Chapter 4
I do not own Pokemon. I only own my OCs.
"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!"
Angelina shrieked in terror as the Beedrill buzzed angrily, diving towards her, stingers trying to spear her. Bulbasaur was on the ground, unconscious, having taken a nasty Poison Jab just a few minutes prior. Ash's eyes widened as he, Dexter, and Petal approached the scene, and he called out a command.
"Ice Beam!" he shouted. Before Beedrill could attack, a blast of ice slammed it into a nearby tree, almost knocking it out instantly. He ran over Bulbasaur and pulled out an Antidote from his bag, spraying it on the wound that Bulbasaur had gotten. The bruising on its leg started to fade, and it opened its eyes, stood up, and flexed its leg experimentally. Angelina ran up to Bulbasaur and pulled it into a crushing hug.
"Oh Saur!" she squealed. "I was so worried!" Ash looked at Bulbasaur for a moment to make sure he was okay, before turning his attention back treating Dexter's wounds from the earlier battles it had with Trainers in the forest. Bug catchers littered the outskirts of Viridian Forest, looking for anyone to battle, and the Porygon had already gotten its fair share of battles to test out its strength.
Bug catchers were usually kids who lived on the outskirts of Pewter or Viridian, who liked the journey into the depths of Viridian Forest to search for Bug-types to catch. The forest was usually chock-full of bugs, as their fast growth rates and the area's warm climate allowed their numbers to grow quite fast and swarm a large portion of the forest. It was the main reason why so many Trainers became Bug catchers, since many Bug-types were easy to raise, didn't eat much, and evolved early.
However, that came with a price, as their growth rate started to slow as they got older. Many Bug-types had paper thin defenses, and not many Trainers were able to take Bug-types to the Conference. Those that did usually took the bugs that lived solitary lifestyles, as it forced them to become stronger and not rely on other members of their colonies. Bugs such as these included the elusive Pinsir, Scyther, and Heracross, as well as more exotic species such as Escavalier and Galvantula.
Ash had heard of one person who was an Elite Four member with an entire team of bugs from the faraway region of Sinnoh. However, no other examples of spectacular Bug Masters came to his mind.
The three of them had left Viridian City the day before, having woken up to find Gary long gone with a note that said, "Gone to Pewter City without you losers. See you never!". After a bit of debate, they had decided to finally leave the city of Evergreen. There wasn't really much to do, besides see the sights and train, and within a couple of days, the damage done to the front of the Pokemon Center had been repaired.
Petal had been very friendly with all of his companions' Pokemon, especially Bulbasaur. The two Grass/Poison types had gotten along very well. Even Nidoran and Charmander started to warm up to the Oddish, which was surprising given their tough and prideful nature. Speaking of which...
He heard a bush nearby rustle, and Nate stumbled out of it, followed by Charmander and Nidoran, who both looked exhausted. Ash offered him a wave, which he returned. "I'm tired." Nate said. "I've been battling and training all day with Nidoran and Charmander. I want Charmander to learn Smokescreen and Nidoran to learn Double Kick, and there are plenty of Pokemon to try our moves out on."
Ash just nodded. Nate's team so far wasn't exactly great against Ground, Water, or Rock types. He needed any advantage he could get his hands on if he wanted to beat Brock. Angelina withdrew Saur back into his ball and groaned aloud.
"Ugh!" she said, stomping on the ground. "I hate this forest! How long will it be before we can get out of here!?"
Ash checked the map feature on his Pokedex. "Three days." he responded. Angelina sighed, and Nate raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know what you're making such a big deal about." Nate said with a shrug. "It's pretty easy to take on the bugs here if you know what you're doing."
Angelina scoffed. "That's easy for you to say!" she said. "You have a Fire-type!"
Creases appeared on Nate's forehead as he opened a potato chip bag with a loud pop and threw one in his mouth. "Yeah, so?" he continued. "If you had actually caught that Spearow, I bet you wouldn't be complaining right now."
A nerve popped out of Angelina's forehead. "For the last time, it's not my fault we didn't catch it!" she yelled. Saur, who had previously been lying on the floor, got up and started to growl at Nate. Charmander and Nidoran, seeing this as a challenge, started to growl back. "You're just an incompetent Trainer who couldn't even help me catch one Pokemon!"
"Me!?" Nate said, pointed at his chest. "You wouldn't be able to beat me or Ash in a battle!"
"I can too!" Angelina yelled back. She whipped around to face Ash. "Ash, tell him he's wrong!"
"Hey, you can't just do that!" Nate snapped. "Ash, you saw how strong I am! Tell her how dumb she's being!"
"I'm not the dumb one, you are!" Angelina screamed, her temper rising exponentially. "You're just a selfish prick, that's all you are!"
"Oh yeah!?" Nate fired back. "Well then, how about you leave us!? You could get lost in Viridian Forest for all I care!"
Angelina suddenly started to lob insults at Nate, which he returned with equal force. Ash gulped, and watched as their starters starting to fight too. Bulbasaur's vines were starting to withdraw, and Charmander's tail flame started to grow bigger and brighter, a sign that its fury was starting to rise. The last thing he wanted was to get caught in the middle of one of Nate and Angelina's fights. Finally after a moment, he had enough.
"GUYS!" Ash snapped, getting both of their attention. "Stop with your fighting! We've only been on our journey for a little more than a week and you guys are already driving me crazy!" He shot both of them furious glances, and Angelina and Nate looked down in shame. Ash sighed. "Look, the sun's going down. We should probably set up camp for the night. Today's Monday. If we don't make any other stops, we can make it to Pewter City by Friday morning."
Silence followed, before Nate sighed, standing up. "Fine. I'll get the firewood." he said, walking away. "C'mon Charmander. Let's go." The fire lizard stood up, and after glowering at Saur for a minute, hopped off after his Trainer into the bushes, the boy disappearing without another word. Angelina groaned and held her head in her hands, and Saur used a vine to pat her back comfortingly.
There was an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the piercing cries of Bug Pokemon in the distance. Dexter had been sitting silently on the ground, watching everything play out. It seemed that it didn't know what to make of the situation. Petal was looking worriedly at Ash, seemingly in discomfort because of the conflict.
Ash let out a breath. He didn't expect both of them to be going at each other's throats this early. Sure, Angelina and Nate had their differences. Angelina tended to be cautious and careful, whereas Nate was the exact opposite: free-spirited and reckless. But for them to fight like this...
"I didn't mean what I said, you know." the blonde said after a moment. Ash lifted his head and gave her a look. "...I'm just tired of Nate rubbing it in my face that I haven't actually caught a Pokemon."
Ash raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you weren't worried about Brock." he pointed out. Angelina just shook her head.
"It's not that." Angelina responded with a sigh, lowering her head. "I think that Saur's strong enough to take on Brock on his own. But I just don't want him to get lonely." Saur rumbled, as though he were trying to console her. "You guys both caught Pokemon that already seem to really like you. But what about me? I'm not really talented compared to you two. That Spearow proved that. I don't even know what the Professor saw in me."
Ash frowned. "That's not true." he replied, causing the girl to lift her head. "Saur really likes you already. He listens to your commands without any hesitation. Besides, it's not like you're in any rush to catch another one if you're so confident that you'll beat Brock."
Angelina gave him a weak grin. "Thanks." she said, although her smile faded within a seconds. "I just wish Nate knew to stop bugging me about it. It's really getting on my nerves."
An uncomfortable silence followed. Ash and Angelina sat there, silent. Dexter settled itself by the fire next to Saur. Ash could feel how tense the air was, despite Nate not being present. Their silence was broken by the sound of Nate's footsteps. The boy dropped a pile of sticks on the ground, and Charmander waved his tail around them, the flame of his tail igniting the wood. Nate sat down and rooted through his bag, taking out a protein bar and munching on it. The boy said nothing as he did this, continuing to stare at the ground as though the both of them didn't exist.
Ash's eyebrows lowered. Angeina's eyes flickered uncomfortably between him and Nate, as though signaling for him for him to do something. Ash sighed, and scooched over to Nate. He elbowed the other boy to catch his attention, and motioned toward Angelina. The other boy's eyebrows started to lower, but Ash's eyebrows started to narrow, and he motioned toward Angelina once again.
Nate sighed.
He turned his head toward Angelina their eyes met, before he looked down. It was clear that he didn't want to face her now, but Ash just wanted the tension between them to end already. "Angelina... I..." he started to say, gulping. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I... wouldn't want you to leave us." His eyes flickered toward her, then back to the ground. "Sorry."
Ash looked at Angelina, trying to read her expression. The girl's eyes softened, and a small smile formed on her face. "Thanks, Nate." she said. "I'm sorry about what I said too. You're not incompetent. Or selfish. I just... got angry and said some stuff I didn't mean."
Nate smiled back, and he looked down at Charmander, who was crossing his arms and turning his head away. "Charmander, you think you can forgive Saur?"
The fire lizard's response was to snort fire from his nostrils, although he reluctantly shook Saur's vine, which had been extended from behind his back. Nate chuckled.
Ash could feel the tenseness between the two of them slowly drift away, and the rest of the evening consisted of them sitting by the campfire and telling jokes. Within a few hours, the sky started to darken, the only source of light being the small campfire they'd created. Ash could feel his eyelids getting heavier. Nate, Angelina, and their Pokemon had similar reactions, as every few seconds on of them yawned. Soon they decided their need for sleep had finally overridden their attempt at staying awake.
This time, it was Ash's turn to put out the fire, and he poured some of his water canteen on it, the flame crackling and fizzling before it finally died. He noticed a significant decrease in the weight of his water canteen as he did so. Soon he'd need a water Pokemon. He didn't want to sacrifice his water source every few days.
A problem that could be solved another day, he supposed.
He heard Dexter and Petal silently settle down next to him, and within a few minutes, he soon succumbed to sleep.
Ash woke up to a sword mere millimeters from his face. His aggressor, a boy wearing fake samurai armor, fixed an intense glare on him. His armor was the spitting image of the warriors of old, straight of the textbooks he used to read. Even his sword looked like it had been used in battle, although that was probably because it was fake too. Ash yelped, clumsily jumping out of his sleeping bag.
"W-who are you!?" Ash stammered. "And why're you pointing a sword at me!?"
The boy's gaze didn't leave his face. He smelled of sweat and leaves. "Are you and your friends from the town of Pallet?" he asked.
Ash blinked. "Y-yeah... we are." he said.
The boy unlatched a PokeBall and thrust it toward him. "I was defeated by another Trainer from Pallet!" he yelled. "My name is Samurai! I must regain my honor by battling you and emerging victorious! Prepare to-AHHHHH!"
Before the boy could finish his sentence, a giant, fist-sized glob of acid was spat onto the tip of his sword. Within seconds, a large portion of the blade melted, as Samurai watched in horror. Ash whipped around to look at the culprit, who was none other than Petal. The Oddish was glaring at the boy, thinking that he was trying to attack Ash.
Samurai's face turned red in anger, and he started to sputter like a kettle, until he managed to form a coherent sentence. "Control that walking turnip would you!?" he yelled, stomping his foot. "Or I'll have to call the authorities to put it down!"
Ash immediately got defensive. "You're the one who pointed a weapon at me!" he said as Samurai's anger faltered, realization slowly creeping in for a few seconds before being replaced by more anger. However, before he could shout an angry retort, a third voice spoke up.
"Can you guys keep it down!?" Angelina yelled, sitting up from her position on the ground. "I'm trying to sleep! It's way too early for this!"
"Mmmprhph!" Nate spoke, his voice muffled by the fact that his face was covered by his sleeping bag.
"Stay out of this!" the boy spat, pointing the damaged sword at the girl. He turned back toward Ash, thrusting the sword in his direction once more. "We'll settle this with a battle! And when I win, I'll regain my honor, and then you are going to replace my-OH COME ON!" Samurai yelped as the part of the sword that hadn't been melted by Petal was suddenly encased in a thick layer of ice. Ash looked toward Dexter, who seemed to have been the last one to wake up. The familiar glow of an Ice Beam was fading from its beak. Samurai threw down his now destroyed sword and growled.
"That's it!" he shouted. "Pinsir, assist me!" He pressed the release button on the PokeBall he was holding, and a large, brown bug emerged, screeching loudly. The bug had enormous silvery pincers on top of its head, and large rows of mandibles on its mouth. Its claws looked worn and its carapace looked scratched, but it otherwise looked formidable.
Ash's eyebrows raised. Pinsir were quite rare, one of the rarest Bug-types out there alongside Scyther and Heracross. Their pincers were said to be strong enough to lift opponents twice their weight and shatter huge logs. There was no doubt that this would probably be his toughest opponent yet.
He turned to Dexter. "Dexter, think you can handle this one?" he asked. The Porygon nodded without a sound and took its place in front of Ash.
"Your weird bird creature won't be able to stop us!" Samurai proclaimed. "Pinsir, use Focus Blast!"
Ash blinked. Focus Blast? Its trainer must've beefed it up with TMs. Pinsir couldn't learn the move naturally, and he doubted the bug had the experience to actually master the move. Pinsir started to form a bluish orb between its claws. Sure enough, the orb fizzled a few times as it was growing, meaning Ash's inference was right, and Pinsir barely had any practice with the move.
"Dodge." Ash ordered. Dexter complied wordlessly, and swerved around the projectile sent its way. The Focus Blast continued going until it slammed into a tree, creating a loud explosion. Pinsir already looked exhausted from just using the move, and Ash made sure to take advantage of its weakened state.
"Signal Beam!" he ordered. The multi-colored beam blasting from Dexter's beak crashed into Pinsir, throwing it off its feet, although it managed to get up relatively quickly. It glared at Dexter and screeched once more, before Samurai issued another command.
"Vice Grip!" the boy ordered. Pinsir charged forward, the enormous pincers on its head glowing white. Ash's eyes widened and he shouted a command hastily.
"Use Psybeam!" he called. A pinkish ray was fired from Dexter's beak to stop the attack. However, the Stag Beetle Pokemon managed to charge through the attack without much effort, and before Ash could react it rushed forward and immediately clamped its pincers shut around one of Dexter's leg-like protrusions. The spikes on its grapplers were digging painfully into the Porygon. Ash gritted his teeth, groaning inwardly. It seemed Psybeam still needed work.
"Now throw it!" Samurai ordered. Pinsir reared its head back and sent Dexter flying headfirst into a nearby tree with a slam. Ash's jaw dropped, and he rushed over to his starter.
"Dexter! Are you okay?" he asked as he approached the Normal-type. Surprisingly, the Porygon managed to resume its levitation, although it was a little bit shaky. Ash looked toward his opponent, who was crossing his arms and laughing. Angelina and Nate were watching from a good distance away, not wanting to to be hit by a stray attack from Dexter. Nate especially, made sure to give the Porygon a wide berth.
"Use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered.
"Dig!" Samurai called.
Pinsir just barely managed to duck underground in time to avoid the electric blast coming its way. Ash gritted his teeth. Now that Pinsir was fully underground, it had a huge advantage. Dexter didn't have sensitive hearing or psychic abilities as far as he knew, and so it wouldn't be able to see Pinsir coming.
Twenty seconds passed before the Stag Beetle Pokémon suddenly burst through the ground and nailed Dexter with an uppercut, sending it flying toward the ground. However, even after that damage, the Porygon wasn't down yet, and still managed to get itself back up, although it had sustained a nasty bruise on one of its foot pieces.
Ash paused. He really didn't have many options against this huge bug. It was powerful, he'd give it that, and Dexter had taken much more damage than it. Keeping its distance seemed to be a daunting task, as it was quite nimble. He needed to stop it somehow, but how exactly was something he was still working on. However, Samurai didn't seem too keen on letting Ash think, as he shouted a command.
"Vice Grip, one more time!" Samurai ordered. "Finish it!"
"Use Ice Beam!" Ash commanded frantically. "Freeze its pincers!"
Dexter nodded, charging a freezing ray and firing it toward the top of Pinsir's head. As the Ice Beam made impact, the large, spiny pincers were suddenly encased in ice within an instant. Samurai stepped back, surprised by what had happened. All the while, Petal was watching the battle intently, eager on learning how his new teammate fared in battle.
"Break the ice and use Vice Grip again!" Samurai called. Pinsir tensed, trying to move its pincers, but to no avail, as its movements became sluggish. It staggered slowly around the battlefield, seemingly disoriented. Ash's eyebrows raised for a moment. Its dazed state looked wildly uncharacteristic for such a vicious Bug-type.
And then realization hit him like a sledgehammer once he realized the huge advantage he had.
Normally something as strong a Pinsir would be able to break through something with similar strength to ice. However, Pinsir were vulnerable to cold temperatures, as their bodies tend to tense up as they enter a drowsy, hibernation-like state. It was why they normally are found in places with warmer temperatures, like Southern Kanto. Samurai must have gotten it as a gift or had traveled all the way to the Safari Zone to get one.
And now that Ash had (accidentally) capitalized on its weakness to the cold, he was free to dispose of his opponent however he wanted, while Samurai shouted for Pinsir to move.
"Thunderbolt!" he yelled. While the Stag Beetle Pokemon struggled to regain control of its body, it was suddenly blasted by a powerful lightning bolt. Dexter seemed to have turned up the power now that it was in an advantage position, and a pained shriek came from Pinsir as its body was shocked with thousands of volts of electricity.
"ENOUGH!" Samurai shouted. "Hyper Beam!"
Ash's eyes widened in fear. Oh boy.
"Are you out of your goddamn mind!?" Nate yelled from the sidelines, stepping back. Samurai merely ignored him. Even though Pinsir could barely move, it was still able to charge a whitish orb in its mouth. Ash stepped to the side, but didn't issue a command. Hopefully, if he pulled this off right, Pinsir would go down, and Dexter would get out of this without taking additional damage.
Suddenly Pinsir tensed, and Ash knew it was about to fire.
"Signal Beam! Aim for the legs! NOW!" he screamed. Dexter obeyed without hesitation, blasting Pinsir's legs with a multi-colored ray. Pinsir screeched loudly, staggering back, and it fired the Hyper Beam. However, the attack missed Dexter completely, and instead slammed into a tree in the distance, exploding with a loud bang. An explosion ripped through the air, and when the dust cleared, Pinsir was on the ground, out cold.
Samurai's looked shocked, but he managed to fumble with Pinsir's PokeBall and return it. He scowled at Ash. "I can't believe I lost!" he shouted angrily. He pointed a finger at Ash. "I swear I'll make you pay! With interest!"
The armored boy started to spout off demands, but Ash just stood there, lowering his eyebrows. He was about to argue with Samurai himself, but Angelina beat him to it.
"Alright that's it!" she yelled, standing up quickly and approaching Samurai. She leaned forward until she was a few inches from his face. "I'm only going to say this once. You had the audacity to come to our campsite, point a weapon at Ash, cause a scene, almost kill us with a Hyper Beam, and you think it's our fault!?"
Samurai gulped.
"Yeah, who's the dumb one now?" Angelina continued, placing her hands on her hips and gritting her teeth. "Now leave. Before I tell my Bulbasaur to practice his Vine Whip on you. Got it?"
The boy nodded rapidly, and hightailed it out of there without another word. Angelina huffed, and walked back to her sleeping bag, covering herself with it. "Wake me up in an hour or so." she muttered through her sleeping, parts of her golden hair sticking out from under it. Nate stared at her throughout the ordeal, before shrugging at Ash and going back into his sleeping bag as well.
The raven-haired boy sighed. He'd just woken up and already he was exhausted.
"Petal, use Razor Leaf!"
Leaves sharp as blades sliced into the tree trunk, leaving marks into the wood. Petal looked back at his Trainer for any sort of approval. Ash smiled. "Good. Your Razor Leaf's getting better, and so is your Mega Drain attack." he said. "Soon you're going to need to start working on your powder moves. Let's try to get those done soon, yeah?"
The Oddish nodded rapidly and allowed himself to be returned back into his PokeBall. Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Sleep Powder were one of the greatest assets of the Oddish evolutionary line. The powder was naturally coated on their leaves for defensive purposes, but could be used offensively as well. Inflicting status conditions was a great way to turn the tides of battle, and Ash wanted that advantage as soon as possible.
However, Oddish tended to be on the weaker side as a species, mainly because of their small size. Other Pokemon with similar type combinations, like Bellsprout and Bulbasaur tended to be stronger from the start, and it wasn't until an Oddish evolved that they'd be able to catch up the other Grass-types of Kanto in terms of strength. Ash had been helping Petal work on his endurance by having Dexter fire low-powered Ice Beams at him. Speaking of which...
The Porygon had been silent, simply watching as he trained Petal. Ash didn't know much about artificial Pokemon, but he supposed he understood why it had such little emotion. Being a Pokemon specialized for cyberspace navigation didn't exactly leave a lot of room for... feelings.
He supposed it would do him good to train Dexter as well. Many of Brock's possible options for Pokemon had secondary Ground typings, which meant they were immune to Electric-type attacks. Strengthening Ice Beam would give him an edge, especially against his monstrous Onix. While the Porygon couldn't freeze things entirely with the move, it could still chill any target it hit with the icy laser, which would prove invaluable.
"Dexter, you're up next." Ash said. The Porygon levitated to its Trainer's side. Ash pointed at a nearby tree. "Try hitting that tree with an Ice Beam. Give it all you've got." The Normal-type cocked its head and focused on where Ash was pointed towards. Icy energy gathered at the tip of its beak and it fired, hitting the tree at the center of the trunk and coating a medium-sized area around it in a thin layer of ice.
Ash stared at the damage. He wasn't planning on going through an entire training session with Dexter. It was getting dark, and frankly, he was a little too tired for this. At the very least, he could see what Dexter was capable of at the moment, figure out what needed work, and make a note to continue in the future. Right now, power was what Ash was concerned with. There was no use in utilizing a super-effective move if it didn't pack a punch, especially since Dexter wasn't an Ice-type itself.
"Great job, Dexter." Ash said with a smile, brushing out the thought for later. "Return."
The Normal-type let itself be returned to its PokeBall, and Ash latched the capsule back onto his belt. He saw Nate and Angelina approach him, Nate shooting him a grin.
"You really are training hard, huh?" Nate asked with an eyebrow raise.
"Of course." Ash responded. "Brock's a big challenge for newbies. And I'm not leaving Pewter City without a badge."
"But why?" Angelina inquired. "You already have your Oddish, which has a type advantage against his Rock-types."
Ash just shook his head. "Type advantage isn't everything." he stated. "If that were true, Lorelei wouldn't be a member of the Elite Four, considering how many weaknesses Ice-types have." Angelina shrugged, and Ash frowned. Out of all of them, she had been doing the least amount of training thus far. Whenever Saur was out of his PokeBall, it was usually because he was either eating or getting back rubs.
Suddenly a ringing sound coming from his right snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked toward the direction of the noise, and his eyes widened when he saw a red bike speeding straight toward him, with an orange-haired girl riding on top of it.
"WATCH OUT!" Nate screamed, yanking him out of the way. The boy managed to pull Ash out of the way a split second before the bike would've crashed into him. The wheels kicked up dust and dirt from the path, and Ash coughed. He rubbed his eyes and saw Nate drop his arm, his eyebrows knitted in a determined expression. The girl screeched to a stop right as Nate started stomping over to her, putting up her kickstand.
"What's wrong with you!?" he yelled, catching the girl's attention. "You almost ran over Ash!" As she whipped around the face Nate, Ash was able to get a better look at her. Part of her hair was tied into a ponytail by a blue rubber band, and she was wearing a short yellow crop top, denim shorts, and sneakers.
The orange-haired girl's eyes narrowed. "Your friend was in the way!" she said. "Do you know how hard it is to abruptly stop a bike!?"
Nate scoffed. "All I know is that you're a terrible bike rider." he fired back. "I outta tell my Charmander to scorch that hunk of junk."
"Why you little..." the girl seethed. Ash could practically see steam coming out of the girl's head. He noticed her raising her arm and balling her hand into a fist. Nate, who had previously been furious, started to back away once he realized he had struck a nerve. Before she could take out her anger on the boy however, Angelina suddenly gasped.
"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed. "I know you! You're Misty Waterflower! One of the Sensational Sisters!" The orange-haired girl paused and looked at Angelina with an expression that Ash couldn't describe. Angelina's face seemed to have brightened significantly upon the realization however, although he couldn't blame her. The Sensational Sisters were known as celebrities around Kanto because of their water shows. Ash never got into them though. He'd much rather watch Lance's Dragonite mercilessly crush its opponents on live TV.
"Yeah, that's me." she replied, flicking her hair. "How'd you know?"
Angelina grinned. "I've heard lots about your sisters from Pallet Town. Their shows are so pretty!" she gushed.
"Angelina, stop fangirling and let's get a move on." he said, rolling his eyes. Angelina shot him an annoyed look, and Misty did the same, albeit with more hatred. The brown-haired boy slung his backpack over his shoulder, before shooting one last dirty look at Misty and walking ahead of them. The girl returned his glare, and Angelina laughed nervously.
"Don't mind him." she said. "He gets moody at times."
"I can see that." Misty replied. Compared to just a minute ago, it seemed she had started to calm down. She glanced at Ash. "Sorry about almost running you over by the way. I'm kind of in a rush to get to Viridian City."
Ash just shook his head and smiled. "It's no problem." he said. While he was a little shaken and he agreed that it was kind of her fault for riding so fast, holding grudges wouldn't do him any good. The boy then raised an eyebrow as he realized something. If she was from Cerulean City, why was she so far away from her home? They had to be at least a week and a half from Cerulean. She must've been out on her own for quite a while. Angelina titled her head to the side, seemingly having the same thought process as Ash.
"Wait... Viridian City?" she asked. "What're you doing so far from Cerulean?"
Misty's eyes widened before she turned her head to the side, looking down. "I'm taking care of some... business." she muttered. Ash was about to pry, but when he saw her expression, chose to drop it. It probably was a subject she didn't want to talk about, although it did make him wonder.
"Oh." Angelina said. A moment of silence followed, before she spoke up again. "Well... it was nice meeting you Misty."
Misty simply nodded, a small smile forming on her face. "Likewise." she said, and within a few seconds, she hopped on her bike and started riding away from them, giving them one last look. Ash looked at Angelina and motioned for her to follow him, and the two of them ran off to catch up to Nate.
It was their third day in Viridian Forest, and the three tweens were still on the road to reach Pewter City. Luckily, this time was quite cloudy, so walking was much less exhausting than the days prior. As usual, Ash had Dexter and Petal outside of their PokeBall so they could get some fresh air. However, a rumbling sound echoed in the clouds, and all of a sudden the first few drops of rain started coming down on them.
"Aw man!" Nate yelled. "Out of all the days for it to rain, it had to rain today!?" He immediately recalled Charmander, who had been walking alongside him. Prolonged periods in rainy weather were dangerous for Fire-types, especially Charmander, since its flaming tail was the source of its vitality. Ash pulled his shirt over his head, and recoiled when a raindrop splashed on his nose.
"Quick! We have to find some shelter before we get soaked!" Ash called out to them. Nate and Angelina followed him as they started to run, although Ash recalled Petal back into his ball, as his stubby legs wouldn't be able to keep up with them. Ash considered veering off the path in hopes of finding a large tree or a cabin, but banished the idea. It would only get them lost, which was a huge risk with the amount of Beedrill hives in the forest.
He suddenly spotted a tree that had leaves spread out enough to keep the ground under it mostly dry. It would be good enough cover until the thunderstorm passed. He ducked under the branches and settled himself beside the trunk to take a breather. The other two adolescents sat beside him. Angelina's Bulbasaur collapsed on the ground and sighed, raindrops dripped down its scales. Nate and Angelina had their hair completely soaked, although the top of Ash's head was relatively dry thanks to his cap.
"Ugh! My hair's ruined!" Angelina whined, trying to squeeze the water out of her hair.
"It'll probably be a few hours before the storm lets up." Ash said. "Best thing we can do is wait, I guess." He turned to Dexter, who was floating beside him. "Dexter, you doing alright?"
However, the Porygon's attention was not focused on its Trainer, but something a few meters away from them. Ash followed where Dexter's eyes were pointed, and his eyes widened when he realized what the Virtual Pokemon was looking at.
A Pikachu, within PokeBall throw range, was nibbling on some berries growing on a bush. Pikachu were quite rare finds in Viridian Forest, since they were such timid species. Oftentimes they gathered together in thunderstorms to absorb the electricity from them, and use their tails as lightning rods. They tended to shy away from people, and only ever attacked when provoked.
Nate and Angelina looked at Ash, confused on why he had gone silent, before turning around and realizing the situation they were in. Angelina's jaw dropped, and Nate looked at the Pikachu like it was some sort of prize.
Nate suddenly unhooked Nidoran's PokeBall from his belt, and with a wide grin, gave a thumbs-up to Angelina and Ash. He didn't say anything, but from his expression, Ash could tell he had his mind set on catching the electric rodent.
The brown-haired boy pressed the release button on Nidoran's PokeBall, being sure to release the Poison-type where Pikachu couldn't see it. The Poison Pin Pokemon blinked, and was initally confused on why everyone was huddling under a tree, until Nate pointed at the Pikachu and made a punching motion with his hands. Nidoran seemed to understand and the barbs on his body immediately stood upright.
For a few moments, nothing happened. Nidoran stood there, silently, waiting for his Trainer's command. All of them watched from under the tree as Pikachu continued to eat its berries silently. And then when Pikachu's back was turned...
"NOW! CHIP AWAY!" Nate yelled. Pikachu whipped around toward the source of the noise, and its eyes widened when it realized three Trainers were there the entire time. It tried to scurry away, but was nailed by a fast tackle thanks to Nidoran. It crashed into the ground, squeaking in pain.
Nidoran narrowed his eyes, keeping his pupils trained on the furry form of the Pikachu, whose fur was covered in mud. Suddenly it got up, shook the mud off itself, and bristled, its body becoming illuminated in electrical energy as it blasted Nidoran with a Thunder Shock. The Poison-type stumbled back, but didn't really seem to be all that affected by the attack.
"Poison Sting!" Nate yelled. Nidoran bristled, and tiny needles were launched from its back toward Pikachu. However, Pikachu's body was enveloped in a white outline as it dashed around the barbs with ease, before slamming into Nidoran with its Quick Attack.
Ash watched from behind Nate as he shouted commands to Nidoran. However, Pikachu seemed to dodge its tackles, horn swipes, and poison stings with ease. That was another thing about Pikachu. They were some of the fastest Pokemon in Kanto, thanks to the seemingly endless reserves of electrical energy inside their body. However, with that speed came a trade-off, in that they were very frail. The boy noticed the Pikachu's movements were hampered just by the powerful tackle Nidoran had delivered earlier.
"Use Confusion!" the boy ordered. "Hold it up in the air!" Nidoran tensed, psychic energy pooling on the tip of its horn as Pikachu was lifted into the air. The yellow mouse started to flail and squeak angrily, electricity sparking from its cheeks. However, before it could counterattack, Nate ordered the final move to finish it off.
"Finish it!" he called. "Chip Away!" As Nidoran slammed its body into the yellow mouse, Pikachu was suddenly punted toward the ground with enough force to knock it out, courtesy of the powerful tackle it had taken. It slammed into the ground, its fur now covered with mud and twigs. Nate fished a PokeBall out of his bag, his grin as wide as a Meowth's as he chucked it at the now defeated Pikachu. It sucked up the unconscious form of the yellow mouse with a flash, and dropped to the ground.
*Shake*
*Shake*
*Shake*
*Click*
The sound of the ball locking prompted Nate to run over and pick up the PokeBall, cleaning some of the mud off of it with his shirt. Dirt was already caked onto his sneakers, but he barely seemed to notice it. He flashed a smile at his other two traveling companions. Ash gave him a thumbs-up, but he noticed that Angelina started to frown.
"Nate, I only have one Pokemon." she said, her tone turning sour. "Couldn't you have let me catch it?"
Nate raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who's starter Pokemon has a type advantage over the Gym Leader." he remarked. "I need all the help I can get for Brock." His grin suddenly turned mischievous and he shook Pikachu's PokeBall in front of Angelina's face. "Unless you want to battle for it?"
Angelina just rolled her eyes and huffed, knowing that she had a major disadvantage against Nate's Nidoran and Charmander. However, before Nate could continue, Ash spoke up.
"Stop bickering." Ash said. "I'm not going to spend the next few hours trapped under a tree while you two fight."
That shut them up, and the three of them sat there silently, biding their time until the storm would finally pass.
The following afternoon, the three of them finally arrived in Pewter City. Ash gazed at the tall rocky walls surrounding Pewter City. From what he heard, the city "Between Rugged Mountains", was created in this valley a long time ago by early Kanto settlers. He noticed how some of the buildings were quite old looking, including a museum that they had passed by. The city itself was noticeably smaller than Viridian, which meant it didn't take long to find the Pokemon Center.
Ash sighed as the air conditioned building relieved the heat and sweat from his body. It had been a grueling journey to get here, but it would be all worth it once he managed to get his first badge and see the hours of training he did with his Pokemon be put to good use. They'd probably stay in Pewter for a week and a half to get enough time to train, fight Brock, and relax.
The three tweens handed Nurse Joy their PokeBalls once it was their turn. Once again, Nate ran off toward the cafeteria, intent on stuffing his face with any food he could find. Ash would have joined him, but alas, he had other duties to attend to. He had to call his mother of course, but he also wanted to talk to Professor Oak. He'd been meaning to ask a couple of questions about Petal and Dexter. And who better than the famous Pokemon Professor himself?
He punched a number in the video phone and watched his mother's face illuminate the screen. "Ash!" she exclaimed. "How are you?"
"Fine, mom." he said. "We just got to Pewter City. I'm gonna try to do my first gym battle soon. My Pokemon and I have been training really hard!"
Delia Ketchum gave her son a soft smile. "That's great honey!" she said. "Just don't push yourself too much! The gym battle isn't going anywhere, and neither is the badge!"
The two of them talked for several minutes until eventually his mother had to leave. Ash watched the screen go black, and then he punched a different set of numbers in. Luckily, no one else was standing behind him, so he didn't have to worry about holding up the line for the video phone any longer. He waited for a few seconds before another face appeared on the screen, being much older.
"Ah, Ash!" Professor Oak said with a bright smile. "I was wondering when you'd finally call."
"It's great to see you Professor." Ash replied. "I just arrived in Pewter City with Nate and Angelina."
"You're making good progress, Ash." Oak said. "I'm assuming you're there for your first badge, correct?"
Ash nodded. "Petal and Dexter have been training hard." he said, but paused when Oak gave him a confused look, and hastened to explain. "They're my Porygon and Oddish. Dexter's the Porygon, and Petal's the Oddish."
"Well, I wish good luck to you and your Pokemon for the upcoming fight." Oak said, adjusting his lab coat. "Brock's no pushover. He always gives new Trainers quite a challenge!" The professor paused for a moment to take a sip of his coffee. "But I don't think you called me to just chat, Ash. It looks to me like there's something on your mind. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yeah, a few things actually." Ash replied. "I caught Petal on Route 1 a couple of weeks ago. I was wondering if you had any advice for me so that I could take care of him better. I want to be a good Trainer for him, and I'm not really sure how to take care of an Oddish. I've been feeding him and giving him sunlight, but is there anything else I should do?"
The Professor paused for a moment, lost in thought. "Yes, I was surprised that you caught your Oddish when it appeared on my database." he stated. "You're lucky to have caught one of the Rocket-owned ones, they usually stay off the main path."
Ash blinked. "Did you say Rocket-owned?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, you heard correctly Ash." Oak said with a nod. "Apparently hundreds of Bellsprout and Oddish escaped from a hidden warehouse belonging to Team Rocket in Viridian City a few months ago. They haven't been caused any trouble in the environment from what I've seen, given that they mainly feed off sunlight. So the League hasn't really done anything to stop their population growth. And as I'm sure you could already tell, they're pretty much harmless unless provoked."
"To answer your question however, there are a couple things I can recommend." the professor continued. "Firstly, make sure to give him plenty of water. Oddish tend to dry up quite easily, because their bodies are adapted to roaming around at nighttime, and during the day, they plant themselves in moist soil. Since your Oddish is going to have a diurnal lifestyle now that he is traveling with you, water and Occa Berries will help it adjust to heat much better. Occa Berries are generally rough in texture, but your Oddish can use poison to break it down more easily or cut them up yourself."
Ash nodded as he rummaged through his backpack, producing a notebook and a pencil. It always helped to write any information down on a place that could be easily accessed. It would become especially useful for recording any move combos or strategies that he'd come up with later into his journey.
"If you do those things, I think you should be alright." Oak stated. "Oddish are quite powerful Grass-types when they evolve, and the Celadon Gym Leader herself, Erika, even has a Vileplume. But you could always choose to evolve yours into a Bellossom as well, they're quite powerful too! I look forward to seeing how you train your own Oddish, Ash."
Ash smiled and nodded. He'd seen Erika's Vileplume quite a few times on TV. It was a master of disrupting opponents and was extremely hard to get rid of. It would often bide its time, waiting until its poisons and powders weakened its opponent before finishing them off with a Solar Beam. Many people questioned Erika's decision to specialize in a type with so many weaknesses, but their criticisms were quickly shut down when her performance was seen on the battlefield.
"I do have one more question, Professor." Ash said. "It's about Dexter."
"Oh?" Oak said, raising an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"Well... I still don't know a lot about Dexter if I'm being honest." Ash said, rubbing the back of his head. "I never learned anything about it in school, and everything about it is just so new to me. Like, can it even evolve? I've heard of other artificial Pokemon that can evolve, so can Porygon do that too?"
Oak seemed to brighten. "I'm glad you asked, Ash." he said. "Porygon is in fact able to evolve. However, the process to evolve it is quite time-consuming and expensive. It requires a device called an Up-Grade, which is a disc that holds around five terabytes of data that can make be transferred to Porygon to make it stronger and sturdier. Only a couple of individual Porygon out of the very few that exist in the world have been able to reach their next form."
Ash's face fell. If it really was that difficult, he highly doubted that he could get Porygon to evolve. He was only a ten-year old after all, and Professor Oak made it seem like evolving one was a really big deal.
The Professor seemed to notice Ash's disappointment. "But don't fret, Ash." he said. "I'll see what I can do to help you get your Porygon to evolve. For now, focus on your journey, and in a couple of weeks, talk with me again and I'll update you on the situation."
The boy's expression brightened at the response. Even if it was a slim chance, he would still take if it meant Dexter could get stronger. "Thanks, Professor Oak." he replied. "By the way, who's the person who invented Porygon anyways?"
"His name is Dr. Akihabara." Oak said. "He's an old colleague of mine that works with technology. He works in a laboratory in Matcha City, so you may be able to meet him someday during your travels. Just keep in mind that he is a bit... eccentric at times."
Ash nodded. He didn't exactly know who this Akihabara person was, but if he was smart enough to create life through a computer, he must be some sort of genius. He'd have to thank him for allowing him to have Dexter as his starter once he met him.
"Thanks, Professor." Ash said. "I'll see you soon."
"Alright m'boy." the professor said, taking a long, slow sip from his coffee. "I'll see you then."
Ash waved to the Professor and disconnected the call. Suddenly his stomach let out a loud growl, as if it were demanding food now that the call was the done. The raven-haired boy turned around and ran straight to the cafeteria, intent on filling his never-ending void of a stomach.
"Alright, let's try this one more time." Ash said. "Stun Spore!"
Petal titled his head back, almost falling over, before a yellow powder sprayed from his leaves, coating a wide, cone-like area. Satisfied with his work, he turned to Ash, who gave him a smile. The Oddish had been making leaps and bounds with his progress, and Ash had invested a lot of time into training the Weed Pokemon. He was Ash's trump card against Brock after all.
"Good job, Petal." Ash said, giving him a thumbs-up. "Maybe try jumping to spread the spores around some more. You've gotten more nimble from your speed exercises, so it shouldn't be too hard to do."
The Oddish gave Ash a wide smile, before running off to do some more training. It had been a couple of days since they'd arrived in Pewter, and Ash still had yet to challenge Brock. He'd reserved his battle for a few days from now, giving him ample time to help Petal and Dexter with their moves and smooth out any issues.
Ash turned to Dexter, who had been waiting patiently next to him. Dexter had finally gotten full control of Psybeam the day before, which meant Ash was free to choose another move for the Porygon to work on. He'd been going through his Pokedex late in the night, trying to decide on what direction he wanted to take Dexter's training towards. Much of Dexter's available type coverage was locked away in TMs, which meant he had to wait until he had enough money for one before even thinking about expanding Dexter's offensive capabilities beyond what it had now.
Eventually he decided on Agility. While Dexter could take hits, and he knew its evolution probably could as well, he couldn't only rely on that to get him through battles. Agility provided a temporary, yet significant speed boost to the user, and if he heard anything about Brock's Onix, he knew it hit hard with its massive stone tail. He couldn't afford to let Dexter be hit by that.
"Okay Dexter, now that you've gotten the hang of Psybeam and your psychic abilities, let's try learning Agility." Ash explained to the robotic bird, who merely cocked its head in mild interest. "It'll help you dodge attacks coming toward you much better, and I know you don't want to always be taking hits, do you?"
For the first time in a while, Ash saw a bit of emotion in the Normal-type's eyes, which seemed to be amusement. It faded almost as quickly as it came and the Porygon nodded at Ash. The boy smiled.
"I like your enthusiasm." he said. He pulled out his Pokedex, and within moments was able to find a video of a Doduo using the technique. "So what you do is..."
For days Ash trained, sometimes with Nate, to further boost his chances of winning his first Gym battle. Oftentimes he worked with Dexter and Petal for a couple of hours straight, before taking a break. He soon found himself standing outside the Pewter Gym, staring at the building. His feet had been rooted to that spot for the past thirty seconds.
The building itself was quite large and stood on top of a set of marble stairs. A PokeBall symbol, much like the one on the front of the Pokemon Center, was on the front of the building, along with large bold letters spelling out "Pewter Gym".
Ash took a deep breath, and walked inside.
Inside the building was a small lobby with a few chairs set up. Ash walked up the receptionist's desk, where a small boy was slouching in a swivel chair. Ash blinked. He could've sworn he'd seen a woman at the same desk when he reserved his Gym battle. The kid seemed to be around his age, and had dark skin and spiky brown hair, much like Brock. The boy noticed him staring and offered him a wave.
"Hey!" the boy greeted him. "Are you here for a Gym battle?"
"Yeah, I signed up for one on Monday." Ash said. The boy held out his hand.
"Trainer's license, please." Ash placed his Pokedex on the boys hand, and after a moment, the boy handed the red device back to him.
"Alrighty, you're free to go." the boy finally said, motioning toward a hallway leading away from the lobby. "The name's Forrest by the way. Good luck with your Gym battle! My older brother won't be going easy on you!"
Ash gave him a thumbs-up before walking into the hallway. So this Gym must be family run, just like Cerulean City's. Maybe the lady he saw before was his mother? However, he didn't have time to dwell on it as he came across a set of double doors. He pushed them open and walked into the next room.
Laid out before him was a huge battlefield, about 120 feet in length or so, covered in dirt and large rocks jutting out of the ground. Ash squinted at the large area. The rocks would definitely provide some useful cover, but would make dodging a little harder because of the limited space. On the other side of the battlefield stood a teenager with dark skin and brown spiky hair, who seemed to simply be just a bigger version of Forrest. His eyes were slits, and Ash couldn't tell if his eyes were closed, or his eyes were actually like that.
However, it seemed to be the latter, as the boy suddenly spoke. "Are you here for a battle?" he asked, his voice deep.
"Yeah." Ash said. He suddenly felt a surge of courage within him to speak his next words. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and I'm here to win my first badge."
Brock's expression didn't change. "Many challengers have come here for their first badge." he responded. "Most of them have lost."
Ash stepped forward. "My team and I have been training hard for this battle, and we're not giving up until we win!" he yelled. A small smile formed on Brock's face.
"Well then, let's see if you have what it takes." he said, walking towards him. "The rules are simple. Since this is your first badge, you are allowed to up to six Pokemon. I will be using two. No substitutions. The battle will end when one side's Pokemon are unable to battle. Sound good?"
Ash nodded silently, and suddenly a door opened from the side of the room, and in came running Forrest, sweat running down his forehead. "Sorry!" he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I forgot I'm supposed to be the referee today."
Brock sighed. "You have to remember these things, Forrest." he said. "How am I supposed to pass on the Gym to you if you can't show me you're committed to the role?"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you're passing on the Gym to someone else?" Ash called from across the battlefield. Brock turned to the boy, as though momentarily forgetting that he was there, and nodded.
While it was true that Brock had been the Gym Leader of Pewter for quite some time, he knew that Gym Leaders often stayed the leaders of their respective cities for a large portion of their lives. Being a Gym Leader not only meant being a test for Trainers, but it also meant being a leader to the people of their community.
"I'm passing the Gym down to Forrest once he's old enough." Brock replied. "I won't always be around to take care of my siblings all the time, so he'll will be taking care of the Gym when I'm gone." Ash started to open his mouth, but Brock stopped him. "Being a Gym Leader is nice, but my true passion lies in Pokemon breeding. I don't want to be chained down by the role, and Forrest here has been asking me to be his teacher for a while."
Well, he guessed he could understand that. Pokemon breeders raised Pokemon, often ones that were quite rare, to produce the best offspring. It was a profession many considered to be integral to a society populated by Trainers. Many high-class families got their Pokemon from breeders, and even Professor Oak got the starter Pokemon he gave out from breeders as well.
"Anyways, enough chit-chat." Brock spoke up. "Forrest, mind starting the battle?"
"Oh right!" Forrest exclaimed, walking to the side of the battlefield. "The battle between Ash Ketchum and Brock Winters will now commence! Trainers, please release your Pokemon!" The boy paused and looked at his brother. "How was that?"
Brock nodded toward his sibling and gave him a warm smile. "Good. Soon you'll be announcing battles like a pro in no time." he said. He turned to Ash, his expression turning serious again. "As per Pokemon League rules, I am required to send out my Pokemon first. Are you ready?"
Ash steeled himself and nodded. Brock unclipped a PokeBall from his belt and threw it. "Come out, Geodude!"
A Pokemon with a stone-like body and muscular arms appeared from the PokeBall Brock threw. From what research Ash had done, this Geodude wasn't as strong as Brock's Onix, as it was mainly used to test the strength of his opponents. However, it was still not a threat to be taken lightly. Ash's hand shifted from Petal's PokeBall to Dexter's and he unclipped it from his belt.
"Let's do this, Dexter!" he called, throwing the capsule. The Normal-type popped out of the PokeBall with a warble, catching the attention of both Brock and Forrest. Brock raised his eyebrows.
"I've been a Gym Leader for years, but I've never seen a Pokemon as strange as that." the Rock-type specialist commented. "It doesn't matter, we can still beat them, right Geodude?" The Rock Pokemon slammed its fists together and bellowed in response. Ash adjusted his cap and grinned widely, excitement bubbling up in his stomach. This was going to be fun.
"Start this off with Ice Beam!" Ash shouted. Blue light shined from Dexter's beak as the ray was shot towards Geodude. However, Geodude merely wrapped its arms around its head, its body shining as it took the blast. Ash squinted at the Rock Pokemon, but it seemed to have taken little damage thanks to the Defense Curl.
"Nice try, but super effective attacks won't help you here." Brock proclaimed. "Use Rollout!"
Geodude started to rotate its body as it careened toward Dexter, who just managed to swerve out of the way. It started to bounce off the rocky spires, before circling around and zooming towards Dexter once again. However, this time Ash was ready.
"Psybeam!" he ordered. "Blast it!" A pink ray blasted into the Geodude, sending it flying into one of the rocks with a crash. When the dust cleared, Geodude pulled itself up and slammed its fists together once more, showing that it was far from going down.
"Thunder Punch!" Brock barked. Ash's eyes widened as Dexter floated away from the Rock Pokemon, an electrified fist crashing into the spot where it was.
"Keep up the pressure!" the Rock-type specialist yelled. "Thunder Punch again!"
"Don't let it hit you!" Ash called. Geodude continued to swing its fists towards the Normal-type, who managed to dodge each blow with short bursts of Agility as it was pushed farther and farther back. Suddenly Dexter was pushed back into a rocky wall and swiveled its head, realizing it was trapped. Panic started to form in its expression, and Ash's eyes widened. Brock wanted this all along.
"Now! Hammer Arm!" Brock commanded. Geodude's entire arm glowed a blinding orange as it slammed its closed fist into Dexter's side, sending it soaring towards Ash side of the field, crashing into the ground. Ash's hand immediately went towards Dexter's PokeBall, but halted as Dexter started to rise, a large purplish spot appearing where Geodude had hit it. He couldn't exactly tell if Dexter had been dented, or if it was just a bruise, but if his starter was still able to battle, Ash wouldn't stop it.
"Not bad." Brock called from across the battlefield. "I thought for sure we'd taken out your Pokemon, but it seems like there's more to it than meets the eye. Looks like we're going to have to work harder for our win. Use Rock Tomb!"
Geodude slammed his fists on the ground, and large stones were flung into the air. "Careful, Dexter!" Ash called to his partner. "It's trying to trap you! Blast the rocks with Psybeam!"
Dexter cocked its head and squinted at the stones being flung toward it. A pink ray was blasted from its beak towards one of the stones, shattering it into tiny pieces. The Porygon repeated this process, blasting the projectiles being thrown at it. It then sent an Ice Beam flying towards Geodude, who didn't have time to react before it was blasted in the face by the freezing energy.
"Nice!" Ash said, pumping up his fist at the direct hit. Geodude grumbled, its large eyebrows encased in ice. Cracks were staring to form on its body, evidence of its weakness to ranged attacks. A few more hits and he'd be able to take it out.
Suddenly Geodude started to roll around the battlefield, realizing by now that Rock Tomb wouldn't work. By now, dust was starting to kick up thanks to Geodude's movements and the debris being kicked up.
"Keep your guard up, Dexter!" Ash called. The Porygon eyed its opponent wearily as it started to roll around him in a circle. Ash looked at Brock, but the Gym Leader's face was devoid of any expression. What was he planning...?
Immediately Geodude started to speed up, kicking up more sand and dust. At this point a cone of sand was starting to form around Dexter, as it watched Geodude close in around it, a torrent of sand swirling around it. Ash suddenly realized that Geodude was using Sand Tomb, and Dexter was currently being trapped in a small restrictive space, where it couldn't dodge.
"Get out of there, Dexter!" Ash screamed. Dexter looked around, searching for any escape route, amid the swirling sand around it and the frantic yells of its Trainer.
And then a screech was heard as it was punted into a rock with a slam.
While Dexter was looked for any way to get out of the sticky situation it was put in, Geodude had come up from behind and slammed a Hammer Arm into Dexter's back, sending it flying into a rock. Its arm was sizzling, a side effect of the intense amount of energy it had put into the attack. And when the dust cleared, Dexter was on the ground, swirls in its eyes, out cold.
"The challenger's Pokemon is unable to battle!" Forrest announced. "Brock is the winner of this round!"
Ash just blinked as he returned his starter. He didn't expect Dexter to be taken out so easily, and he certainly didn't expect Brock's first Pokemon to pose this much of a challenge. Now Petal was faced with the nigh impossible task of taking down two Pokemon owned by Brock. Luckily Geodude had been heavily damaged, so the Weed Pokemon would be able to take it out without much difficulty. What really scared him however, was the Onix.
However, he was still going to try. He didn't spend all that time training for nothing.
"You're up, Petal!" he shouted, sending out his Oddish. The Weed Pokemon appeared from the PokeBall and took one look at the Geodude on the other side of the battlefield, before looking back at Ash.
"It took out Dexter." Ash said. While he didn't exactly want to manipulate Petal, he did need to inform it to take Geodude seriously, and he knew Petal had taken quite a liking to Dexter. The Oddish's eyes widened in surprise, before focusing on the Geodude. Ash took a breath. He could only hope that the training they'd gone through would be enough.
"So you saved your Pokemon with a type advantage for last." Brock observed, stroking his chin. "Unless your blocky bird Pokemon happened to be an Ice-type of some sort. Not that it matters anyway, because you aren't getting past Geodude without a fight. Rollout!"
Geodude started to roll towards Petal once again, intent on flattening the tiny turnip with its rocky body.
"Jump and use Leech Seed!" Ash ordered. Petal leapt into the air, Geodude's body missing him completely, as he spat a small seed right below him. The seed suddenly burst as vines started to grow all over the Rock Pokemon's body. Geodude grunted as the vines glowed red, sapping away its strength. Ash started to grin, until Brock ordered his next command.
"Rapid Spin!" the Gym Leader commanded. Geodude started to whirl around at such speed that the vines were suddenly sliced off its body. Its spinning body crashed into Petal, who was knocked back several feet by the impact.
Brock jumped on his opportunity. "Let's end this quick, Geodude!" he shouted. "Fire Punch!"
Geodude swung a flaming fist towards Petal, hoping to nail it. However, its movements were sluggish, and Petal stepped back and dodged the blow with ease, cocking his head. Geodude's eyes narrowed, not happy at not being taken seriously, and swung again, this time hitting Petal in the side.
The Oddish cried out in pain as he was launched back by the super effective move, the Geodude creeping closer and closer. Ash's eyes widened. Petal was trapped between a large rock on the battlefield, and the approaching Geodude, with no way to escape. One more Fire Punch and it would be over.
Suddenly an idea flashed in his mind, and he shouted toward the Oddish. "Petal! Jump onto Geodude!" Ash shouted.
Petal brought itself back up and jumped just as Geodude swung another burning fist towards him. The Weed Pokemon landed on top of the Rock Pokemon's head, and despite its efforts to get it off, Petal kept dodging its hands by ducking and jumping. The Oddish looked toward Ash, hoping that he had a way to get him out of this.
"Now! Mega Drain!" Ash commanded. Geodude cried out in pain and its entire body went limp as Petal sapped away the entirety of its remaining energy, the pain and exhaustion becoming too much for it. The Oddish's leaves started to shine, and the bruise that Petal had sustained from the Fire Punch was patched up within seconds. Geodude let out a defiant bellow before falling over on its back, out cold.
Brock sighed, recalling his fallen Geodude and clipped its PokeBall back onto his belt. Petal took his place in front of Ash once again. The raven-haired boy took a deep breath. Okay. One down, one to go.
The Gym Leader unclipped another PokeBall from his belt and glanced at Ash. "I'm assuming from your nervous expression that you exactly what my last Pokemon is, correct?" the teenager asked. Ash nodded silently and gulped. The other boy grinned.
"Well then, let's see if you have what it takes to beat it!' Brock shouted. "Let's go, Onix!"
There was a flash of light, and a gargantuan rock snake appeared from the PokeBall. Ash's eyes widened at the sheer size of the Onix in front of him. It looked young, but that didn't mean much, as the Onix was still almost 22 feet in length. It let out an earsplitting roar, and Ash covered his ears. Nervousness raced through his chest, but he steeled himself. He put all his trust in Petal to win, and he didn't come all this way to back down now.
Petal looked positively terrified, until he heard the sound Ash's voice. "Petal!" Ash shouted. "It's okay! I know you can do this! Just trust me!" Ash was aware that his mini-speech was pretty easy for him to say, considering that he wasn't the one actually on the battlefield, but Petal seemed to relax a little, and stared down the Onix with determination in his eyes.
"Use Slam!" Brock ordered. Ash's eyes widened as he realized the Gym Leader intended to crush Petal under the massive weight of Onix's tail. While Petal obviously wouldn't be killed, the sheer size of Onix's tail would do loads of damage to anything under it.
"Dodge!" Ash almost screamed. Petal's eyes widened as the rocky tail started to come down on him, and he managed to just out of the way just as the tail smashed into the dirt battlefield, kicking up dust and rocks. The Oddish was still launched backward by the impact, and slammed into the rocky floor of the battlefield.
"Keep getting closer, Petal!" Ash called. Petal, after catching his breath, nodded, and continued to close in on his opponent. Onix was started to lift its tail, unsatisfied that it wasn't able to smash anything. Once the Oddish was close, Ash yelled.
"Now! Leech Seed!" he yelled. Petal spat a small seed, which immediately burst upon coming into contact with Onix's body, just like it did with Geodude. The vines coming out of the seed snaked around Onix's midsection, and the rock snake roared in pain as the vines started to sap away its energy.
"Rock Tomb!" Brock called. Onix slammed its tail on the ground, and huge stones flew toward Petal. The Oddish jumped back as a stone slammed into where he was standing, and jumped once again when another stone crashing into the area next to him. The cycle repeated, Petal trying to frantically run away from the attack, before a stone would cause him to change direction.
"It's a trap, Petal!" Ash yelled out. "Run!"
However, it was too late. A seemingly impenetrable wall of rocks was set up around the Weed Pokemon, who could only watch helplessly as Onix slithered closer, its big eyes trained on the shivering form of the Oddish. The Rock Snake Pokemon lifted its tail, and brought it down on the rocky prison. Ash's eyes widened as its tail impacted into the ground with a boom, kicking up dirt and pebbles. The boy's stomach sunk as Onix lifted its tail, and sunk even further when he didn't see movement. He reached for Petal's PokeBall and sighed. There was nothing he could do now.
Then he heard sounds of shifting, and he squinted as the dust cleared. And despite the damage he had taken, Petal was still standing. A large bruise was evident on his face, but he was braving through the uncomfortableness as best as he could. Ash grinned as he realized that not all was lost. However, Brock just seemed annoyed.
"Dragon Breath!" Brock ordered. "Finish it!"
"Counter it with Razor Leaf!" Ash called.
Onix reared its head back, multicolored gas coming from its mouth as Petal launced blade-like leaves toward it. The two attacks collided with each other in the air, creating a large gas cloud in the air. However, a few of the leaves managed to slip through and sliced into Onix's rocky carapace, causing it to roar in pain once more. Ash's smile widened and he pumped up his fist at the direct hit.
"Focus, Onix!" Brock commanded. "Use Dig!"
Onix braved through the pain and rammed its head into the ground. The rest of its body followed, and all that was left was a gaping hole in the ground. Ash stepped back. He could feel vibrations in the ground due to Onix's size, but he couldn't pinpoint when Onix would actually strike. Petal was in a similar state, uneasily taking steps along the battlefield.
Suddenly the ground under the Oddish caved in, and Onix rammed a steel-encased head into Petal, who cried out in pain as he was launched high into the air. Brock, seeing his chance, shouted a command.
"Catch it with Bind!" Brock ordered. Onix's tail wrapped around Petal and within seconds coiled around the small form of the Oddish, squeezing the life out of the poor creature. Ash could only watch helplessly as Petal gritted his teeth in pain, Onix's tail coiling ever so slowly. Suddenly an idea flew into Ash's mind with the force of a Mega Punch.
"Get yourself out of there with Acid!" Ash yelled. "Aim for the face, Petal!"
Petal started to wriggle in Onix's grasp, and stared at Onix dead in the eyes, before spitting a stream of purple liquid directly toward Onix's face. Onix let out an earsplitting roar, losing its grip on Petal, allowing the Oddish to slide out of its grasp. Petal hopped away from the huge rock snake, who started to thrash around wildly. Brock was trying to calm Onix down as it shook erratically, giving Ash ample time to call out his final command.
"Razor Leaf!" Ash screamed. "Finish it!"
Petal, with all his remaining strength, reared back his head and flung a volley of leaves toward the still thrashing Onix. The green daggers sliced into Onix's flesh and it screamed in pain, before it closed its eyes and its neck fell to the ground. With a crash, the rock snake's consciousness flickered away, before its vision went black.
For a moment, nobody said anything, until Forrest broke the silence.
"Brock's Onix is unable to battle!" the boy announced, seemingly perturbed by the outcome of the conflict. "Which means the challenger, Ash Ketchum, and his Oddish are the winners of this match!"
Ash said nothing as he stared at the ground, taking it all in. And then within a split second, he broke out into a huge grin, and screamed so loud, Brock thought even Arceus had heard it. The boy ran toward Petal (who was starting to wobble around the battlefield weakly) as fast as his legs would carry him.
"WE WON!" he yelled. Petal turned around to face his Trainer and let out a happy squeal, before hopping toward him. "WE WON! WE WON!" the boy repeated, picking up the Weed Pokemon and pulling him into a hug. Brock, who had just returned his Onix, watched the entire spectacle with a small smile, crossing his arms. Sure, it stung to lose, but bringing promising Trainers one step closer to their dreams made it all worth it.
The Gym Leader strolled onto the battlefield a few moments later, and by now Ash had started to calm down. The older boy pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Ash. It was an grey, octogonal badge, shaped to look like a stone.
"Ash, since you are the winner of our Gym battle, allow me to present you with this." Brock stated. "The Boulder Badge. Proof that you bested me in battle. And..." The Gym Leader paused as he reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a brownish disc with a reflective surface. "The Technical Machine for Rock Tomb. I don't think any of your Pokemon can learn it, but no doubt it'll help you during your journey."
The raven-haired boy just stared at the objects being handed to him, before slowly taking them out of Brock's hands. He stared at the Boulder Badge for a moment, before opening his jacket and sticking it into the inside of it. Brock raised an eyebrow.
"You don't have a badge case?" the teen asked. Ash shook his head.
"I don't need one." he responded. "Besides, it's easier for me to look at my badges and remember the hard work put into getting each one."
Brock chuckled. "Fair enough." he said. An idea seemed to pop in the boy's head. "Both Geodude and Onix took quite a beating from our battle, and I've gotta heal them for upcoming challengers. Mind if I come with you the Pokemon Center?"
Ash gave Brock a thumbs-up. "Sure!" he accepted happily. "The more the merrier! Right, Petal?" The Oddish gave him a nod, before a low growl interrupted the conversation. Brock blinked, realizing the source of the noise was Ash, who was smiling bashfully. "Before we go though, mind if we stop at a diner? I'm starving."
After stopping at a diner a few minutes away from the Gym, Ash and Brock headed to the Pokemon Center. Ash made sure to order plenty of berries for Petal while they were eating. The Oddish had been a trooper during the Gym battle, and was the reason he'd been able to take out Brock's Onix.
As the two of them walked through the automatic doors of the building, Ash noticed several other Trainers were also standing in the lobby, more than when they first arrived to Pewter. Ash noticed Nate and Angelina engaged in a conversation, and was relieved to see they weren't fighting this time. A few seconds later, they noticed him enter, and started to run over to him. The boy looked behind him and saw that Brock's eyes seemed to be trained on something.
"I'm just gonna... take care of something." Brock muttered absentmindedly. Ash gave him a weird look, but shrugged it off when he saw Nate and Angelina approach him.
"I saw your battle with Brock, Ash!" Nate said, a wide grin on his face. "You were awesome!"
Ash blinked. "You saw my battle?"
Angelina nodded. "Yeah, the battles are broadcasted on a monitor up there." she said as she pointed her finger at a large TV hanging over the counter of the Pokemon Center. Ash blinked. How come he didn't notice that before? He totally would have watched a battle if it meant getting an edge on a Gym Leader. But why wasn't there a television in Viridian City? He supposed the reason had something to do with Giovanni's nature. The man tended to be a recluse.
"I'm going next." Nate said. "I'm a little nervous, but since I watched your battle, I'm a little more prepared. You guys will cheer for me, right?"
"No. I'm wishing for your swift downfall, Nate Rivers." Angelina said sternly. Nate grin was suddenly wiped off his face, and Angelina snorted. "Just kidding! You'll do fine!" Nate's smile returned, but then he raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't you going to do any training Angelina?" the bespectacled boy asked. "I've never seen you on the training fields. You're always walking around, doing something else, or hanging out in our room."
Angelina waved her hand absentmindedly. "Psh. I'll be fine." she said. "Saur and I have got this."
"But you didn't-" Suddenly Nate was interrupted by a surprised yelp. Ash whipped around to see Brock on one knee behind the counter where Nurse Joy. The pink-haired lady looked shocked, eyes wide, as Brock held out something in his hands toward her. The boy's jaw dropped. Were... those flowers!?
"Oh, Nurse Joy." Brock spoke, his voice filled with passion and conviction. "Your beauty and radiance outshines what any other woman in this world would have to offer. I can't bear to be away from you any longer. Would you do me the honor of being by my side?"
By now, the other Trainers in the lobby were noticing the scene being played out, some of them starting to laugh and murmur to each other. Ash, Nate, and Angelina stayed frozen to where they were standing, too confused and utterly flabbergasted to move.
A few moments later, Nurse Joy recovered from her stupor. "Um... well... I'm sorry, Brock." she said with a thin, clearly forced smile. "I don't think I can do that."
All the color drained from Brock's face as he tilted his head downward. The flowers seemed to droop as well. "O-oh. Okay then." he muttered. He turned on his heel, walking out of the Pokemon Center slowly, staring at the ground. Nate's eyes suddenly widened as he saw Brock leave the building.
"W-wait! My Gym battle!" he yelled out as he chased after the Rock-type specialist. Ash watched Nate run out of the building and sighed.
Brock didn't even heal his Pokemon...
Author's Note: Hey guys! Rockadoodle here. I finally finished Chapter 4! It took a lot of work, and this chapter's 14k words, which is insane! But when I said I'd make a good rewrite (I'm actually not sure if I said those words specifically) I meant it. I hope you guys enjoyed! As always, be sure to leave a review detailing your thoughts! I always appreciate seeing a review popping up in my email, and I'll always respond to it!
The next chapter will be detailing the group's journey through Mt. Moon. I've re-edited a LOT of it, so I hope you're excited!
In other news, as you can already tell, I'm not dead yet! I beat Covid, and I actually attended the Seacaucus Regionals, which is my first competitive Pokemon event I've ever attended! Meeting so many amazing people there was great, and who knows? Maybe I'll start attending regionals more often.
Anyways, review response time!
TheCouchEffect: Hey! Glad you made it! Like you said, the reason they didn't threaten the hostages was mainly because of incompetence. Also because I mean, how are some kids without their Pokemon going to stop a fire-breathing lizard, venomous plants, a poisonous rat, and a bird-shaped laser turret?
haziqsaffari2: Glad you've come to read it! I agree, Porygon is quite underrated, which is shame considering how much lore it has.
AngelFaux: Responded on Discord.
Reader: Glad you liked it!
Demonkid1: Yup! Pikachu, Butterfree, Pidgeotto, etc.
SeaweedBrainIsBlue: I already mentioned in the first chapter that Gary was chosen separate from the top three, since he already got private tutoring from Oak and so there was no need for him to take the exam.