Ash, Nick, Pikachu, and Misty were just leaving Viridian City, and entering the forest. Misty looked to be on edge, Nick was trying to see everything, and Pikachu was worried he'd get whiplash. Ash was deep in thought, when Misty screamed.
Ash turned around, already in a defensive pose, and saw it was a Caterpie. Nick walked over to it and began talking to it. Ash looked at Misty.
"What was that about?" he asked. She shook her head, and Ash nodded.
Nick walked up to Ash and said, "Papa, this Caterpie wants to come with us!" Ash smiled and nodded.
"Okay, if he wants to, he can," Ash said, pulling out a Pokeball. The Caterpie jumped up and tapped it, catching itself. Ash smiled and let it back out.
"Okay, let's keep going!" he says, continuing. Misty followed with a bit of distance between them. Nick went up to her and asked, "Aunt Misty, what's wrong? Why are you back here?"
Misty sighed. "Well, I'm scared of Bug type Pokemon, Nick. Ever since I was small."
"Why are you scared of them? Did they do something to you?"
"No, but my sisters would sometimes prank me. You'd be scared of Bug types too if one moment you were sleeping peacefully, the next, a Spinarak had tied you up and looked like it wanted to eat you. It may have been a long time ago, but it scared me a lot."
Nick tilts his head. "How will you get over your fear if you avoid it? Isn't the only way to not be afraid to challenge your fear? And you should only be afraid of Spinaraks and Ariados, they're the root of your fear," he says, sounding strangely mature for a young child.
Misty thinks for a moment. "I… guess you're right, Nick. I'll try to be less distant, but it'll be hard if they surprise me."
Nick nods. "Okay, that's fine!" he says happily, before running ahead, back to being a curious child.
Misty smiles, and catches up to them, even managing to pet Caterpie, before just walking near by. She closed her eyes as she walked, enjoying the sunlight on her skin. Eventually, they noticed it was getting late, so they stopped and began setting up camp. However, just as they did, a Pidgeot appeared. Nick ran up to it, but the Pidgeot used Gust on him. Nick got up, and glared, before charging at it. Ash looked worried, not sure what moves Nick knew, but his eyebrows shot up when Nick used Ice Punch, Blaze Kick, Thunder Punch, and Quick Attack, taking out the Pidgeot. Ash noticed his chance, and caught the Pidgeot. "Good job Nick, you're very strong!" he praised. Nick smiled at him, and then yawned. "You tired?" Ash asked. Nick nods, and Ash picks him up. "Okay. Go ahead and get some sleep." Nick started to fall asleep, but wasn't able to all the way, so Ash started singing a lullaby (Imagine the lullaby from Jirachi: Wish Maker movie).
Before Nick could completely get to sleep, however, team Rocket appeared! They shouted their motto, waking Nick up, and putting everyone in a bad mood. Ash instantly reverted to his Lucario form, and Nick was already charging up a Shadow Ball. Ash charged an Aura Sphere. Team Rocket sent out their Pokemon, shouting, "Koffing/Ekans! Use Smudge/Bite!" The Poison-Types tried to obey, but missed as Nick and Ash dodged. Ash sent out the Aura Sphere, knocking out Ekans. Koffing attacked Nick, but instead received a face full of Shadow Ball. Koffing flew backwards right into Ash's Bone Rush attack, and was sent into Ekans, Jessie, James, and Meowth. Nick and Ash then combined their Auras, and they both sent a combined 'Aura Sphere' at the criminals.
Finally, Nick used Helping Hand on Ash, who used the extra energy combined with a Dark Pulse to send team Rocket flying, screaming, "THIS IS A NEW WAY FOR TEAM ROCKET TO BE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"
Ash sighed, and turned back. Nick smiled at him, and collapsed from exhaustion. Ash caught him before he could hit the ground and picked him up before sitting against a tree trunk and saying, "Good night, everyone," before going to sleep.
The next morning, Ash was woken up by a scream, and Nick woke up too, hopping out of Ash's arms and going into a defensive pose. They both calmed down when they noticed that it was just Misty. She managed to calm down and said, "Sorry, Caterpie just surprised me, I'm fine," and then smiled and pet Caterpie, noticing she wasn't as scared of him anymore.
Ash smiles and starts cooking some breakfast with his limited knowledge of cooking. After that, they got moving, hoping to get out of the forest soon. Ash was talking with Pikachu, Caterpie, Pidgeotto, and Nick about training, semi-reluctant to include Nick, but not able to resist Nick's "Lillipup-eyes" trick he'd somehow learned. Ash honestly suspected Misty for that one. As they walked, Pikachu noticed a few Wurmple watching them. When he tapped Ash's head to point it out, Ash simply said, "I see them too. Let's ignore them for now, and hope they don't attack."
As soon as Ash said that, someone said, from behind them, "Are you the trainer from Pallet Town?"
Pikachu felt the sword pointed at Ash with his tail as they turned, and took instant action, electrocuting the person with a Thunder Shock. Said person fell over, blackened with soot. Nick hid behind Ash's leg, scared, while Ash sweatdropped.
"Pikachu, the sword is plastic."
Pikachu blushed in embarrassment. "Well I don't know the difference!" Ash sighed and helped the person up, saying, "Yeah, I'm from Pallet Town. Why?"
"I want to see if you're as good as the other Pallet Town Trainers! They were amazing Battlers, so I want to see if you live up to the standard I've set. I want to battle you in a two on two battle!" the person said. "Oh, and call me Samurai."
"Well, Samurai, I'm Ash Ketchum, and I accept your challenge! Caterpie, you're up first!"
Samurai laughed. "I'll squash your Caterpie! Go, Pinsir!"
"Caterpie, use String Shot! Tie its horns together!" Caterpie did so, and Pinsir growled.
"Pinsir, use Tackle!"
"Dodge it, Caterpie, then use a Tackle of your own!"
The two Bug Types clashed in a pair of Tackles, and Pinsir was knocked out. Then, Caterpie evolved!
"Awesome, Caterpie evolved into a Metapod!" Ash said.
Nick was in awe, Pikachu cheered for the newly evolved Metapod, and Misty giggled slightly at Ash's enthusiasm. Samurai smirked and returned Pinsir, then sent out his own Metapod, making Ash deadpan.
"A Metapod vs. Metapod battle will take forever," he muttered, about to return Metapod, when a bunch of Beedrill swarmed towards them.
Ash tried to return Metapod before he was hurt, but was too slow, and the Beedrill, probably assuming that Metapod was a stray Kakuna, picked him up and flew off with him.
"Metapod, no!" Ash, Pikachu, and Nick tried to follow, but a bunch of Beedrill blocked them off. They were all forced to retreat to Samurai's cabin. They tensely waited for the beedrill to stop swarming, but they had to wait until almost dawn, and they were all antsy and ready to go save Metapod.
The moment that the Beedrill had stopped swarming, Ash, Pikachu, and Nick(whom had been told to stay behind by Ash) raced out to find Metapod. When they found him and got him away from the Kakuna, Metapod, a hurt look in his eyes, turned away from Ash, who started apologizing, but Team Rocket appeared.
(Cue Kanto Motto)
Ash tried to make them be quiet, but they were still shouting for him to give them Nick and Pikachu. In doing so they woke up the Kakuna, and said Kakuna evolved.
Naturally, of course, when this happened, the newly evolved Beedrill started to swarm angrily around them, and one of them dove at Ash. Metapod immediately jumped in the way, protecting Ash. A long gash is cut into the Pokemon, as a brilliant light comes from inside of Metapod.
As the light dies down, a Butterfree is revealed, and it flies above the Beedrill, spreading Sleep Powder over them all. The Bees fell asleep, one after another, and all were soon in Dreamland. Butterfree landed on Ash's shoulder, giving a soft chirrup that held no verbal meaning, and returning himself to his ball.
Nick cheered and climbed up Ash's jacket to sit on his shoulder, with Pikachu occupying the other shoulder, laughing a bit.
From behind, they heard the voices of Misty and Samurai calling for them. Nick giggled a bit and gave a short yip in response, his grin big enough to be able to split his face in two. The two other trainers raced over, Misty sighing in relief and quickly hugging the three. Samurai walked over, frowning slightly as he noticed the Beedrills.
"We should go now, while they're unconscious, before they swarm."
They nod in agreement and get out of there, headed to the end of the Forest. As they walked, Samurai questioned Ash about what it was like to have a Pokemon that saw him as a parent.
Ash's answers were surprising for the Samurai, but somehow still expected.
"Well, Nick's really smart, so it's pretty difficult to keep him from getting something he really wants at times, but otherwise he's just as playful as any other Riolu."
"It must be fun to be a parent, huh?"
"It's more difficult than it looks."
"How so?"
Ash just chuckles and replies with, "It just is," before turning to the exit of the forest. "Thanks for everything, Samurai. Maybe we'll meet again."
Samurai nods, and leaves as Ash turns towards Pewter City.
"So… Rock Type Gym Leader, right?" the Pallet native asks Misty, who nods, humming to herself.
"Nick's the only Pokemon you have who has any kind of advantage, so you should probably have him battle as your second Pokemon, just in case."
Ash stiffened a bit, though he knew she was right. "I… don't want him to fight, he's barely two days old…"
Nick tilts his head curiously. "Papa? What's wrong? You're acting kinda weird…"
Ash shook his head. "It's nothing, Nick. Don't worry."
Nick nods, and jumps off of Ash's shoulder running forward, and Ash chuckles, following, with Misty right behind him. They reached the border of Pewter city, and found Nick looking at some rocks curiously, his head canted to one side and his ears perked straight up into the air. Ash picked him up from behind, causing him to yelp in surprise, then hug the trainer tightly in happiness.
"Excuse me, is that your Pokemon?" a man in a beard and mustache asked from behind Ash, making him whirl around in surprise.
"Yeah, why?" he asked, frowning.
"Because I thought he was wild when he raced over and started staring at those Everstones."
"Everstones?" Misty asked curiously as she caught up to the group. "Don't they prevent evolution?"
The man nods. "Indeed. Not even an Evolution Stone can trigger Evolution if an Everstone is being held by a Pokemon. Would you like one?"
Ash thought about it for a bit, then nodded. "Yeah, I'll take one, just in case."
"Good choice. My name's Flint, by the way, and that will be five dollars for one." Ash nods and hands over the money, then places his new Everstone into his bag for safekeeping. Misty bought one as well, since there was no reason not to, and then Ash asked for information about the Pewter City Gym. Flint's eyes became saddened, and he lead Ash to a house, and had him look through the window.
"That's the Gym Leader, Brock. He takes care of all of his siblings, because his mother and his father left them on their own." Ash watched as two of the siblings were about to get into a fight, until Brock called for dinner, and they all raced over to eat.
"He's a good parent." Those four simple words that Ash said had Flint staring at him in curiosity. "He's like my mom, knowing what to do to stop a fight before it even happens. His siblings love him a lot, and they certainly don't like seeing him upset, so they always help out around the house and Gym, don't they?" the boy asked softly, turning to look Flint dead in the eye.
"...You're correct about that. More than once, they've jumped in front of an attack to stop a challenger from hurting Brock's Onix or Geodude. Why do you ask?"
Ash smiles a bit. "Like I said, he's like my mom. You'll never meet a kinder, more gentle person."
Flint chuckles softly as the two head towards the Center. "You have got that right… But what will you do?"
Ash closes his eyes, smiling and humming. "I'm going to challenge the Gym. But I'm not going to win. Not if it means I have to upset their bond like that."
Flint stared at Ash, his eyes showing curiosity and a sense of being impressed. "Okay then. I wish you luck." The older man then leaves, and Ash walks into the Center, instantly being tackled in a hug by Nick, while Misty shook her head amusedly. "So, what happened?"
"Well, Flint showed me something important. So I'm going to take that into account when challenging. But first, I need to come up with a plan for how to challenge the Gym…" Ash replies, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Why not use Pikachu and Nick? They're the only two that aren't weak to Rocks."
Ash bites his lip. "I'm… not sure I want Nick to challenge the Gym…"
Misty raises an eyebrow. "Why not? He's strong, and you know he's your best bet to beat the Gym."
Ash nods. "Yeah, I know that, but I don't want him to get hurt. Gyms are an entirely different league to a few Wild Pokemon and a trainer that only uses Bugs.."
Misty sighs. "You know he'll want to try it eventually."
Ash winces a bit and nods. "...Alright. Nick, what do you want to do?"
Nick tilts his head, and replies, "Uh… I want to try battling a Gym Leader!"
Ash nods, though inwardly he wasn't sure why he was so hesitant. "Okay. Let's get some training done then, and then rest up for the Gym Battle. Sound good?"
Nick nods excitedly, and Nurse Joy calls Ash up to the counter to retrieve his Pokemon, which he'd given to Misty so she could get them healed for him. Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder, and Ash asked the Nurse if there were any nearby fields that he could use in order to train. She told him that there was one right out back, and that he could use it. He thanked her and left to go start training up for the Gym.
A few hours later, Ash was just carrying Nick and Pikachu back into the Center, the two having fallen asleep, and entering the room that Misty had booked for the group, when he felt a sharp pain, gave a startled cry, and collapsed, falling unconscious.
I was surrounded by water… All I could see was the water, and the plants… But then, a bubble. Why was a bubble here, in this underwater place?.. Where was its creator?..
Would they find me?.. Would they… hate me?... I don't want to be hated…
But then, a small noise, and a small creature flew up to the bubble, popping it, and giggling. Why did they do that? My answer was given when they formed another bubble, and popped it as well. It was for… fun. That one word… "Fun"... what was "Fun"?..
Is it a feeling?.. ...Could I experience "Fun"?...
My eyes closed, and as I fell asleep once more…
My lips curved upwards, attempting to mimic the small creature's smile.