Chapter 22: Meeting Brassius
Ash and the gang were almost at Artazon City, and they already have their minds on what they were going to do at their destination. "Oh man, I can't wait to find some more strong Pokemon" Vanny exclaimed with excitement "Personally, I'm just excited to wash my clothes" Penny uttered as she held her Eevee in her arms.
"Say Zeke, didn't you want to come here for some inspiration?" Gus asked his fellow classmate "Of course, a fairy type expert like me would respect nature, and Artazon is a prime example." "I'm not sure I would be as affiliated with nature, with my poison type specialty" Thomas remarked, and glancing towards his right to see his Shroodle munching on some of the fruit nearby.
They finally reached the Pokemon Center where they decided to leave their Pokemon in the care of the local Nurse Joy, and they then took this time to explore the nature filled city.
"This is sorta reminiscent of Cortondo in some ways" Carla mentioned "Yeah, they are both surrounded by nature and have many gardens" Gus replied. "Only Cortondo seems to be more of a farm town rather than an art themed city" Carla then added, paying attention to all of the Sunflora statues that were displayed across the city.
"I wonder who made these statues anyway" Feia remarked, and they then saw a man with evergreen hair, wearing an odd outfit with styling resembling thorn vines. He wore black pants and brown slacks and only seemed to be observing hi surroundings, simply in the moment.
"Who is that guy?" Gus asked "That's Brassius!" Zeke shouted, excited at seeing the artist in the flesh. "He's one of the greatest artists in the pokemon world, and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps when I arrived at the academy!" "Well, why don't you go talk to him?" Gus asked with some confusion in his voice, to which Zeke replied with "Because he often needs to think to himself so he can get some inspiration, and if I'm not mistaken, that's what's happening right now."
Brassius was admiring the scenery with his Sunflora before heading back to the gym building to get ready for his next masterpiece. "Ok, so why didn't you specialize in grass types? Brassius uses them" Gus asked "Because I think fairy types have those sort of mystical qualities that I get interested in, it's hard to explained, but I'm just drawn to them more than grass types" Zeke admitted while his Fidough proceeded to run across the field.
However, that was when a net came out of nowhere and snagged Fidough, surprising everyone. "Fidough!" Zeke cried as Team Rocket made their appearance.
Cue dumb Rocket motto
"We may not have caught Pikachu" Jessie started "But this little puppy will still do just fine" James finished before they ran off.
However, that proved to be a futile attempt, as a Sudowoodo blocked their path. "What is this fake piece of wood doing here? Gimmighoul, get rid of it!" She then sent her treasure chest Pokemon to fight the imitation Pokemon.
"Gimmighoul, Shadow Ball!" Jessie commanded, and Gimmighoul formed a shadowly blob and hurled it at Sudowoodo. But Sudowoodo parried it with his hands and retaliated with a powerful Rock Throw attack, knocking the ghost out.
"Grrrr, Don't just stand there, help me!" Jessie demanded James harshly, to which James sent out his Varoom.
"Varoom, use Iron Head!" James ordered, and Varoom dashed towards Sudowoodo with a silver glowing head. But Sudowoodo's fist began to catch ablaze, as it was using Fire Punch.
When the attacks collided, Sudowoodo's managed to win out thanks to its Sturdy ability allowing it to take the hit and send back Varoom, crashing into the bumbling trio in the process. This caused James to drop the net containing Fidough, allowing him to escape, much to Zeke's relief.
"No fair! Can't we just catch another twerp's Pokemon for a change?" Jessie whined indignantly, as a shadow came out of the trees. It was Brassius, whom had saw the crime happen first hand, and sent Sudowoodo to stop them.
"Stealing and innocent trainer's Pokemon, such a drab style" He said in a rather disappointed tone. "Sudowoodo, use Stone Edge!" Sudowoodo punched the ground, causing spikes to sprout out and send Team Rocket flying off as usual.
"Thank you so much Mr. Brassius!" Zeke said with a large amount of relief in his voice. "No need young one, just doing my duty, you wouldn't know someone that goes by the name of Ash Ketchum right?" Brassius said in his usual sophisticated tone.
"Yeah, he's my teacher" Zeke answered "Oh, how about that, well I was supposed to have a gym battle with him after Katy told me about him." "Well, odds are, he's training somewhere around the city, you can probably find him nearby the wilderness" "Aaahh, the wilderness, the ideal place for both practice, and inspiration" Brassius stated as if he was a philosopher.
"I can definitely see the artist side of him now" Gus muttered as they made their way to where Ash was training.
Ash was currently thinking about who to use for his gym match, and he decided on Fuecoco, Nymble, and Wattrel, all of which are super effective against grass types.
"Even though these guys do well against grass types, Brassius may throw something tricky at us" Ash said as he focused on the strategies buzzing about in his mind. "Ahem!" Ash turned around to see Brassius with his arms crossed "Oh hi there Brassius" Ash said with a wave. "Ash, aren't you aware that we are supposed to have our gym match 10 minutes ago?" "Really?"
Ash checked his phone's clock and saw that it was indeed supposed to be 10 minutes ago. "Oops, sorry about that, let's get going" Ash then dashed off to the arena where the match will take place.
End of Chapter
The gang arrive at Artazon, and Brassius is introduced.