Edited 11/19/22
*Insert chapter here*
A year does not pass quickly. For better or for worse.
The excitement Ash had been filled with when he realized yes, he was going to be a Pokemon Trainer of Pokemon, had waxed and waned at various points throughout the year of waiting.
He'd certainly never regretted the decision or how things had worked out but the long wait was taxing and more than a little frustrating at times.
"It's been so long!" Ash had complained to Pikachu once. "This year will never end! We'll be stuck waiting forever." He had bemoaned.
Pikachu (the traitor) had just looked at him unamused. "It's been three days, Ash."
So with nothing but time on their hands they had turned their attention to other prospects. Such as, well, training!
While the journey could not start yet and Pikachu was not technically Ash's Pokemon as of yet, they could still train together and practice. Although there was only so much they seemed to accomplish on their own. Ash had ideas for helping Pikachu improve but with himself as the only other Pokemon to test them against it was hard to get a proper idea of if they were working or not, seeing as he both knew the tactic and was not able to get a third person perspective for how it was working.
Fortunately, they had another helpful Pokemon around who was more than happy to help them train.
Both of them.
Violently.
"If you can dodge a canon, you can dodge a rock!" Shelldon cackled as he fired off Hydro Pumps that could splinter trees.
"I'd like the rock instead!" Ash cried as he leaped out from under a crashing tree branch. The clearing had seen better days, the grassy terrain had been torn up and left it wet and muddy. Fallen trees and exposed rocks littered the training space and made movement a thinking Pokemon's sport.
"There's no rule we can't fire back right?" Pikachu asked somewhat rhetorically as he leaped on top of a rock and faced their opponent. He sparked menacingly but was then blasted off his perch by a solid beam of water.
"Correct!" Shelldon applauded the electric-type. "But standing still just makes you an easy target."
Ash, who had not stopped moving, took advantage of this advice and his own skills. First shifting his appearance to that of a different Pokemon, a Charmeleon, a larger one than him. The slight shift in body type threw him off but he just crouched near a rock for a moment before speeding on toward Shelldon.
The Blastoise aimed at him and fired where the head of his new shape was but Ash took advantage of this decision. He dropped the illusion rather than letting it pop and the attack soared over him. Shelldon had a moment to look surprised before Ash leaped forward under his guard and fired off a Dark Pulse.
His satisfaction with the connected attack did not last long as Shelldon refused to budge and instead literally grabbed the smaller Pokemon and threw him across the clearing.
"Not bad, kid. But it'll take something a lot tougher than you to knock me down." His gloat was punctuated by another sound of sparking. Shelldon's large form barely had time to turn towards the sound before a yellow glow lit the clearing like a second sun.
Ash closed his eyes against the light as he heard Shelldon roar. When the sound faded he opened his eyes and saw the larger Pokemon stumble. Actually stumble! He wasn't down, but he had certainly felt that attack.
"How's that?" Pikachu asked, sounding very pleased with himself.
Shelldon took a second to recover and then laughed. There was something far more chilling about that laugh than any ice attack. "Better! Much better! It means I can start trying against you two now!" His back cannons clicked as he aimed again. "Now try and hit me again little mouse."
The less said about the rest of that training the better.
Nevertheless, through boredom and misery, and pain, a year did eventually pass. And at long last, the morning arrived when Ash could become a trainer.
Delia was fussing over him in his human disguise, there wasn't technically much she could do, as his clothes and hair were a part of his illusion but she wasn't going to see him in person for a while and she was worried.
"Are you okay?" She asked him. "Your illusion is kind of vibrating?"
"That's not the illusion." Ash corrected. "That's just me. Can I go now? I'm ready! I've been ready!"
"In a minute." She tried to appease him. She smiled at him and inspected his outfit. The jeans and t-shirt were fairly simple, but he'd also added a blue and white overshirt to it. She couldn't guess why, maybe he just thought the t-shirt alone was boring.
She wrapped him in a sudden hug. "Oh, I'm gonna miss you. You remember what I told you?"
"Be careful about who I let my illusion down around because they might try and take advantage of me." Ash dutifully quoted. "Yes, I remember. I will have to let it down sometimes though. It's tiring to keep it up all the time." He admitted.
"There's one last thing I wanted to ask you before you go." She admitted and he groaned at the continued delay. "It'll only take a second." She reached into her shirt pocket and expanded the Pokeball she retrieved. Ash stared at it for a second in surprise.
"Is that mine?" He asked with something that was not quite awe, but similar. They didn't make use of it very often. He'd been inside maybe a dozen or so times since she'd received him ten years earlier.
"Yes it is, I wanted to know if you wanted me to hold onto it or if you wanted to take it with you." Delia stopped him before he could get upset again. "This is not me releasing you. You'd still be registered under me and I could use the transfer system to bring the ball at least back at any time but I wanted to know if you wanted to take it with you or not. I'm not sure when it could be useful but it might be a good thing to have."
He stared at the ball for a moment. Hesitantly he reached for it before drawing his hand back and shaking himself. "No. Not yet. I... I don't feel like I'm ready yet."
Delia raised an eyebrow at that but accepted his answer. "Alright. I wanted to let you know it was an option though. Do you know when you might be ready?"
Ash shook himself and the momentary doubt and thoughtfulness were gone. "Nope! I'll let you know when I figure it out though!"
She chuckled at the change of attitude and put the ball away. "Well then, head up the lab. I'll meet you on your way out to say goodbye though."
Without another word, Ash turned, racing out of the house and down the road.
She stared after him wistfully, remembering when she first left for her journey. Most parents have a bit of time to prepare for the idea of their child going off on an adventure like this but she'd been rather taken by surprise by the entire situation.
After she'd signed the paper and Ash had run enough victory laps around the house to tire himself out she'd asked Professor Oak a simple question, why?
"To be honest, I was about to laugh and toss the forms aside when I realized something. I couldn't think of a good reason to say no!" He had admitted. "There are no rules against it as long as he's the proper age. He's already learned to talk so he can communicate with other trainers and humans easily enough. Not to mention being one himself he'll be able to reach new and incredible levels of understanding with his Pokemon. So I thought I'd give him the chance and see if you would let him go."
She'd had a similar line of thought. To be honest he was much more capable of looking after himself than a human child of the same age as him. Not to mention whatever Pokemon joined him along the way besides Pikachu. He'd be able to handle himself.
That didn't mean she wasn't going to miss him though. He was her baby, she'd raised him and taken care of him nearly his entire life.
But what was that old phrase again? 'If you love something set it free?'
That was the plan now, and she knew he'd come back to her someday.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ash was still vibrating with excitement. He was not the only one though so it wasn't too weird. Leaf, the girl from the summer camp a couple of years back, was in the same state he was. Gary was also there but was trying to look cool and collected. There was also one more girl that Ash didn't recognize.
She was shorter than him and just a little pudgy. But the height difference was offset by a weird puffy bun she had on top of her red hair. Kind of like an afro except it was on top of her existing head of hair. It was a little weird looking but Ash wasn't one to judge.
The Professor looked over the four of them and sighed. "Well I have three starters prepared and there are four of you. Although I have a feeling one of you is already sorted out." He glanced at Ash knowingly who shrugged.
"Don't tell me he's taking that horrible little monster!" Gary demanded, sounding aghast.
Leaf had a different reaction. "Awww, I wanted Pikachu."
The other girl just looked a bit confused.
"He and Pikachu formed a bit of an arrangement. I'm not entirely sure how Ash managed to break through his shell but I do have some theories. Whatever the case I'm not sure Pikachu would let anyone else be his trainer. But you forget! I made sure to prepare three Pokemon specifically for the rest of you, so take a look and choose your Pokemon!" The Professor gestured towards the weirdly shaped table in the middle of the room with three Pokeballs on it.
The other three kids took a step forward and Ash moved up a bit to look with them, feeling a bit curious himself. Gary, with no discussion, immediately grabbed a ball with a water-type symbol where it sat on the table. "I choose Squirtle!"
The other girl, apparently realizing she had to move quickly, lashed out with both hands and grabbed the ball near the fire-type symbol. "Charmander!"
Leaf drooped down a bit, she muttered something under her breath but looked at the last ball and comically teared up a bit. "I'm cursed. I'm going to be a grass-type trainer and there's nothing I can do about it."
Gary clutched his ball closer to his chest and Professor Oak looked like he was about to step in and play peacemaker but Leaf perked up almost immediately. "Just kidding! I wanted Bulbasaur!"
Ash blinked. "Huh, well this worked out for everyone I guess."
"So it seems, as for you Ash…" He pressed a button and a 4th Pokeball rose out of the center of the table, this one had a small thunderbolt on it and Ash picked it up hesitantly.
"He's not in here is he?" He asked the Professor somewhat knowingly.
The other three kids stared at him bemused and the Professor laughed now. "I did suggest it and got quite a shock in return. No, he's not in the ball but he is nearby." His eyes looked up and Ash was beginning to follow his line of thought when a shape dropped onto him. He shuddered for a moment as he worked to keep the illusion from popping at the unexpected weight.
With his illusion secured he looked at his shoulder where the weight had landed and found his best friend sitting there. "Here we are." Pikachu smiled, no mischief in the expression this time, just happiness.
"Ready to go?" He smiled back at the electric-type.
A squeal cut into their meetup. "Ohhh, he's even cuter than I remember." Leaf rushed up and Pikachu's expression changed to one of fear as she crowded him and Ash. No doubt he remembered her death hug from the camp.
The last girl looked very uninterested. "He looks lame. Not like Charmander!" she let out a strange laugh that might have been an attempt at a maniacal cackle but came off as much too squeaky to work right.
Gary looked at the ball in his hand and then at Ash and Pikachu. "Hey, Ashy-boy!"
Ash looked over Leaf (who was trying to pinch Pikachu's cheeks and was about to get a shock for her trouble) and at him. "What?" He asked.
He held up the ball in his hand and grinned with teeth at him. "It's time to show you what I can do. Let's battle!"
Ash blinked in surprise at the declaration. He was about to say something when he felt his shoulder vibrate and squinted as Leaf was lit golden with electricity. The girl fell to the ground slightly scorched. He sighed and glanced at Pikachu who shrugged at him. "What? I said I would do it after the camp was over!"
"A battle already?" Oak asked with interest. "Are you two sure?"
"Sure!" Ash agreed. "Sounds like fun! Right Pikachu?" He asked his partner.
"Getting to put that brat in his place? Count me in!" Pikachu's gaze was fierce and eager.
As they discussed the last girl, whose name Ash really needed to learn. Had walked over to the collapsed Leaf and was poking her. "Hey, do you wanna battle too, Grass?"
"My name is Leaf." She corrected with a groan.
"Whatever you say Tree." The redhead shrugged. "Do you want to battle like Cinder and Gray or not?"
"Sure, why not." She said as she pushed herself up.
The quad of new trainers met outside on the fields the lab had set up specifically for this type of situation.
Ash and Gary were on one field, Leaf and Chou (as Ash had learned her name was) on the other.
"Let's go Pikachu!" Ash called as the electric type leaped off his shoulder.
"Go Squirtle!" Gary called and threw his ball. It burst open with a flash of light, a blue Pokemon popped out of it.
"Oh wow, we're doing this already?" Squirtle commented as he landed on the ground.
"Your trainer has a bit of a chip on his shoulder," Pikachu explained as they faced each other.
"Ah!" Squirtle nodded. "This is the customary pre-battle trash talk! In that case, not as big of a chip as you're going to be."
Ash and Pikachu looked at the Squirtle confused and shared a discreet look. "You're new to this aren't you?" Pikachu asked him.
"Obviously." Squirtle agreed just as Gary got tired of waiting. "Squirtle use Water Gun!"
The turtle-like Pokemon's mouth opened and a gush of water lanced at Pikachu. Thankfully Pavlov was kind today and Pikachu only experienced a quarter of a second of horrifying flashbacks about much more powerful blasts of water.
"Pikachu! Quick Attack to dodge and then Thunder Shock!" Ash called. "Stay on the move." He added remembering their lessons.
"I know!" Pikachu agreed as he followed the direction. The Quick Attack shot him out of the way of the attack and Squirtle looked panicked.
"Wait, did you use an attack to dodge?! How do you do that?" His confusion was evident, even to Gary.
"Get out of the way quick!"
"Like the attack? What?" Poor Squirtle's inexperience was evident and thus he didn't move away from the electric attack in time and was knocked down onto the ground and his back.
"Dang it!" Gary cried. "Are you good to go Squirtle?"
"I think I see a light." Squirtle announced blinking. "No wait, that's just the sun."
"Do you want to keep going?" Ash asked Gary, not quite feeling right about telling Pikachu to attack a downed Pokemon, even if he did he's not sure Pikachu would listen.
Gary looked as Squirtle struggled to his feet and ground his teeth. "Squirtle come back, we'll finish this another time."
"Oh well, that was fast." The water-type wandered back across the field towards his trainer.
The younger Oak returned his Pokemon and sighed. He glared at Ash. "Just wait! We'll train! We'll get better and we'll beat you and that little mouse too!"
"Cool!" Ash smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up and Gary just growled animalistically.
Pikachu ran back over to Ash and climbed up to the shoulder perch. "That was easy."
"Good work." Ash agreed and looked across the field at the other trainers. Their battle was still going but it was noticeable how out of sync they were.
"Just use Ember!" Chou was crying and clutching at her weird hair bun.
"But it'll hurt him if I do!" Charmander fretted.
Leaf, on the other hand, displayed a complete lack of understanding of Bublasaur's moveset.
"What about Leaf Blade, do you know that one?"
"Sorry." Bulbasaur shook his head. Adding physical confirmation to his answers for his trainer's benefit.
"Oh that's okay, what about Sludge Bomb?"
"Not yet."
"Aeroblast?"
"What even is that one?"
"Tackle?"
"N- wait! Yeah I know that one!" Bulbasaur nodded enthusiastically.
"Great! In that case, use Ta…" She was about to call the attack but looked at the doubtful Charmander and her frustrated counterpart. "Uhh, maybe just try asking him if you win?"
Bulbasaur looked confused at the direction but followed through. "Hey, do you mind letting me win?"
"Huh?" Charmander asked, looking at the grass-type. "Oh sure." She turned around and went back to her trainer who could only look at her in confusion.
"Uhh." Chou stared and Charmander pointed at the Pokeball in her hand. She bent down and the fire-type bopped her head against the front and returned herself.
"Yeah!" Leaf cheered, jumping in the air. "We won! Great work Bulbasaur! You're amazing!"
"You know, that strategy has potential." Pikachu decided. "Just ask your opponent to let you win. We should try that someday."
The trainers departed town one after the other.
Gary had left in a convertible with a small squad of cheerleaders. How he had accomplished this, Ash had no idea. He chose to think too hard about it.
Chou had left next, saying bye to a pair of short adults who Ash figured were her parents. One had long hair and both had well-groomed beards. They had hugged her and told her to bring honor to their clan and not to form too many grudges.
Leaf had wandered off at some point. Ash hadn't seen her go but he'd looked around and realized he was the last to depart.
"Are you ready?" he asked Pikachu.
"It's a whole world out there." His partner acknowledged. "Where do we even start?"
"Viridian City is the closest." Ash decided. "We can head to that first and go on from there."
Delia met him at the road outside the lab, along with Shelldon, a few of her coworkers from the diner, and a couple of other people from around town who'd come to see the trainers off.
She hugged him again and handed him a packed backpack. "There's a change of clothes in there as well as some food and water and a Potion just in case."
"Change of clothes?" Ash asked in confusion and she shrugged.
"They might come in handy." She told him. "You never know. There's a hat in there too in case you need to shade your eyes or it's raining."
He pulled out a red and white baseball and shrugged. No symbol on it or anything, just a white hat with a red bill. He'd hold onto it, might come in handy. He put it back in the bag and slung it on his back. She hugged him one last time.
"I love you, Ash, stay safe okay?"
"I will," Ash promised and hugged her back. "I love you too, Mom." He didn't stutter the word this time.
Once they were a little ways from Pallet Town, Ash dropped his illusion.
"Ugh, I need to get used to keeping it up for that long. I'm going to need to in the future I bet." He complained and shook himself.
"Gee, maybe you should have practiced that last year." Pikachu prodded now walking alongside him.
"Probably." Ash agreed. He looked around the field and sniffed. "Hmm, should we try and catch some other Pokemon or just keep going for now?
"We could ask if anyone wants to come. I don't like the idea of just grabbing them without asking."
Ash nodded. "True. We'll ask anyone we run into I guess."
They did run into a few Pokemon on their way, a Ratata and a Pidgey. The Rattata was just trying to get the food and Ash's bag and the Pidgey apologized but said he wasn't interested. He did wish them luck on their journey at least.
"So is there a reason you're sticking to the human language even though it's just us?"
"Huh?" Ash glanced at him. "Oh, yeah actually. I want to make sure I'm in the habit of it. I don't want to accidentally start going 'Zorua Zorua' in the middle of a conversation with a human. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious really," Pikachu admitted. He hummed as he thought. "Have you considered sending yourself out during a battle? You do have training."
"Yeah, I did!" Ash confirmed but drooped slightly. "I can't figure out how to make it work though. There's a rule that says a trainer can't be directly involved in the battle but most trainers aren't Pokemon so I thought, well maybe I can do it. But then I realized if I wanted to hide that I'm doing it I would have to find a way to make it look like I was still giving directions."
"What if we found another Zorua?" Pikachu suggested.
Any answer Ash might have given was cut out by a rumbling of the ground; they looked down and then at each other and braced themselves for a fight. The rumbling grew stronger and they realized it was coming from behind them so they turned to face whatever was coming.
A trail of dirt rumbled towards them, it lanced between them and stopped a foot or two in front of the duo. A familiar head popped out of the ground and glared at them.
"Diglett?" Ash muttered in confusion.
"What are you doing here?" Pikachu demanded.
"I have come to seek my redemption on you heathens!" Diglett declared. "You dishonored me two years ago and I have had my faith and valor questioned by my fellows! I cannot defeat you myself it seems but I will have you suffer the consequences of your actions."
Ash stared at him. "All we did was fight back against you after you attacked us, how did that dishonor you?"
"Be silent heathen! I will bring upon you the wrath of your own heretical gods!" Diglett declared dramatically. Of course, due to the fact that it was the middle of the day and his head stuck less than a foot out of the ground, his drama did not amount to much.
"Wow, this is really interesting. Can we go now? I mean we can beat you again if you want…" Pikachu started.
Diglett, instead of responding, turned and spat a rock at a nearby tree. The rock sailed through the air and collided with something in the tree, knocking it down. "Face retribution!" He declared and sank back underground and sped away.
The pair stared after him for a moment. "That happened." Pikachu stated somewhat lamely. "I wonder what he hit?"
They both turned toward the tree, just in time for a Spearow with a bump on their head to speed towards them and crash into Pikachu.
"GAH, GET OFF ME!" The electric type cried as it began furiously pecking him.
"FILTHY LITTLE RODENT! HOW DARE YOU!" The bird screeched as it clawed at him with its talons.
"Hey!" Ash tackled the Spearow off of Pikachu and allowed the mouse some time to recover. "We didn't throw the rock at you!"
"Shut up!" The Spearow hissed at him. "Liars and rock chuckers. I'll peck you apart you stupid landwalkers."
He'd never heard 'landwalker' used as an insult before but he did walk on land so it was technically accurate. "We didn't throw the rock, it was a Diglett!"
Spearow didn't respond this time and just raised its wings in a threatening gesture as its beak shone brightly with a Peck attack. With barely any room to dodge Ash braced himself for the attack but was saved by a Thundershock from Pikachu making the Spearow crumple to the ground.
"Freaking, ouch," Pikachu announced rubbing at the scratches. "Stupid Diglett, stupid Spearow."
"At least you can shock Spearow." Ash pointed out as he poked at the twitching bird. "I feel kind of bad just leaving him here, should we take him with us?"
Before Pikachu could begin explaining just why they should not and that the bird got what was coming to him. A great sound of squawks and wings flapping assailed their ears. They turned and looked to the tree line.
"Uhh, Spearow live in flocks, don't they?" Pikachu checked.
"Yep." Ash confirmed, concern in his voice. They both took a few steps back as a fleet of winged shapes took to the sky.
"I don't know if I can zap that many," Pikachu said, looking worried for once.
"I can probably knock a few of them down with Dark Pulse." Ash suggested. The flying-types had zeroed in on them and were now flying at the pair and their knocked-out kin on the ground. "Or, maybe we should…
"Run!" Pikachu shouted and the two took off as fast as they could.
Unfortunately, as fast as they could run, the Spearow flock could fly faster. They began diving down to attack the land-bound Pokemon as they ran. Pikachu tossed out a few Thundershocks to try and discourage the attack and Ash used Dark Pulse on one of them but there were far too many for them to deal with.
Wincing as another Wing Attack glanced off of him Ash looked ahead and saw a drop. "Pikachu, the river! If we can get underwater we might be able to get away!"
Pikachu was too distracted trying to avoid attacks to respond so Ash could only hope that he heard him. He didn't turn away from their current course at least. The two raced on as the Spearow continued to attack them from above.
Just as they neared the edge one of the birds got a lucky shot in on Pikachu knocking him off his feet and to the ground and sending him rolling.
Ash's eyes went wide with panic when his friend didn't immediately get back up again. He was right next to the edge which left Ash with an option. Hoping it wouldn't hurt him too badly he headbutted into Pikachu and kept going, sending them both tumbling into the water below. The cold water was a sudden shock from the warmth of the day and the heat he'd built up from running so hard.
Underwater he blinked his eyes open, well birds weren't diving under the water to attack them so that was a plus. He paddled over to where Pikachu was drifting and winced when he saw the injuries. He had the potion in his bag that could help but if he got out of the water here to do it they would just get attacked again.
His mind spun as he tried thinking of a Pokemon that could let him carry Pikachu and move underwater. He landed on one and hoped he got it right, he wasn't too familiar. With that he grabbed Pikachu in his arms and sped off down the steam following the water current, twin tails spiraling behind him.
Misty sighed and kicked her feet in boredom. Not a bite on the line at all. That's just what she got. Listening to some bug catcher claiming how they'd seen some crazy water Pokemon near Pallet Town. She supposed it was too much to hope for.
She glanced up at the sky and frowned at the dark clouds rolling in. "Drat, looks like rain." She muttered to herself. She considered packing up but she was determined to at least get one bite before she headed out.
The young Gym leader pulled her line in, put some fresh bait on it, and cast it out again. Her fishing focus was somewhat interrupted however by a sudden splash. She jumped in surprise and looked around for the source.
A little way down the shore of the river a Pokemon was emerging from the water. She stared at it for a moment before blinking in recognition. A Buizel!? What was one doing here? They weren't native to Kanto at all!
Maybe that bug catcher hadn't been completely wrong after all, it certainly wasn't the kind of water-type you see around here every day. She quietly put her fishing pole down and crouching low moved to get a closer look.
Moving a little closer she realized there were actually two Pokemon there, one was the Buizel, and the other a Pikachu. The electric mouse looked hurt and she wondered whether the Buizel had attacked it but she saw the tenderness it seemed to be treating the smaller Pokemon with as it set the other upon the ground.
Her confusion only grew when the water type took off a backpack it had on. Shaking herself she made up her mind. She was catching that Buizel, not the Pikachu though but she wasn't going to leave it here. She'd catch Buizel and bring both to Viridian with her to go to the Pokemon Center.
She slipped a Pokeball out and with practiced skill tossed it at the water type.
Whatever she had been expecting it was not for the ball to clonk the Buizel in the head and make it flash blue and topple over, the ball falling unopened to the ground. Misty stood up and stared at what had been her new Buizel.
Instead of an orange-furred weasel, there was now a black-furred fox. The smaller four-legged Pokemon stood up and shook its head. "Zorua…" It muttered.
Zorua huh? She didn't recall hearing of that Pokemon before. It certainly didn't look like a water type though. It could also be Ruazo considering how Pokemon speech worked. Then again she'd never heard of that one either.
It blinked a few times and looked up at her and glared. This is when the strangest part (and that's saying something) happened.
"What's the big idea!" It snapped at her. The voice sounded young, and like a boy's.
She stared at it blankly processing it for a moment. "Did- Did you just talk?"
"Yes, I did." It sniffed at her. "And so did you. What's your point?"
"You're a Pokemon," Misty replied in the same tone of bemusement.
He glanced down at himself. Then back at her. "Currently, yes." He then jumped. "Oh shoot!"
The Pokemon turned away from her and dug through the bag again. "Come on, come on, where is it?"
"I-" Misty shook herself out of her stupor. "What are you looking for?"
"A potion!" The talking Pokemon replied. "Mom said she packed one- Here it is!"
He pulled out of the bag with a small bottle clasped between his teeth. Maneuvering carefully, he pointed it at the Pikachu on the ground.
"Sorry Pikachu, this is going to sting a bit." He squeezed the bottle between his paws and a burst of spray came out of the nozzle, coating the Pikachu.
The electric type hissed as the other Pokemon continued spraying the bottle until he'd emptied it.
"How are you feeling?" He nudged the injured one carefully.
"Pika, pichu chu." Pikachu groaned and sat up. Still looking roughed up but the potion seemed to be doing its work.
"Don't beat yourself up, there were a lot of them. They did a good enough job of beating you up." The Zorua told him and Pikachu responded by bopping his head.
"Kachu." The electric type muttered and finally seemed to notice Misty. "Pika pi?"
"I don't know, she threw a Pokeball at me and then kinda just stood there," Zorua responded. He looked back up at Misty. "Who are you anyway? Why'd you try to catch me, couldn't you see he was hurt?"
The water trainer had recovered a bit from the shock and huffed at him. "I did, I thought you were a Buizel, I was going to catch you and take both of you back to the Pokemon Center in Viridian city. I'm a water-type trainer and I'd never seen a Buizel here before. How'd you do that anyway?"
"Chu," Pikachu growled and Zorua moved between her and the mouse.
"Hold on Pikachu, we still need to get to the Center. You're still hurt and I'm not much better. Also you still haven't told us your name." There were a lot of 'stills' in his words but all of them were indeed true.
"I'm Misty, and I recognize Pikachu, but I don't think I've seen a Pokemon like you before, what are you?" She asked him. Maybe that was why he could talk, was his species just able to speak naturally?
"I'm a Zorua." He confirmed, good she got it right. "My name's Ash."
"Ash?" She tested the nickname. "Where's your trainer, my Pokeball didn't work so you must have one right?"
"She's in Pallet Town." Ash told her, "But I'm…" He froze for a second, looked down at himself and then at Pikachu, and then back at Misty.
He groaned and headbutted the ground, "an idiot. I'm an idiot. 'Make sure to keep your illusion up, you never know what kind of people you'll meet. Yep, sure Mom! No problem!' And the first person I meet, what do I do?"
"Pika ka ka." Pikachu seemed to be laughing at his misfortune.
"An illusion…" Misty muttered crouching down near the other inhabitants of the clearing. "Is that why you looked like Buizel?"
"Yeah." Ash admitted. "I can make solid illusions, they're not strong but they're real enough to let me do things like swim and walk and grab things."
"What does that have to do with you being an idiot? Not that I'm disagreeing with you." She pressed.
"Ka." Pikachu smirked and looked at the other Pokemon who seemed to pout.
"Great, now there's two of you." He flashed blue again and suddenly instead of a small fox Pokemon, there was a human boy with black hair, about her height. Misty's jaw dropped.
"You- what?!" Misty gaped, nearly falling backward before standing back up.
"My illusions can do a lot," Ash said, shrugging what were apparently illusionary shoulders. Misty reached out and poked him, half expecting her hand to go right through him. Instead, she met with what felt like cloth with the skin underneath.
She poked him a couple more times before he scowled and swatted her hand away. "Hey stop that!"
"I…" Realizing she definitely would not want to be poked and prodded like an unappetizing meal she sighed. "I'm sorry, I was just… surprised is all."
Her mind was going in spirals right now. She felt a little bit out of it honestly.
"Good." Ash smiled a little bit. "It means I'm doing something right. Surprising people is what I'm good at." He picked up the still groggy-looking Pikachu and gently placed him on his shoulder. "Which way is Viridian City?" He asked. "The river mixed me up a lot."
Misty pointed, "It's that way but the rain will probably get here befo-" The rest of her sentence was cut off by a loud squawking sound in the distance. Ash and Pikachu froze like they'd been hit with an Ice Beam.
"Oh no, they're back!" He cried and looked over the trees. "How'd they find us!?"
Misty followed his gaze and saw a huge flock of Spearow flapping over the forest. "That's a lot of Spearow." she said, stumbling back.
"Some Diglett chucked a rock at one and they blamed us, they won't listen to what we say and just kept attacking us. Dang it, I don't think we can outrun them this time." Ash worried looking along the path Misty had pointed out.
"I have a bike." Misty said, "But it's only big enough for one of us!"
"Easy solution!" Ash cried out, "Get the bike!" She grabbed it and he put Pikachu in the box at the front and then flashed blue again. "Grab my backpack!"
The young Gym Leader did so but when she turned around she was unable to contain her shriek. Where Ash had stood was a little yellow bug Pokemon maybe four inches tall.
"What?!" His voice asked from the ground, sounding somewhat quieter.
"I- I don't like bugs." She admitted feeling slightly embarrassed.
"I'm not a real bug! Look, this is the smallest thing I can think of that won't throw you off while riding!"
"Couldn't you just turn into a bird and fly?!" She shouted at him, emotions starting to run high.
"No! How would I do that? I get the shape of what I turn into not the abilities!" He shouted back.
"But you can swim!" She pointed out before glancing back at the increasing sound of Spearow. "Ohhh, just jump in with Pikachu." She gave in.
He did so and she quickly kicked off the bike and started riding. Doing her best not to look down at the box and when she did catch sight of Ash's current form she just kept reminding herself that it wasn't a real bug.
They rode down the path, thankfully keeping ahead of the Spearow but unfortunately the rain soon caught up with them.
"I hate riding in the rain." The orange-haired girl growled as she peddled harder. She was doing her best to focus on the annoyance rather than the imminent danger behind them.
"I thought you said you were a water-type trainer, shouldn't you like the rain?" Ash asked her.
"Don't stereotype me!" She demanded as she kept pumping her legs.
Without warning, she felt the pedals catch and lock, making her cry out as the bike tumbled to the ground sending them all sprawling in the dirt and mud. She hissed and clutched at her stinging leg and grimaced as she saw a red line running down her shin. "Shoot."
Ash, now in his true form shook himself and got back up and paced over to her quickly. He looked at her cut and growled. "That's not good, can you walk?"
"I think…" She pushed herself to her feet and winced a bit as she put her weight on the injured leg. She had a few other scrapes and bruises but that was the worst of it. "Are you two okay?"
"I'm alright, Pikachu?" He glanced at his friend who was stumbling to his feet too.
"Pikaa…" The other Pokemon moaned and the three of them looked back up at the dark sky as lightning lit it for a split second. A terrible cloud of dark shapes was visible clearly for an instant as the light faded.
"I- I don't know what to do." Ash worried. "It wasn't supposed to be this way. I don't know how to get away from them. I'm sorry we caught you in this Misty."
"I think I caught myself." She admitted, "Trying to catch you and all."
"Ha." He chuckled bleakly. Ash then braced himself. "I have an idea. Take Pikachu and keep moving."
"What?" She stared at him. "You can't fight them all off!"
"Nope!" He agreed. "But I might be able to buy you a few seconds which is more than you had before."
"My leg is hurt, you'd make it farther than me!" She argued with him.
"Yeah, but I would need to change my shape to something that could carry Pikachu. If I get hit once we'd go down so you have a better chance." He stalked forward determinedly.
"You're crazy," Misty told him.
"Why do people keep saying that?" Ash grumbled and applied his illusion. The blue shape coalesced into an imposing figure standing taller than Misty.
"URSARING!" Ash roared, doing a remarkable job of sounding like the Hibernator Pokemon. Misty stared in awe for a moment as he roared again and swung his paws menacingly towards the Spearow and was elated to see some back away from the imposing shape ahead of them!
Still reluctant to just run and leave the Zorua, Misty glanced down at Pikachu who had now struggled to his own feet.
"Pika," Pikachu grunted and the sound of electricity sparking hummed over the sound of the rain and met the squawks of the birds. Ash was turned away and didn't seem to notice his friend getting up.
He then rushed forward in a burst of speed. "Pika!" He leaped into the air just as the Spearow came down upon Ash. He landed briefly on the shoulder of the Ursaring illusion and used it as a launching pad to go even higher! A bolt of lightning seemed to fall out of the sky and surround the electric type for a moment as he said the final syllable. "CHU!"
A ball of gold light flashed around Pikachu, ringed by bolts of electricity. The ball glowed even brighter to a white glow for a fraction of a moment and then burst out! Misty and Ash were both thrown back by the attack but the Spearow had it worse! A pillar of yellow electricity rose into the sky, brightening the forest as though the storm was not there! Clouds were forced away from the sheer power of the attack and the world seemed to rumble.
The light faded and was replaced by a lesser glow that was nonetheless warm and welcome. The attack, if that display of power could be called an attack, had blown away the storm.
The three of them lay on the ground, just taking a moment to breathe.
"That was ridiculous!" Misty announced, staring at the sky.
"I didn't recognize that attack Pikachu," Ash admitted looking at his friend. "I'm pretty sure you just saved our lives."
"Pi. Ka. Chu." The electric-type agreed. Or at least Misty thought he did, it was hard to tell sometimes.
Ash looked away and back up at the sky and blinked. "Hey look! A rainbow." He pointed one of his stubby legs at the colorful line in the waning light.
"Wow, that one looks almost real," Misty added following Ash's line of sight, and indeed it did. Most rainbows were hard to see and could be missed by passers-by but this one stood out in the sky, seeming almost solid. No doubt this is the rainbow legends referred to when people claimed you could follow it to the end and find treasure.
A bird's cry filled the air again but this one was not a Spearow's cry. So even as it echoed the trio relaxed, the sound was musical and sweet and it seemed to reinvigorate them as they heard it. As they watched a great bird flew through the sky, over the departing storm clouds and towards the rainbow.
"I've never seen that Pokemon before," Misty said, staring. "It's beautiful."
As the bird flew off they stared wistfully after it. "I don't know who that was but I think I want to meet them someday." Ash decided as it escaped their sight.
"I guess we should probably head for Viridian City, before the Spearow wake back up." Misty pointed out, pushing herself to her feet and flinching as she was reminded of the cut on her leg. "I feel like we should probably let someone know about them so they can warn travelers."
"Good idea." Ash agreed and helped Pikachu get to his feet. "Pikachu needs to get to a Pokemon Center. He was already hurt and whatever he just did recoiled I think."
"We could all use a checkup I think." Misty pointed out and started looking for her bicycle. Upon spotting it, she froze in horror.
There was her wonderful bike that she'd gotten for her eighth birthday, charred and crumpled on the ground. "Oh no my bike!" She cried in mourning. "How am I gonna get back to Cerulean City now!?"
Ash would never tell her, but Pikachu had muttered, somewhat deliriously. "That bike had it coming."
Some things were better left unsaid.
Let's be honest, is it really Pokemon if Pikachu doesn't fry Misty's bike?
So, this is quite the monster of a chapter, isn't it? I decided where I wanted to end it before I started writing it and things just kept happening!
"Oh it's going to be an entire year, what do they do during that year? Train with Shelldon yes! But I don't want to just skim over something like that again so let's show what that training was like (the answer is traumatizing for everyone involved). Oh I need a 4th Pallet Town trainer, let's bug my friends in discord to help me come up with a character I will probably never use again! (Credit for Chou to JessesanMan). Oh shoot there's no way Gary wouldn't challenge Ash to a battle as soon as he got his Pokemon and since they're both on time they have to battle! Oh and I should probably have the other two battle too!"
Like I had the Spearow and Diglett stuff planned, and Misty and Ho-oh but like 90% of the stuff before that was stuff that just flowed out of my fingers as I wrote.
So yeah, but hey! Chapters out, and right at the beginning of Saturday too! Should I have waited until a reasonable hour of the morning? Yeah probably. But you get the chapter so be glad!
Anyway before I get to reviews I'd like to address something. Please stop asking what's going to happen. Like it's going to spoil the story if I answer. I might mention some things I will definitely NOT be doing. But yeah. That said I do really appreciate reviews and look forward to reading, just be mindful that if the chapter itself does not answer a question, I probably won't in my responses.
Let's get to responding!
Storyreader21: As I mentioned above this is spoiler territory. I will say I am doing the Mewtwo stuff but I will not say what I have planned for it. Nevertheless I'm glad you like the story!
The Smiling Crow: Holy guacamole I was not expecting you to review this story! If I ever saw you in my reviews I'd expected to see you on one of the Danny Phantom ones. I seem to be holding on to my inspiration and thank you for reviewing. I was very excited to see your name again!
PokeDan: That happened to me once, it was a very exciting feeling and I'm glad I gave you the chance to experience it!
Dustcookie: I like the premise too! It's why I decided to write it!
Ultima-owner: Thank you! I was worried people might miss that and it was one of my favorite jokes of the chapter.
Fatal Blooms in Moonlight: Glad to have your love!
Nightfiredragon: Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait!
Pikachumaster18: Well this chapter answers the Misty half of that question, Brock remains to be seen…
Yami Nova: Probably :P
Guest: This is like all stuff I cannot answer, except the 2nd one which is like, he tried okay. He had a plan but then Diglett and Spearow happened.
Lupercus1944: The legendary reviewer returns as well! Glad you like the moments I have between Ash and Pikachu. Also your last point about the other stories with Ash being a Zorua literally parallel my own thoughts on why I started this story. Like, I really enjoy "Master, Pokemon?" but Ash being a Zorua/Zoroark feels like it falls to the backburner a lot because he's really trying to maintain his disguise as a human. There are fun moments of him being a Pokemon but for the most part it feels like he's a human with some Pokemon traits, instead of a Pokemon replicating human traits. I used to say "if you want it written right, write it yourself" but that's not entirely accurate. There is no right way to write things so in this case, "if you want to see a concept take a different direction write it yourself!", that doesn't quite flow off the tongue the same but it works I supposed. Nevertheless, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much!
Emu Thing: Just a little more mature. I'll be honest I like the Journey's interpretation of Ash a bit more than the original series because he can still be a bit of a dummy but he's also capable and possibly what could be called a sunshine child. I tended towards that a bit more in my characterization, although OG Ash has some on point witty comebacks.
Oakler: As long as the energy fills me I will continue to write it!
Cmzook: This is not a direct spoiler so I will say yes, I am thinking of adding a Hisuian Zorua to the story. I'm not sure how yet though.
Johnathan-Mandrake: …I, I don't' know how you ever got the impression I was going to make this a Harem, or ship Ash and Latias, the only place I've even mentioned shipping was saying I wasn't gonna touch Human/Pokemon relationships with a 10 foot pole and that was about it I think. I don't like shipping, it frustrates me and seems to make people angry for no real good reason. I have no intention of shipping Ash with anyone in this story unless someone gives me a really convincing argument for why it's a good idea and will positively impact the story in some way outside of whatever painful subplot I'd have to write to make it work. That turned into a bit of a rant but my point stands. I do not plan nor intend to ship Ash with Latias and I will definitely not be making this a harem story.
And that's all for the reviews! A lot more than normal which I was happy to see, let's see if that keeps up! (I hope it does)
There was one more thing I wanted to address, but it's not urgent and this note has run long enough!
I will update again next week! Until then!
~FriTik
R&R