The sun was shining brightly as Ash walked along Route 1, with Pikachu on his shoulder and Charmander by his side. Suddenly Pikachu's ears perked up as it sensed something nearby.

"What is it Pikachu?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed towards a patch of tall grass as a small bird-like Pokémon hopped out.

"A Pidgey" Ash whispered to his teammates as they hid behind a nearby rock. Ash pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it towards the small bird.

"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon. It is docile and prefers to avoid conflict. If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back" the Pokédex spoke.

"Perfect" Ash said to himself, "Pikachu, go!" he ordered. Pikachu leaped towards Pidgey, ready for battle with the electric sacs in his cheeks sparking. Pidgey turned towards Pikachu with a fierce look in its eye.

"That's weird" Ash thought, "The Pokédex said they're normally docile, oh well, fine by me". Pidgey made the first move and sent a Gust attack towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, dodge and use Thunder Shock!" Pikachu jumped out of the air of the Gust and fired a bolt of electricity at Pidgey. Pidgey was hit by the blast and fell to the ground, but managed to get back up. It then moved fast towards Pikachu, with its wings tucked by its sides. 'That's Quick Attack!' Ash thought to himself. "Pikachu! Use your Quick Attack to dodge and then hit it!" Ash ordered. Pikachu sped out of the birds attack and ram into it. Pidgey cried out in pain as it fell to the ground once more, Ash took this opportunity to throw a Poké Ball at the fallen Pidgey. Pidgey was absorbed into the ball in a flash of red. The ball rocked back and forth on the ground a couple times, and then stopped. Ash picked up his Poké Ball. "Welcome to the team, Pidgey" Ash said aloud. He clipped the ball onto his belt and continued on his way.

Not long after Ash had started walking again, he heard a loud scream coming from a nearby forest.

"Someone's in trouble!" Ash exclaimed. He returned Charmander to his Poké Ball and ran in the direction of the scream. Ash reached a large clearing and saw a girl about his age, with orange hair in a pony-tail on the side of her head and wearing a yellow crop-top and jean shorts help up with red suspenders, surrounded by Beedrill, large Bug type Pokémon that resembled a bee or wasp. Beside the girl was a Poliwag, a tadpole Pokémon with a swirl pattern on its belly. The Beedrill dove down on the girl using their Twinneedle attack. The girl scream as the came at her, but Ash immediately jumped into action.

"Charmander! Use Ember!" Ordered Ash as he threw his Poké Ball.

"Huh?" the girl said with surprise, hearing Ash's voice. The Beedrill stopped their attack and turned towards Ash. Charmander appeared from its ball and fired a barrage of small fire balls at the Bug/Poison types. This made the Beedrill even angrier than they were before and charged at Charmander. "Pikachu, use Thunder Shock to help Charmander!" Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder into the air, and sent a bolt of electricity at the Beedrill. They fell to the ground and looked up to see Pikachu and Charmander staring at them angrily. The bee Pokémon gave up and started to fly away, one however was more sluggish than the others; it had been paralysed by the Thunder Shock. Ash took the chance and threw a Poké Ball at it and almost instantly captured it. Ash approached the girl, "Are you hurt?" Ash asked with concern.

"I'm okay…" she replied still a bit shaken up, "Thank you".

"It was nothing" Ash replied modestly, the girl then remembered her Poliwag.

"Poliwag! Are you okay?" she asked with worry in her voice.

"Polii" it replied weakly. The girl returned Poliwag to its Poké Ball and stood up.

"Hi, I'm Misty Mizuyawa" she informed Ash, "What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town" Ash replied, "and this is Pikachu and Charmander" he introduced his Pokémon. Ash recalled Charmander to its ball, "Come on, we should get Poliwag to the Pokémon Center" he started walking in the direction of Viridian City.

"Uh, right" Misty replied and followed after Ash. Little did they know, someone was watching them.

By the time the duo reached Viridian City, Pikachu had gotten inside Ash's backpack and fell asleep. As they were entering the city, Officer Jenny stopped them.

"Excuse me young man, but where are you going with that Pikachu?" She questioned, Ash was a little confused.

"We're on our way to the Pokémon Center, it's my Pikachu" He explained.

Jenny wasn't completely convinced, "Why is it in your bag rather than a Poké Ball?" She asked. Ash now realised why she was suspicious.

"Pikachu doesn't like being inside a Poké Ball, so I let it stay out." Ash then pulled out his Pokédex and showed it to the police officer, and it began talking.

"I'm Dexter, a Pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum of the town of Pallet. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced." It continued, "Pokémon currently owned by Ash: Charmander, Pikachu, Pidgey and Beedrill" it finished. Officer Jenny felt a little embarrassed for thinking Ash was a thief.

"I'm sorry about that, it's just that a group of Pokémon thieves known as Team Rocket has been seen around Viridian City" she explained, "if you see anything, please inform me as soon as possible" she requested.

"Of course" both Ash and Misty agreed at once. They said good bye to Officer Jenny and headed towards the Pokémon Center.

They entered the Center and Misty went straight to the main counter to have Poliwag healed. Meanwhile, Ash went to the video phones to call home. Ash dialled his mother's number.

At home, the video phone began to ring, "RING, RING, RING, RING, RING, RING, PHONE CALL, PHONE CALL" it repeated this until Delia answered the phone.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Mom, it's me, Ash" she replied. Delia squealed with delight as she turned on the video feature.

"Hi honey, is every going alright?" She asked.

"Yep, everything is great, I just arrived in Viridian City, and I already have four Pokémon!" He told his mother.

"That's great dear, it took your father 3 days to get to Viridian City, he would be so proud" Delia explaining to encourage Ash.

"Thanks Mom" he thanked his mother, starting to tear up a little at the mention of his father, who had left home nine years ago, but never returned. No one even knows if he is still alive. They continued their conversation for about five minutes.

"Well I've gotta go now mom, I promise I'll call again soon" Ash assured.

"Okay honey, don't forget to change your you-know-what every day, I love you", Delia reminded her son.

"I love you too Mom, and I will, bye". Ash hung up the video phone just as Misty approached.

"It's getting late, I'm gonna rent a room for the night an…" she stopped talking as two Poké Balls burst through the glass sky light, they opened to release two Pokémon. One was an Ekans, a purple snake-like Pokémon, and the second was a Koffing, a round Pokémon with holes releasing poisonous gas from its body, it also had a skull and cross-bones symbol on it.

"What's going on here?!" asked Nurse Joy. Koffing began releasing a Smokescreen attack.

"What's happening?!" quizzed Ash.

"Don't be scared little boy," a female voice replied from the smoke.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves" another voice added, male this time.

"Prepare for trouble"

"And make it double"

"To protect the world from devastation"

"To unite the peoples within our nation"

"Jessie"

"James"

"Team Rocket Blasts of at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare the fight"

A cat-like Pokémon, a Meowth jumped in front of the duo"

"Meowth dat's right!" it finished, surprisingly talking!

"Did that Meowth just speak!?" Misty asked in surprise.

"Dat's right girly" Meowth confirmed, "now hand over ya Pokemon!" He demanded. Ash stepped forward, Pikachu's cheeks sparking.

"Let's start with that one," Jessie suggested pointing at Pikachu, "Ekans, use Bite!" she demanded. Ekans launched itself towards Ash, but he was ready.

"Pikachu, use thunder shock!" Pikachu lunged off Ash's shoulder and fired a bolt of lightning at the snake. The snake stopped mid-air, shocked (literally), and fell to the ground. Ash picked another Poké Ball from his belt and threw it.

"Beedrill, I choose you!" Ash called, as the bee Pokémon he had caught earlier that day appeared in a flash of white.

"Koffing use your Smog attack!" ordered James. Koffing opened its mouth and released a Smog attack at Beedrill.

"Beedrill, use Twinneedle!" Ash commanded, Beedrill's stingers began to glow purple, as he launched himself at Koffing stopping the not very effective Smog attack. Koffing flew backwards into James's face knocking him over.

"My turn!'" Misty exclaimed, holding a Poké Ball. She threw it and out popped a Staryu, a Starfish-like Pokémon with a red jewel in its center. "Staryu, use Rapid Spin on Ekans!" Misty ordered. Staryu started spinning in mid-air, slamming into Ekans, sending back towards Jessie.

"Alright Pikachu! Finish them off with Thunder Shock!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu jumped into the air, "Pikaaa" Pikachu started charging its power, "CHUUUUUUU!" Pikachu sent a powerful blast of electricity towards Team Rocket. The power of the blast caused an explosion, sending Team Rocket back through the sky light they entered through.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting ooooooff!" they cried as they flew into the air until all you could of them was a small flash, accompanied by a "ding!" sound.

Ash and Misty returned their Pokémon to their balls, as Nurse Joy approached them.

"Thank you" she said with gratitude, "if you weren't here, who knows what would have happened?".

Ash blushed a little, "No problem Nurse Joy" he replied. Nurse Joy smiled and went back to the front desk.

Misty began speaking where from where she was before Team Rocket interrupted, "As I was saying, I'm gonna rent a room for the night and get some sleep" explained Misty, "I'll see you in the morning?".

Ash smiled, "Of course!" he confirmed. Misty smiled back, and they both went to the front desk to rent their rooms.