The rocky facade of Mount Moon loomed in front of thirteen year old Selena, but she stood firm in the face of adversity with clenched fists. By the end of today, she would capture a pokemon. Yeah, she was a little late in deciding to become a pokemon trainer, but... there were reasons for that.

The girl's mouth tightened and she walked right in, armed with only five pokeballs. That's it- five pokeballs, five chances. If those five were used up, well...

Selena looked up sharply when she heard a cry behind her. At the entrance, near the ground, limped a weakened Zubat. One of its wings was actually torn and bleeding. Selena gasped and ran to it. Frantically, not knowing what to do, she threw a pokeball at its face- and it knocked the ball away with its free wing, continuing to cry out in pain. The other Zubats of Mount Moon weren't of a most entirely forgiving species. Some of them tried to bite Zubat and Selena, but she shooed them away every time they came.

"Poor thing, you're unable to fly." Selena looked closely at the wound. It wasn't of a kind she'd seen before, she'd have to take this pokemon to the pokemon center. "Come on, get into the pokeball and I'll take you to Nurse Joy."

She threw another pokeball but Zubat hit it away again.

"But she'll make you all better! Why won't you get inside?"

The Zubats had increased in numbers, there was now a swarm of them trying to get after this particular Zubat. Selena freaked out. "Come on, Zubat! Do you want to live or not?"

Zubat hesitated, as if thinking it over, then tried to get up.

"Don't move, you're injured!" cried Selena. "You have to get inside the pokeball."

Zubat sat still so Selena could catch it. The girl smiled. "Yay! You made a good choice, Zubat." But when she went to grab a pokeball, there was none! "No!" she cried. "I only used two, I'm sure of it!" She looked all around. There, in a crevice of Mount Moon that most people wouldn't think to look at, she saw a half-buried something in the ground.

"A hidden item?" she went over and dug it up. It was a pokeball! She smiled and went back to Zubat. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Zubat nodded.

"Pokeball goooooo!" she said tossing it towards the pokemon. It landed on the floor, opened, and took Zubat into it in a flash of red light.

Selena picked it up and smiled at the pokemon now in her hands. "Thank you, Zubat, for letting me catch you."

The flock of Zubat from before still tried to get at Selena, but she blocked herself with the backpack and escaped with Zubat. Once outside, she noticed a pokemon center not too far away. "Thank goodness," she said, running inside.

Nurse Joy smiled at her. "What have we here?"

Selena grinned. "I need you to heal my pokemon!" she said proudly. She had never been to a pokemon center before, there was no need. But now that she was a pokemon trainer, things were going to change.

Two years later~

"Zubat, use leech life!"

"Ekanssssss." The snake pokemon writhed on the floor, unable to battle.

"And the winner is... Selena and Zubat!" Selena heralded, jumping up and down. The wild Ekans lie on the floor, too weak to attack anymore.

"Huh?" Zubat started glowing. Selena ran towards it. "Zubat, are you oka-"

She gasped as its form changed and it grew eyes and a larger form. "Zubat, you're evolving!" she breathed. "You're now a-"

"Golbat!" it cried, flapping its wings happily.

"Yay!" Selena ran to hug it. "I love you!"

Golbat blushed slightly, but Selena didn't notice. She was too busy giving her new Golbat a huge bear hug.

There were voices in the distance. Golbat and Selena turned to listen.

"And then she said, 'I'm not following you because I want to, it just so happens that this is the way I'm going, too!' "

"Mmm hmm. She definitely likes-"

"Hey!" Selena ran over to the group of three that had been heading towards Cerulean. "Are you three pokemon trainers!"

"We sure are!" The first boy thrust his fist into the air. "I'm Ash, from Pallet Town. This is Pikachu."

"Pikachu!"

"I'm Brock, from Pewter City."

"The gym leader? Wow..." Selena's eyes went glittery. Brock blushed. "Well... it's not hard when you're battling people as pretty as you."

"Oh, please, Brock. Is that supposed to be a pickup line?" Misty appeared behind them, looking very angry, indeed. "You left me back there! With all those creepy- ahhhhh!"

Selena noticed that Misty was screaming because of her Golbat, and hid it behind her.

"What is that... thing?"

Selena's face fell, as did Golbat's. "It's a Golbat... it's my pokemon. I'm very proud of it because it just evolved."

"Congratulations!" Brock said.

"Thank you! But... I think you made it sad."

Misty froze. "Well... I..."

"Why don't we rest here for a while?" asked Brock. "Let me cook some food, I'm hungry."

"Me too!" Ash said, plunking himself down on a rock.

"Can I eat too?" Selena asked.

"Of course! I gotta cook it first, though."

Selena sat next to Ash, and Golbat went off to go play with Pikachu.

"Golbat gol."

"Pika pika?"

"Bat golbat golbat bat golbat gol."

"Pikachuu."

"Golbat golbat golbat gol."

"Pi?"

"Golbat golbat."

"Pikachu."

"Do you have any idea what they're saying?" Selena asked.

Ash nodded. "I've been with my Pikachu for a while now, I know everything it's saying!"

"Really?" Misty asked, unconvinced. "What's it saying now?"

"Umm..." Ash's forehead creased in concentration. "It's saying it's really, really hungry!"

Misty facevaulted.

"No, it's not! It's telling Pikachu how much it wants to become human!"

Selena's eyes widened. "Human?! Really? How do you know?"

Misty sighed. "When I was a little girl, I got lost in Mount Moon. I was really terrified, being separated from my sisters like that. I was surrounded by Zubats and I think most of them were trying to be friends with me, but I was little and didn't understand that, so I cried because I was so scared and I ended up falling asleep. Probably because I heard them talking in my subconscious, when I woke up, I could understand what they were saying. Besides some of my water pokemon, they're the only ones I can understand, though. And that's also the reason why I don't normally like Golbats."

"Wow," Ash said.

"Impressive," Selena agreed. "But I've never heard of a pokemon wanting to become human. Is that even possible? And why does Golbat want to become human?"

Misty looked at Golbat. She smiled. "That's a secret. It'll let you know eventually, though."

Pikachu smiled, tears dripping down its face.

"Pikachu, what are you crying about?" Ash asked. "Are you sad?" Selena looked confused as well. "But it's smiling, it shouldn't be sad."

"Pikachu thinks it's sweet that Golbat wants to become a human."

"Really? Why?" Ash asked.

Misty shook her head. "You wouldn't understand, Ash. Not now, anyway."

They heard cries in the distance. Ash jumped up to go see what it was, Pikachu following him.

"Hey, wait for us!" the others cried, running behind.

"Mom? Dad?" Selena gasped, catching up.

"Those are your parents?" the company cried. Before them stood a pair of Team Rocket grunts facing off against another pair of Team Rocket grunts. One pair of them did look significantly like Selena.

"Is there a problem?" Selena asked.

"These two worthless peons have betrayed Team Rocket," said the female rocket from the other side.

"They don't deserve to live," said the male.

"What? They're my parents! Of course they deserve to live!"

"They must have a good explanation for what they did!"

"At the very least, you must hear them out!"

Selena's parents ran over to her and hugged her. "Selena... we joined Team Rocket a long time ago in order to hunt rare pokemon, but... raising you has been a joy we've realized we want much more than to be a part of some stupid gang."

"We've seen you and your Zubat grow closer in friendship with one another and... we've seen how much better it is for pokemon to be treated as friends, rather then objects. We're sorry to have ever joined Team Rocket and the reason we came here today was to quit! Though I see we won't be able to leave without a fight."

"That's right." The two rocket grunts stepped forward. "You see, these two know very valuable information about a certain pokemon that we've been after for a long time, and we need that knowledge. They can't leave without giving it to us."

"They'll never give it to you!" Selena cried.

"They will if they see their daughter in danger." One of them held a gun to Selena's head, while the other grabbed her arms so she wouldn't get away. "Come any closer and the girl's good as dead."

"Golbat!" Golbat soared towards the rockets, unleashing as much power as it could to get Selena free. The rocket unleashed two shots, one aimed for Selena, and one aimed for Golbat, but in the scuffle the wayward bullets headed another direction instead.

Ash jumped in without hesitation. "Pikachu, after them!"

"Staryu, Starmie, help us out!"

"Geodude, Onix, go!"

"Mom... Dad?"

A sniffle from Selena's side made Ash and the others turn around, their pokemon still battling- they knew what to do.

"Mom?" Selena knelt at their sides, knowing by the sight of the blood that they were most likely gone, but still too shocked to move or say anything besides "Dad?"

Ash, Misty and Brock watched, their faces turning white. "Selena..."

"My parents... my parents are gone... Team Rocket... will pay. TEAM ROCKET WILL PAY!" Selena stood up, the full gravity of the situation dawning on her.

A man walked out of a nearby house. He was a young man with brown hair, not too much older than Selena, actually. "What's all this commotion about?"

"Team Rocket... just killed her parents," Misty said sadly.

"Hey, aren't you Bill?" Brock asked.

"Yes, I am! I remember you. You cooked that delicious dinner for me. It's only been a week, and I still want some."

"Golbat gol."

"Golbat?" Bill spoke back to it, in Golbat.

"Gol... bat."

"Ahh, I see. Yes, I think I can arrange that. But Golbat, this would be highly experimental. You would be the first pokemon ever to become a human. Are you willing to deal with the consequences if it fails?"

Golbat nodded.

"I see. So you are determined."

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Selena looked at Bill and Golbat. "Are you sure?"

Golbat nodded.

Selena looked at her parents. "I know I should go inside to be with my Golbat, but... I just can't do that right now."

"That's understandable, Selena," Misty said, kneeling next to the girl. "Your parents just died! That's really traumatic."

"We'll go inside and watch your Golbat for you," Ash said. He and Brock followed Bill and Golbat inside.

Pikachu and the other pokemon had long since finished making the other two members of Team Rocket never want to come near Cerulean again and went over to the humans.

"Pikachu." Misty looked at it. "Go inside and tell Ash and the others that we'll be at the Pokemon Center."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded and ran inside.

"Come on, Selena. It's time to go..."

~Months Later~

A purple haired teenage boy in blue clothes darted around the rocket base, shooting every rocket he saw. "No one is safe."

"Golbat!" cried a voice.

Golbat whirled around. It couldn't be! "S...Selena?"

"Golbat... is that really you?"

"Selena..." Golbat looked at his gun and hid it behind his back. "Selena, I..."

"Stop this nonsense! Shooting all the rockets won't bring Mom and Dad back!"

"But... I wanted to avenge them ...for your sake."

"Thank you, Golbat, but... I've realized now... nothing we do can bring them back..."

"Do you want Team Rocket to keep terrorizing people like this?"

"No... but you can't fight violence with violence..."

Golbat's face softened. "Alright... I'll only fight to defend myself."

"Freeze!" Officer Jenny held a gun up to Golbat.

"Does this one count?" asked Golbat.

"I don't know, I'm running!" Selena bolted away.

"You killed my husband... prepare to die," Jenny growled.

"Not a chance!" Golbat yelled, releasing a bullet. He bolted after Selena as well.

Golbat heard Jenny scream as the bullet hit its mark and he ran away with Selena. He felt terrible for shooting her, but he had to protect Selena ...at all costs.

"I'm sorry, Golbat. I'm such a chicken!" Selena cried as they ran. "All I wanted was a normal life away from the Rockets. All I wanted was not to be bothered with them, but it looks like that's not a possibility now."

Golbat wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay to be scared. I'll protect you."

Selena looked at him and smiled. "Thanks, Golbat."

"I love you, Selena."

Selena stopped running for a second, then resumed, remembering that they were trying to escape WITH their lives. She thought for a moment, then gasped. "That's why you turned human, isn't it?"

Golbat smiled. "I wanted to get married and go live away somewhere the Rockets would never find us."

Selena smiled back. "Sounds like a plan."