Ash rushed through the forest with Pikachu clinging to his shoulder for dear life. He was chasing the two Pokemon in front of him.
Not long ago Ash was taking a rest after failing to navigate through the forest when he came across an Oddish, a Pokemon he hadn't seen before and most importantly a grass-type Pokemon. Ahs did not have any of those in his team yet.
He sent out Zubat to weaken the Pokemon but before he could do any damage, vines shot out and whacked Zubat away.
And then it appeared, a Pokemon that had Ash buzzing with delight.
A Bulbasaur.
A starter of all things!
That was the Pokemon he was chasing right now, the Oddish its companion.
Chasing the Bulbasaur proved to be more difficult than Ash had hoped. For one, he kept falling into pitfall traps. It resulted in Ash losing track of the Bulbasaur and Oddish duo. But Ash knew where they went thanks to the tracks Bulbasaur left behind, a little tracking trick Ash picked up on all those years ago at the Pokemon Summer Camp.
Following the trails, and passing through various pitfalls, Ash found himself in a village with a large number of Pokemon. A girl was tending to these Pokemon. She noticed Ash and rushed to him.
"May I help you?" the girl asked in a not-so-friendly tone.
"Sorry to barge in like this but I was looking for a Bulbasaur that came this way" Ash explained, rubbing the back of his neck.
As if on cue, Bulbasaur walked up to the girl and let out a small growl towards Ash.
Ash's heart fell at that.
"Oh… It's yours."
"Not exactly" The girl knelt beside Bulbasaur and rubbed it on the head. "He's a wild Pokemon, comes to help me take care of the Pokemon here."
"Are they yours?" Ash asked.
"No. Some are just injured wild Pokemon while others were abandoned by their Trainers. I take care of them until they are ready to leave. Should they choose of course."
"So Bulbasaur is—"
"An abandoned Pokemon" the girl smiled sadly. "Which is why he hates Trainers."
Ash knelt before the Bulbasaur, Pikachu jumping from his shoulder and making the Pokemon take an attacking stance.
"I'm sorry I chased you around like that," Ash said, the sincerity in his tone seemingly touching upon Bulbasaur.
Ash then stood and faced the girl.
"I'd like to help around the village if that's okay with you."
The girl, Melanie her name, was all too glad to accept Ash's help. So for a while, Ash helped around the village, tending to the injured Pokemon, and learning about medicinal herbs that Melanie used to heal these Pokemon. Melanie claimed that she was no Pokemon Doctor, but Ash could see that she was very skilled.
In the time that Ash remained in the Pokemon Village, he had gotten close to many of the Pokemon, including the Oddish he had tried to capture. He made no attempts to catch them, of course. That act alone helped Bulbasaur warm up to Ash, coming in to help him tend to the Pokemon.
Bulbasaur had warmed up to Ash so much that on the day he was to leave the village, Melanie came to him with a proposition.
A Pokemon like Bulbasaur needed to experience the world and soak in the experiences to truly flourish, something he couldn't do staying in the village. Melaine suggested that Ash take Bulbasaur along with him.
Bulbasaur agreed, only if Ash could beat it in a battle.
And so Ash stood challenging Bulbasaur, his Pikachu ready for a battle. It had been a while since the Electric Mouse had been involved in a battle, and it was excited to take this Pokemon down.
Pikachu and Bulbasaur met mid-way, clashing head-on using Quick Attack and Tackle respectively. They both skidded back before Pikachu charged again. But this time Bulbasaur went with Vine Whip, wrapping around Pikachu and slamming him to the ground. Bulbasaur did not let go, continuing to slam Pikachu into the ground again and again.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash called and Pikachu let out a fierce bolt of lightning. The lightning bolt ran down Bulbasaur's vines before hitting the target for a direct critical hit. It left the Pokemon paralyzed and severely injured, allowing Ash to capture it with ease.
Ash had successfully captured his sixth Pokemon and first Grass type.
Ash should have listened to Melanie. Dark clouds were on the horizon when Ash left Melanie's place and the girl had asked Ash to wait until they passed before departing. But Ash had already stayed at the village longer than he thought he would and so was in a hurry to leave. Plus, the clouds were still ways away, he'd make it to the next Pokemon Center easily (Melanie had told him where the nearest Pokemon Center was).
He had not made it.
The storm had arrived halfway through and now he was rushing to the Pokemon Center. He could not stop for shelter since he found no place to do so, and his mother had warned him to not shelter under trees during a storm.
The sight of Spearows attacking a Pokemon hiding under a leaf in the heavy rain stopped Ash, who quickly had Pikachu use Thundershock to scare them away. The Pokemon under the leaf was one Ash was very familiar with, and with how it looked, Ash knew the Pokemon would not survive this rain.
So Ash did the one thing that came naturally to him.
He threw a Pokeball at it and captured it. But before Ash could collect the Pokeball, it vanished in a burst of white light, much to Ash's horror.
With no time to waste Ash rushed to Pokemon Center, still some way away from where he was. But he managed to reach it in one piece, and right away he rushed to Nurse Joy to tell her about what happened to his Pokeball. The nurse told Ash about the rule that a trainer was only allowed to carry six Pokemon with him, and any caught after the six would be sent to whoever was sponsoring the trainer.
For Ash that was Professor Oak.
Ash dashed to the phone and called the Pokemon Professor. The Old Man picked up, face red from anger.
"Young man what is the meaning of this?!" the Professor demanded to know.
Ash knew exactly what the Professor meant, and immediately he went into the story about how he'd found the Pokemon like that.
Professor Oak heard him, his anger subsiding a bit from Ash. Quickly he sent the Pokemon to Ash, and Ash sent his Beedrill over to the Professor.
Ash wasted no time in taking the Pokemon to Nurse Joy, who became equally angry at the sight of it. So Ash explained the situation to her quickly and she rushed the Pokemon to the intensive care unit.
Ash finally let out a sigh of relief and slowly slid down against the counter, leaning his head back and taking in deep breaths. He'd done all he could, now it was all in Nurse Joy's hand.
The sound of laughter drew Ash's attention away from himself.
"Happy now?" a boy asked, laughing as he handled a Pokeball.
"Your Charmander is strong! I had to have it" a boy with blue hair said out loud, "I gave you an equally capable Pokemon so you should be happy!"
"I am!" the previous boy said.
"Good" the blue-haired boy spun a Pokeball on his fingertip. "I had a Charmander before. But it was so weak! Couldn't even beat a Squirtle! So I left it on a rock and promised I'd return. The thing's probably still there right now waiting for me."
It didn't take Ash long to connect two and two, and before he realised it, he was on top of the blue-haired boy, wailing punches on his face while the rest tried to pry him off. It wasn't until Nurse Joy came back that Ash stopped, finally snapping out of his rage.
"It was him, Nurse Joy! He is the reason Charmander is in such a bad condition!" Ash shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the blue-haired boy.
The nurse's demeanour changed instantly.
"Is that true Damian?" the Nurse asked harshly.
"What's so wrong about it? All trainers release their weakest Pokemon" the boy named Damian scoffed.
That angered Nurse Joy even more.
"A trainer releases their Pokemon and lets the Pokemon know, not give it false hope that they would return. You could have killed that Pokemon!"
Damian did not look remotely apologetic.
Frustrated the nurse walked away and Damian glared at Ash.
"You think you're some hotshot aren't you" the blue-haired boy scoffed. "I bet all your Pokemon are weaklings if you care about a weak Pokemon like that Charmander."
"Take that back" Ash grabbed the boy by the collar.
Damian grabbed Ash's arm.
"Is this all you can do?" Damian scoffed. "Three-on-three battle after the storm subsides. I'll show you just how powerful my Pokemon are."
Ash was all too eager to accept.
As the trainers went to the guest rooms at the centre to turn in for the night, the phone rang and Nurse Joy picked it up.
"Hello, Nurse Joy? This is Professor Oak. There was a Charmander brought to your care today by a trainer named Ash?"
"Yes, one was" Nurse Joy said stiffly, still angered by the whole thing.
"Yes, I would like to know if you found out who its trainer was before."
Ash and Damian met at the battleground behind the Pokemon Center the next morning, the sun out bright but the ground still a little wet.
But it was not just those two and Damian's friends who had arrived there. Charmander seemed to be passing along when they arrived, and when he saw Damian, the fire lizard came rushing with a large smile.
Damian kicked it away when it got close.
Ash rushed over to the fallen Charmander and picked it up gently in his arms. "How could you?!"
"What? It's weak!" Damian scoffed.
Charmander's face fell hearing his trainer insult him like that.
"Take that back" Ash snarled, but Damian ignored it.
"Three-on-three. Go take your place so I can be done with this" the boy grunted, walking to one side of the field.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked the Charmander. But the Pokemon was in too much shock to reply. So Ash carried it with him to the other side of the field.
Damian wasted no time in sending out his first Pokemon.
"Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokemon. Rhyhorn runs in a straight line, smashing everything in its path. It is not bothered even if it rushes headlong into a block of steel. This Pokémon may feel some pain from the collision the next day, however."
A rock and ground type.
Ash sent out his newly caught Bulbasaur.
"We'll finish this in one attack. Rhyhorn, Take Down!"
The Pokemon glowed with a gentle white light before charging.
"Bulbasaur Sleep Power!"
A light blue powder shot from Bulbasaur's bulb and in moments Rhyhorn slowed and fell asleep.
"Leech Seed!"
Bulbasaur fired a seed at the sleeping Rhyhorn, which burst over with small vines that entangled the Pokemon entirely and began sapping its strength away.
"Rhyhorn wake up!" Damian demanded, but to no avail.
"Finish it off with Vine Whip!" Ash called out.
Bulbasaur dug its feet in and lashed its vines out. They smacked into Rhyhorn, doing so continuously until it fainted.
They both called their Pokemon back.
"A fluke!" Damian boasted as he picked his next Pokemon. "This one will destroy you entirely."
Damian summoned his next Pokemon, which came out with a war cry.
"Primeape, the Pig Monkey Pokemon. When Primeape becomes furious, its blood circulation is boosted. In turn, its muscles are made even stronger. However, it also becomes much less intelligent at the same time."
A fighting type. Pidgeotto and Zubat were good choices. But Ash sent his Pikachu out, who looked just as murderous as he did.
"Primeape, Mega Punch!"
The fighting-type Pokemon came rushing in with its fist glowing white.
"Pikachu use Quick Attack to dodge!"
Obediently Pikachu dodged the Mega Punch, before continuing to do so with every attack Primeape laughed at him and got some hits in between.
The tactic was getting to Primeape, who seemed to be getting angrier by the second. It went to such a point that it stopped listening to Damian entirely and attacked recklessly.
Pikachu kept on dodging with Quick Attack until Ash called for a Thunderbolt. The strong bolt of lightning sent Primeape flying back to Damian, and the Pokemon fainted on top of it.
"Your Pokemon are strong" Ash admitted as he called Pikachu back. "But you've failed at training them properly."
That enraged Damian, who sent his third Pokemon out.
"I might have just received this Pokemon, but it's powerful and I will annihilate your whole team with it!"
The white glow from the summoning slowly began to fade and Ash couldn't help but feel outraged by what he saw, while Charmander in his arms just looked even more broken.
"This Charmander is much stronger than the weakling in your arms and I'll show you just how lucky you got so far."
Now Ash was pissed.
He went to send his Wartortle out.
But Charmander jumped out of Ash's arms and stood ready to battle.
"Charmander?"
The Pokemon looked back and just gave Ash a nod.
Ash nodded back and sent his Charmander out, much to Damian's amusement.
"Oh now you're the one being cruel" Damian laughed out loud. "Show him how strong you are Charmander! Ember!"
Damian's Charmander used ember, but it was drowned out by Ash's Charmander's Fire Spin. Ash smiled at his fire lizard.
"Charmander get in close and use scratch!"
The Charmander Ash caught was fast, even in its weakened state it was able to get in close easily and scratch away at Damian's Charmander.
"Don't just take the hits! Give it back!" Damia demanded.
But Ash's Charmander's attacks were faster and more relentless, giving no space for the other Charmander to attack. It was hurt by his previous trainer after all, and seeing it being so easily replaced lit a fire in him that made him more vicious and a more aggressive fighter.
A whack for Ash's Charmader's tail knocked Damian's Charmander out.
"I can't believe I was duped like this" Damian seethed, summoning his Charmander back. His face soon cleared out as he turned to Ash's Charmander. "I knew you would get stronger if I played that little show for you. Yes, I was just kidding! Now come, let's go back to training."
Ash's Charmander stared at Damian before engulfing him in a fire spin.
"You're a despicable trainer" Ash snapped, Charmander coming over to Ash's side.
"You're being a thief!" Damian exclaimed. "That Charmander is mine! Professor Oak gave it to me and it belongs to me!"
"The worst mistake I have made."
Damian froze before turning slowly. Nurse Joy stood behind him, holding a portable phone device that Professor Oak spoke through.
"P-Professor Oak—"
"I saw the state Charmander was in and I am utterly disgusted by you!" Professor Oak screamed. Ash involuntarily took a step back, having never heard the Professor being this aggressive and angry in his life.
"As of this moment, I am rescinding my sponsorship of your journey."
Damian's face fell and he looked positively horrified.
"Professor, please!"
"You will hand your Pokemon over to Nurse Joy since you can't be trusted with Pokemon in your care. And you will hand your Pokedex to Ash there."
"P-Professor—"
"You will hand them over."
Damian lowered his head and from his pockets, he pulled out five Pokeballs. He handed them to Nurse Joy before he pulled out the Pokedex and thrust it to Ash before rushing off. Those who stuck with Damian stood awkwardly before the trainer from last night stepped forward.
"Nurse Joy, I traded that Charmander to Damian last night. May I have it back?"
"You may not" Nurse Joy snapped, making the boy flinch. "All of you will come with me now and await assessment of your Pokemon for signs of abuse."
Nurse Joy walked away with the group of boys, Damian's Pokeballs and the portable video phone thing.
Which left Ash and Charmander alone.
Charmander looked up at Ash smiling before willingly going back into the ball Ash caught it with.
Charmander had made its choice.
Damian kept running until he was far from the Pokemon Center. He couldn't believe it, all his work undone by the Professor! And what was his mistake? Searching for strong Pokemon and leaving the weak ones behind? What was so wrong about that?
It was all that Ash Ketchum's fault. If he'd just left his Charmander to die all of this would have been avoided. And now he was a no-one! Not a Pokemon in his name or a sponsor to back him.
"Aren't you a pitiful little thing."
Damian turned to face a purple-haired man with a big 'R" on the front of his black full-sleeved shirt.
Some ways away from the Pokemon Center, Ash fell into a pitfall trap. Officer Jenny came to help, apologising profusely for not fixing all the traps on this route.
A gang of Squirtles were responsible for it, but after its leader chose to go with a red-headed girl, the other members turned to Officer Jenny and were now firefighters at Vermillion City. All their traps were still being located and undone.