The group had found themselves lost in yet another forest. This one happened to have extremely tall grass. The group was starting to get tired and it wasn't until Michelle asked a question. "How is it that we seem to get lost in every forest that we enter."

"I don't know but I'm tired," Lottie says as she lays on the back of Nero, her eyes fluttering a bit in tiredness.

The group stopped in a somewhat cleared area. The grass going to Michelle's and Selene's thighs. Pikachu was chilling on Ash's backpack while Akiko was laying on top of Michelle's head. The group looked around and spotted rocks before heading to them. "Ah, a break," Ash said as he leaned against the boulder. Brock and Misty sat on two others. Nero sat under a nearby tree with the now sleeping Charlotte in his arms. Luke was by Michelle who sat down on a different rock and Selene sat down on the grass next to her.

Nearby there was a small stream and waterfall that a small Oddish was drinking from. Ash looked over and spotted it and smiled. "Oh, an Oddish!" He said happily. "Maybe I should catch it," He said as he thought out loud.

Misty overheard and quickly stopped him, "Wait! It's my turn now!" She said as she showed her enthusiasm. Ash was about to say something but then he stopped and let her go after it. Before the Oddish could run off, Misty took out her pokeball and released Starmie. The Starmie stopped Oddish in its tracks before Misty ordered Water Gun and then Tackle. The Oddish was out in no time.

"Aw poor thing," Michelle said as she watched.

Misty then got excited and threw the pokeball towards the unconscious pokemon. Though before the pokeball could hit its target, a green vine smacked it away. Michelle, Misty, and Ash looked over to see what had repelled it only to see two Bulbasaurs. One was standing in front of the Oddish in a protective way and the smaller one that was holding it in its vines as it tried to comfort it.

"Woah, two Bulbasaurs!" Ash said in surprise. The protective one started to growl and it kept its stance. It then charged at the Starmie and tackles it to Misty where it wilted in her arms.

"Starmie!" Misty said worriedly as she tried to comfort the starfish pokemon.

Seeing that the humans were distracted, the two Bulbasaurs ran off into the bushes with Oddish in their vines before disappearing from view.

"Well, that was interesting," Michelle said, "Except for back home, it is very rare to find the starter pokemon from any region in the wild."

Brock nodded. "It's a very rare sight indeed."

"Which makes me a little bit disconcerted," Michelle said.

"Why?" Misty asked curiously.

"Well, if you take away how those Bulbasaurs were acting, it makes me think that they have had owners once before. Though not now, especially with how that one was acting so aggressive."

"Poor thing," Selene said as she shook her head.

"I hate it when we come upon things like this," Luke said aloud from his aura speech.

"Yeah," Brock sighed.

"Well, let's get going," Selene said as the group then got up and started to walk again. After a while of walking around the group had spotted a long rope bridge that spanned two cliffs.

"Ok….rickety old bridge," Michelle said with a shake of her head, "Like that isn't a bad idea,' She said her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It looks fine to me," Brock said as he went and tried the bridge out. It didn't break under his small test so he assumed it was safe as everyone walked onto the bridge ahead of him. Charlotte and Lottie were in the rear as they came onto the bridge last. The weight was too heavy for the bridge as a strong wind came through the cliffs and it swung the bridge back and forth. The rope twisted and snapped making everyone scream as they try to hold onto the rope. With one side hanging close to the water below, Ash and Selene had grabbed onto the more sturdy part of the rope as Luke quickly grabbed hold onto a strong board and took a hold of Michelle before she fell. Misty had lost her grip and grabbed onto Ash/s leg. Brock had lost his grip and fell off and into the roaring waters below. Since Nero was holding onto Charlotte, he couldn't grab the rope in time and both of them were sent plummeting into the water below. Selene cries out as tears sprung into her eyes as she watched her siblings get swept away by the fast currents below.

"Follow my lead," Luke said through aura speech as he helped Michelle onto his back as he started to shimmy his way over to the other side of the bridge. Selene helped Misty up from Ash's leg and the trio then followed the other's footsteps and soon they got over to the solid ground.

Ash was on his knees as he started to worship the ground for a bit, Pikachu had gotten off his back and looked at him to see if he's ok. Misty was beside Ash with her legs sprawled out as if she had fallen from exhaustion. Luke had made Michelle sit down not too far away as he started to check her over for any injuries. Selene just stood in the middle of the archway as she gazed down at the rushing water below a few tears were shed but she wiped them away knowing that her siblings and Brock would be ok. She had a gut feeling about it.

"Ok, Luke, I told you a million times already, I'm fine!" Michelle said as she got up and dusted herself off before checking on the small Pichu that was still clinging to her head. Luke just huffed and folded his arms as he looked at her, clearly still not satisfied with her condition.

"We...can't….stop now….Brock needs us…" Misty said as she tried to catch her breath.

Selene then glared, "Not just Brock, Lottie and Nero too," She said clearly annoyed before walking past her to start walking.

"Selene….everything will be alright, Nero knows how to swim really well remember, and you know that he won't anything happen to Lottie," Michelle said as she came to her cousin's side and tried to calm her down. Selene just huffed, this was just one of those moments where she needed to calm herself down by herself. Small static shock rippled through her skin but it was only for a few seconds. Michelle knew not to bother her if that happened.

The group then started a search for the missing trio. They began to follow the river from above until they found an incline that leads them to the bottom. All the while the trio kept calling the names of their comrades. As they walked, Ash and Misty went ahead of the group and got snagged into a net that flung them into the tree. Misty then shrieked.

"Get us down from here!"

Ash and Pikachu were struggling as they tried to make room.

Michelle just sighed as she looked over at her brother. "Luke?"

He quietly nods before jumping up the tree and used Metal Claw on the ropes above their head. He then caught the net as he hung from a limb of the tree before jumping down and letting them free.

"Thanks, Luke," Ash said with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks," Misty said with a nod.

"Ash, Misty, Selene, Michelle, Luke? Is that you guys?" He asked as he came out from a few bushes nearby.

"Brock!" Selene said before running up to him and holding him by the collar and asked a bit darkly," Where are Nero and Lottie! Tell me!" She then started to shake him a bit violently, as her temper was still boiling.

Michelle quickly went up and pulled Selene off of Brock to get him some air. "I suggest you tell her before she gets loose," She said to him.

Brock just swooned a bit and said, "Oh Selene, you can throw me anytime you want,"

Michelle sighed,"He did not just say that….."

"Oh he did," Selene said as her anger turned to annoyance. "Just tell me already!"

Brock then quickly snapped out of it before saying to her as Ash and Misty came over to stand by them, "Nero and Lottie are fine, they are back in the village, and playing with the pokemon."

"What happened to you guys?" Misty asked curiously.

"Well, we were being washed away by the rapids when a woman grabbed my hand and helped me up. Nero was able to grab onto a rock with Lottie holding onto his back as he pulled them both out. The girl who saved my life was extremely beautiful," he said.

"He says that about every girl he meets,' Michelle mutters to Selene while Misty was getting ticked.

"Go on," Misty said through her teeth.

"Well it's easier for me to show you then tell you," Brock said but before he could do anything else, Selene had grabbed him by the collar again.

"TAKE ME TO THEM NOW!" She roared before he quickly nodded and showed them to a log cabin by a lake.

"Oh," came a soft voice as a blue-haired girl came up to the group.

"Melanie, this is Ash, Misty, Michelle, and Selene, they are apart of my group," Brock said as he introduced everyone.

"Oh, so you're Brock's friends, he told me so much about you," Melanie said with a smile. At that moment, Lottie had come out of the house with a bunch of pokemon. She spotted Selene from the corner of her eyes and she started to run up to her as she yelled out her name.

"Selene!" She cries as she hugs her sister's leg in a death grip.

"Lottie!" Selene said as she started to cry and fall on her knees to pull her into a tight hug. "I was so worried about you," She sniffled before pulling away to kiss her forehead. "Where is Nero?" She asked before looking around.

"Oh, he's sleeping by the lake," Lottie said as he pointed to his slumbering body. A few oddish were looking up at the giant dragon type in awe.

"I guess I'll talk to him later then, I bet he used all of his energy to keep your safe," Selene said gently. Lottie nodded in agreement.

Misty smiled at the small scene that occurred before she took a look around the area and she spotted many different kinds of pokemon. "Wow, do all of these pokemon belong to you?" She asked Melanie.

"Oh no," Melanie said before Brock came in to explain.

"All these pokemon are here to rest, they have been abandoned or abused by their trainers," He said gently as he bent down to pat the one Paras on the head. It smiled.

"So I was correct earlier," Michelle said in thought.

"Yeah, that means those Bulbasaurs are here," Selene said.

"Melanie here helps them feel better to the best of her abilities," Brock said.

"So it's like a pokemon health spa really," Misty said in interest.

"Exactly," Brock said.

"I wonder who made that trap in the forest," Michelle asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, that was me, I was trying to keep pokemon poachers and trainers away, they want to come in and capture all the pokemon when they are not ready to be caught," Melanie said apologetically.

"That is the right call to make, I sincerely approve," Michelle said with a smile.

"I promised Melanie that we wouldn't capture any pokemon here," Brock said as he took them to another spot of the camp.

"That's all well and good, but she doesn't have any control if a pokemon decides to leave with one of you," Luke said.

Misty had spotted the Oddish from before and walked away from the group. She then slowly approached the pokemon and went to her knees and said, "I'm really sorry about what happened earlier, I hope you can forgive me." The Oddish blinked before she said, "I shouldn't have surprised you like that, you must've been scared. The Oddish nodded. Misty started to get emotional before the rash Bulbasaur from before went over and tackled her butt. She fell on her face.

"That's rude to tackle people!" Misty said as she turned to look at the pokemon.

The Bulbasaur just glared.

"She's right!" Ash said sternly.

The Bulbasaur started to paw the ground like an angry Tauros. The smaller Bulbasaur from before quickly appeared and stood in front of his friend as he tried to calm him down. It was then that Michelle and Selene walked up to stand by Misty and Ash. The rash Bulbasaur then blinked as he saw the two girls and started to back up a bit in respect. The more timid one slowly started to walk over to Michelle and looked up at her. She smiled and leaned down and started to pet its head. It purrs happily. Hearing the purr, Michelle gently picked it up and started to hug it.

Melanie was surprised at the show of affection that these two girls were getting from the two usually distant pokemon. Selene looked at her as she raised a brow, "What?" She asked gently.

Melanie blinked and blushed in embarrassment for staring, "S..sorry, it's just that those two usually don't show that much affection, especially to people,"

"Oh, I see, that's a shame, I bet these two are softies deep down," Selene said gently with a smile. The once rash Bulbasaur started to blush in embarrassment and looks down at the ground. Its small friend continued to nuzzle its head against Michelle's.

"So, do you have a name?" Michelle asked the pokemon in her hand. Melanie just blinked as she watched her curiously. Though smiled as she listened. The small Bulbasaur then started to talk to her, "Bulba Saur, saur. (My name is Bardin.)" He said with a smile.

Michelle giggled and nuzzled him more, "So, you're name is Bardin, if I remember correctly, that means ironbark tree," She said as she showed her knowledge.

Selene just chuckled before seeing Nero stirring from his nap. She goes over to him and he quickly stood up and picked his sister up before spinning her around happily. She just squealed and laughed. "Nero! I was worried for you too," Nero just huffed as he sat her down and quickly looked her over before nodding in satisfaction.

Michelle took a second to look away to see Selene and Nero. She instantly talked to Luke, "See Luke, why can't you be like that? You are always a mother hen." She then looked down at Bardin.

Luke just huffed and folded his arms, "I am NOT a mother hen."

The sudden male voice spooked Melanie as she looked around in fear.

Brock quickly went to the scared girl's aid. "Don't worry, that was just Luke, he has an ability that allows him to speak English."

Melanie nodded slowly and clung to Brock which made Misty a bit peeved. "O..ok, but may I ask a question?"

"Sure," Brock said with a charming smile.

"Who is Luke…?" She asked.

Brock then facepalmed, "I'm sorry, I didn't make it clear, Luke is the Lucario right next to Michelle, he's from a different region. You already know Nero, he's a Haxorus and is also from a different region,"

Melanie made a cute 'oh' face and nodded before looking at Luke and smiled, "Well, it's nice to meet you." Luke gave a polite nod in return.

Ash then went up to Melanie and asked her, "So why was Bulbasaur being so rash?" He asked her.

"He's only trying to protect the pokemon here, He volunteered to guard our whole village," Melanie responded.

Michelle had Pichu on her head and she still had Bardin in her arms as she gave a whistle. "I'm impressed," she said with a smile. That made Bulbasaur blush again.

Ash blinked and gasped as Melanie continued, "He fends off enemies that try to attack the village, all the while looking after the ones within. He also guides the new ones into the village. He's the bravest pokemon I know,"

"That explains why he attacked me, he thought I was going to take Oddish away from the village," Misty said in revelation. Melanie nodded.

Bulbasaur started to growl as he tried to push on Ash's leg as he went past Michelle and Selene. Ash blinked,"So now what is he doing?" He asked.

"Well...as I said, Bulbasaur doesn't like trainers, he wants you to leave the village," Melanie said softly.

Michelle sighed before looking down at Bardin, 'is he always like this?" She asked him and he nodded in response.

"But we are not here to capture pokemon, just to help," Misty said as she tried to reason with Bulbasaur.

"It's true Bulbasaur, these are our friends," Melanie said as she tried to get him to stop.

Bulbasaur just continued to growl as he tried to push Ash away. Ash's facial features lightened up a bit and he bent down to his level and pets his head without fear. "You are the bravest pokemon I have ever met. I would love to have a pokemon like you, this village is lucky," He said and it struck a chord with Bulbasaur.

From the air, annoying voices were heard as a giant balloon came into view. "Great, it's Team Rocket," Selene said with a shake of her head.

Melanie blinked, "Team Rocket?" She asked confused. Selene and Michelle couldn't answer her before the clowns dropped their stadium-sized thing into an area nearby. The impact made the ground shake.

"Here we go again," Ash sighed as he stood up a bit.

"Welcome to Jessie's Flying Stadium," Jessie said as she struck a pose. She was then pushed by James.

"The stadium was my idea," James huffed as he folded his arms. Meowth just rolled his eyes before poking a button and a giant hose came out of the grey structure.

"Would you idiots get a life!" Michelle hollered angrily. Team Rocket just stuck their tongues out to her.. "Real mature," She hissed.

"They never run out of ideas do they," Ash said as he tackled the Staryu down so that it wouldn't get sucked into the grey hose. Brock had made his way to the cabin and ushered the others inside. Everyone was heading inside before Misty let out a scream.

"No Oddish!" She hollered as she tried to keep herself grounded. Bulbasaur quickly came to the rescue and used his vine whip to grab Oddish before it was sucked up into the machine. It then reeled it back in and brought it close to his body.

Misty sighed in relief before Ash shoved the Staryu to her before telling her to get inside. He then started to make his way to Bulbasaur. He went down and started to help push him in. Michelle watched from the doorway as she helped urge the two in. Misty then shut the door so that the wind didn't do any more damage.

Selene helped put Akiko down as Michelle put down Bardin. "We'll be back, I thought I saw another pokemon out there," Selene said before darting out the door. Michelle nodded and told the others to stay there.

Once outside, Selene and Michelle went into the forest and behind a group of dark trees. Team Rocket started to cheer and laugh as they thought that they had retreated. Selene just rolled her eyes. "Idiots,"

Michelle smirked,"This is going to be fun," She said before she morphed herself into her Pikachu form. She looked like any other female Pikachu, well besides the red eyes of course.

Selene nodded and then rushed back out with Michelle by her side. Jessie raised her brow, "Back again? Why so soon?" She taunted.

"Got a new pokemon for us to steal?" James taunted.

Meowth narrows his eyes,"Where's the other twerpette,"

"None of your business," Selene snapped before she 'ordered' Michelle to use 'Thor's Hammer'. The Pikachu grinned as she used a quick attack before leaping into the air and used a combination of Irontail and Electro Ball as she hit the hose. The hose freaked out before exploding.

The trio gasped at the power before Selene looked at them with a death gaze. " ."

"Not in your life twerpette," Meowth said as he snapped out of his awe.

"Pika chu chu PIka (I would do as she says.)," Said Michelle to Meowth.

Meowth just flinched. The female Pikachu smirked.

"I warned you," Selene said with a nonchalant tone. "Thunder bold," She said simply.

Michelle just smirked sadistically in her Pikachu form before screaming, "PIIIIKKKKKAAAACHUUUUUUUUU!" A loud rip of lightning came crashing down on the 'stadium' and it burst into pieces as it sent Team Rocket flying.

Selene threw a pokeball as Michelle scampered off into the woods to change back into her human form. The only thing that the others saw was that Selene had brought back her Pikachu. It wasn't long before Michelle came out of the woods and to Selene's side. The others then came crashing out to ask questions about the Pikachu.

"I don't let her out often, she doesn't like to show off much," Selene shrugged a bit. "I've known that Pikachu for most of my life,"

Michelle nodded,'Yeah, I remember that day,"

Melanie then spoke up, "Since everything is finished, is everyone ok," She asked gently.

Selene and Michelle nodded a yes. Brock gave a thumbs up, Misty and Ash said a yeah. Nero, Lottie, and Luke just nodded their head. The pokemon that resided in the village cheered happily in unison to show their happiness and welfare.

Bulbasaur then went over and nudged at Ash's leg. A smile on his face as he said,"Bulba saur saur. (Please take me with you.)"

Michelle smiled, "Ah, he wants to go with you,"

Ash blinked before looking down at Bulbasaur happily,"You really mean it?" He asked.

Bulbasaur nodded before he used his vine whip to grab an empty pokeball and opened it before going inside it. It closed and shook for three times before a loud ding was heard. Signaling that he now was Ash's pokemon.

Michelle then smiled as she looked down at Bardin, "You wanna come as well?" She asked. The Bulbasaur nodded as Michelle took out a pokeball and gently tapped it on his head. It wasn't long before Bardin came out as her pokemon.

Melanie smiled and looked at the group. "Thank you all for saving this village, we will always welcome you back, please come back soon. Goodbye my friends," She said before the rest of the pokemon villagers cheered as the group went on their way.