Chapter 3: Charmander's Hope! Sorrel's Help

Isamu's POV

Last chapter, Ash and I saw a Ho-Oh, one of the Legendary Pokémon that was flying above us. And while it was flying, a wing fell out from it, somehow. I could only guess that it belonged to Ho-Oh. Did it drop it by accident or was it a gift to the two of us, somehow?

But after seeing Ho-Oh, the two of us promised together that we would find Ho-Oh again someday, while traveling together to become strong. Our partners, Eevee and Pikachu were right with us when we began to travel around in the Kanto region.

Along the way, we fought many tough battles while befriending a wild Caterpie and Dratini, adding them to our teams and companions. But after we defeated Erika at the Celadon City Gym, we were lectured by our mother back at the Pokémon Center, causing us to be embarrassed for all the Trainers that heard her.

But while we were speaking to her, we discovered a Trainer who was defeated by another Legendary Pokémon, Entei. Inspired to see this Pokémon, Ash and I explored around the forest to search for it. It's also where we met three new Trainers.

The two girls had Arcanine and Piplup. Their names were Luna and Verity. The boy with the Lucario was Sorrel. But even with the five of us together, none of us were able to deal serious damage to Entei, let alone catch it.

After a bit of arguing, Ash and I got into a battle against both Luna and Verity. But while we were battling, Piplup and Arcanine's attacks accidentally woke up an Onix, who got into a rage for the rude awakening! Now we were running for our lives, hoping to outrun the angry Rock Snake Pokémon.


Despite the fact that Onix could catch up, the four of us ran as fast we could as Ash noticed the rock up ahead.

"Ah! Look! That rock! Let's get on top of it!" Ash cried out as the four of us ran to where the rock was. But as we all climbed up to get away, Onix smashed the rock apart, causing all of us to yell as we were all sent flying high into the air!

Somehow, we all got onto Onix's back, who kept roaring in anger while ramming himself onto cliff walls! This is bad... At this rate, Onix will only end up hurting himself more than hurting us! Ash seemed to get it as he tried to call for the Rock Snake Pokémon to stop.

"Onix! Stop it! You're only gonna hurt yourself this way!" Ash snapped as he tried to hang on tight to the Rock Type's body.

"I don't think Onix is listening! It's too angry to listen to anyone right now!" I grunted as I held tight as well, with Eevee struggling as well. Luna and Verity were also having trouble holding on as Verity snapped at little bro for the yelling.

"Your brother is right! Besides, yelling at it is only going to make it worse!" Verity added as Luna shrieked, feeling the pressure she was feeling of trying to hold on. While Onix continued on with his rampage, Ash suddenly turned to me with a serious expression.

"Big bro! Look after Pikachu for a sec!" Ash called out, causing me to widen my eyes in both surprise and realization.

"Wait, what are you...!? Ash, are you crazy!?" I yelled after him as he got up to run on Onix's body and jump off! All of us and our Pokémon gasped to see little bro jump off Onix's head and get in front of the Rock Snake Pokémon with a serious and determined look.

"Ash, be careful!" "Oh no!" Both Verity and Luna suddenly became concerned for little bro as I gritted my teeth. I knew that he liked Pokémon and didn't want them to get hurt, but facing Onix head on like this is just... crazy! He could die if Onix continues on like this!

"ASH! GET OUT OF THERE!" I bellowed out, with Pikachu and Eevee calling to him. But still determined to stop Onix on his own, Ash remained still, while yelling at Onix to stop his rampaging right now.

"STOP IT!" Ash screamed out loud. Despite his yell, Onix continued rampaging, forcing me to call Eevee!

"Dammit! Eevee, stop Onix in his tracks with Shadow Ball!" I called out.

"Piplup, you help too! Use Whirlpool!" Verity shouted out.

At our orders, both Eevee and Piplup launched their attacks in front of Onix, causing the Whirlpool to block Onix's way! And the Shadow Ball from Eevee stopped Onix in his tracks, preventing the Rock Snake Pokémon from moving any further.

At this opportunity, Ash began to speak, attempting to convince the big Rock Type to calm down and stop his wild rampaging.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Onix! I wish you'd just calm down, please!" Ash pleaded, showing how serious he was to the Rock Snake Pokémon. I listened and watched as little bro remained determined to stop the Pokémon from hurting himself.

I could only bite my lips and hope that Onix would listen to what little bro was saying. The others watched as well as they seemed to hope the same thing. But just as we could think that things were about to get worse, Onix seemed to understand as he roared softly before digging underground.

That gave me, Verity, and Luna the signal to jump off of Onix's back, with Pikachu, Piplup, and Eevee following! The Rock Snake Pokémon disappeared underground, his rage finally calmed down, thanks to Ash's efforts of trying to befriend the Rock Snake Pokémon.

However... what he did was VERY reckless! As the four of us and our three Pokémon friends ran to where Onix escaped, Verity and Luna both called to the disappeared Rock Type for the mistake they've made with their Pokémon's attacks.

"Onix, I'm sorry!"

"I hope you can forgive us for our mistakes!"

I sighed, folding my arms before turning to the two girls with a small smile.

"Don't worry... With the way Onix just acted, I'm sure it forgave the two of you and your partner Pokémon for the mistake you've done with your attacks from before..." I said in a reassuring way. The girls both sighed in relief while Ash complimented both Eevee and Piplup for the save.

"Piplup and Eevee... Your Whirlpool and Shadow Ball together really saved the day!" Ash complimented with a grin.

"Piplup...!"

"Vee! Eevee!"

The two Pokémon thanked Ash for the praise. But I on the other hand, wasn't too pleased with the reckless action Ash had done just now with Onix as I stepped up to him with an annoyed expression, causing little bro to sweat drop and take a few steps back with a nervous expression.

"H-Huh!? Oh... Ah ha... Big bro! Everything's going to be okay, okay? No one got hurt pretty bad, right?" Ash asked nervously, causing me to snap.

"YOU THINK!? That was a very reckless stunt you pulled back there, little bro! If it weren't for Eevee and Piplup shooting their attacks to stop Onix in its tracks, you would've been squashed flat to the ground! Do you have any idea how shocked I was with you jumping off like that!?" I snapped at him.

Both Verity and Luna flinched at my sudden change of my tone as I lectured Ash with the reckless things he did just now, causing him to gulp and sweat for a few minutes before I stopped my angry lecture with a sigh.

"You can be really unbelievable, you know that...?" I sighed as Ash gave a sheepish smile to me, before reminding me of the time when we tried to protect both Pikachu and Eevee together from the angry Spearow flock.

"Come on, big bro... You know that it wasn't just me getting reckless! There was a time when you acted reckless when we faced the Spearow flock together, remember?" Ash asked, causing me to glare at little bro before I spoke.

"Excuse me, little brother... You were the one that started with that reckless action! I couldn't just sit there and let you be the only one to nearly get pecked to death by the flock when it should be the two of us fighting together..." I said annoyingly, despite my tone sounding a bit soft.

That caused Ash to sigh again before he gave me an apologetic look.

"Y-Yeah... I'm sorry." Ash said, causing me to turn back to him with a weak smile.

"It's fine. Just... don't try anything stupid like that again." I said softly. Eevee and Pikachu both smiled at the two of us reconciling as Verity stepped up, thanking little bro for the "heroic acts" he did just now to save not just her, but Luna and Piplup.

"Ash, thank you. I've got to tell you... you do some dumb things, but I'm impressed!" Verity admitted, causing me to chuckle a little. Ash on the other hand, just blinked with bewilderment while Verity shook her head.

"Huh...?" was all Ash could say before Verity just giggled.

"Forget it!" Verity giggled as Luna stepped up to me this time, with a timid, but calm smile on her face.

"Isamu... Thanks for your help, too. I don't know what I would've done too, if Onix continued to rampage like that." Luna said softly as I folded my arms before I sighed, shaking my head in denial.

"If you want to thank anyone, thank my little bro there. He's the one that reasoned Onix to stop rampaging in the first place, despite of his reckless stunt..." I said, before giving another glare to Ash, who just flinched at my small glare at him.

Luna nodded reluctantly at that, before she blinked. I blinked as well, feeling something wet as I looked up. The others looked up as well to see...

"Rain!" Ash pointed out, with Luna remembering what Sorrel said before.

"It's just like what Sorrel said... We have to find shelter!" Luna cried out. At the four of us agreeing, we all ran to find someplace where we could find shelter. It couldn't be anywhere, since there could be wild Pokémon sheltering in some places, too.

But as we were running, both Ash and I heard a faint cry coming from our right!

"Char..." A Pokémon cried out sadly as both he and I turned to see a familiar Pokémon right ahead of us! It was a Charmander! Verity and Luna stopped to see the little Fire Type sitting on a rock, with a sad and weak expression on its face as we ran over to it.

"A Charmander!" Ash exclaimed in disbelief.

"It doesn't look like it's very happy..." Verity said, noticing how it felt on its face.

I knelt down to its level, questioning on why it was here and not in a dry and warm place.

"Hey... What are you doing here? It's raining, which means it won't be safe here for you! Look at your flame! It's starting to dim weakly because of the rain falling down!" I said, trying to make the Charmander be convinced that it wasn't safe for him to be here.

But sad as it was, the Lizard Pokémon only gave a sad glance at both me and Eevee, before it looked up. As soon as it did, it widened its eyes before it ran to someone that was coming! The four of us turned to see a Trainer coming to our way with a Pokémon that I haven't seen before.

One look at his face gave me small chills. Who was that guy? He didn't look like a nice person, considering the way his face is showing it. And that Pokémon of his... it looked strong and wild, which could possibly intimidate any opponent that stands in its way!

"Could that be Charmander's Trainer?" Luna asked, catching my attention as I watched Charmander run to the boy happily, which seemed to prove Luna's guess correct. But with the way the Trainer was moving, he didn't look happy to see the Fire Type coming to him.

But just as Charmander weakly embraced the Trainer's right leg, he just scoffed and kicked the weak Fire Type away! Ash, Luna, and Verity all gasped before they glared at the Trainer while I just narrowed my eyes at this creep.

Eevee, Pikachu, and Piplup all widened their eyes before we all ran to where Charmander was struggling to get up! The rain was pouring down on it, making it feel weaker, due to it being a Fire Type.

"You're still here? Go away!" The Trainer demanded as Ash and Pikachu ran over to Charmander to help it up. Luna joined him as Verity and I confronted the creep with Verity taking the first move by snapping at the Trainer.

"Hey, wait! Are you its Trainer!?" Verity asked, causing the Trainer to narrow his eyes.

"Who's asking...?" The Trainer asked in a mocking way, causing Ash to glare at him while Luna tried to comfort the little Lizard Pokémon.

"Answer the question!" Ash said angrily as the Trainer raised an eyebrow.

"Huh... What are you worked up about?" The Trainer asked as I stepped up, glaring at his arrogant and unconcerned expression.

"We're worked up on why you're treating Charmander this way. It looked pretty happy to see you, yet you didn't seem to care! Why is that?" I asked dangerously, causing the Pokémon of his to growl before the Trainer put a hand in front of it, stopping his Pokémon from doing anything rash.

"Hmph... You're pretty observant. Yeah. Originally, I was!" The Trainer said with a smirk, causing the four of us to tense with Ash repeating his word.

"Originally!?" Ash repeated in shock as the Trainer explained.

"I ditched the weakling! There are Charmander like that all over the place!" The Trainer spoke arrogantly, causing all of us and our Pokémon to be even madder. The Trainer continued on, his smirk going away as his face showed annoyance instead.

"But then, it just kept following me! So, I told it to wait here." The Trainer explained, snapping Ash as he spat at the arrogant Trainer.

"What an awful thing to say!" Ash snapped with Verity joining in.

"Ash is right! When you've caught a Pokémon and then you tell it to wait, some of them will actually wait forever!" Verity snapped at him. Taking no heed in Verity's words, the Trainer continued to walk before he stopped for a moment to glance back.

"So what's the problem?" The Trainer asked as he continued walking. That seemed to hurt Charmander a little as the Fire Type gave a weak "Char", before Ash ran over to try and confront the arrogant Trainer.

"Argh! Hold it!" Ash snapped as he forced the Trainer to turn to him, annoying the Trainer as his Pokémon reacted violently! It rushed in to attack, much to Ash's surprise as he tried to brace himself.

"Ash, no!" I called out as I tried to run forward to defend him. But just before I could even take a step, something else took the hit, protecting Ash from that Pokémon's sudden attack! The Trainer widened his eyes in surprise as he scoffed in annoyance.

"You...!" The Trainer said as his Pokémon glared at the one that blocked his attack. As for the one that protected Ash, it growled back as another voice joined in with the "conversation".

"Nice timing, Lycanroc." Another boy called out. I blinked, before turning to see another boy walking towards us! He looked pretty young, but mature at the same time. He had parallel black marks on his cheeks, which were under his ocean-blue eyes as he walked past us to confront the arrogant Trainer.

"I see you haven't changed this rude attitude of yours, Cross." The boy said seriously as the Trainer, now known as Cross glared at the newcomer.

"You and your so-called Pokémon friends... Why can't you stay out of business!?" Cross snapped as Verity and Luna looked at each other while I helped Ash get back up to his feet, with Eevee and Pikachu joining us.

"Why should I stay out when you're only causing trouble for other Trainers and the Pokémon that is still loyal to you? You have some nerve calling yourself a Trainer when all you do is abandon Pokémon that you deem as weak!" The newcomer said annoyingly as Cross twitched his eyes in annoyance.

Scoffing in annoyance, he stepped back, before glaring at the four of us.

"Listen well! Only a Pokémon's strength matters! If it's gonna survive, then it better grow stronger!" Cross said, snapping Ash again as he glared at Cross for his arrogant words.

"What!?" Ash snapped as Verity snapped at him also.

"Wait! Isn't it a Trainer's job to help their Pokémon grow strong!?" Verity snapped as Luna stepped in, feeling annoyed with the attitude Cross was giving off.

"How can you call yourself a Trainer if you just ditch them because of your selfish beliefs!?" Luna snapped as Cross just narrowed his eyes, before he spoke again.

"Hmph... It's my belief, so it's my choice! And what do you get for that work, anyway?" Cross asked as Ash was about to answer, before I stepped up. I wasn't going to let this punk get away with it, thinking that only the strong is better!

"That should be pretty obvious, isn't it? You get to become friends, making your bond even stronger!" I declared, catching everyone by surprise. Even the newcomer was a bit surprised for what I said as Cross scoffed again, refusing to believe in what I was saying about Pokémon.

"You and your twin there... are too soft! The only thing friendship does is make a Pokémon weak!" Cross declared, causing all of us to glare back at him.

"My name is Cross, like Kaito here just said! I'm gonna become the greatest Trainer ever." Cross sneered as he walked off, with his Pokémon following him.

"Cross! Hold on!" The newcomer, now known as Kaito said as he tried to go after the arrogant Trainer. But weak cries from Charmander stopped him from his tracks as both he and his Pokémon named Lycanroc both turned in surprise to see Charmander trying to go after Cross.

But due to the heavy rain pouring down on the Lizard Pokémon, Charmander couldn't move as he whimpered, before falling unconscious with his tail flame growing weaker and weaker! We all ran over to the poor Fire Type, with Ash calling to it first.

"Ah... Charmander!" Ash gasped as he held Charmander in his arms.

"Its flame is getting weaker! And if Charmander's flame goes out, then..." Verity started to say before Luna shook her head, not wanting to hear her friend say the word. Even with Verity not saying it, I knew what this meant for the poor Lizard Pokémon.

Ash seemed to understand as well before he turned to see both Cross and his Pokémon disappearing out of sight before Luna tried to get us to help it.

"Ash... Isamu... Verity... Please, we have to do something to help Charmander." Luna pleaded, his tone starting to crack as I frowned at her, before making a promise to her.

"Luna, it's going to be fine. We need to find some warm shelter so we could help Charmander get warm and healthy again." I said as Kaito stepped up, making his suggestion with Lycanroc at his side.

"I can show you guys the way. There's another person there using a cave for shelter. I'm sure he won't mind if four more comes to get dry." Kaito said, causing all of us to nod gratefully before he and Lycanroc led us the way. While we were following Kaito, Ash kept his jacket over Charmander's tail so it wouldn't die out.

Soon, we approached a cave where it seemed to be big for all of us to get in to get dry! But as Pikachu, Eevee, Piplup, and Lycanroc all shook themselves off to get the rainwater off of them, Pikachu and Eevee both noticed someone familiar ahead as they called out to us.

"Pika!?"

"Eevee!"

All of us except Kaito looked ahead to see... Sorrel and Lucario! At seeing us coming in, Sorrel quickly stood up and blinked before he noticed the weak Charmander in Ash's arms. Running over to it, he glared at little bro, concluding that he was the one to harm Charmander.

"You left it out in the rain!? What were you thinking!?" Sorrel snapped angrily until Kaito pushed Sorrel away, defending little bro as he spoke.

"Stop it, Sorrel. It isn't his fault! This Charmander was abandoned by an arrogant Trainer, causing this guy and his friends to save the little guy!" Kaito snapped back, causing Sorrel to calm down before he turned to Charmander, who was breathing weakly.

Nodding in understanding, he led us to where his Lucario was waiting by the fire.

Setting Charmander down on the dry blanket where it was near the fire, Sorrel got ready to make medicine to cure Charmander while Verity placed a warm, wet rag on top of Charmander's forehead, while Kaito and Luna watched to see this happen.

Ash and I on the other hand, stayed near the Lizard Pokémon with Eevee and Pikachu watching with us as Ash asked.

"Can you help...?" Ash asked hopefully. Sorrel kept his expression calm while he continued to make the medicine.

"That's what I'm trying to do..." Sorrel said as he began to mix up some ingredients that would help Charmander feel better. Piplup, Pikachu, and Eevee all cried out sadly, all worrying for Charmander. Lycanroc on the other hand, remained calm as he looked up at Kaito, as the boy just sighed.

"Tell me something... Was Charmander sitting on the rock while you were trying to find shelter?" Kaito asked, allowing Luna to answer.

"Yes... It was waiting for Cross to come back. Even while it was raining, Charmander refused to move from the spot where Cross told it to wait..." Luna said sadly as Sorrel narrowed his eyes.

"In that case, no Pokémon with that much loyalty is going to go untreated." Sorrel said as he prepared to give Charmander the medicine he needed to feel better.

"I know it's hard... But please, take this." Sorrel said as Ash helped him feed Charmander the medicine. It seemed to be working in progress as Charmander felt the taste as it winced from the bitterness as I watched.

"What was that medicine you fed it just now...?" I asked, allowing Sorrel to answer.

"It's a Pokémon medicine to make the cold go away. This should stabilize Charmander for a while. All we have to do now is to wait for it to recover." Sorrel explained as he felt Charmander's forehead for a moment before he sighed, taking another look at the Lizard Pokémon.

"Make sure it doesn't get cold..." Sorrel warned as Ash held it in his arms.

"I'll warm it up!" Ash said as he carefully held the Fire Type in his arms. As Ash held the poor Pokémon, Charmander stirred for a moment before he slowly woke up, to see Ash smiling at him brightly, before he comforted the little Fire Type.

"Don't worry, Charmander. You'll be just fine!" Ash said comfortingly, causing Charmander to slowly blink before it fell back asleep.

Once it slept, Ash carefully took off his wet jacket while handing Charmander to me for a moment as he took it off to keep himself from getting a cold. Kaito just sat next to Sorrel with Lycanroc at his side, his expression looking a bit annoyed.

I could only guess it was to due what Cross did to his former Fire Type Pokémon. Verity and Luna had taken their shoes off and let their hairs be released from their pigtails and their hair braids, letting their hairs be free.

As Ash cared for Charmander, he turned to Kaito, who remained annoyed for what the arrogant Trainer did before.

"Hey... I think that jerk said it before, but what was your name?" Ash asked, catching Kaito's attention as he regained his smile before he explained.

"Oh, right... My name is Kaito Shirogane. I'm from Melemele Island in the Alola region. And this here, is my second-in-command Pokémon named Lycanroc." Kaito explained, causing his Pokémon to bark with a smile.

"And, I'm sure you four know already, but the Trainer you just met... His name is Cross. And that Pokémon next to him before was also a Lycanroc." Kaito explained, causing me to frown as I turned to him, with a questioning look.

"His Pokémon is a Lycanroc, too? But why does yours and his look different from each other?" I asked as Ash blinked, having the same curiosity as I had, before I allowed Kaito to explain as he rubbed his Lycanroc's fur with a soft smile.

"The Lycanroc that was with Cross was its Midnight Form. The one I have with me is its Dusk Form." Kaito explained, leaving Luna to be confused as she was the next one to ask.

"Midnight Form and Dusk Form? So there are different forms of Lycanroc?" Luna asked, causing Kaito to nod before he explained again.

"That's right. There's a Pokémon in the Alola region called a Rockruff. Rockruff evolves, depending on what time it is. Should it be around daytime, it evolves into another form called the Midday Form. If it evolves around night, that's when it evolves into its Midnight Form."

"And finally, when it evolves around the times the sun starts to set, that's when Rockruff evolves into the Dusk Form? That's what happened to my Lycanroc when he evolved back in Alola." Kaito explained as he rubbed Lycanroc's fur, much to its content.

With the small lecture of the forms Lycanroc took, we all understood, although Sorrel seemed to understand more than the rest of us did as Verity smiled, before introducing herself as she didn't do before.

"Getting back to the introductions, I'm Verity! From Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region! And this is my partner, Piplup!"

"Pip Piplup!" Verity introduced herself brightly with Piplup introducing itself as well as Luna introduced herself, too.

"My name is Luna from Pewter City, here in the Kanto region. And..." Luna began before she took out a Pokéball. But before she could do anything, it opened itself suddenly, startling everyone as Arcanine appeared, before he quickly darted over to his Trainer, checking her to see if she was alright or not.

"Eek! Arcanine, calm down! I'm okay! I'm just a little wet from the rain, that's all!" Luna giggled as Arcanine sniffing her tickled her a little as I only watched in amusement. With Arcanine behaving like that and with how it behaved before, I could already tell Arcanine cares for Luna deeply, just like she cares for him back.

"I see that Arcanine is your partner..." Kaito chuckled as Ash introduced himself next.

"And I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, here in the Kanto region! And this is my buddy, Pikachu!"

"Pika Pikachu!" Ash introduced himself before Pikachu introduced himself as well, before I took my turn to explain.

"My name is Isamu Ketchum. And like Ash, I'm also from Pallet Town, here in the Kanto region. The two of us are brothers, actually. And this little girl here, she's Eevee." I explained, before holding Eevee close to me as Eevee cooed happily before she nuzzled onto my chest.

"It's nice to meet the four of you. I already met Sorrel and Lucario when I was coming here, so you can say we're acquainted together..." Kaito explained as I nodded to him, with Ash, Luna, and Verity understanding. Before I could speak, Luna spoke up as she realized something.

"Um, Kaito? You said that Lycanroc is your second-in-command Pokémon, right? Well then, who's your partner?" Luna asked, causing Kaito to blink before he gave a sheepish smile as he took out another Pokéball, this one being a Dive Ball.

"Didn't think you'd catch that. Come on, Bui! Meet everyone else!" Kaito called out as he sent out another Pokémon, who looked like an orange weasel! It shook its fur before it turned to see both Kaito and Lycanroc, before it let out a happy cry as it ran to Kaito's chest, rubbing its face onto its Trainer affectionately.

"This is Buizel, my best friend and my partner. Buizel, say hi to everyone else." Kaito explained, causing Buizel to nod and greet us and our Pokémon. Piplup, Eevee, and Pikachu all greeted him brightly, while Lucario and Arcanine all gave him nods, before introducing themselves to it.

"Whoa... Another Pokémon I've never seen before... Just like with Lucario, Piplup, and Lycanroc!" Ash admitted, causing me to realize that I've also never seen these Pokémon before in Kanto.

"That's because Pokémon like Lucario, Buizel, and Piplup are from the Sinnoh region, which is a different region from Kanto. As for Lycanroc, it's from the Alola region, which is also a different region from Kanto." Sorrel explained.

"I see... Well, that explains on why we couldn't know on what kind of Pokémon they were..." I said, admitting that I didn't know who they were at first, until their Trainers called their Pokémon by their names.

While the introduction and the explanation were finished, we waited for Charmander to recover. Soon, it was around an hour before the Lizard Pokémon started stirring up again before it woke up, seeing Ash first in its eyes.

"C-Char...?" Charmander called out weakly, causing Ash to smile before he comforted the little Fire Type.

"How do you feel? Are you still cold?" Ash asked, as Buizel, Pikachu, Eevee, and Piplup joined in, all trying to look out for the poor Lizard Pokémon.

"Charmander..." Charmander said weakly as it gave a small smile. Closing its eyes again, it fell back asleep as I moved over to little bro so that I could feel the condition of how Charmander was feeling. It wasn't colder than before, which could mean that recovery was going along great.

"It's not too cold anymore... I can guess that it's recovering okay so far." I said as Sorrel walked over to check Charmander's condition, before he felt the same feeling, too.

"Hm... Things are looking a lot better." Sorrel said before he walked back to where his Lucario was sitting. As he walked back, Ash thanked him for the treatment he gave to the little Fire Type.

"It's 'cause of you! Thanks a lot!" Ash said thankfully as Verity was reminded of what Sorrel was like.

"You're like Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center!" Verity complimented, causing Sorrel to chuckle before he explained of what he wanted to be and why he was traveling in Kanto at first.

"I'm hoping to become a Pokémon Professor. And you need medical training for that." Sorrel explained as he sat down, next to Kaito and Lucario before allowing us to understand on what his goal was.

"Wow..." was all little bro could say before Sorrel continued on.

While he was doing so, Piplup, Pikachu, Eevee, and Buizel were running around together, playing chase as they played near the fire to keep themselves warm from the cold they could feel later.

"Right now, I'm traveling all over, gathering data on Legendary Pokémon." Sorrel explained, amazing Luna as she realized on why Sorrel was battling Entei.

"I see... So, was that the reason why you and Lucario tried to battle Entei? In order to gather data from it?" Luna asked, earning a nod from Sorrel.

"Of course! It was a priceless experience!" Sorrel explained before he turned to the two girls, asking Verity first about her reason for traveling.

"By the way... why did you come here, Verity? You're a long way from home." Sorrel asked, causing me to realize on what he meant. Verity was from Twinleaf Town of the Sinnoh region, so this would mean Sorrel would know where it is since he's from the Sinnoh region also.

At the question, Verity just blinked in surprise before she began to smile nervously, before she made her story short.

"Ah ha ha... It's a long story!" Verity said nervously, causing Sorrel to blink before he understood. He turned to Luna, wanting to hear her story of why she was traveling.

"I see... What about you, Luna? Why are you traveling? Pewter City may be in the same region that you're traveling in right now, but you're still a bit far from home. Why is that?" Sorrel asked. At his question, Arcanine began to look down and grumble a little, while Luna bit her lips and sighed.

"I... don't want to talk about it. All I can say is... it had to do something with my father." Luna explained, causing all of us to frown at her, before we understood that it wasn't a good memory for Luna to remember, before Verity quickly turned to Kaito.

"W-Well, in that case! Kaito, what about you? Why are you traveling in the Kanto region when Alola is your home region?" Verity asked as Kaito smiled before he explained.

"Well... To be honest, I wanted to come to the Kanto region to study what kind of Pokémon they were in this region. But when I heard about a Pokémon League Tournament coming up in this region, I decided to take part of it." Kaito explained, causing Ash to be excited as he showed his three Badges to Kaito.

"Whoa, really!? Big bro and I are entering the tournament, too! We both have three Badges! How many do you have?" Ash asked, allowing Kaito to show his Gym Badges.

"I have the same number as you and your brother. Although, I started out awkwardly..." Kaito explained before he scratched the back of his head. That left all of us curious as Verity was the one to ask.

"Awkwardly? How is that?" Verity asked.

"Well, you see..." Kaito started to say before he took out something from his bag. Out in his hands was... a crown!

"Is that... a crown!?" Verity gasped as Sorrel turned to Kaito with a disbelieving look.

"But that would mean you're part of a..." Sorrel started to say, before Kaito finished it for him.

"Yes... I'm part of a royal family. I'm supposed to be the Prince, somewhere in the Alola region." Kaito said with a sigh, leaving all of us bewildered and amazed. Lycanroc only gave his Trainer a sheepish look while Buizel rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"You're... a Prince!?" Ash exclaimed, causing Kaito give a sheepish smile and nod.

"Yep... Guilty as charged." Kaito said sheepishly, leaving all of us speechless before I spoke again, losing my surprised expression.

"Hold on, if you're a Prince of the royal family, then why are you here in the Kanto region? Your mother and father actually allowed you to leave your home region and come here to travel?" I asked, wanting to know what his parents were thinking.

"Yes... To be honest, I was kind of hesitant to ask them about it first, since I still had my royal duties as a Prince, living inside a palace." Kaito explained as he recalled the times whenever he was younger, as he was timid to ask his parents about his dream.

"But... when I finally told my family and the servants about my wish, they all just laughed! They said they knew this whole time that I wanted to go out and have adventure..."

"It made me realize on how small I was. I didn't have the courage to ask them when I was younger, but when I become the age that I get to go out, I began to regret that I never asked them when I was younger..." Kaito explained sheepishly.

"Bu bui..." "Lyc..." Both Buizel and Lycanroc spoke to Kaito softly, as I felt they were trying to comfort their Trainer.

"Wow... I guess this meant you never knew that your parents would be perfectly okay with you going out..." Luna said, as she slowly seemed to understand on how Kaito was feeling about his parents.

"Yeah... I thought they would go against me for my wishes to travel, but for them to say yes so easily... it made me feel a bit awkward..." Kaito admitted before he shook his head as he turned to the Ketchum Brothers.

"Well... I told you guys my part of the story. You two are the only ones that need to explain on why you're traveling on a journey together." Isamu said, causing Ash to grin as I allowed little bro to speak our dreams for us.

"Us? We want to become the world's greatest Pokémon Masters!" Ash declared, catching the others by surprise with Verity asking.

"Masters? You mean, the world's best Trainers?" Verity asked, allowing me to answer with a shaking head.

"To be honest, we kind of want to be more than just best Trainers... Something bigger than that, to be honest." I explained, causing Luna to giggle a little while Sorrel gave a chuckle at our dreams of wanting to become the best.

Kaito just gave an amused smile while Verity just smiled sheepishly. But as we were enjoying our time speaking with one another, we all felt the wind picking up, causing some of us to shiver from the sudden cold breeze.

"Brr...! It's so cold!" Verity said, shivering as she rubbed her arms. Arcanine nuzzled Luna, allowing Luna to smile and feel the warmth from her protector's fur. Kaito shook a little bit while Ash on the other hand, gave a little sneeze!

"A-A-ACHOO!" Ash sneezed, catching my attention as I gave him a sheepish look.

"You okay, little bro? Looks like you're starting to catch a cold, like Charmander did..." I said sheepishly, before I began to feel serious. With the rainstorm picking up, cold breeze will get in the cave more easily, which could be a problem to all six of us and our Pokémon.

"It's okay, big bro! That was nothing!" Ash said, trying to reassure that he was fine. Pikachu only blinked as he ran over to Ash, nuzzling at his side to keep him warm. Little bro just smiled, feeling grateful for his best friend's attempt to help.

Eevee quickly came to my side too, jumping into my chest before she cuddled onto it! I could only smile on how cute and sweet she looked for being affectionate as I embraced her, causing Eevee to relax with my touch and care.

"Trying to warm me up? Thanks, Pikachu..."

"You're sweet, Eevee. Thanks."

Piplup ran over to Verity as we thanked our partners for trying Tom comfort us with warm as Buizel ran over to Kaito and Lycanroc. The two looked like they were trying to do the same like what Pikachu and Eevee were trying to do!

"Thanks, Piplup!"

"Thanks, Bui."

As the two thanked their Water Types for their attempts, Sorrel took out a Pokéball, before trying to call his Lucario back with it.

"As a precaution, you're going back in your Pokéball. We shouldn't let the Pokémon spend the night out in the cold." Sorrel said, as he returned his partner back. Both Kaito and Verity saw this before they tried to do the same with their Pokémon.

"You're right... You too, Piplup!"

"Sorry, Buizel. Lycanroc. You two need to go back in as well."

Their three Pokémon were called back as Luna tried to do the same, only to see Arcanine shaking his head before he nudged her cheek again, causing her to giggle at both his refusal and his affection.

"Arcanine..." Luna could only say as both Ash and I took out our partners' Pokéballs, too. The thing was, just like with Pikachu... Eevee didn't like going inside her Pokéball either, which made me decide to not return her to her ball at all, unless if it was an emergency.

"The thing is... I'd like to do that, but Pikachu really can't stand getting into his Pokéball. Right, buddy?" Ash asked, earning a shaking head from his best friend.

"The same goes for Eevee. She doesn't like the Pokéball either, so I don't force her into one unless if it's a real emergency. Isn't that right, girl?" I asked, causing Eevee to coo in response before she shook her head, proving my words correct.

"I don't think Arcanine wants to go in, either... Ever since we left home together, he's always been protective of me... So much that he doesn't even want to go in. The last time he went in was because of me panicking..." Luna explained sheepishly.

The Legendary Pokemon growled softly in response before he nuzzled her little girl affectionately once again.

But as soon as the theee of us showed Verity, Sorrel, and Kaito that our Pokémon didn't like going inside their Pokéballs, their Pokéballs suddenly opened to show Lucario, Piplup, Buizel, and Lycanroc all coming out to be with their Trainers!

"No, you'll catch a cold!" Verity protested while Sorrel tried to convince his partner.

"It's for the best." Sorrel tried to say, only to receive a shake of head from the Aura Pokémon.

"You know that you two aren't safe out right now, don't you?" Kaito asked, before he received a nuzzle on the nose from Buizel's nose while Lycanroc nuzzled its... rocky collar onto Kaito's neck, causing him to flinch a little before he chuckled.

"All right, fine..." Kaito said, sighing before his smile grew a little.

"Lucario..." Sorrel started to say before his Pokémon shook his head again, showing that he wanted to stay out with Sorrel. Piplup did the same with Verity, causing her to smile at her partner.

"Hm... All right..." Verity giggled while Sorrel sighed.

Despite their reluctance, the three of them all decided to let their Pokémon sleep even with the cold wind blowing. While Ash and I watched the three get along with their Pokémon, we both felt Eevee and Pikachu comforting us again, as they tried to give us some warmth too with their bodies.

Later...

The six of us were all fast asleep with our Pokémon together. But while we were sleeping, we heard some noise coming from outside. Awakening at the noise, we all saw a big surprise. It was Entei coming in from the rain! But it wasn't just Entei... there were other small wild Pokémon coming in with the Legendary Pokémon.

We all watched Entei walk past us as Entei just gazed at us before it provided warmth for the little wild Pokémon that really needed it.

"Seeing the fearsome forces of nature, people and Pokémon are the same..." Sorrel stated, with both Luna and Verity agreeing with him.

"Yeah..."

"I can see that you're right..."

Sorrel smiled, before turning to the five of us with surprising information, as he mentioned the Pokémon that Ash and I both know about, since we saw Ho-Oh together on our first day on the journey together.

"There's a legend, that proclaims that Ho-Oh gave life to Entei." Sorrel explained, causing Ash to widen his eyes as his curiosity allowed him to ask.

"You mean it!?" Ash asked, causing Sorrel to nod. With that done, he began to explain to the five of us of the legend of Ho-Oh and how Entei was born, along with two more Legendary Pokémon that was born besides it.

"You see... around 150 years ago, there was a magnificent bell tower. And this bell tower made it possible for humans to actually make contact with Ho-Oh. But, lightning struck the tower, engulfing it in flames..."

"Suddenly, a great rain came down and the flames were extinguished. But three nameless Pokémon succumbed to the inferno. Amidst the destruction, Ho-Oh descended and bestowed life upon them once again! And they revived..."

"They represented the lightning that struck... the flame that engulfed... and the water that extinguished the tower. Three natural forces made flesh! Raikou, Entei, and Suicune..." Sorrel explained. At finishing his tale, he showed all of us the pictures of the three Legendary Pokémon that Ho-Oh had given life to.

"Oh... I just love Suicune...!" Verity commented as Luna took a closer look at the three pictures before she looked back at Entei.

"Oh wow... So, I guess all of us have now seen the Pokémon that represents the flame that engulfed the bell tower..." Luna said as Entei opened its eyes, gazing at us, causing Luna to flinch before she became calm again.

"I didn't think it was possible for a Pokémon to revive into a Legendary Pokémon. But, now that I'm seeing Entei with my own eyes, I... don't know what else to say." Kaito admitted as he folded his arms, while Sorrel searched something else up for all of us to see.

"And this is the Pokémon that guards over their existences... Ho-Oh." Sorrel said as he showed us the picture of it. Both Ash and I gasped as Ash ran over to where his wet jacket was.

"Ah!" Ash gasped as I widened my eyes in surprise. At seeing our reactions, Verity blinked in surprise before she asked.

"You two seen it?" Verity asked, as Ash explained.

"The first day big bro and I started on our journey together!" Ash exclaimed, shocking both Kaito and Sorrel as Sorrel was the one to ask.

"Are you serious!?" Sorrel asked as I stood up, remembering the time when Ho-Oh came to our sight.

"Yeah... It's as if we saw a miracle on the day we began our journey together. It was also the same time when Pikachu and Eevee both saved us from a flock of angry Spearow during a rainstorm." I explained, causing Kaito to blink before he turned to me.

"A rainstorm...? Was there a rainbow after that?" Kaito asked, as Ash made the answer.

"Yeah! And as soon as we both saw Ho-Oh, this came floating down!" Ash explained. He revealed the feather Ho-Oh had given us, shocking Sorrel and Kaito again, while surprising both Luna and Verity as the feather was revealed.

"No way! You two got the Rainbow Wing!?" Sorrel gasped. Verity and Luna both turned to him in confusion while Kaito just stood up in amazement, with Buizel and Lycanroc following his reaction.

Entei on the other hand, just gave another glance at us as it witnessed Ash taking out the Rainbow Wing from his jacket. It looked interested at seeing one of the feathers that came from its savior.

"What's the Rainbow Wing?" Verity asked, still confused.

"Few people have ever seen Ho-Oh. And on rare occasions, Ho-Oh is said to bestow a feather on a human or two it particularly likes!" Sorrel explained, causing both me and Ash to look at each other, before I made the question to Sorrel.

"So, what you're saying... is that Ho-Oh didn't drop the Rainbow Wing by accident, but gave it to us because it likes us? Why would that be...?" I asked, causing Sorrel to frown before he tried to think of an explanation.

"There's a legend that explains it. It says there's a Rainbow Hero, who is led by the Rainbow Wing to seek out Ho-Oh." Sorrel explained, causing Ash and I to both look at the Rainbow Wing that Ho-Oh had given us, with Luna repeating of what Sorrel said just now.

"A Rainbow Hero... but it gave both Ash and Isamu the Rainbow Wing, didn't it? Wouldn't that make it two Rainbow Heroes if the legend is true?" Luna asked, causing Kaito to answer this time, as he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Well, that could be it... but I don't think I've ever heard of a Legendary Pokémon liking two humans instead of one..." Kaito said as he looked at the two of us.

"I'm sure it's one of you two... that is, if my words are true." Kaito said, causing the two of us to look back at each other again before we frowned together. Then, Ash regained his smile before he spoke.

"I don't know about any of this, but it looks cool!" Ash commented, causing Verity to give him an amused look.

"Oh? Impressed with yourself, are you now?" Verity asked coolly, causing little bro to give a sheepish smile.

"Ah ha ha... Whoops!" Ash chuckled as I smiled at him. For me, it didn't matter whether Ho-Oh gave either Ash or me the Rainbow Wing, or if it chose the both of us. If it was up to me, I would leave the Rainbow Wing to Ash, since he seems to show more care to Pokémon than I do.

While Ash cares more about bonding, I on the other hand, care more about...

Huh... What do I care about more? I mean, I care about Eevee a lot, especially since she's my best Pokémon friend. But there's also Dratini, who's also one of my Pokémon in the team. If Ash has something to care about, what do I care about more...?

Later, the six of us were all asleep, with our Pokémon sleeping besides us again. While I was sleeping, I heard some strange noises coming from both near me and Ash. Moving a little, I groggily opened my eyes a little to see... some strange figure gazing at Ash for some reason!

Then, when it turned to me, I quickly shut my eyes close again, before feeling the presence going away. What was that just now? A Pokémon? But if it was, then what kind? From what I've seen, I don't think I've ever seen this Pokémon. Was it another one that comes from another region? Or was it a special kind of Pokémon?

I didn't know what to think about, so I just fell back asleep, hoping to think about it more tomorrow when the sun is up again.

The next morning...

Sunlight came down to the cave, allowing all of us to wake up! Pikachu and Eevee were the first ones as they perked their ears up before they opened their eyes to see sunlight! They called to us, causing the two of us to be awake!

"Pika Pika!"

"Eev! Eevee!"

"Piplup..."

Piplup yawned while awakening itself as Verity did the same by stretching her arms a little. Luna slowly woke herself up, before getting off of Arcanine's back, as the Legendary Pokémon yawned loudly before waking up to see daylight shining into the cave.

Kaito rubbed his eyes to wake himself up while Buizel stretched his orange, furry arms. Lycanroc yawned before it woke itself up as it shook its fur a little. Sorrel and Lucario seemed to be awake by the time all of us were.

"Morning, Piplup! Sleep well?" Verity asked, earning a cheerful "Pip!" from her Water Type Pokémon.

But Buizel gave us a call, causing all of us to turn to where Entei and the other wild Pokémon were. At seeing them not there where they were, Ash was the first to speak up, noticing their absence.

"Entei and its friends are gone!" Ash exclaimed, with Sorrel nodding in agreement.

"I guess this means that Entei went back to where it usually does... Roaming around the lands while helping other wild and innocent Pokémon out..." Kaito grunted as he stretched his arms a little.

While we gazed at the spot where the Legendary Fire Type used to be, we all heard a groaning voice coming from our Lizard Pokémon friend. It was Charmander! It started to wake up, at seeing that there was light.

"Hey, Charmander! You feeling better?" Ash asked, feeling happy to see the little Fire Type feeling well.

"Charm! Charmander!" Charmander said happily, before it gave Ash a big smile on its face, showing how thankful it was for the rescue that Ash, Luna, Verity, and I had done together.

"Let's see... Your tail flame looks good!" Sorrel said as Charmander blinked, before he showed his tail flame to Sorrel. The six of us could see that the flame was burning great, showing that Charmander's health was fully restored, thanks to the recovery from last night.

"Yep! That tells me you are back to feeling fine! You're good to go!" Sorrel chuckled with a smile.

"Oh, that's such a relief. You don't know how much you worried us last night when it looked like your tail flame was about to die out..." Luna said happily as she knelt down to the Lizard Pokémon's level, earning a soft smile from the little Fire Type.

"Isn't that great, Charmander?" Ash asked, earning a happy "Charmander" from the Lizard Pokémon.

I knelt down next to Ash, before facing the little Fire Type that was formerly Cross'.

"Look... Are you sure you're feeling okay? Do you... remember what Cross did to you back before?" I asked, causing Charmander to blink before his happy face turned upside down, causing him to feel sad about what his former Trainer did to him during the rainstorm yesterday.

Ash could only smile and offer Charmander a second chance at traveling with another Trainer.

"Hey... You want to come along with us? I'd like us to become good friends! Come on, please?" Ash asked, trying to offer Charmander another chance to prove himself again. Remembering what Cross had done before, Charmander began to think before it smiled at Ash, giving him a nod.

"Char...mander!"

"Great! You really mean it?" Ash asked brightly, feeling joy as Charmander nodded, this time with a big smile.

"Charmander!" Charmander cried out happily as I watched. Little bro was making a new friend already, thanks to the effort he did to try and help his new Fire Type friend last night. We all watched as Ash took out a new Pokéball, before he offered it to the Lizard Pokémon.

"Okay! Here goes!" Ash exclaimed. He showed the ball to his new teammate, as Charmander grinned before he gave a headbutt to the ball, allowing him to be captured as Ash cheered for his new friend and teammate to battle with together.

"Yeah! I caught a Charmander!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

Both Ash and Pikachu cheered to have a new friend around as the rest of us watched the two of them celebrate together, with Verity and I congratulating him for gaining a new friend to journey with together.

"Congratulations, Ash! You too, Pikachu!" Verity giggled.

"Congrats, little bro. I'm sure you'll be a better Trainer for Charmander than how Cross did it." I said, causing little bro to grin back at me with a peace sign.

"You know I will, big bro!" Ash called out, with Pikachu climbing onto his shoulder before he called out his agreement.

"Pika Pikachu!"

Later, all of us got ready to hit back onto the road where we left the cave to see an amazing sight in front of our eyes.

"Ah... It's a rainbow!" Ash called out, sounding amazed with how beautiful the sight looked, thanks to the rainbow shining in the sky.

"It looks so beautiful... I guess that's one good thing the rain did last night." Luna said softly, feeling joy as I smiled, understanding on how she felt before I spoke.

"Yeah... I think you're right about that." I said, as Sorrel spoke about the legend of the Rainbow Wing again, this time with new information.

"They say that Ho-Oh lives at the end of the rainbow!" Sorrel explained, allowing us to enjoy the sight more until Kaito noticed something weird coming from little bro.

"Um, Ash? Is that the Rainbow Wing glowing on your jacket?" Kaito asked, causing all of us to turn and see something glowing on Ash's jacket. Taking it out, Ash widened his eyes to see that it was indeed the Rainbow Wing making the glow as he took it out for all of us to see.

With the glow happening right now, was it a sign that it was trying to lead us into something?

To be continued...


Next chapters:

Chapter 4: Cross' Conviction! Ash's Despair!?

Chapter 5: New Hope to Make Up For

Chapter 6: Hopes and Dreams! Aim High!

Chapter 7: The Battle of True Rights

Chapter 8: The Bond to Make a Miracle

Events that occurred:

- Ash, Isamu, Luna, and Verity meets Cross and Kaito

- Ash recruits a Charmander abandoned by Cross

- Isamu and Ash journeys with Verity, Kaito, Luna, and Sorrel