I would like to apologize for the extremely late update. A lot has been going on in real life and i will have to go through surgery next month. I will try to upload another chapter before my surgery and am unable to for 2 to 4 weeks but I can't make any promises. Anyway please enjoy this new chapter. Love you guys
Chapter 10 Trouble at Mt. Moon
It has been five days since Brock joined the group and he got along with everyone very well. The group learned he was an amazing chief and took it upon himself to cook every meal while on the road. And with Nikki's help Brock deduced what type of food each of the group's Pokemon liked…except for Pikachu. Though it would have been hard for anyone to guess the little mouse's obsession with ketchup. Brock and Nikki decided to work together combining her mother's recipe and his own to create a batch of Pokemon food for each individual Pokemon in the group. Storm likes hers sweet, Spike likes his bitter, Blaze likes hers spicy. The list went on. Brock instantly became as popular as Nikki with the Pokemon because of his cooking ability. Brock was also surprised by some of the things he learned from his new traveling companions.
First there was Ash. He was impressed by this trainer from their gym battle but more so when he learned about his and Nikki's ability to speak with Pokemon. He instantly requested lessons in Poke-ese and was disappointed when Ash and Nikki pointed out that they just simply couldn't teach him as they really didn't know how they do it. But they promised to translate for him whenever he needed it.
Second there was Nikki. He was also impressed by her during their battle. She seemed a little socially awkward but a nice girl all around, he wouldn't hit on her mainly because of the age difference. Upon learning that she is on the autism spectrum he took it upon himself to act more like a big brother to her to help her with people since she seemed more comfortable with Pokemon, Ash, and Flora. Though he was extremely jealous to learn she had a crush on Ash, not because he fancied Nikki, but more so because he had always dreamed about finding his soul mate. And to learn that a kid six years younger than him has a girl in the palm of his hand along with the greatest amount of density to accompany it. Well, it was upsetting to say the least.
Third was Flora. A sweet soft-spoken girl who cared very much for her Pokemon. She was often the ref of the fights between Ash and Misty while trying to help Nikki learn how to be social without meaning to sound rude. Just watching how she interacts with her Pokemon and their traveling companions he could tell that Flora didn't want to challenge the gyms like Ash and Nikki. She seemed more focused on how the moves look and fashion. He had to try to avoid a swing from Nikki when he laughed when Flora suggested that Nikki try on a different kind of dress at the next Battle Chateau.
Fourth and lastly was Misty. He learned about their first encounter and by watching them saw how Ash and Misty fight like cats and dogs. However, after the third bickering fight between Ash and Misty Brock felt like he was at home. The fighting siblings, the cooking for everyone, and trying to help his little sister with dating advice. Except now he can focus on his dream to become the world's best Pokemon breeder.
It was about midday. The group was sitting in a Pokemon Center about half a mile from the entrance to Mt. Moon. They had mostly finished eating except Ash who was finishing his fourth bowl. The group saw the first of many instances of Brock's flirtatious side when they entered the Pokemon Center and saw him attempt to 'whew' Nurse Joy. Which resulted in Ash, Pikachu, Nikki, Storm, and Spike sweat dropping and Misty and Flora getting annoyed and dragging him off, each pulling him by one ear.
"Alright, guys. We can either wait here until tomorrow and have a full day to explore Mt. Moon." Brock explained. "Or we can set off today, but we will be pressed for time."
"I…er…I think…" Flora said nervously trying to speak. She wasn't fond of the idea of going into a dark creepy cave. It sounds like going now and getting it over with was the best option to her.
"I say we head off right away." Ash said. "The sooner we leave the sooner we get to Cerulean City and my and Nikki's second gym badge."
"And my and Flora's Chateau battle." Nikki said with a grin.
"Hey, I know." Misty said, butting in. "Why don't we skip Mt. Moon and Cerulean City altogether and head south to Vermillion instead."
"Why would we do that?" Nikki asked with an eyebrow raised. Misty had been acting weird ever since they decided on going to Cerulean and now, she was trying to keep them from the gym and Battle Chateau there. And she knew that this had been irritating Ash since she made it known that she didn't want to go to Cerulean.
"Cerulean City is full of nasty bugs and creepy ghosts." Misty said lying to them. "Vermillion has its own gym and it is by the beach and…"
"I don't think Cerulean has ever been home to many bug or ghost type Pokemon." Brock says stopping her as he reads a guidebook he had packed.
"Yeah, and Cerulean has a gym not to mention a Battle Chateau for Nikki and Flora to compete in." Ash added.
"Besides, I heard that Cerulean is a water specialist gym. I would've thought you would jump at the chance to go." Flora said, jumping in. "You do want to become a water Pokemon master, right?" Misty sweat dropped. She really didn't want to reveal her real reason. Since Misty didn't respond.
"Guess that settles it." Nikki said with a grin. "Mt. Moon here we come." She said excitedly as she jumped to her feet. Pikachu looked up from his bottle of ketchup he was finishing off. He wasn't exactly ready to say goodbye to the source bottle of goodness.
Once Ash convinced Pikachu to finish his…meal. The group packed up and set off towards Mt. Moon.
It was about a half hour to two as the group could see the entrance to M.t Moon.
"There it is!" Ash shouted excitedly as they closed in. Nikki grinned and she and Ash took off running. Flora just giggled as she and Spike ran after them.
"Hey, Ash, Nikki! Wait up!" Brock shouted as he tried to catch up. Misty sighed wondering what the big rush was to get to Cerulean City anyway but nevertheless she ran after them as well.
As Ash and Pikachu got closer to the cave entrance, they noticed something strange. Light was coming from inside the cave. They went closer to the cave until an ear-piercing noise stopped them in their tracks followed by a bunch of blue bats swarming around them.
"ASH! WATCH OUT!" Nikki shouted in fear. Though her voice couldn't be heard over the supersonic waves from the bats. Nikki pulled out her pokedex:
Zubat, the Bat Pokemon. Zubat avoids sunlight because exposure causes it to become unhealthy. During the daytime, it stays in caves or under the eaves of old houses, sleeping while hanging upside down. Forms colonies in perpetually dark places. Uses ultrasonic eaves to identify and approach targets.
Ash covered his ears falling to his knees. It looked like he was screaming in pain but again couldn't be heard over the supersonic. Getting desperate Ash opened his eyes to try to find a way out. But then he saw Pikachu covering his ears with electric sparks flickering out of his cheeks. It was then that Ash got an UNBELIEVABLY bad idea. One that would definitely hurt.
"PIKACHU! LET IT RIP!" Ash shouted as he braced himself. Pikachu may or may not have heard him, but he couldn't bear the supersonic for another second.
"SSSSSTTTTOOOOOPPPPPP!" Pikachu shouted as he finally released an electric shock. It caught all of the Zubat in the blast along with Ash. After about ten seconds Pikachu finally stopped and felon the ground exhausted. "Nighty night." Pikachu said before closing his eyes. Ash was still trying to recover from the shock with static through his body making him stiff all over.
"Pikachu…Your power is even more shocking than last…time." Ash said joking painfully as he fell next to Pikachu. Nikki ran to Ash and Pikachu to check if they were okay. She couldn't really get onto him for being reckless as there was no way to tell of the ambush.
While she was putting Ash in a recovery position, she could see Brock moving out of the corner of her eye. He threw a pokeball and it looked like he was catching a Pokemon rather than sending one out. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard a pokeball ding showing a successful catch. As she stayed put trying to help Ash and Pikachu now with Flora's help she watched as Brock walked over and picked up the pokeball. Instead of doing a pose like what Ash and Nikki do when they catch a Pokemon he simply smiled and calmly released the Pokemon, which was one of the Zubat. He introduced himself to the little bat with a friendly smile and took out a medical kit. He healed the little bat with a potion and a paralyze heal. Turns out he was paralyzed from Pikachu's electric attack. After his new Pokemon was healed, Brock came over to Nikki, Storm, Spike, and Flora to help with Ash and Pikachu.
"Congrates, Brock." Nikki and Flora said together as Brock sat down and checked over the two exhausted males.
"Yeah, Brock, congratulations on your catch." Misty said, smiling as she walked towards the group. "But why did you decide to catch a Zubat?" Her tone wasn't judgmental like when Caterpie was caught but more curious.
"It's simple really. I read in an article that claimed to get a Zubat to evolve into its final form, Crobat, takes a skilled breeder." Brock explained. "I figured it would be a great way to test my progress."
It took about 15 minutes, but Ash and Pikachu recovered. Though they weren't as energetic as before. Now with everything set they decided to head into the cave. As they set off a little pink ball Pokemon which seemed to be holding some sort of microphone watched from the bushes. It smiled happily as she walked after them. Finally, an audience to perform for.
As the group were walking through the cave, they learned that the normally dark cave had light because of man made lanterns set on the walls. This was really bad as it was disturbing the Pokemon who lived in the cave. The Zubat were going mad as they relied on the dark to cover themselves while they hunted prey with supersonic. The flames in the lanterns also made the narrow cave path quite hot which was drying out Pokemon like Paras and Geodude. Granted it did make the group's job of finding their way through easier but it wasn't worth the suffering of the Pokemon.
"This is awful! Whoever put these lanterns up are causing great pain to the Pokemon who live here." Brock said in anger. He hated seeing wild Pokemon in pain. He was currently borrowing Misty's Staryu to rehydrate a group of Paras.
"I know what you mean. Whoever put these lanterns up doesn't seem to care what they are doing to the Pokemon." Flora said hissing. She may not be a big fan of wandering around dark caves but she would rather do that than to see Pokemon suffering like this.
"I say we take down all of the lanterns! To help the Pokemon!" Ash and Nikki said together with determination in their voice.
"Right there with you two!" Pikachu and Storm declared with equal determination.
"Oh? And just how do you both propose we do that?" Misty asked with a hand on her hip. She wanted to help the Pokemon too but if they stopped to take down each lantern they could get injured or the people that put them up could find them.
"That…" Nikki started to say with enthusiasm like she seemed to have come up with a plan. "…is a really good question. Maybe we could have our Pokemon help up. Misty your Staryu could put the lanterns out with its Water Gun." Nikki said while Ash was trying to come up with a plan. Pikachu and Storm saw what looked like a metal wire connecting all of the lanterns. Pikachu gave an evil smirk while motioning for Storm to follow him.
"Misty is right you two. If we try anything we could get burned by the lanterns or alert the people who put them up." Brock said with reason as he saw the hydrated Paras cower in a small hole in the wall.
"Maybe." Ash said with a sad sigh. "But we can't just leave the lanterns up for the Pokemon to suffer." Pikachu and Storm heard the conversation, but they didn't pay much attention. They both hated to see Pokemon suffering. Pikachu had suffered at the hands of his last trainer and Storm had suffered at the hands of Team Rocket. They wanted to help the Pokemon. As the colorful debate went back and forth Flora was silently trying to think of a plan while it seemed to be Brock and Misty VS Ash and Nikki. Pikachu and Storm happily climbed up Ash's body to the top of his head where they could reach one of the wires.
"Hey guys. What are Pikachu and Storm doing?" Flora asked in confusion, and everyone turned to the two electric types as they were reaching for the wire. But before anyone could say a word Pikachu and Storm touched the wire and sent a combined powerful electric shock through it with mini sparks coming off their cheeks.
"Oppsie." Pikachu said with sarcasm.
"Aw I'm sorry did you all not want us to do that?" Storm asked with equal sarcasm as the electricity ran through the wire on the wall destroying all of the lanterns one after another. Ash and Nikki smiled. Sure, the lanterns were still on the wall, but they can't be relit thanks to the damage.
"Well, that's the lanterns dealt with. And I'm sure if we continue through this cave we will find whoever put the lanterns up." Ash reasoned as he turned to face deeper into the cave.
"A-Ash, are you sure that that's a good idea?" Flora asked nervously. It was one thing to help Pokemon in need, but another to take on bad people deliberately.
"I'm with Flora, Ash." Brock said. "This could be dangerous."
"Maybe it is dangerous, but we can't just stand here and do nothing! Who knows what else they will do to hurt the Pokemon here!" Nikki said, snapping as she took Ash's side.
"Besides, we need to go through the cave anyway to make our way to Cerulean." Hearing this Brock and Flora sighed.
"Alright, Ash, Nikki, I know I can't stop you both but I won't let you do this by yourselves." Flora said, smiling as she joined their sides.
"Thanks, Flora." Ash said with a grin.
"You are the best." Nikki said smiling. Hearing Ash and Nikki's praises caused Flora to blush but since it was now dark in the cave no one could see her red cheeks.
"Okay you two. I'm not a fan of this idea at all, but if we move now maybe we'll have the element of surprise." Brock said as he joined Ash and Nikki's side. Misty sighed. Great, she could either stay here by herself or go with them.
"FINE!" Misty said very clearly not happy about this. "I suppose I can help you too."
"Great, now all we need to do is follow the lanterns and we'll find whoever is behind this." Ash said happily. It was simple. What could go wrong?
"And just what makes you think we can follow them now?" Misty asked, clearly annoyed. "In case you haven't noticed it's hard to see anything past our noses without any light." Ash let out an acknowledging grunt. He hated to admit it, but Misty did have a point.
"We can handle this." Nikki said as she grabbed a pokeball from her belt. "Blaze, come on out!" Nikki released her little fire lizard who landed with a happy growl. "Can you make your tail a little brighter so we can see where we're going?" Blaze nodded and the flame at the end of her tail grew a little brighter giving them a decent light source.
With that the group set off down the cave path ready to avenge the wild Pokemon who had been hurt.
After what seemed like forever the group could hear voices ahead of them and it sounded familiar to Ash, Nikki, Flora, and Misty.
"Team Rocket." Nikki hissed under her breath.
Both Pikachu and Storm growled threateningly. "The three dumb-teers again."
"Murderers." Storm growls. Ash wanted to chuckle at Pikachu's nickname for them but this is serious. They must be the ones who put up the lanterns.
"Um…What's a Team Rocket?" Brock asked, being the only one who hasn't met them yet.
"They are Pokemon thieves. The ones who attacked Viridian City's Pokemon Center." Nikki explained in anger. She hated them.
"YOU MEAN THEY ARE THE ONES WHO PUT MY BEAUTIFUL NURSE JOY IN DANGER?!" Brock asked in anger. Everyone in the group sweat dropped. So much for the element of surprise.
"Hey…did you guys hear something?" James asked stupidly.
"No, I've got the ability Soundproof." Jessie said sarcastically.
"Ya know Soundproof doesn't mean the Pokemon is deaf." Meowth said, trying to sound intelligent.
"NO? WELL, YOU WILL BE DEAF IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP AND INVESTIGATE THAT NOISE!" Jessie yelled raging. First the lights they set up blow out and now these idiots are standing around instead of doing their jobs.
Now scared for his life Meowth quickly shut his mouth and turned to walk to the source of the noise. As he turned around the corner Meowth spotted the group as they were trying to silence Brock by covering his mouth.
"Guys! It's the twerps with the Pikachu and Pichu!" Meowth said, raising the alarm. The group sweat dropped but it was too late to try to get the element of surprise now. Jessie and James both ran to aid Meowth. They have bags on their backs filled with these weird looking rocks. They frowned when they saw the group was their opponents.
"Prepare for trouble." Jessie said.
"Make it double." James said.
"To protect the world from devastation." Jessie said.
"To unite all people within our nation." James said.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love." Jessie said while striking a dramatic pose.
"To extend our reach to the stars above." James said while striking a dramatic pose.
"Jessie."
"James."
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light." Jessie said while making one final pose.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight." James said while making one last pose.
"Meowth. That's right." Meowth said at the end. While the others were 'use' to the…performance…Brock wasn't and had a massive sweat drop.
"Umm…What was that all about, guys?" Brock asked in a hushed tone. Ash sighed before Nikki could answer.
"To be honest we have no clue." Nikki explained as she shook her head.
"HEY! WE ARE TALKING!" Jessie screamed as she raged. "Ekans, teach them a lesson in manners!" Jessie's pokeball opened up and her poison snake Pokemon appeared.
"Koffing, join the fight!" James said while releasing his poison type.
Team Rocket VS The Group (P. 1)
"Alright, Blaze, You ready?" Nikki asked her little fire lizard as Storm jumped down from her shoulder. Blaze was winded from having her tail flame burning brighter but she could still fight. Storm had sparks coming from her cheeks as she growled menacingly at Team Rocket. "Storm, What are you doing?"Nikki asked worriedly. She knew Storm wanted to avenge her parents deaths at the hands of these Team Rocket members but she wasn't strong enough to battle alone. Storm turned to look at Nikki.
"I'm going to take these murders down!" But as Storm's back was turned Team Rocket took full advantage of the situation.
"Wrap that rat, Ekans!" Jessie spat. Ekans sprang into action and wrapped itself around Storm.
"Storm!" Nikki screamed in horror as she took off running towards Ekans to save her Electric type.
"No you don't!" James yelled. "Koffing, tackle that stupid kid." Koffing stayed still for a moment before taking off at an incredible speed. But Nikki saw it coming. She dropped to her knees sliding underneath Koffing as it flew over her. She hopped back onto her feet as she got closer to Ekans.
"Let go of my Storm!" Nikki screamed as she tried to pry Ekans off of Storm.
"Ekans, slam that kid into the dirt where she belongs." Jessie said with a hiss of glee. Ekans unwrapped the lower half of its body and slammed its tail into Nikki, sending her rolling into the floor of the cave knocking her out. Storm saw this happening and she saw red. She turned looking at Ekans as her cheeks were sparking.
"How dare you attack my mama!" Storm shouted as she let out a powerful thundershock, shocking Ekans enough to cause it to let her go. But as Storm fell to the ground she began to glow white. Flora and Brock gasped seeing this.
"Storm is evolving!" Flora says in wonder. After a few seconds Storm was gone and a Pikachu stood in her place.
"Nikki!" Ash shouted in fear as he watched Storm, Spike and Blaze get in front of Nikki to defend her while she was knocked out. Then Ash narrowed his eyes. No one hurts his friends like that. There was a hint of blue in his pupils. The look he shot at Team Rocket was enough to send shivers down their spines. "Butterfree, help me out!" Butterfree appeared and his eyes also had a blue glow for a brief moment before stopping a second later almost like he tried to use a Confusion attack although no one saw it.
But what no one saw was Nikki's body very lightly glowing blue before Ash's body had the same faint glow. Butterfree in turn got the same faint glow around his body. It felt like he just got a double boost of power from nowhere.
"A-ash…I feel…Like I got a double boost of power." Butterfree tried to explain, sounding scared. Where was this double boost of power coming from?
"Good." Ash said with a smirk, although it didn't sound like it was Ash talking.
"Geodude, help us out!" Brock shouted as he released his rock type. Butterfree shock his head and decided that he would worry about the power boost another time. Right now he had a battle to win.
Team Rocket VS The Group (P. 2)
"Ha, you little runts really think you have the power to stop us?" James asked, laughing evilly.
"Confusion!" Ash shouted in a booming voice. Misty and Flora were busy checking on Nikki and even they looked over since it didn't sound like Ash at all.
'Wrap Ekans around Koffing.' Ash thought. Butterfree seemed to be able to hear the thought and followed Ash's instruction. Once Ekans was wrapped around Koffing in a neat little bow, Brock saw his chance.
"Tackle them, Geodude!" Geodude followed the instructions of his trainer and threw itself at the two struggling poison types. The force of the tackle sent them flying at Team Rocket. When the two poison types hit Jessie and James a bunch of rocks in bags on their backs fell out.
"Oh no! We have to get our fossils back!" Meowth said, panicking. But Ash wasn't going to give them the chance to get them back.
"Use Gust!" Ash shouted. "And send them flying, Butterfree!" Butterfree nodded and began flapping his wings with incredible power that created an equally powerful gust. One that Pidgeotto would be proud of albeit a little jealous of as well. The powerful Gust picked up Team Rocket and sent them flying through a hole in the ceiling of the cave. And four more rocks also fell. But the most shocking thing was Ash fainting.
After what seemed like hours Ash finally came too. They were outside Mt. Moon on the Cerulean side. Ash was laying on his sleeping bag with a wet washcloth on his forehead. He had to blink a few times as his vision returned he found Pikachu, Butterfree, and Pidgeotto all surrounding him. As Ash sat up slowly he had to grab his head as he had a pounding headache.
"ASH IS AWAKE!" Pikachu and Butterfree screamed in joy and Pidgeotto just smiled. Pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder and rubbed his cheek against Ash. Butterfree tackled Ash in his stomach and sobbed something but Ash couldn't make out what he said. Pidgeotto gilded onto Ash's other shoulder and asked if he was okay, just to make sure.
With the Pokemon's outburst it alerted the other trainers. As soon as Nikki saw that Ash was awake she charged and tackled Ash into a massive hug. She had failed to protect Storm but Ash protected her and her Pokemon. Nikki got a massive rush of affection towards him. The affection was almost strong enough for her to confess. Nikki blushed a little with that. Key word 'almost' so not quite there yet. Brock also came over at a much slower and organized pace.
"Hey, Ash." Brock said with a friendly smile. "How are ya feeling?"
"I've been better." Ash said with a grunt. Hearing the grunt caused Nikki and Ash's Pokemon to let go of him. "What happened anyway?" Everyone looked at him confused.
"What do you mean?" Brock asked with concern in his voice.
"The last thing I remember is we were walking through Mt. Moon." Ash started to explain. "Then I woke up here." Brock shook his head. Memory loss isn't uncommon when someone faints like Ash did. Brock took it upon himself and explained the Team Rocket events to Ash. He also explained how the four rocks that fell from Team Rocket were fossils and they took them. Since Brock read an article about scientists on Cinnabar Island who created a machine which can restore fossils. And would do it for any trainer that brings them fossils. Since there were four fossils Misty volunteered to sit out as she didn't want one potentially. Ash, Nikki, Flora, and Brock all chose their fossils.
After a bit Misty returned from a mini trip to find firewood. Brock cooked another good meal. But throughout the whole night Nikki seemed a little clingy to Ash. But Ash didn't have the energy nor the heart to stop her.
Thanks for reading. Please favorite, follow, and review. And please if you have any questions feel free to ask them through PM, I will answer all of them. But don't think I will answer any that ask for big spoilers. I appreciate any and all support. Thank you and tune in when the next chapter is posted!
