A/N: I hope the pacing of Dustin improving Ash's skills as his mentor does feel too fast or slow in the future.


The pokemon that came out of the Pokeball was a reptilian, bipedal Pokémon that resembled a pterosaur with several draconianc features. It has small, sharply pointed ears, narrow dark green eyes, a ridged snout, a gaping mouth, and a strong lower jaw full of serrated fangs. Its body is covered in light blue-gray skin, and it has large, violet membranous wings. The clawed hands at the end of each wing allow it to grasp objects. There is a hump-like ridge with a spike on its back, and it has a strong tail with an arrow-shaped tip. Its talon-like feet have two toes in front and one in the back.

"Aero!" The Pokemon cried out fiercely.

"No way, an Aerodactyl," Dustin gasped, holding out his Pokedex at the Pokemon that was inside of the Pokeball.

[Aerodactyl, the fossil Pokemon. A rock and flying type. This vicious pokemon is said to have flown in ancient skies while shrieking high-pitched cries. Aerodactyl is known to be a challenge to train for most, but some gained the trust of Aerodactyl quickly. This Aerodactyl was recently bred by Lance and hatched from a Pokemon egg a few months ago.]

'So then my Aerodactyl is the child of my father's Aerodactyl.' Dustin thought as he put away the Pokedex after checking out the attacks his Aerodactyl knew.

"Alright, Aerodactyl, use Wing Attack on Vulpix!" Dustin said.

"Aero, dactyl!" Aerodactyl cried out, looking at Dustin before finally flying up and then diving down towards Vulpix with its wings glowing white, slamming into the Vulpix, making it cry out in pain from the impact.

Vulpix shook its head as it shot out small flames from its mouth at Aerodactyl.

"Dodge it!" Dustin called out.

Aerodactyl cried out as it did so, causing the Vulpix attack to miss.

"Aerodactyl!" Aerodactyl cried out, flying towards Vulpix and clamping its jaw on Vulpix's tail.

Vulpix cried out loudly in pain as Dustin winced mentally at how painful an Aerodactyl bite must be.

"Aerodactyl, don't attack without command," Dustin stated, making Aerodactyl look at him before letting go of Vulpix."Alright, Pokeball, go!" He shouted, throwing a PokeBall at the Vulpix as it passed out from the bite attack.

Vulpix was pulled inside by a beam of light. Dustin and Aerodactyl looked at the Pokeball as it shook a few times until there was a click.

He walked over to the PokeBall and picked it up, smiling. "I caught a Vulpix. We have a new friend Aerodactyl!" He said, rubbing Aerodactyl's head.

"Aero, dactyl!" Aerodactyl cried out loudly, glancing at Dustin's head on its hand.

"It is going to take some time getting you to see me as your trainer fully," Dustin said, pulling out Aerodactyl Pokeball and returning him.

He then put both PokeBalls on his belt and headed back towards Ash and Empuress.


Dustin made it back to Ash, not being too far away from where he left them to hear Ash shouting loudly.

"Hey! Get out of there!" Ash snapped, running over to his bag as small purple pokemon ran off the moment he stepped foot near his bag.

Ash then took out his as he scanned the Pokemon that retreated.

[Rattata, the Mouse Pokemon. A forest Pokemon and a normal-type Pokemon. It likes cheese, nuts, fruits, and berries.]

"Yeah, but this isn't a forest," Ash muttered, looking away from his pokedex."It is an open field."

[It also enters open fields to steal food from stupid travelers.]

"You sure let the pokedex continue before assuming it wrong," Dustin commented as Empuress ran towards him.

"...Wait, that means... I'm stupid...?" Ash asked in disbelief.

Dustin sighed as he heard laughter from Pikachu, who found it amusing that the pokedex called his trainer stupid.

"I'm afraid that you can't catch anything if you don't use another Pokemon to battle," Dustin stated.

Ash frowned as he glanced over at Pikachu, who still showed no interest in helping Ash at all.

"Well, I can't stand here and so nothing...! I must catch at least one Pokemon before we reach Viridian City," Ash groaned until something caught his eye.

Dustin looked at what caught Ash's attention and narrowed his eyes. Up ahead was a flying-type Pokemon though it was hard to tell if it was a Pidgey from how far away it was or something else.

Ash suddenly picked up a rock, making Dustin raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Dustin asked.

"Just a sec...and there!"

However, before Dustin could stop him, he threw the rock, which caused it to hit the shadow bird Pokemon up ahead. Dustin's facepalm at sight, and the mommet it got hit. It turned around with an angry look on its face.

"Oh no, that's a Spearow!" Dustin gasped, recognizing the Pokemon.

"Spearow?" Ash questions holding up his pokedex at bird Pokemon.

[Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. A normal and flying type. Unlike Pidgey, Spearow has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokemon and humans.]

"This is not good...Ash, we need to go and fast," Dustin stated.

"Huh? But why? It's just one!" He said, confused at Dustin's urgency.

"Ash as your mentor, listen to me. It's -" Dustin, however, couldn't finish as Spearow flew in the air before attempting to attack him and Ash as they amended to dodge out of the way in time.

"Empuress! Stop Spearow!" Dustin commanded.

"Meowth!"

Empuress charged forward as she used furry swipes, knocking Spearow back. Spearow glared in response as it flew up in the air. As they watched it fly up it, the new target was Pikachu.

Pikachu uttered a frightened cry upon being targeted by Spearow as he tried to evade the Peck aimed at him.

"Hey! Leave Pikachu alone! It didn't throw the lock last you!" Ash snapped at Spearow.

[Wild Pokemon tend to be jealous of human-trained Pokemon.] Ash's pokedex explained as if responding to his protest.

"That makes the situation even worse, pokedex," Dustin commented before focusing back on tiny bird Pokémon flying down once again to hit the Electric Type. But while it missed, it nearly knocked him out of the tree.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted out.

But as Spearow tried to hurt Pikachu...the boys saw just how powerful Pikachu's thunder shock was as he unleashed an electric shock from his cheeks onto Spearow.

Spearow let out a shriek of pain before falling to the ground from the super-effective attack he had taken just now.

"You did it!" Ash widened his eyes with an impressed smile.

However, things made a turn for the worse.

"SPEAROW!"

The loud shrilling cry cry caught their attention as they saw that Spearow wasn't entirely down! In fact, the situation was even worse when up ahead on a tree, a large flock of Spearow flew out!

Dustin turned, glup at the sight; one Spearow was bad, but multiple was a nightmare. A warning sign saying to run now!

"Run Now!" Dustin yelled, grabbing Ash's ar,m and began to make a run for it with Empuress on his shoulder.

Pikachu ran by their side as they tried to outrun the flock of Spearow that was coming their way. At this point, Ash catching a Pokemon didn't matter. They needed to get to Viridian City and fast. As they were running, Dustin glanced back to see the flock getting closer by the second.

"They're gaining on us! Run faster!" Dustin said, looking at Ash, whose arm he let go of.

"I'm running...as fast as I can... Dusk!" Ash panted before he turned to look at his Electric Type partner Pokemon.

"Don't worry, Pikachu! No matter what, I'll always be there to protect you!" Ash called to him.

But in response, the Mouse Pokémon started to run even faster, gradually getting ahead of them.

"Wha...!?Hey! Don't run up ahead! I said that I would-- GAH!" Ash said but suddenly cried out in pain.

Dustin was about to turn back before yelping in pain as he was hit in the back of his head by a painful peck attack on the back of his head, as the flock caught up to them before they all began to let out their fury by showing no mercy in their attacks!

"Get... Off of me!" Dustin said, swatting away the Spearow aimed at his face while Empuress knocked some of them out with her attacks. However, she was overwhelmed by the number attacking at the same too! It wasn't long before she started getting mauled by the flock!

"OWTH!"

"Hey! Get off of her!" Dustin shouted as he swung his backpack at them, shooing them back as he picked up Empurress in his arms.

"Ash!" He called out, looking for Ash, then saw him holding Pikachu.

From the looks of it, Pikachu was poorly hurt by the injuries present on his body as proof.

"Let's hurry!" Dustin called out to him.

'We will need medical attention for our Pokemon after this and ourselves.' Dustin thought, looking at Pikachu and his Meowth.

The chase continued on as the two of us took the mantle of escaping while trying to protect our partners from the Spearow flock, as they continued to fly after us to attack!

Dustin glanced back, seeing how stubborn and angry the flock was at them.

As much as it was getting annoying. He understood why they were angry. When one member of the flock is down, then that ignites anger in the rest of them.

'There has to be a way to shake them.' Dustin thought, but his eyes immediately widened as he skidded to a stop with Ash as they gaped at the cliff they were standing on, which was a long way down.

Dustin sighed, looking down at the cliff seeing the stream of water, and realized that only one option was left if they were going to get away from the flock of Spearow.

"Ash, brace yourself and hold your breath. Empuress, bare with me. We're going in!" Dustin commanded, holding Empurress securely.

This caught Ash off guard before his face changed to an understanding expression as he nodded before they looked down at the stream and then...

"JUMP!" Dustin shouted.


With one big jump, they were in the stream, letting the current take them to wherever would be safe. With the current pushing them, it was safe to say that it gave a boost to escape from the angry flock.

Although, Dustin wouldn't necessarily call it the safest route...for they nearly collided with a few water-type Pokemon that lived in the stream. Most of them were Magikarp and Golden, but the scariest obstacle that got in the way was a wild Gyarados.

The sight of the Atrocious Pokémon coming at the boys caused them to swim out of the way for it to pass... allowing them to safely dodge the giant Pokémon and continue their way to where the stream was pushing us towards...!

Dustin reached a rock, letting Gyarados to pass, only for something to get in the way, he narrowed his eyes as he felt something grab onto his sleeve, and before he knew it, he and Ash, who was hanging onto him, were pulled out of the water; causing them to land on the dirt and grass.

They both cough from the pull and rough impact with the ground. As Dustin finished coughing, he looked around to see they were more profound in the woods of Route 1.

"It's just some boys and some pokemon..." A female voice muttered.

Dustin glanced over to see orange hair girl, possibly a year older than Ash. She was holding a fishing rod and must have been the one who pulled them out of the stream. She must have thought they were Water-type Pokémon.

"Are you okay?" She asked, walking over to them.

"Yeah... we're okay..." Ash coughed, but...

"Not you! Look what you two have done to the poor little things! Are they breathing?" The girl snapped, indicating that she was asking their Pokémon.

Dustin sighed. Even if she cared, she was coming off a bit rude, not even thinking about everything they went through to end up in this situation.

"I... I think so..." Ash said weakly upon seeing Pikachu slowly breathing in his arms.

"Meowth," Empuress cried out, shaking off the water as she freed herself from Dustin's grip showing she had slightly recovered from Spearow's attacks.

"She is fine, but she is going to need a check-up," Dustin frowned, looking at his Pokemon partner.

"Well, don't just sit there. They'll need a doctor right away! There's a medical center not too far from here!" She exclaimed, catching Dustin's attention.

"So then we're close to Viridian City? That where heading," Dustin asked.

"Yes. It's that way." She pointed to the direction that they were heading off to.

The moment she pointed the way. However, they could hear many squawks nearby as Dustin and Ash whirled around to see the flock still chasing them!

"Not good... They found us," Dustin shouted.

"Run!" Ash exclaimed before rushing over to where there was a bike.

"H-Hey, what are you doing!?" The girl called out in surprise.

"I'm borrowing this!" Ash grunted.

"Wait! Hey, that's my bike!" She protested loudly.

However, right now, that wasn't important as Dustin turned to see the flock chasing them, getting closer. He then looked back at Ash, his friend who he was mentoring.

The best option to get out of here was to split on up. It is better to handle the flock in smaller groups if needed to battle them.

"Ash, we're splitting up," Dustin told him.

"Wha-- Dusk!?"

"Go! I'll catch up with you soon! Get Pikachu away as fast as you can!" Dustin called out, ignoring the girl's protest.

The look on Dustin's face was enough to tell him to get moving as he nodded before he pedaled away, making his escape.

"Sorry! I'll give it back someday!" He called to the girl while he began to make his getaway.

"Oh...! You...!" The girl growled in annoyance, watching him go.

Dustin nodded with Ash going one path; he would take the other. That way, it'll be easier for both of them to escape. Without saying anything else to the girl, he began to dash off into the woods with Empuress climbing back onto his shoulders.

And just as he thought, a few of the flock began to make chase after him. He frowned, seeing that most of them were after Ash and Pikachu.

He narrowed his eyes, hoping they would be okay, especially since they had a bike to make it faster to Viridian City.

"Empuress, get ready to battle," Dustin said, coming to a stop.

The Scratch Cat Pokémon nodded before she jumped off of his shoulders and prepared to face our there enemies. He then took out another Pokéball before sending Aerodactyl out to join in on the fight.

"Aeroblaster! Dustin called, sending out his newly nicknamed Aerodactyl for battle.

The moment he was sent out, The mighty Rock Flying-type was immediately ready to fight as he and Empuress faced off against the incoming group that aimed to strike at them.

"Aeroblaster, Wing Attack! Empuress Body Slam!"

Aerodactyl took the initiative, using his mighty wings to some of the Spearow back, as Empuress charged forward and slammed into two of them with her body.

"Now, both of you, Swift!" Dustin shouted.

They both sent a blast of multiple golden stars speeding toward the Spearow flock dealing a decent amount of damage simultaneously.

"Again, don't let up!" Dustin called out.

Aerodactyl released the barrage of Wing Attack at the Spearow flock. At the same time, Empuress used Swift repeatedly until the Spearow flock collapsed on the ground,d unable to withstand the damage from the attacks.

The flock let out a caw as they attempted to get up and quickly flew away despite the injuries.

Dustin took a breath, and he sighed before something hit his head.

He looked up at the sky and realized it had started raining. The rain began to pour down, showering down on my face as I closed my eyes at the feeling.

Dustin looked at his two Pokemon pulling out a pokeball.

"Thanks, Aeroblaster, especially for following my commands, but I meant Swift again; however, Wing Attack over and over and repeatedly worked just as well," He said, returning his Aerodactyl, who cried loudly.

Dustin then turned to Empuress, nodding, signaling that it was time to go now that the threat on their side was taken care of.

"Let's go. Ash might be in trouble," Dustin said.

"Owth!" Empuress nodded as she got onto his shoulder again.

Soon as she did, he started to run with all his strength. He knew that in this weather, it would be impossible to ride the bike smoothly, especially when trying to escape an angry flock of Spearow.

'Hopefully, your okay, Ash. I promise your mom to keep you safe.'


A couple of minutes later...

ZAP!

A powerful lighting bolt caught his attention, and he looked to see where it came from. There was the other flock of Spearow flying away, which meant...

"Ash! Pikachu!" Dustin eyes widened before he ran faster toward the scene, hoping they were

okay.

Eventually, he made it to where he found a burnt bike and...

"Ash! Pikachu!" Dustin called out as he rushed over to see them both lying on the muddy ground together, both dirty and weakened.

Empuress checks up on Pikschu while Dustin checks on Ash before they both start to open their eyes. And as they did, the rain clouds began to clear away.

"Dusk..?" Ash whispered weakly.

"It's me, Ash. I'm sorry for not getting here sooner," Dustin said softly.

"Meo..? Meowth?" Empuress cooed to Pikachu, nudging him a little. The Mouse Pokémon gave a weak smile in response to Empuress's concern, bringing a small smile to his partner's face.

However, before anything else could be said or do anything, a screeching sound filled the air causing everyone to look up to see where it came from, only to see a golden Pokémon that was flying high in the sky!

"What is that?" Ash asked

Dustin didn't have an answer for him, but he felt he recognized it from somewhere as Ash pulled out his pokedex to see what it could tell them.

[There is no data. There are still Pokemon yet to be identified.]

"No data..?" He questioned.

However, just saw the Pokemon. He had a feeling that many exciting and beautiful things were to come after this rocky start.

"Come on. Let's keep moving. Viridian City shouldn't be too far from here," Dustin said, earning a nod from Ash as he got up and started walking.

Ash held Pikachu in his arms to keep him safe as we walked until eventually...

"There is Viridian City," Dustin pointed out.

The first destination on their journey started off on a rocky start for Dustin and Ash.

To be continued...

Dustin's Team:

Pokemon On Hand:

Meowth: (F) [Eumpuress]

Aerodactyl (M) [Aeroblaster]

Vulpix (F) [Kitsune]