AN: Bam. Late Chapter, as always. Mostly because I only wrote half as much as usual on two particular days. But whatever.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, otherwise Braviary would be available before postgame in BW.
13: The Meeting of Ash Ketchum and Silver
"Now that evacuation has been completed. The self-destruction of the Team Rocket Mahogany Town Secret Base will now initiate. For any remaining Team Rocket members, you have five minutes to escape."
Five minutes until self-destruction? Ash glanced towards Haunter, who was still scanning over the papers. This was not good.
"Haunter! We gotta go!" Ash yelled, banging on the glass. Haunter wasn't moving, instead, he kept on moving through the files. What could be so important that Haunter wasn't hearing him?
How could they get out of here? His Pokémon were looking up at him, probably waiting for him to get the heck out of here.
Shoot. Okay. Getting to the first floor would take longer than five minutes, so that was out. Maybe have Diglett burrow a hole? That would take too long. There had to be some kind of clue…
When he got here, the intruder alert went off and all of the scientists escaped… to the third floor. Why the third? How did they evacuate? And remember what all the Rockets said? I told you the exit wasn't this way. That must mean…
A secret entrance! There must be a secret entrance somewhere! On the third floor, too. But Ash had barely explored this place, and he wasn't paying attention when Dr. Vamba showed him around. And besides…
"Haunter! You've got to get out of there!" Ash pleaded, banging on the glass once more. Haunter remained busy though, somehow not noticing Ash.
"Nidorina Rina…" Nidorina cried, trying to push Ash towards the next hallway.
"Ponytaaa!" Ponyta did the same, nudging Ash in the same direction.
Ash looked at his Pokémon in confusion, "You think Haunter can take care of himself?"
Nidorina and Ponyta nodded, while Diglett gave his equivalent as a yes. Did they know something that he didn't? Ash wanted to stay and get Haunter to come with him, but there wasn't any time to. Besides, he could turn intangible, so he should be fine…
"Fine then, let's go." Ash agreed, taking off as soon as he made his decision.
There was only about three more minutes—though Ash hadn't been counting—and there were no sounds in the base. Everybody must've already left when the evacuation alarm had been sounded. Maybe that should've tipped off Ash, but he had just ignored it. Man…
"Where's the darn exit?!" Ash yelled out in frustration and fear. Everything couldn't end here, to some stupid self destruct feature!
In the past, Ash would just send one of his flying Pokémon to find an exit. But he didn't have one of those, though…
"Diglett!" He realized, causing the ground type to look at him. "Go look for the exit, you can tunnel a lot faster than I can, then come back and find me."
Diglett "nodded" before immediately taking off. Ash hoped Diglett could find it in time, there was basically only a minute left. Ash couldn't be slacking either, he nodded to Nidorina and Ponyta and set off in a different direction than Diglett.
The metal walls were repetitive, so Ash could only hope he wasn't going in circles. In any case, it didn't matter, considering he wasn't finding the exit. It would be really useful if they had signs, right? Such a big base, and no frickin' signs to tell people where to go! Ash was starting to lose hope. This really would be the end of his journey, huh? He hadn't even found Pikachu, or brought the Rocket Trio to justice. They'd manage to get away too (again). This absolutely sucked.
Ash's thoughts were interrupted by… Diglett, who just popped up from the ground. "Diglet Digg,"
Ash looked down on his teammate hopefully, "So did you find the exit?"
"Diglett." Ash had come to recognize that as a yes.
Ash's hopes soared, and he immediately commanded Diglett, "Then let's go!"
Diglett immediately started to move, and Ash followed. He urged Diglett to go quickly, and the little ground type went as fast as it could. On the way, Ash returned to Nidorina and Ponyta. They weren't needed, and Ash was worried that they would slow him down by the exit.
The only one who wasn't here was Haunter. Ash was seriously worried about that. He knew he shouldn't have left the ghost type there.
"This is it?" Ash asked as he approached a dead end. Along the wall, there was a ladder and a heavy-looking metal trapdoor at the top. Well, no backing out now.
"The Mahogany Town Secret Base will now self-destruct, in five…"
Oh, f$&k. In a panicked state, Ash quickly jumped onto one of the first few rungs of the ladder. Realizing he had left Diglett behind, Ash fumbled with his Pokémon and returned it while trying to climb.
"Four."
Ash almost dropped Diglett's pokeball due to his multitasking. That would've been disastrous. With a quick sigh of relief, Ash put his focus back on the ladder in front of him. Because whoever designed this base was a jerk, this, too, was made out of metal. It didn't feel particularly good to climb on, but he persevered.
"Three."
Ash tried to keep calm, putting one hand on top of the other. Despite the fact that he did a lot of walking, his hands weren't all that strong, so climbing a ladder like this? Sheesh. But all the adrenaline and so forth was doing the work for him, and he had made it to the top of the ladder in no time.
"Two."
Furrowing his eyes, Ash grabbed the wheel… thing, and tried to spin it around. That was how these things worked, right? It creaked, but spun surprisingly well. Probably because it had been used recently. Ash spun it until it didn't move anymore.
"One."
Ash felt panicked. He did not have a lot of time. He pushed on the metal door, but it didn't just look heavy. It WAS heavy. Ash struggled, groaning as he tried to push it upwards. Oh, shoot, this was harder than he thought. It was finally starting to budge, however.
"Initiating self-destruct…"
Oh, shoooot! Ash grit his teeth and pushed harder as the trapdoor budged. Ash could hear a beeping booming through the base. His heart was pounding hard as he pushed, but he kept going and pushed the trapdoor over. It was open now. Ash took a deep breath and jumped off of the rung he was on and grabbed the edge of the ground. It was… grass?
Ash pulled himself up—the adrenaline helping severely—and took a look around. He was in a forest, he recognized it. It was the same one that Team Rocket had taken his Pokémon. Ash breathed a few more times, trying to keep his heart from exploding. Jeez, it had just been a little running and climbing.
The adrenaline finally started to wear off and Ash got his bearings. He looked around, spotting the trap door that he had just climbed out of. It was hidden well, packed densely around a grotto and surrounded by grass. It was fairly out of the way, too.
He would've never found it before. Ash knelt down and peered inside. There was a booming sound coming from it. It sounded like…
"It's the self-destruct!" He realized aloud, immediately panicking. There was smoke billowing out of the hole, and Ash quickly struggled to close it. By the basic laws of physics, it was easier to close it than open, and Ash managed to close the trapdoor before anything bad happened.
In the movies, the explosions usually blasted out of the exit and killed anyone close to it. And Ash wasn't really keen on getting explo—
BOOM
Ash's whole body vibrated as an immensely loud noise rang through the forest. It banged him even through the trapdoor, causing him to fall on his back.
"OUCH!" He yelled, his ears still accommodating to the noise. "I'M REAL GLAD I WASN'T IN TH—"
Haunter! Shoot! Haunter was still in there! He probably didn't even know about the self-destruct, and Ash just… left him. His Pokémon said that Haunter could protect itself, but there was no way…
He shouldn't have done it. He could've just broken through the windows or something to alert Haunter. Ash punched the ground, berating himself. One of his Pokémon is almost definitely dead now. He had just gotten his new four, and one of them was… This sucked. It wasn't fair, Haunter didn't deserve that.
"Haunter!" Ash cried, resisting the urge to actually cry. This couldn't be happening… It wasn't like his journey was over, it was just… agh.
Ash was still distraught, but he sensed something was wrong. The sense of being watched again, though whatever it was was in his immediate surroundings. What the heck…? Had one of the Team Rocket members come back to finish him? No way.
"Who is it?" Ash questioned, trying to sound a lot braver than he was right now. He gripped one of his pokeballs, just in case. He wasn't alone. Ash scrambled to his feet, trying to get a look around.
His hairs seemed to be standing up on their ends. It felt like something… paranormal. He hoped he wasn't dealing with ghosts, or ghost type Pokémon. Hey, this feeling was sort of familiar, wasn't it?
The last time he felt it was when he was in Saffron City. Ash began to recount the memory as he moved through the forest cautiously. He'd exited Saffron City out of fear, and wound up in that forest. Then…
Suddenly, a ghostly voice yelled out in front of him, "Hauauaunteer!"
"Aaaaauuuhhh!" Ash yelled out, stumbling back a few steps before tripping on his own legs. The ghostly touch of whatever was there was, was…
Strangely familiar.
"Haunter!" Ash realized, looking up to find his teammate laughing hard. Ash couldn't believe he fell for that again, and that Haunter was alive. "I thought you were dead!"
"Haunter Haunt," Haunter shrugged, before grabbing a paper behind his arms. It was a singular paper, but Ash knew he must've gotten it from the control room. So he was actually successful in that quest? And he must've phased through the walls to get back up here. It was pretty hard to see his dark colors in the night, too, so you could hardly blame Ash…
Ash shook his thoughts back to the present, "So what is it?" He asked, and Haunter gave it to him as if to say 'Take a look at it, yourself'.
Ash accepted it, holding it close to his face so he could see it in the darkness.
"Team Rocket Locations; for reference. Of xx/xx/1998.
Johto
Mahogany Town Secret Base; For experimentation, research, etc. Dr. Namba, Petrel, and Arianna are located there.
Team Rocket Goldenrod Base; undetermined, yet to be taken*. Takeover not completed. Proton, and Archer will be located there.
Kanto
Celadon City Game Corner Secret Base; For money, rare Pokémon collection and shipping, underground Kanto source. Self-automated, Giovanni may be located there.
Route 8 Headquarters; For recruit assignment, grunt location. Receives instructions via computer, Giovanni may be located.
Viridian City Gym; Undetermined, cannot be used.
One, Two, Three. Undisclosed location, higher rank necessary for information on operations.
*Goldenrod City takeover initiated in two weeks. Date may be changed depending on current status of operations. More information on…
Oh, shoot. Some of that was new information, wasn't it? But Ash didn't have time to check it all out, did he? He should get back to the Pokémon Center for some rest.
"If any members of Team Rocket are left in this area. Please come up with your hands up, or we will use force." A voice said, obviously amplified by a megaphone.
Ash recognized that voice.
It was Officer Jenny.
That meant the police were here! But how? Ash wasn't sure how that could be possible, none of the members of Team Rocket would've called. Maybe Dr. Namba, but… And that guy from earlier should still be asleep.
He didn't have time to worry about this! "Haunter, we need to get out of here," he whispered, immediately breaking out into a sprint.
Haunter quickly followed, and despite his fatigue, Ash ran quickly away from his current location. Ash wasn't completely sure where he was going, but he had been in this forest before, so he was sure he'd find his bearings.
Suddenly, Officer Jenny's voice sounded out again, "You. Stop right there. Do not continue to move."
Ash glanced towards his left. Shoot! It was Officer Jenny—probably the one of Mahogany Town that he'd met earlier. And by her side, Ash could hear the barking of her trusty Growlithe. That was definitely a problem, but first…
Ash fished his big, oversized hat out of his bag. He placed it over his regular hat, concealing most of his hair and face just in case. Ash wasn't about to let Jenny see his face. That would lead to more complications for his journeys all over Johto. Man.
Now time to take care of her, "Haunter! Use Hypnosis!" Ash commanded, quiet enough so Officer Jenny wouldn't hear.
Haunter stopped appearing right behind Ash—thank goodness, Ash was beginning to think he'd lost Haunter or something. Turning back, the ghost type sent its hypnotic waves off at the police duo behind him. Facing backwards while running, Ash looked at the situation. Jeez, Officer Jenny was a lot closer than Ash thought she was! Right on their heels, in fact. But Growlithe began to slow down steadily, and before long, it had fallen asleep.
"Growlithe!" Ash could hear Officer Jenny call, and she started to slow down. Her posture began to droop as the Hypnosis began to take effect on her too. Ash recalled that Hypnosis couldn't make humans fall asleep without intense doses of it. It could slur their thoughts and movements though, which was good.
With this, Ash nodded to Haunter and they both sped up, leaving Officer Jenny and Growlithe behind. Phew, that was a close one!
And lucky days! Ash could see the lights of the town ahead. Slowing down slightly, Ash panted heavily and put his big oversized hat back into his backpack. Officer Jenny would probably remember it, so it was better not to wear it while going around town.
"Hey, it was you, wasn't it?"
Ash skidded to a halt to avoid bumping into the stranger in front of him. He hadn't realized it while running, but oh god he was tired. Ash bent down, putting his hands on his knees. He was struggling to look up, but he couldn't just be caught now!
But that wasn't the police wasn't it? Ash tilted his head upwards to finally catch another glimpse of the stranger. He had a nasty glare to his face, but like Arianna, his most striking feature was his crimson red hair. But he was shockingly young, like ten years old or something young.
"You're not the police," Ash managed to say, though he wasn't thinking much when he did.
"Yeah, well, duh." The red-haired boy answered, sounding annoyed.
Ash furrowed his eyes, backing up, "What did you mean? When you said 'it was you'."
"You're the one who took down Team Rocket in their secret base," The stranger answered, coldly. Ash could almost feel… hatred radiating off him? It was odd. You think someone would be glad you took down a criminal organization.
Back on topic, Ash gave a rebuttal instead of a direct answer, "What's it to you?"
"I was going to out Team Rocket! I've been here for weeks, training until I knew I was strong enough. I even knew about their secret entrance, but it was you…"
Ash finally found the energy to stand up straight, and he studied the red-haired boy. He seemed serious about this, "Well, it's not my fault. I want to end Team Rocket too, and you're not gonna stop me."
"You do?" The boy asked, seeming surprised. "I've got to see if you're worthy. Meet me behind the Pokémon Center tomorrow, ten o' clock."
"What?" Ash asked, not keen on spending more time than he had to here. "Why should I do anything for you?"
"I've got information about Team Rocket," he answered quickly. Ash could detect a slight strain on his voice. He was worried, maybe?
But evidence on Team Rocket was valuable, so Ash gave his answer, "I'll do it. This better be worth it."
The boy nodded, walking away while saying, "My name is Silver, and don't you forget it."
Silver, huh? That was not a familiar name. Ash watched the red-haired boy walk, wondering what he could possibly tell him. This had better be good.
But for now, Ash had to get out of here before the police caught up. Geez, that was not a sentence he ever thought he'd say. Ash took off his hat, put Haunter's paper into his backpack—and while he was at it, returned Haunter—and walked as fast as he could towards town without exhausting himself.
…
"Hello. How can I help?" Nurse Joy asked, helpful as ever. It was comforting to be in a Pokémon Center.
Ash nodded towards the pokeballs in his hands, "Could you check up on my Pokémon please? And also, I'd like a room."
Without hesitation, Nurse Joy agreed, "I'd be happy too," she said while taking his pokeballs and putting them on a stretcher. She took a key from a tray and gave it to Ash. "Here's your key. Room 7 should be open for you."
Ash nodded with a smile, heading towards the motel part of the Pokémon Center. Usually he'd wait until the checkup was finished, but he needed the comfort of a comfy bed right now.
"Ash, isn't it?" Nurse Joy suddenly asked, causing Ash to turn on his heels. Shoot! Has she recognized him?
Nurse Joy stayed silent, looking at Ash hopefully. Oh, she was actually asking if he was Ash. Ash answered quickly, "Uh, yes. I'm Ash."
"Oh, it's good to see you're back on your journey. I'm sorry about your Pokémon being stolen by Team Rocket."
Oh. She knew about that? Well, maybe it wasn't too shocking, since it happened in this town. Misty and Brock had probably said something about.
"Thank you," Ash replied, his smile recovering.
Nurse Joy nodded, "Speaking of Team Rocket, I've heard they've been setting up operations in this town. Officer Jenny told me about half an hour ago. With that and the big boom earlier… I hope that doesn't upset your stay here."
So that's how the police were alerted. The self-destruction caused a big commotion, even up here. That made a lot of sense.
"Really? Well, I hope it's taken care of," Ash said, pretending to be clueless.
Nurse Joy smiled before saying her farewells, "Just be safe. Your Pokémon will be back in tiptop shape in just a little while."
Ash nodded, waving before heading back towards the rooms. Nurse Joy was awesome, wasn't she? She was probably tired, too, considering that it was the middle of the night. It was past midnight, actually.
But that was her job, being a Nurse Joy and all. Ash was just grateful that it included free housing. He approached the end of the hallway, where Room 7 was located, and unlocked it using the key. He staggered into the room, throwing his backpack against the wall—and carefully placing his key on a counter—. Ash collapsed onto his bed.
"Man. I need some food." He said to himself, not needing his stomach to growl to realize that.
Being on a comfy bed only served to remind him how tired he was. And when he was tired, he was usually hungry. Ash was too exhausted to get a snack from his backpack though, and he was running low anyway.
Yep, that meant he needed to restock on food. Not much on Pokémon food, thanks to Kendo. But human food and snacks were definitely a need for traveling. That was one thing he needed to do tomorrow.
And he needed to meet with that Silver guy, too. Busy day tomorrow, eh? Ash wondered what his deal was. Silver—whoever he was—seemed like a jerk, to say the least. Why did Ash need to be worthy of taking down Team Rocket? Ash did need information on Team Rocket, though, so it might be worth meeting this guy.
Unless he was lying. Ash hadn't given that much thought. What if Silver was lying or something? Maybe he should stop taking everyone's words as truth. That Dr. Namba has abandoned him, after all. And didn't even tell him about the self-destruction either.
But Ash couldn't abandon Silver now, since he'd already told the red-haired boy that he'd meet up with him. And besides, Silver knew he was involved with Team Rocket. He could tell others, and the police might come after him. Yikes. Definitely not good.
Information on Team Rocket? Something that he definitely needed right now. The talk about Goldenrod on that paper confused Ash immensely. What did they mean? He'd never heard them being in Goldenrod City before. And it said 'undetermined'. So confusing!
Ash stopped thinking for a while. At this point, it wasn't good for his brain, being so tired and all. He was just about to drift off too, before—
"Ash Ketchum. Your Pokémon have passed their checkup. Please come to the front desk to pick them up."
"Are you serious?" Ash asked aloud. That meant he needed to actually get up. From his comfy bed…
Oh well. Being in his sleepy state had gotten him some energy back, so it wasn't too bad. Ash got up from his bed, and was reminded of how tired he was when his stomach growled. "Man, I'm hungry," he stated aloud.
Ash glanced at his backpack, there were a few snacks in there. He opened it quickly, searching through it. His snacks were near the top, since he ate on the road quite frequently. Truthfully, Ash's backpack was quite bulky due to having to carry everything himself—as opposed to sharing space with Misty and Brock—but over the course of like, two weeks, he'd learned to organize it (somewhat). He yoinked out a candy bar while trying not to mess up his organization.
Remembering that he had to pick up his Pokémon, Ash quickly headed out of his room and towards the front desk. Of course, it was an easy task, and he was able to return to bed in just a little bed. He threw his wrapper into a wastebasket and collapsed right back onto the bed.
There was nothing holding him up now. Ash could just head right to sleep, and forgot about all of his troubles for now. Man, this was gonna be a great night of sleep.
—
That absolutely sucked. Ash woke up tired, not physically, but mentally. It wasn't even a Monday! Or, maybe it was. Ash actually wasn't sure. He hadn't been keeping track, and didn't have a reliable source to tell the time.
It felt like he'd only slept for three hours. And of course, he didn't have a reliable way to tell time—not like he would've in his tired state last night—so he wouldn't know. Frustrated with himself, Ash forced himself up.
"Alright guys, come on out," Ash groaned, hoping having his Pokémon out would help.
Nidorina, Ponyta, Diglett and Haunter materialized in front of him. They weren't too big, but as a bunch, they took out a lot of space.
Ash smiled, immediately applauding them, "You guys did an awesome job yesterday. Especially with taking down Arianna's team. They were a lot tougher than I was expecting, but so were you."
His team basked in the compliments, mostly Nidorina. But Ponyta and Haunter seemed to appreciate his compliments. Diglett seemed to be more unresponsive to them, less than usual of course.
"Diglett, you did great too," Ash added, noticing his hesitation. "I should've been paying more attention to that Vileplume. It's not your fault."
Diglett "shrugged" it off with his equivalent of a nod. Ash hoped that would suffice for him. He seemed to have a lot of pride, like Ponyta. But she persevered when Arbok had choked her out, and had defeated the snake.
Ash nodded to himself, "Okay guys, we've got a busy day ahead. Diglett, you should come with me."
Diglett was happy to tag along with Ash, so he quickly got ready. Curse his body, it was like six am when he woke up. That would explain why he felt so tired. On the other hand, that meant Ash had four hours until he would meet Silver behind the Pokémon Center. Ash wondered if that guy was just waiting… If Ash walked around the Pokémon Center right now, would he be there…?
Ash shook the idea off. At least four hours was plenty of time to buy some supplies and the like. Ash returned everyone and made himself presentable—he didn't actually do much, just brushed his teeth and bathed—then headed towards the front desk.
There was nothing of interest in the Pokémon Center, so Ash headed out immediately. As said before, Ash only needed human food for now.
But as he checked his bag for any money, just to find out that he didn't have any. Ash hadn't fought any trainers—and he had kinda rushed through the whole way—so he hadn't gained any since Ecruteak.
Well, he wasn't completely out of money. But Ash realized that he would have to ration if he was to actually survive. He still had some healing supplies left over from his activities the night before, so he was good on that. But he'd need to slow down and get some prize money while battling trainers.
"Talk about lame," Ash said to himself as he thought.
Diglett looked at him with a questioning look, and Ash shrugged him off. Ash had wanted to cook meals like Brock had, but that wasn't happening anytime soon. Maybe he should make more of that soup. He could always pick berries and use scraps to make it, too.
So Ash bought the bare minimum for himself, and moved on. It was no use dwelling on it for too long, otherwise he might get hungry and eat all of his food on the spot.
Ash bent down, facing Diglett, "What do you want to do now?"
There were still two hours until the meeting with Silver. So Ash had to find something else to do. He'd never really gotten ideas from Diglett, before, or talked to him for all that much. Even Ash recognized that he might be moving too fast, but he'd think about it later.
"Diglet," Diglett replied plainly.
Ash cocked his head in confusion, "Uh, you want to do training?"
Diglett did a tiny nod, and Ash nodded to show he understood. "You want to get stronger, huh? I can understand that. Let's do it!"
Was Diglett still bothered about going against Vileplume? He was the only one of everyone to faint the whole time, though Nidorina and Ponyta had come close. But if Diglett wanted to become stronger, Ash would help with that.
So they did some training. Diglett hadn't been too clear on what he wanted to work with, so it was a little bit of everything. They didn't have much time to train either, so they didn't do much.
They did a little of everything. Ash reviewed Diglett's skills, since they hadn't trained in… a day, actually. It was a little harder to remember everything, since so much was happening. Ash had never bothered to notice things like what his Pokémon were good at, actually. So maybe that was why.
Anyways, Ash tried to work on Diglett's speed the most. His attacks were pretty good, especially with Earthquake and Ancient Power, and it was hard to come up with stuff on such a short notice. Though with Diglett's unique body, an obstacle course just wouldn't work for him. Ash basically copied his earlier training plan with Haunter, having Diglett maneuver through trees. It didn't really achieve much, so Ash was kind of feeling they might have wasted their time.
This day really sucked. First Ash woke up early, and felt completely exhausted. Then he was practically broke and had to ration, and next, his training went terribly.
And it probably wasn't going to get better, because it was now time to meet with Silver.
—
"You're late." The red haired boy said coldly while glaring.
Ash tried to return this glare while he replied, "It's been a tough day."
"It's not going to get any better," Silver claimed bitterly. Oh great. That was some great news to top off this already bad day. You'd think that Silver would try and be nice after hearing that, but nope. It had been ten o' clock already when Ash finished "training" Diglett, so he rushed over to the Pokémon Center. True enough, Silver was there exactly like he had said. Glad to know it wasn't a trap, or anything. Well, it still could be, but Ash doubted it.
Ash shook himself out of his thoughts, though his frown remained. "So what do you want to talk about?"
Silver shook his head, "I don't want to talk, I want to battle you."
"Battle me?! Why?" Ash asked, taking a step back at Silver's calm challenge.
"You said you want to finish Team Rocket, too. That's my goal, and I don't want anyone to do it except for me," Silver explained. Ash thought that was kind of selfish, but… "You're strong, though. And you're serious, too, this is personal for you, isn't it? If it's as important to you as it is to me, then I want to battle you. Then I can prove if you're really worthy."
"Uh…" Ash stuttered, not sure how to respond to that.
Silver didn't give him time for a proper response, immediately pressing the issue, "So are you going to battle me?"
"Well, I guess…" Ash responded, still unsure about Silver.
"It doesn't matter," Silver immediately interrupted. "If you're going to try and take down Team Rocket, then you're going to battle me. If you lose, you quit, because you're not worthy."
Ash remembered their conversation from yesterday, and changed the subject slightly, "What about the information? You said that if I met with you, I'd get information on Team Rocket."
Silver smirked slightly before responding, "Then if you win, you get the information. It's simple."
Ash didn't like the smugness in his voice. He sounded real sure, but Ash wasn't about to pass up this chance. Besides, he also wasn't sure he had a choice in battling Silver, based on what he said earlier.
"I accept then, let's do it."
Silver nodded, as if he knew that Ash would accept. "Then let's not waste any time, follow me,"
Ash nodded with uncertainty as Silver began to move. They slowly moved away from the Pokémon Center and away from Mahogany Town as a whole. They approached the east outskirts, towards Blackthorn City. Ash realized that he would've walked this trail if he had been allowed to continue his journey.
Silver suddenly stopped and turned around to face Ash, "We'll battle here," he declared.
"Okay then," Ash said, moving back to create enough space for a battle. There didn't seem to be anything special about the space that Silver had chosen. Maybe he just wanted to be isolated from the rest of the town. Odd.
"Croconaw, defeat this trainer," Silver demanded as he released his first Pokémon. A Croconaw materialized from the boy's pokeball onto the battleground. Ash observed it, but his investigation of Croconaw was cut short by Silver's harsh voice, "Hurry up and send out your Pokémon, unless you're using that Diglett."
Ash furrowed his eyebrows at Silver. Did he have to be so rude? He looked down at Diglett, who was looking down expectantly. "Sorry, I'm not gonna use you. Haunter, you're up first! By the way, this'll have to be a four on four, because I've only got four Pokémon…"
Silver glared at Ash as he rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Fine."
With that over, Ash thought his decision over a little more carefully. Using a ground type—Diglett—against a water type would not be wise. Ash once had a Totodile, Haunter could totally evade its moves. Plus it could confuse Croconaw, too. Ash was assuming it was a hard hitter, though, Haunter would have to try and not get hit.
"Crunch, let's go." Silver commanded.
"Haunter, move out of the way, quick!" Ash yelled as Croconaw closed in.
Silver's sudden command without announcing that the battle had begun was dirty, and surprised Ash. All he could do was command Haunter to dodge, and he didn't have enough time to complain about it. Silver was definitely not a nice guy. Ash's panic could be seen in his commands, telling Haunter to dodge instead of using its phasing ability.
Nevertheless, the battle raged on. Haunter levitated out of the way, but Croconaw changed paths instantly and without command. It snapped its jaw onto Haunter, doing super effective damage as the ghost type cried out in pain. Shoot. Silver was dirty, but he was good.
Uh… Croconaw was not letting go. Despite Haunter's attempts to get away from Croconaw, it held firm. Ash frowned, at least this had given him time to think…
"Phase through to get away," he commanded, he still didn't want Croconaw up close.
Croconaw stumbled as Haunter phased right through its mouth, escaping its grasp. It looked around, confused as to how Haunter had escaped. Silver scowled in surprise? Ash couldn't really tell that guy.
"Haunter! Use Confuse Ray!" Ash yelled, ready to put his strategy into action.
Silver rebutted with a different command, "Hydro Pump!"
Croconaw opened its mouth, and a ridiculous amount of water was blasted out, completely drowning out Haunter's Confuse Ray and disabling it. Haunter tried to move back to dodge, but panicked without Ash's instruction. It was doused with water, and hurt severely.
Shoot. That sucked. He should've used Confuse Ray when Croconaw was up and personal with Crunch. It was too late now, what should he do…?
His mind drifted back to the battle with Jasmine, he needed strategy now, unlike with Arianna. There were times and strategy, and time for pure power. What did Jasmine do when she was backed up into a corner…?
"Haunter, return." Ash said, sending out a return laser. The weak ghost type was struck, and returned to its pokeball. Silver only showed mild interest, the jerk.
But who to use now…? Never mind, Ash knew exactly who. "Nidorina, I choose you!" He yelled out with ecstasy.
Nidorina appeared on the battlefield with a flash of light. Upon seeing its opponent, Nidorina stood up on two legs to match its height. Ash nodded. That was good. For now, he needed pure power.
"Take Down, let's go!" Ash commanded, upon seeing that Silver was waiting for him to make the first move. Odd guy.
Silver reacted immediately, "Hydro Pump!"
Water met Nidorina's skin, but just like they had practiced, the poison type soldiered on. Ash was a bit worried that Take Down wouldn't have the full effect, but impressively, Nidorina didn't let that slow him down at all. She crashed into Croconaw with full power.
Silver reacted faster than Ash thought he would, "Crunch!"
"Poison Sting!" Ash yelled, trying to get the upper hand.
Croconaw tried to bite down on Nidorina, but she lunged forward and stabbed it in the chest with its horn. Impressively, Croconaw didn't let that stop him and he kept his ground before continuing his attack. It landed, causing Nidorina to grimace. Not good. Suddenly, Croconaw flinched, groaning the tiniest bit. Ash smirked while Silver cursed. Poison. Whether it was because of Poison Point or the Poison Sting, who knew?
"Okay! All out attack! But don't use your legs!" Ash commanded next. Nidorina did exactly that, and started barraging it. Crunch, Poison Sting, and Take Down whenever she could. Ash trusted that she would know when to use what. Double Kick would give Croconaw time to react, though, and Ash knew that Silver would capitalize on that opportunity, despite only knowing him for a day.
Silver… seemed to give up. He watched the battle—intently, but didn't give Croconaw any orders. He was probably waiting for an opening, but he sensed there weren't any good ones. Croconaw tried to land any attack it could, but Nidorina just blocked or prevented it. But suddenly, she stopped.
"Is Croconaw…" Ash trailed off, because he was too distracted by Croconaw falling to the ground. He was knocked out.
Silver scowled, returning Croconaw to its pokeball while reprimanding it, "That wasn't good. We'll work on it later."
Geez. What kind of attitude was that? Though Ash did have to compliment Silver. That Croconaw knowing Hydro Pump was a surprise. Ash couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity, though. Like he knew that Croconaw. Whatever.
On the other hand, Silver seemed to be having trouble picking his next Pokémon. He looked frustrated. Ash wondered if Silver really expected Croconaw to do better. It was strong, sure, but Ash wouldn't let his team fall to just one Pokémon. Silver took a glance at Nidorina before choosing his next Pokémon.
"Sneasel, you're up." He declared as he tossed his next pokeball nonchalantly. Out came a Weasel/Cat hybrid. Ash recognized it though, so hopefully this would be easy. He seemed to be using Johto Pokémon, so information was not a problem.
"Ice Beam," Silver commanded, interrupting his thoughts. "Skating technique."
"Huh?" Ash instinctively asked in confusion. Silver provided no explanation. But Ash got the answer to his confusion quickly. Sneasel began to freeze the ground around Nidorina with Ice Beam. After doing so, it smirked and jumped onto its ice paths, skating flawlessly on it.
Silver didn't give Ash a chance to take it in, "Slash, let's go!"
"Slash? Huh… uh, okay! Nidorina, you can handle this! Take it down with a Crunch!"
Nidorina waited for it to come in close, but it was too quick. As it passed by, Sneasel scraped Nidorina's side with its claws, causing her to whine in pain. Ash grimaced. There was no trade off with this strategy.
"Wait," Silver said, as if realizing something. "Icy Wind."
He must be changing moves due to Poison Point. Not that it helped Nidorina. Speaking of, she was pelted with chilly wind, paired with some tiny but hurtful ice shards. She was battered over and over again.
"Move in closer and use Double Kick!" Ash tried, figuring Nidorina would need to get to Sneasel itself.
Silver was a little taken aback, "Double Kick? Sneasel, dodge."
Sneasel skillfully dodged, and looked smug while doing it. Nidorina's teeth crunched down on nothing as Sneasel whizzed by. Despite Sneasel's easy dodges and attacks, it was returned just a second later.
"Why'd you return Sneasel?" Ash asked, honestly confused.
Silver scowled, but gave half an answer. "Double Kick. …Okay, Staravia, go."
Double Kick? Was that a problem or something? Ash could only assume that Sneasel was quite frail, and a super effective attack would do serious damage. Didn't matter now, because Silver had just sent out a Pokémon that Ash had never seen before.
"Staravia, finish it with Aerial Ace." Silver commanded, confident in his abilities.
"Nidorina! Hold on!" Ash demanded, hoping that she could.
This wasn't good. Not at all. Nidorina could tank through attacks, but that Staravia was in the air, and would be hard to attack. Staravia went low, flying across the ground as it kicked up dust. It turned up, almost knocking Nidorina's sturdy frame over, and harming her in the process. Nidorina yelled out in pain, but stayed strong, and landed on the ground with a glare.
"Poison Sting!"
It was Nidorina's only option, but Silver countered it fine. "It's weak. Use Whirlwind."
Nidorina looked fine to Ash. But as it fired its poison tipped barbs, Staravia's winds easily overpowered them and sent them flying straight back at Nidorina. It cried out in pain before its body sprawled out on the floor. Knocked out.
"Nidorina!" Ash exclaimed as he returned the poison type. "But she was doing fine…"
Silver sneered (God, Ash was starting to hate this guy), "You may not be able to tell, but Nidorina wasn't taking all that damage well. Crunch and Hydro Pump did more than you think, even if Croconaw did go out too easily. Now send out your next Pokémon."
He said that all in a condescending tone. Ash wanted to crush this guy, badly. "Haunter, show this guy what's what!"
Haunter reappeared, looking a bit more weak than usual. Was Silver right? Had Croconaw's attacks really done so much damage? No way. Ash believed his Pokémon could power through easily.
"Use Aerial Ace to finish Haunter." Silver said simply, causing Ash to narrow his eyes. No way Haunter would go down so easily.
Fortunately, Staravia wouldn't land that Aerial Ace. "Sucker Punch!"
Copying his earlier strategy from the Olivine Gym, Haunter obeyed and almost teleported to Staravia's side. It decked the bird, causing him to lose focus and fall to the ground. Just like Skarmory. "Aerial Ace," Silver ordered once again, causing confusion amongst Ash and Haunter. Before it hit the ground, Staravia's eyes snapped over and it flapped its wings, slapping the ground to lift off. Somehow, that worked, and it pushed forward, slamming its body into Haunter's.
"How?!" Ash yelled out mistakenly. Even Skarmory hadn't been able to recover from its failed Aerial Ace. That was a flawless recovery, despite how much skill Aerial Ace demanded.
While smirking, Silver replied coolly. "I've trained my Staravia well. What about your Haunter?"
Ash looked down at Haunter, who was lying on the ground limply. It was knocked out, causing Ash to gasp. Silver was right. Aerial Ace was the finishing move. Somewhat angered, Ash returned Haunter. He'd completely wasted Haunter's power. It only got off one attack the whole battle. Silver was good.
"Even though Croconaw didn't do enough, it managed to soften your Pokémon up," Silver muttered, before refocusing. "Who's your next Pokémon?"
Ash but his lip while thinking. The battle had turned from a four versus three to a two versus three. It was in Silver's favor in just a few minutes. He only had Ponyta and Diglett left, so the choice was obvious.
"Ponyta, you're up!"
Ponyta entered the battlefield with a threatening neigh. She was ready for battle. Silver did not switch, opting to keep Staravia out. That was preferable for Ash, so he hoped that the red haired boy would keep the flying type out.
Silver started the battle once again, "Staravia, Whirlwind!"
Ash couldn't really do much as Staravia flapped its wings, sending harsh winds towards Ponyta. She didn't let up, keeping her ground, but it was probably whittling away at her. The only way for Ponyta to hit Staravia up in the ground was Inferno, but it had a terrible aim.
"Staravia, switch to Wing Attack." Silver commanded, seeing that Whirlwind wasn't having the intended effect. She did so, flying around Ponyta and using its wings to do damage.
"Hold on, Ponyta!" Ash ordered, still needing time to think.
Inferno had a terrible aim. But it was his only chance. Silver could attack from afar, so Flame Charge to get faster wouldn't work. He would just switch back to Whirlwind. So Staravia needed to be in a fixed position, where it wouldn't dodge. Wait, that's it!
Back in the battle, Ash could see Ponyta was still being hit by Wing Attacks. Ponyta had accumulated a bunch of scratches and bruises. She wasn't looking great, but Ash finally commanded his Pokémon now, "Dodge it!"
Neighing weakly, Ponyta ran to the side, dodging Staravia's Wing Attack. The bird hadn't been expecting it, and was easily evaded. "After it," Silver commanded simply.
"Keep dodging!" Ash ordered.
Silver glared at Ash as the battle raged on. "Do you think you can win by dodging? Face it. My Staravia has your Ponyta beat, so don't even try."
"I'm not gonna give up! And Ponyta can still win, so don't say that! Ponyta, just keep dodging!" Ash argued back, all but ready to punch this guy in the face.
Ponyta and Staravia continued battling, with Ponyta running away. Ash smiled, Ponyta would've never done this before. Ever since gaining her trust, Ponyta had been a lot more willing to work with him. She was doing a good job of keeping away from Staravia, which was good. Silver had to be getting annoyed by now. Ash glanced back at the trainer, who was watching the battle anxiously. Any second now…
"Staravia, switch to Aerial Ace!" Silver commanded, causing Ash to smirk. Gotcha.
Immediately, the raven haired trainer gave out another command. "Charge up your fire, go!"
Staravia started to gain altitude while Ponyta stopped moving completely and started to heat its body up. The flames on its back became much more intense as it did, causing everyone to sweat. After a few moments, Staravia stopped flying and started its descent. Just what Ash had been waiting for.
"Staravveee!" It shrieked as it flew just inches over the ground at high speeds. Ash bit his lip, this would be close. He had to time this perfectly, or it wouldn't work. Inferno needed to be aimed perfectly to hit Staravia at the speed it was going. Wait, wait…
"Now! Unleash your flame!" Ash suddenly asked, causing the battlefield to be engulfed with flames directly in front of Ponyta. Staravia was scorched immediately, causing it to lose focus and accidentally change directions. It missed Ponyta, shrieking as it hit the ground hard. Staravia struggled for a few seconds, crying out in pain. That was because it was burned now.
Silver was molding quietly, but even still, glaring at Ash with rage. "That was an Inferno… What a powerful attack. And Staravia's burnt now, too. He isn't much use in this battle. Just do whatever you want I guess."
"You're giving up on your Pokémon? Staravia could still win!" Ash replied, though he was happy that his plan had worked.
Silver shook his head, "Just hurry up and KO Staravia, this isn't worth my time."
Ash's smile quickly turned to a frown. This guy was a real jerk, to his Pokémon and to other people. But there was no use complaining about it.
"Flame Charge!" Ash called, and Ponyta obeyed. Glad to finally be able to attack, she charged towards Staravia as her flames engulfed her own body. Staravia was struggling on the ground, but managed to find the strength to flap its wings hard enough for a takeoff, dodging.
"Staravia's still trying, even after all of that?" Ash said aloud, shocked. "Okay Ponyta, I don't think it can fly properly. Use your speed for Flame Charge!"
Staravia tried to fly higher, but it was having trouble flapping its wings consistently. As Ponyta neared, it went for a Hail Mary and dived. It tried to activate Wing Attack, but the effort was wasted, and Flame Charge sent Staravia flying. It hit the ground once again, this time, knocked out.
Returning Staravia, Silver once again reprimanded him. "Staravia, you were useless after that Inferno. Do better next time. Alright, Larvitar, you're up."
A Larvitar? Ash wasn't quite familiar with that one. It was a reptilian Pokémon, though it was standing on two legs. Its limbs were quite stubby and short, and it had a spike on top of its head. To be honest, it didn't look like much of a threat, and it would be much easier to hit than Staravia.
"Okay, Inferno to start it off!" Ash yelled, now familiar with the correct naming for Ponyta's name. Immediately, the fire pony started to heat up.
Silver scoffed, seeming offended. "You won't get me with the same trick two times in a row. Larvitar, dodge and then use Slash!"
"Whoa?! Slash?" Ash replied, surprised. Larvitar made its way across the battlefield in just a few seconds. That was fast! And it dodged to Ponyta's side, ignoring the intense heat before slashing its side. Ponyta cried out in pain, and released its Inferno prematurely. Though she tried to steer it towards Larvitar, it easily avoided it.
Ponyta's cries snapped Ash back to the battle, and he saw an opportunity. "C'mon, Stomp while it's close!"
Ponyta did exactly that, putting its foot down on Larvitar. It worked perfectly, squishing the rock and ground type as it cried out. Ash looked towards Silver, who was… smirking?
"Stone Edge." He commanded coldly.
Larvitar's whimper started as it raised its arms, summoning a flurry of rocks. They flew upwards, battering Ponyta's upper body. She immediately stumbled back, her foot moving off of Larvitar. It recovered quickly, jumping to its feet.
"Ponyta! Are you okay?" Ash asked worriedly. Ponyta had taken a lot of damage, and this certainly wasn't helping.
Before Ponyta could even reply, Silver commanded Larvitar once again. "Slash until it faints."
Larvitar obliged, running to Ponyta's side once again. It used its razor sharp claws to strike her once again, causing her to cry out in pain. Ash could only watch as
Larvitar jumped over the fire type pony, striking it once again. Ponyta tried to knock it away, but Larvitar was too fast and agile.
"I've got an idea! Use Flame Charge to match its speed!" Ash yelled, remembering that Flame Charge increased speed.
Silver chuckled, finding that funny, apparently, "Your Ponyta can't match my Larvitar! Dodge it and use Stone Edge once again."
Ponyta's flame was engulfed with flame, powered by its annoyance at Larvitar. It charged forward at the rock type Pokémon, but it instantly vanished out of the way. Confused, Ponyta stopped its march and looked away, its fire distinguishing.
"Behind you!" Ash warned, but it was too late.
Stones buttered Ponyta once again, and Ash was starting to get worried. She was getting pushed to her limits, and wasn't landing a hit. Ponyta looked like she could fall in one more move. And to make things worse, Larvitar was way faster than Ash could have ever expected. He'd dodged Ponyta, and she'd improved her speed already!
"Ponyta! You can't let that Larvitar get to you! Flame Charge once more!" Ash commanded, confident that his Pokémon would succeed.
Silver smirked confidently, "You still think your Ponyta stands a chance? Larvitar, match it with Stomping Tantrum."
Ponyta struggled to stand up, but her anger at Silver fueled her next move. Ash still believed in her, so she could still fight! That Silver would learn his lesson. Flame engulfed her body once more as she prepared for one last hurrah. Her legs felt like they would give in at any point, but she forced herself to go. Ponyta charged at Larvitar with all of her strength.
On the other hand, Larvitar smirked knowingly. It didn't seem worried at all as Ponyta charged. It stomped on the ground, causing a small quake. It started to stomp rapidly, causing more intense quakes before it finally charged. As it did, the quakes began to radiate towards Ponyta, slowing it down. Ponyta was caught off balance as Lavitar jumped towards it and they both clashed. The fire on her back blazed out of control as she fought with all her might. Both Ash and Silver shielded their eyes.
"Ponyta! Are you okay?" Ash yelled, trying to reach his Pokémon. No response. He uncovered his eyes to see what had happened. After all the dust cleared, Ash could see Larvitar standing victorious over a limp Ponyta. He'd won the face off.
"Looks like my Larvitar won," Silver taunted with his ever present smirk. Like trainer, like Pokémon. Speaking of Pokémon…
Larvitar suddenly yelled out, "Laaaaarrrvvv!" causing everyone to look at it. Suddenly, it started to glow white. A stoney shell started to encase Larvitar as it grew to a new size. Though as the glowing subsided, Ash couldn't see its new form. The reasoning being that it was in a gray cocoon now. It's cocoon had the same facial features of the original Larvitar, though, so…
"Larvitar evolved into Pupitar." Silver stated, his smirk remaining. "There's no hope for you to defeat me now."
Ash gritted his teeth. This wasn't a great development. Of course, Ash was happy that Larvitar was able to evolve, but did it have to be now? Of course, that meant Ash had to beat Sneasel and Pupitar with just Diglett. He had the type disadvantage against Sneasel, and had barely done any damage to Pupitar and Sneasel. A tried and true two versus one, but…
"Nah!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, a smirk on his face. "I know Diglett can do it! Diglett, you think you can do it too, right?"
Diglett replied with a stoic "Diglett".
Ash nodded before looking back at Silver with a smirk, "See? Diglett knows it can do it, and I'm not going to give up just because it seems hopeless. Alright Diglett, get out there and use Ancient Power!"
Silver seemed to have lost his composure for just a second at Ash's jab at him. He had basically insulted his strategy with Staravia. Silver glared at Ash bitterly, but in the process, had let his guard down. This allowed Pupitar to get hit by the Ancient Power.
"A direct hit!" Ash exclaimed confidently.
The boulders, however, broke against Pupitar's skin. Each one of the rocks only scratched Pupitar's rough hide, causing Ash to physically recoil. "That's strong…" he said, in awe.
"See? You can't win. Just give up." Silver reprimanded.
"Dig!" Diglett suddenly yelled, interrupting their conversation. He had a determined look in his eyes, and Ash's shock faded away. They could still win!
Ash replied to Diglett with gusto, "You've got it Diglett, Headbutt, go!"
Diglett made its way across the room with incredible speed, catching both Silver and Pupitar off guard. He rammed his head into Pupitar's rough hide, causing the ground type to recoil. It didn't do much damage, but…
"There's no way!" Silver yelled out, "Diglett can't move that fast. You must've gotten the stat boost from Ancient Power, lucky…"
"It's not luck!" Ash argued, "Diglett and I want to win, and so we'll win!"
Silver seemed angered, "Shut up! Pupitar, use Bit—"
"Sucker Punch!" Ash interrupted.
Diglett appeared right in front of Pupitar before it could initiate Bite. It rammed its head into Pupitar's rough skin once more, but to more effect than before. Pupitar didn't physically react, but Ash could see that it was doing damage. Silver was livid.
"Bite anyways!" Silver commanded, not letting up.
Ash had a plan, though. "Get away from Pupitar! It can't get you!"
Pupitar might've evolved, but with that cocoon-like body, it didn't have any legs! There was no way it could keep up with Diglett, especially now. Diglett moved away at high speeds, but Ash was shocked to see Pupitar hopping after it, just as quick as Larvitar had moved before! Due to Ash's shock, he didn't warn Diglett, and Pupitar was able to land its Bite attack.
"Earthquake, go!"
It might not have been the original plan. But now that Pupitar was up close…
As the earth quaked, and the ground type energy surged through the cracks in the ground, striking Pupitar. It immediately let go; Ash was definitely doing damage! It fell to the floor, helpless as it was being battered, and couldn't possibly stand.
"It won't work!" Silver exclaimed, confident in Pupitar's abilities. "Pupitar's skin is too tough to be punctured by an attack like that."
Ash shook his head, "We can do it! Diglett, finish it off once and for all! Earthquaakeeee!"
Diglett yelled out a battle cry as it turned the power up. The ground type energy started to burst forth from the ground, as if it was water from a geyser. After being battered by the shaking ground, Pupitar was struck by Diglett's power and sent flying into the air.
"No way…" Silver muttered, in disbelief of Diglett's power. Ash smirked as Pupitar fell back towards the ground, face up. Everyone could see that it was knocked out. "You really did pierce its skin. And I thought… urgh. Lucky break."
"I told you!" Ash replied angrily, "It's no luck! Me and Diglett are gonna win, and that's just how it's gonna be!"
"You may have had the enhanced stats," Silver admitted bitterly. "But now I'll have the type advantage! Sneasel, hurry up and finish them."
Good. Silver was riled up now, compared to his calm composure from the start of the battle. He was liable to make mistakes, or something. Ash didn't actually plan this far.
"Ice Rink, now!" Silver commanded, replicating his earlier strategy. Sneasel froze the battlefield over, skating perfectly. "Now Slash!"
Sneasel went in for the hit, but Ash had other ideas. "Into the ground, and stay there!"
Diglett retreated back into the ground, safely dodging Sneasel's Slash. It wasn't going to be that easy to get him. Ash figured that this would give him a chance to think. Sneasel's Ice Rink trick would be hard to counter. It was pretty much as fast as Diglett with that trick, and that wasn't good at all. Diglett would probably get hit multiple times before it could land anything. Sucker Punch was its only chance, and it wouldn't do much damage. Diglett could use Earthquake from below, but it would damage him too…
Silver suddenly interrupted his thinking, "That won't work. Sneasel, Icy Wind."
The wind suddenly grew a few times colder. Ash shivered as it blew against his face. How was this going to affect Diglett? His question was answered as Sneasel aimed its Icy Wind towards the ground.
Suddenly, Diglett popped out of the ground. "Digleeeett!" It cried, Ash noticed it was shivering! Was Sneasel really that good? Jeez.
"Slash."
Sneasel quit its Icy Wind, skating over to Diglett in just a few seconds. It's claws dug into Diglett's vulnerable skin, leaving scars in just a matter of a second. Diglett cried out in immense pain, though it was cut off as it was slashed again by Sneasel passing by. This couldn't keep going like that!
"C'mon! There's gotta be something!" Ash muttered, holding his head in his hands. Think! He needed to interrupt Sneasel's ice skating. Earthquake would crack the ice, but it wasn't a permanent fix. He needed to disrupt Sneasel permanently, otherwise it would rack up more damage! How…
"I've got it!" Ash yelled out, apparently enlightened. "Diglett, spread large rocks all over the battlefield with Ancient Power!"
Diglett was confused, but it didn't have anything better to try. It's eyes glowing, Diglett displaced the battlefield, hardening the sediments into solid rock. He took as much as possible, to make bigger boulders, placing them all over the battlefield. It was basically a maze of rocks and holes, to which even Sneasel couldn't navigate. It smacked into a rock immediately.
"What the?" Silver gasped, surprised by that strategy. It had blocked his view of the battle off, but he had an idea of what was going on. "Sneasil, get on top of the boulders!"
Recovering from the hit, Sneasil got on its feet and made a large leap. He jumped the top of the boulder in front of him, but immediately slipped off.
"What happened?" Silver asked, frustrated.
Ash, who could see everything, answered with a smirk. "Diglett made the top of the boulders using the ice that Sneasil froze the ground with. And since it's a round object, Sneasil can't stand on it!"
Silver cussed not so silently, and Ash sensed that he should stop playing with his food. Diglett had taken a lot of damage in the process, but they'd managed to outsmart Silver!
"Finish it off with an Earthquake, full power!" Ash yelled out, ready to end the battle.
Diglett unleashed everything it had, fueled by its will. It didn't want to be useless, like the battle with Arianna. He'd contribute even more, starting now, with his second KO of the battle!
Sneasel was blasted into the air by a burst of orange light, courtesy of Diglett's powerful Earthquake. Its attack stat being boosted due to Ancient Power did all the more damage, and Sneasel's body went limp. The boulders started to break apart into pieces, falling mercilessly on Sneasel as soon as it fell to the ground. As the battlefield started to clear up, Sneasel's body was revealed. Diglett was clearly conscious, but Sneasel…
"Tch. Still so fragile." Silver scoffed as he returned the unconscious Pokémon into its ball. That meant… Ash had won the battle!
"You did it! Diglett! You're awesome!" Ash yelled, raising his hands in celebration! He ran towards Diglett, wrapping it in an awkward hug. It was sort of hard to hug a Diglett, y'know?
"Diglett!" Diglett replied, celebrating with Ash. Suddenly, it burst into a glow. The sediments in the ground started to bleed into Diglett's body, causing it to expand. Ash's arms shifted to accommodate for Diglett's glowing size. Ash could feel the life of Diglett being stretched into three different beings. The glowing subsided, revealing…
"Dugtrio! Duuggg!"
Ash looked at his newly evolved Pokémon, grinning. "Awesome! Congrats on evolving!"
"Impressive." Silver said, causing Ash to look at the red haired boy. He walked in front of Ash, looking down on him. "Only Four Pokémon could be a liability, but…"
Silver looked at Ash cautiously, as if thinking. "That settles it. I'm going to travel, and take down Team Rocket with you!"
AN: Plot twist. Wowzaaaaa! Yeah, so Silver's here I guess. He was never in the actual anime, which is kinda weird. But neither was Wally, or other rival characters, so eh. Be on the lookout for the next chapter.
