My Little Pokemon Silver Spoon Version

The next day we continued following the road. Misty initially wanted Psyduck out with us as we walked but the day quickly grew too hot to keep a water pokemon out for long. Over the asphalt we could see lines of heat and there was no breeze to cool us off.

“Chan! Chan! Hitmonchan!”

Where was…?

“Wow, a Hitmonchan! In person!” Ash grinned, already lifting his pokedex at the humanoid pokemon throwing practice punches left and right as it jogged down the road.

“Hitmonchan: The Punchy Pokemon. This pokemon packs an incredibly fast punch.”

“Oh, I just gotta catch it!” He danced in place. “Pikachu, are you ready for this?”

“Pi?” Pikachu stiffened. “Pika pikachu!”

“It’ll be fine! I know you’re strong enough to take on that Hitmonchan!” He reassured him. “I’ll even teach you my secret punch if that’ll make you feel better.”

“Since when is Ash a boxing expert?” Misty quipped as Ash began tutoring Pikachu in how to throw a punch.

“That’s…surprisingly good form.” At our stares Weiss continued. “He’s keeping his wrist straight and not tucking his thumb into his fingers.

How many fistfights has Ash gotten into?

“Alright, let’s do this!” Ash belted out his challenge. The Hitmonchan had noticed us, more specifically it had noticed Pikachu stepping up to the plate with two tiny fists raised.

“Ah, maybe setting Pikachu against Hitmonchan in a boxing match isn’t the best idea.” I almost covered my eyes.

“It’ll be fine, you’ll see! I’ve taught Pikachu my secret punching technique!” There was a fire in Ash’s eye.

Secret punch or no, small mouse pokemon against big fighting type in a boxing match? Winner is the big fighting type, every time.

“Yep, that’s… that’s what I figured.” My shoulders slumped as Pikachu was instantly knocked for a loop.

“Hey now, what’s going on over here?” A man in workout clothes jogged up to us. “Hitmonchan, no sparring without me!”

“Excuse me, sir? Does this Hitmonchan belong to you?” Misty asked politely.

“Indeed it does!” He might’ve gone on to say more but a girl jumped out from behind a tree, surprising us all.

“Rebecca? What are you doing here?” Thus identified, she planted her feet firmly in front of Hitmonchan's trainer.

“Daddy, it’s time to come home.” She stated, hands clenched into fists at her side. “You haven’t been home in weeks and the last time was just so Mom could do your laundry! Come. Home.”

“I’m training to win the P-1 Grand Prix!” He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I’ll come home after I become the P-1 Champion. C’mon, Hitmonchan.”

“Hitmon.” He and his pokemon left. All the fight seemed to drain out of the girl as he walked away.

“I’m…sorry you had to see that.” She sighed, turning towards us.

“Please, don’t trouble yourself with our opinions!” In a flash, Brock was at her side, offering a comforting hand and a winning smile. “Only tell us what we can do to help!”

“Help?” She faltered.

“What was he talking about? The Grand Prix thing?” Ash asked.

“It’s a tournament for fighting type pokemon.” She explained with a deep sigh. “Fighting types are my dad’s favorites and he’s always wanted to win the tournament but lately he’s just been obsessed with it. He doesn’t come home anymore. He quit his job. It’s….it’s been hard to deal with.”

She looked at us, studying us. She took in our travel worn clothes and our backpacks, the trainer belts at our waists.

“You five are trainers, right? Do any of you have fighting pokemon?” She asked us.

“I have a Primeape. Why?” Ash’s head tilted to the side.

“Please, I beg you, enter the P-1 Grand Prix!” She bowed deep at the waist. “Enter and defeat my father!”

“Wait. You want me to beat your dad?” Ash’s jaw dropped.

“I see.” Brock cupped his chin. “You think that Ash defeating him in this tournament will shock him to his senses so he’ll go home with you.”

“I hope so because I’ve tried just about everything else.” Rebecca sighed, still holding herself in that bow. “Things are so bad at home. I don’t want to lose my father. I don’t want my little brother to lose our father over this! So, please?”

“Sure, I’ll enter the tournament and I’ll make sure your dad goes home, even if Primeape and I have to kick him the whole way there!” Ash thumped his fist against his chest.

“Thank you!” She finally looked up, a teary eyed smile beaming up at us.

As it turned out, the Grand Prix tournament was being held tomorrow. An extra day in town wasn’t too bad. Rebecca invited us to her house for dinner and then we retired to the Pokemon Center for the night. Her family was nice, though her mother looked more than a little stressed by the situation at home. Her younger brother was eight years old and didn’t understand why their dad refused to come home.

Frankly, I don’t get it either. He could train for the tournament without abandoning his family like that. I think this is maybe reminding Brock too much of his own family situation. Mrs. Pondel has had to work double shifts to pay for everything and she looked exhausted. Brock did most of the cooking and tidying up afterwards just to let her get some rest.

He calls home whenever we stop at a Pokemon Center but I know he has to be worried about his brothers and sisters. Not sure how he feels about his dad. I don’t think any of us know anything about his mom, or at least no one told me.

I don’t understand Mr. Pondel. His family depended on him. How he can leave his family behind for this one tournament. It’s not like he had to embark on a journey to see it come true, it’s held in his own hometown!

I don’t get it. I don’t get any of this. Why did–!?

…

Calm down Silver. You’re getting too invested in this.

Tomorrow Ash will enter the P-1 Grand Prix, beat Mr. Pondel and knock some sense into him.

If only I could knock some sense into him.

The P-1 Grand Prix had a specialized stadium. Registration was the day of the event and every contestant had to be inspected by Nurse Joy prior to approval to make sure the pokemon were in good shape for the tournament. I got the impression that some Fighting types had hidden injuries from previous tournaments.

Primeape was cleared quickly and Ash was led off to the room the competitors would wait in. Meanwhile the rest of us, except Rebecca who already bought a ticket days ago, had to buy tickets for seats in the stands. Except…

“Hey Val.”

“Weiss? What are you doing here?” Asked the green haired girl wearing a similar outfit to Misty, a tank top and shorts, who was already standing in line to enter the stadium with a guy wearing a getup that wouldn’t seem out of place in an Apple family reunion.

“Destroying a man’s dreams so that he’ll go back to his family.”

“...what?/You’re kidding right?” The two blurted out at the same time.

“Nope.”

Well…she could have worded it differently.

“You three know each other?” Misty looked between the three.

“Yeah, we go way back.” The guy simply nodded.

“They were the one’s advertising Elko’s diner back in Porta Vista, remember?” Weiss pointed out.

Huh, I thought they were familiar for some reason.

“Where’s Alexis? Is he competing?”

“Nah, he’s still trying to get a water stone for Poliwirl. In the meantime, he’s also currently filling out paperwork to run a fighting type gym.” Val revealed with a smirk. “We still got a group ticket for five people if ya wanna join us.”

And that’s how I, Misty and Brock got our seats for free. Weiss declined and, with Val and their friend Billy keeping an eye on me, went off on her own to train Magikarp.

Sitting down with people on all sides, ribbing and jostling each other, calling for popcorn and hotdogs and drinks, staring down at a darkened stadium ring. Honestly? Not worth it.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEEEEEN~!” The speakers crackled to life. “WELCOME TO THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL P-1 GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT, KANTO STAGE!”

“It’s starting.” Rebecca sat up straight. In the ring below contestants were being lifted from an underground chamber. Rebecca’s dad stood out in the crowd but Ash was easy to find. He was searching the whole crowd trying to find us until Misty stood up and waved.

“FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE,” A spotlight suddenly shown on Rebecca’s dad. “THE FAN FAVORITE TO WIN, ANTHONY LEE AND HIS HITMONCHAN!” Lights came up on a few other contestants. “VERSUS RETURNING CHALLENGERS, INCLUDING LAST YEAR’S FINALIST, GIIIIAAANNTT!”

A large man in a trench coat with a Hitmonlee standing beside him. The only defining feature was his red hair… in a very distinct shape.

The announcer continued, introducing several other returning challengers with their pokemon. Mostly Machokes and Machamps with them. One person had a Machop with them. Honestly I was kind of disappointed at how few fighting type pokemon there were, although Rebecca pointed out that other regions had their own tournaments and that the winners of each one will meet up to decide who is this year’s Ultimate Grand Prix Champion.

“AND FINALLY, A NEW CHALLENGER MAKES HIS P-1 DEBUT! ASH KETCHUM WITH HIS PRRRIIIIIMEAAAAAPPE!” Ash waved to us while Primeape just snorted angrily.

“NOW, LET’S GET READY TO RRRRUUUUUUUUUUMMBLLLLLEEEE!”

Ding ding!

First round, right off the bat, Ash and Primeape against a Machop. In some ways it could be a good warm up, Machop being the only non-evolved competitor in the tournament. But if this guy had competed before then he knew he’d be up against fully evolved pokemon and he entered anyway. He had to be confident in Machop’s strength.

Up here with the crowd roaring around us we couldn’t hear what commands the competitors gave their pokemon. We could see Ash’s face though and his expression didn’t inspire confidence. Primeape launched itself forward with a Mega Kick that Machop easily blocked and we all winced as Primeape was given a devastating bombardment of Karate Chop attacks.

“I was afraid of this.” Brock hissed. He saw me looking and continued. “Primeape still isn’t listening to Ash.”

I winced, turning back to the fight.

Ash was gripping the arena rings, saying something we couldn’t make out over the roar of the crowd. Whatever it was it was clear Primeape wasn’t listening as it launched into a Mega Kick again. This time the Machop caught his foot and began winding up for a Seismic Toss.

“Oh no!” Misty gasped beside me, almost squeezing Pikachu too hard. He wisely decided to move from her lap to mine.

“C’mon.” I bit my lip. Primeape went flying. The rules didn’t include loss by Ring Out so that at least wasn’t a concern.

But a bad fall could seriously hurt an—Ash was moving!

Ash dived under Primeape and broke his fall.

If I didn’t have Pikachu’s warm weight on my lap I would’ve jumped to my feet.

Even the crowd grew hushed, waiting for Ash to pick himself back up again.

He didn’t look hurt, didn’t move like he was anything worse than shaken. He was even smiling at Primeape, probably reassuring him.

He was fine.

It was easy to see the change that had come between them. Now Primeape wasn’t wildly attacking without thought of strategy. Ash even whipped up a clever maneuver to use the stadium lights to blind Machop so Primeape could land a devastating Mega Kick.

“Well, would you look at that?” Misty chuckled. “Primeape’s actually listening to Ash now.”

“Mhm.” I nodded, smiling back at her.

They won and kept winning. He made it all the way to the semi finals where he faced a Machamp and Primeape still came up a winner. Ash had a place in the finals.

The next match was between Anthony and the mysterious Giant. Hitmonchan vs. Hitmonlee.

“IT’S A BATTLE FOR THE AGES FOLKS! THE PUNCHING CHAMP VERSUS THE KICKING FIEND! WHO WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS AND PROCEED TO THE FINALS OF THIS, THE KANTO REGION P-1 GRAND PRIX!” We were on the edge of our seats.

Anthony was a skilled trainer and Hitmonchan was top notch. They’re teamwork was amazing too. They’d been knocking out opponents left and right all day.

I have my suspicions now about what really happened but at the time it came as a total surprise. The fight started off well but suddenly Hitmonchan stopped dodging. Hitmonlee showed no mercy, landing kick after kick until Hitmonchan was battered and bruised.

“Oh no!” Rebecca jumped to her feet, trying to get around me and Misty to reach the aisle. “Stop! Stop the fight!”

“Rebecca!” I cried out. I got up to follow her, idling noting that Val was right behind me. I had to shove Pikachu into Val’s arms and wrap my arms around Rebecca’s waist to keep her from climbing into the ring.

“AAANNND TRAINER ANTHONY HAS THROWN IN THE TOWEL! THE WINNER IS GIANT AND HIS HITMONLEE!” The announcer startled us.

“Hiiit….chan!” Hitmonchan tore himself from the arena floor. He limped to the edge of the ring and gratefully slipped between the ropes into Anthony’s arms.

“You did good, Hitmonchan. Took it like a champ.” He was saying, reassuring his pokemon as he checked over the bruises.

“Oh, daddy.” Rebecca seemed calm enough so I let her go run to her father.

He turned to look at her, squeezing Hitmonchan’s shoulder one last time.

“Rebecca, I have never been so scared in my entire life!” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Trying to run between two fighting pokemon? You’re lucky your friend stopped you! Hitmonlee wasn’t pulling any punches! You could’ve been seriously hurt!”

“I…I just…” Her eyes welled up with tears. Anthony cut her off, pulling her into a hug and holding her like he…

Like he never wanted to let her go.

“Guys, is everything okay?” Ash and Primeape came running over. Blearily, I heard the announcer state that there would be a brief intermission before the final round.

“Oh, it won’t be for long, twerp.” You might as well have injected my spine with molten lava. It still would’ve been cooler than the burning resentment I felt upon hearing that word.

“No way! You guys? Again?” Ash growled.

‘Giant’ turned out to be Team Rocket. Specifically, it was Jessie sitting on James’ shoulders while wearing a big trench coat. And James was…Well.

“To protect the world from devastation!” Jessie began their motto immediately after throwing off their coat.

“To unite all peoples within our nation.” James was groaning and his legs were shaking so badly that I could almost hear them.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” I exchanged looks with Ash.

“To extend our reach to the st… oh I can’t take it!” James’ face and neck were turning red.

“Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!” She sang, still not giving any notice to her friend’s struggles.

“Surrender now… surrender now… or prepare to f… prepare to fou ho ho ho!” I winced in sympathy as he dropped to his knees. “I can’t take it!” It sounded like he was crying on the floor.

“At least finish the motto.” Jessie scoffed, climbing up.

“Uh, is he okay?” I asked hesitantly.

“And what did you do to the real Giant!?” Val demanded with her hands on hips and Pikachu having scampered over to Ash.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEEEEEN!” The announcer broke up our stand off. “IT IS TIME FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF THIS YEAR’S KANTO REGION P-1 GRAND PRIX! WOULD THE CONTESTANTS PLEASE GO TO THEIR CORNERS?”

We all gathered at Ash’s corner, waiting for the fight to start. Billy joined up but slipped back into the stands after whispering with Val.

“AND NOW FOR THE FINAL CONFRONTATION! PRIMEAPE, WHO’S BATTLED TO THIS LAST ROUND WITH TREMENDOUS ATTACKS, FACES THE FEROCIOUS FOOTWORK OF HITMONLEE, THE KICKING FIEND! GET READY FANS FOR A MATCH YOU’RE NEVER FORGET!”

And the announcer was right, no one was going to forget the match. Between the upset of Primeape beating last year’s finalist’s pokemon and said finalist reappearing, in his underwear, just after Team Rocket was spontaneously electrocuted, combusted and blasted through the roof and into the distance the audience had plenty to talk about…

Celestia give me strength.

I, on the other hand, was going to remember this day as the day when Ash gave Primeape, a pokemon that won a fighting tournament, to Anthony, a man who had neglected his family over a fighting tournament… I know that Ash wanted to let Primeape pursue the chance to become the world’s strongest fighting type pokemon and give Mr. Pondel the same chance to become the P1 Grand Prix champion, but after what he put his family through? …I know that Rebecca made him promise that’ll go back to his job and spend more time with his family and that Primeape would make sure that he doesn’t get obsessed with training again…

It was her family... She should be allowed to put her trust in her father and Primeape, not me. No matter how I felt about that subject.

I almost forgot about Val being fired up from the tournament and challenging Ash to a battle only for Weiss to pop up and tease Val with fighting her Gyrados. Don’t know what happened afterwards as Weiss teleported somewhere and Val immediately took off after her in what I thought was her own teleport. Billy said otherwise, that Val didn’t teleport, but was silent about what Val did, suggesting that I might find out if I ever went to the Hoenn region. Meeting back up with the two in the Pokecenter with Val and Billy leaving to challenge the gyms on their own and Weiss keeping quiet about the training and the battle did little to alleviate my anxiety today.

I can’t wait to get back to Equestria and tell Diamond Tiara all about my adventures here.

And watch her tell her dad about it… At least she had one parent who cared.