After leaving the hidden village Ash, Brock and Misty continued the search for Vermilion City. But they ended up getting lost again. Ash was checking to see if any Pokemon were around, but he didn't see any that attracted him.
'There's nothing in this area that I want to capture.' Ash thought.
Misty was complaining like a little girl, because they were lost.
"Where are we?!" She shouted.
Ash took a look at the map.
"Well we seem to be in the middle of nowhere." He said. "But Route 24 leads to Vermilion City and we seem to be on the right track."
Misty perked up after hearing that.
"Let's get this show on the road then!" She cheered.
Just then she saw a dark shadow on a rock and screeched.
"What is that?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu, would you mind seeing what that is?" Pikachu leaped onto the rock and took a look. It turned out to be a red lizard with a flaming tail.
"That's a Charmander." Ash took out the Pokedex.
"Charmander, the Lizard Pokemon. Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of it's tail."
"I've always wanted a Charmander." Ash said, preparing to take out a Poke Ball.
Brock then noticed something odd.
"This Charmander looks like it's in bad shape to me. And it doesn't look like it's on this rock for no reason."
"Hey would you mind finding out what Charmander is saying?" Ash asked.
After Pikachu spoke to Charmander, it told Ash what Charmander had said.
"I see." Ash nodded. "Pikachu just told me that Charmander is waiting for someone to come get it."
"So you think it belongs to someone?" Misty asked.
"Looks that way to me." Ash responded.
"Then we better leave and let it's trainer take care of it."
So they set off and left Charmander alone.
While they walked along the path, Misty spotted a building up ahead.
"Look it's the Pokemon Center."
"Then that means Route 24 isn't far away." Ash said.
Suddenly the rain began to come down like crazy.
"Hurry." Ash instructed.
They rushed into the Pokemon Center as fast as they could before they were soaking wet. There was a nice blazing fire in the Pokemon Center. Ash, Brock and Misty sat around it for a while to keep warm and then they had some nice hot soup. But Brock had some doubt in his mind.
"I wonder if Charmander has been picked up yet." He said. "I mean what if it's trainer just left it there."
"But surely Charmander wouldn't wait this long and in this weather, would it?" Ash asked.
"No I don't think so." Brock answered. "I'm sure it's trainer has picked it up by this point."
Laughter interrupted their thoughts. A blue-haired boy that resembled a cowboy was sitting with a group of six other boys. They were admiring the blue-haired boy's Pokemon.
"Wow, you're the man Damian." A boy with dark brown hair said.
"Hey, didn't you have a Charmander too?" A boy with spiky hair asked.
"Yeah, I did." Damian replied. "But that thing was so weak it couldn't even beat a simple bug type Pokemon."
Ash, Misty and Brock glared at Damian.
"I don't like his attitude." Misty said.
"All Pokemon start off weak when they're captured." Brock said. "That's why if a Pokemon Trainer works hard, Pokemon can be strong."
"So what did you do with it?" The spiky-haired boy asked.
"I left it on a big rock in the woods." Damian replied.
Ash, Misty and Brock looked at each other in shock.
"I lied to it saying I would come back for it later." Damian smirked. "It's probably still waiting for me on that rock."
Damian and the six boys laughed.
Ash, Misty and Brock were now furious.
"I can't believe that guy." Misty said. "Treating his Pokemon like that."
Brock was enraged and was about to get up from the table, when he felt steam within the vicinity.
"I'll deal with Damian." Ash insisted.
He made his way over to Damian and pulled his fist back, punching Damian in the face and causing his nose to bleed.
"Hey, what did you do that for?" Damian asked, blood pouring down his nose.
"Isn't it obvious." Ash retorted. "How dare you lie to your Pokemon! You left it alone in this rain. You call yourself a Pokemon Trainer and yet you treat your Pokemon like trash. You make me sick."
"What I do with my Pokemon is none of your concern." Damian said.
"You just made it my concern." Ash snapped. "I'm going to find Charmander."
He turned to Misty and Brock.
"Will you stay here and let Nurse Joy know about this."
"Sure thing." Misty and Brock nodded.
Ash then ran out of the Pokemon Center and immediately assumed his dragon form.
Misty and Brock were amazed by his anger, but knew full well Damian deserved being punched in the face. They then told Nurse Joy about what just transpired.
Charmander was still waiting for Damian, even though the rain was coming down in torrents. It was holding a big leaf like an umbrella and was hoping it wouldn't put out it's flame. Just then it heard a rustle in the grass. A Spearow had been staring at it and was just about to scratch it with it's claws.
"Rrarr!" A loud roar scared it off.
"Listen Charmander." He said. "I may not be your trainer, but I'm going to get you out of this rain."
Charmander hesitated for a moment, but agreed to let Ash pick him up. Ash placed Charmander on his back and then flew towards the Pokemon Center.
Misty, Brock and Nurse Joy were waiting for him to return, when he landed in front of the Pokemon Center.
"I'm back with Charmander." He said.
Nurse Joy ran over.
"I'll take Charmander while you rest." She said, climbing up and taking Charmander off his back.
Ash then reverted back to his human form and sat down by the fire. He then told Misty and Brock what had happened.
"It's a good thing you got there in time." Misty said.
"Yeah or those Spearow would have severely injured Charmander." Brock agreed.
"What about Damian?" Ash asked.
"He left a while ago." Misty said. "Don't worry though, Nurse Joy contacted Officer Jenny and reported him."
"Glad to hear it." Ash retorted. "I bet he treats his other Pokemon horribly as well."
Throughout the night Charmander rested in the operating room and Ash, Brock and Misty slept on the couches near the fire. In the morning they rushed over to the operating room to see if Charmander is okay.
"There is no need to worry." Nurse Joy said. "Charmander has fully recovered and it's flame is burning nicely."
"That's good to hear." Ash smiled, happy that Charmander was back to full health. "But what about Damian? What if Charmander decides to return to him?"
"That's Charmander's decision to make." Nurse Joy said.
While Charmander was still recovering Ash, Brock and Misty decided to leave.
"I'm still wondering what Charmander's decision will be." Brock said. "I mean Damian treated him badly."
"You're right Brock." Ash nodded. "But Charmander's still loyal to Damian, that's why it's wondering how to respond."
Brock agreed with Ash, a smile on his face.
Just then Misty felt the ground underneath her sink a bit.
"Something feels weird here." She said.
Ash and Brock went to see what was wrong when all three fell into a hole.
"What just happened?" Ash asked.
Team Rocket appeared in front of them and declared their motto.
"What do you want?!" Misty shouted.
"What else?" Jessie smirked. "We want your Pokemon."
"Forget it!" Misty shouted.
Team Rocket pulled out what looked like a vacuum machine.
"This will suck up their Poke Balls." James said.
But before they could do anything a growl stopped them. It was Charmander.
"What do you want?" Meowth demanded. Charmander spoke.
"It says leave those people alone."
"Yeah right." James scoffed. "Go away."
Team Rocket was about to resume their business, but Charmander blew a stream of fire at them. Team Rocket was burned to a crisp. Charmander was about to release another stream of fire, but Team Rocket ran away.
Ash, Brock and Misty climbed out of the hole then thanked Charmander.
"I'm glad to see that you're feeling a lot better." Ash said. "You're a very powerful Pokemon."
"I agree with that." A voice stated. It was Damian.
"What do you think you're doing here?!" Ash demanded.
"I'm here for Charmander." Damian responded.
"What are you talking about?" Ash asked. "You abandoned Charmander."
"Yeah I did." Damian replied. "But since then, it showed me that it has gotten strong."
"Hold it!" Brock shouted. "You don't deserve to take Charmander back after what you did to it. And since I'm pretty sure you don't treat any Pokemon with care, you don't deserve to have them at all."
"You got that right." A voice said. It was Officer Jenny; she grabbed Damian and placed him in handcuffs.
"I received Nurse Joy's phone call about you. I also got information from my cousins and other Nurse Joy's. It's reported that you abuse Pokemon and this is the last straw. Not only are you under arrest, but you are prohibited from possessing any Pokemon."
She removed all sixteen of Damian's Poke Balls then handed them to Brock and Misty.
"Please take them and Charmander to Nurse Joy for me kids." She said, before leading Damian away.
At the Pokemon Center Nurse Joy released all of Damian's Pokemon from their Poke Balls. Over time he had captured a Raichu, Growlithe, Persian, Vulpix, Tentacruel, Cloyster, Seadra, Vaporeon, Golem, Gengar, Golduck, Rhydon, Rapidash, Victreebel, Sandslash and Lapras.
"It seems that all of these Pokemon are okay." Nurse Joy said.
"I'm relieved to see that none of them were terribly abused." Brock said.
"The question is what do we do with them?" Nurse Joy asked.
Ash led Brock and Misty to the side so they could have a discussion.
"Why don't we take these Pokemon?" He whispered. "They seem to be too well trained to be released back into the wild and we can look after them properly."
"Yeah." Brock added.
"Let's do it." Misty finished.
"We'll take them." They told Nurse Joy.
Nurse Joy was surprised with their decision, but agreed to it.
"I know that you three are fine Pokemon trainers." She said. "I cannot leave these Pokemon in better hands."
Ash, Brock and Misty picked out who they wanted. Of course Misty picked out all the water type Pokemon. Ash picked out Raichu, Vulpix, Gengar and Rapidash. He chose Persian and Victreebel as well, but decided to send them to his mother in Pallet Town.
'They will have a wonderful life with her.' He thought.
Brock picked out Growlithe, Golem, Rhydon and Sandslash.
The only thing left to do was determine what Charmander wanted, so Ash walked over to it.
"Hey Charmander, would you like to come with me?" He asked.
Charmander remembered how nice Ash was to it and agreed. So Ash kept Charmander as well.
"I trust all these Pokemon with you." Nurse Joy said with a smile.
Ash, Misty and Brock said goodbye to Nurse Joy and continued their journey.