Hey everybody, here's the next and final chapter of 2023. After this, I'll be taking a break from this store for the remainder of January.
Once again, this chapter is edited by Vital Info, which will be the final chapter he will be as our Beta Reader.
Thank you for your support Vital, you've been very good to us. Here's hoping we work again in the future.
Don't worry, me and Cloud4012 already have 2 potential names for Beta Readers, so stay tuned.
Also, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!
And enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 7: Route 3, The Song of Jigglypuff
Route 3, a path that connects Pewter City to the enigmatic Mt. Moon's mountainside. The road began as a grassy location but soon transitions to a solid and rocky landscape that largely serves as a conduit to Kanto's biggest terrestrial monuments.
Trainers would generally use the open spaces to practice their Pokémon for forthcoming Gym Battles in Pewter or Cerulean, to catch some of the wild Pokemon that lurk among the tall grass and riverbed, or to battle one another for the fun.
And that is where one battle is currently taking place.
"Finish it!!" A female voice yelled out in the air as we saw a shadowy figure kick a trainer's Ekans to the ground.
"Ekans." To the surprise of its trainer, belted out a groaning sound as Ekans rolled over with swirly eyes.
"Th-that..that was so fast.." In amazement, the Youngster mumbled, as he recalled his fallen Ekans.
"Nice try, though. Thank you for the fight." The girl stated that she was returning her Pokémon. She then walked away, leaving the boy flabbergasted. Some kids his age approached him and were a bit concerned for him. "You OK, Ben?"
"Yeah, but I couldn't even get a hit on her." She annihilated me." Ben sighs and puts his Poké Ball on his belt.
"That girl is dangerous." According to one of his friends. The others nodded in agreement.
"Seriously, are Pallet trainer's all that crazy strong?" The other asks, incredulously.
"I'm not sure. But just now, none of us can win against her." Ben said as he and his friends left the area, presumably to the Pokemon Center.
As the girl walks away, she glances at her PokéDex, which displays a radar function.
"Hmm, not in this area either." She murmured.
Hearing a flutter of wings, she looked over, seeing a Spearow land on a nearby tree branch. "Hmm Spearow?" She pauses considering this.
"A flying type could help me search the area for it, but I might need everyone at full strength for the Pokémon I'm looking for."
That's when her PokéDex started ringing, getting her attention. "Hm?" Looking at it, she saw something was moving not too far away. A big grin made its way on her face, "I got you now!"
As she ran off, we found ourselves on the outskirts of Pewter City as Ash, Misty and Brock were about to enter the early stages of Route 3.
After obtaining his first Gym badge, Ash was ever so eager to get past Mt. Moon to get to Cerulean City for his next gym battle and fast.
"Alright, if we follow this path we should reach Mt. Moon in a couple of hours." Brock explained, looking over his Map. Happy to have packed one to avoid getting lost as they trek the Kanto region.
"Sounds good to me." Ash replied when they observed a young lady running towards them.
"Pardon me! Coming through!" She explained, as she ran past them.
"Hey, what's the rush?" Misty asks, concerned at the haste in her actions.
The young schoolgirl turned to them, clutching a Pidgeotto in her arms and covered in bruises that made them cringe. "Yikes, your Pidgeotto looks like it's been through the wringer," Brock blurted out.
"We were recently thrashed by this nasty female trainer. She's running around defeating everyone." The girl stated, getting Ash's attention.
"Nasty female trainer?" He asks, intrigued.
"Yeah, and she's very strong. We couldn't even get a hit in. If I were you, I'd avoid Route 3 at all costs." She muttered this as she continued her dash off towards the Pokémon Center.
"A strong trainer in these parts, huh?" Ash expressed his interest. Eager to test some of the Pokémon he hadn't used in his rematch with Brock.
"I wonder if they'll challenge the gym? Or perhaps they've already beaten me." Brock took a small breather, attempting to figure out who it may be.
"I'm more worried about just what kind of Pokémon they have." Misty muttered anxiously, recalling Pidgeotto's condition.
"Well if we want to get past Mt. Moon, we have to go through Route 3 to get there." Ash makes a point. Not that the tough battle would discourage him anyway.
"You just want to battle that dangerous trainer don't you?" Misty notices Ash's eagerness.
Ash just answered yes, not even denying it; he needed to test the strength of that hazardous trainer for himself.
Even though Misty was unsure, she knew Ash was correct. They had to keep going if they wanted to reach Mt. Moon. 'Though perhaps if he loses and we delay reaching Cerulean a bit more, it would be for the best.' she thought, but knew they'll just have to be on their guard when they come across said trainer.
The three trainers were on the lookout for this trainer as they made their way down Route 3. And when they passed some defeated trainers, Ash realized they were on the right track.
They've also earned the following cautions from passing trainers:
"You better turn back, there's a demon up ahead."
"Your Pokémon won't last a minute against her."
The more trainers he saw, the more ideas popped into his head. 'What kind of trainer is she? What type of Pokémon does she own? I'm sure she's an Elite level trainer; the ones I saw on TV were extremely strong!' He remembered seeing some league games on television a long back in Pallet Town.
It always piqued his interest to witness all of those League level Trainers fighting alongside their Pokémon with confidence, precision, and no sign of anxiety in their eyes.
It made Ash desire to reach their level one day; just thinking about it got him pumped and increased his jogging speed.
"Ash, slow down!" Misty said, trying to keep up.
"Wait for us!" Brock said, trying to match his companions pace, but Ash didn't pay them much mind.
The previous girl from the beginning of the story was nearby, peering behind some bushes for something. "Hmm, it should be here." When she detects something pink, she narrows her eyes.
Looking closely, she notices two round ears poking at the top of the grass, making her gasp.
"Found you!" She pointed, startling the hidden Pokémon before fleeing in the opposite direction of her. "Oh no, you won't get away!" The girl declares, running after it.
As the screen splits we see both trainers running as fast as they could approaching a fork in the road, but then the two screens merge just as Ash and the girl collide into each other and fall backwards.
"ACK!!"
"Ash!" "Pikapi!" Misty, Brock, Pikachu all finally caught up to Ash and stopped to see both him along with a young girl apart from each other, laying on the ground with dazed looks in their eyes along with a red bruise on both of their foreheads.
Brock winced at the sight, "Looks like Ash learned the hard way of what happens when you rush."
"He's not the only one who needed to learn that lesson," Misty said, gesturing to the other girl, who seemed to be staggering to get up.
As Ash slowly regained consciousness, he stood up, rubbing his head with a groan, feeling the sting of his wound. Pikachu walked over to Ash with concern, "PikachuPikapi?" He chirped, asking if he was alright.
"Yeah, don't worry, buddy. I'll live," Ash answered to the Electric Mouse Pokemon, before noticing the girl on the opposite side of him.
"Oh geez, I'm sorry, are you oka-?!'' Ash stopped mid sentence and gasped when he got a real good look at the girl, who was now also getting up, groaning more so in annoyance than pain.
She looked to be around his age if not a year older than him. She had slightly messy chestnut-brown hair that goes up to her lower back with 3 strands of hair sticking up. She had brown eyes. She wore a black dress with a white belt wrapped around her waist with cyan colored shorts worn underneath said dress, had on white gloves as she rubbed her swollen head, long white stockings with black boots, and had a yellow backpack strapped around her back.
"Ow, jeez. Watch where you're going you-" The girl finally spoke, ready to wail the jerk who bumped into her, only to look up to see Ash, who was looking down at her, just as shocked as she was.
(Voice of Mystery Girl-Cristina Vee)
"R-Reyna?" Ash asks, surprising his friends. He knew this mysterious girl?
"Ash?" The girl labeled Reyna, answered back, with the others seeing she knew him vice-versa. Slowly their expressions changed to big smiles as they started to laugh.
"Uh, what is happening right now?" Misty asks, confused by this scene before her.
"Not really sure, but it seems to me that Ash is familiar with this new girl," Brock answered to the best of his knowledge, that's when he noticed the girl felt familiar to him. Didn't she come by the Gym a week ago and challenge him?
They watched Ash, his laughter had died out, helped the girl up to her feet, noticing that she was an inch taller than him.
"I was wondering if I was going to run into you sooner or later," Ash said, smiling at her, genuinely happy to see his old friend.
"Yeah, well the second I got my Pokémon I ran straight to Route 1 and got started." The girl said proudly, knowing she yearned for the freedom the life of a traveling Trainer offered outside of Pallet.
"Let me guess you did all your goodbyes the day before?" Ash assumes, as he always knew how driven and impatient she could be sometimes.
"Yep. Bet it took a while to deal with your mom." She assumes, figuring Delia had her own farewell in mind for Ash.
"You have no idea." Ash admitted, remembering all the stuff he went through.
"So, who are your buddies?" Reyna asked, noticing Misty and Brock, though seeing him made Reyna do a double take. "Brock?"
"Wait a second." Brock pauses before confirming his earlier line of thought. "I know you. You challenged the Pewter Gym a few days ago."
This made Ash just asks in fascination.
"Woah, really? Did you win?" Ash turns back to her, to ask of her results, as Reyna smirked, pulling out a green badge case.
"You tell me?" She opened it up, revealing the Boulder Badge, sitting in the first badge slot.
"Hmph, join the club." Ash smirks, showing her his case with the Boulder Badge proudly displayed.
"Well look at that, guess you can handle yourself after all," Reyna said, impressed as she had to be a protector of sorts to Ash whenever things got heated between himself and Gary.
"So what? You got the Pewter Gym Leader as your travel buddy now?" Reyna asked, curious as to how this union came to be.
"Something like that. Oh and this is Misty. I met her on my way to Viridian City." Ash adds, gesturing to her to come closer and meet the group properly.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Misty said, introducing herself with a polite wave.
"Likewise, Reyna Green," Reyna gave a small wave back with a smile. "Hope my little buddy here hasn't been causing you guys a lot of trouble," she said in a teasing tone making Ash look slightly annoyed, but more so embarrassed at her comment.
"Like you're one to talk about causing trouble," he mutters under his breath. Reyna was chuckling lightly at that.
"So uh, Reyna, how do you and Ash know each other?" Misty asks, now hoping to know of the connection these two shared.
"Easy, we're both from Pallet Town. We practically grew up together." Reyna said with great gusto.
Ash nodded, dropping his what some might've dubbed sour attitude and added on with, "Yeah, we knew each other since we were both 5."
"Oh wow, so you two are like childhood friends." Brock realized, appreciating the bonds of such a lengthy friendship form over time.
"That's right," Reyna answered. "So what happened to you that morning, Ash?" She asked, turning to him.
"I had already gotten my starter before anyone else. Speaking of, where were you? We were supposed to meet up at the old Oak's Lab." Reyna asks, making Ash cringe as he retorts.
"Well the truth is I kinda... overslept." Ash admits. Snickering, Reyna burst into laughter holding her sides.
"I knew it!" She cried out a little too pleased with herself, which made Ash reply.
"It's not funny! My alarm clock broke!" Ash snapped, slightly annoyed, but that just made her laugh harder.
"Again?! Man, you're tougher to wake up than a Snorlax after an all you can eat buffet!" Reyna laughed, trying not to fall.
"Shut up!" Ash snaps again, this time blushing bright red. "Your face looks like a Snorlax!!"
"Excuse me?" Snapping out of her laughter, Reyna glares at him.
"You heard me!" Ash said as they glared daggered at each other. Both unaware at how uncomfortable the area around had become.
"Wow, Ash sure acts differently with her than he does with us." Misty sweat drops, watching the exchange go on.
"Childhood friends have a different vibe than recent friends," Brock explains just as the verbal exchanges grow that much louder and we hear…
"Well Mr. Sleepy-bones, I bet you didn't get the precious Squirtle you wanted from the lab, did you?" Reyna said with a harsh tone, that drove home Ash's original plans went down the drain that day.
Cringing, Ash lowered his head. "No...in fact I almost didn't get any Pokémon," Ash admits, causing Reyna to stop insulting him briefly and instead was concerned.
"Wait what? No, that can't be right. Every Trainer is supposed to get a starter Pokemon from Prof. Oak. That's the deal." Reyna points out as she recalls the starter she chose and caresses the Poké Ball that starter was in.
"Well apparently not this time. Squirtle, Charmander Bulbasaur, were all gone by the time I got there." Ash said but smiled briefly gesturing to Pikachu. "But I got a pretty cool replacement starter."
"A Pikachu, huh?" Reyna hummed, looking down to face the mouse.
"Pi?" Pikachu questioned what the girl was doing while tilting its head.
"Well I guess it does kinda suit you. At least you were able to get a Pokémon in the end." Reyna said, looking on the bright side of things that could've unfolded that day.
Appreciative of the praise, we hear "Pika!" Pikachu smiles, approaching Reyna and rubbing up against her legs.
Smiling softly, Reyna bends down to pet him and scratches behind his ears, making Pikachu smile and squeak in utter delight. Ash would remember to do this in the future.
"So what Pokémon did you get?" Ash asks, curiously, wanting to see her starter.
"Oh only THE best starter in the world," Reyna answered with a smug look on her face before enlarging a Poké Ball from her belt and opened it up as the light formed into a familiar greenish-blue Pokémon standing on all four legs and had a big green flower bulb on its back.
"Bulbasaur!" The Bulbasaur croaked out its name, making it Ash's turn to smile at the sight of the Grass Starter.
"Heh. I knew it." Ash said amused, and snickers at the reason why.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Reyna glares, ready to hurt Ash if he gives the wrong answer.
"Of course Leaf Green picks the Grass type." Ash declares making her the one to blush this time.
"Leaf Green?" Misty raises an eyebrow. 'Wasn't her name Reyna?' Misty thought as she watched on.
"I-I-I thought I told you to stop calling me that!" Reyna exclaimed with an embarrassed look on her face.
"Don't dish out what you can't take," Ash smirks, proud to have gained the upper hand in their exchange this time around.
"I take it that's a name she doesn't like to be associated with?" Brock asked, curious as to the origin of this kinda fun between the two.
"Oh yeah, you see-" Before Ash could explain, Reyna clamped his mouth shut with her hand pleaded with him to shut up with her gaze.
"They don't need to know it anytime soon," Reyna said quickly. Ash muffled out a cheeky chuckle under her glove. Meanwhile…
"Bulbasaur." Walking over to Pikachu, Reyna's Bulbasaur greeted him.
"Pikachu." Pikachu smiles, holding out a hand to shake.
Using a vine, Bulbasaur shook hands with Pikachu, making both starters smile as they converse in PokéSpeech.
"So our trainers are nuts, right? stated Bulbasaur as the outside world hears "Bul. Bulba. Saur. Bul."
"Pretty much, but it makes for a fun journey. It's never boring with Ash." Which to the human ear was "Pik. Pikachu. Chu. Pi. Pikapi."
"Hey, those two are starting to be friend's already," Misty smiles, thinking it was cute seeing how the Pokémon interact with each other.
"Yeah, they're getting along more than their trainers, that's for sure," Brock points out, making Ash and Reyna look at their Pokémon. Seeing how their starters reacted, both Pallet Trainers smiled softly, before Reyna released her hold over Ash's mouth.
"Brings back some good memories, huh Rey?" Ash asked, enjoying seeing Pikachu make a new friend.
"Yeah I guess it does." Reyna smiles. "So Ash, why were you in such a rush?"
"We were looking for this dangerous female trainer battling everyone in the area." Ash said, making Reyna chuckle nervously rubbing the back of her head.
"Oh, did I really go that overboard?" Reyna asks, unaware of the reputation she had gained.
"You're the dangerous trainer?" Everybody asked, surprised at the revelation.
"Well I wouldn't go that far, but yeah that's me." Reyna nods, now seemingly pleased with her battle skills being so renowned.
"So then why were you moving all over this area?" Brock asks curiously.
"I'm looking for a certain Pokémon that's been spotted in this area." Reyna said, recalling what she was doing taking out her PokéDex. "Aw man, I lost it again."
"You used your PokéDex to track it down?" Ash asked, confused. He never knew that. 'How much did I miss learning? This is getting out of hand.' Ash thought internally.
"Yeah, if you know the Pokémon you're looking for it allows you to search the area for one nearby," Reyna explains, as she tries to reestablish the search function and find that lost Pokémon.
"I didn't know it could do that," Ash said, taking his own device out. He'd normally just use it to scan the data of the Pokémon he's encountered or look up their moves.
"Well it's not as useful unless you have some more data on said Pokémon. I encountered this Pokémon once in a battle and I knew I had to have one for myself." Reyna said, pressing buttons left and right looking for the Pokemon in question.
"What kind of Pokémon is it?" Brock asks curiously. Though he may have an idea given the Pokémon that call the area home.
"A Jigglypuff." Reyna answers. This surprised Brock. Jigglypuff weren't known for being in this area of Kanto. Not the way Sandshrew, Geodude and other mountain terrain Pokemon were even some Pokemon like Nidorans were in the area but that may be because they require Moon Stones to reach their final stage of evolution so being near Mt. Moon made sense. But a Jigglypuff? That was certainly new.
"Jigglypuff?" Pausing, Ash puts that into Dexter, the PokéDex for information and an image of a round Pink Pokémon appears.
"Jigglypuff, the Balloon Pokémon. It captivates foes with its huge, round eyes, then lulls them to sleep by singing a soothing melody."
As the PokéDex entry finishes Reyna states.
"There's one in this area but it keeps getting away from me. Any chance you can help me track it down?" Reyna asks, hoping an extra set of eyes, let alone 3 would help.
"Sure, it shouldn't be too hard to find a little puffball like that," Ash agreed, offering to assist his friend in catching a Pokémon.
"What about you guys?" Reyna asks, looking at Misty and Brock, who were talking amongst themselves.
"Well now that I know the dangerous trainer is a friend, I guess I don't mind looking." Misty sighed inwardly, relieved that their plans to travel to Cerulean City had been put on hold for the time being.
"I don't mind at all." Brock nods affirming his role in the search party.
"Thanks guys," Reyna smiled, recalling her Bulbasaur before thanking them for the support. 'Ash found himself a good bunch of people.' she thought.
As they spread out, Ash and Reyna went down one direction while Misty and Brock went down another, but for good measure Ash also called out some of his flying Pokemon in the form of Beedrill and Spearow.
Flying through the air, Spearow and Beedrill were looking around for any sign of Jigglypuff. Looking up, Reyna couldn't help but be a little impressed. "A Spearow and Beedrill. Not bad."
"Spearow was my very first capture," Ash stated as he walked alongside her, his hands around the back of his head. "And my Beedrill was the princess of her hive back in Viridian Forest."
"Viridian Forest? Oh, hey did you by any chance run into his trainer with a samurai helmet and a sword?" Leaf asks, wondering if the same creep that gave her trouble was still in the forest.
"Are you kidding? He nearly gave me a heart attack." Ash shudders. "So he really did battle all the other Pallet Trainers."
"Yeah, I almost slugged that Miyamoto Musashi wannabee when he jumped me." Reyna lifted her hand, an angered expression on her face, recalling her encounter with the so-called warrior.
"I hit him in the face with my backpack and threw him to the ground when he did that to me." Ash said, making her smirk.
"Nice." Reyna said as they high-fived each other over that. "So speaking of the other Pallet Town trainers, did you end crossing paths with you know who?"
"Yep. Right before I got Pikachu I ended up running into Gary's farewell party." Ash said, making Reyna roll her eyes, remembering how unpleasant Gary had become over the years.
"Please tell me he didn't have the red sport's car," she said with a sigh, hoping he was only joking when he said he would do such a thing before her departure.
"With cheerleaders to boot," Ash adds, holding back a laugh.
"Oh, Gary." Reyna facepalms. "Always got to show off. There's no way he could have gotten that thing past the outskirts of Pallet Town."
Shaking his head, Ash said, "No way, Prof. Oak put a stop to that before it could even reach the first route."
"Good." Reyna said before sighing. "So did he tell you what Pokemon he got?"
"What do you think?" Ash asks and she instantly knows the answer.
"Why does he always have to talk down to us?" Reyna asks, pinching her nose in frustration of Gary's ego.
"You know he's been like that since we were 7." Ash points out. 'Wish he hadn't changed. We were all such good friends back then.' The memory made Ash a bit sad but pressed on.
"The day he realized he was too good for us anymore. You think he'll ever be our friend again?" Reyna asks as she too remembered their bonds of friendship during their time at Oak's Summer Camp and beyond at Pallet.
"I have no idea, Leaf. I honestly have no idea." Ash sighs. Best to leave that train of thought behind for now.
Reyna groaned hearing that name again, "Ash, how many times have I told you to stop calling me by that name?"
"Well I needed some way to change the subject. This was getting too depressing." Ash chuckles.
"But you know I despise that name, I mean seriously, what did I ever do to Arceus to be nicknamed after a plant that falls from another plant?" Reyna said, expressing dissatisfaction.
"Hey I thought it was funny when you had all those leaves on you." Ash chuckles. As he recalls that fateful day.
Ash and Reyna were both playing in the woods outside Professor Oak's Lab many years ago when Reyna stumbled over a boulder and fell into a large pile of leaves. When she awoke, there were numerous leaves in her hair, which Ash found so amusing that he and then soon after, many of the Pallet natives began calling her 'Leaf' after that day.
"I mean come on it's not like I told everyone why you got that nickname. Only I know the reason behind it given I gave it to you." Ash points out with a light chuckle.
"But still, do you have to keep calling me by that name?" Reyna asks, hoping he would get the hint and stop.
"Do you have to keep messing with me every time I oversleep?" Ash counters, knowing that the subject was tender to him and hoped she would stop as well.)
"Touche." Reyna said before chuckling. "I'll back off if you back off?" Stretching out her hand as a means of truce.
"I think that sounds fair," Ash grins. Shaking her hand to agree to their truce. When…
"Spear!" Spearow calls out getting their attention.
"Looks like Spearow found something." Ash said, looking up at his first capture.
"I bet it's Jigglypuff, come on!" Reyna exclaimed as she and Ash chased the bird. Flying above them, Spearow lands on a branch before pointing ahead.
Coming to a stop, they saw the very same Pink Pokemon from the PokéDex wandering around.
Approaching the Pokémon they took soft steps. "There it is," Ash whispered as he and Reyna hid behind a tree so they wouldn't be seen.
"Okay we have to be careful. Jiggypuff's Sing attack is very strong. If we're not cautious : we'll be asleep before we know what hit us." Reyna warns, having seen the effects of Sing in the battle that drew her to hunting down this Jigglypuff.
"So your best bet is to use a Pokémon that's quick enough to take it down so it won't get the chance to use it." Ash guessed, as his experience using fast Pokemon like Pikachu was helpful and if she had a fast Pokemon herself it would be the same for her.
Pausing, Reyna put a hand to her chin considering who to use.
"I know just who to use." Reaching to her belt, she took out a Poké Ball.
"Go!" she said as she emerged from behind the tree and tossed the Poké Ball in the direction of the wild Jigglypuff.
The ball popped open, drawing Jigglypuff's attention as the light revealed...a familiar cream-colored feline Pokémon.
"Nyanya!!" It mewled, startling Ash and Pikachu.
"A Meowth?!" "Pika?!" Both screamed in astonishment of Reyna having a Meowth in her possession, but this Meowth didn't appear like their usual Rocket foe. It resembled a standard Meowth, except she was more feminine and wore a red ribbon around her neck.
"Ready, Meowzie?" Reyna asks as the cat Pokemon nods her head.
"Charge in with Aerial Ace!" The female coin cat raced forward with a burst of speed and a clear aura around it, knocking Jigglypuff away.
"Jigglypuff!" Bouncing off the ground, Jigglypuff looked up to see Meowzie glaring at her. "Jiggly." Puffing up a little in anger, the Pink Balloon was not going down easy.
"Use Slash!" Reyna yells out. Meowzie's claws extended out, going in to scratch Jigglypuff, who rapidly breathed a large amount of air inside its body and flew upwards in the air, avoiding the swipe.
"So that's how you've been getting around so quickly." Reyna glares, knowing why it took her so long to find it.
The Balloon Pokémon was so high into the air, it could give Kirby a run for its money. Memories of her playing the Kirby video games on her Nintendo console came flooding back but she shook her head to stay focused on the Jigglypuff.
"You can run but you can't hide from this. Meowzie, use Seed Bomb!" Reyna said as Meowzie released several glowing seeds from her mouth.
Silently, Ash looked quite impressed at the moves her Meowth was showcasing. Aerial Ace? Seed Bomb? 'I guess Normal Types can learn almost every move out there.'
Dropping out of the sky, Jigglypuff used Bounce landing right on top of Meowzie.
"Nya!" Meowzie cried out in pain, feeling Jigglypuff's body drop onto her like a sack of potatoes.
"Hang in there, Meowzie! Shake it off! You're tougher than this and you know it!" Reyna calls out. Clearly she had a lot of faith in her Pokemon.
Meowzie growls and knocks Jigglypuff off her back, shaking her fur to relieve her pain. "Nya!" She hissed ready to strike.
"Atta girl. Now Fury Swipes!" As Meowzie leaps at it, Jigglypuff's hands glowed as she countered it with Double Slap.
It soon became a duel between slaps and claws as both Normal Types were on the receiving end of each of them.
"Pika." Pikachu said impressed. He would have to find ways to include his paws in combat if it led to results like this.
"Yeah, I never thought a Meowth could actually be good in a fight." Ash said so used to dealing with Team Rocket's Meowth being easy. 'Maybe one day I could get one…' he thought but was brought back into the fight when…
Back at the fight, Jigglypuff rams itself into Meowzie, making her skid backwards. Once it was from a comfortable distance, Jigglypuff opened her mouth, making Ash gasp.
"Look out, it's about to use Sing!" He cried out, remembering Leaf's warning.
"Meowzie, look out!" Reyna warns as Meowzie braces herself.
"Jigglypu--" Before it could finish Jigglypuff suddenly began to cough, confusing them.
"Uh, shouldn't it be singing right now?" Ash asked.
"Something's not right here." Reyna noticed as Jigglypuff tried to sing but just kept coughing.
Could it be..that it couldn't sing?
"Meowzie, stand down." Reyna calls out, confusing her.
"Nya?" Meowzie asks, looking at her trainer oddly since she was still raring to go.
"Something's wrong with Jigglypuff, but I don't know enough about Pokemon to help," Reyna said when Ash got an idea.
"You don't, but I know someone who wants to be a Pokemon Breeder," Ash said, calling for Spearoe and giving them a general idea of where they were located, which drew Reyna's attention.
Meanwhile at the same time…
The attempt to find a Jigglypuff so far seemed fruitless. They had encountered some of the more local Pokémon and heard grass rustling to see an Ekans nearby but still no sign of a Jigglypuff.
So practice was added to break the silence and ask Misty.
"We may not have gotten to know much about each other back at Pewter, so why don't you tell me more about yourself, like where are you from?"
Remembering her tensing up at the mention of Cerulean, he figured this would be a good way to confirm his suspicions that she was from that City.
Nervously, Misty answered.
"Oh you know just from here in Kanto, nowhere special." She finished and tried to change the subject by asking. Hoping that Brock would be satisfied with her lackluster answer.
"What is it you hope to accomplish from being a Breeder?"
Before he could ascertain why Misty changed the subject or even give an answer to her question, a squawk filled the air and saw it was Ash's Spearow coming in from above. He landed onto Brock's shoulder, who then saw something wrapped around one of his talons: a piece of paper. He took the wrapped paper from around Spearow's clawed foot and unfolded the paper, and his suspicions were correct.
It was a message from Ash trying to contact him with an update on the situation, letting them know that they had found Jigglypuff and needed their help.
"Guess we can have the rest of this conversation at a later time. We need to go help Ash and Reyna."
With the general sense of the direction they were going to Brock and Misty soon headed off to do the best and in helping Jigglypuff.
When Misty and Brock reunited with them, they were overjoyed that the two managed to find a Jigglypuff. Misty gushed over how cute it was up close and wished out loud to hear it sing, making the wild puffball almost cry.
That's when Ash and Reyna informed them of their little problem.
"So it can't use its singing ability," Brock said, his face solemn in contemplation as to why that would be.
"No. It looked like it was about to but then it just started coughing." Reyna informs, as Brock approaches the round Pink Pokemon.
With hands raised Brock stated. "I'm here to help, will you let me?"
Jigglypuff deflated with a sad look on her face. How could it call itself a Pokémon that couldn't use the ability its species is known for? Despite her hurt pride she knew she couldn't go on like this and these people have been nice and kind so far. So 'why not?'. She nodded.
With permission granted Brock checked Jigglypuff out.
"Hmm, there must be something wrong with its throat." Placing his bag down, Brock rummaged around for something.
Misty bends down to the Jigglypuff, "Don't beat yourself up, Jigglypuff. We're going to help you get your song back in you," she said, trying to cheer it up.
"Wow, Misty I've never seen you act this way around something that wasn't a water type," Ash said, amusingly.
"Hey, I'm a lover of all kinds of cute Pokémon," Misty defends herself (feeling in her heart this statement was true.)
"Unless it's a bug type," Ash mutters that last part so she couldn't hear it but Reyna did heard a glimpse of it. 'Bugs, huh?' Reyna paused wondering what could be done about that.
Taking out a mixing bowl, Brock grated some herbs into a cup and stirred it.
"Here, drink this." Brock said, handing the cup to Jigglypuff. Jigglypuff looked at it, wearily and sniffed it. "Puff?"
"I know it smells funny, but trust me it'll help that throat of yours, no problem," Brock assures, exuding a confident and peaceful energy Jigglypuff could trust.
Giving the concoction one last anxious look, Jigglypuff finally succumbed and drank the medicine, taking it all whole.
"Jig." Sticking her tongue out in disgust. Jigglypuff hated it. Almost regretting taking the concoction before she heard.
"How do you feel now?" Reyna asks as Jigglypuff puts the cup down and clears its throat.
Inhaling and exhaling, Jigglypuff did a few breathing exercises that seemed to kick in the medicinal presence of what she drank, feeling a soothing sensation throughout her body and all around her vocal cords up and going. Everyone gave her some space so she could sing.
Finally she was ready and opened her mouth and started to sing..
"Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~, Jigglypuff~."
Hearing the melody, Pikachu, Spearow, and even Meowzie began to feel drowsy while the humans let out yawns.
"Hey, it worked, It's singing," Reyna said with a little smile.
"Yaaaay." Misty said letting out a loud yawn and began to doze off.
"See? Nothing but..*yawn* a little medicine ought to do the trick," Brock yawns, closing his already slanted eyes.
"See? Nothing but...*yawn* a little medicine should do it," Brock yawns, closing his already slanted eyelids.
"What did I say…*yawns* Brock is... *yawns* the best.." Ash trails off before falling into slumber with the others as they all lay on the ground.
As it stops singing and looks around to see that everyone is fast asleep, Jigglypuff puffs up in anger.
It hopped over to Ash's bag and pulled out a black marker, and started scribbling doodles all over everybody's faces, Pokémon included.
An hour later, Ash and Reyna were laughing hard as they pointed at each other.
"If you could only see how stupid you look right now," Reyna said with a powerful laugh.
"Right back at ya," Ash said, holding his sides at how his ribs hurt from laughing.
"Uwaah! What happened to my face?!" Misty exclaimed, looking at herself in a mirror.
"I guess Jigglypuff wasn't a fan that we fell asleep while it was singing." Brock said, wiping his face, getting some of the ink off, thankful it wasn't a permanent marker that was used.
"Pika Pika." Pikachu chuckles as Spearow is enraged by the prank.
"Nya," Disgusted by her appearance, Meowzie quickly started wiping away her face.
"Did I mess up back there?" Reyna asks, confusing them. "I mean I had an easy opportunity to catch it but instead I helped it and now Jigglypuff is gone again."
Ash shook his head saying, "No, I don't think you messed up at all. I think you did a good job helping it, even if you didn't get it."
"Any trainer can catch a Pokémon while it's weak or struggling. You helped a wild Pokemon get better. That's not something many would do." Brock agrees and is happy to see this attitude in new trainers or maybe just those out of Pallet, for the most part that is.
"I get it, but I think I made Jigglypuff mad at me for not listening to its song," Reyna frowns, hoping Jigglypuff can one day forgive her and give her a chance to catch her again.
"I don't think anyone could listen to singing like that and not fall asleep." Misty said, in all honesty. Very few could.
"Right, Sing doesn't just affect the opponent's Pokémon, but also everyone and everything around it." Brock elaborates. "So it's not really our fault."
"How about we take a break and try to come up with a plan so you can catch Jigglypuff again?" Misty offers when they hear a stomach growl.They look at Ash. "Wasn't me, I swear."
Blushing, Reyna covered her stomach embarrassed.
"And maybe have a little snack." Brock adds with an amused smile.
Ash snickered in the background before his stomach growled even louder than Reyna's.
"Sounds like we got two for that idea." Misty giggles. Both Ash and Reyna looked at each other and chuckled sheepishly.
Soon, all of them were sitting around as Brock was making some onigiri rice balls for a snack.
Taking a big bite out of hers, Reyna moaned in satisfaction. "Mmm, this is delicious! Probably on the level of your mom's cooking, Ash!"
"Yeah Brock, this is delicious," Misty said, eating hers. Enjoying the taste of the rice, seaweed and pickled plum these snacks were known for.
"If you can keep cooking like this you can stick around for as long as you want," Ash said finishing his first one, whilst reaching for another
"Aw, thanks guys," Brock smiled, happy to know that they liked his cooking. All that time feeding his younger siblings meals was really paying off.
Nearby, Meowize was carefully sniffing the Pokemon food in front of her with a curious expression.
"Don't worry Meowzie it's good," Reyna assures before she tries a bit and smiles.
"Nya." Meowzie smiles happily digging in. "Hey, even your Meowth likes it," Ash said with a smile wondering if Pikachu was enjoying his meal. He was. As were Beedrill and Spearow.
"Yeah, guess you're not so much of a picky eater anymore, huh?" Reyna teased her kitten Pokémon.
"That Meowth gives off quite the elegant impression. How did you find that in the wild?" Brock asks, as the feline continues eating.
"I didn't. I found her when I was in Viridian City and I saw one of the most disgusting things ever." Reyna said with a hint of anger and rage.
The group all looked surprised by her sudden attitude shift, "Well..what happened?" Ash asked, breaking the silence.
Flashback
It was a few days after Reyna had left Pallet Town. As she was walking around Viridian City, she was looking at a map.
"Okay, if I keep going down this road, I should reach the Pokemon Center soon." Reyna said before walking by an abandoned boutique with one sparkly red dress in the window. "Of course, it went out of business. You'd have to be crazy rich to afford that thing."
She was about to leave when she noticed a fancy car stop in front of that boutique. Thinking she could maybe get directions, she turns around to see a woman in fancy clothes, glasses, and wild red hair. Clearly, this woman came from money.
"Meowzie deary, we need to talk." She pulls out a Poké Ball, and Meowzie appears. That woman appears to be Meowzie's original owner.
"Nya!" She smiled as she yelled out, relieved to be free. The grimace on her owner's face, on the other hand, said differently.
"Listen my sweet, you were the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, but my money has nearly run out, and I cannot stay here much longer," she stated with a somber voice. "I hate to do this to you, my little Meowzie, but I'm afraid that I have to let you go."
"Nya?" Meowzie gasps confused while Reyna couldn't believe her eyes.
'Wait, is this woman…?' Reyna thought horrified as the poor Meowth had a look of fear, sadness, and confusion on her face.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I know you'll manage somehow." The rich lady said, turning her back to her Pokemon.
"What are you doing?!" Both human and Pokémon turned to see a tiny girl approaching from around the corner, her face angry.
"Do you mind? This is a personal situation between me and my Meowzie." The woman said, annoyed that an outsider was interrupting her.
"Really? Because from what I just heard, you're releasing your Pokemon in the middle of the street while you town to never come back! What's wrong with you?!" Reyna demands.
The woman scowled, but kept her cool. "Young lady, I am a very busy woman. Do you happen to know just who I am?"
"No, and frankly, I don't care. If you loved your Meowth as much as you say, you would stop at nothing to find a way to keep her. Look I don't know the first thing about you but I can easily see that you have lived a fancy life and so has your Meowth and you somehow think that you can abandon her in the middle of the street and think she can survive on her own? She's going to get hurt or worse." Reyna said as Meowzie looked up at her amazed.
Reyna didn't even know them, and yet she could tell in an instant what would happen if she abandoned Meowzie.
"B-but I can't-" the lady tries to say, but Reyna cuts her off.
"But what? You got to make an easy buck somehow, and letting your Pokémon off somehow gets the money flowing back to you?"
"I don't have to justify this to you. You're a child. You have no idea what struggles the real world presents you with." The lady scoffs.
Reyna however snorted and retorted with, "No, but I do know that the world is filled with a bunch of cowards who care only about themselves and leave their loved ones in the dust."
"How dare—" She starts but instead Reyna just shoves her she falls back into the car and screams. "You disrespectful little monster!"
"You know what, lady? Just leave and never think twice about the heart you broke. You don't deserve to have a Pokémon." Reyna said, slamming the car door in her face. Flabbergasted at the young girl's actions, the woman starts the car and drives off without getting a word in.
Once she was gone, Reyna turned to Meowzie with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you okay?" She held out her hand, but Meowzie hesitated. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
She began to stroke the side of Meowzie's face, and the fearful expression was replaced with a sweet smile as the cat began to purr.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure you're taken care of." Picking Meowzie up, Reyna carried her away.
Flashback end
"After that, I brought her to the Pokémon Center and Nurse Joy suggested that I take care of her so Meowzie could learn to take care of herself. And here we are." Reyna said, finishing her story.
After hearing her narrative, everyone around her experienced a range of emotions.
Misty wiped her tears away, wanting to comfort the poor little kitty after hearing all it had gone through.
Brock remained mute, shaking his head with an enigmatic frown. He was aware that there were many selfish people in the world who seemed to care more about themselves than the feelings of their Pokémon. This woman had broken a trust line between her Meowth, cutting her off to save itself, thereby shattering its trust.
"You did the right thing." Ash said putting his hand on her shoulder supporting his friend's choice.
Turning to Ash, Reyna noticed that, while his face appeared calm on the outside, simply by looking at his fist, which was now clenched tightly, she could tell that, deep down, Ash was furious, but was attempting to keep his emotions in check for her.
She knew it wouldn't Ash well to hold those feelings in and let him know it was ok to let her true thoughts out. He was thankful her friend knew him so well.
"If that witch cared about Meowzie, she would have took it with her, but instead she left it alone to fend for itself." Ash spat disgustedly, if only there was a more just way to deal with situations like these he would enforce them and make sure no Pokemon felt like that again. For now that was wishful thinking but maybe in his lifetime he would find a way to help make that line of thinking a reality.
His Pokémon, Pikachu, Beedrill, and Spearow, all had expressions that matched their trainer's. They, too, felt the sensation of companionship and friendship, and everyone knew better than to leave anyone behind in a potentially dangerous scenario.
"You were right, she didn't deserve to take care of Meowzie, you stepped in, didn't even care if you weren't supposed to be there and helped her out, defended her, and gave her a new life," Ash said before finally calming down. A smile appeared on his face soon after. "That just shows how much of a good and caring person you are, Rey."
Hearing that Reyna smiled, happy to know her best friend supported her choice.
"Thanks Ash, I'll admit it was a bit of a challenge getting Meowzie used to the idea of battling but she's come a long way since that day." Reyna said rubbing Meowzie's head.
Meowzie instantly smiled and began to nuzzle her head into Reyna's hand before leaping onto her lap.
"You think you'll be using her in a Gym Battle anytime soon?" Ash asks, as he was impressed with her skills in the battle with Jigglypuff earlier.
"Maybe by the next town she'll be ready." Reyna said, hopeful at the idea of developing Meowzie's skills that much more.
"So where are you guys heading to?" Reyna asked. Misty tensed slightly.
"We were heading through Route 3 to get to Mt. Moon so we can get to Cerulean City," Brock answers, again noticing Misty began to act odd at the mention of Cerulean.
"Ooh, I've been wanting to check out Mt. Moon myself. I hear they have some rare stones in that mountain that could really help some of my Pokemon down the line." Reyna said, eager at the idea.
"Rare stones?" Misty asked, interested. They had heard about fossils discovered on Mt. Moon, but not about stones that could aid Pokémon.
The cave must be full with secret gems that they were unaware of.
"Well then, you want to join us, Reyna?" Brock offers, interested in what these rumors were as well.
"You guys don't mind?" Reyna asked, looking towards Ash for the answer.
"Not at all. The more the merrier." Ash shook his head, happy to travel with his childhood friend.
"It would be nice to have another girl to talk to," Misty said, not having a problem with it. Maybe it would distract her from her inevitable homecoming.
"Well if no one objects I guess I can stick around a little bit longer." Reyna said. And just like that, Reyna was accepted temporarily into the group.
-
After finishing their snack the group of 4 recalled their Pokemon and continued heading to Mt. Moon. Unaware that down the route we see a familiar pink Pokemon searching for something.
The Jigglypuff from earlier left the group after they all fell asleep during its song, angering it. 'How could they fall asleep during my song? Those jerks have no taste!' the pink Pokemon muttered as to everyone else she sounded like Jig. Jig-Jig. Puff. Jigglypuff!
Hearing a noise, Jigglypuff looks to see a young trainer and his Caterpie. "Good work Caterpie. Let's see if we can find any other bug types." He said as the bug nodded.
Smiling, Jigglypuff had found a new audience.
Gripping onto her microphone, it hopped right in front of the boy and Caterpie, getting their attention.
"Whoa, a Jigglypuff?" He gasps. But before they could do anything Jigglypuff began to sing.
"Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~, Jigglypuff~." "Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~"
As Jigglypuff started singing, the boy and his Caterpie were taken in by the song before their eyes got droopy and fell asleep
"Jigglypuff?" Stopping Jigglypuff saw they were asleep just like the others were.
Jigglypuff puffed up in rage and took out the marker again, scribbled on their sleeping faces before leaving in a huff, insulted once again.
A few minutes later, Ash, Reyna, Misty, and Brock arrive and see the sleeping faces with scribbles all over them.
"Uh, you guys don't think…" Ash starts to speak before
"Jigglypuff was here? Yeah, I think we know.." Misty finished for him. Had they made a mistake giving Jigglypuff its singing voice back?
"And it appears that its singing voice is still good and strong." Brock adds, somewhat smirking. He made a good concoction. Those books he read on natural herbal medicine really paid off.
"You think we should wake them up and let them know?" Misty asks, as Reyna placed her hand underneath her chin.
"Hmm, nah. Let them find out for themselves, it'd be more fun that way." Reyna cackled at the thought.
"Okay, but the next chance we get. We need to get that marker away from Jigglypuff." Misty said as all of them agreed instantly.
Unfortunately for them, that was unlikely to happen.
Moving to numerous parts of the route, we see Pokémon and people all over the patchy plains, fast asleep on the floor with marker scribbles on their faces.
And in one case we see a trainer with a Psyduck and while it seemed to be awake it was actually sleeping with its eyes open. This was downright spine chilling.
Soon, Jigglypuff finally finished scribbling on her last snoozing victim.
"Puff." Still, all puffy, Jigglypuff put the cap back on the marker.
She counted nearly 15 humans and Pokémon that fell asleep during her performances. Not one of them made it past a few notes before passing out and it made Jigglypuff very angry.
All it wanted was someone to listen to its singing but no one could do that.
She stomped off, grumbling to herself, almost giving up hope that someone or something wouldn't ignore her.
Making her way to the top of a hill, Jigglypuff looked around and noticed some wild monkey Pokémon with white fur on trees eating bananas. These were Mankey.
This time, Jigglypuff thought. This time was her definite moment to shine.
Making her way to the base of the tree, Jigglypuff began to sing.
"Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~, Jigglypuff~ "Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~"
Hearing the melody the Mankey began to doze off just like everyone else but as one leaned back and forth it misstepped causing the Mankey to fall out of the tree and land on its head waking it right up.
"Mankey!" It squawked, jumping up from the ground.
"Puff?" Stopping her singing Jigglypuff smiled at first thinking she had an audience but that moment was short-lived as a red tick mark appeared on that Mankey's head.
"Mankey..." The pink little puffball was hissed at by the Pig Monkey Pokémon, who gave her a harsh glare that made her anxious.
"Mankey!" declared as it lunged towards Jigglypuff's direction using Karate Chop not on her, but on the tree. It shook violently, waking the other Mankey up and needless to say they were NOT happy.
Jigglypuff began to sweat profusely as the three wild monkeys advanced on her, their looks indicating that she was in for a painful experience in a matter of seconds.
"J-Jiggly?" Jigglypuff gulped, silently squeaking out a small apology, offering to sing a different song as an encore, hoping to appease their rage. However, all three Mankey were seething with rage meaning they didn't accept the apology.
Seeing that they didn't want an encore Jigglypuff turned around and made a run for it.
"MANKEY!!" The Mankeys roared, chasing after Jigglypuff, with ferocious intent.
Just down the path, the group heard that loud scream and stopped in their tracks.
"What was that?" Reyna, asked as she was cut off guard.
"Sounds like some wild Pokémon are angry." Ash guessed, judging by the volume.
"How much you wanna bet that probably has Jigglypuff written all over?" Reyna stated, confidently.
"She must have made something angry while scribbling on its face." Misty assumes, given her trail of victims left behind.
"We better find her fast before she gets into some real trouble," Brock urged, knowing that angry Pokemon can be a menace if left unchecked. As Gym Leader he was bound to protect the city but also the Pokemon in the surrounding areas. Though he was no longer a Gym Leader, he felt honor bound to help.
"Or worse, it sings again." Ash agrees, and the gang heads out.
Following the noise, they raced up a rocky hill near a river when they gasped in horror at what was happening on the other side.
Clinging to a small branch, Jigglypuff dangled as the Mankey violently shook it trying to knock Jigglypuff off and into the water below.
"They're gonna make her fall!" Misty shouted, which made the Mankeys look in her direction and stick their tongues out mocking her.
"Jigglypuff!" Reyna gasps, concerned. Sure she wasn't her Pokemon and had done some less than desirable things but she didn't deserve this.
"We have to get those Mankey away from Jigglypuff somehow," Brock said, as he reached for one of his Poké Balls.
"Rey," Ash quickly turned to her. "I got an idea, but we're going to need Bulbasaur," Ash said, with a look in his eyes Reyna knew all too well.
"Is it something dangerous and possibly crazy?" Reyna asks, practically knowing the would be…
"Yes." Ash said almost instantly. She smirked.
"Done." Reyna agrees just as quickly as requested.
Back with the Mankey, they started using Karate Chop on the tree, making the vibrations even worse on Jigglypuff.
"Jiggly." Whimpering Jigglypuff prayed this wasn't how it ended. She just got her voice back and now she was about to fall in a river because of it.
Just as the Mankey was about to deliver another chop to the tree...
"Leech Seed!" A familiar voice cried out.
Suddenly from above a seed landed atop of one Mankey and before it could react vines came out of it, and trapped all 3 of them, while sapping away their energy.
"Key!" All the Mankey screeched confusing Jigglypuff. Down below, Jigglypuff heard a whisper. Looking down she saw Reyna right below her.
"Jigglypuff, jump down to me before they break free." Reyna gestures but Jigglypuff wasn't a fan of this idea.
"Puff." Jigglypuff shook her head.
"Come on, I'm trying to save you!" She urges her to move, but Jigglypuff wouldn't budge. "Look, I'm sorry I fell asleep during your song, but I couldn't help it. That's what your attack does."
"Jiggly." Jigglypuff said not accepting it.
As the Mankeys, though less energetic, began to pull and try to tear away the vines around them. Time was not their friend on this.)
"Listen to me. I know you want people to listen to your voice, but Sing is not an attack meant for audiences at least not like this! You just need to control it better so it doesn't knock everybody out." Reyna points out as Jigglypuff opens one of her eyes, looking down to the girl with a questionable look on her face. 'Could that be the trick?' Maybe she could trust this girl after all.
Up above, they saw the Mankey break through the Leech Seed. Ash's plan was good but it wouldn't last much longer.
"Please Jigglypuff, you have to trust me." Reyna pleads, holding out her hands to catch her.
Switching back and forth to the Mankey and Reyna, Jigglypuff saw that she didn't really have a choice. So she jumped off of the branch and into Reyna's arms. Stumbling back Reyna almost stepped into the river, but thankfully Brock's Geodude was floating nearby to make the save.
"See? I told you that you could trust me." Reyna smiles, happy to see Jigglypuff was okay, before thanking Brock for releasing his stone Pokémon and Geodude itself for both being at the right place at the right time.
"Jiggy.." Jiggulypuff stared at her with wonder as they stood up before the Mankey finally broke free.
"Uh, maybe we should move before they climb down." Misty gulps in fear. These weren't bugs but angry Pig Monkeys were nothing to brush off lightly.
"Mankey don't give up easily. They won't stop chasing us." Brock reminds everyone.
Hearing this Reyna, and the Pokemon in tow retreat walking over to Brock, she narrows her gaze and hands him Jigglypuff. "Hold onto Jigglypuff for me."
"You're gonna fight them?" He asks, grabbing the pink puffball.
"Well I would…but I'm assuming my best friend isn't going to be fine just sitting on the sidelines while I have all the fun, will he?" Reyna smirks looking at Ash, knowing his answer.
"Not a chance," Ash grew a smirk on his face, wanting and ready to show her off.
As the three Mankey climbed down having recovered some of their stolen energy via Leech Seed and eager for a fight, Reyna and Ash stood together.
"Bulbasaur, Meowzie! Let's do this!" Reyna said as her starter and first captured Pokémon ran to her side.
"Bulbasaur!" "Nya!" Both said, ready to battle.
Turning his hat, around Ash reached for his belt and threw a ball, "Spearow, I choose you!" Ash's first capture came out of the ball with a fierce squawk as it landed near Reyna's team.
"Good call using a Flying type against a Fighting type," Brock comments with a pleased nod.
"Ash may not have had the best matchups against you, but now you can see his team have a chance to really shine." Misty said, knowing that his team worked hard at the Battle Club but only Pidgeotto and Pikachu got their opportunity to show off. Now it was Spearow's turn.
The battle began as each Mankey charged with war cries. "Ladies, first." Reyna looked to Ash, who met her gaze with a teasing wink as she swiped her arm. "Meowzie, Screech!"
Taking a deep breath, Meowzie screams at the top of her lungs making all three Mankey cover their ears in pain but what amazed Jigglypuff was how Bulbasaur and Spearow were unaffected by it. 'Was that what she meant by using my singing so it won't affect others?' Was what Jigglypuff thought in her head.
"Now Spearow, Peck!" While they were still shaking off Screech, Spearow flew in and nailed the Mankey on the left with a super effective strike.
"Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf!" Razor-sharp leaves come out from under Bulbasaur's bulb and fly into the Mankey on the right and middle.
"Not a bad combo. I'm starting to see why those other trainers called you dangerous." Ash turns to Reyna with an impressed grin on his face.
"You're not too bad yourself Ash, but I'm just getting warmed up," Reyna smirks back with a wink.
The Mankey trio recovered from their attacks and got even angrier. The leader of the bunch, ordered the other two to attack simultaneously.
Coming in from opposite ends one Mankey used Karate Chop while the other came in with a Low Kick attack.
"Take flight, Spearow!" Ash yelled, pointing upwards. Just as Low Kick was about to strike, Spearow flew up dodging the attack causing Mankey to stumble.
"Bulbasaur, Poison Powder!" From his bulb, Bulbasaur released a purple powder as the other Mankey leaped at him looking to hit a Karate Chop causing it to get poisoned. "Now, Slash!" Reyna said as Meowzie moved in with her claws gleaming and scratched the very same Mankey across the face.
"Now Spearow, use Wing Attack!"
"Bulbasaur, follow it up with a Take Down!" Flying in, Spearow attacks the leader with a powerful force from its wings making it cringe in pain.
"Mankey! Mankey!" Using Karate Chop the Leader swatted Spearow away, but as Spearow flew back, Bulbasaur charged in and rammed itself into Mankey and despite some recoil damage it stood firm awaiting instructions.
"Vine Whip, go!" Two dark green vines emerge from the bulb of Bulbasaur and wrap around the pinned Mankey. Spinning Mankey around and around, Bulbasaur lets it go, sending the leader smashing into its teammates.
"Nice throw," Misty states, delighted to see the battle go their way.
"And a nice display of teamwork," Brock observed, impressed by Ash and Reyna's cooperation in the battle.
"Wow, Vine Whip has quite a few cool uses." Ash said, amazed.
Maybe he could use tactics like those if caught the right Pokemon.
"Oh yeah, you know I can't help but love Grass types," Reyna nods. She really had a strong connection with that type and showed off.
Hearing this, Ash knew he had to find his own Grass type to catch on his journey. That advice from Don George was starting to take his toll on him.
"Ash, the Mankey are getting up!" Misty calls out, snapping him out of his thoughts.
True to her word, the Mankey trio were beginning to stand back up on their feet. Them taking all of those hits were REALLY starting to infuriate them.
"Mankey! Mankey!" Glowing red all of them were raising their next attacks to really make quite the painful impact on their enemies.
"Look out guys, they're using Focus Energy!" Brock shouts, warning them. With this power up in play, any next move they decided to use if it hit would be devastating.
"Ash, I don't suppose you have anything that might slow them down?" Reyna gulps, bracing herself.
"Not with Spearow." Ash cringed, awaiting the worse.
Seeing the anger on all the Mankey's faces, Jigglypuff narrows her eyes. Wiggling around she breaks free from Brock's hold. "Puff!" Jigglypuff jumped in front of Spearow, Meowzie, and Bulbasaur, holding her hands out.
"Jigglypuff?!" Everyone gasped, at the bravery seen from Jigglypuff.
"What are you doing?" Reyna asks as Jigglypuff pulls out her microphone causing them to be even more terrified.
"Oh no, not now!" Misty panics.
Quickly, everyone covered their ears so that they wouldn't be affected by Jigglypuff's sleep spell.
"Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~, Jigglypuff~ "Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~"
As Spearow, Bulbasaur, and Meowzie braced themselves to their surprise they only felt a little tired but not sleepy. The Mankey on the other side passed out in front of them.
Reyna, still clutching her ears, noticed Jigglypuff singing the Mankey to sleep, but her and Ash's Pokémon were still awake. 'Hey, they're not asleep,' she realized, perplexed. 'Maybe…'
She then gradually removed her hands, expecting herself to fall asleep as well...but she didn't. Looking at the others, she gestures telling them to let go of their ears.
At first they were hesitant, but to their surprise, they weren't tired when they eventually did.
"W-we're not sleeping?" Ash inquired, stumped, but happy to be awake.
"How did Jigglypuff learn to control her singing so quickly?" Misty asks, equally confused.
"Hm, I'm not sure myself," Brock mumbled, putting his palm to his chin in an attempt to think of an explanation, but nothing came to mind.
Pausing, Reyna couldn't help but wonder. Did she have something to do with it?
"Jiggulypuff~, Jigguly~"
Jigglypuff opened her eyes, singing one last time, to see the sleeping monkey Pokémon, but also the still awake humans and Pokémon looking at her.
"Jiggly!" Jigglypuff smiles happy to see somebody heard her whole performance. Clapping their hands, all of the humans and other Pokemon applauded her.
"Bravo! Bravo!"
"Way to go, Jigglypuff!" She received positive comments.
"Puff." Blushing, Jigglypuff rubbed the back of her head.
"So you think they'll be mad when they wake up?" Misty asks as Brock examines them.
"No, a good rest and they'll be calm and have forgotten all about this." Brock assures assessing the situation.
Reyna bent down to Jigglypuff with a smile on her face, "See, I told you that you would be able to sing perfectly."
"Jigglypuff Jiggly." Jigglypuff thanks her, happy for the help.
"Now do me a favor and try to keep the scribbling to a minimum. It might help not to rile too many Pokemon up like with those Mankey." Reyna suggests not wanting a repeat of this again.
Jigglypuff rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile, saying she'll try her best.
"Take care of yourself Jigglypuff. I would have loved to have a Pokémon like you on my team." Reyna said before standing up. "But maybe I'll find another down the road. Bye."
As Reyna walks over to Ash he puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey sometimes you don't always get to catch the Pokemon. I get it." Ash said, trying to be supportive.
"Experience?" She assumed as Ash rubbed his head.
"Uh, heh. Maybe?" He responded, making her grin slightly, but instead of a taunting grin, she smiled warmly and giggled lightly.
"Thanks Ash. Well it's a big region, odds are there's bound to be another Jigglypuff out there somewhere." Reyna said, trying to look on the bright side.
"That's the spirit," Ash smiled. "There's more Pokémon where she came from."
"In the meantime, how about we head over to Mt. Moon and see if we can find anything there?" Misty suggests, trying to keep up the facade of wanting to reach Cerulean, but dreading they were closer and closer as they traveled the region.
"Sounds good to me." They said together. As they walked away as Jigglypuff watched Reyna and paused in thought.
Looking at her microphone and then briefly turns around to the route. If it wasn't for Reyna she would still be unable to sing and possibly worse.
"Puff.." she moans, already missing Reyna. If only she had allowed her to accompany her.
'There's bound to be a Jigglypuff who wants to be on my team out there somewhere,'Reyna's words rang in her head.
"Puff." Gasping, Jigglypuff realized SHE was a Jigglypuff who wanted to be on her team. If she could catch up with them, maybe she could fix that. So she turned to the path the group took and followed them as far as her little toes could go.
Little did they know, on another path towards Mt. Moon, we see another familiar trio.
Trekking down the road, we see Jessie, James, and Meowth having recovered from the Pewter Museum mess but still sad about it.
"So much for our Fossil fuel bonus," Meowth groaned, knowing the Boss would not be happy at the mission having failed.
"The only rocks we ended up with are the pebbles that got stuck in our shoes." James says in a disappointed tone.
"I think I still have a few pebbles in my head after that crash into that mountain," Jessie sighs, feeling the right side of her skull.
"What do we do now? We won't be able to reach the Boss until the next town." James asks, hoping to find a way to apeace the Boss when they presented themselves to him without the fossils they had promised.
"I say we take a break, my claws need some attention," Meowth said looking at his paws.
"Wait a second." Jessie's eyes widened in realization, stopping in place. "We don't need to go all the way to the next town to rest. I know for a fact there's something else much closer to us."
"Oh? Like what?" James turned to his fellow Rocketeer.
"Yeah, don't keep us in the dust, Jess." Meowth said, wanting to know too.
"I know for a fact that something is going on at Mt. Moon. I heard it straight from Headquarters meaning if we go over and "help them" we can take credit for any discoveries and make off with any extra food and supplies." Jessie said, with emphasis on the help part.
That idea clicked into James and Meowth's heads, realizing what she meant. "Well, you catching on?" She winks.
"Jessie, have we ever told you that you have the best mind in the whole world?" James asks as he and Meowth bow down to her.
"We don't know what we would do without that magnificent brain of yours," Meowth agreed.
"Yes, all true." Jessie said with a smug expression milking, this for all she could.
This day was definitely full of surprises and encounters. Ash encountered his childhood friend, helped a Jigglypuff regain its voice only to be knocked out by it, having to save it, and now we hear of something wicked is happening around Mt. Moon and Team Rocket are behind it?
What could it be, and will the addition of Reyna be enough to stop it? We'll find out soon.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
How surprised were you when we brought in Leaf or in our case, Reyna? I asked Vital for a name for her and Leaf is actually a nickname Ash made up for her.
She's basically wearing her clothes based off of her Beta design for the Gen 1 games, her manga design, and a mix of her LGPE design.
I used inspirations from 1mporta (Redraw: Beta female protagonist (Leaf or Green?))
and
FlooNasif (Ash, Gary y oc commission) on Deviantart
Take a look to check it out yourself.
Please Review, Favorite, and Follow. Tell me what you like about the story so far.
And with that, I'm out of here.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everybody!
See you all in 2024!