Happy Early Chrismas!
I don't really have anything to say except that this will be the only chapter for a short while. I'm not going to be posting another chapter of this story until the end of January, just want to enjoy 2022, you know. There's going to be a lot of things going down in this chapter, so you prepare your snacks for this one. Enjoy!
The Very Best:
Chapter 16:
Vermillion City
Opening (If you really want to): chAngE (From Bleach, composed by Miwa)
The past few days have not been kind to the group.
Not only did they have to deal with a pretty awful storm two days ago, but the summer heat was now upon the Region. It was now always above 80 degrees during the day, and it was the worst during the noon. At least the night we're nice and cool. Also, during this time, Misty no longer had a side ponytail and had her hair always out. Everyone was really suffering from this weather, but one thing made the keep on going through this heat.
They we're now about to reach Vermillion City.
The hot sun shined as the group was walking to the path toward Vermillion, very little clouds present in the sky. Both Brock and Ash weren't feeling that good with the cloths on, the eleven-year-old currently writing on a piece of paper as Wartortle was right by him. Ryan, Sakura, Misty, and Wartortle didn't really suffer from the new heat, but they could just feel the growing heat.
"How much longer?" Brock asked Sakura as he tried to fan himself with his hand.
"Calm down. We should be arriving soon."
"So, what are you excited for once we reach Vermillion, Misty?" Ryan, now wearing his sunglasses, asked in a curious way.
Misty just gave a smirk, already knowing her answer. "I'm obviously excited for the ocean there, it's supposed to beautiful this time of year." She then made her eyes look at Sakura. "And I am going to help someone with catching a Pokémon there."
"Thanks again for allowing me to join you." The pink haired girl said in her usual calm way. Misty just waving it off.
"If Sandshrew can get a good hit off with Dig, then that be able to do serious damage to Lt. Surge's Raichu."
Everyone turned after they heard Ash talking to himself as he kept on writing down on his notebook, Wartortle not saying anything as he has already been hearing this for minutes. Brock slowed down to see if Ash was okay, seeing that there was all kinds of notes and plans that have been scribbled out on the paper.
"Are you okay?"
"I just want to make sure that Ground is weak to Electric, because you can never be too sure." Ash responded as he gave off a small laugh that made everyone feel a bit uncomfortable.
Brock slowly placed a gentle hand on Ash's forehead, something that made the boy slightly surprised. "I can't tell if your forehead is hot because of the heat, or from you."
"I-I'm sorry." Ash responded as he looked down on the ground, Brock removing his hand from the boy's forehead. "I just want to make sure that I can win against Lt. Surge."
"Why are you worried? You know that you won't take 'no' as an answer."
"Of course, I know that. It's just that this battle is important to me." Ash explained as he looked at Brock. "This will be first actual battle against a Gym Leader."
"What do you mean actual battle?"
"Haven't you realized that I didn't technically earn the Boulder and Cascade badge fairly?" Ash asked as this sentence made Misty turn to him. "I didn't defeat your Onix with my Pokémon, and I didn't fight the actual Gym Leaders in Cerulean."
Brock was about to say something, but then actually realized that what Ash was speaking the truth. "Well... you still shouldn't stress yourself over this. We know you got this."
"Wartortle." Ash looked down to see that his partner also believed in him as well, making the boy give a smile.
"Thanks you, guys."
"I'm curious," Sakura began as she faced Ash. "What is your plan for the Gym Leader?"
"To use Sandshrew and hope that he'll be enough for Raichu."
Sakura just gave a nod at this. "Seems solid."
"You two! Look forward."
Sakura and Ash looked forward to see what Ryan was talking about, and what they saw made them shocked. Everyone thought that what they saw ahead was just a dream, or an illusion created by their brain or a wild Pokémon. The thing that they saw was what they have been looking for after all this time, and it just seemed too good to be true.
In front of the group was a large town that was right by the vast, blue ocean, large ships and docks on the water. There was all kinds of buildings and homes here along with a large lake near the edge of this place. A large and beautiful park was tucked off in the corner, and there appeared to also be a big, golden statue of a Gyarados there. Finally, there was a sign directly in front of them that said the following in big, yellow letters:
VERMILLION CITY
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Ryan began as he looked at the sign in joy. "We have finally made it to Vermillion!"
Everyone began to cheer as they have finally arrived to their destination, Sakura merely bringing her hands up while her face still remained stoic. One could tell that they we're happy to be here, and it was not that hard to see why. They just couldn't contain it anymore.
"I thought we we're going to be stuck out here forever, but we've actually made it!" Misty said as she had her hands clapped, her still free hair moving as a nice breeze of wind passed by.
"Let's go!" Before Ryan could run forward, Sakura grabbed the back of his jacket and made the boy stop completely. "Hey! Why did you just stop me right there?"
"Shouldn't we be going to the Pokémon Center too, you know, heal the Pokémon that have been with you this entire time."
"Oh. I'm sorry, accidently forgot." Ryan smiled as he scratched the back of his head towards the girl.
"Then what are we waiting for?!"
Before anyone could do anything, Ash began to run straight ahead as he scooped up Wartortle in his arms. Brock and Ryan gave a sweat drop at this, while Sakura just sighed. "Ash! Don't you dare leave us!" Misty yelled out to the boy as she began to go after him, everyone else going after the annoyed girl.
The group was able to reach the Pokémon Center, a large red metal dome building that had two Poke Balls at the very top. The group gave their Pokémon to Nurse Joy, but the kind woman said that seemed fine as most of them only required some simple rest, Ryan deciding to put Paras away in Misty's PC while this happened so that he could be back in Cerulean. Ash was currently giving his own Pokémon to Nurse Joy, who still had a smile on her face.
"Wartortle and all your other Pokémon will be fine." Nurse Joy told Ash.
"Thank you so much."
"Hurry!" Everyone turned to the front entrance to see that a boy and a Chansey with a medical hat were bringing in a white hospital bed, one that had a fainted Rattata. The Rattata had bruises and dust all over it, even having a little cut that was bandaged to stop any of the leaking blood.
"Oh great." Nurse Joy said in a rather annoyed way as she stood up behind her desk. "That's the fifteen one brought in this month alone."
"Wait. What?" Ryan asked in confusion as she watched Nurse Joy begin to follow after the damaged Rattata.
"Do you guys really want to see what Lt. Surge has done to all the Pokémon he has battled?"
While everyone else began to go with Nurse Joy, Ash actually had no interest in going. "You can go on ahead, I'll just chill back here."
"Are you sure?" Misty asked as she looked back at him.
"Oh yeah. I just have to make a call to someone."
Misty just shrugged. "Alright, but don't cause trouble." She and everyone, minus Ash, left to go where Nurse Joy was going. They eventually stopped in front of two large white doors that Nurse Joy opened for them.
In the room was a row of about 9 hospitable beds that had white sheets on them. There were all kind of Pokémon that had received various injuries on the beds, some still in deep pain. Their Trainers were sitting right beside there fallen Pokémon as they tried to comfort and watch over them.
"Look at these injured Pokémon." Misty said in surprise as she had never seen anything like this before, not even in Cerulean.
"Each of them had tried to battle Lt. Surge, but all of them failed trying."
"I'm guessing that Surge's Raichu is just too strong, even for ground types." Brock thought to himself as saw a Sandshrew among one of the defeated Pokémon. "I'm not sure if Ash's plan will be good enough now."
"Oh, Pidgey. How could I let this happen." One of the Trainers said as he gently touched his still fainted Flying type.
"Maybe don't use a Flying type against an Electric type." The boy turned his head to see that Sakura was standing right by him with a blank face. "Or better yet. Maybe don't use such weak Pokémon against the third Gym Leader of the Region." The boy opened his mouth at her in growing anger.
Ryan gave out a small and forced laugh as he came to Sakura. "Oh. I'm sorry. Sakura here just says some really stupid stuff sometimes. I'll put her away from you." Ryan grabbed her hand brought her away from the boy as he still pretended to laugh. When they were far enough, Ryan brought Sakura close to him so that he can whisper in her ear. "Are you trying to get us in trouble?"
"It's not my fault that these people are using such weak Pokémon, especially against someone like a Gym Leader." Sakura explained like it was nothing.
Meanwhile, Bock and misty were currently talking about this. "Do you think he can still win?"
"Of course, he could." Misty said in a confident way. "You know he is."
Brock just nodded. "Well, are you going to go fishing with Sakura before or after Ash's battle."
"I sadly don't think me or Sakura will be there for Ash." Misty explained as she looked down, a bit sad that had to let down Ash like that. "But I know he'll win, and that you guys will come straight to us after the battle is over."
"You're not wrong." Brock admitted with a small smile. "I wonder who Ash might be talking to."
As all this was going down, Ash was at the computer as he pushed the buttons of the phone attached to it. He had a small piece of paper in his hand as he tied in all the numbers and hoped that the person would answer. He pushed in all the numbers and waited patiently, hearing the ringing in his ears.
"Hello?" A voice said through the phone, a familiar voice.
"Hey. It's me, Ash." The boy introduced himself with a smile. "Do you remember me, AJ?"
The computer screen turned on and AJ himself appeared on the screen, now having his hair combed and looked like he grown a inch since they last seen each other. Both of the Trainers gave a small smirk to each other as they met once again.
"Where you at right now?" AJ questioned first.
"We've finally made it to Vermillion City, and we're just stopping by the Pokémon Center really quick."
"Well, I am in Pewter, and I just collected the Boulder Badge from the Gym Leader. I have two badges right now." AJ told with a bit of pride in his voice. "I'm going to be using the Air Travel to get to Vermillion City, and it should only take about 5 days to get there."
"I'm probably going to be gone by the time that you get here, with the Thunder Badge of course."
"You seem confident. Glad that you haven't changed." AJ remarked as he had known about the attack Team Rocket recently did, reading about when he reached Pewter. He wanted to ask Ash about the event but knew that it might be stupid to do that, so he instead asked a different question. "So, what have I missed by not joining you?"
"Well, since we last seen each other, We have gotten a new Trainer companion in the form of Sakura. A usually quiet girl." Ash began to tell as he tried to think off the top of his head. "We then meet a girl named Melony that is now Brock's girlfriend, although she didn't come with us on our journey. I caught an Oddish and Dratini, Ryan caught a Bulbasaur, and Sakura had gotten a Charmander so far. Oh yeah. There was also this huge jerk called Damian, and he w-"
"Damian?" AJ asked with a smile.
"Yea. Did you know him?"
"He was my friend back when we grew up in Saffron City, and he we left on our journey around the same time." AJ explained as he remembered his friend. "Damian may not be good with Pokémon, but he is still my friend."
"I never would have guessed that he would've been your friend." Ash said as he looked AJ through the screen. "I don't know where he went after we encountered him though."
"It's fine. I know that Damian is going to be fine." AJ said with absolute confidence, Ash just merely nodding at this.
"Ash Ketchum." Nurse Joy called out to the boy as she was back at her desk. "Your Pokémon are all healed up."
"Alright." The boy then turned to look back at his friend. "Listen, I gotta go."
"Ok." AJ simply responded as he heard Nurse Joy call for the eleven-year-old. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye." Ash ended the call and made the screen go black to go and get his Pokémon back from Nurse Joy. "Sorry, that took so long, I was just talking with someone."
"That's okay." Nurse Joy assured in her usual gentle way as she gave Ash his Pokémon back. "They are all in good condition."
"Thank you so much!" Ash got his Poke Balls from the tray as Wartortle jumped to the floor to be right by his Trainer.
"Wartortle?" The Water type asked his Trainer.
"Don't worry. I won't force you to fight against Lt. Surge, he has Pokémon that is your weakness after all." Ash explained to his Wartortle as he kneeled down in front of him. "Although can you stay inside your Poke Ball for at least a few hours? I don't want you to get harmed after you just got healed."
"Wartortle." The Water type gave a firm nod at this request, even though he still didn't like his Poke Ball that much. Ash quickly took out a Poke Ball and opened it up, closing it after he saw Wartortle was sucked inside.
"Hey, Ash." The young Trainer turned around to see that everyone else in the group was coming up to him, Misty and Sakura in the front. " I have some bad news."
"And what is that?" Ash asked Misty.
"I'm not going to be at the Gym to watch your battle, because I'm going to go with Sakura to go and catch her a Water Pokémon."
"Oh." Ash instantly said. "I almost forgot about that."
"It's a shame that this couldn't happen any other day." Ryan remarked, but neither Ash nor Misty responded to that sentence.
"Are you sure that you can't be with us?"
"I'm sorry, Ash." Misty apologized as she really didn't want to do this to her best friend. "But I promise to be at your battle next time."
All of a sudden, Ash brought Misty into a hug before the girl could even react. he held her tightly as he felt a bit saddened that he wasn't going to have her with him, but he understood. He was happy that Sakura and Misty were going to have some girl time and possibly bond.
"I'm glad that you would try so hard for someone like me." Ash whispered in her ear, holding up the necklace that she had given him on his birthday.
Misty decided to return the hug as well as she didn't know what else to do right now. The girl's feelings began to resurface again as her stomach began to feel weak and her hear felt odd. Her face accidently let out a blush that she was able to quickly disappear as she let go of Ash.
A blush that only Sakura saw with calculating eyes.
"We-Well, I guess we have to go now." Misty said as she tried to focus on her and Sakura now. "Come on, Sakura. Let us go find a good fishing spot by the water."
"Bye you two." All three of the boys said as both Misty and Sakura left them, Misty also saying goodbye while Sakura just meekly waved at them.
"You two ready to go?" Ash asked Brock and Ryan in his usual determined way.
"Do we even need to answer that question?" Brock asked with a smirk.
"Then let us go get that Thunder Badge!"
Brock, Ryan, and Ash stood outside of the Electric type gym, Misty and Sakura not present as they already went by the shore. The gym was very tall, mostly green in color, and had large window that showed the inside to be dark right now. Large lightning bolts were all over the outside of the buildings as a set of two large doors was the main entrance to the inside, a lightning bolt with a blue background painted on the doors.
"This place is way bigger than the gyms in Pewter and Cerulean." Ryan remarked as he looked at the gym in an impressed way.
"Are you sure your strategy for Surge is enough, Ash?" Brock asked the boy with his arms crossed. "I can think of a plan for you."
"I appreciate the offer, but I want to win this on my own."
Brock sighed as Ash was still as stubborn as ever, even if he had gotten smarter after all this time. "Well, let's go in then."
The three made their way to the large doors as Brock was the one to open it, the creaking doors echoing through the inside. Two people, a boy and a girl, we're the first things that the group saw when they entered. Both of them looked like they were part of a biker gang as not only was the boy wearing a leather jacket, but the girl also had a dog tag around her neck.
""What are you fools doing here?" The girl asked as she got a good look at the three kids, noticing the Brock was taller than her.
"Me and Ash are here to obtain the Thunder Badge, and we aren't leaving without it." Ryan told with complete confidence in his voice.
The boy just smirked at this answer. "Hey, Boss. We got another challenger who things they got it."
"Another challenger?" A booming voice came in as someone began to enter the light. "This will be third victim of the day."
Lt Surge came out into the light, and everyone in Ash's group were shocked by the sheer size of the Gym Leader. Surge stood at a solid 7ft 10in, and his body was very muscular to say the least. He had spiky blonde hair along with black eyes, and there was no fat on his face whatsoever. He wore dark green cargo pants with a silver belt and black boots, gray fingerless gloves with spiked cuffs along the wrist along with dark green jacket that showed off his six pack, and a silver dog tag that completed his design.
"So," Surge popped his knuckles in an intimidating way as he looked down at the three Trainers and Pokémon. "Which one of you shall I be crushing today?"
"My name is Ash Ketchum, and I won't be your next victim." Ash told in a defying way as he took a step forward, not scared of Surge's size.
"So, you'll the one to fight me." Surge remarked as he placed his giant hand on Ash's head. "Okay, baby!"
"I'm no baby!" Ash retaliated, pushing the Gym Leader's hand off of him.
"I call everyone that challenges me baby, because it's not like they're as tall me." Surge told the group as he laughed.
"I didn't ask to be this short!"
"Whatever." Surge then began to walk far away from them and stopped to turn around, looking directly at the determined Ash. "I promise to make this battle quick, baby." The Gym Leader then clasped his hands together.
The once dark gym began to light up from the lightbulbs all around the top part of the wall, and the hanging light from the high ceiling. Cutouts of large lightning bolts hanged from the ceiling and a large battlefield was in the direct center. The battlefield was mostly made of earth, a large white Poke Ball designed in the middle of it and had white and red surrounding its border.
"I don't think I have to remind you that we only use one Pokémon per battle, do I?" Surge asked as he looked at Ash, seeing that Ryan and Brock were leaving to go sit off to the side.
"You don't have to."
Surge nodded at this answer. "I'm curious to see what you'll be sending out to go against me, baby."
"I'll be using my Sandshrew!" Ash threw the Poke Ball out into the battlefield, releasing the cute Ground type.
"Sandshrew!"
"Sandshrew is a decent choice, but your type advantage won't change a thing." Surge told the boy as he threw a Great Ball out into the battle, a Pokémon came out and began to take form. "You know what we do to babies like this, Raichu!"
"Raichu!" The Electric type yelled out in a determined way.
Raichu was a rodent-like Pokémon that had orange fur with two strips of brown fur on his back. he had long ears and feet but had little stubby arms with no noticeable fingers. Additionally, His electrical sacs were yellow, unlike their previous form's red coloring. He has a plump white belly, the tips of his arms and toes were brown. The soles of his feet are tan-colored and the paw pads on the undersides are yellowish orange. Raichu also had a long, thin, black tail that ends in a large lightning bolt shape.
"So that's your Raichu." Ash commented as he took out his Pokédex to scan the Pokémon.
"Raichu, the mouse Pokémon." Dexter began in his usual robotic voice. "If the electrical sacks become excessively charged, Raichu plants its tail in the ground and discharges. Scorched patches of ground will be found near this Pokémon's nest."
"Sandshrew." The Ground type glared at the Raichu in a menacing way as Ash put away his Pokédex.
"Me and Raichu will try to go easy on you today, baby." Surge told Ash with a cocky smirk. "So, you can be the first one to attack. You are going to need an advantage like that."
"You are making a big mistake by giving me that." Was the only response Ash gave.
The two Trainers looked directly at each other, Surge showing absolute confidence, while Ash showed complete determination. Both of the Pokémon showing the same emotion that the Trainers had. Brock and Ryan were hoping that Ash would be winning this one, Ryan even crossing his fingers for the eleven-year-old. The silence that came through the gym was deafening.
Then, the first attack of the battle was made.
"Sandshrew, use Bulldoze!"
The Ground type jumped into the air as high as he could and came back down with an intense amount of force. The battlefield began to crumble apart as shockwave rang throughout the entire gym. Surge's workers were surprised by the sheer force of that simple attack, while Ryan and Brock just let out a smirk for Ash. Raichu was able to jump and dodge the crumbling battlefield, now full of huge cracks all over.
"That simple attack won't be enough to beat Raichu, baby!" Surge called out as he looked down at his Raichu. "Raichu, use Double Team."
"Raichu!" Raichu began to charge directly towards Sandshrew by moving at a very rapid speed. Suddenly, 9 other Raichu's suddenly appeared that looked perfectly identical to the one that created them. All ten of them were still coming towards Sandshrew, who knew that he had to guess which one was actually the real one to actually do damage.
In an act of pure instinct, Sandshrew went for the Raichu directly in the middle, beginning to charge up his next attack. Sandshrew began to curl and use his Rapid Spin to attack the Raichu, who surprisingly wasn't doing anything about the incoming opponent. Sandshrew was able to hit the Raichu directly in the stomach and bring him down to the ground. The Raichu that Sandshrew was standing on suddenly disappeared.
It wasn't the real Raichu!
"Raichu, Use your Iron Tail!"
Sandshrew could only turn around to see that the actual Raichu was next to him, his once yellow tail now seemingly coated in steel. Sandshrew wasn't able to do anything except wait for the strong attack to make contact with his body. The Steel type attack hit Sandshrew directly in the face and sent him all the way to the borders of the battlefield, only a few feet away from touching to border. A bruise now starting to form on Sandshrew's cheek.
"Sandshrew, use Dig!" Ash said to his slightly injured Pokémon.
The Ground type immediately began to burrow underneath the cracked ground and aimed directly for where Raichu was. Raichu scanned the area with Perseptive eyes, looking for any kind of hints as to where Sandshrew might be located. He knew that he couldn't just shoot lighting into the ground, because it would have no effect on Sandshrew.
Suddenly, a crack appeared right underneath Raichu.
Raichu could only look down before a strong punch from Sandshrew made contact with his chin, allowing Sandshrew to pull off a perfect uppercut to the Electric type. Raichu was launched back from Sandshrew and rolled on the ground before standing back up again with a serious expression. Ryan and Brock cheered for Ash while Surge only let out a smirk, now seeing that this boy does have skill after all.
"Raichu, use your Body Slam!"
Raichu began to go charge towards Sandshrew at a ridiculous speed, actually angered right now. Sandshrew, to the surprise of Surge's workers, actually didn't perform any kind of attacks or moves for Raichu. Ash and Sandshrew knew how to handle these kinds of moves, since they have prepared for this fight. Raichu jumped high and was about to crush Sandshrew under his body weight, and the Ground type was still unmoving.
Just as Raichu's body was about to make contact, Sandshrew was able to skillfully get out of the way.
Raichi hit the hard ground and scrapped against the floor. Just as he was about to get up and attack Sandshrew once again, the Ground type had used his Rapid Spin to smack Raichu directly in the face. The Eletric type was sent back by the force of the attack. Getting up a bit slower as Raichu already felt like he was starting to lose energy.
"I think Ash is going to win this!" Ryan said out loud in excitement, Brock still having a smirk.
"You're saying that like it's something new." Brock responded, still confident in Ash winning as everyone saw Raichu get up.
"Raichu." The Electric type said in a cold way, beginning to set up his Double Team again.
10 Raichus appeared once again and began to jump across the battlefield and went directly for Sandshrew, who tried to perceive all of the Electric types coming towards him. All of the Raichus tails were coated in hard steel as the used their Iron Tails to finally end this battle. They all slammed the Steel type attack into the spot where Sandshrew was.
All of the Raichus disappeared after the attack was complete, leaving the original Raichu to look down on his opponent. Surge's workers began to laugh at how Raich had now won, while Ryan and Brock were shocked that Sanshrew just stood there like that. Ash actually didn't seem to be worried about this, confusing Surge on how he showed no reaction to his Pokémon fainting. The smoke cleared and it showed that a large hole was in the spot that the Electric type attacked, something that looked like it didn't come from Raichu.
Sandshrew had used his Dig to escape!
Raichu began to frantically look around to see where his opponent was, suddenly getting hit hard in the back. Sandshrew had come behind him and put all of energy into the Rapid Spin, resulting in Raichu getting shot back once again. Surge was actually starting to get concerned that he was going to lose now, as his Raichu was struggling to stand up straight now. Sandshrew and Ash just smirked at their opponent.
"I told you it was a mistake to allow me to attack first, and I was right." Ash told the man with a smirk still present on his face. "It will only take one more attack to defeat you."
Everyone remained quiet as they saw the two Trainers now. Surge, while still having a look of confidence, was a bit angry that he had let this happen. Ash still had a look of determination that he had kept throughout the battle and was now very hopeful. Sandshrew had only taken little damage with the bruise on his face, while Raichu was now the one who was weak in this fight.
This battle was about to end.
"Sandshrew. Finish this battle with your X-Scissor!"
Sandshrew's little claws began to grow a bright green as the Bug type move made the Ground types claws much more dangerous. Sandshrew began to charge right towards Raichu, who began to generate electricity from his cheeks. Riachu decided to throw a Thunderbolt at the incoming Sandshrew to show that he wasn't weak, but the attack had no effect on Sandshrew, who just kept on charging towards Raichu. Riachu just stood there and opened himself wide open for attack, his chest held up high.
Sandshrew slashed his claws across Raichu as if his arms were a pair of scissors.
Raichu felt that his energy had been used up, and all from a weak Pokémon like Sandshrew. Raichu slowly turned to where Sandshrew was to see one last look at the Pokémon that had managed to defeat him. Raichu suddenly collapsed on the hard ground, unmoving as his eyes slowly shut themselves.
Raichu had fainted!
"We did it!" Ash yelled out in joy as he ran up to his Sandshrew to give his Pokémon a big hug. "You we're amazing out there, Sandshrew!"
"Sandshrew!" The Ground was pleased with this praise from his Trainer. Brock and Ryan ran up to Ash to also give their praise as well.
"That was an amazing battle you two." Brock told the pair as he gave a proud smile to them. "That was one of the best that I've seen from you, Ash."
"You two, gimme some!" Ryan said as he held up his hands, Ash high fiving the top one while Sandshrew got the bottom one.
"I'm glad that you two enjoyed it." Ash said with his usual cheery smile, Sandshrew just giving a small thumbs up.
"Hey, baby." Everyone turned around to see that Surge was coming up to them, taking something out of his pocket. "Catch!"
Surge threw something in the direction of Ash, something the boy had to slightly jump for in order to grab it. Ash's eyes widened after seeing what was in his hands now. In the boy's hand was a small badge that resembled an 8-sided flower that was mostly yellow in color, with some orange on it as well. It had some light reflecting off of it and was the biggest out of the badges that Ash had collected.
"The Thunder Badge." Ash accidently said out loud as he looked at the thing with stars in his eyes, Surge stopping right next to them.
"You earned that badge fair and square." Surge said with a smile on his face. "I got to say, baby, your Sandshrew was actually a pretty strong Pokémon."
"I'm glad you think so." Ash was happy that his Pokémon were finally getting recognized for their strengths.
"Sandshrew." The Pokémon was also happy, a smile on his face as he was sadly recalled back into the Poke Ball by Ash.
"You know, you have strength, Ash." Surge told the boy in a genuine way. "That's a lot more I can say compared to the people I fought during the war."
Ash froze up completely after hearing that.
Everyone else in the room saw that Ash's eyes and face became still, scared, and empty. His breathing was starting to become funny and uneven as the boy looked like he was struggling to get oxygen into himself. The boy seemed paralyzed as he didn't move or say anything, staring off into absolutely nothing. Ryan and Brock got concerned, the younger one reaching out his hand.
"Ash?" Ryan placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" Ash yelled back as he had his guard up in case anything bad happened. He calmed down at the sight of Ryan, the boy shocked by the way Ash just reacted. "I-I's sorry for doing that, Ryan."
"You alright there, baby?" Surge said with some genuine concern in his voice.
"I-I'm fine." Ash told him with a fake smile of assurance. "T-Thanks again for the badge."
"Are you're alright, Ash?"
"I'm fine, Brock." Was the only response that Ash was able to give right now. "Let's just go and watch Ryan's battle now."
"Oh yeah. You also want to fight me." Surge realized as he looked down at Ryan. "Well, let me go and heal Raichu so that I can beat you, baby."
"I'll be patient." Surge nodded and walked away from the group. Ryan turned around to see that Ash and Brock were going straight for the exit. "Hey! Aren't you two also going to wait here for me?"
"I'll be back in time for your battle, I just want to explore for a little bit." Brock told Ryan as they made their way to the exit. "I'll see if Sakura can come here and watch."
"And I want to bring Misty somewhere, so sorry if I can't make it to your battle." Ash also said, feeling some regret for not being there to help his friend. "I know that you'll do great though."
"Oh. Okay." Ryan said as he had his head a bit down. "You two go enjoy yourselves, I guess."
"Thanks Ryan." The two then went through the open doors, shutting it behind them.
Ryan just sighed, now being the only member of the group in the gym.
As Ash and the boys were at the gym to go and battle Lt. Surge, Misty and Sakura finally found a fishing spot by the busy shore.
"I think this spot is great." Misty said in a sure way as a bright red fishing rod was in her hand, her other tightened up. The girl turned to Sakura to see what she thought of this area. "What do you think, Sakura?"
"I think that we should get this over with." The girl responded in her usual bored way, Misty just letting out a sigh after hearing that answer.
The red head was actually happy that Sakura was going to be replacing Ryan for this, because that meant Misty could attempt to break through Sakura's barriers that blocked any kind of interaction. She was hoping that they could use this time to bond or talk at all, but Sakura still remained quiet and bored the whole way here. Misty knew that she couldn't force the girl into talking with her.
She was still going to try though!
The two girls sat by the edge and began to get ready to fish for a Pokémon. Sakura was silently hoping that she would catch any Water type besides Magikarp, but she could literally care less about this whole thing. She grabbed the rod from Misty and examined in to see if it was strong enough, noticing that something important was missing.
"Don't we have a hook for this?"
"Oh, we don't have to worry about that." Misty suddenly took something out of her pocket and held out for the entire world to see. "Introducing... The Misty Lure!"
What Misty pulled out was something that Sakura definitely wasn't expecting. In Misty's hand was a miniature version of herself that wore the exact same outfit that current Misty was wearing, except the little Misty still had her hair tied up. The little Misty had a smile as she made the peace sign with her hand, and two hooks attached to her little feet.
"Where did you even get something like that?" Sakura questioned with a sweat drop.
"I personally made this with my own two hands, and this lure has never failed me." Misty explained to Sakura.
"Yeah. That thing is probably going to drive away the Pokémon."
"You just don't know the true power of mini-Misty!" Misty began to tie her personal lure to the line and completed it with a very strong knot. Misty swung the rod odd and made the lure land into the ocean, handing the rod over to Sakura. "You just have to watch."
"I'm pretty sure we'll be dead before we even have a nibble." Sakura flatly admitted as she decided to hold the rod anyway.
The two girls began to sit by the edge and waited for any kind of Pokémon to appear from the water. Minutes went by as neither one said anything to each other, something that Sakura didn't really mind. Misty began to feel a bit uneasy as she couldn't just waste this opportunity with the quite girl of the group.
"So, Sakura." Misty suddenly began. "How have you've been feeling lately?"
"Fine." Was the only answer she wanted to give.
"Well, I was just wondering if you would be interested in doing stuff like this so that we girls can have time together?"
"Maybe."
"So, is that a yes?" Misty asked in a hopeful way.
"Do you not understand the word 'maybe'?" Sakura questioned in her calm way.
"I do." Misty said as she struggling to put up her friendly face. "How do y-"
"I'm going to stop you right there." Sakura said as she placed her open palm in front of Misty, her other hand still holding the rod. "You are the one who keeps on asking questions. Shouldn't it be fair that I get a turn to ask you a question?"
"I-I-I guess you're right." Misty responded, not sure how to counter that. "What do you want to ask me about?"
"What is going on between you and Ash?"
Misty wasn't sure what to think of this question. "What do you mean?"
"I saw the blush that you had when Ash hugged you earlier." Sakura explained, making Misty's eyes slightly widen. "There is something going on between you two."
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." Misty responded as she suddenly began to feel sweaty. "Why don't about the weather now?"
"Misty. You can try and hide it from the rest of the group, but I can't be fooled with such terrible lies." Sakura told the girl in her calm way.
The girl let out a sigh as she knew that she couldn't lie her way out to the intelligent Sakura. "I guess I do always get a weird feeling inside me whenever Ash is near me."
"What kind of feeling?"
"I can't really say what it is, but I can just feel that it is something positive." Misty tried to respond as she tried to remember all those times she had those emotions. "My stomach always feels odd, and my limbs somehow feel weak. I always just feel some sort of warm, safe protection when I'm with him. It always seems like these emotions come from here." Misty pointed to the part of her body that had her heart. "I know it probably doesn't exactly come from there, but it sort of fells that way."
Sakura tried to take in all this information as she still held the rod in her hand, the girl deep in thought. "I'm no expert when it comes to feelings, mostly because they don't interest me, but even I can tell that you consider him more than a mere friend."
"What does it matter?" Misty asked as she looked down. "He doesn't feel the same way, because he still only considers me his friend."
"Then try and make him see the same way that you do." Sakura said as she pointed at one of the large cruise boats that were at the dock. "Maybe you can somehow get him on one of those boats with you and make him see the truth."
Misty couldn't help but let out a snicker. "I appreciate the idea, but I can't do that."
"Well, it was just an idea."
"All this emotion talk has got me wondering, do you have any kind of emotions for anyone?" Misty decided to ask Sakura the same question to see what her answer would be.
"I don't really try to show emotions to other." Sakura answered, but then decided to add one other thing. "Well, except for one person."
"And who might that be?"
"Ryan actually considered me his best friend and even complimented my smile, something I thought no one would ever do." Sakura remarked as he placed a gentle hand on the side of her face. "I consider him my friend after that."
"I guess you can show emotion after all." Misty smiled at Sakura. "Who knows, maybe you two will be more than friends."
"This is reality, Misty. Not a dream where anything can happen."
"Anything can be your reality; you just have to put in the effort to make it happen."
Sakura couldn't stop herself from letting out a small smirk. "I can't say your completely wrong." Misty just gave off a full smirk.
All of a sudden, something had caused the line on the rod begin to pull down.
Sakura was caught a bit off guard as she instantly went to reel in the Pokémon. "Hey! Something actually fell for your lure."
"Pull as hard as you can!" Misty said as she stood up to stand right behind a already standing Sakura, ready to help the girl if the Pokémon was too strong.
Sakura actually tried as she reeled in the Pokémon she had caught, wanting to have a Water type on her team. She pulled and pulled as she took steps back to help her. Something began to stick out of the water and began to move in a frantic way. Sakura, with a mighty yell, brought the Pokémon up and slammed it on the hard ground. Misty and Sakura could now clearly see what they have just found.
And it was no Magikarp.
"A Shellder!" Misty said in shock as she was impressed by what Sakura had just found.
Shellder was a Water type Pokémon that was protected by his two large purple shells with two dull spikes on each of them. His large tongue was left hanging out of the shell as it was a nice pink color. His two large eyes were inside the shell and visible to anyone who saw.
"Shellder?" Sakura thought as she took out a Great Ball from her pocket. "You will make an interesting addition to my team."
Sakura decided too not waste any time and throw the Great Ball at a surprising speed. Shellder wasn't able to react in time as the Great Ball made contact with him, sucking him into the ball. The ball laid on the ground as the button on it was glowing.
One shake.
Two shake.
Thr-
Suddenly, Shellder was able to actually break out of the Great Ball and began to escape from capture. Sakura curse herself as that was the last Great Ball that she had on her, and she knew that a simple Poke Ball probably wouldn't do it. Shellder was about to jump back into the ocean and escape, but a Great ball hit the Pokémon and stopped the Water type from escaping.
A Great Ball that was actually thrown by Misty.
"I can't let you just lode the Pokémon that you caught." Was the only explanation that Misty had to give as she smirked.
"I appreciate it." Sakura responded as she watched the Great Ball on the ground begin to shake.
One shake.
Two shake.
Three shake.
Four shake.
Five shake.
Shellder had been caught!
Misty went to the unmoving Great Ball and motioned toward Sakura. "I believe that this is yours."
"I am grateful for this gift." Sakura merely said in a bored way. "But I am thankful that you were able to throw that second Great Ball for me."
"I consider you to be my friend, and friends are meat to help each other."
"Friends?" Sakura sounded as she was lost in thought as she decided to put her newly caught Shellder in her bag.
"Hey! Misty and Sakura!"
The two were forced to turn away from each other and seeing Brock and Ash we're coming up to them. Misty getting a smile on her face as she saw Ash. "Hi, guys! Where's Ryan?"
"He's still back at the gym and waiting for us to come and watch him fight Lt. Surge." Ash explained before he had a smirk. "But check out what I got." Ash opened up his jacket, and Misty briefly got stars in her eyes.
"You did it! You got the Thunder Badge!" Misty said in joy as she saw the third badge with Ash.
"Congratulations." Sakura, although she still said in her stoic way, gave a small clap for the boy.
"Well, you should come with me to the gym so that we can watch Ryan." Brock told the girl as he faced her.
"Alright. I don't have a reason to stay here." Sakura shrugged as she came up to Brock. "I guess I can use my new Shellder later."
"You caught a Shellder?" Ash said with genuine surprise.
"I did." Was the only answer that Sakura gave as she faced Brock. "You want to walk together?"
"Actually, I have something to tell Misty right now. And I just want to look around the town for a bit."
"Aren't you going to be watching Ryan though?"
"I will." Brock assured. "I'll try to be quick."
Sakura decided not to say anything about this. "Whatever you say." Sakura left the group behind to go and watch Ryan's battle, sort of interested in his battle.
"So, you want to say something to me." Misty made the former Gym Leader look at her.
"I did." Brock singled for Misty to come over so that he could whisper to her, something the girl did. "It's about Ash."
"Is something wrong with him?" Misty questioned with concern in a still quiet voice.
"Remember how he got when the war was talked about? Well, it happened to him again when Surge mentioned it."
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine now, but we are worried. I was wondering if you could see why he is like this."
"Why me?"
"Because Ash is planning on taking you somewhere with him while Ryan is trying to get his badge. Brock explained in a still quiet voice. "I just want you to make sure he is well."
"I'll do it." Misty responded, not even trying to think about this.
"Thank you." Brock and Misty broke up from their private conversation, and Brock looked at Ash. "Goodbye for now."
"Bye." Ash and Misty saw that Brock began to walk away from them. Ash decided to come up to misty with his usual smile. "What were you just talking about right now?"
"Oh, nothing important." Misty assured him, and Ash decided to take this answer.
"Well, I was just wondering if you could come with me to somewhere special?'
"Sure. I'll do it." Misty agreed, now seeing that brock wasn't lying. "But what about Ryan?"
"I already told Ryan about it, and he said it is fine."
"Alright then." Misty decided to go along with Ash to see what the boy was doing. "I'll trust you on this."
"Are you ready to fight me now, baby?" Surge asked as he saw Ryan walk up to him. "Shouldn't you be waiting for that former Gym Leader, Brock, to come and watch you along with that girl right there?"
Surge pointed to Sakura, who sat outside of the arena and still had a very bored look on her face. "You got this Ryan." She called out without any kind of real emotion in her voice.
"Not yet." Ryan simply responded as he looked at the Gym Leader. "I want him to be here when I defeat you."
"Whatever makes you happy." The large man was about to walk away and have a quick smoke break, but the next sentence that Ryan said made him turn around.
"I have a question for you." Ryan said, making Surge look at him again.
"The let me hear it, baby." Surge said with his arms crossed.
"What can you tell me about the Kanto War?"
Sakura and Surge's workers widened after hearing that question. Sakura hated being reminded of that and tried to block any bad emotions. Instead of being mad or annoyed, Surge just began to laugh as he placed his large hand on Ryan's head.
"Who would've thought that you'd be interested in something like that, huh?" Surge said with a smile.
Brock wandered the streets of Vermillion as he decided to go and explore the town, something he really didn't do for Cerulean as he was stuck in the Pokémon Center the whole time. He saw that people we're walking around in the middle of the day as he felt the heat in the air. The teenager wondering if there was a restaurant nearby to eat at.
"If you are interested in bow and arrows, then come here for an amazing deal!"
Brock turned to where he heard the person's shouts we're coming from. He saw a little shop that seemed to be a weapon store, the store owner being a man who a had a very long and thin beard. In an intrigued state, Brock came up to the place to see what this man had. "Excuse me?"
"Ah! A nice, young customer!" The man said in a joyful manner as Brock stood on the other side of his desk. "What may interest you today?"
"I was curious about those bow and arrows that you we're talking about."
"Of course!" The man went under his desk and placed a Longbow that was red, blue, and brown onto the table with about 8 simple arrows as well. "What do you think of good old Deluge?"
"Doesn't this weapon seem a bit too... stuck in the past?" Brock asked as he looked at bow with a weird face.
"I see. Your more interested in something more modern." The man bent down and took a key from his pocket to open up a locked box that was under the counter. "This one is downright special." He then took the unlocked bow and put on top of the counter, opening up the case.
Brock was in awe at what he saw in the box.
In the box was a black and white compact bow that looked downright spotless. All of the parts of the bow seamed tighten and well managed for anyone to use right out of the box. About 15 arrows laid off to the side that we're all very sharp, but four of the arrows had broadheads that looked like they could easily pierce flesh. There was not only a big black in the case that looked like it could fit everything else in the case, but there was a small pouch that could be added to the waist that was specifically made for the arrows.
"This looks amazing." Brock remarked as he gently touched the bow, not wanting to damage it in any way.
"Her name is Skadi, the name of a woman that lived about 1000 years ago." The owner proudly said before giving a skeptical look at the still jaw dropped Brock. "I'm curious. Why would someone like you be interested in Bow and arrows?"
"Well, I used to do archery when I was younger, and I wanted to have something that could make me useful to my group." Brock gave a small frown as he faced the store owner. "You see, I couldn't do anything whe-"
"Good story." The store owner quickly said as he didn't try to pay attention to what Brock had to say. "If you really want this, then that will be about 4000 Pokedollars."
Brock, while still annoyed by the guy interrupting him, decided to take out his personal wallet and give the guy the money that he wanted. "Exactly 4000 Pokedollars."
"Here's your arrow, and the key for the box!" The owner said as he locked the case and gave it to Brock, tossing over the key as well. The former Gym Leader didn't waste any more time as he left, hearing the owner greeting another customer behind him.
Brock began to really think about what he had just done right now as he ran as fast as he could to see Ryan's battle, the case still tightly held in his hand. He knew that he would probably be scolded by everyone, specifically Misty and Sakura, for wasting his money on this. But he had a reason for doing this, and that was to help his team.
The Former Gym leader felt like he hasn't done much for the team, and that was extremely obvious during the Team Rocket attack. Brock did this so that he could help protect everyone if Team Rocket decided to come at them again. Besides, he knew a lot about Bows and arrows and felt comfortable with having this with him now.
No longer will he be someone that anyone could push around.
"I hope that everyone else can understand." Brock thought to himself as he ran back to the Vermillion gym.
"So, do you have the information that you wanted about the war?"
"I do." Ryan told the Gym Leader as he and Surge stood up, pages of notes in the ten-year-old's hand. "Glad you were able to tell me all this."
"Well, it was a good way to past the time." Surge looked at the people still here. "But it seems like your other friend isn't here yet."
Ryan just let out a sigh as he saw that Brock still hadn't come back yet. "I guess not." The boy looked up at Surge. "Can we just begin the battle already?"
"You're not going to wait for your friend, baby?"
"I just want to get this over with and claim my badge." Was the answer that Ryan gave, putting hit notebook back in his bag. Surge nodded and complied with this as he went to his side. Ryan went back to the other side of the battlefield to finally begin this fight, giving a very determined look at the Gym Leader as he took out his Great Ball. "You can do this, Ivysaur!"
"Ivysaur!" The Grass type yelled out as she saw that Surge was ahead.
"Show them what power is, Raichu!" Surge sent on his Electric type out into battle.
"Raichu!" The strong Pokémon said as he looked at his opponent, now calmed down since his last battle with Sandshrew.
All of a sudden, Brock came in through the door with uneven breath.
"Did I miss the battle?" Brock instantly asked as he tried to catch his breath after running the whole way here, the case that held his new bow and arrow in his hand.
"Um, it hasn't officially started yet." Ryan said in a bit of weird tone.
"Sorry for taking so long, Ryan." Brock apologized as he went over to sit by Sakura, who was eyeing his new case. "You two can resume the battle."
Brock sat by Sakura and the girl instantly went to whisper to him. "Where and what is in that case?"
"I'll tell you all later." Was the only answer that Brock gave, and Sakura just shrugged after hearing that.
"Well, are you ready to begin now, baby?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Ryan said with a smirk.
"Then let's begin!" Surge yelled out throughout the entire building. "Raichu, use your Double Team!"
"Raichu!" Raichu began to perform the move by moving around at a ridiculous speed, once creating ten clones of himself in an instant. All of the Raichus began to go directly to where Ivysaur was, having absolute confidence since they knew that Ivysaur wasn't able to learn the move Dig. Ryan and Ivysaur just gave a smirk at the incoming enemies.
"Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf!"
Ivysaur suddenly summonsed about the exact same number of leaves as there were Raichus, each leaf being very sharp as the hovered off of the ground. Ivysaur launched a sharp leave at each one of the Raichus at a really surprising speed. Each Raichu got poofed away as they got hit by the attack, all except one. One Raichu got hit and was forced to go back down to the ground, taking very little damage.
The real Raichu was now present.
"Use your Leech Seed on Raichu!"
"Ivysaur!"
Ivysaur suddenly created a little brown seed out of nowhere and threw it directly towards Raichu, who was able to see it coming. Raichu tried to jump out of the of the small projectile, but the seed was able to touch the back of his foot. The seed inserted itself into the flesh of Riachu and the Pokémon felt like his strength was being exhausted even though he wasn't moving.
The attack was syphoning Raichu's energy!
"That Leech Seed was a pretty smart move to make." Brock remarked as he watched the battle, Sakura just remaining silent as she looked at the battle in a serious way.
"Raichu!" The Pokémon yelled out as he wasn't going to be losing twice in a row. His tail became iron once more as he activated Iron Tail. Raichu instantly went and began to whack his long tail around Ivysaur, who was forced to constantly dodge and block as there wasn't enough room to perform an attack. The Leech Seed that was still attached kept on draining Raichu's energy as he did all of this.
This constant movement went on for over a minute as Raichu kept on trying to Ivysaur with its tail while Ivysaur was forced to dodge and wait until he could perform an attack, neither one seemed to have an advantage over the other right now. Everyone kept on watch as the seed still attached to Raichu kept on draining his power. Raichu, with a yell of anger now, slammed his Iron Tail to the ground in order to end this.
Ivysaur was able to jump up into the air and dodge, listening's to Ryan's next order.
"Use your Seed Bomb!"
Ivysaur began to spit out a bunch hard-shelled seeds from his mouth and aimed towards Raichu from above. Raichu got barraged by all of these seeds and was taking some serious damage from, being forced to raise his hands up to defend some of it. Raichu was able to withstand all of these seeds and stand up, even if he felt much weaker now.
"Finish this off with Take Down!"
Ivysaur!" The Grass type engaged with a reckless, full-body tackle towards Raichu. Raichu was about to do another attack, but the Pokémon accidently croached down in pain. The Leech Seed had just about taken about half of Raichu's energy and was starting to effect Raichu's body, making the Pokémon unable to perform any serious attacks like Thunderbolt. Raichu was able to see that Ivysaur was charging at him with full force, and there was no way to stop her. So, Raichu tried to stand up as much as he could all looked, looking at the creature that would cause his second defeat.
Even though Ivysaur got hurt in the process, this would be the final attack that brought Raichu down again.
Raichu was struggling to sit up as he looked at his opponent not in anger, but with a small smile. Brock was satisfied with how strong Ryan was, while Sakura and Surge were surprised that Ivysaur was able to win so easily. Ryan and Ivysaur just had a smirk, knowing that this fight was over now. The Electric type feel to the ground with a smile on his face, happy that there were strong opponents after all.
Raichu had fainted, once again!
Ryan cheered after he saw himself win, picking up Ivysaur as she ran up to her Trainer. "We did it." He said with a big, joyful smile.
"Ivysur." The Grass type nodded.
Brock placed a gentle hand as he and Sakura gave up to them. "That was amazing you two."
Sakura just gave a small clap for her friend. "Guess he is skilled after all."She thought to herself.
Surge began to come towards the group as he is Pikachu had already been called back, a serious and dangerous look was on the Gym Leader's face. A tiny hint of fear went through the three as they were aware that Surge could beat them up if he wanted to. Surge stopped right by them and glanced down at Ryan, a serious look still present. A big smile replaced Surge's once serious face as he took out a Thunder Badge, presenting it to Ryan.
"This Tunder Badge is now yours, baby."
"Can't you just tell me where we're going, Ash?" Misty asked the boy with some growing annoyance in her voice, now walking to this place for about 10 minutes now.
"I want to keep it a surprise." Ash explained before he faced her. "And can you please close your eyes for a few seconds?"
"Why?"
"I just don't want you to be spoiled." Ash assured as he went behind a place a comforting hand on her shoulder. Misty let out a sigh, deciding to be begrudgingly close her eyes for Ash. The boy began to guide the girl to the destination, which should be close by now.
"No peeking." The boy quickly reminded Misty. The girl giving him a sound of approval.
Misty felt them finally stop after a minute, but still decided to have her eyes closed. Ash made sure that Misty didn't see what was ahead, hoping that what the girl saw would make her happy. He wanted to give her something after being with him for so long. A smile on his face.
"Alright. Open your eyes."
Misty opened her eyes, letting out a gasp at what she saw.
In front of her was not only one of the most beautiful parks in the Region, but the only park within all of Vermillion. This park was about was 5 square miles in size, and it was full of plants and some small forest all over. There were about 8 different entrances into this park that each had a grand metal arch in them that were personally designed by great artist. There were multiple stone paths going through this park and allowed people to see all kinds of things here. People and Pokémon were at this park enjoying themselves in the sun, doing all kinds of thing during the summer.
"I-I-I've always wanted to come to this park." Misty managed to say in her shocked state, walking over ang gently touching the metal gate. "I could only imagine how beautiful it actually was."
"I was hoping that you would like this." Ash told the girl as he came up to her with a kind smile.
Misty turned to the boy as she accidently let out a tear of pure joy, looking at Ash in his black eyes. "Thank you so, so, so much."
Ash just gave his usual big smile as he gently wiped the tear off of Misty's face. "Anything for a best friend." His body faced forward to the stone path as he looked at Misty. "Well, shall we go ahead?"
"We shall." Misty answered, right by Ash's side as they walked into the park.
The park just had this sense of beauty and comfort in every that you would walk. There was just this sense of ultimate peace in this one park that was almost impossible to replicate anywhere else in the Region. Even though Ash wasn't that interested in beauty or plants, he was going to at least play along for Misty.
Misty seemed like she would live in this park if she had the chance. The girl had always wanted to come here, and it was greater than she had ever thought of. This was one of those rare moments were all the girl could show and feel nothing but positive emotions.
Something then caught her eye.
On a very tall hill not too far away was nice wooden bench that had some black metal in it that was underneath a very old, tall tree. The girl saw that no one was currently sitting on the bench, even though the view from there probably would've been great. Suddenly, a fun idea came to her mind. She pointed to the bench and yelled out the following:
"Last one to that bench is a rotten Exeggcute!"
"Wait. What?" Was all that Ash could say before he saw Misty take off, now seeing the bench on the hill.
Misty was pretty far ahead as the two kids were running towards the bench. Misty was about halfway up the the hill as Ash had only just begun to scale up the green hill. It didn't take that long for Misty to reach the top as Ash try to go at full speed, only missing the mark by two whole seconds.
"Yes!" Misty cheered herself as she saw Ash finally run up to her. "I win!"
"No fair. You got a head start."
"Oh, what's wrong? Are you mad that you lost to someone as pretty as me."
Ash just let out a chuckle. "I'm no mad, but that doesn't mean I'm happy."
Misty just let out a smirk as she decided to sit down on the bench. "Well, don't you want to sit with me?" Misty asked as she patted the empty area of the bench. Ash nodded as he at right beside Misty.
The view from there was actually one of the best in the park, and one of the best that Misty had ever seen. Although Ash didn't seem that interested in the view, Misty was just mesmerized by it. You got a really good look at the town as a whole, the sun still up in the sky. Misty could just stare at it all day if she could.
But the girl knew that this was her chance to strike up conversation with Ash.
"So, do you want us to leave Vermillion as soon as possible?" Misty suddenly asked as she was curious if they were already going to have to leave this place.
"Actually, we can stay here in this city for the night."
Misty was rather surprised by this response. "You're really okay with that?"
"Brock made me realize that we really didn't take the time to enjoy the two previous cities, and we shouldn't make that mistake a third time in a row." Ash explained. "Besides, it's been a long time since any of you have slept on an actual bed."
"Ash? Can I ask you a very serious question?"
"Ask away." The boy said in a rather laid-back manner.
"Why are you so scared to talk about the Kanto War?"
Ash's face became still as any emotion present had completely disappeared. Instead of being angry or scared about the topic, he just seemed apathetic and num all over. He faced away from Misty completely as he rested his elbow on the side of the bench, resting his head on the open palm of his hand.
Misty was silently mad at herself right now. She should've known that it was a terrible idea to talk about something like this to Ash, who seemed scared anytime it was brought up. She should've known that doing wasn't going to be a good idea. Now Ash was probably going to leave her alone at the bench now.
"Because my dad died in it."
The ten-year-old had her eyes widen after hearing that answer. She knew that Ash had never met his father, but she didn't really think there would be a connection with the war. Misty looked at Ash with empathy, the boy still not turning around.
"Apparently he was killed during battle just as the war was about to end, and they were never able to recover his body." Ash added as he still didn't look at Misty.
"Oh, Ash." Misty placed a sympathetic hand on the boy's shoulder and gently rubbed his back. "I had no idea."
"It's fine. You did nothing wrong." Ash assured her as he looked at Misty. "It's not like I even met him in the first place."
"I'm so sorry that happened to you." Misty told in a very gentle way. "I lost someone important as well. My mother?"
"What happened to her?"
"She died giving birth to me." Was the answer that Misty gave. "Our dad couldn't take care of me and my sisters for long, leaving us behind."
"I guess we've both suffered in this world." Ash remarked with some sadness in his voice.
"Well, I always remind myself that my mother is watching me. And that she is so proud of me." Misty tried to make this conversation a bit happier for Ash. "And I guarantee you that your father is probably doing the same thing for you."
"You really think that?"
"I am sure of it." Misty offered Ash a sure smile, something the boy was truly grateful for. Ash looked on ahead to see the view again, but this time was different. Ash began to take this view a bit more seriously and try too actually be grateful for it.
"The view from here really is great."
"I second that." Misty added as she also looked on ahead.
The two said nothing as they looked at the great city, but Misty was remembering the conversation that she had just had with Sakura. Misty knew that she had to make it obvious to Ash that she truly cared about him, and an idea came to mind. She knew that it probably wasn't a good idea, but she just didn't want to make it too obvious to Ash. So, as Ash wasn't really thinking about anything, Misty began to move her hand to where Ash's was.
Misty then held onto Ash's hand.
The girl felt a wave of genuine relief pass through her as she did this simple action. Ash's hand, even though they we're a bit cold, didn't feel sweaty at all and felt rather soft. Her breath became calm as a feeling of happiness went throughout her body. She was happy that she was brave enough to do something like this.
Ash looked down to see thar Misty had grabbed his hand, for some reason.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
"Huh?" Misty realized that she had just been caught, letting go of Ash's hand and standing up. "I am so, so sorry. I-I'll just leave y-you alone."
"Wai-" Ash couldn't reach out and stop Misty before she ran away from him in embarrassment. The boy wanted to go after the girl to see what was wrong but knew that it would probably be best to leave her alone.
Misty ran away from Ash and stopped right by the gate, panting as she tried to get oxygen into her. Misty felt really stupid right now for trying to do something like that out of nowhere, and she realized that running away didn't make that any better. The girl just slid down until she sat on the cold, hard ground.
She knew that it was best to not hold in all of these emotions, but the girl just didn't know how to express them.
A large sound from one of the ships currently docked at the shore made Misty face in that direction. She remembered the talk that she had with Sakura and how one of the quiet girl's ideas was related to a ship. Misty wasn't sure why this is what she was thinking about right now.
An idea then slapped Misty on the head.
The ten-year-old stood up and began to walk towards the direction of the shore, making sure that Ash wasn't nearby to follow her. Even though the idea that Misty had may not have been a smart one, she thought that it might be the push that she needed. Even though everyone may not agree to a cruise ship, she knew that they would enjoy a nice break after so long. It was a unique idea from Misty.
"Let's hope this works."
In a Region that was far away from Kanto, the water pushed against the rocky cliff by the shore.
A large forest was present by the highly elevated shore, some jagged rocks at the very bottom that sometimes became visible with the currents. Several weak Pokémon we're present there, but that wasn't the important thing there.
There appeared to be someone there.
The person there appeared as a black silhouette, not showing their face or any kind of clothing that they were wearing. The only thing that a person could see were their calm, black eyes that made everyone who looked feel a shiver go down their spine. However, this person was kneeling down on the ground and gently handling the curious Caterpie that came to them.
"Caterpie!" The Bug type said in joy, the Silhouette not saying anything as they looked at the Pokémon. Caterpie then felt a strong presscence come near them and began to leave the person with fear on their face, the Silhouette merely stood straight up after the Pokémon quickly left them.
"Corviknight!" A powerful screech came from the sky, making the black Silhouette look up.
Corviknight resembles a large, dark blue, armored raven. Something that resembled resembles a helmet, with peaks on the top and extending over her beak. The lower half of her beak was dark gray. The markings beneath her eyes were black, and the eyes were small and red. Her neck was covered in dark blue armor at the back but has thick feathers in the front. Her belly and covert feathers were armored as well. Her upper legs and four-toed talons were also armored, while her lower legs were dark gray.
The large and intimating Pokémon made all the creatures around the area feel terrible fear as it landed on the grassy ledge. The Silhouette came up to the bird to take the newspaper from the satchel tied around Corviknight. They began to pet the head of Corviknight while the paper was in their other hand, the serious bird appreciating the gentle touch that her Trainer gave.
The Silhouette began to look at the paper as they sat down on the large rock nearby, Corviknight patiently standing and making sure that no one harms her Trainer. The black Silhouette began to read the newspaper that came all the way from the Kanto Region. They didn't see anything interesting and didn't seem that interested
What they saw made them freeze completely.
They ripped the front page off the rest of the newspaper and began to put all of their attention on the paper. The front page was actually the one described about the Team Rocket attack on Mitis Town, showing the picture of the Captain chocking out Ash. They saw the name Ash Ketchum on the front page of the paper, and their black eyes focused on that name.
A large smile present on their face.
END OF CHAPTER 16
I hope you guys enjoyed the Ash x Misty scene in this one, the park scene was something that I have been wanting to write about for two whole months now! It was also nice to not only give Ryan his own battle against Lt. Surge, along with Sakura gaining a new Pokémon in Shellder, but to also give Brock an interesting character trait with the Bow and arrow that he will carry for the rest of the story. I am still going to allow the group to go on the S.S. Anne, but their reason for doing and what will happen on the boat is going to be quite different from canon. Hope you guys are excited.
Ash's Team: Wartortle (M) , Pidgeotto (F), Sandshrew(M), Oddish (F), Dratini (M)
Misty's Team: Starmie (N/A), Seel (F), Magikarp (M), Squirtle (F)
Ryan's Team: Pinsir (M), Ivysaur (F), Slowpoke (M)
Brock's Team: Graveler (M), Onix (F), Golbat (M)
Sakura's Team: Nidorina (F), Charmander (M), Shellder (M)