A somewhat shorter chapter as I've been very ill and couldn't sit up to write much.
I own nothing.
Chapter 10
The next day Ash checked his emails to found he'd received replies back from both Fuchsia Safari Zone and Mt Silver asking him to ring them. An hour later Ash sat back in relief as the issue was sorted.
"Well Pi, Fuchsia said no because there wasn't enough room to accommodate a Snorlax who could just swim to every area and clean them out of the food there. We knew that would be the main downfall. Mt Silver reluctantly said yes, only because they knew that they had no reason to say no. I'll have to wait for when I get to Mandarin South to transfer it. At the moment I'll just keep it locked."
"Well at least that's something" Pikachu said yawning and stretching. Before he could say anything, the video phone rang startling them. Answering it he was surprised to find Sams face appear.
"Hi professor" Ash said startled "everything ok?"
"Have you received replies yet about Snorlax?" he asked without preamble.
"Yeah, in fact I've just got off the phone with the Mt Silver rangers and the Fuchsia City Safari Zone keepers. Fuchsia said no because it can swim and wouldn't have any issues getting to each zone and clearing them out of food putting every other Pokémon's welfare at risk, and Mt Silver reluctantly said yes, mainly because they had no reason to say no given the size of Mt Silver." Ash said "why?"
"I received a phone call this morning from a researcher in Hoenn who is developing a pokeblock designed especially for Snorlax." Sam said "he's said he thinks he's done it. Should it work, this one pokeblock will fill up a Snorlax."
"Oh wow" Ash said "that's revolutionary! Is he going to be at Scissor Street this coming year? I may have to travel there if he is."
"Yes" Sam said "he's going to be one of the finalists, should it prove to work. With that being said he needs a test subject but as you can imagine Snorlax are quite hard to find wild."
"So, he wants mine?" Ash said, "I'm fine with that."
"Good man" Sam said "Now, he's not expecting this for nothing so he's sending me a device that he's recently found but has no use for as he doesn't own Pokémon. When he's sent it to me, I'll send it to you when you get to Mandarin South."
"Actually" Ash said "I was planning on sending Charizard to Mandarin to send Snorlax today to Mt Silver by carrier Pidgeot. I can always send him straight to you and Charizard can wait on Mandarin for Dragonite to deliver your package."
"Why don't you just click the transfer button on your Pokedex?" Pikachu piped up causing Ash to facepalm. Explaining to Sam they both chuckled and shook their heads.
"Ok, I'll send the pokeball to Doctor Wrinkle" Sam said trying to keep a straight face "yes, that is his real name, and I'll ask Dragonite to get the item from him and deliver it to the Pokémon Centre on Mandarin South."
"We should be there in a week, so I'll let you know when I've received it." Ash said, "and there's no clues as to what this item is?"
"Not a clue" Sam said shaking his head "It's apparently something to make your Pokémon stronger, other than that I'm as informed as you are now."
"I guess we'll have to wait then" Ash said, "thanks professor, and tell Dragonite thanks too." Hanging up Ash brought out his Pokedex and clicked the blue button, instantly a pokeball from his belt dematerialised and disappeared. "I'm glad I thought of that" he said laughing at the "Hey" from Pikachu. Walking out of the room he stopped to talk to Nurse Joy before going to explore the island. Walking into the small town he was astonished to see dozens of people queuing up outside a big building. Wandering over he spoke with a local.
"What's happening here?" he asked.
"You mean you haven't heard?" the man said astonished.
"Well obviously not" Ash retorted "otherwise I wouldn't have asked."
"Alright, no need to be like that" the man said frowning before his face lit up again in excitement. Handing Ash a flyer he carried on "in the next half an hour a special item is due to arrive at the museum. It was lost on the seabed hundreds of years ago and thought to be gone forever. It's the original championship trophy, first given to a sea captain who won the league here. He tragically lost his life about a mile out to sea when his ship hit a reef and sunk. Anyway, an expedition to recover lost treasures stumbled across the ship by sheer accident, raised it and found the trophy! Isn't that wonderful? Oh, here it comes now!" he said pointing to a van slowly pulling up outside the museum. A groan of disappointment was heard from the crowd though as all that was taken out of the van was a big box carried by two Machoke which were quickly ushered inside.
"It's disappointing we didn't get to see it, but it should be on show from tomorrow" the man said walking away as the crowd dispersed. Ash spent the afternoon looking around the museum at the various exhibits dedicated to famous people that came from the island. A section of the museum was closed off from the general public, so Ash read the caption and looked at the picture of the captain and his boat on the huge wooden boards separating it off before leaving. Ash had never heard of any of the people on display, but it was nice that someone remembered them.
"I wonder if we'll be remembered Pi" Ash said as he left the museum "when we die, I wonder what will be said about us?"
"Well, the chances are I'll die before you" Pikachu said "most Pikachu only live about thirty to forty years and I'm already four now. So, you better mourn me, or I'll come back as a Gastly and Haunter you."
"That was an awful pun" Ash said deadpanned "but you know I'll miss you, Pi. You're my best friend."
"I'll miss you too Ash" Pikachu said "but I don't know, I suppose it depends on what we do with our lives and what impact we have on people or the world around us. Everyone knows you already died, even if you don't speak about it and you have won a league, so you'll at least be remembered for that."
"We" Ash corrected "we won the league. But I see what you mean Pi. To be honest I'm quite content with knowing I have helped at least some people. If nothing else, I know I have done some good in the world."
"Isn't that what humanity should strive for?" Pikachu asked, "to leave the world a better place than it was when they entered it?"
"Yes" Ash said "but sadly very few achieve it or realise it. I suppose that's what the objective of our home is really. To help the Pokémon world one action at a time."
"That's all you can do Ash" Pikachu said "You're not made of money, and every dollar you've made you've placed into our home. At least if it fails you can look back on it and said you tried to make a difference."
"Do you think it will fail?" Ash asked as they sat down on bench eating ice cream.
"No" Pikachu said "at least not the fauna part. You can fully control their living environment. Pokémon however aren't humans so you can't fully control them. So there could be accidents, they could just not cooperate, or they could just leave. We're not meant to be tamed, not really. We are creatures after all with different needs than humans, but we've had to adapt to cooperate with humans for survival."
"And it's why I like being around you guys" Ash said "for all that you're creatures you are also intelligent and realise what it takes to survive. Every single one of you has had to do things that most Pokémon wouldn't dream of having to do. It's why I've tried to give you all separate areas at home so that you're free to explore that wild side you have in you while still being in a safe environment."
"Anyway, where's next? Pikachu asked looking around.
"Well, we're going to stay around here for a few days and then we'll carry on travelling" Ash said "I'm trying to make sure we arrive at Shamouti when the festival is on because it sounds fascinating but that's not until mid-January and it's only the first week of December, so we have around 6 weeks to get there. So, I'm trying to calculate how long I should be on each island in order to arrive there on time."
"Wow" Pikachu said "It's hard to believe we've been here in these Islands just over a month now. It's soon passed."
"It sure has" Ash said "we've been through a lot in that time too" he finished remembering everything that had happened in the last five weeks.
That night two individuals made their way quietly towards the museum. They knew that this was the place as they had secretly followed the van that morning to find out where it was heading. Whispering to each other a hand quietly opened a latch on a window and they ghosted through the halls until they came to their destination. There it was, on a pedestal surrounded by lasers and a glass covering, the trophy they were seeking. As carefully as they could they made their way through the lasers until they stopped in front of the glass. Mysteriously the glass began to rise and stopped just short of hitting a beam that was going vertically and a pair of hands tilted the trophy and took the item from inside the case. Once that was done the case was lowered and set back into place with the two individuals grinning. And as quickly as they had arrived they made their way back to the slightly opened window and escaped into the night with their prize.
The next day Ash made his way back to the museum only to find it taped off with police outside. Making his way through the crowd he saw a clearly harried Jenny trying to remain polite to the braying crowd.
"Do you need help" Ash asked Jenny who looked at Ash, vaguely she thought she knew him but seeing the size of him she nodded, and Ash turned to the crowd "leave, now."
"You can't make us" one particularly stupid man said.
"Oh," Ash said stepping forward "and who are you going to ring? The police?" he said pointing at Jenny making him think before turning away muttering under his breath.
"Thank you" Jenny said sighing with relief. Once the crowd had gone Ash asked if she was ok.
"No" Jenny said sitting down "last night thieves broke into the museum and stole the Championship trophy."
"Oh wow" Ash said, "any ideas who did it?"
"No" she replied shaking her head "the only evidence we have is on our CCTV, a pair of purple hands grabbing the trophy before carrying the trophy out via a window. They left nothing behind to tell us who it could be, no fingerprints on the window they escaped through, no footprints on the grass or inside the museum, nothing."
"Could we see the CCTV?" Ash asked curiously.
"Can't do any worse that we are doing" Jenny said shrugging her shoulders and leading Ash to a room where several other officers and the curator were going over the footage from last night. Watching it Ash had the strangest thought but didn't voice it aloud just yet. As they got to the glass lifting up it cemented his original idea, but it was the hands that made him smile. Turning to Pi he whispered something and received a nod. "Can you play that back please, just the start of the glass lifting up." Looking confused the Jenny rewound it and played it. "Pause there" Ash said when the two hands appeared. Taking out his Pokedex, and to the bewilderment of the Jennys he pointed it at the screen.
"Haunter, Pokedex Number 92, The Gas Pokémon and the evolved form of Gastly. Because of its ability to slip through block walls, it is said to be from another dimension. If you get the feeling of being watched in darkness when nobody is around, Haunter is there."
"I thought so" Ash said "the culprits left nothing because there was nothing they could leave. Ghosts are your culprits."
"How did you figure that out?" the curator asked suspiciously.
"Funnily enough it was a passing comment that Pikachu made yesterday" Ash said "he made a pun about becoming a Gastly when he dies and Hauntering me if I wasn't sad enough. I think you must have latent mysterious clairvoyant powers Pi, that are only now becoming known to you."
"It doesn't help us recover the trophy though does it" Jenny said, "any thoughts on that?"
"Sorry, no" Ash said shaking his head "they could be anywhere by now, they could have even left the island altogether."
"Maybe they're on the Ghost ship" the other Jenny said laughing with her colleague joining in.
"Ghost ship?" Ash asked.
Waving her hand in dismissal, she replied "around 2am a fisherman came barrelling into the police station making a racket about a ship about a mile offshore from here nearly capsizing his boat before mysteriously disappearing. We sent out the police boat this morning and found no evidence whatsoever to support his claim other than a few scuff marks on the front of his boat. Ten minutes later the curator rang us about the theft, and we came here."
"Interesting" Ash said looking at the still of the Haunters arms on the screen. "Well, I need to be going, I hope you find the trophy, but I have serious doubts about it."
"How do we know it isn't you that stole it?" the curator asked looking at him shrewdly "especially given how quickly you identified the culprits."
Ash just laughed further incensing the man at what he thought was disrespect "why would I need to steal the old trophy when I'm going to get myself a shiny new one in a few months when I beat the champion. Plus, I didn't even know anything about the trophy until I saw the queue yesterday. Not only that but I arrived late the night before last after helping out the rangers on the Grapefruit Islands."
"Oh, you're Ash Ketchum" the first Jenny said recognising him "my sister rang me yesterday about what you did on the Grapefruit Islands, capturing the thief and saving their crops."
"Oh right" Ash said nodding "yeah, it was a Snorlax that had learned to swim and was helping itself to the grapefruits. As I said, I have no need to steal anything, I'm pretty sure I'm rich enough that I could have bought it from your museum if I wanted it, which as I said I don't."
"Come on" Jenny said before tempers rose even more "I'll lead you out" Shaking Jennys hand Ash left the museum and headed back to the Pokémon centre. An hour later his curiosity got the better of him and he walked down to the wharf to enquire about the fisherman who saw the ship.
Getting a name of the boat he walked along the jetty and greeted the man.
"Hello, are you Bart?" Ash shouted.
"I am" Bart said leaning over the side "who might you be and what do you want?"
"I'm Ash and I'm curious about the ship you saw last night." Ash said.
"Have you come to have a laugh at Old Barts expense too?" Bart said gruffly "I knows what I saw, and I knows it weren't natural."
"I have no reason to think you're lying" Ash said, "I've seen enough strange things in my life to dismiss anything to be honest."
Grunting Bart walked along his boat and lowered the plank for Ash to walk on. Shaking his hand, he followed him into the cabin and was led to a desk.
"This is what I saw, I'm sure of it" Bart said pointing to a picture of the ship that was raised a few days ago.
"Hey, isn't that Captain Dante's ship?" Ash asked picking up the picture "the one that was the original location of the old Championship trophy? Wasn't it anchored just offshore?"
"It was indeed" the man grunted "but when I encountered it, it was about a mile out to sea and nearly capsized my boat. Conveniently the police and expedition team have no idea why it's no longer moored in the harbour either. It was only because the fog around it cleared in time that I was able to see it and changed course, scraping its hull and mine in the process."
"Do you have the coordinates" Ash asked looking up from the picture.
"Aye" Bart said writing them down on a scrap piece of paper and handing it to Ash before walking out. Following the man down the gangway he pointed out the scuff marks on the starboard side of the stern "I didn't get these from just anything. Gonna cost a fortune to buff out. Anyway, that's all I knows, do with it what you will." Abruptly the man left Ash and walked back onto his boat raising the gangway as he did. Clearly the interaction with Ash was enough for him today. Laughing Ash made his way back to the Pokémon centre to have some food before the evening started drawing in.
"We're going ghost hunting, right?" Pikachu asked curiously.
"Do you want to?" Ash asked.
"Hell yes" Pikachu said "I've never been on a ghost ship before. I'm sure it'll be harmless."
"Usually that's me that says that, and it all goes to pot" Ash said chuckling "But we have stayed the required days on this island. You know these no guarantee we'll find it right?"
"I know" Pikachu said, "But it's a ghost ship Ash."
Laughing Ash packed up his stuff and set out handing Joy the key thanking her before setting out to the wharf. Letting out Blastoise he let him know of Pikachu's idea.
"This is a terrible idea" he said shaking his head "but it sounds like fun. I'm in."
Clambering onto Blastoise they set sail heading due West towards the coordinates they were given earlier. Soon they reached near them, and thick fog started to wash over them as they travelled.
"The man did say it was foggy when he saw it." Pikachu said squinting in the fog as though that would make things easier "Is your aura not giving you anything?"
"No" Ash said, "it never does on inanimate objects and a huge ship would certainly classify as one of them."
"And no ghosts?" Blastoise asked "I remember in Lavender Tower you knew ghosts were following us."
"No, not at the moment anyway." Ash said "I can pick up a few Pokémon swimming underneath us about half a mile or so down bout no, no ghosts on my radar. Sorry Pi."
"It's ok" Pikachu said sadly "at least we gave it a shot."
"Whoa" Ash said as Blastoise pulled up abruptly as out of the fog a huge galleon appeared with tattered looking sails and seaweed hanging off the bow of the boat and the various masts "well, here's your ship Pikachu. How did it appear like that? It's no wonder Bart had an issue with avoiding it."
"Come on" Pikachu said excitedly jumping onto the ladder on the side of the ship, Ash following him as he did. Clambering onto the deck Ash pulsed out his aura again and amazingly received two pings towards the stern around forty feet down.
"That's really strange" Ash said "the ghosts have just pinged when literally a minute ago they didn't. There's something very weird about this."
"Of course there is" Pi said running down a set of stairs leading into the ship's hull "it's a Ghost Ship. It's not meant to make sense."
Following Pikachu as carefully as he could they went down the sets of stairs deeper into the ships hull and made their way down a long corridor towards the captain's cabin. Walking in Ash was immediately wary and confused as there were candles lit illuminating the room. The cabin itself looked neat and tidy, but the centre of attention was just behind the captain's chair. On a pedestal were two pokeballs at the base of the Championship trophy.
"There it is Pi" Ash said walking forward and reading the inscription "Captain Edmund Dantes, Orange League Champion 1699. We'll we've found where the thieves brought it."
"Are we taking it back?" Pikachu asked from atop the captain's desk "I mean it was stolen."
"Stolen from who first though?" Ash said looking at Pikachu and indicating with his head just off to the side "Moro Island Museum stole this from here in the first place, so it never belonged to them. And I suspect that if we took it back there it wouldn't be there long before it was brought back here."
"You are correct" a voice from behind Pikachu said causing him to twist around and fall backwards off the desk. Climbing back on he said "I meant that" making Ash laugh. "Who might you be?" Gastly said hovering over the table.
"Hello, I'm Ash, this is my partner Pikachu" Ash said pointing to Pikachu.
"Greetings" a new voice said behind them. Turning around Ash saw the grinning face of a Haunter before it phased through them to join its partner "and what can we do for you?"
"Oh, we were here for him" Ash said pointing to Pikachu again "we heard rumours of a ghost ship, Pi became interested, and we set out to find it. We didn't think we would to be honest as it sounded a bit too fantastical. The only evidence this was real was a ship that crashed into it last night."
"Oh yes" Gastly said "unfortunately we weren't aboard when that happened, but we did wonder where the new hole in the front came from."
"Yeah" Ash said "you were in the museum taking this back weren't you?" Ash said looking at the trophy.
"How would you know that?" Haunter asked with curiosity "not that we're admitting to it you understand."
"Oh, I don't care if you took back something which belonged to you in the first place" Ash said waving his hand in dismissal "this clearly mattered more to you two than others think if you went to all that trouble to retrieve it. I take it this is special to you guys?"
"It is" they both said in concert before Gastly continued "it belonged to our trainer. Humans stole it so we took it back."
"Thought so" Ash said nodding "Oh, and as for how I knew, Haunter revealed its hands to grab it when the glass was lifted. I've had enough dealings with ghosts to recognise ghosts playing mischief, especially considering I've only just stopped having nightmares of a Gengar that was told to haunt me." Gastly and Haunter just laughed sinisterly causing Ash to repress a shudder. "Anyway, we should be going. As I said before we're only here because Pikachu was interested in exploring a Ghost Ship, and we have no intention of telling anyone we found you guys so if someone discovers you it wasn't because of us."
"You're a strange human" Haunter said getting in his face looking curious before he circled around and hovered in front of the trophy. Ash expected more to be said but when noting was forthcoming he shrugged his shoulders and said their goodbyes before leaving the room. Carefully they picked their way down the corridor along the rotting wood and up the steps to arrive on the deck. Making their way over to the side Ash called out Blastoise before clambering onto him and they set sail west, continuing on with their journey. Looking back Ash halted Blastoise as they turned around and watched with astonishment as a purple glow encased the ship and it sank under the water creating no disturbance on the water and within twenty seconds there was no evidence that a ship had even been there to begin with.
"That was fun" Pikachu asked as they shook their heads "Where to now anyway?"
"Golden Island" Ash said "luckily, it's in the same direction we are going anyway. I've no idea what's on the island either so it'll be a fun surprise."
Timeskip eight hours
"We will never mention that island again" Pikachu said thoroughly disgusted "what a bunch of creepy, creepy people."
"I thought it was rather educational" Ash said laughing.
"What happened?" Lapras asked curiously from their side.
"Nothing!" Pikachu said quickly.
Ash just laughed and relayed what happened on the island.
Flashback
"I wonder what's in store for us on here Pi" Ash said as they traversed through a rather thick jungle. "there's nothing in the guide about what's on this island but there's a huge concentration of aura in the centre of the island."
"Human?" Pikachu asked curiously.
"Yeah" Ash replied "or it seems to be anyway. I wonder if it's a hidden tribe."
"Oooh, that sounds like fun" Pikachu said nodding "things have been a bit serious lately, haven't they?"
"They have" Ash agreed "but the last few islands haven't been strenuous, and you even got to stand on a Ghost Ship, not many people can say that can they?"
"That's very true" Pikachu said eating a berry "that was fun. Well I'm sure whatever we come across will be an equally enjoyble adventure."
Half an hour later Ash exited the lush jungle and stopped as before them was a huge expanse of what looked like marble flooring leading towards a small pyramid with a huge statue of a Golden Meowth on it.
"What the hell?" Ash asked looking around in bewilderment. In front of him there were around twenty people walking to what was clearly a shrine with offerings of food that were being laid at the Meowths feet. Now that wasn't strange to Ash as he'd witnessed several events like that where someone was worshipping a deity. No, the strangest thing to Ash was that every single person was dressed up like a cat. Their outfits consisted of Cat ears, painted on whiskers, a black painted nose and their outfit was completed with a tail poking out of their pants.
One of the crowd looked up at Ash's exclamation and almost as one they turned to Ash. A particularly old man came rushing forwards and gripped Ash's hand shaking it enthusiastically. "Greetings young man, are you here to give thanks to Meowth and to pray for its bounty?"
"Er No" Ash said "I'm just visiting each island and was curious as to what was going on on this one. Now I know."
"Well, you're welcome to join us if you like?" a young woman said walking over eyeing him up "we have plenty of spare outfits."
"No thanks" Ash said shaking his head "I won't have time to stay sadly."
"Shame" the woman said winking at him.
"She does know you're twelve, right?" Pikachu murmured in his ear.
"I'm not sure she knows what day it is" Ash said quietly moving as far away from her as he could without looking like he was insulting her. "Anyway, what's with the statue of Meowth?"
"Meowth" everyone said as one making Ash very nervous. What the hell kind of island had he landed on?
"On this night" a young man with green hair, around 5'9 wearing a toga said stepping forward holding a cane topped with a Meowth head "we give thanks to our lord Meowth" "Meowth" came the murmur from the crowd again "we give offerings so that we can receive his blessings for the year to come and live prosperously from his generous and bountiful Pay Day. Bless us oh Meowth" he finished looking at the statue. Ash watched on in morbid fashion as every single person turned towards the statue, got on their knees and bowed to it.
"Ash" Pikachu said "can we leave. Suddenly I don't want any adventures for a while." Rather than speaking Ash nodded his head enthusiastically and looked for a way out. Unfortunately, the only way out was a path that lead downhill from behind the statue which was through the crowd, so he started to move forward. That was until the head person stood back up and saw Ash moving towards the statue.
"It gladdens me to see a young 'un such as yourself visiting us. You don't happen to have a Meowth yourself do you?"
"Nope" Ash said seeing an exit through the crowd "just a Pikachu. I'll leave you guys to it. I hope everything goes well."
"Shame" the man said looking around as the crowd stood up and Ash's path was blocked "we have had no luck finding a trainer with a Meowth this year. Perhaps you could help us?"
"In what way?" Ash asked tentatively seeing he was blocked in.
An hour later he was having trouble staying on his feet through laughing so much. Tears were streaming down his eyes as he snapped a few pictures and started recording the big event.
"On this night" the head guy said standing in front of the statue with his back to it facing the crowd "we give thanks and bounty to our lord Meowth. We humbly ask him for his generosity so that we might all be prosperous in the year to come. We ask that he might forgive us for not being able to find a Meowth in time but hopefully sees the replacement in the respectful manner it was intended." Moving from the front he revealed to the crowd a very pissed off looking Pikachu, sat in the gap between the statue's legs, dressed in a Meowth onesie complete with tail surveying the crowd.
"Meowth" Pikachu said through gritted teeth causing Ash to have trouble holding onto the boulder he was leaning against through laughing so much.
"Please Lord" the man shouted, "bless us with your Pay Day."
Looking very irritated Pikachu pulled out a bag of coins from the front pouch of the onesie that Ash had given him from the last time they had gone shopping and looked around. Sighing he reached in and grabbed a coin and threw it to the ground before continuing to do so with the rest of the bag. Each time he threw coins he said "Meowth" and looked overjoye at doing so. Immediately the crowd started chanting Meowth's name and rushed forward to collect the 'bounty'. After a few minutes they all returned to their places and looked at Meowth-achu with adoring eyes as the man finished off the ceremony. "Thank you, Lord Meowth, we are grateful for everything you give us. Meowth!"
As one they started praying to Pikachu who had a very visible tic over his right eye. After a few minutes of this they all stood up and formed a line and began the second part of their ritual. One after another they all walked up to the statue, bowed before it, kissed the statues feet before walking away. Pikachu looked on in disbelief as thirty total nutters performed this part of the ceremony before wandering off chatting about their lord. When it ended Ash stopped recording and eventually stopped laughing and walked up to Pikachu who had climbed out of the onesie and looked at it in disgust before giving Ash a thoroughly disgusted look.
"You owe me" he said as he climbed onto Ash's shoulders, and they quickly made their way down the steps towards the sea and as far away as possible from the nutters as possible. Twenty minutes later Ash was on Blastoise headed South-East.
Flashback ends
"It was educational" Ash said laughing as the others joined in. Pikachu just gave everyone the stink-eye. A few hours later the sun was setting as Murcott Island came into view. "Make your way around the island from the West downwards Blastoise. The Pokémon Centre is located just inland from the very South so we'll circle around the shorter way." Nodding Blastoise sped up a little causing Lapras to try and match his speed. She was getting very good at doing so, having been with Ash for nearly five weeks now and had progressed remarkably in her training. She now knew a very wide pool of moves, so much so that when she next saw her mum, she'd have a lot to demonstrate. Her speed had improved drastically over the last few weeks due to Blastoise challenging her to match him. She was still nowhere near his top speed, but she was faster than most other water Pokémon Ash had encountered.
Taking out his pokegear he sent a message to Jessie and James.
"If you're ever near Golden Island I strongly suggest you keep Meowth in his pokeball. They're absolute mentalists. Apparently, the people on the island haven't a single brain cell between them and worship Meowth to the point of fanaticism. The only reason we managed to escape was through my own ingenuity. See for yourselves." With it he attached a picture of Pikachu in the onesie and pressed send. Chuckling he quickly hid his pokegear before Pikachu cottoned on to what he was doing.
Twenty minutes later he received a reply with a picture of James holding up a hysterically laughing Jessie with the caption "Jessie inhaled her drink and couldn't breathe. Poor Pikachu. We told Meowth and he shuddered and said there's no way he's going anywhere near it. We need to speak. We'll be on Mandarin South in a few weeks' time, can we meet?"
Laughing Ash replied "yes, I'll be there. I'll message you when I land on the northern part of the island as we're doing a lap from the South to get my gym badge." Receiving a thumbs up he put his pokegear away and enjoyed the rest of the trip. As they landed on the beach Ash looked around and didn't really see a way up to the centre. And as it was very late he decided to make camp on the beach. Pikachu walked into the tent sulking when Ash relayed what had happened on Golden Island and when Ash eventually went to bed Pikachu said, "I swear I'll get you back for this."
"I know" Ash said chuckling "and I'll deserve it."
The next day after their usual training session he packed up and headed inland towards where his GPS said the centre was located. After a five-minute walk down the beach he saw the path and headed there and stopped in disbelief. Not even a hundred metres in front of him was the Pokémon centre. Shaking his head in irritation he walked into the centre and handed his Pokémon over before going into the room and dumping his stuff.
"So, what's on this island?" Pikachu asked warily.
"Bugs" Ash said "and apparently a lot of them. I'm going to see about catching a breeding pair of either Scyther, Pinsir or Venonat for home."
"Any preference which?" Pikachu asked looking at the pictures.
"Scyther" Ash replied "they're faster, more agile and will be able to defend our home better due to their move pools and their ability to move in trees unseen. Venonat are ok, they're better when they evolve though and Pinsir are a bit clumsy. I won't say no to any of them though."
"Why not capture all three?" Pikachu asked.
"I don't really want to upset the ecosystem here just to benefit our home" Ash said closing the laptop "but I really would like all three."
"And no other bugs?" Pikachu asked.
"No" Ash replied "I'm not a fan of the Weedle line as they're far too aggressive when they evolve, not only that but they're as bad as Rattata for breeding so in a year or so we'd have to relocate them which is expensive. Not only that but they're not endangered. We already have Butterfree pollinating a section of the land along with Ledyba so it's mainly for protection purposes."
Standing up Ash walked downstairs to talk to Joy about the island.
"This island has two Pokémon centres" Joy said "this one is here to look out for injured bug Pokémon during mating season. The other centre is located on the East side of the island in the town."
"Oh ok" Ash said "well I'm here to catch a few bug types so what can you tell me about them?"
"Only to be careful" Joy said "It's currently mating season so there's likely going to be a lot of fights for you if you step into the wrong territory by accident. A few days ago, a young watcher brought in an injured Scyther that had just been beaten by another Scyther for leadership of his swarm so at the minute there's major changes happening for that particular swarm. Here, your Pokémon are all better." She finished handing over his Pokémon.
"Don't worry" Ash said smiling "Venusaur and Pikachu will be big help with their sleep and paralysing attacks. And I'm no slouch myself. Thank you for the warning though. I should be back later on, hopefully with a few new additions."
Ash left Joy to walk outside and have a look at where he was. "So, if I'm right our main acquisitions will be near the centre as there's a waterfall there and it's quite a distance from any people. Let's go guys."
A few hours later Ash and his Pokémon were sat in a clearing having food. Pikachu was currently eating a Pecha pokeblock as a Parasect had got a lucky Poison Sting off when Ash was capturing two Paras and had poisoned him. He had also managed to find a swarm of Venonat and caught a male and a female, so he just had the Scyther and Pinsir to find.
Suddenly Ash stopped what he was doing and shouted, "we're being surrounded guys, take your positions, I'll try and pinpoint where they are when they attack." Standing up his Pokémon became hyper-focused on their surroundings. Suddenly out of the bush a lone Scyther came walking in, looking very unconcerned.
"You are on our territory human, leave" it said.
"No" Ash said "not until we have rested. Do not make us fight you Scyther."
"You can understand me? Good" Scyther said stepping forward "There are many of us, we will make you leave and we will take your food."
"Try it" Ash said walking forwards until he was ten feet from the lead Scyther "do not test me Scyther, I know for a fact exactly how many of you there are and believe me when I say we will have no issues walking out of here. Leave, and you will be unharmed. Stay and I will take two from your number while you lay unconscious at my feet."
Enraged the Scyther shot forwards with a Quick Attack which was blocked by Pikachu leaping forwards with an Iron Tail sending the Scyther skidding backwards. Angry it commanded the swarm to attack and an all out melee occurred as ten Scyhter emerged from the undergrowth and engaged Ash's team. For the next twenty minutes Ash could not tell what was happening as the lead Scyther had deemed him the main target and had attacked Ash, his deputy had leapt forwards to engage Pikachu leaving him alone but Ash trained every day with Machamp and Pikachu and was able to stay out of the way as much as possible of the vicious blades that could easily have sliced him open. Eventually Ash's training won out and the swarm were either unconscious or trying to limp away. The lead Scyther had vastly overestimated himself and that of his swarm and was laying paralysed from Pikachus Zap Cannon and could only watch on as Ash healed his Pokémon leaving the swarm to their injuries. Before he left Ash recalled his team and limped over to the lead Scyther.
"If I didn't know you'd be such a pain in the arse I'd capture you and leave your swarm leaderless." Ash said quietly hissing as he squatted on his haunches "I want you to remember this the next time you try and attack humans. For your arrogance I'm going to take the two youngest, one male and one female to protect my home from people who would try and destroy my vision. As for you I hope you learn a lesson and lead your swarm with a sense of humbleness and wisdom."
Standing up Ash asked Pikachu to identify a male and a female and Ash captured them leaving the rest of the swarm in various states of consciousness. Walking back up to the lead Scyther he took out a Full Restore and sprayed the injured bug before walking away as it recovered its health. Ash made his way back to the Pokémon centre in a good amount of pain. Wondering what was wrong he walked inside the centre and was greeted by a shout from Joy. Quickly she came rushing over and directed him to a couch where he promptly passed out. Carefully she took his ripped shirt off and gasped as she saw thin lines of blood coming from various places on his torso. His leg looked the most bloody though so she carefully took his shorts off to see a very deep gash on his upper thigh. How the hell he was still walking was a miracle.
She walked over to the doors of the Pokémon centre and shut them before asking Chansey to get her the first aid kit. An hour later Joy had just finished cleaning the last of his wounds on his torso after stitching up his leg when Ash stirred.
"Don't move" a voice commanded sternly causing Ash to wince. He knew that voice, it was the Joy he saw this morning. "Now, I'm not going to say I told you so until I get what happened from you. But understand I will be giving you the most judgy face I can while you tell me. So, speak"
Sighing Ash opened his eyes to see where he was and blushed when he realised that while he was in his bed he was in just his underpants. "Can you let me get dressed first?"
"No" Joy said sternly "you have a very deep cut on your upper thigh, and you need to limit your movement for a few days at least. Your Machamp was a great help in moving you here, but you will not move, understood? Good. Now, speak."
Over the next twenty minutes Ash relayed what had happened during the day and ended with the fight with Scyther.
"You foolish boy" Joy said standing up "I warned you before you left that the Scyther were riled up due to a change in leadership and you still challenged them. What on earth were you thinking?"
"No, I didn't" Ash said sitting up painfully "they challenged us. I told them that we'd leave once we were rested as we'd been involved in a few battles already. I wasn't going to leave all my gear in that clearing for them to steal and ransack. My stuff is expensive and it's too important for me to just leave behind to be torn apart. And we gave the leader a lesson that hopefully he will remember."
Joy just left his room muttering about testosterone filled macho men leaving Ash bewildered. He knew he'd likely be laid up for a few days now with his leg needing to heal so he sent a few emails off and rested. His leg was still giving him a slight limp as he left the centre a few days later having sent the two Paras and Venonat to Professor Oak to take to his home the day after the Scyther incident. He hadn't sent his two Scyther yet as he needed to speak to them. Walking down to the beach he let them out and they looked around wondering where they were, when they focused on Ash they instantly became wary as the last time they saw him they attacked him. And they really didn't like the way the Pikachu and Blastoise were focused on them.
"Ok" Ash said limping forward "I caught you two for a few reasons. Your old leader might believe it was revenge, but it wasn't. I have a home that I'm creating that needs protecting. I chose you two to capture because you're young and trainable and I believe you'd be amazing at looking after our home. Now, I won't keep you if you don't want me to but if you say yes you will never have to worry about food or a safe environment to live or breed. I won't lie to you; it may get dangerous at times when we ward off poachers who are sure to try and steal the Pokémon on my land, but I promise you there'll be hundreds of Pokémon like yourself that will defend you and our home. So, while were still here on your home island I'll let you decide if you want to stay with me or not."
Placing their pokeballs on the ground Ash waited for the decision to be made as they conversed with each other. After a quick discussion the female walked forwards "You will train us, you will provide safety and we will defend your home."
"Ok" Ash said "you won't be part of my battling team though. I didn't capture you for that but if you start craving battles, I will do what I can to help."
Nodding the two Scyther walked forwards and waited for Ash to recall them. Before he did though he said "when you get to my home find the local Pidgeot clan, they will direct you to a place you can start to call your territory, but you will not encroach on anyone else's, nor will they do the same to you. Ultimately the entire home and grounds belong to my Venusaur and he will not have any issues. Understood?"
Receiving uncertain nods he recalled them and called out his two Kabuto. "You have both done very well in training so well done but I've made a decision. I'll be keeping the female one of you. As I said when I first caught you I have too many males and my Magikarp could do with another female on the team. I will no doubt still see you again as you were caught for a friend of mine who I'm sure you'll love. So, thank you for your efforts. And hopefully the next time you're released you'll be with Nia." Recalling them both he pressed the blue button and watched as it faded away. Sending a message to Sam he asked him to do a trainer transfer for Kabuto to Nia for her birthday present and climbed onto Blastoise setting sail again for their next destination.