A/N: It seems I had neglected to inform you guys that this is my inaugural story on this site (and ever). Reviews would be greatly appreciated! I had to post this chapter today since this weekend in con weekend (and other events). This story generally updates once a week to every other week, typically on Fridays (but that may be delayed depending what I have going on event and school-wise). Also, I am in the process of setting up a blog to post any visual articles I create to help me write this fic (or any fic for that matter). These would range from maps, to documents, to building designs, to character information. Stay posted!

Chapter 3: Angry Birds

September 30th, 2007 – 5:00pm

It would have been easier to take the highway, known as the Viridian Highway, to Viridian City, but two things prevented them from doing so: it was illegal to walk along the highway, and wild pokemon tend to stay away from the highway unless they were unfortunate enough to be unable to figure out the crossovers (plus, how were they going to catch pokemon with cars anyway). Instead, the group hiked the old dirt pathway designated as Route 1. This route and other numbered dirt paths have served the nation for hundreds of years and generations of trainers and was the main infrastructure until the advent of the highway. Pokemon are generally shy of humans and tend to scurry away at their sight away from these routes. Occasionally, there would be one valiant (or stubborn) enough to go against the opposing trainer. For the pokemon, this usually ends badly for it with its capture and a very happy trainer. However, there are cases where the inexperienced experience the exact opposite; it is here somewhere along this route in the late afternoon where we find three young trainers walking in a group nearing a lone pidgey.

Ash, Leaf, and Gary continuously searched around for wild pokemon, with Ash singing some song about catching all of the pokemon and Leaf joining in at some points, and much to Gary's annoyance. They had seen a couple along the road, but they scurried away out of fear, shyness, or some combination of the two. Miles of routes passed and still no sight of a pokemon that would battle them; Ash was getting very impatient (and getting tired of singing the same song over and over again).

"Man, it's been 3 hours since we left town and we haven't seen anything! That's a 6 mile stretch of nothing!" Ash complained. Gary was starting to get irritated as well…very irritated.

"You know, you might be the reason why every friggin pokemon we see runs away. You cannot keep your loud mouth shut for 5 seconds. AND SING A DIFFERENT SONG, WILL YOU?!" Gary countered with a bitter tone. He was clearly not happy joining these two. Leaf, on the other hand, remained as optimistic as ever.

"Oh don't worry, Ash," Leaf said patting Ash's shoulder, "we'll run into something eventually. And it's a fun song, Gary! You should join in!" The minute she said that, Gary threw out his hand to stop the two.

"What's up," Ash inquired, his mouth in Gary's hand.

"Shhhh!" Gary hissed, "Get down behind the rock. I spot a pidgey about 75 feet in front of us." The three hid down behind a rock. Ash pulled out his pokedex, deciding it was a perfect time to use it, and it introduced itself.

"Hi! I'm Dexter, the pokedex of the Kanto Region. I contain information about known pokemon and can make information for new pokemon. I am registered to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. Trainer ID: 13429. Commencing scan of target pokemon. Pidgey is a Flying Pokémon. Among all the Flying Pokémon, it is the gentlest and easiest to capture. A perfect target for the beginning Pokémon Trainer to test his Pokémon's skills. Pidgey's Gust power creates tornadoes. It also has a Sand-Attack." It was a very still, very quiet 2 minutes before Ash decided to take action. No longer containing himself, he grabbed a pebble. Gary noticed this and was not pleased.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Gary hissed.

"I'm gonna show you how to catch a pokemon. Just watch and learn, Gary," Ash cockily said. Gary could only be amused…and worried.

"Okay, Ashy-boy; let's see what you got." Ash then stood up, the pidgey still unaware of their presence. He cocked his arm back to prepare for the pitch and let loose with all of the power he had. It made contact with the unsuspecting pidgey at the back of the head, but not powerful enough to bring it down as he planned. In fact, all it did was turn around and tried to look for its attacker. Ash, thinking it's distracted, threw a pokeball at the pidgeon only to hit it in the exact same spot and fall to the ground. He stood there dumbfounded while the pidgey started to walk the other way, uninterested in the pokeball that hit it.

"Charmander," Gary suddenly commanded from behind, "scratch that pidgey."

"Huh," Ash questioned as he looked back, only to find Gary's Charmander bolting past his left side and aiming for the flying pokemon. Its claws raised and cocked back for the strike, the pidgey is now in wide-eyed alarm when it decides to kick up sand in order to protect itself. Unfortunately for the pidgey, Charmander was quick enough to know where the pidgey is and land a direct attack on it…to the back of the head. Clutching its head in pain, it kicked up more sand and was about to unleash its most powerful move: gust. Charmander, now blind in the sand, crawled around and swung its claws everywhere to find the offending pokemon. Pidgey flew up, moved its wings back, and began flapping violently as the air in front of it began to twist and pick up dust and debris. The mini tornado, also known as gust, barreled towards the cloud of sand.

"Charmander, get out of the way and jump to use scratch!"

Charmander heard the command just in time to jump to the right and launch itself in the air at the pidgey. Cocking back its arm again, it lunged in for the attack to have it scrape the underside of the pidgey's abdomen. Now critically injured, the pidgey fell to the ground below and lay there limp. Gary readied his pokeball and threw it directly at the pidgey, its casing opening it up and absorbng the flying pokemon. It wiggled around a little bit and then locked in place, noted by the distinct ping that the catch had been successful.

"And that, Ashy-boy, is how you catch a pokemon. You have to battle it to weaken it in order to capture it. Got it? It's basic pokemon catching 101," Gary lectured Ash, who looked just about ready to die inside. Leaf was floored on how quickly Gary had been able to catch the pokemon.

"Good job, Gary!" Leaf exclaimed proudly.

"Heh," was all Gary muttered as he pressed forward. They walked for another 200 yards until Gary threw out his arms again.

"What now? See another pokemon?" Ash asked again.

"Shhhh!" Gary hissed again, "yes it's another pokemon. Now be quiet so I can figure out how to capture it."

"Hey! I want a turn!" Leaf quietly cried.

"Fine, pesky girl; you can get the next one we run into." Leaf raised an eyebrow to that.

"…did you just call me a pesky girl?"

"What of it? You are one; I call it like I see it."

"Ughh! You are an asshole, you know that?"

"Heh, call me whatever you want; I'm still your cousin." While this exchange was going on, no one noticed Ash slip away and stared down the pokemon in front of him.

"Oooo, I think it's another pidgey; time for me to capture it for real." Ash said quietly as he readied his pokeball containing Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur! I choose you!" He shouted as he threw his pokeball out. And when the white plasma subsided, Bulbasaur stood in attention, waiting for orders. Then Ash noticed something, it looked quite different from the pidgey they encountered earlier. Instead of a docile tiny bird with short, brown feathers and a short beak, this pokemon had longer feathers that stood up, red wings, and a seemingly aggressive disposition. Ash quickly pulled out Dexter for analysis.

"Spearow, the tiny bird pokemon. Unlike Pidgey, Spearow has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokémon and humans. It-" Ash snapped Dexter shut, deciding that was all he needed to hear.

"Tackle attack!" Bulbasaur readied itself and lunged forward at the bird pokemon, which noticed its presence. Being the stubborn pokemon it was known for, it directly went on the offensive to counter the tackle with a peck. This attack, however, never made contact as Bulbasaur's tackle made direct contact with the spearow and it rolled out on the ground. Dust from the battle scene was thrown in all directions, clouding the entire scene.

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed, claiming an early victory for the success of the attack (although he could not see past the dust). Gary and Leaf looked on to see what he would do next wondering if he indeed won. What happened next was totally unexpected.

The spearow that was now sprawled out on the ground and in pain suddenly gave a shrill cry towards a large oak tree to the left of Ash. Suddenly, the leaves of the large oak tree began to rustle violently. Gary, now wide-eyed in alarm, pulled out his pokedex and it read the same lines as Ash's did, only to note that "It often likes to attack in flocks and will call upon its wingmen for aid upon injury." Now looking at the incoming air raid, the three trainers stared at each other and said the same thing…

"…oh…shit…"

Ash looked to the left and saw a mass flock of Spearow flying right towards them. Gary was the first one to snap out of the trance and yelled, "EVERYBODY FUCKING RUN FOR IT!" while Ash and Leaf also snapped out of it and bolted, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Jigglypuff desperately trying to keep up.

They ran for a good mile or so before Ash decided they could not outrun the air raid forever.

"Hey guys! You think it would be a good idea to split up the flock in order to attempt to fight 'em off separately?" Ash yelled.

"I don't know," Leaf yelled back, "but it's the only chance we have."

"Alright," Gary yelled, "I'll go left! Ash, you go straight ahead and Leaf, you go to the right."

"Right! I'll meet you guys in a bit!" Ash yelled as he continued running forward. Leaf veered to the right and ran through the grass and Gary veered left. No one noticed dark clouds forming above them; that's when all hell broke loose.

-With Ash-

They ran for another half of a mile before stopping to catch their breath. The spearow, however, were right on their tail as they began their downward decent. The cries were ear-piercing as Ash looked up. 'Shit,' he thought, 'there are so many of them! How will I be able to take 'em all on?'

"Bulbasaur! Give 'em a growl!" He mustered the best growl that he could, only to have it drowned out by the cries of the spearow and the now booming thunder. Drizzles start to drop, which then gave way to a torrential downpour.

"Damn it! Guys, keep running!" Ash yelled as the three ran, the spearow now at pecking level where it started viciously pecking them. One spearow's peck would not be so bad, but 20 of them pecking would be very uncomfortable, unmanageable, and downright crazy to fend off. "Argh! GODDAMMIT!" Ash yelled as he tried to fight them off himself, his pokemon attempting to do the same. To his misfortune, he tripped on an unseen rock, face-planting in the now muddied path. He twisted his head towards the spearow and then looked towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, I know this is insane, but you have to release a massive thundershock. Can you do that for me, buddy?" Pikachu nodded, knowing full well that electricity and water generally do not make for a very good combination. Ash then stood up, with Pikachu on his shoulder and Bulbasaur ready to assist on the ground.

"Come at me, spearow!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs while he threw Pikachu towards the flock, all charged up. Pikachu then released a massive amount of electricity as the lightning from the thunderstorm gave it even more power. The entire area was lit up in yellow as the screams of Ash, Bulbasaur, Pikachu, and the spearows were all heard at the same time. The last words Ash Ketchum uttered was "Damn you…spearows…" as his world went black.

-With Gary-

As one might expect, Gary was faring a little bit better than Ash…up until the rain started. He was able to outrun the spearows for a good three-quarter mile before noticing the sky growing ominously dark. As if on cue, the sky lit up with a festival of lightning as Gary stopped to catch his breath. The flock of spearow were now gaining on him when he glanced back to do a head check. He was about to continue running when a large shadow loomed over. A fearow, who was the leader of the flock, stared down at Gary in contempt with lightning and thunder not helping defuse the situation, and now the pouring rain. 'Well this is just great…wait, why didn't it go for Ash?'

The fearow began to fly up to prepare its most powerful attack. Gary recognizes this move based on the pokemon shows he watched. 'Shit, it's doing the Aerial Ace. I need to run fast.' He frantically looked around the cliff side and found a small opening. 'Yes…a cave!' He sprinted as fast as he could to dodge the onslaught of the fearow, with the spearows behind it. With the flock now beginning their attack angle decent, Gary stopped outside the small opening and waited for their arrival. The group of beaks were approaching quickly, keen on revenge. He had to wait for the right moment to dive into the opening.

For a moment, time stood still. All he could hear was his heart pounding against his chest, his lungs heaving for oxygen, the rain splattering across his face, the booming thunder around, and the screeches of the flock closing in. He could feel the water pouring down his face, the mud caked to his hands, the quake of the storm around him. He had one chance to do this right. He was not going to die today. Right when the flock was about 10 feet from him, he used all his strength and dove into the cave, rolling out has he hit the back wall, hard. All he heard were cries of spearows and the fearow followed by multiple thuds. He took a look around and decided that he was safe in there.

The scene outside the cave was a peculiar one. There were spearows with their beaks stuck to the ground, some had their beaks stuck to the cliff's wall, then there were some where the just flat out hit the wall and collapsed to the ground. The fearow happened to be one of the ones knocked out on the ground. Gary figured that he would wait the rain out in the cave and for the spearow to retreat before heading out towards Viridian City.

-With Leaf-

Leaf did not know how long she ran, but she kept running. Jigglypuff was now in her ball as she would not be able to keep up. The cries of the flock were nearing as the rain started to drop and the thunder was heard overhead. Leaf was never the one to enjoy thunder storms; she always had her headphones on during the event of one and shut her curtains. Now she had nowhere to hide as lightning flashed around her. She was already panicking about the spearows when out of nowhere, a large shadow behind the flock materialized. Noticing the change in shadows, she turned back to find a larger-than-normal fearow flying quickly towards her. She readied her squirtle and sent it out.

"Squirtle! Tackle the fearow!" Leaf screamed as she braced herself for impact. Squirtle launched itself towards the large beak pokemon, but completely missed. He was sent skyward towards the rest of the flock. Thinking he could fly, Squirtle failed his arms to prevent himself from falling. Soon, he decided his was going to hit the ground anyways and quickly retreated into his shell. The shell bounced twice before coming to a stop below the chaos in the air.

While that was going on, the fearow became angry at the trainer who unleashed that sad excuse of an attack on it. It aimed its claws at Leaf wanting hell-bent revenge. 'No way…' Leaf thought as Fearow inched closer to her; she began to high-tail it. Next, the unthinkable happened: the fearow picked up Leaf by the back and lifted her into the air.

She let out a blood-curdling scream, which was drowned out by the flock's cries and the thunder. Desperately crying for help, she looked around to see if she could get loose. Squirtle remained on the ground, not sure what to do at this point. Then, she reached for her second pokeball and threw it up in the air. Jigglypuff landed on the fearow's back and proceeded to pound the crap out of its head. Not feeling the effects of the attack, the fearow took a sharp turn to the right and threw Jigglypuff off into the air. In the process, the fearow loosened its grip on Leaf and she also headed straight for the ground. Luckily, they were only 15 feet in the air and she was able to rollout upon impact due to landing on a downhill. Jigglypuff was also on this same trajectory and landed snuggly in Leaf's arms. The fearow, however was not finished, with the flock ganging up behind it. Leaf suddenly had an idea.

By this time, the thundering was no longer a dominant boom, but just low rumbles, and the rain had lightened up for a little bit. She held up Jigglypuff towards the advancing flock and gave this insane command.

"Jigglypuff, I know if you take in enough air, your song will be amplified. I need you to do that when they get close enough. Ready?" Jigglypuff responded with affirmation and took in an obscenely large amount of air, much more than Kirby would in the video games Ash and Leaf played together in their younger days.

"Ready?" They waited until the flock was about 15 yards away. By this time, Squirtle had caught up to them.

"NOW!" Jigglypuff unleashed her song. The flock stopped mid-flight and began to drift downwards, closing their eyes in the process. The scene was absolutely marvelous. The sky began to rain spearows and fearow as the song continued in all its glory. Fortunately, the cliff side only amplified the song even further, putting everything in the valley to a deep sleep.

Leaf had trouble keeping awake while this was going on. She set Jigglypuff down and curled up in a ball in the rain. She soon passed out along with the flock and Squirtle right beside her. 'I hate birds,' Leaf thought right before going into a deep sleep.

-With Gary-

8:45pm

Gary had no idea when he fell asleep. He figured that random song that bounced off the cliff walls is what did it. 'No doubt Leaf would use that. I guess she took out the spearows that way.' He let out a sigh and looked out from the cave. The rain had finally subsided to where it was okay to continue traveling on foot. The stars shined across the clear night sky while the crescent moon radiates through the dissipating clouds. He contemplated continuing the route into the night, or stay in the cave to rest. He took out his PokeGear to check the GPS.

'So according to PokeMaps, I'm about 7 miles from Viridian. If I start walking now, I should be able to get there in about 3 hours; it'll be midnight. Oh well, we can meet up in Viridian; it'll be good to travel alone for a bit. Three hours of peace and quiet.' Gary calculated as he packed up his belongings and got his pokemon back into their balls. "Alright guys, I know you're clearly injured and you both put up a good fight, so rest up until we get to the Pokemon Center. Hang on for three more hours." He stepped out of the cave to see the flock had retreated back to its nest. He took a left due north and pressed on into the night towards Viridian City. He had one lingering thought, though.

'I swear if it rains…'

A/N: Reviews appreciated! Thanks! Also, if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to PM me!