Chapter 6: Weather Changes in Fortree
With the battle of the Weather behind them, Ash, May, and their Pokemon continued forward, Pikachu and Eevee as well as Plusle and Minun all walked happily with their trainers. It wasn't much farther to Fortree city. And just in time too, cause the sun was close to setting. Ash and May smiled as they came to sign saying Fortree City One Mile.
"Almost there. We can find a Pokemon Center and then I can have my Gym Battle the next day!" Ash said.
"Good," May said. "And if you win there it will only be two more right?"
"Yeah, and we still got a month and three weeks now," Ash said. "I think that will make it so we don't have to rush too much at least. Maybe we can take a break for a couple days."
"Good," May said with a sigh. "I'm exhausted from all this walking."
"There were nice waterfalls back there along the path," Ash said with a blush. "Maybe we could go swimming again? Haven't done that in a while."
"Looking for the excuse to see me in my swimsuit again?" May asked.
Ash chuckled. "You know it."
They embraced and kissed each other. Then Ash stepped back slightly.
"So, you want a break from walking huh? I think I can give you that," he said as he picked May up.
She gasped for a moment then giggled. "Ah I've missed this feeling the last few days."
They began walking down the last mile between them and Fortree city. Soon they'd be at the center there and get some food and rent rooms for the night. True its name there were man trees here in Fortree city but soon they could see the buildings a short distance away. Just about ten more minutes and they'd be there!
Crunch.
The couple and Pokemon heard the nearby crunch. They looked around, suddenly one of the trees fell to the ground and revealed a boy inside it! A boy with a sword on his back! May gasped at the sight of the weapon and feared he would attack them as he leapt forward, landing a few feet away. She hugged Ash fearfully by the neck.
"Ninja going into battle!" the boy yelled. "I'm Kenny the Ninja boy and I'm here to fight you in a Pokemon Battle!"
"Uh… hi," Ash said he recovered from his surprise. "I guess I could use a little warm up battle before I get to the Fortree Gym Tomorrow!"
May let out a breath of relief as she saw there was no danger. Her thoughts went back to Duke Harley who was probably still out there somewhere. Maybe that Pokemon he'd enslaved got him? Or Dialga took him back? Might serve him right to be chased by that big scary Pokemon. Though at the same she couldn't help but pity him if that happened. Ah well, just watch Ash battle now!
Ash gently put May down and she stepped off to the side to watch with Minun and Eevee.
"Alright Ash, I hope you're ready! Ninjask! Go!" Kenny said throwing a Pokeball.
A large bug like Pokemon emerged. It had red eyes and red tipped white wings, a gold head and brown body with two short arms.
"A Ninjask huh?" Ash said. "Then I know! Taillow! I choose you!"
The tiny swallow pokemon appeared.
"Tailllow!" he cried spreading his wings.
"You may have the type advantage cause Ninjask is part bug type!" Kenny said. "But Ninjask is an evolved Pokemon while Taillow isn't!"
"Yeah! We'll just see!" Ash said. "Taillow Wing Attack!"
Taillow flew and spread his wings to hit Ninjask.
"Dodge Ninjask!" Kenny ordered his Pokemon.
The Ninja Pokemon flew to try and avoid the attack but didn't move quite quickly enough. Taillow's attack hit it and it went down a bit but managed to keep from hitting the ground.
"Nice one!" Ash said.
Kenny grinned. "Not bad! But you won't land many more blows!"
Ninjask buzzed loudly and shook as its ability kicked in.
"What's going on?" May asked.
Hearing her, Kenny took a second to explain. "My Ninjask gets faster every minute the battle goes on!"
Ash gritted his teeth. He had to end this quickly.
"Quick attack!" he ordered Taillow.
"Ninjask you use Quick Attack too!" Kenny ordered.
Both Pokemon flew at each other so fast they appeared as a blur. But Ninjask was now physically stronger and now faster then Taillow as well. The tiny Swallow Pokemon was knocked to the gorund.
"Taillow!" Ash called out in concern.
Taillow got up and took back to the air as Ninjask shook again.
"You can't win now!" Kenny stated.
"Peck attack!" Ash pressed.
Taillow flew in beak-first.
"Dodge it!" Kenny ordered.
Ninjask easily dodged the peck attack and was behind Taillow.
"Bite attack!"
Ninjask flew at Taillow, and bit the tiny swallow Pokemon. But as it latched on, Ash saw an opportunity.
"Use peck now before it gets away!"
"Taillow!"
Taillow pecked at Ninjask. The little attack knocked it off and it shook.
"Now Double Team!" Ash ordered.
Multiple Taillows appeared around the real one.
"Oh yeah, we can do the same! Ninjask Double Team!" Kenny ordered.
Ninjask multiplied as well.
"Quick Attack!" Both Trainers yelled.
The copies flew at each other and quickly vanished on impact. The real Taillow finished one copy and then the real Ninjask was directly behind him. Taillow looked over his shoulder as Ninjask moved it.
Thinking quickly, Ash came up with a counter strategy. "Spin and use Wing Attack!"
Taillow spun in midair, his wings forming a shield. As Ninjask came forward it was hit with the super effective attack form the side. The bug Pokemon went down, spirals in its eyes.
"Great job Taillow!" Ash said to his bird Pokemon.
"Yeah, great job!" May said as she walked up and looked at the little bird Pokemon.
"Taillow!" Taillow was exhausted but looked proud. Then his eyes widened. "Tai?"
"What's wrong Taillow?" Ash asked.
Suddenly Taillow began to glow. It grew and evolved. A new Pokemon emerged. One with the same coloration of dark blue, white, and red as Taillow but with a large crest on the back of its head and a new dark mark on its chest.
"Awesome you evolved into Swellow!" Ash said pulling out his Pokedex.
Swellow, the Swallow Pokémon. Swellow uses its impressive divebomber speed and its large talons to capture its prey.
"Wow, I just witnessed one of your Pokemon evolve a little while ago, Ash," May said.
"Yeah! All my Pokemon are getting stronger!" Ash declared.
"That was a great battle Ash," Kenny said as he reached into his pocket and drew some money out. "No shame losing to you. Good luck going against Winona. She uses flying types so I'm not much of a match there with my Bug types."
"Thanks Kenny. Well, keep training I'm sure you can get strong enough," Ash said as he took the money.
"I will someday!" Kenny declared.
"Bye!" Ash said.
He and May continued on their way to Fortree City. Just in time too. The sun was starting to set, they managed to make it to the Pokemon Center just as the last light was fading.
"Hi Nurse Joy, can we get our Pokemon healed and a room for the night?" Ash asked as he approached the front desk with May.
"Certainly," Nurse Joy said.
They put their Pokemon back into their pokeballs then put those into trays. Pikachu sat on Ash's tray. Nurse Joy took both of them to the back room for treatment. That left Ash and May to have dinner and then go to bed.
…
The next day the couple awoke and dressed before going out to retrieve their Pokemon.
"Morning Pikachu!" Ash said as he saw his partner sitting on the tray on top of the other Pokemon.
"Morning!" Pikachu said as he jumped on his partner's shoulder.
"Ready to win a Gym Battle?" Ash asked.
Pikachu nodded in confirmation. "You bet!"
"Well since I got you with me I'm sure I can win! Plus, now we got Plusle now so that makes two electric types!" Ash said.
"And you got Castform as well," May reminded him. "It can turn into an ice type and those are strong against flying types, right?"
"Oh yeah," Ash said. "But I don't know what kind of moves Castform can use right now I'll have to check."
They let their Pokemon in the pokeballs out to have breakfast and Ash quickly pulled out his Pokedex to scan his new Castform.
"Okay, it says here that Castform has Watergun, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Hail, and Weather Ball. Huh, never heard of that move before." Ash pressed the name of the attack to get a description. "Okay it says that Weather Ball is an attack that varies in effect depending on the weather around a certain Pokemon. I guess that means you have to use one of the weather affecting moves to use it. Guess I'll have to test that out!"
They ate their breakfast and then went outside to practice with Castform for a little bit.
"Alright Castform I want to see what you're made of," Ash said. "Let's see your Water Gun."
"Castform! Form!" Castform hesitated a moment then blew out a mouthful of water.
"Not bad, now, Rain Dance!"
Castform began to hover around in the air as if dancing and then shot a blue beam into the sky. The sky darkened and then rain fell from the heavens, soaking Fortree city! As the rain fell, Castform changed shape. Its lower half turned dark gray and now resembled a storm cloud while its head turned blue and was surrounded by a raindrop shape.
"Hey! We're supposed to be out of the tropics here!" A passerby shouted as he ran for cover.
Ash chuckled. "Guess I'll have to make this quick. Don't want to rain on everyone's parade."
That caused him and May to chuckle at that joke.
"Alright, Water Gun!"
A more powerful Water Gun blew from Castforms mouth.
"That could be useful when used alongside Corphish," Ash noted. "Now Weather Ball!"
"Castform!" Castform shot a ball up into the sky. It fell back down in the form of water and soaked the area in front of Castform.
"Okay, water type attack. Let's try Hail!" Ash ordered.
Castform shot another beam, this time white up into the sky. The rain became hail that hit the tops of their heads. Ash, May, and Pikachu all ran for cover under a nearby tree. Castform had changed shape again. Now it had a purple body that was covered in an ice like shell.
"Well Weather Ball again!" Ash said.
Castform shot its ball up into the sky again, and it descended as a large chunk of ice which froze the area it hit.
"That will probably good against Flying Pokemon," Ash said.
They did the last move. Sunny Day caused the sun to glow brightly and Castform even took on a form similar to a sun. Its last Weather Ball attack came down in the form of a fireball.
"Alright, a Pokemon that can change its type. This is fun," Ash said.
"Yeah, its amazing!" May agreed.
"Hey!" someone called. "Are you the one causing all the random weather? Cut it you're weirding out a lot of people!"
"Uh sorry!" Ash said. "Let's go. Time to face the Gym."
"Cast?"
Castform had a nervous expression on its face.
"Something wrong Castform?" Ash asked.
"Castform! Cast!" It shook its head.
"What's it saying Sir Ash?" May asked.
"I don't know. I've known Pikachu for over eleven years now so I'm able to understand him even if all he can say is his name," Ash said. "Pikachu can you help me out here?"
Pikachu nodded and performed a few gestures like raised fists as if about to begin battle, then pointed at Castform and shook his head before. Then pointed at the sky and took a magazine out and sat there as if reading it.
"Okay, so Castform doesn't want to battle cause it prefers to use its abilities for research purposes?" Ash asked.
Pikachu nodded and so did Castform.
Ash smiled at his new Pokemon. "I know this is a major change for you Castform. You lived in a lab before. But you can get used to it. Bart gave you to me so you could become strong."
Castform looked uncertain but nodded as Ash recalled it to its pokeball. They then made their way to the Gym.
…
Far to the South, Duke Harley emerged from a house that he'd been cared for in over the last few days.
"You sure you're alright laddie?" the old man who'd looked after him inquired.
"I'm fine," Harley stated. "Or I will be once I have back what was stolen from me!"
He puts hands together and bowed. "Thank you for your care Berrymaster."
The man who grew a massive garden of berries nodded. "Good luck in your quest to recover the women you love lad. But don't try to force her."
Harley walked off, ignoring the last part. He had been injured by the Cacturne that he'd enslaved after it finally caught up with him. Now he needed to track down his fiancé and the man who had stolen her again. He also needed to find some way to beat that false knight. Those magical creatures he had were so strong! He needed to find strong magical creatures to counter then.
Authors Notes: Well this is on the short side but I'm pressed for time with my vacation coming up this weekend and I don't expect to have much time to write on it. Ah well this is probably good enough for now. Don't think it would be appropriate to have the gym battle in as well in this chapter. Next time I guess. I tried to show a little bit of the new Castform's personality as it was used for research first and now it has to get used to its new lifestyle. Hope you guys like it, sorry if you were expecting more but circumstances aren't favorable at the moment.