"Charmander! Use Ember!"
"Pikachu! Fight back with Thundershock!"
Charmander blasted out a stream of fiery particles from his mouth. Pikachu jumped out of the way and retaliated with a bolt of electricity. In response, Charmander fired another Ember attack, which collided with the Thundershock and caused an explosion.
"We got this, Charmander!" said Ash. "Now use another Ember!"
"Chaaar!" Charmander called as he launched another fiery attack at his opponent. Pikachu tried to get out of the way, but the attack was so quick that he was unable to evade it and was hit in the face.
"Yeah!" said Ash. "Now let's finish this, Charmander! Use Flamethrower!"
"Uh oh!" said Sam. "Try and block it with Thunderbolt!"
Charmander opened his mouth and unleashed a huge blast of fire. At the same time, Pikachu got up and shot out a powerful electric attack. The two moves hit, but the Thunderbolt was quickly overwhelmed by the fire, and the mouse Pokemon was hit by the powerful Flamethrower.
"And Pikachu's unable to battle!" Meowth declared. "Ash and Charmander win!"
"Yeah!" said Ash as he rushed up to Charmander and lifted him into the air. "We did it!"
"Chaar!" Charmander said happily.
Sam sighed as he picked up his partner. Even so, he smiled as he walked over to Ash.
"Charmander's pretty strong," he said. "You sure are lucky to have him on your team."
"Pika," Pikachu said, looking much more displeased (though to be fair, he always looked displeased, so it wasn't much different than normal.)
"I know," Ash said as he hugged Charmander. "I'm so glad you're with us, Charmander!"
"We all are," said Meowth. "He's gonna help us be the best team ever! Right Charmander?"
"Char Char!"
As Ash and Charmander celebrated their victory, Mikaela and Maria walked up to the pair.
"Wow, that was so cool!" said Mikaela. "I'll bet Cross is going to regret releasing you after all this is over!"
"Veee!"
"Well, I'm just glad you have a better trainer now," Maria said as she stroked Charmander's head. "You deserve a lot better than that."
"Rattata!"
Charmander cooed at Maria's touch, then snuggled against his new trainer. Happy to see his newest Pokemon so happy, Ash placed him on his shoulder. He then looked over at the girls.
"So, what's for lunch?" he asked. "I'm starving!"
"I made some sandwiches," said Maria.
"Oh, that sounds amazing," said Sam.
"Yeah," said Mikaela. "I wanted to make soup to go with it, but Yellow said she didn't need help."
"Oh," said Ash. "That sounds… interesting."
"That's one way of putting it," said Meowth.
With that, the group made their way to the table. As they walked, Sam turned to Maria.
"So, Mikaela wanted to cook again?" he whispered.
"She did," Maria replied. "And she made it difficult too. I was just setting up my cooking station, and then she asked if she could help, and when I said no she gave me a pair of 'Sad Lillipup' eyes."
"She really used sad Lillipup eyes?" said Meowth. "How did you manage to resist those?"
Before Maria could respond, the ground beneath them gave way, and they fell into a pit.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Sam yelled.
"Chuuu."
Ash winced as he rubbed his bottom.
"Okay, who did that?" he asked.
"Squirtle!"
Ash and his friends looked up and were met by a quintet of blue turtle Pokemon. Four of them were wearing circular sunglasses, while the fifth had sunglasses that were pointed outwards.
"Are those Squirtle?" said Mikaela.
"Yeah!" said Ash. "But what are they doing here?"
"Did you dig this hole?" said Sam.
In response, the Squirtle with the pointy glasses laughed and pointed at him. The rest of the Squirtle laughed at the gang as well, causing the group to frown.
"Hey!" said Maria. "That's not very nice, you know! Someone could have gotten hurt really bad!"
"Yeah!" said Sam. "What do you think you're doing, anyway?"
"Chu Chu."
The Squirtle stuck their tongues out, then turned to walk away. Ash's eyes narrowed as he watched the water type gang leave.
"Hey! You can't just leave like that! What do you think you're doing?!"
"I dunno," said Meowth, "but it kind of looks like they're going towards our food."
The entire group's eyes widened at this.
"No way!" said Ash. "We can't let them steal our lunch!"
With that, the gang scrambled to climb out of the hole. Thinking quickly, Ash grabbed two Pokeballs and released Spearow and Butterfree.
"Get us out of here guys!"
"Free!" Butterfree replied as he sprayed out a long line of string. Ash and his friends grabbed onto it as the two flying types lifted them upwards.
"Alright," Ash said as they emerged, "where are those Squirtle?"
He then looked over to the table, which the Squirtle were now standing on top of. Each member of the quintet grabbed a sandwich, and then they all ran off with their prize.
"Hey!" Ash yelled. "Come back here, you jerks!"
"Yeah!" said Maria. "I worked really hard on that food!"
They began to run behind the water type gang, hoping to catch them before they could escape. Unfortunately for them, the ground gave way once more, and they fell into another pit trap.
"Not again," said Mikaela.
"Vee!"
Butterfree shot out another rope of string, and the gang grabbed onto it. As they rose out of the hole, they heard the sound of a siren in the distance. They then turned around and saw a familiar woman approaching on a police motorcycle. They stepped back as Officer Jenny stopped in front of them.
"Shoot, I was late again," she said as she surveyed the damage. "It seems you've had an encounter with the Squirtle Squad, huh?"
Ash blinked.
"The Squirtle Squad?"
"That's right," said Jenny. "You see, those Squirtle have been causing trouble for the town for the last couple of months. Not only have they been stealing food and other items, but they've also been playing various kinds of pranks. And they have proven to be very difficult for us to capture."
"Wow, what a bunch of jerks!" said Mikaela.
"Eevee!"
"Well, considering what they've been through, I can't say I'm surprised," Jenny said, which caught everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" said Ash.
"You see, those Squirtle all had trainers in the past," Jenny explained. "However, they were abandoned by their trainers, and they have grown resentful of humans as a result."
"That's horrible," said Maria. "Those poor Squirtle!"
"Yeah," Ash said, his hand clenching his newest pokeball. "Pokemon deserve better than that."
"Indeed," Jenny said with a sad look on her face. "Unfortunately, the Squirtle Squad have been taking their resentment out on the people who live in the area, which has been problematic for everyone involved. And to make matters worse, they have proven to be extremely difficult to apprehend. No matter what we try, they've somehow managed to evade capture time and time again."
"Wow," said Mikaela, "sounds like they're strong, huh?"
"Or they're smart enough to trick people," said Sam. "Considering that they used to belong to trainers, it's extremely likely that they have at least some training, which would give them an advantage when confronting enemies."
The blue haired policewoman looked over at Sam, who was looking downwards with a thoughtful look.
"So what kinds of food are they stealing the most?" he asked. "And what kinds of pranks are they playing?"
"Oh, well they'll take anything they can find," Jenny replied. "And they like to dig pit traps, or drag people into water. I've even heard of them creating snare traps and nets."
"Huh," said Sam. "So nothing particularly dangerous, but still rather annoying to deal with. Sounds like they're a nuisance, but one that can be dealt with."
Jenny stared at him in amazement.
"You have a surprisingly good grasp on the situation," she said.
"Well, I'm training to become a member of the G-Men," Sam replied. "It's kind of expected for me to consider everything in these kinds of situations."
"Wow, that's cool," said Ash. "So, what are you going to do?"
"Well, obviously they need to be brought to justice," said Sam. "Of course, given that they've been able to evade capture for some time, it won't be an easy task."
"But that won't stop us, right guys?" said Ash.
"You intend to capture the Squirtle Squad?" said Jenny. "The same Squirtle Squad that we, the actual police force, have struggled to deal with for months?"
Sam shrugged.
"I wouldn't be a good G-Man if I didn't try, would I?"
Jenny opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again.
"I… guess you're right," she said. "I suppose I should wish you luck, though I doubt you'll have much."
She sighed as she prepared to leave.
"I would be happy if you somehow managed to capture them. With all the trouble those five have been giving us, I've barely been able to organize the volunteer firefighter group we've been working on."
"Volunteer firefighter group?" said Sam.
"That's right. You see, this town doesn't have an official fire service," Jenny explained. "So we need to rely on the goodwill of volunteers to respond to any fires that may occur. But since we've been busy with the Squirtle Squad, we haven't had time to organize an appropriate fire squad, which will be problematic if a fire breaks out."
She revved her motorcycle's engine and began to move.
"But that's nothing you need to worry about. I hope you have luck with those Squirtle!"
With that, she drove off, leaving the group alone.
"So," said Meowth, "how are we going to deal with this Squirtle Squad?"
"I'm not sure," said Sam, "But I'll think of something."
"Chuuu."
Unfortunately, all of Maria's sandwiches had been stolen, so the gang had to settle for the much less appetizing prepackaged variety.
"Man, these sure aren't as good as Yellow's," he said as they ate while sitting by a river.
"Yeah," Meowth grumbled. "This is way less good."
"Well, she'll get another chance to cook after we've caught the Squirtle Squad," said Sam.
"Or you could let me cook!" said Mikaela. "I'd love to!"
"...Maybe some other time," said Sam.
"Well, I just hope we're able to catch those Squirtle before they can prank us again," said Maria.
"Rattata!" said Ratty.
With a sigh, Maria reached into her bag and pulled out her fishing rod. She then swung it hard and cast the line out into the river.
To her surprise, it started moving almost immediately.
"Guys! I caught something!" she yelled as she pulled on the rod.
"A Pokemon?" said Ash. "What is it?"
Maria grit her teeth as she pulled, trying hard to reel in her catch. However, whatever she had caught was putting up a serious fight, forcing her to pull harder.
"Oh wow, it's a big one!" she said as she tried to reel it in. After a while, however, she began to lose her footing as her catch pulled her closer.
Finally, she was pulled off her feet into the water.
"Yellow!" Ash and Mikaela yelled.
"Maria!" said Sam and Meowth.
"Ratta-tata!" said Ratty.
Maria gasped as her head emerged from the water.
"Ah!" she cried. "What was that?"
"Squirtle!"
The gang looked towards the river and saw five familiar figures floating in the water.
"You!" Ash yelled. "What do you think you're doing?!"
With a smirk, the lead Squirtle fired a Water Gun attack at Ash. He helped as he was knocked off his feet and landed on his back.
"Oww…"
"Alright, you jerks!" Meowth said as he extended his claws. "Time to teach you a lesson!"
He then looked out at the river, and grimaced.
"Um… you mind coming out of the water first?"
The Squirtle Squad simply laughed in response. They then fired several more blasts of water, soaking everyone.
"Nooooo!" Meowth yelled. "Not the water!"
Annoyed, Pikachu unleashed a Thundershock Attack. Unfortunately, this only ended up shocking everyone who was still on land. Maria watched in horror as her friends were electrocuted.
"Oh my gosh!"
Finally, Pikachu stopped the attack. Seeing their opportunity, the Squirtle Squad jumped out of the water and rushed towards the gang's bags. They then grabbed as many of the pre-packaged sandwiches as they could before running off again.
"Ugh…" Meowth groaned. "First the water, now the shocks…"
"Yeah," said Ash. "That sucked."
"You need to train Pikachu better, Sam," said Mikaela.
"Vee!" Eevee said, somehow still smiling as happily as ever.
"I sure do," Sam said in agreement.
"Chuu…"
Ratty groaned as he shook himself. He then rushed over to the edge of the river and grabbed onto Maria.
"Thanks Ratty," Maria said as she pulled herself out of the water with her partner's help. She was soaking wet after the delinquent water type starters had pranked her. But she counted herself lucky that she hadn't been electrocuted.
As the group recovered, they looked around at their bags. Once again, the Squirtle Squad had taken all the food they had.
"Aw man," said Ash. "Not again."
"Well, look on the bright side," said Sam, "They weren't that good, after all."
"Chuu."
"Yeah, but that's not the point," said Ash. "They stole our food!"
"And I'm so hungry," Meowth groaned.
"I could cook something!" Mikaela said excitedly.
"Thanks, but the last time you cooked, you wiped out eight of my nine lives," Meowth muttered.
The gang sighed together.
"Lets just go to the Pokemon center," Sam suggested. "We can figure out what to do from there."
The rest of the gang groaned in agreement.
After arriving at the Pokemon center, the gang sat together at a table discussing what to do about the Squirtle Squad.
"So, what have we learned?" said Sam.
"That those Squirtle are annoying?" said Mikaela.
"...I meant apart from that," said Sam.
"They mostly steal food," said Maria.
"Oh yeah," said Ash. "So they're mostly just getting stuff to eat, right? I mean, everyone needs that."
"Yeah, but most people and Pokemon don't steal food from somebody else," said Meowth.
"Right," said Sam. "Anyway, we need to stop them, but they're really tricky to catch. So we need them to come to us."
"So we're going to set a trap?" said Mikaela.
"Something like that," said Sam. "And for that, we need something to draw them in."
"You mean we're going to give them even more food?!" said Meowth. "But what are we supposed to eat?"
At this, Mikaela grinned and pulled out a large pot. The rest of the gang stared at her, then sighed.
"Fine," said Sam. "Just try not to poison us."
"You're funny, Sam!" said Mikaela. "How did you know that poison is Kalosian for fish?"
Sam slammed his forehead against the desk.
"So, we're really letting her do this?" Maria said as they watched Mikaela work.
"I guess so," said Sam. "I kind of feel sorry for those Squirtle."
"Yeah, but they stole a bunch of food from us," said Meowth. "They kind of deserve it."
"Chuu…"
"Nobody deserves Mikaela's food," Ash said. "Well, except maybe Gary."
They sighed and continued to watch as Mikaela put her soup together. Eevee was smiling like he always did, but was still clearly nervous about his trainer's cooking. Mikaela didn't seem to notice this, however, and grabbed a spoonful and tasted it.
"Okay then!" she said happily. "I hope you guys are ready to try out Mikaela's Soupy Surprise!"
She then took the pot off the stove and took it to the table. After placing it on the table, she went to the cupboard and grabbed some bowls. But as she walked back to the table, a jet of water slammed into her, throwing her off her feet and causing her to drop the bowls.
"Mikaela!"
The brown haired girl fell to the ground as a familiar blue Pokemon laughed. The gang looked down and saw the lead Squirtle smirking at them.
"Okay, Squirtle," said Sam. "It ends here!"
"Squirt! Squirtle!" Squirtle said defiantly. At the same time, the rest of the Squirtle ran into the room and grabbed the dropped bowls. The leader then joined them, and they all jumped onto the table and began to serve themselves.
"Wait!" Sam warned. "You really don't want to eat that!"
The Squirtle Squad turned to look at him in confusion.
"Squirtle?" they said as they looked at him.
"I'm serious, guys," Sam warned them, "that stuff will mess you up!"
"And it's not yours!" Mikaela yelled. "So don't even think about it!"
The Squirtle Squad glared at them, and then laughed. They then lifted their bowls to their lips and began to drink.
"No!" Ash, Meowth, and Maria yelled.
"My soup!" Mikaela moaned.
"Oh no," said Sam.
At that moment, the five Squirtle dropped their bowls, and fell off the table. In addition, their faces quickly changed from their regular light blue to a sickly shade of purple.
"Squiiiirt…"
Slowly, the group approached the water type gang, hoping they wouldn't get back up. Fortunately, none of the Squirtle seemed to be able to move.
"Aw man," said Mikaela as she grabbed one of the bowls. "They ate all my soup!"
"Eevee!" her partner said, evidently relieved at not having to eat any of his trainer's food. And the rest of the gang couldn't help but share the sentiment.
"Well, looks like we took care of the Squirtle Squad, huh?" said Meowth.
"Pika."
"Yeah," Sam said as he looked down at the water type gang, "We sure did."
He frowned as the lead Squirtle moaned. While he didn't approve of the thievery they had committed, he understood why they had done it; they had been abandoned, left with nothing, and were just trying to survive.
Admittedly, their pranks were going a bit too far, but he couldn't really blame them for lashing out at a world that had taken so much from them. And no one had been seriously hurt by the pranks.
With a sigh, he grabbed his bag and opened it. He then reached inside and pulled out five pink, heart shaped objects.
"What are those?" said Ash.
"Chu?"
"I think they're Pecha berries," said Maria. "They're used to cure Pokemon that have been poisoned."
"Yeah, that's right," said Sam. "I bought a whole bunch of them while we were in Pewter City."
"Really?" said Mikaela. "Why did you do that?"
The rest of the gang stared at her.
"What?"
Sam rolled his eyes, then walked over to the lead Squirtle. He picked up the tiny turtle Pokemon, who groaned as he was lifted. The blue haired trainer then placed the berry into Squirtle's mouth. Pikachu watched his trainer intently, ready to protect him if Squirtle attacked.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" said Maria. "They tried to attack us, after all."
"And they stole my soup!" said Mikaela.
"Fortunately for us," Meowth muttered.
"Eevee!"
"I know," said Sam. "But honestly, they've been through a lot. I think they could be a lot better… if they had someone to help them."
He then pushed Squirtle's mouth closed to help him chew. The water type groaned as the healing properties of the berry took effect, and Squirtle's eyes went wide open. As he looked around, he was shocked to see Sam looking down at him.
"Squirtle!" the water type cried out as he jumped out of Sam's arms. "Squirt Squirtle?!"
He then looked back at his fellow Squirtle, and was horrified to see them all passed out.
"Squirtle!"
He then turned towards the gang and glared at them.
"Squirtle! Squirtle, Squirt Squirtle!"
Meowth raised an eyebrow.
"He says you poisoned him and his friends," he explained.
"Yeah, I figured," said Sam. "But I did warn you that eating that stuff was a bad idea."
"Pika."
He then handed the remaining Pecha berries to Squirtle, who looked at them with suspicion.
"Give them to your friends," he said with a smile. "It will make them feel better."
Squirtle looked down at the berries, then back to his teammates. He then looked at Sam and glared at him.
"Squirtle, Squirtle, Squirt Squirt Squirtle!"
Meowth gulped nervously at this.
"He said that if you're lying, he'll kill us all."
"Squir, Squirtle."
Meowth blinked.
"Or maybe just dye our hair purple," he added. "Depends on how he's feeling."
"My best friend has purple hair," Ash commented. "I guess it would be nice to match him."
"Not me," said Mikaela. "I think you should do red instead! That way it would match my sister!"
Everyone else stared at her, including Squirtle. The tiny turtle Pokemon then shook his head and grabbed the berries, which he then fed to his teammates. One by one, the Squirtle Squad was revived, and they stood up to look at their leader.
"Squirtle, Squirtle?"
"Squirtle!" the leader said happily as he hugged his teammates. The Squirtle Squad all smiled together as they embraced. But it was short lived, as the squad then separated and glared at the trainers.
"Squirtle!" the leader said as he pointed at Sam. "Squirt, Squirt."
Sam looked at Meowth.
"He says to explain yourself," Meowth translated.
"Well, what do I need to explain?" said Sam. "You may be thieves, but that doesn't mean you deserve to die, especially from food poisoning."
"What does Kalosian fish have to do with anything?" said Mikaela.
"The point is," Sam continued, ignoring Mikaela, "I think you guys deserve better. And I think that you could do a lot of good if you set your minds to it. What do you say?"
The Squirtle Squad looked up at Sam, pondering what he had to say. They then looked at each other nervously, as if asking each other what to do.
Finally, the leader looked up at Sam.
"Squirtle, Squirtle Squirt?"
Sam looked at Meowth for translation.
"He wants to know if he and the others will be sent to jail for any of this."
Sam thought for a moment.
"Well, I can't say for certain," he admitted. "But I'll talk to Officer Jenny to make sure you get a chance to redeem yourselves."
The squad looked at each other. They then nodded.
"Squirtle," the leader said as he pointed at Sam. "Squirt, Squirtle Squirtle."
Sam looked at Meowth.
"He says if you're lying, he'll dye your hair red…"
"Cool!" said Mikaela. "That way I'll match Mairin!"
"...With your own blood!" Meowth finished.
"...Well that's not very nice!" said Mikaela. "And besides, blood turns red when it gets dry, so I won't match my sister at all!"
"That is what worries you?" said Maria.
The Squirtle Squad started at Mikaela for a moment. Then their leader turned to Meowth.
"What is wrong with the brown haired one?"
"Honestly, your guess is as good as mine," said Meowth.
Officer Jenny wasn't sure what to make of the current situation.
"So, let me get this straight," she said as she rubbed her temples. "You were attacked by the Squirtle Squad in the Pokémon Center's kitchen."
"Yep," said Ash.
"And then they drank your soup, which gave them food poisoning."
"I think they're allergic to soup," said Mikaela.
"Eevee!"
"And then after giving them treatment, you convinced them to surrender themselves. Is this correct?"
"That pretty much sums it up, yes," said Sam.
"Chu."
He then looked down at the Squirtle Squad, who were currently surrounded by several angry looking Growlithe. While they seemed unhappy with this arrangement, Sam had assured them that it would only be temporary.
"What's going to happen to them now?" he asked. "They're not going to jail, are they?"
"Oh, of course not," Jenny reassured him. "Given their history as Pokémon who have been abandoned by trainers, the best course of action will be to have them sent to a rehabilitation center that will help in reforming them, or at least allow them to re-adapt to life in the wild."
"And how effective are these rehabilitation centers?" he asked as he looked down at the delinquent quintet.
"Well, I'm happy to say that the majority of Pokemon in these centers are able to return to life as wild Pokemon, or find new trainers who treat them well."
"Oh, that's good," said Maria. "So they will be free after they're rehabilitated?"
"Ratta!"
"For the most part, yes," Jenny replied. "With that being said, due to their criminal activities, they will most likely have to do some community service."
"Community service?" said Meowth. "That sounds scary."
"Eh, it's not that bad," said Sam. "It's just doing volunteer work for people, so it's actually a lot better than prison."
"Oh, okay," said Meowth. "Thay doesn't sound so bad."
"...Did that Meowth just talk?"
Sam scratched his chin. Explaining community service to Meowth had just reminded him of something.
"Speaking of volunteer work, didn't you say that you were working on a volunteer firefighter group?"
Officer Jenny turned to him.
"Oh, yes" she said in surprise. "Why?"
"Well," said Sam, "It just occurred to me that having a bunch of water type Pokemon on a team of firefighters would be a great idea."
Officer Jenny blinked.
"Are you suggesting that we recruit the Squirtle Squad as volunteer firefighters?"
"I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?"
Jenny opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She then looked at the five water type Pokemon for a moment.
"Actually, that's not a bad idea."
Sam smiled, then walked towards the Squad and crouched down to speak to them.
"So, I know you guys might not like humans, but not all of them are bad," he said. "And if you show them just how much good you can do, then you'll see just how many good people there are out there."
He then reached out towards the lead Squirtle. The water type started at him for a moment, and then lifted an arm up to shake Sam's hand.
"Squirt Squirtle."
Satisfied, Sam got up and rejoined his friends.
"Well, I hope it goes well for you," he said. "We'll keep in touch!"
"See you soon!" said Ash.
"Goodbye!" said Maria.
"Try not to steal any more soup!" said Mikaela.
Their Pokemon all chirped out their own goodbyes, as did the Squirtle Squad. However, one was somewhat more subdued than the rest.
The lead Squirtle watched as the trainer group left. And in particular, he watched Sam with great interest.
Why had the blue haired boy healed him? The Squirtle Squad had been harassing him and his friends since they arrived, and they had stolen their food too. And yet Sam had been perfectly willing to give them Pecha berries to cure the poison.
It was unlike anything any of the Squad had experienced with their previous trainers.
And Squirtle was intrigued.
A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long. I had to toss out my first draft of this chapter because I wasn't satisfied with it, and then I had a really bad case of writer's block. And by the time I'd finally gotten the motivation to write, we all found out that Ash is going to retire... and now I'm sad again.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next few chapters are all going to be very interesting, so hopefully I'll be able to work on them more quickly. I hope you're excited about them!
As for Squirtle... I do wonder what he's going to do now. Don't you?