Ash spent quite a few days, he was pretty sure it was a few human days and nights, on Cybertron. During that time Optimus and Megatron had both observed his habits and behavior which ranged from behaving like an oblivious sparkling to a serious no nonsense leader. Rodimus adored Ash's attitude which according to him was how he wanted to be as a Prime, someone who could have fun and yet be taken very seriously. The youngest Prime had so many questions about Ash's profession as a Pokemon trainer. He had more than once commented on how a lot of the trainers seemed to be the leader of their group not just a trainer.
Ash, "I wouldn't call trainers leaders, because even among trainers there is a hierarchy that we follow. Well try to follow anyway, things don't always go to plan after all."
Rodimus, "But you do lead your own groups of Pokemon right?"
Ash corrected him, "No, that's not it, not exactly."
Cool Aid, "But they listen to you."
Ash, "Only because they chose to listen to me. No one can force a Pokemon to do anything unless you are using some cheat... Like a mind control device or something close to it."
Bumblebee frowned, "That's cruel."
Lucario shrugged, -We know.-
Gardevoir, -Only criminals do so.-
Alakazam humphed, -Not like I would allow anyone to do that to my family.-
Trevenant, -Mind control does not work on Ghost types, thankfully.-
Boulder, "Is it because you are already considered dead, and it only works on living nerves?"
Ash, "It's more complicated than that but yeah, close to it."
Megatron was suspicious, "Did someone try to mind control you?"
Ash assured him, "No, but I did come across a few who were. Don't worry, it has been taken care of."
Optimus was still concerned, "I'm not sure, I'm convinced little spark."
Ash noticed the others were watching him concerned too, "Hey, don't sweat it, mind control is not as easy as it sounds. It's actually very difficult and requires a lot of mental strength and discipline. There's a reason why Psychic Type Specialist are more common but Masters are so rare. In fact, Sabrina is the only Psychic Master that I know, Olympia is close but she can't do what Sabrina can so she's considered specialist."
Heatwave, "This Sabrina must be very powerful for you to talk about is such high respect."
Ash grinned, "She is basically my second mom, you could say. Always checking in to make sure I'm okay."
Megatron rumbled, "Well, I am very pleased to know you have such a powerful being on your side..... Exactly how strong is she?"
Optimus hit him over his helm, "No!"
Ash giggled, "She's quiet strong, though if you plan on challenging her, you might want to brush up on your game plan. Her idea of challenges are very unique lately. Especially after finding out psychic moves don't work on bugs either. There are too many points to focus on, which leads to a processor splitting ache."
Roadblaster soaked in all the information, "I want to go with you to your world. It sounds like so much fun."
Shadowsteel nodded in agreement, "Me too, it sounds like the kind of place where you can work and have fun."
Blades, "I have another question."
Ash smiled, "Shoot!"
Blades, "Has any human ever proposed to you or propositioned you?"
Ash laughed, "I knew you would ask that at some point. Well, there has been a few who did but I was not exactly interested in it. I'm an Aro Ace, a person who is not interested in sex or romance that easily. We do have get together with someone eventually but it takes quite a bit of time to get there."
Megatron visibly relaxed before tensing up again, "They didn't force you though, did they?"
Ash, "No, of course. We are friends before anything else. They would never do that to me and I draw the line at strangers."
Chase hummed, "I would hope so."
Ash, "I can take care of myself guys."
The group agreed with that, they had once come a little early before he had woken up from his sleep. They had not disturbed him knowing organic beings needed scheduled sleep to stay healthy. The group had however taken pictures quietly as Ash and the Pokemon looked really adorable sleeping and cuddling each other. Bumblebee even wanted to try that with Blades as it looked very soft and sweet yet at the same time intimate and meaningful. Blades cheek plates turned blue at the thought of sleeping and cuddling with Bumblebee but he didn't protest much.
They had given them privacy after a few minutes of taking photos and after Ash woke up, he had automatically followed his normal routine. He washed up and took his Pokemon out to one of the vast fields to train and the group had been given a first class seat to the training Pokemon and their trainers usually underwent. Or rather the training Ash, his friends and their Pokemon did, Roadblaster wanted to join in though Ash was reluctant to let him. He never trained a Cybertronian before and was not sure that was a good idea at all but he agreed to it if they could keep up with the basic training.
The young Cybertronians agreed and decided to go through basic training first which consisted of increasing stamina, speed and endurance. Ash was not sure how to do that for them and asked Ironhide for ideas only for the weapon specialist to grin viciously and tell him to leave it to him. Ash had a sudden desire to light candles for all of them while Optimus and Megatron were rumbling in amusement at the situation. Megatron though had been observing the training and demanded a battle which had Optimus groaning.
Ash, "Uh sure... Though what sort of battle? Do you want a one on one battle? Two on two? Three on three? Sword fight? An all bars dropped fight?"
Megatron, "All bars dropped battle, I wish to fight your whole group."
Ash, "Time limit?"
Megatron, "Fifteen minutes, I think will be good."
Ash, "What do you think boys, girls?"
Eevee, "Vui!"
Absol, "Sol."
Trevenant, -Sounds fun.-
Alakazam, -Sure!-
Gardevoir, -I have been itching to fight.-
Lucario, -Well can't say, I have not been curious.-
Optimus, "Really little spark?"
Ash requested, "Please? Besides we are doing this safely so it should be fine right?"
Lucario nodded, -We are aiming to paralyse or knock out. Not to hurt one another.-
Megatron, "Exactly Optimus, besides this will give us a good idea how strong our little spark is. Not to forget ease our worries too when it's time for him to leave."
Optimus reluctantly agreed to it but only if either Knockout or Ratchet agreed to be on stand by in case something happened. When the two heard the reason why they were called they were first bewilderment then baffled then went into a rant. Ratchet threw a wrench at the Gladiator and tore into him saying how idiotic did he had to be to try to fight organics capable of abilities that who knows how would affect their system. Knockout was impressed by the rant then he nodded in agreement with Ratchet at how ridiculous the idea was.
Ratchet, "Optimus, please tell me you are against this."
Optimus, "I am but my sparkling and Conjunx have already made up their minds."
Knockout peeked outside, "I didn't know you had a training field?"
Optimus sighed, "We don't, our Sparkling created it earlier after waking up to train his Pokemon. Which is what lead to this predicament!"
Ratchet, "Fine but expect me to stop the battle midway, do you hear me!!!"
Megatron rumbled amused, "Why of course! My dear Doctor, I will keep that in mind."
Ash called, "Are you ready?"
Megatron, "Yes we are little one."
Ash, "I decided we will have a one on one battle first. If you are okay after that, then we will take a lunch break and then have the open brawl you want."
Megatron paused, "I suppose that is acceptable and will give us an idea of how the Pokemon battles work. Correct?"
Ash nodded, "Yup, we are both clueless about how the other side battles so best to go one by one, I say."
Optimus smiled, "Practical, I like it."
Ash turned pink at the smile muttering, "If you ever went to battle and just smiled at the opponent. I can guarantee they will forfeit the match because of the brightness."
Bumblebee who was next to Ash heard his muttering and nodded, "I agree with you."
Blades, "Agree with what?"
Bumblebee, "I'll tell you later, we should probably clear the area."
Chase, "I shall officiate the fight. Ready? Begin!"
Megatron attacked Lucario only for the aura Pokemon to jump and run up the metallic arm and hit his face with aura sphere. The High Lord grunted at the sting coming from the hit and while not painful, it was not exactly a nice sensation to feel either. The Pokemon were cheering on the fight and Lucario had jumped down again using his small size to his advantage. But Megatron had not survived the bloody arenas by being complacent and punched the ground hard making it difficult for Lucario to move.
Ash called for calm mind followed by bullet punch which Lucario promptly used to stay calm and attack again. Megatron blocked the attack using his energy shield though he could see the attack was quite powerful despite being dumbed down. He could still feel the strength coming from the move and had to give Lucario his respect. His little sparkling is no doubt a good trainer and if he had the same life cycle of a Cybertronian would have been highly coveted.
All of a sudden Megatron scowled, he didn't like the idea of his sparkling being coveted by other Cybertronians. They were not worthy of his little one who was not only a fine trainer and warrior but also an artist. Optimus's mouth twitched in humor on feeling his annoyance and thought process, he in a way understood that feeling. No Cybertronian ever wanted to give up their sparkling that easily and that quickly. In fact some Sires and Carriers even went as far as to isolate themselves till their sparkling became younglings.
Megatron's lack of focus allowed Lucario to land a hit that could have hurt him fatally though it would not have killed him. Lucario huffed as he got off and backed away and Megatron grunted taking his position again, only this time Gardevoir faced him. She was grinning ferally as she fought with the Gladiator who was impressed with her tenacity and stubbornness. This time however Megatron did not let his processor wander and caught Gardevoir not allowing her to escape easily.
The femme Pokemon scowled at him but accepted her defeat and was let off, next was Absol who was a little tricky. He had been told Absol were born with a natural sense of detecting danger and the quadruple organic dodged all his attacks and attempts to capture him. The double team and night slash were annoying and he managed to avoid most of it, half way Ash said he could use the sword but Megatron declined. The Pokemon were fighting him without the help of an extra object, so he shall do the same.
Ash, "Huh! He looks like he is having a lot of fun."
Heatwave, "You think so?"
Ash pointed, "Look at how his optics glow with excitement. That's a sure sign he is enjoying this a lot."
Blades, "It does look kinda fun, to be honest."
Optimus laughed, "Ash is correct, Megatron really is enjoying himself."
Starscream landed next to him, "What the?"
Windblade behind Starscream, "Huh! Never thought I would see something like this."
Soundwave, "Question: Is Absol giving Megatron a difficult time?"
Ash, "Yeah, they wanted a friendly match."
Jazz, "I see.... Well he looks like he is having fun."
Ash turned to Optimus, "Um... After this match is done. I was wondering if we could visit the mines, please."
Roadblaster blinked, "What? Why would you want to visit the mines?"
Ash, "Why not?"
Roadblaster, "No one accept miners go into the mines."
Ash tilted his head, "Is that a rule?"
Jazz, "No, but no one who is not a miner ever goes into the mines... Are you a miner?"
Ash, "Nope, a trainer. Though a lot of trainers train inside mines. It's a good way to increase upper body stamina and strength."
Megatron called for a break seeing they were not getting anywhere, "Child, you make me question a lot of things about your planet. Now please explain why would anyone think training inside a mine is a good idea?"
Ash, "One, no one bothers you. Two, it's a great way to get your bearings. Three you never know you might run into something fantastic. Four miners are basically the foundation of any civilizations and are very knowledgeable. Five... hmmmph?"
Megatron raised a servo and closed his mouth sweat dropping, "Stop! Stop! I can all of a sudden understand why you were surprised when I said miners were not respected on this planet."
Optimus gave Ash a side optic, "You better not be thinking about sneaking off. We can go there later."
Ash, "After Megatron gets checked, please? I think you should check for any affected nerves Ratchet. And you lot get into the med bay and let Trevenant check you."
Boulder, "I didn't really Trevenant is a medic too?"
Ash, "He has the necessary training for it, although it's my Meganium and Venasaur who are actually serious about being healers."
Ratchet, "Remind me to exchange notes next time we meet them."
Ash beamed, "I'm sure they would love that."
Sideswipe who had followed Jazz out of curiosity shivered, 'I have a bad feeling.'
Sunstreaker, "So that's the little human, cute little thing."
Sideswipe stared at his twin, "Who are you and what have you done to my twin?"
Sunstreaker hit him over his helm in annoyance, "As an artist I can appreciate another artist, thank you. Hey Ash, was it? Do you have any other form of art with you aside from music?"
Ash, "Uhhhh not at the moment... um... Who are you?"
Sideswipe, "This here is my twin Sunstreaker, I am Sideswipe. We used to be gladiators before we became soldiers."
Ash, "Nice to meet you. As for your question, what sort of art do you want to know about? Murals? Performance? Paintings? If paintings what type of painting? Water colour, oil painting, graphic art? Abstract art? Food art? Music art? If music then what type of music art? GMV, AMV, OST?"
Sunstreaker pressed a servo to his lips, 'Huh.. So soft.'
Ash, "Mmmmphhhh?"
Sunstreaker removed his servo, "I'm curious about all of them but for now show me what you have got."
Ash, "Am I right in assuming you have watched the videos of our music? We had quite an orchestra here with everyone."
Sunstreaker nodded, "Yes, quite a number of fans that got you lot."
Ash's eyes had a twinkle, "Let me introduce you to Pokemon performance. It's a live art performance."
Blades who had moved away from Sunstreaker perked up, "Oh! You told us about that yesterday."
Sunstreaker looked interested and motioned for Ash to show him and Ash called Eevee and Alakazam who had not battled to give a performance. Ash had Alakazam use light screen to create light screen and called Eevee to use charm to create hearts that reflected on the light screen. This was followed by dazzling gleam which was followed by energy ball and ended with a beautiful moon blast with Alakazam and Eevee in the middle. The two Pokemon bowed as the audience clapped at the performance and Sunstreaker admitted it was different from what he was expecting.
Ash, "Pokemon performance is not just about glamour but also about showing off the control and power Pokemon have on their moves and attacks."
Shadowsteel, "Beautiful and Powerful. I like it."
Sunstreaker purred, "We should sit and talk about art together."
Sideswipe, 'Sunny actually likes him? Holy Primus!'
Ratchet, "Yes, very impressive. Also your ability to heal others is quiet interesting as well."
Trevenant nodded, -I have a good teacher.-
Knockout, "You are all fixed up my lord."
Megatron nodded, "Good, now as promised, I shall take you to the mines but only if you promise not to wander off."
Starscream, "Lord Megatron, you can't be serious?"
Ash cheered, "Yes!"
Windblade, "Little one? Are you seriously that excited about going to a mine? I don't think, I understand humans."
Ash, "Eh he he he he! There's a saying on my planet. If you want to know the power of the earth you must dig deep to understand the mysteries. Can we go now?"
Megatron laughed, "Of course! Come!"
Megatron opened his servos and Ash climbed on as the Warlord started to move rewards the large mine. The young Cybertronians looked at each other wondering what to do, as far as they could remember they were told to avoid the mines. That the mines were the place where those who were punished for their crimes were sent but now even they were curious. But then again meeting Ash did make them think about the things around them in a different light. Also if mining could help a bunch of organics become stronger then shouldn't a Cybertronian become stronger as well. No way they were weaker than an organic, right?
Roadblaster, "Wait for us!"
Bumblebee teased him, "Are you sure your Sire will be happy if you go into the dirty mines?"
Roadblaster gave a haughty sniff, "My Sire told me to win his favor. I'm just following orders."
Heatwave smirked, "Sure you are."
[A. N.: I really like Roadblaster from Transformers Energon the non dub version.
He is awesome and just so lovable.
Take care of yourselves dear readers. Stay safe, stay clean and stay healthy.]