Ash's Room

[ashwantstobattle]

WHO: Ash, Pikachu and you!
WHERE: Ash's room - sorta
WHAT: Calibrations
WHEN: June-July 10th
WARNINGS: Oh you know, child death, violence, child endangerment...


The door to Ash's room leads into, well, Ash's room almost exactly as it is laid out back home. It looks mostly like a ten year old's room should except it's far too clean and it gives the feeling like the owner of this room is away from it for long periods at a time.

The Dresser is adorned with various trophies, certificates and awards. The diploma he received for completing Professor Rowan's Summer School course, two soothe bells( CW: animal/pokemon abuse ) he won at the Heart Home City Tag battle competition, There's a plaque bearing the words 'Indigo League top Sixteen' another that says 'Battle Frontier with gold little pins pressed into it, Half a Ribbon, several small cases containing pins of various colors and sizes, a gold trophy sporting a gold ball with wings attached to it, another trophy that looks like a golden tower, and what looks like a home made medal(CW: torture) with '2nd' written on it.

Each one connects and activates a very specific memory related to the item. There's a loft bed off to the side and the sheets are patterned with little red and white balls. There's an odd bear like plush somewhere across from the loft bed and small television sitting on top a tv stand, the remote( CW: Child Death) resting on top of it. Above the Loft bed is a shelf littered with various things, most notable though is a broken red and white ball that looks like it might be an alarm clock.

On the desk attached to the bed there are three clear glass orbs(Child death, Drowning). One will glow blue when picked, one will glow Orange and the last will glow yellow. Picking up any of the three will spark the same memory. There are a pair of gloves (CW: Death) draped over the chair tucked into the desk, and a model of something that looks a lot like the Eifel Tower( CW:Child endangerment, Near death experience ). Also sitting atop the desk is a small stone(CW: very angry birds, bike theft Near Death Experience) that looks a little out of place.

There a few bat like creatures dangling in a corner of the room and among them is an outlier- an odd dragon-like creature or more pterodactyl like creature(CW: Near Death experience, carnivorous animals/Pokemon) dangles in the center and a small orange and yellow, bat like creature( CW: child death, altitude sickness ) with a V crest on its head hangs off to the side.

towards the ceiling are very strange looking creatures that look like letters flittering and orbiting around each other. There are only about five but it's enough the real Ash is looking a little uncertainly at them. "Unown." He breathes, watching him closely as they swirl and dance about his ceiling. "What are they doing here?"

Pikachu is watching them as well but his ears twitch as he hears the door open and turns to face their visitor.

Comments

[newmemorywhodis]

Link finds himself reminded of Kohga, of all people, by the odd trio. They had the same kind of...dramatic foolishness. Especially since they seemed to be trying to steal, of all things, a massive bird that could fire beams of frost.

A creature like that didn't strike Link as something you could steal. Not unless it wanted to be.

But then they were swiftly dealt with, and then there was another pokemon battle. One which Link found just as strange and bizarre as all the others, although now the participants looked much more impressive than in other memories.

Then the memory ends, and Link looks at Ash. "Did you win?"

[ashwantstobattle]

“Hey.. where’d it go?” Ash glances around for signs of the Articuno. Before he or Charizard can figure it out, Articuno comes in and strikes Charizard, knocking it down towards the ground. “Charizard!” Ash cries out worriedly.

“Pika?”


“Mist is usually used to defend or escape.” Brock comments. “I’ve never seen it used like that before.”

Charizard gets back on his feet and shakes his head to clear it, Articuno dive bombing and coming in close for a tackle.

“Charizard! Dragon Breath!” Ash calls out. Charizard roars and fires a green flame directly at Articuno.

“Dodge it!” Noland commands and Articuno easily moves to the side, the attack barely missing the first time. But another blast of green flame hits it directly on. Articuno lets out a coo of discomfort before it starts to fall towards the ground.

“Hurry and grab hold of it, before it can recover!” Ash directs and Charizard flies in close to the legendary ice pokemon.

“Dodge it!” Noland cries out again. Once again, Charizard only barely misses and then looks back at Ash for instruction.

“Not again!” Ash cries out in frustration.

“Right after a direct hit from dragon breath.” Max says.

“How does it recover like that?” May wonders.

“Never underestimate the supreme power of a Legendary Pokemon.” Noland says confidently. “Use another Ice Beam!”

Ice beam lands right on Charizard's back, the fire type letting out a pained noise.

“A direct hit..” May says worriedly.

“It’s okay. Against a fire type that attack should have no effect.” Max assures her. Charizard lets out a roar and is able to fly away from the ice beam.

“Use another flame thrower!” Ash calls out.

“Dodge, and then use steel wing!” Noland counters. Articuno narrowly avoids the fire and it’s wings seem to glow before it picks up speed and slams its wings into Charizard who lets out pained roar before he falls back to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as he hits the floor.

“Oh no! Charizard!” Ash cries out to his pokemon.

“Pika Pika!” Pikachu calls out to his teammate.

“Charizard, can you get up?” Ash asks seriously. Charizard gives his head a tiny shake and stands up again, watching as Articuno flies gracefully above it.

“Articuno, hit it with water pulse!” Noland calls out. Articuno summons was seems to be a bright glowing ball of water and send it directly for the fire type.

“Get up! Dodge it!” Ash pleads but the attack hits hard, knocking Charizard clean into the wall. “Charizard!”

“Oh wow!” Max exclaims as he, Brock, and May all get up to the railing to look and see how Charizard is doing. “That was a direct hit from the water pulse.”

“And super effective.” May says worriedly.

“So this Articuno can use water type attacks too, huh?” Brock asks.

“And that’s not all.” Scott states. “Not only is Articuno great, but I think Noland’s got Ash’s number.”

“What do you mean by that?” May questions.

“His number?” Max asks.

“You have to have a direct hit for water pulse to be at all effective.” Scott explains. “So Noland patiently waited for his chance. In the meantime, using Articuno’s speed and agility to dodge every one of Charizard’s attacks. Then, when he had a clear shot he really let Charizard have it. That’s what I mean. He’s always a move or two ahead.”

“Come on, Ash!” Max Cheers.

“You’re still in this battle!” May Encourages him.

“Let’s go! Get up, Charizard!” Ash pleads. Charizard looks weaker now, shaking slighly but he does manage to get back up on his feet.

“Articuno, Ice beam!” Noland commands. Articuno responds in kind.

“Dodge it!” Ash calls and Charizard flies up, narrowly dodging the ice beam. Articuno keeps up with the attack though and Charizard isn’t fast enough to avoid it when the beam hits his foot, sending him tumbling.

“Now, water pulse, go!” Noland calls out again. Articuno fires water pulse at the frozen ice and once it hits it breaks apart, sending a shower of icicles right at Charizard.

“Climb, Charizard!” Ash instructs and Charizard takes off, soaring towards the sky with a determined roar. Articuno rockets after him. Charizard doesn’t seem to be able to pick up speed though.

“Charizard seems like its flying in slow motion..” May comments.

“Ah! Now I see why; his wingtips froze in that Ice Beam attack!” Brock points out. Sure enough, there’s ice encasing the tip of Charizard’s wing.

“Use Ice Beam and then Water Pulse!” Noland calls out. Articuno does just that, preparing the same combination attack from earlier.

“Hit it with a flamethrower now!” Ash shouts. Charizard does but several ice shards still manage to hit him, knocking him off balance.

“Okay, let's finish this now, once and for all.” Noland decides. “Climb quickly and get above Charizard.” He directs and Articuno takes for the sky.

“Now’s the time for that attack..” Ash decides. “Charizard! Get above Articuno and use overheat!” Charizard roars confidently as its whole body begins to glow orange, melting the ice off its wingtips and allowing it soar quickly into the sky. “Now, Charizard! One single strike!”

Alright, if that’s how you wanna do it…” Noland says to Ash.

“Get set now!” Ash says confidently as Charizard overtakes Articuno.

“We’re almost there!” Noland calls out.

“Now, Charizard! Overheart!” Ash cries out and strong burst of flame, clearly much more powerful than the previous flame throwers erupts out of Charizard’s mouth.

“Water pulse!” Noland counters and Articuno fire up its own attack. The two powerful attacks meet head on and create a burst of steam and smoke. “Now, steel wing!”

Articuno emerges from the smoke and steam, its wings glowing just as before and head right for Charizard, landing a direct hit.

“Charizard!” Ash cries out.

“Ash, you’ve battled bravely, but it’s time for me to end this.” Noland states. “Articuno, lets finish it off now with steel wing!” Articuno makes a noise of agreement, wings beginning to glow again as it heads straight for Charizard once again.

“Grab it, now!” Ash commands and just before the attack can land, Charizard grabs hold of Articuno’s wings.

“What? No way!” Noland responds in shock.

“Go, Charizard! Seismic Toss!” Ash calls out. Charizard roars in agreement and, still holding on to Articuno, begins to dive, quickly gaining momentum as he spins to disorientate the legendary ice pokemon.

The two pokemon crash, hard, into the ground, kicking up a huge cloud of dust making it impossible to see who’s still standing. Before the victor can be revealed the memory shifts and fades away back to Ash's bedroom.

"Huh Of course we did. I wouldn't have the Knowledge Frontier symbol if we didn't." Ash points out. "We beat all the Frontier Brains-they were all really tough. Right buddy?"

Pikachu! Pikachu says happily in agreement.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link is silent for a moment, thinking about the battle he just witnessed.

Ash did win, but there were some flaws in his tactics and strategy. He depended too much on one final manoeuvre - one that wouldn’t have worked if his opponent has chosen a different tactic.

But Ash is a child. And Link still doesn’t understand the rules of engagement in Ash’s world. And he did win, in the end. So rather than voice any criticisms, he asks about the one thing he found truly odd.

“…You tell them to dodge?” Was that…a rule? Pokémon couldn’t dodge unless they were told to?!

[ashwantstobattle]

"Huh?" Ash looks up from where he's giving Pikachu ear scratches and head rubs as he ponders the question. Pikachu just shrugs and bats at Ash's hand to not stop petting him.

"Charizard's got a very adamant nature so he's more likely to try and take every hit dead on than try to dodge." Ash explains.

"Pikachu?" Pikachu says mischievously, pointing at Ash with his tail, trying to indicate that Ash is much the same.

"But the reason trainers tell their Pokémon when to dodge is usually we can see the field better than the Pokémon can and if you tell your partner to dodge too soon, their opponent can change the angle of the attack and depending on type advantages can deal a lot of damage. Since we have a different view of the battle field it's up the trainers to tell their Pokémon when its safe to dodge."

"Pika pika." Pikachu nods in agreement.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link stares for a moment.

He can't imagine waiting on someone else, someone at a distance from the battle to tell him when to dodge and when to wait. Perhaps in a larger battle with multiple enemies, that kind of outside viewpoint would be useful - but more for things like enemy positioning, or hazards not immediately visible. Not for dodging individual blows.

That's the sort of decision that can only be made in the moment, because you only had the moment. A split-second reaction could mean the difference between life and death. There simply wasn't time for any kind of outside instructions.

And yet...somehow that's how things worked, in Ash's world. He'd seen them doing it in the memory. It was bizarre.

"...Pokemon battles make no sense," he says. Because they don't.

[ashwantstobattle]

"You'd probably understand it a lot better if you tried it." Ash offers. It's not exactly possible at the moment since Pikachu is the only Pokémon here. Maybe one day, he'll get lucky and one of his other Pokémon will turn up.

"Besides, being in a Pokemon battle is way more fun than just watching one." He says eagerly, Pikachu agreeing with a happy chirp of 'Pika!'

[newmemorywhodis]

Link shrugs. Ash might be eager for Link to experience battling for himself, but Link isn't so keen.

He's done plenty of battling. And while a fight can be exhilarating, and satisfying, and even rewarding...it's not fun. Not when the stakes are often life and death.

His eyes drift over the rest of the room. This place keeps showing him Ash's memories, but are there any that aren't about pokemon battles?

The little tower looks interesting (though Link knows nothing of Eifel, whatever that is). He reaches out to it.

[ashwantstobattle]

It's as Clemont says; some people are good at somethings, and not so good at others. That probably goes for likes and dislikes too. Although, Ash has never really met someone that truly didn't under that fire that ignites when you have a Pokémon battle or see one.

He glances over to Pikachu who just shrugs and hops down from Ash's shoulder to look around. He wonders if he can tell which memories will be attached to each thing. Maybe he can save Ash from bad memories.

The Model of Prism Tower gets picked up and the Unown are at it again, twister and swirling and glowing until the same Tower from the Kalos Crisis seems to spring up again but this time it's different. There's news copters flying around and the sky is an inky blue.

There's a crowd down below of concerned on lookers and news crews. Up on the ledge close to the top of the tower is an odd, dragon-like creature with odd coloring is struggling to get what looks like a painful red band off its neck.

Ash comes up from a ladder just out of view and starts to carefully approach the distressed creature as it flails, trying to pull the horrible collar off with arms that are just not designed to bend the right way.

"Hey, Garchomp..." Ash addresses the creature. It turns red eyes on the human child approaching it and looks ready to attack.

It does attack, sending what seems to be a dangerous purple blast directly at Ash, Pikachu and an odd blue frog who all have to quickly jump out of the way, Ash moving more towards the wall of the tower.

"Whoa!" Ash breaths as the Dark Pulse rips through the solid concrete of the Prism Tower, catches a some to the electric wiring and causes an explosion. Somehow, Ash and the others are okay. The pokemon trainer still trying to approach the rampaging pokemon but keeping his hand close to the wall-maybe to make sure he doesn't move too far away from it- it is quite a long way to fall, after all.

“Please Garchomp, you’ve gotta calm down.” Ash pleads.

“Fro!” The blue frog says.

“PiKachu” Pikachu says in concern. Garchomp just eyes them menacingly, growling with a clear message to back off. A message that Ash isn’t paying attention to because he continues to move closer and closer to it.

“I’m gonna get closer now, okay?” He tells it. It growls in warning but Ash takes a careful step closer. When he gets too close it lets out a distressed growl and flies up the level above.

“Garchomp!” Ash cries out worriedly. “Come back!” He looks around, quickly spotting a service ladder and rushing over, climbing up. The scene shifts and suddenly the scene is at the top of Prism Tower.

Up on top, Garchomp releases a pinkish beam of light into the air, still whimpering and growling in pain. It doesn’t take long before the young pokemon trainer is pulling himself up to the very top of the tower and slowly getting to his feet. He looks a little wobbly, but still determined. The blue frog and Pikachu on either side of him look every bit as determined as he is.

“I’m here to help, Garchomp.” He says sincerely. Garchomp must not believe him though as its eyes flash dangerously and it fires another devastating dark pulse towards the boy who once again, dives out of the way just in time.

Pikachu hops in front of Ash on all fours and tail sticking up as he sizes up his opponent. “Pikaaa-” Sparks start to emit from Pikachu as he prepares to launch a thunderbolt at the rampaging pokemon.

“No, Pikachu!” Ash cries out and Pikachu stops, the electricity fizzling out.

“Pika?” He asks in confusion. Ash doesn’t bother to look over at Pikachu as he’s still carefully watching the other pokemon. “I don’t want you to attack Garchomp.” He says seriously.

“Gar…” Garchomp growls, glaring at Ash.

“Pikachu?” Pikachu asks just before Garchomp aims another attack their way and Ash, Pikachu, and the blue frog have to jump back to avoid getting hit. Ash uses a hand to steady himself and gets back up on his feet, eyes still locked on Garchomp.

“Garchomp, can you hear me?” Ash asks, still determined to get closer. “I know it hurts. You’re in a lot of pain.”

“Piika.” Pikachu says worriedly.

“Fro…” the little blue frog says sadly.

“We just want to help you.” Ash insists, taking careful steps closer. “Please, let me get that collar off so we can go back down..”

“Gar…” Garchomp continues to growl, watching Ash with uncertainty.

“Gar…” It whimpers as the red, glowing collar sparks against its skin.

“Please? So what do you say?” Ash prompts his tone far too serious for a ten year old boy but also full of optimism that could only come from him.

“Gaaar…” Garchomp whimpers and Ash moves a little closer. It seems like maybe Garchomp will let him approach now. Briefly, its eyes shift from glowing red to yellow but another spark from the glowing collar and they go back to red again.

Garchomp lets out a howl of pain and tries to get at the collar, taking a few steps backwards and getting precariously close to the edge.

“Wait! Garchomp, look out!” Ash cries out in horror.

“Froakie, Froak!” The little blue frog hops up pulls some sticky looking bubbles from its back and throws them at Garchomp’s feet.

“Good thinking, Froakie!” Ash praises when it seems that Froakie’s quick thinking stopped Garchomp from falling over the edge.

“Gar…” Garchomp says as it desperately tries to get the collar off.

“We’ve gotta destroy that collar.” Ash says to Piakchu before he moves quickly over to Garchomp, no longer worried about scaring it off. Pikachu makes a noise of agreement and follows after.

Ash leaps up, grabbing onto the struggling garchomp to try and hold it steady-a difficult task when it’s several feet taller than him and his legs are dangling off the ground. “Garchomp, hang on and I’ll get this thing off you!” He promises. Garchomp lets out another dark pulse but misses Ash wildly due to the angle. “Pikachu! Use Iron tail on the collar!”

“Pika!” Pikachu affirms. Before leaping up, hardening his tail and slamming it against the red, sparking collar. “Chupika!”

It splits and Ash and Garchomp teeter dangerously for a moment but the Pokemon’s eyes turn back to yellow and it leans in towards the tower, falling to its knees in exhaustion. Ash finally lets go of it, his feet back on the solid floor.

“Are you okay?” Ash asks it as it pants, trying to catch its breath.

“Pika!” Pikachu cries out happily since it seems everyone is okay.

“That must have hurt.” Ash says soothingly to Garchomp. “Help’s on the way, don’t worry.” He assures.

“Gar…” Garchomp looks at him sadly.

“Pi-Pika?” Piakchu’s sprint towards Ash is cut short as the ground beneath him crumbles and Pikachu is pitched off the side of the tower.

“Pikachu!!” Ash doesn’t even think twice before he rushes to the edge and jumps, launching himself directly off the top of the tower and diving towards the yellow mouse. The both plummet downwards but Ash manages to grab hold of Pikachu, holding him tightly in his arms as the two brace for the worst.

At the very last second a streak of red shoots across the horizon and catches Ash and Pikachu in midair before heading back to the ground. The world goes bright a moment and suddenly the four walls of Ash’s bedroom enclose the space and the Unown on the ceiling stop glowing, bringing everything back to the same setting as before.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's eyebrows furrow together, as he processes the memory.

Not the approach he'd have taken, admittedly. Link probably would have just fought the creature; it was a danger, and killing it would have been an effective solution.

He decides not to mention this to Ash. And he has to admire Ash's solution too - some puzzles had more than one solution.

But he's not entirely sure what was wrong with it, either. The collar was doing something, but Link really doesn't know what.

"The collar...made it angry?"

[ashwantstobattle]

"Of course it did, wouldn't you be angry too if someone was trying to control you?" Ash asks, Pikachu nodding in agreement.

"That Garchomp is our friend and Team Rocket tried to take control of her by putting this weird collar on her so she went on a rampage. She didn't know what she was doing- all the knew was that she was in pain."

[newmemorywhodis]

"The collar could control it?" Link says, his frown deepening. He's never heard of such a thing. How could something like that even be possible?"

[ashwantstobattle]

"Well, I think that one was defective, so all it did was hurt a lot and cause Garchomp to go on a rampage." Ash explains.

"She's all better now though, safe and sound back with her trainer." He says proudly.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. A good thing, then. Link might hunt and kill animals for food, but he doesn’t want to see them suffer.

Though, there’s something else about the memory Link should comment on.

“You need a paraglider.”

[ashwantstobattle]

That is not what Ash, nor Pikachu was expecting and the two look at each other briefly.

"A paraglider?" He does know what that is, of course, it just feels little out of left field. "It's not like I planned to jump off the tower. And all my other Pokemon were back home with Professor Oak.-besides, Blaziken caught us in time."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link shrugs.

“You go high, you need a way down.” And if Ash was going to go climbing metal towers on the regular, well, he definitely needed a way down.

[ashwantstobattle]

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." Ash says uncertainly and then looks at Pikachu for guidance.

"Pika..." Pikachu shrugs as he doesn't have any answers to give. Although, he would say he'd rather Ash just stop with the death-defying stunts even if he knows that will never happened.

[newmemorywhodis]

Apparently reassured, Link looks around again. Although this time, before touching anything he stops with one hand outstretched, and looks back at Ash and Pikachu.

Whatever he chooses, he'll see a memory. But he won't know what he will see. Is there anything that either Ash or Pikachu thinks he should see?

So Link will wait - and see if there's any particular object that they look towards.

[ashwantstobattle]

While there are definite some memories in here Ash would much rather not relive there's nothing he really has to hide as such. Link already knows about the Chosen One thing but truth be told he's not one hundred percent sure which memories are attached to what. He's confident all his trophies and badges are attached to battles.

"Pika!" Pikachu hops down from Ash's shoulder and up on the desk where he finds a very familiar looking rock and holds it up. He's pretty sure he knows what memory this is, and it's a very important one.

[newmemorywhodis]

A rock! Link does always appreciate a nice rock.

He reaches out - both to get a better look at it, and to see the memory that will no doubt accompany it.

[ashwantstobattle]

The Unown overhead start to chant and swirl at the room melts away to be taken over but what looks like the edge of a forest. At the bottom of the hill Pallet town can be seen at a distance. Ash can be seen wearing pink rubber gloves and dragging Pikachu behind him with a clothes line. He reaches the top of the hill and lets out a sigh.

“Pikachu.. Are you gonna be like this, the whole way?” He asks. Pikachu turns his nose up and nods twice. “Is it because you don’t like me?”

“Pika pika.” Pikachu nods while still refusing to look at Ash.

“Well, I like you a lot.” Ash says but Pikachu is not interested and just calmly scratches himself with his back foot. “And since you’re the pokemon I’m training, don’t you think you would be a little nicer and just open your mouth and tell me what’s wrong?” Pikachu, who was previously grooming himself, stops long enough to open his mouth to show Ash his teeth. “...that’s.. Not exactly what I mean… Is your name all you can say?”

Pikachu nods.

“Well then, you’re just like all Pokemon and you should act like one; and get inside the ball like it says in the pokedex.” Ash pulls out a red, clunky device and flips it open.

“While being trained, a pokemon usually stays inside its pokeball.” The electronic voice confirms.

“You see?” Ash prompts. Pikachu frowns and hops up to hit a button on the Pokedex.

“However, there are many exceptions. Some Pokemon hate being confined.” The pokedex explains.

“Okay then.” Ash closes the device and stores it back in his pocket. “This oughta make things better.” He unties the clothes line and removes the gloves. “And I’ll get rid of these as well. How’s that?”

Pikachu turns his nose up again with a defiant ‘Pi.’

“Still not good enough?” Pikachu nods. The two are momentarily distracted though a bird comes out of the grass. “A pidgey.” Ash recognizes it, pulling the Pokedex out. According to the pokedex it has the gentlest temperament and is easy to capture. The problem is that Pikachu wants nothing to do with this and runs up a tree to watch what Ash will do.

“Okay, I get the message!” Ash declares. “I don’t want your help or need it! I can get that thing all by myself.”

As it turns out, Ash cannot get that thing all by himself. His first attempt at just throwing the ball ends with the Pidgey bursting out and running back into the grass. Pikachu giggles and pokedex feels the need to remind Ash a pokemon has to be weakened in battle before it can simply be caught.

Pikachu seems to find this hilarious as he’s just laughing and kicking his little feet. Ash then tries to catch the Pidgey by throwing his night shirt over it but that goes poorly when it kicks up a gust attack followed immediately by a sand attack and Pikachu is still giggling at how much trouble Ash is having.

A ratta steals the lunch his mom packed for him and pokedex explains that Ratta sometimes come into fields to steal food from ‘stupid travelers’.

Pikachu seems to think this the funniest thing because he is full on cackling. Ash casts a glare up at Pikachu but gets distracted by more pidgey. This time, he scoops up a small rock and tosses it at the bird pokemon. None of them are hurt and merely fly away. He sighs in disappointment but catches sight of another silhouette of a bird before grabbing another rock and hurling it towards the poor Pokemon.

His aim is true and beans the thing on the head. The problem is that this isn’t a mild mannered pidgey and glares over at him. The pokedex lists it as a Spearow and states that this pokemon has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokemon and humans.

Ash realizes his mistake and barely moves out of the way in time to avoid being divebombed. The Spearow sets eyes on Pikachu and Ash desperately tries to get it to leave Pikachu alone only for the pokedex to inform him that wild pokemon can sometimes be jealous of human trained pokemon.

Spearow nearly knocks Pikachu off the branch but before it can, Pikachu lets loose a strong thunder shock causing it to cry out in pain and call for it’s buddies.

Now they’re in trouble as a huge flock of Spearow emerge from the forest trees and are coming right for them.

“Uh oh.. Should we run?” Ash asks Pikachu who nods quickly. The turn and race off, trying to put as much distance between them and the angry Spearow. The Unown return and Ash room returns to how it was before.

Pikachu blinks in confusion because really, that was only half the memory.

"Did you have to pick that one, Pikachu?" Ash sounds a little embarrassed. "I really shouldn't have thrown that rock."

[newmemorywhodis]

Huh.

Not what Link would have expected at all, considering how Ash and Pikachu were now. The two of them clearly hadn't gotten along, at all.

He also wouldn't have expected Ash to throw rocks either.

"...Not good with animals at first?" he says after a moment.

[ashwantstobattle]

"...You could say that." Ash admits. "My first few weeks as a trainer I made a mess of everything. I'm just glad Pikachu finally decided to trust me." He comments.

Pikachu side-eyes Ash pretty hard for that comment. He didn't just decide to trust Ash like that. If the memory had gone on then it would have been obvious why Pikachu loves his trainer so much. He hops off the desk and gathers up a good bit of electricity and -

"Pikachu, no!" Ash cries out as he realizes a second too late and Pikachu fires a bolt of the electricity directly at the Unown.

The Unown block the attack with a well timed psychic shield. Pikachu summons a bit more electricity and this time he manages to hit one-it looks kind of like an ‘O’. All the unown start to swirl and spin again, firing a move of their own and Ash dives to grab Pikachu and get him out of the way. At the same time they’re thrown back into the memory-perhaps the thunderbolt did what it was supposed to do.

Ash and Pikachu are running, the angry Spearow behind them and gaining on them fast. “Don’t worry Pikachu, no matter what, I’ll save you!!” Ash assures. Pikachu is clearly not not reassured because he runs in front of Ash.

“Don’t run ahead! I said I’d protect-Ouch!” One of the angry Spearow slams into the back of Ash’s head while a few more pass him, attacking Pikachu with a peck attack while the yellow mouse continues to try and run.

“Leave it alone, Spearows!” Ash demands just as Pikachu falls to the ground, the birds swarming around him to peck mercilessly.

“Pikachu!” Ash rushes over and bats the Spearow away before scooping Pikachu up into his arms and then continues running, the Spearow still set on attacking the young trainer and the lightening mouse.

Ash runs to the edge of a waterfall and looks back a brief moment to see the Spearow still hot on his trail.

“Well, here we go.” With no other choice, he flips his hat back and jumps feet first into the river below, keeping a tight hold on Pikachu who is not looking so good at this point. The strong current catches him and forces him down stream.

There’s a shadow of a dark Pokemon with red glowing eyes coming right for him but Ash manages to quickly avoid the jaws of whatever that was but the next thing he knows there’s something tugging at his shirt and he get pulled right out of the water by a young girl that seemed to have been fishing.

“Aw, it’s just a kid.” She says in disappointment while Ash fights to take a decent breath of air. “And a Pokemon!” She notices Pikachu and approaches the two. “Are you okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Ash answers and then gets immediately slapped across the face.

“Not you! Look what you’ve done to that poor little thing!” She says angrily. “Is it breathing?”

“I-I think so…” Ash looks worriedly at Pikachu who, at some point, lost consciousness.

“Well, don’t just sit there! It needs a doctor right away!” The girl insists. “THere’s a medical center not too far from here. You’ve got to get moving now!”

“You mean a hospital?” Ash asks hopefully. The girl continues to glare at him like he’s the worst of humanity.

“Yes. For Pokemon.” She says firmly.

“Um, can you tell me, which way do I go?” Ash asks.

“That way.” She points in the direction of the Pokemon Center. The sound of flapping wings returns and Ash looks to see the angry Spearow are STILL after him.

“They’re coming back! Run!” He yells as he starts to run off again. He sees an orange bike that must belong to the girl.

“Hey, what are you doing!?” She demands as Ash climbs up on the bike and kicks the kickstand up.

“I’m borrowing this.” Is all he offers before he rides off.

“Wha-Hey! That’s my bike!” The girl protests but Ash doesn’t seem to care as he pedals as hard and fast as his legs will allow him.

“I’ll give it back someday!” Ash calls out over his shoulder and then returns his focus to getting Pikachu help and getting as far away from the Spearow as he can manage. Overhead the clouds are starting to grow dark and there’s a dull rumble of thunder as a several raindrops start to fall from the sky.

It’s not long before there’s a full on thunderstorm and Ash continues to pedal and hard and fast as he can.

“Pikachu?” Pikachu looks up at Ash, now awake again.

“Just hang on, Pikachu, we’re almost there!” Ash assures. Unfortunately, the Spearow have caught up again and attack Ash relentlessly. The pain distracts him a moment too long and the bike goes off a small hill, causing the ten year old to crash hard into the ground. He spills out into the mud and Pikachu lands not too far away from him.

Ash takes a moment, clearly in pain but the moment he sees Pikachu laying on the ground- “Pikachu!” He forces himself up with great effort and crawls over, placing a hand on Pikachu’s side.

“Chu..” Pikachu says weakly.

“This can’t… happen…” Ash says in disbelief. Lightening flashes overhead and the Spearow flap their wings angrily. He pulls something out of his pocket- a small red and white ball- he touches something on it and it enlarges. “Get inside.” He says, not unkindly.

“Chu?” Pikachu questions.

“I know you’re afraid of going in there, but if your inside, maybe I can save you.” Ash explains. “Please listen to me and go inside. After that then-after that just trust me!” He pleads as he gently sets the ball down by Pikachu.

“Pika…” Pikachu looks at ball as Ash get to his feet and stands protectively between Pikachu and Spearow with his arms out.

“Spearows, do you know who I am? I’m Ash from the town of Pallet, I’m destined to be the world’s number one Pokemon Master-I can’t be defeated by the likes of you.” Pikachu looks up from where he’s laying. “I’m going to capture and defeat you all. Do you hear me?” Ash calls out before glancing back at Pikachu. “Pikachu, go inside the Pokeball, it’s the only way.”

Pikachu glances at the ball and then back at his trainer.

“Come and get me!” Ash challenges the Spearow and they do. Every single one headed right for Ash in an attack that’s likely to be fatal. Before they manage to get him though, Pikachu is up and running. He runs right up Ash’s back and leaps up to deliver a powerful thunder shock in attempts to protect Ash. At that same moment a bolt of lightning comes down and strikes Pikachu, causing the attack to deal way more damage. There’s a flash of bright light the room returns to normal.

Ash had to throws his arms up to block the light. Once the light is gone though, he lowers his arms and looks a bit sheepish. Pikachu looks triumphant.

“We had kinda a rough first day.”

[newmemorywhodis]

"Yes," Link agrees. Definitely a rough day.

Thinking on the memory, in a way it doesn't reveal much about Ash that Link doesn't already know. That he's determined and all too eager to throw himself into danger to protect an animal. That he could do with more of a sense of self-preservation.

The bigger surprise was just how Ash and Pikachu had interacted. Pikachu was the bigger surprise. They were always so thick and thieves, it was downright strange to see the two of them at odds, even if they came together at the end. But then, Link could understand.

He and Zelda hadn't always gotten along well, after all.

"...You should get a shield too." Because if Ash was going to keep throwing himself in front of other people to save them, he really should have some proper armour.

[ashwantstobattle]

"A shield?" Ash frowns and then looks at Pikachu-both are trying to imagine their travels with a shield added into the mix. It's not easy to picture. Would he be able to carry it in his backpack? Not that he has it at the moment.

It's also a weird mental image to think about Ash taking on all those Spearow and hiding behind a shield. That would not stop them for long.

"Sounds pretty cool, but Pikachu and I can take care of ourselves. And anyway, we wouldn't even know where to find one." Ash explains.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link looks at Ash. Looks at the Eifel Tower figurine. Looks back.

His expression does not change one bit - and yet somehow it is absolutely clear that Link does not think Ash can take care of himself. Pikachu, maybe. Ash? Not so much.

"I have two." And while Link is very much of the opinion that more weapons and armor are always better...he could possibly give one to Ash. Or try and convince either Tony or Dustin to make him yet another one.