Untitled Document Wow. 3rd one. Guess you're happy, huh?

These are getting a bit tougher for me, though I still want to continue making them. If you have any ideas, comments, or suggestions on this, I'd be more than glad to hear them!

Disclaimer: If you don't know who owns Pokémon, you probably won't read this.

This stories parallels episode 5 (from WAY back) where Ash meets Brock.

The usual:
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E-mail: cosmoswd@trxinc.com
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----====(] Shot down in Pewter City [)====----

"Come on, James, let's dig here!" Jessie said, her red hair flowing back in the night. James was slumped over the shovels, trying to catch his breath. Jessie had, as usual, forced him to carry the equipment.

James whined. "Can't we rest, Jessie? It's night, and no one can see us." He brushed some of his blue hair out of his eye, wiping away sweat at the same time. Meowth, the resident Pokémon of this portion of Team Rocket, was looking at the spot where Jessie had pointed. He looked up the dirt path, at a narrower spot.

"Hey, guys! Let's dig da hole ovah heah! It'll be harder for dose guys ta walk around. Meowth!" he purred at his own brilliance. Jessie studied the area.

"You're right, Meowth," she said, earning a wide grin from the Cat Pokémon. "Maybe there is something behind that charm or yours." His grin shrunk, but not too much. "Come on, you and James dig!" It turned into a scowl.

"And what will youse do?" he said, wanting to share the burden with the whole team, or have them do all the work.

"I'll be management!" Jessie laughed at herself. Meowth grabbed one of the shovels, the one James was leaning, now sleeping, on, and began to dig, throwing dirt in Jessie's face. James fell over and looked around drowsily.

"You impudent cat!" Jessie screamed, trying to block the dirt. "What are you doing?!" Her screams woke up James completely.

"Wha?!" He opened his eyes in time to see a shovel fly at him. He quickly rolled backwards, evading the sharp end. "What was that for?!" Jessie was holding Meowth and the other shovel.

"You work with the cat!" she said, throwing Meowth back in the small hole it had dug. The shovel followed, banging him on the head, giving him a lump. He returned the favor with a swipe to Jessie's face. Three red marks streaked across, and Jessie cried out in pain.

"AH! My face! My perfect, beautiful face! What have you done?!" She was about to lunge at Meowth, when James grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

"Me and Meowth will dig, you can go find branches and stuff, Jessie," he said, too tired to fight at the moment. Jessie checked her temper and stormed off into the woods to find sticks.

"Come on, Ash," Misty pleaded, wanting to continue her training. She was still ticked off on what this brat had done to her bike, and desperately wanted him to pay her back soon, so she could go on her own journeys. But, until then, she had only her feet for transportation, and when you have no speed, a friend is your best defense. Ash sat down on a big rock, and Pikachu took to wooden stairs nearby, falling asleep on one of the steps, exhausted. Misty surveyed the area, noticing many more rocks of different sizes, many of which had price tags on them.

Odd... Misty thought.

"Hey!" a voice yelled at Ash, making him fall of the rock, and startling Misty. Pikachu was still asleep, unfazed by the sudden voice. "You're sitting on my merchandise!" the man yelled at Ash, who was picking himself up.

"Sorry, mister. I didn't know these were for sale."

"Maybe you should check and see if a rock belongs to someone before you sit on it," the man said. Ash would disregard, and later forget that piece of advice. "I'm Flint. I sell these rocks as souvenirs for Pewter City." He smiled at his own business.

"Why don't people just go out and pick they're own rocks from around Pewter?" Misty asked, to Flint's annoyance. He gave her a mean look, and then spotted Pikachu lying on the steps.

"Your Pokémon looks pretty worn out. You should take it to a Pokémon Center." Ash had slumped back onto the big rock, tired himself. "Eh, I'll be a nice guy. I'll show you guys to the Pokémon Center." he said, and turned, walking at a slow pace for them to follow.

He might not be such a bad guy, Misty thought, but was soon corrected.

"By the way, that will be two dollars for sitting on my rocks," Flint said, turning his head. Ash and Misty did a face fault.

After Ash dropped Pikachu off at the Pokémon Center, he and Misty went to a restaurant next-door to have lunch.

"Ya know, Misty," Ash said, munching on some noodles, "I saw a sign about the Pokémon League. I think I'll head that way when we leave."

"HA!" Misty laughed. "One, you have to have 8 badges to even THINK about being the league, and, two, you need to be good to get those," she said, smirking.

"Hey! I am good!" he replied, still slurping noodles.

"Fine. Prove it. Beat the Pewter Gym Leader. He's supposed to be so that he's beatable when you first start out."

"I will, and I can!" Ash slurped another noodle. This one whip lashed up into his hair. He picked it out, looked at it for a second, and ate it.

Misty made a face. "You know, your Pidgey, Butterfree, and Pikachu won't be enough to defeat this Gym Leader. He may have weak Pokémon, but he's tough. Want to borrow some of mine?"

Ash looked at her sternly. "No way! I can beat this Gym Leader with only my Pokémon, which I caught!" Misty sighed.

"Fine! And, if you do win, you better use the prize money to buy my bike!" She finished eating and stormed off, leaving Ash to pay the bill.

"WAH! Misty! Don't leave me the bill!" he yelled as she left, grumpily. She didn't look back, and he was forced to pay it.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Ash said as she handed over his two PokéBalls and Pikachu.

She smiled. "I'm just glad you didn't do to this place what you did to Viridian PokeCenter." Ash just looked at the floor, and walked off, Pikachu at his heels, embarrassed. As he walked outside, he was startled to find Flint sitting there, waiting for him.

"Hey, Ash. You probably want to challenge the Gym Leader here, huh? You know the way?"

"Ummm... No. Don't you have to mind your store?" Ash asked, scratching his head.

"I'm on lunch-break," Flint replied. Ash looked up at a near-by digital clock, and saw the time as 2:45 P.M. He sure is a weird guy... "Anyway, I decided I'd give you a hand and show the way." Ash decided to follow him. As they went, Flint described some techniques Ash might use to beat the Gym Leader, oblivious to Ash's current Pokémon.

"You sure know a lot about the Gym Leader for someone who sells rocks," Ash commented. Flint gave him a look.

"Well, when you've been hanging around Pewter as much as I have, you learn some things. It helped that I was the Gym Leader there, too." Ash stopped walking at that.

"YOU used to be the Gym Leader?! Why not now?" he asked

"I decided I wanted to explore. It didn't feel right staying in a Gym, all cooped up. So, I turned it over to someone else, and went my way."

"Why do you sell rocks now?"

Flint looked at the ground, digging his heels into some dirt. "My training didn't work out the way I planned."

"Oh," Ash said. They started on their way again. Once they arrived, Flint waved goodbye, saying his lunch-break was over, and Ash walked, holding his head high.

"I'm gonna beat this trainer!" he said as the doors shut behind him.

"Pika! Pikachu!"

"I lost!" Ash cried to Misty. "I lost to Brock, the Gym Leader!" The battle had not gone well, and he'd had to forfeit to save Pikachu. They were at the PokeCenter, and Pikachu was healing.

"I told you, Ash Ketchum." Misty scolded. "You could have used my Pokémon, too, but no. You had to be Mr. Macho and go about it yourself. So what are you going to do now?" Ash looked at the floor.

"I guess I'll take Pikachu out and train him some more," Ash looked up, a smile on his face. "He just needs to power up, and I can beat Brock!"

"Oh, you're so stubborn and thick-headed!" she said, and stormed off again. Ash cocked his head as she went out.

"Wonder what's with her." A chime announced that someone's Pokémon was healed.

"Pika!" Ash turned around to see Pikachu on the counter, waiting for him.

"Hey, Pikachu! Feeling better?" Ash asked as he picked up the yellow pocket monster.

"Pika!"

"Good! Cause we're going to go out and train some more!" Pikachu lowered an ear, clearly not liking the idea entirely, and Ash walked outside. Flint was there, waiting for him once again.

"Supper break," he said when Ash stared at him. It was only an hour from when Flint had left him at the Gym. "So you lost, huh?"

"How'd you know?" Ash asked.

"By your sad face. Well, not sad, but hopeful. If you had won, it would be beaming." Ash looked at the ground, then back at Flint. "I have an idea that might help you. There's a hydraulic power generator west of Pewter, and I could use it to juice up your Pikachu." Ash's eyes lit up.

"Really? You'd do that?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure. I was young once. Maybe I can help your training be better than mine."

After walking for a while, they came upon a run down building at dark, with a water wheel attached to the side of a small bend. They walked inside, and a blue generator was sitting on the ground, wires attached to it.

"Here we are," Flint said. "One problem, though."

"What?" Ash asked, hoping it would be a minor one. Flint pointed out the window, and Ash peered out. "Gah! There's no water!"

"Don't worry," Flint said, as he taped the wires to Pikachu's cheeks. "I have another idea."

Ash stood atop the waterwheel, wondering how stable it was. Flint was inside, checking wires and pressing buttons on the machine.

"Ready!" Flint yelled, and Ash started pushing on the paddles of the wheel like a stepping machine, pushing it slowly at first, but quicker as the wheel got more used to spinning. As Ash grunted, sparks shot off of Pikachu's cheeks, all the while Pikachu was calling out in pain.

"Don't," he paused, giving more exertion to the wheel. "Give up, Pikachu! If I can do this, then you can handle the electricity!"

"Ash!" A feminine voice made him look down at the bottom of the crevice. Misty was standing there, her blue bag over her shoulder. "Why don't you just use some of my Pokémon? You don't have to do this!"

"I want," he gave another big push, "to do this on my own! Without your help!" he said, wiping sweat from his face.

"Fine! Be that way!" she said, and walked back to Pewter. Pikachu's cries grew louder, and Ash ducked as a thunderbolt whizzed over his head. With one final cry, Pikachu let loose a large amount of electricity, overloading the generator and ripping the roof off the little shack.

Ash awoke the next morning, finding himself on a couch in the Pokémon Center. Pikachu slept in a ball above his head. It took a minute for him to orient himself, but when he did, he was pure energy.

"Come on, Pikachu!" Ash shouted, startling Pikachu and making it fall over the side.

"Chu...." it said, still exhausted from last night's 'outing.' Ash grabbed a donut, and shoved some Pokémon food in Pikachu's mouth, then picked it up and ran out the door, running all the way to the Pokémon Center. He slowed down when he got in front of the doors, and Pikachu tugged at his pants leg. "Pika chu."

"I guess I should give you some more food, huh Pikachu?" he reached into his pocket and gave Pikachu some more food. "Sorry. I guess I'm just real excited, cause we're going to win!" He thrust the doors open, which closed after he was fully inside, and announced himself. "Brock! My name is Ash Ketchum, and I'm here to earn a badge!"

"You again?" Brock asked. His short cut, fizzle brown hair stood almost straight up, and he squinted, no matter where he looked. Ash wasn't sure if it was the light or if he had an eye problem, but he didn't care. He just wanted a badge. "Beat them once, you can beat them again," Brock said, and pressed a button on his chair. Two slots on either side opened up, and came together to form the battling platform. "Three Pokémon each, no time limit. Pokémon, I choose you!" He grabbed a PokéBall from his belt, and whipped it toward the middle of the arena. A red light shot out, and a rock-type Pokémon appeared.

"Geodude," it said.

"Alright!" Ash said, turning his cap backwards. "Pidgey! I choose you!" He threw his own ball into the court; a small, brown bird erupted from it.

"Ha! You haven't learned much since out last fight, have you? This is no match. Geodude! Tackle!" Ash scowled as Geodude smashed into Pidgey, disorienting it for a few minutes.

"Pidgey! Sand Attack!" Pidgey flapped its wings, kicking up sand, which made a small dust storm around the Geodude. When the dust settled, the Geodude was undamaged.

"Geodude." Ash growled.

"Pidgey! Tackle!"

"Geodude! Tackle!" Geodude reached Pidgey before Pidgey could read itself, and Pidgey was knocked out, giving a last fleeting cry as it went unconscious.

"Return!" Ash aimed a little button on the PokéBall at Pidgey. A red beam shot out, turned the Pidgey into energy, and sucked it back in. "Alright, Pikachu! I'm counting on!"

"Pika!" it said as it moved to the middle of the court.

"The Pikachu, AGAIN? You REALLY haven't learned anything, have you?" Brock laughed.

"Pikachu! Thundershock!" Pikachu's cheeks lit up, and released a wave of electricity towards Geodude. Geodude screamed as the electricity hit it, and was charred black when the smoke cleared. It hovered for a second more, and then fell to the ground, unconscious.

"I see you trained your Pikachu," Brock said, recalling Geodude. He pulled another ball from his belt. "But he's still no match for Onix! Go!" A massive figure of energy appeared on the battlefield, and formed into a chain of big rocks, mixed with some small ones. Onix, the rock snake, let out a loud roar, proclaiming its superiority over the pitifully small electric mouse. "Onix! Bind!" Onix lunged at Pikachu, ready to follow all of its master's orders.

"Pikachu! Thundershock!" Pikachu released another wave of energy, hitting Onix on its chin. Onix recoiled, surprised at the power of the attack, but again lunged. Pikachu tried again, but this time did not do as much damage. Onix zoomed past Pikachu, then turned around and caught it in Onix's coils.

Pikachu lost its sense of reason, and fired random thunderbolts. Some hit Onix, while others hit the ground and walls. One barely missed Brock's brothers and sisters, who were standing above with Misty. Some hit some upper, wooden planks on fire, and the sprinkler automatically turned on to put them out. Onix, being a rock type and thus weak to water, was majorly hurt by this. Pikachu sent a massive shock along Onix, and it fell to the ground, almost defeated. Pikachu jumped out of its coils, waiting for its master's command to fire the K.O. hit. But Ash never gave the command. Instead, he did something that surprised everyone.

"Pikachu, come back."

Misty gasped. "Ash, what are you doing?" she whispered under your breath.

Brock echoed her words. "What are you doing, Ash? You could defeat Onix now!" He didn't want pity. He wanted to either win or loose.

"If I did that, I'd win on a technicality," Ash said, calmly. Pikachu ran back to its master as the sprinklers shut off. "It was an accident that Onix got wet, and it wouldn't be a fair match if I won." Ash looked down at Pikachu.

"Pika?" it asked. Ash just smiled. He picked up Pikachu, and walked out of the Gym, Brock staring as he left.

"Pika!" Pikachu said as a leaf fell on its forehead. It shook its head to brush it off, and caught up to Ash. Ash was walking east of Pewter City, towards Cerulean. He knew he could circle back to Pewter later, after he got more Pokémon. He wondered where Misty was. She hadn't met up with Ash after he left Pewter.

Maybe she forgot about the bike, he hoped. He heard some footsteps behind him, and Brock ran up to him. He put his hands on his knees, breathing hard.

"I'm glad. I found you. Ash," he said between breaths. As he stood up, he held out his hand. As he opened it, Ash was surprised by the boulder badge in the palm. "Here, Ash. I want you to have this."

Ash turned his whole body to Brock. "I don't deserve it. I didn't win."

"No," Brock agreed, "but you showed compassion for Onix. You could have defeated it, but you took the honorary road and called on a technicality, while I practically handed it to you. You deserve the badge." Ash took it, and almost tore Brock's arm off at the same time.

"Gee, thanks, Brock! Hey, you want to join me on my travels?" Ash asked, hopefully. He wanted company. Misty wasn't company. She was a virus.

"I'd love to, Ash. But, I have to stay home and take care of my siblings."

"Oh, yeah," Ash replied. Flint had told Ash about Brock's past.

At that moment, Jessie and James were testing their trap out. Ash, as well as Brock, had walked right over it. The only problem was, they weren't sure where they hid it.

"I think it's over there!" Jessie said, pointing to a spot and hitting Meowth at the same time.

"No, over there!" James said, pointing and knocking Meowth on his back.

"Meowth! That houwts!" he heard some footsteps, and say a man with a beard and a hat coming toward them. "Guys! Dare's someone coming! Hide!" All three leapt into the bushes.

Flint had watched Ash as he helped him. Ash's endurance had convinced Flint to return to Brock and his family. He was Brock's dad, and wanted to let them know. He had seen Brock run this way, and felt this was the right moment. The poor boy must go insane from all his duties. Unfortunately, Ash, Brock, and Team Rocket had loosened the trap enough that Flint fell right into it. He couldn't climb out, and started yelling for help.

"What should we do?" James asked, quietly. They all just stared at each other for a moment, then silently decided to just sneak away.

"So, sorry Ash, but I have to stay here. But I wish you all the luck on your trip!" he said. Ash smiled, and Brock walked back to Pewter. When he got halfway, a girl ran past him, at what seemed the speed of sound. He swore he heard a sonic boom.

As he got farther up, he also heard a man yelling for help. He was stuck in a pit, which didn't look natural, and was trying frantically to get out. Brock laid down, and reached over the side with his hand. The man grabbed it, and Brock was able to pull him up.

"Wow, thanks," the man said as he brushed himself off. He looked up, and recognized Brock. Does he recognize me? Flint asked himself.

"You're welcome, Mr..." Brock let it hang, waiting for a name.

"Uh... Firestone. Mr. Firestone," Flint said quickly, shaking Brock's hand. Brock walked toward Pewter City once again, and Flint waved. Why didn't I tell him I was his father? he wondered.

A year later, Brock was fixing supper, as his siblings watched the Pokémon League battle on TV. It had been uneventful since his battle with Ash. Brock had seen the man he saved from the pit staring through the window of his house every so often, but didn't worry about it. Something told him that he didn't need to worry about this guy.

As the final battle ended, one of the younger boys came running in, and tugged at Brock's leg. "What was the name of that boy you didn't beat?" he asked. Brock thought for a minute, then knew what he meant.

"Ash.... Ketchum. That was his name." Brock said, turning on the eggbeater.

"I think he just won the Pokémon League Tournament," the boy said, and ran back into the living room, where the TV was.

"What?" Brock left what he was making, and ran into the living room. Sure enough, Ash Ketchum stood there, holding the trophy for the League, the 1st place badge on his shirt. "I guess he did alright for himself," Brock said. "He didn't need my help." He headed back to the kitchen, and gasped in horror as batter was flung onto the walls by the eggbeater.

Flint worked his 'store'. He decided that he might make more if he carved the rocks, and he was right. Every month, he'd leave some money on the doorstep of his son's house, ring the doorbell, and run away. He thought Brock knew who was doing it, but had never seen him face to face. He had a small building now, and was watching a small TV. That boy who he had helped, what seemed ages ago, stood there, waving to the crowds.

"At least I made a difference in someone's life," Flint said aloud. A customer in the store looked at him, but he just waved. He wondered if he would ever have the courage to meet his son face to face again.

"We did it, Pikachu!" Ash yelled. The crowd cheered frantically. Misty was in the front row, waving both arms to get his attention.

"Pika!" Pikachu said. It was still weary from the battle, but the exhilaration of winning put that off to the side. Ash thought back to his adventures to get here, and thought of all the help Brock might have done, had he chosen to come along. I guess family is more important than Pokémon training. He made a note to call his mom that night. She had been unable to come.

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Like it? Hate it? Phwa! Remember, though, I don't memorize every episode, so not everything is exact. But all my 'What if...?'s are AU's, right? Right. So it doesn't matter. ^_^ Again, if someone has an idea for this, I'd be more than glad to hear it.