Ash woke up the next morning and him and Pikachu carried on with their normal routine. Several days had been missed due to the activities inside Mt Moon but now they redoubled their efforts. Pikachu's repeated practice of focusing his power into his fists and punching rocks had paid off, he now knew Rock Smash and was part way there with Brick Break. Ash decided that the next move he would learn would be a combination of Thunderbolt and Rock Smash. Pikachu was ridiculously strong for his species which made Ash wonder whether he had a legendary as an ancestor. No normal Pikachu could ramp up their electricity to the point it changed colour like his Pikachu did so learning combo moves seemed like a good idea to Ash, anything outside the box could only be good when facing other trainers. Thunder Smash seemed a bit of a banal name for what he came up with but as it did the job Ash shrugged it off.
Ash rang his mum to let her know what had gone on inside Mt Moon. Delia had made him promise after the incident at Viridian City that anytime he encountered Team Rocket he would ring her and they would talk through whatever happened. Delia was incredibly concerned for Ash hearing just what he had done. He was a murderer now, less than two months after starting his journey but she also knew his task for Arceus came before anything she could be concerned about. So, to that end Delia agreed to keep the scolding to a minimum. It wasn't the loss of the lives of Team Rocket that had her worried, anytime they were brought up just reminded her of Red and what they did to her family. No, her main issue was that it was that her baby actively seeking them out.
Ash didn't tell her about Cleffa just yet. He wanted the little one to be healthy before he sent her to his mum. He knew she would love her, but Ash needed to make sure that Cleffa wanted the same thing. He didn't want to be trapped by anyone and had no desire to do that to anyone else. So, walking down to see Nurse Joy, he asked her how she was doing.
"She has had a lot of trauma Ash" Joy said looking worried "a lot of trauma, she's very skittish at the minute and doesn't react very well to loud noises. She was full of holes, like needles that were roughly put in and then pulled out. You rescued her just in time. She certainly won't be sanctioned to battle for at least a month while her body recovers from her ordeal. You say you have no idea what happened to her?"
"No, sadly I don't" Ash said shaking his head "I caught her at the exit of Mt Moon. I thought she had been attacked and escaped but I didn't know what by. And I knew she needed urgent medical attention which is why I captured her. I had plans to release her once she was healed but I feel like resting in a safe environment would be better for her so I plan to explain to her that I'm sending her to my mother who will spoil her, and if she wants to leave when she's better my mother will take her back to Mt Moon."
"That's wonderful Ash" Joy said "I shall take you to her now" getting up she led Ash into the back area where a Cleffa was sat on a table looking around, clearly in some distress. Walking in and seeing Ash she jumped off the table and ran to the corner.
"Easy there Cleffa" Ash said "Nurse can I have a minute with her please?" nodding Joy left and closed the door. Sitting down cross-legged Ash started talking "Hello little one, my name is Ash and I'm the one who rescued you. The Nurse who healed you doesn't know what happened and I plan to keep it that way. I'm truly sorry about capturing you, I didn't want to, but you would have died had I not brought you here and I couldn't have that on my conscience. Nurse Joy told me that you will take at least another month to recover from your injuries. So, with that in mind I've come to make you an offer. First, I have no desire to have you as my Pokémon, it is nothing personal, I had already planned what my full team would be long before I caught you. My mother however is likely feeling lonely since I left as there is no one else in our home.
So, what I'm proposing is this. I will send you to her so that you can heal up and not be worried about wild Pokémon attacking you while you heal and in return you can provide company for her. Once you are fully better, should you wish it she will take you back to Mt Moon and release you. I will say this, you won't be the only Pokémon I send her so bear that in mind should you wish to stay with her. I will give you a few hours to think this through and to come up with any questions you may have. Oh, the men who did this to you are all dead so they will not be doing that to any other Pokémon ever again."
Standing up Ash left and told Nurse Joy what he had said. Making their way to the local delivery shop Ash packaged the laptop up and sent it to Lance with a note.
Lance, I took this off a Team Rocket admin. I thought it may interest you. A.S.K
Knowing the initials may give him away didn't make Ash feel as concerned as he could be as he knew that in the next few months he would be working with Lance and the full story would come out then when they revives the fossil. Watching the carrier Pidgeot fly away Ash relaxed a little. Deciding to go shopping Ash knew that he'd have to restock after Mt Moon as his supplies had gotten dangerously short in that few days inside the mountain. Shopping proved to be more difficult than he imagined though as when he got there, he found that it had been cordoned off. Apparently, thieves had broken in last night and stole equipment from the store. Why anyone would steal a vacuum and leave everything else baffled Ash.
Walking into the Gym Ash spoke to the receptionist and found out that for the next few days the Sensational Sisters wouldn't be taking any gym challenges.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked incredulously "it's their job! They're not allowed to deny any challenger without good reason!"
"And they have one" the receptionist snottily replied, "they have their shows to perform which takes precedence over a silly gym challenge. The next open slot is for Thursday afternoon. Shall I pencil you in?"
"Oh really" Ash said "a 'silly gym challenge' is it. Thursday it is then" Turning round he went to leave but before he did, he said "I wonder what the league will make of this when they find out that the gym leader is declining challenges, despite being funded directly for that. Food for thought isn't it" shaking his head he left.
The next few days passed by in a whirlwind of activity for Ash. Cleffa had decided that she would take Ash up on his offer so he rang his mum to inform her what had happened and if she could help him. Delia was delighted, she admitted that she was a bit lonely in a home with just herself and would happily help Cleffa recover. The transfer process was fairly simple. Ash called Sam, gave him the same explanation he gave Nurse Joy and told him that Cleffa would now be owned by his mum and to clear her from his records. Sam was happy to do this and within five minutes his mum now had a Pokémon. Promising Ash weekly updates on her well being Ash left her to it and he had a little wager with himself that after a month of being with his mother Cleffa wouldn't want to leave.
Training was progressing really well. The three days he had to wait before his battle with Cerulean Gym was beneficial to Ash as he had found a little area up on the cape where people were happy to battle him. As they were just practice battles Ash didn't care about losing, just how they lost and how they progressed. Coming across many hikers Ash and Pikachu were able to practice Pikachu's new moves and mastered Rock Smash and Brick Break. Thunder Smash wasn't progressing as well as he'd hoped though.
"It's baffling" Ash said "how you can't seem to get this one Pikachu when you mastered the base moves"
"That's because you're trying to fuse two moves that oppose each other" a voice said behind him. Turning around he saw it was a massive mountain of a man who looked vaguely familiar. Sitting down beside them both on a bench overlooking the water he continued "I've been watching you both for the last hour try and fail at combining these moves. I believe it's because you're forgetting something vital. Rock naturally resists any form of conduction. There's a reason that type matchups usually work in favour of the one with a better one and trying to infuse rock with electricity will not work. I've only ever seen a legendary electric Pokémon that's able to affect a rock type like Onix or Graveler with its electricity. Your Pikachu, while strong just doesn't have the voltage capacity to do soo, at least not just yet anyway. You need to increase Pikachu's electric output before you can attempt to master this move. Maybe think about evolving him."
"Pikachu doesn't want to evolve" Ash said interrupting him "and I will never force a Pokémon to do so just to be able to use a move. There must be another way."
"Well, there may be one thing" the man said "there's an incredibly rare item that is used to power up electric types. It's said to only be located where strong electric types gather. It's called a Light Ball and they only appear in select locations and only then under very unusual circumstances. They're essentially a faulty Thunderstone that's infused with electricity to the point it overloads the evolution element inside. If you find one, it is said to increase your Pokémon's electrical output by 50%."
"Do you know where I can find one?" Ash asked interested.
"Well Saffron or Celadon department store might have them. Or you could order one" the man said "I'll warn you though because of how rare they are they're not cheap. Alternatively, there's a Power Plant just east of Rock Tunnel. It's rumoured that a powerful Electric Pokémon lives there but no one has ever seen it and it's full of electric type Pokémon so that may be a cheaper option, there's no guarantee you'll find one though."
"Well I wont be getting to either of those cities for months yet" Ash said musingly "and Rock Tunnel is on the way to Lavender Town so I'll be going that way anyway. A little side trip to the Power Plant sounds fun. What do you say Pikachu?"
"Should be fun Ash" Pikachu said "being unable to learn a move is frustrating. Can we learn something else in the meantime."
"That sounds like a good idea. We already know you'll have the advantage in the next gym but then we showed the last gym that type advantage counts for nothing against strategy so maybe we shouldn't be so cocky just yet" Ash said nodding.
"Do you mean to tell me you beat Brock with that Pikachu?" the man asked wonderingly.
"Well, yes and no" Ash said grimacing. "We beat his Geodude and Rhyhorn fairly easily as he didn't expect Pikachu to know Iron Tail. And I'm certain we would have found a way to beat his Onix but Brock decided that I'd met his gym requirements by beating his first two with such a major disadvantage. So he agreed to give me a badge if I would face the weakest of his elites. We did, and we didn't get a move off before it beat us. His Golem used one move and smashed us. Admittedly Pikachu was tired from beating the other two but we both knew we were outclassed at that time and we vowed afterwards to learn moves to deal with Pikachu's type disadvantage and that one day rock types everywhere would fear the small electric mouse that could beat them."
"That's very admirable" the man said standing up "and a very worthy goal so I'd like to test something. I'd like to battle you, not a full battle though. I just want to see where your Pikachu is at developmentally".
Nodding and standing up Ash made his way across the field "let's go Pikachu" he shouted as the little yellow mouse jumped in front of Ash its cheeks sparking threateningly.
"I'm going to use my newest member" the man said "I caught her around a month ago after she got herself lodged in my other Pokémon's body while we were training. I don't expect you to win, just so you know. I have years of training behind me but I expect you to do your best. Let's go Sandslash" and with that a brown spiky armoured mouse appeared.
Pointing his Pokedex at the creature it bleeped to life "Sandslash, Pokedex Number 28, the Sand Mouse Pokémon and the evolved form of Sandshrew. This Pokémon is female. It is skilled at slashing enemies with its claws. If broken, they start to grow back in a day."
"So that's what its evolution looks like. It looks tough Pikachu. Let's start off with Quick Attack" at that Pikachu streaked forward, its training with the weights on had given him a massive speed boost once he took them off. He had found that in the few months Ash and he had become partners his speed had doubled already. Ash's methods, while strange had evidently paid off.
"Defence Curl" the man said, and the brown mouse curled up into a ball making Pikachu bounce off it.
"Iron Tail" Ash said and saw his friend swing his tail sending it flying backwards "Good Job Pikachu"
"Dig quickly Sandslash" the man said thoroughly enjoying this as it burrowed its way underground "what are you going to do now young man? Sandslash could appear anywhere."
"Use your feet and ears Pikachu" Ash said "you'll know when it's about to surface when the ground beneath you trembles" nodding Pikachu focused. His training with Aura had helped Pikachu develop a much better sense of hearing.
"Come on up Sandslash and use Slash" the man shouted.
Looking around Ash noticed a few pebbles start to shake on the ground "There Pikachu, 5 o clock. Use Iron Tail"
Quicker than anticipated the Sandslash came barrelling up from the ground sending Pikachu flying upwards. Using gravity as momentum though Pikachu swung around and smashed his tail into the Sandslash sending it sprawling to the ground where it staggered to its feet. "Now Pikachu quickly. Use Thunderbolt" immediately a bolt of electricity headed to the sand mouse.
"Take it Sandslash, charge through and use Slash" the man said thinking Ash had forgot his type charts. "You lose this time young man. What?!"
Sandslash felt something very few ground types had every experienced before as it went flying backwards. Conduction. It lit up like a Christmas tree and was knocked out.
"Well, I'll be" the man said as he recalled his beaten Pokémon "your Pikachu is something special young man"
"Thanks" Ash said picking Pikachu up and placing him on his shoulder "we've trained relentlessly since we became partners. We still need to work on his sensory issues it seems though. Dig should have never been allowed to connect so it looks like we've got another area to train. Those defence sessions we've been having have certainly paid off though, that Dig was strong" Nodding Pikachu agreed. It had been a good match and now he knew that his electricity was potent enough to affect ground types he was less worried about facing them.
"Indeed" the man said laughing shaking his head "it seems that I need to train too. Man, wait until I tell the others this. The rest of the group will never let me live this down. Imagine an electric type beating a ground type with an electric move. Your Pikachu will become a monster if he ever decides to evolve. If not, a light Ball will work wonders too. Well, I must be off. It was good meeting you young man".
"Ash" he said "my name is Ash Ketchum".
"Red's boy?" the man said wonderingly "that explains a lot. I expect you to go far in the league Ash. I shall be looking out for you." The man then left leaving Ash and Pikachu wondering just who he was, and more importantly how he knew his dad. Walking back to the centre he passed several trainers rushing off to where Ash had just been. Overhearing a conversation, he stopped
"Did you hear? Bruno is said to around here somewhere."
"Elite Four Bruno? Where? Oh man, I'd love to meet him."
"I don't know, I just overheard it in the café before. Apparently he's passing through Cerulean on his way to the mountains near Mt Moon."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find him."
Shaking his head Ash carried on walking "I'm glad I'm not really famous yet amongst trainers Pikachu. I know Sam told me that I'm famous amongst professors but thankfully I've only met one. I don't think I could cope with being hounded like the Elite Four do. It would have been cool to meet Bruno though eh?"
"It would. It's not every day you get to meet an Elite Four member" Pikachu said "we could have asked for tips on how to get stronger"
"That's true" Ash said nodding walking into the Pokémon centre "but that bloke gave us some good advice too. Once we're done with Cerulean we'll see about getting information about the Power Plant and you a Light Ball. Let's have a look at what moves you can learn Pikachu" he said as he powered up the computer. "it looks like you've got decent coverage so far for rock types. We need something for the neutral types. Grass and Fire Types resist your electricity so maybe something for them. We're pretty limited on what we can learn though buddy and I think we'll save Thunder for last after we develop your electricity more. Ooh these look promising. Double Team for evasion, Feint in case of Protect stallers and Light Screen for special coverage. Yeah, I think they'll be the next three moves for you to learn."
"Sounds good Ash" Pikachu said curling up on the bed "I know quite a few moves but more always helps."
"Yup" Ash said standing up "that's a good point actually. What moves do you know?" getting Dexter, he pointed it at Pikachu and it blared to life "This Pikachu knows the moves Thundershock, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Iron Tail, Quick Attack, Rock Smash, Brick Break and Aura Sphere. It has the egg move Volt Tackle that has yet to be unlocked."
"What the hell?" Ash shouted standing up "how do you know Aura Sphere? Pikachu's can't learn Aura Sphere!"
"How the hell should I know" Pikachu said standing up too "I have been feeling weird though lately. Whenever I focus on something I can hear the world around me a lot better. When the Sandslash used Dig before I could hear it underground and I could feel it in the rocks around me. It was very distracting."
"I can only assume its because I've been infusing your body with Aura every day building up your defence. That's only a guess though. Try and form an Aura Sphere" Ash said.
"How?" Pikachu asked.
"I don't really know. I just focus on expelling my Aura outwards and then shape it into a ball or a spike. It's virtually impossible to describe to those who can't use aura. Try focusing that weird feeling you get sometimes and then focus your energy into your palm and try and shape it."
After half an hour of nothing Ash sat down sighing. "Dexter says you know it, so it's clearly there inside of you. We just have to find a way to unlock it and I refuse to get the Guardians involved before you say anything."
"I wasn't going to" Pikachu said defensively "I trust you Ash. I know we'll find a way of unlocking it."
"Come on, let's go eat. Tomorrow is the day we battle the leader. I want an annihilation job Pikachu. They've really irritated me" Ash said standing up and making his way to the canteen.
The next day Ash made his way to the Gym. When he got there the same snotty receptionist was there. "Come back, have you?"
"No" Ash said sarcastically "I'm a mirage. This is all in your head."
"Well go on through. The leaders are ready to beat you" she said smirking nastily.
"We'll see wont we" Ash said walking through the corridor and following the signs for the gym. Walking out of the doorway he stopped. It was a massive pool with platforms at various points. Across from him on the other side were three women. The only distinguishing features about them that separated them were their hair. One had pink hair, another blue and the last was blonde "Which one of you is the gym leader?" Ash asked.
"Like, we all are" the Blonde said as though it was obvious.
"Yeah, we take it in turns to battle" the Bluenette said.
"Yeah, we are the sensational Sisters. But like, we have already been in a few battles today, our Pokémon are far too valuable as stars in our show to get hurt so we like, can't be bothered battling you today so you'll have to come back tomorrow" the Pinkette said.
"Erm, no" Ash said furiously "I've already been denied a battle with you on Sunday by that bitchy receptionist you have, who told me to come back today. I have done just that. Now, I'll repeat, which one of you am I battling?"
"Like, none little boy" the blonde said laughing "now why don't you go on home to mummy."
"Alright" Ash said taking his pokegear out and ringing Sam "I'll just make this phone call and then I'll leave."
"Like we don't care" the Pinkette said.