After a long while we eventually found the right route to Vermillion City, which was great because my back was beginning to ache from all the camping out on the hard ground. "Pidgeo!" Pidgeotto called out and I smiled as she circled around me.
"Hey there, how are the thermals?" I asked and she spun around, tucking in her wings then arched out her neck and spread her wings elegantly to tell me they were great. "Well be careful okay? I don't want you to get snatched away by a sudden wind." I warned her and she nodded before flying off again.
"You know I caught a Pidgeotto too." Ash said to me and I looked at him.
"Really?"
"Yeah, it was the second Pokémon I caught. Wanna see?" I nodded my head eagerly so Ash stopped and picked up the Pokéball. "Go Pidgeotto!" He called and the magnificent bird Pokémon soared out of its ball.
"Wow, it looks pretty neat." I said to Ash then whistled, calling his Pokémon to me and it looked before banking down and landing. "Hey there, I'm Ruby." My Pidgeotto landed at my side and I smiled. "And this is my Pidgeotto, I've had her since she was very young. How about we look at you?" I began my inspection, looking at every feather and making sure I checked its beak, eyes, talons and tail before stepping back. "It looks like it's in good shape, but it's not as strong as it could be. Its wings look a little bit on the unkempt side, which means you haven't been letting it out for enough exercise." I said to Ash who blinked then rubbed his head.
"Oh, I guess I haven't." He agreed so I continued.
"Also, you need to let it do its own hunting a little bit, so that it can keep its beak and talons sharp, these are little blunt which means its moves are making less effect than they could be. Also, it looks like you've been feeding it a little too much without the exercise it needs." Turning I chuckled softly. "But it looks very happy, which is great!"
"Pidgeo!" It agreed then spread its wings as my own Pidgeotto rose up into the air. Ash laughed.
"Sure, go and have a fly around, you'd better get the exercise Ruby thinks you need because it looks like she's an expert on bird Pokémon." I blushed.
"Oh I wouldn't say that, I've just helped take care of Pidgeotto a lot." I amended so we all continued walking along.
"You know, you two have exactly the same Pokémon, Charmander and Pidgeotto. Isn't it going to get confusing for you two?" Misty asked but I shook my head.
"No, I can tell my Pokémon apart from a hundred of their kind. My Pidgeotto is smaller than Ash's and also has less colourful feathers because yours is a male, Ash, and mine is female. That's also a big give away. Plus, they know who their trainers are so they won't confuse our directions if we ever did have a battle against one another."
"Hey that's a great idea, we should have a battle sometime." Ash said and I nodded my head with a challenging smirk.
"Alright! You're on. How about a battle when we find someplace to camp tonight? Unless we reach Vermillion before then."
"Sure, I can't wait!" Ash agreed then began to march forwards proudly, swinging his arms and lifting his feet high as he began to hum something, obviously pumped for the promised battle. We were walking down the path happily enough, enjoying the sunshine and early morning breeze but then I hung back to watch the two Pidgeotto's flying together, looping through the sky and spiralling around one another in some sort of dance, trying to show off more to the other which made me chuckle.
When the sound of something collapsing and a triple yell of fright sounded, however, I turned then gasped. "Hey! Where'd you all go?" I demanded then ran forwards, looking to the hole in the ground.
"Not another hole!" Misty complained as the three of them groaned at the bottom.
"Ow! I landed on my head!" I chuckled.
"Good thing you've got a thick skull then, right Brock?" I called down from the top, kneeling down and peering over as everyone slowly untangled themselves.
"Hey, how come you never fall down any holes?" Ash demanded as he rubbed his back and I grinned.
"I'm just lucky I guess." I shook my head then reached down. "Come on, I'll help pull you back up."
"It must be a prank." Brock mused as Misty grabbed onto my hand.
"Well, someone must have a bad sense of humour." She answered, scrambling to get up as I pulled. Suddenly I was aware of something coming closer so I looked around as Ash spoke.
"Who would play such a rotten trick?" Uh…I think I know who.
"Squirtle! Squirtle!" Five Squirtle appeared, all of them wearing round shades but one of them wore a more angular pair, so I guessed he was their leader. What were Squirtle doing here? One of them rammed into me from behind and tried to send my flying inside but suddenly my Pidgeotto appeared, flapping her wings furiously with an outcry.
"Pidgeo!" The Squirtle was sent flying backwards with a yell.
"Squuuuirtleee!"
"Ha! Serves you right for trying to be so mean." I told him with a nod of my head. "Hold on Misty, I'll get you up in a moment, let me grab my rope." Misty nodded then let go, jumping back down again so I took off my bag then retrieved my rope. As the Squirtle all laughed.
"What's so funny? We could have been hurt!" Misty told them sternly but they only continued to laugh as I tossed down the rope then hauled Ash up.
"Dangerous practical jokes are nothing to laugh about!" He told them as they scuttled backwards and formed a line, the leader in the centre.
"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded his head firmly in agreement as I helped Ash up then brought Brock and Misty to the surface too. Ash stepped forwards then opened up Dexter so I did the same and they spoke at the same time.
"Squirtle, this tiny turtle Pokémon draws its neck into its shell to launch incredible water attacks which have amazing range and accuracy. The blast can be quite powerful." He finished and my eyes sparkled.
"Oh they're all really cute! I'm going to catch one."
"Me too! With my own Squirtle, Gary will never beat me! Huh?" Ash looked at me and we blinked before we both laughed. "Guess that's another Pokémon we both want." He shrugged then looked at Pikachu. "Go Pikachu!"
"Pidgeotto! Come on down!" I called and she flew down in front of me, landing beside Pikachu then spread her wings.
"Pidgeo!" She trilled, ready for a battle. Pikachu raced forwards with a Thundershock, aiming for the leader however one of the other Squirtles leaped in the way and took the hit, yelling as the electricity pumped through its body.
"Oh! It's so brave…" I gasped, mouth dropping and I looked at Pidgeotto then to the Squirtle. It dropped down on its shell and the leader looked down at it with worry.
"Squirtle Squirtle?" Then he looked at Pikachu with anger, stepping forwards to face him down. "Squirtle!"
"Pika!" He answered and they began to glare at one another.
"Uh oh, this looks bad." I murmured then lifted my Pokéball. "On second thoughts, return Pidgeotto. I don't think these guys really want to fight us." Pidgeotto disappeared with the red light so I put the ball back on my belt. "Hey Squirtle? Why did you do such a dangerous thing like that?" I asked them, sitting down cross legged then picked up Pikachu to set him in my lap, rubbing his head to calm him down and he blinked before relaxing. "You could have really hurt somebody and if they were alone then they would have been stuck down there for a very long time before anyone could help them."
The Squirtle all blinked at me then looked up as they heard the wail of a siren. The leader turned to his followers then nodded his head. "Squirtle!" With a rush they all charged away, carrying the fainted Squirtle above their heads whilst calling out in unison.
"Well that was sure weird." Ash commented.
"Chu?" Pikachu tilted his head to the side so I chuckled, tickled his chin where he liked it best then stood up as a motorcycle skid to a halt with an Officer Jenny then turned to face us.
"Are you guys alright? Has anyone been hurt here?" She asked with worry and we all looked at her.
"Officer Jenny!" Ash smiled and stepped forwards but Jenny looked a little confused.
"Huh? Have we met before? Your face doesn't look familiar." She questioned in genuine confusion and I frowned, how could she forget us?
"We both met you in Viridian City, remember?" I told her, stepping forwards also. "You drove Ash and Pikachu to the Pokémon Centre after his Pikachu got hurt badly by a swarm of Spearow." Suddenly her face lit up.
"Ooh! You mean one of the other Jenny's, my cousins." She answered and we all blinked.
"Cousins?" She stood up her bike and stood facing us with a smile as she continued to explain.
"My cousins are all police officers, all of us look identical plus we're all called Jenny." That made things a little clearer, so it was like Nurse Joy and all her family looking the same and all being called Joy.
"Talk about family resemblance." Ash mused with a smile and Misty looked at us.
"At least they remember all their names." I giggled.
"Yeah, and you can always tell one from the other." Jenny shared a laugh then nodded her head gesturing down the road.
"How about I escort you all into town? We don't want to run into any more accidents now, do we?" We all heartily agreed. So she took us back to the police station where Jenny then began explaining who those Squirtle were.
"They call themselves the Squirtle Squad." She told us and Ash frowned.
"The Squirtle Squad?"
"I've never heard of a Pokéon gang." Misty looked as confused as the rest of us were.
"They're all Squirtles who were deserted by their Pokémon trainers." Instantly my heart fell. Deserted? Just like poor Charmander. How could people be so mean? It's unfair to the Pokémon, who only ever do their best for their trainers to only be treated like junk. I looked away sadly, hugging my waist.
"Deserted?" Ash voiced and Jenny nodded.
"They don't have a trainer so they just run wild and play tricks on all of the town." She told us then described some of the tricks they had played. "They've stolen flags, spray painted walls, even taken food from the market and completely ravaged the place." Shaking her head she sighed. "It's just kind of sad because if they had someone to really care about them, they wouldn't have turned out to be as bad as they are. It's a real shame." I agree. It's terrible.
"Well, there's nothing really we can do." Brock said. "If we knew where they were, we could try talking to them but I don't think they'd trust a word we say."
"You're right, nothing we do works. They're gone before we can even get to the scene." Jenny answered then stood up. "I'm just glad you kids are okay." We smiled at her though my smile was a little forced. "I'll show you out." She led us to the door then pointed down the path to the direction of Vermillion City then saluted us. "Goodbye and good luck!"
"Thanks Officer Jenny, give our best to your cousin!" I called back then followed the other. Ash and I looked pretty down and I think it was for the same reason. I couldn't stop thinking about those poor Squirtle. They must have had it pretty rough the same as Charmander.
"Hey, are you two okay?" Brock asked and we both shook our heads.
"I feel bad for those Squirtle. They were all abandoned by trainers who couldn't be bothered to raise them. It's horrible." Ash said and I sighed.
"It's not their fault they're behaving the way they are. I just can't understand why people would abandon great Pokémon like them. Squirtle are rare and can grow into extremely powerful Pokémon, why would people abandon them?" I looked up at Brock who gave a comforting smile then touched my shoulder.
"Some people just don't see Pokémon the way we do, some of them just give up training because they can't be bothered or they find it too hard and so they abandon their Pokémon, though sometimes the Pokémon don't understand why."
"But can't they just release it?" I asked but Misty answered instead.
"Releasing a Pokémon is a decision for both the trainer and the Pokémon. If a Pokémon doesn't want to leave then the trainer will have to take it to a facility where they can take care of it or sometimes they even sell the Pokémon. The problem is that when you give it to a facility there's all these forms and even a fee which can be quite expensive because there are so many Pokémon that can't go back into the wild or refuse to leave their trainers." Shaking my head I clenched my fist.
"Hey guys? I promise I will never abandon you." I said as I picked up Pidgeotto and Charmander's Pokéballs. "We'll be a team for always, even you Charmander, when you go back to the wild, I want you to know that you'll always be my first Pokémon to me." Smiling I hugged them both then clicked them back onto my belt.
"Hey there's a lake over there, how about we sit down for a while and I'll do some fishing?" Misty suggested, trying to brighten the mood. Ash smiled and looked up.
"Yeah! That sounds great." He agreed so we went over to a bank then sat down, resting on the grass. I bathed in the sun, enjoying the heat and listened to the gentle lap of water against the bank. However my mind wandered to the Squirtle, thinking how betrayed they must feel. Maybe if someone showed just a little bit of love, they would understand that not all trainers were like that.
Thinking about Charmander, the Squirtle Squad and even Gary's Horsea, I realised that there must be thousands of Pokémon who are abandoned by their trainers. It was totally unfair and they must be so hurt inside. With this in mind, I began to question my future. Was being a Pokémon Master what I really wanted?
Just then I heard Misty gasp. "I think I caught something!" We all looked up to watch as her line twitched, waiting with anticipation but then a blue head poked out the water. Wait a minute, was that a…
"Squirtle!" It called then a blast of freezing cold water engulfed us, making us all cry out as it soaked us to the skin. I shivered and tried to block the water from hitting my face but it was quite a powerful blast, so it was no use. When the water drained away we all looked to see the Squirtle laughing.
"I'm soaked." Misty whined quietly and Ash groaned.
"Me too." Pikachu shook himself off then bounded forwards.
"Pi! Pika-CHU!" Suddenly a bolt of electricity rushed through me and I cried out, trembling from the effect as it practically shocked me off the ground, making every hair stand on end as Ash wailed.
"Knock-it-off-Pi-ka-chu!" When the bolts stopped Pikachu looked around in confusion as we collapsed to the ground.
"Chu?"
"Wet clothes conduct electricity." Brock explained wearily and I moaned, feeling my entire body go numb. Ouch, that seriously hurt. The Squirtle's laughter rang in my ears then a splash as it leaped out of the water then faced us, waiting for us to attack.
"I've had enough of your pranks Squirtle, Pikachu it's out of the water now!" With a gasp I launched myself to my feet then ran forwards as Pikachu ran to attack.
"Pikachu no! Don't hurt it! It's not its fault!" I called out, racing forwards to stand in the way but as Pikachu got closer, the Squirtle leaped up and turned its Rapid Spin into a Tackle, hitting Pikachu with considerable force and knocked him towards the lake. "Pikachu!" I yelled in fear but then looked ahead. "Huh?"
The Squirtle came flying back. With me right in the way. "Ruby look out!" The hard shell hit me in the face and I grunted before falling backwards, a bright light flashing before my eyes before everything went dark.
