Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not create myself.
Chapter 4: Hiro's New Friend
They both know what happened with Ash in his starting of his journey. They are hoping to avoid that flock of sparrows. But maybe they just can't avoid some events. Both Hiro and Akane run towards the exit of Pallet Town. Hoping to catch up with Ash, they soon reach the place that somehow looks familiar. It is the place where Ash managed to piss off that sparrow. They look around the place quickly, but they can't see Ash anywhere. Then Hiro says, "Oh man, I hope that flock of sparrows didn't already eat Ash and Pikachu." Akane hits him softly on the head, "Don't say something like that. We know Ash will be fine. He has plot armor on his side." Hiro laughs a little and then points in one direction, "Look over there, Akane." They both go in the direction Hiro pointed, and to their surprise, there is something on the ground. It's Ash's jacket without a doubt, the one Ash wears during his journey through Kanto. Akane takes it and puts it into her bag.
In a world where you can capture large Pokémon like Onix into a small ball, it's no surprise that you can store your items in your bag without any worries. These bags use the same technology as Poké Balls, allowing trainers to carry everything they need for their journey in one compact package.
After putting the jacket into her bag, Akane looked at Hiro. "Are Ash going to be alright?" In response, Hiro looked at her and replied, "Maybe he somehow managed to survive, just like in the anime. Let's just hurry up and try to find him. If everything goes according to the anime, Ash should be around the river that is nearby." She nodded, "I just hope he is okay. Hey, isn't it this time he is going to meet Misty?" Hiro nodded and replied, "Yes, and hopefully break her cycle." They both laughed a little at this and started running towards the river that was shown on the map provided by their Pokedex. "This thing is more useful than I first thought," Akane said to Hiro while running. "Yes, you can use your Pokédex for navigation. You can also use them to call someone and they also serve as your identification. I always thought it was just a blank device you had to fill with catching all the Pokémon, but it's also giving us information about Pokémon."
After some time, they arrived at the river that Ash was supposed to fall into. They tried to look around, but couldn't find anything. Suddenly, a wild Pokémon jumped out of the water and attacked them. The Pokémon who tried to attack them was kind of small and didn't look that strong either. Maybe it just wanted to be fed, so they provided it with food. It was a wild Horsea, and it didn't look very strong. They were about to ignore it, but when they looked at it closely, they realized it wasn't a normal Horsea. It was a Shiny Horsea. Shiny Pokémon are rare, and it's considered lucky to even get to see one, let alone catch one. And they didn't want it to run away.
Hiro looked at Akane, "You don't mind if I catch that Horsea? He'll also be a big help against the Rock-type Gym." Akane replied, "You can catch it. But you have to promise me that you'll let me catch our next shiny encounter if we come across one." Hiro smiled happily and said, "Of course. And thank you!" Then Hiro quickly grabbed Khalasi's Pokeball from his belt and released her from her Pokeball. It was the first time she had been called out of her Pokeball, so she was a bit confused. However, she took a fighting stance in front of Hiro after seeing the wild Horsea. Hiro quickly checked her Moveset; Growl, Scratch, and Ember. Although fire type moves were not very effective on water type Pokemon, Horsea wasn't that strong. "I'm going to catch you," Hiro said, pointing at the shiny Horsea. Before Horsea could do anything, Khalasi used Ember. Even with the disadvantage, Attack managed to do a lot of damage on Horsea. Hiro saw his opportunity and took one of the empty Pokeballs Professor Oak gave him. "Go, Pokeball." And with that, he threw it. The Pokeball hit Horsea and he went inside it. The Pokeball shook for a moment before making a pinging sound, indicating that the capture was successful.
Hiro took a moment to look at the Pokeball. "Alright, I caught a Shiny Horsea! Sweet. I shall name you Aqua." He was very happy that he had captured his first Pokemon and a shiny one at that. "Congratulations. And come on, we have to hurry up. We have to catch up with Ash as soon as possible." Akane said. "Oh, sorry, I kind of forgot about that. Let's hurry up." Then they both started running towards the riverbank. After some time, they noticed that the soil near one side of the river was wet, meaning someone who fell into the river must have gone from this area. Both Hiro and Akane knew who it was that fell into the water. So, they started following its trail. After some time, they were in a clearing where they found a flock of sparrows unconscious there. Both knew what had happened here and hoped that all the sparrows would be alright after some time. They continued their running to find Ash. After some time, they saw Misty carrying Ash and his Pikachu on her back and running in the direction of Viridian Town.
"Wait a minute, Miss," said Akane, now catching Misty's attention. "Oh, thank God. You two look like Pokemon Trainers. Can you help me take this boy and his Pikachu to the nearest hospital?" Misty said clearly relieved to see some help in carrying the boy. "Of course we are going to help. In fact, he is one of our friends, so don't worry." Hiro said quickly. Then he carefully picked up Ash and placed him on his back. Akane also helped him. Misty kept Pikachu in her arms. Then they started running towards Viridian Town.
After some time, they could see the entrance to Viridian Town. Seeing this made them smile a little. They started running faster. Suddenly, a woman riding a bicycle came close and stopped in front of them. "What's happened? And who are you all?" She looked at Ash. "Did any of you do this to this young man?" She asked suspiciously, thinking that maybe one of them had injured Ash. "No ma'am," replied Misty. "He suddenly appeared out of nowhere from the river where I was fishing. And he had a flock of Spearow after him. He was trying to get away on my bike, but the Spearow ignored me and kept chasing after him. When I ran in that direction, I saw that flock of Spearow and this boy and his Pikachu were unconscious. I tried to bring him here myself, but these two are too much for me. Fortunately, these two came along and told me that they know the boy and helped me carry him here."
The woman thought for a moment, "I understand the situation. I am the local police officer. My name is Janny. You can ride on my bike with that boy and Pikachu. I will drop you off at the hospital. Sorry, but you have to go there immediately. When you arrive in Viridian Town, the hospital is located in the center of town, so you won't have to look for it. Now listen carefully, Officer Janny said. "Don't worry. We are not that heavy, so you don't have to worry about us." Akane replied.
With that, Officer Janny took off with Ash, Misty, and Pikachu towards the hospital. Akane and Hiro looked at each other. "In the anime, it's not that bad, right?" Akane said. "Yes," Hiro replied. "Pikachu was badly hurt, but Ash was fine to carry Pikachu to the hospital himself." Akane continued. "Maybe we shouldn't expect everything to happen exactly like in the anime now. If Misty hadn't decided to help Ash or if we had taken off earlier like in the anime, like the other two trainers did, maybe Ash wouldn't have made it." Akane said. "So you're saying that the Ash-in-a-coma theories are somewhat true?" Hiro asked, referring to one of the most famous theories in their world. "Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows? We'll find out eventually as we continue our journey." Akane replied. "You're right. Let's not worry about that for now. We need to get to the hospital as soon as we can." Hiro said. And with that, both Hiro and Akane started walking towards the hospital with the help of their Pokédexes. "Man, these Pokédexes are really useful. I wonder why Ash didn't use them in the anime." Hiro said. They kept walking and soon could see a small town in front of them.
Author's Note: Be Safe and Healthy.