Chapter 19:Pride and Prejudice
"This is…" Cynthia had an unreadable expression on her face, as she shifted the papers, glaring at the content printed on them. "You do understand right what this means?"
With the rest of his pokémon gone ahead with Cynthia's own for their own training, Ash had gotten out, albeit a little reluctantly, the material that the Nurse at Bavarian Cliff and Bill had independently handed him for study. Understanding that someone like her would better understand it than him, Ash had shown her the material to make her own judgement.
"That Charmander was bred in captivity and by experimentation?" He tried.
Cynthia gave him an odd look, glancing at Charmander every now and then. The little fire-lizard was chatting away with Cynthia's Garchomp, who had surprisingly, taken a little interest at him for some reason. Shelgon had been trying to create a Draco meteor with Garchomp's help for the last two hours, and after what was possibly am extremely faint version of the move, the little draconic pokémon had been rendered completely exhausted, after which Ash had allowed him to take a nap beneath one of the trees.
"Even Garchomp feels it." She muttered, before facing Ash. "This is not just experimentation, Ash. This is… mutating pokémon to create something new, something alien."
The image of a metallic, armour-clad psychic came to mind. Ash quickly rejected the mental image and focussed on the issue. "So you are saying that Charmander is not… a Charmander?"
"No, he isn't. He just appears to be one. More importantly, he thinks himself to be one."
It reminded him strangely of Bill Montgomery. "But he looks like-"
"Have you ever seen a Charmander with a dragon-typing?" Cynthia challenged. "Yes, I agree that Charizard have several latent draconic traits within them, but they are inherently, a fire/flying type. That Charmander… is as close to Gible as you can get."
"Gible?"
"The baby stage of Garchomp." The Sinnoh girl replied offhandedly. "Charmander's DNA samples… they are in a state of mutation. You never know how he's gonna look like when he evolves."
"But he looks like a Charmander right now." Ash challenged.
"Sure, he does. But Evolution has a way of pushing up traits and pulling others back. With such a… unstable DNA sequence, there is no end to what might happen when Charmander might evolve? For all we know, it could have adverse effects on him as well."
What? Ash stood up, taking a step back. "No, that can't possibly happen."
Cynthia observed his challenging glare, and sighed. "I'm not telling you that it will happen. I'm just saying that anything can happen. Positives, negatives…"
"Bill said that I'd be up for a surprise when he evolves." Ash admitted, his face hard.
"Bill as in Bill Montgomery, right?"
The trainer from Pallet nodded.
"You sure have a lot of contacts up your sleeve." Cynthia teased. "Either way, these… these papers, they are proof that hybridization of pokémon is being conducted."
"Hybridized pokémon." Ash repeated.
"Yes, think of it this way. They managed to fuse draconic DNA with the Charizard-line, which have latent draconian genetics inside it, to create… well to create your Charmander, though I'm not sure if he is simply one of many, or just one of the… aberrations produced when the experiment was made on a large scale."
Ash felt bile in his throat at the very thought of it. Someone might have regarded Charmander as a scrap, and thrown him away, and then that Damien guy had done the same? No wonder Charmander suffered from so many psychological issues.
"What I am afraid of this the fact that someone might just be doing this on a much larger scale on pokémon populations."
"But wouldn't that be a… you know, illegal? The league would come after them." Ash countered.
"Yes, they would, and it is obvious that whoever is doing this, must indeed collect huge samples of a particular kind of pokémon to-"
Both of them glanced at each other, as they arrived at the same conclusion.
"The phantump!"
"So that's what they stole the Phantump population for." Ash muttered. "But why Phantump?"
"I… cannot say. I am not an expert on ghost-types." Cynthia admitted. "You should forward this information to Steven as soon as possible so that he-" She stopped midway.
"He what?" Ash questioned.
"No… that's not really an option. Doing it via the standard rules would require evidence and," Cynthia looked a little saddened, "they might want to take in Charmander for testing to try finding out more about the experimentation."
"Not an option." Ash stepped back, his stance defensive. "I'm not going to allow anyone take Charmander away from me. Not even you."
Cynthia stared at Ash with a scrutinizing stare. "I wasn't… asking you to do that, Ash. I merely said that it might be a possibility that the League officials might want to conduct some tests on Charmander and-"
"Don't you hear me?" Ash literally yelled. It was nigh uncharacteristic of him. "I'm not letting Charmander out to anyone. He stays with me, that's all and you better- NO!"
Said pokémon, meanwhile, seemed to have noticed the ongoing commotion, and had begun to fear the worst. After all, the blonde-haired girl had raised some issues about him back on the ship too. Without thinking about the repercussions, he opened his maw and in frustration and anger, let out a loud roar.
"Chaar!"
Charmander's maw had flooded with fire energy, which he had belched out towards the blonde-haired girl. It had been completely sudden, and even Garchomp hadn't expected something like that to happen. The torrent of flames shot towards Cynthia who had only managed to glance at it in horror, before someone leapt towards her, as the two fell down on to the ground, narrowly missing the flame-thrower.
There was a tiny thud that very moment, as Garchomp swiped one of his fin-like protrusions towards the Charmander, slamming it into the little lizard with a brick-break, sending Charmander flying to the ground. It might have even liked the little guy, but attacking his trainer was a transgression that didn't go unpunished.
"Ash- are you okay?" Cynthia managed to ask, her hands still on the ground, with Ash fallen above her, his face on her breasts. With a grunt, he pulled himself up, as she smirked. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Ash answered, a little befuddled with the entire thing. "Are you?"
"I'm." Cynthia admitted, pushing herself off the ground. "I guess Charmander really doesn't like anyone talking about him like that, does he?"
"No." Ash admitted weakly. "Nearly destroyed my Pokedex when it informed me about his… altered genetics." He looked at the fallen fire-lizard on the ground, trying to pull himself up, groaning as he did. He would have gotten to the lizard by then if not for the fact that Cynthia had held on to his wrist rather tightly.
Cynthia's lips curled, her fingers still around Ash's wrist. "So he has a lot of anger, doesn't he?"
"I… won't blame him. He gets like that whenever anyone comments anything about him not being a Charmander." He paused, as her stance became a little more recognizable. "Wait, you aren't going to attack him because of that, are you?" Ash asked, wariness creeping into his voice.
"Actually, I am." Cynthia's tone seemed odd. "The little guy is too attached to being a Charmander. We will need to force that attitude out of him."
"Wait, what?"
But the Sinnoh Champion was done with answering questions. "Garchomp, that little tyke believes himself better than dragons. Show him a real dragon breath."
"Wait—no!" Ash stressed, doing his best to pull himself away, but Cynthia had gripped his arm tightly. Suddenly, she let his hand go, but surprisingly, he was still unable to move even by a little bit. It seemed like something had-
Oh damn.
Medicham had put him under a psychic trap.
"Cynthia, what are you doing?" He grit his teeth.
"You've kept him protected far too much for his own good. Ash." The blonde-haired girl commented in a cold, composed tone. "However, the same protectiveness has also delayed Charmander from overcoming his own fears." She looked up at the fire-lizard trying to get up on the ground, and yelled. "Your trainer is now unable to help you, Charmander. Let's see what a black spot you are in the name of the Charmander species."
That seemed to enrage Charmander even more. Somehow managing to pull himself off the ground, the little lizard sprang up to its feet, his claws shining like bright steel as he sprang towards the dragon, his mouth filled with whatever fires he could pull up from his inner flame, throwing out a flamethrower.
It did jack shit to Garchomp, who simply let out a snort at his pathetic display.
"Show him a real flamethrower, Garchomp."
Garchomp snorted once again, before belching out a wider, brighter and infinitely more scorching burst of liquid fire towards the little fire-type, scorching him half to death. Even then, Charmander pulled himself up and threw up another flamethrower. Apparently, all the exercises alongside Bagon (now Shelgon) that Ash had made it do had paid off.
"Very stubborn. I'll give you that." Cynthia winked at Ash, who had stopped fighting against the psychic trap and was now looking at Charmander as if for the first time. He knew it—Charmander knew it- that the only possible move that could be effective at this moment on Garchomp would be a draconic move. Besides, Charmander knew it well that his flamethrower was sub-par at best. That was why Ash had made him perfect his dragon-based attacks as much as possible over the time they had been together.
Yet, the little lizard just kept on belching out fire attacks one after another.
"Cynthia… you have got to stop this." Ash whispered, pleading to her. "Charmander's inner flame is devastatingly low. If he keeps this up, his inner flame might start flickering all over again."
Cynthia smirked. "And that is exactly the fallacy you have been in, Ash." She turned towards Charmander. "Your pathetic fire attacks will do nothing to Garchomp, and yet you continue."
Charmander however, was beyond caring at this moment. His body was scorched at places, his fur scratched and injured, and yet the little lizard kept on scratching against Garchomp's thick hide with his shiny claws.
Garchomp snorted at that.
"They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results." Cynthia chuckled. "I'm not sure if Charmander's behaviour should be called loyalty or insanity."
"I'd call it diligence." Ash put in, much to her surprise. "Watch."
With a rather loud yell, Charmander slashed into Garchomp's nigh impenetrable hide, making the larger dragon wince in pain, as he stepped back, falling onto his knees. The final slash had severed into his muscles just above it.
"Ah, I see. Metal claw. The effect increases upon successive strikes. I should have remembered that." She turned towards Ash. "Did you teach him that trick?"
"It was a good practice against Metang and his steel-body."
"Intelligent." Cynthia praised. "However, this won't change a thing. Garchomp-"
But Garchomp had already thrown a powerful pulse of draconic energy towards the lizard, slamming into his head, literally smashing Charmander into the dirt.
Cynthia almost cringed. "I really hope that the attack turned him unconscious. Garchomp isn't in the mood to play anymore." She turned towards Ash and looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Ash, but I need Charmander to go through this. Please forgive me." She turned towards the Medicham. "Use Confusion on Charmander."
Unfortunately or not, Charmander was anything but unconscious. Realizing that his fire-attacks were only tiring out, and his metal-claw attack wasn't going to help him again, he would have to resort to techniques that were, more effective. He knew that perfectly, but resorting to dragon-based moves would only prove the blonde-girl right, and that was a blow on his pride that Charmander would not, could not, take. No, he would have to keep on trying. After all, he was a Charmander, and there must be something that he could-
Ash's agonized screams reverberated through the entire grassland. Screams from the one voice that Charmander never, ever, ever, expected to hear. A voice that had been for him when no one else had ever.
"I also think that you are a very dedicated pokémon, with great inner strength… I'd like you… to be a part of my team."
"I understand that you are not like any other Charmander… but that doesn't matter. After all, you are special."
His trainer had told him that his lack of fire-ability didn't matter, as long as he was the best in what he could do. Yet, a part of Charmander had always held out an immutable belief that he was, after all was said and done, a Charmander. After all, he looked like one, and talked like one.
"… I will always be there for you, and look out for you. You can trust me on that."
Charmander had adored his trainer for those words, and now the same person was in agony, only because he had chosen to stick to defy the attack on his own pride instead of using attacks, that he inherently knew, were much more powerful and had a greater chance of getting that Garchomp hurt.
And something inside Charmander inherently changed.
His tail flame suddenly sprouted out, almost in defiance, now burning several times more powerfully than normal, as his entire body seemed to glow with a strange, primal power. His eyes darkened as draconic energy flooded inside his maw, his claws glowing whiter than silver, and elongating—a clear application of dragon claw in effect.
Pride be damned, if he had to choose between that and his trainer. There was no choice in the first place.
And Charmander gave in to his draconic power.
"Whoa…" Cynthia muttered to herself. "Using the Blaze ability like that, to fuel his draconic moves. I could never even begin to fathom that such a thing could even happen. Think of what he could do with this ability knocked in, and a dragon rush attack used in combination."
She looked up at Garchomp who still didn't seem to care at all.
And Charmander attacked.
His limbs now strangely a lot faster, his claws extended, his eyes filled with icy fire, and his entire physical form strangely engulfed in draconic energies, Charmander was a sight to behold. With the draconic energy swirling around him, Charmander looked way taller than he was. His maw opened as he threw out a powerful dragon pulse towards Garchomp, something that Garchomp neutralized midway with his own dragon pulse. That however, didn't seem to make the little lizard pause in his tracks.
Is this…? Cynthia thought… Am I witnessing some kind of transition-state between two forms?
Charmander strangely, seemed indifferent to Garchomp. His motivations had changed, as had the meaning and the final objective of the battle. His enemy wasn't the frighteningly powerful Garchomp standing there, but the blonde-haired girl who commanded it. The same blonde-haired girl who had held his trainer captive and was causing him pain. He leapt off the ground- a good twenty-feet up in the air, as Cynthia watched with unending awe at his mode of attack. For a powerful Gabite to do that was one thing, their fins alongside their body anatomy was literally built for it. But for a Charmander to do the same was-
Inexplicably mind-boggling.
Charmander, still high up in the air, belched out a powerful dragon-breath attack, right at Cynthia, only for Garchomp to suddenly appear in front of her, and with a perfect execution of Dual Chop, sent out two criss-crossed waves towards Charmander, not only deflecting the attack but hitting him straight in the face.
Only if that were all. Garchomp literally teleported, appearing right in the air in front of Charmander, before slamming a powerful dragon pulse in the face, the sheer power of the attack sending Charmander, engulfed in a mixture of his own draconic energy, and the sheer power of the dragon pulse, flying into the waters of the flowing waters of the sea, where he fell with a crash.
"Charmander!" Ash yelled, knowing very well that the flowing waters could have an adverse effect on his tail flame. What happened though… was nothing like he had expected.
With a reverberated roar, a being of liquid light jumped up from the waters, his entire body shining brightly, as it slowly condensed, morphing constantly between Charmander's own form and a much larger form.
Charmander was evolving.
Is he…. Ash stared in awe. Beside him, Cynthia was watching the event as well, surprise and awe in her eyes and a little smile on her face.
After several moments of constant metamorphosis of the condensed energy state, Charmander's form seemed to finally arrive at a final state. His head, initially round, now had a single horn protruded out of it backwards as was true for Charmeleon in general. His bulk had been magnified, now reaching a respectable five feet, almost as tall as Ash himself. That meant a mammoth of a Charmeleon, since most of them reached four feet at most, with Charizard ranging from five to six feet in height. However, the change of bulk and height weren't the only differences.
His body had morphed as well. From his elbows, protruded backward were two long, fin-like protrusions, which could act as makeshift blades by the looks of it, just like Gabite. His maw looked much larger, with larger frontal jaws and with two pairs of fangs protruding out of his maw on either side, one pair close to the opening and the other towards the cheek. His tail flame, now burned more powerfully, though it had gained an icy blue color. His traditional brick red body color had been replaced by bluish-black, though the underbelly remaining a lighter shade of cream. The claws on his fore and hind limbs looked much more enlarged and screamed danger to anyone who had offended it even by mistake, a natural fact considering that Charmeleon were by nature, an aggressive species.
Ash pulled out his pokedex, as Dexter orated its knowledge of the specimen standing in front of him after a momentary scan.
Charmeleon. Evolved form of Charmander. Charmeleon mercilessly destroys its foes using its sharp claws. If it encounters a strong foe, it turns aggressive. In this excited state, the flame at the tip of its tail flares with a bluish white color.
This Charmeleon is male. Current Move set: Dragon claw, dragon breath, dragon rage, metal claw, dual chop and flamethrower. Ability: Blaze, Tough claws.
And then Dexter went all crazy once again.
Odd specimen. Checking for newer cross-breeds. Match not found. Error. Error. Checking database server…. Body-color mismatched. Body-proportions mismatched. Monster-gene active. Confirmed. Inner Flame sub-par. Genetic-typing: Dragon. Genetic ability mismatched. Please report to authorities.
"Tough claws?" Cynthia narrowed her eyes. "I've never heard of that ability. Check it out in detail."
Ash did as told without hesitation.
Searching database servers... Not found. Searching Silph private repositories. Match found. Tough claws. Status: Found.
Tough claws: Powers up moves that make direct contact. Possible ability for… Error. Access denied. Trying again. Access denied. Trying again. Access denied. No authentication. Proceeding for Data removal.
Silence pervaded for a moment, before Dexter spoke again.
Tough claws. Powers up moves that make direct contact. No other information available.
That shut Dexter up, as the supercomputing device went cold.
"That was… interesting." Cynthia muttered, before something else attracted her attention. Specifically, a one-in-the-world kind of cross-breed between a Gabite and a Charmeleon, who was glaring at her, the hatred swirling in his eyes more than enough to make her take a step back.
With an ear-splitting roar, Charmeleon leapt off the ground, using mobility that betrayed its large bulk as it reached thirty feet into the air, before changing direction, not unlike Bagon did, as he swooped towards the blonde-haired trainer, his claws glowing like silver, and his eyes burning with vengeance, only to-
Stop midway, managing to use the claws on his legs to resist its own momentum, as Ash stepped in front of her, making Charmeleon somehow stop himself bare inches close to his own body.
If only that was enough.
Apparently, he had underestimated the changes in his own body. With shocking realization, he found a single claw of his arm, now dug inside Ash's chest, all the way through his jacket and shirt, causing bright-red blood to ooze out of the clothing. His eyes widened with shock, he slowly pulled the claw out, seeing a miniature part of it now colored with a sticky, bright-red liquid.
His trainer's blood.
"Charman- Charmeleon," Ash called out softly, his voice filled with hesitation, paying no heed to the tiny amount of blood oozing through his chest. Charmeleon was presently, of a much higher priority than a little blood lost. A part of his mind was beginning to feel the effects of blood loss though, as well as the effect of the dragon rush that had slammed into him with Charmeleon's attack.
But Charmeleon was past hearing it. He had given in to his rage, evolved into a monstrosity, one whose powers he himself couldn't fully comprehend, and had now hurt his trainer. The same trainer who had suffered pain to save him.
That was… sacrilege.
The creature slowly took hesitant steps backward, before letting out another ear-splitting roar, and with a last look of hatred towards the blonde-haired girl, suddenly moved in, snatched Ash from her person, before leaping off the ground, before arriving on the top of a tiny hillock, before leaping off again, until the two had vanished somewhere deep inside the forests close to the volcano.
"…. Shit." Cynthia muttered. She had definitely not seen that coming.
Sometime later.
Ash woke up from a troubled sleep, finding himself upon a rocky floor inside what seemed to be a rocky cavern. From the inside, it looked like he was inside one of the caverns on the exterior of the volcano, surrounded by forests on all sides. That reminded him…
"Charmeleon?" He squeaked, finding it a little hurting to try getting up. He looked at his chest, finding several leaves and squashed berries on his exposed chest, the front of his jacket and shirt torn rather haphazardly using claws. By the looks of it, the blood loss had stopped, though the effects of the Dragon rush had left him slightly shaken.
He thought he heard something shift in the shadows.
"Charmeleon?" He called out, hesitation, and (as much as he wanted to deny it) fear creeping into his voice. There was no saying how Charmeleon's mentality was after the evolution, especially because of his mutating genetics. Plus, Charmeleon weren't exactly the most cooperative types, and were quick and subtle to anger. In that aspect, they were very much like Charmeleon.
Then again, he isn't a normal Charmeleon, is he? He couldn't help but think.
There was a sound of splintering wood, as someone stepped into the cavern. Even from the distance, Ash could see the shadows falling into the cavern, as the dark outline of Charmeleon came into view, his claws shining brightly like hot silver. His eyes, dark and yet burning with an indescribable emotion, and his tail flame, the icy blue one, flickering brightly.
For that moment, Ash Ketchum knew fear.
"Charmeleon?" He called out, fear distinct in his voice.
Charmeleon made an indistinct noise, before he slashed his claws on the solid rock, causing sparkles of flame to be born, which fell onto the wood and shrubbery that Charmeleon had unceremoniously dropped on the floor, causing a tiny bonfire to start burning on top of the pile.
Charmeleon grunted towards Ash, as if to inquire about his health.
Feeling a little more courage seeping into his veins, (after all, Charmeleon must have been the one to treat him with the berries and the leaves), he allowed his face to shift into a small grin. "I'm good. It hurts a little but I'm good enough." He paused, frowning, "why did you bring me here?"
Charmeleon looked at him, his expression conflicted, before becoming indecisive and slashing his powerful claws against the walls of the cavern, causing furrows to appear on the surface with every single strike.
"Those are some powerful claws you know." Ash commented. "One strike from that and not even Metagross would be left unharmed. Even Shelgon, I think."
Charmeleon grunted at the mention of his team-mates, before slowly stepping back, sitting on his back on the rocky floor, his bluish tail flame emanating a soft glow in the darkness of the cavern.
"Are you angry at what happened?"
After what seemed to be several seconds, Charmeleon nodded his head, slowly.
"You are… angry at evolving?" Ash stressed, making sure not to sound accusing.
Charmeleon let out a grunt, holding out his hands, before letting out another roar.
"Whoa… peace." Ash cringed, his ears hurting at the reverberation caused by the sound. "You… you are angry because you look different, don't you?"
Another grunt, this time of resignation.
"I think you look incredibly cool."
Charmeleon looked at him, wide-eyed, as if afraid his trainer had finally gone round the bend. With exaggerated facial and hand movements, he tried to convey about the changes in him, the differences between what he should have become and what he became, pointing several times at the wound, as if his evolution was somehow to blame for that as well.
"You didn't know that I'd jump in front of Cynthia." Ash replied calmly.
The draconic creature let out a growl at the mention of her name.
"She isn't bad, you know." Ash replied slowly, at the same time, pushing him up from the floor to reach towards the draconic creature near him. "She did that only to get you out of the shell you created around yourself."
Charmeleon grunted, as if in defiance.
"And even I am to blame for it."
The blackish dragon turned his snout towards Ash, his eyes filled with incomprehension.
"We both know that you might have looked like a Charmander, but because of the situations of your birth…" He touched Charmeleon's rough hide, only to find the creature suddenly shudder, though the heat emanating out of his skin was distinct yet not uncomfortable, like lukewarm water. "We both know that you were good with draconic attacks, and yet…" Ash sighed. "Yet, I gave you the Flamethrower TM, hoping that you would perfect the technique. I guess, a part of me never let go of the fact that you were more draconic than you were a fire-type. Funny, since I always loved the draconic aspects of Charizard than their ability to breathe fire."
Charmeleon looked at him with surprise.
"Yeah, pretty stupid of me, I know." Ash admitted, slowly caressing Charmeleon's rough hide. The pokémon let out a tiny warble at that, completely unlike the rowdy roar he had given out ever since his evolution. For a moment, it was almost like he was back to being a Charmander, and Ash was petting him. Almost unconsciously, he extended out his tongue to lick Ash's hand.
His trainer smiled. "See? Nothing's wrong with you. And besides, now that you accepted you are none less than a dragon, you have this mean look. I mean, the other Charmeleon will be nothing in front of you."
Charmeleon had to admit, that did stroke his draconic pride a little.
"Trust me. What do you think the other Charmeleon would think, seeing you jump all that high in the air, like that? Besides, you do know that your move set is awesome, just like these claws of yours." He slowly extended another hand to touch the claws on the left hand.
Charmeleon flinched, remembering how the very same claw had penetrated Ash's chest, and drawn blood.
"You are thinking about that attack, right?" Ash asked gently. "It's okay. You wouldn't have known that I'd have stepped into your path, but if I didn't… you'd have hurt Cynthia."
Charmeleon growled at the name again.
Ash chuckled. "She knew doing that to me would get you to throw away your stubbornness, Charmeleon. What you were, that was just a mask. Just a cocoon. This," he touched the steel-like claw. "This is your real self. My Charmeleon."
Charmeleon just grunted, speaking nothing.
"No one is now going to call you a baby, you know. Now you are powerful, and can fight battles just like Shelgon, or Rhydon, or Metagross. You are now one of my main battlers. You will battle for me, wouldn't you?"
Charmeleon let out a growl indignantly, as if Ash had just insulted him by even mentioning it. Of course he would.
Ash grinned. "Then just you watch. The other trainers wouldn't even know what hit them, that is… if you start accepting who you are."
Charmeleon looked away.
"Charmeleon," Ash muttered, "you are now a pure dragon, and my mom always tells me to be the best I can be. I want you to be the best you can be. If you are a dragon, I need you to become the best and most powerful dragon ever."
Charmeleon considered the thought.
"Think about it. There is no one like you. Which means, there will be no one as powerful as you. All you need to do is accept it, and start believing that if anyone can do it, than it is you."
The draconic pokémon found him grunting in agreement.
"And that means, you will not attack Cynthia any more. She only wanted to help you, help us—get rid of our stubbornness."
Charmeleon snorted.
"I'm serious. Think what you could learn from that powerful Garchomp."
Thinking about that monstrosity only made Charmeleon angrier.
"Don't be like that." Ash chided. "He's a Champion-level pokémon. If you don't learn from him now, how will you grow powerful? We will train alongside Cynthia's pokémon, and when it is time, we will defeat them."
That, Charmeleon found himself agreeing with. It did sound quite devious.
Ash grinned, before looking outside, before a nasty thought came to him. "Umm… Charmeleon? How are we going to return back?"
After the horrendous episode of Ethan's death, Haunter had lost herself to mindless craze and bloodthirst, turning herself into something of an anathema, even for ghost-kind. Ghosts were, by nature, hungry predators who literally relished on the fear of their prey. However, the other two Haunter had managed to keep her somewhat… sedated. Over time, with the otherworldly energies concentrating all over the forest, Haunter had matured, losing her barbarian nature, and evolving into a Gengar, ruling over the multitude of ghost-species that abounded the forest over the decades. With the two Haunter as her subservient helpers, Gengar had turned the forest where she had lost everything into a haven for the ghost-kind, with occasional prey coming in, in the form of unsuspecting trainers wanting to catch ghost pokémon for themselves.
That was until Ash Ketchum came along.
Everything had gone to plan. Trevenant were, the defenders, or should one say, the first line of defense (and offense) against the invaders (or prey) depending upon how one looked at it. If the prey was weak, either they managed to run away or succumbed to one of the Trevenant's powers, losing their lives and their souls in the process. It was okay, since being attuned with nature, Trevenant had the ability to harvest the powers of these souls into nourishment for the young Phantump population, aiding in their quick growth. Besides, it wasn't like ghosts needed sustenance for survival anyway. However, should the trainer be extremely lucky, they managed to get themselves a weaker ghost and escape their impending doom before the wrath of Trevenant fell upon them.
That was how it had continued till Ash Ketchum came along.
The young human hadn't captured a weakling. He had gone for the head, and captured Trevenant himself. Gengar had given him full marks for that. It required a strong team, and lot of courage from the human as well, to accomplish that. Gengar had relished at the prospect of devouring the soul of such a courageous individual, but then the nasty void-using feline had challenged her pride in front of everyone.
A battle to the death, upon which the fate of her friends would be decided.
Of course, Gengar had offered them the illusion of a choice that if they returned the Trevenant, they would have a chance to return back. Truth be told, they wouldn't. As soon as the Trevenant would be released, the entire ghost-community would leap upon them, and would have feasted on their souls.
Not that it mattered anyway, though before that, she would have to go through this sham of a battle. Not that she minded. After all, it had been quite some time before someone had come remotely close to giving her a run for her money.
The outcome of the battle had been up to Gengar's expectations, and much more. The feline had not only one-upped her, but had literally smashed her pride into the moist, dense poisonous ground on which the forest existed. Gengar had to, to save her pride, use the ambient powers of the forest to revive herself, though she had never expected the sudden attacks from those… monsters.
That was when she had come across a different side of Ash Ketchum.
The one that cared for his pokémon more than himself. The one that was ready to die if it meant that his pokémon were able to survive. The one that reminded Gengar too much of Ethan than she was comfortable with.
Ash Ketchum and his team of beasts had aided the ghosts to somehow bring about victory against those invaders. It hurt her pride to accept it, but without their aid, the ghost colony would have been decimated overnight.
And even after that, Ash Ketchum had demonstrated magnanimity in victory, by protecting the other ghost (much to Gengar's annoyance) and was okay with giving up Trevenant if it meant that his pokémon w0uld survive.
That was when Gengar had made her decision.
And now she was part of the team. Ash Ketchum's team, fighting together, practicing together with the rest of her team-mates. It felt strangely nostalgic, and yet… Gengar felt freer than she had ever had, all this while in the forest.
She heard the void-using feline grunt at her in indignation, as said feline charged up a somewhat effective Shadow-ball, one that Gengar herself had taught her a while ago. It was almost hilarious to even consider that she had been teaching the Shadow Ball technique to someone that had defeated her in battle. Then again, the feline had agreed to share away with her own technique, the Dark Pulse with Gengar as payment.
She glanced at the horribly knowledgeable all-knowing-one with the silver spoons. The Alakazam had requested her to teach him the ability to use Curse. In return, the all-knowing-one would aid her with learning the move Dream-eater.
As far as all-knowing-ones and void-users were concerned, the ones on the trainer's team at least had some sense of reciprocation.
The Shadow ball, or a half-assed version of it- shot towards Gengar who slapped it away lazily, something that made Absol grunt in annoyance before she began her second attempt at making a stronger version of it. Meanwhile, Gengar couldn't help but wonder about the other ghost in her trainer's team, one who had no idea about what had conspired in the forest after his capture.
Trevenant.
For two days, the elder tree pokémon had undergone treatment, before the trainer had gotten him back with himself, though… Gengar remembered with a mental frown, Trevenant had yet to come out of the pokeball. She had talked to her trainer, al courtesy to the all-knowing-one for translation- about how she wanted to be present when Trevenant came out of the ball for the first time, knowing how terrifyingly angry the elder-tree species became, if caught off-guard. At least, the tree would accept Gengar's presence and bow down to the wishes of the trainer like she had.
At least that was the plan.
And then the untimely evolution of the little lizard had thrown it all in a frenzy.
Gengar looked away towards the forests. Something about the dense canopies gave her a nasty feeling. For the last time, she began to think that perhaps… it would have been better if she would have gone in search for her trainer, who was alone with the newly evolved and angry dragon and….
Gengar winced inwardly.
The Trevenant.
Without another word, Gengar dissipated into the shadows.
Back inside the forests, the trainer from Pallet and his Charmeleon were slowly trudging their way through the dense shrubbery that littered the forest floor. The ground was almost invisible, covered with a plethora of large boulders, creepers, shrubbery and thorny branches and roots spread out all over. The effects of that Dragon Rush had caused quite an amount of injury to the boy, making it almost impossible to even consider another 'leap into the sky multiple times' way of travelling back to the camp. It would definitely have been much faster, and truth be told, Ash could have somehow borne it, but he had thought better. Going down via the mundane way would actually get both of them some time together, and Charmeleon would get some more time to familiarise himself with his new form, before they encountered Cynthia and her Garchomp again. As much as he believed that the newly evolved draconic pokémon would pay heed to his commands, he didn't want to risk it. Besides, Charmeleon weren't really-
No. I can't really keep calling him that. He needs a name. A name with which he can associate himself, a unique name for a unique individual.
That was true.
"Hey Charmeleon?"
Said pokémon grunted in acknowledgement, slashing against the shrubbery and branches for the nth time. One thing was certain, by the time they would have descended down to the foothills, he would have absolutely mastered dragon claw to the finest.
"I was wondering if you would like to have a name of your own."
That stopped the draconic creature short, before he grunted back, almost as if wanting more explanation.
"Well, you are the only one of your type in the world, and much more than a Charmeleon. I don't want to… you know, keep calling you Charmeleon to remind you of something that you aren't." Ash paused. "With a new name, you wouldn't have such… issues to deal with."
Charmeleon grunted, though it seemed like indecision more than anything else.
"I was thinking along the lines of… Magnus. It means 'great', and you are going to be a great and powerful dragon in time. I think it would be quite… fitting for someone as prized and strong as you are."
Charmeleon snorted. His trainer did have a way with words, as far as boosting his draconic pride was concerned. With nary but an afterthought, he grunted in agreement.
"Great!" Ash chirped. "Magnus it is."
As if in confirmation, Charmeleon, now Magnus, let out a roar, clearing out the path in front with a burst of draconic energy in the form of a dragon pulse, which cleaved the forest ground, until it hit a rather large and ancient-looking tree, which cracked at the base of its trunk with a groan.
Ash got a nasty feeling that whatever had just happened was going to leave some repercussions. Almost as if in answer, several figures jump down the ancient tree on the ground, jumping their way through the shrubbery as they surrounded Ash and Magnus from all sides. Even in the somewhat dimmed light, Ash could make out the wooden clump-like appendages, and the white mane overflowing from their head.
"Shiftry…." Ash muttered, his danger senses on high alert. After seeing the one that Ritchie had gotten as his prized pokémon, Ash had made it a point to get a detailed look at the species. From what he had found, it was clear that a herd of rogue Shiftry wasn't something to take lightly.
It wasn't something to even consider 'lightly' at all.
The four dark-types circled around Ash and Magnus, growling predatorily as they circled their prey, their appendages glowing with dark energies, as they readied to pounce on their prey.
However, this wasn't the first time that Ash had found himself surrounded by rogue pokémon. The previous experience at the forest had imparted a little amount of knowledge to him, knowledge that he now knew how to wield.
"Listen," he replied in his best-intimidating voice. "We are not here to cause trouble for any of you, or the forest. We were simply returning back to our camp. There is no need for any kind of battling."
The sudden roar from Magnus that accompanied his statement might not have been that helpful, considering he was trying to achieve peace. Then again, the dark pulse fired at him from one of the Shiftry—intercepted by a dragon pulse from Magnus—was a clear indication of that prospect anyway.
Ash cast another glance at the glowing claws on Magnus's arms. "All right, if you want to battle, a battle is what you will get." He remembered Absol's declaration. "Magnus will battle with your leader."
The Shiftry stopped moving, and instead, simply glared at him. Then, they barked at each other and one of four stepped forward to battle Magnus, who gave a roar challengingly.
The Shiftry growled in return before leaping up to one of the nearby trees, and much to its surprise, Magnus leapt off the ground, chasing after it.
"Look at him go." Ash whispered, more to himself than to the others, watching in awe as Magnus kept on jumping from one tree to another, his powerful claws giving him the ability to simply shift his direction and momentum midway as he leapt from one tree to another, firing draconic attacks at the elusive pokémon who seemed to literally vanish its way through the dense canopy of the forest.
A sudden growl attracted Ash's attention, as he looked in horror at the other three Shiftry, who seemed to have returned back to the cognition that Ash was the prey and they were the predators, making him step back gently.
"Uh... guys, my—Magnus is fighting your leader. Doesn't that mean that you will wait till the battle is over?"
The sudden attack of razor leaf that shot past him, tearing a little laceration on his cheek made him drop the idea instantly.
Damn. What do I do? His fingers automatically went to his belt, where a lone pokeball stood. That when he was reminded that he wasn't, in fact, without pokémon to fight alongside him.
Even if it was Trevenant.
For the first time in his life, Ash Ketchum begun to curse his decision of not releasing Trevenant out when he had the chance.
If I release Trevenant, there is a very good chance that Trevenant will fight for me. After all, Gengar did. Either way… what chance do I have? If I do not bring him out, the Shiftry will kill me in a second. I have to take the risk.
Hoping that it would work out for the best, he plucked the pokeball and threw it onto the forest floor, releasing the pokémon within as the ball returned to his hand. Even the Shiftry paused and waited to see the energies that condensed to form the pokémon that stood before them.
Trevenant let out a fearsome roar.
Sensing an otherworldly type, the three Shiftry instantly geared themselves to action, surrounding the Trevenant on all sides, who looked slightly off-guard, what with being found in the middle of a strange forest with wild void-users surrounding him. His instincts shot up, as his eyes glowed blood-red.
And the forest suddenly sprang to life.
Back at the camp.
"You think that might have been a little too much?" Cynthia asked, preparing a concoction made of several natural ingredients for Ash and his pokémon. She wasn't sure if it would taste well, but the positive effect it would have on them was guaranteed.
And that was all that mattered.
She considered Ash's reaction over the event that had happened. Once again, he hadn't cared about his own life and jumped into the flamethrower's path, narrowly avoiding getting scorched by it to save her. And right after that, despite the fact that she had literally caused him to feel pain (despite her intentions being for the better), he hadn't hesitated to take Charmeleon's attack on himself, using himself as a shield to protect her.
Cynthia flushed a little, feeling unsure about what she felt for him, and what she was supposed to feel for him. Initially it had been an attraction towards a fellow trainer, who regardless of his lack of experience, mimicked her own battling strategy like no other. The fact that he had the allegiance of not just one, but two pseudo-legendaries was simply the icing on the cake.
The next week that she had spent in knowing him had only deepened the attraction she had for him. Defiant, stubborn, a natural tactician and battler, and most importantly, someone who demonstrated a real love for his pokémon beyond the concept of team. Also, the fact that she was able to hold a conversation with him (with her anonymity intact) was a bonus.
And then she had revealed her identity as the Sinnoh Champion, and everything had changed.
He hadn't… fell on his knees to try impress her like the others usually did, though she did notice a sort of… amazement and disbelief etched on his face. It was distinctly visible in his eyes, as he wondered why she had chosen to act friendly (Cynthia felt annoyed at remembering it) with him.
And then he had left Metagross, his most powerful pokémon with her so that she wouldn't have to face problems, while he himself went to battle a Rocket Executive. That night, he had saved her life twice, first from that Executive Proton, and next, by summoning the King Dragonite to counter the wrath of Mewtwo. It was largely thanks to that, that she was alive.
Needless to say. Cynthia had been taken with, with the fourteen-year-old. She wouldn't have said that she loved him or anything. But whatever it was, it was true that she did feel strongly for him. Which was why she had chosen to spend her last vacation with him, and no one else.
If only Ash would realize that he had been talking to Cynthia, the Champion… and completely ignoring Shirona, his friend.
Cynthia snorted. Somehow, she should have expected such a form of obliviousness from Ash. It was written all over his face, but despite all her attempts, Ash had religiously stuck to treating her like the Champion she was, albeit one he was friendly with, and not someone who was just… just his friend.
She had been immensely annoyed by that.
And then Ash had to go and save her life yet again.
She added another ingredient into the concoction. When Ash would return with that Charmeleon (if it could be called one), then she would have to ensure that he drank the contents. It would increase his body's rejuvenation abilities temporarily.
Her knuckles rubbed against her leg, remembering the way Charmeleon's claw had sunk into Ash's chest, and had drawn out blood.
And yet… and yet, she knew that even after all that the two of them had gone through, Ash would treat her as Cynthia, the Champion, who just happened to be his friend and not Shirona his friend, who just happened to be the Champion.
She looked up. "Garchomp? Do you think it was too much?" She repeated again.
Garchomp simply grunted, not bothering to care too much, turning away as he continued to teach the Shelgon the art of using Draco Meteor. Shelgon was strong, that was a given, but his body anatomy was simply not designed for a battle. However, that was only temporary, because soon the innate metamorphosis would be complete and the pseudo-legendary dragon Salamence would soar out into the sky.
Garchomp loved battling with Salamence. Even the wild ones were damned powerful, and if this Shelgon were to master a couple more moves in time, he would make one nasty Salamence after evolution. Till then, Shelgon would have to stay behind, working only as a long-range attacker, leaving the main fight to the others. Speaking of which…
His draconic senses alerted him, as he stared towards his right, and almost immediately after, a burst of dragon breath shot out of the wild, several miles away from the forests closer to the volcano.
"Guess we know where they are now." Cynthia muttered, staring at the draconic attack that shot out of the forest. Typical Ash! That idiot couldn't stay out of trouble to save his life, she thought, half-annoyed and half-lovingly.
"You think we need to help them get back here?"
Garchomp turned towards his left, watching Ash's Rhydon getting beat up—pretty badly if he were to be honest—by Rhyperior. The overgrown rat of a Lairon had already been bodily picked up and thrown against the rocks multiple times, only for the steel-type to get back up. At least they were diligent, Garchomp mused. He turned towards the forest again, as another burst of draconic energy shot out, past the trees, before letting out a sigh.
He grunted back.
"Do it."
Throwing an apologetic look at the Shelgon, Garchomp extended his fins outward, before pushing himself off the ground, soaring into the sky.
Ever since his defeat at the hands of the rampaging rock-beast as well as the rest of the human's team, Trevenant had slipped into a comatose state, unaware of the fact that he had undergone treatment during the same interval. As a result, it was completely he finally found a release from his state of suspended animation, Trevenant was a bit…
Angry.
And then he found himself. In a forest. Surrounded by dark types. Attacking him from all sides.
All that anger at being kept in animation inside those hideous devices literally boiled out of him, begging for an outlet for their release. Trevenant gave it one.
The Shiftry.
His eyes glowed blood-red, and the forest instantly rose to life, the branches and tree trunks rising up to meet the Shiftry face-first, slamming into them, and throwing them away. The void-users were relentless, and kept on firing grass-based attacks on them.
Fools! Trevenant thought. Here in the middle of the forest, he was the superlative being. The forest, the woods, the ground, it was all his domain. Challenging him in his own domain was not just a mistake, it was sheer stupidity. Then again, the ruthless void-users were never geniuses to begin with.
He channelled more otherworldly energy out of his own shell, stimulating the forests even more. The Shiftry, it seemed, were pretty quick on their feet, and finding their attacks without effect, had resorted to throwing spheres of concentrated void energy towards him, which were neutralized, almost lazily as tree trunks and large roots kept rising out of the very ground itself to intercept them.
In a matter of minutes, the Shiftry were broken, defeated by the sheer force of the forests themselves, the force that was ruled by Trevenant.
The elder tree pokémon then turned its gaze to the other entity present in his domain.
The human. Precisely, the one that had captured it inside that infernal device and was now standing in front of him, with not a single of his army beside him.
Trevenant smiled.
Charmeleon, or should one say Magnus, had to agree, the Shiftry was fast. In fact, if not for his ability to leap high up into the sky, and jump off from tree to tree like he found himself able to do, he would be at a loss. Flame-attacks or not, a normal Charmeleon would be able to do jack shit if he had to stand in the centre of this all-encompassing forest with Shiftry able to jump all around and camouflage himself with the surroundings. Those leaf-tornado attacks, while not lethal, would have been pretty dangerous if he had to face them while standing on the ground, amidst all that shrubbery and everything.
Perhaps being Magnus had its perks after all.
The draconian creature channelled energy through his claws and his fangs, calculating the distance between himself and his opponent and sent two dragon claw attacks through the air, the slashes of draconic energy lacerating through the trees as Shiftry managed to barely escape it. However, the dragon pulse that had been fired just after the previous attack caught the grass-type off-guard, causing a direct hit. With an agonized whimper, Shiftry lost its footing as it fell downward.
That was all that Magnus needed.
He instantly leapt downward towards the ground, his maw filled with draconic energy as he belched out what was probably the most powerful dragon-breath he had ever managed- slamming it directly into Shiftry's back, almost burning half of the stump that used to be its right arm or something, before tossing away the grass-type as the dragon breath made its way past the trees into the sky.
Magnus smirked. One done, three to go.
That was when he heard an ear-splitting scream, one that he instantly recognized, belonged to his trainer. Sniffing the air, and finding a faint scent, he leapt in the other direction.
It was now official. Someone up there, must really, really hate him.
Completely ignoring the fact that there was a bleeding injury on his chest, and that the bones on his waist were still a little painful from Charm- ahem, Magnus's attack, Ash somehow managed to run his way through the forest, never looking back as he kept on trudging, running, falling down on the forest floor, and continuing all the way all over again.
The terrifying Trevenant seemed to be highly amused with the proceedings, considering that it was having a rather good time playing with his prey. And Ash didn't want him to achieve the satisfaction.
So he ran.
Every now and then, he would find roots come up from the ground, as he lost his balance and fell over them, hurting his knees as he managed to keep on running, yelling out Magnus's name in the wild as he did. For some reason, Magnus was still unavailable. Ash had nearly fallen into an Ariados nest (he couldn't even imagine what would have happened then), as he managed to keep on running. Hopefully, Magnus would be able to find him and stop this-
The thought died midway, as a vine coiled around his left leg, as he fell on the ground, face-first, and another fresh bruise on his left cheek, as blood began to trickle its way out of it. However, the vine was far from having exerted its will on Ash, as it was quickly joined by yet another vine, which coiled around his other legs, before the two of them suddenly contracted, pulling Ash through the forest floor, hauling him through the rough floor, with the thorns on the ground and the large, thick roots that looked like pieces of rock on the floor, hurting his innards every single second.
Ash let out a scream.
Another set of vines caught him from the back and pulled him on top, binding his legs together as he felt himself pulled up, hanging upside-d0wn as the terrifying Trevenant simply stared at him predatorily. Then, the elder tree pokémon extended his hands outwards, creating the same ghostly fire that Gengar had used—will-o-wisp, aiming it towards Ash, before he let it out, growling at Ash with extreme prejudice.
Thus, when the will-o-wisp was suddenly intercepted midway by a shadow ball, and then the Queen Gengar suddenly materialized in front of him and the human, it was quite… natural that Trevenant was not pleased.
Furthermore, two slashes of draconic energy tore their way through the vines, realising the human who fell unceremoniously on the floor—or would have fallen, if not for the strange, black draconic creature who got to him midway and moderated the landing. Said creature, then raised his powerful claws and sent two slashes of draconic energy towards Trevenant, who simply raised two roots from the grounds to protect himself lazily. Dragon or not, this was a forest. Trevenant's domain. Inside this ground, he was unchallenged.
Seeing the Queen Gengar in front had been a surprise, but from the looks of it, it seemed like even the mighty Queen had fallen to the human's army, and now they had all come to protect the human from his wrath.
Despicable. To fight one's own protector to save someone who caused so much destruction at the forest.
Trevenant reached a decision, as his eyes burned with a deathly glow, as hundreds of branches, roots, and vines rose up to annihilate the opponents that stood before him.