Ichigo finally paused about a mile or two later, with a badly shocked Ash and a rather quiet Pikachu behind him.

"What the heck was that?!" said Ash. He had never been that fast before in his life!

"Running. Did you want to get pecked to death by Spearows?" asked Ichigo rhetorically.

Ichigo turned to Ash.

"Anyway, have you learned your lesson?"

"Don't throw rocks in areas were wild Pokémon happen to be in?" asked Ash.

Ichigo bonked him on the head.

"No, don't treat Pokémon like things. If I catch you trying to drag Pikachu behind you again, I'll hit harder. Pokémon have feelings just like you do, so respect them or else," said Ichigo.

Ash took the threat seriously. Ichigo hit hard.

Ichigo had only spent two months here, but he was very close to his partner Kenpachi. The two got along just fine when he notice the canine's protective nature to those younger than him. And despite his appearance, Ichigo was a sixteen-year-old with two younger sisters.

And he didn't see Pokémon as creatures that you used only for battles. He saw them the same way he saw his zanpakuto or his hollow half. As comrades in arms.

It was because of this that he got along so well with even the most obstinate ones, who recognized him for what he was. A fellow warrior who sought to get stronger through battle and training. Even the fully evolved Pokémon respected him.

Ash, who never had an older brother, followed Ichigo around a bit like a duckling. Something about the way Ichigo talked and acted said he was much more experienced about the world. And it seemed Ichigo had no issues with the way Ash acted around him.

So when they passed a water Pokémon trainer who was out looking for new additions to her team, Ichigo felt the need to warn her about the flock.

"This brainiac hit a Spearow earlier. They're out looking for blood, so avoid that direction if possible."

The girl paled and thanked him for the warning. Sadly it didn't help, when five minutes later one of the bird Pokémon spotted Ichigo's distinct hair color from above. With a loud cry, the flock dive bombed the group.

Ichigo looked up, cursed, then brought out Kenpachi.

"Kenpachi, Protect!"

Oak had taught his Houndour that move as a pun on Ichigo's name. He seemed to think it rather amusing. Ichigo didn't, though he did like the fact it made an almost impenetrable shield for as long as it worked.

The shield worked, and the Spearow crashed into an invisible wall. They were all about to unleash a large amount of peck, scratch and fury attack on the group if Kenpachi hadn't brought the shield up in time.

The attack worked like Ichigo hoped, the Spearow, who had been dive bombing and crashed, were stunned enough that they could run.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" yelled Ichigo. Brave and self-sacrificing he may be, but an idiot he was not. Not sane person would try to fight off that many birds when they were pissed off! That was suicide!

(Well, that and he had seen The Birds when he actually was ten, and it had left an impression on his mind.)

Ichigo scooped up Kenpachi, Nel grabbed Ash and Pikachu again, and the girl they had stopped by jumped on her bike and sped out of there like a bat out of hell. She almost managed to keep up with the trio.

Ichigo skidded to a stop at the Viridian City limits. The Spearow were relentless and didn't want to stop until they had drawn blood. You would think they would have run out of steam by now, but noooo...they were able to chase them all the way to Viridian.

"What the heck is going on here?" demanded the officer.

According to Oak the woman's name was Jenny and there was an entire family full of women named Jenny who worked as officers. The same went with the nice ladies at the Pokémon Centers. Ichigo had no idea why that was, but chalked it up to a genetic abnormality.

(Frankly I blame the creators of the series for being extremely lazy, but that's just me.)

"A certain idiot pissed off a flock of cranky Spearow!" said Ichigo, taking a deep breath. Ash looked away embarrassed, but Jenny didn't ask. Instead she noted the decent sized cloud of Spearow heading their way.

"Right, you kids get to the Pokémon Center, I'll go get a few trainers out here to take care of them. Why didn't you try to catch one?" she asked.

"Because I'm not suicidal enough to try to capture a furious Spearow when there's a flock of them nearby," said Ichigo flatly. Officer Jenny conceded his point.

While Ash learned a few things from Nurse Joy, Ichigo took the time to restore his energy from all that running. Because they were in such a hurry to avoid being attacked by angry birds, none of the three had any chance to catch another Pokémon.

Suddenly his soul pager rang and Ichigo flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"NII-SAN!" came the happy cry of Yuzu.

"Hey Yuzu! How are things at home?"

"Boring. Dad said he's glad you don't sound so sad anymore."

Ichigo's eyes twitched.

"Think you could pass a message on to dad for that storekeeper he likes to visit?"

"Sure Ichi-nii!"

"'Urahara, next time I see you, I'm sicking Kenpachi on you.'"

"I'll be sure to tell him Ichi-nii!"

"Good, now how have things been at home?"

Ash and the girl they had helped by accident from being attacked by Spearow (many trainers in Viridian took the chance to catch a few for their teams) waited until he was done before they joined him.

"Who was that?" asked Ash.

"My little sister Yuzu. Her twin Karin and my dad apparently left her alone for the day, and she was lonely. She was just catching me up on what's happening back home," said Ichigo.

"You have sisters?" asked the girl.

"Yuzu and Karin. Just those two," said Ichigo proudly.

"I have several older sisters myself. My name's Misty," said the girl.

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Hi! I'm Nelliel! You can call me Nel!" said the cheerful green-haired girl.

"Cool hat," commented Misty.

"Thanks!"

Ichigo and Nel's partners were being healed (Oak may be a Professor, but it had taken several trial and errors before Ichigo learned how to operate the lone machine in Oak's lab that healed Pokémon.) Ash and Misty properly introduced themselves.

While they were relaxing for the near death experience (for the natives anyway. Ichigo and Nel counted it as a damn good workout) Ichigo booked some rooms in the Pokémon center for the night. Oak was very impressed that they got there so quickly...right up until the point Ichigo broke his bubble by informing him that Ash had pissed off a flock of Spearow.

Suddenly there was a crash, and the lights flickered. Ichigo was out of his bed in an instant.

Someone was trying to steal the Pokémon!

Ichigo was rubbing his forehead. He didn't know how a Meowth could talk, and frankly he could care less. All he knew was that Ash had a long way to go, Misty was useless, and he had very little sleep.

Spying Nel nearby, an evil though came to him...

"Hey Nel, come here for a minute..." said Ichigo grinning. This was going to be funny.

Nel brightened up when she realized what Ichigo had in mind, and grinned. Right as the red-haired woman was about to leave on the blimp, she felt something crash into her.

"Nel Super Tackle!"

Ichigo had given Nel candy, which was dangerous in her toddler form, and absolutely devastating in her ten-year-old form, which had more power behind it. Nel jumped around like a ping pong ball, ruining Team Rocket's plan to steal the Pokémon as the balls fell from the net.

Misty, Ash and Nurse Joy stared at the green-haired girl in shock.

"Good job Nel!" said Ichigo, patting her on the head. Nel grinned.

"Remind me never to give her candy," said Ash. The other two nodded.

Ash finally got Pikachu to work with him by the time they entered the Viridian Forest. He also managed to get a Caterpie which freaked Misty out because she hated bugs. Ichigo found that amusing, but not so much when he nearly sat on a Weedle by accident and it decided to spear him with its tiny horn. Ash had nearly laughed himself sick when he realized Ichigo nearly sat on a Weedle horn.

Misty and Nel got along well enough, despite the fact Nel was so cheerful and acted a few years younger than she actually was. Ichigo was just glad she didn't talk like a four-year-old and instead spoke like a childish ten-year-old.

At least he didn't get a headache translating her speech.

"Hey Ichigo, exactly how old are you anyway? You talk like a teenager," asked Misty.

Ichigo and Nel froze.

"What makes you ask?"

"Well you don't act like any ten-year-old I know, but you do act like one of my older sisters," said Misty.

"Do you know what my name is supposed to mean Misty?" asked Ichigo cryptically.

"I know it means strawberry," she said.

"Yes, but there is another meaning. Most people assume my parents named me 'Strawberry', but according to my mother, it's supposed to translate as 'One Who Protects'. The reason I sound so mature is because I had to protect my younger sisters," said Ichigo.

"Wow! That make sense!" said Misty.

"And do you know the reason older siblings are put on this earth Misty?" asked Ichigo.

"Why?"

"It's to protect their younger siblings who come after them. I knew someone who had almost forgotten that before I straightened them out."

He straightened and cracked his back.

"Anyway, now's the perfect time for some training. Ash, I want you and Pikachu to battle some bug Pokémon. The best way for you two to bond properly is through hard work and battling. Nel, you go with him and work with Yume. I'm going to iron out a few katas with Kenpachi. If any of you get injured come over to me and I'll heal you right up," said Ichigo.

"Wow Ichigo-kun, you're really prepared!" said Misty.

"I'm the son of a doctor. And Nurse Joy gave me some surplus medical supplies. I can treat anything except a broken leg, but I do have some splints. So don't go too wild," said Ichigo.

It was mostly true. While Ichigo wasn't any good in emergency situations (Karin and Yuzu were better than him) he was qualified to heal most minor injuries. Most of the books he read in Oak's lab were anatomy books, so he could treat most Pokémon injuries too.

The problem was that he was usually the one in need of treatment. And after Orihime got those healing powers of hers, his aid wasn't needed. Though every time he left his house, he always took an emergency kit in case Orihime wasn't available. Only Chad knew about it though, since Ichigo once treated him before school.

Misty decided to train with her team, and she kept half an eye on Ichigo. Seeing him perform several rather complex tricks using his legs and hands, she could only conclude he was a martial arts fan. One who had quite a bit of training.

"GAH!" yelled Ash.

Ichigo winced.

"Come on Kenpachi, let's go see what happened."

Ichigo was trying hard not to laugh, but he failed miserably. Ash had accidentally stepped on Pikachu's tail and it electrocuted him again. While they had reached an understanding, they still had a long way to go before they were partners.

Kenpachi wasn't as reserved, he was on the ground howling. Nel just giggled.

Finally he controlled his laughter and asked Ash if he had gotten any experience in.

So far Ash had gotten his Caterpie to evolve into Metapod, but Ichigo waved that news off. Caterpie was easy to evolve, and it rarely took long to get a Butterfree.

Though Ichigo had no interest in getting Beedrill. Those things were mean!

"Shit, shit, shit! WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG! GRAB YOUR GEAR AND HAUL ASS!" yelled Ichigo.

Once again, things had gone pear-shaped because of Ash's temper. While Ichigo had hoped Ash had learned his lesson with the Spearow, apparently he hadn't. At least this time he didn't throw a rock at the nest.

Misty was nearly catatonic and being dragged by an equally panicky Nel. Ash had Pikachu in his arms and Ichigo was about to grab his wrist again. He didn't have anything to treat an allergy attack, and he had no idea if people could get an allergic reaction from a Beedrill sting like they could from a bee sting back home. He wasn't about to take his chances, and he really didn't want to perform an emergency tracheotomy*.

Finally they found a nearby stream that was deep enough, and Ichigo found some reeds that would work as straws to breathe through. Sometimes it was better to wait it out rather than run.

Half an hour later the Beedrill gave up and they left the stream. Ichigo cuffed Ash on the head.

"Once was an accident, twice is a pattern. I'm teaching you martial arts."

"Huh?"

"You've nearly gotten us killed twice. I'm going to teach you hand-to-hand combat so you can learn how to calm down before you get yourself killed," said Ichigo bluntly.

Misty nodded in agreement.

They set their gear out to dry while Ichigo got Ash started. Thanks to his training and the fact he was stronger than he looked, he got Ash hooked on martial arts simply by destroying a small log. He even had Pikachu join in so it wouldn't feel left out.

Misty and Nel decided to set up camp and went fishing. They stayed away from the Beedrill, who were still mad. By the time Ichigo called it quits, Ash and Pikachu were exhausted. But they were rather happy about it.

Ash and the others spent the next three days in the forest, training both their Pokémon and themselves. Each night Ichigo put him through basic martial arts training. Sometimes he showed Ash how to meditate through movement, since Ichigo had a feeling the boy wouldn't be able to sit still that long.

At least Ichigo didn't have to go to his second idea, which was have Pikachu give Ash a shock if he didn't get it right. He had a feeling the boy wouldn't like it as much then.

*A tracheotomy is when you open a hole all the way through the trachea, which is located in the throat. This is so the airway can open up enough to get air, even if the throat is blocked. This can help someone suffering an allergic reaction that can't breathe and you don't have their medicine on hand. Only someone who knows what they're doing should use this, as it can kill if you do it wrong!