Chapter 5:Dragons, mice and crustaceans
For eons, the last of the seven kings had passed his time, his mind trapped in enchanted slumber by the all-knowing-aberration sealed on land, until he-who-burns-the-earth shattered the fallen's graveyard, and now, the humans would slowly move in. Was this the oncoming of the storm they had foretold? The spirit-of-the-forests had still to travel, and thus, it wasn't time enough for the last king to rise in defiance.
Therefore, it must wait. Amidst the swirl of the ocean, it must wait.
Deep beneath the ocean's floors, cohabiting beside the guardians of the sea, the King waited, and waited, waiting for a sign, a totem, anything that could be a symbol that the time had finally arrived. There would be, of course, more events in time before the cataclysm came burning down from the heavens again, but at least this time, the aberrations sealed on land wouldn't be able to betray their own kind.
Time will tell.
Time, and the spirit-of-the-forests, will tell.
Meanwhile in Pallet Town.
"Professor, what could possibly have caused this?" Delia Ketchum asked her superior, as the two researchers looked at the unfolding anomaly from the laboratory's terrace. It had been completely normal around… fifteen minutes ago, and suddenly, the entire Kanto region seemed to be… engulfed in some kind of swirling fumes, and dense fog.
Anyone else would have perhaps called it a weather anomaly, and left it at that. The more superstitious ones would have proclaimed it as the judgement of the Legendaries on humankind, and that Armageddon was near. Samuel Oak however, knew better.
"The concentration of draconic energies in the atmosphere has suddenly crossed the Marilyn Benchmark." Oak muttered ominously, as he rushed back to his lab, and began typing commands into one of the mainframes in his lab, gathering information about a possible epicentre for this… anomaly. Most anomalies had to have a certain epicentre, and if not, at least a radius where it generated from. Unless of course it was….
Samuel Oak stopped himself before entertaining that thought.
Delia palmed her mouth in excitement. "The Marilyn benchmark? But that's impossible. The sheer presence required for that would be too high that the resultant positive interference of a-"
"It has happened before," Samuel paused.
Twice. He thought. "Once. It has happened once before, some… forty years ago."
'It… did?" Delia was blank. "But… how?"
"The sky-high dragon had come down to the earth, because an alien… pokémon had had the audacity to pass through her dominion without her permission."
"The sky-high dragon, you mean Ray-"
"Do not speak of her name so lightly." Samuel chided her. "Names have power, Delia. Please do not use them lightly."
"But the name is question is not exactly her true name, is it, professor?" Delia challenged. For a man so well-travelled and a genius, Samuel Oak certainly was a man of contradictions. More so, when it came to legendaries. For someone who had been unchallenged as an Elite for over twenty years, Samuel Oak held unfathomable terror when it came to legendary pokémon.
"That may be so," Samuel snapped, "but I forbid you from using it. Not even in my absence."
"Whatever you say, Professor." Delia frowned. "But you never completed that. What exactly happened back then?"
Samuel looked nostalgic. "The sky-high dragon came down roaring at the extra-terrestrial abomination, and the two of them had a battle, one that had engulfed the entirety of the North Pole for over a year."
"An entire year?' Delia was shocked. "How is it that I haven't read anything about it?"
"Classified information. You need specific levels of clearance for that. As it is, only me, Professor Sycamore of Kalos, and a certain someone know about it. Not even the Indigo League or Lance has any knowledge of those events, since it was declared on a need-to-know basis."
"Then how did you-?"
"I was there." Oak admitted. "We were researching the existence of fossils of a certain… pokémon that could be called as the precursor to the modern-day mega-evolved Gyarados."
Delia was stumped. "And?"
"As I said, the information is classified. I cannot share any further details than that, forgive me."
Delia swallowed. "Do you think that something like that is happening once again?"
"I believe so." Samuel sighed in frustration. "Though it seems centered around Kanto region, specifically in the regions surrounding the Cerulean Sea."
The Cerulean Sea was the expansive waterbody that surrounded the regions of Pallet, Cerulean, Viridian and Vermillion, before meeting up with the Pacific Ocean further east.
"That's…. a small region, considering everything."
"It is, indeed." Samuel felt his left eye twitch, as he read the results of his simulated program, one that had tracked down the location of the epicentre. "Delia, you should know that Ash called in on me some hours ago."
"He did?" Delia asked, "That's surprising."
"You do not expect your son to call you when he's out as a trainer?" Oak asked in surprise.
"Well, Ash's always… been so very much like his father, and, truth be told, I was half-expecting to not see him for at least until he had attained all the badges and given a try at winning the Indigo Conference." Delia admitted, rubbing a lone tear that threatened to fall from her right eye.
"Delia." Oak chided. "You know that there is more to Ash than being his father's son."
"I know." Delia had an undecipherable expression on her face. "Red Ketchum certainly did make sure of it that he removed a significant part of himself from Ash."
"You know why he did it." Oak tried.
"Yes, and I understand it damn well. Doesn't mean I've to like it, do I?"
Oak looked away. "Delia… you should know that when Ash called me this afternoon, he was… in Bill Montgomery's lighthouse, the one located at the Route 24 ferry junction."
"It must be the same there as well then, considering-" Delia rattled off, before it hit her. "Professor, what aren't you telling me?"
Oak took a deep breath. "The exact epicentre of this anomaly is… eight hundred and seventy metres away from Bill's lighthouse." Oak paused, unsure of how to continue. "And it is moving closer to it by the minute."
Back at Bill's Lighthouse.
Ash was in two minds. One on the one hand, he certainly wanted to see this mythical King Dragonite for himself, a pseudo-legendary dragon who had once been the rulers of the region, and had made sure that civilization thrived and not get… erased by this uncertain… apocalyptic phenomena. On the other hand, he couldn't help but remember the events deep beneath the floors of Mount Moon, when he had faced the sheer presence of the Legendary King of Ice. Even the supremely-powerful metagross had been rendered tired in its attempt to fight, and the King had blown that attempt off by a single ice-beam.
First the Legendary king of ice, and now a King dragon? All of this within the span of a week? This isn't… just a coincidence, is it?
"Are you ready, Ash? To be entrusted with the opportunity to behold the greatness of a King dragon? I admit, this would be one of those times when I should yell, 'eureka' or 'excelsior'… I'm, uncommitted."
Another ever-distant voice loomed into the heavens, past the darkened clouds, past the ever-deepening mist that had manifested itself all around the lighthouse, and possibly even further.
"Do you really think it would be a good idea, Bill? I mean… what if it attacks us?" Ash asked, keeping his tone as sceptical as possible.
Bill gave him an awkward look. "Why would you say that? Have you perchance… had the sheer luck to stand in front of a Legendary?"
Yes.
"No." Ash lied. "I'm just… asking, you know."
Bill chortled. "Your paranoia is admirable, Ash, but there is a time for that, and," his face shifted into a grin, one that was too much like-Derrick -Ash realized, "—and there is a time for unbridled hope, like this."
I can only hope that your hope saves you from getting killed, Bill. Ash didn't say. Despite Bill's technologically advanced fortress that was the lighthouse, Bill didn't have a stupidly powerful metagross to save him, nor another Alakazam to teleport him out. On second thought, he should start looking into a TM for teleport to teach it to Metang. Even better, he would need to capture a psychic pokémon, specifically of the Abra line, given their innate talent for teleportation. Staying alive was so much better, the after-effects of psychic travel be damned.
Perhaps I could call home and ask if Mum's Kadabra had a baby somewhere?
His mum, Delia Ketchum was Professor Oak's assistant, and was personally invested in psychic pokémon. Her Mr. Mime, Kadabra and Gardevoir, while on the same level of Professor Oak's Alakazam, were fairly powerful in their own right. He had never really met his father, though he was told that he looked fairly like him, and that his father was off… doing things for the greater good, although his mother rarely heard from him, if ever. As far as Ash was concerned, he had had a single parent in his entire life.
His mother.
While he didn't really get her trait of analysing pokémon in a lab, he had retained her sharp wit and on-the-spot thinking, especially when it came to noticing the behaviour of pokémon. Growing up with psychics, Ash had gained… a measure, so as to say, of the power of those know-it-all species to not understand what power truly meant.
Especially not since I stood in front of Articuno.
"He's coming, Ash. The King's approaching closer." Bill began excitedly, his shaking limb pointing towards the humongous shadow due west, approaching them with exaggerated slowness.
Ash turned in the direction, and froze…. In awe. The shape, still engulfed in darkness, was easily over a hundred feet in height, almost as tall as the lighthouse itself. The behemoth slowly traversed past the silent waters as it pushed its way towards the lighthouse, towards an overly excited Bill and a stupefied Ash who were staring at it in wonder. Ash could make out the two wings on either end, easily spanning over thirty feet in length by the minimum, and the two tentacle-like protrusions on either side of his head, though they looked more like horns from the distance, and his body was more… sharp, instead of the slightly globular shape that Professor Oak's Dragonite was.
"King… Dragonite!" Bill muttered. "An-sah-lohn!"
In hindsight, that was probably a mistake. The moment Bill muttered his name, his true name, the pseudo-legendary king turned his attention towards the researcher and by extension, the kid standing beside him. The king's eyes narrowed as he detected a possible… emptiness within the kid, standing aside the man who had, in possible arrogance, dared to call upon his name.
"You dare…." The loud, powerful, menacing voice shattered both Bill's and Ash's mind, as the king communicated his thoughts. "You dare… command me with my name…"
Bill took a step back in fear. "But I never—forgive me, King Dragonite. I just, it has been my dream to behold your presence. I have been researching-"
But the King's attention had shifted from the stupidly arrogant man to his companion. "You…" He addressed Ash directly… "-shouldn't have existed."
Me? …. I shouldn't have… existed? But why? For some reason, Ash knew instinctively that the King Dragon was speaking to him, and that Bill couldn't hear it.
But the King had already spoken, and now, was time for his judgement. In a motion bizarrely fast for someone of his age, the mighty dragon spun around, his tail came lashing past the waters, splashing waves on either side, as it slammed onto the lighthouse, shattering the psychic defences in place, breaking past the powerful walls as it completely destroyed the upper part of the terrace. By some stroke of luck, both Bill and Ash, who were standing on the terrace, were not dead, and had escaped with minor scratches and bruises at best.
Ash had the sneaking suspicion that he had survived not because the King missed its mark, rather, he had survived because he hadn't. He looked back, trembling as he did, towards the expansive sea, but the King had already vanished from sight.
"I guess…." Bill stood up, completely shaken by the events, "I guess this is what happens when you overstep the boundaries." He gave a half-hearted grin. "You're right, once again, Ash. It was a mistake trying to send signals, trying to spot the sleeping King, It was an ever worse mistake to call out his true name."
"True name?" Ash asked, completely shaken by the experience he had just had. "You mean the An-sah-something you spoke?"
"Forget that I ever mentioned it, Ash. Never mention to anyone what you saw and experienced here. This is a classified event and must remain as such."
Right. Classified events. I seem to encounter them by the plenty.
"And forget that you ever heard the King's name."
Forget that something like An-sah-lohn exists. Yep, totally cool.
"Once again, Ash. I feel like I owe you, considering that it was my own actions that almost caused out premature deaths."
I'm quite sure he doesn't really understand both how true and yet inadequate the statement is.
"It is okay, Bill. You couldn't have known that the King would get enraged and everything." And you didn't listen to me.
"Either way, I'd like to make things up for you." Bill paused. "Let's go downstairs."
"Wait, what's going to happen to the terrace?"
"Oh that?" Bill waved it away. "I'll just get it fortified back ASAP." He paused. "Damn, that… King, was over a hundred feet. Looks like my estimations were wrong."
Advantages of being a multi-billionaire. Ash thought sarcastically. "I hope everything gets back in form as quick as possible."
"It will, no doubt." Bill grinned. "Besides, this isn't the worst thing I've been in."
I'll believe that when I see it.
The next day morning.
Ash stood at the ferry junction, a bright smile etched on his face, as he stood waiting for the ferry that was visible on the horizon. He glanced down at the awesome gadget on his right hand. It was shaped like an arm bad, with a miniature screen and a couple of buttons on it, protected by a powerful metallic barrier, which slid and out in response to a certain switch at the back.
An Xtransceiver.
It was the hottest technology that was current in beta stage at Silph Co. and given out to a very limited company personnel for beta-testing it out in the real world. The Xtransceiver was the future of the PC Console, one that would allow a trainer on the road to instantly communicate with another (who should have an Xtransceiver as well, naturally), and also allow him to transport/ exchange pokémon to and fro from the coral he is registered to. In essence, he could now transport pokémon to and back from Oak's Coral (Bill convinced him that someone like Samuel Oak had to be a beta-tester for all things pokémon) without having to look out for pokémon centers and the like. It would also help him to transfer injured pokémon instantly to Oak's lab for treatment (which had state-of-the-art medical facilities) without running to pokémon centers. In return, Ash would have to use this… undeniably awesome gadget on a wear-and-tear basis, and report back to Bill how applicable and useful it was in the real thing.
In short, it was natural that Ash was a bit… happy.
He had made a call to Professor Oak earlier in the morning, through the PC console, exchanged contact information necessary for Xtransceiver communication before leaving. Professor Oak had been… slightly odd, given how frequently he was asking if everything was okay or not. From the looks of it, Bill and Professor Oak were likely having a long conversation.
The ferry had finally reached the junction, and people started to come out of the steamship in droves, before the captain gave the signal, as the new passengers, including Ash, stepped into the mechanical contraption. The ferry service, sailed from the coast of Vermillion, stopped at Marina's Bay, and then reached the Route 24 ferry junction. The reverse route also went through the same points, naturally, in reverse.
"Everyone seated?" The captain asked, as he stood at the wheel, before the gears made a strangling noise as the ferry roared up in activity. Soon, they were all sailing towards the horizon, with the long winding Route 24 on the left, snaking its way past the Bavarian cliff. The journey would take quite a while, and having had a momentous night earlier, Ash decided to use the time wisely and get himself some shut eye.
Hours later…
The sudden turbulence woke Ash Ketchum up from his somewhat troubled sleep. Ever since he had entered Mount Moon, he hadn't really gotten a good night's sleep, not with the memories of Articuno and now, King Dragonite, awakening fear in his heart, making him wake up in the middle of the night, all perspiring and wet, only to fall back and wait as minutes passed by, alone in the middle of the night.
He cheked his watch. Fortunately or not, it wasn't evening. In fact, it was hardly two in the noon, and they were already past Marina's bay, and would be reaching the coast of Vermillion in a couple of hours at most. What surprised him, however, was the somewhat lacking population inside the compartment, and from the sounds of it, there were people on the deck. Instantly releasing Metang to his side, Ash got off from his seat and climbed up using the ladder.
It was a mess.
The ship was… locked, for lack of a better word, within a miniature whirlpool of sorts, and the captain was trying his level best to break the ship out of the swirls. Ash could see a… Poliwhirl and a golduck in the water as well, along with several seaking and a single wartortle in the water, trying to push the ship up, though most of them were intercepting the real reason for the problem.
The ship was surrounded by a dozen different water pokémon, most of which were tentacool, their evolved version tentacruel, and a certain kind of… fish pokémon Ash hadn't seen prior to this.
Carvanha. The savage pokémon. Carvanha's strongly developed jaws and its sharply pointed fangs pack the destructive power to rip out boat hulls. Many boats have been attacked and sunk by this Pokémon.
Ash checked in for further info.
Carvanha are in general, water/dark type. If anything invades Carvanha's territory, it will swarm and tear at the intruder with its pointed fangs. On its own, however, this Pokémon turns suddenly timid.
A dark type. Now isn't that interesting.
"Rogue pokémon!" the captain yelled.
"Go, Pidgeotto!" Ash summoned his favourite avian. Pidgeotto, her feathers shining and bedazzling everyone on the ship, as she flew higher up into the sky, staring down at the jellyfish pokémon who were now firing water-jets towards her.
"Dodge, and use air slash on the tentacool, Pidgeotto!"
With a war cry, Pidgeotto shot up higher in the air to get a larger radius, and began to slash her wings through the air, sending energy waves crashing onto the water, hitting the tentacool, and also, disrupting the continuous swirls of the whirlpool those… rogues had created.
It seems these wild Carvanha don't really know much except water jets.
"Pidgeotto, use twister." Ash commanded, pointing towards the area where several Carvanha were bombarding the ship's bottom with their powerful tackle attacks. A water column rose, in accordance to the avian's wishes, as she successfully manipulated the swirling currents to capture the rogue fishes within them.
"Metang, use psychic on that Carvanha!" Ash commanded, as Metang obeyed, catching one of the larger specimens in its psychic cage, but the moment the psychic energies formed around it, Carvanha slipped, and got carried along with the twister.
"What..? why didnt it work?" Ash yelled.
Gritting his teeth, Ash threw an empty pokeball right into the twister, and judging by the flash of light, he had captured one of them. Just as programmed, the pokeball, now having captured a pokémon within it, returned back to his hands. "Mission accomplished." He smirked. "Now Pidgeotto, use the twister to get hold of the tentacool and tentacruel and banish them away."
"Damn kid," an elder man next to him scowled. "I was hoping to catch one of those fish pokémon."
"Should've been faster then." Ash smirked back, as he held his new capture in his hand. Turning towards the captain, he gave a thumbs-up.
The captain grinned back. "Good job, kid. That bird of yours is truly something."
Said bird gave an indignant squawk. How dare this plebeian call her a bird? She was a Pidgeotto, born to scour the skies in due time.
Ash chortled at her behaviour. "Never mind him, Pidgeotto. Return."
Pidgeotto gave an unhappy squawk as she got sucked into the pokeball.
Vermillion city, it seemed was more of an industrial belt than a proper city, a natural thing considering that Commerce City was literally half of the Vermillion region anyway. From the looks of it, both the Pokémon center and the Vermillion gym were both in the industrial belt, though there was another pokémon center on the other side of the city, the one that led all the way to Chrysanthemum Island.
As Ash travelled past the dusty streets of the main city, he could see the more detailed differences between Cerulean and Vermillion. While Cerulean was all about beauty and elegance, Vermillion had seemed to be a mechanical haven, with its large markets, factory belts at a distance, the somewhat dusty roads and lots of… electric and electronic shops. Nothing surprising really, considering that the Commerce industrial belt provided electrical power to more than half of Kanto region, the only exception being those north of Mount Mortar and the ones due east Cinnabar Island onwards.
Ash trudged into the overly-populated Pokémon center, somehow managing to get an empty seat in the lobby, observing from afar at the rushing droves of trainers like himself, running past the lobby, stretchers flying, and injured pokémon in them, all of them unconscious, injured and broken.
"So many injured pokemon? What did this?" Ash asked the brown-haired trainer seated right beside him.
"It's the Vermillion gym leader, Surge. These are merely his… latest victims. That is all." The trainer, who introduced himself as Harrison, explained to him.
"Is Surge…?" Ash felt slightly nauseous at the sights in front of him, "-always this brutal with gym battling?"
"Depends on who you ask, really." Harrison explained, caressing his injured Ratticate as he engaged himself in small talk with Ash. "Last month, Surge was just another gym leader, powerful, tough to beat, but not overly so. This month… he's going double on the brutality scale."
"Huh?" Ash asked in confusion. "Why's that?"
"St. Anne's." Harrison smirked, as if that explained everything.
Ash gave him a perplexed look, much to the other boy's chuckles. "What?"
"You don't know, do you?" Harrison asked.
"Not an idea."
"Well," Harrison let out a whistle. "That's a first. Everyone I met in Kanto over this month is waxing lyrical about it."
"Oh, but what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is that St. Anne's a private luxury cruise, one that travels from Johto through Kalos and Unova, and reaches Alola and then back, and makes only two journeys a month, and don't get me started on the expenses. I could live off that money for an entire year."
"…whoa!"
"Whoa indeed!" Harrison laughed. "Apparently, the Indigo League's doing some kind of crazy promotion stunt this year, and Devon Corp. is partnering the League in this. They are… doing some kind of crazy pokémon tournament on St. Anne's, and only want the best people to participate in it. That's why Surge's gone double brutal, making sure that only competent trainers got their Thunder badge, and by extension, a free cruise ticket for St. Anne's."
"A free ticket?"
"Yep." Harrison explained. "But just defeating that old military-man wouldn't do it. You must not lose a single pokémon in a two-on-two battle, and defeat both of his. Rotation is allowed, of course, if you have less than three badges. Only then you get the free ticket in addition to the badge."
Ash sighed in elation. He had two badges on his profile, which meant he would qualify for that. "So, did you get a ticket?"
"Yep." Harrison grinned proudly. "Got it just last week. Been looking around, and training, since the cruise doesn't leave before next Wednesday."
That meant a mere six day difference.
"Where are you from?" Harrison inquired.
"Pallet town." Ash answered. "You?"
"Little root town from the Hoenn region." Harrison answered. "So, how long have you been training, Ash?"
"Uh… two weeks." Ash answered in embarrassment.
Harrison laughed. "A newbie then." He chuckled. "You sure do look more… confident than most. How many badges do you have?"
"Two." Ash answered. "Boulder and Cascade, and before you ask, I defeated them and won it."
"Touché!" Harrison snorted. "I've been a trainer over a year. Decided to take the Indigo league by storm once I got myself some experience back at home."
"How many badges have you gotten so far?"
"Six." Harrison grinned jovially.
"Already?"
"I told you, I've been in for over a year. I guess I should say that I didn't… really rush in for the badges."
"Oh." Ash muttered. "So I guess I'll see you on that ship, after I win the thunder badge."
"Confidence… I like it." Harrison declared haughtily, though it was clear he was not serious. "In that case, we might run into each other even before that, in case you stick around this place and train."
"Any tips for the newbie trainer?" Ash asked genially.
"Ah, now you are begging for secrets." Harrison taunted, much to his chagrin. "Just kidding. Surge's been using a Raichu, a big one that too. That, and he might use either his Electrode or his Electabuzz."
Right. One electric-type's not enough after all.
"So Ash, when are you going to challenge Surge?"
"Uh... I was thinking of going now."
"Now? It's almost evening."
"So, I could get myself a badge and call it a day." Ash proclaimed.
"Is that so?" Harrison frowned, "then hang on for a little more. My pokémon would be done any moment. We can go together."
"Uh… sure."
A while later, Ash and Harrison were walking into the Vermillion city gym for the Thunder badge. Like every other gym Ash had visited, Vermillion gym too was a reflection of its city. The gym seemed to be some kind of factory from outside, and once they have gotten in, Ash had to face blinding light from all sides, as the battle stadium became visible in front of him.
"Another baby?" A very loud, and obnoxious-sounding voice called out.
"Hey Lt. Surge." Harrison wished, still in his normal, relaxed self, as he gave a grin towards the gym leader.
"Harrison, is it?" The shadow in front of them asked, moving towards them into the light, only to be replaced by a large, hunk of a man over six feet tall, and broad enough to have three of Ash's own size to fit in. He was clothed in military apparel, with a rather menacing expression on his face. "Who's this baby?"
"Don't call me a baby." Ash retorted. "I'm here to challenge you, for the thunder badge."
"Oh, this baby can speak too. And pray tell, how many badges do you have?" Surge's voice boomed all over the metallic contraption that was the Vermillion gym.
"Two." Ash returned, in what he supposed was his most intimidating voice.
"Baby." Surge pronounced.
Ash gritted his teeth. "Will you accept my challenge or not?"
Surge laughed at his statement. "Yes, yes, kid, I will. Tell me, are you battling for only the Thunder badge, or are you going for the ticket as well?"
"Both."
"Hit me with a feather," Surge chuckled, "the little baby's got ambitions."
"I am not a baby, and my name is Ash. Ask Ketchum."
"Don't mind him." Harrison muttered from beside. "You'd go cranky as hell too if you had ten times more challengers than normal all of a sudden."
"Fine, you Jacky, come up and referee." Surge ordered one of the men on the balcony, as said person jumped down onto the ground and took said place.
"This will be a two-on-two match. Only the challenger can rotate pokémon. The battle will end when both pokémon are unable to battle any longer. If the challenger loses even a single pokémon, he is disqualified from getting the ticket even if he wins the battle."
"Understood." Ash uttered.
"To the point then," Surge laughed, as he threw his pokeball down onto the battlefield. "Very well, I choose you, Electrode."
What materialized seemed like a large pokeball, with color reversed and large eyes and a mouth painted on it, as the creature initiated sparks of electricity all around it.
Ugh! I hate electric types. Ash thought, as he checked his opponent using his pokedex.
Electrode. The Ball pokémon. It stores an overflowing amount of electric energy inside its body. Even a small shock makes it explode.
Okay. Try something like this then. "I choose you, Metang."
Instantly, his pokeball opened with a pop sound, as Metang came into form, making its usual mechanical noise as it did.
"A metang, huh? Haven't seen one of those recently. Where did you get one, kid?"
"That's… a sort of secret." Ash replied lamely.
"Secret, eh?" Surge laughed. "Never mind. I'll just have punish you a little more for that. Electrode, use Discharge!"
"Psychic." That was all Ash had to say, as the discharged electric power condensed into a single stream and twisted its way back towards Electrode.
"Use swift and then Electro-ball!"
Ash smirked. "Get away and use psychic."
The silvery light that appeared around the Electro-ball twisted its direction, making the electric attack hit a wall causing an explosion. But Ash wasn't done yet. "Trap it using psychic."
"Don't let it catch you Electrode." Surge barked, "get close to it and use explosion."
Damn. A suicidal move. Let' try this. "Use light screen."
A thin barrier of pure light formed between Metang and Electrode, before the latter smashed into it, exploding powerfully. Between Metang's light screen and its steel-typing, the explosion had little to no effect on its body. When the smoke receded, the disorientated face of Electrode was clearly visible.
"Electrode is unable to battle. Challenger wins the first round."
"Ah, I see you've got some balls then." Surge roared. "Try something of this size then, go Raichu."
The overgrown, pale yellow electric mouse stood in front of him, punching its fists like a bully, reminding Ash way too much about his own misfortunate experience with its… less-evolved type. Ash took a step back for a moment. "All right, you asked for it. Return, Metang." He recalled the steel-type, before selecting another pokémon and threw the pokeball into the field. "Go… rhyhorn!"
The rocky rhinoceros stood grunting, glaring at the electric mouse in front of him, as it waited for his trainer's instructions. Over the last two weeks, rhyhorn had grown in size, and gained a lot of body mass. Its rock plates had gotten a lot sturdier, and it had learnt several new moves, enabling it to become a perfectly fine opponent against an electric-type like Raichu.
"So…" Surge had gone slightly silent now. "You are betting on type-advantage to win the challenge, are you, boy?"
That's a promotion from baby, I guess. "I'll take any advantage I can get." He shot back.
Back there, standing away from Ash, Harrison took the entire match in stride. He would admit, seeing the kid, who had revealed to be a newbie with less than a month of experience, to have a rare pokémon like a metang was… surprising, but even more surprising was his way of battling. It was more… natural, than most trainers. Hell, with time, the kid might be able to give him a good fight.
First a Metang, and now a rhyhorn. Either he was faking about not knowing about Surge's choice of pokémon, or he simply has a diverse and well-trained collection. And so quickly too. Who is this guy? Harrison couldn't help but wonder.
"Raichu, use thunderbolt!" Surge's voice boomed, as the electric mouse took a step back and threw out thousands of volts of electricity down towards the ground-type pokémon.
"Wave it off, rhyhorn!" Ash commanded, and simply enough, rhyhorn was almost unfazed, being a ground/rock-type, both types having high resistance to electricity.
"Is that so?" surge snarled. "Nobody ignores my Raichu's attack. Show this little rhino who's the boss. Raichu, use quick attack!"
Only one thing needed to be said. "Use Earthquake!"
Using its powerful limbs, rhyhorn smashed down onto the ground, sending powerful seismic waves radially outwards, as the tectonic strike destabilized the battle ground, making a serious impact on Raichu, who missed and fell onto the ground, his entire momentum being used against him.
"Earthquake, again!" Ash commanded, his eyes staring at the electric mouse.
Back in the shadows, Harrison frowned. What is Ash trying? He wondered. It was visible that Raichu had gotten significant damage from the earthquake, which in itself, was almost a special attack in itself. But a major side-effect of the attack was that not even the user is safe from it, and takes in slight damage as well. Two earthquakes back to back would leave rhyhorn standing, but barely so. So then why would….?
Then it hit him.
Damn. That guy's cunning.
The two successive earthquakes had shattered Raichu's defenses, and with his thunderbolt being almost ineffective against rhyhorn, he was in for a really bad time.
"Now use horn attack!" Ash commanded, his tone emotionless, as the rhinoceros grunted and galloped its way towards the electric mouse fallen on the ground.
"Raichu, get up and use Iron tail."
The collision of the iron tail and the horn attack had significant damages on either side, though both pokémon were still standing.
Ash finally lifted his face, and smirked. "Rhyhorn, return." He took out his other battler. "Go, Metang!"
Damn that kid. Surge thought. He sure knows how to play dirty.
"Use magnet rise, Metang." Ash smirked. It had been one of the two things Bill had taught him the previous night, when they were discussing about pokémon. Bill, who was the mastermind behind the invention anyway, had injected two TM's into his pokémon.
Light Screen, and Magnet Rise. Both, for his Metang. Naturally, while the psychic/steel-type had registered the motions for those moves, it was yet to perform them with anything remarkably close to perfection. Ash certainly hoped that it would be enough to get through the battle, specifically since Raichu was already injured and Metang had the type advantage.
"Now, use metal claw."
Metang's claws at the ends of his appendages glowed with a bright sheen, as he pushed his psychic-induced levitation towards Raichu, with increasing momentum, added with the defensive capabilities of magnet rise.
"Full power."
Nothing else needed to be said. The steel-type smashed its powerful metal-claw into Raichu's already injured self, banishing the mouse away towards the wall, where it hit with a thud.
"Raichu is unable to battle. The winner is, Metang."
A single, monotonous drone was all that went as a part of Metang's victory song.
"That…" Surge spoke softly, "—was unexpected." His face then shifted into a large grin as he walked to Ash, and slammed his overly-large palm onto his back, almost sending him thrashing onto the ground. "Well done, kid. You deserve the badge, and the ticket."
"Did you really have to hit like that?" Ash complained, rubbing his back, as he stood back up, facing the man. 'That really hurt, you know?"
"Hah! If that hurt, then you dare hope not even stand in Bruno's presence, kid." Surge laughed. "One slap from that man sent me flying." He recalled without shame.
Ash felt his jaw drop to the floor. "Bruno, like the Elite Four Bruno? You know him?"
Surge laughed louder. "We're cousins, kid. And 'sides, I'm a Gym leader. Of course I know Bruno, or any one from the Elite Four. We are required to face them in battle and survive to get our positions, you know?"
"Battle… Elite Four and survive…" Ash mumbled, trying to be certain that he didn't mishear it.
"What else did you think? We were born like this? Come on, kid. Don't lose me the respect I gained for you from the battle."
Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Ehehehe…"
"Anyway this," Surge placed a shiny orange, metallic badge, which looked like an eight-pointed star with an orange octagonal center, "is the thunder badge, proof that you have defeated Lt. Surge in a fair fight, and this," he slipped out what seemed to be a plastic card no different from a debit card, only that this seemed more… metallic in color, and had the flag symbol of St. Anne on top, "—is the ticket to St. Anne's cruise trip. Hope to see you on the ship, kid."
Ash took both of the items with either hands, looking at them closely, as if fearing that it was a dream. He had just won his third badge, and that too, on the first try. This, he decided, was a mark of improvement as a trainer.
"The ship, as you might know, sets sail next Wednesday. In the meantime, I suggest you start training, kid. Be advised that the tournament will be nothing but tough. Only those trainers that have beaten my gym are going to be there, so better get started."
"I will." Ash returned a smile.
"You better." Surge boomed, as he took out a couple of magnetic discs from his jacket. After some thought, he selected one and offered it to Ash. "This is the TM for thunder punch. Your Metang packs a solid punch, but thunder punch has its uses." He began laughing at his own pun, much to the teen's confused looks.
"Ah, never mind." The giant of a man looked apologetic for a moment, before he returned to his usual self. "You are a good kid, Ash was it? I need to ask you to fill in the details before you leave. Monetary advancement for beating the Vermillion gym will be added to your account by the end of the day."
"Uh… thanks, Lt. Surge."
"No worries, kid. No worries."
Later that night…
"I seriously am in your debt now, Harrison." Ash mumbled, as he allowed himself to sink into the cosy mattress. "Seriously, you have no idea how much I searched for rooms all over the place."
"You should have taken my offer, right then, Ash." Harrison smirked. "You might even have gotten an entire room to yourself for tonight."
"Yeah, well winning a badge at first chance does make you confident." Ash admitted. After getting out of the Vermillion gym, he had bid goodbye to Harrison and got started for the pokémon center to get a place for the night. Harrison had offered to get a room at the hotel he was staying at, but Ash had waved that off, saying that he would just get one at the pokémon center, only to find that all rooms back there were already filled, and in some cases, booked until Wednesday. It had been a tired and tattered Ash Ketchum, who after getting rejected at seven different hotels had finally met Harrison back on the streets, who had offered Ash to stay in his room for the night, and come morning, he would make sure Ash got himself a room for himself.
"So… you have quite the pokémon collection, Ash. I must admit, I have never seen someone use a Metang in a gym battle. They are quite… rare."
"Yeah, I suppose you have a point there." Ash admitted.
"Why don't you show me your pokémon? I'll show you mine in return."
"All right," Ash agreed with a grin. "Come out, guys." He threw the pokeballs onto the floor, as the cacophony of his friends came into existence. "Bagon, Charmander, Metang, Poliwhirl, Rhyhorn, Pidgeotto… all of you meet Harrison. He's a friend."
All six pokémon greeted him in their own way.
"A Bagon? How did you get a Bagon?" Harrison asked in curiosity. "Last time I checked, they are native to Hoenn, my region, and even then, quite difficult to come across."
"He's my starter, actually." Ash answered. "Professor Oak got me one."
"Professor Oak, eh?" Harrison asked, cupping his chin. "Interesting. Professor Birch mentions him a lot."
"Oh." Ash muttered, before something came to mind. "Oh shit, I totally forgot." He quickly took out the seventh pokeball and activated it.
"What did you—and why are you holding that pokeball?"
"I just- well, I caught a Carvanha this noon. I totally forgot to bring it out in the excitement of the gym and St. Anne." He returned sheepishly.
Harrison chortled at Ash's expression. "Happens. Now stop wasting time and let's meet your Carvanha."
"Alright," Ash smirked, "pokeball, go."
The light shot out of the pokeball, as it condensed into a shape, forming giant pincers on two sides, as a large, lobster-like pokémon, which materialized into existence. It was a red pokémon with a golden star on its forehead, large claws on either limb, and two claws on both feet and a long tail. From the looks of it, it was almost half of Ash's own height, as it croaked.
"Craw—daunt!"
"That… doesn't really seem like a Carvanha, Ash." Harrison commented blankly.
"No, it does not." Ash returned, a stupid expression on his face.
Crawdaunt. The rogue pokémon. Crawdaunt has an extremely violent nature that compels it to challenge other living things to battle. Other life-forms refuse to live in ponds inhabited by this Pokémon, making them desolate places.
Ash was barely listening to Dexter's advice, his mind and eyes were too busy, staring at Crawdaunt, who seemed to be staring back at him predatorily. It raised one of its pincers up in the air, before jumping towards Ash-
And getting hit successively by a psychic attack, followed by a dragon pulse right on the face-
And getting banished against the wall.
"Ash!" Harrison yelled, "Put it back in the pokeball."
"Uh, right!" Ash held the pokeball up. "Return." Despite Crawdaunt's indignant grunt, it was sucked in instantly.
"That went well." Harrison exclaimed, as he got himself a comfy little place on the couch, with Ash reclining against a chair beside the bed. "How the hell did I catch that? I'm pretty sure I made Metang hold the fish up using psychic."
"Okay, now there's a story." Harrison grinned in interest. "Tell me about it."
"Nothing much, really." Ash waved it away. "The ferry I was travelling, was attacked by rogue water pokémon—tentacool, tentacruel and the like. I spotted these… fish pokémon, Carvanha—never seen them before so I checked and found that they have a dark typing-"
"Fond of dark types eh?" Harrison raised an eyebrow.
"Well, they are perfect ghost hunters, and good against psychic. I need some on my team if I want to catch a ghost. Metang's good but their otherworldly energies' gonna fry his circuits out."
The brown-haired teen chortled at that description. "Go on."
"Well, that was it. Pidgeotto created a nice little twister, pulling those fishes up, and Metang held one of the larger ones in place, though it didnt work and the twister sucked it back in."
"Obviously, it wouldnt. Psychic attacks do not work on dark-type, even if it is partial dark-typing." Harrison explained. "Though there are ways to counter that."
"Oh," Ash realized, " So then I threw the pokeball and it registered a catch so I thought-"
"That you caught a Carvanha-" Harrison finished for him.
"—and got landed with this brute fellow instead." Ash finished sourly.
"Ha! Don't be so dramatic. Crawdaunt are in general, pretty strong pokémon. Though I would say, it's easier to tame them when they are Corphish. I'd know, I've one of them myself."
Ash's ears perked up. "You do?"
"Of course, they are native to Hoenn, and they too have the dark typing you are so obsessed with."
"I am not obsessed with dark typing!" Ash retorted.
"Of course you aren't." Harrison drawled. "Anyway, you do realize that you have an awful lot of Hoenn natives on your team, don't you? One would think you are from my region instead of Pallet town."
That surprised Ash. "I do?"
Harrison lifted his head and laughed hard. "You ought to check a little more, buddy. Bagon, Metang, Crawdaunt—all of them are Hoenn natives."
Ash looked at him, perplexed. "But… but then how come I caught them here?"
"Simple. Because of the regional-cooperation programme going on between Kanto and Hoenn over the last year. There have been exchanges between our National Reserve and Fuchsia safari, causing exchange of several dozens of Hoenn natives and Kanto natives."
"But they are still staying at the Safari, right?" Ash questioned. "Why would that-?"
Harrison looked at him with a scrutinizing expression. "You aren't trying to fool me, are you?"
"Uh… no?"
"And you, Ash Ketchum from Pallet town, do not know that trainers are allowed to visit Pokémon reserve stations, and catch them?"
"They… are?"
Harrison face-palmed.
"How the hell did you manage to get your licence?" Harrison literally screamed.
"Uh… I barely managed to pass in the theory, actually. The practical stuff pulled me up."
His friend paused at that. "If I hadn't seen you battling Surge, I'd never have believed. Ash, every trainer out there has one thing common in mind. Get to a pokémon reserve, and catch their favourite pokémon, though I'll tell you, the pokémon over there are pretty wild."
"Oh." Ash replied, as realization filled him. Punching his fist in the air, he exclaimed, "Great! The fuchsia safari it is, next."
"You'd do better to get to Celadon first." Harrison advised, chuckling at his antics. "There's the Celadon game corner, and you can win rare pokémon there, and there's Lavender town close by. I hear it's pretty haunted. You can fulfil your ambition of being a ghost-catcher there."
Ash threw a pillow at him.
"Yes, yes, keep hitting me, and I might not tell you about how to use psychic pokemon against the dark type, next time you try to fight one with your precious Metang." Harrison sneered, though it was clear that he was only pulling his leg.
"Oh come on!" Ash whimpered.
Harrison chortled. "All right, now don't be a baby. It's called Miracle Eye, and that's all I'm going to tell you. Do your own reserach."
"Miracle eye huh?" Ash pondered.
"All right, so do you want to meet my pokémon?" Harrison took out the pokeballs from his waist, and activated them. "Come out, everyone."
Bright light inundated the entire room, as the pokémon materialized into their physical forms. Ash could see a Blastoise, a Ratticate, a Dodrio, an Arcanine, and two more pokémon whom he couldn't identify. The first looked like a giant, black dog, with horns, and gave out an aura of maliciousness. The other, looked like a grass-type pokémon, though it was slightly reptilian in shape, and had a twig in its mouth.
Houndoom. The dark/fire pokémon. They spew flames mixed with poison to finish off their opponents. They divvy up their prey evenly among the members of their pack. Identifiable by its eerie howls, people a long time ago thought it was the grim reaper and feared it.
"Cool," Ash muttered, before checking the other one out.
Grovyle. The wood gecko pokémon. The leaves growing out of Grovyle's body are convenient for camouflaging it from enemies in the forest. This Pokémon is a master at climbing trees in jungles.
"Fast." Ash observed, and found to his amusement, that Grovyle gave him a prideful look. The creature must indeed pride on it speed.
Just like Pidgeotto.
Ash looked at the others. Arcanine, truth be told, was on the smaller side. Professor Oak's Arcanine were, at the very least, seven feet in height, and the old man had five of them. By comparison, Harrison's was hardly reaching four feet yet.
"Recently evolved, has he?" Ash asked, nodding towards the powerful fire-type.
"Just a month ago. He actually evolved during the battle with Surge. Saved me from losing, actually."
"Where's that…. Corphish was it?"
"Yeah." Harrison acknowledged. "He's back at Professor Birch's coral, because of the limitation of-hey, how come you've got seven pokémon on your person?"
Ash looked a tad guilty. "I… got a certain privilege out of something, and got my roster… increased."
"To?"
"Twelve." Ash lied.
"Pshew!" Harrison whistled. "That's the standard limit for experienced trainers." Harrison paused, staring at Ash, before his glance went towards his left wrist. "What's that?" He asked, pointing at the Xtransceiver.
"Uh… this is, well," Ash replied evasively, unsure of what to say.
"One of those certain privileges you cannot talk about?"
"… Something like that." Ash felt a tad embarrassed, having to hide things from the person who had been nothing but helpful to him. However, the Xtransceiver wasn't yet on the market, and Bill had made him promise (and might have made him sign a legal contract) of not blabbing out its features to strangers. While Harrison wasn't really a stranger per se, he wasn't affiliated to Silph Co. and hence….
"I'm sorry, but I really couldn't say about it even if I tried."
Harrison raised an eyebrow. "Legal contracts, I take it?" he had heard Professor Birch talk about them. Such contracts were created and maintained by psychic techniques, created out of research on psychic-types. Once a party signed a contract, a psychic-barrier would form in his mind, rendering him unable to speak about it to people without the other party's permission.
"Uh… maybe?" Ash returned, just as evasive as before. Legal contracts were a thick nut to deal with, and now that he thought about it, Derrick and his metagross must have done something similar with his mind to keep the information secret, because despite his attempts, he had found himself unable to think about sharing that information with others.
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know about psychics.
"All right, Mr. secret-keeper," Harrison joked, shifting the topic of the conversation. "You should be more careful about revealing all your pokémon in front of people. It might give them… all sorts of ideas."
Right.
"What do you plan to do with your Crawdaunt?"
"I…" Ash stopped there, considering his words. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, preferably in presence of the rest of my pokémon. Maybe have a standard battle, defeat him and stuff. Maybe that would make him more compliant or something?"
Harrison shrugged.
The next day.
"All right, everyone," Ash declared, "I'm going to release Crawdaunt. Just like yesterday, he might attack me, and in that case, I'll need your help to hold him back."
All of his pokémon cheered in unison.
Ash let out a deep breath.
Earlier in the morning, Harrison had, true to his word, had a talk with the hotel manager, and managed to squirm out a room booked for Ash until Wednesday. Apparently, hotels weren't allowing people to stay for more than a day, and were charging for a single-day basis, and that too, on a high-price. Even the hotel business, it seemed, wasn't unaffected by the St. Anne promotion event.
Once Ash had moved into his own room, Harrison had bid him goodbye for the day, off to do his private training with his pokémon. Making sure that he wasn't missing anything, Ash had left for the Vermillion pokemart, and gotten himself the TMs for flamethrower, crunch and aerial ace. Aerial Ace was a powerful offensive move, which would suit his favourite avian perfectly, while flamethrower, contrary to his previous plans, was a must since Charmander wasn't the best pokémon to be expected to master it the natural way. Both Bagon and Charmander (and rhyhorn, much to his surprise) seemed to have the ability to learn the move via TM, though the charmander-line could learn it naturally. The other move, Crunch, was a potential dark-type move which could give his pokémon a good ace in battle, and the fascinating thing was, Charmander, Bagon, rhyhorn, Poliwhirl (and Crawdaunt, should he consent to comply with Ash's commands) could be imbued with the knowledge of performing Crunch via TM. Knowing that he still had two more TMs to acquire this month for free, he made sure that he wasn't missing anything as of yet.
"Alright," Ash breathed. "Let's do it." He lifted the pokeball, and released Crawdaunt-
And nearly died.
The moment Crawdaunt felt the capture device stop maintaining him in the suspended animation stage, he instantly let out a roar, and seeing the human (the bane of its existence, the first thing in front of him, he raised his pincers in rage and leapt towards Ash, aiming for his throat. If not for the two successive dragon pulse attacks from those two loathsome fire-type little monsters, he would have snapped the human's neck in one strike. Instead, he was sent flying back, several feet away, slamming into the ground, as he felt his exoskeleton get bruised.
Crawdaunt gave a defiant growl. He had been happily swimming in the sea, catching one of those juicy red carps at a whim. Sometimes he even let them go, and then hunted them back. After all, who doesn't like a good hunt, especially when the prey is certain to be juicy as all hell?
Instead, there was this giant twister out of nowhere, rising out of the water, most possibly caused by that devilspawn of an avian soaring in the air, and he had gotten captured inside it, taken off-guard. Even then, it wasn't that bad, since one of those know-it-all's have held a fine meal ready for him, even in the twister. He had just gotten to almost grab those delicious fishes-
And gotten captured in one of those infernal contraptions that damnable human had thrown at him.
Crawdaunt wanted revenge, and he would have it. So, despite getting beaten down (for the second time, he seethed inwardly), he got himself up for another round, only for the know-it-all to bind him with their power. It was strange, since know-it-all's didnt usually manage to do that.
He let out an enraged growl.
"Listen to me, Crawdaunt." Ash spoke in what he thought was his most intimidating voice. "Regardless of the circumstances, I caught you and now, I am your trainer. That's something that's not going to change, regardless of how you feel about it."
Crawdaunt tried to raise his pincers in indignation, but couldn't move his body, no thanks to the psychic trap he was caught within. He could feel the psychic-type having trouble, but decided better of it. It was always better to get the psychic tired, before going for the kill.
"I am a pokémon trainer, and all my pokémon are my friends. We train together so that we can become powerful, and I'll make sure that all my pokémon become the most powerful in the world."
That caught Crawdaunt's attention, considering that he gave Ash a sharp look before snorting away.
"Oh, so you think it is all empty boasts, is it?" Ash challenged.
Crawdaunt gave him a challenging look.
"You know what?" Ash retorted. "I think that you, are the one who is weak. In fact, I'm pretty sure that each and every one on my team can beat you, hands down."
Crawdaunt snorted, but listened.
"If all six of my pokémon can defeat you fair and square, then you will comply to my wishes and become part of my team. If you manage to defeat even one of my friends, then I'll personally set you free, back at to the sea.
Now that, captured Crawdaunt's attention.
"Yes," Ash replied with a tone of finality. "You are a fully-evolved pokémon, and none of mine are yet there. Still, they are capable enough to beat you." He turned towards Metang. "Release him."
The psychic trap vanished, rendering the crustacean free to move his appendages. He grunted in agreement, raising his pincers angrily towards the psychic-type.
"So, you wanted to fight Metang first? Do you really want your arse handed down to you that badly?" Ash taunted, but it was true. Metang was probably his strongest, at least in versatility. He wasn't sure, but Bagon and Poliwhirl would probably rank second.
Crawdaunt glared at him.
"Metang, get ready for battle."
The psychic/steel-type merely floated up front near the water/dark type as Ash took a step back. From his estimations, the crustacean wasn't that powerful or well-versed with its dark-typing, since it would have, otherwise, been able to snap off the psychic attack.
Now I only need to take this lobster down by surprise.
"All right then, let's get this started with."
AN : Okay, now a few things that i decided to clear up before the story continues.
One, there will be many situations where I will go against the canonic information (based on the anime, for me), for my story plot line.
Two, someone pointed out that Ash has been catching too many pokemon too soon. I respectfully, disagree. From what I remember, Krabby was Ash's seventh pokemon and he caught it right before entering the Lighthouse. In my fic, Ash has 6 pokemon, which is in fact, less than that. Besides, I will have him catching quite a number of pokemon (which is not... um... unnatural for trainers, considering Gary had apparently caught over 45 pokemon before the Indigo League had started.)
Now before you ask, no I am NOT aiming for that figure.
Third, the Mega Charizard X question. I'm pretty sure you'll surprised over my plans for Charmander.
Fourth, and this is extremely important. Please do not look at Legendary pokemon or even... ancient pseudo-legendaries (or any other ancient pokemon) with their GAME STATS in mind. You'll be up for a great shock if you do so.
I guess that is all. Constructive reviews and suggestions are very much appreciated.