Chaoter 140: Pikachu

Don't forget to drop some power stones!

*****

A group of people gathered at the front entrance of the giant Indigo Academy. To the opposite end stood several buildings that connected to different classrooms that taught all sorts of classes. Many sought to become Pokemon Trainers here, and it was one of the primary courses a person could take, but there were many other professions one could study for. Daisy, Professor Oak's granddaughter and both Gary and mine's older sister by a few years, also studied here at Indigo Academy, and succeeded in the courses she wanted to study. She is now a Pokemon Breeder, in charge of running her own daycare in Celadon City. That was the place to be, considering it was Kanto's most centralized marketplace.

Serena, Lillie and I even got our three Eevee eggs from Daisy. They are currently well, by the way. It hasn't been long since they hatched, no more than a month or two at most, but they are all eating healthy to what I cook for them. Most of our Pokemon involve a well rounded diet of different types of Pokemon Berries. If it were other regions, we would have more options to choose from, but berries were the number one source of energy Pokemon could consume here in Kanto. 

If Koga wasn't the next Gym Leader, I would have likely chosen Sylveon to partake in my next gym battle. Fairy types were weak against Poison. I'm not exactly sure of the lore of Fairy Pokemon being weak to Poison types, maybe it's a beauty thing?

Serena had an Umbreon, so she could potentially use Umbreon against Koga, and likewise, Lillie had a Jolteon. Either one could make an appearance.

But as far as my incoming battle against Gary, I had already chosen who I was going to use. Gary wanted to see my partner in battle, so who else could I choose but Amber? I know I used Amber against Erika in our last Gym Battle so she might still be a bit tired from it, but I plan to go full force against Gary. Even if he was my younger brother, that wouldn't give him any leeway.

As I thought that, the black-haired boy in front of me took a moment to catch his breath. A little figure not too far away sprinted alongside him, and finally joined us. It was a little yellow mouse-like Pokemon with red cheeks and black stripes. I couldn't help but smile seeing this Pokemon before me.

"Pika!", The Pokemon yelled out, containing a hint of complaint in its tone. It was, of course, Pikachu, who Ash likely received from Professor Oak as his starting Pokemon. That meant Gary and Green had the remaining Charmander and Bulbasaur. The only question was, who received who?

"Haha, calm down, Pikachu. It was my fault for sleeping in alright? At least we could catch them at the entrance.", The black-haired boy said, scratching his head, saying that. His earlier childish demeanor was no longer there, not taking things seriously all the time. What replaced that was a rather good-looking adult. It has only been half a year since I've last seen this guy, but I could see his demeanor has changed quite a bit. He is much more proper now.

"It's nice to see you again, Ash. Looks like you grew taller during our time apart.", I said, welcoming the boy. Here in this world, people are recognized as adults the moment they turn fifteen. Not eighteen or twenty like it was in my previous life. Ash's birthday has yet to happen, but I could already see that he was just as an adult as the rest of us were. And for once, I am thankful. It looks like he wouldn't be keeping his kid-like appearance throughout the entire story. As far as his height went, he wasn't taller than Gary or I, but he almost reached six feet. He was slightly taller than Serena and Lillie.

"It's really nice to see you again too, Itsuki. I even managed to graduate along with Gary and Green! But before we go into that I'd like you to meet my new partner! Come here, Pikachu. This is Itsuki. He's one of my good friends.", Ash said, and reached his hands down to grab Pikachu. 

"Pika?", Pikachu tilted its head slightly. To my surprise, Pikachu didn't evade Ash's hands whatsoever. He accepted them wholeheartedly. Sounds like Ash was able to bond with Pikachu more than I thought. In the beginning, Pikachu didn't listen to Ash at all, perhaps signifying that Pikachu's level was much higher than what starting Pokemon started with. It wouldn't be until Ash departed Kanto and encountered a flock of Spearow during a lightning storm. Ash protected Pikachu from a likely death scenario and Pikachu used every ounce of its power to send those Spearow flying.

I wonder, did that event take place? Sure, Ash, as well as Gary and Green haven't started their journeys yet, but they have already received their starting Pokemon. Since they're here in Viridian City now, it was very possible his Pikachu got attacked by those spearow.

"Mind if I get a reading on this cute little guy?", I said, reaching my hand out. Pikachu flinched for a brief second before enjoying my pat on its head.

"Chaaa~", Pikachu said, accepting my hand and even nestled against it. Sparks of electricity began to form along its red pouches, signaling that Pikachu was happy.

"Hehe, this sure is a cutie. So this is a Pikachu?", Serena said, chiming in.

"Sure is. You can go ahead and do a reading, Itsuki, as long as I get to watch your Pokemon battle against Gary!", Ash said with excitement.

"Isn't that a given, Ash? Besides, it's not like me being here means I only have to battle Gary. I know we're in a time crunch and I'll be allocating some time to teach a class here at the Headmistress's behest, but I'm sure I can fit in a battle with you too. They say you were at the top of the battling classes during your studies. Surely that isn't just for show, right?", I said with a playful smile. Ash stared at me in surprise, not expecting me to say that.

"You really can battle with me, Itsuki? If that's the case I'll show you what Pikachu and I are made of!", Ash happily responded.

"So you'll be battling both Gary and Ash, Itsuki?", Lillie asked with interest, ignoring the urge of wanting to pet Pikatchu herself.

"Why not? You're not against it, are you Gary?", I decided to ask Gary. He quickly shook his head.

"If there is one thing this loser is good at, it's battling. I'm curious to see how you two will perform. I've lost plenty of times to Ashy-boy.", Gary said, giving us some insight into how he's been doing. Hearing that caused some surprise to reach my eyes.

"So even you lost against Ash, huh?", I said, not expecting to hear it right out that Gary has lost. I'm sure he takes pride in his battling. I know it was Blue who sat on the champion seat, but if Gary desired it, I'm sure he could very well become a champion too. With us added into the mix, I'm curious to see how the Indigo League will go this time.

"Hehehe.", Ash said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his finger, showing his confidence while letting out a laugh. At this time I saw Professor Oak turn our way.

"Oh right, Itsuki. I know you three recently upgraded your Pokedexs with the Rotom-dex, but I have some newer models I can give you. Fortunately I was able to bring them with me, along with Professor Sycamore's package for Serena and Lillie. The rings are finally done.", Professor Oak said.

"The Mega Rings are finally done!?", Serena exclaimed in excitement. Finally, Now these two will be able to start Mega Evolving their Pokemon like I can.

"Mega Evolution...", Lillie also uttered.

"They sure are. As far as the styles of your Pokedexes, they're still the flip versions with a sliding screen, but with our improved technology, along with all the students here, the Pokedex can now be integrated into smartphones. You'll be surprised with how much different it is. Most things can now be accessed through apps. You can even register for teaching courses through it. You issue a standard version to students here, right Headmistress?", Professor Oak said, turning toward the Headmistress. She nodded her head.

"We do. Every student here gets a student smartphone. They do have their limitations as to what apps they can or can't install. They also help students take notes during classes too. They're really such handy devices.", The Headmistress answered as she nodded.

"I've seen those smartphones before. I know we could have probably picked some up before this, but it would be a pain trying to upgrade them without Professor Oak's assistance, right Itsuki?", Serena asked me.

"Yeah. I probably could have managed, but Gramps has the know-how on how to fine-tune it.", I responded.

"And not just that, Itsuki. These devices can now access a wireless network. Not only can you communicate with others through it, this network can access pokemon storage. You no longer need to send Pokemon to me through Pokemon Centers. They'll digitize right into the phone into its own space, and you can pull those Pokemon out whenever you want to. Pretty convenient huh?", Professor Oak said, explaining some more new features his latest device has.

"We can access our own storage now? Neat.", I mused, hearing Gramps explain it. It was a feature in the later generations, introduced in Galar I believe where you can store as many Pokemon as you want without limit. One didn't need to visit Pokemon Centers to store their Pokemon, they could do it right then and there where they stood. It's not like the devices to send Pokemon into storage would become obsolete with this latest upgrade. Pokemon Centers and folks still used the ones there. Its screen was much larger than a smartphone, and could display much more information to trainers.

"Yeah. Let's head to the reception area and I can upgrade your Pokedexes. Gary, Green and Ash will, of course, receive theirs once their journey begins at the end of the month.", Professor Oak explained. "But before that, you were going to get a reading on Pikachu here right?", Professor Oak asked.

"Yeah. Let me get it now.", I responded with a nod. I took out my current Rotom Pokedex. It wasn't a smartphone yet, but it was getting to it. It still had a flip feature, which split it off into two screens. (A/N: Just in case what model it was got lost, I'm making it this model, before switching to what Horizons currently use)

"Pika?", Pikachu said, tilting his head in confusion, unsure what the device was held in my hand. It was probably used to the student smartphones given out here, but I fiddled away with a few taps, and the voice started to read Pikachu's information to us. And sure enough, it was quite a shock to see.

"Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon. An Electric-type Pokemon. Pikachu have red pouches on their cheeks that let them store electricity for prolonged periods of time. If a Pikachu feels threatened, they will be able to generate powerful lightning strikes from these pouches to catch an enemy off guard. Depending on the gender of Pikachu, their tails will appear different. Pikachu can also use its tail to express its friendship to another, allowing one to shake its tail.", The Rotom Pokedex said, giving us Pikachu's dex entry. It then went into its moves, and ability.

[Pikachu]

Level - 20

Gender: Male

Nature: Serious

Ability: Lightning Rod

Held Item: Light Ball

IVS: 31 HP 31 ATK 31 DEF 31 SPA 31 SPD 31 SPE

Known Moves: Nuzzle, Nasty Plot, Play Nice, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Thunder Shock, Thunder Wave, Electro Ball, Spark, Iron Tail, Trailblaze, Charge Beam, Electric Terrain, Charge, Surf, Agility

[Light Ball - A mysterious ball of light that can only be held by Pikachu. Once equipped, at start of battle, it boosts Pikachu's ATK and SPA by two stages. Does not get consumed after use.]

[Lightning Rod - Electric-type moves are drawn to this Pokémon. Electric-type moves will do no damage and the Pokémon's SP ATK is raised one stage.]

Yep. I really wanted to suck in a cold breath of air. Ash's Pikachu was already Level 20, and it had an array of moves. Not only that, it was starting to learn moves that it showed off in the anime...