After a night of sleep, we woke up to a Pidgeotto landing next to our camp.
"Wow a Pidgeotto!" Ash admires as he quickly takes out a Pokeball.
However, his attempt to capture the pokemon immediately fails, leading to his disappointment. Meanwhile, Misty could be seen facepalming as she shook her head disapprovingly.
"Maybe you should weaken it first..." I interrupt Ash, trying to give him advice.
He took my advice and went for an attack with Pikachu and Caterpie, one at a time. After a lucky Thunder shock from Pikachu that barely managed to hit, he was able to catch the Pidgeotto but it was a reckless attempt with Caterpie badly injured.
While Misty scolded Ash on how to use strategies and all that, I noticed a rustle in the bushes in the corner of my eye. Taking out Indra I told him to use bubbles towards where I pointed.
"Ow! Ouch! Argh!" A series of pain inducing cries was heard from three different individuals.
"S-stop!! We haven't even gave our intro yet!" The three stepped forward.
They were two adults with colored hair of blue and pink, and below them was a Meowth standing on its two legs.
"Hey, not you guys again..." Ash sighed.
Still, even with soaked uniforms and minor bruises, they didn't give in and took out their pokemons: an Ekans and Koffing. They were eyeing pikachu intensely, determined to successfully capture it.
"Ash, it's a two versus two. Get ready." I told him.
The battle against the two team rocket members started with Ash's Pikachu faced off against Ekans, while Indra was with Koffing.
"Bubbles!" I shouted, not giving him time to prepare.
Some of the bubbles landed but he followed up with a Sludge attack, pushing through the bubbles towards Indra.
"Dodge right then bubble again!"
Indra did exactly what I told him to do and almost succeeded, as he managed to dodge away but with the outburst of bubbles sent, the Koffing dodged it all by just flying upwards. It then rushed towards Indra and tried giving him a tackle.
"Duck! Then rush over and pound!"
Indra managed to jump to the ground and avoid the attack. Afterwards he did a full 180 and sprinted towards the Koffing. Seeing it about to fly off and escape, Indra jumped forward and slammed his wing onto the Koffing's back. It cried out in pain, but reacted quickly and turned around to face Indra, about to release another Sludge attack head-on. But before it could, Indra gave out a burst of bubbles that blew it meters away.
The Koffing landed on the ground and dragged across the dirt; from its expression, I noticed how tired it looked already. It wanted to have a quick rest as it laid on the ground, but Indra was seen already above it, readied to attack. With multiple slams to the face, he pushed the Koffing deeper into the soil, then full packs of rapid bubbles started impacting the Koffing up-close.
"Escape Koffing!" A scared cry was heard from James.
Hearing that, the Koffing endured the pain and pushed past the bubbles. It flew high up as it wobbled in the sky with a tiresome face. It still had energy in him but James decided to put it back into his Pokeball. With that, the battle ended. To be honest, I thought it would have been harder. For a level 21 pokemon, it was even easier than that Mankey we fought. Though, I know it definitely could have beaten us if it had a better trainer.
As I looked over at Ash's battle, I noticed that he was having a hard time. Most of his attacks were Thunder shocks which the Ekans easily avoided but fortunately he used growl on it a few times so the incoming attacks weren't as damaging.
Indra looked over to me as a way to indicate if he should go help, but I shook my head. If things go right, Caterpie should be evolved after this.
After the continuous damages from the bite and dig attacks, Pikachu laid defeated on the ground while Ekans was barely damaged. It wasn't that surprising though, since not anyone can defeat a level 19 pokemon with a level 5.
After carrying out Pikachu, Ash brought out his newly caught Pidgeotto. Now it was a fair match with both pokemons being the same level of 19.
The battle consisted of Pidgeotto dodging most of Ekans's attacks while also striking back. The Ekans was quick to hide, using dig after each attempt of attacking. It would then fly out of the ground, couple meters up, trying to get into Pidgeotto's blind spots but the bird pokemon was too fast. Not long after, it ended with a Quick attack by Pidgeotto and the battle was over.
The trio looked defeated as they started to back off. Their faces were a mixture of confusion, embarrassment and anger. After sending out their angry remarks, they turned their backs and ran away into the forest, full sprint.
"You may have won this round but we'll be back!"
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"Hey Reiner, are you alright?" Misty asks, worried.
"Huh? Oh yeah it's nothing..."
But it wasn't nothing... Caterpie didn't evolve like he was supposed to and Misty is still disgusted by him. In the show, after Caterpie single-handedly defeats Ekans, Koffing and Meowth, he evolves into Metapod. Then, Misty finally acknowledged his strength and got more comfortable with him. Plus, another event is about to happen that allowed Metapod to evolve again.
Fuck man.. Is this gonna mess with the timeline? I hope not... There's got to be something I can do.
Walking through the forest, we managed to spot more Caterpies and Pidgeys. It was only after a while that a different pokemon was sighted: A Weedle.
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While Misty was distracted, it started crawling up her leg without her knowledge. Finally noticing, her whole body shivered as she ran off to a random direction while screaming loudly, leaving the Weedle behind.
Ash wanted to catch it, and this time, had a confident look on his face as took out Pidgeotto. It gave out a massive gust attack that pushed the Weedle backwards, making it trip over itself across the ground. To retaliate, it used Poison sting attacks but was easily dodged and soon enough, it looked be ready for catching.
But as Ash started taking out his Pokeball, a young boy in a samurai helmet showed up from behind and distracted him.
"I am Samurai!" He declares proudly. "Trainer from Pallet, let us have a Pokemon match and see who triumphs!"
Ash was caught off guard at first, but quickly realized the situation. There was stare-down between him and Samurai. The air shifted as their eyes got more serious, both clearly giving out an intent to start the battle. Ash wasn't going to say no to his first challenger.
However, a realization suddenly hits Ash about the Weedle that he had forgotten about. As he looked over to where he last left it, he saw that it was no longer there. Angry emerged in Ash as he turned back around to face Samurai.
"That Weedle only got away because you mixed me up!"
"Hold on Ash." I interrupt. "Here.. I caught it for you."
I throw over the Pokeball towards Ash which he caught clumsily with two hands. His face brighten up as he turned to thank me. However, Samurai ended his short-lived happiness.
"Don't blame your failure on me. Your pokemon handling is dim-witted and clumsy." He says in all seriousness before looking over to me. "I'd say that boy deserves the pokemon more than you."
Their argument escalated more, and in the end, they agreed to settled it in a match.
The battle started off with a Pinsir against Pidgeotto, who was already tired. A sand attack was used but it laid ineffective against the Pinsir as it drove past the sand and tackled him straight on. After that one attack, Pidgeotto seemed to be rendered weak as it couldn't move anymore.
Ash was surprised by how strong it was but had not lost hope. After returning Pidgeotto back into his Pokeball, he called out Caterpie to battle.
Tsk.. The only reason Ash was able to beat the Pinsir was because he had a Metapod that used harden against it. So what happens now? At least the swamp of Beedrills aren't going to come anymore. Turns out it was the Weedle's fault as after it escaped, it called out its buddies: The Beedrills.
Knowing this, I made sure to catch the Weedle without fail as I didn't want any trouble. But now, Ash might lose out in character development. Maybe winning against Samurai will spark something in him...? Probably not, but I gave him the Weedle just in case for extra help.
"Caterpie use string shot!"
Caterpie wrapped its strings around the Pincer's horns but they were snapped apart in no time. As it came rushing towards Caterpie, he quickly moved away, dodging between its legs.
"You can't dodge forever!" Samurai mocks.
Ash was sweating. He knew what his chances were of winning and it wasn't high. However, after the many chit-chats of battle strategies he had with Reiner, a way to win was slowly piecing itself together in his mind.
"Keep using string shot!"
The strings circled around the Pinsir's body all over. Most of them were cut off but overtime, they started to accumulate layers around the untouched parts. Soon, the Pinsir's movements were getting much more rigid and slow. It tried to break apart it once again but each layer of strings served to make the overall harder to snap.
"Now tackle Caterpie!" Ash shouts, wanting to take chance of this opportunity.
But it was too soon. The Pinsir still had enough strength and speed in it to move away from the incoming attack. After dodging, it followed up with a heavy tackle of its own that sent Caterpie flying into a tree, knocking him out completely.
With a face of regret, Ash sent Caterpie back into his Pokeball and brought Pikachu into the battlefield. Pikachu had a determined face that showed he wanted to avenge his fallen allies.
"Pikachu! Thunder shock!"
A discharge of lightning came out of Pikachu as they bolted towards the Pinsir with high speed. It had almost dodged successfully but the strings left behind by Caterpie slowed it down enough for the attack to land.
"Again! Keep using it!" Ash shouts, his hopes finally lifting after seeing the Pinsir damaged for the first time.
A few successful lighting attacks later, you could see the Pinsir was slowly starting to adjust as the strings had gotten looser. With every passing second, it was getting quicker as it started nearing Pikachu. Soon it had managed to cornered Pikachu between itself and a tree before Ash had noticed and was about ready to use its horns. However, Ash still had one last trick up his sleeve.
"Pikachu, use Thunder wave!" Ash shouts with a worried but hopeful face.
As the horns started coming down, about to strike, sparks of lighting were suddenly seen forming outside Pikachu. The Pinsir then suddenly stopped moving as lines of electricity began injecting themselves into its body.
Noticing this, Pikachu quickly moved away and continued his assault of 'Thunder shocks' onto the paralyzed Pinsir. In no time, Pikachu knocked out the Pinsir and went on to easily defeat the Metapod as well.
"...I have underestimated you. The trainers from Pallet truly are strong." Samurai bows his head, accepting defeat.
"Trainers from Pallet...? Have you fought pokemon matches with Gary and the others?" Ash looked dumbfounded.
"Ahh yes. They were all spectacular matches!" Samurai says as he look towards the sky.
This seemed to have worked better than expected... Caterpie still haven't evolve but it seems like Ash got stronger in other ways this time. Hopefully, this will make him a more competent trainer in the future. Anyway, as I looked out at the sky, I noticed that the sun was beginning to set.
"Enough chit-chat. The sun's setting, we need to make camp soon." I tell them.
Hearing this, Samurai replied without hesitation, saying how he had a house nearby where we could stay at. We accepted his invitation without any trouble and made our way there. During our walk, Ash turned around and handed me a Pokeball.
"Samurai's right... You deserve this guy more than I do." Ash says with a soft smile.
"Hm.. Alright then, I guess I'll call him...Stinger."
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Morning hit and as we settled up our things and were readied to leave, but before we could, Samurai came up to me with a stern expression.
"I challenge you Reiner!" He declares, with his Pokeballs held firm in his hands. "You have peaked my interest for a while now... I think you're much stronger than you look."
Well, that's insulting... Of course I don't look strong, I'm ten for god's sake. But yeah, a battle wouldn't be so bad right now.
"Sure. You're on."
The match started off with Indra against his Pinsir. Learning from Ash, Samurai gave me no time to prepare and immediately unleashed an aggressive attack straight ahead.
"Bubbles then block!"
There was little chance for Indra to dodge since Pinsir was much faster so I decided that blocking would be more effective. And it went according to plan, with Indra receiving minimum damage while the Pinsir had gotten hurt by the bubbles. The impact from the tackle also pushed Indra away so he had already gained some distance between them.
"Use growl then repeat!"
Indra did as so. The following sequence of Growl, Bubbles, then blocking occurred multiple times as both of them received heavy injuries. But you could tell the Pinsir was much more damaged just by looking. It seems the 'Growls' worked in reducing the attack power just like in the games. I'd have to look more into how much damage is decreased later on...
After seeing no effect on the sixth usage of Growl, I told Indra to stop doing it. It was already enough though, since it was at the point where Indra's bubbles were a lot stronger than the Pinsir's attacks.
As Samurai start noticing the difference in the damage exchanges, he quickly devised a new plan. This time, instead of tackling, he would make the Pinsir use 'Vise grip' so that he could hold onto Indra. The reason he didn't use this in the first place was because a 'Vise grip' is a slower attack than that of a simple tackle. He was unsure if Indra could dodge it but now, he was willing to risk it.
"Alright it's time... Rush into the horns and grab them!"
I've been anticipating for this moment since we first started. Normally Indra would be crushed but, maybe the 'Growls' and damage done would help just enough for him to overcome this. All I could do was hope, since I already knew, this was bound to occur. Unlike him, I took a risk from the start.
As the Pinsir neared Indra, it lowered its back to reveal it's horns. However just before it reached him, Indra leaped right into the horns and using the strength from his arms, prevented it from closing any further. This was to decrease the force applied from the horns by ensuring it doesn't pick up any momentum.
"Now bubble like crazy!"
While Indra was holding down the horns from closing in on him, he was also shooting up hundreds of bubbles from his beak.
"Now jump!" I shout, as not long after, I noticed the horns closing in.
So as Indra jumped, he also pounded the Pinsir's head midair and landed behind it. Then before it could react, he blasted more bubbles and pushed it onto the ground face flat.
"Nice! Now break it's legs!"
Hearing this, Samurai got scared and sent Pinsir back into its Pokeball. Just as I though, threatening a low-level trainer is super effective since they can't gauge how much damage their Pokemons can take.
Next was the Metapod as usual but Samurai seemed to have more hope than normal. Nothing too crazy though as all it did was harden and prepared for a big attack. However, Indra just walked over and started using pound repeatedly. Again and again, Indra strikes down the Metapod while it just sat there taking damage. However, as if planned by Samurai, a burst of white light was suddenly shone out of the Metapod.
"Butterfree! I knew you could do it!" Samurai cheered gleefully, with almost tears in his eyes.
However, Indra just pull the Butterfree into the ground during it's evolution and continued pounding it. When the evolution process was complete, the Butterfree had already fainted.
"Nice going." I bend down and gave Indra a fist bump.
Samurai was seen crouched in front of his Butterfree with wet eyes; all his hopes were crushed in an instant. He then carried the Butterfree in his arms and came over to me, wiping out his tears beforehand.
"A marvelous battle as expected!" His sadness had already faded, all replaced with determination. "You and Ash are truly strong trainers."
After picking up our bags, we finally continued our journey and soon parted ways with Samurai. But before we walked off too far, he stepped forward and gave us his final message.
"Let's have a rematch next time we meet!" Samurai shouts with a big smile, while waving his katana in the air.
Me and Ash turned back around and gave him a thumbs up. Looking at him from afar, he looked like a bright kid who seems excited for our rematch. It's too bad we'll probably never meet him again. Ah...the tragedy of being a side character.
Anyway, from here on it's going to be a few days until we reach Pewter City. I've got a type advantage against Brock but a little training won't hurt.