As Ash exited the booth, he saw a girl holding a charred bike. She stomped up to him and said, "Hey! What's with you, stealing my bike, then destroying it, and not even trying to apologize! Huh!? What is with you, kid!?"

"Whoa, sorry! I needed to get my Pikachu some help! He was badly injured while fighting a flock of Spearow to protect me when I tried to protect him from dying! I'll pay you back as soon as I can. I'm Ash, by the way."

"And I'm Misty, but right now, I'm your worst nightmare unless you pay me back for my Bike right now!" she said, flames appearing in the background. But when she realized what he'd said, she calmed down, she always did have a soft spot for Pokemon.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE! POKEMON THIEVES HAVE BEEN SIGHTED IN THE CITY! IF YOU SEE THEM, DO NOT ENGAGE! THEY ARE HIGHLY DANGEROUS!"

Just then, two Poke balls came from the ceiling, releasing a Koffing and Ekans.

(If you don't know the motto, LOOK IT UP!) Misty shouted, "Who are you!?" and Ash just sighed. "They just said they were team Rocket, and they probably want to steal rare and powerful Pokemon!"

"That's right, Twerp! Now, give us your Pokemon, and any Pokemon eggs you have!" a red haired woman named Jessie shouted.

Ash glared at them, and the Koffing and Ekans attacked him. But they were suddenly being thrusted back towards team Rocket, and they all screamed in pain from being crushed by the two Poison types. While they were distracted, Ash and Misty followed Nurse Joy to a room full of Poke balls which they began teleporting them away to Pewter City Pokemon Center.

Suddenly, team Rocket appeared in the door, demanding that they give them their Pokemon. Ash could somehow tell not to use the Poke balls, and instead ran out to where Pikachu was, and began pedaling on Misty's charred bike to generate more voltage for the attack. Then, Pikachu released a massive Thunder Shock, doing a lot of damage to team Rocket, until Koffing released some gas, causing an explosion, and they were sent soaring away.

Officer Jenny sighed as they soared away, muttering, "Might as well watch the fireworks."

(later that night in Ash's room)

Ash was up late, thinking about how he was going to raise the soon-to-be Riolu, when the egg started to glow. he raced to Nurse Joy and told her about the egg glowing and she said that it was hatching. Nurse Joy led Ash to a room, and told him to stay there with the egg while it hatched, so as to have privacy. Within ten minutes, the egg hatched.

The young Riolu looked at Ash and said, "Papa?" to him, causing Ash to barely contain his surprise as he nodded to the little Riolu.

"I am your papa, Nick." As Ash said this, he felt something inside him telling him to pull out a berry and crush it for the little Riolu. Ash obeyed, and watched happily as Nick ate the crushed Oran berry.

Ten minutes later, Nurse Joy walked in with a portable scanner. Nick hid behind Ash, scared because he didn't know who Nurse Joy was. Ash picked him up, and told him in a reassuring tone, "It's okay, she won't hurt you. She just wants to be sure you're healthy." Nick looked reluctant, but nodded when Ash said he'd stay right beside him.

As Nurse Joy scanned Nick, Ash was starting to feel strange, almost claustrophobic. He told this to Nurse Joy, who suggested that he take Nick to the room and get some sleep. Ash nodded almost immediately and picked Nick up, who was now asleep, and walked to his room.

Once in his room Ash sat by the window and eventually fell asleep.

(The next morning)

Ash was awoken by a very loud scream, courtesy of Misty. He vaguely wondered if anyone else had been woken up, and said, "Misty, shut up, Nick's asleep." This caused Misty to begin stammering about "Ash's voice coming from a blue, jackal-like Pokemon with spikes on it's chest and paws." Ash sighed as he got up… just to notice he did have blue fur. And paws. And spikes on his chest and paws. He was barely able to contain his scream. But he did, because he remembered Nick was asleep. 'I have to talk to Nurse Joy about this. If I can turn back to a human...' as soon as he thought the word Human, he turned back to his human form, and, luckily, fully clothed.

Ash looked at Nick, who was still asleep in his arms, but then he began waking up slowly. When he opened his eyes, Ash said, "Hey, Nick, you sleep okay?" to which Nick nodded.

"I want to introduce you to a couple of friends of mine. This is Misty." As Ash said this, Nick looked at Misty and tilted his head confusedly.

"Is she family?" he asked innocently. Ash said to him, "Misty's going to be your aunt. Okay?" Ash glanced at Misty quickly to see her reaction, and was surprised to see her surprise. Nick nodded and said, "Okay, papa."

Nick went over to Misty and said, "Hi, Aunt Misty!" and smiled. Misty was in shock that she'd just understood Nick's Poke-speech, but still said, "Hey, Nick. It's nice to meet you." and bent down. Nick hugged Misty around the neck, and she hugged back. As soon as the hug ended, Ash said, "Nick, the second person I want to introduce to you is Pikachu." As Ash said it, Pikachu came out and walked up to Nick. Nick was still smiling happily as he and Pikachu became nephew and uncle, respectively.

"Hey, Nick. Can I talk to you for a second?" Ash asked.

Nick walked over to Ash, who said, "Nick, I want you to let yourself be caught in this Poke ball. That way no one can take you away from me, okay? After you're caught, you can stay outside if you want." Nick nodded and tapped the Poke ball, which instantly dinged a successful capture, showing that Nick hadn't fought it. Ash let Nick out, who said, "It's really lonely in there papa. I want to stay out." Ash chuckled and said, "Okay. I want to talk to Nurse Joy real quick, will you be okay in here with Aunt Misty and Uncle Pikachu?" Nick nodded the affirmative and Ash walked out to the reception desk.

"Nurse Joy, can I talk to you in private?" he asked.

"Of course, follow me," she replied, leading him to another room. "What is wrong?"

Ash told her about waking up to find he'd somehow turned into a Pokemon. "Do you know what could have caused it?" he asked as he turned back human, having shown her his Pokemon form.

"Hmm… Well, there is a rumor of a Pokemon in the Viridian Forest that turns humans into Pokemon if the human has a Pokemon egg that hatches nearby the Forest. That may be what happened. Do you wish to be only human?"

Ash shook his head. "I think this is for the better, now I can train with my Pokemon, and hopefully become an even better father because of it. This could even help save my life one day. You never know what could happen."