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Ashes of the Past by Saphroneth

Games » Pokémon Rated: T, English, Humor & Adventure, Ash K./Satoshi, Pikachu, Words: 1973k+, Favs: 9k+, Follows: 8k+, Published: Aug 8, 2011 Updated: Feb 11, 2021

17,188Chapter 2

"We are lost."

Ash sighed. "I know."

"We are lost in a forest." Misty continued, twitching.

"Please stop."

"We are lost. In a forest. Full of Bug Type Pokémon. I am quite proud that I have not freaked out already."

"Yeah, I get the point." Ash sighed again, feeling thoroughly weary despite the early hour. "I'm sorry that we're lost. I'm sorry we've been in here for a week. I'm sorry that Sammy from Pallet with the Charmander passed us four days ago. I'm also sorry that you feel a little freaked out whenever Pikachu and I practice."

"Well, can you blame me? You're teaching a Pikachu the skills of a fighting type, and you're trying to learn how to infuse yourself with electricity. Even for you, this is not normal."

"Well, I am also working with him to help his electric attacks…"

"Ash, you're trying to invent an electric version of Hyper Beam! Forgive me if I, a Water type Gym Leader, don't feel too happy about the prospect."

Ash groaned, and sat down, performing another of his periodic Aura Sight scans of the forest, only to be surprised when a gray-green light blazed at the edge of his range.

"I think I see something! It looks like it's another bug type – but it's showing up more brightly than the rest were."

Misty shuddered. Bugs… "I don't understand. Why head towards it, if it's stronger than the others?"

"Well, I think that those who I knew well enough to restore glow brighter – as, indeed, you did last week."

Misty perked up. She hadn't minded Butterfree… it had been very nice – for a-a… bug. And at least he'd evolved quickly. No reasonable girl could consider butterflies creepy. Nobody could… Yeah, she could handle this. Besides, Butterfree only ate fruit…

Ash was already speeding through the forest. "Hey, Ash, wait up!"

Ash was confronting a difficult moral issue. Well, most trainers wouldn't even consider it something to think about, but Ash had never been particularly usual.

Should I try to beat Caterpie like last time, so that it's not just pathetic and vaguely sad, or should I get it over with by just having Pikachu use Thunder Wave?

Hey, that might work.

"Pikachu, mind firing a Thunder Wave at him as soon as I can point him out?"

"No need. I remember his scent." At Ash's look of confusion Pikachu elaborated. "I was a wild Pokémon… and anyway humans have among the worst senses of smell of any creature I can think of. It may not be on the level of Odor Sleuth, but smelling things out is a survival skill out here."

Ash felt vaguely uneasy, as he often did when this sort of topic came up. "I don't really feel comfortable when you casually mention the prospect of death… especially yours. I – you know I care for you."

"I know. But if it helps, intelligence is a survival skill too. Most of the Pokémon that people actually see are the smarter ones, living in the areas closer to humanity and understanding that the strange non Pokémon aren't all evil, or giants or whatever.

That said, I would rather be with you than anywhere else. You know that."

"Thanks, buddy. That means a lot to me."

"That's why I reminded you. Now, then… there!"

Yellow, jagged arcs of lightning flashed from the mouse's body, surrounding and immobilizing a certain Caterpie among six on a nearby tree. Ash momentarily closed one eye. "Yep, that's him alright."

"What do you plan on doing?"

Ash grinned. "Asking politely."

The trainer walked over to the little bug, and gently touched his antenna. A spark of blue flashed at the contact, light filled the clearing…

And Butterfree flew off the trunk.

"Hello again, Ash."

"Okay, what the hell?" Misty had arrived. "Is everyone polyglot these days but me?"

"You're hearing Pikachu and Butterfree, right?"

"Yeah, but still! I thought you had to train a Pokémon in Aura at least somewhat before that happened."

"I'm already psychic. Butterfree generally are, not sure why."

"Okay, so what now? Do you want to have a battle, to… I dunno, feel like things are being done properly, or just have me catch you?" Ash asked.

"I think a battle. I haven't had the chance to show off in a while."

"Okay. Now, in accordance with ancient custom… leg it, Misty!"

The humans dived behind trees just before the blast of a Bug Buzz and a Thunder colliding in mid air, sending a rain of leaves towards the dirt.

"I don't remember your Butterfree being this strong, Ash!" Misty called to him from her tree.

Overhead Butterfree began weaving in a complex pattern, moving faster with each motion, glowing with power. Pikachu, not one to miss a trick, began Charging, further boosting the effect with some of his electric Aura.

"He was strong enough to impress an entire swarm, and he's been presumably protecting them for five years! I have no clue what he can manage!"

"So, what's that? It looks new."

Butterfree didn't cease the looping dance. "It's Butterfly Dance, a special technique that relies on repetition to energize the scales. Like it?"

Pikachu grinned. This was part of what made him follow Ash. The general strength of every one of his Pokémon… you knew you could rely on any of them, and even the boy himself, no matter what.

"But enough of that. I bet you noticed the problem I have with this elemental matchup, being part Flying type. Well, I have a solution."

The sun burst through the light cloud cover, forcing Pikachu to squint into the sunlight and throwing off his aim. He wasn't yet good enough to just use Aura Sight instead… and he knew what the sunlight might mean apart from that.

Brilliant. Incoming Solarbeam… And I can't even make Agility afterimages to dodge, he'll spot the real one in seconds.

Ah well, improvisation is the name of the game.

Iron Tail!

Butterfree opened fire. The Solarbeam didn't even need to charge, simply lensing the sunlight already in the air into a scorching beam of laserlike light.

He was understandably surprised when it bounced back.

Surprised, but no more. The attack was almost nothing against him. But the distraction did allow Pikachu to use his high speed to close in on Butterfree, jumping from trunk to branch to crown and into the air.

"So you know a few tricks. So do I. This one's called the Counter Shield."

Butterfree found himself enveloped in a cage of lightning, one centred on the electric mouse. It was one of the genuine innovations Ash and his team had developed in the future.

"Interesting… one assumes that this means I can't leave?" Butterfree was impressed. The level of control required for this sort of thing was nothing to sneeze at, as this function alone was a whole new trapping move.

"Sorry. Unless you want to be electrocuted. But a battle's a battle."

"Damnit… I'm going to have to follow you down, then. I hate it when my opponents are clever."

"Don't be like that. Now," Pikachu continued as the two Pokémon dropped back to the forest floor, the electric fence preventing Butterfree from getting the distance he preferred, "here's another new one. The Volt Tackle." The fence shrank to a narrow path, with Pikachu at one end and Butterfree at the other. "Do hold still."

"Not something I'm planning on, my old friend." Butterfree flapped his wings, and the spores and powders of Stun Spore, Sleep Powder and Posionpowder filled the tunnel. "I'm not giving up, not while I can still fight."

Pikachu quirked an eyebrow as the Counter Shield spawned a second layer across his fur. "That's supposed to be effective? Electricity can burn things."

"So, that incinerates the spores. Brilliant. My luck hasn't improved."

"I thought you were living the dream? Powerful, important, and with a great mate?"

Butterfree shrugged. "Still true."

Yellow aura flared as Pikachu began his charge. Butterfree's antenna twitched irritably.

"And now you have superpowers. Anything else I missed?"

The entire clearing lit up with a mighty explosion, and scorch marks from errant lightning appeared on the trees, as the overloaded Volt Tackle ended the fight in the trademark style of those trained by Ash.

Neither of them could move anymore.

"I'll… ugh… fill you in on the whole save the world thing later."

"Ash… did Pikachu just use Iron Tail to bounce back a Solarbeam?" Misty asked, not quite trusting her own eyes.

"Yes. Yes, he did." Ash replied.

"Oh, I thought I'd check."

"I think that from now on, I'm merely training them," mused Ash, "if they're this good without me shouting my head off at them in actual battle."

With a thump, a large bird landed next to them, and after a quick check Ash walked over to it.

Yep, it was Pidgeotto. Ash had forgotten the two had been caught so close together.

Well, at least blind luck is on my side sometimes…

Ash had a tearful reunion with Pidgeot, apologizing profusely for leaving her for so long in the Pallet area without ever coming to visit. He'd felt guilty for over a week – ever since being reminded and coming back – and was glad to know that no hard feelings existed. Though he was slightly scared at the sheer power she too had developed, protecting an entire forest for years.

He had to talk her down from showing off with a tornado.

"So. What's next?"

Ash looked over from where he was applying medicine to Pikachu and Butterfree. "How so?"

"Well, last time we were stuck in here for a good few weeks, but if we retrace our path not only is it annoying but we miss the Cameran Castle appointment you wanted to make."

Ash nodded, already planning on what to do next.

"I think we'll be ready for Brock's gym in a couple of days, we'll handle that bug samurai guy and get going. Pikachu's getting better at Aura control, at least."

Since Pikachu was still unable to generate untyped Aura straight off, Ash had been having Pikachu practice splitting it into the electric and untyped and then attacking with the two alternately. Since the Force Palm was essentially the most basic Aura attack there was – blasting a pulse of Aura without attempting to shape it or maintain coherency – this was a relatively quick solution that worked. And won't it be a surprise…

Ash himself was also engaged in practicing, of a different sort. He knew he'd been able to pull almost unreasonably large amounts of Aura before, and not being able to do so could be seen as a weak spot. So he was trying to teach himself the ability to harness his emotions, using them as a catalyst without letting them affect his behaviour.

It wasn't going well. At least once he'd pulled up that same thrill of power, but it had been while he was too angry at his own slow progress to notice, only Misty's shout letting him know that he was starting to crack the tree he was sitting against.

So, Ash mused, Where is that Samurai person anyway?

"You! Are you from Pallet Town?"

Right. And he's even more of an idiot than I remember. Not only is he asking Misty – who's pretty clearly from Cerulean gym once you know to look, she's more like her sisters than she thinks – but he's going to end up challenging someone with a Pidgeot.

Ah, Honour.

"Actually, she isn't, that would be me, Ash Ketchum of the town of Pallet." Ash smiled at the in joke.

"Aha! Then I must challenge you, just as I did the others from that town who passed through here!"

Ash sighed. "Okay, did you happen to notice a trend? First there was the Bulbasaur. Easy. Then the Squirtle. Harder. Then the Charmander. Nearly impossible for a Bug trainer to beat. And now you want to fight someone who has two fully evolved Pokémon and a Pikachu, in a clearing with gigantic scorch marks all over it from a Volt Tackle?"

"That is irrelevant!" the diminutive, er, 'Ronin' proclaimed. "Samurai do not shy from battle!"

Ash turned to his Pokémon. "Which of you wants to handle it?"

Butterfree flapped excitedly. "I call the Pinsir!"

"And I'll settle my old score with his Metapod." Pidgeot's translated voice was – surprisingly for such a large Pokémon - a cool soprano, but with the slightest hint of steel beneath it. "Let Pikachu rest for a while."

"Fair enough. Battle on three?"

"Yes! I must redeem my honour by defeating at least one of the Pallet Town trainers!"

"Good, you agree." Ash gestured Pidgeot forward. "Misty, call it in if you would?"

"Sure. One, two, three!"

We draw a veil over the scenes of indescribable carnage.

"No… how could I be so shamefully unskilled?" the Samurai asked plaintively, slumped in the ruin that was once a small forest clearing.

Ash felt kinda bad. "It's more that I have… certain advantages, put it that way. Don't feel bad about it, just improve and do better next time. And perhaps get more diverse bugs, like a Scyther – or a Scizor for that matter, that'd be a great help."

"… I understand." The boy smiled shyly. "And sorry for going on like that, I felt so sure I could win once… Is everyone from Pallet town this strong?"

"I like to think I'm the best, but since Professor Oak lives there that may not be accurate."

"… I see." His voice firmer now, the young samurai got to his feet. "Then I hope that when you pass through again, we have both improved enough that our match is more even. Of course, this means I'll have to improve a lot more than you…"

"Don't sweat it! I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Thank you."

Ash and the Samurai parted on relatively good terms, in fact, despite the ever so slightly one sided defeat. Though it wasn't until Ash and Misty were setting up camp for the night that Ash thought about the moral issues with leaving the boy in range of a major Beedrill swarm.

Ah well, wasn't as if he was unskilled with bugs, and presumably he knew how to handle it.

"Okay, left! Right! Left! Right! Keep up the separation!" Ash barked out orders at his sweating Pokémon, refusing to delay the trip through Viridian forest more on account of any laziness, real or perceived, in Pikachu's training. "Le-"

"For goodness' sake I'm trying, Ash!" Thwack.

"Then try harder! You need to keep the separation up, that's why you're hitting a rock now not a tree, so you can tell which one's having the effect!" Thud.

"And it's not easy to concentrate on two things at once!" Thwack.

"You think I don't know that?" Thud.

"Of course! Concentrating on one thing is such a step up for you that two doesn't seem too hard in comparison!" Thwack.

"Well excuse me for trying to find a way to actually earn the Boulderbadge!" Thud.

"Why not just use Butterfree?" Thwack.

"Because the gym's indoors! Nowhere to get the power for a Solarbeam!" Thud.

Misty blinked as the friends devolved into a shouting match, Pikachu was still punching the rock as hard as he could. "I will never understand boys…"

Pidgeot chirped softly in agreement.

"Damnit Ash, you can be so STUBBORN!" Pikachu's blue-sheathed fist smacked into the boulder.

Which cracked in two.

The two stopped their arguing as if a switch had been thrown.

"Did… did that just work?"

"I think so."

They both stared at the smashed rock in some disbelief, until the halves fell over.

Ash exulted, "Yes!"

"Take that, rock and ground types! At last, the dream of Pikachu all over the world is coming to fruition!"

"Don't you know Iron Tail?"

Pikachu waved his paw dismissively. "Eh, it's not nearly as good. Gives you a real ache in the tailbone. Have you ever tried swinging a three kilo weight by your pinky? Because that's what it feels like, my tail is pretty narrow at the base."

"Okay, do you want to start learning the next one, Aura Sp-" Pikachu was already asleep. "Or you could get some rest, that works too."

Mountains ahead. Quickest route is through the pass to the west. It is inhabited. I must use stealth to avoid being spotted.

There are too many to avoid being seen in some way. There is a cloak – that will do.

A cloaked stranger passed through the sleepy village of Ōtama, maintaining distance from everyone - as if, perhaps, afraid of what they might do.

A few people tried to follow this mysterious cloaked figure, but the figure fluidly avoided the net closing around them and disappeared over the fence at the edge of the village proper.

When the curious villagers followed, they found only the cloak, hooked carefully over a gatepost.

AN: Ōtama is a real village in Japan, in a mountain pass to the north of the Tokyo area (which is where Kanto is, if one converts to the real places from their analogues). This kind of correspondence between real and fictional places in general is actually really interesting - for example, the shape of Sootopolis is because it's based off Santorini in the Mediterranean Sea, a dormant volcano that blew the Minoan civilization off the map in a massive steam explosion a few thousand years ago. And that's where land and sea fight in Emerald - a reference, perhaps, to that long ago explosion?