Ring Plates Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Pocket Monster parody: Patreon Reward

Chapter 7 

Chapter 8 Challenge of the Samurai

Toren’s monsters were curious, their trainer had a healthy glow about him. He seemed more relaxed and happy. ‘What happened last night?’ Was the united thought.

After some breakfast the duo continued their way through Viridian Forest.

Ash was full of energy and his monsters were pumped. “I wanna face that Samurai!” His mons cheered.

“Pika/Poli/Pidg/Spear/Pon/Meta!”

Even Toren was a little excited, with Ketchum’s help he was getting more used to battling. “Pika!” The electric mouse called out.

Ash turned and saw a Weedle. “It’s a Weedle!” He was excited.

Dexter: Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokemon, a Bug and Poison Type. Often found in forests, eating leaves. It has a sharp venomous stinger on its head, it’s brightly colored body is intended to warn off enemies.

“You got this Pidgey!” The flying type flew off to battle against the little bug.

Pidgey landed a mastered Sand Attack, sharply reducing Weedle’s accuracy, before diving in and strikinng some Tackles. Weedle tried to fight back with Poison Sting but the flying type gracefully avoided the attack. One strong Gust, and the bug was sent flying into a tree. He was knocked out.

“Monster Ball go!” The ball went flying and hit the little guy.

Jiggle...Jiggle...Jiggle...Ping!

“Alright, I caught a Weedle!” Ash cheered. In his excitement he rushed over and touched the ball. It shrank down and became locked. “Aww man…”

“What’s wrong Ash?” Ketchum kept poking the ball.

“Just feeling a little blue, this whole carry limit thing just sucks.” He just caught a new Pokemon, and he’d have to send it back to Professor Oak. They couldn’t bond or train or anything…

In the ancient times trainers had a ranch that their excess pokemon would chill at, as even in the ancient days there was a physical limit to how many monsters a human could bond with at one time. What bothered Ash was that number dwindled down over the years, to the current limit of six. It was such a limiting number, and showed how far the bonds between humans and monsters had become.

He explained this to Toren. “An interesting hypothesis, I’d certainly like to carry more Pokemon it’d help with my research.” The carry limit could be a tangible number that wouldn’t shake up the world that much. Battle limits could remain to keep things simple, and could even improve different forms of battle. “Maybe trainers could even prove their skill as a trainer by loving and caring for more mons.”

Ash grinned and Toren blushed.

With a heavy heart he sent Weedle to Professor Oak. “It’s gonna be okay Weedle, we’ll see each other soon, and Professor Oak will take good care of you until then.” He used his Pokedex and pressed a button to send the bug off.

Ketchum shared that he had a proposal with Oak, but they’d have to talk to Bill to even get a trial run going. Toren wanted to help in any way he could.

-x-

The two continued on. “Hold it!” A young man dressed in samurai armor showed up. “Are you trainers from Pallet Town?”

“Yeah we are.” Ash said.

“I see!” He drew his sword. “Kiyah!” The samurai attacked the two, but it didn’t go well for him. Ponyta blocked the attack with a kick; breaking his sword, Pidgey blew him back with Gust, Poliwag blasted him with Water Gun, Pikachu followed up with a Thunder Shock, which hurt twice as hard. When he was down for the count Spearow used an angry Fury Attack on him.

“Ow ow ow ow ow!”

“Why did you attack us?” Toren asked and he checked the sword was a fake.

“It was my way of challenging you!” He got up. “I challenge all the trainers that cross my path this way.”

He was lucky he didn’t get his ass blasted sooner. “You need better control of your Pokemon.”

“Excuse me, you attacked us and my mons protected us.” The samurai huffed.

“Ridiculous a mere novice dares to talk back to me!” He stood proudly. “I’m the greatest bug trainer in Viridian Forest!” Ash couldn’t help but sweatdrop.

‘This is the guy I heard about?’ Arceus: Sadly yes...

“How exactly am I a novice?” Sure he was just starting out, but they’ve done a lot.

“You clearly are a novice, look at how you have your monsters outside of your monster balls, disgraceful.” He shook his head.

“Traveling with one’s pokemon like this is a great way to bond with them, they like traveling with me.” Every monster was different. If he had one that preferred relaxing in the ball he wouldn’t force them. Pikachu didn’t like being in his ball, he wouldn’t force him inside unless there was a life or death emergency.

“You are nothing like the other trainers from Pallet Town I faced, they were truly skilled.” Samu Rai loved bug Pokemon, and with how he talked and introduced himself people started calling him Samurai.

“So you have battled Gary and Cross?” He nodded.

“Oh yes, the one called Gary was a skilled strategist, his knowledge of Pokemon shined with every battle we had. He pushed me to use my best bug types against him and he still defeated me.” Samurai spoke highly of Gary. “The other one Cross, he faced me with raw power and pushed me like no other trainer before him. He was also worthy of my elite bugs.” While he admired Cross’s battling skill he found the trainer to be a jerk. Despite winning Cross was a sore winner and talked down about his bug types. “His words were harsh, but he was worthy of my elite collection. As I see it you two are not.”

Ketchum just smirked. “Well I was looking to battle you, why don’t we see what you can do?”

“State your names so I will know whom I’ve defeated!”

“I’m Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!”

“I’m Toren Torito also from Pallet Town.”

“If you can defeat my main three, I might consider you more than a novice.” Ash had to hold back from rolling his eyes. He didn’t really care about this guy’s opinion of him, he just wanted to enjoy a battle.

They faced off but before they could start...Pop! “Paras!”

“Paras?!” Toren gasped, the little bug type bounced up and down, looking ready to fight. “You can’t fight yet, Ash is fighting first.”

“Paras…” He looked sad. “Par?” He sensed something. “Paras!” He ran off into the woods little cloud of dust in his wake.

“Hold on Paras!” Toren ran after him.

“Tch, another Novice who can’t control his Pokemon.” Ketchum twitched in annoyance.

“Don’t insult my friend.” He warned.

“You keep bad company Ash Ketchum, from your unrully monsters to your pathetic companion!” Ash snapped.

‘Alright then...no holding back…’ His aura flared and his monsters could sense his frustration. It was on!

Samurai thought he had an edge over Ash, since he could see all of Ash’s Pokemon he knew what he could use and formulated a strategy on how to beat him. “Let’s do this!” He planned to lead with Venonat, to poison or stun any monsters that were strong against bug, and cripple his team right at the start.

“Venonat go!”

“Pidgey I choose you!” The flying type joined the battle field.

“Use Poison Powder!”

“Pidgey use a powerful Gust!” The mastered move was unleashed striking Venonat with a force that blew him back and slammed him into a tree. ‘That was for Toren.’

“My word!” Samurai gasped. He called back the bug type. “Face my sword of poison, Beedrill go!” The bug buzzed angrily. He thought he could beat Pidgey with a fully evolved pokemon and raw power.

“Pidgey let’s go!”

“You won’t beat my Beedrill easily, I raised him from a Weedle.”

“Pidgey use powerful Gust!” The powerful was just a code word to use Gust in a mastered state. Beedrill took the hit and managed to stand tall.

“Use Poison Jab!” Beedrill flew towards Pidgey, but misjudged the distance. His stingers glowed purple.

“Finish this up with another powerful Gust!” Pidgey whipped up a powerful wind and Beedrill tried to fight through it but took too much damage and was knocked out.

“Pidg!” Pidgey suddenly began to glow.

“Ohh!” Ash gasped. His flying type evolved into a Pidgeotto. “You evolved!”

“Geotto!” Ash pulled out his Pokedex.

Dexter: Pidgeotto the evolved form of Pidgey. Special Ability Keen Eye. This pokemon is full of vitality. It constantly flies around its territory in search of prey. Pidgeooto are very protective of their territory, and will attack intruders heavily.

Pidgeotto forgot Tackle and learned Whirlwind.

“So your little bird evolved, too bad he’s met it’s match face the unstoppable tower…” He called back Beedrill. “Metapod go!”

Ash was more calm now. He called back Pidgeotto and sent out Metapod. This was the perfect chance to train Harden.

The match became a Harden Off, as it turned out Samurai caught Metapod as a Metapod so all it knew how to do was Harden. This was a lucky break for Ash, after maxing out his Defense he had Metapod go on the attack. He pummeled his opponent with Bug Bite, a not very effective move but did even less damage thanks to the buff. “You can’t beat my mighty tower that way.”

“I wonder, but this works just fine for us.” It for the sake of training, Harden and Bug Bite were used again and again.

Ash felt his bug type’s aura shift and he mastered Harden! Samurai’s Metapod began to struggle which cost it the match.  “My immovable tower fell!”

“Well I guess that’s it.”

“Hold it, you will not shame me, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, I shall face you with my full force.” He returned his Metapod.

“Bring it on!”

“Pinsir go!” The fierce bug type looked tough. “You shall face my toughest blade!” Pinsir used Vice Grip.

“Let’s show him Metapod!” He used a Mastered Harden! With his defense at max and the move being mastered it had a unique effect.

“My Pinsir will split him in half!” Pinsir grabbed him and put the squeeze on him, but his pincers cracked. “What?!”

Hitting Metapod with a physical attack after using a Mastered Harden he took recoil damage, and with the amount of Defense buffs on him it was a good chunk of damage. “Use Bug Bite!” Bug energy formed fangs around Metapod and they struck Pinsir hard.

Samurai had no idea what was happening, but Ash and Metapod were totally in sync. Pinsir was knocked down for the count. “My toughest sword, beaten by a Metapod…” He was in shock.

Suddenly Metapod began to glow and evolved into Butterfree. “Awesome Butterfree you evolved!” Ash was so proud, he was able to fly on his own now, he flapped his wings and lifted up into the air. Ash’s mons cheered for him.

Dexter: Butterfree the Butterfly pokemon. It’s wings are covered with water repellent powders, this allows it to fly in the rain. Butterfree like to search for delicious honey. When in danger Butterfree will flap its wings hard to release the powder on it’s wings into the air, the dust can be quite toxic and wards off predators.

“Looks like you learned some new moves buddy!” He forgot Tackle and learned Gust and exchanged Harden for Confusion. The mastered move remained.

“Our duel isn’t over, let’s see how strong your Butterfree is when it faces my swiftest blade, Venomoth!”

“Veno veno moth!”

“You ready to keep battling buddy?” Butterfree was in top condition, he’s been itching to get back to training like the others.

This match was way more interesting as Butterfree and Venomoth clashed in the air. Having spent time on Pidgey’s back he was used to the shifts of air pressure. Venomoth was fast, but that was nothing some String Shot couldn’t fix.

The moth monster tried to use Stun Spore, but missed. Butterfree dodged gracefully and fought back with a Gust. It did some nice damage. What really helped was a lucky shot of Confusion, which left the bug type confused.

Samu called out his orders but Venomoth just hurt itself in it’s confusion. Butterfree blasted him with Gust but it handled the hit. ‘Samurai might be nuts but he’s raised some tough pokemon.’

The matter was ended with a Bug Bite and Venomoth was unable to battle. With his match won Butterfree flew down and got a hug from Ash. “You were great!”

“Don’t think you’ve won, you’ve yet to face my strongest pokemon. Oh yes you’ll be cut down by the fierce two sword style.” This pokemon even gave Gary and Cross trouble. “Come forth my ace, Scyther!”

Ash was impressed with Scyther, but while Butterfree was still raring to go he got to fight three monsters and it was time to give another a chance. “Pikachu I choose you!”

“Your little rat against my Scyther this shall be easy!”

One powerful Nuzzle later and Scyther took a lot of damage and his paralysis ran deep. He couldn’t move at all as Pikachu pummeled him with Quick Attack. It was the last move to be mastered so they trained it up.

Scyther lost bad, so bad Ash almost felt bad. Paralysis and other status moves could be terrifying. He showed a lot of grit, even breaking through the paralysis once to go for a Slash but Pikachu was too fast and hit him again for a Quick Attack.

The match was over and Ash had won!

Before they could talk. “Ash help!” Toren came running with Paras in his arms.

“Toren? What happened?”

“I hear them!” Samurai called out, and sure enough there was a swarm of Beedrill coming for them.

“It was Paras, he went off to battle and well...he attacked a nest of Kakuna...and…”

“BBBBZZZZZZ!” Where there was Kakuna there was likely Beedrill, and Paras got jumped by the swarm so Toren ran.

“You fool you led them right to us!”

“It’s fine, we’ll stand together!” Toren was so panicked and scared he didn’t even notice that Ash had Pidgeotto and Butterfree yet.

“Are you crazy, you can’t face a swarm of Beedrill!?”

“Just watch us!” Ash gave Paras a berry to help him recover.

“Jam, Jelly, I choose you!” Toren called out.

“Let’s go guys!” Ash’s whole squad was ready.

With their mastered moves they proved to be more than what the swarm bargained for. Ash had such a bond and trust in his team he was able to coordinate all six of them at once.

Toren showed his own growth by having the Nidoran duo unleash their mastered Poison Sting. Paras watched in awe, gaining more respect for his trainer.

Butterfree and Pidgeotto worked together with a Gust Combo. Poliwag downed Beedrill with Water Gun. Ponyta was a super effective threat with his fire moves. Spearow terrorized them with Peck. Pikachu’s mastered Thunder Shock rang out and zapped them silly.

“Sorry Beedrill!” Ash called as they had no choice but to retreat. Toren treated the fallen Beedrill, and had Paras apologize for attacking their nest.

‘I called them Novices but they showed such skill, passion, strength, courage, and even caring.’ He bowed to them. “I apologize for my rude comments before.”

“Oh...thanks.”

“It appears I’m the novice, I’ve spent too much time here, I should travel and improve my skills.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, your pokemon were really strong.” Ash smiled. “You aren’t a novice either, there’s always more to learn about Pokemon and yourself, that’s what makes this world so fun!”

“I will take your words to heart.”

“If we meet up again, would you have a battle with me?” Toren asked.

“It will be my honor!” As a parting gift Samu revealed they were close to the end of Viridian Forest and Pewter City was close. “He uses Rock and Ground type Pokemon so be prepared.” He had challenged the gym leader there before and lost.

To be continued Bug Rod Reward