Act I: Chapter 15

Hello everyone,

Reminder of pokemon and names:

Hashi - Hariyama.

Minato - Hypno.

Madara - Growlithe.

Shika - Absol.

Asuma - Teddiursa

Follow me on instagram at wtmcdonaldauthor! If you are feeling generous, and wish to donate to my writing career, you can find me at Patreon under Twubs for early access to chapters of The Ladder, Defiant, and Tsunami of the South!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*********************************************************************************************************

The beach was a place I was very familiar with.

It was comforting, and terrifying at the same time. Always respect the ocean, because it is unforgiving.

I looked out into the gulf, knee deep in the salt water, finding a small bit of peace in my life. A crash of a wave farther out in the ocean made me look in the direction. Hashi was absolutely shredding a wave, without the use of a surfboard. In the back of my mind, I had known he could learn the move surf. It had never occurred to me that it would come naturally to him.

He was definitely a surfer boy.

His braided blue hair flew behind him as he controlled the wave through whatever pokemagic existed in this world. His feet glided on top of the water, while his hands traced the water around him. I couldn't help but smile at the fun he was having.

A yellow crown popped out of the water right next to me.

'Magikarp?' I wondered as I saw the crown move around the water.

Then the pokemon was confirmed as a magikarp as it jumped out of the water, fairly high into the air. It was just as the games and anime had depicted it. A fish with a red body, a yellow crown-like fin on the top and bottom of its body, gills, two fins on it's side, and a tail fin.

It splashed in the water, and I moved to look away from one of the weakest and most common pokemon in the world, uninterested. Then it's crown turned around and started heading straight towards me.

I didn't even bother moving and let it run straight into my legs. I barely felt the impact from the little guy.

My mind flashed to a memory of Tsunade tackling me in a pool, and the bruise it left afterwards. The memory brought a flash of pain in my chest and I frowned at the memory of her. I couldn't help but feel angry at the pokemon swimming around me.

'This is not Tsunade.' Minato's told me in my mind.

He was right. My anger wasn't fair to the little pokemon that refused to stop bumping into me in the water. Curiosity caught my attention and a waterfall appeared in my mind, sent from Minato.

'Yes I know. The legends say that if a Magicarp jumps into a waterfall, it would turn into a dragon.' I thought back to my psychic that had taken up permanent residence in my mind.

'Is it the strong current? Or the struggle that causes evolution?' Minato asked innocently.

I looked to Hashi surfing around on a wave further out in the ocean. He was already heading my direction, being involved in the conversation, albeit just a listener. Hashi already knew that we wanted to test the old bedtime story.

Minato's curiosity, and my own, was too much to deny. Plus, there was no way using surf on the magikarp would actually trigger the evolution. We were just having fun.

Then I got another idea. What if Minato gave the magikarp a little mental push, to overcome the struggle when the wave came and crashed down on top of him. Would that work? Combine the theory of overcoming struggle and the waterfall bedtime story?

Hashi was about ten feet away when Minato latched on to my thinking, and linked himself with the magikarp. Instantly, it started swimming to the coming wave with purpose.

I turned my head, startled at the white shape that had appeared by my side. Shika stood in the knee deep water, looking out on the horizon.

I knew that look. It was the same look she had given the volcano on Cinnabar Island, right before Mewtwo caused it to erupt. She was sensing a disaster.

I put all the pieces together, immediately. Gyarados were not the weaklings that everyone thought of in the games and anime. They were the bringers of hurricanes, city destroyers, and one man armies back in the old days. Shika was sensing that something was coming, and that something was the magikarp Minato had just taken a hold of.

Dread and panic filled my form, and my head snapped to the wave that was coming down on top of the magikarp.

'NO!'

A bright light shined out from the water, blinding me.

Minato's panic matched my own, and suddenly I could feel sand beneath my toes and air on my legs instead of water.

I was about twenty feet away from the water, with Minato by my side, when the newly evolved Gyarados breached the ocean. It did not emerge peacefully.

The thirty foot long monster roared so loud that I was sure my father would be able to hear it in Dewford Town. My hands went to my ears because of the sound. It's blue scales looked nothing like the red scales that had just graced it's prior-evolutionary form. They looked tough. Like what I imagine dragon scales would look like.

On it's brow, sat a blue trident-like appendage that I couldn't help but compare to Poseidon's trident. I had a sneaky suspicion that it's power would rival the mythological weapon of the god.

Hashi landed on the ground in front of me, on his feet. He had been launched into the air, when the Gyarados had breached the water. I beat the traitorous thoughts in my mind that told me to run from the pokemon in the water.

So did the yellow light forming in it's maw.

'Hyper beam.' I realized.

My pokemon didn't need direct orders from me to know that the hyper beam couldn't be allowed to fire. I knew the destructive capabilities the move could cause in a realistic world. People would disappear off of the earth, with only ash and dust being left remaining. And there were a lot of people on the beaches of Cerulean city.

I cursed myself for not going to the less populated areas of the beaches. Screams from trainers and some pokemon hit my ears behind me. But I couldn't focus on them.

Minato disappeared from my side, and reappeared in front of the gyarados with an fist covered in an electrical current. When his fist impacted the blue scales of the monster pokemon, a 'thunk' sounded out. It sounded like Minato was a seven year old boy who had just hit a tree trunk. There was next to no reaction to the physical impact.

Luckily, the electrical current did run through its body causing it to seize up slightly and lose control over the yellow ball of energy in its mouth. That was all it did, and I started to doubt the four-times weakness to electric attacks.

A wave of dark type energy flew towards it, courtesy of Shika. The gyarados didn't even see it, or react to it when it hit it's body.

It's eyes were on my hypno that had just returned to my side. It's anger was now directed towards Minato and, by extension, me.

'Can you get in it's mind and calm it down?' I asked Minato.

'It's blocking me. Dark type energy.' His response was quick.

'The hard way then.' I told my pokemon.

I started sending mental commands to my pokemon. I didn't have the time to return my new teddiursa, Asuma. And even with the type disadvantage, Madara was too valuable not to be in the fight. So I commanded him to keep Asuma safe and out of the battle.

Shika, and Hashi immediately obeyed my strategy and bolted towards the raging gyarados, who hadn't been idle in the moments that it took me to think of a plan.

It lifted its tail, and swung it down towards the charging pokemon. A quick command, and Hashi leapt to intercept the massive appendage. His right leg reared back, and a slight shimmer told me he was using fighting type energy to protect it.

The impact literally caused a shockwave and everything stood still for a moment. A brief glimmer of worry popped up in my mind, for Hashi's leg. It was useless, he was fine and already moving into another move without my command.

For the second time, the gyarados was hit with a fist covered in electricity. And for the second time, it didn't go down.

'I'm in.' Minato told me, and I could tell he was struggling to stay inside the gyarados' mind.

'Put it to sleep.' I commanded. He went to obey me, but it took a lot of his mental capacity to do so and our mental link disappeared.

It was a weird feeling, to share your mind with someone and then for them to disappear. Had I not been in a battle and focusing on what was going on, I would have been distracted by the missing presence in my mind.

The gyarados roared, and a yellow ball of light formed inside it's mouth once again. Shika's tail, covered in steel type energy, smacked the bottom of it's massive mouth, interrupting the technique again.

And then, it was falling.

I palmed the last pokeball on my belt that I kept for emergencies just like this one. It flew from my hand without me even thinking. The pokeball crossed the twenty-feet between us quickly and smacked it, mid-fall.

Before the gyarados could hit the beach and the water, it dematerialized from the world and shot into the pokeball. My eyes tracked the ball the entire time, as did all of my pokemon. When it hit the ground, it didn't shake but the light on the front continued to blink.

I could have counted to three, but it felt like an eternity. I was sure it was going to escape, but was extremely surprised when a 'ding' rang out across the beach, signifying a successful capture.

I couldn't help but fall onto my ass in the sand and let out a deep sigh.

'Holy shit. I just caught a gyarados.'

*********************************************************************************************************

Luxray was not the pokemon you wanted staring you down.

It was just my luck that one sat directly across from me, right beside a fit older gentleman in a police uniform. The patch on his shoulder told me that he was Captain of the Cerulean City Police Force even if he hadn't introduced himself as much.

I half-way hid myself behind the door of the room I had been using in the PokeCenter, confused as to why the Captain of a Police Force was visiting my room.

"Can I help you?" I asked, knowing his visit was somehow tied into the appearance of a Gyarados.

"Yes you can Brawly." The man said. His white mustache moved with his upper lip when he spoke. "It has come to our understanding that you caught a gyarados on the beaches earlier today."

'I knew it.' I thought as he confirmed the reason for his visit.

"Yea, close call." I said, while acting like I had no reason as to why it evolved.

I wasn't sure if there was a law against evolving a gyarados or not, but I didn't want to risk it either. Surely an argument could be made for some charges. I wasn't ready to admit that I had directly evolved a wild magikarp right next to one of the biggest cities in the region.

No matter how many times I told myself that I didn't know it would happen, I couldn't believe how stupid I had been earlier in the day. So many things could have gone wrong and I could have taken way more precautions.

First and foremost, I could have captured the magikarp first. Returning the gyarados instead of fighting it would have been easy.

Secondly, I could have just not experimented on the little guy at all. Now that I thought about it, that was the best option. Everything else is too risky, in hindsight.

The Captain grunted in confirmation. "Mmmmhmmm. Could have caused a lot of damage, had you not been there."

I didn't know what to say to that, but I didn't have to respond because the Captain was continuing his sentence.

"There is the question of how the hell a Gyarados just popped up out of nowhere though. And that is why I'm here. I came to get a report." The Captain finished with a look that I could decipher. It said 'I'm on to your shit'.

"Sure thing." I said and glanced at the luxray that still stared straight at me. It was smart to bring it. If it came down to a fight and I released the gyarados, then the luxray would be able to take it down most likely. Although the close quarters we were currently in would mean Hashi would run rampant on the other pokemon on his belt. I had a suspicion his luxray was his strongest.

An electric type pokemon in a town known for its water types would be invaluable for someone in the force.

"Wanna come inside?" I offered. I wanted to avoid confrontation at all costs. I would simply lie to him, and he could be on his way.

"That would be great." The man said, and his body relaxed slightly.

I nodded to him. "Let me return my pokemon real quick." I told him and moved back into the room while leaving the door open so that he could see inside. I needed him to think I had nothing to hide.

I considered leaving Madara out, for some line of protection but ultimately decided against it. I knew he couldn't have anything on me and I would have to incriminate myself for him to have anything against me.

"Come in." I called out to him once I was done.

When I turned back to the door, I saw that the luxray had entered the room first and was looking around for any threats as it crossed the floor. I never really considered how big they must have been, but I could definitely see the comparison between them and a lion. It was a massive cat.

The Captain followed it in with a hand on his pokemon belt, where a pistol also sat in its holster. Flashes of pink mist filled my vision before I shook my head quickly, getting the image out.

Once the luxray was done and cleared the room, the Captain recalled it and relaxed even further.

"Thank you for cooperating. Most trainers are wary of law enforcement." He said as he found the only chair in the room and sat down. He pulled out a pokegear and set it on the table before pressing a button.

"This conversation is now being recorded. I'll ask a couple of questions, try to be as detailed as possible in your answers and I'll be out of your hair. I will remind you that lying during your statement is a crime punishable by the court of law. Do you understand and consent to give your statement about the events earlier today?" The Captain said the words as if he had repeated them a million times, which I wouldn't say was far off.

"I do." I said obediently.

"Good. Now what is your trainer I.D. number?" The Captain asked.

"32689." I answered, having long since memorized the number.

"Name?"

"Brawly." I continued being truthful.

"Were you on the beach earlier today?" Captain asked simply. I wondered why he wouldn't say the date for the record, but I forgot about it once I answered.

"Yes." I answered.

"And what happened?" The Captain asked, once again skipping a bunch of steps that my old world would have taken for legal purposes.

"Well. My pokemon and I were enjoying ourselves…."

"How many pokemon do you have?" He asked.

"Including the gyarados?" I asked for clarification.

"Total." Captain answered quickly.

"Six total." I answered. The Captain nodded and motioned for me to continue, which I did.

"We were enjoying ourselves on our off day. I have a gym challenge tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning so I wanted us to be rested. My hariyama was using his newly learned move surf to have some fun when a magikarp bumped into me in the water." I continued.

"Next thing I know. My hariyama had surfed over to me and the waves crashed on myself and the magikarp. Next thing I know, it's evolving and my hypno is teleporting me onto the beach out of harm's way. When I saw that the gyarados was charging a hyper beam, I knew that I had to kill it or capture it to protect myself and the people around me." I told him only half-way lying to the man. Of course I wouldn't reveal Minato's mental manipulation of my newest pokemon.

"So I battled it, and my hypno managed to put it to sleep after a couple of electrical attacks and an iron tail from my absol. Then I caught it." My story was quick and to the point, with very little details. Just how I wanted it to be.

The Captain nodded, and reached over to the pokegear before turning it off. I had to stop myself from letting out a relieved sigh.

"Good. This was all just a formality son. The league wants to know about every sighting of gyarados, but could care less of how their trainers think themselves above the law." The Captain said as he stood up.

"Now, would you like to be publicly recognized for your contributions to Cerulean City? Or would you like your ownership of such a powerful pokemon kept secret?" The Captain asked, although I knew he already knew my answer.

"Anonymous." I answered immediately. Already too many people knew about Shika. Now if they knew I had a gyarados on top of that? And when I find a way to get Madara evolved? Well, the league would look for ways to keep me under their thumb no doubt.

The Captain chuckled a bit. "That's what I figured." He said and dug into his pocket. "In that case, I'll go ahead and let you know that no news channel will get a hold of the details. No reason to panic the locals with another gyarados story. Also, your battle with the sisters tomorrow has been cancelled."

That threw me for a loop, and a part of my mind told me that I was about to go to jail or something. But the Captain grabbed the case in his hands and opened it up to reveal a gym badge. The Cascade Badge.

"If you can take on a Gyarados with your team, then you would smoke the sisters. Just survival is all the league would ask of a three badge trainer." The Captain explained as he set the badge case on the desk and turned to walk out.

Before he walked out, he left me with some parting words.

"Be careful, Brawly. You're drawing a lot of attention to yourself."

*********************************************************************************************************

Have you ever left your home one person, and come back completely changed?

Before I left, I never even considered knocking on my childhood home's door. But that was exactly what I was doing, with a party of five pokemon behind me. I knew my dad wouldn't be at the gym yet, unless he had changed his schedule.

I also knew that he would be the one to open the door, because Junior wouldn't be able to sense me because of Shika's abilities. I would take him unawares, and he wouldn't allow my mother to open it if he didn't know who it was.

So when the door swung open, I wasn't surprised at his massive burly frame standing in front of me. He was shirtless, showing off his scarred but impressive torso. Immediately I drew comparisons to my own torso, that sported a couple of gnarly scars also.

My mind went to how I had received those scars. I clenched my fist, because I could swear I could feel the weight of a gun in it.

Pink mist filled my vision.

"Brawly?" He asked, as his eyes roamed me and my pokemon's frame. His voice broke me out of my trance.

I couldn't help it, but I got a little choked up just seeing him. A lot of shit had happened in the last few weeks since I had seen him. It was that reason that I didn't answer him verbally. I knew that if I spoke, I would break down.

So instead I stared at him, with my jaw clenched and frown on my face.

'Fucking hormones. You're a man now Brawly.' I screamed at myself internally. A phantom pain ran through my shoulder, right where a raised part of ropy white skin sat. The remnants of a bullet wound from five days ago.

My father saw the look on my face, and looked back towards the direction of the house, searching for my mother no doubt, before closing the door quietly and stepping towards me. No words were spoken, but his massive arms engulfed me in a hug.

The waterworks started.

*********************************************************************************************************

A/N: Wow that turned emotional quick.

Stupid story.

I actually didn't plan that last scene. It's been action, going and going, training, and more action. I think the story brought him home because he needed a break. I had him going about his journey and mastering his new pokemon. But Brawly really hasn't had time to come to terms with the trials the world has thrown at him, and I think that is why the story brought him back home to where he was sure of himself.

So we didn't get another gym battle, but we did get a new team member. And how the events of the last few chapters is catching up to Brawly, mentally. He is ahead of schedule for normal trainers by a long shot, so he can afford to go home and heal a little bit.

Don't think the story is going to turn into some emotional mess, because it won't! But Brawly, even with another life to fall back on, is still young to this brutal world of pokemon.

And the name of our new Gyarados is obvious guys.

Tell me what you think in the reviews!