"Pssst… Hey! Your tail is poking out of your pants." The boy walking alongside Ash whispered before lightly tapping Ash's leg with his foot.
Ash shivered slightly at the uncomfortable feeling but quickly tightened the coil his tail had around his leg to retract it back into the bottom of his jeans. Hiding his tail like this didn't bother him that much, but it did suck that he always had to think about it.
"Thanks, Gary." Ash turned towards his friend with a smile after correcting his tail. Gary just gave him a smirk in return.
"Don't mention it. Just as long as you and me nail this thing before the other teams!" Gary exclaimed with an excited smile as he held up the camera that the duo was given for this assignment.
"Right! You got it! The assignment! Just uh… what is it that we were supposed to be doing again…?" Ash questioned his only friend with an embarrassed look as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Gah! Really dude?" Gary glared at his shorter friend for a moment before sighing. "We are supposed to be out here and take a picture of…" Gary grumbled as he shoved the camera into Ash's hands while he took a piece of paper out of his pocket, and read it aloud.
"A Ratatta, a Pidgey, and an oddish… and we will be comparing our pictures to pictures of rats and birds back at the lab. Seems simple enough. Though I guess you could tell everyone more about rats than anyone else could." Gary teased with his trademark smirk as he put the paper back in his pocket in order to take the camera back from Ash.
"Heh. Maybe! But I don't really know much about them other than how they taste. I guess… kinda like your grandpa's meatloaf if I had to compare it to anything…" Ash wondered aloud with his hand on his chin, causing Gary to wince in disgust.
"You totally just ruined meatloaf for me… ew…" Gary gagged a bit before shaking his head, causing Ash to giggle a bit. "Anyway… I did want to ask. What do Ratatta taste like?"
"Blegh!" It was Ash's turn to gag and shake his head. "Just blegh! I don't know why, either! I mean, it smells fine and stuff, but you actually go to take a bite and… ugh."
"And Pidgeys?" Gary nodded as he listened to his friend.
"They taste nasty too! Well, most birds aren't good, to be honest, but Pidgeys taste really, really bad!" Ash ranted as the duo kept walking down the forest path.
"Huh… could it just be Pokemon in general? Hey! What about Slowpoke Tail? Or Chancey eggs?" Gary questioned Ash while fiddling with the camera.
"Those taste good. Mom cooks slowpoke tail super, duper good!" Ash giggled while rubbing his belly. "Hey, when is lunch supposed to be again? Think that I can go get a snack?"
"As soon as we get back from this assignment… We eat while the summer interns print the pictures and stuff. And please don't… it still really weirds me out to see you do that stuff. I mean, it's cool, but also super weird." Gary admitted with a small shiver.
Ash just chuckled at that, smiling wide as he kept his eyes on the treeline for any Pidgeys to spot and take a picture of, though they hadn't had much luck, sadly.
"Hey. Trade you my fried rice for whatever your mom made you?" Gary asked the boy while walking ahead with his arms behind his head in a casual pose. Letting the camera dangle from the strap it was attached to in his hand.
"Wha? No! Mom made me tartar and asparagus today! And I know you're just trying to give me it because it has shrim-" Ash froze as he turned his head to the left.
"Oh come on. Shrimp sucks! It's like the rats of the ocean, and you just said that you love rats!" Gary teased as he kept walking for a few more steps. Only to stop after getting a few spaces ahead of Ash.
"Ash?" Gary asked as he stopped walking, looking at the completely frozen Ash. "What's up? You hurt your fo-"
"Shh!" Ash demanded suddenly while not turning his head. He could swear that he could hear something… he just didn't know what. "Do you hear that?"
"Huh? No, uh… why?" Gary questioned while tilting his head at his friend. "Is this one of those 'instinct episodes' or something that you get? Like when you saw that exposed wire?"
"I don't know…" Ash admitted to his friend before jerking his head to the left. There it was again! And it was getting louder. It was like… running!
"C'mon!" Ash suddenly yelled before sprinting into the woods toward the sound that he had heard.
"W-wait! We're not supposed to leave the path!" Gary yelled after his friend, though soon began running after him in a hurry.
The duo ran into the woods as fast as they could with Gary lagging behind as he started to pant and heave, not having the endurance of his smaller friend.
"There!" Ash yelled out while pointing ahead of him. It was a group of Mankeys! Probably 3 or 4 of them at most.
"I see them! What are they chasing?" Gary grunted out while sprinting alongside Ash, being much more careful not to trip over any roots that littered the ground.
"Ahh!" A girlish, shrill voice calls out from behind a tree, answering Gary's question for him.
"They're chasing someone?! She's in danger!" Gary screamed out in shock as Ash hissed. His claws erupted out of his fingertips as he let adrenaline and instincts take over.
Unfurling his tail from around his leg and freeing it from his jeans, the young boy began sprinting as fast as he could. He was going to need momentum for this!
Ash, allowing his tail to rise and hook around a tree branch, would use the speed of his running to act like a swing as he tugged his tail at the same time to launch him up into the trees, where he would then continue his chase on all fours up in the branches as the Mankeys were doing.
"Wha- Hey! Don't leave me!" Gary called out with a scared whine towards his friend as he kept running.
"Get to the girl! I'll be right there!" Ash demanded as he chased after the group. His claws protruding from his fingertips as well as piercing through his shoes provided adequate grip as they dug into the wood of the branch as he ran towards his prey.
Gary huffed as Ash had taken the high road. Shaking his head as he refocused his efforts on their original goal- protect the girl! And she was right in Gary's sights.
The blond-haired girl let out a pained grunt as she tripped over a tree root, causing her to fall forward to the ground. Taking a moment to try and regain the wind that was knocked out of her, she looked back with fear as she saw those horrible Pokemon fast approaching her. Letting panic entirely envelop her, she tried to move her leg to continue running but her leg had been pinned by the root!
Letting out scared whimpers as she tried to crawl forward anyway, the young girl couldn't do anything as her pursuers grew ever closer until-
"Get away from her!" A voice from up in the trees called out before a Mankey suddenly fell from the sky. Crashing to the ground with a harsh thud. The Mankey looked confused as to how and why it was suddenly on the ground now, only for its thoughts to doubtlessly be interrupted by a young boy slamming his body down onto the small Pokemon as it screamed out. No doubt crushing a few of its ribs.
Kicking the still-alive Pokemon away with a grunt, Ash soon got into a low stance as he prepared for the three other Mankey to arrive. Barring his teeth with a small hiss, Ash stood with his center of mass low to the ground but his clawed fingers outstretched similar to Mankey's own fighting style. His tail whipped back and forth quickly as if prepped to strike on its own accord.
"Hey, It'll be okay." Ash gently said back to the scared girl with a soft smile. "I'm Ash."
"S-Serena…" The scared girl muttered quietly in response, seemingly unable to tear her eyes away from the boy's long, swaying tail.
"Key! Keyy!" The trio of Pokemon screamed out in rage, causing Ash to focus his attention back on them instead of comforting the scared girl whom he now knew as Serena. Ash just turned to hiss back at them as they were now on ground level and trying to encircle Ash, though his tail acting as a whip if they tried to get to Ash's side or if they wanted to get behind him to Serena.
"And I'm Gary. C'mon!" Gary panted out as he skidded to a stop on his knees right beside Serena. Without waiting for a response, he immediately started working to free the girl's leg from the root it was trapped under.
"Key!" The one directly in front of Ash yelled out before jumping up high and trying to dive towards him. The six-year-old, not even thinking about his actions, spun to his left in response, Using his tail as a baseball bat to bat the Manky out of the sky and send it flying in the opposite direction with a loud whack!
The other two not waiting anymore upon seeing their friend get hurt, jumped straight toward Ash, Causing the young boy to let out a grunt as he hit the deck, causing the two to go flying over him as they continued forward.
"Got it! Now c'mon!" Gary yelled out after ducking as a Mankey flew right over him in an attempt to get Ash. Having successfully freed Serena's foot, he pulled the girl to her feet in an attempt to drag her away.
"B-but what about him?" Serena asked as she looked back to see Ash catch one of the Mankeys by the tail and slam it harshly against a tree trunk before ducking under the other's roundhouse kick without even looking at it. Using some sixth sense or something.
"He'll be fine! We've got to go, now!" Gary pleaded with her as he continued dragging Serena along with him quickly.
Ash, thankful that Serena was gone, let out a small sigh of relief before letting loose another angered hiss at the two Mankeys who were still standing as he bared his teeth at them. Swiping the air toward his opponents with his claws as if trying to get them to back off.
The twin Pokemon weren't going to take the hint though. One charged towards him low to go for a low kick while the other jumped high with its own claws out and ready to slash at the boy's face.
Ash, upon seeing that the duck and cover trick won't work a second time, instead dove towards the approaching duo. Grabbing onto the lower one's body and using it as a means to gain momentum, the young boy, using the strength of his wrist, spun to his right while upside down with the intent to use his tail as a weapon again.
With a loud whack, his long tail connected with the jumping Mankey and properly swatted it away like it was nothing but a butterfly. Ash, still with his hand on the Mankey he used as a tool body, allowed his claws to dig deep into the Pokemon's skull as it screamed out.
Using his other arm, he grabbed the screaming Mankey's tail tightly. His tail now acted as a means of counterbalance as he yanked the tail hard, causing the duo to flip. Ash used the momentum of the tail to slam the Pokemon hard into the dirt as it whined.
Kicking the unconscious body of the Pokemon away, Ash now turned his attention to the last Pokemon remaining. The one whom he had swatted away with his tail both times.
"Hiss! You want some more?! I'm going to be a Pokemon Master! There's no way I'm going to lose to the likes of you! You'll be listening to me one day, got it?!" Ash yelled at the pokemon with a playful smirk. Wait, playful? Yeah… Well, he was still in danger, but this was really fun too!
The last remaining Mankey, upon realizing that he was the only one left standing, remained in an aggressive pose for just a few more seconds before letting out a screech at the boy. Ash's instincts and adrenaline demanded him to prepare for another attack, but all that the pokemon did after was turn and run away like a coward.
"Yeah, you better run!" Ash giggled as he pumped his arms into the air, satisfied with his victory over the small herd of Mankey's. The young boy smiled ear to ear as his adrenaline and instincts calmed down slowly.
"Okay… time to find Gary…" Ash mumbled as he looked around the same-looking forest in all directions. Looking at the root that that girl – Serena, was trapped under as a means of direction, Ash quickly spotted the route that Gary and her must have taken.
"That way!" Ash exclaimed to nobody as he started on his march towards his friend quietly. The young boy took a moment to think about all that had just happened. How he absolutely shouldn't tell his mom about all this, and how Gary is going to be so jealous of him now that he can say that he beat up a group of Pokemon all on his own.
"Hehe… Eat that, Gary… and your shrimp." Ash chuckled while patting himself on the back. Staying focused on trying to hear any sign of the duo but all that he could hear were the sounds of the forest when…
"W-We have to go back for him! He can't do that all on his own!" Serena pleaded with Gary while wiping her still-bleeding nose with her arm.
"I know! I know! Look," Gary pointed behind the girl towards the treeline with the faint outline of the lab hidden behind them. "You run back to the lab. Find my grandfather and tell him that Ash needs help!"
"And what about you?! What're you going to do?" The girl asked the boy, clearly still in a panic, as she sniffed lightly.
"I'm…" Gary gulped fearfully but clenched his fists tightly. Suddenly bending down and picking up a medium-sized stick in his right hand. "I'm no trainer yet… bet he's still my friend!"
"Don't worry, Ash! I'm coming for ya!" Gary yelled as he started charging straight back towards the deep woods with a battle cry. Blindly charging straight into Ash, which caused both of the boys to fall backward with a soft thud.
"Ow! Garyyyy! What was that for?!" The now peeved young boy asked his friend as he had fallen right onto his tail. Ash quickly launched back to his feet with his arm outstretched to help Gary up.
"What was it for? I was about to run back there to help you, idiot!" Gary grumbled as he accepted Ash's help in getting back up. "Ugh. Stupid rules on being a Pokemon trainer… how come you get all the glory?"
"Mom says that I'm special." Ash teased while waving his tail mockingly behind him for Gary to see as the boy rolled his eyes, dropping the stick in the process.
"I'll say…" The young girl muttered quietly, causing the duo to suddenly remember that she was still there as Ash gave a meep, trying to hide his tail behind him but failing miserably.
"Uh… y-yeah. It's just a birth defect. Don't worry about it… I don't like to show it off much…" Ash tried to explain with a nervous laugh. His mother would probably hit him over the head if she caught him calling his tail a 'birth defect' but she isn't here right now so it's fair game.
"Yeah! People get reaaaal jealous of it! Hehe…" Gary chuckled, trying to back Ash up, even if his nervous laughter made the story less believable than it was.
"R-right. A…" She trailed off as she stared at the swaying tail again as the two boys approached her. "Birth defect… It's really cool though!" Serena smiled at the two but then sniffled a bit as she rubbed her nose on her arm again.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Ash asked cautiously as he leaned in.
"I think I got a nosebleed when I fell…" Serena muttered a little while continuing to sniff.
"We'll fix you up at the lab. Don't worry. My grandpa is good at medical stuff." Gary said with a confident thumbs up as Ash got closer to Serena's face, though the girl didn't seem to be bothered by it.
"Uh… Here." Ash muttered as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief which his mom made keep on him to wipe any blood off his teeth if he hunted anything.
Ash smiled as he held out the handkerchief to the girl. Serena smiled in kind as she reached up to take the gift. Ash suddenly grabbed the girl's wrist as he examined the arm. It was the one that she had been using to wipe the blood off her nose.
Without even thinking about it, much to Gary's horror and disgust, Ash leaned in to gently lick the dried, red streaks on the girl's arm before letting go of her wrist.
"You taste… weird." Ash mumbled while crossing his arms and smacking his lips while Gary stared at him with horror.
"Well, you act weird." Serena giggled lightly at the boy, seemingly unbothered at the act of her arm getting licked, causing Gary to take a large step backward from the duo as Serena brought the handkerchief to her nose.
"Okay… moving on from… that…" Gary muttered while clearly fighting a gag as Ash continued to smack his lips. "We really should get back to the lab. Gramps could get in trouble if someone got hurt and he didn't help." Motioning towards Serena as he said that.
"Yeah… I guess you're right… Oh hey, can you two uh…" Ash mumbled as he poked his tail.
"Right. Got it." Gary mumbled as he turned around, much to Serena's obvious confusion.
"Um…" The girl questioned while tilting her head.
"Ashy-boy needs to pull his pants down to wrap back up his tail because he's a baby." Gary chuckled as Serena joined him in facing the opposite direction of Ash.
"Hey! I can do it! It just feels weird!" Ash grumbled as Gary chuckled to himself. "There! Done!"
The duo turned back around to see a tailless Ash again. Still smiling as casually as ever as he turned to show his full body.
"Yeah, that's good." Gary approved the 'disguise' with a thumbs-up while Serena looked in a mix of awe.
"That's so cool! It wraps around your leg?" Serena asked with a wide smile, making Ash become flustered for a moment. Nobody has been that interested in his tail like that before… but then again, the people who know about his tail could be counted on one hand.
"Um… yeah. It's actually really comfortable, if a bit tight because it's so long…" Ash admitted while rubbing the back of his head, making the tip of the tail poke out at the bottom his his jeans and do a waving motion towards Serena, causing her to giggle lightly as she waved back.
"I…" Gary sighed as he suddenly stepped between the duo, facing Serena with a serious look of concern. "Look Serena… not a lot of people know about Ash's tail. From what my grandpa told me, he's… special. Really special. Like people want to take him away and study special. Can you… can you just please promise us not to tell anyone? Not even your parents?"
Serena seemed to consider Gary's words carefully for a moment. Processing how worried and genuine the boy was being. The young girl looked intensely into the boy's eyes before nodding slowly.
"On… one condition…" Serena muttered as he wiped her nose with the handkerchief again. Peeking around Gary, the girl looked at Ash as he held an expression with a mix of embarrassment and desperation.
"Yeah?" Gary egged her on while crossing his arms and puffing out his chest, obviously trying to look big and tough – the two things Gary wasn't.
"Can you both be my friend!? I've never had a weirdo friend before! Or a friend related to a Pokemon professor!" Serena excitedly asked with a smile as she bounced up and down on her heels.
"Hey!" Gary yelled out, his face not flush with red. "I'm not valuable just because I'm related to Gra-"
"Deal!" Ash yelled as he grabbed the side of Gary's nagging face and pushed him out of the way before he could continue, causing Serena to laugh lightly.
"Awesome!" The young girl smiled as she held the hand not holding the handkerchief up high. "Friends?"
"You bet!" Ash yelled as he raised his arm to give her a loud high-five. The two of them then turned to Gary with similar smiles as he grumpily rubbed his cheek.
"Ugh… fiiine. Friends it is!" The boy relented before joining the duo in their high-five. "Now can we please get back to the lab? Gramps is going to have a meltdown!"
Gary's exaggeration about his grandfather's panic seemed to be enough as the trio broke their stance and started on their way toward the lab.
"I don't know what mom was talking about… Making friends is super easy! And fun, too!" Ash chuckled as they walked out of the woods with his arms behind his head casually.
"Yeah… all it took was fighting off four Mankey's at once without Pokemon…" Gary added sarcastically while rolling his eyes lightly.
"And my face almost getting torn off!" Serena added with an almost too casual giggle.
"Oh, if you think that was bad, then you should have seen Delia's house when his claws were coming in. Gramps has pictures! C'mon!" Gary laughed as he started running towards the lab, leaving the two behind.
"H-Hey wait! Those are private! And aren't I naked in some of those?!" Ash demanded as he started to run after Gary quickly, leaving Serena behind.
"Oh! I wanna see Ash's baby butt! Wait for me!" Serena laughed as she started running after the duo of boys, doubtlessly having the most interesting summer camp of her life!