Saffron City Gym - 0719 hours local time - Day 37 of Ash Ketchum's Journey
"Really. I'm fine." Ash said, weighed down with five blankets and a Gible laying on his feet, attempting to convince his 'nurses' to let him go.
It was VERY easy to picture Misty and Anabel in skimpy nurse outfits and the more perverted part of his mind ran with it. Then Ash promptly took a mental hammer to it with extreme prejudice. He was NOT allowed.
Besides, he wasn't into that anyway. (further angry mental hammering followed that thought)
Anabel apparently noticed those images (she was a telepath, after all) and blushed at it, but made no other comment.
Misty, on the other hand, did notice Anabel's face turning from 'indoors too much' pale to 'spicy' red.
"He just pictured us in nurse outfits, didn't he?" Misty asked, almost back to how Ash preferred her: outgoing, loud and usually angry. Not that he was going to tell HER that.
"For a second. Then I saw hammers slamming into it." Anabel admitted before looking at Misty. "Is that normal?"
"Apparently, he's taken an oath of celibacy and he takes his promises seriously." Misty said, Ash cursing Mewtwo and whoever created him to an eternity as Giratina's playthings for making him 'receptive' to psychic imprints. Hopefully his limited experience with Anabel would prevent that from happening to her, too.
"Seriously." Ash said, still annoyed at the fact they were handling him like glass. It did NOT help that they were attractive and made damn sure he knew it, too! "I am fine."
"We'll let the doctors make that call." Misty said, smirking. "So...what did they look like?"
Ash screamed internally at this, his legs moving and shifting Gible out of his sleep.
The land shark awoke seconds later. And as one might guess, an awakened Gible does three things.
One is find out where he is and the other being whether or not he's among friends.
The last one was simple. CHOMP!
"Gible!" 'Not a dream!' cried the land shark as he warbled on his trainer's head.
'At least I have most of my Pokemon back.' he thought, trying to find a silver lining that wasn't related to the women in his life.
Pallet Town - 1305 hours local time
Click! Went the slide of an old, rebuilt and reforged 45 .ACP handgun as its' user let go of it, allowing it to snap back in place before it was put in its' holster.
Delia Ketchum had given Giovanni two weeks. That only meant he had two weeks to effectively leave the Team, not how long he had until she was going on her rampage. Most of that time was spent gathering her old equipment together.
It was also spent getting the rest of her kids to the safest place she knew: Indigo Plateau, in the care of 'Aunt' Lorelei. No one, not even the most insane Rocket Admins, was stupid enough to attack the headquarters of the League and effectively the government of Kanto.
That was suicide.
"Mom, we don't want to go!" half-whined Yellow, who wanted to spend more time with her brother in Saffron with her 'niece'. Delia REALLY wanted to keep them away from her. Now the woman was acting like a teenager and was getting...curious. Not someone she wanted around her children.
"Mom, we'll be fine here. Belladonna is still in town-" Red started, but Delia silenced him with a look.
"Belladonna practically lives at the lab now. She has for the last few years, since… that happened." Delia said, knowing her eldest child had refused to come home after that day. No one blamed her.
A totem pole-like bird stood, waiting patiently. "Xatu." it said, just to make its' presence known, making Yellow jump.
"AH! Where did Xatu come from?!" she yelped, the bird's eyes not moving, but you could tell there was smug amusement in them, like saying 'still got it'.
"He's going to take you to Aunt Lorelei. That's the safest place for you while I'm out." Delia explained, xatu turning back into a statue bird. "Try not to cause trouble while you're there, please."
"You tell us that every time we go there." Yellow muttered before Xatu suddenly appeared beside her and gave her a hug with a cry of "Xatu.", spooking the young girl once more.
"Have fun!" Delia said cheerfully as Xatu teleported her children away. With that, she dropped the cheerful mother persona. And spun around, gun in hand towards an intruder in her home.
Who turned out to be her eldest child, looking shocked and somewhat scared with her hands in the air. "I… surrender?" Belladonna Ketchum said half-questioningly before Delia lowered her weapon.
"You haven't been here in nearly six years." Delia said, not bothering to say hello. "What brings you back here, Bell?"
Belladonna dropped her arms to her sides before gesturing to the fact her mother was armed with a rifle, a handgun and enough supplies to wage war on a small region in her oversized bag on her back. "The armory on your back, maybe? The fact you sent Red and Yellow to Aunt Lorelei?" she started. "The fact you've been getting calls from Giovanni, the same Giovanni you yelled at me for facing as my last gym battle three years ago, for the last month?"
Delia wasn't surprised Belladonna had tapped her phone line: doing that was a habit of hers when she was younger, bored and the Zubat that would become her starter was busy running from a more playful Ash. Sweet fucking Arceus, she missed those days…
"I've been getting calls from Giovanni asking me not to make any presumptions about Ash's safety." Delia said as she opened a cabinet with six worn, steel-colored Pokeballs, the red and white paint long since gone. Oak preferred his ancient ratchet-catch Pokeballs. Delia upgraded to the new Silph models a long time ago and wore them to the steel they were made from.
A nervous tick of hers.
"You're getting your team from the ranch?!" Belladonna yelled, her eyes widening to horrifying degrees. "You know we keep them FAR away from everything else for a reason, right?!"
"Yes, I do. But your uncle did something stupid." Delia said, getting a blank look from her daughter.
"What." she stated.
"You never noticed the resemblance? It's mostly in the eyes." Delia said as she contracted the balls and placed them onto a new belt, the old one long since gone after… the incident.
"Uncle? You don't… have… You told us we don't have any aunts or uncles!" Belladonna said indignantly.
"I lied." Delia said shrugging, her daughter getting more and more pissed off. " Didn't want you getting involved in his affairs. But Giovanni's goons tried to kill Ash. Now he pays the price."
Belladonna finally got the picture. "GIOVANNI? HE'S your brother?" she snapped. "That explains that. But-"
"He runs Team Rocket. I wanted nothing to do with it and leveled his operations when they objected." Delia said as she took out Mimey's Pokeball. "Stay at the lab. This is going to get violent." With that, she went to the door, only to have an Arbok block her way.
Delia closed her eyes. "Sweety, tell your snake to get out of my way." she all but told her eldest child.
"No." Belladonna said in defiance. "Not until I get answers."
"Belladonna Hanako Ketchum, you will recall your Arbok now or else-"
"Or else what? You'll kill her?" Belladonna snapped. "You do that, you lose everything. You'd have to shoot me, which would alienate you from Professor Oak and drive away all three of my siblings. You want to risk it, mom?"
Delia's eyes flashed red before she closed them, thinking about it reasonably. She had been operating on anger for the last week and fell into old, very bad habits.
She almost forgot this was her daughter and her cobra.
"I focused too much on Ash that I forgot," Delia said calmly. "You want answers."
"Yes, I do! Why didn't you tell us?!" she demanded. "After everything, you could have told us we had family!"
"I didn't want him pressing you into joining Team Rocket. It's a family business," Delia said, huffing out the last two words. "And despite everything, he would have welcomed you with open arms because you are his blood. I didn't want that to happen."
"Like we would. Team Rocket's a blight on Kanto and Johto." Belladonna scoffed, recalling her Arbok to her pokeball.
"And what if you got the idea you could change it from within?" Delia asked.
Belladonna blinked, realizing her mother had a point.
"You still should have told us," the daughter muttered.
"It's my responsibility. Which is why I'm going to deal with them once and for all." the matriarch of the Ketchum family vowed. "Except for those three idiots tailing Ash: Giovanni has them protecting him and they were the only ones that never even tried."
"I'm going with you." Belladonna stated. "Professor Oak doesn't need my help at the Ranch. Hell, Ash's Bulbasaur is keeping everyone in line more than I do."
Delia made a double take. "He has a Bulbasaur?" she asked, confused.
"Yeah. Practically runs the place now," her daughter said. "You need help with Team Rocket. What if you get overwhelmed?"
"I wasn't Elite Four for no reason, sweety." Delia said, almost dismissively.
"And what if Giovanni has new friends? There ARE other teams out there and he's pragmatic." Belladonna said, remembering her own fight with the Viridian Gym Leader and how he folded the last battle for the sake of time.
Delia sighed. There was no getting out of this, was there?
"Fine. But if you're not-" she started before a Gengar appeared before her, gray and grinning, confusing her as it spat out a pack and made a laugh.
"…When did you get a Gengar?" her mother asked before looking closely. "Correction, when did you get a SHINY Gengar?"
"I don't show off all the Pokemon I captured." Belladonna said, her left hand placed on her hip as she smirked, Gengar 'eating' the pack again and returning himself to the Pokeball on her belt.
"Since you have nothing better to do, we're leaving," Delia said. "Try to keep up, little Bella."
"Don't call me that," Belladonna groused.
"And tell your girlfriends that you won't be back for a while." Delia said teasingly, getting a blush from her daughter.
Saffron City Gym - 1841 local time
"He's fine." the doctor said, shaking his head, Misty staring at him in disbelief.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes. Gunshot wounds like this take months to heal from, but nooooooooo, not him." the doctor said mockingly. "He takes a week! Just make sure he doesn't stress himself."
Misty got an evil glint in her eye. "I have a few ideas how to keep that from happening." she said, Ash getting the idea.
And it involved those damned nurse outfits.
"Help," he said quietly, his Natu sitting on Gible's head, silently laughing as the land shark napped.
"Natu." 'No. I'm enjoying this.' she said, not laughing at all, but he knew she was.
The door to the simple bunk room opened, letting in the thrice-damned psychitrist. "Don't mind me," he said, his Gible following him in. "Just want to talk to my patient."
The medical doctor left, not wanting to be with the shrink. NO ONE did, but Anabel needed Ash as a psychic shield and Misty… well, she was dependent on Ash.
"So, all of you are my cases," Gaffery said, his Natu staring at all of them. "This is going to be a hormone-fueled nightmare."
"That's what you think." Ash muttered, Gaffery pretending he didn't hear that.
"Two young women travelling with one man? That is begging for trouble," Gaffery said. "But I have a job to do and that is make sure all of you are mentally healthy."
"You should know Ash took a vow of celibacy," Anabel said quietly. "I think he doesn't want to be like his dad."
"That's going to be difficult," the shrink said, the Natu and Gible nodding furiously.
"I don't need a psychiatrist." Ash said as he got up, returning Gible to his Pokeball and Natu hopping onto his head and nesting on his hat. "I am taking care of my issues on my own. So please just...go home." Ash did not want to talk about the other timeline. He knew he had survivor's guilt, he knew he had problems with the repeated deaths and resurrections and finally he knew he had a goal that would break most men.
But when Ash Ketchum had a goal, he would not stop until it was done.
"I know you're uncomfortable with it. Which is why I am going to wait until you're damn good and ready." the old man said, surprising Ash. "I know our reputation. We invade your privacy, we take your innermost secrets and lay them bare. We make you VERY uncomfortable. And that's why I let my charges come to me. Otherwise… well, not a fun experience for anyone."
Ash blinked. "Huh." he simply muttered.
"I'll wait. I have other things to do while you make up your own damn mind to see me." Gaffery said, his Gible trailing behind him as he left.
"…That man is weird." Misty said after he was out of earshot.
The troops, as they were, lined up in the gym, Pikachu noticing a few evolutions.
"Pikachu." 'Well, this should make life easier. We're going to Celadon next, just like last time.' the starter said.
"Bulba." 'That Tangela is MINE,' Bulbasaur declared. No one argued: they all wanted some revenge against certain Pokemon.
Pikachu wasn't fond of the Mew line, for example.
"Char." 'I'm in. I owe Ash anyways,' Charmeleon said nodding.
"Pidgeot." 'No one holds you responsible for that, Charmeleon. Least of all Ash,' Pidgeot said, her shoulders aching from Lapras' ice beam barrage.
"Quilava." 'I need to test myself and get used to being a Quilava again. I'll take on this Erika lady's Pokemon.' Quilava said. "Qui?" 'What's her type?'
Pikachu resisted laughing at the double entendre. "Pika." 'Grass.' he answered.
"Spear?" 'Is it true-' Spearow started, everyone knowing the answer to that question.
'YES!' All of the old crew said at once. "Squirtle!" 'Yes, he dressed up as a girl. No, we don't mock him for it: she was a complete and total bitch to keep him out.' Squirtle said with finality.
No one did: Erika's unreasonable declaration was based off of Ash saying he didn't like her perfume, which had zero bearing on whether or not he was worthy of facing her in battle. In the end, he got his badge, even if Team Rocket had to burn her goddamn greenhouse down to help.
"Gible!" 'I want in! I never got a gym battle in Sinnoh!' Gible said, hopping up and down.
Everyone looked at the dragon. "Pika?" 'Really? What do you have-' he started before Gible opened his maw.
And out came fire. A LOT of fire that made Charmeleon double take at the land shark.
"Charmel?!" 'When the hell did you learn flamethrower?!' he demanded.
"Gib!" 'Watching you!' Gible said cheerfully.
The flame Pokemon looked at the remains of the fire being put out by Squirtle, Oshawatt, and Totodile.
It brought a tear to his eye.
"Char." 'Welcome aboard.' he said, patting the Gible's back. He then remembered how Gible expressed affection.
CHOMP!
Pikachu sighed along with Butterfree. "Pika?" 'Any other takers? Apparently, it's six vs the leader's in this timeline.' he asked.
"Spear." 'I'll give it a go. Got no interest in evolving, but I do want to give this battle thing a try.' the sparrow Pokemon said.
Gible then let go of Charmeleon and charged a Draco Meteor.
Remembering what that did, everyone dove for cover.
RMS Germanic - 1426 hours local time - 500 kilometers from the Nihon coastline
The Germanic's lifeboats were full to bursting, transporting the crew to the somewhat smaller Aquitania, which was alongside, but due to the size of the two ships, she had to be two kilometers away.
"I fucking hate the ocean." muttered Baroness Grace Gabena Yeonne as she hung low in the boat, her daughter sitting beside her with her Slyveon on her lap and Ash's Goomy on her head.
"At least we're getting on a faster ship." Serena said, Goomy glancing down fearfully at Ash's mate.
"Goo?" 'Closer to Ash we get, the more terrifying she gets, right?' Goomy asked.
"Froakie." 'As long as she gets back to normal when we get there,' Froakie muttered as he sat on the bottom of the steel and wood boat.
"Fletchling!" 'Count us lucky they didn't try to seperate us!' Fletchling said, Grace's just as seasick as her trainer.
Then the boat was approached by another bird Pokemon. And it wasn't another goddamn Wingull.
It was an owl. With… leaves.
"Noibat?" '…Is that Rowlet?' Noibat asked, confused. "Noi!" 'I thought he was in Alola! …with Ash…'
"Haw!" 'Apparently not!' said the luchador bird as Rowlet flapped his wings and landed on Goomy.
"…Goomy." 'Get the fuck off me.' Goomy demanded of the bird.
"Rowl?" 'You're a Pokemon?' Rowlet asked, blinking in surprise.
"Goo." 'I'm a dragon-type, you fucking grass owl. GET OFF ME.' Goomy demanded. Rowlet hopping off onto Grace.
"Rowl." 'You're a mean one, aren't you?' Rowlet asked. "Let!" 'What's an asshole like you doing with Ash's Pokemon?'
"Goomy." 'He caught me and released me later on. Also, I know thunderbolt, so don't,' Goomy said testily.
"Froak." 'Apologies, young one. He doesn't like being surrounded by salt water in a tiny boat.' Froakie said. "Froakie." 'You must be one of Ash's new captures from Alola.'
"Rowlet." 'Yup. His first. The rest of us are on the Aquitania.' the owl answered before Serena picked up the owl. "Row?" 'Uh… what is she-'
"You know them. That means you're one of Ash's!" Serena said, making a very, VERY disturbing smile as she did.
"…Rowl." 'Help,' he hooed.
"Noi." 'Too late.' Noibat snarked as Serena claimed Rowlet for Ash.
"How did he get five Pokemon from the most xenophobic region on the planet?" Grace asked as the five Alolan Pokemon joined their Kalosian counterparts.
"Don't know. Don't care!" Serena said. "All I know is, they react to Ash's name, so they have to be his!"
"Litten?" 'This is the Serena we all heard about?' Litten asked Froakie.
"Fro." 'The timeline made her kinda unhinged.' the ninja replied, getting a 'no shit, Detective Pikachu' look from the Alolan crew that went back in time.
"Goomy." 'As long as Ash likes her and gets other females, I don't care,' Goomy said, voicing his opinion.
"Froakie." 'You know human society doesn't work that way, right?' Froakie asked.
"Goomy." 'I'm sorry, ninja frog, does it look like I GIVE A FUCK?' Goomy asked sarcastically.
"Aw, they're friends!" Serena said cluelessly.
"Meowth." 'What madness have I involved myself in?' the Alolan Meowth asked himself.
"Grub." 'The GOOD kind.' Grubbin said, and with a grin if he could.
Route 7 - En route to Celadon City - 2145 Hours Local Time
Camp had been set up and the Pokemon were resting, with the exception of the Natus.
Did those birds even blink?
Regardless, Ash was thinking over his last visit to Celedon. Not the one with May, though that was as bad.
No, he didn't want to relive the Ashley debacle. At least his Pokemon never mocked him for it.
Misty laughed, but it was more 'actually funny' then mocking. Then she insulted Erika a few times, though that was more against her type of choice. And not the Pokemon she used. Ash didn't want to get it.
(Pikachu forced it on him by simply declaring Erika a lesbian. Ash did not want to know)
All he cared about was getting past her. Her Pokemon would be easy enough. It was avoiding the crossdressing that was important.
"Pika?" 'Thinking of the Ashley thing?' Pikachu asked as he laid beside his trainer.
"It's Celadon. The last thing I want is a repeat of last time." Ash deadpanned.
"Pika-ka." 'Or that time Cilian dressed up as Elesa?' Pikachu added, making Ash blanch.
"WHY did you bring that up?" he asked, having repressed the memory. More that Cilian did it WILLINGLY than anything else.
"Pika." 'It needed to be said. Could be worse. You could have a sister that looks like the Ashley cosplay.' Pikachu said.
"I don't need that image, Pikachu. I'm STILL not used to the idea of having three siblings." Ash said, rolling over to put his face on the pillow.
"Pika." 'We'll get there tomorrow.' Pikachu said as he laid back as well. "Pika?" 'Any ideas if the same thing happens again?'
"Legalities." Ash muttered through the pillow.
"Pi." 'Ah, that she can't deny you a battle just because you diss her shop,' Pikachu said. "Chu?" 'And if that doesn't work?'
"Arson." Ash answered simply.
No matter what, he was NOT wearing a fucking dress again.
Celadon City outskirts - 0956 Hours Local Time - Day 38
Ash was not joking about the arson comment. That was actually a suggestion from Charmeleon.
NONE of them wanted him in a dress again. That was just demeaning and insulting.
"You're not seriously going to burn down her gym if she locks the door to you?" Anabel asked, getting that from the surface of his mind.
"Only if she's being unreasonable." Ash replied. "I don't WANT to burn her gym down. But if she tries the same thing she did last time… well, I technically have diplomatic immunity."
That was a joke and they knew it.
Still, that made the girls think about it and Ash took his chance to get further ahead of them.
"Pikachu?" 'Should I prepare the fire brigade?' his starter asked as they approached the unholy city. (as far as they were concerned)
"Keep them on standby." Ash half-joked. A bit of revenge was not worth losing his badge, but it was a close consolation.
The girls noticed him ahead of them and were not pleased, judging by their screaming.
Though as Anabel was more interested in using him as a shield against other psychics, hers was more frantic and terrified.
"Bulba." 'At least the shop's in the same place,' Bulbasaur said as he looked the place over, wanting to be damn sure that burning it down was not necessary. "Bulbasaur." 'Place is FILLED with spores, though.'
"Is she seriously trying to get people killed?!" Ash asked, having breathed in plant-based spores before and it was NOT fun. "How is she still alive?!"
"Pika." 'Let's get this over with,' Pikachu said as Ash prepared to enter scent hell.
If he had to burn the place down in protest, he would.
He opened the door, unprepared for the wave of smell crashing out of the shop, making not only him and Pikachu, but Misty and Anabel gag.
"Sweet Guardians, how does this woman LIVE with this?!" Anabel cried, the smell being sickly sweet and overpowering, more perfume molecules than air.
"Natu!" 'Got it!' Natu said as she formed a Barrier that filtered out the worst of it.
And once more, Ash did not care for the smell, even filtered out.
"And perfume is still overrated," he muttered. "You don't need to smell like flowers, you just need to be easy to talk to and get along with."
Misty and Anabel, unbeknownst to him, were taking notes as a woman with short blue hair wearing a kimono approached the trio, smiling happily.
Ash wanted to unleash Charmeleon right then and there, have him burn Erika and get it over with.
"Welcome to the Celadon City Perfume Shop. Are you here for a specific type of perfume?" she asked, seemingly unaffected by the spores and the smell. On the other hand, she probably spent her entire life around this shit.
"No, but I heard this shop is run by the Celadon City Gym leader." Ash said, hoping to be… diplomatic. Violence was the LAST option. "Would you mind asking her to come out? I would like to challenge her."
The woman dropped the saleswoman guise. "I see. Well, you found me. Erika Sakura, at your service." she said. "We'll have to take this outside."
"Sure, anything to get out of the stench." Misty said, sticking as close to Ash as possible to take advantage of Natu's barrier.
Erika, misunderstanding, smiled. "Well, I can find something for your boyfriend so his body odor isn't so putrid." she said as she dragged her out of the barrier, making her start coughing like mad, choking. "What's wrong?"
Ash tugged on her arm, bringing her back under Natu's protective shield. "She was talking about your shop!" he snapped, no longer in the mood to be nice. "Seriously, how do you do business in this place if your customers can't breathe?!"
Erika glared at the boy preparing to challenge her. "For you…" she started before randomly falling asleep mid-speech, making all of them raise an eyebrow before she yawned, awakening. "Well, the meds are wearing off. Where was I?"
"Defending how your customers can't breathe in this spore-infested hellhole?" Anabel snarked, making Ash look at her in surprise. "I can't be nice 24/7."
"They can breathe! Though they always have an Abra or something with them for some reason…" Erika said, Ash facepalming at how this woman could not NOTICE. "That's no reason to insult my shop! Get out-"
"I don't think so." Ash said, preparing to use legalism against her. "You can kick me out of your shop, but you have been challenged to a gym battle."
Erika started before glaring. "My gym is in the shop grounds-"
"Your shop is on the gym grounds." Misty corrected. "And according to league regulations, you can't stop any challenger without a good reason. I'd know: my sisters tried banning electric-types from the gym a while back. It didn't work."
Erika looked at Misty in surprise. "Wait… Misty?" she said in shock. "They let you GO?"
"That surprising?" she snarked back.
"Given your… condition… I'm surprised you're not shuddering." Erika said dryly before removing Natu from Ash's head. "I don't see what your problem is-"
Then Pikachu and Ash started coughing along with Anabel and Misty, Natu glaring at the grass-type gym leader.
"Natu!" 'Stupid bitch!' she said before psychically removing her hands from Natu's body, then pecking the gym leader in the head VERY hard.
As she recoiled, Natu jumped back on Ash's head and reestablished the barrier, cleaning the air.
"You… need… to air… this place… out…" Ash choked out.
Erika huffed at that. "I'll check the regulations. Until then, get out of my shop." she snapped.
The trio left gladly, grateful for clean air.
Fifteen minutes later, Erika was forced to lead them in the back way, away from the shop of death.
"No one's ever complained about my shop before," she muttered indignantly as they headed for the gym.
"They had psychic-types to filter out the plant spores and the worst of it," Anabel explained. "Barriers are what psychics do best."
"I don't have any psychics and I'm fine!" Erika said, unable to get it.
"Because you've lived in the mix for so long that you're bloody immune!" Ash snapped. "No one else has that kind of protection!"
Erika paused for a minute, thinking about it. "So, I'm the plant version of Koga?" she said in shock. "Never thought of that."
Ash didn't want to know. "Just air the place out," he said.
"Explains why everyone runs through the shop to get to the gym…" Erika muttered as they got to the Gloom-head-shaped building, Erika falling asleep at the doors.
"Pikachu!" 'Oh, for the love of Arceus, I have had ENOUGH,' Pikachu snarled before using thundershock on the gym leader, zapping her awake.
"…Ow…" she muttered.
"Pika." 'Ash has had worse,' Pikachu said.
"And I've been shocked by you for how long?" Ash asked dryly as Erika glared at Pikachu.
"He's disqualified," she snapped, pissed off at the mouse.
"That's not your call," Misty said, but Ash just chuckled.
"I wasn't planning on using Pikachu in this anyways." he said. "I just keep him here because he hates Pokeballs." With that, Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder. "But I do reserve the right to have him zap you awake."
"I suffer from narcolepsy!" Erika said, deeply insulted, though she thought about it for a moment before saying "I'll need to find an electric/plant-type."
Misty shuddered at that nightmare combination. "I'm fairly sure they don't exist." Anabel said comfortingly as Erika made her way to the other end of the field.
"I will add a condition to this. If you lose, I make you buy the most powerful perfume I have." Erika said, smiling.
"Fine. My conditions are set anyways: you air out that shop." Ash said as a black haired girl in a pink kimono stepped up to referee.
"The challenger is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, facing Gym Leader Erika! As this is a fifth badge fight, the Leader is allowed four Pokemon while the Challenger is allowed six!" she said. "Gym leader, the opening move is yours."
"Thank you, Ashley, I will." Erika said, making Ash cock his head to one side and stare at the young woman with his crossdressing namesake briefly.
"Go, Tangala!" the gym leader said, releasing the tangled weed Pokemon from a thrown ball.
"Tan!" cried the ball of tumbleweed without a word.
Ash smirked. "I choose you, Bulbasaur!" he called, sending out the Bulb Pokemon from his own, the evil smirk only reserved for Psyduck's tickling appearing on his face.
Erika paled at that smile. It did not belong on a grass-type.
"Bulba." 'Well, you know what time it is!' Bulbasaur cried. And Ash could almost SWEAR he saw the word 'RAPE' in big blocky letters appear briefly.
Tangala apparently had the same thought as the demonic Bulbasaur rushed at him.
"TAN!" 'FUCK THIS!' he said as he tried to run, but a vine wrapped around his foot, tripping him and dragging him back, Tangala trying frantically to get away. But as Bulbasaur was proving, resistance was futile.
"Bulba!" 'Time for revenge, buddy!' Bulbasaur said before making an evil Bulbasaur cackle that made even those that couldn't understand him back away somewhat. Tangala attempted to unleash Stun Spore, but Bulbasaur just lifted him up and slammed him into the ground.
"Pika." 'He's bitter about last time.' Pikachu said, though only Ash could understand him. That didn't make it better to stomach as Bulbasaur was relentless, slamming him repeatedly.
"I'm half-tempted to cry foul, but Tangala knows Constrict, so…" Ashley muttered as the one-sided asskicking continued before Tangala was thrown towards Erika, slamming into the ground in front of her.
"Are all of your Pokemon ill-tempered?!" Erika demanded as Bulbasaur approached.
"He has issues with Tangala." Ash deadpanned. 'This one, mostly,' he thought to himself before Bulbasaur wrapped a vine around Tangala once more.
"Tan!" 'HELP!' Tangala cried before Bulbasaur used Venoshock of all things on the grass-type, followed by sludge bomb and...
"Oh, COME ON!" Erika yelled as Bulbasaur used Sleep Powder on the tumbleweed, putting him out of the fight for good. "That's just insulting!"
"Bulba." 'So was making my trainer dress like a girl!' Bulbasaur snapped back, the angry cry making the Gym Leader recoil.
None of Ash's Kanto Pokemon liked Erika. Sue them.
The rest weren't pleased with the incident when they heard how humiliating it was for their trainer, either.
"I… don't think I have to say who won, do I?" Ashley asked in fear of the evil Bulb Pokemon.
"For the record, I do not support what Bulbasaur did!" Ash said. 'Though I will not argue against him getting payback,' he thought.
"Yes. They don't seem to like me very much." Erika muttered as she returned Tangala's broken form. "Must've been the spore choking. Recall your Pokemon. That… thing… disturbs me."
"Bulba-Saur." 'GOOD,' Bulbasaur said before he was returned.
"Next Pokemon?" Ashley said before finding something to serve as a shield. Knowing the last match, it was going to get… violent.
"Go, Weepinbell!" Erika called, sending out the second-stage of the Pitcher Plant Pokemon line. "Weep!" 'Wait, I'm being sent out for a challenger? Usually Tangala mops the field with them!' Weepingbell said.
Ash then sent out his own Pokemon. "Go, Quilava!" he cried, making Erika almost weep herself as Quilava appeared.
"Damn it, I should have expected this," she groused. "And sent out Lombre instead." She did have a Leafeon that knew Rain Dance, but Lombre made life hell for fire-types.
"Qui!" 'hi!' Quilava said cheerfully, which made Erika sigh with relief. A Pokemon that DIDN'T want to burn her alive.
Unknowingly, Ash was saving Charmeleon for her Gloom and THEN the pain and flame would begin.
He wasn't paying for the Pokemon Center visit.
"Take down that overgrown weed, Quilava!" Ash ordered, giving the only command he would make in this fight.
"Qui!" 'On it!' Quilava said as her back caught fire, then she jumped into the air, using Flame Wheel.
"Weepingbell, GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!" Erika said to her pitcher plant before he began running for his life.
Sadly, some things were impossible, as Quilava wasn't just using Flame Wheel. Moves that wouldn't interfere with one another were often linked together. In this case, Aerial Ace and Flame Wheel combined with Odor Sleuth made it impossible to dodge.
The only hope Weepingbell had was to outlast it by running.
Ashley used a ballistics shield to cover herself from the flames as Weepingbell ran like hell from the fireball of doom, Ash just flicking the embers away and Erika watched in horror as the ball got closer.
And closer.
AND CLOSER.
Weepingbell finally tired and Quilava slammed into the grass/poison-type. He caught fire immediately.
Erika returned him the moment Quilava shot past, knowing she lost that.
Quilava circled the field three times before the fire stopped, rolling to a stop and landing on her legs.
"Qui-Lava!" 'That was fun!' she said.
"That was horrifying!" Erika yelled. "Recall that… adorable fire-type!" Anathema to her chosen type or not, Quilava was cute and she was not immune.
"Is Weepinbell-" Ash started before Erika shuddered.
"He's fine. No more fire." she said, but Ash shook his head.
"Up to you, Quilava." he said, Quilava taking battle ready position, facing Erika. The gym leader was not pleased.
"I know how to deal with you." she said before sending out a Pokemon Ash knew from Sinnoh.
An eeveelution. "Leaf." 'A fire-type. Wonderful,' the Leafeon, a female, huffed.
"Rain Dance!" Erika ordered before Ash could get a word off, a downpour starting, making fire useless. She smugly thought she had this in the bag now. Flying-types were grounded and fire-
"Aerial Ace!" Ash ordered, making Erika blanch momentarily as Quilava slammed into Leafeon, the weakened flying attack hurting the grass eeveelution but not knocking her out of the fight.
"Leaf." 'That. Hurt,' she spat before gathering water-type energy.
"Weather Ball!" Erika ordered, Leafeon firing at Quilava, who Quick Attacked to dodge before using Aerial Ace and slamming into Leafeon again before the Verdant Pokémon slammed back into Quilava, getting into a close-in biting fight. But Quilava, while not in body, was a veteran of combat. She avoided attacks repeatedly prior to the fight while Leafeon… Aerial Ace was not an attack grass-types liked.
Leafeon bit Quilava's shoulder, Quilava doing the same to the Eeveelution's right leg, tugging and twisting to do what damage they could.
But Quilava's limbs were short and shocky. Leafeon's, elegant and more fragile. If this got into a contest of bite force and bone strength, the fire-type would beat the grass-type.
Erika knew this. "Enough!" she cried, returning Leafeon before Quilava could do more then cause easily-treated burns and forfeiting that round. "Why are your Pokemon this aggressive?!"
'Revenge for last time and putting me in a dress?' Ash thought. "I think they're taking you trying to choke me to death by plant spores seriously." he said.
Erika scowled. "Time to stop pussyfooting around." she said. With that, she tossed a pokeball out. "Go, Vileplume!"
"Vileplume?" Ash asked as the Flower Pokémon appeared out of the ball. He was expecting Gloom.
"Yes, Vileplume! I'd send out a Gloom, but your Pokemon demand a fully-evolved grass-type!" Erika replied, somewhat unhinged. Then again, his Pokemon had been...relentless.
And getting swept under the rug was probably not doing wonders for her sanity after the revelation that her customers risked death every time they walked into her shop.
Ash was tempted to send out Charmeleon.
...No, he'd be merciful as he pulled out another Pokeball.
"Go, Gible!" he called, sending out the Land Shark Pokemon, who flew upwards.
"Gible!" 'Yay!' Gible yelled.
CHOMP!
Before landing on Ash's head and warbling happily until seeing he was in a place that looked like a League battlefield and jumped down, dancing as soon as he hit the ground.
Erika's eyes twitched at the sight of the land shark, smiling at her with that gaping maw.
"Gible. You have a Gible." she said slowly. "You have a FUCKING Gible?!"
"Gible?" 'What's wrong with me being a Gible?' Gible asked, leaning to one side like a human would tilt their head.
"What's wrong with Gible?" Ash asked for his land shark.
"I should have known you were one of those smogon trainers," she spat. "Take that ground-type down, Vileplume! Dazzling Gleam!"
"Dig!" Ash ordered, Gible getting underground before the pink fairy dust could be launched at him, instead hitting the ground where he was.
Vun-Vun.
And that damned music was playing. Why only with Gible?
"Giga Drain! Suck the life out of that land shark!" Erika commanded as the walking flower tried just that, green energy entering the ground.
But Vileplume was confused. Almost like-
CHOMP!
The ground exploded behind the glass-type before Gible latched his maw onto the pedals, eyesmiling the entire time.
Like he was playing.
In fact, he WAS playing. The land shark wasn't taking this seriously. It was just a game to someone that fought a Darkrai, even if the cheating bastard put him to sleep.
Tobias was going to be in for a rude awakening when the Lily of the Valley conference happened.
"Vile!" 'Get off!' Vileplume cried, the male flower not wanting the land shark attached to his pedals. "Plume!" 'Fucking ground-type, GET OFF and know your betters!'
Gible's eyes snapped open as he bit harder, then let go and used his ramjet-like 'horns' to remain airborne for 15 seconds as Vileplume cried out in pain.
And that was all it took for the Draco Meteor forming in his maw to charge up as he faced Vileplume, fin facing the ground.
"Gi!" 'See you-' Gible started before spitting out the ball of dragonic energy. "Ble!" 'Later!'
"DAZZLING GLEAM!" Erika cried, attempting to use the attack as a makeshift shield.
"Vile!" the Vileplume cried as he obeyed, the Draco Meteor fizzling out on impact with the fairy dust.
"Let's end this-" Erika started before…
"Gible!" Gible cried wordlessly before firing another one, this one not going upward but heading STRAIGHT at the Flower Pokemon. And it was homing, as Vileplume ran to avoid the area attack.
"Gib! Gib! Gib! Gib! Gib! Gib! Gib! Gib!" Gible went as he fired off weaker Meteors, slamming in front of the grass-type even as the other one exploded.
None of them hit, but that wasn't the point.
Gible inhaled, then began spitting out more at a rate that would horrify anyone facing it.
And anyone commanding the Pokemon using it, as Ash stared in dumb shock as Gible turned the slow-to-charge Draco Meteor into a MACHINE GUN.
"Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib-Gib!" Gible cried, and with each 'Gib', a small homing ball of doom.
"Is… this normally how Draco Meteor works?" Misty asked as she pulled over a piece of sheet metal to protect against any meteor fragments coming hers and Anabel's way.
"I don't think so, but I'm used to psychic-types." Anabel said as one plinked off the metal. "I don't know anything about Gibles other than they like to bite."
After two minutes of non-stop Gib-ing, the battlefield was a wreck.
"…I am banning that after this is over." Erika said as she looked at the ruined field.
"Pretty sure you can't ban a move-" Ash started before Erika looked back at him.
"I WILL FUCKING TRY! She snapped back. "That damned ground shark shouldn't be able to do that!"
Gible was not pleased. "Gib!" 'I am not a just ground-type!' he cried. "GIBLE!" 'I AM A DRAGON!'
Ash would correct his cute, if annoyed, land shark if he didn't start glowing.
Erika began sobbing at this. "Aaawwww, FUCK." she cursed as Gible's form began to change, the arms growing longer and the body becoming more defined and longer, growing an actual neck and the head becoming larger as the arms grew large fins.
Gible was no more as the glowing stopped.
"BITE!" 'I am going to kick your ass!' the newly evolved Gabite yelled as he charged at the stunned Vileplume as his trainer resigned herself to defeat.
Vileplume tried to flee, but Gabite was faster, his jaw snapping shut on the Vileplume's petals before beginning to thrash him about, the larger land shark instinctively using Dual Chop to HACK two of the pedals off, Gabite then using flamethrower on the flower for the sake of overkill.
"YOU WIN ALREADY! CALL THE DAMN THING OFF!" Erika said as her Pileplume was torched with normal, then dragonfire as Gabite used Dragonbreath on the Flower Pokemon.
"Gabite! That's enough!" Ash said, getting the pissed off Land Shark's attention.
"Bite?" 'Gabite? I'm a Gible.' he said before he looked at himself. "BITE!" 'I evolved!' With that, Gabite prepared to celebrate the only way he knew how and rushed towards his trainer.
Sadly, Gabite was about to learn that only Gibles could do this.
CHOMP!
Ash screamed as Gabite's teeth began crushing his skull, blood dripping from his head.
Erika took some solace in that. "Now you know how I feel." she muttered before just throwing over the badge as Gabite let go, Misty checking on Ash to make sure he wasn't going to die. "Get out of my gym. I never want to see you again."
Gabite turned towards Erika, who paled before she was dosed in dragonfire.
Pokemon Center - 45 minutes later
Ash owed her an explanation and he gave it to her.
"I kicked you out just because you insulted my shop?" she asked before dunking her face in berry juice to treat Gabite's angry Dragonbreathing. "I haven't done that since I took over the gym."
Yes, he told her about the timeline. How he was forced to go in, dressed as a girl, just to get the badge she denied him because she was being a bitch.
And that his Pokemon didn't like her for it. Thus the relentless, merciless asskicking.
"You were younger in the other timeline." Ash said as Misty checked his head. "And I wasn't as smart."
Erika sighed. "That explains everything. I'm not happy with what happened, but given the last time… I suppose I can't hold it against you completely."
'Please no,' Ash said, not wanting the girl turning into this timeline's Brock.
"Still, you have to understand, I am a business woman. A criticism against my shop isn't something to go over well," Erika said. "I doubt you react well to your style of battle being insulted."
"When I was ten. After two years, I got over it," Ash admitted with a shrug. "They usually see the way I do things works after a battle."
People like Paul still pissed him off, though.
"Ash Ketchum, please come to the foyer. Ash Ketchum, the foyer please," came the voice of the Nurse Joy over the PA.
"Oh, boy," Ash muttered as he got up.
"Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttteeeeeeeeeee…" cried Gabite as he chewed on a spring-loaded jaw-trap.
Apparently, this happened more often than one would think. It also explained why Garchomps were so damn angry.
They couldn't chomp on the head of their trainer without hurting or actually killing them.
"I see your Gible evolved." Professor Oak said on the videophone, already knowing about Gible via the Pokemon information system. "And the infamous Ga-Bite."
Ash was not amused by the pun. His head was still hurting.
"I do have a solution for you, but it will be a long and painful one for both Gabite and yourself." Oak said as a Pidgey flew in, looking incredibly pissed off, a piece of purple stone attached to its' leg. "Observe."
"Professor, I don't know how that will help," Ash said, recognizing the material as eviolite. All of his Pokemon that didn't want to evolve could use it, sure, but Gabite wanted to bite.
He put the Pidgey on the ground and removed the eviolite, standing back as the Pidgey began to grow.
A LOT.
After a minute, a Pidgeot stood in its' place. Ash's Pidgeot, which then pecked Oak gently, but harshly. Ash suspected only his advanced age saved him from anything worse.
For his part, he only rubbed his head as she walked out. "Evolite doesn't just enhance unevolved Pokemon, as you just saw. It can also be used to revert Pokemon to an earlier state in their evolutionary cycle once they evolve to their end state."
Ash felt breathing down his neck. And it had to be Gabite, because he was drooling over the idea of being a Gible again.
"BITE!" 'I want to be a Gible!' he cried, trying to chomp, but the heavy springs stopped him.
The TRio watched from the glass ceiling, keeping an eye on their charge.
"A Gabite… Imagine-" Jessie started before Meowth whacked her on the head.
"No! Our job's to protect the twerp!" Meowth snapped. "You wanna get in shit with the Boss' sister?"
James wanted to sob at that mention.
A pop-hiss revealed the unwanted one.
"WOOBBBBUFETT!" Jessie's new Wobbufett cried.
Jessie returned him to his ball, annoyed.
Forest 12 kilometers south of Celedon City - 1845 Hours Local Time
"Your Xatu needs to work on his teleporting." Belladonna groaned as she got off the ground, her mother checking over her handgun after returning the bird.
"You need to get used to his methods." Delia said before gesturing to a hump in the ground in a clearing. "See that?"
Belladonna followed her hand, seeing the earthen hump. "So what?" she asked. "It might be a Gible township."
"Land sharks stick to dry earth unless caught." Delia said as she slowly approached it. "That's manmade." She brushed some of it aside, revealing a chrome-plated chain. "Give me a hand?"
Belladonna chuckled as she walked over, grabbing the chain and looping it over one hand to give her greater grip. Mother and daughter tugged, the earth parting reluctantly before a set of stairs was revealed leading underground.
"Trust your mother's intuition." she said, her daughter scoffing.
"Yeah, when you tell me everything." Belladonna muttered as she dropped the chain, gun in hand as they entered the depths, not knowing something was watching them.
That something was hungry for blood.
The base had the Rocket R on every door in the crude earthworks base. Crude did not mean simple. The place was massive.
"No guards?" Belladonna muttered as they practically wondered the base at will.
"Erika is notoriously incompetent at the other aspects of her job." Delia said. "Good at selling perfume and gym battles once she has her pills, but keeping the area around Celedon secure? Pfft. There's a reason the Team has full control of that Game Corner."
"I thought I burned that place down." Belladonna said, getting a look from Delia. "They attacked me and that Salazzle that got wondertraded to me-"
"I'm surprised, not disapproving," her mother said before they heard yelling.
"...sake, you old bastard, I don't take orders from you!" yelled a man Delia knew from the past.
It appeared Giovanni had Proton released, though he was coughing after that rant.
"Giovanni's put you under my command, boy. You follow my orders as you would his," said the man he was arguing with.
A Unovan. One they both knew.
"Ghetsis?" Belladonna asked, getting a look from her mother. "I ran into him on Cinnabar Island during my league run. What's he doing back in Kanto?"
"I'm asking the same question. Because I thought I shot him in the head when I made MY League journey in Unova." Delia said before grimacing. "Broke both his legs and shot him in the face. I thought I killed him."
They peeked into the room, finding Proton with bandages around his gut, sitting in a chair and Ghetsis lording over him, an eyepatch over his left eye, just as Belladonna remembered him.
"Well, at least I popped an eyeball." her mother deadpanned.
"Keep your damn knights on Cinnabar. We already had an incident with them near Vermillion." Proton snapped as he coughed. "That brat was there, too."
"Belladonna?" Ghetsis said, smiling lecherously. "That girl is a feast for the-"
Two gunshots rang out, impacting Ghetsis' armored jacket. Mother and daughter exchanged a look as both took a shot at him.
Proton dove for cover, knowing better than to fight Delia.
"My, my, Delia Sakai and Belladonna Ketchum." Ghetsis said, chuckling. "Two beauties from two different times."
The response to that was further gunfire from the two disgusted women, hitting the armored longcoat.
"You still owe me an eye, Delia dear!" Ghetsis said before raising his arm, holding a cane whose cap dropped down to reveal a gun barrel.
"FUCK!" Belladonna said as mother and daughter ducked behind the two walls at the entrance, the hardened earth stopping the barrage of automatic gunfire from killing the two.
"He STILL has that thing?" Delia spat as she pulled out her rifle, cocking the bolt and loading it.
"STILL? I thought that thing was new!" Belladonna said before the gunfire stopped and the pop-hiss of a Pokeball was heard.
"Hydreigon, bring them to me! Burn them if you must!" the so-called King of Unova ordered as his most powerful Pokemon roared, the dark/dragon-type spewing fire.
Dragonfire shot into the passage, Delia flinching before sending out Mimey to block the fire and let her put a round in the bastard's rotten head.
A Dark Pulse put an end to that plan, with Mimey only surviving by using Dazzling Gleam as a shield against the dark-type attack.
"The same trick won't work twice, girl!" Ghetsis cackled before the roof began to shake. "What in hell's name-"
The roof then caved in under massive force, grunts in adjoining rooms being buried alive, Ghetsis getting hit by compacted earth before something slammed into his dragon at high speed.
It was a minor annoyance.
But minor or not, Shadow Pokemon were not to be screwed with.
"Jiiiiiiiiigggggggggggggglllllllyyyyypuuuuuufffffffffff…" the attacker said, looking at them with blank eyes.
"You have got to be kidding me." All three combatants said, Proton crawling out of the rumble made by the Shadow Jigglypuff.
"PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!" screamed the psychotic fairy/normal-type, using Hyper Voice to further destroy the base. Belladonna and Delia fired at the puff, Mimey returning to his Pokeball as the Shadow Pokemon kept SCREAMING, tearing the place apart.
Ghetsis was buried under a pile of compacted earth, his Hydreidon's ears bleeding as he rampaged, tearing through the ground as much as the Shadow puff.
"We're leaving!" Delia said, releasing Xatu and grabbing onto her daughter, teleporting them away.
Cinnabar Island - 1738 hours local time
Giovanni didn't want to do this. Bringing in his sister's old enemies was a bad thing.
But Team Plasma was willing to shove resources and equipment his way. Unovans: they wanted to take over the world, no matter what organization they were part of.
Ghetsis' Genesect research and cloning tanks were being funneled into the old labs underneath Blaine's burnt-out mansion, along with the… other clone.
"How in the hell did you idiots manage to replicate Project Mewtwo?" the Rocket Boss asked as the Plasma research head walked up.
Colress, his name was. "It wasn't difficult. Mew's DNA mutates whenever something tries to replicate it. Trying to keep it the same results in…" he gestured to the tank with the Plasma crest on it, containing the same thing that was in the stasis tank containing the results of Project Mewtwo.
Blaine had notes on a Pokemon he called '150', as Mew was officially registered as 151 in the International Pokemon Registry Index, better known as the National Dex as it was made in the old URN before the Cipher war.
"This better be worth it." Giovanni spat. Unovans. Always out to take over the world.