AN: Bam! Another chapter. Really nothing to say here, so enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, otherwise, Dawn would've won the Grand Festival.


9: The Aftermath of Silph Co

He didn't think losses would affect him this hard. Ash's feet hit the ground, and he looked around. He was in an alleyway, or something… the first order of business was to heal everyone. But he should do that later. He should get out of her first. The sun was setting, so it was getting a bit dark. Ash wanted to get out of the city pretty quickly. He realized he was still holding Nidoran in his hands, too. Ash returned the Poison Type Pokémon, so hopefully, she could get some relaxation.

Okay, so now that he was thinking just a tiny bit more rationally. He needed to get out of here, seriously. The President said that if word got out about Team Rocket, people would be suspicious of Silph. Co. That meant that they wouldn't tell anyone about his breakin, right? Good. Because that would actually be terrible. If that happened, he wouldn't be able to go to any Pokémon Centers in Kanto. But he didn't have to worry about that, so onto better things…

Healing his Pokémon. Yeah, he needed to do that. Ash was walking around aimlessly right now, definitely a stupid move. It was already getting dark and… For some reason, Ash didn't want to stay in this place any more than he had to. Yeah, what was that feeling he was getting? Was he being watched or something? Ash looked over his shoulder. No one was looking at him, but he could still feel the feeling…

Ash ducked into another alleyway, just to be safe. He swapped hats again, into his oversized black and blue one. He hoped they hadn't already seen his face, whoever was watching him. Taking a double look into the street, Ash stepped back out. It did nothing to help his supernatural feeling. Darn it…

He couldn't go towards the Pokémon Center yet. Whoever was watching him would corner him there. All of his Pokémon were still probably exhausted, too. He'd have no way to defend himself. Note to self, maybe he should purchase a knife or something. He needed to get out of here, quickly. That meant leaving town without having a chance to buy more supplies. But if that was what he had to do…

Okay. Ash was getting pretty nervous now. He was trying his best to not be suspicious, but jeez. What was happening? Maybe his brain was playing a trick on him or something. Whatever it was, this wasn't the time! Ash tried his best to walk towards the nearest city gates. Unfortunately, this was the South Gate, meaning it would head back to Viridian City, but it didn't matter that much, did it?

Ash looked around again as he left the city through the gates between routes and cities. He should be able to see whoever was watching him, but… He couldn't. Where the heck…? He was going crazy, wasn't he? Or a ghost was haunting him, that happened sometimes. Ash took a deep breath as he exited through the other side of the gate.

He was back on Route 6 now, though just barely. Ash got the feeling he was still being watched, which was just improbable. There was absolutely no one there, he was all out in the wilderness. It was night time, but ghosts didn't usually haunt people out in the open…

"Who's there?" Ash asked. No one answered.

Well, that was just great. He really didn't need this. He was going crazy while his Pokémon were hurt and he was suffering from a loss. Wasn't he supposed to get some time to reflect on his loss? Oh, yeah. He needed to build a fire and set up camp. Watched or not, wild Pokémon might attack him and he had no way to see them.

Ash started running, he was on a straight path, but he knew there was at least one forest. It was kinda stupid. Route 6 was a big area, but the only forest was occupied by that Pokémon School. Ash didn't really want to camp out in the same area with them, but it was his only choice. He didn't have any firewood. Ash approached the forest with caution. Hopefully things would get better when he lit a fire, he'd be able to see things better too. Almost in spite of his thoughts, the weird feeling started to grow.

Ash yelled out again. "Okay, who's there? I ain't afraid of you!"

Okay, when he had all of his Pokémon recovered. Maybe not. But right now, yeah, he was kind of scared. All of a sudden, his hairs started to stand up. He could feel something was here. It was kind of like… when Future Sight was about to hit! So this was some psychic power, was it?

As Ash hypothesized, he didn't notice the dark purple shadow right in front of him. It slowly crept up from the ground, taking shape until he was right in front of Ash's face.

"…AHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE &$%* IS THAT?!"

Ash immediately yelled out as he saw it. Chills ran down his spine as he jumped backwards, almost falling over before stumbling back to his feet. He didn't look back until he had shelter behind a tree.

"What… the heck… is that?" Ash asked himself. He genuinely had no idea, he was still shivering in fright. Okay. It didn't look like it was chasing him…

Ash took a peek around the tree to see the ominous shadow just… floating there. Hey… it was hard to see but it looked like it was moving? Ash squinted, it had a face now and… it's body was splitting into three pieces. There was a head and two hands and…

"Haunter?!"

Ash cried in disbelief. It was a Haunter, trying to play a joke on him. Man, he felt so stupid now. He should've figured it was a ghost Pokémon, and not a real ghost. Did real ghosts even exist? (There WAS that time he died, but…) There was something weird about this though, Ash could still feel that paranormal feeling…

His thoughts were interrupted as the Haunter broke out into laughter. Something familiar about that… Well, he guessed it was safe to come out now, right?

"Wait…" Ash said suspiciously. There was something real familiar about that. "Hey! You're my Haunter, aren't you?!"

His memory wasn't the best, but he could recognize that laugh. And the sense of humor, which wasn't appreciated. That was his Haunter, though, from the Tower of Terror. He'd given it to Sabrina, though. So what was it doing here? Haunter seemed to finally recover from its hysterics as it grinned at Ash.

Ash popped the question, now that Haunter was listening, "Hey, what are you doing here? Where's Sabrina?"

"I am here."

Suddenly, a yellowish green light illuminated the area behind Haunter. The source being Sabrina's hand as she stepped forward. She had her hand on her mouth… had she been laughing too? Ash sighed to himself, man, he needed to stop getting scared like that. "Um… so what are you guys doing here?" Ash asked. "Shouldn't you be over in your gym or whatever?"

Sabrina nodded. "Yes. But I sensed you were in this city. And I sensed your intentions."

Oh, shoot. "You're not gonna fight me to make me go home, right?" All of his Pokémon were pretty much wiped out, so…

"No," Sabrina answered, shaking her head. "It is a noble goal, and I believe you can do it." Well, Ash was glad to know someone had faith in him. "You have just suffered a loss, haven't you?"

"Yeah…"

"You cannot be discouraged yet. I will give you Haunter to use in your future endeavors."

"Huh?" Ash questioned, mostly in shock. "Really?" He never expected to fight alongside Haunter again.

Haunter seemed to find his confusion hilarious, erupting into a fit of laughs. Sabrina smiled, nodding. "Your Haunter is good at lightening the mood, and making jokes. Your path is a serious one, and you need reminders that not all is dark. Much like what he did for me. Haunter will be good for your team. Take him."

Yeah. That made sense. In the past, Sabrina had been a cold girl, her two personalities split in two. Haunter helped to heal her cruel personality. Since Ash was so down after his recent loss, Sabrina was giving it to Ash so he would lighten up, right? He had a feeling he couldn't really say no, not that he wanted to.

"Alright then, I accept." He responded, before extending his hand to Haunter. "It's good to have you back, buddy."

Haunter calmed down for a second, his expression shifting into a serious smile. With a nod, Haunter also extended his hand. As they shook hands, Ash smiled. A new team member wasn't a bad way to end this day. That was, until a familiar sensation started to spread through his body…

"Ahehehah!" Ash shouted as he was electrocuted. As Ash fell to the ground in a slump, Haunter grinned before taking off his shock bracelet on his wrist. In hindsight, Ash wondered how he didn't see that before he shook hands with Haunter. Haunter exploded into more hysterics as Sabrina covered her mouth, giggling. Wow. She had changed a lot in the past year.

"Some joke…" Ash mumbled before he got back to his feet.

"Yes," Sabrina agreed, not catching his sarcasm.. "Haunter has retained his sense of humor. I hope you will come to appreciate what he will bring to your team. But for now, farewell."

Ash barely had a chance to say goodbye before Sabrina started to walk away. He watched as her green light faded into the distance until it went out completely. Sighing, Ash pushed himself up and sat next to a tree as Haunter floated to his side.

"So you're gonna be part of the team?" He asked, still a little shocked. Haunter nodded. "Where's your pokeball? Sabrina must've caught you, right? Or… do I have to catch you myself?"

Haunter's expression turned into a thoughtful one as he mimed thinking. Apparently coming up with the answer, he shook his head before taking Ash's oversized hat off. Ash was about to retaliate, but he found something round on his head. Ash took it off and… woah!

"Hey! What's this?" Ash asked as he held the item off his head.

It looked like a pokeball, but it was black. There was a gold and red pattern with a white line tracing over the crack in the middle.

"Wait, this is yours, isn't it?" Ash said. Haunter nodded eagerly. "That's a neat trick you've got. Alright, then, you've gotta meet the rest of my team!"

Ash quickly grabbed three more pokeballs and let his Pokémon out. Nidoran, Diglett, and Ponyta appeared on the ground in front of him. Nidoran still looked a little beat up, but she was curious to see what was going on. Diglett's expression was stoic, but it seemed like he carried some disappointment for losing. Ponyta was… asleep. Haunter frowned, before clasping his hands together and smirking evilly.

"Uh… Haunter?" Ash asked as the ghost type sunk into the floor. What was he up to?

It wasn't too long before Ash found out. Haunter slid out of the ground just a few feet from Ponyta's resting position. Somehow, he'd managed to get a bucket of water. From where, no one really knows. But from there, Haunter grinned again before dumping it onto Ponyta.

"Poooooonyyyyy!" The Horse Pokemon neighed as she woke up with a jolt. The flames on her back had been put out by the water, but upon seeing the cause of her awakening, they burst back with a flaming vengeance.

"Ponyta…" Ash warned, "Calm down, it was just a joke…"

Haunter nervously chuckled as sweat ran down its ghostly face. He pleaded with the Pokémon equivalent of "It was just a prank, bro" but Ponyta didn't seem to care. She activated Flame Wheel as her fire took over her body and rolled towards Haunter. Haunter fanned panic as Ponyta neared, but Ponyta merely flew right through his body. Haunter turned tangible again upon seeing he was safe.

"Woah! How'd you do that?!" Ash immediately gushed, "I knew normal and fighting type moves had no effect against ghost types but that was a fire type move! You can turn completely… what's the word for it? Intangerine? …I forget, but you're untouchable!"

Haunter glowed under Ash's praise, though he already knew he was awesome. They were interrupted by Ponyta's next attack. Activating Flame Charge, she turned around and headed back towards Haunter.

Ash had a sudden thought occur to him. If Ponyta kept using fire type moves… "Wait! Wait! Wait!" He yelled, jumping in front of Ponyta. "You're gonna burn the forest down! We'll become ACTUAL criminals! And… we might die in the fire! Stoooooop!"

Ponyta's flames flickered out until it returned to normalcy and she halted movement. It looked like she didn't have the heart to kill her newfound trainer, at least. She also didn't have to heart to suffer through a meet and greet with Haunter, so she walked back to her resting area and went back to sleep. Ash sighed.

"Well, on that note." He started to announce, turning back to Nidoran and Diglett. "It's time for a midnight dinner!"

Ash was actually starved. He didn't realize it at first because he was busy trying to prevent a national wildfire. But he hadn't eaten in nearly ten hours of more. Unfortunately, he was "chased" out of Saffron City so he wasn't able to buy any more food materials. So instead of making Pokémon Chow, he decided to try a simple soup for everyone. He had seen Brock do it about a hundred times, so he knew how to do it. Ash gathered a bunch of firewood before lighting a stick on fire using Ponyta's flame. After he got the main fire burning, he brought out a big pot. It was sort of hard to fit into his backpack, so Ash was considering getting another backpack. It would hinder his speed, definitely. But being able to carry more stuff might be worth it.

Anyways, he grabbed all the ingredients that he thought might be good in soup. Tomatoes, onions, peppers, salts, and whatever. Brock would always cut the vegetables up, then put them into the soup. After putting water in the bowl and hanging it over he fire, Ash did exactly that. He took a taste test… and… ew. That did not taste good.

Maybe an inside opinion would help. "Hey, would any of you know how to cook?" He asked.

Ponyta didn't respond while Nidoran and Diglett responded with headshakes. Haunter took a pause from planning pranks and performing pranks to give Ash a show of faces that ultimately responded in a no. Ash sighed. He was all alone on this one. Maybe he should've learned something from Brock.

No wasting food, though. Ash would die before he gave up on this stew. Ash furrowed his eyes as he tried to think of a solution. After stirring it, Brock would always put salt, peppers, and other herbs to form his delicious concoctions. Ash had prematurely dumped all of his "herbs" into the stew already, so that meant he only had salt and peppers. Ash hoped that would make it taste good. Before that, he stirred the soup. His Mom would sometimes give Ash the job of stirring, so he was pretty good at it. Ash didn't know why he was doing it though. His Mom and Brock always did, so it must be pretty important, though.

Lastly, Ash picked up his spices and whatnot. This would be the saving grace of his soup… hopefully. He started to empty his bottles into the stew before taking a sip. It tasted… weird, not as bad as before though. Not enough pepper, definitely. This went on for a while until his spice bottles were almost empty. The soup didn't taste perfect, but it was decent. And at this point, no matter how many spices he put in, the taste wasn't really changing. So… it was done?

"Yeah. Alright, everyone! Dinner's ready!" Ash announced.

Nidoran, Diglett and Haunter ran to where Ash had set their plates as he carefully poured the soup into their bowls. It would be freakin' hell to clean them, but he had experience with Brock's plates and bowls. Nidoran, Diglett and Haunter dug into their food while Ponyta barely paid attention to it.

Ash invited the fire type over, "Hey, Ponyta. Come on, you need to it. You just did a lot of fighting, c'mon and recharge your energy!"

Ponyta gave him a soft neigh but didn't do anything in the end. Ash sighed. He'd dealt with difficult Pokémon before, but hoped Ponyta wouldn't be too hot to handle. Ash chuckled at his joke as he picked Ponyta's bowl up. He carried it over to Ponyta and set it down near her mouth.

"Come on, eat some." He pleaded. Ponyta opened her eyes again to look at the food. With another soft neigh, she kicked up some of her food. If she found it bad or good, she didn't show it. Ash looked at the rest of his team. Nidoran didn't seem to enjoy the soup yet, and had only eaten about half of it. Diglett… however he ate, had already eaten all of his. He… didn't seem to have a reaction either. Haunter loved it, which was shocking. He even ate Nidoran's leftovers. Ash wondered if that was some sort of joke or something, even he could admit it wasn't amazing. On that note, Ash finished his soup quickly.

After everyone had drank their bowls dry, Ash collected them all before realizing something.

"Oh shoot," He exclaimed. "I forgot to find water!"

Usually, you'd set up camp near a water source. But there was no such thing around here meaning he couldn't collect any water for later or wash his plates. Ash was about to go find some when he heard a clank in front of him.

"Haunter…" Haunter laughed as he put a bucket full of water in front of Ash. That was… weird, but made sense. If he had enough water to douse Ponyta, he must have more.

"Thanks, Haunter!" Ash exclaimed as he knelt down to use the bucket. In doing so, committing a terrible mistake. As Ash turned his back to Haunter, the ghost type summoned another water bucket from who knows where and poured it all over Ash.

"Ahhh! What'd you do that for?!"

Ash screamed before choking on water that made its way into his nose. Ash gagged for a second before finally clearing water from his systems. With another cough, Ash groaned. "Guess I should've expected that one." Haunter agreed as he laughed.

"Wait…" Ash realized. "Does this mean you have an infinite source of water? That's the third bucket you've had."

Haunter shook its head, and Ash's gaze lingered on the ghost type just in case. You never know what the guy's thinking about. Ash was finally able to get to washing the dishes, though. So if Haunter was lying about it, it looks like he wouldn't know until later. Looking over the camp, it seemed like Diglett and Ponyta had fallen asleep. Nidoran and Haunter were getting acquainted, maybe their poison type made them get along. A good sleep—albeit short—should have everyone up to fighting speed. He wouldn't even have to use any items. Which was good, wasting money really sucked.

"Okay, guys. It's time to get to sleep!" Ash declared as he tucked everything into his backpack. "Since we've gotten two new team members, why doesn't everyone sleep outside their pokeballs?"

Ash grinned as Haunter and Nidoran agreed wholeheartedly. Ash parked his sleeping bag near Diglett and Ponyta's resting place. Nidoran tucked herself into Ash's sleeping bag, too while Haunter rested against a tree stump. Ash smiled. Taking care of himself may be a bit tedious. But all of this… it was rewarding. It was almost like he was back on his journey to be the very best. Though Sabrina and Haunter's sense of humor may be a little weird. He couldn't deny being surrounded by his friends didn't feel good.

And with all of that in mind, how could he stay down after one loss?


The morning sun crept up on Ash, its rays shining down on Ash's face. That's not what awoke the raven-haired boy, though. It was the hands of something sinister, something cold that sent goosebumps down his skin, even in sleep…

"Haunter! What'd you do that for?!"

After Ash had recovered from his rude wake up, he surveyed the area. Mostly for water, to restock. Ponyta and Haunter had been awake before him whereas Nidoran and Diglett were woken up to Ash's screams. A wake up was a wake up though, and Ash was glad he was woken up early in the morning. He could do some quick traveling that way. Before Silph. Co, he'd wanted to go to Celadon City and bust Team Rocket over there, but Ash could see he wasn't ready. He knew he said he wouldn't let the loss get him down but…

"Alright guys! It's time to get going," Ash declared. His Pokémon lined up behind him. "Wait… uh, you think having so many Pokémon might attract too much attention?"

He was met with several different cries. He scratched his head in confusion. "Alright, sorry, but I'm gonna only keep Ponyta out." He was met with several more cries, of disapproval this time. Ash rubbed the back of his head as he smiled nervously. "Okay, I know you guys wanna come with me. But I want to spend some time with Ponyta, to see what she's all about."

Ponyta didn't seem enthusiastic about the idea. Ash really hoped she'd warm up to him as they traveled. Otherwise this would be pointless. Ash returned his Pokémon one after another until only Ponyta was left.

"Alright, Ponyta. Hope you're ready for some advenahhhhhhhAHHHHH!"

Ash yelled out in pain in his attempt to pet Ponyta's mane of fire. He forgot that Ponyta's fire would burn anyone it didn't trust, which meant…

"You don't trust me?" Ash mumbled quietly…

Ponyta turned away with a defiant neigh. Ash's smile turned to a frown. It looked like it'd be awhile before he could get Ponyta to listen completely to all of his directions. That was okay, though. Ash knew he could do it. He started to walk towards the south exit of the forest as Ponyta slowly followed. Ash didn't know where he was going, but he was sure he could find some way to train on the road.

"Hey! Hey! Don't I know you?" Were the words he heard not too long after exiting the forest. Ash cocked his head upon seeing it was a kid.

Ash shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so?" He answered.

"Mmmm… Hey! I know! You were on the paper!" The kid showed Ash the newspaper he'd been clutching. Ash inspected it. Unlike other pictures he'd seen, Ash was on the front page on this one.

"Yeah, you were the one who barged in to Silph. Co and beat everyone up! What did you steal? Huh? Did you plant a virus into my pokeballs?"

Ash backed away from the conspiracy making kid. "I didn't do anything, I swear."

The kid didn't seem convinced. "Anyways, why'd you run away from home? I would never do that… hey, you know what? I bet I'll get a reward if I bring you home! You're coming with me, mister!"

"Hey! No way!" Ash rebutted. "Leave me alone, kid!"

"Huh?! I'll leave you alone if you beat me in a battle! But if you lose! You're comin' home with me, y'hear?!"

Ash didn't get a chance to agree or disagree before the battle was initiated. Ash sent out his Haunter to deal with the boy's Spheal, and just like that, it seemed like he would be getting some training in whether he wanted it or not.


Ash estimated that the rate he was going, he'd reach Vermillion City by night if he kept going like this. He might rest up there and leave in the morning, but he couldn't really sleep in the Pokémon Center. It seemed like he was pretty well known for the Silph. Co incident. And that absolutely sucked.

For one, he was the only one who was getting attention. Team Rocket hadn't even been mentioned, which meant that Silph. Co's name was still mostly clear. That really frustrated Ash, that was so unfair. Apparently, some scientist had let the police know even though it was supposed to be a secret. Ash couldn't really blame them, having your workplace invaded two times was too many. But even so, he still thought it was some real bullcrap.

What's worse was that half the trainers he'd fought that morning all seemed to know of him. Apparently, his intrusion had made the front page on a bunch of newspapers. Silph. Co was the largest company in the world, apart from the Devon Corporation in Hoenn, so it made sense that everyone would make a big fuss. It was really annoying though, especially since he wouldn't be able to sleep in Pokémon Centers no matter where he went.

That wasn't the only thing on Ash's mind, though. He realized that, subconsciously, he was heading towards Vermillion City. It made sense not to go towards Saffron City, since he was probably being looked for over there. Though this completely interfered with his plan of heading towards Celadon City. He was going in the opposite direction of where he needed to right now. Ash figured that he needed to train, anyway, so maybe this was for the better. He'd go East from Vermillion and train while he passed Lavender Town and eventually made it towards Celadon. That was the plan, at least.

Ash kept battling trainers on his way to Vermillion, which was good experience with Haunter. Ash now knew that the ghost type knew Shadow Punch, Sucker Punch, Hypnosis and Confuse Ray. It was a real good moveset, especially since Shadow Punch was a move that couldn't miss. Sabrina must've done a real good job training Haunter.

Ponyta on the other hand, wasn't exactly warming up to him at all. She seemed to love battling more than anything, though. That was good, but Ash really needed to be on the same wavelength with Ponyta. If a repeat of that fight with Dodrio ever happened, he needed Ponyta to listen to him and dodge attacks. Ash doubted that he would've won even if Future Sight didn't hit at that exact moment. Mulling over that loss wouldn't be much good, though, especially when it was almost time for lunch.

"Alright, everyone, come out!" Ash called as he opened all of his pokeballs. With a cheer, Nidoran, Diglett and Haunter erupted from their pokeballs.

Ash had just found another forest which wasn't on the map. He figured that this would be a pretty good place to eat. There was probably a river or stream nearby, and there'd definitely be some fruit trees or berry bushes. It was pretty hidden away from everything, so there probably wouldn't be any trainers meaning the whole team could come out.

"I think we should eat lunch in this forest. But… we're kinda out on food," Ash admitted. "But there should be some berries and fruit we can use to make some! So let's do some searching!"

His Pokémon agreed to help (especially since their lunch was on the line), and got to searching. Ash realized that for some reason now, he really appreciated having all of his Pokémon outside of their pokeballs. Usually, he'd only keep Pikachu outside of his balls and everyone else would stay in. Maybe it's because he didn't have any traveling companions like Brock and Misty. Man, he really missed traveling with them.

Diglett suddenly spoke up, "Diglett Dig."

"You found a Berry bush?" Ash asked as he kneeled down. It looked like some oran and persim berries. "Good job."

Ash started to pick the berries off the bush while everyone else spread out the area. If there was one berry bush, there was bound to be more. Ash packed all of the berries into his berry pouch before moving on.

They kept progressing through the forest like that, finding some fruit and berries as they did. They almost had enough for lunch and the rest of their travels, but Ash still wanted to find a water source before setting up camp. As they advanced, Ash swore he remembered this place. He'd come across a lot of forests in his time, so it was entirely possible. But this place just seemed… really familiar.

Suddenly, it came to him. "Oh! I've got it! This is the secret villlllllAGGEEEE!" Ash screamed as he stepped on a rope that wrapped around his foot and pulled him into the air while upside down.

His Pokémon looked at the trap with confusion—well, except Haunter, who was laughing. "This is the secret village," Ash explained sheepishly. "The girl who set this up wanted to protect the Pokémon she helped so she set up traps… Oh, that explains why we've barely seen any Pokémon around here, too, I guess. Could you… get me down now?"

Haunter finished laughing at the situation as he floated up to the rope and undid the knot. Haunter did so with no warning, which caused Ash to almost hit his head as he fell on the ground. The cheeky ghost type exploded into another fit of hysterics while Ash massaged his sore back.

"Haunter… you've gotta stop doing that…" Ash groaned. He stayed on the ground, he was in too much pain to move. "Welp, I guess we're having lunch her—…"

"Oh, it's you again!" A feminine voice exclaimed, cutting Ash off. It was a very familiar feminine voice, meaning it must've been…

"Melody!" Ash exclaimed as he looked at the newcomer, who sweat dropped.

"Actually, it's Melanie." She corrected before looking at Ash's situation, "Oh, did you get stuck in a trap? Sorry…"

Ash chuckled awkwardly. Well, it HAD been a long time. Melanie was one of the more memorable characters that he'd met on his journey, though. She was the one who gave Ash his Bulbasaur for starters. She hadn't changed much, not that Ash would've really noticed anyways. Brock, maybe, but Ash hadn't really remembered Melanie's appearance.

"Oh! Let me help you get up!" Melanie suggested, as she extended a hand towards Ash. Ash gladly accepted it and got back up on his feet.

After that, he was able to offer a proper greeting. "It's nice to see ya again, Melanie!"

Melanie smiled, "You too. I didn't think you'd ever come back to the Secret Forest out here."

"I wasn't planning to…" Ash muttered.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing."

Melanie looked over Ash's Pokémon. "Say, what are you doing here? Come to say hello? I've seen you've got some more Pokémon."

Ash realized that being isolated from society, Melanie probably didn't know about Ash being wanted. That was good, though he hadn't really planned a cover story for this situation…

"I, uh…" Ash muttered, "Just wanted to explore the Kanto region, again, and… this place was a good place for lunch!"

Technically not a lie. Melanie seemed convinced. "Oh, that's wonderful. I was about to have lunch too before I heard that trap go off! Won't you join me?"

That was an appealing invitation, and apparently his stomach thought so too. Because it started rumbling as soon as Melanie suggested it. Ash laughed, "I guess I have no choice."

Melanie laughed too. "Of course, I'll make food for your Pokémon friends too, all the Pokémon in my secret village love the food I make, so I hope they will too."

Melanie was met with a chorus of excited cries from Ash's team. She smiled, "Let's go then."

Ash and Melanie started to make their way through the forest with Melanie leading the way so no more traps were activated. Ash had already picked enough berries to last them for a while, so he enjoyed the sights of the forest instead. As they got closer, Ash explained the concept of the secret village to his Pokémon.

"So basically, Melanie takes any injured, sick Pokémon and helps until they're nursed to full health. She's kind of like a Nurse Joy… oh, and any Pokémon that a trainer abandons, she helps them too! Though some of them prefer to stay with her instead of living in the wild even when they're at full health. It's probably because she's a really good caretaker."

Melanie giggled, "Oh, Ash. You're making me blush!"

Ash appeared to be in thought. "Yeah, wasn't Bulbasaur the protector of the secret village?"

Melanie nodded. "Yes, that was his job before I gave him to you."

"So have you gotten attacked by anyone or anything? I hope Bulbasaur being away wasn't too bad…"

"Nope, the forest had been peaceful ever since you left! But on that note, how is Bulbasaur doing?"

Ash froze. Technically, Bulbasaur, or—Ivysaur, was in a cage somewhere in one of Team Rocket's bases. Or worse. But Ash decided that he wouldn't tell Melanie that. She didn't need that information.

"He's doing great at Professor Oak's ranch!" Ash lied, "He actually evolved into an Ivysaur recently!"

"That's wonderful news! I knew you would make a great trainer for Bulbasaur."

"Yeah…" Man, the guilt creeping up his throat did not feel good. Luckily, they had just arrived at the opening that housed the Secret Village. Saved by the bell. Ash surveyed the open area, it had a river flowing through it for water. And there was the cottage that Melanie lived in the last time he was there. But there were two other wooden buildings in the clearing too.

"Man, this place is bigger than I remember." Ash commented as he stepped into the opening.

"Well, yes. I had to get buildings to help treat my patients better. Doing everything in one was getting just a bit crowded." Melanie explained.

"So you built all of it?"

"No," Melanie said, giggling. "The Pokémon did! That's my personal house." Melanie pointed at the house that had been there when Ash first visited.

"That's the nursery," she said, pointing to one of the new ones. "And that's the Pokémon house! I keep my patients there while they're recovering."

Ash nodded, it made sense for a secret village dedicated to helping Pokémon. Melanie started to walk towards her house. "Lunch is served outside, wait by that table while I finish up lunch."

Ash nodded as Melanie disappeared into her house. This place had changed a lot since he had last been there. There were still lots of Pokémon though. There were mostly grass types, Oddish, Gloom and even one Vileplume! There were Sunkerns, Sunflora, Bellsprout and a few Weepinbell. There were water types living in the river too, mostly Magikarp. But there was some Slowpoke, Goldeen, and Remoraid too. Man, this was a Pokémon Haven, and there wasn't anyone there to ruin it.

"Alright guys, make yourself at home!" Ash declared. His Pokémon nodded, all going to do their different things. Nidoran started to socialize, she really was a social Butterfree. Ash wondered how she felt all cooped up in his house. Diglett went to do some exploring while Ponyta laid down to do some more resting. Ash sighed, he'd learned that Ponyta didn't have any taste (Well, she did. But she didn't care, she'd eat anything no matter what it tasted like) and she only really cared about battling, or Team Rocket. Ponyta wasn't arrogant like Charizard, but she did seem pretty confident in her strength. Haunter was grinning evilly, and Ash slanted his eyes. "You can't be pranking any of those Pokémon, y'hear?"

Haunter's grin diminished, though it didn't look like he was fully convinced. His Pokémon were really moody, weren't they? Ash glanced over at the table that Melonie had mentioned. It was all set for lunch, though Melonie wasn't expecting visitors it seemed; there was only one plate. On the other hand, there were dozens of bowls littered all over the place. For the Pokémon, obviously. It was really lucky that he found this forest, and ended up meeting with Melanie. A proper lunch was sounding real good right now. Ash's stomach growled at the thought of food once again, and Ash laughed to himself.

"Gloom?" A Gloom said as it walked up to Ash's feet.

Ash looked down. "Uh… hey there, little guy."

"Gloom Gloom Gloom, Glooooom!"

"Have I met you?"

Gloom nodded its head in response, and Ash sighed. What was this Gloom trying to tell him…? It didn't look like a Gloom he'd ever seen before. Definitely not Erika's, though…

"I've got it! You're the Oddish that Misty tried to catch before!" He exclaimed.

Gloom managed a smile, despite its name. Yeah, it was that shy, little Oddish that Ash and Misty had argued over back then. He wasn't too upset about not catching Oddish, since he got Bulbasaur back then. But it was nice to know that Oddish had grown into a fine Gloom.

"So you evolved?" Ash asked, wondering how such a thing could happen. Usually a Pokémon needs battle experience.

Suddenly, Ash heard Melanie's voice. "Yes, it sure did!"

Ash turned his head to see Melanie carrying two food filled plates. One was noticeably larger than the other. Melanie put the larger one in the middle of the picnic table while she put the smaller one on the opposite side of the first plate. Melanie put food onto the empty plate before facing Ash.

"What do you mean?" Ash inquired, waiting for her to elaborate.

Melanie walked over to Gloom, bending down to pet the grass type. "I know I said wr had a peaceful time, buuuut some Ursaring decided that this place would be their new mating grounds. Ursaring aren't native to Kanto, so it was a real surprise. I would gladly let them have this forest as their home, but they were disrupting the recovery of my patients. I didn't have Bulbasaur, oh, I mean Ivysaur, to protect us, so we were helpless. Gloom and a lot of my other Pokémon banded together to stand up to the Ursaring though. It was a conflict that lasted weeks, but eventually the Ursaring gave up on the forest and left. It was a terrifying time but Oddish evolved into Gloom to help solve the problem."

"Woah…" Ash smiled, bending down to pet Gloom as well. "You're one tough guy, aren't you?"

Gloom smiled bashfully again at all of the attention. They were all interrupted by the growling of Ash's stomach. Ash and Melanie laughed. "I guess you really need to eat," Melanie said. "So come on, take a seat. Start without me, I'll only be a minute."

Melanie headed back to her house one more time. Ash wondered what she was gonna do over there. Ash's stomach growled. Well… she did say that he could eat…

Ash was in his seat by the picnic in seconds, looking over the food. It looked great! It looked like Melanie had been fishing, and wow, she was good and preparing fish! It looked perfectly crisp and crunchy to eat. The side dishes looked good too, seasoned berries—looked like he was eating berries for lunch anyways!—and they were cut up and put on the side. It looked delicious. Ash looked at his team before eating just to realize… they didn't have any food! No matter how hungry he was, he couldn't go eating without making sure his team had food, too.

"Melanie? Uh…"

Ash sighed before standing up. It looked like eating would have to wait. He started to make his way towards the small cottage he'd seen Melanie enter. Hopefully he wasn't interrupting anything important, Melanie said she'd be back in a minute so it should be fine. He was able to enter before Melanie stumbled out of the house, almost bumping into Ash.

Ash almost yelled in surprise. "Woah! Melanie…" He noticed she was carrying something. "Whoa, what's that?"

"Oh, uh… this is the Pokémon food!" Melanie explained. She was carrying a big sack of… food, apparently. It seemed rather heavy.

"Really? All of this? Hey, let me help!"

Melanie shook her head, "No, I've got this." She made her way to the nearest food bowl. Then she bent over and poured the perfect amount of Pokémon food into the bowl.

"I can't make full meals for all the Pokémon that appeal to their tastes everyday," Melanie explained as she started to repeat the process. "So I made a formula that appeals to the taste of most of the Pokémon in the forest. It took a long time, but I was able to do it."

"That's almost! You're just like Brock!" Ash exclaimed. "So you made all of this food. Wow, you must be a really good chef."

Melanie smiled as she emptied her bag into the bowls. The bag got lighter and lighter as she emptied it, so it was easier to carry as she went along. Melanie cleared the whole opening in only a few minutes before she was done.

"It's time for lunch, everybody!" Melanie announced, yelling as loud as she could. "Come and get your food!"

The Pokémon of the forest all snapped their heads over towards Melanie. Though, mostly just the ones she took care of. Ash watched as they all made their way to a bowl, swarming the whole clearing. He could barely walk without stepping on a Pokémon."

Melanie sighed, "I hope your Pokémon will like the food I prepared. Oh, well, we should eat too! You haven't touched your food yet, probably because of me…"

Ash let out a laugh. "Nah, I just can't eat if I don't know my Pokémon are having a good time too!" He reassured, to which Melanie smiled.

"It's good that you feel that way." She said while making her way towards the table.

Now that both participants of lunch were here, Ash could finally dig in to his lunch. He found that the meal was delicious. Ash and Melanie had some pleasant conversation as they are as well. Ash talked about his journeys, Melanie asked about Brock and Misty, and why he wasn't traveling with them. Ash had to do some quick thinking with his lies, but all in all, it was a very pleasant lunch. His Pokémon seemed to agree too, though Haunter mostly because it distracted Ash enough for him to pull some pranks. However, most of his other Pokémon with the exception of Ponyta decided to socialize. The Pokémon of the forest were naturally curious about the newcomers, so Nidoran and Diglett were able to make friends pretty easily. The grass types seemed pretty hesitant about approaching Ponyta though, probably for the best. Nidoran liked the food just fine, though Haunter didn't seem to like it, and Diglett and Ponyta ate it without reaction.

"Man! That was good!" Ash exclaimed as he stuffed the last bit of food into his mouth. "You're a really good cook, Melanie."

Melanie giggled as she stood up to take Ash's plates. "Is that so? Here, you can have the rest of mine."

"Really?!" Ash asked before he remembered his manners. "I mean, really? Aren't ya hungry?"

Melanie shook her head. "I'm already full, so you can have mine. Just remember to give me your plates when you're finished."

Ash gave no objection to that as Melanie carried her plates away. Seconds later, she reappeared with a sponge and washcloth. Using the river to fill her bucket up, she started to wash our plates. Ash finished the rest of his food and walked to the river to wash his plates. Melanie insisted that she would do it, and wouldn't let Ash, so he left it to her. Ash was able to look around at the sights after that, and he noticed most of the Pokémon seemed to have finished their lunch. There were bowls littered everywhere with scraps of Pokémon food in them. It must take a lot of time to wash all of them. Melanie really was something? They hadn't stuck around to see it, but caring for so many Pokémon must be hard.

That reminded him… he had to be leaving soon. It made Ash feel bad, he had lunch here and didn't have anything to repay her with. Oh well. He really didn't have the time to stay here, though. He thought he could make it to Vermillion City by dinner time, but…

"Hey, Melanie?" Ash said as he turned, he'd just thought of something.

Melanie turned her head to look at Ash. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, that's not it… It's just… Can I use your kitchen? I know I've kinda been a bother, but I haven't found out the recipes that my Haunter and Ponyta really like so I was wondering if I could do that here. I have my own berries, so I should be fine by myself."

Melanie shook her head. "Ash, you haven't been a bother. It's been a pleasure to have you, because I never get visitors, or at least, human visitors. If you need to use my kitchen, feel free too. Just… clean up after you're done."

Ash nodded, sighing in relief. Asking so much of Melanie was kind of bad of him, but he realized that this could be his last chance. He was probably wanted in other cities and towns so it might not be possible to get access to a kitchen. He had to do it right now or he'd never be able to do it. Maybe it was a small thing, but Haunter and Ponyta enjoying their time on the team was important, so Ash had to try.

"Haunter, Ponyta, get over here!" He yelled, mostly because he wasn't really sure where the two were… Haunter paused his shenanigans to come and see what Ash wanted while Ponyta woke up and made its way towards Ash wearily.

"I wanted to make some Pokémon Food that you guys would really enjoy! And of course, I'll need you two for the taste testing." Haunter grinned, Nidoran's Pokémon Food was appealing, but not great. Ponyta seemed indifferent to Ash's announcement, which made him frown. He hoped in time Ponyta would realize Ash really cared for it.

The next hour consisted of a lot of stirring, and mixing, and… a lot of stuff. Who knew cooking could be so tiring? He thought only real dishes would be this hard, but making so much Pokémon Food was just as taxing. Melanie had come in to put the dishes back, but it seemed she was pretty busy this evening. It was pretty nice to see that his past experience in Kanto was making things easier. He'd been able to rest up and train properly at the Pokémon Tech School, and he could use Melanie's Kitchen in the Secret Village. He was also able to battle AJ earlier, and that had caused a huge boost in confidence. Ash wondered if he'd meet anyone else that he'd met before.

Of course, he was also in a rush right now to get to Vermillion City. So he really had to hurry with the cooking, but with due time, he was able to figure out both of his Pokémon's tastes in record times. It was difficult, with Haunter's pranks and Ponyta's indifference to everything, but he did it. And with that, Ash was done with everything he had wanted to do in this village. So… it was time to say goodbye.

"Hey everyone!" Ash yelled as he stepped outside with Haunter and Ponyta. "It's time to go!"

His last two remaining Pokémon, Nidoran and Diglett came at his call. Ash could hear footsteps and turned to face Melanie.

"You're leaving?" She asked, to which Ash nodded. "Yep, I've done everything I wanted to do, and I've got to get a move on."

"I wish you the best, Ash."

"You too. I hope I see you again one day!" Ash said as he started to walk out of the opening. Melanie waved goodbye as he started to disappear into the forest. Looks like it was goodbye once again.

After a few minutes, Ash had made it a good distance away from the clearing. That was a pleasant stop, and one that he really needed. He really needed that nice lunch and break from traveling after his recent adventures. Ash wasn't too broken up about his loss against the President either, anymore. He'd get stronger and stronger until he was the best. No way he'd let something like this get him down. If he was going to defeat Team Rocket, that was. Ash realized that he was going to have to do some serious training to—

Ash accidentally stepped on a rope, and his foot was instantly tied up. "What theeeeaaaAHHHHH! Not agaaiiiiin!"

Another trap had snared Ash. It seemed like, in his haste to get out of the Secret Village, he'd forgotten all about the traps Melanie set.


In the end, Melanie had been alerted due to the trap being activated and appeared once again. She guided Ash through the forest until he was out of the range of traps, and from there Ash was able to make it out. It was kinda odd, no? Melanie was such a sweet girl, despite being able to make such deadly traps. It was frustrating how he kept falling for them though…

Right now, Ash was still on the road to Vermillion City. By his calculations—that very well could be incorrect, since he didn't have any way of telling the time—, he'd make it to Vermillion City by night. Ash hoped some stores would still be open, he didn't plan on staying there until morning but he didn't have any supplies left, either.

The rest of the way to Vermillion City wasn't as busy as he thought, though. There weren't as many trainers as you would expect based on his experience from the last time he went through Route 6. And apart from that, it was mostly open fields and tall grass, not that he saw many Pokémon. Not ones that he'd want to capture, anyway. It occurred to Ash that all of his captures had already known of Team Rocket when he captured them.

Nidoran had already spent a lot of time with him, and would probably do anything for Ash. He'd told them a bunch of stories about the Team Rocket Trio, Jessie, James and Meowth and she had been really eager to help. Diglett's cave had been invaded by Team Rocket, so he was happy to help. Ponyta's parents had been… stolen, so it was obvious why she wanted to go after them, even if it did seem to be an unhealthy vengeance. Haunter… Well, he was a bit harder to figure out. But he definitely knew about Team Rocket, and he had been with Ash for a short time before. However, it did seem like Sabrina had really disciplined the ghost type. It wouldn't even battle for him before. Looks like things have really changed though.

"Hey! We're here!" Ash announced with a point. "Over there, it's Vermillion City!"

His Pokemon looked towards where Ash had pointed at. It was clear on the horizon, Vermillion City. And they were a lot earlier than he thought he would be, due to the lack of trainers. The sun seemed to be just setting down, so some of the stores must be still open.

Ash's expression darkened just a bit. "Okay, guys. I'm gonna have to return your pokeballs."

His Pokémon responded with groans and cries of disapproval. Ash rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, guys. It's just way too suspicious for me to be walking around town with all of you." He explained, before taking their pokeballs back out. He returned them one by one except for Ponyta. He wasn't giving up on bonding with it.

"Alright Ponyta, now let's hurry, before the shops start to close!" He exclaimed before starting to sprint towards Vermillion City. Ponyta followed him as they headed right towards the port city.


As he entered the city, Ash switched his hats to conceal his face. Thankfully, it was starting to get dark so hopefully he wouldn't seem too suspicious. Ash avoided the Pokémon Center, knowing that Nurse Joy would recognize his Nidoran and Diglett. His Pokémon weren't too injured anyways, any damage they took he had already healed.

He was about to start searching for a store until he was approached by a man. He looked to be a similar age to the President, and he had gray hair as well. Ash was a bit nervous to be directly approached, but he tried to act normal, "Is that… a Ponyta?!" The man asked with gusto.

"Yeah…" Ash responded, taking a step back, just in case this man had recognized him from the Pokémon he was using.

The man's expression though said otherwise. "Oh, yes! With a Pokémon like that, I can see that you are a true Pokémon fan!"

"Uhh…" Ash mumbled, a bit taken aback by the man's eager personality. "Don't you recognize me?"

The man appeared to be in thought before answering, "As anything except a fan of Pokémon, no."

"Umm… okay?"

"I can see you're confused! Let me introduce myself! You see, I am Mr. Sukizo, President of the Pokémon fan club here in Vermillion City!" The man paused, digging a card out of his pocket that officiated him as the president. "And my absolute favorite Pokémon is the elegant Rapidash, so when I see a fine Ponyta such as yours, I have to come and see it!"

"That… makes sense," Ash said. "The president of the Pokémon Fan Club? You must really like Pokémon."

Mr. Sukizo nodded. "Oh, I know! Come with me to the fan club and we'll have a lovely chat!"

Before Ash had a chance to respond, Mr. Sukizo grabbed his arm and led him to the Pokémon Fan Club building with strength Ash wouldn't expect a man of his age to have. Seeing no choice, Ponyta followed Ash into the building.

The Pokémon Fan Club was an oddly spacious place. There was an indoor playground for the Pokémon, though the whole thing was just one room. In the middle of the room was a long table that could house about 20 people. Oddly enough, the same Buizel trophy the Silph. Co president was sitting on the far end of the table. Maybe it was a common trophy for presidents or something?

"Here is the clubhouse," Mr. Sukizo explained. "Please have a seat."

Ash did as he was told, sighing in relief as he did. He thought the clubhouse might be thought of by people, and one of them would recognize him. But no, it seemed that the club was out of session.

"Let me tell you about Rapidash, boy." Mr. Sukizo said after everyone was all comfortable.

Ash chuckled nervously, "Okay, then."

"Good! Then listen up! My favorite Rapidash... It's... cute... lovely... smart... plus… amazing… you think so?"

Ash nodded his head awkwardly. "Yeah…" To be honest, it kinda sounded like an obsession.

Despite that, he continued to talk with the President of the fan club. He talked about the club activities, observing as the Pokémon played and had fun. They also talked about the President's standard for a great Pokémon. Ash thought he seemed a little specific, but it was his opinion. They talked more about Rapidash of course, and Ash found that the President really liked his Pokémon.

"Hoo…" the President huffed. "All this talking is making me tired. But thanks to listening to me, young man."

Ash nodded with a smile, "It was no problem!"

"Hmm. As a reward, I'll make you an honorary member of the Pokémon Fan Club! And you can have this bike voucher, too!"

"No thanks," Ash declined. "I don't have a bike voucher."

"Huh? No use… Well, that just won't do! I know! You can have my ticket for the S.S. Aqua, free of charge! I've got a club to take care of, so I can't use it. Now take it! And I won't take no for an answer!"

The ticket was shoved into Ash's hands, not that he would've declined. The S.S. Aqua, huh? That would go to Olivine City from Vermillion, meaning he would be in the Johto Region. Noah had said that Team Rocket had a base in Mahogany Town, and he really needed a place to lie low and train.

"Well, thanks for the ticket and the nice talk. I've got to be going."

Ash quickly left the clubhouse after that, though he realized it had quickly become nighttime. Just how long had he been in there anyways? Ash glanced down at the ticket once more. A trip to Johto, huh? The time was… tomorrow morning! Pretty convenient. And food would be provided too, he wouldn't have to do anything. As long as he stayed inconspicuous and made himself scarce, he shouldn't get found out. He would have to stay the night camping around the outskirts of Vermillion, but it was a small price to pay. Completely forgetting about his plans to buy some supplies, Ash tucked the ticket back into his pocket.

"C'mon Ponyta, let's go find a good place to camp out." He said, as he made his way towards the outskirts.


A lot of the next few hours were a blur. He couldn't remember a time on this journey when he'd been more excited. Silph. Co? Anxious, mostly, but this trip would be a good way to kick back and relax. His Pokémon definitely deserved it to say the least. Using whatever berries leftover, and also some of the food he had cooked back in Melanie's house, he camped out exactly like he planned. Then, he woke up bright and early and made his way to the docks.

Ash pulled his hat over his face. Even if he was about to get a big break, he couldn't lower his guard. He arrived at the docks, which were bustling now that it was the morning. Ash walked along, trying to find the S.S. Aqua, it didn't take long, considering it was one of the largest boats on the pier! As Ash marveled at its size, one of the ticket tellers walked over to home.

"'Scuse me, young man. Do you have a ticket?" He asked.

Ash stuttered for a second, before concealing his face and pulling out his ticket. "Sure do," he answered. The ticket teller smiled and inspected it to make sure it was real.

Once he'd confirmed it, he stepped aside to let Ash on. "Go right in, I hope you'll enjoy your time."

Ash didn't answer as he stepped towards the S.S. Aqua, boarding it. This was going to be great, unlike his previous boat trips, he was going to have some fun.


AN: No major action in this chapter, which is good considering how action heavy the last two were. Bet you didn't expect this. Next stop: Johto!