Chapter 4:That which shines
The path to Vermillion city from Cerulean is a long and solitary one to take, especially if you are going on foot, considering that the only way is through the long and winding path down Route 24, a mountain road that winds all the way from Cerulean, past the Cerulean cave, and twists and turns through the Bavarian cliff, overlooking the sea, before it winds down to meet Commerce city, a major industrial belt in Kanto region. From there, it takes around a day and half by foot to cross the industrial belt to finally enter Vermillion.
However, there also lies a shortcut that could reduce the four-to-five day journey by two, which was exactly where Ash was currently heading. Past the third checkpoint on route 24, right before it winds up to the Bavarian cliff, there is a narrow lane, one that heads straight towards the sea shore, past a somewhat solitary lighthouse overlooking the sea. A little further south, a distance of approximately one mile, one could find a ferry junction, from where one could catch a steamship and travel directly to Vermillion, though because of the rarity of travellers along the route, only a single ferry sets sail from the point, and that, at exactly nine in the morning. Should one be able to catch it, one could reach Vermillion before dusk.
However, the weather conditions in and around route 24 didn't seem to bode good luck for Ash at the present moment, since a fierce storm had arisen because of weather-related anomaly, causing swift winds and hail to disturb all kinds of travel on Route 24. That, however, didn't seem to distract Ash Ketchum who seemed to be walking his way through the winding road, indifferent to the harsh weather conditions around him. Perched on his left shoulder, was Metang, his entire body glowing with a pale bluish sheen as the psychic/steel-type kept a psychic force-field enveloping itself and its trainer. While Ash had initially disagreed on the matter, he had to admit that maintaining a constant psychic field during harsh conditions without fail was good exercise, especially considering that Metang was insistent about honing his skills, something that had both surprised and exhilarated its trainer.
"Metang? Are you okay?" Ash asked, as he looked around at the empty road all around him. The storm had begun to take a turn for the worse, making it a little more difficult for the psychic-type, as the powerful gusts of wind slammed on its shields again and again.
Metang made an odd mechanical noise but made no motion of cancelling his defences.
"Al right, if you say so." Ash frowned, looking at the furious weather all around him. They had left Cerulean city the previous day, and now were only an hour away from reaching the third checkpoint. It was almost dusk, and if he managed to cover the distance before the day ended, he might be able to travel to the lighthouse by night, and get himself a place to somehow spend the night. Besides, it wasn't like he was all alone, considering that all of his pokémon were there with him, and in the peak of health.
"You know Metang, I've wondering how it would've been to have another person to travel with us." Ash mused loudly.
Metang sent a solitary glance at him.
"Like Misty, for one. I admit, she's kind of feisty and everything, but she did a lot for us."
That, Metang decided, he could agree with.
"Having someone travel with us would mean more people and pokémon around," Ash continued, "but then, it might also detain us everywhere, since our companions might have their own things to accomplish as well."
Metang made another groan.
"I know it is merely hypothetical, right now, but when we return back to Cerulean someday, maybe I-"
The thing in front of Ash drew his breath away. Right there, on the top of a single monolith, was something covered by a single Oran-berry leaf, was a tiny creature, smaller than his Bagon even, trying to hide beneath the large leaf, and whimpering in pain as a pair of Spearows were pecking on its body ruthlessly. The little creature was trying to ignore it all, as it tried to maintain the tiny flickering flame burning on its tail end, as it slept on the rock. Ash could only stare in shock as he took in the orange form of the fire-lizard, the one pokémon he had craved ever since he wanted to be a trainer, squeak and whimper as the predatory avians kept pecking over and over again on their helpless prey.
A… Charmander.
"Metang, don't mind me. Use psychic on the Spearows!"
The steel pokémon instantly shed any and all shields around Ash, as the cold, wet wind slammed into him from all sides, as it sent a beam of psychic energy towards the hunting avians, slamming into their faces as the birds squawked angrily, at someone interfering between them and their hunt. Ash however, had other plans.
"Bagon, I choose you."
The baby dragon condensed and took form, and before he could comprehend what was happening, his trainer was ready with a command to attack. "Bagon, use dragon pulse on them!"
Being the dragon that he was, Bagon was always ready to blast things first and ask questions later. Pulling in his natural reserves of draconic energy, the baby dragon sent out a sphere of condensed power towards the avians, hitting them straight, and quite effectively, considering that the predators had chosen self-preservation over their hunt, and departed faster than possible under the weather.
"Charmander!" Ash began, as he tried to get the fire-lizard down from the rock, only to be slapped on his hand by a solid application of tail whip. Ignoring the bruising skin, Ash pulled his hands back. "Charmander, if you stay like this, you'll… you'll die."
The fire-lizard glared back heatedly before pulling the leaf around him once again. He coiled his tail closer in hope to save the flickering flame that looked like it would get extinguished any time soon.
Ash however, had enough. All his life he had desired a charmander as his own pokémon, and now he was being forced to watch as the little lizard succumbed to his own death, here all alone, in the storm. His mind made, Ash muttered in an emotionless tone. "Metang, use hypnosis on Charmander."
The steel-type was only too happy to obey, if it meant that the fire-lizard could be saved and it could return back to the protection of its psychic shields. In less than two seconds, Charmander's eyelids drooped as the creature, despite showing signs of protest, fell into an agonised, uncomfortable sleep.
Ash quickly moved in, recalling Bagon as he took the fire-lizard in his own arms, not for the first time, realizing how heavy the species were. "Metang, get the defences back on. We need to get charmander to the pokémon center quickly."
The steel pokémon uttered another mechanical groan as it manifested the psychic defenses back, enveloping both itself, its trainer and by extension, charmander. Even from its vantage point, it could see how the obviously-injured lizard made subtle movements to settle into a more comfortable position now that the fury of the storm was absent, and so was the fierce wind that had been lashing against its skin all this while.
"The nearest pokémon center is at the base of the cliff." Ash muttered to himself. "Which will mean-" He paused as he wistfully looked at his watch. "I suppose there isn't any point considering the alternative…" He glanced at the injured pokémon in his arms. "Let's get going!"
The solitary Pokémon center constructed at the base of the Bavarian cliff was one of the very few establishments in the entire region, as most of the population in and around lived on the top of the tableland above the steep cliff. With its visitors limited to travelling trainers who didn't have enough cash (or pokémon) to afford alternative routes and had decided to stick to walking along the solitary Route 24. As a result, there were only very minor medical equipment in here, knowing very well that any need for advanced medical aid would probably be needed for the ones located close to gyms. This fact had remained unbroken for the last seven years, until a somewhat scrawny kid with a comatose charmander had decided to show up in the middle of a dangerous storm.
Ash ran all the way for two miles, before he was finally able to dash into the barely adequate Pokémon center, literally slamming the doors of the establishment open, much to the irritation of the serving nurse, who was about to yell at the obnoxious, manner-less kid, before she noticed the tiny, breathing thing in his arms, as her words died in her throat.
"Chansey!" Nurse Joy called instantly, as a pair of Chansey instantly appeared before Ash, medical uniforms and all. Before the boy could even fathom whether the Chansey species were capable of teleportation or not, the egg pokémon had lifted the comatose Charmander from his arms, put him onto the stretcher, and carried him away into the inner chambers past the lobby, leaving Ash at the door, his legs feeling weakened as he slowly slid down onto the floor.
Metang, who had just dropped his psychic defenses, and was resting, slowly dropped onto his left shoulder, and made an odd noise, nudging Ash on his cheek.
"I'm alright." Ash panted, as he slowly pulled himself up, and walked up to the front desk, looking at the somewhat apprehensive Nurse Joy standing in front of him.
"Why did you allow your Charmander to be hurt like that?" was the first question the pink-haired woman dropped on him with as much subtlety as a bull in a china-shop.
A part of Ash felt a breeze of happiness when the Nurse had mentioned 'your charmander' before reality set in. His face twisted into a half-sneer as he recalled the events that had transpired that evening.
"Charmander isn't mine, Nurse Joy." Ash declared. "I found him sitting on a rock, injured and being attacked by a pair of rogue Spearow."
"A likely story." The nurse returned coldly. "Do you really expect me to believe that you found… a Charmander, sitting on a rock, out in the open in the storm, a situation where his tail flame had every chance of getting extinguished? Especially since there haven't been any sightings of wild Charmander in this area for years?"
Ash was now starting to get angry. "Look, why don't you make sure that Charmander gets his treatment first? You and I can argue over the truth later on."
Whatever the Nurse was planning to refute back, she decided to call it quits, as she considered his words. "Charmander is getting his treatment," she paused for a moment, "and that is my main priority. However," she cast a steely glare at him. "You and I ain't done yet. I've to go check up on his operation, and after I return, you are going to show me your identification. Make no mistake, if I find out that your story is merely a charade, then I will call in Officer Jenny, and have your trainer ID revoked. Is that clear?"
"Crystal." Ash deadpanned. "Now please go and attend Charmander."
Nurse Joy opened her mouth, then closed it, before shaking her head as she strode out furiously out of her cubicle, past the lobby into the operational chambers where the fire-lizard was being treated.
Meanwhile, Ash who had stepped back towards the front end of the lobby, and found himself a couple of empty seats, felt his body sag down as he slowly dozed off to a troubled sleep.
The next morning.
"Ash Ketchum! Ash Ketchum, please report to the front desk!"
The familiar mechanical announcement, along with Metang's subtle pressing onto his shoulder woke Ash up from his uncomfortable sleep, as he forced his eyes open. Taking the environment in as the events of the past night came into focus, he jumped up (much to Metang's irritation), as he raced towards the front-desk, the somewhat sulking psychic/steel-type in tow.
"Nurse Joy, is Charmander all right?" was the first thing he uttered on seeing the nurse, who, given by her countenance, was probably up all night.
Muttering inaudibly about unruly kids, the pink-haired woman let out a small yawn, as she considered the raven-haired individual in front of her. "Charmander… is out of danger."
"Thank God." Ash sank, elated and relieved.
"We also needed to perform a psychic treatment for him, considering that he was…" her eyes narrowed, "under a hypnosis attack"—Ash looked remarkably shifty at that—"and his incessant objection to getting treated and… returning back to wherever he was waiting," she paused again, "for his trainer."
"For the last time," Ash retorted angrily, 'I'm not his trainer."
"Yes, that is the part we'll go through right now. I need your identification."
Without a single word, Ash pulled out his pokedex, and pushed it into Nurse Joy's palm, who looked somewhat surprised at what she was holding.
"A pokedex. Does that mean that you're-?"
"From Pallet town, and I've been given my pokedex, and my starter by Professor Oak. You can verify my claim if you want."
"You don't need to tell me how to do my job." The nurse snapped, before pulling the pokedex and inserting it into the slot specifically made for the purpose. Instantly, she was able to have complete access to his personal information, his trainer license records, his badges attained, his history of criminality (which was spotless much to her chagrin), and lastly, the pokémon registered to his trainer's profile.
"A Bagon," she paused, "a metang, seriously you have a rare collection here," she mused loudly, before going ahead with the rest, "a Pidgeotto, a rhyhorn, a Poliwhirl." Letting out a sigh, she turned towards Ash. "It seems you were telling the truth after all, Mr. Ketchum."
"I didn't know that, tell me more." Ash deadpanned.
"Don't try to be funny, Mr. Ketchum." The nurse retorted, though half-heartedly.
"Can you tell me what's wrong with Charmander?" Ash gushed. "I promise I just want to help."
Nurse Joy had an undecipherable expression on her face, which slightly softened. "As I said, Charmander is out of danger. We needed to remove the hypnosis attack on him, and I had to make a call to the Pokémon center of Cerulean city, to seek psychic aid. They have sent a Kadabra for that very purpose, and I can assure you Charmander's treatment is still going on."
"So who's Charmander's trainer?" Ash couldn't help but ask.
"I'm waiting for that as well. Apparently, Kadabra do not like interference," the Nurse replied darkly, "and in a few moments I should be receiving the diagnosis. That was another reason to call for you."
"Oh." Ash muttered.
Almost as if by premediated predicament, the bell from the Operation theatre rang with a soft ding, as the printer next to Nurse Joy began to beep angrily, pushing printed paper from within to the tray attached to it for that specific purpose.
"Here it is." Nurse Joy snatched the paper in haste, as she went through the contents, her eyebrows raised as she digested the results of the psychic treatment.
"What does it say?" Ash stressed, standing on his ankles.
"Wait a second, kid." The Nurse snapped. "I'm just… okay, apparently Charmander here belongs to a certain Damien Chester from Cerulean." She paused, looking up. "Do you, perchance, know this kid?"
"Never heard of him." Ash muttered.
"Charmander has been captured for around a month now." Nurse Joy muttered, as she checked in Damien Chester's profile on the league database. "Apparently, Charmander has been sitting on that… rock, you mentioned over the past three days."
Though not extremely vivid, but Ash could still make out the purple-haired individual with a lazy smirk on his face. For a moment, the guy looked way too similar to Paul, but Paul's features were different than this person.
"And what happened to Damien?"
The pink-haired woman pursed her lips. "The league database says that Damien Chester acquired his Thunder badge from Vermillion city yesterday." She paused, looking straight at Ash. "He deserted the Charmander, if that's what you're asking."
Ash felt his palm hurt, as his knuckles tightened, his nails digging into his palm. "He… deserted Charmander?"
"Seems so." The nurse replied, a little wary about the teen's emotional reaction at the news. "Are you… sure you do not know him?"
"No." Ash returned darkly, before looking up. "What's… going to happen to Charmander?"
"Pokémon safari by the looks of it." Nurse Joy answered in a monotone. "The one in Fuchsia city is the very best Kanto has to offer." She paused, taking in the teen's reaction. "Or… perhaps, you would be interested to take him?"
Ash felt his heart stop. "… Me?"
"Yes," The nurse drawled. "You are a trainer, aren't you? And it seems you care enough to make sure the little lizard arrived here and survived. So… I cannot why I cannot transfer Charmander's ownership to you."
"But… but, what if this… Damien comes back? What if he wants to take Charmander back? What if Charmander doesn't-?"
The nurse raised an eyebrow. "From the current state of affairs, this Damien kid is going to receive a reprimand from the League, or from the next Pokémon center he visits. Additionally, he will never be able to put a claim on Charmander, since by deserting a pokémon, he has rescinded all rights to him anyway."
"But Charmander-?"
"I'm coming to that." The nurse snapped. "Charmander's own decision needs to be taken under consideration, since we do not want a… intractable and obstinate pokémon to a young trainer." She paused. "Charmander is awake at the moment. Should you wish to do so, you can visit Charmander and talk to him about whatever happened, and offer him the chance to join you, or the alternative placement that he'd be getting in case he decides against it."
Ash considered her words, and with a tinge of uncertainty in his mind, nodded.
The first thing that Charmander remembered was getting attacked by those ferocious birds as he tried to protect himself. However, his life-flame was dangerously low (it never had been the best for as long as he remembered), and with all the injuries he had sustained from fighting the beast of lightning (it still had hazy memories about that lightning-fast yellow beast, with black patches all over its body, and that maniacal grin on its face), it barely had the strength for a single flame-burst, not to mention the icy cold winds and the torrential downpour all around him.
Then, he remembered how Damien, his trainer had left him on the rock, promising to return back in a few hours, with treatment. He had waited for the entire day, climbing up to the top of the cliff despite the strain it put on his already injured body, if only to catch a glimpse of his trainer returning to him as promised. He had waited, and waited.
And waited.
Damien didn't come.
For three days he had waited, and slowly felt the life-flame burning inside him slowly flicker and come to the point of getting extinguished completely. That was when the unfortunate punishment from the heavens had come lashing at him in the form of the storm, punishing him for being a weakling like he was.
There had been a sneaking suspicion in his mind that Damien had also deserted him because of his weakness, but he hadn't allowed his barely held-on hope to flicker because of that dangerous thought. That was why, he had held on to the barely enough protection of the Oran-berry leaf, doing his best not to cry out in pain as those monsters pecked harshly on his injured skin.
It was then that he had heard the voice. "Use hypnosis on Charmander!"
Briefly, he had thought that it was his trainer who had come back, before a reminding thought flitted through his mind that Damien didn't have one of those all-knowing species. He had barely raised his head before his half-addled mind was sent reeling into unconsciousness.
"Charmander?"
The unfamiliar, male voice shook the fire-lizard from his reveries as he looked around for his trainer, only to find a barely recognizable human walk up to him. On seeing his face up close, Charmander remembered the hazy memory of the human who had asked his all-knowing pokémon to use hypnosis on him. Why was this human here? What did he want? Why couldn't he understand that Charmander was going to wait for his-?
"Charmander," the pink-haired human healer addressed him, "this is Ash Ketchum. He was the one who found you alone and injured, and brought you here." She paused. "Without his help, you would not have survived. Ash here," she pointed at the other human, "has been waiting since last night to see if you were alright."
The fire-lizard took everything up in stride, though that didn't stop his thoughts from being crushed. The human from last night, he wasn't Damien. Damien hadn't come, not yet. Charmander had been dying, and would've died waiting on that rock. The other human had taken the trouble, and saved his life. But why? Was he was a friend of Damien?
"How are you feeling, Charmander?" Ash asked, a little amount of hesitation leaking through his voice.
Charmander made an agreeable grunt in return.
"Charmander, "Nurse Joy spoke up again. "It has been brought to my attention, that Damien Chester, your trainer, deserted you four days ago, on route 24."
Charmander growled in protest. Damien hadn't deserted him, he had just gone to seek medical aid for him. He wasn't, he wasn't going to just desert him like that.
Right…?
"To my knowledge, Damien didn't return to route 24," Nurse Joy went on, her sharp eyes not moving from Charmander's countenance, "and he won the gym badge from Vermillion, before leaving for Chrysanthemum Island. That was yesterday."
Charmander felt his legs give away, as the undeniable, harsh truth hit him. Damien wouldn't come back. He wasn't intending to come back. He had…
Deserted him.
Charmander made a long, single howl, letting out all his anger, his helplessness, his feeling of betrayal and his resignation to his fate.
"As of now, you are officially free, and not registered to Damien any more. He, is not your trainer any longer."
Charmander looked down. His trainer had deserted him, thrown him out because he was weak, just like the numerous other Charmander and dragons had looked down at him back there in that… that place.
"Charmander, I have made communication with the Fuchsia Pokémon Safari, and should you be agreeable, I will transport you there. It is a natural environment where you will be able to live among other pokémon." Nurse Joy paused for a moment, "however, Ash here has an alternative proposal for you, should you be agreeable."
That perked the fire-lizard's attention. What did this trainer want from a weakling like him?
"Charmander," Ash took a hesitant step forward. "I'm also… a trainer, and I want to become a pokémon master. I've… always wanted to have a charmander as my starter pokémon, although I have…." He paused as he plucked a pokeball and released Bagon, who let out a grunt in surprise at seeing the fellow fire-lizard in front of him. "This is Bagon, and he is my starter, and he is just as special as you are." Ash smiled. "Should you agree to it, I wish to have you as my pokémon and my friend, and become a part of my journey. I can promise I'll do my best to make you the most powerful Charizard in history, should you be agreeable to it."
Charmander sighed. It was true that like every other of his species, he too desired to evolve into the mighty draconic form that was Charizard. However, this trainer had no idea about how weak he was, or he wouldn't have made that offer.
"I also think that you are a very dedicated pokémon, with great inner strength." Ash continued. "I'd like you… to be a part of my team."
The fire-lizard looked up, his eyes flashing with a tiny bit of hope as he faced the tiny baby dragon with accusing eyes, as if daring him to agree with what his trainer had just said. Much to his irritation (and happiness), the baby dragon seemed to reiterate how his trainer was very dedicated (and slightly addled in the head), but did care a lot about him and his other fellow pack-mates. Bagon also talked about a certain know-it-all one who hovered all day around Ash, much to Bagon's irritation, and that Bagon hoped that together, he and Charmander could possibly put the all-knowing one down a notch or two.
"So Charmander, what do you think?" Ash asked uncertainly, although the hope in his eyes shone more brightly than ever.
Charmander. The lizard pokémon. The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely.
Ash stood in front of Charmander, surveying him using the Pokedex, little aware of the fact that the little fire-lizard was glaring at the mechanical device with apprehension. Dexter however, continued to rattle about its deductions.
This Charmander is male. Current Move set: Dragon claw, Dragon breath, dragon pulse, tail whip and Ember.
Dexter paused for a moment, before continuing. Odd specimen. Needs to be reported. Checking for newer cross-breeds. Match not found. Error. Error. Body size mismatched. Inner-flame less than optimum. Genetic typing: Dragon/ Fire. Please report to authorities.
The… Hell?
Charmander meanwhile, was outright glaring at the mechanical device which was consistently calling it out as an oddity. Ever since its birth at… that place, he had lived amongst other charmanders, and in order to mix in with others, he had forced himself to limit his natural offenses to ember, and the highly ineffective flame burst that he managed to pull off at times. However, with the mechanical device mocking him as unnatural, all sense of subtlety and control went out of the window and-
"CHAAAAR!"
A pale yellow burst of light erupted from Charmander's mouth, projected towards the obnoxious device in his trainer's hands. His trainer only barely managed to jump to the sides and avoid the freshly overpowered burst of Dragon breath that the little lizard had sent towards him.
"Hey, what's wrong, Charmander?" Ash yelled.
That stopped Charmander short, as the results of his actions hit him. He had just, in his rage at the obnoxious device, thrown out, what was potentially his most fatal attack towards his unsuspecting trainer. It seemed that he didn't deserve getting a trainer after all, since it was sure that Ash would now report him and send him away to the Reserves.
"Charmander?" Ash repeated again, this time in a soft voice. "That was dragon breath, wasn't it?"
The unexpected curious comment shook Charmander off his reveries. Did his trainer still want to keep him, if merely out of curiosity?
"Charmander?" Ash asked, kneeling in front of the fire-lizard. "Did you want to hurt me with that attack?"
Charmander shook his head vigorously. By the gods, he was just about to lose his trainer all over again.
"Did you… attack my pokedex?"
Charmander looked a little shifty, before nodding with a grunt.
"Why?"
Charmander didn't say anything, just continued to glare at the nasty little thing in his trainer's hand.
"This device," Ash brought the infernal thing closer, "is called a pokedex. It gives me information about…" Ash stopped short, before comprehension dawned on him. He regarded the little lizard closely. "Charmander…. I want you to answer honestly, and please keep in mind that under no conditions, am I going to desert you like Damien. Is that okay?"
After several seconds of hesitation, Charmander gave a nod.
"You can use all those…." Ash paused, gathering his thoughts, "draconic attacks without any trouble at all. I saw it. That was a full-powered dragon breath."
Charmander hesitated for a while, before nodded his orange head.
"Can you… show me an Ember attack?"
Charmander gave him a look of resignation, before gathering some of his inner-flames and threw out what was possibly, the weakest ember-attack Ash had ever seen. It was worse than Bagon's own first attempt.
"Any other fire-type moves that you can do?"
Charmander had lost all hopes now. Surely his trainer had now known how hopeless a Charmander he was. With a barely concealed snarl directed towards his own weakness, he let out a fire burst, though what came out was at most, a slightly better version of his Ember attack.
Ash knew for a fact that Bagon could ignore that fire burst while sleeping.
"Hmmm." Ash stood up, taking a few steps back. Pointing towards a random rock on the ground, he commanded, "Now use dragon pulse on this rock."
Charmander gave a surprised grunt.
"Any problems, Charmander?"
Charmander shook his head in surprise. With little effort, he pulled a little of his inner draconic strength to unleash a dragon pulse towards the rock. The compressed sphere of draconic energy smashed into the monolith, literally annihilating it instantly.
"Well done!" Ash crowed, clapping his hands as the fire-lizard gaped in disbelief. Surely his trainer wasn't congratulating him?
"Tell me Charmander," Ash came closer, "did you ever use draconic attacks for Damien?"
Shake.
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Damien told you not to use them?"
Another shake.
"Damien knew about your draconic moves?"
Another shake.
"Damien ordered you to use fire-based attacks?"
Nod.
"This is… messing up with my mind." Ash sat down onto the ground, beside the fire-lizard, who looked at his trainer with a mix of curiosity and respect. "Charmander, I don't understand…" He spoke gently. "How is it that you can perform draconic attacks like a dragon does, and yet are unable to do a fire-type attack at all?"
Charmander looked away.
"I'm not looking down on you, buddy." Ash consoled, "just trying to understand you, that's all. I mean, you've to understand… You are a little… on the smaller side, and despite being a Charmander, your move sets speak otherwise. It's a mystery which my mind cannot comprehend."
The trainer and his Charmander looked far ahead towards the solitary road in front of them. After the fire-lizard had agreed to join Ash, the trainer had decided to get some training done, and get to know the lizard better, before starting out for the ferry junction. As it was, the ferry had already left for the day, and wouldn't be back before the next day morning. Travelling all day in the hot sun would mean nothing since they would have to spend the night by the sea shore either way.
Ash had brought out all of his pokémon before him. Rhyhorn, Pidgeotto, metang, Poliwhirl and Bagon, all of whom had their own varied reactions towards the newest addition to their odd group. Metang, just as always, had barely demonstrated any interest in the fire-type, while Poliwhirl, in true Poliwag-spirit, had sent a jet of water at Charmander's face, much to the little lizard's irritation. Pidgeotto had been rather… welcoming, a trait of her developing feminine nature, Ash mused, while Bagon…. Bagon had been the most talkative of the entire batch. Finding a pseudo-draconic species as a co-traveller had overjoyed the little baby dragon, who seemed just one step away from holding hands with the shit-scared fire-lizard and dancing into the night. Rhyhorn… rhyhorn had just grunted and that was all that needed to be said.
"I understand that you are not like any other Charmander…." Ash began, as the fire-lizard began to assume the worst, "—but that doesn't matter. After all, you are special. Now, I don't know why you did not, in fact, demonstrate your abilities to Damien…"- something that made Charmander ponder- "but I can tell you right now, that you have no need to hold back on anything, and I promise, I will find a way so that you are able to utilize the fire-type attacks just as strongly as well."
Charmander felt his heart stop for a moment, as he registered his trainer's words. His eyes shining bright with hope, the little, orange fire-lizard jumped to its new trainer's lap with an exuberant grunt of joy.
After spending most of the morning in the grassy region around the Pokémon center, and refilling some of his rations, Ash and company were ready to travel back to the Lighthouse. Nurse Joy had made sure to provide Ash with Charmander's treatment reports (available to trainers upon request), as well as gotten Charmander some nutritious Oran-berries as well.
"So Ash," The nurse asked genially, "where are you headed next? Vermillion?"
"Nah," Ash denied. "I was hoping to catch the ferry next morning."
"The ferry?" Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow." That's a… odd choice. In that case, you might as well spend the night here. I can have Kadabra teleport you to the Lighthouse early morning tomorrow."
Ash had to agree, it was a rather tempting offer. But he had hoped to travel to the sea shore, and spend some time there. Who knew, maybe he could catch some rare sea pokémon? "Actually, I kind of wanted to visit the area and spend some time there, and see if I could catch some pokémon."
The nurse looked at him in surprise at his answer. "In that case… I might have something that would suit you."
Sometime later.
"I swear psychic teleportation is never going to be one of my top-favourites for travelling." Ash swore. He had just spent the last fifteen minutes throwing up, after the rather jarring experience of psychic teleportation offered by the Kadabra which was apparently, going to stay at the Center for quite a while.
Looking around, he sighted the solitary lighthouse on the rocky terrain just overlooking the sea. He himself, was standing amidst a sea of granite and sandstone which seemed to stretch for another half a mile before mixing into the sea. The lighthouse in question, was huge, (though it was his first time seeing one), and wondered if things would work out exactly the way Nurse Joy had told him.
He took the pokeballs from his belt, and released every single one of his pokémon, and was greeted by the cacophony of sounds from his friends.
"Hey guys, this is the sea!" He pointed out towards the vast expanse of water at a distance, watching the waters move up and down with the tide. "However, we'll need to go visit the lighthouse first. Apparently, there is a researcher who lives there, and can give us some… aid in helping Charmander get over his problems."
Charmander let out an embarrassed grunt, before Pidgeotto gave him a tiny bump on the head with her wing, admonishing him. Bagon too, uttered some words of encouragement.
There's a researcher living there at the lighthouse by the name Bill. I'll inform him about your arrival. I am hopeful he'd be able to get you answers to Charmander's… condition.
Just as Nurse Joy had stated, Kadabra had dropped a little distance off the lighthouse to gather himself and his thoughts. Ash mused, looking at the rocky terrain overlooking the expansive water body, as he took a step in the direction of the only edifice on the land. The building had several layers of walls built around itself, leading to the door. On the walls, Ash could see, were engravings of fully evolved pokémon. "Look here Charmander," Ash muttered, pointing towards the stone engraving of a rather ferocious-looking Charizard. "Someday you'll just like this."
The fire-lizard gave an appreciative grunt of agreement.
"And here's yours… Pidgeotto!" He pointed towards the engraving of a large and beautiful Pidgeot, ready to take down towards the land from the air.
"And here's yours… metang." He pointed towards the metagross engraving to the right. "I suppose there might be more, but let's go ahead and meet the person we're supposed to be here for."
He crossed the threshold, before reaching up to the large front door, as he pressed the doorbell. There was no sign of acknowledgement apart from the creepy creaking as the giant doors slid open on their own, revealing their electronic functions, creating quite a juxtaposition compared to the more… primitive exterior. Ash instantly recalled all of his pokémon save Metang who had swiftly levitated up in the air to float right at his shoulder. Making sure that he wasn't forgetting anything, he took a single step into the dimly lit, humongous hall.
The insides of the lighthouse were more akin to the interior of the gym, only much more sophisticated and advanced. On second thought, even Professor Oak's lab was remarkably… plebeian compared to the one he was standing in, and this was just the entrance.
"Come on in." A rather orotund voice boomed from the balcony on the first floor, overlooking the hall. "You must be Ask Ketchum, am I correct?"
"Uh… yeah, I am." Ash answered.
The moment the words had left his mouth, he felt several rays of light scan his person, as his pokedex beeped rather loudly, before the lights went down.
"Surveillance equipment," the man, whom Ash presumed was the researcher, smiled down at him. The man looked barely in his late twenties, though the white lab coat gave it away. "I was checking if you were telling the truth."
"Why wouldn't I?" Ash questioned.
The researcher just gave him a wry grin. "Nevertheless, I am Bill Montgomery. Pleased to meet you, Ash Ketchum."
"Bill… Montgomery" Ash repeated, the name feeling slightly familiar at the back of his mind though he couldn't place exactly where he had heard about it. "I am Ash Ketchum, from Pallet town. Professor Oak registered me as a trainer."
"Ah, Oak. Great man that one, you'd think that he had already done enough as part of the Elite four." Bill mused with a chuckle, as he walked down the stairs towards Ash.
"Professor Oak was part of the Elite Four?" Ash felt his lungs go dry.
"You didn't know?" Bill raised an eyebrow. "Surely you do not expect a pokémon professor to have that many pseudo-legendaries on his team, do you? Oak and his Dragonite were precursors to what Lance is today."
It was a humbling sensation. He had grown up beside an Elite trainer all his life. Ash had always known that Oak was a genius, but to know that he was an Elite as well, was… mind-boggling.
"Anyway, come on in. Let me show you around this place, before we can talk about your reason for coming to meet this recluse." Bill chuckled. "I must admit I get to entertain less strangers in a year than I get to meet a legendary in person."
"Ah, well, I was actually hoping if I could call the professor from a PC." Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
Bill, it seemed, did not mind. "Sure, go ahead." He pointed towards the sole PC terminal on the right end of the wall. "I'll be in the next chamber. Come and get me when you are done."
"Uh… sure, thanks."
"No worries." Saying so, the affable researcher sped away towards the room on the right, just past the PC console.
"Right!" Ash fixated his mind. "Let's get it going."
Moving ahead, ash dialled Oak's contact number from the PC, and in a couple of seconds, was pleased to hear the familiar ringing sound. After a tiny flash of light on the screen, he could see Professor Oak on the other side, trying to wipe something away from what seemed to be large pincers that belonged to a… Crabby?
"Hey Ash!" the old man wished. "Good to see you after this while. How's it going?"
Ash grinned. "I'm great, Professor. I already got myself two badges and I'm headed towards Vermillion city now."
"Is that so?" Oak questioned. "That's nice. Are you on Route 24 then?"
"No, I'm talking from the Lighthouse of a researcher named Bill Montgomery."
That stopped Oak short. "Bill Montgomery? What are you doing at Bill's place?"
"Uh… I kind of, ran into an issue, professor." Ash explained shiftily. "The Nurse Joy at the cliff recommended that I talk to him."
"And you didn't think of contacting me first?" Oak challenged. "I'm saddened at your lack of confidence in me."
Ash rolled his eyes at seeing the old man pout, especially in the light of the knowledge of the man's achievements. "Nothing like that, professor. Nurse Joy recommended it and I just went with the flow."
Oak chortled. "Think nothing of it. Bill is too, a researcher of extraordinary calibre. I'm sure he'll be able to handle whatever it is. Speaking of which, how many pokémon did you catch so far?"
"Uh… six." Ash answered, not sure what to expect. Paul's rather odd reply had thrown some of his conceptions into a dizzy, and he wasn't sure anymore.
"And what are they?"
"Uh… I got myself a poliwag, he's a Poliwhirl now. And I captured a… Metang, and a Pidgeotto, and he's shiny."
"A metang?" Oak looked surprised. "My, my, that's a rare thing. And a shiny Pidgeotto? Some people have all the luck in the world."
Ash chortled at that, much to the old man's chagrin.
"Bill will want to meet your shiny pokémon. I myself can't wait for you to send the Pidgeotto to me."
"Uh… sure, professor. I also got myself a rhyhorn, and a charmander."
That got the man's attention. "You caught a wild charmander?"
"Uh, not really, but there's a long story behind it. Do you mind if I talk about it later?"
Oak considered it for a moment. "Sure, but I want to hear all about it."
"Of course, professor."
"Good, and for the record, Gary has already gotten four badges and caught forty-five pokémon."
Ash's jaw dropped. Four badges already? And forty five pokémon? What… has he been throwing those balls at everything that-?
Ash stopped himself from completing that dangerous thought, which had strayed in a direction he didn't want. Maybe Paul had left a more significant effect on him than he had thought.
"Ash?" Oak asked, a little surprised at the boy's sudden change of facial expression.
"It's nothing, professor, just got me thinking. I'll defeat your grandson anyway, more pokémon or not."
"Sure." The old man drawled. Poking fun at Ash never stopped being funny. After all, he had all the best reactions to it.
"Bye professor, talk to you later. Give my love to Mom."
"Sure. See you." With that, the signal got disconnected.
"Are you done?" came a voice from the right. It was Bill. "I'm sorry I got bored with waiting."
Ash looked slightly off-guard at that, but he controlled his reactions. "No, it's… it is okay. I was just finishing up anyway."
"Great." The researcher chirped. "Let's see what unique problem you've brought for me to solve."
"Uh… sure."
"This…" Bill declared, "-is nothing short of extraordinary, Ash." The researcher looked up from his microscope. "Charmander's genetic sample is… fascinating. It is almost like I'm seeing the genetic samples of a Garchomp in a fashion."
"Garchomp?" Ash asked.
"A Sinnoh-native. It is the apex dragon species in that land. The Sinnoh Champion Cynthia has one, and Arceus knows that specimen is nothing short of a legendary."
Ash opened his mouth in awe.
"However, it seems like someone had been experimenting on artificial dragon breeding, and has produced somewhat successful results. Your charmander himself, is an example of that."
"You mean to say that Charmander was born in a lab, by artificial breeding?"
"I'm sure of it." Bill frowned. "There is only one thing that confuses me, which is the other peculiar symptoms that your little friend is showing. His inner-flame is notoriously low for both species, and his monster gene, which he has acquired from the Charizard side of his parents, is… dormant, for lack of a better word."
"Inner-flame? Monster gene? What does that mean?"
Bill looked up. "Sorry, I'm not really used to talking in layman terms." He looked embarrassed. "Let's put it this way. Fire-type pokémon have something known as an inner-flame inside them, a form of spiritual fire that is, in layman terms, their connection to fire, so to say. Different fire-types demonstrates various forms of materializing their inner-flame on their physical self. For Charmander, it is the flame on his tail. For the Typhlosion line in Johto, it is the flame on their back. For say… a Ponyta, it is very much the same. There exist some fire-types, like Growlithe for instance, who do not necessarily display an outer materialization of their inner-flame, but that is beside the point."
"Okay." Ash nodded, doing his best to keep up.
"The only other type that has an inner-flame is the dragon-type, because well, their affinity to fire-type, in addition to water, electric and normal-types. Because of that, a dragon too has a form of inner-flame, though it only represents the fire-part of its physiology, and is, as is clear, much less than say… a pure-fire type like the Arcanine-line or the Charizard-line."
Ash nodded his head again. "Because fire-types are completely creatures of fire, their inner-flame is greater compared to dragons who are only part-fire."
"Exactly." Bill agreed with an earnest clap. "However, your Charmander has… well, an inner-flame even smaller than an average Garchomp."
Crap.
"-which means, that his affinity to fire is weak at best, while his… draconic genetics are much more pronounced." Bill paused, "you can also say that your Charmander is a Garchomp in the body of a Charmander in a way."
"….." Ash thought.
"…" Ash said.
Bill chortled at the teen's reaction. "What I mean is, your Charmander's proclivity towards draconic attacks will be superior to most of its species, and in the same way, and his affinity towards flame-type attacks would be inferior to most fire-types."
"Would be?" Ash caught on.
"And people say that it is too early to start recruiting." Bill muttered, looking at the bright young teen in front of him. "Caught that, didn't you? Here, my friend, is what is extraordinary about your Charmander."
"And what's that?" Ash asked, perplexed.
"His genetic constitution is… bizarre, and not permanent, at least not in certain aspects. While his genetic growth as a Charmander can be pretty-well projected and conceptualized, I cannot say exactly what evolution might do to his DNA."
"I don't understand." Ash confessed.
Bill showed signs of irritation but controlled it. Whoever said that being a teacher was an easy job anyway? "See, the Charizard line has two particular attributes in their constitution, only one of which can exist in a particular specimen. These two attributes are known as the dragon and monster respectively. Charmander with the dragon attribute demonstrate an affinity towards draconic attacks, not the level of affinity your Charmander shows but close enough. Those with Monster attribute in them become taller, stronger, and larger in size, reaching a height of around ten feet."
"That's twice the size of the average Charizard." Ash exclaimed.
"That's the Monster attribute for you." Bill advised. "However, such specimens only hold true as fire/flying types, and have extreme low affinity for draconic attacks, if at all. In other words, a growlithe would snort at their dragon rage attack, but their inferno, or worse, blast burn would take down a Steelix in a single blow."
"…. Damn!"
Bill smirked. "You Charmander, however, because of his unique genetic constitution, has the active dragon attribute from the Garchomp parent, and thus, his affinity with draconic attacks is as good as the Garchomp-line, which is, let me say, beyond amazing. There is a reason after all, why even the first-generation Gible, is able to perform a Draco-meteor attack, which even adult Charizards with active dragon attribute fail to accomplish at times."
Ash stupidly nodded.
"The interesting thing here, is that Charmander has received the Monster attribute from its Charizard parent."
"But then shouldn't it be larger and stronger than others?" Ash asked, confused again.
Theoretically, it should. However, for… reasons I cannot fully comprehend at this moment, the Monster attribute is somewhat… dormant at this moment. Because Charmander here has a notoriously low inner-flame, and… from what the psychic treatment has unveiled- has always tried to use fire-type attacks, thus overusing his limited inner-flame, it has taken a toll on his physical form, and thus, is responsible for his frail nature and smaller body size."
"So you are telling me that if Charmander focusses on his draconic attacks instead of fire-type ones, his body will slowly show signs of growth?" Ash surmised.
"I'm sure of it." Bill answered with a grin. "This… sample, this is extraordinary, though forbidden, and with due reason. Charmander is very lucky that he was born with this… bizarre genetic combinations, and not, let's say… a complete runt useless at either thing."
Ash swallowed. "You were talking about evolution or something?"
Bill snorted at Ash's way of reference. "Yes, that. Because Charmander's genetic makeup is so… distorted at present, there is every possibility that an evolution might set things straight, and reactivate the Monster gene in him, as a Charmeleon. If things turn out right, he'll be one mammoth of a Charmeleon with super affinity to draconic attacks, though… as unfortunate as it is, his affinity to fire-type will remain low for the foreseeable future."
"It doesn't matter." Ash proclaimed.
Bill raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't concern you that your fire-type is not an optimal specimen of his species? Surely you should get yourself a better Charmander who has everything normal in his make-up."
"Nah, I'll stick with mine." Ash declared proudly, his fingers subconsciously caressing the pokeballs on his belt. "Charmander and I are in for the long run, as are my other pokémon."
Bill's spectacles flashed. "Interesting. So, do I get to meet them?"
"Sure." Ash answered, before releasing all of his pokémon.
In hindsight, he should have considered the thought before releasing all of them because of the shriek of surprise that reverberated throughout the lighthouse was certainly not good for his physical health.
"A SHINY PIDGEOTTO!"
Sometime later…
"Ash, I don't know how exactly this is going to sound to you, but you and I are going to be best of friends." The overexcited researcher practically purred, as he bent close to towards Pidgeotto to pluck out a couple of her shiny golden feathers.
Pidgeotto ignored the slight discomfort at having the creepy man draw so close to her, though considering that her trainer had specifically asked her to go through it, she didn't mind that much. Ignoring the slight prick she had felt on her skin as the creepy man plucked out three of her golden feathers, two from either wing and one from her plume, she had instantly shot towards her pokeball and pushed herself in, not wanting to be in the creepy man's presence for another moment.
"I didn't think she liked it all that much, Mr. Montgomery." Ash answered, slightly discomforted by the man's request.
"Do not worry, Ash. You have aided me in research more than you can possibly imagine. Charmander's DNA for me is like Christmas coming early. The feathers of a shiny Pidgeotto only… only…" The man gushed in excitement.
Ash cleared his throat.
"… Right," Bill controlled his expressions. "As I was saying, I'll make up for it. Tell me Ash, would you like me to gift you with pokémon? I do have some which I captured for the sake of studying them. There are… ordinary ones though."
"Nah, there's no need of that, Mr. Montgomery."
"Bill, please." Bill returned. "But there must be something. I am Bill Montgomery after all."
Ash crooked an eye, wondering that meant. "Well," he confessed, "the only thing that I truly need is… well, one is to buy TM for my pokémon, and the other… well, I'd be glad if you could get me a way to increase my roster."
Bill raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to do that?"
"Huh?"
Bill cleared his throat, returning to his researcher persona, instead of the hyper-active man-child. "What I mean is, why would you want to increase your roster? You can keep six pokémon with you, you know that, right?"
"Yes, I know, but that isn't enough. I've already caught six pokémon, and the next one that I catch will automatically vanish to Professor Oak's lab, and stay there until I get to a pokémon center and exchange it for someone I have with me. Either way, it means that my pokémon will, at best, have fragments of my journey, since their experiences will be limited by my own need for having them with me, and not because they are my pokémon."
Bill stood silent for some moments, before he muttered. "I must admit… I never really thought about it that way." Then, he let out a chuckle. "Funny, we are pokémon researchers, and yet, we fail to grasp such a simple little concept. Trainers exchange pokémon because of their own need, and not because of the pokémon's wishes. That's one serious oversight I'd never noticed." He looked up at the teen. "Tell me Ash, have you ever consider pokémon research as a career?"
"Uh… no not really. I just want to…" he paused for a moment, "I have always wanted to be a pokémon master."
Bill was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice the subtle wording behind Ash's answer. "A pity. You'd have made a fine one. However, "he glanced back with a bright smile. "Your presence has been greatly beneficial for me, and I'll try to give back in kind. So consider your problems solved."
"…." Ash responded.
Bill chortled. "You really don't know who I am, do you?"
"Uh… a researcher?" Ash ventured.
Bill lifted his head over and laughed hard. "Oh… oh my, to think that I'd ever have the chance of talking like a normal person and not realize it…." He laughed some more.
"What's so funny?" Ash scowled, somehow feeling that the joke was on him.
"Ash Ketchum, tell me, have you, perchance, heard of Silph Co.?"
"Hah!" Ash retorted. "Who hasn't? They are the premier organization in pokeball and TM development, and one of the largest in the world." He paused. "What about them?"
"And do you know who the chairman is?"
"Yeah, he's Robert…." Ash's eyes widened, "—Montgomery."
"Full marks!" Bill smirked.
"You are…. Bill… Montgomery!"
"I believe so." Bill was grinning from ear to ear.
"I am talking to Bill Montgomery. You are the… mind behind the 2nd gen TM?"
"My greatest work, I believe, so far."
"This is… is blowing my mind."
"I appreciate that."
Ash looked ready to faint.
"Anyway," Bill continued, his grin still on full throttle, "it is my duty to make sure that I try to solve your problems, considering how much you have, unknowingly or not, and aided me."
"…."
"As you might know, the roster for an Ace trainer is twenty at maximum, and these regulations are maintained by Silph Co. In essence, we at Silph Co. simply elevate the roster as per the League recommendations. That also means, that just like that, your roster can now accommodate as many as twenty pokémon, though I'd still advise you to continuously keep your pokémon on rotation to and fro to Oak, so that he might be able to perform physical, psychic and psychological check-ups on them."
"Oh." Ash had to admit, he had not considered that bit. So, now he could hold upto twenty pokémon…
Wait.
Twenty pokémon.
His problem with the limited roster, all of that just… vanished?
Just like that?
"You aren't joking, right?" Ash questioned, hoping it wasn't so.
"I'm bloody serious." Bill grinned. He inputted some keys into the mainframe, before connecting Ash's pokedex with it. The pokedex blinked as its configuration was visibly changed, increasing his roster to twenty, with himself registered as a trainer with private connection to Silph Co.
"Done!" Bill declared. "As for the other?"
He typed some more keys into his mainframe, as a thin debit card shot out from one of the devices. Bill reached out for it, and handed the little card to a dazzled Ash, who just held it in awe. There in his hand, was a Crypto Card authorized by Silph Co.
"You can use that card to buy a maximum of five TM's a month. If you waste it all out on a single day, you'll have to wait for the next month for the stipend to return. As of now, your status shows you as a freelance researcher for Silph Co. under direct authority of Bill Montgomery, which allows you a miniature stipend of five TM's every single month. It's pretty less than what I could afford, but we don't want you to get yourself a big head, do we?"
Ash was too befuddled to answer that.
"So," Bill replied with elation. "Now that I've solved your immediate problem, would you, my freelance associate, help me in a certain research of mine?"
Had Bill asked him to jump from the roof of the lighthouse into the sea right then, Ash would've done that without question. That man had just taken the world of his troubles and banished them away in the blink of an eye.
"Anything… anything."
Bill's lips curled. "Very well, let me start by telling you why exactly I'm so excited by shiny pokémon."
"Let me get this straight." Ash surmised. "You mean to say, that if a pokémon specimen is able to, by completely natural means, be born with a genetic pool superior to his own species-"
"Significantly superior." Bill stressed.
"Right, significantly superior to its own species, then such a… successful positive… what was it?"
"Mutation."
"Right, a successful positive mutation-"
"Natural mutation."
"Please stop interrupting." Ash scowled. "So, such a successful, positive, natural mutation will often show its presence by altering the skin color of the pokémon specimen?"
"Yes."
"And such pokémon are called shiny?"
"Correct." Bill elucidated. "For instance, your Pidgeotto, must have certain… traits that put it beyond others of its species. Can you remember something different and unusual about her?"
"Uh… when I battled her for the first time, she used double-team on my poliwag. I was surprised that a wild Pidgeotto knew something like that."
"Surprising indeed." Bill frowned.
"That, and he also knows Pursuit, though it is an egg move."
"Hmmm…" Bill frowned. "A normal flying-type like Pidgeotto had a dark-type as a parent, and was born with a shiny nature." He looked up gleefully. "I've half a mind to stop my research and travel with you, since you seem to have better luck than I have at finding such rare specimens."
"I might just have used up all my luck to get them... You know." Ash deadpanned.
"Now you're just playing dirty."
Ash chortled, much to the man's chagrin.
Bill scowled. "If you're done laughing at my predicament, I'd like to continue my explanation."
"Right, sorry."
Bill scoffed, but continued without delay. "As I was saying, shiny pokémon exhibit several traits that are… in a fashion, too fantastic for the rest of its… non-shiny species to have, at least without TM's anyway." He smirked proudly before continuing. "And one of such… successful mutations is the mythical King's nature."
"King's nature?"
"King's nature." Bill repeated. "Think of it like Charizard's Monster gene, only doubled, if not tripled in its action. "A Monster Charizard would be around ten feet tall, but a King Charizard would probably top over twenty-five feet."
"That's-"
"Undeniably awesome and unbelievably fantastic, I know." Bill grinned, "And part of my research here, deals with the myth of the Seven Kings."
"The myth of the Seven kings?"
"Yes." Bill answered, his eyes burning with excitement and passion. "Eons ago, there were seven dragon kings who ruled the region that is today comprised of Kanto and Johto regions. A Charizard, a Gyarados, a Garchomp, a Haxorus, a Kingdra, a Salamence, and a Dragonite."
Ash wondered about how a Garchomp, Haxorus or Kingdra would look like but kept silent.
"None of them were legendary, and yet, the blood of the elder dragons flowed through them more fluidly than any other of their kind on the planet. Despite… being, normal, compared to the legendary beasts of the universe, together the seven kings were an unstoppable force of nature. There is a reference to a certain mystical... catastrophe caused by a certain… darkness, the legends are quite… vague about that bit- anyway, and this cataclysmic dark power was too power to stop, even for legendaries themselves. The seven dragons, it is said, fought this… thing and stopped the cataclysm from happening, though not without losses."
"And?" Ash was hanging on to his every word.
"Out of the seven kings, one fell to the distortion world, never rising up again. One got sunk beneath an active volcano, the third distributed his ashes across a plain. The fourth's tomb is guarded by fire, the fifth died braver than the rest, while the sixth never rose above the sea floors, and the seventh lived to tell the tale."
Silence pervaded in the room, as Ash did his best to grasp whatever Bill had shared with him.
"From what we know, it was the King Charizard who got his ashes distributed through an entire plain, one that is today known as the Charicific Valley."
"What's that?"
"Charicific Valley? It is a solitary island in the Johto region with several active volcanoes on it, though surprisingly, the volcanoes never erupt and yet maintain a steady flow of liquid magma out of them, enough to keep them in an active state, and yet slow enough to allow the magma to cool before it is able to reach the plain. The entire island is said to be some kind of Charizard-haven, and Charizards from all over the world go there, some stay there all their lives, train amongst themselves and grow stronger. I'd advise you, that when your Charmander had evolved fully, you should get him to train himself there. The very air there is saturated with the King's own power, it is said."
"…wow." Ash whispered, before he remembered something. "Bill… the seventh one, the one who lived to tell the tale." Ash paused. "Who was that?"
Bill smiled oddly. "The King Dragonite. And it is in his search, that I have spent the last six years alone in this lighthouse, hoping that one day, he'll hear my call and wake up from the ocean floors."
"And?"
"And two days ago, I received a certain... electromagnetic disturbance that could only be caused by a substantial change in the ambient draconic energy in the air."
"You mean-?" Ash's words died in his throat, as a long, ever distant call reached his ears. It was… strangely enticing, mesmerizing, almost as if something afar was calling him.
"You hear that?" Bill asked in a whisper. "That's him. The King. He's coming."
Bill paused,
"And when he comes, you and I will be the lucky ones to meet him."