Chapter 21: Storm Overhead

Ark and Sylph were running along the dirt road for a couple of hours after their first obstacle when a sound of intense thunder clapping stole their attention. A smile rose upon Arks face when he saw this. In the distance was a few storm clouds with intense amounts lightning crackling amongst them. To the uniformed, it would look like the start of doomsday with how destructive it all looked.

Seemingly unaffected by the ensuing destruction, Ark smiled broadly at the storm and changed direction heading towards it.

"Found you!"

He realised that so far everything is happening according to what he remembers. Even though he had already caused quite a large impact on this world, it was almost as though all of these events had to happen and the world would make sure it happened.

He cut directly through the forest before coming to a clearing. What filled his eyes was grey and black. The once vibrant green forest was charred to cinders in a large radius, with only a small circle in the middle still retaining its green colour.

Laying within that circle, Ash was hugging a small yellow pokemon. They both seem exhausted and badly beaten up, even Ark started to feel bad for not interfering sooner.

Approaching the small circle, Ark walked towards the two unconscious beings only to see his body not moving. A chill ran down his back as he felt something watch him. Slowly looking up into the sky, a beautiful bird flew across the sky. Its colours seemed to glisten in the sunlight. However, what made Ark so weary was the striking orange eyes staring at him. The being in the sky was at least 1000 meters above him, the thought that it could pinpoint him and hold a stare for so long made Ark want to run. The power it radiated could be felt by Ark even from the ground. It wasn't only Ark, Sylph had started quivering non-stop as she felt the Pokemons gaze on them.

After what felt like a lifetime, the Pokemon continued flying before slowly disappearing into the distant skies. Following this, Ark collapsed onto the ground with sweat running down every part of his body. His breathing had started up again even before he realised that he had been holding his breath.

"So... huff... That was Ho-Oh... It seemed to be interested in me... huff... It didn't seem to be hostile but from what I remember it did not stare at Ash like that in the anime"

Arks mind was in chaos. He originally only intended to watch from the sides, yet he ended up being noticed by Ho-Oh. Shaking his head, he stood up and spoke to his little Partner.

"It's okay now Sylph. Ho-Oh is gone so you can calm down. Honestly, I don't know whether to call myself extremely lucky or hopelessly unlucky."

-Too scary...-

Sylph spoke up before climbing up Ark and sitting onto his shoulders. Once she was seated comfortably, Ark approached Ash and gently shook his shoulders.

"Nnn Huh? Where am I? Ahhh Pikachu? Wheres Pikachu?!?"

Ash shot up and frantically searched around for Pikachu. Ark had to bite his lip elsewise he would have laughed.

"Ash calm down. Pikachu is right below you."

Ash spun around when he heard Arks voice before looking at his feet. Curled into a ball was his new furry partner.

"Pikachu! Oh no! You're hurt! I need to get you to the Pokemon Center!"

Ash scooped up Pikachu and started to sprint off towards Viridian City. Ark released a hopeless sigh as he noticed Ashs backpack on the floor.

"Honestly that kid is completely hopeless. No wonder Misty would always get mad at him. Well I might as well take it to him."

Ark grabbed hold of Sylphs dangling little legs and started to follow Ash at a moderate speed. He wanted to avoid the trouble of coming into town with Ash while he looked like a burnt marshmallow.

Unbeknownst to him, a fiery redhead was chasing down the same path he had followed with steam puffing from her ears and her eyes bloodshot. Pokemon were visibly fleeing from the scene as a certain tyrant stormed through the small forest path.

"Honestly this is such a hassle. Why am I stuck with this kids luggage, curse my kindness."

Ark was regretting taking Ashs backpack with him. While he was not struggling with the weight, it annoyed him that he was basically being a personal porter right now. This was not the way he wanted to start his Pokemon adventure but, he sucked it all up when he thought about his future gains.

After a few minutes of light jogging, Ark finally arrived at the outskirts of Viridian City. Ark was slightly surprised. The so-called city was more like a town. There was a few residential areas that made up the majority of the city. Though he had seen it in the anime, he was finally realising how far behind the Kanto Region was when it came to technology.

"I guess that in the next few years the technology from the Kalos region may become more prominent over here or maybe Kanto will go through some technological boom"

Ark scanned his eyes across Viridian City in search for his destination. When he found it, he turned his head towards Sylph who was resting her head on his hair and smiled gently.

"I won't run Sylph, so you try and get some rest. We have had a busy day today"

-Okay, Night Ark-

Sylph immediately took Arks offer and let the tensions leave her body as she snuggled her head into Arks neat hair.

When he was sure that Sylph was settled, Ark started heading towards the Pokemon Center. In the distance, the sun was setting, leaving the sky as a beautiful orange shade. As Ark looked at it while walking, he found it impossible to rip his thoughts from Ho-Oh when he saw the deep orange shade in the sky.

"Ah there it is. I might as well stay here as well until I get more money to stay at a hotel. Though staying at the Pokemon center would mean my Pokemon get a routine check-up. Hmm I should probably give this deeper thought"

Ark walked into the Pokemon Center, only to be blinded by the bright lights.

Once his vision returned, he scanned the surroundings until he noticed a familiar figure. With a relieved smile, Ark walked up to Ash and started to speak.

"Hey A-"

"HEY YOU!"

Just as Ark was about to call out to Ash, a loud, tyrannical scream shook the whole Pokemon Center. All eyes turned to the source of the shout. Ashs face visibly paled once he saw the identity of the one shouting.

"AH IT'S YOU!"