In Cerluen)
Akito) Pokemon Treeko =kirito. Pidgey=Ace riolu vegeta
Word seemed to spread about one boy
"Did you see him? The one with the white hair?"
"The one who demolished every trainer on Nugget Bridge? That one?"
"All six of them. Back to back. Didn't even look winded."
"And he's the one who stopped that Rocket grunt At the end of the bridge.
"White hair, yeah. Cerulean blue eyes. Had a cloak on."
"What kind of ten-year-old wears a cloak
"
The Pokémon Centre's video phone alcove was quiet in the mid-morning lull, and Akito had chosen it specifically for that reason. He sat on the small bench with Kirito on his knee, Ace perched on the back of the seat, and Vegeta. the Riolu sitting on the floor beside him with his arms folded and his expression communicating, as it reliably did, that he was tolerating the proceedings.
The screen connected. His mother appeared.
For approximately one and a half seconds, Delia Ketchum looked at her eldest son with the warm, relieved expression of a woman whose child had been travelling alone for several weeks and had, evidently, arrived in Cerulean City in one piece.
Then she saw his hair.
"Akito Ketchum."
He blinked. "Hi, Mum
"Have you dyed your hair?"
He reached up and touched it the layered, spiky, silver-white mess of it, medium-length on top and shorter at the sides,
"White," he said, "Is it not a good colour choice?"
"It has been less than two weeks."
"That's plenty of time to
"You had beautiful dark hair. Your father's hair."
"Mum
"I'm going to need a moment."
Ash's face appeared in the corner of the screen, pushing in from the side with the delighted expression of a five-year-old who has correctly identified that his brother is in
trouble and wishes to observe this at close range.
"Oh, oh let me see
"Hi, little bro." Akito's voice shifted immediately warmer, easier, the particular register he kept only for Ash. "Reporting in. Made it to Cerulean
in one piece. Second badge incoming. This guy." He pointed at himself.
Ash beamed. "You're already going for your
second badge? The League barely started!"
"I know." Akito leaned back slightly. "That's why I've been taking it easy. I spent a few days training before I even touched Nugget Bridge. Slow and steady."
On screen, Delia had recovered sufficiently to look at him with the expression she reserved for things she disapproved of but had
accepted she could not change. "And you're eating properly? Sleeping?"
"Yes and yes."
"The cloak isn't keeping you warm enough at night. I told you, you need a proper
"Mum. I'm fine."
Ash had by now climbed halfway onto the chair to get closer to the camera. "Akito, what Pokémon have you caught? Professor Oak said me and Gary could help look after your Pokémon on the ranch — as long as we're with a research" he paused, trying to find the right word. "research…"
"Research aid," Akito supplied.
"Yeah! As long as we're with a research aid." He said it with the satisfaction of someone who had successfully retrieved the right word
. "So what've you got? Are they strong? Are they really cool? Have you
"Kirito." Akito lifted the Treecko from his knee and turned him to face the camera. Kirito regarded the screen with his usual composed attention, chest slightly out. "Treecko. My starter. Fast, smart, works harder than any Pokémon I've met."
He glanced at Ace, who was already leaning into frame, feathers ruffled with enthusiasm. "And Ace Pidgey, before you ask don't let the size fool you."
Ash was practically vibrating. "And the other one? I can see another one — on the floor—"
Akito tilted the phone down.
Vegeta looked at the screen. His expression did not change. He was sitting with his arms crossed and his chin raised, the posture of a Pokémon who considered being looked at a matter of mild indignity.
"That's Vegeta," Akito said. "Riolu. We met in Mt. Moon."
Ash stared. "…He looks like he's judging me."
"It's not personal."
Vegeta's ear twitched. He looked away.
They talked for a while longer his mother asking about meals and sleep and whether
Nurse Joy had looked at his arm properly
; Ash asking about battle strategies with the rapid fire enthusiasm of someone who had
approximately forty follow-up questions ready. By the time Akito signed off, the sun had shifted a full hour across the sky.
He sat for a moment in the quiet of the alcove.
Then he stood, straightened his cloak, and looked at his team.
"Right," he said. "We've got three days before the Gym. Let's use them."
The field on the outskirts of Cerulean was open and green, caught in the particular early-morning light that makes everything look like it's been recently washed. Akito stood in the middle of it with his cloak set aside — rolled neatly at the edge of the field — and his team arrayed in front of him, three very different expressions pointed in his direction.
Kirito sat upright and attentive, tail curled, red eyes sharp.
Ace bounced on one foot, wings half-spread, already eyeing the open sky above the field with profound personal interest.
Vegeta stood with his arms crossed and his chin elevated, which was a remarkable posture for a Pokémon who had been rescued from a cage less than a week ago and was still technically learning to trust people. He had, however, decided to trust Akito — and having made that decision, he appeared to have committed to it with the same totality he applied to everything else.
"Here's the schedule," Akito said. He didn't pace. He stood still, which somehow made everything he said feel more considered. "Kirito — we're starting on Leaf Blade today. You've got the capability for it. We're also going to work on speed: short sprints, change-of-direction drills, quick response on command." He paused. "You're already fast. We're going to make you faster."
Kirito's eyes lit up. He straightened even further, which had not seemed physically possible.
"Vegeta — Rock Smash and Counter. And non-stop dodging." He turned toward Ace. "That's where Ace comes in. Quick Attack, targeted, variable direction. Vegeta, your job is to read it and move. Every time you get hit because you didn't move fast enough, we go again."
Vegeta's chin came up another half-degree. The expression on his face communicated, with perfect clarity, that he would not be getting hit.
Ace made a sound that was approximately a laugh.
Vegeta's eyes cut sideways.
"Then we swap," Akito continued, before the situation could develop. "Kirito gets the dodging session Ace, same drill, Quick
Attack, keep varying the angle. Kirito, stay light
on your feet. Then Ace gets his own speed and agility work." He looked at the Pidgey, who was
already vibrating slightly with enthusiasm. "Controlled speed, Ace. I need precision, not just fast."
Ace made a face.
"Precision," Akito repeated, firmly and without inflection. "Three hour break at midday food, rest, no exceptions. Then in the evening, all three of you. Free-for-all. Full effort." He held each of their gazes in turn. "We do this for three days. On day seven, we walk into Cerulean Gym."
A brief silence.
Then Kirito let out a short, sharp sound of pure enthusiasm and dropped into a ready stance.
Ace took off vertically without any further encouragement, already circling at speed, clearly planning to bring his full interpretation of controlled precision to the exercise.
Vegeta remained precisely where he was for one measured moment long enough to establish that he was choosing to begin, not being instructed to and then settled into a
combat stance with the focused, burning composure of someone who had decided, quietly and completely, that second place was not a category he intended to occupy.
Akito watched them for a moment.
Then he bent down, picked up a stopwatch, and got to work.
The dynamic that existed between the three of them had been apparent within the first hour and required no particular narration to understand. Ace was quick and clever and enjoyed the whole enterprise enormously, which Vegeta found mildly irritating in the way that unearned cheerfulness always irritates people who take things seriously. Kirito, for his part, treated both of them as his best friends and collaborators, which was a position Vegeta tolerated with more grace than he would have extended to most.
Their rivalry — such as it was — was the productive kind. The kind that makes everyone in it better.
By the end of day one, Vegeta had dodged Ace's Quick Attack eleven consecutive times without contact. He sat down at the break with the expression of someone who had expected no less from himself, ate steadily, and did not look at Ace.
Ace landed beside him, ruffled his feathers once, and nudged the Riolu's shoulder with his wing.
Vegeta looked at him sideways.
Ace nudged him again, this time with what appeared to be genuine camaraderie.
After a very long moment, Vegeta made a sound that was not quite a sigh and turned back to his food.
Kirito, watching from three feet away, made a very small, very satisfied noise.
Akito, reviewing his notes on the opposite side of the field, did not look up. He was smiling, though.
Three days of training. Three days of early mornings, steady drills, long breaks and longer evenings.
On the morning of the seventh day, Akito folded his cloak over his shoulders, checked his team's Pokéballs, and walked toward Cerulean Gym.
It
Behind him, Vegeta walked with his chin up.
Ace circled overhead.
Kirito was at his shoulder, tail flicking once sharp and ready.
The board outside the Gym read: CERULEAN CITY GYM LEADER: DAISY WATERFLOWER. SPECIALTY: WATER-TYPE POKÉMON.
Akito had read the site three times. He knew the roster. He knew the strategy.
He pushed open the door.
A/N I was gonna have thier be Two msity where the game version was the mother
And the anime version was misty JR
But since I use Claude to help the stuff I write come out cleaner the ai got confused about when I explained as best I could
So ive to re do this a couple times
And jsut went screw it daisy the oldest so she gets to be gym leaderLast edited: Today at 5:10 AM