Part CIII: Buried Treasure
"How far are we from Shalour City?" Misty asked trying to hide a wince as her side twinged in pain. "Just wondering if we're still on schedule for everything considering our unintended delay in Geosenge."
"Further than I think unfortunately." May said pulling out a map from her bag and looking at it. "There's a town coming up followed by a large forest and then the Kalos Canyon after that, but we should reach Shalour within a fortnight so long as we don't encounter too many long delays along the way."
"And there's a bout 6 weeks or so before the Coumarine Contest and Showcase." Serena added looking at a schedule she had on her devise that told her about famous locations in the area and where she kept the list of the Kalos Contests. "They are during the pledging festival there, so we should reach it in time."
"Of course, this is us, we will barely make it because we will have two or three side adventures along the way because that's just what traveling with Ash is all about." May said with a laugh. "Or an unintended break due to injury like what we just endured."
"I am sorry about that." Ash said again still bad about what had happened to the girls back in Geosenge. "I didn't expect it to be that destructive when I gave the order, I was just trying to win."
"It's ok Ash, we don't blame you for it." Misty said squeezing his hand reassuringly. "Things just got a little out of hand at the end. It's not like I haven't been there before, just this time it was more destructive than usual."
Ash just nodded but that didn't mean that he didn't feel bad about what had happened. It had been 2 weeks since his full battle with Kenny and they had finally been cleared to leave Geosenge Town the day before. It had taken them that long to recover to Nurse Joy's satisfaction and for Ash to fix up the Pokémon Center after the battle so that they could continue on their journey.
That was because at the end of the battle both Ash and Kenny had Mega Evolved their Pokémon, Charizard in Ash's case and Alakazam in Kenny's, which only added to the intensity of the battle. Ash had basically won by then having taken out 5 of Kenny's Pokémon without losing any of his own but he wanted the clean sweep and had gone all out to match Kenny in the final matchup. His mistake was that he had underestimated just how much power Mega Charizard had.
The only time before that that he'd Mega Evolved Charizard had been in an indoor, well inside a volcano with a natural ceiling, gym against Blaine so he had a limit for the amount of space Charizard's Seismic Toss into Dragon Tail combo could use. Still, it had been strong enough to punch through the reinforced floor of the suspended battlefield and metal cage that housed it so in hindsight Ash should have been more cautious.
That was because this time they were outside so Mega Charizard was able to gain a height he couldn't normally and then use more power due to his Mega Evolution. All that had culminated in Mega Charizard sending Mega Alakazam to the ground at a speed no one had expected and that had led to predictable results when the speeding Psi Pokémon met the unyielding earth.
Ash had had enough sense to see the problem coming and ordered everyone down just in time, but it was more than he expected. The resulting impact destroyed the battlefield, made worse by a Future Sight attack landing on it a few moments later that Mega Charizard was in the process of dodging, and a shockwave that destroyed all the glass in the back of the Pokémon Center and sent everyone flying.
Ash, Kenny, and Korrina's grandfather Gurkinn, who had been the ref, had all been fine as they had solid walls behind them that stopped them quickly with only minor bruises from hitting the stone. That wasn't the same for the spectators who had their backs to the Pokémon Center that had just had all the glass destroyed and blown inwards.
Misty, May, Serena, Emily, Adam, Drew, and Brianna had all been thrown into the Pokémon Center after the broken glass and hit what had happened inside. None of them escaped injury from what happened though some where worse than others with only Misty and Drew able to make it back to the battlefield before Kenny left following his defeat.
For her part Misty's injuries had mainly been lacerations from the glass, a large graze, and a nasty bruise on the back of her right shoulder from where her momentum had been stopped by a sofa. She had a long gash diagonally across her left forearm that would likely scar and was still wrapped in a bandage that went from her wrist to her elbow, and a deep cut on her right thigh that was similarly bandaged. The graze was on her left side from just below her breasts to her waist and was covered with gauze and bandages under her top.
Misty insisted that she was fine and that there was no pain, but Ash saw her slight limp was still there and how she held herself stiffly to avoid moving her upper body too much making him feel felt bad. The only thing that annoyed Misty was that she couldn't properly celebrate Ash's dominance over Kenny, but she had promised to herself that when she could, she'd make the climactic end of the battle pale in comparison to what she'd do to Ash. Naturally, Ash knew none of this as he felt bad for all of them to notice, not that he would anyway.
Serena had been the worst injured of their group having skidded on her back most of the way across the broken glass that had left a lot of marks there when Nurse Joy was done removing all the glass from it. Her entire back and chest was wrapped up because of it and May had to help with the dressing when they changed it as Serena had to be topless for that part. In addition, she'd dislocated a shoulder when the front door of the Pokémon Center stopped her skid, and her arm was still in a sling because of it though it had been popped back in place.
As for May, she was somehow least affected of them. She had a long cut along her upper chest on the left side that had hit her large asset there but other than that it had all been minor cuts and bruises on her arms. She also got no sympathy from Misty and Serena as she had to tightly bandage her chest at the moment, which was noticeable, but Ash didn't understand that.
The only one on their side who'd escaped without anything worse than a bruise had been Emily. Apparently Adam had protected her at the start and when he hit the bench that had preceded them into the Pokémon Center, he'd used the impact to throw her into a sofa before passing out. She had a bruise on her cheek and a cut on her hairline but that was it.
Adam meanwhile had broken his right arm and gotten bruised a lot but of them all he had claimed to be fine. Then again they all saw the full extent of the scars on his right arm in the aftermath and realized that it was probably true, he'd likely suffered worse in the past.
None of them blamed Ash for their injuries though, they blamed those who provoked him into the battle. They had started this and as such they had to deal with the consequences of the battle.
Regardless, Ash still felt bad for Drew and Brianna's injuries as well even if the others didn't because they had been the ones to start this war. Drew had hit the front desk hard and gotten a concussion apparently but that was it while Brianna had several cuts all over that required a trip to the hospital to deal with, and to separate the groups. She was likely not going to be present in Coumarine City, which was good for them, but this would only fuel their mission against them when they next met their main negative rival this year.
Yet, despite all this, Ash did feel one good thing, he'd destroyed Kenny. There was no doubt in that and even Drew had acknowledged it and ordered Kenny to leave for Alola and compete there. He'd lost and had to accept the consequences of that loss.
That was because part of the agreement had been that the loser of the battle had to leave Kalos for a year. Gurkinn had confirmed that Kenny had left by following him to Shalour City and watching him board a plane to Alola where he was now registered on the Alola Contest Circuit, so they were free of him for a while. Kenny was now out of mind and it was good riddance as they still had to deal with Drew and Brianna, but that would have to wait until they reappeared.
After their antagonizers had left, Ash had begun cleaning with his Pokémon, Adam lending his fighting types with the heavy lifting once he was able, while Nurse Joy patched the others up and ordered rest as she kept treating them. They'd spent 13 days healing while Ash worked, using the cleanup as a team bonding session, before finally getting the ok to leave with a stipulation that Ash try and avoid Geosenge for a while, something he'd agreed to after the damage he'd caused to the Pokémon Center.
Before they left, though, Ash had sent Buizel back to Kanto as he didn't need the Sea Weasel Pokémon anymore but at a request from Professor Sycamore, who was heading up to sort something out in Laverre City apparently, Ash kept Charizard on him for the moment. The main reason was because he could Mega Evolve him and with the difference between Ash's and Alain's Charizard Mega Evolutions, Sycamore wanted to study it more if possible.
Ash had agreed to do so but had decided to only use Charizard if he absolutely had to and only Mega Evolve if he had no other way of winning. That wasn't because of the battle with Kenny though, that was because Ash wanted to focus on his Kalos Pokémon and Riolu first and not rely on his greatest powerhouse unless absolutely necessary.
They were the ones he was growing and bonding with this year after all, so using Charizard at this point felt like cheating and he wouldn't learn anything from the battles. It also didn't help that their next two gyms were fighting and grass type gyms, gyms Charizard could own by himself once now that he could Mega Evolve, and Ash needed to test himself in those gyms.
All that was in the past though, now they were walking through a wooded area as they made their way to a town that would be the last Pokémon Center stop before they came to the Kalos Canyon and then reached Shalour after the Canyon. Ash was glad to be moving again, they had many things to do, and he couldn't wait to see what was going to come next on their adventure.
"Yeah, I'd take these injuries again to get rid of at least one of them and not have to worry about him for a long time." May said still looking at the map as she plotted their route. "It wasn't who I wanted gone but Kenny was getting really bad, any worse and Officer Jenny might have had to get involved and that would have only worsened the situation. Best to have him gone than deal with the stress of legal proceedings and this way we only have to deal with the other two."
"Plus, they will be a little skittish now." Serena said. "After what happened against Ash they won't want it to happen again, so they'll stick to their original plan."
"That or Brianna takes it out on you in the next Contest in retaliation for what I did to them." Ash pointed out. "She might try to unleash all her power on you. You saw how she was in the final against Emily, she has the ability and Pokémon to do so if she needs it."
"Which is why I have you here." Serena said surprising Ash though he didn't notice her blush at her words, something that both Misty and May noticed but let slide as Serena continued. "Misty and May can teach me the Contest style which will be great most of the time but against Brianna I will need to know something more, I need to know how to counter and if possible match power. You can teach me that Ash."
"It's not so much power, I actually favor speed and on the fly tactics that can't be taught as they require the heat of battle to understand, but I can certainly work with you in more conventional tactics." Ash said. "I never did get the hang of Contest battles; the grace was to much of a distraction for me and missing is just a part of a battle to me but more important in a Contest. I'll teach you what I know so you can incorporate it into your battles."
"That works for me." Serena said with a smile and a deeper blush. "Thank you Ash."
"See, we are back on track and…" May began before she yelped and tripped falling flat on her face in the middle of the road.
"What was that?" May grumbled from the ground as they all looked around for what had caused her to fall. "And why is it in the middle of the road?"
"I think you tripped on a broken root." Misty said pointing to what looked like the end of a root with two green leaves on it that was right where May had been walking and was still twitching from her impact with it. "Or maybe a sapling, I'm not sure."
"That's not a root." May said recognizing it as she rolled over, and she sat up to inspect it. "And I suggest getting back, I'll deal with this. Between that thing tripping me and what we recently went through I need to vent on something, and that thing just volunteered."
Ash, Misty, and Serena just trusted their friend and backed away slowly unsure what was going on. A second later the ground burst open and a pissed off Pokémon that Ash had never seen before rose out of the ground.
It looked like a rootless stump with two branch things on its sides, one of which having been what May had tripped over, and a black body that was clearly a ghost's body with two arms. Its eyes were round and black with red pupils and it was glaring at May from where it was floating just above the ground.
"Just what I expected." May said getting to her feet and pulling out a Poke Ball with a grin. "It's a Phantump, a grass and ghost type and it is pissed at me. I think I have to battle it regardless, though I could use a battle to relieve some stress. If it does a good job I may catch it. Brianna has it's evolved form so catching one could be useful."
"Phantump." Phantump said angrily pointing at May clearly ready for battle. "Phantump."
"Let's check it out." Ash said pulling out his Pokedex to scan it.
"Phantump, the Stump Pokémon." The Pokedex chimed. "These Pokémon are created when spirits possess rotten tree stumps. They prefer to live in abandoned forests."
"Sounds about right for a ghost type." Misty said recalling Banette and Spiritomb's Pokedex entries though at least this time it was useful compared to the strange entry that was Banette's. "They're always spooky but can be really sweet once caught and trained."
"Or fun tricksters." Ash said thinking on his Gengar and Sabrina's Haunter. "They're usually not scary once you get to know them."
"Then let's see it handle my ghost type." May said throwing out her Poke Ball. "Doublade you're up."
"We haven't seen May use Doublade in a while." Ash said as the ghost and steel type that looked like a pair of fancy swords appeared before her. "Doesn't it have a really useful ability? She used it against Iris in the Wallace Cup I recall but I don't remember much of that battle."
"Its ability is called No Guard." Serena said surprising them. "We found it out last year when she used it to catch Slurpuff. It means that all its attacks hit but at the same time all attacks aimed at it hit so it is, and I really hate the pun this creates, a double-edged sword. This will be over quick."
"Alright Doublade, start this with Aerial Ace." May said and Doublade shot at Phantump only for it to disappear just as it reached it. "Wait what just happened? It can't have fled, can it? A Pokémon isn't supposed to be able to dodge Aerial Ace and that's not factoring in the No Guard ability."
"Usually you can't avoid Aerial Ace but Phantump just used Phantom Force." Misty said recognizing the move the moment Phantump vanished. "It's a delayed move that ghost types can learn. It causes them to vanish and then they will appear after the attack misses or after a few seconds similar to how Dig works only without the digging."
"How do you know?" May asked looking around. "Doublade, just in case use Iron Defense to boost your defense. No Guard is useful but having a defense move like this helps with its drawback."
"I know because it looked just as Spiritomb does when we use it." Misty said as Doublade flashed with the defensive boost. "And seeing as it is the main move I use with him I know it well enough to recognize it."
This was confirmed a second later when Phantump reappeared and slammed into Doublade's front staggering him and laughing at the success of the attack. Doublade just grunted in pain at the hit, it was super effective on him, but his Iron Defense had aided in mitigating some of the damage and now Phantump was too close to avoid an attack, not that it could anyway.
"Night Slash." May said.
Phantump didn't have a chance to avoid that attack as Doublade lunged forward, swords drawn and slashed it with the dark type move. Phantump wailed in pain from the super effective move as it flew back a few feet and clenched its jaw. Now it was on and it was going to show it why it shouldn't be disturbed as it flashed green.
A split second later that green flash shot out of Phantump and hit Doublade. Nothing happened immediately but a second later Doublade was surrounded by a green light that made no sense to anyone present. No one knew what move had been used and in that confusion Phantump struck again.
This time it sent out a circular blast of blue flames all the while laughing at its foe for what was about to happen. That attack got everyone's attention as they all knew what it was, there was only one attack that they knew of that had blue flames.
"Since when can a Phantump learn Will-O-Wisp." May said her eyes wide as the fire type attack hit Doublade but didn't do anything right away, it's nasty affect would trigger soon. "And what was the attack earlier? I've never seen a move like that."
"Not sure about earlier but it had to be a grass type move." Ash said thinking on the odd green light that Phantump had hit Doublade. "Likely one that none of us have experienced before hence why we don't know what it is but Will-O-Wisp is definitely bad. Isn't Doublade a steel type?"
"It is." May said with gritted teeth. "And Will-O-Wisp causes…"
May didn't get to finish her sentence as the result of Will-O-Wisp triggered and Doublade combusted in a ball of flame wailing in pain from the flames. What surprised everyone but Phantump what that it seemed to be more effective than usual as Doublade sagged in the air after the attack, which was saying something as Doublade's steel type made the burn more effective.
What they didn't know was that the grass type move that Phantump had used was called Forest's Curse and it made any dual type a triple type for the rest of the battle by adding a grass type to them. That meant that for this battle, Doublade now had two types that were weak against fire type moves putting it at a serious disadvantage.
"That's it, Night Slash again." May said now really annoyed and releasing all her pent-up emotions since Drew's sudden return to her life. "I will catch this Phantump. It is clearly clever; it will make a great ally for us."
Doublade agreed, he was going to beat it if it was the last thing he did and he unsheathed his swords and slashed at Phantump. However, just as they were about to hit Phantump vanished again with a laugh. Phantom Force was getting really annoying to deal with.
"Alright after it hits you again slash it with Night Slash." May said now pissed. "For now, Iron Defense. We need as much of a defensive boost as possible."
Doublade was going to but then he combusted again and wailed in pain, but he still got the Iron Defense off and bolstered his defense for a second time in the battle. That would likely save him when Phantump reappeared, which it did a second later, ramming into a weakened Doublade and blasting him backwards and towards the ground.
May leapt out of the way as her Doublade flew past her. In an act of desperation and to avoid hitting the earth, Doublade withdrew one of his blades, spun sideways, and slammed it into the earth to get some stability. It was sharp and easily slid through the ground until it suddenly hit something hard buried beneath the ground that caused Doublade to stop mid slide. Doublade only had a moment to realize what it was and smile with his eyes before the reaction triggered and he glowed bright white.
"It's evolving!" Misty said her eyes wide. "But how?"
"It must have hit a buried Dusk Stone." May said with a grin at the sudden change in the battle. "That is how Doublades evolve but I haven't found one yet as they aren't that common. I know mine was ready to do so but this wasn't how I was expecting it to go."
They all just watched while May spoke as Doublade's two swords merged into one large one, the sheathes became a circular shield and the tassel things fell down to form some sorta arms on it. Then the white faded and the new Pokémon floated there before them.
It was a large, single, gray, sword with a golden hilt and a single purple eye at the end of it where the sword stated. Out of the cross guard came the black tassel things that ended in elaborate looking purple ribbons that formed hands, one of which was holding the shield in an attack stance. The shield itself was brown and bronze with 3 circles in the center. All in all, it looked like a majestic sword and shield from the days of old and May had to scan it to learn more about her new Pokémon.
"Aegislash, the Royal Sword Pokémon and the final evolution of Honedge." The Pokedex chimed helpfully. "Generations of kings were attended by these Pokémon, which used their spectral power to manipulate and control people and Pokémon. When in Shield Form Aegislash uses its steel body and a force field of spectral power to reduce the damage of any attack."
"Alright you evolved Aegislash." May said jumping up in triumph knowing that the tides of the battle had turned in her favor. "Way to go. We have a lot to check but for now end this with Night Slash."
Aegislash didn't need to be told twice. He had been ready to evolve for a long time, but they hadn't found him his needed stone, so he had been forced to remain a Doublade getting stronger and stronger until though found the stone. It turned out that fate had been waiting for this very moment and when he had been trying to stabilize himself his blade had hit a Dusk Stone buried beneath the ground. Now it was time to teach this Phantump a lesson at the blade of a fully evolved ghost type.
Phantump for its part didn't have a chance to dodge the attack. It was too stunned by what had just happened to move so it just floated there open mouthed as Aegislash, currently in Sword Form, brought the blade down on its head with a Night Slash that was super effective and drove the now unconscious Phantump into the ground from where it had come.
Aegislash just pulled back and went into shield form, which was just its floating point down and shield over the center of his blade, as the combustion from his burn hit again. It was just in time and reduced the damage, but May still recalled him to avoid any more injury and because he was at the very end of his health, one more burn and he'd faint.
Right after that May tossed an empty Poke Ball at the defeated Phantump. It hit it in the head and bounced up before opening and capturing it in a flash of red light. The ball then fell to the ground and vibrated for several seconds while the center flashed red. They all watched it intently before it suddenly chimed and stopped moving.
"Alright, I caught a Phantump!" May said doing her catch pose as the ball shrunk and vanished from sight. "And I have 6 Pokémon on me right now, so it's gone back to Professor Sycamore's lab. Well, come on guys, let's plow on to the Pokémon Center. My new Aegislash needs a good healing and polishing after a job well done and I want to bring Phantump into the party so Glaceon will go back and hang out in Lumiose City."
With that May just turned and walked on ahead of them as fast as she could leaving Ash, Misty, and Serena all stunned at everything that had just happened in such a short span of time. It wasn't until May was barely in sight did they snap back to it.
"What just happened?" Ash asked still confused as they began to follow May. "I'm a little lost."
"May tripped over a Phantump, it challenged her, she used Doublade against it, Doublade accidentally hit an evolutionary stone and evolved into Aegislash, Aegislash then beat Phantump who May caught and was sent back to Sycamore's lab." Misty summed up as they walked as fast as they could to catch up to May. "So, a pretty standard catch by our books. Well maybe not, we usually don't end up in battle and catch on a whim like that."
"You did with Spiritomb." Ash reminded her. "And I did that with Palpitoad out in Unova, so it does happen from time to time."
"True those were similar." Misty agreed. "But we should hurry up and catch up with May, I think she's on a mission now. Somehow I feel like she needed that after all the stress and pain Drew caused her recently."
"Very true and we can make sure that she's ok when we get to her." Serena said. "Though that Phantump looked powerful, it will be a great addition to her team and as Brianna has a Trevenant good practice for me. It is the pre-evolved form after all so I can get the experience facing that type combo for when Brianna and I have a rematch."
"Then what are we waiting for." Ash said letting go of Misty's hand and running after May. "Let's catch up."
"Easy for you to say, you didn't get injured when you won that battle." Misty said as she and Serena did not pick up their pace. "I still have stitches in my thigh, I literally can't run at the moment."
"And my back won't be fully healed until we reach Coumarine at least." Serena said suppressing a wince of pain at the memory. "But it is a straight path and a nice day, we'll catch up with them in time."
Misty just nodded as they girls followed their two more energetic companions, making small talk about the recent events as they walked and what they would do in the town they were coming to. It had certainly been an interesting day though it was needed after 2 weeks of being stuck in a Pokémon Center recovering from Ash's total domination of Kenny.
Course that meant that something even bigger was on the horizon and Misty had a gut feeling that while it wouldn't be bad, it wouldn't necessarily be good either. Time would tell though so for now she decided to enjoy the day and May's latest capture as she and Serena walked to the next time and whatever it held for them on their Kalos adventure.
