Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did Ash would win everything

Ash,Misty and Brock was making there way through a dense forest, unfortunately Ash had burned Brock's map and now they were travelling on instinct. Misty was not in a good mood

"Face it Ash, we are lost, just admit it!" Misty was getting fed up with Ash having to right every time.

Ash pretended to ignore her and looked up to the sky, he knew they were lost, but there was no way he was going to admit it, Misty wouldn't let him forget it. Ash decided to wing it, to save his pride and integrity.

"Well according to the sun position, we are heading in the right direction towards Lavender Town, it can't be far now."

Misty gritted her teeth "Ash Ketchum! You said that four hours ago, and we are still no closer to finding any signpost or roads, just more and more bloody forest."

Pikachu sat on his trainer shoulder laughing to himself "Face it boss, you have no clue where you're going."

Ash turned his head towards Pikachu "Not helping buddy. Knuckles any idea if you can help as out?"

Lucario turned to his father, Ash had decided instead of calling him son all the time, then he should have a proper name. Ash discovered that he liked the names knuckles, so they had decided to call him that.

"I will climb one of the trees father and see if I can see anything."

Knuckles quickly leapt up the nearest tree and scanned above the branches, he looked around and noticed a small clearing a few miles away, Knuckles leapt back down and bowed in front of his father.

"Father there is a small clearing a few miles west, I could see smoke coming up, so I am guessing we may find someone to direct us on the right path."

Ash grinned "Thanks Son you did well." Ash turned back to Brock and Misty and saw they had taken a break . "I have just sent Knuckles up one of the trees he said there is smoke coming from a clearing a few miles west, we are head there now."

Just as Ash had finished talking he noticed some rustling coming from the grass. He watched a purple bulb shape Pokemon, with wavy green leafs leap out.

Ash pulled out his Pokedex "Wow an Oddish."

Pokemon registered Oddish, This Pokemon is found in forest area's, It scatters pollen while it walks around.

"Sweet I'm going to catch it." Just as he was about to catch it Misty ran in front of him, She removed a poke ball from her belt "No way Ash, that Pokemon is to cute for you to catch it's mine."

"Starmie I choose you. Use Water gun to weaken that Oddish."

Starmie blasted a jet of water from its centre spike, crashing into the poor grass type Pokemon. Misty watched as it moved back and forward in a daze manner. "Quickly Starmie Tackle." Starmie began to spin towards the dazed Pokemon. Its tackle made a head on hit knocking the Oddish to the ground.

"Great, now to catch it, Poke ball go." Misty threw one of her balls. It looked like it was going to hit dead on when a sudden vine whip knocked it straight back at her, smacking her in the centre of her forehead "Ouch what gives?"

Misty opened her eyes from the sudden stun. She looked into the red eyes of a small, four legged Pokemon, with a green bulb on its back.

Ash was stunned "Wow a wild Bulbasaur." He quickly pulled out his Pokedex

"Pokemon registered Bulbasaur the grass bulb Pokemon, Bulbasaur carries it bulb on its back from birth, As it grows so does Bulbasaur. Scientist are unsure whither to class Bulbasaur as a plant or animal."

Ash noticed the look it was giving Misty, anyone could see that it was not happy, and wanted pay back. Ash decided to take the wise move and back off to allow Misty to deal with it. Just as Ash turned his back he heard a loud smack and watched Starmie fly backwards and hit a tree. He turned back to look at the Bulbasaur,

"Wow you're strong aren't you little guy." Ash noticed the Bulbasaur was standing in front of the Oddish.

The Bulbasaur started growling and looked at the young trainer "You go away you big bullies, picking on a injured Pokemon. Couldn't you see she was injured. You humans are all the same, we Pokemon are nothing but your slaves, now turn around before I attack you too."

Ash lowered himself to the small Pokemon's level "Bulbasuar I am sorry you feel that way, but none of my Pokemon are my slaves, but if you don't believe me then I have a way to prove it. Princess come on out."

Ash threw up the pink poke ball and watched the young feline Pokemon appear "You called daddy?"

Bulbasaur was stunned "How could you have a legendary Pokemon,You're all big bullies."

Mew frowned "Now listen hear you, no one talks about my daddy, like that. The girl might be a bully but my daddy is not. He as a lot of Pokemon and he treats us all with respect. He treats us all like family. Knuckle over their also calls him father, Dratini calls him daddy, so does Growlithe, there are only two of his Pokemon who call him boss and that's Scizor and Pikachu. Daddy bring out Squirtle, maybe if he tells him his story he might believe you."

Ash nodded "Squirtle I choose you." The little turtle Pokemon appeared beside its trainer "Daddy." Squirtle jumped into Ash arm for a cuddle. Ash hugged his Pokemon "Its good to see you too Squirtle, but I need you to explain to Bulbasaur about your last trainer."

Soon as Squirtle heard Ash mention his last trainer it withdrew into his shell. "I hate him, he use to hit me and starve me if I failed to win a battle. I was always afraid of him."

When Bulbasaur heard this it grinned "See, humans are nothing but bullies, even your Squirtle says so."

Squirtle then appeared out of his shell "I use to think the same Bulbasaur, that was until I meet daddy, and he offered me a chance to come with him, after my last trainer abandoned me. It was a blessing. Now I am well feed, and loved, I couldn't ask for a better trainer to be my daddy."

Bulbasaur looked down and thought what Squirtle had said, he then looked up "Follow me all of you, I want to take you to the hidden village, where I protect injured Pokemon, but you are not allowed to catch them. That is my only rule."

Ash recalled all his Pokemon except Princess and Knuckles and Pikachu. He turned to Misty who was still recovering from her poke ball stun.

"Bulbasaur says he will take us to a hidden village where injured Pokemon are treated. However we are not allowed to catch them."

Brock and Misty nodded. All three trainers began to follow the little plant Pokemon, who was carrying the now fainted Oddish with his vines. Unknown to the three trainers, another three individuals had over heard the conversation.

"James did you hear that. A village with injured Pokemon, not only will we bring Mew to the boss, but all of those other Pokemon as well."

James twiddled his thumbs "I'm not sure Jessie the boss was extremely upset with our last effort at catching that Pokemon. He lowered our budget not to mention removed our Pokemon again. Now were left with Koffing and Ekans again, we are so screwed if he as Scizor."

Meowth just shook his "How the hell did I get landed with you two idiots, the boss should have put me with Cassidy and butch."

Jessie face turned red "How dare you mention that little bitch in my presence. She nothing but a hooker who sleeps with all the head admin's so she can get the best jobs, at least I have some dignity."

James just rocked backwards and forwards "How did a rich little boy come to this, Oh I remember by avoiding a marriage from hell. I wonder if Growlie remembers me?"

Jessie turned to her co-worker "Oh pull yourself together, we got to build something, James how much do we have in the kitty?"

James pulled a book from his pocket "According to my accounts we have 200 poke dollars left until our next pay check. That as to last us a week as well don't forget. We have no money to build a machine, maybe a few cages but that's all we can afford."

Mean while back with our three favourite trainers.

Bulbasaur led Ash, Brock and Misty to a small clearing. The first thing the trainer noticed, was the large pond and small wooden cottage along side it. They also noticed the clearing was well covered to keep privacy to a maximum.

Misty gasped at the amount of cute water Pokemon, that were in the lake, deep down she was gritting her teeth, that they were not allowed to catch any. She was bought out of her thoughts from hearing the cottage door open. A women, no older then 25 stood in the frame, watching the three of them approach, Misty noticed she didn't look very happy.

"Bulbasaur, what's the meaning of this? I thought we agreed to keep strangers away from this spot, so the injured Pokemon can get better?"

The little plant Pokemon, lowered his head, Ash decided to come forward and try to defuse the situation, however before he could speak, Brock had shoved past him with hearts for eyes. Ash saw Brock take one of the girls hand and attempted to serenade her, with mushy fluff. However that didn't last long as Misty grabbed him by his ear

"Come on Lover boy this way"

All Ash could here from Brock was "Ouch, let me go, we were meant to be together." Ash shook his head at the older teens antics, he then turned his attention back to the now confused blushing girl.

"Excuse us, but we don't mean any harm, you see were kind of lost, we were heading for Lavender town, when we kind of lost our map."

Ash heard Misty shout in the background "We didn't lose it, you burnt it." Ash ignored the outburst from the fiery red head, he carried on speaking to the young woman in front of him "Sorry about her, she not normally like this."

The young women giggled "it's quite alright, my names Melanie, I am sorry I was so cold to you before, it just we try to protect all these injured Pokemon, some of them are injured in the wild others are abandoned by their trainers. To keep them from harm they stay here with me. However their free to go when ever they want to. Oh Bulbasaur what happened to Oddish?"

Ash felt guilty "Sorry Melanie but my friend Misty tried to catch it, when it jumped out from some nearby grass. She would have succeeded to if it had not been for Bulbasaur ."

Melanie knelt down "Is that so Bulbasaur, well I am sure we can nurse her again back to full health. Please all come inside."

Ash, Misty and Brock followed Melanie and Bulbasaur into the small wooden cottage, the three trainers decided to sit down at the table. They watched as Melanie bought in a tray of tea and biscuit, with a few bowls of Pokemon food.

"Bulbasaur would you please take Oddish to the infirmary and I will be there in a few minutes."

The little plant Pokemon nodded then took Oddish through one of the other doors in the room. Ash was curious about Bulbasaur and decided to find out the back story about the young Pokemon.

"So Melanie is Bulbasaur your pokemon?"

Melanie shook her head "No I found him a few months ago alone in the forest. He had a fever and didn't look very well. So I bought him back here to heal and get better. However once he was healed he did not want to leave and from that day he was healed he as watched over all the other Pokemon that have come here."

Ash watched Bulbasaur walk past out the front door. He excused himself from the table and followed with Pikachu and Knuckles close behind. He walked out the door and saw Bulbasaur sitting along the bank of the pond, watching the other Pokemon enjoying themselves. Ash sat down next to him, while Knuckles and Pikachu went off to talk with the other Pokemon.

"Hi Bulbasaur, Melanie told us about you being found injured in the forest, I am guessing you were abandoned by your last trainer. Would I be right with that statement?"

Bulbasaur continued to look out over the pond he didn't talk just listened to what Ash was saying.

"It makes me so angry when trainer abandon their Pokemon. You remember Squirtle telling you about his last trainer, well I was there when it happened. Squirtle was facing off against a Charmander, he was doing well, until the Charmander evolved into Charmeleon, it then turned the battle. Poor Squirtle did not have a chance. Once the battle was over his trainer broke his poke ball on purpose and left him there in his injured state. I was so mad that I jumped the boy and began to shout at him. It turned out he was a trainer from my own town. Any way I reported him to Professor Oak and now his licence as been revoked. I then walked over to Squirtle and fed him, as well as healing all his battle damage. I then gave him the choice by placing a spare poke ball in front of him. Squirtle decided to come along with me, and as you know he couldn't be happier. Now I am offering you the same opportunity. Before we leave I will lay down a poke ball, and if you want to come with me, all you have to do is touch it. Well I will leave you alone now, take care Bulbasaur."

Ash stood up and walked back to the cabin, leaving Bulbasaur in deep thought. Did he want to be someones Pokemon again, or did he want to stay free. Squirtle story had hit him deeply. Ash was right in is statement that he had been abandoned by his last trainer. Bulbasaur shuddered at the thought of his treatment. From that day he had hated all human except Melanie who had nursed him better, Now another human was showing him kindness. Bulbasaur stood up, this would require a lot of thought. Suddenly he saw a dark shadow appear above him. He felt a claw grab him around his waist and hoisted him in the air. Bulbasaur noticed several other Pokemon, trapped by the claws Two of them were Ash Pokemon Pikachu and Lucario. Bulbasaur heard a voice from a megaphone singing some weird song. The good thing was the noise had alerted Ash and the others.

Ash looked up and saw the familiar Meowth shaped balloon. He saw Bulbasaur, Pikachu and Knuckles being held by some mechanical arms appearing from the bottom of the balloon basket. Gritting his teeth he removed one of his poke ball

"Scizor I choose you." Ash threw the poke ball up and watched his strongest Pokemon appear. Scizor looked on the scene with burning red eyes.

"Not these Jokers again boss."

Ash nodded his head "Yes Scizor these loser again. No doubt they want Princess as well"

Jessie heard what Ash had said "You got that right twerp, now hand over Mew or we will crush your Lucario and Pikachu."

Ash grinned "I don't think so, Knuckles, focus your aura into Bulk up, then smash those claws. Scizor use Agility then Metal claw to break Pikachu and Bulbasaur free."

Scizor quickly moved and used it glowing metal claws to crush the claws holding Bulbasaur and Pikachu, he looked over to Knuckles and saw he had already freed himself. Scizor floated back down to the ground, with Pikachu and Bulbasaur close behind."

Jessie was livid "You're going to pay for that twerp Ekans go!"

James watched Jessie from his seated position in the balloon, he began to put on a padded suit, much to the amusement of Meowth. Jessie saw this "James what are you doing?"

James ignored his co-worker "He has Scizor, its last hyper beam, hurt. I am taking no chances, face it Jess we have lost. All the Pokemon are free and all we have is two poison type Pokemon, time to cut our losses."

Jessie screwed her face in anger, she was about to rip into James, when she felt her Ekans smack into her fainted. She then heard the familiar voice "Scizor Hyper beam". Jessie closed her eyes, and waited for the attack hit. The balloon exploded sending team rocket flying. Once the coast was clear Ash recalled Scizor and Hugged both Pikachu and Knuckles.

Bulbasaur looked at the happy reunion, he noticed Ash look over to him, then gestured for him to join them. Bulbasaur had no idea what made him do it, but he raced towards Ash open arms and enjoyed the attention he was getting. It was then that he decided to take Ash up on his offer.

Later that day Ash, Misty and Brock picked up their packs, Just as Ash had said, he left a poke ball in front of Bulbasaur.

"Well Bulbasaur, its time for us to go now, I said I would give you a chance to decided so here you are. If you do choose to come with us I can guarantee you love and spot in my family, however if you choose to stay here then I wish you the best of luck."

Bulbasaur looked at the poke ball then looked up at Ash. "I will come with you, only if you can beat me in a battle."

Ash nodded then gestured to his pokemon on his shoulder "Pikachu I choose you." Pikachu leapt off his trainer shoulder and faced off against the little plant Pokemon. He stood on his four paws ready for battle.

"Pikachu Double team, then Thunder wave."

Pikachu copied himself then surrounded Bulbasaur and let off a electrical wave, which hit and paralysed the plant Pokemon.

Bulbasaur felt his how body go numb, he tried to use his vine whip, but the effect of being paralysed was not helping. He thought to himself "Dam that Ash is smart, I can't wait to battle with him."

Ash took a spare ball from his belt "Poke ball go."

Bulbasaur noticed he could use his vines again, however he smiled and allowed the ball to hit him. His final thought before he vanished into the ball was "Thank you Ash, for showing me all humans are not bad."

Ash watched the little light vanish and heard a faint ping signalling the capture had been successful. Ash walked over to the ball, then opened it "Bulbasaur come on out."

Bulbasaur appeared from his ball, a little shaken from the experience again, however he forgot all about that when he felt Ash pick him up, then sprayed some para heal on him, getting rid of the effects of the thunder wave, he was still suffering from. Once he was healed he allowed Ash to put him down.

Bulbasaur looked over and saw the happy expression on Melanie face, he walked over to her and nudged her legs.

Melanie picked up the little plant Pokemon and held him eye level "I will miss you Bulbasaur, however I couldn't agree more with your choice of Ash being your trainer, take care won't you."

Bulbasaur nodded then grinned. He then jumped out of Melanie arms and bounded back over to Ash. He allowed his trainer to recall him back into his poke ball.

Ash walked over and shook Melanie hand "Thank you ever so much for your hospitality and direction to Lavender Town. We promise never to mention this place. We have all learnt an important lesson."

Melanie nodded "Thank you Ash, and I wish you luck on your next gym challenge. You all take care now."

The three trainer all waved then vanished back into the forest, Brock of course had to be dragged by Misty. they then all together towards their next destination Lavender Town.

A/N: Thought a Christmas chapter was needed. I tried to stay to the canon of the hidden Village episode, but couldn't help add my own twist. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review.