Cerulean City Northern Entrance - 2058 hours local time - Day 12 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey
While Ash would have liked to go straight to the gym, it was very late in the day. His Pokemon had exhausted themselves with training earlier and while Pokemon recovered very quickly (Pokeballs helped, for the most part) they needed to rest before the big day tomorrow.
Last time, the TRio made a nuisance of themselves, forcing Ash to deal with them to earn the badge. While he did not complain at the time, looking back, it stung at his pride. Logically, he knew he shouldn't care, that he was a new trainer at the time. But logic meant nothing to pride. Just ask Charizard and Sceptile.
But, contrary to popular belief, Ash was not stupid. Thus, his Pokemon were going to sleep. And so was he. And… so was Misty. In the same room as him.
Wearing barely anything, though enough to keep herself somewhat decent. And unintentionally tormenting Ash.
'Do not look, do not think, just GO TO SLEEP, Ketchum!' Ash ranted at himself, laying facedown on a pillow to prevent looking at her, even if she was…on the bed above him. It took everything Ash had to not slam his head into the nearest wall as hard as he could. Or to look at the very beautiful young woman on the bunk-
With that, Ash decided to just scream into the pillow.
No, by that point, it'd be perving. And he would not be doing that. Ever. Even if she did look good-
He started to interrupt his thoughts again when a sleepy Pikachu interrupted his interruption. "Pika." 'Stop it. I can hear you thinking over here, and I'm trying to sleep. Agonise over your lack of a love life later. I'll help you out after I get some sleep.'
Ash sighed. Of all his team members, Pikachu would give him crap for trying not to look for a 'mate'.
And seek to… recitify the situation. Multiple times over, if he had his way. With that, Ash just slammed his head into the wall to knock himself out
RMS Germanic - 58 hours, 21 minutes into Kalos-Kanto journey - 1028 hours local time
Goomy did not like being on Bonnie's back. But he decided to make the most of it.
After all, it was good practice for converting the weak electrical jolts into a pure Thunderbolt AND Bonnie got what was coming to her for all the marriage requests.
No one said he couldn't take full advantage of the situation.
Goomy could tell it was getting to the point where Bonnie could take no more. She was beginning to flinch even as she went up to ask someone, and sometimes she would stop mid-sentence and look back at Goomy fearfully, who'd just look back and crackle menacingly with electricity.
Yes, they'd get looks and even questions, but Bonnie was too nervous and embarrassed to answer them and Goomy would do his best approximation of a shrug.
"And how are you doing today?" asked the one responsible for this entire situation, both Bonnie and Goomy sharing a dislike of Clemont at the moment.
"I'm getting electrocuted now." Bonnie said dourly. "First it was dragonfire, now I'm getting zapped!"
"Well, until you stop asking people to marry me, Goomy's staying there until Lady Serena leaves the ship. And she's going to Kanto, same as us, so…" Clemont trailed off.
"But… You NEED someone to take care of you! I've seen you in your workshop, working and working and working! No sleep, no food, nothing!" Bonnie retorted.
"Goo." 'Fair point, but your brother's not as stupid as we like to think he is.' Goomy said, knowing he couldn't be heard and mocking Clemont for his… large amount of failures with machinery.
Just because he was improving did not mean they wanted to be near him when everything inevitably exploded in his face. It also didn't mean he constantly worked on his 'inventions'.
Honestly, they'd just rather stay away from the pair.
"Bonnie, I don't need someone to look after me, you do. I can't always be looking after you, and having you near my work is dangerous." Clemont sighed. "I will find a girlfriend on my own time. I don't need my nine year old sister playing matchmaker."
Goomy took a small amount of pleasure from Clemont FINALLY putting his sister in her place. "But… you keep working-" she tried to say before Clemont glared at her.
"I keep working on my robotics projects so I can have more time later to help dad and spend more time with you." Clemont said, not happy at all. "So, while I am happy you care, I need you to stop bothering people who will be asking me why my sister is asking them to 'take care of me'. You have no idea how many times Dad's had to explain that to avoid lawsuits being charged against us!"
THAT finally shut Bonnie up. Goomy decided to rub it in by zapping her once more.
Most people would expect someone 'playing superhero' to have their secret headquarters in a cave, or an underwater fortress, or even some kind of grand tower.
And while Kyril was certainly wealthy enough to have a grand tower built, he didn't really have a location in mind in which to build it, yet - most of the Regions already had giant towers.
Kanto had the Silph building in Saffron, and the Pokemon Tower in Lavender. Johto had that lighthouse in Olivine and the Radio Tower in Goldenrod.
Hoenn was more water than land, meaning he couldn't do anything there without it sinking, (grand size meant weight and weight in a region dominated by swampland, beachfront and plain old water was bad for buildings) no one in their right mind wanted to try and make anything close to the grandeur of Spire Pillar in Sinnoh, Unova was still a mess, making it impossible for anything big to get done and Kalos had Lumiose Tower.
Alola, he had no presence at all, embargos being what they were and Galar was old-style for almost everything.
But Pernon decided that, in lieu of big towers, being mobile was good enough. And he did have five ocean liners. So, he had a lead-lined room built into the reactors of every ship to serve as his mobile base on the water. No one besides the reactor techs went anywhere near the rooms and they assumed it was just water reclamation for the reactors.
Instead, they served as labs, the reactors powering all sorts of machines to allow him to work on upgrades for the Marauder Armor, as well as communications equipment to keep him in touch with all his contacts.
And right now, it was about time he put the fear of his alter ego back into the Rockets, and so he was catching up on the latest info on what was essentially a militarized yakuza.
"Huh." he said, sipping on some wine (a necessary evil, given both the ship and the massive pile of uranium he was only three inches of lead away from sitting on) as he read a police report on an operation inside Mount Moon being destroyed by two trainers and the local Clefairy population. "That's damaging."
"For who, your reputation or Team Rocket?" Rin asked as she organized more reports. "You were planning on obliterating that one, right?"
"Well, yeah," he admitted with a sigh. "Still, I guess if some of the local trainers are doing their own anti-Rocket ops, it makes my job a bit easier. Just means I can save my firepower for the harder targets."
"There was a freaking Admin there, according to these!" she retorted.
"If we could fly, then I would have ended that Admin for good." Kyril said with a sigh.
Aviation had… suffered since the War. Most of the companies were absorbed into his corporation, but with no production and maintenance facilities, a lack of oil for aviation fuel (and a lack of anyone wanting to use alternative sources for 'biofuel') and the ruin of just about everything, it was safe to say air travel was dead, save by flying-type.
What made everything worse was the existence of such facilities that were intact. There was just one problem.
They weren't in the former Unified Region of Nihon, but in the hellish Orre region, surrounded by deserts and Shadow Pokemon. And no one on the planet that lived outside that damned region would be stupid enough to go there.
But if someone DID go, he'd be on their coattails, ready to take those airplanes and put them to work. The world was slowly going back to normal, Kanto was unified, Johto was soon to follow, Hoenn and Sinnoh were still fractured but healing. Once Nihon was reunified, Unova and Kalos could fully repair the damage done to them by the War.
And Pernon's new airlines would aid in this. Because while cargo ships were never going to be replaced, planes were the fastest way to travel.
And if Pernon earned a pretty penny while saving the world, he wasn't going to complain.
Cerulean City Gym - 1059 hours the next day
Ash had mostly decided on using fire against fire for this match. Krabby had been working out at the Ranch and via an Oak call, asked to be brought in. Apparently, he knew Metal Claw, likely from Pikachu's demos during the brief visits back to Pallet.
Charmander also wanted in and he was not taking no for an answer, type or not. Ash had mentioned it.
He nearly got torched for his troubles. The little guy wanted to evolve and nothing, not even a water gym, was going to stop him.
From what he understood, the Gym Leader would be using three Pokemon, while he could use a full team, which again, he didn't understand that rule, but he'd play it honestly. If Charmander didn't wipe the rest of the Leader's team, he'd send in Pikachu.
And now, he was meeting Misty's sisters for the first time for the second time.
The eldest sister (he was judging by height, which wasn't exactly the most accurate way) stopped talking to the others, looking at Ash before their eyes landed on Misty.
"Misty! Damn it, where have you been?" the older(?) sister said as she ran along the sides of the pool before crushing Misty with a hug.
"Love you too, Daisy." Misty croaked out. That answered that question, at least, as Daisy Waterflower let go of Misty. "You worried us." she said, resisting the urge to cry. "We heard what happened near Pallet Town: we don't even know how you got out of there!"
"Uh, that's…my doing." Ash said, Daisy looking at the black-haired young man from Pallet. And looking none too happy.
'Oh, good, a way to get Misty to stay HERE and not have her follow me into the mouth of hell for the next two years.' he thought to himself. If Daisy thought he was being ungentlemanly, she'd force Misty to stay at the gym. It was a weak plan and even Ash knew it, but he WAS trying.
Daisy gave Ash a once over. Being an elder sibling, she could see that both Ash and Misty had some sort of attachment that went a bit beyond friendship, he was attracted to her, but judging by the fact he was trying to distance himself, he was wary of getting too close.
He wasn't succeeding, but he was trying to respect her decision, maybe even find her someone that wasn't him to fall for.
"And you are?" Daisy asked.
"Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town." he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I came here for a badge. And… well, if Misty wants to stay-" Misty glared at him for saying that. THAT was new. She hadn't done anything like that since… the incident.
Daisy raised an eyebrow at the both of them. From the way Misty was acting, she wasn't going anywhere except this boy's side, but he didn't want her there. Strange.
"Well, if you came for a battle, I can give you one. Follow me." Daisy turned, leading the two towards the gym battleground. "You'll have to tell me how you met Ash, Misty."
"Well, it involved Spearows…" Ash said sheepishly as Pikachu grinned. Ah, dealing with the in-laws.
After a few minutes, Misty had taken a seat, but not before letting her Pokemon out to meet the others in the gym.
This also gave them an excuse to do something: pick up Misty's Pokemon she left here. While she only took Staryu and Starmie with her, Psyduck being caught after she left, she had a rather…large number. A Poliwag that was training to be a Politoed whenever Misty got a Rock Crown, a Gyarados she raised from a Magikarp, a Corsola, a Goldeen… You've seen the anime, you know what she has. (WHACK!)
Misty had wanted a Marill and when she was a baby, a Togepi, but neither were ever available. No one wanted to part with them and they were rare in Kanto. Johto and Hoenn, their somewhat native regions were another story, being more common, though Togepi was still a rare sight.
Regardless, it was time to bring them along. They deserved to meet Misty's mate, Gyarados especially. If the Atrocious Pokémon approved of him, that would be the end of it.
Around this time of day, the Waterflower sisters let out Misty's Pokémon in one of the Gym's massive pools to play and do some of their own training, which was the perfect time to talk to them and convince them to come along.
"Raaaaar!" 'Well look who's back!' Gyarados noticed them first, breaching the surface and sending water everywhere.
They appreciated the water splash. Except for Psyduck, who was dragged into the pool.
"PSY!" 'HELP! I CAN'T SWIM!' the duck quacked.
Another Psyduck and a Golduck, who could swim and actually were, facepalmed. Or facepalmed to the best of their ability in the case of the yellow duck.
"Gol." 'What an embarrassment.' the Golduck said before swimming off.
"Hya." 'Ignoring the embarrassment to all water-types for five minutes…' Staryu said, returning to the subject. 'Misty now has a mate.'
Everyone perked up at that news, especially Gyarados. "Radoooos!" 'Hohohoho? Our little waterflower went out and managed to find someone? Well well well.' The massive dragon/water type gave a dangerous chuckle. "Gyarrrr." 'He better be a good one.'
"Golduck." 'I might think so, for Misty to latch onto someone like that.' The evolved water duck commented.
"Psy." 'Then again, she has needed some human contact in her life.'
"PSY!" 'HELP!' cried Misty's duck, Gyarados rolling his eyes before smacking the duck out of the pool… and into a wall. At the very least, it shut him up.
"Hors?" 'So… why tell us?' Horsea asked, the little one actually curious as to why. If Misty's mate wanted to meet them, he would come in.
"Hiya!" 'He's going to the other gyms. And for some reason, he's trying not to get attached.' Starmie said. 'Doesn't make sense: any other male would do anything to get close to her.' Their experience, sadly, was watching other human couples and soap operas when they were at the gym. Not exactly accurate.
"Hyup!" 'So grab your Pokeballs: we'll carry you to them!' Staryu said. Gyarados grinned. "Gya!" 'Save me for last. I want to… take his measure.'
"The match between Gym Leader Daisy Waterflower and challenger Ash Ketchum shall begin!" The ref, Misty's somewhat older sister Violet, declared "The Gym leader shall use her two badge team of three Pokemon, while the challenger may use six. Are you ready?"
"Good to go." Daisy smirked, palming a ball.
"Ready!" Ash smiled.
"Begin!"
"Spheal, you're up!"
"Spheal! Spheal!" 'About time!' the round seel pokemon
"Krabby, let's go!" Ash declared, releasing his trusty crustaton water-type.
"Kook." 'I am here to kick your round ass.' the crab said. The ball seel took exception to that.
"Spheal!" 'You little red-' "Spheal, Body Slam!" Daisy ordered, Spheal grinning before executing a brief Rollout to speed up and jump into the air.
"Krabby, evasive action!" Ash ordered as Krabby used his legs to maximum effect to jump to another platform in the pool, avoiding Spheal's blow. "Kooky." 'Learn to aim.' Krabby taunted.
Spheal roared and began repeating the same thing, only for Krabby to jump and make what Ash assumed were rude gestures with his claws. Spheal certainly acted like they were.
"…How long have you had that Krabby?" Daisy asked as Krabby continued evading and… really, Ash had no idea what the clacking claws meant. "Uh… I caught him outside Cerulean." Ash answered honestly.
"That makes no sense!" Daisy yelled. "That's a trained Krabby! I've, like, well, done the same thing with some of the Krabbys here at the gym and that took months if not years to pull off!"
"Kook." 'You could say that.' Krabby said with another clack-clack of the pincers.
"Pheal!" 'Stay still!'
"Spheal, get him with Aurora Beam!" Daisy shouted, getting fed up with the Krabby's obviously cocky attitude.
"Dodge and hit him with Metal Claw!" Ash commanded, Krabby jumping into the air to dodge before smacking the water/ice-type with a metal-covered pincer, leaving a nasty mark.
"Rollout!" Daisy ordered, Whitney's signature move (and overused, in Ash's opinion, because it wasn't fair to a challenger with only male Pokemon and the bloody thing knew Attract) spinning up just as Krabby was jumping away, unable to change directions.
And while it was a rock-type move used by a water-type on another water-type, really, that wasn't the deciding factor. Krabby was light. Spheal was not, which resulted in a crab slamming into the poolside, cracking it and knocking him out.
"Krabby is unable to battle!" Violet declared.
Ash smiled, returning Krabby to his ball. "You did good."
Daisy sighed. "I'll admit that Krabby was very good for a recent capture, but you got lucky there."
Ash couldn't help but smirk. "Let's prove her wrong, Charmander!" He replied, releasing his first fire-type.
Who was very excited to be out, releasing an happy(?) cackle at the sight of the water-type. "Char-mander." 'I am going to enjoy this.' He declared, his eyes taking on an evil glint that sent shivers down Daisy and her Pokemon's spines.
With that, recommend playing Sabaton's Firestorm as this is not going to be fun for the water-types. (WHACK!)
Charmander quickly used Metal Claw and charged at the ball-like pokemon, slashing wildly as the water-type went into the pool.
That was not stopping Charmander, who dove in after him, much to the horror of all. They all knew the tales: Charmanders and their tailfires MUST remain lit or they die.
Instead, Spheal tried escaping the pool… with Charmander still attached to his hide, snarling and biting.
"What the hell?! I thought-" Daisy said as Charmander the seemingly invincible lizard tossed the seal pokemon into a far wall, making a large crater. "Well, that's GREAT. Good thing we have a water/rock-type or two…"
Ash finally noticed something wrong about Daisy. Maybe it was the changes in the timeline, but… she wasn't talking like one of those 'valley girls' he once saw on TV with his mom.
"Uh, just noticed. You're not saying 'like' every other word." Ash said to take her mind off it and answer why she seemed so… off.
"Oh, yeah, forgot to do that act." she said, facepalming and laughing. "Yeah, I'm not that ditzy. I put up that act for the more dumb trainers. You're better than them."
'Once, apparently, I wasn't.' Ash thought bitterly, scowling. His first Kanto journey was becoming more and more disappointing by the moment.
"Well, let's see how your little fire maniac will handle this. Poliwrath, go!" the eldest sister said, tossing out a pokeball that released the blue fighting toad.
"Wrath!" 'You want to go, little lizard?'
"Charmander!" 'Bring it on!' Charmander looked back to Ash, grinning fiercely. "Mander!" 'Let me handle this, Ash.'
Ash couldn't help a smile. "Go nuts."
"Char-MANDER!" "HahahaAHAHA!" The lizard's claws shone with another Metal Claw even as he opened his mouth to let loose a nearly-perfected Flamethrower into the water section of the field, throwing up a massive steam smokescreen. There were sounds of combat, mostly Charmander using his teeth and claws to make Poliwrath scream in pain, but they couldn't see a damn thing.
"One of these days, I'll invest in better ventilation for this!" Daisy yelled, unable to see the fight before Poliwraith jumped into the air, looking like Charmander was trying to claw his eyes out, before firing off a Hydro Pump into the cloud, a perfected flamethrower meeting it head on as more steam was generated.
Ash was getting tired of this. "Mind if I let out my Pidgeotto to clear the air?"
"As long as you don't provide assistance!" Violet said, allowing it.
Before Ash could, Charmander jumped at the water/fighting-type, but…
A single long horn, larger body and red scales. Charmander evolved. And was PISSED. "CHAR!" 'I'M TAKING YOU DOWN!' the newly evolved Charmeleon roared.
Poliwrath, despite looking a little worse for wear, was chomping at the bit, like any self respecting fighting type would. "Poliwrath!" 'Bring it on!' He shouted, hand glowing with a Brick Break.
Charmeleon roared, claws glowing again, this time not with a metallic sheen, but with draconic energy, Dragon claw meeting the rock breaking move head on, striking with such force that it blew away the rest of the steam.
The fire type let loose a wordless roar as his tail took on a metallic sheen, spinning around to sweep out Poliwrath's legs, tripping him up and immediately following up with another Dragon Claw, aiming to pin the water type to the ground, only tear up the plastic and metal platform as the Pokemon rolled out of the way.
Charmeleon was going to win. That evolution would tire him out for now, but the infinity energy left over from his transformation would defeat the fighting toad, who was too battered. In fact, Poliwraith was only standing because his foot was caught in a hole.
"Poliwraith is in no shape for battle!" Ash said, noticing the fact he was dead on his feet. "Look at him!"
"I'm not Giovanni, Ash." Daisy said, shuddering at that name.
Being better than Giovanni was an easy thing to do. You just had to not be the leader of Team Rocket and treat your pokemon like comrades, not tools to abuse. Seriously, was that Persian the only thing he cared about?
"That's enough, Poliwrath." Daisy called out, raising his pokeball. "Return!"
"Poli." 'Thank Arceus.' The fighting/water type muttered, starting to fall forward, only for the return beam to catch him and pull him to safety.
"Poliwrath has been returned! The round goes to Charmeleon and Ash Ketchum!"
The fire-type roared his victory, sending out another Flamethrower into the air.
"You good to keep going Charmeleon?" Ash asked, smiling at his fire-type's antics.
The second evolution looked back and grinned at Ash, sending a playful scattering of flames his trainer's way.
"Your Charmeleon's not obeying you." Daisy noted. Charmeleon glared at her and fired something more dangerous at her. The elder Waterflower dodged the torrent of flames, which actually torched her hair, some strands turning a nice charred black.
"You ruined my hair." she growled. "Seadra!" she tossed out the pokeball containing the seahorse, who glared at Charmeleon.
"Charmeleon!" 'Bring it, sea dragon!' The fire lizard roared, tail thumping against the floor in challenge.
"Dra…" 'You asked for it.'
"Hydro Pump, Seadra!" Daisy called out, and the evolved seahorse let loose a deadly torrent of water.
"Block it!" Ash called.
Chameleon grinned as his claws glowed with the power of a Dragon Claw. Reaching out, he met the Hydro Pump head on, angling his claws so the water split around him, even as it steadily pushed him back towards Ash.
While the dragon-type energy was dulling it, Charmeleon wasn't a dragon. Yet: mega evolution was a thing. But for now, Charmeleon had to deal with defeat, but he was defiant, throwing fire at the second evolutionary stage of Horsea. The stream of fire hit, but the flaming lizard left the pool, nearly hitting Ash and definitely hitting the wall.
"Charmeleon is out of bounds!" Violet called. "Charmeleon is disqualified! The round goes to Daisy!"
"Char!" 'Bullshit!' He snorted, smoke and embers billowing from his nostrils. "Meleon!" 'Damn it! Sorry Ash.'
Ash smiled again and gave his fire starter a pat on the shoulder. "You did good. Take a rest."
Charmeleon huffed, shooting a glare in Daisy's direction as Ash returned him. Holstering the ball, Ash looked as his closest partner. "You ready to go?"
"Pika!" 'You know it.'
"Let's finish this, Pikachu!" Ash then commanded, Pikachu jumping onto the platform, making Daisy sigh. "I was hoping you wouldn't send out your Pikachu." she said. "But I can't get up, even if I know you'll just shock Seadra into submission."
"You're giving up?" Ash asked, eyeing Seadra.
"No, I'll just hit you with everything until either Pikachu knocks him out or the other way around." she replied. "Sometimes, it's the other way around. Seadra, Smokescreen!"
The seahorse let loose black cloud of smoke that billowed forth to envelop the pool, covering Seadra's approach.
"Hydro Pump!" Daisy called out. While the water-type attack was weak against electric types, there was a significant amount of force behind it, and Pikachu weighed less than Charmeleon did. If Seadra managed to hold it on the electric mouse, he would be blown out of bounds, like Charmeleon was.
Ash, however, had no intention of letting that happen. "Counter Shield!"
"Pika!" 'Right, that!' Pikachu fell onto his back and began to spin, letting loose a constant Thunderbolt, creating an electrical shield around himself. When Seadra's attack did come, it crashed against the wall of electricity, cancelling it out.
"What the hell?" Daisy muttered, having never seen that.
"Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded as Daisy was unfocused, Pikachu leaping into the air, black energy surrounding him. For a moment, it was yellow, but then it turned back to black and fired towards Seadra.
"The fuck?!" Daisy shouted as the dark bolt slammed into her water-type, yellow and black electricity coursing through it, the Shadow-enhanced electric attack being extra super-effective. Once the attack dissipated, Seadra collapsed, twitching as residual electricity fired off a nerve or two.
"Seadra… is unable to battle!" Violet called out, shocked. She hadn't seen an electric type take down her sister's Pokemon like that before. "The match goes to the challenger, Ash Ketchum!"
Daisy looked at the Pikachu, seeing tell-tale signs of it being a Shadow Pokemon. But… Shadow Pokemon couldn't be truly tamed, only controlled. After all, they were barely sentient compared to their counterparts. This Pikachu was in control. Purified.
Which was IMPOSSIBLE, as Agate Village was subjected to a severe case of nuclear explosion over 70 years ago and all of Crane's research was gone.
"How did you manage to purify a Shadow Pokemon?"
Ash smiled as Pikachu hopped back on his shoulder, grinning back as he did so. "Well, Professor Oak helped out a bit. I just trusted, cared for, and loved Pikachu like family." He scratched his starter behind his ears. "I guess you could say the rest is history." He muttered quietly.
Daisy sighed and started to cross the battlefield, returning Seadra as she did so. "Well, if he's not going to go around killing people, I don't have a problem with that. That was an interesting match, Ash Ketchum. Thank you."
"What you did with Krabby was reckless, Ash!" Misty said as she stalked over, her Pokemon now following her. "What if Spheal used all his weight on him?! He'd be crushed!"
Daisy watched as Misty argued with Ash, almost like she was six years old again, before… it happened. And Ash was… avoiding looking at anything below her chin. Misty would be fine with Ash.
Daisy smirked. "It's fine Misty." She assured her sister. "Here." She tossed the Cascade Badge towards Ash and turned around, adopting a traditional 'bratty' walk, stalking back towards the other side without a word, to the shock of all three of her sisters.
"Daisy, what are you doing?" Violet asked as she ran up to the elder sister. "Aren't you going to keep Misty here?"
'No." the eldest sister said as she looked at the two. Misty was almost normal, if… clingy towards Ash. Understandable, given the nature of the incident and her lack of friends in Cerulean.
"She's in safe hands." Daisy said, smiling as the two left the gym, Misty's bag filled with her pokeballs. "Safer hands then ours, apparently."
Cerulean City Pokemon Center - Later that night
Ash kept his head covered by a pillow to avoid looking at Misty.
He really should have got two rooms instead of a bunk. Didn't help that he was thinking bad thoughts like the heretic he was.
She was trying to get his attention, he knew it, which was why she was in what accounted as her underclothes. Which was basically a bikini. And Arceus-damn it, he was trying his best not to stare. But like any healthy young man, he couldn't help but peek.
'I need. A shock collar.' he thought to himself. Yes, any lecherous thoughts would be expunged by high voltage.
Then he began thinking about it. 'I've been shocked by Pikachu enough times that it would be a mild annoyance at best.' he thought depressingly.
"Pika." 'Just. Mate. With. Her.' Pikachu dragged out from his perch on the table. "Chuu." 'She wants you, you want her and this is unnecessary dancing.'
"We both know why I won't." Ash replied, facing the wall.
"Pikapi." 'Ash, for the love of Arceus and all her creations, please, JUST MATE WITH HER.' Pikachu said annoyedly. "Pi-chu-pi." 'There's a pool going on with the others on who you take and when and I am losing it.'
Ash slowly uncovered his head to glare at Pikachu. "You've got a BET." he all but screamed.
"Pika." 'Yup.' He smiled smugly, looking for the world like Snivy. "Pika-pi." 'It's not just us. Some of Misty's Pokemon have tossed in on when.'
Ash just groaned in defeat, forcefully smacking the pillow across his face.
"You okay Ash?" Misty asked, hearing his groan and the smack of the pillow.
He glanced over and immediately felt his face light up like a beacon. Misty's bikini top was of her shoulders, and she was keeping the cups of the swimwear barely up, exposing more of her-
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA' He did not know which one of the many, MANY deities he'd pissed off over the years was doing this to him, but he would get revenge and he would not be shy about it.
Because this was getting ridiculous. In fact, he was damn sure someone was doing this for their own sick entertainment.
"Ash?" Misty asked again.
"Misty… please cover up." he pathetically moaned before Misty redid her ties, shrugging as she climbed onto the top bunk. Ash resorted to banging his head on the bedframe to put himself to sleep.
The next day - 0759 hours local time
Ash was simply not in the mood.
While Misty's Gyarados was attempting to intimidate him, he had faced the damn thing when it was mega evolved. Honestly, he had seen far, far, FAR more impressive Pokemon then the final evolution of Magikarp. In all honesty?
He was bored. Very, very, VERY bored.
"Gyara." 'I don't know what the big deal is. You don't even look like you care.'
"Look, Gyarados, I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood. I've seen things far more intimidating than you, so if you're trying to scare me, it's not going to work." Ash deadpanned.
"Rados!" 'Oh really! Not everyday you see someone who isn't quaking in their boots at the sight of me. But I'm not done yet. Fight me.'
The serpent got in Ash's face. Ash, not being in the mood for any further distractions, just smacked Gyarados in the nose, making the water/flying-type flinch. "I don't have time for this." Ash said, adjusting his hat and walking away, heading down for the route that would lead to Vermillion and Bulbasaur. His ambassadorial grass/poison-type was no doubt wondering what in the hell was going on.
Speaking of what was going on, Gyarados blinked once. Then twice. Abruptly he let out a massive laugh that shook the trees around him. "RARARARARA!" 'HAHAHAHAHA! That boy has guts to smack me without blinking! He will be an excellent mate for Misty!' The dragon exclaimed, following along. Things would be very interesting with the boy around.
Ash groaned, rubbing the bridge of his brow. What was it going to take to get them to understand that he wasn't interested?!
Misty only wearing a bikini top instead of her usual yellow- 'what.' Ash thought, double taking on Misty, who was, indeed, only wearing her bikini top with her shorts instead of her more concealing (and Ash's sanity and self-control preserving) yellow tanktop while playing with her Squirtle while waiting for Gyarados to stop being Gyarados.
Ash's mental screaming could be heard by telepaths in Hoenn, that's how loud it was. Starmie actually whined.
"Misty?" he barely got out, getting the redhead's attention as she looked at him. "Yes?" she asked.
"Could you please put your top on?" he said, attempting not to stare anywhere below her chin. Attempt being the key word, as he was not entirely succeeding. Mostly because of Pikachu trying to force his head downwards.
Misty blushed and smiled shyly as Ash shoved Pikachu off his head and glared at him, which, thankfully, distracted him from Misty.
"Stop it." Ash ground out quietly. "I don't need you playing matchmaker!"
"Pikaaaa!" 'Just do it!'
"Look, I know Pokemon society is different and all that, but human society isn't just mating with someone you like! " Ash whisper-yelled. "It's a bit more complicated than that!"
"Pika!" 'She wants you, you want her, even if you're fighting it.' Pikachu retorted. "Pipi." 'Give in already and take her out on one of those 'dates' I keep hearing about!'
"That is not happening." Ash said. "And you know why."
"Sorry about the top, Ash." Misty said, now wearing the top he knew her best by. "It's a hot day. I have no idea how you can stand wearing that jacket."
True, Ash was wearing his usual full outfit, complete with his blue jacket, jeans and black shirt, the hat being off his head at the moment thanks to Pikachu, while Misty…was wearing less than usual. Her shorts were shorter than he'd like, for example. A dark part of his brain would like them gone entirely, but he crushed those thoughts as easily as he had been doing for the past 5 years.
Abruptly gunshots rang out in the distance, causing all of them to duck down instinctively.
"Pika?" 'The hell?'
More gunshots sounded off, so much so that it sounded like people were exchanging fire. "Pika-pi!" 'Someone's being attacked!'
"We need to help!" Ash shouted back.
One of many things about Ash that would not change: a willingness to dive into danger.
10 minutes later - Emerald Forest depths
The so-called 'Emerald Forest' was called such by locals for the sheer numbers of trees and greenery, laying between Cerulean and Vermillion City, fed by dozens of streams and a few rivers.
It was also the sight of a massive fight between one blue-haired girl and a bunch of thugs in white outfits, the former protecting a large collection of young Pokemon while trying to guide them out of there.
Ash was confused as to why that girl from the hidden Pokemon village (what was her name? Millie?) was using a gun, but he was more confused by the thugs in white, as he knew who they were.
The outfits were different then what he knew, but the emblem was clearly that of the Unovan 'Team Rocket clone', Team Plasma.
Milly or whatever her name was, her being her was clear: she was the human caretaker for the young, the abandoned and in Bulbasaur's case, the very, very stubborn guardian of the village. Team Plasma was…he had no idea.
He could figure out why later; right now, they were attacking civilians.
"Charmeleon, take them down!" Ash called out.
"Char!" 'These idiots are in the wrong region!' The eager lizard shouted, claws shining with draconic energy.
They noticed him far too late, and by the time they did their weapons had been cut in half and two of their Pokemon were knocked out by viscous Iron Tails and Claws.
Pikachu followed up, striking the grunts with a Thunderbolt, electrifying and knocking them out cold. Charmeleon took down the last Plasma Pokemon, a Panpour, with an Iron Tail.
The Plasma grunts then attempted to pull out backup weapons, but Pikachu charged up and fired a chain-Thundershock to fry them into going unconscious. The last thing they needed were annoying, awake members of Team Plasma. One of them tried to stay up, glaring defiantly.
Ash dealt with him with a shift kick to the head, as he had anger issues. And issues with Team Plasma in general.
Having a legendary fire dragon try to kill him was not something he was forgiving ANY time soon. He could forgive Team Rocket's many, MANY crimes for their sheer lack of competence and the times he helped them, but the others? Not so much.
"Well, at least they aren't those Rocket ripoffs." came the voice of the blue-haired caretaker of the village as she looked at them, her weapon lowered so she wouldn't shoot them by accident. "Thanks for the help."
Ash mentally smacked his head for a name (Melanie! That was it!) before looking at the incapasiated and in some cases, dead, Plasma grunts.
Ash sighed as Melanie replaced the magazine of her short rifle, but didn't comment on the bodies. Unlike the last time he had faced Team Rocket, he hadn't had the chance to do this non-lethally. Besides, Melanie was on her own.
"No problem." Ash smiled. "We were just passing through when we heard gunfire."
"They just came out of nowhere, attacking the village in the forest, saying something about 'Pokemon liberation'." Melanie said, looking at the grunts. "If it weren't for our little guardian, they might have killed me. Or hurt him."
That made everyone perk up. That fit Bulbasaur's bill. The little grass starter was a diplomat and a protector.
"Bulba!" 'Well look who it is!' cried the saurian grass-type, emerging from the crowd. He looked as Ash remembered, if somewhat covered in dirt. At least, that's what Ash thought he was looking at. "Bulba-saur-bulb." 'So. anyone care to explain what's going on? Last thing I remember was stopping Herracross from being sap-happy and the next thing I know, I'm back with Melanie!'
"Char." 'Long story.' Charmeleon said. "Mele." 'Also, Ash can understand us now.'
Bulbasaur clearly did not believe that, judging by the look on his face. "Saur." 'Really. Can he now.' he said sarcastically.
Ash winked at Bulbasaur, smiling knowingly.
Melanie smiled at the interaction between the pokemon. "Well, he seems to get along with your Pokemon just fine. It's funny. Just recently, he was looking after the younger Pokemon and trainers, and I think he broke up a few fights. I was just thinking he would do best with a trainer."
Ash could hardly believe she was willing to just hand over Bulbasaur. And Bulbasaur fought him last time.
"Bulb." 'If you can understand me, Ash, you WILL escort them to the nearest town.' Bulbasaur said, his guardian traits showing quite prominently. "Bul." 'Though I know you'll do that anyways.'
"Yeah, Bulbasaur, I know. Maybe Lieutenant Surge will take them in." Ash said, referring to the gym leader that mocked Pikachu and him so long ago. And the vow that led to him letting Pikachu make the choice.
"I would prefer to take them to Celadon…" Melanie said, trailing off. "But Vermillion is closer."
"Bulba!" 'Good! Now ball me!'
Despite Bulbasaur's cries, he looked to Melanie for permission. "Can I?"
She smiled. "He's already chosen you. Go ahead."
Ash retrieved a ball from his bag and prepared to toss it, only for the grass starter to beat him to the punch by headbutting the activation switch, catching himself before the ball even left Ash's hand.
"Someone was eager." the caretaker mused before gesturing down the trail. "Vermillion City's that way. It would take a few hours, but-"
"The Pokemon are going to slow it down a little." Ash said, knowing that a large crowd WOULD be slow to get going. Bulbasaur's ball teleported off, Ash trying to put a few things off his mind.
Mainly the fact that Team Plasma was here… and that death was a constant for no reason.
Pallet Town - Oak Ranch/Lab - 1148 hours local time
The Pokedex.
Samuel Oak's magnum opus (when it came to technology, at least: his Pokemon research and poetry was another story) was constantly evolving. The Johto model was designed to handle Pokemon egg identification as well as the standard information dumps that were standard on all of them, the Kanto model being the most absolute basic. The other regions had not received their prototype Pokedex models, but Birch was looking into adding more data for the Hoenn version, Rowan was thinking of adding alternate entries… every regional professor had ideas. Even that move-obsessed newbie, Kukui, wanted to have a model that supported a Rotom.
Oak was against that: he hated Rotoms.
However as he thought of the Rotom, a thought crossed his head as he was reminded of another largely ignored species: Porygon. One of, if not the only form of a 'Cyber' Pokemon which exists almost exclusively within cyberspace… and in essence was also a sapient A.I. The more he pondered on the thought, the more appealings it grew to him as Oak smirked a bit.
"Yes… that could work…" he muttered, before he picked up the phone as he began to make a call to a colleague of his.
He would have to design an upgrade for the Pokedex, but it was certainly good enough to connect to a Porygon memory module. Old game consoles did it all the time. Not that Oak would have experience with THAT: Cypher ruined any chance for a gaming industry to flower.
Before Oak could ponder how he would like to see how companies would wage war on each other with the customer ultimately the victor, the call was connected. "Akihabara Labor-" a bespectacled man in a lab coat began to say before the video image stabilized and he saw who was calling. "Ah, Professor Oak! And what would Kanto's most famous professor want with a small-timer like me?" Dr. Akihabara asked, his tone betraying his greeting.
'Someone's bitter.' Samuel thought to himself. Oak was just around longer: Akihabara was 24, he was 81. Recognition took TIME. "Hello Professor Akihabara - and please, drop the title, I'm not very fond of it… anyways, I find myself in a bit of a conundrum and I believe your research may be able to help me with that, if you are so willing to help me."
The man perked up at this. "Oh?" he asked. "How so?"
"I am planning an upgrade to the Pokedex, one for the use of an AI." Oak explained. "I thought you may be interested."
"Doesn't that Kukui man have plans for a Rotom for the Pokedex?" Akihabaka asked rhetorically, as he and Oak were well aware of Kukui's intentions.
"Rotoms are notoriously chaotic. The last thing I want is it randomly erasing the data in the EPROM." Oak replied. Getting new-old stock equipment for his Pokedexes was a pain, as the last computer manufacturer closed its' doors before the end of the Cypher War. There were no new parts to be made: everything had to be sourced from existing stocks and technology.
"Fair… so I assume you wish to experiment with Porygons then?" Akihabara asked, to which Oak nodded.
"Porygons are far more tame and controllable, as they are essentially advanced A.I Constructs." He said, "Having one installed within a Pokedex may prove far more beneficial than a Rotom would be - in theory at least." At least they wouldn't erase anything they weren't supposed to.
Besides, Oak had tried it with his son's Rotom once upon a time with a modified prototype. It ended with the prototype exploding and his daughter in law's Gible being sent after it.
"If you wouldn't mind sending me the specifications of your Pokedex-" Akihabara started before Oak pushed a button on his keyboard, sending the specifications and circuit board schematics to him, the KBM Model M making a nice 'click' before the younger man looked at the file.
"…huh… alright," he mused as he looked them over. "…yeah, we might be able to pull this off… still gonna need a substantial amount of R&D though to finalize the concept."
"I can send over some parts over the translink. I've been working on concepts like this for a while, but a lack of Porygon…well, I tried with a Rotom. It ended poorly." Oak said, remembering that sound Gible made when she was in the ground, all shark-like.
"For how many?" the Porygon researcher inquired. Parts were very much a prized thing. After all, there was no way to make more until those Pernon people did something about it.
"Two prototypes. I trust you can do something with them." Oak said as he prepared to use the transregional transport link. A similar concept was used for the Pokemon Trade Link network that, despite everything from rogue Gibles and Diglett to nuclear bombs, still worked for transferring Pokemon, only for non-pokemon objects.
Bill tried it for people once. He ended up looking like a Clefairy for three days. Needless to say the project was… put on a shelf.
"Yeah, I can do something." He nodded, "Give me say… a few weeks, maybe a month and I can have them ready. I hope you have some people in mind to give them for their test runs."
"I have a pair of trainers in mind. Just have a pair of Porygon ready." Oak said before sending them through the translink, disappearing in rings of light.
Route 6 - 10 kilometers from Vermillion City - 1512 Hours Local Time
Ash knew Misty was glaring at Melanie.
He began cursing out the Pokemon that screwed with her mind enough to make her attach herself to him within hours of meeting and making her more jealous then he remembered.
He noticed, in hindsight. Any girl that got too close and she turned into a Houndoom.
"Is… your friend alright?" Melanie asked, looking at the openly-glaring Misty. "I hope I didn't do anything that offended her…"
"Its fine, she's just…" Ash began, glancing at Misty "…very distrusting of strangers… "
"Pika." 'And Competition,' Pikachu chimed in.
Ash wanted to throttle Pikachu. She was more of a love interest for Brock then him! Besides, he only reacted ONCE to a girl and he instantly regretted it because she was a haughty bitch.
Still, at least he didn't have his two flyers to deal with. Noctowl and Pidgeotto were…dogfighting. Apparently they weren't getting along as well as expected. From what he could hear, it was less loyalty this time and more their style of flying. Granted they weren't actively trying to kill one another now, which was an improvement… at least not intentionally…
Look, an improvement was still an improvement - no matter how small it may seem.
"Owl!" 'Try moving slower! You're not as impressive if you're darting about!' the owl said as Pidgeotto attempted to ram him. "Noc-" 'Seriously, rushing headlong into a fight-'
"Otto!" 'Not an owl! So shut up!' she replied before attempting to Brave Bird Noctowl.
"Your Pidgeotto seems to be well-trained. Brave Bird isn't an easy move to pull off." Melanie said. "Well, easy to pull off, not so easy to avoid hurting themselves."
'Yes, Talonflame had a distinct lack of care regarding that.' Ash deadpanned mentally, as he remembered his flame bird that liked Brave Birding. Often.
Not a mood he was entirely happy with.
He was about to call them down to have them chill out, before he heard a very familiar sound - that of police sirens. 'Huh?' he narrowed his eyes, looking ahead as he saw what looked to be several smaller off-road police vehicles approaching them. They slowly came to a stop in front of them, and emerging from some of the cars were several Officer Jennys.
'It took me three regions to get used to them being identical.' Ash mused. Still, three? Usually there was one per major town or city.
"Hold it!" one of them yelled, right hand on a revolver in its holster. "We have a birdkeeper that claims saw a large group of pokemon en route to Vermillion. Seeing as that's true…what happened?"
Ash looked at Melanie. "I think you're the one to explain this." he said before she stepped forward, sighing. "The village in the forest I was caring for was attacked by members of Team Plasma." she summed up, much to the confusion of the officers.
"Plasma?" the lead Jenny asked. "They're usually not seen outside Unova. You sure it was them?"
"As a licensed Pokemon League doctor and breeder, I do keep up to date on the so-called 'teams'." Melenie said, surprising Ash. So she was employed by the league in this timeline? "A shield with a P on it is their emblem and their grunts usually dress like some ancient Kalosian or Galaran knight. Hard to mistake that."
"Damn… we've already got issues with Rocket, now we gotta deal with another copy-cat team?" The Jenny groaned. "Well… thanks for the info though… we can escort you people back to town in case any more of those gangsters are around."
"That would be nice. Thank you, officers." Melanie said with a slight bow.
Nearby, a trio of less than intellectually inclined people (or two humans and a Meowth) saw the massive group they were tailing link up with the cops.
While Jessie, James and Meowth were not exactly the sharpest Honedge in the Kanto Region, they were not completely stupid. They knew attacking this group was a mistake.
"So…many…" Jessie said drooling at the large number of Pokemon.
We never said they wouldn't think about it. Just that they knew it was a bad idea.
"Are you nuts?!" Meowth asked after clubbing her upside the head. "One, we're here to stalk the kid, not steal Pokemon for da Boss. Two, ARMED COPS! They'd shoot us on sight!"
"I know…but we can dream?" James asked.
"No dreaming! Keep on the job!" Meowth said before they resumed watching him with some of the most ridiculous spy equipment you can imagine.
Sad part was, Ash noticed them, he just did nothing because they hadn't attempted their usual MO of 'motto, attempt to steal Pikachu, fail'.
Acting like a fool was one thing. Being one was another.
Lilycove City - Ports - 2314 hours local time
"Gib! Gible! Gib!" 'Come on, I'm not that bad!'
"Ko. Tree, Treeko." 'You're a metalivore, and what are ships generally made of?'
While not completely true, Gibles did eat large amounts of iron, nickel and chromium, to maintain a nice, healthy coat of scales. Before he was caught by Ash, Gible ate an entire Team Rocket mech. His only response was a burp.
And because Gible couldn't make a large, reinforced tunnel, they needed to go by ship.
"Gib! GIB!" 'I won't eat the whole ship!' Gible cried out.
"Chim." 'Notice he said 'the whole ship'." Chimchar deadpanned.
"Gil." 'We need the WHOLE ship, Gible.' Giligar said, not exactly impressed with Gible's complaints. "Gar." 'If you eat ANY part of it, we're in trouble. And there's no way our flyers can get us to Kanto unless they turn into Fearows.'
Taillow and Starly glared at the bat-like Pokemon, who simply shrugged as best he could.
Gible grumbled. "Gib." 'You're no fun…' he pouted.
"Ko." 'We gotta get to Ash, in one piece and preferably on a boat that still floats.' Treeko sighed.
It was a good thing no one noticed them, otherwise balls would be flying everywhere. It was hard enough to sneak in, with Gible wanting to do the whole land shark thing, but Torkoal was not exactly fast or stealthy, plus the Treeko clan was rather conspicuous.
Still, they needed to figure out what ship was going where.
"Turt." 'Well, Chimchar, we're going to need you on this one.' the grass turtle said, remembering Chimchar being the only one that could read the human language.
"Char, char." 'Right, right…' Chimchar said before hopping off to find anything indicating where the ship was heading.
"Tail…" '…I need to learn to read…' Tailow muttered, "Low." 'I have the best eyesight, so I could read things from a hundred kilometers away…'
"Sno." 'And learn how to avoid Pikachu's near-legendary levels of shocking power.' Snorunt added. "…Snorunt?" 'How DID you avoid being easily shocked in those early days?'
Tailow shrugged. Not even she knew how.
"Sta." 'I am somewhat jealous.' Starly said before Gible began eating a piece of metal.
"Sno?" 'Should we… stop him?' Snowrunt asked.
"Tail." 'He's just eating scrap metal, it'll be fine.' Tailow said, "Low." 'Plus, best he fill up now rather than on the boat.'
Chimchar came back, nervous as hell. "Char…" 'I nearly got noticed. Come on." he said, shakily. "Chi." 'Follow me.' He then noticed Gible, nomming. "…Ar." 'Please tell me he's full.'
"Tree?" 'Gible? Are you full?' Treeko asked.
Gible finished eating its slab of metal, before letting out a content burp before eye-smiling.
"Treeko." 'Let's go.' he said, sighing, as Chimchar led them to a ship with a mast, cargo cranes and a large cargo hatch with a ramp leading up to it. One crowded with crates, allowing them to get on board with ease.
"Sno." 'Well, that was nice and discrete.' Snorunt said.
Creaaaaaak
Everyone turned around, watching as the warehouse - the one they were staying in - suddenly collapsed in on itself… followed by Gible letting out another contentful burp.
Tailow and Turtwig looked at Gible. "Turt." 'Really?' the turtle asked. "Tail!" 'What do you have to say for yourself?!' she demanded.
Gible looked at the warehouse as humans and Pokemon examined the ruins. "Gible!" 'I regret nothing!' he exclaimed, making all facepalm as the ramp was removed and the doors closed.