Agility, Double Team, Iron Tail, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave and Electro Ball.
Gyarados (F): Hyper Beam, Hydro Pump, Dragon Rage, Twister, Crunch, Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt.
Scyther (M): Quick Attack, Agility, Double Team, Slash, Fury Cutter, Wing Attack and Pursuit.
Pidgeotto (F): Quick Attack, Agility, Gust, Twister and Wing Attack.
Nidoran (M): Peck, Fury Attack, Double Kick and Poison Sting.
Those are the pokemon on Ash's team but I'm also going to mention the one he had caught and sent to the lab: twenty one spearow and one fearow on his second day as a trainer back in chapter one and four geodude and one graveler, seven sandshrew and two sandslash, five paras and one parasect on this chapter that he also sent to his mother. That means that Ash has caught forty pokemon so far. I don't think he will be doing any more massive capture spree but one never knows.
There is one more chapter you can read! Go on!
