Pokémon Rewritten Memories: Kanto

Disclaimer:

Pokemon belongs to The Pokémon company, Nintendo, Game freak. Only original characters belong to me.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

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"I challenge you to a pokémon battle." A young man challenged Ash.

Ash turned his head towards the newcomer. "Can't you see I'm eating?" He and Misty were sitting at a wooden table while Brock was preparing lunch.

The boy got embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I got so excited because I just got my first pokémon." The group chuckled at his blush.

"You can fight Ash. Lunch will be ready in ten minutes." Brock gave him the green light.

"Okay then. Since you're using your starter then I'll also use mine. Go Pikachu"

The yellow mouse placed itself before Ash."Pika pika." Static was building up in its cheeks.

"Go Rattata!" The young boy threw his pokéball and revealed a purple rat pokémon.

"Pikachu use Quick Attack." Ash said.

"Dodge Ratatta and use Bite." Rattata jumped to the side just before Pikachu could hit him. However the static released by Pikachu frightened the little critter.

"Show your tail's might Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu rotated in air and slashed at the Rattata hitting him square in the head resulting in it fainting.

"No, Rattata." The boy hugged his starter that had swirling eyes and presumably a major headache.

Ash walked up to the kid. "Not bad for your first fight. A little more work and it'll surely become a fierce Raticate." He smiled and used a Potion on the poor Rattata.

The boy's eyes beamed. "You really think so?" A toothy grin appeared on his face.

"Since even I was able to win two badges then why not." Ash patted Rattata's head. Much to it's delight.

"You've defeated already two gym leaders? Can you tell me about it?" Admiration was plastered on the young boy's face.

"Sure come and join us." Ash offered.

The boy was named Joey and he was from Celadon City.

"You should fight A.J.'s Gym." Joey said.

"I haven't heard about that Gym. Is it new?" Brock asked while Misty also looked puzzeled.

"Oh no. It's an unofficial one. But supposedly he has never lost a single battle." Admiration showed on Joey's face.

"That sounds promising. Are you guys up for a small detour?" Ash asked his friends.

"Why not? Maybe he has water pokémon." Misty agreed.

"As a Gym Leader myself it's nice to see upcoming trainers." Brock nodded.

"Great. Thanks Joey for the battle and stories. Hopefully one day we'll meet at the Indigo Plateau." Ash shook the young boy's hand.

"No problem. See you later Ash, Brock and Misty." The boy ran off.

"I'm surprised you didn't toot your own horn today Ash. Especially after all those wins. This made it ten straight victories." Misty praised but was a little skeptical.

"And why would I? I'm not a jackass after all." He hmphed at the redhead while helping Brock with the dishes.

"And yet you treat me badly." She sighed.

Ash rolled his eyes at her moping. "And yet it's you who violently assaults people with a hammer. Where do you even keep that thing?"

"It's a woman's secret." She winked mischievously.

Ash chuckled. "Definitely not stepping on that mine." It seemed she really didn't like the child moniker.

"Pika pika." It agreed.

After cleaning up the trio headed towards the direction of the unofficial Gym.

"I wonder what he specializes in?" Brock said.

"Probably something underwhelming." Ash replied.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Is that pride talking?" She mocked.

Ash ignored the jab. "If the trainer had something truly powerful then he'd have got his gym leader credentials a long time ago." He explained.

"So what do you expect Ash?" Brock asked.

Ash thought for a bit. "I suspect bug, poison, rock or ground types. As they are usually easy to find in this area."

Misty nodded. "Or maybe water pokémon as Vermillion is close." She added.

"Not likely. It's too far from any good water sources." Ash remarked.

"That's also true. Hopefully no bugs." She shuddered.

"Relax Mist. You were able to cross Viridian Forest quite nicely." She blushed at the complement.

"It seems like we're here you two." Brock interrupted the duo.

Ash looked towards what seemed to be a circus tent. "And you said that I'm prideful. Look at the scoreboard towering over anyone that comes." Ash smirked at her not happy expression.

The group of friends entered through the opened gate. They heard some sounds coming out of the tent.

Ash saw a hanging bell and shook it eliciting a ringing sound. The noise from inside ceased.

An older boy walked out. "And how can I help you three." He asked.

"We heard about your Gym from other trainers and wanted to see what's the hype about." Ash said.

A.J. looked at Ash. "So you want to challenge me?"

"Sure, why not?" Ash said.

"Then follow me." The young man lead the group to the battlefield.

"I can be your referee." Brock offered.

A.J. didn't look trusting of him. "Don't worry. Brock is himself a Gym leader. Currently on leave though." Ash explained.

The man shrugged. "Be my guest then. We're using one pokémon each."

After everyone took their respective places Brock signaled the start of the match.

"I choose you Sandshrew." A.J. tossed the ball releasing an armadillo looking pokémon.

"It's time for your debut. Go Zubat." Ash released the pokémon he caught at Mt. Moon.

Misty looked perplexed. "Why did he chose that of all things?"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu cheered on the pair.

"Curious pick for sure. But my Sandshrew is unbeatable. Use Swift."

Spining stars launched from the spinning ground pokémon. "Zubat use Supersonic while spinning"

The bat pokémon released an audio wave that made the enemy's stars to slow down. Most of them missed Zubat by a small margin. But because it was spinning the energy was easier to disperse than by taking the hit straight on.

A.J. looked at Ash with appreciation. "It seems you know what you're doing. I thought as a rookie you'd have done something stupid."

Ash rolled his eyes at that. "How charming. You must be comedian yourself." Ash smirked.

The man was amused. "Let's see if you'll laught at this. Rollout." Sandshrew curled into a spinning ball and launched itself at Zubat.

"Quick. Use Poison Sting on his right side." The bat pokémon spat poison needles towards the enemy. By doing this Sandshrew's body gained an unexpected horizontal acceleration. Thus making it go on a curved trajectory and missing Zubat in the process.

Misty stood with her mouth agape. "Just where does he get these ideas from?" Pikachu was also wondering itself that.

A.J. got a little annoyed. "Aren't you full of surprises. Yet you're still going to lose. My pokémon has trained his body to perfection. You can't hurt it."

Ash winked. "Then I won't. Use Confuse Ray." Three reddish balls appeared before Zubat and headed towards Sandshrew hitting it square on.

A.J. laught. "You think I didn't prepare my pokémon for instances like this. Shake it off Sandshrew. Sandshrew?" The ground mouse was fighting off the confusion but not as fast as he hoped.

"It seems your pokémon wasn't prepared for any unplanned spinning. Making it more susceptible to my Zubat's attack. Quick use Absorb!" A red beam hit the ground pokémon siphoning its energy in the process.

"Sandshrew use Dig." The pokémon shook off the confusion and burrowed down.

"And now the waiting game begins." Ash remarked making A.J.'s face grim.

"It's not as if you have a plan yourself, genius." The man replied.

"On the contrary. Sound waves like to bounce off walls after all. Cast Supersonic into the hole, Zubat!" Waves of high-pitched sound entered the hole finally reaching the hidden pokémon. The waves bounced against the walls cumulating the destructive power of Zubat's attack.

After a couple of seconds Sandshrew finally got out only to faint on the floor with swirls in its eyes.

"Sandshrew fainted. The winner is Ash Ketchum." Brock announced.

A.J. couldn't believe what happened. "I lost?" He reached his pokémon and used some medicine to awake it. It cried pitifully at the trainer. Sorry that it lost when they were so close to achieving their dream.

"It's alright Sandshrew. It just means the world isn't ready for us." He gently smiled.

"You meant that you're not ready to go out to the world." Ash walked up to them.

"Ash, be nice." Brock said.

Ash rolled his eyes at that. "Nice? This guy made a scoreboard to taunt passing hot-headed trainers to fight him. And through that gained himself a couple of easy wins. That was all it took for him to think he was infallible." Ash's words sank deeply into A.J.'s mind.

Misty walked up with Pikachu. "You know he has a point Brock. Most good trainers wouldn't have bothered with this place. Let alone give him their time of the day."

A.J. almost was knocked out by these hateful comments. "Can you stop kicking the fallen?

"Not until you stop and we meet at the finals in the Indigo League." Ash grinned at the astonished face of the young man.

Chuckling A.J. stood up. "Didn't you take the wrong career path? You should work as a motivational speaker." He joked.

"Yeah. Masochist enterprises. We bring the hurt to you." Misty laught at the deadpanned look on Ash's face.

"Anyway. How about you give us a tour around here? I'm curious of your training methods and the scent of pokémon food I can feel in the air." Brock proposed.

"Sure. It's almost time for feeding my pokémon as well." A.J. walked with Brock talking about their preferred ingredients with Ash and Misty trailing behind them.

A.J. first showed them the training part of the gym. His other pokémon Beedrill and Butterfree were engaged in a mock battle. Three Rattata were panting from training in some strange contraptions. Making it harder to move their limbs.

"And this is the pool where Sandshrew trained his resistance to water." He said with pride.

"Well Brock. When are you going to get Onyx wet." Ash playfully jabbed at the young man making him sweat.

Misty cringed at the row of whips hanging on a rack. "Surely you don't discipline them like a mad man?"

"It's part of endurance training and getting used to being hit." A.J. explained.

"Can't say I'd do the same." Ash shook his head as they headed towards the kitchen.

Brock was enamored by the abundance of spices and rare berry ingredients.

"Where do you source your berries? These oran ones look phenomenal." Brock picked up the fruits and checked the size and weight.

A.J. was a little embarrassed. "My girlfriend's family has an orchard near Celadon City. She said that even Erika visits her to get some berries and flowers for her perfumes." Ash and Misty smiled wryly at the blushing young man.

Brock on the other hand was gloomly squating in a corner drawing circles with his finger. "Why can't I get a girlfriend?"

An alarm sounded off. Making the team sigh. "It's probably them again." Misty said.

A.J. was confused."What do you mean they?" The group ran towards the gym and saw Sandshrew hitting Meowth with a whip.

Ash glanced at A.J. "It seems your pokémon chose violence." The man started whistling and ignored the scrutinizing gazes of Misty and Pikachu.

"Anyway, Sandshrew tie that pokémon down." The ground pokémon did as ordered.

"You can't treat a pokémon like this. This is slavery." Meowth cried with tears pouring down its hurting face.

Ash walked towards the talking cat. "Why are you here?"

"We heard there was some good pokemon to steal from here. But since it wasn't even able to defeat your night pigeon we thought about stealing the training methods instead." Meowth was afraid of Ash's smile.

"So you were just a distraction so they could vandalise the pantry?" Ash sighed when it nodded.

The gang ran into the kitchen where Team Rocket apparently forgot their mission and were laying on the floor from indigestion.

"I can't move Jessie." James burped.

Jessie was force feeding herself another berry. "That's why you're weak." But she almost passed out herself.

"Looky here. We have our victims. A.J. prepare the slaughterhouse." Ash had a maniacal grin on his face making the the exposed duo faint.

Misty hit Ash on the head. "Enough buster. Or I'll call your mom to set you straight." She berated.

"Already calling mother-in-law?" Brock laught at the brighting up redhead.

"And this is how Brock you've signed your own death." Ash patted the confused Brock.

"So what should we do with these three?" A.J. asked feeling that a headache was incoming.

"I heard that a walk is good for digestion." Ash smiled mischievously while pointing to a spinning hamster wheel.

"And since it's linked to a generator make them sweat the calories and power it up." Misty added with a grin.

Ash and his friends help A.J. clean the mess while the pokémon watched over the huffing and puffing team of misfits.

"This is human abuse!" James cried.

"I'm going to call the union about slave labor. Jessie rolled in the wheel making the other two jump over her.

"Stop yapping nimrods. If it weren't for your stupidity we'd be feasting like kings." It scratched the face of Jessie.

The woman fumed and stood up trying to catch the little furball. Their cat and mouse chase started overloading the generator. Making it finally explode. The team was launched into the air.

"Can't we have just one day without this stupid skit." Jessie yelled.

"It was all your fault. Why should I pay the price?" James sulked.

"I'm going to ask for giving me better partners. But for now." Meowth said.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again.

A.J. sighed at the sight. Not only he lost food but the generator was busted for good. "At least it'll help with me making my decision."

"And what's that?" Misty asked.

He looked towards Ash. "Your words although harsh made me see that I have to start looking for better trainers. Instead of thinking they'll come to me." He scratched his head.

"Well my words still stand. I'll meet you at the tournament. Just don't take too long." Ash winked.

A.J laught. "Even without a head start I'll arrive there quicker than you."

The group said their goodbyes with the young man. Their destination Vermillion City.