Refined. Elegant. Beautiful.
Those were the three words that dominated Erika's life.
Ever since she was a baby, her mother had taught her to strive towards being the perfect lady. Not for any man of course, but because it was a woman's pride to become as refined, elegant and beautiful as they could be. Everything men weren't.
Erika's mother had also taught her that all men were worthless, just like her own father who abandoned the two of them before Erika was even born. And that distrust and disdain towards males only grew as she grew older.
When Erika was in elementary school she was well-known for her maturity that surpassed her peers, making her the target of numerous cruel 'jokes' and 'pranks' from the immature boys that were a part of her class. The most notable 'prank' though, was the day that one of the boys tried to pants her in front of the class. Except he didn't only pull down her skirt, but also her panties as well.
It was easily the most humiliating moment in Erika's entire life, even into her adulthood.
Not only had the boys seen her most precious place, but the teasing and bullying she had received from them increased from that point on. Naturally, all of this only affirmed the disdain towards ALL males that her mother had instilled into her as a child. It also proved to be her greatest motivation.
Shortly after the incident, Erika's mother gifted her a pokemon for her birthday, a Bulbasaur, along with some pokeballs. That was also when she was told to add another word to the three that she had been following her entire life, strength.
Women should not only be refined, elegant, and beautiful, but also strong. Strong enough that they could stand above all of those around them. Especially the filthy men.
So, Erika began training her beloved Bulbasaur.
Together the two of them worked to become stronger, and in the process she also caught the Oddish that would one day evolve into her beautiful Bellossom. In time Erika's pokemon became strong enough that none of the boys dared tease her anymore, and instead began to fear offending her.
Soon Erika had grown strong enough to even catch the attention of one of her teachers, who also happened to be the Gym Leader of Celadon city.
Training under her, Erika's talent with grass type pokemon blossomed to the point that she was named the next Leader of the Celadon city Gym.
The only true blemish on her reputation as a Gym Leader was Team Rocket, and the fact that they had set up their base of operations right beneath her nose.
Aside from that, Erika's life was content as she tended to her gardens, took on her challengers, and thouroughly hated the filthy and inelegant men, until she met Ace Ketchum.
That boy.....was frustrating for lack of a better way to put it.
Not only did he disgrace her eyes with the sight of him rutting with Leaf the moment they met, but he also had the GALL to try and hit on her after defeating all of her pokemon!
Despite him being the very image of everything she hated in men, Erika couldn't help but to wonder about him, especially since it felt as if ALL the girls were drawn to him. Even her fellow Gym Leaders!
Erika had even asked said Gym Leaders, Daisy, Clair, Whitney and even Sabrina, what they liked so much about Ace Ketchum before the battle between Lance and Red.
"Let's just say that no man will ever be able to satisfy me ever again!" Daisy declared while acting like a shy maiden, despite being anything but.
"I had long forseen that my future would coincide with his own." Sabrina answered, blushing slightly despite maintaining her usual expressionless.
"He will give me children carrying the blesing of the True Alpha Dragonite, making the Blackthorn clan one of the strongest amongst the dragon tamers. Plus I doubt that I will ever meet such a man again." Clair responded, even as she acted uncharacteristically shy at the end.
"I only slept with him because Clair made me." Whitney stated while looking away pointedly, her cheeks and ears turning as pink as her hair.
Even as they all gave their own answers, they all followed up with another that was roughly the same.
They all stated that never before in their lives had they felt so 'connected' with someone. That their senses and his blended in perfect harmony when they were together as man and woman.
Needless to say that Erika had been left with more questions than answers, while she also noted that Karen and Jasmine also appeared quite interested in what the others had to say.
Now Erika found herself flying through the night air, riding side-saddle on her Tropius, as she and her three Gym Trainers made their way to Ace Ketchum's encampment.
"Lady Erika!" Called out the strongest of her trainers, a young woman with crimson red hair.
"Yes Rose?" Erika called out to her.
"Why are we going to stay with that MAN?" Rose asked with a tone of irritation.
"You must learn to think when needed." Erika told her tiredly.
"Ace Ketchum is the eldest son of our new Champion. Tell me, do you think Red will appreciate it when, right after he gave the order for us to clear up Kanto and keep the people safe, we left his son alone in a place known to be the territory of a gang?"
"But, isn't Ace Ketchum supposed to be really strong?" Asked the second of Erika's trainers, a girl with flowing yellow hair named Blossom.
"That is irrelevant. Ace did the vast majority of the fighting against Team Rocket as well, and paid for it with numerous near-death experiences. It is also the main reason Red took the Champion position from Lance. Leaving cleaning up the Cycling Cyclopses to him will only result in me being stripped of my status as Gym Leader, and potentially the closing of Celadon city Gym. Do any of you wish for that?"
"""..."""
Naturally, Rose, Blossom and the third trainer, Flora, were all silent at that as they imagined being forced to leave the Gym that had become their home, their sanctuary of beauty against the filthy men.
Soon they arrived to the checkpoint that marked them as being a quarter of the way through the cycling road, where several buildings that weren't there before now stood.
"Where did those come from?!" Flora exclaimed in shock.
"Ace Ketchum did say that he had Capsules." Erika commented as they began to descend towards the buildings.
"You mean those things can really transport entire buildings in your pocket?!"
"Apparently." Erika answered Rose, still finding it difficult to believe herself.
From their place in the air above, they could see what was obviously a house and a Pokemon Center, what looked to be some kind of barn, something that resembled a miniature gym, and, most shockingly, a greenhouse!
"Its like he's traveling around with his own private village!" Flora exclaimed in disbelief, even as they came down and landed between the buildings.
"Hello!" Joy immediately greeted the group as they landed, and recalled their Tropius into their pokeballs. "Dinner will be ready in a little bit, so until then you're welcome to join Ace and the others in the gym if you want. If not, he also said you all can go into the greenhouse with your pokemon while you wait."
"Thank you very much." Erika said to Joy while showing her the utmost respect as their host by bowing her head slightly, a gesture her trainers mimiced before they all separated to explore a little. While they went to the greenhouse though, Erika went to the gym to see what was going on there.
Upon entering she was greeted by the sight and sound of people and pokemon cheering as a pair battled it out in the middle of the arena.
"Boltund, use Wild Charge!"
"Endure Grotle!"
Erika watched as the opposing Boltund charged into Ace's Grotle while releasing a storm of lightning, only Grotle barely even flinched as it received the attack. And as soon as Boltund finished trying to attack Grotle, the grass type responded by barraging it with a powerful Magical Leaf attack.
"Boltund is unable to battle! Grotle and Ace win!" Declared Misty, who had taken up the role of official for these battles.
"Awesome! Good job Grotle!" Ace readily praised his pokemon for it's victory, while the other pokemon around him also cried out in encouragement.
Erika was surprised to see that Ace not only had the Ivysaur he had battled against her with, nor the Grotle that he had out now, but also numerous grass type pokemon that she recognized from different regions.
Aside from Grotle, Ace also had a Rowlet, Oshawott, Crogunk, Snover, Scorbunny, Rookidee and Grimer. And standing behind all of them was Ace's menacing Charizard and Lucario, along with his Chansey in case any of his pokemon needed medical attention.
"Who's next?! Who wants to challenge my Grotle?!" Ace yelled out to the surrounding trainers in challenge, one of which stepped forward in response.
"I'll take on your Grotle, with my Scyther!" The young man cried out, as he sent out the pokemon in question.
Erika then watched as the speedy Scyther fought Ace's strudy Grotle, who barely even flinched as it was assaulted by the swift and vicious attacks from it's opponent. Even worse, Grotle was weak against BOTH bug and flying type attacks, meaning Scyther had the complete type advantage.
Yet, by clever use of Endure and Synthesis, coupled by it and Ace's patience, Grotle managed to counter attack at the right moment with a powerful Iron Tail that sent Scyther reeling. But it was not enough to defeat it.
Then....
"""!!!"""
Everyone gasped as Grotle began to glow, it's body growing significantly before the light faded to reveal it's new form.
Now a Torterra, it had grown wider as it became significantly armored compared to before, with a pair of stone spikes sticking out from the base of it's head, more sticking up from one side of it's shell, and a literal tree that was growing up from it's back.
"Oh my..." Erika gasped as she gazed upon the Torterra, which was final form of Turtwig. And by evolving, it had also acquired the ground typing along with it's grass.
"AWESOME! Torterra, use Earth Power!" Ace cried out, and his Torterra slammed one of it's feet down onto the ground to make the whole gym tremble.
Normally Pokemon that could fly would be able to avoid ground type attacks easily. But Scyther were only able to hover a few feet off of the ground.
So when the ground beneath Scyther erupted with explosive force, there was nothing it could do to avoid the attack as it was knocked unconscious.
"And Scyther is unable to battle! Torterra wins!" Misty announced, and Ace and his pokemon all rushed out onto the arena to congratulate his Torterra on evolving. Even Erika couldn't help but to smile warmly as she watched Ace's Rowlet make itself at home amongst the branches of the tree on Torterra's back.
With his pokemon evolving, Ace called it back to get some rest after the consecutive battles once they were done congratulating it, and instead sent out his Grimer to battle the next trainer. Unfortunately his Grimer was swiftly defeated after the trainer sent out a Baltoy.
By this point Erika left the gym to enter the Pokemon Center for a shower as she prepared for dinner, marveling as she did so how the inside of the Pokemon Center was far larger than the exterior suggested, just like the gym. Thankfully no one was using the locker rooms at the Pokemon Center, so Erika had the showers all to herself as she unwound from the stresses of the day.
Not only had she flown all the way from the Indigo Plateau, but she also had to battle the Cycling Cyclopses and then wait for the officers to come and get them. And then she had to go after the rest of the gang tomorrow.
Erika was so tired, that after she finished showering and eating, she collapsed right into bed and slept right through until morning.
...
The following day was quite.....eventful for Erika and her Gym Trainers, as they followed Ace Ketchum and his companions down the cycling road.
Erika and her trainers could have, realistically, flown faster than Ace and the girls could have biked down the road. But Ace had made a decent point that trouble seemed to follow him around, so it would be better for her to follow him than go their separate ways. And he had been correct.
By the time they reached the halfway point of the cycling road, where the drawbridges and Pokemon Center were, they had encountered another captain of the Cycling Cyclopses. Thankfully there was a holding room at the Pokemon Center that Erika had been able to leave him and his crew while they all stopped to eat lunch.
With all of the traffic on the cycling road there had been several shops that had branches within the Pokemon Center, including places to eat. So the entire group ate their lunch outside in the nice weather, while watching the ships go by until it was time to continue on their way.
It wasn't until they reached the next checkpoint that they encountered more of the gang, which was the last captain and their boss lying in wait with the remainder of their group, a couple dozen thugs.
This time Ace and the girls joined the battle with Erika due to the numbers, which actually almost made it too easy if Erika was being honest. Right up until the boss tried to hit her with a bat wrapped in barbed wire.
"Not today!" Ace declared as he jumped in front of the attack, taking it himself on his back. He wasn't actually hurt though, thanks to him reinforcing his body with aura and adding a layer of it under his shirt to protect himself.
However Erika was still stunned as Ace grabbed the bat, ripped it out of the boss' hands, and snapped it over his knee like it was only a twig. He then proceeded to rearrange the boss' face with his fists, making sure to hold back enough that he was never critically injured.
"That's right." Ace sneered down at the thugs as they were all quickly tied up, the rest of them giving up pretty quickly after they saw their boss go down. And for extra security, Ace had his Ralts use Hypnosis to put them all to sleep while Erika had her Bellossom use Stun Spore.
"Thank you for your help." Erika told him, her mind swirling with the fact that she had actually been protected by a MAN.
"Don't worry about it. As long as the four of you are alright." Ace said, even as Joy came over with an exasperated look on her face.
"Why is it you insist on hurting yourself EVERY SINGLE TIME something happens?" Joy demanded as she forcibly removed Ace's shirt, followed by his weighted vest so she could check his back.
"I'm fine." Ace said as she poked and prodded his back, completely ignorant of the looks he was now receiving from Erika and her three trainers from his exposed body. The three scars he had from being shot specifically.
"Well, you look fine..." Joy eventually said after a couple minutes of examining Ace's back, which hadn't even bruised from him being hit by the bat.
"We are not the only ones getting stronger." Ace's Lucario commented while holding up a paw to his trainer, which Ace pounded with his fist.
"Fuck yeah!"
While the man and his pokemon were having their moment, Misty May and Dawn set to setting up the camp as they made sure each area was cleared before tossing out their Capsules.
"I'll keep an eye on them if you wish to call the Officers to come and take them." Lucario offered, to which Erika answered,
"It would be faster if I called the ones in Fuchsia city since they're closer."
"We have a phone in the Pokemon Center." Joy offered, even as she tossed out the Capsule that housed said building.
Erika thanked her as she readily went in and made the call, before calling Koga as well to let him know about her efforts to clear the cycling road. After all, they were both technically supposed to guard the roadway since it connected their respective cities.
Koga responded with thanks for update, before saying that he'd send his subordinates to investigate the cycling road properly for the Cycling Cyclopses hideout and such. As there HAD to be a way they got around without arousing any suspicion.
Grateful that she wouldn't need to continue investigating herself, Erika thanked him before ending the call, and then making her way to the room that she spent the previous night in with her trainers.
"Did you see the way he moved?"
"I didn't think ANYONE could do that!"
"Right?! Like, is he even human?!"
Rose, Flora and Blossom all gossiped as they discussed the battle between them and the remainder of the Cycling Cyclopses. Or more specifically they discussed Ace and the way he fought.
"From what I understand, Ace Ketchum has been training himself to fight since he was five years old." Erika told them, recalling what she had learned about Ace and 'Arceus' during the meeting after Red became Champion.
"Really?"
"Indeed. He also possesses a unique ability called aura, which has many uses when fighting. Though I don't know anything else about all of that specifically, I do know he has used it to fight directly with even pokemon. A regular human would stand no chance if we were being honest."
"Wow..."
A stunned silence descended as they contemplated what Erika had told them, during which Erika grabbed a towel and toiletries as we went to go and take her shower.
As the hot water cascaded down her body, Erika thought on everything that had happened over the day that she had spent with Ace and his girlfriends.
She still did not understand how a man could make ANY woman happy, let alone five at once. Yet she had seen just that throughout the day as Ace interacted with the girls.
Just what was it about Ace that so many women liked?
She couldn't understand it at all!
Erika didn't know how long she was in the shower, but by the time she got out her fingers had turned wrinkly, and her skin was slightly red from the hot water. But curiously, none of her trainers had also arrived to take their own showers.
Wondering if they were busy eating dinner, Erika wrapped a towel around her body before peeking in the hall to make sure no one was around. She'd been so distracted, that she accidentally left her clothes in the room instead of taking them with her.
Seeing that the coast was clear, specifically that Ace was nowhere to be seen, Erika hurried to their shared room and slipped inside, only to be greeted by a sight that she never once expected to see.
"""KYA!""" Rose, Blossom and Flora all cried out.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Erika demanded shrilly, her voice being anything but elegant and refined as her three trainers were splattered with white fluids, courtesy of the man standing naked before them, Ace Ketchum.