Chapter 3 – Trouble in Mt Moon

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Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

'Please'-Pokédex voice

"Read"-Dialogues

'Review'-Thoughts/Telepathy

"Support"-Announcement

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Chapter 3 – Trouble in Mt Moon

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Mt Moon- the tallest mountain in the Kanto region was a far more intimidating sight than what Ash expected from the pictures he had seen. The peak of the mountain was obscured by white clouds, making it seem as if the mountain touched the sky. He could see many climbers getting ready to conquer the mountain. Mt Moon was a popular destination for hikers and trekkers but for climbers, it was merely a training site in preparation for climbing the likes of Mt Silver or Mt Coronet, the tallest mountain in the world.

He then released his Pokémon and after taking a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, Ash walked towards the tunnel that led to Cerulean City. The first thing he noticed as he entered the tunnel was the silence, which was occasionally broken by the sound of wing flaps of the Zubat that lived inside the tunnel and scurrying of Pokémon as they rushed away on hearing his footsteps.

Ash began to notice that as he walked deeper into the tunnel that it was lit with a yellow light emitted by plants around the tunnel, a project implemented by Brock a few months after he became the gym leader, which gave him fame and credibility with the indigo league.

This venture by Brock made it easier for people to traverse the confusing path to Cerulean through Mt Moon, as only the shortest path had the bioluminescent plants.

Brock had also managed to leverage his increased credibility with the league to obtain a mining permit, (which had been denied to the city for a very long time) in search of gems, fossils, and evolutionary stones, which is now serving as a life support system for Pewter city. Many people in Pewter initially objected to his appointment as the gym leader, citing his inexperience and youth, but everyone began singing a different tune once he obtained the elusive mining permit from Indigo League. People of Pewter City finally believed that their city was going to thrive in the future.

There was a multi-billion PokéDollar project, which almost chose the city as their home, but the mayor of the city decided to put his needs before that of the city and colluded with the Cerulean city administrator, thus losing the project. This resulted in a huge protest in the city, calling for the resignation and arrest of the mayor. He was arrested and found guilty and was sent to jail, while his wealth was absorbed by the city coffers.

Ash was brought out of his thoughts by a loud scream and turning, found a man dressed in black knocked down on the floor, twitching. The man was about to attack him from his back, only to be shot down by Tiamat and Ramiel.

"Tiamat, use Yawn on him" Ash commanded furiously and took out his Pokédex and pressed the red button*, which sent out a beacon for assistance from the league. In less than a minute, five Rangers teleported to the site, looking ready for anything.

One of them stepped forward and said, "Hello, Trainer Ketchum, I am Chief Ranger Chris Daniels, we received your request for assistance, what is the problem here?"

"Well, that guy tried to attack me from behind, only for my Pokémon to take him down. I asked Tiamat to knock him out with a Yawn attack" Ash replied.

"I see" he commented and went towards the man and turned him over and took out a torch and pointed it at him, he looked rather unremarkable and wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

"Hey man, there is a symbol on his chest" one of the rangers called out and he pointed the light at the man's mid-section, revealing a large blood red-colored 'R' on his black suit.

"This guy seems to be a Team Rocket member, call for back up from HQ, they never travel alone, I am sure more of them are around," the leader said to them and one of them moved away, presumably to call for back up.

"What do you think they are here for Chief?" another ranger inquired.

"These bastards deal in everything from drugs to Pokémon poaching, it could literally be anything, maybe even the mines." He replied thoughtfully.

By this time, another team of about 30 rangers had teleported, along with the gym leader of Pewter City, Brock.

"What's the situation?" Brock asked Chief Ranger as soon as he appeared in the tunnel.

The chief proceeded to explain what happened inside the tunnel. Brock then released a Solrock and Lunatone from their Pokéballs and said, "I want to find out how many of them are here and why he was in the tunnel"

Their eyes glowed blue as they searched his mind and informed Brock what they found.

"There are 50 of them in Mt Moon, they are after the mines and have captured some trainers that entered the tunnel. They also plan on stealing their Pokémon and recruiting the like-minded ones and to kill the ones that refuse to join them." Brock informed them grimly.

"Sir, will we need more men?" the chief ranger hesitantly asked Brock.

"No, we are more than enough, after all, this is my playground" Brock replied confidently. He then proceeded to release a Probopass and a Claydol and said to all four of his Pokémon, "I want all of you to set up a gravity field encompassing the mines. Claydol, decide the optimum locations and transport Solrock, Lunatone, and Probopass to the locations, ensure that all of you are underground. Make sure that none of them can even twitch after the field is set up, Claydol will let you know when to begin"

All four Pokémon were transported away by Claydol. Brock then turned to the rangers and asked, "Does anyone have Pokémon that can use Sleep Powder?"

Four trainers stepped forward and released a Venomoth, Victreebel, Bellossom, and Tangrowth.

He continued, "Good, the mines have only one point of entry and exit, I want all four of your Pokémon to release Sleep Powder on my command. If any of you have flying type Pokémon, give the attack a boost with their gust attack or something similar, Let's move"

Brock then turned to Ash and said, "I want you to stay back and warn us if anyone is approaching us from behind"

Ash nodded and Brock led the team to the mines and the team took position behind the four Pokémon and a veritable army of flying types comprising of multiple Golbat, Fearow, etc. took their position.

"Go" Brock commanded and the four Pokémon let loose clouds of glittery green powder that was directed into the cave by the flying-type Pokémon working in tandem.

A few minutes later, they were ordered to stop by Brock, he then said, "Alright that's all of them according to Claydol and Solrock has dealt with the remaining Sleep powder, now let's go"

He quickly made his way to the mine and everyone followed him, ready to act if necessary. They entered the cavern and saw that all the team rocket members were knocked out, just as Claydol had informed Brock.

Brock then turned to the rangers and said, "Claydol will collect all the Team Rocket members and we can then transport them to the league HQ"

Soon all the members of Team Rocket were floating and their Pokéballs were collected by the rangers as the Claydol levitated it towards them.

Brock then turned to Ash and said, "Thanks for the help you provided, if it weren't for you Pewter City would have suffered a huge loss that would have made our monetary situation worse. Like I said after the gym battle, if you ever need help with a Rock-type Pokémon, don't hesitate to call me."

He continued, "We are nearly finished here, you can continue your journey to Cerulean City and please, don't tell anyone what you saw here"

"Of course, I won't tell anyone" Ash assured him.

"Good, Claydol will teleport you to the exit near Cerulean City," Brock said and the next thing Ash knew, he was at the end of the tunnel that led to Cerulean City, according to the signpost.

"Awesome" Ash muttered in amazement at the power and skill of Claydol to transport someone with such finesse and walked out of the tunnel with his Pokémon by his side.

"I'm exhausted, I think it's time for a break," Ash said to his Pokémon and made his way to a clearing on the south side of the route, which seemed to be a commonly used picnic spot.

After having lunch, Ramiel started working on Charge Beam, while Ash was trying to develop a technique with Tiamat.

He said, "Tiamat, your mobility is quite restricted when you're out of the water, sure you're faster than you used to be but, you won't be able to deal with a teleporter effectively, but if you develop your Hydrokinesis you can take care of this problem. I want you to form the smallest Water Pulse attack and hold it"

Tiamat proceeded to form a Water Pulse attack the size of a Ping-Pong ball on her nose as directed by Ash.

He then said, "Direct the attack to circle around your body without disrupting its structure. Start slow and pick up the speed gradually and stop when I tell you to without losing the structure of the attack"

Tiamat slowly moved the ball of water around her body, gradually picking up the speed until it was moving so fast that it was not visible to Ash.

Suddenly Ash commanded, "Stop" and the Tiamat obeyed the order but unfortunately, the ball lost its structure and hit the ground, releasing a small wave of water.

"It's alright girl" Ash consoled her, seeing that she was disappointed. He continued, "We'll keep working on it but before that, can you feel the water you just released into the ground?"

Tiamat nodded and proceeded to lift a small ball of water from the ground, which was noticeably bigger than the Water Pulse attack.

"This is great" Ash exclaimed gleefully and on seeing Tiamat's confused look, he explained happily, "When you have to face a Psychic-type Pokémon, if you keep an eye on the water around you, especially if it's from your attack, you will know exactly where they are going to appear"

He continued, "We'll continue to work on your Hydrokinesis and then check this out with Ramiel when he teleports"

They continued training for a while once Elekid had mastered Charge Beam, they checked out the water sensing skill with Ramiel and found that it was a useful trick in battles against Teleporters.

Emboldened by his discovery, Ash resumed his journey to Cerulean City, the northernmost city in the Kanto region. It had four routes that led to the city and the city was surrounded by waterways. A few hours later, he finally reached the entrance to the city and after completing the formalities at the ranger outpost, he entered the city.

He soon found the Pokémon center, which he quickly entered and made a beeline for the nurse's desk, which was on the left corner of the main hall, while the PokéMart was to the right side. He handed over his Pokémon to the nurse for healing and proceeded to call to his mother, just as he promised he would.

He was completely drained by the time he had finished his call and proceeded to go to sleep after a bath and dinner.

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Ash woke up early in the morning and after having breakfast, he decided to visit the famous Nugget bridge of Cerulean city. It was famous because of its gauntlet eliminator match, anyone who could beat the five trainers arranged by the organizers in a row would win a gold nugget and Ash planned on winning it as a gold nugget was worth a lot and would help him on his journey.

Ash made his way to the desk on the right side of the bridge and registered for the gauntlet match, he was then asked to wait in the red corner of the battlefield to the right side of the desk and wait for his opponents. The receptionist took the place of the referee and announced, "This is a 5-man gauntlet match between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and the trainers of Nugget Bridge, if the challenger defeats all five of his opponents, he walks away with a gold nugget. The challenger is allowed to use any of his Pokémon and is allowed to substitute. The first trainer who will face Ash Ketchum is Cale"

Cale, a tall teenager, who seemed to be a bit older than Ash, walked into the battlefield and took the red corner.

"The red trainer will release his Pokémon first, begin" the referee announced.

"Go Raticate" Cale exclaimed as he released his Pokémon.

"I choose you Ramiel," Ash said as he released his Elekid.

"Raticate, use Quick attack and then Hyper Fang" Cale commanded.

"Wait for it" Ash commanded and once Raticate had buildup momentum, he commanded, "Get behind it and use Low Kick and follow it up with Charge Beam"

Elekid quickly teleported behind the Raticate and connected with the Low Kick attack, which made it fall down. Before the Raticate could recover, it was hit by a condensed beam of electricity that finally knocked it out.

"Raticate is unable to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum; next is trainer number two, Timmy" the referee announced.

Cale withdrew his Pokémon and left the red corner after giving a slight nod to Ash and the referee, and Ash's next opponent, Timmy, who looked to be around his age, took the spot in the red corner.

"Go, Ekans, use Sludge Pulse" Timmy commanded.

Ekans glowed a bright purple color and let loose a Sludge Wave attack while twirling, covering 360o with its attack.

"Ramiel use Magnet Rise and hit it with sustained Charge Beam attack" Ash responded.

On hearing the order, Ramiel floated up and sniped the Ekans with a condensed stream of electricity, maintaining the attack till the opponent was knocked out.

"Ekans is unable to battle, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum; next is trainer number three, Ethan" the referee announced.

Timmy withdrew his Pokémon and left the red corner grumbling at his loss and Ash's next opponent, Ethan, who looked to be around the age of his first opponent Cale, took the spot in the red corner.

"Gloom, I choose you, use Razor Leaf" he commanded.

Gloom lowered its head slightly and let loose a storm of sharp-edged leaves moving at high speeds at the floating Elekid, who dodged it by teleporting throughout the field as the Gloom continued firing the leaves.

"Elekid get behind it and finish it with double Ice punch" Ash ordered.

Elekid quickly teleported behind the Gloom and connected with the Ice punches, but was also hit with the Razor Leaf attack the Gloom had adjusted on hearing the command from Ash, leaving sharp cuts on the Elekid. The Gloom fainted from the power of two ice punches, but Elekid looked exhausted after the battle.

"Gloom is unable to continue, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum; Next is trainer number four, Helen" the referee announced.

Ethan withdrew his Pokémon and left the red corner and Ash's next opponent, Helen, who looked to be around the age of Ethan, took the spot in the red corner.

"Let's go, Cubone"

Ash quickly returned Ramiel to his Pokéball before the Cubone could attack.

"You were phenomenal Ramiel, take some rest" Ash whispered as he withdrew his Pokémon and the ball shook once, showing that his Pokémon heard what he said.

"I choose you Tiamat," Ash said as he released his Seadra.

"Cubone, use Dig" Helen commanded.

Ash commanded, "Tiamat, use Water Bomb on the hole and get ready to finish it with Bubble Beam when it emerges"

Tiamat heard the command and quickly formed a humongous Water Pulse on her snout and launched it at the hole.

The ball of water hit the hole and exploded, releasing a huge amount of water down the hole, while simultaneously flooding the field, effectively trapping the Cubone.

Cubone quickly emerged from the ground in panic as it could sense water flowing down the hole it made, right into a shallow pool of water which made it screech in shock. It was then met with a jet of bubbles to the face, that knocked out the ground type.

"Cubone is unable to continue, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum; Next is the final opponent, trainer number five, Lena" the referee announced.

Helen withdrew her Pokémon and left the red corner and Ash's final opponent, Lena, who looked to be around his age, took the spot in the red corner.

"Go, Drowzee, use Teleport and use Hypnosis" she commanded sternly.

"Tiamat, when it appears, blast it with Signal Beam" Ash commanded.

Drowzee teleported to the right side of Tiamat, only to be blasted right in the face with a bright yellow beam of light that pushed it back.

"Dodge it with Teleport" Lena commanded in panic.

However, Signal Beam's secondary effect had kicked in by that time, confusing the Drowzee, making it unable to move.

"Finish it with Brine" Ash commanded confidently.

Tiamat blasted the confused Drowzee with a stream of saltwater, that finally knocked it out.

"Drowzee is unable to continue, the victory goes to Ash Ketchum, which means he has cleared the gauntlet. Please go to the main counter to collect your Nugget" the referee declared.

Ash quickly withdrew Tiamat and made his way to the main counter and collected the nugget and made his way back to the Pokémon center. After handing over his Pokémon to the nurse for healing, Ash approached the PokéMart and exchanged the nugget for 10,000 PokéDollar, which was transferred to his account.

He then made his way to the cafeteria and had lunch and after collecting his healed Pokémon from the nurse Ash made his way to the Cerulean Cape, the only place where you could find a wild Abra in the Kanto region, according to the Pokédex.

Ash proceeded to release Ramiel and Tiamat from their Pokéballs and said to them, "We are looking for an Abra, I want both of you to keep an eye out for one, and let me know as soon as you find one."

They both nodded and followed Ash as he explored Cerulean Cape in search of an Abra. After hours of searching, they finally saw one and it Teleported away as soon they approached it. Incredibly frustrated but unwilling to give up, Ash continued searching for an Abra to add to his team.

After some time, they saw an Abra fast asleep on the top of a rock, they stopped as soon as they saw it and said to Ramiel and Tiamat, "If we approach any closer, it will teleport away, so we are going to snipe it down from here. Tiamat use Signal Beam, Ramiel hit it with Charge Beam"

Both Pokémon nodded, and launched the attacks at the sleeping Abra; a bright yellow beam of light and the condensed stream of electricity made contact with the sleeping Pokémon and knocked it out.

Seeing that the Abra was out cold, Ash and his Pokémon rushed closer. Ash took out a Pokéball from his bag and tossed it at the Abra, the ball captured it and started rocking from left to right, with its center glowing red as the Abra fought against the Pokéball, before finally coming to rest, making Ash sigh in relief.

"Good job" Ash congratulated both his Pokémon as he picked up the Pokéball. He then took out his Pokédex and after activating the scan function, pointed it at the Pokéball.

'Scanning…....'

'Abra, the Psi Pokémon. Abra is the pre-evolved form of Kadabra. Abra needs to sleep for eighteen hours a day. If it doesn't, this Pokémon loses its ability to use telekinetic powers. If it is attacked, Abra escapes using Teleport while it is still sleeping, but when it wakes, it doesn't know where it is, so it panics. Abra is a Psychic-type Pokémon. This Abra is a Male with the Ability Inner Focus and Hidden Ability Magic Guard.

This Abra is 1.0m tall and weighs 20kg.

Attacks: Teleport, Counter, Confusion and Magic Coat (Egg Move)'

"Amazing, he knows counter!" Ash exclaimed in disbelief.

Amazed at his luck, Ash returned Ramiel and Tiamat to their Pokéballs and made his way back to the Pokémon center.

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Author's Note

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What did you think about the red button in Pokédex? I thought it was a logical idea as you can't really expect 15-year-old kids to handle all problems they encounter. It is also a reasonable way to use the ranger force in each region.

Solrock cleared the remaining Sleep Powder using its Earth manipulation to release the powder outside the mountain.

An Abra can learn all the moves a Kadabra can but its tendency to sleep makes it difficult to use in battle. In this story, Abra only evolves into a Kadabra once it can function for 24 hours without sleep. The Abra Ash just caught is strong and can stay awake up to 18 hours without any problem and hence is capable of handling itself in a battle.

I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter, let me know what you thought of this chapter in your comments.

You can support me on https://www.patreon.com/sandboxcreations

Thank you.

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