Joey and Smokey were walking aimlessly through Tiny Woods, laughing and joking around. Even though Smokey hated humans, Joey was starting to become friends with him.

"So why do they call you Smokey?" Joey asked his new friend. In response, Smokey blew a cloud of thick smoke into Joey's face. Once he stopped coughing, he continued, "Okay, you're called Smokey because you blow a lot of smoke. What's your real name then?"

"Smokey is my real name," he said. Joey looked at him in astonishment.

"Your parents named you Smokey?" he asked. Smokey nodded with a little smile, "Why would they give you such a name?"

"Before I even managed to get out of my shell, I was able to blow smoke," he explained, "I ended up filling my egg with smoke before I fully broke out. My parents saw smoke plumes coming from the cracks. I actually passed out, and they had to break open the shell so I didn't suffocate. They decided right there that my name was going to be Smokey."

Joey erupted into laughter. Nearly dying at birth didn't seem to bother Smokey and soon he joined in.

"Man, you must have some funny parents," Joey said once they had calmed down. However, Smokey's grin faded almost instantly and Joey knew he said something wrong.

"I don't see my parents that much anymore," he said quietly.

"Why?"

"My dad is part of a rescue team. He comes to visit, but not very often. I don't want to talk about what happened to my mom."

Joey knew by his tone to let it be. He had friends from broken families. They seemed normal, but on the inside, they were hurt. Some had family members die, imprisoned or they were just abused or neglected. It was best not to push these things.

"Anyways, enough of that," Smokey said lightening up, "Want me to show you where I live?"

"You got your own home!" Joey exclaimed. His tail went up in excitement. Smokey nodded and they started on their way. A cry came from deeper in the woods. They stopped in their tracks.

"What the hell was that?" Joey mumbled. Smokey told him to shut up and they listened for it again. When they heard it, Smokey took off running and Joey was forced to run after him. They ran through the thick bushes until they crashed out into an open space. In front of them was a huge crack in the ground and a large butterfly was hovering around, crying. When it saw them, it rushed over.

"What's wrong, Butterfree?" Smokey asked the butterfly. Before it could start Joey cut in.

"Wait, hold on," he said, "Is its name actually Butterfree or are you just saying butterfly with an Asian accent?"

Smokey and Butterfree just stared at him in confusion. Without answering Joey's question, Smokey told the panicking bug to continue.

"My s-son was ju-just pla-playing in the open wh-when a fissure opened up and swa-swallowed him!" wailed the Butterfree. Smokey nodded and put a hand on her shoulder, or wing, or whatever you want to call it.

"Don't worry," he said, trying to reassure her, "We'll get your son back for you."

Butterfree's face lit up with hope. "Oh, thank you so much, Smokey!" she cried and hugged him tightly, "I knew I could count on you. I promise you, if you can get my son back, I'll give you a nice reward."

Smokey's eyes grew wide at the sound of a reward, but Joey wasn't entirely convinced yet.

"Wait just a sec," interrupted Joey, "You want us," he pointed at himself and Smokey, "to go into that," he pointed to the fissure, "to save your son?"

Both Butterfree and Smokey glared daggers at Joey.

"Of course we are," Smokey stated, "because we are the only ones that can. It'll take a rescue team too long to get over here. Come on, Butterfree and Caterpie are depending on us."

Joey groaned in discontent, but gave into peer pressure. Butterfree gave Joey a surprisingly strong hug that nearly cracked his ribs. When she let go of him, he and Smokey peered down the fissure. The Charmander's tail flame lightened up the dark crack a fair amount. Even with the extra light, the bottom was barely visible.

"It doesn't look that far down," Joey commented, "I can easily make that."

"I don't know," Smokey warned, "I think we should climb down, take it slowly. You never know how deep these things can be."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Joey shouted at the lizard. Before Smokey could react, Joey jumped into the hole.

"Cccrrraaaaaaaaaaappppp!" Joey yelled as he hurtled toward the ground. His voice echoed off the walls briefly before he landed flat on his face on the fissure floor. A little while later, Smokey climbed down and jumped down cleanly next to his friend.

"That really hurt," Joey groaned, his voice still muffled by the ground. His friend walked up to him.

"Told you to take it slow," he taunted.

"Shut up."

"How do you feel?"

"Like a Pikachu-pancake."

Smokey helped Joey to his feet. Other than a bloody nose, he seemed to be fine. Something shiny was stuck on Joey's forehead. Smokey recognized it as a single Poké and took it.

"What's that?" Joey asked, staring at the golden coin.

The Charmander pocketed it and explained, "It is a Pokémon dollar, Poké for short. We can buy something in town once we get more."

Joey wanted to know more about this Pokémon filled town, but the fall really just made him want to leave. He cracked his neck a few times and put on a smile. It just turned into an ugly grimace.

"Well, since we're down here, I guess we should start looking for that kid, eh?" he said that and it brought a smile to Smokey's face.

"Now you're talking," he said and high-fived Joey, "This will be a cake walk."

"Ohhhh, I could really go for some cake..." Joey mumbled wistfully. Smokey just laughed and they took off through the dark cave.

"This is going to be awesome!" Joey cheered as they started their first adventure.