Ash: Frogadier (M), Vulpix/Seraphine (F), Mankey (M)
Leaf: Ivysaur/Forest (M), Magikarp/Misty (F), Nidorino (M), Jigglypuff/Adele (F)
Ritchie: Charmeleon/Zippo (F), Spearow/Beakster (M), Butterfree/Happy (M), Pikachu/Sparky (M)
Ash felt a firm yet gentle grip on his shoulder. He woke up to the rough, sharp face of Brock - no, his estranged father Flint Harrison, a war hero who bordered on becoming another rogue Master. He quickly inspected Ash's health before moving on to the next trainer.
Ash looked around. Trainers that had survived were scattered, tending into injuries, resting with their pokemon, or tearing into crackers. There were some, who were less fortunate, body shaking for a lost friend. Gary was with Ritchie and Leaf, finishing off sandwich after sandwich. His swollen eye stood out, but he looked much better than when Ash first found him. Leaf leaned against her ivysaur and played with her jigglypuff Adele and her nidoran - wait, it looked a lot bigger and spikier than before - Ash grinned as he decided to congratulate her later.
The boy Paul had a bandaged arm, but didn't seem too bothered as he opted to scroll through his pokedex. Ash tried to get up to converse with him but stumbled, collapsing again. His pokemon, who were surrounding him protectively quickly voiced their concern, watching Ash in worry. Ash's smile wavered as he reassured them. He had only touched death after all. That Zweilous was only a bite away from eating Ash's head.
Ash's eyes glanced over to the battlefield, where bloody limbs and bodies lay strewn across it. He quickly looked away, unsure if he could in his stomach. The cavern ranked with a sour metallic smell. A large hole was in the ground. Ash couldn't see anything, but he could hear the cries of mercy from up there.
Ash's eyes landed on Flint again, who was in a conversation with Misty. They seemed to be quite close, as she gave him a familial hug and seemed quite comfortable talking with him. Her movements slowly became more erratic. They seemed to be disagreeing. Flint was shaking his head. Misty's hands were waving. Their voices started rising until the ground started rumbling.
A steelix emerged from a hole, causing everyone to tense up. The steelix ignored them and growled at Flint, who nodded.
"It seems they're here. It's time for me to go." Misty looked like she wanted to protest, but didn't say anything.
As Ash watched him go, he couldn't help but see his own dad instead, who also stayed away from home. It had always felt lonely, especially knowing that other kids had fathers. It hurt even more seeing his mother putting on a smile as she told Ash he stayed away out of choice. Yet she still raised Ash with all the love and care he ever needed, and nowadays, he didn't wish for his father as much.
Ash felt an odd kinship with Brock and so called out to Flint. "Hey mister, you should visit your kids, you know." Flint stared at Ash unflinchingly. "You might not know this, but being there for your kids is like the bare minimum for not being a good-for-nothing father."
Flint glared at Ash before heading towards Steelix, "You should shut your mouth boy, since you clearly don't know what you're talking about." He gave everyone one last look before disappearing into Steelix's tunnel, which closed off.
Minutes later, a light pattering sound was heard from above. The air in the cavern started bending and suddenly, people started teleporting in. Everyone stepped back in shock but quickly relaxed, some even tearing up at the sight of the symbol of the Indigo ACE trainers, a rhydon within a star.
The lead ACE trainer, a lanky young man with lilac hair, bowed dramatically. "There's no need to worry everyone, the League is here." Many trainers started cheering as more trainers started pouring in, even some rangers.
As the League trainers loaded up the injured on stretchers and examined the crime scene, the lilac man approached the group, "Can you trainers give a report on what happened?"
"Sure," Ash nodded, "what happened—"
"Captain Will Itsuki!" Misty stood up and saluted. "Cerulean Gym Trainer Misty Waterflower. I can give the report."
She briefed him over Team Rocket's goal to gather fossils, precious stones and rare pokemon. Misty went over her actions of freeing the trainers and Ash, Ritchie and Leaf coming in to aid the fight. She hesitated, before explaining how Flint Harrison arrived to save the day, defeating the rockets, administering first aid before leaving.
A nearby ACE trainer heard this, "Should we chase after him? Our tailers lost him a couple weeks ago."
Will's eyes glowed a bright blue before shaking his head, "There's no need my friend, that man is long gone." He walked over to the cage, ignoring the looks of awe and fear.
Ritchie turned to Misty, "You're a gym trainer? That last name, Waterflower, are you related to the Waterflower Sisters by any chance?"
Misty scrunched her nose. "Unfortunately." She pointed to Ash, "You, where did you get that frogadier?"
Ash smiled while patting Frogadier, "Professor Oak gave him to me as a starter," He scowled at the rude girl, "And how do you know that Master so well?"
"He's my mother's cousin's husband," Misty shifted.
"No wonder you're related, neither of you are the nicest people." Ash snarked.
Misty got into his face, "You're treading on thin ice Ketchum, you better watch yourself."
"Yeah, maybe once you tidy up that attitude of yours." Leaf and Ritchie quickly got in between them, trying to calm them down while Paul shook his head and Gary smirked amusedly.
ACE trainers took control of the cavern, collecting evidence and flying the criminals away for interrogation. The rangers used psychic-types and fighting-types to carry the stretchers to the other end of Mt. Moon, where ambulance carriages with birds waited to lift them.
Before they knew it, the group had arrived at Cerulean City's hospital, where doctors and nurses rushed around between the many newly-filled beds. Ash, Ritchie and Leaf were relatively healthy compared to the rest, so they were questioned first. Everything from what attacks they used and what they were thinking of at each moment were all included and it took two days before they were free to go.
As Ash was leaving the hospital, he heard a familiar cry getting louder and louder, "Ash!" Delia Ketchum hurtled into her son, crushing him with a motherly hug.
"Mum—Ow! You're hurting me!" Ash winced, before noticing the amused look of Daisy Oak. "Oh, hi Daisy!"
Daisy giggled, "Hi Ash! Are you feeling better?" Ash nodded as he struggled away from his mum's grip.
"Are you here for Gary? Where's Professor Oak?"
"Grandpa is busy, so only I could come see Gary. I should go visit him now, see you later Ash!" Daisy waved bye as she headed to the reception.
Delia held her forehead against Ash's, "Are you really feeling okay? No aches? No pain?" Ash nodded, "Good. Now," Delia took a deep breath, "What were you thinking young man?! Fighting criminals! Not even alerting the authorities! How could you be so reckless!" Ash blushed as passersby stared at them.
"I'm—I'm sorry alright mum, but people were in danger, I had to help them!"
"You could've signalled for the rangers, they would've been strong enough to deal with them."
"But mum, Team Rocket would've won and left by the time the rangers arrived. I couldn't let any more people get hurt!"
"You're just like your father sometimes, I swear," Delia sighed, "As long as you're healthy and happy, I'm satisfied. Just please be safe, alright?" Ash smiled and hugged her.
The rest of the day was spent with his mum, introducing his pokemon and recounting everything in his journey. Some things were skipped, like the Team Rocket encounters, the spearow attack and the mysterious rainbow pokemon. They went to a seafood restaurant and then to Cerulean City's largest mall. In the clothing stores, Delia took the opportunity to buy Ash new clothes. His old clothes, every single set were already riddled with holes, scrapes and burnt spots.
At the end of the day, Ash said goodbye to his mother and Daisy at the air pad. "Remember Ash, to call whenever you can." They climbed into the flying taxi carriage. "You can wear the new clothes once your final set wears out." The pidgeot took off, "And don't forget to change your underwear!" Daisy and Delia smirked at each other, waving down below.
"Mum!" Ash cried in embarrassment as people around him giggled.
As night rolled around, the trio decided to hang out for a while before heading for bed. After taking a shower and changing into comfortable pajamas, they released some of their pokemon and grabbed out a deck of cards,
"You want to challenge the gym already?" Leaf asked skeptically.
Ash nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, it'll be a piece of cake. You could as well, you have a type advantage." Ash shuffled the deck.
"That's true, but isn't that rushing it a bit too much? None of us have really prepared for the water gym yet, so we shouldn't get too cocky." Leaf started the card game of President.
"Same thing goes for you Ash," Ritchie commented, placing down a seven of hearts. "Frogadier resists water-types, but it's the same both ways. Mankey doesn't have an advantage or disadvantage but Sera is weak against them. Shouldn't you prepare a strategy?"
Ash grinned as he placed down a jack of hearts. "I'm sure I can wing it, I've been planning on the fly most of the time anyways."
"Still…" Leaf yawned as her jigglypuff started singing.
"Just watch, we'll win…this." Ash snuggled with Sera and wrapped an arm around Frogadier and Mankey.
ACE: Among the four military branches of Indigo, ACE is the most prestigious and difficult to enter. They participate in covert and special operations, counterterrorism, protection of important officials. They are highly trained and other than gym leaders, Elite Four and the Champion, ACE contain the strongest trainers in the country.
The commanders of ACE are the Elite Four, who may select a successor in the ACE to become the next Elite Four. Currently, there are two known apprentices that have been chosen by two of the Elites to take over, Will Itsuki, a psychic whose skill is only behind the great Sabrina, and Karen the dark master, who's famous for her many successful raids against poachers and Team Rocket.
"Hello? I'm here for the gym battle." Ash, Ritchie and Leaf wandered into the battlefield room, at least where it was supposed to be.
The field was not a field, but instead a massive pool with retractable plankways crisscrossing across. It was relatively empty, with diving boards of different heights and a huge glass aquarium. The water surface suddenly broke as three swimmers emerged from it gracefully, like a trio of stunning mermaids. Ash's eyes widened as they waved and called him over. He stumbled, almost tripping into the pool, eliciting giggles from the swimmers.
"Hi honey, how many badges?" The beauty with bright, sunny hair Alex.
"One," Ash answered, making sure to keep his eyes upwards.
"Violet! Lily! Who wants to take this?"
A voice called out from the stands. "I will!" Ash cranked his neck up to see who it was and scowled at the sight.
"Why are you here Misty?" Ash crossed his arms while Ritchie and Leaf waved to her.
"Seriously runt?" Daisy's expression quickly changed, "You're not even a gym leader."
"Shut up Daisy," Misty glared at her, "and don't call me that! I can deal with this guy myself."
"Jeez sis, fine. We'll let you battle your little boyfriend. That is, if he agrees." The blossom-haired girl, Lily scoffed.
"Ew!" Ash and Misty squawked.
Ash focused his look at Misty, "I agree. Let's do this!"
Ash stood on the opposite side of the battlefield, fingering Frogadier's pokeball. Misty had a confident look as she sent out Goldeen.
Ash went first, "Quick Attack!" Frogadier leaped into the water at Goldeen, missing because of water's drag.
Goldeen darted in for a Horn Attack. Frogadier's movements were hindered in the water as he tried to dodge and was cut in the process. Ash grit his teeth. Frogadier wasn't as adept to the pool as Goldeen, making him ironically vulnerable in the water.
"Up on the platforms!" When Frogadier didn't respond, Ash cursed at the water blocking their communication and gestured frantically for Frogadier to swim up.
He responded, landing on the platforms before a Horn Attack hit. Misy commanded for barrages of Water Pulses but Frogadier narrowly dodged them with his superior speed, despite the Water Pulses blasting him from all sides of the platform.
I don't have any moves that hit Goldeen in the water, and Goldeen in the water is faster than Frogadier. Damn't, I neglected Frogadier's swimming. Oh I didn't even know that there would be a pool here! Bet Leaf and Ritchie are thinking 'I told you so' right now.
"Peck!" Goldeen's horn glowed light blue as it leapt out of the water at Frogadier.
Ash and Frogadier's eyes gleamed as they took the opportunity to land a Quick Attack and Pound on the pokemon who was vulnerable out of water. He immediately tried to follow up the attack with another but Goldeen had already landed in the pool and quickly swam away.
There has to be a way to slow it down. Switching out to the others won't achieve anything. Spite might work but Sera would be hit by Water Pulses while using it, unless…
"Frogadier," Ash gestured to him to come closer and started to whisper. "Double Team into the water and charge up a Water Pulse. If Goldeen attacks one of the clones, use that time to pressurize the Water Pulse more and when it is distracted, fire the Water Pulse. If we confuse it, charge in to hit it out of the water and knock it out. If we don't, repeat the process." Ash's eyes flickered warily to Misty's curious and guarded expression as she also started whispering commands. "Make sure to pressurize it, that gives it an increased chance of confusing Goldeen." Ash gave Frogadier a fist bump and the battle resumed.
Frogadier dived into the water, surprising Misty, and split into multiple images, eliciting a further reaction from her. All of the images immediately started to charge up a Water Pulse and Goldeen responded by surrounding itself with the faint aura of Agility and seemingly glided from image to image. As Goldeen exposed her back to the real Frogadier while attacking an image, the real Frogadier launched the attack in Goldeen's direction. It hit Goldeen, not doing too much but that wasn't the purpose.
Frogadier swam towards Goldeen, preparing to take it out of the water but as he got close, Goldeen's body jerked into action. She turned out to be not confused and instead had been lying in wait. The combination of the boosted speed from Agility and Swift Swim and the Horn Attack left Frogadier with huge gashes on the side of his body.
Blood started coloring the water. Frogadier collapsed onto the walkways breathing shakily as he applied Frubble onto his wounds.
"Frogadier! Return–" Frogadier croaked frantically. "What? You…still want to go on?" Ash's eyes shimmered as he was torn into two. "Can you really do this? You don't have to act brave." Frogadier had a resolute look before facing Misty and Goldeen. "Alright then, let's do this! Same strategy, go!"
Frogadier dived back in the water with Double Team and started forming a Water Pulse. Goldeen charged through a lot of them before being called up as her attacks were getting nowhere.
"Target the Frogadier with water rippling around! Only the real one can do that!" Ash's blood ran cold as Goldeen went directly at the real Frogadier.
He hasn't charged it up enough! Ash frantically yelled and waved his command. "Fire!" Frogadier's eyes went from Ash and then back to the attacking Goldeen.
Something in his eyes glowed, something blue, before he perfected the Water Pulse and slammed it close range right into Goldeen, just as her horns were about to pierce him. This time, Goldeen's dazed and disoriented spinning revealed her status and Frogadier took the opportunity to drag it onto the planks.
"Beat it up! As hard as you can!" Frogadier pummeled the confused and flailing Goldeen with Pound and Quick Attack.
He didn't stop even as ugly purple bruises appeared on Goldeen and her flailing slowed down. Misty quickly returned Goldeen, visibly shaken and angry. Her expression twitched as she released her next pokemon, a confused looking psyduck.
"You better watch out! Even with Torrent, you're losing." She pointed at Frogadier and the flickering blue aura around him.
Immediately, blasts of Water Gun narrowed in on Frogadier's hunched figure, who responded with a huge Water Pulse that drew from the pool. Right after, a wave of Confusion hit Frogadier, causing him to hold his head in pain as the duck charged in, head glowing with Zen Headbutt. Through the pain, Frogadier unleashed torrents of Bubbles that slowed Psyduck's attack and allowed him to leap over and slam down with Quick Attack and Pound.
Frogadier charged up a large Water Pulse and slammed it down on Psyduck. He repeated this three times before Psyduck blasted him away with Confusion. Psyduck threw a Water Pulse just as Frogadier threw his, causing an explosion of water midair. Frogadier took the opportunity to pressurize a Water Pulse, using the vapor as cover.
From the mist, a glowing psyduck with Zen Headbutt also charged in. It scored a direct hit on Frogadier's injured side just as he unleashed his Water Pulse. The two pokemon were both blasted back. Psyduck quacked pathetically before being recalled. Frogadier struggled up, uncharacteristically smirking–kind of like Ash–before giving out and collapsing on the walkway, blood seeping out of his wounds and body shuddering.
"Thank you Frogadier, for everything," Ash whispered into Frogadier's pokeball once he returned him.
He could do this, only one pokemon left for Misty. It was a staryu, which immediately slipped into the water, the red core on it glowing. Ash grabbed Mankey's pokeball and released him, who screeched and slammed the walkway.
"Water Gun!" Staryu fired precise shots of water at Mankey, who easily dodged them with his erratic and unpredictable movements.
We have to wait for Staryu to come close to attack it. More Water Guns came and Mankey continued to dodge until a new attack was fired.
It was Psybeam a shimmering ray that directly hit Mankey, knocking him down and making his head throb. Staryu took the chance and used Rapid Spin to attack.
"Catch it!" Ash yelled, "Seismic Toss!" Mankey swung the staryu that struggled in his hands and was about to slam into the walkway.
"Psybeam!" Staryu fired it off, narrowly missing Mankey but causing him to release his hold.
"Mankey! Return!" Ash returned Mankey, switching it out for Sera. I have to weaken Staryu's psychic powers or Mankey will get it. The only way I can think of is Sera's Spite. "Sera, use Spite!" Sera's eyes glowed ominously as Staryu's body started to imperceptibly sag.
"Water Gun!" Staryu was unrelenting as it sent unending forceful shots of water at Sera, who was hit by some even as she used Quick Attack to get away.
"Focus on Spite!" Ash's voice wavered as Sera was continuously targeted with large amounts of water. She's not skilled enough to be able to use Disable while also using Spite.
It hurt Ash, to see Sera being attacked yet unable to counterattack, not to mention due to his own orders. This went on for surprisingly a long time as her endurance had evidently increased from the start. Eventually, Staryu landed a lucky Water Gun and Sera was finally unable to hold Spite, collapsing in a wet mess.
"You did a fantastic job Sera, we'll win this thanks to you. Take a good long rest and I'll get you dry and comfortable right after." Ash grabbed out Mankey's pokeball, "Mankey, it's all up to you!"
Mankey appeared on the platform, this time a lot more wary.
Staryu fired off Water Gun at Mankey, who weaved and dodged. When Staryu tried to use Psybeam, its body tensed before sagging as only a flicker of psychic energy appeared. Mankey took this opportunity to recklessly leap into the water and use Cross Chop onto Staryu, landing a glancing hit on its core and cracking it.
Mankey grappled with Staryu, ripping off an arm which slowly started regrowing. It used Rapid Spin as it tried to shake Mankey off. Mankey also started spinning, attempting to use Seismic Toss but in the end, Water Gun and Rapid Spin flung it off.
Mankey started running out of air as he flailed to the water surface. Staryu shot at Mankey with Rapid Spin with Mankey, forming a circular blade of water. Mankey dodged but the extra range wounded him.
"It's now or never Mankey! Seismic Toss!" Staryu came in again but Mankey didn't back down.
He braced for the water pressure. Mankey pushed through and grabbed Staryu, stopping its spinning. He spun, muscles bulging with Seismic Toss. The staryu attempted Psybeam but failed again and again. Mankey slammed Staryu into the walkway just as Staryu was encouraged by Misty for another Psybeam.
This one did not take the shape of Psybeam. It had the power but not the shape. It blasted Mankey after being slammed, sending him sprawling on the planks.
"Mankey? Mankey?" Ash called out uncertainly.
Mankey's body did not even twitch. Misty called out to Staryu who did not respond either.
After a few seconds, the referee concluded the match. "Since both pokemon are unable to battle, this battle ends with a draw. As according to the Indigo League regulations, this means that the challenger wins the gym battle and therefore the Cerulean gym badge!"
Ritchie and Leaf cheered for Ash and the Waterflower Sisters clapped. Ash stumbled backwards as he absentmindedly returned Mankey. He won? That…that didn't feel like a win.
Misty begrudgingly walked over with a tray of a TM and a gym badge. "Here," she thrust the badge into Ash's hands, "you've earned the Cascade badge–on a technicality–" she muttered the last part out loud, "and TM29 Scald. You may collect the prize money at reception–I thought you would be happier?" She said bluntly.
Ash flinched as she called him out. She was right. He didn't even win, only clawing out a draw. Just a technicality. For some reason, he thought as he numbly accepted the badge, the badge didn't feel right in his badge case. It didn't feel right in the palm of his hands. But that could change.
"Misty." She met his intense look. "I want to come back for a rematch, a proper one to see whether I really earned this badge." She looked taken aback but then gave Ash a smile, a proper one.
"Then I'll look forward to it. Your Frogadier, and your team are all strong so I'll train my real team for our battle." Misty grinned as she held out her hand for a handshake, which Ash shook.
The Sisters came down as Ash clipped his team on his belt. "That was a brilliant battle Mr. Ketchum," The sister with lapis-blue hair, Violet, complemented, "we have some things that we would like to discuss."
Lily stepped forwards, "Your ability to improvise strategies is very impressive, like with how you used Spite to stifle Staryu's psychic prowess. Your pokemon trusts you a lot, and they clearly battle wholeheartedly for both themselves and for you."
"Especially that Frogadier of yours," Violet added, "we would love to see it when it evolves to a greninja!"
It was Daisy's turn to speak, "However, there were some things we couldn't help but notice." The other two sisters nodded in sync. "You seemed surprised at the battlefield, and Frogadier seemed unprepared with swimming in the battlefield, which means that you didn't prepare for this gym battle. Your team composition is also lackluster for a water gym and neither of them had any moves to cover this disadvantage either."
"Your improvisation has been able to help you up till now," Violet lectured, "but as you reach the upper levels of battling, you'll find that winning will be much harder."
Ash nodded, slightly surprised with how serious the sisters had turned into. They had seemed to be carefree at first but at the end of the day, they were still gym leaders for a reason. Ash started feeling guilty for getting his friends hurt so much and decided that he would do better.
"Thank you very much for your lesson. I will cherish it and use it to better myself," Ash bowed deeply, the manners his mother drilled into him kicking in.
"What a polite boy," Lily praised, hugging a blushing Ash tightly, "a couple years and you would make a great boyfriend for our little runt here!" She ruffled Misty's hair.
Misty fumed while the sisters giggled, "What! No! And don't touch my hair!"
"I told you so," Ritchie and Leaf said simultaneously and smugly while Ash blushed and pointedly ignored them as they entered the Pokemon Centre.
After filling out the information form and placing his pokeballs on the hospital tray, the three headed over to a fancy paldean restaurant to celebrate Ash's victory.
"Jokes aside Ash, congrats on your second badge!" Leaf grinned as she checked the menu.
"Yeah, your strategy to fight Misty was great. I would've never thought of using a ghost-type move to disrupt a pokemon's psychic capabilities." Ritchie agreed as he called the waitress over.
While they ordered, Ash felt tempted to brag and boast about his victory but decided not to. He didn't want to ruin their celebratory lunch and especially not after he was just so recently humbled.
The lunch was spent discussing Ash's battle and as the dish of patatas bravas and of a paella arrived, the topic changed to Ritchie and Leaf's plan regarding the gym battle and how they would prepare. They attracted looks of wonder and slight disgust though. In the end, the combination of delicious food and trainers that regularly ate freeze-dried packaged meals led to the dissolution of basic table manners, especially from Ash.
"Misty is the best," Leaf said in between bites, "she gave me permission to train my magikarp Misty in the gym's pools!" Ritchie and Ash grunted in acknowledgement, "I can finally spend some prolonged quality time with Misty, since we usually can't without a river or lake."
"How about you, Ritchie? What are your plans?" Ash asked as he took a gulp of water.
"I want to fight some wild pokemon with Sparky, get him used to Thunderbolt on swimmers. Butterfree's priority will be getting off powder attacks in the water so we'll be working on his output, also I've heard that there are supplements that can increase the quantity and quality of his powders." Ritchie continued on after wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I'm using Beakster as my final member. He doesn't really have any super-effective attacks but I want to work on him being able to get out of the water if trapped."
After lunch and paying a hefty price, the trio split up, Ash heading back to the pokemon centre to his room. His other three roommates, including Ritchie, were all gone so Ash had the room to himself. He collapsed on the bed, shoes still on. After all, his pokemon weren't even here, he couldn't do anything without them.
A couple minutes went by as Ash tried to rest. Yet he couldn't. He wasn't waiting for the ding on his pokedex signaling his pokemon were ready to be collected. He wasn't waiting for Ritchie to come back to discuss what to do. What was he doing?
Nothing. He thought bitterly, that had to change.
Ash let out a sudden bellow, releasing all his frustrations and anger and disappointment. He double-slapped his cheeks and jumped up. No, it didn't have to be like this, he could change, he could do something, even now, to aid his team.
Ash grabbed his pokedex, wallet and pokegear and headed to the pokemart nearby. The streets were bustling with tourists and residents alike who were flocking to the Cerulean River to escape the new summer heat. Ash pushed through the crowds into the pokemart, where he sighed in relief at the AC.
Ash zeroed in on the TM aisles, borrowing their category booklets and whipping out his pokedex. He started comparing different moves that his pokemon could use with what was available and what would be helpful for each of his members.
Ash concluded that Ice Beam and Dig would be good for Frogadier against grass and electric, Energy Ball would help Sera against water, ground, rock, and Shadow Claw for Mankey. Ash already had the Rock Tomb TM from Brock for Mankey and fairy types were too uncommon to warrant getting a TM specifically against them.
He quickly found his next hurdle though: in the form of money. If he combined all of the money in his bank account and in his wallet, the total sum was just over ¥13,000. He still needed money for food, pokeballs, potions, repels and other supplies as well so he had to choose carefully.
Ice Beam instantly took ¥3000 while Energy Ball was ¥4000 and Shadow Claw along with Dig was ¥2000. There was no way Ash could pick all of them so he had to choose wisely. He ended up grabbing the discs for Ice Beam and Energy Ball. It was a bit over the budget, however coverage against two of the more common types in Indigo would be very beneficial.
Ash paid for the two as well as a TM case, wincing internally at the large chunk it took in his allowance. But it would be worth it, he would make sure to put the discs to good use. As Ash walked back to the pokemon centre, he was already pondering about what he could do next to help his pokemon get stronger.
He remembered the combination moves of Brock and even the more subtle one that Misty used (Agility, Goldeen's Swift Swim to drastically increase speed and Horn Attack which would pierce any opponents). Ash wanted to make his own and spent the rest of the day going over the moves his pokemon knew.
By dinnertime, Ash had come up with some creative moves they could work on. Frogadier's Quick Attack could be improved by combining it with Pound. Quick Attack itself enhanced the body's explosive speed but not the strength behind attacks. Pound would solve that and the speed would increase the force behind attacks. He called it Quick Pound and it would be a start to help Frogadier focus his energy to different areas and for different effects simultaneously.
The other combo he came up with was more of a series of moves used consecutively. It would link Focus Energy then Low Kick with Cross Chop with Seismic Toss. As the sisters had advised, making strategies before the battle would save time so teaching Mankey to use these moves consecutively would save Ash from calling out moves and possibly getting overwhelmed. He decided to call it First Kata, inspired from the scarce moments with his father.
Ash headed to the counter to ask about his pokemon, where the nurse informed him that Mankey and Sera were ready to be collected, however Frogadier's injuries meant that he had to stay overnight to be healed.
The sky was starting to darken as the city lights brightened and brightened. Ash finished his dinner early while Ritchie and Leaf went to their room beforehand. Ash turned on his pokegear, scrolling though his notifications. They were flooded with concerned messages and missed calls from his mother and Ash once again remembered what had happened.
He took a deep breath and clenched his trembling fists. Team Rocket had always been a dangerous organization throughout the years, however their actions had always been covert, their only appearance on the news being about raids or companies that had been working or exploited by Team Rocket.
I wonder how the other trainers are? Gary, Paul and the rest had been locked up for multiple days after all, and Gary hadn't looked too healthy the last time Ash saw him.
There was still time, Ash realized, to go check on the others so he left the centre for the Cerulean general hospital. Ash waited in the lobby for almost half an hour before a nurse came by and allowed him to pass through.
Ash walked past numerous hospital wards until he reached the one that Paul was in. He tentatively walked inside, where some patients were resting while others read magazines or chatted with friends and family. Paul was at the end of the ward, scrolling through his pokedex and pausing intermittently to jot something down in his notebook.
"Um, hey Paul," Ash gestured awkwardly, just remembering how he didn't know this person at all.
Paul stared blankly in response. "How are you feeling man? Better than before? I know that Team Rocket must have been rough with you…" Ash trailed off as Paul didn't say anything. "So–"
"–Who are you?" Paul interjected, staring at Ash unimpressed.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I was fighting with you guys against the Rockets. How are you feeling?"
Paul ignored the question, "Okay, what are you doing here?"
Ash's eye twitched in slight annoyance, "I just wanted to check you were alright. Has your family already visited you?"
"They're in Sinnoh, what do you think?" Paul turned away and focused his attention back to his notebook.
Ash's jaw shifted, "Well excuse me for not knowing your life story! Jeez, your mother clearly–wait, you're from Sinnoh? What are you doing here then?" Paul didn't say anything and Ash repeated his question.
Paul sighed, "I wanted a challenge, I wanted to follow my brother's footsteps before I became strong enough to challenge Champion Cynthia."
Ash's eyes lit up, "You want to be champion as well? Nice! Looks like we're rivals then!" Paul ignored him. "Fine, I get your message. Leaving now!" Ash trotted off, slightly annoyed and disappointed.
He found the next hospital ward, Gary's. It was a lot more quiet, almost everyone resting. Gary's chest rised and falled rhythmically while being strapped to an IV. Ash realized he was still resting and quietly backtracked.
He was about to leave when he heard a raspy voice call out, "Ashy-boy?" Ash turned around to see Gary propping himself up.
Ash stood there awkwardly before coming closer, "I came to check on you. You sure you can let up like that?"
Gary scoffed, "Tch, I'm not that weak, the IV is just a precaution. I'm feeling much better now." Ash observed his features and realized that he did look a lot healthier than the last time they met. "Besides, who knew Ashy-boy cared that much about me? You came here just to see me after all," he grinned.
Ash stuck his tongue out in annoyance, "I didn't come here just to see you, I went to see Paul as well. Besides, I'm also here to brag that I already have the Cascade Badge!" Ash held his chin up smugly, "So take that! Who's the slow one now?"
Gary's body started shaking before he couldn't hold it in anymore and started cackling, "Ha! Oh Ashy-boy, you're still too slow compared to a sick person. I already got my Cascade Badge idiot! I was backtracking for a clefairy when those bastards caught me." A patient nearby shushed them but Gary shushed them back.
"My team has gotten a lot stronger now Gary, we're not losing to you like last time." Ash stated, his facial expression firm and serious.
Gary sighed as he leaned back, "Looks like I'm going to have to expose your status as a loser on a later date. I'm so frail right now," Gary exaggeratedly swooned, "it wouldn't count for anything that you got extra time to train ahead of me."
It was Ash's turn to scoff now. "Just think of it as karma for all the extra lessons you got from Professor Oak and Daisy, we're getting even now."
"Whatever," Gary repositioned himself on his bed, "I just want to get out of this place soon, even the idea of you and Leaf adventuring out there without me makes me sick!"
"Oh?" Ash had a cocky smile, "I thought you were too good to hang out with losers? Are you finally admitting that you're a loser?"
Gary whipped his head in shock, "Ew! Don't compare the great Gary Oak with the likes of you. Get out of my sight Ashy-boy, your loserness is infecting this hospital!" A faint voice near them muttered 'I think yours is' but Gary pointedly ignored them.
"Right, right," Ash walked away, anxious for what he was about to say, "Smell ya later Gary-boo!" he said before running off, sniggering at Gary's furious tirade.
"Hey! That's my line! No originality Ashy-boy! And don't call me that! Come back loser! Fuck I hate the hospital!" Ash sighed in satisfaction, for once he had gotten the final word in and had gotten under Gary's skin.
Energy Ball: This move is unique in that the pokemon can draw the Grass-type energy from the nature around them, concentrating it into a sphere. This move is one of many moves that surpass the limits of what the scientific and trainer community knew about the world and pokemon;s place in it. If there is energy that can be used in the natural world around them, then moves can be created that use the natural energy of the world instead of the pokemon's.
The next day, Ash woke up early, eager to pick up Frogadier and start their training. Ash grabbed a tray of breakfast which contained rice, miso soup, grilled fish, pickles and a variety of other side dishes. He also filled three bowls of standard pokemon food for his team and sat down with his team eating breakfast.
"Frogadier, how are you feeling?" Frogadier nodded, though Ash remembered Nurse Joy's warning that he was still feeling a bit tender. "How about you Sera, and you Mankey?" Sera barked and rubbed against Ash's leg while Mankey leaped onto Ash's head and took his cap again.
Ash smiled proudly as he studied each of his team members. Frogadier had some faint lines that revealed his scars but his body looked lithe and strong. The foam on his body was plentiful and it looked thick like cream. Sera's coat gleamed and the color was a nice shade of red. Her tails, which was previously only four, had signs of another split, meaning soon she would have five tails. One more and she would be a fully developed vulpix. Despite his small size, Mankey's muscles were quite prominent whenever he flexed, and his fur was very thick, which added a layer of protection.
"I wanted to say how amazing you guys were in the last gym battle." Ash watched them fondly as they shifted all their attention to Ash. "We got the Cascade Badge, meaning we only have six more to go.
"I've also realized how I could do better as a trainer and I've made plans for us to become even stronger." Frogadier croaked in satisfaction while Mankey jumped excitedly. "Firstly, I'm going to use what's called a TM on you guys," Ash showed them the discs, which elicited confused reactions. "Basically, they are a shortcut to teach you guys different moves and I have one for you Frogadier, one for you Sera and one for you Mankey."
Ash returned Frogadier, Sera and Mankey into his pokeball and pulled out his TM case. Following the instructions, he placed Frogadier's pokeball into the pokeball slot and slid the Ice Beam TM into the disc slot. Ash pressed the activation button and after thirty seconds, the case dinged and glowed, signifying the completion. Ash repeated the process with Sera and Mankey and soon, they were outside, ready to test the moves out.
"Frogadier, do you remember how to use Ice Beam?" Frogadier nodded uncertainly, flexing his webbed hands, "good, let's try it out! Use Ice Beam!" Frogadier croaked and opened his mouth, where a beam of crooked energy shot out of it, hitting the ground and leaving a small patch of ice where it hit.
"Nice!" Ash complimented before noticing Frogadier's heaving body, "don't worry about it Frogadier, TMs only provide you with the memory and instinctual knowledge, it will take time for you to get used to the feeling of Ice Beam." He turned to Sera, "Your turn Sera, use Energy Ball!"
Sera faced a training dummy and howled. At first, nothing seemed to be happening but then faint trickles of some kind of green energy from their surroundings started to drift towards Sera. The green energy pooled into a small core in front Sera's mouth and it started to expand, quickly becoming a swirling mass of green energy.
Sera fired it at the dummy but right before it hit, the sphere destabilised and exploded, blasting the dummy away and almost blasting away Sera as well. Ash looked at the aftereffects in awe, the residual energy spiraled outwards and started fading, but Ash could still see the odd beauty in the attack.
"Good job Sera, it's okay," Ash said when he noticed Sera's frustrated look, "it's your first time, we can get plenty of practice and in no time, you'll master it!"
Mankey hopped impatiently and when it was his turn, he yowled and faced another training dummy. He started concentrating, and soon, huge pebbles rose into the air and struck the dummy's feet, bouncing off it harmlessly. Sera started oddly giggling while Frogadier croaked in amusement. It seemed that they still found Mankey to be an annoyance and any opportunities to make fun of him were taken by them, especially Sera.
Ash quickly started comforting Mankey, who snarled and started trying again, this time pulling up larger rocks but missing the target by a couple metres. "It's fine, we'll work on it more," Mankey hopped away from Ash, "and soon, Sera and Frogadier won't be able to make fun of you!" Mankey stopped and turned around, eyes filled with a determined fire.
"Alright team!" Let's spend an hour working on your new moves and then we can fall back into our usual routine." They spent the early morning repeatedly using the moves and resting, though as time passed on, their attack's rapidly declined.
They did improve, as Ash provided tips from the pokedex and since the three of them had a drive that pushed them to their limits. Ash called for the session to be over and they all collapsed in a group, accepting treats from Ash before resting.
Ash had a fond expression as he watched them until he got distracted with his ringing pokegear. It was Professor Oak, so Ash quickly walked away and answered it, after all, it wasn't every day one of the most famous professors in the entire world called you directly.
"Hi professor! How are you?"
"Very good Ash, it's great to hear from you. Look, I apologise but I have an urgent request for you so we cannot chat." Ash's back straightened as he felt his body tingle with excitement.
"Anything professor, what is it?"
Damn this guy was also a monster to write. But it's only necessary since you guys had to wait for a while due to my mock exams. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Also, for Ash's ice type, would you guys prefer Aurorus or Mamoswine? I'm leaning towards Aurorus but it's also a rock type, which overlaps with Tyranitar. That obviously isn't a dealbreaker so I want your suggestion. Which would you guys like more?
I hope you guys like Ash's growth. I'm aware that he isn't presented as a genius in everything, but I feel that it's more on point and more satisfying for Ash's growth into a strong, competent, charismatic champion who is a mentor to other people and an inspiration for all.
Please favourite and follow if you enjoyed it and want to see more, and comment if you have any feedback for my writing style, plot-wise or just anything you want to see.
Have a beautiful day!
Review Replies:
Blandusername: Hi man! Thank you a lot for your criticism, it's pretty fair to be honest. I'll try to answer everything so here goes:
I mean, losing is just a part of life, sometimes you have to trip before you walk.
I guess this is just a difference in viewpoint. I personally thought that Ash always winning and having the upper hand from the start was the more popular and more overused trope in pokemon fanfics so I wanted it to be different by having Ash struggle a bit in the start before taking off with strength in the middle part. But you're right, that might be an overused trope in fanfiction, but in canon, it is in fact the 'struggling and losing a lot' trope that is present.
Even in anime, Ritchie was the more studious and smart one while Gary was also talented in battle.
Ash won't be travelling with his rivals forever, they'll part ways sooner than you expect. Besides, learning from others isn't a bad thing. It's just the beginning after all and it would be slightly unrealistic to not rely and seek help from peers.
RKF22: Thank you so much, your comments mean a lot ya know.
Megan Lyle: I recently rewatched the Kalos series and yeah, I love it as well! Don't worry, I plan on writing for a long time and about Serena, she'll definitely make an appearance but I'm still wondering about the shipping. Or if there will even be one. For now, it's too soon to tell since Ash is still only 12.
Shaonics6: Thanks for the compliment about the training scenes! I really enjoy writing them and it will progressively get more intricate as time goes on and Ash starts on their ultimate moves. I'm excited to hear your theories about Ash's empathic abilities, it will be talked about more at Saffron City so I hope you stick around for that. I'm glad you liked the TR battle! Writing these kinds of battles are always rewarding but taxing. My idea for Flint's rescue was always for it to be brief and fierce. That power difference also serves as a comparison and a bar for Ash to eventually pass
