Chapter Text
Thunder rumbled above. Torrential rainfall poured down from the cloudy midnight sky. There was no moon in sight.
Angry wind howled throughout the Lavender Town Graveyard.
Lightning struck a headstone, illuminating the earth around it for a fraction of a moment.
It revealed a young man standing still, despite the blast occurring a mere foot away from him. Glassy brown eyes gained a semblance of recognition, and the man knelt to lay a hand on the stone that had been struck. He loosely traced the lightning pattern that had just been etched into the stone.
“Until we meet again, Pikachu,” he whispered.
—
All was silent save for the crunch of fresh snow underneath worn sneakers.
Ash Ketchum continued his trek up the mountain, his clothes dusted with snow.
Three poke balls were clipped to his belt.
Bulbasaur. Squirtle. Charizard.
The only three remaining from his first journey.
—
Ursaring thrashed wildly, breaking through Bulbasaur’s Leech Seed netting, and charged.
“Stop it in its tracks with Sleep Powder!” Ordered Ash, standing close behind Bulbasaur.
Aiming its bulb towards the wild bear pokemon, Bulbasaur expelled its light green Sleep Powder in a large cloud.
Rather than charge straight through as hoped, the Ursaring stopped short of it, wary of the substance.
Without missing a beat, Ursaring charged a Hyper Beam and fired it.
Bulbasaur sidestepped the attack by a hair, and Ash dove to the side to avoid the blast.
Ursaring continued its sprint forward through the snow, the Hyper Beam having cleared the air of any Sleep Powder.
Sharp leaves sliced through the cold air in a perfect arc towards Ursaring as Bulbasaur used Razor Leaf on its own accord. Still in motion, Ursaring batted the leaves to the ground and leapt above Bulbasaur, brandishing two gleaming Hammer Arms to strike it upon reaching the ground.
“Hold its arms with Vine Whip!” Ash shouted, having regained his footing off to the side of the battle.
The order came a fraction of a second too late, and the first Hammer Arm slammed onto Bulbasaur’s head. Dazed but still able to battle, Bulbasaur used its vines to prevent the second Hammer Arm from landing.
Ursaring roared, and Bulbasaur’s entire body shook with effort as it tried to keep just one of Ursaring’s arms at bay.
Ursaring raised its free arm aloft once more, ready to strike, looking down at Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur roared back, deeper than Ash had ever heard it before, and began to glow, a brilliant, shining white.
“Bulbasaur,” Ash breathed, “you’re…evolving?”
Ash watched reverently as its body grew larger, its bulb sprouted leafage and its vines thickened.
Ivysaur’s made eye contact with Ash for a moment, and Ash was heartened by its familiar red eyes, still those of his Bulbasaur.
Using its increased strength, Ivysaur flung Ursaring a few feet away with its vines, sending the pokemon skidding into the dirt.
Ivysaur charged, and as Ursaring rose, Ivysaur slammed a Double-Edge into Ursaring’s stomach.
It did not rise again.
Ivysaur stared, its expression resolute and brooding, at Ursaring’s unconscious form.
—
Squirtle writhed and shook fruitlessly as an Arbok tightened its wrap around it.
“Skull Bash!” Ash called. As Squirtle reared its head, charging energy for its attack, Arbok pulled its head back ever so slightly, just enough for Squirtle to see its frills, and made its move.
Arbok’s eyes glowed a dark purple and gold, and Squirtle’s muscles jerked briefly before going entirely limp, paralyzed.
Arbok bared its fangs and bit deeply into Squirtle’s neck. Arbok’s toxin seeped into the wound, and Squirtle gurgled a cry of pain.
“Squirtle!” Ash shouted, “Rapid Spin!”
Breaking free from the paralysis, Squirtle retreated its head and appendages into its shell, but Arbok’s hold prevented it from spinning.
Arbok hissed, opening its mouth and sending a shower of poison stings into the holes in Squirtle’s shell.
“Full power, Hydro Pump!” Ash yelled, and Squirtle followed through.
Water jetted out from its shell in massive amounts, disintegrating the poison sting and slamming into Arbok’s face, sending it flying off the cliffside.
Ash ran over to the cliff’s edge, where he saw, around fifteen feet below him, Arbok laying unconscious in a patch of snow.
He turned to congratulate Squirtle, only to see it sprawled flat on the field. It too, was unconscious, having succumbed to the after-effects of Arbok’s poison.
He returned it without a word.
—
Only the strong survived on Mt. Silver.
Victory or death.
Charizard’s searing flames bathed an attacking group of Sneasel and Weavile.
Ash stepped over their charred, listless bodies, sparing a glance for the ones strong enough to get back on their feet.
Ash walked on.
—
Reaching the top of the mountain did not feel like the accomplishment it was. There was nobody to share it with, no celebration to be had. Ash gazed at all the world beneath him.
The view from the summit of Mt. Silver was incredible, on the days snowstorms didn’t block it out.
The cave he called home was warm, the Hot Springs were a beautiful place to rest, and there were forage-able foods if you knew where to look.
It was a different life than he was used to, Ash knew.
But nothing could ever be the same, no matter where he was.
—
The pokemon at the top of Mt. Silver were much stronger than the pokemon below.
It made for good training.
Days blended into weeks.
Weeks blended into months.
They got stronger.
Mt. Silver became easier.
—
Most pokemon had learned not to enter the cave Ash dwelled in.
Looking at the small footprints at the mouth of his cave, Ash wondered what pokemon would be so bold.
Was it powerful, or was it foolish?
Ash was never one to estimate a pokemon’s power by its size.
“Charizard,” Ash asked, his voice a rasp, “Look for matching prints. Let me know what you find.”
The dragon flew out of the cave with a roar of agreement, but the search yielded no results.
—
Looking at the kicking legs of a small, upside down Larvitar, it’s face buried inside his food bag as it rapidly ate, Ash knew he had found his culprit.
Ash’s food stores had been running low for the last week, despite Ash rationing appropriately. He had known a pokemon thief was the likely cause.
Ash released Charizard from its pokeball, and it roared at the rock pokemon.
Surprised and scared, the pokemon jumped out of the bag, and began to waddle away, sending a jagged arc of rocks Charizard’s way as a deterrent.
Rock Tomb, Ash recognized. Nimbly dodging, Charizard quickly flew up to the Larvitar and picked it up, and ignored Larvitar’s punches and bites as it brought it back to Ash.
As a warning for it not to move, Charizard spat a ball of fire in the small rock pokemon’s vicinity.
Scared, tears gathered in the Larvitar’s eyes. The pokemon began to tremble, and Ash’s heart softened for the first time since coming to Mt. Silver.
Larvitar weren’t supposed to be finding food on their own, Ash realized.
It was a baby. Recently hatched from the looks of it, and apparently without a Mother.
Ash returned Charizard to its pokeball.
Ash offered the pokemon a gentle smile, “I’m Ash. It’s nice to meet you, little guy. Sorry if I scared you.”
It stared at him with wide eyes, unsure of what to think.
“Where’s your Mother?” Ash asked, reaching a tentative hand out to pat the pokemon’s head.
Larvitar shook its head and wailed, its expression sad.
Ash dragged his fingers across Larvitar’s head the way he remembered the Larvitar he had helped so long ago had liked it.
Larvitar calmed under his touch.
“I’ll take care of you, if you’d like.” Ash said quietly, “No more food problems. I can make you big and strong.”
“Lar?” The creature chirped innocently, and Ash lifted it into his arms, and sat on the cave floor. He hugged the pokemon and closed his eyes.
Larvitar was surprisingly warm.
As he felt its stubby little arms hug him back, a smile flickered across Ash’s face.
A few moments later, Larvitar poked him in the side.
Ash let go of the pokemon, assuming it wanted to leave, and watched as it grabbed onto his pant leg, before waddling away, stopping, and looking back at him.
Getting the message, Ash followed it.
It led him down a twisting path deeper into the mountain, and though there were moments where Ash thought he wouldn’t be able to squeeze through and follow Larvitar at all, he managed to do it.
The final destination appeared to be a tiny hole, that Larvitar was insistently pointing at.
Staring for a moment, Ash asked, “Is this where you live?”
Larvitar shook its head, and chirped into the hole.
A moment later, a Ralts popped its head out of the hole.
“Ralts?” Ash exclaimed, “How’d a Ralts get to Mt. Silver?”
This was a long way from Ilex Forest.
Unsaid, he wondered, ‘how does a Ralts survive Mt. Silver?”
Larvitar and Ralts exchanged rapid-fire conversation while Ash looked on.
“Is Ralts like you?” Ash asked Larvitar.
Larvitar nodded, and Ash nodded back, “I figured as much.”
“Do you want me to care of Ralts, too?” Ash asked Larvitar, which nodded emphatically.
Ash huffed a laugh, before directing his attention to Ralts, “Would you like that?”
Larvitar chattered a bit more, and Ralts nodded confidently.
Ash squatted and extended a hand, “Pleased to meet you, Ralts.”
A small white arm poked out of the hole to meet the hand, and Ash shook it gently.
Ash rose to his feet, and asked, half-serious, half-jokingly, “Any other orphaned pokemon I should know about?”
Larvitar and Ralts looked at each other, before Larvitar turned to Ash and shrugged.
The answer clearly meant, ‘probably, but we don’t know them.’ Ash felt his heart sink.
You couldn’t save everybody, Ash knew. Sometimes you couldn’t even save those who meant the most to you.
That never made it any easier to deal with.
—
Larvitar and Ralts brought joy back into Ash’s life. The antics of baby pokemon were adorable.
As much as Ash had rescued them, he felt they had rescued him.
Larvitar and Ralts took to Squirtle and Ivysaur immediately. They were still scared of Charizard, despite repeated reassurance that the dragon would do them no harm.
The attention baby pokemon required allowed Ash to focus on things other than training and survival, a rarity on Mt. Silver.
He trained them gently, slowly. He picked them up when they fell, and encouraged them with kind words.
Nothing else would do for pokemon this young.
When you are kinder to others, Ash realized, it is easier to be kinder to yourself.
—
“Use Rock Tomb, Larvitar!” Ash called, “Dodge it with Teleport, Ralts!”
Ralts flashed away from the jagged rocks coming its way, appearing behind Larvitar.
“Disarming Voice!” Ash called, “And Larvitar, use Bite!”
Larvitar clamped onto Ralt’s shoulder with Bite, but quickly let go as Ralts began to evolve. It’s form becoming taller, more sleek and elegant, it cried, “Kirlia!”
Instead of a Disarming Voice, Kirlia unleashed a Draining Kiss onto Larvitar, regaining its own health and sending Larvitar tumbling into the ground.
“That was amazing, Kirlia!” Ash exclaimed, “You’re growing up so fast!”
From the sidelines, Squirtle and Ivysaur cheered.
Kirlia leapt into Ash’s arms, nuzzling him affectionately, before hopping out of his grasp and running to go envelop Larvitar in a similar hug.
“Larvitar, that was some great sparring today.” Said Ash.
Larvitar looked happy, but slightly envious of Kirlia, and Ash patted it on the head, “You’ll evolve soon too, just be patient.”
Larvitar crossed its arms and pouted, and Ash, Squirtle and Ivysaur laughed.
—
For a while, evolution became the only way to distinguish the passage of time.
Squirtle evolved into Wartortle.
Larvitar evolved into Pupitar.
Wartortle into Blastoise.
Kirlia into Gardevoir.
Ivysaur into Venusaur.
Pupitar into Tyranitar.
—
The mountain’s peak was a nice place to be.
Ash found himself visiting it more often.
To simply stand and take deep, relaxed breaths for as long as he could spare away from his pokemon, was a peaceful joy.
It brought clarity to his mind, and allowed him to focus on the little things.
—
Tyranitar and Charizard were battling.
Watching his once small and fearful Larvitar battle as the titan of a Tyranitar it had become made him both proud and melancholy.
Tyranitar roared as jaggedly pointed stones circled around it for a moment, before blasting towards Charizard.
Tyranitar’s Stone Edge’s were faster than ever, and though Charizard able to dodge the majority of them, a single stone made contact, damaging Charizard and hindering its flying ability.
Charizard glided down, before slamming into the earth, sending an Earthquake straight towards Tyranitar.
As the earth upheaved around it, ready to engulf a shaky Tyranitar, Tyranitar found its footing and stomped on the ground, forcing a Rock Tomb underneath itself. Large protruded out of the earth, elevating Tyranitar beyond the Earthquake’s reach.
But Charizard had planned for this. It was already back in the air, closing the gap between the two.
Ash recognized what was going to happen before it did. “Seismic Toss,” Ash muttered, with a click of his tongue, “smart.”
Charizard slammed into Tyranitar with a lariat style hit, before wrapping its arms around Tyranitar’s chest and diving straight for the ground.
Tyranitar bit Charizard fearsomely on its way down, and Charizard roared in pain, but they both knew it was over.
Charizard slammed Tyranitar into the upheaved earth, narrowly dodging crashing itself by extending its wings at the last moment and gliding.
Dust filled the cave.
When it cleared, Ash watched as Charizard helped a sore-looking Tyranitar to its feet.
“Fantastic job, guys!” Ash called, “Keep working on that Stone Edge, Tyranitar.”
The pokemon roared in agreement, the noise reverberating throughout the cave, and Ash sighed.
He was starting to miss having a baby pokemon around.
—
While picking herbs from a field, Ash paused, hearing a commotion nearby.
Hearing the sounds of battle wasn’t exactly uncommon, but it was best not to be too close.
The timing was certainly odd. It was just before sunrise, meaning most nocturnal pokemon were about to rest and most diurnal pokemon were still sleeping.
Cresting the hill he heard the noise from, he saw an Eevee fighting a Sneasel.
Ash watched the battle in slight surprise.
Eevee were naturally shy, good-tempered pokemon, but this one was fighting with quite some determination.
And Sneasel were normally pack animals, so to see one fighting alone was rare.
Scanning the surroundings closely, he saw a Revival Herb plant near the two pokemon.
Revival Herbs were rare to find, and extremely nutritious to pokemon.
Suddenly, the fight made sense. One revival herb could make the difference between life and death for pokemon on Mt. Silver.
Seeing a shift out of the corner of his eyes, Ash zeroed in on two other Weavile watching the battle from the top branches of a tree. Perhaps they were the Sneasel’s parent.
Ash pursed his lips.
The two pokemon continued to exchange blows, and the battle was drawing to a close.
Sneasel charged Eevee, which unleashed a Shadow Ball just as Sneasel reached striking distance, sending the Sneasel skidding across the ground, fainted.
Eevee jumped and chirped with delight, running towards the Revival Herb plant.
Only for the two Weavile to stop it in its path.
One Weavile stood in between Eevee and the plant, and the other stood directly behind Eevee.
They unsheathed their claws and slowly advanced on Eevee. Fearful, Eevee flattened its ears back in and crouched low on the ground, a mix between a whine and a growl escaping its throat.
“Blastoise,” Ash whispered, calling the pokemon out beside him, “Get ‘em both.”
The cannon-shelled turtle appeared next to him, and after locking onto it’s targets, fired two powerful Hydro Pumps.
Both blasts met their mark, the Weavile’s unaware of Ash’s presence, and their gemstone encrusted heads crashed against the icy floor at the same time. Eevee stood in awe, staring in wonder at the downed forms of the two pokemon.
Returning Blastoise, Ash descended down the hill.
“Hello, Eevee,” said Ash, “my name is Ash Ketchum and…”
‘This is my partner Pikachu’ echoed in his head. Ash bit his tongue and shut his eyes for a moment before trying again.
Ash tried to smile, and feared it came out more as a grimace, “and I’d like to be your friend.”
“Vee,” it chirped tiredly. Ash couldn’t tell if that was an affirmative or negative. It was bruised and beaten, and Ash decided to take care of the most important part first.
He scooped the brown-fox pokemon up into his arms and walked towards the medicinal plant. He pulled off one of the leaves from it and offered it to Eevee.
Eevee nibbled on the leaf tentatively, it’s big doe brown eyes staring up at Ash as it ate.
“I’m going to leave the rest of these for Weavile and Sneasel. They need it right now. I can heal you up anytime if you come with me.”
Eevee made a ‘cha’ noise, yawning as it nestled into his arms, comfortable in Ash’s warm grasp.
It reminded Ash of Pikachu.
—
Eevee was a ball of energy. It loved to run around through Ash’s legs and all around the cave.
Most often, it trained with Gardevoir, who had the best temperament and control of all Ash’s pokemon, save for Venusaur.
Eevee trained and battled with a smile.
Its positive attitude was so infectious, even Charizard didn’t turn it away when it wanted to play a game.
Watching all his pokemon entertain the new baby of the group, caring for it in their different ways, was a beautiful thing, Ash decided.
Ash felt himself smiling more often.
—
Eevee started each night sleeping on the cotton blankets with the rest of the pokemon (save Tyranitar which liked the natural ground), but by midnight at the latest, it would make its way to Ash’s sleeping bag.
Ash would always pretend not to notice, until Eevee would lick his face for attention.
Amused, Ash would make room, only for the pokemon to curl up on his chest, of all places.
Those nights gave Ash the best sleep he’d had since coming to Mt. Silver.
—
Going through the various Eeveelutions with Eevee on his Pokedex was supposed to be a fun activity, until Eevee loudly cheered at the image of a Jolteon, of all pokemon, having decided that was the pokemon it wanted to evolve into.
Ash’s heart twisted uncomfortably.
“Um,” he said, “not that one, Eevee.”
Eevee cocked its head at him, and Ash, not wanting to explain the truth, made what he hoped would be a harmless lie, “I don’t really like electric types.”
Eevee’s ears flattened with disappointment and shame, and Ash mentally cursed himself, “No, no,” he amended, “it’s not that. I just don’t have a Thunder Stone.”
Eevee perks up and chirps back at him, and Ash doesn’t need to know poke speech to understand the message.
Eevee would just wait until Ash found one.
Ash swallowed, his throat dry.
Ash could feel Blastoise and Venusaur’s watchful eyes on him.
He knows they understand.
But do they approve, he wondered.
—
The next day, Charizard refused to train, or even get out of the cave with the rest of his pokemon.
“What’s wrong, Charizard?” Asked Ash.
Tyranitar roared at Charizard, offering what Ash thought were encouraging words.
Charizard spat a fireball in Tyranitar’s face in response.
Gardevoir ran forwards between the two pokemon and Charizard batted it away with a powerful tail.
Gardevoir skidded across the cave floor with a groan, and Tyranitar roared, this time with real anger.
“Blastoise Blas,” Blastoise warned, its tone threatening, a cannon locked onto Tyranitar.
Venusaur, normally the peacemaker of the group, watched silently.
“Stop!” Ash shouted.
Blastoise withdrew its cannons.
Charizard turned a challenging gaze onto Ash, rising to its full, imposing height.
“What’s wrong?” asked Ash, his tone accusing.
Charizard jabbed its shiny white claws lightly into Ash’s chest, snorting derisively.
Charizard beat its wings, creating a wind, but it did not fly.
Ash stared down his long-time trusted partner.
“Is this about Eevee?” Ash asked, after a long silence.
Charizard shook its head. It bent its neck, and Ash climbed on, as Charizard flew to the mouth of the cave, and pointed down the mountain, towards Kanto.
Dismounting, Ash asked, his mouth feeling like sand as he asked, “You want to leave?”
Charizard shook its head, and it felt like a weight off Ash’s shoulders as he said, “You want all of us to leave?”
Charizard nodded.
Ash looks down, considering his pokemon’s request.
He’d grown comfortable on Mt. Silver. Come to view it as a home. Perhaps that meant he had outgrown it.
Ash bit his lower lip in thought, “I’ll think about it. Fly me to the peak.”
—
Ash came to the conclusion that Charizard was right.
He owed his pokemon a proper life. They couldn’t spend forever on the mountain.
Ash had enough time to himself. Pikachu would not have wanted him to live the way he had.
—
That night, Ash gathered his pokemon around a campfire. Sat cross legged, he waited until his pokemon’s conversations died down and began to speak.
“I want to tell you guys about my first pokemon, Pikachu.”
Tyranitar, Gardevoir, and Eevee perked up, clearly interested. Eevee sat in Ash’s lap, and he patted its head, glancing at his older team.
Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard were solemn.
Ash cracked a small smile, “Not even you guys have heard the whole story.”
After taking a deep breath in and adjusting himself, Ash allowed himself to remember.
“It all started, when I accidentally smashed my alarm clock the night before I was supposed to receive my first pokemon…”
The way Ash told the story, his tone wistful and full of affection, was captivating. His pokemon listened quietly, some lost in memories of their own.
He told them about how he and Pikachu first met. How they stood against an entire flock of Spearow and Pikachu produced amazing power Ash had never seen before.
How they became inseparable friends. About their time versus Brock, vs Lt. Surge, how they beat Drake in the Orange League and so many others.
He didn’t explain how Pikachu passed.
“And then,” Ash said simply, “it was his time to go.”
Silence hung in the air.
“Oh,” Ash said, after a long quiet, “this reminds me.” Placing Eevee gently on the ground, Ash walked to his bag and returned with a gold string-tied shiny black-velvet pouch.
“Eevee,” Ash said, staring at the little fox from across the fire, “do you remember when I told you about how I once offered Pikachu a Thunder Stone in Vermillion City?”
It nodded.
“Well,” Ash said, a lump in his throat, “I always kept it for him, just in case. But,” he started again, his voice gaining clarity, “I think Pikachu always knew this Thunder Stone wasn’t for him.”
Ash pulled a golden thunder stone out from the pouch, holding it towards Eevee, “It’s for you. He’d want you to have it.”
Eevee stared at the stone in wonder.
“I thought you becoming an electric type would be like replacing Pikachu, but that’s wrong.” Admitted Ash, “This is Pikachu’s gift to you. I know he’d be proud to have you on the team.”
Ash knelt, and all the assembled pokemon watched, as Eevee slowly walked up to Ash, and placed its head on the stone.
—-
The next morning, on the back of his Charizard, Ash flew down from the peak of Mt. Silver.
They did not make any stops.
Arriving at his home in Pallet Town, Ash booted up his barely working PokeDex to check the date.
“years,” Ash breathed, “it’s been years, Charizard.”
Charizard snorted in response, as if to say, ‘I know,’ and Ash chuckled.
From their aerial vantage point, Ash could see his Mother in the backyard, tending to the garden.
“Dive,” Ash mumbled to Charizard, and it obeyed.
Charizard landed behind his Mother, near silently and Ash leapt off, “Hey Mom,” he said, “I’m home.”
She turned her head sharply at the sound of his voice, and tears filled her eyes as soon as she saw him.
“Ash,” she said, and Ash stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’ve missed you.”