Chapter 14: Friends vs. Parents 

"Alright, Staryu, come on-" Misty stopped as a Psyduck popped out of her red bag with a flash of light. He was holding his head, his eyes as wide as they could go. "Psyduck, I didn't want to battle with you!" 

"Psy," he replied, quirking his head to the side as Misty continued yelling at him. 

"If I hadn't ever met her before in the future, I'd be seriously concerned with her behavior right now," Daniel mumbled into my ear as we stood to the side to watch the next battle. 

"She'd probably treat him better if she knew he'd be her second favorite for gym battles once he evolves, second to her Gyarados. I bet she's still freaked out every time she sees a Gyarados." I muttered back. 

"I didn't know she was ever afraid of Gyarados," Daniel said in interest. 

"Yeah. When she was a baby she almost got eaten by one. She told me that once when I was afraid of something to prove she's been afraid of things too." 

Daniel laughed. 

"I'm serious. She did almost get eaten by one," I said tightly. 

He stopped. "Oh, wow. Some Bite attack, huh?" 

I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to my dad. 

"Ok, Pikachu. Your turn." Ash held out his arm. Pikachu ran across it and jumped to the ground, sparks emitting from his red cheeks. 

"Roric, want to battle?" Amanda called to her Arcanine, who was lying in the shade of a tree, snoozing. He lifted his head groggily, shook his furry mane, and stood up. Roric howled softly, which sounded more like a yawn, and trotted over, his dark orange fur waving in the wind. He stood poised for battle in front of Amanda. 

"In that case, Phantom, care to join us?" Anthony asked to his Chandelure who seemed to be dancing underneath the branches of trees, casting light in the shadows. Phantom hovered over to where Roric stood, his purple flame growing larger as he prepared for battle. 

"You guys can attack first," Amanda offered. 

"Alright. Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Roric!" Ash pointed towards the field. 

"Dodge it!" Amanda yelled. 

Pikachu ran quickly forward, jumping into the air. "Chuuuuu!" 

Roric sped quickly away, moving behind Pikachu who hopped gently back to the ground. 

"Psyduck, hit him with Water Gun!" Misty called. 

"Psyduck." Psyduck opened his beak, but only a pitiful stream of water came out that had about the same amount of force as a drinking fountain. However, it did hit Roric, who had to double take to look at Psyduck with his mouth open as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.  

"Well, it was worth a shot," Misty muttered. 

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Ash shouted. 

Pikachu built up speed and rammed into Roric, who was about to start laughing at Psyduck's horrible excuse of a Water Gun that he got knocked over by Pikachu's attack. He stood up, growling. 

"Now use Quick Attack on Phantom!" Ash pointed. 

Pikachu ran at Phantom and jumped into the air with speed enough to knock Phantom to the ground. However, Pikachu went soaring right through Phantom and skidded to a halt. 

"What the heck?" Ash stared at the Chandelure, dumbfounded. 

"Phantom is a Ghost and Fire type, Ash. Normal attacks won't work," Anthony chided. "My turn. Phantom, use Will-o-Wisp on Psyduck." 

Phantom hummed ominously while purple flames emerged around his body in a circle, then flew in the same ring formation towards Psyduck who began running around in circles, panicking with his hands still clutching his head. The fire flew into his body, burning his skin. 

"Pssssy!" he cried out. 

"Oh, maybe he can use a Psychic attack now," Misty said hopefully. "Use Psychic!" 

"Psssssy!" Psyduck continued running around. Occasionally a purple flame enveloped his body as the burned status inflicted damage. 

Ash didn't seem deterred by the chaos. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Phantom."  

Phantom, not fast enough to avoid the attack, was hit by the Thunderbolt and spun closer to the ground, looking distraught as his purple flames flickered weakly. 

"Alright!" Ash fist pumped the air. "Now use Quick Attack on Roric." 

"That's not going to work again." Amanda smiled. "Use Extreme Speed."  

Pikachu had started moving fast, but Roric was a blur as he rammed into Pikachu who stumbled backwards, getting up slowly, his lightning bolt-shaped tail drooping. 

Roric howled in pain and bowed his head, jaws clenched as his massive body trembled. 

"Hah, you're paralyzed now from Pikachu's Static," Ash taunted. 

"Come on. Use Flamethrower, Roric!" Amanda ordered, annoyed by Ash's childlike behavior. 

Roric didn't move. His teeth were clenched, eyes narrowed as he struggled to even twitch a limb and break through the paralysis.  

"Pikachu, now's our chance! Give him a Thunderbolt," Ash said. 

"Phantom, cover for him!" Anthony pointed to Roric, who was as still as a Zen Mode Darmanitan. 

Phantom whisked over and let out a Flamethrower at Pikachu while the Thunderbolt raced towards the Fire type Pokemon. The attacks clashed, sending a huge wave of smoke over the field. 

"Wow, evenly matched." Daniel nodded in approval. "I didn't know your Ash's Pikachu was so strong. Even now." 

"Yeah. Pretty amazing." I smiled. 

I noticed Psyduck had plopped over on the ground, looking exhausted, but still hadn't fainted. His plump belly expanded and deflated as he breathed rapidly, looking like a balloon that couldn't keep its air. Misty continued everything from begging to death threats to promising extra food to get him back in the battle. 

Amanda looked at him pityingly. "Roric, use Thunder Fang and take Psyduck out of his misery."  

Roric, who had recovered from being paralyzed, ran towards Psyduck, his teeth bared and electrified, and bit his rubbery head, the largest and most bitable part of Psyduck's body. 

Psyduck screamed and flailed his arms around, his feet kicking the air as Roric bit down harder. 

"Psyduck, try Psychic now!" Misty said desperately. 

Psyduck immediately stopped flailing around and his eyes turned blue. Roric dropped his opponent to the ground, seeming alarmed by the lack of motion.  

Roric howled as he was lifted off the ground by a blue aura and thrown into a tree. He crumpled to the ground. 

Amanda gasped. "Roric!" 

Her Arcanine had fainted. She ran over to him, petting his mane of fur and apologizing. 

"Alright, Phantom, it's all up to us. No more fooling around," Anthony said. "Use Energy Ball on Psyduck." 

A green glowing ball grew in front of Phantom and was hurled at Psyduck, who collapsed to the ground in a yellow, pudgy heap. 

"Well, at least he was a little useful." Misty frowned, returning Psyduck to his Poke Ball. "Thanks for trying, Psyduck. Good luck, Ash." 

"We're still going to win," Ash said, determined. 

Anthony smiled. "I do like a challenge. Phantom, Shadow Ball." 

A purple ball of energy was thrown in Pikachu's direction. Pikachu dodged it, looking a little worn. 

"Send some more at him, Phantom. As many as you can," Anthony said energetically. 

"Uh oh," Ash sounded worried. "Use Agility, Pikachu!" 

Pikachu turned into a blur of yellow as he dashed around the field, avoiding every single Shadow Ball that came his way. 

"Ok, stop Phantom. He's too fast." Anthony frowned. "Try a Flamethrower." 

Phantom hummed and let out a blast of blue flame at Pikachu who had stopped using Agility, too tired from running. He was blasted into the air twenty feet, straight up. His eyes were closed and his mouth was open dully as if he was losing consciousness. 

"Pikachu!" Ash gasped. "Use Thunder!" 

Pikachu opened his eyes and fiercely let loose a powerful Thunder attack. It was so large that the light blinded us all. I shielded my face and heard a huge explosion, dirt erupting into the air. After a couple seconds, I opened my eyes to see Phantom on the ground, his purple flames hardly burning. 

"Phantom!" Anthony gaped at Phantom as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Pikachu stood on two feet, panting and looking pretty beaten up, but standing nevertheless. 

"Wow, buddy, you did it!" Ash picked up Pikachu and laughed. "We won!" 

Pikachu smiled cheerfully. 

"Wow," I exclaimed softly. "I can't believe my parents beat them." 

Anthony, who didn't seem capable of speech, returned Phantom to his Poke Ball and just stared at Ash as if he'd never looked properly at him before. Amanda walked back over with Roric, who had recovered from the battle enough to stand. Amanda spoke, "That was one amazing battle." 

"It sure was. Your Pokemon are really strong," Misty complimented. Anthony stuttered before closing his mouth as words refused to form, still speechless. 

Daniel grinned as we walked over. "The two of you make a really good team." 

Ash and Misty both frowned and looked as antsy as Durant, fidgeting away from each other, avoiding eye contact. 

"It's a compliment, guys." I rolled my eyes, smiling inside. 

"Well, we did win," Ash admitted. 

"Lunch is ready, guys!" Brock called. 

"Food!" Ash roared, speeding off towards Brock's famous cooking. 

"He only thinks about Pokemon battles and food." Misty sighed. 

I laughed. "Yeah, well. He's a guy. What do you expect?" 

"That he'll never change, that's for sure," Misty answered sullenly. 

"Well, at least he gets a lot taller and mmmph!" Daniel was cut off as I put a hand over his mouth. 

Misty watched the odd display with raised eyebrows. 

"Pay no attention to him, Mo-Misty." I pushed Daniel away, still cuddling Cyndaquil to my chest, "He's hungry and talks way too much when his mouth isn't full."

Hey Trainers!

I hope you enjoyed this update.  If you did, it would be amazing if you voted and commented on it! I'm so glad that a lot of your really love this story. Wouldn't it be great if Pokemon did something like this where Ash and Misty were grown up and so were all of Ash's other friends and they had kids who went on adventures? I think it'd be way better than the show now.

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to Wolfie2000 who really showed how much she loved Next Generation and has been really supportive, so this chapter was for you! Oh, and because she's just amazing, of course. That is always a reason :) 

Thank you all for reading! 

Pokemon Question of the Day: If you could battle any Trainer from the Pokemon world, who would it be and why? If you have your own characters or even just actually battling your friends or something, go ahead and explain who they are so I'm not just smiling and nodding :P

Have an amazing day!

-Flips