Once the Spearow had chased the past Ash a safe distance away from the bush, Serena, Brad, Brock, Ash and Pikachu crawled out of their hiding place. Serena, Brad and Brock were astounded by what they saw. Brock had heard the story a few times and Serena had heard the story once before also, but neither had realised that it had been quite like what they saw. Ash and Pikachu watched themselves running and jumping down the waterfall with a faint smile. They knew that their past selves were about to meet Misty. She was the one who pulled them out of the river. Ash shook himself out of the memories. "We have to get going. I was moving pretty fast after this so we'll have to run to get to where we were knocked unconscious in time," Ash announced and led the way to a shortcut. Since Ash had started travelling in and out of Pallet Town regularly, he had a much better understanding of the lay of the land. He knew that if they ran through the river at the top of the waterfall and made their way down the steep slope on the other side, they only had to run a short while until they reached where everything changed.

As they ran, a storm rolled in and it started to rain heavily. There was thunder and lightning. They heard the flock closing in and almost ran right on to the path where the past Ash barrelled past them and off a small cliff on a bike. Misty's bike which he had "borrowed without asking". The group skidded to a stop and hid behind the trees. "Pikachu!" the past Ash called, seeing how weak and hurt it was. He crawled over to it and placed a hand on it. "Pikachu, this can't happen. Pikachu get inside," Ash told the Pokémon, showing it its pokéball. Pikachu looked weakly at the pokéball but it was listening to what Ash had to say. "I know you're afraid of going in there, but if you're inside then maybe I can save you. Please Pikachu. Please listen to me and go inside. After that then… after that just trust me," Ash begged Pikachu and placed the pokéball beside the Pokémon. He wasn't going to force Pikachu inside. He understood now that Pikachu truly hated it inside. Ash was beginning to see why Pikachu disliked him. Pikachu hated it inside the pokéball and Ash had done nothing but order it to get into one. Then Ash had tied the Pokémon up and dragged it with him. Ash realised now that what he had done had offended and upset Pikachu but he was still learning. He just hoped that Pikachu would understand that and trust Ash as he asked it to.

Ash got up and stood to face the Spearow flock. It was his fault that the Spearow were chasing them and it was his fault that Pikachu was hurt. He was going to do his best to protect it, even if that meant getting hurt himself. "Spearow, do you know who I am?" Ash called loudly to the flock who had just caught up to them. He stood straight, ignoring the rain, with his arms out wide in an effort to hide Pikachu behind him and give the Pokémon time to get into the pokéball. "I'm Ash, from the town of Pallet. I'm destined to be the world's number one Pokémon master, I can't be defeated be the likes of you! I'm going to capture and defeat you all! You hear me?" Ash shouted to the bird Pokémon. He didn't believe a word he was saying but he knew that if he challenged them, they might forget about Pikachu and go after him instead.

Pikachu watched Ash in wonder. Pikachu knew that Ash couldn't fight the Spearow. He couldn't even defeat one Pidgey. It understood what Ash was doing. "Pikachu go inside the pokéball, it's the only way!" Ash called back to Pikachu without looking. He hoped Pikachu had listened to him. It would be the first time, but Ash still thought that there was a chance Pikachu would take this request seriously and listen. "Come and get me!" Ash ordered the flock and they listened. They, as one, dove down to attack Ash and only Ash. Ash stood there fearlessly protecting Pikachu. Pikachu watched Ash and noticed the lightning. It knew that it could perform a much more powerful thunderbolt if it were struck. It might even be powerful enough to take out all the Spearow. But was it willing to risk that it wouldn't work and get attacked again and maybe even killed by the angry flock.

In one fluid movement it made its decision. It climbed to Ash's shoulder and leapt into the air between Ash and the Spearow. Ash's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Pikachu protecting him now. At that moment, lightning struck the electric mouse and it unleashed an overpowered thunderbolt attack. "Pikaachuu!" it cried as it felt the volts coursing through its veins and out of its cheek, enveloping Pikachu, Ash and the entire flock in the electricity. Ash and Pikachu were knocked unconscious and the Spearow fled, some of the unlucky ones were carried away.

Serena, Brock and Brad watched as the past Ash placed himself between Pikachu and the Spearow and goaded them to attack him instead. Ash and Pikachu watched quietly, remembering the feelings and thoughts they had had back then with surprising clarity. Once their past selves were knocked unconscious and Misty's bike was left smoking dejectedly to one side, Ash noticed that the others wanted him to say something. He shrugged at them. What could he say? There had been no other way. They could have kept running, or at least tried to, but sooner or later the Spearow would've caught them. Ash had understood that and made a stand but also tried to protect Pikachu. This is what started their friendship. This act of kindness from Ash and Pikachu deciding that Ash deserved another chance. This had also shown Ash that he had to be more careful and understanding towards Pikachu.

Then a woman appeared from the trees on the other side of the path. She wore a Team Rocket uniform and had a long plait of dark hair. It was the woman after Ash, or rather after Pikachu now. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pouch. She advanced towards the defenceless Pikachu, weak and unconscious. Ash ran out and placed himself between the Team Rocket woman and his past self and past Pikachu. His Pikachu stood at his side, sparking dangerously.

"What are you doing?" Ash demanded angrily. The woman stopped and put a hand on her hip and smiled her sickeningly sweet smile. "I told you, I've switch targets to get to you. Ash, do you remember how bad you felt once you reached the Viridian City Pokémon centre? You called your mother and she told you to be confident. To have faith in yourself. You didn't tell her what had happened but her words helped. But what would have happened if Pikachu hadn't been alright after all. What if your first Pokémon had died because of your stupidity? I doubt you would have continued your journey. You would have given up. Maybe not forever but you wouldn't have been so confident in yourself. You wouldn't have been so reckless. Chances are you would never have been such an annoyance to Team Rocket," the woman explained, completely at ease.

Ash was gobsmacked. He'd never told anyone about the conversation he and his mother had had during his phone call while Nurse Joy attended Pikachu. How did she know what had been said? Brock, Serena and Brad listened to the conversation between Ash and the woman. Brock couldn't help but think that it made sense where Ash's confidence was from. Ash had always been very confident of himself, even when it was obvious he had nothing to be confident about. His mother had probably ordered him to stay confident and positive and Ash always tried to be.

The woman sniggered softly and pulled a large amount of powder out of the pouch. She advanced to the unconscious Pikachu, taking advantage of Ash's stunned silence. However Ash wasn't going to let anyone hurt his best friend. He ran in front of her and grabbed a hold of her wrists. Both of her hands were in fists. She struggled against him and Ash had to use all his strength and determination to keep a hold of her. She was stronger than she looked. Then her annoyed frown changed into a grin of triumph. "Ash, I think you've forgotten who my target truly is," she whispered to him as the rain eased to a stop. She wretched her hand up to his face and held her hand, palm up and flat. Ash saw the lightly purple powder and was suddenly choking on it as she blew it right into his mouth, nose and eyes. He stumbled away from her, coughing, unable to breathe properly. She gave Brock, Brad and Serena a cheery wave and ran into the trees. Serena and Brad ran after her and Brock ran to Ash.

So, yeah… nothing much to say except until the next chapter.