Chapter 23

The next morning after my battle with Brock and capture of Smeargle, I got up nice and early and headed out to the Pokemart. I still wasn't sure what I fully wanted to spend my money on entirely, but I did stock up on a few necessities.

I still had enough supplies to last me a while. But I grabbed a bunch of different flavoured pokemon food to last a month each just to see what my pokemon preferred. And I made sure to stock up on a ton of Oran Berries. they cost freaking ten pokedollars apiece, but I didn't mind splurging three hundred on them for thirty just for Chansey. While I was browsing through the isles looking for what I mainly came for, I ended up in the clothing section.

..I'd always been a bit of preening peacock when it came to my clothes. And I even had a bit of a weird fashion taste. Like, I couldn't stop myself from buying a few cheap pairs of arm sleeves. A black pair, a blue pair, a white pair, a red pair and a green pair. I had some back home I used to wear when I worked out, and I just think walking about in just a tank top or shirtless with them made me look cool. I'd taken a real liking to them when I trained in Muay Thai Kickboxing. The guy I learned from wore them a lot, and told me that they helped shape the arm muscles. I don't know if that was bullshit or not at this point, never bothered to look into it, but I came to just like them nonetheless, so I'm thankful either way.

I don't even really know why I like them, I just did. So I stuffed my jacket in my backpack and threw on the black pair. Leaving me in just my black hiking boots, black jeans, white sleeveless hoodie top and the black arm sleeves.

I may have spent a bit of time admiring my biceps in a mirror while I was at it. But to be fair, they've nearly doubled in size after carrying my heavy ass backpack around and training under Chansey's Gravity. Heal Pulse training is amazing for bulking up man. Swoll is gonna be my middle name when in a month at this rate.

Sure I'll probably still end up a manlet. But I'll be a swoll manlet. with a big willy, baboom bitchez!

Super OP, pls don't ever nerf.

Still, after that, I found what I was looking for. A saddle for a pokemon. One that tied to a pokemon and clipped the sitter in tight. they were a hundred a piece. so I grabbed four. One for Fearow, one for Pidgeotto when he evolved, and two more just in case I got my hands on any more mount pokemon.

Which I was totally planning on getting.

I spent roughly eight hundred smackaroonies in that one shopping trip and almost wanted to cry. My nest egg is already being devoured! But i I consoled myself by mentally repeating that it was an investment for even more cash money dosh like a mantra.

After that, I returned to the Pokemon Centre and got some training in with my pokemon before harnessing the saddle to Fearow once we were done. Fearow was very accommodating now that my training had shown such obvious results. He'd been in a perpetually good mood since yesterday, and had preened the moment my pokemon had saw his new form and continued to preen proudly right up till I saddled him.

I was shitting myself at the thought of riding him. But honestly, I've been on roller coasters before despite my massive fear of heights, and I'm very sure Fearow is way safer than one of them. I need to get the fuck over my fear of heights here though if I want to get the shit I want done. Most of the shit I want to accomplish will need me to fly there to get it done in any reasonable amount of time.

Anyway, come the end of the training session, Fearow seemed to be annoying Pidgeotto, so I pulled them all back into their balls for a bit and made my way into the pokemon centre to get some breakfast.

It was about noon by time I was done eating and returned my room key to Nurse Joy. I was just about to leave the main hall of the pokemon centre and make my leave.

But just as I was about to, the front doors slid open and I blinked in surprise as a familiar redhead stormed into the building, a scowl on her lips.

Misty was looking plenty mad. Wonder what she argued with Ash about this time?

She had her head down so hadn't seen me yet. I honestly don't really want to get caught up in Ash's journey. I like the guy, but I don't want to just follow him around. It's not like I'm in a rush or anything to collect badges, it's just I'm not a very patient person. Once I've done all I need to do, there's just no point in hanging around. And I want to head to Mount Moon and see if I can get my hands on a good ground type to take on Surge with and see if I can get some Moon Stone.

Not to mention I'm itching to get to Cerulean City and get a Prism Scale for Feebas.

But, I do want to help Ash out a bit. Considering all the world ending crap he ends up dealing with, it is probably in my best interest to give him whatever tips I can here and there to help him along.

I raised my hand in the air, "Hey Misty." I called out.

The redhead looked up at me calling her name and the scowl on her face receded, "Oh hey, Jord right?" she waved back and walked over, "You got here fast."

"Yeah, I got here yesterday and went straight for my gym battle." I replied.

"You did?" she blinked, "How'd it go?"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the badge case Nurse Joy gave me before I left Viridian City and popped it open to show her the shiny boulder badge sitting alone in the case, "Pretty good, my Spearow evolved into a Fearow during the battle and we won pretty easily," I explained casually before making a show of looking around, "Where's Ash? I thought you were travelling with him."

At the mention of Ash her scowl returned, "He stormed off to the gym to battle Brock," she growled, "Not that it will do him any good, the two pokemon he caught that would be able to do anything aren't on him right now, he's going in there with Pikachu a Pidgeotto and four freaking bugs."

...Wait! Four bugs? But he only caught Butterfree in canon. How did things change so much? Because of me? Did I influence things that much already? "Four bugs?" I raised an eyebrow at her, "What pokemon did he catch in the forest?"

Misty groaned, "I hate even thinking about my time with him in that forest," she replied, "He caught a Caterpie on our first day in, and then a Pidgeotto the next. The same day he caught a Weedle, but during the battle his Pidgeotto woke up and made a Venomoth angry, which he caught as well. Then a Scyther of all things attacked us when I shouted at him when he tried to show those creepy things off to me."

The girl shuddered before continuing on, "It beat down Pikachu and Pidgeotto, then even my Staryu and Starmie. His Caterpie ended up evolving and catching it off guard with String Shot and finished it off for him to catch and the freaky thing was so happy Ash managed to catch it," she took a breath before kicking the main the ground angrily, "Then it decided to follow his word like it was law and happily showed him where other pokemon were. And get this! It was a Lotad and Wooper he found! And he nabbed them both before I could even ask if I could catch them."

Well Misty is angry. But wow, just wow. I mean what the fuck!? Canon Ash only had Pikachu, Butterfree and Pidgeotto by this point. This Ash has fucking eight pokemon, two of them water types, and a fucking Scyther of all things! I mean I've not no room to talk considering Shiftry and I have twelve pokemon now, but fucking still. A Scyther! Wish I found it. Scizor are fucking beast.

Misty sighed, and slumped over the main desk, and I tried my very best to keep my eyes off of her chest as it squashed into it. But man she was pretty stacked here. Young teenage hormones are the bane of my existence! I was bad enough full grown, but as a teenager, I forgot how constantly I walked around with a boner.

This experience being younger again has shown me what having a constant boner is like all over again. What a learning opportunity. Fucking not!

"We were getting breakfast at a cafe not far from here when he decided to go take on Brock, I offered to lend him some of my pokemon since he had none of his water types with him, and got angry when he blew me off." she finished, ending her spiel with a groan.

"Has he even done any training to take on Brock?" I hedged, leaning back on the desk and making sure to keep my eyes up, forcing myself not to check out her ass in those daisy dukes she wore. "Like, does he know the guy even uses rock type pokemon?"

"Nope," Misty shrugged, "We were a bit busy being lost and everything, and I didn't want to spend much longer in there when he wanted to train. Not that it did me any good since I had to spend my time around a bunch of bugs either way."

Luckier than canon Ash, but still just as ignorant in the beginning huh? I looked over Nurse Joy's desk and grabbed a piece of paper laying atop it and one of the pens behind it. The pink haired woman is kind she won't mind, I think. She had only ruffled my hair when she caught me checking her out last night after all.

"What are you doing?" Misty asked, raising her head and looking at me.

"Just a sec," I replied. I scribbled down a few quick instructions. Just how to teach Iron Tail and Steel Wing. Alongside how Ash taught his Treecko Bullet Seed in the anime, "Here, give this to him will you when you see him again."

"What is it?" she questioned as I handed it to her. Her eyes widened as she read it over quickly, "Hey, this is instructions on how to teach three different attacks! This is way too valuable to just hand over to a guy you've only talked to once! You could sell this for a decent amount."

Huh, I could? Nice to know. But honestly, I did basically steal the training routines from Ash himself, so the least I could do is give them to him to help him out. Plus, you know, making sure I don't need to get involved with that world saving bullshit. Like ever.

"And these aren't any good to me either, none of my pokemon can learn this stuff," Misty pouted, but stuffed it in her pocket nonetheless, "How come you're giving stuff to Ash though? I don't really want to sound jealous even though I am, but we talked more than you and Ash did back in Viridian."

That is true. Fuck, I've always been a sucker for a pretty face. At least when that pretty face isn't bitchy. And unlike her canon self, Misty hasn't been bitchy at all to me. Or in general actually. Except maybe a bit to Ash.

Fuck I feel bad. But there's only one thing I have that would be good for her. Or is it? I do know a bunch about water types.

"There's only a few things I know that could be useful to you, and one of them is worth a ton of money," I replied, think, what could I tell her? I want to endear myself to the main cast, later down the line they all have amazing connections. "And as cute as you are Misty, that's not gonna make me blab."

Misty looked at me weirdly for a moment, "Cute huh?" she smiled, "I did think I caught you checking me out. So not enough huh? Then offering a date probably isn't enough either then."

Some of the stuff I know is worth more than her bending over right now and letting me fuck the shit out of her actually.

I didn't say that out loud though, "Not even close," I shrugged, "The tamest thing I know that can be of use to you is the fact I know where an island here in Kanto is where dozens of wild Squirtle and Wartortle live, alongside a wild Blastoise."

Misty's eyes flew open wide, "That's the tamest thing you can tell me?" she gaped, "Do you know how much a single squirtle is worth? That's unreal Jord."

"A lot?" I guessed with a shrug.

"Try an average of twenty grand or more," Misty shook her head, awed, "If that's the tamest thing you can tell me about, yeah no wonder you have nothing to give me."

I thought hard about it for a few moments, to the point where the struggle must have shown on my face, "Don't worry about it," Misty giggled, patting me on the shoulder, "You look like you're about to burst a blood vessel thinking too hard. Thanks, it's nice to know you're trying at least."

No! Fuck that, that's quitter talk. "Do you know what kind of attacks your Starmie can learn?" I blurted out as one memory popped up in my head. Misty being incredibly surprised by Rudie's Starmie using Thunderbolt.

"Yeah, water attacks and some psychic ones since Starmie is a water and psychic type, why?" she looked at me weirdly.

"Wrong, it'll cost a lot to get TM's of them or take a while to train them," I grinned, thank fuck my luck is hanging in there. Misty in the beginning was almost as ignorant as Ash at times from what I remembered, "But Starmie can learn a bunch of others attacks. Like Grass Knot a grass type attack, Power Gen a rock type attack, Signal Beam a bug type attack, Flash Cannon a steel type attack, and even Thunderbolt and Thunder."

Misty looked at me wide eyed, "Really?" she squeaked, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me a bit, "You're not kidding are you? Starmie can learn electric type attacks!?"

I grabbed her hands and stopped her from shaking me, "Yeah, I think it can learn a fairy type attack called Dazzling Gleam as well." I added. I'm pretty sure I ran one during a game play through before.

A large grin spread across Misty's face and she pumped a fist in the air, "I definitely need to hit up Vermillion City then and get a TM for Thunderbolt," she replied and surprised me by leaning forward and pressing a chase peck on my cheek before pulling back, "Thanks cutie, this is great moves. But seriously, you know so much. How much research did you put into your journey before starting?"

"A ton," I shrugged. Decades in counting if you count since the very first pokemon game I played with Red Version. "By the way, I heard Cerulean City sells Prism Scales?" I asked.

"Yeah, they go for around five thousand a piece at the Pokemart, why?" she asked. Before grinning slyly at me and nudging me with her shoulder, "Don't tell me you're planning on getting me one as a gift? Are you actually interested in a date then?" she teased.

"I wouldn't say no to one with you at all," I grinned back undaunted by the teasing, "But no I just like the looks of them and wanted to get one." I lied.

"Weird taste for a boy," Misty narrowed her eyes a bit at me before shrugging, doing interesting things to her chest and drawing my eyes to it before I could stop myself. She grinned wider at my involuntary reaction, "As for the date, how about we go on one now? We can have a little fun while Ash gets his butt kicked by Brock."

I wanted to head for Mount Moon, but, honestly, this is just too good of an opportunity to pass up. The chance to endear myself to one of the main characters of the anime and have a date with a beloved childhood character? Dates aren't really my thing, but I'll make an exception. "Alright," I agreed and held my hand out to the 'older' girl, "Want to go see a movie?"

Misty took my head and giggled, "Sure, there's one I've been wanting to see lately." she agreed.