A/N: The Pokémon franchise is the property of The Pokémon Company and their subsidiaries. Please support the official release.


Chapter 4: The Stranger

"You know, I'm getting real tired of taking care of you like this."

The sound of Dawn's slightly frustrated voice roused Ash from his slumber, and he let out a raspy groan as his brain started booting up its rudimentary functions. Every muscle in his body ached from exhaustion, and it became painstakingly clear that standing up was not an option.

"Yeah, good morning to you too…" he gasped as he attempted to get into a more comfortable position on the ground. "I… passed out again, didn't I?"

"Yup," she answered nonchalantly whilst rummaging through her backpack in search of something. "You do that a lot. Do you have naturally low blood sugar levels or something?"

Massaging his forehead, he racked his brain in search of an answer or a witty response, but came up with nothing.

"I honestly don't know, but sometimes I wonder… Wait, are you cooking something?" An almost sickeningly sweet smell had just hit his nostrils, and Ash felt his stomach grumble in anticipation.

"Well, I'm technically not the one doing the cooking, so no."

Ash furrowed his eyebrows at her words.

"But… if you're not cooking anything… then... where is this sweet smell coming from?"

Dawn stopped scouring through her backpack to send him a funny look.

"You were just attacked by an incredibly dangerous Pokémon, got severely wounded and passed out, and yet the first thing you think about when you wake up is food… Men are such simple creatures," she sighed, shaking her head in something resembling disappointment.

"Hey, that's hardly fair… I'm only human, I got needs," Ash responded, arms raised in a defensive manner.

Chuckling slightly to herself, Dawn closed her backpack before moving over and stretching out her hand for Ash to grab. Accepting her help, he took it, and carefully managed to drag himself off the ground, up into a standing position.

"Ahh man, that hurts…" he wheezed, clutching Dawn's hand tightly.

"I bandaged you up to the best of my ability, but that Heracross got you good," she replied, a faint grimace marring her features as Ash increased the pressure on her hand. "Try not to overexert yourself, okay? That might open up the wounds again, and trust me; I'm not spending another second patching up your sorry ass."

Ash couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Yeah, alright Mom, anything else you want me to do?" he answered jokingly.

"Yes, actually. Could you go fetch us some dry wood for the fire?"


"Try not to overexert yourself" she says, only to send me right out to find wood. Oh, the bitter irony…

Practically crawling through the underbrush, Ash strenuously searched for some dry sticks he could carry back to the campfire, muttering curses to himself all the while.

However… I am certain my nose didn't deceive me. Someone was cooking something, and for some reason, Dawn didn't tell me who… Oh well, guess I'll find out soon enough.

As he continued combing over the leaf-covered ground, a sudden, strange noise made his ears twitch. At first, he simply brushed it off as a natural sound of the forest, but as his search continued, so did the ruckus. And for some reason, it was growing clearer now, more prominent.

Something is lurking about, Ash thought to himself, dropping down low to use the foliage as camouflage. I am not getting jumped again, that much is for damn sure. Besides, Dawn would kill me if she had to patch me up again.

Suddenly, the noises stopped. A deafening silence filled Ash's ears as his eyes frantically searched for any signs of movement. And then, all of a sudden, he heard it. The sound of a branch breaking.

Jumping to the side, he just about managed to dodge out of the way as a razor-sharp wine cut through the air right where he had been standing. An agitated hiss gave away the Pokémon's frustration at missing its target, and Ash couldn't help but flash a smirk of satisfaction at his own speed.

Got you now, sucker!

Faster than ever before, he grabbed a Pokéball from his magnetic belt and flung it directly at his attacker. The round object caught the Pokémon by surprise, and with such little room to maneuver, there was no way it could possibly dodge in time.

The metal ball let out a clanking sound as it hit its target, the automatic mechanism designed to trap Pokémon causing it to flash open with surprising speed. The unsuspecting beast could do nothing but flail helplessly around as it was mercilessly sucked into the contraption, its body turning into a blinding white substance. The whole ordeal happened so fast that Ash barely had time to register it, as the now full Pokéball fell to the ground.

He stared at it in intense silence as he watched the dot on its front blink red once.

Twice.

And finally thrice, informing him that the Pokémon had been successfully captured.

A huge scream of victory followed as Ash realized he had just taken the first step on his journey to becoming a proper Pokémon Trainer.


Dawn couldn't find her tampons. She had been looking for them all morning, searched through all of her belongings, but they remained lost. Since it was a somewhat awkward subject, she had chosen to not ask Ash for help. She reckoned she was doing him a favor.

Luckily enough, the newcomer had arrived just in time for breakfast, so she was free to search for her missing toiletries whilst he cooked.

Her meeting with the foreigner had been a rather strange one indeed. She had been tending to Ash's wounds when he had announced his presence, coming into view from behind a tree. It had been obvious that he was attempting not to startle her, and that was probably why he had decided to approach her from a distance, so she could see him coming.

At first, Dawn had been incredibly suspicious, which was the natural response to encountering a stranger in the wild. But, seeing as the guy had decided to approach HER first, she surmised that he pretty much just wanted to talk.

After receiving a quick explanation from the stranger, Dawn had learned that he was a traveler from Sandgem Town, and that he had heard Ash and Dawn talking to each other from some way away and decided to come investigate.

Despite the rather menacing-looking assault rifle he had strapped to his back, Dawn didn't sense any ill intent from him, and so she invited him to stay for breakfast, on the condition that he made it, of course.

And that was pretty much how she had ended up searching for her tampons whilst a complete stranger made her breakfast. A quite perplexing situation, but one she found herself enjoying nonetheless.

A stranger from Sandgem Town… Perhaps he could tell her how things were over there…


Looking down at the small metal object in his hand, Ash couldn't help but feel his heart twinge with pride. He had just caught his very first Pokémon, and a rather fast one at that.

Before Professor Westwood of Celadon University had invented the Pokéball, there had been no easy way to tame one of the menacing beasts. But now, if you had the skill, pretty much anyone could capture a Pokémon, should they wish to do so.

However, successfully capturing a Pokémon and building a relationship with a Pokémon were two completely separate things, one of which was clearly more arduous than the other. The whole process could be compared to that of gaining the trust of a wild animal. In order to build a strong relationship, you had to have trust, and trust was only gained after spending a significant amount of time and attention on the opposite party.

Despite knowing all of this, Ash still couldn't contain his excitement, and decided to call forth his newly captured companion. Throwing the metal ball with a firm grip, it opened up mid-air, and let out a whooshing sound as the Pokémon was summoned from within.

Once the bright light died down, Ash took a closer look at his new accomplice. The Pokémon was a stark green color with big, circular eyes. It almost had the appearance of some sort of plant. Its stem was yellow with green spots, and a plethora of red and green wines ran down and covered its waist like tentacles. It also had two arms resembling leaves with three "leafy" fingers on each arm. But the most terrifying thing about it was without a doubt its huge mouth. The mouth made up about 80 percent of its head, with razor-sharp teeth lining the edges, fully capable of tearing through skin and fabric like paper.

Ash vaguely recalled hearing Professor Oak talk about a Pokémon they had discovered in the Sinnoh region that had the appearance of a carnivorous plant. He reckoned this would be that Pokémon.

"Hey there fella… How are you feeling?" he cooed, sending it his most innocent smile. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly…"

The Pokémon responded by squinting its eyes and hissing at him.

Oh well, you gotta start somewhere I suppose…

"Look, I am not going to hurt you, I promise… Are you perhaps hungry?"

No response.

"Alright, not hungry then. Well, we gotta get going anyways, or else Dawn is going to be mad at us."

Pointing the Pokéball at his new companion, it automatically shot out a red beam that sucked the Pokémon back into it again, removing any trace of its existence. Letting out a sigh of contentment, Ash turned around to head back to the camp again, excited to show Dawn his catch.


He noticed the stranger as soon as he arrived back at camp. His unorthodox appearance commanded attention, and Ash couldn't help but stare at him from across the campfire, inspecting his features and committing them to memory. At first, he had thought the stranger to be an intruder, but after it became apparent that Dawn was aware of and had acknowledged his presence, he figured it was probably safe to announce his return.

"Hey Dawn, I'm back… Who's this guy?" he asked, walking towards the two of them with confident steps.

"Oh, this is… well, as a matter of fact, I don't actually know his name… But he's a traveler from Sandgem Town. He approached me earlier this morning, and when I learned he had no ill intent, I invited him to eat breakfast with us," Dawn answered nonchalantly, brushing off the subject as some minor happening.

"Oh… Okay… That's…"

Ash didn't really know what to say next, and so decided to simply roll with it. Not like there was much point in discussing it anyway. Ash had the distinct impression that Dawn wasn't really a person you could argue much with.

Giving the stranger a quick nod, he instead approached Dawn with his Pokéball in hand, showing it off proudly. "But more importantly, look what I did! I captured my very first Pokémon!"

Dawn immediately lit up when she heard this, her eyes locking on to the metal ball in his hand.

"What?! Really? That's amazing!" she gasped, practically jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yeah, isn't it? Here, I'll show it to you."

Throwing the Pokéball a few feet away, he summoned forth his new companion. The plant-like Pokémon appeared, scanning its surroundings with a suspicious and slightly curious look.

"Oh my god, that's a Carnivine! I've only gotten a good look at one of them once in my entire life; they are so quick to escape…" Dawn rambled as she ran circles around the confused Pokémon, inspecting every inch of it. "How did you manage to capture it?"

Putting on a smug face, Ash crossed his arm and puffed out his chest with pride. "Well, I was out looking for wood to fuel the fire when it attacked me. Luckily enough, I heard it coming and caught it by surprise. It didn't have enough time or room to dodge my Pokéball, so I managed to capture it."

Cocking her head slightly, Dawn sent him a quick look before returning her attention to the Carnivine. "Ohh, I get it… You got lucky."

"Hey! I reckon there was at least a little bit of skill involved!" Ash fired back, his pride disappearing like a popped balloon. He hated how Dawn always made him feel so incompetent…

"Whatever… It's a good catch nonetheless. Now, did you manage to find me that wood?"

And just like that, she had switched topics.

"Uhm… No… I kinda forgot about it... I was so excited after I caught the… the…"

"Carnivine," Dawn offered, shaking her head in mild amusement.

"Yeah, I knew that! After I caught the Carnivine."

"Okay… Well, to be honest, I was half expecting something to happen to you anyway. You seem to attract trouble like some sort of magnet," she sighed.

"Hey, it's not like I want it to happen!" Ash defended, gesturing to his wounds. "I'm the one who's constantly getting hurt!"

Chuckling slightly, she sent him a playful smile. "Yeah I know, I'm just messing with you."

"O-Oh… I see… Well, in that case…" he muttered, taken aback by her sudden confession.

"Anywhos... With that out of the way, let's eat! I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"

And again, just like that, Dawn had successfully switched topics, avoiding yet another awkward situation.


Ash breathed a content sigh as he plopped down next to the campfire. The warmth radiating from it effectively nullified the sharp, cold edge of the chilly morning wind, and Ash could already feel his body beginning to heat back up. The meal had been good, and for the first time in quite a while, he felt genuinely satisfied.

Stealing a quick glance at the unknown visitor, he was surprised to see what looked like an assault rifle strapped onto his back. In fact, the entirety of the newcomers' outfit could only be described with one word: strange.

He was wearing black sneakers and normal blue jeans, but that was about where the list of everything that could be called ordinary about him ended. The stranger donned a brown leather jacket with several rifts underneath what appeared to be an equally brown cape. A huge cowboy hat was placed on his head, casting a long shadow over his face, hiding his eyes and really hammering home the image of an outlaw or cowboy from the Wild West.

"Any news from the settlements further into the region?" Dawn asked as she got seated next to Ash.

"Nope, anythin' north of Sandgem is pretty much a black hole of missin' information at this point. After The Obscurity happened, all technology mysteriously stopped workin', so the Professor decided to start sendin' people out to the other settlements to investigate, but... nobody ever came back. He was about to head out 'imself, but then... Well, somethin' came up."

"The… Obscurity?" Ash asked, cocking his head slightly to the side in confusion.

"Yeah," the stranger said, turning his attention to Ash instead. "That's what we called it, the whole incident with the sky turnin' purple and everythin'. Can't keep callin' it "strange phenomenon" forever ya know."

"Right… So you said that after this… Obscurity… all technology stopped working? Just like that?" Dawn inquired, staring into the fire with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Pretty much. After the earthquakes had passed, the power in the lab suddenly went out, and we were left in complete darkness. When we tried to turn it back on again, it just... didn't work. The Professor got real mad about it. He lost a lot of important data, after all."

"I see…"

"So... Where're you kids travellin' to, ehh?" the stranger asked nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on the fire as he spoke. It took Ash a second to realize that the man was actually talking to him this time, and another second to come up with a suitable response.

"Oh, ehrm… We were actually planning on heading towards Sandgem Town. We have business with the Professor there…"

The stranger looked at him for a moment before responding.

"Sandgem Town, ehh… Hmm, I don't think goin' there is a very good idea, son."

Ash furrowed his brows at the man's words.

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, as I've already told you, I just came from Sandgem. The whole place has been overrun by bandits, and…"

"What?!" Dawn's high-pitched yell cut him off before he managed to finish his sentence.

"Yeah… I'm tellin' ya, it ain't a pretty sight. They've even strung up some corpses in front of the city gate to scare off visitors."

"Is the Professor okay?" she asked, the worry in her eyes clear for all to see.

"I dunno. Me and the Professor ain't exactly on… speakin' terms at the moment," the stranger answered, his eyes switching to stare at the fire again.

"What? Why? Did something happen between the two of you?"

The stranger seemed weirdly uncomfortable all of a sudden, and awkwardly readjusted his sitting position. "Oh, it's nothin' important…"

Is he hiding something from us?

"Well, if it's "nothing important", you wouldn't mind telling us about it... would you?" Ash inquired, his eyes focused on the gun on his back. The mysterious "cowboy" shook his head as a large number of sparks belched out from the fire.

"I told you, it ain't important. Look, I don't want no trouble, okay? I just wanna get as far away from Sandgem as possible, and I recommend you do the same. That place ain't safe no more."

"I'm sorry sir... but we can't do that. I've known Professor Rowan my entire life, and if he's in trouble, I want to do everything in my power to help," Dawn answered, sheer determination radiating from her eyes.

The stranger fixed her with a calculating stare, before sighing and shaking his head.

"It seems you've already made up your mind. Nothin' I say or do will make you think twice about this now, so I might as well give y'all a little help on the way. Here, take this. It… might come in handy."

Producing a metal key from one of the pockets on his leather jacket, the stranger held it out so Dawn could take it.

"That key right there opens up the backdoor leadin' in to the Professors lab. Takin' the front entrance pro'lly isn't such a good idea, seeing how the town is now run by bandits and all."

Dawn stared at the cold metal key in her hand, as if she could somehow teleport to the door it belonged to if she tried hard enough.

"Wow, thanks a lot. I'm sure that's going to be very useful," Ash answered, bowing his head in respect.

"Don't think too much of it, kid. I just don't wanna be sendin' two children off to their death without some help. Isn't good for the conscience, that," he replied, sending Ash a weak smile. "Well, anyway... I should pro'lly get goin' now. Got a long road ahead of me if I wanna catch the boat to Kanto."

Well, there's my confirmation… I'm a long way from home… Ash thought to himself as he watched the stranger get up and straighten out his clothes.

"You kids take care, a'ight? I don't want you dyin' on me now, not after I gave you that key."

"Don't worry sir, we don't plan on it. Have a safe trip," Dawn answered, smiling innocently. She could be really hospitable when she wanted to, apparently.


They sat in silence as they watched the stranger drift further and further away into the woods. Despite everything they now knew, there was an uneasy feeling hanging in the air. Like that of a calm before the storm.

"Hey Ash…?" Dawn started, the light of the fire reflecting in her eyes as she turned to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… we should've let that guy go without even learning his name? I mean… I just feel like there was something a little off with him, you know?"

Ash couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"I agree. He was definitely hiding something… I have no clue as to what, though…"

The silence returned, more deafening than before. After hearing about Sandgem, Ash was unsure if it was wise to continue with the plan. Bandits were no joke, and he shuddered at the thought of what would happen to the two of them if they were to get caught. He would probably get killed, but Dawn… well, they could do worse things to a girl like her than kill her. And he really didn't want that to happen.

"Ash…?" Dawn asked, her voice coming out as nothing but a whisper now.

"Y-Yes?"

"I'm afraid…"

The confession should've shocked him, coming from Dawn. It didn't.

"Yeah... So am I…"


A/N: What is going on in Sandgem Town? Who is the mysterious stranger that gave them the key? And what was that about the boat to Kanto? All of these mysteries and more will be answered... sometime in the future!

I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. We have now officially reached the end of the pre-written stuff, so from now on, it'll all be wholly original.

And as always, I will see you guys in the next chapter!

-Twisted