AN: I guess I gotta start disclaiming that I don't own Pokemon now.

3: The Recovery of Ash Ketchum

Ash woke up in his bed. Like he had many times before. He didn't remember coming here, though. Why was he here? Ash began to search his memory but he didn't come up with answers. Instead, he started to remember what had just happened. Team Rocket got away. With every single Pokémon Oak had. Well, not all of them. There was some that weren't in their pokeballs. Or they were gone at the time. But it didn't really matter, because they had stolen all of his pokeballs too. And Ivysaur, right out of his grasp.

Ivysaur had evolved just for him. It mentioned in Venusaur's Evolution Festival that it never wanted to evolve. But it had gone back on its promise, to grow stronger and help Ash and all the Pokémon. But even so, Ivysaur had been let down. By him. And he had Ivysaur, in his hands. If only he just gripped his pokeball a little tight. Then…

Ash looked out the window, he could see Professor Oak's lab. As he looked to the large yard behind it. He couldn't make out any Pokémon playing, or having fun. Or being fed. They were all gone. Ash sat up from his bed. This couldn't be happening, but it was. And it was his fault, wasn't it?

"Ash?"

A familiar voice asked as she came up the stairs. Delia entered Ash's room, a little surprised to see him up.

"Mom…" He began. "It's my fault… all the Pokémon are gone." He was already beginning to tear up as he said that.

"No sweetie, it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself. Those thieves are just rotten." She said, trying to comfort Ash with a hug.

That only made Ash break out in tears. Everything he had ever worked for had been taken away in the matter of years. Though that wasn't it all. Professor Oak's life work had been stolen, all his Pokémon were probably precious to him and they were all gone too. In one fell swoop. And any Pokémon that trainers might have transferred to Professor Oak.. gone, too. And the Professor probably had to tell them all about it.

"It isn't fair," He said, stating the obvious.

Delia nodded, "I know, sweetie."

And kept crying, he didn't know how long they had stayed there. But it felt like however. They stayed like that until Ash was finished. It broke Delia's heart to see Ash in such distraught, but at least she was there to help, now. As Delia finally stopped hugging Ash and sat next to him on the bed. A loud growling noise would ring through the room. Delia would've chuckled if their current situation wasn't so gloomy.

"I guess you're hungry," She said, Ash nodded. "I thought you would be, be right back."

Delia disappeared down the stairs as Ash wondered where she was going. They usually are in the living room. Though Ash didn't feel like leaving his bedroom anyways, so he was glad that he didn't have to move right now. That brought Ash back to the question of how he got here. He'd think he remember everything after Ivysaur got stolen, but… nothing. Frustrating, he had to ask his Mom when she came back up. Speaking of that, Ash could hear the clinking of cups and plates and after a few seconds, Delia started to head back up the stairs.

"Surprise!" She said, in a lighter but tiny bit more excited tone. Ash was surprised as Delia had a tray that held a traditional breakfast. It had pancakes, though Ash could smell the mixed up berries and fruits in it. Sunny side up eggs, bacon and orange juice. Syrup was drizzled all over it. Though it was a very common dish, the way his Mother cooked it made it special. It was his favorite breakfast dish.

"…Mom…" He said, looking surprised. Though after that, it looked like he wanted to cry.

Delia's smile turned into a frown. "What's wrong, Ash?"

"It's just that… I don't really deserve, do I? Why are you surprising me?" He asked, wiping his wet eyes.

"Oh, Ash. Of course you deserved this, you tried your hardest. And I can't bear to see you as sad as you were when you lost that battle." Delia explained, trying once again to comfort her son.

"What happened after Team Rocket got away?"

Delia paused for a second, as if remembering the moment. "Well, you were mumbling something. And then you… just fainted. I was so surprised and worried. It must've really taken a toll on you."

"Yeah, I am a failure of a trainer." Ash said, without hesitation. That's what he had been thinking when he had passed out, so that might have been what he said right before he fainted.

Delia gasped. "Ash Ketchum! You can't say that about yourself!" She exclaimed. Ash said nothing. Delia put Ash's tray down and took a seat. When she spoke, her voice was a little softer. "When someone tries something, and it fails. But nothing bad comes out of it. People often say it's the thought that counts. But when something bad happens, it's not the thought that counts. It's just the result…" Delia paused, to make sure Ash was listening. "Well, I think it's wrong. The thought always matters, and I know no matter the outcome. You always had good intentions at heart, and that's what matters."

Ash nodded. He got the message, but he didn't really believe it. If it was the thought that matters, then he'd still be a Pokémon Trainer right now. But he was nothing now, a nobody from Pallet Town, without any Pokémon. He looked over to his Orange League Trophy. What did that matter, now that he couldn't share it with his Pokémon? His stomach growled again, and this time, Delia did laugh.

"Now Ash, eat your breakfast." She said, and left Ash to his thoughts.

Breakfast? It must have meant that this was the day after. Though he should've known that. He wondered how Professor Oak was doing. What about Gary? His Pokémon had probably been stolen too, the ones that he had sent to Professor Oak's lab, that is. Well, there was plenty of time to think about it. Now that he had nothing to look forward to.

This makes me realize that Tracey hasnt been mentioned or thought about in this fanfic, and its because my firm belief is that no one thinks abut him... Aaannnddd I kinda forgot, lol. So maybe he doesn't exist in this fanfic? Who knows?

Yep, there was time to think about it. Ash had lots of time to think about it, so much of it. Because that's all he ever did after that. Stayed in his room. Thinking. He kinda wondered if he'd get another Pokémon, ever. Maybe Professor Oak would give him another. Maybe then, he'd choose a traditional starter. Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. If he'd picked one of those the first time around, Team Rocket wouldn't have chased him, no one would've gotten stolen. So if he had woken up on time, then this wouldn't have happened. Add that to the list of things he could've done to prevent it.

Oh, yeah. The list. Ash was writing all the What Ifs down. Just so he could read it and remember how much of a failure he was. All those What Ifs and he had still been utterly defeated. And that's another thing that irked him. He'd been defeated by Team Rocket. Twice. The second time wasn't a fair battle, but that's never stopped him before. Bulbasaur evolved for him and he couldn't even win it. If he had trained more, then that wouldn't have happened. That made him think. He'd never properly trained. Never. Every time his Pokémon learned a new move it was purely an accident. Anytime he got a win, it was beginners' luck. He had spent 3 months goofing off before the Pokémon League and had come in 16th because of it. Gary had actually trained and didn't even make it through there. So, yeah. Beginners' luck. He shouldn't have gotten a Pokémon in the first place. He wasn't fit to take care of one. If Brock hadn't been there to help him, he'd probably have died out there in the wilderness and accidentally starved his Pokémon.

Eventually though, Delia was tired of going up to Ash's room everyday to make him eat. All the while he felt sorry for himself.

"Ash, come down. It's time for you to do something." Delia called.

Ash groaned. "No thanks, Mom." He said, with a rather lazy tone to it.

"That wasn't a choice. Ash Ketchum. Come down right now, and Do! Something!" She yelled.

Ash had no choice but to come down. She sounded rather annoyed, and Ash didn't want to deal with that. It didn't mean he was going to do anything though.

Delia smiled. "Let's do some gardening! That always makes me feel better." Ash reluctantly headed outside, where he was almost blinded by the light.

Though Ash had "agreed" to tend to the garden with his Mom. He wasn't enjoying it. Though Delia had observed that he wasn't enjoying anything. He wouldn't even compliment her when she made his favorite meals. The raven haired boy was borderline depressed. And gardening didn't help. Ash didn't even know how to garden, and even with Mimey trying to teach him. The genes for enjoying gardening weren't passed down, it seemed. So obviously, it didn't go well.

"Well, you've got to do something! Ash! Anything, play some games, watch some TV! You've got to do something." Delia pleaded.

To that, Ash said nothing and just tried going back up stairs. Delia could tell that it was going to be tougher than she thought to get Ash out of this slump.

—

"Well, almost two years have passed since he started his quest. Almost two years of his life are gone." Oak explained.

Delia sighed, "I just didn't think that he would take it this hard. But I guess that's my fault, I'd be devastated if Mimey went missing."

Oak nodded. "All of Ash's Pokémon were really his friends. It's so sad to know that anything could be happening to them now."

A moment of silence passed between them, as they seemed to ponder that thought. It made Delia rather uncomfortable. Though a question came to her mind at the same time.

"Professor Oak. You don't seem too sad about this. This was your life's work and it's all gone. How do you do it?" She asked.

Professor Oak sighed, a frown crept its way onto his face. "Well, we all grieve in different ways. Though I had a connection to almost every Pokémon in the ranch. I still have my team of 6 to comfort me. Which is something Ash really doesn't have, not anymore. And I still have all the data I've collected so far. And that's really my life's work, though it'll take a long while before I can keep adding to my research"

"I understand," Delia said. "Well, thanks for the tea, Samuel. I've got to go home and make sure Ash gets some exercise, at least."

"It's no problem Delia, I'm sure it gets exhausting. Having to take care of Ash again."

Delia nodded, before uttering another thanks and heading out the door. As she walked back to her home, she could only feel like this situation was so hopeless. Ash wouldn't do a thing she said, and would rather stay home and do nothing. Delia forced Ash to take walks everyday. It's the only thing she could think of that might get him more active. So far, nothing though. As she approached, Delia saw Mimey taking care of the house. He was doing such a good job. It made Delia think, maybe what Ash needed was incentive.

"Oh, Delia. I didn't realize you were coming back so soon." Professor Oak said.

"I just thought of an idea, but I need your help with it." Delia explained.

Delia was now home, she just had to figure out how to exactly execute it. But first…

"Ash! Sweetie! It's time to go on a walk! Lunch will be finished before you come home so hurry back quickly!" Delia called upstairs. In a moment, Ash walked down the stairs and headed out. He didn't put any resistance up, unlike gardening or some other activities. It looked like he didn't mind walking, probably only because it left himself to his thoughts.

On his walks, Ash usually found himself back to the docks of Pallet Town. It was a location that was often skipped over. It was very small so no large boats like the S.S. Aqua or the now sunken S.S. Anne. Though I'm sure you could probably guess the reason why he always comes out here.

"I'm really sorry, Ivysaur." He said.

And that was all, that's all he could say. After everything and an apology was all he could mutter. He was a pathetic trainer, wasn't he? Maybe Pryce was right. Why form bonds with your Pokémon when they were so easily broken. No, no, no, no, no. Pryce wasn't right. He was a pathetic trainer, but he couldn't blame them on the bonds between his Pokémon. Ash decided now that it was time to head back. However, as he started the short trek back to his house, he heard a noise.

"Fearow!" Ash looked up to see a ferocious Fearow. It seemed to be in pain and… there was something inside its beak. It was moving, it was a Pokémon! The Fearow screeched once again with deep anguish. The Pokémon seemed to be crying out, it was not enjoying this. Ash had to do something. The Fearow was circling around Pallet Town, so once it came back for another rotation Ash picked up a stone and threw it at Fearow. "Hey, stop! Open your beak and let that Pokémon go!"

Ash missed, by a long shot. But it got Fearow's attention at least, and it opened its beak. It screamed in pain as it did that, and the small creature that was in its beak started to fall. "I'll catch you!" Ash yelled, though he was fairly certain it wouldn't be able to hear him. Ash ran towards where he thought it would land and as it came closer to the ground he could tell what it was. A Nidoran! It looked kinda blu-ish though. Must've been a girl. Now that it was so close, Ash could tell he wasn't gonna make it. He couldn't let Nidoran hit the ground though so he jumped as far as he could at the last second. Colliding with the ground, hard, Ash was able to catch Nidoran. Though as he got up, he quickly realized that Nidoran's pokey skin was piercing his own skin.

"Ah! Ouch! Ouch! Ouchey!" He yelled as he fumbled with Nidoran until it was sitting in his hands instead of poking it. "Nidoran?" She said, with a little fear in its eyes.

"It's okay, Nidoran. Fearow can't do anything to you!"

As Ash was somehow testing his luck, Fearow landed right behind him and let out a mighty caw that all of Pallet Town could hear.

"Uh…" Ash said, as he turned around. "Man, this was so not good. I'm really sorry, Fearow, but…" Fearow squawked again as it flapped its wings and hovered off the ground letting out a ferocious Whirlwind. Ash tried to resist but was easily swept off his feet by the big bird. Both him and Nidoran cried out, but Ash quickly picked himself up. He'd dealt with worse.

"Fearow! You've got to calm down!" Ash yelled, trying to reason. But Fearow was having none of it. It screeched again and went in for a Drill Peck. Nidoran screamed as Ash ducked right under Fearow. The bird crashed into the ground but wasn't down for the count. However as Ash stood up again, he could see that something was wrong with the Fearow.

"It's poisoned…" Ash said, out loud, while Nidoran skirmed. Yeah, that was it, Nidoran must've accidentally poisoned Fearow with its Poison Point ability! With that revelation, Ash reached for his belt for a pokeball to realize that he didn't have anything! Darn it. He had no way to quell this Fearow. And it didn't look like it was about to quit yet.

"Fearow!" It screeched wildly, as its moves started to become more fierce. It charged towards Ash and Nidoran.

"We've got to run, Nidoran!" Ash exclaimed.

Nidoran had no objects, letting out a squeamish cry as Ash started to run. That Fearow was right on their tail, flying real close to the ground. Its movements were unusual and unstable. He needed to get an antidote, but all his supplies were in his bag and that was in his room. Who else would have something like that?

"Professor Oak!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he started to run in the lab'so direction. Fearow was sick of this cat and mouse game and charged up for another Drill Peck. Ash couldn't dodge this one. "Nidoran!" He yelled out as he threw Nidoran onto the floor and put his arms in front of him in a x position. Drill Peck hit his arm with shocking power and it definitely punctured something unlike Nidoran's little spikes. Ash cried out in pain as he fell down to the ground. Fearow backed off, before going for another Drill Peck, this one headed straight for the raven haired boy's head.

"Nidoran…"

The female Nidoran cried out in worry. This was terrible, it was just minding its own business when it accidentally poisoned this Fearow and now it was way far from home. But this boy had protected it, he had to do something… She gave a short battle cry before she jumped at it using Peck. Fearow was taking off course and it crashed into the ground. Nidoran ran back to Ash's feet as he processed what happened.

"Wow… you were gre—… ow, it hurts so much…" Ash said, holding his arm. It was bleeding, now, and a lot. He was able to get up easily, but running was a little problem. And it was a problem he'd have to solve quickly, because Fearow was starting to stir again. And the fury in its eyes looked bright as ever.

"I can't run, so… Nidoran! I need you to run to Professor Oak's lab." He instructed, to which Nidoran cocked its head in confusion. "It's the biggest building in town. The door should be unlocked, when you get inside. Get the man who's living there to come out and make sure he brings a yellow bottle."

Nidoran took a little bit of time to process that before nodding and running off. At that time Fearow rose back up with made Ash realized this was a real bad idea.

Nidoran ran around Pallet Town, surveying the unfamiliar habitat. She'd never been her before. She was pretty far from home. Nidoran ran past multiple homes. We're any of these the buildings that that boy told him to go to? They all looked big to her. Maybe she should just give and try to find her home. But as soon as she thought that, she could hear Fearow screeching. If she did that, the boy who helped would most definitely be killed. Soon enough, Nidoran found a white building that was bigger than the rest. Was this the… lab? As she approached, Nidoran felt a little skittish. She'd never been in a building before, but this was what she was ordered to do…

"Nido…?"

She walked up to what she presumed what the front door. Giving it a nudge, it wouldn't open. The boy said the door was unlocked, Nidoran didn't exactly know what that meant but it wouldn't come open.

"Nido!"

She yelled, as she rammed the door. It wouldn't open, perhaps if she tried something else. Turning back, Nidoran kicked the door twice with her hind legs. It seemed to budge a little, though it sounded like something was breaking. Maybe that's how you opened doors, you had to break them. She was about to try again before it swung wide open.

"Who is…? Oh, a Nidoran!" An elderly man was at the door and he quickly picked her up. "You're hurt…" The man remarked before he started to carefully pet Nidoran, carefully gliding his hands over her skin to avoid her poison points. It felt nice, Nidoran melted in the man's hands before realizing she had come here to do something. She tried to communicate with the man and tell him what had happened.

"I bet you got these marks from the Fearow I've been hearing screaming. I guess I'll have to take care of it." The man said. "Stay here, Nidoran."

He put her down on his desk while he walked into a different room. Nidoran also remembered being told to find a yellow bottle… Jumping from the desk, she looked around. There were a few pokeballs but other than that the lab was pretty scarce of things. Little did she know that Team Rocket had taken a lot of the stuff Professor Oak usually had, including antidotes. She would have to do a little digging. First she used her nose, as if she could smell the color yellow. She couldn't, though. So Nidoran looked back to the desk, there were three cabinets on the desk. She jumped into the air and caught the edge of one. With her nonhuman-like hands, it was hard to grip it. But as she started to slide off, the cabinet began to move and opened. She fell onto the ground, but jumped back up to see what was in it. Pokeballs… okay, maybe the next one. Nidoran was familiar with what a pokeball did so she made sure to avoid falling into it. With another jump, she grabbed the edge of the next cabinet and pulled it open. She almost fell into the cabinet full of pokeballs but narrowly avoided and fell onto the ground. "Nido…" She sighed in relief. But she quickly remembered she was in a time crunch. Climbing back up, she was displeased to see that the contents of the cabinet were purple bottles instead of yellow ones. They were potions. Now for the third one, repeating the same process, Nidoran found…

A whole bunch of bottles. Green ones, kinda red ones, and yellow ones. Nidoran grabbed the yellow one with its teeth before she jumped off the desk and landed on the ground. Excellent timing, as the elderly man came out of his room with a belt with a few pokeballs on it.

"What is… what did…?"

Professor Oak said, as he discovered what Nidoran had done. After thinking a bit, he came up with a conclusion.

"I think I get it. You poisoned Fearow, and that's why it's screaming. So you tried to get an antidote to fix it. But how did you know to come here…?"

Nidoran nodded, before cocking its head with confusion. She only understood half of that, but the Professor seemed to get the idea.

He chuckled. "Well, for starters, that's a Paralyze Heal. Not an antidote." Professor Oak explained, as he grabbed the bottle from her mouth. He dropped back into the cabinet, and grabbed a similar looking bottle. Nidoran cocked its head sideways again, what was the point? She didn't see the difference but they had everything they needed so they should go. She tugged on the Professor's pants before running towards the entrance of the lab.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming. This must be a little more important than I thought…"

Nidoran was gone, and a giant bird was on his tail. He could barely run, and this was so bad on a lot of different levels. For one, he was supposed to moping, not running. But that's what Ash was doing. He couldn't do it very well, though, his injured arm was interrupting his usually running stance. And Fearow was gaining on him.

"Row!" It shouted in anger, and pain as it went for a Whirlwind to stop Ash's in his tracks. It worked, and he was swept off his feet and and hit the ground on his arm.

"Ow!"

He yelled out, but Fearow didn't care. It went for the finishing blow, a Drill Peck to his head. As Fearow's beak started to spin and he built up energy, Ash tried to get up but he wasn't fast enough. Fearow went in for the kill, but he was able to roll out of the way. He cursed his arm once again as it kept bleeding out. He was feeling sort of lightheaded. The momentum from rolling was able to get him back on his feet though and he started to try and run again.

He was starting to catch some of the attention of other townsfolk but none of them were Pokémon trainers. Ash was starting to realize his mistake, he should've just lured Fearow out to Professor Oak's laboratory and got his attention. Shoot, well he couldn't be blamed for this. He wasn't thinking straight. The raven haired boy looked behind him and saw that Fearow wasn't there. Huh? Where'd he go? Did he lose Fearow?

"Feaarrrr!"

It's caw rung out from… above him! He looked up to see the ferocious bird diving at him with an intensity, he quickly jumped out of the way while making sure to spare his arm any pain. Man, he was getting dizzy. He was able to avoid the Fly attack though. Fearow tried to turn up but was affected by poison and crashed beak first into the ground.

"Can you please… stay down?" He asked. However, the Fearow began to stir again. Ash started to back away so he wasn't too close to it. But he hoped it wouldn't try and attack again. It seemed to be really hurt, but he could guess who was going to faint first if it kept on attacking.

"Ash!" A voice yelled, and the raven-haired boy recognized it to be Professor Oak. Turning his head, he was very happy to see Nidoran and Professor Oak run to him. With a cry, Nidoran jumped to land in his arms though Ash almost dropped it due to his injured arm.

"That looks bad," Professor Oak mused. "We should get you fixed up."

"Fearow!" Yelled the injured Fearow, before he could continue. Ash's attention turned back to Fearow, who was up and raring to fight again despite its injuries.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this." Professor Oak said as he stepped in front of Ash. "Tauros, go!"

With a flash of light, a rather big Tauros appeared and prepared to charge. It seemed more powerful than all of his 30 Tauros. Ash was surprised to see that Professor Oak had Pokémon. He must've been a trainer before he was a researcher. That reminded him…

"Professor, you gotta see. It's only poisoned, that's why it's on a rampage. Did Nidoran get the antidote?" Ash explained.

Oak nodded. "It must've been you that sent that Nidoran then. Yes, I have it right here."

There was no more time to converse though, as Fearow charged towards Tauros with a Drill Peck. It was streaking towards the bull Pokémon with intense speed.

"Counter with Giga Impact!"

Professor Oak commanded, and Ash was a bit flabbergasted. Giga Impact was a super powerful move. Professor Oak didn't just used to be a trainer, he must've been a pretty serious one. Tauros charged towards the raging Fearow with intense strength. As his speed increased, the air current around him changed as it blew against him proving just how powerful it was. He bashed into Fearow, and even though it's Drill Peck was powerful, Tauros was able to block it with one of his horns, then deliver its own powerful blow. It wasn't even a contest. Fearow was pretty much knocked out.

"I think it's safe to apply this antidote now." He said, walking over to the downed Fearow. "Is there anywhere specific that it was poisoned?" He asked, looking over to Ash."

"Uh… the inside of his mouth, I think. But be careful." Ash answered, still holding Nidoran. It seemed pretty content in his hands. Ash tried to take a step towards Professor Oak but he fell to his knees quickly.

"Take it easy, Ash. You need to be treated. Don't worry, I'll handle it." Professor Oak slowly opened its beak, the Fearow tried to struggle but it was too exhausted. Opening the antidote up, Professor Oak applied the liquid as everywhere in the inside of Fearow's mouth. Once it was properly applied, the Professor closed up the antidote and used the remaining of it to spray onto the Fearow just in case. After that, he closed Fearow's mouth. After a few seconds, it seemed to go unconscious.

"Hmmm…" He muttered. "I know." Taking one of his pokeballs from his belt, Professor Oak bumped the pokeball on Fearow and it was sucked in. With no hesitation, the pokeball immediately dinged.

"You caught it?" Ash asked.

Professor Oak nodded. "If I'm going to continue my research, I might as well start gathering Pokémon now." He said, pausing for a second before sighing. "Now let's get you cleaned up."

After that, Professor Oak let Ash lean on him as he guided the young boy (and Nidoran) back to his lab. Ash lay on his back while Professor Oak rolled up his sleeve to look at the damage. The blood seems to have stopped flowing out, probably because Ash had stopped moving so suddenly. Some of it had been tried, but there was an obvious piercing of the skin. Professor Oak got to work, first making sure the wound wouldn't open up again, then making sure that it could heal properly. All the while Nidoran ran around Ash, he was surprised it was still sticking around. Though anytime Ash would make a sound of discomfort, it would stop and look up to him while whimpering a little.

"Well, that should do it." The Professor said, with a nod.

Ash sat up on the table as he looked at his wound. It didn't look too bad, but it still hurt to move his right arm. "Can we not tell Mom about this…?" He asked.

Professor Oak thought for a second. "You should tell her about the Fearow, but your wound can be our secret. No need to make her worry unnecessarily. Just make sure you don't wear any short sleeve shirts."

Ash nodded. He hopped off the table before he started to head towards the door. "Thanks, Professor Oak." He said, before he started to head out the door. As he did, a certain Nidoran ran towards him to keep up before nuzzling his leg.

Ash was a bit startled by Nidoran. "Um. You can go home now, unless you don't know where your home is. But I think Professor Oak can…"

Professor Oak interrupted him. "I think you should let it follow you, it's as healthy as my Tauros, so you can keep it for a while. Go home and see your Mom." Professor Oak smiled knowingly, while Ash looked at him with confusion. "Um, okay." He said, before picking Nidoran up.

As he headed onto the street, he thought about Professor Oak's words. Kinda weird, right? You'd think he'd want to capture Nidoran or take it home. "What do you think's up with him?" Ash asked. Nidoran looked up with confusion. Ash sighed. Nidoran didn't seem to be listening, too busy snuggling up in his chest. Either that, or Nidoran had no idea what he was talking about and couldn't understand. Whatever.

"My Mom's in here, you're gonna love her." Ash said as he approached his home. He knocked on the door, to which he heard the rushing of feet and the door opening.

"Ash! It's been 20 minutes since you were supposed to come back. Oh, did you enjoy your walk? Were you attacked? I kept hearing these terrifying bird noises…" Delia gushed, as soon as she saw Ash.

Ash chuckled, something he hadn't done since he got back. Delia stepped back. "Uh, well. There was a Fearow rampaging, and Professor Oak handled it. I saw it, and there was this Nidoran that was in trouble, so I helped." Ash explained. It was a very vague description but that got the job done. Well, Ash thought it would but Delia continued to stare at him.

What Delia was really looking like was Ash. He didn't have a gloomy, and self-pitying face though. He had a neutral face on, though it was cracking into a nervous smile. He had even chuckled before, and Delia could guess why. That Nidoran, maybe being around a Pokémon made Ash just feel better.

"Well, hurry and come in before your food gets cold," Delia said, as she stepped aside for Ash to come in. Ash did as intended, while making sure his arm didn't make any strange movements. He placed Nidoran on the table, then sat down himself. This greatly pleasured Delia. Before, Ash probably would've gone upstairs while taking his food with him. This was before she realized…

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd have a Pokémon with you. Nidoran, you can have Mimey's food. And I'll bake a new patch in a bit." After moving the plates around, Delia headed to the kitchen with pep in her step, while humming. Maybe Ash would be able to recover after all. Nidoran looked down at the plate she'd been given. Rice with curry, she stopped to smell it. And could detect the spicy essence of Tamato Berry, or something like it. She decided to take a bite, and was a disappointed to find that the taste was plain.

"Nidoran, you gotta mix it together so it tastes like a combination," Ash explained. "Here, watch me." Ash mixed the curry with his rice with an intense ferocity, making sure none of it fell off his plate. After that, Ash scooped up some of his food and held it in front of Nidoran. "Try it." He said, Nidoran looked at it hesitantly. Mostly because it was in a spoon, she didn't understand what that was for. She eventually swallowed the food, and it tasted much better. Nidoran smiled, before looking at her own plate. How could she do that?

"Here, I'll help." Ash offered, mixing it up for Nidoran. She let out an excited chirp before digging into her meal. Being a wild Pokémon, she didn't seem to have much manners, but Ash laughed a bit as she ate. After they both finished their food, Ash carried Nidoran up to his room.

"Well, this is my room." Ash said, before Nidoran jumped out of his hands. She let out another excited chirp in the form of her name before jumping onto Ash's bed. As she landed on it's soft surface. She immediately thought about how jumpy it was. Nidoran jumped into the air and landed back on Ash's beds before bouncing up again. She almost hit the roof, and she kept doing that for a bit while Ash watched with an amused face. Having a Pokémon was fun, even if it wasn't his yet. "Yet"? He shook his head, he wouldn't have another Pokémon for a long time, he thought, didn't deserve one. His face slowly turned back to a frown as his negative thoughts from the morning came back. However, he was interrupted by Nidoran. She was running across his shelf. As she weaved in between objects but accidentally slammed right into his Orange League Trophy due to its size. It wobbled, while Nidoran scratched its head. And then it… fell. And Nidoran fell too.

"Woah!" Ash yelled, before catching his trophy with one hand and catching Nidoran with the other. He wondered how he was balancing the way that he was. Nidoran realized that it wasn't connecting with the ground. Ash had caught it! With a little struggle, she squeezed out of his grip and ran up his arm to his face and nuzzled his cheek. This was enough to knock Ash off balance though, and combined with his weak arm and how heavy the trophy was. He fell onto the ground. Luckily, the trophy had fallen on the bed and was safe and sound. He got up, and inspected it. Not a scratch.

"Phew," Ash said, while wiping his forehead. Nidoran cocked her head at Ash, why was that piece of metal so important? Ash saw the expression Nidoran had and explained,

"That metal," He said. "Is what I got for winning the Orange League, which was basically a test of strength for who's the strongest. And I won it with my old Pokémon, but recently they were stolen. And I guess, that's really affected me. But the trophy is really important cuz it reminds me of them. And I don't wanna forget, because it something we won together." Nidoran seemed to understand, now.

In all the "fun" they were having. Neither noticed Delia listening through the door. She didn't like spying in on his son but she wanted to make sure he was having a good time with the Pokémon he'd brought home. And it seemed like Nidoran was doing more good in a few minutes than she could do in days. Yes, this was what she had been looking for.

Ash stood in silence, while Nidoran, on his shoulder, mimicked him. They were staring at his Mom, who was staring back. They'd been called down a few minutes ago, though Ash was determined to not start this conversation. Though after a few more seconds, Delia smiled, nodding to herself before she finally started talking.

"I stopped by Professor Oak's lab today, and we were discussing you. We decided, well, I guess it was more of my idea, but we wanted to give you a new Pokémon."

Ash didn't like that idea. "I can't." He said. Though Delia raised her eyebrow at the Nidoran sitting on her shoulder.

"Well, that's too bad. Even if it's just a pet, I think a Pokémon would be good for you. And I don't see a reason why not." Delia said, shutting down Ash's… shutting down of her idea.

Ash opened his mouth for another rebuttal, but Delia quickly interrupted as she leaned in towards Nidoran.

"Nidoran, would you like to be Ash's Pokémon?" Delia asked to the poison type.

Nidoran responded with some excited chirps, which caused Delia to smile. She clapped her hands, as if it was settled.

"See? Ash, no buts!"

Ash showed a concern frown, to which Delia turned around and grabbed something from her bag. It was a pokeball.

"Professor Oak gave me this, but I didn't know what Pokémon to get for you. But I'd say Nidoran is perfect for you."

Ash sighed, because he knew he couldn't get out of this. His Mother had her mind set, no matter what Ash thought. But he didn't think he could have another Pokémon. He'd failed as a trainer, and he didn't really deserve one. It looked like this was set in stone though. Delia handed Ash the pokeball, which he reluctantly took and tapped the button on Nidoran's nose. She sneezed cutely before she was turned into white energy and transferred into the ball. Just like Professor Oak's capture earlier, no retaliation was given and it immediately dinged. Usually Ash would yell out his accomplishment when he caught a pokeball. But now, he just smiled. Though, he quickly realized that he had just caught a Pokémon. Which was bad. And frowned.

"Come out, Nidoran." Ash called. With a red light, Nidoran was back out of its pokeball and ran circles around Ash.

"He's quite the energetic one," Delia commented.

To which, Ash corrected her. "Actually Mom. This one's a Nidoran female. It's a she."

Delia gave a funny look, before laughing. "I guess I forgot," she admitted. "Now go play! You should go give Mimey his food. He's in the garden. Maybe your Nidoran has a sense for gardening!" Ash grumbled, grabbing Mimey's new plate as he headed outside. Nidoran was waiting for Ash at the door, and for Ash, the days still went on. But now, together with Nidoran.

Yep, the days went by indeed. Ash had a lot of fun with Nidoran, who seemed to love living with Ash as well. They had gotten closer, and while Ash did spent a lot of time in his room, he spent a decent amount of time in the great outdoors. And with Nidoran, Ash was doing some thinking. Back then, the world seemed to be coming to an end. But Nidoran helped him see past that. And since the sun kept rising and falling, he had to keep going too. But what did he want to do? His plan to take down Team Rocket was pretty childish thinking about it now. He was in denial back then, denial that everything would be fine. But it wouldn't be, it still wasn't fine. And he wanted his Pokémon back, and he hated Team Rocket. There were still months before the Pokémon League, not that Ash was keeping track. And he had 6 badges. But he didn't have a chance of gathering all the badges with just Nidoran. Especially since Clair was known to be one of the hardest Gym Leaders in Johto. But even so, he felt something was missing. Like he should be doing something. When he explained this to Nidoran, she expressed anger… at who? Team Rocket. She could tell Ash was pretty distraught over it, even now.

"Do you think we should take them down?" Ash asked, not really expecting a serious answer.

Nidoran nodded eagerly, before using Poison Sting on a wall.

Ash was kind of shocked, Nidoran seemed to think they could do it. And that kinda fueled the idea into Ash's mind. His plan to take down Team Rocket was pretty childish before, but maybe with enough planning. He could actually pull it off. Ash mused that thought, and it would stay on his mind for many more days.

Now that Ash wasn't the gloomiest thing since rain, he helped Professor Oak do research (I dunno what Tracey is doing but who cares?). Delia was the one who suggested it, since Ash was still being anti-anything that didn't have to do with Nidoran and Professor Oak needed some help to keep doing his research. And if you couldn't tell, no, Nidoran did not have a sense for gardening.

So while that happened, Professor Oak suggested that Ash trained Nidoran. He'd notice that all of Ash's worries seem to fade away when battling. And he recognized that Ash might want to take on a league sometime in the future. So why not get started on training. Ash was hesitant whenever Oak brought up a Pokémon League.

Anyway, his Mom seemed to send him on errands daily. It was a little odd, and Ash was pretty sure she just wanted him to stay out of the house. He didn't have any problems with it, though whenever he had to visit Viridian City he'd look at the gym. There wasn't a specific evil feeling to it, and those creepy knight guards that used to be there weren't hanging around. Ash didn't really have any authority to investigate it, so he left it alone.

Though, within the week one thing stayed constantly. Ash kept thinking about Team Rocket, they were still out there. Not just Jessie, James and Meowth. Team Rocket was still at large, and hurting people. Well, Ash assumed that anyway. He remembered in Mahogany Town they'd tried forcing all those Magikarp to evolve. That red Gyarados was in a lot of pain. It made him think about how Lance was doing with that red Gyarados. Was it okay now? Maybe. He shared all of this with Nidoran.

"Yeah, and after that the last time we heard of them was when they took Pikachu and my Pokémon." Ash explained.

Nidoran tried to convey a message to Ash, though he didn't really understand.

"Are you asking me if they have bases? There was one, in Viridian City." He said, pointing to Viridian City on the map of Kanto he had on his wall. "But… I guess I don't really know. They probably have one in Kanto, but beats me where exactly. I remember their portable home, the one they used to capture Silver the baby Lucia and send all those radio waves in Mahogany Town. But that's not evidence, so I have no idea where they're base might be."

Nidoran cried out a few more times, in a questioning manner.

Ash put up a thinking face… "Yeah, maybe there's some evidence in their abandoned gym. But I dunno. It seems like they already got found out by the police. So maybe not… now that I mention it. Jessie, James and Meowth mentioned their boss a lot. They were first spotted in Kanto so their base has got to be somewhere in this region. And not Johto."

Nidoran nodded her head, then shook it. Then nodded it… she didn't know exactly what Ash was talking about. Ash rubbed the back of his head at Nidoran's confusion. "Your brain hurts, right? That happens, I guess." Nidoran let a little giggle as Ash said that.

Ash frowned. "It's not like we could actually do anything, right? We're just testing some theories. I mean, all my information is pretty much old news. So our leads are dead. We do you say we go get some food," Ash said, shutting his own idea down. Nidoran cocked its head, but food was something it couldn't pass up on.

So that was something. Next time he visited Viridian City, Ash asked who the new gym leader was. If there was one. Answers varied, most said that they didn't know though. From what Ash could tell, it seemed like they'd gone through multiple different temporary gym leaders. Ash didn't try to investigate any further though, he didn't want to become too obsessed. Though, over the following days, the thoughts didn't go away. There was just… this feeling, he couldn't start another league or do anything else before it went away. And it just spoke to him. He had to defeat Team Rocket. Ash shared this spectacle with Nidoran, and she seemed to agree. They did have to defeat Team Rocket. Ash thought about it, though. He would be heading straight into danger if he did manage to find them, and that's what he promised he wouldn't do. The seeds were planted, though. And eventually, it was a fact. He was going to defeat them, no matter who said no. There were probably so many Pokémon getting hurt or abused because of these despicable characters. Him and Nidoran started to get into training as they prepared. It wasn't just Nidoran, Ash was training too. Team Rocket played dirty and used all sorts of tricky gadgets. He needed to be ready for 'em.

But it really hit him, once he started to plan. How was he going to get away with this? His Mom would refuse to let him go, and Professor Oak probably would too. So, he had to run away from both of them? How would he manage being hunted down by like… the police, or something. But Ash's resolve wouldn't be deterred. And it was now that he stopped feeling sorry for himself, and also stopped moping around.

He had to leave town, but not without a plan. He was planning to do it the next day, two weeks after he arrived home. He'd been training for about a week and a half after he got out of his funk. So he wasn't defenseless, but even so, he couldn't just… leave.

"So, first, we investigate Viridian City. Then what?" Ash asked.

Nidoran let out a weak cry. She truly had no idea.

"Maybe… man, I have no idea!" Ash yelled, before laying down on his bed. What if they didn't get any clues while in Viridian City. Then what?

"I just remembered!" Ash exclaimed. "It kinda slipped my mind the last time we thought about it, but in Vermillion City. Team Rocket was there, they hijacked the S.S. Anne and sank it. Between those two locations, there has to be some clues."

Despite being pretty distraught a second ago. Nidoran adopted Ash's new attitude and let out an excited chirp.

"I guess, we've got to catch some new Pokémon on the way…" Ash said, his voice trailing off. The raven haired boy was still coming to terms that he wasn't a failure of a trainer. He still didn't really know if he deserved Pokémon to be around him. Well, look what he was doing right now. He was probably going to endanger Nidoran by going on this mission. But it couldn't be helped. And he was doing it cause he loved Pokémon, and he thought it was the right thing to do. Ash seemed to be thinking of something else, now.

"We'll need disguises, right? Well, not you. But I will. Being wanted by the police is gonna suck. I guess I'll have to buy some new clothes when we get to Viridian."

Nidoran nodded, letting out a curious chirp this time. Ash looked at his poison type with determination.

"Nidoran, we're going to leave tomorrow. We're going to embark on a dangerous journey that could kill us. And we're always gonna be on the move. You sure you wanna join me?"

Nidoran chirped a yes out, and jumped onto Ash's shoulder. What did he expect? After what they'd been through, it seemed like Nidoran would never leave his side. And it was the same for him.

Pitch black, or, that's what people said at least. It wasn't actually pitch black, but Ash couldn't see anything. Well, today was when he said he'd leave,and it was near midnight. After leaving a note for his Mom, he and Nidoran were on his way. Except… it way too dark. He couldn't see a thing. It was supposed to be dark out so he could make it to Viridian before his Mom realized anything but it was too dark, so…

Tomorrow, that'd be the day.

"Nidoran, be quiet." Ash said, shushing the poison Pokémon.

Trying to manage a quiet chirp, Nidoran followed Ash down the stairs. It wasn't as dark as the night before, mostly because it wasn't as late as it was when he tried to leave the house before. As he got to the bottom of the stairs, he first did a quick scan of the room. Sometimes Mimey stayed up a little bit after Delia to clean. He had to make sure he was in the clear. Signaling to Nidoran that it was okay to go, they both scrambled towards the Kitchen, he slapped a note onto the refrigerator. It read,

"Mom. I probably won't be here when you wake up, and that's because I've left. To go defeat Team Rocket once and for all. You can't stop me, so don't come after me. And don't worry, I'll be careful. I've been planning this for a long time. And I'll always change my you-know-what's."

Ash read the note again, chuckling at the last bit. But after that his face turned back into a frown. This was the part he hated the most. He wouldn't even be there to see Delia's face when she read the note, but he didn't need to. He could imagine. Nidoran was sensing Ash's sadness and nuzzled his legs. That snapped Ash out of it.

"Thanks," he said. "Now let's hurry."

Ash and Nidoran quietly tiptoed out of the kitchen and headed towards the door. Ash opened it, making no noise. Mimey liked to make sure his house was in tiptop condition and that meant no squeaky doors. That was good for him, he wouldn't wake up anyone as he snuck out. Closing the door, Ash scanned the streets. He hoped no one was out for a night stroll. With a rush of adrenaline, Ash started to hurry through the streets of Pallet. Nidoran ran right next to him, determined to keep up. As they

both approached Route 1, it was clear that there was no stopping them now.

Delia awoke… oh, what time was it? It looked rather late, she should've got up and showered already. Mimey seemed to be up already, so she wasted no time in getting ready. She had to make sure breakfast was ready on time, too.

After bathing, and then arriving in the kitchen. Delia looked at the time, almost time for Ash to air up. What should she cook for everyone…? Hmmm, she should check on how much ingredients they had. She might need to send Ash on an early morning errand. At least that'll get him out of the house early, though Delia could tell she was already making great progress. She froze when she looked at a certain note, though.

"…"

Team Rocket? Ash? Going after them? It couldn't be, he couldn't do that. What… Delia put her hand on her head, this couldn't be happening. Not so soon after the last time… what was he thinking? Delia promptly fainted, with a tiny scream escaping from her mouth. It was a disaster.

AN: Thanks for the nice words on your reviews, RFK22 and Haziq Safari. I really appreciate it. We've almost hit 400 views which is pretty lit. Anyways, this was just setup, the journey begins next chapter.