Note: So, now we're in the league chapters. I'm just gonna go and say these next seven chapters are inspired by all the league episodes rather than noting chapter by chapter which, especially since there's not really a 1:1 since there are major differences including most of the match ups being different, different characters appearing who didn't in the anime, different conflicts introduced/followed up on, etc. The league is certainly not the finale or ultimate goal of this story. Even so, yes, what happens here is important, both to the characters and as a in general to the whole. Hope you all enjoy what's coming up.
45: Brock and Misty vs. Lola and Aurora
Brock left the overcrowded pokemon center, maneuvering around various other visitors, pokemon and human, before eventually meeting up with Ash and Misty. He shook his head. "We should just go camp," he said, noting the sun close to the horizon.
"No room at all?" Misty said before looking around at the area, seeing some people had already started to set up their own mock campgrounds in the practice battle arenas. She sighed. "I should have known this many people would be around."
"Why?" Ash said.
"Viridian is kind of close to the Indigo Plateau, and the league is the biggest event for trainers by far," Misty said.
"Yeah. Even the champion's exhibition matches don't often get as much attention," Brock added.
"So, yeah, of course the pokemon center here is going to be crowded," Misty said, glancing toward the many present. "Even trainers who aren't going to participate want to come and watch." It might have been better to just stay a while longer in Pewter before they'd left, then make it to the Indigo Plateau via train, but here they were, so it seemed they'd have to walk.
Making it places via foot was what they'd been doing the past few months since Ash had won his last badge, anyway. During that time they'd watched him train various places, running back and forth from town to town, visiting with their families and old friends while meeting and battling with other trainers. Ash had wanted to come to Viridian to see if there were any last minute practice battles to be found in the city's larger pokemon center, but with people camping out on the practice arenas, that wasn't going to happen.
So they left the city, finding an out of the way area nearby to camp out closer to their destination. Even that relatively remote area had two other campsites nearby. After having traveled so far, everything just becoming dark, there was nothing else to do but get ready to rest. In the morning, they cleaned up and made their way to the Indigo Plateau before the sun was even up. One of those campsites was already gone, having already done the same.
As the first sign of daylight appeared, the large stadium of the Indigo Plateau was already in sight. Brock turned off the flashlight once he realized they could easily see. There were plenty of people around, happily chatting about the upcoming events. "I can see it! We've gotta get there!" Ash exclaimed, ready to run.
"Come on Ash, we left so early there's plenty of time," Misty said irritably. "Let's take our time. Otherwise we just get there and wait." Besides, pushing through the other various travels would probably be rude. They continued at a reasonable pace.
"Misty, is that you?"
Misty turned her attention ahead, seeing the familiar boy running over to them in the opposite direction of many on the path, a pikachu following at his feet. "Ritchie! You're here too? Are you going to get to compete?" she asked.
Ritchie adjusted the straps on his backpack. "Yeah. I don't know if I'll even make it into the top 256, but I have enough badges to try."
"You didn't get a dozen badges or anything, did you?" Misty said.
"Um, we only need eight badges," Ritchie informed.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you," Misty said with a laugh. "And Ash-" she began.
"Hi, Ash!" Ritchie greeted as the boy meandered back where he'd been lagging, talking to another trainer. "You've definitely got eight badges, huh?"
"Of course!" Ash confirmed.
"I like Ritchie, but Ash probably shouldn't spend too much time around him," Misty muttered to Brock, raising her eyebrows.
Brock shrugged. "Hi, Ritchie. You're here bright and early too, huh? See anything interesting so far?"
"Yeah," Ritchie confirmed. "There were some nice ladies by the fountain over there talking about battling and showing their water type pokemon. I saw them do a practice battle. They're entering too."
"Water types?" Misty said with a grin.
"Nice, mature, lady trainers, huh?" Brock said with a grin, running a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, they might be still over there," Ritchie motioned ahead on the path, the direction many trainers were traveling.
Brock began on his way to where Ritchie had indicated. "Oh boy," Misty sighed. "Bye, Ritchie! We'll be watching for you!" she quickly gave salutations before following after her older friend. "Hold up! There's no reason to get weird just because you meet some female trainers," Misty called to Brock, grabbing his sleeve.
"I'm happy to meet all kinds of trainers," Brock said, brushing off and adjusting his clothing. "If they happen to be beautiful women that I might be a good match with, all the better."
"Slow down there," Misty said with an awkward chuckle. Brock was still too young to expect grown women to be interested in him, yet he often tried to get their attention in that way. She walked ahead of him, trying not to let Brock be the one to make the first impression on whoever this duo of water type trainers was. As they got to the fountain, the first thing that caught her eye among the many trainers observing the various water type pokemon in the fountain was a dewgong, flipping up from the water before expertly diving back down. Misty clapped along with the others nearby, before seeing how familiar the dewgong looked up close. Sure enough, looking across the fountain, she saw the dewgong's trainer. "Mom!" Misty exclaimed.
"Mom?!" Brock echoed her.
Misty had been about to confirm that yes, it was her mother, but then realized that Brock was instead gaping at the woman next to her mother as they approached. "Brock, is that your-" Misty began, but the boy just stormed past her to the other side of the fountain.
"Mom! What are you doing here?" Brock demanded.
The woman next to Misty's mother gasped, a wide smile on her face. "Well, if it isn't my adorable little peach!" she said, hugging Brock and rubbing his head. Brock pushed away, hand over his head to protect his hair.
"And there's one of mine, too!" the other woman said with a toothy grin. "You've come to see your ma win, huh?"
Misty scowled. "How was I supposed to know you were even here?" she asked. The last time they'd talked, she couldn't recall. It was before she'd left to travel with Ash, maybe some time when she'd taken over as Cerulean Gym leader from Daisy. "I'm here to watch my friend." She motioned her head to Ash.
"Um, hi," Ash said, carefully observing the faces of both women before noting the multiple pokemon in and around the fountain. "So you're water type trainers?"
"Right!" one of them confirmed. "I'm Lola, of Pewter."
The other woman ran a hand through her short hair before putting her hands on her hips. "I'd like to say I'm more of an ice type trainer. The fiery ice type master, they're gonna call me when I'm in the elite! But there's plenty of crossover with water types there. Name's Aurora, of Cerulean."
"I'm Ash of Pallet," Ash introduced.
"Pikachu," Pikachu called its own introduction.
"And you're Brock and Misty's moms?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu called as it curiously hopped up on the side of the fountain to see the women more closely, comparing how they looked to how its known friends looked.
"Just to be clear, that's Brock's mom." Misty pointed to Lola. "And that's my mom." She pointed to Aurora, then turned back to the women. "Why are you both here? Mom, do you know Brock's mom or something?"
"Oh, little peach, do you know Aurora's baby?" Lola asked, again pulling Brock into a hug and patting his head.
"Misty and I are good friends," Brock informed, arms folded after he pulled himself upright again.
"Ha, Lola's become my good friend as well. Stands to reason our kids would also be close if they met," Aurora said.
"Yeah, fine. But why are you here?" Brock asked.
"We're gonna compete, of course!" Aurora put up her arm, flexing as she made the announcement.
"That's right! My sweet little peach is going to be here in person to see me as the league winner!" Lola said. She put a hand over her eyes to shade them, glancing around the area as the sun rose. "Are my other darlings nearby?"
"Everyone else is home with Dad, who could really use some help," Brock pointed out. "Maybe both of you should be home," he spat.
"Aw, don't be sexist, Brock," Aurora waved a hand dismissively, laughing to herself as she leaned down and patted Dewgong.
"What- I'd say the same if you were men!" Brock said, a blush coming to his cheeks. "You both have children at home that miss you. They need to be taken care of. When they're grown, then you can go pretend to be master trainers."
"My kids're already grown," Aurora said with a shrug. "She's my youngest. And you just turned ten, right Misty?"
"I'm twelve," Misty said humorlessly.
"Yeah! So, you see?" Aurora shrugged, then ordered Dewgong to repeat its flip for the coming passers-by.
"And of course, it seems my darling Flint is capable of taking care of everyone himself! I called last summer, they're all fine," Lola assured.
"Last summer..." Brock repeated, an expression of discontent on his face. He'd called every day, sometimes multiple times a day, whenever nearby a phone, when traveling with Ash.
"Yeah. You see, Brock? Men can be perfectly capable too, who knew?" Aurora laughed to herself, Lola joining in.
"Mom, you just... You just..." Brock couldn't even begin to properly express what was wrong with what had happened.
"You into this one, Misty? He's Lola's, so I wouldn't object to a match, but I hope he knows he should try to be a reliable man too," Aurora said.
"I was the one who-" Brock began, then stopped as he felt Misty's hand on his arm. He realized he'd been shouting, and stopped, breathing out slowly as he relaxed his clenched fists.
"Sorry, Brock," Misty said, frowning as she glanced to her mother. "She doesn't know, I guess. And she's really thoughtless in general."
"What's that you're saying, Misty?" Aurora asked loudly.
Misty turned with her hands on her hips. "I was telling Brock you're a really thoughtless person! So it's not worth getting too mad at you!" she replied, trying to match her mother's volume.
"That's not a nice thing to say about your ma!" Though she kept up her grin, Aurora's eye twitched.
"Let's just calm down," Lola said, stepping between the two. "Today's a happy day. Aurora and I are finally starting the league, and one of us will win! And now, our little babies are here to watch and celebrate with us."
"We're no longer babies," Brock said seriously. "And neither of you are going to win."
"Huh? What's this?" Aurora tutted. "Seems like Lola's kid inherited none of her charisma."
"Suppose not," Brock shot back.
"What makes you so sure we can't win? A little sexism at work?" Aurora suggested.
Brock stepped to the fountain, looking out at the dozen pokemon that were inside, glancing around the lapras and cloyster, counting before he was sure he'd seen all six of Aurora's pokemon. "I know my mom's pokemon already, so I can pick your team out from there too. Both of you have a monotype water team, your only exception being Jynx as a dual ice/psychic type. Monotype teams aren't competitive in the league."
"Not true!" Aurora declared. "A few years ago there was that girl that won second place. She had a monotype team. An inspiration for all girls, women, and monotype trainers out there!"
"You mean Erika, right?" Brock said. "Calling her league team 'monotype' is an oversimplification. She had more than one exception to her preferred grass types. You two are no Erika. You won't be getting anywhere close to second place."
"Come on, little peach, please have more faith in your mama," Lola said, reaching to hug him again, but Brock stepped back closer to Misty and Ash.
"I'd bet you two couldn't even beat us," Brock said.
"Yeah, I am a better gym leader than you were," Misty pointed out. "And Brock was better than you, right?" she said, nodding to Lola.
"You were?" Lola turned to Brock. "Aw, I knew you could do it. But your mama's improved now too! You can't take us on so easily."
"Yeah, Misty, you're dealing with league tier now," Aurora added.
"Let's battle then," Brock suggested.
"You're battling here?" Ash asked as Pikachu hopped down from the fountain ledge.
"I'm up for it," Misty said, reaching for her pokeball.
"And when we win, you go home to Dad and everyone else!" Brock said, his voice sounding more desperate as he took out his own pokeball.
"Ha! We'll have to warm up for the league while we show our kids you how much we've improved, huh Lola?" Aurora said, returning her pokemon other than Dewgong.
"I'd love to battle my little peach and his friend!" Lola said. She recalled all her pokemon other than Vaporeon.
"Good," Brock said, nodding at Vaporeon and Dewgong who had climbed to the edge of the large fountain, looking ready for battle. "Let's not waste time. The two of you can battle us both at once. One pokemon each. Let's go, Geodude!"
"Go, Starmie!"
Misty and Brock threw out their pokeballs together. Geodude bounced in front of Brock and Misty, Starmie floating in the air above it. "Geodude, stay to the side, avoid the fountain!" Brock directed. "Now, tackle!" he pointed toward Dewgong.
"Starmie, confuse ray, at that Vaporeon!"
"Dewgong, ice beam!"
"Vaporeon, water gun!"
Hearing the command, Geodude slammed into Dewgong, who splashed back into the water. It hopped out, opening its mouth and shooting out an impressive, flashy stream of ice which completely missed Geodude before dissipating into the area. Next to them, Starmie's gem briefly glowed brighter before Vaporeon was unable to get the attack started, instead teetering around the fountain edge, nearly tripping. Aurora let out a noise of frustration. "Who taught you such underhanded techniques, Misty? Dewgong, ice beam!" she repeated.
"Vaporeon, if you could just hit... try water gun again, please," Lola begged.
"Starmie, psychic!" Misty immediately followed with her own order.
"Geodude, seismic toss!" Brock stomped forward to encourage his own pokemon.
Starmie's purple psychic wave enveloped both of the opponents' pokemon. Vaporeon tried to attack, then failed, falling face first into the fountain. Dewgong got ready to attack before Geodude grabbed it, tossing it forcefully into the water. A wave splashed high, obscuring the view before it became apparent Dewgong was floating at the top, knocked out.
"Vaporeon!" Lola quickly returned her pokemon. Aurora did the same with Dewgong before rushing to comfort her friend. "What should I do... Everyone was ready, so I just thought we'd have a quick battle..." Lola fretted, hugging Aurora.
Brock sighed. "Just release it here, Mom," he said. As Lola did so, Brock took out potions, a brush, water-type pokemon food, and a special lotion he'd created from a breeder's magazine that was supposed to help water types in particular. He kneeled down and got to taking care of Vaporeon before nodding at Aurora. "Your pokemon too."
"Wow," Aurora exclaimed as she saw Brock tending to both ailing pokemon, which quickly regained their energy and went back to playing in the fountain. "You're pretty caring there, Brock. Maybe I've misjudged you. Though you are Lola's kid, so it stands to reason you're not that bad."
"And I haven't misjudged you at all," Brock said as he put his supplies away and stood up. "Misty and I beat you both easily. I doubt you'll even make the top 256. Can you promise me you'll both go home after you fail to do so?"
"I promise, your mama will win the league!" Lola said with a thumbs-up.
"Yeah, Brock. You and Misty were great just now, but it's just one battle, you know?" Aurora said, shaking her head.
Brock silently sighed as they both responded to him so cheerfully, and exchanged a worried look with Misty. Misty nodded at him and stepped forward. "Mom, I know you probably tried hard to get here," she began. "And I know you went out to train for us, our gym. But you don't need to win to go back home. You don't even need to be better than before. I'm a good enough gym leader, and so is Violet, so our gym is fine, okay? But I've missed you. So, if you win or lose, just come celebrate how far you got at home, okay?" Misty paused, feeling some apprehension about the response.
"Aw." Aurora tapped her daughter's shoulder before hugging her. "Of course I will."
"And I will, too!" Lola promised.
Brock sighed in relief, relaxing somewhat. He simply nodded his approval, then shouted out as his mother suddenly hugged him and messed up his hair again. He cleared his throat as he stood back up straight, again making sure his hair and clothing were in good enough shape. "We'll be looking for both of you throughout this event," Brock promised. As they waved good-bye, Brock continuing with everyone else down the path, he sighed again, this time with annoyance. "Good thing you were there, Misty. You knew just what to say. Sorry if I went overboard."
"I get mad at them - at her too," Misty admitted. "But I guess she's only been doing what she thought was best. If she really did win the league, it would be great for the gym and the whole family."
"You think one of your moms is really gonna win the league?" Ash asked.
"Absolutely not!" Brock shouted, then took a few deep breaths. "Uh, you were going to be the one to win, right Ash?"
"Yeah! That's why I'm here!" Ash said with enthusiasm.
"Yeah. Could happen, who knows," Brock said as he maintained his calm. "Let's just enjoy our time here."
As they got closer, more and more people appeared around them, some congregating in groups. A group of Pokemon Tech students waited near the entrance. Joe was among them, and greeted them as they went by. After Ash informed he'd be in the league, Joe informed that one of the talented graduates from their school entering would likely win. They moved on through the crowd, seeing Koga and Aya chatting with Lt. Surge and his assistants right by the stadium. Seeing the group going by, Surge shouted a greeting in his native language, and Misty shouted back her own greeting in said language. Brock suggested they join their fellow gym leaders, but Ash kept walking and they stayed with him. Gary's cheer squad could be noted closest to the door. Eventually, they reached the contestant entrance.
"Well, we can't follow you from here, Ash," Brock said as they arrived.
"Right. Good luck. I think you can at least make it past the initial eliminations and to the top 256, but don't think it's a given," Misty advised.
"I'm gonna make it," Ash promised. "You guys just need to cheer for me."
"I'll give it my best, if you can even see me among the crowds," Brock said.
Ash went right for the water fountain as he finished his eliminations match, then cheered out at his official entry into the top 256. "It's one more step, Pikachu," Ash said, patting his friend. "We're gonna be masters!" He then picked Pikachu up, going over to give his pokemon to one of the nurses. As he handed his pokeballs along with Pikachu, he noticed the person next to him had a mirrored set, a pikachu plus five pokeballs.
"Hey again, Ash," Ritchie greeted. "I heard you made it."
"Yeah, and you too?" Ash said as he went to wait with the other boy.
Ritchie nodded. "Yeah. Not that I expect to win my first try or anything, but I'm glad I got this close."
"Why couldn't someone win the first time?" Ash said.
"Oh, yeah. I guess there have been others," Ritchie said sheepishly. "I'm just going to take it one battle at a time."
"Me too!" Ash said. He looked at the two pikachu on the counter, greeting each other before being directed by the nurses to follow them. "Your pikachu doesn't like pokeballs either?" he asked after they sat down on the nearby chairs to wait.
"Um..." Ritchie looked down, scratching his face. "I just saw how nice your pikachu is, powerful, healthy... After spending so much time out of its pokeball... So I thought I'd try the same thing. And Sparky got better from getting more exercise, at least I think so. Maybe it's even better for all pokemon, but one as small as a pikachu is easier to just keep out."
"Oh. I didn't even think about that," Ash said, folding his arms.
"Really?" Ritchie sat up. "I thought that was why you had it out!"
Ash laughed nervously. "Um, Pikachu just wouldn't go into its pokeball. Then I lost it since we never used it. That's all."
"Oh." Ritchie glanced to the ground before looking up. "When I was out there, I noticed some Team Rocket people in the stands," he said.
"I didn't," Ash said.
"They were there," Ritchie said, gripping the edge of his seat. "In their uniforms, too. Do you think they're gonna start trouble?"
"I don't care," Ash said. "If they do, we'll all just stop them, right?"
Ritchie rocked forward, then sat back before eventually nodding. The rest of their conversation concentrated on their team members, comparing the overlapping species before the nurses called them to get their pokemon. "Pikachu!" Pikachu waved to Sparky.
"Pikachu!" Sparky replied with its own wave.
"See you later, Ritchie!" Ash turned to Pikachu as he walked away. "We get our first match today," he informed as he looked around at the signs for where to go. He picked up Pikachu to not lose it in the crowd, then followed the others he recognized from the eliminations match, eventually finding a billboard. "Oh." Ash realized that the eliminations were over, and here was listed his next match up. Ash waited until the taller trainers moved aside, making it right in front of the board, and found out his first match was in an alternate stadium. There were several stadiums to complete all the matches of that first preliminary round that day. Ash's would start in just an hour. He went to find it.
"Ash!" Brock ran to greet him outside, seeming more annoyed than usual. Misty was behind him, but Brock had run ahead.
"Hey Brock, did you see me?" Ash said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu echoed the sentiment, hoping Brock had been watching its performance.
Brock gripped a paper tightly enough to wrinkle it in his fist. "Where are you going now? Your match is in the opposite direction!" he said.
"It's not..." Ash pointed to the building in the opposite direction. "Over there?"
"Not at all! Pay attention to the map! It's there! If you lose because you couldn't find it, I'll never forgive you. If you lose in general, I won't forgive you!" Brock declared.
"Hey, calm down, Brock," Misty said as she caught up.
"Yeah," Ash said irritably. "It's not like I want to lose."
"Right, right, I'm calm, I'm calm," Brock said, taking a deep breath as he paced back and forth. "Ash is a good trainer by now... And he'll probably use Pikachu for this one against one preliminary, right? He'll win."
"I'll use whoever I think is best," Ash said, scowling as he started to walk toward where Brock had previously indicated.
"Ash! Did you even look at who your opponent is?!" Brock demanded. Before Ash could reply, Brock held the paper in front of his face, pointing to a specific line.
"Ash of Pallet vs. Lola of Pewter?" Ash glanced up. "Oh, yeah, that's your mom," he realized.
"Yeah. My mom's out, but Brock's just made it," Misty informed.
"And that ends here! You know she has only water types, right? So you'll have to use Pikachu," Brock said, then crouched to the ground before grabbing onto one of Pikachu's tiny arms. "Pikachu, please. Winning isn't just nice, it's necessary here. Please win for me," Brock begged. "Not just me, but everyone else too. You remember my brothers and sisters, right?"
"Pikachu," Pikachu confirmed. Brock's house had been the most fun during the past recent months, actually. There was an array of friendly kids that constantly wanted to play, pet, and feed it. Pikachu could get its fill of all of that, then climb one of the onix to take a break in the tree when it was tired, before climbing down to have fun again at its discretion. "Pikachu!" Pikachu called, declaring it loved all of Brock's siblings.
"Please, Pikachu, think of us. You have to win. Otherwise little Forrest, Salvadore, Yolanda, Tommy, Cindy, Suzie, Timmy, Billy and Tilly are gonna spend the rest of their childhood without their mom. You wanna help them, don't you?"
"Pikapi?" Right, the woman they'd met that morning was the mother of all those nice kids, not just Brock. She hadn't been around, so had they missed her? From what Pikachu recalled, they seemed just fine, but it didn't want those kids to get sad. "Pikachu!" Pikachu declared it would certainly win.
"Thank you, Pikachu, thank you," Brock said, his voice cracking.
Misty pulled the older boy to his feet. "Come on Brock, enough making a scene," she said, glancing at the passers-by who had certainly taken notice. "Besides, even if I'm not happy about my mom going off on a training journey, I wouldn't say I want her to fail horribly or anything."
"Well, I'd say just that!" Brock declared as he stood. "Maybe it's different for you, Misty. But I can imagine my mom just staying out forever... She's been gone over two years already... If she gets too far by chance, she'll keep going, saying she'll do better next time. Using money on training instead of sending it home, maybe even saying we should send money to her. I wonder if my dad's done that already... He can be a pushover..." Brock continued to fume, walking along beside Ash and Misty. "She needs to fail badly to wake up."
"Right, sorry, I get it," Misty said, patting her friend's back.
Reaching the secondary stadium, they split up. Ash went through the participants' entrance. He waited with the others, then noted someone else familiar. "Um, hi," he said to the tall boy next to him.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu sank behind Ash, grabbing onto his pant leg as it also noted who it was.
"Uh, yeah, hi," Zack said. "You're that other kid from Pallet, right? You made it, huh?"
"Yeah, I got my last badge," Ash informed.
"Well, good," Zack said. "Now watch, I'm gonna win," he said, stepping into the arena as he was directed to do so.
Pikachu let go of Ash's pant leg and hopped on its current trainer's shoulder instead to get a better look as Zack went on the field. "Go, Golem!" Zack shouted, sending out his pokemon at the same time that his opponent sent out a ponyta. Though Ponyta managed a few hits, Golem and Zack eventually won. Zack congratulated himself and his pokemon before they left the field, and Ash was invited on.
Pikachu walked carefully, watching Golem and its trainer as it did. They'd just had a battle like it was all normal. Zack acted so boisterous and happy, always acting like nothing was out of the ordinary.
"Hello, little Ash!" Lola said, waving with exaggeration as she took her position as the opponent across from them.
Pikachu's attention swung to their current opponent. Similarly to Zack, the woman also had a large smile on her face, so happy to be there, even after having upset Brock so much, and left the many nice kids that loved her behind. Was having a match like this, even winning it, worth any of that? "Pikachu!" Pikachu called roughly, declaring it would win before the battle had even begun.
"Yes, hello to Pikachu too," Lola said, still grinning as she addressed the pokemon as well. As the battle was declared to start, she threw her pokeball. "Go, Slowbro!"
"Go, Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted as it went onto the field. Slowbro tilted its head, not calling out at all.
"Slowbro, amnesia!" Lola shouted.
"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" Ash ordered.
Pikachu had been about to perform the attack anyway, and had already gotten started. "Pi, ka, CHUU!" it called as it shocked Lola's pokemon. Enveloped by the bright barrage of electricity, Slowbro's eyes went wide before closing. It tilted to the side, as if asleep.
"And, we're done already!" the referee declared. "Slowbro is unable to battle!"
"My poor sweet little Slowbro," Lola lamented as she held up her pokeball, enveloping the pokemon in its light before it disappeared.
"Good job-" Ash began.
"Good job, Pikachu!" Brock's shout from the audience interrupted him.
"Pikachu," Pikachu called back. Yes, it had won as expected. But now that it thought about everything, would winning like this make any difference? Even so, it allowed itself to feel a sense of accomplishment as it exited the field, Ash and even Lola praising it along the way.
Ash had wanted to watch the remainder of the matches, so Brock and Misty stayed and did as well. Afterward, they went and met Lola and Aurora outside, getting a meal from one of the various food stands outside. "There was a type advantage, but I still can't believe poor little Slowbro lost against that tiny pikachu!" Lola lamented, not even touching the food that Brock had given her.
"There, there," Aurora said, still in good spirits despite her own loss. "You've done enough gym battles to know that sometimes you just don't know an opponent's strength until you battle them, right?" The other woman took a bite of her own meal.
"But it's just a cute little pikachu... Slowbro didn't even get started," Lola said, leaning down to look at Ash's pikachu.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu questioned, pausing from eating the next piece of Brock's prepared food as the woman stared at it so closely.
"This pikachu actually beat my onix back in Pewter Gym," Brock said.
"Really?" Lola stood up straighter, putting a hand to her face in surprise.
"Yeah. It's not the same as just any pikachu," Brock said.
"I see..." Lola sat back on the grass and sighed. "You're right, Aurora. You just never know how powerful an opponent's going to be. That's why gym battles were so stressful..."
"I think that's what makes them so exciting," Misty said with a wink.
"That's my girl," Aurora said. "What's your win ratio, anyway?"
"It was higher than .8 last semester," Misty said.
"Way above your ma's! I was useless compared to you, eh?" Aurora laughed at herself.
"Gym battles just weren't for me," Lola said with a sigh, picking up her meal. "I tried to get better, so I wouldn't make my little peach take it all on indefinitely. But now I've been gone for over two years. I never thought it would be that long!"
"It's fine, Mom," Brock assured with a wry smile. "Just be sure to go right back. Everyone wants to see you."
"And I can't wait to see everyone!" Lola said.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu called. The more Lola talked, the less she seemed like the woman Pikachu had assumed she was.
"Yeah, just don't think you need to run away and train pokemon again," Brock said.
Ash crumpled up the remnants of his lunch. "Why are you so mad about your mom being a trainer, huh Brock? Everyone wants to train pokemon. Even my mom, too."
"Training is fine. There's opportunities to train at home," Brock said curtly.
"That's right, there are," Lola realized. "And for the gym... I know! Maybe the gym will be much easier for me to run if we just make a water type gym!"
"No, no! Absolutely not!" Brock said.
Lola's eyes and mouth opened wide. "Little peach?" she said, her lip rising. "Why are you mad? You were my biggest ally with making the gym water type before."
"What, really?" Misty's head swung over to Brock. "You never mentioned you wanted to run a water type gym."
"She's talking about when I was a little, little kid!" Brock defended. "I really liked her pokemon, so when she said they should be part of the gym, I agreed."
"Right, my little peach just adored everyone! It was so sweet!" Lola cooed.
"Enough, Mom," Brock began. "There was a lot back then I didn't know and do now, and you should too. Pewter Gym is historically rock type. We'll have to apply all over again to change that. Plus there's Cerulean Gym not that far away, it's not good to have the same type gym too close. You get monotype type advantage trainers making a run of it more often. Not to mention Dad's doing fine as gym leader, so I don't feel like there's a burden on me anymore."
Lola put down her food and went and hugged her son yet again. "I'm so sorry, little peach." Brock just nodded, not saying anything else.
"Pikachu," Pikachu called happily. Ash was right, there was nothing to hold against a human who decided to train and care for pokemon. As far as her children went, it seemed she was trying to make amends and be better. Pikachu should have thought the best of her to start, especially knowing she was Brock's mother. Humans mostly had good intentions. Maybe it was better, easier to just concentrate on that.
Aurora stood up as she finished, stretching. "Let's head on the train after this, Lola. I've had enough of this place," Aurora said. "I'll stop by Pewter to meet your fam, then I'm going back to mine. You coming too, Misty?"
"I'm staying," Misty said. "For the whole thing maybe, or at least until Ash loses."
"Who says I'm losing?" Ash said. "I'm ready for the next battle already!"
"Do you even know who you're battling?" Misty challenged.
"Um..." Ash paused. "Is it someone good?"
Misty shrugged. "You know him better than me. The guy from Pallet Town?"
"Gary already?!" Ash exclaimed.
"No, not Gary." Misty shook her head. "That other guy, that golem trainer, Zack. He lost to Gary, but do you think he might be any good?"
"Pi... Pikapi?" Pikachu called out to itself. After having felt warm watching Lola try to make up with Brock, Pikachu suddenly felt cold before going outright numb. It could hardly focus on the moment, didn't want to listen as Ash and Misty discussed the topic further. As much as it wanted to forget that sometimes people didn't want to make things right, didn't care that they'd done wrong, here it was, being reminded of that fact yet again by hearing the human word for its trainer... its original trainer's name. The mention ate away at something long ago hollowed. Now was there really going to be a battle, no, an official match, with Pikachu having to go against him and his pokemon? For some reason, the idea seemed to cause something inside Pikachu to collapse.
Next chapter: Ash vs. Zack