There is no Miltank level.
Ash was finally confronted with the inevitable.
One of his friends and teammates would need to stay in Pallet Town with Professor Oak. This was not the end of the world.
But he was still a little emotional.
He'd made the call to the professor and made sure Ralts had arrived safely. While Professor Oak's lab may not be a true Pokemon Center it still had specific equipment. Ash asked him to make sure Ralts recovered and then he would see about transferring someone so the rest of them could properly meet their new teammate.
For the moment he left out some of the details about his stay in Rota. Including Mew. A part of him wasn't sure he should tell anyone else about Mew.
The Mew thing could be worried about later though, the team had a more pressing concern. With a decision like this, they all sat down and talked about it.
"It'll just be for a little while." Eevee reminded him. "Whoever goes back is just going to be there until we get to the Pokemon Center right?"
"I know." Ash admitted, "I still don't like leaving someone out though."
"Not worried about saying goodbye anymore?" Pidgeotto prodded, no doubt remembering the conversations based around Misty's supposed departure.
"No, not like that," Ash admitted, feeling almost a little embarrassed. "I guess I was being a little silly about that. Like Eevee pointed out though, this is way different."
"Still means one of us is gonna be sitting in Pallet Town feeling pretty bored for a bit," Pikachu mentioned.
There was silence for a moment. "Are you sure we can't just be a group of eight instead of seven? What's one more Pokemon?" Sunny asked.
"Another mouth and someone who needs to be included in training and everything else we do as a group," Storm told him, not too harshly.
"It's the boring part of travel really," Pikachu complained. "Just making sure everyone is included and gets enough attention. And might I remind you we've run into trouble with that already?"
"That's mostly because our trainer needs training too." Selene pointed out. "But yeah, it's already a bit tricky during training."
"That still leaves us with the question though." Storm reminded them. "Who's it going to be?"
Perhaps unexpectedly, it was Pidgeotto who spoke up. "Well…" she trailed off, clearly struggling with herself a bit. "I guess I could go back. For a bit at least."
"Are you sure?" Sunny asked the flying-type. "I mean-" the Charmander obviously didn't want to volunteer himself but felt like he had to say something.
"I mean, we all kind of knew this was coming?" Pidgeotto pointed out to varying degrees of agreement. "I figure I'll go first, get it out of the way for a month or so. Besides, remember, I used to live around Pallet Town. Kinda want to see if I can find any other family members who are still around."
"Other?" Selene wondered and then caught herself. "Oh right, Pidget is your brother."
"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Pikachu flicked an ear. "Well, I guess we all owe you a bit of thanks for taking the plunge. Although not really sure how I'd do it short of us walking back to Pallet Town to drop me off."
"You could just bite the bullet and use a Poke Ball like the rest of us?" Eevee suggested.
"Never!" As the two began to bicker Ash focused on Pidgeotto.
"I'll make sure to keep in touch with Mom and Professor Oak to make sure you know what we're up to!" He promised her. "And you should visit Mom and Shelldon! Or they'll visit you. And the diner! And-"
"Ash," Pidgeotto stressed, sounding amused. "I'll be fine. Just make sure to get me whenever you next stop… wherever that will be."
"We'll probably be figuring that out soon," Selene confirmed. "Assuming we can ever convince Misty to leave."
Deciding that dragging Misty out of Rota was a problem to be solved later, the group had a heartfelt goodbye with Pidgeotto, and Ash called Professor Oak to make the transfer.
Within a few minutes, the flying-type had safely arrived in Pallet Town and Ash's newest catch had returned to Rota.
"Here we go." They'd returned to the yard to release Ralts back out, just in case. The little psychic-type seemed to have a big personality, so better keep him away from objects that could break.
He stood there for a moment before shaking himself. "That felt silly. I don't know if I like it."
"FINALLY!" Pikachu hollered with delight. He raced over to Ralts and shook his hand. "Welcome to the team!"
"To be fair, he did immediately get transferred after being caught." Eevee pointed out.
That didn't mean much to Ralts. "What do you mean? You caught me and then…" He scratched his head. "I'm not sure actually. Now I'm just confused. But I'm used to that! You!" he pointed at Ash. "It's adventure time! Let's go!"
Ash chuckled a bit. "Go where? You know we're probably gonna be in Rota for at least another day or two right?"
"What?!" His new teammate gasped at him. "Unacceptable! You already beat the gym and fought in the contest! What else is there to do?"
"You tell us." Sunny prodded. "You do live here after all."
"It's boring here!" Ralts whined. "We haven't been invaded in, like, a thousand years!"
"...I think that's a good thing?" Storm pointed out.
"I feel like we should do introductions before we do anything else." Ash pointed out.
Ralts immediately switched gears. "Oh, good idea! Hi! I'm Ralts!" He waved eagerly at them.
"I think we knew that part." Pikachu snickered. "But you said you were watching us for a few days right?"
"I was hunting you! Like hunting a dragon!" Ralts announced proudly.
"None of us are dragons, although Sunny can evolve into something that looks like a dragon." Selene pointed out.
He blew a raspberry. "I said like a dragon. You guys are cooler than dragons. Well, maybe not. Dragons are pretty cool."
"This kid goes a mile a minute," Storm whispered to Eevee.
"Lots of energy." She agreed.
"I'm Ash," The trainer introduced himself, "not sure if you knew my name, but I'm a Zorua. I'll show you my real shape when there's nobody nearby."
"I've never heard of Zorua, but you're a dark-type right? Does that mean you're secretly evil?" Ralts asked, not sounding judgemental, just curious.
"Nah, just means he can turn his issues into violence better than we can." Pikachu snarked. "But yeah, I'm Pikachu, no nickname here. Pidgeotto had to go back to the lab to make room for you for the moment."
"I'm replacing someone?" That seemed to put a halt to Ralts mood.
"Kind of but not really." Selene comforted him. "Ash can only carry six active Pokemon at a time, for a few reasons. That just means that if there's more than six of us, some of us have to go back to Pallet Town."
"You'll get a chance to meet her in the next town." Storm backed up. "I'm Storm by the way, and I'm a Squirtle."
The other three Pokemon introduced themselves in short order and left Ralts with a confused question. "Why do some of you have two names?"
"Ash technically has three, and they're called nicknames." Eevee helpfully explained. "Not everyone uses them, I don't for instance, neither do Pikachu or Pidgeotto. But they're basically a name unique to you instead of just being named what you are."
"In that case, I definitely need a name!" Ralts decided. "...give me a second."
"Need any help?" Sunny asked. "I got help with mine, Misty was actually the one who came up with it!"
"No, no, I got this." Ralts insisted and crossed his arms deep in thought. Ash let him have a moment or two.
Just as he seemed to linger a bit too longer he perked right back up. "I got it! Call me Arthalothadamesh!" He called about a series of what sounded almost like random syllables.
The others shared a look. "That's… creative." Eevee allowed.
"Ar-ta… Arthaldome- no…" Sunny carefully tried sounding out the name but was left scratching his head.
"Where did you come up with that?" Pikachu asked, sounding a little bewildered.
"I thought who I wanted to be named after and then couldn't pick one, and then I thought I wanted my own name, but I've never had a name other than Ralts before. So I smushed a bunch of them together." The fairy-type squished his hands together as though condensing something. "Does that make sense?"
"It does to me!" Selene happily agreed. "Welcome to the team Arhtalotamash!"
"I think calling him Art for short is better," Storm suggested, correctly guessing Selene had mispronounced the name.
'Art' was slightly disappointed by the shortening of his new name, but Ash promised that on any official paper or registration, he would write the whole thing (assuming he could figure out how to spell it).
But when all was said and done, the fact remained that they now had a brand new teammate! That counted as a win!
The next few days were a little bit of a blur. A fun blur though!
Art got introduced to the rest of the group. He made quite an impression by immediately trying to telepathically talk to both Misty and Karen.
At the same time.
On a related note, Pokemon Centers had aspirin for both Pokemon and humans. That was good to know.
Ash also got to participate in a few knight classes! He was a little behind the others but he still enjoyed the opportunity. He probably wouldn't be using a sword in battle anytime soon, but it was still a fun experience.
How would he even use a sword in his real form? Would he have to hold it in his mouth or something?
As nice as Rota was, wanderlust did eventually start gnawing at the trainers again. They stayed for another three days after Ash caught Art. Then it was time to finally get back on the road.
With a few extra companions.
Fortunately, they didn't have to physically drag Misty along. But she insisted on wearing the sword on her back so she'd always have it with her.
"A bunch of us heading the same way." Karen mused as they left the Pokemon Center. "Makes sense. I don't think there are any towns further north and there definitely aren't any badges.."
"I don't even know where to go for my next badge." Mina drooped. "My route is completely shot."
"From what Joy said, it sounded like the league jumped the gun with this whole gym inspection," Misty remembered. "It's been a long time since the last one and right off the bat they had glaring problems to fix."
"Trying to fix things and instead making the problem worse," Brock noted with a nod. He sighed, "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. It honestly probably worked out in my favor that it's been so long since the last one."
"How long were you running the Pewter City gym for?" Ash asked the form gym leader.
"Three years on my own." Brock shrugged. "I like to think I was doing an okay job. But I did have to rely on the gym Pokemon every time a trainer with more than two badges showed up."
"I think you were doing a pretty good job." Ash consoled him.
"So what exactly is the plan for you two?" Misty asked their two new traveling companions. "We're probably going to be heading back down south toward Fuchsia City. I'm not sure what the fastest way to get there is though." She frowned.
"I was just going to head back home for a few days before deciding," Brock admitted, rubbing his chin. "But if you're looking to get to Fucshia I have a suggestion."
"Oh?" Karen quirked an eyebrow at him and Brock quickly turned to hide a blush.
"Well, Diglett's Cave has an entrance near Pewter City. The tunnel to Vermillion is the biggest and most well-used route. It would probably be faster than taking the normal routes and going through Cerulean, Saffron, and Celadon to get there."
"And they could just charter a boat from Vermillion to Fuchsia." Mina realized, "That's a pretty good idea."
"Not coming with us that far?" Misty guessed based on her wording.
"Sorry, I'm just with you until we get to Pewter. After that, I need to figure out what my options are. I'm not worried about Blaine losing Cinnabar Gym, but I need more badges than that."
"The League sent someone to cover the Saffron Gym after the Sabrina fiasco," Karen recalled. "Maybe they'll find people to cover the others? They should do it for the main gyms at least?"
"Viridian and Cerulean are both down." Brock nodded. "And if the minor gyms keep dropping then there won't be enough gym badges available for league participation."
"I'm kind of surprised there haven't been any announcements yet." Mina hummed.
"It took them five years to figure out they needed to do an inspection." Karen deadpanned.
"I probably shouldn't be then…"
As the trainers discussed, Art was bubbling with enthusiasm. "Adventure: start!"
"We haven't even reached the gates yet." Eevee reminded him.
"Yeah, but we're going that way!" Sunny reminded her. "So we have started!"
Sunny and Art had proven to be fast friends. While the Ralts was a bit more boisterous than the Charmander, they had bonded over a few things. Including their mutual desire for combat. The fact that Art knew a fire move only helped boost this bond.
Pikachu had listened in on the trainers talking and winced when mention of Diglett Cave came up. "Ugh, more of those little dirt gremlins."
"You can't just complain about every ground-type." Storm pointed out but Pikachu shook his head.
"I'm not, I'm complaining about Diglett specifically. I admit that I only have one example but he left a heck of an impression." The electric-type crossed his arms.
"The one that set the Spearow on you?" Selene recalled the story.
"Unfortunately." He sighed, "Maybe we'll at least be able to figure out how he managed to track us down. I can't believe he watched us for two years until we left Pallet Town."
"Oh! It sounds like you have a fated rival." Art perked up.
"Did you get that one from Staryu?" Indeed, those two spewed a lot of similar vocabulary. The difference was that Staryu seemed to be forcing it, while Art didn't know anything else.
"You'll do battle across the ages!" Art started laying the foundations for a legend. "Through storm and earth, your battle shall tear down the foundations of this world!"
"How about through storm, earth, and fire?" Sunny suggested.
"Oh, good idea!" Art nodded at his friend. "...maybe we should get all the types in there. Storm covers electric, earth could be ground or rock…"
"Pidgeotto would either be loving this or perpetually annoyed," Storm noted quietly. "With no in-between."
On the battlements, Mew watched the group leave, currently in the guise of a Pidgey.
He normally didn't bother with getting attached to humans anymore. He used to, but none of them had been as interesting as Aaron had been.
Maybe it had something to do with aura, or maybe the knight had just been special. Maybe both.
Although it could still be fun to visit some of them like Lady Irene and Old Man Gepetto.
But the two he was keeping an eye on weren't humans now were they?
There'd been plenty of shapeshifters to come through Rota over the centuries. It was always a fun game when he finally had someone who could keep up with one aspect of his powers. He'd seen some pretty unique ones too! The guesses from the party had only covered a fraction of the Pokemon who'd managed to find a way to disguise themselves in one way or another.
Then again, even of those tricksters he'd played with in the past, none of them had ever even hinted at the idea of disguising themselves as humans to become trainers.
Now Mew was left kicking himself! How had he never thought of that? What a fun idea!
As Ash, Mina, their teams, and their humans wandered out of sight. Mew hummed to himself.
"It's not a bad idea at all…" Maybe he should pay old man Gepetto a visit.
The trip to Pewter was a fun experience overall.
Mina and her team paralleled Ash and his team in a lot of ways. More importantly, they were just fun to hang out with.
They did plenty of training along the way and got to have more than a few battles! Both amongst themselves and with other trainers traveling out of Rota.
"Misty I don't think a sword is the best way to cut firewood." Brock carefully cautioned the young girl.
"Pfft! What do you know?" She swung down and cleaved a dried log in half.
"I think Misty has graduated from Scary to Extra Scary," Murkrow muttered as the humans set up the fire.
"Misty's not scary!" Sunny defended the trainer. While he may not be on her team, he was quite fond of her.
Murkrow shot him an incredulous look. "Did you miss the part where she and her team almost took down a legendary Pokemon?"
That gave a few Pokemon some pause. "You know, when he puts it like that…" Eevee flicked her ears.
There was a slight hiccup that first night. One that none of them had thought of until they had already been on the road.
"Brock doesn't know about us," Mina muttered to Ash as they sat near the edge of the clearing. Both were holding plates of human food the teenager had made just for them.
"Nope," Ash confirmed.
"How long can you hold your illusion?"
"Maybe a day at this point." He thought about it. "Assuming I don't get too tired."
"Can't do it while sleeping?" Mina guessed and he nodded. "My Transformation disappears when I'm asleep too. I just kind of turn into a puddle of goop."
Ash nibbled at his meal and immediately started digging in. "At least this is the best human food I've ever eaten. …maybe second best." He admitted; he'd gotten curious at Delia's Diner a few times. She was a really good cook.
"I mean he seems nice enough." They watched as he fell into a pile of stutters while talking to Karen. They missed the exchange, but likely he'd made some sort of declaration of affection and she fired back. "Mostly?"
"He doesn't seem to mean any harm by it." Ash noted, "And I think Karen likes the attention."
"I still don't like the idea of telling him," Mina admitted. "I know it would probably be harmless and I don't think he'd tell anyone."
"Nah, I get it." The Zorua nodded along. "I guess I'm not being quite as careful as I was, but I have more people who know about me. Brock would be the third human for you right?"
"Yeah." Mina shuffled her sneakers, idly kicking up dirt. "I don't know. I guess I feel like people might think I'm weird."
"What's wrong with being weird?" Ash snorted and she grinned.
"Nothing!" She laughed. "At least not usually. I just noticed that some people think Ditto are kind of…" She wavered.
"Really cool?" He suggested.
"Of course we are." She rolled her eyes. "But they think we're a little creepy. We can mimic anyone and anything perfectly. Pokemon, humans, objects, boys, girls, neither, both. I can be anything and anyone and some people think that's creepy."
"I don't," Ash told her, trying to comfort her a bit. "And neither do Karen or Misty! Or any of our Pokemon!"
"Thanks." Mina perched her head in her hands. "I'm going to tell Blaine when I get back to Cinnabar. I decided that not long after we met in Vermillion. I want to do it in person instead of over the phone."
"I don't know a lot about Blaine." Ash was forced to admit. "But I'm sure he won't mind."
"You had your trainer before you started disguising yourself right?" Mina asked and he nodded. "What was that like? I've never had a trainer besides myself and I've kind of been making it up as I go along."
The two sat together talking about their experiences for the rest of the night before bed. It was nice for both of them to have someone outside their usual group to talk to who knew exactly what they were going through.
As they turned in for bed that night, both Pikachu and Misty had to concede that Brock was a far better chef than either of them. They also both planned to learn as much as they could from him while they were traveling together. This could be their only opportunity to do so.
Both the disguised Pokemon hid their reversion in their tents. Ash might have been a bit more open to letting Brock know but if he let the Meowth out of the bag then Mina might feel like she had to, or it would be harder for her to hide it. Either way, he wasn't about to do that to her.
The next day they trained during breakfast time. Ash had most of his team working on new moves, Pikachu was learning Brick Break, Selene was learning Gravity, Eevee was learning Hyper Voice, and Sunny was working on Rock Tomb. It seemed like as good a time as any to work on expanding their type coverage.
As for Storm and Art, their training focused on the equally important aspects of technique and strategy in combat.
For Storm, she was working on a few evasive maneuvers that relied more on maximizing her defense than dodging out of the way. Like using her back to take the brunt of an attack.
As for Art, it was more about learning what moves he had available and what he wanted to focus on. In his own words, "I want to hit stuff really, really hard."
That was a good starting point.
Art's fire-type move was a bit of a mystery. He couldn't do it unless he was holding a stick or branch of some sort. Maybe similar shaped objects could work but they didn't have many other options on the road. Ash had looked over the moves that Ralts were supposed to know and it didn't seem to match any of the ones listed.
Eevee had a possible answer for them. "Maybe it's an egg move?"
"You mean like Chansey?" Selene scratched her head.
"No, like a move he inherited from one of his parents." Eevee corrected, used to Selene's misinterpretations by now.
"Might need to call Professor Oak for that one." Ash wasn't sure how to start trying to figure out what move Art might have inherited.
He needed to call Professor Oak anyway and check up on Pidgeotto again. She'd been doing okay when they'd left Rota, the last call mostly informing him of how she was getting along with the other Pokemon sent back to the ranch. Leaf and Gary had quite a few there, while Chou hadn't sent any yet.
As Professor Oak checked for what he could send Ash about the egg moves Ralts could learn, Pidgeotto got filled in on their plan.
"Let me get this straight." He couldn't see her but he still felt her eyes digging into him. "You're next stop is Pewter, probably in four or five days. And then you're immediately going underground to travel across the region."
"That… is the plan." Ash was beginning to see her point.
"...tell the others to relax a bit longer. I am not going to travel through a giant tunnel for a week." He heard her muttering something under her breath, "If I'd known this was the plan I would have volunteered to go back second!"
"Sorry." Ash winced. "How about you don't go back until after everyone else has gone twice to make up for it?" She was going to be spending a lot more time at the ranch than originally planned.
"We'll see how long you're underground I guess." He heard a ruffling of feathers that implied a shrug. "How's the pipsqueak getting along with everyone?"
"Art's doing well so far," Ash told her. "I hope you like him when you meet him. He's really motivated."
"He seemed like it. And don't worry I'm not slacking off. I've been working on my own and I'm gonna see if Shelldon is still taking students." Pidgeotto explained.
Her trainer stared at the device and offered a quick prayer, "Good luck. You'll need it."
"Yeah, also he's made a few comments about my feather pattern that has me confused. I'm gonna grill him about it. Oh the Professor's coming back, I'll let him give you his science stuff."
Professor Oak had a list of known moves that Ralts could inherit from a parent. The only fire-type move on that list was called Mystical Fire. A move that a few Pokemon could learn, including Gardevoir. But the way Art used it was more reminiscent of how Delphox used the move based on the clips they had of it.
As Ash focused on his Pokegear, trying to get more information, his Pokemon took a break from their training as they prepared to head out.
Art was quite pleased with himself. "I never wanted to be a Gardevoir, so it's good I already know that!"
"You want to be a Gallade then?" Eevee guessed.
"Of course!" He held his head high. "Gardevoir are too girly."
"What's wrong with being a girl?" Selene asked.
"I'm not one."
"Well, neither am I," Pikachu noted. "But I think I'd look darn good in a dress."
Eevee snorted and started giggling before covering her mouth. "That's not funny. You're not funny."
"I bet you'd look good in a dress too." At the words, Eevee's eyes bulged and she rolled over coughing. Her response left Pikachu with a mischievous smirk. He'd finally found out how to push her buttons. Karen's interactions with Brock had been most educational.
"...so boys can be girly too?" Art just seemed confused.
"If they want to." Storm shrugged. "And girls can be manly. You don't have to think about it too hard. You won't have to be a Gardevoir if you don't want to."
Selene had lost focus on the conversation and was staring intently at Eevee. "Eevee look at me."
"*cough* What?" Eevee got back to her feet and looked at the fairy-type.
The Clefairy stared at her. "Your eyes… your eyes are different."
"Huh?" Pikachu took a look and blinked. "What the-"
Instead of the brown eyes that Eevee typically had, they were now a pale blue-gray color. They looked a little familiar actually.
"Oh already?" She didn't seem too surprised. "What do they look like?"
"They… they look like Ash's."
"Yeah, which?" Again, she seemed entirely nonchalant.
Ash had noticed the slight commotion and was now paying attention. He looked at Eevee's eyes. "Your eyes like mine do when I'm not disguised."
"Neat!" She nodded. "I was wondering which color they'd be."
"You thought this was going to happen?" Storm put together. "Or something similar at least?"
"A little thing about us Eevee." She explained. "Our genetic makeup is very malleable. I believe the way Bill phrased it in his documentation is: 'Its genes are easily influenced by its surroundings. Even its face starts to look like that of its Trainer.'"
"Wait so your eyes were brown before because Bill's eyes were brown?" Pikachu realized. "What color were they originally?"
"Black." She shrugged. "I thought Ash's illusion wouldn't affect anything but it's good to have confirmation. I might start looking a bit more Zorua-like. Until I evolve at least, then my DNA stabilizes with whatever I evolve into."
"How does that even work?" Storm demanded. "What, just being in proximity is enough? If you hung out in a tree long enough would you start growing leaves?"
"Leafeon." Eevee shrugged and the point was conceded.
Other than Eevee's eyes spontaneously changing color not much else happened over the next few days. However, their second to last day on the road proved the most interesting.
They encountered a man named Belethor with a gigantic backpack and a trenchcoat who claimed to be a traveling merchant and offered to let them browse his wares.
There was some skepticism about both the quality of his products as well as his authenticity as a salesman. But fortunately, he turned out to be legitimate. He had a few potions and Pokeballs for sale, as well as numerous herbal and berry remedies.
The latter of which turned out to be a bit of a problem. Unknown to the poor salesman he had attracted quite a hoard of Rattata and Raticate chasing after him for his delicious berry products.
As it turned out, Belethor was not prejudiced against Pokemon and was perfectly willing to sell his berry remedies to the Rattata but they refused to pay! They were more interested in stealing than providing any form of compensation!
So the group was chased around the woods for several hours by a lot of hungry mouse Pokemon. Belethor had the most trouble due to his humongous pack and refused to drop his goods on the ground to save himself.
In the end, they managed to gather enough berries to distract the wild Pokemon long enough for Belethor to practice with a handy 'Rattata Whistle.' With his new tool, he was able to both hold them at bay and hold their attention. This left him in a little bit of a pickle but he resolved to go find a place with lots of berries where his followers could frolic and feast without trying to steal his product.
Mina got a new Pokemon out of the fiasco, a Rattata who was quite content after eating the berries they'd collected and didn't feel like chasing Belethor anymore.
This was technically Mina's seventh Pokemon since she counted as one of her six. Meaning Rattata was transferred back to someplace on Cinnabar Island and she would have even more to figure out once they got to Pewter.
Ash commiserated with her, considering he recently had to go through the same experience with Pidgeotto and Art. It was still a decision she needed to work out with her team but they seemed to enjoy talking about it with another team that could relate.
When they did arrive in Pewter a day later they had to split the group slightly. Brock apologized and said he would have let them stay at his house for their stay but they didn't have any spare bedrooms. Having nine siblings left the house a bit crowded apparently.
Vulpix and Pikachu talked about their experience with Brock's Gym when they'd each fought it, considering both were at a disadvantage during their respective battles.
"It's kind of funny really." Vulpix hummed. "You would have had an easier time if you'd fought the team we had to."
"Give me Shuckle and Omastar over Geodude and Onyx any day!" The electric-type agreed. "Still you guys got it on your first try, which is technically better than we did."
"Didn't Brock mention a Provisional Badge at some point?" Vulpix recalled.
"Yeah, it was only Pidgeotto and I back then. So we didn't have many options, but we did learn steel-type moves going into it." Pikachu explained.
"We worked on that too." The fire-type nodded. "Iron Tail?"
"Iron Tail." Pikachu agreed and in a moment of shared brain cells, they both used the move and clashed their tails together producing a metallic ringing. "But Onix caught me in a Bind and all I could do was use Thunder Bolt. Which wasn't working."
"Glad I didn't get caught in that." Vulpix shuddered. "Bellsprout did, but well… grass-types can dig into rocks a lot better than you'd think."
"I'd feel bad for Onix if he hadn't been crushing me." Pikachu nodded. "Anyway, my lightning managed to set off the sprinkler system. Then the next attack I used worked. Onix was knocked out and we 'won.' But it didn't feel like a win to us and we said as much so Brock gave us a Provisional Badge and said we could either keep it or try the fight again. We came back and did it for real though. No sprinklers needed!"
"That still doesn't make sense!" Eevee complained, hearing the bit about Pikachu knocking out Onix.
"Complaining about it not making sense won't change anything!" Pikachu shot back. "Actually gave me a good idea I can't wait to test. I almost hope we run into that blasted Diglett so I can try it out."
"Ominous!" Vulpix cackled. "I'm sorry I'll have to miss it."
"Good luck wherever you guys head." Pikachu nodded at him. "I look forward to beating you at the league!"
"In your dreams!"
They only stayed in Pewter City for long enough to restock their supplies. As well as get a few things that might be useful while spelunking. Mina had a few words of advice for them.
"Don't go into the side caves." She warned. "They look stable, some are, but most of them are dead ends and all of them have residents who don't want to be disturbed."
"You tried exploring a bit while down there?" Karen guessed.
"Yeah. It didn't go great…" Mina winced. "Some of the Pokemon down there are really territorial."
"We'll keep it in mind." Misty thanked her. "I don't suppose they have a civilization down there like the Clefairy in Mount Moon do?"
"The Diglett seemed organized." The Ditto considered. "I don't know if I'd call it a civilization though."
Flashlights, boots, helmets, rope, everything they needed to get through the cave safely. The main tunnel was widely considered safe enough for use by humans but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Brock invited them to dinner that night. Everyone eagerly accepted, hoping to have his cooking again before they departed.
Ash and Misty got a bit of a surprise when they met Brock's father. Pikachu would have too if he'd paid more attention when they first got to Pewter so long ago.
"Rock guy!" Ash pointed at him with a gasp.
"You shaved your beard?" Misty quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Ah, you recognize me then?" He rubbed his now bare chin. Indeed, it was the same man who sold Ash his 'cool rock' when the trainers had exited Viridian Forest a few months earlier. His hat was gone, alongside the cleanshaven face, but his voice remained the same gravelly rumble.
"Yeah, this is my father." Brock nodded. There was a clip to his tone that Ash hadn't heard from the normally friendly teen. "Also the new-old Gym Leader."
"Glad I can at least start to pick up the slack." Flint didn't meet his son's eyes.
Apart front that brief bit of awkwardness, dinner was an entertaining affair. The food was great of course, but Brock's many siblings were amusing as well. The oldest was Forrest who at one point during the meal announced he was going to be a Gym Leader too. He was still a year shy of being ten though and didn't have any Pokemon yet.
The others ranged from quiet to boisterous. Most of them were easily entertained by the visiting Pokemon. Some like Seel, Staryu, and Art basked in the attention while others took a more measured approach. Others like Pikachu, Squirtle, and Umbreon tried to avoid all contact with the tiny humans.
During what could only be called a five-star feast (as far as the travelers were concerned) Brock suggested something that caught them by surprise.
"I was wondering if I could come through Diglett's Cave with you guys?" He sounded a little awkward broaching the question. "At least if you'll have me? I've been through once or twice when I was younger and I think it would be a good opportunity for me to become a better trainer."
Ash's only problem would be the whole disguise thing. He and Mina had done a good job hiding it on the way to Pewter but the longer they traveled with Brock the more likely he was to find out. So if Brock came with them he would probably just bite the Bullet Seed and reveal himself.
Misty seemed a little unsure but leaning toward yes. Probably because of the quality of his cooking. She and Brock had been on friendly enough terms and had bonded over their former status as gym leaders.
Perhaps unexpectedly, Karen was completely down for it. "Well, having some eye candy along certainly couldn't hurt."
Brock went bright red, and several of his younger siblings (and Ash) started gagging. Flint let loose a belly laugh and Misty collapsed into her hands.
They agreed to meet up in the Pokemon Center lobby the next morning, Mina would be there too so she could say goodbye and wish them luck. She didn't have a Pokegear yet otherwise they would have traded numbers. But they still gave her a small sheet of paper with a list of their numbers in case she got her hands on a phone.
On the way back to the Pokemon Center Misty complained about the older girl's behavior. "Why are you encouraging him? I don't know why he goes lovey-dovey sometimes but the more you encourage it the worse it'll get!"
"So?" Karen smirked at her. "I wasn't joking, he's not too bad looking. Been awhile since I've had a date too. The squinting is a little odd but I could get used to it. Besides, he's a paper tiger. He folds as soon as someone starts firing back at him. I think I prefer keeping his attention on me though."
Ash was completely lost. "I don't get it."
Mina shrugged, "Humans are weird."
Misty glared at the two Pokemon. "Didn't you two start flirting to trick us back in Rota?"
"That wasn't flirting." Mina crossed her arms. "That was complementing our own artwork! He was disguised as me and I was disguised as him. It's not the same at all."
The ginger girl could only shake her head. "You're all crazy."
Eyes darted to the sword that hung in a sheathe on her back but no one said anything. There were many different brands of crazy after all.
The next morning, Ash made a few calls home to Professor Oak, Delia, and Pidgeotto. Since he probably wouldn't have a signal underground this would be their last chance to talk for a little while.
It was nice talking to them but Pidgeotto seemed distracted by something. She wouldn't say what when pressed but she claimed she'd explain the next time she saw them properly in person.
After a tearful goodbye with Mina, the group set off toward the northern entrance to Diglett's Cave.
Karen kept her teasing of Brock to a minimum, perhaps out of respect for Misty's sanity, or perhaps because the boy had been forcing himself not to go googly eyes.
There would still be an attempt on Brock's mental state today though, once they were on the road and out of town.
"Okay Brock, please stay calm," Misty told the older boy.
"What do you mean?" Brock gave her a confused look.
"Just try not to think about it too hard," Karen told him and glanced at Absol who nodded. Whatever was about to happen wouldn't be a serious disaster.
Since Pidgeotto wasn't here, Murkrow scouted the area to make sure there were no wandering eyes.
Deciding to inject some humor into the situation, Ash asked Brock a question. "Hey Brock, what's furry, black and red, and super cool?"
"Uhh…" Poor Brock was completely lost.
Murkrow came back, "All clear!" He called.
"Me!" Ash dropped his illusion and Brock stopped squinting.
Once they helped Brock pick his jaw back up he had several questions. Some were more surprising than others.
"Are you a Pokemon?"
"Yes."
"Were you always a Pokemon?"
"As far as I know!"
"What Pokemon are you?"
"Zorua!"
"Have you been taking good care of yourself?"
"...what?"
Brock, the oldest child in his family, gym leader with both his own Pokemon and the Gym's Pokemon to take care of. As well as his interactions with trainers and the Pewter City community, knew a lot about how to take care of Pokemon.
And in his unprofessional opinion, Ash needed to take better care of himself. His fur was messy, his eyes a little dull, and his muscles were well-maintained but he was also on the skinny side.
While Karen and Misty went about their normal training routine Ash found himself the focus of an impromptu salon session. His fur was shampooed, fur and teeth brushed, and he was fed a high in nutrients but also delicious-tasting Pokemon Chow.
When all was said and done, Ash could honestly say he felt better than he had in months.
"You have a trainer back in Pallet Town?" Brock had been given a bit of a rundown as he cared for the Zorua. "I'm guessing she would do a lot of this for you or made sure you got what you needed?"
"Pretty sure." Ash was still a bit bewildered. That wasn't right, he was supposed to be the one doing the bewildering!
Also, Pikachu and Storm hadn't stopped laughing, Art just looked a little confused, and Selene, Sunny, and Eevee had formed a line.
"Well, it looks like you've done a pretty good job of looking after your Pokemon, but you need to look after yourself too," Brock told him, not quite scolding him but definitely trying to emphasize his point.
"I'll try to remember that." Ash certainly appreciated the unexpected spa session.
The entrance to Diglett's Cave was fairly close to Pewter, a little bit east of Viridian Forest. It was still afternoon when they arrived, way too early to set up camp for the night so they had a quick lunch and started their spelunking session.
"Who has Pokemon with Flash?" Brock checked with the group as they began their descent. "Parts of the cave are lit up but there are darker parts too."
"We all have flashlights," Ash noted. "But I think Staryu can use Flash?" He glanced at Misty for confirmation.
"Yeah, he and Staryu both." She nodded. "Between them and the lights, we should be covered."
"Alright, there's a ladder up ahead." Brock scanned the ground. "That'll take us to the tunnel proper."
They found the ladder after a few minutes and climbed down one by one. As they descended further into the depths Ash felt that Pidgeotto had made the right decision. She'd been uncomfortable in a little hole he'd dug in the ground, she would have hated this. Mount Moon had been unpleasant enough for her.
It was darker at the bottom, but a Flash courtesy of Staryu lit the way for them. "It should be pretty straightforward," Brock announced, scanning the walls a bit. "Just watch out for any holes left by Diglett. Don't want any sprains or injuries."
"Good call," Misty agreed, watching her feet. "I've had enough leg injuries."
"Oh right," Brock remembered. "You had crutches when Ash challenged the gym."
"Cut my leg pretty bad running from a Spearow flock." She explained. "Once it healed enough I could leave them behind."
"You got a pretty cool scar out of it at least." Squirtle did his best to offer her comfort.
She scowled. "It is not co-" Misty froze midstep and whirled on Squirtle. "Say that again!" She demanded.
The shellfish Pokemon had his hands raised in surrender. "I said you got a pretty cool scar out of it?"
All annoyance forgotten Misty squealed and scooped up Squirtle. "I understood that! I got it!"
"Wait really?" He blinked in surprise.
"Yes really! I thought I'd figure out Starmie or Goldeen next but you're out of your Pokeball more so I guess it makes sense but yes!" She was incredibly pleased with the achievement.
"That's awesome Misty!" Ash congratulated her. "You're way ahead of most trainers now!"
"And I still haven't gotten a blip from Umbreon." Karen huffed in annoyance.
Brock was looking between the three trainers. "I'm a little bit lost, what just happened?"
At Brock's recommendation, they didn't do much heavy training while in the tunnel. They did do some basic exercises when they stopped but they didn't want to accidentally cause a cave-in or anything.
They didn't run into any other trainers but they did encounter several wild Pokemon. Not just Diglett but also Dugtrio and Sandshrew.
None of them pushed their luck after being hit with a few attacks from the resident water-types. But it did get creepy as Ash kept thinking he saw movement at the edges of their light sources. Staying just far enough away that he couldn't get a good look at them.
On their third day underground Brock seemed troubled by something.
"Are you okay Brock?" Ash spoke up to him about it. "I don't know what you and Karen have going on-"
"No!" The human trainer practically yelped. "I mean-" He stuttered a bit. "It's not that."
Brock had propositioned Karen a few more times as they traveled. And each time Karen had smirked at him and begun mercilessly teasing him. Yet he kept trying it. Ash just couldn't understand it. Pikachu was taking notes from Karen though. Apparently, he thought she had good material. Ash was dreading what his best friend would come up with.
"Then what's up?" The Zorua pressed.
"Well, Diglett's Cave isn't the most well-used road in the region." Brock acknowledged. "But we haven't seen anyone. Just some of the native Pokemon. The last time I was here I saw at least one person going the other way every day. I know it was a few years ago but I haven't heard anything about it falling out of use."
"And Mina just used it a few weeks ago," Ash recalled. "I didn't think about it that much."
"It's probably nothing to worry about," Brock admitted. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid. But it's still bothering me."
When they stopped for the night (at least their digital clocks claimed it was night) they had to make an unplanned maneuver.
"Everyone move!" Absol had emerged from her ball with a shout and begun pushing Karen away from the center of the tunnel.
The Pokemon reacted to her warning and followed her directions. Art was the only one who protested but that was more out of confusion than refusal.
"Wha-?" Misty was confused herself but Ash quickly grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along as he followed Absol.
Brock couldn't understand the dark-type but he got the message and joined the others as they moved.
Moments after they had pressed themselves against the wall of the cave a sound of rumbling reached them out of the darkness. It grew louder and louder, like the roar of a stampede.
In a way, it was one. A massive cloud of rock and dirt rushed right through the center of the underground, annihilating everything in its path. If they hadn't moved out of the way they would have been caught up in the destruction.
The sound lasted for several minutes before the dust in front of them began to settle and the sound began to fade into the distance.
Now dust-covered, the group peeled themselves from the wall. "What the heck was that?" Karen demanded.
"Diglett I'm guessing," Misty suggested, grimacing at her dirt-covered clothes. "Just turned my white shirt brown…"
"Stampeding through the cavern?" Ash wondered at the incident. "Maybe that's why we haven't seen anyone?"
"Do you think anyone got caught up in that?" Sunny worried. "We had Absol to warn us."
"How did she know to warn us!?" Art demanded and pointed his stick at the dark-type. "Are you in league with the Diglett?"
Fortunately, Absol was more amused than offended by the accusation. "No, I'm not. I can just sense bad things before they happened…" She trailed off and looked ahead. "Speaking of which… shoot."
"Oh no." Storm realized Absol could sense something else coming. "What's up?"
"We have a few minutes." Absol started pacing. "How did I not pick up on this before? Is anyone… no, no serious injuries." She paused. "Minor injuries. Misty, give your first aid pack to Ash."
Ash began translating Absol's words and took the case from Misty. Absol looked between the two and nodded. "Slight injury on Squirtle's part, Ash will need it more."
"Why will Ash need it more?" Eevee narrowed her eyes at Absol.
"Don't know. Not important right now." Absol was looking around frantically. "Eevee can you Dig a path up that wall? Then can a few Pokemon with ranged moves go up there?"
Eevee glanced at her trainer and he nodded a confirmation. Absol didn't have many warnings but when she had them it was best to follow her suggestions.
She dug her way up several meters and made a little alcove in the cave wall. Absol nodded. "Good, you come back down, now a few Pokemon go- NO!"
Pikachu froze as the larger Pokemon whirled on him. "Not you! Stay with Ash! It's important!"
"Why?" Selene raised her hand.
Absol groaned and held her head close to the ground. "I don't know."
"This seems like quite a lot of effort for an incident you are unsure of doomsayer." Staryu pointed out.
"I know and I'm sorry." Absol straightened. "I just know Pikachu going up there is a bad idea. He needs to stay near Ash. Actually, all of his Pokemon should stay near him. I can't describe exactly what is going to happen. I don't know what's going to happen. Just that things would be much worse if Ash was by himself."
"I'm starting to get a little worried." The Zorua in question admitted, glancing around. "I'm not gonna be attacked by a Pokemon stalking me again am I?"
"No-" Absol froze. "Uhhh…"
"You're kidding right?" Pikachu deadpanned.
"Remember when I said it's hard for me to get details unless I know what exactly is happening?" Absol sounded a little sheepish.
"Who's stalking Ash this time?" Sunny's eyes narrowed as he stood protectively by his trainer. Ash was touched by the fire-type's words.
Art crossed his arms. "Yeah! Only I'm allowed to do that!"
Sounds came from further down the tunnel. The same direction the stampeding Diglett had come from in the first place. Whatever it was sounded big and the sound of groaning metal and machines echoed through the caves.
"Quickly!" Absol looked up at the alcove Eevee had made. "If you aren't on Ash's team and can use a ranged move get up there! If you're neither get to the front of the group. Also, get ready to be annoyed!"
Squirtle, Staryu, and Geodude climbed the wall and Ash translated for the trainers but tripped up as Absol finished. "Wait annoyed by what?"
"What's this?" A voice echoed over the sounds of movement. "Uninvited visitors to our newest conquest?"
A bright spotlight shined down on the group and a giant silhouette filled the cave ahead of them. Because of the light in their eyes, they couldn't make out the details but it was bigger than most Pokemon and parts seemed more geometric than natural.
"...are you serious?" A different voice, more nasally echoed from the thing in front of them and the light moved aside.
No longer blinded, the group looked up at the thing confronting them. It was a machine of some sort. It seemed to be welded together and made from pieces of trucks, cranes, and other assorted junk parts. Some were in better condition than others.
It had four legs endings with giant scoops from construction equipment. It had two giant arms, one ending with a giant funnel and the other in the shape of a fist. Two smaller arms came over the top and seemed to be tipped by Tesla coils.
It had no head, but the torso had a cockpit in the chest area. And while the limbs were not painted, the main body was painted black with a giant red letter 'R' right in the center.
Eevee stared. "Don't tell me…"
"I think I know that voice," Storm admitted, semi-reluctantly.
"I don't but they have a giant!" Art swung his stick forward. "This is gonna be awesome!"
A hatch on the front opened and a head with long red hair poked out. "What are you doing here?!" Jessie of Team Rocket demanded.
"Us?" Karen pointed. "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?"
"Do you like it?" James poked out his head next to his partner. "It's our latest and greatest creation! The Team Rocket Under Terrain Horrid Mechanism of Catching!"
"Or TRUTHMC for short!" Meowth appeared above the two humans.
"That's not a good acronym." Selene pointed out.
"No one asked you puffball!" Meowth shook a paw at her.
"Wait these guys are part of Team Rocket?" Brock had recovered from his disbelief and connected the dots that these guys were bad news.
"Supposedly." Misty nodded. "Although compared to Archer and his goons I can't see the comparison."
"Wait you twerps met Archer?" Jessie caught her words. "What were you doing bothering a big wig admin like him? His time should be spent more valuably than squabbling with rabble like you!"
"We sent him running." Ash glared at them. "Remember what I told you guys last time! You want to be the bad guys we're gonna treat you like it!"
"Ha! Good luck with that!" James retreated back into the TRUTHMC and his allies joined him. "This machine is the peak of Rocket Engineering! We've been collecting a bounty of Pokemon to turn over to the Boss! We may not have that black Vulpix of yours but that's yesterday's news!"
"Do they mean..?" Brock whispered to Ash out of the corner of his mouth.
"Yes they do but they don't know it yet." He confirmed. "Pikachu use Thunder Bolt! Show them what we think of their stupid machine!"
"Glady!" Pikachu blazed and the attack struck the monstrosity of metal dead on!
…to no effect.
"Awww something wrong?" Jessie's voice cackled over the loudspeaker. "After getting hit with your little attacks so often we figured it was time we did some shockproofing!"
"Rubber joints!" Meowth's voice crowed.
"Where did you even get that thing?" Karen demanded.
"Oh, funny story actually…" James started.
"Junk!" Jessie kicked a hub cap out of sight. "Nothing but junk!"
"Fitting this is the pile we end up in." James groaned as he lay over a pile of scrap metal.
"How many times have we gotten our butts kicked by that brat and his mouse?" Meowth wondered.
"Four times now?" James guessed. "Once was too many though. Maybe we should find a new career. I could go back to school I guess. I skipped a few grades though…"
"It's never too late to get an education!" Meowth comforted his friend.
"Stop it with that defeatism!" Jessie demanded glaring at the two. "I am not going back to school again!"
"What do you mean again?" James asked.
"I dropped out, then went to nursing scho- oh it's not important!" She crossed her arms and sat in a huff. "My point is we're better than this!"
"Are we?" Meowth asked.
James started pulling himself together. "No, she's right. We shouldn't let this get to us so bad. We need to reach for the stars! That's why we're Team Rocket after all!"
"Right, you are James!" Jessie stood again and grasped hands with him, pulling him off his junk pile. "We just need to get a win or two! That Pikachu and Vulpix can wait a bit longer!"
"Where do we start though?" Meowth asked, sitting up. "In case you haven't noticed the balloon is shot." He gestured at the tattered remains of their transportation.
"Well…" The blue-haired criminal started looking around. "There's plenty of stuff here to start with. I have a Mechanical Engineering degree to get us started."
"I thought you said you dropped out of school?" Meowth double-checked.
"I did, it was an online program. Apparently, two years of online classes in middle school isn't enough for a 'real job' though." He scoffed.
"I dabbled in Rocket Science." Jessie picked up a mostly intact radiator. "As a hobby on the weekends."
As his companions got to work Meowth sighed and looked at his paws. "Well, Meowth you taught yourself to talk, now time to teach yourself to be an Electrician."
"…and then we built the TRATHMC!" James finished his story.
"I thought you said it was the TRUTHMC?" Ash checked.
"Why are you encouraging this?" Karen asked him.
"That's because it was the Team Rocket All Terrain Horrid Mechanism of Capturing first!" James explained. "Then we fell through a sinkhole and ended up down here."
"Proper branding is very important," Meowth confirmed. "Now then." The Tesla Coils on top of the machine began to spark. "Our hulls not quite full yet, we got room for a few twerps in here. Yous wanna do this the nice way or the fun way?"
"How about the ocean way villains?!" Staryu and Squirtle started firing Water Pulses from their hidy hole, where they'd remained out of sight up until now.
"Hey stop it you'll make us rust!" Jessie shouted and the Tesla coils turned on them. The machine shifted slightly to accommodate and a large tank of the back revealed itself. It looked slightly beat up, with dents in it. Dents that seemed to be made from the inside.
"Wanna bet that's full of Pokemon they've captured?" Umbreon suggested.
"No need when it's a sure thing." Pikachu agreed and began bracing himself to charge forward. Absol slammed a paw down in front of him.
"Stay." She hissed. "Don't worry about the Pokemon in there. They'll be okay soon."
Geodude started using Rock Throw, targeting the small arms on the TRUTHMC. One of the Tesla coils jerked and the shot went wide, hitting the roof of the cave and causing a rumbling.
"Selene use Reflect!" Ash shouted over the noise and a semi-solid wall appeared over their heads. No one wanted to be crushed by a cave-in.
"Take that thing down!" Karen had enough of watching. "Go!"
"Onix, see if you can hold it down!" Brock sent out the rock-snake Pokemon.
An all-out brawl began in the cave. Karen's and Misty's Pokemon went to work on the TRUTHMC. Starmie targeted the legs as Staryu and Squirtle continued providing supporting fire. Geodude kept aiming for the arms and cockpit. Onix wrapped himself around the torso and kept it from maneuvering properly.
Absol and Umbreon immediately started targeting the containment unit on the back. Murkrow started flying around the cockpit to try and distract the pilots. Gloom used Vine Whips to try and grasp the legs as Sneasel darted up and down targeting anything that looked like it could be cut.
Ash's team was reluctant to stay back and let the others handle the fight but the rumbling of the cave was a cause for concern in its own right. As the walls shook Eevee's eyes darted to the ground. "Look out!"
Cracks began appearing and a few tracks of disturbed earth began to appear in the ground. Already disrupted by the passing Pokemon before it was fairly weak and easy to dig through.
The others were so focused on Team Rocket and their machine that they didn't notice the ground disturbances at first. Ash and his team stayed together but quickly found cracks in the ground cutting them off from the others.
"Quick, get off this little island!" Selene looked around and realized they were surrounded by the breaking ground.
"Good call! Get ready to jump!" Storm moved to the edge and was about to start leading the way when something popped out of the ground right in front of her and she stumbled back.
"Foolish heathens!"
"No. Flipping. Way." Pikachu's words were filled with disbelief.
"How-" Ash was just as bewildered.
"Here you have come! To the lands below! To where the Great Three rules in Their throne of gems! You thought you could trespass? After everything you did to me? YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD COME HERE? TO THIS SACRED LAND?" Diglett, the Diglett demanded.
Now some of the others had noticed the commotion coming from Ash's group. Misty turned around and saw the Diglett and the expressions on Ash and Pikachu's faces. "What the-?" Was all she managed before the TRUTHMC managed to get its arm free of Onix and slammed it into the cave wall.
Squirtle took a tumble from the hidey-hole and the shaking got worse. Ash felt something give under him. Fear filled him and he grabbed his friends. "Hold on!" He shouted and screwed his eyes shut.
A chant seemed to fill the air, more than one Diglett voice echoed as their platform of rock sunk and broke away as the cave collapsed around them.
"Down! Down! Far below!
Never see the moon's glow!
Down! Down! Into the deep!
Where our ancient Lord dost sleep!
Down! Down! Endless depths.
Brace yourselves to find your death."
It's time for several things to finally pay off!
Diglett being the one from the farthest back.
Also Brock! At last, I can make things up to him for leaving him out way back when!
If you recall my reasoning one of my issues was I didn't know how to deal with his weird lovey dovey thing. Karen provides the perfect solution. Once she got over the weirdness of it, she kinda appreciates having a guy follow her around telling her she's gorgeous and is easy for her to tease right back.
So with someone to focus Brock on, I don't have to reference how he's getting therapy or how he gets weird every time they meet a girl his age or older. Not to mention Karen is a bit of a beauty queen canonically.
Not sure if that's gonna be a ship but it's a temporary solution. Whether or not it continues depends on the reactions over the next two chapters I suppose!
A lot of this chapter was character interactions and setting some stuff up for later though, with a long-awaited return from the TRio! Now with 100% more giant mech!
I have been waiting to get Diglett's Cave in this story and hinted at it a few times. Hopefully, it's begun paying off already! I plan to wrap up this mini adventure next time.
Unfortunately, we won't be seeing Mina again for a bit. Not sure if they'll run into her on Cinnabar or not, but we'll be seeing her at the league.
And of course, welcome Art to the team! Or rather, Arthalothadamesh! If you're curious about the bits and pieces, Arthur, Lancelot, Galahad, and Gilgamesh. He would have fit more in if he could figure out how.
Review time!
Talesfanjmf: That Pokemon Party was my favorite part of the chapter to write. Closely followed by the first part with Ash and Mina and the last part with Ralts (or Art rather)
PenguinBandit523: A ghost type would be an interesting fit for Ash's team. Hmm… As for Lucario, sorry he's gonna need to wait for now at least.
Chaostcontrol7977: Might need to wait a while for that.
Uber Ghidorah: Honestly that's basically how I've been picturing her in my head. Not sure if she'll get into the music business or not. For now, she's enjoying being a trainer though.
Shaonics6: Mew is an interesting Pokemon. Very powerful, very playful, but not exactly malevolent. The most dangerous part about them is probably a lack of understanding about how squishy playmates can be. Pikachu's trying to insult humans less nowadays, but learning to write would take a bit of time. We're leaving the tree alone. For now at least.
Strike Wyvern: …100% honest I was not doing that intentionally. I have seen clips with him before but I definitely wasn't doing it consciously.
Lupercus1944: Glad you like what they've been up to! To tell the truth, I've been a little worried about Karen, and it's made me think of Brock a bit. With hindsight, I realize that adding any new human member to the party would have been a bit rough at first and take some extra work to find a good dynamic. If I could go back I probably would include Brock from the get-go. Glad you're still finding the chapters funny! Hopefully I can maintain that sense of humor. Karen's backstory has been in the works for awhile. And the interactions with her and Brock worked so perfectly I was giggling to myself. Also glad you like the Pokemon interactions and yes, congrats on guessing Ralts correctly!
LEGOBRICK13: Now Riley that can't be good for his health. Although he probably did need to be turned off and on again. Glad you like the Karen backstory as well as the little joke Ash and Mina played on the humans! It's rude to point! And yes Ralts, he might not be the first Pokemon you think of when you think of Ash but Gallade is a pretty good fit for him. I think Melmetal counts but yeah he should have gotten another Legendary at some point… one specifically… that was set up really well… *incomprehensible sound of frustration*
The one who reads and writes: Hmm don't count Brock too far out just yet. Also, she did talk to them and they didn't listen? Just told her she needed to try harder. That's kind of why she left. You know he probably should mention the fact he met Mew to professor Oak at some point… just not yet. And we have Pidgeotto sent back to the lab first! And then getting an extended stay because of cave. She doesn't like caves much.
Scartacus: Glad you liked my depiction of feelings! Maybe just a bit. It was also just kind of funny. Ash? Talking about his trauma? Improbable! And I'm glad you liked the story so much!
Pokemonever1994: …I'm sure I can't be first. Someone else must have given him a Ralts at some point. It's a big fandom! And I can neither confirm nor deny such accusations of plot destruction.
Now what do the depths below Diglett's Cave have in store for Ash and friends? Find out next chapter!
Which I am starting literally right now because I don't want to make you wait for it!
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~FriTik
R&R