Chapter 3- The Rock Type Master
Buzz had been watching Ash carefully and chased down the hole after him. Buzz grabbed the trainer and tried to pull him up, but only managed in slowing his fall before he hit the ground underneath.
Ash looked around as he saw he was 20 feet underneath the building. This was weird, because Ash was standing right where the foundation of the building should have been. Instead, Ash found himself in a large open room with slight light coming from somewhere.
"Recall your bug before my Golem squishes it," A voice said.
"Who's there? Reveal yourself!" Ash demanded.
"I said, recall your bug before my Golem flattens it boy!" The voice boomed.
Ash glanced at Buzz, who was looking around trying to find the owner of the voice as well. They couldn't locate it, as the small area echoed the call.
"Golem is a Rank 5 Pokemon. I know all of the Admins teams by heart and none of them have a Golem. Now quit lying and show yourself!" Ash said back. He was tired of this faker trying to intimidate him.
"Do not disrespect me! Golem, Rock throw!" The voice said back angrily.
Ash watched as a rocked about half the size of Buzz's body soared into his exoskeleton. It knocked Buzz back and left a small dent, but Buzz still felt ready to battle. He chittered his challenge as he shot a couple of poison stings at the area that the rock had come from.
"Interesting. Golem, go half power." The voice said.
Another rock came flying across from the other side of the arena, this one smashing into Buzz's back and knocking the bug type out of the air. Ash looked in awe as he saw his Beedrill lying unconscious on the ground.
Ash was in awe by the damage that one rock throw did. Especially if the voice was telling the truth and it was only at half power.
"Now recall your bug and explain who you are and why you are here, before Golem turns his attention on you." The voice warned.
Ash quickly listened, returning Buzz with a flash of red light.
"My name is Ash Ketchum. I am on the run from Team Rocket and I was told to find Brock here and to tell him I have something for Samuel Oak." Ash said hurriedly. He didn't know who this voice belonged to, but he didn't like the idea of being on the other end of a rock throw from a Golem.
"Who told you this? How do you know who Samuel Oak is?" The voice asked back.
"I don't! My mom just gave me a package and told me it needed to go to Samuel Oak. Really sir, I don't know anything else!" Ash pleaded. The voice was starting to sound angry, and he didn't like that.
"Hmmph. Take your backpack off and throw it across the floor. Your Pokeball too."
Ash took his backpack off quickly but held on to his Pokeball. He couldn't let Buzz go.
He watched as a large man with broad shoulders and spiky hair grabbed the bag from across the room. Next to the man was a Pokemon about 6 feet tall that looked like a large boulder with arms and legs attached. Ash gaped as he realized it was indeed a Golem, and an incredibly large one at that.
"I said your Pokeball too kid." The man said as he grabbed the bag.
"No. I'm not giving Buzz up. I can't. Please no." Ash begged.
"Fine, have it your way." The man said as he reached into his own bag and threw something at Ash's feet. Ash looked down and recognized the item as a potion.
"Spray that all over your Beedrill, you don't want it getting any sustained damage. I'd take it to the Pokemon Center, but it seems you don't trust me yet. Can't say I don't blame you, but when someone says they're looking for me I tend to think they trust me."
Ash blinked as realization dawned on him. "You're Brock?" Ash asked.
"That's me! Now you said there was something in here for Samuel Oak?" Brock replied as he began looking through Ash's bag.
"Yes sir! Front pocket, it's wrapped up next to a stone I was given." Ash responded.
Brock opened the front pocket and pulled out the parcel addressed to Samuel Oak as well as the stone that Ash had mentioned. Brock's eyes narrowed in on the stone as he asked, "Where did you say you got this?"
"The Queen Beedrill in Viridian forest gave it to me. I don't really know what it is but they seemed to think it was a big deal." Ash added honestly.
Brock examined it for a few moments. "It looks like it might be… no I can't say for certain. There are only two people that I know who could confirm my suspicions, and one of them is dead. The other one is Professor Oak, whom you have a parcel for already… Interesting.." Brock trailed off as he continued looking at the stone.
"So you're Brock? You were the Pewter City Gym Leader right?" Ash asked, remembering his history class.
"That's correct, before that corrupt Giovanni took everything over." Brock said with a spit of hate in his voice.
"Giovanni was just trying to keep the region safe. He didn't want another Lance to terrorize the world." Ash said back. He didn't really know why he was defending a person he had never met, but he knew that Team Rocket was good, and it had always been his dream to achieve high ranks in the organization.
"Is that so boy? And what do you know about Lance?" Brock asked sternly.
"I know that he was the so called Champion of the Indigo League." Ash started off. "And that he had dragons that were way too powerful. That he got power hungry and started attacking cities and citizens. I know that Lance killed most of the league trainers who tried to stop him, and was only stopped in a battle that mortally wounded the other three of the Elite four! Everybody died because of him and his arrogance!" Ash finished. He didn't know why, but he was yelling at this point, with tears coming down his face.
"And then?" Brock asked coldly.
Ash didn't care what Brock thought. He knew his history and he would make the ex-Gym Leader realize his mistakes. "And then Giovanni and Sabrina formed Team Rocket so that we would never be terrorized again by someone with Pokemon too strong but without any morals. They tried to convince you Gym Leaders to join them but you stubbornly refused, too power hungry to give up your over powered Pokemon." Ash spat back.
"I see. So Team Rocket is right in saying that trainers need to follow all of their rules and regulations and then they can have Pokemon?"
"Yes."
"So tell me, what brought you here? Why are you on the run from Team Rocket?"
Realization dawned on Ash as he was backed into a corner. "Because something not according to the rules happened. My Beedrill defeated a Rank 3 Pokemon in battle and then they tried to take it away. That's not how it's supposed to be, he's only a rank 2 Pokemon." Ash said.
"I'm assuming the higher ups in Team Rocket didn't agree with you? They tried to take it by force maybe?" Brock went on. "Perhaps they added something about fairness and equality. Once you've been through their school then you can have the power. Does that sound right?" Brock stared at Ash.
Ash simply nodded.
"And who is the leader of Team Rocket?" Brock asked.
"Giovanni, but you already knew that. And Sabrina." Ash said, confused by the sudden change of question.
"What is the difference between Giovanni in his current position and Lance in the old one? Both of them had positions of power with the strongest Pokemon to back them up, correct?"
"Well yes, but-"
Ash was cut off as Brock continued. "But Giovanni is good and Lance was bad, right? Right, but what if that isn't the case. What if it's actually the opposite? I have never heard of Lance trying to take away someone's Beedrill because it defeated another Pokemon in a battle." Brock finished, eyeing Ash as if to dare the boy to challenge him.
"Okay, but Giovanni isn't killing people and terrorizing cities! Giovanni isn't evil and crazy like Lance was!"
"So Giovanni isn't terrorizing the people who refuse to give up their Pokemon? Giovanni isn't demanding complete submission to the rules that he set up?" Brock asked again.
"It's just different."
"And yet, here you are, running away from Team Rocket while actively defending them. How ironic." Brock chuckled.
Ash shook his head as he released Buzz and began spraying the potion over him. There was a dent in his carapace from where the rock smash had hit, and his wings were pretty busted from tumbling on the ground.
"Listen kid, let me tell you the actual story, and after that you can tell me what you think of Giovanni. Deal?"
"Okay," Ash said back. He didn't really think he actually had a choice.
"You sure you don't want to let your Beedrill go to the Pokemon center? I'm not certain a potion can help as much as Nurse Joy would." Brock said as he examined the Pokemon.
Ash knew it would be best for Buzz but still…. "I guess that would be okay. I don't want anything to be permanently wrong with Buzz." Ash said with a gulp as he recalled his only friend.
"Timmy!" Brock yelled.
Ash watched as a younger version of Brock ran forward from out of the shadows. This boy seemed to be only a few years older than Ash, but had the same exact facial features, skin complexion, and hair as Brock did.
"I want you to take this Pokeball to the Pokemon Center for Nurse Joy, okay?" Brock asked the boy.
"Yes sir!" Timmy replied as Ash handed him the Pokeball. The boy turned to leave but Ash hadn't let go of the Pokeball yet.
"It's going to be okay, I promise. I'll be extra careful." The boy said as he looked Ash in the eyes. Ash finally relented as the boy marched off with Buzz.
"And don't forget to put your Rocket uniform on!" Brock yelled to Timmy.
"Sorry about that. Nurse Joy will heal anybody's Pokemon, but there are always Rockets watching the entrance to the Pokemon Center. Since they are supposed to be the only ones with Pokemon, anyone who comes in without a Rocket uniform immediately gets searched. That's why most of my little siblings are technically a part of Team Rocket." Brock explained to Ash.
"Golem, make us a couple of chairs, this might be a little long," Brock said to his Pokemon. The golem simply nodded in agreement and then stomped the ground. Two pillars of stone rose up from the barren floor, and Ash watched in amazement as half of the pillar stopped rising after a couple of feet as the other half continued for another two feet before stopping. He was surprised by how easy the makeshift chairs were for the Pokemon to make.
"Thank you buddy." Brock said as he sat down. "Now, let me tell you the true story. Let's see, where do we start…. Ah yes," Brock said, as he began to tell his story.
"Contrary to what you might have heard, Lance was a fearless and virtuous leader. Outspoken at times, but he always put the right thing before any pleasure. The league had tremendous peace and prosperity under Lance, and we were even able to continue our partnerships with most of the other regions. Mind you, I'm not talking about Johto, which was a part of us back then, I'm talking about the further off regions. Hoenn, Sinnoh, Alola to name a few. Anyways, things were great back then. Children would begin their Pokemon journey at the age of 10. They would receive a starter either from their parents, a Pokemon professor, or the nearest gym would provide Pokemon for a lot of students. Trainers would journey around Kanto and Johto challenging Gym Leaders, trying to earn enough gym badges to compete in the yearly Indigo conference. This was where trainers would compete with each other for prizes, glory, and as a tryout for joining the League.
This was the highlight of every year, and the League operated behind the scenes to take care of anything that might be dangerous to these trainers. Herds of Rhyhorn and Rhydon traveling too close to towns, ghosts tormenting townsfolk, that sort of thing. It was during this time that Sabrina sensed a strong psychic presence in the caves above Cerulean city. She and Lance went to investigate a couple weeks before the indigo conference, and they came back changed.
Sabrina was even more distant than usual, while Lance basically disappeared. There were rumors that a dragon trainer was challenging trainers on the road and destroying their teams, but nobody knew if the rumors could be true, much less about Lance.
Anyways, the Indigo conference came and trainers from all around gathered together to compete for victory. While all the trainers and Elite four members were at the first rounds of the conference, Lance flew in to the Plateau where the finals would be held. There were a number of league trainers preparing the battlefields for the final rounds, and Lance slaughtered them.
Agatha and her ghost types felt the loss of life that happened, and she quickly alerted the other members of the Elite Four as they rushed to see what had happened. As you said before, Lance had a gruesome battle with them, which left most if not all of the Pokemon and the trainers mortally wounded.
Everybody was astounded by this and the conference was immediately cancelled. We were all still trying to figure out what had happened or how it had happened when Giovanni called a Gym Leader meeting in Saffron. There were seven of us present, Myself, Giovanni, Sabrina, Koga, Erika, Lt. Surge and Misty. Blaine was still on Cinnabar but had given Koga his proxy. Giovanni started the meeting off.
'I have gathered you all together today in light of the recent developments on the Indigo Plateau. With the Elite Four dead, we must act quickly to maintain order within our areas. I propose we start by making a universal school for teaching trainers how and when they can train or battle their Pokemon. Until each person goes through this training, they are not allowed to have their stronger Pokemon.'
There was a lot of outrage and unbelief at this statement, but Sabrina silenced the rest of us with a look. Let me tell you something about Sabrina, she has always been kind of weird, what with her strong psychic powers, but her eyes never glowed blue aura like they did this time. As she spoke, her voice sounded far off and distant.
"I agree with Giovanni. It must be done, for the sake of peace." She said as she looked at Giovanni. He nodded to her.
"And what about us, Giovanni? Would we have to submit our Pokemon to you as well until we were deemed worthy?" Koga asked.
"It's only fair for it to be that way." Giovanni responded. "This is for the best of all of us. This is the way."
"Look at Sabrina's eyes. She is obviously no longer in control. Giovanni has found a way to control her, and who knows if he made Lance attack the rest of the elite four? What powerful psychic do you have? What are you hiding Giovanni?" Koga demanded.
"Sabrina is acting completely on her own volition. Isn't that right Sabrina?" Giovanni asked.
Sabrina simply nodded, but her eyes gave away the truth.
"As for the psychic type you speak of, that is of no concern. Now, are you guys going to submit willingly?" Giovanni asked.
We all looked at each other. Giovanni had always been slightly off and distant, but this was straight up crazy. Erika spoke up next.
"Most of my gym trainers are not interested in learning the things you have to teach. They are very peaceful, interested mainly in perfumes. I could not agree with taking away their Pokemon."
"The water trainers at my gym already have their hands full with what I'm teaching them. They don't need your rules also. If you think I'm not capable of teaching them morals then you're way off Giovanni." Misty responded.
"I can't imagine taking away everyone's Pokemon would be a great idea," I added after some thought.
Lt. Surge looked around the room. He looked at Koga, and then he looked at Sabrina, and finally his eyes landed on Giovanni.
"To the victor goes the spoils. I know enough to pick the winning side. I'm with you Giovanni." Surge said.
"Very well then, since you all have made your choice, we will have to forcibly remove your Pokemon from you. If you will Sabrina?" Giovanni asked.
Just then there was a flash of smoke as Koga threw a smoke bomb into the ground. He opened a Pokeball with a flash of red light and then suddenly we were all gone.
I looked around and realized we were in Professor Oak's laboratory in Pallet town. Both Professor Oak and Blaine were standing there waiting for us.
"It was worse than you feared," Koga said as he handed Oak the empty Pokeball. "Giovanni is attempting to take control and require everyone to go through a special school before they can have Pokemon. His plan is to take everyone's Pokemon from them and only allow those who believe with his doctrines to have any strong Pokemon."
"What's going on? How did we get here?" I asked, uncertain of what just happened.
"Ah, I should explain," The Professor said. "Let's start with your second question. You got here via teleportation from my Alakazam. I had given it to Koga when I heard about this meeting. As for what is going on, that is a little harder to explain." Oak said with a sigh.
"A couple of weeks ago my Alakazam sensed a large psychic power convulging right outside of Cerulean city. Alakazam brought it to my attention, and we met up with Lance and Sabrina. Alakazam said she thought it was a bad idea to confront it, but Lance and Sabrina were too prideful to heed our warning. Together they went out, certain they could handle whatever they found. Alakazam and I went back to the ranch. Alakazam sensed the power spike exponentially, and we knew at that moment that there was no way the Champion had overcome its power. We immediately went to see Blaine on Cinnabar." Oak said as he nodded towards the bald old man standing beside him.
"We went to work figuring out a way to protect ourselves from the psychics senses, as well as how to protect the island from attack should we be over ran. Cinnabar is very remote, and while that protects it from being attacked on foot there is still the threat of teleportation. Especially if Sabrina and her team were compromised. With the help of Elite Four Agatha and trainee Karen, we were able to develop a protective aura that could be used if needed to hide the island from Psychic intervention."
"Wait, what? How is that even possible?" Misty asked. This time, it was Blaine that spoke up.
"We know that Ghost types have other wordly energy that psychics cannot interact with. However, their existence and presence creates a hole. For example, Lavender town can easily be noticed from a psychics perspective, as it is basically a gaping hole on a map. Dark types, however are much more subtle. Their life force still creates a bump, but is camouflaged, making it nearly impossible for psychics to detect them until it is too late. They are also unaffected by psychic abilities. However, with this super powerful psychic being able to overpower both Lance and Sabrina, we knew that simply shrouding ourselves in dark energy would not be enough. Imagine it like a flat piece of land," Blaine continued. Blaine also used to be a professor, and worked closely with fire types and dark types.
"Regular Pokemon are bumps over the top of this landscape, easily discernable. Ghosts are giant holes, also easily discernable by the absolute lack of what is supposed to be there. Dark types are like camouflaged bumps. Very hard to see, but still with a discernable life force that can be seen if the psychic is strong enough. By combining dark and ghost types," Blaine said as Professor Oak cut him off.
"We hoped to achieve a camouflaged covering over the hole. A rough analogy, but in theory it should be nearly indiscernable, and also impossible to teleport too. This means that we will have no communication available either, as I'm sure Giovanni will have access to a number of Porygon so sending any sort of encrypted message won't be possible without being hacked. Here, take these, they contain some of the aforementioned energy. Sabrina will not be able to detect where you are when these are touching your body." Oak said as he handed each of us a purple and black bracelet inside of a silk pouch.
"So what are we going to do now?" I asked. I didn't like the idea of hiding, but with the Elite Four gone and Giovanni and Sabrina against us, we didn't have too great of odds. Especially if they had a super-powered Psychic.
"Now we wait and watch." Koga responded. "Oak and Blaine are trying to find something to equal their psychics powers. It hasn't been acting up since it took control of Lance and Sabrina, so perhaps it has gone into resting."
"Or perhaps it is toying with us and we will all die." Blaine added. "We don't know, but this is the best shot we have. We recommend you guys go back to your cities and hide underground. Sabrina will be looking for your energy signatures, but luckily with these bracelets she won't be able to find you."
"Can't she see us right now? How come Sabrina and Giovanni didn't immediately teleport after us?" Erika asked.
"Ah, well you see my Alakazam is currently teleporting all of Kanto and Johto in order to confuse them, and this building is fortified against the prying eyes of psychics. Alakazam won't be able to keep it up much longer, so I'm afraid it's about time to go. Once she drops you back at your city, put the bracelet on immediately. Find your gym trainers, go underground, and pray to Arceus that we make it out of this alive." Professor Oak said, with a hint of sadness in his voice.
We all looked at each other and said our goodbyes before we were whisked away to our respective towns. That all happened 10 years ago, and I haven't seen any of them since, other than Misty. We have formed an underground tunnel of sorts, transferring materials and sometimes trainers across our cities and eventually to Cinnabar. In theory, at least. Once it leaves Pewter I don't really know." Brock said as he finished his story.
Ash's head was spinning. If what Brock said was true, then Team Rocket was…. The villains? That didn't seem right to Ash at all. And yet, he was on the run from them…
"His Alakazam was teleporting all over Kanto and Johto while you guys were talking? That's beyond powerful!" Ash exclaimed. Ash didn't know much about psychic types, but he knew teleporting that far just once required a lot of energy.
"Yeah. Oak's Alakazam is probably the strongest Psychic type, other than whatever Giovanni hatched up. It could easily overpower any of Sabrina's team, maybe even two or three of them with purely psychic powers. It's past it's battle prime, so it's body is weaker than before, but their line just keeps getting stronger and stronger with Psychic energy as they age."
Brock saw Ash gaping and added, "I guess you probably don't know the history behind Samuel Oak. The guy is pretty much a legend. I wouldn't believe it myself had I not witnessed a lot of his Pokemon in person and seen some of the old battle tapes. Oak was… Where do I even start?" Brock said quizzically, trying to put his thoughts together.
"It was probably close to 50 years ago that Oak started his rise to fame. At that time the Pokemon league was just an idea really, they held no true power and each city operated as its own autonomous government. From what I understand, it was a lot darker time back then. Terrible power struggles, complete wars breaking out from one city trying to overtake another. It was out of this that Oak rose to power, with Agatha and Blaine beside him. What made Oak so amazing was that he wasn't a specialist. Basically every other trainer who reaches the highest level of battle training with their Pokemon is a specialist. Speaking from personal experience, it purely makes sense. I know rock types better than anyone else, I know their weaknesses, their strengths, how to raise them, train them, everything. I would love a Dragonite or a Charizard but I would have no idea how to properly raise or train them. Their talents would be wasted by training with me. Even Agatha raised ghosts, Blaine raised fire types, and literally every other Master level trainer is a specialist. But Oak was somehow able to master everything. What didn't his main team include? He had Venasaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Dragonite, Gyarados, Arcanine, Exeggutor, Alakazam, Pidgeot, the list goes on. He was an absolute monster. It didn't take long before he became Champion of the League, and that's when his brilliant mind showed itself. With Agatha and Blaine beside him, they brought peace to Kanto. They brought legitimacy to the League, recruited strong young trainers to staff it. They went around to each city and established Gym Leaders. It took them 5 years, but they changed Kanto from a feudalistic, warring tribes region to a cohesive unit. And then they turned to Johto.
Oak flew straight to the warring Wataru tribe of Blackthorne city and put a challenge to the tribe leader. A one on one, Dragonite v Dragonite. If Oak won, they would submit to the League. But if they won, then Oak would give control of all of Kanto to the Wataru. It was a risky move, but Oaks Dragonite was an absolute beast and pulled out victorious. Instead of forcing them into submission though, Oak promised that one of the dragon masters would be the next Champion of the League if they were worthy.
Brilliant move on his part. It restored honor to the Wataru and also gave them a reason to have pride in the League. The Clan Leader sent his son Drake with Oak, to learn from him and eventually take his place as Champion. This was the original Elite Four, with Oak as champion, and Blaine, Agatha and Drake as the other members."
"And then what happened?" Ash asked, enthralled by the story.
"It took them another 5 years to settle all of Johto under the league's control. They set up Gym Leaders in most towns over there as well. Then Oak spent the next 5 years flying out to the other regions and establishing relationships with them, helping out when possible. By the end of his 15 years as Champion, he had brought together Kanto and Johto and had created working communications with the other regions. Then he retired, seeing that his job was done. I saw part of the tape of his battle vs Drake. He only battled with one member of his original team, and that Charizard took out two of Drake's Dragonite before his signature Salamence took it down. It was a close battle, but in the end Drake was able to win the match. Everyone recognized that if Oak wanted to, he could have stayed as champion. But his interests were elsewhere. Oak retired to Pallet town, Blaine left to go back to Cinnabar to continue his research and be the Gym Leader there, while Drake became Champion and Agatha stayed on as a member of the Elite Four and guardian of Lavender town.
Oak began working on Pokemon research after that, and he is probably just as famous for his work as a professor. He single handedly created the upgrades to Pokeballs that we know as Great balls and Ultra balls, and his research paved the way for unique Pokeballs such as dive balls and the like. He also worked with the young man Bill to create the Pokemon Storage system. He created the Pokedex, and commissioned trainers to go out and gather information on as many Pokemon as possible."
"What's a Pokedex?" Ash asked, confused by the unfamiliar term.
"Oh, I'll show you tomorrow. You'll be in for quite a treat." Brock said.
"So if this guy was so awesome, why didn't Sabrina and Lance listen to his warning? Or why didn't he stop them?" Ash asked.
"Who knows really? My best guess from what I know of Sabrina and Lance is that they were too arrogant. Lance was Drake's apprentice and eventually overtook his mentor as Champion. He probably assumed that since Drake had taken the mantle from Oak, and that he took it from Drake he was that much stronger than Oak. While Sabrina has to recognize the power from Oak's Alakazam, she also probably thought that there was no way her whole team could be overtaken. As to why Oak didn't stop them, I don't know. Perhaps he had only shown up with his Alakazam when he confronted them. None of his Pokemon stayed in their Pokeballs anymore, and it's unlikely that Alakazam teleported them all in. Perhaps he knew it would be a bad idea to take down the Champion of the League and the strongest psychic. That could lead to chaos and rebellion if they weren't deemed competent. But you've also got to remember that Oak was old by this time. It had been close to twenty-five years since he was last Champion. His Pokemon were all past their fighting prime and most of them hadn't trained in ages. They definitely weren't slouches, but I don't think they could take on both Lance's dragons and Sabrina's psychics in a head on battle. Anyways, it would have been too bloody and Oak didn't want that." Brock finished.
"Hmm. That's an interesting story Brock. You said this professor Oak lived in Pallet town? We used to live there when I was younger, that's probably how my mother knew him." Ash said as he thought about his mother.
"Yeah, that makes sense. Who knows, she might have even worked at the Professors ranch!" Brock said.
"Listen kid, I know it's a lot to take in. From what it seems you've had a long day. Let me get you to a room for the night and then tomorrow you can tell me your story and we can figure out what to do from there." Brock added as he saw Ash's face drop after mentioning his mother.
Ash simply nodded as Brock stood up and led him out of the large room and into the shadows.
X
Ash looked around and sighed. Brock had led him to a nice plain room with nothing but a grey bed in it and a desk by the door, but he felt weird without any windows. There was another door at the other side of the room that led to a small bedroom, but other than that it was very simple. He noticed the lack of Buzz's Pokeball on his belt, which Brock had said would come back from the Pokecenter in the morning. Apparently Buzz had put quite a strain on his wings, as well as having a giant rock strike him in the abdomen. He would have a full recovery though, and Ash was pleased about that.
Ash had nothing else to do, so he laid down in bed and thought about everything that had happened that day. His Pokemon was almost taken from him. He left his mom, and didn't know when he was going to see her again. His oldest friend had been burnt to crisp trying to protect him, and he learned that the organization he had looked up to for as long as he could remember might actually be the bad guys.
It was no surprise then that Ash ended up crying himself to sleep.
X
Ash woke up some time later and saw that there was a Pokeball on the desk with a note next to it and a plate of food. Ash hurriedly got up and ran to the Pokeball. He released Buzz immediately.
Buzz chittered at Ash as Ash reached toward him and gave him a big hug.
"Hey buddy! I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried about you," Ash said as he looked at the bug.
Buzz looked back at Ash and chittered at him too.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but Brock gave me a lot to think about. Let me tell you what he told me," Ash said as he told Buzz everything that he had learned from the rock type master the previous day. He also picked up the plate of food and began eating it in between sentences. The food was cold, which made him think it had been there awhile.
"So buddy, what do you think? We can't go back to Team Rocket, but do we trust Brock? He can definitely help us grow stronger, if that Golem is any measurement!" Ash said as he looked at Buzz.
Buzz seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding an affirmative.
"Awesome. I have no idea what time it is or how long I was asleep. There are no windows in here so I can't tell what time it is at all. The food was pretty cold so it must have been left here a while ago, but just how long?" Ash said as he looked down at the table. He saw that there was a note from Brock on it, and he read it.
Ash,
Here is your Beedrill back. As you will see, he made a full recovery. I would like to assess your Beedrill's strength when you wake up. If you turn right out of your room and follow the hallway, it will lead you directly into the large room that we were in yesterday. I will be in there training.
Brock
"Alright buddy, let's go and show Brock what we are made of!" Ash said after he went to the bathroom. He headed out the door with Beedrill flying beside him.
X
Ash walked into the room that he had been in last night and was surprised at how bright the large room was. He noticed that it looked like an old stadium, as there were great pillars with spotlights all around that were currently turned on. Ash looked up and could see sunlight peeking in from the hole he had poked through the ceiling when he fell the night before.
Ash immediately saw Brock and his massive Golem training with the same miniature Brock that Ash had seen yesterday and a Geodude.
Brock turned around as Golem alerted him that Ash had entered the arena. "Hey Ash! Glad you could make it!" Brock said as he left the Golem with the younger trainer.
"Thanks! What time is it, how long was I out for?" Ash asked nervously.
"About three days. We had to change your sheets a couple times because you wet the bed." Brock said.
"What? Are you serious?" Ash exclaimed.
"No man I'm just playing," Brock chuckled. "It's about noon, you slept for around 14 hours. You were looking pretty haggard when you came in yesterday so I'm not surprised at all. Speaking of which…" Brock said.
Ash sighed as he told him the full story of what had happened over the last two days.
"Wow, that's crazy!" Brock said as Ash finished his story. "Most of my siblings have been in Rocket school, and they've mentioned Carl and Proton before, but I didn't realize they were that bad…"
"Yeah, they are. But Buzz and I are going to become stronger than them and the next time we meet they will be sorry for ever messing with me." Ash said fiercely. He was done being the weak link.
"That's what I like to hear Ash! Let's see what your Beedrill is made of!" Brock said as he grabbed a Pokeball off of his belt.
"We aren't at your level yet so I don't know…" Ash trailed off.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to sick any of my main team on you guys. No, this is a Pokemon that hatched recently from one of my teams eggs. I think it should be a good baseline to measure you from!" Brock said as he walked away from Ash. Once he was about 50 feet away, he released the Pokemon.
Ash watched as a small, heavily armored rodent appeared from the Pokeball. It was only about 2 feet tall, with short pointed ears and a stubby tail. Ash examined it more closely.
"What is it?" Ash asked Brock.
"What does it look like?" Brock shot back.
"It looks like a Sandshrew, but their armor isn't white and shiny like that thing." Ash said. The Sandshrew looking Pokemon had bright white armor that almost seemed to be made of ice.
"Good guess, it's an Alolan Sandshrew!" Brock explained. "They are from the region of Alola where they had to adapt to be able to survive in harsh winter caves. I got one back before Team Rocket took over and this is one of its children! Now enough talk, let's fight!" Brock said.
"Alright Buzz, this should be easy! Just stay in the air and hit it with poison sting!" Ash said.
Buzz did exactly that, hovering in the air as he launched poison attacks from his massive lances.
The little Sandshrew just stood still and took the hits.
This will be easy, Ash thought, as he was certain that the poison was beginning to work its way through the little things body. "Keep it up Buzz, it will be down in no time!" Ash added. He wasn't sure what level Brock thought he was at, but this wasn't even a challenge.
"Hm. It looks like you'll benefit greatly from the Pokedex." Brock said as he watched the little Sandshrew tank the hits. "Icicle Spear! See if you can hit the wings, but if not just aim for the body!" Brock yelled to the Pokemon.
Sandshrew looked unfazed by the poison barrage and began throwing spears of ice at the Beedrill that it formed out of thin air.
Buzz was able to dodge the first few, but was caught unprepared and so took a few hits squarely to the abdomen as he stopped his attacks to focus on dodging.
"Keep dodging Buzz! Your poison should be working through its system pretty strongly, it won't be able to continue for much longer!" Ash said as he tasted victory. Buzz was great with his wings and could easily dodge most of these spears, and Ash was sure the poison would continue to do its job.
"Interesting strategy. Did I forget to mention that Sandshrew is part steel type and is immune to poison? My bad!" Brock called out. "Now, Double Team! Follow it up with more Icicle Spear and then Iron Head!"
Ash cursed as he watched the little Pokemon duplicate into multiple copies. Now there were over 5 of the Ice-Steel type running around, each throwing Icicles at the Beedrill.
Buzz had never seen this technique before and was doing his best to dodge every attack sent his way, not realizing that some of them were very much not real. He ended up being hit a few times by the actual spears, which slowed him down with every blow.
Ash watched the copies, and saw that one on the backside of Buzz had a sudden glint in its head.
"Buzz, lookout behind you! Quick, Iron Defense!" Ash said as he saw the danger that his Pokemon was in.
Buzz immediately tensed and a steel gleam came over his abdomen, right as the Sandshrew smashed into his with a similarly glowing head. The resulting crash resulted in a loud clang, with both Pokemon being knocked back from the blow.
"Use Twineedle on all of the copies! They will vanish when they are hit." Ash said. He had to come up with some way to defeat this Sandshrew, but he wasn't sure what to do without his poison being able to work.
Buzz quickly fired small needles from its stinger, quickly disposing of the duplicates. It wasn't quite quick enough, as the actual Sandshrew was able to hit Buzz with two ice spears on either of his wings.
Buzz was teetering on his wings and was unable to dodge as he was hit a couple more times by the icicles.
"Fire back with Twineedle! Go ahead and land and use Iron Defense!" Ash said, as a plan formed in his head.
"We've got them now, Sandshrew! Rush back in with Iron head and then get on top of it and start scratching it!" Brock said smugly.
The Sandshrew charged the Beedrill as it hardened its exoskeleton and prepared for the hit.
Ash waited until the Sandshrew's head shimmered with the Steel energy before calling out his next command. "Now, Electroweb! Follow it up with Bug Bite and take it into the air!"
Brock watched in surprise as the Beedrill spit out a web crackling with electricity that covered the Sandshrew. The web and the electricity caused the Pokemon to stumble and fall, rolling forward helplessly.
"Defense curl!" Brock yelled, hopeful to get the soft underside of Sandshrew covered before the Beedrill could bite into it.
The Sandshrew tried to curl up but Buzz was too quick and latched on with his teeth to the smaller Pokemon. The Sandshrew let out a shriek as Buzz's teeth dug into the soft scales on its underside.
Buzz shook his head back and forth a couple times like a Growlithe would before flying up with shaky wings.
"Yes!" Ash cheered as he saw his plan working. "Now bring it as high as you can before dropping it. Send Electroweb and Twineedles after it! Don't stop until he recalls it!" Ash said.
Buzz did just that, flying up the twenty feet to the ceiling before releasing the Pokemon from his grip, spitting an electroweb and shooting needles after him.
Brock watched as his Sandshrew hit the ground hard, and then was hit by the electroweb and a barrage of needles. He recalled the Pokemon as he looked to Ash.
"Great battle! Way to adapt your plan as you learned more about your enemy." Brock said, apparently not bothered by his defeat.
"Yeah! Great job Buzz!" Ash said as he recalled Buzz. He still had plenty of fight in him, but he should probably go to the Pokemon center to make sure his wings were okay. "That Sandshrew was really strong!"
"It definitely has a lot of potential!" Brock said as he walked over to Ash. "Anyways, let's get these guys to Nurse Joy and I'll get you a Pokedex and explain how to use it." Brock said as Ash gave him his Pokeball. Brock called for one of the younger kids to take the Pokemon to the Pokemon Center.
Ash watched as the kid ran off with the Pokeballs in hand. "So about this Pokedex…"
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"So you're telling me that this has information about every Pokemon species, their strengths and weaknesses, and moves they can learn?" Ash asked incredulously. Brock had spent the last hour showing Ash how to use the Pokedex and explaining all of its functions.
"Well, I would imagine there are still a few species not registered on the Pokedex. But other than those few rare ones that haven't been caught by trainers, yes!" Brock replied. "It's a great tool to study. I would probably start with the Kanto region if I were you though, you'll run into stuff from here a lot more often than imported Pokemon." Brock said as he handed Ash the little red device.
"You.. you're giving this to me? It must be way too valuable for me to have!" Ash said incredulously as he held the Pokedex carefully.
Brock started laughing. "Oh don't worry Ash, the Professor made tons of these! They all connect to the same network so the more out in development the better the information becomes. I still have a pile of them left from when I was a Gym Leader. It was our job to give them to any trainers that didn't have them and showed promise to do more than just hang out in Viridian forest with their bugs. No offense." Brock added as he realized that Ash could be considered a bug catcher.
"None taken," Ash said as he began looking through the Pokedex. "I'm going to spend a ton of time studying so Buzz and I will be prepared for anything!"
"Speaking of Buzz, I meant to ask you. Like I said earlier, most high level trainers are specialists. I think you have a lot of potential to get there, but you have to figure out what your specialty is going to be. Now as I see it, Beedrill is a bug-poison type. So you could either be a bug master or a poison master. Koga was a poison master, and he was on the shortlist for the Elite Four. If I remember right, he even had a Beedrill." Brock said as he tried to remember.
"Yeah, I read a book from a Koga of Fuschia that was all about the Beedrill line. That's where I learnt about Electroweb and Iron Defense." Ash said as he pondered what Brock was saying.
"Yep, that'd be him! So yeah, just something to think about. You already know a lot about Beedrill, and I'm sure that would transfer over to other bug types pretty easily. I don't think there has ever been a master level bug type trainer, but perhaps you could be the first. Assuming we don't get all our Pokemon taken away from us."
Ash would have to think about it more before coming to a decision. He had spent so much time focused on getting Buzz to evolve that he hadn't really thought beyond that.
Luckily, Ash was saved from having to answer Brock as a young boy came running back with two Pokeballs in hand.
"Here they are! The nurse said the Beedrill is looking much better than before!" The boy, Timmy as Ash recalled, said as he gave each trainer a Pokeball.
Ash greedily grabbed Buzz's Pokeball from the boy as he released the flying bug type. Ash pointed the Pokedex at the bug and pressed a button, and a female voice said,
Beedrill, the poison bug Pokemon
A Beedrill is extremely territorial. For safety reasons, no one should ever approach its nest. If angered, they will attack in a swarm.
This Beedrill is Male and knows the moves Bug bite, Electroweb, Iron Defense, Poison sting, Twineedle, and String shot. Its ability is Swarm, which increases the power of bug type moves when low on health.
"Woah! That's so cool!" Ash said as the Pokedex read off Buzz's information. "I didn't even know about your ability! That's good to know!" Ash said to Buzz. Buzz chittered back.
Ash kept looking through the Pokedex, reading more about Beedrill and all the different moves they could learn. A thought suddenly occurred to him as he looked up to Brock.
"This says that Beedrill can learn Double Team. After seeing your Sandshrew use it in battle it seems like a very useful tactic. Is there any way that Sandshrew could help Buzz learn Double Team?" Ash asked hopefully. At the very least he could use the ability to make other people think Buzz had called in back up.
"I imagine he can, but I'll need something out of it. I need Beedrill to work with Sandshrew on Iron Defense. He hasn't been able to get it down yet, but maybe having a bug teach him how to be a steel type will put some determination in him!" Brock chuckled as he released the little Pokemon from its Pokeball.
It created an ice spear as soon as it saw the Beedrill and began growling lowly.
Brock simply laughed while Ash tried to calm the little guy down. "It's okay buddy, we aren't battling again. You are going to help Beedrill with Double Team, and in turn Beedrill will help you get Iron Defense down. How does that sound?" Ash asked the little Ice-type.
Sandshrew looked back and forth between Ash and Buzz before nodding his head and relaxing. He finally dropped his ice spear as he walked over to Beedrill and began trying to explain how to create the illusions. It was quite comical to see the little Sandshrew squeaking at the Beedrill.
And so began Ash's first day of real Pokemon training.
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