Chapter Three
Ash ran down the path, heading towards the lighthouse that rose above the treeline. Pikachu was jogging at his side, the same look of determination on his face as his trainer. And though the lighthouse wasn't far from the cave, it felt like it was taking forever to get there– and he felt a sense of relief when he at last made it to the cliff side where the lighthouse stood tall. Ash raced up the path, panting as he reached the base of the building, several doors in front of him. His eyes scanned over a sign that read 'Cypress Lab', before he began pounding on the door that lay under it.
"Hello?" Ash called. "Professor? Is anyone here?"
"Pika!"
There was no response, but that didn't deter Ash. "I need help, it's an emergency!"
It was now that he was hearing the sound of footsteps inside, someone making their way towards the door. Relief ran through him as it was pulled open, a boy about his age peering out at him, face wary.
"Neither of the professors are here," he grunted. "They're never here. Sorry."
He went to close the door, but Ash held his hand against it to stop it. "Are you an assistant? You work here, right? Do you know anything about medicine? Pokemon healing?"
A scowl crossed the boy's face. "I'll be no help at that. Go to a Pokemon Center and pray they can actually do something."
With a shove the boy shut the door, and Ash felt tears stinging his eyes, feeling helpless. "Please, this Pokemon needs help! I can't move them to a Pokemon Center and I don't know where their trainer is and they can't even stand up!"
Silence.
"The Pokemon was already hurt when I found them, and then they– they threw themselves between me and a whole pack to protect me and– and– they were hurt trying to to protect me! I don't know what to do!"
The tears fell down his face. He'd have to turn around, head back to town and find someone at the Pokemon Center. He probably wouldn't get back until late, he'd have to hope someone had a flying Pokemon, or maybe one that could teleport! They just needed to get back to the dragon quickly–
The lab door opened, and Ash found himself face to face with the boy again. His expression looked less guarded, but hesitant. He had a bag now slung over his shoulder, slowly stepping outside.
"I'll see what I can do," he muttered, eyes flickering to the ground. "I'm no medic, but the lab has supplies and– and–" he sighed. "Lead the way."
"Thank you," Ash said, relief flooding through him. "Thank you so much. They collapsed right outside a cave down the road."
The boy's eyes widened. "You went by the Inlet Grotto? No wonder you were attacked, the Houndoom in there is hostile to any human it sees."
"Yeah, I noticed," Ash said, touching his side where the Pokemon had slammed into him, which he was sure was bruised.
"You were an idiot to go in there," the boy continued as they made their way down the path. "You should've done some basic research about the area, you know."
"Wasn't originally on my to-do list," Ash replied.
"Pi-ka-chu," Pikachu agreed with a tired nod.
They made their way forward in silence, the boy making no effort to say anything else. "So…What's your name?"
"Arven," he said stiffly.
"I'm Ash Ketchum," Ash gave a smile. "Thank you for coming, I… I didn't know what else to do."
"Hmm," Arven replied, not seeming too keen to make conversation. He was just moving swiftly down the trail, which was fine with Ash because the sooner they got there the better.
Arven clearly knew the way, turning off the trail to take a quicker route to the cave entrance. As things started to look more familiar Ash broke into a jog, Nemona soon coming into view. She was stroking the dragon's head, Pawmot and Rotom hovering close.
"I found some help!" Ash called, and Nemona looked up at him.
"I patched it up the best I could," Nemona said, rising to her feet. "It doesn't seem to have the energy to even stand up though–"
"Koraidon?" Arven suddenly cried, cutting off Nemona as he saw the wounded Pokemon.
The dragon opened their eyes upon hearing this shout, raising their head up. Arven stormed past Ash, pushing Nemona aside as he headed straight for the injured Pokemon, frustration on his face.
"Gah!" The Pokemon– Koraidon– called out happily, tail slapping against the ground as Arven drew near.
"Are you kidding me?!" Arven shouted, looking more upset than concerned. "All of this was about you? Why are you here? How on earth did you even get into this state?"
Koraidon was trying to push itself up into its legs, but didn't have the energy to. Instead it began to crawl towards Arven, making clicking noises with its tongue, feathers spread out happily despite the teenager shouting at him.
"You know this–?" Nemona began as Arven pulled a Pokeball out of his pocket.
They all fell silent as he pointed it at the Pokemon, which snapped open with a red beam of light, snaking out to engulf the dragon, recalling it to the ball. Ash didn't know what to think, the Koraidon was now safely in a Pokeball like he had wanted, the trainer now here. But the trainer hadn't been here before, when their Pokemon had needed them. A trainer who had only seemed upset upon seeing their Pokemon like this.
"You're this Pokemon's trainer?" Ash cried.
"I'm sorry you got caught up in this," Arven said stiffly, staring down at the Pokeball. "I'll take care of the brute from here."
With that he turned on a heel, making his way back towards the direction of the lighthouse. For a moment he was too stunned to do anything, the word 'brute' echoing in his mind, before a scowl crossed Ash's face– and he rushed after the boy.
"Wait a minute!" Ash shouted. "You can't just walk away!"
He grabbed Arven's shoulder, who shrugged him off. "Yes I can. You wanted Koraidon healed up, and I'll make sure that happens. Mind your own business and pretend you never saw the thing."
"That Pokemon– Koraidon, right?– saved my life!" Ash said, right on Arven's tail. "You have no right to treat it like that, let alone tell me to forget about it!"
"It's none of your concern!"
"Yes it is- especially seeing as you don't look concerned!" Ash screamed. He wasn't one to get angry easily, but right now it pulsed through him, hot and burning. "Sorry if I'm just not going to let you walk away with a Pokemon I found abandoned on the beach! Did you not know where it was? Were you not aware your Pokemon was hurt? Did you not care?"
Arven suddenly froze in his tracks, hands curling. Silence filled the air, and Ash could feel Nemona's gaze on them, watching. The tension in the air was thick and suffocating. "Ash is right– there's no way you just didn't notice it was missing."
"Were you just planning on letting it lay there and do nothing about it?" Ash hissed.
Suddenly, Arven whipped around– another Pokeball in hand. He released the creature within with a flash of light. "Tackle!"
The Skwovet seemed surprised at the command as it formed, before springing to attack at Ash. Pikachu reacted quicker, however, leaping forward with an Iron Tail to knock it away. This was followed up by a Thunderbolt, instantly knocking out the normal type before it could recover. Pikachu looked up at Arven, cheeks sparking, as if daring him to send out another Pokemon to attack.
"Tch," Arven muttered, recalling the Skwovet. "Guess that's what happens when you use a newly caught Pokemon."
"Wait a second– I recognize you!" Nemona exclaimed, causing Arven to stiffen up. "You're Arven Cypress, son of Professors Turo and Sada Cypress!"
"It doesn't matter who my parents are!" Arven suddenly snarled, whipping around towards them once more.
"You're also enrolled in the Academy of Paldea, in the Naranja house– humanities track, right?"
"Oh, you're the student council girl," Arven muttered as his eyes flickered over her, looking even unhappy, before shaking his head. "No! It doesn't matter, just leave me alone already, will you?"
"Wait," Ash said, stepping forward, causing Arven to let out a growl. "Look, you came out here to help a hurt Pokemon. You were worried then– so I know you have to care. I care about Pokemon too, and that's why I have to know that Koraidon is going to be okay."
That didn't explain Arven's cold reaction to the Pokemon, but he also was sure that Arven was being honest before when he said he was going to make sure Koraidon was healed. Ash was still angry, but shouting wasn't going to get Koraidon better, and Ash wasn't planning on leaving until he saw it healed with his own eyes.
Arven took in a deep breath, but didn't turn around. "Koraidon will be fine. I'm going to heal him up, I wasn't just going to leave him like that! Why can't that just be enough for you?"
"Koraidon stood between me and a whole pack of angry Houndour," Ash replied, stepping forward. "He changed forms to protect me, even though he was already hurt from before. I can't just walk away, and you can't expect me to."
This seemed to make a crack in Arven's shell, who now sounded hesitant. "Changed forms?"
"Yeah, there was this golden light, and he got way stronger– and bigger too!" Nemona said. "He was able to fight off the whole pack with ease after that, it was incredible!"
Arven looked down at Koraidon's Pokeball, turning it over in his hand. "…Koraidon hasn't accessed his battle form in a long time. Not since M–" He sighed, before rubbing his temple. "Look, if you absolutely must, you can sit outside the lab and I'll bring him out when he's healed up, okay? Is that good enough?"
"Yes!" Ash cried, and Arven let out another sigh.
Nemona seemed disappointed that Arven wouldn't let them into the lab, the door having been locked in their face. The professors were apparently quite well known in Paldea, and despite having grown up in the area never once had Nemona been able to go in their lab.
They decided to climb to the top of the lighthouse while they waited for Arven to emerge from the lab, where they would hopefully get to see Koraidon again. Nemona has tried to pass time by showing him the sights, pointing out different parts of Paldea, and the city off in the distance where their school would be.
It didn't get rid of the tension both of them felt, worried about Koraidon, and how Arven had reacted upon seeing it. One moment he has been hiking out to help an unknown Pokemon, and the next trying to shut out any of their questions.
Rotom was anxious about Koraidon too, though for different reasons.
"I downloaded all information I could find on Paldea Pokemon!" He protested up on the lighthouse. "I remain updated on all Pokemon with dex entries, but I have nothing on one called Koraidon!"
"Maybe it's a nickname?" Nemona offered.
"Nickname or not, I still have no data entry," Rotom whirled. "Just basic information."
"What were you able to scan?" Ash asked.
"Koraidon: dragon and fighting type. Ability: unknown. Moves: Breaking Swipe, Rock Smash, Screech, Ancient Power," Rotom reported.
"Aren't Pokedexes supposed to be able to detect the ability no matter what?" Nemona asked.
"What I'm detecting doesn't match anything in my database," Rotom said, numbers scrolling across his screen. "Closest match claims to be Drought, but I haven't seen any data in my observations that backs that up."
"Seems the Rotomdex is proving to be inferior," a voice murmured from Nemona's pocket, causing Rotom to stiffen.
"Don't start this," Nemona said to her own Rotom.
"Well, you don't know what it is either!" the Rotomdex snapped.
"It's a Koraidon, belonging to Arven Cypress," The Rotom-phone replied smugly.
"That doesn't tell us what Pokemon it truly is!" Rotom cried.
"I betcha it's a Cyclizar evolution," Nemona said confidently.
A picture of the Pokemon flashed on Rotom's screen, giving Ash his first view of the Pokemon. Cyclizar was dragon-like Pokemon, gray-green in color, and he could see why Nemona thought it was related to Koraidon. Both had the same basic body plan, and while Cyclizar was missing the feathers Koraidon had, it had the same black scales on the tail, and black dewlap on its throat.
"All data I have says Cyclizar does not evolve into or from any known Pokemon," Rotom insisted.
"Yeah, but this Pokemon's trainer is the son of the professors," Nemona said excitedly. "If anyone was going to have a new unheard evolution…"
"Well your theory is wrong," a voice said behind them, and they turned to see Arven climbing up the lighthouse, joining them at the top.
"Then what is Koraidon then?" Nemona asked, crossing her arms.
"I don't know, and I honestly don't care," Arven said, sighing. "Look, if you guys are so worried about Koraidon, then you aren't going to tell anyone about him, okay?"
"You won't even give us a hint?" Nemona asked pleadingly.
"Kind of hard to do when I don't even know a thing about it, except for the fact it's annoying," he replied.
"Where is Koraidon?" Ash asked anxiously.
Arven rolled his eyes, tossing the Pokeball out, and with a burst of light the Pokemon began to form in front of them. Koraidon stretched out as he was let out of the Pokeball, looking like he was fresh from a Pokemon Center. No burns or sores, the only remains of the fight with the Houndour were rough scales.
"Rrrh!" Koraidon called, yawning. He blinked, looking at his surroundings, before his eyes lit up. "Grrah!"
Koraidon bounded forward the moment he saw Ash, the lighthouse seeming to quiver slightly as the dragon moved. He slammed straight into Ash, head hitting his chest as he let out happy calls, feathers flaring out as he began nuzzling Ash.
"Koraidon!" Arven snapped. "You can't just tackle people!"
Ash was laughing though, even if he had been knocked to the ground. He stroked the large head, and was rewarded with a giant tongue running across his face. He laughed and gagged, trying to wipe the salvia away from his mouth and eyes.
"I'm glad to see you're okay, big guy," Ash said as he managed to sit up. "Look at you, looking brand new!"
"Gah!" Koraidon said, snapping his jaws up proudly. No longer was this the defensive and wary Pokemon on the beach, rather the dragon was looking as playful as a Growlithe.
"Okay, back it up," Arven said, stepping forward– only for Koraidon to turn and to begin nuzzling his trainer instead. Arven immediately protested, trying to push the dragon away.
"My turn!" Nemona said, charging towards them, and Koraidon had no protests to give her a giant lick in greeting as well. Pikachu didn't hesitate to jump into the dog pile, while Rotom hovered above, watching the Koraidon with fascination.
Arven was the first to pull himself from the tangle, muttering under his breath. He turned back to look at the group, hands on his hips. Pikachu was on top of Koraidon's head, whose tail was swaying back and forth. Nemona was patting one of its spiked shoulders, while Ash had found himself pinned under a clawed foot.
"You can't get too comfortable," Arven snapped, and Koraidon tilted his head. "Just because you stumbled across these two doesn't mean you can just let anyone see you."
"Rrrr," Koraidon lowered his head sadly for a moment, which Pikachu patted reassuringly.
"I need you to tell me more about this Pokemon!" Rotom demanded, flying up into Arven's face. "Is 'Koraidon' the species name, or a nickname? Where did this Pokemon originate from? When did you discover and capture it? What–"
"Now wait a second," Arven growled, grabbing Rotom but one of the arms. "I need you to delete all information and records of Koraidon off of you right now. No one is supposed to see him, and I don't need–"
"But it's a never-before-seen Pokemon in the world of science!" Rotom cried. "A major discovery, and you want me not to say a thing?"
"Exactly– an unknown Pokemon!" Arven cried. "What do you think will happen if people hear about that?"
"This is not an Unown Pokemon, I have records of such in my dex–" Rotom began.
"Arven's right," Ash said, sitting up as he managed to escape being pinned by Koraidon. "Recklessly publishing any information about it could make Koraidon a target."
"But... but science!" Rotom protested.
"Plus, Koraidon is probably already being studied by the regional professors," Nemona added, looking at Arven. "I mean, I can't imagine that your parents aren't."
Arven looked away. "Yeah. Something like that."
Ellipses appeared across Rotom's screen as he hovered there, before looking back at Koraidon, who was playfully pawing at Pikachu, who was now in front of him. "...Could I keep the information I have gathered if I promise not to share it?"
Arven took in a deep breath.
"If Rotom says he wouldn't, then he won't," Ash said, scratching the back of his head. "Your choice though, I mean Koraidon is your Pokemon."
"I've worked with classified information before!" Rotom said, zipping forward. "If you looked into any reports on the Ultra Beasts in Alola, I was part of such projects before the findings were released to the public!"
"You know what, sure, whatever, I don't care," Arven said, waving a hand. "Just don't put anything out there and we'll both survive, okay?"
"Thank you!" Rotom said happily, a smiley face on screen. "You can count on me, I have top of the line security on my data, nothing will get out there!"
"Well, it looks like we're done here," Arven said, turning to look out from the edge of the lighthouse. "You saw Koraidon, he's just fine, so you all can move along now."
"Really?" Nemona asked, raising an eyebrow. "Just going to coop up in the lab? I mean, the school year is going to start up soon, shouldn't you be heading down to Mesagoza in the next few days?"
"I can get there just fine when I need to!" Arven snapped. "I don't need the student council president on my back before school even starts!"
"Hey, just asking," Nemona said, holding her hands up. "No need to be so snappy, grumpy pants."
"Well if you're all done with your questions, then can you please all get a move on?" Arven muttered.
"Actually, I do have a question," Ash said. "I– I need to know how Koraidon ended up on that beach."
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"He's your Pokemon," Ash snapped, and Arven seemed surprised by the sudden edge in his voice, as he turned around. "You had to notice he was missing, it looked like he had been down there for several hours, if not a day!"
"He was in very rough condition when we first found him," Rotom confirmed.
"And I can't say that I understand..." Ash waved his hand between Arven and the dragon. "Like, I haven't seen a trainer and Pokemon really act like you two before, but I can tell you wouldn't just leave him there! So what happened?"
"Koraidon was supposed to head out to be with Mom," Arven muttered after a moment of thought, and Koraidon suddenly lifted his head, as if listening. "Before school and stuff," he hand a ran through his hair. "Look, I don't know what happened, the beach is in the complete opposite direction than where he was heading, Koraidon has never had an issue traveling on his own before– but apparently I'm going to stuck with him again even though I have school and other important things to worry about and–"
Arven suddenly stopped his rambling, taking in a deep breath– something he seemed to do a lot. He turned towards all of them, watching.
"Look, can you just all go now, please?" Arven asked. "I don't know why Koraidon was on the beach, but it's not going to happen again. I have a lot to do, okay? Packing and all that, so please just be on your way."
Ash and Nemona shared a glance, both knowing they had long overstayed their welcome– but Ash didn't want to leave yet. He stroked Koraidon's head, the Pokemon nuzzling his palm. Everything told him not to just leave a Pokemon with a trainer that talked to it as Arven had, yet at the same time Arven's words didn't reflect his actions. He didn't seem to like the dragon, but at the same time he was taking care of it– and seemed just as confused as they were on how Koraidon had ended up stranded down on the beach.
"I guess we'll see you at school then," Ash said with a smile, patting Koraidon one last time– before holding out his hand to Arven. "It was nice to meet you, and Koraidon too."
Arven watched him closely, before slowly shaking his hand. "Yeah."
"Come on, Pikachu," Ash said, and the mouse ran and leapt onto his shoulder. "Bye Koraidon– I'll see you again soon, okay?"
"Giaos!" Koraidon called, rising to his feet as he watched Ash and Nemona make their way towards the ladder that led down from the lighthouse.
"Bye Arven!" Nemona said with a grin, waving.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked, clinging tightly to Ash as they climbed down the ladder. Ash had a far off look in his gaze, though smiled at his Pokemon's question. He didn't say anything as they climbed down. When they reached the bottom of the lighthouse he stroked Pikachu, before looking out at the path in front of them.
"Well, that was a bigger adventure than I thought we'd get on day one!" Nemona said with a grin.
"Yeah," Ash said, looking back up at the lighthouse, where Koraidon was.
Nemona bumped up against him. "Oh come on now, we'll see them at school! Speaking of school, we should make as much progress as we can before it gets dark, we may have lost some time, but we still have a lot of daylight left!"
"One minute," Ash said, reaching into his bag, pulling out a Pokeball. "I need to head back to that cave first, then we can set off."
"You want to go back to Inlet Grotto?" Nemona said in surprise, jogging as Ash set off back down the path.
"Yeah, I want to release the Houndoom," Ash explained. He knew from experience that a Pokemon with such an attitude would have no interest in being with a trainer, and he planned on focusing on training up a battling team like he always did.
"Wait– what?" Nemona sounded completely confused as he said that. "Ash– that Houndoom is a marked Pokemon!"
Ash paused for a moment, he remembered vaguely that she had said something like that before, but it didn't mean anything to him. "What?"
"Don't you guys have marked Pokemon in Kanto?"
"No...?" Ash said uncertainly. "What does that mean?"
Nemona's Rotom-phone floated out from her pocket, hovering in front of Ash. "Here, allow me to explain."
"It's my job to explain things to Ash!" Rotomdex protested– but the Rotom-phone did not listen.
"I am more familiar with Paldean laws than you are," the Rotom-phone replied.
"I can download information and explain it just fine! Searching for 'Paldean marked Pokemon' now..."
The Rotom-phone ignored the Rotomdex, and began their explanation for Ash:
"The term 'marked Pokemon' refers to any wild Pokemon in Paldea that meets three criteria: they must be wild, powerful, and hostile towards humans. These Pokemon are given the label of 'marked', and warnings about them will appear on maps and related media to warn trainers and travelers about their presence."
That description did match the Houndoom.
"Marked Pokemon have a bounty of League Points placed on their heads," the Rotom-phone continued. "This is to encourage trainers to catch the Pokemon and remove them from places where they may cause harm to passing humans. Of course this reward is only available to trainers with four gym badges or more to make sure only capable trainers pursue the reward. There are some cases of marked Pokemon that receive a higher gym badge cap if they are deemed more dangerous."
"Gym badges from other regions count!" Nemona added, as if worried Ash wouldn't think he'd qualify.
"When a marked Pokemon is captured it can be turned in at a local Pokemon Center for the reward, where it will be rehabilitated by the League and found an appropriate trainer," the Rotom said. "Or the trainer can choose to keep it and train it on their own. If no trainers capture the marked Pokemon, then League Staff will eventually be dispatched to capture it so it is removed from the wild."
"And?" Ash asked uncertainly.
"Basically, it's illegal to release a marked Pokemon once captured," Nemona explained, stepping forward. "It's not safe for them to be in the wild."
"They– I... what?" Ash said, his hand closing around the Pokeball. "No, no– I'm not keeping the Houndoom. He has a pack back in that cave, and he's clearly the leader, I can't just take him away from that."
"You can't release it," the Rotom-phone said. "If you're not going to keep a Houndoom you must turn it over to a Pokemon Center or Pokemon Gym for rehabilitation."
"Look, what the League doesn't know won't hurt them," Ash said quietly. "That cave is the Houndoom's home."
"The thing is the League will know," Nemona said. "Houndoom has been registered to your account the moment you caught it, right? And the location it was caught at will be stored in that data." Nemona shifted. "I, like, don't know how it all works exactly– but it is on record that you caught a Houndoom here, and it will be assumed to be the marked one."
Ash said nothing.
"Hey, it's not really that bad," Nemona said, holding out her hands. "Pokemon are adaptable. It may have been the pack leader, but a new strong one will rise up with the Houndour in no time– that pack will have a new protector and everything will be okay for them."
"That's not how canine packs work!" Ash cried. "It's not just who the strongest is– the packs are family! This Houndoom is probably the father to most of those Houndour we saw back there! Yeah they'll be strong enough to protect themselves– but they still just had a member of their family taken from them!"
Ash turned away, hurrying down the path, vision blurring. This wasn't how his journeys were supposed to start out. These weren't how his first capture was supposed to be. It was supposed to be something to celebrate, adventure and discovery as he headed out into this new region!
Not hurt Pokemon and families torn apart.
"Ash?" A voice asked, and he looked up to see his Rotom. "Um... Nemona is right. All data I have found about 'marked Pokemon' matches up to what they have told us. You can't release it."
"Mmm," Ash grunted.
"Chu..." Pikachu said, rubbing up against him.
Nemona approached, sitting down beside Ash after a moment. The two sat there in silence for a time, before she broke it. "I haven't heard of anyone doing so before... but maybe you can contend the case? I mean you have some good points, maybe you can convince some League officials to take away the marked status so you can release it?"
"You think that could work?" Ash asked.
"Won't know unless you try?" She offered. "I dunno, I've never heard of anyone doing it before."
"Wouldn't hurt to try," Ash echoed quietly, squeezing the Pokeball, before tucking it away.
They weren't able to make it to a Pokemon Center that day, instead needing to set up camp on the trail for the night. Thankfully there was a Trainer Stop nearby– a campsite with running water, bathrooms, and fire pits ready for any travelers on the road. Neither Ash or Nemona had tents, preferring to travel lightly, so they set up their sleeping bags for the night.
You could tell they were getting close to the big city, lights visible off in the distance even long after twilight. It drove some of the stars away, but there were still some dotted across the sky. Nemona fell asleep immediately, snoring lightly– while Ash was up for longer, staring up into nothing.
Then he rolled to his feet, accidentally waking up Pikachu in the process. The mouse yawned and stretched, trotting after Ash as he headed away from the camp. The Houndoom's Pokeball in hand. Pikachu flicked his ears, before moving faster.
Ash didn't go too far, just out of sight of the camp, where he sat down on a boulder. Pikachu hopped on his shoulder, peering down at his trainer's hands curiously.
"Chu?" Pikachu asked.
"Kinda messed up, isn't it?" Ash said softly, before sighing. "I'm going to let him out, make sure he doesn't attack us."
Pikachu hopped down, giving a single nod. Back in the cave he had been surrounded on all sides and greatly outnumbered, but now on an even playing field he was confident that he would overpower the Houndoom. Not that he wanted to fight– but he wasn't going to let Ash get hurt again.
A flash of light lit up the darkness, and Pikachu watched as the Houndoom materialized in the small clearing in front of them. The creature was clearly built for the night, dark fur merging it in with the shadows as it formed. The fire type raised its head, taking in a deep breath as he took in his surroundings. Immediately lips pulled back into a snarl as he caught their scent, red eyes whipping over towards them. Pikachu sparked his cheeks in warning for the Pokemon to stay back.
Houndoom merely snarled, taking a step forward. The bony ridges along his back faintly glowed, heating up with his internal flames. Two horns curled up from the top of his head, one long and sharp, the other snapped in half, leaving a jagged base behind. His head was tilted slightly, not in curiosity, but perhaps from the uneven weight of his horns.
A powerful Flamethrower lit up the night, Ash and Pikachu throwing themselves to the side to avoid the fire. Pikachu darted forward as the Houndoom went charging at Ash. He formed an Iron Tail, an attack that the Houndoom would resist, but still a powerful enough blow to knock it off course. The Houndoom slid through the grass as he was hit, stumbling to regain his footing.
"We're not looking for a fight," Ash said, stepping forward with his hands up– only to receive a deep growl in reply. "I just want to talk, that's all. I'm not sure what's going to be happening in the next few days, but I'm going to try–"
The Houndoom sprang, and Pikachu fired a Thunderbolt right in front of the canine, forcing it to pull away before he could reach Ash. Pikachu positioned himself between Pokemon and trainer, letting out a small growl of his own.
"Chu..." He rumbled, tail flicking– making it clear that his next attack wouldn't be a gentle one.
Houndoom replied by throwing his head back, letting out an ear piercing howl– calling for his pack. Pikachu couldn't help but shiver at the eerie sound, while Ash let out a defeated sigh. The howl was cut short as Ash held out a Pokeball, recalling the Houndoom with a flash of light, leaving it so it was just the two of them in the clearing.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked.
Ash gave him a small smile. "We'll try again tomorrow."
So I haven't been able to decide on what Pikachu's tera type should be. The simple answer would be electric type because it is Pikachu after all, but I also like the idea of him having a unique one. Then there's flying, like that event Pikachu from the games, or maybe steel or fairy type like Pikachu's coverage moves. Finally I was thinking maybe he could have a type like fighting or dragon– something to represent how powerful Pikachu is.
I have a poll on my profile, so feel free to vote on which tera type he should get. :)