Once again we find our heroes on the road, travelling towards Fuchsia City. If Richard had guess right, they would arrive tomorrow, meaning Janine's fears would finally come true and Danny could get his fifth gym badge.

First, however, there was another urgent issue.

"Ekans! Stop it!" Janine screamed as she chased down Ekans, who was chasing down Venonat.

It wasn't the first time Ekans had tried to attack Venonat and it was starting to get out of hand.

Janine sighed as she, not for the first time today, grabbed Ekans' Pokéball and returned the snake Pokémon.

"I have no idea what to do you guys." Janine complained. "I can't get Ekans to stop hunting Venonat. Any advice?"

The three boys thought for a bit.

"I have no idea, never had that problem." Richard thought out loud. Lester agreed.

"Maybe put Ekans on chains?" Danny tried to be helpful, but Janine thought he was joking so he received a 'thankful' fist in his shoulder.

"It might just be best to leave Ekans in its Pokéball." Richard suggested.

"But I don't want it to feel like it's left out."

"I don't think it minds." Danny reacted, showing how Ekans had shown very little affection towards its trainer or its teammates.

"Maybe you're right." Janine reluctantly put the ball back on her belt.

"Nevertheless I have to work on it."

On the horizon, a person came walking towards them. When he was closing in he started to laugh.

"Look at that, a copy machine."

The four trainers had no idea what he was talking about, but before they could ask he continued talking.

"I assume at least that those Pokémon following you are yours." He asked Danny directly. With Danny's Pokémon walking directly behind him, that was very clear.

"Obviously."

"Well that's extremely funny, because my team has the exact same types."

"I guess that is funny. Who are you exactly?" Danny, not to mention the others, felt a bit awkward, which didn't seem to be shared by their newly met acquaintance.

"I'm Wiebe, why the awkward faces?"

"What awkward faces?" Danny asked. Although he didn't knew it, his face grew even more red.

"Never mind, how about a battle?"

Now that was something Danny understood and was willing to do.

"Grimer, you go first."

"In that case, I'll go with Koffing!"

"Koffing? You have nothing that can take on Grimer better?" Richard asked curiously.

"Like I said, I have the exact same team type-wise, I want to show I'm the best of the two."

"Hah, you'll have to beat me first, I'd like to see you try."

While Danny and Wiebe got ready to start their battle, Janine wandered of a bit. With the sudden break she had the time to do some team-bonding with Ekans.

She sat down on a rock, a bit further away from the road, and let Ekans out. As Weezing and Venonat followed her, Ekans saw its chance for another shot at free dinner. This time, Weezing got in the way.

"Okay Ekans, it's time you learn about some team values. For example, we don't feed on fellow team members."

Ekans didn't listen, instead it tried to get past Weezing, but the latter blocked every attempt.

"Do you hear me Ekans?" Janine sounded desperate, but the Poison type didn't react.

"Fine, if you don't want to listen I'll have to find another way." Which was easier said than done.

"Grimer, use Pound!" Danny was racing his mind to think of ways to attack that didn't involve Poison type moves.

Grimer launched himself into the air, but Koffing had no trouble avoiding the Sludge Pokémon.

"Haha, if that's all you can think of. Koffing, how about a Tackle attack?"

"Koffing, dodge it!" Sadly, speed had never been Grimer's best quality, so the Tackle hit Grimer in the center, but Grimer took it like a champ and now had Koffing within reach.

"Smash it into the ground!"

Grimer happily obeyed and put both his hands on the Koffing's top. The Poison Gas Pokémon was trapped and smashed quite hard into the earth below.

"Koffing, another round for Tackle."

Danny had memorized all moves his Pokémon could use (there's a bookwork of it available in every Pokémon Center) but had no idea what the right move was.

"Grimer, ehh….. You know what, just Harden."

"Already going defensive huh? Well in that case I see only one way out. Koffing! It's time to explode!" Wiebe yelled while directly covering up his ears.

"Oh no not this again." Richard sighed as he, just as Lester and Danny, covered their ears for the upcoming Explosion.

Koffing smiled as it blew itself up, a blast that even Janine could feel, even though she sat quite far away.

Due to the blow, Ekans was a bit disorientated, which gave Janine the perfect opportunity to grab it. She faced the Snake Pokémon and started talking with a parent-like voice.

"Now listen, you are part of this team whether you like it or not, so you will listen to my commands."

Ekans was a bit intimidated, but not really impressed.

"Now listen up. Weezing and Venonat (with the emphasis on Venonat) are your teammates. On this team we respect our teammates and we value them. What we don't do is chase them down to eat them."

Venonat made an angry face towards Ekans to give power to the argument, which didn't have the wanted effect.

"Second. You don't always have to listen to me, I'm not a dictator. But you do need to follow my commands in battle, that's how a trainer-Pokémon relation works. In return I take care of you and you have a loving family surrounding you."

To be fair, Ekans couldn't care less about family. It grew up on its own and had only a vague idea of what the word 'family' mend. To Ekans, life was about surviving, things as love and cooperating weren't in its dictionary.

"Do you understand?"

Ekans nodded, quite bored from the speech.

"Good." Janine put Ekans back on the ground. To avoid another speech it decided to wait with attacking Venonat, at least until Janine was far enough away.

Meanwhile, Koffing's explosion had caused the Gas Pokémon to faint. Grimer, however, had eaten the hit and was still standing with a wide smile.

"How….?" Wiebe was shocked and Danny happily surprised.

"I guess that Harden really payed off. Good job Grimer!"

"Well you'll have to return it. I'm sending in my water type. Go Psyduck!"

"Grimer, you can take a rest in your Pokéball. Krabby, you're up."

"Guess what, your out of luck. Psyduck, use Psybeam!"

Psyduck's eyes became glowing red and a red beam went straight towards Krabby.

"Block it with Vicegrip!" Danny countered, which worked. Krabby's claw hit the beam and smashed it apart.

"Fine, use Disable!" Wiebe was smirking.

The eyes of the water type went from red to blue and Krabby couldn't move his pincer anymore.

"Hit it again Psyduck!"

This time, Krabby couldn't block it and the crab Pokémon was send flying with the strong Psychic attack. When it landed it felt dizzy and had to take some time to get back on his feet.

"Finish it off with another Psybeam!"

"Krabby, if we can't block it with Vicegrip we'll block it with Bubble beam. Go!"

Krabby opened his mouth and released a load of bubbles, but the attack went right through it and hit Krabby again. This time, Danny's Pokémon didn't take the hit and landed on the ground, fainted.

"That's one for one. Psyduck return, now it's time for some grass battling. Go Gloom!"

"Wow, he wasn't kidding, he really has the exact match-ups." Lester discussed with Richard as Danny switched Pokémon.

When Weepinbell saw his opponent he couldn't help but recognize the Gloom.

"Weepinbell, start things off with Acid!"

"Gloom, counter it with your Acid!"

Two purple sludges collided in the air and blasted apart, while in the meantime, Weepinbell decided to go rogue. He jumped forward and grabbed Gloom with his vines.

Translated from Pokémon language

"You look familiar, do I know you?" Weepinbell asked.

"I have no idea, unless…" Gloom took a look at Weepinbell and then at Danny and seemed to realize it. "You bastard, you actually went with that guy?"

Weepinbell had no idea what the Gloom was talking about, but the latter wasn't done.

"I guess our little group wasn't good enough for you, so at the first opportunity you left us to rot."

Weepinbell's eyes widened when he realized who this was.

"Oddish?"

"It's Gloom now as you can see. Thankfully a trainer captured me, but the entire group has been disbanded because you left us."

"I didn't leave you." Weepinbell defended. "I was captured while I was unconscious. The first thing I remember outside a Pokéball is fighting a gigantic rock snake."

"Hah, I fought that Onix too and beat it easily. I've gotten way stronger now. Back then, you were the leader because none of us could take you. Now, I can beat you."

"Sure you can. Too bad you turned out to be such a loser." Weepinbell swung his old friend into the air and jumped back to watch him fall.

Back to regular language

Danny and Wiebe had been watching with growing anticipation what was happening between the two, so when Weepinbell finally attacked Danny was relieved nothing bad had happened to his Pokémon.

"Now, continue with Slam!"

Weepinbell had never heard of the move before but he could only imagine what it would do. He jumped into the air and rammed his entire body into Gloom, which caused the latter to drop down into the ground.

"Gloom, are you taking that?"

The grass type jumped up with an angry face.

"That's what I thought. Now use Razor Leaf!"

"Slap them out of the air with Vine Whip!"

Weepinbell's vines made short work of the sharp leaves and left the two former friends face each other. Weepinbell jumped forward for an improvised Slam, which Gloom didn't anticipate on, being used to taking orders instead of making own decisions.

The attack sent Gloom flying and it landed in some bushes nearby, completely knocked out.

"two for one I guess." Danny said cheerful as he high-fived with Weepinbell.

"This is far from over, go Spearow!"

"Pidgey, that's your cue!"

Janine had started spectating the game now Ekans seemed to be fine. If anything, it appeared to be enjoying the battle as well. Janine just hoped the snake Pokémon would be willing to battle for her as well.

Venonat even dared to sit next to Ekans now, only if Weezing was right behind them, but still, it was progress.

"Pidgey, use Twister!"

"Spearow, dodge it!"

Spearow flew up and felt the air current below it shift as the twister razed by.

"Now, fly in for a Peck attack."

"Pidgey, counter it with Quick Attack."

The two birds flew towards each other and collided midair, but neither was ready to throw in the towel.

"Spearow, use Growl!"

Spearow let a loud noise come from its beak, which vibrated the air around Pidgey, making it difficult to stay in the air.

"Pidgey, come down to the ground, it's saver."

"Spearow, follow it down and use Peck!"

"Pidgey, send in a Twister."

Once the Tiny Bird Pokémon had landed it directly send out a massive amount of air that didn't only stop Spearow in it's tracks, it also blew it away.

"Finish it off with Quick Attack!"

Pidgey flew up and raced towards where Spearow was falling out of the sky and went in for the decisive blow, speeding up Spearow's fall to the ground, where it remained unconscious.

"How…" Wiebe was shocked, seeing three of his four Pokémon being defeated was not something he had prepared for.

"Good job Pidgey!" Danny cheered his Flying type on. "That is three victories for me against one for you. Who's the copy machine now?"

"Oh I'm just getting started, when we meet again you will be blown away." Wiebe said haughty and stormed off.

"Wait! What about Charmeleon?" Danny shouted at Wiebe, but the latter didn't react.

"Sorry buddy, better luck next time."

Charmeleon grunted a bit annoyed and sat down on the ground.

"Well that's one weird fellow." Lester laughed.

"Tell me about it." Danny agreed. He took a couple potions out of his bag to help Grimer and Krabby back to strength.

"Now that is dealt with, let's get going."

Meanwhile, Janine came walking towards the guys again, followed by her Pokémon.

"Ready to go?" Richard asked Janine, who nodded. Ekans disagreed though. It jumped in the middle of the road and gestured towards Weepinbell.

"What's with Weepinbell?" Danny asked, but Janine didn't knew the answer either. Meanwhile, Ekans kept gesturing.

"Guys, I think Ekans might want to battle." Richard thought out loud.

Ekans heavily nodded, happy finally someone understood what it was trying to say.

"Okay then, Weepinbell, let's go." Danny commanded, knowing he didn't have to ask if Weepinbell was ready for another battle.

Janine stood behind Ekans, ready to give the first command, when Ekans out of nowhere leaped forward and headbutted into Weepinbell. The latter wasn't prepared and bounced back.

Danny was a bit confused while Weepinbell was furious and slammed itself into the Snake Pokémon, blasting it away.

"Ekans, are you okay?"

The Snake Pokémon crawled back but looked exhausted.

"I don't think it's such a good idea to have Ekans battle Weepinbell, it's way too strong." Janine considered.

Despite it's pride, Ekans didn't want to go down in public. Now it gestured towards Krabby.

Danny thought the entire situation was a little weird but nevertheless decided to send Krabby forward.

Just as before, Ekans moved before commanding, but this time Danny had taken it into account.

"Krabby, use Vice grip to smash Ekans out of the air."

Krabby got his pincer up and the moment Ekans was within reach he smashed the Snake Pokémon away, back onto the ground.

Ekans crawled back but was seemingly hurt.

"That's enough. Ekans, return." But Ekans refused and fled away from the Pokéball's reach. It looked around for an easier target and found Venonat. It jumped up and raced towards the defenseless Venonat, who was standing further away from the others since it was still afraid of Ekans. Only now, no-one would be able to reach it before Ekans, although Pidgey was going to try.

Pidgey raced towards Venonat as well, seeing in the corner of his eye that Ekans would be there faster. The Flying type flew even faster and noticed something felt strange. Suddenly it became all white before his eyes.

A massive white light emerged and it moved forward so fast it hit Ekans seconds before it could reach Venonat. The Snake Pokémon was thrown further away onto the ground and was too weakened to move. But the attention wasn't on Ekans anymore.

The eye-blinding light slowly disappeared again and instead of Pidgey, Pidgeotto landed on the ground. On his head a red crest had appeared and the tail had grown and changed the brown feathers to red and yellow colored ones. Not only that, but the newly evolved Pidgeotto was way bigger.

Danny was the first to come to his senses as he ran towards the Flying type. Even though this was the fourth Pokémon on his team to evolve, he was still extremely enthusiastic and without words, so he simply hugged his newly evolved Pidgeotto.

His team quickly gathered to check out Pidgeotto's new looks. Pidgey had never been small for it's species, but now it was astonishing big. He almost equaled Charmeleon in height and he now looked over the others.

Astounded as well, Pidgeotto spread his wings and took to the sky, testing out his new form.

Meanwhile, Ekans had had enough battling for one day. Janine had no trouble returning it to its Pokéball. "We'll battle again soon, I promise." She whispered to the Pokéball.

"Now it's really time to continue." Danny said, gesturing to Pidgeotto up in the sky that they were moving on. The Bird Pokémon cried out in agreement and flew away, leaving the others to follow. Fuchsia City wasn't far away anymore!

Somewhere on a mysterious location

A woman stepped forward from behind her desk. Her hair was dark red and her figure was slim. She was wearing a suit with the letters 'NTR' on it.

"Gayla, where is that kid that foiled our plans in Celadon City?" She asked to the woman with blueish tints.

"I believe he has almost reached Fuchsia. I haven't intercepted his dreams in a while. Hmm, I should probably get back to doing that." Gayla licked her lips.

"Enough with that strange obsession. Tala, I want you to take a dozen pelotons of grunts with you to Saffron City. With that kid far enough away, you should be able to do your business as planned."

The woman called Tala, a thirty-year old woman with blight blonde hair and a curvy body, nodded. "Yes miss Irena, I will be on my way."

"Good. A few things. Celadon was to show off, I wanted the entire region to know about the power of the NTR. That is not necessary anymore, so get in and out without anyone noticing it. Understood?"

Tala nodded, but Gayla intervened.

"Wouldn't it be better to show our strength once again? That kid really messed things up in Celadon and it hurt our reputation. Now he's not around, that should help our odds."

Irena shook her head. "No. I don't want the world to think that we can only win if that brat isn't around to stop us. We will let him do this travels and get stronger. I will personally destroy him for the entire world to see. That way, there is no more denying that the New Team Rocket is a force to be reckoned with. In the meantime, I think it's time you visit him again, make him feel quite a bit uneasy."

A smile broke through on Gayla's face. "With pleasure."