The man named Ash led Ryan and the gang to a quaint little house decorated in Christmas lights and snow. A frenzied Mr. Mime opened the door for them and ushered them inside, wiping the snow from their shoes with a broom and thrusting a hand vacuum into their faces menacingly, as if to try to clean their very skin (they were all very, very dirty). Ash ignored the Pokemon and brought everyone into the kitchen, where an older woman was sitting, drinking coffee.

"Uh, hey mom," Ash began, "I found these trainers out in the snow. They were looking for somewhere to stay, and it looked like everywhere else was closed, so I thought I'd bring them back here…" he shrugged. "We have room don't we?"

His mother stood up, her face flushing with a smile as she greeted each of Ryan's gang. "I'm sure we'll find some room for them. I hope one of you isn't opposed to sleeping on the couch…"

"Thank you, Mrs. Ketchum," Kelly said earnestly, bowing in respect. "We're extremely grateful for you taking us in."

"It's no trouble," the woman replied. "Though it might make Mimey a little anxious. Just don't make a mess, or he'll go crazy!"

They all swore on the old gods and the new that they would not incur the wrath of Mimey, and Mrs. Ketchum showed them where they would be staying. Ryan asked Ash to use their home phone, and Ash pointed him to a corner of the kitchen. The teal-haired trainer immediately called his mother, thinking it was not too late - she was probably still up drinking eggnog or playing Pokepoker with his dad or doing something else he didn't want to think about or even think about thinking about.

"Hello?" came her voice from the fuzzy phone speaker. "Who is this?"

"H-hey mom, it's me, Ryan. Merry Pokemas!" the boy spoke. "How're things at home?"

"Oh Ryan, it's nice to hear your voice," his mother replied. "I thought you had forgotten about us. I hadn't heard from you in a long time."

Ryan's voice was puzzled, "Didn't you get my last message, mom?"

"That was weeks ago, Ryan. I've been worried that you haven't called since, and I think your father is worried too, but he would never say so."

Ryan scratched the back of his head, feeling his face go red. "Yeah, sorry I forgot. I guess after all this time trying to collect gym badges and catch Pokemon, it sort of slipped my mind."

"So how is your journey going, Ryan? Have you met lots of nice people and caught many Pokemon?"

"Yeah… I've made some friends. I have a full team of six Pokemon now and three badges! We're on our way to get the rest of them before the Indigo League Tournament begins. We still have a few months left before it does."

"I'm proud of you, Ryan," his mother said, her voice wistful and perhaps sad. "Your father thought you would be home for the holidays though. He hasn't seen you since before you left on your journey."

"Oh…" Ryan felt guilt hit him like a blizzard. "I'll come home as soon as I can, but I don't know how soon that will be…"

"It's okay," said his mother. "You need to finish collecting those gym badges first. I'm sure he understands."

"Mom, did you tell him about Abra?" Ryan asked. "I… I tried to take one of the Pokemon he doesn't use very much. Was he okay with that?"

There was a long pause. The wind was blowing outside the Ketchums' kitchen door, howling like a feral Arcanine. "He knows why you took Abra. Though when you return, I think he'll want to see his old Pokemon again."

"Of course."

"Okay Ryan, well I have to go now. Your father and I have the whole evening planned out."

They said their goodbyes and Ryan hung up. He heard the others getting ready for bed in the rooms above him on the second floor. Rahul was yelling about something and Ryan could hear Kelly trying to calm the big brute down. Classic Kelly. Ryan took Abra's Pokeball out of his bag and held it in his hand, feeling it over with his palm and eyes. Was his father really that angry about him taking Abra? Ryan hadn't thought it would be an issue, else he wouldn't have taken Abra at all. Still, he and the small Pokemon had bonded on their escapades thus far, and he was glad he had chosen Abra, even if that meant he was going to get a lecture from dad when he returned home.

"Heh, looks like you got the couch," Ash Ketchum said, causing Ryan to spin around. The man had a sleeping bag in his hands and he led Ryan into the next room where he could sleep. "So you're trainers, huh? Just passing through?"

"Yeah… well, not exactly." Ryan pocketed Abra's Pokeball. "I also wanted to see Professor Oak. I need to change my Pokemon's name…"

Ash laughed. "I can show you where he lives in the morning. It's hard to miss. Professor Oak's lab is the main reason anyone comes to this little town anymore. It's nice to have company."

"Do you live here?"

"No, I've been staying in Cerulean City with my girlfriend," said Ash. "But I came home for Pokemas, so my mom wouldn't be lonely. She has a hard enough time living alone with Mimey these days."

There was a moment of pause, where Ryan laid out his sleeping bag on the couch.

"Hey Ash, were you a trainer too? I mean, when you were younger?" Ryan asked, once he had finished making his bed. He thought Ash looked to be in his early twenties - maybe 20 or 21. He was definitely not ten years older than Ryan; that much was certain.

"Yeah, for a while. I collected all the Kanto badges when I was ten and finished in the top 16 in the Indigo League."

"Wow," Ryan said. "My father never did that well, and he tried a few times."

Ash shrugged. "It's not a big deal, really. There are plenty of great trainers and Pokemon masters who never win a tournament."

"Pikapi!" a squeaky voice muttered from behind Ash. Then, a little Pikachu came bounding out from the other side of the couch with a pillow in its hand. The Pokemon handed it to Ryan, a dubious, reserved look on its yellow face. "Pikachu!"

"Uh, thanks!" Ryan replied, taking the pillow. "Is that guy yours?"

Ash smirked. "Yeah. Me and Pikachu go way back. He was actually my first Pokemon, heh."

"Your first?" Ryan asked, his voice rising. "You mean you didn't have a regular starter either?"

"Nope," Ash said, scratching his Pikachu behind the ear. "But I'm glad I got Pikachu. I wouldn't have it any other way."

They ate dinner together as the winter snows fell outside, a fire burning in the Ketchum's fireplace keeping them snug and content. Kelly got into an argument with Dean over who the last Indigo Tournament champion was, and Rahul told a story about the time he dated three girls at once - a tale not even his prized goatee believed. Ryan didn't say much - he ate his food quietly, observing the others while he clutched Abra's Pokeball under the table. He could not stop thinking about what his mother had said. Did he need to return Abra? Was that what his father wanted? Was Abra his? Abra had been the first Pokemon to join him on his journey, and the way Ryan felt about Abra was like how Ash felt about his Pikachu. Ryan didn't want to have to return Abra to his father. But he didn't know if it was an option to refuse.

Everyone went to bed not long after, and Ryan tossed and turned on the couch for what seemed like hours. Finally, in the dead of night, he thrust himself from the blankets, put on his warmest clothes, and left the house. He didn't know where he was going - Ryan just needed to walk to clear his head. The snow was no longer falling heavily, but it was high and hard to trudge through. After getting his shoe caught in the snow and falling nearly a foot into it, the boy took out a Pokeball and threw it. Out from it came the Pokemon that had brought Ryan to this town: his Charmeleon.

"Okay Get Over Here," he said, remembering the Pokemon's true name. "I think that's the last time I'll have to call you that. Tomorrow Professor Oak is changing your name. I guarantee it." Ryan winked and gave the Pokemon a thumbs up. The Charmeleon had no idea what the heck his master was talking about so he barked. "Use your ember attack, boy! Melt all the snow in our way!"

Get Over Here shouted, "Meleon meleon charmeleon!" and then it roared out flames in all directions, melting entire dunes of snow and even setting a nearby tree on fire.

"Ugh, you're so careless!" Ryan whined before throwing Golduck's Pokeball. "Quick Clawey, put out that tree!"

"Duck duck duck."

Ryan eyed his two Pokemon, one melting all the snow, the other saving all the trees from the horrors of overzealous Pokefire. They were an odd couple indeed. "Hey, what the heck… why don't we bring out the whole team?" Ryan threw the remaining four Pokeballs all at once. He was very talented.

"Brah…. abra!" Abra yawned as he rolled out of his Pokeball into a pool of cold snow water. "Abraaaaa!"

"Quiet Abra, you'll wake the neighbors!"

"Ra."

"Ieeeieieie!" Matata cooed.

"Neieieahalalaahal!" Thurnax responded.

Clostyer needed to get on the action too, since he was new and everyone was wondering what he's like, "Cloyster… c-c-c-cloyster!"

Ryan sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, you guys know I don't understand a word you're saying, right?"

"Cloyster," said Cloyster.

The teal-haired boy wagged his finger. "Now now Cloyster, I'll put you back in your Pokeball if you talk with a sass mouth."

That horrified the Cloyster and he didn't say another word for the rest of the episode.

And so they went, marching through the melted snow, aimless and freezing. Ryan hoped that a walk would make him feel like sleeping, but the more he went on, the less he felt like returning to Ash's house. The blizzards had cleared up, and the sky was visible - the night's stars were twinkling like shining city lights. Ryan swore he could see a pink dot up there, something not like the rest, but whenever he honed in on it, it seemed to vanish. In that sky was something watching, he thought, but what it could be, Ryan had no clue.

Pallet Town was a small place with very few buildings. After circling the entire town several times over, Ryan decided their best course of action was to go into Pallet's diner, as it was the only store open at this hour of the night. As they approached, Ryan and his Pokemon gang in tow, the boy thought he saw something dark moving on the edge of sight, thought he heard wings flapping. He stopped and looked around. There was nothing but darkness and the weak artificial light emanating from the nearest lightpost. He crossed an empty street towards the diner when he heard the buzzing of wings yet again. This time, he was sure it wasn't Matata, as the sound her wings made was softer. Whatever was making that sound was bigger than Matata - much bigger. Ryan gulped.

"Get Over Here," he whispered, hoping whoever was out there wouldn't take that as their cue. "Shoot an ember in that direction," Ryan pointed down the street into the darkness. The Charmeleon obeyed, spitting fire and illuminating the desolate road for a fraction of a second. In that moment, Ryan heard the wings buzz again, and he caught a glimpse of something green shooting off behind a far building.

"It's a Pokemon," Ryan declared to a bunch of Pokemon. "Probably wild. Any of you want to go catch it? I'll buy you something tasty at the PokeMart if you do!" The boy waved some Pokedollars in their little Pokefaces, but none of his buddies even flinched.

"M-m-meleon!" Get Over Here shivered, dancing in place, his wee little arms thrust up as if he was reaching for the moon. "Ch-ch-char… ch-charmeleon!"

"Fine, we'll warm up in the diner first. But once you guys are nice and toasty, I want us to go catch that Pokemon, kay?"

"Eieieieieieie," Matata agreed.

The place was mostly empty; a brown-haired boy in a white shirt was sitting in a far booth, and a waitress was sipping some coffee from behind a perched chair facing the other direction, but there was no one else.

"Uh, excuse me, is this place Pokemon friendly?" Ryan asked to the waitress who had her back to him.

She stood up and faced him, revealing herself to be none other than Mrs. Ketchum herself. "Oh," she began, curiosity painted across her aged face. "Ryan, isn't it? Weren't you staying at my house?"

"Uh, yeah…"

"What are you doing here? I thought you were asleep. Plus, we ate dinner only a few hours ago. Don't tell me my cooking's that bad!"

The boy felt his face going red again, and he swallowed hard in an effort to prevent that. "Oh, no, you're cooking's great Mrs. Ketchum," he said in an obligatory tone. "I… I, well I just couldn't sleep is all. My Pokemon got cold, and this is the only open place…"

The woman had a shrewd look on her face, but she smiled all the same. "I'll find you a table."

Ryan's Pokemon ordered enough food for a mob of Gremlins after midnight, and Ryan knew his wallet would be hurting come morning (rip in piece). They feasted on human food as if they had never eaten it before, the poor fellows. All the while, Ryan sat there feeling the brown-haired boy on the far side of the diner watching him. Ryan glanced at him a few times, and found him to have a familiar face - one which he had seen before but could not place. He almost wanted to get up and ask the other boy, but Ryan knew that was silly. Sane people don't go up to one another and talk.

"Abra," Ryan said, breaking the silence. Food and plates were being thrust around the table as if they were in a hurricane, so voracious were his little warriors as they traded dishes, tasting everything. "Yo Abra!"

"Ra!?" The Pokemon had a bowl of cheerios and milk mixed with hot and sour soup pressed to his mouth. "Rara abra!"

Ryan leaned in closer, as the little Pokemon was sitting across from him on a booster seat fit for an almost-newborn child. "Hey, when you were still with my dad, did he use you in a lot of battles? Were you one of his favorites? Is that why you have all those TMs and never evolved?"

"Bra. Abra!" The Pokemon took a swig of his cereal soup. "Abra abra abra, ra bra ah bra abra!"

"Yeah this isn't working at all," Ryan grumbled. "No matter how hard I try, I'll never understand your gibberish! You make less sense than one of those casino games with all the pennies."

"Abra!"

Before Ryan could respond, another voice cut into the conversation like a knife through salmonella. "Nice Pokemon."

Ryan saw the brown-haired boy standing at the end of his table, a cool smirk on his face, his green eyes flickering like wildfire. He wore a white shirt and black pants fit for early summer, not the deepest part of winter. It made Ryan wonder how he didn't get cold. "Thanks!" Ryan replied proudly. "I caught them all myself."

"I'm sure you did. You're a very good trainer."

"Uh, thanks…" Ryan said. He detected a hint of sass mouth coming from the other boy. Just a hint.

"Welcome."

Ryan ground his teeth. This was the perfect moment to be insane, and he wasn't fully convinced it was a good idea. But he took a deep breath and didn't think about the words that came next. "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?"

"I don't think so," said the other boy. "You weren't at that Pokedebate on the proliferation of Tauros, were you?"

"No…"

"Haha mayne, you should have seen it. Some idiots were arguing that we need more Tauros in the world."

"Well don't we?"

"Nah dude, they're too godly. I'd rather have a mongoose Pokemon anyway. Why can't we just have a mongoose Pokemon? I don't want to live in this world without one." The boy took out a brown paper bag and began to drink from a concealed bottle inside it. He hiccupped.

With that, the boy walked off. He didn't even say goodbye because he's super rude and super fly. Mrs. Ketchum got up upon seeing the boy walk towards the door and waved. "Bye Charlie! Say hello to your father for me!"

Without turning around, Charlie raised his fist into the air, acknowledging the woman, bowed his head, and walked out the door. From the window, Ryan watched him throw a Pokeball onto the ground, and suddenly a Porygon materialized on the sidewalk.

"Aight Dragonmaster," Charlie said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a bucket, which he then firmly planted over his head. "Let's wreck some dudes." He took another swig from his brown paper bag.

With that, Charlie's Porygon raced off into the night.

"Hey wait a minute!" Ryan said, standing up. It dawned on him all at once, causing him to feel lightheaded. "Wait, that was the kid on the poster in the Cinnabar Island PokeMart!"

"Duck golduck!"

"Yeah, I know!" Ryan lied. Ryan didn't have time to wonder what Clawey had said. "It was a two million woolong prize! I don't even know what a woolong is! But it sounds fancy as heck! We gotta catch that guy and find an Officer Jenny fast!"

"Neeee," Thurnax screamed.

"Charmeleon."

Ryan nodded. His pokemon were definitely in it to win it. He ran out of the diner, his Pokemon hot on his heels. Throwing his wallet to Mrs. Ketchum and crying "Take it all!" Ryan flew out the door. His Pokemon, as it turned out, were not close behind. All of them lumbered out of the establishment slowly, holding their swollen bellies and groaning softly. They had eaten too much, Ryan realized. There was no hope, none whatsoever, of catching Charlie the wily bandit. Dismayed, Ryan fell to his knees and shot air pistols at the sky. He was no cowboy, though.

It was then that Ryan heard the buzzing of wings yet again, and this time he saw the Pokemon. It was large, green, had swords for hands. Ryan knew its name without even needing Dex's help.

"Scyther," he breathed, his heart pounding in his ears. "No way. Ever since I was little I wanted one of those!"

He stood up, wide-eyed, in awe, and slowly approached the Pokemon. It was standing motionless in the middle of the street, sharpening its swords on one another. When it saw Ryan, it hissed.

"Easy boy," he said, carefully grabbing an empty Pokeball from his bag. "No one's gonna hurt you."

Then, as the wind began to howl, Ryan took his chance and threw his Pokeball at the green creature. It casually knocked the ball away with one of his arms and took off into the night.

"Come on everyone, let's go!" Ryan yelled; he rushed forward, scooping up his Pokeball, and pursued the Scyther into the darkness.

Of course, Ryan's six Pokemon, bless their little gluttonous hearts, had overeaten to the extreme. They could barely waddle, let alone run, and they soon lost their master in the darkness. Ryan followed the Scyther to the edge of Pallet Town, to the place where the town converged with Route 1. The forest was beyond that point, as were patches of tall grass, a dangerous place for anyone to venture through in the dead of night, especially a trainer who had no Pokemon with him. Ryan stopped at the edge, breathing hard, his hands on his knees.

He waited there for many hours as his Pokemon moved at a snail's pace until they reached him at the edge of town just as the sun began to rise in the distance. Upon seeing his crew, Ryan shook his head and facepalmed. "It's too late," he said hoarsely. "The Scyther got away."

"Scytheeeer!" a voice boomed through the forest from. Ryan screamed and ran back a few paces, for that was far too spooky for him.

And then, as if from the heavens, the green hunter descended from the tree, majestic as Rahul on prom night. "Scyther!"

It began to move about in front of Ryan and the gang as if it were having a seizure or dancing to Katy Perry. Either way, the Scyther seemed to be in fits, thrusting its body back and forth, shaking its sword arms in the air like it was trying to exorcise demons from its body.

"Oh my god, it's horrible!" Ryan shrieked. "The worst thing I ever saw in the whole wild world. Dex save us!"

He pointed his Pokedex at the madman Scyther. "Scyther is performing Swords Dance," the device stated. "Its attack will be raised two stages."

"What's two stages?" Ryan grabbed his hair and fell to the ground, his eyes bloodshot and wide open. "What's going on? Is this real life?!"

"Scyther scythe!"

"Charmeleon… someone… attack him!" Ryan despaired.

Scyther rushed forward and knocked over Charmeleon before the fire 'mon could conjure up another ember attack. He sliced and diced his way through the other five until they all fell over, stunned or fainted. Ryan rolled over and beheld his defeated team. "No way!"

"Scyther," Scyther retorted proudly.

"I'll get you for this!" Ryan shouted, readying his Pokeball again as he stood up. He did a little ballerina twirl and then flung the thing at the Scyther.

But the Pokemon was too fast - it dodged out of the way, hopping into the nearest tree and disappearing into the forest. As the sun rose into the sky of the new day, Ryan's Pokeball sailed into the forest, above the wet dew hanging on endless blades of tall grass. Just then, a small purple Pokemon raised its head from the grass and the Pokeball smacked it right in the forehead. Stunned, the Pokemon fell over and was quickly sucked into the ball. In the next second, the Pokeball rose into the air and then disappeared into nothingness.

"What just happened?!" Ryan said, dumbfounded. "I don't even know which Pokemon I caught! Dexy, explain yourself."

"As you wish, wise master," Dex said. "Since you already have six Pokemon with you, any further Pokemon you capture will be sent to the Pokecenter in the hometown linked to this Pokedex for storage."

"Hmm…" Ryan scratched his chin. "This was my father's Pokedex, so they must be going into his old storage container in Acapulco… But Dex, is there any way for me to see which Pokemon I just caught? I can't travel all the way to Acapulco right now…"

"Avast ye landlubber!" came the unmistakable voice of Pinkbeard the first. "Didya think ya defeated me last time, argh?"

The man with two peg legs, two hooks for hands, and pink nose hairs that formed a ragged beard stepped out from behind a bush. A boy in a black suit with the letter "R" emblazoned on the shirt followed him. Pinkbeard patted the boy on the head with a hook which really just got tangled in his hair and caused the boy to scream out in pain and thrash about like a stuck pig.

"Yargh! This here be my son Gillford Matilda Gooseman! He be here to help me get revenge on ya!" the pirate pointed a hook gravely at Ryan. "Yargh!"

"Shut up, dad! I told you my name is The Supreme Extreme and I'm the newest member of Team Rocket! I'm not here to help you get revenge! I'm here to help Team Rocket take over the world!" He jumped forward and struck a pose that would have brought a tear to Captain Ginyu's eye. "You!" he pointed at Ryan. "Tell me where Professor Oak's lab is! I heard he's got a whole bunch of godly Pokemon in there."

"I dunno what you're talking about," Ryan replied. "Honestly, you sound like you've had too much o-"

Gillford jumped forward with a flying kick and a high-pitched squeal, hitting Ryan right in his pretty little nose. The blue-haired trainer was taken aback by the attack and fell backwards in confusion. He tasted blood and felt pain wash over his face. As he lay there in the dirt, Ryan saw Gillford and Pinkbeard pull out a pair of net guns and move forward. Ryan watched them trap his Pokemon in the nets, and though he screamed for them to stop, the deadly duo paid him no heed. Then, once all six were safely locked away in netting, Gillford walked back over to Ryan, net gun in hand, and grinned.

"I'm the Supreme Extreme! I'm a god! I have all the power! Hear me roar! Look at my chi!" Spittle dripped from his lips; his crazed, beady little eyes shot this way and that as if, in his paranoia, he felt like he was being watched. "You're no match for me, kid! I can levitate. Watch this!"

Gillford raised the net gun and then smacked Ryan on the back of the head with it, instantly knocking out our poor protagonist.