Ash had been travelling for the past few hours in the forest surrounding Route 1. He had introduced Larvitar and Axew and they seemed to be getting on rather well with each other. He could hazard a guess that Axew was telling him about how Ash and her had lived and played together since he was born. Hopefully talking with Axew would help Larvitar gain some trust in him. He had battled a few Pidgeys and Rattatas till now but they were hardly a challenge to his Pokemon.
He didn't find any Pokemon that interested him. He knew there wouldn't really be a Pokemon on Route 1 that he would train, maybe a Pidgey who showed a lot of fighting enthusiasm but till now none of the Pokemon he met seemed to meet the criteria. Viridian Forest also would be filled with Bug type Pokemon, but he wasn't interested in any of the resident bug types of the forest. The only bug types from Kanto and Johto that interested him were Scizor and Heracross. But they were known to be the rarest of Bug types. With their dual typing of Steel and Fighting they were very good Pokemon to train despite having a double weakness to fire and flying types. Water types were found aplenty in every region and Ash wasn't quite sure which Pokemon he should catch and train, he has always wanted to train a Horsea into a Kingdra but he also knew that both Horsea and Seedra would not be very good for a battle on land, they simply couldn't survive on land for an extended period of time.. Then there was Gyarados or better known as the Atrocious Pokemon they could fight anywhere but the problem was they lost their cool easily and therefore catching a wild Gyarados as a rookie was a big no.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts Ash thought it prudent to bond with Larvitar before he caught any other Pokemon, as he already knew everything about Axew and vice versa. As Ash set up the camp he called over Larvitar and asked Axew to check out the surroundings for any hostile or just to make sure they weren't encroaching a Pokemon's territory they didn't want to be attacked in the middle of the night by an enraged Pokemon. As he set up the camp he talked to Larvitar. He told him all about himself, his dreams & how he wanted to achieve it. He also told Larvitar about his father whose name he didn't seeing as he had seemingly disappeared after Ash's 2nd birthday, but his mom had told him that his dad was one of the most powerful trainers in Kanto. Meanwhile Larvitar listened to all Ash had to say paying rapt attention to every word that his trainer uttered.
But what made Larvitar fully trust Ash wasn't what Ash had talked to him about but rather how Ash had bonded with Axew, the little Dragon looked up to his trainer as a brother and Ash returned it equally. And the final straw was the Rainbow Wing that Ho-oh had bestowed upon him that evening. Larvitar knew Ho-oh the legendary bird of the skies, it was an all important tale in Johto but he had never expected to see one much less on his first day on his journey with the boy known as Ash Ketchum. Even his trainer had been stupefied when he saw the Legendary bird emerge from the rainbow that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere on a normal day. His reaction when Ho-oh left him the Rainbow Wing was mirrored by both his Pokemon.
After a night well spent Ash and his Pokemon were up when Ash proposed they do some training in order to prepare themselves for their Gym battle against Brock. Ash knew not to underestimate Brock, he may have a Pokemon with type advantage over Rock types but knowing that most rock type Pokemon of Kanto were ground type as well that type of advantage was thrown out of the window. Add to that there weren't any Grass or Water type Pokemon to be found around this area. The only advantage he could get would have been a Mankey that seemed to be plentiful between Viridian and Victory road or a Nidoran because they learnt Double Kick. Though Ash was never going to catch Pokemon to only defeat a Gym Leader, he wanted to have another team member before he challenged the Pewter City Gym.
The training session went well. They had primarily focused on getting the attacks right, and not compromise accuracy for power. Though it was only basic warm ups and he was only testing the strength of his Pokemon and was pleased to see that Axew had kept up the training that they had done earlier. Though more surprising was the fact that Larvitar seemed to be on even footing with Axew despite the fact that Axew had been doing light training over the last year.
They had a few more battles with the wild Pokemon before they reached the Viridian City gate. While entering they were confronted by the local Police officer Jenny who questioned him on why his Pokemon were outside.
Ash just shrugged and said "They prefer being outside rather than being coped up in their Pokeballs."
"I will need an identity proof if you want to enter Viridian. There have been many reported cases of Pokemon being stolen from trainers, by Team Rocket so it will be better if you recall your Pokemon to their Pokeballs." Ash nodded understanding as both his Pokemon were considered rare and he didn't want to attract any undue attention on himself which might put his Pokemon in harms way. Ash showed his Pokedex to Officer Jenny who then let him pass into the city.
Ash had visited Viridian City quite a few times and had always been fascinated by it. There were a lot of difference between the city and Pallet Town despite only being a few miles apart. The area around the city was usually rocky and mountain like due to the close proximity to Mt Silver the mountain range that separated the two regions of Kanto & Johto. A lot of ground types could be found around the area near Victory Road to the Indigo Plateau but they were only accessible to the trainers who had defeated atleast 8 gyms. Herds of Rhyhorn and Nidorans were common as were Onix and Cubones. The gym of the city was also a ground type but Ash wasn't going to challenge the Gym, because there was a 7 badge limit for the challenger and it was a well known fact that the Gym Leader Giovanni was the toughest Kanto had to offer. He usually held a four on four battle where he used a Nidoking or Nidoqueen alongside a Rhydon, Steelix and Marowak and was known to occasionally use his Persian.
Ash headed straight to the Pokemon Centre to get his Pokemon checked up and register for the upcoming season of the Kanto league. He was planning on staying the day in the city restocking resources and leaving early the next morning. He wanted to train his Pokemon and also hoped he might find a Pokemon to catch in the Viridian Forest.
"Welcome to the Pokemon Centre how can we assist you." a female greeted Ash. He nodded at her and said "My Pokemon have been training for the past couple of days, I am pretty sure they weren't injured but better safe than sorry." he said as Nurse Joy nodded taking his Pokeballs and told him to wait for a few minutes while they were healed.
Ash decided that the first thing he would was call his mother and Professor Oak, he didn't want to risk not calling his mom when he reached a Pokemon Center it was the one of the few things that his mother had told him to do and besides he didn't want her worried or angry. An angry Delia Ketchum could make the threat of Legendary Pokemon pale in comparison. So when Nurse Joy returned Ash his Pokemon after healing he left straight to the calling booth that the Pokemon Centre had and dialed his mother's number.
"Hello Delia here, may I know who is speaking?" came his mom's voice.
"Mom its me." Ash replied excitedly. Delia quickly turned the audio call into a video one.
"Ash you reached Viridian already? It took your dad 4 days to reach there." Delia inquired.
"Yeah" Ash said rubbing the back of his head "Dad probably found his Pidgeot in these forests which took him some time to capture or he probably just lost his way." Ash joked.
"Knowing your dad the second one is the most probable." Both mother and son shared a laugh as Ash told her about how he spent the last couple of days training with his Pokemon and which Pokemon he met in the forest. Ash glanced around the Pokemon centre making sure no one was nearby as he showed her the wing that Ho-oh had gifted him.
His mother gasped "Is that what I think it is Ash?"
"Yes, we saw it on the first day of our journey. It was quite weird seeing a rainbow as there was no rain, but then it came out of it and we were just transfixed but then it dropped this wing."
"We? You travelling with somebody Ashy?"
"No mom we as in me, Larvitar and Axew they were also out with me when we saw it." Ash said rolling his eyes. Leave his mother to pick that part from their conversation about seeing a Legendary Pokemon." Alright mom I gotta go now. Talk to you later."
"Don't forget to change your under-" but Ash disconnected the call before she could complete that dreadful sentence.
It was midnight when all of a sudden a huge blast resonated through the Pokemon center which immediately woke up Ash and his pokemon. He was pretty sure nothing at the Pokemon center was supposed to blow up like that especially not in the middle of the night when hardly anything was in use. He decided to investigate it, returning his Pokemon back to their Pokeballs Ash set out to the main hall. As Ash reached the hall he could spot the lying debris, 'So that must mean someone blew apart the wall trying to get in, talk about stupid.' he thought to himself rolling his eyes.
He could see two people in all whites and looked as though they were threatening Nurse Joy. They had their backs turned on him and he could make out that the one with the blue hair was a male and the other with purple hair was a female. Before they could threaten Nurse Joy anymore Ash intervened.
"Who are you? Why are you here?". This caused the two of them to round up on Ash before they did a weird set off poses along with the most ridiculous 'theme song' Ash had ever heard. He couldn't control it anymore, he burst out laughing.
"That is the lamest and most ridiculous thing I have ever heard or seen."
Aforementioned Team Rocket members went red and growled at him. "Looks like the little brat needs some lessons in respect James." the woman said smirking. "And then we can take his Pokemon as well, hopefully he might have some good Pokemon that will please the boss." the man now identified as James spoke. Ash's eyes narrowed in anger who did these guys think they were to threaten to steal his and the other Pokemon in the Pokemon Center, his hand immediately went to his belt which had both his Pokeballs.
"Oh the twerp wants to fight." Meowth cackled as if the mere thought of him battling them was amusing to it.
"If its a fight he wants its a fight he shall get, ain't that right Jessie." James smirked sadistically.
"GO" both of them yelled throwing out a Pokeball each. The Pokemon that materialized in front of him were ones he recognized for they were both native to the Kanto region and fairly common. First was a spherical Pokemon with vacant eyes and a wide mouth that had two pointed teeth in the upper jaw. Below its face was a cream-colored skull-and-crossbones marking. Several geyser-like protrusions cover this Pokémon's body. It was a Koffing. The second was a purple, serpentine Pokemon. Its eyes, underbelly, the thick stripe around its neck, and rattle were yellow. It had three pairs of black lines encircling its body, as well as another line that connected to each slit-pupiled eye and curved toward its nose. Its large mouth had a round, pink tongue and no visible teeth. It was an Ekans.
He took a quick scan of both the Pokemon from his Pokedex. So he was to fight two Poison types. Larvitar would be resistant to most of their moves but Axew didn't have any advantage or disadvantage over them. His best chance would be to not allow them to poison his team. "I choose you." Ash said as he tossed his Pokeballs calling out his Axew and Larvitar on the battle field. Both roared their arrival and got ready for battle.
"Are you guys seeing what I am?" James asked hid teammates. Meowth nodded dumbly "The boss will be pleased when we get him both the Larvitar and the weird green Pokemon. We might even get a promotion." as he eyed both of them. "Ekans use Poison Sting." Jessie intervened before more could be discussed on their favourite topic of promotion.
"Larvitar match it with Rock throw make sure they don't touch you. And Axew use your Dragon Rage on the Koffing." Quicker than any of the Team Rocket could react both their Pokemon were being pushed back.
"Hey that's not fair, you didn't give me the chance to attack." as he recalled it back to his Pokeball. The Koffing he realised was not a well trained Pokemon or a new acquisition and therefore went for the Dragon Rage attack which did fixed damage to a Pokemon irrespective of their defence and as a result had taken down the Koffing in one hit.
Larvitar and Ekans were matching Poison sting to Rock throw when Ash decided to end the battle quickly. "Axew use Leer. Larvitar move in with Bite." As both Pokemon worked in tandem Team Rocket panicked as both their Pokemon had been taken down with relative ease as they both pushed Meowth forward telling him to do something to defeat the duo in front of them.
"Taste mah Fury Swipes." Meowth yelled.
"Axew use Night Slash to match it, Larvitar use Iron Head." as both the Pokemon used a bastardized version of the original move but still managed to smack Meowth into the ground beaten and unconscious. Before the wannabe criminals could even think of making an escape route they were promptly apprehended by the local Officer Jenny and her team.
He was thanked profusely by both Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny for his help in stopping the Team Rocket TRio as they were known. Sometime during his battle with the Rockets Nurse Joy had been able to contact the officer and thus leading to the successful capture of the wanted criminals who had been terrorizing the city of Viridian in the past couple of months. But what Ash couldn't wrap his head around was the fact that if they had Pokemon that were so under trained why had no other trainer managed to defeat them and send them packing, maybe they weren't an important cog in the working of Team Rocket or they came unprepared for any trainer to actually challenge them. Knowing that the others would handle the situation from then he turned in for the night.