Adventure's Past

Chapter 37 - Companion

Ash felt the ground beneath him rumble, a sure indication that a magnificent transformation was occurring deep in the dirty sand. "A sight to behold! Mega Steelix!" Brock exclaimed as Steelix emerged from the surface in its mega form; metal spikes jutted out in new places and crystals floated around its head, following its movements.

"It's even scarier looking than last time," Ash whispered to himself, sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He looked over at Sceptile, who looked back and nodded with extreme confidence; he could detect that Ash was admittedly nervous, but also wanted to instill confidence in him to show that he could take on the beast before him.

Feeling this sense of confidence, a smile formed on Ash's face as he gave a slight nod to Sceptile. "Right," he simply replied, understanding Sceptile's intentions. "Let's give no openings for them to attack!" He exclaimed, clenching his fist and pushing it forward. "Quick, use Leaf Storm towards Steelix!"

Brock watched as Sceptile lunged a pile of rapidly moving leaves towards Steelix and cracked his neck, preparing to contend it. "Use Stone Edge and nullify the move!" He contested, staring up at Steelix, who roared and slammed the ground, causing large stone spikes to shoot up from the ground and make their way towards Sceptile.

On the way to their target, the stones cut right through the Leaf Storm, scattering the leaves everywhere and dampening their attack. "Quick, jump onto the Stone Edge and follow its motions!" Ash nervously exclaimed as Sceptile stood before the ever-approaching rocks.

Jumping into the air, Sceptile landed gracefully on one of the move's aggressive stones, confidently standing there. "Don't let up the attack, Steelix!" Brock cried, slamming his foot on the ground as Steelix slammed its tail, sending a more powerful wave of Stone Edge towards Sceptile. Ash cockily smirked, thinking there was no way the move could reach Sceptile, who was on top of the previous rock that was created.

Suddenly, as the Stone Edge began tracking its way towards Sceptile, Ash noticed that it began curving upwards with each new rock, seemingly finding its way higher and higher. Sceptile hadn't noticed it, and before Ash could call out to warn his Pokemon of the incoming danger, a large rock curved upward and impacted Sceptile directly into the chest, sending him flying off the rock and slamming into the wall, high in the sky.

Ash's eyes widened as his pupils shrunk. "Try to land on your feet!" He yelled in a worried manner as Sceptile began descending towards the ground. Unable to hear him, however, he crashed directly into the ground, sending more dust flying everywhere than any previous Pokemon had.

As the Rotom Drone made its way over to where Sceptile lay, Ash had a strong feeling he already knew the final decision. That Stone Edge hit Sceptile hard, he thought to himself as he watched the drone slowly float towards the large green Pokemon. But we weren't ready to deal with it even if Sceptile was paying attention.

"Sceptile is unable to battle-bzzt! Please send out your next Pokemon-bzzt!" Ash slowly grabbed Sceptile's Pokeball and palmed it in his hand for a moment before sending the red light across the field, returning him to his resting place. Ash silently replaced the Pokeball onto his belt and took a deep breath, trying to think about what had just happened.

The Stone Edge seemed to follow Sceptile, even though he was all the way up there. He looked at the remains of the rock that Sceptile had stood on; it had been reduced to rubble, similar to Ash's fighting spirit. How did the Stone Edge follow him? It was almost like it tracked his every movement.

Pikachu seemed to think what Ash was thinking about and got his attention. Looking down, Ash frowned at Pikachu. "I don't know what happened," he muttered to his partner as he crossed his arms. "Pika! Pika-pi! Pi!" Pikachu exclaimed, pointing to himself. Ash's eyes grew as he listened to Pikachu's explanation, an extreme realization washing over him.