Chapter 7: The Stray Pokémon
Hello, and welcome to Chapter Seven, entry eight, of this little story. As someone mentioned in the reviews of the last chapter, I will be having reappearances from characters after their typical debut generation. Also some of them may 'debut' or be mentioned ahead of their typical debut generation. So as an example, Cynthia could appear in Johto or Hoenn, or she may not. However if this is still going when Unova rolls around, I will be involving Cynthia in the plot as she does in the anime too.
Also, I am thinking of adding new, 'named' members of Team Rocket, in time because as yous have likely noticed, Jessie, James and Meowth, are not playing their comical characters that they played in the anime. Now of course, I imagine we all love the three of them as they can be genuinely funny, but I haven't used them every chapter either. That does mean that I will likely add members, whom can appear more often, as 'foils' for our heroes while protecting the integrity and importance of the Team Rocket Trio. But don't worry, soon the three of them will adopt more of their anime personalities, it will just take time before that happens, likely after the S.S. Anne incident.
As an additional note, it should be pointed out that, from this chapter onwards, Pikachu will be used more appropriately as a main character, with a personality, scenes, his perspective and the sort. Its cannon to the anime and something I should have done from the start, aside from the chapter 1, entry 2.
Lastly I have been thinking a lot. Eventually, but not yet, I will be working on a fan-made region. You will be seeing the mentioning of one 'new' region mentioned here today/ tonight. That being said, I will in time work on new mega evolutions, regional variants (as early as the Orange Islands), pre-evolutions, branched evolutions, technically 'cured' evolutions (say Parasect) and new fossil based Pokémon, but in moderation. I won't go overboard but there likely will be such things. Like for example, how does one explain large fully evolved Pokémon like Lapras, Kangaskhan and other Pokémon which are born that way from eggs? Never made sense to me honestly. But like I said I won't be doing all of that yet, so please do give input if you like, with suggestions and what not. But SPOILER, we are fixing Luvdisc and Alomomola, because that makes sense. I will give a small preview of a few ideas for pre evolutions at the end.
But enough of foreshadowing, let's begin this two/ three piece chapter (meaning the obvious part and another couple episodes from the anime, just for continuity).
Right, now let's point out a few extra things I forgot to add in the last chapter. Ash deposited Mankey, for now, and Serena deposited Poliwag for now. It is just to clear both rosters up for now.
So now our heroes, minus Misty, are walking down Route 5, South of Cerulean City. Pikachu is resting on top of Ash's bag as Serena has her egg inside of her own bag.
Also Serena swears she just heard Nebby say "YOU CANNOT SILENCE ME WITH YOUR BAG WOMAN!" however, as no one else seemed to notice this, Serena decides to just ignore it as her imagination. She also decided that maybe she would ask Lillie about it another time.
Ash decides to feed his own ego, saying "And with that win, I have nine wins in a row now!" as he pumps his fist into the air. For some reason.
Brock comments to Serena "He knows that you have nine wins as well right?" as he whispers, enough for her to hear but for Ash to not do so easily.
As they are walking along, they come across a random building. There is a sign that lists it as an 'unlicensed gym', or more so 'AJ's Gym'. On the sign, there is a 98-0 record. Ninety-eight wins, zero losses.
Serena mocks Ash as she says "Guess your nine and o record isn't that impressive anymore" with a grin and a light laugh.
Then before he can respond, they notice a bipedal mammalian Pokémon standing near the entrance of the building. The majority of its body has a brick-like pattern. It has blue, almond-shaped eyes, a pointed snout, and triangular ears with white insides. Its tail is think and conical. It has two long claws on each foot and three sharp claws on its forepaws.
Ash takes out his Pokédex and scans it. Dexter says "Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon, a ground type. It lives in areas of limited rainfall. When danger approaches, it curls up into a ball to protect its soft stomach. It loves to bath in the grit of dry, sandy areas. By sand bathing, this Pokémon rid itself of dirt and moisture clinging to its body"
Brock tells them "Sandshrew being here is odd, usually you find them in deserts or mountainous areas with plenty of sand and or rocks. Why is it here?" as he looks around for a potential trainer for the Pokémon.
They then hear a male's voice say "That there Sandshrew is mine" as they turn to see a young male standing there with a glare on his face. He has very dark green hair with a single strand coming to lie in front of his face. He has a dull orange and brown shirt on.
Serena says to him "Hello, my name is Serena" as she then points to her friends, introducing them "Ash, Lillie and Brock" then Pikachu cries out as he gives the guy a wave.
The male tells them as he eyes them suspiciously "The name is AJ. Any of you trainers?" despite that it was a question, it comes across more as a statement.
Ash, watching him carefully, says back "Yes, Serena, Brock and I are. Why do you ask?" as he raises an eyebrow.
AJ tells him "Then you are to be my next opponent. That there Sandshrew versus whichever one you choose to use" as he stares at him intently.
Feeling confident and always up for a battle, Ash tells him "Alright I'm in, where do you want our battle?"
AJ tells them "Follow me, it's this way" as he walks off with Sandshrew and the gang tailing behind him.
Serena thinks to herself 'If that ninety-eight and nothing record belongs to him, why isn't he traveling and collecting badges? I suppose maybe there's other outlets to journeying than to compete in battles. Maybe one day I will discover if there's something else out there for me. Of course I seem to be rather good at battles, but that doesn't mean it needs to be my calling. The Orange Islands, Johto and Kalos have performances, whereas Hoenn and Sinnoh have contests. Then Unova… what do they even have? Same with Galar. I don't think they have much, however that could change over time' as she considers what she… they could do after the Indigo League.
She then continues on, 'If I continue traveling, which region would I, myself, want to travel to first? As I just said, there's: The Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, Orre and… the Tunod regions. Which would I like to go to? And would Ash and Lillie want to come along with me as well?'
As they arrive at AJ's field, the two combatants take their respective positions on opposite sides of the field. Then Lillie, Serena and Brock sit on a bench off to the side of the field. They are surrounded by a thin layered metal cage, no roof. Pikachu sits off to the side on Pikachu's lap. Lillie is to Serena's left as Brock is on Serena's right.
Sandshrew is off on the field a small ways in front of AJ. Observing their surroundings, Ash thinks to himself 'Pikachu is not a good choice. That leaves me with Pidgeotto, Butterfree and Bulbasaur. I suppose it's time to give Bulbasaur a chance' as he pulls out the grass type's ball from his belt. Then he sends the Bulb Pokémon out as the battle begins.
AJ doesn't make a move, so after maybe seventeen seconds, Ash takes the bait. He tells Bulbasaur to go for Razor Leaf. The grass type hurls off a set of leaves at the ground type.
AJ tells Sandshrew to use Roll Out. The ground type complies as it curls into a ball and takes off into the direct line of the leaves. To everyone's surprise, except AJ, it seemed to have no effect!
The leaves just connected and more or less dropped. The ground type ploughs into Bulbasaur and sends him flying. Then Brock notices the edging of the field. It curves upwards against the fencing. Which meant…
Sandshrew's momentum boosted him up the fence and then used its tail to throw itself off of the fence. This leaves it in direct range of Bulbasaur. The ground type grabs a hold of Bulbasaur and then does a somersault. Ash knew what this meant, he had seen a very similar situation with Serena and Brock's battle. Ash tells Bulbasaur, he needs to 'knock off' Sandshrew.
The grass type takes this fairly literally and metaphorically at the same time. He performs the move anyways and 'knocks' Sandshrew 'off'. Smiling, Ash then tells Bulbasaur to use Razor Leaf once more!
AJ tells Sandshrew to shoot of a Swift attack. As Bulbasaur sends off an array of leaves, Sandshrew sends off a blast of stars. The two moves connect in the middle of them causing a blast out of it. Then Sandshrew glides forwards in the smoke and hits a Crush Claw. It sent the grass type rushing to the ground. This knocks Bulbasaur out cold.
Ash, in shock, runs towards his friend as he crouches down, he asks "Bulbasaur are you alright?" as he watches his newest Pokémon with worry in his eyes. Of course, he knew that Pokémon do faint when they lose, or typically they do, however Bulbasaur had been rather easily beaten by Sandshrew and the force from the Crush Claw with the hard impact, it most likely hurt Bulbasaur more than usual.
The poison type's pride seemed hurt as he watched Sandshrew and AJ celebrate. Bulbasaur thinks to itself 'I can't let something like that happen again. I need to be stronger and better' (A/N: Or at least something like that. I know Pokémon, aside from a select few, don't speak English, however for our convenience they will have their thoughts portrayed in English otherwise this would be difficult to comprehend).
Serena and the others come over to Ash and Bulbasaur as well. Pikachu was the first to reach them both. The mouse approached Bulbasaur and seemed to 'speak' or, better yet, communicate with the grass type.
The grass type's gaze was down as if disappointed with itself. Which is fair, he was easily matched and beat by that Sandshrew. He feels that he needed to be better, as this never happened while he was protecting the wild Pokémon in Viridian Forest. He couldn't just accept that. He knew, deep in his heart, he was more powerful and capable than this.
AJ tells Sandshrew "Good job Sandshrew! Ya did it" then he turns to the others, he tells them "Once I win my next battle, then I'm starting the gym badge challenge. Pretty sure the water, rock, electric, grass, fire and poison ones will be a breeze"
Ash returns his Bulbasaur and then, stands back up, staring at AJ. He tells him "I beat both the rock and water type gyms, they aren't a joke"
AJ smirks as he retorts "If they lost to you, then they clearly aren't all that. It'll be even easier than I had imagined" with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.
Brock's eye twitches in annoyance as he tells the younger male "I'm the rock type gym leader! I was thirty seven wins against eleven losses as a gym leader in just the past year. Both he and Serena were worthy challengers and I won't stand for you disrespecting my gym"
AJ sizes Brock up as he tells him "Then once I get my next win, I suppose you'll be my first gym badge" as he turns his attention to Serena. He more or less states "You said before that you're a trainer also?"
Serena, feeling nervous yet unbothered, confirms "Yes, I am. I imagine you wish to challenge me next?" as she raises an eyebrow. She isn't as confident or braggadocios as Ash, instead she had knowledge for battles and worked as an underdog apparently.
"Yes, but first I need to go and check on my other Pokémon and let Sandshrew relax before our fight" he tells her before turning to walk away. Though stops several feet away from our group, then turns his head to address them "Yous are welcome to come and observe my facilities, they may surprise you or even help train your own" then continues off towards his unofficial gym.
Ash looks towards Serena and asks "Are you sure you want to battle him?" with a look of concern on his face.
Serena, not bothering to look towards her friend, responds "I am sure. Look, even if I don't beat him, it will at least help me grow as a trainer. That's what's important. I have nine wins, that's all that matters"
Ash, blinks at this as he tilts his head considering this. He then asks for affirmation "You had a nine win streak as well?"
Lillie and Brock both acquire a deadpan look as they realise how dumb their friend could truly be.
The group now walks towards the gym as they each were left to their own thoughts.
Ash was thinking 'Serena had nine wins too? Since when?' however then went on to think 'Regardless, I need to plan my battles better, Bulbasaur was countered and dealt with at every turn'
Brock was considering 'While I feel AJ is rather rude and condescending, he seems to know how to bring the best out of his Pokémon, which makes me wonder what others he has. Also what does he feed them? Do they have intricate work-outs? Also… why hasn't his Sandshrew evolved yet?'
Lillie is wondering, anxiously, 'I hope there isn't too many people or Pokémon in that building' as she twiddles her fingers in front of her.
Whereas Serena, the bright and perky female, was thinking 'Ash wasn't prepared for his battle, and while his Sandshrew is rather strong, I know that if I try my best, maybe I'll stand a chance. I might lose, however it's just a learning curve for me'
Which with that, they finally reach the building after maybe two or so minutes of casually walking over to the building, which to be fair is in pretty good condition. For an unofficial gym, it almost seemed legit. Except, why would an official league gym be this far from a town, in a no name area? So of course, it's not the real deal.
As the four walk up to the door, it seemed fairly modern with a white handle. Serena took a hold of said handle and pushed the door open. As they entered the door way, they could see a large pool of water. There was also a few Butterfree, Beedrill, Pidgey and a purple rat-like Pokémon.
Said purple creature also had a cream-colored face, paws and underbelly. It has narrow eyes containing white sclera and pupil with red irises, rounded ears with cream-colored insides, and a long single whisker on each cheek. Its long tail is tightly curled at the end. Its most notable feature is its large teeth.
Ash takes out his Pokédex and scans it. Dexter says "Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon, a normal type. Its incisors continue growing until its death. If its trainer doesn't offer it a file to gnaw on, it will gnaw on door frames, table legs, and so on. Its sharp incisors can easily cut through hard wood"
Brock, with a raise of his eyebrow, comments "You hadn't scanned a Rattata before?"
Sheepishly, Ash rubs the back of his head as he says "Oddly enough nope! Or at least if I did, I hadn't scanned them"
Well between the trainers which Ash and Serena had battled, opponents had used: Pidgey, Venonat, Geodude, Zubat, Nidoran(M), Onix, Starmie, Staryu, Pinsir, Spearow, Ekans, Koffing, Bellsprout and Goldeen, Kakuna, Zorua, Meowth, Seel, Shellder, Nidorina, Doduo and Sandshrew. So it would seem that yep, apparently he had yet to scan a Rattata. Either that, or the author just hadn't thought to include such a basic Pokémon yet. Who knows? Maybe they're considering plenty of future chapters and books, to the point that small things evade their plans.
The groups of Pokémon seemed to have workout straps/ bands across their torsos. Presumably to work out…
As Ash sees this, he also spots AJ over with Sandshrew. He thinks to himself 'Is he forcing those Pokémon to fight one another?'
Whereas, Brock and Serena aren't thinking that way. They see it as him training his Pokémon and improving their power and endurance. Well attack and defence anyways. So imagine their shock when Ash storms off towards AJ, seemingly angry.
Before any of the group can react, Ash calls over to AJ "Hey what do you think you're doing to those Pokémon!" both as a question but more or less just a yell.
Serena starts power walking over to her raven-haired friend when AJ turns and gives him a confused look, then says "What are you going on about? Those there Pokémon are power training and are very well fed and taken care of. I don't know what your problem is but you seem to be overly presumptuous about nothing"
Ash, allowing his frustration and his immaturity to take over, tells him "And why does that mean you need to use that equipment? Why wouldn't you just train them like normal trainers do?" with a rather agitated voice.
Now even more confused, AJ counters "They are being trained with special equipment, they are well fed, sheltered, allowed plenty of rest and are treated perfectly. So" as he walks closer to Ash, "what is your problem?" as he pokes Ash in the chest. Not too harshly but to try and get the Pallet Town native to back down.
Taking this as a challenge, or invitation, Ash charges into AJ which sends them both falling into the pool behind AJ. There is a large splash of water as it goes all across the pool side, both males and the Sandshrew. However oddly enough, Sandshrew didn't seem too bothered by the water, looking panicked for its owner.
As both of them broke the surface of the water, they each took their own large gasp of air. AJ shoved Ash away as he pushes towards the edge and climbs out with a scowl on his face. He walks over to the nearby rack and takes a towel and begins to dry himself off.
Serena rushes over to the pool and holds her hand out to Ash. Giving her a small smile, he gratefully accepts her offer. She pulls him out as Lillie sheepishly grabs a towel for him as well. He equally is grateful as he accepts the offering. He tries his best to dry himself off but isn't too successful of course.
Pikachu approaches him cautiously as he shows concern for his trainer as he rubs Ash's arm.
Brock, however, had noticed something which AJ had said. He approaches the dark-haired male and asks "Are you okay AJ? I'm sorry for my friend's behaviour" as he points towards his equally drenched friend.
Still feeling annoyed by the raven-haired male's actions, AJ responds "I suppose I am. Your friend is rather hot headed. Might want to sort that out. But what do you want exactly?" as he eyes the teenager carefully.
"Well to be honest, I came over to ask about what foods you feed your Pokémon?" Brock asks as he seems very curious and did want to be able to provide exactly what his own Pokémon would need.
They start to talk about Pokémon food and what different species would like and how much.
As they are doing so, Ash is mostly dried now is talking with Serena and Lillie.
Later on, it was time for Serena vs AJ.
Serena now stood in the place Ash had been previously and AJ stood in his own place once more. A one on one battle. AJ once again used Sandshrew. Serena on the other hand decided to take a chance and used her first captured Pokémon. A risky move which most likely would result in a loss for her but she already had an idea of how AJ handled grass types and the same was likely true for water types too. So she sends out her Nidorino.
This takes AJ off guard as, of course, Nidorino was a poison type.
Serena starts off as she tells her Pokémon to use Horn Attack. The rabbit-like Pokémon lunged towards the mouse-like Pokémon. AJ tells Sandshrew to use Defense Curl. The ground type curls into a ball to take the brunt of the attack.
Nidorino bounces off of the ball, to more or less no effect. Due to the poison type being too close, AJ tells Sandshrew to fight back with a Scratch. The mouse uncurls and then slashes against the rabbit which took Nidorino off balance.
This causes Serena to panic as she thinks to herself 'This isn't good. Even without using any ground type moves yet, Sandshrew is easily in control'
She tells Nidorino to use Poison Sting. The poison type sends off a singular purplish-spike towards the ground type. It connects with no time for AJ or Sandshrew to react. Taking advantage of this, Serena tells Nidorino to use Tackle. Nidorino throws its body forcefully against Sandshrew. This takes Sandshrew down to the ground.
AJ tells Sandshrew to use Dig. Immediately the mouse-like creature digs down into the earth. Remembering what Ash had done against Brock, Serena tells Nidorino to follow after Sandshrew.
AJ does a double take as the poison type leaps into the hole after his own Pokémon. She tells Nidorino to go for a Horn Attack. AJ, deciding to take a very dangerous move as a last ditch effort, tells Sandshrew to go for Bulldoze.
Which after a few seconds, the ground begins to shake intensely under the trainers, Pikachu and rattling Nidorino and Sandshrew are caught underneath the water taking plenty of damage. After maybe twenty seconds, Sandshrew emerges from underneath. By being tossed. After seven seconds, Nidorino emerges but clearly struggling.
This causes Ash and Lillie to let out cheers from the sidelines, as if they were cheerleaders.
AJ has a look of panic on his face. Serena, smiling, tells Nidorino to go for Horn Attack once more. Sandshrew, struggling, manages to curl into a ball once more.
The poison type, undeterred, continues with its onslaught as it seems to power up its 'horn attack'.
Brock comments "That may not be a 'Horn Attack', it may in fact be Drill Run"
The strike slams into the ball and seems to cause more damage than its previous attempt had done. It had caused the ground type to emerge from the spherical shape.
Ash, confused, asks "What do you mean? Nidorino just learned itself a new move?" as he turns his attention to the rock type gym leader.
Brock nods as he responds "Yes, it seems like when Nidorino went for Horn Attack, it transitioned it into a Drill Run"
This got Ash thinking 'So if that was all it took for Nidorino to power up his move, how easy would it be to have Pikachu or Bulbasaur do the same with their moves?'
Serena then tells Nidorino to go for a Double Kick. The poison type gets closer to Sandshrew, turns and then pelts him with a duo of swift kicks. This leaves Sandshrew stunned. AJ tells Sandshrew to hit back with a Swift. Nidorino dodges and then wins with a Body Slam.
AJ's eyes are wide as he sees his now fallen ally. He runs over to the ground mouse and asks "Are you okay Sandshrew?" the ground type weakly nods his head.
Serena was silent for a bit but then pumped her fist into the air in happiness and excitement. She had won. She did what ninety nine other trainers had failed to do, she had beat this unofficial gym!
Ash runs over to Serena and gives her a friendly hug as they're both laughing and are happy. She was able to come out from underneath and won. And to top it off, Nidorino seemed to have learned a new move, Drill Run.
With that, after the group talked with AJ, they leave to head off onto their next journey. Well kinda.
As they had been walking about an hour or so, south, it had started to get dark and very cloudy. It was clear that because of the likely storm clouds, they wouldn't be able to stay out for the night.
Looking at a map in his hands, Brock says "There is a Pokémon Center up ahead that we should be able to stay at for the night, or at least while there will be strong winds and rain tonight"
Lillie thinks to herself 'At least I will be able to sleep in a bed tonight. Too many Pokémon out and about for me to feel less than anxious tonight'
Serena comments "So we will be able to sleep in beds again tonight? We haven't been able to do that since Pewter City"
Ash responds by saying "I mean sleeping out at night wasn't all that bad" with a shrug of his shoulders.
Lillie, thinking that he has gone insane, says "Maybe Nurse Joy needs to check your head"
This causes Serena, Pikachu and Brock to let out hearty laughs. Had Pikachu have been on Ash's shoulder, the electric type surely would have fallen off of his shoulder.
As they continue to walk towards what they assume to be the direction of the Pokémon Center, a small figure comes into view.
On a fairly medium-sized rock in the middle of the pathway is a bipedal, reptilian Pokémon with a primarily orange body and blue eyes. Its underside from the chest down and the soles of its feet are cream-colored. It has two small fangs visible in its upper jaw and two smaller fangs in its lower jaw. A fire burns at the tip of its slender tail.
Lillie takes out her Pokédex at a long distance and scans it. Dexter chimes to life, saying "Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon, a Fire type. The flame that burns at the tip of its tail is an indication of its emotions. The flame wavers when Charmander is enjoying itself. If the Pokémon becomes enraged, the flame burns fiercely. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail. Its life would end if the flame would go out"
Realising what Pokémon was ahead of them, Ash gets a grin on his face as he proclaims "A Charmander! I can capture it!"
Brock, taking a closer look, tells Ash "Don't Ash. Something seems wrong about it" this stops Ash in his tracks as he looks towards his friend.
Serena, also taking a closer look, doesn't seem to notice anything in particular about it. She asks "Why? What seems to be 'wrong' about it Brock?"
Brock, watching the fire type intently, comments "Why would a Charmander just be out in the open like that? We are about to have a storm but that fire type is out in the open with no covering. That doesn't seem right"
Ash, not turning his gaze from the lizard, asks "So what do you think this is? A trap?"
Lillie, feeling rather uneasy, asks "Should we just keep on walking to the center then?"
Ash, feeling sorry for the fire starter, tells them "I'll go over to them and see if we could help it. Maybe even capture it" as he starts to cautiously walk over to the prone Pokémon. Pikachu following by his side
Serena turns to tell Brock and Lillie "I'll go up with him too" then focuses on Brock "stay back here with Lillie and keep her safe please"
Brock nods his head in affirmation. With that, Serena follows up close behind Ash and Pikachu.
Lillie asks him "Do you think that Charmander is okay?" as she looks on in concern. While she isn't the biggest fan of being too close to Pokémon or battling, she did care about their health and safety.
Rubbing his chin, in thought, Brock answers "I can't say for certain. Hopefully it is fine but until they have examined Charmander, I think there's no way of knowing"
As Ash gets closer to the fire type, said fire type perks up and watches the two trainers and Pikachu intently. It seems excessively hurt, and as if there was a flash of recognition towards the Pallet Natives. The tail's flame seemed somewhat okay for now.
Ash asks "Charmander, are you okay?" as a look of fear and concern is plastered across his face.
Watching them cautiously, Charmander doesn't respond.
Serena tries to move closer to the fire type but its gaze snaps to her. It was being defensive.
After three minutes of trying to let them examine the fire type, Ash tells Serena "Maybe I should just capture him and then we take him to the Pokémon Center?" as he takes out a free, empty Pokéball.
Serena, watching his actions, responds "Maybe you're right. That would be the easiest way to help Charmander"
The boy gently tosses the aforementioned ball at the flame Pokémon. But immediately it is batted away by the lizard's tail. It seemed that it didn't want to be captured. This leads to the friends taking a few steps back. By now, Brock and Lillie have carefully made their way over to them.
Pikachu, deciding to try his own luck, starts to communicate with Charmander.
It goes something like this:
Pikachu: What's happened to you?
Charmander: I've battled repeatedly to improve.
Pikachu: Why aren't you trying to find shelter?
Charmander: I'm waiting for my trainer to return here
Pikachu: Your trainer just left you here alone?
Charmander: I'm hungry and cold, but he told me to wait right here. He told me that 'he'd be back'. That was several days or nights ago. He'll come for me, I know it.
Pikachu: Let my trainer and friends help you.
Charmander shakes his head in defiance, clearly not wanting to disobey his trainer. His trainer wouldn't abandon him, right?
Pikachu then indicates to Ash what Charmander had said.
Ash tells the others "Charmander seems to be waiting for his trainer to come and pick him up"
Frowning, Brock tells them "Then unfortunately, there's not much that we can do for now. If the rain picks up, then we can figure out what to do from there. But for now, we're powerless to do really anything"
With that, the group head off past the beaten fire type to the Pokémon Center. They book their rooms at the Center. Serena, Lillie and Ash were sharing the same room while Brock has his own one. This was due to limited rooms being available and to be fair, at their ages of ten, it's not like they would get up to anything. Plus of course, they were all in separate beds.
Once all of that was handled, and their Pokémon all handed over, except Pikachu as he had been well rested and fine.
As the group come away from the desk, they overhear a VERY familiar voice. All four of them knew that rancid, irritating and vile voice. They also knew its owner.
At one of the nearby tables in the Pokémon Center, there was Damian, not Damien. There's a difference of course. On the table was a large collection of Pokéballs, apparently belonging to Damian.
Damian was telling his two random 'friends' "Ya see, this here collection of Pokémon are incredible. Especially my ace, my first Pokémon and my best Pokémon"
Now Ash had expected him to say Charmander… 'Wait… Charmander… it couldn't be. That's just a coincidence' he thought to himself as a dark thought hit him.
Damian then crushed his thought as he continued "Poliwrath. It's rather strong and won me the rock and water badges" he said with a grin.
One of the other trainers asked "Didn't ya used to have a Charmander? What happened to that?"
With the arrogance of a criminal, Damian responds "That thing? I released it! Left it on some rock back there" as he points the way from Cerulean City "told it I would come back for it. The idiot listened"
Before the conversation can continue further, Ash explodes as he shouts "What did you just say? You just abandoned your starter? What for!" as he clenches his fist in anger.
See now while before, he was angry with AJ for what Ash had assumed to be abuse or neglect; this time he had legit reasoning to be furious for what amounted to a trashy person who just abandons their Pokémon and for what? He clearly didn't need space for new Pokémon.
Damian narrows his eyes and laughs as he realises who it was. He tells Ash "That thing was weak. I didn't need some pathetic fire type. I have a much better one in Arcanine. Who needs something that useless?" which causes Damian and his friends to laugh obnoxiously.
This time, Serena pipes in "You just tossed him away? Just because it wasn't 'good enough' at the time? That's why you train and help to improve your Pokémon!" with fury as if there was fire in her eyes.
Damian, as if noticing the blonde female, smirks at her and says "Hey babe, you finally decided to leave that runt?" as he motions towards Ash.
This of course, once again, creeps Serena out.
Knowing this, Ash storms right up against Damian and shouts "Don't you dare talk to her like that!"
At that Damian gets to his feet and stares Ash in the eyes and asks smugly "And what are you going to do about it? You're weak, you're pathetic and a talentless hack. She" pointing to Serena "deserves better than you. But her" pointing to Lillie "that freak is perfect for a loser like yourself"
This upsets Lillie as she thinks to herself 'A freak? Is he right? I'm not normal, I'm seemingly an orphan or was at the very least abandoned, have very little friends, don't seem to be okay with Pokémon… maybe I am?'
Seeing red, Ash goes to hit him but Serena grabs his arm to stop him.
Damian, not phased, comments "Ah, you're weak enough that a girl could stop you? You're just like that Charmander" with a smirk.
Before anything else can happen, a clap of thunder sounds from the sky.
Nurse Joy says out to the several trainers "Could someone help me out over here? Chansey isn't the biggest fan of thunder and lightning"
As the group look over to the Nurse, Lucy, they also see the standard assistant Pokémon in any Pokémon Center. A cowering, pink, ovoid Pokémon with stubby arms and dark pink feet. It has tiny eyes and three hair-like growths on each side of its head. The tufts of hair have dark pink tips. On the center of its belly is a dark pink pouch that contains a single white egg. Finally it has a short tail. The helper was shivering from fear of the stormy weather.
Lillie, now distracted from her prior thoughts, decides to scan it. Dexter says "Chansey, the Egg Pokémon, the evolved form of Happiny, a normal type. It seems that other Pokémon's efforts to take its delicious, nutritious egg away from it caused Chansey to get faster at fleeing. Because the eggs on their bellies have been overharvested by people in the past, the Chansey population remains very small"
Brock rushes over to help the Nurse out on his own accord as a thought hits Ash. He turns hurriedly to Serena and Lillie, saying "Charmanders out there in that storm! We need to go and help him out… before he could die"
They both agreed, and took off running out of the Pokémon Center, rushing to the location of the fire type.
After a few minutes, they reach the rock to see a rather saddened sight. The Charmander was still there on the rock, in the terrible rain. Seemed to have its, thankfully, still lit tail between its hind legs. It clutched a flimsy large leaf over its body in some desperate, vain attempt to keep itself alive.
It broke the three ten year old's hearts, and Pikachu's too. The fire lizard was willing to even risk its own life to obey its trainer. Even if it could have killed him.
Rushing over, Ash rips off his jacket and carefully covers the fire starter inside of it. Making sure not to catch the tail on the clothing but to not leave it exposed either. This leaves the boy in just his plain black shirt for the moment.
None of the trio had been dressed adequately for the storm they were trapped in currently. However just as they were about to run back to the building again, Charmander seemed to lose consciousness and its flame seemed weaker than ever before.
They stormed off towards the Pokémon Center desperate to try and save the Charmander's life. The poor thing didn't deserve this hell.
After maybe seven minutes, they burst through the health care building's front doors. Brock must have told Nurse Joy as she rushed over immediately and had Ash put him on a portable 'bed' which was then rushed off into the back to try and save the lizard's life. Brock followed closely behind her in some attempt to help her also.
By now, Damian and the others had left.
Ash slumped down onto a couch and was shivering. Of course he had just been out in a storm which for starters he was wearing a short-sleeved jacket which he then had taken off. While it wasn't the smartest idea ever, it was for a good cause.
Lillie and Serena join him also, with the honey-blonde female on his right with Lillie on his left. They sat there in silence for a long while. Serena, had taken out a blanket for the three of them and Pikachu to share on the couch to try and warm themselves up.
After maybe twenty minutes of this, Serena suggests "Maybe we should go to our room for now. It will allow us to rest and wait for more information about Charmander"
Ash, with a downcast look responds "Yeah, maybe that is for the best" and with that they walked, close together, off to their three person bedroom.
Their bags laid off to the side of the room on top of another blanket. There was a bathroom attachment as well. Pikachu was laying down at the bottom end of Serena's bed. The trio would then take it in turns getting changed in the aforementioned bathroom.
Ash's jacket was on a coat rack as it was drying. Same with Serena and Lillie's hoodies which they had worn while out there as well. Serena's one being a simple pink hoodie with a Pokéball design on the back. Lillie had a plain white basic hoodie, much like her typical clothing, it had some frills at the bottom.
Ash and Lillie were sitting on Ash's bed as they waited for Serena to be finished in the bathroom.
In the bathroom, Serena is busy taking off her also soaked black best with the white sleeveless top underneath. It reveals her bra as she is focused elsewhere. She thinks 'Why does that creep Damian always try and hit on me? That pervert left Charmander out there lonely and injured when it could have died but finds it okay to flirt with me? Why? There's nothing about me that's interesting anyways'
Although even as she says this, she does look to her covered chest. Of course she's only ten years old, and her body is nowhere near developed yet, however she did have the starting signs of her puberty. She knew that some females hit puberty at fairly young ages. She seemed to fit that category. She seemed almost the same size as Misty had been, despite the three year gap.
She thinks to herself 'Why was that creep interested in me but Ash isn't? And why is there that odd thing about Lillie? I'm straight right?' now see Serena, Lillie nor Grace was religious but it was the stereotype, boy and girl like each other, get together. Blah blah blah. 'That's how relationships are meant to be right?' she thinks to herself, now unsure about it.
She then asked herself, aloud, "Am I saying I like Lillie or something? And am I suggesting I want Ash interested in me? What's going on in my head?" as her mind is clouded in confusion as she tries to make sense of it all.
Of course in truth, for her age, Serena is rather attractive. Her long hair was a sight to be sure, her beautiful eyes and just her mannerisms. Still she felt as if it wasn't enough for her hidden crushes.
Shaking her head, she says "Serena, get it together. If I still feel like this over time, I will talk to Mum about it"
With that she threw on a lavender sweater. Then takes her shoes, leggings and skirt off. Then picked new underwear and put them on. Lastly she put on dark-pink shorts on.
Not being able to take her mind off of the situation, Lillie asks "Do you think Charmander will be okay?" as she looks at the floor with deep concern in her eyes.
Ash is taken aback by her concern as he thinks to himself 'She's concerned for him? Of course Lillie isn't an emotionless husk but she usually doesn't take such interest in these cases'
Ash then responds to her "Hopefully he'll be just fine Lillie. There's not much more we can do at the moment until they get back to us"
Lillie then asks a question on something that had been bothering her "Why are people so evil to others and Pokémon?"
Looking towards her with sympathy he tries his best to answer her "Some people don't know how to be good or choose not to be. Instead they find happiness from other people's misery. Damian is a bully who only wants power"
Before the conversation goes any further, there is a click from the door and as it opens it reveals their good friend Serena. Ash then tells Lillie to go in next. With that she goes into the bathroom with a change of clothing in her arms.
Serena, deciding to get another person's opinion asks Ash "Do you think I look nice Ash?" as she keeps her gaze elsewhere from the boy.
Giving her a smile, Ash answers "Of course you are Serena. You look amazing, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise"
This causes Serena to blush lightly. She then asks "Do you think one day I'll be with the person I'm meant to be with?"
Stupidly, densely and uselessly Ash responds "Well even if you don't you've always got Lillie and I!" and completely misses the actual question but somehow still technically answered her question. Kind of. To an extent. But not really.
Meanwhile in the bathroom, Lillie is looking at herself in the mirror. She's thinking 'Freak? Is that what I really am? I'm not normal of course, but does that really make me a freak? If it's not true, then why did Damian say it as such?'
Feeling confused and unable to make up her mind about what the boy had said, she started to cry. She never did anything to hurt others, and pretty much kept to herself. So WHY did Damian feel the need to bully her and make her feel like an alien or something? She believed herself to be rather kind, shy and caring if a little introverted.
Once she did manage to calm down a bit, she manages to take her dress off and then replaces it a short white nightgown with a light-blue lower-half and frills at the top-half as pyjamas. She then takes off her shoes and then socks. Then puts on a pair of light blue ankle socks and then a pair of plain white pair of slippers.
As she left the room, she tried to contain her sadness and the fact that she had cried.
Ash didn't look over as she entered the room but Serena did.
Ash hurried along and grabbed his own change of apparel then went into the bathroom, then the girls heard a click.
As soon as that had happened, Serena told her softly "Come here Lillie" as she patted the duvet beside herself as an invitation for the shy lass.
Not meeting Serena's gaze, Lillie listened and moved towards Ash's bed and sat beside her friend.
Serena asked her softly and quietly "What's up? Are you still thinking about what that jerk had to say?"
Meekly, Lillie answers "Yes… am I a" but she is cut off.
Serena, interrupting her, says "No, no you're not that. You're a beautiful, sweet and amazing girl. Of course you're not 'perfect' but that doesn't mean you're a bad person. No one is 'perfect', no matter what anyone says. It just doesn't exist, Earth is isn't a perfect sphere for example" as she puts her hand on her friend's shoulder to try and comfort her.
Then there's a quiet remark from Lillie's bag, saying "THE EARTH IS FLAT!"
Lillie responds "Then why did he say it then?" as she keeps her eyes downcast. Tears threatening to fall down her face.
Serena, seeing this, shifts over towards her friend and envelops her in a hug, saying "He's an arrogant idiot. And hey, regardless of what that clown wants from me, he isn't ever getting it. I am not interested in that snake at all. And besides my opinion of you is much more important than his" as she smiles towards her.
Narrowing her eyes, Lillie finally turns to look at Serena as she asks "And what do you think of me exactly?"
Once that question had been asked, the two girls were extremely close to one another. Still a 'distance' between their faces, but both were blushing by now.
Serena continues on "You're smart, funny, cute and most importantly… you're you. I wouldn't want you any other way Lillie"
Before either of the girls can go on, the click of the door lock breaks them out of the moment. The door then opens to reveal Ash in a plain green pyjama set. Nothing special.
As soon as the door handle started moving, they separated with strong blushes plastered on their faces.
Ash, the dense fool that he is, doesn't seem to notice. Or if he did, he hid it very well. He then asks "Are you both okay now?"
This had them both wondering what conversations did the other have with Ash. Was it anything similar to what they themselves had with him or each other just now?
The trio stayed up a long while later, talking about random stuff. They even sat on Ash's bed once more to watch, on the TV in the room, the film "Jurassic Park". During some of the scarier scenes, like the Velociraptors hunting the children, the trio huddled together under a shared blanket. Serena had been in the middle, Lillie on her left and Ash on her right. Lillie and Serena had held hands, on and off, during a few portions of the movie. Maybe for comfort or something, but for now as friends. (A/N: Oh and spoiler, there WILL be new and additional Fossil Pokémon ;),)
At one point Brock had given them an update, telling them that Charmander's condition had stabilized and would be better in the morning. With that the group went off to bed. But as a side note, Brock had learned about different things while helping Nurse Joy. Some stuff about Pokémon's health, how to treat injuries and the like. Couple that with what he had learnt from AJ, days prior, he was developing a strong understanding on how to help his and the gang's Pokémon. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his journey yet, however hopefully he could find his true calling in time.
The next morning the group wake up and dress themselves. Their clothing having dried and been washed in the night. The trio changed individually changed out of their pyjamas into their typical adventurous outfits. Ash having changed into his 'Subnoodle' shirt. Then left his jacket off for now. Just as the three of them were going to leave the room, there's a bang on the door.
Ash opens it and find Brock there looking panicked. The raven-haired boy asks "What's wrong Brock? Did something happen? Is Charmander" however gets interrupted.
Brock says "Charmander is gone!"
Ash, with a look of seriousness, says "I'll go after him. He would have only gone back to that rock"
Lillie, feeling like she wanted to check in on the fire type, says "I'll come as well"
Serena chimes in to add "I'll join yous too"
Brock tells them "I'll stay back and meet up with yous in about twenty or thirty minutes. Don't want to overwhelm him. Plus I still need to pack up some stuff"
With that, Ash, Lillie, Serena and Pikachu rush out from the Pokémon Center. They, even faster than the previous time, make it to the spot where Charmander was. Once again, on that spot where he was left.
However, there was quite the difference this time. Two people were there against the lone Pokémon. The two trainers who were with Damian. They were throwing rocks at the fire type, as they mocked him. Charmander just stayed there and tried to defend itself.
Ash tells Pikachu to let off a warning shock. At this, the electric mouse hops off of his shoulder and lets loose a powerful voltage which lands near where the two were. This surprises them both.
Ash runs in front of them. This being where he stands between the bullies and Charmander. He yells at them "What do you think you're doing? Leave him alone!"
This surprises Charmander. Growing a fierce glare, the fire type seems to understand the intentions of what Ash was doing. The lizard let loose a Flamethrower, which sent them both running.
Damian comes out from a nearby treeline and tries to congratulate the fire type and try to take him back. Only to be burned for his troubles. Literally. That sends Damian running. For now. But that wouldn't be the last we see of him.
Ash then captures Charmander.
That's all for now. I know it may have felt rushed at points and maybe that's true but it did what I needed it to do. I will be aiming to get the next one done and uploaded soon as well. Not much for me to say, I think? So see you next time and sorry for the delay.