Greetings all!
This work is the sequel to a previous set of oneshots I wrote known as Ketchum Academy. I hope that you enjoy this story without having to read the previous one but I would highly recommend reading it just in case there's any context you are missing. You should eb able to find it on my profile.
For those who have read Ketchum Academy, I must warn you about a couple of things.
Firstly, whilst I don't know what the rest of the other chapters will end up looking like, they will probably be shorter and less focussed over a single POV character. Rather, I want to weave the arcs of the different protagonists together into one single narrative with slightly shorter chapters.
Secondly, there was a certain character that seemed to be the crowd favourite of the previous story. I got a ton of reviewers that seemed to like how I wrote him. Sadly he will not be in the sequel because I couldn't find a way to write him into the main narrative.I hope you can still read the story without him and I'm sorry if you can't.I will try to write him in at some point but it will probably be near the end.
Anyway, I hope you guys like this one as much as the first one!
Ash gazed out of the window solemnly, watching the clouds over which the plane soared. They were well above cloud level and beneath them was nothing but a sea of fluffy white. Occasionally, he saw the air glimmer as Latias flitted in and out of vision. Some pokemon didn't like the concept of being contained by a pokeball and one such example was Latias who instead flew alongside them, intentionally pacing herself alongside the much slower jet.
Ash sighed. He wasn't the biggest fan of flying generally but he much preferred to do it on the back of a pokemon like Latias rather than in a stuffy plane seat.
When he flew, he was alone with his thoughts and that usually wasn't a good thing, especially not recently. If he needed to get somewhere, he'd always rather walk to it instead. It was more his style, even though it was slower.
He turned his head to double check on his companions. Sensing the movement, Pikachu shifted slightly on his lap, looking up at his trainer. Ash scratched the back of one of the electric type's ears, causing him to squeak in pleasure. Pikachu was legally slightly too large to be allowed on the plane but once the man at security saw whose Pikachu it was, he was more than willing to make an exception.
He turned around and his gaze fixed on Leaf, who was sitting on the aisle side of his row, two seats from him. She was an enigma to Ash, the only person on their little expedition that he knew absolutely nothing about.
He was a bit reluctant to have her on the trip (she had a habit of showing up behind you when you least expected her to which reminded him a bit too much of team rocket) but she seemed nice enough and Delia knew and trusted her carer, so he relented and let her come. Currently she was sitting straight forward, muscles tense. Though she had an eye mask on, the fidgeting of her hands told him that she clearly wasn't asleep. That was odd.
Leaf was six years younger than Ash. She was tall for her age - almost as tall as Ash in fact - with a mischievous, deceptive face. She was usually accompanied by Nidory, her scruffy one-eared Nidorina who was probably the single strongest pokemon in her class, but the poison type was stuffed safely into its pokeball. She wore a neat black dress with a white belt around her waist. Her long brown hair was decently well brushed - as expected from someone who had grown up in an orphanage.
Between her and Ash sat Red. He was definitely out of it, his breathing calm and steady and his cap tipped firmly over his eyes.
The hat was a plain black in colour and also the only thing that the boy wore that wasn't some sort of hand-me-down from Ash. The rest of his outfit was composed of what Ash had been wearing six years before in Kalos, though he had dyed the jacket in a textiles class so that it was now a blotchy shade of scarlet.
Red was Ash's younger brother, not genetically of course (Ash's father had been dead since he was too young to remember) but adoptively. One would be forgiven for believing that they were related by blood however due to the similarities in dress and hairstyle.
The main differences came in the details: one's hair was raven, the other an incredibly dark brown; one had pale skin that burnt easily in the sun, the other had cool, light bronze skin that seemed completely impervious to ultraviolet light; and one had warm, inviting brown eyes whereas the other had bright ruby eyes that were dazzling but easily off-putting, especially when their owner was angry.
On Red's lap sat Paras. The small bug type shivered, jolting up and down as the plane hit a patch of turbulence. His trainer grunted slightly then shifted his cap down over his face again and continued slumbering. After a second, he woke up again and made doubly sure that the bug type was comfortable on his lap before drifting off a second time.
Red had an odd relationship with his Paras, Ash noticed. He was kind to him sure, that was to be expected from a trainer and his favourite pokemon, but there was something about how Red refused to raise his voice when concerning the insect, or how he always cautiously apologised to him whenever he said something that might be taken as insulting that intrigued Ash to no end. Those two obviously had a complicated past and, judging by Leaf's reactions to whenever they interacted, she knew all about it.
Ash shrugged. Maybe it was best that he didn't know everything about Red and Paras right away. After all, Red didn't know everything about him and Pikachu. Maybe some things were best left unsaid.
You see, despite knowing about Red for ages, Ash had only met him for the first time about a month ago, when he bumped into him with two old mutual friends named Max and Bonnie when they were on a mildly rule-breaking camping expedition.
Previously the two had never met. Ash was rarely home anyway and when he was, Red was usually busy at school or summer camp. Before then, Red only knew Ash through a TV screen and Ash only knew Red through a signature on his birthday and Christmas presents.
Ash smiled. It was going to be good finally getting to know his sibling after so long.
The plane tilted forwards and slowly began to descend towards Saffron City. In his lap, Ash could feel his Rotom phone buzz. He looked at the screen to find:
INCOMING CALL: GOH HARRIS
Ash sighed. His thumb hovered over the ACCEPT button for over thirty seconds before he gave up and pushed DENY.
At the same time as the plane from Kalos was going down towards Saffron, another plane from Hoenn had already landed, it's passengers spilling out and making a beeline for the terminal to collect their luggage.
In the middle of this crowd shuffled a young boy. He was sixteen but he didn't look it in the slightest, being quite short and thin for his age. This boy was easily to look over in a crowd especially due to the large blue hoodie he was wearing with the hood tugged down so that it shaded his eyes.
The boy received a strange look from the security guard that stood over the luggage terminal as he picked up a small forest green backpack from the carousel. Whilst it was perfectly legal for someone of his age to be flying on his own, it was certainly incredibly odd.
He passed by the pokemon pickup point, where the woman at the desk (who, judging by her pink hair, clearly used to be a Nurse Joy) was finishing looking over the medical forms of his pokemon. After a few minutes, the woman put down the papers and smiled at him, passing three pokeballs his way and telling him to have a good time in Kanto. The boy nodded but didn't say a word.
Please let me out. The demand rang through the boy's mind telepathically. You have no idea how stressful that was!
The boy chuckled as he tossed out one of the three pokeballs to reveal a Kirlia. The psychic type yawned, stretching his arms outwards so that his bones popped in a satisfying fashion.
Not wanting to leave his other pokemon out, the boy opened the other two capsules. Mightyena bounced up and down with pent up energy, tongue lolling out of her mouth, and Treecko gave him a dopey, tired look before climbing onto his trainer's shoulders and falling asleep again, draping around his neck like a large green scarf
You seem in a better mood, Kirlia commented as the party trooped slowly out of the airport. Were there too many social situations on the plane?
The boy rolled his eyes, blushing slightly at the teasing. He'd never been much of a people person. That was more his girlfriend's thing. He then stopped and looked around cautiously. Mightyena, who had run off in front, came back, looking confused.
Is something up? Kirlia asked inquisitively.
"Not really," the boy replied.
Then why've we stopped?
"Just checking something." He shoved his glasses up his nose. "Probably nothing." He continued calmly and began to walk again.
Kirlia rolled his eyes. Look. You're not being followed. We're in a totally different region!
"It's not that. Well not just that anyway." He responded, turning around again. "Remember that I'm one teenager in a very large city. If someone attacks..."
What a random criminal or pervert comes for you specifically? Be realistic!
The boy rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with playing it safe." Around his neck, Treecko stirred slightly.
I guess not. Kirlia shrugged. You wouldn't say that if Bonnie were here... he added, doing the psionic equivalent of mumbling under his breath.
They stopped to wait at a traffic light and then crossed the road. The boy pulled out his Pokenav once they reached the other side and began searching for directions to the pokemon centre. He was about to continue again before he heard Mightyena growl at his feet.
Looking up he could see that the dark type had cornered a pokemon - a Pikachu to be precise. The mouse was cowering against a wall trembling with fear as Mightyena paced closer, a growl in her throat.
"Stand down," the boy snapped and Mightyena obliged, whimpering slightly. The Pikachu had a notch in its tail denoting it as female. She had a pink flower tucked behind one of her ears. He heard yelling coming from behind him and turned around.
Running up to them was a girl, possibly his age or possibly a little bit younger. She had bright brown eyes and long blonde hair that was done up in a messy high tail. She wore an orange t shirt, denim shorts and black tights with a straw hat that bobbed loosely behind her head, its chinstrap hanging loosely around her neck.
Strapped to the girl's torso was a dark grey baby sling that was carrying a very strange pokemon. It was light purple in colour with a yellowish-cream belly and ears. It's eyes were large and very black, staring around with an unknowable amount of innocence. The boy thought it looked strangely familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on where. Then it hit him - this was a baby Kangaskhan. He didn't quite recognise it without its mother.
"I'm sorry about that," he said "I should have better control of my pokemon."
The girl ignored him, instead crouching in front of him and scratching behind Mightyena's ears. The fang pokemon made a crooning noise at the attention.
"Umm, hi?" The boy asked awkwardly, warily putting a hand on Treecko's head so that the grass type woke up. "Who are you?"
The girl stood up giggling "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I'm not the best at conversations, at least not with people. You're studying at Ketchum Academy, right?"
The boy's mouth gaped open. "How did you know that?"
"Simple," she shrugged. "Your Mightyena told me."
He let out a low groan. This girl just kept getting weirder, didn't she? It would make sense if Kirlia had told her (he was constantly saying things to people telepathically, even though he was told explicitly not to do that) but not Mightyena. Mightyena wasn't even psychic type, and he hadn't met a pokemon that spoke English other than...
"Ooook..." he responded. The boy, who was a rational and logical person at heart, asked the obvious question "And how did you do that?"
The girl shrugged as Kangaskhan squirmed in the baby sling. "I guess I just listened." She suggested.
"Oh," he responded, disappointed at the unsatisfying answer.
"Tell me," She asked. "Do you know a girl called Leaf by any chance? Brown hair, about your age, has a habit of showing up when you least expect it?"
He was unsure whether he should divulge any information when it came to people he knew, even irritating people like Leaf. "Do you know her?" He replied slowly.
The girl nodded "She's my best friend. Well, my best human friend at least." She patted the head of her Pikachu affectionately. "That reminds me. Who are you and what brings you to Kanto?"
The boy sighed. "My name is Max Maple," he said slowly. "And I'm here because I'm running away from home."
"Iron tail!"
"Parry with Fury Cutter!"
Pikachu let out a war cry as he flipped over in the air, bringing the sharp edge of the tail fright down on Paras' head. The Bug type yelled, using his back two legs to propel himself upwards and countering with a vertical swipe with his left forcep.
The two moves ricocheted violently off of one another, both small pokemon flying backwards from one another. Without command, Pikachu did a cartwheel midair so that he landed gracefully on his feet, wincing in pain as his feet met the ground. Ash winced. He had always been the master at snappy impulsive commands, but he was slower than usual. Pikachu didn't do well with jetlag and Ash hadn't slept on the plane journey whilst Red had, so he was severely handicapped.
However, despite all this Red still stood absolutely no chance against his brother. Whilst Pikachu knew instinctively to land on his feet after such a reaction, ready for another attack, Paras had just collapsed onto his back, legs twitching feebly as he struggled to flip himself over.
The pair were standing on the battling court around the back of Saffron City Pokemon centre. After leaving the airport they'd been looking for a decent place to stay the night which had turned into an accidental tour of the city as Ash realised that of the five pokemon centres that used to be found in Saffron only one remained. It was a fancy, well-staffed centre but it was the only centre nonetheless.
In the three years that Ash had spent away from society, a frightening number of ginormous changes had happened in league strategy. Inspired by Professor Kukui's little experiment in Alola (which Ash had ended up unwittingly taking part in) and the success of some random little school in Paldea, the league had gotten rid of the traditional system with gyms, licensed starter pokemon and journeying in favour of a new system built around pokemon training academies. This had decreased the need for pokemon centres, which led to many medical staff - including Ash's friend Brock - losing their jobs due to centres shutting down.
Ash began to finish the battle. "Pikachu, use Electro ba-"
"I concede!" Red yelped, running onto the pitch to pick up the flailing Paras.
Ash's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Is everything alright?" he asked cautiously.
"Yes. I'm just probably going to lose, so what's the point of continuing?"
"Two problems with that mindset," Ash commented sternly. "Firstly, it's incredibly unfair on me as your opponent. Secondly, it's not giving yourself enough credit if you..."
"Excuse me!" Yelled a female voice from the entrance to the pitch. It was Nurse Joy. "Mister champion sir, you've got a call!"
A worried look came over Ash's face. "Who is it?"
"It appears to be from your mother,"
This caused his mood to lighten considerably. "Never mind," he commented to Red. "Battle again later?"
"Sure," Red replied. "Say hi to Mum for me!" He called after Ash as Nurse Joy led him to where they kept the videophones.
Red crouched down to pick Paras up from the floor and place him back on his shoulder.
"He's right you know," came a sudden voice from behind him, causing him to jump. He spun around to see Leaf standing there, Nidory purring softly by her side. "You really shouldn't concede unless the situation really calls for it. You don't usually tend to concede anyway. What happened?
"I know," replied Red sullenly. "It was just so dominating. I felt hopeless against him."
Leaf chuckled. "I'm sure he makes most of his opponents feel absolutely hopeless," then, feeling as if a sudden change of subject was needed, she continued. "I've been speaking to him about what to do tomorrow actually."
"Really? What were you planning?" Red sat down on the stands as Leaf joined him.
"Well, I was thinking we go to Lavender first. He's never been there, so we could show him around. Also, Celadon Academy is closed for the summer as well, so we can meet up with Yellow again."
Red gave an interested grunt. "I haven't seen Yellow since I was adopted. How is he?"
"She's been fine, last I checked." Leaf commented and then thought for a second. She could clearly see that he was getting confused with the use of "she" and "her". "Though since you've left there's been a couple of developments, shall we say. She could probably explain them better than I could."
"I see," Red replied. "And is Chuchu ok?"
"I think so yes. Anyway, the other big thing that Ash wanted us to do is meet a friend of his. She's some coordinator named May who's touring Kanto right now with a theatre production called the Red Knight..."
"May as in May Maple, Max's sister?"
"Wait, I didn't know that Max had a sis..."
CRASH!
The door swung open violently and a small red pokemon rushed through. Once it slowed down, they were able to identify it as a very scared Growlithe. The small pokemon let out several panicked barks before nervously running in circles, eyes wide with blind panic.
"Found you!"
From the same direction that it had come came a tall, bulky human, dressed all in black with a sack over his shoulder. The man dived at the pokemon, who let out a startled yelp as it was stuffed into the sack.
The man had some difficulty tying the sack up again, which was bulging and shaking in a weird fashion as the Growlithe within desperately tried to claw its way to freedom. Seeing this, Leaf sprung up, Nidory racing behind her. "What are you doing?" She yelled in horror. "You're going to suffocate him!"
The man didn't respond. Seeing the dangerous snarling poison type at her side and concluding that he didn't have the time to send out one of his pokemon, the man instead belted for the exit.
Before he left, Red caught a glimpse of a small purple letter R on the front of his shirt.
"Hey Mum," Ash began awkwardly. The pokemon centre had better Wi-Fi than back home so it took a second for Delia's home computer to catch up. On the other end of the phone, Delia smiled as she tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "What did you wanted to see me about,"
"Nothing much, I just wanted to make sure you landed in Saffron OK." She replied.
"Yeah, yeah I did." Ash sighed in relief that it was nothing important.
"How are you finding being around Red and Leaf,"
"Alright, I guess. Red's a kind of weird battler and Leaf's kind of weird at socialising but otherwise they're fine."
"I suppose if you combine the two you get someone who's kind of weird at everything," Delia joked. "Look after them," she added, more sincerely. "Keep them out of danger."
"Don't worry," Ash replied smiling. "It's only a few days of travelling, just so they can get used to it layer on in life. I'll drop them down to Pallet for you so they can spend a few days with you before going back to school."
"And what will you do then?" Delia asked sternly.
"I don't know," Ash shrugged. "Keep travelling, I guess. Stay on my toes and..."
"Stay away from Goh, I presume?"
Ash stuttered. "I-I - Look Mum, me and Goh is none of your business."
Delia shook her head. "Red isn't my only child, Ash. You are my son as much as he is, if not more than him even, and just because you are always away doesn't mean I'm not worried about you."
"I know Mum. It's just..."
"Look, what you and Goh had was special," Delia continued. "And I'm not letting it be ruined by an argument. I understand taking a few days off to hang out with your brother and his girlfriend..."
"They aren't dating Mum. Red was very clear on that..."
"...Whatever. Point is, you should spend a few days away from Goh and then you should try to reconnect with him. You don't have to of course but if you do it'll be for your own good."
Ash sighed. "I'll consider it. No promises though."
Delia smiled softly. "That's all I ask. Please watch out for Red for me and I'll see you in a few days' time."
"Bye Mum."
"Piiiiikaaa!"
Ash hung up and was about to stand when he felt a buzzing in his trouser pocket. He pulled out his phone to find:
INCOMING CALL: GOH HARRIS
Ash looked at Pikachu. The electric type had been sitting on the desk next to the computer screen watching Ash and Delia's conversation with interest. He now turned his head to one side and squinted at his trainer as if to say. "Did you hear what your mother said,"
Ash frowned. "I'm sorry Pikachu but I just don't think I'm ready to face Goh again. And when I do it should probably be in person."
Pikachu's eyes widened in shock and frustration as his trainer pressed a gloved thumb on the DENY button.
"Come back here! You're not going to get away!"
Ash pocketed his phone and ran towards the door that led out of the videophone room and back into the main lobby of the pokemon centre.
There was a crash and a sound of rapid footsteps as a man wearing black with a squirming bag over one shoulder belted towards the door, being followed by a charging Nidory. Tailing them was a sprinting Leaf, who was followed by her Charmander Charlie and then Red (with Paras clinging onto his hat like some sort of strange alien helmet) and lastly Red's Lickitung, who was struggling to keep up on his short little legs.
Ash stared at the strange procession in disbelief. Then, he quickly realised who the person running away might be working for and what might be in the sack.
"Pikachu," he growled, a stern look on his face. "Go get Latias. We'll need her speed to catch them before they catch up with him."
BOOOM!
Max didn't know what happened. At first, he was face to face with that weird blonde girl and then the next there was a massive explosion somewhere in the distance and the girl was running at full speed towards its source followed by her Pikachu and, confusingly, Mightyena.
"Mightyena stop!" He called his pokemon but the dark type was out of earshot. She'd already turned the corner.
Max frantically turned to Kirlia. The psychic type was standing stock still, arms crossed, and eyes closed. Hearing the yelling he turned to his trainer, his eyes glowing violet but slowly returning to their usual ruby colour.
We need to go! He explained frantically, beginning to sprint in the other direction. I've telepathically looked at that explosion and... Let's say it's in our best interest to help.
"What about Mightyena?" Max asked, just about managing to catch up. "And if it is in our best interest to help, why are we running in the opposite direction?"
Oh, don't worry. Mightyena will be fine. We're going to the same place anyway. Kirlia chuckled. We just have a shortcut. And as he said this, he jumped up and grabbed his trainer's hand.
The world flashed purple.
When Max opened his eyes again, he found that he was not on the Saffron high street anymore but rather a dusty back-alley, with some old coordinator posters from over a year ago on one wall and a set of overturned dustbins in one corner. Next to him, he could hear Kirlia panting deeply, the little psychic type having overexerted himself in the teleport over.
The explosion from before had barely any effect on Treecko, but the teleportation did. The little lizard instantly roused themselves and leapt off of Max's shoulder, crossly berating Kirlia for waking him up.
CRAAASSSHHH!
"AAAEEERRROOO!"
The little reptile stopped complaining and the three looked around frantically. The loud noises came from the right hand side of the alley, which opened out onto another road. A cloud of dust obscured this exit and this flashed yellow as another loud boom reverberated down the alley, followed by another pained, primordial scream.
Max flinched. He thought he knew that scream.
Sure enough, as he peered around the side of the alley wall, crouching so that he wouldn't be noticed, he saw an incredibly disturbing site indeed.
The ground was strewn with the unconscious bodies of pokemon. Near to where he hid there was an Arbok laying faceup next to a large blade of stone that was lodged firmly into the ground. A little further down the road there were also a group of smaller fainted bodies.
From this distance, they were hard to distinguish but one appeared to be pink and slightly larger pokemon (probably a Lickitung) and two marginally smaller orange figures. Judging by the toasty smell in the air, one was probably a Charmander. As for the other, Max didn't have to see it to know that it was a Paras.
In the centre of the road, directly in front of him were two other pokemon. One was a magnificent Aerodactyl. It was lying face down in the dirt, its wings spreadeagled either side of it, displaying it's truly phenomenal wingspan. It raised its head up to look at its opponent, then once again collapsed, crooning in pain.
The opponent in question was a Magneton. It's silver skin was covered in dust from the battle, but it still shone a dull silver in colour. It floated in the air, looming over the Aerodactyl ominously, eyes blank with indifference.
Behind the fallen beast stood two human figures that he recognised. One was Leaf, his irritating mutual friend. She looked horrid, her face caked in dirt and the edge of her dress torn. She was knelt on the floor nursing Nidory, who was breathing shallowly with her head on her lap.
Over them stood Red, his eyes gleaming scarlet in the evening light. His knees were shaking, and his eyes were filled with tears, but his face was still firm. He was facing down another man who leered over him from behind the Magneton.
The man was an incredibly unpleasant person. He was large and well built, with arms that clearly showed that he was used to heavy work. He was dressed all in black, with the only other colours in his attire being a pair of light grey boots and a dark purple symbol of some kind, which Max couldn't make out from a distance, on the breast of his shirt. At his feet was a brown sack that was squirming uncomfortably.
He wore a black cap that was tipped slightly over his face - and what an unpleasant face it was! It was covered with small cuts from where he had been in trouble before, with a particularly large purple bruise on his left cheek. His hair was long, silver and incredibly untidy, spiking down his back and extending down the sides of his face and around his chin in a disturbing sideburn/neckbeard combo. His lips were turned up in a sadistic grin as he surveyed his victory.
"So then," he said, in a voice that was both low and raspy. "Do you give up yet?"
Red's fist tightened. He was struggling to make out words, but he shook his head.
The man grunted. "I can respect that sort of determination. Very well then, how about now." And he snapped his fingers.
As soon as it heard the sound, the Magneton made low whirring sound as another bright flash of electricity shot through the sky towards Aerodactyl causing the mighty rock type to spasm uncontrollably, eyes wide and mouth open.
From where he was hiding in the alley, Max averted his eyes. That Aerodactyl had once saved his life. Now, it pathetically writhed on the ground in a sea of yellow and blue light.
"AAAAEEEERRRROOOO!"
Eventually, the flashing subsided and there was a heavy thud as Aerodactyl collapsed. Max was about to look again before he heard footsteps from behind. He turned to see Mightyena dashing towards him, followed by the Pikachu and the blonde girl, with Kangaskhan bouncing up and down on her front.
Max held out her hand sternly, causing his new companions to stop. Then he finally turned around and looked at the fallout of the attack.
As the dust cleared, everything about the scene seemed the same as it was before Magneton fired the thunderbolt. The only thing that changed was that Aerodactyl was no longer moving.
The man stepped out confidently around his pokemon and approached his opponents. "Ok, ok you put up a good fight." He admitted coolly. "Now hand over your pokemon!"
Red looked at his pokemon and broke down.
The boy collapsed onto his knees and then onto his elbows, tears wetting the ground beneath him. Leaf stood up and stepped towards him, obviously intending to comfort him but the man got to him first.
He leered threateningly over Red, blocking him from Leaf. "Don't worry son," he said, crouching down and laying a reassuring but firm hand on Red's shoulder. "I'm sure Giovanni's always wanted an Aerodactyl as strong as that. And as for you, you've got ambition and power. I'm sure you and your little girlfriend here will be just as much of an asset as..."
"Kangahhh!"
To Max's right, the baby Kangaskhan burst out crying. The girl frantically shushed him, stroking him softly.
The baby's frenzied bawling quickly stopped but it was enough for the man to stand up, head snapping towards where they stood. If he had time to regain his focus, he would of noticed them...
...ZOOOOM!...
...But he was knocked off his feet by some incredibly fast invisible force. The thing, which could not be seen, zoomed back to block the two teenagers cowering in the street, dropping her cloak to reveal a familiar red and white dragon.
Latias' eyes glowed, projecting up a gigantic light screen that separated them from the man. The psychic type gave Red and Leaf a caring smile and then, seeing their physical and mental state, turned around to comfort them and heal their pokemon.
"PIIIGGG!"
A warlike squeal came from down the street. A medium sized muscly pokemon - Max identified it as a Pignite - leapt out of the dust towards the Magneton. The automata tried to drift away from each other to dodge, but the fire type deliberately dove through the gap between them, the temperature of its body causing them to heat up and melt.
"Brick Break!"
The voice split the air from nowhere in particular. The Magneton spun rapidly and began to charge a thunderbolt in defense, but Pignite deftly jumped onto the first head and pummeled it into the ground. The other two heads turned to face it in surprise but then...
"Use fire punch," Max had had enough with observing. He stepped into the street, raising his hand sternly.
On it! Kirlia psionically yelled as he ran forwards, fists flaming. He teleported beneath the steel type and delivered an uppercut that sent the second head spiraling out of the magnetic field binding the pokemon together, where it collapsed to the ground.
Kirlia landed on her feet and raised his arms gracefully in the air like a gold-medal gymnast. Meanwhile, the third head also fell flat in a large burst of flames from Pignite's nose.
Now it was the man that was cowering as a silhouette approached, flanked by a Pikachu.
Ash Ketchum was not in a good mood. He strode straight up to the man and grabbed him by the collar, his usually placid brown eyes glowing like his brother's. He bent over and whispered in his victim's ear.
Max didn't hear what Ash said, but he could put two and two together. The trainer released the criminal from his grip and the older man slunk away, returning his pokemon as he went.
As soon as it was clear, the girl with the Kanghaskhan cautiously stepped into the open. She rested her hand on the snout of the unconscious Aerodactyl and closed her eyes Max raised eyebrow as to what she was doing as the burns from the relentless electrocution of the Magneton somehow miraculously disappeared.
Max's jaw dropped. What did she just do? This girl was ridiculous!
Meanwhile, Latias let down the Light Screen to let Ash through as he stepped towards his brother and his close friend. Seeing their sorry state, he softened up. "Are you alright?" he asked calmly.
Red smiled widely, rapidly wiping his eyes so it didn't seem like he'd been crying. "All fine here,"
Once he said this, his eyes rolled back in his skull and Latias had to swoop in to catch him as he fainted.
Thus ends the first chapter of Ketchum Brotherhood. I hope that my use of Onomatopoeia wasn't too excessive, that my adaptation of Yellow is different enough from the original whilst still keeping the spirit of the character and, most importantly, that I got Ash Ketchum written correctly.
I will see you guys next time.