It felt like I had only been out for a few minutes, but when I woke up, I was tied up and laying on a cave floor, though someone had put a blanket over me and my rucksack under my head. "Huh?" I moaned, opening my eyes then looked up.

"Ruby! Thank goodness you're awake. We were beginning to worry about you." Brock said to me and I looked at him, tied up to a rock with Misty.

"You're worried about me? What about you?" I questioned then looked around. "Where's Ash?"

"He's been allowed into town to get some Super Potion for Pikachu but he has to get back before noon today or they're going to dye my hair purple!" Misty did not look happy. Sitting up slowly I flinched as my head spun but then I saw Pikachu in a cage, breathing heavily and he did look terrible.

I scooted closer, tilting my head to the side then sniffed. "He's been poisoned by that Goldeen's Poison Sting, that's why he's not recovering." I announced then gripped my bag with my teeth, pulling it upright then began to pull the zip with my teeth. "I have some Antidote and Potions in here with me, it should be enough to get Pikachu on the mend until Ash gets back to completely heal Pikachu."

"You have Antidote! Why didn't you tell us before?" I shot a look at Brock.

"I didn't think any of you had run out of supplies! Hang on Pikachu, this is a little tricky to manage." I said as I tried to turn around and rummage through my bag with my tied up hands.

"Squirtle!" I froze in place then looked to see the lead Squirtle glaring at me, arms crossed over its shell.

"The Squirtle says to stop moving or they'll blast you with the biggest Water Gun you'll ever see." A familiar voice said and I blinked.

"Meowth? Why are you here?" I demanded then glared at him. "You set this trap! You dirty little cat, I'm going to make you sorry for hurting Pikachu like this! Now let me go so I can give him Antidote and Potion!" Meowth jumped into view then shook his head.

"Nah, I don't think so. Humans can't be trusted, right Squirtle?" The five gang members all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Squirtle." They chorused so I sighed.

"Okay, don't let me go. But please, can one of you at least make Pikachu feel better? He's in pain and suffering right now. If you don't help him then his condition could get worse." I pleaded then used my foot to push my bag towards the leader. "It's the purple bottle and the blue spray. That should fix him up a little for now."

The Squirtle looked at me then into the bag, weighing his options. "Please?" I pleaded again, giving my best doe eyed look before finally, he nodded.

"Squirtle." He rummaged through my belongings then pulled out the right items, looking at them both then to me for confirmation.

"That's perfect, if you could just spray them on Pikachu then he'll feel a little better." I smiled to him warmly then let him climb up onto my shoulder to then jump onto the rock. He took the Antidote first and sprayed it onto Pikachu who twitched at the contact. Squirtle tossed the empty bottle over his shoulder and one of the other Squirtles caught it. "Hey, you can put it back in my bag." I told it softly. "Don't want to leave any litter here, do we?" The Squirtle nodded then slid the bottle back into my bag and then later the Potion, which had been my last one.

"Pi…Pikachu…?" Lifting his head and opening his eyes, Pikachu looked around and I turned to face him.

"Hey Pikachu, its okay." I assured him. "Ash has gone to get you some proper medicine but we found some things in my bag which gave you a little boost. You just rest now, okay? Go to sleep and when you wake up, Ash will be back." Nodding my head to Pikachu he moaned softly.

"Chuuuu…"

"I know, just get some good rest." I told him with a smile. "Everything will be okay, you'll see." Settling his head back down Pikachu went to sleep again, so I watched to make sure he didn't deteriorate before giving a sigh of relief and looked over my shoulder. "He'll pull through."

"Way to go Ruby." Brock nodded to me as I settled back down. One of the Squirtles came closer to me with a cloth in his hand. It was mine, he must have taken it from my bag when he was putting the items away. He looked down then spurted a small trickle of cold water onto it then climbed up my leg to stand in my lap.

"Hey there." I greeted gently. "I'm Ruby, it's nice to meet you."

"Squirtle." He nodded his head then reached up and pressed the cloth to my head, where I instantly flinched.

"Ouch!" Brock blinked in surprise.

"Hey, that must be the Squirtle that hit you with its Rapid Spin!" I looked at him curiously.

"Is Brock right? Was that you who knocked me out?" I asked and the Squirtle nodded his head then spoke to me.

"Squirtle Squirtle Squirt, Squirtle…Squirtle!" I blinked then looked to Meowth.

"Care to translate?" I asked the sly Pokémon who shrugged, arms folded casually though he looked kind of nervous.

"He says he's sorry he hit you and that it was only an accident. He also wants to thank you for trying to stop Pikachu from trying to attack him, that it was a nice thing to do." I looked to the Squirtle then smiled.

"You're welcome."

"Squirtle." It continued to carefully dab the wet cloth to the lump on my head to try and ease the swelling, topping off the cool water from time to time before he jumped off then pointed to the ground.

"Squirtle Squirt." I giggled.

"Yes Doctor Squirtle." I nodded my head then lay down again. When two other Squirtle took the blanket and drew it further over me I smiled then lifted my head as the leader then pushed my rucksack under my head. "You know, you're all very nice really. You shouldn't let people think badly of you just because you're trying to prove a point. I think you're all wonderful." I said to them and they looked rather proud of themselves.

One of the Squirtles stepped forwards, drew himself back then blew a beam of ice at my wet cloth, freezing it. "Hey! Did someone teach you Ice Beam? That's so cool!" I smiled at it and it nodded its head with a satisfied expression as the now freezing band was placed on my head. "Hmm…that feels much better. Thank you." I said to them. Although I was pretty uncomfortable because of the ropes that bound me, I was really touched that they were taking care of me.

I slept and rested for an hour or two until I felt the bonds being loosened. "Huh? What's going on?" I mumbled then turned to see Brock untying me. "Brock?"

"The Squirtle Squad are letting us go. I think they've had enough of this prank so we're being allowed to wait for Ash at the entrance." He said to me. "Come on, we need to get you to a hospital to check that you're okay."

"I'm fine, just a little tired." I answered as he helped me stand. Instantly the blood rushed to my head and my vision went blank, knees buckling in the progress as I groaned. "Okay…hospital sounds good." I agreed as Brock helped me stay upright. Misty put my spare blanket in my rucksack then together we all met the Squirtle Squad outside.

"Now you sit down and stay there." Misty said to me. "You might have concussion and if you faint then you might hurt yourself even more." She told me sternly, sitting me down with my back against the rocks. "Okay?"

"Yes mom." I smiled weakly up at her, rubbing my head.

"Pikachu…" Pikachu moaned quietly, wriggling slightly in Brock's arms then blinked himself awake. "Pika?"

"Hey Pikachu? Are you feeling any better?" I asked and he looked at me.

"Pika Pi, chu…" I knew that feeling for definitely. We waited outside and the Squirtle Squad stood guard over us, Meowth constantly looking around and I frowned at him.

"Hey Meowth? Where are Jessie and James? How come they're not around?" Meowth gave an uninterested sound then shrugged.

"My humans are doing some errands I sent them out to do." I frowned.

"Your humans? They're not your humans, you're Team Rocket!" A clawed hand went for my face and I flinched as Meowth yelled.

"Be quiet human!" But before he could land his Scratch, a big jet of water slammed into him and knocked him off course.

"Squirtle!" One of the Squirtles, the one who had initially knocked me out, leaped in front of me and stood protectively, glaring at Meowth who twitched.

"Me-ouch." He mumbled.

"Squirtle! Squirtle Squirtle Squirt, Suirtle Squirtle!" We all looked at it then to Meowth who rubbed his face with his paws.

"Huh? You would protect a human? Even after what they did to you?" Meowth leaped up and put on his most innocent expression. "They abandoned you, those rotten humans deserted you for something better, and you protect one of their kind? Humans can't be trusted." Meowth folded his arms but then the rest of the Squirtle came and stood in front of me and I stared in surprise.

"Squirtle, Squirtle Squirtle." The leader said, jerking a thumb back at me and I tilted my head to the side.

"What are they saying Meowth?" I asked him and the talking Pokmon sighed before answering.

"He said he might not trust humans, but they trust you well enough. You were willing to help one of his Squirtle Squad and you're nice to them, so I should leave you alone." I grinned victoriously.

"Thanks Squirtle Squad." I beamed at them and one of them patted my arm. Just then I heard someone come running out the cave, their footsteps still echoing as his deep breaths announced his arrival.

"What have you done?" Ash demanded of the Squirtle Squad as he rushed outside. How did he get inside without us seeing? "I told you I'd be back by noon and here I am. What have you done with my friends?"

"We're right here." Misty answered simply and Ash jumped in surprise.

"Huh?" The Squirtle all started to laugh and Pikachu lifted his head wearily.

"Pika Pi!"

"Where's the Super Potion for Pikachu?" Misty asked as they approached Ash, Pikachu in Brock's arms. I stood up also and walked over, though I rested a hand against the wall to make sure that I had some support.

"Oh...here." Ash answered, taking it out of his pocket then handed it to Misty. "Is he okay?" Brock nodded his head as Misty sprayed the Super Potion onto Pikachu.

"Ruby woke up and told the Squirtle Squad that she had Antidote and a Potion in her backpack so they healed Pikachu a little bit whilst you were gone. Turns out that Goldeen had used a Poison Sting attack which had left Pikachu poisoned." Brock explained then looked at me. "But how could you tell? Not even I noticed." I gave an embarrassed smell.

"I've always been able to tell when Pidgeotto had been hurt and I seem to be able to do it for all Pokémon. There was just a little bit of a smell on Pikachu which I knew was poison, because Pidgeotto once got attacked by a Nidoran when she was just a little Pidgey. I remembered the smell, that's all really." We all crowded around Pikachu, waiting to see the effect when Ash looked at Misty.

"So Misty, your hair isn't purple."

"Nope, I'm still a redhead." She beamed.

"The Squirtle Squad were bluffing." Brock explained as Misty sprayed a little more on Pikachu.

"They play tricks but they'd never change a girl's natural hair colour." I laughed as one of the Squirtles jumped on me then blew bubbles in my face, making me land flat on my rear as I caught him and the others all laughed.

"Besides, these guys are just misunderstood, they're not bad at all!" I giggled, wiping the bubble moisture from my face then smiled to the Squirtle as they crowded around me. "They're all great Pokémon and very good doctors." All laughter was then suddenly cut short when a blast rocketed through the air, making me yelp in fear and cling onto the Squirtle I was holding.

"That blast! It's Team Rocket!" Ash yelled.

"Team Rocket?" I repeated. "What do they want now?" I demanded, standing up with the Squirtle still in my arms.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation…" Oh no, not this again. Can't they come up with a different introduction theme? This one seriously sucked.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love! To extend our reach to the stars above!" They chorused together and I groaned. This was seriously not good. What were they doing with explosives? Such things must never be handled by children!

"Jessie!"

"James…"

"Squirtle Squad, it's payback time for insulting Team Rocket." Jessie announced from their flying Meowth air balloon then dropped two bombs over the side and they struck the side of the rock face further away from us. A ladder was then thrown over and Jessie shouted out. "Meowth! Carry Pikachu up the ladder!"

Meowth suddenly sprang forwards and with a slash of his claws to several faces, snatched Pikachu from Brock's arms. No! They can't still be after Pikachu! "And the rest of you are in for a real blast. Get it?" I growled under my breath. Not more of their stupid jokes.

"Hey! Bring Pikachu back!" I yelled but before any of us could run after them, a blast blew up only a few feet away in front of us, trembling the earth and causing bits of ground to go flying everywhere.

"Quick, run for cover!" Ash said to us all hurriedly. "Head for the cave!" Good idea! Let's get out of this minefield! We all raced for the cave, the Squirtle still in my arms and the moment I was inside, I put him down then looked back.

"Squirtle!" Ash yelled and I gasped. The leader was on his shell and couldn't get back up, he was trapped out there! Before anyone could do anything, Ash ran and flung himself forwards. "Here I come!" He threw himself over Squirtle, protecting him from the blast as Jessie and James struck again.

"Oh! Ash!" Misty screamed and I clung onto her in fear as the dust cloaked them both. When the air cleared both seemed to be okay, if only a little shaken up but neither of them made to get up. What were they doing? They need to get out of there! "Here come two more!" Misty yelled in warning as Team Rocket dropped another bomb wave.

Suddenly the Squirtle leaped to its feet and with amazing strength, lifted Ash over its head. Wow! He raced forwards, dodging the blast and we all prepared to pull them inside but it didn't look like that Squirtle was slowing down anytime soon. "Look out!" Misty yelled as another blast struck too close and lifted them off the ground, flinging them into the air then slammed into us.

Several elbows and knees dug into me as I ended up at the bottom of the pile. "Ugh…why is it always me that gets squashed?" I groaned. "First Misty…now this!" Anger blazing I leaped up, shoving everyone off of me and they yelped as they ended in another tangle. "That's it! I've had enough of those jerks!"

Reaching for my belt I grabbed a Pokéball. "Pidgeotto! I choose you!" Sending her forwards she fluttered in the air before me, waiting for my command. "Be careful, they're throwing flash bombs out there but you need to only get high in the sky to get out of range." I informed her as another bomb shook the cave. "But you need to put a hole in Team Rocket's pride and get back Pikachu for us, let's go!"

"Yeah! Come on Squirtle, let's get to the top and help Pidgeotto." Ash said to the leader Squirtle who nodded his head.

"Squirtle."

"Alright Pidgeotto, I believe in you. Let's go!" I called then ran to the mouth of the cave with her then watched as she soared out into the open.

"Pidgeo!" She called then banked sharply to avoid a blast, quickly gaining altitude though she served in and out of the bombs easily. She flew up and faced the balloon, flapping her wings then clicked her beak angrily, spotting Pikachu in James's arms.

"Alright Pidgeotto, let's shake them up a bit. Use Twister!" I called and she began to circle around the balloon, forming a twisted that wrapped it around and around.

"Wow…wow…WOAH!" Team Rocket yelled and I smirked with satisfaction, running out the cave then looked up to see Ash standing at the top, ready with the Squirtle. "Alright Pidgeotto, let them go now!" I shouted up. "Be ready to snatch Pikachu!"

"Pidgeo!" She nodded her head then circled, hovering close by as Team Rocket slumped against the side with travel sick looking faces.

"Squirtle! Water Gun attack now!" Ash directed and I watched as the Squirtle turned then spat a powerful jet of water at the balloon, bursting a hole through the Meowth head and it jerked backwards. Pikachu fell from James's arms and Ash gasped.

"Pikachu!" He yelled then started to run down the cliff. He's such an idiot!

"Pidgeotto, catch them both before they get hurt!" I yelled as Pidgeotto was already in a dive. Pidgeotto pulled back, spreading her wings as Ash caught Pikachu then grabbed his jacket with her claws, flapping her wings as hard as she could and thanks to her powerful built, she slowed their descent and landed them safely on the ground as the balloon spiralled off into the air, Team Rocket shrieking.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again…!" Laughing I ran forwards to Ash and the Pokémon.

"Yeah! That's the way to do it!" I jumped up in victory then ran to Pidgeotto to fling my arms around her. "I'm so proud of you."

"Don't celebrate just yet, we've still got trouble." Brock said then pointed to the fire that was beginning to spread towards the town. Uh oh, we're in trouble. "A fire, the blast must have set it off."

"You think!?" I yelled, waving my arms wildly at him. A screech of tyres announced Officer Jenny's arrival and we all turned to her.

"If it keeps burning then the whole town could go up in smoke!" Jenny worried but then Ash smiled.

"Don't worry Jenny, I've got an idea." Ash said to her then looked to the Squirtle Squad. "Listen, if you Squirtles work together, then you could combine your Water Guns to put out the fire." Sounds like a good plan to me, way to go Ash!

"Pidgeotto, circle around that fire and use Gust to keep it from spreading. Keep it contained as much as you can to keep it away from the town!" I called and she nodded her head, taking off again. "Ash, you get your Pidgeotto to do the same! It'll help keep it under control!"

"Right!" Ash nodded his head then let his male Pidgeotto out of his Pokéball. "Pidgeotto, go! Help Ruby's Pidgeotto control the fire!"

"Pidgeo!" He trilled then soared off to help.

"Come on! Let's get up there!" I called, already racing ahead and the Squirtle Squad quickly followed. They worked as a team, using their Water Gun attack to douse the flames as the two Pidgeottos beat back the fire, using the wind to redirect it away from the town and keep it contained until one of the Squirtles could put it out.

It took a lot of effort, but eventually all the flames were put out. Pidgeotto landed on the ground panting for breath and I ran to her. "Oh! You look exhausted." I fussed, hugging her close to me. "But I'm so proud of you! You helped save the town Pidgeotto, you did amazingly well. You deserve a nice long rest." I said then let her back into her Pokéball.

"You too Pidgeotto, your help really made a difference!" Ash beamed at his Pidgeotto, who was still flying as he wasn't as tired out from the work.

"Pidgeo!" He trumpeted proudly then flew back into Ash's Pokéball. With the excitement now over, I collapsed to the ground.

"Can I get an ice pack now?" I wailed, rubbing my head. In answer the Squirtle Squad all doused me with water, soaking me to the bone and my face fell. "Thanks guys. That's real helpful." I muttered and they all laughed, including Ash and the others.