Edited 12/11/22
Are humans Pokemon? Discuss.
Despite Misty's desire for Ash to bring Pikachu to bear upon her sisters, he would much rather take his team to the Pokemon Center to get them checked out.
While he was there he made a call home, it had been about a week or so since they left Pewter City and longer since he had called her.
There was not much news from the homefront, except that Shelldon had taken his landscaping to the next level and had made a small pond with an island in their backyard. He was looking into different trees that he could put on said island. Ash wasn't exactly sure how the other Pokemon had uncovered such a passion, but he figured he'd know who to go to if he ever needed a garden.
He told her about his journeys and his Trainer-Mom was excited to hear about his adventures and listened with rapt attention as he explained his trials to get his first gym badge.
Delia was delighted to find out about his latest teammate and pointed out a scheme he hadn't noticed yet.
"You're following in my footsteps! A Pidgeotto and a Clefairy! You just need Squirtle now!" She cheered.
"I don't know if we'll see a Squirtle." Ash pointed out. "Even if we do, it's up to them if they want to come with me or not!"
"Fair enough," Delia admitted with a sigh. "Oh! Before I forget, you need to call Professor Oak, he's been expecting you to call him since you left!"
Ash opened his mouth to say he had already called Professor Oak and then froze. He had certainly meant to call the professor. But then in Viridian that whole thing with Team Rocket had happened and making the call had slipped his mind. Then at Pewter he had just straight up forgotten about it, focusing on training and his rematch with Brock instead.
"...Oops." Was his intelligent response upon realizing his mistakes.
His trainer just sighed and shook her head fondly. "Just make sure to call him before you move on. You'll be heading to Saffron City right?"
"That's the next stop on the road at least." Ash agreed. "It should be a straightforward trip though!"
He gave his goodbyes and signed off with a wave. He did miss her, but going on this trip, going to these places, and meeting new people was addictive! He wanted to keep going and keep exploring!
With some effort Ash held back his eagerness to run back to Nurse Joy, grab the rest of his team and run off again. He really should call Professor Oak and if he wanted to keep traveling with Misty he would have to wait another day or two.
The Zorua entered the number of the lab and waited as the phone rang. A few moments later Professor Oak appeared on the screen, looking rather sternly at him.
"I've spoken to Gary you know." Professor Oak started before Ash could so much as say hello.
He blinked at the man. "Okay…?"
"I've also heard from Leaf." The Pokemon Professor nodded with eyes closed. "As well as Chou. And other trainers I've sent out previously. But do you know who I haven't heard from in almost two weeks? Not since he left my lab?"
Guilt wormed its way into his gut. "Is it me?"
"It's you!" The professor agreed with a cheery smile. Ash's expression must have been an odd mess of guilt and indignation and the man burst out laughing. "Oh, don't let my words cut you too deeply. From what I have gathered you've had quite the adventure so far. I suppose it's living up to your expectations?"
Ash let the negative feelings flow out of him and once again embraced his eagerness and excitement. "Yeah! It's been great so far! I mean those Team Rocket guys are a bit annoying but other than that! I've met a bunch of new people and made more friends! Did Mom mention Misty to you? She's pretty cool and we've been traveling together for a bit!"
Oak chuckled softly. "This is normally the part where I make a joke about young love but that doesn't apply here does it?" Ash scrunched up his face in confusion but the man continued. "But on a different note, Team Rocket. Can you explain to me exactly what you've encountered from them so far?"
Ash saw no harm in it and explained his encounters with the group of thieves and their Pokemon. He tried not to leave anything out but he knew his annoyance with them was likely tinging his descriptions and views.
"Hmm, a talking Meowth, interesting." The professor stroked his chin. "It does make me wonder if every Pokemon has the capacity for human language though. Now we have two examples who can do so. Outside of Psychics and certain fighting-types I didn't think it was possible. You are the exception of course but my further research has led me to believe that you are not a unique case."
"You mean there are other Pokemon who became trainers?" Ash asked with curiosity a new source of excitement beginning to develop.
Professor Oak side-eyed him. "That's not what I was talking about. I meant that other Zorua and Zoroark seem capable of human speech as well. Not just human speech but replicating other Pokemon's cries as well."
"Oh." Ash began to lose interest. "Well, that just makes sense. If we want to disguise ourselves then we need to play the part right?"
"There were studies in the past." Professor Oak admitted. "In regions where Zorua are common, it's a relatively widespread belief that if a child suddenly becomes quiet and reserved then it might be a Zorua disguising themself."
"That just means they were doing a bad job of it, which is how they got found out." Ash pointed out.
The man on the screen smiled at him fondly. "You have an interesting way of looking at the world Ash. Nevertheless, I appreciate your insight on the matter. But backtracking a bit to Team Rocket once more I warn you to be careful." His voice turned serious and his eyes stern. "While the ones you have encountered thus far seem relatively harmless there are far more dangerous members among them, so please be careful."
Ash could figure out pretty easily how threatening they had the potential to be and maybe other members were more dangerous. He would keep an eye out and deal with them whenever he had to. There wasn't much else for him to do. "I'll be careful Professor."
"See to it that you do. While I won't besmirch you the low count on your Pokedex I will let you know that the others who set out have full teams by now. Just something for you to think about." With that, the professor signed off and left Ash to his thoughts.
He did plan to get a full team… eventually anyway. It was just a matter of finding Pokemon who were interested in coming with him. He would never force someone to do it, even if he wanted them to join him, they had the final say in whether they did it or not.
Although he could maybe be a bit more upfront about asking the Pokemon they ran into if they were interested. He had done it a few times but only if they had displayed interest first. He wasn't sure how many Pokemon he would need for the third gym challenge. That was probably something he should look into.
Whatever the future of his team might be, for the time being, he had to pick up his current teammates and friends.
With his friends now fully healthy Ash found himself with some free time. A part of him considered going right back to training but they needed a bit of a break right after the gym battle. For now, they just explored the city.
There were plenty of parks and fountain areas for them to hang out. But there wasn't exactly much for them to do at these spots apart from just kind of sit around, talk and twiddle their thumbs (for those of them that had thumbs anyway).
The quartet sat on a bench next to a fountain in one of those park spaces. Or rather Ash sat on the bench, and everyone else was sitting on Ash. Pikachu and Pidgeotto on his shoulders and Selene on his lap. Maybe he should feel a bit annoyed at the fact he had become the de facto chair of the group but he couldn't find it in himself.
"That was much more terrifying than it had any right to be," Pidgeotto recalled, giving the fountain they sat near a distrustful look, as though the water might suddenly leap at her in an attack.
"Horrifyingly effective might be the best way to describe it," Pikachu suggested.
Ash winced at the memory. "Yeah, I'm honestly not sure what we could have done there. I've been going over it in my head and I can't think of an option that would work." He didn't believe in no-win scenarios, there had to have been something they could have done right?
"Battles are kind of scary," Selene admitted, a little quietly.
Ash looked down at her with some concern. "Remember what I said? You don't have to if you don't want to. I know everyone else is excited about them and wants to do more but I don't want to pressure you into something you don't like."
Selene looked up and met his gaze. Which looked a little silly because he saw her face upside down. "It's not that I don't want to. I had fun fighting Goldeen and it was way better than anything I could do before I met you. But it's still a little scary, not knowing what's going to happen next and that it could hurt."
"I can get that on some level," Pikachu admitted. "But it would be a bit hypocritical of me if I decided not to battle because I might get hurt."
"Is it because you like shocking pe-?" Pidgeotto asked but was spoken over as she completed her sentence.
"It's because I like shocking people." The electric-type confirmed, not even giving his friend the time to finish her thought.
Ash chuckled. "I wish I had an easy solution for you, Selene." He told her. "There's not much of an in-between that I can think of."
She hummed in thought. "I don't really want an in-between, I want to get stronger and braver. I guess I just have to work at it."
There wasn't much to say on the topic. After some time relaxing and the eventual agreement that talking while traveling was vastly preferable to talking while sitting in the same place, they decided to head back to the gym and see what was going on there.
Misty had had battles after he left, while her personal team may have been beaten by him there were plenty of Pokemon that nominally belonged to the gym she could use while her own were recovering, or if she needed some extra oomph for a trainer with a high badge count.
Unfortunately, (in Ash's opinion at least) when they returned she didn't have any battles going on.
He had kind of hoped to see how Misty did with Pokemon that she wasn't directly training. Or more excitingly, what kind of super-powered Pokemon the gym had in case higher level trainers challenged it.
As it happened though, Misty just ended up putting him and his team to work at the gym if he was planning on hanging around.
He didn't have any other plans or ideas so he ended up agreeing to lend a hand however he could.
Part of this was just using a mop to help dry the floor up. Her sisters had been using trainers who came to the gym for manual labor like that and giving them badges as rewards. Since Misty was battling the challengers who came in and giving her sisters a crash course in battling the gym hadn't been cleaned in a few days.
Fortunately, it wasn't all manual labor, he and his team got a few more battles out of the event.
Nothing too serious, mostly just seeing how each of the older girls did against different types of Pokemon since the gym was limited to water types.
Not much exciting happened and none of the battles were anything too strenuous. The Pokemon he and his team were facing were relatively weaker gym-owned Pokemon whom Misty was encouraging her sisters to train seriously and make them part of the regular rotation.
In the end, the only Pokemon who gave Ash any real trouble was a Seel who managed to take Selene by surprise with an Ice Beam. She shivered and started rocking back and forth. Ash was about to give a new order but heard what she was muttering through chattering teeth and let her continue.
"T-tick-tock t-t-tick-tock tick-t-tock." The fairy-type stammered and kept rocking.
Seel and his current trainer (Violet) didn't pick up on what was going on until it was too late. Ash's friend stopped keeping the rhythm and flashed, but held her stomach for a moment. With a gasp, she opened her mouth and a massive beam of light and energy poured out like an unstoppable wave of destruction.
The opposing Pokemon and trainer both panicked and got out of the way of the attack. Seel, actually leaped out of the pool in a frenzy to avoid getting hit by whatever Selene had just unleashed.
The beam continued for a moment or two before sputtering out. Those nearby were left gaping at the result. The poor Clefairy who had unleashed that monster of an attack had a moment to burp and say "Excuse me." Before toppling over.
Misty came over to find out whatever the heck had just happened. "I'm pretty sure that was Hyper Beam. How did you even teach that to her so quickly? Did you use a TM or something?"
"I don't have any and can't even afford them right now," Ash explained as he checked over his friend. "She was using her shivering to disguise her Metronome. It must have just turned into Hyper Beam!"
"That move is way too random," Violet complained as she brushed herself off and came to her feet. "There was a trainer with a Jigglypuff who came in here once and only used that move and nothing else. They were able to do it pretty quickly, so there was a new attack every two or three seconds. Sometimes it was something like Splash or Rain Dance, other times it was Explosion or Earthquake!"
It was good planning on the architect's part that the wall was able to take the brunt of the attack without having a hole blown clean through it. The gym had obviously been designed to handle such damage from battles.
After the light show and with Selene now out for the count and the sun long gone, they decided that it was time to pack it up for the night.
"I'm glad I don't have to stay as late tonight," Misty told Ash as they left. "But can we speed up a little?" She glanced nervously behind her. "I think they've figured out I'm only staying another day and they're regaining their confidence."
"You two better not be planning any late-night swims!" Lily called to them and a full-body shiver ran through Misty.
"I ought to…" Ash had to hold her back from stomping over to her sister.
"They're just trying to get a rise out of you!" He warned her. "Don't let it get to you!"
Misty struggled a bit longer before going slack. "You're right and I hate it. Doesn't change the fact I want to bash their skulls in!" She shouted with a raised voice and her relatives giggled at her fury.
Ash was stuck eating human food that night, much to his chagrin. It was edible at least but he would have preferred the normal Pokemon chow. Something about the regular food just didn't sit right in his stomach.
There was a hefty awkwardness at the table with the group sitting there. Despite their earlier words none of the sisters (Misty included) seemed to be inclined to go back to their dynamic from when Ash had first arrived.
Misty was the one who finally broke the silence. "I haven't exactly been hiding it but I'm leaving again the day after tomorrow."
There was a noticeable slumping of shoulders from her older siblings as tension seemed to fall out of them. "Oh thank-" Daisy started before catching herself. "I mean, you're leaving so soon? We'll miss you of course!" She glanced at their other two sisters who nodded almost mechanically.
Misty just jabbed aggressively at her food. "Don't get too broken up about it." She muttered.
"Well, what do you want from me Misty?" Daisy shot back, the first time Ash had heard the girl sounding angry. "You've been nothing but a menace since you got back! You threatened to call the league on us!"
Ash's friend rose to her feet and slammed her hands on the table. "Only because you refuse to do your jobs! If you did what you were supposed to, we wouldn't be having this conversation!"
"If you care so much about the gym maybe you should have stuck around then!" Daisy's height advantage had her looking down at her sister.
"You're going to make this about the fact I didn't stay here? I went on a fishing trip! I would've been back in a day or two normally! I almost died when a flock of Spearow attacked us!" Misty snapped.
Violet held up her hands. "Now girls maybe we should-"
"Shut up Violet!" Both her oldest and youngest sister shouted at her before glaring at each other again.
Neither girl was willing to give an inch and the rest of the residents ate on in silence. Ash silently considered the situation and didn't know what to do.
He definitely agreed with Misty here. It shouldn't be her responsibility to take care of the gym by herself, not when they were all supposed to be doing it. But taking her side in the argument seemed like it would just further the divide between the siblings.
By the time dinner wrapped up and everyone went to bed Ash still hadn't managed to devise a solution to the problem.
The next morning saw Misty waking Ash up, wearing the same outfit from yesterday. "I'll see what I can do to wrap things up at the gym today. Can you get our supplies for tomorrow?"
"Sure!" Ash nodded enthusiastically, eager to get going once again. He quickly put his illusion back on and started rousing his team. "What do we need?"
"I've got a list of what I want you to grab me." She handed the note to him. "Let me know how much it costs. I'll pay you back for it. I want a full bike back eventually, not just most of one." She chuckled at her own joke.
"I'll try and get some more medical supplies too," Ash said partly to himself. "Pidgeotto felt a bit put out by all the battles we had to skip over last time."
"A first aid manual would be helpful too." Misty considered. "Just get whatever you can, and make sure we can carry it. A gallon of water won't do us any good if we can't carry it"
"True." Ash admitted and glanced at her, she seemed to be doing alright but just in case… "Are you feeling okay?"
The girl blinked in surprise at the question. "I'm fine. I think at least." Misty admitted with a sigh. "It's just… they're always like this! Picking on me and making things out to be my responsibility! They always make me do everything and then blame me when they're not done!"
Ash was quiet for a second. "I can't say I get it, but I am sorry."
"You're not the one who needs to be sorry," Misty grumbled before relaxing. "Thanks though. I'll see you later."
The Pokemon in disguise went from store to store for the rest of the day. Gathering what he could and preparing for the next leg of their journey. Getting water and rations as well as potions and bandages. He saw a guide to first aid for travelers and grabbed it.
All in all, his purchases dug heftily into his savings but there wasn't much he could do about that.
Once he had everything, he and his friends dropped it off at the house before heading to an out-of-the-way and less frequented park. When they got there, Ash abandoned his illusion and the Zorua stretched and enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his fur.
"I've missed this!" He cheered and raced around the clearing they were in. Just enjoying the feeling of being on four legs and in his real shape and size.
"Wow, he can move pretty quickly like that!" Selene watched his lap of freedom.
Pikachu chuckled. "I call it the Ash Rush. Sometimes he'll just get too full of energy and need to let it all out. It wasn't too bad when we're traveling since we're constantly moving but we've been a bit more limited around here."
Ash's run ended up turning into a game of tag, which Pidgeotto kept winning much to everyone else's annoyance. Pikachu was technically faster, but she had the aerial advantage and was able to dive-bomb him.
After getting their energy out and having some fun, the team returned to the Waterflower house to eat and turn in for the night.
Things were… calmer, that night at dinner.
The guest was reluctant to pry too far into their personal affairs but Misty must have seen him glancing around and taken pity on his silent curiosity. "We talked. I can't say I'm entirely happy with them."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "But we came to an understanding. They'll send me reports about how the gym is doing while we're traveling so I can be content that everything is fine here, and they'll go back to doing their shows. As long as they can keep up with both it's fine."
Lily smirked. "Well, it would have been far too cruel for us to keep you here. After all, you've managed to find your true love!"
"It's true!" Violet agreed as Misty's face began to go red, from embarrassment or anger was unclear. "I know it's tougher for boys to understand sometimes but Misty has her heart set on you, Ash! Why else would she follow you around like a poor lost puppy!"
Ash shuffled his feet under the table and looked down at his plate, unsure of what to say. Misty was a good friend but he definitely was not interested in her that way. How would that even wor- NOPE! He shut down that line of thought as soon as it started.
As the sisters regained their jovial attitude and kept pestering Misty, perhaps a bit less harshly, the ginger girl had no reply.
The youngest sister had simply covered her face with her hands and dragged them down it. She had no rant this time, and the red had faded from her skin. Instead, a single word was all she had to utter.
"Why?"
The next morning saw them set off again on their journey with a not quite tearful goodbye to her sisters, but probably a better send-off than they would have gotten if they left a day earlier, they set off once more.
Ash's Pokemon still enjoyed using him as a living transport. Pikachu and Pidgeotto on his shoulders and Selene happily resting in his arms. A part of him wondered if he would have to use a bigger Pokemon as an illusion as his team grew so everyone could keep riding.
Misty had a proper bag with her now, complete with a change of clothes and her tent. She'd kept the outfit she'd been wearing the past few days, something about it being more modern.
As for Ash, he was relatively unchanged save for a single addition. It had started with Daisy inspecting him and mentioning that she felt like he was missing something. He had crafted the illusion himself that morning so he knew he had everything where it was supposed to be but she said it had to do with his head.
Misty seemed to expect an insult to his appearance and began defending him but Daisy brushed her off.
"No that's not it. His face is fine, well as fine as it can be. No, it just feels like..." She ruffled his hair a bit and Ash ducked away. "Do you have a hat?"
He blinked at her. "Yeah actually, mom packed one when I left, I don't need it though."
"It's not about needing it, it's about style. Give it to me!" She spun him around and dug through his backpack for a minute, notably without asking him permission but he was a bit too stunned to protest.
She grabbed the prize in a few moments and set it on his head and spun him back around. "That's better! Almost perfect! But still…" She glanced at Lily. "Do you have your detailing pen?"
"Always! Duh!" She responded and handed the item to Daisy. With that, the girl held Ash steady and doodled something on the blank white material of the baseball cap.
"Perfect!" She decided and Ash took the hat off to look at it for a moment. The only thing different about it was a black and white Pokeball that had been drawn on the front. He put it back on, not wanting to linger much longer and his teammates inspected his new headgear.
"Huh." Pidgeotto was the first to speak up.
Pikachu considered him. "That does look pretty good on you."
"I like it!" Selene agreed and that was that.
They exited southward from Cerulean City, heading towards Saffron City. Nothing much happened for the first leg or so of their journey. They crossed paths with a few trainers who were in a bit of a rush or not interested in a battle. They kept traveling as the sun climbed into the sky, passing noon eventually.
Then they came to a place that claimed to be a Pokemon Gym.
"This can't be right can it?" Ash asked Misty as they looked at the tent past the sign pole.
"A gym in the middle of nowhere?" Misty checked. "Yeah, no there's no way this place is legitimate."
Ash remembered his conversation with Professor Oak a few days previously. "Professor Oak mentioned something about some Team Rocket members being a lot more dangerous and effective. Do you think this might be something like that?"
"A fake gym?" Misty checked, "It could be, lure in trainers with the promise of a badge and then weaken and tire out the Pokemon and take them."
"Let's rip this place apart then!" Pikachu declared with a spark dancing across his cheeks.
"We could just call the police?" Misty suggested as they approached.
The disguised trainer shrugged. "But we don't know if they're even really Team Rocket! We'll take a look and see what's going on here."
As they approached the tent, a cracking noise from inside got their attention. The two trainers glanced at each other and rushed ahead, Misty releasing both Staryu and Starmie as they went.
Inside the gym was a young man, maybe a bit older than Misty, and a Sandshrew, Ash was dimly aware of other Pokemon in the space but what caught his eye were the two in the middle. The Sandshrew was on the ground and the boy had a whip in his hand and was cracking it at the ground-type.
"Hey!" Ash shouted as they rushed forwards.
"Knock that off!" Misty agreed.
Pikachu had no plans to limit himself to verbal interjection and instead just unleashed a Thunderbolt at the whipper.
What happened next was a pretty big shock to the group. Sandshrew leapt into the air and took the Thunderbolt head-on, not even wincing at the ineffective attack before landing back on the ground. The other Pokemon in the tent, seeing the commotion, rushed over and protectively formed around the boy with the whip.
This brought the newcomers to a halt as they stared at the Pokemon in confusion, the human just crossed his arms and glared at them.
"What's the big idea interrupting my training?"
"Training?" Misty sputtered. "You were whipping that Sandshrew!"
"We were training his defense!" Was his snappy response. He jabbed a thumb at himself, "I'm AJ and these are my Pokemon. We're going to take the Pokemon league by storm and we need to be strong enough to do it!"
"That's not training!" Ash protested. "Training is teaching new moves and working on new techniques and exercises! That's just whipping that poor Sandshrew!"
"What did you just call me?" The Sandshrew took a step forward. "I'm the toughest Pokemon you'll ever meet, you second-rate trainer. How dare you come in here and mess with our training!"
Pikachu was just staring at Sandshrew in sheer confusion and bewilderment. "He was whipping you. How are you okay with that?"
"It makes me tougher and I can take enemy attacks better." Sandshrew shrugged. "I wouldn't expect a weak little electric-type like you to understand."
Misty was starting an argument with AJ. "You have this place labeled as a gym and inside we find you beating a Pokemon. Do you have any idea how this looks?!"
The boy just glared at her. "I wouldn't expect you to understand. This isn't an official gym, just a place where I can put out a challenge. We're training and once we get a hundred victories in a row we'll set out and challenge the Gyms."
"That's ridiculous!" Ash protested. "The Gym Challenge is literally about becoming stronger and making sure you're ready for the next badge and the league. How the heck does winning a hundred battles before even challenging your first gym make sense?"
AJ shrugged. "Look, I don't need to explain myself to you. If you're here for a challenge then we'll fight you, otherwise, get lost and let us get back to training."
Ash glared at him. "I'm not going to fight someone who treats his friends like that. We might get rough during training but I don't force my team to sit there as I beat them."
The other trainer seemed to consider it. "Alright, I can kind of see how this might look like I just told Sandshrew to sit there and take a beating or something but this is just part of our training! Sandshrew is an unstoppable machine at this point! None of the gyms will be so much of a challenge to us!"
"But it's just a whip." Misty pointed out. "I'm not even sure that counts as a normal type attack, how does he deal with things like water-type attacks or grass-types?"
"Water we have covered." he gestured to an above-ground swimming pool nearby. "Sandshrew is a very proficient swimmer!" There was some pride in his voice. "Besides the results speak for themselves, ninety-eight battles won, just two more and we're challenging our first gym."
Ash felt a little sick, and more than a little angry. He could practically hear Pikachu gnashing his teeth on his shoulder, and Selene was noticeably quiet. Pidgeotto was inspecting each of the Pokemon around AJ in turn. "They seem completely exhausted. More so than we are after we finish training, but none of them seem to be protesting it."
"Does that make it right?" Pikachu asked her.
Pidgeotto did not have a response. Neither did Ash for that matter. This looked wrong, it felt wrong! But what was he supposed to do?
Tell all the Pokemon to leave when they were clearly on AJ's side?
He could battle the boy but how would that play out?
If AJ won then he'd just rub his 'superior' training methods in Ash's face. If Ash won then he might just force his Pokemon through even harder training.
"I… I don't like this." Ash said. "This doesn't look right, it doesn't feel right. I can't make your Pokemon stop training with you." He turned away from the trainer and looked at the defensive faces and stances of AJ's Pokemon. "So I'll talk to you instead. Are you really happy here? Doing this? Is getting stronger like this worth it?"
"Why are you even asking them, you can't understand them." AJ protested his questions.
Sandshrew took his trainer's side even now. "He's just a moron, doesn't know any better. Let him prattle on."
"He makes us stronger." Beedrill buzzed, apparently deciding to answer since he had been addressed directly. "It's harsh but it's effective, we're better than we would have ever been otherwise."
The three Ratata glanced at each other, apparently a bit more nervous. "It is tiring, but it's our best choice, it's for our own good, we're not strong enough on our own."
"AJ cares about us in his way," Butterfree added. "Maybe we weren't sure at first but we're here now."
Ash felt his unhappiness grow at the responses. He almost wanted to answer them all directly but he wasn't about to out himself like this in front of this trainer.
"But he never gave you a choice, to begin with!" It was Pikachu who took the reins and leaped down from Ash's shoulder. "Did any of you choose to come with him? Did any of you get a choice where you could have turned around?" He looked at each of the Pokemon one by one.
"Can't you control your Pikachu?" AJ complained as the electric-type stalked forwards.
"He can control himself." Ash snapped. Normally he would have added 'mostly' but now was not the time.
"It's… It's just how it works." The smallest of the Rattata said.
"NO!" Pikachu cried. "That's not how it works! You deserve a choice! What because he's a human and you're not he gets to decide what happens?!"
"Oh come on!" Sandshrew complained and glared at the rest of the Pokemon. "Are you going to listen to this guy? He's got a trainer of his own! They're probably just jealous."
"You can keep quiet." Pidgeotto flapped down from Ash's shoulder and landed next to Pikachu. "We all got a choice, heck I joined Ash because I wanted to get stronger but that was my decision, not his. I asked to see how training made Pokemon stronger and we had a battle. I've grown far stronger since then but it was my choice, not his."
"He's pressured us into training sometimes," Pikachu admitted and Ash felt a tiny twinge of guilt and worry. "But never forced us. If we didn't want to do it or wanted to take a break he let us. Can you say the same?" The silence was telling apart from Sandshrew's snort.
"Breaks are for weaklings and cowards. You act like AJ doesn't care about us, he'd do whatever it takes for us if it came down to it!" He slammed his tail on the ground.
Pikachu met Sandshrew's gaze. "Does he care about you? Or the time he's spent training you?"
He looked at the rest of the Pokemon. "You all deserve to have a choice in it. You don't have to stay with him if you don't feel like you can anymore and you don't have to battle if you don't want to. I can't force you to leave him no matter how much I hate it. I want to just blast him into nothing." The electric-type sparked furiously and for a moment Ash was worried he might try attacking again and got ready for an all-out brawl.
The electricity faded. "But it's not my choice either." Pikachu slowly trotted back over to Ash and climbed back up, Pidgeotto soon joined him. "Let's get out of here before I try and put an Iron Tail through that trainer's skull."
Ash sighed and turned around. Misty hadn't gotten any of the conversation but realized that Pikachu had made his point.
Ash glanced back at AJ's Pokemon, Sandshrew was still glaring after them but the rest looked somewhat contemplative. He hoped things worked out for them, whatever they chose to do.
"Running away huh?" AJ taunted, there was still bravado there but it seemed a little more withdrawn.
Ash paused and Selene looked up at him nervously, she'd stayed silent through everything but he could see that she felt unhappy with what they'd just witnessed. He looked back at AJ and met his gaze.
"I'd battle the actual criminals I've met before I'd battle you." The Zorua told him. He did not raise his voice and kept his anger to the lowest simmer he could. With that final remark, he left the tent and did not look back a second time, Misty following behind.
They walked in silence for the rest of the day until dinner time came and they set up camp for the night.
Ash stared silently at the weak campfire with his friends around him. He'd never been one to shy away from physical affection in the past, and having the other Pokemon constantly in contact with him had become so part of the norm he felt naked and alone when they were away from him.
So he sat there, friends around him, chin on his knees, still in his illusion, and kept feeling miserable.
Misty sighed from her spot across the fire. She had Staryu and Starmie out but they were stood back a little ways from the heat of the flame, water might be strong against fire but it could still dry them out. "Are you feeling okay Ash?"
"No." He answered honestly.
"I'm sorry you had to see all that," Misty admitted. "I knew some trainers are crueler and harsher with their Pokemon but that was my first time seeing it in person."
"It felt wrong," Ash repeated his earlier thoughts and words. "Am I a hypocrite?" He added softly.
"What?" Misty stared at him. "How would you be a hypocrite?"
His team looked at him, obviously curious about his answer as well. "Training is hard and it can be painful. Sure we might do it differently but it still involves you guys getting hurt." He directed at his fellow Pokemon.
"You may have chosen to come with me but I chose to make you train, while it might look and seem different, how is what he was doing with Sandshrew any different than what we were doing with you Pidgeotto?" He looked at the flying-type. "Endurance training we called it, it was just Pikachu shocking you to make you tougher and faster."
He turned to Pikachu next. "Then I just used Night Daze on you over and over to help you learn to dodge better. I'm doing the same thing in a different way. It still involves hurting you guys to make you stronger. I just say it more nicely."
Selene stood up and walked in front of him, standing between him and the fire. "Drop your illusion." She told him.
Ash froze for a moment. There was a reason he had stayed in his disguise even though they were alone for the time being. After a few seconds, he dropped the illusion and looked at the fairy-type with the tear-filled eyes he'd been using his disguise to hide.
"I didn't want to hurt anyone." He sniffed and hated how pathetic he must look right now. "But I am, aren't I? Battles are fun but they hurt and I don't mind but maybe you guys do, and if you don't what about the other team? Do they want to be here and fighting and am I the bad guy for fighting them anyway?"
He was not expecting to be wrapped in a mix of paws, wings, and arms from all three of his teammates as he sat there sniffling.
"I'm not sure if you've noticed Ash but none of us mind getting hurt," Pikachu told him. "That includes you, might I add!" his friend gave him a pointed look.
"Did you miss Pikachu's point earlier?" Pidgeotto asked him. "You gave us all a choice, to join you, and to train. Maybe AJ did give them a choice sometimes, but did he give them one from the start?"
"I don't like getting hurt," Selene admitted softly. "But I want to be stronger and braver, maybe it does hurt sometimes and maybe it's hard sometimes, but that's okay. I chose to do this."
This just made Ash whine and sob harder. He loved his friends, even if he'd only known Pidgeotto and Selene for a brief time, they'd proven they cared about him and that they trusted him.
Misty smiled softly as she watched and waited for him to calm down a bit. "For what it's worth, Ash, you really are a good person or Pokemon. Whichever you prefer."
He looked up at her and she continued. "Since I've met you, it's completely changed how I look at Pokemon and the world around me. Before every Pokemon I met was just that, I didn't think about them too much and focused on the people and then I meet you and everything gets turned upside down."
"Every Pokemon has a life story and a personality, like and wants and goals, it was more obvious with my Pokemon but I don't think I got it before." She explained. "Maybe there are bad trainers out there and maybe they do bad things, but you can change things! Just keep doing what you're doing, give Pokemon choices, talk to them, and make friends with more humans and Pokemon alike! Maybe changing the world is a bit of a reach but you can still help change everyone around you for the better!"
Ash looked at his friends, Pokemon, and human alike. "Thank you, all of you. For coming with me, and for being my friends. I couldn't do this without you."
"Literally might I add." Pidgeotto pointed out with an amused trill.
"Let's get some rest," Selene added in and they all began to turn in for the night. Ash followed his team into their tent as Misty crawled into hers, returning her Pokemon. He curled up in his blanket and his mind wandered.
He was a trainer now, but it was more complicated than he'd thought wasn't it? He was still going to go and challenge the League and maybe go beyond just Kanto but now he knew what he wanted to do.
Ash was going to help humans and Pokemon learn to understand each other better. Maybe some Pokemon liked to battle but not all of them, and not all of them wanted trainers but didn't have a choice. And why should humans be the only trainers? Because they didn't know moves? What if they could learn moves?
His mind spiraled into more questions that became stranger and stranger but one thing was sure.
He was going to make the world a better place, no matter how long it took.
This chapter took a completely different direction than what I was planning at first.
Like, way different.
I had completely forgotten about what happened in Path to the Pokemon League or what could also be called The Taming of the (Sand)Shrew, arguably one of Shakespeare's most terrifying plays.
I had a vague recollection of AJ and that episode "Oh yeah, guy wants to win a hundred battles before challenging the league, should be easy" and then I went to read through the episode synopsis.
WHAT THE FUDGESICLES
This lad. Was whipping his Pokemon and training them to the point of exhaustion and being kind of a jerk about the entire thing. And yeah Ash was being a bit of a braggart throughout the early episode but like… WHIPPING. Also like Brock was completely okay with this apparently? And more interested in what AJ was feeding his Pokemon? WHAT?
It gets worse and more complicated because Ash is obviously kind of horrified by what he sees, except all the Pokemon are completely chill with it and ignore Ash and the episode ends like "hey we train differently but you and your Pokemon like each other so we're friendly rivals now"
*scream of incoherent rage and confusion*
And that whole thing got me thinking, well it sure looks and feels worse but is it? They train with attacks all the time, it's just a human doing the attacking with an object this time.
This whole thing got me thinking a lot harder than I was ready to at that part. I was ready for the whole Charmander/Damien thing to be Ash's first real harsh bite of reality and then BAM this happened!
So yeah, despite my original plan only one episode got done this time but… dang I had to do something with it and I couldn't think of another good ending point I could reach without this chapter reaching ridiculous size.
Also yes, Ash finally has a hat, or is at least wearing it, I was kind of waiting for someone to point out he didn't have one on but he does now at least!
Anyway, reviews!
Ozymandias42: Saphroneth's stories are fun. I enjoy just about all of them one way or another. I've not exactly been shy of admitting I read "Master, Pokemon?" before writing this. But I've long since proven I'm taking it in my own direction. Ash's more empathic personality definitely came to a head in this chapter.
Bluepigment: I'm glad you're really enjoying it!
PenguinBandit523: If you're looking for an author avatar to insert into that blank face spot please see chapter 22 of Gone Ghost for a (vaguely terrifying I am told) description! As an oldest sibling it's both fun and easy to tease younger siblings. But yeah battles are rough, one way or another.
PheonixWarriorFox88: I'm giving myself a bit more time before I try and get a third member in there. It is funny but if you watch Supersonic (the attack) it's like this slow moving wave, not to mention its very low hit chance.
OC-Trainer-Gray: Oh I am looking forward to the Sabrina fight.
Guest: I mean, this story isn't exactly realistic. There are far more serious takes on the Pokemon world and I'm doing one that while somewhat child friendly is still willing to acknowledge serious concepts. That being said you have a good point for those orders, I'm not really sure how to change it though without making it a bit silly with single name moves and then a bunch of descriptions for how it works but it has to change from battle to battle. I'll have to workshop it.
PokeDan: Misty's sisters may be the beauty queens but she's still got some style. Ash's battling day will come, I swear.
Lupercus1944: Selene is an interesting addition to write for simply because her goals are different, but I think it's a nice compliment to her teammates. Well we definitely see the start of Ash's worldview undergoing development. He really should get therapy but thankfully he has friends for now. Damien is going to be a real piece of work. Like I complained a lot about the AJ thing in this note but he legitimately seems to care about his Pokemon in his own messed up way. Damien is another beast entirely. I had so much fun writing the sibling interactions. I don't think they're as good in this chapter but I still had fun with them. That's kind of the issue with the fight scenes though, I put a bunch of thought and planning into them and I'm not even sure how many people read through them, so why put the effort in? The snowball is only just beginning by the way!
Phaleon: It works 100% of the time that it works!
LEGOBRICK13: There are a lot of trainers out there who are real pieces of work and Ash is gonna make it his business!
Paul: Uhhh, *scrambles through notes* well you see the reason for that is… OH LOOK IS THAT A SHINY WINGULL? *Jumps out the window and runs into the distance.*
Jokes aside, I didn't know that and it's fascinating! Thank you for sharing! And I'm glad you like the story so much! If it reads more like a manga than a video game adaptation that means I'm doing something right!
That's all for now folks, see you all next week!
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R&R
~FriTik