Pokémon speech in Pokémon language = "Pokémon speech in Pokémon language"
Human Speech = "Human Speech"
Pokémon Thoughts/highlighted text = 'Pokémon thoughts/highlighted text'
Human Thoughts/highlighted text = 'thoughts/highlighted text'
Chapter 011 – Guess Who's Back!
Under the cover of clouds masking the glow of the moon above, a Meowth-head-shaped hot air balloon gently flew through the Kantonian night sky. And as it approached the sleepy settlement of Pallet Town, its passengers contemplated what they would do next…
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
James shivered as a cool breeze blew through his periwinkle hair, an unnatural cold momentarily settling in his spine. Maybe the wind unsettled him, though the more likely cause was the uncertainty of what was going on.
Two months ago, Jessie had dragged him to a contest hall, making him and Meowth watch a few performances – maybe old age was catching up to her and the poor dear was trying to remember the good old days when she was a coordinator or a performer – the lack of a passionate engagement (besides capturing the twerp's Pikachu (and other rare Pokémon)) for the past two years was stealing away her youth, not that he'd tell that to her face – he valued his life too much. The lack of a stable partner Pokémon only worsened her mental state, though the past two months had been a blessing – finding Ekans and Koffing's Poké balls brought back a bit of the sparkle in her eyes that had faded…
It wasn't just Jessie though. While James would never claim it out loud, he was observant and had an eye for noticing the fine details of what was happening around him. Meowth too was losing his good old never quitting attitude – the eight months under the warm care of Mama Bewear was in his opinion the best thing to ever happen to his feline friend – their adventures for the past year and a half had undone the magic of Mama Beware's honey-coated paws.
Though the worst offenders in terms of something wrong were the twerps themselves, all of them!
Ok, maybe not all of them – the blond Kalos twerp's sister, most of those kids from Alola, and that purple-haired menace from Unova were barely teenagers and could be forgiven for their inability to sense something wrong, but the rest of the twerps were definitely missing a few marbles! Because last he checked, the main twerp was old enough to get a stiff drink in Unova and yet looked nearly identical to the brat they had met at the Viridian City Pokémon center nearly eleven years ago.
And he didn't even want to go down the trail of thought of the sexual tension between the main twerp and all the twerpettes over the years (the purple-haired one didn't even deserve the title of twerpette – she was designated to being known as the menace). At least the Kalos twerpette had the guts to kiss the twerp – why couldn't the twerp accept the fact that he had several young women who were truly in love with him and make his harem official already! He knew for a fact that Pikachu and several other of the twerp's Pokémon were working towards getting the twerp a harem. Maybe sending the twerp blasting off a few times might fix whatever fucked up nonsense that prevented him from embracing true love… (yes James was a romantic at heart that was considering convincing Meowth to make a room that would not release those trapped within unless they were no longer virgins – maybe that would ensure the twerp and the twerpettes accepted their love for what it was…)
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Surprisingly, his trail of thought had lasted for nearly four hours, and it was already past sunrise. And now, the balloon was over the Oak ranch where he could see a bunch of activity by the lake with his digital binoculars – dozens of Pokémon engaging in what was most likely a training session.
The sight wasn't exactly unusual – whenever they were scouting out the twerp's movements it was rather common to find them in the midst of a training session. Down below there was nothing out of the ordinary – three fire types facing off a barrage of water guns with flamethrower attacks, a bunch of Tauros in a meditative pose with their hind legs crossed floating a few feet above the ground, the twerp and the OG twerpette kissing and cuddling, a Pichu hitting a rock with its tail…wait WHAT!
The twerp. Kissing the OG twerpette. HOLY SH*T!
Either this was a hallucination, or a dream come true. And with that thought, the periwinkle-haired man shed a waterfall's worth of anime tears of joy. This in turn promptly woke up Jessie and Meowth.
"Jamie? Why're ya sobbing as if somebody died?"
"No Meowth, these are not tears of sadness, but tears of joy! Look!" exclaimed James as he shoved his binoculars in Meowth's face. And upon seeing what James had seen, Meowth too cried out to the heavens with a smile, leaving Jessie confused as to what had gotten her teammates in such a tizzy. Though upon seeing what was below, she squealed in an un-Jessie-like manner.
"The twerp is all grown up! And here I thought that he might be gay or trans, not that there's anything wrong with that with the number of times Ashley has made an appearance – what has it been, five, maybe six?"
…
"That isn't a really far-fetched idea if ya look at it dat way…" pondered Meowth.
However, his trail of thought was promptly interrupted by a stray solar beam from Bulbasaur that stuck dead center on their balloon, puncturing it and sending the trio spiraling in descent, ending with a crash landing on the very tree the twerp and twerpette were under.
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Ash and Misty's quiet Monday morning cuddle session was promptly interrupted by a crash of branches on the tree they were under. Sensibly, they left the cover of the tree, where they sat just moments earlier crashed a pile of limbs, more specifically a familiar trio of troublemakers who promptly got a thunder shock from Pichu who responded as he would whenever he saw them.
But suddenly, they got up and immediately shed a waterfall of anime tears, mumbling "He's actually grown up" and "They've finally resolved their sexual tension", the latter making Ash shout out "HEY!"
…
"Oh. Hiya there twerps! How's it hanging?" spoke Meowth with a smirk.
"What are you three doing here?" grumbled Misty, angry at the trio for interrupting her cuddle time.
"You're not the only one with questions twerp! Crazy shit always happens around you and we want an explanation!" countered Jessie.
"And don't forget about giving us an answer to the big question – Are ya two dating?" finished Meowth.
"Bloody hell! Even Team Rocket wants an answer to your love life Ash.
Ok, fine, we'll give you morons the cliff notes – Ho-oh accidentally fucked up Ash's life and reality went ka-boom a.k.a the end of the universe happened several billion years earlier than it should coz of Ho-oh's mess. Arceus, fortunately, undid it and chucked us into the past into the universe as it should be. Fortunately, everyone close to Ash most likely got pulled into the past, we think, which surprisingly includes you three. Now, we're living life as we should have from the beginning, and yes, Ash and Misty are dating. Got it?"
And with Meowth's translation for Jessie and James, the trio was left blinking in disbelief.
…
"We've seen beings that control the forces of nature duke it out – this is definitely within the realm of believable don't you think guys?"
"Yeah, Jamie – we've seen weirder shit. And oh, that zap of yours was rather pathetic – the first time you actually zapped us had more oomph than the sparkles you just hit us with." replied Meowth, leaving a Pichu with a now throbbing vein.
"You're right Meowth, so don't worry about us trying to catch you…for now. We don't bother with weak Pokémon." remarked Jessie.
And with that remark, Pichu looked all but ready to explode with fury. But before he could act on it, a sudden rumble from the earth startled everyone.
In the distance, the group could see piles of dust being spewed about, the source rapidly approaching them. And as it got close enough, the wind being sheared off by the speed the unknown was approaching was strong enough to nearly send Pichu flying.
All that the group could see was a black and pink mass towing what appeared to be a long cargo container of some sort.
"Bewear?" asked James in recognition.
An eleven-foot-tall normal-fighting type that James had correctly identified stood before them, a Stufful and a Mimikyu on her head. And to the surprise of everyone present, the Team Rocket trio rushed towards the towering Pokémon and gave her well, a Bewear size hug, shedding tears of joy.
But Pichu was ignoring all this, on his guard upon seeing his old foe Mimikyu, who for some reason was ignoring him. Though if the ghost-fairy type chose to do so, then it was a blessing in his opinion – that was one opponent he would be happy to never face again.
In the midst of all this, Bewear had picked up the trio's balloon basket and popped open the container, within which somehow fit an Atlas V rocket.
Moments later, the Trio and Pokémon blasted off on their own, but a blink in the eye of those on the ground soon after. In the aftermath, the group could hear three voices in the distance say "We're off with a blast…"
…
"That was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen…" remarked Brock.
"I second that." replied Misty.
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
After that eventful interruption to their day, the three humans and a handful of Ash's Pokémon convened in what could be described as a round table conference, though the only thing formal about it were the legal pads strewn about.
"So…what's on the agenda guys?" asked Brock.
"Well, we need to figure out our next move – we've spent the past month-and-half training and I know some of us are itching for a good challenge."
"Yep. Pallet Town is great and all, but I miss having trainers to challenge like back when we were on the road." remarked Ash.
"So, we're headed for the gyms? Right?" asked Squirtle.
"Heck yeah – I can't wait to kick ass!" growled Monferno, flexing his recently evolved muscles.
"But like how close are we to being ready to face off against the gyms?" asked Ash.
"Not bad, but far from ideal.
The current state of our heavy hitters is as follows: Charmeleon, Grovyle, Buizel, Monferno, and Heracross are at the aforementioned evolutionary stage and now are roughly in line with their capabilities close to the point when they first evolved to their final state, with Buizel and Heracross needing a fair bit more training before they can meet their previous speed, strength, and endurance levels.
Melmetal and a good number of Tauros from the herd are right now the only ones I'd consider strong enough to go against a near Elite Four level opponent, with the former only lacking experience and the herd still needing a bit more endurance training.
The rest of our team…well, compared to the average newly caught Pokémon with an intense training schedule, we're in pretty good shape. Compared to what we were before the time jump…the politest way I could phrase it would be 'inadequate'." stated Hoothoot.
…
"We'll never make it to the Kanto League at this rate!" moaned out Pichu in sadness.
"Don't worry buddy. Just because we're not as strong as we once were doesn't mean that we won't make it to the League!
Hey Hoothoot! Which of the gyms do you think we could challenge right now?"
"Hmm…if you are asking from the original eight, then our best bet would be facing off against the Vermilion gym."
Conveniently, Hoothoot did not mention the fact that the Celadon gym would be much easier, but apparently, Bulbasaur didn't want to challenge that gym until they had the firepower to blow it up, namely either Charizard's blast burn or Gible. Preferably Gible.
"Could we beat Surge?" asked Ash, trusting that his Pokémon had a better idea of the gym leaders than he had in this timeline (looking back, most of his early gym battles were either victories via sheer luck or getting his badges as charity from helping out the gym leaders, which didn't really count). And if the gym leaders were now Elite Four level, then he'd defer to those who knew more about them.
"Hmm…give me a moment." spoke the normal-flying type, flying off and returning with Turtwig in tow, a laptop in hand (or specifically, in vine).
"…ah ha!
Lieutenant Marcus Surge. Honorably discharged eight years ago from the United Kanto-Johto Army and took over his grandmother Brianna Surge as the Vermilion City Gym leader. Known team for gym challenges is Magnezone, Electivire, Jolteon, and Raichu. Has a challenger win rate of 21% over his gym career. Rank 7 for the Kanto gym circuit." stated the flying type.
"Ok. We've faced him before; we can do it again."
"Yeah buddy!"
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Three weeks later…
The trio stood outside the Vermilion city gym leader, anxious about the upcoming gym battle.
Entering the gym, they were fortunate to find Lt. Surge in the lobby who promptly noticed the new faces.
Lt. Surge was definitely much older than he remembered, or maybe his memory of a man he'd only interacted with for just over a day was vague, but the war veteran was old, with flecks of grey hair mixed in with his blond spikes.
"Well ello there! What brings you runts to the Vermilion gym?" chuckled Surge.
While ten-year-old Ash would have been easily riled up by that remark, Ash was now anything but a child and snarked back his own response, "Gee, I wonder why anyone would come to visit your retirement home?"
Said response left Brock chuckling and Misty momentarily in shock, though Surge's reply was a bark of laughter.
"So the kid's got some bark aye? Say, aren't you a bit young for a challenger?"
"I am a Pokémon trainer." replied Ash, showing his Pokédex as his trainer ID.
"One of Oak's prodigies aye. Then I expect this challenge to be anything but boring!"
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
A few minutes later, the group settled onto the battlefield, with Misty and Brock in the stands, Pichu observing from Misty's lap. From their perspective, on the opposite side of the stands sat a group of men and women in what were army uniforms, maybe students of Surge?
"Well, seeing as this is your first ever gym battle, I'm obligated to inform you that you have the option to face off against my easy team. Or you can face off against my main team. Your pick kid."
…
"I'll face off against your main team!" replied Ash with a confident tone.
Over in the stands, Misty and Brock were momentarily concerned over Ash's choice, though their faith in their best friend filled them with confidence.
"I know Ash will win," remarked an excited Misty.
"This is Ash we're talking about – he always has a trick or two up his sleeve. And besides, he wouldn't go up against Surge's main team unless he knew what he was doing." answered Brock.
"We'll see…"
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
"This is an official gym challenge by Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town against the Vermilion City Gym Leader Lt. Surge. This will be a 4 vs 4 battle. The match will be over when all four Pokémon on one side are unable to continue. Furthermore, the challenger will be allowed to substitute his Pokémon at any time. There are no other restrictions for this match. Trainers. Bring out your Pokémon.
"Electivire! Front and center!"
"Tauros! I choose you!"
…
"Battle BEGIN!"
"Your move kid." smirked Surge.
"Your loss. Tauros! Use fissure!"
"Jump and hit with iron tail!"
"Meet it with iron head!"
"Counter with mach punch and thunder punch!"
A combination of physical attacks facing off, each attack an attempt by both Pokémon to assert their dominance over the other.
"Tauros…Counter! Now!"
And as a mach punch attack scored a direct hit, the red glow of the fighting type move enveloped the Normal-Type, hurling Electivire across the battlefield, though not out for the count.
"Not bad kid. Not bad. Electivire. Thunderbolt and thunder punch combo!"
"Tauros! Stone edge!"
"Oh no you don't! Use Protect!"
And as the two attacks collided, dust and rubble were thrown across the battlefield. But a sudden rumble shook the battlefield and cleared away the debris, leaving Electivire out cold.
…
"Electivire is unable to battle. This round goes to Tauros!"
"Impressive. You used the debris as cover to hide the follow-up attack, either fissure or magnitude I presume." remarked the smiling gym leader.
In response, Ash merely smirked.
Back over in the stands…
"Yes! Ash won the first round!" cheered Misty.
"It's a good start, but Ash still has three more Pokémon to defeat. And Tauros is on his last legs, so for all intents and purposes, Ash is down to three Pokémon.
And it's only going to get harder from here, especially when Ash faces off against his ace…"
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"Magnezone. Attention!"
"Tauros, return."
Stowing away the Normal-Type's Poké ball, Ash stared at the next one held in his palm.
"You're up buddy. Melmetal! Come on out!"
And from the Poké ball emerged the mythical steel type, flexing his metallic muscles. The sight of said Pokémon left everyone save for those who already knew about Melmetal in a mixture of awe, shock, confusion, and curiosity at the Pokémon before them.
…
"Now, I've seen some impressive Pokémon in my day, even saw Zapdos once, but this is a Pokémon I've never seen before. No matter, it just means that I'm in for an intrestin' battle!" chucked Surge.
"Battle Begin!"
"Open up with zap cannon!"
"Stop it with thunderbolt!"
Twin electric-type attacks collided, though in the dust thrown about a second zap cannon sped towards the steel type, only to be intercepted by Melmetal's fist.
"Use flash cannon!"
"Use your own flash cannon Melmetal!"
Twin steel-type attacks struck their targets, pushing Magnezone back, but dealing no significant damage to either Pokémon.
"Double Iron Bash!"
Said move promptly sent Magnezone flying like a frisbee-
"Oh no you don't! Swords dance into Giga-impact!"
"Double Iron bash again!"
The battlefield at that moment became home to the world's first steel-type pinball machine, with Melmetal repeatedly sending Magnezone flying only for the electric-steel type to bounce around and strike back with giga-impact.
Unfortunately, Melmetal was starting to lose steam – Giga-impact was a heavy-hitting move and each strike was stronger than the last. He needed to change things up fast!"
"Melmetal return."
But somehow, Melmetal couldn't return to his Poké ball…
Back over in the stands…
"Hey Brock, what's going on?" asked Misty.
…
"Surge apparently has a plan to deal with steel types. Most Magnezone have the ability Sturdy, but this one has the ability Magnet Pull, which prevents a steel type Pokémon from leaving the battlefield." answered Brock.
"Does that mean that Melmetal is trapped?"
"We'll see…"
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Ash knew something was wrong when Melmetal couldn't return to his Poké ball. Either Magnezone knew mean look or something else was going on.
Whipping out the Pokédex, he pointed it at Magnezone, hoping for an explanation.
Magnezone is an electric-steel type and can possess either the ability Sturdy or Magnet Pull as defined below.
Sturdy: Prevents a Pokémon from being knocked out by a single attack.
Magnet Pull: Prevents steel-type Pokémon from escaping using its magnetic force.
'Well damm' thought Ash. No matter, he'd have to figure out something else.
"Uuuhhhh Ash? I don't think I can get out…" grumbled the mythical steel-type
"Melmetal, it's ok! Use thunderbolt!"
"Magnezone. Electric terrain into volt-switch– "
Volt switch, powered up by electric terrain scored a direct hit on Melmetal while Magnezone avoided thunderbolt thanks to volt switch's secondary effect, which brought out Surge's Jolteon.
"- and Jolteon – end this with a shadow ball & electro ball grenade!"
"Melmetal! Flash cannon!"
Both attacks surged past each other, scoring direct hits on their targets. But from the debris thrown appeared Magnezone who suddenly fired tri-attack that struck Melmetal.
"Melmetal!"
…
"Melmetal is unable to battle. This round goes to Magnezone."
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Over in the stands…
"Ash lost…" sighed Pichu.
"Using Melmetal was a gamble from the very beginning…"
"What do you mean Brock?" asked Misty.
"Ash hasn't had Melmetal for a very long time, and I had a feeling that Ash has only participated in a handful of battles with it. Add in the fact that Melmetal is a tanky and slow Pokémon, a style of battling that Ash doesn't often use and the odds of a win against a type ineffective opponent are less than usual."
"Brock's right. Melmetal is big and slow, kinda like Snorlax, and has a limited move pool. Magnezone is either resistant or neutral to all of Melmetal's attacks and it would take time to wear out an opponent like Magnezone with type-ineffective attacks. Add in the fact that Surge snuck in a tri attack with a second volt-switch and Melmetal finally went down."
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Back on the battlefield…
"Monferno. I choose you!"
"Let's get this party started!"
"Battle Begin!"
"Thunderbolt'em Magnezone!"
"Monferno – dig and use flamethrower!"
The fire type swiftly avoided the incoming thunderbolt, leaving Magnezone wary of where the next attack would come from. And from right under blasted a flamethrower attack, scoring a super-effective hit on the electric-steel type.
"Shake it off with gyro ball!"
And with gyro ball, Magnezone shook off some of the effects of flamethrower, quickly cooling parts of his exterior metal frame.
"Use flame wheel!"
But while Gyro ball could temper the effects of a direct fire type attack, Monferno had struck hard on Magnezone's exposed top, which left the electric-steel type recoiling from the damage, an added burn making the attack more severe.
"Finish it with mach punch and flamethrower!"
"Stop em with thunderbolt!"
With Monferno so close to Magnezone, ready to deliver mach punch, there was no opportunity to dodge. But the fire type bore through the close-range thunderbolt and struck home with two super-effective attacks, swiftly ending the battle. Unfortunately, thunderbolt packed enough punch to take out Monferno with one hit, who unfortunately couldn't tank damage to the extent he once could as an Infernape.
"Both Monferno and Magnezone are unable to battle. This round is a draw. Both trainers, bring out your next Pokémon."
"Come on out Tauros!"
"Get ready to drop into a firefight Jolteon!"
"Battle Begin!"
"Electric terrain and thunderbolt!" opened up Surge.
"Use fissure!"
Tauros had recovered a fair amount of stamina while he was resting and was more than fast enough to dodge the incoming thunderbolt. However, Jolteon was swift enough to dodge the fissure blast.
"Stone edge Tauros!"
"Electro ball!"
Tauros unfortunately took the electric-type attack to the face. But at the same time, Jolteon didn't escape unscathed and was clipped by a few stones.
"Tauros! End this with Giga impact!"
"Thunderbolt'em Jolteon!"
Jolteon's thunderbolt struck the Normal-Type, but the Tauros species were a hardy bunch, especially one of Ash's Tauros. And plowing through the thunderbolt Tauros rammed into Jolteon, sending the eeveelution flying, out cold from the devastating attack.
"Jolteon is unable to battle. This round goes to Tauros."
"Raichu! Front and center!"
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
Over in the stands…
"Only one more battle to go and Ash gets the Thunder badge!" cheered Misty.
"Hold your Ponyta's Misty – Raichu isn't Surge's ace for nothing, and I'm not confident that Tauros can with the next round in his current state…" muttered Brock.
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
"Battle Begin!"
"Tauros! Use stone edge!"
"Dodge and strike with iron tail!"
Raichu leaped up in the air and avoided the rock-type attack, following up with a direct strike to Tauros's noggin with iron tail, leaving the Normal-Type dazed. Moments later, Tauros collapsed, unable to continue.
"Tauros is unable to battle. This round goes to Raichu."
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
"Damm…Tauros was taken out with just one hit. And Ash is now down to just one Pokémon." worried Misty.
"Raichu is a powerful opponent and right now, Ash has very few Pokémon that could match Raichu…" muttered Brock in concern.
Meanwhile, the third figure sitting amongst them pondered the state of the match, his pride urging him to take a gamble and prove that he was the superior Electric-Type that could kick ass without evolving.
…
"Where's Pichu?" exclaimed Misty as she looked around for the tiny Electric-Type.
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
As Ash pondered over what his final Pokémon would be, he felt something tugging at his jeans. Looking down, he saw his faithful starter looking him in the eye.
"Pichu? You want to battle?"
"Ash. I know I'm not exactly battling material right now, but I'm not backing out of this challenge. I beat Raichu once, I will beat her again." spoke his starter without hesitation, his tone full of conviction. And Ash knew at that moment that his starter would pull through and win this battle – he had faith in his Pokémon, especially in his oldest friend.
"Ok buddy. Pichu! I choose you!"
…
The sight of the tiny electric Pokémon on the battlefield left nearly everyone in shock and in silence before Surge gave a small chuckle, one that morphed into full-blown laughter, the rest of his students laughing in his wake.
"Hey runt! Did you accidentally send out your baby Pokémon? If you did, then I'll let you swap it out for a real Pokémon!"
"I'm battling with Pichu!"
"You want me to fight this witty-bitty baby Lieutenant? Have the standards for opponents fallen so low?" remarked Surge's Raichu.
"I'll show you what this baby Pokémon can do you wrinkly old grandma!'
…
"Ok. Now I'm gonna beat the shit out of the brat!"
"Battle Begin!"
"Pichu! Use thundershock!"
Said electric-type move fizzled out upon hitting Raichu. But that wouldn't deter Ash and Pichu.
"Show'em what a real Electric-Type move is – use thunderbolt!"
"Use quick attack buddy!"
Fortunately, Pichu was nimble enough to avoid the incoming attack, though as he closed in on Raichu, the fully evolved electric-type struck back with a half-hearted focus punch that threw Pichu back.
This, unfortunately, continued for the next few minutes, with Pichu barely avoiding the close-up fighting-type moves that would surely take him out if they made full contact. And at this point, Ash knew that he needed to end this fast. And they only had one option left…
"Pichu! Use volt tackle!"
"Oh. A Pichu that knows volt tackle. Unfortunately, it won't change anything. Raichu. End this with focus punch."
And as Raichu charged up the fighting-type move, ready to end the battle, Pichu raced towards his foe, powering up a move that he had yet to fully master in his current form. But as he built up speed, feeling the flickers of plasma build up on his fur, the power behind the move started building up.
Focus punch then met an incomplete volt tackle. And somehow, Pichu wasn't sent flying, and both Pokémon fought for dominance. But moments later, a flash of light momentarily blinded everyone present, throwing Raichu back several feet.
"Pichu!" cried out Ash, willing his partner to pull through.
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
As Pichu met Raichu's focus punch, he could feel the attack overwhelm him, feeling his strength waver.
'No! He would not lose. He had taken down legendaries. He had faced primordial entities and had lived to see the next day. He would not be beaten by an old grandma of a rodent!' thought the tiny mouse Pokémon to himself.
And suddenly, he felt a surge of power overwhelm him, a feeling reminiscent of the godlike strength he had tapped into during his greatest battles – against Regice, against Latios, against Tapu Koko – he would NOT. GIVE. UP!
The glow of evolution enveloped the tiny Electric-Type Pokémon, throwing back Raichu as his physical form glowed a stunning shade of blue. His torso stretched and grew larger, his fore and hind paws lengthening and getting stronger, now ready to support his new body mass. His diamond-shaped ears lengthened, now straight and pointing slightly backward. The tiny tail he possessed grew in size, now forming the familiar shape of a lightning bolt.
And as the glow of evolution faded away, it revealed darker, yet more natural yellow fur, ears tipped with black.
"PIKACHU!" cried out Ash with a smile.
…
Blinking his eyes in confusion, the Electric-Type observed his surroundings, processing how his perspective was now like what it was before the time jump...wait what! Was he…he was a Pikachu again!
"WOOHOO! I'm back bitches!"
"You are buddy! Yes you are!"
Whipping out his Pokédex, Ash scanned his starter, seeing if there was any new information on him.
Pikachu, the mouse Pokémon, and the evolved form of Pichu. This Pokémon can generate electric attacks from the pouches located on its cheeks. This Pikachu is male and has the ability Static. It currently knows the following moves:
- Tackle
- Thundershock
- Agility
- Iron Head (egg move: currently locked)
- Electro Ball
- Electro Web
- Iron Tail
- Quick Attack
- Thunder
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Tackle
Egg moves are unlocked when a Pokémon either reaches a certain evolutionary stage or is sufficiently both physically and mentally strong enough to use a move, though the latter only applies to certain types.
"Pikachu! How do you feel buddy?"
"I…feel great! Just like I used to be!"
"Ok, so your baby Pokémon evolved-big deal. You're still gonna lose!" remarked Surge.
Back over in the stands…
"Ash and Pikachu now have the battle in the bag – I can tell from all the way over here that Pikachu's physique is nearly identical to when you faced off against him with Mega-Gyarados." remarked Brock.
"Then let's see how strong Surge is against Ash and Pikachu now. Thirty seconds?" smiled Misty in response.
"That's a suckers bet and you know it!"
X - - - X - - - X - - - X - - - X
"Focus punch Raichu!"
As Raichu approached with a charged-up focus punch, Pikachu leaped into the air and struck with iron tail. Both physical attacks collided, though before Surge could even counter, Pikachu fired a point-blank electro ball before leaping into the air and striking immediately with iron tail.
"Wait what!" growled Surge.
Moments earlier…
Pikachu suddenly heard a voice, no, Ash's voice, somehow in his head.
'Ash?'
'Pikachu. You're in my head? Or am I in yours?'
'It feels weird but like in a good way. Like a puzzle that I didn't realize was incomplete, that's now been made whole.'
'Pikachu. I know this feeling – it's exactly like when Greninja and I synchronize and tap into Ash-Greninja and just like with Lucario!'
'This is…just wow! It feels right in a way I never knew before. Now let's kick ass!'
'Let's show everyone our full power! Get in close and use iron tail!'
Leaping into the air, Pikachu intercepted Raichu's focus punch-
'Now use electro ball and follow it up with another iron tail!'
-and stunned Raichu with an electro ball that was followed up with an iron tail to the face!
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star…now I wanna drink at a bar…" muttered a dizzy Raichu.
"Snap out of it Raichu! Zap em with a thunderbolt attack!"
'Give them a real thunderbolt!'
Both electric-type attacks collided, leaving the smell of ozone in the air, though it did make Pikachu realize that his attacks weren't quite at full power just yet. 'Ash, I don't think I'm back to my full power just yet…'
'No problem buddy, we'll just keep up the pressure! Use another thunderbolt!'
"Raichu! Hit em hard with thunder!"
And while Raichu was building up charge for a thunder attack, Pikachu fired off another thunderbolt, scoring a direct hit on Raichu that packed a punch even for a neutral effective attack.
"Raichu! Don't let that baby Pokémon whoop your ass! Giga-impact!"
'Pikachu. Volt-tackle!'
As Raichu built up energy for the powerful Normal-Type move, a streak of sapphire and golden light was all that was discernable to the naked eye that rammed into the fully evolved Electric-Type in a matter of seconds, throwing Raichu like a missile to the end of the battlefield, leaving a Raichu shaped hole through the solid concrete wall.
Several feet away, Pikachu stood on his two feet and gave a peace sign just as the referee confirmed a few minutes later that Raichu was out cold…in a toilet bowl on the other side of the building.
…
"Raichu is unable to battle. This round goes to Pikachu. The winner of this gym challenge is the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"
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"Is it just me or did Pikachu battle without any instruction from Ash…" pondered Misty out loud.
"No, you're not the only one to notice that…" murmured Brock. "I think I'm having one of those moments when I witness Ash once again pull off the impossible…mentally commanding a Pokémon."
…
"You mean like how some master psychic type trainers can with a psychic type Pokémon?" asked Misty.
"Yes."
"That's AWESOME!" squealed Misty.
Meanwhile, one of Surges' students ran up carrying a case, which was opened to reveal the thunder badge.
"Well kid, you and your Pokémon have spunk, especially that Pikachu of yours. And it's been ages since I've had a challenge so fierce – nobody has pummeled Raichu so badly in gosh…nearly forever.
And now, for your victory over the Vermilion City gym, I present you with the Thunder badge." spoke Surge as he passed Ash his first (or was it ninth?) Kanto gym badge.
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Several hours later…
A mysterious figure watched a secret recording of the gym battle between Ash Ketchum and Lt. Surge, leaving the observer pondering over much of what had transpired since Gardevior had been sent out to observe the Asset.
"Continue log on Asset One, day 84 since Asset has awakened.
The Asset and his Pokémon have proven to be surprising in many different ways, including in terms of the diversity of Pokémon and the capabilities that they have demonstrated during their training sessions, showing levels of progression that are unnatural for any ordinary trainer and their Pokémon.
The observed discourse regarding time travel does provide credence to both the changes in the Asset and his Pokémon, along with how they have shown such rapid gains in capabilities, with some such as the Asset's Pikachu and Kanto starter trio being hypothesized from observed discussion to having over a decade of experience as capable battlers.
Many of the Asset's Pokémon possess intellectual capabilities to rival that of many highly educated and skilled humans along with their access to different resources, the most significant being financial and the military-grade hardware they wield. This all points to them being a very dangerous force against many conventional threats to the Asset.
All this does leave many unanswered questions and incomplete observations which cannot be resolved until more intelligence on the Asset and his compatriots, both human and Pokémon, is obtained. This will be supported by research into various topics, the foremost being the term 'Chosen One' in relation to the location 'Shamouti' in the Orange Archipelago.
End log."
…
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