With Courage I Will Face
Arc III: The Nugget Bridge
Chapter Thirteen: Catching Up
"Ash?" Leaf's head shot up at the sound of Ash's voice. "Ash!" She cried, surer of herself when she saw him.
She rushed over to him like she was going for a hug. Ash felt Pikachu's cheeks start to spark and knew it was too late to get her to stop, so he quickly stepped out of her way as Pikachu let loose a ThunderShock. Leaf, Misty, and Brock were all surprised as Ash fell to the ground, Pikachu falling off his shoulder in the process.
"Oh no, still?" Leaf asked, looking down at them.
"Pikachu just got scared, that's all. Right, buddy?" Ash scratched his head.
"Pi, Pikachu Pikapi." Pikachu replied apologetically, leaning into Ash's hand. His friends smiled at the sight while Ash stood back up.
He opened his arms to Leaf again, who quickly accepted the second take and gave him a quick hug. Ash bent back down to pick up Pikachu in his arms and show him to Leaf.
"Leaf, you remember Pikachu." He gestured with the mouse. "And these are my friends, Misty and Brock. We're traveling together for a while." Ash introduced them. "Guys, this is Leaf. She's from Pallet Town too, we started our journeys together on the same day."
"We've met. Leaf challenged my gym just a few days before you did. Her Bulbasaur was a tough opponent." Brock said, moving to shake Leaf's hand after Misty did. Leaf smiled.
"Any friends of Ash's are friends of mine. Nice to meet you both!" She replied happily.
Ash's stomach growled loudly, reminding everyone it was hungry. They all laughed, and Brock pointed at the counter.
"C'mon, let's get you something to eat and then we can all sit down and catch up. You will be joining us, right Leaf?" Brock suggested getting in line.
"Are you kidding? Of course!" Leaf was giddy at the idea. "I want to hear every little thing about your journey so far!"
Ash and Pikachu looked at each other. Everything? Surely not… everything?
"It sounds like you got off to a very unique start, didn't you?" Leaf asked with a chuckle.
"Like you didn't get into any trouble on your way here?" Ash challenged from across the table, pointing at her with his fork.
"Nothing close to even one of the things you've told me about." She retorted, smacking away Ash's hand gently. "You've fought, like, a hundred Spearow, a hundred Beedrill, fell over a waterfall, fought Team Rocket- what, three times? – found a fossil, beat a rock-type gym with an electric-type Pokemon and made friends with practically two gym leaders. It's only been two weeks, Ash!" Leaf recited.
"Well, when you put it that way," Ash replied scratching his cheek.
He was glad he had omitted the part where he and Pikachu had seen Ho-Oh in the sky back on their first day. He hadn't dared bring it up to anyone yet, sure they wouldn't believe him even if he did have a feather that seemed like it could be connected to the legendary bird Pokemon. And he didn't correct her on the number of Spearow, they were both sure it was way more than a hundred.
And the part where they blew themselves up, that was always good to omit.
"You never could go anywhere without stirring up trouble." Leaf remarked. "Glad it didn't slow you down too much, though. I thought for sure you would've beaten me here."
"Me and Pikachu spent a while working things out." Ash said, glancing at his starter. Pikachu sat beside Ash on the table, eating from his own bowl.
"I didn't realize you and Pikachu had a rocky start, Ash." Brock observed. "You battle together extremely well for a new pair, doubly so for having obedience issues at first."
"It wasn't obedience issues; Pikachu just needed some time to adjust to people." Ash defended Pikachu.
"Well, you must've smoothed things over pretty quick because you were already thick as thieves when Team Rocket attacked that Pokemon Center. I would've never thought there was any underlying issues either." Misty added.
"We didn't have any, all I did was talk to Pikachu the whole way over and we bonded a little. All Pikachu needed to do was get to know me a little. Right, buddy?" Ash scratched Pikachu's back. Pikachu purred lowly in agreement.
That was all he was willing to say about that, and Ash changed the subject.
"I guess you have two badges, don't you?"
"No fair! How did you know?" Leaf practically pouted.
"Brock did just say he battled you, but a crazy rock guy did tell me someone with a Bulbasaur won their badge there." Ash said.
"That 'crazy rock guy' is my dad, Ash." Brock corrected him. Though there was no sternness in his voice, Ash winced, and Misty almost choked on her coffee from the laugh that came out.
"And then earlier Misty's sister Daisy mentioned having a challenger a few days ago." Ash continued.
"Don't you mean 'crazy water girl'?" Misty mocked him as she took another sip of her coffee.
"Why does she get 'Misty's sister' and I get 'crazy rock guy'?" Brock asked, equally amused. Ash rolled his eyes.
"Her sister didn't yell at me for sitting on a rock she was trying to sell, that automatically makes her saner than at least three people I've met since leaving Pallet Town." He said, before pointing at Misty, who was across the table and beside Leaf. "That includes that whacky samurai in Viridian Forest." He added.
"I think he was actually the least sane person we've met so far." Misty agreed with a nod.
"You guys have had a crazy two weeks." Leaf noted again but smiled back at Ash. "But you'd be right. I've been here for almost a week now, challenged the gym the other day. I could've moved on, but I saw a poster for the tournament coming up, so I decided to stay local until it was over."
"You're gonna compete too? Alright!" Ash exclaimed. "We should have a practice battle before the tournament!"
"Good grief, don't you give it a rest?" Misty lamented. "You just had a practice battle with me today."
"The more practice the better! I have a tournament and a gym battle coming up!" Ash argued. Leaf chuckled and replied.
"You don't have the Cascade Badge yet? I thought for sure you'd have marched straight there since you have Pikachu already." She commented.
"I told you I wanted to take it slow and get to know Pikachu first." He scratched Pikachu's head as he spoke. "And Pewter City was on the way."
"If this was taking it slow, I'd hate to see you in a rush." Brock joked.
"I'd rather our first battle be a little more… eventful, if you don't mind." Leaf replied to Ash's earlier request.
"If you say so." Ash muttered with a shrug. He finished the last of his sandwich. "You better hope we battle in the tournament, or I'll challenge you right after!"
"You're on!" Leaf accepted. "But I don't want to take up all your training time. And I have training of my own to do, too. Let's meet again for dinner, though, yeah?" She stood up quickly, adjusting her bag over her shoulder and the brim of her hat.
"Sounds like a plan! See you at dinner!" Ash agreed and waved her off. He sighed at her exit, glancing between Misty and Brock.
"Nothing left to do but go and train, right?" He suggested. They had no objections.
Most of the training consisted of Pikachu standing in a shallow part of the river and shooting out ThunderShock's towards Butterfree and Pidgeotto while they tried to dodge.
"It's to make him conduct more electricity," Brock had guessed when Misty asked why Pikachu was standing in the water.
"And I want him to get used to using stronger electric attacks, especially ones that take more volts." Ash replied.
It was admittedly a mildly clever tactic, Misty concurred. And the training was two-fold, practicing Pikachu's endurance and aim and the flying-types' agility at once. And of course, their stamina and resistance to electric attacks, as they both got hit a fair bit.
Brock and Misty had left him to his devices after a few hours when he assured them that he was fine and that he didn't intent on asking for practice battles today, but they returned a some time later to drop him and his Pokemon off lunch.
"We're going to take a look around town, but we'll meet you and Leaf back at the Pokemon Center for dinner, okay?" Misty told him. He waved them off and went back to training.
"Okay, time to switch gears a little." Ash beckoned them to get closer and took a seat on the ground with them. He liked it better this way, it felt more like he was talking to them rather than at them.
"Butterfree, I think we should have you sit in the river next and practice shaking your wings out. You were at a huge disadvantage before, and I know you'll never fly perfectly with soaked wings, but you should get used to the feeling a little more and maybe that'll help. And it'll help give me a sense of how long they take to dry without being wiped." Ash said. Butterfree nodded.
"Pidgeotto, I want you to practice your Wing Attack mostly. Use it on trees, the ground, in as many different positions as you can think of. It'll help your target practice and your changing attack directions, and the power of your wings too. And then when your wings get a little stronger, maybe we can think more about learning Whirlwind." He paused, seeing Pidgeotto cock her head. "I think we should think about it more, it's so similar to Gust; I want to understand the differences more first." Pidgeotto nodded.
"And Pikachu, you're gonna be working on Quick Attack this afternoon. I think laps is as good a place to start as any, it'll get you used to running and start to build your speed and stamina. So do five laps around this area, since it's not too big as fast as you can. Then take a breather and do another five when you feel like you're ready, okay?" Pikachu nodded eagerly.
"I'm gonna study this some more, see if there's anything else we should be doing right away. I'll be keeping my eye on you guys, but I trust you do get this done, okay? And if you need anything just ask." Ash paused, waited for them to acknowledge him. "We're gonna work out butts off this week! Leaf's a badge ahead of us, that means Gary could be two badges ahead of us! So let's go!"
Even though two out of three of them didn't have any idea who Leaf and Gary were, they all fanned out and got started on their respective tasks. He sat down and started reading through his Pokedex.
Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokemon and the final evolved form of Caterpie. It's wings are covered in toxic scales. If it finds bird Pokemon going after Caterpie, Butterfree sprinkles its scales on them to drive them off.
Ash reviewed Butterfree's Pokedex entry for the sake of completion. He was hoping to find something more helpful about Butterfree's water-logging problem, but nothing was jumping out at him, so he moved to reviewing Pidgeotto's learn set.
"It looks like the next best bets are Whirlwind or Twister…" He muttered out loud to himself. He opened them both to read more.
Whirlwind. A non-damaging, status normal-type attack. The target is blown away, and a different Pokemon is dragged out. Experts are unable to identify why Whirlwind has this effect during trainer battles.
Twister. A damage-dealing, special dragon-type attack. The user whips up a vicious tornado to tear at the opposing Pokemon. This may also make them flinch.
Regardless of which attack was next, the extra wing training seemed to be the way to go for Pidgeotto. He was content with that for now, until he saw a noticeable upgrade in her wing strength. They could figure out which attack to learn first after. So, he moved on to Quick Attack.
Quick Attack. A damage-dealing, physical normal-type attack. The user lunges at the target at a speed that makes it almost invisible. This move always goes first.
"Lunges…" Ash trailed off, glancing up at Pikachu as he darted around his next set of laps.
He sighed and clicked through another few pages before looking up at the sky and determining it was close to dinner time. He stood up and stretched loudly, getting all his Pokemon's attention.
"Yeah, it's about that time, guys. We can call it there. Let's take a few minutes to breathe and cool down." He laughed a little as he dragged his backpack to the waters edge.
He dried off Butterfree's wings as quickly and gently as he could with a cloth. Next was Pidgeotto, who needed a few dabs of potion on her wings but was as good as new after. Finally, Pikachu leapt onto his lap and Ash dunked his hands in the water before giving Pikachu a massage to cool him off from all his running.
Pikachu cooed at the attention and was almost embarrassed with himself. Then Ash started drying him off and the embarrassment was forgotten as he nuzzled into the towel. He shook himself for good measure once Ash retracted the towel, spraying some droplets on Ash and his teammates but none of them minded.
"You did really good work today, I saw a lot of improvement. We'll go over everything tomorrow, alright? For now, just take it easy. Let's go back to the Pokemon Center and I'll get you guys some dinner." Ash praised them all.
They agreed and Butterfree and Pidgeotto promptly returned to their Pokeballs.
"Hey Pikachu," Ash started as he picked up his bag. "D'ya think we should tell anyone about Ho-Oh? Or the feather?"
Pikachu chattered back, but it was a bit too quick for Ash to truly understand. He sighed and pulled the feather out from his inside jacked pocket. Miraculously, it looked just as full and colorful as it had on the first day. Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder to look at it closer too.
"I think we'll wait a bit longer. I don't think this feather is enough to prove what we saw." He hesitated. "Not that I doubt what we saw, it was definitely Ho-Oh, and this is definitely Ho-Oh's feather. But still…" He sighed again and put the feather back in his pocket.
"We'll get to it later. There's gotta be a better time for it, right?" He asked Pikachu again.
Pikachu seemed to both nod and shrug. Ash nodded back. His thoughts exactly.
Then they set off for the Pokemon Center.
"Do ya think that twerp is still here?" Meowth asked as the trio floated above Cerulean City in their balloon.
"Of course. He was heading through the mountain to get here, wasn't he?" Jessie snapped back. James shrugged.
"He could still be inside Mt. Moon." He added reasonably. "We don't know what ended up happening to him. Or the other twerps, for that matter." He was watching his Weedle crawl along the floor of the basket, entertained by a soda bottle cap.
They directed the basket North of Cerulean. They drifted over a long, golden bridge and the next route with ease. The people were small enough to be just flecks of color. They noticed a structure on the connecting route, sticking out into the water; it was further East than Cerulean, closer to the shores of the ocean. They landed the balloon over a mountainous ridge, using a few large boulders for cover as they deflated the balloon.
Jessie pulled out a few paper maps.
"We should be good here for a few days. Or until whenever the twerp takes off again." She reasoned. "We're close enough to Vermilion City."
"The less time we gotta spend with those guys the better." Meowth practically spat. Jessie and James nodded.
"As if just Archer and his goons weren't bad enough," James started.
"Now we're about to be saddled with Ariana and her star pupils." Jessie rolled her eyes.
"We'll have them seeing stars when we're through with 'em!" Meowth added.
They all shouted in unison. There was a pause, then they all sighed.
"James, take your little friend and find us something to eat." Jessie ordered.
"Good idea." James agreed and laid down on the floor of the basket. Weedle crawled onto his stomach. Jessie glared down at him.
"Then why aren't you doing it?" She asked sarcastically, nudging James with her boot.
"Well, unfortunately I don't respond well to rudeness." He replied without looking at her. He could feel her anger boil over, and she nearly pounced on him before Meowth intervened.
"Come on youse two, get real! We don't even know where we're at yet!" Meowth shouted.
"Of course we do, we're right here." James replied without looking. Meowth lunged at him.
"I meant on da map!" He scratched at James' face while James tried to keep him at arm's length.
"Do I have to do everything myself?" Jessie sighed.
"No but it would be nice if you did anything yourself." Meowth huffed back.
"James could you be an absolute dear and take The Strongest Weedle in the World to go find some dinner while I read these maps?" She continued as if she hadn't heard Meowth.
"If I must." He practically threw Meowth to the side and rolled to his feet. He looked at Weedle on the ground. "Come on, I hope you're up to shooting fish in a barrel." He motioned for Weedle to follow him as he headed off East.
"And you, make yourself useful and light the fire." Jessie instructed Meowth as she sat down with a map.
Meowth could only sigh.
"I can't believe you really won't tell me what other Pokemon you have." Ash said gloomily. He pushed around the food on his plate with his fork as he moped.
"I can't just give away all my secrets, now can I?" Leaf teased. "Besides, it would give you an advantage in the tournament."
"But you already know what Pokemon I have!" Ash argued.
"It's not my fault I'm a better strategist than you." Leaf hummed back playfully. "Shoulda thought about that before you started yapping about your training."
Ash just groaned as Misty and Brock smiled not very sympathetically at him. Even Pikachu was amused, so Ash tapped on Pikachu's plate with his fork.
"I don't know why you're so happy, a disadvantage for me is a disadvantage for you." He said.
Leaf seemed to hold her breath at the statement, waiting for Pikachu to get fed up and release another ThunderShock, but to her surprise all Pikachu did was laugh and eat another bite.
"Whatever. We'll just be super prepared and win the whole thing anyway. Then it won't make a difference." Ash gloated, mimicking Pikachu and taking another bite. Leaf fought the urge to both roll her eyes and swallowed a retort along with her own food.
"How come neither of you are entering? You were plenty strong for our gym battle; I hope you haven't gone soft already." She asked instead.
"Pokemon battles are fun, but they're not my true passion. I'd much rather study and raise Pokemon than battle endlessly." Brock replied. He paused. "But my Pokemon think they're really fun, and a big part of raising Pokemon is catering to each ones inner desire for strength, so battles will always be a part of it some way. Just not as often anymore."
"I just don't feel like it. I've competed in Cerulean's Town Tournament plenty of times before, even branded under the Nugget Bridge. I live here, there will always be more, y'know?" Misty replied casually.
"What's one of the best ways to train for this tournament, Misty? Is there anything special I should be doing?" Ash asked curiously.
Misty hummed as she twirled her spoon and tried to think.
"Y'know, a lot of people do go have practice battles on the bridge. They say it's good luck. It's a been a superstition as long as the bridge has been built, about more than just the tournament." She told him. "There's always trainers on there waiting to challenge people, they're hoping to collect enough good luck, I guess. You could try that."
"I've never been superstitious but now's as good a time as any to start." Ash nodded. "That's what we'll do tomorrow, go and challenge the trainers on the Nugget Bridge. Do you wanna come, Leaf?"
"No thanks, they'll have their hands full with just you." She smiled slyly at him. "I'm not superstitious either, I'll probably just head back towards Mt. Moon and do some extra housekeeping on the rock-types along the way. That'll be the easiest practice for Bulbasaur."
"Bulbasaur and…" Ash looked at her expectantly.
Leaf just took another bite, ignoring him.
Ash groaned.
A young boy and his father pulled off the Cycling Road just outside of Fuchsia City. They walked their bikes over to a small white picket-fence to lean them on, the boy panted slightly.
"That wasn't so bad today." His father observed, wiping some sweat off his forehead.
"Maybe you could've done without the cape." The boy joked, swatting at the long dark cape his father wore. His father jokingly swatted his hat off his head in return and laughed as it fell into the brush. "Dad!" He cried indignantly.
"I'm sorry, Chase, but it didn't go far." His dad replied. "Can you still see it?"
"Yeah, I think so…" Chase leaned over the fence to get a closer look. He swore he could see the red brim through a gap in the bush.
"Be careful now, that's still tall grass." He cautioned.
"C'mon dad, I'm fine I'm just right," Chase cut himself off with a gasp that drew his fathers attention faster than he thought possible.
Chase pulled back from hanging over the fence with something yellow in his arms. Definitely not his hat.
"Dad look, it's a Pikachu!" Chase gasped. "But…" He paused.
"But it looks severely injured." He finished his son's thought.
The Pikachu was in very rough shape. There were scratches littered all over its body and dirt covering its matted fur. It's eyes were closed and it's breathing was shallow. He grit his teeth. These injuries were far too severe to be caused by wild Pokemon in this area; Pikachu weren't even found in the wild this far East, and if they were they holed up much closer to the Power Plant. How could someone do this to a Pokemon and leave it in such conditions?
He took the Pikachu gently from Chase, the boy not even having to ask him to help the poor creature.
"Grab your hat and let's go, we're taking it to Nurse Joy." he said, cradling the wounded mouse with one arm.
He reached for his walkie-talkie with the other arm as Chase grabbed and dusted off his hat.
"This is Lance, we may have a situation out by Cycling Road. Abandoned Pikachu, injuries too severe to be natural. Trainer unidentified. Follow-up when I know more. Be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Over."
He let the responses pile up as he and his son marched their way into Fuchsia City, injured Pikachu in arms. A Champion's job was truly never done.
Ta-da! Hope this one isn't too dull for you guys, we DO have to move the plot along in between battles! But there's a lot of interesting stuff in here if you know what to look for, I promise! And sorry this one's a little shorter than usual, it's only because the next one will probably be longer than usual and... gotta split them up somewhere, yknow? Tomorrow is a new day and Ash will be fighting on the Nugget Bridge, not to be confused with fighting in the Nugget Bridge Tournament.
To address a few potential questions
-yes Ash is deliberatly not telling anyone the whole truth about the Spearow encounter. There was 1,000 Spearow there (going with the numbers closer to Pokemon the Movie: I Choose You! or M20) and everyone thinks they outran them eventually because the storm scared them away. This is a character choice along with keeping his Ho-Oh sighting to himself
-Lance is here! Yes, that Lance. Lance is the current Kanto Champion, and that allowed him to give his own son special privlidges to be a trainer sooner. His son is none other than Chase, from the Let's Go games and Elaine's male counterpart. He is the same age as her here, roughly 9/10 years old.
Can't wait to hear from you guys about this one! See ya next time!
Ash's Team: Pikachu, Butterfree, Pidgeotto
Pikachu: Electric - Male - Static - Rash | ThunderShock, Tail Whip, Growl, Nuzzle, Charm, Thunder Wave, Brick Break
Butterfree: Bug/Flying - Male - Compound Eyes - Hardy | Tackle, String Shot, Harden, Gust, Supersonic, Confusion, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder
Pidgeotto: Normal/Flying - Female - Keen Eye - Hasty | Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust, Quick Attack, Wing Attack
Misty's Team: Staryu, Goldeen, Tentacool
Staryu: Water - N/A - Natural Cure - Modest | Tackle, Rapid Spin, Harden, Water Gun, Confuse Ray, Swift
Goldeen: Water - Female - Swift Swim - Careful | Peck, Tail Whip, Supersonic
Tentacool: Water/Poison - Male - Liquid Ooze - Hardy | Water Gun, Poison Sting, Acid, Supersonic, Wrap
Brock's Team: Onix, Geodude, Zubat
Onix: Rock/Ground - Male - Rock Head - Calm | Tackle, Bind, Screech, Harden, Rock Throw
Geodude: Rock/Ground - Male - Sturdy - Relaxed | Tackle, Defense Curl, Rock Throw
Zubat: Poison/Flying - Male - Inner Focus - Hasty | Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish
Jessie's Team: Ekans, Spearow
Ekans: Poison - Male - Shed Skin - Serious | Poison Sting, Bite, Wrap, Leer
Spearow: Normal/Flying - Male - Keen Eye - Hasty | Peck, Growl, Leer
James' Team: Koffing, Spearow, Weedle
Koffing: Poison - Male - Levitate - Bashful | Poison Gas, Tackle, Smog, Smokescreen
Spearow: Normal/Flying - Female - Keen Eye - Lax | Peck, Growl Leer
Weedle: Bug/Poison - Female - Swarm - Jolly | Poison Sting, String Shot
Meowth: Normal - Male - Pickup - Sassy | Fury Swipes, Scratch, Growl, Fake Out