Chapter 3
I don't own Pokémon. I only own my OCs.
Ash yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Sunlight was creeping in through the window of his room, and he could hear the faint voices of other people outside of the door. He sat up and looked around the room. It was one of the biggest rooms in the entire Pokemon Center, as it had three beds and a pullout couch to sleep on. After a lot of arguing, Ash decided to step up and take the pullout couch while the others got their own beds. He noticed that Nate, Angelina, and Gary weren't in their beds. He checked the clock on his bedside table, which read 10:21 on it. Must've slept in late again...
Staying in Viridian City was... manageable for Ash. They'd been in the city for a couple of days now, and got to experience what staying in a Pokemon Center was really like. The beds were comfy, the food was good, and you could heal your Pokemon whenever you wanted. It was a wonder that these places were free for any Trainer to stay in. Ash had also gotten to see Trainers go in and out of the Pokemon Center, and a few of them were quite experienced, having full teams of six Pokemon, and almost all of their team members were fully evolved. Hopefully he'd be as strong as them one day.
Gary was being his annoying and arrogant self like always. He'd constantly make a mess of their room, leaving dirty clothes and food wrappers on the floor. The three of them obviously didn't try to clean it up (the last they wanted to do was be his servants), but it did smell. He'd also brag about how good of a Trainer he was, constantly boasting about how Squirtle would beat all of them in a battle easily. Nate had to restrain Charmander from practicing Metal Claw on Gary's face. The little lizard hated when his pride was insulted, and Nate wouldn't let him take it out on Gary, no matter how much he wanted to as well.
Angelina didn't seem to mind sleeping in a room with three other boys. She explained that she had an older brother who sometimes invited his friends over. Since they both shared a room, it didn't really bother her being the only girl. Even still, Saur always slept next to her, and would get apprehensive if anyone got too close.
Ash looked over to the side of his bed and saw that Dexter was awake and was staring out the window silently, looking at nothing in particular. He'd noticed that Dexter had a habit of staring at things with its soul-piercing gaze, whether they be random objects, people, or Pokemon. Usually people would stare at Dexter, until Dexter would start to look at them. Then they'd get flustered and hurry away, which was funny to watch.
Ash walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, letting the cool water run through his hair. He was sure to make use of the showers in the Pokemon Center, since he didn't know when his next shower would be once they left Viridian City, and he didn't exactly enjoy the idea of bathing in a river. After a while, Ash exited the shower and put on his Trainer outfit, which had been washed the day before. He took a few minutes to brush his teeth and walked out of the bathroom. He looked toward the window and saw Dexter in the exact same spot as before.
He approached the Normal-type and tapped it once to get its attention. "Hey, I'm going downstairs to get some breakfast." Ash said, his voice a little hoarse from sleeping so long. "You wanna come?"
Dexter tore its gaze away from the window and nodded, allowing Ash to recall it back into its PokeBall. Ash walked out of his room and walked downstairs to the cafeteria, cutting through the lobby in the process. His eyes were drawn to a boy with blonde hair, who seemed to be a few years older than him running up the counter of the Pokemon Center. He frantically dumped a handful of PokeBalls into the hands of Nurse Joy. Ash listened in on their conversation while walking by, interested to hear the reason why he seemed so frantic.
"...and then Giovanni took down the rest of my team like it was nothin'! Please, you gotta help me miss!" the boy said, fear evident in the tone of his voice. Nurse Joy seemed to be trying to calm the boy down, but all it took was for Ash to hear the name Giovanni to know what was going on.
Giovanni was considered to be a ruthless and powerful Gym Leader, one of the most powerful in Kanto in fact. Ash had seen a few of his matches broadcasted on live TV, although he seemed to have less of them viewable to the public than other Gym Leaders. He specialized in the Ground-type and possessed a monster of a Nidoking as his ace, among other powerful Pokemon like Mamoswine and Hippowdon. He was not a Gym Leader to be taken lightly, and not one person in all of Kanto had been able to beat Giovanni without prior badges. He didn't hold back, even against new Trainers.
Ash strolled into the cafeteria and looked around for any sign of a familiar face. A few Trainers lingered in the area, either getting a late breakfast or an early lunch. To his luck, Ash was able to find Nate, who was eating a sandwich quietly in the corner. Charmander was sitting on the ground, eating pellets, accompanied by a purple, rodent-like Pokemon sitting next to him. The brown-haired boy noticed Ash coming closer and waved him over.
"Hey Ash!" Nate greeted him. He gestured toward the purple Pokemon by his feet, grinning proudly. "Look at my new Nidoran! I woke up early this morning to go catch it! He was a real fighter, he even got close to beating Charmander!"
Charmander huffed and snorted smoke out of his nostrils, crossing his arms and shaking his head as if to deny Nate's statment. Ash took his Pokedex from his backpack and knelt down slowly to scan the Poison-type, taking extra precaution to not scare it accidentally. Within a few seconds, information flashed on the screen, and the robotic voice of the digital encyclopedia started to speak.
"Nidoran. The Poison Pin Pokemon." the Pokedex stated. "The male Nidoran has developed muscles that freely move its ears in any direction. Even the slightest sound does not escape this Pokemon's notice. The larger its horn, the more powerful its venom."
Nidoran tended to live in groups for protection, and these groups always had one Nidoking and Nidoqueen leading them. Oftentimes males would leave the group when they were old enough to get stronger by themselves and start a pack of their own. They were herbivores, mainly eating berries and tree bark, and mainly lived in forests and open fields. However, Ash noticed that the Pokedex seemed to display much less data than when he scanned Petal and Dexter, most likely because Nidoran wasn't his Pokemon.
Suddenly an idea seemed to form in Nate's head, and he suddenly stood up. "Hey! I just had the greatest idea!" he said. "Why don't you and I have our first battle with each other?"
Ash blinked. "Nate, we're only five days into our journey and you already want to battle?" he asked. The boy nodded his head rapidly, not picking up on what Ash was trying to suggest. Charmander and Nidoran's attention was drawn toward Nate, both of them having eager glints in their eyes.
"Think of it this way!" he said. "You and I both have new captures on our team. This is the perfect excuse to see what they can do!"
Ash mused. Oddish didn't exactly have the greatest type matchup against Nate's team. Both of his Pokemon resisted Grass-type attacks, and his Nidoran resisted both Grass and Poison-type moves. Even so, Nate did have a point. He'd mainly been training with Dexter to help it get the hang of Psybeam over the past couple of days, and had just had Petal do some small running exercises to help it get used to its training regiment. He couldn't deny that he wanted to see what the Oddish could do with its wide movepool.
"Fine." Ash eventually agreed. Nate shot him a toothy grin, and Ash couldn't help but smile back. "But don't expect me to go easy on you."
Nate's grin widened. "Heh. I wouldn't dream of it."
Twenty minutes later, Ash and Nate were standing on opposite sides of a battlefield near the Pokemon Center. Public battlefields were common around cities and towns, to allow people to test their skills without starting a fight on the street. The battlefield was a few blocks from the Pokemon Center, and Ash could see a few people walking by, a small number stopping to watch their battle.
Nate had agreed to send out his Pokemon first, since he was the one who challenged him. Usually in tournaments and Elite Four matches, the person who sent out their Pokemon would be decided by a coin flip. Gym Leader battles required the Gym Leader to send out their Pokemon first, as per League rules.
Nate cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted. "I hope you're ready Ash!" he called. "Charmander and I have been training really hard! You won't stand a chance!"
Ash grinned. This was why battles fired him up. The stakes. The rush. The competitive banter. All combined to create one heck of an experience. "We'll see about that, Nate!" he shouted back. "Now are we gonna start this battle or what?"
Nate unlatched a PokeBall with a Poison-type symbol on it and threw it. With a flash of light, Nidoran appeared, its ears twitching every so often as it observed its surroundings. Ash unlatched Petal's PokeBall, which had both a Grass-type and a Poison-type symbol stuck to it, and threw it as well. The Weed Pokemon appeared as the PokeBall burst, and he looked around for a moment before his eyes settled on Ash, seemingly confused.
"We're in a battle, Petal." Ash said, getting his attention. "Remember those small training sessions we did? Well this is much more intense, because now you're fighting another Trainer's Pokemon. Just keep calm. I'll tell you what to do, but you're going to have to trust me. Can you do that?"
The Oddish visibly relaxed and nodded without much hesitation, focusing on his opponent. Nidoran brandished his horn at Oddish, and for a few seconds there was a stalemate, before Nate shouted the first command.
"Let's start this off with Focus Energy!" Nate commanded. A yellow and orange aura suddenly flared up around Nidoran as he focused his gaze on Oddish. His eyes started to glow with determination, until Ash called out a command of his own.
"Razor Leaf!" he ordered. "Break its focus!"
Leaves as sharp as scissors were summoned around Petal as he flung them toward his opponent, catching Nidoran off guard as the leaves dug into his skin. The Poison Pin Pokemon chittered angrily as Nate told it to use Poison Sting. It bristled, and tiny poisonous spines flew toward Petal, the barbs leaving pricking pains in the Oddish's skin as he winced.
"Use Growth!" Ash called. Petal's body started to glow a faint green as it grew six inches taller, but before it was able to actually use its new form, Nidoran slammed its horn into Petal's body after Nate told it to use Peck. The Weed Pokemon skidded back, and Ash could tell it was quite uncomfortable from taking that super effective move. He had to be careful.
"Poison Sting!" Nate yelled.
"Dodge!" Ash called. "Get in close and use Acid!"
Petal skidded to the left as the Poison Sting missed its target, and spat a large glob of goo that hit Nidoran directly in the face. The Poison-type hissed, trying to shake the Acid off, and Ash saw this as his chance.
"Leech Seed!" Petal launched a small seed toward Nidoran that implanted itself on its forehead. Before he could react, the seed suddenly burst, and vines started to wrap themselves around Nidoran's body. Ash smiled to himself. Leech Seed was a move that drained the opponent's energy over time, while also giving that energy to the user. It was a great way to control the battle, as it limited the amount of time an opponent had to take your Pokemon down.
Ash could see Nate gritting his teeth, clearly not expecting to have such difficulty taking down a Pokemon he had such a huge advantage over. "Use Chip Away!" he ordered. Suddenly the raven-haired boy's eyes widened as Nidoran charged forward with surprising speed, hitting Petal with a powerful tackle. Nidoran winced as the Leech Seed drained his energy, nullifying some of the damage Petal had taken. Nate stepped forward.
"Let's end this quick!" he ordered. "Poison Sting!"
"Dodge!" Ash cried, but Petal was still recovering from the doozy of an attack it had just been on the receiving end of. Nidoran launched its Poison Sting toward the Oddish, and the Weed Pokemon winced as he was hit. However, Petal was still going strong thanks to the residual healing of Leech Seed, prompting Ash to go for another attack.
"Razor Leaf!" he cried. Blade-like leaves slashed into Nidoran as it winced from the pain, and faltered as more of his energy was drained by the Leech Seed.
"Poison Sting, one more time!" Nate called. Before Ash could call to dodge, more barbs were launched at Petal, who winced and gritted his teeth as they cut into his delicate skin. Ash adjusted his cap and focused his gaze on the battle. At this rate, even with the recovery granted by Leech Seed, Petal wouldn't last long.
"Synthesis!" he ordered. Petal's leaves shined as his body was enveloped in a bright white glow, the magical power of the move beginning to heal some of the cuts and bruises he had sustained during the battle.
"Confusion!" Nate ordered, slashing his hand. "Don't let it heal!"
Petal's body was suddenly locked in a psychic grip as he was lifted into the air and then tossed toward the ground. "Now go in for a Horn Attack!" Nate called. Ash's eyes widened and he called out a command hastily.
"Acid!" he yelled. Petal sprayed the toxic substance at Nidoran, hoping to slow it down, but was sorely disappointed as Nidoran charged through the attack, closing its eyelids slightly to protect its eyes from the glob of poison. It nailed Petal with a direct hit, the Oddish letting out a cry as he was launched back toward Ash.
Ash felt a pang of a fear in his chest, although it disappeared when Petal managed to pull itself upright. Just to be sure, he kneeled down next to it. "Can you keep battling, or do you want Dexter to take your place?"
The Oddish thought for a moment before butting his head on Ash's knee and looking towards his PokeBall. Ash gave him a smile before recalling him back into his PokeBall. He truthfully didn't expect Petal to do so well in his first battle with such a major disadvantage. He could already tell that Brock would have a hard time dealing with it once they got to Pewter City. Until then, they just had to train more.
His hand glided over Dexter's PokeBall, and he pressed the release button as the robotic bird suddenly materialized on the field, catching the attention of some passerby, who murmured in awe. Nate's grin widened at the sight of his starter, and he took the initiative to shout a command.
"Chip Away!" he called. Nidoran rushed forward and nailed Dexter before it could react, sending it back a few feet as it winced.
"Ice Beam!" Ash ordered. A blue ray of frozen energy nailed Nidoran in the forehead, sending it flying backwards.
"C'mon Nidoran!" Nate called. "You've got this! Show that thing what you're made of! Chip Away once more!"
"Fly over it!" Ash called hastily. "Then come down and trap it!" Dexter pulled itself upward, and as soon as Nidoran charged into its shadow, slammed its body downward. The Poison Pin Pokemon let out a surprised squeak as its body was now trapped under the weight of Dexter's. Nate looked flabbergasted, his face turning pale, as Ash called out his next command, knowing full well that Nidoran was done for.
"Thunderbolt." Nidoran was zapped by a powerful blast of electricity, and Nate already had his hand on his PokeBall, ready to recall him. He was silent, but Ash could tell he was clearly shocked (pun intended) by the outcome of that battle. Despite being with Dexter for less than a week, the Porygon was already quite strong compared to other Pokemon owned by new Trainers. Whoever invented the Porygon species sure did a good job in the battling department.
"Hmph. Well played." Nate muttered. Then his toothy grin returned. "But that's not gonna work a second time! Let's do this, Charmander!"
The fire lizard popped out of its PokeBall and stared down Dexter, who returned its glare with its own stoic gaze. Like a broken record, Nate decided to go on the offensive once more. "Dragon Rage!" he ordered.
A blast of draconic energy erupted from Charmander's mouth. "Meet it with your Ice Beam!" Ash called. The attack was neutralized with the freezing beam of energy, protecting Dexter from the potentially destructive blow, and creating a smoky explosion.
Dragon Rage was an attack that was extremely powerful against weaker or younger Pokemon that weren't as resilient or simply couldn't stand up to the sheer might of draconic energy. Usually Pokemon that were more experienced were able to withstand such an attack, as unlike other attacks, it didn't scale in power as the user got older or more experienced.
Younger dragons used this to defend themselves from potentially vicious predators in the harsh environments that they tended to frequent, until they got more consistent and powerful attacks that they could use. Ash knew he had to be careful. One hit from that could send him to the brink of defeat.
"Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered, using the smoke as cover. Dexter launched the lance of electricity toward Charmander's position, and Ash could hear a hiss of pain from the other side of the battlefield. When the smoke cleared, Ash saw Charmander clutching his right arm, wincing in pain.
"Yeesh." Nate said with a wince. "And I thought what you did to me was bad." Ash just shook his head. He was never going to let that go, was he?
"Well, it's time to dish out some more offense of our own! Ancient Power!" Nate commanded. Large glowing stones started to rise around Charmander's body as he launched them at Dexter like missiles. The Porygon swerved around them, however a few managed to batter its body.
Ash suddenly saw Charmander rush forward, claws gleaming, and before Ash could react, the Metal Claw sliced Dexter's body, causing it to let out a pained warble. "Keep your distance, Dexter!" Ash called, motioning for it to come closer to him. "Keep your eyes on it at all times and make sure it doesn't get the chance to slash you."
"Dragon Rage!" Nate yelled, taking advantage of the fact that Ash hadn't called a command yet.
"Meet it with Ice Beam again!" Ash ordered, then paused. "Then fire a Thunderbolt toward the ground in front of you!"
Like a laser gun, Dexter cocked its head, firing the first beam of ice to intercept the Dragon-type attack, and then another electric shock that was shot into the smoke. Ash heard the impact of the attack, but didn't hear Charmander's hiss. As the smoke cleared, Ash realized what had happened as Charmander had been able to use Metal Claw to protect itself in the nick of time. The electricity faded from his claws as they lost their metallic sheen.
"Not bad." Nate said with a smirk. "But we're just-"
"Signal Beam!" Ash yelled, cutting off Nate. The bespectacled boy's eyes widened in shock as a multi-colored beam slammed into Charmander, who couldn't react in time to protect itself, and was sent flying back to Nate's side of the field. Nate looked at Charmander with eyes wide as the fire lizard struggled to get up, before shooting a scowl at Ash.
"That was dirty!" he proclaimed. Ash just shrugged with a smile.
"Hey, if you didn't have such a big mouth, that wouldn't have happened." he said, laughing internally at his jab toward Nate. The boy muttered something under his breath and glanced toward Charmander to make sure it was okay.
"Charmander, let's make sure Ash doesn't pull something like that again!" he declared. "Ember! Spread it across the field!"
A barrage of fireballs was the result as Charmander reared its head back and spat them. They bounced across the field like tennis balls, and Ash expected Dexter to dodge them easily. What he didn't expect was the Dragon Rage that slammed into Dexter right after, causing it to warble in pain as its body sizzled from the sheer amount of draconic energy that had impacted it. Nate smiled, clearly happy at the prospect of getting a direct hit with Charmander's most powerful move, and called out another attack.
"Ancient Power, one more time!"
"Don't let it hit you! Ice Beam!"
The two attacks collided, Dexter trying its best to freeze the rocks that were being thrown at it. Once the threat of being hit was neutralized, Ash steeled himself. He had to go in for the decisive blow. It was now or never.
"Get close and use Thunderbolt!" he ordered.
"Divert it with Metal Claw and then go on the offensive!" Nate shouted. Charmander's elongated steel claws slammed into the ground, causing the electricity from the Thunderbolt to go directly underground as Charmander was shocked. Ash knew that this was his chance to go in for an attack.
"Tackle! Quickly!" Dexter tried to ram its body into Charmander, who managed to duck under the attack. Suddenly Dexter's eyes gleamed, and it smacked its blocky tail harshly into Charmander's face, sending it soaring to Nate's side of the field. Ash clenched his fists, knowing now that he needed to take advantage of Charmander's disoriented state to bring this battle to a conclusion.
"Finish this! Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. Nate's eyes widened as his starter was blasted by the bright light of a Thunderbolt. Once Dexter seemed to be satisfied, it dropped the Thunderbolt and looked at Charmander's unconscious form for a moment, before turning to Ash, as though it was expecting to be recalled.
Nate blinked, recalling Charmander and muttering some words into his PokeBall. His gaze suddenly set on Ash and he broke out into a smile.
"Wow! You really had me on the ropes there!" he commented. Despite battling so hard, Ash was glad Nate wasn't too sore about his loss. "That Porygon of yours is too much."
Ash grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks!" he said bashfully. "That Metal Claw technique was smart. Looks like you and Charmander finally got it down."
"Heh. Yeah, it took ages, and Charmander wouldn't stop hounding me for a chance to train." Nate admitted. "I've really got my work cut out for me if this is how he's gonna act whenever we find a new move he likes."
The two of them talked for a while, walking back to the Pokemon Center. Ash had to admit, it was nice getting to know Nate a little bit during the past several days. Angelina as well. It was good to have companions during traveling, not just for protection, but just for good company. Ash internally shivered at the thought of being alone during his entire journey. He might as well lock himself away in the frigid prison of Mt. Silver away from everybody and everything like some kind of hermit.
Soon they arrived at the automatic doors, and both Ash and Nate handed their PokeBalls to Nurse Joy and started to head up to their room. However, Ash paused as his stomach started to rumble. Nate just shook his head with a smirk. "Glutton." he said. Suddenly his stomach started to growl as well, and Ash suppressed a laugh.
"That makes two of us."
The day after their battle, Ash was using one of the battling areas next to the Pokemon Center, intent on squeezing in some more training before the day ended. The sun was starting to set, marking his fourth day in Viridian City so far. He watched as Petal struggled to gather the necessary energy to use Mega Drain, while Dexter waited patiently. They'd been trying to practice Mega Drain all day, as Ash wanted it learned before his fight against Brock as a way to deal damage and for Petal to heal.
He walked over to Petal and motioned for him to stop. The Oddish's face, which was screwed up in concentration, suddenly relaxed, and he looked intently at his Trainer. Ash frowned. This was getting nowhere.
"Show me how you use Mega Drain, one more time." Ash ordered. Petal nodded, and green light started to shine from its body. Ash could see it trying to grapple onto any sort of energy source Dexter had, but to no avail, and it let out a sigh. Ash squinted, and then realization came to him as he realized what Petal had been doing wrong this entire time.
He clicked his tongue. "I see what's wrong," he explained. "Here..." he said, pointing to Petal's glossy green leaves, "...is where you get your energy. Not here." He pointed at the Oddish's small purple body, and Petal's mouth formed an "O" in realization.
"Now try it again, but this time direct the energy toward your leaves." Ash told him. Petal faced Dexter, and it concentrated as its leaves started to glow. Dexter started to shiver as green light erupted from its body and was absorbed into the Oddish's leaves, causing them to shimmer. Petal, realizing what had happened, hopped into the air with glee.
Dexter stared at him, as though wondering why he was so happy. Why was his mouth curled upward like that? Is that what smiling looks like?
Ash didn't seem to notice Dexter's confusion, and gave Petal a warm smile. "Great job, Petal." he said with sincerity. "I knew you'd get it eventually. Keep practicing on your own. There's always room for improvement, and I need you to be in tip-top shape for Brock."
Petal nodded happily, and their training resumed. Ash walked over to Dexter, who had been waiting for him patiently. "Alright, Dexter. Let's practice some more with Psybeam." he said. "I've been looking through some videos, and it seems like a lot of psychic Pokemon concentrate on a focal point to use the move. For you, that's probably the tip of your beak. So let's try it. Use Psybeam!"
Dexter nodded, and squinted its eyes. A few second later, a pinkish orb started to form on the tip of the Porygon's beak. Ash watched as it grew larger and larger, before fizzling out and disappearing into thin air. Ash frowned for a second, but didn't let it bring him down. Dexter was making good progress, and all it really needed was a few days of more practice.
"Nice job, Dexter." Ash praised his starter. "Keep at it, and I'm sure you'll get it down in no time!"
The Porygon nodded, and once again, it started to form the pink energy on the tip of its beak. Ash looked down at his Pokedex once more, and scanned through the data page on Porygon. The way the information was written on the Normal-type's page was different than how it was on Petal's, probably because it wasn't written by Professor Oak, and probably the person who actually created Porygon. Much of the information displayed on the Pokedex was related to the design process of Porygon and its inner workings.
Maybe he'd get to meet whoever was behind Dexter's existence and thank him.
Ash closed his Pokedex with a snap, and stood up to oversee the progress of his Pokemon's training. Soon Brock wouldn't know what hit him.
A couple of hours later, Ash saw Nate and Angelina stumble into the Pokemon Center, one covered in leaves, the other covered in dirt. Ash's eyes widened and he grabbed Petal, who was standing on top of his head happily, and put him on his chair. He ran up to them, and winced as he saw their condition. They looked strikingly similar to zombies.
"What the heck happened to you two?" Ash asked. Both of them bristled at the question, before Nate decided to speak up.
"Angelina led me on a pointless chase to go find a Spearow," he said dryly. "We spent an hour chasing one. This..." he gestured to his dirt-covered body. "...is what happens when you try to chase a Pokemon when it's obvious that it's going to fly away."
The blonde-haired girl whipped around and glared at Nate with enough force to turn him into stone. "If you had sent out your Charmander like I asked, I wouldn't have leaves in my hair and we would've actually caught the damn thing!" she snarled. Nate turned his blood-shot eyes toward Angelina and Ash could tell he was about to yell at her. But before he could, Ash clasped a hand over his mouth.
"Both of you, quiet." Ash said with a little force. "I thought you guys would stop yelling at each other when we got to Viridian City."
Nate moved his hand from his mouth and pointed toward Angelina. "But she-!"
"I don't care, Nate." Ash said, eyes narrowing. "Now here's what's gonna happen. You two are going to make up, and then we're all going to be happy and get along. Understand?" Both of them hastily nodded, not wanting to push the boy's temper. In truth, Ash really wasn't that mad, but he was getting pretty sick of Nate and Angelina's squabbles. Petal walked over to him and cocked his head, and Ash picked him up and let him rest on his head.
"Good. Now we can-" Ash started to say, before he paused. A faint beeping noise was coming from the doorway of the Pokemon Center. It started to grow louder, and Nate and Angelina both turned around to the source of the noise.
And then suddenly an explosion ripped through the Pokemon Center, throwing the three of them off their feet. Ash yelled as he impacted painfully into the floor, and debris flew in all directions, kicking up dust. People started to scream as Ash heard three pairs of footsteps, one of them being lighter than the others, walk into the Pokemon Center.
"Listen up, twerps!" Ash heard a female voice yell. "All of you get on the ground and hand over your PokeBalls! We're not taking 'no' for an answer."
"That includes you, Nursie." he heard a masculine voice say.
"Heh heh, yeah ya twoips!" another voice said with a cackle. Ash felt a prodding sensation on his head, and he lifted it to see Petal trying to coax him up. His eyes widened as he saw three figures strolling into the Pokemon Center, all with wide grins on their faces. One of them was a tall, pink-haired woman with a white crop top and short skirt, as well as long black boots. Ash squinted at her hair. How much hair spray did she even put on that thing? It looked like some sort of horn.
The second person was a man, who looked to be around the same age as the woman, with long purple hair that reached down to his lower neck. His outfit was similar to his partner's, except his shirt and pants were longer. He was carrying a rose in his mouth, and looked like he was having the time of his life.
Finally Ash looked downward, where he saw a Meowth with a cocky grin standing between the two of his partners. Wait, was that Meowth talking just now!?
Huh. And he thought that woman's hair was weird. He looked around and saw everyone wearing panicked looks on their faces. Nurse Joy seemed to be looking at them with a hateful expression, although Ash noticed a hint of fear in her eyes. He noticed a symbol on their shirts, and his eyes widened when he saw a large red "R" in the middle of their torsos.
Team Rocket. A criminal organization that had diminished over the past several years. Numerous League raids on their bases had forced them to go into hiding, although a few members still committed crimes every now and then, robbing Trainers of their Pokemon and cash. Ash was only a toddler when they had reportedly been dismantled, around the time that Lance became Champion. He had promised to crack down on crime throughout the region, and as though proving his point, proceeded to rip through tons of Rocket bases scattered throughout Indigo with his Dragonite.
"I wouldn't give you these Pokemon if Arceus himself told me to!" Nurse Joy yelled, her Chansey mirroring her anger toward them. The pink-haired woman just laughed, before taking a PokeBall off her belt and clicking the release button, releasing a snarling purple snake. The man did the same, releasing a purple, spherical Pokemon with a dopey look on its face.
"Oh really?" she said with a sneer. "You and what army?"
Nurse Joy suddenly looked fearful, and the Rocket grunt turned her attention to the rest of the people in the lobby, who were starting to cower. "I'm not going to repeat myself!" she said, her tone venomous. "If all of you hand over your Pokemon, James and I won't have to sic Ekans and Koffing on you."
At that, some of the novice Trainers faltered, and looked fearfully at the Rockets. Ash watched as James snatched a Pikachu from the shoulder of a boy about his age, the boy crying out pleas. However, James only laughed, before Pikachu let out a cry and shocked the man. The man yelped in the pain, looking at the yellow mouse hatefully before putting the Pikachu in a glass container and moving onto the next Trainer.
"Next!" he heard the pink-haired woman call. James approached them, and Ash hesitated, causing James's eyes to narrow. No. He wasn't giving up his Pokemon.
"Come on now." he heard James say. "You don't want to make this harder for the both of us, do you?"
Ash heard Nate sneer. "As if I'd hand my Pokemon over to you airheads." the boy said with a snarky tone. Ash looked at him with surprise, and the three intruders did the same. Nate had a vein popping out of his forehead, and Ash quickly concluded that he was still pretty mad about the events that transpired that day. And what better way to take out your anger than on Team Rocket?
The purple-haired man, James, stepped forward, raising an eyebrow, a smirk on his face. "Looks like we've got a hero here, Jessie." he said, grinning smugly. Nate just growled, releasing Charmander, who after reading the situation, fixed his glare on his opponents, specifically Koffing. Then he sent out Nidoran, who narrowed his eyes and sent a piercing glare toward the Ekans. James's eyes were drawn to the Charmander, before Jesse continued to laugh.
"You think you and your cute little pet lizard can stop us?" she said. Ash gritted his teeth and stepped forward. He couldn't just stand by and let Nate do this on his own. He wouldn't just be a bystander and watch people's Pokemon get taken.
"No, he can't." Ash said. "Which is why I'm helping him." He clicked the release button and Dexter emerged. Ash pointed toward the Rockets and titled his head towards them. "Rockets. We've gotta take them down."
He saw Angelina hesitate, and gave her a short nod. She returned it, and sent out Saur, who she briefed on the situation. Saur turned toward the Rockets and snarled, standing in front of Angelina protectively. Petal ran up to Ash, narrowing his eyes as he stared down the Ekans. Ash could see some fear in his eyes, unnerved by the Ekans's blank stare.
However, Jesse only laughed. "My my, the boss'll be thrilled if we managed to get these to him! Especially the bird." she said, looking at the Porygon with interest. She turned to her partner. "James, what say we teach these twerps what happens to heroes who stand up to Team Rocket?" she said.
"I say that's a splendid idea." he replied, grinning. "Koffing, use Sludge!"
"Ekans, use Bite!"
"Saur, go for Vine Whip!"
"Charmander, take 'em out with Dragon Rage! Nidoran, throw them with Confusion!"
"Dexter, Thunderbolt! Petal, Razor Leaf!"
Chaos ensued. Charmander's Dragon Rage and Petal's Razor Leaf exploded violently as they connected with Koffing's Sludge attack, before Dexter's Thunderbolt shot through the blast and knocked it backwards. Before Ekans could sink its fangs into Saur, Nidoran held it in the air with confusion, and Saur latched its vines into its body and threw it in the direction of some chairs, causing it to harshly crash into them.
Koffing suddenly released noxious purple gas from its pores, obscuring most of the lobby. Trainers were starting to run away from the battle to avoid getting hit by a stray attack. Charmander reared his head, spitting consecutive blasts of fire toward Koffing. As soon as they made contact with the gas, they exploded, blasting Koffing back. Suddenly Ekans rushed through the gas and slammed a Poison Tail into Charmander's gut, sending it flying into a wall with a pained roar.
Ash turned his attention toward Dexter and Petal, who were currently trying to take advantage of Koffing's weakened state and take it out of the battle. Nidoran was there too, ramming into it with its horn as hard as possible. However, Koffing seemed to be quite durable, weathering numerous Ice Beams and Razor Leaves as it slammed its body into Petal. Suddenly he heard a battle cry, and saw Meowth running toward him, his claws glowing.
"Have a taste of my Fury Swipes ya twoip!" he yelled, jumping up into the air. Ash's eyes widened and he instinctively shielded his face with his arms until he heard a pained wail coming from Meowth. Green vines flung Meowth straight into the same set of chairs Ekans was thrown into, albeit more forcefully. He took a moment to catch his breath before giving a thumbs-up to Angelina.
"Dexter, use Thunderbolt on that Meowth!" he ordered. The Porygon was all too happy to listen, and blasted Meowth with hundreds of volts of electricity, causing him to yowl in pain.
Ash looked elsewhere, and saw Nate spraying a Potion on his Charmander's wounds. The lizard had taken an extremely nasty Poison Tail, but hopefully would be back in the fight in a few minutes. Bulbasaur was trying to deal with Ekans on his own, but was having trouble as the poison snake dodged its Sludge attacks and Vine Whips. Ekans suddenly chomped down on Bulbasaur's bulb, causing it to scream. Angelina's jaw dropped as she looked with fearful eyes as Ekans's jaw started to clamp down harder.
Nate immediately yelled out an order, and Charmander got up with surprising speed and raked its claws into Ekans' side. It let go of the Seed Pokemon's bulb, and the boy gave Angelina a smile, which she returned.
"Koffing, use Assurance on that walking turnip!" he heard James call. Koffing's body glowed with a black aura as it tackled Petal with surprising power. Petal flew back and let out a cry, and Ash suddenly felt a burst of energy run through him as he jumped and caught Petal before it could impact into the wall. He landed on the floor and let out an "oomph!" and saw that Petal's eyes had turned into swirls. He withdrew it back into its PokeBall and straightened his cap. He wouldn't let his friends get taken away. Not if he had anything to say about it.
"Dexter, use Ice Beam on Meowth! Freeze it!" Ash cried frantically, as he saw Meowth starting to run toward the sack where the Pokemon were being kept. Meowth's eyes widened as a blue ray blasted him and encased him with a block of ice. The Porygon just managed to move out of the way as Koffing tried to slam into it with another Assurance, which Nidoran took advantage of, and slammed into it with Chip Away.
Saur and Charmander were now double-teaming the Ekans, who had a hard time slithering around their combined attacks despite Jesse's furious orders to dodge. It was suddenly blasted in the head by a Dragon Rage, and it was flung into the wall once more.
"That's it! Use Sucker Punch!" Jessie ordered angrily. Ekans got up yet again and was coated in dark energy. Unlike Koffing's attack, this one was much faster, as it slammed into Charmander with surprising speed. Combined with the Poison Tail damage, which wasn't fully healed by Nate, Charmander impacted into the floor, unconscious.
"Nidoran, use Focus Energy!" Nate said, angry that his starter had been taken out so easily. "Angelina, can you cover me?"
"You got it!" Angelina responded. "Saur, give it hell! Don't let that snake get past you!"
Saur nodded, eager to please, as it summoned purple glowing leaves from behind its back and flung them toward Ekans. The Magical Leaf cut into its skin, causing it to hiss, more out of the uncomfortable feeling than actual pain. Nidoran's pupils focused on his opponent, and with his target acquired, he rammed into Ekans with such force that it crashed into Jesse, out cold.
James, who suddenly began to realize he was outmatched, called out one final command. "Koffing, use Smog!" he called. Koffing, with its ever-present dopey smirk, started to release noxious fumes into the air. Ash noticed James making a run for the bag of PokeBalls, but before he could, a round, pink shape rushed into the smog.
"Seismic Toss!" He heard a woman's voice command. A feminine scream rang through the air, followed by a crash, and a Chansey rushed out of the smoke, carrying the bag of the PokeBalls with it. Ash recognized it as the Nurse's Chansey, and he breathed a sigh of relief. That could've ended badly.
The smog cleared within a few seconds, and the Team Rocket Grunts and the Meowth were nowhere in sight. Ash inwardly cursed. He had wanted to turn them into the police, but the Smog created by Koffing had provided them cover long enough for them to escape. The front door of the Pokemon Center was blown clean off its frame, and he noticed Trainers starting to crawl out of their hiding spots now that the battle was over.
He suddenly noticed Nurse Joy look in their direction, and he gulped as she started walking toward them. Uh oh. They were in huge trouble.
"You three!" she yelled, causing Nate and Angelina to jump. "What in the distortion world were you thinking!? What you did was extremely reckless and dangerous, not only for you but your Pokemon as well! You're very lucky those three seemed to be new members, or else they would've wiped my clean floors with you! You kids clearly don't understand how dangerous Team Rocket is!"
She suddenly stopped herself and rubbed her temple, taking a deep breath. The three of them were looking at her with wide eyes, waiting for the next batch of rants to come their way. Instead, she simply calmed herself and sighed.
"However, I will say that what you did was also very brave and selfless." she continued. "Despite being new Trainers, you clearly care a lot about your Pokemon already if you're willing to go as far as fight criminals for them. So I'm willing to let you off the hook. You three can leave your injured Pokemon with me. I'll take care of handing everyone back their Pokemon."
Ash and Angelina sighed in relief, while Nate simply collapsed on a chair. All of them handed the nurse their Pokemon, and she offered them one last smile before moving toward the bag of PokeBalls, where Trainers were already rooting through it, trying to find their Pokemon. They suddenly saw a red-haired boy making his way downstairs and toward them.
"Woah! You guys look like shit!" Gary said with a laugh. Nate and Angelina just lowered their eyebrows, and Ash crossed his arms. "What were you losers even doing anyways?"
"Fighting Team Rocket." Ash answered simply. Gary snorted.
"Psh, yeah and I'm a Clefairy." Gary said with a snarky tone. Ash rolled his eyes and pointed toward the huge gap in the Pokemon Center's entrance, and Gary's smile faded.
"Oh." he said, dropping his cocky demeanor for a moment. However, within a few seconds it returned. "Well, whatever. Big deal! I can take those guys out on my own! I'm getting dinner. Smell ya later, chumps!" With that, he ran off toward the cafeteria, leaving Nate, Angelina, and Ash to glare at the back of his head.
"Ugh. That guy always has to be such a jerk." Nate commented, standing up. "I'm heading back to the room. I'm bushed."
"Me too." Angelina added.
"I second that... er... third that." Ash said. However, before they went upstairs, Ash felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. He was suddenly face-to-face with a boy, who he recognized as the boy whose Pikachu was stolen. The electric mouse was now happily perched on his shoulder, chittering excitedly, and the boy gave them all a huge grin.
"Hi!" he said. "Pikachu and I just wanted to say thanks for helping us back there! I've only been a Trainer for a few days, and I was afraid he'd get stolen even after we've been together for so long. So thanks a lot. What you guys did was super awesome! And your Pokemon were awesome too!"
"Heh. No problem." Nate said. "It was no big deal. I did most of the work any-oof!" He was interrupted as Angelina punched him in the chest. Ash ignored their antics and smiled back towards the boy.
"Where're you from?" he asked him.
"Viridian City," he answered. "I finally got my Trainer's license a few days ago, although it took a lot to convince my mom that I was ready." Ash nodded. It seemed as though Viridian City had adopted something similar to Pallet Town, in which children would be allowed to go on journeys earlier than most provided that they proved that they'd be able to handle themselves.
"What's your name?" Ash asked, holding out a hand. "Mine's Ash Ketchum. From Pallet Town." The boy shook it with a smile.
"Satoshi. Satoshi Tagiri."
Author's Note: That's the rewrite of Chapter 3 done! I decided to have Nate and Angelina help out Ash with his battle against Team Rocket. It didn't really make much sense to me that Jesse and James would be that easy to defeat. And since the Rocket trio breaks into the Pokemon Center anyways, I just decided it would be better to insert that scene in.
Overall, I've mainly been expanding on Petal this chapter, as well as Nate and Angelina. This is one of my shorter chapters, but don't worry! To make it up to you guys, the next chapter is going to be much longer! It'll be covering Ash, Nate, and Angelina's journey through Viridian Forest, as well as their battle against Brock!
In other news, unfortunately I've caught Covid. I got it from my parents, and I've been in bed pretty much all day. Wear your masks, guys. Getting this disease sucks, and if I wasn't already vaccinated the symptoms would be much worse.
Time to respond to some reviews!
Reader: Thanks! Glad you liked it!
xalmasyz: Hey! Don't you worry. Ash will be getting plenty of attention in this story. Earlier chapters are going to be focused on his interactions with his companions, but Nate and Angelina won't be permanent additions to the story. Still, I don't want to make them too much like generic side characters, so I'm just adding a little depth to them.
AngelFaux: Responded on Discord.
TheCouchEffect: Welcome back! Yep, Petal is back, and I'm giving him a fresh coat of paint. Much of the aspects of his character will stay the same, but they are some editions in the works. And I'm happy that you like the inclusion of Nate and Angelina! I tried to breathe some more life into them, and I'm glad it worked! Now to touch on what you said, they will be splitting up from Ash at some point. However, they're still going to be making frequent appearances at certain points in the story, such as the League. And yes, Gary's arrogance does come from somewhere. That's a topic that won't be mentioned for a long time though.
Stay tuned!