Chapter 75: Speaking from Experience
Ash and Nikki were well on their way towards the Valley of the Iron Fist. It had been a few hours since Ash had lost his recent battle to Itchy and Nikki could tell it was weighing heavily on the Pallet Town trainer's mind.
"Don't let that battle get you down," she said. "You may have lost to him again, but at least you managed to get one win over him."
"It's not really the loss that has me thinking," Ash replied. "It's the fact that I know my Pokémon and I have gotten stronger, but at the same time he has too. Whenever I think I've closed the gap I find out he's extended it again. And I know that if he's gotten stronger then all the other trainers looking to qualify for the Legenda League have gotten stronger as well. I just don't know where I stand in comparison to all of them." Nikki hadn't thought about that, but hearing Ash put it into words she understood why he was looking a bit worried. Right then she got an idea.
"I know. Let's stop for some training," she suggested.
"That's not a bad idea," Ash agreed. The two of them kept going until they found a suitable clearing for their training. Then, one by one, Ash called out his Pokémon until everyone was out and ready to train. Everyone, that is, except for Scizor, who elected to go off by himself.
"Scizor. Where are you going?" Ash called.
"(Why do you care?!)" Scizor spat.
"We need to train if we're going to get strong enough to win the Legenda League," Ash told him.
"(I don't need to train with you to get stronger,)" Scizor retorted.
"But…"
"(Just leave me alone!)" Scizor demanded. The other Pokémon watched as the Pincer Pokémon continued on his way, completely ignoring Ash's pleas. Many of them were disgusted with the way Scizor was acting and his attitude towards Ash. Charizard, however, didn't share their view. He had seen behavior like this before and felt that he could change Scizor's demeanor. For now, though, he was focused on his training and getting stronger. But he would have to have a serious talk with the Pincer Pokémon before long.
The training went well and, just as Ash had hoped, everyone who participated grew stronger as a result. Now, though, it was getting late in the day and Nikki had prepared them a delicious meal after a hard day of training. While everyone else had gathered around to eat Scizor remained isolated from the others.
"I thought he'd at least join us to eat," Ash said as he glanced over at the Pincer Pokémon. Nikki could tell this was getting him a bit down, having one of his Pokémon not be a team player.
He may come around later," she said.
"Maybe," Ash agreed. As they continued to eat Nikki couldn't help but look over in Scizor's direction. She felt bad for him, not wanting to join them to eat. Right then she decided to get up and bring him some food. Ash and the other Pokémon looked on nervously as she approached the Pincer Pokémon, a bowl of food in her hands.
"Here you go," she said, placing the bowl of food down next to him. Scizor didn't acknowledge her or the food she brought. Nikki decided to head back to the others and resume eating.
"I'm surprised he let you get that close to him without lashing out," Ash commented.
"To be honest I am too," Nikki admitted. "I wonder why." To be honest Scizor had no feelings on Nikki one way or the other. After all, she wasn't the one who captured him. Despite that he wasn't about to let them see him accept her offering. If anything he'd wait for everyone else to fall asleep before eating the food.
Day soon turned into night, and everyone had turned in for a good night's sleep. Seeing this Scizor decided to finally eat the food Nikki had prepared. As he ate he found out that the food was actually pretty tasty, though he'd never admit it to anyone. With his food eaten Scizor turned his gaze to the sky. After a few minutes he heard footsteps approaching him. His demeanor immediately soured as he figured it was Ash coming to beg him to join the others again.
"(I thought I told you to leave me…)" He stopped once he realized that it wasn't Ash but Charizard who had approached him.
"(Expecting someone else?)" Charizard questioned. Scizor didn't answer, deciding to turn his gaze back to the sky. Charizard stood next to him and followed his gaze. For a while neither Pokémon spoke a word, just taking in the silence of the night.
"(Quiet night, isn't it,)" Charizard commented. Once again Scizor declined to reply, leaving the two of them in silence once again. Eventually Scizor decided to ask the burning question that was on his mind.
"(What are you doing here?)" he asked the Flame Pokémon.
"(Enjoying the night, same as you,)" Charizard replied. Scizor frowned and turned to face the Flame Pokémon, giving him his full attention.
"(Don't give me that. I know you're here for a reason, so spit it out,)" he demanded. Charizard then turned to face him, a serious expression on his face.
"(Alright. I want to know what your problem with Ash is,)" the Flame Pokémon stated. "(What did he do to warrant you treating him the way you have?)"
"(You want to know what he did, do you? Alright, I'll tell you,)" Scizor said. "(He captured me and took me away from my home, all because he wanted to win some silly tournament. And he think I need his help to get strong when I was perfectly capable to doing that on my own. I don't need him or anyone else to help me get strong.)" Charizard said nothing and waited for Scizor to continue.
"(I was perfectly fine on my own, and once he realizes I don't want to be part of his team he'll release me and I'll be back on my own,)" Scizor continued. Hearing this caused Charizard to chuckle a bit, something that didn't go unnoticed by Scizor.
"(What's so funny?)" he asked.
"(Trust me, Ash isn't going to release you no matter how much trouble you cause. He'll just be that much more determined to get on your good side,)" Charizard replied.
"(What? Speaking from experience or something?)" Scizor scoffed.
"(Actually, yes,)" Charizard answered, surprising the Pincer Pokémon.
"(What?) he questioned.
"(It may surprise you but Ash and I weren't always on the best terms,)" Charizard said. Scizor just looked at him, confusion written all over his face.
"(Let me start from the beginning,)" Charizard said. "(My original trainer didn't think too much of me when I was a Charmander. He saw me as weak and promptly abandoned me on a rock. It was Ash and his friends who found me one rainy night and saved my life.)"
"(Let me guess… you felt as if you owed him,)" Scizor interrupted.
"(To be honest I did at the time,)" Charizard stated. "(Sure, I could have went off on my own. But I wanted that companionship, and he offered that. So I joined him on his travels. Things were great for a good while and I really enjoyed my time with him. Then things changed once I evolved.)"
"(Changed how?)" Scizor wondered.
"(Once I evolved into Charmeleon I got a bit of an ego. I started to believe that I had outgrown my need for Ash,)" Charizard explained. "(I started lashing out, attacking him whenever he called me out, similar to what you're doing now. And things got even worse once I evolved into Charizard.)" Scizor just stood and listened, eager to hear what the Flame Pokémon had to say.
"(As a Charizard I still attacked him on occasion, but now I felt as though I was the strongest around and no one could top me. Because of that I started ignoring him whenever he gave me commands, choosing to do whatever I felt like,)" Charizard continued. "(Despite this he never gave up on me. He kept on calling on me, trying to get me to listen. It really got on my nerves.)"
"(Tell me about it,)" Scizor grunted.
"(This went on for a long time. Then one day we were traveling through the Orange Islands when we battled a trainer using a Poliwrath. Naturally I wanted a piece of him and came at him with all I had, but in the end he beat me and left me frozen in a block of ice,)" Charizard said. "(That was the first time I felt weak and helpless since my days as a Charmander. I thought that this was the end for me, but Ash did everything he could to thaw me out and nurse me back to full health. It was then I started thinking about everything that lead up to that point and realized that he wasn't that bad of a trainer and that I hadn't been the best Pokémon.)"
"(And that's when you started obeying him?)" Scizor assumed. Charizard smiled before answering.
"(Best decision I ever made,)" he replied. "(We became quite the unstoppable team once I started obeying. There weren't many trainers who could stand up to us.)"
"(So what, that's it?)" Scizor asked.
"(That's it,)" Charizard confirmed.
"(So what was the point in telling me all this?)" Scizor questioned.
"(The point was showing you that no matter how unruly the Pokémon is Ash won't give up on them, and that maybe you should give him a fair chance. He may surprise you," Charizard explained. "(You never know what you might be able to accomplish with his help. You may even be an unstoppable dou like we were.)" At that moment he let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes.
"(Well, I'm going to get some shut-eye. Just… think about what I said.)" With those final words Charizard left to rejoin the others, leaving Scizor alone. The Pincer Pokémon turned his gaze back to the sky for a moment. As he looked at the sky he couldn't help but think about Charizard's story. Was there any truth to it? Or did the Flame Pokémon make it all up? If it was true then would the same thing happen with him if he started obeying?
"(What am I thinking? I don't need him to get stronger… but if what he said was true then maybe…)" Charizard's story left him with conflicting emotions, something that would occupy his mind for the entire night.
Morning soon came, and after having a good breakfast Ash and Nikki were ready to hit the road once again.
"Alright, guys! Let's get ready to go!" Ash announced. He started recalling his Pokémon, but when he got to Scizor he noticed a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Scizor? Are you alright?" he asked.
"(I'm fine,)" the Pincer Pokémon replied. "(Let's just get going.)" Ash wasn't expecting that kind of response from the rebellious Scizor, but rather than question him about it he just recalled him and gathered his things.
"Did Scizor's attitude seem different to you?" he asked Nikki.
"It did," she answered. "I wonder what changed from yesterday?"
"Who knows," Ash responded. With nothing left to do they hit the road again, completely unaware of the conversation that happened the previous night between Scizor and Charizard.
A nighttime conversation may have just given Scizor a new understanding of Ash. Will this cause the unruly Pokémon to start obeying? Or will he remain a rebel? Find out in the next chapter of Search for Power!
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