Cherrygrove City: Morning…
The group had finally made it to Cherrygrove City, and the first stop would be the Pokemon Center. As they ventured that way, the Kanto natives took note of how this place got its name.
"Wow, the cherry blossom trees look great." Serena marveled.
"According to the guide book: While they only blossom at certain points in the year, Cherrygrove has the largest number of cherry blossom trees in Johto." James informed. "It is their main tourist attraction."
The group pressed onto the pokemon center where they noticed a lot of trainers practicing for the upcoming Pokeathlon.
Pokemon Center
The group entered the medical building and approached the front desk.
"Good morning and welcome to the Cherrygrove Pokemon Center." Nurse Joy smiled at the group. "By any chance, are any of you here to compete in the Pokeathlon in two-day's time?"
"Marina and I will be competing; however, we don't have our athlete passes yet." Serena replied.
"From what we understand, the trainer cards within our pokedexs should suffice in getting us one each." Marina added.
Both had done their homework to understand what was needed to compete.
"You are both correct." Nurse Joy nodded. "Allow me to see your pokedexs, and I shall go about getting you your passes."
Both trainers gave their devices over, and the nurse slotted them in one at a time. With each device, she typed out a few things, they'd be ejected, and a small card would be dispensed. Once both were done, she gave the girls their respective pokedex and card.
"That should do it." Nurse Joy informed. "Be sure to keep your athlete passes safe since they are what allow you to compete in any Pokeathlon around Johto. Each time you want to compete in one, you'll need to show it when registering."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Serena/Marina declared together.
With both girls registered for the Cherrygrove Pokeathlon in two days, the group agreed it was best to get in some training. As things stood, the battle fields at the center were already occupied by several trainers.
Fortunately, not all hope was lost since there were three Johto natives among their group, and they've visited Cherrygrove enough to know where every place you could train was. That said, there was no telling if any area would be as occupied as these battle fields.
It was ultimately decided they'd once again break into pairs with the Johto natives dividing their known list of locations between them, figuring at least three areas would be vacant. The pairs would then meet back up at the pokemon center that night.
East Cherrygrove: Ash & Danielle
"So, what's the first place we're going to check out?" Ash asked.
"We're heading to the home of Mr. Pokemon." Danielle informed. "He's retired but does a bit of pokemon research on the side. Provided you're fine with him getting a look at your pokemon, he'll welcome you to train there."
"Huh, sounds like a kind guy." Ash commented. "Are we closing in on his place, and if so, does he keep a Skarmory outside his home?"
That had Danielle turning to look down the road. They were coming upon Mr. Pokemon's home, and there was a Skarmory just outside it.
"He didn't have one when we were here last." Danielle admitted. "I mean, maybe it's another trainer. Like I said, you let him look at your pokemon, and he'll let you train at his place."
Though, pokemon usually weren't out on the street like this. Mr. Pokemon was good at ensuring his research didn't impede anyone in Cherrygrove. Having a giant, metal bird on the street certainly went against that.
The pair walked around to the front of Skarmory who merely regarded them with mild interest for a moment before assuming a familiar enough position. It was enough to make Ash freeze in place and for a moment he saw Charmander in place of Skarmory.
"Could this Skarmory have been abandoned?" Ash looked at Pikachu who seemed to see what he did. "Buddy, mind talking to him?"
Pikachu nodded. "Pika."
The electric type lept down and approached Skarmory who eyed him cautiously.
"Skar…"
"Pika. Pikachu. Chu. Pika."
That seemed to be enough to open dialogue between the two as they began openly conversing.
"What's going on?" Danielle asked.
"I took one, goof look at Skarmory, and it brought back memories from when I met Charizard." Ash responded firmly. "Back then, he was just a Charmander; loyal to a trainer that didn't deserve him. If the same is happening here, I won't let it stay that way."
Granted, Skarmory was at a much lower risk of death than Charmander had been, but that wasn't the point. If the steel/flying type was left alone by some trainer who couldn't see his loyalty, then Ash would recognize that and help him.
Danielle was stunned that this might be a situation even remotely like that, and it had her wondering who in their right mind would potentially abandon a Skarmory? "Then again, who in their right mind would abandon a starter?"
Not as much attention seemed brought to them as Charizard, but Squirtle and Bulbasaur had also been abandoned by their trainers. If starters could be abandoned, then a Skarmory shouldn't be that surprising. As for the conversation between Pikachu and Skarmory:
(Pokemon Speech Translated)
"All we want to know is why you're sitting out here alone?" Pikachu asked.
"My trainer told me to wait here, and he would be back." Skarmory explained. "Now, I'm getting worried because he's usually not this late in returning."
"That sounds like something someone would say before ditching their pokemon." Pikachu commented as this was sounding more and more like what happened with Charizard."
"Don't you EVER badmouth Luca like that!" Skarmory snapped. "He's not that kind of trainer!"
"I'm not trying to bad mouth anyone." Pikachu replied, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Get out of my sight!" Skarmory demanded. "I don't want to talk anymore!"
"But I…" Pikachu began.
(End of Translation)
The electric type stopped as he lept back to avoid Skarmory's peck.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted worriedly.
At that moment, both noticed peck had merely been aimed just before where Pikachu had been. That meant Skarmory hadn't attempted to lash out but simply enforced her point in wanting Pikachu to left alone.
Pikachu scurried up Ash to end up back on his shoulder. "Alright, what was that about buddy?"
Pikachu proceeded to explain what the conversation entailed with Ash reciting it for Danielle. Skarmory merely turned her head, ignoring all three of them now.
"I think Pikachu could've phrased the whole 'your trainer might've abandoned you' gingerly." Danielle commented.
"It was just the first thing that popped into Pikachu's head." Ash defended. "By all accounts, it sounds possible at this point."
"Well, let's ask Mr. Pokemon to see what he might know." Danielle voiced.
"I do indeed know a fair bit more that might just be pertinent." An older male's voice cut in.
The pair jumped a bit before turning to see an older gentleman in a brown, old timey suit with a matching hat.
"Forgive the fright, but I was returning from a stroll when I happened to overhear you two." Mr. Pokemon walked up to his door. "Please, do come in, and I will explain."
The pair followed him while Skarmory was glad they were all out of sight. With them gone, she took up a more comfortable position and began to sleep.
Mr. Pokemon's Home
Mr. Pokemon had the trainers sit at his table before he took a seat across from them. "Now, I am unable to say whether Skarmory's trainer abandoned her, but I can tell you what I know. Young Luca came to me for the reason trainers always have.
I have a place for them provided I can study your pokemon. After a few days, he discussed his intention to check out an old mine outside Cherrygrove. He heard it contains something which can power up pokemon."
"If he were heading out, why leave Skarmory behind?" Danielle asked.
"Well, I couldn't confirm for him this rumor of something to power up pokemon, but I did know fire pokemon had taken up residency within. After hearing that, he told me he refused even the chance of risking Skarmory and asked I look after her until his return."
"If Luca did tell Skarmory to wait for his return, why hasn't he come back?" Ash wondered. "How long has Luca been gone?"
"Two days now." Mr. Pokemon sighed. "I have obviously informed Officer Jenny about this, but his disappearance has coincided with the raiding of a major poaching operation just outside of Cherrygrove."
"How long would it take to get to this mine from here?" Ash asked.
"Roughly an hour." Mr. Pokemon informed.
"Danielle, I'll need you to wait with Mr. Pokemon until tonight." Ash stood up, drawing attention from all of them. "If I'm not back by then, meet the others and tell them everything."
"Wait, are you going to check the mines?" Danielle asked.
"Yeah, I need to know what might have happened." Ash walked to the door. "If Luca is stuck, I'll bring him back."
"Alright." Danielle nodded. "Be careful Ash and good luck."
Ash waved back in acknowledgement before departing with Pikachu on his shoulder.
Mine: Later…
Ash had found the mine; however, there was a distinct lack of fire types which went against what Mr. Pokemon said. Given Danielle vouched for him, Ash was inclined to believe he hadn't been lied to. It was more likely something else was at work here.
"A mine just full of fire type pokemon…" Ash muttered before looking at Pikachu. "What are the chances this is the poachers or Team Rocket at work?"
"Pika."
It was a running theory at this point, but if either of those factions were at work here, it could explain why Luca hadn't returned to his pokemon. Suddenly, Pikachu smelt something he found horrid on the air.
"Pika…" Pikachu stated.
"Pikachu?" Ash asked.
"Chu…" Pikachu reiterated.
"A coppery smell?" Ash thought as he pressed on in the direction Pikachu indicated. "What smells like…"
Ash entered an offshoot, the stench hit him. It was horrid, yet it paled in comparison to the sight that awaited them. On the cave floor was a badly injured, dark blue-haired guy who appeared to be laid out in a pool of dried blood.
Both figured this had to be Luca. The trainer and pokemon were managing not to throw up their breakfast as the former approached. He checked for a pulse and was glad he could feel it, even if just barely.
"He's alive." Ash stated relieved.
"Who's there?" Luca asked.
"Ash Ketchum, and I've come to get you back to Cherrygrove." Ash knew anything he could do would be insufficient beyond getting him proper help. "Now, I'm going to get you on my back while doing my best not to hurt you worse. I'll just need you to bear with it."
"Do what you got to." Luca responded.
Ash did his best to get Luca on his back without harming the guy any more than he's already been injured. While the Kanto native achieved this without reopening the wound, all the movement was still painful to the blue haired guy.
He bore that pain until it passed. "Hey, I really appreciate this."
"It's no problem." Ash assured. "By the way, your name wouldn't happen to be 'Luca', would it?"
Ash wanted to make sure he wouldn't have to come back and look for someone else if this didn't turn out to be the guy.
"Yeah, I am." Luca replied.
"Then, I think you'll be happy to know Skarmory is still waiting for you." Ash informed.
"Skarmory?" Luca sounded relieved by that. "How is she? Has she been on her best behavior?"
"She's been patiently awaiting your return." Ash replied.
"That's good to hear." Luca managed to smile. "I never meant to worry her."
"So, what exactly did you come up here for?" Ash asked.
"I came to find a special stone that increases the power of Houndoom." Luca informed. "I figured if I got it now, I could utilize it when my Houndour evolved. In the end, all I came up with was this stupid marble."
Luca managed to reach into his pocket and pulled out the marble size sphere. To Ash's surprise, he has been looking into the other half of mega evolution since winning his key stone, the guy pulled out a mega stone. It was peach in color with a black and red flame in the center.
"That's a mega stone which is used for mega evolution." Ash informed.
"Mega what?" Luca asked.
"Mega Evolutions are temporary battle forms that certain pokemon have." Ash responded before showing his key stone. "It requires the mega stone, a key stone, and a strong bond between trainer and pokemon. Through this, the pokemon reaches a stronger form temporarily."
"So, that's what the stone is." Luca noted. "It's useless to me now, so if you want it, it's yours."
"What do you mean?" Ash asked. "Why would it be useless to you?"
"It didn't take long to find this, so I thought to have a look around…" Luca informed.
Flashback…
Luca had acquired the stone but didn't know a thing about it beyond the fact it is said to empower Houndoom. "Guess that means I'll never know what it does until Houndour evolves."
While he now had this stone, Luca decided to walk deeper into the mine on the lookout for pokemon. Despite having Houndour, a second fire type never hurt. As he walked through the mine, Luca now noticed the distinct lack of pokemon.
"Hm, thought I'd have seen a pokemon by now." Luca then heard muffled voices up ahead. "Other people are here? Did they come looking for the stone or fire type pokemon?"
Luca proceeded forward and managed to hear a voice issue what sounded like a pokemon move. "…shadow rave."
When he eventually turned the corner, all he saw was a man with spikey aquamarine hair and teal eyes. His attire was a long white sleeved shirt with a black undershirt, the Team Rocket emblem printed near his right sleeve, a black belt, white pants, and white shoes.
The man, Archer as Ash would inform Luca, spotted him only to turn his back on the young trainer. "You are weak."
Before Luca could fully digest those words, he heard a pokemon cry. "Snea!"
He whirled to his right were a Sneasel, surrounded by a purple aura, suddenly stabbed its claws into the ground. Luca grabbed for his Houndour's pokeball before a purple spike impaled him in the gut. Luca looked down in shock as the spike vanished leaving him to bleed.
The trainer collapsed to the ground resulting in the pokeball he was holding rolling out of his hand. The Team Rocket member casually strolled over and plucked the pokeball before securing it to his belt. All Luca could do at present was look on in silent horror as his partner was taken.
"No matter how weak you may be, your pokemon has the potential to at least be useful." Archer signaled for Sneasel to follow. "At the very least, one of the grunts could use him, and that's more than could likely be said for you."
Luca tried to desperately move his right arm, but it wasn't obeying. "Houn…dour…"
"A dark/fire type?" Archer raised an eyebrow before turning away from him. "Perhaps I will be taking this as my own…provided its strong enough."
With out another word, Archer walked away satisfied with his acquisition. He foresaw someone like Luca dying, but if he survived, it'd hardly mattered to him at this point.
On the Road
By the end of Luca's story, Ash had gotten them out of the mine. "So, take it." The former managed to push the stone into the latter's hands. "It's yours, far as I'm concerned."
Ash wasn't sure he wanted this, but he could tell Luca certainly didn't. "Alright, I'll take it."
Cherrygrove City: Later…
Ash made sure Luca didn't fall asleep, he didn't know if that'd be good for the guy, as they exchanged stories of their travels on their way to Mr. Pokemon's house. He was on the outskirts, so it'd be the obvious place to go first.
As they approached, Skarmory raised her head. "SKAR!"
The steel/flying type stood and rushed right over in concern.
"Skarmory." Luca managed to smile as he stared at the armor bird pokemon. "You're a sight for sore eyes."
Upon seeing his trainer like this, Skarmory was clearly concerned. "Skarmory."
"Don't worry, I just got into a little scrap with some pokemon." Luca coughed as he chuckled. "Nothing to worry about."
"Skar!" Skarmory clearly wasn't having that.
At this point, Mr. Pokemon and Danielle rushed out.
"W-What happened to him!?" Danielle exclaimed in shock.
"There'll be time for answers later." Mr. Pokemon answered in a firm yet understanding tone. "For now, let's get Luca to the pokemon center."
Cherrygrove didn't have a hospital, but Nurse Joys, while not trained on humans as an actual doctor, still had the training necessary to help in an instance like this. While she did her due diligence, a doctor from a town or city with a hospital could be dispatched.
Pokemon Center: Evening…
Ash was just finishing up going over everything with Danielle and Mr. Pokemon. "Now, I feel crummy for thinking a trainer like him could have abandoned Skarmory."
"From the brief time I've known him, Luca has seemed rather reasonable." Mr. Pokemon voiced. "I'm sure he'd be willing to let bygones be bygones."
"Plus, you did save his life by bringing him back." Danielle added.
"Still, I want to try to clear the air with him." Ash declared.
Just then, Nurse Joy walked into the lobby with a doctor. After they arrived at the Pokemon Center, she'd wasted no time in contacting the Violet City hospital and put in an emergency call for medical attention.
"Are you the ones who brought in Luca?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, that's us." Mr. Pokemon stated. "How is he?"
"Well, we've got good news and bad news." Nurse Joy responded.
"Bad news first." Danielle stated firmly.
From her experience, bad news was always the way to go.
"Well, the injuries Luca sustained were severe." The doctor sighed. "Nurse Joy did a splendid job tending to him before I arrived; at which point I did everything I could." He shook his head. "In the end, his days of travelling are shot."
"He just reunited with Skarmory." Ash lamented. "Team Rocket…"
"What's the good news?" Mr. Pokemon asked.
"Luca will pull through, and while he can't travel, living a good life is still open to him." Nurse Joy looked at Ash. "If you had found him even a day later, he may not have survived at all."
"At least there's hope for a future." Mr. Pokemon commented.
"By the way, where is Skarmory?" Ash asked.
"The poor dear hasn't left her trainer's side since being reunited." Nurse Joy replied, before she remembered something, "Oh, that reminds me. Ash, Luca wants to talk to you about something as soon as you get the chance."
"He wants to talk to me?" Ash asked before nodding. "Alright, I'll head in."
Luca's Room
Ash proceeded to the guy's room where he found him wrapped in gauze. "Hey Luca." Ash greeted, before turning to the armor bird pokemon. "Hey Skarmory."
"Skar." Skarmory acknowledged his presence.
"'Ash." Luca greeted. "I guess Nurse Joy told you I wanted to talk."
Ash took a seat by his bed side. "Yeah, she told me."
"It concerns my Houndour." Luca replied. "As you've probably heard, I won't be able to go searching for him any time soon. You've already done a lot, but if you happen across him, would you…"
"Don't even need to finish." Ash nodded affirmatively. "Knowing my luck, I'm bound to run into Archer somewhere, and when I do, I will get your Houndour back."
"You're one in a million, Ash." Luca stated. "Thanks."
Nightshadegirl: Potentially.
Vital Info: I see what you're saying, but the group is more put together here than in canon. They don't really get lost. Additionally, remember Team Rocket isn't a constant factor here. As for making the last three chapters one, much too long for my taste. Danielle is essentially here for the ride. As for Spheal, I do like how I've wrote him. He's happy to be here, and I think that works when stacked against the stories of other pokemon across the trio's group.