"Hold it right there kid!" A cold voice exclaimed, a bolt of lightning stopping Ash, Gary, and Brock from moving a step farther.

"Who goes there?" Ash demanded, covering his eyes to block the intense light.

"Prepare for trouble and make it double!" Two voices stated, leaping off the building and landing safely on the ground.

"Cassidy." The girl said.

"Butch."

"So you're the ones that were messing with the Pokemon Center?" Brock inquired.

"What gave it away, the uniforms?" Cassidy asked, releasing a large Pokemon from a dark Pokeball.

"It's a dark ball!" Brock recalled.

"Oh no." Ash muttered, remembering their run in with Dark Balls against Celebi, more commonly known as the voice of the forest.

"Dark ball?" Gary asked.

The Pokemon that emerged was the legendary bird, Zapdos.

"We captured little Zappy for the boss. Then we saw you had our little egg with you." Cassidy explained.

"Your egg?"

"We planted in the water to help it grow." Butch explained. "Water is good for water type Pokemon eggs."

"Kyaoo!" Zapdos howled, its dark eyes glaring at the electric mouse on Ash's shoulder.

"Zapdos, Steel wing!" Cassidy pointed at Pikachu and the gang.

"Iron tail quick!"

Unfortunately, Zapdos's amplified Steel Wing was too much for Pikachu to handle.

"Pikachu... no." Ash whispered, running to his injured friend.

"Kyaoo!" Zapdos yelled.

"Now I'm mad. Seel, Growlithe, Pidgeot, let's go!"

"Seel."

"Growlithe."

"Pidgeot!"

""Umbreon, Blastoise come on out!" Gary called.

"Steelix, Graveller let's go!" Brock announced, throwing his own Pokeballs.

"Brock you lead the attack." Ash told him, "Gary try and get Zapdos under a hypnotic spell with Umbreon." He turned to his Pokemon. "Seel, use Ice Beam and Ice Shard to keep Zapdos from shocking the city. Be careful, Growlithe I need you to protect Seel and the other Pokemon in case Butch and Cassidy try something sneaky. Pidgeot, come on." Ash hopped onto Pidgeot's back and took to the air.

"Steelix use dig! Graveller, rock tomb!"

The Pokemon did as they were told, struggling to lay a solid attack on the flying Zapdos.

"Seel!" Seel called, sending ice beams in several directions.

"Kya!" Zapdos yelled, flying down for a steel wing on the tiny little Seel.

"Growlithe!" Growlithe barked, unleashing a powerful Fire Blast on the unsuspecting electric Pokemon.

"Kyaoo!" Zapdos returned with a thunder shock, leaving Growlithe groveling on the ground.

"Umbreon, hypnosis!"

"Bre..."

"Not this time!" Butch tackled Umbreon, making it impossible to use its Pyschic powers.

"Blastoise help Umbreon!" Gary told his Pokemon.

"Blast!" Blastoise sent an appropriate hydro pump into Butch, sending him flying.

"Zapdos use thunder on the twerp in the air!"

"Pidgeot dive!" Ash yelled, just before the electric attack would have struck them.

"Pidgeot!" Pidgeot took a quick dive and whirled around, unleashing a gust to make it harder to cut through the winds.

"Pikachu!" Zapdos was shocked slightly by the tiny electric mouse, exchanging thoughtful conversation between the two electric types.

"Seel power Pikachu up with a light water gun!" Gary told the little Pokemon, who heeded the command even though it didn't come from its own trainer.

"Seel." Seel spewed enough water to give Pikachu a power up.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled, shocking Zapdos into remembering that it wasn't just a slave to Team Rocket... it had a purpose other than evil.

"Zapdos, get rid of these pests."

Zapdos shook its head, unable to remember its own true nature.

Ash leaped off of Pidgeot's back, much to the chagrin of the flying Pokemon.

Ash landed on Zapdos, holding on tight.

"Kya!" Zapdos complained, shocking itself with thunder.

"Er...Ah... ahhhhhhh."Ash groaned, not giving up without a fight.

"Ash!" Gary yelled, running up to get closer. "Blastoise use rapid spin!"

"Blast!" Blastoise spun around, knocking into Zapdos with intense speed.

Ash struggled to hold on.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu called, having scaled a building carefully and quickly to join its best friend on the back of the legendary bird of thunder.

"Pikachu... Iron tail!" Ash ordered, Pikachu struck it on the back, sending Zapdos down with enough force to cause a a few fires.

"I guess Team Rocket should get going." Cassidy decided, walking over to Butch.

"Grrrr." Growlithe growled, barking fire balls.

"Uh oh..." Butch muttered.

"Growlithe!"

"Seel!"

"Growlithe!" Growlithe lit them up with a flame thrower while Seel froze them with an ice beam.

"Blast!" Blastoise spun rapidly, cracking the glass and freeing Team Rocket.

"Growlithe!"

"Pidgeot!" Pidgeot agreed, sending a gust attack so strong that Team Rocket found themselves blasting off again.

"Great job guys." Ash said, picking up the dark ball. "Umbreon, would you do the honors?"

Umbreon's eyes began to glow, psychically destroying the evil Pokeball.

"All's well that ends well." Ash stated, stretching out.

"I wouldn't say ends well. We know where the egg came from now..." Brock mentioned.

"And we still don't know what it is." Gary pointed out. "It could be a new discovery like Togepi."

"Or something strong like Zapdos." Brock noted, patting the weakened bird on the beak.

Ash reached in his bag for something. For a heart stopping moment, Brock and Gary thought he was fishing for a Pokeball.

He pulled out his Hyper Potion and sprayed it on Zapdos's wounds.

"Go back to Lightning Island Zapdos. That's where you belong." Ash told it, petting it on the beak. "Maybe some day we'll meet again and have a real match." Ash offered.

"Kyaoo!" Zapdos agreed, flapping its wings and taking off into the air.

"You did a good thing letting that Zapdos go free." Brock complimented him, patting his old friend on the back.

"I have plenty of other great Pokemon to meet and raise. What fun would it be if I just caught a legendary and just used that to win my badges?" Ash asked, laughing at the thought of it.

"You could have really used it in the Indigo League." Gary pointed out.

"Yeah well... Meh, I'll capture Zapdos another day." Ash said, waving it off. "I'll get all three birds, and a Lugia if I ever see one again."

"Again?" Gary asked, looking at the Pokemon trainer.

Ash thought about Melody and the power of Lugia's song. He'd been so focused on saving the world that day that he forgot to even want to try to capture any of the birds. He wondered how many of his Pokemon he'd have to battle with just to get close to capturing any one of the Legendary birds.

Even Brock, who hadn't been present on his journey throughout the Orange Islands looked to Ash to explain the story.

The three friends went back to the Pokemon Center, Ash and Brock told Gary their collection of stories battling against legendary Pokemon, leaving out all but two tales. The two stories that the original trio swore to never reveal to anyone.

Gary and Ash stayed another night in Pewter and set off around noon.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us Brock?" Gary asked, looking at the Pokemon Doctor to be.

"I have to stay and work on medicine." Brock stated. "But I'll be rooting for you Ash. Take good care of your Pokemon." Brock reached into his backpack and pulled out a huge bag with several smaller bags inside it. "Cerulean City is a while away, I wanted to make sure you had enough Pokemon food." Brock said, handing the bag to Ash. "There's enough for Blastoise and Umbreon too."

Gary and Ash thanked Brock, shaking his hand respectfully.

"We'll see you Brock." Ash said, thinking of each time he'd had to say goodbye to his old friend. In the old days, he'd say goodbye and run into him later... but now that he was working on medicine it was likely that he wouldn't run into him again.

Ash thought about the egg that was safely tucked away in his bag and decided to ask Gary to carry the food.

Gary placed it in his traveler's bag without complaint and walked with Ash to the entrance of Mt. Moon.

"You know it's weird." Gary stated.

"What's weird?" Ash wondered.

"Back when we were ten, I had a chauffeur driving me around all the time. I never had to walk here, so I didn't."

"You've never been in Mt Moon?" Ash asked, thinking of the Clefairy that evolved when exposed to the Moon Stone deep inside the mountain.

Gary shook his head, "Never."

"Well, Gary, let's take a tour."

All things considered, the tour didn't take long at all.

Zubat galore were inside the cave.

Ash could actually remember when Brock first used his Zubat, after catching one near the cave's entrance. That Zubat eventually evolved into Golbat during Ash and Brock's Johto journeys and then into a while later Crobat.

The thought made him consider catching one for himself, knowing that Zubat was a faithful companion to Brock for many battles.

A wild Golbat appeared shortly after the original wave.

"I got this one Ash." Gary said, throwing a great ball at the wild Pokemon.

The ball wobbled around two or three times and clicked, signaling the successful capture of Golbat.

"Didn't feel like weakening it?" Ash asked, watching Gary pick up the Great Ball.

"Blastoise and Umbreon are both higher levels. I felt like it would have been an unfair fight Ash." Gary said, admiring his new Pokemon.

"Whatever you say." Ash agreed.

The pair made it to the end of the cave.

"Cerulean's not that far away." Gary noted, looking at the map.

Ash shook his head in agreement.

He thought about the first time he'd visited the town with a water Pokemon gym. Misty had begged him not to go, but he went anyway because he needed the Cascade badge. Now he needed the badge so he could beat Surge in Vermilion witha few of the Pokemon he'd caught in the other regions. Unfortunately, he couldn't use any Kanto Pokemon until he had a fourth badge tucked away in his jacket pocket. But that didn't dishearten him.

Ash tried to put together a strategy for taking on Misty. She specifically specialized in water type Pokemon and has only ever had a very select few non-water types (even then it was by circumstance, i.e. Togepi). Pikachu would have been a natural choice, but he wasn't allowed to use his old friend for another few badges. Sceptile would be at a huge type advantage so he'd be a good one to use. Torterra would also have a type advantage, making him and Bayleef solid choices for passing through Cerulean City.

The problem was that he didn't want to just overpower Misty with Pokemon that were good enough to compete in their own respective leagues. He wanted to win with someone he had right now, the problem was he only had Pikachu with a type advantage, and Growlithe had a serious disadvantage against virtually anything Misty could throw at him.

In a word: nervous.

There was some shaking in the trees, drawing Ash's eye a second before Gary's.

Electricity sparked around the tree line, revealing a small, round-bodied Pokemon with black stripes across its chest.

"It's an Elekid!" Gary exclaimed.

The young yellow Pokemon was having the fight for his life, a Fearow was attacking it from above while a Geodude pounded it from a lower ground.

"Hey two against one isn't fair!" Ash yelled, drawing the eye of Elekid.

His distraction cost it dearly, Fearow struck the yellow Pokemon with a wing attack while Geodude unleashed a Rock Storm.

Elekid fell to the ground, unable to battle further.

Fearow swooped down, going for the kill...

"Thunderbolt!"

"PIKACHU!"

Fearow dropepd out of the air, crashing to the ground.

"Seel, use water gun!" Ash said, releasing his water-type to battle Geodude.

"Seel!" Seel agreed, soaking the rock type until it was unable to battle.

"Ele..." Elekid protested, unable to get up from its wounds. Ash ran to the young Pokemon and scooped it up while its attackers fled the scene, overpowered by Ash's Pokemon.

"We've got ot get it to the Pokemon Center."

"Right." Gary agreed, running after Ash with Seel and Pikachu trailing behind.

They reached the Pokemon Center quickly, checking in all of the Pokemon they had in their possession (including the egg Ash located).

It took longer than Ash would have liked, but the Pokemon were released from the infirmary.

"Is Elekid going to be all right?" Ash asked Nurse Joy.

"Don't worry, Elekid's going to be just fine." Joy promised, opening the door to allow Elekid to walk out.

"Kid, kid!" Elekid said gleefully, exchanging electric chatter with Pikachu.

"Pikachu!"

Chansey wheeled out the Pokemon egg, handing it to Ash carefully.

"Your eggis in perfect condition." Joy told him, "You know, you can keep the egg in a Pokeball for safekeeping if you'd like."

"Really?" Ash thought for a moment, and then grabbed an empty Pokeball.

"Just be gentle."

Ash complied, tapping the egg oh so slightly to cause the Pokeball to absorb the egg.

"Great." Ash said, placing the ball on his belt.

"Once it hatches, it will become part of your party." Joy informed him.

"But until then it won't?"

Joy nodded, handing Ash his tray of Pokeballs.

"Thanks Joy."

"You're welcome, have a nice day."

Gary and Ash met at the computer terminal, discussing the best strategy for taking on Misty.

Ash told him about his idea to use Sceptile, Torterra, or Bayleef, but also confessed that he didn't want to win solely because of his Pokemon from the other regions.

"That's a tough one Ash. And you still can't use Pikachu?"

Ash shook his head, "Not until my sixth badge."

Gary seemed to think about it for a moment and jerked his thumb towards Elekid.

Ash shrugged, "I didn't catch it."

"You could." Gary reminded him, looking at the Pokemon that was still talking with Pikachu.

Ash got up and moved to Elekid, asking him for a battle.

"Kid, Kid Kid!" Elekid agreed.

The two met outside the Pokemon Center on the grassy field.

Ash knew that Pikachu could win hands down, Seel and Pidegot had the disadvantage, Growlithe was neutral...

"Growlithe, I choose you." Ash said, releasing the Pokeball that contained his fire friend.

"Growlithe." Growlithe barked, looking at Elekid who had no trainer behind it despite the fact it was on a normal battlefield.

"Kid, kid, kid." Elekid challenged, sparking at its antennae.

"Flamethrower!"

Elekid leapt out of the way with blinding speed, landing an easy tackle attack.

Growlithe rolled, but hopped back onto its hind legs with a growl.

"You gotta use your speed, go for agility!"

Growlithe barked, running around the field to raise its speed.

Elekid unleashed an array of thunderbolts around the field, trying to catch the speeding pup.

"Now use Ember!"

The field caught fire, making it impossible for Elekid to move.

Growlithe started to bear its teeth, unleashing a powerful fire type move known as Fire Fang.

Elekid flew backwards past the flame, out for the count

"What was that?" Ash exclaimed.

"Fire Fang!" Gary replied, "Throw the Pokeball now and ask questions later!"

"Oh... right." Ash threw the Pokeball, which collided and collected Elekid in one swoop.

It jostled to the left...

Then to the right...

To the left again...

and...

Elekid broke free, challenging Pikachu instead of Growlithe.

"Growlithe." Growlithe barked, unsatisfied with the end result fo the battle.

"Come back Growlithe. Pikachu, you're up."

Growlithe obeyed, sitting by Ash's leg.

Pikachu jumped into battle.

Elekid released another round of thunder, but Pikachu's agility was even better than Growlithe's.

"Iron Tail!" Ash commanded, watching Pikachu strike Elekid back to the ground.

Elekid struggled to get back up but succeeded, then it summoned all of its energy for a final tackle attack.

Pikachu flew to the side, getting up slowly, ready to finish the battle.

"Volt tackle!"

"Pika, Pika, pIka, Pika, Pika, Pika! Chu!"Elekid barreled across the field, completely immobilized from exhaustion.

Ash threw a great ball for a good measure.

One click to the left...

Then to the right...

then to the left...

then to the right...

and...

to the left...

CLICK.

Ash ran forward, grabbing the Great ball that contained his new partner, Elekid!

And with a new friend in Elekid, Ash is more ready than ever to take on his longtime friend Misty, the Cerulean City gym leader. The question is... will Misty have a surprise of her own? Stay tuned...


All in all, I'm pleased with the chapter.

Here's a question I wouldn't normally pose, but I'm going too anyway:

I would like your overall opinion on Own Characters (OCs) becoming mainstream regulars. I ran into a bump with the rival (I had really no choice for the way I want the story to go) so that's why they're OC. I'm also toying with the idea of an OC to join Ash on his journeys regularly. So the question is... What's your position on OCs?

Personally, as a reader I don't like tons of them. A few pertinent ones are okay, but overall I like author that keep it to a minimum. I don't think I've overstepped my boundaries just yet... but I just want to be sure.

So leave a review, send a PM, or whatever you gotta do... Until then...

Thanks for reading!