Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Pokemon

Ash looked next to him at Elekid. He had been forced to periodically recall the Pokemon after they left Pallet Town behind them. The electric types of stubby legs had a hard time keeping up with his longer strides. Now, his starter was once again out of his Pokeball, and he was walking at a much slower pace, so Elekid didn't have to push himself to keep up.

"Okay, we need eight Gym badges to qualify for the Indigo Leauge." He said, holding up his map of the Kanto Region. "If we want to place and surpass the Oak legacy in Pallet Town, then I think we should only go after the top tier Gyms in the Region."

A small ar of electricity shot between Elekid's horns. His head cocked towards the woods around the beaten-down path, and Ash stopped, looking up from his map.

"Is something there?" He asked.

Looking over her head, Ash spotted the tiny bird Pokemon Pidgey. It was moving about on the forest floor, pecking at the ground.

Probably looking for something to eat. Ash thought, reaching for his Pokedex. The tiny bird Pokemon was a common species that he had seen around all year. Even so, he went ahead and pointed the Pokedex's camera at it.

"Pidgey is a flying Pokemon. Among all the flying Pokemon, it is the gentlest and easiest to capture. A perfect target for the beginner Pokemon trainer to test his Pokemon skills."

Ash flipped his Pokedex closed and smiled. Only a few hours into his journey, and he was about to catch his first Pokemon.

"Alright, Elekid, stun it with Thunder Shock and then use Quick." He ordered, pointing at the small bird Pokemon.

Elekid shifted on his feet. He leaned forward as large arcs of electricity formed between his horns. The yellow bolts shot forward and hit the Pidgey. Ash winced as the small bird jolted and shuddered. He had no idea how many volts Elekid was capable of producing, but he did know that the Pokemon had more than enough to kill a full-grown human when it felt threatened.

Elekid vanished in a burst of speed Ash didn't think possible, and Pidgey flew through the air and landed with a smacking thud in the dirt.

"Yes!" Ash cheered, pumping a fist into the air. "Nice job, Elekid!"

He reached for his belt and grabbed a ping-pong ball sized Pokeball. His thumb pressed down on the small button connecting the red and white parts of the ball. In a split second, the ball went from the size of a ping-pong ball to filling his hand like a baseball.

"Here we go!" Ash tossed the ball through the woods. It wasn't a perfect throw, falling short of the Pidgey by a few feet. Luckily the ball bounced and rolled enough to clip the bird Pokemon's side.

I'll have to get better at that. Ash decided as the Pokeball split open, and a red beam consumed the Pidgey dragging it into the ball. As the ball rolled back and forth, he walked towards it, passing Elekid, who was still standing where he collided with the Pidgey.

The Pokeball clicked and went still. Pidgey had been in no condition to fight the capture after Elekid's combo attack.

Ash scooped the Pokeball up and raised it to the sky.

"Awesome! My first Pokemon!" He shouted towards the grey clouds gathering overhead.

It was hammy for sure, but he was alone in the woods with no one but Elekid. He could act how he wanted without being embarrassed.

Ash minimized the Pokeball and slid it into his pocket.

"Gwagyah!"

"What the?" Ash looked up as a shadow flew past his feet. It looked like another Pidgey.

"Gwagyah!"

He glanced up, and his eyes met mean eyes as a sharp beak careened towards his face.

Ash threw his hands up and winced as painful nips drew blood from his forearms. A burst of hot electricity shot from Elekid, who whirled angrily, glaring at the aggressive bird.

The Spearow screeched and flew away, landing in the dirt a few yards from him.

"Thanks, Elekid," Ash said as his partner moved to stand between him and the wild Pokemon. He looked down at his arm and sighed in relief. The Spearow wasn't very big, and the cuts in his skin were small.

"Gwagyah!" the Spearow spread its wings and dug its talons into the dirt.

Ash pointed the Pokedex at it.

The Pokédex displayed the Pokémon's information.

"Spearow... Also, a tiny bird Pokémon, but unlike Pidgey, it has violent tendencies. It will commonly attack both humans and other Pokémon..."

"It attacks humans?" Ash glanced down at his bleeding arms. "Ah, I'll say."

Suddenly, the Spearow pointed its wing at Ash and Elekid.

"Gwagyah!" It let out another high pitched cry.

After the signal cry, the trees shook, and they all rose up. That is a whole host of Spearow. There were so many of them. Their numbers were almost uncountable.

Just the sound of their wings flapping was loud enough to drown out all the other sounds in the forest. Ash's jaw dropped. Elekid couldn't beat all of them. He had Thunder Shock, which could take down a few, but there were just too many. They'd be pecked to death before they did any real damage to the large group.

"We've got to run!" He shouted and turned tail, recalling Elekid to his Pokeball as he ran.

The Spearow began to give chase.

As he ran, it seemed like he was passing a lot of other Pokémon. He saw Rattata, Caterpie, and more, but Ash had no time to pull out the Pokédex and scan them.

Not with more and more Spearow chasing after him. While the host of Spearow was large to begin with, friends called more friends, continually increasing their ranks.

At this point, rather than a large group, it felt more like half the sky itself was chasing him.

The leaders of the Spearow pack, faster than their friends, caught him and started pecking at his head. He tucked his head down and covered his neck with his hands as he fled.

Fleeing, fleeing, and fleeing some more...But as he fled...a cliff stood up ahead...a waterfall flowing from it.

Ash was being cornered on the edge of the cliff. Hesitation, consideration, and thought...it all passed through his mind in a flash. Time was short as more Spearow closed in on him.

Ash swung his pack off his shoulders and placed Elekid and Pidgey's Pokeball inside. He didn't want to risk leaving them attached to his belt and losing them.

"Well. Here goes."

Ash leapt towards the waterfall. Past the waterfall, there was a plunge pool; beyond the plunge pool was a fierce current of white rapids.

All Ash could do was hold tight to his pack so he wouldn't lose it. He hit the water and went down. The Spearows circled above, waiting for him. He held his breath and let the current drag him downstream. When his lungs burned, and his vision started to darken, he kicked up, breaking the surface.

He sucked in deep breaths of air, filling his exhausted lungs. The Spearows hadn't noticed him. He was...

"Gwagyah!"

...Not safe.

Come on! Ash sucked in as much air as he could and went limp, allowing the current to dark him underwater.

The next time he came up for air, the world had changed drastically. More than Ash thought possible in the minute and a half he was under. The Spearow chasing him were gone, rain was pouring down from the sky, and lightning flashed illuminating the dark sky.

Ash forced his way to the side of the river and clawed up onto the muddy bank. He flopped onto his back and stared up into the rain as his eyes slid closed.

Hours later, as the next morning began, he woke to warm light on his face. He could have believed he was still in bed at home if not for the stinging pain on his head, neck, arms, and hands. The Spearow had done a number on him, and sleeping in the mud hadn't helped.

His clothes were stiff; his mouth was dry and sticky. Ash felt grosser than he ever had.

I need to get clean. He sat up out of the mud and pushed himself to his feet. There was a tree next to the bank with low enough branches to hang his bag from, and he did just that. Luckily for him, his mom had bought the waterproof bag, and everything inside was still dry.

He took out the packaged bar of soap out and stripped down to his boxers before jumping back into the river. A quick scrub had the mud-caked on his body and in his hair washing downstream, along with the dried blood from the Spearow attack.

When he climbed out, he made sure to step on his dirty clothes to keep his feet out of the mud. After drying off and making sure there was no one around, he changed his exchanged his underwear for a clean pair, slid on a pair of socks, and stepped into the extra pair of trainers his mother packed him. His second pair of pants and a black t-shirt followed. He stuffed his dirty clothes into a plastic bag and shoved that back into his pack.

"Alright, I'm good to go," Ash said.

He climbed out of the riverbank before releasing Elekid. A smart move, because the second he was free, he charged, tackling Ash to the ground.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Ash laughed, scratching the yellow fur on his friend's head.

He let Elekid be for a few seconds before gently pushing him away. As much fun as it would be to hang around and goof off, they had a lot of work to do.

"Viridian City's downstream from Pallet, so we're closer than we were yesterday, but we missed out on a lot of training," Ash explained as he sat up. "If we want to beat the Pewter city gym and win the Boulder badge, we need to start battling wild Pokemon and other trainers. Gain some experience...yeah?"

Elekid simply gave a single small nod.

Ash brushed a hand through the mess that was his hair, his cap long gone, and looked up. It was at that moment he saw it.

Flying into the sunrise, it flew majestically on great wings. Backlit by the rising sun, Ash could only see a silhouette.

As it flew past, it sprinkled small particles of light down upon Ash.

"What...is that?" He asked in awe.

Ash pointed the Pokédex at it. The Pokédex's explanation was blunt.

"Unidentified, Pokemon."

"An unidentified Pokémon..." Ash watched as the magnificent creature flew over a rainbow and beyond the horizon, vanishing from his view.

A single feather left in its wake floated down. The feather swirled, spun, and flipped in the wind, and then it was there, right in front of him.

Ash reached out and plucked it out of the sky.

The feather was nothing like anything he had ever seen. Glowing like a rainbow, it didn't feel like a feather either. It felt...etheral.

Ash looked at Elekid, who was enraptured by the strange feather too.

"Pretty cool, huh?" He said and took his badge case out of his pack. He placed the wing inside on the thin black cushions and snapped the case shut.

As he placed the case back in his pack, he grabbed his newest Pokemon's Pokeball.

"We should meet our new friend." He told Elekid and pointed the ball at the ground and released Pidgey.

The small bird cocked it's head and spread its wings, no doubt trying to look as intimidating as possible. It was cute.

Ash pointed his Pokedex at it, and the information available was far more than before.

"Pidgey is a flying Pokemon. Among all the flying Pokemon, it is the gentlest and easiest to capture—a perfect target for the beginner Pokemon trainer to test his Pokemon skills.

This Pidgey knows the moves: Tackle, Sand Attack, and Gust."

"Not bad for my first catch," Ash said, and he shut his Pokedex. He looked at Pidgey, who stared back. "Do you want to go back in your Pokeball, or fly?"

Pidgey took off into the air.

Ash shrugged and minimized the Pokeball still in his hand.

"Guess that settles that." He said and patted Elekid on the head. "Come on, buddy. Let's see if we can't find someone to battle."

They started walking further downstream, following the river as far as it went towards Viridian. There were a few wild Pokemon around, mostly Pidgey, but Ash had spotted a Magicarp(or ten) swimming upriver towards Pallet. He was tempted to catch one. While Magikarp weren't the best fighters, they did evolve into the monstrous Gyarados that had struck fear into sailors' hearts for centuries.

In the end, he decided against it, shaking his head and walking past the school of fish Pokemon. He didn't think he was ready to try and keep a Gyarados in line, and a Magicarp wouldn't be much help during gym battles.

As they walked, Pidgey and Elekid crushed the opponents Ash picked for them. Pidgey forced Spearow out of the sky and had Rattata running scared while Elekid took down the occasional Weedle and Metapod.

"We need to find a trainer to battle," Ash said as Elekid used Quick attack on another Metapod. Battling wild Pokemon gave his friends experience, but they would grow more if they fought stronger opponents.

Elekid made a whirling noise and pointed one of his stocky arms at the river.

A lone girl sat by the edge with a fishing rod. She looked about the same age as him, maybe a year older. She had orange hair that was tied to the side in a ponytail and was wearing a yellow cut-off shirt that bared her stomack, and short tight blue shorts held attached to overalls strapped across her shoulders.

Ash smiled and patted Elekid's head. "Good eye."

He walked over to the girl who noticed him before he got close. Her eyes flicked to Elekid, then up at Pidgey and back then back to him. She sighed and stood up, pulling a Pokeball from the red bag on the ground next to her.

"I'm guessing you want to battle?" She asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. You're actually my first."

Her eye twitched, and she released her Pokemon. A golden-brown starfish-like Pokémon with five appendages around a red gem in the center of a golden casing.

He pulled his Pokedex out as Elekid stepped forward to battle.

Staryu. The core of this Water Pokémon shines in a rainbow of seven colors. Its core is valued by some as a type of jewelry.

"An electric type, huh?" the girl smirked. "Don't think type advantage will be enough to beat me."

Ash grinned and slid his Pokedex closed. "Elekid, Quick Attack!" He ordered making the first move.

"Staryu, Harden!"

Elekid smashed into the water Pokemon and sent it flying. The girl didn't seem worried, and Ash could see why. Staryu didn't seem hurt at all.

"My turn." the girl's smirk grew wider. "Hit it with a Water Gun, Staryu!"

"Drop low!" Ash ordered.

Elekid followed the command and dropped flat on his stomach. The powerful stream of water Staryu shot passed harmlessly overhead.

"Quick thinking." the girl nodded. "But it won't work twice. Harden and then Tackle!"

"Hit it with Thunder Shock, Elekid."

As Staryu closed in, Elekid's horns produced the electric sparks needed for Thunder Shock and then ducked his head. Staryu made a strange noise as the yellow bolts shot from Elekid and covered its body.

The girl sighed as her Pokemon collapsed and recalled the Water-type. Ash blinked. He knew Water-type Pokemon were weak to electric attacks, but he didn't think Staryu would go down in one hit.

"She's still pretty young. I haven't gotten around to building up her resistance to Electric-types." the girl explained.

Ash nodded. That made sense. The girl sighed again and reached into her pockets. She pulled out an older model of Pokedex and held it out to him.

"What?" He asked.

The girl sighed for the third and loudest time. Ash was noticing she did that a lot. Then she shocked him by shoving her hand into the pocket of his jeans. She pulled out his Pokedex and tapped the two devices together.

Ash heard a few beeps before she handed him his Pokedex back. He slid it open and noticed the amount of money he had in his account had gone up.

"You must be a pretty new trainer if you don't know about the league's new rules." the girl said.

Ash didn't think it'd be a good idea to tell her that he had just gotten his first Pokemon the day before, so he stayed silent as she explained.

"Basically, whenever two trainers battle, the loser has to pay the winner a fee if they have a thousand Pokedollars or more in their trainer account. It helps keep new trainers and their Pokemon from starving while they travel."

"Oh, that makes sense," Ash said as he put his Pokedex away. "Anyway, it was fun battling you...?"

"Misty." the girl answered.

Ash would have given his name, but Misty was already walking away back to her fishing spot. He shrugged and motioned for Elekid to follow him. They'd be in Viridian by tonight, and he wanted to get as much battling in as they could.

(-)

By the time Ash reached Viridian City, the sun had set behind the mountains, and it was getting dark.

With Highway Route 2 passing through it, Viridian City was a reasonably large city. Ash's Pallet Town had gone over 100 years without any notable crimes. As such, they had no police officers or a police station.

However, Viridian City naturally had police stations; it even had a police box on the town's outskirts. Tonight the police box's night shift was being handled by a female officer.

Not that such a thing was surprising. The most important fields of work, like the police, were dominated by women. Any men who had jobs with any connection to the police were usually either poachers or private eyes.

Most men tended to try and become Pokémon trainers.

However, the harsh truth was that not everyone could be a Pokémon trainer. More people fail than succeed. Some men realize this fact early enough and are able to make a change of career, but others chase their dreams until the bitter end and become unable to integrate into society.

Having become adults with no skills other than the ability to throw a Pokeball makes them effectively useless. Having failed to chase their dreams, they lose their confidence. They were nothing but talk. Unreliable. They always dreamed of getting rich quick. If people like this were allowed to be police, bankers, or doctors, cities would be filled with thieves, and hospitals would create casualties rather than cure them.

As such, the most important and serious jobs were handled by women.

Ash waved to the officer as he passed by. She stared at him, glanced at the wanted poster outside her police box, and then smiled.

"Welcome to Viridian City?" She said. "Do you have any injured Pokemon? I don't mind giving lifts to the Pokemon Center if it's an emergency."

Ash shook his head. "No emergencies." He said. "Just tired."

Elekid and Pidgey had gotten in some great training. After Elekid had battled and beaten Misty and her Staryu, he had taken down another trainer using a Nidoran. Pidgey hadn't been idle either. While Ash hadn't used his newest Pokemon to battle another trainer yet, the flying type had sent all the wild Pokemon they met running.

"Hold on a moment!" Officer Jenny's voice called out.

Ash stopped as the young officer exited the police box. Despite the Assistant Inspector badge pinned on her chest, she still looked young enough to be Ash's older sister. And he wasn't even partly surprised to see the name Jenny on her badge. Ever since the times of their ancestor Heiji Jenny and his daughter Zenigata Jenny as thief takers (the old equivalent of police officers), the Jenny family have worked as police officers. As of now, one out of every three police officers had the name, Jenny.

The remaining two-thirds were either women who had changed their surname after marriage or their daughters or other relatives. Of course, not everyone changes their name after marriage...either way, the Jenny family were well known as police officers.

To sum it up, the name Jenny and the police were practically synonymous.

"Have you seen these two people?" Officer Jenny asked, holding up a wanted poster.

Ash looked at the blue-haired man, and red-haired woman. He had never seen them before in his life.

"No, sorry." He said. Officer Jenny's eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but be intimidated. "But, I'll keep a lookout." He promised.

"ID?" She demanded.

Ash handed over his Pokedex.

Officer Jenny flipped it open and read through his trainer page, glancing at him every now and then.

"Pallet Town, hey?" She handed the device back. "You're a little late to the party, aren't you? The other three came through yesterday?"

"I got held up," Ash mumbled sliding his Pokedex back into his pocket. He didn't want to be reminded of Gary and the others headstart.

"Well, good luck on your journey!" Officer Jenny said with a beaming smile.

Ash nodded and kept walking. He just wanted to get to the Pokemon center, throw his dirty clothing in the wash, and sleep the night away. Both he and his Pokemon needed to be well-rested before they ventured into the Viridian forest.

At the Pokemon Center, he showed his Pokedex to the pink-haired Nurse Joy behind the counter, proving he was a trainer and qualified for a free meal and room.

The room was nothing special. A single bed shoved into the corner and a metal desk connected to the wall.

After washing his clothes, scarfing down a dinner of potato stew (the Pokemon Center wasn't known for its cuisine), Ash released Elekid and Pidgey before he collapsed face-first onto bed.

Hours later, when he was in the middle of an awesome dream where he was the Indigo Champion, Ash was stunned awake by alarm bells blasting in his ears.

"Warning! Warning!" Officer Jenny's voice filled his room. "Viridian City is under the threat of an unknown incursion. It is feared to be a gang of Pokémon kidnappers. If you own Pokémon or are friends with any Pokémon trainers, please remain cautious."

Pidgey was flying tight circles in the room, screeching and squawking. Ash recalled him into his Pokeball quickly. He might have captured the flying-type, but Pidgey was still very much a wild Pokemon. It was going to take a few weeks before it was comfortable out of his natural habitat.

"Come on, let's go find out what's going on." He said to Elekid.

Ash opened the door and breathed in dark smog-like smoke. He choked on his breath as his eyes started to water.

The Pokeball in his hand popped open, and Pidgey was in the air.

"Pidgey, use Gust!" Ash coughed.

Powerful winds filled the hall as Pidgey flapped his wings. The smoke cleared away in seconds, and Ash sighed in relief.

"Good job, Pidgey." He smiled at the chirping bird and ran down the hall. Elekid was at his side, and Pidgey trailed behind, still nervous, but not as scared as he was in the room.

He must sense something is wrong. Ash thought as he ran toward the lobby of the Pokemon Center. Pokemon had far better sense than humans, and their natural instinct to danger was leagues above his own.

"They've got to be kidding about just calling us mere kidnappers..." He heard a rude female voice in the lobby. "We're part of the one and only Team Rocket."

Team Rocket? Ash stopped running. He pressed himself against the wall and peered around the corner into the lobby.

A snake-like Pokemon and a Pokemon somewhat like a round rock, with smoke spurting out from pimple-like craters on its surface, had Nurse Joy and Chansey surrounded.

Ash recognized the two Pokemon. The snake-like Pokemon was an Ekans, and the other was a Koffing, the cause of the smoke filling the Pokemon Center.

Behind the Pokemon, a purple-haired man and red-haired woman stood. They had to have been older than Ash by at least a decade, and they had mean faces with cruel smirks.

"To protect the world from devastation," the woman said.

Then the man cut in. "To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie." the woman introduced herself.

"James." the man followed up.

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light..." Jessie struck a pose.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight." James took his own pose.

Just when Ash thought the nonsense was over, a Meowth appeared between them.

"That's right!" the Pokemon said, striking its own pose.

"What the? What is this?" Ash muttered.

James cocked his head and turned...looking straight at the corner where Ash was hiding.

"You can come out now!" He called. "We know you're there!"

Ash stepped out of his cover. Nurse Joy gasped, and he smiled, hoping it would help her stay calm. Despite his smile, he was just as scared and worried as she probably was. He had heard the name Jessie and James had used in their little song.

Team Rocket.

The group had been in the news for the past decade. First small thefts, and then as time passed, the organization grew, and now the Leauge was talking about labeling anyone associated with the group as terrorists.

Still, he didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing that he was afraid. So he went ahead and said what didn't need to be said.

"So, uh, what the hell was that about?"

"Seems this twerp boy doesn't get it." Jessie brushed off Ash's comment, shrugging her shoulders.

"Nobody would understand that without an explanation," Ash stated the obvious.

As such, James opted to give a serious reply. "We're after the Pokémon."

Ash stepped in front of Elekid as James' eyes strayed towards the fire-type.

"You're not getting my Pokemon."

"Hm...Elekid?..." Jessie ridiculed him with a laugh. "We're not interested in some run of the mill Pokemon."

"What we're after are rare Pokémon, far superior to that thing." James clarified, adding to Jessie's response.

"Hold it; we don't have any Pokémon like that at this Center." Nurse Joy said.

"Are you sure?" Jessie asked. "This place is filled with injured Pokémon. If we take all of them, there may be some diamonds in the mud."

"Even a poor marksman will hit a target with enough shots," James said with a serious expression.

Ash clenched his fist. These people were starting to piss him off.

"Oh, is someone getting angry?" Jessie laughed. "Are you going to try and stop us?"

"Elekid, Thunder Shock. Pidgey, help out with Gust!" Ash ordered.

Elekid lowed his head, and electricity shot forward. Pidgey flew forward careful to stay out of the Elekid's way and beat her wings faster than Ash could follow.

Ash grinned as Jesse and James seemed shocked that he'd dare attack Team Rocket. They didn't even order their Pokemon to dodge, and his friend's attacks collided with Ekans and Koffing without issue.

The gas Koffing naturally leaked ignited.

Ash cried out as he was thrown back by the explosion.