Chapter Three: Buggy Time, Egg is mine

"AAAHHHH!" An unearthly scream sounded.

Jessie, James, Meowth and Bolt all looked at Misty when she screamed. Ash just sighed and turned to face the redhead. Ashlyn blinked when she saw the little blue Pokemon by Misty's foot and pulled out her Pokedex.

"Caterpie: the caterpillar Pokemon. It has short feet with suction cups on the ends that allow it to climb walls and trees without getting tired."

"Aren't Caterpie normally green?" Jessie asked.

"Yes, and Shiny Caterpie are gold in color, but there are some Pokemon whose genetic genes don't follow the normal expectations," Ash explained. "Meowth, use Scratch on that Caterpie!"

Meowth did that and the Caterpie took a critical hit. Ashlyn threw a Pokeball and caught the Caterpie.

"Good work, Meowth."

"Thank ya," Meowth said, causing Misty to freak out a bit. Then the group continued walking.

"...Hey, Ash," Jessie said, not wanting to call her Ashlyn while she was dressed like a boy. "How do you understand Pokemon anyway?"

"Well, I'm not 100% sure... But I think it's in my blood. My grandfather on my father's side is something called an Aura User. He lives in a village that's filled with all people that have, to some scale, the power of aura. They live with Pokemon that have the power of aura too. I don't know much more than that. While my grandmother and great grandmother are psychic, I don't really have strong psychic powers per say. I can't read minds. I can kinda lift small objects but other than that nothing."

"Oh."

*rustle, rustle* The group stopped as a bird stepped out from the bushes. Ash took out her Pokedex.

"Pidgeotto: The Bird Pokemon. It fiercely pecks intruders that get into its territory."

Pidgeotto let out a war cry when it saw the group. It flew up and tried to dive bomb them.

"Bolt!"

Got it! Bolt let lose a Thundershock attack, shocking Pidgeotto. Bolt repeated the attack until he had gotten three good hits. Ashlyn threw a Great Ball and caught Pidgeotto. Then she healed Bolt.

"Hey, everyone, the sun's setting. Maybe we should set up camp," James said calmly.

"Alright. Jessie, you go gather some firewood. James, there was a stream a little south of here; go fill the canteens. Misty, you set up the campfire while I pick some berries to add to our dinner. If the car that passed through here earlier didn't run over the nearby berry bushes we'll save some for later."

"Car? What car?" Misty asked.

Ashlyn sighed. "Think about it, Misty. We've been traveling this path for hours and the only Pokemon we've seen so far are the Pokemon I've caught. It's only reasonable to believe that a car drove through here and scared the others away. Anyway, I'm gonna go pick us some berries." A shiver ran down Ashlyn's spine.

"Are you alright?" James asked.

"Yeah, but I feel like someone is collecting a bet on me. Oh well," Ashlyn said while walking off.

The others just shrugged.

-Professor Oak's Lab-

"Hey ya, Gramps. What did ya call me for?" Gary asked on the video phone.

"Well, I was wondering when you were going to send me that 10000 Poke you owe me from our little bet we made."

"What? You mean Ashy-boy actually managed to catch a Pokemon before he reached the Viridian City PokeCenter?"

"Two, actually. A Rattata and a Fearow."

"A Fearow? How in the name of Mew did that happen?"

"I expected no less from my number one volunteer aid," Professor Oak said with a little white lie.

"What? You mean he worked at your lab and you didn't tell me?"

"Oh, but I did tell you. Multiple times, in fact. You've even walked by the pictures of the volunteer aids on the wall with Ash's picture on it. The child has been an aid for years, watching the Pokemon, feeding them, playing with them, cleaning them, and even nursing them back to health when they were sick. Now good luck on your journey. Bye," Professor Oak said before ending the call.

"Do you really think riling him up was a good idea, Professor?" Delia said, coming up from behind him. The old professor jumped and grabbed his heart.

"Delia! Don't sneak up on me like that! I still believe your father was a ninja, and the fact that you walk so quietly only seems to prove that theory." Delia giggled and the professor calmed down. "And I'm not riling him up; I'm merely helping him wake up to reality."

-Back with Ashlyn-

Misty had set up the campfire pit and James had returned with the water. Ashlyn was setting up the sleeping bags when Jessie ran up to the group with firewood and a happy look on her face.

She put the wood in the pit and smiled. "I caught a Pokemon!" she said happily.

Ashlyn nodded before letting her Pokemon out. Meowth and Bolt ran up to the group and made a line. Jessie let out Ekans and a Weedle, which caused Misty to scream again. James let out Koffing.

"Ok, I want Ekans and Weedle to practice their Poison Sting by shooting them together in the air. Meowth, I want you to practice dodging Caterpie's String Shot and Tackle. Pidgeotto, I want you to practice your Gust Attack by blowing Koffing's Smokescreen into the sky. Bolt, you run around the camp twenty times before using Thundershock on those rocks over there. I should be able to finish dinner before everyone's done. Okay, spread out!"

...

Ashlyn spent her meal time switching between eating, learning the names of the Pokemon in the group, and tidying up.

Blu- Caterpie or Metapod now (Male)

Nova- Pidgeotto (Female)

Elle- Ekans (Female)

Wen- Weedle (Female)

Koal- Koffing (Male)

-Next day; Pewter City-

"Okay, did anyone else find that man selling rocks a little weird?" Jessie asked bluntly. Everyone nodded as they went into the PokeCenter. After getting their Pokemon healed a person came up the Ashlyn.

"Hey, you're Ash Ketchum from Pallet, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Good, you see I was sent by Professor Oak to do that trade for you in place of the other trainers. Please get your Rattata and Fearow then meet me over in the side room by the Recovery Room." Nodding, Ashlyn transferred Nova over to Prof. Oak and received Rattata and Fearow's Pokeballs.

Going into the room she saw a trade machine. The black-haired man stood on one side with a table near him. On said table there was a Pokeball and... a Pokemon egg?

"Alright, in this Pokeball we have a Scyther from a trainer that wanted to trade for Fearow. Do you accept this?"

"Yes, I do."

Good riddance. Bye, ugly bird Bolt said on Ashlyn's shoulder.

"Bolt! Be nice, and every Pokemon has their own unique beauty to them," Ashlyn said, scolding him as if he were a child.

The trade went quickly and soon Ash had Scyther join the team.

"Alright, now for Rattata we have to do something different. You see, the trainer that wants to receive Rattata wanted to give you this Pokemon egg instead of trading an already hatched Pokemon. But the egg hasn't hatched even after about a year after being found. So it may be a dud-" Ashlyn stopped the man from speaking by holding up her hand.

"Let me be the judge of that." She sat Indian style on the ground. "Hand me the egg."

Once the egg was in Ashlyn's hands, Ashlyn put it in her lap and closed her eyes. Focusing her aura into her hands, she lightly scanned the egg with her aura. (Kinda like an ultrasound.)

She felt a Pokemon inside the egg. It didn't feel dead, just in a deep sleep. Putting a little more aura into the egg along with channeling a loving feeling into the egg, trying to let it know that she would try to help it hatch.

Her eyes shot open as the egg began to move.

Review please!

Last time I counted Dratini and Shiny Evee tied so we need another vote.

1-What will the egg hatch into:

Shiny Evee

Dratini

Shiny Dratini

2-How will Scyther act toward Ashlyn:

Shy

Quiet

Protective (after a rocky start)

3-Which will the hatchling be?

Male

Female