Chapter 3: Viridian Forest
Hello and welcome to chapter 3 of our attempt at creating a faithful and entertaining remake of the classic anime. I don't have too much to say as this is being written moments after finishing the last chapter's work. So, this chapter is tackling episodes three and four of the anime, with the next chapter working on episode five with Brock's gym battles.
After the exhausting events of the previous night, Ash, Lillie, Misty, Serena, and Pikachu are staying the night at the Viridian City Pokémon Center. Due to limited rooms, Lillie and Serena shared the same room while Ash/Pikachu, and Misty had their rooms. Pikachu even slept at the end of Ash's bed.
In the room with Lillie, Serena, and their partners Nebby and Bulbasaur the girls are still up talking.
Lillie asks her friend "Do you think we'll encounter Team Rocket again?" as she holds her hands on her lap. Lillie is wearing a short white nightgown with a light-blue lower half and frills at the top half as pajamas.
Serena is petting her Bulbasaur as she wears a lavender sweater and dark-pink shorts as pajamas. The Grass type is nuzzling to her as a feline would but without the purring as she pushes her head into Serena's palm.
Serena responds "I guess we will Lillie. But we'll get better and handle them" as she gives a small smile.
Looking over to her mysterious Pokémon, Lillie asks "They're going to be more persistent now that they know about Nebby… right?" as she frowns.
Knowing that she is correct, Serena doesn't try to dismiss her words, instead choosing to say "I know Lillie and I can't promise that they won't not come back. But we'll handle it just fine Lillie. We have each other, Ash, Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Nebby. We even have Misty now" as she gives a small smile to try and reassure her.
Furrowing her eyebrows Lillie asks "Do you think we should trust Misty? We don't know her. Sure she helped out with Ash but that was before she found out about Nebby" as she feels anxious about the new female.
Taken aback, Serena answers "Huh? Do you think we shouldn't believe her? She hasn't given us any reasons to doubt her yet Lillie" as she watches her friend's reaction.
Feeling uneasy, Lillie points out "She seemed a bit too interested in why the Pokédex said I had a Pokémon. As she 'hadn't seen it yet' which is an odd thing to say"
Thinking about that, Serena tells her "That does sound weird Lillie but for now we have no reason to believe she would cause us any harm. Besides, I've seen her somewhere before" as she tries to assure her best friend.
While they're talking, Serena has something else on her mind 'Where did that Leaf girl go anyway? It sounded like someone told Pikachu to attack but we were too focused to see that person. Was that Leaf?'
With Ash and Pikachu in their room.
The raven-haired boy says "Hey buddy, you helped us out again by getting those thieves" as he smiles at the electric type.
Pikachu looks at him and gives him a thumbs-up.
Thinking carefully, Ash starts to say "In a few days, I…" then stops himself as he corrects "We will be challenging our first gym leader in Pewter City. Of course, as you're my only Pokémon, I would like you to battle alongside me"
Listening to his friend and trainer, Pikachu nods his head as if to answer yes.
Smiling as he continues "We'll hopefully catch some Pokémon in Viridian Forest to help out at the gym. Besides, Serena is going to challenge the gym leader too"
Ash has done a bit of research and had a decent knowledge of each of the gym's typings. Pewter City had a Rock-type gym leader. Cerulean City had a Water-type gym leader. Vermillion City had an Electric-type gym leader. Celadon had a Grass-type gym leader. Saffron City had a Psychic-type gym leader. Fuchsia City had a Poison-type gym leader. Cinnabar Island had a Fire-type gym leader. Then apparently Viridian City's gym leader specializes in Ground-type Pokémon but occasionally used mixed teams as well.
Then of course he knows about the Elite Four members and Champion. Lorelei, an Ice-type Master, Bruno a Fighting-type Master, Agatha a Ghost and/or Poison-type Master and Will a Psychic-Type Master. Then there was the Dragon-Tamer and Pokémon League Champion of Kanto and Johto, Lance.
Misty on the other hand, in her room, is occupied with what happened earlier with Nebby.
She says quietly to herself "What kind of Pokémon was that? The power it showed is like something that I've never seen before" as she feels uneasy about the mysterious Pokémon.
The next morning, around 7:45, as Lillie awakens slowly, she sees Serena over towards a wardrobe portion of the room. She seems to be getting changed from her pajamas from the night before. Wishing to remain in bed a little longer, she pretends to be asleep.
Serena keeps an occasional glance at her step-sister to make sure she would be fine to change. Feeling that the coast is clear, removes her lavender sweeter behind the wardrobe door. She then applies some body spray as she pulls on her usual top and continues getting changed from there.
Lillie thinks to herself 'It's cute that she's hiding behind that door when she's been keeping an eye on me to see if I was awake' as she keeps herself from giggling.
Serena is thinking to herself 'I can't wait to get to a large city to check out differing clothing options. Somewhere like Celadon City. Especially with the fair amount, mum gave Lillie and I, plus Ash got some too'
Seeing Serena distracted, and feeling like having fun. Even a little bit of fun, Lillie quietly gets off of her bed. As her feet make contact with the flooring, she felt her toes hugged by the soft carpet. She sneaks towards the other girl, careful to move slowly but quick enough that Serena wouldn't notice her.
Now this plan had flaws of course. Though luckily, once Lillie made it in range where she can see Serena unobstructed. Thankfully Serena now has her signature red skirt on otherwise her plan would have ended terribly.
As Serena is about to pull on her leggings, Lillie is now close enough to smell her body spray. A simple one at that. Now that she has the main clothing on, Serena calls over to Lillie "Hey Lillie, you may want to get up shortly. We can't stay here all day" she giggles but receives no response.
Before the honey-blonde female can say another word, Lillie pounces onto Serena causing the trainer to let out a small scream. This leaves Lillie laughing as she tells Serena "I'm up already Mum. Besides why didn't you…" though is cut off by a knock at the bedroom door.
Almost immediately they hear Ash's voice as he calls out "Is everything okay in there Lillie and Serena?" as he sounds panicked.
With Serena laughing from Lillie's playing, Lillie answers "We're fine Ash, we'll be out in a little while" as she looks down at Serena on the floor. In the landing, Serena ended up on her left side, thankfully not hitting the wardrobe door in the impact. Serena's legs didn't seem affected at all.
Ash answered "All right then" as he walks off saying something about girls being weird or something.
As Serena's laughing calmed, she tells Lillie "All right Miss Prankster, you want to help me up now" as she still sounds playful.
Shrugging her shoulders, Lillie says "Why not, I suppose I could" as she bends down to help Serena to her feet. Taking ahold of Serena's hand, Lillie pulls her up.
Serena thanks Lillie as she readjusts her now disorientated skirt then once again picks up her leggings as a thought hits her. Turning her head to Lillie, she asks "Did you see me getting changed in all of that?" as she raises an eyebrow.
Cheeks flushed pink, Lillie answers "No, I had waited until you seemed to have your stuff all on" and then asks "Why didn't you use the bathroom attached to the room anyway?" as she makes her way to her clothing by her bed.
Surprised, Serena asks "Bathroom? We have a bathroom in here?" as she turns to look around the room in confusion.
Giggling, Lillie tells her "Did you forget where we got changed last night?" as she walks to the bathroom to change.
Feeling embarrassed, Serena calls out "I forgot about that!" as she laughs at her poor memory.
Sometime later, they both come down to the lobby and see Ash, Misty, and Pikachu waiting for them.
While Serena and Lillie had been getting ready, Ash had decided to ring his mum back from the night before. Within three seconds of dialling, the screen flashed with his mum's face.
Eyes widened, Delia says "Ash! Are you okay? The call cut off last night and I heard the Pokémon Center was attacked too, are you safe?" as Ash catches Clef in the background helping out with the chores.
Blinking his eyes at her barrage of questions, Ash tells her "We're fine…" though stands up and pulls his jacket forward to continue "Team Rocket's Ekans did get a bite off on my jacket though"
Panicked, Delia asks "Team Rocket? Who did you meet? What members?" as her thoughts run wild.
Perplexed, Ash tells her "Jessie, James, and a talking Meowth. They managed to steal two Pokémon and did confirm that they stole my Spearow. Do you know people from that group or something?"
Realising that she had said too much, Delia answers "No, no, it's nothing dear. I only know that they're a dangerous group. Just stay safe please"
Ash tells her "We will be safe Mum. Pikachu and I can keep Serena and Lillie safe no question" he turns to Pikachu and receives a Pika in response.
With that, they say their goodbyes and Ash heads back to the main lobby.
Seeing them coming down, Ash raises an eyebrow and then asks "So what was that about earlier anyway?" as he still felt confused about the whole thing.
As the girls share a look and giggle, Serena tells him "Don't worry about it Ash, are you ready to leave?"
Deciding to interject, Misty says "I was thinking of joining you on your journey if that's fine" which seemed phrased as if she was telling them instead of asking them.
Ash answers her "Why not? Sure we're okay with that" as he seems to not notice the look shared by Serena and Lillie as they remember their conversation from the night before.
Serena thinks to herself 'That didn't sound like a question, it sounded like an order. Maybe Lillie was right, we should be careful around her' as she watches the orange-haired female. She absentmindedly moves closer to Lillie to try and help Lillie feel safe and calm.
Lillie clenches her bag with Nebby in tighter as she notices Serena inch closer to her. She feels him wiggle slightly as she unclenches the bag and strokes him gently to try and calm him.
Despite being welcomed by Ash, Misty notes the reactions from Lillie and Serena. She adds almost coldly "Besides you owe me a bike from your little adventure yesterday" even if she meant it as a joke it didn't come across as one.
Hearing her tone, Ash gets defensive "Hey, I didn't mean to get your bike destroyed. Besides you told me to use it!" as he glares at her.
Playing off his words, Misty responds "Doesn't mean I wanted you to get it charred. But let's just get going now, while it's still early" as she leaves the Pokémon Center.
Ash mutters to himself "What's her problem? She didn't seem to care before" as he looks over at his closest friends. He notices their unease as he asks them "Hey, is everything okay Lillie and Serena?"
Lillie tells him "It's probably nothing, let's just be careful around her, Serena seems to know her from somewhere but we don't know where" as she keeps a low voice.
Understanding what she meant, Ash tells them "Right, we'll keep an eye on her. As long as we've got one another, we'll be fine" as he grins at them.
With that, they thank Nurse Joy as she does the same for helping her the night before. Or at least, that's what they assume she did.
As they catch up with Misty, they head off to Route 2 to get their true journeys started.
As they walked along, Serena and Lillie keep an eye on Misty as they wonder silently what Pokémon she might have, where's she from, if she hiding anything, and if they can trust her.
As they continue walking they encounter a purple Pokémon. A small, quadrupedal, rodent-like Pokémon. It is a pinkish purple with darker patches. It had large, spiny ears with teal insides, oversized front teeth, and red eyes. Its back is covered with three lines of large spines.
Serena pulls out her Pokédex to scan it "Nidoran, the Poison Pin Pokémon, and a Poison type. This is the Male variant of the species. They are often more aggressive than their female counterparts and can often fight to protect themselves and others even if it causes them great pain" Dexter tells them as she then puts it away.
Serena then calls out her Bulbasaur as she intends on capturing the new Pokémon. Pikachu sits on Ash's shoulder as the raven-haired boy calls over to her to bring her best. Pikachu added a Pika.
The Poison type deciding that he needed to defend himself, gets into a defensive stance to protect himself.
Ash, seeming to forget about what they discussed back at the Pokémon Center, stood off to the side of Serena and Bulbasaur, leaving Serena and Misty relatively on their own.
Noticing Lillie's uncomfortable position, Misty says "Hey Lillie are you all right? After last night?"
With a shaky voice, Lillie tells her "I'm okay, thank you" as she keeps her eyes aimed away from the other female.
Misty shrugs her shoulders as she thinks to herself 'She doesn't trust me. Neither does Serena. I do need to make a show of proving why they should keep me around. The bike answer was just an excuse. I want to discover myself and prove myself as better than them'
Serena tells her starter to use a growl, to weaken the poison type's attacks. In response, the rabbit-like creature leers at him. Serena then orders Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip, which the wild Pokémon avoids and retaliates with a Bite to the vines. This hurts Bulbasaur as he winces. Then he retracts the vines once able to. However, Serena realizes something. She tells Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip again, and despite hesitation, Bulbasaur follows through. The same thing happens again and Serena tells Bulbasaur to charge at Nidoran and hit it with Tackle, then follow it up with a Headbutt. Bulbasaur obeys and knocks Nidoran down. Serena smiling then tosses a Pokéball to capture the Poison Pin Pokémon, and after several shakes, it's successful.
Ash runs over and gives her a high five as Serena and Bulbasaur celebrate. Of course, she makes sure to pick the capture device up quickly due to recent events.
Once Serena and Ash were close enough, Serena asks him "Why did you leave Lillie alone with Misty? Don't you remember what we talked about at the Pokémon Center?" as she glances at the other girls discretely.
Ash answers "I was listening in to them, if she tried anything, Pikachu and I would have acted" as he stares at Serena with seriousness.
Before turning to return to the others, Serena tells him "Just keep your guard up. It may be nothing but we can't be too careful. Especially with what's happened in the past"
Ash understands her just fine and tells her "You're right and we will be careful. Besides Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Nidoran should be good to handle her Pokémon" as he sounds overconfident in their abilities.
Misty calls over to them "Are you two coming over or not?" as she seems impatient. In reality? She was afraid of what was to come in Viridian Forest but was too proud to admit it. Yet.
As they reconnect, Ash and Misty are up ahead as Lillie and Serena follow along behind them.
Serena cautiously asks "Did she say anything while sitting with you Lillie?" as she keeps her voice down to avoid being overheard.
Whispering in response, Lillie tells her "She only asked if I was all right after last night" as she looks towards her friend.
Misty asks Ash "So what are you planning on doing about the gym leader in Pewter City?" as she looks at him and motions to Pikachu.
With confidence and a grin, Ash tells her "Pikachu and I will be just fine in the gym battle" as he asks "Isn't that right buddy?" to Pikachu.
In response, the electric type gives a thumbs up.
As they speak, they finally enter on through to Viridian Forest.
Frowning, Misty points out "You're going to be going up against a Rock-type gym leader. Pikachu wouldn't fair too well against his Pokémon" as she knows what Pokémon the leader would likely use against him. Likely Geodude and Onix. Which meant that Ash would stand no chance currently.
"It'll be fine Misty, I believe in Pikachu," Ash tells her with a pump of his fist. He then notices Misty glancing around the area seeming to be paranoid. He teases her "Are you scared or something?" as he raises an eyebrow.
Serena seems to notice her head turning in every which direction as if looking for something.
Her head snaps to the boy as she franticly tells him "No, I'm not afraid of anything around here" as she seems to try and convince herself instead of the others.
Just then Ash spots a small Pokémon coming into view ahead. A green caterpillar-like creature with a yellow underside and a teardrop-shaped tail. There are yellow ring-shaped markings down the sides of its segmented body, which resemble its eyes. Its most notable characteristic is the bright red antenna on its head.
Misty tenses up as she spots it too. A Caterpie, a Bug Pokémon. Freezing on the spot she stares in fear of it. Just looking at the bug type makes her skin crawl. In her mind there were all kinds of bug types watching her as they wait to capture her, then crawl all over her.
Seeming to ignore her reaction, Ash pulls out his Pokédex as he scans the new Pokémon. Dexter says "Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon, a bug type. They spent most of their day either eating leaves or sleeping. Due to their weak form, they prefer to avoid conflict as they build energy to save for their evolution"
Ash considering his options, decides that it is typically a weaker Pokémon, so once again decides to throw a lone Pokéball at the 'worm' Pokémon. It shakes briefly before dinging to register a successful capture.
Before Ash celebrates, Misty interjects and says despairingly, "Oh great! Now we need to travel with the creepy little creature"
Ash picks up his official second capture, and retorts "Well despite how much I appreciated your help, Misty, you didn't need to come along with us in the first place. I mean what do you even bring to this group?" as he glares at her.
This offends Misty as she gets upset and gets in his face, saying "I came along because I figured you wouldn't mind and I could help teach you the ropes considering my experience. I thought I was helping you out!"
Ash snaps back "Well we don't need your help, if you can't even handle bug Pokémon, why would I need your help against the Rock-type gym leader?"
Lillie stands off to the side anxious and not sure how to cope with the situation. So… she runs off, without the others seeming to notice, further into the woods off of the path.
That was one thing she always disliked, conflict. Whenever Ash and Serena argued a little too much, it would be too much for Lillie to handle. She would go off to a place she felt safe. Unfortunately, she doesn't have that here in the woods.
Serena tries to calm them down, telling them to "Stop this nonsense now!" and that's when she realizes that her friend has disappeared. As she looks around she says "Oh no… guys, Lillie is gone!"
This takes the bickering duo out of their argument as they realize that Serena is right.
Eyes widened in panic, Ash suggests splitting up. He will go one way while Serena and Misty go another way. Both are in the general direction that they would assume Lillie is. The two girls agree, reluctantly.
Ash was away of how they still needed to be careful around Misty but had to prioritize finding Lillie right now. He trusted Serena to be able to take care of herself with Misty. The obvious play would have been to have Ash and Serena go together while Misty was left on her own. However, they knew this would be a bad idea due to the aforementioned lack of trust they had in Misty currently.
As Ash is walking and having Pikachu and Caterpie, whom he released from their Pokéball, help him look. Then sees what looks like a larger Pidgey. A bird covered in brown feathers, has a cream-colored face, underside, and flight feathers. It has a crest of pinkish-red feathers on its head and black, angular markings behind its black eyes. The plumage of its tail has alternating red and yellow feathers with ragged tips. Its beak and legs are pink, with two front toes and one back toe on both legs.
Ash recognizes it as Pidgeotto, and scans it "Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokémon, a normal and flying type, and is the evolved form of Pidgey. It flies over its wide territory in search of prey, downing it with its highly developed claws. It has an outstanding vision. However high it flies, it can distinguish the movements of its prey"
He then says "That's what we need to help find Lillie!" he tells Pikachu to use Thunder Shock on it. The electric mouse listens and takes the bird down. Fighting back, Pidgeotto uses Sand Attack in response, but the electric type avoids it and falls prey to a Quick Attack, then a Gust. Ash has an idea and tells Caterpie to use String Shot to slow the avian down. It works then he has Pikachu deliver his Quick Attack. As Pidgeotto seems much weaker he throws a Pokéball at it. It captures.
However, he also realizes that with Pidgeotto weakened, it won't be able to help too much for the time being. So he continues searching for his lost friend.
'I need to find her. Lillie is important to me, just like Serena. It's my fault she ran off. I'm supposed to be there for her to support her and protect her and yet I let some squabble scare her off' he thinks to himself as he calls out her name.
Pikachu is sniffing for her scent as Caterpie follows along behind him as if mimicking him.
Ash eventually says to his two Pokémon, "I'm going to climb that oversized tree" as he points to a tree that he had noticed sometime beforehand "and see if I can find her. You two stay down here"
Having grown up in a small town like Pallet, surrounded by an overabundance of trees, wildlife, and his insatiable thirst for adventure and risk-taking, Ash has a knack for climbing trees. Often having to save Meowth, Rattata, and other small Pokémon from trees. He was pretty much their answer instead of having fire emergency vehicles deployed to handle such incidents in the typically peaceful Pallet Town.
Despite struggling quite a bit and almost falling a few times, he makes it to a high enough point where he can look around to see if he can catch a glimpse of his all-white-dressed friend. At first, he gets nothing but after several minutes he finds what he's looking for. As he starts climbing down the tree, a branch that he was clutching in his right hand, snaps off due to his weight on the branch. Despite that, he composes himself and continues to go down the branch without any further incident.
As he hits the ground, he picks Caterpie up and runs off towards the area he saw Lillie as Pikachu follows closely behind him. After say about three minutes of rushing through the woods, he eventually runs into Lillie.
She's surprised and rather jumpy when she sees her friend rushing towards her. He runs up to her and gives her a tight hug, telling her "Lillie! I'm so glad I found you, why did you run off?"
Still being embraced, Lillie responds "You and that girl were getting too much for me to handle" she averts her gaze as she continues "You know I don't like everything being too loud"
As his expression softens and as he moves away he says to her "I know, I know. Sorry, Lillie, I'll try to be more thoughtful from now on"
Lillie then shrieks out as a grey rhino-like Pokémon runs past with a body covered in grey, rocky plates. Its underside and rear are smooth, and it has four short legs with two claws on each foot. It has a triangular head with narrow, red eyes, two fangs protruding from its upper jaw, small, triangular openings on the upper sides, and a short horn on the tip of its snout. A spiked ridge runs along its back.
Ash pulls out his Pokédex to scan it "Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokémon, ground, and rock type. Its body is clad in a thick hide, and its tackles topple buildings. It is inept at turning because of its four short legs. It can only charge and run in one direction"
Then Lillie also realizes that Ash had Caterpie against her during the hug. Seeing her discomfort, Ash returns Caterpie to its Pokéball. Then asks "Are you ready to go back to the others?"
Nervously she nods her head as they leave to go back towards the main pathway. They walk in relative silence.
Well, that is until they walk right into a net trap! Ash, Lillie, and Pikachu are all trapped inside, and Lillie starts to panic due to both the circumstances and her proximity to the rodent Pokémon. Of course, she doesn't hate Pikachu however past traumas were always present even if she isn't too sure what caused them.
Out comes the trio of heels before them. Jessie, James, and Meowth. They do their little motto.
Ash says, well demands "Let us out!"
Meowth responds, "No can do kiddo, your little girlfriend there has a rare Pokémon that we want" as he glares at Lillie.
Jessie says "Come on out Ekans and Venonat" and the insect-like Pokémon comes out alongside Ekans. It has a purple fur-covered spherical body. A pink pincer-like mouth with two teeth, stubby forepaws, and a pair of two-toed feet are visible through its fur. Its limbs are light tan. There is also a pair of white antennae sprouting from the top of its head. It also has large, red compound eyes.
James also calls out "Come on out Koffing and Bellsprout" alongside the gas creature is also a plant-like Pokémon with a stem-like brown body. There is a single leaf on each side of its body. It has a yellow bell-shaped head with what appears to be pink lips at the end and beady black eyes. Its stem is long, then, and very flexible. Its roots resemble feet and use them as such.
The two of the children scan the Pokémon "Venonat, the Insect Pokémon, a poison and bug type. Its big eyes are clusters of tiny eyes. At night, its kind is drawn by light. Its eyes also function as radar units. It catches and eats small bugs that hide in darkness"
"Bellsprout, the Flower Pokémon, a grass and poison type. Bellsprout's thin and flexible body lets it bend and sway to avoid any attack, however strong it may be. From its mouth, this Pokémon spits a corrosive fluid that melts even iron"
Ash comments "Melts iron? Somehow I find that hard to believe?"
Meowth responds "Well, that's what the prof says is true. Maybe he's a liar?" he smirks as he looks up at them.
Ash grunts at him as a thought comes to his mind. 'I could toss a Pokéball out there while they are distracted to help us out of this situation. But what distracts them like that?' as he mills this over in his head he comes up with an idea.
He sends out Caterpie, from inside the netting, to the ground which makes the trio of bandits laugh. Taking advantage, Ash throws out Pidgeotto from its Pokéball and commands it to use Wing Attack to cut through the netting. The bird Pokémon listens and they are released, falling to the ground with a thud.
This catches Team Rocket off guard as they become serious.
Jesse smirks at the Pidgeotto, as she also sends out her own bird Pokémon, Spearow, saying "Go ahead Spearow, show this twerp's flying rodent who's boss!"
Spearow glaring once more at Ash takes off immediately after Pidgeotto. Before the raven-haired boy's Pokémon can react, it is hit by a Quick Attack by the smaller bird. Shaking the hit off, Pidgeotto fights back with a Gust as it flaps its wings sending a burst of wind at the other flying type, then its own Quick Attack as Pidgeotto flies through the wind and strikes its foe. Spearow soars into the tree line with Pidgeotto hot on its tail.
Gritting his teeth, Ash stares down Jessie, James, and Meowth.
James suggests "Just give us your odd Pokémon girl and we'll let you alone" as he holds his hand out towards them smirking as if he holds all of the cards and is in the process of the 'heist of the century'.
Ash stands defensively in front of Lillie as Nebby shakes in her bag. A look of concern crosses her face as Ash holds a determined look as he tells them "Not gonna happen, Pikachu let Caterpie, let's handle them. Pikachu use Quick Attack on Venonat, Caterpie use Tackle on Ekans!"
Jessie commands in response "Venonat dodge then use Supersonic. Ekans use Poison Sting on Pikachu"
James also tells his Pokémon "Koffing use Tackle on Pikachu, Bellsprout use Wrap on the Caterpie"
Pikachu runs towards Venonat and the insect dodges the initial attack. As it sets up for the waves of debilitating screeching, Pikachu bounces off of a tree, also dodging frescoes burst of offense then uses its tail to slap Ekans, sending the Poison Sting at the furry Pokémon. However, despite that, it is hit by Koffing as Bellsprout grips Caterpie, preventing it from doing much.
At the same time, Spearow uses Aerial Ace on the Pidgeotto then Peck. Pidgeotto, deciding to play more forcefully goes for Quick Attack into Gust then while its enemy recovers, hits a Sand Attack, blinding the sparrow-like creature. Deciding that it had weakened the smaller bird enough, Pidgeotto grabs it with its talons and flies back towards the group. As it does so, it drops the Spearow onto Koffing, knocking it also into Ekans.
Taking advantage of the assistance, Ash tells Pikachu to use Thunder Bolt on the group of Pokémon as Pidgeotto goes to assist Caterpie, Pecking at the Bellsprout. Team Rocket's Pokémon are engulfed by a surge of electricity.
Feeling more confident, Ash steps toward Jessie and James as their group lies grounded and unable to do much more. Until he notices Meowth isn't there. Lillie gasps out as Meowth takes a swipe at her face after jumping up. She's down to her knees as Meowth threatens to hurt her if Ash or his Pokémon do anything.
Meowth tells Ash "Return your dumb bird to its cage and have your electric rodent back off, or I hurt her" he holds his sharpened claws to Lillie's face. Nebby is too weak to do much after the intense energy exerted from earlier in the day despite its desperate attempts to do something. Anything.
Ash lowers his gaze and returns Pidgeotto as Pikachu is forced to back off towards a nearby tree. Ash then tosses Pidgeotto's ball to Pikachu also.
Jessie says grinning "That's better kid. We don't need to do anything stupid that you would regret" by now she also returns her Spearow and Ekans back to their respective Pokéballs. James does the same to Bellsprout and Koffing. Venonat makes its way towards Meowth and Lillie to be useful.
Unbeknownst to anyone in the clearing, Caterpie had made its way around to Meowth and Lillie. Then String Shots Meowth as it makes its way around the feline, coating him in silk.
Seeing this, Jessie orders Venonat to use Bug Bite on Lillie to try and take control. Caterpie however jumps in the way of the oncoming attack and takes it for the blonde.
Pikachu comes storming over and blasts Venonat and then Meowth with consecutive Quick Attacks, making them land over toward Jessie and James. Then blasts them with Thunder Shock. They are sent flying through the air.
Rather comically, they all shout "Team Rockets blasting off!"
Ash rushes over to Lillie, and he checks on her, seeing the scratch marks and a small amount of blood trickling from her fairly minor wounds. He grabs a cloth from his pocket and dabs it against the fragile girl's cheek making sure to be extremely careful and safe with her.
He gently asks her "Are you okay now?" as his eyes flash with concern toward his close friend.
Her gaze downcast, Lillie, shaking responds meekly "I… think I am. I'm just so scared of what that bunch of criminals are capable of. If it wasn't for Caterpie, it could have been much worse"
As Lillie says this, they both look over at the bug Pokémon, seeing it start to glow and change. Knowing what that means, thanks to it having happened already with Pichu into Pikachu, they wait to see the result.
As the light dies down a new form stands before them. It seems to resemble a green chrysalis. Its body is crescent-shaped with several segments making up the lower point. The front of its shell resembles a face with heavy-lidded eyes and a sharply pointed nose. The back of its shell consists of several differently shaped portions.
Ash grabs his Pokédex and Dexter tells them "Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon, a bug type and the evolved form of Caterpie. They are unable to eat or consume anything in this stage of their lives and as such must digest what Caterpie ate before it changed. Their shell is hard enough to hold off predators usually"
Lillie says to the newly evolved Metapod "Thank you Metapod for saving me just now" she goes to pat it on the head but catches herself and decides not to.
Ash seeing this, tells her "It's okay Lillie he knows you appreciate his help" as he pats the bug type's head.
As they are all sorted, they remember Pidgeotto's Pokéball off to the side. Of course, Pikachu couldn't grip it while having previously used Quick Attack. However, when they glance at it, a large bug creature grabs it.
The nightmare fuel resembles a bipedal, yellow wasp; however, it only has four legs. Its head is round with a slightly pointed mouth, large, red eyes, and black antennae with a sharp bend in the middle. Its forelegs are tipped with long, conical stringers. It seems to stand primarily on its other two legs, which are long, segmented, and insectoid in shape. It also has two pairs of rounded, veined wings, and another stinger on its yellow-and-black striped abdomen.
They try to stop it but to no avail. As it flies off through the trees, they pursue it. Returning Metapod to his Pokéball, Ash also scans the Pokémon. Dexter tells them "Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon, a bug and poison type. Beedrill is extremely territorial. No one should ever approach its next-this is for their own safety. If angered, they will attack in a furious swarm. Its best attack involves flying around at high speed, striking with poison needles, then flying off"
Listening to that, Lillie asks "But what could have angered it?" however what neither of them considers is what about this aforementioned swarm that they usually travel in?
Elsewhere with Misty and Serena as they look around to try and spot Lillie.
Serena decided that an extra pair of eyes and ears would help take out two Pokéballs. She calls out "Let's go Bulbasaur and Nidoran!" as the two quadrupedal Pokémon come out. She tells them "We're looking around for Lillie, she's ran off on her own"
Bulbasaur nods her head while Nidoran looks confused and asks "Ran?" to the grass type. The grass type explains who she is and what to look out for. Nodding his head, the Poison rabbit starts to look around for any signs.
A white outfit worn by a fairly pale white girl with blonde hair should be fairly easy to spot in a vibrant green forest. Hopefully.
"So what should we do?" Misty asks her new friend as she looks around in fear due to all of the bug Pokémon around them. Consider, for each bug that they can see, there are probably several dozen more that they cannot see.
Serena, resisting the urge to roll her eyes says "We just need to keep looking for Lillie, she won't be able to cope out here around all of these Pokémon"
Concerned and a little curious, Misty asks "But why is she like that? Also what is up with that strange Pokémon she has in her bag?"
Getting suspicious, Serena asks "She's always been that way. Why are you so interested in her anyway?" as she keeps a close eye on Misty, ready to order Bulbasaur and Nidoran M to stop her if necessary.
Confused, Misty asks "What do you mean? I'm just wondering why she's acting strange and has a Pokémon I've never seen before" as she narrows her eyes at the honey-blonde female.
Now even more on edge, Serena tells her "That's why I want to know why you're so invested. There are new Pokémon being discovered all the time, recently a new Pokémon called Elgyem was discovered. What's the big deal?" as she senses the situation devolving further.
Now annoyed, Misty says back "That's my point exactly. Why is it that a strange girl who seems to not want to be a trainer has a rare Pokémon just in her bag? Why doesn't Professor Oak have it? Or why isn't it in a Pokéball?"
The honey-blonde female is about to respond when a young boy dressed in… samurai attire steps in their way.
He says "Halt! Are either of you one of the trainers of Pokémon from the town of Pallet?"
Ignoring his question, Misty mutters "Oh great, a nerd who thinks he's a samurai or something. Dumb child"
Hearing this, the boy leaps forward drawing his sword and pointing the tip of it at the redhead's face. "I am not some child of dumb. And I asked a question!"
Serena trying to defuse the situation tells him "I am one of the trainers… of Pokémon from the town of Pallet" she says considering how childish this all sounds.
"Good! I challenge you to a battle of Pokémon!" the samurai kid declares as he sheathes his weapon and pulls out a Pokéball.
Frowning, Serena tells him "We can't battle, my friend Misty and I, here need to find our friends who are lost in the woods here"
"Beat me, and I shall assist you in your friends being fount" he offers. Actually tells them.
Getting frustrated, Serena agrees. The kid says about a double battle. Narrowing her eyes Serena agrees.
Serena says "Okay let's go, Bulbasaur and Nidoran!" as she sends her only two Pokémon out to battle. The Nidoran seems excited to battle. Luckily as they were already out of their Pokéballs, it made it easier to throw their Pokéballs.
The boy sends out his own two saying "Go! Pinsir and Paras!" as he tosses two Pokéballs in front of him.
Pinsir is a bipedal, insectoid Pokémon with a wide, dull-brown body divided into segments by thin lines. On top of its head is a large pair of grey, spiky pincers on top of its head. In its mouth are many long, flat teeth arranged horizontally and it has yellow triangular eyes. Its legs are short and thick while its arms are long and thin. It has three claws on each hand and foot; two of its toes face forward and one backward.
Paras have an orange ovoid body that is segmented, and it has three pairs of legs. The foremost pair of legs is the largest and has sharp claws at the tips. There are five specks of on its forehead and three teeth on either side of its mouth. It has large circular eyes. It also has two yellow-and-red mushrooms growing on its back.
Serena scans them both "Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokémon, a bug type. It grips its prey with its pincers until the prey is torn in half. What it can't tear, it tosses far. With its horns, it digs burrows to sleep in at night. In the morning, damp soil clings to its body" "Paras the Mushroom Pokémon, a bug and grass type. Paras has parasitic mushrooms growing on its back called tochukaso. They grow large by drawing nutrients from this Bug Pokémon host. They are highly valued as a medicine for extending life"
Misty cowers back seeing the two bugs before her.
Serena decides to get things started "Nidoran use Peck on Paras and Bulbasaur Vine Whip on Pinsir"
Bulbasaur sends off a set of vines toward the stag beetle.
The boy says nothing as Pinsir leaps in front of the smaller bug and bats the poison type away and takes the vines without flinching. Then grabs them before Bulbasaur can retract them and uses it to drag Bulbasaur toward it.
The girl commands "Nidoran, use Peck on Pinsir!"
Paras this time seems to release a spore after jumping out from behind its partner, hitting Nidoran and it seems to stun him.
Before much more of the battle can continue, they hear a buzzing sound. The samurai kid, knowing what it means, returns Pinsir and Paras to their respective Pokéballs. "I recommend you do the same, child of Pallet. Beedrill are coming!" as he runs along a side path. Serena listens to him and does so.
Misty, very much terrified, grabs her friend's hand and takes off running after the young boy. They reach what seems to be a small cabin, tossing themselves inside before the Beedrill can catch them.
The two girls try to calm their breathing as they are both grateful to be safe but just ran a long distance.
The boy offers no words to them other than telling them, that it should be safe to leave in the morning. Then he leaves to go to a room of his own, presumably his bedroom.
Misty remarks lowly "Good riddance" as she saw him disappear from view.
However, the Pallet native reminds her "We can't stay here too long, we need to find Ash and Lillie. They won't have the shelter we have now"
Thinking carefully, Misty notes that it is starting to get dark at the moment. She also suggests that they won't be able to do much in the darkness so offers Serena the idea of staying here for the night and venturing out in the morning.
Serena considers but ultimately says "No. We should wait a little while, then if it seems clear, we leave then. The bugs may be less active at night and then early morning"
Sighing, Misty agrees with her, as she knows that she won't be able to get through the woods by herself.
Seeing the two girls planning on leaving, the Samurai kid says to them "You're foolish to venture out on your own back into the woods"
Misty tells him "Our friends" with emphasis on our "are in danger and we need to go and find them" even with her fear of bug types, she knew Lillie was afraid of Pokémon in general. So for the time being, she feels that she needs to put her fears away. If only temporarily.
Serena notices the change in Misty's personality. Before Misty was adamant about not wanting to be around these bug types, didn't seem to care about Lillie's fear, and seemed arrogant almost. But now, she was actively wanting to go and find Lillie and Ash.
Narrowing his eyes, the boy tells them "If you're going to be that stubborn, at least take some of these. They'll help with any Pokémon you encounter" as he pulls out a bag of shrunk Pokéballs. Some have bluish-green tops with black ridges over them while the others have green tops with a lighter green circle around the top half.
The Bug specialist tells them "They're Net Balls and Nest Balls. Net Balls are best used on Bug or Water type Pokémon while Nest Balls work better on weaker Pokémon"
Serena cautiously takes the bag and finds five Net Balls and ten nest balls. She then tells him "Thank you for your gift and help. Maybe one day we can have another battle"
With that, they wait until it gets dark and then leave the cabin while giving him a wave goodbye and the door closes gently to avoid detection.
As they walk along, Serena asks "You meant what you said at the cabin?" as she glances at her while keeping her voice down.
Misty, smiling, responds "We are friends, right?" as she glances back at Serena.
Thinking to herself 'Maybe we are friends. We still don't know much about Misty but she did seem genuine about helping to find Lillie and Ash back there' then answers Misty "Yeah friends, we'll find them soon" as she smiles back at Misty.
As they make their way through the trees, they come across some figures. Two people and a Pokémon. One male. One female. And a flying Pokémon.
They assume it's Ash, Lillie, and… a new Pokémon, Ash must have captured. Of course, it couldn't be anyone else.
"Ash, Lillie!" Serena calls out in a somewhat hushed tone.
As the two of them rush forwards they realise their mistake.
"Ash? Lillie? Not so!" James tells them in a low voice.
Jessie calls out "Prepare for trouble" as she poses with her right hand on her hip.
James follows it up with "And make that double" as he stands on Jessie's right-hand side.
Jessie tells them to "To protect the world from devastation"
While James follows it up with "To unite the people in our nation"
Jessie continues by saying "To denounce the evils of truth and love"
Followed by James saying "To extend our reach to the stars above"
"Jessie," said Jessie, and "James," said James. In unison they speak "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" however their partner doesn't speak to finish it off.
In shock, Serena responds "Team Rocket? Why are you here?" as she ignores their antics.
Jessie tells them "We saw your friends, that boy, and girl earlier. They sent us blasting off and when we landed, Meowth was captured by a hoard of Beedrill. We did find the nest and saw your boyfriend's Pidgeotto there too"
Blushing, Serena quips "He's not my boyfriend! He's a boy and a friend"
Misty giggles at this before realising that they aren't supposed to be playing around with these guys. She asks "So why haven't you gone and saved Meowth yet?" as she raises an eyebrow.
"We did try but to no avail," Jessie says frowning, a look of concern flashes over her face before trying to mask it.
James has a lightbulb moment as an idea strikes him, he suggests "Well if you are looking for your friends, who are going after the Pidgeotto, which is also where we need to go to get Meowth, why don't we work together?"
Narrowing her eyes incredulously, Serena questions "And how are we supposed to trust you? Especially since you have that Spearow there, ya know Ash's Pokémon right there?" as she motions to the
James, holding up his hands, says "We promise we just want our friend back, Meowth is like family to us both"
Serena nods her head and accepts as they go toward where the Rocket members know the nest is. After maybe twenty minutes of walking, they can see the clearing and trees full of Beedrill, Kakuna, and Weedle.
Weedle is a larval-like Pokémon, with a spherically segmented body ranging in colour from yellow to reddish-brown. It has a bulbous red nose, two small black eyes on its face, and two spherical feet on each segment. It also has a conical, two-inch venomous stinger on its head and a barbed one on its tail.
Kakuna I a yellow, cocoon-like Pokémon. It has a dome-shaped head and black triangular eyes with glowing white pupils. It has two scythe-like arms in the middle of its body.
On silent mode, Serena scans each of the three Pokémon. "Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokémon, a bug and poison type. It eats its weight in leaves every day. It fends off attackers with the needle on its head" "Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokémon, a bug and poison type, and the evolution of Weedle. Able to move only slightly. When endangered, it may stick out its stinger and poison its enemy. Almost incapable of moving, this Pokémon can only harden its shell to protect itself when it is in danger"
Before any of them can do anything, they catch a glimpse of Ash moving toward the nest. They can see Lillie sitting off to the side with Pikachu and Metapod. Ash is crawling on his stomach softly and making each movement subtle and careful. That is until a Kakuna drops from a tree near him. This catches each of the sleeping poison type's attention, now suddenly awake and watching intently. The Beedrill start to investigate, as Pikachu begins to try and intervene.
Gritting his teeth, Ash yells to Lillie "Stop Pikachu from coming over Lillie! He'll get hurt" he slowly makes it to his feet as he stares the Beedrill down.
James watches holding two Pokéballs as he sneaks to get closer without the others noticing. Then when he's close enough he sends out Koffing and Bellsprout. He commands "Koffing use Smokescreen and Bellsprout use Sleep Powder now!" as they listen, a cloud of smoke engulfs the area.
However, something else happens. Spearow spots Ash and takes off towards him, using Gust to try and hurt him. Which gets rid of the smoke and powder. Jessie and James both realise what happened at the same time across the clearing from one another.
Just as Serena is about to try and help, Ash uses this distraction to dash past the bugs and rushes towards the tree where his Pokéball is and spots Meowth, clearly hurt. Ash picks his ball up and tries to help Meowth out too. If for no other reason than to be a good person.
Just as he frees Meowth, the Beedrill start rushing toward him. That is until Metapod cracks open from behind as something emerges from the shell. It resembles something like a purple-bodied butterfly. It has two body segments and four light blue legs. The upper pair of legs bear a resemblance to small, three-fingered hands, while the lower pair look like long, digit-less feet. It has two black antennae, a light blue snout with two fangs underneath, and large, red compound eyes. Its two pairs of wings are white with black venation.
It soars over to Ash above the Beedrill, unleashing copious amounts of Sleep Powder over the poison types, knocking them all out. Ash embraces the bug type as Meowth thanks him. This time as he rushes over to his friends and they escape, having already returned Spearow to its Pokéball earlier.
Ash and the others escape the clearing heading a great distance from the nest and all sigh a deep sigh of relief.
Misty comments, "At least we are away from those horrible and ugly bugs"
Serena laughs as she takes out a Pokéball catching everyone's attention. She smirks saying "Hey I saw a little Weedle separate from the others while we were there and thought, why not get a new Pokémon"
Misty just shakes from that, as her eye twitches.
Ash decided to scan Butterfree, takes his Pokédex out, and scans him "Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon, a bug and flying type and the final evolution of Caterpie. Butterfree has a superior ability to search for delicious honey from flowers. It can even search out, extract, and carry honey from flowers that are blooming over six miles from its nest"
With that, they start on the path back towards going to Pewter City and the first Gym on Ash and Serena's challenge.
And boom! Another chapter is finished. As a recap, Ash caught Caterpie which evolved into Metapod, and then Butterfree and Pidgeotto. Plus Serena caught Nidoran Male and a Weedle. Yes, so far Serena is more or less a poison-type trainer.
As you will have noticed, Ash, Serena, and Lillie are often suspicious of Misty. This won't go on forever just for the time being until they find out who she really is. Plus we got to keep things interesting and different yet somewhat faithful to the anime. Once Ash and the others leave Kanto with experience, things will jump in quality. Right now, they still need to be written as inexperienced because they are but that's why I have plans for the Orange Islands, Johto, and even Alola right now.
