Ch 27. Almost...

On his way to Lavender Town, Ares had passed a lot of trainers, battled a few to let his pokemon gain experience and went to look at the area he was passing through. The road was pretty wide, so it was hard to get lost.

The pokemon here were stronger as well. The pokemon that were living in this area were mostly Nidorina, Nidorino and Pidgeotto. His own Pidgeotto had looked at them, not in envy but with a hint of challenge. There were a lot of them in the flock that were definitely stronger than Pidgeotto. Something that Pidgeotto didn't like at all.

So during this trip through route 11, Pidgeotto picked fight after fight with every other Pidgeotto or other pokemon he could find. The battles were hard, as Pidgeotto wanted to fight on his own without the help of Ares. It had trained long and hard under the guidance of Ares and his other pokemon, knowing how to fight against different types. He was confident he could battle his way through it, even if it was by the skin of his beak.

So every afternoon, Pidgeotto would be gone for an hour or two, only to return with injuries but a proud look on his face.

He was certainly growing in his fights. The only downside was that he often took it too far, coming back all bloody. He definitely had to put a stop to it.

So the next day during breakfast, Ares confronted Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto, we need to talk. I know you want to get stronger as fast as possible, but this way you will only get yourself in an early grave. You have no intention to back down in a fight, I get that. I am proud that you do that, but sometimes you need to see the bigger picture. If you get even more injured than you already are now, you won't last in a fight. You might not even be able to come back at all, which is way worse as I can't treat you. I won't even know how you are. So at least let us come with you. Just so that we can say enough is enough. For your sake and for ours."

Pidgeotto looked at Ares in deep conflict. He wanted to get stronger. Strong enough that he could fight any Pidgeot with ease, to beat it down to the ground with just a single hit of its claws and wings. He would pay any price to be able to do that, don't even mention getting injured.

But now his trainer was saying he was having a death wish. That he was taking it too far. He knew Ares was concerned, but he wanted to do this.

Seeing what Pidgeotto was thinking, Ares just sighed. His Pidgeotto was too stubborn and proud to see that he was literally killing himself this way.

"If you continue to do this, I won't be able to help you anymore. You need to trust us. Why can't you just take good care of your own body."

Turning his head away, Pidgeotto stayed quiet.

"Fine. Be this way. Know that if you come back even worse than yesterday, I will keep you into your pokeball for the rest of our way to Lavender Town."

Pidgeotto couldn't help but become a bit angry. He scratched the ground in annoyance and flew away to a tree far away from Ares.

Seeing the way Pidgeotto was behaving, Ares didn't know what to do.

Deciding it was best to let Pidgeotto cool down a bit, he went back to his other pokemon.

Waiting for Ares to come to him in worry, Pidgeotto waited, only to see no one coming. Glancing sideways, he could see Ares spend his time with Pichu and Clefairy, the weaker pokemon of the team.

Can't his trainer see why he wanted to be stronger? Why he was fighting so hard to reach that goal faster? It wasn't only to rule above the other pokemon of his species, it was so he could help his trainer whenever he could.

Digging deeper into the bark of the tree in annoyance, Pidgeotto left, off to find another wild pokemon to vent his frustration.

Watching Pidgeotto leave, Ares just shook his head. He had no right to keep him here. Pidgeotto needed to find out for himself that what he was doing wasn't good for him.

Still, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. Glancing at Lucario, the latter nodded as he silently followed after Pidgeotto, making sure he wasn't found.

'Let's just hope they will be fine'

Ares thought as he continued to train Pichu and Clefairy, who were now sparring against each other.

.

.

.

After Pidgeotto and Lucario left, two people and a pokemon arrived, looking at Ares and his pokemon.

??? "My, this is just a rare find, won't you say so?"

??? "It really is. I wonder what the boss would say if we brought him these pokemon."

??? "I know what he would say. 'You have brought me the best pokemon. I couldn't be more proud of you. You deserve a promotion for your hard work.'"

??? "A promotion! Let's get them, James!"

James "How do you propose we catch them Jessie? We don't have any money."

Jessie "Don't be such a wuss James. We just need to make a trap. Meowth, didn't we have that capture net from last time."

Meowth "That's right. We just need to find a good place to put up the trap and we will be rich once we get these pokemon to the boss!"

The trio happily clasped their hands together as they began to find a place to dig.

James "How about here Jess?"

Jessie "Dig until we can't move anymore"

Meowth "For the boss!"

All "For the boss!"

So they dug and dug until a big hole was formed.

James "Now to cover it up. There. Now we just wait."

*

*

*

"Pidgeotto and Lucario haven't returned yet."

Ares muttered as he packed up his stuff. They had been gone for a few hours now and he began to get a little worried. Lucario would definitely notify him through Aura if something happened.

Shaking his head, he sent a wisp of aura to Lucario to let them know he was moving on, letting them know they should come back to catch up. Feeling an affirmative response, Ares returned Pichu and Clefairy, letting only Mew and Umbreon remain at his side.

"It's the first time since we traveled alone, right Umbreon? Feels a bit strange don't you think?"

Umbreon nodded, a slight smile on his face as he kind of liked the feeling of being Ares's sole protector. Mew didn't count, as she was already dreaming away.

Moving onwards, Ares just couldn't help but be distracted, feeling around with his aura from time to time, waiting for the others to get back.

Seeing his trainer so uneasy, Umbreon nudged Ares, bringing him back to the present.

Ares scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry. I'm a bit worried."

Umbreon nudged Ares' hand in comfort as they continued to move.

That was until the ground suddenly gave way.

"Wha..!"

Feeling himself fall down, he turned his body mid-air, focussing aura on his feet to soften the impact. Both he and Umbreon landed firmly with all feet on the ground.

"Who the hell dug a hole in the road!?"

Flabbergasted at the situation he found himself in, a laugh was heard from above.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right! ♪"

Two people and a talking pokemon had arrived at the opening of the hole. A woman with long magenta colored hair that reached outwards in a firm curl who called herself Jessie, a man with short blue hair who called himself James and their talking pokemon, a Meowth.

They had the same uniforms of the team rocket grunts he had met before, only the duo in front of him wore a white uniform.

"So its another team Rocket action."

Ares sighed as he looked with tired eyes at the duo above him. He had already become tired from worrying about his pokemon and now these three idiots turned up. His day really was turning out to be the worst.

"We'll take your pokemon, thank you very much."

Jessie said as she pointed a rocket shooter at his Umbreon.

"The boss will surely like this pokemon.

James added, pointing at Umbreon.

"Like hell you will get him. Catch a pokemon yourselves, dumbasses."

Ares retorted as his mood took a turn to the worse. He really didn't want to deal with such annoying people.

"Dumbasses! Look who's talkin'. You were the one who fell into the hole."

Meowth yelled as he chuckled. Jessie laughed as well as she shot the rocket launcher, shooting a net towards Umbreon. When the net was about to hit, a transparent blue bubble appeared in front of it, making the net useless.

"You really have no idea how I am currently feeling, so you better scram before I make you."

Ares growled as he looked at team rocket with cold murderous eyes. At the edge of his perception he could feel Lucario closing in, a familiar aura following closely behind.

Having no intention to stay in this pit any longer, Ares formed a blue revolving aura sphere in his hand.

Seeing that, the trio looked dumbly at what was happening.

"Do you see what I see Jess? I believe my eyes aren't working well."

"I thought I was the only one who had faulty eyes."

Jessie replied to James.

"Run! It's comin' toward us!"

Meowth screamed as Jessie and James looked at a quickly closer coming blue energy ball.

Dodging to the side, the aura sphere barely missed, singeing their hair.

"My beautiful hair! You will pay for this!"

Jessie screamed, only to be cut off by a loud screeching sound. A loud explosion was heard and by the time Ares and Umbreon had gotten out of the pit, both in a terrible mood,Team Rocket had already disappeared. Standing there waiting besides the pit were Lucario and a Pidgeot.

The Pidgeot, being slightly injured looked with pride and a bit of guilt at Ares.

It cooed an apology at Ares as it began to sell its cuteness in the hope to be forgiven for its actions. It had felt its evolution coming closer, which only made him more agitated. When he finally evolved, all of that vanished, leaving only the realization of how much he had worried his trainer.

"I'm glad you see what you did was wrong, as well as relieved now that you are fine. It's good to see you back to your usual mood."

Ares replied, his bad mood being lifted a bit.

Cooeing in delight at being forgiven, Pidgeot nudged its big head against Ares' chest.

"Just don't let it happen again. I'm sure I need to tell the others as well, just so they will notify me when they feel like they are evolving. It will take a huge burden off of my mind."

Hearing only the slight chuckle of his pokemon in reply, Ares just smiled wryly as they moved on to route 12, which should be near the sea.