Gatemon
by Fawe
TITLE: Gatemon
AUTHOR: Fawe
RATING: Universal
CATEGORY: S/J romance, Xover
SEASON/SEQUEL: None
ARCHIVE: SJA please, Heliopolis if they want it, anyone else please tell me where you're putting it, if you actually want it.
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters or locations used in this story are mine. This story has been written for entertainment purposes only, and no money is being made from it. So why I spent any time writing it is beyond me, and if you try and sue me, I'm broke, so it's really not worth it.. This story itself is copyrighted to me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Stuck at home for a couple of days last week with a very bad cold (thankyou, London Transport) I found myself watching pokemon, because there was nothing else good on daytime TV (I nearly resorted to watching Richard and Judy, I was that bored). I got the idea for this from one of the episodes in Sky One's daily triple bill, and the idea's been floating around in my head. As I need space in my head for other things (such as exam revision (Oh my god, I now have one month and twelve days until the first one
FEEDBACK: Would be nice. Don't bother sending flames, I have a level 100 Blastoise which packs a wicked Hydropump. Constructive criticism would be appreciated. Anyone commenting on the fact that I always seem to write Xovers with children's TV, and that this says something about my mental age, will be shot (figuratively, I'll get in trouble if I use an L98 on you, and they're the only weapons I have regular access to).
"Okay Daniel, you've looked at your rocks, now can we take a proper look around? This place is givin' me the creeps"
"Just give me five more minutes, Jack."
"Five minutes. Then we're going."
Jack looked around him. They were surrounded by trees (surprise, surprise) and some overgrown ruins which Daniel couldn't recognise as being derived from any ancient Earth civilisation. Instead of leaving the rocks alone, as Jack had suggested, Daniel had insisted that they stay to examine them, and possibly learn more about a completely alien culture. To Jack's annoyance, when they had contacted Hammond through the gate he had agreed with Daniel, and now they were instructed to stay on the planet for a week, exploring fully the area around the gate in the hope of finding traces of an advanced civilisation which could prove to be an ally against the Goa'uld.
A few yards into the trees, Carter gave a start of astonishment, immediately attracting Jack and Teal'c's attention. She was just visible in the shade of a large, unfamiliar tree standing stock still. Jack and Teal'c moved silently to her side, wondering what had surprised her.
On the grass in front of them was a small pink creature with a horn on its head. It seemed to be grazing. After standing still watching it for a few seconds, Jack noticed a similar creature, blue instead of pink and with a smaller horn, emerge from the trees and start grazing next to it. Three children and a small yellow animal followed it.
"Hey look guys, a couple'a wild Nidoran. I'm gonna catch them."
"Ash, don't be an idiot. The people on the other side of the clearing saw them first."
"People? Hey, nice to meet ya. Are these your Nidoran?"
Jack exchanged glances with Sam before speaking.
"No, we were just watching them."
"Are you gonna try and catch them?"
"We don't have anything to catch them with."
"You mean you don't have any pokeballs, or you don't have any pokemon?"
"We don't have any of either. We're not from around here, we don't have any of the stuff you must have."
"Well, if you can't catch them, I'll try. Pikachu, thundershock now!"
The yellow creature jumped out in front of the children, clutching its paws in little fists. Waves of electric charge were emitted from little red spots on its cheeks. The creatures Ash had called Nidoran looked up from their grazing, and as a bolt of lightning came from the yellow creature (the kid had called it Pikachu) they jumped behind the watching members of SG-1, the pink one behind Jack and the blue one behind Sam. The electricity harmlessly hit the ground and was earthed.
"Kinda looks like they like you. Here, I won a few pokeballs in a match a few days ago. If you wanna keep them, you can. I've got all the pokeballs I need." Ash gave one pokeball to Sam, and five to Jack.
"Now you can catch your own pokemon and battle with them. Those Nidoran can be your first ones, if you don't already have any of your own. Or if you don't want to battle, you can keep them as pets, they're real affectionate."
"Sir, if we can catch these creatures, we should take them back and show them to General Hammond. They could be useful. I mean, the electrical energy that creature just expelled must be at least equal in power to a zat gun."
"Okay kid, how do we use these pokeballs?"
"You just throw them at the pokemon you want to catch. If the pokemon's weak, or it likes you, it won't struggle and it'll be locked into the pokeball. That makes it yours, and if you take it out of its pokeball it'll obey you."
"I don't see Charizard obeying you very often, Ash."
"Quiet, Misty."
"Excuse me, your clothing is really unusual, and with those Nidoran you make a great picture. Could I just make a sketch of you?"
"He seems harmless, sir, I don't see why not."
"Okay then."
"Thankyou." Tracey began quickly sketching Sam and Jack. The Nidoran had by this time climbed up onto their shoulders, and were rubbing noses with each other, occasionally missing and nibbling at one of humans' ears. Sam was clearly enchanted with the one on her shoulder, and Jack had to admit that they were sweet. It didn't take Tracey long to make the sketch, and when he put away his pad, Ash told them to use their pokeballs.
Doing as Ash suggested, they threw the balls at the small creatures. The creatures disappeared into a sort of red light, which swirled inot the balls. The balls rocked slightly, and then lock shut.
"You've just caught your first pokemon. I'd be happy to teach you some of the moves they can do, and what other pokemon they'd be powerful against."
"Major?" Jack asked Sam her opinion.
"We'd be glad to learn anything you can teach us about them. We've never encountered these `pokemon` before."
"You've never seen pokemon? Woah, that means we've got a lot to teach you."
"We've got a camp not far from here. Come with us. We've got food, it's not great but it'll fill you up."
"Thanks, but we've got our own food. We'd be happy to share your camping place, though."
They walked quickly through the trees back to the camp near the gate, where Daniel was waiting for them.
"What's that you said about five minutes, Jack? You've been gone at least ten."
"We've been making friends. Kids, this is Daniel. Introduce yourselves."
"I'm Ash, this is Misty, this is Tracey. And this is my Pikachu."
"Pika pi. Pi ka chu!"
"You're right, Pikachu, that big circle's kinda cool huh?"
"I have got to get a sketch of this."
They spent the evening sitting in a circle, while the kids told SG-1 everything tey knew about pokemon. Which was quite a lot. Sam recorded everything that they said, and copied down a load of information from the pokedex. Teal'c sat in stoic silence, listening to everything that was said but not contributing. At Ash's instruction, Jack and Sam brought out their Nidoran and fed them some food that Ash provided, Sam taking a sample for lab analysis. Daniel plied the children with questions about their culture, which seemed to have aspects of many different Earth cultures and some completely unique ones, mostly those connected with pokemon.
Then they settled down for the night, Jack and Sam staying awake to keep watch, letting their new pets out to watch them play with each other. The two were very close. Ash had explained that Jack's was a male Nidoran and Sam's was a female one, and that there was a good chance that if they were that close they were in love, which "Is kinda cute, huh?"
At around the time that Jack guessed to be midnight, shortly before they wre due to wake Teal'c from his Kel No Reem, the Nidoran seemed to be afraid of something. They rushed over to Sam and Jack and cowered inside their jackets.
Three massive birds landed nearby.
Ash, who had been awakened by the sound of the wind under the birds' wings, sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking on in complete amazement. There, before his eyes, were the three legendary bird pokemon.
Articuno. Zapdos. Moltres.
Jack and Sam, though unaware of the rareness of each of the birds they were seeing on their own, let alone all together, were still awed by the size and apparent power of the birds. One shone with an icy gleam. Electricity crackled over the body of another. The last glowed with firelight which came from its own body. The three approached Jack, and bowed their heads in a mark of respect.
"Uno."
"Dos."
"Tres."
"Woah." This last from Ash. "They respect you. I've never seen wild pokemon act like that before. It's as if they're pledging loyalty to you, and actually want to be caught. You must be one great trainer. I thought you didn't have pokemon where you come from?"
"We don't. I got no idea why they're doing that. I'm just a Colonel in the US Air Force, for cryin' out loud."
"O'Neill. Perhaps they sense that you are a great warrior, and wish to join you in your battle against the Goa'uld, as I once did. Take out your pokeballs and capture them, but at once release them. This will show that you command them, but trust them and are a warrior of honour."
"That's a great idea, Mr Teal'c. Go on, Jack, use your pokeballs. They look like they want you to."
Jack looked to Carter, who shrugged. He drew out three of the remaining four pokeballs, and held them out for the birds to examine. Each nodded at a ball, and Jack threw a ball at each in turn, catching the birds, which did not struggle in the least. Jack then threw the balls back, opening them. Crying out their names to the night sky, and awakening the three nearby who had still been asleep, the birds flew high into the sky, circled, and landed again at Jack's side.
Tracey had already got out his sketch pad and was drawing away as if there were no tomorrow. Daniel as feeling around in the darkness for his glasses. Ash's pokemon had left their pokeballs and were watching the legendary creatures, trembling with fear. Misty, the romantic, was watching Sam and Jack's Nidoran, which were gazing at each other from inside their respective owner's jackets, each drawing strength from the other's presence.
After landing, the birds nestled together and apparently went to sleep. Jack and Sam, both realising what time it was, went to sleep, leaving Teal'c to stand guard. As Teal'c had little need to return to Kel No Reem, he kept watch until dawn, when he awakened the others.
Jack's birds had flown off in the night and returned with huge, sweet-tasting fruits, which they gave to Sam and Jack, but not to the others until Jack told them to. All the pokemon were fed, and Daniel made coffee, as it was a cold morning and they had slept on the ground through the dewfall. Jack and Sam sat next to each other on a rock, cradling their hot cups in their hands as they waited for their drinks to cool sufficiently for them to actually be drinkable.
"So, Carter, Ash says our Nidoran are in love. Seein' as there's no way Hammond's gonna let them off the base, whaddaya say we give them both the run of both our quarters, and anywhere else Hammond'll let'em go, so's they don't pine away for one another?"
"Good idea, sir. What about at night, or when we're off-world or off-base?"
"At night we can take it in turns to have them. We could take them with us off-world, and when we're off-base or on dangerous missions we can leave them together in one of our quarters."
"I'm okay with that, sir."
"Carter, our pets are in love, I think you can lose the `sir`. Call me Jack."
"Okay si... Jack. As long as you call me Sam."
"Okay. Sam."
The young pokemon trainers were trying to control their jealousy of the strangers who had apparently come out of nowhere and ended up with five new pokemon, three of which were very rare, without even trying or knowing anything about pokemon. Their friendly natures prevented them from being rude or distant, but all the members of SG-1 noticed the trio sending longing looks in the direction of the bird pokemon, imagining themselves as the mighty beasts' trainers. None of them, however, could think of anything appropriate to say about it, so they continued to ply the children with questions, which they willingly answered.
With more information than they had thought they could possibly gather in the space of a fortnight, let alone one day, SG-1 prepared to return through the gate. Sam however thought that it would be a shame to have an unused pokeball, and set out to catch another pokemon before they went through, taking her female Nidoran with her, eager to see how it fought, while Ash and Misty gave Jack some advice on caring for sick pokemon, and a recipe for good pokemon food that their friend Brock had cooked up.
Sam had been gone only about ten minutes when there came from the woods the sound of a dog howling.
"Grooooowlithe, grow grow Groooooowlithe!"
Shortly afterwards, Sam emerged from the trees followed closely by a dog with the markings of a tiger. When it saw Jack, it ran up to him and rubbed its head against his leg. Then it flung back its head and howled again, and this time a streak of fire was hurled into the sky, before the dog shut its mouth and returned to Sam's side, where she sat and rubbed its head.
"Sam, you seem to have made a new friend already."
"It's just like a dog, sir, I mean Jack. It came out of the woods and begged for some food. I gave it some emergency rations, which it seemed to like,"
"At least those things are good for something," interjected Jack with a grin on his face.
"Yeah. Anyway, I looked around for an owner, but I couldn't see one, and when I started walking he followed me."
"Well, I guess we could say you captured it. Or it captured you. Anyway, lets get goin'. Daniel, dial us home."
Daniel moved over to the DHD, and shortly afterwards the gate spun into life. Waving goodbye to their young friends, SG-1 and their new pokemon stepped through the event horizon.
"SG-1, would you mind telling me what those creatures are?"
"These, sir? These are pokemon. General, meet Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Growlith, Male Nidoran and Female Nidoran."
"What in God's name are they doing here?"
Sir, we believe they may prove to be valuable assets in our fight against the Goa'uld. The dog and one of the birds can breathe fire. The Nidoran can scratch things really violently, though we don't think they'll be as much use as the others. The yellow bird can electrocute things, and the white one can freeze things. I don't know why, sir, I'll have to study them more to find out."
"Thankyou, Major. SG-1, your briefing will be at 1100hrs, and bring these pokemon of yours with you. But if they get out of control and hurt anyone, they will have to be destroyed. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir."
"This debriefing promises to be an interesting one. Now go along to the infirmary for your post-mission checkups."
**
After their medical exams, Jack caught up with Sam in the corridor.
"So, Sam, we've got another hour before the debriefing, what we gonna do with the pokemon until then? We can't exactly take the dog out for a walk, but it seems kinda cruel to keep them cooped up in those pokeballs the whole time. Whaddaya say we take them to my quarters and let them all play? I'd suggest my office, but it would look too convenient if all my paperwork were mysteriously destroyed by fire."
Sam nodded her assent, and together they made their way to Jack's quarters, where they let out the birds and the Nidoran, which immediately took up residence on Jack's bed. Growlithe sat down at Sam's feet as she perched on the edge of the bed, and Jack sat down on the small table beside his bed.
The pokemon did not seemed disturbed by their new surroundings, nor were the small ones disturbed by the presence of the large birds, as they had been the night before. Jack fed them on the remains of the food Ash had given him, and they munched away merrily until it was time for the briefing, with Sam and Jack watching them in awed silence.
In the briefing, Sam did most of the talking, after Daniel had described what he had learned of the culture of the planet from the artefacts he had found and the conversations he had had with the three kids. When they had finished, General Hammond put the team on a week's stand-down, so that Sam and Jack could have some time to find out what their new pets were capable of, and Daniel and Teal'c could have some time off.
**
After two days, it seemed as if the pokemon had always been a part of the SGC. Jealous of SG-1's newest additions, other SG teams were falling over each other in the rush to get to Hammond's office and volunteer for follow-up missions, with the intention of catching some different types of pokemon for themselves. All the pokemon behaved perfectly, obeying Sam and Jack's commands and not making any mess. The pair had worked out what moves each of their pokemon new, and had seen by means of experiments in controlled conditions how much damage the various attacks could do. As they had suspected, the Nidoran were not that powerful, but they expected them to eventually evolve, and for now they were sort of the unoffical SGC mascots. The fact that the two creatures cared a lot for each other and were causing the Colonel and the Major to spend most of their time together meant that the few people who had not yet put money into the base pool on when the two would get together proceeded to do so, General Hammond included, despite the protests that it wasn't fair for him to enter as he could control when they found out that the President had made special allowances for members of the SGC to bend the fraternisation regulations.
On the third day after SG-1's return, Hammond, satisfied that the pokemon were a very valuable asset, sent SG teams 2, 4, 8 and 9 through the gate to try and capture more. Sam accompanied them with her Growlithe, thinking that if any pokemon were reluctant to be captured, as Ash had suggested they would be, Growlithe could weaken them enough to be caught. They possessed only six pokeballs, so SG-2 and SG-4 were each given two, and SGs 8 and 9 were given one each, and told to release and hold any pokemon they could capture immediately after they were caught, thus always keeping pokeballs available.
The teams returned the next morning with about fifty pokemon between them, of varying types. Sam was especially pleased, having caught a Pika, the unevolved form of Pikachu, which was very affectionate and enjoyed riding on Growlithe's back.
Jack met them at the gate with their original pokemon, which seemed bemused by the numbers of pokemon that came through the gate with the SG teams. Hammond informed Sam that her first priority was to try and find a way to make new pokeballs, as only having six could prove problematic in the future.
The next day consisted of the other SG teams going through to catch some pokemon, and the teams which had already been through filling the corridors and the gym with pokemon as they trained them, hoping to be allowed a tournament when all the SG teams had enough pokemon to enter one. Team members tested each other on pokemon tactics, such as which types were good against which others.
Hammond reduced the number of missions through the gate for the immediate future at the instruction of the President, who wanted the SG teams to get an opportunity to bond and train with their pokemon. The President even paid the SGC a visit, curious to see these strange creatures for himself. He went away very impressed, expressing the hope that one day, all the people of Earth would be able to share in the delights of the pokemon.
Hammond decided after a fortnight that the time had come to hold a pokemon tournament, feeling that a little rivalry between the teams would make them strive harder to be the best, as none would want to be beaten by another team. The tournament would be held in the gate room, so that they would all be readily available if there was an emergency.
**
Graham Simmons, who held no allegiance to any team (despite what he wished was the case with him and Major Carter) was commentating from the control room.
"And now we're down to just SG-1 and SG-2, with Colonel O'Neill in charge of his team's pokemon and Major Ferretti in charge of his. And the Major sends out... Dewgong! Found in a lake not far from the gate, this is an ice-type pokemon. The Colonel's smiling, and he sends out Moltres, the legendary fire-bird, to melt that Dewgong's ice."
Jack raised an eyebrow at Sam, who was standing by his side.
"When he's commentating on sport, he's more confident than when he's telling the base all our lives are in danger. Is he in the right job?"
"And Dewgong sends out an ice-beam to freeze SG-1's Moltres. But the bird's too quick, it's jumped into the sky and avoided the freezing ray. Now the Colonel orders a flamethrower, and I wouldn't like to get in the way of that bird when it's annoyed! The flamethrower takes Dewgong out, and the Major recalls it. He's sent out Geodude in its place. That's a good move, fire isn't so strong against ground-types. However, as we can now see, air *is * strong against them, and Moltres uses fly, again taking out the enemy pokemon in one. That bird looks pleased with itself, and so it should. Let's be glad it volunteered for our side! But now the Major's brought out a Wartortle, things aren't looking so good for the firebird, with water strong against fire. Each team is limited to three pokemon, so Wartortle has everything to play for, and if it goes out then SG-1 wins the tournament. Doesn't look like Major Ferretti wants that to happen, starting as he means to go on with a powerful water gun attack, as Moltres is brought to hte ground by the force of the water, and unable to flame for the same reason. The Colonel's recalled Moltres, to replace it with Zapdos, another legendary bird, this one gifted with electricity, which the scientists and pokemon students among us will know is strong against water. And it's a good tactical move, the Wartortle's down after a single thunderbolt from SG-1's electric eagle. Can't help thinking that Fate arranged for SG-2 to be taken out by bird "Dos", with SG-1's "Uno" not having to lift a feather."
"Nice battle, Ferretti."
"We'll get you next time, Colonel."
"What's this? A Hitmonchan's come to the fight-ground. Looks like SG-8's. It wants to try its hand against the champs, by the look of it. SG-1 and SG-8 never fought, and this tough customer wants to see who'd have won. And instead of sending the Hitmonchan away, SG-1 seems to accept the challenge. The Colonel's about to send out Major Carter's Growlithe to show that boxer who's boss, but the two Nidoran have come out from behind their trainers and look like they wanna prove something to that intruder. Hitmonchan accepts their challenge, but it doesn't seem to know how to fight things that small. The Nidoran have each grabbed one of its legs, and are using their scratch attack. Hitmonchan can't seem to shake them off, and it's weakening by the second. It's trying to use its fists to push them off, but it's not working! Hitmonchan seems to think it's down to one option. It's using superpunch on itself, hoping it'll hurt the Nidoran more than it hurts itself. But the Nidoran have jumped off, and Hitmonchan has knocked itself out! And what are those Nidoran doing now?"
Gatemon, part 2
The two Nidoran were rubbing noses, and glowing white. Sam and Jack turned to look at each other, and were caught by each others' eyes. They stood there, staring into each others' souls, while their two pokemon evolved. The Nidoran stopped glowing briefly, and all identified them as now being Nidorina and Nidorino, but they soon started glowing again. As they did so, Jack and Sam instinctively moved towards each other, their mouths coming together in a passionate kiss, while the gathered personnel of the SGC whooped, cheered and wolf-whistled. As they drew away from one another for air, their pokemon stopped glowing, now more than four times their previous sizes, a Nidoking and a Nidoqueen, fully evolved.
Jack and Sam suddenly became aware of their audience. Jack raised an eyebrow at Sam, and she said softly, "We're being watched."
"Ya think?" Jack smiled, and reached out and pulled Sam's mouth back to his. This time, the cheers were probably audible to the people on the surface, twenty-eight levels up. And Sam and Jack didn't care.
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