Guest: Thank you. I honestly originally planned to make the chapters a lot longer when I started this story, but I had it in the back of my mind that making the chapters too long would bore the reader since there would be too much to read, but thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it a lot and now I know someone wouldn't mind the chapters being longer as I literally removed a huge amount of certain chapters to avoid them being too long, which was a shame. If more people would prefer longer chapters, then I would be more than happy, so might test the waters with this chapter by making it longer. Also, I'm not sure if you're the same guest who reviewed Chapter 6 twice, but in regards to Ash capturing a Pokémon of a type he currently doesn't own, I can guarantee I have that covered! P.S. You hold the record of being the one with the longest review on my story so far.
A/N: I would like to apologise once more for my absence (I'm not even sure how long it has been) but we're back and thanks to a review I received, I am determined to make this story much more interesting, and to start, the chapters are going to be longer than before, so be prepared for that. Also, there will be "filler" chapters every now and then so that a bit of development can be made to the characters, and please, let me know if you prefer the chapters to be this length, or longer. Anyway, let's get one with the new-and-improved story!
Chapter 7
With Ash now ready to begin his challenge at the Nacrene City Gym, he and Pikachu were already in position on the challenger's side of the battle field, with Lenora doing the same on the opposing side. Cilan had rushed over to the sidelines to watch the battle from a safe distance, but soon noticed that Dawn wasn't around.
Hey Ash! I can't find Dawn anywhere!" Cilan shouted over to Ash as he looked around for Dawn, but Ash just laughed as he knew what was coming next.
Suddenly, Dawn came rushing over, "Sorry guys! Needed to go and quickly change!" she shouted as she stood next to Cilan, who had a confused look on his face as to why Dawn was dressed as a cheerleader all of a sudden. Dawn noticed his confusion as she looked at him, "Oh this? I've done this a lot when Ash is in a battle, but sometimes I like to give it a break" she told him as she smiled before turning serious in preparation for the battle beginning.
Hawes then stood at the edge of the battle field, directly in the middle. "The battle at the Nacrene City Gym will now get underway! This will be a two-on-two double battle! The battle will be over when both Pokémon on either side are unable to continue! Are these rules understood?" to which both Ash and Lenora nodded their heads.
"Now! Send out your Pokémon!" Hawes shouted as Ash and Lenora both held two Poké Balls. Lenora didn't call out the names of her Pokémon when she threw the Poké Balls and Herdier and a taller brown Pokémon with a long tail emerged. Ash took out his Pokédex to scan the unfamiliar Pokémon.
Watchog, the Lookout Pokémon, and the evolved form of Patrat. Watchog's body contains luminescent compounds, which allow its eyes and stripes to glow.
"Let's go! Dewott and Pidove! I choose you!" Ash shouted as he tossed the red and white capsules and his Pokémon emerged.
"And now! Battle begin!" Hawes announced as he raised his hand into the air, declaring the battle fit to start.
At this moment, Ash took full advantage of calling the first attacks. He commanded Dewott to rush in with Razor Shell and Pidove to strike with Quick Attack and in order to confuse the opponent, he didn't call out a specific target for either attack. As Pidove swiftly flew across the battle field, it was obvious to Lenora that Watchog was the target, and as she also carefully watched Dewott's nimble dashing she saw he was going for Watchog as well. She smiled and remained calm before making her command.
"Herdier! Get in front of Watchog and use Protect!" she ordered as Herdier jumped in front of Watchog and created a huge protective barrier in front of it, covering both it and Watchog.
The move proved to do the trick as both of Ash's Pokémon collided with the barrier and were sent rebounding off it. Ash was starting to panic now, things were getting difficult for him right from the beginning. How was he going to get past Protect? He had to take out Herdier first, or find some way of getting around it using Protect.
"Dewott, use Water Gun on Watchog and Pidove, you use Quick Attack on Watchog!" he commanded, hoping that his plan would work. "Now, go around Herdier's Protect, both of you!"
His Pokémon followed his instructions and quickly changed their directions. Both Dewott and Pidove attacked Watchog once they ran around the Protect, causing it to cry out in pain from two attacks at once.
"You're going to need to be better than that I'm afraid. Just calling attacks on the same Pokémon doesn't get you a quick win!" Lenora revealed as Watchog wasn't down just yet.
As the battle went on, both sides had taken large amounts of damage and were soon extremely exhausted. Both Ash and Lenora were equally as exhausted from the close calls their Pokémon almost had. Ash noticed that Watchog and Herdier were running slower than normal and Pidove was finding it harder to fly as not a moment later, Pidove fell to the ground.
Ash watched in absolute horror as he watched one of his Pokémon fall in defeat as he was now forced into a tricky situation that he had to overcome quickly.
"Pidove is unable to battle!" Hawes announced as Ash recalled Pidove to the Poké Ball.
"Looks like you have one more, Ash" Lenora said. "You've battled well so far, but it's almost over. I can feel it!"
With just Dewott left, Ash knew that the battle would only get tougher and tougher from here on, but he kept his spirits high as he smirked, which surprised Lenora.
"Thanks, but this battle's far from over, Lenora!" Ash replied confidently, "As long as Dewott doesn't give up, we can still win this!"
While the battle was in favour of Lenora, Ash tried his best to remain optimistic. Dawn had been cheering him on the entire battle, which helped a great deal as it helped Ash to calm down and hatch up a perfect way to claim victory.
Lenora thought she had the upper hand in the battle, and attempted to win the battle with one final attack from both her Pokémon. "Herdier use Take Down and Watchog use Low Kick!"
Ash's plan was working perfectly, he remembered his training from earlier that morning and put his plan into action. "Dewott, stay put and don't move until I say so, 'kay?" he commanded to his Pokémon, who put all of his trust into his trainer.
As Watchog and Herdier got closer and closer to Dewott, Ash quickly commanded his attack. "Do it Dewott! Run and use Razor Shell on both of them!" he shouted as Dewott charged and soon became a blur, only coming back into sight when he was inches away from the two Pokémon, he went right in between both Pokémon and hit them both with his scalchops, dealing a large amount of damage, which resulted in them both hitting the ground.
"Get up you two, you can do it! We can win this battle, just a little more!" Lenora shouted across to her Pokemon as they both got to their feet, but were clearly suffering from the attack they had taken.
"Again Dewott! Razor Shell!" Ash commanded as the Sea Otter Pokémon rapidly changed direction and headed for the two once more. Ash clenched his fists tightly as he knew this would wrap the whole battle up if the move landed. He could feel the victory getting closer and closer with every step Dewott took towards the gym leader's Pokémon.
Back on the side lines, Dawn was still cheering Ash on as Piplup had emerged from its Poké Ball to cheer everyone on too. Cilan was sitting and watching the battle in complete awe as Ash continued to get the upper hand. Even when things got turned around, he still managed to pull back and change things in favour of himself.
"Ash sure is an amazing battler, huh Dawn?" Cilan said as he turned to look up at the blue-haired girl who stopped her cheering as she looked at him before looking at Ash and then back to Cilan, to which she smiled before speaking.
"He sure is. You should've seen him back in Sinnoh, the battles were so intense that I had to step up my cheers during ever battle!" Dawn said in response, still smiling as she went back to cheering Ash on.
"Herdier AND Watchog are BOTH unable to battle! Dewott is still standing so the winner is the challenger, Ash!" Hawes announced, claiming Ash the winner of the battle.
Dewott ran over to Ash and Pikachu as they all hugged over the victory. Dawn and Cilan raced over to congratulate Ash on the victory as Lenora and Hawes approached them. Lenora reached into the pocket on her apron and pulled out a rectangle gym badge that she revealed was called the Basic Badge, and handed it to Ash, who placed it in his badge case, bringing his total up to two.
"So Ash, you have two badges now, where are you going to challenge next?" Lenora asked Ash.
Ash thought long and hard, but eventually laughed out of nervousness as he didn't know the locations in Unova. Lenora noticing this, recommended that he visit Castelia City to challenge Burgh. Cilan mentioned that Burgh visits Nacrene City from time to time. Ash and his friends left the Nacrene Museum and waved goodbye to Lenora and Hawes to set off for Castelia City.
After stopping off at the Pokémon Centre to get Ash's Pokémon healed from the gym battle, they continued their way to their next location. They had been walking around Nacrene City for around an hour, taking in as much of the scenery as they could, and soon arrived at the Pinwheel Forest. Upon entering the forest, they soon felt warm and relaxed. The forest was quiet and peaceful, and even the sound of rustling leaves blowing in the wind could be heard clearly.
"It's so warm here; peaceful too." Dawn commented as she held her arms up above her head.
"You got that right, it's an amazing place for sure." Ash said, "Hey, we should have lunch, what do you guys think?" he asked his friends as they nodded in agreement.
The group let out their Pokémon to let them eat, Dawn noticed that her Deerling and Cilan's Snivy and Pansage were happy to be out and in a warm forest. They quickly found a nice area to rest and remained there quietly, enjoying the peace and quiet.
"Hey, I wonder what kinds of Pokémon there are in this forest. It sure would be a good idea for me to catch another new Pokémon before challenging the Castelia Gym."
"There are many Bug-types living here, as well as many Grass-types too. I don't think you have a Grass-type yet, Ash, so why not look for one after we eat?" Cilan recommended.
Ash removed his hoodie as he ate and put it into his backpack, as the forest's warmth made him feel too hot. Once the group had finished eating and recalled their Pokémon, they began to make their way through the forest. Ash could hear Pokémon around him, but couldn't see any. However, after walking for 10 minutes more, Ash heard the same voice again, and a small Pokémon wrapped in a leaf dropped down from a tree branch and Dawn decided to check it with the Pokédex.
Sewaddle, the Sewing Pokémon. Sewaddle hides from its enemies by covering its head with a hood made from a leaf, and is known to eat its leafy clothing when food is scarce.
"It's so adorable!" Dawn screamed out at the sight of the Pokémon. "Ash, you should totally catch it!" she said.
"You think so?" Ash wondered as he looked at Sewaddle and smiled, "Alright, sounds good. Pidove, I choose you!" he said, sending Pidove out of the Poké Ball.
"Dove!" Pidove shouted, eager to battle.
Sewaddle just hung there from the tree branch, so Ash ordered Pidove to use Air Cutter, hoping to trigger a battle. An Air Cutter cut through the thread it was hanging from and a second hit it hard, which got Sewaddle annoyed as it fell. Sewaddle retaliated with a powerful Razor Leaf and String Shot combination, causing Pidove to dodge the attacks, but as it narrowly avoided Razor Leaf, String Shot hit its mark and tied Pidove up tight. After multiple times to break through the thread, Pidove began to glow blue. As she grew bigger, she managed to completely rip through the threads.
"Tranquill!" she shouted as the bright blue light subsided.
"Awesome! Pidove evolved!" Ash shouted with utter excitement before he scanned her with his Pokédex.
Tranquill, the Wild Pigeon Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pidove. Tranquill is always able to return to its Trainer no matter how far the distance between them.
"Tranquill sounds really smart! And she knows a new move!" Ash said, before commanding, "Tranquill, use Steel Wing!"
Tranquill's wings began to glow white as she flew through the air before shooting downwards and slamming her wing straight into Sewaddle, knocking it into the tree directly behind. Ash, not wanting Sewaddle to take any more unnecessary damage or get injured further, threw his Poké Ball at Sewaddle to try and capture it, which proved to be successful as after the Poké Ball stopped shaking, Sewaddle was captured. Ash rushed over to pick it up and let Sewaddle out so Cilan took a look at it.
"Sewaddle will be just fine, there aren't any major injuries, but we should stop by at the Pokémon Centre when we arrive at Castelia City just to be sure." He told Ash as Sewaddle opened its eyes and looked around at the group.
Ash sat down on the ground, "Welcome to the family, Sewaddle. Let's do our best from here on out!" Ash told Sewaddle, who jumped up at Ash and sat on his hat before curling up and going to sleep.
As Ash and his friends continued through the forest Ash looked up to the sky, "hey, how much longer do you think it's going to stay light for? We should try to get through as much of the forest as we can before it gets dark." He told them.
"Maybe we should just camp out here for the night? It's such a gorgeous place and I wouldn't mind spending a little more time here. Besides, you have been getting too ahead of yourself lately with gym battles. Why don't we just slow down a bit and actually enjoy the journey?" Dawn told Ash, who in turn gave a nervous laugh at the truth he had heard from the blue haired girl and agreed he had been moving quite quickly lately.
"Okay then, that settles it, we're going to camp out here tonight and get a fresh start in the morning!" Ash announced as Cilan and Dawn agreed with him, "Hey, Dawn, how about we gather up some fruit? Can't go to bed on an empty stomach."
"Sure Ash! I'd love to…" Dawn replied happily before cutting herself off "…um, I mean, yeah, sure, sounds good to me!" she said as she smiled, making her way over to Ash.
As Ash and Dawn headed out to gather the fruit, Cilan looked over at Pikachu, "Hey, did you notice anything weird about how Dawn was acting just now?" he asked him, but just received a confused "Pika Pi?" response from Pikachu instead as he turned his head to the side, causing Cilan to laugh, "Yeah, you're right, it was probably nothing."
After 20 minutes, Cilan began to get worried as they shouldn't have been gone this long just to find some fruit. As Cilan decided on going to find them, Dawn emerged from the bushes, out of breath and shouting for Cilan. "Cilan, no time to explain, but you've got to come quickly, it's Ash!" she shouted to him as she turned around and ran off in the direction she had just come from.
"Ash? Oh no, what's happened?" Cilan shouted as he chased after her, hoping she was about to lead him to Ash's location. "Dawn, you have to tell me what went on, is Ash okay?! Come on Pikachu!" Cilan called as the yellow mouse jumped onto his shoulder.
"We were…looking for fruit when…Ash found a tree with loads of apples on it," Dawn said in between taking breaths as she ran, "He…started climbing the tree…but slipped and fell…sliding down the trunk and landing on his leg…" she said as tears had begun falling from her eyes.
"Don't worry, we're going to get to him, he's going to be fine!" Cilan assured her as she nodded and they both ran faster through the forest.
Emerging from the foliage and still running, Dawn called out, "Ash! We're here!" as her voice echoed through the forest. Dawn and Cilan eventually arrived and saw Ash sat on the ground holding onto his leg. "Ash, does it still hurt?" Dawn said as she crouched down beside him, tears still streaming from her eyes and down her face.
"Yeah…a bit…but no need to worry, I'll be fine, Dawn," he said, looking at her while smiling warmly in an attempt to get her to stop crying.
Cilan approached them both as he held his hand out to Ash. "Ash, can you stand? He asked as the boy looked up and nodded before taking Cilan's hand as he was helped to his feet. "That's it, you're doing fine, just put your arm around me and we'll get you back to the camp site." Cilan told him as he supported Ash in their journey back to the camp site.
"We're almost there, Ash, just a little more, you can do it," Dawn told Ash as she had calmed down a bit from earlier. It didn't take long for them to get back, but Ash's leg was causing him a lot of pain, so he was relieved to know it wasn't much further.
As Cilan guided Ash over to a log, he sat down to take a bit of pressure off his leg as he rolled up his jeans. Cilan reached into his backpack and took out a bandage and wrapped it around Ash's knee to help with the recovery of his injury. "You'll be as good as new in no time, Ash. Just keep the pressure off your leg for a while," Cilan informed Ash, who nodded, understanding his words.
As darkness approached them, everyone got into their sleeping bags for the night, ready for the next day of their journey to begin.