The charizard dropped like a missile, its wings folded back and laws extended. It landed on the raticate, killing it almost instantly. A quick twist of the neck and the raticate was gone. Blaze the charizard let out a triumphant roar, scaring off the small horde of rattatta that surrounded the raticate. Two boys emerged from the brush, followed by a pikachu and growlithe. Each of the boys bore a look of extreme satisfaction on their faces. The pikachu let out a happy cry and leapt onto Ash's shoulder.

One of pulled out a dripping burlap sack. "A full bag of pidgey and that… Ash I think we're good for a few weeks with food aren't we?"

Ash smiled, scratching his pikachu behind its ears. "If Blaze is this good at hunting, then maybe we should sell some when we get to Viridian. It could be a good way to get some supplies."

"I'd say pikachu and growlithe helped plenty as well." Growlithe barked happily at the praise from its master. "Get out Blaze's harness. We'll have to strap the raticate to him to carry back." Jay looked around at the edges of the small clearing while Ash worked with the straps on Blaze's harness. Easily twenty rattatta were gathered in the grass around them.

"It helps if you don't pay attention to them." Ash said. "They're just hungry and know we have food."

Jay gulped, then moved to help Ash with the harness. Together they had the raticate strapped to Oak's charizard within minutes. Blaze snorted smoke at them when they finished, then leapt into the air, haphazardly flapping towards the truck. The two boys and their pokemon set off to follow it.

Two days later, they reached Viridian City. Or more accurately, they came within eyesight of it. The truck was stopped on the side of the dirt road. Professor Oak had declared that driving into town would bring too much attention to themselves, so he had sent Ash and Jay into town to sell the extra meat they had hunted. Gary was sent to watch the road to Indigo for any ranger movement.

Several hours later the boys returned to the truck, bags full of medical supplies and several dozen pokeballs. Gary handed Blaze's ball back to his grandfather. A pidgeotto fluttered to the ground beside him. It glared at the other boys, eyes hard.

Jay raised an eyebrow. "You caught a pidgeotto?" He asked.

Gary shook his head. "Not really. He kicked Sergei's ass so I just gave him a few of my extra sugar cubes to stop him from eating me. Hasn't stopped following me since." He took one of the pokeballs out of Jay's bag. He turned back to the bird. "Want to come with me do ya?" The bird didn't nod, only cocking its head. "I'll take that as a yes." He held out the ball, tapping the button to the bird's head.

The two boys looked at him. "That little bird kicked the ass of Sergei? That little wartortle is the toughest ball anger I've ever seen." Jay stated flatly.

"Either they don't know about the dead ranger or they've already dispatched someone to investigate." Gary said, turning towards his grandfather. "Were there always guards blocking off the Victory Road? They're stopping people and asking for the Pewter gym badge."

Oak shook his head, "Lance must be getting paranoid. It's probably a way to keep the common folk away. Won't matter, we're not going that way."

Ash and Jay dropped their bags, dumping out the medical supplies into the truck. Delia pulled a zombie-like Daisy Oak over to the supplies to sort through them.

"We would have gotten more," Started Jay. "But there were some weird people by the market. Every time we tried to sell some meat, they'd chase them off and threaten us until we sold at a ridiculously low price."

"They were dressed weird." Ash added. "All back with a big red R on the chest. Looked like some kind of uniform."

Oak glanced over at the two before pulling the boys close. "Listen boys, we're drawing a lot of attention. Already had about a dozen people stop and ask what we were doing today, and this isn't what anyone would call a heavily populated area. Barely twenty thousand people live in the Viridian area. Up that to thirty thousand in the Pewter area and over a hundred thousand around Cerulean and there's no way for us to move without being noticed." Oak's voice was barely above a whisper.

"What are you suggesting then professor?" Asked Gary.

Oak sighed. "I didn't want it to come to this." He wore a sullen look on his face. "We ditch the truck and split up. I take the girls and you three go on ahead. We'll meet up again in Pewter City. If my name still means anything I can get Lord Flint to take us in."

Gary shifted, discomfort showing on his face. "I don't like it gramps. We shouldn't be splitting up. Viridian Forest is dangerous enough, and the rangers will be on our trail soon enough."

Oak shook his head. "I trust your pokemon are strong enough to guide you through the forest. As for the rangers, we'll have a better chance of getting away if we're in two groups. It'll make us harder to track."

Ash and Jay stood there silently, knowing that the professor wouldn't be changing his mind anytime soon. Gary continued, arguing on about how it would be better to travel in one group using the cover of night to mask their travel.

"Enough!" Bellowed the professor. "I will hear no more of this. You three will gather your supplies and go to Pewter City. If we do not arrive within a week then you will do whatever you must to earn Flint's badge. Once you have done that go to Cerulean City. Give Lady Kasumi Pewter's badge and ask to be taken to Bill. He is my last contact within the resistance. He will shelter you until I arrive." Oak turned to leave, attempting to climb back into the truck. He clambered into the cab, muttering to himself, then promptly slammed the door.


Jay looked at Ash, then to Gary. "Well…" He started. "I guess we'd better get moving. Pewter isn't getting any closer." He walked over to the truck and started stuffing his bag with supplies.

Ash followed the taller boy, not even sparing a glance for Gary. Oak's grandson sighed, ruffled his hair and reluctantly followedthe other boys.

The three boys walked along the road, having left Viridian behind. They had been accosted by an old man who was raving about the monsters to the north. So far, they'd not met anything that their Pokemon couldn't handle.

"What the hell was that guy going on about?" Gary asked. "So far, it's been nothing but pidgey and rattata out here. Nothing I would call a monster."

Jay shrugged. "He must've been scared of pokemon. Probably didn't have any of his own."

Gary said nothing, only nodding in agreement.

Ash sighed heavily. "We should reach the forest before nightfall. I don't know about you two, but it'll take us a few days to get through the forest. I don't want to be in there too long."

Jay laughed. "Scared of a few bugs Ash?" He pulled growlithe's ball off his belt and started tossing it up into the air and catching it. "I've got a fire type, and bugs don't exactly like electricity very much either. Plus, Gary caught that pidgeotto and they eat bugs. We'll be fine."

A scream of terror and roar of anger interrupted the conversation. Jay immediately released his pokemon, Gary following suit. Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulder, joining the wartortle and growlithe. All three boys tensed up, their pokemon mimicking their actions as the roars of anger growing closer. A girl with bright red hair came sprinting out of the brush on the side of the road, not even pausing to give the boys a glance. A pair of nidorino burst out of the brush, followed by a pair of nidorina.

The wild pokemon paused, watching the girl take cover behind the boys. The lead nidorino pawed the ground once, then snorted and charged.

All three boys shouted orders simultaneously, sending their pokemon into action. The girl released a pokemon, sending a starmie out to aid the boys.

Growlithe took on the lead nidorino, barking out balls of fire and dodging jabs from the pokemon's horn.

"The Nido line have highly potent poison, try to keep your pokemon away from them." The girl called out to the three.

They didn't respond, too focused on the battle that was turning against them rapidly. Even with the addition of the girl's starmie, the wild pokemon were proving to be more than they could handle.

Pikachu was dodging every attack the nidorino was attempting, but there had already been several close calls. Pikachu jumped up, sending a shock through the nidorino. The nidorino turned, attempting to ram its horn through the electric mouse. Pikachu dodged it a second time, sending another bolt of electricity into the wild pokemon. The nidorino turned, continuing the deadly dance.

Growlithe was fairing better than the mouse. It's fire was proving to be more effective at fending off the nidorino than pikachu's electricity. Every time the pokemon charged, growlithe would spit fire at the ground, superheating it and stopping the charge. Effective as it was at defending against the nidorino, it did very little in the way of damaging it.

Jay thought up a strategy, knowing that they needed to end the battle before one of the pokemon managed to land a hit with their horn. "Growlithe, hit the nidorino that pikachu is attacking, when pikachu hits it with electricity, hit the same spot with your fire." Jay ordered, hoping it would be enough to take down the pokemon.

Growlithe spat a stream of fire, superheating the ground before the charging nidorino. It turned and charged the nidorino battling with pikachu, leaping in and spitting a ball of flame to distract it. The nidorino turned, and immediately was met with a focused bolt of electricity, dropping it to the ground. Growlithe leapt on top of it, attempting to melt through the leathery hide and cause some real damage. The nidorino thrashed violently, trying to buck the fire type off. Pikachu shocked it again, aiming for the eyes. The nidorino shook once then stopped.

Jay tossed a ball at it, capturing the pokemon with a flash of red light. He pocketed the ball and turned to see the girl's starmie pick up a nidorina and tossing into the other, its central gem glowing. Sergei blasted both of them with jets of water, bringing red welts to the pokemon's skin. The remaining nidorino saw that it was outmatched with three new pokemon facing off against it. It turned and ran back into the bush, fleeing the battle. Gary tossed a ball at one of the prone nidorina, capturing the pokemon with ease.

All was silent for a moment. Jay broke the silence with a smile. "I'm guessing these are gonna need more than a few sugar cubes before they're tame." That brought a smile to Gary's face before the awkwardness of having a stranger there took over.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief. His pikachu leapt onto his shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance. He turned to the girl and took a better look at her.

She was wearing a set of tattered old military fatigues that covered a much newer looking vest of body armour. Her bright orange hair was cut short, barely even reaching past her neck. She wore a hard look on her face, clearly not trusting the boys.

"My name is…" Ash started.

"Can it." She said. "Just keep moving. We never met and if anyone asks, you never saw a girl with orange hair." She said in a cold, emotionless tone. "You don't look like Rockets, but you can never be too sure."

"Team Rocket?" Gary asked. "Wasn't that what those weird guys in the market called themselves?"

The girl tensed up "All black uniforms with a big red R on the chest?" She asked.

Ash and Jay nodded. "Viridian is crawling with them." Jay said. "Who are they?"

"They pose as a charity most of the time. In reality they're a criminal syndicate, with a real hard on for control. If they're openly wearing uniforms in Viridian, then it's not safe there. They keep the order and pay taxes, so Lance couldn't care less about the people or pokemon they oppress." She turned, looking down the road to Viridian. "I would be the Lady of Cerulean city right now if it wasn't for them."

"Wait," Ash started excitedly. "Are you Lady Kasumi?" He asked.

She froze, and for a second looked like she might both punch Ash and burst into tears. She gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat. "Lady Kasumi is dead. She was killed two weeks ago in a Rocket ambush."

Gary put his hand to his head, rubbing his temples. "Fuck, now what are we going to do? It's not like we can find Bill without her." Gary's voice rose, the frustration clear in his tone.

A swift smack from Ash shut him up. "Her mother died, pick a better time." He whispered to the taller boy.

"You don't need to coddle me." The girl said. "I've been training my whole life to deal with the moment she died, so I'm prepared." Her voice was hard, cold and almost steely. "My mother chose me as her heir. I am Misty Cerulean, and I should be the Lady of Cerulean." She had almost a mischievous look on her face. "If you're trying to get to Bill, then I think that we can help each other."


The introduction of Misty. Hope everyone enjoyed it! On a side note, I think the schedule should be every Thursday, but I'm really impatient so expect me to put these up early sometimes. Thanks everyone, please leave a review! It makes it all worthwhile to know people are enjoying the story.