Mia Blaze
Objection!
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This has been doing well on Fanfiction so I thought I may share here after being away from the site for so long.
The story is another Kalos AU only this time Alain and Mairin will be travelling with Ash instead of Serena, Clemont and Bonnie (I'm an anime fan, so sue me) Also, I made something called Sensors as a part of the series and don't worry, details will be revealed with each chapter so, with that, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.
Rated M for Pikachu's foul language and future scenes of violence. Viewer reading discretion is advised.
Embers on the Wind
Stepping out of the stuffy, stale aired airplane was a welcoming change after twenty four hours of flying. Ash Ketchum, however, wasn't one to let jet lag pin him down. There was only one reason as to why he came to Kalos and that was to enter the Pokémon league and win. He took a deep breath in, noting the subtle coolness of the Kalosian air and smiled as a familiar weight settled itself nicely down on his shoulder. The Kantonese trainer could already tell that Pikachu shared his excitement; the electric type had been blabbering on about what may happen during the flight over, not that anyone but Ash could understand him anyway.
Most people chalked up their understanding of each other due to the fact that the two were like brothers, with a bond far stronger than that of any trainer/Pokémon combination. That was not the case however, as, once you knew him well enough or had been around him for about a day, one would notice that Pikachu wasn't the only Pokémon that Ash would enjoy conversation with.
It wasn't a super natural ability that resulted in this understanding, in fact, 1 in 1000 humans on the planet had some form of abnormal sense. Those who were diagnosed with hypersensitive hearing were also seen to, mostly, be able to understand the Pokémon Language and notice emotions hidden in words, as well as the usual hearing things further out than other humans. Due to being raised in a backwater town, everyone knew about Ash's "condition" due to the fact he had to wear special headphones to stop sounds from overwhelming him. The local kids teased him for it; the adults simply warned them to stay away from him. At least Gary thought it was amazing at the time.
The fourteen year old simply chuckled at the thought of those overbearing things; one thing Professor Oak was not was a practical designer of electronic/scientific equipment. The fact he took inspiration from a video game that his older grandson, Blue, left lying around was even more cringe worthy, which made Ash relate to that said character with sympathy, however they didn't have to wear those things to school as they were taught by their mother before she was brutally murdered by an international corrupt spy who tried to hide all evidence but failed on one critical piece of which the character was wearing as an earring in later life. Video game plotlines are so confusing.
A loud, continuous screech of metal upon foot as people made their way down the stairs to the airport caused him to flinch, something Pikachu picked up on.
"Should I yell at them to shut the hell up?" He asked with slight worry. Whilst this wasn't too unbearable, the constant strain of the noise could make things worse in the end.
Ash shook his head, choosing to scratch the top of Pikachu's head with affection. "It's a nice thought buddy, but we'll get hounded by them, especially the tourists." The two snorted with laughter over the image of bag ladened people with cameras surrounding them, trying to get a photo of a true Kantonese Pikachu. Even with their habitat of Viridian Forest, Pikachu were still rare encounters, wherever they could be found.
"What are you two going on about?" A female voice reminded them that this time, there was a companion joining the duo on the journey to this region. "I hope it's nothing rude." Alexa placed her hands on her hips as the two humans and one Pokémon were left alone at the top of the stairs, all the other passengers had gone in.
"Nah, Pikachu was just looking out for me, right pal?" The forenamed electric type nodded before casting a sneaky glance at Ash.
"Tell her we were talking about how shitty the flight food was," Pikachu grinned with evil intent. The inboard menu was actually very nice, especially considering the flight was one of those posh rich ones reserved for celebrities, writers, business people and journalists. Alexa had prided herself with obtaining tickets for it as she realised that two foodies would probably be entering Kalos on an empty stomach if a cheapish plane was booked for. "She will absolutely flip!"
"I am not repeating that," a deep flush took over Ash's face as he glared at his starter. "Come on, Alexa has been really nice to us, even bringing us with her to Kalos. That is going a step too far."
Alexa raised an eyebrow, but shook it off. After a day of travelling with Ash, Iris and Cilan through the Decolore Islands, she realised things weren't always as it seemed. Iris was a right sailor with her vocabulary, Cilan had a yandere crush on his steel set of kitchen utensils and Pikachu wasn't as innocent as he first seemed. Ash seemed to be the only sane one of the four she constantly had contact with, minus the hypersensitive hearing. Oh, and don't even get started on their Pokémon. Only Axew could have been called cute and fluffy after the "Bitch-slap" incident between Ash's Snivy and Iris' Emolga. She watched as Pikachu grumbled slightly but nodded, settling down cutely on that shoulder perch he liked so much.
"So, why don't we get inside?" Alexa suggested, watching as their attention was swooped up by a trio of Spritzee that were dancing gracefully together on the wind. "I have to call up that sister of mine to warn her of your ever nearing presence."
Two deadpanned looks greeted her words. "Yeah, I should have just listened to you."
"Damn straight!"
"Uhm… what?"
"Never mind!"
~0~o~0~
It turned out that Alexa's sister had other things to do instead of manning her Gym, which was her only damn job, according to Pikachu. That meant that Ash couldn't immediately challenge her, not that he minded all that much. Firstly, he wanted to check out Lumiose City which vaguely reminded him of Castelia City in Unova, only about two times the size of the latter and secondly, he knew that he should catch some Pokémon before even thinking of challenging the Santalune Gym Leader, underestimating her would be the worst mistake he could ever make as a veteran trainer.
They said their goodbyes outside of the airport, Alexa's Helioptile hugged them one last time and thanked Pikachu for extending his sparse low register language before jumping back onto his trainer's shoulder, and they went their separate ways, literally going in the opposite directions to each other as Alexa went back to her offices and Ash went to find Professor Sycamore's Laboratory that the former had told him all about on the flight over.
As the two walked down the streets, reading the English translations on signs to find the place they were looking for which was luckily popular enough to get its own line of text on the metallic green signposts dotted around Lumiose. It seemed as if they weren't the first tourists/foreigners to get lost on the circular streets of Lumiose, obviously. Luckily, if the signs weren't enough, friendly locals happily pointed the way to the laboratory when asked politely, some of them having the stereotypical sexy Kalosian accent that made young women, and some young men, swoon… on TV at least, anyway. Having never been to Kalos before, Ash was just basing it on what the Kantonese TV had taught him about the place, all of which had been satirical and mocking towards the people of the Kalos Region. Kanto just had a weird sense of humour, to be honest.
Not only that but his own slightly eastern accent had been noted by some people, mainly some otaku nerds who began questioning him about the recent anime and manga releases in Kanto, which he knew nothing about due to being in Unova and also because the ones he liked hadn't brought out anything in a while or had finished. Of course, this didn't go down well with the weeaboos, causing Pikachu to fry them as they began shouting to preserve his trainer's hearing.
Only two kinds of building lined the roads and pavements, modern glass structures that were nearly skyscrapers in some cases and olden European brick style with cafés and stores underneath them. Some Pokémon that the duo had no idea what they were called were sitting on the pavements, hopping around the roads or with their trainers, who were resting on the walls or sitting with a drink in the cafés. However, this wasn't what they noticed as they neared the Pokémon Laboratory; it was the massive hole in the ceiling and the destruction that continued down the street that had been cordoned off by the police.
A man in a white lab coat was staring at the building, running a hand through his messy navy hair whilst sighing. Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulder and ran over, stopping to the side of the man, assessing the damage before whistling whilst impressed.
"To whoever did that, I pray in your name. Now that, that is chaos and destruction!" He turned around to face his trainer and yelled. "See that Ash? That is my goal in life, to cause that amount of destruction! I should have done that to that old coot's lab back home…" Unfortunately, his trainer couldn't hear him as the boy tried to push his way through the crowd, cursing his short stature for a fourteen year old. However, the lab coated man beside him did hear and was surprised to see the electric type standing on its hind legs.
"A Pikachu," the man muttered loudly, defeating the whole point of muttering which is supposedly a quiet way to talking so no one could hear you. "You can't normally see one this far out… do you have a trainer, little one?"
"Well no shit, Sherlock, why else would I be 'this far out' if I didn't have a stooge carting me around everywhere," Pikachu realised what else the man had said and glared at him. "And who are you calling little?! I'm a god-damn Pikachu; of course I'm supposed to be little compared to you hairless Infernapes! If you want to see a little human then speak to my trainer, he's titchy for his age!"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Well fuck, I forgot most humans can't understand me," he turned to the crowd, noticing the red hat and black hair that he normally caught out of his peripheral vision and grinned. "Hey, midget, this greasy ass bastard won't understand me and called me little!"
The man, known to many as Professor Sycamore, watched the Pikachu out of wonder, noting that it didn't seem to like being called little and that it was constantly looking back into the crowd of people that had gathered at the police tape, trying to catch a glimpse of the destroyed lab. What he wasn't expecting was someone to answer back to the Pokémon's cries as if it, no he – the Pikachu had a flat tail meaning it was a boy- was speaking in plain English.
"Firstly I'm not a midget, I'm below average," an eastern accent called out from the front of the crowd. "And secondly, it's not nice to call someone a greasy ass bastard just because he called you little!"
The Pikachu rushed towards the barrier, jumping up onto the shoulder of what looked like a twelve year old boy who was pouting like a toddler. Wait, did that child just understand his Pokémon? When the boy looked at him, Sycamore used the universal motion for 'come over here, I wanna talk to you' which the boy hesitantly followed, ducking under the tape before making his way over. Jenny was about to go and tell the boy to get back but Sycamore shook his head at her, making her realise what was going on and leave the child be.
"So, this Pikachu is yours?" He asked as the boy had made his way over, the electric type perched happily on his shoulder.
"Yeah," was his reply. "I've had him since I started my journey in Kanto."
"Can you really understand him?"
The boy nodded, chuckling at the look Pikachu was giving him at that question. "I can understand all Pokémon, I was kinda born with it. Sorry about him calling you a greasy ass bastard by the way, he gets really grouchy with jet lag and it's even worse when he hasn't had any ketchup for twenty four hours."
"I see…" The trainer and his Pokémon didn't look convinced that he understood the situation. "I do need a shower anyway, but not until Garchomp comes back. What on earth could that collar do that would make her act like that? She wouldn't suddenly go on a rampage for no reason."
"Wait, Garchomp? Collar?" The boy was immediately interested at the mention of the Pokémon that lived in the lab with him and his assistants. "What happened?"
"Three scientists came in saying they wanted to talk about something when one of them threw some kind of electronic collar at Garchomp," Sycamore explained, rubbing the back of his head with his hand, the other tucked in his coat pocket. "She went berserk and burst out of the lab. The Froakie that had been returned today went after her to try and stop her but no one knows where she is…"
"THE BEAST IS AT PRISM TOWER! LET'S GO THERE!" Someone hollered from the crowd right at that moment, causing the people to rush off in interest at the situation. Sycamore face palmed and rolled his eyes, of course this is how accidents happen with human curiosity.
"Idiots, the lot of them…" He sighed and turned back to the trainer. "A raging Garchomp is nothing to take a laugh at…" It was too late because the boy was gone.
~0~o~0~
Ash had to admit, this wasn't his best idea in the world but yet, here he was, climbing up the side of Prism Tower to reach the top. Pikachu wasn't making any snide remarks because he felt the same way and would do anything to help another poor Pokémon out. Ignoring the height, he continued to climb up with the top in sight. Five bars, four… three… two… one… he clambered over to the top ledge, shocked to find that he and Pikachu weren't the first ones there.
A blue frog like Pokémon with a white, scarf looking thing around its neck was trying to talk to Garchomp, whose incoherent roars instantly told the human she was dangerous and needed to be stopped. Ash's eyes fell onto the collar around her neck, realising that it was the cause of all the trouble.
"Yo frogman! You need some help?!" Pikachu called out to the other Pokémon, who turned around in surprise at not being alone.
"My name is Froakie, not frogman and yes, it would be nice." The male Froakie's eyes glared at Pikachu's trainer suspiciously. "Just keep your owner away from Garchomp if you don't want him to get hurt."
"Fine, I'll stay back here then." Froakie's eyes widened even further than before.
"Did he just…?"
"Understand you, it's uncommon not rare." The electric type laughed at him. "Now, are we gonna bag and tag a Garchomp or not?"
"No killing her," Ash slapped a hand against his face. "Why did Oak have to give me a wild Pokémon instead of some tame thing?"
"You love me really, Ashy boy!" Pikachu immediately sprinted off with a Quick Attack to dodge the Hyper Beam that was thrown his way, which went on to hit the edge of the ledge. "Froakie, try and keep her from moving!"
"Already on it!" Froakie threw some of the cream fluff from his neck towards the dragon type, grinning as the fluff attached her feet to the ground. "A Froakie's frubbles work just like glue to keep opponents from escaping."
"Yeah, well, she's still thrashing around so I can't get a good angle at the collar," Pikachu scowled, shaking his head before turning to his trainer. "Up for doing something completely crazy?"
"Already on it!" Ash ran towards Garchomp, minding out for any attacks she sent flying in his direction and latched onto her neck, using his arms and legs to restrict her upper torso movement. "Now!" A quick Iron Tail formation began as Pikachu's tail glowed white before he jumped upwards and swung at the collar, cutting it in half. Garchomp's eyes returned to their normal colouring and she regained control of her actions.
"My head… why am I up here?" She asked wearily.
"It's okay, somebody put a collar on you which sent you out of control. The police are going to get us down from here, okay?" Whilst slightly shocked that a human could understand her, she nodded with a weak smile.
"Thank you so much, child. I owe you for what you've done." Her words were filled with gratitude.
"It's Pikachu and Froakie you should be thanking, they worked together to save you," Ash pulled off his backpack and pulled out a Sitrus berry from inside. "Just eat this and don't speak. You have to save your energy." Garchomp merely nodded as she took the fruit and devoured it within two bites. Once his backpack was back on, Ash stood up and away from Garchomp so the other Pokémon could check to see how she was doing.
Time seemed to slow down from there as Froakie hopped onto a weakened part of the ledge, which snapped off underneath his weight. Everyone looked on in horror as the water type began a short descent back to the ground which would surely kill him and somewhere deep down, Ash could feel something welling up inside of him. He didn't even think, his body moved by itself as he rushed to the edge and jumped off after the falling Froakie. Pikachu screams followed Ash down the tower as he went into freefalling, arms out for catching the water type, which a few seconds later he managed to achieve.
"You idiot…" Froakie, trembling in fear, scolded wrapped up in the teenager's arms. "Now we're both gonna die."
"No, you won't," Ash managed to twist so his back was facing the ground, proving his point. He wasn't going to let Froakie die from this fall just because of what three people did to Garchomp. "I may but I was never really worth that much to anyone but my mother."
"What about her?!" Froakie yelled above the roaring winds as the ground edged closer and closer still.
"She'll understand why I've done this eventually," the boy closed his eyes and smiled. "I'd never let a Pokémon die on my watch." The starter's eyes widened, startled by the trainer that would happily sacrifice himself to let any Pokémon continue to thrive in the world. What was this feeling that was rising from his chest? Was it…
Love?
Froakie realised it, he had finally found the trainer he had been waiting for, only to know that in seconds it would all be over for him. If only he wasn't so tightly held then he could do something to save the boy from certain death, if only.
The last seconds of falling flew by and they were about to hit the ground when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around the boy's knees and back before they were lifted back upwards again. Slowly, both human and Pokémon opened their eyes, to find that they were soaring around the tower in the arms of a Charizard. Memories of his own Charizard came flooding back to him, especially that one time when he was about to get impaled by crystal spikes below him as he fell.
The Charizard circled around and slowly declined until it came to rest back down on the ground away from the crowd of onlookers. It gently put both Ash and Froakie down, tipping its head curiously to make sure they were okay. However, before the two could answer, another person came running up to them, extremely worry covering his face.
The man was wearing dark clothing; blues, blacks and dark purples seemed to be a part of the norm on his outfit, the only thing that stood out was his light blue scarf which looked as if it was made to represent fire bursting from out of his neck. His scruffy navy hair and blue eyes didn't help the whole dark and brooding image the guy was giving out.
"Are you okay?" He asked whilst patting the Charizard's side, getting a fanged grin back. It was obvious that the fire type was his.
"Yeah… I'm okay…" Shakily, Ash looked down at Froakie, who smiled upwards and tried to make a thumb's up notion with his hand. "We're okay. Thanks for saving us."
"You should really thank Charizard, he did all the work." The man said calmly with a slight monotone to his voice.
"Who did you think he was thanking, you idiot?" Froakie scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, some humans these days." Ash giggled quietly behind his hand before staring back at the stranger.
"I was," he turned to Charizard at let out a toothy grin. "But, thank you once again. And you are?"
"Alain, I'm glad you're both alright." The man held out his hand which was instantly taken and shook.
"I'm Ash; I owe you one for saving my life back there."
"Don't mention it," Alain smiled nervously, shaking his head. "Anyone would have done the same thing."
"Well…"
"ASH KETCHUM, YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I AM SO TELLING YOUR MOTHER ABOUT IT WHEN WE GET HOME!" The two trainers turned towards the sound of the shout, which belonged to a certain ketchup loving Pikachu, who was riding on Garchomp's back like a soldier heading into war heroically. As soon as the female dragon type set down, he jumped from her back into his trainer's arms. "I was so scared, I thought you were gonna die."
"You can't get rid of me that easily, buddy," Ash hugged back tightly, needing the comfort given from the warmth radiating off of Pikachu's body. "Anyway, you should be thanking Alain and his Charizard. Without them… well, I'd be a lump of broken bones and blood at the bottom of the tower."
"Not funny," Pikachu sniffled, punching Ash's arm as hard as he could. "Yo dude, mon to mon… thanks a lot." Charizard laughed at the straightforwardness of the electric type and grinned.
"No problem, your trainer was as light as feather… didn't take much energy to save him."
"I swear he has a black hole for a stomach, there is no way he should be that light with the amount he eats"
"What on earth are you two talking about?"
"Ah, Froakie, Froakie, Froakie… you have not heard of the legend that is the stomach of my trainer Ash. Trust me, even I can't live up to it and I used to be quite plump thank you very much."
"Ooo, plump Pikachu, sounds delicious."
"I wasn't talking to you, you overgrown lizard bastard!"
"What is up with your language?"
"Froakie… have you ever been wild?"
"No… why?"
"Ah, you're a tall grasser, explains so much…"
"Shut the fuck up…"
"There you are!" Professor Sycamore had pushed his way through the crowd; Garchomp had plodded over to him for a cuddle as soon as he had reached the trainers. "Seeing you fall made me so worried that… Alain?"
Their eyes never met, Alain choosing to land his towards the ground. "Hey professor…" His voice trailed off and, respectably, Ash decided not to speak up with fears that he would make the situation more uncomfortable. Everything was silent for a moment, but only a moment before Sycamore took the silence as a que for him to speak up again.
"I'm just glad you're both okay," he continued on from earlier. "Anyway, I realised you don't have a place to sleep in tonight so I am offering some spare rooms in my lab for you, and one for Alain if he wants it."
"I'm up for it, thanks Professor." Ash looked over to Alain, who seemed distant for a moment. He smiled suddenly and nodded.
"If it is okay with you, thanks."
Sycamore nodded his head with a grin. "Great, come on, it's late and we need to eat before bed." He began leading the two trainers and the Pokémon back to the lab, not before Ash had to yell at Pikachu to shut up as the electric type was droning on about what they were going to eat that night.]
~0~o~0~
Day came by quickly and, once breakfast had ended, it was time to finally start travelling. The professor, Alain and Ash were standing at the bottom of the steps up to the lab, with the latter getting his Kalos region Pokédex.
"Just use that to get information on any Kalos region Pokémon," Sycamore explained lightly, knowing the boy had done it many times before. "I've also had it synced up to your other Dex entries so you don't have to re-scan Pokémon you've already met."
"Thank you for the bed and the Pokédex, Professor," the Kanto region trainer bowed in respect, before turning around to leave. "I'll sure you around… urgh!" Something hit his face, causing him to stagger back a bit.
"BOOM HEADSHOT!" Pikachu burst into fits of laughter, only to be surprised as to who was behind it. "Oh, nice one Froakie." Alain wasn't shocked to see Froakie sitting ahead of them, its Poké Ball in front of it. The water type had slept in the crook of Ash's arm that night, smiling at the comfort its saviour brought. He thought it was obvious from just that image that Froakie wasn't having any other trainer. And, luckily, it seemed as if Ash had picked up on it as well.
"Froakie? Do you want to come with me?"
"Of course!" All eyes were on Professor Sycamore, who began laughing heartily with a huge smile.
"It looks as if Froakie has finally settled on a trainer who can bring him up to new heights," he smiled and nodded. "It's fine with me, you can keep Froakie." Ash picked up the Poké Ball and grinned as Froakie hopped onto his other free shoulder.
"Looks like Froakie beat me to it," Alain sighed, causing the others to look at him in confusion. "Oh well, I can deal with being second."
"What do you mean Alain?"
"Ash, if it's alright… can I travel with you?" The older trainer asked, looking over to his Charizard. "I believe that if I do, Charizard and I will be able to take on stronger opponents than searching on our own."
"Sure!" Ash's answer was instant and unhesitant. "I normally travel with others anyway." The chime of a clock in the distance alerted him to the fact that time was ticking on and he needed to get moving. "Thanks for everything Professor, see you again soon!" With that, he dashed off into the streets of Lumiose whilst Alain was trying to play catch up to the three. It seemed like this adventure was going to be even better than his last.
The story is another Kalos AU only this time Alain and Mairin will be travelling with Ash instead of Serena, Clemont and Bonnie (I'm an anime fan, so sue me) Also, I made something called Sensors as a part of the series and don't worry, details will be revealed with each chapter so, with that, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.
Rated M for Pikachu's foul language and future scenes of violence. Viewer reading discretion is advised.
Embers on the Wind
Stepping out of the stuffy, stale aired airplane was a welcoming change after twenty four hours of flying. Ash Ketchum, however, wasn't one to let jet lag pin him down. There was only one reason as to why he came to Kalos and that was to enter the Pokémon league and win. He took a deep breath in, noting the subtle coolness of the Kalosian air and smiled as a familiar weight settled itself nicely down on his shoulder. The Kantonese trainer could already tell that Pikachu shared his excitement; the electric type had been blabbering on about what may happen during the flight over, not that anyone but Ash could understand him anyway.
Most people chalked up their understanding of each other due to the fact that the two were like brothers, with a bond far stronger than that of any trainer/Pokémon combination. That was not the case however, as, once you knew him well enough or had been around him for about a day, one would notice that Pikachu wasn't the only Pokémon that Ash would enjoy conversation with.
It wasn't a super natural ability that resulted in this understanding, in fact, 1 in 1000 humans on the planet had some form of abnormal sense. Those who were diagnosed with hypersensitive hearing were also seen to, mostly, be able to understand the Pokémon Language and notice emotions hidden in words, as well as the usual hearing things further out than other humans. Due to being raised in a backwater town, everyone knew about Ash's "condition" due to the fact he had to wear special headphones to stop sounds from overwhelming him. The local kids teased him for it; the adults simply warned them to stay away from him. At least Gary thought it was amazing at the time.
The fourteen year old simply chuckled at the thought of those overbearing things; one thing Professor Oak was not was a practical designer of electronic/scientific equipment. The fact he took inspiration from a video game that his older grandson, Blue, left lying around was even more cringe worthy, which made Ash relate to that said character with sympathy, however they didn't have to wear those things to school as they were taught by their mother before she was brutally murdered by an international corrupt spy who tried to hide all evidence but failed on one critical piece of which the character was wearing as an earring in later life. Video game plotlines are so confusing.
A loud, continuous screech of metal upon foot as people made their way down the stairs to the airport caused him to flinch, something Pikachu picked up on.
"Should I yell at them to shut the hell up?" He asked with slight worry. Whilst this wasn't too unbearable, the constant strain of the noise could make things worse in the end.
Ash shook his head, choosing to scratch the top of Pikachu's head with affection. "It's a nice thought buddy, but we'll get hounded by them, especially the tourists." The two snorted with laughter over the image of bag ladened people with cameras surrounding them, trying to get a photo of a true Kantonese Pikachu. Even with their habitat of Viridian Forest, Pikachu were still rare encounters, wherever they could be found.
"What are you two going on about?" A female voice reminded them that this time, there was a companion joining the duo on the journey to this region. "I hope it's nothing rude." Alexa placed her hands on her hips as the two humans and one Pokémon were left alone at the top of the stairs, all the other passengers had gone in.
"Nah, Pikachu was just looking out for me, right pal?" The forenamed electric type nodded before casting a sneaky glance at Ash.
"Tell her we were talking about how shitty the flight food was," Pikachu grinned with evil intent. The inboard menu was actually very nice, especially considering the flight was one of those posh rich ones reserved for celebrities, writers, business people and journalists. Alexa had prided herself with obtaining tickets for it as she realised that two foodies would probably be entering Kalos on an empty stomach if a cheapish plane was booked for. "She will absolutely flip!"
"I am not repeating that," a deep flush took over Ash's face as he glared at his starter. "Come on, Alexa has been really nice to us, even bringing us with her to Kalos. That is going a step too far."
Alexa raised an eyebrow, but shook it off. After a day of travelling with Ash, Iris and Cilan through the Decolore Islands, she realised things weren't always as it seemed. Iris was a right sailor with her vocabulary, Cilan had a yandere crush on his steel set of kitchen utensils and Pikachu wasn't as innocent as he first seemed. Ash seemed to be the only sane one of the four she constantly had contact with, minus the hypersensitive hearing. Oh, and don't even get started on their Pokémon. Only Axew could have been called cute and fluffy after the "Bitch-slap" incident between Ash's Snivy and Iris' Emolga. She watched as Pikachu grumbled slightly but nodded, settling down cutely on that shoulder perch he liked so much.
"So, why don't we get inside?" Alexa suggested, watching as their attention was swooped up by a trio of Spritzee that were dancing gracefully together on the wind. "I have to call up that sister of mine to warn her of your ever nearing presence."
Two deadpanned looks greeted her words. "Yeah, I should have just listened to you."
"Damn straight!"
"Uhm… what?"
"Never mind!"
~0~o~0~
It turned out that Alexa's sister had other things to do instead of manning her Gym, which was her only damn job, according to Pikachu. That meant that Ash couldn't immediately challenge her, not that he minded all that much. Firstly, he wanted to check out Lumiose City which vaguely reminded him of Castelia City in Unova, only about two times the size of the latter and secondly, he knew that he should catch some Pokémon before even thinking of challenging the Santalune Gym Leader, underestimating her would be the worst mistake he could ever make as a veteran trainer.
They said their goodbyes outside of the airport, Alexa's Helioptile hugged them one last time and thanked Pikachu for extending his sparse low register language before jumping back onto his trainer's shoulder, and they went their separate ways, literally going in the opposite directions to each other as Alexa went back to her offices and Ash went to find Professor Sycamore's Laboratory that the former had told him all about on the flight over.
As the two walked down the streets, reading the English translations on signs to find the place they were looking for which was luckily popular enough to get its own line of text on the metallic green signposts dotted around Lumiose. It seemed as if they weren't the first tourists/foreigners to get lost on the circular streets of Lumiose, obviously. Luckily, if the signs weren't enough, friendly locals happily pointed the way to the laboratory when asked politely, some of them having the stereotypical sexy Kalosian accent that made young women, and some young men, swoon… on TV at least, anyway. Having never been to Kalos before, Ash was just basing it on what the Kantonese TV had taught him about the place, all of which had been satirical and mocking towards the people of the Kalos Region. Kanto just had a weird sense of humour, to be honest.
Not only that but his own slightly eastern accent had been noted by some people, mainly some otaku nerds who began questioning him about the recent anime and manga releases in Kanto, which he knew nothing about due to being in Unova and also because the ones he liked hadn't brought out anything in a while or had finished. Of course, this didn't go down well with the weeaboos, causing Pikachu to fry them as they began shouting to preserve his trainer's hearing.
Only two kinds of building lined the roads and pavements, modern glass structures that were nearly skyscrapers in some cases and olden European brick style with cafés and stores underneath them. Some Pokémon that the duo had no idea what they were called were sitting on the pavements, hopping around the roads or with their trainers, who were resting on the walls or sitting with a drink in the cafés. However, this wasn't what they noticed as they neared the Pokémon Laboratory; it was the massive hole in the ceiling and the destruction that continued down the street that had been cordoned off by the police.
A man in a white lab coat was staring at the building, running a hand through his messy navy hair whilst sighing. Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulder and ran over, stopping to the side of the man, assessing the damage before whistling whilst impressed.
"To whoever did that, I pray in your name. Now that, that is chaos and destruction!" He turned around to face his trainer and yelled. "See that Ash? That is my goal in life, to cause that amount of destruction! I should have done that to that old coot's lab back home…" Unfortunately, his trainer couldn't hear him as the boy tried to push his way through the crowd, cursing his short stature for a fourteen year old. However, the lab coated man beside him did hear and was surprised to see the electric type standing on its hind legs.
"A Pikachu," the man muttered loudly, defeating the whole point of muttering which is supposedly a quiet way to talking so no one could hear you. "You can't normally see one this far out… do you have a trainer, little one?"
"Well no shit, Sherlock, why else would I be 'this far out' if I didn't have a stooge carting me around everywhere," Pikachu realised what else the man had said and glared at him. "And who are you calling little?! I'm a god-damn Pikachu; of course I'm supposed to be little compared to you hairless Infernapes! If you want to see a little human then speak to my trainer, he's titchy for his age!"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Well fuck, I forgot most humans can't understand me," he turned to the crowd, noticing the red hat and black hair that he normally caught out of his peripheral vision and grinned. "Hey, midget, this greasy ass bastard won't understand me and called me little!"
The man, known to many as Professor Sycamore, watched the Pikachu out of wonder, noting that it didn't seem to like being called little and that it was constantly looking back into the crowd of people that had gathered at the police tape, trying to catch a glimpse of the destroyed lab. What he wasn't expecting was someone to answer back to the Pokémon's cries as if it, no he – the Pikachu had a flat tail meaning it was a boy- was speaking in plain English.
"Firstly I'm not a midget, I'm below average," an eastern accent called out from the front of the crowd. "And secondly, it's not nice to call someone a greasy ass bastard just because he called you little!"
The Pikachu rushed towards the barrier, jumping up onto the shoulder of what looked like a twelve year old boy who was pouting like a toddler. Wait, did that child just understand his Pokémon? When the boy looked at him, Sycamore used the universal motion for 'come over here, I wanna talk to you' which the boy hesitantly followed, ducking under the tape before making his way over. Jenny was about to go and tell the boy to get back but Sycamore shook his head at her, making her realise what was going on and leave the child be.
"So, this Pikachu is yours?" He asked as the boy had made his way over, the electric type perched happily on his shoulder.
"Yeah," was his reply. "I've had him since I started my journey in Kanto."
"Can you really understand him?"
The boy nodded, chuckling at the look Pikachu was giving him at that question. "I can understand all Pokémon, I was kinda born with it. Sorry about him calling you a greasy ass bastard by the way, he gets really grouchy with jet lag and it's even worse when he hasn't had any ketchup for twenty four hours."
"I see…" The trainer and his Pokémon didn't look convinced that he understood the situation. "I do need a shower anyway, but not until Garchomp comes back. What on earth could that collar do that would make her act like that? She wouldn't suddenly go on a rampage for no reason."
"Wait, Garchomp? Collar?" The boy was immediately interested at the mention of the Pokémon that lived in the lab with him and his assistants. "What happened?"
"Three scientists came in saying they wanted to talk about something when one of them threw some kind of electronic collar at Garchomp," Sycamore explained, rubbing the back of his head with his hand, the other tucked in his coat pocket. "She went berserk and burst out of the lab. The Froakie that had been returned today went after her to try and stop her but no one knows where she is…"
"THE BEAST IS AT PRISM TOWER! LET'S GO THERE!" Someone hollered from the crowd right at that moment, causing the people to rush off in interest at the situation. Sycamore face palmed and rolled his eyes, of course this is how accidents happen with human curiosity.
"Idiots, the lot of them…" He sighed and turned back to the trainer. "A raging Garchomp is nothing to take a laugh at…" It was too late because the boy was gone.
~0~o~0~
Ash had to admit, this wasn't his best idea in the world but yet, here he was, climbing up the side of Prism Tower to reach the top. Pikachu wasn't making any snide remarks because he felt the same way and would do anything to help another poor Pokémon out. Ignoring the height, he continued to climb up with the top in sight. Five bars, four… three… two… one… he clambered over to the top ledge, shocked to find that he and Pikachu weren't the first ones there.
A blue frog like Pokémon with a white, scarf looking thing around its neck was trying to talk to Garchomp, whose incoherent roars instantly told the human she was dangerous and needed to be stopped. Ash's eyes fell onto the collar around her neck, realising that it was the cause of all the trouble.
"Yo frogman! You need some help?!" Pikachu called out to the other Pokémon, who turned around in surprise at not being alone.
"My name is Froakie, not frogman and yes, it would be nice." The male Froakie's eyes glared at Pikachu's trainer suspiciously. "Just keep your owner away from Garchomp if you don't want him to get hurt."
"Fine, I'll stay back here then." Froakie's eyes widened even further than before.
"Did he just…?"
"Understand you, it's uncommon not rare." The electric type laughed at him. "Now, are we gonna bag and tag a Garchomp or not?"
"No killing her," Ash slapped a hand against his face. "Why did Oak have to give me a wild Pokémon instead of some tame thing?"
"You love me really, Ashy boy!" Pikachu immediately sprinted off with a Quick Attack to dodge the Hyper Beam that was thrown his way, which went on to hit the edge of the ledge. "Froakie, try and keep her from moving!"
"Already on it!" Froakie threw some of the cream fluff from his neck towards the dragon type, grinning as the fluff attached her feet to the ground. "A Froakie's frubbles work just like glue to keep opponents from escaping."
"Yeah, well, she's still thrashing around so I can't get a good angle at the collar," Pikachu scowled, shaking his head before turning to his trainer. "Up for doing something completely crazy?"
"Already on it!" Ash ran towards Garchomp, minding out for any attacks she sent flying in his direction and latched onto her neck, using his arms and legs to restrict her upper torso movement. "Now!" A quick Iron Tail formation began as Pikachu's tail glowed white before he jumped upwards and swung at the collar, cutting it in half. Garchomp's eyes returned to their normal colouring and she regained control of her actions.
"My head… why am I up here?" She asked wearily.
"It's okay, somebody put a collar on you which sent you out of control. The police are going to get us down from here, okay?" Whilst slightly shocked that a human could understand her, she nodded with a weak smile.
"Thank you so much, child. I owe you for what you've done." Her words were filled with gratitude.
"It's Pikachu and Froakie you should be thanking, they worked together to save you," Ash pulled off his backpack and pulled out a Sitrus berry from inside. "Just eat this and don't speak. You have to save your energy." Garchomp merely nodded as she took the fruit and devoured it within two bites. Once his backpack was back on, Ash stood up and away from Garchomp so the other Pokémon could check to see how she was doing.
Time seemed to slow down from there as Froakie hopped onto a weakened part of the ledge, which snapped off underneath his weight. Everyone looked on in horror as the water type began a short descent back to the ground which would surely kill him and somewhere deep down, Ash could feel something welling up inside of him. He didn't even think, his body moved by itself as he rushed to the edge and jumped off after the falling Froakie. Pikachu screams followed Ash down the tower as he went into freefalling, arms out for catching the water type, which a few seconds later he managed to achieve.
"You idiot…" Froakie, trembling in fear, scolded wrapped up in the teenager's arms. "Now we're both gonna die."
"No, you won't," Ash managed to twist so his back was facing the ground, proving his point. He wasn't going to let Froakie die from this fall just because of what three people did to Garchomp. "I may but I was never really worth that much to anyone but my mother."
"What about her?!" Froakie yelled above the roaring winds as the ground edged closer and closer still.
"She'll understand why I've done this eventually," the boy closed his eyes and smiled. "I'd never let a Pokémon die on my watch." The starter's eyes widened, startled by the trainer that would happily sacrifice himself to let any Pokémon continue to thrive in the world. What was this feeling that was rising from his chest? Was it…
Love?
Froakie realised it, he had finally found the trainer he had been waiting for, only to know that in seconds it would all be over for him. If only he wasn't so tightly held then he could do something to save the boy from certain death, if only.
The last seconds of falling flew by and they were about to hit the ground when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around the boy's knees and back before they were lifted back upwards again. Slowly, both human and Pokémon opened their eyes, to find that they were soaring around the tower in the arms of a Charizard. Memories of his own Charizard came flooding back to him, especially that one time when he was about to get impaled by crystal spikes below him as he fell.
The Charizard circled around and slowly declined until it came to rest back down on the ground away from the crowd of onlookers. It gently put both Ash and Froakie down, tipping its head curiously to make sure they were okay. However, before the two could answer, another person came running up to them, extremely worry covering his face.
The man was wearing dark clothing; blues, blacks and dark purples seemed to be a part of the norm on his outfit, the only thing that stood out was his light blue scarf which looked as if it was made to represent fire bursting from out of his neck. His scruffy navy hair and blue eyes didn't help the whole dark and brooding image the guy was giving out.
"Are you okay?" He asked whilst patting the Charizard's side, getting a fanged grin back. It was obvious that the fire type was his.
"Yeah… I'm okay…" Shakily, Ash looked down at Froakie, who smiled upwards and tried to make a thumb's up notion with his hand. "We're okay. Thanks for saving us."
"You should really thank Charizard, he did all the work." The man said calmly with a slight monotone to his voice.
"Who did you think he was thanking, you idiot?" Froakie scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, some humans these days." Ash giggled quietly behind his hand before staring back at the stranger.
"I was," he turned to Charizard at let out a toothy grin. "But, thank you once again. And you are?"
"Alain, I'm glad you're both alright." The man held out his hand which was instantly taken and shook.
"I'm Ash; I owe you one for saving my life back there."
"Don't mention it," Alain smiled nervously, shaking his head. "Anyone would have done the same thing."
"Well…"
"ASH KETCHUM, YOU MOTHERFUCKER! I AM SO TELLING YOUR MOTHER ABOUT IT WHEN WE GET HOME!" The two trainers turned towards the sound of the shout, which belonged to a certain ketchup loving Pikachu, who was riding on Garchomp's back like a soldier heading into war heroically. As soon as the female dragon type set down, he jumped from her back into his trainer's arms. "I was so scared, I thought you were gonna die."
"You can't get rid of me that easily, buddy," Ash hugged back tightly, needing the comfort given from the warmth radiating off of Pikachu's body. "Anyway, you should be thanking Alain and his Charizard. Without them… well, I'd be a lump of broken bones and blood at the bottom of the tower."
"Not funny," Pikachu sniffled, punching Ash's arm as hard as he could. "Yo dude, mon to mon… thanks a lot." Charizard laughed at the straightforwardness of the electric type and grinned.
"No problem, your trainer was as light as feather… didn't take much energy to save him."
"I swear he has a black hole for a stomach, there is no way he should be that light with the amount he eats"
"What on earth are you two talking about?"
"Ah, Froakie, Froakie, Froakie… you have not heard of the legend that is the stomach of my trainer Ash. Trust me, even I can't live up to it and I used to be quite plump thank you very much."
"Ooo, plump Pikachu, sounds delicious."
"I wasn't talking to you, you overgrown lizard bastard!"
"What is up with your language?"
"Froakie… have you ever been wild?"
"No… why?"
"Ah, you're a tall grasser, explains so much…"
"Shut the fuck up…"
"There you are!" Professor Sycamore had pushed his way through the crowd; Garchomp had plodded over to him for a cuddle as soon as he had reached the trainers. "Seeing you fall made me so worried that… Alain?"
Their eyes never met, Alain choosing to land his towards the ground. "Hey professor…" His voice trailed off and, respectably, Ash decided not to speak up with fears that he would make the situation more uncomfortable. Everything was silent for a moment, but only a moment before Sycamore took the silence as a que for him to speak up again.
"I'm just glad you're both okay," he continued on from earlier. "Anyway, I realised you don't have a place to sleep in tonight so I am offering some spare rooms in my lab for you, and one for Alain if he wants it."
"I'm up for it, thanks Professor." Ash looked over to Alain, who seemed distant for a moment. He smiled suddenly and nodded.
"If it is okay with you, thanks."
Sycamore nodded his head with a grin. "Great, come on, it's late and we need to eat before bed." He began leading the two trainers and the Pokémon back to the lab, not before Ash had to yell at Pikachu to shut up as the electric type was droning on about what they were going to eat that night.]
~0~o~0~
Day came by quickly and, once breakfast had ended, it was time to finally start travelling. The professor, Alain and Ash were standing at the bottom of the steps up to the lab, with the latter getting his Kalos region Pokédex.
"Just use that to get information on any Kalos region Pokémon," Sycamore explained lightly, knowing the boy had done it many times before. "I've also had it synced up to your other Dex entries so you don't have to re-scan Pokémon you've already met."
"Thank you for the bed and the Pokédex, Professor," the Kanto region trainer bowed in respect, before turning around to leave. "I'll sure you around… urgh!" Something hit his face, causing him to stagger back a bit.
"BOOM HEADSHOT!" Pikachu burst into fits of laughter, only to be surprised as to who was behind it. "Oh, nice one Froakie." Alain wasn't shocked to see Froakie sitting ahead of them, its Poké Ball in front of it. The water type had slept in the crook of Ash's arm that night, smiling at the comfort its saviour brought. He thought it was obvious from just that image that Froakie wasn't having any other trainer. And, luckily, it seemed as if Ash had picked up on it as well.
"Froakie? Do you want to come with me?"
"Of course!" All eyes were on Professor Sycamore, who began laughing heartily with a huge smile.
"It looks as if Froakie has finally settled on a trainer who can bring him up to new heights," he smiled and nodded. "It's fine with me, you can keep Froakie." Ash picked up the Poké Ball and grinned as Froakie hopped onto his other free shoulder.
"Looks like Froakie beat me to it," Alain sighed, causing the others to look at him in confusion. "Oh well, I can deal with being second."
"What do you mean Alain?"
"Ash, if it's alright… can I travel with you?" The older trainer asked, looking over to his Charizard. "I believe that if I do, Charizard and I will be able to take on stronger opponents than searching on our own."
"Sure!" Ash's answer was instant and unhesitant. "I normally travel with others anyway." The chime of a clock in the distance alerted him to the fact that time was ticking on and he needed to get moving. "Thanks for everything Professor, see you again soon!" With that, he dashed off into the streets of Lumiose whilst Alain was trying to play catch up to the three. It seemed like this adventure was going to be even better than his last.
