The little Charmander carefully observed his surroundings. Just a few feet ahead stood Bulbasaur and Squirtle. The Oak lab was just behind them. Charmander knew he should have stayed behind. They were going to get themselves into trouble. He just knew it! Bulbasaur and Squirtle didn't seem the least bit worried. Actually, they were very excited to be on this adventure.
Squirtle spied a Caterpie and playfully shot a water gun at it. The Caterpie jumped back in surprise and shot a string shot in defense. Squirtle jumped back to dodge it. Bulbasaur noticed some apples growing on a tree above them and eagerly used his vine whip to knock some out of the tree.
"Squirtle! Yay! Thanks, Bulbasaur!"Squirtle cheered as he took an apple for a snack. Charmander took an apple as well. Even though he was having second thoughts of wandering away with the others, he was a little hungry despite having just eaten at the lab with the others just a few hours before.
"Bulbasaur. Bulba Bulba. So, Charmander, aren't you going to work on your fire moves too?" Bulbasaur inquired between bites of his apple.
Charmander stood his ground. "Char! Char! Charmander! I don't have to use any of my fire type moves. I'm saving my strength for when I leave the lab with my new trainer."
"Squirtle Squirt! Squirtle! I bet he doesn't know how to use attacks like Fire Spin," tauntedSquirtle.
The audacity of Squirtle's comment! "Charmander! Char! Char! I may not know how to use Fire Spin, but I do know Flamethrower!" And with that, Charmander shot out a fairly strong flamethrower toward Squirtle. Not being ready for Charmander's surprise attack, Squirtle dodged it just in time.
Bulbasaur quickly stood between Charmander and Squirtle breaking up their little tussle. "Bulba! Bulba! We really shouldn't be fighting with each other. We ventured out here to have some fun. Now let's have some fun."
Charmander and Squirtle nodded. Bulbasaur was right. They continued until they reached an open field. It smelled of fresh grass and sweet smelling flowers. An Oddish, a few Caterpie, and some Bellsprout scampered here and there among the field. Bulbasaur stood in awe at the luscious green grass. Bulbasaur was, without question, a grass type and just being here made him feel at home. He could stay out here all day!
Even the fire and water type were impressed. Charmander who was previously having second thoughts on venturing out was now feeling bold enough to actually have fun. Maybe if they stayed in the field for just a little bit longer and headed right back to the lab, that new trainer would have already made up her mind. Charmander thought about the lab and Professor Oak's grandson, Gary, taking over for the day. He thought about the two visitors, and the beginner trainer. Now, he was having second thoughts again. This time, it wasn't because of how dangerous the world was outside of the Oak lab. This time it was because of how worried everyone must be. He knew he shouldn't have left the lab. Poor Gary! He was doing his absolute best to take care of him, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur and the other Pokémon back at the lab. And that trainer! Charmander could see the determination in her eyes. Choosing the right starter was so important to her.
Charmander rushed over to Squirtle and Bulbasaur. "Char! Char! Gary must be worried sick. He's probably looking for us right now. We should go back now."
Bulbasaur and Squirtle took a moment to look around. As bold and adventurous as they had been, even the grass and water Pokémon were beginning to feel bad about wandering away from the lab.
Bulba, Bulbasaur! Charmander is right. Let's go back." Bulbasaur turn a step in the direction of the lab.
"Squirtle. Squirtle. What will the new trainer think when she sees her favorite starter Pokémon isn't there? Water!" Squirtle chimed in.
"Char! Char! What makes you think she's going to pick water. She might pick grass or fire." Charmander argued. With that, Charmander turned to show off his blazing tail flame.
"Bulbasaur. Bulba. Bulba. Well, she's not going to be picking anyone if we're not there." Bulbasaur insisted.
They turned to head out of the grassy field. They kept a steady pace. It was slow enough for them to take in their surroundings, yet fast enough for them to get back to the lab in a decent amount of time. They all agreed it would be best to return in the exact same direction in which they came just in case Gary and the others were searching for them as they most likely were.
Unbeknownst to them, some other characters were spying on them from way up in the sky. A hot air balloon resembling a Meowth glided slowly among the grassy field and the three Kanto starters.
"Look what we have here!" a talking Meowth in the balloon exclaimed as he spotted the wandering Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander through binoculars.
A girl with super long magenta hair snatched the binoculars away from the talking Meowth. "Let me see!" she demanded a bit anxious to see what she was missing. She wore a white midriff top with a red "R" printed on the front, black gloves, a white mini skirt, and knee high black boots.
As soon as she saw the three Kanto starters, she could not contain her excitement. "Ahhh! What an adorable Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander! And with no trainer in sight! It's like the whole Kanto starter package – all three starters included!"
The third passenger in the balloon a guy with shoulder length blue hair anxiously reached for the binoculars the girl was using. "Let me see, Jessie." He wore a white shirt also with an "R" printed on the front, black gloves, white pants, and black boots. The appearance of these uniforms signified that the characters in the Meowth hot air balloon belonged to a certain organization.
"Hmm, they are quite the crowd…" the guy mumbled as he watched the three walk a few feet, look around, and walk some more. "I wonder where they could have come from. It doesn't seem to me like they'd be wild Pokémon."
"Oh who cares where they came from, James!" Jessie shouted a bit exasperated. "Let's just snatch them!"
Suddenly a blue Pokémon with a cylinder shape and scrunched up eyes appeared from his Poke ball. "Wooobuuuffet!" he saluted in agreement.
Meowth's eyes widened and shone bright. "And after we snatch those three, we can give them as a gift to the boss! "
Jessie and James looked at Meowth to explain some more. The reason they were here in the first place was to fulfill their duties in Team Rocket, the organization they were members of. Jessie, James, and Meowth were here spying on Ash as usual in hopes of catching him off guard so that they could finally steal his Pikachu. Unfortunately, since they were barely on Ash's trail but knew he was still there in Kanto somewhere, the three just glided in their balloon until they spotted something. This time, it was the Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander who had wandered away from the Oak lab.
"So how beneficial will a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander be to the boss?" James asked.
"Just think," Meowth continued, "The boss goes about his daily business and these three will just make his day all the more easy for him. Bulbasaur has strong sturdy vines – perfect for reaching things that might be just out of reach for the boss. Squirtle can pull off a powerful water gun and that will be helpful for putting out any bonfires the boss might want to have or maybe filling up a bucket of mop water. Speaking of fires, Charmander will be perfect for lighting the way. Imagine, the boss stumbles out in the hallway at night for a drink of water. Instead of fumbling for the light switch, he can just use Charmander to light the way!"
Jessie and James grinned and nodded at Meowth's idea as if it was the most genius one yet. Being members of Team Rocket, bringing a suitable Pokémon for their boss, Giovanni, was long overdue. With the successful capture of Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander, they were sure their reward would be times three.
Jessie thought for a second and frowned. "There's just one problem, Meowth. How are we supposed to successfully snatch those three if we left our Pokémon back at Team Rocket headquarters?"
Jessie, James, and Meowth pondered for a bit. When they were in the Kalos region, Jessie had Pumpkaboo who evolved into Gourgeist, and James had Inkay. Now that Jessie only had her Wobbuffet and James didn't have any Pokémon whatsoever, catching Pokémon for Team Rocket was going to be a bit of a challenge now. Of course, Meowth was a Pokémon. However, he only battled when he absolutely had to.
"We already used up just about all of our funds for our fancy high tech machines," James sighed.
"That always seem to get blown up," sulked Meowth.
"And us blasting off. Again." James added.
Jessie glanced down at the three Kanto starters making sure they didn't get out of sight. "Well, instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, let's come up with a better plan!"
"Right!"James and Meowth agreed in unison.
Meowth looked down mischievously at the three. "Those three better watch their backs. With no annoying twerps around to ruin our plans, snatching those three might actually be a piece of cake!"
"Let's do it!" The Team Rocket trio cheered with Jessie's Wobbuffet saluting in absolute agreement.