Chapter 3: Ash Catches His First Pokemon! Will Ophelia?
Ophelia's POV
Ash was happy, exclaiming Caterpie was a friend, and it warmed my heart. He treated Pokemon like I did. As friends. He then brought Caterpie out. He tried to get Caterpie up his shoulder, but he noticed Misty and my sister behind a tree and zoomed right over. They shrieked as it snuggled up to Misty, mewling in delight.
"Aw!~ He has a crush on Misty!~" I exclaimed as I found it adorable. Misty freaked out and hurt the Caterpie's feelings. Pikachu comforted him though. Then Misty gave pikachu attention, which seemed to upset Ash, as caterpie got watery eyed. It broke my heart, actually. Ash began yelling at Misty about hurting Caterpie's feelings while I went over and picked him up.
"It's ok. I think you're adorable." I tell him. Caterpie looked at me and I smiled softly before turning him over to scratch his belly. He wiggled and giggled from that.
"Look, he likes it." I say to Ash. I ignored my sister's and Misty's shrieks as Ash chuckled. Ash put his hand out and Caterpie happily climbed up it.
"You won't scare the girls anymore." Ash says happily.
"Why's that?" Misty asked.
"Because we're leaving you behind." Ash said bluntly.
"I'm going with you, Ash." I say as we both ditched them. Here's the thing, I knew they'd follow us. At a distance though. After 5 minutes of walking, Pikachu pointed that out to us and I chuckled. Ash and Misty were arguing as Callista pointed out she was following me. After an argument about the bike, the fastest way out being this path, etc. Ash and I continued walking. I pulled out my map and smiled.
"Good news, we should be out of here by next week or so at this pace. The only thing is, we might have to part ways for a while so I can collect a water pokemon." I explained to Ash.
"Why want one?" Ash asked me.
"Well, a water pokemon could come in handy, not to mention Dad warned me the Pewter City Gym leader has 2 ground pokemon. The only one that could help me fully is Hercules. I need another pokemon to help and while I don't believe in stats too much I feel a water type would help." I explained to him.
"You know what you're up against already?" Ash asked in shock.
"Mhm. Dad does business in Pewter City sometimes so he knows what to expect. It'll be Geodude and Onix. While Hercules can handle Geodude, it's the Onix that worries me." I confess to him.
"Onix?" He asks me.
"It's a large rock snake. I've only seen pictures, but I know they're tough to beat and tougher to catch." I tell him.
"Don't you need water for a water pokemon?" Ash asked me.
"Normally, yes. But there are water pokemon that walk on land. I might get lucky." I say happily.
"You're very smart." Ash tells me.
"My dad taught me a lot about pokemon. I want to see them all." I say as I folded up the map.
"What happens if you can't find a water type pokemon?" Ash asks me.
"Train extra hard." I tell him. It soon got dark and we found a good spot to camp out. I hadn't spotted anything but I would still look.
"When are we splitting up?" Ash asks me.
"Probably tomorrow. One of the water spots is here." I say as I point it out on the map.
"What's a back up pokemon?" He asks me. I hadn't though of that.
"I'm… Not sure. I mean, I want a caterpie too, but that's for my personal reason. But If I can evolve Hercules, then I might have a good chance." I say as I pulled out my pokeball that holds Machop.
"Why's that?" As asked me.
"Well, Machops can carry Gravelers with one hand. They weigh roughly 239 pounds. A Machoke is stronger, able to carry a whole dump truck! Those weigh about 24,000 pounds! Onix weighs over 600 pounds, about 629 give or take, so a Machoke might stand a much higher chance against Onix than Machop." I explained to him. Ash seemed confused at that. I sighed.
"Machoke is stronger, therefore, great against heavy pokemon." I simplify.
"Oh!~" He said as he understood. I only sighed.
"So train your Machop just in case." He tells me.
"Right. I can do that." I say with a smile.
"I'll do that now. We need more firewood anyhow." I say as I brought Hercules out.
"Machop.~" (Yeah!) He boasted while posing.
"Hey Herc, lets look for firewood and train." I say to him.
"Chop!" (Right!) He agreed. I got up and we went out to get wood and train. We came back with more and we began doing push ups together.
"Why train with him?" Ash asked me.
"I need to be in shape." I explain as we soon started doing one arm push ups. Mostly because my left arm was still sore from that bite. After a bit I pulled out some quick food for us to eat. Herc ran some over to Misty and Callista before coming back to eat a pokemon bar. It's like a protein bar but for pokemon. Ash used his pokedex on Hercules and I got to use mine on Caterpie. After some time, we laid out the sleeping bags to sleep. It was warm but we kept the fire going, safely I might add, just so we don't get covered in bugs.
"Night Ash." I say as I snuggled into my bag.
"Ophelia." Ash started out.
"Yeah?" I asked as I closed my eyes.
"Why not just travel with me? It'll be fun." He tells me.
"I would love to, but Callista wants to collect Ribbons and they run the competitions in different areas and regions, so I have to go with her." I tell him.
"Why not travel separately?" He asks me.
"Because we promised Dad that we'd stick together. Just for a little while anyway." I tell him.
"Do you want to, though?" He asks me.
"Not really, but I feel she's not ready to be on her own yet. I had to wait 5 years for her to want to leave, so I'm sticking with her until she feels she can handle it." I tell him.
"Hard to believe you're the younger twin." Ash tells me. It made me smile. He was right. I was more mature, but still the younger twin. Still, as much as I like being alone, I was comfortable around Ash. I soon nodded off.
Callista's POV
Misty and I were talking as we ate the food Hercules brought us.
"Why not travel with us?" Misty asks me after I let her know my sister's plan.
"Because we promised our parents we'd stick together. I mean, she waited 5 years for me to be ready. I don't think I could travel alone and I wouldn't want her to be alone." I explained.
"Why?" Misty asked me.
"Because, other than Ash, Ophelia only befriends pokemon. She's not very social, opposite of me, so this way she has to socialize more. Once I feel she's more comfortable with that, then I might be ready to part." I say to her. She already knew how I wanted to collect ribbons but she wanted badges. It would be tough, but doable.
"Maybe you should wait on the ribbons for a while. It might be easier." She explains to me.
"No, I don't wanna wait. It'll be fine." I tell her with a smile. She only shrugged before we decided to turn in for the night. Was I being honest about sticking with Ophelia for those reasons? Yes. Though I also know I wouldn't be able to do this without someone with me. If I could've, I would've traveled with Gary as one of his cheerleaders, even though all 6 are his girlfriends, or I would've traveled with Daisy Oak if I had been a year older. Still, I know I need my sister with some things, like the creepy bug pokemon, but she needs me too without realizing it. I soon nodded off and hoped not to see any creepy bugs on me.
Morning Ophelia's POV
I woke up to a high pitch scream. It wasn't my sister's either, but it made me bolt up in a panic. I saw Ash and Misty fight and then her yell at Caterpie. The Caterpie got watery eyed and I saw red.
"Misty! That's super mean! Caterpie meant no harm and he likes you! You should put up with it and try! After all, if I can put up with you and my sister screaming about bug pokemon, then you can handle this!" I screamed before going to the Caterpie. "It's ok. I think you're adorable." I say to help him feel better. It didn't work. Caterpie slowly and sadly crawled to it's pokeball and opened it to stay in there.
"Misty! You hurt his feelings!" I screamed at her.
"It's a bug! It has no feelings!" Callista defended.
"Breezy's a bug! She has feelings! Also, the final evolution to Caterpie!" I yelled at her.
"You owe Caterpie an apology! Pokemon have feelings too, ya know." Ash scolded Misty. Misty folded her arms and looked away with a pout.
"I can't stand people like you! Hurting pokemon's feelings because you don't like them!" I scolded Misty and Callista.
Then we heard flapping and saw a Pidgeotto. Now, I knew the final form would be Pigeot, a big bird perfect for flying everywhere, but I was content with Nightmare moon. Besides, I need a water pokemon, not a flying one. Ash and I took out our Pokedax, so did Callista, before I looked at Ash.
"You catch it, Ash. After what Caterpie went through, you deserve to get him another friend." I say with a soft smile.
"You can't keep passing on pokemon!" Sis scolded me.
"Mind your own business for once!" I scolded her. Ash tried to catch it, but it used it's wings to fling the ball away.
"Ash, battle it to weaken it." I tell him.
"Oh… Right. I-I knew that!" Ash defended. I rolled my eyes but smiled. He was adorable. Misty said something about Caterpie being weak and Ash scolded her. He then sent out Caterpie.
"Ash! Careful! Birds eat bugs!" I warn him.
"Caterpie can handle it!" Ash tells me with full confidence. I heard a rustle and looked over to see what it was. I ignored the battle and went to see what it was. I gasped as I spotted a Caterpie. It was gold!
"A shiny pokemon!" I gasped in silence. The Caterpie noticed me and tilted it's head.
"Hey there." I whispered to it.
"Pi Pi." It said as it backed up a bit. I came over slowly to it.
"It's ok. I won't hurt you." I say with a soft smile. The Caterpie tilted it's head to me. I pulled out my pokeball.
"Now, I'm going to catch you." I say before tossing the pokeball. The pokeball hit the Caterpie and it wiggled before clicking.
"Woohoo! I caught a pokemon!" I cheered happily as I held the pokeball to me.
"I did too!" Ash cheered.
"You caught the Pidgeotto! Great!" I say happily.
"What did you get?" Callista asked me.
"A Caterpie!" I say happily. Her and Misty shrieked in grossness while Ash smiled.
"Cool! Can I see?" He asked me. I nodded and pulled it out. Out came a gold Caterpie.
"Huh? It's gold?" Ash questioned.
"Yeah, a shiny." I tell him.
"A… Shiny?" Ash questioned.
"Shiny pokemon are very very rare and are different colors. They often get abandoned by parents because of this. In a way, it's a form of Albinism for pokemon." I explained.
"Ah! That's cool!" Ash said proudly.
"Is it a boy or girl?" Ash asked me. "Not 100% sure. You tend not to know unless by certain actions or after it evolves into Butterfree." I tell him.
I remembered my camera I had, one that where the picture pops out after taking, that mom gave me. It's meant to use for Callista's competitions, but I used it for pokemon. I dug in my bag and found it before taking a picture of Caterpie, only so dad could see this amazing gem.
"What will the shiny Butterfree look like?" Ash asked me.
"If a girl, then pink body and pink tinted wings with blue hands, feet and mouth, but if a boy, then the hands, feet and mouth will be pink while the eyes are green instead of red. The body would stay purple and the wings would stay white." I explain to him as I took the picture out of the camera and shook it to show a clear picture. I smiled and pulled out a small book before putting it in. He nodded at that.
"Why take a picture?" Ash asked me.
"To show my dad." I say as I bent down to Caterpie.
"I'll name you… Cutie Pie!" I say happily. Caterpie made happy chirping sounds from this.
"Cutie Pie?" Ash asked me.
"I name all my pokemon. Also, Caterpie is cute." I say with a smile.
"I don't care if it turns into a Butterfree! It's gross!" Callista yelled out.
"Oh will you shut up." I say bluntly to her. Callista turned red but I ignored her.
"Ash, bring your Caterpie out. I'd like for ours to be friends." I say with a sweet smile.
This didn't last long as we heard a familiar woman laughing. We looked over at Team Rocket. I quickly snatched up Cutie Pie and held him close. I'm presuming it's a male. Hercules can tell me later.
"It seems we meet again." James said as a very faint blush appeared on my cheeks. Why was I blushing? I mean, he was attractive for a bad guy.
"I know those voices." Ash said as they appeared.
"To protect the world from devastation." Jessie started.
"To unite all peoples within our nation." James added.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love." Jessie said.
"To extend our reach to the stars above." James added.
"Jessie!" Jessie said.
"James!" James said as he, yet again, had a rose with him.
"No. Not this again." Ash said quietly.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" Jessie said loudly.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James added.
"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth announced and they posed followed by colored smoke appearing behind them.
"We know who you are, but I'm willing to fight if you're ready!" I call out to them.
"Sis!" Callista scolded me.
"No way! Her Ekans had poisoned me and they destroyed a pokecenter! Now, they'll learn not to mess with me!" I announced as I showed I was ready to fight.
"Bold, but we want Pikachu." Jessie tells me.
"Hold on! She has a shiny Caterpie!" Meowth announced. That's when they noticed my Caterpie.
"It's very rare! Get it!" Meowth tells them.
"Fine, hand that over too." James ordered me.
"Go get your own!" Ash tells them. They went on a rant about only taking valuable pokemon until Meowth scratched them in the face and told them to stop giving away their plans.
"Well, I'll battle you for my Cutie Pie!" I say as Hercules got in front of me. "Machop chop!" (You'll have to beat me!) He tells them as he folds his arms. Ash questioned of his Pikachu was that valuable. Meowth started explaining, but then Jessie and James started abusing the meowth.
"Hey! Stop hurting him!" I yelled out. I didn't care if they were bad, you don't hurt pokemon in general. Ash refused to hand over Pikachu and they sent out Ekans and Koffing on Pikachu!
"Hey! Two against one isn't fair!" Ash scolded.
"Well, as we say, All's fair in love, war and pokemon battles." Jessie tells him. Then Hercules got next to Pikachu.
"Then lets do two on two!" I say as I got next to Ash. I was pissed after all.
"But pokemon league rules say-" But cut him off.
"This isn't the Pokemon league, Ash! We're being attacked by pokemon thieves! Therefore, this is legal!" I scold him. Ash knew not to mess with me, so he only nodded in agreement.
"Koffing! Sludge attack! Now!" James ordered. Koffing spit sludge out of it's mouth and it hit Pikachu and Hercules in the eyes.
"Pikachu!/Hercules!" We yelled at the same time. This wasn't good. I had to get Hercules out of there. I took his hand and put him by my sister.
"Watch him! See if you can get his eyes clean." I tell her. She nodded and tried to clean him up as I noticed Misty holding Pikachu. I went back to Ash as we had no idea what to do next. Ash turned his hat and sent out Pidgeotto.
"Koffing. It's grime time." James said to his Koffing. I pulled out Bastet just as Ekans went to attack the bird pokemon. "Bastet! Use Facade!" I cry out. Bastet did and caused the Ekans to miss Pidgeotto. Bastet backed up and was proud of her moves.
"Pidgeotto, use quick attack!" Ash ordered.
"Ekans! Go underground!" Jessie ordered. Ekans did and Pidgeotto had to stop, in a panic, before it hit the ground. Then Koffing appeared behind him.
"Bastet! Use tackle to get Koffing away from Pidgeotto!" I ordered. She did as told and tackled him away before it could hurt Pidgeotto, But Ekans emerged and almost hit Bastet.
Pidgeotto saw this and used gust to force Ekans further away from Bastet. This caused Koffing to be free and use smog on Pidgeotto, who blew it away, then Koffing used sludge to hit Pidgeotto, who was quick and dodged them all. Meanwhile, Bastet went after Ekans and bit it's tail, hard. Ekans went to bite her, but she dodged and Ekans bit it's own tail, causing it to cry. Bastet taunted the Ekans but saw tackled by koffing before Ekans slammed her hard into a tree, knocking her out.
"Bastet! No!" I cried out. I had to return her to her pokeball as Team Rocket cheered about getting a pokemon. Pidgeotto flew into the air, with Koffing floating up and Ekans springing up high after him. Ash told Pidgeotto to counter, but it missed and both pokemon tackled Pidgeotto into the ground very hard to make it unconscious in the air, falling fast to the ground. Ash returned him to the pokeball as we looked at each other.
"I only have Nightmare Moon and Cutie Pie left." I tell him.
"I only have Caterpie." Ash tells me. Ash went to fight James himself, but James flicked Ash backwards.
"Ash, we can't fight them physically." I tell him.
"Guess you've got no choice. Let Pikachu in and watch Team Rocket Win." Jessie tells us. Pikachu and Hercules wanted to fight, but they were blind still and couldn't fight. I looked at Ash.
"Listen, I have a potion. Use it on your Caterpie and let both of ours battle. With that double team, we can win. I know it. If it doesn't work, I'll use Nightmare Moon as a last resort." I whisper to him.
Ash looked at me and saw the determination in my eyes. He gained the same look and nodded. I gave him the potion from my holster and he summoned his Caterpie before using it. Caterpie looked better and I put mine next to his.
"Ready to fight?" I asked them. They looked at each other then to us before nodding. Team Rocket seemed to be in dismay as the Caterpie looked at them before they burst out laughing. Ash and I got upset as they mentioned bug spray.
"You two won't be laughing when they win!" I scolded them both. Koffing and Ekans intimidated our poor Caterpies into ducking their heads in fear. Both went to attack our little bugs. That's when Ash and I had the same idea.
"Caterpie/Cutie Pie, use string shot now!" We ordered in unison. Both Caterpie looked up, seeming to gain confidence, before each sprayed Koffing and Ekans. Koffing was wrapped completely while Ekans' head was wrapped. While both were rendered unable to attack, the Caterpies wiggled/ran quickly and, quiet harder than imagined, hit the two backwards past Team Rocket. \
"Ah!" Meowth cried out.
"Uh? Beaten by Caterpies?" James gawked in embarrassment. Jessie then glared at us.
"That really bugs me." Jessie sneered.
"Now, watch a real pokemon in action." Meowth said as he showed his sharp claws. Both caterpie simple used string shot and turned Meowth into a mummy. It was actually both funny and adorable. Team Rocket grabbed Meowth, put their pokemon in pokeballs, then ran off. Claiming they would be back. I noticed James dropped his rose in the ground.
"Come back anytime. We'll be glad to beat you. Mm!" Misty said proudly as she stuck her tongue out after. Ash and I looked at both her and Callista.
"So, why don't you apologize to Ash's Caterpie and make friends with both of ours? Ya know, since they saved the day and all?" I say with a smug smile. Ash cheered happily at winning while I, in secret, took the rose that fell and put it in my pouch. What? It was a lovely rose. Why waste it? We both picked up our Caterpie and told them we were proud of them. We showed the Caterpies to the girls.
"Just pat them on the heads and tell them they did a great job." Ash told them.
"Well… They were stronger than they looked." Callista admitted but both were shivering at the thought of touching the Caterpie. Both Caterpie looked at the girls with hope. It was adorable, really.
"You said you like pokemon." I tell them.
"So, it's only right to congratulate them on doing a good job." Ash added after. Both admitted we were right, but still looked nervous. They both went to pet them, but then they sprayed string shot. It freaked them both out. Ash was curious as I set mine down quickly.
"Ash, they're evolving!" I gasped in amazement. Ash put his down too and we watched them start to coat themselves in their string shot.
"Caterpie! This is great!" Ash said in excitement as we watched the layers harden around them until they turned into Metapods! Ash's was a normal green color with yellow eyes, while mine was orange with the same yellow eyes. We pulled out or pokedex, Callista did too, to get the info.
"Metapod, Caterpie's next stage. It has encased it's body in a hard shell. These specimen reached this stage faster than any previously discovered Pokemon of this variety." They told us. This made me and Ash happy because that meant they would be very strong Butterfree.
"Hey, maybe that means they could keep on changing and go onto the next stage right away." Ash said happily.
He was right on that one. It was important to as well, seeing as how the mating season would start in just a few short weeks. Callista's Butterfree was almost 6 months old! Butterfree only live to be up to 4 months, but some are known to live up to a whole year! I looked at Callista and saw her looking at Breezy's pokeball, thinking the same as me with the mating season, before putting it away. Pikachu and Hercules could see now and went and congratulated them. I needed to bond with Cutie Pie soon in order for me to understand him/her. Yeah, I still wasn't sure. Ash and I picked our Metapods up and were very happy.
"I'm proud of you. You'll grow up big, strong and become the most beautiful Butterfree the world's ever seen." I say happily. We then put the Matapods up to the girls and they screamed in fear form this.
"Misty, Callista, you two were just about to make friends with out Caterpie." Ash states as he looks smugly at them. I had the same look.
"You didn't forget, did you?" I asked just as smugly as Ash. They both looked nervous.
"We didn't forget. But we..." Callista said but she trailed off as she couldn't think of anything to say. That's when a Beedrill flew past and made them both blue while giving out a small shriek.
"Oh! I'll do anything! Just, please, get me out of this forest!" Misty shrieked.
"Me too!" Callista shrieked out. Ash put Metapod in his bag as I held mine.
"No way! There's still plenty of pokemon in this forest!" Ash said excitedly.
"Besides, I still need a water pokemon and to train Hercules! This place is perfect for that!" I added happily. Ash and I then ran ahead, exclaiming there were more pokemon to see and catch, as Misty and Callista followed behind us quickly. I was excited about what was ahead. Even if the forest got darker and deeper, it meant there were stronger pokemon waiting for us. I couldn't wait!
Callista's POV
My sister was being ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! She not only expected me to befriend a bug pokemon, as well as have the nerve to use the camera to take pictures of pokemon, but to also keep traveling in the forest! I hate this! I wanted to climb on Day Breaker and leave, but I didn't want to be alone. Oh well, I still had Misty to talk to. She was alright, but just not too girly at times. Still, she was a bit better than my sister. Though, I was jealous of Ophelia. Not only did she catch her first pokemon on her own, but she also now has two shiny pokemon. TWO!
It was odd how she would get lucky, but I wasn't sure why. Well, if she can find strong pokemon, then so could I! Just not a bug pokemon! Butterfree is an exception, maybe even Venonat, but nothing else! Uhg! Oh well. I see how happy she is and wondered if she would be happier without me tagging along. I mean, She was getting along with Ash, even though I think he's a loser and don't like him, but I see they way they connect over pokemon. I swear, she has a secret crush on him. Gross though, seeing as how she's 15 and he's 10. But, then again, Gary's 10 and I think he's cute. Maybe because he's smarter and much more mature. I'm not really sure. Ash and Ophelia talked and then laughed a small bit. Ash was the only human friend she had, to be honest. She says she sees him as a little brother and I guess I see why. They were similar to where you'd think they were related. Still, seeing her smile and talk to someone, it made me smile. I saw she bent down and finished cleaning Hercules' eyes and then Pikachu's. She loved pokemon more than anyone I know. Well, Ash did too. We went on for a bit more but I had to have them stop because my feet hurt and I was tired.
"I told you not to carry a suitcase and not to wear heels." Ophelia told me in a low tone.
"But I like them!" I scolded her. She rolled her eyed but opened my suitcase to pull out sneakers. They were my bedazzled ones that I only wore once.
"I packed these just in case. Please, just put them on." She tells me. I was shocked she secretly put them in my stuff without me knowing. Still, I put them on and was, admittedly, more comfortable.
"Can you carry my stuff?" I asked her.
"No. You can carry it." She tells me.
"Please.~" I whined out.
"Hey, why not have Hercules carry it? As part of training?" Ash asked her.
Thank you! Great idea! I thought happily. She then looked at Hercules.
"Do you want to this one time?" She asked him.
"Machop!" He said with a nod.
"Alright, but only this once." Ophelia agreed. I was super happy as Hercules carried my suitcase with one hand. I forget how strong a small Machop could be at times. Still, we carried on for the day. This would be interesting.