Episode 2
"Bobby in the Water"
Ash and Alena had been walking on the route to Pewter for a while. Though they had no idea they were fixing to meet someone very interesting. They walked until they heard sounds of struggles not too far away. Quickly they ran in the direction of the sound to investigate, thinking it could be one of the teams that Ash had encounters with in the past. When they got there they were surprised at what they saw. A boy with spiked brown hair, blue eye, wearing a white shirt, blue jacket, light-blue jeans, and white shoes was holding on tightly to an old fishing rod, pulling it with all his might, trying to get the pokémon he had caught out of the river. Ash and Alena sweat dropped at this since they were worried for nothing. The struggle with the boy pulling on the old rod till finally it ended with him falling in the river with a yell. Ash and Alena quickly ran to him.
"Ugh this is the fifth time this week!" the boy spluttered as he splashed around to keep afloat.
Ash and Alena grabbed ahold of the boy's waving arms and pulled him out of the water. The boy stood up and groaned as he started to wring out part of his shirt.
"You should be more careful when you're fishing for pokémon." Ash stated.
"Yeah I know." the boy replied.
The boy stopped wringing out his shirt and extended out his hand toward Ash.
"I'm Bobby by the way." he introduced.
"I'm Ash Ketchem from Pallet Town. I'm going to be a great pokémon trainer." Ash then gestured to Pikachu and continued, "And this is my partner Pikachu.
Pikachu smiled and greeted Bobby as well.
"I'm Alena and I'm planning on being a pokémon breeder." Alena said.
Bobby smiled back at the two people he had just met. He was fixing to say something until he sneezed, the cold water was starting to get to him. He need to dry off or end up getting a cold. Seeing this Ash and Alena decided to help him. Ash got wood while Alena brought out her Charmander to start a fire. Once Ash had the wood in place Alena had her Charmander use Ember on them. It only took a few seconds for the wood to becoma a big, warm fire. Bobby sat down and scooted close to the fire, already feeling better from the warmth it was giving off. Ash and Alena decided to sit down as well to give them a break for walking. Figuring Oshawott would love the excercise Ash released him form the pokéball. When Bobby saw Oshawott his blue eyes snapped wide.
"Ah no way! Is that really an Oshawott that is native to the Unova region?" Bobby exclaimed
"Yeah. I got him when I went there. Why you ask?" Ash replied.
"Because I love water pokémon!" Bobby answered.
He reached into his pockets and brought out two pokéballs. He pushed the buttons on both of them and they opened up. The two items realesed a blue turtle-like pokémon known as Squirtle and the other was and orange pokémon that looked like a cross between as weasel and a otter known as Buizel. Oshawott stared at the two male water pokémon in front of him. Squirtle walked up to Oshawott and told him hi. Finally Oshawott patted Squirtle on the back, but accidentally knocked him down from patting him . This made Buizel made because he thought Oshawott did it on purpose. Buizel told Oshawott he shouldn't be like that. Oshawott sighed in annoyance and walked away, ticked that Buizel jumped to conclusions.
"So you're wanting to be a water pokémon trainer?" Alena asked.
"Yeah and I look up to the Cerulean Gym Leader Misty as a role model! The way she is with water pokémon is so awesome!" Bobby answered enthusiastically.
Ash rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously, he wondered what would be the look on Misty's face if she knew she had such a big fan. Alena though wondered if Bobby even ever met Misty.
"So that's why you were fishing, you were trying to catch a water pokémon?" Alena asked.
"Yeah, but as you saw it didn't turn out well." Bobby admitted in embarrassment.
Bobby felt of his clothes and learned they were dry now. Seeing the fire was no longer needed Bobby had his Squirtle use Water Gun to put out the fire to prevent it from being unattended. Just tehn Bobby got an idea.
"Hey Ash want to do a battle against me?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah! I'm always up for a challenge!" Ash replied.
"Alright then we'll do a one on one battle!" Bobby said.
Bobby quickly called his two pokémon to his side. Aleana stood on the sidelines and would over see the match since she was the only there to do it. Bobby had Buizel return to his pokéball so he could use Buizel first. Ash knew the battle wasn't going to be like Alena's since Bobby only had water pokémon. To make it challenging Ash decided to use Oshawott first. Seeing they were ready Alena swung her arm downward and declared the battle to begin.
"Oshawott use Razor Shell!" Ash yelled.
Oshawott pulled his scalchop off of his chest and a blue blade formed. He quickly charged at Squirtle.
"Squirtle use Withdraw!" Bobby yelled.
Squirtle quickly hid in his shell right before Oshawott's Razor Shell made contact with him. Even though the attack wasn't very effective in the first place, the attack did even less damage because of this. Ash had to change strategies if he was going to defeat Bobby. Squirtle poked his head out of his shell and laughed at Oshawott. This made Oshawott mad at him, making him want to defeat him.
"Alright Oshawott let's try tackle!" Ash yelled.
"Squirtle quickly use Rapid Spin!" Bobby yelled.
Squirtle wasn't able to duck fast enough inside his shell, causing him to take Oshawott's hit. Squirtle yelled as he flew back about, that hit ended up being a critical, a attack that was a able to do twice the damage. Bobby began to get nervous, Ash is a skilled pokémon trainer, so Bobby knew that meant he could easily lose the match since Ash had more battle experience than him.
"Squirtle this last attack could decide the battle! Now use Water Pulse!" Bobby commanded.
Squirtle put his hands out in front of him and a light blue ball formed in front of them. Squirtle then instantly jumped up and threw the ball to the ground, creating a giant wave of water. The wave sped toward Oshawott and hit him on contact. Oshawott yelled in pain as he was tossed and tumble from the attack, despite the fact water attacks aren't very effective, a strong water attack can still cause any pokémon pain. Oshawott finally his the ground hard with his teeth clenched in pain.
"Oshawott you can do it!" Ash yelled.
Oshawott struggled a bit, but fortunately was able to push himself off of the ground, getting back up.
"Now Oshawott use Razor Shell one last time!" Ash commanded.
Oshawott once again took his scalchop off of his chest and a blue blade formed. He quickly charged and slashed it his opponent. Squirlte fell back with a yell of pain and passed out once he hit the ground.
"Oh no Squirtle!" Bobby yelled.
Alena raised her arm into the air and yelled "Squirtle is unable to battle!", she turned her arm pointing toward Ash and finished, "The winner is Ash!"
Ash cheered for his victory as well as Pikachu. Bobby had Squirtle return to his pokéball, telling him that he did a good job. When Alena was watching the battle, she was shocked that Squirtle knew Water Pulse because only Squirtle's at level 25 can know that move, but that meant that Bobby's Squirtle should have been a Wartortle by now. She needed to find out why this was not the case.
She walked up to Bobby and asked "Hey Bobby why isn't your Squirtle a Wartortle yet?"
Bobby smiled at this question and answered "Simple, I didn't let Squirtle evolve."
Alena stared in shock at this. She never heard of a trainer not letting their pokémon evolve. Ash though didn't find it surprise, he had met like of trainers like Dawn that had debated over whether they should let their pokémon evolve or not, though in the end they would keep their pokémon the same. Even he has some pokémon he didn't let evolve like Oshawott, Bulbasaur, Corpfish, Buizel, Totodile, Squirtle, and Pikachu.
"The reason I didn't let my Squirtle evolve is because I believed he would lose what's special about him since I heard that some types of pokémon get a personality change when they evolve. I was afraid that if Squirtle became a Wartortle he wouldn't be the same." Bobby explained, "So Squirtle agreed to take the everstone I gave him so he wouldn't evolve."
Alena felt bad for Bobby, he cared for his Squirtle so much that he was scared that his friendship will disappear if Squirtle became a Wartortle. She even had to admit she had those same worries about her Charmander when the time comes for her Charmander to become a Charmeleon. Ash walked over to Bobby and put his hand on his shoulder.
"We all get those fears about our pokémon Bobby." Ash started, "Instead of worrying we need to have faith in our pokémon that the bond we share with them will be restored. When my Charmander evolved into a Charmeleon he ignored everything command I gave in battle and it got worse when he evolved into Charmander, but I never gave up on him. One day I battled this trainer and his Poliwrath. The Poliwrath froze Charizard in ice, causing Charizard to be near death. I did all I could to make sure Charizard got warm again. I had fires, blankets, and I rubbed his body so much it made my hands raw all to get his body heat back up. In the end it paid off and Charizard and I once again had the bond we shared when we first met."
"Wow. Ash cares for his pokémon a lot more than I thought. I just only hope one day I can have that strong of a bond with pokémon when I'm a Pokémon Breeder." Alena thought to herself.
Bobby thought about what Ash said and knew he was right. So he pulled out his pokéball and released Squirtle. The water pokémon looked up at his trainer and smiled. Bobby smiled too as he kneeled down to Squirtle's level.
"Hey Squirtle do you still have that everstone I gave you?" Bobby asked.
Squirtle nodded and held up the small, circular, gray stone. Seeing this Bobby held out his hand.
"Squirtle you don't have to hold onto the stone anymore. If you want to become a Wartortle I won't stop you from evolving." Bobby said.
Squirtle looked at Bobby's hand before looking at the everstone. Finally Squirtle looked up at Bobby and shook his head.
"Are you saying you don't want to evolve?" Bobby asked in surprise.
Squirtle smiled and nodded his head happily. This brought Bobby to tears. He quickly wiped his eyes with his arm before any of his tears could escape. He quickly scooped up Squirtle into his arms and hugged him tightly. Squirtle yelled in happiness as he hugged his trainer back. Both Ash and Alena found the moment touching. Finally Bobby put Squirtle down and stood back up.
"Thanks Ash. If you hadn't gave me that advice the friendship between Squirtle and I wouldn't be as close as it is now." Bobby said.
"Hey no problem. Just helping out a friend." Ash replied.
"Hey you think I can travel with you guys? I think if I travel with you Ash I can become a better water pokémon trainer!" Bobby exclaimed.
"Sure that would be awesome!" Ash said.
"The more the merrier." Alena replied.
Bobby yelled in happiness as he quickly ran and gathered up his stuff. Squirtle ran beside him happily. Bobby slung his blue backpack on and ran back to Ash and Alena. Squirtle ran got up on Bobby's head. He didn't mind the water pokémon being on his head, in fact he decided he would let Squirtle ride on his head a lot more often. Seeing they were ready the trio began making their way to Pewter City.
"So Bobby what kind of water pokémon were you trying to catch?" Ash asked.
"I don't know actually. The plan was I throw the pokéball as soon as the pokémon got out of the water." Bobby admitted.
Ash and Alena sweat dropped at this because they knew Bobby's plan wan't really a very good plan. Though no the less at least they knew Bobby would get a water pokémon from it. So with Bobby by their side their adventure continues. Though when they left Zoe poked her head out of the bushes she was hiding in. She was surprised about how skilled Ash was in battle, learning that Giovanni was right when he told her not to underestimate him.
"So they're heading to Pewter City. Let's see how they'll handle Team Rocket's newest member." she said to herself.
She ripped off her clothes to reveal a black Team Rocket uniform that was a long sleeved, black shirt with a giant red R, a silver belt, a black skirt, silver boots, and long silver gloves.
"Say hello to Agent Zoe or otherwise known as...", she placed on a black mask over her eyes and finished, "The Dark Comet."
She quickly pulled out three black pokéballs. The pokéballs released a black dog-like pokémon known as Houndoom, a black and white dog-like pokémon known as Mightyena, and a black and yellow fox-like pokémon known as Umbreon. The three dark pokémon turned toward their trainer, awaiting their orders. Zoe formed an evil grin on her face, she had what she considered the perfect plan made. She turned on her black wrist communicator and began typing in coordinates.
Though meanwhile in Viridian Forest, Jessie, James, and Moewth were trying to make a plan to get Ash and Alena's pokémon.
"How about we make a pit?" James asked.
"No that wouldn't work! Remember we did that the first time and we ended up falling into it!" Jessie yelled.
"Oh you're right. How about net?" James replied.
"No! We would need to hook it up in a tree and I'm not climbing up any trees in this forest after the Beedrill incident!" Jessie stated.
"Okay, how about a robot?" James suggested.
"Then Pikachu will blow it up with his thunderbolt!" Jessie yelled.
"We'll never think up a plan if this keeps up." Meowth groaned.
Wobbuffet nodded in agreement and relied "Wobbuffet."
Though Jessie yelled so loud that it attracted the attention of bee-like pokémon known as Beedrill. The four screamed and began to run instantly as the Beedrill chased them, with their stingers jabbing at them.
"Looks like Team Rocket's running away!" the trio screamed as they ran.
"Wobbuffet!" the blue pokémon yelled as they ran out of sight.