Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ The Unwanted Acquaintances ❯ Strategic Thinking ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Recap: After an unforgettable battle between Groudon and Kyogre, Ash decided to wait a day before his big battle with Juan for the Rain Badge. Feeling a little boxed in, Ash and his Pokemon went for a nice cruise through the air. The next day it was battle on. The battle was heating up when Aerodactyl suddenly showed up. Juan tried to intervene, but Aerodactyl dodged his Kingdra's Hydro Pump and flew off with Ash anyway. But Ash's Pokemon wouldn't have it that way. They released themselves and drove Aerodactyl off. Then the badge battle continued. Ash and his Pokemon came out victorious. Now he and his friends are on their way to Mossdeep.
( ) after Pokemon talk is the translation
( ) alone is Charizard talking
/ is Zapdos talking
Bold words is Rayquaza talking
(' is Pokemon thoughts
' is human thoughts

&n bsp; Chapter 8: Strategic Thinking

Ash and friends were still on their way to Mossdeep Island. Ash was still mentally recovering from his intense battle with Juan. Aerodactyl had made an unexpected and very much unwelcome visit and almost made off with Ash in the middle of the battle. But Ash's Pokemon came through. After saving Ash from Aerodactyl, the battle continued, Ash coming out the victor.

An hour later, Ash and friends had reached Mossdeep Island. Rayquaza came down for a landing. The people out and about saw a huge shadow and looked up. They gasped in awe upon seeing the legendary Rayquaza. As Rayquaza got lower, they also saw four people and a Pikachu on his back. Soon, Rayquaza landed, and Ash and friends got off. Then everyone was amazed when Ash petted Rayquaza, also thanking it for the ride.

"You caught Rayquaza?" one of the inhabitants asked in awe.

"Yes," Ash responded.

"How did you do it?" another person asked.

Ash then explained how Rayquaza became one of his Pokemon.

"It looks like we have a hero in our midst," a third person said as the other people were chatting away.

Meanwhile, Tate and Liza were standing next to a window inside their gym. They saw a large grop of people gathered in one spot. They wondered what could possibly be going on.

"Should we see what's going on?" Liza asked.

"We might as well. We don't have anything else to do right now," Tate responded. He and Liza exited the gym to see what was going on.

They headed towards the large gathering of people. What they saw next stopped them in their tracks. Rayquaza had lifted up so that his head was now over the crowd, also allowing Tate and Liza to see him.

"It's Rayquaza," Liza said in awe.

"But what's he doing here?" Tate asked, in as much awe as his sister.

Then the crowd began to disperse. Tate and Liza saw four people still hanging around Rayquaza. They gasped in awe upon seeing the hat-wearing boy return Rayquaza. Then the boy and his friends went inside the Pokemon Center. Upon entering the Pokemon Center, Ash and friends got a very unpleasant surprise. Damien was there.

"Well, what a surprise," Damien said smirking.

"Not a very good one," Ash said dryly.

"Amen," Max said.

"Pika(Ditto)," Pikachu agreed.

Damien simply left. But he only left because he didn't want to cause a big scene in the Pokemon Center. He had been forced to keep a low profile because every Jenny in Hoenn knew about him and wanted to bring him in for attempted murder.

"May I help you young man?" a friendly voice asked.

Ash and friends turned around to see Nurse Joy now standing behind her desky. Brock suddenly had hearts for eyes.

Oh Nurse Joy, I think I have a fever," Brock said flirtingly.

"Okay Romeo, knock it off," Max said, dragging Brock by the ear.

"I would like to have my Pokemon checked please," Ash said, handing Nurse Joy the Poke Ball.

Nurse Joy then went inside her operating romm to check on the Pokemon's status. Then two things happened. One, she nearly had a heart attack. Two, she nearly fainted. The Pokemon was none other than the legendary Rayquaza. She went on with the procedure, shaking and all. Ten minutes, later, she came back out, a zoned out expression on her face.

"I'm sorry Nurse Joy. I should've told you that it was Rayquaza that I wanted you to check," Ash said upon seeing Nurse Joy's expression.

"Oh th-that's o-okay. R-Rayquaza is doing just f-fine. I-I really d-didn't have to do a-anything," Nurse Joy said. She regained her composure a few minutes later though. "But how did you acquire such a legendary Pokemon though?" she asked.

Ash then told her the story. Then he showed her Zapdos. Seeing Rayquaza almost caused Nurse Joy to faint. Seeing that Ash had a Zapdos as well, Nurse Joy did faint.

"Is she going to be okay?" May asked in concern.

"She'll be fine. She just fainted that's all," Max responded.

"I guess that this was too much for her," Ash said. "I'm going for a walk," he then said.

"Be careful. Damien might still be lurking around," Brock said.

"I'll be careful. If Damien does try anything, I have my Pokemon to help me," Ash said.

"Pikachu(That's right)," Pikachu said.

Then Ash headed out of the Pokemon Center and went for a walk. Brock was indeed right. Damien hadn't gone too far at all. He was hoping that Ash would be alone.

'That Pikachu of his might pose a problem. Its hearing is way too good,' Damien thought as he silently followed Ash.

An hour later, Ash had wandered into an unpopulated area of the island. "This area kind of resembles a Ghost Town doesn't it Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pika. Pikachu(Yeah. It gives me the creeps)," Pikachu said.

Damien smirked at his good luck. 'Now I can get rid of him without causing a scene. I can then make off with not only Charizard, but his Zapdos too,' he thought before unleashing his Scyther. "Use Fury Swipes," he said quietly, pointing at Ash.

Scyther nodded and quickly went on the offensive. Pikachu suddenly fell from his perch, which was Ash's shoulder. He slowly got up and shook his head to clear it. He was then aware of someone crying in pain. He stood in attention upon realizing who was screaming.

"Pikapi(Ash)!" Pikachu cried. He looked towards the direction of the painful cries and saw a Scyther slashing Ash repeatedly. He narrowed his eyes, his cheeks sparking. "Pikachu(Leave him alone)!" he shouted, unleashing a devastating Thunder attack.

Scyther screamed in pain. The attack proved too much and it soon fainted from the powerful attack. Damien then reveals himself as Ash crumples to the ground. Pikachu rushes to his fallen friend's side. Damien then gives Scyther a Max Revive. Scyther soon stands up, completely revitalized. Before Damien could give another order, Ash's Pokemon released themselves from their Poke Balls. They sensed that their friend/trainer was in serious trouble and were now more than ready to help. Upon looking at Ash, there was mixed reactions. Swellow, Sceptile, Bulbasaur, Zapdos and Rayquaza gasped in horror.

Charizard on the other hand was absolutely furious. He roared with intense fury. (Get it through your thick skull Damien. I'll never be your Pokemon again. Now I'll make you pay for what you did to my best friend) he said.

Damien and Scyther were very nervous and scared because they could sense just how angry Charizard was. Even Swellow, Pikachu, Sceptile, Rayquaza, Bulbasaur, Zapdos and Ash were afraid. Charizard roared again, his body suddenly glowing an eerie red. Ash just gasped in awe, knowing the attack that Charizard was getting ready to do. He then felt himself drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Charizard's anger is causing him to overheat," Ash said before losing consciousness altogether.

Charizard then unleashed a stream of super hot flames towards Scyther. The attack came at Scyther so fast that it didn't have time to react. It screamed in pain as the powerful fire attack burned every inch of its body. It soon fainted again, seriously burned. Damien was still in shock upon seeing Rayquaza. He was able to return Scyther though. Not thinking, he released Jynx to battle Rayquaza. But Charizard was still very angry. He used Overheat on Jynx before she could even make a move. She fainted instantly. Then Rayquaza fired a Hyper Beam at Damien and Jynx, sending both of them flying.

Then Charizard's anger died down. He looked over and saw Ash unconscious. He went over to Ash before squatting down and gently scooping Ash up. Then he stood up and spread his wings before flying off, heading for the Pokemon Center. Rayquaza, Swellow, and Zapdos quickly followed, Sceptile and Bulbasaur on Rayquaza's back and Pikachu on Swellow's back. They made it to the Pokemon Center about twenty minutes later. Everyone except Rayquaza went in. Nurse Joy, Brock, May and Max were waiting for their return. They gasped in horror upon seeing Ash's condition.

"What do you think happened?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Damien," Brock, May and Max responded angrily.

Nurse Joy actually shrunk back a little. She had never heard so much anger behind one word before. "What has this person done to make you so angry?" she asked.

Brock then told her everything. After hearing the story, Nurse Joy soon had a very angry expression on her face as well. She couldn't believe that Damien would want to kill Ash just to get back a Pokemon that doesn't even want to be with him anymore.

"I'll be sure to alert the other Nurse Joys about this," Nurse Joy said.

"But we need to get your friend into Intensive Care. Follow me Charizard," she added.

Charizard nodded and followed Nurse Joy into the ICU. Upon entering, he put Ash into an empty bed before leaving to go to the waiting area. He found his fellow Pokemon, May and Max already there. (Where's Brock?) he asked.

"Bulbasaur bulb bulba(He's outside talking with Rayquaza)," Bulbasaur responded.

(Oh) Charizard said before sitting down next to Pikachu. He saw the distraught look on Pikachu's face. (Don't worry. Ash is a fighter. He'll pull through) he said, pulling Pikachu into his lap.

"Pikachu(I hope so)," Pikachu said.

Outside the Pokemon Center, Brock and Rayquaza were still talking. Rayquaza had told Brock what happened.

"Wow, that's really something. Charizard learned Dragonbreath and Twister pretty quickly during the battle with Winona's Altaria. But you say that he was so angry upon seeing what Damien's Scyther had done to Ash that he learned Overheat in his anger," Brock said.

"Yes. But he's terrifying when he's angry. I don't think that even I had ever gotten that angry before. I don't get scared easily, but seeing how angry Charizard was at that particular time would scare anyone," Rayquaza said.

Brock found himself laughing a little at that. "It always was a monumental mistake to make Charizard angry," he said. He then saw a male and female heading towards the Center. As the figures got closer, he could see that they were twins probably in their teens. "May we know who you are?" he asked.

"I'm Liza, and this is my brother Tate. We're the Mossdeep City gym leaders. My Lunatone happened to pass by and saw your friend's condition. It told us what it saw and we decided to stop by and see how your friend's doing," the female said.

Brock nodded. He had taken Rayquaza's ball off of Ash's belt and returned Rayquaza. Then he, Tate and Liza went inside the Pokemon Center. They went into the waiting area where Ash's other Pokemon, May and Max hoped for promising news. Liza and Tate gasped upon seeing Zapdos.

"Does this Zapdo belong to your injured friend as well?" Tate asked.

"Yes he does?" Max responded.

A couple of hours later, Nurse Joy came back into the waiting room. "Your friend is in stable condition. He should recover in a few days," she said.

"That's a major relief. I feared the worst when I saw all those injuries to his body," May said in major relief.

(See, he's going to be just fine) Charizard told Pikachu.

"Pika pi(Thank Ho-oh)," Pikachu said.

Sure enough, Ash had fully recovered a few days later. The injuries that Damien's Scyther inflicted on his were all healed up. Nurse Joy had applied an ointment that prevented scarring on Ash's body every time she changed his bandages. The only scar he had was the long scar going down his back from the attack on him in Foretree City.

"We'll be waiting for you at the gym," Liza said.

"Bye for now," Tate added.

"Bye," Ash and friends said as Tate and Liza left.

"So Ash, which Pokemon are you going to use?" Max asked when Liza and Tate were out of hearing range.

"We'll I'm definitely going to use Sceptile. Because Lunatone and Solrock can float, I'm going to have to use a Flying type to balance. Charizard will do," Ash responded before facing the two-said Pokemon. "Are you two ready to battle?" he added.

"Sceptile(Oh yeah)!" Sceptile said, pumping his fist into the air.

(I'm always ready) Charizard added.

Everyone then enjoyed breakfast in the Pokemon Center before Ash returned his Pokemon and set out to the gym, his friends following. The gym doors were already open. Upon Ash and friends entering, the doors closed. They saw that a Kadabra was the reason behind the doors suddenly closing. They then looked around to see that the ceiling was created to look like outer space. Ash landed Pikachu to Brock before Brock, May and Max headed into the stands. Tate and Liza were on one sideof the battlefield. Ash then took the other.

"So are you read to try for the Mind Badge?" Tate asked.

"I sure am," Ash responded.

"Well you'll have to get through Lunatone," Liza started, unleashing her Pokemon.

"And Solrock," Tate added, unleashing his Pokemon.

"Well, we'll do our best. Won't we Charizard and Sceptile?" Ash said, throwing both balls to releas the said Pokemon.

"Sceptile tile(This battle is ours)," Sceptile said.

(It's going to be tough but we'll win) Charizard added.

"Use Solarbeam Solrock," Tate said.

Solrock quickly charged up and fired the Solarbeam.

"Counter that Solarbeam with your own Sceptile," Ash said.

Sceptile complied, and the two Solarbeam attacks cancelled each other out.

"Psybeam Lunatone!" Liza said.

"You too Solrock!" Tate added.

The two Pokemon unleashed their attacks. But the positioning was off. Lunatone and Solrock's attacks were headed right toward each other and soon cancelled each other out.

"Whoops. Lunatone was a little out of position on that one," Liza said.

"That's okay. But we won't make that mistake again," Tate said.

"Right," Liza said.

The smoke soon cleared to reveal that Charizard and Sceptile were no longer on the ground.

"Where did they go?" May asked.

A roar answered her question. She looked up to see Charizard in the air, Sceptile on his back. In the smoke screen, Sceptile and Charizard had decided to take the battle airborne. Sceptile had gotten onto Charizard's back, and Charizard flew up.

"Use Flamethrower Solrock!" Tate said.

"Solrock(Okay)!" Solrock said, firing off the attack.

Charizard simply countered with his own Flamethrower. The attacks cancelled out.

"Use Bullet Seed Sceptile!" Ash said.

Sceptile unleashed hundreds of seeds.

"Quick Lunatone! Use Light Screen!" Liza said.

"Lun(All right)!" Lunatone said before putting up a Light Screen in front of it and Solrock.

The Bullet Seed bounced off the Light Screen.

"This battle is even so far. Neither can get an advantage over the other," May said.

"Yeah, we'll see how it turns out," Brock said.

"Use Ancient Power Solrock!" Tate said.

"You too Lunatone!" Liza added.

Solrock and Lunatone unleashed a barrage of rocks at Charizard and Sceptile.

(Hang on. This might get rough) Charizard advised.

Sceptile obliged and Charizard began avoiding the rocks. He and Sceptile had some close calls with some of them, but they were able to dodge all of them.

"Sceptile (Nice flying)," Sceptile said.

(Thanks. I've had a lot of practice when I was in the Charicific Valley) Charizard said.

"Nice evading Charizard!" Ash said.

"Wow. I never thought that Charizard was that good at dodging," Max said in awe.

"Well that's probably where his training in Charicific Valley comes in. He battled with other Charizard that were at first a lot stronger than him," Brock said.

"Whoa, the Charizard there must be some of the strongest ever," May said.

"They are. They're also the biggest that I've ever seen," Brock said before turning his attention back to the battle.

Charizard had flown up to avoid a Flamethrower/Psybeam combo. Lunatone was in the right position this time, resulting in the Flamethrower combining with the Psybeam instead of canceling it out.

"Use Dragonbreath Charizard!" Ash said.

Charizard quickly gave off the attack before Lunatone or Liza could react. Lunatone took a direct hit. Tate and Solrock were distracted for a brief moment, giving Sceptile the opportunity to strike. He gave Solrock a Bullet Seed attack.

"Lunatone, immobilize them with Psychic!" Liza said.

Lunaton's eyes glowed blue. Charizard suddenly felt paralyzed. He tried to move but couldn't. But there was something that Lunatone, Solrock, Tate and Liza failed to realize.

"Oh no, Charizard's stuck!" May said.

"They're wide open now," Max said worriedl

But Brock noticed something that Liza, Tate and their Pokemon didn't. Sceptile was still able to move. He figured that Sceptile caught on and tried to be as still as possible to have its opponents thnk that it was paralyzed as well. "Not exactly," he said.

"Pika(Huh)?" Pikachu asked.

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"Look at Sceptile," Brock responded quietly.

May, Max and Pikachu did so and saw that there wasn't an aura around Sceptile.

"Sceptile is still free," Max said quietly, not wanting Liza to realize her mistake.

Ash had also seen that Lunatone hadn't used Psychic on Sceptile. 'Lunatone must've thought that immobilize them meant only Charizard. Well Sceptile and I will have to exploit that mistake,' he thought.

"Use Fire Spin on Sceptile," Tate said, thinking that Sceptile was paralyzed too.

"Hit Lunatone with Solarbeam!" Ash said.

Liza and Tate were confused.

"How can Sceptile attack? He's paralyzed," Liza said. She soon got her answer.

Sceptile had no trouble firing a Solarbeam. The attack hit Lunatone directly. Lunatone cried in pain, releasing its psychic grip on Charizard. Charizard then flew up with only seconds to spare. The Fire Spin passed harmlessly underneath.

(Thanks) Charizard said.

"Scept, sceptile(Hey, no problem)," Sceptile said.

"Quick, use Dragon Rage!" Ash said.

Charizard unleashed the attack straight at Solrock.

"Counter it with Flamethrower!" Tate said.

Solrock fired off the Flamethrower, but the Dragon Rage attack went right through it. Solrock suffered a direct hit from the powerful dragon attack, crying in pain. Solrock fell hard to the ground, kicking up dust. When the dust cleared, the referee saw swirls in Solrock's eyes.

"Solrock is unable to battle," the referee said.

"Whoa! Solrock's Flamethrower was no match for Charizard's Dragon Rage," Max said.

"Yeah, now it's only Lunatone. But the battle is not over yet. Lunatone could still win," Brock said.

"Lunatone only used Psychic on Charizard. We failed to notice that Sceptile was free," Tate said, returning Solrock.

"A serious oversight on our part right Lunatone?" Liza asked.

"Lun(Yes)," Lunatone responded.

"Let's try to even up the playing field Lunatone. Use Psychic on Sceptile," Liza said.

Lunatone obliged and lifted Sceptile into the air. Sceptile was totally helpless.

"Now slam it to the ground!" Liza said.

Sceptile felt himself dropping pretty fast. He knew that if he were to hit the ground, he would be close to being knocked out, if not knocked out upon impact with the ground. But Charizard had something else in mind. Sceptile suddenly felt his free fall stop. He looked down to see himself on Charizard's back.

"Wow! Charizard is trying to keep Sceptile from being slammed to the ground," May said.

"Yes, but how long can he keep it up?" Brock asked.

Charizard was struggling to keep Sceptile from slamming to the ground. ('Let's see if Lunatone cand o two things at once') he thought before firing a Dragonbreath attack.

"Hurry Lunatone, put up a Light Screen!" Liza said.

Lunatone dropped the Psychic attack and quickly put up a Light Screen. The Dragonbreath made contact with the Light Screen, completely shattering it.

"Scept(Thanks)," Sceptile said.

(No problem) Charizard said.

"Nice thinking Charizard!" Ash said.

Charizard looked down and gave Ash a thumbs' up.

"That was great thinking on Charizard's part," May said.

"Pika(Yeah)," Pikachu said nodding.

"Yes, forcing Lunatone to defend itself was a brilliant move," Brock agreed.

"Not only that, but it also seems that Lunatone is getting tired," Max said.

Brock saw Lunatone bouncing in the air a little; a clear sign that it was indeed starting to get tired. "I think you're right. Charizard and Sceptile have it just about where they want it right now," he said.

"Lunatone use Tackle. Try to knock Charizard out of the air," Liza said.

Lunatone came toward Charizard.

"Wait for it guys," Ash said.

Knowing that Ash had an idea, Charizard waited for Lunatone to come.

"What does Ash have in mind?" May asked.

"We'll find out," Brock responded.

Lunatone was about a foot away from Charizard now.

"Now Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade!" Ash said.

The leaves on Sceptile's wrists became a glowing blade. Sceptile reared his arms back before striking. Lunatone had no way of stopping in time and charged right into Sceptile's attack. Lunatone went reeling backwards. Sceptile quickly followed up with Solarbeam while Lunatone was disoriented. Lunatone had virtually looked done in at this point. It was barely able to keep itself floating.

"That was brilliant!" Max said.

"Yeah. Because Lunatone was committed to the Tackle, it had no way of dodging a sudden attack," Brock said.

"Now Charizard, finish it off with Dragon Rage!" Ash said.

Charizard complied.

"Try to Teleport Lunatone!" Liza said desperately.

But Lunatone was too weakened from the Leaf Blade and Solarbem attacks. It took the Dragon Rage attack directly.

"Lun(Aaaaahhhhh)!" Lunatone cried in pain. It soon fell to the ground, swirls in its eyes.

"Lunatone!" Liza cried uponseeing her fainted Pokemon.

"Lunatone is also unable to battle. Charizard and Sceptile win," the referee said.

"All right!" Ash said, pumping his fist into the air.

Charizard landed beside him before Sceptile dismounted.

"You guys were awesome," Ash said, hugging each of them.

"Pikapi, pikachu(Ash, congratulations)," Pikachu said, jumpin onto his shoulder. He had left the stand the moment after Charizard and Sceptile were declared the winners.

Ash scratched Pikachu under the chin, earning a happy "Chaaa" out of Pikachu. Tate and Liza had then come over to him.

"That was an awesome battle Ash," Liza said.

"And we humbly present the Mind Badge to you. You and your Pokemon really earned it today. Your Charizard is pretty smart. Forcing Lunatone to drop its Psychic on Sceptile was sheer brilliance," Tate said, holding out the badge.

"Sceptile is pretty smart too. Even though it wasn't included in the first Psychic attack, pretending that it was really fooled us. And having Sceptile use Leaf Blade while Lunatone was in the middle of a Tackle attack was even smarter," Liza added.

"Thanks," Ash said, proudly accepting the Mind Badge.

"Well now you qualify for the Pokemon League since you already have Sootopolis City's badge," Tate said.

"Good luck on Victory Road. You'll meet some very tough trainers as you go. If you make it to the end, the Elite Four await you," Liza said.

"If anyone can give the trainers of Victory Road and the Elite Four a good challenge, it's you," Tate said.

"Thanks," Ash said before returning Charizard and Sceptile. Then he and his friends left the gym.

They headed for the Pokemon Center where Ash had Sceptile and Charizard healed. Ash got his Pokemon back half an hour later. Then he realeased Rayquaza from its ball.

"Where to?" Rayquaza asked.

"Evergrande City please," Ash responded before he and his friends climbed aboard.

Then Rayquaza took to the skies, heading for Evergrande City, and the Pokemon League. Unknown to them, a Pokemon very familiar with Ash and Pikachu was silently following them. She didn't want them to see her just yet so she was flying invisibly. She was just out flying when she spotted them. She was absolutely thrilled upon seeing Ash again. After hearing that Ash was in the Hoenn region, she looked all over for him. She was just about to give up when she suddenly spotted him on Rayquaza's back. She couldn't help being in intense awe upon seeing the majestic dragon as she followed him.

And that's a wrap on this chapter. I believe that it's safe to assume that you know the Pokemon I'm talking about. Will she become one of Ash's Pokemon? The answer will come in chapter 10, which will also be the last chapter of the story. Don't worry though. I plan to do a sequel to this story. Moving right along, preview for Chapter 9: Road to the Elite Four: Ash and friends prepare to travel down Victory Road. Before they can even get started, Aerodactyl shows it's ugly face again. But Ash's Pokemon are able to drive it off. Then the challenge of Victory Road begins. Ash finds himself battling against some indeed very tough trainers. The tough battles prove very beneficial to his Pokemon. How does it prove to be beneficial? You'll have to stay tuned to find out.