The Very Best

by God of Sun

What if Ash never overslept? With his brand new Pokémon partner, Squirtle, he is going to go on a journey to become the next Champion of the Kanto Region! However, his journey is not going to be even remotely easy. Ash will have to deal with powerful enemies, new friendships, and to learn how to become someone that is worthy of being called a Pokémon Master!

3. Team Rocket Is Here!

Chapter three of my first-ever Fan Fiction!

Thanks for all the support, and may I present the third chapter of 'The Very Best'!

This chapter took much longer to review than I thought, mostly because I was insecure and crammed too much stuff in. Oh well, not like I am going to change.

Disclaimer: I do not own, have not, or ever will own Pokémon. All rights go to the respective owners. I recommend watching/playing Pokémon in general.

The Very Best:

Chapter 3:

Team Rocket Is Here!

Opening (If you want to): Departure (From HunterXHunter, cover by Studio Yuraki) Or Pokémon Theme song (by John Siegler and John Loeffler)

---

The once sunny, bright day had long since passed. The sun was now very neutral orange and was about to bid farewell to the Kanto Region below. The whole of Viridian City was quite large and very modern in design. Several rivers passed through the location with thin, well-designed bridges over them. The sound of the more nocturnal Pokémon, such as Hoothoot, was mere hours away from being active once again. It was lovely as there were still people out and about during the evening. All seemed right.

Well, until it had to be ruined.

"ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF VIRIDIAN CITY! ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF VIRIDIAN CITY! WE HAVE REPORTS OF POSSIBLE TEAM ROCKET ACTIVITY IN OUR AREA!" A feminine voice warned the people of the town through the many speakers that were all over the place. Anyone who was still up heard the announcement and took it differently. Fear was, predictably, the most common reaction.

The owner of the voice was revealed to belong to a woman that was in her 20s that had dark teal hair and fair skin. She wore a purple cap with a black rim, a red top, and a gold star. A purple collared shirt with red trim mostly covered her form. She also wore a sky-blue chest piece, gold shoulder pads, a purple skirt, black shoes, and white gloves. A stylish black purse crossed her chest, along with a matching belt of the same color with a gold buckle. She had the intercom microphone as she was residing in a booth guarding the main entrance.

"BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SUSPICIOUS-LOOKING STRANGERS! I REPEAT, BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SUSPICIOUS LOOKIN- huh?" She had to turn off the microphone as something out of the window in her booth stole her attention. "Now, what's this?"

Ash had finally made it out of Route 1 and arrived in Viridian City. His clothes were dry and littered with dirt as he tried to keep a good pace. He had thankfully not run into any other Pokémon on his way here as the boy felt true joy at seeing the town. He decided to take a moment to enjoy this before he started to run again. He didn't know where precisely the Pokémon Center was, but he assumed it would be evident once he saw it.

Ash was laser focused on the path up ahead until a gloved hand pulled him back by the jacket. The boy was forced to stop in his tracks. "Hold it!" The hand was revealed to have come from the female police officer, deciding to go out of her booth for this one. "And where do you think you're going, young man? You look quite muddy." She assumed that the kid might have a runaway from Pallet just based on the condition of his clothes.

"I need to get to the Pokémon Center, Officer." Ash quickly told the girl as he tried to be respectable to the law official. He heard about the many Officer Jennys that were the law enforcement for Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and every other region Ash knew about. Family gatherings must have been a nightmare for these girls. "My Pokémon need me there."

"Oh, My apologies." Jenny tried to be formal as she let the kid go. "Just hand over some ID, and you can pass through."

ID? Uh, I- I don't have any." Ash stuttered nervously as he widened his eyes. "You see, I just got my Pokémon from Pallet Town and was-"

"You know, you are the third person that I have seen today who has come from Pallet town and complained about not having ID." The girl interrupted the boy with the answer she heard from the other two. That Gary kid tried to claim that he didn't need ID since he was well known, but that did not cut for Jenny.

"The third?" Ash questioned as he realized something. "So that means Gary, and probably Red has already made it," Ash knew that the missing one was Green. The poor girl was probably still stuck in Route 1 as night was coming too close, the boy hoping she could at least make it here before the sun completely disappeared.

"So, you know the other two Trainers that came here." Jenny thought as she lifted a finger and perked up. "Would you happen to be that Ash kid that Red mentioned?"

"Yes! That's me!" Ash was glad to have an alibi for him, wishing he could that the quiet kid right now.

Jenny decided to continue with another question. "If you did get your Pokémon from the professor, then you must have a Pokédex on hand. Do you?"

"I do." Ash took the small device out and presented it to Jenny. The Pokédex was still very functional even after the little dive it went through. Oak did know what he was doing when he made them. Jenny smiled at this.

The officer snatched the device and opened it up to reveal the inside of it to Ash. "If you ever run into an ID problem like this again, then you just have to show the other Jenny's this." She clicked three of the small blue buttons in a specific order and clicked the large black one next to the screen. The Pokédex opened up and revealed an image of Ash, surprising the boy.

"I am Dexter, a Pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon Trainer Ash Ketchum from Pallet." Ash gently grabbed the device from Jenny as it kept talking. "My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding Pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."

"I didn't know my Pokédex doubled as an ID," Ash explained in amazement to the officer. "I wish that Professor Oak made that clear for us."

"You'd be surprised by how much is on that thing." She told Ash, giving a slight wink with the sentence. "So, you wanted to go to the Pokémon Center?" Ash nodded. "Why don't I take you there?"

Ash was amazed at that fantastic offer; his body needed a break. "You'd do that for me, Officer? Shouldn't you have more important stuff to get to?"

"I do, but I can take some time to help you. The Pokémon Center we have isn't exactly a short walk from here. Besides, you got nothing to lose?" Ash was skeptical but ultimately agreed, causing Jenny to clap in excitement. "I've needed a reason to ride my bike."

The officer went by her booth's small garage, taking a minor key from her pocket and spinning it around. The garage opened as she moved the metal door out of the way, smiling at seeing her ride. It was a white police motorcycle that was rather bulky, and the word 'Jenny' was written on the side in cursive. It had a small seat next to it for an extra person or Pokémon to go in.

"Hop in." Jenny passed a spare helmet to Ash as they sat in the vehicle. The chair wasn't that comfy for Ash as he put his helmet on, but the boy knew it was better than anything he had previously. Jenny ensured both were strapped in and ready to get out, revving up her engine in exhilaration. "You better hang on."

The two sped out of the garage as Ash wasn't expecting the car to take off so quickly. They left a black gas cloud behind and sped down into the central city. There weren't any significant collections of cars or vehicles on the road, leading to them most likely having a short drive. Ash didn't mind this, as Jenny was the opposite. She wanted to spend more time on her ride!

Unbeknownst to the pair, neither of them saw the hot air balloon that was flying across the booth our duo was previously at. The balloon was shaped like a feline Pokémon. It had cream whiskers on each side of its oval-shaped face and two hairs on either side of a coin-like gem on its forehead. It had cream cat ears with black surrounding it and a small arm sticking out of its side to look cute. A curved tail on the back completed it.

The people in the balloon targeted the board nearby as they brought a hook down.

On the board was a white poster with two pictures on the bottom and the word 'WANTED' right above them. On the left was a boy with periwinkle hair with a single fringe in the center, and a purple rose was right by his face. On the right was a girl with long magenta hair shaped like a comet tail, green pearl earrings, and a hand that looked like it was trying to block the camera that took her picture. They both wore high-collar white shirts with a big red 'R' on them, except the girl was small enough to expose her midriff.

The poster was able to expertly be taken out with minimal rips as it was slowly being pulled up.

---

There were two people and a Pokémon on the hot air balloon that was flying across. A person's hand grabbed the picture as the shadows concealed themselves. They took the hook and removed the image their partner reeled up, giving an evil smile at the sight. "A wanted poster? How flattering." A female voice said upon looking at the paper, her blue eye quite amused at the sight.

"Flattering?" Another voice questioned, this one being male. His green eyes looked rather distraught at what he saw. "They got such a bad angle for mine!" He complained, annoyed.

"You should be happy that the photographer captured the real you. But then again, it's like you have a good angle."

"Now, don't be like that." The boy discarded the paper as he threw it out. It was revealed that the people on the wanted poster were in the balloon. They looked the same at their wanted poster as one could now see more. Both wearing different boots with the same black color. They looked to be around only fifteen years of age as black was in their outfits. The boy had a black undershirt with black gloves that didn't even reach his elbow, and the girl had black gloves that went under her shirt, covering her arm completely.

"We must show these bumpkins who's boss. After all, they made such a great poster for me."

"The people of Viridian City will learn that Team Rocket is the group to fear." The male declared as his trusty purple rose was in his hand.

"Of course, the people already fear Team Rocket. Why did you think they made that little poster for you, numskulls? Meowth." A voice told them from the bottom. This caused both to look at the person that spoke. It was a person doing the talking. It was a Pokémon. The same Pokémon that was designed on the hot air balloon. "We must stay focused on the mission our Elite Officer Domino gave us."

"But of course." The girl agreed as she looked down, the city small from their point of view. "let's see what is on the catalog today." She glanced around as she and her partner gave a rigorous scan of the town. Nothing of worth came to her sight as she saw the people down below who might have Pokémon. She did not want to present her boss with those truly unremarkable Pokémon. She spotted the officer driving through as she made weird turns, the boy that came from Pallet. "What about that boy who just came from Pallet Town? Could be of use."

He looked at where Jessie was pointing and shook his head. "The best that kid may have would be a Starter Pokémon. That is truly not what Officer Domino is expecting." He then saw a building and placed his finger on his partner's head, turning her head slowly to look at the place that made him smile. "Try to think of something much bigger."

She was looking down at a massive building with a unique shape. The most striking feature was the large, glowing Pokeball at the front. A pink 'P' was on the front of the whole building. The Pokémon Center still had its lights on and, if the lack of cars there were any indication, appeared to have little to no Trainers there. She smiled as plans formed in her mind.

"My. My. You must be feeling rather evil today, James." She complimented as her smile only grew. "I guess you can make good ideas after all."

"I could say the same to you, Jessie," James replied with a smirk.

"Say that again, and you'll regret it."

James frowned at Jessie's threat but decided to cooperate with her. He knew from experience the horrors that a girl could do. Meowth kept a smile on his face. "They won't know what's coming to them." The Pokémon reflected as they shared a laugh. They were part of evil, and they were proud of it.

---

The two made their way across the unbusy streets of Vermillion. The two were going pretty fast, as they would always make bizarre sharp turns. Jenny claimed this would get them to the Pokémon Center quicker as they drove together. In reality, these turns were to make sure that Jenny got to spend as much time with her bike. The sun was leaving the Kanto Region as the moon, in its waxing crescent form, took its place.

"So, you just started on your Pokémon journey today?" Jenny stroked up a conversation as they continued onward.

"Yes, Officer, I did. I got a Squirtle as my starter Pokémon." Ash explained as he was trying to enjoy this time sitting down as much as he could. It looks like neither of them genuinely did want this ride to end. "I got a Pidgey from Route 1 and would've cached more until I tried to catch a Spearow and got what I deserved."

"Oh man, those birds are the worst." Jenny had a strong disliking of Spearows in particular, at least the few Taillows she had this past month had some patience with them. "And you gave those two injured Pokémon to a girl you just met?"

Ash looked disappointed in himself after thinking of that. "I didn't want it to go that way, but I just got too desperate. I had to jump into a lake and run miles because of those Separow! They didn't stop." Ash let out a frustrated sigh as he tried to calm down with Jenny near, making another sharp turn that accidentally caused them to get on the concrete for a little bit. "I just hope my faith was right with Misty?"

"What's past is past. Although, this is the first time I ever heard a lake in one of those kinds of stories." She had a thoughtful look as she could quickly turn without her eyes on the road, instead looking up in concentration. "I think a girl name Misty did come through my entrance. Red hair?"

"That's her! She did come here?"

Jenny smiled to herself for being on the right track. "That Misty girl did come through and told me she was going to the Pokémon Center, but I couldn't tell you if she went there or not;" The officer could tell that she picked the wrong words with the grimace that Ash had. "She seemed like the kind of person that takes a promise seriously, though."

Ash decided to distract himself with his question as they got closer to the Pokémon Center. "What is it like in Viridian City? Is it nice here?"

"It usually is." Jenny was being honest with herself; she had been working as an officer for a solid six months, after all. "We got some nice restaurants, museums, and even the Pokémon Gym. Sadly, I don't think you could get in there, even if it were day right now." Jenny's pretty face hardened as she needed to bring it up. "We are having a problem right now, unfortunately."

"I heard your announcement when I came in. Is it that serious?"

"There only appear two who are here now but don't think any less of them. They are part of Team Rocket and are quite slippery for their age." Jenny gave Ash a tip as they could see the building becoming more visible. "Look out for two fifteen-year-olds in costume. We know they have a Meowth with them."

He took the advice seriously as he knew who Team Rocket was from the newspapers that Pallet Town had for them. He heard they weren't strong, but people speculated they were planning something in the back. That the grunts they saw were just a facade. "Is it true that you need the other seven badges to challenge the Gym Leader here?"

"I disagree with the idea, but it's true. The Ground-type Gym Leader will only take combatants that have fought everyone else." Ash sighed at this as he leaned back in his small seat. He hoped that what Gary told him about them was just something to trick him. "You could always try to see if you can fight them in the morning, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

"Thank you for the suggestion, I guess." Ash was glad that Jenny tried to make him feel better, but it didn't work. His idea of being able to start getting all the badges in a fell swoop had unfortunately fallen flat. At least he had the advantage with the one in Pewter. "When are we going to reach this Pokémon Center anyways?"

Jenny saw ahead and notified Ash to look ahead as well. "If you look to your front, you can see that the answer is marked." She decided to be humorous to the boy as he was surprised at how big it was. An idea suddenly came to Jenny "Wanna see a cool trick?" Ash nodded as he saw nothing wrong with that idea. Maybe it would make him smile. "Here we go!" Jenny informed the trainer as her motorcycle got faster.

Instead of turning once they reached concrete at a higher elevation, they kept going and drove towards the entrance. Ash screamed at what was going on as Jenny looked confident. He thought the trick that Jenny was talking about would be an excellent drift or something like that, not running into the glass entrance!

---

Only two people were inside as they were enjoying themselves moments before the disaster. Misty was sitting on one of the white couches, reading a magazine she got from a pile. The other person was a young woman with brink pink hair and fair skin. She wore a Mexican-pink-colored dress with a white nurse apron and low-heel Mary Jane shoes. The older one seemed rather preoccupied with some work she was doing.

The silence between them was ruined when they slowly heard a motor starting to grow louder as something came closer. Misty looked away from her magazine as she heard something coming towards them. "Do you hear that, Nurse Joy?" She asked the girl in the front as she hoped she wasn't just imagining it.

Joy said nothing as she stopped her work and cupped her hand together. She mentally prepared herself for what was happening as she saw the light of the motorcycle coming closer and closer. If Joy had counted right, then this would be the fourth time this month that her Officer Jenny ended up doing this, even though Joy made it clear that she disagreed with this idea every time.

A motorcycle went through the glass doors, somehow not breaking them, and skittled to a halt as it stopped moving. Misty got so scared for a second as a scream accidentally emerged. She covered her face with her arms, hoping it would somehow protect her, only looking up when she heard the motorcycle was turned off. The vehicle was two feet away from running into the desk as the woman in the front looked unhappy. Jenny took her helmet off as the pink-haired woman finally said something.

"We have a driveway, you know." Joy told them irritably, feeling like a broken record at this point. Misty, on the other hand, was still caught so off-guard by what had just happened as her breathing took a minute to calm down. She finally registered that it was Officer Jenny who spectacularly came in and that another person was with her. Someone familiar.

"It's a Pokémon emergency!" Jenny announced to the nurse as she pointed to Ash, who took the helmet off and stepped out of the motorcycle. Misty saw the boy and gasped, putting her magazine down and walking toward them. "This lad has injured Pokémon!"

Ash ran up to the desk and looked at Joy desperately, the girl keeping a straight face. "Did a girl name Misty ever come here today?"

"You might want to look to your left."

Ash followed the tip and saw Misty as the girl smiled at him. Ash smiled back as he walked up to her. "You did keep up your end of the deal." Ash knew that entrusting Misty was a good idea after all. "Thank you so much."

"Of course I did. I'm not some heartless monster." Misty told the boy as if it was a pure fact. "Congrats on making it out of the Spearows, I guess. I'm glad your Pokémon will have their Trainer back with them."

"Are they fully healed up?"

"Unfortunately, not the two of them." Joy answered for Misty, still at her trusty desk. "Pidgey is stable, though your Squirtle is still being taken care of. His head injury wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. He still has not woken up, but I can tell you that your Squirtle merely went unconscious."

Ash let out a sigh after hearing that. "Thank you, Nurse Joy. I'll try to make sure that this won't happen again."

"I would hope so," Misty replied, as she knew that the Squirtle did not deserve something like that to happen to him. Ash didn't say anything back to her.

"If you want," Joy began as Ash looked at her. "I can bring Pidgey out, and you can have her with you."

Ash responded with a positive answer straight away. "Please do. Thank you for doing this for them." Misty disagreed with this decision but knew to keep her mouth shut.

"It's simply my job." Joy took the boy's gratefulness with a small smile as she went to her computer, typing up a request for one of the Chanseys to send out Pidgey. "I will go and check up on your Starmie, Misty." Joy then looked at Officer Jenny, who was still here, the blue-haired girl merely straightening her outfit. "I think that someone else should also get to her job as well."

"Right away, Nurse Joy." The officer saluted the hard-working doctor as she made her way to her bike, now remembering the whole process of getting this thing out. "Right. Forgot that I need you out of here."

"Driveway!" Joy reminded the police officer as she closed the door to the Pokémon health unit behind her. Jenny made her bike face the door as she got the bike. Jenny turned the two ten-year-olds as they were about to start talking to one another.

"Sorry to ask this, kids, but I need your two's help." The two were confused at Jenny's request but took it without much thought. Ash was ready to help out the officer that brought him here in any way that he could, as long as he wasn't on the motorcycle. "I need you to open both sides of the glass door. It sadly goes inwards, not outwards."

The two kids grabbed one door and pulled it out. There was now an open hole to the outside that was in the shape of a cube. "Is that good?" Misty questioned, not wanting to mess up a seemingly simple task.

"That's perfect." Jenny started her motorcycle, and she didn't burst out right away. She didn't want to leave any tire marks on Joy as she slowly rolled out of there. The two waited patiently as the officer made her way out the door. As soon as her cycle was out of the neat stone texture and on concrete, she instantly started reeving up. "Call me if you need legal assistance!" A wink was the last thing she gave the kids.

She zoomed out of there with an excited smile as she managed to get some airtime when she drove off the stairs. Misty and Ash were left to cough out the smog that Jenny kindly left for them as she saw the woman speed off. The girl honestly had the time of her life as it was now her and the motorcycle. It truly did feel like Christmas to her, even though it was only April.

"Do you think she writes her own tickets?" Misty questioned as they were left in awe of Officer Jenny.

"I'd more worried that she almost ran over that speed limit sign." This got a small laugh out of Misty as the two left the doors to close, Ash taking the time to talk to her as they were alone now. "Thank you so much, Misty. I want to make it up to you for doing this for me."

She gave off a proud smirk. "I was doing my job as a Pokémon Trainer. You are lucky to have had such a pretty and nice girl helping you out." Misty pointed at herself to show that off. "Tell me, what other routes have that?"

"It's hard to compare when I've only gone through the one."

Misty sweat dropped at this as she tried to distract the boy with something else. "Well, make sure you are responsible next time. You should probably get a few healing items to pass through Viridian Forest with all the bu-bu-bugs. With all the bugs that are in there." Ash had a bewildered look as the girl, who seemed scared at the word. "I need to get to the Poké Mart myself to ensure Starmie doesn't get paralyzed again."

"Is that why they are now?"

Misty nodded as she looked down. "Truthfully, I needed to come here anyways before you came along. Some Miltank challenged me and knew the move Body Slam, of course paralyzing Starmie. I was still able to win as I worried for them. Starmie tried to shrug it off for me, not wanting me to be sad." Ash could understand every word the girl was speaking. "Paralysis isn't hard to remove, but is time-consuming."

"Chansey." They looked down to see that a round, pink Pokémon had come for Ash. She had stubby arms and legs with no visible digits. Tiny black eyes and a mouth with no visible nose. She also had three long frills on each side of her head. She had a short tail on her rear and a pouch holding a white egg. Her feet, pouch, and the ends of its frills are a darker shade of pink. She, too, wore a nurse hat as well. The Pokémon had a simple smile as she presented a Pokeball to Ash.

"Is that Pidgey?" The Normal-type happily nodded. Ash took the Pokeball and placed a kind hand on Chansey. "Thank you for helping her."

"Chansey." She took the pet with a great deal of gratitude. She left them behind as she walked through the doors the help out Joy and other fellow Chansey. Ash held the Pokeball in his hand. A part of him wanted to release his now-healed Pidgey, but the other part knew he shouldn't rush it. Misty saw how nervous Ash seemed to be and had to admit something. The way this new Trainer tried to do the best for his Pokémon made her smile.

"You can bring her out if you want," Misty told him, Ash looking surprised at what she had to say. "I don't see any Spearow flocks nearby."

Ash knew that it was just a joke, although he still wasn't thrilled about it. "I did want to give her a cookie from my bag while we are here, but I wish to do it later." Misty understood where the Trainer was coming from with his decision. Abruptly, a large growl made the entire room silent.

The growl came from Ash's stomach.

The boy was instantly embarrassed by this as his face blushed from what had just happened. Misty knew that what just happened wasn't funny, but she just ended up laughing at this. This only made Ash more embarrassed, as he didn't even look at her anymore. Misty knew it wasn't funny, although it just was to her. She put an arm around him as her face had such delight.

"I could be wrong, but you might be slightly hungry."

"I-I don't know what you are talking about." Ash was so hungry after what had happened on Route 1. The desire for his Pokémon to be okay was the only thing fueling his body for the past few hours; he was not even eating the cookies he had as he wanted to share them with his Pokémon. Misty wiped a tear of pure joy as her laughing fit died.

She still had on a wide grin. "Why don't I buy you some food, okay? You don't have to give me the money."

"Are you sure?" Misty stood up, and she got her red bag with her, taking it outside with her. "I could get it myself."

Misty pretended to think for a second. "Well, if you don't want free food." Ash's stomach growled again as the two looked at each other, making Ash back down as Misty opened the door. "I'll be quick to get us both food. Just stay here and maybe change out of your clothes. You need to look nice for your Squirtle."

Ash looked down at his clothes as he had to agree, fishing in the bag for the spare ones that Delia packed. "Thank you for this."

"Bye." Misty walked out of the building as Ash had managed to find the clothes that looked and smelled a lot better than his current ones; not like that was a hard thing to accomplish. Ash placed Pidgey's ball in a separate pocket from all the other Pokeballs. He walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. A clicking noise came from the door.

No one was left in the main room.

---

Ash looked at the clock on the wall for what felt like the hundredth time. Only a mere ten minutes had passed since Misty had left to get some food. He squirmed uncomfortably as he knew that he was being impatient, Pidgey by his side as she finished the last part of the cookie that her Trainer gave her. Ash followed Misty's steps, changing his clothes into something better and bringing out his new Pokémon.

Pidgey was glad to see her Trainer was one of the ones who treated Pokémon with respect, understanding that they were more than just things to fight with. The Pokémon grew quickly attached as she ate the genially great cookie Ash gave, even though it was now growing stale. The boy was lying quite comfortably on the couch as Pidgey was by his side, Joy back to her desk.

"Pidgey." The Pokémon pecked strongly yet gently at her Trainer. Ash sat up as he stretched his arm. Pidgey quickly jumped up onto Ash's crossed legs and sent a gentle noise to him. Ash looked down at the bird.

"I know that I should be making use of my time right now," Ash looked at the pile of magazines with a look of slight distaste. He could understand why someone would like them, but they were simply nothing more than just pages of exaggerated truths to him! "But I don't think this is the best time to read."

"Why don't you go call your friends or family?" Joy suggested as Ash looked at her, then at the other side of the room, she was pointing at. There were about five separate computers that each had dividers separating the two of them, a phone attached to one side of the screen. The screen was simply black. "You have someone you want to talk to, right?"

"Of course I do. My mom." The boy felt motivated again as he stood up, Pidgey landing on his shoulder. "She has probably been waiting for me to give her a call."

"Pidgey." The Pokémon encouraged. The front doors opened as everyone turned their attention to it, Ash and Joy knowing who it was.

"Red!"

The boy Ash knew all too well saw him walking over, not alone anymore. A petite, chubby, and cute mouse-like creature was by his side. The tail the Pokémon had was flat, giving it away that the Pokémon was a male. He was almost entirely covered by yellow fur, even on the long yellow ears tipped with black. On his back possessed two brown stripes, and on his cheeks were two circle-shaped red pouches—his tail in the shape of a Lightning bolt.

Red gave a soft smile to the boy as he walked over. "Wouldn't have thought that you would be here this late. Or even here at all."

"Trust me. I wish that I didn't have to come and that Squirtle was safe after all that happened. Although, I still would've had to have come here to heal her." Pidgey puffed her chest as she knew that Ash was talking about her.

"You sound like you had a fun time." Red joked in a still, tranquil manner. The kid felt terrible when his friend winced at that statement. "Sorry. Poor choice of words there." Ash only nodded.

He took notice and started at the Pokémon on Red's shoulder, not even having to take his Pokédex out to know what it was. "That's your starter?"

"He is," Red sent Ash's Pidgey a minimal smile. "I see that you were able to catch your first Pokémon. Nice work."

"I wish to say the same thing to you," Ash replied as he placed a hand on his Pidgey and scratched her. The Pokémon was very thrilled about this. "Did you end up catching a Pokémon as well?"

"That's actually why I came here." Red walked up to Joy as she was proud of being done with the small amount of paperwork she had piling up. "Is my Eevee ready to come out, Nurse Joy?" Ash and Pidgey were shocked when they heard the name of the Pokémon.

"Why yes, he is." Joy typed on her computer the same way she did for Pidgey, giving a happy nod at the notification she saw pop up. She signaled for Ash to come, who was still surprised at what Red had caught. "Mr. Ash Ketchum, your Squirtle is now stable and ready to be with you again. Would you like me to bring him here?"

"Please do," Ash said instinctively. The boy was glad that this friend would be coming out of those doors soon.

"Pidgey." The Flying-type was rather happy that she would finally meet the Squirtle again. Not as enemies anymore, but as possible friends.

Joy finished typing one last thing as she stood up with a clipboard. "They'll come out in a few minutes. Wait until then."

They all watched as Joy left them behind and left them alone. Ash tapped Red's shoulder to make the quiet boy turn to him, surprise still present on his and Pidgey's. "You caught an Eevee as your first Pokémon?!"

"I did." Red's answer was short and straightforward. He finished off with a calm voice. "You can't see the shock in my face or voice?"

Ash and Pidgey looked at one another, then at the boy and his Pikachu, the Electric-type looking annoyed at how loud Ash was. He wanted to shock the kid, although he knew that Red would make him stop before he could. "I thought Eevees didn't live in this part of Kanto. At the very least, not in Route 1."

"Trust me; I was amazed when I came across it. I used up four of my Pokeballs before I caught the thing." Red didn't mention how Pikachu hardly listened to him in that battle, as he knew it wasn't crucial to the story. "I know I wasted my Pokeballs like that, even though I would not be smart not to capture Eevee. I could see that he would help me team out a lot."

"Pikachu." The Pokémon said after his trainer finished explaining.

"No kidding. You get to pick when and how your Pokémon get to evolve." Ash did like his two Pokémon a lot, but Eevee was just so much more versatile with how many forms and moves it could learn with ease. "You know what form you are going to pick for Eevee?"

"Aren't we rushing things a bit, Ash? I can't exactly make Evolution Stones appear out of thin air or raise his friendship in just a mere hour." Ash mentally scolded himself for thinking too far into the future like that, putting a hand on his forehead in awkwardness. Pidgey had to admit that her Trainer was being too impatient. Red did have an answer to his question. "I do want to make him either Umbreon or Espeon. I know that Jolteon would've been the best option in terms of fighting, but the slot of Electric-type has already been filled up."

"Interesting picks. I hope that he'll be the form that he wants to be." Red couldn't help but agree with that sentiment. Ash glanced at the Pikachu and had a question brewing in his mind. "I could have asked this already, but how come Pikachu doesn't stay in his Pokeball?"

"He's in the same boat as your Squirtle, simply not wanting to be his Pokeball." It's not like Pikachu didn't want to be in the ball, but more as he hated it. Red tried and failed to convince his Pokémon that being inside the ball would make it safer in the long run. Pikachu didn't want to hear Red's excuses as he shocked Red, but only enough to make him feel four out of ten pain all over his body.

He could've quickly done worse or killed him but decided not to. The quiet nature the boy had was rather refreshing in Pikachu's eyes.

The door opened as a Chansey with a Pokeball, and Joy came out, Ash's Squirtle in her arms. "These two are in healthy condition an- wah!" Squirtle jumped out of Joy's arms as he ran up to his Trainer. Ash's face felt pure joy again as he knelled down for his Pokémon.

"Squirtle!"

Ash picked up his partner after what felt like years apart. The two held each other closely as they didn't want to separate. Squirtle was not letting out a small tear as he had his partner close to him, just like Ash was also doing the same thing. The embrace was a beautiful sight as Pidgey brought her head close to Ash and Squirtle.

The bond between Pokémon and Trainer was already this strong.

"Oh my. I didn't know that Squirtle was that excited." Joy said as she walked over to the three. "Your Squirtle made a quick recovery, Mr. Ketchum. Although, he wouldn't stay in his Pokeball when I tried to bring him out. I hope that is not a problem."

"Don't worry, Nurse Joy. He doesn't like being in there." Ash held Squirtle with one arm as the three looked at her with pure gratitude. Joy was happy at the thankfulness but also slightly overwhelmed by it.

"Chansey." She gave the Pokeball to Red, and he took it with a nod of gratitude to her. The Pokémon then retreated to her nursing work, still having one last significant patient they needed to take care of. Red looked at the Pokeball with a warm feeling inside; Pikachu was actually excited to meet his team member.

"Is that Eevee's Pokeball?" Red nodded as he knew Ash all too well to know what he wanted, his friends Pokémon also giving that away with their excited looks. "Let's see it!" Red let out a sigh as he rubbed his Pokeball off.

"No reason not to, I guess." Was the plain answer he gave as he looked down at the Pokeball. "Come out, partner." He said calmly to the red ball in his hand. He threw it out as a ray of blue light appeared and landed on the ground. Everyone, besides Joy, who was at the desk again, actually watched in interest. Red caught the Pokeball that came back to him with ease.

On the ground now was a small, foxlike creature with bushy, brown fur. His muzzle was very cat-like, with a small triangular nose. He had a fluffy cream-colored ruff around his neck. A short, bushy, foxlike tail with a creamy tip. Deep-brown eyes, long rabbit-like ears, and pink paw pads on his little feet. His paws were tiny, with three toes.

"Eevee!" The Pokémon was immediately chirpy as it came out of the Pokeball. He sent a soft smile to everyone near as the four looked down. Red and Pikachu kept their excitement in check as the other two weren't trying to hide it.

"Wow. It's even cuter in person!" Ash complimented as he had a plush of this Pokémon in his closet back at home. It was the universal opinion that Eevee was too cute for this world. He took his Pokédex out to see what Dexter had to say.

"Eevee, the evolution Pokémon. Dex Number: 160. Pokémon typing: Normal. Its ability to evolve into many forms allows it to adapt smoothly and perfectly to any environment. This specific Eevee is a male and currently at level 6. This Pokémon has the following moves: Covet, Growl, Tackle, Helping Hand." Was the official description the device gave to its trainer.

"Your Pikachu must be strong to take down a Pokémon with a higher level than it." Ash was under the assumption that Pikachu was at the default starter level: 5. In reality, this Pikachu was already at level 8 and knew the move Double Team already. Pikachu was upset at Ash for thinking he was weaker than he was. Although, Pikachu knew that Ash never checked his level and didn't know about any of that. He'll let this one slide. Ash crouched down so that Reds Pokémon could get a better look at him. "Who's a cute Pokémon? You are."

"Eevee!" The Normal-type was all too happy at how kind this Trainer was acting to him. Eevees were known to make bonds with just about anyone or anything, no matter how questionable the other person might be. Ash decided to scratch Eevee's very fluffy neck as the Pokémon only grew more and more attached to him. Red smiled at how trusting his Pokémon ended up being. If only Pikachu could be the same.

"Do you want to see my Pokémon?" Ash asked pleasantly as he scratched the neck of the Eevee, who was currently embracing the comfort of the Trainer's moving fingers. Eevee nodded his head. "Come on down, you two."

Squirtle jumped down easily as Pidgey flew to the ground, both on the same ground as Eevee. Pikachu saw all this and was actually interested in what was going on, deciding not to let these three hog all the fun. He jumped down as the four different Pokémon looked at one another. One of them waiting for the other to introduce themselves.

Somewhat predictably, Squirtle spoke up first. "Squirtle! Squirt, irtle, irtle Squirtle squir."

Eevee decided that this was his cue to go. "Eeve! Ee vee vee Eevee!"

Pikachu was the next one to make a move, as the conversation hadn't gone wrong so far. "Pika pika! Chu chu, Pikachu!"

It took a while, but Pidgey finally spoke up. "Pid, Pidgey. Pid dgey dgey Pidgey."

The conversation slowly started to take off, in Pokémon language, of course. Squirtle and Eevee were tied with having the most words spoken as they began to talk about everything. They were a lot more similar than either of them thought. They both enjoyed the same berries, they both loved a good fight, and they both agreed that Fall was the best season of the year. Pidgey was the shyest of the four as she was a bit nervous that her answers weren't similar to everyone else's. Squirtle and Pikachu helped out their fellow Pokémon until she was only slightly quiet, commenting on how much she the rain. Speaking of Pikachu, the Electric-type seemed more comfortable with his fellow Pokémon than any time with Red. He didn't hate Red as much as he did at first, but this was much better. Pikachu was surprisingly pretty funny among the group as he always had some snarky remark to give.

Even if one wasn't a Pokémon, they were more than capable of seeing how these had more or less how tight they grew in such a short time.

"They seem to be getting along quite well," Red told Ash from his seat, Pikachu by his side.

"Pikachu." "Squirt." "Pidg." "Eevee." The Pokémon agreed with their trainer. It may have been a bit bizarre how they all said it at the exact same time, but Ash and Red decided to smile at this.

"We should leave them to it." Red signaled that he agreed as the two kids left the Pokémon alone for personal time. "Why don't we call our parents and tell them what has happened so far?" Ash directed Red to the computer off to the side, the calm boy letting out a soft smile.

"Maybe calling home wouldn't be such a bad idea." Red agreed as they left their Pokémon to interact with one another. The boys walked to two computers and took the receiver out to reveal a number pad. Ash put in a specific sequence of numbers as he held the receiver to his ear, hearing a sound that everyone heard played from the receiver.

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

BE-

"Hello, this is the Ketchum residence." Delia's voice came through the phone, sounding quite happy.

"Mom. It's me!" Squeals of delight could be heard through the phone as Ash was caught a bit off guard. What once was a black screen was now replaced with Delia in her home, a pink bathrobe on her with wet hair.

"Hi, honey! Is everything okay? Where are you?" She asked her son quickly. She took a quick glance at her son and noticed that there were a few dirt marks that Ash forgot to get rid of, making Delia slightly mad. "Were you out during that storm?"

Ash knew that his mom wouldn't like the answer to the last question, so he decided to answer that first. "I was, " Ash made Delia look at the positives before she could scold him. "But I am now at Pokémon Center in Viridian City. Made here in just a single day!"

"You already in Viridian City?" Ash's plan to bring out the good for his mother seemed to have worked. "It took your father four whole days to get there when he was ten. Oh, he'd be so proud!"

"Yeah, I guess so." Ash desolately responded. Even though he did make it here in just one day, it wasn't without consequences. It did work out in the end, and he still felt bad for himself and the Pokémon he was so supposed to protect. He also didn't like to think of his father or what happened to him all that much, the only exception being his mother and close friends who he had known for a long time. It only brought him sadness.

"Oh, Ashie. Don't get discouraged!" Delia was already ready to cheer up her child. "You're growing up right before my eyes. Spreading your wings and soaring like a Spearow!" Since Delia's eyes were closed in happiness, not seeing the cringing look on Ash's face at the mention of the Pokémons name. "Is everything okay, Ashie?"

"Everything's okay." Ash was genuine when he did say that. Everything really was okay now. He glanced to his left to see that Red was leaning on the divider and decided to let his mother know. "Someone else from Pallet is here with me."

"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum." Red greeted the mother as he became visible on the screen. Out of Ash's two main friends, Delia simply enjoyed Red more than Green. It was probably due to how quiet the boy was and how he tried to give good tips when they were younger.

"Red! You are here too?" Delia wasn't expecting any of the other kids to be at the Pokémon Center. She also wasn't expecting Ash to be at the Pokémon Center this late either, but she knew that her boy had a good reason for coming. "I never saw you leave the lab earlier."

"Yes, I still exist," Red responded with a stable voice. "Ash caught a Pidgey. Unfortunately, getting his Squirtle hurt."

Delia gasped. "Is he okay, Ashie? How did this happen?"

"Squirt." Before Ash could start answering, Squirtle and Pidgey came by to see Ash's own mother. This was the first time Pidgey saw and could tell the similarities between mother and child, though the hair came from the father. "Squirtle. Squirt tle, tle." The Pokémon explained.

"They are both in good condition now," Ash translated for him as he looked at his mother. "We just ran into some... overleveled Pokémon on the way here." Squirtle and Pidgey were confused by this explanation. That was not what happened at all. "Guess I just let the confidence get to my head."

Red could tell Ash's response was fake as Delia decided to accept the answer, knowing Ash was nervous when telling the truth about something. "It was only your first day, Ashie. Don't let it slow you down." She then looked at Red. "You should avoid making a mistake like that as well."

"Noted."

"Well, I need to go now. Promise me that you'll change your clothes every day. Alright?" Ash knew better than to say 'no'. Red and the Pokémon let out warm smiles at the interaction between mother and child. "Ok. Goodbye, Ashie! I love you so much!" The mother gave a charming wave during her goodbye.

"Me too. Bye!" Ash waved back as the Pokémon and red did the same, Pidgey using her wing for this. He put the phone back in its slot, and, as a result, the screen that showed Delia was back to the original black screen. Ash let out an indescribable sigh.

"You didn't run into overleveled Pokémon, did you?" Red interrogated in a calm voice while going to his Pokémon. Ash had Pidgey on his shoulder and Squirtle in his arms as he stood up.

"I knew she would worry too much if I gave her the truth. I didn't like doing that to her." Ash held Squirtle close as he looked at Red, the quiet boy giving him an understanding look. "The truth is we were swarmed by Pokémon just because I tried to capture one of their members."

"What was the Pokémon?"

Ash didn't try to hide the anger when he said the name. "Spearow's." Red nodded. The taller boy didn't need to be told how dangerous, territorial, wild, and enraged the Pokémon was known for being. "I tried to capture him, even though I already had Pidgey with me. Looking back, it was kind of stupid that I even went for it."

"You were just trying to fill out the Pokédex and your team," Red told him as he placed a gentle hand on Ash's shoulder, the one that didn't have Pidgey on it. "That just sounds like something any normal Pokémon Trainer would do."

"I also saw something," Ash knew that only he had seen it and was hoping his Pokémon would believe him on it. "Something that my Pokédex didn't even know about."

This caught everyone's attention, Joy not paying attention as she was expecting a call from Oak or Chansey to come up. Pikachu and Eevee looked up to see what Ash had to say. "Enlighten us."

"It was big, yellow, and seemed to be an Electric-type." Ash tried his best to recall what the Pokémon looked like, wishing he had a chance to take a picture of the creature. "It had lighting following it around. I could tell it was powerful." Ash then saw something on the wall that made him place Squirtle and Pidgey down gently. He went to the stone painting behind the front desk, Joy not seeming to mind the boy in her work area.

The painting was divided into four sections; the top left was red, the top right was blue, the bottom left was yellow, and the bottom right was green. Each had what appeared to be Pokémon in some depiction. The first three were what appeared to be birds that were all in striking poses. All three of them looked unique and similar in a way. However, the fourth wasn't a bird. It seemed to be a small-looking cat that had an extremely long tail with small ears. Sadly, that was all you could tell from the drawing. Ash pointed at the bird-like Pokémon coated in yellow, everyone following him to see what he was talking about.

"It looked just like this," Ash told them as he saw how they reacted.

Pikachu didn't even remotely believe Ash as there was no way that this kid could've seen something that powerful; Eevee was trying to hide that he didn't believe Ash not to hurt his friend's feelings. Pidgey slightly believed Ash, but that was only because she was her Trainer's. The Pidgey didn't believe in 'Legendary Pokémon', as people called them. Squirtle was the only one on board with this idea, even if he still had a fair amount of skepticism. Red wasn't actually paying attention to what Ash was pointing to.

Red had his focus on the cat-like Pokémon that was on there. The boy became fascinated with the Pokémon as he kept staring at the drawing. He felt like he had seen this Pokémon somewhere, somehow. A connection that felt so weird yet so dear to Red. "What are you?"

"Red!" The boy was shaken out of his thoughts as he looked down at Ash. "You weren't paying attention to what I said!"

"You were talking about a weird bird Pokémon with electricity, saying that it was powerful and how you thought you saw it."

"How I know I saw it." Ash corrected as there was a difference between thinking and knowing something. "I know that it wasn't my imagination playing tricks on me. It probably saved from those Spearows, now that I think about it." Red said nothing back.

"RING, RING, RING! RING, RING, RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!" Out of nowhere, the computer behind started to make that noise as the screen lit up; the only thing on there was a button that said 'PHONE'. Joy clicked the phone quickly

"Nurse Joy, are you there?" They asked out of the computer. The voice sounded too familiar to Pikachu and Squirtle, along with their Trainer's.

"Yes. I am here, Professor Oak." Joy said to the man, confirming the two Trainer suspicions.

"Good work!" The screen switched to a video call of the professor in his lab with his various machines. The two boys and Pokémon moved out of the way as they knew this was a personal conversation between adults. The camera that was displayed Oak was facing the back of his head and revealed a table full of stuff behind him. "Are you doing well, Nurse Joy?"

"I am as happy as always," Joy told the screen as she giggled at what was wrong. "Although your camera is doing the thing again."

"Huh?" Oak turned from his seat and saw that the camera was indeed focused on the back of his head. He started to type frantically on his keyboard. "Oops! This keeps happening for some reason! Must get this computer checked." Oak muttered to himself as he finished typing.

"Please don't. It gets a good laugh from us, Joy's and Jenny's."

The camera was now finally facing him as Oak was still the same person as earlier today. He made a slight cough to fix his voice. "So glad that you were able to pick up, Viridian Joy. I was hoping to call you two hours earlier."

"I understand, Mr. Oak." Joy responded in an even-tempered way. "Being a Region Professor is not an easy job, at least from what I can tell."

"No doubt about that." Oak had been doing this job for ten whole years, the days practically blurring together for the man. "I was simply going to ensure that your supply shipment arrived today."

Joy frowned, with a side of sighing. "Unfortunately, no. We need the supplies right away, but we will no doubt face a shortage problem in the next few days."

"I guess the sudden storm delayed it." Oak theorized as he crossed his arms the same way Gary did. "My sincerest apologies, Viridian Joy. I will ensure that a problem like this won't happen to you or your sisters." Joy nodded as Oak remembered something. "Tell me, did those four kids I told you about ever make it to the Pokémon Center?"

"Two of them were named Ash and Red, correct?" The two boys straightened up as the Pokémon professor was talking about them. Oak nodded at the question. "They did make it here. Could you two come here?" The two wasted no time as they only took their Starter Pokémon with them, leaving Eevee and Pidgey as they knew this was only concerning the Trainer and their first Pokémon. "Professor Oak would like to speak to you both."

Joy moved her chair away to give them space as the two kids from Pallet saw the man that gave them a chance to be Pokémon Trainers. "Hello, Professor Oak." The two practically greeted at the same time.

"Ash! Red! So glad that you could talk with me." Oak greeted as the two looked at the computer screen. "I was planning on calling either of you, but this works just as well. It's nothing serious, I swear. Just wanting to keep tabs on you four and your journeys."

"Thanks, I guess." He was glad that Oak was caring enough to watch how their journeys currently were, but he would've thought that the professor would've had more important matters to deal with. "Could you tell us where Green, and Gary, are to us?"

"Gary has already left behind Viridian City as of now," Oak's face grew more nervous as he brought up the last Trainer. "Unfortunately, I can't seem to find Green anywhere. I would assume that she is still on Route 1 as we speak. I have faith in her as that girl is knowledgeable on the outdoors; I just wish I could say that was indeed enough."

"Green will be okay," Red assured everyone as he decided to lighten the mood. "You never know. She could be on Cinnabar Island already."

"Honestly, that shouldn't surprise any of us if that happened." Oak smiled as he glanced at the Squirtle and Pikachu he gave the two. He was surprised at how happier they seemed since they left the lab, especially with Pikachu. "Pikachu looks rather happy to be with you, Red. I am truly impressed with you and also Ash. I knew that you two would make good Pokémon Trainers."

The two were happy at how much praise Oak gave them, as Pikachu was basically rolling in it. "Pika. Pikachu!"

"I must admit, I had some doubts about you being able to handle the Pikachu," This sentence made Red slightly frown as he said nothing. "But it looks like I was wrong about your capabilities. Claps from me!" Oak actually clapped as Red tried to bow like a stage performer, trying to be funny. "And get this, Ash. Gary and I made a bet, and he said that you wouldn't catch a single new Pokémon by the time you got there. I bet him a million dollars that he'd be wrong!" The professor yelled out, Ash flashing Oak a smile.

"Well, you are about to be a very wealthy man," Ash responded proudly as his new partner landed on his shoulder after being signaled to come out. Red did the same for Eevee as he picked up the Normal-type to also show Oak.

"Pidgey!" The Pidgey agreed with her trainer.

Oaks eyes were replaced with Poke dollar signs, a broad smile on his older face. "I can already taste the money!" He suddenly gasped as he remembered some information that Oak had meant to tell them earlier. "I should've mentioned this earlier. Your Pokédex doubles as an ID that you can use to prove that you are a real citizen of Kanto."

"Yeah. We kind of figured that out when Officer Jenny by the front asked us for it." Ash told Oak as the valuable information was simply too little, too late.

"No offense but it would've been nice if you told us that... 15 hours, 7 minutes, and 1 second ago."

Oak felt embarrassed at this. He was usually better at remembering stuff like that. "Well, here's something neither of you has probably figured out yet. I included Pokémon from Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh into the thing!" The two boys, and the Pokémon, perked up at this. "It was hard putting it into the small thing, but I was able to get more of the common Pokémon from those regions in there, along with the 146 from Kanto. I couldn't fit them all, but I accounted for all the most common and rarer ones from there."

"That's truly amazing, professor," Red commented as he was actually impressed, though his face didn't show it.

"Gary was right about this thing." Even though he and Ash didn't see eye to eye on many things, they would make an exception for this one. "Impressive."

"You should really thank the other professors in the other regions." Oak knew that it would be wrong to take all the credit. "They helped me with the information, moves, and images of the Pokémon. You better not lose those things." Oak tried to think of anything else, but nothing came to mind. "Well, I have nothing of importance to say now. Sorry I couldn't tell you all that back in Pallet; I am usually better at remembering stuff like that. I hope that you'll call me whenever you reach Pewter City."

"It's been a joy speaking to you, professor." Red sent a lip smile to Oak.

"It has been for me as well. Also, good catch with that Eevee of yours. Gary will be riled up when I bring that part up." Oak got closer as his finger inched near the power button. "I bid you si-"

"Wait, Professor Oak!"

Everyone stopped to see that Ash spoke as the boy came closer, Squirtle and Pidgey still with him. "Is something troubling you, Ash?"

Ash sighed, imagining how this would play out in his mind. "Out of everyone I know, you are the most knowledgeable about Pokémon. You are the person that I know would have an answer to my question, that you could give me a true answer."

"What are you getting at, Ash?"

"I saw a Pokémon today. A Pokémon that I've never seen before in any book or anything else in the region. It seemed so much more powerful compared to every Pokémon that I've met or seen." Ash moved out of the way to show the stone painting that had the thunderbird that he had seen just mere hours before. "It looked just like that. It was yellow with electricity surrounding it, and the Pokédex told me it had no data."

Everyone waited to see how Oak would respond to such a thing, wondering if the Pokémon Professor of Kanto himself would agree to this statement. Oak looked and saw what painting Ash was talking about, seeing the jagged wings and how some parts were darker to show that it was multi-colored. It felt like years went by in those ten seconds as Oak sat back. His answer was told to Ash.

"Ash," Oak began calmly. "I am sorry to say this, but you could not have seen that Pokémon. The last supposed sighting of it was around six hundred years ago. It would have died by old age in our time, especially with it being a bird Pokémon."

This is not what Ash was expecting to hear. "But I did see it!" Ash yelled out to the professor. The Pokémon was caught a bit off guard by the show of force; Red gave an emotionless look at how irritated Ash was becoming. Oak kept a straight face. Ash tried to calm down as he realized what he just did. "I-I'm so sorry for that, Professor Oak. I shouldn't have yelled like that."

"It was alright, Ash." The man took the apology as he decided to help the boy out. "You know, I don't completely disagree with the idea of those kinds of Pokémon." Ash raised his head at this. "I have learned, in these many years of my life, that the realm of Pokémon simply had no boundaries to it. I even know about a Grass-type line that actually looks like simple tumbleweeds."

"So, you're saying that it could be real?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." Oak responded as his arms were behind his back formally. "This world has many mysteries; it's best not to pour your entire life into only one of those mysteries."

Ash understood the professor as he was genuine with his following words. "Thank you for telling me that, Professor Oak. I'll take the advice the heart."

Suddenly, a doorbell sound came from Oak's side of the call. This resulted in the professor's attention being utterly focused to the side.

"OH! My pizza! Coming!" The Pokémon professor ran off to the side and out of the camera's view. "It was great talking to you all. It really was. Good luck now." Oak stuck his head for the camera to see and to tell the two boys from Pallet some final words. "I bid the six of you a farewell." Oak then officially left to finally come to his food, showing that off with the call ending.

Ash let out a mostly satisfied sigh. "He just wants what's best for you," Red called out as he knew that Ash was starting to feel like what he saw was just him being stupid. "I also think these Pokémon can be real, but don't let that simple idea distract you from your goals."

Ash was glad that Red was here to help him, the two sharing a fist bump. "Thanks for that, Red."

A knock from the door brought their focus somewhere else.

Misty came in with a bag of food in her arm. "Pasta time!" She called out to Ash as she noticed the boy that Ash was with, remembering him from Route 1. "Oh, hey, Red. Didn't expect to see you here."

"You two know each other?" Squirtle was just as surprised as Ash was at that revelation. The other two Trainer's looked at each other.

"Well, we did meet a single time during Route 1," Red recalled as he faced Ash. "And we know the other person's name. If you count that as knowing each other, then yes."

"We saw each other during my time at the lake," Misty added as her gaze was on Red. "You were a unique kid. Anyways, I was able to get us food for us, Ash."

Ash looked at the bag in her hands with an ongoing stomach that gave loud growls. He tried his hardest not to let drool come out of his mouth in pure hunger. "That's my food?" His voice was deep in hope.

"It's our food." Misty corrected as she took out a styrofoam box from the bag and held it to the boy, plastic fork included. "I saw this fairly cheap pasta place. I hope you don't mind marinara with some spinach." Although Ash was not a big vegetable guy, he wouldn't even try to complain.

"Please. Food in the stomach." Misty reached her hand and widened at how quickly Ash snatched them both up and made his way to a chair. He opened it up and immediately started to dig in.

Red and Misty were shocked and slightly disgusted, in the girl's case, at how Ash ate the food. This was the boy's first meal of the day, and he didn't try to hide it. He ate it with such speed to be impressed by, not even thoroughly chewing it two-thirds of the time. Ash didn't take the time to breathe as this food of truly mediocre pasta was all that mattered. He finished the extra-large plate in a measly two minutes. The Pokémon were just as surprised, only thinking they could only eat that quickly.

Ash put the container down as his face was all messy, sending a grateful look at Misty. "You are amazing!" Ash sighed as he fully sat back and felt rejuvenated, taking some nice breaths. "Thank you so much, Misty."

Misty gave him the napkins she wanted to give him before he ate the food, a weird look on her face. "I can see that." She took an extra seat far away as she would eat her plate now, like an average person. "I got you the biggest size so that you could have leftovers, but I guess that my assuming skills need some work."

"Did you not eat anything, Ash?" Ash was cleaning his face as he saw Red have slight concern, although his voice was still calm. Ash frowned at this.

"I was so focused on healing my Pokémon that I forgot what I needed." Ash looked at Eevee and Squirtle with a caring look, even though his Pokémon gave him a concerned look. "I was so happy to see that they were okay."

"Squirtle." The two Pokémon came to Ash as Squirtle climbed up the chair and hugged Ash's side. Pidgey flew and landed on his lap, moving her head up and down against him in a gentle way. Ash put a hand on both his Pokémon as he saw this affection. They were still new as Trainer Pokémon, and yet they were this caring for him. Misty was impressed at how Ash's Pokémon were still by his side, now feeling bad about her comment about him being an irresponsible Trainer.

"Don't worry about me; just let me worry about you," Ash told the two as he looked at the two Pokémon. Both of them didn't want it to be that way but felt that Ash wouldn't listen to their concerns for him. Squirtle then remembered something as he gained a knowing smile, getting the kid's attention.

"Squirt?" He moved his head to imply to look at the backpack, Ash suddenly realizing what he wanted as he had his mouth open.

"You still want that, Squirt?" Squirtle nodded as Ash gave an exaggerated groan that was clearly fake. He dug around in his bag as he took out the elusive cookie in one of the napkins that Misty handed him. Squirtle was actually bouncing up and down when he saw the cookie come to him. "I did promise you with this. Make sure to chew this time."

Squirtle took the cookie with glee and decided actually to follow Ash's advice. He slowly chewed through the cookie that no longer had its moist texture but still tasted extraordinary. He did take his time with this cookie as he got the feeling that Ash probably wouldn't give him another one during Viridian Forest, as regretful as that was. He knew that Ash cared about him, so he didn't want his or Pidgey's diet to revolve around a sugary treat instead of actual food.

"Looks like you can take your time after all." Ash joked as he saw Squirtle chewing the treat with no sense of urgency, just like how Misty was doing not so far away. Red came up and made Ash gaze upwards, his Pokémon doing the same.

"Sorry to interrupt this heartwarming moment, but it must be asked." Red apologized, Pikachu and Eevee still with him. "Ash, do you know where you'll be sleeping tonight?"

Ash gave an embarrassing sweat drop at the question, realizing that he didn't think about that part when he came here. "I guess I can buy a motel room or sleep outside if I have to."

Red gave a soft chuckle at this. "I bought my room at an inn; you can stay with us if you would like. It wouldn't be a bother."

Ash just let out a sigh of true relive, his body no longer tensing up as a liberal look took over. "Thank you so much. I was getting scared for a second."

"Pidge." The Flying-type decided to show her gratefulness as well, signaling for Squirtle to do the same.

"Eev!" Eevee was ecstatic to have his new friends come over for a sleepover.

"What about you, Misty?" Ash made the girl look up from her nearly done food, eating the part in her mouth and swallowing it. "You got your sleeping area planned?"

"I... don't." Misty was going to do the same thing Ash had planned a couple of seconds ago, buy a motel room or just sleep outside. Red was quick to come up to her.

"If you want, stick with us for the night." Misty raised her eyebrow and voiced her concern, Red quickly shooting them down. "The only problem is that only one bed can only two of us. Someone's going to be stuck on the floor."

"I'll volunteer." Ash raised his hand as he got the two's attention. "I know that it won't pay back my debt to you, Misty, but I hope that it can be enough for now."

"It's a start." Misty was actually really glad that she and Ash didn't have to fight over that. She was thankful for what Ash was giving up, as she knew from experience how dirty the floors could get. Although, none of these positive emotions were shown in the following sentence. "Glad to see that you know girls need their beauty sleep."

Joy was still at her desk as she sipped from her warm coffee. She knew it was going to be a long night. Chansey came up to her with a report on a checkboard. Joy smiled when she saw who the Trainer's name was. "Can Ms. Misty come to the front desk, please?"

Misty discarded her food in the same trashcan that Ash threw away his, stopping at the desk. "Is it about Starmie, Nurse Joy?"

"It is." Joy gave the young girl a comforting smile. "Starmie is in stable condition again. Would you like them to be brought out for you?"

"That would be really nice."

"Chansey." The Pokémon went to get Starmie as soon as Misty stopped talking.

Out of nowhere, the alarm that was on the top of the ceiling started blaring loud noises as a voice came through. Everyone covered their ears at first until Jenny's voice came through. "YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE! YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE! OUR VIRIDIAN CITY RADAR CENTER HAS DETECTED AN AIRCRAFT BELONGING TO A GROUP OF POKÉMON THIEVES! IF YOU HAVE A POKÉMON IN YOUR POSSESSION, EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION!" Officer Jenny advised everyone. "OUR RADAR INDICATES THEM TO BE AT THE POKÉMON CENTER! I REPEAT, OUR RADAR INDICATES THEM TO BE AT THE POKÉMON CENTER!"

Everyone inside was surprised after hearing that because that would mean they were in danger. "She can't be serious about the Pokémon Center part, right?" Joy asked in rising concern. The woman never did get an answer as they were all becoming nervous.

Red and Ash, along with their starters, tried to be brave as they looked around to see where the Team Rocket members really were. They didn't see anything in the front or near any doors inside the main room. Red decided to look, remembering the window up there, and saw a hot air balloon that definitely was not there before. The boy squished his eyes, seeing two Pokeballs coming down towards them.

Red reacted fast. "Get out of the middle area!" Everyone left quickly to the front desk, under the impression that it would be the best place to hide from and see the Pokémon Thieves. Everyone in the room was huddled together as they could see what happened next.

The window on the roof of the building had broken open as the two Pokeballs fell onto the floor. Just as they stopped moving from the high fall, they went through, both of them opened up, and out came two completely new Pokémon.

"Koffing!" The first one that came out was shaped like a sphere. His body was purple, and a depiction of a skull and crossbones was placed on the lower parts of his body. He had openings all over it, a goofy-looking smile planted on his face. "Koffing!" He yelled out in Joy.

The second one looked more normal. She was a snake-like Pokémon with purple and yellow coloring. Her underside leading to the tail was yellow, and she had a yellow rattle at the tail's tip. Large, yellow eyes with slit reptilian pupils. Across her neck was a large, yellow band. "Ekanssssss!" She said in a threatening way.

"Koffing!" The Pokémon was already on the attack as he released his Smog attack. The room started to be covered in an avocado green-colored gas that came out of his holes quickly. It didn't take long for the entire room to soon be covered in this gas that, luckily, was not lethal. It still made it very hard to see. Everyone could hear that the front door was busted open as two pairs of feet approached them.

"Who's there?!" Ash yelled to the gas; his vision clouded as his Squirtle and Pidgey were close to him. The three Trainers, their Pokémon, Chansey, and Joy, all knew that something was coming up as the steps only grew more intimate.

"Don't be frightened, civilians," A female voice called out from the gas.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves," A male voice calmly told them.

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all people within our nation," The gas had now cleared up to reveal the duo in the hot air balloon from earlier that day, both in a striking pose. Everyone saw the two Team Rocket members.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love,"

"To extend our reach to the stars above,"

"Jessie." The girl said proudly.

"James." The boy also said proudly.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, That's right!" At the end of all this, Meowth landed between Jessie and James. Both Ekans and Koffing were with them.

Instead of being scared or begging for their lives, everyone in the group looked at them, somewhat confused, especially the Meowth that somehow spoke actual words! When they heard the name 'Team Rocket', they were kind of expecting something a lot more severe or dangerous from the Pokémon thieves. Instead, they only saw two relatively young teenagers and their Pokémon with them, Pokémon that weren't exactly something to fear. Everyone just looked more bewildered than Jessie and James were hoping for.

"Huh?" Red was the first one to speak up.

"What?" Ash questioned right after.

"Squirtle?" Even the Pokémon weren't impressed or scared of these two.

James was getting more annoyed and confused by the reactions of these people. "Um. This is where you are supposed to be scared and give us your Pokémon out of fear." No one budged as they stared at them. James opened his mouth as he put his arms down. "Did none of you hear our amazing theme song?!"

"That was supposed to be amazing?" Misty question was actually genuine. The song they made kind of had good rhyming, but it ended up sounding more stupid than anything. This seemed to make Jessie mad as she stepped up.

"You should learn to fear the great Team Rocket!" She warned as she tried not to let anger get the better of her. She had a performance to give still. "We are here to capture any rare Pokémon that you have."

"You must be pretty low to attack a hospital for something like that." Joy called out to the Pokémon thieves. "This place is meant for weak and injured Pokémon."

"Well, that may be so, but would it be that surprising the find a gem among all this garbage?" Jessie asked them as she was back to her evil self.

"I'm getting sick of your talking!" Ash insulted, causing Jessie to grow cross-popping veins on her head. He walked out from behind the desk and faced the pair of teenagers, Squirtle and Pidgey, with him. "If you are going to try and steal the Pokémon here, then you will have to defeat Squirtle and me first!"

"Meowth! It would be our pleasure!" The talking Pokémon sounded happy just thinking about it. He went in front as his two friends joined him.

"Koffing, attack!" The Pokémon immediately took the left side of Meowth, going behind the leader.

"Ekans, go!" The snake slithered to Meowth, being in the same position as Koffing, just to the right side.

Red walked up to his friend as he saw the battle already forming. "You are an idiot, Ash, if you think I'll let you take these guys on your own." Eevee looked ready to fight while Pikachu looked at the opponent rather bored.

"Well, excuse me for trying to be a hero." Ash joked as he looked at his Pidgey, now more serious than when he had looked at her before. "Stay in the Pokeball, okay, Pidgey?"

"Pidgey!" The Pokémon, of course, wasn't happy with the idea that her Trainer gave. She wanted to prove that she was worthy of being his Pokémon.

"Just do this for me this one time. I'll send you during the next battle, alright?" Pidgey was still unhappy but nodded, understanding that Ash was simply caring for her. He put the ball next to Pidgey and shot a red beam, returning the Pokémon to a much safer place. "Another promise added to the list." He thought as Squirtle was near his legs. On Red's side, it was much easier.

"You aren't going to fight for me?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu started to calmly walk away and sat on the couch, getting into a more lazy and comfortable position. He raised his short arm into the air like he was cheering. If only the face actually showed that. "Pika pika."

"I'll try not to make a boring fight for you," Red dully promised. He looked toward Team Rocket and down at his Eevee, who still looked ready as he looked at Red. "Right, Eevee?"

"Eevee!" The Pokémon sounded so determined with that one word. A lot of passion packed into such a small package.

"You're ready, Squirt?" Ash knelled down to his Water-type. "Show them what happens when they mess with us."

"Squirtle!" Both Pokémon stood by each other as they looked at the two poison Pokémon and Meowth. Their Trainers were suitable for them and ready to support them no matter what.

"You boys aren't thinking about stealing all the fun, are you?" Misty called out, which stopped both of the kids from Pallet. "Watch how a professional beat foe!" In her hand was a Pokeball. Misty looked relatively confident as she took a spot next to the boys, who wouldn't complain about the extra help.

"Professional, she says," Jessie said mockingly.

"Now I can't tell if that is the dumbest or funniest thing I have heard all day," James added from right next to her. The embarrassed boy that was once present was replaced with a calmer persona.

Misty let out a slight growl. "I'll show you!" Misty yelled as she was face to face with the Meowth. "Pokeball, Go!" The ball landed on the ground, and out came a new Pokémon.

And this one was... unique.

On the ground was a fish-like Pokémon with long, billowing fins. Her coloring was orange and white. There was also a tiny horn on her forehead, which was her only tool to attack foes. "Goldeen, Goldeen, Goldeen, Goldeen, Goldeen, Goldeen." It said as it bounced up and down like a slowly dying fish. Goldeen wasn't precisely a weak Pokémon as long as it was in the water.

Everyone stopped to stare at how Goldeen was being. All the creatures in that room stopped to stare as the Pokémon wanted to get water to fight. Significant sweat drops were coming out of everyone besides Misty; even Team Rocket, along with their Pokémon, wasn't sure to attack after seeing how sad it was. They were so confused. You would not believe how awkward Misty felt until it hit her.

"Oh no! I never got Starmie back!" Misty forgot that Chansey was not allowed to get her Starmie for her since Team Rocket attacked before Chansey was entitled to. "Goldeen, return!" The Pokémon silently went back inside her Pokeball; Misty's once smug look was gone.

"That was her best shot?" Jessie asked in a deadpan voice.

"She's all washed up," James added with crossed arms.

"If you aren't going to help us, then at least help Nurse Joy and her Chansey." Red bluntly said as he noticed how Joy and Chansey had walked out as all this happened, going into a room with a wall of Pokeballs. Misty searched her bag and brought out another Pokeball.

"I am not going to skip on a battle like this." Misty was determined to make her mark as she took the Pokeball turning to Ash. "Guess what Pokémon I am going to bring out?"

"Knowing you, it's probably a Magikarp," James answered, getting Jessie and the other Pokémon to laugh.

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Misty readied her arm as she threw the Pokeball. "Marill, go!"

The Pokémon that came out didn't live in the Kanto Region. Marill was a small, blue mouse-like Pokémon. He had a round body, round ears, and small, stubby arms. On the top of his tail was a small blue ball. "Mari!"

"A Pokémon from Johto." Ash was going to take his Pokédex out, but Red beat him to it.

"Marill, the aqua mouse Pokémon. Dex Number: 210. National Region: Johto. Evolved from Azumil. Pokémon typing: Water, Fairy. The end of its tail serves as a buoy that keeps it from drowning, even in a vicious current. This specific Marill is a male and currently at level 11. This Pokémon has the following moves: Tackle, Water Gun, Tail Whip, Bubble Beam." Red took in the information and put his Dexin away.

"Meowth. I'll take on the fat mouse." Meowth told his side as he went to face the Water-type. "I am going to scratch you up, good!"

"Marill." The Pokémon gave a strong smile as he was ready for battle.

"Let's start the battle," Ash announced as the two sides faced each other, the Pokémon looking like they wanted to fight. "The sooner your gone, the better!"

"We'll do just that," Jessie promised as she brought her arm out. "Although, with several stolen Pokémon! Ekans, use Poison Sting on the Eevee!"

"EKANSSS!" The snake did quick work to slither to her opponent, her tail now covered in purple poison. She shot her tail at the Eevee in a ferocious, but still refined enough, way. Eevee knew to dodge by jumping back and landing on the ground on all fours. Eevee saw his opportunity and gave a Tackle to Ekans, who was trying to get rid of the poison from her tail. Ekans was sent back but remained strong. "EKANSSSS!"

"Eevee," The Normal-type, was ready for Red's command. "Use Growl."

Eevee let out his Growl attack. He shot a loud noise at Ekans in an endearing way. This sound scared Ekans a bit and brought down her attack, her next move already coming. She opened her mouth wide for her Bite attack, Eevee bracing himself as he finished his Growl. The snake bit hard on Eevee's side and sent the Pokémon staggering back. It looked like the attack hurt, but Eevee and Red knew that the Growl had worked out.

It should've done more damage, but it was something Eevee could brush off.

"Wonderful," Jessie said as Ekans was by her. "Show these second-rate Pokémon who will come out on top."

"That's quite a nice thing for a third-rate Trainer to say." Red was hoping to rile up Ekans and Jessie up. The two fell for it as Ekans went to use Wrap on the Eevee to slowly end the match, intending for the Normal-type to fell and take in all the pain. Eevee saw this coming from a mile away and made a short hop when Ekans tried to sweep his legs with the tail.

Eevee used this short airtime to send a tackle onto Ekans's head. The snake didn't expect this and was knocked back farther back than before. Ekans was impressed that the Eevee could think and react quickly, but she would never say that out loud. "You've done well, Eevee." Red's kindness made Eevee smile as the battle still had not ended. "Use one last Tackle."

"Eevee!" Eevee charged as fast his legs would allow, going headfirst as Ekans watched him coming.

"Use Glare to stop him!" Jessie knew the final attack that Eevee would give would be all that her Ekans could handle. She was not going to lose to this kid!

"EKANSSSSS!" She sent a piercing glare at Eevee to make the opposing Pokémon slow down his attack. It worked as Eevee was inflicted with paralysis, meaning that his body could freeze at any moment and ruin the attack. Eevee still kept going, trying not to let his slower body ruin the attack as he was inches away from Ekans. Ekans was fully expecting Eevee to get stuck from paralysis and allow her to attack for free.

She was very wrong.

Eevee was able to push through his weakened state and give the most brutal Tackle he possibly could. Ekans was sent back as her long, slender body rolled up to Jessie. The Team Rocket girl saw that the Pokémon's eyes were swirling as she muttered darkly to herself. Ekans wouldn't get back, meaning Jessie had lost this battle against the kid with the stupid name.

Ekans had fainted.

Jessie screamed out in frustration as Red and Eevee watched with bleak looks. "Ekans, return!" Her Pokémon was called back as she looked at the other two and their battles. "You better not lose, got that?"

"Did that fight bore you, Pikachu?" Red looked at the Electric-type, who was still chilling on the coach. Pikachu thought for a moment as he held up six fingers out of the ten in his hands.

"Pika."

"I'll take a 6/10." Red looked at Ash's fight as he watched how his friend would handle this, ready for Eevee to use Helping Hand on Squirtle if things got dicey.

Squirtle was holding his own rather well against Koffing. Koffing was relatively weak as he didn't have any attacks that were good for long-range, being forced to lose his levitating advantage by getting close to the ground. "Use your Tackle, Squirtle!" Squirtle charged his now-healed head at the Poison-type with full force. Koffing was looking at the Pokémon coming.

"Koffing, use Smokescreen to stop Squirtle," James instructed less brutally than Jessie did with her Pokémon. Koffing released an obscuring smog from his holes to make a cloud in front of him. Squirtle charged in and disappeared without enough time to stop his advance. No one could see what was going on in that cloud, but they heard Squirtle went quiet there.

Koffing knew that he shouldn't waste this opportunity and floated upwards. He had the right idea, as Squirtle jumped and tried to use Tackle on where Koffing was before. He flew underneath and landed on the ground, looking at his opponent in annoyance. Ash was also upset about how Koffing was able to escape as James, along with Koffing, laughed.

"You should stay up there, Koffing," James said as he laughed. "There is no way that Squirtle can attack you from on the ground."

"Koffing! Kof!" The Pokémon remained there as he had his eyes closed in arrogance, not bothering even to look down.

Squirtle was a bit angry at seeing what his opponent was doing. Ash didn't want to call off the battle, trying to think about how Squirtle could reach there. Squirtle wished he had Water Gun to just knock the Poison-type out of the air. He tried to look around to see if he could use anything near him to give him a boost up there. He suddenly heard Meowth speaking.

"Stand still so I can Scratch you!" He told off the Marill that was dodging his attacks with skill. Squirtle got an idea as he ran to Meowth and jumped up. He landed on the Normal-type's head, startling Meowth so severely. "What the?" Squirtle jumped off quickly and directed himself to the still-laughing Koffing. Ash smiled at seeing how quickly Squirtle was on his feet, James gasping at this.

"Give a hard Tackle, Squirt!" Squirtle readied his head as Koffing opened his eyes to see what was coming.

"Get out of there, Koffing!" It was too little too late as Squirtle rammed his whole body into the airborne Koffing, so much force that the Pokémon's eyes became swirls. They both fell to the ground as Squirtle quickly got off and backflipped his way to the ground. The Water-type was pretty acrobatic for being so small. He went by his Trainer and gave him a proud smile, Ash being so happy for him.

"You did great out there!" Squirtle was happy that Ash was so proud of him but knew it had to be short-lived, looking at the Team Rocket member. James went to Koffing and saw what state his only Pokémon was in.

Koffing had fainted.

"Koffing, return." James looked to Ash and Squirtle with an annoyed and somehow impressed look. "I will admit, your Squirtle was pretty smart for thinking of that."

"DON'T COMPLIMENT THE ENEMY!" Jessie sent a punch to the back of James's head for what he just said and also because their second Pokémon was just defeated. James whimpered slightly as he grabbed his head, Jessie looking at the only Pokémon remaining. "You better not lose, Meowth!"

"Yeah! Yeah! I got that!" Meowth tried to use Fake Out on Marill, who took the hit pretty well. "Why are you so darn stubborn!"

"Marill." The Water/Fairy-type was starting to annoy Meowth so much. Any attack that Meowth performed, Marill would tank or dodge it without much problem. Marill seemed to be having a fun time, unlike Meowth trying his hardest to make himself calm. Marill had only used Tackle twice so far as he wanted the fight to last for Meowth, even though he could just use Bubble Beam to clear this up. "Mari mari."

Meowth got annoyed after hearing that and charged in for a Bite. "Don't compare me to a Caterpie!" He readied his teeth as Marill watched the attack with an interested look, although it was clear he was not afraid. Meowth jumped in with sharp teeth at the ready, getting hit by something white. Marill used his bottomless stomach to push back Meowth with nothing but his body. Meowth rolled back from this... could you even call that an attack?

Jessie slapped her forehead hard after seeing that.

"You're doing great, Marill." Misty was proud that her level 11 Pokémon easily took on the Meowth without much trouble. "Use Bubble Beam to finish this off!" Even though Marill wasn't a good attacker, Meowth was weak enough to faint him, hopefully.

"Why you-" Meowth was cut off as he saw an incoming spray of bubbles ejected from Marill's mouth. The bubbles came fast and hit Meowth hard. Meowth was pelted for a bit as everyone watched; the two Team Rocket members, mostly James, were hoping that Meowth would be okay after this. Meowth came out of it wet, hurt, and exhausted. He had tired himself out too much beforehand as he slowly leaned forward, Jessie shaking in anger as she knew what this meant. "I-I need to..." He fell to the ground.

Meowth fainted as well, ending off the three Team Rocket Pokémon.

"You have no Pokémon left to fight against us," Misty told them as she, Ash, and Red stood by each other with their Pokémon. The victory the three had was truly sweet. "Will you leave these Pokémon alone?"

"ARRRGGGHH!" Jessie got so mad that she picked up a chair and threw it against the glass doors at the front, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. Everyone was shocked at this as the composed Team Rocket member was gone. All that was left was a fifteen-year-old with a temper larger than herself.

"Jessie, stop it!" James held their fainted Meowth as he went to his enraged partner. It was a miracle that Jessie did not attack James in anger at that moment. "I know you are upset, I am too, but we need to get out of here. Jenny is probably moments away from putting us in a cell!"

Jessie had to force herself to breathe and count to ten to calm herself. "This is not over, twerps!" She pointed an openly infuriated finger at the three that defeated them without much damage.

Jessie took something out that looked like a gray ball that was portable in size a pin attached to it. Everyone thought for a second that it was a bomb and that this girl would start and blow up everyone. It was a bomb, but not the kind that destroyed buildings. It was a device that all Team Rocket members had and used to escape from their mission.

"WE WILL BE BACK!" Jessie yelled out in vengeance as she took the pin off the small ball. "And then, you will know to fear us!"

Team Rocket released the smoke bomb, spraying a near-obscure gas that was not life-threatening. This hid the Team Rocket members from everyone's perception. No one could see any movement in the thick smoke. It eventually died down to show that the Team Rocket members there were all gone, with no trace of how they escaped or where they ended up going. Everyone there had a moment to breathe as they saw their opponents were finally absent.

Ash made a 'tch' noise with his mouth. "If that is what to expect from Team Rocket, then there is nothing to fear."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle had to admit that the Koffing was only tricky because he floated, not because the Poison-type was strong on his own.

"Don't let this one moment define the rest, Ash," Red advised his fellow person from Pallet Town, giving Eevee a celebratory scratch before putting him in the Pokeball. "I could tell those two were inexperienced and new to Team Rocket. There could be a lot stronger ones that we might run into."

Nurse Joy and Chansey opened the door to their room very carefully, peeking through and seeing that the kids were left. "Are Team Rocket gone?" She asked loud enough.

"It looks like it." Misty came over and helped open the door and let the two free. The two nurses looked around to see that the damage was minimal, except for the front doors, that was very broken.

"Chansey." The pink Pokémon was finally allowed to breathe.

"Thank you so much for protecting the Pokémon Center." Joy had her together in front as she looked at the three. "I was trying to get the Pokeballs to Pewter City while you defended. I was so worried."

"It was our pleasure defending this place." Eevee was in Red's arms as he suddenly froze because of the still present paralysis. Red and Pikachu comforted the injured Pokémon. "I know, buddy."

"Looks like your Eevee got paralyzed in the battle. May I?" Joy took in the Eevee gently and examined him, the Normal-type shivering from how painful paralysis was. "I can fix him up for you, but you'll only be able to get him the morning."

"Take all the time that you need."

Joy turned to Misty, the girl holding her Marill for winning the battle. "I believe that you had a Starmie that was ready to leave. Let me go and get them out."

Misty felt relive as Marill cuddled to her. "Thank you very much." She looked down at Marill. "I would've lost if you weren't with me, Marill."

"Marill!"

Ash and Squirtle were sitting down when they saw it was all over. "What a battle, Squirt. You handled that Koffing really well."

"Squirtle." Squirtle was proud of his strength as he tried to flex off his rather chubby arms and legs.

Everyone heard that a motorcycle was coming their way as Joy was too familiar with the noise. Jenny was driving their way in a much more controlled manner than before, not going for her trick this time. She stopped the motorcycle as close as possible and ran up the stairs. She made her way through the mess of glass and came to see that everyone was looking at her, a Pokeball in her hand.

"Are Team Rocket still here?" She questioned seriously as she showed off the Pokeball that had her Growlith. "I am ready to fight against them!"

"You are a bit late to the party, Officer Jenny." Misty stood up and came to her respectably, putting Marill back in his Pokeball. "Me, Red, and Ash have taken care of and defeated the thieves."

Ash stood up as Squirtle was on his head and came to Jenny. "There were two of them, and they had three Pokémon with them. A Koffing, Ekans and Meowth."

"You actually managed to beat them?" The three Trainers, with Pikachu and Squirtle, responded positively to the question. Jenny folded her arms as she sent them a proud smile. "Not bad, runts. Although, I hope you can understand when I say that I don't fully believe you."

"I can show you the video recordings as proof, Officer Jenny." Joy spoke up for them as she handed Eevee to her Chansey, letting the Pokémon leave. "All of it should be on there." On the inside, she was thinking this. "Why couldn't you go through the door with your motorcycle during all this?"

"I will be the judge of that!" Jenny turned to the kids and signaled for them to come. "I hate to do this to you, possible heroes, but I will need you for interrogation after we have checked out the footage." The kids complied with this predictable but still annoying response as they came with her. Joy was in the front and guiding them to a separate room.

BOOM!

An actual explosion went off outside the Pokémon Center, and everyone ran to see what had just happened. An explosion left behind a crater and some significant smoke that attacked an area outside of the Pokémon Center. It didn't actually affect the building, instead being where a bicycle stand once was. Everyone didn't react except for one person, who released a breathless gasp.

"MY BIKE!"

Misty ran over to see what remained of the precious bike that she had all this time. The thing was utterly destroyed, leaving behind a charred piece that could only be the handle. She tried to pick up the hot item in sadness as tears formed. She dropped to hot thing to the ground and looked as she was in the seiza position with her broken piece in front of her.

"What have they done to you?!" Misty cried out as she saw what remained of her bike, one of the things that her sisters gave her out of genuine kindness. She turned to the people that were watching her. "Someone, do something! My bike needs a doctor, stat!"

"Is she actually serious?" Red asked out loud as she saw Misty showing so much concern over this bike. Misty didn't seem to hear him as she wanted to care for the only piece of her bike left.

Jenny came up to her with a sympathetic look that she tried to keep, although a bike was new for her. "Misty, was it?" The girl in question nodded. "Misty, don't let the loss of your bike stop you. Come with me. We have important matters to discuss."

Misty got up with a miserable look as she still could not hold onto her bike. It was clear that the only reason that she only followed Jenny was that the woman was a police officer and knew that getting into legal trouble was not worth it for a bike. Ash gave a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she gently removed it. She was not wanting sympathy right now. Red merely watched on as he knew not to pour his focus into this.

After all, they were going to get interrogated soon.

---

"Come on, James!" Jessie yelled out to her teammate as they escaped Viridian City. The boy was tired by complied. "We need to keep running until we can't use our legs anymore!"

"My legs are already starting to feel that way!" James held the fainted Meowth close to his chest, the Pokémon sometimes bouncing up and down in his arms. "Would've been nice if you didn't blow up that bike. We could've used it!"

Jessie slapped James on the head for saying that. "Don't question my astute decisions!" She destroyed Misty's bike out of anger more than anything, but you wouldn't hear that from her. Her hatred for the color orange also played into it. James knew that what she said was very wrong. "Do you have the phone?"

James took out the device and gave it in a withdrawn way, fearing what Jessie might do to him. Jessie took the phone and looked around to make sure that no one was around the hear this conversation. She clicked the phone button and waited patiently for the person to pick up.

After twenty seconds, the screen had changed.

This Domino, whom Jessie mentioned earlier, was a short girl. She seemed similar to what Ash's height was. She had purple eyes and curled blonde hair that reached below her chin. Her uniform consisted of a red cap with a white front and a mini dress that looked, unlike the usual Team Rocket female outfit. The bottom part of the mini dress was white and had a brown belt. The top was black with a red 'R' emblem. Her outfit was complete with white thigh boots, as well as white elbow gloves. She looked unimpressed when seeing the two.

"Looks like the idiots finally called." She thought as she looked at them with artful eyes. "Jessie. James. How nice of you to call so late without warning. How was Viridian City? Steal any valuable Pokémon?"

Her voice sounded so casual, but her mannerism and presence were anything but that. Jessie and James looked at each other as they knew that their mission status was going to cost them. "We... we couldn't steal anything, Elite Officer Domino." The two bowed down at the phone for respect points. "We failed to take over the Pokémon Center there successfully..."

"You failed? How... predictable." Dominio was not going to give these still new Team Rocket members any kind of leniency. You either praise success or look down on failure from her point of view. "It looks like this makes me a fool for thinking that you were ready. It looks like the two of you weren't enough for this, as you claimed you were."

Jessie and James said nothing as they knew how to speak out of terms. "Meeo." Meowth tried to mutter something but couldn't get the words out.

Domino looked at them. "I would've had you come back to HQ if it wasn't for your current position. Another task has come from Executive Proton." The screen switched to a satellite image of a mountain range furthest from Pewter; the teenagers seeing it was Mt Moon. "He wants us to search for valuable Moon Stones that are there. I would never have told you this info if it wasn't for your position."

Jessie stood tall immediately, James close behind as he placed Meowth down in a gentle way. "We will proudly take this mission. Anything to make Team Rocket proud."

"Very good. I will send three other members to assist you when you reach Mt Moon. I will send you a path to get you there as quickly as possible. All I ask is that you leave when dawn comes." Her voice sounded so childish and relaxed. "If you successfully complete this simpler task, I will consider your laughable performance in Viridian non-recorded. That is all."

"We will not fail you for the great name of Team Rocket!" James promised. The two saluted as Domino nodded at hearing this, turning her back from the phone camera. Although James had a problem that he couldn't stop himself from saying. "Just let us heal up our Pokémon, Elite Officer Dominio, the-"

"I said," The once near childish tone had been replaced with something so much darker. James froze up. "That was all." The transmission then ended, and Jessie closed up the phone.

"You know better than to talk out of term, James." Jessie berated James, who looked down in sadness. "I don't want you to get in trouble with anyone from the higher-ups."

"I want to ensure our Pokémon get the care they deserve." James picked up their Meowth and held him close. "After all, we weren't the ones who took on those attacks."

This was one of the few times that James was right about something, and Jessie wished he was like this all the time. "Let's go see if we can find some revives in the dirt," Jessie suggested as he opened her hand, though her eyes were afraid of her partner. "I want some berries anyway." James knew that any of Jessie's offers were short-lived, taking her hand and standing up. Meowth still in his arms. "After all, Domino only told us to go there in the morning."

"I like it when you're the good kind of evil."

Jessie just scoffed as they walked. "Any kind of evil I do is better than just good."

---

Ash and his Squirtle had a great night of sleep, the two needing it after all that happened.

Officer Jenny had taken the three kids in for interrogation, and they all gave her what she wanted. She gathered that the two that attacked were Jessie and James, both fifteen years of age, their Pokémon team, and how they had a talking Meowth. The last part really did get everyone stumped as there didn't seem to be any answer for how this Pokémon knew the human language but decided to leave it at that.

Jenny knew that these kids were tired and let out after only a short time. The three slept in Red's room as Ash kept his word by sleeping on the carpet floor, wanting to do it even more, seeing how Misty was still sad over the sudden loss of her bike. Ash knew that it meant a lot to her, but crying herself to sleep over it seemed a bit dramatic. They woke up in the late morning as Red felt an empty space in his bed.

Misty was gone.

"Maybe, she just ran off on her own," Red suggested to Ash. The boy was in some checkered pants with a tank top on.

"She wouldn't do that, at least not without warning," Ash responded in a conflicted way, in his pajamas. Squirtle was also confused by her disappearance. "Misty seems like she would've left a note for something like that."

"You need to remember that she has her own goals. She simply has her own adventure that is not part of yours, and you need to respect that. I know that you'll be able to find other companions."

Ash sighed as he held Squirtle to him. "I guess so. Still not happy about it. She did a lot for me in just a single day."

"Squirt." He hugged his Trainer as Red placed a lenient hand on Ash's hair, Pikachu and him understanding how Ash must be feeling.

Their breakfast was pretty quiet; no real conversation took off as they put their clothes on and left the motel. Ash was glad the place had a washing machine for his clothes. The boys weren't interested in going to Viridian Forest quite yet. Even if they didn't have to go to those places, Red still had to get his Eevee back from Nurse Joy. They knew it would be best to go and supply themselves at the Pokémart here. Not exactly exciting, but their second destination was going to be something else. The duo knew that it probably wouldn't work out; they were still going to it, though.

Viridian City's Ground Gym.

"Welcome! Welcome!" A much older boy with brown hair greeted the Pokémon Trainers as they walked into the Pokémart. They looked to see all the Pokémon related stuff on the shelves and the fridges. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, please," Red spoke up for them. "Do you have any items Pokémon healing items you are currently selling?"

"Pokémon Trainers?" The two of them nodded. "Alrighty. Let me see the number of gym badges you got on your person, and I'll tell you what is for sale."

The two still rookie Trainer's started at each other after hearing that question. Red decided to speak up first for the two of them, thinking that they had accidentally made a mistake coming here. "We... don't have any badges."

"That's a bummer." The cashier frowned slightly before changing his face back. "Luckily, you can still buy items like potions and antidotes. However, if you are here for some revives or full restores, going to need some badges for that."

"How many badges would we need for this?" Ash decided to ask as Red and Pikachu went off browsing. He pointed to the full restores.

"Squirtle?"

"You are going to need six badges for things like that. Honestly, I get the full restores and full heals, but I think that revives should be allowed for any trainer at any level." He then put a hand on his hip. "But if I were in charge of the rules, I wouldn't call this counter my own."

Ash nodded as he joined Red in looking, thanking the older kid as Squirtle remembered to do the same. All the items looked like spray bottles with various colors, shapes, and sizes. He looked around at all the stuff he could buy as he saw Red already holding three potions and two antidotes. Ash followed his example and purchased the same things, now seeing why he got three potions.

"But two, get one free." Ash read as he was excited to hear about that. Red looked longingly at the repels that required one badge that he simply did not have with him; the quiet boy instead bought 4 Pokeballs. Ash knew that he didn't need any extra Pokeballs quite yet; the Pokémon in Viridian Forest should be easy enough to capture. He also bought easy-to-make and Pokémon food so they wouldn't starve like last time, Red following this example. They brought all their items to the counter, and the guy immediately started scanning.

"You guys seem prepared, though be careful in Viridian City." He put Ash and Red's items in two distinct piles as he finished scanning. "I'm putting them as separate bills. Pay up, kids."

They paid off their items and stuffed them in the bag, leaving with a quick thanks. Their next and final order of business was going to one other place before Viridian Forest. It was Ash's idea, as he wanted to see if they really could enter the gym right then and there; Red was actually getting curious as well. They knew that their Pokémon simply were not enough for this. They just wanted to be sure if they really did need all the other badges.

And they were met with the appropriate reaction.

A girl that looked to be seventeen guarded the door to the massive gym. Stone Pillars led up to the place as it seemed more shaped like a stadium than anything else. She put a hand in front of the kids. "Sorry, twerps. Going to need the badges even to enter here."

Ash let out a small groan. It looks like he would need to be extra patient for this one. "I was hoping that the seven badges before This one were some kind of cruel joke. Although, it may be for the best that we don't enter."

"Trust me; I would love to see you fail at the first Pokémon the Gym Leader sends out." The girl remarked as she sent a smirk at the kid, who angrily frowned at her in response. "If your little Squirtle can somehow bring down a Nidoking at level 7, then we can talk."

"Can you at least tell us who the Gym Leader is?" Red wanted to ensure this trip had something of worth coming out of it.

"I bet you already know that this one specializes in Ground-types. As for the actual Gym Leader themselves... I can't tell you that." The four were confused by this. "You see, the Gym Leader here really enjoys their privacy. So much that I don't even know their gender or name since they wear a voice changer, and they keep giving different answers for the latter. They even make Trainers sign forms not to reveal who it was. Also, someone different always comes to the Pokémon League in their place."

"I understand someone's privacy, but that seems a bit much," Ash admitted as he heard all this. It made it sound like whoever was here was hiding something.

"The Pokémon League have investigated and found nothing nefarious going on here. I don't know why they go through all this. Oh, well." She pointed in a direction away from the door. "Scram, newbies!"

"Don't call us newbies! This may only be our second day, but we know much about Pokémon."

"Second day?" She repeated as she laughed at the kid. Ash and co went quiet after what she said next. "This is my seven-hundredth eighty-ninth day guarding this door. You are not allowed to complain."

"Let's just go, Ash. There's nothing we can do here." Ash agreed and followed Red out of the gym's property. They went down the path to Viridian Forest before they stopped to look at each other. "You should go and continue your journey. I have to stay and do a few other things."

"You aren't going to come with us." Ash's disappointment was immeasurable.

"Regrettable it is. I know that we'll meet each other again, Ash." Red brought his arm out for a handshake. "Let's hope it will be without any Pokémon Thieves running around."

"That's the plan." Ash shook his hand as the two had a firm grip on one another, Ash with a big smile and Red with a little one. The Pokémon watched this interaction. "See you soon, Red!"

"Same to you, Ash."

The two planned to go their separate ways after that, but Pikachu and Squirtle came down from them and walked to each other. Ash and Red were confused and watched what was going to happen. The Pokémon seemed to be insistent on something. Pikachu and Squirtle looked at each other and took their arms, firmly shaking their hands.

Just like how their Pokémon Trainers just did.

The two boys smiled at how their Pokémon had also formed a bond and tried to be like the people they now admired. Ash and Red once again said their goodbyes, with Pikachu and Squirtle doing the same. The two went on separate paths, being separated again. Ash was understandably upset to be separated from one of his best friends but knew it was for the better. Ash knew that his future companion/s might not be for a while. Guess he better get familiar with the Pokémons company instead of actual humans.

Not seeing that a particular girl was following him out of Viridian City.

---

The sun had finally retaken over the sky as Ash and Squirtle had just started their way into Viridian Forest; they walked in with a clue on what Pokémon they could expect to find here, but with no idea on how to make it through. Ash wasn't rushing to get out of here, as he knew that the wild Pokémon here would be perfect for training up his team.

The two walked as they would begin training soon enough. Ash did want to catch a Pokémon here but knew they wouldn't be much help against Brock in Pewter City, the next major stopping point. He was hoping to get Squirtle to the point of learning Water Gun, which was at level 13, and that Pidgey would be around level 8-10. He wished that Red was here so the training could be less time-consuming, but he knew it was for the best that the boy went on his own.

He knew that the Pokémon that he may catch here wouldn't be on his team, unfortunately. The Bug-types here had too many weaknesses and not great moves or stats to help bring them up. He knew that he was being a bit too harsh, but the truth was just sometimes like that. It wasn't all bad, though. It seemed like another Trainer would be following him.

The boy knew full well who was following him after all this time.

"I know you are there," Ash announced to seemingly no one, Squirtle by his side. "You felt her too. Right, Squirt?"

"Squirtle, squirt." The Pokémon nodded at this as the person came out from behind the tree, revealing themselves to be none other than Misty.

"So, what if I am here?" Misty yelled back as she tried to remove the leaves attached to her clothes. She looked at the boy and sighed. "Look. I don't have a bike anymore, I have to go through this disgusting forest, and I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Why are you following me then?" Ash questioned. Misty seemed like the kind of girl that would not want to be with Ash. "I thought that you would've gone with Red instead."

Misty looked at him as her face softened. "I can tell that you have a good heart and a decent mind with you. Red had the mind, but his heart seemed a bit too empty for me to cooperate with." Ash did agree with that. Red showed no emotion about 80% percent of the time. "Besides, your Squirtle is cute. I've always wanted one for the longest time."

Squirtle sent a goofy smile to the girl. "Squirtle Squirtle!"

Ash looked at the girl as her features had noticeably changed into a softer tone. "Well, why are you going this way in the first place? You have somewhere to be?"

"Oh. I just need to get to..." Misty thought desperately as she didn't want to say she was from Cerulean. Not wanting to be in the same place as her mean and overachieving sister were. "Celadon City. My family lives there."

Ash could tell that, even with her good lying skills, she was hiding something. And the more he looked at her, the more it reminded him of someone that he had researched. Her face just looked like someone he had seen before. Squirtle knew that Misty was lying as well, and that Ash had figured it out just as soon as he did. Though the two decided to play along with this little charade and see if Misty had the guts to tell them what was actually going on later on.

"Alright. I'm game." Misty smiled as she walked up to Ash; the boy suddenly stopped her by asking a question. "Although, I want you to tell me why you became a Pokémon Trainer. You do have a personal goal, I assume, anyway."

Misty gave a smile as she pointed at herself. "I want to be the best Water-type user there ever was!" She was pretty proud of herself as she told the pair with no shame. "Water-type Pokémon are just so... flexible, compared to many other typing's. I want to be the one people think of when they hear 'Water-type Trainer'! To show this world how a girl like me can teach them something new."

"Not a bad dream." Ash and Squirtle had to admit that the girl seemed to be doing well for her dream, even if the connection he was thinking of only became stronger now. "So, do you want to be part of the Elite Four, the water specialist of the group?"

"The Elite Four sounds nice and all," Misty admitted as she flashed a positive smirk to the pair. 'But if I am going to be a great Pokémon Trainer, why not become someone on the Champion's level?" Ash smiled after hearing that she had a dream similar to his, though hers differed. She didn't seem interested in the whole Gym Badges thing, making Ash slightly relieved that his future companion wouldn't be a rival. "What about you? You need to tell me your dream now, balance things out, and all that."

Ash decided to really think about every individual word that he was going to say next. Misty was preparing herself to laugh at the boy's dream or critique it, wanting to see how he would react. Squirtle knew that what his Trainer was going would decide what their journey would end up being like, ready to listen to every last letter. A simple breeze blew by and blew Ash's and Misty's hair.

Leaves fell from the trees as they came between the two, Ash finally giving his answer.

"You see, I want to be the next Kanto Champion. I want to prove that even a kid like me can make it to the top and become someone that can help make the world better." Misty was left in awe at how confident the boy sounded. It sounded so... natural compared to all the other boys with that same dream. "I promised myself and everyone that I would be someone worthy of reaching the top. That I would become so strong that I can protect everything all at once!" Ash declared to the whole forest, scaring off some Pidgeys. Squirtle was reflecting as he heard how unique the words indeed were. "That I, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, would become someone that had made it to the end! Making a positive difference in this world is what I truly want for it!"

The dream that Ash had told her almost brought tears out. She was worried that this boy's goal would be rather selfish, only doing this for fame or something along those lines. Ash's description of it to her made Misty believe in this kid, even though they had only met yesterday! This showed how they were just two kids with big dreams that knew they were more significant than them but didn't care. Misty's doubts about being with this boy seemed to have left her in the blink of an eye. Ash stuck his hand out to her, surprising her.

"So, let me ask you something, Misty." Ash stuck out his hand in front of the girl, a simple wind. "Will you help me become a Pokémon Champion?"

END OF CHAPTER 3

---

I hope you guys enjoyed that! It was fun to write how Ash would fight alongside Red against Team Rocket and, overall, type out how each Pokémon would contribute to the fight! Remember to give me your opinion or thoughts with a review, and I will see you next chapter!

Edit 12/30/2022: So, I redid this chapter and wondered why Ash and Red never attempt to go to the Viridian City gym. Even without the badges, they should have still at least checked it out. I like how things are becoming more defined, and Misty isn't following Ash because of her bike, but I still destroyed just because I could. I might keep that as a plot point later on. I should also mention that Giovanni will not be the 8th gym leader in this story. It makes no sense in the game or anime that Team Rocket is this organization that everyone and their grandmother know, and yet no one figured out that Giovanni was the big evil villain guy. Since this Team Rocket will be more of a threat this time as the story grows, I just knew it wouldn't work out. I will replace him with someone else, but I still have not decided who it should be. Give any suggestions for who the Viridian Gym leader is now. I don't want to go through the OC route.

THANKS FOR READING!

-God of Sun

Ash's Team: Squirtle (M), Pidgey (F)