Chapter 4: Confidence Booster – VS Onix

 

            I think Lapras.

            “That is a good idea.” Ash said. “She’s shy, but maybe this will help her.”

            He released Lapras.

            Lapras peered at her trainer through half-sleepy eyes. Master? How can I help? What do you need me to do?

            “Calm down, Lapras.” Ash said. “I was wondering if you wanted to battle Brock.”

            M-me? Lapras squeaked. B-but, you have Venus and Poli out.

            “They’ve already cleared the way of all the junior trainers.” Ash explained.

            Right! We could use a break, so why don’t you take him on?

            Yes!

            B-but…Lapras stopped. I-I…

            “I’m not going to force it on you,” Red told her. “But just in case you wanted to try?”
            Lapras looked down. * I’m not even master’s strongest water pokemon… why would he pick me? Does he really care? I know he’s nice, but what if he gets angry like his father? *

            Y-you won’t be mad if I lose?

            Lapras! Poli scolded. How can you be so heartless! Ash isn’t like that!

            B-but…

 

            Ash cursed his father inwardly. * Why did you have to hurt your pokemon like that! I just got her a while ago, so of course she doesn’t trust me. Father! I swear that I will make you pay for what you’ve done. *

            You have to trust sometime. Venus coaxed. Just take it one little baby step at a time.

            Promise? Lapras asked.

            Yes, Ash won’t get mad. Poli said confidently.

            O-okay then. I-I’ll try…

 

            Twelve minutes later, the gong rang and Ash and Lapras went inside.

            “Let’s go.” Brock said confidently. “Onix, Bind!”

            Ash jumped onto Lapras’s back. “Flood this field with water, and its attack won’t even come near us.”

            Lapras immediately obeyed. True to his word, as soon as the water gushed over Onix, it quit charging and instead curled up and tried to escape.

            “Oh no! Onix!” Brock said, taking no notice of his soaked clothing as he ran to his pokemon. “Hang in there! Harden!”

            “Ice Beam.” Ash proclaimed in a cocky tone. Lapras nodded, as the freezing energy froze Onix solid.

            “Onix is defeated!” The referee yelled from in the air where he was perched on a Pidgeot.

 

            Brock recalled his pokemon, switching to another. “Kabutops! I choose you!”

            The sleek, deadly pokemon charged, sickles gleaming. Lapras quailed in fear and closed her eyes, terrified.

            There was a clang, and she peeked to see what was going on.

            Ash had taken the hit for her.

            He wasn’t missing an arm, luckily. The ninja-like arm guards he wore under his long-sleeved red and white jacket had come in handy.

            Right now, Kabutops was straining to push Ash down with its arms.

            “Lapras! Now!”

            A feeling akin to anger welled up in Lapras’s body as she stared at Kabutops. Even though it was a legal battle, he had tried to hurt her trainer.

            And her trainer wasn’t like his father, at least not yet. Maybe in the future he would be, but now, he was nice, and he needed her help.

            With a roar louder than she had produced before, Lapras barreled into Kabutops with a Body Slam, crushing it under her superior weight.

 

            “Kabutops!” Brock cried, recalling the pokemon as well.

            Ash’s eyes widened marginally, but he hid it. Instead, what came out of his mouth was ‘Ha! Don’t underestimate my lapras!’

 

            “Last one…” Brock said, not really hoping anymore. “Golem, go!”

            Ash nodded as Lapras shot out a hydro pump, knocking golem into the air before it hit the ground.

            “And the Red Trainer wins!”

            Red smirked, as he gave Lapras a hug.

 

            Lapras nearly fainted in surprise.

            He was hugging her in front of all those people? And he wasn’t ashamed of his pokemon?

            How… strange. But it was kind of a nice feeling.

            Red gave the crowd a ‘V’ for victory, as he accepted the Boulder Badge from Brock.

 

            Most gyms weren’t so full of cheering fans, but then again, Brock always had a flair for attracting girls.

            And this was the most convenient way to do it.

            If he won, people cheered for him. If not, a girl would try and cheer him up.

            So it was win-win for the Pewter City gym leader.

            Red made another boastful statement before the left the gym. A team rocket agent happened to overhear, being in the crowd.

 

            “Do you think he’s the one who trapped our team in Mount Moon?”
            “It’s possible. Even if he isn’t, we could lift his pokemon.”

            “Good idea.”

            The rocket turned off his pager and waited for backup.

 

            Red made another trip to the Center, just in case.

            “Oh, hello, Red.” Nurse Joy said. “So you did start your journey.”

            “Yes, Nurse Joy.” Ash said.

            “My sister spoke highly of your operational skills.”

            Ash blushed slightly. “Well, the Chanseys did everything, I just supervised.”

            “It is still important though.” Joy said. She handed him back his poke balls. “Have you run into any trouble?”

            “No.” Red said, impishly grinning. “Trouble runs into me!”

            Joy chuckled, daintily lifting a hand in front of her mouth. “Well, I’ll be hearing from you from all my other relatives. Good luck.”

            “Thank you, Nurse Joy.” Ash said, waving goodbye.

 

            Oh! Chansey said, as she saw him walking out the door. I remember him!

            “I figured you would.”

            He seems happy.

            “That’s true, but he always was good at being cheerful, even when his life was at its low point.”

            Chansey nodded, thinking back to an incident that had occurred not long after Ash registered as an intern.

            As a pokemon, her memory of that time was quite hazy, but she faintly remembered him crying silently in the bathroom during a break. He wouldn’t talk about it, though.

            Strange.

 

End Chapter

 

Well, I put up an extra chapter to be nice. Please review! *bows*

Now, who actually supports Championshipping? Because I still have quite a few un-posted ones living on my computer and I’d like to know…