Ash groaned slightly as he woke, struggling to open his eyes. He'd spent all night reading his books, too excited to sleep due to his upcoming Pokémon adventure… Ash startled as he opened his eyes fully and jolted upwards. The sun was shining brightly and a single peak towards his alarm clock told him one thing. He was late. He let out small shriek and jumped out of bed, throwing off his pajamas and putting on the clothes he had prepared for his journey. He ran out his room and down the stairs, rushing to put on his shoes and go to the Professor's lab as quick as possible.
His mother attempted to greet him on his way out but he was in such a rush he barely heard her. How could he have been so stupid? Not even a day into his journey and he already messed up royally. He could only hope the Professor still had a Pokémon for him.
After all the time, he had spent preparing, years upon years of studying in order to know everything he possibly could about all the Pokémon that existed and everything about their care and other things that would aid him on his adventure only for him to oversleep. Ash had always been somewhat of a genius, and with near perfect memory he sucked up information faster than nobody's business. Unfortunately, that didn't seem too help he as he was currently running along the streets of Pallet town. At the tender age of five he had already begun studying Pokémon under Professor Oak's wing, the kind professor having taught Ash everything he knew about Pokémon. Ash spent most of his days as a lab assistant to the professor, helping wherever he could and researching Pokémon in his own way.
At this point he knew so much and he was just itching to get out into the world and show what he could do. Sadly, things didn't seem to be working out too well for him as he was running as fast as he could to reach the lab.
Finally, after about ten minutes of running (thank god he began working out when he was younger so he could be strong enough to travel) he finally reached the lab. As he ran up the stairs of the lab he passed by Gary Oak, who was surely going to taunt him for being late so Ash just ignored him in favor of running. He reached the large door to the lab and rang the doorbell, only having to wait a short while before one of the Professor's assistants opened the door. "Oh hey Ash, I see-" The man began, only for Ash to run past him and into the lab, yelling "No time to talk. Got to run. Bye." To the man, who shook his head in amusement. Kids these days.
Finally, Ash reached the part of the lab where the Professor gave out the starters. Thankfully the white-haired man was still there. He could see the man's face brighten as Ash entered the room, though it was quickly replaced by annoyance. "Ash Ketchum! Why are you so late! I haven't taught you everything I know for the past years for you to slack of the second you start your journey!" The professor yelled and honestly Ash knew he deserved it.
"I'm so sorry professor, you see I couldn't sleep so I stayed up all night reading but then I woke up late this morning and I ran over as fast as I could. Please forgive me!" Ash said, stumbling through his words in attempt to explain himself to the professor, hoping to somewhat placate the man. The professor sighed, "Well, nothing we can do about it now. Let's just make sure you start your journey." He said and walked over to the machine that housed the starter's pokéballs. "Sadly the other three trainers have already gotten the starter Pokémon so you won't be able to start with the usual three." The professor said, making Ash feel a pang of disappointment but the boy quickly shook it off. "It's ok professor! Whatever Pokémon you have is fine if it means I get to start my journey!" Ash said, hoping the man still had some Pokémon Ash could use.
Oak looked at him before sighing. "Very well. Fortunately for you I still have one Pokémon prepared because I knew there would be four trainers coming today." The man said and pushed a button on the machine, causing a pokéball with a small lightning bolt to pop out. Professor Oak took the pokéball and released the Pokémon from inside, revealing a familiar yellow mouse. The very same Pikachu Ash had stopped from chewing through the power cables near the lab a few days ago. The yellow rodent glared at Ash who bent down so he could talk to the Pokémon.
"Hello! My name is Ash. I know you aren't the biggest fan of me right now but I hope we can become partners. You see, my dream is to explore the world and be the best Pokémon trainer out there, and I'd love it if you were by my side on my adventures." Ash said, shocking Pikachu in the process. The fact this human wanted them to be partners, equals was shocking to the small Pokémon, who expected his trainer to either be some cruel person or a clueless nobody. However, the boy in front of his seemed to be anything but. Instead of shocking him like how Pikachu had originally planned, the small rodent just sniffed his hand, which he had extended during his speech before nodding at the boy. He'd stick around with him for now, but if he turned out to be awful Pikachu could just ditch him at the drop of a hat.
Ash grinned and petted his new partner, scratching at the spot between his ears where he knew all Pikachu loved to be petted. The mouse let out a small "Cha" at his ministrations making him smile warmly. AS the mouse hopped up on his shoulder he stood, once more facing the professor, who looked on in astonishment as Ash managed to so easily tame a Pokémon who thus far had shown nothing but unwillingness at the prospect of having been captured. Honestly he hadn't been sure if he should have even given Pikachu to anybody, considering how wild the mouse Pokémon was. In the hands of a weaker trainer it could have resulted in the trainer's death. Thankfully Ash had this amazing talent to bond with Pokémon easily.
Ever since young trainers had started dying shortly after leaving for their journeys the Pokémon League had bumped up the age requirement to fifteen, something that disappointed a lot of kids who now had to wait five more years before they could start their journeys. Some just continued as usual while Ash devoted himself to leaning as much as he could so he didn't end up as just another statistic. Here he stood before him, one of the brightest minds of his generations on the way to his own destiny and Oak couldn't be prouder for the boy he considered his second grandson.
He beamed proudly at the boy and turned to grab the Pokédex and five pokéballs he had prepared for Ash. As he handed them to the boy he said "Good luck on your journey Ash, I know you won't disappoint me. Remember, be careful and have fun. Oh, and call as often as you can, I'm sure your mother would feel the same so don't forget ok?" The man said, smiling at the boy who nodded and took what the Professor was handing him. As Ash strapped the extra pokéballs to his belt he turned his head to Pikachu. "Hey, mind hopping down for a bit so I can scan you to see your moves?" Ash asked.
The small Pokémon nodded and jumped from Ash's shoulder, standing on the floor in front of him. Ash turned his new Pokédex on and pointed it at Pikachu before clicking on the scan button.
"Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon, this Pokémon has electricity-storing pouches on its cheeks. These appear to become electrically charged during the night while Pikachu sleeps. It occasionally discharges electricity when it's dozy after waking up.
This Pikachu is Male and has the ability Static. It knows the moves Thunder Shock, Tail Whip, Thunder Wave and Quick Attack." The metallic voice of the Pokédex chimed through the room, informing Ash about his new partner. "Wow! You're awesome!" Ash exclaimed looking at Pikachu. The Pokémon beamed in pride, puffing up his chest.
It hopped back on Ash's shoulder and the boy thanked the professor before turning and exiting the lab, the old professor smiling as he exited before returning to his work in the lab. As Ash walked down the stair of the lab, having already said goodbye the lab assistants, all of whom had wished him good luck on his journey, he saw his mother and few of the other people from around town waiting at the end of the steps. His mother greeted him as he reached the bottom of the steps. "Oh Ash! You shouldn't rush of like that! I told you to go to bed early yesterday but did you listen to me? Nope." She said, doting on him as always.
"Mom, it's ok, I got a Pokémon and I'm all good to start so there's no need to worry. And besides you're embarrassing me!" Ash mumbled at the end, squirming as a few people chuckled at Delia's antics. "That's my job as your mother! Now here's your bag. I've already packed everything you'd ever need inside. Its nifty how you can fit anything inside you know? Silph Co's technology is amazing. Anyway, be sure to call and remember to change your underwear!" She said, worrying that she forgot something. Her little boy was all grown up and finally starting his journey!
Ash blushed and just took his back without saying much but then proceeded to hug the woman, Pikachu jumping form his back to accommodate for the hug. His mom returned the hug feverishly as it would be the last time they'd hug for a while. As they parted she looked down and smiled at the yellow mouse who'd be accompanying her son through his adventures. "You look so healthy! Now, be sure to take care of my boy ok?" Delia smiled at the Pokémon who nodded his head, already in love with the kind woman. Maybe sticking around with this human wouldn't be bad at all.
Ash smiled at his mother sadly but shook his head, knowing he'd see her again. He gave her one last hug before starting to walk off, saying his goodbyes to everybody who'd came to see him off, especially his mom.
It wasn't look before he reached the top of the hill where Route 1 began. He breathed in the fresh air blowing through and stared at the plains before him. "This is it Pikachu, the beginning." Ash stated. Pikachu gave a cry of excitement as his trainer started to walk forwards.
A couple of minutes into the route Ash stopped beside a tree, dropping off his bag and stretching. "OK Pikachu, first thing we're going to do is head to Pewter to face the gym leader there. However, that gym specializes in rock type Pokémon so we need to catch a couple of Pokémon to help us out as well as train to make you and the others we catch stronger." Ash said. Pikachu nodded in agreement, knowing he had a long way before being the strongest of his species.
"First we're going to set up a training plan. I think it would be wise for us to work on the move Iron Tail, as well as working on your speed and power. What I want you to do is to start running twenty laps around this field." Ash said. Pikachu nodded and ran off, starting to run around the large grass field they'd stopped at as Ash looked through his bag to see what he had to work with.
As Pikachu was finishing up his last lap ash pulled out a bowl and filled it with specialized electric type food for him Pokémon, sprinkling in some vitamins that would help his Pokémon grow stronger. Pikachu finally arrived back at the tree where Ash was and collapsed in front of his bowl, panting from how tired he was. If he ever hoped on getting stronger he needed to increase his endurance. Pikachu sat down on its hind legs and smiled appreciatively at the yummy smelling food.
As Pikachu scarfed down his food Ash smiled adoringly at him, petting him softly. When Pikachu was finished, Ash cleaned up his dish before handing the mouse some Oran berries to bring him back to top shape. In a few weeks Pikachu, would burn off all the unnecessary fat and be at least twice as fast. As Pikachu finished his berries he sighed contently, only to startle as he heard a vicious caw coming at them. As both trainer and Pokémon turned they saw a Spearow flying at them, getting ready to peck the small mouse.
"Pikachu use Thunder Shock!" Ash cried. The small mouse nodded and jumped up before releasing an electrical blast at the incoming bird, who gave a cry as it fell downwards, crashing into the ground from the super-effective move. Ash gave a small victorious cry and threw a Friend Ball (Which his mother had packed for him) at the Spearow. As the small bird got sucked in Ash and Pikachu watched in anticipation as the ball shook. Finally, the ball gave off a ding and small sparkles, signifying a successful capture.
Ash and Pikachu cheered as they had gotten a new friend, and since Ash had used a Friend Ball Spearow was less likely to dislike Ash, as members of its species were known to do. Ash let the Spearow out of its ball and smiled at it, even though it glared at him slightly. "Hi Spearow! I'm Ash Ketchum and I'm going to be the world's greatest trainer. If you want, you can come with me and I promise to train you into the world's strongest Fearow." Ash said. The Spearow looked very interested and made the decision to go with this human. Ash smiled as the bird nodded at him in acceptance and took out his Pokédex, scanning is new capture.
"Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon, it flaps its small wings to fly. Using its beak, it searches in grass for pray. These Pokémon are very protective of their territory.
This Spearow is Male and has the ability Sniper. Its known moves are: Peck, Quick Attack and Pursuit." Ash smiled. "You're so strong! Together we'll make a great team." Ash assured, grinning happily at the small bird. Ash returned Spearow to his pokéball and decided to go further.
Within an hour Ash could see Viridian city in the distance. He was about to enter but he saw another small bird a little away. This time it was a Pidgey. Ash nodded at Pikachu, who smiled and jumped up, landing in front of the Pidgey, who squawked angrily and prepared to fight. A It launched a Gust attack and Pikachu, blowing him back slightly but the small mouse began resisting, standing his ground. It launched a Thunder Wave to stop Pidgey from using Gust or flying away. Then the yellow mouse launched a Thunder Shock. The bird wasn't completely out of it though and it launched a Sand Attack, however it was slow and sluggish and thus easy to dodge, which is just what Pikachu did.
Launching a final thunder Shock at the Pidgey Pikachu cheered in victory as the bird finally fainted. As smiled and threw a Pokéball at the Pidgey, immediately capturing it. He sent out the bird, along with his Spearow to introduce them to each other. Naturally the two birds weren't massive fans of each other as they were sworn enemies but Ash managed to calm them down, saying that they were perfect training partners for each other since they were both flyers. That seemed to placate the two and they turned away from each other with a huff, which made Ash giggle a little at their antics. Ash then scanned Pidgey with his Pokédex.
"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon, Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings.
This Pidgey is Female and has the ability Keen Eye. Its known moves are: Gust, Sand Attack, Tackle, Quick Attack and Double Team" "You have so many moves! And you put up an amazing fight. You're going to be the strongest Pidgeot ever!" Ash said, making Pidgey chirp happily. As Ash returned the two bird he proceeded towards Viridian.
At last he reached the city. It was quite a bit larger than Pallet and had substantially larger building. Ash had been here plenty of times and still big cities unsettled him. The best course of action now would be to head to the Pokémon center, which is just what Ash did. However, before he could he was stopped by a voice yelling "You there with the Pikachu! Stop at once!" which he did. He turned and saw Officer Jenny walking up to him menacingly and gulped.
"Is there a problem officer?" Ash asked the incoming woman. "Yes! Have you stolen that Pikachu?" She asked him making Ash sweat-drop. "I'm sorry what?" Ash asked, because it was a ridiculous accusation, considering Pikachu was on his shoulder, not at all struggling. "You heard me! There have been Team Rocket sightings recently in Viridian and you seem suspicious. Show me some ID kid." Jenny said. Ash thought that was stupid but sadly there was nothing he could do. He just pulled out his Pokédex and made it show his ID, which included his name, picture and Pokémon currently in his possession.
After hearing the Pokédex our Officer jenny sighed and apologized to Ash, before offering to drive him to the Pokémon center, which Ash kindly accepted. After getting dropped off in front of the center Ash thanked the Officer and walked off as quickly as possible, wanting to get away from the paranoid Officer. He entered the center and walked up to the front desk, where he was greeted by Nurse Joy. "Hello, and welcome to the Viridian City Pokémon Center. How may I help you?" She asked kindly. "I'd like to book a room please. And have my Pokémon checked out." Ash said, handing her his Pokéballs and Pikachu. She nodded and handed him a room key with the room number written on it before walking off with his Pokémon.
Ash decided to call his mom and Professor Oak as he waited for his Pokémon to get healed. Ash walked over to the large videophones and phoned his mother's number. It wasn't long before the woman picked up, a towel wrapped around her head. "Ash! I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon!" She said, smiling brightly at him. "Yeah well I had to catch up somehow. How are you?" Ash said, hoping his mom wasn't too sad about him leaving.
"I'm ok, frankly I care more about how you are. You didn't get hurt, did you?" She asked, voice full of concern. Ash shook his head. "Thankfully not. I got a couple of new friends with me too. I managed to catch a Spearow and a Pidgey." Delia nodded, proud of her son's accomplishments. "I'm very proud of you Ash. It took your father a full four days to get to Viridian. Then again he always had trouble with direction…" Delia murmured, wincing slightly at the memories of the man that had left them. Ash's expression hardened, remembering how sad his mother had been when Ash's father left them. "Mom, I'll find him, and I'll bring him back, I promise." Ash said meekly, making her smile at him.
"Well anyway let's not dwell on that now. I have to go but promise to call as often as you can?" She asked, looking at him sternly. Ash nodded and swore he would. His mother smiled in satisfaction before waving goodbye and ending the call. Ash just stared at the videophone sadly for. Little bit before shaking his head. He then called the lab to talk to Professor Oak. The old man picked up soon enough, though he used the wrong camera. "Err, Professor? You have the wrong camera turned on." Ash said. "Oh my! How silly of me!" Oak said before turning on the correct camera, now facing Ash. "Ash my boy! It's great to hear from you! I see that you have caught some new Pokémon! Thank you, you see my grandson bet that you wouldn't have a single capture before reaching Viridian. You just won me one million pokédollars." The man said, dancing happily. Ash sweat-dropped at the wise Professor's actions.
"I don't get why he hates me so much. I've never done anything wrong when it comes to him yet he seems to hate my guts." Ash said, eyes fixated on the floor and trying his best not to show how sad he was by his "rival" and his actions. He heard Oak sigh and looked up to see the old man shake his head. "Gary is just jealous for the most part. It doesn't help that he- You know what I just remembered I had to go do something." Oak said, laughing nervously hoping Ash wouldn't question him. He didn't. Ash just raised a brow and shrugged, figuring he'd find out what the Professor was talking about later.
As the phone shut of Ash heard a chime come from the intercoms. "Paging Ash Ketchum, your Pokémon have been checked out and are waiting for you at the front desk." The familiar voice of Nurse Joy rang through the center. Ash stood form the small chair and walked back over to the front desk, where Nurse Joy was waiting for him with a smile on her face. "Your Pokémon are in perfect condition. They were just slightly tired, but it was nothing I couldn't fix." She said. "Thank you very much." Ash said, nodding politely before taking his pokéballs and Pikachu from the tray she had presented. Pikachu was fast asleep as he had been tuckered out completely.
Right as he was about to go to his room and retire for the night a siren was heard through the intercoms, however this time it was Officer Jenny's voice he heard. "Attention all Trainers, we have sight of an unidentified aircraft above the Pokémon center we believe may belong to Team Rocket, beware as they may try to steal your Pokémon" Jenny said and as soon as she finished her statement the glass roof of the Pokémon center shattered as two pokéballs smashed through it and opened to reveal an Ekans and a Koffing.
"Prepare for trouble!" A raspy, feminine voice sounded from above as a female with long, sharp, crimson hair have into view. "And make it double!" A smooth male voice said as a man with blue, medium hair also came into view. "To protect the world from devastation!" The woman once again said, turning around to face Ash and the other trainers and smirking evilly. "To unite all peoples within our nation!" The man replied, also turning to face the small crowd. "To denounce the evils of truth and love!" The woman spoke once more, this time making a grand gesture to support her statement. "To extend our reach to the stars above!" The man said, mirroring his partner's gesture. "Jessie!" The woman said, motioning to herself. "James!" The man did the same. "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" The woman cried out, her voice harsher than before and slightly painful to listen to. "Surrender now or prepare to fight!" The man sounded much smugger now. "Meowth! That's Right!" A third voice chimed in as a bipedal cat jumped down from the aircraft above, a rope dropping behind him. "A talking Meowth?" Many trainers could be heard talking about the weird Meowth in front of them but Ash just woke Pikachu up, warning the mouse about the criminals in front of them.
As he released Spearow and Pidgey from their pokéballs and ordered the two to attack Ekans and Koffing with their respective flying moves. Before the two Rocket members could realize what was happening their Pokémon came flying at them, landing at their feet. "Hey! What's the big idea!?" Jesse exclaimed, looking outraged. "You guys are terrible criminals." Ash said, shaking his head, which only further aggravated the two. "Oh yeah? How's that you twerp?" Jesse asked, looking like she wanted to wallop Ash. "Not only were your Pokémon knocked out easily, you also revealed your identities and what's worse you did it through a motto, during which anybody could have interrupted you by attacking, thus ruining your raid. I mean seriously, you two are a special kind of stupid." Ash said, making the two cry out indignantly.
"I'll show you stupid! Ekans use Acid!" "Koffing Poison Gas!" The two cried out as their Pokémon went on the offensive. "Pikachu, hit the with a Thunder Shock!" Ash commanded. The small mouse leapt up and did as asked, delivering a shock to both Pokémon, who were flung backwards into their Trainers, who feel down due to it. Sadly, Ekans had already launched the Acid, which was quickly heading towards an orange haired girl who had entered the center just second before the attack. She shrieked as she saw the incoming attack, frozen in fear. Ash saw this and rushed over to her, tackling her to the floor to avoid the attack. Sadly, her bike wasn't anywhere near as lucky as the Acid corroded it.
Ash turned to glare at the criminals, who were now struggling to get up. "Pikachu full force Thunder Shock!" Pikachu nodded, unleashing all his energy, which was enough to strengthen the attack, thereby changing it to a Thunderbolt. Ash smiled at this, happy that his Pokémon learned a new move so quickly. The attack connected, shocking the group. Unfortunately, it mad Koffing spew out gasses, which ignited and exploded, sending the group flying off. Officer Jenny, seeing them fly out of the roof then burst through the doors, only to see minimal damage to the center and everybody ok.
"Good job Pikachu!" Ash said standing up so he could catch Pikachu, who was now running towards him. As the small mouse leapt into his arms Ash hugged him tightly and spun him around, happy that he had won his first battle, against Team Rocket no less. Though those guys did seem incompetent to him. "Hey." Ash heard and turned to see the orange haired girl stand up and dust herself off. "Thank you, if that attack hit me I would have at the very least been heavily damaged. You saved me." She said, her eyes shining with gratitude and a few tears Ash suspected were caused by the fear. "It really was no trouble, I'm just glad I got to you on time. I'm Ash." He said, extending a hand to the girl who took it. "Misty." She introduced herself before turning to her bike, which was rendered useless by the Acid attack.
"Oh god, what am I supposed to do now? That bike was supposed to help me get through Viridian forest as quickly as possible." She mumbled, looking distressed for some reason, though Ash didn't know what the big deal was about the forest. "Young man." Jenny said as she walked up to him. "I heard what you did. Thank you for helping here. Most of the other trainers didn't have their Pokémon at the time and I fear what could have happened if you weren't here to prevent it." The officer said, making Ash squirm from the awkwardness. He raised his hands in a placating motion. "It was nothing, really! You don't need to thank me!"
"Nonsense! You truly helped out in this situation, and though we didn't catch the thieves I doubt they'd show their faces here again." Nurse Joy said as she joined the conversation. He just sighed and decided to nod along to the praise, hoping to get out of the situation as fast as he could. He did eventually manage to weasel himself away and towards his room. It was for the best anyway since he hated getting that much attention. He sent out Pidgey and Spearow, letting them relax and sleep outside of their pokéballs. Before going to sleep himself, he took out a couple of brushes and decided to bond a bit with his Pokémon by brushing their fur/feathers. All of them seemed to enjoy it a lot cooing and chirping happily. Spearow especially seemed to enjoy the brushing, though the small bird would never admit it. "Ok guys, during the next week we'll be training you to prepare for the gym before heading towards the forest. We need to cover some of your weaknesses as well as increasing your overall stats." Ash said, gaining the attention of all three Pokémon.
"We'll start by teaching you guys steel moves. Iron tail for Pikachu and Steel Wing for Pidgey and Spearow. This will help with Ice, rock and Fairy type Pokémon. The advantage to Rock Pokémon will be especially handy since the first gym we will be facing is the rock type gym. In addition, I want everybody to work on their speed both on the ground and in the air. To do that we will first start with increasing your endurance, followed by flying or running around with weights to make you stronger." All the Pokémon nodded along as that seemed like a good plan. And with that out of the way Ash decided to finally get some sleep.
-1 week later-
Ash sighed and stretched out, finally finished with his training week and ready to take on the forest. During the week, all his Pokémon had managed to learn their respective steel type moves as well as Agility. Additionally, all of them had gotten exponentially faster, even without the help of the speed boosting move. The two bird Pokémon had become larger and leaner while Pikachu lost nearly all the extra weight it had and was now faster than ever.
He felt as though they were more than prepared to face the challenges ahead and thus headed off, stopping on his way out to deliver his room key to Nurse Joy. "Oh, Ash! I see you've decided to head off." The nurse said, taking the key from him. "Yes, I think about time to go." Ash said, smiling at the Nurse whom he'd talked to plenty of times since arriving at the Pokémon center. "Very well then. I want to give you this as thanks for saving the center though." She said and handed Ash an Incubator and inside was a small pink egg, a Pokémon egg. Ash gasped. "Nurse Joy, I can't possibly accept this." He said, staring at the Pokémon egg with wonder. "You can and you will. You saved not only yourself when you did that. There were sick and injured Pokémon here. If Team Rocket had taken them they could have died. You deserve this, I insist." She said, pushing the incubator towards him.
Ash sigh and took the incubator from her, knowing there was little he could do in the way of convincing her that he didn't deserve it. "Thank you Nurse Joy. What will it hatch into? When is it due?" Ash asked, wanting to know everything about the egg so he could take care of it properly. "It's not due until six or seven months so you it'll be a while before it hatches. It's a Happiny egg, a Pokémon you don't see much outside Pokémon centers. It's a great healer, but it's also a good battler so I thought it would make sense." She explained making Ash nod along in interest. Blissey was an amazing and tough Pokémon and he was happy to have one of its pre-evolutions.
"Now, you better run along Ash." Nurse Joy said and waved goodbye as he walked off. After stocking up on supplies he headed off towards the forest. Just as he was about to enter the dense forest a voice called out behind him. It was Misty who was running towards him. "I want to come with you. Maybe even farther than just Viridian Forest." She said, almost pleadingly. Ash shrugged as there was no reason for her not to come with him and it'd be fun to travel with somebody, not to mention great for training. "Sure, I'd like that." He said which made her smile brightly and cheer. "You see, I'm deathly afraid of bug-type Pokémon so I wanted to get through Viridian as fast as possible. Unfortunately, since my bike is destroyed I'll have to travel on foot, so traveling with somebody is the best bet."
"That makes sense, but you'll have to get over that fear of yours, since bug types are quite common. I can help with that." Ash said, pulling the girl along into the forest as she stammered out a "W-what?"
"It's alright Misty, it won't be anything too serious." Ash said. Eventually, after a little searching Ash found what he was looking for, a Caterpie. He decided to just toss a Pokeball at it, a strategy that worked out for him since the Caterpie was caught easily.
He scanned the pokeball for information, not wanting to frighten Misty by sending the bug Pokémon out close to her. "Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon, for protection, it releases a horrible stench from the antennae on its head to drive away enemies.
This Caterpie is Male and has the ability Run Away. Its known moves are: Tackle, String Shot and Bug Bite." "He knows a good deal of moves considering he's just a Caterpie right now. When he evolves into Butterfree I'll make sure to teach him lots of moves, since Butterfree has a large and diverse moveset." Ash said, mostly to himself though Misty did pay attention, both creeped out by the bug and impressed with Ash's knowledge about Pokémon. Realistically Misty knew she had to get over her fear of Bug Pokémon, since she was going to be a Gym leader in the future and thus needed to be able to fight all kinds of Pokémon with a level head.
And really, the Butterfree line was one of the best ways to start warming up to bug type Pokémon since they were some of the prettier, more docile members of their type. Misty would by no means have an easy time with it but she had to start somewhere, so she would. Ash's thoughts went along that way too sans the Gym Leader part, though he would come to learn of that later.
After capturing Caterpie Misty and Ash walked through the forest with few interruptions, the main one being a samurai-like trainer who had challenged Ash and during the battle Ash's Caterpie evolved, learning Harden and Iron Defense in the process. After the battle Ash and Misty continued through the forest before finally reaching Pewter city a couple of hours later. They made their way down the cliff only to be stopped by a man offering them rocks. The two politely declined, after which the man commented on how if they were in Pewter to face Brock it would be pointless, and that they might as well search for another gym. Ash, not enjoying this stranger insulting his Pokémon, stormed away with Misty not far behind him, leaving the rude man behind. Finally, they reached the Pokémon center where they could relax from the long walk. After dropping off Metapod and Spearow, whom he had also used in the battle against the Samurai, he decided to talk to Misty a bit.