World of Pokémon #5
Legendary Pokémon. The first recorded legendary sighting was of Ho-Oh in the Johto region. The burning tower, as it is now know as, caught fire in a lightning storm. Inside three unidentified Pokémon were burned to death in the tragedy.
Before the tower was fully destroyed the clouds parted an a colossal golden Phoenix descended from the heavens and with a mighty screech the weather cleared and the fire stopped. The three Pokémon who died in the flames were raised from the ashes and birthed the three legendary beasts: Entei, Raikou and Suicune.
The humans and Pokémon that witnessed the event fell to their knees to worship the godly beast. Since then in the centuries that followed over twenty Legendary Pokémon have been seen and named. As churches and followings rose with every discovery. It wasn't uncommon in Johto for people to praise or pray to Ho-Oh during hard times or to thank it for good fortune.
Most followers of the numerous Legendary Pokémon are quite peaceful. Most.
While Cerulean City held many exits, Ash planned on taking the road least traveled and move south off of the beaten path. He had over a month and a half to get to Vermillion City to take down Surge. Ash planned on using the most of that time traveling and training.
He was sure that Blast was on the cusp of evolving. Ash did some research on the Dratini line's evolution and once they reached ten feet in length they held the necessary inner power to evolve, all that was needed after that was Blast to mentally be ready to evolve. Most Pokémon evolved under the stress of battle and training or after winning a battle a tough battle.
For now he would have Blast battle with Hydro everyday, he needed to start building a resistance to ice type attacks and until he knew how weak or strong Snorunt was he would hold off on his newest Pokémon's training. Once Blast was a Dragonite, ice would truly be his worst enemy and it was better to start working on his resistance now while he was still young and small.
Metang needed more experience in battle, training with all of his Pokémon and any wild ones that he came across would work, also Ash would be using him in any trainer challenges he has for a while. And Ash knew that his Metang was still on the weaker end of the spectrum for their species. It would take a lot of work for that final evolution but Ash had a few ideas to make some progress.
Pidgeotto was coming along and Ash was going to have her work on Aerial Ace, a move that required incredible speed and accuracy to pull off. It would take practice but he was sure that it wouldn't take more than a week or two for her to master.
Now his two newest Pokémon, Snorunt and Charmander. 'I still haven't scanned them, may as well do it now.'
Taking the two Pokéballs out he set them down and pulled out his Pokédex.
Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon. When the tip of Charmander's tail burns brightly, that indicates it's in good health. This Charmander is Male.
Known Moves - Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen, Metal Claw and Dragon Rage. Ability - Blaze.
Ash smiled a little at the move list, while not overly impressive it showed that Charmander was progressing naturally. He also had a decent move coverage, a steel type and dragon type on top of his natural fire attacks. Ash also had his Flamethrower TM so he may as well give it to his new fire type to get him a better main attack.
Putting the ball into the device and initiating it, Ash smiled after he heard the telling ding he released his Charmander who looked around nervously. It would seem that his previous trainers treatment didn't just go away, Ash felt stupid to think that everything would magically be better.
Ash bent down and rubbed the little fire starters snout, "Don't worry buddy, I'm not going to hurt you." He reassured gently.
Charmander nodded a bit but still seemed a bit nervous so Ash took out a small berry and gave it to the fire type. Charmander looked at the berry curiously before bitting into it. "Charr Charmander!" He cheered as he ate the juicy berry.
Ash handed over the other two he had in his pocket with a smile. "Don't worry, there are more where that came from." Charmander happily nodded as he looked up at his trainer.
"Now, we have work to do." Ash said seriously making Charmander nervous again, seeing that Ash addressed it. "Charmander, I won't hurt you or have my other Pokémon do anything bad to you. But as I told you before, I will train you to be the best and that requires a lot of hard work and determination."
Ash stared down at Charmander who was staring right back at him still nervous, "If you work as hard as you can then I will never be disappointed. If you give everything you got then only I will be at fault should we fail." Ash assured the small fire type.
Ash could see Charmander's apprehension was starting to slowly leave his expression, "Now, are you willing to work with my team?"
The fire Pokémon looked down for a moment and Ash thought that he might give up or become depressed again. He was pleasantly surprised when Charmander's tail flame become stronger and brighter.
"Charmander Char!" He shouted to his trainer.
"Excellent!" Grinned Ash, he could tell that it would take a bit more to rid the fire type of his past wounds but this was a big step forward. "Now I will check my newest Pokémon then we'll do some training." Charmander sat down next to him and Ash pulled out Snorunt's ball.
Snorunt, the Snow Hat Pokémon. Snorunt primarily inhabits very snowy regions. It has long been said that any home visited by a Snorunt will be blessed with good fortune. This Snorunt is Female.
Known Moves - Leer, Double Team, Icy Shard, Icy Wind, Bite, Ice Fang and Avalanche. Ability - Ice Body.
Ash immediately took out the TM for Ice beam and loaded the move into Snorunt. Then tossed the ball forward and watched as his ice type took shape.
Snorunt looked around before looking up to stare at her knew master. The small ice type look neither happy or curious, no emotion could be deciphered from Snorunt's gaze. Ash shook his head slightly at the unnerving stare and put on a welcoming smile.
"Hello, my name is Ash and I'm your new trainer." Introduced Ash with Charmander by his feet doing the same.
Snorunt looked at the pair emotionlessly while waiting for its orders. "Well, I guess I'll release the others and we can do some training."
Four other balls were tossed into the air and the rest of Ash's current team took shape in the small clearing. Hydro was the first one to introduce himself to the two new Pokémon, Charmander seemed to like him but Snorunt still looked around with its empty gaze.
Letting the Pokémon mingle Ash walked over to his teams loner, Blast.
The small dragon was curled up in a shady part of the forest looking like it was about to nap. Ash sat down next to the dragon, "So, I think it is time for you to work on pulling more dragon energy out for some stronger moves." Suggested Ash getting and interested look from the dragon.
"I can help you of course, but I will need your help with something." Started Ash getting a curious look from Blast. "We have a new team member, Charmander, I want you to work with him to help him build confidence. You help him with his confidence and battling and I can help you learn a new dragon move."
Ash stared at his small prideful dragon who looked to be considering it. Blast looked back at his trainer then let out a snort before slithering over to Charmander. Ash smiled, knowing that his most prideful Pokémon was going to help his shyest.
Next on his list was Snorunt, he didn't know anything about her. The ice type was standing by itself curiously watching the other Pokémon train or relax in the case of Hydro.
"I would like to see what you can do." Ash said looking down at Snorunt. The snow hat Pokémon just looked up and waited for its first command.
Ash turned and pointed to a large rock. "Use Ice Shard on the bolder."
Snorunt made a snort like noise before a pale mist surrounded it for a moment. In front of Snorunt's mouth several sharp looking pieces of ice were formed before Snorunt sent them forward toward the rock. The dozens of ice shards hit the rock making little indentions in the boulder where the shards hit.
"Icy Wind!"
The pale mist returned, this time it was much thicker and moved forward in a blanket-like wave over the grass toward the bolder. All the grass and weeds the mist touched instantly had ice forming on it, some areas were completely freezing over.
Ash nodded toward the Pokémon, he was impressed by its power. The ice type energy was strong and Snorunt didn't seem too slow to bring it up. Ash suspected that Devon Co. had a trainer make sure that it was up to par for the trainer that won her. It would also explain her obedience, Ash was happy that she wasn't weak but didn't know how to feel regarding her emotions. Or lack there of.
"Now, Ice Beam." Snorunt actually turned to look at Ash with a question in its eyes before Ash smiled and pointed at the tree. "You can do it, just try." He assured her.
Snorunt did just that, building the inner ice energy, Snorunt compacted it and shot it forward in a compact beam of pale white energy that froze the bolder before shattering it completely. Snorunt nodded at her new move before looking back up at Ash.
Ash grinned at the power, "That was awesome! You've got a lot of talent I can tell. For now I want you to work with Pidgeotto. Try and hit her while she evades midair, if you take her down she wins and if she hits you she wins. Winner gets a Berry!"
Snorunt snorted at the reward before slowly walking over to the large golden bird. Ash watched her leave while shaking his head and turning to walk over to Metang. The steel type needed some real work at the moment, too few moves and not enough real experience battling.
Metang flew over to ash and let out its signature hum. "Okay, I want you to work on Psyshock. By mastering Psychic and Confusion you should have excellent control of psychic energy by now. For this move you need to build it up and fire it in a compressed beam toward the target."
Ash pulled out his Pokédex and pulled up the move in the devices database and showed it to Metang. The move showed a Metagross raise its two from legs and pink energy build between them before the energy shot toward its target like a pink lightning bolt. The fallout of the attack was a small explosion that completely destroyed the target.
The steel type floated in place for a moment before flying off. Ash knew that his Pokémon didn't need much more than that to go on so he nodded and went to his last and first team member.
Hydro was laying on his back about to fall asleep when Ash came up to him. "Wake up!" He shouted at his Pokémon with a laugh.
The turtle Pokémon shot to his feet and looked around trying to figure out why it was so rudely awakened, he found his answer in the form of his chuckling trainer. Hydro grumbled to himself as Ash finished laughing.
"I think it's time for you to work on Iron Defense. Your getting stronger and stronger so I think we need to work on your defense and endurance. Once you evolve, out speeding your opponent will be nearly impossible. So Iron Defense is the next move I want you to master."
Hydro withdrew into his shell without another word and started focusing on the steel type energy to build up his defenses. Ash knew that it would take a while so he went back over to his things to set up lunch for himself and all of his Pokémon.
Some time later while he was working he heard an explosion, looking over he saw Blast and Charmander going at it.
Blast was firing Dragon Rages back to back at Charmander who was responding with short bursts of Flamethrower. It was obvious to Ash that Charmander lacked the real power to win against Blast but he was giving it all he had and that was all Ash was willing to ask for.
Walking over he observed the mock battle more closely.
Blast slithered in a serpentine manner in between the Flamethrowers, Charmander was persistent and didn't let up the attacks. The blue dragon type used Agility to cover distance and blurred around the smaller fire type to get into position, the dragon type charged his tail with blue aquatic energy and slammed the appendage into Charmander's side causing him to tumble away.
To Ash and Blast's surprise Charmander shot back up and fired another Flamethrower toward the unsuspecting dragon. After a couple seconds of the intense fire attack, Charmander shouted in triumph then fell forward onto his face completely exhausted.
Blast shook off the hit as best he could but a point blank natural move still stung. Ash walked over and patted the dragon on the head getting a look from Blast but ignored it and walked over to Charmander. Ash picked up his small fire type and carried him over to his backpack, Blast was quietly following behind them.
Ash set Charmander down and sprayed some potion on him and gave him a couple of berries. "That was a great battle Charmander, Blast is one of my strongest Pokémon, so taking a super effective hit then and being able to get back up is really impressive." Praised Ash with a smile.
Charmander looked down at his berry shyly before he was whacked on the head by Blast's tail. Ash was about to reprimand his Pokémon when he noticed that Blast was saying something to Charmander.
"Draaa Dra tini Dratini dra." Blast said to the fire type who was looking at him wide eyed. Charmander replied and Blast snorted before hitting him again with his tail.
"What are you two talking about?" Muttered Ash, both Pokémon answered him but he didn't suddenly understand Poké speak so it went over his head. "I'll leave you two here I guess." Said Ash to the two Pokémon who were ignoring him as they talked to each other.
'Well, I didn't think that those two would hit it off but I'm not going to object. Now, lets see how Snorunt and Pidgeotto are doing.'
Ash felt the cold air from several meters away, Snorunt certainly had some impressive power in her small form.
The short ice type was firing Ice shards rapid fire toward the flying Pidgeotto, dozens upon dozens of small ice shards flew through the air like a wall of frozen shrapnel. Despite Pidgeotto's incredible speed and maneuverability Ash could spot several cuts and frozen feathers on her body. Ash was impressed that Snorunt had the endurance and power to keep such a barrage for so long, they had to have been going at it for a while.
Pidgeotto dove straight down in a Quick Attack, the golden bird looked like a falling star as the silver energy mixed with her natural golden color. Snorunt ceased the Ice Shard barrage and charged up a powerful Ice Beam. Once Pidgeotto started flying straight toward Snorunt the small hat Pokémon took aim and released the sub zero energy beam that stuck true.
Pidgeotto and Snorunt's attacks met each other head on causing another explosion in the clearing. Snorunt didn't wait for the smoke to clear and released a thick white mist toward the center of the explosion, the Icy Wind froze the immediate area and when the smoke cleared completely Ash winced at the fallen form of Pidgeotto. Her body had several bruises from the rough impact on the hard ground and she was struggling to get back up.
Rushing over Ash stopped her from moving. "Don't worry girl, I'm going to get you some super potion then you will be good as new. Don't move I will be right back."
"Pidooo." She cooed as Ash rubbed her beak before running to get the medical supplies.
Snorunt walked over to the fallen bird and sat down next to her. Pidgeotto looked up for a moment before putting her head back down.
Ash sprinted back over and applied the super potion to Pidgeotto's injuries. Silph. Co's miracle potion sped up the healing process on the molecular level causing the bruises to clear and the cuts to stitch themselves back together instantly. It was both impressive and slightly unsettling to watch, but with these incredible advancements, long gone were the times when hardened Pokémon would have battle scars or life long injuries.
Pidgeotto got back to her feet and cooed when Ash stared rubbing her chest feathers. "That was a good battle between the two of you. Pidgeotto, I think it is time we work on the move Brave Bird. Snorunt, you managed really well against Pidgeotto, so you can rest for the day or practice your moves by yourself."
Snorunt walked off without another word to a secluded area, Ash didn't know if she didn't like him or her personality was just that cold. Maybe Ice types were naturally cold an unfeeling, he would need to ask Professor Oak for more information.
"Pidgeotto, I will do some research on Brave Bird but for now I want you to fly and push flying type energy into a quick attack. Brave Bird is like the flying version of take down so work on that for the time being." Ash gave her another berry and she flew back into the sky to continue training.
Nodding to himself Ash went to Metang, the steel and psychic type was already managing to produce the pink psychic energy outside of its body and was beginning to compress it between its two arm almost able to fire it.
Metang's mouth opened and with a metallic roar-like sound a ball of pink energy compressed and fired in a thin beam toward a nearby tree. The bark splintered slightly and Metang went back to building energy.
Ash smiled at the progress, "That was a good start, to be honest I thought it would take much longer for you to get that far." Praised Ash. Instead of the hum he was expecting Ash felt a feeling wash over him, it was a happy feeling mixed with a sort of gratitude.
Ash looked at his Metang curiously, "Was that you? Did I just feel your emotions?" Ash asked excitedly. Another feeling washed over him, it was like a successful feeling one gets at being right. Ash took that as a yes.
Ash had heard of this phenomenon, it was when a psychic type's mental prowess reached a high enough level for partial telepathy. It was very rare for a Pokémon to be able to fully communicate in english but most psychic were capable of sending emotions and understanding what their trainers felt. To Ash's knowledge, only the Abra line had consistently learned to communicate in english, it was the reason the Pokémon League used them so much for so many tasks.
Ash would need to do some research and have a talk with Professor Oak about the Metagross line's telepathic capabilities. The shiny one from Mt. Moon was able to speak to him, but from what Steven Stone said, that Metagross was truly an outlier among their species.
Ash cleared his thought and turned back to Metang who was waiting patiently.
"Continue working, I wouldn't focus on your speed at building the energy for now, work on making the full attack no matter how long it takes. From there you can work on the speed." A feeling of understanding washed over Ash and he nodded before walking away.
The final member of his team to check on was Hydro who was still withdrawn into his shell. Ash didn't think bothering him would help him so he went back to his things to finish his lunch. After a few more hours he would continue traveling.
Ash arrived at the rock tunnel entrance after a few days of traveling. His team was making excellent progress, so far only Metang has mastered its new move. For now he wanted to find another way around Rock Tunnel, he didn't feel like going into another mountain or cave for a while.
Memories of Mt. Moon still unsettled him, he was very close to dying in there. Ash wouldn't rely on his strangely incredible luck in potential life or death situations anymore if he could help it. And Ash was certain that if Ash ran into trouble in the mountain, there wouldn't be a literal legendary sitting around to help him.
Ash got an idea and tossed out a Pokéball, Metang materialized and looked around curiously. "Do you think you could give me a ride over the mountain, you can pretty much fly after all." Ash asked his Pokémon.
Ash knew it was a mixture of levitation and magnetism that allowed Metang to float but he has heard of people riding Magneton up steep cliffs. And of a Pokémon like Magneton could do such a thing then Ash was confident that his Metang could.
Metang hummed for a moment before Ash felt a feeling of success making him smile. Ash climbed up on the steel body of Metang who slowly rose into the air then started to slowly move forward over the entrance of the tunnel.
Ash watched the scenery fly by as Metang slowly got used to his weight and increase its speed. This method of travel was pretty similar to travel by car, smooth and quick. He would definitely have Metang fly him over areas he couldn't walk himself, it was so much quicker.
"Could you do this over water?" Ash asked his Pokémon, a confused and curious feeling washed over him and he nodded. "We'll have to test your limits of transportation. This shouldn't take too long, the mountain itself is much smaller than people think. It is just the multitude of paths making the journey through the mountain take so long. I doubt this should be more than an hour of travel at this speed."
Metang, in response, sped up making Ash yell in surprise before grabbing onto Metang's front nose horn. Along with the increase in speed, Metang rose higher to cover more ground.
"I'm not in a hurry buddy!" Ash shouted trying to tell Metang over the wind. His Pokémon didn't hear him or ignored him because it just continued to increase its speed. Ash screamed out terrified when he looked down and saw how high up they were, all he could feel was the constant wave of amusement wash over him.
After what seemed like hours Ash felt Metang slow down and make a slow descent. Finally arriving on the ground Ash fell off of his Pokémon and kissed the ground. He continued to worship the solid earth for a few more minutes before jumping to his feet.
"Don't do that again Metang. I hate heights!" Shouted Ash and once again Metang's emotions washed over him and this time it was amusement and a slight feeling of sorrow. Ash just patted his Pokémon's head and returned it to its Pokéball.
Looking around and having no idea where he was he opened his map on his Pokégear, Ash noticed that he was several miles south of Rock Tunnel and was close to Lavender Town.
Lavender Town was a small town that was famous for the Pokémon Tower in the center of its town. The Pokémon Tower is one of the very few places in all of Kanto that was home to ghost type Pokémon. For that reason alone Lavender Town was a popular place to visit for trainers.
Ash was interested in ghost types but not at the moment, they were too dangerous for rookie trainers to control. Much like dark types they were very quick to attack other Pokémon and wouldn't hesitate to attack trainers after they defeat a Pokémon. While Ash was confident that he could beat the ghost type Pokémon that he'd run across, he didn't really have a use for one at the moment either.
Instead of walking Ash released Metang again, might as well use it for the rest of the trip to Lavender Town.
'I can always check out the Pokémon tower some other time.' Thought Ash as he sat back down on Metang. "Okay, this time you can stay right above the ground. Lets get to the Pokémon Center in Lavender Town."
The Pokémon Center in Lavender Town was devoid of life other than the Nurse Joy that Ash saw slip into the back a few minutes ago. Ash didn't even see other workers walking around and there weren't any trainers at all.
Ash walked up to the counter and tapped the bell to get the local Joy's attention. A few seconds later Nurse Joy walked out with a patient but tense look on her face.
"Yes?" She asked trying to sound as welcoming as possible.
Ash shrugged off whatever she was going through and removed his Pokéballs from his belt and put them on the counter. "Sorry if I'm interrupting you but I need my Pokémon checked on and a room for the night."
Nurse Joy's face became more genuine for an instant. "No it's not you, I'll take these and have them ready in a few minutes just go take a seat." She said kindly and gestured over to the lounge area.
Ash nodded and after giving her his name went to sit down. Picking up the controller he turned on the PLN. It was the news update hour and the anchor, a women who name he couldn't remember was listening into her ear piece.
"Breaking News out of the Pokémon League! Elite Four member Agatha has officially stated that the Pokémon Tower in Lavender town is closed until further notice due to extenuating circumstances. All trainers are advised to avoid the Pokémon Tower until further notice. This message will be repeated until the notice is over. It is also advised that rookie trainers avoid Lavender Town al together until further notice, this is the third day of the Lavender Town Pokémon tower shut down."
Ash's eyes widened and he ran to a window to look at the large tower. From what he could see there wasn't anything going on, it was still dark and none of the windows in the tower had lights coming out so he doubted there was anyone in there.
"I believe we said trainers should avoid this town for the time being little brat." Ash heard an old ladies voice from behind and turned to see who it was.
An old lady in a long purple dress leaning on a wooden walking staff with a Pokéball at the top. Ash knew who she was immediately, Agatha of the Elite four, the mistress of shadows and darkness.
Ash began to sputter in response trying to form some sort of answer or reason for being here and to try and tell her that she was one of his inspirations. But all that came out was strained stutters. After a few seconds he was whacked by he wooden staff hard on the shin.
"Speak boy, I will not have my time wasted." She spoke firmly as she leaned on her staff.
Ash rubbed his shin where she whacked him, the old lady hit harder than he expected someone like her to be able to. "I've been traveling for the past few days, I just got to town. I'm heading south to Vermillion while I train on the road. I didn't know about the things going on here until that broadcast." Explained Ash hoping that his reason was enough to avoid repercussions.
Agatha snorted before turing to the tower. "I had the tower closed because a Haunter evolved into a Gengar somewhere in the tower."
Now Ash understood, it was very rare that Pokémon reached their final stage of evolution in the wild. Some Pokémon evolved with time others needed to increase their power until they broke through the barrier. Gengar was certainly the latter.
Not only was the Ghastly line ghost and poison, both very dangerous and malicious natures on their own. The further a Pokémon of either type evolves the worse that nature becomes, and Haunters only evolve under high levels of training or highly strenuous circumstances. Some elite trainers have Haunters that were very powerful but still not to the level that would force the evolution. To think that a wild Haunter would gather the amount of power that it would evolve on its own.
Ash felt curious as to how powerful the ghost and poison type was. Ash bet that his team could take it if he found the Gengar. But that was another issue, ghost types were only seen with special equipment or if they allowed themselves to be seen.
"Now you see the issue," Agatha said when the look of understanding passed over Ash's face. "While ghost Pokémon are naturally drawn to the tower they aren't bound to it. That was why we had rookie trainers avoid the town until the situation was under control."
"What can I do to help?" Ash said with as much confidence that he could muster. "My team is strong and together we can help you corner the ghost!"
Agatha actually laughed at that. "No you stupid brat, a Gengar is a very tricky Pokémon to battle even in the best of circumstances. This is a wild one, I will be entering the tower to capture the ghost myself. You will be staying here until your Pokémon are better then leaving, am I understood?" She may have asked a question but her tone and glare made it more of an order.
Ash sighed but nodded in agreement. "I'll stay out of the way but I'm going to leave in the morning, I need to sleep in a bed." Ash tried to sound as firm as she did but it came out as more of a plea.
"Dumb brat." Snorted Agatha as she hobbled off.
Ash shivered when she was out of sight, she was one scary lady.
Ash spent the rest of his time relaxing in the lounge while looking through his Pokédex. After learning of Snorunt's nature he decided to look up Snorunt's and their typical natures and personalities.
It turns out that his was the outlier, she was clearly conditioned by Devon Co. to be very obedient to whoever won her and she clearly had a skilled trainer before him. Ash wasn't sure what he wanted to do, if she stayed like this then he would make do but he would be happy if she found her own personality.
Ash opened the International Trading Hub to see any interesting offers or interests.
One guy was willing to trade a Pyroar for an Arcanine. Ash wasn't sure what a Pyroar was but it was a Kalos Pokémon based on the trainers location.
Another person was offering his Metang and the trade he received was a Gabite. Ash guessed that was a multimillion dollar trade a single pseudo legendary was worth hundreds of thousands if it was in good condition and a dragon pseudo was worth twice that.
After thumbing through the never ending pages of trades, several of which were tempting Ash to actually consider, he turned in for the night after getting his Pokémon from Nurse Joy.
Ash shot off of his bed in the middle of the night when he felt claws on his skin. The room felt cold and Ash's skin crawled at the feeling in the room. The darkness seemed to move with every breath he took, the chill got worse and Ash's breathing started to shorten.
Running over to the light switch flipping it on, Ash frantically looked around the room, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Sitting down on his bed he rubbed his eyes before turning on his Pokégear, it was one am. Taking a few calming breaths, Ash could feel his pulse return to normal.
Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep after that, he put on his belt and shoes. He would go down to the lounge to watch some television, the center may be closed but the lounge was always open and he could get a snack from the vending machine.
As Ash expected the lounge was completely empty, the only sign of life was the lights from the vending machine and the lab equipment that was always on. Ash walked over and bought a bag of chips and sat down in one of the chairs.
When he reached for the tv remote he felt a chill go down his spine. Surprising a shiver he picked up the remote and turned on the tv. Once Ash turned on the tv the room got colder and the tv exploded and Ash felt claws scratch his ribs.
"What the hell." Grunted Ash as he held his side before throwing out his Pokéball. Charmander materialized in front of him, the fire type's tail flame lit the room well enough for Ash to get a better look around.
"Char?" Charmander asked his trainer while also looking around.
"Something is here, not sure what it is but I think I have an good idea." Muttered Ash while looking around. Palming another ball Ash tossed it out and Metang materialized next to Charmander.
"Sense the room, something is here with us." Ordered Ash and Metang hummed as it spread its psychic energy around the room to try and find a sign of life.
On the opposite side of the room one of the tables lifted off the ground then launch across the room at Ash. Ash ducked out of the way and before the table could hit the wall it was stopped midair by Metang using Psychic to catch it.
Ash turned to where the table flew from and saw the shadows themselves warp and grow out from the floor. A large five foot spiky figure rose from the shadows- from the center a large mouth opened, the top and bottom was lined with countless sharp teeth all dripping with a purple liquid that dripped onto the floor. Two large red glowing eyes glared at Ash from the darkness as the figure completely took shape and began to move closer to Ash and his Pokémon.
Charmander started to shake at the sight and Metang made a metallic grinding sound as it readied itself. Ash gathered his wits and tossed out two more Pokéballs, in the next moment Hydro and Blast materialized next to Metang and Charmander waiting for their orders.
The wild Gengar came fully into view the same time Blast and Hydro became aware of their environment. The blue dragon roared at the ghost and Hydro took a protective stance in front of Ash as he stared across the room at their opponent.
"Metang, intercept all poison attacks with Agility they don't hurt you. Blast, Hydro, Thunderbolt and Scald, don't let up till it's down! Charmander use Flamethrower but careful you don't burn the center down." Ordered Ash rapid fire while Gengar slowly stalked forward unconcerned with the human and it's beasts.
Blast's antenna glowed a bright yellow as lightning began to build around the appendages, in the next instant a bright yellow bolt of lightning crossed the distance between the two Pokémon ripping through Gengar's body. The ghost and poison type let out a high pitch laugh, the purple body pulled itself back together and before anyone realized what was happening it Shadow Punched Blast hard enough to send it across the room.
Hydro at the same time as the Shadow Punch used Scald on Gengar right into its eye destroying it, the wild Pokémon had a red glow covering some of its body showing that it was burned. Metang, at the same time, fired Psyshock into the other eye getting a shriek out of the ghost, the sound was closer to nails on a chalk board than that of a scream of agony.
The Gengar's eyes rematerialized almost in the next second, a decaying like smell took over the room. Ash tried to yell out a warning but the dark power exploded out of Gengar and hit every Pokémon in the room. Ash too would have been hit by the attack had Hydro not been standing protectively in front of him.
"Are you guys okay?" Asked a worried Ash, seeing all of his Pokémon take a direct hit from the ghost type as strong as Gengar was cause for concern.
Gengar wasn't slowing down and spread both of its stubby arms out and four black energy balls materialized and shot toward each Pokémon. The four Shadow Balls sped toward their intended targets- Hydro activated Protect, Charmander destroyed the ball with a Flamethrower and Metang stopped it with a well aimed Psyshock.
Blast and Hydro charged up their next attacks while Charmander took the ghost and poison Pokémon's attention away from the others. A large and intense wave of fire closed in on Gengar, instead of taking the attack or blocking it, the wild Pokémon waited until the last second before sinking into the ground to avoid the flames. Ash winced when the flames crashed into the Pokémon Center's waiting area lighting the chairs and corner booths on fire.
Hydro fired and pale beam of sub zero energy at Gengar as soon as it reemerged from the ground. The Ice Beam hit Gengar's large protruding tongue turning it blue, in the next moment golden energy crashed into Gengar knocking it off of its feet. The Dragon Rage caused a small explosion from the impact inflicting further damage to the Pokémon Center.
Ash saw a opening to do some real damage, "Confusion then Psyshock!" Metang was quick to attack the ghost and poison type's mind with Confusion making it stumble. Psyshock was beginning to charge up as Metang's arms were sparking with the pink psychic energy.
While Gengar was holding its head in pain from the Confusion attack Blast and Charmander let loose two Flamethrowers that were close enough to each other causing the attacks to merge into one large wall of fire. Gengar only managed to recover enough to watch as the large fire attack hit it.
Gengar rematerialized a few feet away from the center of the damage and raised both arms while pointing in the direction of Ash and his team. Ash saw the room distort as a strange energy was released from Gengar in waves. Ash realized in horror what the Gengar was trying to do and screamed out his warning.
"It's using Hypnosis! Focus on staying awake and don't look at Gengar, especially not its eyes!" Screamed Ash to his Pokémon, the four quickly turned away using their will power to stay alert.
Hydro listened to his trainer and shook his head trying to resist the Hypnosis assault, the water Pokémon noticed Charmander having trouble and fired a weak Water Gun at the fire type to keep Charmander awake.
Ash saw that his Pokémon were beginning to overpower the sleep inducing attack, unfortunately this was a mental battle rather than physical so they were completely still as they focused on staying awake. Gengar didn't waste its opportunity and lashed out with Sucker Punch knocking all of them off of their feet.
Gengar focused its ghostly energy into its right hand and the darkness compressed into a Shadow Ball. The attack only became more and more dense as Gengar continued to add more power, after a few seconds it was the size of a bowling ball.
The ghost and poison type Pokémon shot the Shadow Ball across the room, rather than it hitting one of the Pokémon, Ash was the target. Gaping in shock Ash only just managed to dive out of the way of the attack. Without hitting Ash the attack had no way to stop and it continued on until it hit the Pokémon Center's wall causing a large explosion nearly destroying the entire wall.
"Get up guys please! I need you all back in the fight!" Pleaded Ash seeing Gengar build more power after its Shadow Ball missed its target completely.
Hydro struggled to his feet and retook his position standing protectively in front of Ash. Right as Hydro took his stance he fired an Ice Beam directly into Gengar's mouth freezing its tongue completely. Blast's head sparked a bright yellow and with a roar a wave of yellow energy spread across the room slamming into Gengar paralyzing the ghost and poison type.
Ash smirked when the Thunderwave successfully paralyzed the Gengar and turned to his other two Pokémon. "Psyshock Metang, Flamethrower Charmander!"
Metang's arms raised toward Gengar, while the wild Pokémon was reforming its tongue a beam of pink psychic energy closed the distance between the two Pokémon in a flash. The attack exploded on impact sending smoke out from the point of impact. While Gengar screeched in pain, Charmander roared and let loose a highly intense cone of flame that completely engulfed the area the wild Pokémon was occupying.
The trainer and four Pokémon waited as the smoke slowly wafted outward slowly giving them visibility of their target. In a flash a purple ball of energy shot across the room slamming into Blast launching him across the room, he finally stopped when he slammed into the back wall cracking the surface.
"No! Blast get back up!" Shouted Ash, most of the other Pokémon called out the same. The only quiet Pokémon was Charmander who's anger was palpable. Charmander's tail flame increased its intensity two fold and with a roar his entire body exploded in a white light.
Ash and the other Pokémon watched excitedly as Charmander evolved. Ash knew that he was ready to evolve power wise but was lacking that one last push to cross the threshold. It would seem that seeing his first friend in such pain did it for the fire type.
When the white light of evolution dimmed down Charmeleon stood gloriously in Charmander's place. The roar that tore through the room was deeper and far more intimidating than the small Charmander he was just a moment ago. Flames engulfed his mouth, with a furious roar a Flamethrower emerged from Charmeleon that was nearly twice as hot as its previous evolution.
The flames instantly engulfed Gengar, Ash's eyes watered from the intense fire attack causing him to shield his face with his arm. Hydro released a small cold mist from his shell cooling off Ash and the closest Pokémon. The putrid smell of Gengar's body being burned by the Flamethrower was nearly enough to cause Ash to vomit but he managed to push back the bile and focus on the battle.
The flames finally died out, all that was left was a crater of soot and ash. Ash and the other Pokémon quickly looked around the room trying to find their enemy. Blast slowly slithered back over to his team with noticeable pain in every action he took. Ash reached for his backpack and cursed when he realized he left it in his room.
Ash was about to recall Blast when he felt the familiar chill in the air once again. From behind Ash, from inside of his very shadow, Gengar took shape looking completely fine after all the attacks Ash's team hammered into it. Presence completely unnoticed, Gengar's playful expression switched into completely malicious.
"Ah!" Screamed Ash when he felt claws slash into his ribs. All of Ash's Pokémon spun around and looked in shock at their trainers injury. Blood started to soak the side of his shirt from the gashes, Ash pressed his arm to try and keep pressure on the injuries and slow the blood loss.
Gengar's hackles filled the room and in the shock of Ash's injury he spat out a silver orb of pulsing energy that hit Hydro making him stumble about.
The Water Pulse Attack that Hydro was about to fire exploded prematurely inside of Hydro's throat choking the purple turtle Pokémon in its Confused state. Wartortle started to cough up all the water trying to catch its breath from the self inflicted attack.
Metang slammed two powerful Metal Claws into the Gengar's purple body destroying most of the Pokémon's body. Gengar rematerialized once again looking ragged but otherwise fine, Charmeleon flanked the ghost and poison type Pokémon with glowing blue claws lit with draconic energy.
Gengar, still ripped into several pieces, charged pitch black energy into its oversized mouth and released a pulsing beam of darkness. Dark Pulse ripped through the air toward Metang, the steel and psychic type roared out as it met the deadly beam with a Flash Cannon.
The beam struggle between the two attacks was intense enough to force Ash to back off of the immediate area to try and put a safe distance between himself and the battle. Gengar was so focused on the struggle that it didn't notice Blast and Charmeleon come up behind it charging matching Flamethrowers.
Hydro shook off the confusion and fired a powerful Scald at the already burning Gengar.
"Charmeleon Dragon Claw! Metang Psyshock! Blast use Twister! Hydro wait until my signal then Ice beam!" Ordered Ash seeing that Gengar was finally showing signs of slowing down. Ash figured that Chameleon must of had Dragon Claw as an egg move or something since that was the only explanation for him suddenly learning it after evolving. He wasn't going to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth thought.
Gengar only reformed in time to receive another barrage of draconic enhanced claws. Charmeleon slashed as fast as he could before his dragon energy enhanced claws lost their strength and jumped out of the way. Pink energy then slammed into Gengar's face ripping a genuine cry of pain out of the ghost.
The psychic energy continued to barrage Gengar for another second while Blast twisted his natural draconic energy into a powerful cyclone that sucked in the purple ghost Pokémon.
Ash turned to Metang, "Use Confusion, try and disrupt Gengar's focus so it can't escape. Hydro, use Ice Beam after the Confusion hits." Ash ordered finally seeing an end to this night.
It couldn't come any faster as his vision was starting to blur from his no doubt heavy blood loss. If Ash thought about it, he was sure that it was only adrenaline that was keeping him conscious at this point.
Gengar's screams continued to fill the room as the Twister continued to tare apart its body. Confusion continued to disrupt its focus so that it couldn't dematerialize to escape the Twister or even try and retaliate. As the cyclone started to die out a condensed beam of sub zero energy crashed into Gengar's body freezing the ghost and poison type in place.
Ash fell to one knee. He reached to his pocket where an empty Pokéball was. He wasn't going to let this night go to waste, he was taking this monster and adding it to his team.
Vision blurring, Ash expanded his ball and readied himself to throw it. Before he could, a black Pokéball with a yellow u on the top hit the frozen Gengar on its body sucking it into the capture device.
The last thing Ash heard before he fell unconscious was the tapping of a cane.
It was the sound of beeping that woke Ash, his throat felt dry and his side burned. Blinking away the blurry vision, the first thing that came into focus was a humming Nurse Joy who was changing out his IV.
"Oh—" She jumped when she noticed that he was awake. "Mister Ketchum! You're finally awake, you gave us quite the scare." She said with the usual up beat attitude that she and her fellow Joy's were known for.
"How—" Ash coughed as he tried to speak, Nurse Joy handed him a cup of water that he gulped down. "How long?" He asked.
"About two days, you lost quite a bit of blood. Luckily we patched you up quick enough and had enough blood in storage that in another few days you should be good as new." Joy told him happily as she finished refilling his water cup.
Ash drank the cool liquid swiftly and cleared his throat, "My Pokémon, are they alright?" He asked, voice slowly returning to normal.
Joy nodded, "Your Metang passed out right as you did, I'm surprised that it lasted that long against what could be one of its worst match ups. The rest had minor injuries and exhaustion, nothing that I haven't fixed up a million times before. Unfortunately they haven't been allowed to leave their balls since they would wreak havoc whenever they didn't see you upon release." She said regretfully, she didn't like keeping a Pokémon in their ball longer than one day without release, it was bad for them to remain in stasis for that long.
Ash allowed a small smile grace his face. His Pokémon were hard to control for him some times as well, he could only imagine what a stranger had to go through. At least he didn't have to worry about them obeying another trainer or leaving him.
"When can I leave?" He asked hoping to leave the confines of the hospital bed as soon as possible.
"Well," Nurse Joy lost some of her pleasant attitude and became pensive. "I would strongly recommend that you stay in bed for the day at least."
Ash nodded, "I understand, but I want to let my Pokémon know that I'm ok."
Joy pointed to his side table where his belt and six Pokéballs were. "Your Pokémon aren't too large, don't let them get out of hand and you can release them in here for the time being." She said pleasantly to the injured trainer before taking her leave.
Ash reached over to the side table and grabbed his Pokéballs. With a couple tosses, all six Pokémon were standing in the hospital room looking around questioningly. When they saw Ash they jumped onto the bed crushing him in affection.
Well, four of the six did.
Blast coiled at the foot of his bed looking at him with a fond expression that slightly surprised him. What didn't surprise Ash was Snorunt who was sitting in one of the chairs in the room looking around blankly.
Hydro and Charmeleon were on the bed arms wrapped around Ash happily. He was only too happy to respond in kind. Metang was hovering next to the bed, its glowing red eyes seemed to carry a warmth to it that washed over him as the emotional telepathy worked once again.
Pidgeotto tried to get close but she was too big to get near Ash on the bed. She settled for perching atop the metal railing on the side as she took up a silent vigil next to him.
"Thank you." Ash said suddenly making all the eyes turn to him questioningly. "That Gengar was beyond our level and you still defended me."
Hydro and Charmeleon gave Ash another hug making him laugh. Pidgeotto leaned down and nipped his ear affectionately, Ash felt a wave of happiness wash over him making him turn to Metang who was floating in place right next to the bed.
Ash was whacked lightly on the head by Blast who snorted at his trainer making him frown slightly. Hydro turned to the dragon to reprimand him when he noticed that his trainer and fellow teammate were staring at each other.
The rookie trainer stared at his prideful dragon who was returning the look just as seriously. Ash could see that Blast felt he was being stupid to expect that his Pokémon would just let him get hurt by the Gengar.
The Dratini continued to try and convey his emotions and thoughts to his trainer but could tell that Ash wasn't getting it all. Blast, reluctantly, moved closer to Ash getting within touching range. Ash carefully reached out and stroked the blue scales of Blast's serpent body.
"How touching."
Ash whipped his head around to the doorway where Agatha stood looking at the scene with a bored and completely uninterested expression.
"So, you ended up facing Gengar." She said offhandedly as she hobbled over to a spare seat. "You actually managed to put a stop to it. So, good job."
Ash squinted at the praise, it sound more like a comment than any sort of positive statement to him. "Uh, thanks."
Agatha rolled her eyes, "Anyway, the damage to the center will be covered by the Pokémon League. Most of which we can 'assume' was the fault of Gengar, so you're off the hook." She informed him as if it was a gift, did she expect him to pay for it?
"Wait," Interrupted Ash getting a glare from the women. "What happened to Gengar? I was about to catch it but I think it was caught before I could throw my ball." Ash couldn't really remember the last moments before he blacked out. But he did remember wanting to capture the ghost Pokémon but was unable to for some reason.
"I caught it."
For the first time since meeting her, Ash stared at the Elite Four trainer without any nervousness and actually glared at the old women. How dare she steal a Pokémon he quite literally bled to catch!
Agatha whacked him again with her cane before he could speak, noticeably lighter than last time but still painful. "That Pokémon is too strong for a rookie brat like you. Or did the fact that it took on most of your team and nearly killed you not evidence enough?" She sneered at him in response to his glare.
That cowed Ash, she was right now that he thought about it. Even Blast, the only Pokémon he had that would likely disobey him or even lash out was never so strong that Hydro couldn't take him down. But if he caught that Gengar and it lashed out while they were traveling or training, he didn't want to think about what would happen.
Some of Ash's Pokémon were less than pleased with the way the old woman was talking to their master and started glaring at her. Ash soothed the angered ones before turning back to Agatha still less than pleased.
"Fine," Grunted Ash not wanting to admit the old lady was right. "I'm still mad you just took it, I could have let it stay with Oak for a while until my Pokémon got stronger." Muttered Ash while looking away.
"Wartortle!" Agreed Hydro who was standing next to his trainer on the bed. Charmeleon and Blast just continued to glare hatefully at the women who was constantly talking down their power. Metang was still floating next to the bed while Pidgeotto was cleaning her feathers uninterested in the situation that she wasn't apart of. Ash rolled his eyes when he spotted Snorunt still sitting in the chair now completely asleep with a snot bubble coming out of its nose.
"Get over it brat, that old coot wouldn't have been able to control the Gengar either. His time as a trainer is long passed." She snorted while thinking about her former rival Oak.
"So what now?" Interrupted Ash not caring in the slightest about the old women's thoughts regarding one of his heroes.
"I'm supposed to say that the International Pokémon League's Kanto Branch, would like to formally thank you for your service to Lavender Town. And hope that this experience does not discourage you from continuing your pursuit to become a skilled Pokémon trainer." She droned on with the clearly scripted speech.
"That's it!" Shouted Ash, he was in a hospital room because of a wild Gengar that the league was supposed to handle. Not only did Ash suffer several deep gashes but his rightful capture was taken from him! "This is ridiculous! The league sent you! Quite literally one of the best trainers in the world to handle a situation that shouldn't have taken you an hour solve, yet I, a rookie, had to do it. Then you take my capture! Yes! I know I'm not ready for a Gengar but that isn't the point!"
Ash's rant started to rile up his Pokémon, Hydro stood his full three foot height next to him on the bed doing his best to intimidate the old women. Blast and Charmeleon looked ready to attack but were waiting for their trainers orders. Pidgeotto and Metang were the most tame, both looked ready to strike but weren't trying to intimidate the old women with glares or angry expressions. Yet again, Ash spotted Snorunt sleeping in her chair completely oblivious to the situation in the room.
Agatha rose to her feet and slammed her cane on the ground. A chill that was familiar to Ash and the Pokémon who face Gengar filled the room and from the shadows around Agatha a familiar purple ghost and poison type rose with its signature cackle.
"Silence!" Shouted Agatha while glaring at every occupant in the hospital room and retaking her seat. "What do you want shitty brat?! A medal? To have Lance personally thank you? I was only here for this incident because I was in the area when it happened, otherwise an ACE trainer would have been sent. You fought a Gengar, not a legendary Pokémon, and I thought we went over why I caught Gengar."
Ash looked down at his hospital bed trying to think of a response. "Well I—"
"I thanked you personally, I could have left you with no explanation while you were unconscious." She continued not giving him a chance to speak, "Now you have had a valuable lesson about the world; bad things can happen without warning, and good deeds are left unrewarded. Welcome to the real world." She said with a nasty smirk on her face that was mirrored by the Gengar that hovered around her.
Agatha recalled Gengar then stood and looked about to leave before she turned back to Ash, "Most rookies would have died if they ran across such a situation unprepared. It shows how much talent you have that you not only survived but defeated the Gengar. I can see why the old coot trusted you with a Pokédex." With that final statement the Mistress of Darkness left the room in silence.
Ash and his Pokémon just stared at the door without a sound as they thought back over what the old women said.
The only sound in the room was the still sleeping Snorunt's snores.
Author's Notes
So I had more, but I thought that this was a good stopping point.
So Ash got into a situation over his head, he managed to get out alive but yeah, close call and all that.
Now. I think I should explain some of my thought process on some parts of the story.
The team— yes, Ash has two pseudos. In the games you can't get one, typically, until after the elite four or right before them. In a realistic world of Pokémon, like the one I'm trying to write, it wouldn't make much sense that the Pokémon wouldn't 'appear' until after you get eight badges. It's not like they are extremely powerful or fully evolved, they are just as strong as his 'regular' Pokémon. Also if you came across a beldum or metang in the wild early game, you'd try to catch it too.
The dratini was mostly added last minute, I only really wanted Ash to meet his rivals in the first chapter. A good way for Ash to meet Paul was by coincidence since Gary caught up to him specifically to battle him. Paul wanted the shiny Pidgey, and as I've established, shiny's are worth a lot and of course you wouldn't offer a common Pokémon for it.
Ash's Pokémon also have some powerful moves i.e. Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Ice Beam. Like in the games, you can't buy TMs until celadon. But again in a realistic world, like this one, why would only one city have such incredible devises. In my story, if you got the cash for them you can buy them. Also, it took Steven's seventy five percent discount for Ash to buy a decent amount of moves and it still nearly cleared him out.
Hope I'm not ranting and my choices make a bit more sense. If not, well *shrug*, meh don't read it, I'm writing for entertainment not a paycheck.
Any questions, comments or recommendations, leave a review with them.
I need oc trainers for Ash to battle. If you want, give me a name, Pokémon team and badge level you want them to appear at. No legendaries or uber teams please, also like I said before no ridiculous OC's with dumb over the top back stories.