Name Translations:

Sato – Ash

Lila – Anabel

Takeshi – Brock

Kasumi – Misty

Kojiro – James

Musashi – Jessie

Rikao – Seymour

-:-

Walking up the mountain path, the Sato-tachi were on their way to Cerulean City so Sato can earn his next badge. They kept walking when Sato asked Lila something that was on his mind.

"Lila, can I ask you something?"

"Nani, Sato-kun?"

"What's your dream for the future?"

"N-Nani?"

"I mean, I want to be a Pokémon Master and Takeshi wants to be a Pokémon Breeder, what about you?"

"Ano, w-well, I've always wanted t-to be a Pokémon Doctor," answered Lila, blushing as all eyes were on her.

"A Pokémon Doctor?" questioned Takeshi in curiosity.

"I th-thought th-that with my special p-powers, I could easily h-help Pokémon," she explained.

"Makes sense. With your powers, you can find out what's bothering the Pokémon and fix it. That's so cool, Lila! I bet you'd make an excellent doctor one day!" grinned Sato.

"Arigatou, S-Sato-kun," blushed Lila. She missed the annoyed look from Kasumi.

They continued walking until…

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

…They heard a scream.

"What was that?" questioned Sato.

"Don't know, but it sounded like it came from up ahead," said Takeshi. "Let's go!"

The Sato-tachi ran ahead and saw someone being attacked by blue and purple bat-like Pokémon at the mouth of a cave. Sato brought out his Pokédex to find out about these Pokémon.

Zubat, the Bat Pokémon. While flying, it constantly emits ultrasonic waves from its mouth to check its surroundings. This allows it to fly safely in the dark.

"Don't know why they're out in the daylight, but, Pikachu, use Thundershock and scare them away!"

"Pikachuuuuuuuuuuu!"

The volts flew through the air and struck the flock of the small Flying-types. The electricity was too much for the Zubat, so they flew back into the cave for refuge.

"Good job, Pikachu," congratulated Sato.

"Pika!"

"Arigatou! Arigatou! Arigatou!" cried the man who was attacked by the Zubat. He had tears of happiness in his eyes as he hugged Sato in thanks.

"Gah!" cried Sato, not expecting such an act.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the hug was stopped when Pikachu, who was stuck between the two, let out a Thundershock. Both Sato and the man were singed from the volts.

"Sato-kun! Are you okay?" asked a worried Lila.

"H-Hai. Never b-better…"

"What about this guy?" asked Kasumi, pointing to the man.

The man stood up and adjusted his glasses. It was then Sato and the others noticed that he was wearing a lab coat.

"Hai, I am okay. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rikao. I am a scientist from the Pewter Museum of Science. My two main virtues are Love and Courage!"

The others could only sweatdrop at this.

"…Okay. Why were those Zubat attacking you?" questioned Sato. Rikao suddenly became downtrodden.

"Come with me and I'll show you," said Rikao, entering the cave. The others followed after.

-:-

Inside the cave, it wasn't dark as expected it to be. Lights were hung all round on the walls and ceiling. The Pokémon of the cave all seemed confused, as they were not used to such bright lights.

"What's with the lights, Rikao-san?" asked Takeshi.

"I believe that they were hung up by people who are looking for the Moon Stone," sighed Rikao.

"Moon Stone?" questioned Kasumi.

"Ah, the Moon Stone! It comes from the moon, one of the most romantic things known to man. I believe that Pokémon actually came from the moon, using the Moon Stone as their spaceship!"

Rikao continued on his fantasy while the others look at him strangely.

'This guy is insane,' thought Sato.

"You believe me, don't you?" asked Rikao, grabbing Sato by the shoulders.

"S-Sure. What ever you say…" replied Sato, a little crept out.

"Fairy! Fairy! Fairy!"

Hearing the sound, the group turned to see a pink Pokémon, about the size of Pikachu, hopping pass them. It seemed to be holding a stone of some kind.

"Kawaii!" cried Kasumi upon seeing it.

Clefairy, the Fairy Pokémon. The moonlight that it stores in the wings on its back apparently gives it the ability to float in midair. Because of its adorable behavior and cry, it is highly popular. However, this cute Pokémon is rarely found.

"Rare Pokémon, huh?" questioned Sato, looking at his Pokédex. He then let out a grin as he took out a Poké Ball. "I'm definitely going to have to catch it!"

"No! You mustn't!" cried Rikao, grabbing Sato's arm. "The Clefairy must remain free as it must be trying to find the Moon Stone and protect it. The Moon Stone must belong to the Clefairy!"

Seeing that Rikao wasn't going to be swayed, Sato agreed to leave the Clefairy be. Suddenly, they heard the Clefairy scream in terror.

"Oh no!" cried Lila.

"Let's go!" said Rikao running down the path Clefairy took. The others followed suit.

-:-

Clefairy was backed up against the wall, scared of her pursuer.

"Don't worry little Pokémon, nya. Just hand over that stone and no one gets hurt, nya."

"F-Fairy…"

It was then Sato and the others came on the scene.

"What are you doing here, nya?" demanded the Scratch Cat Pokémon.

"Meowth? Wait, if you're here then that means…" trailed off Sato.

Just as Sato trailed off with his sentence, Meowth's partners in crime, Musashi and Kojiro came into view. Musashi was holding a shovel, while Kojiro was carrying a pickax. Clefairy took this opportunity to escape.

"Well, well. If it isn't the little pests. Trying to cause us more trouble?" taunted Musashi.

"What are you three doing here?" demanded Sato.

"Simple. We're here for the Moon Stone," replied Kojiro.

"So you're the ones who put up these lights?" yelled Takeshi.

"Of course, nya. We need to find the Moon Stone so we can power up our Pokémon, plain and simple, nya," explained Meowth.

Sato and Takeshi then took out a Poké Ball from their belts.

"Lila, Kasumi, I want you two and Rikao to get out of here and try to find Clefairy. We'll take care of Team Rocket," said Sato.

"Right!" said the girls. They and Rikao then ran off.

"You won't be going anywhere! Ekans, after them!" yelled Musashi.

"Koffing! You too!" yelled Kojiro.

"You're not going anywhere!" yelled Takeshi as he and Sato sent out their Pokémon. Sato had sent out Butterfree, while Takeshi had surprisingly sent out a Zubat.

"A Zubat?" questioned Sato.

"Hmm, I caught him before we entered the cave," responded Takeshi, quite proud of himself.

"Cool," grinned Sato. "Now let's show these two what we're made of!"

"That's what you think, kid! Koffing, use Smog!" ordered the blue hair of Team Rocket.

"Koff Koffing!"

The Poison-type charged forward, spewing smog from his pores.

"Butterfree!"

"Zubat!"

"Whirlwind!" called out Sato and Takeshi.

Following their trainers' commands, the two Flying-types flapped their wings at high speeds. This caused the Smog to be blown back at Team Rocket.

"Why you… Ekans, use Bite!" coughed Musashi.

"Use Tackle, Koffing!" coughed Kojiro.

Doing what they were told, Ekans lunged forward, chomping his jaws on Butterfree, while Koffing slammed into Zubat.

"Zubat! Fight back with Supersonic!" called out the former gym leader.

"Chi! Chi!"

Zubat sent out the ultrasonic waves that his species is known for. Because of the high pitch sound, Ekans and Koffing became confused and started attacking each other. Ekans wrapped his body around Koffing, while the round Poison-type used Smog against the Snake Pokémon.

"What are you two doing?" screeched Musashi.

"Attack them! Not each other!" yelled Kojiro.

"Time to finish this! Butterfree, blow them away with Whirlwind!" called out Sato.

"Ree!"

The Butterfly Pokémon flapped his wings once more at high speed, sending the two Poison-types to crash into Team Rocket. The force of the crash caused them to fall down deeper into the cave.

"We did it!" yelled Sato happily, ignoring Team Rocket's cries.

"We make a pretty good team," said Takeshi.

"Hai," grinned the younger boy. It was then he noticed something was missing. "Takeshi, I think we forgot something."

They thought for a few seconds, to figure out what they forget. It then hit them like a sack of bricks.

"Where's Meowth?"

-:-

Lila, Kasumi, and Rikao exited the cave, trying to look for Clefairy.

"Where did she go?" asked Rikao, looking all over.

"Over there!" said Lila, pointing to the Fairy Pokémon's location.

Clefairy was hopping up the cliff walls up to the natural stone bridge that was above a small river. Kasumi and Rikao quickly ran over and started to climb, hoping to get to Clefairy before she escaped. Fortunately or unfortunately, Clefairy jumped off the bridge and onto Kasumi, which caused her to loosen her grip and fall into Rikao, causing the both of them to fall into the water.

"Well that was fun," said Kasumi sarcastically.

"It'll be even more fun if you hand over that Clefairy, nya!" declared Meowth, appearing out of nowhere. Clefairy quickly ran and hid behind Lila, who had come over to see if Kasumi and Rikao were okay.

"B-But you can't!" cried Rikao, waving his hands.

"Then feel my claws, nya!"

Meowth pounced towards the humans, but before he could reach them, he stopped in midair. Confused, he quickly scanned the area to see what happened. It was then he noticed Abra, sitting in front of Lila.

"Good job with the Psychic, Abra," smiled Lila.

"Now its my turn," smirked Kasumi, sending out her Pokémon. Kasumi's Pokémon was a brown star-shaped Pokémon with a pink pearl core.

"Kya!"

"Staryu! Use Water Gun to send Meowth away!"

The core on Staryu's body glowed as it released a slim blast of water from the top point of its body at Meowth. Because of his small size, the Scratch Cat Pokémon was blast away by the high-pressure water attack.

"Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"See ya!" grinned Kasumi, returning Staryu to its Poké Ball.

"Lila! Kasumi!"

The girls and Rikao looked over to see Sato, Takeshi, and Pikachu running towards them.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Sato.

"Of course. Meowth didn't stand a chance against Lila and I," smirked Kasumi.

"Really? Way to go, Lila!" said Sato, giving the lavender-haired girl a smile.

"A-Arigatou, S-Sato-kun," replied Lila with a blush.

-:-

The sun was setting and the group was resting by the river. Kasumi was sitting off to the side on a rock while the others sat together. Lila was sitting next to Sato, Abra sleeping next to her and Clefairy sitting on her lap. Takeshi took the time to feed the Pokémon that were out his secret recipe Pokémon food.

"So what do we do now, if anything?" asked Sato.

"We need to find the Moon Stone and make sure those thieves don't steal it," said Rikao.

"How are we going to find it though?" further questioned Sato.

"Maybe Clefairy can show us the way," suggested Lila.

"Fairy?"

"Clefairy, do you think you could show us where the Moon Stone is?" asked Lila, looking down at the Normal-type.

"Clefairy!" smiled the pink Pokémon.

"She said yes," smiled Lila.

"Then let's get going," said an enthusiastic Sato.

They all stood up and followed Clefairy. The sun had now fully set by this time and a full moon shone from above, giving off the only source of light. Soon, Clefairy led the Sato-tachi and Rikao to a small cave. Entering the cave, they came into a large room that held a very large stone that glittered in the moonlight.

"It's the Moon Stone!" said Rikao in awe.

Clefairy hopped towards the large stone and placed the small stone that she was holding among the other small stones that surrounded the larger one. This simple action caused the Moon Stone to glow a dull blue and many more Clefairy to come out of hiding.

"Whoa! Look at them all!" exclaimed Sato.

The Clefairy then started to dance around the Moon Stone in some sort of celebration.

"Pika. Pikachu."

"Fairy. Clefairy!"

"What's up, Pikachu? Know what the Clefairy are doing?" asked Sato. Pikachu then tried to tell them what Clefairy told him by playing charades. "They're doing the Bon Dance?"

"Pika…"

"Sato-kun, Pikachu says that the Clefairy are praying to the Moon Stone. They see the Moon Stone as their god," said Lila.

"Pikachu!" agreed Pikachu. He then jumped up to Lila's shoulder, which made the girl giggle.

"This is so exciting!" cried Rikao. "This could possibly mean that the Clefairy really did come from the moon!"

"If that's true, then it looks like we'll have to take the Clefairy as well as the Moon Stone, seeing as they are such rare Pokémon."

The Sato-tachi and Rikao turned around to see Team Rocket standing in the mouth of the cave.

"You heard Koji, nya. Hand over the Moon Stone and the Clefairy right now, nya!"

"You can't take the Moon Stone! It belongs to the Clefairy!" cried Rikao, standing between Team Rocket and the Moon Stone.

"And who's going to stop us? Judging from how your knees are shaking, not you," taunted Musashi with a laugh.

"I…I'll show you!" yelled Rikao, surprising Sato and his friends as he charged blindly towards Team Rocket. He didn't get far as Meowth tripped the scientist, making him loose his glasses in the process.

"That was low, Team Rocket!" yelled Sato.

"What do expect from us, little boy," said Musashi. "Ekans! Get them!"

"You too, Koffing!" called out Kojiro.

"Go, Pikachu!"

"Onix, we need your help!"

"Ekanssssss!"

"Koffing!"

"Pika!

"Graaaaaaaaah!"

"Ekans, head underground!" ordered Musashi.

"And Koffing, you use Smokescreen," called out Kojiro.

As the Snake Pokémon dove underground, the Poison Gas Pokémon released the smoke from his porous body.

"Kuso! Pidgeotto, use Gust to get rid of this smoke!" coughed Sato as he sent out his Bird Pokémon.

"Pidgeotto!"

Once Pidgeotto blew the smoke away, it was revealed that Team Rocket and the Moon Stone were gone.

"Oh no!" cried Lila.

"Damn them!" growled Sato.

"Onix, follow them from underground!" called out Takeshi.

"Graaah!"

The large Rock-type dove underground while the Sato-tachi ran out of the cave to follow after Team Rocket. Rikao, on the other hand, was still looking for his glasses. Luckily, Clefairy found them and handed the item over to him.

"Oh, arigatou," thanked Rikao as he put on his glasses. "But what are you still doing here?"

"Fairy?"

"Shouldn't you all be going after those thieves? They did take your god."

"Fairy…"

-:-

With Team Rocket, they had the Moon Stone on a large wooden sled and were riding it down the mountainside in hopes of escape.

"Can you believe how easy it was to just take this overgrown paperweight?" laughed Musashi.

"Those kids will never catch us at the rate we're going, nya!"

Meowth spoke too soon, apparently, as Onix burst through the ground in front of them, causing them to crash right into the Rock Snake Pokémon. This allowed the Sato-tachi to catch up to the dazed villains.

"Onix, use Tackle!" yelled Takeshi.

"Koffing, counter with your own Tackle!" yelled Kojiro.

The two Pokémon crashed into each other when they performed their attacks. Surprisingly, they seemed to be equal as they knocked each other out.

"O-Onix!" yelled a worried Takeshi.

Suddenly, out of the hole Onix had made, came Rikao and the Clefairy. All of the Clefairy then stood in front of Team Rocket as they started tick back and forth, chanting.

"Fairy. Fairy. Fairy. Fairy."

"What are they doing?" questioned Sato.

"It's the Metronome! It's a move that the Clefairy use, but its unpredictable as anything could happen!" explained Rikao.

Just as Rikao finished explaining, the Clefairy stopped and started to glow. The next thing that happened was a large red energy column exploded from where the Clefairy stood, blasting Team Rocket away.

"I can't believe it. We were so close!" whined Musashi as she flew through the air.

"I guess there's always next time," sighed Kojiro.

"That is if we're not in traction after the fall, nya!"

With that, Team Rocket disappeared over the horizon.

Back with Sato and the others, it appeared that the Metronome not only blasted away Team Rocket, but also destroyed the Moon Stone as well. The humans watched as the tiny shards of the stone floated down and landed on some of the Clefairy, making the Fairy Pokémon become taller and change shape.

"Clefable!"

"D-Did they just evolve?" asked Kasumi. Sato took out his Pokédex to investigate.

Clefable, the Fairy Pokémon and evolved form of Clefairy. With its acute hearing, it can pick up sounds from very far away. As a result, it prefers quiet places.

"Amazing. So the Moon Stone allowed the Clefairy to evolve!" said Rikao, astonished.

-:-

The group soon returned to the Fairy Pokémon's Shrine Chamber, where shockingly, another large Moon Stone was. Both the Clefairy and the Clefable resumed their festival as they danced around their god.

"Its good to see that the Clefairy and the Clefable are happy," said Lila.

"Hmm," nodded Sato in agreement. "So what are you going to do now, Rikao-san?"

"Me? Oh, I've decided to stay with the Clefairy and Clefable," answered the scientist.

"Nani? How come?" questioned Takeshi.

"I figured that if I stay with them, I might be able to travel to outer space with them one day when they decide to return home," explained Rikao.

"Well then, I hope you achieve your dream some day, Rikao-san," grinned Sato.

"Arigatou."

-:-

The next morning, after the festival, the Sato-tachi bid farewell to Rikao and the Fairy Pokémon and were on their way to Cerulean City, but before they could leave…

"Clefairy!"

They turned to see a lone Clefairy standing behind them.

"Clefairy?" questioned Kasumi.

"I think that's the Clefairy we first encountered yesterday. You know, the one who led us to the Moon Stone?" pointed out Brock.

"But why is she out here? Shouldn't she be with her friends?" asked Lila.

She got her answer when Clefairy hopped over to her and gave her a hug.

"Looks like she likes you, Lila," teased Sato, making the girl blush. "Maybe Clefairy want to go with you."

"Is that true, Clefairy? Did you want to travel with me?"

"Clefairy!" nodded the Pokémon happily.

"Okay then," giggled the lavender-haired girl. She knelt down and took out an empty Poké Ball, tapping it against the Normal-type. The ball opened and Clefairy went inside in a flash of red light. The device then pinged, signaling that the catch was a success. Lila now owned a Clefairy.

"Congrats on catching a new Pokémon, Lila!" grinned Sato, giving the girl a one-armed hug. The gesture made her let out a small 'eep'.

"A-Arigatou, S-Sato-kun," smiled the blushing girl.

Kasumi and Takeshi were also happy for Lila on her capture. Kasumi, though, felt something stir within her when she watched Sato and Lila. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she would figure it out what it was.

Continuing down the road, the Sato-tachi came to a fork. Luckily, a sign on the side of the road pointed the way they had to go.

"At least we're almost there!" grinned Sato.

"Hai. Hmm, looks like there's graffiti on this sign," pointed out Takeshi.

"Really? What's it say?" asked Sato, reading the graffiti on the bottom right-hand corner. His eye started to twitch in annoyance at what it said.

Shigeru is the best! Satoshi is a baka!

"Grr, I'll show him who's a baka!" yelled Sato as he took off down the road to Cerulean.

"What just happened?" questioned Kasumi, a look of confusion on her face.

"My best guess, this Shigeru must be his rival," sighed Takeshi. "Come on, we better try to catch up with him."

"Hai!" said the two girls.

"Pika."

With that, Takeshi, the girls, and Pikachu ran after Sato. Will Sato ever be able to surpass his rival? Only time will tell.

TO BE CONTINUED…

-:-

Honestly, I did not like writing this chapter. Probably because I hated Rikao. He always annoyed me in the series. I'm so glad he was only in one episode.

A little character development for Lila in this chapter. Not only has she revealed what she wants to be in the future, but she also got herself a new Pokémon! Interestingly enough, did you know that in the original pilot to the animé, Sato was supposed to get a Clefairy instead of Pikachu as his starter and that Clefairy was supposed to be the series mascot? I'm so glad they changed it to Pikachu. Not only is Pikachu better, but also I just can't see Sato with a Clefairy in his roster. Lila on the other hand, I can see her with one. Also, if Clefairy was the mascot of "Pokémon", we'd be playing as her in the "Smash Bros." series instead of Pikachu.