We had just stopped at a clearing to relax and train for a while. Casey was happy to find that Jackie was pretty quick to pick up on the basics, which I guess made sense since she had already had some experience with Team Rocket.

"Okay, Jackie, show us your Thunderbolt!"

"Ma! Reeeep!" she cried as she launched a blast of electricity into the air. Pikachu and I watched as they practiced together.

"Not bad," I said. "I'll bet Jackie will be as great as Pikachu one day!"

"Pikapika!"

This made Casey smile. I bet she loved the idea of having an electric type as strong as Pikachu.

"Do you think you can help her get stronger?" she asked. "I bet Pikachu can teach her to be just as strong as he is!"

I was kind of surprised by this, but I was happy to help her.

"Well, what do you say, bud?" I said to Pikachu. "Do you want to help Jackie and Casey?"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said in approval.

"Okay then," I said, "let's do it."

Casey grinned as Pikachu ran up to Jackie.

"Chu, Pikachu, Pika. Chu!"

He then turned to a nearby stump and began to charge up his power.

"Pikaaa… chuuuu!" he cried out as he unleashed a huge Thunderbolt. The stump was then blasted into splinters, which fell over the area as smoke rose from the impact site.

"Whoa," Casey said in awe. "Did you see that, Jackie?"

"Maa, Mareep!" Jackie said as she bounced up and down, clearly eager to try it out for herself. Casey grinned as she looked around the area and spotted another stump not too far away.

"Then you try it too!" she said as she pointed at the stump. "Use Thundershock!"

Jackie began to charge up power in her wool. She then cried out as she shot out a blast of her own, which struck the stump. While it did not get blown up like Pikachu's stump, it did get pretty badly charred.

"Nice," I said. You still have room for improvement, but you're definitely going to be great."

"Thanks, Ash!" Casey said gratefully before turning down towards her newest catch. "You hear that, Jackie? Ash thinks we're going to do great!"

"Maa!" Jackie said happily. Then, to our surprise, she then began to gather electrical energy in her tail.

"Whoa," Casey said as the electricity built up. "What are you doing, Jackie?"

Jackie didn't answer, as she seemed focused on charging… whatever it was that she was doing. She then cried out as she fired a ball of electricity upwards.

"Wow!" Casey said in awe. "Did you just learn Electro Ball?"

"Mareep!" Jackie said as the ball fell back towards her. She then swung her tail forwards and slammed it into the ball, sending it flying into the bushes. We kept watching in awe as she turned back to look at Casey.

"That was awesome!" Casey said excitedly. "You're just like a star pitcher!"

"That was definitely cool," I said. "I never would have thought you could do that with an electric attack!"

"Pikachu!"

At that moment, the bush that Jackie had sent the Electro Ball into began to shake. We both looked over in surprise, only to be taken by surprise when something jumped out.

"Quil!"

"A Cyndaquil?" I said.

"Pika?"

"What's it doing here?" Casey asked. "Aren't they supposed to be hard to find in the wild?"

"Actually," said Brock, catching our attention, "I think I heard something about them being easier to catch in this forest, though."

"Cool!" I said excitedly. "I want to catch it!"

Unfortunately, Cyndaquil didn't seem too keen on the idea, and rushed off before I could grab a Pokeball.

"Hey, wait!" I said as I chased after it. Behind me I could hear Brock and Misty calling out to me as I rushed off, but I barely heard them. All I could think about was catching Cyndaquil.

"Come on, Pikachu!" I yelled. "We gotta find that Cyndaquil!"

"Pikachu!"

We ran for a while, before slowing down. I couldn't see Cyndaquil anymore, but I was still pretty sure it was nearby.

"Cyndaquil!" I called out. "Come out, Cyndaquil!"

I then looked over at Pikachu.

"Don't you want to help me find Cyndaquil, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu said as he jumped off my shoulder. He then sniffed around at the ground, doing his best to locate Cyndaquil.

"Cyndaquil!"

We kept looking around the forest, searching around for any sight of Cyndaquil. Pikachu was doing a pretty good job sniffing around, but we still weren't having much luck.

"Pi?"

To my surprise, Pikachu stopped and sniffed at the air.

"Pikachu?" I said. "Did you find Cyndaquil?"

In response, Pikachu rushed into a bush. Surprised, I made my way past the bushes, and found myself in a small clearing next to Pikachu.

As it turns out, we weren't alone.

"Have you managed to find that Cyndaquil yet, Growlithe?"

"Grow, row!"

"Well, you'd better find it soon. You know that this is your last chance."

Pikachu and I were met with a boy around my age, with purple hair and a rather intense look on his face. Next to him was a Growlithe… but not one like any I'd ever seen. Instead of the reddish orange color I'd seen on other Growlithe, this one was a bright yellow.

Man, I could tell that Casey would freak out if she saw it.

"Whoa!" I said. "What's up with that Growlithe?"

This seemed to catch the boy's attention, and he turned to me.

"Who are you?"

Immediately, there was something about this boy that sent a shiver up my spine.

"Uh, hi?" I said nervously. "I was just looking for a Cyndaquil, and I… just ended up here?"

The boy glared at me, as if he wanted me to be as far away from him as possible.

"Well, I saw a Cyndaquil pass through here not too long ago," he said. "But if you think some random loser like you is going to catch it, then you're delusional."

"Hey!" I said angrily. "I'm not a loser! My name is Ash, and I'm going to be a Pokemon Master one day!"

"Pikachu, Pikapi!"

The boy raised an eyebrow, as if doubtful of my declaration.

"A Pokemon Master?" he said. "Well, whatever makes you feel better about yourself."

He smirked as he returned his weird Growlithe.

"The name's Paul, by the way. Not that it matters, since I doubt that you'll ever get to the Pokemon League."

I was about to tell him that he was a jerk and that I was totally going to make it to the League, but before I could say anything, I heard a rustling behind me. I turned around and saw Casey emerging from the bushes.

"Hey, Ash!" she said. "I know you're excited to catch that Cyndaquil, but that doesn't mean you can just run off and-"

Any other words she had to say never came out. She just froze in place, much to my confusion.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

I nearly jumped at the sound of the voice. I then turned to Paul, who seemed just as shocked as Casey. I then turned back to Casey, who was now shaking herself and trying to speak.

"I… I'm a trainer now!" she said, her voice much shakier than usual. "I can travel through here if I want!"

Paul glared at her, his eyes full of contempt. He then scoffed and turned away.

"Whatever," he said. "Just stay out of my way, freak."

My eyes widened in shock, then narrowed. Who did this guy think he was?!

"Hey!" I yelled. "You take that back now!"

"PikaPika!" Pikachu growled, sparks shooting from his cheeks.

Paul looked back at us, a look of annoyance on his face.

"What? Are you two friends or something?"

"Yeah!" I said. "Casey is my friend, and you have no right to insult her like that!"

"Pikapika!"

Paul glared at me for a moment.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised."

He then walked off, leaving us behind. I glared at him as he disappeared behind the trees.

"Man, that guy's a jerk," I said.

"Chuuu," Pikachu said angrily.

The two of us then turned around towards Casey. I was immediately worried when I saw her grit her teeth as tears began to gather around her eyes.

"Casey?" I said as I put my hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Pika?"

She quickly wiped her eyes and looked at me with an awkward half-smile.

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "Come on, let's go find that Cyndaquil!"

I couldn't help but worry as she spoke. It was pretty clear that she had been affected pretty bad by her encounter with that Paul guy. But I didn't want to press her. So I decided to try and roll with it.

"Yeah," I said as I tried to smile back. "Come on, the last thing we want is for Cyndaquil to end up with a jerk like that!"

"Pika!"

At this, Casey actually laughed a bit, giving me a small but genuine smile. I couldn't help but smile back at her as we walked together.

"Come out, Cyndaquil! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"You know," said Casey, "I don't think wild Pokemon like to come out just because you're yelling at them to come out."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I can't try!"

Casey rolled her eyes at this, but still laughed a bit. Chuckling to myself, I looked down at Pikachu.

"Have you got any idea where Cyndaquil may have gone, Pikachu?" I asked.

"Pika," Pikachu said as he shook his head.

"That's too bad," I said.

"Don't worry, Ash," said Casey. "I'm sure Cyndaquil will appear sooner or later."

"Hold it right there, Twerps!"

We watched in shock as a huge robot Meowth landed in front of us.

"What is that thing?!" I said.

"You won't believe your eyes when we open the hatch!" said Jessie

"You're in for a surprise cause you've met your match!" said James.

"It's us, Twerps," said Meowth. "Ya know, me and my big Meowth!"

"Team Rocket!" I said.

"Only today we ain't the same old Team Rocket you're used to!" said Meowth.

"That's right!" said Jessie. "We decided that in order to be successful we'd have to build a better mousetrap!"

"Or in this case, a better Meowth-trap," said James.

"That was super lame," said Casey.

"Shut up, baseball twerpette!" yelled James. "We pooled all our funds into this one!"

"Now hand over that Pikachu or else!" said Meowth.

"No way, you giant furball! Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu tried his best electric attack. Unfortunately, Team Rocket had made their robot Thunderbolt-powered. Because of course they had.

I mean, after all the times they've tried to steal Pikachu, I really should have come to expect it by now.

To make matters worse, they decided to start attacking… which involved blasting us with huge balls of bubblegum.

"Bubblegum attack?!" Casey yelled out. "How do they even come up with these ideas?!"

"Pika!"

"I don't know!" I said. "But we need to get away from them now!"

Fortunately for us, help arrived in a rather unexpected manner.

"What's going on?"

We turned around and were shocked to see Paul glaring at us.

"You!" I said.

"Yeah, me," he said in annoyance. "I was looking around for Cyndaquil, and instead I find you two being attacked by some weird Meowth robot with bubblegum."

"This doesn't concern you, twerp!" Meowth yelled from inside the mech. "We're here for the Pikachu!"

Paul turned to the mech and sighed as he pulled out a Pokeball.

"Whatever. This should at least give me some good training. Torterra, stand by for battle."

With that, he let out his Pokemon, a large, heavy-looking grass type with a big tree growing out of its back. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, and in any other circumstance I'd be super eager to scan it. But right now, all I cared about was getting as far away from Team Rocket as I could.

"Fine then!" said Jessie. "If you won't get out of our way, we'll just have to deal with you first!"

"Take this!" James said as he fired off the bubblegum balls.

"Torterra, use Razor Leaf."

As the big grass type fired off leaves to intercept the opposing attack, Casey and Pikachu crept up to me.

"We should get away while they're distracted," said Casey.

"Pika!"

"No kidding," I said. And with that, the three of us rushed off back into the forest.

After running for a while, we reached a large rocky cliff full of caves.

"Man, that's a lot of caves," said Casey. It would be pretty easy to get lost in there.

"Yeah," I said as I looked up. Then, my eyes widened.

"Look!"

"Pikachu!"

Up at the very top of the caves was Cyndaquil.

"Looks like we found it after all, didn't we?" I said.

"Yep!" said Casey. "Now let's get it!"

I didn't need her to tell me twice. We ran up to the rock formation and began to climb it.

"Just stay where you are, Cyndaquil," I said as we climbed up. "I'll be there to catch you soon!"

As we climbed upwards, we suddenly heard a weird noise coming from above us. As we looked up, we were shocked to see Team Rocket's Meowth robot flying towards us!

"Watch out!" I yelled as we let go and let ourselves slide down. The big machine slammed into the cliff above us and slid down as well. Luckily we were able to get out of the way before it was able to crush us.

"Whoa," said Casey. "They struck out hard."

"Yeah," I said. "Well, I guess Paul did us a favor."

"Pika."

"I guess," Casey said, her voice taking on a sour tone at the mention of Paul's name.

Shrugging, I got back to climbing the cliff, and Casey and Pikachu soon followed. Soon after that, though, the Meowth robot began to get back up. And much to our frustration, Team Rocket didn't take too long to spot us.

"There you are, Twerps! You're not getting away this time!"

"Hey, we're in the middle of something!" I said.

"Yeah! And we don't have time to play around with you and your stupid robot!" said Casey.

"Pikapika!"

We quickly rushed into the nearest cave opening, hoping that the trio wouldn't be able to spot us inside. Once we were in, though, we realized just how big the interior of the cliff was.

"Man, this place is huge!" said Casey.

"Yeah," I said. "And there are so many places to go. Cyndaquil could be anywhere!"

"PIka…"

As if on cue, Cyndaquil chose that very moment to rush past us.

"Cyndaquil!" I said excitedly. As the little fire type rushed away, we immediately started to chase after it. Fortunately, we were soon able to catch up to it.

"Quil?" Cyndaquil said as it looked up at us.

"Hey there," I said. "I'm Ash, and I want to catch you!"

"Cyn! Cyndaquil!"

"Do you think it's gonna let you catch it?" said Casey.

"Maybe," I said. "I mean, it would be nice to have it on my team!"

Before I could get a Pokeball, however, we heard a noise coming toward us. We then looked up and saw a huge ball of putty bouncing straight towards us!

"Oh come on!" I said as we turned around and ran away.

"Pikachu!"

"Will those idiots ever give up?!" said Casey.

"Cynda?!" Cyndaquil cried out, clearly confused by the situation.

We continued to run until we began to see light nearby. As we approached the cave's opening, the ball exploded, sending us flying outwards.

"Ah!" I cried out as I landed.

"Pika!"

"Cynda!"

"OW!"

I groaned as I slowly got back up.

"That was a close one," I said. "Is everyone okay?"

In response, I heard an anguished cry. I immediately shot up, looking around at the others. To my relief, both Pikachu and Cyndaquil seemed to be unharmed.

But the same could not be said about Casey,

"It hurts!"

The three of us rushed over to Casey, and I was immediately filled with worry when I saw her clutching her leg.

"Casey!" I said as I rushed over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Pika?"

She looked at me, her eyes filled with tears.

"I hurt my leg!"

I looked down at her leg. To my shock, she had a rather nasty scrape just below her knee.

Man, I really wished Brock could have been here. He would have known what to do right now.

Still, I wasn't just going to leave Casey like that.

"Here, let me help," I said in a gentle voice as I took off my backpack. As I set it on the floor I opened it up and pulled out a handkerchief. I then carefully wrapped the handkerchief around her injured knee, and then gently tied it into place.

"There we go," I said. "Now watch this!"

I then began to wave my hands over her knee.

"Feel better, feel better, right away!"

I know, I know. It's silly. But I thought it would make her feel better, at least!

"How does it feel?" I asked her.

To my surprise, though, she didn't answer. She just stared at me, her eyes wide and her mouth open.

"Casey?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

Instead of responding, she looked down at her knee, gently touching the handkerchief with her hand. As her fingers made contact with the soft fabric, she shuddered.

"Is something wrong, Casey?" I asked, now starting to feel worried. "Please tell me."

Finally, Casey seemed to realize that I was talking to her. She slowly looked up at me, her eyes still wide with shock.

"Ash… you…"

I stared at her in confusion.

"I… what?"

And then I was hit by a blob of bubblegum.

"Ash!" Casey yelled as I was sent flying into the cliff alongside Pikachu and Cyndaquil.

"Ugh," I groaned,I then looked around, and saw that while Pikachu was trapped alongside me, Cyndaquil had just barely managed to avoid getting stuck.

"Pika!"

"Cyn!"

Team Rocket was clearly happy, as they were gleefully celebrating my capture. Then, to make matters worse, they noticed Cyndaquil.

"Wait, what's that?" said Meowth. "Looks like the Twerp's got himself a Cyndaquil! That Pokemon's pretty hard to come by!"

"Well," said James, "What do you say we help ourselves to that one too?"

"Sounds good to me!" said Jessie.

"No way!"

Team Rocket looked down at Casey, who was still able to stand up straight despite her injury.

"If you want Cyndaquil, you'll have to get through me!" she said as she grabbed a Pokeball. "Babe! Jackie! Step up to the plate!"

With a flash, her two nicknamed Pokemon emerged. Upon seeing Team Rocket's robot, they quickly assumed battle stances.

"How adorable!" said James. "The baseball twerpette wants to protect the little Cyndaquil!"

"Well, we won't give her that chance!" said Jessie. "Let's show her what happens when you mess with Team Rocket!"

"No today!" said Casey. "Babe! Razor Leaf! Jackie! Electro Ball!"

Babe fired off a flurry of leaves, while Jackie sent her new attack flying towards their opponent. Unfortunately, while the mech was unable to absorb the ball of electricity as easily as Pikachu's Thunderbolt, it was still strong enough to shrug off everything Casey's Pokemon had to offer.

"Give it up, Twerpette!" Meowth jeered. "We've prepared for everything you can throw at us!

I don't like to admit it, but Team Rocket is smarter than we give them credit for. I mean, they've done everything they can to make sure our attacks can't hurt them.

Worriedly, I looked to Cyndaquil, who seemed confused by the whole situation.

"You'd better run while you still can, Cyndaquil!" I said before I tossed it away.

"Cynda?" it said, looking at me in confusion.

"You get going," I said. "We can take care of ourselves!"

Cyndaquil looked back at me, then turned to look at Casey's Pokemon, both of whom were struggling to avoid getting trapped by Team Rocket's bubblegum balls.

Then it did something pretty amazing.

Cyndaquil's back burst into flames. It then unleashed a massive Flamethrower that completely engulfed the Meowth Robot.

"Whoa!"

"That's amazing!"

The robot then began to spark and shake. Which, in my experience, is usually followed by stuff exploding. And Cyndaquil was still in the blast zone!

"We've got to do something!" I said.

"I got it!" said Casey. "Babe! Use Vine Whip to pull in Cyndaquil!"

"Chii!" Babe cried as he extended his vines. They wrapped around the little fire type and pulled it away just before the Meowth robot exploded. We were all thrown backwards by the force of the blast as Team Rocket was sent flying off into the distance.

"Everyone alright?" I asked.

"Pika…"

I looked over at Casey, who was clutching her injured leg. Fortunately, it seemed that she hadn't received any other injuries.

"Casey?" I said worriedly. "Are you okay?"

She looked at me, a rather nervous look on her face. I was confused; what was going on?

Fortunately, she gave me a smile and a thumbs up.

"I'm fine, Ash. Don't worry about me."

I smiled in relief, though I couldn't help but feel just a bit worried. But that could wait. We had someone else to help!

"Where's Cyndaquil?"

"Chiko!"

We turned to Babe, who was proudly holding Cyndaquil in his vines.

"Cyndaquil!" I said. "Are you okay?"

"Cyn," Cyndaquil said as Babe put it back down..

"Oh, that's good," I said. "You know, that was a really powerful Flamethrower. I don't think we would have beat Team Rocket without you!"

"Yeah!" said Casey. "You're a real heavy hitter!"

"Cynda!" Cyndaquil said happily.

"You're not just strong, you're really nice!" I said.

At that moment, we heard a couple of familiar voices.

"Ash!"

"Casey!"

We looked up and saw Brock and Misty rushing towards us.

"Are you guys okay?" said Brock.

"Please don't rush off like that!" said Misty. "We were super worried!"

"Togie!"

They then looked downwards.

"Hey, you found that Cyndaquil," said Misty.

"Did you catch it yet?" said Brock.

"Not yet," I said. "I mean, I was going to, but then there was this thing with Team Rocket, and so we kind of got sidetracked."

I then turned to Cyndaquil.

"Although I still think you'd make a great addition to my team, Cyndaquil. So what do you say? Do you want to come with me?

Cyndaquil looked at me, as if trying to decide if it was a good idea to join me. And to my delight, it was gettin closer to me, as if it really did want to join my team.

"Not so fast."

Of course I couldn't just catch a Pokemon without something going wrong. Sure enough, we all looked up and saw Paul glaring at us.

"What are you doing here?!" said Casey.

"I'm trying to catch Cyndaquil," said Paul. "Given that no one's caught it yet, I say it's fair game."

"Who's this guy?" said Misty. "He sounds like a jerk."

"That's my cousin Paul," said Casey. "And yeah, he's a huge jerk."

"Chiko?!"

Her cousin? I was really surprised by that. I wanted to ask more but before I could, Babe rushed up to him, much to the confusion of Jackie.

"Chiko! Chi Chikorita! Chii!"

"Maa?"

Paul seemed somewhat surprised by this, though he quickly returned to his usual demeanor.

"That Chikorita of yours doesn't seem to know its place," he said as he looked at Casey. "Then again, I wouldn't expect a freak like you to know a thing about training."

I could feel my blood boil as Paul insulted Casey. Who does this jerk think he is, anyway?!

"Hey!" I yelled as Casey recalled her two Pokemon. "What is your deal anyway?! Leave Casey alone!"

"Sure, as long as you people stay out of my way so I can catch that Cyndaquil."

"Well, for your information, I was about to catch it!" I said. "So why don't you just get lost?!"

"Really?" said Paul. "Well, I doubt that Cyndaquil would want a trainer as pathetic as you. Especially since it's doing the getting lost for me."

I looked downwards, and was shocked to see Cyndaquil marching away.

"Wait!" I said as I grabbed it. "I didn't mean you, Cyndaquil!"

I then turned back to Paul, who had a nasty looking smirk on his face.

"I have an idea," he said as he grabbed a Pokeball. "Why don't we have a battle? Whoever wins gets to catch Cyndaquil."

I frowned. I had been so close to catching Cyndaquil, and this jerk just comes up and says that he has the right to catch Cyndaquil?! Why should I have to battle him when I was here first?

And yet… I couldn't let him get away with insulting Casey.

"Fine," I said. "But when I win, you need to apologize to Casey!"

"Don't bother. He doesn't apologize. Ever."

I looked over at Casey, who was doing her best to look nonchalant. However, I could hear a clear hint of frustration in her voice.

"Fine," I said. "In that case, I choose-"

"Quil!"

To our surprise, Cyndaquil rushed up to my side.

"Cyndaquil?" I said in surprise. "You want to battle for me?"

"Quil!"

I was certainly surprised by Cyndaquil's willingness to battle for me even though it technically wasn't even my Pokemon, but I certainly appreciated it!

"Okay then! Cyndaquil, I choose you!"

Cyndaquil rushed up, causing Paul to raise an eyebrow. He shrugged as he grabbed a Pokeball.

"Fine, we'll do it like that. Growlithe, stand by for battle."

With that, he let the pokeball open, revealing the weird Growlithe from before. I could hear Casey gasp as she saw it. Not surprising, given that it was the same colors as Electabuzz.

Unfortunately, Paul noticed too.

"Stay away from my Pokemon, freak."

I could feel another surge of anger flow through me at Paul's words. And I clearly wasn't the only one.

"Hey!" Misty yelled. "Leave her alone!"

"Togie?"

"Yeah!" said Brock. "What is your deal anyway?! She's your cousin!"

Paul rolled his eyes, then looked back to the battlefield.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

He then pointed at Cyndaquil.

"Growlithe, use Bite!"

"Dodge it, Cyndaquil!"

Cyndaquil jumped away before the attack could reach it. Growlithe barked and rushed forwards with its fangs exposed, trying to get its opponent. But Cyndaquil just kept jumping out of the way.

"Growlithe!" Paul yelled. "Stop fooling around! You need to get a bite on that Cyndaquil!"

"Rowl!" Growlithe said as it rushed forwards. Cyndaquil was ready, however, and dodged once again. Growlithe started panting, clearly tired of trying to catch Cyndaquil.

"Great!" I said. "Now that you've worn Growlithe out, it's time to use your Flamethrower!"

Cyndaquil cried out, preparing to unleash the powerful fire type attack I had seen before.

Then, nothing happened.

"Cyndaquil?" I said. "What's wrong?"

Cyndaquil curled up, trying to light up its back. However, the flames on its back wouldn't form. I didn't understand what was going on! After all that firepower against Team Rocket, why couldn't Cyndaquil use it anymore?

"Really?" said Paul. "A fire type that can't use fire type moves? Talk about pathetic."

"Don't talk about Cyndaquil like that!" I yelled. "He's a great Pokemon, and he's gonna show you!"

Cyndaquil then fell over after another attempt at Flamethrower. And as much as I wanted to feel confident, I couldn't help but feel a drop of sweat roll down my forehead.

"We'll see about that," Paul said dismissively. "Use Flame Wheel!"

Growlithe's body burst into flames, and it began to roll forwards. Cyndaquil had no time to react before it was slammed by the larger fire type.

"Cyyyn!" it cried. But Paul wasn't done yet.

"Now use Bite!"

Growlithe sank its fangs into Cyndaquil, causing it to cry out in pain. The larger fire type then tossed it away, causing it to land at my feet. Worried, I bent down to talk to it.

"What's wrong, Cyndaquil? I saw you use that really strong Flamethrower before."

"Cyn?"

"Do you need to warm up or something?"

"Quil."

I sighed. Clearly we were going to need a different approach if we wanted to win this.

"Okay, Cyndaquil," I said. "Make sure to watch Growlithe's every move and dodge it's attacks, just like before!"

"Cynda!" the little fire type said. It then saw Growlithe rolling forwards with its fiery attack, and rushed away. Growlithe continued to chase after it, but Cyndaquil was fast enough to dodge the Flame Wheel once again.

"Stop fooling around and catch that Cyndaquil!"

Growlithe continued to chase Cyndaquil, until it was finally able to get a lucky shot. The smaller fire type was sent flying into a tree, and cried out in pain as he slammed into it.

"Well, it looks like this is over now," said Paul. "Take it down with Bite!"

I watched as Growlithe rushed towards Cyndaquil. While it looked bad for Cyndaquil, I had an idea.

"Cyndaquil! Jump when I tell you to!"

Cyndaquil looked at me in confusion, but seemed ready to obey my instructions. It then looked over at Growlithe, who was rapidly approaching.

"Now!"

"Cynda!" said Cyndaquil as it jumped upwards, barely avoiding Growlithe. The larger fire type then slammed into the tree with great force, causing it to shake visibly.

"Now, Cyndaquil!" I said. "Use Tackle!"

Stunned by the impact with the tree, Growlithe was unable to notice Cyndaquil launch itself forwards until it was too late. The puppy Pokemon was sent flying backwards until it landed at Paul's feet, clearly knocked out.

"Yeah, we did it!" I said as Cyndaquil jumped into my arms. "You were awesome, Cyndaquil!"

"Cyndaquil!"

I smiled as I looked down at the little fire type. However, as I looked up, my smile soon faded. I could see Paul looking down at Growlithe with a look that showed no worry for his Pokemon.

All I could see was contempt.

"Useless."

I growled as I watched him. I couldn't believe this guy. As if being a huge jerk to Casey, his cousin, wasn't bad enough, he didn't even care about his Pokemon partners!

Fortunately, the arrival of my friends managed to briefly quell my anger.

"That was awesome, Ash!" said Casey. "And Cyndaquil is in a league of its own!"

"Pikapi, Pikachu!"

"Yeah, you sure showed that jerk!" said Misty.

"I'll bet that Cyndaquil is going to be a great member of your team!" said Brock.

"I sure hope so!" I said excitedly. "Thank you so much guys!"

I then turned back towards Paul. He was holding a Pokeball in his hand and pointing it at Growlithe, which made me think he was about to return it.

Oh how very wrong I was.

The pokeball let out a bright blue flash, which washed over Growlithe. As the puppy Pokemon glowed with the same blue light, the pokeball snapped in half, causing a shiver to crawl down my spine.

"What are you doing?!" I said.

"Growlithe hasn't been performing up to my standards," said Paul. "And today it was defeated by a fire type that couldn't even use fire type moves. While the color may make it more rare than a regular Growlithe, that means nothing if it can't defeat even a Pokemon as pathetic as your Cyndaquil."

I could hardly believe what he was saying. He was giving up on his Pokemon just because he didn't think it was strong enough?!

Paul turned away and began to walk off. But before he could, I walked up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Who do you think you are?!" I said angrily. "First you treat Casey like crap, even though she's your cousin! And now you toss your Pokemon away because you don't think it's worth training! What is your problem?!"

"Pika!"

Paul scoffed as he shoved my hand off.

"For your information, I plan to be the best trainer in the world," said Paul. "So I don't have time to waste on Pokemon who have no potential. If they can't show me that they can become strong, then there's no point in training them."

He then looked behind me, his gaze focusing on one particular individual.

"And why do you care about that freak anyway?"

"Don't you dare call her that!" I yelled. "Casey's my friend, and I'm not going to stand here and let you insult her!"

Paul glanced back at me. Then, to my surprise, he chuckled.

"So I guess you haven't heard?"

I blinked at his remark.

"Heard what?" I said.

"Nevermind," he said with a smirk. "I suspect you'll find out sooner or later. And then… we'll see."

With that, he walked off. I glared at him as he disappeared behind the trees, and I could tell that Pikachu was doing the same.

"What a jerk," I said.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, his cheeks sparking.

We then turned back towards our friends. I was immediately filled with concern when I saw that Casey was gone.

"Where did Casey go?" I said.

Brock and Misty looked around, clearly as surprised as I was.

"I don't know," said Misty. "She was here just a moment ago!"

"Togepriii!"

"We need to find her!" said Brock.

I didn't need to be told twice. I immediately ran past them into the woods.

"Casey!" I called out. "Where are you?"

Fortunately, she hadn't gone far. We found her just a few minutes later, playing baseball with her Pokemon.

"Casey?" I said as I watched Babe toss the ball. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she yelled as she hit the ball with great force, sending it flying upwards.

"Calm down, Casey," I said as I watched her Pidgey retrieve the ball and pass it back to Babe. "We just want to help you."

"I don't want to talk about it!" she yelled as she prepared her next swing.

I frowned as I looked at her. She was clearly on the verge of tears, and I was scared of pushing her any further. Fortunately, Brock managed to change the subject.

"Is that the GS ball?" he said as she hit the spherical object once more.

"Oh," she said as Pidgey caught it once again. "Yeah…"

She lay down her bat and caught the ball as Babe tossed it.

"Sorry," she said as she handed it back. "I know it would have been bad if it broke."

"Don't worry about it," said Misty. "We've been trying to get that thing open for months now, so you would have been doing us a favor."

To my relief, this actually caused Casey to chuckle a bit.

"Hey," Misty said as she put her hand on Casey's shoulder. "Don't listen to what that jerk says. What does he know anyway?"

"Yeah," said Brock. "Paul may be your cousin, but that doesn't mean anything if he treats you like that. So don't worry about what he says."

"And besides," I said, "we think you're awesome!"

"Pika!"

Casey's Pokemon rushed up to her and snuggled up to her. She managed to give us a small, but sincere smile.

"Thanks, guys."

She then looked down at the little fire type who was walking next to me.

"So, I guess you're going to catch Cyndaquil after all, huh?"

"I guess so," I said as I bent down to talk to Cyndaquil. "Do you want to join me, Cyndaquil?"

"Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil said eagerly. I smiled as I grabbed an empty pokeball, and pressed it against the fire mouse Pokemon's forehead. It was immediately sucked in, and the pokeball shook for a second before sparking to indicate a successful capture.

"Yeah!" I said as I shoved the ball into the air. "I caught a Cyndaquil!"

"Pi-Pikachu!"

"Yeah you did," said Casey. "Don't you think it's weird to do that pose every time you catch a Pokemon?"

"Don't you think it's weird to sing the Electabuzz team song whenever you win a battle?" I retorted in a playful tone, which she responded to by sticking her tongue out at me.

That night, we managed to find a quiet part of the woods to set up camp. Brock was preparing dinner with Misty's help, while I was trying to get Cyndaquil to use its Flamethrower again. As for Casey, she had gone off somewhere, maybe for training or something.

"Okay, so I guess you need to have some time to warm up before you can use your fire attacks," I said. "So maybe try to use some other moves first so you can get enough power going."

"Cyn!" Cyndaquil said. It then proceeded to use a tackle on a nearby bush, and ended up getting stuck inside. Pikachu and I could feel drops of sweat rolling down our foreheads.

"I mean," I said nervously, "maybe we can practice with something else."

Fortunately, we were spared any further embarrassment when Brock called us.

"Ash!" he said. "Tell Casey that dinner's ready!"

"Oh, good!" I said. "I'll go tell her!"

With that, Cyndaquil rushed towards Brock, eager for some food. Meanwhile, Pikachu and I went to look for Casey. It didn't take long before we spotted her sitting under a particularly large tree.

"Hey Casey," I said, "Brock's done with dinner, so you'd better come soon!"

Casey didn't respond. In fact, she didn't even seem to realize I was there.

"Casey?"

"Pikachu?"

Still nothing. I walked closer to her, wondering if she could hear me. As I did, I began to hear gentle sobs. Worried, I walked up and crouched next to her. My worries grew when I saw tears rolling down her face.

"Casey?" I said gently. "Are you okay?"

"Leave me alone…"

Worried, I put my hand on her shoulder, only for her to flinch and pull away.

"Casey," I said, my voice much softer than normal. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"You wouldn't understand!" Casey snapped, causing me and Pikachu to jump backwards. She then looked away, her face now full of shame.

"I want to help you," I said as I carefully approached her. "Is that bad?"

"No," Casey said, her voice sounding annoyed.

I frowned. I really didn't want to see her like this. And I didn't know what I could say without accidentally setting her off.

"If this is about Paul-"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

I winced at her tone. How was I supposed to help her now?

"Pika," Pikachu said as he sat down in Casey's lap. He then snuggled up against her chest.

"Chuu."

Thankfully, this seemed to calm Casey down, as her sobs managed to die down. She then pet Pikachu on the head.

"Thanks, Pikachu."

I then cautiously approached her. I figured that mentioning Paul again was a bad idea, so I decided to change topics.

"So… how's your knee?"

She then looked down at her knee, and the handkerchief I put around her leg. She seemed to freeze up again, and didn't say anything.

"Are you okay?" I said, my worries coming back in full force. "Did I tie it wrong? Did it hurt you? I can get Brock to look at it-"

"It's fine!"

I was shocked by her quick response, though she quickly smiled back at me.

"I mean… it's okay, Ash. You did a good job."

I was greatly relieved when she said this, though I still had my worries.

"Hey, Casey?" I said. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Casey looked at me, her smile fading.

"Sure."

The way she said it, I could tell she didn't really believe it. And I could feel my heart sink at this. Why couldn't she just tell me what she was feeling? Why couldn't we just talk it out? What is she so scared of?

There's so much I feel like she's not telling me. I know she didn't have any friends when she was little, but I have no idea why. And I still don't know why she needs her pills. And now there's that jerk Paul. She's his cousin, but he treats her like she's… like she's not even a person.

Why?

I wanted to ask her. But I didn't want to hurt her. She's been hurt enough today.

So I decided to just tell her what I was here to tell her.

"Hey, Brock is done with dinner. Why don't you come and eat?"

Casey wiped her tears away, and smiled at me.

"Okay."

I smiled, and we both got up together.

"Um… Ash?"

I turned towards her.

"Yeah?"

For a moment, it seemed like she was going to tell me something. I looked at her, full of anticipation. Hopeful.

Then she just shook her head.

"Nothing."

I felt myself deflate. For a moment, I thought she might be willing to open up. But I told myself that it would happen one day.

I hope it will. For her sake.

"Yeah," I said. "Let's go."

Thus, we began to walk back to the campsite together.

As we did, I reached out and took her hand.

A/N: Man, this chapter ended up being way longer than I thought it would be. Still, it's a pretty important one, and the next two are going to be even bigger. I just hope you guys enjoy them when they come out!

Paul's inclusion in the story was planned from the very beginning. I knew I wanted him to appear as a rival for Casey in particular. Though his antagonism goes way deeper than just their training methods.

As for him being cousins with Casey, I think it has to do with him having the same hair color. And an Electabuzz. And a piece of fanart I saw once of them both cheering for the Electabuzz (with Paul clearly unhappy lol). If I had to guess, he's a cousin on Casey's mother's side, and her father's side are the big Electabuzz fanatics (which is why in canon she was considered the first member of their family to be a trainer, since Paul and Reggie aren't from that side of the family.)