AN: I don't own Pokemon. If I did, Ash would've caught Larvitar

4: The Investigation Of Viridian

Okay, so, setting out in the middle of the night wasn't the best way to start. Ash's running was quickly put to a halt once he realized he couldn't see where he was going. Ash squinted as he tried to see the path ahead. Uh oh.

"Hey, Nidoran. Can you see where we're going?" He asked.

Nidoran shook her head, she'd just been following Ash. She didn't even know how she got here, or what route she lived on. Ash sighed, well, he wanted to reach Viridian City before sunup and he wasn't going back now. He just should've brought a flashlight. Good thing he didn't go out the night before, it would've been pitch black. No way he could navigate through that.

"Well, I know the general route, we'll have to make sure to avoid the river."

Ash said, before starting to walk again. Yeah, the river, first time he'd set off on his journey he and Pikachu had to swim to avoid those Spearow. Come to think of it, he'd have to be careful, he wasn't sure if Spearow was nocturnal or not… Suddenly, Nidoran spoke up with worry.

"Is there something out there?" Ash said, shifting into a crouch to hide behind the tall grass.

Nidoran nodded, as she did her best to point.

"Speak of the devil." Ash muttered, as he was able to make out the heads of two Spearow. Yeah, this was not a good idea. Any movement could probably tip those Spearow off and it'd be day 1 of his first Pokémon Journey all over again. Except in the dark, and Nidoran obviously couldn't handle all those Spearow, she didn't have any super effective, area of effect, or long ranged attacks.

"We gotta sneak past them, if we anger them, they could call their flock." Ash explained, though he wasn't quite sure how he would do that. "Any ideas…?"

Nidoran shook its head, refraining from speaking since it couldn't really control its voice and it was kinda high pitched.

"I guess we just have to sneak past them." Ash said. Going through Route 1 was usually never much of a problem. Why was there always Spearow there when he wanted to go on a journey? After complaining quietly to no one, he started to move, keeping his gaze between those two Spearow and the ground. If he accidentally stepped on a twig or something, that was game over. Nidoran followed the raven-haired boy as they made their way through the tall grass.

"I can't see those Spearow anymore."

Ash declared, a little bit louder so Nidoran could hear clearly. She let out a little squeak before Ash continued to move forward. This was silly, man. If they kept moving like this, it'd take three hours to reach Viridian City. Usually it was a 30 to 60 minute walk from Pallet and Viridian. And it'd be completely dark pretty soon which might impede their progress even more. He kinda figured he should turn back and try to escape during the day. But as he was lost in thought, he approached two more Spearow. Nidoran was watching their back and only noticed at the last second.

"Nido!"

She tried to whisper shout, and that got Ash's attention. He looked ahead and noticed the Spearow. "Thanks," He replied and moved back. By doing that, he accidentally stepped on a twig he wasn't paying attention to. His eyes shot back towards the two Spearow who were both looking at him.

"We gotta run." Ash said, pretty panicked. The two Spearow flew towards Ash and immediately started to attack. As he got pecked in the face, Ash covered his face with his arms to protect his eyes. "C'mon!" He yelled, as Nidoran finally started moving. Ash removed his arms from his face as he also started running, this was a worst case scenario. But actually what the hell? Stepping on a twig was like the most cliche'd way to mess up a stealth mission or whatever. And man, why did Spearow have to be so aggressive? Could they just… not? As Nidoran led the way (maybe something she should not be doing considering she'd only ever gone through Route 1 a handful of times), Ash looked back. The two Spearow were joined with the other two that Ash had managed to avoid the last time. It seemed like other Spearow were joining them, and they were gaining. Well, aggressive or not, they worked together rather nicely.

"Nido…!"

Nidoran yelled, as she came to a stop by the river. Ash gasped as he only barely managed to keep himself from falling. The river? Shoot, oh that was bad. They were not going in the right direction.

"This way!" He said as he started to run along the river. Nidoran followed him, but she seemed to be falling behind a little. Ash stopped for a second to pick the poison type Pokémon up before he resumed running. That was all the Spearow needed to catch up though, and the fury of the whole flock was brought upon Ash. There wasn't much Nidoran could do as Ash made sure it was safe within his arms. She cried out in worry as Ash cried out in… pain. He was bleeding somewhere, not sure where, but almost everything was hurting. He had to do something, before he passed out.

The river, he thought. That's how he and Pikachu managed to gain some ground the last time, though without Misty there to reel him up he was unsure of how he was going to get back up to shore. Didn't matter now, he had to go. Doing his best to endure the pain, Ash rolled over and fell into the river. Other than being seriously cold, it wasn't that bad. The waters weren't raging, and were peacefully flowing as Ash was carried along by it. Nidoran managed to get her head over Ash's arm to see where they were going.

"Nido?"

She asked, though her voice might not have been heard due to the rushing water. Ash's grip started to loosen, it was hard to stay conscious after all the pecking. Everything hurt, and his arms were no exception. He couldn't let Nidoran go, though, he should've returned it to its pokeball when he had the chance. Ash managed to open his eyes, he needed to know where they were. Ash couldn't really see anything though, except the Spearow, they were trying to catch up with Ash, so it seemed like being swept away by the river was helping him get away. The problem was getting out though…

"Nidoran!" He yelled, using a lot of his strength just to do it. "I need you to grab the shore, with your teeth, or your feet, just grab it, and hold on for a few seconds."

It wasn't a good plan, Nidoran was a very small Pokémon and couldn't hold the weight of Ash against the waters but it was all he had. He couldn't reach out with only one arm, using the other to make sure he still had Nidoran so Nidoran had to grab the shore first, then Ash would pull both of them up. Nidoran nodded, as she started to summon all the strength in her.

"Here we go!"

The raven haired boy yelled as he held Nidoran out, and Nidoran made a lurch towards the shore, biting it down with her mouth. She quickly felt a giant push on her body as Ash was being tugged away while holding onto her. She couldn't hold on for much longer. 3 seconds passed and she had to let go. As soon as she did, Ash summoned his own strength to grab the shore with his free hand. Seeing that he had made contact, Ash dug his finger into the mud and dirt as he held on.

"I did it." He announced, to no one really. He struggled to push himself up but he was able to relax a bit as long as he could keep his grip. "Nidoran, run on my hand and onto shore." He said.

Nidoran nodded, and with a little bit of hesitant climbed out of his hand and was able to make it to shore. She looked around, it looked like the Spearow gave up. She let out a cry in worry, they weren't in familiar territory. Ash knew it too, they were a bit off the path to Viridian City and were way past the area where Misty had fished them up the day he started his journey. Ash used his other hand to grab the shore and get some more leverage. With a final ounce of strength, he pulled himself up and collapsed on the shore. He was breathing pretty erratically, and he was completely exhausted.

"Nidoran! Nido?" Nidoran cried.

Ash could recognize that as an "Are you okay?" but he was pretty drained verbally and just replied with a nod. They were way too out in the open, those Spearow could come back and Ash wouldn't have any protection from them. Ash got up on all four of his arms and legs, and crawled to a bush. This would do for now. Nidoran followed him, and sat on his lap, attempting to cuddle him even now. Ash wasn't sure if this was an attempt to cheer him or her up, but it felt nice anyway. Ash was tired, but he knew he should take care of himself right now. He took off his backpack and opened it. The only things that were inside of it was medical supplies, pokeballs and food. He had to pack efficiently. He surveyed himself for damage, since he had been hunched over, most of Ash's injuries were from his back, arms or the back of his head. He managed to bandage up the back of his head, though it was kinda hard, and he also did the same to his arms. They didn't hurt as bad as they did when he was in the river, so that was good. From what Ash could tell, he would be fine in the morning once everything healed. But he was no doctor, so he hoped it wasn't serious.

"Nidoran, stand still."

Ash said, as he grabbed Nidoran and put her on the ground. Nidoran did as Ash said, though she was confused as to what he was doing. Ash took out a potion and sprayed it on Nidoran. It tingle a bit. Ash didn't know if Nidoran had been hit, and it wasn't really clear, so he applied the potion anywhere. Nidoran was feeling a little better after that, so it had kinda worked. Ash smiled.

"Alright, Nidoran. I know that was a bit rough, but we've still gotta get to Viridian City before sunup. I say we rest for a bit, then hold the road. We shouldn't encounter Spearow any more."

Nidoran shouted a determined cry at that. It was a fine plan. They both rested up, to the point where they weren't breathing so heavily and then set back onto their journey. They were feeling a little skittish after the attack of their Spearow and though Ash said they wouldn't run into anymore. They were still on guard and alert, anytime an unusual sound was heard they'd tense up, only to realize it was a Rattata or something. After that they calmed down, just a tiny bit. It got Ash thinking, what Pokémon was he going to catch? He couldn't beat Team Rocket with just one Nidoran, even if she was a determined Pokémon. He couldn't just pick up a random team member though, he'd have to make sure they knew what they were up against. Wouldn't be fair to a Pokémon if they were whisked into Ash's quest to defeat Team Rocket. Though none of the Pidgey or Rattata on these routes were making an effort to interact with Ash. He probably wouldn't have caught any of them anyways, he was in a rush. It was almost midnight now, and Ash could only the path in front of them. Thankfully, that led him and Nidoran right into Viridian City. Ash's face broke into a smile at the sight of the familiar city. The first thing he saw was the police station. There was probably a Officer Jenny around there. It'd be best to avoid there, it'd be weird to explain why he was on a journey, with a Nidoran, in the middle of the night. Plus, he left his Pokédex at home so he didn't have any sort of identification. His Mom should still be asleep though, so there was no reason why Officer Jenny would recognize Ash as a missing kid. Best to just keep going.

"Welcome to Viridian City." Ash said, as he made his way through the streets.

Nidoran chirped happily as they walked towards the Pokémon Center. They should be accepted in, usually Nurse Joy didn't question trainers coming in the middle of the night. Ash hoped it was like that with this Nurse Joy. As they approached the door, Ash paused.

"This is a Pokémon Center," He explained. "They're open for trainers to heal their Pokémon and they act as pit stops. Completely free, too. They're amazing. Usually, there's a Nurse Joy in there who'll check on your Pokémon. I'll return you to your pokeball for now."

Nidoran nodded as she sat still so Ash could do so. With Nidoran's pokeball, Ash then headed inside. He was… kinda shocked to see the interior was completely the same as the last time he entered, over a year ago. That was because, in that same visit, he had accidentally blown it up. Though it was more of Team Rocket's fault than his. Yeah, it was the first time he had met Team Rocket. It stirred anger inside of him to know that this was the first domino that fell, which resulted in all of Pokémon to be stolen. There was no time for that, he walked up to Nurse Joy and put on another smile.

"Hey, Nurse Joy. Can you check up on my Pokémon for me?" He asked.

"Yes, it would be my pleasure to…" Nurse Joy interrupted herself as she got a good look at Ash. She was half asleep when he had arrived (which made Ash feel pretty bad, she practically had a whole day shift taking care of Pokémon), but now that he was up close… "Say, I know you." She stated.

Ash backed away, for a second. "You do?" He completely forgot about his earlier visit a week later, thinking that the word about him being missing was already out.

Nurse Joy stared at Ash, before breaking out into a smile. "Yes! You saved the Pokémon Center from losing all of our Pokémon, remember? From that horrible Team Rocket. I must thank you for that, I'd be happy to take care of your Pokémon."

Ash let out a sigh of relief, jeez. He'd been worried over nothing, somehow forgetting what he had just been thinking about it. Ash walked back up to the counter and placed his Nidoran's pokeball on the tray.

"Say, didn't you have a Pikachu on your shoulder? Is this it?" Nurse Joy asked, clearly with no devious intention. Though Ash stuttered a bit with his next response.

"O-oh, uh, he's just… back at Professor Oak's ranch. The Pokémon in there is a female Nidoran." Ash explained.

Nurse Joy looked at Ash for a second. Ash wondered if she had heard about Professor Oak's ranch being robbed from. Oh, shoot. That was probably some big news, it was in the local newspaper after all. A complete flaw in his lie. Ash held his breath.

"Oh, in that case. Let me take care of your Nidoran." Nurse Joy chimed, easily fooled. Ash let out another sigh in relief as Nidoran was taken by Chansey for a checkup. Talk about a close call. Ash realized that he wasn't really cut out for this whole secret thing.

"Oh, and I'd like a room for the night." Ash added.

Nurse Joy nodded, "I figured. We'll let you know when your Pokémon are fully healed."

Ash gave his own nod as Nurse Joy checked a computer, and then gave him the keys to his room. Ash walked to his room with a sigh. Regardless of if he was good at lying or not. He wouldn't be able to do this a lot. Maybe when he got to Vermillion City, but never again after that. He'd be wanted, walking into a Pokémon Center would probably alert the police into looking for him. Ash fell onto his bed as he continued thinking. He needed to buy a costume, yeah. Ash gathered all the money he had from battling (plus Delia giving him money for doing chores that Mimey couldn't) and he figured he could make it a good while before needing to worry about that. What else did he need to do in Viridian…? Check out the Viridian Gym. He'd do that, early in the morning. Suddenly, a voice rang out in his room. It was coming from a speaker box planted in the roof.

"Ash, your Nidoran is in fit condition. Please come pick it up."

Ash felt kinda nervous when Nurse Joy said his name. If anyone came asking around here, she'd most likely give away that he'd been there. It was pretty obvious this was where he'd go, but still. Ash stood up and walked out of his room, heading towards the front desk to pick up Nidoran.

"Nido!"

A happy Nidoran cried out, as she snuggled with Ash in the bottom of a bunk bed. The room they were put in was pretty simple. It was small, with two bunk beds to fit four people. Usually, it would be him, Pikachu, Brock and Misty in these standard beds. Sometimes Pikachu would fill in the fourth bed, sometimes he would cuddle with Ash like Nidoran was doing. He really missed Pikachu. What was he doing right now? Ash could almost feel him, right now. He was in discomfort, though he didn't seem to be in pain…

"Nido?"

Nidoran asked, her voice a little strained. Ash realized she was holding the poison Pokémon a little too tight. He loosened up, with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry." He said quietly. Nidoran snuggled up as she seemed to start to sleep. Ash wondered why he kept Nidoran outside of its pokeball. He didn't want to think of Nidoran as his replacement for Pikachu. But she really seemed to fill some of the void in his heart. Ash smiled, and soon after Nidoran, he fell asleep.

Ash woke up pretty early—well, only for him—the next day. He was worried that he wouldn't wake up as early as he wanted to. But his body didn't fail him. Nidoran was still sleeping though, that was fine. Ash scooped up her body into his hands and got ready. He brushed his teeth, bathed, changed his you-know-what's and was ready for the day. With Nidoran in hand—quite literally—Ash headed out of the Pokémon Center, not without a small inquiry to Nurse Joy though.

"Who's the gym leader in this town? After the Team Rocket thing…" Ash hoped Nurse Joy would be better informed, considering that she was probably the centerpiece for trainer info.

Nurse Joy thought for a second. "Well, we've been going through some changes lately with the gym leaders. Lots of temporary leaders. But now, I think an elite four member is the temporary gym leader. Not sure which one she is though…"

"Thanks Nurse Joy." Ash said before walking out of the Pokémon Center.

Ash thought about what Nurse Joy had said. First of all, if the news was out about his disappearance. It hadn't reached Viridian City yet, so he could still walk around pretty freely. In Viridian City, at least. Second, an elite four was the new gym leader? And it was a she/her. Ash knew that two of the elite four were female, and he'd already met one. Prima—though he'd come to learn that that was only her pen name—who he'd encountered in the orange island. There was the possibility that she was the gym leader, which might be good since she already knew him. Maybe Prima would be willing to let him investigate. The other female elite four was a ghost type specialist, though he didn't know much about her. ''Twas fine. The next stop was the mall to buy new clothes.

"Aw, man. I did not just think that."

Ash said aloud with a frazzled look on his face. Truly words he'd never thought he'd think without being forced by a girl. This was enough to wake Nidoran, however.

"Oh, hey Nidoran. I was just heading towards the shopping area to buy an outfit that'll disguise me somewhat." Ash explained. "Want to help me pick out some clothes?" Nidoran chirped happily as she sat forward in Ash's hands.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ash announced, rather enthusiastically.

Nidoran returned the statement with just as much enthusiasm as he rushed towards wherever he thought he could get some clothes. Ash didn't really know where that would be, since he barely spent any time in Viridian City the last two times he was here. Due to that, it actually took awhile before he found it. Ash didn't want to waste time, since it was just a matter of that before he eventually started to get recognized. He was able to make it to the shopping plaza eventually though.

"You think this would fit me?" Ash asked, pulling out a long navy cloak. It was one usually worn by an aura guardian, though this wasn't a legitimate cloak. Just a reimagined version. It came with a whole set of Aura Guardian clothes.

"Nidoran…"

"You don't like it, huh?" Ash chuckled, about to move on before something caught his eyes. The hat. The whole outfit was too large for Ash to wear, but the hat covered his hair, which was pretty recognizable and his face, which in addition covered his z shaped… birthmarks? He had no idea what they are, but they were easily the most recognizable thing about him.

"I think I'll take it." He said, and Nidoran shrugged. Ash replaced it with his official Pokémon league hat to test it out.

"You don't think it looks stylish?" Ash asked.

Nidoran looked away, while two people walking past Ash snickered. Ash fell to the ground, as Nidoran laughed at his antics. Ash decided to only take that hat and gloves from the Aura Guardian collection, if he could. After that, he kept hunting for a main outfit to wear.

"Nido! Nido!"

After checking out the selection for a little bit, Nidoran had found something that captured her attention. Ash looked at what the poison type Pokémon have pointed out.

"Cool!"

He exclaimed as he yoinked the outfit from its spot on a shelf. Unfolding it, he could see it was a black shirt with a horizontal yellow stripe that made an interesting pattern. It had short white sleeves to go along, while also coming with a black and red hat with a blue pokeball print. Ash figured he'd switch hats between that and the oversized, black and blue hat from time to time. Make sure to switch it up so he wasn't easily identified. Ash grabbed a white undershirt and jeans to go along as he decided that he was finished shopping. Nidoran seemed pleased with his new fashion style and his brain hurt. Besides, he wanted to make it to the Viridian Gym without any fuss and before it turned night. He still had plenty of time, but his attention span was pretty short…

"Nidoran! Look, it's an ice cream parlor!" Ash pointed out as they were leaving the shopping area. He was able to spot it from in the back of his eyes. "Let's go get some." He declared.

Nidoran obliged, having been treated to ice cream once before by Delia. It was a delicious snack. Maybe it was a little obvious to see why he might get so easily distracted. Ash and Nidoran had a good time there, with Ash trying a bunch of flavors while Nidoran had a poison type ice cream. It was pretty cool that this guy offered ice cream specially made for all 18 types. After that, it was almost noon, and Ash didn't see a point in waiting till after his gym battle to eat. So before they headed towards the Viridian Gym they stopped at a restaurant.

"Okay, Nidoran. So I know you've only eaten Mom's food before, so this may be new to you. This is a restaurant." Ash explained, knowing that Nidoran had probably never eaten at one before.

Nidoran didn't understand the word restaurant, and cocked its head sideways. You could get food at this place?

"Yep," Ash confirmed, somewhat understanding Nidoran. "You pay them, and they give you food. What are we waiting for out here? Let's go in!"

Nidoran followed Ash, entering the restaurant. It wasn't fancy, Ash probably couldn't afford something like that, and he needed to conserve money just in case. But it was pretty good, even so. They had food for Nidoran, which was good. Ash didn't really need it if eating a cheeseburger was good for Nidoran. He should research that, or something. Ash realized that he couldn't go to Vermillion City right away, he had to do some experimenting. That could wait until after he finished business here.

"Alright Nidoran, it's finally time for my gym battle!"

Ash announced as he walked out of the restaurant with a full stomach. Full of energy after eating, Nidoran followed suit, though she expressed confusion at what Ash just said. "Whoops," He realized. "I'm not going there to do a gym battle. Force of habit."

Nidoran giggled as Ash rubbed the back of his head. Either way, he was ready to take on the Viridian City Gym. Ash remembered where it had been the last time he challenged it. It was pretty remodeled though, it looked a lot more… "modern". And those medieval guards weren't standing in front of it this time. There were two signs, one read that this was the Viridian Gym. The other said that they were on the lookout for two criminals with a Meowth. Team Rocket must've been here, but the poster looked pretty old. It might've been hung up before his Pokémon had been stolen, in fact. If they were here, the trail had most likely gone cold. That doesn't mean that there was nothing in the gym worth investigating though.

"Here we go," Ash muttered to himself as he picked up Nidoran. He pushed the doors open, which weren't as heavy as the last time, and stepped inside. It was dark inside, Ash could see that the walls were covered in purple. Did that mean that the gym leader was the ghost type specialist of the elite four?

"Welcome," said a pretty old and nasally voice. Definitely not Lorelei. "I am Agatha, Elite Four and Gym Leader of this gym. Do you wish to challenge me?"

Agatha, huh? Ash was right, that was the name of the ghost type specialist, now that he had heard it. Though it was pretty awkward, since he wasn't actually challenging her.

"No." He said.

He heard Agatha clear her throat, awkwardly. When she spoke again, it was still a clearly old voice, but a lot clearer and less grave. "Oh, what are your here for then?"

"Um, I came to investigate Team Rocket." Ash said, with a little less confidence that he would've liked to.

The lights flickered in, which revealed a battlefield in front of Ash. Agatha was standing on a platform at the other end of the field, wearing a dress primarily featuring purple. "Investigate Team Rocket? Kid, you're like 10." Agatha said, clearly not amused.

This wasn't going how Ash thought it would. "Actually, I'm 11." He replied, defensively.

"Hey, don't I know you?" Agatha said, which sparked some hope for Ash.

"I placed 16th in the Indigo Conference." Ash revealed.

Agatha shook her head. "No, I wouldn't remember you if you did that bad." Ash scoffed at that. "Oh, wait. Yes. You won the Orange League, didn't you? Against Drake the undefeated. Lorelei told me about you and your Charizard once, and I tuned in to see you challenge him."

Ash nodded. "Yeah, that was me."

Agatha thought for a second. "So you want to investigate Team Rocket, eh? I don't see what you could do that the police couldn't."

Ash frowned. He had to try. "Give me a chance, I just want to check. I gotta."

Ash shook her head once again. "It's not just that," she explained. "By messing with Team Rocket, you're putting yourself in danger, too. I don't think a child like you has the resources to stand up to Team Rocket."

Ash grit his teeth, a little angry, a little dejected. Agatha was just stating facts, but he wouldn't back down just because of that. "I know! But I can handle it, and I'm going to take Team Rocket down whether you let me investigate or not."

With that last declaration, the room filled with silence. Nidoran was nervous, burying herself in Ash's arms.

"Okay." Agatha said. "Then we battle, and the victor gets their way. You lose, you give up. I win, you can continue on your journey to almost certain death and investigate my gym."

Ash slowly nodded. This could very well be the end of his journey, but he couldn't give up in the face of a difficult challenge. There was a chance he had to battle Giovanni, so he couldn't run when the stakes were high. "Let's do it." He agreed.

"It'll be a 6 on 6 and we can both swit—"

"I only have Nidoran with me." Ash interrupted, rubbing the back of his head. Agatha looked slightly flabbergasted.

"What about all your other Pokémon?" She questioned. Ash didn't really want to reveal what had happened. "They're umm… back home, but the point is. I can't get 'em right now, can we have a 1 on 1?" Ash said, rather lamely.

Agatha sighed, wondering what the heck this kid was doing. Going after Team Rocket? With just a Nidoran? What a stupid idea. "Fine, a one on one is fine with me. Battle begin." Agatha growled.

Ash nodded, glad that he was still allowed to battle. "Okay, Nidoran. Let's show 'em how hard we trained!" Ash remarked, letting Nidoran out of his arms. Nidoran shuffled onto the battlefield as Ash got into the challenger's box.

"Mismagius, go." Agatha ordered as she took out a pokeball and released Mismagius into the battle. Ash was unfamiliar with the Pokémon, though it looked like a purple witch hat with pink tips. It had a face though, it wasn't too creepy. Actually looked kinda cute. Even so, it was definitely dangerous. Ash assumed it was a ghost type, since that was Agatha's specialty.

Nidoran seemed to be shivering in fear, though. It had barely battled before she started training with Ash. Wasn't she supposed to start with your Youngster Joeys and Rattatas before taking on your Elite Fours and… Mismagius.

"You can do it!" Ash called from behind her. That relaxed her a little bit, but it was still troubling.

Agatha called the first attack. "Power Gem, Mismagius!"

Mismagius conjured up glowing stones and gems that took on a peculiar shape. They spun around her body as they were shot out a crazy speed.

"Nidoran, dodge!" Ash shouted in reply.

Nidoran dodged the first one, but was quickly driven into the ground by the second as they all hit the ground raising smoke. Sheesh, it was clear to Ash that Nidoran couldn't survive many attacks. So they had to go on the offense while making sure they didn't get hit.

"Get up, and use Peck!" Ash called.

Nidoran struggled to her feet, before setting her gaze back at the chilling Mismagius. With a battle cry, she charged at the ghost type before jumping to try and clear the distance between them.

Agatha wouldn't let it happen though. "Magical Leaf." She replied in retaliation.

Ash knew that wasn't a very effective attack, but they should still avoid taking damage. "Use it as a platform!" He commanded, knowing Nidoran would get what he meant.

Nidoran maneuvered herself to get higher into the air as Mismagius conjured leaves that shined a rainbow color. She sent them all to Nidoran, spinning them for more damage. Nidoran tried to fulfill Ash's wishes as she was able to land on the first one, though being so small, she got spun around due to the spinning leaves. Trying her best to keep facing forward, Nidoran jumped on the other leaves to reach Mismagius and chomp down on their ghostly body with a peck.

"Way to go!" Ash encouraged, to which Nidoran was ecstatic. Nidoran landed on the ground, rather rough, but it was fine. Speaking of fine, it seemed like Mismagius hadn't been bothered by Nidoran's peck despite the fact that she had gained a lot of momentum.

"This'll be tougher than I thought." Ash muttered to himself. Nidoran and Mismagius waited for commands and Agatha delivered.

"Mismagius, get in close and use Shadow Ball!"

This was bad, if Nidoran was hit with a point blank Shadow Ball, it'd do a lot more damage than if she'd been hit from a distance. The energy of a shadow ball fades as it gets released so it'd be most effective when in close range. It seemed Agatha knew that. But Nidoran couldn't get any good hits in without risks, so Ash needed her to tank this one. He'd gotten a sure fire idea to defeat Mismagius. Required a little bit of luck though.

"Take the Shadow Ball and use Poison Sting!" Ash called.

Nidoran seemed a little confused with that. Why would she tank this Shadow Ball to land a Poison Sting? She'd take a lot of damage and wouldn't do a lot back. It seemed like a bad trade. She hesitated.

Ash recognized her hesitation and called out again. "You can do it, Nidoran. You just gotta trust me!"

Nidoran definitely trusted Ash, so she summoned up courage and ran straight towards Mismagius who did the same, except Mismagius floated. Ghostly energy gathered in front of her as it formed into a dark purple ball. Instead of releasing it, she flew towards Nidoran and exploded it in the poison type Pokémon's face. Nidoran took lots of damage, but in the end she was able to land a Poison Sting, stabbing the ghost Pokémon with its little horn. It didn't seem to yield the results that Ash was hoping for.

"Nidoran! You've got to get up and use Poison Sting again." He yelled, a bit frantically.

Agatha scoffed. "Your little Nidoran can do no more." She said coldly.

Nidoran could though, she wasn't about to take that from Agatha. She summoned all the strength she could muster, for Ash. And all of his Pokémon, they had to continue their quest. They had to Team Rocket down. Nidoran was able to turn around, and she could see that Mismagius was still close. However it was floating away. She had to act now.

"Nido!"

Ash grinned as Nidoran rose once more and jumped to hit the surprised Mismagius with another Poison Sting. She landed on the ground even rougher than the last time, and struggled to get up. But at least it had worked, Mismagius had been poisoned. Agatha seemed to be truly surprised too. She figured that Ash hadn't put a lot of time into training this Nidoran, and it wouldn't be able to withstand any attacks, but… He was serious. They were serious, both Ash and Nidoran. But the battle must go on.

"That was your trick, then." Agatha muttered, though she still didn't seem too impressed with his strategy. "Two can play at that game, Will-o-Wisp, Mismagius."

Fighting through the poison, Mismagius conjured up a single blue wisp that floated over towards Nidoran.

"Avoid it," Ash commanded. It would be bad if they got hit with that. The burn would knock out Nidoran faster than the poison would get Mismagius. With Nidoran's tired condition, he could tell she wouldn't be able to handle much of it. However, Nidoran was still recovering and wasn't able to move in time. She was burnt. Just like that, Ash's inkling of a plan had kinda fallen apart. He needed to do more damage, without taking any or he'd lose. He couldn't dodge any attacks without doing damage because Mismagius would always survive longer.

"Alright then… go for a peck!" Ash reluctantly commanded.

Mismagius was still relatively close to the ground so Nidoran could go for a peck without much trouble. She ran at the ghost type and then jumped up to go for the attack.

"Get away from the ground, then use Shadow Ball." Agatha commanded.

Agatha wasn't in the elite four for no reason, obviously. Though she could probably destroy Ash if she went all out offend. She saw the dilemma that Ash had been forced into. She knew all she had to do was keep her distance and attack and Nidoran would eventually slip up. Even if she did, she wouldn't be able to attack and would succumb to her burn. Nidoran hit the ground with a thud, she had fallen face first so it had to hurt. She had been expecting to Mismagius so when the ghost type floated away she wasn't able to land properly.

"Behind you!" Ash warned.

Despite that, all Nidoran could do was look backwards as her body was sprawled out over the floor and it would take effort to get up. However, when she did look back she saw a ball of ghostly energy heading towards her.

"Nidoran is unable to battle. I am the winner." Agatha announced, seeming to act as a trainer in the battle and a referee. In any case, it was true. After the dust cleared, it was quite clear the Nidoran had been knocked out. Her red eyes had turned into a black spiral that represented a Pokémon being knocked unconscious. Ash ran over towards Nidoran while Agatha watched and sighed.

"Are you alright?" He asked, as he wrapped Nidoran around in his arms. Nidoran didn't respond though. Ash took out a Burn Heal from his backpack, one of the only ones he had and sprayed them on the areas that seemed to be burnt. Nidoran didn't wake up after that, even still.

"Nidoran won't wake up immediately," Agatha said. "It took a brutal beating, those weren't light attacks. I'm impressed that it was able to take three attacks from my Mismagius."

Ash looked up with a depressed look on his face. Agatha was a bit startled to see him so distressed from losing this battle. She returned to Mismagius, who seemed to be cured of her poison. Ash recalled Agatha having a fond love for poison and ghost types. That's probably why she had antidotes. Not that it mattered at this moment.

"I guess that's it." Ash muttered, ready to stay true to his word. Maybe if he hurried home, his Mom wouldn't be too mad at him for leaving. Day 2 of the Rocket Hunt and it was all over.

Agatha shook her head, though Ash didn't seem to notice.

"Not necessarily," She said, which caught Ash's attention. "Tell me, where did you catch this Nidoran?"

Ash rubbed his face, he hadn't been crying. But it felt like he might start any second. "It got caught by a Fearow and flew past Pallet Town. I saved and caught it." He explained. I'm

Agatha thought for a second. "It must be a native to Route 3," She concluded. Ash looked at her, bewildered. Why did any of this matter? Agatha nodded to herself, before she started talking again.

"Well, you see. The Pokémon around there are particularly… How should I say it…" Agatha paused for a second before deciding to not sugarcoat it at all. "Weak." Ash would have argued, but it wasn't the time right now. Agatha continued. "I doubt any one of them would be able to survive even one of Mismagius's attacks. But your Nidoran withstood two, maybe it would've survived the third if not for my burn. And you just don't see that sort of bond with Pokémon anymore. I thought you Nidoran would've given up, but she didn't. And that… Yes, it really moved me. So in light of this battle, I think you can do it. You can take down Team Rocket. I won't question why you've chosen this lone Nidoran as your partner, but you can continue in your attempt to take on Team Rocket."

Ash raised his head, surprised to hear such praise from an elite four. "Really?"

Agatha took a few seconds to think over it again. To be sending an 11 year old to tackle such a big thing. But it was their own choice. She was just choosing not to stop him. Ash stood up, honored that he could really do this.

"Thank you." He said, sincerely, not really sure what else to say.

Agatha nodded. "And you can search the gym, not that I'll think you'll find anything. But you should really report anything you find to the police. And also… go and get your Nidoran fixed up."

Ash nodded, racing out of the gym with Nidoran in hand. He knew he should try not to jostle the poison type Pokémon but he was just really excited. And I'm thankful. It would've been really embarrassing to go home like that. And Delia would probably scold him forever, but it didn't matter. He was still in it. And he had Nidoran to thank for it. She'd battled so hard and even if they didn't win, it'd paid off.

"Nurse Joy!" Ash yelled as he shoved the door to the Pokémon Center open. Nurse Joy seemed startled as Ash put Nidoran on a stretcher.

"What happened?" Nurse Joy asked as Chansey took Nidoran into the operating room.

Time to think fast. "I went to the Viridian Gym to challenge it again. And yeah, you were right. There was an elite four member. It was Agatha, she really got me." Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck. It was basically the truth. Nurse Joy seemed to accept that as she told Ash to wait a second before heading inside to check with Chansey and Nidoran. Ash took a seat, finally able to start processing everything that happened.

That didn't go as planned. Of course, Ash hadn't been sent back home. But it was pretty unacceptable that he lost. It wasn't Nidoran's fault though. He should've kept training instead of setting off. He was in no way ready for any strong trainers. He sighed to himself, sheesh. He also needed to catch a Pokémon. If Nidoran wasn't feeling well, he really wouldn't have anyone to defend himself. After reflecting, all Ash could do was wait for Nidoran.

Several Hours Ago

"Delia…? Delia, please open your eyes."

Delia could hear someone calling out to her, not sure who… For the first time in a few years actually, she wanted to stay asleep. What had happened? She'd woken up, bright and early in the morning like usual. Then she went to the kitchen to make some breakfast and… the note. Ash! Where's Ash? Delia shot up in her bed.

"Delia!" A voice called, which Delia recognized to be Professor Oak.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned.

"Your Mr. Mime came to my lab, seeming distressed. When I came with him, I found you passed out and Ash wasn't around. What happened?"

Delia sighed for a second before starting to explain. "I had a really terrible dream where… Wait, what did you say about Ash?"

"He's not here, I assume you sent him on an errand." Professor Oak said with confusion.

Delia's voice quivered. "Have you seen the note? In the fridge?" She asked. "Go read it."

Professor Oak nodded, before leaving Mr. Mime to take care of Delia while he headed towards the kitchen. After about a minute, Professor Oak came back upstairs with a worried expression. The two adults stayed quiet as they both thought about where Ash could be. Professor Oak spoke up first.

"I thought Ash… was training to take on the Pokémon League again." He said.

Delia nodded quietly, before adding to the conversation. "He was so spirited. I thought…"

She cut herself off as she looked off into space, clearly worried. Professor Oak cleared his voice.

"Well, we have to do something." He said, standing up. Delia nodded once again, but said nothing. "I'll notify the police, and hopefully we can send a search party to find him."

Delia nodded for the third time in a row as Professor Oak turned to Mimey. "Take care of Delia." He whispered, and after that, he left the house to do what he had mentioned. As he left, Delia laid back down into her bed. There was nothing she could do to help Ash. Mimey got closer to Delia to see if she was alright, taken aback by her quiet sobs.

"Your Nidoran is in fit shape, Ash." Nurse Joy announced.

Ash smiled as he walked up to the front desk. "Alright! Thanks, Nurse Joy." Ash leaned forward to see Nidoran, startled as she jumped into his arms. After that though, she remembered that she had lost the battle, and they had to go back home. Noticing her shift in tone, he quickly moved to comfort her.

"Nidoran! You did great, don't worry. Agatha says she'll still let us investigate even though we lost. And it was because of you." Ash explained.

Nidoran looked at Ash's face with hope before she chirped happily and buried her face into Ash's arms.

"What do you say we are investigating right now?" Ash asked. Nidoran nodded, so after a little bit of preparation they headed back onto the streets. Ash was still in his casual clothes with his official Pokémon league hat. He'd changed that tomorrow so hopefully people wouldn't recognize him. But he'd be heading to Vermillion City after this, so he wasn't sure it'd matter. Eventually, they reached the Viridian City gym again and opened the doors. It was pitch black again, but instead of doing the introduction thing. Agatha turned the lights on straight away.

"You're back. I'm glad Nidoran is doing okay." She said, nodding to herself. "Well, follow me."

Ash did as she said, Agatha got off the Gym Leader platform and went towards the back of the room. There was a door. Thinking about it now, Ash never really thought about gyms other than places to have battles. This gym seemed a lot bigger than most, and it looked like it had a whole back facility in here. Maybe it's because a whole crime syndicate was running behind the scenes, but it looked like they'd renovated it to… not look like a crime base. Did that mean that Brock lived at the Pewter Gym? Hm. That was kind of interesting, but Ash realized he was letting his mind wander. Agatha pushed a door open that had a warning saying only authorized personnel could get in. Ash assumed that was like gym leaders and stuff. He was met with a standard hallway after that, though it was painted purple. Odd. Either everything was purple before or Agatha had somehow painted everything purple in a matter of days.

"Don't go in there," Agatha said, pointing to a door on his left side. "Or there." She pointed at another door. "Or there. Or there… You know, there's nothing in those doors. We've already cleaned everything out."

Ash looked a little puzzled. He'd come to the gym and risked his whole journey just to find that he couldn't even investigate anything? "So… where can I look?" He questioned.

"Well, we had to put all the stuff we cleaned out somewhere. And we chose the basement, since that's where the whole Team Rocket base was, and we didn't know what to do with it. The Pokémon League haven't picked any of the items in there to inspect, so maybe you'll find something. But I doubt it. Here we are."

Agatha took a turn, arriving at a dead end with a single door. Unlocking the door, it revealed a dark brown staircase. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go in."

Ash looked through the doorway with a suspicious look. He couldn't see the end of the stairs. Hovering over the door, he looked back at Agatha with a nervous look. Nidoran seemed to share his same sentiments.

"What are you waiting for?" Agatha repeated. "Go in." This time, she shoved Ash through the doorway. Stumbling a little, Ash immediately looked back at Agatha.

"Do you think I'm gonna lock you in there or something? God, kids are such # &% $ these days." Agatha said, before walking away.

Ash scowled at her bad language, though being a ghost type specialist. Ash wouldn't put it past her to lock him in there and leave him there until he became a ghost and haunted the gym or something… suddenly, goosebumps formed on his skin.

"Uh, let's go, Nidoran." He said, trying to mask his fear. Agatha said there were a bunch of items here from when Team Rocket was still in control. Nothing to fear, no ghosts or anything. Nidoran chirped in nervous agreement as Ash started to head down the stairs. Upon reaching the end of stairs, Ash struggled to see.

"Where's the light switch?"

He asked no one as he stumbled around in the dark. Ash could see that there was a bunch of stuff down here and didn't want to bump into anything. Feeling the wall, he managed to find it after a few seconds. Switching it off, Ash was amazed by the amount of stuff there. None of it really seemed… suspicious. More like everyday stuff.

"You seeing anything out of the usual?" He asked Nidoran. It was kinda pointless, since Nidoran had only been in civilization for about a week. Ash wouldn't expect to know what was the norm for furniture or whatever. But it was always good to have his partners' input.

"Hey, look at this." Ash knelt down, looking at a statue. It was a statue of a Persian posed on a stone pedestal.

"This is familiar," He mused, while Nidoran shrank under its gaze. It was a little spooky, with its glowing red eyes. Ash couldn't put together where he'd seen this before. But it looked kinda suspicious, so why not investigate it? It took a little bit of effort, but Ash was able to move the statue from sitting sideways to facing the right way. Looking at it closer, Ash could see something was definitely haunting about those red eyes. It made Ash feel uneasy. The lights were in, but the rooms down in this basement were still pretty dim.

"You think there's something up about this statue, Nidoran?" He inquired to Nidoran.

Nidoran nodded her head slowly, there was something wrong with the statue. Ash looked over it from the back and front. Finding nothing wrong, he decided to take a crack at it. Standing up, Ash kicked the statue with all his might.

"Ow!" He yelled holding his foot in pain. Despite the creepy setting, Nidoran laughed. Her trainer was good at relieving tension. After a few minutes, and Ash's foot didn't hurt as much he tried investigating again.

"Maybe there's a secret compartment that only opens up when you touch a certain part." Ash theorized. "That's how it works in the movies."

He started to feel up the Persian statue, stroking the skin until he eventually got to its head. He glided his hand across its head in almost a petting manner and lo and behold, something happened. The plague that was on the pedestal reverted back into the statue.

"Woah." Ash gasped as he stepped back from the statue. Seems kinda dangerous. In place of the plague (that Ash couldn't read, it was almost in a different language), a keyboard appeared. It had all the letters and stuff. Ash realized what it was.

"Uh oh. We need a code." Ash groaned.

Nidoran looked at the keyboard thoughtfully as Ash approached it. Kneeling down, he pressed on of the letters and the Persian's eyes glowed blue. After a second, it turned back to red. Ash pressed the enter button, wondering what it would do. The Persian's eyes flashed between red and black. So that's how it signified getting the passcode wrong. After that, Ash started to experiment. He knew about the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni from his encounter with Mewtwo. He seemed kinda self-absorbed, so Ash tried passwords that praised him.

'Giovanni Rules'

'Giovanni Reigns'

'King Giovanni'

'Hail Giovanni'

But none of them worked. Actually, wait, the last one worked. Ash was on the verge of wondering if he was even doing this right. But as he pressed the enter, the Persian's eyes glowed green and the keyboard retracted. But this time, nothing came back out. Looking inside, Ash could see that there was a small compartment in the statue. Reaching inside, he grabbed whatever he could and took it out.

"Look at this." Ash said, inspecting what he'd gotten. It was a notebook, it looked pretty old though. Who left it here?"

Nidoran jumped into Ash's lap, pointing at it.

"You think I should read it?"

Nidoran nodded, before curling up and closing her eyes. Ash chuckled, "Somehow, I don't think this will be a storybook kind of notebook." Nevertheless, Ash opened it up and was surprised by what it contained. It was a diary. And not just any normal diary. He started to read aloud so Nidoran could hear.

'Headquarters require that I report to a notebook anytime I find something or do something important. Just in case I don't make it on dangerous missions, it's a precaution.'

Ash paused. "Do you think this is the diary of a Team Rocket member?" It was possible. Anyway, he continued to read.

'I've made it to the S.S. Anne without being detected. Team Rocket are planning to take all the Pokémon with an ambush. I can't stop them, but I'll make sure that no one's Pokémon gets taken away.'

…

'The operation went better than I had expected. All the trainers fought back and were able to drive Team Rocket out. Though the S.S. Anne sank, and three trainers along with two Team Rocket members died… Anyways, I'm ready to report back to headquarters once I get out of here.'

"I remember that," Ash declared. "Those trainers were me, Brock and Misty. And those Team Rocket members were the ones who stole all my Pokémon." Ash frowned, while Nidoran attempted some consolation. After, Ash kept reading.

'I was unable to escape. I was detected, but they do not suspect I'm part of the Pokémon G-Men member.'

Ash gasped at that. Nidoran seemed a little confused, to which Ash explained. "Pokémon G-Men are like… really good detectives and police… or something. I don't remember. The Lance guy I told you about was one of them. They're really secret, the guy who wrote this journal must've been investigating Team Rocket." Now he has to keep reading.

'All the Team Rocket grunts were to report back to Viridian City. This confirms our suspicions, the Viridian City Gym is a secret operative for Team Rocket. But I've been unable to report back to base about my findings. If someone is reading this, I guess it's a good thing I wrote it.'

…

'I've confirmed that their boss is Giovanni, the city's gym leader. He gave us all a lecture for failing the S.S. Anne mission. It's getting increasingly dangerous to stay with Team Rocket. I have to find a chance to slip out.'

Ash paused. "I wonder what happened to this guy. The police didn't find Team Rocket in the gym until it got blown up. So he couldn't have reported back to his HQ, right?" Ash let the thought hover in his mind before continuing to read.

'I've been here for a month. The G-Men must think I'm dead, but I can't give up now. I've gathered some information, so I decided that I should put it down here. There's another base, where it seems like most of Team Rocket's plans are made from. Their important files and records are there too, so that's likely why I haven't found anything of use here either. Since Giovanni needs to stay in Viridian to run the gym, that base is run by an admin. I have yet to find the location of that base."

"We've got it, Nidoran. That sounds exactly like where I've got to go. If the Viridian Gym had been foiled, that sounds like where Giovanni would go next. I hope this guy was able to find the location of that base."

'I'm getting worried. The G-Men don't seem to know where I am. In any case, I have to keep gathering information. It's my job, after all. Anyways, there was a meeting today. Giovanni didn't want so many grunts around the Viridian City, so a bunch of them were getting shipped out. I was able to gather the locations on where. Celadon City, Saffron City, and Lavender City. That means that Team Rocket are operating in those locations. But that's all I got, I don't know what they're doing there, either. I'll be working to find some more information."

Ash didn't have anything to say to that. He'd been to Saffron and Celadon City but had never noticed anything. He kept reading, nevertheless.

'There's going to be a takeover at Silph Co., the only reason I know is because of the rumors. All the grunts were talking about it, so that's what Team Rocket was doing in Saffron City. I want to warn the Silph Co. President but there's absolutely nothing I can do. What good is information if I can't share it with my comrades?'

Ash swallowed. He wasn't talking anymore, and he wasn't sure if Nidoran was listening. Silph Co. They made pokeballs, potions and the like. Manufactured them, they were really important, or so Ash thought. He was kinda freaked out, this was 2 months after the Vermillion Incident which meant that it was way in the past. This had already happened. But Ash had never heard of it. Wouldn't this be big news? Silph Co. was still producing pokeballs and other trainer items. That meant this had happened in secret. Was Team Rocket in charge of Silph Co. right now? It was scary to think about.

'4 months into this. My mental state isn't great, being here for so long without my Pokémon. I haven't found anything interesting, except Giovanni left today. Something about a special project. He's been talking about a man named Mr. Fuji, maybe that's useful information. I'm not sure. I haven't been very careful about guarding my true intentions. I'm afraid I've been found out. I've seen what they do to grunts who disrespect them. It seems I've been called down to the office. Team Rocket Admin Archer is in charge now, he's ruthless. If I've been caught, I'm afraid this is the end of me. I've found a suitable place to hide my journal. These Persian statues are convenient. But if you're reading this, I'm sure you already know this. I'm procrastinating though. Okay, I'm ready now.

This is Professional G-Member, Looker, signing out—perhaps for the last time.'

That was the last entry in the journal. And not because Looker had run out of pages. Ash shuddered. Oh god. Reading about that… all of that was kinda horrifying. He'd gained helpful information, but that didn't do much to calm any nerves about fighting Team Rocket. He was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice.

"Ash?" Agatha called, and Ash could see her shadow at the top of the doorway. "Are you okay? You've been down there for over an hour. Did you find anything?"

Ash stayed silent for a second. Should he tell her? No. Agatha might report his findings to the police. And he needed this. And maybe she'd change her mind when she read the journal. He'd keep it to himself.

"No." He yelled back up to her. "I'm coming out in just a second." His voice dropped in sound as he addressed Nidoran. "Let's go, Nidoran." Nidoran stirred from her position and got ready to go.

They'd found what they needed, information. And proof that Team Rocket really needed to be stopped. So now, they were gonna do something about it.

AN: Lil' reference to Aura Guardians. They won't be relevant in this story though. To be clear, there was more entries in Looker's journal but I skipped over them. And that was the same Looker from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Also, someone asked about Pidgeot, Primeape, and Charizard. They will be addressed, except Pidgeot. Lets just say that Ash forgot about her.