บท 21: First Capture

"GEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Pidgeot cried out as we flew across the ocean at half the speed of sound, Riolu and I tucked to its back with the wind whipping my hair and howling in our ears. Below us the ocean passed by in a blur, with me only occasionally making out the odd shadow or shape in the water before we left it behind as we hurried on to our destination.

While Pidgeot could usually reach speeds of Mach 2, Riolu and I with our weighted clothing on his back was weighing him down, but we were still making exceptional time. That was just as well though, as I carefully clung to the egg in my left arm still, encasing it in a cocoon of aura to keep it safe and warm.

Meanwhile my right was securely holding onto the straps of the makeshift saddle I had prepared beforehand for Pidgeot, allowing me to ensure Riolu and I weren't blown off of his back with the insane speeds he was capable of reaching.

And with a pair of goggles covering my eyes, and a mask covering my nose and mouth, I was able to leisurely take in the amazing view around us as we soared through the skies.

This wasn't the first time I had flown on Pidgeot's back since he evolved from a Pidgetto a few months ago, but this was the first time we had been able to go so far from home as he flew freely, and I loved it. The feeling of freedom and exhilaration as the wind whipped around me, knowing I could go anywhere I wanted at any time.

As we slowly sank lower I could make out the shapes in the ocean below more clearly, as they transitioned into a pod of Wailmer and Wailord, their hauntingly beautiful calls echoing out as they breached the surface of the water.

"Guuuuuuuull!"

A shrill cry drew my attention forward, as we reached a Squadron of Wingull and Pelipper that were lazily drifting on the air currents above the ocean. As Pidgeot blasted through them though, the unfortunate bird Pokemon were forced to scatter before regrouping in their formation and squawking at us angrily.

As we left them behind too, I soon noticed a pod of smaller shapes moving through the water below us, before I was able to identify them as a few broke the surface to leap up into the air playfully.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Paaaaaaaaaaal!"

The Finizen and Palafin cried out playfully, carefree in their frolicking as they migrated to warmer waters, before Pidgeot left them behind as we blasted off into the skies once more.

In what seemed like no time at all I could see a little speck on the horizon, prompting me to ask Pidgeot through our link,

Is that it?

"Geo!"

Pidgeot cried out in affirmation, even as I began to make out some of the features of the island. Though it wasn't discernible from any other island at a glance, as we got closer I could see what appeared to be a hill actually looked like a giant rocky turtle shell.

Take us down.

I told Pidgeot, before he began to tilt downward at a semi-sharp angle so we were soon approaching the northern beach. And once we were close enough, both Riolu and I dropped off of Pidgeot's back before he took off to grab some Magikarp to eat from a school we spotted a few minutes ago.

"Let's go find us a new teammate." I said after shaking some feeling back into my legs and storing away my goggles and and mask.

"Lu!" Riolu stated as he followed me into the island's interior, before I detected several auras rapidly approaching us.

"Halt! The Pokemon here are under the protection of the Rangers!" Cried out a shrill voice as a figure emerged from the brush. It was a young woman that appeared to be a couple years older than me with short black hair, wearing the Ranger-red jacket, and a skirt.

"Buneary!" Followed the small rabbit-like Pokemon on her shoulder, before two more figures emerged from the bushes besides her, a young man with a bushy brown Afro, and an older man with thick muscles and a mustache that framed his mouth. With the former was a small Budew, while the latter was accompanied by a Makuhita.

"What's up Luana?" The brawny man asked, before noticing me and Riolu and exclaiming,

"Hey! Aren't you that new kid we heard about? Ace or something?" The girl, Luana, and the other guy both blinked in surprise before they both seemed to notice my Ranger jacket and badge.

"Yep, that's me. Just got my stuff today, and I didn't know the Pokemon here were being protected." I said wryly, bummed out slightly that it seemed as if I couldn't catch one of the Squirtle that made the island their home.

"Yeah, we've been here for a week or so because Team Rocket was making moves to steal them all. I'm Barlow, and these two are Luana and Crawford. We're part of the Area Rangers of the Kanto region." Stepping forward as he spoke, Barlow offered me his beefy hand to shake, which I readily accepted while saying,

"Ace Ketchum. I just began my Pokemon journey today, and was hoping to add one of the Squirtle here to my team." As I said that I noticed numerous blue faces peering at me curiously from behind the three Rangers, before Barlow surprised me by saying,

"You can't catch one, but if one them wants to join you then we can't say much about it. After all, they're free to leave the island at any time, our job is to just keep Team Rocket from capturing them."

"You sure about that Barlow?" The guy called Crawford asked hesitantly, to which Barlow replied,

"Of course. I already said we can't stop them from leaving, and this guy's a Ranger too, so there shouldn't be a problem." As he said that Luana stepped forward and said,

"Sorry about before, I didn't notice who had arrived, just that someone was on the island." I just waved away her apology while saying,

"Don't worry about it. You gotta do your job after all."

While I wanted to flirt with her a bit, I put my desires aside and focused on what I came here for since I still needed to head back north to try and get to Viridian city tonight, and who knew how may side stops I might end up making along the way.

So I stepped around the three Rangers while also grabbing Riolu, who was trying to pick a fight with Barlow's Makuhita since he hadn't encountered one of them before, and ran my gaze over the gathered Squirtle and their evolved form, Wartortle. There was even a small group of Blastoise that appeared as well, one massive Alpha male with a few females.

Looking over them as they scrutinized me, I then said to them, "I'm looking for a new member of my team, and was wondering if any of you were interested."

For a couple minutes the gathered Pokemon just looked at me curiously, or muttered amongst themselves, and just when I was starting to think none of them were interested, one Squirtle that was smaller than the rest appeared.

"Squirtle! Squirtle squirt turtle!" The little Squirtle declared as he ran up to me, before the alpha Blastoise stated as it stepped forward,

"Blaaaassssst."

"Squirtle!"

"Bla."

"Squir!"

For a few minutes the duo went back and forth with one another as the rest of us watched, before Luana uttered next to me,

"I wonder what they're saying." Without missing a beat I told her,

"The little Squirtle wants to accept my offer, but the Blastoise is telling him not to be rash since he's so young, and by going with me he might never be able to come home." My words made everyone, including the Squirtle and Blastoise, look at me, as Crawford asked incredulously,

"You can understand them!?!" Instead of answering directly, I just looked at him curiously and asked in return,

"You can't?" For a moment no one said anything, as they just looked at me awkwardly, before the little Squirtle stated,

"Squirtle squirt!"

Looking down at him, I knelt down so that I was closer and said seriously,

"If you join me, I won't hold back in your training to make you stronger. It could very well be considered hell, and you may want to come back home. Plus there is the very real possibility of me getting into dangerous situations in the future. Do you still want to?"

"Squirt!" Squirtle declared, his eyes intense as he affirmed that he wanted to go with me, while the Blastoise behind him just sighed in resignation.

Nodding, I took an empty Pokeball out of my pack and gently tapped it to the little Squirtle, sucking him into it as the ball gave a single jerky shake, before falling still with a ding.

I had a large grin on my face as I pulled out my Pokedex, and scanned him to learn his information.

~~~

Squirtle- the tiny turtle Pokemon

Type-water

Not only is its shell used as a form of protection as it shoots high powered blasts of water from within, but the grooves on it are designed to minimize water resistance to allow it to swim at high speeds. This Pokemon is six weeks old, and has the Torrent and Rain Dish abilities.

Moves- Tackle, Tail Whip, Bubble, Water Gun, Withdraw, Rain Dance, Mirror Coat

(A.N. The auxiliary chapter has a list of Ace's Pokemon with their moves that I will try to keep up to date.)

~~~

I was pretty sure I looked foolish at that moment, but I couldn't help it as I squeed inwardly at the fact that I had just caught my first Pokemon, and a Squirtle at that.

"Blaaaaaast." The Blastoise suddenly said to me, making me look up at it before saying seriously,

"I promise I'll look after him." For a moment the Blastoise just stared at me, as if trying to detect any falseness in my bearing, before slowly bowing its head in acknowledgement.

Standing, I turned to Riolu and asked,

"Ready to take off?"

"Ri!"

Nodding in affirmation, I turned to the other three Rangers and said,

"It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Hopefully we'll work together in the future." Barlow nodded as he boomed at me,

"Same here. I've heard good things about you Ace, though I hope I don't have to see HOW good anytime soon." With Luana and Crawford both agreeing with Barlow, and telling me goodbye, I whistled shrilly to call Pidgeot back from his hunt.

Within seconds the massive bird appeared with a Magikarp clutched in his talons, landing on the beach with his free one for Riolu and I to climb aboard once more.

Making sure my Charmander egg was safe, I settled onto the saddle and said,

"Let's go!"

"Geo!" Pidgeot cried as we shot upwards, leaving the three Rangers and the Pokemon that called the island home behind. Compared to the flight there though, we were going notably slower since Pidgeot was busy eating his catch, but once he finished we were going at much better pace as we returned to Pallet town.

Along the way I was watching the numerous Pokemon that were flying or swimming through the ocean below us, wondering if I should catch another one so I could have a second water type as a part of my team. As I felt them out with my aura though none really caught my attention, including the Gyarados that shot out of the water at one point to grab a Pelipper, before dragging it back down into the depths of the ocean to eat it.

Though we flew a little higher up in the air after seeing that, our flight north was otherwise uneventful until we neared the entrance to the pass that would lead us to Pallet town. There I noticed a ship that was slowly approaching the pass, but right as I was wondering what it was doing here, since the monthly delivery wasn't for another two weeks, I sensed something else through my aura that alerted me.

"Pidgeot!" I exclaimed urgently, making the large bird turn as we headed directly towards the boat. But my attention wasn't on that, it was on the shadow moving rapidly towards the rear of the boat in the water.

As we hurried towards the endangered boat I stowed away my egg in my pack, hoping no damage would come to it before I glanced down at the boat as we passed over it. Naturally everyone was looking up at us as we passed by, with Pidgeot drawing the most looks due to his unusual size, but what caught my attention was who was looking up at us as I grinned under my mask.

However I had to focus on what was going on right now as we passed over the boat, and I declared to Riolu, "Now!"

The two of us released the straps holding us on Pidgeot's back as we plummeted down towards the water below. But right above the water an amber colored platform appeared, giving us secure footing as we both prepared to fight.

"Ready partner?" I asked while taking my stance.

"Ri!" Riolu declared as he took a stance that perfectly mimicked mine, right before a figure burst out of the water at us.

"CARRRRRRR!" The Carvanha roared as its lethal looking jaws opened wide to take a bite out of us, only for Riolu to elegantly slide to the side of its attack, and plant a Force Palm into its side that paralyzed it while doing critical damage, even as Riolu also took damage from its Rough Skin ability.

Immediately I pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it at the Carvanha, sucking it into it once it made contact before shaking a couple times, and falling still with a soft ding. Before it had even hit the aura platform though, several more of the vicious carnivorous Pokemon erupted from the water to bare their fangs at Riolu and I.

"Riolu!" My partner declared, before his arms blurred as he fired off numerous Vacuum Wave attacks at our attackers while they soared through the air, destroying their momentum while also doing devastating damage to them. Meanwhile I had readied as many Pokeballs as I could, and threw them at every single Carvanha that seemed stunned or critically damaged by Riolu's attacks, capturing them as they were too damaged to struggle or fight back.

I had to have caught nearly twenty of them before the last of them erupted from the water, and even as my Pokedex started going off due to me being over my carry limit, I ignored it while focusing on the four stronger auras I could feel beneath the waves.

"Get ready." I told Riolu as we both waited for them to make their move, before three figures shot out at the water at staggering speeds, shooting water from their backsides as they did so to move even faster.

As Riolu went to engage the three Sharpedo that were baring their dangerous fangs at him though, a fourth figure that was larger than the rest shot out of the water behind me, aiming directly for my back.

"Not today!" I declared as I spun around to meet my opponent head on, creating two arms out of aura as I did so.

The Sharpedo looked like a shark with long sharp fins on its top, bottom and sides, which I then grabbed with my aura created hands to hold the Pokemon in place before bringing my knee upwards. A mass of amber colored aura formed under the halted Sharpedo as I did so, impacting its lower jaw to send it reeling back before the aura hand on the right released it, and I drove the fist into the side of its face.

I then extended the aura platform to keep the Sharpedo from escaping into the water, before grabbing onto it with my aura constructs once again to keep it in place. Instead of trying to escape like I thought it would though, the Sharpedo lunged at me suddenly while its entire body was encased in water, performing an Aqua Jet.

I did the only thing I could do in that situation, and threw my hands up to catch the Sharpedo on its upper and lower jaws right before it could hit me. And though I was still pushed back to the edge of the platform, I was able to keep the razor-sharp and deadly teeth from sinking into my flesh.

And as I held it in place briefly, I gave Pidgeot more than enough of an opening to dive in with an Aerial Ace to its side, sending the Sharpedo flying across the platform right in Riolu's direction. And by this point, my partner had of course finished with the other three Sharpedo.

Narrowing its eyes at my partner, the Sharpedo ejected water from its backside yet again to accelerate as much as possible at Riolu, with more water coating its body for an even stronger Aqua Jet than before.

Despite the gaping maw of razor-sharp teeth speeding directly towards him, my partner remained completely calm as he took a defensive stance, before allowing the Sharpedo to directly hit him.

I had to extend the platform as Riolu was shot backwards by the speeding Sharpedo, his paws sliding over the the aura surface for several tens of feet, before he finally came to a stop while breathing heavily. Then, the next thing the Sharpedo saw was Riolu's eyes glowing amber, before it was suddenly hit with a powerful impact.

Having taken the hit on purpose, Riolu delivered a powerful Counter that doubled the damage that had been dealt to him, and sent the Sharpedo reeling before it finally collapsed.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, I quickly captured it and the other three Sharpedo, before sending them along with all of the Carvanha to professor Oak, keeping only the big one with me as I scanned it with the Pokedex.

~~~

Sharpedo- the bully of the sea

Type- water/dark

Once this Pokemon catches the scent of prey it will eject water from its backside to reach speeds exceeding 75 MPH to catch it, and will attack anything that entered its territory without exception, even tearing through sheets of iron with its teeth. This Pokemon is four years old, and has the Rough Skin ability.

Moves- Bite, Slash, Night Slash, Focus Energy, Aqua Jet, Ice Fang, Leer, Poison Fang, Screech, Crunch

~~~

"You'll do." I said to the Pokeball with a wry smirk, before looking up at my team. "Good job you guys. Let's get over to that boat and I'll patch you up Riolu."

Though my partner appeared indifferent to my concern, he also didn't refuse my offer of treatment since that Aqua Jet had been pretty powerful, while his paws had also taken some abuse due to the Carvanha and Sharpedo ability, Rough Skin.

With Pidgeot's help the two of us were soon dropping down onto the deck of the boat, where an old man quickly approached me and said,

"Thank you young Ranger, for your help. We all owe you our lives." I just smirked and said while removing my mask and goggles,

"Think nothing of it professor." The moment the coverings fell from my face professor Rowen appeared shocked, before wry smile formed on his face. Neither he nor anyone else got a chance to say anything about our sudden reunion though, as two voices cried out,

""ACE!!!""

The next thing I knew I was being tackled by two feminine figures, who both squeezed me as tightly as possible even as I returned the favor. For the first time in five years, I was reunited with May and Dawn.