Silverstone - Pokémon Rancher

Chapter 04

By BigTofu

Anthony Silverstone

The sun shone overhead as I stood right outside the Rappidash ring, the Rapidash that I named Prince was running rings around the place as he tossed his flame mane around with a snort. Nova was standing near the fence and off to the right as his eyes followed Prince around the ring. On my hip was a set of ropes that would help me do the deed for the day. Along my belt sat a few empty Great-Balls that might have cost a pretty poke-dollars, but would come in clutch later.

My hand lightly tapped the top of the fence post as I launched myself over with a single hop.

"Nova, on me," I called, following my words with a whistle. This set Prince off, as he turned and made way for me. I barely had the time to note the flames that wrapped around the massive Rapidashes' body as I dove out of the way.

This was not a good start, I growled to myself as I rolled three times to the right while dodging the double kick that went after my previous location.

"Nova, Play Rough," I called as I kip-up to my feet in a crouch position. I was only able to do this because of Nova and kept Prince from rushing me again while I was down. From my position, I could see Champ growling as he leered at the Rapidash because he was more than ready to rumble. He wouldn't be able to though because this was a Nova and my battle to deal with.

The Chansey that I was able to purchase for a few million had a very dark gleam on her face as she tracked me, clearly enjoying the damage on display. Great. Of course, the medic I was able to get my hands on was a sadist. Ignoring her, along with the Machokes who stopped to watch, along with a few construction workers, I repositioned myself as both Pokemon separated from their clash.

Prince was large, sure, but Nova was an Arcanine, and he was a damn predator, so he came out way ahead during their clash. The Rapidash's body glowed light purple as he vanished from location in a burst of speed and after-images. The thought of agility ran through my mind before a shiver ran down my spine as the Pokemon reappeared on my left, his horn now glowing a nasty shade of purple.

Poison Jab!

What the fuck, since what generation could Rapidash learn Poison jab?

I had no time to think. I had to raise my hands and catch the Pokémon because he could succeed in killing me like some scrub. My hands snapped upwards as one grabbed Rapidash by the muzzle while my weight shifted and my other arm wrapped around its neck. Muscles in my arms, back, and legs flexed as I caught the Pokémon with all my strength.

Things were clear that Rapidash had all the horse-power as I was pushed back with my feet digging a furrow into the ground. The flash of fire from the side was my cue to let go as Nova slammed into the side of the Rapidash. Prince was knocked clear from me as Nova smacked him with another takedown.

Nova didn't even look scuffed at all, but the Rapidash was not a happy camper as it lowered at us. He snorted some fire as he went into another agility. This time, I jumped onto the back of Nova as I snatched up the rope from my belt. With my legs locked around Nova, I kept myself from falling off as he slammed into the side of Prince with use of Extreme Speed.

We did two laps around the ring as the Pokemon traded body blows before I noticed the shift in aura. Light flared around Rapidash's horn as I did a shift roll to the side as Rapidash raked his horns across where I used to be.

My mind set and eyes hard, the rope snapped out before clenching around the Rapidash's horn. Nova did a point turn and Prince let out a pained neigh as we gave his head a hard yank. The Rapidash turned to follow us, but Nova was already circling once more and I jumped from the back of the goodest boy and onto the back of Rapidash.

Hot was the first thing that came to mind, and the feeling of hot pants finally struck me. Before I could check to see if my fireproof clothing worked, Rapidash bucked hard in his attempt to throw me off. Prince went up and to the side, and I could feel my legs slip as he bucked harder and moved around the ring faster and faster.

It was one of the shifts between a hard buck with a front stand that sent me flying off the back of Rapidash as I went ass over head. My grip was firm, and I had to grit my teeth. I felt the strain in my shoulder as I tumbled about.

Defiance rose up inside of me as my hands glowed blue…

Azure blue ran through the rope as it flowed over my body. With my resolve set, I gave the rope a hard yank as I dashed forward, my hand snatching the rope by the middle as I gathered the slack for the work to be done. Rapidash's look changed when he looked at me, but I had no care for his fear. The challenge was made; it would be met head-on with force because that was the only thing understood here: power.

We met halfway in the ring as I slammed into his chest and just kept going as I pushed him over onto his side. The rope in hand flew as I wrapped his legs, then pulled it tight around the horn on Rapidashes head. The Pokemon wasn't happy as he struggled and thrashed, and I could honestly say that if the aura wasn't protecting my body. I could have and would have burned like the heat-blasted section of the ring.

With my body on Rapidash's, I held the Pokemon down until the struggles stopped before whipping out my great-ball. The rope went slack as the large Pokemon was sucked into the device, I watched it with my breaths cooking hard and fast. The greatball shook once, twice then a third time, which had my heart clench in my chest.

Then, the button on the front flashed red as the capture was finally complete.

The rush left my body as I fell onto my back and sprawled out in the horse rink. As I lay there on my back, Nova came up and gave me a nudge with his warm muzzle. With a chuckle, I touched his muzzle to let him know that I was more than alright.

Getting up off my ass, I walked over to the fence where Chansey stood as she tracked every step I took. Depositing the Pokeball in her open paw, I then watched as she tsked and walked off with my hard-won prize.

With a chuckle, I left Chansey to perform her nominal medical care as I approached the rest of my Poyta and Rapidash herd. The fire-horses neighed and threw their manes about as they shied away from my location. That was alright because from one of my pockets came the sugar cubes that lured the little buggers over. It may have taken them a bit, but the female Rapidash followed the little Ponyta's over in their hopes of protecting them.

As the pokemon gathered around, I took a count of four females and two males, which I found interesting because none of them were the size of Prince. Following that there were about six other Ponyta which I had no care for their genders at the moment. I was already taking mental notes on how I might be able to set up a psychic terrain to breed the Galarian variants. Gonna call them the Silverstone Variant since Galar hasnt been located again.

I was both happy and unhappy about the Japanese influence on everything. WW2 from my world really fucked them over once they touched our boats, and we dropped two suns on the country.

I heard the rubble shift in the distance and smiled at the mini volcano being built and the massive metal pump units sitting off to the side. One of the Ponyta pushed against my hands in the hope of another treat and she was in luck because I had a few Oran berries in my cargo pocket. Offering the berries to the young Ponyta, I stayed with my horses for a little while longer I added fenceless perimeters into my list of things for Bulma to build for me. She was already working on a tracking collar system along with radio towers and solar collectors with battery backup for night operations.

I gave the Ponyta and Rapidash a few pats before parting ways as Nova followed alongside me. AS we strolled across the ranch, I looked around and pointed out where I would be building a lake lagoon combo with a nice little orchard around it. I felt that would work better even though I still wanted to build a decent sized Greenhouse.

There was going to be plenty of room in the Pokémon stables, but I figured plant types would want to be in nature even when it snowed. Nova gave a chuff or two as he followed along with my pointing. The only thing that really got his attention was that I wanted to plant, Oran, Pecha, Rawst, and a few others.

There was so much more I wanted to do with the ranch, but I had to keep going, I had the momentum right now, but I needed to push the rock down the hill. The only way I could survive all of this would be to start an avalanche of progress that couldn't be stopped.

---

Once I got back to the house, I found Bulma relaxing on the porch with Eevee in her lap as she ran a hand down the back of the Pokemon. Chewie my Pikachu was standing on the little table nibbling at some treats left there for him. Taking the seat that was left open beside her, I stretched out as I took the second cup of tea that had my name on it.

Bulma waited for me to finish my sip before sliding a capsule case over towards me. I paused a hand over Chewie's head, then I continued to give him some good scratches behind the ears. "Your labs already up and running?"

Bulma released a very unlady-like snort as she made a minor hand wave. "Once I understood the basics of this world's technology, the rest wasn't that hard."

Taking her word for it, I shrugged as I opened the capsule case and noticed the five capsules with the lebel. Bulma had made a scouter with its own built-in pokedex. She also redid the cellphone I had given her. The third one was a radar like her Dragon Ball radar, and I had to question her about it.

"The radar?" I questioned as I pressed the top of the capsule and stared at the device in hand.

"Oh, that was easy. Once I got an example of what to look for with this aura thing, a lot of the technology worked with it. It's the same with the scouter; I didn't have solid numbers to work with, so I used the high-low energy levels to help with identifications."

I rubbed my chin at that, because I honestly wasn't expecting it, but I should have; Bulma had, at the age of sixteen, created a device to track the dragon balls, which gave off a super low-frequency signal across the entire planet. Of course, she would be able to do a lot more once she got her hands on Pokemon technology.

Giving her the proper ego stroking that she wanted, I then checked the last two and found that one was for storage. We spoke a little more about the storage unit and found that Bulma was able to work in the tech Silph Co used for their backpacks into it. That meant I was able to gather at least half a ton of loot before the capsule couldn't carry anymore. The other capsule was of a drone that could link with the scouter and the cellphone.

I was more than excited about stuff like that because I didn't always want to send my Pokemon into situations I couldnt get eyes on. I knew Team Rocket already used drones, and my take on them just might get them into the mainstream once the Pokemon professors looked around my ranch and noticed the things that made life easier for me.

She then gave me the updates on the towers, and they were nowhere close to being ready. Once that was over, I hit her from another angle.

"Have you done any research into Pokemon battles?" I asked as I placed my chin on my palm.

Bulma paused before turning to look at me, "I have, I have, I couldn't resist once I researched how the Pokeballs work. Look, I even have a list of Pokemon I want you to get me."

With a raised brow, I watched as she pulled a sticky note from between her breasts. With the paper in hand, I looked over her list as my eyebrows vanished into my hairline. Bulma really was going for broke with some of her selections. A Metagross, Alakazam, Medichan—the list just continued as she wanted heavy hitters and final evolution types.

I stilled a bit as I looked over the list, "Okay, let's slow your roll on a lot of these." I stated with a hand motion towards the list of Pokemon that Bulma wanted for research.

"WHY?" Bulma questioned.

"Because a couple of these are what one may call a pseudo legendary, the others are telepathic or Pokemon are known to have incredibly high IQ marks." I then shook my head at her. "All of these Pokemon have strong prides; they will never bend or bow to anyone unless they have grown with that person or been beaten by them. And sometimes they don't even want to bow to the person who beat them."

I fell silent for a moment as I considered the situation. "Maybe we can get you a young Abra or Meditite." I rubbed at my chin as I said that and then stopped as I watched Bulma pull out her Pokedex and scroll through it.

Bulma nibbled at her bottom lip, "Hmm, those grow into Medicham and Alakazam, right?"

"Yes, high intellect to help you around the labs with a decent move set if and when you decide to join a battle," I replied while reaching for my cup of tea.

"Battle?" Bulma asked with wide eyes like she was a deer caught in the headlights, or if one of those T-Rex from her world was chasing after her.

I chuckled at her response, "Yes, battle." Then, I paused to consider what she might be thinking about. "It's not like when Goku and the rest fight in your world." I tapped at my chin before opening my phone and getting onto the pokenet. I scrolled around for a bit before I found this world's version of YouTube.

Once I found what I was looking for, I opened the video and shared it with Bulma, "You won't be the one doing battles, the pokemon will. You will be the one calling orders as they execute your plans. Lower levels are like checkers, but the higher you go, the more it shifts into Chess."

Bulma watched the videos I pulled up for her as she gave me that pensive look. The silence stretched for a little before I gave her a little push.

"We can start with smaller battles," I pressed a little with a smile before showing the kiddie competition. "You're smart, so we can start with chess before moving to checkers?"

Bulma was still unsettled, but I could see the little gleam in her eyes, so I pushed some more. "Don't you want to be the big damn hero instead of the damsel that needs saving?"

Now, that little glimmer in her eyes was shifting, so I kept doing one of the things I did best: talking.

"Pokemon are the extensions of their trainers; you don't have to be the battler; your Pokemon can do that for you, but what they need the most is a General." Once I was finished, that glimmer wasn't just a small fire, it was a roaring flame.

Bulma was on her feet in seconds, with a comical anime girl's fist in the ear, and I could see flames in her eyes. "To the lab's boys, we have a battle plan to cook up!"

Then before I could say anything to stop her, Bulma was gone as she ran towards her lab. I could only shake my head as both Eevee and Chewie ran after her with little happy yips. Leaving Bulma to do whatever it was she planned to do, I got off my ass and headed for the stables. Once I got there, I found the little Pokeball area I had set up and found the ball with the angry face sticker on its surface.

With the Pokeball out of its carrier, I rolled it around my hand as I left the stable and went to a certain shed that all good Cowboys had on their ranch. I was happy that the shed didn't have its usual smell as of yet. I checked and found all the C02 cartridges in their slots. With all twelve accounted for, I found the punch gun, I slotted a cartridge into the punch gun and gave it two pops.

It took a bit of looking around, but eventually, I found a stool that I could sit on. I gave what I was about to do another thought, only for a second or two. Then, with my wrist snapping out, I released the Pokeball, and when the flash of light disappeared.

Tauros stood there in the stockade, full of piss vinegar, and sooo much anger.

The stockade he was in rattled, but I ignored the popping of bolts and springs as I held the punch gun before the massive Tauro's face.

"I know you can understand me, so I won't repeat myself," I told the Pokemon as I tapped his snout with the punch gun. "You can either calm down and be my willing Pokemon or become food. I refuse to let you roam around on my ranch as you are."

Tauro's rattled the cage some more with no fear in his eyes; he watched as I slowly brought up the punch gun and pressed it against his forehead. We locked eyes, and I dared him in so many unspoken words to try that shit again.

The Pokemon decided not to call my bluff as it snorted out a gout of steam.

Good, it was clear that we were making progress, and if we don't, Tauros knew I was more than ready to make him into little burgers.

Author's Note's :::

Okay, I have a little bit more ranch setting up to do before we can really get into the setting. I have a few ideas for the tribes on the frontier and their battle style.

Steel Tribe

 

 

 

Poison Tribe