In a world. (Of Pokemon)
Now that Ash officially had four badges and the situation with Sabrina and her gym were being handled by the proper officials, they could move on from Saffron City whenever they wanted.
This turned into a matter of furious debate.
Saffron was a big city. It was certainly the biggest in Kanto and had a lot of things to see and do. As such a notable majority of the party wanted to spend a few more days exploring and looking around.
Ash was of two minds. On the one hand, he was eager to continue the journey and put as much distance between himself and everything that had happened at the gym as physically possible. On the other hand, Delia was sticking around for a few more days.
He easily ended up falling into the hang around a bit longer category.
There was plenty to see at least. The Silph Co. headquarters was here. Silph Co. developed a wide variety of products, ranging from appliances to Pokeballs and Pokedexes.
While the corporate offices might not be of much interest on their own the building had a little shop showing off and selling all kinds of custom Pokeballs. Considering their occupation, Ash and his friends ended up taking a look around.
As they browsed they ended up embroiled in a conversation about one of the most familiar shapes and symbols in the world.
"What does it feel like to be in a Pokeball?" Karen asked Ash as she looked over a series of 'custom painted' balls. They were just regular Pokeballs, but painted a different color and sold for twice the price.
"Depends on who you ask," Ash admitted and rubbed his chin. "I think it kind of feels like being wrapped in a warm and solid blanket. It kind of makes me feel safe and protected, but not in a catastrophic way."
"You mean claustrophobic?" Delia checked, sending him an inquisitive glance.
"Yeah, sorry." Ash blinked and wondered at his poor word choice. "But if you were to ask Pikachu…" He glanced at the electric-type.
"They're tight and dark and I don't even have a nose in them but I just know they're smelly," Pikachu complained.
"That's weird," Pidgeotto spoke up. "When I'm inside it's like I'm perched on a stable tree branch high in the air. It's almost like a nest to me."
"I get the warm feeling…" Sunny added on, "But dark? It's bright." He went cross-eyed. "I think, how do I know it's bright…" He muttered.
"Huh." Ash recited the different experiences to the humans. "It seems like everyone has a different experience with them. That's a little weird."
"I remember reading somewhere that Pokeballs account for the most comfortable environments for the Pokemon inside them?" Misty recalled. "Maybe depending on what type you are, the ball reacts differently?"
"Now that you mention it." Delia tapped her own chin as she thought. "I think I remember Professor Oak talking about it once. Apparently, the basic balls have more general accommodations but the specialty balls are designed to be more appealing to specific Pokemon."
"That doesn't explain Pikachu though." Ash pointed out. "He's really uncomfortable in his ball."
"I have a follow-up question for Pikachu," Eevee interjected. "How often has he used his ball? Was it just when he was first caught?"
Pikachu scowled. "Never if I can help it. And before you say 'oh just use it more and you'll get used to it,' I've been in it plenty of times when I was younger. Before I got sent to Professor Oak the first guy I was with would put me in it whenever I 'caused trouble.' If that was what he called trouble then he had no idea what he was talking about."
"I guess it's just because you've had bad experiences with it in general." Pidgeotto thought out loud. "I wonder if I'd like it as much if Ash had just lobbed a Pokeball at me without asking first."
"That's how it works most of the time," Pikachu complained. "You ever hear of Quick Balls? They're specifically made to catch Pokemon by surprise and use it against them!"
"I'm a little surprised you know about that," Eevee mentioned.
"I did plenty of research while helping Ash with the trainer thing. I may not have liked it, but I helped out." Ash was starting to regret this conversation considering how low it was bringing his friend's mood. "I found a lot of things I didn't like. Pokeballs are tools that can be abused. Maybe you guys like them but I don't."
"Yeah…" Sunny agreed and Ash winced as he remembered his experience with Damian.
"I have a question," Selene announced, looking over the Pokeballs again. "How come they don't work on humans? I mean, how much different from a Pokemon is a human?"
"Different people will give different answers," Eevee told her. "Bill never cared much for Pokeballs and the specifics, he was more interested in the Pokemon themselves, but he wanted those of us he was working with directly to be comfortable, that's why I have a Luxury Ball instead of an average Pokeball." She nodded towards the black ball on Ash's belt.
"But he did look into the differences between humans and Pokemon a bit. So I don't know for sure but I do have a theory." She announced.
"What's your theory then?" Ash glanced at the humans around him and winced as he realized they'd been left out of most of this conversation. "Sorry, we're getting a bit deep in Pokeballs, the good, the bad, and the confusing."
"Nothing too bad right?" Karen sounded slightly concerned.
"Pikachu really doesn't like Pokeballs." Ash summed up. "And he's kinda right, it's way too easy for them to be abused on Pokemon."
"I…" Karen looked down at her belt. "I didn't think of that."
"Just because they can be abused doesn't mean they are though." Misty pointed out. "Don't get me wrong, I know there are people who would misuse them. But look at Goldeen for instance, she wouldn't be able to travel with us at all if not for a Pokeball, or what about when you need to save space? Or someone is hurt and needs to be transported safely?"
"There are Pokeballs that are designed to be harder to break out of." Delia considered. "But that's usually for the initial catch, after that unless they're specifically locked or sealed then the Pokemon can get out without too much trouble."
"It's the locking or sealing that's the problem I think," Ash mentioned. "I don't know how I feel about it now that I think about it harder. They can be helpful but they can be abused too. Like if the locks could disable themselves maybe it would be okay…"
"They do though?" Everyone looked at Karen. "How do none of you know this?"
"Since when?" Delia's tone was confused.
"A few years ago? There was this big thing about how Pokemon could get trapped in balls. Some new legislation got passed or something and now balls will unlock themselves after a few days."
"Why a few days?" Sunny asked and Ash repeated the question.
"Well, the lock feature was introduced in the first place because a Pokemon who was hurt or confused or a variety of other things might panic and break out of their ball before they could get proper help. The idea is if they go a few days without any help then something else is going on and they need to be let out. I think the lock is also disabled for like, 24 hours or something after the last use?"
"But old Pokeballs wouldn't work like that," Ash realized, "Like mine and Pikachu's."
"I admit that does make me feel a tiny bit better," Pikachu admitted. "It must have become a thing after I stopped researching for you though."
"I only remember because it was a big thing for trainers when it was passed. Bunch of morons complaining and stuff." Karen shrugged. "I assume it was just before she started," she jabbed a thumb at Misty. "And it didn't apply much to you." She nodded at Delia.
"I guess my theory can wait," Eevee muttered and Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Sorry Eevee, I didn't mean to interrupt you like that."
"It's fine, I should probably do more research before presenting anyway." She admitted.
Ash did grab a few of the colorful Pokeballs, they might cost a bit more but they looked nice. There was another opportunity the shop presented them with. A Pokeball transfer machine.
"So how does this work?" Pidgeotto wondered as she looked between the two ports.
"I think I just put one of your balls here." Ash pointed at the input slot, and then I buy a Pokeball and the machine moves you from one to the other?"
Misty scratched her head. "I'm not sure why anyone would want to do this." She paused. "Wait, never mind. It probably has something to do with presentation, like swapping from a regular ball to one of those Premier Balls or Cherish Balls."
"Or comfort," Selene remembered. "Do you think a Moon Ball would be more comfortable for me than a regular Pokeball?"
"It's possible," Eevee admitted. "Do you want to give it a shot to find out? There are no rules about switching back right?"
Misty was reading the directions more closely and Ash checked with her. "I don't see anything that says that would cause any problems…" she noted. "Then again, they might not have considered anyone would want to switch back."
"We could just use a fresh Pokeball if you want to switch back at all," Pidgeotto suggested.
Moon Balls were weirdly expensive, more than twice the price of an Ultra Ball model. But Ash had money to burn from trainer battles (and thankfully no longer had to pay for a bike). Selene got returned to her old ball and both were put into the machine.
They waited for a moment as the machine worked and churned. A helpful display screen showed two Pokeballs and an arrow pointing from one to the other. As they watched a little digital Clefairy slowly followed the arrow before arriving at the other ball.
With that, the display darkened and the machine dinged. Ash picked up the Moon Ball, it certainly seemed to now be full. He opened it like he would open any other Pokeball.
Selene popped out with an expression that would be out of place in a room of preschoolers. She shook herself out of it and slapped her cheeks a bit. "That felt weird."
"Are you okay?" Delia asked, crouching down to check on the fairy-type.
The Clefairy looked down at herself and twisted to check her back. "I think so, all of me made the trip at least. It was like being in a Pokeball but not? And then I was in one again."
"How's it feel?" Pikachu pressed. That had been the point of this experiment after all.
"The new ball?" Selene checked, "It felt kinda like my old one… but it also felt like I was back home in Mount Moon. A little bit at least. It's hard to describe, just this feeling?" She looked thoughtful as she considered her words. "Ah! You know how sunlight feels different from other light?"
"Yeah?" Pidgeotto wondered where she was going with this.
"Well if the regular Pokeball is sunlight then the Moon Ball is moonlight instead. It's still light but different, and more familiar to me at least!" Selene did her best to elaborate.
It sort of made sense to Ash. He wasn't entirely sure what moonlight felt like to a Clefairy but she seemed happy with her analogy.
She seemed happy enough with her new ball though, or at least she had no complaints about it. Ash did put the offer out to the rest of his team they could swap balls if they were interested but no one took him up on his offer.
"It's not like we spend much time in our balls anyway." Sunny pointed out. Seeing how he made an excellent point Ash decided he was done with the shop.
The other trainers did take another look around before they left though. Karen got some Dusk Balls and Misty got a few Dive Balls and Net Balls, which were perfect for catching water-types, and bug-types as Ash helpfully pointed out, much to her chagrin.
"Stupid teasing dark-types." Misty muttered as they left. "You know how you kept saying he doesn't act like a typical dark-type?" She asked Karen, "it comes out when he teases you."
"He always has been a bit of a trickster," Delia admitted fondly recalling some of his jokes over the years. "They're not all that mean-spirited though, sometimes a bit unexpected though."
"Is she talking about the time you showed up at her restaurant in human disguise for the first time?" Pikachu wondered, "or the time we disappeared to a summer camp for a couple of weeks."
"The camp wasn't a joke though, someone needed our help!" Ash reminded Pikachu.
"Heroes," Selene said with serenity and Ash forced down the blush at the praise.
"We're not heroes." He claimed. "We were just trying to do the right thing."
"Maybe that's all a hero is," Pidgeotto suggested as they walked back to the Pokemon Center.
After another few days, it did come time to move on. They had lingered in Saffron City for long enough.
There was a very tearful goodbye between Ash and his trainer. He was going to miss her a lot. When he had first left home the excitement of starting the journey had been more than enough to overwhelm any other feelings of departure, but spending time with her, especially after Sabrina had been nice.
"I'm only a phone call away." She comforted him. "Take good care of yourself, and your team." She looked at his Pokemon. "And please take good care of him, I know how much trouble he can get into."
"Of course!" Pidgeotto spoke for everyone.
"And keep up your training!" Shelldon ordered. "All of you!" His gaze flowed over every member of the departing group, not just Ash and his team. He pointed at Misty and Karen. "You too as well! You need to put some more strength in those bones!"
"Why's he pointing at us?" Karen whispered to Misty.
"I don't know but it's the same look he gives Ash." The younger girl admitted. "I'm not sure I like it."
There was one final surprise as they were leaving though.
"Out of the way scrubs and wannabes!" A familiar voice declared as its own stormed into the Pokemon Center. "I'm here to take the first Marsh Badge ever!"
"Oh hi, Gary!" Delia smiled and waved at the grandson of Professor Oak. "How has your journey been?"
"Miss Ketchum?" he blinked at her, his bravado being overtaken by surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I stopped by to visit Ash while he was in town." She gestured at the disguised Pokemon who waved at his human 'friend.'
Gary narrowed his eyes. "Well Ashy boy, I'm impressed! I thought you'd have given up and accepted that you wouldn't amount to anything by now!"
Ash quirked an eyebrow. That was a bit harsher than the Gary he remembered. "Why would I stop? I've been having lots of fun on this journey!" He shrugged off the bite and instead focused on why he would never stop. "I mean even if the gyms were too much I'd still be traveling, I've met a lot of new people! I've helped Pokemon, gone on adventures…"
The only actual human boy present stared at him. "Well… good for you. But move out of the way! I gotta get healed up and get my badge! I'm already five badges in!"
"Five badges?" Delia looked at him. "Wow! That's pretty good, but how'd you end up here for sixth?"
"I didn't take the normal route." Gary shrugged off. "I decided I was going to beat every gym in the region! Not just the main eight!"
"There are other gyms?" Ash wondered, how had he missed that little nugget of information.
"Technically?" Misty answered with a shrug. "They're not in the major cities so no one really talks about them. But there are plenty of minor towns and suburbs around the region and a few of them have gyms. They're normally not the best though."
"Duh." Gary agreed. "Though I can't say I'm that impressed with the 'big eight.' The Viridian Gym leader wasn't even there and the Cerulean ones just had me clean the floors. They didn't even battle me at all!"
"They did what!" Misty screeched in rage. "I SWEAR I'M GOING TO-!" A mix of Ash and Karen's efforts managed to contain hurricane Misty before she could start causing devastation.
"He's doing them out of order Misty wait!" Ash begged, hoping he was right, otherwise they would be in for a lot of trouble.
"You!" Karen glared at Gary. "Brat, when did you challenge the Cerulean Gym?"
The (at the point extremely confused) trainer managed to regain his posture. "Not sure why it matters, but over a month ago now, why?"
"See Misty!" Ash pleaded, "it was before you set them straight."
She calmed down a bit but Ash was still worried she would try and demand Gary's badge from him until he fought her properly. Therefore he decided to do some damage control.
"So Gary, you've been doing a lot of battling, Professor Oak said you'd caught a bunch of Pokemon too." Ash eloquently diverted the conversation. "If they're okay with it do you want to battle?"
The boy seemed a little confused at Ash's wording but answered regardless. "No can do. Not now at least, if you're willing to wait a couple of days then we'll see. But I want to get them checked out and well rested!" He patted the balls on his belt.
"I've heard a lot of wild stuff about Sabrina. How she's psychic, how she's crazy, but most importantly how no one has ever beaten her!" Gary clenched his fist and grinned. "That changes now! All those minor gyms have been getting people who are trying to avoid her! What better way to prove I'm the best than to beat not just those gyms, but the one people are running from too?"
His declaration did not get the reaction he was hoping for as everyone glanced at each other. "What?" He demanded. "Why are you looking at me like I'm a Doduo?"
"You see…" Ash rubbed the back of his head, not sure how to explain it gently.
Karen had no such tact for Gary though. "Sabrina blew up her gym and got discharged. No one is fighting her again for a long time."
Gary's expression froze. "What." Not a question this time.
"I mean, Ash did manage to beat her though, so she did break her winning streak right at the end." Misty casually brought up, obviously wanting to start something.
Ash just wanted to stop talking about Sabrina. "It doesn't matter!" He said, perhaps a bit too loudly. "Sabrina's not in charge but someone else is, someone from the league came to take over while they tried to find a replacement."
This did nothing to help soften Gary's rage though. He quivered with it as he spoke, "So instead of one of the most threatening gym leaders in the region…" He hissed. "I have to fight some random league flunky?"
Now Ash had two choices here. He could either assure Gary it was not just some league flunky taking over. Or…
"Wow, Gary!" Ash gasped at him. "I can't believe you're already calling the Elite 4 your flunkies! Your not even champion yet!"
"Yeah, I… huh?" Poor Gary just looked confused.
"I mean since Agatha is taking over Sabrina's gym and all." a familiar smirk crossed Ash's face. "You know, Agatha, of the Elite 4?"
"I…" Gary stared at Ash, then at the others, waiting for someone to dispute his words. When no one did, the boy rushed ahead towards the counter. "We need to heal up and train more! This is our chance!"
As the Pallet Town native rushed to prepare himself for the new fight of his career, the other trainers and Pokemon present just shared a look and a chuckle at his reactions.
But now there was nothing else to distract them from the impending departure. Delia and Shelldon ended up taking one of the 'main roads' back to Pallet Town instead of the foot routes many travelers and trainers preferred when not in a rush. She had left her diner alone for a bit too long and needed to get back to it.
"I don't get why the main roads are even a thing," Karen complained as they left. "They're ugly and make too much noise. Just make some more direct routes between towns and cities instead."
"They're for cars mostly I think." Ash contemplated and Misty nodded.
"Yeah, but I use them too. Just when going on fishing trips a bit away from home. I used to ride my bike along the side…" She sighed. "At least I can get a new one the next time I head home."
"I still can't believe that guy gave you a bike." Pikachu shook his head. "All you did was talk to him a bit from what you told me."
"Sometimes that's enough." Sunny pointed out. "Now and then it's nice to just have someone you can talk to."
They traveled for the rest of the day and had a brief training session before packing it in for the night. Everyone had done some training while in Saffron City and improved in general. Mostly it was just skill training though, (thanks to Shelldon mostly) now it was time to practice some moves!
Pidgeotto spun in increasingly closer circles, trying to kick up enough oomph factor to pull off Twister. It was starting to come together, the cyclone was beginning to form but it seemed to be missing something.
Unfortunately, no one present was much of an expert on dragon-types so it was hard to say what the secret ingredient was. Pidgeotto just resolved to practice until she got it down.
Now that a dark-type move was no longer vital, Sunny was looking into an alternative to Crunch. Specifically, he was trying to work out Fire Fang. He'd already made progress and would probably have it worked out by the next night.
Selene continued to practice with the moves Ash had suggested to her, moving on from Protect to Ligh Screen. It was a tricky one, it worked to defend against special attacks and could even be used to halt some in their tracks. The hard part was figuring out how to make it work without just using Protect.
Eevee decided she wanted to learn Swift, it was a decently hard-hitting attack that as a bonus was a homing attack! She ended up talking with Misty's Pokemon for tips since Starmie at least already knew it.
That left Pikachu and Ash to brainstorm what to work on next. With Discharge finally down they could either focus on perfecting the moves he already knew, or learn new and even cooler moves.
It was a no-brainer.
"Volt Tackle seems awesome," Pikachu commented as they looked through the movelist on Ash's Pokedex. "Light Ball seems like it would be a good fit for me too…"
"Definitely." Both Ash's agreed. Well, both mouths opened to make the sound even if it only really came from the true Ash.
The effect still unsettled Pikachu. "Don't you have that down enough to stop using it so much?" He eyed the illusionary duplicate.
"I think so," Ash admitted. "But the longer I can maintain it the better. I'll start seeing about duplicating you guys tomorrow."
"Won't that be trippy?" Pikachu muttered and then a thought occurred to the yellow mouse. "Could you use it to duplicate your human disguise?"
Ash thought about it. "You know, that's a great question! Let's try it!" He let his illusion vanish and concentrated, preparing to use his human-Ash illusion but not on himself.
A familiar boy appeared next to the two Pokemon. Ash focused and the arms moved, spinning in circles before crossing. He closed the eyes and looked down, putting a hand on his chin as though in thought.
"You know, I get what you were talking about, that is trippy," Ash admitted looking at the face he'd created for himself from an outside perspective. He looked at Misty near the campfire, heating dinner for her and Karen. "Oh, I have an idea."
Misty glanced over as Ash walked up next to her. "Training going good for your team then? I think Karen is going to want to do some more training with you tomorrow."
"Yeah probably." Ash's answer came from the wrong direction and she looked to her other side. There he was, in his real shape and size. He cocked his head at her bewildered stare. "Something wrong?" The mischief in his eyes spoke volumes though.
She rolled her eyes and swung her spoon into the human shape next to her, making it vanish. "You know, when I said your dark-type tendencies come out in your jokes and pranks, that was not an invitation to do more of them." the girl emphasized.
Ash smiled softly. "Sorry, I won't bug you too much more with them. It's just seeing Mom again and thinking about that whole thing with Sabrina… Karen and Umbreon have pointed out I'm kind of weird for a dark-type but I didn't like how I felt during and after that battle. I guess I'm trying a bit too hard to be myself."
Misty snorted. "You don't have to try to be yourself, Ash, you are yourself. I can't say I've ever hated anyone like you say you felt like with Sabrina. There are certainly times I wanted to throttle my sisters but that's not quite the same." She shook those thoughts away, "My point is, just because it's part of who you are doesn't mean it's all of who you are."
"Thanks, Misty." Ash grinned. "But how did that illusion look? Just like human-Ash right?"
"I'll admit I didn't take a close look." She admitted with a thoughtful expression, "but if you hadn't spoken up next to me I probably wouldn't have noticed."
"Well, that's something to show off tomorrow." He nodded, pleased with himself. "I wonder what Karen will want to work on, more illusions or moves do you think?"
"Hard to say." Misty looked over at the older girl, who was training her team at the moment, specifically Murkrow. "Do you think she meant what she said the other day?" She asked in a quieter tone.
"You mean about rethinking things and apologizing for catching me?" Ash double-checked, it was the most serious thing that had come up with Karen since Sabrina. "I think she's being honest. With us and herself. I don't think Karen's a bad person, I think she just wasn't sure what to make of me and it made her rethink how she interacts with Pokemon."
Misty smirked, "gee, doesn't that sound familiar?"
"I don't know why it's so confusing for you guys." Ash shrugged at her.
"Culture shock mostly, you kinda break some of the unspoken rules a lot of people assume about Pokemon. But in a good way. You're shaking things up Ash, for the better as far as I can tell." the gym leader told him. "Look at what happened with Damian and Pokemon Tech, his Pokemon and the students and Pokemon at that school are probably going to be happier because of you."
Ash blushed at the insinuation. "I'm just trying to help out!" he asserted once more.
"I know, but really, I'm glad we met Ash. I've learned a lot from traveling with you."
This conversation had gotten a bit deeper than Ash had expected but he replied honestly. "I'm glad we met too Misty, even if I'm still embarrassed I messed up my disguise so early…"
"You've been doing pretty good otherwise." She reminded him. "Let's see Karen, Melanie, and Sabrina's family. That's about it. Considering all the people we've run into that's a pretty good total."
"And Mina." Ash nodded and got a confused look from Misty.
"Who's Mina?" she asked and Ash gave his best foxy grin.
"Who indeed?" he winked and trotted away to check on his team again, ignoring Misty's frustrated demands for answers. One last joke for the night.
They stopped to train at lunch the next day, Ash talked with his team and got them working on their training for the day before going over to Karen.
"Alright, what are we going to be working on today?" He asked.
"Before we get started, I wanted to know, how are your illusions going? I know you've been practicing with the duplicate ones." Karen checked in, giving Houndour a little pat as the dark and fire-type puppy raced off.
"It's been going great so far!" Ash demonstrated, creating a duplicate of himself, a duplicate of Pikachu, and then a duplicate of his human disguise.
"Definitely more lifelike than your first attempts." Karen praised as she took a close look at the blankly smiling face of the illusion. "He even looks like he's breathing!"
"It took a bit of work getting myself down," Ash admitted. "But once I figured out that I was able to just recreate the illusions I already knew but externally. Making them breathe without me breathing too was a bit tricky but it worked out I think."
"Seems like it." Karen ran a hand through her hair. "Alright, so I wanted to work on a new move and then put you to work on a new idea for illusions that you can practice while training with your team. Does that sound good?"
This was a different Karen than the one that had ordered her way through their last training session Ash realized. "That sounds good to me." He paused, not sure if it would be overstepping. "Are you okay Karen?"
"What?" She blinked at him. "Yeah, I'm fine." She asserted but took a moment. "I just, I got thinking. You've been asking Pokemon if they like being with their trainers right?"
"Whenever I get the chance," Ash confirmed.
"Does… does my team like being with me? Umbreon basically confirmed that he likes being my Pokemon and Absol chose to come with me, she followed me around for a few days." Karen admitted, and that explained a few things about Absol's stalker behavior to Ash. "But the others I caught normally. I don't…" She groaned and rubbed her face.
"Yeah, they're happy with you," Ash assured her and watched her shoulders slump, as though a weight had been taken off them. "Well, Murkrow, Sneasel, and Houndour definitely are. Gloom…" Ash wasn't sure how to describe Gloom.
"You're okay with training and battling right?" Ash asked the grass and poison-type Pokemon. It was just as they were beginning to start moving again on the road between Vermillion and Saffron.
"I might as well be…" Gloom's dreary voice bemoaned.
That tone worried Ash. "Do you not like training and battling?"
"I don't like much." The other Pokemon claimed. "There's not much worth liking."
"That's way wrong!" the Zorua declared. "There's plenty of things that are worth liking!"
"Well." Gloom looked at him, or at least turned her face towards him. "That's just your opinion."
"Gloom is pretty gloomy." Ash summed up. "It's kind of hard for me to get a good read on her."
"That's… good to know," Karen said. "Thanks, but enough of that!" She straightened up and her voice hardened a bit. "Time to start training, we're getting a new move out of you today. Get ready to start digging holes."
Ash's eyes practically turned into stars. "I LOVE digging holes!" He announced.
As it turned out Karen wanted to teach Ash the move Dig, as soon as he heard that he asked if Eevee could come over too since they had already been working on it. Karen hesitated for a brief second before shrugging. "You know what, good idea, if she's made progress on it then it should help be a good stepping stone for you."
When Eevee came over Karen started explaining the basics of the move to them. About how it was about tunneling underground and something about becoming one with the Earth in order to move through it? That part was a bit confusing.
"Eevee has had a bit of trouble moving underground," Ash explained her status on the move. "She can dig a hole itself pretty quickly, so can I for that matter, but once she's under it gets a bit harder."
"It was helpful in its current form during my battle with Sabrina." Eevee considered. "But it would be nice to know the other half of the move. I made it work in that battle but it is a bit of a dead end."
"Hmm…" Karen tapped her chin. "Why don't you two show me what you can do? It might give me a better idea of how to go forward."
The two four-legged Pokemon gave their best shots. Eevee ended up digging her hole a bit faster than Ash but he went surprisingly deeper considering the amount of time spent digging.
"Not turning off to come back up though…" Karen noted as she inspected Ash's hole.
"I just really like digging deep holes," Ash admitted. "It's been a while since I've done it though. Mom started riding on my case about putting too many holes in the yard. I would have to fill them back in after I was done and that kind of wore on me…" He lamented sadly. Eevee used her tail to pat his back comfortingly.
Karen crouched as she inspected their digging and hummed. "From what I understand, the trick with Dig is pushing the dirt out of the way but not out of the hole. That's what I meant with the whole 'become one with the Earth' thing. You need to move the dirt aside without blocking your path and burying yourself alive."
"Isn't that a happy thought," Eevee muttered.
Ash couldn't help but agree. "Should we have some sort of safety net in case one of us gets stuck or something?" He suggested.
Karen tapped her chin. "That's a good idea. Hang on, I'll call Absol, she can do her training over here. That way if somethings about to go wrong she'll give us a warning and we can stop."
The other dark-type sprinted over at the teenager's call. "Dig training?" She checked, looking at the other two Pokemon. "Gonna make a mess of this place, but I doubt that's the kind of disaster you're worried about." She paused for a second and hummed. "There's something else though… I can't quite…"
"I don't quite know how your ability works," Eevee admitted. "How do you tell the difference between, well disasters."
Ash listened intently, curious himself. "It's not easy. Sometimes it's clearer than others. Like if something really, really bad is about to happen I'll know for sure where it is and who will be involved, even if I don't know the specifics. Minor things like stubbing a toe are a bit harder for me to pick up on though."
"What about us being buried alive?" Eevee inquired. "Or even just one of us?"
"I'd pick up that something bad was about to happen," Absol claimed. "Since I know specifically what I'm watching for it should be easier for me to pick up."
"What about that other thing?" Ash asked. "You said there was something else?"
"Not sure about that." Absol kicked at the dirt. "As I said, it's hard to tell sometimes. I can tell something bad is either going to happen or did happen, but it's not in our immediate vicinity. The fact I'm picking up on it at all though makes me think we'll be heading in that direction."
With that happy foretelling of doom to come they got to work digging holes.
It wasn't the most fruitful endeavor but they did make some progress, at the very least they started managing to curve their tunnels after digging down, the issue was speed. They weren't able to pull it off very quickly. Ash had been going a bit quicker at first but had been forced to rethink his approach when Karen pointed out he was just kicking the dirt up behind him.
"That's how you wind up trapping yourself." She warned him.
"I have to reteach myself how to dig holes." Ash bemoaned. "It's so much I have to unlearn!" He then perked right back up. "At least I get to dig holes again! It's been a while!"
Absol gave him an amused look. "It's nice to see you trying to find the bright side of things."
"He does that a lot," Eevee confirmed.
It wasn't until the next day's training session that the two saw some real progress in their efforts to dig better and faster holes. Eevee managed to pop out of the ground first, a full ten feet from where she tunneled downward! Ash soon followed having achieved a similar distance.
"That was good." Karen nodded at the two dirt-covered Pokemon. "But not very quick, it took you almost a minute to do that."
"She makes it sound less impressive than it is," Eevee complained, perhaps a bit uncharacteristically probably because she was tired and filthy.
Ash was ready to start digging again, maybe increasing his dig speed and distance but noticed Absol giving them a strange look. "What's up?" He asked.
"As soon as you popped out of the hole my danger sense pinged." Absol paused and seemed to rethink her wording. "That's not quite the right word but I'm not sure how else to describe it. That sense of something coming is still there but it doesn't feel the same anymore."
"What does that mean?" Ash asked the other Pokemon while Eevee thought.
"I'm guessing, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you learning Dig is going to come in handy." the normal-type surmised and Absol nodded.
"Sounds about right, I guess we'll see for sure when we find whatever our disaster is." Absol nodded. Ash could only hope it wasn't too serious. It was good they'd be able to help but well, no disaster was better than showing up to solve the aftermath.
That night Pikachu and Selene looked over the edge of a dark pit. "He's been down there awhile." the fairy-type noted. "Do you think he's okay?"
"We can check," Pikachu noted. "I can send a Thunder Shock down and see if it hits anything…"
"That seems like unnecessary violence." Selene pointed out.
"Or we can just shout down and see if he responds." Pikachu gave the alternative. "Which is less fun."
"I'll try shouting." The Clefairy held her hands up to her mouth. "Ash! Are you okay down there?"
A fluffy black, red, and brown head popped out of the hole not long after her words echoed back. "I'm great! It's almost ready! I wish I had learned Dig years ago!"
"I'm glad you're enjoying it." Selene smiled at him as Pikachu sighed with exasperation.
"I remember Delia mentioning you used to dig a lot of holes when you were younger. I never had to deal with it though." The electric-type recalled.
"They were making a mess of the yard. The holes and piles of dirt from the holes weren't that nice looking I guess." Ash explained away. "Now I can just go down and push all the dirt into the dirt! Ground-type moves are weird. But it helps to stabilize the tunnel!" He ducked back down into the dark.
The flapping of wings signaled Pidgeotto's landing. She peaked over the edge after her trainer. "Is he still down there?"
"You just missed him," Selene informed their teammate.
"What is he even trying to do?" The flying-type asked.
Pikachu groaned. "I wish I could tell you. He just shouted 'I have a great idea!' and then started digging."
A cheer sounded from below and Ash shot out of the hole. "It's ready!" He cheered and shook himself off a bit after landing, much to the dismay of the others standing nearby, "let me get my stuff!"
"What's ready?" Sunny wandered over from the campfire, Eevee following along with him. They had been investigating what Misty had been making tonight. Some pasta product that came in a can apparently. Not much of interest.
"Come and see!" Ash beckoned and dove back into his hole. Eevee, being the only one who knew she could get out if something went wrong followed behind, the others tentatively joining one after the others. Pidgeotto followed last, birds didn't belong underground.
At the bottom, they found the result of Ash's hard work. After a moment of staring, Pikachu finally spoke up. "Ash… did you dig out a mini cave for us to spend the night in?"
"Yeah!" Ash grinned brightly, clearly pleased with his achievement.
Pikachu stared at him for a moment. "That is… SO COOL!" His friend immediately perked up and moved around the surprisingly large space. "This is way better than a tent!"
"It reminds me of home," Selene announced fondly. "Needs more crystals though."
Sunny held up his Everstone (now hanging from a string around his neck), to his friend. "Does this help."
The Clefairy inspected the shiny rocky before nodding with a smile. "It certainly does! Thank you Sunny!"
Eevee was a bit bemused by the entire thing but was willing to go along with it, for tonight at least. Pidgeotto was the least enthused though.
"I can't believe I have to tell you this, but I'm not the biggest fan of being underground." She flexed her wings a bit and while she had room to do so thanks to Ash's efforts, there certainly wasn't enough for flying.
Her words put a downer on Ash's good mood. "I'm sorry Pidgeotto, I thought it wouldn't bother you too much. We can use the tent instead if you want."
"No!" Pikachu declared. "I am sleeping in a cool underground base tonight and that's final!"
Pidgeotto sighed and looked at the other Pokemon who seemed taken with the novelty of sleeping in a cave, at least for the night. "Fine, I won't ruin your fun tonight. But can we please go back to the tent tomorrow? I can't imagine you'd want to dig a hole this big every day…"
Ash, who had been planning on doing exactly that, gasped. "Of course not, that would be ridiculous."
With the old blanket set out, the group got comfortable and went to bed for the night.
Karen looked around above ground. "What happened to Ash and his team?"
Misty, who had seen the group go into the hole, put two and two together. "I'm pretty sure Ash decided to dig a hole big enough for them all to sleep in."
"Huh." Really, how else do you respond to that?
They of course had to leave the hole behind the next day, it wasn't exactly something they could bring with them. It had been an interesting experience for the night if nothing else.
"I'll admit, it was a little bit claustrophobic down there," Eevee claimed as they walked. "I mean there was a way out but still."
"No I get it, you're preaching to the choir there." Pidgeotto easily agreed with her.
Sunny hadn't minded that much. "I'm not sure I'd do it again, but it was neat at least."
Ash just hummed. It hadn't quite been as exciting as he had imagined it, but it had still been entertaining for a little bit. But they had been asleep most of the time so it wasn't like it had mattered as much as he had pictured.
Still though, it had felt satisfying to dig it out.
A few hours into their trip Absol made a surprise appearance.
She burst out of her Pokeball on Karen's belt and let loose a terrifying howl. Flying-types took the skies around them and it was only lots of experience that allowed Ash to maintain a hold on his illusion.
"This is it!" She declared and stuck her nose to the ground sniffing for a moment. She perked her head up and tilted it, as though listening. "Grr…" She growled and started investigating the nearby area.
"What's going on with Absol?" Misty asked, getting over her shock.
"I think it has something to do with whatever she's been sensing the last couple of days," Ash mentioned and the two humans stared at him. "What?"
"Did you maybe think it might have been useful to know that Absol was sensing some sort of danger?" Karen asked him with exasperation, putting a hand on her forehead.
The disguised trainer just stared at her. "Did I forget to mention it? I could have sworn I'd…" He thought back. "Oh no, you're right. Sorry."
Everyone, humans and Pokemon alike, spread out and searched the immediate area. Trying to find whatever Absol had picked up on.
The disaster Pokemon herself had started pacing, whipping her head from side to side and scratching at the ground a bit. "It's here. Right here." She claimed and glared at the dirt.
"Maybe Eevee or I could dig down and see?" Ash suggested as he crouched next to the other dark-type.
She immediately winced. "NO!" Ash backed off a bit startled and she shook her head. "Sorry, no, do not do that. As soon as you suggested it…"
"Bad things, got it." He nodded. Before they could discuss what else to try, Misty hollered for everyone.
"Take a look," She had pulled a flashlight out of her bag and was shining it in a crevice in a nearby cliffside. The maw of a cave greeted them and Absol became mighty pleased.
"Ahah!" She noted proudly. "I was right! Whatever's up is underground!"
"Wouldn't that make it down?" Selene asked with honest confusion.
It was odd to Ash, how different caves could be from each other.
"It's a little too cramped for my tastes." Misty grumbled, even as she glanced down into the darkness; still holding a flashlight. "I don't really trust caves that I can't stand up in."
Pidgeotto fluttered her wings, "Agreed." She chirped. "If you don't mind, I'm going to stay up here."
Karen shook her head and grimaced. "I like dark places and all that, but a cave that cramped is a bit above my pay grade." She admitted.
"You aren't getting paid." Ash replied, confused.
"Figure of speech." Karen clarified, "but considering Absol's reaction, I'm willing to bet someone is trapped down there." She considered.
"It might actually be better if the only ones who go down are the ones who don't mind it being a bit cramped." Ash considered. "We don't want things to get worse."
"I'm not afraid!" Eevee exclaimed, her ears twitching as she jumped towards the hole. Considering she'd been learning Dig with Ash in claustrophobic conditions that made a bit of sense.
Selene shrugged, "It's a little more cramped than what I'm used to; but I've managed to squeeze through tighter spots back home."
Ash glanced at Pikachu, "You coming as well?"
The electric-type considered. "I'm not sure how much help I'd be down there. Not like I could help dig us out if something happened. I'll put some food together up here, better than doing nothing."
Sunny would be staying up top as well. As useful as his tail could be, it would also be a big problem if there was a cave in, fire eats oxygen and all that. At least that's what Eevee said.
"I'm suddenly glad I didn't learn that before sleeping underground last night." the fire-type noted, staring at the flickering flame.
"It was open to the air, we were fine." Eevee assured him.
"Alright, let's go; and remember the number one rule. Stay together." Ash ordered firmly.
"Right." Eve agreed, then began to worm her way through the cave system, Selene and Ash were close behind.
As they worked through the darkness, using only the flashlight Ash had in his illusions hands; they started to find it hard to believe that there really was something in these caves. It was cold, dark, wet, and somewhat cramped; and Ash's human illusion was pretty small, to begin with. He had a hard time believing people would willingly push themselves into these kinds of conditions.
"Why would people want to come down here? I can barely fit like this." He mused, staggering as he bonked his head on the cave wall.
His illusion shattered and he fell to the ground, dropping the flashlight. "Ow… Great…"
Selene shrugged as she knelt and grabbed the flashlight off the ground. "At least there aren't any branching paths to worry about. This just seems to be one long wandering path." She noted, shining the light around. "Back home, we always had to keep in mind that some paths led to dead ends or entirely new tunnels yet unexplored.".
Eevee shook herself, spraying some mud around. "Well… To answer your earlier question, Ash, some people do it for the thrill. I know Bill sometimes interviewed thrill seekers, and they always did these stupid stunts simply for the adrenaline rush."
The three of them continued to walk for a bit, until Eevee stopped, her ears twitching.
Ash and Selene stopped as well and glanced at her. "Eevee? What's wrong?"
"Ash. Your hearings pretty good too right? Please tell me that you can hear that."
The other two Pokémon shared concerned and slightly confused looks when Ash's ears twitched. He leaned forwards and closed his eyes, trying to discern what he had heard from the more natural sounds of the cave and the soft breathing from Selene and Eevee.
"Hey! Anyone there!? Hello?!"
It was so soft, that Ash almost didn't pick it up; and had he not had the sharp hearing of canine-like Pokémon, he almost certainly would not have heard it.
He started sniffing the ground, using old skills that he had long since allowed to fall by the wayside. It had been a long time since he'd needed to track a scent.
He followed the smell, Eve and Selene staying close behind him as the Clefairy held the flashlight in a death grip; none of them said a word as Ash continued to sniff out the trail, walking through mud and puddles of water.
As they walked, the cave expanded into a small room that a normal adult human wouldn't have trouble navigating; but the scent led to a small hole in the cave wall that was only nine inches tall at the absolute most. Ash stopped and stared at it, as did Eevee and Selene.
"That… Is a really small opening…" Ash muttered.
The scent continued onwards through the gap, but it would be nearly impossible to squeeze through it.
"Does the scent lead that way Ash?" Eevee asked.
The Zorua nodded, not taking his eyes away from the gap.
Selene grimaced, "There's no way I can make it through that gap." She admitted.
Ash bit his lip and shifted on his paws for a moment, then decided to call out to the voice. "Hey! Is anyone there?!" He shouted, just in case the scent was wrong and had led him astray.
A loud cough reached him through the gap, and a human's voice shouted back with almost frantic and raw energy. "HEEEEEEYYYY!"
Ash shifted again, "Stay put! We're coming to you!"
He took a breath and paced beside the small gap in the stone. The Zorua was not a claustrophobic Pokemon by any stretch of the imagination, but this was just straight-up ridiculous. How did a human ever fit through this gap?"We have to try…" He whispered.
Eve's ears went limp. "I don't know if we can fit Ash."
"We have to try." He repeated more firmly, then closed his eyes and took a breath. "Selene, there should be a couple of spare flashlights inside my bag. Can you get them out please?"
The Clefairy quickly dug inside and withdrew two more flashlights. "What do you intend to do?" She asked, looking concerned.
He grits his teeth as he mulled over what to do. "This… isn't the smartest choice, but I think it's the best chance we've got. Assuming this guy really is stuck. Selene, you go ahead back to the surface and tell the others what's going on."
The trainer thought for another moment. "See if you can get Umbreon and Gloom down here. Umbreon is skinny enough to fit through here and Gloom should be able to use some grass-type moves to help reinforce the cave.
He turned to Eevee, who looked rather uncomfortable as she stared at the small gap. "Eevee, you wait here and fetch me things in case I need it; and to act as a relay once other people start to show up… And to act as a backup in case I get tired or get stuck."
"This is a bad idea… separating like this." Eve warned him as she turned the other flashlight on and pointed it in a way so that it lit up the whole room.
Ash didn't bother replying as he grabbed his own flashlight in his mouth. Okay… I can do this… A person needs help. I have to do told himself as he took a deep breath and released it.
He slowly crawled forwards and struggled his way through the squeeze and furiously kicked his hind legs to propel himself forwards. Thankfully, past the opening, the tunnel opened up a couple more inches to around a foot in height, though it was still a tight fit, and about an inch of it was filled with water.
What made things worse were these crystals that jutted out of the walls that seemed to snag his fur; along with the fact that he had to keep a tight hold on the flashlight with his mouth, meaning that his vision was limited to one side.
"HEY! ARE YOU STILL THERE?! HELP! PLEASE!"
Ash winced at the onset of noise in his ears, and he had to resist the urge to spit out the flashlight so he could respond properly.
Instead, he did the next best thing, "I on 'y 'ay!" He shouted around the flashlight in Zorua speak. Perhaps a bit unintentionally, but he had a lot to think about right now, he could be excused.
The man paused, even as Ash continued to crawl his way through. "Is that a Pokémon?" He asked.
Ash rolled his eyes, and then his gaze brightened up considerably as he reached the end of the tunnel. He walked to the edge and looked around, and looked down to see a ten-foot drop; where a face looked back up at him in surprise, then relief.
Ash spat out the flashlight and angled it in such a way so that it filled up the whole space, while the man started laughing.
"Help!" He half sobbed and half laughed, less a cry for it and more an exclamation of relief. "Where's your trainer? Couldn't make it through?" He asked, his words slurring slightly.
Ash shrugged and hopped his way down; grimacing as he examined the situation.
It wasn't a pretty sight; it would be very difficult to work around, but not impossible. The man was trapped in a small hole in the wall with only a couple of inches of space around him on either side, said space being filled in with gravel.
The man grimaced and leaned his head against the cave floor, soaking his hair in the water. "I don't even know what happened. We had found the path to the crystal caves finally! It's amazing down there. But the gap is so tight. I returned Gerald like an idiot. Then there was that Diglett…
"Hm…" Ash tilted his head as he thought of a way to work around it.
The man huffed, "Look, I know you can understand me. I've been stuck down here for… I don't even know how long…
"I think I can work with that." Ash decided, maybe it was a bad idea to start talking in front of the man, but considering the situation…
The man flinched. "Y-y-you can talk?!" He exclaimed, then shook his head and started laughing. "Talking Pokemon… I must be hallucinating. Exposure is getting to me." He muttered, shaking his head some more.
Well, that sure was convenient. Ash started digging at the gravel that surrounded the human's chest; mainly to see what would happen. The gravel simply shifted and spilled over from inside the tunnel, and he didn't have a place to put the gravel he'd just removed.
"How am I going to do this…" He murmured.
The trapped man seemed to notice the problem, and he jerked his head up towards the crevice above. "There's an old can I was using to move the gravel before I got stuck." He explained, then grimaced. "Unfortunately, you're not human…" He furrowed his brows. "What are you anyways? You look like a Vulpix without the tails."
"Zorua,"Ash replied, then started hopping from one little ledge to another as he climbed up to the top.
He mentally debated what to do for a moment, and then used his illusions to make himself into a Machop; both because it was a two-legged creature, and because it had fingers and hands he knew how to use.
He lowered himself back down and started moving rocks and gravel into the old can.
"I think there's a gravel pocket directly above me." The human grunted, cracking his neck. "My name is August by the way."
"Nice to meet you August,"Ash replied absently as he continue to work.
It didn't take long before the can was filled, and Ash had to haul himself up and force himself back through the squeeze. August watched him go, though he didn't say anything as Ash hauled the can up to the crevice and out of sight.
It was actually easier to fit through the squeeze in his Machop illusion because he could force himself into a prone position and still propel himself forwards with his feet. He pushed the can with his shoulder, making sure he didn't accidentally tip it over; as the squeeze was tight enough as it was, being only a foot and a half in height at the absolute most.
As he reached the exit, he barked, "Eevee, take this."
The light coming from the other side was dimmed for a moment as Eevee peeked through the gap. "This is way too tight." She claimed as she tried to force herself through. It should technically be an easier squeeze but even if she could physically, mentally forcing herself through was another task.
Ash took a calming breath and closed his eyes. "It's alright. I'm gonna push this through for you; and you just need to dump it out in a corner out of the way, then push it back through, okay?"
She pulled back from the tight squeeze. "Alright." She sounded more than a little relieved.
"Let me know when Selene gets back," Ash told her and set to work.
It wasn't the easiest job and was more than a little frustrating. Just when he felt like he was making progress the gravel would shift and poor over itself. August was certainly in a terrible spot, he couldn't imagine what this felt like for him.
He decided to try and keep him talking. "You mentioned a crystal cave?" Ash prodded, trying to spark a conversation.
"Crystal, right crystal cave." The man's words were a bit slurred, the Pokemon wondered just how long he'd been down here by this point. "I'd heard rumors, about a big cave system filled with glowing crystals. It took me a while to track down a point where some of the stories seemed to agree on an entrance."
Ash listened as he kept gathering gravel. "And we found it! Gerald helped me dig a path to get through it and we found it! I thought we were onto something when we saw the crystals up there." He nodded towards the crevice they'd come down. "But that's nothing compared to what's down there."
August didn't elaborate further, perhaps he was too tired, and Ash continued his work. Umbreon and Gloom managed to squeeze through to the upper cave with Selene. They talked out a plan.
"I might be able to squeeze through." Umbreon considered. "But I wouldn't be able to lift the gravel like you can."
"You could still help me gather it." Ash pointed out. "And at the very least you can help keep August company. He's been trapped alone down there for a while."
"Alone underground." Gloom murmured. "How fitting for all of us."
"You aren't exactly helping with that attitude." Eevee deadpanned at the other Pokemon.
"Is she always like this?" Ash whispered to Umbreon.
"Actually she's lightened up quite a bit since evolving."
Gloom was put to work trying to use roots to clear the way a bit and make the space bigger. Mostly by seeding the rocks to break them up and pull them apart. As she did so, Ash and Umbreon kept up moving gravel and clearing the way.
It was long and hard work. Hours passed as they worked to free the trapped man.
At long last Ash was just barely able to reach a Pokeball on the man's belt and felt some elation.
"That's Gerald's ball!" August announced. "I don't think he'll fit down here though, bring him up, he'll be able to figure out how to dig me out."
Ash brought both the Pokeball and another can of gravel up with him. The entrance to the crevice had been cleared a bit now and it was no longer quite so tight a squeeze. He released the Pokemon in the ball and Sandshrew appeared amongst them.
"Where…" The ground-type looked around in confusion. He narrowed his eyes at the other Pokemon, "where am I and where's August?" He seemed ready for a fight.
"Your trainer is trapped down there." Selene pointed, "we've been trying to get him out, we only just cleared enough to let you out of your Pokeball."
Gerald inspected the cave and the crevice and seemed strangely put off. "I don't understand it." He shook his head. "I made sure to strengthen this area, nothing should have collapsed…"
"I remember him saying something about a Diglett?" Ash recalled.
"Doesn't matter now I suppose." Gerald decided and cracked his knuckles. "Keep digging the gravel out, I'm gonna do some burrowing and see what I can do."
They all set back to work and Ash found a use for his newest move. Just as the gravel started to clear a sudden patch of dirt began collapsing. Using the new techniques from Dig he managed to press it solid just before it could start undoing all of their hard work.
Dig turned out to be the real MVM (Most Valuable Move) in this situation. While Ash and Eevee couldn't use it to tunnel through rock, Gerald the Sandshrew could. He used it to get behind August and see what the damage was.
A big rock had fallen and was trapping the man's leg. With a well-placed Rock Smash, the boulder fell to pieces and he was able to pull the smaller chunks off.
As the sun began to set on a worried campsite, the rescue party of Pokemon carefully helped the injured August out of the cave.
"Fresh air!" He gasped and started sobbing. "I- I thought I was going to die down there."
"Come on," Karen helped the man up. "Let's get some food in you and see what we can do for your leg."
"Ash got a first aid kit a while back, but I'm not sure how helpful it will be for this." Misty worried.
"We'll make it work, Absol, can you find a straight stick? I'm pretty sure we'll need to create a splint."
An exhausted Ash collapsed off to the side and out of the way. He'd been working down there for hours. Gerald sat nearby, fairly tired himself.
"Thank you." The ground-type spoke up. "If you hadn't come along… I don't know what would have happened. August probably would have died, and well, I don't know what would have happened to me. My Pokeball would have been my tomb." He shuddered.
"Don't mention it." Ash wheezed. "It was the right thing to do." He assured the Sandshrew.
"Maybe so." Gerald acknowledged. "But so is thanking the people who help you."
The exhausted Zorua mulled over that nugget of wisdom as he watched his human friends get to work on patching up the hurt man. As his consciousness began to fade, he realized something.
This is how it should be. Pokemon, humans, helping each other and working together. With that thought, he drifted to sleep.
Another big chapter today!
Lots of things happening this time. Some semi-episodic stuff, a brief return from Gary, a rescue mission, training, and hole digging!
Diggy diggy hole.
Regardless, I am obligated to both acknowledge and thank ThePilotArchangel (also known as Archangel_BK on discord) for coming up with the idea for the team to save a man trapped in a cave. And also for writing a decent chunk of it!
Yes, he wrote a bunch of the cave stuff. I did come in after and work to make it fit with the rest of the chapter but a lot of the general structure was him.
Speaking of which, with canon firmly off the rails, I've been brainstorming episodic plot ideas to help fill the gaps between gyms and give us some nifty adventures and character interactions. I have a bunch planned but if you have any neat ideas feel free to mention them! I can't promise I'll include them but even if I don't they might spark a different idea.
Also, I briefly want to mention Pokeballs. I've had some mixed thoughts as I writing the first scene. On the one hand, like Misty pointed out, they are incredibly useful in a lot of situations. But they can also be abused and misused.
I remember a reddit post (I think on r/Pokemedia) that had some ideas for different modes for Pokeballs to be in. This included a lock mode, and something called a stasis lock which essentially puts the Pokemon in stasis inside the Pokeball.
At the very least it's an interesting conversation and debate that we will probably be coming back to.
Anyway, time for the reviews!
Ozymandias42: I'm glad you think I handled Sabrina well. I should also let you know that your review left me kicking myself. I had not even considered trying to have her do something other than the doll house thing. You're right it doesn't mesh the best with the rest of canon and I could have probably found another way to do it. Hindsight is 20-20 I suppose.
Fantasy 92: Not sure I'd go for Shelldon-sensei, maybe Mr. Shelldon? Hmm... As for who will join next? I certainly have a few ideas.
Popmordiscos1: I'm glad you like the character interactions so much. I'm not sure when I might have that need but I'll keep you in mind!
UU Two: …maybe? I didn't intend on writing it that way but looking back I can see the read is there. I'm glad you liked everything happening the last chapter though! Lots of cool stuff!
Gwynx: I'm still truckin'!
Storyreader21: Nah, Karen gets character development instead! Ash was very tired and needed healing, he was basically running on pure adrenaline by the end. As soon as he saw his friends were okay and they started worrying about him, it hit him and he basically collapsed.
Diatomic Rex: The show actually did translate Pokespeech once. After St. Anne they ended up on an island and separated, all the Pokemon got subtitles. It was weird. Also good estimation with the Erika prediction, that's about how many chapters I intend to have between Saffron and Celadon (including this one).
LEGOBRICK13: Kanto gyms are famously messy. There have long been jokes made about how long it took Ash to actually earn a badge legitly. But what's this? It's AGATHA WITH THE FOLDING CHAIR! We'll see the repercussions there moving forward, might take a few chapters for them to start showing though. It's hard to forgive someone, it's also hard when you know you screwed up and want to make up for it but don't know how. Emotions are hard is the basic message. Also, I'm glad you like the cover art!
Primus1661: 300 reviews and 500 favorites! Been awhile since one of my stories hit that milestone…
Pokemonever1994: I do not know much about 5D's except for the... obvious… CARD GAMES ON MOTO- *ahem* Anyway. I mean, a million years training in the hyperbolic time chamber would probably do it. She's got years of experience but that's what you need to be on top sometimes. Pokemon getting stronger is weird. I might need to brainstorm it some more. Levels don't translate well to what I'm doing with this story.
Shaonics6: Eevee's evolution is something that's not set in stone. I have an idea or two but at the moment it's malleable. And yes! That's is the hat he was looking at in the store!
Uber Ghidorah: Contests have a lot of rules, then again… Even if there is a rule about needing a human for the presentation part, she has people for that. Also, I need to congratulate you and give you all the internet cookies. You are the first person to pick up on not only it being a fossil, but also which fossil it was. I was worried I hadn't planted it well enough but you prove me wrong! Thank you!
The one who reads and writes: I actually did end up exorcising a part of the chapter that dealt with Eevee and Pikachu's issues. I had enough going on and didn't want to overcrowd it. I haven't forgotten about it, don't worry. Karen's homelife will be explored much later. But she needed to get over a few things to finally start working with the rest of the group. Nurse Joy and her Latias might be making a few appearances… Shelldon is fun to write for. I kinda took inspiration from how I used to act while raiding when I was a bit younger. Full of myself but friendly, and able to back it up most of the time. Delia's Pidgeot is a Chekov's gun I've planted quite a few things about.
That's almost everything. I do have one final thing to mention. I have started another Pokemon story!
It is very different than this one. Misty is the main character. Have you ever wanted Misty to have a dragon? What about a dragon-bike? Well, that's my intention there! I'd appreciate it if you would give it a shot!
Not much else to say for now. Discord as always: discord gg kESdTfhAwG
See you next time!
~FriTik
R&R