Author's Notes (5)
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Whew. I'm exhausted, man. I had to stop myself before continuing on since I've always wanted to write up to this point. This chapter and next chapter were one of the first ideas that came into my mind that would eventually become the starting point of Fated. So really, thanks for all your support for encouraging me to go this far.
Now, I understand that my decision to make Ash and Serena reunite late in the story in a tad controversial and truthfully, not what you guys came for. But this is one thing I will not budge on. Deviating too much from what I want to write will affect a lot of things later down the line, but I also understand if readers dislike this direction. I will not mind nor complain if this decision will turn off a lot of readers from this story since this is an Amour story to begin with. But worldbuilding and character arcs are more important to me.
I've seen great stories turn to garbage because of forced romance BS (looking at you AOT), which I do not want happen to my story. Right now, if Ash and Serena get together at this point in the story, it would be forced. So my reason for delaying it for like 50% of the story is to develop them into standalone characters that naturally fall for each other all over again. And imagine the payoff after getting screwed over by the writer (me) and the entire story, Ash finally gets his wish and meets her.
(Slight spoiler: Their reunion is going to be epic... Also watch Shirou summoning Saber to get a better understanding)
...Or you guys can just stop reading until I get to the part where the two reunite, which is honestly what I would do tbh. But regardless, I am really thankful to you readers who has kept reading thus far. It really means a lot that I can finally write everything in my head for the past few years since XY.
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Custom Megas?
Unfortunately, no. Although I will deviate a lot in Fated, I prefer to keep to core of the games just like canon. Meaning no new Z moves or Megas... until they announce them (new megas pls)
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Ash's victory against Leon
Won't change anything in the story since Fated was written with the idea that Ash would win the Masters 8. Would be damn embarrassing if he lost and I had to discontinue this story. (jk)
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Galar last region?
Nope. The Fated universe is written in a way that I have enough leeway to expand the world whenever a new game comes out and since I've been crafting some ideas for Paldea so definitely not.
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Team Star and Paradox Pokémon
For Team Star, there is no plans for now. As for Paradox Pokémon, seems kinda like a 'Dialga screwed up' situation but idk, we'll see if there's any DLC expanding the lore on Paradox Pokémon in the future at the time of writing this.
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SV good games?
I can't judge them since I don't have them nor a Switch, but although the framerates are trash, the story is a step up from SWSH. However, it's alright to enjoy the game and like it, there's absolutely no problem with that. But to forgive anything for that? Nah man, its Nintendo. They and Game Freak can make an even better game than this and this is a fact, not speculation. It's the top franchise for a reason and an above mediocre game is understandably not good in the eyes of a consumer.
So TLDR:
Game ok, but could/must be better. (Glitches were funny to watch 10/10)
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And that's all, folks. Thanks for reading!
___________
Chapter 49: Fire Red & Leaf Green (2)
"You big dummy…" Serena whispered with trembling lips as she watched an exhausted Ash smiling with confidence despite his haggard state.
'Why're you going so far for this, Red?'
{ I told you… hah… I'm… gonna be… }
{ The Pokémon Master… didn't I? That… was my promise. }
'I didn't tell you to go kill yourself, !' the honey blonde angrily retorted at the absurd lengths Ash would go through to keep his vows.
{ And… }
{ To save you… you so-called genius blockhead… }
'…Even like that…'
'Even when a gentle breeze could topple you down…'
'You're still trying to help others, huh?'
Serena could not help but let out a resigned smile at the stubborn boy.
'…Mon bête Red.'
"You think I'm scared of your damn Bonds, Red?!"
A wounded Rhydon suddenly charged at high speed towards Lapras, each second accumulating more power into its incoming tackle.
"[Giga Impact]!"
But before the Drill Pokémon could reach the plesiosaur, a large shield of ice resembling that of a flower formed rapidly in between the two Pokémon, causing [Giga Impact] to hit the shield instead.
BOOM!
'This is Lorelei's…!'
A certain vermilion-haired Elite Four and Blue watched with excitement as they were flattered at Ash's fusion of the ice shields that Lorelei used and the flower pattern that Blue created.
An aftermath of chilling vapour rose into the air as they revealed the sharp bloodred eyes that pierced into the orange-haired boy's soul.
"Yes," the raven-haired boy answered.
The vapour uncovered a frozen ground, courtesy of Lapras, and turned towards her Trainer as she awaited his instructions.
"It's not gonna be perfect, but let's do this!" Ash let out a crazed grin as he called out his next attack.
'Every last detail of Miss Lorelei's [Ice Shards]. All those weapons…'
'I'm entrusting them to you, Lapras!'
"Kyaaaaa!" Lapras bellowed with pride as blueprints were transferring into her mind.
Ash had noticed during his final confrontation against Lorelei that he was able to transfer recorded techniques to his Pokémon as evidenced by Marowak and [Nine Strikes]. Although unsure if he was able to do that once more, the raven-haired boy nevertheless took the gamble without a hint of fear.
'Urk! These damn swords!'
Ash grunted in agony as the phantom blades stabbed deeper than they had ever gone before. But the boy kept going, undeterred by the most painful experience to date in his 11 years of life.
= Transferring [Ice Shard] to linked subject…
= Commencing handshake…
= Mutual handshake observed.
= Sending: Lapras_Lorelei(F) to Lapras(F).
"I'll be borrowing this for a while, Miss Lorelei! [Ice Shard]!" Ash cried out as one of his leg gave out, making him kneel in pain with a leg.
The Transport Pokémon pounded her front flipper onto the icy floor, cracking it a little. Soon after, the echoing thump was followed with numerous crystallized polearms that made their way towards Rhydon at an alarming rate.
"More fakery! Rhydon, use the strategy in our reviews!"
Although confronted with an unexpected variable, Gary kept his cool and level-headed as he proceeded to give orders to decimate the offending copies of Lorelei's [Ice Shard] polearms.
Xxx
"Oh my…" Lorelei muttered out with amazement.
"Are you mad at Red, Miss Lorelei?!" Blue panicked, hoping her childhood friend had not offended the Elite Four by copying her.
"I-I-I know he has no tact whatsoever and a bit of an idiot, bu-bu-but…!"
The chestnut-haired girl stumbled around her words, trying to appease a very amused Lorelei who burst into chuckles at Blue's horrendous attempt to explain.
"It's fine, Blue. I'm actually flattered that a Trainer like Ash would consider copying me. In fact, I find it cute that he's relying on him, in a sense," the vermilion-haired woman said, riling up an annoyed Daisy.
But her bespectacled eyes quickly narrowed seriously at the frozen polearms Lapras created as she took a closer inspection.
'…This is rather strange,' Lorelei pondered.
'Ash may be specialized in faking moves or techniques with his Pokémon, but…'
'He managed to produce such flawless copies of my [Ice Shard] weapons within a day after seeing it once?'
"[Bulldoze]!"
Rhydon stomped onto the frozen earth and echoed a gigantic shockwave that spread around the battlefield. The tremors vibrated the incoming polearms violently, causing them to shatter into a million pieces.
{ GREEN COUNTERS THE [ICE SHARD] WITH A SINGLE MOVE! }
{ RED'S NOW AT A DISADVANTAGE HERE! }
"Get out of my sight, Lapras! [Drill Run]!"
The Drill Pokémon broke into a wild rush towards the plesiosaur and rotated its body resembling a drill just like its namesake. Rhydon spared no effort into arriving in front of the surprised Lapras and finishing her off with finality.
BOOM!
Lapras was flung back and crashed into the earth, not able to get back up.
{ LAPRAS IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! RHYDON WINS! }
{ IT'S NOW AN EVEN MATCH OF A 3V3! RED, SEND OUT YOUR POKEMON! }
"You did amazing, Lapras. Leave the rest to me…" Ash praised to Lapras' Ball as he recalled her with a soft whisper.
A tired Ash still had a grin on his face, signifying that the raven-haired boy had not yet thrown in the towel. Gary scowled with hateful green eyes as he watched his rival trying to pick himself up after kneeling a leg.
"Just give it up, Red! You're in no condition to battle!"
"Haha… Very poor choice in words, man," Ash laughed with sharpened bloodred eyes.
With the words 'give up' uttered, the raven-haired boy became determined to do the opposite with stubborn energy and summoned his next Pokémon.
{ MAROWAK RETURNS TO THE BATTLEFIELD! }
'Wait a minute… Where're his bones?'
"Looks like you've noticed, Green." Ash let out a cocky smirk instinctively at the surprised look on Gary's face.
Marowak made his way to where Lapras held her ground and bowed graciously for his fallen comrade. The skull warrior then dug both of his arms into the frozen earth and pulled out a familiar weapon…
A gigantic axe-sword of frigid ice with both of Marowak's bone clubs as its foundation.
"That's…!"
'Now, I get it. He returned only Marowak but not his bone clubs…'
'Lapras masked the bones by freezing the floor and taking my attention away by using Lorelei's [Ice Shard], all the while recreating that damn weapon!'
The air around the stadium grew wild as steam began emerging from Ash once more. This time, the raven-haired boy was in an even worse condition than before after overusing the power that was partially dammed by the phantasmal swords. While everyone was focused on the intimidating sight of Marowak mirroring Ash's stance, not even one noticed a trail of red dripping down the boy's nose.
"Come at me, Red! The moment you get close, Rhydon'll use [Horn Drill] on Marowak!"
Gary entered a panicked state as he had no clue how to defeat Marowak's [Nine Strikes] as it was a completely original move without any information. What he could not understand had the orange-haired boy furious and terrified. He somewhat anticipated that [Nine Strikes] would make another appearance but never this quickly as Gary witnessed the toll it took on Ash and Marowak, judging from the match from yesterday.
The orange-haired boy finally gazed upon his rival and was shocked at the nose-bleeding and extremely fatigued look on Ash. But the bloodred eyes still retained their blazing flames that fuelled the raven-haired boy's borderline suicidal actions.
'…Why?'
'Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy?!'
"JUST STAY DOWN, RRRRRREEEEEEDDDD!"
…
…
…
"—Trigger, off."
Ethereal blue lines shone on the raven-haired boy's arm as the chant unrestricted his power output temporarily. But the burden was too much for Ash as he began coughing out a splatter of warm blood, kept at high temperature courtesy of the internal heat his body was producing.
The boy could hear the shocked and worried screams and shouts around him, but he trudged through the pain. Ash only had one goal in mind as he transformed his heart into unfeeling steel:
Defeat his rival to fulfil his promise to Blue.
'Ready, Marowak?' he relayed to his skull warrior.
The Bone Keeper Pokémon nodded and took one step forward…
And disappeared in a flash as his afterimage faded, letting a slashed Rhydon know that he had already lost.
"[Nine Strikes]!"
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
The Drill Pokémon could not react. Even with [Horn Drill] activated, it could not find its target and died down quietly.
And a ninth swing onto the beast.
BOOM!
With glazed eyes, Rhydon fell onto the earth with a deafening thud.
{ R-R-RHYDON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! MAROWAK WINS! }
"Pikapi!" Pikachu begged his partner to stop as he watched with teary eyes at an asphyxiating Ash whilst tugging his trouser with his small paws.
The raven-haired boy quickly wiped off the blood on his face and pretended to stay strong for Pikachu by giving him a smile. But the smile was strained and clearly showed the tiredness and pain Ash was going through. And that made the electric mouse even more worried and encouraged his tugging on his Trainer's trousers.
"I'm *hack* fine, Pikachu," Ash lied through fits of painful coughs.
Seeing that his lie was not fooling his panicking partner, the raven-haired boy reached his gloved hand to gently pat onto the electric mouse's soft yellow head to comfort him.
Their bond needed no link to convey each other's thoughts as the two were always in sync after that fateful day.
"Let's go, Pikachu! We're going to be the very best!"
"Pika-pika!"
'Trust me, Pikachu.'
The electric mouse understood his partner's intentions and finally let go of him, wiping off his tears and watched over his Trainer until it was his turn.
"Thanks, partner…" the boy smiled as he returned to the battlefield with renewed vigour and a toothy grin on his face.
"You alright, Marowak?"
"Ga-ra!" the skull warrior nodded.
The strength the Bone Keeper Pokémon expended for [Nine Strikes] came from the unknown power that Ash shared through their bond, leaving Marowak at the same healthy state when he entered the battle. Although [Bonemerang] and [Bone Rush] were unable to be used due to the weapons being frozen, the skull warrior was more than willing to wield the icy axe-sword for the entire match as it was able to handle his mother's technique.
Gary stared with bewilderment at the raven-haired boy's nonchalant behaviour as he thought that Ash would have collapsed due to his worn-out state. But Ash was still standing, never allowing himself to fall until his job is done. And Gary knew full well what his goals were.
"That [Nine Strikes] of yours. That your strongest move?"
"Who knows? I might have a few more that I'm just itching to use," Ash sarcastically replied after already given up on lying since he was physically unable to do so.
"Hmph. Funny."
"I try my best."
Pokémon Academy, Kalos Region.
{ —TRIGGER, OFF. }
Serena gasped in horror as Ash spluttered out blood from a vicious cough and trembled in fear of the raven-haired boy's self-destructive tendencies.
"No… No!" the honey blonde choked in tears as Ash hastily wiped off the blood from his mouth while adamantly pretending to be fine.
"Serena?!" Grace leapt in a panic, causing the worried audience in the hall to watch the mother and daughter duo hug, mostly the former.
"It's okay… It's okay… He's fine," the woman soothed her daughter while rubbing her back gently.
True enough, the honey blonde watched the battle again as Ash shot a witty response at his rival's sarcastic compliment and wore a smile in between gasps for air. That small affirmation that the boy was alright calmed the honey blonde down.
"Hey, hey! Is Red really alright?!" Calem asked with alarm in his shaky voice after witnessing the raven-haired Trainer coughing out blood.
"I hope so, Calem. He may look alright now but…" Sycamore gulped as he got increasingly more worried for Serena's childhood friend.
"Professor… that boy might be in danger," his assistant, Sophie muttered while covering her mouth in distress.
"Elaborate, Sophie."
"From the way he's coughing, it might be haemoptysis. And a fatal one at that."
Serena and her friends paled in horror as they slowly turned back to a grinning Ash who was still wiping the leftover trails of red on his chin. The honey blonde trembled even more violently, causing Froakie and Grace to comfort her more but even they were panicking internally after what they heard.
The blue frog was aware of the professor's assistant's insinuation after spending so long in the lab that he was able to grasp some knowledge on both human and Pokémon biology. Some part within the Bubble Frog Pokémon's heart was beginning to regret learning about such things.
"Haemoptysis… How much do you think he's coughed out, Sophie?" Sycamore asked warily.
The people within the Academy's hall grew silent, scared but still awaiting Sophie's diagnosis.
Although she was hesitant to speak out due to how Serena would take it, she nevertheless said it with caution.
"…An 11 year old would have an average of 2650 ml of blood in their body or in Unovan terms, 5.6 pints of blood. But the amount Ash coughed out…"
"Even at a lower estimate…"
"It's probably almost 2 pints worth of blood…"
And the honey blonde lost her strength, hopelessly watching as the boy she loved destroy himself in the process.
"RED!"
"This… This is too much…" Daisy gasped, mortified at Ash's current state.
"Stop… Stop already, you dumb brat…" Misty whimpered shakily.
"It's all my fault…" Blue sobbed while in the arms of Skyla and the other teenage girls with Espeon nudging her to calm down.
"What do you mean, dear Blue?" Agatha asked worryingly.
"Red… He's always been like this."
"Never sparing a thought about himself and always put others first, leaving himself last."
'…No. I don't think he has ever put himself on the list ever,' Blue mused in realization.
"He… promised me that he'll bring Green back to normal. And Red never breaks his promise…"
The implications those words had brought shivers and terror to everyone in the room.
"Red's inability to give up and his unchangeable nature to put others before himself…"
"No matter how much he suffers for it, Red will always keep his promises…"
Blue stopped and silently begged Ash to cease his battles with Gary, who seemed too lost in his rage and sorrow to notice the bigger picture.
While the girls tried to comfort the Pallet Town Trainer, Lance peered back to the battlefield and scrutinize the raven-haired Trainer.
'…This is the first time I've ever been so wrong in my assessment ever since I took office as both a Kanto Elite Four and the Johto Champion.'
"I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. And…"
"The future Pokémon Master. Looking forward to battle y'all in the finals!"
'Looking back, I thought he was just a headstrong boy too ambitious for his own good. Then, I changed my impression of him as a talented Trainer capable of performing miracles after seeing him defeat Lorelei.'
'Now… I realized he wasn't any of those things…'
'…That boy, Ash Ketchum, is fundamentally broken as a human being.'
"Stop the match," Lance ordered with a conflicted look in his eyes.
"The boy is going to kill himself at this rate."
But before he could act, an authoritative voice stopped the carmine-haired man.
"Stop, Lance."
Two elderly men stepped into the room, both sharing a resolved but worried look on their faces. Hearing his senior's protest, Lance clenched his fist and implored the two old men.
"President, Professor! If this continues…!"
"You blasted fool, Samuel! That little boy is about to—"
"I know, Agatha. But this is something I promised to Ash as well," Oak explained to his former rival.
.
Yesterday…
"Professor Oak. I wanted to ask you for a favour," Ash greeted formally.
"What is it, dear boy?" Oak readily asked.
"Tomorrow, during my battle against Green, please don't let anyone interfere."
"Why would anyone ever interfere…" the professor's question trailed away before remembering the blue lines on Ash's arm.
"Are you…?"
"Yep. I'll probably go overboard with this… 'thing' I have, but I want you to promise me that," the boy chuckled.
The old man was about to shake his head but stopped himself after seeing the serious expression on his foster grandson's face.
"Please. No matter what happens, let Green and I duke it out until the very end."
"And also…"
.
"…It's a grandparent's job to trust their grandchild."
"Arcanine, in."
From the red and white Ball, a large red canine roared its entrance as it materialized on the battlefield. The glowering from the beast made Marowak nervous and alert.
"Intimidate, huh?" Ash coughed with a weak smile.
"I'm tired of you, Red! Just go down and admit I'm right!"
Arcanine made the first move as he sprinted towards Marowak with blinding speed. As he closed the distance, the red canine bared his razor-sharp teeth and chomped onto his prey with haste.
"[Crunch]!"
But what the sharp fangs found was a cold, unforgiving blade of ice that successfully intercepted their assault, surprising the Legendary Pokémon.
'Tch, Mind's Eye. You won't go down that easily, huh?'
"Looks like this counts as [Detect (Fake)], huh, Marowak?" the raven-haired boy said to his Pokémon.
"Ga-ra!"
"Now, [Slash (Fake)]!" Ash called out.
The Bone Keeper Pokémon then swung his frigid axe-sword sideways with immense strength, flinging Arcanine off his new weapon. But the red canine reacted swiftly and planted himself on the ground with a somersault to mitigate the impact.
"You damn faker."
"You sound like a broken record. Going senile?" the raven-haired boy taunted with pleasure.
It was not every day Ash got to tease his rival like this so he was going to make the most out of the day by taunting Gary every time he could get as his revenge against the younger Oak's insults towards him.
'Now that there's distance…!' Ash prepared himself as his bloodred eyes charged brighter.
Both Pokémon and Trainer readied their battle stance again as they were about to unleash their winning move for the second time in a row, causing most of the onlookers to widen their eyes at what was about to happen again.
"Tr— Agh!" Ash cried out in pain.
The accumulated stress on his body were exponentially growing and the copious amounts of steam rising from his skin was definitely not a good thing. The luminous blue circuits on his arm began crackling slightly, as if glitching like a computer program.
"Ahhh! Damnit…! Gaah!"
'Just a little more!' he internally shouted out in defiance against the unbearable agony.
"TR…TRIGGER, OFF!"
"[NINE STRIKES]!"
The skull warrior disappeared once more, gone for an instant. Within that instant, Marowak reappeared to where Arcanine stood…
…
'…Eh?'
…
Only to find no Arcanine before him…
"Ga-ra?!" the Bone Keeper Pokémon choked in surprise.
"Predictable till the end. [ExtremeSpeed]!"
Before Ash or Marowak could react, the red canine manifested out of thin air behind the latter and proceeded to tackle him with so much force that the skull warrior went flying out of the battlefield, leaving an explosion as he landed on the cratered wall.
BOOOOOM!
'How… how did he… Urk!' Ash was snapped out of his thoughts by the searing backlash from his reckless use of power for the second time in a row.
"Gah!" he tried to stifle a cry of pain.
{ M-M-MAROWAK IS UNABLE TO BATTLE… }
{ ARCANINE WINS… }
As the raven-haired boy quickly returned his fallen Pokémon, Gary did the same for his untouched ace and sent out his second to last Pokémon.
"Arcanine, out. Blastoise, in."
{ IT LOOKS LIKE GREEN HAS CHOSEN TO RETURN ARCANINE IN FAVOUR FOR BLASTOISE! }
{ WHAT WILL RED DO… NOW… }
The announcer's voice died gradually as Ash started to hack out more blood from his system, making the audience frightened.
But the raven-haired boy did not want the match to end because of him. Even knowing his foster grandfather would honour his request, there was little that the elderly man could do if Ash was seriously in danger and had to forcefully be stopped from continuing.
"That… must be a Salac Berry, right?" he managed to ask out with great difficulty while trying to show everyone that he was alright despite many things pointing to the contrary.
The phantom swords drove themselves even harder within Ash, making him struggle to even stand. In the end, he opted to kneel on one leg as a compromise while fighting off the massive backlash from the second [Nine Strikes].
"Yeah, courtesy of Karen. Blame her when you lose later."
'So that's how Arcanine managed to react even quicker than me…'
"As… if. I'm having th… the time of… my li… life right… now," Ash said with a raspy tone as he heaved heavily.
Right now, the raven-haired boy craved for water as he underwent dehydration due to the water in his body evaporating into steam. Steam that was leaving his body.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaked out for his partner's attention.
Turning his gaze towards the electric mouse, the latter held a bottle of water towards him, urging him to drink with his round black eyes of anxiety. Ash had wondered why Pikachu's presence was not present next to him for a while, but he had to concentrate for two consecutive [Nine Strikes] so he did not think much.
Ash was confused as to how Pikachu got the bottle of water before gazing back at a shy Sabrina silently voicing out her support.
'Don't give up, huh?' Ash thought as he tried to read her lips.
Graciously accepting the bottle from his treasured partner, Ash downed the contents within seconds, refreshing his mind and spirit as he took out his next PokéBall.
"Don't think you've won just yet, Green! I don't give up until it's over!"
With that, Ash summoned his second to last Pokémon.
"Charizard, I choose you!"
An orange dragon burst from his Ball and roared mightily to the skies as he let out a [Flamethrower] upwards as his entrance.
"What… *cough* a show-off," Ash muttered out as he stood back up.
Behind Ash, a frustrated Sabrina was about to tear her hair out.
"That absolute dunce! I told him 'Don't be stupid' and he went and did the opposite!" Sabrina yelled out uncharacteristically.
Seeing Ash's choice of Pokémon, Gary could only let out an offended scoff.
"Seriously? It may work on the small fries but choosing a Type disadvantageous Pokémon instead of Pikachu… Ahhhhh."
"So you did know, don't you, Red? What I told you that day."
"You hid it well, but I noticed it. During your battle against Misty as well as our little scuffle just now…"
"Pikachu has hit his limit, hasn't he?"
The raven-haired boy sneaked a glance at his partner's frustrated self as the electric mouse clenched his tiny paws tightly.
"…Do you seriously think my partner's that weak?" Ash defended with a hint of anger in his voice.
"Looks like that huge brain of yours needs some maintenance. Better yet, get some glasses, smartass! You're blind if you think Pikachu's weak!" he yelled vehemently.
'Easy to rile up just like before. You really don't change, Red!'
"Now."
The cannoned turtle primed his metallic barrels towards Charizard and shot out twin beams of azure water towards the Flame Pokémon. Charizard did not expect the pre-emptive attack and quickly raised his guard up to block.
'Crap!'
"Charizard, use—!"
But it was too late as the two [Hydro Pump] landed cleanly onto the orange dragon with the latter grunting in pain at the super effective moves.
BOOM! BOOM!
"Charizard, *cough* * cough* you alright?!" Ash called out while having a coughing fit from the smoke and his current condition.
As if to respond to his Trainer, the Flame Pokémon flapped his strong wings and dispersed the heavy smoke, revealing himself and roaring challengingly against his fellow starter.
'Dirty trick, Green,' Ash growled before coughing into his gloved palm.
"Pikapi! Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked out in protest of his Trainer's desire to continue.
The raven-haired boy's health was deteriorating rapidly as he began coughing even harder. He looked upon the palm that coughed into to find a splatter of blood on it. Feeling a bout of nerve-wrecking pain, Ash held onto his locket for dear life as he started to let out strained grunts.
"Ack!... Grh!... Damn… it!"
The audience could see the locket in his hand trembling violently as the chain jingle at an alarming rate as if amid an earthquake. Many felt that the battle should end now as they were worried for the boy. But Ash could not allow that. Not now that he finally got the chance to prove Gary wrong and to keep his promise to Blue.
'Don't you dare pass out now!' he warned himself as he furrowed his sweat-covered brows in displeasure of the meddling swords in his way.
Ash could sense that he was incredibly close to waking something up and whatever it was could bring an end to the phantom swords that bounded his body.
'Yellow's watching… Grk! Don't you dare make her worry!' he exhaled sharply as he reconnected his link with Charizard, causing a wave of agony to splash onto him.
But even then, with the thought of the honey blonde in his mind, Ash pushed forward through his suffering and returned to form alongside his Pokémon. The raven-haired boy looked even worse than before but the fire in his bloodred eyes had not yet been extinguished. Because of that, Gary's understanding of his own foster brother became even foreign as he could not understand what his rival was thinking.
'Why?! It's already hopeless!'
'Right now, I hold the advantage! It's just your ineffective Charizard and weakling of a Pikachu left!'
"…Why? WHY, RED?!"
"Geez, aren't you the loud—"
"Stop playing around, Red! You're going to kill yourself if this keeps up, so stop this now!" the orange-haired boy bellowed with indignance.
Ash looked at Gary's angered state and unconsciously saw the emotions swirling within him, only to be surprised by a small part of him showing something completely different from his rage:
Fear.
Fear that gripped his mind as he struggled to comprehend the lengths Ash would go to give everything he had to battling.
"…Sorry, Green. This is one battle I'll never back down," the raven-haired boy smiled apologetically.
"For you and Blue… As well as Yellow."
Seeing the silenced Gary with a quizzical expression, Ash began his explanation.
"You probably won't understand but… this is just who I am. I'm just an idiot who can't afford to break even a single promise."
'Yes. This is what Yellow gave me.'
"If… Ugh! I… do that… I'll feel like I'm betraying Yellow…"
Ash coughed out another fit but quickly recovered as he was beginning to get used to them. Not that it was a good thing.
"I can't do that. Not when… Grh! Not when we separated so soon…"
Serena was preparing the second wave of tears as those words of longing from Ash washed over her, conveying his own sense of want perfectly.
STOMP!
Ash rose from the floor, regaining his battle posture as he readied himself once more, ignoring the violent protests from his own body. The boy had no intentions of backing down, let alone losing. He could not afford to lose.
"I'll free you from that damn Power mindset you've got!"
The raven-haired boy declared loudly, converting the screams of agony he wanted to yell out into a proclamation of his will.
Gary could not help but stare at his rival in stunned surprise. The image of his raven-haired friend howling proudly despite his weakened state was etched into his mind.
"I'll keep my promise to Blue and get you two back together!"
The chestnut-haired girl covered her mouth with both palms, stifling the muted sobs as Ash tried to compensate his shuffling legs by staggering to keep himself stable.
Splat!
Another round of red liquid spilled from the boy's mouth, but he did not care. Rather, he never once cared about his own state and focused solely on his battles.
"And…! A…nd…! Argh!"
Splat!
"…And I'll become her Pokémon Master!"
The honey blonde watching let out the floodgates in her eyes of teary blue, feeling helpless that she could not beg the raven-haired boy to cease his rash and foolish self-destruction.
With his final oath revealed, the bloodred eyes gladly responded by whirring to life.
"Let's go, Charizard! Take to the skies!" Ash called out.
The orange dragon set aside his worries for his Trainer and complied to his commands as he took off upwards within seconds, leaving a crater behind.
"Kuh! Shoot him down, Blastoise! We're ending this now!" Gary ordered hesitantly.
"Do… Dodge them! Gah!" Ash responded back, failing to hold back a cry as he felt his arm numbing as if they had been struck by gigavolts of static lightning.
The imaginary swords within Ash were rampaging internally as the host was unyielding in his reckless actions and so, as if they had a mind of their own, started their more extreme countermeasures.
Charizard evaded every [Hydro Pump] that came his way as he glided through the air speedily. When the Flame Pokémon noticed his Trainer struggling with the racking pain within him, Charizard immediately went into auto-battle as he wanted Ash to focus on himself rather than the battle no matter how short it was and let out [Flamethrower] after [Flamethrower] at the cannon turtle. Grunting in annoyance as he could not find the correct trajectory to land a hit on Blastoise while avoiding each jet of water from his fellow starter, Charizard wisely stayed in the air as he knew one super effective hit was all it took.
"Pikachu? Pikapi!" the electric mouse gripped onto Ash's trousers.
Mentally, Pikachu was extremely angry at his partner's incredibly foolhardy nature to press further without any care for his wellbeing, but that very nature was what allowed the boy to befriend him in the first place, so the mouse was in no position to reprimand him lest he became a hypocrite. But then, he was a Pokémon so it would not apply to him. Before Pikachu could shock some sense into his Trainer, Ash breathed out with slight relief as the overbearing wave of suffering subsided.
"Heh. I'll apologize as many times as I can, buddy. But now, let's focus on winning this, okay?" Ash patted his partner's soft head with an assuring grin.
Although he knew the cheeky boy was trying to get on his good graces, Pikachu reluctantly let himself be tricked into his partner's words with a heavy sigh.
"Pika-pikachu!"
"Yeah, yeah, ketchup's in the front pocket."
Their small banter came to an end as Ash took notice at the spots where [Flamethrower] landed on. The earth sizzled as heated steam rose invisibly into the air. Seeing this, an imaginary lightbulb flashed on Ash's head.
Link established.
'Charizard, I know ya' gonna hate me for this but…' Ash relayed through their bond.
'…Trust me, okay? I'll be fine.'
As he woefully lamented the end of his period of relief from the all the pain he went through, Ash plunged himself right back into an ocean of soul-breaking torture as he pumped the rampaging power into Charizard, causing the raven-haired boy to finally let out a guttural scream of torment.
.
"Ą̸̢͖̺̭̲̭̜̀́̉͘̚Ǎ̵̧̡̻̱̤̪̠̮̗̲͓͑́AAAAAAAAĄ̶̙͕̼͈̼̩͓̼͔̐̀Ą̸̢͖̺̭̲̭̜̀́̉͘̚Ǎ̵̧̡̻̱̤̪̠̮̗̲͓͑́Å̶̓̽̾̀̊͋̏̌͂̃̕̕͜͠Ḁ̸̫̮̲̭̩͔̖̏̆̈́̿̾͜͜Ą̸̡̡̧̮͔͚̼̺͚̞͌HHHHHHHH̴̡̛̹̤̭̘̼͕̞̰̫̆͑͒͆̓̄̆͊͛͝͝H̴̡͎̜́̀̔͐̐͊̋͝͝͝H̸̭͉̬͚̫͂̈́̒̈́̅͒̓̕̚͝H̸̨̖̯̳̩͉̱̠͎̤̠̊̓͊͜H̸̩̺̤͈̙̩̼͕̃̾͗͌̏̊̎̓̚Ḣ̵̨̛̲͍̺H̸̘̱͇̠͉́̃̄͗̉̔̏̌̀̋̀͌̍͝͝H̶̨̨̺̤̗̭̯̯̺͉̔́̐̉̀̐͊̅̈́͝Ḧ̴̺̦̥̼̝́̎̾̂̔͗̈̇̚͠Ĥ̴̺̘͓̤͚͖̩̮͚͈̟͉͉͉̲̋̓͂̂͠Ḧ̴̡͚̟͚́͛!"
.
Invisible steam turned visible as they escaped the boy's skin and fled to the air, leaving behind a screaming Ash as he widened his glowing bloodred eyes at the sudden sharp and continuous pain spreading across his body. If Ash had not developed an immense pain tolerance, he was convinced that his limbs would have exploded and torn asunder by the berserk strength that was wreaking havoc in his system.
"CHARIZARD! [FIRE BLAST] ON THE BATTLEFIELD!" Ash finally choked out his command through clacking teeth as if he was shivering in cold even though anyone could tell the boy was beyond overheating.
Forcing down his desire to return to his Trainer, the Flame pokemon breathed out everything he had, including the surge of power he received from Ash, and a great character of blazing flames came crashing down onto the field, heating up the earth in an instant and damaging Blastoise in the process due to him being in the vicinity.
BOOOOOOOM!
'What in the world…?!' Gary widened his eyes at the obscured battlefield.
'Smoke?! This gotta be…!'
A deafening shockwave erupted from the battlefield with the force of collision banishing the cloud of smoke to reveal Charizard and Blastoise locking claws against each other.
{ OH NO! IT LOOKS LIKE CHARIZARD'S SURPRISE ATTACK DIDN'T WORK AFTER ALL! }
"I'm guessing that's [Smokescreen (Fake)], huh? But you got impatient, Red! My Blastoise isn't that weak!" Gary barked out.
"I win! After I'm done with Charizard, it's your precious partner next!"
"And I'll show you that your Bonds amounted to nothing!"
As he finished his spiel, the orange-haired boy watched as the smoke around Ash dispersed, revealing a horrifying look.
The raven-haired boy now sported a paler complexion with new trails of red warm blood trailing down his nostrils with even more blood gurgling down his chin.
The spectators had enough. They were about to protest for the match to end when the stadium screens that pointed to Ash showed the boy suddenly displaying a deranged grin. One that he only wore when the battle was at its peak.
"Oi, oi. Who's getting impatient now?"
The raven-haired boy wobbled his entire body whilst still plastering the crazed look on his face. And it sent cold shivers down everyone watching, including the watchers from different regions.
"I'm finally within your range now, Blastoise."
Bloodred eyes whirred even brighter, setting alarms ringing in Gary's head. As more power got transferred to Charizard, the blood in Ash's nostrils flowed more like an unclosed faucet. But the screams of pain were no longer present.
Right now…
'Transform your heart into steel.'
Ash Ketchum was not human.
'That way, it won't be as painful.'
But an unfeeling machine.
"[SEISMIC TOSS]!"
The orange dragon took Blastoise to the skies and with incredible strength, came crashing down with the cannon turtle in tow, accumulating high levels of downforce and ultimately, smashed the turtle into the hard earth without remorse, ending the battle without any room for retaliation.
{ BL-BL-BLASTOISE IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! CHARIZARD WINS! }
"RED!" Gary cried out in blinded rage.
The orange-haired boy was clouded in anger, not because of his loss but at the sight of a satisfied Ash despite his dying state. It further reminded the boy of Raticate, a memory he rather not recalled. And that did it for Gary.
Right now, Ash was the spitting image of his former ace, the one that set him on his current path of pure Power and the one he wanted to forget. As his rival was now a constant reminder of the brown rat, Gary's blood boiled to the point where he was now uncaring of the consequences and only wanted for the trauma and pain to stop, no matter what it took.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD! ARCANINE!" he yelled out as a visage of Raticate appeared behind Ash and Pikachu.
After recalling Blastoise, Arcanine was summoned and wasted no time as he struck Charizard down with [ExtremeSpeed] easily as the latter had been injured from [Hydro Pump] and the unexpected recoil from the strengthened [Seismic Toss]. Apparently, even Charizard was not safe from the downforce.
{ CHARIZARD IS DOWN AS WELL! IT'S BACK-TO-BACK KNOCKOUTS! }
{ ARCANINE HAS DEFEATED TWO OF RED'S POKÉMON AND HE STILL HAS NOT TAKEN ANY DAMAGE! }
.
.
.
Finally, the long-awaited battle had finally came.
The battle between aces.
Raticate's rival vs Raticate's follower.
The two had history with the brown rat and it was time to settle the score once and for all.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time, Red," Gary glared daggers at his rival as the latter recalled Charizard.
"…This is it, Pikachu," Ash said softly with heavy breaths before sending a grin towards the electric mouse.
"Go get em', partner!"
"Pikachu!"
{ PIKACHU FINALLY RETURNS TO THE BATTLEFIELD! IT'S THE FINAL SHOWDOWN BETWEEN THE TWO TRAINERS' ACES! }
{ WHO WILL WIN?! }
"There's a ton of questions I wanna ask you…" Gary grinded his teeth.
"But first, I'll crush you and Pikachu, the last remainders of Raticate!"
"Arcanine, [ExtremeSpeed]!"
The red canine moved immediately, disappearing into a blur and prepared his attack on the electric mouse. But as he reached Pikachu, the canine was caught by surprise as the mouse narrowly dodged the extremely fast attack by using [Quick Attack].
{ ARCANINE MISSES! PIKACHU JUST DODGED THE UNDODGEABLE BLOW! }
'What? He didn't even…' Gary thought and stared at Ash and Pikachu.
"Surprised? *cough* *cough*," Ash weakly grinned as anaemia had begun to kick in.
"…What did you do?" Gary growled, demanding to know why [ExtremeSpeed] had been evaded by the 'weakest' Pokémon in his rival's party.
"Just… like how… Arcanine represents the Power… that you embody…" the raven-haired boy coughed out.
"Pikachu represents… what we… stand for: our Bonds."
"I don't… even need to tell him what to do… because Pikachu already knows. I just… like to call it out sometimes… cuz' it's fun."
"…Fun?!" Gary bellowed.
"Yep, fun. A battle's… *cough* no good if no one's having fun, right?"
"Then why don't you evolve Pikachu?! If he was a Raichu, I could've understood!"
But Ash shook his head and dropped the biggest secret both him and Pikachu had kept after discovering it.
"…He can't."
"…What?" the orange-haired boy gasped.
"Pikachu can't evolve. He never wanted to in the first place, but…"
Crackle.
"An accident… happened once in Vermilion Gym, where a Gym Trainer accidentally dropped a Thunder Stone on Pikachu. Imagine everyone's faces when nothing happened," the raven-haired boy continued as his breathing got steadier.
Crackle!
"That's why… Don't you dare call my partner weak, Green. My partner's special cuz' he doesn't need to evolve to kick your ass."
Crackle! Crackle!
"My partner's the strongest Pikachu in the world! [Volt Tackle]!"
Golden lightning coated the electric mouse and Pikachu zipped around the battlefield, gaining momentum before tackling Arcanine cleanly on his side.
{ PIKACHU LANDS A HIT! THE UNTOUCHABLE ARCANINE HAS FINALLY TAKEN DAMAGE! }
'Tch! This guy…!' Gary clicked his tongue.
"[Flamethrower]! Spread the flames around the battlefield so he can't escape!" Gary commanded.
The red canine breathed out a sea of flames that was about to engulf the battlefield before suddenly, a tower of magnificent yellow sprouted from the field.
'[Thunder]?! Why would he…?!'
The orange-haired boy's question was answered quickly in the form of Pikachu running up the electrified air via his own lightning.
'This is the move he used in the Prelims!'
While the sea of flames covered the field, Pikachu looked down upon Arcanine as he had climbed up his electricity above the large canine. After that, the electric mouse's tail turned steel-like with its zig-zagged edges sharpened.
"Just like before, Pikachu! [Swords Dance (Fake)]!" Ash called out as he tried to shield himself from the raging flames on the battleground.
The electric mouse narrowed his vision at his late rival's follower and executed [Iron Tail] slashes onto the canine as if wielding a sword.
PANG! BANG! PANG! PAMF!
Four slashes knocked Arcanine back onto the ground where it sizzled from the immense heat. Thankfully, the [Stone Edge] pillars erected by Rhydon were still present near Ash's side and Pikachu landed there safely.
'So far, so good. If Pikachu and I can keep ahead on Green and Arcanine like this…' Ash pondered whilst sweating profusely from both the blazing heat from the Legendary Pokémon's flames as well as his own unnatural overheating from his body.
'…Yeah. I can win!'
"You're doing good, partner! Let's keep this u—"
But Fate would not allow it.
Suddenly, great incandescent flames flooded from Gary's side and made Ash and Pikachu stiffen in surprise before the both of them got into battle-ready stances. The two watched as Arcanine stood menacingly with red hot flames dancing around him.
"Right… I totally forgot about your cheap imitations, faker. But can you match my firepower?" Gary asked with a venomous tone.
'Is he seriously…?!' Ash widened his eyes at the charging flames within Arcanine's snout, ready to fire.
'Nope, he's not kidding!'
"Pikachu, move outta the way!" Ash called out.
But the electric mouse would not budge, surprising the raven-haired boy.
Pikachu knew. The flames that were about to be fired was too large to escape. Not to mention, his weakened partner was too exhausted to move and would be caught in the easily avoidable blaze. Regardless, Pikachu made his choice as electricity sparked from his red cheeks, staring down the gigantic flames that were about to erupt towards him with defiant eyes. No matter what, the electric mouse would protect his Trainer from those malefic flames.
"Damnit!" Ash cursed at himself for hindering Pikachu.
"What was it again? Right, right…" Gary uttered.
"[Eruption (Fake)]."
A torrent of inferno created by Arcanine stacking [Fire Blast] within his mouth came blasting towards the small yellow mouse at an alarming rate. But Pikachu challenged the flames by manifesting every last drop of lightning within his tiny body and crashed all of it into the incoming [Eruption (Fake)].
Without hesitation, Ash raised his left arm with his palm open and pointed it towards his partner. The bloodred eyes glowed brightly, complimenting the flames that came. And the raven-haired boy gave his all into supporting his treasured partner.
"[Thunderbolt]!" Ash cried out as blue circuits flashed again on his left arm.
'Trigger, off!' he mentally chanted.
{ HOLD ON TO SOMETHING, FOLKS! }
Now supplied with enormous power, Pikachu let loose as golden lightning met the crimson flames in the middle of the battlefield. The electric mouse had reached his limits instantly and was ashamed that he had to be powered by his Trainer, who was risking his life for this moment.
'AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!' Ash bit back the body-ripping pain across his body.
But willpower was not enough to soldier through the damages as the raven-haired boy's left arm began to rupture from the inside, bursting out large lacerations of red. He was losing blood at an even faster rate and would become eve more fatal as time went on.
The equal forces between lightning and fire were not backing down from one another and so, twin serpents of blazing fire and crackling lightning spiralled to the sky as their conclusion.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The clouds above the stadium now had a gigantic hole in its body, resulted from the clash of lightning and fire.
"Haaah… Haaaah… Haaah…" Ash panted as his left forearm had been covered in multiple lacerations.
'Pikachu…' he thought as he scanned the battlefield while kneeling from the exhausting pain.
His heart was relieved as his partner was still standing. Injured but standing, nonetheless. Ash unconsciously moved closer to the edge of his platform as his still outstretched arm reached out for Pikachu.
"Pika… chu…" he hoarsely called out.
But his relief was mercilessly cut short as a large canine had dashed towards a tired and battered Pikachu using [ExtremeSpeed].
"Finish this, Arcanine!" Gary shouted in rageful indignation.
'Give me a damn break!' Ash groaned tiredly.
Pikachu saw it coming and evaded the incoming claws barely using [Quick Attack] again. Noticing that the pillars of [Stone Edge] were still standing, Ash concocted another tactic on the fly.
"[Quick Attack] around the pillars!" Ash called out.
The electric mouse nodded and zig-zagged around the pillars in an effort to confuse Arcanine. The two Pokémon duked it out around the pillars with Pikachu's strikes being more effective due to the pressure exerted on the large canine's body. Arcanine, on the other hand, had his [ExtremeSpeed] reduced in efficiency due to there being no room to launch himself among the pillars.
The two aces were not giving each other an edge as they battled using only [Quick Attacks] and [ExtremeSpeeds]. Pikachu was beyond exhausted but just like his Trainer, kept pushing forward while Arcanine clearly had energy to spare. Although he never wanted to evolve, not that he could for some reason, Piakchu felt inadequate and wondered if he could evolve.
Would things be different? Would things get easier?
But the electric mouse pushed those thoughts away after recalling some unpleasant memories from before he met Ash.
The battle had entered a standstill for a few minutes before Gary grew tired of it. The orange-haired boy was infuriated as he watched Pikachu, the Pokémon he called weak, trading blow for blow against his strongest with nothing but armed with his bond with Ash. No more power from the raven-haired boy flowed through the yellow mouse after using it during his defense against [Eruption (Fake)].
In a way, the two partners now truly mirrored each other. Both are exhausted beyond belief after reaching their limits but still forging ahead by never giving up, evidenced by their eyes. Even with so many odds stacked against them, Ash and Pikachu still looked ahead with fire in their eyes, never once straying from their path to victory. And it made Gary feel insignificant at the face of such strong bonds between Trainer and Pokémon. He felt as if he had lost after being unable to break Ash or Pikachu, and it made him spiteful and clouded his judgement with extreme darkness.
"JUST STOP ALREADY!" Gary demanded furiously.
"GO DOWN! JUST STAY DOWN! WHY WON'T YOU TWO JUST GIVE UP ALREADY?!"
"We've already told you since the beginning, Green!" Ash shot back with determined bloodred eyes.
"WE DON'T GIVE UP UNTIL IT'S OVER!"
"THEN I'LL MAKE YOU!"
What happened next shocked the entire world.
"[FIRE BLAST]!" Gary commanded.
A large character of flames manifested forth towards Pikachu but instead, it hit the pillars. What had shocked the two Trainers and their aces was that the pillars instantly gave out, contrary to their expectations. They were unaware that after [Eruption (Fake)] and the battle of speed using the once sturdy [Stone Edges] as footholds, the pillars cracked and became brittle without them noticing.
As they finally gave out, the pillars combined with the hungry flames…
Came towards both Pikachu and Ash with no way to escape.
'Shi—'
CCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHH!
"RRRRREEEEEEDDDDDD!" Blue screamed out in horror.
"AAASSSSHHHH!" Misty cried out.
"NOOO!" May and Dawn gasped in terrified shock.
Iris covered her eyes, not wanting to see as she continued sobbing after seeing the ragged state of Ash.
Clemont immediately covered a screaming Bonnie's eyes while he watched with widened eyes.
Korrina hugged her grandfather tightly as the pillar and flames came crashing down onto Ash.
The students in Pokémon School cried out in terror after watching the horrible display.
Leon shielded his little brother's eyes and could not help but watch in despair at the ruined platform of the raven-haired boy.
Paul was stunned speechless, unable to process what had just happened.
Cynthia felt horrible as her hands trembled in horror at Ash's presumed fate.
The students in Pokémon Academy's hall were screaming in fear…
And a honey blonde girl dropped to the ground with all hope and happiness drained from her face.
"No… Nonono… Re…d…"
Showdown's end.
The last thing he saw was her locket…
The sword awakens.
Flying away from his grasp.
A wolf howls.
And after that…
Chapter 49: Fire Red & Leaf Green (2)
His world faded to black.
Next - Chapter 50: Fire Red & Leaf Green (Final)
_
___________
Fated Lore Explanation: Pokémon Moves (II)
Although extremely rare, Trainers can create all new moves by combining two different moves together to create an original move. Ash is the first in Fated to ever challenge the 4 moves limit by using a technicality as the Fake moves are just imitations of the actual moves plus [Volt Tackle].
[ExtremeSpeed] and [Volt Tackle] in Fated are original moves created by Gary and Ash respectively. [ExtremeSpeed] is Arcanine using the steps Raticate used for his [Quick Attack] together with his own physical prowess that eclipses Raticate, thus creating [Extreme Speed] due to excessive training. Meanwhile, [Vol Tackle] is not an egg move but rather a combination of [Thunderbolt] and [Quick Attack].
Seriously this new wattpad update is using too much data and charge I recommend don't update wattpad if u haven't.