It was around 12:30, and the quartet of Ash, Misty, Brock, and Leaf were currently eating lunch with their Pokémon. Brock had easily made enough food for everyone, even enough for Ash to have seconds… or thirds… or maybe even a fourth helping. Just as Misty was about to take a bite of her sandwich, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at it, and saw it was a small blue Pokémon, with three, green leaves sticking out of the top of it's head. It was currently drinking from a puddle, not even noticing the humans and their Pokémon. Ash also spotted it and didn't even need to scan it with his Pokédex, as he had lived with one his whole life! It was an Oddish.
"It's so cute!" Misty squealed, "I'm gonna catch it!" she announced.
"But Misty, Oddish isn't a Water type" Ash stated sarcastically, knowing (or at least assuming) she knew that.
"I know!" she snapped back, "But just because I'm a Water Pokémon trainer, doesn't mean I can't catch other types!" she turned back to the Grass type.
"Misty calls, Poliwag!" Misty called, as she released her tadpole Pokémon,
"Poli!" it cried. Oddish finally noticed the humans, and instantly became frightened; it hadn't seen any humans before, except for one.
"Poliwag, use Ice Beam!" Misty ordered, an orb of ice formed from Poliwag's mouth, and became a beam as it was fired toward the Weed Pokémon. However the attack never made contact, as an Energy Ball was launched from seemingly nowhere, and completely blocked the attack. The group turned to the direction the Energy Ball came from, and saw a different Pokémon, a Bulbasaur.
"Whoa, it's a Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed, if he wasn't able to get Charmander when he started his journey, Bulbasaur would have been his next choice, and now he may get the chance catch one. Just as Ash went to approach the Starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur launched another Energy Ball to keep the trainer back, before grabbing Oddish with Vine Whip and escaping with it. Both Ash and Misty sighed in disappointed at them missing the chance to capture the Grass types.
"Oh well, you two" Brock said as he came up behind them, "There's always next time".
Ash sighed again, "Yeah, I guess your right…" he replied, clearly still disappointed.
"I guess we should finish our lunch, and then head off again" Brock suggested. The group agreed and went back to eating.
As Bulbasaur ran through the woods it couldn't help but think of the humans it just encountered. It knew it had seen the boy with the red cap, as well as the girl with the white hat for that matter, and it wasn't just from watching them defeat those men in the black uniforms at the Nugget Bridge the previous day. It thought back to it's time in Professor Oak's lab a few years ago. It remembered playing with four kids, two of them very much resembling the two trainers it had just seen. It also remembered a boy with brown spikey hair that it believed may have been the professor's grandson. The other was another girl with long honey coloured hair, but had only seen her one or two times, while it had played with the other three many times.
'Could those trainers actually be those same kids?' it thought to itself.
The group had finished their lunch, and had begun on their way once more. Before long, they arrived at a rope bridge which was suspended over a rather deep crevice, with a river running through it.
"Well, seems to be the only way across…" Brock stated. The rest of the group nodded and began to cross. When they were about half way across, a strong wind blew, and with the ropes, clearly not being very strong, they ripped and the bridge began to collapse. Brock, Misty, Leaf and Pikachu managed to grab onto the broken bridge, Ash however, wasn't so lucky. He was unable to grab onto the bridge in time, and fell into the river below.
"ASH! PIKA PI!" the trainers and Pikachu cried, as they watched their friend fall into the crevice below.
"Urrr…" Ash muttered. He remembered falling from the bridge, and his friends crying out for him, but everything after that was a complete blur. He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a bed. He sat up slowly so he didn't get dizzy, and looked around. He appeared to be inside a log cabin.
"Bulba" a voice said. Ash looked down towards the sound and saw a Bulbasaur staring up at him.
"Bulbasaur? Are you the same one from earlier?" Ash asked, receiving a nod in response. 'Did Bulbasaur save me?" he thought to himself, but after it attacking him earlier, why would it want to help him? Suddenly the sound of an opening door caught Ash's attention, and he turned to see a girl walking in. She had long, blue hair which was done in a ponytail with a green bow. She wore a pink t-shirt and red overalls.
"Ah! You're finally awake!" the girl said with a smile.
"Who are you, and where am I?" Ash asked. The girl smiled at him and handed him a glass of water.
"My name's Melanie, I care for lost, injured, or abandoned Pokémon" she explained. "This place doesn't really have a name, as no one is ever here, besides me, but I usually call it the Hidden Village".
Ash suddenly remembered he hadn't introduced himself yet. "Oh, I'm Ash Ketchum" he introduced himself. Melanie smiled at the boy.
"It's nice to meet you Ash, but it would have been nicer to meet under better circumstances" the girl replied.
"So, did you save me? Ash asked. Melanie shook her head and pointed to the grass type standing next to her.
"No, he did" she stated. Ash was a little shocked, after he and Misty tried to capture him and Oddish, it still helped him?
"Really? That kinda surprises me…" Ash stated.
"Huh? Why?" Melanie asked.
"Well, earlier my friend attempted to catch an Oddish, but Bulbasaur stopped her, attacked us with Energy Ball, and escaped with it" Ash explained.
"Ah, you see, Bulbasaur helps protect the Pokémon I take care of, and it sometimes gets a little over-protective" Melanie explained. As Bulbasaur watched the boy, he finally determined that this was the same boy he had met and played with at Oak's laboratory, about four years ago. But it seemed that Ash didn't remember him, and he didn't know how to tell the boy that they had met in the past. If only there was a way to speak to him…
Ash finally had finally gotten out of bed, and had sent Pidgeotto and Beedrill to find his friends. Ash was impressed by the amount of Pokémon in the clearing that Melanie took care of, there was a Bellsprout, an Caterpie, a couple of Rattata, a Paras, a Staryu, a Magikarp, and an Oddish, which he assumed was the same one Misty attempted to catch. Ash watched Melanie take care of the wild Pokémon, healing any injuries they had, or even just feed them. After about ten minutes, Pidgeotto and Beedrill returned, with Brock, Misty, Leaf following, with Pikachu sitting on Leaf's shoulder.
"Ash, There you are!" Leaf exclaimed, as she and the others ran up to Ash.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried as it jumped into Ash's arms.
"Ash, I'm glad you're safe" said Brock.
"It's all thanks to a certain Pokémon" Ash said, gesturing to Bulbasaur behind him.
"Is that the same Bulbasaur?" Misty questioned.
"Uh huh, it saved me from the river" Ash confirmed.
Misty looked to the side and saw an Oddish drinking from the lake, "Is that the same Oddish too?" she asked.
"Yep" Ash replied. Misty walked over to the Oddish and kneeled down.
"Sorry about what happened earlier, I shouldn't have surprised you like that, you must have been scared" she apologised, Oddish nodded. "I apologise for what I did, and I hope we can become friends" she said tearing up a little. Oddish wiped away Misty's tears with one of it's leaves. "Oh, your sweet Oddish, I am sorry" Misty apologised again, hugging the small grass type.
Suddenly, a scream was heard coming from the other side of the clearing.
"That's Melanie!" Ash exclaimed.
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cried, as it ran towards the scream. Ash took off after it.
"Ash, wait!" Leaf exclaimed, as she and the others ran after him.
Ash and Bulbasaur arrived at the other side of the clearing to find Melanie surrounded by an angry looking Ekans, Koffing, Weepinbell and Tentacool.
"What's going on here?" Ash exclaimed.
Jessie: "Prepare for trouble, the answer is clear"
James: "Make it double, revenge is near"
Jessie: "To protect the world from devastation!"
James: "To unite all people within our nation!"
Jessie: "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
James: "To extend our reach to the stars above!"
Jessie: "Jessie!"
James: "James!"
Jessie: "Team Rocket, blasts of at the speed of light!"
James: "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
Meowth: "Meowth, dat's right!
"Team Rocket?!" exclaimed Ash.
"Hey there twerp" said James, "it's a good thing we followed you after you beat Proton, because we were able to find this goldmine!"
The trio had the Pokémon Melanie looks after in a net hanging from their Meowth shaped hot air balloon.
"Give back those Pokémon!" Ash demanded.
"No way, twerp! Ekans, Tentacool, use Poison Sting! Jessie ordered.
Ekans and Tentacool fired multiple glowing, purple needles in Ash's direction.
"Pikachu, quick, Electro Ball!" Ash ordered. Pikachu leapt off of Ash's shoulder, as he charged up it's attack. It did a front flip, before launching the attack blocking the attack and hitting Tentacool.
"Wait… where's… Gah!" Ash yelped, Ekans had slithered up behind him and had wrapped itself around his neck. Bulbasaur saw this and fired an Energy Ball at Ekans' head, making it lose it's grip on Ash.
Ash gasped for air, "Th-thanks, Bulbasaur…" Ash managed to get out. Brock, Misty, and Leaf arrived.
"Hey, those are the same Rocket's from Viridian City!" Misty exclaimed. Meowth spotted the new arrivals.
"It seems with have company" he informed his partners.
"Koffing, Weepinbell, get them!" James ordered. The pair of poison types went to tackle the trainers but Misty and Leaf had already called out Staryu and Butterfree.
"Staryu, use Water Gun!"
"Butterfree, Gust attack!"
The pair of Pokémon launched their attacks, stopping the Poison types in the tracks. "Nice work!" Leaf exclaimed, as she and Misty high fived.
"Grr, Meowth! Your turn!" Jessie growled, grabbing Meowth by the head and throwing towards Ash.
"Wait! I don't battle!" Meowth cried as he flew through the air. He didn't stay in the air much longer though.
"Bulbasaur, Energy Ball!" Ash ordered. Bulbasaur was happy to oblige. He formed the attack and fired, hitting Meowth in the forehead, sending him flying backwards and into James' stomach.
Jessie started turning red in anger. "Why can't we win!?" she shouted.
"Maybe because evil never wins!" Ash exclaimed with a smirk. "Now, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, send them flying with Electro Ball and Energy Ball!"
The two Pokémon formed their respective balls of energy, and fired them straight at Team Rocket. A big explosion erupted around them and they were sent hurtling into the air.
"We lost again…" James stated sadly.
"This is your fault!" Jessie yelled.
"Well whoever's fault it is, we're still…" Meowth started.
"Blasting off again!" They all screamed together.
"Pidgeotto, cut the net open with Steel Wing!" Ash ordered. Pidgeotto obeyed and easily cut the net, freeing the Pokémon inside.
"Thank you everyone, without you they would have taken the Pokémon!" Melanie thanked.
"No problem!" said Ash.
"You and Bulbasaur seemed to work really well together" Misty stated.
Melanie nodded, "I agree, Ash, don't you think Bulbasaur would make a great addition to your team?" she asked.
"Would he ever!" Ash exclaimed.
"I think Bulbasaur should go with you" stated Melanie.
"Huh?"
Melanie picked up the grass type starter. "Bulbasaur stayed here to protect the weaker Pokémon, but this village is too small, the bulb on it's back can't grow, it needs to go out into the world now, and I know you'll take good care of it" she explained. "Please do me this favour, take Bulbasaur with you on your journey, he'll be a good companion".
"But what'll happen to the village without Bulbasaur?" asked Misty.
"Yeah, who's going to protect you?" Brock added.
"It's true that Bulbasaur has done a great job, maybe too great a job" Melanie replied, "See these Pokémon shouldn't remain in this village forever and ever, after they recover, the Pokémon are supposed to leave, but it's to safe here, so none of them want to leave, they don't want to return to the outside world, but I think it's important that they return to the wild, that's where Pokémon belong, and hopefully someday, they'll find good trainers like you" she explained.
"Of course taking care of sick Pokémon will always be my mission, but I know my job isn't finished until they return to where they came from, so it's the time a Pokémon leaves, that is the most rewarding for me."
"Melanie I-" Brock started.
"You see so it's time for Bulbasaur to leave here, so please take it with you, it won't be a burden, I promise. Bulbasaur still has a lot of growing to do, I want it to be in a place where it can grow strong and happy, and I'm sure that place is with you, Ash" Melanie finished.
"Well, if you really want me to-" Ash began saying before he was cut off by Bulbasaur saying something, to which Melanie giggled in response.
"What'd it say?" Ash asked.
"Bulbasaur will join you on one condition, it wants to battle you first, right Bulbasaur?" Melanie asked, to which it nodded yes.
"Well, okay then! If you want a battle you'll get one!" Ash exclaimed.
A few moments later, Ash and Bulbasaur stood across from one another. "Nidoran, I choose you!" Ash exclaimed as he released his poison rabbit-like Pokémon. "Use Peck!" he ordered.
Nidoran started running towards Bulbasaur, aiming his horn straight at Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur immediately retaliated with it's Vine Whip, making Nidoran jump out of the way, then quickly changed to a Tackle attack.
"Nidoran! Look out!" Ash warned, but the grass type was too fast, and hit Nidoran with another Tackle. "Quick, Poison Sting!" Ash ordered. Nidoran fired a barrage of glowing purple needles at Bulbasaur which sent it flying backwards a bit. Bulbasaur quickly recovered, and grabbed Nidoran with Vine Whip, slammed him into the ground and then fired an Energy Ball.
"Quick, counter with Water Pulse!" Ash instructed, which Nidoran managed to do. "Now, time to use that new move we've been working on, use Shock Wave!"
Nidoran charged up electricity in his body, and then discharged it through Bulbasaur's vines, electrocuting it. Bulbasaur fell on it's side stunned (literally).
"All right, Poké Ball, go!" Ash exclaimed as he threw his Poké Ball at Bulbasaur, sucking it inside. The ball shook a couple of times before becoming still.
"Yes! I caught Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu added.
"I'll miss you, Bulbasaur" Melanie said sadly.
"I promise to take good care of Bulbasaur" Ash promised.
Melanie kneeled down to pet Bulbasaur, "Bulbasaur, thank you for watching over us" she thanked.
Brock stepped forward, "Uh, Melanie, I've been thinking"
"Yes?"
"Well, since Bulbasaur's leaving, I wouldn't mind staying and helping you out" Brock stated.
"That's very kind of you, but we'll be okay, I wouldn't want to keep you from your wonderful travels" she replied with a smile.
"Oh, yeah, I guess your right" Brock said obviously disappointed, 'At least Misty didn't get to pull me away this time' he thought to himself.
"Goodbye Melanie" Ash said waving as he started walking, followed by his friends. Melanie and the other Pokémon waved back, all except for one, Oddish. Oddish just stood there, watching a certain redhead walking away. Suddenly it ran off after the group.
"Huh?" said Misty when she felt something touch her leg, "Oddish? What are you?" Oddish gestured to Misty's Poké Balls on her belt, "Do you want to come with me?" Misty asked.
"Oddish!" it replied happily. "Okay then, welcome to the team, Oddish!" Misty exclaimed, touching Oddish on the head with an empty Poké Ball, capturing it almost immediately.
"Looks like we both caught new Pokémon today, huh Misty?" Ash said, "Yup!" Misty replied cheerfully. "Now, onto Cerulean Cape!" Ash exclaimed.
Author's Notes
This chapter REALLY should have been finished ages ago, but procrastination struck, and I didn't finish it until the day I'm uploading it. Well, anyway, I've decided to start doing authors notes which I've seen many people do. Onto the chapter. Ash has finally caught Bulbasaur, and Misty caught Oddish. I hope people find interest in Bulbasaur's backstory with Ash. I will be going deeper into it at some point, when I find a suitable way how. I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to get the next one up soon, emphasis on "hope". I really don't know when the next one will be coming. Also, thanks to everyone who has followed, and left reviews and favourites. Thank you for the support, and I'm sorry this chapter took so long to come out.
