A/N: Ok guys, we are nearing the end of the prologue, this is the last chapter in the prologue. The point of this chapter is to introduce the rest of Ash's team rounding him out to an even team of 6 (the egg counts).
Now, I may have rushed the encounters of Ash getting a team, but the reason for this is because I don't want the prologue to last up to the second gym badge if anything.
Now without further ado, let's continue!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon
Chapter 8- The Lumiose Bandits
Lumiose City:
"Wow Ash we finally made it!" Serena exclaimed with joy. The duo were entering Lumiose and they had the time to enjoy the city again.
"True, right Pikachu?" Ash asked as he petted his electric mouse. Lumiose City was their main home for so long, so it was nice to see it again despite it being just a couple of days.
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.
"Ash look, so many things we can do over here! Let's go to that store!" Serena shouted in excitement as she started to drag Ash to a clothes store that was near the entrance to the city.
"Uhhh… ok," Ash replied as he got dragged by the hand. He was not a fond of shopping, but he agreed anyways as he wanted to go looking around the city not as a homeless boy anymore.
"Ash look at these dresses, how do you think I would look in them?" Serena asked as she looked through the window in front of the store. Ash had to admit that Serena would probably look great on one of the dresses, the blue one in particular, but Ash just decided to open a can of worms instead.
"I don't know, you may look very nice in all of them!" Ash replied with a toothy grin as he looked at the honey blonde. Fact was, Ash did not feel like shopping, so he decided to play a little game with Serena as a little bit of fun to have with his childhood friend. Ash then thought of something that could give him some space. "Serena, let's play a game," Ash started as Serena turned to him with a perplexed expression. Ash then continued, "I go out and get you something you like and you get me something I would like, then we meet up at the cafe and exchange!"
Serena let the idea sit for a second, but then her face opened up with a smile, "Sounds like fun Ash, I am going to go to that store then!" Serena exclaimed as she walked off leaving Ash with Pikachu.
Ash sighed, "girls." Pikachu was on Ash's shoulder and was confused as to why he would go through with this. "Pikachu, do you have any idea of what she would like?" Ash just wanted to get something quick so that he would not have to worry about wasting time.
"Pika pikachu," Pikachu shook his head in defeat.
"I would have guessed it," then something grabbed Ash's attention as he walked into the same store that Serena was just looking in to. "Pokepuff maker… increase your pokemon's traits in cute, clever, cool, tough, and beauty," Ash muttered reading the machine's label on the box.
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed in awe as he thought about all of the pokepuffs that could come out of the Pokepuff maker. Ash had to admit, it would help her with performing if she wanted to pursue that as her main track in her dream.
"Do you think she will love it?" Ash asked his partner slightly anxious about buying the Pokepuff maker.
"Pikapi pikachu!" Pikachu nodded yes with a large amount of desperation. He was dying to have a Pokepuff at this point.
"Ok!" Ash went to the cash register and bought the pokepuff maker, he then put it in a bag in order to make it a surprise for his childhood friend. Ash made sure that the bag was not see through so that it was a surprise for Serena.
Ash then walked out towards the restaurant they were meeting in, it was not far, just right across the street and the cafe symbol was visible on top of the restaurant. As Ash approached the cafe, he noticed two pokemon. It was hard to tell what it was, one was small and squishy while riding on top of what looked like a frog. The pokemon carried something in their arms and Ash quickly looked as they ran.
The two pokemon ran off into the outskirts of the city, just as officer Jenny came by. Ash in a motorcycle. Ash turned around and saw the same Officer Jenny that had been on his tail for years. Ash smiled as he saw this and Officer Jenny spoke up.
"Ash!" Jenny shouted in slight urgency as she looked around and turned back to Ash to ask,"Did you see which way those two pokemon went?"
"Ummm, that way," Ash pointed towards the clearing in which the two pokemon had disappeared to.
"Thanks, those pokemon really have learned from you haven't they," Jenny joked making Ash and Pikachu sweat drop. "See you around Ash."
"Bye!" Ash exclaimed as he saw Officer Jenny take off in the direction he pointed at with the motorcycle. "What was that all about Pikachu?"
"Pika…" Pikachu shrugged his shoulders as the duo continued to walk.
Ash decided to move on and made himself to the cafe in order to meet up with Serena and give her the gift. Ash was already starving Ashe could hear the grumbles of his own stomach haunting him. He was happy though, this time he would be able to eat at a civilized place without stealing.
"Ash!" Ash heard a feminine voice that obviously belonged to Serena as he walked into the Cafe. "I'm over here come on!" Serena signaled him over as she was sitting on a booth. It was probably meant for two people as Ash saw that many similar seats were for couples. Ash though, he shook off that fact as he walked over to the honey blonde.
"Hey Serena!" Ash said as he sat down. "Ready to eat?"
"Mhm, and look at this, I bought myself some new shoes!" Serena said as she showed off her new shoes to Ash. Next to her, there was a bag containing probably Ash's gift. Ash sneaked a glance, but it was obviously impossible to tell what it was from the distance.
After they both ordered, the duo started to eat while Pikachu sucked on a ketchup bottle that Ash ordered for the electric rodent. Ash knew Pikachu liked Ketchup ever since he first met him. The first day they were in Lumiose City, Pikachu managed to get himself in a hot dog stand and from that he had to rush his electric rodent to the pokemon center.
"Pikachu, be careful or you can get sick," Ash warned with gritted teeth and a lot of worry in his voice.
"Pika pika pikachu," Pikachu sweatdropped as he slowed down the pace of his sucking. Of course gulping it down too fast was fatal and Pikachu remembered his visit to the pokemon center because of that.
"Wow Ash you really care for Pikachu," Serena remarked with a smile as she looked at the duo.
"Of course I do, he cares for me just as much so I try to care for him just as much," Ash responded as he petted Pikachu's tail.
"Chaaaa!" the yellow mouse squealed in pleasure.
Just as the two finished their food and ordered dessert, the duo decided to exchange gifts.
"Serena, look what I got you," Ash said with a smile as he revealed the bag that he had that included the Pokepuff maker.
"What is it?" the girl asked in curiosity as she eyed the bag.
"I got you this to help you make pokepuffs so that you can perform at your very best!" Ash replied with a smile as he put the gift into Serena's hands.
Serena accepted the gift and put it in her bag with a smile and thanked Ash, "Awwww, thank you Ash!"
Ash at this moment felt a warm sensation he could not describe, but it felt good. Ash smiled at Serena as he saw her reach for his gift.
"Ash here, I got you this for you to wear," Serena described. She took out her bag and inside was a box with a light blue scarf. Ash immediately fell in love with the scarf as he opened the box and put the scarf on around his neck. The blue scarf dangled into the air at it's ends after going around Ash's neck and it was really soft and plush (Yes this is exactly like the scarf Alain wears, I will explain myself in the end).
"Serena, I love it! How do you think I look?" Ash asked as he petted the scarf. Pikachu smiled and did the same in curiosity and cooed anyhow fuzzy the material was.
Serena looked at Ash with dreamy eyes, Ash looked really amazing with the scarf. "You look awesome!" Serena exclaimed as she clenched her fists barely able to contain herself.
"Pika!" Pikachu approved of the look as he climbed on Ash's shoulder and exchanged electricity.
"Thank you guys, and thanks Serena, for the gift," Ash said with a genuine smile.
"Your welcome… Ooh Dessert is here!" Serena responded as the dessert came from the waiter. As the waiter put down the chocolate cake in front of Ash, Ash's mouth watered in awe seeing the chocolate beauty in front of him. Serena did not have that much of an intense reaction, but she did find it amazing that the cake was looking very fresh and well made.
"Awesome!" Ash shouted as he took a bite into his chocolate cake. Ash smiled and slumped into his seat as he experienced the flavor of the chocolate cake to the full potential. "So… good!" Ash shouted as he kept eating the cake. Serena and Pikachu sighed at this as they continued to eat at a slower pace.
Suddenly, after a couple of bites, the plates were snatched to Ash and Serena's surprise. Ash was about to take another bite when he bit down on air to then recoil in pain. Serena giggled at this, by then cocked her eyebrows seeing that both of the plates were… gone!
"Hey! What is the big idea!" Ash shouted as he noticed the two pokemon from before with the plates looking at Ash with smiles, then they both began to flee. "Come back here!". The pokemon left through the window. Ash then looked back at Serena and Pikachu with a serious face as he said: "Come on guys, I saw them cause trouble before."
"Right!" Serena agreed as the duo left the cafe to chase down the pokemon.
The pokemon led Ash, Serena and Pikachu away from the city and into a grassland. The pokemon that had stolen the food ran towards the center of the field. It seemed like a peculiar place to be since the pokemon seemed to be looking for something. Ash and Serena stayed back as they followed a line of bushes and quietly, but swiftly followed the frog and gooey pokemon.
Ash and Serena kept watching until the two pokemon reached more pokemon. They were a lot bigger and were long… Ash could say they looked like hoses, but it was obvious that they had a menacing and venomous look.
Ash and Serena used their pokedexes to show that there were three Seviper. The two other pokemon then went to the Seviper and gave them the food. Ash and Serena obviously saw that there was a large reason as to why the smaller pokemon were stealing the food, but it did not make sense as to what they were trying to get from this.
The two pokemon and the three Seviper conversed and then the two smaller pokemon, but after a while, Ash noticed that the Sevipers were getting agitated in the distance. Almost like if they were going to attack the two smaller pokemon.
From the distance, Ash and Serena noticed that the two smaller pokemon were motioning to small brown pokemon that was being guarded by the three Seviper. The pokedex identified it as an Eevee. The Eevee looked extremely terrified and from that it was stepping back in fear to only be menaced more by the three Seviper.
"Eevee, oh no!" Serena shouted wide eyed as she jumped out of the bushes to charge the Seviper. Ash flinched as he saw this, but the fact was that Serena looked more determined than ever. Unfortunately for the honey blonde, the Sevipers quickly noticed her.
Just as Serena was getting up, two of the Sevipers shot a fire beam from their mouths towards the smaller pokemon while the last one launched poisonous orbs at Serena. The frog used a barrage of seeds to counter while the squishy pokemon used a dragon breath. Serena covered her eyes and face as the orbs got nearer, but they barely missed by inches. Ash then caught back up to Serena and made sure that she was alright as he took out his Pokedex.
Ash and Serena scanned these pokemon, the green frog was a Treecko while the purple squishy form was a Goomy.
"Treecko and Goomy are trying to protect Eevee!" Ash exclaimed in realization as he looked at the Sevipers who now had more menacing postures as they kept firing he fire beams.
The bullet seed and dragon breath got overpowered by the two flamethrowers very easily causing them to get hit hard. Treecko and Goomy then fell back into the air and as Ash saw this, he went wide eyed. At that moment Ash sprinted over to the wounded pokemon and caught them in mid air.
"Are you two ok?" Ash asked the two pokemon in his arms. They both looked up slightly and saw Ash's face as they got down from Ash's arms to engage the Sevipers.
"Treecko!"
"Goo goomy!"
Serena ran for the Eevee, but all the Sevipers tried to use flamethrower on her. Serena braced for the impact that never came. Eevee had come and used a large turquoise shield to protect Serena, but the problems did not end there as a fire started enveloping around the grassland trapping the six living organisms.
"Ash!" Serena shouted in worry when Ash got hurt by the fire and recoiled in pain.
"Don't worry about me, I just have to keep Treecko and Goomy from the fire!" Ash exclaimed as he came in from behind the two pokemon he was motioning to and put himself over them as a shield.
Goomy and Treecko were shocked to see a trainer helping them, but the fire was getting closer and more dangerous for everyone.
"GOOOO MYYYY!" Goomy shouted as he then became enveloped in an aura and looked at the sky. Ash recoiled as he then saw rain clouds appear overhead and begin to drip water from the sky. The rain then started pouring and slowly began to extinguish the fire that was growing.
"Thanks Goomy!" Ash shouted as he looked at the blobby like pokemon.
"Tree cko cko cko!" Treecko shouted while reeling his head around and launching leaves like blades towards the Sevipers. The leaves collided and then the purple snake like pokemon began to fall to the ground in pain.
"Pikachu use thunderbolt!" Ash ordered as he put his arms out. Goomy used dragon breath, Treecko used bullet seed, and Eevee used swift. All the moves combined with thunderbolt to hurt the Seviper enough to make them flee for cover and Ash sighed as he saw Pikachu happily get right back on top of his shoulder.
After that, Ash looked at Goomy and Treecko who looked at him with eyes of gratitude and admiration. "You guys were awesome!" Ash told the small pokemon as he petted then.
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed as he pumped his fists.
Then the two pokemon looked at Ash and gave them a look Ash recognised all too well: "I want to be stronger, let's get stronger together!"
"So you guys want to come with me? What do you think Pikachu?" Ash asked as he turned to the electric rodent.
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed as Ash took out two pokeballs which the pokemon accepted. Both pokemon got sucked into the pokeballs and the pokeballs only shook once as it was a critical capture.
"ALRIGHT! I caught a Treecko and a Goomy!" Ash exclaimed as he put on a pose and put the two pokeballs into the air with a victory dance.
"Pi pikachu!"
"Congratulations Ash," Serena said with a smile. Just then Eevee rubbed against Serena's leg. Serena smiled and then kneeled down to the small fox to pet her, "Eevee, you want to come along with me?"
"Eevee!" she responded with a nod and a bright smile.
"Then welcome aboard!" Serena replied taking out a pokeball which Eevee accepted. Just like Ash's captures, this one was a critical capture and Serena found herself happy as she put the pokeball in her hands and shouted: "Alright! I caught an Eevee!"
"Looks like we all made new friends today!" Ash told his childhood friend.
The duo then headed off to Lumiose City. They went to the pokemon center and rested for the night.
Serena thought that night of the possibilities with Eevee on her team. She also thought about the impact Ash had in her life and how he was back to normal. It was heartwarming for her to know that the person that she met was back and that he would probably be able to find his dream… Possibly with her? Serena blushed thinking about that, but she smiled as no one was able to see her blush as she slept. Serena then turned on her bed and continued sleeping.
Ash could not stop admiring how cool he looked with the scarf. He also thanked his new pokemon for their bravery. Ash then thought about the pokemon he has caught and how he relates to them:
Pikachu lost his family when he was young and met Ash in order to live through the struggle.
Froakie abandoned his trainers because they never appreciated him the way they should have. Froakie left them just like Ash left his past as well. Froakie joined Ash because of his appreciation towards pokemon, towards Froakie.
Charmander had lost his trainer who thought he was weak. He had someone he looked up to turn on him like Ash's father had done. Charmander took an opportunity to find a new role model, and he did.
Goomy and Treecko both stole to survive and protect their loved ones. Both looked for brighter opportunities and put their bad deeds behind them.
The egg Ash had now was a lot in his thought. 'That egg will contain a pokemon that we will all love. One that I will make sure wont go through a struggle.' With that Ash fell asleep with a smile on his face.
The Next Morning:
Ash and Serena were talking with officer Jenny near the exit of the city.
"So is the trouble gone for good?" Jenny asked as she looked at the two trainers.
"Yea! And we made new friends, there won't be any more trouble for now!" Ash replied with a bright smile.
"Thank you Ash and Serena," Jenny replied with gratitude as she slightly bowed her head at the two trainers.
"You are welcome!" Ash and Serena return in unison.
"Well, I better get going, goodbye!" Jenny exclaimed as she left in her motorcycle through the streets of Lumiose. After that, she made a left turn and disappeared from the view of the trainers.
"So, are you going to Cyllage City now?" Serena asked Ash as he adjusted his gloves.
"Yea and we are going to win our second badge!" Ash exclaimed as he pumped his fist at Serena.
"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu shouted with a similar expression on his face as his trainer.
Serena smiled as she looked down nervously. Finally finding the courage to speak, Serena did so: "Ash."
"What is it?" Ash asked in curiosity as he met the gaze of Serena's blue eyes.
"My first showcase will be soon in Coumarine City after the Pledging Tree Festival… I was wondering if we could meet up by that time," Serena said shyly as she put her hands behind her back.
"I would love to! I will be there for the Pledging Tree Festival and we can meet up then!" Ash replied. Ash then looked at the road ahead of him. "Well I have to go, I will see you later ok?"
"Alright," Serena started. "Goodbye and remember to never give up until the end!"
"Never will! See you later!"
Ash took a deep breath and walked onto the route leaving Serena in Lumiose City. She was going to meet up with Shauna later to practice performing.
Serena looked on as Ash disappeared in the route and sighed, "Thank you Ash, for everything. You may have had a rough past, but I will make sure you can put it behind you." Serena smiled. "I will always be there for you."
A/N: and that concludes our prologue, next chapter is a continuation of Chapter 1!
Treecko in the egg? Nah fam! Someone else!
Keep in mind: Next chapter we get to meet Ash's current team and the pokemon from the egg, so be hyped for that.
Sorry if this chapter was a little sloppy. I just now notice as I am editing it how I lacked actions and details so as I was trying to make it like the more mature writer that I am right now, I did see myself being like such a novice… Though I do have to admit, this chapter alone was better than most chapters I wrote in The Fallen Trainer.
For those of you wondering why I made Ash have the Alain scarf:
-Canon Alain and this version of Ash have hardships that affect them emotionally.
-Ash has a Charmander… with a pendant with a BLUE STONE. This one is just to symbolize Ash's power that he will have in the future ;)
-I said before I was merging Ash and Alain didn't I? What a better way to do so than giving Ash the same scarf that Alain wears… It is probably my favorite article of clothing in the entire XY/XYZ series that anyone could have. Not only that, but this scarf will make Ash look so awesome in future battles, trust me...
Remember to R & R and I will see you next time!
Responding to some reviews:
The White Sage 2001: Make that two characters now ;)
The legendary guy: Sorry, but it won't be Nebby in the egg, in fact the pokemon in the egg was referenced in Ch1… You should know all of Ash's team after this chapter anyways xD! Glad you enjoyed the episode… And don't worry, Damian won't go away until he has had his beating.
Michmech: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Guest 1: Oh dear! I would rather see Ash kicking Damian in the balls though! ;)
Guest 2: Glad you like it dude!
NinjaFang1331: I am glad you are enjoying it… And Ash is dense like that, but at least a kind of awesome dense like him seeing Serena blush and be like: "Whatever, I gotta focus on something else for now." Don't worry though, Ash will eventually begin to gain realization. Also, I have kept the theme of XY/XYZ where Ash's pokemon evolve the moment they reach full potential with a purpose. Do you think this means that if Charmander does evolve he won't listen to Ash? I think he will be one of Ash's aces if he did! ;)
Rst64tlc: Nope! Not Treecko, look closer at chapter one! Serena won't be getting Alola Vulpix though, I am giving her something just as adorable! Also not Snorlax Lol… Don't worry, next chapter we meet Ash's team and the pokemon in the egg!