I bring you a speedy chapter two! Thanks for all the support guys! I'm trying to write more often again and I think it's going well, we'll see how long I can deliver on all fronts. Next time might not be for this story, I'm in an era of letting the writing take over lol. Either way, you should hear from me soon! Until then, enjoy...
With Courage I Will Face
Arc I: Viridian
Chapter Two: Hold Off the Lightning
"So, what other attacks do you know?" Ash asked Pikachu as they walked through a grassy field.
Pikachu gave him a side-eye, gesturing to the Pokedex with his tail. Pikachu, Ash had figured out, seemed to already know an awful lot about human culture already; way more than most Pokemon and especially more than wild Pokemon.
"I know I can use that, but I wasn't sure if scanning you would bother you or not. Besides I was hoping you would just show me." He replied, looking around. Pikachu tilted his head in confusion. "Being in a Pokeball bothers you when it never seemed to bother any other Pokemon, I thought maybe scanning you would bother you too."
There he goes again, acting like he cared. He was very good at that, Pikachu would admit.
"Oh wow! Look, it's a Pidgey!" Ash cried suddenly. He pointed excitedly and Pikachu tracked his finger, noting he was correct; nearly completely hidden by the grass and pecking at the ground was a small bird Pokemon.
"A Pidgey would be the perfect Pokemon to catch to start our journey." Ash noted. "Want to help me catch it, Pikachu?" He asked.
Pikachu shook his head, stepping up onto a nearby rock and sitting down. He may be curious, but he was not battling with the human. Yet.
"Fine, I guess I could try and catch it myself." Ash said, taking out a Pokeball.
He quickly aimed as best he could and lobbed the ball. Suddenly, he was very thankful for those years of Pokeball Throwing classes the professor ran them through; the feeling of throwing a Pokeball to catch a wild Pokemon was unlike any practice session they'd ever had before, as real as Oak had tried to make them feel.
The Pokeball hit its intended target easily, the bird's attention was too focused on grabbing some worms out of the ground than noticing the approaching capture device. The ball dinged off the Pidgey's head, opening and converting the bird Pokemon into red light. On the ground, the ball shook twice before bursting open. The Pidgey reappeared in a flash of light and shook itself off, unbothered by the interruption.
Pikachu chuckled at Ash's failed capture while the boy only shrugged.
"Didn't think that one through," He murmured. "Guess I do gotta weaken it." He scanned the ground for any impromptu weapons, coming across a small stone.
"I don't know about two, but hopefully I can get one bird with this stone." Ash said hopefully, picking up the rock and scanning the environment again. The Pidgey had disappeared. "Did 'ya see where it went, Pikachu?"
Pikachu stood up on his rock and looked around. His eyes couldn't see much, but his ears twitched. He pointed to their right, a ways away from where the Pidgey was moments ago.
"We got 'em now!" Ash cried, chucking the rock. It made direct contact and the bird's squawk was heard from through the rustling grass. Ash got ready to prime another Pokeball when the grass moved harder and face that wasn't a Pidgey poked through, looking angry.
"A Spearow?" Ash flinched back, confused, and hesitant. He knew Spearow were nowhere near as docile as Pidgey. Spearow cawed angrily and Ash stepped back, slipping on the grass, and falling.
Pikachu, unable to contain it any longer, began to laugh at Ash. The Spearow cawed again and lunged out of the grass, jetting towards the Mouse Pokemon. Pikachu quickly leapt to the side off the rock only for the Spearow to loop around and try again. Pikachu tired quickly of the game, sparking his cheeks and unleashing a ThunderShock on the Tiny Bird Pokemon.
The attack froze the bird in midair long enough for both Ash and Pikachu to find their footing again. The duo watched as the attack weakened and Spearow all but fell into a nearby tree. Ash turned to look at Pikachu but was stopped by the shaking of the tree. Dozens upon dozens of birds flew out, circling the sky in a frenzy of angry noises and harsh flapping.
Ash and Pikachu exchanged nervous glances as what seemed to be hundreds of Spearow poured from behind the tree leaves.
"We should probably run!" Ash started off slowly turning around, breaking into a dead sprint by the end of it as Pikachu followed along with a high-pitched "Piiikaaa!".
Running proved to be near futile though as the Spearow were upon them in mere seconds. They circled the duo from above as if they were waiting, poised to strike. From afar it probably looked as if there were storm clouds a mile wide only a dozen feet off the ground at the rate the Spearow gathered around them.
They exchanged looks again, both knowing Pikachu could easily outpace Ash but splitting up would only give them easier access. Testing the waters, they begun to swoop and strike at their primary target, Pikachu.
"Pikachu, use ThunderShock!" Ash cried out. It was less of a command and more of a plea, as Pikachu had been impaled several times by beaks and talons but hadn't let off a single counter-attack.
The electric-type seemed to lighten at the command, glancing over at Ash.
"I don't care if you hit me, it's the only thing that'll drive 'em off!" He continued.
Pikachu relented and began discharging sparks as best he could while running still. Stray bolts did a good job at pushing the pesky birds out of their immediate vicinity but much less to the hoard above them. Ash, true to his word, only powered through with a grimace every time one of Pikachu's bolts ended up striking him in the legs.
They had easily run a mile by now and still there was still no end in sight to the predicament the two had found themselves in. Ash looked around as best he could between the flurry of wings and interruption of talons scratching at his face. They were still vaguely on the dirt trail, having hoped to run into salvation in the form of other people, but that proved futile. Anyone reasonable was in a town or finding shelter from the approaching storm, the clouds above growing darker by the second.
Suddenly, the Spearow became more aggressive at once. More and more began to swoop in to attack both Ash and Pikachu more frequently, using their numbers to their advantage. In between blows Ash risked opening his eyes to peak over at Pikachu just in time to see him collapse under the weight of several birds landing on top of him. They descended as fast as raindrops from a cloud, swarming over the collapsed mouse.
Ash pushed forward, becoming more aggressive with the birds than before.
"Stop it! Leave Pikachu alone, I threw the stupid rock!" Ash practically begged. He swung his arms wildly, practically punching several Spearow straight out of the air. He had stopped running altogether now and was instead fighting through the cloud of birds to get to his downed Pokemon.
He reached the pile of birds Pikachu was under, kicking at a few of them before diving in completely. He felt his arms being pecked and scratched at viciously, but he didn't reel back until he felt Pikachu's furry form. He hauled Pikachu up, barely sparing a glance back or upward before breaking into another sprint. He ran off the beaten path this time, hoping to be less obvious a target.
"Don't worry, I got you." Ash tried to comfort the mouse. Pikachu looked a lot worse for wear than he did, having taken a significant brunt of the Spearow's rage already.
Ash was surrounded by trees now. He could still hear the Spearow circling above the foliage and his cover was about to end shortly. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and silently debated on his best course. As quietly as he could he tried to walk parallel to the forest's edge; he hoped by exiting from somewhere except directly under the birds would allow a brief reprieve even if he had to continue running.
He was proven correct when, upon bursting from the forest, he ran straight to the river's edge. Ash stopped and looked forward and back, noted the length of the river and turned to see the Spearow had already targeted onto them. Decision made, Ash took a gulp of air and jumped into the river still cradling his barely conscious starter.
Ash could hardly see properly under the water, but he did his best to avoid swimming or being thrown into rocks or other Pokemon, lest he suffer the wrath of angrier Pokemon. He kicked with the flow of the river rather than against it for simplicity's sake. Anywhere it spit him out had to be better than where he started. This time, he was not proven correct.
Holding his breath and kicking with his legs one moment, Ash was spit out of the water and straight into the air over the brink of a waterfall. He tried to replicate the survival protocol video Professor Oak had shown them for this very situation as best he could, but it was difficult while cradling Pikachu in his arms. They plunged over, landing back in the cold depths of the water.
They were both barely conscious now, with Ash struggling to even keep his eyes open. Pikachu's brown eyes opened just a tad wider, meeting his and his cheeks sparked to life. Surrounded by water, even the tiniest bit of electricity seemed to jump start both of their bodies again, the adrenaline kicking in as Ash swam them both to the surface. It was difficult, and it was more of them getting thrown around by the water than swimming, but eventually they landed on a river bank.
Ash and Pikachu crawled out, both gasping for air. Pikachu tried to shake the water out of his fur, but it was no use as the rain started to pour at that moment. Ash took a break from practically dry-heaving to glance up.
"Great," His voice was hoarse, and tired. "Just what we needed." He muttered sarcastically.
He and Pikachu took off, albeit at a slower pace than before. They wanted to conserve some energy while they weren't immediately surrounded by birds, but they didn't make it very far before the chilling caws of the Spearow flock reached their ears over the deafening rainfall.
The dark thunder clouds had nothing on the dark shape of the Spearow cloud as it advanced and loomed over the running duo. A few more swooped down, Ash and Pikachu tiredly dodged before three birds attacked Pikachu at once. Once again, Ash practically punched one out of the air before scooping up the electric-type again, breaking into another sprint.
"We can't be far now, Pikachu." Ash muttered.
His vision was blurry due to fatigue and the pouring rain, but he could see the bright yellow of his starters fur. Unfortunately, this didn't help him spot an embankment slippery with mud, and the teenager all but collapsed over the small edge. Pikachu was thrown from his arms against his will, and he felt his body hit the ground hard. He weakly picked his head up, watching as Pikachu struggled to stand on his own.
Ash clamored to his knees, reaching into his pocket for Pikachu's Pokeball. He saw the mouse's eyes widen with fear, but he was too weak to recoil away. Even still Ash wanted it to be Pikachu's choice.
"Pikachu, you've got to go inside." He placed it in front of him. "I know you can't stand going inside, but you'll be protected! You just please get inside and leave the rest to me. I'll take care of this." He said, his voice wavering only a tad.
Pikachu looked up at him between shallow breaths and made no move to honor his request. Ash pushed himself to his feet, using the last of his strength to turn around. He stood as tall as he could through the winds and rain, watching as the flock of Spearow swarmed above them.
"Alright, you! I don't think you know who I am! I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town, and I'm gonna be the world's greatest Pokemon Master! Mess with me and you're gonna lose!" Ash threw his arms out, as if to completely shield Pikachu. "I'll capture and defeat all of you at once!"
The Spearow seemed to almost react to his words, becoming more and more frenzied in the sky. They climbed and dived almost without aim, cawing their lungs out as if they were planning on how gruesome a scene to make out of the starting pair.
"Pikachu," Ash glanced back. Pikachu's ear twitched as he tried to turn to completely face the boy. "You've got to get inside your Pokeball, now!"
They were almost ready to attack, Ash hoped that with Pikachu safe inside the ball they wouldn't be as enraged since the mouse seemed to be their primary target.
"Okay!" Ash turned back to the Spearow flock as lightning flashed. "Hit me with your best shot!" Another flash of light and more screeching from the heavens above. The birds circled and there were so many Ash could barely even see the sky light up blue through the thickness of the flock.
They seemed to dive at the same time another crack of lightning filled the air, the brightest of them all so far. Ash stood unflinching as the Spearow rained down like bullets, he couldn't even manage to close his eyes in the face of the attack. Pikachu was no better, weak as he was, he couldn't even force himself to look away. All he could see was Ash towering over him, determined to protect him at best or go down with him at worst.
He didn't know why this boy, Ash, would risk his life to defend him after the start that they had. Except, Pikachu did know. The moment the Spearow dropped, and Ash didn't dash, duck or dive, Pikachu knew. It was just the kind of person that Ash was, and Pikachu knew he had to protect him, the same way Ash protected him.
Pikachu, with renewed determination, pushed himself to his feet and leapt forward, ignoring the safety of his own Pokeball in favor of climbing up Ash's body like a tree. He scurried up until he landed on Ash's shoulder and, for the split second he was there, their eyes connected. A flash of electricity passed between them that neither had experience before, and then Pikachu was springing forward to meet the flock as he charged electricity in his cheeks.
"Piiiikaaaa," Pikachu breathed in deep, flashes of yellow dancing around his body as blue electricity flicked around them in the air.
Ash could feel the static gathering, the levels of ozone in the air rising. Through his peripheral vision he could see the clouds glowing blue, but he couldn't take his eyes off Pikachu, glowing yellow. It seemed like everything happened at once when more clouds opened and several blue lightning bolts crackled down at once, all aiming at Pikachu.
"Chuuuuuuuuu!" Pikachu's cry was guttural and deeper than Ash thought the mouse's voice could get, but that was all before a brilliant yellow light expanded and morphed and collided with everything. Yellows, blues, reds, and whites covered Ash's vision until he couldn't even stand to hold his eyes open anymore.
The last thing he saw was the frozen image of Pikachu in mid-air, releasing no less than seven thunderbolts at once on the thousand Spearow's that advanced. And pain, there was so much pain.
Ash's eyes fluttered open weakly. His entire body felt like it was on fire, especially his face and hands and it took a minute for his vision to unblur. Immediately, he saw Pikachu laying down on the ground as well, brown eyes full of concern.
"Pikachu," Ash muttered. His own voice was raspy now, but he hummed in delight as Pikachu smiled at him.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu muttered back excitedly. He inched over, not quite rolling onto his side and Ash helped him out, reaching limply over to cradle his starter. Pikachu smiled weakly up at Ash, licking his cheek in the exact part that was burning him so much, as if magically knowing the source of Ash's pain.
"You'll stay? D'ya mean it?" Ash whispered, closing his eyes. He scratched Pikachu's head as the mouses ears flipped down, letting out a content squeak as he rubbed their faces together.
Once again, the burning in Ash's cheeks was given reprieve during the action, and he couldn't help but smile. He felt Pikachu lean more fully into him, his eyes closing shut as well. Ash rolled them over onto his back, shutting his eyes harder at the bright red color of the sky. One arm circled Pikachu while the other stretched out, still twitching.
Ash couldn't help but smile as he took a deep breath. His journey was a lot shorter than he thought it would've been, but as he replayed the expression on Pikachu's face over and over, it was worth it all the same.
"'M sorry, mom." Ash muttered, taking another deep breath. Everything went black.
He didn't know how long passed, but distantly, he heard a Pokemon's cry. Maybe it was the Spearow returning, he thought, making sure their job was complete. It didn't sound as threatening, though, or as close. It sounded so far away, so light, and gentle. He heard it again, soft as the gentle breeze.
Then, he felt something land in his palm. It was big, but soft enough that he could close his entire fist around it. He clenched his fingers, regaining feeling in his arm and hand for the first time since before the explosion. His hand felt warm again, and the sensation crept all over his body. The chill he was only vaguely aware of was gone, replaced with the subtle warmth of a fire running through all his veins.
The sudden surge in warmness gave him the strength to open his eyes. The sky was red above them, and the black clouds turned into a light grey. Pikachu stirred again too, chattering quickly. Ash hummed and turned, following Pikachu's gaze. They gasped at once, seeing a large figure flying through the red skies above them.
Ash quickly scrambled to his feet, helping Pikachu move from his chest to his shoulder as they ran forwards until the hill couldn't take them any further. It was a great distance away, and it blended in uniquely with the colors of the sky, but the minute the bird flew underneath a rainbow, Ash and Pikachu gasped in awe and recognition.
"That was…" Ash paused, glancing at what was clenched in his fist for the first time. It was a feather, a rainbow-colored feather that seemed to sparkle just so under the color of the flaming sky. "Ho-Oh." Ash whispered.
"Pi-Chu." Pikachu repeated quietly.
Ash and Pikachu stood there for what felt like hours, watching Ho-Oh's retreating form until they couldn't see it anymore, and then longer for good measure. Almost simultaneously, they turned their attention to the feather.
"A gift from Ho-Oh," Ash muttered. "How lucky are we, Pikachu?"
"Pikaa!" Pikachu agreed, leaning forward to see it better. Ash moved it closer to his shoulder for his starter, letting Pikachu sniff it.
They smiled and glanced at each other again, before breaking into a small round of laughter.
"We're gonna go far together, Pikachu. All the way to the top." He scratched Pikachu's cheek with his free hand. Pikachu nuzzled his face in return, happily. "And one day, we'll see Ho-Oh again too."
"Piiikachu!" Pikachu agreed happily.
Ash had never seen a sunset quite like this and could only chalk it up to Ho-Oh's presence. Ash and Pikachu watched for even longer, until the rainbow faded entirely from the sky and the strange flame-red cover the sky had made way for proper nightfall.
"We should get moving, Viridian City's still closer than Pallet." Ash said.
He turned around, Pikachu leaping off his shoulder and onto the ground. Ash ignored the way his face seemed to burn again slightly as Pikachu scampered forward slightly faster than he did. Ash bent over to grab his backpack that had probably been dropped the same time he had unceremoniously fell off the small hill. He debated where to put the rainbow feather for now, but he knew he didn't want just anyone to see him with it.
Young or not, he was not naive enough to be eager to go around and expect everyone to believe he had just seen Ho-Oh, a Legendary Pokemon in the wild. And within hours of starting his journey, no less. Ultimately, he decided he would feel safest with it in his jacket pocket and slung on his bag over his shoulder again.
He stood up again and smiled as Pikachu used his tail to move his cap onto his head and then maneuver up to his shoulder once more like before. Ash smiled, immediately noticing the disappearance of the slight burn again as Pikachu rubbed their cheeks together. He moved his hat back from Pikachu's head to his own and took another deep breath.
"And Pikachu?" Ash said as he started to walk. Pikachu tilted his head. "Thank you, for saving me." He gave the brightest, most earnest smile Pikachu had ever seen.
"Pi, Pikachu Pikapi!" Pikachu answered just as brightly.
The two continued to make their way to Viridian City in a tired, but content silence.
"It looks like the end of the world happened here." A man with blue hair said, taking in the scene before him.
His partner, a woman with long magenta hair, grunted her agreement. They were in the outskirts of Viridian City, investigating a large explosion that had taken place during the lightning storm. It didn't seem to have any consequences, but they rather liked knowing things about the area they were scouting out.
"The area's scorched for a mile, it looks like it originated here." The woman said, kneeling. The ground was still wet everywhere from the recent rainstorm, and yet the nearby grass looked withered; like it caught fire and died out. Even the ground seemed to turn from sand to soot in lines as thick as her arm.
"Whaddaya think happened?" Their other partner, a Meowth, asked as he walked over to them.
"Maybe lightning struck the ground here?" The man suggested. "I don't think natural lightning branches out quite like this, though." He said, gesturing in the many directions of the singed ground.
"Could it have been a Pokemon?" Meowth asked, glancing around. The man shrugged, looking at his partner who was walking away. "Jessie, where are you going?"
"James, Meowth, come look at this." Jessie beckoned them over.
Off the beaten path a ways back and up a slope was what looked like hundreds of Spearow. Some were clearly beyond saving, some were limping around, and others laid on their backs, only slightly twitching, but they were all scorched to varying degrees. Jessie, James and Meowth exchanged glances.
"There's nothing that can be done about them now," Jessie said, her voice a bit sullen.
"Most of them." James agreed. "We might as well take the opportunity, though, right?"
Jessie and James went around catching all the Spearow that were still alive and tossing the Pokeballs into Meowth's burlap sack.
"There must be hundreds of these things." Jessie muttered, tired of the errand already.
"Good thing these 'balls ain't on our dime." Meowth commended. Even unprimed, the Pokeballs were getting close to filling up the entire sack.
"You can say that again." James drawled out as he stretched. His back ached from all the bending over he had been doing.
"Don't say that again." Jessie interrupted Meowth swiftly and the Scratch Cat Pokemon snapped his mouth shut in a hurry. She rolled her eyes but spoke casually at them both. "There's enough Spearow here for us to keep two for ourselves and still send more Pokemon to the boss than he's seen all month. What do you think?"
"Sounds like music to my ears." James agreed happily.
He and Jessie each clipped a Pokeball containing a Spearow onto their belts and kept on catching downed birds into the late hours of the night.
Ash stumbled through the automatic doors of the Pokemon Center, immediately drawing the attention of the nurse behind the counter and the officer she was talking to.
"Nurse Joy," Ash started, already taking the tired Pikachu off his shoulder into his arms. "Please check over Pikachu." He said tiredly.
Nurse Joy exchanged a look with her companion, Officer Jenny, and gave the pair a once over. They were both clearly tired, ragged deep breaths were apparent and their eyes were only half open. They were both covered in what looked like a combination of dirt and dried blood, blending to make their appearance look even worse.
"You two really went through it out there, didn't you?" Jenny approached carefully. "What happened?"
"We were attacked," Ash took a deep breath, "by a bunch of Spearow. Then the storm came and…" He trailed off, remembering what happened next. The Spearow dove, Pikachu absorbing the lightning and the explosion.
"Okay, let's get you both taken care of." Joy said, slowly taking Pikachu from Ash's hands.
She watched the way Pikachu seemed to react automatically, reaching out to connect to Ash again even with its eyes closed, and let out a small smile as she put it on Chansey's stretcher.
"Chansey will make sure Pikachu has a full recovery. Meanwhile, you should take a nice shower and head to bed for the night. Anything else can wait until morning, okay?" Joy suggested.
Ash watched as Chansey wheeled Pikachu through the set of double doors and down the hall. He watched for several seconds longer until the doors stopped moving completely, sure Pikachu wasn't coming back through them, and nodded tiredly.
He ignored the burning feeling in his cheeks as he went to go wash up.
And scene! We're off to a very similar but very different start already, aren't we? Fun fact, this story started as an attempt to blend "Pokemon: I Choose You!" the movie with the mainline Pokemon anime, hence a lot of the scenes feeling heavily movie-inspired. That being said it spun quickly out of control into a plot bunny for a whole reboot I've been silently thinking about for forever. That also being said it will differ heavily from "Pokemon: I Choose You!" the movie and (obviously) the anime later on as changes start to ripple effect.
Thank you guys for the kind words! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! Hope to see you guys again for Chapter 3, "Lightning Strikes Twice"!