(Theme Song (season 1) goes here.)
The words "Calling Back Some Old Friends" appeared on a title card, which Ash read.
Now in Pallet Town, Ash, Misty and Brock talked to Tracey for a while. Ash hadn't noticed until now, but Brock and Misty were wearing the outfits he first saw them in. He also remembered that Gary was wearing his old outfit as well. Ash excused himself and went back to his house. A few minutes later, he came back out, this time with his League hat and old clothes (which surprisingly still fit him). He then came back out and went back to his friends.
Misty smiled. "I was wondering when you'd change back!"
Ash grinned back at her, and the trio waved Tracey off.
Viridian Forest
Meanwhile, Ash, Misty and Brock found themselves facing an old friend: Samurai. After a few minutes of conversation, Ash challenged him to a battle, which he accepted. Each of them held out a Pokeball.
"This battle will be 4-on-4! Substitutions allowed! Begin!" announced Brock.
"Go, Butterfree/Muk, I choose you!" Samurai/Ash shouted.
Glob of poison faced off against butterfly. Ash looked at Butterfree longingly for a while, but then shrugged it off. Samurai decided to give Ash the first move. Ash commanded a Sludge Bomb. Muk aimed globs of poison at Butterfree, who dodged them all easily. It then beat its wings rapidly, and Muk was suddenly forced into its ball and replaced with Unfezant.
"I've never seen that Pokemon before...regardless, Butterfree will smash it!" Samurai boasted. "Butterfree, Stun Spore!"
"Unfezant, just like we practiced!" Ash called. Unfezant rapidly beat her wings and suddenly white streaks of wind appeared behind her. She then blew the spores away and sent them back at her opponent, stunning it.
"NO!" cried Samurai, as Unfezant went in for an Aerial Ace. It took out Butterfree in one hit.
"Butterfree can't battle, the winner is Unfezant!" Brock began. Samurai recalled Butterfree and sent out Beedrill. Unfezant merely squawked at it, showing no fear. The same couldn't be said for Misty, who hid behind Brock.
"Beedrill, Twineedle!" Samurai shouted. Without a command, Unfezant sent red rings at it, causing it to fall asleep.
"Great job, Unfezant! Go, Kingler!" he shouted, sending out his first crab Pokemon. Samurai desperately pleaded at his Pokemon, while Kingler just kept bombarding it with Bubblebeam after Bubblebeam. Eventually, Beedrill went down. After another announcement from Brock, Samurai sent out a Parasect, while Ash replaced his Kingler with Muk again. Brock signaled for them to begin.
"Parasect, use Aerial Ace!" its trainer commanded. Parasect disappeared for a split second, before reappearing behind Muk. Ash quickly ordered an Acid Armor attack, and Muk hardened its body a little. When Parasect slashed it, its appendage got stuck to its globby body. Muk squeezed its opponent to the floor for a while, before finally getting up. Parasect was down.
"Parasect can't battle, Muk wins!" shouted Brock.
Samurai sent out his last Pokemon: Pinsir. Muk was replaced with Bayleef. Bayleef tackled Ash to the ground.
"I'm glad to see you too, but we have a battle!" Ash told her. Bayleef got off of him and faced Pinsir and Samurai. Samurai ordered a Stone Edge. Stones formed around his Pokemon and launched at Bayleef, who used her vines to defend herself. Pinsir's next move was Close Combat. When it got close to Bayleef, she wrapped her vines around Pinsir's limbs and horn, rendering him immobile. She then opened her mouth and unleashed a green ball at Pinsir, knocking it out.
"Pinsir can't battle! Since Samurai lost all of his Pokemon, the winners are Ash and Bayleef from Pallet Town!" shouted Brock. Ash and Bayleef were celebrating, while Samurai recalled his Pokemon. After a brief conversation, Ash went deeper into the forest. It looked like he had gotten all of them lost until a familiar cry filled their ears. They looked up, and sure enough, Ash's old Pidgeot was flying above them. Ash was elated.
"Pidgeot!" he cried. "It's you!" Suddenly, he felt guilty for having not visited him in years. "I-I'm so sorry I didn't come back sooner." Pidgeot landed next to him and softly chirped, as if to say he forgave him. Brock and Misty looked on in awe.
30 Minutes Later
They had just arrived in Vermilion City, where Samurai said a minor triple battle tournament was being hosted. This would be good practice for the main one coming up in a week. The trio approached a man who was hosting it.
"You're just in time." the man said. "Just sign your names right here on this slip." They did as they were told.
7 Easy Matches Later
Ash, Misty, and Brock were in the finals against a trio they knew all too well...and it wasn't Team Rocket in disguise. One was lean with blue hair, the other had spiky maroon hair, and the last one was fat with a bowl cut. They all wore karate suits that were purple.
"I-I thought they were banned from all official Pokemon tournaments!" Ash cried.
"This is a minor tournament, so I guess even they're allowed." Brock answered, as Ash made a few rotations with his Pokedex.
Before Misty could add anything, the announcer cut in with: "Next up: The Invincible (Ash, Misty and Brock made quote fingers as he said the word) Pokemon Brothers: Kail, Kim, and Kai vs...Ash, Brock and Misty!" The six of them took their positions on each side. Ash noticed Misty and Brock staring at their Poke Balls intently.
"Now's a good time, don't ya think?" Misty asked, as their opponents sent out Hitmonlee (Kail), Hitmonchan (Kim), and Hitmontop (Kai).
"Yup." Brock answered. "Go, Fennekin!" A cute, fuzzy orange fox with even fuzzier ears emerged from Brock's ball. Everyone was surprised, including the referee. Many people, including Ash, tried to scan it, but: "NO DATA FOUND."
Next, Misty sent out a blue quadrupedal frog with white fuzz around its neck. Just like before: "NO DATA FOUND."
Ash felt left out that he didn't have a mysterious Pokemon, but thought little of it. "Snivy, I choose you!" He sent out his Unova starter, who landed next to the frog (who Misty called Froakie), who was between Snivy and Fennekin.
Shaking off his confusion, the referee began the match.
(Chapter Quiz: Trainers, which one of these Pokemon is NOT a starter from the Unova region? The choices are: Totodile, Tepig, Snivy. The answer to be revealed in the next chapter...Okay, so this was piss-easy, but at least it's not "Arbok evolves into Seviper" :P)
"Hitmonchan, use Bullet Punch!" commanded its trainer, pointing at the snake. Its fists glowed silver as it dashed towards Snivy.
"Dodge it!" shouted Ash, as Snivy smacked its vines to the ground to jump, not unlike his Bulbasaur. "Now, grab em!" Kim got his Pokemon to jump back, before he realized that the Vine Whip was meant for Hitmonlee's legs. Thanks to that, Froakie could finally get a Bubblebeam attack in. To try to close the distance, Hitmonchan went in for a Mach Punch, but Fennekin dashed towards it and rammed into it, sending it back a little. Froakie used Protect to avoid a Close Combat from Hitmontop. Snivy was finally forced to let go when Hitmonlee's foot cloaked in flames and burned Snivy.
"Snivy, Leaf Storm!" shouted Ash. His Snivy spun around and unleashed a bunch of leaves at her opponents. They tried their best to avoid them, but they got hit by most of them anyway.
"Fennekin, Flame Burst!" shouted Brock, as Fennekin formed a ball of fire that became many flame streaks. They all scorched the leaves that landed on the ground as a result of Leaf Storm. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee (along with everyone else at close range) covered their noses because of the awful singed smell. Even Hitmontop had to stop spinning because of how bad it smelled.
"Brine!" shouted Misty, as Froakie opened its mouth and spat water needles at all of them, taking them down. The "Invincible" Pokemon Brothers shouted at their Pokemon to get up, but it was no use, so the referee called their defeat. They didn't take it well, as each of them sent out Sawk, Throh, and Conkelder.
"Hey, that's not fair!" the referee shouted. "You already lost!"
Kai ignored him and commanded a Stone Edge. The stones were all aimed at Fennekin, who weaved around them with Quick Attack. The next set of stones, oddly enough, missed Fennekin completely. Snivy and Froakie were distreacted by Sawk and Throh, who forced them to avoid their attacks. When Fennekin saw who the stones were aimed at, she rushed towards Brock and tackled him into the ground, just barely managing to avoid them. This did not go unnoticed by anyone.
"Hey! Who do you think you are!?" Ash shouted, as a stray stone hit the fox Pokemon.
"We play to win, don't like it? Too bad." Kail said.
Ash and Misty were both angry as Brock got up. "You'll pay!" Misty shouted. "Froakie, use Double Team!" Her Pokemon made many copies of itself, then did a Bubblebeam in the air, making it that much harder for anyone to even detect the real one (thanks to the bubble reflections). None of their opponents could hit anyone. Ash was coming up with a strategy of his own, before he flashed back to a battle between Trip and Bianca, two of his Unova rivals. Emboar took Conkelder's stone pillars and thrust them back at it, taking it down. Brock seemed to have formulated a plan, too.
"Flash!" shouted Brock, as his Pokemon's tail turned bright and blinded Sawk and Throh, whose latest plan involved ganging up on Fennekin 2-on-1. It completely backfired on them, however. Conkelder was on its own as Ash's Snivy used Attract on him. Snivy seduced him into giving up his pillars, before she hoisted them up in the air with her vines. They fell and toppled on the Pokemon, rendering him unable to battle.
"Wow, not only did they cheat many times, but they're still losing." a spectator said, as Froakie and Fennekin used Hydro Pump and Flamethrower on the remaining two opponents, securing them the victory.
"Despite cheating, the Invincible Pokemon Brothers are unable to battle, the clear winners are Ash, Misty and Brock! That means they win the grand prize!" Everyone cheered as they went up to get all of the money they had earned. The brothers broke down in front of everyone as Officer Jenny arrested them. They then congratulated their Pokemon on a job well done as they recalled them.
"So, what are we going to do with all this money?" Ash asked.
"Shopping! What else?" Misty cried, as she somehow dragged Ash, Brock, Pikachu and Azurill through a forest.
"You had to ask, didn't you?" Brock muttered.
"Winning's never felt so unrewarding..." Ash said, dazed. From behind a tree, a spiky Pokemon was watching them, laughing to itself...
CREDITS
Back to Basics
Creator: marioluigifan05
Theme Song: Jason Paige
4Kids Entertainment
Voices
Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor
Brock: Eric Stuart
Professor Oak: Stan Hart
Tracey: Ted Lewis
Misty: Rachael Lillis
Pikachu: Ikue Otani
Samurai: Jimmy Zoppi
Kim: Sean Schemmel
Kai: Greg Abbey
Kail: Marc Thompson