Chapter 28:Gogoat troubles
It was early in the morning when Ash and Serena were up with their pokemon.
"Absol use Night slash and aim for his legs!".
"Tyrunt Ancient power right in front of you". Tyrunt snarled as his eyes began to glow violet and large rocks lifted up above him.
"Absol stop!" Asbol stopped just in time for the first rock as it landed directly in front of him.
"Good now keep moving". Tyrunt hurled another large boulder at Absol, only this time he was frozen where he stood.
"Oh no" Serena said as she saw the same terrified expression on Absols's face as the previous day.
"Absol you have to move!" Ash shouted. Absol stayed where he was and was plowed into the ground by the other rocks.
""Sigh" He's still freezing up from fear" Serena said. Absol got himself out from the rocks and laid down looking very defeated.
"Well it looks like he isn't even ready for battling yet. We may have to try something else" Ash said.
"Like what?".
"Pika!" Pikachu said as he jumped down from Ash's shoulder. He pointed to one of the boulder's Tyrunt had hurled then sprinted at it with his tail turning metal. Once Pikachu reached it , he smashed the rock into pebbles with his tail.
"Hey I think I get it, Pikachu says we should have Absol just practice his moves".
"That's a good idea" Serena said.
"Tyrunt put three of those rocks in a line". Tyrunt nodded as his eyes began to glow violet and three of the boulders lifted up and were moved into a straight line beside each other.
"Alright Absol I want you to use Night slash on the first rock". Absol got up and ran at the rock with the fin on the side of his head glowing violet. He slashed the first rock diagonally only making a slash mark across it.
"Come on Absol you've got more in you. Use Night slash again". Absol took a few steps back then ran forward at the same rock with his fin. It made a similar slash mark on the rock. Absol sighed as he lowered his head, once again looking defeated.
"Absol you know you're stronger than this. You battled two Mega Ampharos at once to protect us. To protect the Mega stones, and the emerald. You are a strong pokemon , all you have to do is believe in yourself and you'll see you're more powerful than you could have ever imagined" Serena said.
"Pika!", "Grouu!". Absol growled as he got up and faced the rock again.
"Ab sol!" He roared as he sprinted at the rock with his fin glowing violet. He slashed the rock with all of his might and caused it to be cut in two pieces.
"You did it!" Serena said very excited.
"Awesome Absol!" Ash said. Absol saw what he had done and actually smiled.
"Night Slash again on the next rock". Absol turned to the next rock and slashed it with all of his mouth once again cutting the rock into two pieces.
"Pika!", "Grouu!".
"One more time Absol!", "Ab sol!" He shouted as he charged at the last rock and sliced it into 2 pieces.
"You did it!" Serena shouted. Absol turned and ran into her arms.
"I'm so proud of you".
"He looks like he's feeling more confident. Let me see how his Aura feels" Ash knelt down and took a deep breath. He began to read Absol's Aura and felt more confidence in his abilities. Yet he could still feel a good level of fear in Absol.
"Well He's defiantly feeling better about his own abilities. But I think if he tries to battle, he'll still freeze up. I think we need to keep boosting his confidence with this kind of training".
"Alright let's keep it up then" Serena said. Another 2 hours passed before Ash and Serena left to rejoined the others.
Red was training with his pokemon while Clemont worked on a new device and Bonnie brushed her Skitty's fur.
"I've almost got it" Clemont said as he placed the last bit of plating on his new invention.
"I've done it, I've built my own package delivery bot!".
"You built what brother?".
"This automated delivery boy will take any package and deliver it to an address or coordinates entered into it, in a very short time".
"Why would we need that?".
"What if we wanted to sent father a souvenir from our journey, or a letter. This way we can do it anywhere".
"Or send letters to Korrina for Red!" Bonnie said. This caught Red's attention. He turned towards Clemont and Bonnie.
"Yeah it could deliver all the love letters you'd ever want" Clemont said in a mocking tone.
"I told you that I'm still confused on this whole situation with Korrina. Leave it alone!" Red said.
"Alright if you say so. Now all it needs is some charge. Magnamite use spark".
"Magnamite!" Magnamite said smiling as he gave a spark of electricity and powered up the machine. The delivery bot looked like a metal box with wheels on it.
"Good now for a test drive. Delivery bot, take this thunderstone I found in Geosenge town to Prism tower in Lumoise city". The delivery boy opened it's top as Clemont put the thunderstone in.
Just as the delivery bot started to go it short-circuited and started to smoke as it drove forward incredibly fast.
"Brother is that suppose to happen?" Bonnie said sounding concerned.
"No" Clemont said sweating. Meanwhile Red was having his Pangoro take on his Charizard.
"Charizard Dragon claw. Pangoro Hammer arm!". Charizard roared as he charged forward with his claws glowing violet. At the same time, his Pangoro roared as he brought his arm up and ran at Charizard.
"Oh no Red look out!" Clemont shouted as he saw where his robot was driving towards. Red turned just in time to see a metal box on wheels hit ramp shaped rock and fly into the air. The robot went in between Charizard and Pangoro just before they could clash, then exploded.
"Guys!" Red screamed. When the smoke cleared Charizard and Pangoro were covered in soot and looked very shaken up.
"Oh no" Clemont said sweat dropping. Pangoro and Charizard both turned to Clemont with very enraged expressions on their faces.
"Uh , look I'm really sorry guys . I didn't think my delivery bot would" Both Pangoro and Charizard roared before running at Clemont.
"Ahh!" Clemont shouted as he ran away. Bonnie walked over to Red and his other pokemon.
"He always does this do himself".
"Red call off your pokemon!" Clemont shouted.
"I don't know Clemont , I should check with my girlfriend Korrina first" Red said.
"I'm sorry!". Just then Pangoro swiped his right paw and knocked Clemont onto the ground. Before he could get up , Pangoro grabbed his legs and dangled him up into the air.
"Wait please put me down". Pangoro held Clemont in front of Charizard as the massive fire lizard raised his head back.
"Gruaww" Charizard roared as he unleashed a jet of fire onto Clemont. When Charizard stopped Clemont was covered in soot.
"Ouch" he said before Pangoro dropped him. Charizard and Pangoro both grinned as they walked back towards their trainer. Ash and Serena entered the camp and saw Clemont lying on the ground covered in soot.
"One of his inventions" Ash said.
"Yup" Bonnie said.
"How did the training with Absol go?" Red asked.
"He's doing better, we've boosted his confidence in his own abilities " Serena said.
"Well that's good. If you keep it up he should be as well as the day you caught him".
"I hope so". Clemont slowly got up and cracked his back.
"Well if we want to get to Coumarine City we need to get back to route 12" He said.
"Right , let's get the stuff packed up" Red said. After packing up their supplies, the group continued down route 12 towards Coumarine City.
"So who is the Coumarine City gym leader?" Ash asked.
"His name is Ramos, he's a grass type trainer" Clemont said.
"A grass type, well with our Charizards we shouldn't have a problem" Red said.
"Hey Red, do you mind if I face Ramos first. I mean you've faced the last 3 gym leaders before me".
"Aw come on Ash we've got good karma this way, we don't want to jinx anything".
"Red".
"Alright you can face him first".
"Good, thanks".
"I'm just so excited for my next battle Chateau. If I can win it I'll make it all the way to the rank of countess".
"If you can get to the rank of Countess by your third tournament you'd be in a good position to make it to the Grand festival" Clemont said.
"We'll have to do more training to get you ready" Ash said.
"Remember Ash, Felix could pop up at any time to train us" Red said.
"I think I can find some time to help my girlfriend get ready for her tournament".
"I'm just saying".
"Well I really appreciate all the help you have given me baby" Serena said as she gave Ash a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey guys if we're going to Coumarine City maybe we could go on a boat ride! I've always wanted to see some of the water pokemon that live out in the Coumarine City bay" Bonnie said.
"It would be a good place for us to get some water pokemon" Red said.
"I wouldn't mind catching a water type pokemon" Serena said. As the group continued down the path when they heard rustling in a bush on the side of the road.
"Did you hear that?" Serena asked.
"Yeah I did" Red said. They looked closer and saw some green leaves on a bush move.
"I think there's a pokemon in that bush" Clemont said.
"Oh I hope it's a cute one!" Bonnie said. When the bush moved again it was revealed that it wasn't a bush at all, but a pokemon.
"Baah" It said as he showed its face. The pokemon was a small quadrupedal, goat-like Pokémon. The Pokémon had a white face with a brown blaze going down its muzzle. The blaze ended at a round, black nose, and it had black, elliptical eyes. The back of its head and its ears were also brown, and it had a short, white also had two short, black horns on its head. Both of these horns extended in opposite directions out to the sides, and they had dark rings around the middle. There was a leafy green mane around its neck that extends along its back. The mane ended at its tail, which is made up of three short leaves. Its body was primarily brown with white stockings on its legs. Each foot ended in a cloven, brownish-orange hoof.
"Awwe it's so cute!" Bonnie said.
"It is a cutie" Serena said.
"What is it though" Red said opening his pokedex.
"Skiddo the mound pokemon: If it has sunshine and water, it doesn't need to eat, because it can generate energy from the leaves on its back."
"So it's a grass type pokemon" Ash said.
"Oh brother can we catch it, please!" Bonnie said.
"I don't know Bonnie look at this" Clemont said as he saw a collar with a tag around the Skiddo's neck. The tag said.
"Mcarlen's ranch" and gave an address.
"It looks like this Skiddo belongs to someone. We should probably try and return it" Ash said.
"Well the address on this collar isn't far from here. We could probably reach the ranch on our way" Red said.
"Alright it looks like you'll be coming with us little guy" Clemont said.
"Bahh".
"Let's give him some food" Serena said as she took out a container of food.
"Bahh!" The Skiddo said as it happily started eating. Unknown to the group, there was another pokemon watching them. The group started walking down the path for nearly 20 minutes before they came across a large ranch.
"Hey look" Ash said. They got closer and saw a sign that said "Mcarlen's ranch.
"It's the name from the collar" Clemont said. The group also saw a large pen in the ranch with dozens of Skiddo grazing around. At the entrance to the ranch a tall man wearing farm like attire and a cowboy hat. He was hammering in a nail when he saw the group.
"Excuse me , but can I help you kids?".
"Yes, you see we found this Skiddo a few miles back and it has a collar with the name Mcarlen's ranch on it" Red said. The man looked down at Skiddo and saw the collar.
"Well that's one back. Thanks for brining him here" He said as the Skiddo came over to him.
"One back?" Serena said.
"Yeah, I'm sorry where are my manners. My name's Bill Mcarlen, this is my family's Skiddo ranch".
"My name is Ash , this is my brother Red and my girlfriend Serena".
"I'm Clemont and this is my sister Bonnie".
"Wait you said that he's one back. Does that mean you've been loosing several Skiddo lately?" Red said.
"I'm afraid so, why don't you come in, I'll show you the rest of the ranch". The group followed Bill inside the ranch and towards the pens. Inside the pens they saw a few other ranchers. There were 3 men in their 30's, a young man with blondish hair and brown eyes, a young women with the same hair and eye color, and a woman who looked as old as Bill.
The 3 men were all filling large feeding racks with pokemon food and water, while the other 3 were each kneeling next to Skiddo with a large comb like tool and a bucket. They were combing through the Skiddos' leafy fur as seeds came out and into the bucket.
"Hey y'all , we've got company!" Bill shouted. The 6 ranchers turned and saw the group standing with Bill. The 6 ranchers got up and came over to them.
"Bill honey who you brining home now?" The woman said.
"Daisy dear these kids found one of our Skiddo. Kids this is my wife Daisy, my daughter Suzy, my son John, and my farm hands. Tom, Will, and Phil. Family this is Ash, Serena, Red, Clemont and Bonnie".
"You brought back one of our Skiddo. Well thank Y'all very much. We've been loosing to many of our flock lately" Suzy said.
"Wow you're really pretty!" Bonnie said before getting on one knee.
"Will you marry my brother!?".
"Bonnie!" Clemont shouted.
"Excuse me?" Suzy said. Bill grabbed Clemont by the shoulders and pulled him over.
"You wanna marry my daughter?".
"Please you don't understand you see my sister?".
"Are you prepared to support her for the rest of your life boy huh?".
"Yeah Clemont are you?" Red said.
"I don't want to marry her!" Clemont shouted.
"Are you saying my daughter ain't good enough for you?".
"No no it's just. Bonnie why do you always have to do this to me!?" Clemont screamed.
"Uh Bill , this is just a misunderstanding. Clemont means no offense" Ash said sweat dropping.
"Alright , but I'm watching you boy" Bill said.
"So if this is a Skiddo ranch. What do you do with your Skiddo?" Serena said.
"We harvest their seed" John said.
"Seed?" Red said.
"Yeah" Daisy said as she walked over and picked up a bucket. She reached inside and came up with a handful of grass seeds.
"You see Skiddo grow grass seeds in their fur. The seeds grow the finest grass in the world. People love planting it in their yards" Suzy said.
"Nice" Red said. That was when Skiddo saw another pokemon on the ranch.
"Bahh! He said happily as he ran out towards the larger pokemon. The group turned to see a large pokemon that resembled Skiddo, except its horns were larger and pointed back. His side fur was a lighter shade of brown.
"What is that?" Serena said opening her pokedex.
"Gogoat the mount pokemon:They inhabit mountainous regions. The leader of the herd is decided by a battle of clashing horns".
"Gogoat is the evolved form of Skiddo. This one here is Bruce, the head of the flock. He watches over and protects the Skiddo" John said as the Gogoat brushed his head against the Skiddo's head.
"Wait you said that some of your Skiddo have been getting lost lately. How has that been happening?" Serena said.
"Well you see, it happened about a month ago. You see one of our more rebellious Skiddo had been battling the other Skiddo. We had to keep him away from the others for their own protection. That was when the Skiddo evolved into a Gogoat. After that he tried to challenge Bruce for the leadership position" Daisy said.
"What happened?" Clemont asked.
"Well he wasn't strong enough to beat Bruce. He ran from the ranch after smashing through the gate and running away. We tried to find him , but he was gone. A few days passed , and he came back. Smashing through the gate and running away with 2 of our Skiddo" Suzy said.
"Why?" Ash said.
"We wondered that at first too, until he kept coming back and taking more and more of our Skiddo. When we went looking for them we saw him grazing them in a field. That's when we realized that he was trying to start his own flock" Bill said.
"He keeps coming back every day , wrecking our fence , and taking more of our flock. We've been trying to get them back, but from collecting the seeds from our remaining flock, fixing the fence, and our other chores we just can't handle it all" Suzy said.
"And we can't afford to hire any more farm hands" John said.
"Well if you need some help, then we could give you a hand around your ranch" Ash said.
"Oh no, you've already returned one of our Skiddo. We couldn't ask you to do that?" Bill said.
"We don't mind. It could be fun" Serena said.
"Well that'd be very kind of y'all" Suzy said. A few minutes later Bonnie and Serena were helping Daisy and Suzy brush the Skiddos for seeds. Ash , Red, and Clemont were helping John and Bill repair the fence.
Bonnie and Serena were each brushing a Skiddo like they would if grooming one of their pokemon. Serena was getting frustrated when she saw that not many seeds were coming out and into her bucket.
"Hey Suzy, I'm not getting many seeds when I brush".
"Yeah me either" Bonnie said. Suzy turned to them and walked over.
"Show me how you're doing it?". Serena and Bonnie brushed their Skiddos again.
"Ah I see the problem. You see you're brushing them like a pokemon groomer. That's not how you get seeds from a Skiddo. You see you need to go in deep , making your stroke long and deep" Suzy said as she did a long brush on Serena's Skiddo, and made lots of seeds come out into the bucket.
"Now you try". Serena knelt down and brushed the Skiddo the same way Suzy did, making more seeds come out.
"There you go". As Serena knelt down and continued brushing her Skiddo , she glanced over at Ash. Suzy noticed this and turned back towards Serena.
"So that Ash is y'all's boyfriend is he?".
"Yes , Ash is my baby".
"Why do y'all like him?".
"Well we first met when we were five at a summer camp. I hurt my leg when I was lost and he helped me get back to camp. I knew then what a kind and caring person he was. Then a few months ago he moved to Kalos and we met again. It didn't take me long to see that he had become an even more caring person. The way he raises his pokemon and treats people".
"He sounds like a fine guy. I wish I cold find me one like that. Wait that Red is his brother, is he single?".
"Well not exactly" Serena said before explaining Red's situation with Korrina to Suzy.
"Aww too bad".
"Besides you have to marry my brother" Bonnie said. Suzy and Serena sweat dropped.
"She does that a lot" Serena said. Meanwhile over at the fence, Ash and Red had sent out their pokemon to help with the fence. Pangoro handed Red a wooden board, Red then held it in place in place on the fence as Bill hammered it in. Ash's Charizard handed him a board as he held it in place and John hammered it in.
On the group Pikachu and the other pokemon were helping to sort the pieces of the fence. Clemont had his tools and mechanical pieces out as he built something.
"Clemont stop playing with your tools and help us" Red said.
"I am! I'am building a device that will help us finnish this fence in no time".
"Young man , yer fancy gadgets ain't gonna fix this here fence. Hard work is" Bill said.
"Technology is the key to the future!" Clemont said as he finished his device. The device stood up on two legs and extended 4 arms out. The device walked over to the pile of fence parts and picked two up. It then walked over to the fence and used its other arms to hammer in the fence pieces.
The others watched in amazement as the device quickly fixed up 4 sections of the fence in less than a minute.
"Wow pa it's actually workin".
"You see , technology is the" Clemont started before the device started to smoke.
"Here we go" Red said.
" Uh is that suppose to be happinin boy?" Bill said.
"No" Clemont said sweat dropping. The device turned and ran at a few Skiddo grazing. When the Skiddo saw the device they quickly ran as it chased after them.
"It's going after our Skiddo!" John shouted. When Bruce saw this he charged forward and smashed into the device with Double-edge. The device was torn apart and landed across the grass in pieces.
"Whew, Bruce took care of it" Bill said. Bruce turned towards Clemont and began chasing after him.
"Yahh!" Clemont screamed as Bruce chased him across the ranch.
"Well we should get back to the fence" Red said.
"Shouldn't we help yer friend?" John said.
"I find it best that he learns his lessons for his inventions endangering others". After a long day of helping the Mcarlen's , the group was invited inside for dinner.
"Well we had a good day, we got the entire fence fixed and plenty of seed ready for selling" Daisy said.
"We couldn't have done it without y'all. Thank's very much" Suzy said.
"It was no problem" Serena said.
"Well it's getting late. Why don't y'all spend the night here and rest up" Daisy said.
"Oh no we couldn't" Ash started.
"We insist. Y'all helped up more than you could imagine" Bill said.
"John, Suzy after dinner make up the guest rooms for them" Dasiy said. While the group ate corn, chicken ( or at least whatever they have for chicken in the world of pokemon) , beans, and cabbage. Pikachu and the other pokemon were eating with the Skiddo outside.
As Absol ate his food he noticed Bruce watching over all of his Flock. This made him think about what he had done before Serena had caught him. What he had sworn that he would protect and guard. He looked up at the moon and sighed.
Meanwhile Pikachu and the others saw how down Absol looked.
"Pika", "Amau". Pikachu, Amaura , and Braixen walked over to Absol.
"Pika", "Braix".
"Sol" Absol said as he stared at the ground.
"Pika pikachu", "Amau". Absol looked back up at them.
"Pika Pikachu". Absol looked back up at the moon. The next morning Ash woke up to the sounds of a commotion.
"Huh" He said as Pikachu yawned and stretched.
"Ash did you hear something?" Red said as he raised his head.
"Yeah, I think something's happening" Ash said as he got up. The two brothers left their room when they saw Bill and John coming down the hallway.
" What's going on?" Ash said.
"Don't know , but it came from the pens" Bill said. The 4 hurried out to the pens to see a Gogoat who had smashed through the fence and was herding 3 Skiddo out of the pen.
"It's the Gogoat!" John shouted. The Gogoat turned and gave them a glare as he nudged another Skiddo out of the pen.
"Bruce get him!" Bill shouted. Bruce rushed over towards the Gogoat and tried to use Double-edge. The Gogoat lurched back as Bruce hit the ground in front of him. The Gogoat bashed his own horns into Bruce , knocking him on his side then running out of the hole in the fence.
When Bruce saw 3 of his flock being forced away he ran after them.
"Bruce!" John shouted. Daisy, Suzy, and the others came outside.
"What's going on here Bill?" Daisy asked.
"Honey, that dam Gogoat came back and Bruce went after him. Suzy you and yer mother stay here and make sure no more Skiddo get out. John come on we need to follow them".
"We'll come to" Ash said. Bill, John , and the group rushed down the path Bruce took for nearly 10 minutes before they reached a grassy hill.
"Pa look!" John shouted as they saw at least a dozen Skiddo grazing on the hill.
"It's our Skiddo!". As the group looked around Serena saw a pair of Gogoat locked in a battle.
"Hey there's Bruce!" She shouted. Bruce and the other Gogoats had their horns locked together as they tried to overpower each other.
"Bruce get him!" John shouted. Bruce pushed against the Gogoat with all his might, but the Gogoat got the better leverage. He forced Bruce back then smashed him with Double- edge. Bruce was knocked back and struggled to get up.
"Bauhh" He groaned.
"Bruce!" Bill shouted.
"Oh no!" Bonnie shouted. The Skiddo looked on in terror as the younger Gogoat lowered his head to ram Bruce again.
"No you don't. Go Aero!" Red shouted. Red's Aerodactly came out and roared as he flew over his trainer.
"Aero Agility into Wing attack". Aero used his now increased speed to easily avoid each seed as they exploded around him. When he got close enough, Aero raised his wings to bash Gogoat.
The Gogoat launched himself up and used Arial ace to slash Aero out of the air. As the Gogoat came down to use Leaf Blade, Aero got right back up and roared.
"Aero catch him in your jaws!" Aero quickly opened his mouth and caught the Gogoat in it, before biting down on him hard.
"Aero toss him into the air and then use Air Slash!" Aero hurled the Gogoat into the air then quickly flew up and slashed him across his underside with his Tallons. As the Gogoat fell towards the ground , Aero re-angled his wings.
"Aero finish him with Wing attack!" Aero flew down at top speed and bashed his wings into the Gogoat as hard as he could, plowing the Gogoat into the grass.
"Alright Pokeball go! Red shouted as he threw a pokeball.
"Huh?" Clemont said. The others were equally surprised as the pokeball hit Gogoat and sent him inside. The pokeball shook and rattled for a minute then stopped , showing the Gogoat was caught.
"Yes I caught him!".
"Red what are you thinking. That Gogoat belongs to them" Ash said. Red sweat dropped as he realized what he had just done.
"Oh. Sorry I guess I sort of got into it and went for it" He said putting his hand on the back of his head.
"Ya'know what . Why don't y'all keep him. That Gogoat has been nothin but trouble since we got him" Bill said. John walked over and helped Bruce get back on his hoofs.
"Bruce y'all alright?".
"Bauhh" Bruce said as he nodded. The other Skiddo rushed over and rubbed their heads against Bruce.
"Well looks like we got our Skiddo back" Bill said. Bruce led the Skiddo back to the ranch and into the pens.
"We can't thank y'all enough for all ya done for us" Daisy said.
"It was no trouble. Besides I got a Gogoat out of it. " Red said.
"I hope we can meet ya'll again" Suzy said.
"We'll have to so we can discuss the wedding plans" Bonnie started before Clemont grabbed her and pulled her away.
"I'm still watchin you boy" Bill said staring at Clemont.
"Alright?" He said sweat dropping.
"It was nice meeting you" Serena said. The group continued their way down route 12 towards "Well if we want to get to and the challenges that awaited them there.
Author's note
Yeah I know some of you might have wanted Serena to get a gogoat , but don't worry I plan on having her and Ash catching new pokemon very soon. Besides Ash caught the last new pokemon so it was Red's turn.
Until next time please review, comment, ask , or suggest.