Episode 1: Part 4
Catching Up

When the sun rose, Aria woke up and rubbed her eyes. She yawned, looking around for her bag. She grabbed a hold of it and put the blanket away. She looked over at Luke and saw that he was already awake and checking his Ponyta for the wound. She stood up and walked over to him.

"Good morning." She said. "How's Ponyta?"

Luke looks at her. "Morning, and doing a lot better. The herbs really helped." He said.

Aria smiles, looking at where the wound was on Ponyta and noticed that it was long gone. "That's great to hear. I should get going to find my brother."

Luke stood up, handing her back the blanket she gave him last night to use. "I could give you a lift there. Since Ponyta is feeling better I could take you there." He said, climbing onto his Pokemon's back.

Aria chuckles lightly. "You don't have to."

"No no, I insist. I owe you for saving Ponyta. We'll get you there before you know it." Luke grins.

Aria thought for a moment. Well since she did save Ponyta, I guess Luke wants to pay her back for helping. But was it too much? She couldn't be sure so she decided to go with him.

"Alright, I'll go—" But of course, they heard something driving in their direction on the road that cuts her off. When it came to a stop the person driving it looked at them.

"Are you Aria Ketchum?" The woman asked.

"Officer Jenny? And yes, that's me. Why do you ask?" Aria answered confused.

"Your brother was wondering where you were, he asked me if I could look for you." She said.

Aria's eyes widen. "My brother sent you? Is he alright?" She asked concerned.

"He's doing fine. He's just waiting for you to get to the Pokemon Center." Jenny replied.

Aria sighed in relief, happy to hear the news about her brother.

"I can take you there right away if you want to." Jenny offered with a bright smile.

"Um, sorry but I'll have to decline on that." She said respectively. "I'll be there as soon as I can, can you let him know I'm on my way?"

"Sure, and the Pokemon Center is only 20 minutes away from here. Hope you'll be okay." With that she drove off in the road as Aria waved a goodbye to her.

Aria turns to Luke, noticing that he was grinning a tad bit. "Why didn't you decide to go? You would have met up with your brother at the Pokemon Center." He wondered.

"I'm not much for riding in a vehicle from the police, I rather walk, or just take the simple way. Besides, who would turn down an offer to ride on such a fast Pokemon like Ponyta?" She grins, crossing her arms.

"I would say the same if I were in your shoes." Luke chuckles before extending his hand out to her. With his help she managed to get on Ponyta's back, placing her hands on Luke's waist.

"You ready?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

Aria nods, "Yep, I'm ready." She replied.

"Alright, lets go Ponyta. Forward!" He commanded his Pokemon.

Ponyta nays in response before running along through the grass and then onto the road. Aria was a bit nervous about it, but she shook it off and decided to enjoy the ride. She watched the road below and saw how fast they were going.

"Surprised huh?" Luke asked.

She looks back up at him, noticing the smirk on his face.

"Sort of," She said. "Although it's not everyday I get a chance to ride on a Pokemon like this."

Luke nods in response, looking back at the road. "We should be there soon," He said. "Just a bit longer."

When they could see the Pokemon Center within their range, Aria noticed her brother waiting at the entrance with the girl she saw yesterday.

Aria smiles brightly before calling her brother's name, "Hey Ash!"

He turns around, the girl following his gaze once they noticed her riding the Pokemon.

"Hey Aria!" Ash called back, Pikachu jumping up onto his shoulder.

Ponyta comes to a stop beside them as Aria climbs off, hugging her younger brother. "Thank goodness you're okay!" She exclaims, letting go of him. But she noticed something strange, the Pokemon Center looked destroyed and blown up.

"What happened to the Pokemon Center?" She asked.

"It's a long story." Ash shakes his head.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine Aria." He assured. "Now that Pikachu's feeling better we can get going."

But a cough interrupted them as they look over at the girl. "You're that girl I met in the forest." Aria said. "Hi, my name is Aria." She greeted, holding out her hand to her.

"Misty," She said. "And thanks to your brother I have no bike."

She looks at Ash and noticed he was tense. "I didn't mean for it to be barbecue." He apologized.

"It's fine Ash," Aria assured, facing Misty. "I'm sure we can buy you another one."

"Hi, I think you forgot about me." Luke said grinning.

"Oh right, guys this is Luke, I helped him heal his Ponyta last night when it was injured and he helped me get here to reach you guys." She explains.

"Hey, it's a pleasure to meet y'all." He said, climbing off Ponyta's back, holding out a poke ball to return it to it. "I'm also a Pokemon Trainer."

"Really?" Ash said in disbelief. "That's awesome."

Luke nods, "I don't have any badges yet but I'm heading to Pewter City to start there." He said.

"Pewter City? That's where we're heading." Aria said. "Maybe we all can go together."

"That sounds like a great idea." Ash agreed.

"We'll have to go through the Viridian Forest to get there. It might be a while though." Misty replied.

"It's alright." Aria said, "As long as we get there we'll be fine."

Hey ya, sooo I added another OC into this story and decided to add Luke into their journey, just to making it a bit more interesting. What do you guys think of him? Oh, and by the way Luke is suppose to be Aria's rival since Ash's rival is Gary and Aria didn't have one. So Luke is going to be her rival in this series. Hope you enjoyed!