Note: This chapter is based on episode 12.

16: The Squirtle Squad vs. Lunch

Hanging around the campfire with Brock and Misty, Ash tried to find the lights of Vermilion City in the distance. He thought he could see them, but of course that could have just something else along the way. "Ugh... Do you think we're gonna be there anytime soon," he muttered as he sat back down.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Misty asked, accepting a stick from Charmander and putting it on the fire.

"It's been over a month since I got the last badge. I heard Gary has like four by now!" Ash said, clenching his fists.

"Hm." Misty rested her chin on her hands, watching her starmie and staryu spin and play in the stream next to them, Goldeen hopping out from the water. "Are you sure you want to go to Vermilion Gym next?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ash said. They'd visited another gym the other day from Ash's dated guidebook, only to find out it had been closed for good two years ago. "I know it's still open! And it's the closest one! I've gotta get there."

"Oh, I see." Misty looked down, patting Pikachu on the head before it ran off to play with Bulbasaur and Geodude.

"Why shouldn't I go?" Ash demanded hotly, noticing Misty's hesitance.

"Well, I never met the gym leader there, but I've heard he's pretty tough," she explained. "He is able to keep up a good enough win ratio in a major port city, and for years, so I guess he has to be."

"I'm tough too," Ash declared. "And I have five pokemon by now."

"But you haven't even won one gym badge by now," Misty pointed out.

"I..." Ash paused, about to show her the gym badges in his jacket, which of course she knew about. "I... have," he said hesitantly.

"You never beat me, and Team Rocket helped you cheat against Brock." Misty grinned as she recounted it.

"No! I didn't- I'll battle you right now!" Ash declared.

"How about not," Brock said, coming back from getting water near the stream. He glanced to the horizon, where the sun's light was nearly gone. The pokemon had just been cared for after the day's battles. "And no worries about anything that Team Rocket group did, Ash. I know you had nothing to do with it. You've got the badge, at least mine."

"That's nice of you, Brock," Misty commented.

Ash folded his arms, sitting down forcefully by the fire. "I'm going to battle the Vermilion guy. You'll see how good a trainer I am when I win," Ash declared. "What else is nearby, so I can get more badges? I've gotta hurry if I'm gonna get into the league."

"No way you'll make it in a few weeks," Misty pointed out. "Maybe next year."

Misty was right, but Ash didn't feel like admitting it. He took the food Brock offered, then started to eat it as he looked around, noticing a rustling in the bushes. They all that their pokemon out to get some air, so it was probably one of them. Ash spied all three of Misty's splashing in the water. Onix was also nearby the bank, where there was a large space for it to stretch out. Butterfree, Pidgeotto, and Zubat had been flying around, but now rested together in a nearby tree. Charmander was curled up by the fire with Bulbasaur while Pikachu continued to play chase with Geodude.

So what was in the bushes? Ash stood up, meandering closer to check it out. Maybe it was nothing, since the foliage had gone still. Ash leaned forward as he heard an initial rustle. There still was something. Just when it seemed like it was just the wind, a pokemon hopped into sight. "Squirtle squirtle!" it called.

Ash almost fell over. As he saw the pokemon standing in front of him, wearing a pair of angled sunglasses with a crack in one lens, a large smile grew on his face. "It's a squirtle!" he ran to his bag, grabbing out an empty pokeball. "I'm gonna catch it. Then I'll have all three of the starting pokemon I couldn't get."

"Um, Ash, it probably has a trainer, wearing those things," Misty said.

"Where's its trainer then? It could have worn them on its own."

Squirtle approached the fire, ignoring Bulbasaur and Charmander, who both stood up on alert. The seemingly wild pokemon then stared at the plate of food that Ash had placed down. "Squirtle, squirtle..." it called in a pleading tone. "Squirtle... Squirtle..." it continued, getting its face close to the food without touching it.

"I think it's hungry," Ash said. "Would you like some food, Squirtle?" he offered.

"Squirtle! Squirtle, squirtle!" The pokemon hopped up happily, then quickly ate the entire plate that Ash gave to it. "Squirtle!" it called in gratitude, then hopped to the other side of the campfire and started spinning around. The turtle-like pokemon danced, grabbing the nearby pokemon as it did. Everyone watched, the humans clapping, as it put on a show.

"What an energetic pokemon!" Misty commented. "And it's a water type. It would fit right in back home at the gym."

"I'm gonna be the one to catch it," Ash declared. As he spoke to Misty and then looked for his pokeball, Squirtle suddenly hopped the other way. "Squirtle!" it called, bowing before it escaped into the bush.

"Hey, wait!" Ash shouted.

"Maybe a different time," Misty said. "I think it's just going back to its trainer, though."

Brock suddenly shouted out in dismay. Ash and Misty looked his way, then saw what the issue was. Their backpacks had been sifted through, the contents spread out. A closer inspection revealed missing items. "My ladle, my pan," Brock lamented.

"My bathing suit!" Misty shouted as she looked through what had been spilled from her own bag.

"Who could have done this?" Ash asked.

"Hope you're not still hungry, because the food is gone." Brock shook his head.

"No way." Ash sulked. He had given his entire dinner to Squirtle only knowing there was more left.

"There's a small town ahead before Vermilion," Brock said as he started putting his remaining scattered belongings back in his backpack. "We'll report this there."

"Do you want to go now?" Misty asked. "I mean, do you really want to stay here with the thieves nearby?"

"They couldn't have gone far," Ash said. He rushed into the clearing nearby, then heard a clatter on the ground. "Squirtle!" he exclaimed. Not just the one, but lots of squirtle, all wearing some kind of sunglasses with numerous objects in their arms. They all let out various cries in a panic, turning in different directions before dispersing into the extended, darker woods. It was too dark for Ash to consider following, but he did lean down, picking up the object that had clanked down on a rock. Lifting it up, he saw it was Brock's pan.

"It was that squirtle, and a few others?" Misty walked up behind him. "Who would have thought that sweet looking pokemon would be a thief! We should be more careful next time."

"Yeah, I guess so." Ash tried and failed to see into the darkened woods. With nothing left to do, he went back to the campfire to get ready to sleep.

"Hey," Jessie began as she walked down the established dirt path with her human and pokemon accomplices. "Why do we have to walk again, while some new grunts just drive over to Vermilion?"

"Mondo didn't have room," James pointed out.

"So the lower ranking agents should be booted out, not us," Jessie asserted.

"Ha ha! Who cares about that!" Meowth said happily. "We're on the best mission Team Rocket's got going for the moment, and Mondo made us one of his delicious lunches!" The pokemon hugged the large, wrapped bento box it carried, smiling happily.

"Right," Jessie said. "So when you do you want to stop and eat it?"

"Let's get just a little further... We want to make it last and fuel our trip. We'll make it there soon enough," Meowth began. As they walked along, it eventually got tired, and held up the box for James to carry. "You know..." Meowth began, nearly tripping forward as it began its thought. "I think that kid with the super pikachu is coming this way too."

"It's possible. Vermilion has a gym, doesn't it?" James said.

"That would be great," Jessie mused. "Maybe he wants a nice cruise after he's done with his gym challenge."

James chuckled. "If that happened, we'd be able to kill two birds with one stone, wouldn't we?"

"We sure would! But we can't count on that. Let's see if we can find him and get the pikachu beforehand," Meowth suggested.

"We'll see if we have time," Jessie said.

"Right. We don't want to mess up this assignment," James said seriously.

Meowth scowled, but couldn't disagree. It noticed a nice clearing up ahead with several benches. Perhaps a lot of travelers stopped there. "I'm hungry! Let's eat!" it insisted.

"Fine. I feel like having lunch already too," Jessie said. As they sat down, they opened the bento box, separating the various layers. Various single items were prepared, each looking better than the last to the hungry travelers.

"Thanks for the food," James said, picking up an onigiri he noted was adorned with a nori 'R'. "How cute! Mondo's the best."

"I'll take one too." Jessie grabbed for the next, then noticed the box had moved. "Hey, Meowth-" she began, but then noted the pokemon was empty-handed. All three agents turned, noting several squirtle wearing sunglasses in various stages of disrepair, and each holding a different layer of the bento box.

"Hey! Put those down!" Meowth hopped over on the bench and pointed at the other pokemon accusingly. They only laughed at the feline pokemon's demands.

Another squirtle approached James, taking the onigiri out of his hand. "Squirtle!" it called in thanks before eating.

"What... What's going on?" James demanded.

"They're just a group of thieves, that's what," Meowth said.

The squirtle that had eaten James's food got up, waddling in front of them. "Squirtle, squirtle, squirtle," it called mockingly.

"Hey! That's not true! We're from Team Rocket! We're better than you at it!" Meowth said.

"What did it say?" Jessie asked.

"That we don't know about being cool thieves," Meowth said.

Squirtle laughed as it heard an approximation of its message in human words. The other squirtle also laughed at the weird pokemon that spoke like a human. "Squirtle!" it taunted the rocket pokemon.

"You're gonna regret this," Meowth said, smiling coolly at the obnoxious pokemon who had started passing around pieces of their lunch. "You made the biggest mistake of your life. We happen to be the coolest thieves around."

"That's right. We're professionals," James added.

"We'll teach you not to steal our lunch," Jessie promised.

The rocket agents lunged toward the squirtle. They jumped out of the way, throwing the lunch at the rockets in-between taking bites of it themselves. Eventually, the squirtle laughed from a distance, the remnants of the lunch on Jessie and James's uniforms, Meowth's fur, and the ground, the different parts of the bento box upside down throughout the area. The squirtle laughed at the annoyed expressions before heading on their way, calling our to each other happily as they did.

"I'm still hungry," James said, frowning now that Mondo's carefully prepared meal certainly couldn't be recovered.

"Forget about it. We've got to get some revenge on these pokemon," Jessie said.

"Yeah. We can't let this go. People and pokemon both gotta know to respect Team Rocket," Meowth declared. Its human partners nodded its way before it went to where the squirtle had stood, observing the ground. Jessie and James helped it track where the group had gone. Before long they were in front of an old shack, the gang of pokemon had spread out around it, happily calling out to each other.

Jessie slammed her hand on the door of the shed, startling them. "Oh, what's this?" Meowth asked as the door was opened. It looked around the inside, seeing piles and piles of various items.

"Squirtle squirtle!" the squirtle with the sharp sunglasses, which stood at the front of the group like the leader, called.

"It's your treasures?" Meowth said.

"Well, now I think it's our treasures," Jessie said with a grin.

"I suppose there might be some useful things in there," James commented, though it all seemed like an overwhelming amount of junk.

"Even if there's not, it all belongs to us now," Jessie declared. As she spoke, the group of squirtle surrounded Meowth, ready to attack.

The feline pokemon wasn't concerned at all, closing its eyes and smiling as it lifted up a claw. "Jessie and James, if you will," it said.

"Go, Lickitung!"

"Go, Weepinbell!"

The two pokemon were released in turn. Weepinbell approached the pokemon, who backed off, while Lickitung gave two of them a lick, causing them to shiver and fall over, paralyzed. "They've got more pokemon than that, too," Meowth informed. "You don't have a chance against us. We're thieving you thieves!"

"Squirtle!" the leader called.

"Hm?" Meowth opened its eyes and focused on the pokemon in front of it. The squirtle had just insulted any pokemon that would fall over itself for human's benefit. "Ha ha!" Meowth gave a mocking laugh. "You still don't get it, do you? I don't serve these humans, these humans serve me."

"Excuse me?" Jessie said.

"Squirtle squirtle?" The leader squirtle approached Meowth, tapping its shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Yeah. I guess we're comrades." Meowth turned around briefly, winking at Jessie and James. "Maybe we should team up."

The leader squirtle peered around at the others before responding to Meowth. "Squirtle! Squirtle, squirtle!"

"Huh?" Meowth stepped back, scowling. "I just gave you such a nice offer."

"What did it say?" James asked.

"It said we can join Team Squirtle instead, since they're the best thieves in the world," Meowth informed before turning back and shouting at the pokemon. "You little punks would be lucky to join Team Rocket! Maybe we'd even give you some uniforms, so you could really be cool."

"Squirtle." The leader squirtle tapped its shell before running its hand over its head. "Squirtle!" it touched its cheeks. The other squirtle laughed loudly.

"No way!" Meowth shouted. "We don't need fake squirtle shells or our heads shaved, or blue makeup!" The squirtle just laughed more and louder as Meowth used human words to describe what the rocket agents might do to better fit in Team Squirtle.

"Nothing's touching my hair!" Jessie declared.

"They still aren't taking us seriously," James observed.

"They still think they're better thieves than us. That we can't be better just by stealing from them once." Meowth frowned, then suddenly smiled. "I know a way we can solve this. There's one heist we haven't been able to pull off yet." Meowth pulled Squirtle closer. "There's this pikachu we haven't been able to steal. It's got a twerpy little trainer who travels with these two gym leaders."

"Squirtle? Squirtle squirtle!" The leader described the group with the pikachu they'd come across the previous day.

Meowth grinned as the pokemon went on. "That's the guy! And the pikachu. If you can steal that pikachu, you'd be master thieves, surpassing even us."

"Oh, right." Jessie nodded. "If you could get that pikachu in a nice little cage."

"Trapped where it can't run away or attack," James added.

"Squirtle squirtle." The leader smirked. It wasn't any problem at all for thieves like Team Squirtle. "Squirtle!" it called to its teammates, motioning them to the road. The group they'd seen had to be relatively close by, so they should go and find them. The group of squirtle hopped off.

"It would be nice to have a powerful pokemon for Mondo to take back to the boss when we get to Vermilion," Jessie commented as they left.

"The boss isn't expecting anything, so it would just be a bonus." James grinned.

"Ha! We got time, let's see if these little thieves can come through for us," Meowth suggested. Its human partners nodded in agreement.

"Excuse me." Brock called as he walked up to the koban, Misty and Ash behind him.

"Yes?" An attractive young woman in a police uniform stepped out to greet them.

"Ah..." Brock felt lost for words as he stared at her.

Misty rolled her eyes. "Why do you always get like this?" she muttered, stepping in front of him. "We just wanted to report a theft. Some squirtle stole from us while a different one distracted us."

"Oh, the Squirtle Squad again," the officer said with a sigh. "I'm so sorry about that... I know where they take things, if you'd like to go get them back. We're still trying to deal with them, we aren't sure what to do."

"Is someone using them to commit crimes?" Misty asked.

"Oh, no. They do steal things, but they just like playing tricks," the officer said. "If you walked up to where they've been hanging out, they might even give you back what they took. Sometimes they take things and move them to a funny spot, like propping my megaphone by a statue. They're harmless."

"Even if you say that, they are committing crimes. Are you going to do anything about it?" Misty asked.

The officer closed her eyes and sighed. "They're part of the community. Everyone here feels sorry for them, since they were abandoned by their trainers."

"More pokemon abandoned by their trainers?" Brock broke into the conversation. As the officer and Misty turned his way, he put up his hand. "Sorry, we've just seen a lot of that."

"Right. Well, I suppose you're pokemon trainers," the officer continued, nodding at Pikachu by Ash's feet. "So don't think I'm speaking down to trainers in general, but there just seems to be so many that start out, then can't compete, and leave their pokemon somewhere."

"I'd never do that," Ash said.

"Of course! I know there are many responsible trainers as well. I just think there should be a better system for taking care of pokemon of trainers who drop out. I even had a trainer dump another squirtle here when he heard there was a group of them. It's cruel to the pokemon, and irresponsible to put the burden on the community." The officer grimaced, then smiled at Misty. "So that's why I haven't done anything about catching or relocating the Squirtle Squad yet. The people who live here have decided to be kind to them. We'll think of something soon."

"Oh." Misty nodded, accepting the explanation. The officer then gave them directions to the Squirtle Squad's hangout. "This is a real pain in the butt," Misty commented as they walked along. "But I feel sorry for those pokemon too. So I guess I wouldn't know what to do either."

"It's a difficult situation," Brock said.

"If someone stops being a trainer in Pallet Town, Professor Oak just takes their pokemon," Ash said.

"He hands them out, the first ones to each trainer at least, so that's the responsible thing to do," Brock said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu called in irritation at the conversation as it recalled its less than pleasant time at Oak Ranch.

"I know, Pikachu," Misty began. "More people that deal with trainers should be thinking about what happens to pokemon after they're done being trained." Misty stopped, seeing a well-defined line of squirtle ahead, sunglasses on each of their faces. They spread out across the dirt path, blocking the travelers' way.

Ash stepped forward. "We've been looking for you guys," he said. "We want our stuff back!"

The lead squirtle that had entertained them the previous day stepped forward. "Squirtle, squirtle," it said, holding up its arms as if to shrug.

"We caught you, so don't even pretend it wasn't you," Ash said.

"You'll give us what you took, right?" Brock asked, recalling what the officer had said.

"Squirtle, squirtle." The squirtle shook its head as its friends laughed.

"I think she was a little nice when describing this group," Misty said with irritation.

"Maybe you want a battle," Ash said. Pikachu hopped ahead of him as he stepped forward.

"Squirtle!" The lead squirtle stepped in front of Pikachu. The others followed, on each side. All at once, they used water gun. Pikachu cried as it was hit by the coordinated simultaneous attacks. Afterward, the lead squirtle used skull bash, flinging itself forward and smashing its head into the small electric type.

"Hey, Pikachu!" Ash ran forward to try and help his pokemon. Before he got there, the pokemon had picked it up, and ran ahead of them down the path. "Hey! You stop right there, Squirtle Squad!" Ash ran ahead, turning off the established path and into the woods before losing sight of them. "Pikachu? Pikachu?" he called for his pokemon. After searching frantically for a while on and around the path, he ran into Brock and Misty.

"There you are," Misty said.

"Have you seen Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"We had to find you first!" Misty exclaimed.

"Come on, Ash," Brock looked at the map as he turned back in the direction of the established path. "I assume those squirtle might have taken Pikachu back to where the officer told us they take everything."

"Pika," Pikachu called in a muted distress as it came to, frowning. It was in a bird cage, hardly comfortable with no room for it to lie down. It was on a table, the wall of the shed to one side. Pikachu's captors stood laughing and joking nearby, taking things in and out of the small shed. "Pikachu!" Pikachu called out harshly now.

"Squirtle squirtle?" the squirtle with the pointy, cracked sunglasses that had tricked them the other day peeked behind the door, then smiled widely. "Squirtle squirtle!" it invited Pikachu to relax. The other squirtle soon echoed the sentiments.

"Pikachu." Pikachu turned its head away. Of course it couldn't relax in circumstances like this, in a place like this.

"Squirtle squirtle!" The pokemon's calls implied they were just playing a fun game. "Squirtle squirtle!" It sat down next to the cage, patting Pikachu's back. "Squirtle!" Perhaps this was the only time Pikachu might get to relax, dealing with such a dopey trainer, it implied.

"Pikachu." Pikachu turned away. "Pikapi, pikachu." It didn't really consider Ash its trainer at all.

"Squirtle, squirtle!" The squirtle laughed, apparently not believing Pikachu at all. Pikachu had been running around right by Ash, after all. The other squirtle also started to call and chatter as they crowded around the cage. Pikachu was a trainer-reliant pokemon that obviously adored said trainer, jumping to do anything he said. Maybe it should learn to be more independent.

"Pika, pikachu!" Pikachu declared it was a pokemon that didn't need to rely on humans at all, much less a trainer. Maybe they'd like to see evidence of that, it decided, getting ready to attack. Some of the squirtle ran away from the cage as they saw Pikachu's cheeks spark, but they weren't in time. "Pika CHU!" Pikachu used the thundershock attack, easily reaching all of them. "Pika," it called in satisfaction as it saw they had all fallen down.

"Squirtle, squirtle." The squirtle leader adjusted its sunglasses as it stood. It had to admit Pikachu was pretty powerful. "Squirtle!" it called in mock pain, shaking and convulsing purposefully before it fell down. It stood back up and did the same again as the squirtle around its laughed. Pikachu had to laugh at the exaggerated show as well. "Squirtle, squirtle." The squirtle called as it stopped its act and sat by the cage. Pikachu should be alright once its trainer was done with it, Squirtle predicted.

"Pika, pikapi?" What made Squirtle think Ash would be done with it ever?

"Squirtle, squirtle." Squirtle waved its hand dismissively. On TV and in stadiums were a small group of elite humans who trained their pokemon well and got super powerful. "Squirtle," it called as it continued to explain how those visions weren't really like how human and pokemon relationships worked out in real life. "Squirtle squirtle! Squirtle." Humans and pokemon could hang out together for a while, but it mostly didn't work out, as humans were fragile, scared things that didn't know what to do with them. It was better to accept that, and enjoy whatever they had when they had it.

"Pika." Pikachu sat down as well as it could in the cramped cage. Was that what this pokemon thought? Even considering its beliefs gave Pikachu a light feeling. How nice it must be to be this laid-back about what really wasn't a very nice reality. Bulbasaur and the pokemon with it had been angry, Charmander had been shocked and saddened, while this squirtle just relaxed and acted like it was fine, taking bad news as it came. Pikachu frowned as it thought of what its trainer had done. It couldn't dismiss that, consider such things natural and inevitable like this other pokemon had.

"Squirtle!" The pokemon interrupted Pikachu's thoughts, holding a small white ball, which it tossed up as if it were a pokeball. "Squirtle, squirt!" it called, getting ready to throw the pokeball out like a human trainer. It slipped and fell, the ball going up in the air before falling back down on its head. "Squirtle, squirtle." It got up, pretending nothing had happened as the other squirtle laughed. "Squirtle!" it called to one.

"Squirtle!" The other squirtle stood at attention as if it were the leader's own pokemon getting ready to battle.

"Squirtle, squirtle!" The lead squirtle ordered the other to try thunderbolt.

"Squirtle!" The pokemon being ordered did a pratfall. Of course squirtle couldn't learn thunderbolt.

Pikachu laughed along with the rest of the squirtle, then enjoyed as they performed other bad trainer antics. When they were done, the lead squirtle with cracked lens approached Pikachu again. "Squirtle, squirtle?"

"Pika?" Pikachu called in surprise. Squirtle wanted to know if it felt better. Apparently the show had been to cheer Pikachu up. "Pikachu!" Pikachu confirmed. It really couldn't stay sad for long around this rowdy, amusing bunch. Though it was still in a cage, it felt a lot better, more relaxed.

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed as he approached with Misty and Brock behind him, noticing his pokemon in the cage on the table. As he went to get it, the various squirtle lined up to block him. "Out of my way!" Ash shouted in annoyance. "Give Pikachu back!"

"Ash, just let them-" Misty began.

"How about we don't give Pikachu back," Meowth interrupted. It grinned, standing with Jessie and James to either side of it, coming from the other side of the shed.

"What do you know? These annoying pokemon actually did it," Jessie noted.

"We'll be taking Pikachu back to base," James declared, walking over to pick the cage up.

"Good job, Team Squirtle," Meowth began. "You can be an agent pokemon in Team Rocket like me! You won't have to be a basic grunt to start, either."

"No way!" Ash said. "Squirtle Squad... Team Squirtle... You're really that bad after all?!" Ash reached in his pocket to get Bulbasaur's pokeball.

Before he did, Squirtle hopped on the table where Pikachu's cage had just rested. "Squirtle!" it declared, reaching over to James and unlatching the door to Pikachu's prison. "Squirtle, squirtle!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu happily hopped out of the cage before James realized what was happening.

"What?" The assisted escape didn't escape Meowth's eyes. "How could you?" it demanded. James shouted in dismay, now noticing Pikachu's weight had disappeared from the now empty object was holding. "You think this makes you the world's greatest thieves?" Meowth said.

"Squirtle squirtle," Squirtle mocked as peeked out from the top of its cracked sunglasses. They were better than Meowth and its minions, anyway. Team Squirtle had stolen the pokemon that Team Rocket had failed to, even if they'd turned around and willingly given it back later.

"Squirtle!" The other squirtle danced around, agreeing.

"Pikachu," Pikachu added its own agreement.

"That's it!" Meowth stomped a foot on the ground. "You had your chance to join the greatest organization in the world, and you blew it! Jessie, James, get ready to teach these lunch stealing pokemon a lesson!"

Just as Meowth spoke, Jessie and James released all four of their pokemon. The squirtle started to scatter. Their leader looked around, not noticing a convenient place to hide before it came face-to-face with Lickitung. Backing up, it saw Weepinbell behind it. Koffing floated above, and Ekans slithered from the side. "Squirtle!" Squirtle called in its distress, but couldn't see its allies anywhere. Suddenly, a large figure stepped in front of him, arms outstretched.

"Leave it alone!" Ash shouted. "Squirtle doesn't want to join Team Rocket."

"Ash, step back!" Brock shouted.

"Get off the battlefield before you get hurt, you idiot!" Misty warned.

"Listen to your friends and move away," James said, hesitating from ordering his pokemon.

"Pokemon battles aren't a brat's playground!" Jessie added.

"I'll step back when you do! Stop bullying these abandoned pokemon to get them to do bad things!" Ash said, still not moving.

"Squirtle." Squirtle had a wry smile as it observed its foolish protector. It recalled previous events when it had defended its buffoon of a trainer from various large threats. Now, this boy thought he would do the same for Squirtle itself? There was something endearing about that, but as a pokemon, Squirtle certainly couldn't stand still and do nothing. "Squirtle squirtle!" It ran around the human, head first, flinging itself toward Lickitung, which gave a funny shout in surprise as it was hit with the skull bash attack. "Squirtle!" Squirtle called in amusement, spinning around, then hitting Ekans with its water gun attack. It looked to the sky, seeing its floating opponent.

"You can do it, Squirtle!" Ash encouraged as he finally reached a safe distance from the battle.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle called as it hopped up, shooting an additional water gun attack right in Koffing's face. As it battled, the other squirtle ganged up on Weepinbell, following one skull bash after another before the grass type had any room to react. James soon shouted out and returned it. At the same time, Misty released Starmie, Brock Geodude, and Ash Pidgeotto.

"We're outmatched," Jessie realized. "Let's get out of here!" The rockets returned their pokemon to their pokeballs and fled. Brock and Misty watched before returning their own.

"That was really dangerous, Ash," Misty said, Brock nodding in agreement.

"I know, I just had to do something," Ash said.

"Next time, try something else. Sending out one of your pokemon should be your first inclination," Brock said.

"Yeah. You're right, I get it," Ash said before leaning down, looking at the squirtle he'd defended. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Squirtle, squirtle." Squirtle nodded its head with a cool smile.

"I didn't know Team Rocket was using you guys," Ash frowned as he spoke.

"Squirtle! Squirtle, squirtle!" the leader squirtle declared as its teammates surrounded it, cheering.

Brock sighed, the previous tension leaving as they observed the cheerful pokemon. "I think the squirtle are thanking you," he said.

"Pi pika," Pikachu called with a laugh. Of course, the squirtle were all congratulating themselves for defending their reputation as the world's best thieves. "Pika pika," it called, deciding to congratulate them as well, even though it had been what was stolen to apparently prove that.

"You're welcome, Squirtle!" Ash said. "But..."

"We came back to get what you stole!" Misty reminded.

The squirtle ran off, bouncing back with various items, including Brock's ladle. They held them up to the humans to return them. Eventually, a squirtle walked up with its arms extended, Misty's bikini top over its eyes. "Squirtle... squirtle..." it joked, as if it couldn't see.

"Hey! That's important!" Misty said, quickly grabbing it. As she did, it revealed Squirtle's eyes. "Oh!" Misty exclaimed. Both Ash and Brock also looked before it quickly put back on its pointy, cracked sunglasses. "Squirtle, wait!" Misty said. "You're cute without that on."

"Squirtle?" Squirtle didn't seem to mind the compliment. "Squirtle." It folded its arms and turned around.

As all the items were returned, the squirtle began to go back toward the path. They pushed the legs of the humans and held up Pikachu as they moved. "Hey," Ash said. "You want to show us something?"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu echoed the question.

"I guess we'll just go see," Misty said.

They ended up in the same town they'd come from, the officer from the koban there along with several other people. Several tables were set out, including lower, pokemon-sized ones. Various humans walked around. There was a pot full of stew, and the squirtle all hopped on pokemon-sized seats, putting Pikachu on one at the end.

"Oh, hello," the officer said. "I didn't know we'd see you again. Did the squirtle give you back what you were missing?"

"Yeah, we got it all back," Ash replied.

One of the squirtle grabbed the ladle in the pot, getting some of the food in the pot before it hopped down and offered it to Ash. Others soon did the same for Brock and Misty. "What's this?" Misty asked.

"We try to give the Squirtle Squad some food every afternoon until we figure out what to do with them," a lady in a hairnet said.

"So, you thought you'd give us some food... That someone else made?" Misty pointed out.

The townspeople laughed. "It's cute. It's fine, have some," they said.

"I'll share some as well." Brock took off his backpack. He had several containers of pokemon food especially for water types that Misty had helped make for her own pokemon. The trainers sent out their own pokemon. The townspeople observed the unfamiliar pokemon as they ate, and the squirtle played with them after finishing their food.

"Thanks for the food, we really appreciate it," Misty said to their hosts.

"No problem, it's like a festival today!" one of the people commented. "We're glad to see trainers that care for their pokemon."

"Of course we do," Misty said.

"Please, continue to set an example."

"I know I will," Ash said with a smile. He observed his bulbasaur and charmander interacting with all the squirtle. Bulbasaur was resting as they prodded it, occasionally calling out in response. Charmander was more animated, calling out regularly as they chattered on and joked with it.

"Ash," Brock said to get the boy's attention. "We really should go."

"Okay. Come on, guys," Ash said. He called each of his pokemon's names in turn, returning them before he joined Misty and Brock who were already ready to go. "Bye all you squirtle!" he called. "Be good! Don't let Team Rocket turn you bad."

"Squirtle!" a pokemon called, hopping in front of him. "Squirtle, squirtle." It threw a rock like a trainer throwing a pokeball, then touched itself, looking up at Ash.

"Oh?" the officer joined them. "I think Squirtle wants to go with you."

"You do?" Ash said.

"Pika pikapi?" Pikachu asked.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle jumped up, looking at Ash. "Squirtle, squirtle," it called to Pikachu. Traveling with a trainer that thought he needed to hop to protect his pokemon might get interesting, Squirtle reasoned.

"Is it okay?" Ash looked to the officer.

"I think it's great," the officer replied. "I know these pokemon, some of them, have trouble trusting humans. If it wants to go and you're willing to take care of it, you should."

"I won't just take care of you," Ash promised, looking down at Squirtle with a smile. "If you come with me, we're gonna have a lot of battles. We'll get all the badges we need and win the league."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle jumped up happily at the idea of their future competitive success. "Squirtle." It looked at Pikachu, commenting it wasn't going to count on that though. "Squirtle, squirtle." However, it would still have as much fun as it could.

"Alright." Ash dug in his backpack, finding the last empty pokeball he had on hand. "Squirtle! I'm gonna catch you!" Ash threw the pokeball. It wiggled once before going still, flashing to indicate the capture was completed. "Alright! I caught a squirtle! I've got a full team of six pokemon now."

Misty sighed, turning away. "That was nice for Squirtle to let you catch it like that."

"It didn't... Well, I guess it did," Ash admitted, frowning. "That doesn't matter. I've still got another great pokemon on my team."

Misty and Brock both nodded in agreement. Ash put the pokeball of the newly caught pokemon in his backpack, ready to continue his journey.

End notes: And now we end the starter pokemon intro chapters! Which was your favorite of the three? Does it match which one is your favorite of the three pokemon?

Next chapter: Ash vs. Lt. Surge
(If you're keeping track, yes, I skip Bill and this time won't be going back. Time for another gym battle!)