Chapter 3

I do not own Pokemon. I only own my OCs.

Ash yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. The sun was creeping through the windows of their hotel room, illuminating the area. He looked to the side, and saw the Nate, Angelina, and Gary weren't in their beds. He checked the clock on his bedside table, which read 9:51 on it. Must've slept in late again...

Staying in Viridian City was... manageable for Ash. They'd been staying in the city for a couple of days now, and got to experience what staying in a Pokemon Center was really like. The beds were comfy, the food was good, and you could heal your Pokemon whenever you wanted. It was a wonder that these places were free for any Trainer to stay in.

Gary was being his annoying and arrogant self like always however. He'd constantly make a mess of their room, leaving dirty clothes and food wrappers on the floor. The three of them obviously didn't try to clean it up, but it did smell. He'd also brag about how good of a Trainer he is, constantly boasting about how Squirtle would beat all of them in a battle easily.

Nate had to restrain Charmander from practicing Metal Claw on Gary's face. The little lizard hated when its pride was insulted, and Nate wouldn't let him take it out on Gary, no matter how much he wanted to as well.

Ash looked over to the side of his bed and saw that Porygon was awake and was staring out the window silently, looking at nothing in particular. It noticed Ash's sudden movements and whirred. Ash gave it a tired smile and recalled it back into its PokeBall.

After changing into his Trainer's outfit and putting his sneakers on, he walked downstairs to get something to eat. The options of the menu were varied, but he finally deciding on hash browns, pancakes, and a bottle of Moomoo Milk to bring with him later. He didn't see Angelina or Nate anywhere, which was a little disappointing, he had wanted to challenge one of them to a battle.

He threw out his tray and walked outside, smelling the fresh air. A few people were out and about, and Ash turned his attention to the battling areas to the side of the Pokemon Center. Each Pokemon Center had one, allowing Trainers to get some extra training in without having to find an empty area in a nearby route and disturb wild Pokemon.

He walked over to one of the battlefields, away from the other Trainers. Most of them looked to be younger than him, with common Pokemon such as Pidgey, Rattata, and

He let Porygon out of its PokeBall, happily warbling at the sight of its Trainer. He stared at the second PokeBall attached to his belt, the one holding Oddish. Trainers needed to introduce their Pokemon to their team and show they were worthy of the Pokemon's companionship before they'd become a functioning member of their team. Most Pokemon wouldn't take kindly to be taken from their homes, so they needed to prove that they were better than the alternative option, which was escaping and going back to their home.

Ash was a little nervous, as he had never done this before. Receiving a Pokemon from the professor that hadn't known any other life besides working with humans was one thing, but a wild Pokemon that had a life before being captured was another. He had put off introducing Oddish to him and Porygon ever since they got to Viridian City, but he finally decided today was the day they would do it.

"Alright Porygon. I'll be introducing Oddish to you." he said to the Virtual Pokemon. "We need to make a good impression if we want it to trust us. Don't stare at it, and don't get too close to it. If it attacks, freeze it with Ice Beam."

Porygon processed the order with ease and nodded its blocky head. Ash was worried Porygon's strange appearance and soulless gaze would scare Oddish, but he had to try.

Ash clicked the release button on Oddish's PokeBall, watching nervously as Oddish appeared in front of him. The Weed Pokemon cocked its head, looked curiously at the human and the strange Pidgey in front of it.

"Hello, Oddish." Ash started, and gulped. "My name's Ash Ketchum. You remember I caught you right?"

Oddish nodded, shaking it leaves. "Perfect." Ash responded. "I'm not forcing you to stay with me, and I'll even walk you back to Route 1 and release you if you don't want to stay with me. But please hear me out."

"I'm training to become a Pokemon Master, and I want you to come with me. With you and Porygon by my side, nothing will stop us, and I promise to treat you, Porygon, and any other Pokemon with the respect and kindness you deserve. What do you say?"

Oddish was surprised that this human would give it the chance to go back to its home if it wanted. He was initially a little scared after being captured. But he always wanted to go on a journey. He'd heard tales of selfish humans who only had malice and hatred in their hearts. But this one seemed... nice.

It nodded its head and squealed excitedly, and Ash grinned. "Welcome to the team!" he exclaimed. "You'll love it here."

Before withdrawing Oddish back into his PokeBall however, Ash wanted to ask his team something he'd been thinking about for quite some time now.

"Do either of you want nicknames?" he asked them. Oddish thought for a moment and nodded his head. Porygon nodded its head as well, although it didn't seem to have any opinion on the matter.

Ash started with Porygon, and tried thinking of nicknames for it, although it didn't really help that Porygon just nodded at every nickname he gave it. So it was up to Ash to give it a name that would stick.

"What about Dexter?" he asked, already knowing what Porygon would respond with. It gave the same robotic nod, and Ash shrugged helplessly, recalling it back into its PokeBall.

He turned to Oddish and started to think of possible nicknames for it. Something to do with plants maybe...?

"How about Petal?" he asked him after four failed attempts at nicknames. Oddish thought for a moment before smiling and nodding its head vigorously. Ash grinned and recalled it back into its PokeBall.

He felt someone tap his shoulder, and turned around to see Nate holding a PokeBall, with a toothy grin on his face.

"Hey Ash!" he said. "I caught another Pokemon at Route 22 earlier today. He put up a good fight against Charmander. How about a battle? I want to see that Porygon of yours in action."

Ash returned the grin. "You're on!"

A few minutes later, Ash and Nate were standing on opposite sides of a battlefield near the Pokemon Center. Nate had reclaimed his two Pokemon from Nurse Joy relatively quickly, and both of them hastily made their way to an open sparring area where they could battle.

"Let's not wager any money, I'm short on cash right now. How does two-on-two sound?" Nate called from across the dirt field. Ash nodded and gave him a thumbs up, unclipping Petal's PokeBall from his belt and throwing it.

The Weed Pokemon was released from the contraption and looked back at Ash, a bit confused.

"We're battling, Oddi- er, Petal." Ash said, "I want to see what you can do. Just try your best."

The Oddish nodded and looked over at Nate, who also unclipped a PokeBall from his belt.

"Alright then. Show 'em what we can do Nidoran!" Nate said as he threw the PokeBall. A purple Pokemon with spines growing out of its back took the field. It had large green ears and a single tooth poking out of its mouth. Its determined red eyes stared at Ash, who took out his Pokedex to scan it.

"Nidoran. The Poison Pin Pokemon." the Pokedex recited, "The male Nidoran has developed muscles that freely move its ears in any direction. Even the slightest sound does not escape this Pokemon's notice. The horn on a male Nidoran's forehead contains a powerful poison."

Ash was a little bit surprised. He would've thought Nate would've tried to catch something better against Brock, like a mankey. The Poison type looked pretty young, maybe a year old or so, but still had the protective and brave aura every male nidoran possessed.

"Start off with Peck!" Nate ordered. The Poison Pokemon brandished its horn and charged toward the Oddish, intending to spear it.

"Dodge and use Growth!" Ash commanded. Petal jumped out of the way before Nidoran could make contact and started gathering energy. A green light began emanating from the leaves on the top of its head as it continued to collect power.

"Don't let it set up! Circle back and use Peck again!" Nate yelled. The nidoran used the momentum gained from its original attack and swerved toward Petal, ramming its horn into its body.

Petal squealed in pain and was knocked back a few meters, but Ash had already done what he wanted. Petal's leaves were glossier and larger, showing that the Growth had been successful.

"Use Absorb!" Ash ordered. Green tendrils of energy were sucked from Nidoran's body and were absorbed by Oddish. Nidoran shut its eyes but managed to shake off some of the pain due to its resistance to grass type moves. However, the earlier wound inflicted by Peck had started to heal.

"Use Peck once more!" Nate commanded. The Poison Pin Pokemon rushed toward Petal once more, determined to finish the job.

"Stop it with Acid!" Ash yelled. Petal shot a blob of purple goo toward Nidoran, but it didn't seem deterred. Instead of dodging the attack, it used its horn to cut through the acidic substance and slam its horn into Petal, sending it flying.

The Weed Pokemon landed with a loud thud and didn't get up.

"Nice one Nidoran!" Nate cheered. Ash sighed and recalled Petal. "You did great." he said to the PokeBall. "That's all I could have asked for."

He definitely wasn't expecting Nidoran to slice through the Acid attack. It wouldn't have done much damage, but he thought it would have at least stopped it from using Peck.

Oh well. Guess he would have to even the score.

Dexter took the field and started beeping at being released. "We're in a battle, Dexter." Ash called over to it. "That Nidoran took down Petal!"

The Porygon stared over at the poison type and analyzed it. Its eyes flashed faintly and it warbled. The Poison Pin Pokemon waved its horn around threateningly, a little bit unnerved by the strange Pokemon, but refusing to back down.

"Use Conversion!" Ash ordered. He hadn't had a chance to try the move until now, but it was a useful tactic exclusive to the Porygon evolutionary line. It allowed Dexter to change its typing to match a random move in its arsenal. This could be useful defensively, while also allowing Porygon to use the move with more effectiveness.

Dexter's body started to pulse and shine, emitting a strong white light. After a few seconds, its body started to glow a light blue, showing that its typing had changed to Ice.

"It's open! Use Poison Sting!" Nate ordered. Nidoran charged toward the Virtual Pokemon, who had finished using Conversion and whose body was pulsing a faint blue. Its horn was dripping with a purple toxin that it intended to puncture Dexter with.

"Freeze it with Ice Beam!" Ash commanded. A concentrated beam of icy energy was shot from Porygon's beak-like appendage, hitting Nidoran in the face and launching it back to its side of the field. It landed on its back, but refused to go down and stood up defiantly.

"Finish this with Tackle!" Ash yelled. Porygon slammed its body into Nidoran, sending it back a few inches and finally knocking it out.

"Nice job!" he cheered. But his smile fell when he saw Dexter's body was shivering and convulsing in pain. Ash gritted his teeth when he realized the porygon had been poisoned by Nidoran's Poison Point. He cursed at himself for not using a ranged attack. He'd be at a huge disadvantage against Charmander.

"Alright Charmander!" Nate announced. "Your time to shine!"

The orange fire lizard popped out of the capsule and gave a low growl, nostrils flaring. If he played his cards right, Ash would be able to take out Charmander while making sure Porygon sustained as little damage as possible.

"Use Ember!" Nate ordered. Charmander spat a small ball of fire at Porygon, who levitated out of the way before it could hit.

"Use what we practiced! Metal Claw!" Ash's eyes widened. Charmander had already gotten down Metal Claw? He couldn't let Porygon take that.

"Use Thunderbolt! Quick!" Ash shouted. A lance of electricity shot from Porygon, but Charmander blocked it with its metal encased claws and slashed the Virtual Pokemon, knocking it back a couple of feet. It warbled in surprise and Ash winced as it continued to twitch from the poison.

"We have to wrap this up! Set up with Conversion!" Dexter began to glow white, but this time the glow changed to a faint yellow, signaling Porygon had become an electric type. Ash sighed in relief. He still had a chance. Metal Claw would do less damage thanks to Dexter's electric typing, and its already strong Thunderbolts would be stronger against the opposing fire type.

"Take it down with Ember!"

"Counterattack with Thunderbolt!"

The two attacks met each other and collided in a small explosion. Ash coughed as he inhaled some of the smoke. When it cleared, he saw that Dexter was still struggling to hang on. He had to attack now.

"Use Thunderbolt!" he yelled. "Follow up with Tackle!"

"Block it with Metal Claw!" Nate ordered.

The Thunderbolt was easily blocked by Metal Claw, but Porygon was able to slam its body into Charmander, catching it off guard. The lizard flew back a few feet, but Ash wouldn't let it recover.

"Now use Thunderbolt again!"

"Dodge!"

But it was too late. Charmander hadn't gotten back on its feet yet, and was blasted by the electric attack, roaring in pain. Its body convulsed from the shock and stress on its body, and it finally collapsed. The Thunderbolt, already powered up by Conversion and Download, had done a number on Charmander's body.

A few seconds later, Dexter gave a weak warble before losing control over its levitation and collapsing as well.

Ash finally exhaled after holding his breath. The battle had been too close. He had made some major mistakes that almost lost him the fight. He returned Dexter, and Nate followed suit with Charmander.

Nate walked over to him and grinned. "Wow!" he said. "You really had me on the ropes there. That porygon is too strong!"

"You did well too. Using Metal Claw to block an attack like that was really smart." Both of them shook hands. He was proud of both Petal and Dexter for trying their best. They were the real winners here, not him.

A few seconds later, they heard someone slow clapping. Both of them turned and glared at Gary, who just smirked.

"Jeez, Nate." Gary jeered. "I thought you were bad, but even I didn't think you'd lose to Ashy boy over here. What a lame excuse for a Trainer."

"Shut up Gary." Ash retorted. "You lost to me too. If Nate's a loser then what does that make you?"

"That was a fluke and you know it!" Gary yelled as his face turned red. "I'll beat you to the ground here and now! I caught another Pokemon just a few hours ago."

Ash was about to accept until he remembered that his Pokemon were still unconscious.

"I have to heal my Pokemon." Ash said, "I don't have the energy to deal with you today, Gary."

Gary frowned. "Tch. Whatever." he muttered. "I'm leaving this dumb city anyways. Smell ya later losers!" With that, he ran past the Pokemon Center toward Route 2.

Ash scowled. Gary was so insufferable. At least they finally wouldn't have to sleep in the same room as him. That was a nightmare.

"Ugh." Nate groaned. "I hate him so much."

"Me too." Ash said. "Don't worry. I'll beat him for you next time we meet."

Nate smiled and both of them walked back into the Pokemon center and handed Nurse Joy their Pokemon.

Ash decided to take a walk around Viridian City before heading back to the Pokemon Center for the night. He wanted to take in the sights before they left. He probably wouldn't be back here for a few months.

His eyes drifted over to the Earth Gym. It was a small brown building with a stone roof, surrounded by trees with a fountain in front of it. If he hadn't seen pictures of it he would've mistaken it for a house.

Ash shuddered. He had heard about how strong and ruthless the Viridian Gym Leader was. He had often seen Trainers with much stronger Pokemon rush into the Pokemon Center after being brutally bashed by Giovanni's ground Pokemon.

He didn't want the same fate to come to his team when they came back to Viridian again.

Thoughts of what his next steps would be in terms of training swarmed his head. He needed to make both of his teammates stronger if they wanted a chance against Brock's Rock Pokemon.

He suddenly heard a "HELP!" coming from an alley to his right. Ash's eyes widened, and he raced toward the sound. Someone could be in trouble, and he didn't want to let anything happen while he was in the area.

He finally came to a stop, and two adults towering over a boy and his Pikachu. The boy had black hair like Ash's, and was cowering in fear.

The Pikachu looked like it had been beaten up pretty badly, judging by the scratch and bite marks on its fur.

"Listen here, twerp." one of the adults said. She had on a white crop top and a short skirt as well as long black boots and gloves. What caught Ash's eye was her extremely long mess of pink hair. He silently wondered how long it took to keep that in shape. "Hand over the Pikachu and we'll leave quietly. If you try to call for help one more time, you'll lose a lot more than just your Pokemon."

"Hey!" Ash shouted, loud enough to get both of their attention. "Get away from him! You can't steal Pokemon!"

"Why yes we can." the other figure said. He was wearing a similar uniform to the girl, but sported white pants and long purple hair. Both of their shirts had a large R printed on them. "Because Team Rocket will soon control all of Kanto, and nothing will stop us!"

"Meowth! That's right!" Ash heard a third voice say. It was coming from a cat like Pokemon with a coin on its head. Ash's eyes widened. Was that a talking Pokemon!?

Whatever. He didn't have time to think about that right now.

"So step off or face the consequences." the pink-haired female said threateningly. Ash glared at them.

"No, I don't think I will." he responded as he sent out Dexter and Petal. Dexter warbled what seemed to be angrily, and Petal waved his leaves threateningly. Both of them shared the same opinion on the matter as their Trainer.

"Hah!" the pink-haired woman laughed. "You think you can defeat us? When we're finished with you we'll have three Pokemon to send to the boss!

"Ugh." The purple-haired man groaned. "Shall we teach this twerp not to mess with our plans Jessie?"

"I'd be glad to, James." Jessie said and grinned evilly, "Ekans, use Bite on that weird bird thing!"

"Koffing, use Smog!"

A rounded purple Pokemon with bumps lining its body floated from behind James and released a cloud of noxious gas from its bumps, obscuring Ash's vision. The snake-like Pokemon slithered around the gas and sank its fangs into Porygon, who warbled in surprise.

"Dexter, use Thunderbolt on that Ekans! Petal, use Acid on that Koffing!" Ash shouted. Dexter's eyes glowed green and it shot a bolt of electricity at the Ekans, who unlatched its jaws and hissed in pain as it was sent back.

Petal spat a glob of poisonous goo at Koffing, splattering it in the face and interrupting it from using Smog. Ash was able to see a bit better, and saw that Dexter had paralyzed the opposing Ekans, causing it to twitch and spasm.

"Finish it off with Ice Beam!" Ash shouted. Porygon charged up a ray of icy energy and shot at the already weakened Ekans, who was blasted back by the impact and lay on the ground, unconscious.

On Petal's side of the field, Koffing was glaring down angrily at the Oddish. It spat a Sludge attack at Petal, who dodged and intercepted the next one with his own Acid.

Koffing was about to spit another Sludge attack at Petal, but was blasted back by a Thunderbolt by Porygon. The shock from the impact allowed Porygon to finish it off with a tackle, slamming its entire body into it, knocking it out.

"Beaten by a child!" Jessie shouted angrily and pointed her finger at Ash. "Fine! You win! But you haven't seen the last of us, twerp!"

The talking Meowth snickered. "You can't beat Team Rocket and expect to get away with it!"

With that, they returned their Pokemon and pushed past Ash to exit the alley.

Ash approached the child and his Pikachu, who both looked at him with something like… admiration? Huh. That was a first.

He extended a hand to the boy, who took and he pulled him up. A small smile crept up on the boy's face.

"Thank you so much for saving me back there!" he exclaimed. "I was afraid Pikachu would be stolen from me… I couldn't bear being without him, especially since I'm leaving to go on a journey with him in a few days." He looked down at the Mouse Pokemon, who squeaked and hugged him.

Ash smiled at the two while they were having their moment. "By the way," Ash said. "What's your name?"

"Satoshi."

"My name's Ash. Nice to meet you."

The next day, Ash and his Pokemon were at the same battlefield from their battle with Nate. He wanted to get some training in before they left the next day to tackle Viridian Forest.

His main focus was teaching Petal the move Mega Drain. It was basically an upgrading version of Absorb, having more power but using up more stamina. Absorb would definitely do a good chunk of damage to Brock's rock types, but he wanted Mega Drain as a more reliable option against Onix.

As for Dexter, he wanted to teach it Thunder Shock. Thunder Shock was pretty much a weaker Thunderbolt, but Ash saw potential with it. It could be used to diffuse weak attacks, and was a more concentrated and accurate version of Thunderbolt.

Thunder Shock wouldn't be too hard. Dexter already had Thunderbolt as a basis. Mega Drain would be the harder move to practice, especially since Petal was weaker than the Porygon. It was easier to turn a strong move into a weaker move than for a weak move to turn into a stronger move.

Luckily, the Pokedex provided data for every move recorded that a Pokemon could learn, and Ash was able to find a video of Mega Drain being used by a Tangela.

A Trainer could recognize a Mega Drain if their Pokemon was able to produce a green beam that trapped an opponent. If the move successfully hit, the beam would turn red, and the user's body would glow white, healing any injuries in the process.

Ash showed the video to Petal, who watched closely at the technique as well. He was eager to learn it and make Ash proud.

"Okay, now try it on Dexter." Petal flinched at the command, and looked worriedly at the Virtual Pokemon. Ash frowned and kneeled down so he was face-to-face with Petal.

"Hey, it's okay." Ash said, "I know you don't want to hurt Dexter, and that's understandable. But you have to try this out on an opponent, and Dexter is the only Pokemon around that can help you. Don't worry if you hurt them, I can always take him to the Pokemon Center if you do end up damaging them. You can take it, right Dexter?"

The Porygon nodded and warbled encouragingly at the Weed Pokemon. But Petal still didn't seem so sure. Dexter had helped him yesterday against those mean humans.

"What if you tried it out on me?" Ash suggested. Petal jumped back, surprised that his Trainer would even suggest being hit by one of his own Pokemon's attacks.

But Ash wasn't crazy. He knew that Mega Drain wouldn't have the same effect on him as if Petal used it on another Pokemon. Humans didn't have the same life force and energy as Pokemon did, which was the entire purpose of Mega Drain.

"Don't worry, Petal." Ash said. "I won't feel as much pain as Porygon would. We need you to practice Mega Drain before we get to Pewter City, and I want you to get at least a little bit of training before we leave tomorrow. So show me what you can do."

Finally, Petal reluctantly nodded. Ash grinned. He liked the compassion that Petal showed. Maybe it was because the Oddish was so young, but Ash found it rather adorable.

"Now let me have it." Ash said. "Use Mega Drain!"

Oddish concentrated its power onto Ash, and after a few seconds he saw a faint white beam shoot from Oddish's leaves. It connected itself to Ash, but then dissipated.

Petal pouted when it realized its move had failed. Ash chuckled.

"Don't worry if you don't get it the first time." Ash said. "That's what practice is for. Try it again."

Petal readied itself into a battle stance and a white beam shot from its leaves and coiled itself around Ash. His body was trapped by the white beam coiling around him.

Then he started to notice that he was feeling weaker and weaker by the second. It was like all of his vigor was sucked up by a vacuum. His fingers and toes started to numb and his limbs started to get heavier and heavier by the second.

Finally, Petal lost control of the Mega Drain and Ash collapsed. Petal whimpered and looked at his Trainer worriedly, wondering if he'd accidentally hurt him badly. But Ash just smiled weakly at the small Pokemon.

"It's okay, Petal." he comforted the Oddish. "I'm fine. The fact that I'm so exhausted means that you're doing well. We'll be able to get Mega Drain down in no time. Let's stop for today. Get some rest."

He pulled Petal's PokeBall out of his pocket and returned it to its vivarium. Porygon hovered over to him and warbled.

"I'm fine, Dexter," he said. "Let's go inside. It's getting late, and that Mega Drain made me exhausted."

He walked inside the red building and sat himself down at a table in the cafeteria. One of the perks of the Pokemon Center was that it provided free meals for anyone passing through. Hotels were still popular since they had better conditions and food, but for a passing Trainer, Pokemon Centers were sometimes lifesavers.

"Hey Ash…" he heard a voice say. Ash turned to the direction of the voice and saw Nate and Angelina covered in sticks, leaves, and dirt. Ash burst out laughing at their condition, much to the dismay of both of them.

"What happened to you two?" Ash wheezed.

"Angelina wanted me to help her catch a Pokemon." Nate grumbled. "We found a spearow and we were chasing it for an hour! We would've caught it if Angelina wasn't so bad at throwing PokeBalls!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Angelina, who recoiled in shock.

"Well maybe it would've been easier if you had sent out your Charmander!" she retorted.

"He was exhausted from training! Why didn't you send out your Bulbasaur? It was your Pokemon to catch!"

"Spearow's a flying type! Bulbasaur would've been taken out easily!"

The two of them continue their bickering and Ash sighed. They weren't usually like this. Maybe chasing after a Pokemon for an hour brought out the worst in them. Ash picked up his tray, discarded it, and left his two friends to their bickering. Hopefully they'd tire themselves out.

Ash left the Pokemon Center in a hurry, not wanting to be caught up in the fight. Sooner or later, they'd probably ask for his opinion, which would only lead to more fighting no matter which side he chose. He should know, he did when he and Gary were fighting. They'd try to get any edge they had over the other in order to win an argument.

The sun was setting beyond the horizon, painting the sky a beautiful orange. As Ash walked down the streets of Viridian, he pulled out his Pokedex and looked over the information about the Oddish species.

They tended to wander around and gather moonlight during the night, gathering and storing up energy in the event they were attacked. Once the sun started to rise, they would bury themselves and collect sunlight, sleeping through the day. Their feet would turn into roots, and interrupting a Oddish from its sleep would result in it letting loose an earsplitting scream and spitting acid in the assailants face.

Trainers were still advised to buy Pokemon food however, since when it evolved, it would abandon this practice and switch to only sunlight, and would no longer bury itself. Food would also allow them to gain alternate energy besides moonlight, allowing them to adjust to a diurnal lifestyle instead of a nocturnal one.

Ash continued to scan through any and every piece of information he could find about the Oddish line. This was his first test in taking care of a Pokemon. Dexter didn't technically count, since it didn't eat or drink, and it couldn't contract diseases either.

He turned a corner and saw a sign advertising Pokemon food by a shop. He ran across the street and pushed open the door. Rows of shelves were stocked with different kinds of food, all sporting fancy labels with words such as "organic" and "Non-GMO". The inside was relatively empty apart from a cashier, who seemed to be bored out of his mind. Understandable for someone working at minimum wage.

Ash found a row stocked with Grass-type Pokemon food, and scanned through the options. He finally found one he was satisfied with, a relatively big bag of food that was pretty cheap. He brought it to the cashier and handed him a wad of bills. The man took the money and motioned for him to leave. Ash shrugged and placed the package in a plastic bag and walked out.

He walked back to the Pokemon Center, which happened to only be a few blocks away. Ash was surprised at how short of a distance he had walked, he could've sworn he was looking at his Pokedex for at least twenty minutes...

Ash entered the lobby to find it completely devoid of arguing ten-year olds, and he sighed in relief. They'd probably tired themselves out and went back to their room. Ash walked up the stairs and took a right, finding their room and unlocking the door.

Nate and Angelina both had their backs turned to each other, both of them doing their own thing. Nate flipped through a magazine, licking his finger as he turned a page. Angelina petted her Bulbasaur, who was curled up next to her. Neither was willing to talk to the other.

Ash walked in quietly and set down the bag of Pokemon food. He took out a food bowl, which incidentally, had a water-type symbol on it. Was it so wrong to want to prepare as much as you could to take care of the Squirtle that your snot-nosed rival snatched out your hands?

Not that he was complaining about receiving a Porygon, but still...

Ash clicked the release button on Petal's PokeBall, the resulting flash of light manifesting into the form of the Oddish. It looked around the room curiously before its eyes set on Ash and it gave a happy chirp.

He poured the Pokemon food into the bowl while Petal watched curiously. "Tell me if you like this." Ash told him. "I just bought it from the store."

Petal nodded, shaking its leaves and proceeded to dig into its meal. After a few seconds it squeaked happily and continued to eat. Ash grinned and closed the bag, letting it eat in peace.

Once the Oddish had a full belly, Ash turned off his bedside lamp and closed his eyes, slowly drifting off.

The next day, Ash, Nate, and Angelina stood by the entrance to the Viridian Forest, packing their supplies. Nate had prepared a checklist, and was checking off things with a pencil as he looked through each of their bags.

Ash had been the last one to wake up, since neither his Pokemon nor his traveling companions had bothered to wake him. When he got down to the cafeteria, Nate and Angelina had both been talking to each other as if the events of the previous day had never happened. He doubted the peace would continue though.

"Potions?"

"Check."

"PokeBalls?"

"Check."

"Antidotes?"

"Check."

"Stupidity?"

"Check. Wha- hey!"

Ash just rolled his eyes. Nate started to cackle as Angelina pouted, her face turning red. They'd never change.

He cleared his throat to get their attention. "You guys ready?" he asked.

Both of them gave him a thumbs-up. "I've never been more ready." Nate responded.

The three of them turned toward Viridian Forest and started to walk into the wilderness, unaware of what surprises would be waiting in store for them in the coming days ahead.

Author's Note: Thanks for the support guys! So "Petal" is going to be Oddish's new nickname, and Dexter (in reference to the name Ash gave his Pokedex, this was a fan's idea, not mine) is going to be Porygon's name!

Next chapter will be covering Ash, Nate, and Angelina's journey through Viridian Forest, as well as their battle against Brock! Stay tuned!