"Attention citizens of Viridian City, be on the lookout for suspicious looking strangers!" Came a voice from a loudspeaker. The small group heard this as they were running up to the small police station.
Ash was running ahead of the small group, his hurt Pikachu in his arms. The poor kid was running out of breath. Right behind him was Nero with Selene in his arms and Lottie on his back. Right beside them was Michelle with Akiko in her arms, Luke was running beside her.
Right when Ash was running past the Officer Jenny who had broadcasted the warning only a few moments before, he was snagged by her by the collar. "Now hold up now, and just where are you think you're going with that pokemon now huh, young man?" She asked as Ash was struggling to get out of her grip.
When he was finally released, Ash then began to yell, "It's my pokemon and it's hurt. And I have to get to the hospital right away!" He said urgently.
Selene nodded,"Yeah!" She then jumped off out of Nero's arms and stood beside Michelle.
Michelle had leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Doesn't she look like the Officer Jenny from home, but not an Arcanine?" She asked.
Selene just gave a simple nod as she watched the Officer Jenny bend down to look at the Pikachu. In a saddened tone the Officer Jenny frowned," Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you might be stealing it. "
Michelle then interrupted her. "Do you really see the condition he's in?! I mean really!" Jenny then gave the other's a sheepish look.
"Sorry but I still need to see your Id's," Jenny said as she stood up straight. "Then you could go."
Ash then blinked, "Id? But I don't have any, you see we just came here from Pallet-"
"You know, you're the fourth person I've seen from Pallet Town today,' Jenny interrupted before looking at the others, "Sorry, that makes…." 'She said in thought as she pointed at each of the humans, "...seven. Seven people now that I've seen from Pallet. Town."
"We're not from Pallet Town actually, we're just here to help him on his journey," Selene interrupted the woman.
"As well as do research for Professor Oak as well," Michelle stated with a nod.
"Oh, well, I still need to see your Id's to let you through," Jenny said with a nod. "It's weird to see people carrying pokemon in their arms, how do I know that you aren't stealing them. There are pokemon thieves going around, just like these two in the poster behind me." She then pointed to the poster that held a picture of a blue haired guy with a rose, and a red haired woman with her hand to the photographer as if she was trying to block it out.
"Please let us through, We wouldn't steal any pokemon and we have to get Pikachu and Akiko to the hospital right now," Ash tried to explain, "Please miss-"
Jenny then spotted the Pokedex sticking out of Ash's pocket. "Hey, that's a pokedex in your pocket, that is a form of ID!" She opened it to see Ash's information and she nodded. She looked to the two girls. They already had their dex's open for her to look in.
"I didn't know that was my ID," Ash said in shock. "Can we take our pokemon to the hospital now?' He asked.
"Don't worry, I'll get you there in no time at all," Jenny said with a smile as she went towards her motorcycle.
Selene and Michelle looked a bit worried before Selene piped up. "We'll just run next to you," Michelle nodded.
"If you say so, Ash hop on in,' She said and Ash climbed into the motorcar beside her. When she left dark smoke came from behind. Ash was screaming as they traveled away from the station.
Michelle coughed as she tried to wave off the smoke. "Does that thing need a tune up or something?" She asked through coughs.
"No time for that, we need to go follow them," Selene said as she was picked up by Nero and they were following the speeding Jenny. Michelle and Luke were following behind him. As the group had left, Misty had just come to the station when the smoke got into her face. Coughing, she put down her burnt bike.
"Hey! What's the big Idea!" Misty coughed before darting after him.
It wasn't long before Officer Jenny pointed out a giant building before them. "There it is!" She said as she revved up her motorcycle and went faster. Selene, Michelle, and the others were right behind them.
"The Pokemon Center? It's gigantic," Ash said rather loudly so the officer can hear him over the noise. She nodded in response before making her motorcycle go up the stairs, through the automatic doors. "This is going to be tricky! Hold on!'
As the motorcycle went into the air and through the doors, Michelle went wide eyed. "She's nuts!" Luke gave a growl in agreeance. Selene just had her eyes wide as they all went through the door to see Jenny's motorcycle right in front of the reception desk.
The pink haired lady stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "We have driveways you know!"
Jenny then yelled,"It's a pokemon emergency!"
"Please help him!" Ash said as he was getting out of the sidecar, showing the hurt Pikachu to the woman.
"It looks like a pikachu, we'll do whatever we can!" The nurse said as she went to her computer and started typing things. "I need a stretcher for a small electric pokemon. STAT!"
Two chanseys burst through the door of the operating room with a stretcher in hand. They then gently took PIkachu out of Ash's hands and onto the stretcher before heading through the doubles doors again. Before Joy went with them, Michelle and Selene quickly asked her to take Akiko and Clancy, the spearow, with her. She nodded and got two more chances to help out with the small request.
"Why Clancy?" Michelle asked as she turned towards Selene with a raised brow.
Selene gave a soft smile before looking as Clancy's pokeball went out of view. "Well, he'll turn into a spearow and he get's a red mohawk, and he has a warrior spirit. Clancy means red haired warrior."
Nurse Joy then turned towards Ash. "We have taken your Pikachu into critical care, and he'll be fine." She said as another chansey came up with a tray of nurse utensils. She grabbed a pair of white gloves and put them on. "He'll get treatment right away, you can stay here until he's done."
"Uh…" Ash said in distraught.
"Who are you?" The nurse asked as she looked at the small boy.
"This is Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town, the one the Pikachu belongs to." Officer Jenny replied for him as he just looks at the woman in sadness.
"Is there anything I can do, please tell me!" He pleaded.
"You can be more responsible!" The nurse said with a bit of an edge in her voice.
Michelle sighed and growled. "They're jumping to conclusions without any evidence!" She said to Selene as they stood nearby. Selene just gave a nod as she shook her head as she watched the three.
"But…" Ash said but he was interrupted before he could continue.
"If you want to become a pokemon trainer young man, you don't let your pokemon battle until it is in this condition," The nurse scolded.
"But you don't know what happened!" Ash said as he tried to explain himself.
Before Michelle could say anything more, the nurse continued. "The past is in the past."
"WE WERE ATTACKED! BY SPEAROWS! JUST LOOK AT HIM! YOU'RE A NURSE FOR ARCEUS'S SAKE!" Michelle said from the sidelines as her arms were pointed at Ash. "HE DIDN'T FIGHT! WE RAN!"
Nurse Joy goes quiet but sighed,"We'll heal your pokemon, just get some rest." With that, she left the others to help Pikachu.
Officer Jenny turned to Ash and then to the small group who walked up to him. "I'll have a look at that route when I leave. Thank you for telling us. " With that, she went to her motorcycle and rode out of the doors.
Michelle then quickly turned to Ash and gently started to pull him towards a bench nearby. "Ok, now that Pikachu is getting taken care of, it's your turn."
Selene nodded as she went and grabbed Michelle's bag and handed it to her. Michelle then rummaged inside it before pulling out a small first aid kit. She then started to work on his small cuts and bruises. Nero and Luke were talking a little bit away from them. Lottie had her eyes wide as she jumped from one person to the other as she talked about the pokemon that they had. As he was getting fixed up, Ash felt something, something that he couldn't put a finger on it. He felt familiarity when Michelle was patching him up. He wondered how and why.
It wasn't until eight o'clock when Ash decided that he would call home. He then made his way over to the phone and dialed his home number. Selene and Michelle wandered over after him, seeing how Lottie, Luke, and Nero were asleep on the bench.
"Hello, mom?" Ash asked when his mother picked up the call.
It took a few seconds before the image of Delia showed up on the monitor. "Hi, Sweetie!" She said happily before waving to her nieces. "Where are you guys?" She asked.
"The Pokemon Center in Viridian City," Ash replied.
"You're already in Viridian City?" It took your father four days when he started his pokemon journey," Delia said in thoughtfulness as she remembered her husband. "Oh, he'll be so proud of you, you are the apple of his eye."
"Yeah, a rotten apple," Ash said in distraught. Michelle was holding back from hitting him in the back of the head for his poor comment.
"Oh, Ash. Don't get discouraged, you're doing fine. Honey, you're growing up right before my eyes. Spread your wings and soar like a spearow." His mother tried to encourage , the two girls behind him couldn't help but crack up laughing.
Ash gave Selene and Michelle a stern look for the laughter and they started to stop as he turned his attention back to his mother. "I feel more like a fallen pidgey."
Delia then get's really close to the camera. "I won't let you talk about yourself that way!"
"Go Aunt Delia!" said Selene with a grin.
"Yeah, you just got to be confident, just not over confident,' Michelle replied after her cousin.
"The girls are right, you can do anything that you put your mind to. Do you understand?" His mother asked sternly.
"Yes," Ash said simply.
"And are you changing your underwear every day?" Delia asked. In the background, there were a few snickers coming from the girls.
"Yes."
"Ok, goodnight son. Good night girls, and Ash. I love you," Delia said as she waved.
"Me too," Ash said sadly.
"Night, Aunt Delia!" The girls said in unison. The screen then went black. Ash just stared at the screen in thought. When he turned, he looked at the picture on the wall above the desk.
"Zapdos….Moltres…..Articuno…..and...Arcanine?" Michelle said before looking at the last picture in confusion.
Ash then ran towards the painting. "Hey," He said in thought as he looked at it more closely. His attention was specifically on the bird one in blue. His thoughts flashed back towards the mysterious bird that flew over them. That's the bird that flew over us. He thought to himself.
The phone behind the desk started to ring. Ash then went behind the counter and answered the call.
"Umm...this is Ash…Who's calling?" He asked.
"Over here, my boy," Oak said as the yellow painting went down to reveal a screen with Professor Oak's back to them. "It's me Professor Oak, don't you recognize me?" He asked.
"Professor! You're looking at the wrong screen!" Michelle pointed out to him as she folded her arms. Selene was chuckling beside her as they leaned against the reception desk.
"Eh? Oops the wrong camera," He said and then fixed it so now that he was facing towards them. "There." He said before clearing his throat. "I just spoke with your mother, and she tells me that you guys made it to the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. Is that true?" He asked.
"I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't," Ash said.
"He's got a point Professor," Selene piped up.
Oak then blinked,"Oh, I see, I dialed the pokemon center's number and you were able to answer it."
Both Selene and Michelle facepalmed at the professor's comment.
"The other new pokemon trainers got there as well, and I'm surprised you made it so quickly too. When you left I had my doubts that you could handle your pikachu. But when my grandson Gary said that you wouldn't have a single new pokemon by the time you got to Viridian City, I bet him a million dollars that he'd be wrong." Professor Oak said with a nod.
Ash then flinched, "Good thing Money isn't everything, right?" He asked.
"At least I saw something on the way," Ash said as he pointed to the blue .
"Yeah, looks like I won my bet with Gary, you can take the money for it. I don't really need it." Michelle said as she went to send the professor the picture.
"It flew right over the rainbow," Ash said as he looked at the painting.
"It can't be it, no trainer has been able to see it," Oak explained.
"Wrong bird Ash, that's an Articuno, not the the one we saw," Michelle explained. She then turned to Oak. "Here's the picture Prof~"
Oak nodded and went to his machine and saw the picture, his eyes went wide and he fell out of his office chair.
Her eyes went wide. "Are you ok?" She asked. Selene just shook her head and looked over to the small sleeping bundle of Luke, Nero, and Lottie. Luke's hand was hanging off the bench, Lottie was curled up into the body of Nero as he was snoring and on his back. Lottie's sister just shook her head before returning her gaze to the screen.
"You saw Ho-Oh! That legendary pokemon hasn't been seen in three hundred years!" Oak said in disbelief.
Michelle started to cough and Oak had gotten a pointed look that made him stop and realize what he was about to say. He then nodded and said, "You have been lucky." Then there was a doorbell from his side of the conversation. "Ooh, my pizza! Coming!" He said and headed towards the door. Before he got too far, he poked his face into the camera again. "It' was nice talking to you Ash, keep up the good work girls!" He said before it fuzzed out.
As the screen went black a familiar, yet annoying face was heard. "There! I got you now!"
The three of them turned to see Misty carrying her burnt bike on her shoulder. "Geez! Are we sure that she's not part pokemon?" She asked in a whisper to Selene who just nodded with a raised brow in disbelief.
"I knew I would find you here!" Misty said through her panting breath.
"Of course, you pointed us in this direction," Michelle said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Ash then sighed as he looked at the bike, "Hey, I'm sorry about the bike but I'll pay for it later.
"No, you're going to pay me now!" Misty said angrily but her balance was off and she fell backward. She gave a small cry.
Ash then went wide eyed and went out of the receptions desk and towards her side where he bent down to try and give her a hand up. "Here, let me help you."
Misty then slapped his hand away. "I don't need your help! And you're going to pay for what you did to my bike!"
"You just said that and we offered!" Michelle said in anger as her fists clenched by her sides.
"I'll make up for it, I promise I will, really," Ash said with a sigh. He then looked at the double doors where Pikachu was still being worked on. "Pikachu is still in emergency care…"
"I don't want any more of your excuses!" Misty shouted as she got up and formed a fist. "I just want a new bike right now!"
Michelle then gently pushed Ash back so that she was now in front of Misty. Her face was close to hers. "Now listen here, and listen good. One, it was an accident and it got hit by lightning. Two, we said we would pay for it and we will. And three, you are being very rude, immature, and a selfish idiot!" She then reached into the bag and forcibly gave her the money. After the transaction, she huffed and went to Selene's side once more, her anger was slowly dissipating.
Misty was just blinking and she was slowly calming down. Since Misty didn't hear what he said due to her anger blocking it out, he repeated. "Pikachu isn't doing really well…." He said as his eyes went to the doors once more.
Misty frowned as she asked, "Is it really serious?"
Ash nodded lightly, "I think so...and there is nothing that I can do to help now."
It wasn't long after he spoke when the light went dark, indicating that the procedure was finished. Pikachu was then brought out on the stretcher. Akiko was on Nurse Joy's shoulder and Clancy's pokeball was being held by a chansey.
Ash rushed over to the side of the stretcher. "Pikachu...are you alright?" He asked in hopefulness. Selene went over and gently took Clancy's ball out of the pink pokemon's hand. She gave a nod in thanks. Michelle had gone to take Akiko. Akiko smiled and leapt into the arms of Michelle before climbing onto her head.
Pikachu didn't say anything as it had wires on his forehead and a lightbulb on his head. "He's going to be fine, he just needs some rest. It was a good thing that you got him here so fast, the procedure went well and he should be fine." Nurse Joy said happily.
Ash nodded,"Thank you very much!" He was glad that Pikachu would be fine.
"Now he needs to spend a night in the recovery room, you should go in with him Ash,' Joy said with a soft nod as she headed towards the room.
Before they could go to the recovery room, an alarm started to sound. Officer Jenny's voice echoing through the center. "Warning! Pokemon thieves have been spotted in the area. Please stay calm!"
Michelle sighed,"This could either be very good….or very bad.."
