Chapter 10

Elation could not be the word to even begin to describe how Ash was feeling. Walking ahead of Brock, he was marching proudly and loudly humming along to a song that could only be heard in his head. He had added two more Pokémon to his team, and they were quite powerful and loyal Pokémon that he knew would be strong assets to his journey.

While Ash's happiness was pushing and striving him forward, Brock didn't seem to be too thrilled about how Ash was acting, and typically as he did when the younger boy acted this way, the Pokémon Breeder lingered behind and hoping that they didn't pass anyone on the way there. It seemed that nothing could bring Ash down.

A loud crunch grabbed both of their attentions, and Ash looked down to see his foot had somehow crashed through the dirt path beneath him. His brow furrowed in confusion and he blinked as though he couldn't believe his eyes. As he looked down at his foot buried up to his ankle in confusion, Brock caught up with him, and the two stared down at Ash's buried foot in silence. But as Ash opened his mouth to say something, the ground beneath them suddenly collapsed, and Ash had to quickly close his mouth so his stomach didn't fly out of it. Before he knew it, he crash landed on the ground with Brock sprawled out beside him.

The hole was barely wide enough for the two of them, but went pretty deep – about six feet underground. The chain of events had happened so quickly that they both sat there with their limbs tangled together in the air like onion shoots. "Ow! I landed on my head!" Brock exclaimed, his voice echoing in the small cavern. Untangling from each other, they stood, with Ash rubbing his aching backside from where he had landed, and Brock looked up where the blue sky could be seen above like it was through a camera lens. "It must be a prank."

"Who would play such a rotten trick?" Ash questioned, but his question was answered when laughing voices appeared above him, and they looked up to see five Squirtle all wearing sunglasses looking down at them and laughing loudly.

"Who are you?!" Brock yelled.

"Yeah, what's so funny?" Ash shouted, and the Squirtle only continued to laugh before ducking their heads away from the hole. Angered by their laughter, Ash quickly climbed up the side of the hole by digging footholds in the side of it. "Dangerous practical jokes are nothing to laugh about!" As he and Brock fully climbed out of the hole, the five Squirtle all continued to laugh. Now that he was finally on his feet, Ash pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the button in the center, making it grow to the size of a softball. "Go, Wartortle!" The Poké Ball flew from his fingertips, and a burst of light only followed by Wartortle's appearance came out from inside. The five Squirtle stopped laughing immediately, and looked at their evolved form with hesitation.

Without waiting for an order, Wartortle pulled in a breath and let out a blast of water from its mouth at the Squirtle in the middle of the group, the only one with the pointed sunglasses. The Squirtle hesitated, but one of its lackeys dove in front of the attack while at the same time pushing the leader out of the way. The Squirtle with the smaller, round sunglasses took the attack, and was knocked onto its back. "Squirtle Squirtle!" the leader said to the fallen lackey, and then growled at Wartortle. The Turtle Pokémon didn't let down its guard, and only smirked at it while Squirtle stepped over its fallen comrade and glared at Wartortle through its sunglasses. The two Pokémon stared down each other, each of them growling back and forth in an attempt to intimidate the other one while slowly stepping towards one another. Finally, they stopped inches apart, with Squirtle looking up at Wartortle with its chest out and arms flexing downward.

A siren sounded far in the distance, and was getting closer and closer from the sounds of it, which broke through the silence in the dirt trail. Squirtle heard this and his head perked up, and it frowned before turning back to the other members of its gang. "Squirtle Squirtle, Squirtle Squirtle," it commanded, and the three Squirtle behind it picked up their fallen comrade.

"Squirtle!" they said simultaneously, and as quickly as they appeared, they darted away, moving so fast that they left behind a dust trail, and beyond that, the group of three staring with pondered looks on their faces.

"War?" Wartortle murmured while its Trainer took a step forward.

"That was sure weird," Ash agreed, and the siren was soon on top of them, followed by screeching of tires and skidding against rocks. They turned around, and much to Ash's surprise, the police officer from Viridian City was skidding up to them.

"Are you guys all right? Has anyone been hurt here?" she asked with concern.

"Officer Jenny!" Ash said, a smile curling his mouth as he looked at the familiar face, but she only gave back a look of confusion.

"Huh? Have we met before? Your face doesn't look familiar."

"I met you back in Viridian City, remember?" Soon, realization lit up her eyes, and she chuckled lightly.

"Oh, you mean one of the other Jennys, my cousin," she said, kicking down the kickstand on her motorcycle and propping it to the ground as she swung her leg off it.

"Cousin?"

"My cousins are all police officers," she explained, searching through her pack strapped securely to her hip. "All of us look identical, plus we're all named Jenny." She produced a photograph and held it forward, and in the picture, there were many of the cerulean-haired police officers all dressed in their uniform. Some had smiles on their faces while others looked more stern, and some saluted the camera whereas others looked more bashful. But, either way, they all looked the same.

"Talk about family resemblance!" Ash joked as she put away the photograph. With that out of the way, Officer Jenny looked down at the pitfall that Ash and Brock had fallen down just moments before, and shook her head.

"I was right. That's definitely the work of the Squirtle Squad," she sighed.

"Squirtle Squad?" Ash repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Do you mean that group of Squirtle that were laughing at us? Were they the ones that dug that trap hole?"

"You got it," she confirmed with a nod, giving a glance at Ash's Wartortle as he recalled it back into its Poké Ball. "Why don't you come with me to the station so you can fill out a report for me? And I'll explain to you when we get there." Ash and Brock agreed, and through Brock hurried to try and get on the back of the bike behind Jenny, she pointed beside her. "You're taller, so you'll have more room on the sidecar.

"Oh... okay..." the Pokémon Breeder muttered in defeat, watching with strange envy that Ash was oblivious to as the younger boy climbed up behind the police officer as she started the motorcycle once again.

o 0 o

The police station was at the edge of the town that Ash and Brock were initially heading too, so it quite worked out that they ran into Jenny, as the motorcycle trip cut an extra fifteen minutes of walking off their journey. Located amongst a few houses with large yards since it wasn't near a whole lot of populace, it resembled the police station he had walked by in Viridian City all those weeks ago: a round building that was painted and designed to look as though it were wearing an officer's cap over the top of it.

As Ash and Brock finished writing out their reports, Officer Jenny was inputting them into the computer as she explained. "That Pokémon gang calls itself the Squirtle Squad."

"Squirtle Squad?"

"They're all Squirtles who were deserted by their Pokémon Trainers," Jenny elaborated with a saddened look on her face.

Ash mirrored this look as his heart panged with sadness, thinking back to his Charmander. "Deserted?"

"They don't have a Trainer, so they just run wild and play tricks on the whole town," Officer Jenny continued. She let out a sigh and stopped typing before looking back at the screen, but her eyes not focusing on the light at all. "It's really kind of sad, because if they'd had somebody to care about them, they wouldn't have turned out to be as bad as they are." Ash and Brock were quiet as they looked at the ground, the wounds still fresh from Charmander's capture just a few days ago still underneath the bandage of time. "It's a real shame."

The silence lingered the small, circular police station before Jenny cleared her throat and stood up. "Well, in any case, I thank you for your report, and please enjoy your stay here in Cobbay Town. And if you hear from the Squirtle Squad, please let us know right away." The cerulean-haired police officer walked them outside, and they said their good-byes as she gave them a salute, and the two Pokémon Trainers headed towards town.

o 0 o

Cobbay Town was a very tiny town that didn't even have a Pokémon Center. But it was a good stopping place that didn't require them to be on the road. The entire town basically was built on either side of a long dirt road with old wooden buildings. It resembled some of the towns that would be in those old western movies that Ash used to watch occasionally when his mom wasn't home. Though upon further inspection, he could see some parts of the buildings that were newly remodeled or painted over with shades that were too dark or too light, most likely from vandalism by the hands of the Squirtle Squad. He also noticed a lot of the small shops and local farmer's stands had pictures of a Squirtle with a cross through it, as if it were a charm to keep away the Water Pokémon. He frowned – as someone who chose Squirtle as his first Pokémon, he wasn't very happy at the reputation the Squirtle Squad was giving the Water Pokémon.

Sensing Ash's discomfort, Brock offered to completely pass through town, but still find a place to rest their aching feet since Cobbay didn't have a Pokémon Center for them to stop at. Ash agreed, and soon enough, they found themselves passing through with the other side of the town a little ways behind them. A huge river flowed steadily along the side of the road at the bottom of a grassy hill, and with the sun so peacefully shining without a cloud in the sky, Ash and Brock decided to just take the time and lay in the sun to give their feet a rest.

The time slipped by quickly, with Ash's cap tipped over his eyes to provide shade from his eyes while his leg crossed over his other leg. Rest was just as important to a Pokémon Trainer as training itself was. Not that he did much of the latter anyways.

Their relaxation was put to an end, however, when soon, bubbles could be heard from the river, cutting through the silence. The odd noise snapped Ash out of his half-sleep stupor, and even Brock lifted his head. Their eyes scanning the river, they saw in the slow-moving stream that just beyond the shoreline was a small blue head barely poking out of the water. It almost blended in with the water reflecting the sky above, had it not been for the round sunglasses it was wearing over its eyes.

The pair of Pokémon Trainers barely had any time to react before the Squirtle raised its head fully out of the water and pulled in a deep breath before releasing a powerful Water Gun on them. It was a much wider range than Ash's Wartortle could pull off, and easily soaked both of them in one blast while they gurgled in the jet. When it let up on its attack, Ash and Brock's clothes were sticking to their bodies, and their hair hung down and around their face. The looks on their faces made laughter erupt from Squirtle, and it jumped out of the water and landed on the road above. Shaking his face free from excess water, Ash growled and clambered his way up the hill and glared angrily at the Water-type.

"I've had enough of your pranks, Squirtle!" Ash declared, and pulled out a Poké Ball. "It's out of the water now. Bulbasaur!" He threw the newly-drawn Poké Ball in front of him, and it burst open, releasing the Grass-type from inside it.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur cried as it appeared. Seeing the Grass-type, Squirtle didn't flinch at all, and as Brock joined them on the road, Ash was declaring his first move.

"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!" Lowering its head in a battle position and raising its back slightly, two vines shot out from underneath the bulb on its back and snaked out towards Squirtle. The Water Pokémon easily maneuvered through the two vines, bouncing from one foot and bounding forward, then the other, and when it had dodged both vines, it let out a cry and shot forward through the air. As it soared through the air, it tucked its limbs into its shell and began to spin as it continued soaring at Bulbasaur. The attack struck Bulbasaur hard like a hockey puck being knocked into the net, and Bulbasaur let out a high-pitch cry of pain as the attack took it off its feet and sent it flying backwards.

"Saaaauuuurrrr!"

"Oh, Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed, his mouth falling open as the Bulbasaur flew through the air and didn't stop until it splashed in the water and disappeared beneath the surface. No sooner had Bulbasaur disappeared beneath the water's surface, but from the middle of the stream, a Goldeen jumped out of the water, and had its elegant gaze settled on the spot where Bulbasaur had now surfaced. Panic bounced around in Ash's chest as he knew the Goldeen was swimming right towards the Bulb Pokémon beneath the water. "Swim to shore, Bulbasaur! Hurry up!" His Pokémon heard the panic in his voice, and paddled as fast as it could, but Ash knew at the speed it was going it wouldn't out-speed the Water-type who could only move in the water. "Faster, faster!" Bulbasaur was now breathing heavily, and moving as fast as it could, but a pillar of water rose up around it and Bulbasaur was thrown into the air. As Ash let out a cry of horror, Bulbasaur let out a squeal as it flew through the air, and underneath it, Goldeen had jabbed its horn into its stomach.

Both Ash and Brock gasped as the Goldeen disappeared beneath the surface of the water once again, and Bulbasaur flopped onto the ground with its face in the grass in pain. "Bulbasaur!" Just as the Pokémon Trainer took a step forward to run up to his Pokémon, a sudden pressure around his arms bound them to the sides of his body, and he was frozen in place before pulled backwards. And he knew exactly what had happened as he grunted and turned his head. "They got us..." he muttered, seeing that Brock was also cow-tied with rope as well. Behind them, having come out from their hiding spots in the trees, the other remaining members of the Squirtle Squad were holding the ropes while the leader gave them a smirk.

"Squirtle." With the leader's command, the two Squirtle holding the ropes spun around and around Ash and Brock, succeeding in binding the two Trainers together in one bundle. The leader of the Squirtle Squad began to laugh, and the others soon followed.

"Untie us, Squirtle!" Brock shouted.

"This isn't funny!" Ash added, taking another look at Bulbasaur, who was panting against the ground and covered in bruises. Contrary to what he said, the Squirtle all laughed and all gathered together. It seemed to be as far as their prank went, as the Squirtle turned shell and started to walk away.

"Ash, Bulbasaur's in bad shape," Brock observed, and Ash tried to look at him, but their backs were together and instead his gaze focused on his Pokémon. "We've got to heal Bulbasaur with Super Potion before it's too late!"

"But we don't have any Super Potion! What can we do?" Ash questioned.

"A shop in town sells it," Brock answered, remembering one from their walk through the town behind them.

"In town?!" he exclaimed, and then turned his head towards the Squirtle who were walking away. "Squirtle Squad, please! You've got to let us go and go into town! If I don't get medicine, Bulbasaur's in a lot of trouble." The Squirtle Squad stopped upon his shouts, and one of the lackeys turned around and started yelling at Ash.

"Squirtle Squirtle, Squirtle Squirtle!" it said, but the leader held out its arm as it saw tears starting to brim at the bottoms of Ash's eyelids.

"I'm begging you. Please..." he said with his voice breaking, and lowered his head as tears fell down his cheeks. The Squirtle Squad leader looked at Ash, and then back at the Bulbasaur on the grassy hill. Turning all the way around, Squirtle's arm disappeared in its shell and it produced a switch blade that it tossed by Ash's feet. The Squirtle behind it seemed surprised, but dared not say anything to their leader as they exchanged looks, and finally, Squirtle and the rest of the them disappeared in the woods.

His arms were tied up and he was unable to wipe the tears from his face, so he just sniffled and cleared his throat before getting to work on trying to get the switchblade. "Brock, are your hands out of the ropes?" Behind him, he could feel Brock's body wiggling like a worm.

"I can probably... get them out of the bottom... if I just try..."

"Good, I'm going to kick the switchblade your way." Brock went still so that Ash could lean back. Tongue glued to the roof of his mouth, he stretched his leg out as far as he could, and after a couple tries, was able to get the switchblade within reach. It spun slightly, but with a well-aimed kick, it clattered across the dirt and near Brock. Shifting back and forth, Brock and Ash moved so Brock's free hand could grab the switchblade, and then he pressed the button to free the blade and went to work on the rope.

He could feel the shaking of Brock's body from moving his wrist delicately back and forth, but trying to go as fast as he could for Bulbasaur's sake. All the while, the minutes passed like hours, and Ash's gaze was frozen on the Grass-type. Hang in there, Bulbasaur. I'll get you that Super Potion.

The ropes loosened slightly, and the Pokémon Breeder at his back let out a sigh of relief. "One down. If I get a couple more, it should free us," he assured his friend, immediately getting to work on the next ring. After a much longer time than Ash would have liked, the ropes fell into bundles at his waist, and the two finally were able to stand and untangle themselves. Letting out a sigh, Ash quickly rushed over and scooped up the Bulb Pokémon in his arms.

"Just hold on a little longer, Bulbasaur!" he attempted to reassure it as the pair took off in the direction of the town that they had come from. The Pokémon only shivered in response, and together, the three shot towards the town.

o 0 o

Some time passed, and they arrived at the bridge which they had crossed over when coming from the other direction some hours before. It looked like it could use a remodel, but since not many people used this road, perhaps the townsfolk didn't feel like it needed it. It was an old rope bridge connecting to the two cliffsides that, though there were a few boards missing, seemed sturdy enough. At least, that was the thought the last time they crossed over it. This time, they had no thoughts in their hurry, and rushed over the bridge with their feet slapping against the planks.

But Ash suddenly stopped as the bridge rocked in the air, and Brock almost ran into him and had to hold onto the ropes in support. "Look!" Ash pointed out. On the other side of the bridge with a mischievous grin on its face, one of the Squirtle Squad members was sitting on one of the posts propping up the bridge. In its hand was a switchblade similar to the one the leader had passed to Ash, and it was holding it threateningly to the rope nearest it tied to the post. From the look of the rope, the Squirtle had been doing its best to shave it down while waiting for them. "No! Squirtle, don-" His words left his throat breathlessly when a single swipe from the chuckling Squirtle severed the rope, and the bridge collapsed under their feet. For the second time that day, Ash could feel his stomach threatening to come out of his throat, and he let out a scream as he and Brock plummeted into the water below, holding onto Bulbasaur as tightly as he could so he didn't let the hurt Grass-type out of his grip.

He didn't even have time to surface for air, however, when he felt something sharp jab the seat of his pants, and it forced him up and into the air, using a free hand to clutch the spot that was now throbbing in pain. And through his cries of pain, he could barely hear "Goldeen..!" from underneath him.

o 0 o

Luckily, that seemed to be the only obstacle that the Squirtle Squad had set up. Moving down the stream while avoiding the territorial Goldeen and their Horn Attacks, Brock and Ash finally stumbled their way back into town when the sky was starting to turn shades of indigo and pink pastels. Bruised from head to toe – mostly on toe – the two limped into town, their clothes dirty and moist and feeling completely run down.

The wind blew, blowing a cloud of dust in their direction, but they paid no mind as they hobbled up the road. "That's it! That's the place!" Ash said weakly, pointing to a wooden two-story building that had 'SHOP' painted on the roof of the front porch area. Their destination finally in reach, Ash could let out a sigh of relief, and with a new spring in his step, he handed Brock Bulbasaur and rushed forward to open the front door of the shop. His bad luck had still not run out, however, as the door knob twisted as he reached out, and the door suddenly opened roughly on his face. "I beg your... pardon..." Ash moaned with pain, his eyes seeing stars as he fell backwards over the side of the porch and landed flat on his back and staring up in a daze.

The footsteps on the porch stopped suddenly, but the person who opened the door didn't seem to have heard Ash collapse, instead looking at Brock. "Hey, you're the Pewter City Gym Leader, aren't you?"

"Gary?" Ash heard Brock say, and the name snapped him out of his stupor and the Pallet Town native jumped up onto his feet, nose and chin still red from where the door had hit him.

"GARY?!" he exclaimed. The two in front of the shop both turned their head towards Ash, but Ash's brown eyes only fell upon the boy with the styled auburn hair. His eyes met with his childhood rival's, and once it settled into Gary's brain, the boy gave Ash a sneer.

"Taking a nap on the job, eh Ash?" he said. "It's no wonder I'm so far ahead of you."

"I wasn't taking a nap! You opened the door on me!" Gary really had a way of bringing out Ash's temper.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't be in the way of doors, then." Ash ground his teeth, and stomped over to Brock before snatching up the Grass Pokémon in his arms.

"I don't have time to argue with you, Gary," the black-haired boy spat. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Gary grinned as if he were hoping that Ash would ask him, and stuck his nose in the air. "The same as you, I'm sure. I was invited to this prestigious Pokémon Tournament up north. It's on its own island and everything, but you can only participate if you're invited. It really does help having a grandfather in the industry." Gary opened one of his eyes knowingly at Ash. "But wait! You weren't invited, were you? Oh, that's so sad. Little Ashy is once again bottom of the barrel."

"Bottom of the barrel?!"

"My cheerleaders have already gone ahead without me. I wanted some time to train up my Pokémon just a tiny bit before I went. I would say we could have a battle, but from the looks of that Bulbasaur, it wouldn't be considered training at all."

"I'll battle you right here, right now, Gary!" Ash yelled, but Brock grabbed the boy by the shoulders and urged him up onto the stairs.

"C'mon, the first priority is Bulbasaur, Ash," the older boy instructed.

"It's okay, Ash, I'll look down on you from the winner's circle, don't you worry!" Gary called as Brock forced Ash inside the small shop and shut the door behind him.

"Oh, that Gary..." Ash growled, but then took a deep breath and tried to think about the hurt Pokémon in his arms. While Ash let his temper simmer, Brock walked up to the front counter and asked the clerk for a Super Potion. After paying the old man, he handed him a red bottle with a yellow nozzle, and the pair headed outside.

Kneeling down to try and get all of Bulbasaur's wounds visible, Brock pointed the bottle's nozzle at Bulbasaur and sprayed the liquid onto it in various places. The medicine smelled like alcohol, and the smell filled Ash's nostrils as each spray sterilized the wounds.

A loud motorcycle approached them, and they saw Officer Jenny revving up to them, but when she saw Bulbasaur in Ash's arms, she let out a gasp. "What happened?!"

"It was the Squirtle Squad, again!" Ash explained as Brock emptied the rest of the content of the potion onto Bulbasaur and disposed of the bottle. "They've been doing nothing but terrorizing us since we've been here!"

Jenny frowned, and sadly watched as Ash recalled his Bulbasaur into its Poké Ball now that its condition had stabilized. "It must be because you're new and stuck up to their leader," she thought aloud. "Everyone yells at them when they do their antics, but they aren't Pokémon Trainers, so they don't challenge them to battles. They must see you two as a challenge of some sort."

"Yeah, well, no one hurts my Pokémon and gets away with it," Ash said sternly with anger drawing his eyebrows together. "Do you know where the Squirtle Squad hang out?"

"Well..." Jenny began, a gloved finger tracing her jawline as her auburn eyes looked to the receding sun in thought. "There is one cave on the edge of town where I think they've been staying, but it hasn't been confirmed."

"Then that's where we'll head," Ash said, looking to Brock for the older boy's support, but the Pokémon Breeder seemed to only have eyes for Officer Jenny for some reason.

"It's getting dark, and you'll only get lost," she told him. "I understand your frustration, but charging in headfirst at night will only make the situation worse." She took in a deep breath and looked troubled, but didn't voice her thoughts. "I'll show you the cave in the morning. In the meantime, there's a hotel a few houses up from here. It's a little shabby, but I'll pay for your room for the night." After much internal debate, Ash's overpowering exhaustion made the final decision, and with his Bulbasaur now stabilized, there wasn't any rush to confront the Squirtle Squad. So he agreed, and with Jenny leading the way, headed towards the hotel that she had mentioned.

o 0 o

"Just hang on!" Jenny called as her motorcycle hummed through the forest trail. Suddenly, she gasped, and the motorcycle skidded through the dirt with a screech of the brakes, and the motorcycle hummed in place as she looked down. The bridge that the Squirtle Squad had cut lay before them, hanging down on the other side of the cliff. The river below couldn't be heard over the motor of Jenny's bike, but Ash and Brock knew painfully well what lay under their eyesight. "A dead end..." Turning the handlebars of her bike, she rode along the river, following it the opposite direction that it was flowing.

Ash exchanged a look with Brock sitting in the sidecar of the motorcycle, but continued to stay quiet, relying on Jenny and that she knew where she was going. She finally veered away from the cliffside and the motorcycle clacked Ash's teeth together, and he held his grip on the police officer tighter as they ran off-terrain, bouncing over hills, rocks, and tree roots. Finally, Jenny brought the motorcycle to a stop right in front of a high plateau and kicked up the kickstand. Following her eyes, Ash could see that she was looking at a small hole in the side of it, but it wasn't very wide.

"Here's a secret entrance to the cave," she told him as the three of them peered down into the darkness.

"Gee, there's not much room," the Pokémon Trainer commented.

"The passageway's too narrow for an adult, but maybe you can squeeze through. While you go in this way, Brock and I will take the long way around to the front entrance and block them off there."

Ash smiled in response. "I can do it," he assured her, and had to duck and get on his knees in order to get inside.

"Be careful, Ash," he heard Jenny's voice echo through the passageway, and without another word, Ash continued his way down.

The passageway was not only narrow, but the ceiling hung low as well, and he had to bend his knees uncomfortably in order to navigate through. Using his left hand as a guide to make sure he was following the trail, the daylight behind him was eventually swallowed up, and it soon became too dark to even see even his own hand in front of his face. "It's too dark to see in here..." Ash muttered to himself, trying to keep quiet though his voice still reverberated through the empty cavern. Just then, an idea struck him. "Hey, I know!" He reached to his belt and retrieved a Poké Ball before holding it forward. "Charmander, I choose you!" The ball opened in his hand, and the bright energy that poured out from inside immediately filled the room, his pupils dilating from the sudden change of light, and when it faded, Charmander stood with its tail flame providing relief. He could finally see again.

"Char, char!" the Lizard Pokémon cried, waving its arms as it looked at its Trainer.

"Charmander, lead the way," Ash instructed.

"Charmander," his Pokémon agreed, and continued walking down the cavern ahead of Ash with the Pallet Town Trainer following close behind. They continued walking, not daring to make any more noise as they didn't know how much farther down the passageway went. But after quite some time, they eventually came to a dead-end that seemed to be covered up with large rocks. Recalling Charmander back into its Poké Ball, Ash's grunts bounced all around him as he tried to push the middle rock out. Eventually, he succeeded, and he leapt out of the hole he created, expecting to be bombarded right away. But when his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked around and saw the cave was empty.

"They're gone!" Ash exclaimed, but a familiar sound outside of the Squirtle grabbed Ash's attention, and he rushed outside. His eyes flinched in the daylight now pouring down, and when they adjusted, he saw the five sunglasses-wearing Squirtle all crowded in front of the entrance of the cave with their backs towards Ash, and in front of them was Gary. "Gary?! What are you doing here?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but the townsfolk were all raving about this 'Squirtle Squad', so I figured I would check them out," Gary replied, and Ash noticed that the other Pallet Town Trainer was holding a Poké Ball in his grip. "Not only that, but what kind of Pokémon Trainer would I be if I let a rare Pokémon like a Squirtle go without being captured by the great Gary Oak!"

"Squirtle Squirt!" the leader Squirtle piped up, looking back at Ash with a frown on its face.

"Wait, Gary!" Ash declared, stepping through the sea of Squirtle and holding out his arms protectively in front of them. The sneer on Gary's face shifted to one of confusion, then of anger.

"Hey, what's the big idea? Get out of the way, Ash!"

"These Squirtle play tricks on the townsfolk, and they've been making us miserable ever since we came here, but it's only because they don't trust Pokémon Trainers! These Squirtle have all been abandoned by their Trainers, and capturing them against their will is only make them hate humans more!" The Squirtle all looked up at Ash in awe, while Gary looked astonished.

"Just because you're too chicken to capture them doesn't mean I'm going to be!" Ash's rival called, and reared his hand holding the Poké Ball back. But suddenly, he stopped, and his eyes looked the sky towards his left. "Hey, what's that?"

The smell of smoke filled Ash's nostrils, and Ash immediately knew it wasn't a trick. Eyes following Gary's line of sight, he could see smoke rising from the forest. Crackling from the wood popping filled their ears, and immediately, they knew that a fire had broken out. Behind them, a motorcycle's engine could be heard approaching, and Officer Jenny and Brock skidded up to the scene, their mouths open, and Brock jumped up and stood with the two other Pokémon Trainers.

"A fire!" Brock exclaimed. "This could quickly turn into a wildfire and spread through the whole forest!"

"If it keeps burning, the whole town could go up in smoke!" Jenny added.

"Don't worry Jenny, I've got an idea," Ash said to her with a smile. Jenny seemed almost taken aback, and then Ash looked down at the Squirtle Squad. "Listen, if you Squirtles work together, you can combine your Water Guns to put out the fire!" The Squirtle all nodded at him, and together, they all ran out into the forest with Ash in the lead.

They located the fire by following the thick smoke rising like a signal, and it seemed to be spreading fairly quickly. Drawing a Poké Ball from his belt, Ash pressed the center button and threw it forward. "Wartortle, I choose you!" In a flash, his Wartortle appeared and looked to Ash for directions.

"Wartor!"

"Wartortle, work together with the Squirtle Squad and use your Water Gun with theirs to put out the flames!" he instructed. Wartortle nodded, and made eye contact with the leader before the Squirtle all spread out and got to work. Each of them facing a different flame, they all shot out water from their mouths, and the fire hissed steam as the water struck it. Sweat was pouring down Ash's face from the intense heat, but he knew he had to stick it out. If his Pokémon and the Squirtle could take it, he could too.

"Geodude, go!" a voice called, and a flash of light behind Ash grabbed the boy's attention. A small rock Pokémon with long arms appeared, and much to Ash's surprise, the Geodude didn't belong to Brock, but to Gary. "Geodude, grab as much sand as you can and help put out that fire."

"Geo!" the Rock Pokémon agreed with a nod, and floated off to a spot without much grass and clawed at it with its thick fingers. Shoveling as much dirt as it could carry, it hovered high into the air and let the dirt fall over the flames.

"Gary!" Ash said; this time it was his turn to be astonished.

"As if I would let you have all the glory," the young Oak replied with a smirk. A small smile crept on Ash's face, but he quickly hid it and turned back to the Water Pokémon around him.

"You guys are doing great! Keep going!"

Brock joined the group, and brought out his own Geodude to assist Gary's. "Geodude, throw as much dirt as you can on the flames!"

"Dude!" the former Gym Leader's Pokémon uttered, and it spiraled around with Gary's Geodude to create a twister of dirt that put out the large flames that they were floating above.

A loud crack broke the steady snapping of the fire, and a large tree started to sway before groaning and beginning to fall. Ash gasped as he saw the tree was heading right towards one of the Squirtle Squad, and it let out a cry, cutting its Water Gun short as its arms flailed in panic. The Pallet Town Trainer took a step forward to jump and grab the Pokémon, but before he could, an indigo flash shot out from beside him, and Gary dove to the ground, shielding the Squirtle under his body.

"Gary!" Ash exclaimed.

"Geodude!" Brock called, panic in his voice. And together with Gary's Geodude, the two Rock-type Pokémon shot up and caught the tree in their stone grasp, though they seemed to be struggling with it. Both of them groaning and grunting, they managed to work together to move the tree to the side, and it fell with a crash some feet away from Gary and Squirtle.

"Are you all right, Squirtle?" Gary asked, and the Water-type nodded slowly before both of them slowly stood up. Ash watched in awe as his rival picked himself up and brushed the dirt off himself before helping up the Squirtle, and go back to instructing his Geodude where to throw dirt next.

o 0 o

"And so, we gratefully award this certificate to the Squirtle Squad," Jenny recited. They were standing in front of the police station some time later, with the three Pokémon Trainers who assisted all covered in soot and dirt, and a crowd of people behind them watching as well. Bending down, she gave the Squirtle Squad leader the laminated certificate in her hands, and the Squirtle smiled gratefully as it took it. "Thank you for saving our town from the fire." Gesturing to her right, some of the townsfolk all approached, and held out five small black and white coats, just big enough for the Squirtle to put on. "Because of your skill and bravery, we proudly appoint you the town fire fighters." The Squirtle all wore smiles on their faces as the citizens all helped them put on the coats, and some of their children even grinned and shook the hands of some of the members.

Now each of the members donning their own coats proudly, the leader crossed its arms over its shell, and stuck its chin into the air. "Squirtle!"

Ash and Brock exchanged a smile, and Ash wiped at his cheek with the back of his glove, feeling soot on it, and he turned back to Gary, but his rival was no longer standing next to him, instead walking off with his rucksack swung over his shoulder.

"Gary! Where are you going?!" the black-haired boy called after him.

"I told you, I'm off to that Pokémon tournament," Gary replied shortly, barely even stopping in place to answer.

"But I thought you wanted to capture one of the Squirtle!"

"As if I want some lame fire fighter on my team anyway," the boy shot back. "And you should be concerned about your own Pokémon, little Ash. I hear you don't even have six Pokémon yet." Ash's eyebrows furrowed together in anger, but he didn't say anything. Not that he had the chance to, as Gary started to walk away again. "Smell 'ya later, loser."

"Oh, that Gary!" Ash grumbled, and Brock nervously laughed while putting out his hands, as if trying to physically push back Ash's anger.

"That Gary sure has a way of pushing your buttons, doesn't he?" And as Ash fumed, one particular Squirtle watched through its sunglasses as Gary disappeared on the horizon, ignorant to the people around it.

-end-

Ash:

Party:

Wartortle (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Bite

Pidgey (Poké Ball)

Moves: Gust, Sand-Attack, Whirlwind

Bulbasaur (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Vine Whip

Charmander (Poké Ball)

Moves: Flamethrower

Badges:

Boulder Badge

Cascade Badge

Brock:

Party:

Onix (Poké Ball)

Moves: Tackle, Bind, Dig

Geodude (Poké Ball)

Moves: Seismic Toss, Tackle

Zubat (Poké Ball)

Moves: Whirlwind, Supersonic