A list of the trainers we've met and their teams will be on the bottom of the next chapter. Or on the spin off. Or on my profile. It'll be up. Eventually.

I don't own Pokemon.

Episode 31

Vs. Kakuna

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"Please don't mess up the yard," Ash requested. Hellfire whuffed cheerfully. Kakuna hissed, its eyes flashing dangerously. Really proud little guy, aren't you? It was probably because of its recent evolution. It felt strong, like all newly evolved Pokemon did. They would believe themselves to be invincible until they had their arrogance beaten out of them by a redheaded tomboy and her Slowbro. Ash was all too happy to play the part. He took a couple steps away from his Houndoom. "I doubt you'll have a hard time anyway," Ash declared, lowering his voice slightly and shrugging, "After all, it's just a little bug." Hellfire gave him a look of confusion while Kakuna shrieked and spat a poisonous needle at the dog Pokemon.

The Houndoom sidestepped the Poison Sting with a startled bark. Then he lowered his head and charged. The bug shot a string of silk that hit one of the dog's horns. Kakuna's eyes narrowed, and its mandibles took on a yellow hue before it yanked itself at Hellfire. The Houndoom yelped and ducked beneath the attack. Ash paled when he realized the glowing Kakuna was going to hit their fence.

The poisonous bug crashed into the fence with a crack. Ash sighed. Oh, thank god, it didn't chip. The trainer's eyes widened when Kakuna rolled to face Hellfire. Not even dazed. He frowned. Okay, so this won't be as easy as we thought. Hellfire gave the yard a cursory glance. The only cover he would find was their tree, and its branches stuck up toward the sky. "Ram!" Ash ordered. Kakuna tensed when Hellfire charged with his head glowing. It spat a Poison Sting which was deflected by a horn. Kakuna buzzed in alarm before spitting a String Shot at one of the tree's branches. It yanked itself into the air, only for Hellfire to leap and Headbutt the shrieking bug into the tree's trunk.

Ash's Pokeball fell upon the dazed bug, then consumed it in a red flash. The trainer grinned triumphantly as the red capsule clicked to signify Kakuna's capture. The Pokeball flew back to his belt before attaching itself to the only open slot with a click. "Nice one," Ash congratulated, patting Hellfire's head lightly. "I've gotta admit, Kakuna was a bit more troublesome than I expected it would be." Hellfire barked in agreement. Beating a strong willed Kakuna without his fire wasn't an issue for Hellfire. Beating it in his trainer's yard without harming the yard itself was a touch difficult for the wild dog.

Dark-types with a dual typing were unique in that their specialization would always be in the other element. A Tyranitar was always more adept with its earth manipulation, a Sneasel would always be better at using ice manipulation, and a Houndoom would always be better with fire. Their dark moves had the raw power to match any pure dark-type, but some moves would be impossible for even the strongest of the dual dark-types.

He was surprised by how well behaved they'd been. Usually Willow cheered and Gore squealed when their teammates fought. "Looks like we've completed the team. Gore! Willow! Say hello!" He turned to face his other team members. Ash and Hellfire blinked. They were on the porch when the battle started. A sound like ice cracking behind the house caught the trainer's attention. He strode around his childhood home. Ash stopped at the side's end. The trainer prepared himself with a slow, deep breath.

Hellfire trotted up to him and whuffed, making him jump. Ash glared at the dog. Hellfire stared back with his small tail wagging. He sighed and peeked around the corner, half expecting his partner to be locked in combat with a silent dragon or ramming a reflection he found in ice. His eyes widened. Slabs of ice thicker than the teenager himself were stacked up to Daisy's open window. "You know, at this point I'm only a bit surprised he did this," the trainer said his tone even. Hellfire didn't seem to know what to make of the ice construct. The dog sniffed the bottom slab before pawing at it a couple times. Ash stepped on the first ice step before gesturing for Hellfire to follow him.

The trainer nearly slipped a couple times on the second slab, but his Houndoom steadied him with his horns. He'd never been more grateful Hellfire's horns curved backward. Ash gave the dog an appreciative nod before moving to climb again, this time on all fours. I need to get boots. His mother had pestered him about buying them before he left Pallet for months. Delia wouldn't let the matter drop no matter how many times he'd said his running shoes would be fine. As he pushed himself into his sister's window, he admitted she was right.

But his mother would never know this.

Ash squawked when horns like a ram's shoved him into Daisy's room. "Dick," he gasped, turning to glare at Hellfire as best he could. The Houndoom panted happily. Ash pushed himself up with a groan... And came face to face with a brown three headed ostrich. The redness surrounding her irises was alarming. The bird Pokemon handled being disturbed when resting as well as Willow, but was far less gentle than his Ivysaur. "H-hi, Dria. Having a nice day?" The Dodrio's fierce dark eyes narrowed. Ash began to sweat slightly when the bird's heads leaned in. Those beaks were among the most dangerous in the world. They'd even been known to puncture a rock-type's armor.

Just as he pictured himself skewered by nine-inch beaks Hellfire tumbled into Daisy's room. Dria turned to the dog Pokemon slowly. Whatever Hellfire saw in her gaze made him backpedal into Daisy's desk. "Dria wait! He's mine!" Ash cried scrambling in front of the dog Pokemon.

The wind that had begun to swirl around the Dodrio's beak faded. The giant bird stared at the Houndoom for a long moment before settling down on his sister's bed. She turned her back to them, displaying her foot long white tipped pink feathers. Ash sighed, relief filling him. The Dodrio was even larger than she'd been when Daisy won the Indigo tournament. Dria had to have been pushing three hundred pounds at this point. Good thing that bed's so strong.

Ash's brows rose. She still has that Champion Yellow comforter? And the Aoife and Lyra pillow set? Ash wondered if the fascination had something to do with Yellow having what was regarded as a rather masculine partner in Gorro the Golem, which wasn't unlike Daisy herself with Pins. Nah, that's when the phase happened. Daisy had bought the blanket a couple years back when she was going through some weird girl power thing. She was going on about slighter and more feminine girls being just as capable at training Pokemon. Women are weird. Wasn't that dragon woman from Kalos living proof the argument against feminine trainers was ridiculous? Drasna had a battle dress custom made instead of just wearing pants. Everything's complicated with them. I swear they're a different species.

He reached over to pat Hellfire's side lightly. I think I'd rather spend time with you, buddy. Ash blinked. There was something sad about that. The large dog nudged him toward the door with his nose. Hellfire glanced at Dria's back with worry. The dog hadn't a clue how right he was to fear her.

Ash pushed himself up with a grunt. He and Hellfire inched in the door's direction. Ash blinked when his shoulder bumped a frame. The frame slipped and the trainer scrambled to catch it. To his relief Dria only twitched.

Ash turned to hang it back up. It was an article ripped out of a newspaper. Atop the article was a picture of Mr. Fuji and Talc with a heading that read: "Little Heroes and Legendary Ace Send Team Rocket blasting Off Again!" Wow, they are really dramatic. Ash scowled. What the hell did they mean by little? He and Gary had been just under five feet at the time. Theirs teams were hardly small either. Janine was the only little one there. Well, her and Willow, who was still losing baby fat at the time.

There was a section of the article that Daisy had drawn a circle around. The article was about the supposed little heroes. Gary, Janine, and Ash's names weren't mentioned, but the species of their partners and their battles were. His brow rose. In the corner of the frame was a photo of Ash, his siblings, and their partners. A rush of Affection for his sister welled up in his chest.

Gore was seated on Ash's head. He looked rather like a ball of shaggy fur without incredibly stubby legs. His partner's brown eyes had yet to open, but what really caught his eye was the bone between his jaws. Some things just don't change. The trainer grinned when he saw Aria hanging off Gary's back in a manner better suited to a Mankey. His brother's strained smile and half shut left eye only made his grin widen. The expression faded somewhat after a moment. There was something in their younger selves' expressions he couldn't quite place. Ash moved on.

Daisy was between them as she always seemed to be. His sister beamed at the camera from her place atop Pins, her smile was littered with the gaps created by the last of her baby teeth falling. There was a gleam in her stormy gray eyes that he didn't remember. The gleam shone brightly in Ash's own eyes and his grin as well. He frowned when he realized he still couldn't place what it was. It reminded him of the way Willow's expression lit up when she mastered Energy Ball over a year ago.

It seemed obvious when he saw what it was. It was innocence. Daisy looked like a child. As odd as it was to think now, his sister and her partner weren't always a part of the League's elite. Before they'd fought thugs and bloodthirsty beasts Daisy was as naive as Ash now realized he, Gary, and the other trainers of their year were when they'd left Pallet. He clenched his fists so tightly his nails drew blood.

The Rockets crushed that innocence. They'd nearly killed his family, Pokemon and human alike. He would crush them all. Archer, Proton, Ariana, all of them. He'd- no. The trainer shut his eyes. Ash wondered if it was fair to blame the criminals entirely. The world was a beautiful and terrible place. They would have come upon the unforgiving truth of it without the Rocket thugs' help. He just wished it didn't have to happen the way it did.

"Innocence is a disease that should be purged as swiftly as possible." Brandon's quote had always struck him as a bit cold. Now Ash realized he couldn't have reached the top the way he was back then. Brandon had been trying to guide the next generation in his own way. I guess it isn't fair to hate them for this. Ash was still definitely going to obliterate the Rockets though. Just not for revenge.

His sister's bed creaked and he turned to meet Dria's gaze. The look in the fierce bird's eye was almost gentle. He smiled at her when the ostrich cooed quietly. "I'm fine," Ash said, reaching down to pat Hellfire's side. He turned to stride from the room. The bed creaked again and he turned back. "I promise I'm fine!" he promised with a bright smile. Hellfire licked his hand, his maw stretching into an expression that resembled a smile. Dria eyed him with more hesitance before settling back down.

The trainer shut the door behind them gently. He saw a large wet patch on the carpet beneath them as he walked down the stairs. So he went this way. Ash took his final step, then looked up at the staircase. None of the stairs had any issues on the way down. He couldn't have gone down the stairs could he? He glanced at the wet patch on the carpet floor of their living room. So Gore used a pile of snow to cushion his fall? Ash frowned. Could he do that?

It was a rather clever move. Willow could easily come up with it, but she would have shrieked loud enough to wake the dead if she was in a room with Dria. It was too clever for him to believe the idea had come from a creature known to chew on his own hooves. He must be hungry. It never failed to unsettle him how resourceful Gore could be when his belly demanded it.

Sometimes he wondered if the boar was playing him for a fool. Something to think about later.

He headed to the kitchen with that in mind. Ash stopped to run his hands along the worn black couch of their living room. The rocker in the right corner caught his eye. It had belonged to his great-grandmother, Maria Oak. The worn seams of the red rocker were the only clue to its age. Even the television set across the room sent a wave of nostalgia through him.

Then he heard clanking in the kitchen. Hellfire's ears snapped up as he sniffed the air insistently. Oh my various gods, he's cooking! Ash bolted with the Houndoom at his heels. What does he think he's doing? The idiot doesn't even have thumbs!

He slid onto the ceramic tiles of the kitchen. Gore froze. There was an orange on both of the boar's tusks. Within his maw was a large potato, and atop his head sat an Ivysaur. Willow bared her overbite in a smile. The dinosaur had an orange trapped beneath her paws, orange juice dripped from her maw, and her vines held an Oran berry. She trilled a greeting, making her pink eyes light up.

Ash grimaced. There goes my resolve. "You have to help clean this up," he muttered. Gore gave him a look of smug triumph. Always gotta rub it in don't you?

Xxxxxxx

"Oh man, that old snake must have thrown a Stone Edge the size of Pallet at him!" Ash laughed. Even for something with a type advantage against him hurting Hellfang badly enough for the wound too last two months was incredible. His laughter died when he saw Janine glaring at him. He'd forgotten she was there. His smile became strained Hopper glared too, and he began to sweat slightly. He glanced at Gore. The Piloswine gave Ash and the females an assessing look before returning to trying to bite his ear. You traitorous pork loin...

"Ash! Janine! Focus!" Gary snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, I get it. There's no reason to worry," Ash responded with a dismissive wave of his hand. Gary drew breath to speak, but Ash cut him off. "Raikou, Suicune, and Entei aren't like Moltres, Articuno, Zapdos or Hellfang. Basically, the weirdos of the group are causing trouble. Oh, and a couple Champions were assholes. Not a huge deal," Ash said with a shrug. What it boiled down to was they grew to their immense power in another way that people had yet to discover. Which probably had something to do with their bad attitudes, and Raikou was at war with Hellfang. It wasn't a big deal. All that mattered was that they could reach that plateau. If it could be done, they'd do it. That was all there was to it.

There were more important things for Ash to worry about. I wonder if the Onix King and the Moon Goddess have a name? Ash knew the Titan and the Black Fog didn't have names. They probably wouldn't handle being called something else by people they didn't know very well. A name was a very personal thing to a Pokemon, it was a connection to their trainer and their team. The Queen of Dragons was called the wrong name by one of her partner's descendants once, which led to a confrontation. Unfortunately, for the man's team she was at worse the second strongest Dragonite born in the past few millennia. Needless to say it did not end pleasantly for the idiotic Blackthorn.

There was an easy way to find out the rest of their names. His grandfather had known the other transcendents' names after all. It was a solid bet he knew theirs. When Gary asked the old man about the Onix King and the Moon Goddesses' names he had evaded the question with all the skill one would expect from a man who'd been dealing with politicians for more than four decades. Which Ash found to be rather ironic considering Oak quit being Champion because dealing with politicians was incredibly frustrating. It helped that Agatha was his equal as a commander and a superior administrator.

He also needed to figure out how to keep Willow from climbing down the chimney again.

"...He's handling this wa~y better than we did," Janine murmured to Gary, snapping Ash to focus.

"Of course I'm handling it better than you two!" the trainer snorted. He was offended they thought he wouldn't handle it better. Ash and pointed at his brother. "This idiot cried when he found out a show was cancelled."

"I was eight!" Gary snapped his cheeks reddening. Aria hooted in an amused fashion.

Ash turned to Janine. "And you worship that poison proof scarf because Karen gave it to you when you were four."

"I do not worship it," the shinobi protested, pouting. Saur gave his partner a deadpan look. She certainly bordered on worship. Ash knew the first thing she did after getting her Pokemon taken care of was tend to her scarf. She went to breakfast in the scarf. He was fairly certain she slept with it. She even tried to buy Saur a scarf in Lavender. All members of her family treasured their scarf, but Janine took caring for it to an extreme.

"At least we've never forced a piglet to carry a couch up a flight of stairs!" Gary smiled smugly as Ash stiffened. "Remember what you told him? You can eat when you're done, Pepperoni." Even the Butcher wouldn't have been so cruel, Ashy-boy."

"For the last time it was a wicker couch! And I wasn't even ten yet!" Ash snarled. Admittedly, making a piglet do that was an overreaction to Gore eating one of his hats, but the piglet lived. It seemed no one ever mentioned him helping the Swinub push the couch when Gore got it halfway up. They only ever mentioned Gore carrying the couch. Well, that and it almost crushing them when Ash tripped on some snow Gore sneezed. They lived though, which meant it was more or less a success in Ash's mind. He smiled darkly. "Remember the soccer tournament? Remember what you did when we met that actress from Kalos?" Gary stiffened, his eyes widening in horror. Janine leaned in.

"Say anymore and I'll have two sisters," Gary promised in a tone so dark Ash almost considered stopping for a moment.

"Idiot ran right up to her and got down on a-" Ash ducked beneath a wild swing of his brother's fist. He laughed as he swerved away from another blow. The third blow caught him in the chest, making him wince. Eyes flashing, Ash grabbed Gary's arm and cocked his own fist back.

"Boys!" Janine snapped, making them freeze. "You just saw each other again and you already want to fight?" Gary lowered his fist slowly. Ash kept his up.

"You sound like our mother," he complained. Gore whined in agreement. The boar had been looking forward to what he thought to be a human duel. Ash wasn't sure how he felt about Gore wanting to be his trainer.

"Cause ya need it," Janine retorted putting her hands on her hips. The trainer huffed, he still didn't bother trying to defend himself. The President of the Pokemon League couldn't talk Ash out this one. He glared at Aria when she chortled.

"Whatever, I have a tree to find, and a nap to take," Ash told them. He would rather be in his room, but he'd locked himself out of it. He twitched when Willow climbed onto his head. He really needed to break her out of that habit before she evolved again. The image of a little Venusaur climbing up his back made him grimace.

"Why don't you just go to your room?" Gary asked, raising a brow.

The trainer's eyes widened in alarm. He scrambled for a satisfying answer. "I can't." Oh, goddammit.

"Why?" If there was a quality about his brother he hated most it was Gary's need to know everything.

"Gore, uh, doesn't fit in the doorway," Ash replied. The Piloswine tilted his massive head to the side with a blink. Then he huffed. Hellfire gave his trainer a baffled look until Ash threw half a treat to him.

His brother drew breath to ask him another question when Ash noticed the number of people heading toward their right. "Hey, where do you think they're going?" he said pointing over Janine's head.

"Probably headed to the bay," Janine put in before Gary could question Ash again. His brother sighed. He appeared to have finally accepted he wouldn't be interrogating Ash further.

Victory. He repressed his grin with great effort. "How strange," the trainer murmured.

"Eh, not really, weird stuff was goin' on there earlier," the shinobi said with a shrug. Ash and Gore blinked. Willow's ears perked up as she turned from staring at their tree to give Janine her full attention.

"They probably want to see if that crazy Vulpix is still there," Gary clarified. Ash and Willow choked while Hellfire froze. Gore only snorted as though he'd expected such news.

"You guys heard about a crazy Vulpix at the bay?" Ash asked with an awkward laugh. He could feel his wallet becoming lighter.

"Crazy is an understatement, she jumped Druz," Gary told him his gray eyes twinkling. Ash glared death at his brother. He received a raised brow in return.

"I thought she was cool!" Janine chirped, "I mean, how many fire-types would fight a Quagsire to get at an Onix!" I'm going to prison, Gore's going on a pizza, and Willow will be the side salad. Trainers can't be tried as adults until they're fifteen right? Ash's eye twitched. That Soothe Bell was worthless! Grace just pretended to be nicer until she could dispose of it. I can't even get my money back!

"You would think that's cool," Gary said huffing fondly. "Grandpa sure didn't. The old man hates having his research interrupted almost as much as he hates spending money." Gore's eyes bulged. Well, shit, Hellfire nudged his hand when he saw Ash paling.

"We need to get to the jailhouse before they find us," Ash whispered. Even Oak and Fearia couldn't get to them if law enforcement already had them. Gore snorted urgently before moving to herd Hellfire out of the yard.

"Ash! Gary!" his neighbor's daughter, Jessica, called as she stopped in front of their fence. The girl panted as though she'd been running for a while. Ash was a bit ashamed that his first thoughts were of how she'd grown in the past year and a half. Only a bit though. "You guys have got to see this! There's a Kingler and Vulpix picking a fight with the Fearow and Spearow!"

I hate my life.

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Fanboyism saved Mewtwo's life. In the initial draft Hellfang killed him.

The oneshots I have planed will be showing what other characters are up to. So far I've got ideas for Pikachu, Squirtle, and Charizard.

I might put Ash's commands on my profile or put it at the bottom of the of one of the next couple chapters. Which should be about three more chapters.

It's been awhile since I've done any recommendations, so here are a couple manga: Vinland Saga and Kingdom. Kingdom centers around the first conquest of China in the era of Qin Shi Huang. Vinland Saga is a bit more complicated to describe. So I'll just say it's about Vikings.