DISCLAIMER: Me does not own Pokémon. Me owns OCs. Haha anyways, I'm glad that so many of you like my story. I'll probably draw the characters and put them on my DA page, it's actually a pretty nice idea! As for inserting people's characters into the fic...we'll see ;) You might get a surprised later on. Enjoy!

Chapter IV

"What's that smell?" asked Gary, scratching his nose.

"It would seem that there is smoke coming from Viridian Forest, sir", calmly replied his chauffeur.

"Smoke? Do you think there's a fire?"

"Possible, sir. After all, it is filled with trees and dry branches. It's bound to happen some time or another."

"I don't want coal on my face!" shrieked one of Gary's groupies.

"All that gunk is going to sully my hair!" moaned another one.

Mumbling, Gary turned away from the rambling women and gazed at the forest on his left. To his dismay, he noticed that the fire was already big enough to be seen over the tree tops.

Is Elle still in there?

"Tch, why am I worrying about her anyway, it's not like she's stupid enough to light an entire forest on fire."

An image of a feisty Charmander appeared in his head. Gary sweat dropped.

"…or is she…"

"Sir, it would appear that you are about to be attacked by a crazed Pidgey", announced the driver in his monotonous voice.

"Excuse m-"

Gary didn't have time to finish his reply: Lucas' Pidgey landed firmly on his head and started pecking at his skull with desperate insistence.

"HEY! Get off!" the rich boy exclaimed, trying to pry the bird out of his hair.

"PIDGEY! GEY! GEY! PIDGEEEEY!" it cried, letting go of Gary and flying up into the air.

The small animal began flying in circles, and then pointed towards the forest while chirping anxiously, its eyes filled with fear. Something was definitely up.

"Garyyyy! Get rid of it!" said his cheerleaders in unison.

"Just wait a minute, alright?" he snapped, shutting them up. "I think this is Lucas' Pidgey. See? Its eyes are green, not the normal brown color. I noticed that earlier in our battle."

What if she's hurt? Or dead? Or…

Shaking his head, Gary Oak gritted his teeth. He knew he wouldn't forgive himself if he just let those two morons burn to their grave, considering he could have helped them. Ordering his driver to pull over, he jumped over the convertible's passenger seat and began running towards the disaster. Police cars were already there and villagers from Viridian were staring at the flames in awe.

"I'm sorry, but you can't possibly go in there now", warned a blue haired officer, blocking Gary's way.

"There are people in there!" he barked, roughly pushing the woman out of his way.

"Come back here!"

"Lady, I don't give a crap about what you say anyway, so save your breath", he replied before entering the forest.

Almost every tree had caught on fire to some degree. Branches were falling here and there, making it a very dangerous place, even for the Pokémon who were used to living in the wild. Coughing, Gary made his way through the burning inferno. Rattata, Caterpie, Weedle and Pikachu were all running in the opposite direction, trying to escape their old home. Butterfree and Beedrill tried to fly away, but nearly always had their wings come in contact with the dangerous fire.

"This is no good, I can't walk properly" Gary protested, slowly becoming angry. "Squirtle, come out!"

"Squirtle!" it said, appearing with a delighted cry. Once it saw its surroundings, however, it shot its trainer a vicious glare.

"Don't give me that look", the boy replied. "Elle and Lucas are somewhere in this mess. Do you want them to die?"

"Squirtle…" it muttered quietly, staring at the ground.

"Great. All I need you to do is put out the small flames on the ground; it'll be easier for me to walk that way."

"Squirtle squirt!"

"Thanks, buddy, I owe ya a triple chocolate ice cream sundae when we get back", Gary offered with a small smile.

"SQUIRTLE!" the little turtle twittered, its eyes glistening with lust at the thought of the sweet dessert.

And so they began their trial through the burning woods. Squirtle was doing a great job at cooling down the area, making it a lot easier for Gary to try and find his two comrades. Nonetheless, the heat was getting intense, and the boy's face was covered in ashes, sweat tricking down his forehead. After a while, the tired lad finally heard something.

"HELP! If anyone's there! HELP!"

"It's Lucas! Squirtle, come on, faster!" Gary yelled, weary.

They finally reached the blonde, who was struggling with a collapsed tree.

"Hey! Lucas! Over here!"

"Gary? How come you're not in Pewter already?" asked the other one, shocked.

"Never mind that! Where's Elle?" Gary demanded.

"She's behind these trees, knocked out. I can't move the trunks all by myself, and the other side is completely blocked."

"How surprising of her", Gary grunted. "Let's try pushing together, alright?"

"Fine by me. "

They pushed, and pushed, and pushed, but the trunk wasn't budging one bit. Even with Squirtle's help, nothing could be done: they simply weren't strong enough. Looking through the limp branches, Gary managed to catch a glimpse of his lifeless rival, who seemed to be in very poor shape. He couldn't tell if she was breathing or not, but her clothes were torn in various places and there were burns on her arms. For once in his life, Gary Oak experienced true fear, a fear for his life and for hers. It couldn't end this way. He wanted to crush her in the Pokémon League, he wanted to show her he was the best, he wanted to laugh at her silly expressions, he…

He began crying. Even though the salty drops quickly evaporated in the high temperature, Squirtle had seen them. Only seconds later, a bushy branch fell from the sky, smacking both Lucas and Gary in the back. Letting out a cry of pain, Gary fell to the ground, followed by Lucas. Anger and resolve imprinted on his face, the brunette slowly got back up, holding his side with one hand. Knowing it to be futile, he still tried to move the despicable tree out of the way on his own. The little turtle Pokémon watched its trainer in awe, gaining new respect for the boy. Humans really weren't that bad, after all. They could love.

Squirtle's body began to glow, unleashing an iridescent light from every pore of its being. Squinting their eyes, both trainers looked up at the little water creature in confusion.

"What's going on?" asked Lucas.

"Squirtle is…evolving?" whispered Gary.

The shimmering ended, revealing the new Pokémon: a Wartortle. Its skin had changed from bright turquoise to smooth lilac. Its tail had grown long, white and fluffy, symbolizing its newfound wisdom. The shell on its back seemed harder, more mature. The look on its face reflected power, determination and passion, with a hint of arrogance, exactly like Gary's usual expression. Without a second thought, Wartortle withdrew and began spinning rapidly in the air, expulsing an incredible amount of water from its shell's five holes. The surrounding area was completely soaked in a matter of seconds. The air cooled down and became clearer as well.

"The fire's gone!" cried Lucas. "Now we can go around the trunks and grab Elle!"

"Way ahead of you" replied Gary, who was already sprinting through the trees.

Finally reaching the poor girl, he bent down and lifted her head and back, cradling her in his arms.

"It'll be fine now. I'll carry you out safe and sound, Elle. I promise" he whispered.