After traveling for a while, the gang found themselves in front of a Pokémon Center. Having been traveling for a while, they felt that it was a good idea to stop for a while and have their Pokémon checked. In addition, they decided to take a moment to call their families, which was something they had all been looking forward to.

"ASH KETCHUM! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO CALL ME?!"

…Well, most of them.

"Uh, hi mom?" Ash said nervously. "Sorry I haven't had time to call recently. I've just been really busy recently, and I just haven't had time to call."

"Oh, you haven't had time to call?!" Delia said angrily. "Well, that's funny, because I know for a fact that you called Samuel the day you arrived in Cerulean! And Robin's been letting me know all about how you and Cody have been talking to each other every time you catch a Pokémon or get a new badge!"

"Oh yeah," Ash said nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess it just slipped my mind?"

Delia huffed and crossed her arms, causing a drop of sweat to roll down Ash's forehead.

"I can't believe it," she said angrily. "You're happy to call Samuel whenever you need help with your Pokémon, and you love to talk to Cody whenever you get the chance, but you can't spare a few minutes for your own mother?! I swear, you're just like your father!"

Ash stopped and stared at his mother as that particular remark hit him.

"Did you just-"

"It wouldn't hurt to call back home once in a while, would it?!" Delia said, interrupting him before he could inquire further. "You know I worry about you!"

Ash winced. He definitely felt guilty about not calling his mother more often. And while he was curious about the mention of his father, he had the feeling that it was not the best time to ask.

"...Sorry mom," he said finally. "I'll try to call more often. I promise."

"And don't worry," Meowth said as he climbed up onto Ash's shoulder. "I'll make sure to remind him if he ever forgets!"

"Oh thank you, Meowth," Delia said with a smile. "I'm glad that there's at least someone responsible looking out for my Ash. You just keep making sure he's feeding himself properly and wearing clean underwear, okay?"

"Aw man," Ash groaned.

"You got it, Miss Ketchum," Meowth said with a grin. "I'll make sure Ash is the most responsible trainer you ever met!"

"Thank you, Meowth," Delia said with a smile. "And you make sure to take very good care of your Pokémon, okay Ash?"

"Yes mom," Ash said with a nervous smile. "I'll take care of them."

"Good," said Delia. "Now tell me, how did your Cerulean Gym battle go?"

Ash swallowed hard, wondering how he was going to explain his rushing off to help Captain Misty with Team Rocket.

"Well that went well," Meowth said as their friends approached the pair.

"If that's how you define 'well,'" said Sam. "Seriously, I think the whole Pokémon Center heard that."

"Chu…"

"Yeah," said Mikaela. "Your mom is really loud."

"Eevee!"

Ash chuckled nervously as he remembered the verbal lashing his mother had given him.

"She is, isn't she?" he said finally. "I mean, she's just doing her best to look out for me."

"That makes sense," said Maria. "She still looked pretty mad, though. You're lucky she wasn't meeting you in person, or else you'd be getting la chancla."

"Rattata!"

Ash sighed. While he was happy to be in contact with his mother, he did feel that she could be just a bit overbearing at times.

Not to mention the rare times that his father was mentioned.

"Why don't you call Cody?" Meowth said. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from you."

Ash grinned. That was certainly something that would help get his mind off his mother.

"Great idea, Meowth," Ash said as he got back to the video phone. "I'll bet he'd love to hear about Bulbasaur!"

He dialed his best friend's number, then waited as the screen displayed a message telling him that the number requested was being contacted. After a few moments, the display shifted to show a familiar face on the other side.

However, said face was not one that he was expecting.

"Oh, hello Ash. It's good to see you again."

Ash blinked. Instead of Cody, he was greeted by the sight of a woman around the same age as his mother, with pink eyes and long purple hair.

"Oh, hi Miss Robin," he said in surprise. "I thought that Cody would be picking up."

The purple haired woman frowned at this.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ash. Unfortunately, Cody's grounded."

"What?" Ash said in disbelief. "Why?"

"It's… nothing you need to worry about," Robin replied.

"What do you mean?"

Robin sighed as she rubbed her forehead.

"Cody and his father got into an argument today," she said. "Honestly it wasn't even something that big, but you know how Jack can be sometimes."

Ash winced. He remembered his best friend's father, and how he could be rather strong-minded at times.

"What were they arguing about, anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing important." Robin said as she looked away.

"Really?" said Ash. "Because I know Cody doesn't like to argue with his dad, so it must have been something pretty big."

"Oh, you shouldn't be worrying about that sort of thing," Robin reassured him. "You should be focused on making the most of your journey and doing your best to learn all about Pokémon and training, and making new friends."

She then finally caught sight of Ash's friends.

"Speaking of which, I'd like to meet your friends. Would you like to introduce me?"

Ash grinned as he looked over at his friends.

"Oh yeah!" he said as he gestured towards the screen. "Guys, I want you to meet Robin. She's Cody's mom. And Robin, say hi to Mikaela, Sam, and Yellow!"

"Nice to meet you!" said Mikaela. "This is Eevee!"

"Eevee!" Eevee said cheerfully.

"Yeah, it's a pleasure," said Sam. "I'm Sam, and this is Pikachu."

"Chuu," Pikachu said in an apathetic voice.

"My name is actually Maria," said Maria. "And this is mi amigo Ratty."

"Ratta!"

Ash grinned as he lifted Meowth upwards for Robin to see.

"And this is my buddy Meowth."

"Hello!"

"So that's the talking Meowth my son was so excited about?" Robin said. "He's a cutie!"

"Hey! I'm not a cutie!" Meowth complained. "I'm a big strong Pokémon who can take down any gym Pokémon!"

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," said Robin. "But you're still a cutie. A strong one, though!"

Meowth groaned, but seemed to accept this. Ash chuckled at the sight, then frowned.

"Hey, is Cody still gonna be able to visit? I mean, I don't really know if it's worth going to any baseball games if he's not there."

"Don't worry, Ash," Robin said with a smile. "Cody may be in trouble, but there's no reason why we wouldn't let him go to visit you. Assuming he doesn't get into any more trouble."

She sighed as she looked away, most likely lost in thought about her son.

"Honestly, I just hope he's not going through that phase again."

This caught Ash's attention.

"What phase?"

"Oh, nothing!" Robin said quickly. "Don't worry, we would hate to keep the two of you from seeing each other. Especially if you have season passes to the Baseball League. After all, it's not every day that you get a chance to watch the Electabuzz play!"

Ash chuckled nervously at this, privately wondering if Cody's parents would have been as willing to let their son travel to Kanto if it hadn't been for those tickets.

"Anyway, I have to go make dinner," said Robin. "But it's been nice to talk to you, Ash!"

"Okay," said Ash. "Well… tell Cody I said hi?"

"Of course!" said Robin. "And don't worry too much. I'm sure you'll be able to talk to Cody very soon!"

Ash smiled. As long as he was able to talk to his old friend eventually, that was good enough.

"That's good," he said. "See you later!"

"Goodbye, Ash!"

With that, the line cut out. Ash stared at the blank screen for a moment, then sighed.

"Don't worry," Mikaela said as she patted him on the back. "I'm sure Cody will be just fine!"

"Vee!"

"Thanks," said Ash, though it wasn't particularly encouraging. He had been excited to share even more details about his adventure with his best friend, and instead he'd been told that Cody had gotten in trouble with his father. Between both of the calls he'd made that day, he wasn't sure which one had been worse.

Fortunately for him, his thoughts were then interrupted by the sight of a trainer rushing into the Pokémon Center.

"Nurse Joy!" the trainer cried out. "Help me please!"

Everyone else watched as the trainer placed his Pokémon, a Vaporeon, on Nurse Joy's desk. Even from a distance, it was clear that the water type had taken severe damage, as it was covered in bruises and burns. Immediately, the pink haired nurse rushed forwards to examine the injured Pokémon.

"Oh my!" she said. "It looks terrible! What happened?!"

"It was an Entei!"

A chorus of gasps spread across the Pokémon Center.

"Did he just say Entei?" said Sam. "As in the Legendary Volcano Pokémon Entei?"

"Is there any other Entei?" said Meowth.

"No way!" Ash said, a huge grin spreading across his face. "I need to find it!"

Back with the trainer, Nurse Joy was reassuring the trainer as Chansey delivered Vaporeon to the ER. Ash and his friends, along with several other trainers, rushed up to the counter, determined to find out more.

"So is it true?" said Maria. "You saw the Legendary Pokémon Entei?"

Yeah," the trainer said as he turned to face them. "One moment, me and Vaporeon were just training together, and the next Entei was standing right in front of us! I couldn't believe it at first. I mean, Legendary Pokémon are supposed to be some of the rarest Pokémon of all, right?"

"That's right," said Sam. "Legendary Pokémon are among the rarest Pokémon of all, second only to the Mythicals. And they're also among the strongest Pokémon of all."

"That sounds about right," the trainer replied. "I mean, I thought that Vaporeon stood a pretty good chance since it was a water type, but Entei was so overwhelmingly strong that we were beaten in no time at all! And then, while I was trying to help Vaporeon, Entei just rushed back into the forest. Though I'll bet it's still out there somewhere."

In the blink of an eye, the entire Pokémon Center went into a frenzy. Every trainer rushed towards the exit, declaring that they would be the ones to catch Entei. And Ash and his friends were no exception.

"Come on, Meowth, we're going to catch Entei!"

"I'm right behind you, pal!" Meowth declared.

"Hey, wait for us!" said Sam.

"Yeah, we want to catch Entei too!" said Mikaela.

"I don't!" said Maria. "But I don't want you guys to get hurt either!"

"Rattata!"

"Eevee!"

"Pika."

Ash looked over his shoulder to make sure that his friends could keep up with him. Once he was certain that they could keep up with him, he turned his gaze forwards, trying hard to find any sign of the legendary fire type.

"Where is that Entei?" he said as they looked around the forest. He watched as several other trainers ran in different directions to try to find Entei, but he could see no sign of the legendary Pokémon itself.

He then stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and his friends stopped behind him.

"Hey," said Maria as she panted. "Do you think that maybe that guy was exaggerating a bit? I mean, it doesn't look like it's anywhere close, and Legendary Pokémon like Entei are incredibly rare, so maybe he just saw something else?"

"Ratatta, Ratta."

"I don't know," said Sam. "That Vaporeon got beat up pretty bad. And it had a lot of burns too, so it was obviously a fire type that attacked it. So for it to beat a water type like Vaporeon it would have to be really strong."

"Chu."

"Yeah, really strong," said Mikaela. "Don't you think so, Mr. Entei?"

Ash's eyes widened, and he turned around to see where Mikaela was looking. And sure enough, standing before them was the Legendary Entei.

"No. Way."

To say that it was a truly magnificent creature was an understatement. The huge, four legged beast was covered in brown fur, while its face was covered by a masklike protrusion with red, yellow, and gray sections. A pair of spiky gray plates sprung from its back, along with a cloud of smoke emanating from between the two plates, giving the impression of a volcano.

Most notable of all, however, was not the size or shape of the Pokémon. It was the sheer power the gang could feel emanating from it, as if they were standing in front of an active volcano that was about to erupt.

"So that's Entei," Ash said as he pulled out his Pokedex and scanned it.

"Entei, the Volcano Pokémon. Entei embodies the passion of magma. It is said that when this Pokémon roars, a volcano erupts somewhere around the globe. It sends up massive bursts of fire that utterly consume all that they touch."

"Amazing," Ash said in awe. "Well, we're going to catch it!"

"Yeah we are!" Meowth said as he extended his claws. "Let's go!"

The mighty fire type stared at the pair, its mighty gaze daring them to attack.

"Wow, Entei looks really strong," said Maria. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Rattata?"

"Yeah," said Sam, "this isn't just any ordinary Pokémon. It's the legendary fire type beast of Johto!"

"Don't worry," said Ash. "I know we can take it down!"

Then, Entei let out a powerful roar, sending a shiver down Ash's spine. And suddenly, he felt a lot less confident about challenging the volcano Pokémon.

"I mean… I think we can take it down."

Meowth gulped, no longer as excited as he had been about challenging Entei. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to back down.

Fortunately for the two of them, their friends were there for them.

"We'll help you Ash!" Mikaela declared. "Right Eevee?"

"Eevee!" Eevee said as he bounced off his trainer's shoulder and towards Entei.

"I guess we'll have to help too," Sam said with a subtle hint of resignation in his voice. "Come on, Pikachu."

"Pika, Pika."

Ash grinned at the sight of his friends coming to support him. However, one member of the group was very much not excited about this idea.

"Guys," said Maria, "this really doesn't seem like a good idea!"

"Relax, Yellow!" said Ash. "As long as we stick together, we can do anything!"

He then turned towards Entei and pointed a finger.

"You hear that, Entei? My friends and I are taking you down!"

Maria watched as her friends stared down the mighty fire type. She then looked down at Ratty and sighed.

"Estan jodidos."

"Rattata."

Entei roared and unleashed a huge Fire Blast, which the three opposing Pokémon were just barely able to dodge.

"Meowth! Try and hit back with Fury Swipes!"

"Use Thundershock, Pikachu!"

"And you use Swift, Eevee!"

Meowth lunged at Entei and slashed furiously, then jumped out of the way as the two ranged attacks hit it. However, this only seemed to make it angrier, as it let loose a huge blast of smoke and fiery particles.

"Watch out!" Sam yelled. "That's Lava Plume!"

The gang's Pokémon ran out of the way, and were just barely able to evade the cloud. But even then, Meowth wasn't quite fast enough, and his tail got hit by a stray spark and caught fire.

"Yaahhh!" he cried as he realized what had happened. "My tail!"

Realizing that his partner was in trouble, Ash quickly grabbed another PokeBall.

"Krabby, I choose you! Use Water Gun!"

With a flash, Krabby emerged, and quickly sprayed out a stream of water at Meowth. In a few seconds, the scratch cat Pokémon was no longer on fire… and was instead completely soaked.

"Thanks," Meowth said, his voice not particularly grateful.

Ash chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. He then turned back towards Krabby.

"Okay, Krabby, let's show Entei! Use Water Gun!"

Krabby chirped in affirmative, and let loose another stream of water, hitting Entei dead on. But the fire type hardly seemed to have been hurt by the attack. If anything, it seemed annoyed.

With a mighty roar, it let loose a Fire Blast directly towards Krabby.

"Get out of there!" Meowth yelled at he rushed towards Krabby. He managed to grab the little crustacean and jump out of the way just before the attack hit, and the pair landed a short distance away.

"Meowth! Krabby!" Ash yelled. "Are you okay?"

Meowth groaned as he got back to his feet.

"Ugh… we'll be fine. But if Entei keeps up like this, we won't be for long!"

"Okay then," said Sam, "we need to hit it all at once with everything we've got!"

"Got it!" said Mikaela. "Eevee, use Swift!"

"And you use Thunder Shock, Pikachu!" said Sam.

"Let's do it!" said Ash. "Krabby, Water Gun! As hard as you can!"

Krabby looked up at Meowth, worried about whether they would be able to succeed. In response, Meowth grabbed the river crab Pokémon and pointed him at Entei.

"Don't start giving up now!" he declared. "You're a water type, and Entei's a fire type! You have the advantage here! Now take this overgrown Flareon down!"

Encouraged by Meowth's words, Krabby blasted a huge stream of water at his opponent. Eevee and Pikachu followed suit, firing off a barrage of stars and electricity. The three attacks hit Entei dead on, creating a huge explosion that covered the area in smoke.

"Yeah!" said Mikaela. "Direct hit!"

"It sure was," said Sam. "But did we get him?"

As the gang waited for the smoke to clear, they held their breath, hoping that the legendary fire type had indeed been defeated.

But as the smoke cleared, their faces grew pale. And Ash said what they were all thinking.

"Oh crap."

Standing before them was Entei, seemingly unharmed by the barrage of attacks. And it was clearly not happy.

"...We're sorry?" Meowth said.

In response, Entei roared, and a massive surge of smoke and magma erupted from the ground around them. The trainers and Pokémon screamed as they ran out of the way, desperately trying to avoid the devastating Eruption attack. As the intense heat died down, the group collapsed on the floor, panting for breath.

"Did we… get away?" Ash gasped.

"I… think so," said Sam.

"That was… not fun," said Mikaela.

They looked over at their Pokémon, who seemed unhappy… except for Eevee, who's smile was just as big as ever.

"Man… that was awful," said Meowth. "But at least we got away."

At that moment, Krabby chirped as he pointed his claw at Meowth's tail. Confused, the normal type looked backwards, and his eyes widened.

"Yaaah! My tail's on fire!"

He rushed around in horror as he tried to put out his tail. Rolling his eyes, Krabby blasted a Water Gun in his direction, knocking him over and soaking him from head to toe.

"Ugh," Meowth said, noting how wet he now was. "Thanks…"

As the group slowly recovered from their ill-fated attempt to challenge Entei, Maria walked up to them, with Ratty following closely.

"You know, I told you that it was a bad idea."

"Yeah, you did," said Sam. "And we really should've listened."

"Chu."

"Hey, at least we got to battle Entei!" said Mikaela. "That was pretty cool!"

"Eevee!"

"Yeah, it totally was!" said Ash. "And for all we know, maybe next time we'll be luckier!"

Sam chuckled and shook his head, while Maria just stared at them.

"Well," said Meowth, "I for one, would like to avoid making any more big strong Pokémon angry."

"I guess," said Ash. "But hey, at least we're not being chased by any of those anymore!"

At that moment, a deep, rumbling roar trembled through the area, and the ground began to shake, causing a shiver to crawl down their spines.

"You jinxed it," said Mikaela.

"Vee!"

They then watched as the ground in front of them burst upwards, revealing a huge rocky Pokémon that they immediately recognized. It snarled as it spotted the gang, and let out a fierce roar.

"A wild Onix?!" said Ash.

"I think the battle with Entei must have disturbed it," said Sam.

"Who cares?!" said Meowth. "Let's get out of here!"

The rest of the group didn't bother answering; they just got to their feet and began to run, with the enraged Onix chasing after them.

While they eventually managed to escape the Onix, the gang's luck didn't change much afterwards, as the weather very quickly turned rainy.

"Man, this sucks," said Ash as they ran to find shelter. "First Entei, then Onix, now the rain!"

"Yeah, this hasn't been our day!" said Mikaela.

"Vee!" Eevee said, still as cheerful as ever.

"I hate getting wet!" Meowth moaned.

"Hey, it could be worse," said Sam. "At least we're still in one piece, right?"

Pikachu glared at him, though the rest of the gang seemed to appreciate the sentiment.

"Yeah, you're right," said Maria. "I mean, there's a lot of Pokémon that are probably miserable right now."

Ash nodded at this. He didn't like to think about it, but there were definitely several Pokémon who would not enjoy being exposed to the weather right now. And even though he knew there wasn't much he could do about it, he wished he could do something to help them.

Perhaps it was fateful, then, that at that very moment, he managed to spot one such Pokémon.

"WAIT!"

He immediately turned around and rushed towards the large rock where a lonely Charmander was currently sitting. As he reached it, he was alarmed by how weak it appeared to be; not only was it soaked from head to toe, but its tail flame was dangerously small, indicating that it was not in good health.

"A Charmander?" said Meowth.

"What's it doing out in the rain?!" Maria said in alarm. "That's really bad for a fire type!"

Worried, Ash reached out and put his hand on Charmander's forehead. To his horror, the little fire type was much cooler than it should have been.

"Charmander, you're freezing!" he said worriedly. "Why are you out here like this?!"

Charmander whimpered as it looked away. However its face then lit up as it caught sight of something.

"Chaar!" it said excitedly as it rushed towards a teenaged trainer with spiky red hair who was accompanied by a rather vicious looking bipedal Pokémon with red fur. The trainer looked down in surprise as the weakened fire type hugged his leg.

"Huh, Charmander has a trainer," said Mikaela.

"Yeah," said Maria. "But why did he leave him out here?"

Then, as if to answer their question, the trainer kicked Charmander away, causing the gang to gasp in horror.

"What are you doing here?" the trainer said in an annoyed voice. "I told you before, I don't want you anymore, so get lost."

Ash ran forwards and grabbed Charmander.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he yelled.

"Who cares?" the red haired trainer said. "It's not like that weakling is worth worrying about."

"We care!" Maria said as she and the others walked up to him. "You should be ashamed of yourself for treating your Pokémon like that!"

"Rattata, Rat Rat!"

The trainer scoffed as he looked at the group.

"For your information, that Charmander isn't mine anymore. I released it a few days ago, but it's been following me ever since. So I told it to stay over there and wait for me. And if the stupid little shit decided to wait there until it dies, that's not my problem."

"You're a horrible person!" said Mikaela. "Charmander is so loyal to you that he kept following you even after you released him, and this is how you thank him?!"

"Who cares about loyalty?" the trainer said dismissively. "If they're weak, then they're worthless."

"That's no excuse for treating them like that!" said Sam. "Honestly, we should report you for Pokémon abuse!"

The red haired trainer smirked at the threat.

"I'd like to see you try. Charmander's not my Pokémon, after all."

He then glared at the group.

"Besides, the only thing that matters is how strong a Pokémon is. If they're weak, there's no point in keeping them around."

Ash grit his teeth, furious at the mystery trainer's callousness.

"Well, you're wrong!" he yelled. "A trainer's Pokémon can only grow strong if they have their trainer's love and support! If you want them to reach their full potential, you have to be willing to work together, as partners!"

Charmander looked up at Ash, shocked by his words. His original trainer would never have entertained the thought of treating him like a partner. And yet this boy was talking about it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The red haired trainer, on the other hand, simply burst out laughing, causing Ash and the others to recoil in shock.

"Partners?" he said as he tried to catch his breath. "Okay, you're a pretty funny guy, I'll give you that."

Furious, Ash lunged at the other trainer. However, before he could do anything, the red furred Pokémon swiped at him, knocking him backwards onto the ground.

"Ash!" the others said as they gathered around him. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be injured.

"Treating your Pokémon like partners just makes them soft," the red haired trainer said, catching the gang's attention. "And there's no place for soft Pokémon on my team."

He then turned and began to walk away.

"For the record, my name's Cross. And I'm going to be the strongest trainer ever."

Ash and his friends glared at Cross as they watched him leave.

"Man, that guy is a jerk," said Sam.

"I can't believe he has the nerve to treat his Pokémon like that!" said Mikaela.

A sudden thud then caught their attention. They looked downwards, and were horrified to see the lizard Pokémon on the ground, struggling to move.

"Charmander!" Ash said as he grabbed the little fire type. He looked down at its tail and noticed how small it was.

"Charmander's flame is getting weaker," Maria said with a worried tone.

"I don't know much about fire types," said Meowth, "but I don't think that's good."

"It sure isn't," said Mikaela. "That tail flame's a measure of Charmander's life force, And if it goes out… he'll die."

Ash grit his teeth. As much as he wanted to go and give Cross a piece of his mind, he realized that Charmander's life was on the line. So, as gently as he could, he lifted the lizard Pokémon off the ground and cradled it in his arms.

"Come on, Charmander, let's get you someplace where you can warm up."

He then began to run through the woods, raising his jacket over Charmander's tail to protect it from the rain.

"Where's the Pokémon Center?" he asked.

"I dunno," said Meowth, "I wasn't paying much attention to where we were going after we left!"

"We can't waste time looking for it," said Sam. "We'll have to find somewhere else!"

Fortunately for them, the trees soon thinned out, with a rocky cliff slowly coming into view. And to the gang's relief, there was an opening visible close by.

"In there!" said Mewoth.

Seeing the cave up ahead, Ash pushed his legs as much as he could, panting as he got closer and closer. Finally, he made it into the cave, gasping in relief as the chilling rain finally stopped falling on him.

"We made it…"

He then looked back as his friends made it inside as well, panting as they shook off the water from their bodies.

"Ugh… I'm so wet," Meowth groaned as he shook the water off his body. The other Pokémon seemed to share his sentiment, as they shook themselves as much as they could.

"Pika…"

"Ratta!"

"Vee!"

Ash looked around at the cave. Fortunately, it was more than large enough to comfortably house him and his friends for a while.

"Okay," he said as he looked down at Charmander, "what do we do now?"

"We need to get it warmed up," said Sam.

"I got it!" said Maria as she grabbed a Pokeball. She then tossed it out, revealing her Cyndaquil.

"Quil?" the Johtonian fire type said as she looked up at her trainer

"Cyndy! We need you to heat up Charmander!"

"Cyn!" Cyndy replied. She then ignited her back, slowly warming up the area.

"Okay," said Maria, "now let's get Charmander warmed up!"

Carefully Ash placed the lizard Pokémon on the ground. It moaned in pain for a moment, then relaxed as it felt the heat coming from the other fire type.

"Chaaar."

"We're going to help you get better, Charmander," Ash said as he carefully stroked Charmander, taking care to avoid getting burned. "I promise."

Charmander let out a weak cry, seemingly appreciative of Ash's efforts. Meanwhile, Sam pulled some berries out of his bag, as well as some strange herbs and a mortar.

"Give me a moment, I think I can make some medicine."

He then placed the berries and herbs in the mortar and began to crush them. After a few minutes, he held a mixture of berry and herb pulp in his hands. He then grabbed a spoon and dipped it into the mix.

"Here," he said as he lifted a spoonful to Charmander's mouth. "It'll make you feel better."

Slowly, Charmander lifted its head up and took the spoon into its mouth. However, as it swallowed the medicine, it coughed and gagged.

"Chaaar!"

"Uh oh, I don't think Charmander liked that," said Mikaela.

"Eevee!"

"He says it's way too bitter," said Meowth.

"Yeah, that can happen with herbal medicines," said Sam. "They're effective, but they don't taste great."

He then lifted up another spoonful towards Charmander. However, the lizard Pokémon jerked its head away before he could feed it more.

"Hey!" said Sam. "You need this to get better!"

He kept trying to feed it, but the fire type starter refused to take any more. Concerned, Ash carefully placed his hand on its head, causing it to stop thrashing.

"Charmander, you have to take the medicine," he said gently. "I know it doesn't taste good, but it'll make you feel better."

The little fire type grimaced as it looked down at the spoon, but obediently took another spoonful. It winced as it swallowed, but continued to take the medicine one spoonful at a time until there was no more left.

"There you go," Ash said with a smile on his face. "You'll be better in no time!"

Charmander looked up at Ash, and gave him a weak smile. The lizard Pokémon then yawned, prompting Ash to grab his bag.

"You must be really tired, huh Charmander?" he said as he pulled out a blanket. "Here, let me help you."

As gently as he could, he lifted Charmander up, then wrapped the blanket around the little fire type. He then scooped it up into his arms and cradled it.

"You sure are doing everything you can to help Charmander, huh Ash?" Sam said as he watched the raven haired boy try and keep the fire type starter warm.

"I mean, that's what any decent trainer would do," said Ash. "And hey, I don't know what we'd do if you weren't here to help mix up that medicine for Charmander."

"Yeah," said Meowth. "You're a real smart trainer type!"

Sam chuckled bashfully as he scratched his chin.

"I mean, it's no big deal. I do want to become a G-Man, of course, so I need to know this kind of things in case there are injured Pokémon out there that need assistance.

"Well, that's extremely useful," said Maria. "You're definitely a great team member to have around!"

"Ratta!"

"Yeah!" said Mikaela. "You're like a super smart Pokémon hero!"

"Vee!"

Sam was rather embarrassed by the attention, but he seemed grateful nevertheless.

The gang spent the next few hours waiting for Charmander to recover. Ash was still keeping Charmander warm in his arms, while Mewoth, Sam and Mikaela were keeping watch. Meanwhile, Maria had pulled some spare wood out of her bag and started a fire with some help from her Pokémon, which she was now using to prepare some soup.

"Alright," the blonde girl said as she pulled out some bowls and a ladle, "I hope you guys like my albóndigas!"

She smiled as she passed a bowl and spoon to each of her friends, who eagerly began to dig in.

"Ooh, yummy!" said Mikaela. "I didn't know you could make meatballs in a soup!"

"Eevee!"

"Yeah, it's not something I would have thought of either," said Sam. "Still, it's pretty good."

"Pika."

Ash grinned as he savored the delicious meal. But before he could say anything, he felt a small movement in his lap, and turned downwards to see Charmander stirring.

"Charmander!" he said happily. "You're awake!"

"Chaaaar…" the lizard Pokémon said as it looked up. It then sniffed the air around it, then licked its lips, as if vaguely aware of something tasty.

"Hey, I think he's hungry," said Meowth. "Maybe you could share some food with him?"

Ash looked down at Charmander, then looked down at the bowl of albóndigas. He then took his spoon and cut off a piece of meatball, then lifted it up towards the little fire type.

"Here Charmander," he said with a smile. "You'll like this."

The lizard Pokémon sniffed the piece of meatball on the spoon, then took a bite. Its eyes then widened and it grinned.

"Char, Char!" it said, eagerly asking for more. With a chuckle, Ash passed over the rest of the bowl, and watched in amusement as Charmander shoved its snout into the bowl and began to devour the contents.

"Wow, you sure are hungry aren't you, little guy?" said Ash.

"It sure is good to see Charmander eating like that," said Sam. "It means he's recovering nicely."

"Good," said Ash. "I'm so glad you're getting better, Charmander!"

He then looked down at his spoon and frowned. He then looked up at Maria with a bashful look.

"Do you… think I could get another bowl?"

Maria laughed as she passed Ash a bowl she had ready to go.

"I thought you'd say that."

Ash sighed in relief as he began to eat. He then looked out towards the entrance of the cave, and was surprised by what he saw.

"Hey guys… isn't that Entei?"

The rest of the gang looked over, and were shocked to see Entei walking in, along with a number of smaller wild Pokemon.

"Whoa," said Mikaela. "I didn't know he had a bunch of minions!"

"Vee!"

"I don't think those Pokémon are minions," said Sam. "I think he's just leading them out of the rain."

"Pika."

They watched as the mighty fire type sat a short distance from them, and the smaller Pokémon all sat around it. Entei kept a wary eye on the humans for a moment, with particular interest in one raven haired trainer. After a while, however, its gaze softened and it looked away, content to watch over the Pokémon that had taken refuge alongside it.

"Entei is amazing," said Maria. "He's so powerful and scary, but he's so gentle when those little Pokémon want him to help them."

"Rattata!"

"That's legendary Pokémon for you," said Ash. "They may be much more powerful, but in the end, they're just Pokémon like any other, and they'll help out whenever other Pokémon need it."

"You know," said Meowth, "I never really thought about it like that. But I guess it makes sense that you'd say that. I mean, you're totally gonna try to catch Ho-oh!"

While none of the trainers noticed, Entei looked up at this particular comment.

"Heh, I guess so," said Ash. "I mean, it must have wanted to meet me again one day if it gave me that feather!"

He then reached into his backpack and pulled out the feather he had received on his first day as a trainer. As he looked at it, he was unaware of Entei staring at it as well.

"You know, I still find it hard to believe that feather actually came from a legendary," said Maria. "But if we got lucky enough to meet Entei today, then who knows? Maybe we'll see more of them in the future."

She then looked down at her Pokémon and smiled as she pet them.

"Personally, though, I don't think I want to catch any of them. I'm happy with these guys!"

"Ratta!"

"Cyn!"

"Odd!"

"I mean, a lot of trainers would absolutely love to have a legendary or two on their team," said Sam. "But it's nice when you can be satisfied with what you have."

"Shhh!" said Mikaela. "Don't say that in front of Entei! He's going to get sad if he finds out no one wants to catch him!"

The rest of the gang looked at Mikaela. Even Entei was looking at her with what seemed like a bemused look.

Then, Ash shrugged, and looked down at Charmander.

"Well, it doesn't matter if it's a legendary or not," he said. "Any Pokémon can be powerful if you have a strong enough bond with it!"

The lizard Pokémon looked up at the raven haired trainer. He was so unlike its previous trainer; Cross had been cruel and callous, never showing any of his Pokémon an ounce of kindness. He had never tried to bond with his team, caring only about strength. And no matter how hard Charmander tried, it had never been enough.

Ash was nothing like that. He didn't even know Charmander, but he had done everything he could to help it, protecting it from the rain and nursing it back to health. And now here he was, talking about how important it was to forge a bond with one's Pokémon partners.

On some level, Charmander still wished it could go back to Cross. But a much larger part of it realized that its old trainer would never accept its return. So it would have to find somewhere else to call home.

And there was only one place to go.

As rain continued to fall through the night, the gang slept peacefully. The events of that day had left them exhausted, and not even the occasional thunderclap could wake them up.

This was fortuitous for a certain being who was currently hiding in the shadows… quite literally, in fact.

If any of the trainers or their Pokémon had been awake, they would most likely have noticed it moving towards them, even in the darkness of the cave. But they did not, and the figure had the chance to do what it needed to do.

Quietly, it emerged from Entei's shadow, regaining its physical form as it did. If anyone had been awake to notice it, they would have said it looked like a small black humanoid, with wispy clouds along its head and neck. It had red and yellow eyes that were rather large on a creature as small as it was, and a rather blank expression.

The Pokémon looked around for a moment to make sure that the coast was clear. Once it was satisfied, it moved back into the shadows. It then began to advance, slowly reaching towards the group of trainers not too far away. Finally, it reached the boy who it had seen carrying the Rainbow Wing.

Then, it carefully slipped into his shadow.

With a bit of luck, the trainer and his friends would be none the wiser.

Ash groaned as sunlight hit his eyes. He then looked around at his surroundings, and was surprised by the conspicuous absence of one of his larger cavemates.

"Huh," he said. "Entei's gone."

He then looked downwards and saw a familiar figure resting in his lap. To his relief, the little fire type's tail flame was now much bigger and brighter. And as the lizard Pokémon began to stir, it yawned, then looked up at Ash.

"Char, Charmander."

Ash smiled and reached out to pet Charmander. It smiled as it felt his hand, rubbing up against Ash. As the others began to awaken, they looked over at Ash and grinned.

"Charmander's looking great," said Mikaela.

"Vee!"

"He sure does," Sam said as he walked up to them. He then began to examine Charmander.

"Yeah, his tail flame has definitely returned to normal," he said. "I think you're all good to go, Charmander!"

Excited at the news, Charmander got up and began to walk around. The other Pokémon walked up to him, happy to see him fully recovered.

"Man, I'm so glad Charmander's recovered," said Ash.

"I can imagine," said Maria as she approached him. "You were really worried when we found him."

"Of course I was," said Ash. "I mean, he was already really weak last night. If we hadn't found him…"

The two trainers stood silent for a moment, not wishing to imagine what would have happened if they hadn't gotten to Charmander when they did.

"But we don't have to think about that," he said as he smiled. "After all, Charmander's safe and healthy now."

"Yeah," Maria said with a smile. "I guess so."

The pair then looked over towards Charmander, who was now walking over to Ash, followed closely by Meowth.

"Char, Charmander?"

"Charmander wants to know why you helped him like that," said Meowth.

"Well, why not?" Ash said as he bent down. "It's what any decent trainer would do if they found a sick or injured Pokémon."

The fire type starter looked down, surprised by Ash's response. It then looked up again.

"Char, Charmander?"

"Charmander wants to know what you're going to do now."

Ash chuckled to himself, happy that the lizard Pokémon was so eager to hear about his hopes and dreams.

"I'm going on the Gym challenge," he explained as he pumped his fist. "I'm going to take part in the Pokemon League alongside my team. And one day… I'm going to be a Pokémon Master!"

Charmander looked up at him in surprise. It was so similar to what Cross had talked about. And yet… Cross had never mentioned his team.

And Charmander knew what to do.

"Char, Charmander!"

Meowth looked at the fire type in surprise.

"Wait, you sure about that?" he asked, which made Ash look at him.

"What did he say?"

"He wants to join you!"

Ash blinked, then looked at Charmander.

"You… want to join me?" he asked.

"Char! Charmander!" Charmander said, certain it was making the right decision. Ash smiled at this, and pulled out an empty Pokeball.

"Well, I'd love to have a Pokémon like you on my team."

He then held out the Pokeball in front of Charmander's head.

"Let's be the best, together!"

"Char!" Charmander said, determined to do the best it could for Ash. It then leaned against the Pokeball and activated the button, allowing itself to be caught. The rest of the group watched in awe as the ball shook for a moment, and then clicked.

"Yeah!" Ash said as he lifted the Pokeball upwards. "I just caught Charmander!"

"We got a new teammate!" said Meowth.

"Yeah you did," said Mikaela. "That's so neat!"

"Eevee!"

"You definitely earned it," said Sam. "Charmander wouldn't have made it without you, Ash."

"Pika."

"You and Charmander really are close with each other," said Maria. "I think you're going to be great together!"

"Ratta!"

Ash and Meowth grinned, then looked at the Pokeball in Ash's hand.

…Which then glowed and vanished.

"What happened?!" Ash said in shock.

"You have six Pokémon already," Maria pointed out. "And trainers aren't allowed to have more that six on their team."

Ash blinked. He had completely forgotten about that particular limitation. He then smiled bashfully.

"I… guess it might be time to use that feature Bill added to my Pokedex?"

The rest of the group laughed at this.

A/N: Whew! That chapter was a lot longer than I thought it would be, and I was seriously tempted to cut it off partway through. But to be honest, It just wouldn't feel right to cut this particular chapter anywhere.

Anyway, since we've already been mixing and matching different canons, you guys shouldn't be surprised that the events of this episode are a bit different than in the original anime canon. (And for those of you who've read Chosen One's Adventure with Legendaries on AO3, I just want to say that I had planned this long before I read that story, but it still feels like I'm ripping it off to some degree...)

Oh yeah, and Ash's childhood friend is grounded. I'm sure that this will have no major consequences down the line!

And finally, you may have noticed something different... this story now has its very own cover art! Courtesy of the amazingly talented KurumiErika, who you can find on DeviantArt or Instagram (but mostly on Instagram.)