So, my first fiction on here, hope you like it, reviews of any kind are always welcomed. Usual disclaimer stuff about me not owning Pokémon, apart from Oliver who is an original character, so I guess I own him.

One – Change of Heart

"Ash, slow down! Why are you always in such a hurry?" Misty was doing her best to keep up with the young trainer, but clearly struggling. Ever since Ash had won the Fog Badge at the Ecruteak City Gym, his excitement had been uncontrollable. Even now as they all tore down Route 38 he showed no signs of calming down, intent on reaching Olivine City by nightfall.

"We can get there soon if we keep running" Ash panted breathlessly from up ahead.

"No we can't, it's still hours away!" Misty retorted, gaining on him a little as they reached the end of a forest section.

"Yes we can, Brock said so!" This stopped Misty in her tracks, as she turned to glare at her travelling companion. Brock shrugged sheepishly but said nothing, clearly embarrassed at having encouraging Ash, but more importantly, annoying Misty like that. The girl sighed however, and reluctantly began to run again, following Ash into a large clearing. By the time Brock eventually caught up with them, both Ash and Misty had stopped in their tracks, staring in awe at the sight in front of them.

Oliver called his Raichu to attack, eager to finish this battle off quickly. The electric mouse fired off a blistering Thunderbolt to stun the oncoming Miltank in its tracks, and an immediate Slam was enough to knock their opponent out and seal the victory for Oliver. After smiling confidently and shaking the hand of his fellow trainer, Oliver's thoughts were interrupted by a call from his unannounced spectators.

"Wow that was amazing!" Ash called as he ran over, "I've just got to battle you and your Raichu, it looks brilliant"

"Sorry, that battle was pretty hard on Raichu, but if you really want to battle me now, I can use a different Pokémon if you like?" Oliver offered reluctantly, not too keen to have another battle so soon, but figured that this new trainer wasn't about to take no for an answer.

"Sure, sounds great. I'm Ash from Pallet Town".

"And I'm Oliver, I come from Blackthorn City" the two shook hands and looked into each other's eyes, that familiar glint of a trainer ever present.

"I'll referee this battle if you like" Brock suggested, to which the two boys agreed, and they threw out their respective Pokémon.

"Alright, Chikorita, I choose you!" Ash cried as the Grass type leapt into action.

"Ok then Umbreon, it's your turn!" Oliver threw the pokéball into the air, and from it came the Moonlight Pokémon.

Umbreon got the first attack in, Mean Look instantly locking Chikorita into the fight, not that this seemed to bother her as she used Razor Leaf to great effect.

"Umbreon, Quick Attack!" Oliver ordered and his Pokémon duly obeyed, knocking Chikorita clean into the air, but Ash commanded her to counter with another Razor Leaf. This time, however, Chikorita missed, allowing Umbreon to come in with one Quick Attack after another, sapping the energy out of its opponent with each attack. Chikorita was finally able to get a hold in the battle with a well-timed Tackle, but was always struggling against the stronger Umbreon.

"Come on, Chikorita, don't give up: Razor Leaf, one more time!" Ash's frustration was visible in his voice, as Misty noted as she watched on the side-lines. She always worried about him during matches, he got so absorbed in the battle that she wondered if it was even healthy… she shook her head defiantly; she didn't need to worry about Ash's health, it wasn't as though she liked him… was it?

As the battle continued, Oliver kept on calmly giving commands to Umbreon, the barrage of Quick Attacks, Double Teams and Tackles really starting to wear Chikorita down, who was struggling to keep up with her much stronger opponent. Umbreon was beginning to tire as well, its attacks missing ever so occasionally, but it still had the upper hand on the fight. But one attack was about to change the world of every single member of that group. Umbreon came in for a Quick Attack, which looked as though it might end the fight. But just as Umbreon began its charge, a huge plume of smoke enveloped the group and a familiar motto rang out…

When the smoke finally cleared, Team Rocket stood triumphantly in the centre of the battlefield, with Pikachu trapped in a small net.

"We'll make this quick, we don't have time for games today" Jessie stated confidently, met with approving nods from her colleagues.

"You see, we have this now" Meowth proudly held a large blue weapon aloft, "This is what I like to call the Twerp-Buster 200, and if you even try and take back this Pikachu, you'll get a taster of just what she can do!" Typically though, Ash did charge and try and rescue his beloved Pokémon, and Meowth let out an evil cackle, firing the blaster towards the trainer in an attempt to scare him off.

But then, suddenly, as Ash stood there frozen on the spot, Chikorita came back in and jumped between the blast and her trainer, protecting Ash from the attack and absorbing the full force of the shot. As the dust settled and Ash cautiously opened his eyes, everybody watched as Chikorita became engulfed in a strange green light. They all stepped back in a mixture of horror, shock and confusion, as none of them, not even Brock, had any idea what was going on.

"Is…Is Chikorita evolving?" Misty asked nervously, not quite sure whether to look away or not.

"I, I don't think so, I'm not sure, normally a Pokémon would emit a white light if it was evolving, but this... this is nothing like anything I've ever seen before" Brock commented, wracking his brain for anything relevant to what he was witnessing. Ash stood there merely dumbstruck, as did Oliver, who quickly returned Umbreon to its pokéball and called Pikachu to him, who had escaped in the confusion.

The green light continued, pulsing from light to dark, as the group continued to watch what was happening to Chikorita. Eventually the shape began to change, as though an evolution was occurring after all, but the shape began to morph into something totally different. The light began to fade, the result became clearer, and everyone stared in sheer disbelief as they discovered what had really happened to Chikorita…