Everyone in the room looked at Charmeleon in horror; even Team Rocket appeared scared by what was happen. It was still screaming, still failing to contain its power as it burned brighter and hotter and still glowing white.

It was clear it was evolving; probably due to the forced increase in power evolution was the only to stay alive. That was worrying, for a Pokémon to be pushed so far that it had no choice to evolve meant that it was incredibly powerful.

They watched as it grew, its claws becoming unnaturally long but its body actually being a little undersized. The fire continued to burn around it, only getting bigger and more poorly controlled. But Charmander-or rather Charmeleon-didn't seem bother anymore.

It stood up from the ground slowly, deliberately taking its time. Its face wasn't pained anymore; instead it showed nothing but pure rage. "Hahahah, now do you see? Do you see the power of my science" the evil doctor yelled sounding like a lunatic. "Charmeleon, end this now" he pointed at the teenagers who were huddled in the corner.

The flames surrounding its body turned brighter, the light almost blinding as it prepared its attack. The huge flames built in its mouth, ready to fire and kill its opponent. They were powerless to stop it. Even Misty's Starmie wouldn't have the raw power required to fight such a powerful flame.

And it was only getting bigger.

Ash looked into Charmeleon's eyes, hoping to see something, anything that would suggest he wasn't going to do it. But all he saw was hate and anger. Charmeleon's anger was an all-consuming anger one that threatened to destroy anything and everything in its path.

Finally the attack was ready, and then it was fired. Everyone in the room was helpless, knowing that there was nothing they could do to stop an attack of its magnitude as it barrelled towards its target. Its power, incredible, driven by hate and rage it was stronger than what one would even expect from a Charizard.

It then hit Dr Vile.

It was a clean hit; the man had been completely unprepared for it. Its power was so great that he was thrown back, flying through the air even as the flames licked at his flesh, burning every inch of his body.

He cried out in pain, this was worse than anything he had ever felt before. He stopped though when he crashed into the wall with a sickening thud, his life having been brought to an abrupt end by that one attack.

As he died he thought about his life. How he had gone from a respected scientist, one who was expected to bring about a new age for people and Pokémon alike, to a scientist who worked for Team Rocket. A scientist who had given them everything they would need to create an army of super Pokémon, an army that would most likely take over the world, or destroy it trying.

Looking back he couldn't even think why he did it.

He had just been curious. He had been curious about the idea of using science to bring out a Pokémon's full potential rather than having to train it. It was this curiosity that got him banned from several scientist communities for abusing Pokémon. This curiosity that had made him align himself Team Rocket with the agreement of giving them all his research.

It was this curiosity that had killed him.

But he didn't regret it, because now he knew. He had the answer, and that was all that mattered. With this knowledge he was able to die with a smile on his face, knowing that he had lived his life perfectly, knowing that if he could do it all again he would do the exact same thing.

Only he would have killed that ungrateful lizard the moment he laid eyes on it.

Everyone else was too shocked to do anything. None of them had ever seen a Pokémon kill someone before, especially not its own master. But Charmeleon had. Ash optimistically thought that it might have been a sign of rebellion, a sign that Charmeleon wouldn't be willing to work for someone evil.

But those thoughts were cut short when he turned back to Ash and Misty with a look of crazed anger burning in his eyes. "Charmeleon" its voice was high, the fire that still burned around its body growing bigger and stronger as it looked at its next victims.

This didn't go unnoticed by the rocket grunts, which quickly turned and ran out the room. They didn't even bother returning their injured Pokémon. This didn't go over well with Charmeleon who saw them running.

He swiftly rotated, shooting a powerful flamethrower from his mouth at the door. The flame burst brilliantly, setting the door and the grunts near it on fire. "Char" it advanced towards them, its mouth filling with fire once again.

Noticing his Pokémon, or at least the ones that were still out which looked injured enough anyway, were in its war path Ash quickly returned them. The others soon following suit. But Charmeleon wasn't paying them any attention as it continued to advance towards its new target, contempt burning in its eyes.

They all cowered, some trying to get there Pokémon to fight but they too were too scared. "Char Charmeleon" one grunt, in a panic dashed for the door. He tried to use his sleeve to protect his hand as he opened it and began running. The others followed.

But Charmeleon wouldn't let them get away so easily.

Instead he shot the powerful attack, its power so overwhelming that it shot him back as well as the grunts when it connected. Both going flew in opposite directions, the power of the attack making it so that the low level Team Rocket members were soon just a burning speck in the sky.

"Run" Misty cried grabbing the stunned teen next to her by the hand and making a break for the doors, they weren't surprised to see Brock and Damien had already began running away. Once they were outside they noticed Charmeleon was no longer following them. Instead he was just shooting fire, randomly burning the building.

"He's losing control" Ash said watching as the entire building started burning. "Team Rockets Pokémon" he started running once more, this time into the building to save the various poison types.

"Ash stop" Misty followed after, entering the damaged building to find him lifting up an Ekans and some Zubat "What are you doing?"

"We've got to help them Misty, if we don't they'll be killed by the fire" he yelled running for the exit so he could leave the fainted Pokémon outside where it was safe. Misty looked unsure for a second, was it really a good idea to risk their lives for the enemy?

But then she realised, they weren't the enemy. Team Rocket was the enemy and they were just being controlled by them. Forced to do their bidding then abandoned as soon as they became an inconvenience. She quickly started helping, grabbing as many Pokémon as she could carry before making a break for the exit.

Outside Brock saw this and soon joined, knowing that he would never be able to forgive himself if even a single Pokémon died. Damien was less sure though, he didn't want the Pokémon to die in all but he was still scared. But as he watched Ash, he knew he had to do something.

Ash was fearless, helping the Pokémon without even caring about the danger he was putting himself in to do it. Damien wanted to be like that, so with that thought and only a moment's hesitation he ran into the building and began helping Brock lift a partially large Grimer. Brock smiled at him and he returned; even if he was terrified the whole time doing the right thing felt great.

With all their help, as well as using Abra to teleport a few of the stragglers they soon had every Pokémon out. Brock, with Misty and Damien assisting were treating them and it looked like all the Pokémon would be ok.

Except Charmeleon.

Charmeleon was still inside, his power still out of control as he burnt everything and anything in sight.

Ash didn't hesitate, he rushed straight back inside.

"Ash stop" Misty stood, ready to charge at the boy, to tackle him to the ground to stop him. But Brock caught her shoulder. He didn't say anything, he just gave a stern look that told her she was needed here and that Ash needed to do this. She nodded returning to her treatment of the Pokémon.

He looked around a little when he entered seeing the destruction Charmeleon had caused. The whole place was on fire, smoke filled the ceiling and it looked about ready to collapse any minute. It was clear that if he was going to get Charmeleon out of here safely he would have to hurry.

He soon saw the source of the destruction, still flaming and still furious. He moved forward, trying to move as fast as possible since the building looked about ready to collapse and because the longer he took the more the heat burned.

He reached out, trying to grab Charmeleon so that he could be brought back to safety. But as soon as he tried he was forced to retract his hand, the flames coming off Charmeleon were too hot. He couldn't get near him. "Charmeleon, his place is about to collapse. You have to get out of here!"

"Char-Charmeleon" his voice dropped, getting deeper and angrier as it shot a blast at Ash's head. It was poorly aimed though so fuelled by pure adrenaline he was able to dodge.

He knew he had to try again "Please Charmeleon, this is the only way to save you" the lizard looked at Ash, he could see the genuine concern in his eyes and was shocked. He had never known a human to actually care for him before.

He began to reduce his flames, taking the power back into himself. He saw Ash smile at this and smiled back. That is until he felt it; the power inside him was still too great. He couldn't control it, he had evolved to survive it but he still wasn't even close to controlling it.

It lit up again, once more surrounding the Pokémon that had killed its master as it cried out in pain. He struggled, trying to pull the power in once more but couldn't. It burst force violently throwing the young trainer onto his back with a thud.

But he wasn't going to give up.

He crawled forwards, trying to make eye contact with Charmeleon only to find them already forced close from its self-inflicted pain. "Charmeleon, I know you can handle this" it continued to scream, its power not controlled at all.

"All Team Rocket ever taught you was hate and pain. But there more to you than that I know it, you can fight this!" Charmeleon heard these words even over the sound of the building burning and his own screams.

Ash was right, he could fight this. Right now he was the strongest Charmeleon in the world; no way was he going to be beaten by anyone. Especially not himself, that would be stupid! He gritted his teeth, feeling the energy calling back into himself.

He felt the power return to his body, the feeling of forcing energy into his body was horrible. All the pain that had been on the outside was now on the inside, the heat so powerful that it burned even him.

But he had to do this.

He continued, fighting against himself as he drew it all in until he was no longer burning. All the fire on his body except the flame on the tip of his tail receded leaving him looking like a normal Charmeleon. He saw the young trainer smile; this was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

Ash was shocked when Charmeleon collapsed, but he didn't dwell on it. He rushed forward instantly grabbing the Pokémon and making a break for the exit. He burst though, ignoring the flames that threatened to engulf his as he bounded outside.

He was greeted by the sound of his companions cheering, Damien crying slightly out of joy but he still smiled just as big as everyone else.

After this was all a blur to Ash, they rushed all the Pokémon to the Pokémon centre with the help of the fire department. He then watched as the Nurse Joy and Chansey of the centre rushed about treating all the Pokémon, both Team Rockets and theirs.

They were pronounced healthy.

Brock explained what would happen next to Ash. The Pokémon belonging to Team Rocket would be released; since they were in a large group of the same type the police were likely to make a special effort to release them in an appropriate environment.

The police that had been kidnapped hadn't been found, but with the amount of Team Rocket arrests that had been made they were confident that they would be able to get one of them to talk telling them where to find the officers.

This made Ash happy, since the idea of this little town being overrun by Grimer wasn't very settling. The previous test subjects being freed also made Ash happy, they had all be found to have been subjected to the same type of experiment as Chameleon-although to a much lesser degree-so it was nice to think that they would be returning to as normal and happy a life as they could.

But not everything could be that perfect.

Brock looked at Ash seriously, the expression on his face showing that he was fighting with himself over what to say next "You see Ash, when a Pokémon is abused by its trainer its standard that the Pokémon is taken and released in the wild" Ash nodded, they had already covered this "But in cases where the Pokémon attack people, especially if someone dies, this isn't the case"

Ash knew where this was going, but refused to believe it until he heard it for himself "I'm sorry Ash, but once the report gets though. Once they find out that Charmeleon killed its trainer…he'll be put down"

It felt like Ash's world was being destroyed around him, the idea of Charmeleon-the Pokémon he had worked so hard to bond with, worked so hard to save-being killed was horrible. He felt like he was going to be sick. "But he had too; he wasn't in control of his own actions"

Ash thought about Charmeleon's life up until now. The things Team Rocket must have done to him; he clearly didn't want the injections to become more powerful. But they didn't give him a choice, they kept forcing him until it got the point where he had to kill his own trainer or be killed by that trainer as a result of his sick obsession.

And because of that Charmeleon was going to die anyway.

Brock shook his head, a solemn look over taking his features. "I'm sorry Ash, but it's the law"

Ash wouldn't accept this "No! No, I won't let them kill Chameleon, he never asked for this to happen. Team Rocket forced him"

Brock just frowned; he hated this just as much as Ash but knew there was nothing they could do. "There might be a way. In some cases like this, where the Pokémon did bad things because it was abused-or because it lost control of its powers- the Pokémon can be assigned a new trainer if he's deemed capable enough to control the Pokémon and if the Pokémon's capable of controlling the powers"

Ash was silent for a moment in thought "And that trainer would be me…"

Brock nodded "Releasing the Pokémon into the wild would be too dangerous, they would have no way of ensuring it gets a trainer that's capable of controlling it. But many agree that putting down Pokémon that have been the victims of abuse is wrong, that's why this law was made. I'm hoping that, since you were the one to get Charmeleon under control in the police station you can do it again. As a gym leader I can give you a recommendation then you just have to pass the test."

Ash looked at his slightly panicked "Test?" he was really bad at tests, having the life of a Pokémon be based on him taking a test and doing well was a terrible idea!

"Yes, it's simply a test to show that you are a competent trainer that can control the dangerous Pokémon" Ash nodded as way of showing he wanted to try this. He knew he had to. After all, if he didn't Charmeleon would be killed.

He refused to let that happen.

As Brock promised when they finally were able to restore communications, they contacted the police who began the process of returning the Pokémon to suitable environments. Brock's recommendation was enough to qualify Ash for the test and he was able to take it.

"Ok Ash, we've looked over your record and everything seems to be in order" the Officer Jenny who controls Charmeleon's fate said looking at some paper work. "So I'll be deciding on a test for you" Ash nodded showing he understood. She looked up at him and smiled "There's no need to be so tense, this isn't going to be some impossible test or anything"

Ash smiled at this his face losing the tension that he hadn't been fully aware of as he did. "The first test is simple; you must capture the desired Pokémon. A battle is allowed if it is necessary" Ash nodded grinning; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

When he visited Charmeleon he wasn't surprised to find that he wanted a battle, most Pokémon wanted to battle the trainer before joining them. So they went outside to the small Pokémon battle arena to begin. Officer Jenny remained silent the whole time, taking notes on their interactions and looking deep in thought.

Ash thought hard about what Pokémon to use. He now realised that he had no Pokémon that was at a type advantage-except Squirtle who he had no real experience using- but had several with a type disadvantage. He frowned at this thought.

He quickly decided to go with his strongest Pokémon that was also one of the Pokémon he had longest. "Fearow I chose you"

Charmeleon smiled at this jumping excitedly, his tail flared but fortunately his body didn't catch on fire. "Charmeleon" a thick purple cloud of gas came out its mouth heading straight for Fearow.

"What the hell is that? Doesn't matter, Fearow blow it away" Fearow flapped its wings mightily shooting the purple cloud straight back at Charmeleon. Charmeleon was soon affected by the gas looking sick as a result.

Jenny wrote something down as she observed.

"Charmeleon's poisoned, that attack must have been toxic" Ash muttered as he looked at Charmeleon "Ok Fearow, go in for a peck attack" it flew high, gaining altitude and speed before descending hitting Charmeleon square in the chest.

Charmeleon fell back, the attack having hit it hard. But as it fell it unleashed a torrent of flames, the attack hitting the powerful bird before it could get away. "Char" then with glowing claws it lunged forward, the metallic claws slashing right at Fearow's chest.

"Fearow are you ok?" Ash asked seeing that the attack had left a deep mark; he breathed a sigh of relief when Fearow nodded looking pleased. Charmeleon wasn't done though as it gracefully jumped back to its feat firing a powerful flame thrower.

"Fearow fear" Fearow effortlessly dodged out the way before a black portal appeared in front of the large bird, shortly after a flame thrower appeared shooting back at the surprised Charmeleon. The attack wasn't very effective, but due to the surprise though Charmeleon back.

Misty, who had come out when she heard the battle with Brock, looked on shocked "D-did Fearow just learn flamethrower"

Brock smiled shaking his head "No, that's mirror move it's able to copy the last attack used against it. It should be useful to fight Charmeleon though"

"Fearow use flamethrower again, then when he's down use a peck attack" Fearow did it again hitting Charmeleon as it tried to stand before diving into the newly formed smoke. Only Charmeleon wasn't downed. Instead he was standing strong, weakened and covered with minor bruises and cuts but very much able to go on.

It grabbed Fearow around the neck, rearing its head back in preparation for an attack until. "Char!" its whole body trembled as the poison running though it did its damage. Charmeleon tried to prepare another attack, wanting to win using metal claw. But it was too injured. Its attack faded and it fell to the ground, swirls in its eyes signifying its defeat.

Ash recovered from his surprise quickly "Poke ball go" it connected with the defeated Pokémon. It didn't even shake as Charmeleon didn't resist, happy with its new trainer it felt no need. A ding signified the successful capture then it was over.

Ash ran over and collecting the ball with Charmeleon in it "Alright, I caught Charmeleon" he turned to see Brock, Misty and Officer Jenny clapping.

"Well done Ash, here" she threw a small yellow squirt bottle to his, a full heal "Charmeleon come on out" the Pokémon appeared; it looked strong but was still clearly poisoned. "Here, this'll make you feel better" he sprayed it on noticing how Charmeleon instantly started looking heathier.

"Well Ash you passed the first test, you've captured Charmeleon and he seems to have no problem being your Pokémon" she said regaining his attention "So now we just need to ensure Charmeleon's obedient, and I think it know what a good test for that would be" Ash looked at her wondering what she would suggest.

"I want you to use Charmeleon in your next gym battle, if you can maintain control of him throughout then you can be his trainer"

Ash nodded knowing this was important. He looked at Charmeleon's ball, the ball of a Pokémon that had killed its trainer. He didn't know why, but he felt an unbelievable sense of responsibility when thinking about Charmeleon, like he was the one that had to teach him about the good side of humanity, to show him that not everyone was like Team Rocket.

It wouldn't be easy, Charmeleon had endured so much that he had been forced to take a life. But he knew, somewhere deep down there was good in Charmeleon. He could still remember the anger it had shown when those Team Rocket grunts tried to abandon their Pokémon, he could see that it was furious at the idea of them being treated like they had no value beyond their strength, like they were just tools, like how he had always been treated.

Ash didn't know how, but he knew he was going to save Charmeleon.

After that Officer Jenny left, she explained to Ash that while he could keep Charmeleon for the moment it was only provisional. He would be expected to call her or the local police force before his next gym battle so it could be monitored properly.

But for now he was free to spend time with Charmeleon training, although Brock had to supervise the whole time since he was the one to give the recommendation and was viewed as sufficiently skilled due to being a gym leader.

They were now once again on the road to Vermillion city; Ash with his new Pokémon Charmeleon was feeling pretty good about himself. Ash was now at the beach looking for more Pokémon, he was currently looking for Pokémon.

He saw one slowly walking towards him. A small crab like Pokémon with a red shell and brown underside, it looked healthy but didn't appear very strong. He got out his Pokédex to hear its information "Krabby. Lives near the shore. Its average height is about sixteen inches." The information came not being very useful.

He noticed it wasn't as big as it should be but ignored that "Ok, this looks like a job for" he grabbed the desired ball "Caterpie" the small worm Pokémon appeared ready to battle. "Go for it with tackle attack"

The small crab was more of a threat then it seemed though as it repelled Caterpie using bubble. "Come on Caterpie, use string shot to slow it down then try tackle again" it quickly tied it, its whole body being completely encased in the sticky string before Caterpie charged at it hitting it head on knocking it down.

"Prii" the small Pokémon cried shooting string shot into the air. It soon covered itself completely resulting in it changing to a hard shell.

"Caterpie evolved, wow you're a Metapod now" Ash cheered picking up his newly evolved Pokémon and cheering. "Oops almost forgot, poke ball go" he threw the ball and watched as it shook. Once, twice, three times …then the ding of confirmation sounded and Krabby was caught.

"Yes I caught a Krabby" Ash said picking up the poke ball. But when he tried to put it on his belt it had nowhere to go. "Huh, all the slots are filled. Then what should I do with Krabby's ball"

"You should just transport it, you can do this by pressing the white button inside you Pokédex" Brock explained showing him how it worked.

"But I just caught Krabby, I want to train it a bit at least" Ash said looking at the button.

"Then send Beedrill back, it's a horrible bug type anyway" Ash glared at Misty, what was so bad about bug types anyway?

"Or maybe you should send back a different Pokémon, I'm sure the professor would be very excited to research Clefairy for example. There quiet rare" Ash looked down, Brock did have a point.

"Maybe we should call, find out what Professor Oak want to have" Ash said looking around looking for some sign of civilisation. "Hey is that a lighthouse" they quickly decided to stay there, Ash wanting to call Professor Oak and Misty wanting to sleep in a bed.

Just outside of the lighthouse the three travellers stood, preparing to talk to the keeper on the intercom when all of a sudden. "Oh thank goodness people, please help me" they looked around, trying to identify the source of the voice but saw nothing. "Down here"

They looked down and saw it, a Pokémon. Only they could have sworn they heard it talk "Hello my name is Bill I'm a Pokémon-"

"Oh my god a talking Pokémon" Ash jumped back grabbing Beedrill's ball and throwing it forward. "Time to catch it"

"Wait what?" what Ash believed to be a talking Pokémon was actually Bill, the Pokémon researcher, who had been trapped in the body of a Pokémon after his last experiment.

"Wait no Ash stop" Misty said getting in the way of Ash and Beedrill.

"Why?"

"Cos I'm goanna catch it" Misty said throwing out her Pokémon, a Starmie.

"Hey that's no fair!" Bill didn't like this; if he stayed he was going to get caught.

"Shut up Ash, this is a Wooper, a water type. So it's mine to catch" she explained not backing down. Bill tried to retreat into his house but found he still couldn't work the door when in this body. He walked up to the only that didn't seem to want to capture him.

"Hello, I'm not a Pokémon. I'm Bill the Pokémon researcher" he introduced himself with a bow.

"Really? You look like a Pokémon to me" Brock said kneeling down to be at eye level.

"There was an accident; I've been stuck in this body for a while now"

"NO I'M GOING TO CATCH IT" Ash yelled standing on his tip toes to try to look Misty in the eye but she just raised her nose further.

"Please stop them"

"Right" Brock nodded turning to his friends "Hey guys"

"Ash just shut up and let me catch it"

"Seriously this is important"

"What?" they both yelled in sync turning all their anger on Brock.

"This isn't a Pokémon" he pointed at Bill who was cowering behind his leg. They both looked at him like he was an idiot, they both knew it was a Wooper, why was he acting like it wasn't?

"I'm actually a Pokémon researcher; I just got stuck in this body after trying to fix the Pokémon transfer system. These hands are the best for intricate work" he said holding up his small blue arms.

"Uh huh" they were still talking in unison "So we can't catch you?"

"Please don't" Bill was slightly curious as to whether or not humans turned into Pokémon could be caught, but he certainly didn't want to find out.

After this everything was cleared up and they went into the lab. Brock agreed to help Bill get back to normal-apparently it would just involve fixing the Pokémon transfer system and putting him back in it with the Wooper that was now in his body-.

Misty and Ash also was offered to help and eventually everything was fixed-although Bill said it wasn't too complicated they still had no idea what they were doing the whole time and were essentially just tools to do work for Bill-and Bill came out in a human body.

He was a short man, although he was taller than Misty he still wasn't very tall, and had brown hair. He was also relatively slim with relatively common cloths of a white t-shirt, a blue tie and green trousers.

"Thanks so much for that, being a Wooper was fun but I'm really glad to be back in my own body" he said stretching until he got a satisfying click of his back "Now I understand you wanted to use my phone"

Ash took a moment to realise he was being spoken to, the incredibly strange situation having left him a little unresponsive. "Oh right yeah…"

"Right this way" he took him to a small video phone, the set being a Bellsprout based one which he was to use "I'll give you some privacy" he then turned and left Ash to his call.

Ash called collect, he hoped the professor wouldn't mind and felt like it would be rude not to since he wasn't the one paying for the call if he didn't. When the screen turned on he saw Professor Oak, leaning over a table with a bowl on noodles. "Uh…hi"

"Hello Ash, you've caught me cooking dinner. My cook is on dinner, and I've got to fend for myself until she returns" he said playing with the food a little.

"Hi, I've been having a problem carrying all my Pokémon with me"

"I'm not surprised, you must have far too many to still carry them all. Why haven't you been sending them to me?" Ash sweat dropped at this, he had actually forgotten that he was supposed to do that when he got to many Pokémon.

"Well…I've wanted to train them all so I guess I just got a little caught up in that" the professor nodded in acknowledgment.

"Still Ash you should know that having too many Pokémon at once can be a bad idea when travelling, it's hard to give them all the attention they need since they spend so long in their balls" Ash nodded, he actually felt a little bad for trying to keep them all now "Anyway, how many are you going to send me, five, six"

"Actually…I was thinking more along the lines of one or two" he looked at the man who frowned.

"You know Ash most trainers only keep about six Pokémon with them at any one time, since that's the most used in league battles" Ash nodded, he knew that.

"Yeah but I've only got eight in total" the professors eyes shot open.

"Only eight" he yelled before he could stop himself "My grandson already has twenty" he said smiling proudly. Ash knew he was just proud of Gary but he couldn't help but feel a little put down by this. "Anyway, which ones are you planning on sending me?"

"Actually I was wondering if you had a preference" Ash said looking at him a little blankly.

"Him…maybe, put your Pokédex into the slot and I'll have a look" Ash did as he said finding one and placing it in. "I see, this is very interesting…Clefairy seems interesting, none of the other trainers have caught one and…this Charmeleon seems interesting, the data the Pokédex got on it is very unusual"

Ash nodded, he was fine sending Clefairy but "I don't think I'll be able to send Charmeleon"

Oak quirked a brow at this "Why not?"

Brock who had been standing behind Ash silently up till now decided to speak up "Charmeleon was with Team Rocket before, Ash has taken him in but is only allowed to keep him if he can prove he can control him"

The professor nodded "I see, that's quite serious…in that case how about Metapod, he won't be able to battle very effectively until he evolves after all" Ash nodded quickly getting out his Pokédex and-following the instructions of the professor-he used it to send the desired Pokémon to him. "Ok Ash I've received them on my end"

"Great professor thanks, bye"

"Goodbye Ash" and with that the phone blinked off.

After this they spoke to Bill who revealed he was a Pokémon researcher. It turned out he had come here hoping to meet an incredibly rare Pokémon that was thought to be extinct but that he believed still existed around the world, humans just don't know where.

The man was quiet flamboyant, somehow going straight from serious to playful in the time it takes to blink. He told them about Pokémon in general as well; apparently there were over one hundred and fifty Kanto native Pokémon and even more in other regions.

This shocked Ash, he always knew there were lots of Pokémon but he still found the idea of there being so many in Kanto alone quiet strange. Bill also revealed that recently, due to human intervention Pokémon from other regions would often end up in Kanto.

Trainers would travel far and wide to capture them, then they would breed and or be released resulting in the species becoming popular in the area if the conditions were right. He said that this was actually quiet dangerous though, since it meant that they could end up upsetting the natural ecosystem even though they didn't mean to.

He also gave them ticket to the S.S Anne as a reward for helping him out, they insisted it wasn't necessary but he just dismissed it. Apparently he wasn't really the type for it anyway since it was meant to be trainer and he just got them as a reward of some kind.

So with that they left, having to hurry to ensure they would be able to make it to Vermillion in time to challenge the gym with time left over to then get on the S.S Anne before it left.

The next day they stood at the edge of Vermillion City, a large sign with 'Vermillion city' confirmed this as they looked inside. They were covered in dirt, tired and hungry. Ash in particular with thinking about food, Misty was thinking about getting a bath and Brock was most concerned about doing the laundry-a habit that had formed from needing to help take care of his siblings for so long.

They rushed to the Pokémon centre, the only place where they could get everything they needed. The first thing they did upon arriving was check in all there Pokémon, when they were waiting for their Pokémon though they were shocked to see a Rattata come in looking extremely beaten up on a stretcher.

"Wow that Rattata's in pretty bad shape. What do you think happened to it?" Ash said feeling worried at the sight of such an injured Pokémon.

"Oh, that's the eighth one this week alone" Nurse Joy said rushing after the Chansey that was taking it into the medial room. They followed her, shocked by her statement.

What they saw when they arrived was even more shocking. Injured Pokémon were filling every bed, there was more than Ash could even see as it continued around the corner all with different injuries. "They all lost to Lt Surge, the Vermillion gym leader"

Ash looked at the injuries, they were brutal. There was no other way of looking at it. Clearly when he battled he didn't hold anything back. "I can't believe anyone could injure this many Pokémon and not feel bad"

Misty shot him a sideways glance "So Ash…You scared already?" why did she seem so happy, what about him being scared was fun for her?

Ash looked back at the Pokémon, there were all kinds and they all looked like they were strong. Clearly Surge was no push over. "Just a little nervous, I haven't used Charmeleon before…but I know he's strong, he can definitely do this" Ash said looking down at the poke ball attached to his hip. Charmeleon had been though a lot, he didn't want him to be injured by Surge as well.

He that if he let Charmeleon fight, and he got hurt like these other Pokémon it wouldn't go down well, Team Rocket had already exposed him to so much pain. Ash refused to let him be hurt anymore!

He made a vow to himself, if it any point it looked like Charmeleon was beat, like fighting further would just cause him to be unnecessarily injured he would forfeit. The badge wasn't nearly as important to him as Charmeleon's health, both physical and mental.

Misty flicked his nose "Ash, you space out. Don't do that" she looked a little worried, clearly she could tell he was more nervous than he let on.

"Don't worry Misty, like I said. We can handle this" he clenched his fist in determination; he would back down if it was to protect Charmeleon. But he wouldn't have to since he was going to win anyway.

"I'm not worried about you; I'm worried about my reputation. I gave you that gym badge, if you lose how d'you think that will make me look?" she huffed turning away from him, how dare he say she worried about him!

"You didn't give me that badge I beat you fair and square" Ash glaring at the back of her head as she refused to acknowledge him.

"Yeah, you also knocked out everyone else in the gym" Ash blushed slightly, that wasn't a great call. He really should have trainer with sing more, that way Clefairy would have been able to target the attack instead of just hitting everyone with it.

"Who cares? A wins a win and I won, I beat you" he said sticking out his tongue at the end.

"That's enough, remember this is a hospital" they turned to see that all the people who were checking on their Pokémon were now glaring at the duo. They sweat dropped unable to think of anything to say that would save the situation. "They say if two people fight they really care about each other"

"Me care about him" Misty and Ash said in unison before both turned with a huff, Ash said 'him' instead of 'her' on purpose. Nurse Joy giggled at this while Brock looked irritated, how did they always talk in unison like that?

Bing ding Bing ding the familiar Pokémon centre sound chimed confirming that the treatment of someone's Pokémon was complete. "Well looks like your good to go"

After this they called the police to report that the battle would be taking place soon and Ash collected his Pokémon. When the Officer Jenny arrived Ash couldn't tell if it was the same one as before or not but considering what she would be deciding he didn't comment fearful of angering her. He knew she would be professional no matter what, but pissing people off who had control over your Pokémon's fate was never a good idea anyway

Then they arrived outside the gym, Ash with his normal travelling companions and his just for today Jenny looked at the large imposing gym. Ash already he knew he would be using Charmeleon, and since the general view of this gym was that it was electric type and a one Pokémon battle focus he knew no other Pokémon needed to be selected.

The doors opened with a creak to reveal a large dark room. A man in a leather spiked jacket and a woman in a red tank top stood in front of him. "I'm here for a gym battle"

"Hey boss, another victim here for the emergency room" Behind him a large silhouette appeared, the man's features completely unreadable due to the dark.

"Which one?" he stepped into the light revealing himself, and there was a lot to reveal. The guy was huge! He wore nothing but army fatigue jacket and trousers with standard army boots. His dog tag still hung around his neck and he had on thick fingerless gloves.

"Welcome to Vermillion gym" he grabbed Misty bringing her into a hug making her let out a slight noise of surprise when he pulled back he looked at her searchingly "Oh, my next challengers a cute one baby"

"Misty isn't cute, you shouldn't say things like that" immediately jumping to defend her and getting right in the giant man's face.

"Hey!" she yelled irritated, Lt Surge just grinned, he had no idea who this guy was. All he could tell was that he was bold and had trouble speaking. He liked him.

"That didn't…" he drifted off awkwardly, he hadn't meant to insult her like that "…come out right. I tried to say 'Misty isn't a baby' but the cute part threw me off and I got tongue tied" he chuckled looking around, Misty was glaring at him while everyone else was grinning, this did nothing to make him feel more comfortable "Anyway I'm your challenger!" Ash said regaining some of his confidence.

"Alright, I accept your challenge. What's with the officer though" he gave the Jenny a look that Ash couldn't decipher "There isn't a …problem with his boy is there"

She shook her head smiling "He had recently become the trainer of a Charmeleon that had an unfavourable time with its former trainer who is now deceased. Due to this I have to see whether or not he is capable of controlling Charmeleon's…unusual powers, that is what this gym battle is for"

Lt Surge frowned; he hated it when they used talk like this to hide the truth. He was a military man himself and had probably dealt with far worse yet they still wouldn't tell him. "Whatever follow me and I'll show you where we'll be battling"

The battle field was simple, dirt with the normal white lines indicating the border. Ash got in the trainer box standing ready "Charmeleon lets due this" the Pokémon emerged from its ball with a loud growl of 'Char'

"Hey, not bad…but no way is it strong enough to beat my Pokémon" he threw the ball forward unleashing the powerful fully evolved electric type smirking the whole time.

A/N

And I'll stop here, any guesses what the powerful electric type is.

If you get it right and review or PM to tell me there'll be an update within a day (not a huge amount else I can offer) although I will also give shout outs as well.

I sort of skipped Mystery at the lighthouse because it's pointless, I'm not a huge fan of Super Giant Pokémon since they are a bit weird and have a lot of flaws in terms of explaining them and not having them be stronger than anything anyone could do so all I really wanted was Krabby to be caught-because he's awesome-and for Ash to then get to Vermillion

And so Ash has a Charmeleon, only this one has had a way worse past then Charizard from canon. Will Ash pass the test and be able to keep Charmeleon, or will he be down. Find out in the next chapter!

As always please review, favourite and follow