Giovanni. It is a name that isn't often discussed in this, or any part, of the world. Especially not in his. He is the man that took everything from him. His happiness, his childhood, his mother.
He remembered Professor Oak vaguely. A kind faced man with silver hair that had let him play with his Pokeballs as a child, along with his friend Gary. He remembered his mother more clearly. Her long auburn had hair hung to her waist and she was no doubt beautiful but it was her laugh that he remembered most of all. Her laugh was contagious.
He had spent more of his time in the Professor's lab as his mother spentmore of her time running 'errands' for Gary's grandfather. The result of this was a nasty set of rumours that spread around the small town and had made his mother cry. He hadn't liked that. He hadn't liked that and had a distinct memory of stamping on his neighbour's toes in the store one evening. His mother had scolded him and apologised to the old woman, but he distinctly remembered her baking him his favourite cookies when they got home.
He had few memories as clear as those. The ones he did have were burned into his mind for the rest of his life. He had been playing in the Professor's lab with Gary when it happened. Oak and his mother were feeding the pokemon outside and he and gary had snuck into the pokeball stores. It was a place that held a distinct forbidden feeling that he would never forget. Gary had dragged a chair to the middle of the room and set it against a large cylindrical machine, talking excitedly about something Ash couldn't remember.
Together, they climbed up and had tentatively reached out to touch the forbidden fruit. Active Pokeballs. They each took one in their hands and marvelled at them. The difference between an empty, lifeless ball and the one that had sat in his hand was profound. They had discussed the possibilities of opening the balls but had agreed that the punishments would be too severe. So they had settled for running around the floor pretending to be pokemon trainers, shouting commands to their invisible beasts. It had been exhilerating. Until it changed.
An explosion had tilted his world on it's axis and darkness engulfed him as he flew through the air. He snapped back to himself a moment later and found himself staring out of a great hole where the back wall of the laboratory used to be. Through that hole he had seen hell. What had once been a grassy hill, filled with peacefully grazing pokemon- where he had played- was an inferno. A huge lumbering form that he remembered as the Professor's Venusaur was bellowing in agony as flames engulfed it.
Beside him Gary was unconscious and bleeding from a gash on his face. In the distance he could see the Professor, standing protectively over a stricken form as white flashes coalsced into his pokemon and struck back at the fire.
A megaphone split the fury of the battle as Oak's pokemon retaliated. "Oak. We do not want to hurt you. Your lab and the pokemon it holds are the rightful property of the National Republic of Kanto as commanded by your glorious leader, Giovanni. Surrender your research and come quietly with us."
Ash couldn't see where the voices were coming from through the haze. He only saw Oak's panicked eyes lock with his. He wanted to help the Professor but he couldn't move, he could only cling to the little red and white orb that he had taken so rashly.
His pokemon fought more desperately as the minutes passed. More and more of his pokemon went down and as he was forced back, Ash saw his attackers. People he had never seen before surrounded Oak and his two remaining pokemon, a dragonite and a kadabra. He saw Kadabra settle and meditate for amoemnt, while Dragonite blocked all harm intended for it. Kadabra teleported away just as the Professor's dragonite was speared through the gut by a footong sliver of ice. Freezing blood dripped from the wound slugishly as the dragon was forced to it's knees.
Ash didn't see what happened next as his vision was obscured by a flash of white light and the arrival of Oak's Kadabra.
The pokemon could not speak directly to his mind as many people who had no experience with the psychic type thought. Instead it could transmit feelings and emotions. Kadabra was afraid, desperate and determined to follow Oak's command.
Before he could register what was happening his world split in two and a pain worse than he had ever experienced in his life tore through him. It was the first time he had been teleported by a pokemon.
*
It had been eleven years since he had woken up on the cold hard foor of Professor Elm's lab alongside a still unconscious Gary, with their borrowed pokeballs still in their hands. It had been eleven years since Team Rocket had overthrown the Kanto council and christened themselves the NRK.
Professor Elm had honoured some percieved debt that he had to Oak and had taken them in, raising them with his wife Helen. It was a struggle at first. Neither he nor Gary could understand what had happened or why they couldn't go home and they rebelled against Elm and his wife in the way that all unhappy children do. But the young couple had understood and had stayed patient with the duo, knowing that they would understand eventually.
Throughout this time, both Ash and Gary had clung to the pokeballs they had taken from the lab that day as the only reminders they had from their old lives. One of the biggest steps towards them trusting Elm happened on a bright summer afternoon two years after their arrival. He had summoned them to the lab and told them they were old enough to see what was inside, if they wanted. He stayed with them, letting his Quilava stand guard incase the pokemon the orbs contained were feral.
The boys had often discussed what their orbs would hold, but having seen only a small variety of pokemon throughout their lives, they could not really know what to expect. It was with this trepidation that Ash watched Gary press the little switch on his pokeball for the first time. The switch glowed red and the ball snapped open, revealing a flash of white light that collapsed in on itself to form a tiny little four-legged pokemon with thick brown fur and a white main.
The little pokemon blinked and looked around warily before sniffing the air and letting out a small squeal. Professor Elm had stepped in at that point and slowly offered the pokemon a few pellets which it ate from his hand.
"It's an Eevee, Gary. They're very rare and loyal pokemon. You shouldn't have too much trouble training it if you want to. Otherwise I can look after it and you can have it in a few years when you get your license." The smile on his face told Ash that the Professor knew what Gary would choose. Tentatively, the young boy reached out and fed the pokemon, before taking it into his arms and stroking it. The Eevee complied, although warily, and the two sat on the floor, getting to know each other.
Elm turned to Ash with a smile. "Your turn."
He had taken a breath and pressed the button. The energy released from the ball came together to form a small golden furred rodent, with a crooked tail. The Pikachu had reared around and shot a jolt of electricity towards Ash who had to dive out of the way to avoid being killed. It had hissed and sparks had raced across it's body, contorting it strangely. Gary's Eevee panicked and jumped out of his arms, hiding under a table while Elm's Quilava spat a blast of fire at it. The pikachu jumped out of the way but before it could attack Quilava, Ash had collected his wits and returned the pokemon to it's ball.
It was the first time he had met his Pikachu. It hadn't gone well, but Elm had convinced him that it could be trained with time and patience. Those were the defining memories of his childhood. They were the memories that made him who he was.
Now, eleven years later, he sat by the waterside, looking out towards Tohjo falls. He heard a soft set of footsteps approach from behind but didn't turn around. "Being all mopey again, Ash?" A teasing voice asked. Lyra kicked off her sandals and sat beside him, dangling her feet into the water. Her Chikorita followed soon after and lay at her side, content to bask in the sun.
"Some people would call it brooding mysteriously." He said, airily.
"Some people haven't known you as long as I have." she paused. "I suppose that's lucky for them, really." They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Where's Pikachu?"
"Off with Gary to find Umbreon. I doubt they've gone too far. As soon as Umbreon finds a place to sleep for the day he's out like a light." They laughed. Gary's Eevee had evolved into an Umbreon one night a few years before. Since then it had developed a variety of nocturnal habits that included shirking sunlight for as much of the day as possible. This usually involved it running around the small town looking for dark places to take a nap; and Gary spending hours trying to find it.
"He needs to get into the habit of keeping Umbreon in it's pokeball. He's seventeen now and he has his license. The inspectors can't do anything." She said.
"True, but Umbreon's been used to being out of its ball for years. Same for Pikachu and it's going to be the same for Chikorita." Ash said as he lay back on the grass and propped himself up on his elbows.
"Well yeah, but Pikachu's different. It has normal sleeping habits and it really dislikes pokeballs anyway. And once I get my trainer's license Chikorita can have her very own ball, isn't that right?" she said to the small grass pokemon much as a mother would to a newborn.
Chikorita gave a small grunt that sounded particularly negative to Ash. He studied Lyra for a while as she played with Chikorita. They had grown up together, he supposed. Certainly he had known her a long time. As long as he had known Pikachu, in fact, as it was soon after he first met Pikachu that Lyra had turned up at the lab holding a bundle of cloth and crying for help. She had found Chikorita battered and bruised when a Noctowl chased it out of the forest boundry and into her back garden. Her father's Mareep had intervened and killed the bird but not before it's talons had ripped bloody gashes in Chikorita's sides.
Professor Elm had helped as best he could, which fortunately was all that was needed. Chikorita made a full recovery and never left Lyra's side from that day forward. This left Professor Elm with a dilemma. He had three children with unregistered, illegal Pokemon in their care. He would have taken Pikachu from Ash but he had stubbornly refused to be parted with the admittedly difficult pokemon.
He had let the three children keep their pokemon as pets; Lyra under the condition that she checked in with Professor Elm once a week for the basic pokemon care classes he was giving the boys.
They had been friends for a long time, he reflected, and she had grown into a beautiful young woman with long brown hair and equally dark eyes.
"Something wrong, Ash?" she asked, as she caught him looking at her.
"My license came today. I can start to train pokemon in earnest now." he said quietly.
A small "Oh." was her reply.
They both knew what Ash was thinking. It was what Gary had been thinking a few months ago when he had recieved his license. She wondered if it would be what she would be thinking when she recieved her license in a few months.
Lyra sat looking at Tohjo falls, knowing that Ash was looking beyond them.
*
A few hours later Ash walked back from the waterside, Lyra had sank into one of her silences and he sensed that she wanted to be alone for a while. Professor Elm's lab wasn't like his memory of Oak's lab. Oak had a massive amount of land for his lab, and he could afford to use most of it as a ranch for the pokemon various trainers had entrusted him with.
Elm wasn't as wealthy but what his lab lacked in size it made up for in homeliness. He specialised in pokemon anatomy and often joked that he didn't need big fancy machines, only a table, a scalpal and a fresh corpse.
Ash rounded a small row of cottages and started up the lane to Elm's small lab. He had barely made it inside the door when a yellow blur dropped on his shoulders from above. He laughed, "Haha, hey pal, you and Gary find Umbreon?" Pikachu let out a squeal that Ash took to mean 'yes'. This was confirmed when Ash entered the front room to see Gary sprawled on the couch sleeping, with Umbreon asleep on his lap.
Ash Pointed his finger at Gary, cocked it like a gun and whispered, "Zzzzap." Pikachu complied and a tiny string of static snapped from it's tail and smacked the sleeping teenager in the face. Gary slapped his face as if he was batting away a fly and woke up groggily. After a moment of getting his mind together his eyes settled on Ash.
"The hell was that for?"
"We need to talk." Ash said.
"And it can't wait until I'm fully rested?" the taller boy asked wearily.
"Gary, you slept until three pm today and now you're napping. You're starting to mimic Umbreon's sleeping habits. I swear, one of these nights I'm going to look out of my bedroom window and see you running around the woods chasing flocks of hoothoot."
"Eh, I can imagine worse fates. And Birch's behavioural studies among trainers suggest that trainers who have bonded with a pokemon for an extended period of time begin to display habits previously only associated with the pokemon. And vice versa of course."
"Oh of course. You do know that it's complete horseshit don't you?" Ash replied.
"Wiseass." Gary said as he shifted his pokemon off his lap and sat up. "So what's up Ashy-boy? Worried about hair growing down there? It's perfectly natural... although it should have happened a few years ago. Might want to get that looked into."
"My license came today."
That effectively stopped Gary cold. His friend's entire demeanor changed from jovial to deadly serious. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" He sprang up from his couch and returned Umbreon to it's pokeball in a flash of crimson light. "Where's the Professor?" he asked as they walked through into the back laboratory.
"I don't know. What are we going to say, by the way? "Thanks for raising us for the past eleven years like a father. Thanks for putting clothes on our backs and educating us. By the way we're off now. Probably won't be back either. Oh and if we could borrow some climbing gear, that'd be great." And what will we say to Helen?"
Gary stopped in the hallway and turned. "Ash, you don't have to can back out now and that'll be the end if it. No hard feelings."
"Fuck that, I'm coming. You know that. I just don't know how to tell them. They've been parents to us."
"Like a band aid. Quick and clean is best, with no long drawn out goodbyes."
Ash knew he was right, no matter how brutal it sounded to him. They walked on through the lab until they came to Elm's study. Pikachu was perched precariously on Ash's shoulder with his ears alert. He obviously knew something out of the ordinary was happening.
Ash steadied himself and knocked three times on the door. They waited outside for a moment before a weary voice called them in. What they found was something neither of them expected. Professor Elm had been Oak's protege. He lived for his research, and the core of his research was daily fact checking and reviewing of reports sent to him by the local this time of day he would usually be sitting infront of his computer typing away busily.
Today was different. The computer was powered down, and his research folders lay unopened on the floor under his desk. His eyes looked tired under his wire frames and his hair looked to have receeded another inch or so since the day before. At his desk, a bottle of whiskey was opened and one of the three glass tumblers was full.
Silently he poured the other two glasses and beckoned them to sit down before handing them each a glass. They had never seen Elm drink in the entire time they had been with him. And he had certainly never let them drink.
"I recieved an e-mail from the Johto council today. Two actually. One from a friend on the council who keeps me updated of the situation in Kanto as best she can, and the other from the Trainor licensing board informing me that Ash Ketchum's license has been sent out and that I should expect a visit from the young trainer to recieve his first pokemon soon." He sipped from his glass and chuckled. "I don't think they've actually figured out that you live with me."
Ash sipped his whiskey warily and coughed as it burned his throat. He looked up to see Elm smiling at him fondly. "You'll get used to it." he said.
"We just came in to tell you that-"
"You're leaving." he interupted. He laughed at the look of confusion on the boy's faces. "You don't think I didn't notice all the secret little talks? And How Gary has refused to take an official starter because, "the time isn't right."? and I have known this was coming for quite some time. We've been dreading this day."
The two young trainers shifted uncomfortably and swapped glances. Gary broke the silence. "We have to go back, Professor. We have to see. All we know is what we can learn from the occasional tv report and some of the Johto council's concerns about "Border security.""
"And you need to try to find Samuel and Delia." He sighed and sat back into his chair. He drained his glass with a single gulp and refilled it slowly.
"Boys. I haven't been telling you the whole truth about Kanto for quite some time. The councils of Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn... Hell, even Orre have sent trainers into Kanto for, "Intelligence purposes."
The only problem is that out of all the trainers sent into what was formerly Kanto, none have come back. Every now and again one of the bodies turns up and the government of the National Republic of Kanto claim that they had "incited the wrath of the feresome wild pokemon of the region.""
"These were experienced trainers able to handle themselves. It's more likely that the NRK police found them, and killed them. In the face of that, do you really expect me to let two seventeen year old trainers with one pokemon each, try to cross the border? I forbid the two of you from carryiing out this foolish plan."
Ash couldn't believe it. Never in all the time they had been in New Bark town had they been 'forbidden'. Heavily discouraged maybe, but never forbidden. He saw Elm's cold determination, and he saw how much it was costing the man. He knew that either way, tonight, he would lose the boys he had considered sons.
Gary sat, dumbfounded beside him. "You... you're forbidding us? We're trainers now, there's nothing you can do to stop us." he said.
"I can contact the council and tell them that two young teenagers are trying to cross the border and breach the fragile treaty we have with New Kanto. The council will stop you, even if I can't bring myself to."
Gary snapped, and with a cold look of fury Ash had never seen on his face before, he flung his glass at the Professor, who merely shirked to one side and let it smash against the wall.
The two stared at each other in silence before Gary grunted and strode out of the room.
Elm turned to Ash and with a quiet voice said, "I'm sorry, Ash. But I'm not going to stop acting like a father just because you're of age. "You know we're going anyway, don't you?"
"Yes, but I'm not going to make it easy. I'll call it in should have a few hours before the Tohjo falls and the Silver pass are crawling with rangers."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Oak and your mother were my friends. There's no way I can condone what you're planning. And I can try to stop you in any way I can. But destiny can be a funny thing. Maybe you two are meant to do this."
"Gary's probably robbing you blind right now. I'm sorry for that."
Elm turned away and poured another glass of whiskey for himself. "So am I."
Without another word, Ash left the room.
*
Ash found Gary in the research shed a few minutes later. The heavy lock on the door had been bitten clean through, obviously Umbreon's handiwork. He spotted his friend near the back, rifling through an old metal locker.
"And good gear there?" he asked.
"Some hiking equipment. Mostly tents and boots."
"Anything that's going to be useful for getting through Silver pass?"
"There's a rope." Gary finished lamely.
"Alright, you keep raiding this place and I'm going to the store to get some more supplies." As Ash waswalking back outside he stopped at the doorway and said, "You know this is probably the most horrible thing we'll ever have on our consciences? We're robbing him."
Gary stopped searching and sat back on his haunches. "I don't feel any better about it but it's what we have to do. We don't have any other choice."
Ash nodded and continued on, Pikachu leaping up onto his shoulder quietly, sensing that this wasn't a cheery moment. They walked quietly through the small town, the setting sun casting an orange and pink glow through the clouds. He had just set his hand on the door of the shop when he heard Lyra's voice call to him. He turned to see her running up the hill, her chikorita in tow.
She stopped beside him and leaned forward, panting slightly. "I'm glad I caught you, we should talk." she said between breaths.
Ash pushed the door open and walked into the store as she continued, "I've been thinking. I know what you're planning to do, and its ridiculous. It's dangerous, selfish and suicidal. You've heard the stories about Kanto. It's not the same as how you remember it.
Ash continued down the aisle and threw random items in the basket. "I know you're scared, Lyra, but Gary and I have to do this. We're going to find our family."
He cursed when she spun him by the shoulder and shoved him against the freezer. "Your family is here, you idiot. This is your home. With Helen and the Professor. With me." She trailed off quietly at the end.
Ash saw her face flush red and recognised it instantly. She was beyong angry.
He walked to the counter with the full basket and paid for it with the money Ash and Gary had been saving for the past few years.
"Look, chances are we'll be back in one piece sooner rather than later. There's no need to get so angry over it."
"And what if something happens to you?" she asked.
"I'm not going to say it isn't possible. It's a very, very dangerous world in the wild. We live in little protected bubbles. On the other hand, We've spent a few years with the Professor outside those bubbles. We're ready."
He collected his change and lft the shop, Lyra shadowing him all the way. "Then let me come. I've been out there too. I've trained just as hard as you."
"You don't have a license, you wouldn't be able to recall Chikorita if it got into any trouble. You wouldn't be able to catch pokemon, and if we do run into trouble, we're going to need as much help from the pokemon we plan to catch as we can get." He walked on, "Besides, your mother would kill me."
"My mother has nothing to do with this, Ketchum. I'm a grown woman."
"That still has tantrums apparently."
"I'm not having a tantrum, I just... Please stay."
Ash looked at her properly for the first time. Her long brown hair was in a tangled mess, as if she had been playing with it and her brown eyes were glistening with what he could only assume were tears. "I'm sorry, Lyra." He walked forward and gave her a hug. "We'll be back soon, I promise."
He let her go and stepped back. She looked small for the first time he had known her; she was always a bit shorter than him, but she never seemed small. She reached up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek lightly.
He turned away and walked up the long path towards Elm's lab. For the first time in years, she didn't follow.
*
Dark had fallen in earnest a few hours later when they crept away from the lab. The creeping wasn't neccesary really, as they could see Professor Elm's silhouette watching them from the upstairs window.
When they looked back again the light in the room had gone out.
In silence, the two travelled north to the town boundaries in silence. The Silver pass was a narrow gap in the rigid spine of mountains that separated Kanto and Johto, passable only in favourable conditions. As far as they knew, there was only a moderate border patrol at the pass, rather than the huge display of strength the NRK displayed at Tohjo falls.
"How long do you think we have before the rangers get there ahead of us?" Gary asked.
"Depends. The closest station is in Violet city so we probably have until dawn, unless they rope Faulkner into helping them. If they have then they're probably already there."
"Still better than going through the Falls I suppose."
The reached the town boundary, where rolling grass met thick trunked, dark trees. "Cutting through here should get us to Route 45 quicker than going by Cherrygrove."
Pikachu and Umbreon leaped forward to inspect the treeline closer. Satisfied, they growled in unison and broke through the undergrowth. Ash and Gary followed them. "You have your pokeballs?" Ash asked Gary quietly. The older boy nodded in silence. Ash had returned from the store with food and healing suppies as well as the expensive pokeballs. It had almost drained their money but it was worth it.
Occasionally Pikachu would stiffen and sniff the air but Umbreon carried on, as if whatever Pikachu had sensed wasn't enough to bother it. The few small bug pokemon they had encountered were swiftly dispatched by their pokemon, apart from a spinarak who had caught them unawares and put up a fight.
It went on like this for the night. Around an hour in, they realized that they had overestimated their ability to hack through the woods at a brisk pace and that they would be lucky to make it through the woods before dawn. As it was, all four of them were covered in scratches from stray branches and bruises from the occasional stumble.
It had just gone 4 o'clock when the trees began to thin out, eventually giving way to a small clearing with a view to the rocky terrain beyond the treeline. Away in the distance the could see the solid wall of mountains that blocked their path, and beyond those they could see the massive Mt. Silver, a restricted area that was said to house pokemon of terrible power. To the south of those, and a few hours trek from the woods, was the distinct gap in the wall they were looking for. Silver pass.
For years it had been used as a trade route for the hardy northerners of Johto, who had ways of getting through it that made the journey to the Falls pass redundant. Since the downfall of the Kanto council however, it was a largely forgotten route, guarded sparsely by what rangers the Johto council could spare.
They decided to camp get a few hours sleep and get closer to the mountains in the morning. Paranoid as they were about overhead searches, they placed their sleeping bags at the edge of the clearing so as to not be seen from above.
Dawn came sooner than he had hoped and he sound himself laying on the hard ground with his eyes shut tight. He lay there for some time, in that limbo between sleep and consciousness, not bothering to move. A cold nose nuzzled his cheeck and a small tongue licked it a few times, prompting him to groan. "Quit, Pikachu. I'm awake."
He sat up blearily and and looked around before wiping the sleep out of his eyes and getting up. He lit a small fire, hoping it wouldn't be noticed, and boiled two tins of beans using water from a nearby creek. When they were done he walked to Gary's sleeping bag and nudges his head with his foot. "C'mon, get up. We're going to be late."
Gary's only reply was to sink further into his roll and mutter something about a girl they knew called 'Janie'. Ash only knew her by sight but judging by her father chasing Gary around New Bark town a few months back, he'd wager his friend knew her a little better.
Pikachu was sitting by the fire sniffing the beans curiously. "What do you reckon', Pikachu?" Ash asked. His companion let out a non-commited growl as it inspected the cans. "Yeah, That's what I thought." he replied, smiling to himself. He walked to the creek, collected a pan full of water and brought it back to the campsite. "Duh duhduh duuuh." He sang to himself as he overturned the pan on Gary's sleeping head.
The reaction was both brutal and entertaining as Gary sprang up out of his sleeping bag and looked around wildly. He spotted Ash a moment later and lunged at the younger boy, who spun out of the way easily. This went on for a while until Gary calmed and hunger overtook them, prompting them to put the argument aside.
"We'll make it to the pass today, then we'll get past the rangers and come out a bit west of Viridian. Easy." Gary said, a trace of excitement lighting up his voice.
"I was thinking about that," Ash said, "We've already misjudged out travelling time once. Getting around the rangers isn't going to be nearly as easy as you're making it out to be, and even if we manage that, 'a bit west of Viridian' is around ten or twenty miles of mountainous terrain with a lot of wild pokemon in the way."
"What's your point?"
"My point is, that even after all that, what do we do? Until now, our entire plan has been getting into the?"
"We find out what happened to our family. If they're ok, we bring them back to New Bark Town."
"And if they're not?"
"Then we find out who, why and how to kill them."
They sat for a while, playing with two empty tins and thinking about the road ahead of them.
"Sounds good to me." Ash said as he rose to his feet. Pikachu leaped onto his shoulder and got settled, while Gary returned a dozing Umbreon to it's pokeball. They kicked dirt on the fire and covered it in damp scrubbery before heading out of the treeline.
They started walking north as briskly as they could,hoping to save as much time as possible. "I'd be willing to bet that for every hour that goes bye more and more rangers are arriving," Gary said, shaking his head. "I can't believe the Professor would do this to us."
The reality of the situation was begining to dawn on Gary, Ash realized. It was strange, but he was thankful for Gary's sudden realistic attitude towards the situation. It meant he was taking it seriously.
"I don't like what he did, but I understand why he did it. He loves us the same way we love him, Helen, Pikachu and Umbreon. We're a family. Right now every step we take away from New Bark hurts them a little more."
Gary snorted. "I remember when you were an immature little kid, Ashy-boy. You were much more fun back then."
"Ugh, that name still sickens me. Quit it." Ash said, making a face.
"So your whole 'mature' and 'grown up' attitude is responsible for you teling Lyra she couldn't come?"
Ash sighed, "She's too young, Gary. Chikorita isn't nearly as strong as Pikachu or Umbreon and she can't catch other pokemon yet."
"Cut the shit, Ash. She's only a few months younger than you and Chikorita's strong enough."
"Oh really? Gary, you've heard the stories about what's been going on in Kanto since Giovanni took over. It's safer for her back there."
They talked for a few more hours, striving to keep away the crushing boredom thatt accompanied the bland terrain.
They were just reaching the foothills of the mountains when a shout stopped turned to see a large, rough looking man with a beard approaching them.
"What're you kids doin' out here?" he shouted.
Ash panicked, the man wasn't wearing the dull green of standard ranger clothes but they still hadn't counted on meeting anyone this far off the main route.
"We're trainers. Just looking for pokemon." he shouted back.
The man laughed. "Look at you, you're fresh out aren't you?You'll be killed if you plan to head up those peaks."
Gary clenched his fists, "Either way its none of your business."
"Don't take that tone with me, kid. It happens that I was just talking to a ranger a few hours 're offering a small reward for the any news on the whereabouts of two young trainers in the area."
Ash froze. The man continued. "I reckon they might offer a larger reward if I brought you back in."
Quicker than Ash thought was possible, the man had flung two pokeballs.