Reaching the outskirts of both Viridian City, and the Viridian Forest, Ash took a second to look up at the looming tree's at the forefront of the forest entrance, "I wonder what kind's of friends we will meet in the forest!" Ash said to Final, his eyes sparkling with excitement, "Row...Spear-Spearow!" Final replied as she took to the air and darted forwards, disappearing into the thick brush of the forest.

"You think you can beat me in a race, huh? We will see about that!" Ash hollered as he zoomed forward, chasing after Final with impressive speed. A smile on his face, Ash laughed happily as he chased after Final, who was barreling through the forest, easily weaving through the tree's and narrowly missing branches.

CRASH!

"Urg..." Ash grumbled as he slid down the tree he had just ran into, falling onto his backside as his face throbbed, a lovely red mark making itself present across Ash's forehead, "Remind me to never look away when running through a forest..." Ash grumbled to himself as he slowly stood up, rubbing his stinging face (his ego just as bruised)

"Row-row! Row-row!" Final laughed loudly as she fluttered down from the sky, landing in front of Ash whilst still laughing, "Aha! All fun and games when it's not you, aye Final?" Final quickly shut her beak, stifling her laugh as Ash glared down at her playfully, "No more races in the forest...come on...let's get see if we can find some new friends whilst we are here!" Ash said, brushing off his face and ego pain as he started walking down the moss covered path, Final having made her way to her place on Ash's shoulder.

It didn't take long , a mere minute or two, before Ash spotted a wild pokemon, "ROW!" Final exclaimed in excitement before she felt a hand cover her beak,making her glance up at her trainer in confusion, "Shhh! You'll startle the pokemon..." Final blushed at her mistake but nodded as Ash removed his hand and the duo looked towards the wild pokemon, who had lifted it's head at Spearow's excited cry before shrugging and returning to eating from the berry bush.

"Let's see what Dexter has to say about this pokemon...it's really cool though, don't need Dexter to tell me that..." Ash thought as he pulled out his pokedex and pointed it towards the pokemon, being careful not to reveal his position behind a group of tree's.

Scyther. the Mantis Pokémon.

Its claws are sharp as swords, and it is a powerful flyer. This Pokémon is rarely seen by humans and almost never captured,

Nodding to himself, Ash glanced around from his position until a light bulb went off in his head and he quickly began gathering berries from the a nearby bush.

"Final? You stay here...I don't want to scare the Scyther with the threat of a flying type pokemon...but if things go wrong, come on out...okay?" Final looked unsure as she glanced towards the foraging Scyther's sharp blades. But Final trusted her trainer, so she nodded, taking a perch on a low tree branch as Ash stepped out from behind the tree's, cursing when he stepped on and snapped a branch.

Instantly, Scyther's wings shot up as it snapped it's head towards the sound, a startled and threatened look on it's face as it laid eyes on Ash, "Whoa there bud..." Ash spoke softly, holding his hands up in surrender, "I'm not going to hurt you..." Scyther didn't look convinced as it swung it's blade towards Ash, who quickly jumped to the side, making it so Scyther got it's sharp blade like arm stuck in the tree that had been behind Ash.

"I know your species don't trust humans..." Ash started after shaking his head at Final, who had reared up and looked ready to strike,whilst Scyther turned it's head to glare at Ash, it's scythe still stuck deep in the tree, "I also know your a very smart and strong species," Ash continued as he reached for his belt,m making Scyther bear it's fangs and swing its none lodged scythe towards Ash - But Ash had been smart enough to mobe far enough back so as not to be hurt.

"Relax Scyther...I'm just taking my belt off to show you I'm not here to attack you..." Ash told Scyther, who quirked an eyebrow, it's face bearing a look of confusion as it watched Ash take his belt off and place it on the floor, stepping away from it far enough that he couldn't reach it easily, "See? I'm not here to hurt you...now...how about we get your scythe out of the tree?"

Although Scyther looked more at ease once the belt of poke'balls was away from Ash, it held a weary look as Ash stepped up, gently laying his hands ont he large bug pokemon's lodged scythe.

"On thee, pull as hard as you can, okay?" Scyther just stared at Ash silently, nodding so softly that Ash nearly missed it, "Okay...1...2...3!" Scyther pulled with all it's might as Ash pulled as well. a loud POP echoed as Scyther's blade popped out of the tree. Ash stumbled and fell over whilst Scyther easily managed to gain it's footing, looking down at Ash with a blank face.

"See? That wasn't so bad!" Ash said with a laugh as he wiped his brow and slowly stood up, making sure to move slowly so as not to startle Scyther, was still watching him with a high amount of weariness.

"Now that your out of the tree! I have something for you, it's in my pocket...watch my hand okay?" Scyther lifted it's scythe's, still unsure whether to trust the boy or not as it watched Ash reach into his pockets.

Pulling out the berries, Ash gently placed them on the floor and stepped back, "I collected these berries - I remember Professor Oak once said that Scyther's like Lum Berries the most...go on, eat them," Scyther slowly lowered it's blade like arms upon realizing the human had only berries.

Bending down to sniff the berries, Scyther went to eat one, it's eyes never leaving Ash's smiling face - Until it realized that the berries we're indeed Lum Berries, to which Scyther quickly gobbled up the remaining berries, standing up straight as it licked it's lips in satisfaction.

"I'm glad you liked the berries Scyther," Ash said with a smile as Scyther seemed to visibly relax once realizing the berries where Lum Berries, as evident from the fact that Scyther no longer looked defensive, instead, the large praying mantis like pokemon was looking at Ash with a look of confusion.

"I have a proposition for you Scyther," Scyther quirked an eyebrow at Ash, who never lost his smile, "I'll be honest with you, I would like you to join me as a partner," Ash quickly held his hands up as Scyther's defensive side shot back up and it raised its blades, ready to attack.

"But I don't think it's fair to take pokemon out of the wild if they don't want to," Instantly, Scyther dropped it's blades, a look of pure confusion on it's face, "I sure as heck wouldn't want to be taken from my home if I didn't want to go...so it's only fair to give you an option right? I'm not saying you have to come with me without a fight, I know the Scyther species respect has to be earned," Ash continued, his smile never falling as Scyther's eye's widened at Ash's words.

"You wouldn't respect me if i didn't put up a fight for you, but I didn't think it was fair to ambush you whilst you where having some food...I wanted it to be fair, so what do you think? If you don't mind coming along with me, I would like to battle first, to earn your respect and show you that me and my partners aren't push overs, that we can help you get stronger!" Ash finished, his voice now full of passion.

Scyther's look of confusion had disappeared: replaced with an impressed look, "This human has respect for pokemon and our traditions...perhaps he is tyhe one the elders spoke off when I was a hatchling... " Scyther thought as it nodded to itself before looking at Ash with a smirk and nodding, which made Ash grin.

"Thank you for the opportunity. Final? Come on down!" In complete awe of her trainer's ability, Final snapped out of her daze and took to the sky, fluttering down in front of her trainer, "Scyther? This is Final, leader of the flock. You ready to battle?" Scyther let out a battle cry as it took to the air and darted towards Final, who also took to the air and flew towards Scyther - Ash's smile never faltered.