Ash's renewed vigor allowed him to reach a monolithic building with a pokéball-shaped roof. Huffing and puffing, Ash and Pikachu ran to a halt in front of a 'Wanted' Poster that was taped to the building's windows. Two figures clad in white uniforms with black gloves had their faces obscured by shadows. One was a tall male with short, lavender hair, while the other was a woman with long magenta hair wearing green pearl earrings.
"See something interesting?" Ash ceased his examination of the poster upon hearing the stern voice. He and Pikachu turned around to see a slender bluenette woman in a police uniform giving them skeptical looks. "Say, you two look rather suspicious," she accused, causing Ash to frown. She looked towards Pikachu with her hands on her hips. "How come this pokémon isn't in its pokéball?" Upon hearing this, Pikachu's cheeks began to spark as it donned an annoyed look. Scooping up his volatile partner, he explained that Pikachu simply didn't like being put in its pokéball.
"He's very obedient otherwise," he proclaimed assuredly. Pikachu rolled its eyes.
"I can see that," the officer said doubtingly. "I'm gonna need to see some form of identification."
Ash laughed nervously, "Um, see, the thing is… I don't have anything except my pokédex–" he didn't even finish his sentence before the woman snatched the device from his hand excitedly.
"This'll do!" she exclaimed, fiddling with the device. The pokédex snapped open, revealing an image of the trainer in front of her.
"This pokédex, distributed by Professor Samuel Oak, is under the ownership of Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced." The mechanical voice seemed to allay the woman far more than Ash's had because the woman simply handed his device back. Abashedly, the woman introduced herself as Officer Jenny, stating that she was on edge due to the recent sightings of pokémon thieves in the area.
"That wanted poster behind you has the culprits on it, but we haven't yet managed to capture them. If you notice anything suspicious, give the local police station or this pokémon Center a call. And be careful. New trainers seem to be their prime targets."
Ash and his partner nodded profusely, wanting to be rid of the overzealous woman but heeding her words.
'pokémon Center, huh?' Ash thought to himself. 'I wonder if I can call mom from here.'
Walking through the automatic doors of the center, Ash was greeted by the smell of sterile products and the sight of trainers and pokémon alike, chatting amongst themselves.
"Excuse me," a voice called to him jovially, "My name is Nurse Joy! How may I help you, young man?" Turning, Ash saw a pretty woman with bright pink hair in a nurse's uniform standing behind a large desk surrounded by medical devices and miscellaneous pokémon pamphlets.
"Hi," Ash greeted. "What is this place?" he questioned. The nurse was happy to answer.
"This is a pokémon Center, a medical facility. It serves not only as a resting point and hospital for trainers and their injured pokémon but doubles as a–eh?" The nurse stopped mid-sentence when she saw the boy avidly fingering through a pamphlet with several elemental symbols circling the words "pokémon League Tournament". She smiled softly, inquiring if the boy was interested in entering. "Do you have identification with you?" Ash was happy to provide her with his pokédex which she took and inserted into a computer at her desk. "This will take a few minutes," she remarked sheepishly. Ash nodded, walking off to kill time.
He and Pikachu took in their surroundings, mesmerized by how many people and pokémon there were. "HEY!" a voice shouted, alerting the raven-haired trainer and several others. Unluckily, the ire of the voice was directed at him. A girl with fiery orange hair tied into a ponytail wearing a yellow tank top with suspenders stomped up to him. She furiously held the charred remains of what looked to have been a bike. Ash sidestepped the bike as she threw it at him, raising his hands in defense as she walked towards him.
"You did this!" she exclaimed, pointing at what was left of her bike.
"I did this?!" he parroted. In a split second, he was being lifted by his shirt collar, struggling to break free.
"Yeah! And you're gonna pay me back for it!" As she screamed she shook the boy causing Pikachu jumped off his shoulder to watch the scene play out. A bead of sweat trickled down its face as it slowly crept away from the damage he was guilty of.
"I'm sorry! I had to save my pokémon from being killed! I'll do whatever it takes, I swear!" Ash pleaded with the girl, shaking free from her grasp and attempting to explain how he had no money to his name. An evil glint shone in her eyes.
"Alright," she said sweetly. "I'll just follow you around til you can pay me back!" she declared with a Cheshire grin.
Ash dragged a hand down his face while Pikachu walked back to its trainer to pat him sympathetically with a headshake. Ash was about to glare at his partner before he heard his name called at the front desk.
"I'm Misty, by the way," the girl stated behind Ash as he retrieved his pokédex from the nurse. "I thought it'd be good manners to introduce myself to my new travel partner."
"That's nice," he responded before pocketing his pokémon encyclopedia. Pikachu snickered while hopping onto the boy's shoulder. "Alright, bud, this says we've gotta challenge the eight gyms to compete in the league," Ash stated, tapping the rules on the pamphlet in his hand. "Once we do that, all we've got to do is win," he proclaimed, clenching his fist with a burning fire in his eyes.
"Pika!" his starter exclaimed alongside him, sharing the same expression.
"Oh, Ash Ketchum," Misty began chidingly. "I hope you don't think that's all it takes to win. Guts and determination, that is." Ash frowned at this.
"I know it takes skill to win, but I don't have any of that, yet. I'll win the best way I know how–" he was cut off by a robotic call of his name.
"Video call for Ash Ketchum. Video call for Ash Ketchum."
"Ah, that must be mom! C'mon, Pikachu!" The boy ran over to a stool in front of a large screen with a phone attached. Picking it up, he was greeted by the warm and inviting face of his mother wearing a face mask. "Hi, mom!" He greeted brightly.
"Ash, you made it to Viridian City in less than a day and you forgot to call your mother?!" Holding the phone away from his head, lest his eardrums bleed, Ash profusely explained that he meant to do so but got sidetracked. Glancing at Misty, who nosily stood behind him, the boy groaned.
"Oh," his mother said with a hand over her mouth, "and who's this?" she asked.
"No one–"
"Hello, Mrs. Ketchum! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Misty cheerily greeted with her hands on Ash's shoulder, waving to Delia. "I'm Ash's new friend, Misty!" Delia's face lit up upon hearing her son had gotten a new friend.
"That's wonderful, dear! It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Misty! I hope your good manners rub off on my son," she joked, making Ash turn red. Pikachu giggled at his expense. "Treat this young lady well, Ash," Delia said, causing the boy to roll his eyes, "and Ash," she stated, changing tones to a far more serious one, "it took your father weeks to get to Viridian. I want you to know I'm proud of you, and whatever goal you've set your eyes on, I'm behind you 100%. I love you." Ash gave her a bittersweet smile given the mention of his estranged father.
"Thanks, mom. I love you too. Bye." As the video call ended, Misty removed herself from Ash's shoulders, immediately taking note of the mood shift. "Since we're gonna be traveling together," the boy began, abashedly scratching his cheek, "would ya care to help me train?" he asked.
Misty returned him a look that made him regret asking. Expecting to be mocked, he already made up that he'd go off to do it himself, but a hand found itself around his wrist, guiding him toward the doors of the pokémon Center.
"'Course not!" she said excitedly with a smile. Ash was shocked, to say the least. Maybe this girl had a kind bone in her body yet. The tender moment was broken by a sudden blackout.
"What the–?" Ash questioned rhetorically. Thinking quickly, the boy asked his Pikachu to spark light from the sacs on its cheeks. Smacking its cheeks with its paws, a bright glow emanated from them and lit up a small portion of the area. "Thanks, buddy." Murmurs from the surrounding trainers filled the darkness with an ominous ambiance. Ash and Misty walked through the halls, searching for a generator to power up using Pikachu. The Mouse pokémon's tail stood upright as the group heard a loud thud, following clutter and frantic mumbling. Pikachu began to growl, causing them to stop in front of a closed door. Palming a pokéball, Misty silently nodded. Ash slowly opened the door, ready to command Pikachu before he was shoved out of the way by 3 figures that ran into the darkness.
"Thunderbolt, quick!" Ash shouted. His electric-type starter fired off a bolt of electricity that stunned the figure at the rear, which happened to be a bipedal cat-like pokémon. Suddenly, the lights in the center turned on and the two larger figures spun on their heels to meet their attackers face-to-face. The two held large sacks filled to the brim with pokéballs which Ash and Misty immediately assumed were stolen.
"You're the thieves from the wanted posters!" Ash exclaimed, pointing at the two with a glare.
The woman with long, magenta hair glared back. "And you're the twerps who are gonna get mauled for interfering!" She threw a pokéball with her free hand, releasing a purple snake with piercing yellow eyes that hissed. "Now prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!" The lavender-haired man threw a pokéball that revealed a spherical purple pokémon that expelled a cloud of gas from the holes in its body.
"Koffing!" the pokémon cried, creating a thick smokescreen.
"Oh no you don't! Staryu, use Rapid Spin to blow away the smoke!" A brown starfish pokémon was released from Misty's pokéball, and it levitated as it spun rapidly, blowing away the smokescreen with a gust of wind.
"Do I always have to do all the work?" The magenta-haired woman shouted, calling out for a Poison Sting. The snake opened its jaws to let out a rain of pink needles upon Staryu, but the starfish was agile enough to levitate around the barrage, striking the snake with a vicious Tackle that sent it reeling. "Ekans, Wrap it while it's up close!" The snake was too slow, however, as it was sent back with a strong Bubblebeam, knocking it out.
"Both of ya are incompetent!" came the obnoxious shout of…
"A talking Meowth?!" both Misty and Ash exclaimed in surprise.
"That's right!" the Scratch Chat declared, jumping towards Pikachu with its claws out. The Mouse ducked beneath the swipe and struck it back with a Quick Attack to the stomach, sending it in the direction of its accomplices.
"James, you'll have to bail us out!" the woman exclaimed. Nodding, James called out for Koffing to use Smokescreen a second time, but this caused Ash to smirk.
"Thunderbolt!" he shouted with a grin.
"Crap," the trio muttered.
Pikachu gave a menacing smile as it struck the cloud of smoke with a powerful bolt of lightning, igniting it and creating an explosion. The blast created a gaping hole in the roof of the center that the three villains were sent flying through.
"That pint-sized Pikachu packs a punch, I'd say," Meowth remarked.
"Jessie, what say we procure that powerful pipsqueak for the boss?" James asked.
"That would sure make up for this loss…" she grumbled in reply.
"Team Rocket's blasting off but we'll be baaaaack!" the trio exclaimed as they vanished into the evening sky with a twinkle.
"I hope we don't see those guys again any time soon," Ash mumbled with Misty sharing his sentiments.
Nurse Joy was breathless as she reached the two, smiling gratefully. "You got rid of those crooks and saved all the center's pokémon! Thank you…" She graciously shook the hands of both Ash and Misty, who blushed at the thanks.
"It was nothing," Ash said, scratching his cheek. Misty grabbed the boy's cap, pulling it over his face before forcing him to bow.
"It was our pleasure to be of help," she said politely, bowing in kind. The nurse giggled, waving off the formalities, amused with the two's antics.
Ash smacked the girl's hand away perking up upon hearing the nurse tell him he had another call.
Heading over to the videophone, Ash was greeted by the back of a man's head. His hair was greying and he wore a large lab coat.
"Hello? Hello?" the man was met with Ash's deadpanned voice telling him that his camera was backward. "Oh! Allow me to…" The elderly man began to fiddle around with his device until it was properly positioned, showing an elderly man's aging face that wore a soft smile.
"How's it going, Professor Oak?" Ash greeted politely.
"Quite alright, Ash. I see you're doing well yourself! You've made it to Viridian City, I see." Ash basked in the minor form of praise, smiling slightly. "Although, you missed Gary, who already…" The rest of what the man said sounded like static to Ash.
'Gary…'
"Ash, my boy!" The boy was broken from his stupor by the question of how many pokémon he had captured.
"None yet, why?" A defeated look donned Oak's features.
"You see, I bet Gary a million dollars that you would've caught at least one pokémon by now." The raven-haired trainer's mouth formed into a thin line. Turning his head, he saw a painting of four pokémon; one, a wild-looking bird painted green, a phoenix-like creature in red, and a blue bird with long tail feathers. The only anomaly was the painting of a golden dog-like beast.
'Legendary pokémon…' Suddenly, he remembered something.
"Professor," he started, "when I left Pallet I saw this golden bird pokémon in the sky with rainbow feathers." At this, Oak perked up. "Dexter told me that the pokémon couldn't be identified, so I wondered if you knew what it could be?" The professor looked dumbfounded by the revelation.
"That's impossible!" he declared, slamming his hands on his desk. "That is a pokémon that master trainers have spent their entire lives seeking out, and it just appeared to you?!"
Taken aback by the vigor, Ash simply nodded in response.
"Scratching his chin, the professor took a deep breath. "It seems that you've had an encounter with a legendary pokémon native to the neighboring region of Johto, Ho-Oh. It's said that trainers who see this pokémon will be granted eternal happiness! It's very telling for you to see it on your first day, but do not let it get to your head. Some trials cannot simply be overcome with the grace of a divine creature."
"Obviously! That's why I'll train alongside my pokémon to become the best! Like no one ever was!" Ash's enthusiasm was infectious, as seen in his Pikachu as it clenched its tiny fist in determination.
"Good to hear, my boy. I expect this journey to be great for your and your pokémon's development." With a click, the video call screen faded to black.
"We start your training in the morning," Misty stated, sauntering off with a wave. "See ya."
"See ya," Ash replied with a smile. "Let's get some rest, Pikachu."