Note: This chapter is based on episode 10, though some of the changes might be even more striking than previous chapters.
14: Bulbasaur vs. The World
In back of Team Rocket headquarters, in front of one of several metal sheds, Jessie sat on a fold out chair, James on the ground, and Meowth on the table, handing pokeball after pokeball to Mondo as he inventoried them in a notebook. "Charmeleon," Mondo said out loud as he wrote it down, then returned the pokemon to its pokeball. Meowth rolled another one over, which Mondo casually pressed the button on to release. "Psyduck," he said, then repeating the routine with the next. "Meowth! But not as impressive as Master Meowth, of course," he said.
"Meow, meow?" the new meowth called out questioningly.
"No need to worry, bud. We've taken you to a new home," Meowth started to explain.
Mondo paused his inventorying as they had been with any unsure pokemon as Meowth talked to it. He gripped his pen with excitement as he returned the pokemon when the two meowth were done speaking, then sighed happily as he placed the pokeball into an organized spot. "You all really outdid yourself! Even without knowing the complete inventory, there's just so many pokemon, of so many different types! And many of them are even evolved! Some must be rare, too, since I don't even know all the species. It's such an amazing success, a wonderful contribution to Team Rocket!"
Jessie nodded at Mondo's praise, closing her eyes as she tilted back in the chair. James was similarly relaxed, leaning against the side of the building as he sat on the ground. He opened his eyes and tried to scoot back even further as the next pokemon appeared. "What's that one?" Mondo asked.
"Vileplume," James answered as Meowth had been about to. "Just return it, okay?" he asked nervously, and Mondo did so. Then the next pokemon appeared. "Oh, a weepinbell," James commented as the confused pokemon looked around. He studied it closely as Mondo recorded the species name. After seeing James, it called out happily, waving its large leaf arms around as it bounced.
"No way," Meowth said, shaking its head.
"Wait... Are you that bellsprout? The one from back then?" James asked before Meowth could comment further. He didn't wait for the pokemon to confirm it. "It's been so long!" James exclaimed, hugging the pokemon. "I hope you've been well."
Jessie opened her eyes, first glancing at the happy reunion, and then to the path leading to the storage shed, groaning as she noticed who was headed their way. "Hey James, don't look now."
James did anyway, standing up from his relaxed position, as did Meowth, frowning and holding the bag containing the remaining pokeballs closer. Cassidy and Butch soon reached them, staring without comment before Cassidy finally spoke. "So, you two managed to follow through successfully with a plan after all?"
"You bet we did!" Meowth answered for them. "Not like it's the first time! We're still the top agents! You'd better not be here to try and get in on the glory."
Mondo looked up from his notes, uncomfortably glancing from one group to the other. "I'm sure they're just here to celebrate with us! It's a win for the team, right?"
"Right," Cassidy said. "Congratulations."
"Thanks," Jessie said, mirroring the other woman's aloof tone, still wary of her intentions. That couldn't be the only reason their rivals had wandered over.
"Yeah, congrats on finally doing something," Butch said. "We heard you two got back over a day ago. What are you doing next?"
"We're going to talk to the boss when he comes back," Jessie informed.
"Don't you think he's too busy for that?" Cassidy said. "Even if you got all these, you already know what he wants from here, don't you? Even more pokemon."
"You mind your own!" Meowth shouted, standing on its two hind legs. "The boss really, really wants to see me-owth. He'll be so happy. I can just imagine it." Meowth smiled widely, then standing on four paws, closing its eyes, and rubbing against the table leg.
"Right, they do have the boss's pet," Butch said as he glanced to Cassidy. "I almost forgot his new pet isn't just this one evolved."
"Wha?" Meowth suddenly frowned before hopping on the table and pushing Butch. "Hey! The boss isn't hanging out with that persian that much, is he? Huh? Is he? Tell me!" The human didn't answer no matter how much Meowth demanded.
"I just thought I'd check and confirm any rumors," Cassidy said, turning her back which prompted Butch to do the same, Meowth falling off the table as it tried to push him again. "Good job, then. Hope you can keep it up. I still don't think you should be sitting around when you know what to do, but you'll make your own choices there."
"Hey! Meowth, Jessie, James!" Another agent ran down the path, holding his pageboy cap in place. "The boss wants to see you! He just got back, hurry up."
Meowth picked itself back up, leaping forward on the path. "Yes! I knew he'd want to see me!" The pokemon turned around and looked back up at Cassidy and Butch with a self-satisfied smile. "You two wanted us to get out when the boss wanted to see us this bad? Ha! We're his top agents, and I'm his top cat! That's right!" Meowth ran forward toward the large building, not even waiting for Jessie and James.
Jessie started at her own pace, James following. "Later then," she said, waving to Cassidy.
Meowth had to wait for someone to activate the sensor to open the front doors for it, but was able to ascend the staircases instead of waiting for another human to come by. It scratched at the door to the boss's office as it finally reached it. "Boss! It's me-owth!" it declared. "I'm here, I'm here!"
"Come in," the boss's voice boomed from the other side. Meowth fell over as Jessie opened the door it had been leaning against. Meowth's shoulders sank as it noted the persian right next to Giovanni. It perked up and hopped on the desk as it saw its boss smiling. "There you are," he began, momentarily patting Meowth on the head. "I heard of your success... In the paper, actually," he put a newspaper on his desk, the headline reading 'Counterfeit Team Rocket Steals Pokemon Tech Pokemon' across the entire front page. "I congratulate you. Good job."
"Thank you, sir," Jessie and James said in unison.
"I'll have many pokemon to disperse to the ranks. I'll be relying on you for something more specific in the future, but for now, if you could go and acquire more pokemon elsewhere. That will be the most helpful at this moment," their boss concluded.
"We understand, sir," Jessie said.
"We'll go get even more pokemon, for Team Rocket," James promised.
The words were what it had expected, but Meowth still felt unsatisfied somehow. Jessie and James were leaving, so it glared at Persian once before doing so as well. It dragged its feet to the elevator, and then lay down on the lobby, staring at the wall in its depressed state as Jessie and James both went away on their own, probably to get some food.
Jessie eventually walked back. "What's with you?" she asked the lackadaisical pokemon which lay flat on the bench.
Meowth clenched its jaw, rolling around as it howled. "That stupid persian... It's still hanging around like it's the boss's number one! But I'm the boss's number one cat!"
"What's the big deal? You want to be his pet again, like that one guy called you?" Jessie asked.
"Maybe I do!" Meowth exclaimed, covering its face with its paws.
Jessie sat down on the couch next to Meowth and sighed, stroking the pokemon's ears. "The boss does what's best for Team Rocket. You know that."
"Yeah," Meowth closed its eyes, feeling better with Jessie's attention.
"So you helping us is best," Jessie asserted. "We completed that heist together. It wasn't your idea, but maybe I would have rammed that door and gotten caught without you there. You contribute. So just get over yourself and help us think of another good plan to get pokemon."
Meowth became more alert as Jessie playfully hit it up upside the head. "You're right, Jess," it said. "How many pokemon has that persian gotten for the boss? Not one! And I'm about to help get even more!"
"That's the spirit," Jessie said, looking away from her pokemon friend as James approached.
"Jessie! Meowth! Guess what?" he said happily.
"Something else happen?" Jessie asked.
"I went back and talked to the boss. I asked him if I could have that weepinbell, and he said yes!" James held a pokeball, grinning widely as he showed it off.
"Oh? Good for you," Jessie said.
"Yeah, that's really good," Meowth said, now standing up on the couch. "You two have been pretty easily overpowered with just one pokemon each. You should get as many pokemon as you can!"
"How?" Jessie said with a shrug. "We just wait for the boss to let us have one, right?"
"Oh, right," James said, reaching in his pocket. "The boss said you should have another pokemon too."
"Really?" Jessie said. She took the pokeball and released it, shouting in dismay at the pokemon that appeared, a large pink creature with a tongue that reached the ground. "What's this?" she demanded.
"Lickitung," James informed. "It's rare. The rarest pokemon from the ones we acquired."
"That's great," Jessie said less than enthusiastically as her new pokemon hopped around the lobby. She'd heard of it, but never seen one. The species looked even more odd in person than in pictures. This one in particular looked a little dull.
Someone eventually shouted as Lickitung licked up the food from their tray. "Whose pokemon is this?" he demanded. Jessie quickly returned her new acquisition, looking away as the agent whose food was stolen glared her way.
"You know," Meowth began, sitting up and grinning as it narrowed its eyes. "I just might already have an idea to get a whole bunch more pokemon."
"Ooo!" James exclaimed, sitting to Meowth's other side. "What is it? Do tell!"
"Well, I was talking to some of those pokemon, and I found out some stuff," Meowth began.
"Some of them were pissed at us, weren't they?" Jessie asked.
"Pokemon are really loyal," Meowth asserted. "But not all of them. Especially this group, without any real trainers. They were telling me where some Pokemon Tech pokemon can go if they get sick of things. Yeah, I found out more stuff that might help us."
"Hm. I don't know if we should go and return to the scene of the crime as far as Pokemon Tech goes," Jessie said. "We got nearly all the pokemon anyway, didn't we?"
"Yeah," Meowth confirmed. "That's not what I'm getting at," it continued, then began to explain the information it had gotten, as well as its thought process for what they might try next.
The lone bulbasaur walked through the forest slowly, plodding as it picked at the nearby vegetation with its vines. As it found various edible portions, it held them close to its bulb, carefully walking around. Its ears perked up as it noted a deer coming its way. "Bulba... Saur..." it hissed in a low voice, warning the animal to keep away.
The deer kept approaching anyway. "Bulbasaur!" the pokemon called out loudly this time, dropping its collected items as it used vine whip on the ground near the deer's hooves. The skittish animal ran away quickly.
"Bulbasaur..." Bulbasaur muttered. It started to slowly pick up what it had dropped, one by one, taking its time to make sure it had all the items before it continued plodding on its way.
Nearby, Ash frowned as he looked from the map to the tree dotted landscape around them. "We've gotta go... I don't know," he whined.
"We're really lost," Misty lamented, hopping up and trying to see where they might be. "We shouldn't have gone off the path."
"We're not that far from where we were. We can always go back," Brock said. The group turned around to look at where they'd come from, frowning as none of them could really recall the exact way they'd come from.
Turning back around, Ash's face perked up as he noticed the pokemon walking around just outside of the path ahead of them. "Wha... Wow!" he exclaimed, stopping and quieting so he didn't scare away the slowly moving pokemon. Ash's eyes remained wide as he tracked it moving along. "Sh!" he said to the others as they walked forward.
"What is it, Ash?" Brock asked.
"There's a bulbasaur," Ash informed in a whisper, taking out a pokeball. "I really wanted one. I'm gonna catch it!"
"A bulbasaur?" Brock asked, looking closer at the map. "Now I know better where-" Brock stopped as Ash took off running.
"Let's go, Pikachu!" he shouted.
"Never mind," Brock said, shaking his head as he folded up the map.
Pikachu didn't follow, but Ash already had a backup. "Go, Pidgeotto!" he shouted, throwing out his pokeball. He pointed forward at the wild pokemon as his pokemon appeared. "Whirlwind, now!"
"Pidgeotto!" the pokemon called as it rapidly flapped its wings.
"Bulbasaur!" the other pokemon called in irritation, squinting at the windy onslaught and dropping its supplies yet again as it evaded the remainder of the attack. "Bulba!" it shouted, tackling Pidgeotto as it flew closer. The stray pokemon scowled, then ran off. "Bulbasaur! Bulbasaur!" Its cries hardly sounded happy.
"Come on, Pidgeotto! We can still get it," Ash said. He ran after it, nearly falling over as Brock blocked his way. "Hey! What is it?" he demanded.
"Ash, you weren't listening at all yesterday?" Brock asked irritably.
"Uh, yeah, I was," Ash said sheepishly, trying to think of what he might have missed.
"We were told we might see a bulbasaur," Misty informed, hand on her hip. "That it was part of a collective of pokemon," she continued. "One that isn't around people and doesn't want to be. They said we should just leave those pokemon alone!"
"Oh, yeah." Ash recalled the story, though he supposed he'd blanked out what pokemon specifically were in the group. He turned toward where the lone pokemon had gone.
"You aren't gonna listen?" Misty demanded.
"Yeah, I mean, I won't catch Bulbasaur if they say I shouldn't. But I wanna see the pokemon that don't live around humans. Don't you? I never heard of it before." Ash started walking backwards slowly as he spoke.
"I was curious," Brock admitted. "Even wild pokemon stay close to where humans are around. I wonder how these pokemon in this hidden village live."
"Yeah!" Ash exclaimed. "So let's go see." He walked backwards a bit before going forward again, picking up what Bulbasaur had dropped on the ground. He then kept going in the direction the stray pokemon had. "It's on the map, right?" he asked.
"Just the general location. I don't think we can find it from there," Brock said.
"That's okay. I see Bulbasaur's tracks!" Ash pointed, rushing over to where the distinct footprints were.
"Looks like it's going this way," Brock observed, pointing through the trees and vegetation.
"Wait," Misty said as the two boys went ahead, way off the beaten path and toward where the poor bulbasaur had retreated. "You two don't think leave them alone means, um, just leave them where they are, alone?" she asked. The boys kept walking while observing Bulbasaur's trail, seemingly ignoring her. Misty hesitantly followed, lagging behind. As they made their way through various overgrown vegetation, Misty cried as she felt her bag catch on a branch. Just as she was about to complain and wonder if they were anywhere close, she noticed the running stream up ahead, and ran to get a drink of water. Leaning down, Misty also decided it might be a good time to wash her face.
"Bulbasaur!" Misty fell over as she heard the loud pokemon cry and felt the bump. She sat up, looking around in a state of semi-shock, wondering if she really felt what she thought she had. A pokemon had never come out of nowhere and just bumped against her, after all. The force was light, but still purposeful. Misty jumped in surprise as she saw the bulbasaur's face close up. "Bulba... Saur..." it called in an almost hiss now, glaring at Misty as she stared back at it.
"Uh.. Sorry," Misty said, waving her hand and backing away somewhat. We're not- Um, I'm not here to bother you, okay? Just keep doing what you're doing, I'll keep away." Misty stood up and walked back, intermittently looking back at the bulbasaur, which stayed in place, still keeping an eye on her. It eventually seemed satisfied, walking away slowly. Where had Ash and Brock gone?
"Wow!" Ash exclaimed, away from Misty and up ahead on the stream. "Look at all the pokemon!" He observed the oddish, bellsprout, tangela, and poliwag, all sleeping happily next to the rock by the steam. Hearing his voice, they woke up. Poliwag skirted behind the rock, Bellsprout and Tangela into the vegetation, and Oddish started to run back and forth, calling out in distress.
"Ash, keep back," Brock said, realizing it was too late to just warn him to keep quiet. "We should just be observing these pokemon."
"Bulbasaur!" The grass type pokemon ran into the scene as fast as its small legs allowed, standing in-between Ash and the other pokemon. "Bulbasaur!" it called warningly, then stepping forward and nudging Ash with its head.
"We should probably just leave," Brock suggested.
Ash shook his head. "I'm not gonna catch pokemon that don't want to be caught. I just wanted to see." Ash sat on the ground, frowning back at Bulbasaur's sour expression.
"Come on, Ash. I've never seen a pokemon act like this. We don't want it to get too territorial, that could be dangerous," Brock said.
"Pokemon aren't like wild animals," Ash pointed out.
"That's true, but-" Brock began, only to be interrupted.
"I saw you dropped this," Ash said, holding out the roots and flowers that the pokemon had tossed aside to chase him.
"Bulba?" Bulbasaur looked curiously at the offerings.
"Here you go, pokemon," Ash said as he stood up, walked past Bulbasaur, and dropped the plants in front of where the other pokemon panicked and hid. They came out and started to poke at them first, eat them next. "See! Pokemon are nice!" Ash declared with a smile.
"Yeah," Brock said tentatively. "These pokemon are used to humans, from what they said back in town. They just don't like humans."
"Why not?" Ash inquired as he watched the pokemon continue to eat, Bellsprout and Tangela coming out from where they'd hidden.
"They were abused by their former trainers, apparently," Brock informed.
"Oh." Ash paused, considering the implications. He turned around and looked at Bulbasaur, who was staring up at him, still with that serious expression. "Well, not all humans are bad like that," he said casually, then turned back to the other pokemon, seeing they'd finished off the small amount of food placed down. He even noticed signs of a few pokemon he hadn't seen originally, peeking through the bushes, without having gotten any food at all. "That's not near enough for all of you, huh? I'll get some more!" Ash turned and ran back through the woods.
"Hey, Ash, wait! Did you see Misty?" Brock called after him, following him.
Pikachu stayed, watching the other pokemon. It approached Bulbasaur, who still had that cool expression. "Pikachu." Pikachu greeted the other pokemon, who called out various greetings in return. Bulbasaur just stared at it, unmoving. "Pikachu?" Pikachu questioned its presence there.
"Bulba, saur." Bulbasaur walked back near its friends, sharing that this was a place just for them. It crouched down, momentarily closing its eyes as it called again, informing Pikachu that this was a place just for pokemon, pokemon that could live without humans.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu called out happily. It liked the idea of that. "Pika pika!" Maybe Pikachu could stay, and be a part of their group, since it was just like them.
"Bulbasaur." Bulbasaur rejected the idea outright. "Bulba, bulbasaur. Bulba!" Bulbasaur shouted, standing up and stampeding toward Pikachu, though it stopped right before hitting the electric type.
Pikachu stared at Bulbasaur blankly, less than its arms length between them. Bulbasaur's message expressed an incongruence between the pokemon here and life with humans. Maybe it was because they wanted to be with humans, but couldn't find a place to fit. Did Pikachu want to be around humans? It couldn't answer yes or no at the moment. In either case, Bulbasaur had observed it closely following Ash around, and decided that Pikachu didn't fit as a part of their group at all. The protective grass type had decided that Pikachu was perfectly happy with Ash, and should go back to him.
It didn't really understand everything, but Pikachu didn't feel like trying to stay and work to better be understood. Maybe what it had gone through really was far from the experiences of the pokemon here. Either way, if they asked to be left alone, Pikachu would leave them alone. It hopped away, turning back as it did. "Pika pika!" it called a salutation as it waved, then ran in the direction that Ash had gone.
"This is a disappointment," Jessie commented as they observed the area from afar through their binoculars. "Are you sure there aren't more hiding?" she asked as she tried to spy some herself through the vegetation and behind various visual obstacles.
"It seems there's less than a dozen to me," James said. "Quite far from the haul we just brought back."
"It's enough," Meowth commented, hopping down a branch. "I bet that haul was better than any others the boss got, ever. It's good enough by itself. We throw in a few more after, that'll just keep the boss thinking of us before our major assignment."
"I guess," Jessie said, putting down her binoculars and leaning against the tree. "None of them are evolved, either."
"It's fine," Meowth shouted up at the human. "When they're trained by Team Rocket, then they evolve! And that just makes it less weight for us to haul back, anyway." It climbed back up the tree, going above Jessie and James's heads now, frowning that its idea hadn't turned out to be very lucrative. Just getting the needed equipment signed out and transported there had been a lot of work. "I guess there's not a lot of pokemon that want to live without humans," it commented.
"Do you?" James asked, glancing away from their mark and in the tree where Meowth sat.
"Huh. I never really thought about it," Meowth admitted. It made itself comfortable in the tree, leaning back as it gave the idea some thought. "Yeah... Na, I that wouldn't be good. There's humans and pokemon, and that's our world, huh?"
"Good to know you still want us around," Jessie said dryly.
"Yeah, for now," Meowth joked with a grin on its face. "Now that I think about it, no humans would be sad. Some humans piss me off, but there's still good ones like the boss. I doubt these pokemon really, really want to live without humans either."
"You think so? They did go all the way out here," James pointed out.
"Yeah, look at them, all skittish and pathetic-looking. Maybe they had no choice." Meowth paused, thinking of when no human had really wanted to pick it up from the excess of meowth, and how worthless it had felt. It pushed away those unpleasant feelings with its next declaration. "Yeah, some pokemon complain they don't want to be around humans, but they all do. Even the few that came out here are miserable. These pokemon are gonna be so happy to be part of something, be part of Team Rocket!"
"I hope so," Jessie said, putting the binoculars back in their case. "Because they're not going to have a choice."
"Should we go get started now?" James suggested.
"Yeah, let's go," Jessie said. "Might as well get this started. We already found out that there's really no challenge. Maybe we'll be back to the base before the sun goes down."
Ash came back to the stray pokemon's hideaway with his arms full of edible plants. He tried to carry them all, but some apples fell behind him as he approached. Brock, not moving as quickly, soon followed with his own found offerings. The older boy placed the food down where Ash had simply dumped it. "Hey! You're all hungry, right?" As Ash spoke, the various pokemon came out, sniffing around before they readily ate. Ash sat down in front of them, taking a bite of one of the apples himself. He then noticed Bulbasaur wasn't participating, just staring at them. "Hey, Bulbasaur!" Ash called loudly. "You're hungry too, right? Just take some food."
"Pikachu," Pikachu echoed the invitation before walking around and patting the various pokemon there on the back, then smiling as they timidly called back to it. Pikachu stopped when it reached Bulbasaur. The tough looking grass type had approached them with some grass held tightly in its vines. "Pika?" Pikachu questioned the origin. Bulbasaur turned around and ate it. "Pikachu!" Pikachu said harshly, noting their nice offer was being snubbed by this particular pokemon.
"Hey, Pikachu, be nice. You wanted to help too, right?" Ash asked.
Brock sat down next to Ash on the ground, observing though not interacting with the pokemon present. "They really don't look healthy, do they," he commented.
"They're fine," Ash said, though he soon more closely observed the bellsprout, whose vine limbs wobbled, and the tangela, which had some discoloration at the end of its vine. "Or maybe not," he admitted.
"Yeah." Brock folded his arms and frowned. "I guess we can't force them to come with us, but I really do think they'd be better off with trainers than out here. There's probably a lot of people, or places that would take them," Brock said. He leaned down to the oddish, smiling as he spoke gently. "Would you like to come with us?"
"Oddish!" Oddish cried as it cowered.
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur spat, getting between Brock and the frightened pokemon.
"Hey, it's alright. Just a suggestion," Brock assured, then scooting away slightly.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu questioned why Bulbasaur was interfering. Brock had just been talking to Oddish, after all.
"Bulbasaur. Bulba!" Bulbasaur informed they could live without humans completely. There was no need to bother with them at all.
"Chu? Pikachu!" Pikachu pointed out that the other pokemon were certainly relying on Bulbasaur quite a bit.
"Bulba," Bulbasaur exclaimed. It turned to accost Pikachu, but the electric type was too busy interacting with the other pokemon, laughing and imitating their movement.
"They're already done," Ash pointed out. "I guess they were really hungry."
"Yeah," Brock agreed. "Maybe we should just go."
"Why?" Ash asked.
"Well, we have places to be, and this, I guess here is the place these pokemon want to stay." Brock dusted off his pants and put on his backpack as he stood up.
"Do you really just want to stay here?" Ash asked, resting on his palms as he got closer to the short pokemon. "You all don't want to come with a trainer, maybe with me?" He turned to poliwag. "Poliwag are so cool!" he exclaimed, then looked at some of the plant pokemon. "It used to be my favorite kind of pokemon. I thought it was so cool how its swirl changes direction when it evolves. Oh, oh, and did you know - a lot of you can evolve twice! Oddish, Bellsprout, that includes you! And it's easier with a trainer, huh?" Ash sat back on his legs. "And, and," he continued as he spied the most standoffish pokemon. "I always wanted a bulbasaur! You guys are the best! If you come with me, I'll be the best trainer I can."
"Hmph. Can you really train them all?" Brock asked.
"Just any that want to come," Ash said. "We could battle, and earn badges, and see different cities, and different pokemon..." As Ash kept talking, he noticed the pokemon slinking away. Poliwag went behind the rock. A lot of grass types went back to trying to blend in with the vegetation. Ash stopped telling them about what he'd do, frowning. "None of you guys want to leave, huh?" he observed.
"Let's just go," Brock prodded, touching Ash's head.
Ash stood up, following him away from the hidden area. Pikachu stayed a moment, then started to follow him as well. "Pika," it called quietly, waving good-bye for likely the last time. As they kept going down the path, Ash heard the sound of other footsteps trudging through the area. "Is that you, Misty?" he called aloud.
"Uh." Brock stopped as he realized who exactly it was.
"It's you!" Ash and Jessie said in unison, each pointing at the other.
Jessie made a noise of frustration, practically stamping her foot. "Damn it! We just forgot about this twerp and his overpowered pikachu!"
"I didn't forget! I just had better things to do! Pikachu is just like the rest of pokemon, it's eventually gonna join Team Rocket!" Meowth declared.
"No it's not," Ash said. He frowned as he saw the large cage Jessie and James were carrying. "What are you two doing with that?"
"What do you think?" Jessie asked, slacking on her end as she held with one hand, James trying to make up for it by pulling up his end more. "We're here like any other trainer! To catch pokemon!"
"Trainers use pokeballs," Ash said.
"We don't have time for this. Just get out of our way," Jessie demanded as she hoisted up the cage more.
"We're going to help the pokemon who don't want to be around humans find homes," James informed.
"Hey! It's none of their business," Jessie chided as she looked his way.
"With Team Rocket?" Ash asked.
"Where better?" Meowth confirmed.
"Yeah, I don't think so," Brock said, taking out a pokeball. "Go, Geodude! Zubat!" he said.
Jessie and James dropped the cage they were lugging, the item clanking loudly as they did. "If you want to fight, we'll fight," Jessie said, taking out her two pokeballs. "It's your own fault for not just getting out of our way!"
"I think you might find us more of a challenge today," James said, taking out his own pokeballs. The two rocket agents threw out the pokeballs all at once, each shouting their pokemons' names as they did.
"Go, Butterfree! Pidgeotto!" Ash shouted. "Brock, you should get Onix, too."
"There's no room for it to really fight in this dense forest," Brock pointed out. "We'll just have to deal with the current numbers. Geodude, tackle, go for Meowth!"
"Oh no," Meowth scooted out of the way, enough for Lickitung to be hit. The pokemon winced, tackling geodude back with little success.
Jessie and James ordered their own pokemon. Ash's had trouble as he tried to keep up with directing three of them at once. "Pikachu, thunderbolt! Butterfree, whirlwind! Pidgeotto, quick attack!" Butterfree and Pidgeotto attacked the closest pokemon to them, while Pikachu just wandered away, trying not to get hit itself.
"Hey, bud," Meowth greeted it with a smirk.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu tensed up, its cheeks sparking as it got ready to follow through with its trainer's orders.
"No need for that," Meowth said. "Hey, Lickitung, over here!" Meowth held up a single cracker.
"Licki!" the pink pokemon called, turning around as Meowth called it, and heading toward the food. Meowth backed away, jumping on the cage just in time as Pikachu took the majority of the lick, being pushed in the cage as Lickitung got its food.
Meowth slammed the door shut before hopping on James's shoulder. "Hey, time to book it. I got Pikachu in there, and we can't waste time battling these kids."
"Got it," James said, then raised his voice for the next order. "Koffing, smoke screen!"
As the pokemon expelled opaque gas, Jessie and James grabbed the cage, lifting it up as they returned their pokemon. Ash and Brock coughed and rubbed their eyes. As the smoke cleared, the rockets were no longer in sight. "I guess we should go back and help then," Ash said, looking in the direction they'd left the stray pokemon.
"Maybe we should find Misty first," Brock said. He then looked nearby Ash's feet before glancing around the immediate area. "Wait... Where's Pikachu?"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu complained loudly from inside the rocket's trap. It could still see the outside from any side of the cage, noting Jessie and James were carrying it. "Pika," it called loudly.
"No need to worry, Pikachu, my friend," Meowth said in response, leaning down from the top. "We're gonna make sure you're taken good care of in Team Rocket. A pokemon like you is sure to be in hot demand!"
"Maybe you could get off this thing and lighten the load," Jessie sniped at Meowth, her breath getting more labored as they hurried along.
"We'll be getting the other pokemon soon, and then it'll be heavier. I'm just getting you ready," Meowth said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu informed it would gladly get out of the cage.
"Just relax. These two are our chauffeurs! We're on the road to a better life!" Meowth laughed as it clung to the top of the cage.
"Meowth, we really should conserve energy to make sure we make it to the end of that road," James said testily, also becoming annoyed at having to run with the extra weight.
"Fine, fine." Meowth hopped down and hurried along next to them.
Pikachu observed the metal cage. Of course, if it tried to use an electric-type attack, the metal would conduct, and Pikachu's thunderbolt could harm the two humans carrying it around. It didn't want to kill them, so finding a way to defend itself and escape was difficult. They couldn't carry the cage forever, nor did they plan to keep it locked in the cage indefinitely, so for the moment, Pikachu decided to lay down and wait.
Eventually, they arrived at the home for the reclusive pokemon. Jessie and James set the cage down a little less than carefully, Pikachu bouncing once before it stood up and watched them. The humans released their pokemon at once, and the resident pokemon cried and ran. "Hmph. They really are just weaklings," Jessie commented as she saw the pokemon cower into the vegetation and hide behind various features of the landscape.
"Yeah. It won't be that satisfying, but maybe some agents can make some use of them," Meowth said.
"We don't even need our pokemon to gather them up, do we?" James said, picking up Oddish himself.
"Yeah, it's a waste for them to battle," Jessie agreed, taking James's cue and picking up other pokemon. The two of them opened up the cage door, throwing the pokemon inside as they cried and emoted various anxiety and anguish.
"Just move it," Meowth said, shoving one of the pokemon forward. Nearby the cage, Pikachu walked right out in front of the rocket pokemon. "Hey!" Meowth clenched its jaw. "You get right back in there now, Pikachu!" it ordered, pointing to the cage where various pokemon cowered and cried.
"Pika CHU!" Pikachu released its thunderbolt attack directly at Meowth, who fell over as it was knocked out. The two humans were occupied playing hide-and-seek with the remaining pokemon, their pokemon wandering or lounging as their trainers were too occupied to direct them. Pikachu went to the path, supposing it could find Ash and the others easily enough from there.
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur dropped the plants it had been carrying, running toward the scene at top speed as it saw what was happening.
"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu explained what was going on. This group wasn't going to give up, and was planning to take all the pokemon there away.
"Bulbasaur! Bulba!" it spat at Pikachu. Pikachu was there, and perfectly capable of defending the other pokemon, so why hadn't it? "Bulba!" Bulbasaur added an insult to its demand.
"Pikachu! Pikapi!" Pikachu wasn't there to defend any other pokemon. Pikachu would defend the weak, but who? A dull little boy, one hardly grown. One that could hardly find his own way, let alone make sure he was safe himself. One that gave it company and food as he played at aiming to be some master trainer, whatever that meant. That was who really needed Pikachu's help. It wasn't about to carry some dead weight like the whining, sniveling group here.
They could take care of themselves. Or maybe Team Rocket could.
"Bulba, bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur spat back. It was going to defend the pokemon itself.
"Right, right," Jessie said with a bored affect, shoving more pokemon into the cage before prodding Bulbasaur to go in as well before she slammed the door shut. "I think that's the last of them... Oh, look, Meowth got knocked out," she noted.
"Huh? Pikachu's out of the cage!" James realized.
"It's right over there. Let's knock it out so we can take it back to base," Jessie said. Before long, Pikachu was surrounded by all four of Jessie and James's pokemon, having to fight them all off at once.
Bulbasaur tried to move in the cage, but found it too crowded. They just needed to break out of it, anyway. At least that electric type was good for a distraction. "Bulbasaur!" it called as it tried to perform vine whip on the lock. Bulbasaur aimed itself at the mechanism, tackling it without success, having trouble with the technique in the crowded area. "Bulbasaur!" it called, ordering the other pokemon to help it.
In response, the pokemon all cried out at once. Bulbasaur could hardly make out one lament from another, but none of them helped just the same. "Bulbasaur!" it called to silence them. They could complain and feel sad more later. Now it was time to find a way out, time to fight. Bulbasaur aimed at the door of the cage, tackling once, then another time, with as much force as it could in the small, cramped space. Eventually, the top of the cage started to cave down. Bulbasaur cried out in pain along with several other pokemon as the top metal weighed down on them.
"Hey!" Ash's voice rang out, several other new pokemon cries echoing through the area. "Leave Pikachu alone!"
By this point in time, Pikachu had already knocked out Lickitung and Ekans, leaving only James's two pokemon left to battle. "Go, Ash." Brock pointed to the cage with the crying pokemon. "I'll finish this up."
Ash breezed past Jessie, dodging as she tried to grab him, and immediately saw what was wrong, grunting as he lifted up the top of the cage. He found it hard to move with all the pokemon inside, and cried out in pain as the sharp corner of the metal cut him.
The blood dripped on Bulbasaur, along with several of the other pokemon as Ash tried to keep the top above the trapped pokemons' heads and prevent them from being crushed. Yes, this was something that happened to humans. The sight of the liquid leaking from the human's body emphasized the "weak" part of Pikachu's description of the weak thing it was willing to protect. Despite any personal weakness, any pokemon in this cage alone was stronger than this human child.
And yet, he was the one putting himself at risk. Bulbasaur watched with some concern as the boy cried and grunted while trying to help them, tugging at the metal to try and get the mostly broken cage to completely break apart. He eventually succeeded, falling back as the metal cage fell into several parts. As it did, the pokemon scattered, going back to their various hiding places. Bulbasaur walked out calmly, going to Ash's side.
As that happened, Pidgeotto's whirlwind attack hit Koffing, knocking it out. James quickly returned it to its pokeball. "Let's get out of here," Jessie said to James, holding Meowth, still out cold, in her arms. "These weak pokemon aren't worth this much trouble."
James agreed, returning Weepinbell as well before they turned their back and ran. Brock watched them for a few moments, satisfied they were really leaving before he walked up to Ash. "You're hurt," Brock noted, taking off his backpack to get his first aid kit. He bandaged up Ash as Bulbasaur watched closely.
"Ouch, ouch," Ash complained, wincing as Brock helped him.
"Hey, Bulbasaur seems worried about you," Brock said.
"What, really?" Ash said, his expression changing from pained to surprised.
"Yeah. I think if it could talk, it would say thank you," Brock said.
Ash looked down at the pokemon, not complaining any more as the older boy finished bandaging him up. Once done, he stood up. "I guess we'll just go then," he said, still staring Bulbasaur's way.
"Yeah." Brock nodded to Bulbasaur. "You've got your hands full protecting all these guys, huh?" he commented.
Bulbasaur didn't comment back, not even to Pikachu who looked its way questioningly. The electric type followed the boys as they went down the path. With the humans gone, the other pokemon started to come out, poking at the small scraps that Bulbasaur had brought, then emoting various lamentations about their experiences, and the evils of humans.
The frail human that the electric type said needed protecting had just protected all of them. Were they really that weak, even being pokemon? Was staying there making them weak? Was Bulbasaur itself contributing to that weakness, by protecting the monsters that should need no protection, comforting and providing them the little it could while reinforcing their ideas about humans as terrible creatures that should forever be hidden from?
Bulbasaur waded into the water, dipping its head in the stream to try and wash off the boy's blood. As it did, the other pokemon continued to emote their various ideas of humans as evil creatures who saw them only as tools. According to these pokemon, all of humankind thought of nothing but how to best use them, to the pokemon's own detriment.
It wasn't true. Even knowing more than well the realities of the evils of humans, this kind of generalization just wasn't true. How could they not understand, given how that one human had helped them that day? Did they just not see it? No, they took the food he'd offered and had to see as clearly as Bulbasaur what kind of sacrifices he had made to help them. Did they not want to see it? Was it easier for them to wither away in this depressing section of the forest if they thought as much?
Was Bulbasaur making it easy for them to keep hating humans and become ever weaker while complaining about them?
Bulbasaur stepped away from the stream, and back to the other pokemon. They weren't concerned, not emoting anything at all as they took their resting places. "Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur shouted out a challenge. Some of the pokemon opened their eyes, looking toward it without moving. "Bulbasaur..." Bulbasaur growled menacingly. Some of the pokemon sat up and moved just next to where they were sitting, perhaps not believing what Bulbasaur was communicating.
But it was serious. "Bulbasaur!" it called as it stampeded toward the closest pokemon. They shouted out, scattering, though they still remained nearby. It would have to go farther than just this. "Bulbasaur!" it called as it performed the vine whip attack on Poliwag, then razor leaf at the bushes where others hid. It used leech seed on the closest pokemon to maintain its strength in case they were to fight back.
But none of them did. They only screeched, cried, and ran away. Bulbasaur repeated the attacks, using the most convenient one to attack as its now former friends cried out, lamented their situation, and eventually scattered every way. Once they were gone, Bulbasaur pushed down their makeshift shelters. Not that any of them would return, but this way if any of them did, they'd see nothing resembling anything they thought they'd find here.
Finally finished, Bulbasaur stood in the middle of the woods, feeling a sense of emptiness. Would its friends be alright? Would they gain back their strength when forced to stand on their own? Maybe, maybe not. It was no longer Bulbasaur's burden to care.
Eventually, it made its way toward the path the humans had gone, slowly plodding along. Its world was slowly starting to open up.
"Ash! You're up!" Misty greeted him outside the small backwater pokemon center, where she and Brock were about to have lunch at the sole picnic table. Misty scooted her fork around the plate, sighing. "I still can't believe you ran into that same Team Rocket group again," she said.
"They're not the real deal, just some impersonators, from what I've seen in the papers about them," Brock pointed out.
"Don't believe everything you read." Misty giggled, then turned her attention to Ash. "Are you feeling better?" she asked.
"I was fine already," Ash assured. He touched the large bandage on his forearm, flexing his elbow back and forth. "I think I'm a hundred percent already. Let's go!"
"Go? Like leave? You know you have to wait to have your stitches taken out! You know way better!" Misty scolded.
"Like some other doctor can't do that," Ash said, scowling as he sat next to her.
"So you want me and Brock all worried about you when we get lost in the woods again?" Misty asked.
"It was kind of stressful on me, Ash. I was worried about your injury," Brock added. "You should just give it a few days, rest up."
"I was fine. I am fine." Ash scowled, sulking, though he didn't say anything further about leaving. "I guess I'll wait, since I have to," he eventually muttered.
"Great. We'll be on our way before you know it," Brock said with a grin, placing some food in front of him.
As Ash ate, he caught sight of some movement in the forest. Standing up, fork still in his mouth, he walked forward, trying to see more clearly what was approaching and if it was what he thought he saw. He took the fork from his mouth, swallowing the food as he watched.
It moved slowly, very slowly. It was certainly some kind of creature, and seemed to be walking purposefully toward them. Its features eventually grew clearer, and Ash could make out the large green bulb on its back. He whooped as he threw the fork in the air and ran toward it.
"Ash?" Misty hadn't been paying attention to his pacing, but something had happened. She and Brock followed him, finding him standing in front of a stray bulbasaur.
"You came to find me! Do you want to travel with me? Come on, join my team and we'll battle together," Ash spoke to the pokemon enthusiastically.
"You think it's that bulbasaur you saw out there?" Misty asked. "I mean, they're more uncommon but they aren't that rare, though I've never just seen one walking around like this. Do you think its trainer is nearby?" Misty glanced around, seeing no one. There was only the lone bulbasaur which seemed very used to humans, staring Ash's way in particular.
"It is acting like it knows Ash. Do you know any other bulbasaur?" Brock asked.
"No, just some I saw at the professor's lab. But they wouldn't remember me. I know this is the one we met. It's wild, and I'm gonna catch it!" Ash declared.
"Bulbasaur." Bulbasaur turned away, almost appearing to smile at the declaration, though it still stood firm upon hearing it.
"Hmm." Misty studied the pokemon. From how it stuck around, quietly monitoring them, it really did seem familiar. Maybe it did want to be caught. "Well, if you want to catch a pokemon, you battle it, right?" she said.
Ash nodded. "Yeah. Let's go, Pidgeotto!" He threw out the pokeball, the pokemon soon appearing. "Whirlwind!"
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur got on the defensive right away, starting the razor leaf technique. Though it was able to finish it at the same time as its opponent finished its own attack, the leaves only got caught up in the whirlwind, partially hitting Bulbasaur itself.
"Alright! Now, finish it with a quick attack," Ash ordered.
"Pidgeotto!" the flying type pokemon called, diving at stray pokemon at a speed faster than it could respond.
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur fell over just as the pokeball hit it. It was drawn in. Ash watched closely as it wobbled, then became still. "Yes!" he exclaimed, running over and holding the pokeball up. "I caught it! Finally, another addition to our team."
As they got back nearer to the pokemon center, Ash took his new pokemon inside. He eventually came back out, both Pikachu and Bulbasaur following at his feet. They joined Misty and Brock in the sunny weather, who also sent out their own pokemon to enjoy some leisure time as well. Bulbasaur responded to the other pokemon with brief calls before it eventually ended up sleeping right next to Ash's feet. "Pikachu?" Pikachu leaned down from the picnic table, questioning it.
"Bulba," was all Bulbasaur offered in response. As a pokemon, it supposed it couldn't live without something to protect. It stared up at Ash's bandaged hand, deciding this human would be the one, at least for the moment.
End notes:
Gotta love Ash's bulbasaur. I guess the original episode kinda had the same message as this one, though it was much more gentle.
Thanks to all the new recent commenters, and anyone who has been commenting throughout, really. It means a lot and it's very encouraging to hear back.
I will mention again, since it's been 10s of thousands of words, that though this story is still closely following the anime's plot for the most part, it will deviate. Don't want anyone to be shocked when I more liberally skip/re-arrange later, plus add plenty that's not necessarily based on anything from the original. The post-league story especially.
Next chapter: Charmander vs. Damian
(The closely episode based chapters will continue a while yet.)