You know how I said I'd work on this fic when I felt like it?
Well, I felt like writing the entire next chapter in a single day.
Don't expect this to be a regular thing. Please. I've got enough on my plate already.
"So you're Clay, right?" Ash asked.
"That's my name," said Clay, who was now escorting Ash the remainder of the way to Viridian City, where Ash had been told was the location of the nearest Pokemon Center. "And this is Drilbur, Tympole, and Sandile."
"Your Pokemon are really strong!" said Ash. "We should have a battle to see who's stronger!"
"Not until your Pokemon is healed," Clay replied. "What is that Pokemon, anyway? Never seen it before."
"It's Hisuian Growlithe!" said Ash.
"A Growlithe, huh?" Clay peered closer at the fluffy Pokemon whom Ash was holding - notably, Hisuian Growlithe hadn't tried to scorch Ash again despite the boy having been holding him in both arms for the past fifteen minutes.
"No, Hisuian Growlithe," Ash corrected. "It's different from a normal Growlithe - it's a Fire/Rock-type!"
"Huh." Clay frowned. "You really shouldn't battle me with that Pokemon, kid. Haven't you learned your type matchups? I'm a Ground-type Trainer - that means your Hisuian Growlithe is extremely weak against all of my Pokemon. I bet any of my Pokemon could knock that thing out in one blow."
"Oh," said Ash. He clenched his fist. "Then I guess we'll just have to train harder until I can beat Pokemon like yours!"
Clay looked thoughtful - almost wistful - before shaking his head. "Kid, what's your name?"
"I'm Ash!" Ash grinned. "And I'm going to be a Pokemon Master! What about you? I mean, I know your name's Clay, but what do you do?"
Clay grunted. "I'm a miner," he said.
"Really?" Ash frowned. "You're younger than you look."
"Miner, not minor," Clay growled. "My Pokemon and I dig for things. Precious metals, rocks, useful items. Sometimes we even find fossils or evolutionary stones."
"Oh, do you have any now?" Ash asked.
"No," said Clay. "I was just starting to dig for some in the riverbed when you came along. And it's not like I can keep going now, given that I needed my car to transport all that stuff."
"Oh…" Ash bowed his head, embarrassed. What a great first day. I don't wake up on time, get chased by a flock of angry Spearow, and wreck a guy's car. At least Hisuian Growlithe seems to like me now…or at least tolerate me.
"Here we are," said Clay. Ash looked up to see a small city looming up in front of them. On the path stood another figure, also male, dressed in a police uniform. The figure was dark-skinned and had a dark, spiky head of hair, and was currently speaking into some sort of radio, saying something about 'Pokemon poachers'.
"Officer Goh!" Clay called.
The figure turned. "Clay! You're back early…and who's this?"
"I'm Ash!" Ash presented Hisuian Growlithe. "I'm taking Hisuian Growlithe to the Pokemon Center!"
"They angered a flock of wild Spearow," Clay explained.
Officer Goh nodded understandingly. "Then it's a good thing he had a trusted Gym Leader like you nearby. I've got some business to attend to - Team Rocket's been stirring up trouble nearby." With that, the officer turned and walked away, leaving Ash staring at Clay openmouthed.
"You're a Gym Leader?"
Clay groaned. "It's…complicated. But yeah, I guess you could say I'm a Gym Leader."
"Why aren't you in your Gym?" Ash demanded.
"Like I said," Clay insisted, "it's complicated. Now do you want to get your Hisuian Growlithe healed up or not?"
Seeing as Ash did, in fact, want to get Hisuian Growlithe healed up, he and Clay quickly made their way towards the local Pokemon Center, where they swiftly handed him over to Nurse Tabitha.
"Huh, this guy's surprisingly intimidating for a nurse," Ash mused as he watched the large-framed Nurse Tabitha looming over his Hisuian Growlithe.
"Well," Nurse Tabitha boomed, "aside from being exhausted, it doesn't seem all that injured, but we'll happily treat it anyway. After all, we're a Pokemon Center, and that's our job!" He leaned closer. "Isn't that right, little guy?"
Hisuian Growlithe flinched away and whined.
"Aww, let's get this heartbreaker some healing." Nurse Tabitha quickly signaled to a couple aides, who promptly wheeled the stretcher on which Hisuian Growlithe was resting into a back room.
"Okay," said Ash, "after he gets out and fully healed, we'll have our battle!"
Clay sighed again - he seemed to be doing that a lot. "I'm not even the first Gym Leader, kid. I'd crush you. You'll need a lot more training, and some more Pokemon, before you can challenge me. You know a Gym Leader has the right to refuse challenges if they don't deem the challenger worthy of a battle, right?"
"They do?"
Clay looked up at the sky. "Yeah," he said, sounding wistful as if remembering something. Then he shook his head. "And don't forget you still owe me for that car."
Ash gulped - he'd forgotten all about that. "How…how much does it cost?" he asked quiveringly, hoping against hope that some sort of distraction - preferably a fairly loud, explosive one - happened to interrupted this awkward conversation.
Half a second later, the outer wall of the Pokemon Center exploded inwards.
Two voices began to shout as several shadows appeared in the resulting cloud of smoke. "Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
A small, young-looking girl with very, very dark blue hair and a blue-colored one-piece outfit with a red R over the heart rose into a one-foot-raised karate-style pose. "Liza!"
A large man - twice as tall as the girl - wearing a dark red sleeveless vest (also emblazoned with a red R) and with black, spiked hair stood with arms crossed. "Drake!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" said Liza.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Drake added.
An Aron leaped forwards in front of them. "Aron! Dat's right!"
"Crap, Team Rocket!" Clay rose. "Stand back, everyone, I'll handle this."
"It's Gym Leader Clay!" Several of the other people in the Pokemon Center let out cheers at the sight. Ash looked up with starstruck eyes. I'm going to get to see a Gym Leader fight in person…
"Well, well," said Liza. "We just came here for some easy Pokemon to steal, but a Gym Leader's Pokemon should make quite a fine catch."
"Hmph," Drake growled. "Doesn't seem like much of a challenge to me."
The Aron - who, Ash realized, he'd somehow been able to understand - jumped up and down enthusiastically. "Let me at 'im! I'll cut 'im down to size!"
"Calm down, Aron, that's a Ground-type Trainer," Liza warned as a moon-shaped rocklike Pokemon floated to her side. "Let Drake handle him."
Drake heaved a sigh even as a massive orange Pokemon stepped to his side. "Do I have to? Dragonite won't even have to break a sweat."
"You'd best not underestimate me," Clay warned. "Sandile, Sandstorm! Drilbur, Rock Tomb!"
"Oh, a Double Battle?" Liza asked. "I suppose I'll oblige that. Lunatone, Confu-"
"Dragonite, Hyper Beam."
Even as Sandile readied a massive wave of sand, even as Drilbur lunged forwards with several rocks flying from his claws, the gigantic form of Dragonite inhaled and let loose with a colossal beam of energy. Drilbur lunged to the side, but Sandile wasn't quite fast enough. It was struck by the beam and sent flying across the Pokemon Center; the beam held it against the wall for at least five seconds before it finally dissipated, leaving Sandile to fall to the ground, unconscious. He hadn't even gotten off his Sandstorm in time - what few spurts of whirling sand he had managed to let fly with fell to the floor along with him.
Ash's eyes widened. More than a few people cried out in shock.
Drilbur swiftly lunged again, readying a Rock Tomb to follow its trainer's command. But the moonlike Pokemon - Lunatone - glowed purple, and Drilbur froze in place, straining against the Psychic hold. With an expulsion of power, Lunatone sent Drilbur flying as well, though thankfully the Ground-type managed to land on his feet, still ready to fight.
Liza laughed cruelly. "That's what you get for messing with Team Rocket!" she cried. "Maybe Drake's right - your Pokemon are quite weak."
"Oh, well," said Drake. "Pokemon are Pokemon, and when the boss tells us to steal Pokemon, we steal Pokemon no matter how weak they are."
"So hand over all your Pokemon if you know what's good for you!" Aron cried from the floor.
Clay grimaced. "Everyone, head for the back exit! I'll cover you - go now! Tympole, get out there and Supersonic!"
In a flash, Tympole emerged from his Pokeball and let out an earsplitting screech. Dragonite groaned, and then started punching itself in the face.
"Oh, come on," Drake groaned. "Fine. Aron, get in there and deal with that Tympole!"
"Go!" Clay repeated. Galvanized, Ash rose from his seat and fled with the rest of the crowd towards the back exit. He cast a glance over his shoulder in time to see Aron colliding headfirst with Tympole, while Lunatone blasted Drilbur with another Confusion, before he plunged through a door which slammed shut behind him.
"Tympole, Bubble!" Clay cried. "Drilbur, Mud-Slap on that Lunatone!"
"Ha!" Aron's big blue eyes narrowed in scorn as he easily dodged Tympole's swiftly fired bubbles. "Dat all you got?" He swiftly lunged forwards, slamming into Tympole headfirst again. The Tackle sent Tympole staggering backwards, and the talking Aron pressed, his head glowing with energy as he charged the stumbling Tympole.
Lunatone simply sat there as Drilbur unleashed a spray of mud at the Rock/Psychic-type. To Clay's surprise, Lunatone simply rose higher off the ground, and the Mud-Slap completely missed. Liza chuckled again. "Don't you know Lunatone's ability is Levitate?" she asked mockingly. "Your Ground-types can't do a thing to either of our Pokemon."
"Damn…" Clay set his stance. He wasn't a fool - Drake, Liza, and Aron of Team Rocket were notorious criminals for a reason. Maybe a high-level Gym Leader, like Shauna, would stand more of a chance against them, but Clay was by no means a high-level Gym Leader, and he harbored no illusions that he was going to win this fight.
The best he could do was to prevent them from taking anyone else's Pokemon.
"Tympole, Echoed Voice!" he cried. "Drilbur, drop back and Mud-Slap that Aron!"
"I don't think so," Liza growled.
"Dragonite, Hyper Beam the Tympole!" Drake ordered.
Lunatone acted swiftly despite seemingly not having received an order. It seemed as if Liza was communicating with the Rock/Psychic-type telepathically. Again Lunatone glowed purple, and again Drilbur had no defense. The Ground-type was once again thrown across the Pokemon Center, his Mud-Slap missing Aron completely. Once more he stood, but this time it was a good deal more shaky.
Dragonite punched himself in the face again, much to Drake's displeasure.
Tympole inhaled and let out another shriek, this one reverberating. "Ah, my ears!" Aron cried, staggering backwards.
Drilbur swiftly rushed to Clay's other side as Team Rocket regrouped from the Echoed Voice. Dragonite shook his head, clearing away the confusion Tympole's Supersonic had inflicted on him. Liza smirked. "We've already won this fight," she said. "Your Pokemon are now property of Team Rocket."
"Heh," said Clay. "You're wrong. All I needed to do was stall you out for long enough. By this time, everyone else in this Pokemon Center has already gotten out of this building. They're probably warning Officer Goh about your presence as we speak."
"Really?" Drake glanced around. "We should probably go, if that's the case…"
"It's a trick, Drake," Liza said with a sigh. "He's been bluffing this whole time. We scouted the place out, remember? We chose this Pokemon Center specifically because it doesn't have a back exit."
"Oh, right…" Drake slapped his own face, in a perfect imitation of his Dragonite.
Clay gulped - his last desperate gambit had just gone up in smoke. Grimacing, he ordered another Rock Tomb from Drilbur and another Supersonic from Tympole. Now he had only one recourse - to hope he could last long enough for someone to investigate the noise and damage caused by Team Rocket's assault, and alert Officer Goh so he could come help.
But even as his two remaining teammates lunged forwards, Clay knew that was a long shot at best.
"We have to help him!" Ash cried.
"How?" a man asked. "You saw what happened to Clay's Sandile, and he's a Gym Leader! That Pokemon's stronger than any of ours, and it got wrecked in one attack!"
Nurse Tabitha loomed over Ash. "Look, kid, I know you want to help. But our best chance of getting out of this with our Pokemon intact is to stay in this room and not make a sound. Is that understood?"
Ash gulped.
"Huh, that guy's surprisingly intimidating for a nurse," a woman pointed out.
"All right," said Tabitha, "now we need to start transferring our Pokemon to the Pokemon Center in Pewter City. I've got a remote transfer device right here - if we're quick, we can get all our Pokemon out of here before Team Rocket even thinks to look in this room. Got it?"
"Yes, Nurse Tabitha," several voices chorused.
"But that means Clay's Pokemon are gonna get stolen!" Ash protested.
"Kid," said the man who had spoken first, "he made the choice to stay out there. Either it's him, or it's all of us."
Ash clenched his fists. He hadn't known Clay for long - less than an hour, in fact. But the man had fished him out of the river. Saved him from the angry Spearow flock. And now he was out there, sacrificing himself and his Pokemon to give everyone else in the Pokemon Center a chance to get their Pokemon out of reach of Team Rocket.
It was so unfair. How dare people like Team Rocket hurt and steal people's hard-earned Pokemon? Ash knelt over the stretcher Hisuian Growlithe was still lying on; the Fire/Rock-type whimpered and nosed Ash's hand, clearly able to tell something was wrong.
A crazy idea suddenly popped into Ash's head. "Hisuian Growlithe…I have a plan," he whispered. "It's insane…but it just might work. Are you with me?"
Hisuian Growlithe nodded.
Quickly, and before anyone could stop him, Ash grasped Hisuian Growlithe and rushed out of the room, ignoring the cries of shock and alarm that arose from everyone else.
"Dragon Rage!" Drake commanded.
Dragonite roared and unleashed a surge of blue-purple flames that ripped right through Drilbur's Rock Tomb and into the Ground-type's body. Drilbur cried out in agony as he tumbled to the ground, and when the flames cleared he had joined Sandile in unconsciousness.
Clay bit back a curse. "Tympole, Echoed Voice!"
Tympole's shriek was even louder and even more reverberating than the previous one, but Liza simply smiled. At a silent order from the evil Trainer, Lunatone glowed purple once again, his Psychic energies stopping the Echoed Voice in its tracks. Before Clay could call out another order, Aron lunged forwards, burying its head in Tympole's face once more and sending the poor Water-type staggering. Tympole rose again, glaring at his opponents weakly but defiantly.
"Drake, why don't you do the honors and finish it off?" Liza stepped back.
Drake sighed. "Just as disappointing as expected…"
It was at this moment that the door to the back areas of the Pokemon Center flew open. Clay whirled to see Ash rushing out the door, Hisuian Growlithe at his side. "Hisuian Growlithe, use Ember!" Ash cried, pointing dramatically.
"No!" Clay yelled. "Get back!"
But Hisuian Growlithe had already let fly with a spurt of fire. Liza chuckled. "How quaint."
At another seeming telepathic order from Liza, Lunatone unleashed a single flung stone, blasting apart Hisuian Growlithe's Ember. Once more Lunatone glowed purple, and Hisuian Growlithe was immobilized and lifted off the ground, whining pitifully.
"No!" Ash cried. Clay's heart sank. Stupid boy. He had to try and play the hero…all he's done is let his Pokemon get stolen by these criminals.
"Don't squeeze him!" Ash yelled. "He doesn't like being squeezed?"
"Oh?" Liza cocked her head. "Is that right? Lunatone, bring him over here."
Lunatone, flexing its Confusion, swiftly pulled the fruitlessly struggling Hisuian Growlithe over to Liza. Liza plucked the Fire/Rock-type out of the air by the scruff of his neck. "So you don't want me to squeeze him, is that right?"
"No, please don't!" Ash wailed.
Liza smirked. "And what if I do?" she asked, and squeezed Hisuian Growlithe with both arms as hard as she could.
Hisuian Growlithe promptly unleashed a reflexive blast of flames into the faces of Drake, Liza, Aron, Dragonite, and Lunatone. All five staggered, Liza dropping Hisuian Growlithe from her grasp as she did so, clearly not having expected the attack. Clay seized the opportunity. "Tympole, Echoed Voice again, now!"
Tympole had used Echoed Voice several times during the fight. As such, this use of Echoed Voice was a lot more powerful than what it had started out as. A literal wave of pure noise blasted outwards from Tympole, slamming into the reeling forms of the Team Rocket members. Drake, Liza, Aron, and Lunatone were literally blasted into the air, their limbs flailing comically as they sailed off into the sky with shocked expressions on their faces. Dragonite whirled, paling as he saw his Trainer and allies flying away; quickly, he leaped upwards, wings beating madly as he raced to catch them.
"Good work, Tympole," said Clay. He glanced over at Ash, who was kneeling beside Hisuian Growlithe, chuckling as he stroked the Fire/Rock-type's fur. Ash looked up at Clay and broke out into relieved laughter.
Clay sighed, but this time the sigh turned into a quiet chuckle of his own.
"I have to admit, Ash," said Clay the next day, "when I first met you, I saw you as a dumb kid completely in over his head. But that move took some real guts. You didn't even know my Tympole would be ready to do that…you must've had some real faith in your Growlithe."
The fluffy red-black-white Pokemon in Ash's hands yipped loudly.
"Hisuian Growlithe," Clay corrected.
"Yeah," Ash admitted. "I remembered how he did that to me whenever I squeezed him…before the Spearow flock, that is. And I wasn't just going to leave you out there by yourself! What kind of Pokemon Master would I be if I did that?"
Clay chuckled again. "Congratulations, Ash," he said. "You've done some mighty fine work out there. You've more than earned my respect."
"Does that mean I can challenge you to a Gym Battle now?"
Clay shook his head good-naturedly. "You still got some training to do before that, Ash," he said. "Besides…do you really think you can face my Pokemon after what you saw them do?"
Ash smiled. "You're right…those Pokemon are way stronger than Hisuian Growlithe. I do need some more training before I can earn your Gym Badge."
"And I'll be happy to tag along with you until you do," said Clay. Ash looked up at him in surprise. "What? I'm walking along with you as we leave Viridian City, and you thought I was gonna say goodbye so soon?"
"I…guess I did," Ash admitted.
"Heh." Clay smiled back at the boy. "No, a young'un like you needs someone to show him the ropes. You got heart, Ash, but you lack experience, and I've got plenty of free time. And besides, you still haven't paid for my car. So I'll stick with you until we reach my Gym. After that, though…no promises."
"Sounds good!" said Ash. "Now…about catching Pokemon. Where can I find them?"
"Well," said Clay, "you'll want to start with Viridian Forest. It's just over that way, and in there you can find all sorts of good starting Pokemon. Bug-types and Flying-types in particular - Bug-types resist Ground-types, and Flying-types are immune to them altogether."
"But…both are weak to Rock-type moves, right?" Ash asked. "And I saw your Drilbur use Rock Tomb…is that why you have that move?"
"Exactly," said Clay. "You're learning fast, Ash. Now, I ain't saying you shouldn't use type advantage just because I've got coverage. Here's a few Bug and Flying-types you might want to keep a lookout for…"
And so Ash and Clay advanced towards Viridian Forest, leaving the Pokemon Center behind.
"You're saying," came a filtered voice, "that you were defeated in battle by a low-level Gym Leader and a boy with a Growlithe?"
"We were caught off-guard, boss," said Liza. "It won't happen again."
"And it was a really weird Growlithe," Drake added.
"Yeah!" said Aron. "It had big poofy white fur over its face and down its neck, and when Liza squeezed it, it let out a big blast of fire that caught us all off guard!"
"I told you not to mention that!" Liza hissed.
"Hmmm…" The filtered voice of their boss hesitated for a moment. "All right, listen. You're some of my best operatives - one loss doesn't suddenly make you failures. Treat this as a learning experience; you're strong, but you're not invincible. Good luck with your next mission." The crackle of static indicated that the call had ended.
Liza looked at Drake. Drake looked at Liza. Aron looked at both of them.
"Looks like we've got some work to do," said Liza. "After all, when we meet those two again, I'm not going to lose a second time."
"I'm sorry," said Drake. "What do you mean, 'meet those two again'?"
"I mean what I said," said Liza. "That Growlithe is strong. Quite a bit stronger than any Growlithe I know. And I very much want to get my hands on it. Besides…those two defeated us. Don't you want revenge?"
"I can deal with revenge," said Aron.
Drake sighed. "I guess they did beat us…but Dragonite still didn't work up a sweat. This just feels like it'll be a disappointment."
"Oh, quit your whining, Drake," said Liza. "All right, let's get to it. We definitely don't want those two getting too far away from us…"
I should note at this point that this won't stay on a 'one-anime-episode-per-chapter' trajectory forever. Not only would that be entirely too long, but since characters of the day aren't being randomized, some of them would also get fairly boring if I spent too long on them.
This was an exception, since in contrast to Misty in this episode, Clay's a responsible adult with a good head on his shoulders and a decently strong team, which resulted in a drastically different confrontation with our new TRio.
I hope you all enjoyed. As always, please drop a review if you have the time and let me know what you think!