Another chapter!
I hate my parents. My dad’s hobby is yelling at me. Yay.
I can’t wait to leave home and live in college.
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
Disclaimer: I don’t own pokemon. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfic belongs to me!
Chapter 2
Ash collected the Boulder Badge from Brock and smiled amiably, before he began walking to Cerulean.
A trainer who had been watching outside took notice. He needed cash, and therefore, this trainer had just beat Brock and would have some.
Ash was on his way to the pokemon center outside Mount moon when he was ambushed. Six kids wielding clubs attacked him.
Ash was too stunned to fight back, and in any case a few seconds into the brawl a club hit him in the back of the head and he knew no more.
When he woke up, he was lying on a bed. It did not look familiar.
“Don’t move. You have a nasty bump on the head.” A voice warned. Ash struggled to open his eyes, but when he did, the light stabbed into them like daggers.
“Ow!” Ash quickly covered his eyes.
“I should have warned you about that. I’ll turn the lights down.” Footsteps were heard as the shades were lowered.
Ash tentatively cracked an eye open and smiled in relief when he didn’t immediately develop a blinding headache.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Nasty trick those kids played. I think they stole your pokedex.”
“Oh no!” Ash reached down and touched his belt, but was reassured when his poke balls were still there.
“You only had five pokemon, right?”
Ash nodded, before his brain process the information. * Five? I only have four… I wonder where the extra poke ball came from? *
But if he asked, the person who had rescued him might think he was a thief and turn him into the police. He didn’t want that!
So he didn’t say a word.
“Who are you?” Ash asked, after an uncomfortable pause.
“A trainer.”
“Um… could you be more specific? I’m Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town.”
“Okay. I’m Lance Dragyn from Blackthorn City.”
Ash and Lance shook hands, and then Lance went downstairs. He came back followed by a Nurse Joy.
“Ah, the patient’s awake. How are you feeling young man? Don’t worry, Officer Jenny dropped your pokedex off half an hour ago.”
“Thank you.” Ash said, first thing that came to mind.
“No problem. I’d advise staying here for the night just in case, though. Now, are you hungry?”
Ash’s stomach rumbled, giving a clear reply to that question.
Joy returned a few minutes later with soup and sandwiches for the two trainers. Ash and Lance ate, and began chatting.
“So, you’re a beginning trainer?”
“How could you tell?”
“There’s a Boulder badge pinned on your hat.”
Ash blushed. “Oops. I wanted to put it on my vest, but…”
“No, it’s cute.” Lance smiled. “I’m on my second year as a trainer. I specialize in dragon-type pokemon.”
“That is so cool!” Ash grinned. “All I have now are water-types.”
“Your starter must have been Squirtle.” Lance deduced.
“Actually, no. My starter was a Pikachu, but it ran away.”
Lance raised an eyebrow. * Pikachu… ran away? That’s odd. But this kid doesn’t look like he abuses pokemon… *
Seeing the confusion, Ash clarified. “It didn’t like me.”
“Fascinating. Most of the time the starter follows the trainer’s orders without question.” Lance made a note in a legal pad he was carrying. “Well, so you have water pokemon? You might have trouble in Cerulean.”
“Oh, the gym leader uses Water-types?”
“Yes… some of the time.”
Ash blinked. “Some of the time?”
“It depends on who’s running the gym. There are four sisters, so they each run the gym for a week each month.”
“Ah…”
“Three of them are horrible battlers and just give Cascade badges away for free.” Lance’s lips twitched in a frown. * Horrible… *
“I’ll try my best.” Ash vowed.
“So, you’re trying to become a Pokemon Master?”
“Everyone is.” Glumly replied the trainer, “But I want to be different!”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to win with the pokemon I like, not just powerful pokemon.”
“Interesting.” Lance paused in his writing and took a bite of his sandwich. “Are you planning on using only water-types?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, that’s cool. I wish you luck.”
“Thank you!”
They chatted for a bit longer, and then Lance waved goodbye. Ash watched out the window as Lance released a Dragonair and flew off.
So cool…
Ash wished he had a flying type too. That looked fun. He finished his sandwiches and soup and sent the empty tray down with Chansey.
“Thanks, Chansey.”
Ah, good to see you’re polite… Chansey commented before exiting.
Ash of course didn’t understand a word of it.
Then, he went and took a shower, changed into clean pajamas, and then fell asleep. Taking Joy’s advice wouldn’t be a bad idea.
He still had a lot of slots on his trainer card, so he could stay at the Pokemon Center for a while longer.
Delia had paid for a good subscription.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Ash tossed on a bathrobe, then went downstairs and used the public phones to call home.
“Hi, Ketchum residence.”
“Mom, I’m by Mount Moon.”
“Oh! You beat Brock already?” She asked, having spotted the Boulder Badge on his hat.
“Yes.”
“That’s great, honey. Keep up the good work. Oh my! Where did that bump on your head come from?”
“Got robbed by little kids.” Ash said morosely. “They took almost all of my money and my pokedex. I got the pokedex back, but not the money. They’d already spent it.”
“Oh Ash… don’t worry, if you still need money in a week I’ll send you some.”
“Thanks, mom.” Ash said, hanging up. * What a day… I hope those children get what they deserve. Why me? *
End Chapter
Completed 10/26/04
Phantomness: Pendulum Luck
Ash: What are you talking about?
Kairo: It means you either have extremely good or extremely bad luck.
Shoyko: *nods*
Lance: I see…