Notes: So yeah, we had this idea for this chapter for a while now, so we let it cook. Like this was a chapter we've been waiting to get to for ages.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextAshley sighed to herself, looking at the graying skies and snorting: "...yeah, thanks, that's fair. I feel the same way, world…"
Thunder rumbled in the distance, the herald of an oncoming storm. Drawing her jacket closer to herself, she felt a cool breeze blowing as tree branches gently swayed in the wind.
"Pika?" her Pikachu chirped, poking her head out of her bag.
"...sorry, just kinda lost in thought, it's been… well, it's been a lot recently," Ashley sighed and her starter let out another little squeak. "No, Giselle had nothing to do with it, yes she's… very pretty and yes she kissed me and yes I liked it but… I don't know why I liked it."
"Pika…" her starter said, giving a little sigh.
"She was just thanking me, that's all, for saving her life!"
Hope raised an eyebrow, looking like she didn't believe her trainer at all. Shaking her head, the electric mouse let out another little squeak at another rumble of thunder.
"Yeah, I bet you like that, don't you?" Ashley said. "Storm's going to get you all charged up! We should use it for some serious training, master your Thunderbolt for the next gym!"
"Stand outside, in the cold rain, and in a lightning storm?" Giselle said, wearing a see-through rain slicker and pulling the hood up over her head and more importantly her hair. "Je maintiens ce que j'ai dit auparavant. Je le répète, même. You Kanto trainers are something else."
"Nope, not even we're that insane," Erika said. "Ashley's just like that, Ashley's just Ashley."
"...yeah, that pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?" Giselle giggled. "Ashley is Ashley."
"And Ashley will not be staying out in this storm, it sounds like a big one," Brock said. "If she doesn't get struck by lightning-"
"Hope will absorb it, she's like a living lightning rod! We'll be fine!"
"-then she'll catch a cold, get pneumonia and die. So how does that sound, dying in a rainstorm. Does that sound like how the World's Greatest Pokemon Trainer wants to die?" Brock said, sternly and Ashley swallowed.
"...fair point, it's not even a cool death like getting blasted by an angry Zapdos!"
Ashley missed the look of concern that passed between Brock and Erika.
Another rumble of thunder and Ashley chuckled as she rubbed her Pikachu's forehead with her heart-shaped tail perking up at the show of affection.
"This brings back memories, doesn't it, little buddy?" Ashley chuckled.
"Chaaaaaa!"
"Man, talk about good memories!"
"You know, most trainers wouldn't call getting nearly pecked to death on their first day as a trainer by an angry Spearow flock 'good memories'," Erika said.
"Excusez-moi? Est-ce que je t'ai bien entendu?" Giselle blinked.
"I mean, yeah, nearly dying embarrassingly like that, it kinda sucked but it helped me and Hope become best buddies and I met Clint and I met you Erika and you helped me find myself so it all evens out right?" Ashley said, with a shrug before hugging her sister tightly.
"...I suppose it does," Erika mused aloud, with a fond smile, ruffling her little sister's hair.
Giselle looked up at the darkening skies, and frowned. "I should be on a beach, on the Muraille Coast, in a bikini and attracting attention from all of the cute girls under the summer sun and instead I'm here, about to be drenched."
"Well, if we can make it to the next Pokemon center before the storm breaks," Brock said, reading the map. "We should be just fine, it's just up the road a little ways from here. If this map is accurate, we're on route 24, just a few miles out of Vermillion City."
"Alright!" Ashley said, punching the air. "Fresh off her victory from defeating the undefeatable Battling Mermaid, Misty, Ashley Ketchum journeys to claim her next gym badge in an electric shock showdown with the Lightning Unovan, the striking Lieutenant Surge!"
"There she goes again," Erika said, giggling in fond amusement. "And she's even narrating this time. She's a truly adorable little sister of mine, even if she is a little too cocky for her own good."
"Let her ride her high a little, two badges in under two weeks is an accomplishment," Brock said.
"I'm just worried she hasn't entirely learned her lesson, and she's getting cocky again and slacking off her training again," Erika said. "I know, I should have more faith in my little sister/student, but I worry about her as well."
"It's only natural, that's what being an older sibling is like," Brock said, patting Erika on the shoulder as she slightly glared at him, the older teen clearly speaking from experience. "I should know, I've got 8 other little siblings to look after by this point."
"...did your parents just decide not to stop after a certain point?" Erika asked.
"...I to be honest, don't know nor do I want to know," Brock said. "...Well, they stopped eventually, given mom's gone and… dad, well…"
"I would like to have words with your father when I see him next, not just as a fellow gym leader but as a human being," Erika said as they walked. "Just because he's picking up the slack now doesn't excuse any of it, he shouldn't have to pick up the slack at all. And your mom… where is she again? What hotel is she staying at? I have half a mind to call her the next time I have access to a phone."
"Beats me, all I know is she's in Alola but she hasn't sent a letter in weeks," Brock sighed. "For all I know, she's cheating on dad with someone else. …though I don't think you can really call it cheating when your marriage has practically disintegrated into dust."
"If I'm allowed, can I just ask…?"
"What happened? Your guess is as good as mine, honestly, by this point. I don't know why things turned out the way they did," Brock said, sadly. "It's just the way the dominos fell, one day they were in love and the next…"
"They weren't?" Erika said, sadly. "If it helps, they were probably pretending they were still in love for your sake until they couldn't anymore."
"I just wish they were honest with me, that's all I'd ask for," Brock said. "It hurts more knowing they didn't think they could trust me with that knowledge, because suddenly I'm trying to explain to my little siblings why mom and dad don't love each other anymore and even I don't know the reason."
Erika fought back a growl and was probably going to speak her mind until a shout came from up ahead.
"WHAT THE HELL?"
Racing to catch up with Giselle, the three saw a Charmander, on a rock looking up at them and yawning.
"A Charmander!" Ashley said. "I mean, yeah I know what it is, but they're supposed to be super rare in this part of Kanto. Their eggs, they're supposed to be closely guarded by the Charicific Valley authorities aren't they? So what's one doing all the way out here?"
"I suppose it's not impossible for a breeding pair to live out here…" Brock mused, kneeling down to the Charmander's level. "Hey little guy, you don't think you can't tell us what happened to you, can you?"
"Can you even speak Charmander?" Giselle asked.
"After a while, Breeders have a certain knack for understanding Pokemon. Maybe not being able to understand them 100%, not in the way you'd think, but it's a learned little trick we pick up. And I dunno about this one Ashley, this one looks like it's in bad shape. That flame on its tail, with a fire Pokemon you can usually tell its condition by how hot its flames are. And this little one…"
Ashley sucked in a breath, looking at the Charmander's tail flame and then up at the clouds. "...and a storm's closing in fast, we should get it to a Pokemon Center. Should I… no, it's in no shape to battle."
Thunder rumbled ominously in the clouds above.
"They say with storms like this, Zapdos himself rides the winds and supercharges the thunderclouds with his power," Giselle said. "This storm, it looks like a big one and I, in good conscience, can't leave this little guy out here all alone."
Pulling out a spare pokeball, she enlarged it and threw it only for nothing to happen.
"Nothing?" Giselle said, shocked. "It wasn't even sucked in? But the only way that could happen is if…"
Her rage started to build, the lass looking even angrier than the clouds above them.
"...No way, you're not saying that…" Ashley said, her eyes widening in horror. "No, it can't be."
"I'm afraid it is," Brock said as Erika hugged her sister close to comfort her. "Someone, they left this Charmander here to die. I don't know who, but when I find out, I'll make sure they're not even allowed around a Caterpie."
"Char…" the Charmander said, weakly.
"Floette," Giselle said, pulling out a pokeball and just barely managing to keep her voice even as it trembled in rising rage. "Use Heal Bell!"
A small little pixie, holding onto a flower appeared and rang a small bell, the soothing chime seemingly managing to heal some of the Charmander's wounds.
"Ashley, can you have Moltenpaw summon a Sunny Day?" Giselle asked as she sucked in a breath, looking back up at the thick and heavy skies. "If it starts raining now…"
"No, he's still too young to really affect the weather like that and well, you've met him. He'll go right back into his ball as soon as he realizes it's about to rain," Ashley said, and Giselle winced realizing how true that was. "No, we're going to have to run, and run fast."
Grabbing Charmander, Ashley let out a howl of pain even as the little lizard bit down into her arm.
"This is for your own good, bud," Ashley said, fighting through the pain even as Charmander slashed at her face with a claw. "Like… I'm not going to just leave you here. I refuse to abandon you! I'm not like that, I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokemon trainer one day, a Pokemon master and I refuse to abandon a hurt Pokemon. I refuse to abandon you okay?"
"Chaaarrrr!" the Charmander said, throwing a blast of flame into her face and leaving it covered in soot and ash.
"I understand, you're loyal to your trainer, but he left you here to die. I'm not stealing you from him, I'm saving you! I'm saving your life!" Ashley said, even as she held onto the lizard tightly. "Whoever your trainer is, he isn't worth shit!"
"Char!" and the Charmander clearly didn't like that remark, slashing at her face again.
"Boy, you've still got a lot of fight left in you. That's good, that's fantastic!" Ashley praised. "You're a fighter, and you won't die easily! Good, we should be able to get you to Doctor Joy and let her save you, the more you refuse to die. Just, please… let us help you okay?"
"Ashley!" Erika shouted in alarm as the Charmander headbutted her. "Rafflesia, I need your help now! Use your Sleep Powder, help Ashley!"
The stinky flower appeared, Giselle covering her nose from the stench even as Gloom scattered a glowing orange mist over the Charmander.
Charmander fought it at first, but his movements slowed even as he tried to blast off another fire attack at Gloom. His eyes closed and he relaxed in Ashley's arms, the girl holding the orange lizard close.
"It's alright, shhhhh," Ashley said, soothingly running her hand through the lizard's scales. "It's alright, you're safe now. I'm not going to let anyone harm you ever again, and when I find your trainer… He's going to be sorry. I'm sorry too, that he didn't see the value in you and he's an idiot and I'm sorry that he is."
"She's good," Giselle said, a rising blush climbing over her face. "...she's, yeah, she'll be a Pokemon Master one day…"
—-
Lightning flashed outside the Pokemon center, just as Ashley let out a yell of: "Doctor Joy!"
As soon as Heather Joy saw the Charmander in her hands, she rose up out of her seat.
"Audino, get this Charmander to an emergency room, on the double!" she said, and then looked at Ashley, her eyes narrowed as the rain poured outside. "Explain, now."
"Oh I'll explain what happened," Giselle said, a fire in her eyes. "Some bâtard left that Charmander on a rock to die! If we hadn't come along to save it, it would be dead right about now!"
Heather's eyes widened in horror as she fought back a curse.
"I wonder if…" she mused before saying: "All of you stay right here, don't worry, if that Charmander survived this long by itself, then it's a fighter so there's still a chance for life. And where there's life, there's hope."
"No, I'm coming with you," Ashley said, shaking her head and gently handing Charmander off to the Audino at Joy's side. "Charmander… he needs me, his previous trainer let him down, left him. I won't do that, I'm staying by his side."
"If only all Pokemon trainers cared as much as you…" the doctor said, wearily. "Alright, you can come with me, and Charmander. The rest of you, stay outside. I can't have a crowd, we need room to work. I need room to save this poor Pokemon's life. What's your name again?"
"Ashley, Ashley Ketchum."
"No wonder," Heather said. "I've been hearing from my cousins all about you, yeah this Charmander's lucky. You should be his trainer, if you're asking me. Not… Well, I hope I'm wrong about who abandoned him."
"Tell me his name," Giselle hissed out. "Give me his name, and I'll make sure the bâtard regrets this."
"No, this is a hospital. This isn't a place for starting fights even I suspect that Damien brat did this," Heather replied. "Please, remember that."
Giselle nodded, though she didn't look happy about it.
"...fine, though the moment I get a chance to battle that 'trainer' on the road when this storm breaks, I'm going to absolutely wreck him and send him home crying."
She looked at the Charmander, being wheeled into the ER.
"Stay strong little guy… please. For us. We believe in you…"
—-
"...you know," Ashley said as she looked at the Charmander, breathing through a mask on a heated blanket. "I always wanted a Charmander one day and I thought I could get one from Oak if someone had already taken Bulbasaur. I didn't end up getting either and I got Hope instead and I'm hardly complaining as she's my best friend but… You know, Charizard, he's one of my favorite Pokemon of all time."
She smiled weakly.
"All because of one man. No, it's not Lance, as you'd think. Yeah, he's got a Charizard, but he's not who I'm talking about. Lance is cool, he's awesome even, but he's not the coolest person in the world for me. No, that's actually my cousin. He has a Charizard, one of the strongest in the world and he wants to be a champion one day too. If he does, I want to challenge him and see which of the Ketchums is the strongest. Dude's awesome, he's currently on a training trip but man… you should see his Charizard. I want to raise a Charmander… I want to raise you to be even stronger than him."
Ashley chuckled.
"I don't even know if you can hear me, but I hope you can. Like… I want you to keep fighting, you've got people who care about you, y'know. Me… Giselle… Listen, I'm sorry if your previous trainer didn't care shit about you, screw him. Not all people are like him, even Gary as much of an asshole as he is, cares about his Pokemon."
Ashley's eyes watered.
"...sometimes, I wonder if I'll ever catch up to Gary, he always seems to be one step ahead of me, and like… he's Professor Oak's grandson, how the hell am I supposed to measure up to that? If anyone's going to be Kanto's new champion… yeah, it's probably him. I don't even have a chance…"
She looked back at the Charmander, letting the tears fall.
"Still, I… I want to raise you, I want you to be my Pokemon, my partner, you deserve that even if I'm not the world's greatest trainer. You deserve someone who cares, I'm sorry if I might never be able to raise you to be the strongest but… I want you to live, I want you to be strong and show your former trainer how powerful you can really be."
She smiled weakly.
"So for me… please live."
Outside, in the waiting room, Ashley's friends listened to the rain pour outside. It was almost like the sky itself was crying because of what had been done to that Charmander.
Then they heard something else.
Laughter, mean laughter from uncaring trainers.
"Sure got a lot of 'em," one trainer said, amongst a group. "Like, you're trying to catch 'em all right?"
"That's quite a collection!" another of the group added.
Erika and Brock shared a look, with Brock groaning. "I hate trainers like that, collecting pokemon for the sake of collecting them. Just catching them all as bragging rights, they don't even care about the Pokemon they're supposed to be raising."
"For sure!" another trainer said, his eyes wide at the pokeballs spilling out off the table. "Like that's way cool, Damien my dude!"
"...hold on a second…" Brock said as he remembered something. "I battled a guy named Damien, and he had a Charmander. You don't think…"
"Please no," Giselle whispered in horror before her voice hardened. "Well if the boot fits… After all, how many trainers in Kanto with Charmanders could there actually be?"
"You're the man, Damian!"
And then another trainer of his little gang confirmed their worst fears.
"Hey mate, didn't you have a Charmander too? Man, what the hell happened to it?"
"Yeah, I had one. But that puny thing was so weak," the leader of the group, with a clearly fake Galarian accent said with a cowboy hat on his head. "Man, it wasn't worth keeping around. It was bloody useless, it was!"
"So what'd you do with it?"
"Left it on a rock, it's probably still waiting there thinking I'll come back to it! Man, those dragons and their loyalty huh? Too bad it's too damn clueless to take a hint that I didn't want it around, and I didn't need it around!"
Giselle rose up from her seat and it was telling that neither Brock nor Erika forced her back down to stop her.
"EXCUSE ME?" she said with a venomous snarl in her voice as she raised a hand to slap Damien across the face.
"The hell was that for, you bint?"
"That Charmander, he was waiting for you on that rock, and if we hadn't found him he would have died in the rain. Don't you even care about your Pokemon?"
"I can get another!"
And for that, Damien got a busted nose.
"Your Charmander… no, he's not yours, he's Ashley's, he's in the emergency room fighting for his life because of you! Don't you have any shame or any empathy at all?" Giselle snapped as Damien lay flat at her feet.
"That thing was so stupid! No matter what I did to it, it kept on following me around! It couldn't get the hint! I finally got rid of it by promising I'd come back for it. It fell for it, hook line and sucker," Damien said, managing to dig his already six foot hole even deeper. "Like, who needs a pokemon like that? It lost every battle I sent it in! I had to get rid of it!"
"Only because you didn't bother to care for it, you didn't train it because it's just another 'mon in your collection right?" Giselle said, with a hiss. "Gotta catch 'em all, that's your attitude right? Pokemon… they're not just things for you to collect, they're not just little dolls you can stick in a glass case for display. They're living things, with thoughts and feelings of their own and I'm sorry you're too STUPID to realize that and I'm disgusted you ever became a trainer because you make the rest of us look bad! The only ones I feel sorry for in this bunch of yours are your Pokemon, you fils de pute qui ne valent rien! Now GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! Throw yourselves into the storm and then maybe you'll all appreciate how Charmander would have felt! Go on, I'll lock the Center doors behind you!"
"Why you…" Damien said as he rose up and started grabbing Pokeballs one at a time with his friends following. "So what, are you going to take us all on, you little cu-"
"I'll kindly ask you not to finish that sentence, and if I have to, I will!" Giselle said as she went for Yorick's ball. "You're all disgraceful, disgusting and despicable! I'll bet one of my Pokemon is worth a hundred of yours!"
"That's enough, out of all of you," said a voice as an Officer Jenny walked in, soaked to the bone with an equally displeased Persian by her side. "Heather called me, call me Kim. There's no need to show these idiots that they're not proper trainers who don't care about their Pokemon, their actions speak for themselves really."
She cuffed Damien, with the rest of his gang soon to follow.
"You're under arrest for Pokemon abuse and abandonment and I've got half a mind to charge you Damien for utterly butchering that accent. It's the worst Galarian accent I've ever heard. As soon as this storm lets up, you're all coming with me down to the station. For now, just sit down and stay there. I'm in agreement with this young lass here, the only ones I feel sorry for out of all of you are your Pokemon for having such terrible trainers."
"I just hope none of them are as badly off as Charmander was…" Brock said, worriedly.
"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we…" the police officer said, glaring at Damien's group leaving their fates without little doubt.
—-
Ashley sat down next to Charmander, rubbing his back soothingly and letting her Aura rush through her. It felt like she'd released a block on a dam, holding the waters of a river back.
"...yeah, you and I, we're not so different are we?" Ashley said. "We're honestly, well we're honestly two of a kind aren't we?"
She let herself remember, even as painful as it was.
"Ashy, seriously don't tell me you're going to become a trainer if you don't know a single thing about Pokemon! You can't even name all 18 types!" Gary mocked.
"Sure I can!" Ashley said, in defiance. "There's fire, grass, water, electric, rock…"
"Good job, you can name the basics! What about the sub types?"
"Platinum, psychic, black…" Ashley said, counting them off her fingers.
"See, what'd I tell you?" Gary mocked. "There's no way you're going to make it as a trainer, those two types don't even exist! They're called Steel and Dark, you moron! Get lost, Ashy, I can't be seen around such a useless idiot like you! How you're her daughter, I don't have any clue!"
So she couldn't name all of the Pokemon types back then! Big deal, she was just a kid! How the hell was she supposed to remember everything?
She wished it'd stopped there though, that Gary would go back to his old self again. She just wanted his friendship, that's all she'd asked for! She wanted to be a Pokemon Master with him! She wanted to reach the top together, by his side! They could even be co-champions! Just like Wallace and Steven!
"What are you even doing, following me around?" Gary said, the two now ten years old and it'd been like this for several years now. "Get lost Ashy, I told you that I couldn't be seen with such a useless idiot! Look, I get it, you want to be a Pokemon trainer but there's no way someone like you even has a chance of doing it! You'll never even get past the first gym! Face it, not every trainer even makes it to the top and you're not even going to make it to the bottom rung!"
"But!"
"Are you deaf or something? I said get out of my way!"
"As soon as we get our first Pokemon, as soon as I get my Bulbasaur… we'll battle! Then you can put your money where your mouth is!"
"Ha, of course you'd choose that weak little toad."
"Bulbasaur's a strong starter!"
"It is, and my Squirtle will crush that weak little toad you end up getting! I don't care if you want to be like your cousin, you're still the child of someone who couldn't even make it as a trainer! A failure raising a failure!"
"Don't you dare say that about my mom!"
"I'm only telling the truth! She didn't get to the Indigo Plateau, she didn't get to the Champion so I don't see why you think you'll ever be a Champion with her as your example!"
Ashley wiped her tears away, as she tried not to let the pain overwhelm her. She was used to Gary's insults, ever since his ego inflated like that. All the same, why did he have to go after her mom like that? Her mom wasn't a failure, she'd gotten far and the only reason she had to give it up was to run her family's restaurant.
Her dad, that asshole, he'd walked out on his whole family and left her mom to raise her alone! He was the reason she could never be Champion, because he couldn't think about anyone for himself for five seconds! He left his mom, he made her leave her dreams!
Sometimes she wondered if she was a burden on her mother, that if maybe if she wasn't around then maybe her mom would have time to be the trainer she'd always wanted to be.
It seemed about right, didn't it? That if her mom didn't have to worry about her, then she could go off and challenge Lance and take his title! Her Pokemon, they were powerful and they deserved better than working in a restaurant for the rest of their lives.
They were battlers once, they should be doing that! Her mom, she should be sitting on the Champion's throne, not Lance! Her mom, she should be the Pride of Pallet!
Instead… She sat in a small town, lived and worked in a small town and was probably going to die in that small town. Her life never moving, never changing, like she was just stuck in this loop she'd never break out of all because of her worthless ex-husband.
Her mom deserved better, certainly better than a girl who probably had no chance of reaching that throne as long as Gary continued getting better and better. What chance at all did she ever even have against the grandson of The Professor Oak?
It was just simple genetics after all, Oak was a powerful trainer in his day and his grandson would be even more powerful with everything he'd learned from his grandpa.
"Tomorrow, it all changes," Gary had said. "Tomorrow, we get our starters and then tomorrow I'll show you just what a difference there is between the two of us. I'm Gary Oak, what's your name again?"
And she'd slept in late, and started late and nearly gotten herself killed on her first day as a trainer. Maybe that's why she wasn't afraid to die, because she felt she was living more days than she was honestly meant to. Those Spearow should have killed her, so why was she even here now?
She'd cheated death, and she was living days that weren't hers.
"Char…" said a small voice, as the Charmander stirred. The flame on his tail looked better, burning with a good-sized flame. "Char, Char, Charmander!"
"...you believe in me?" Ashley asked, in shock. "Is that it? …wow, you're one of the few people who do…"
"Char!" the little lizard said and Ashley saw through his eyes.
In his mind, Charmander grew and changed and grew larger and larger towering over her and burnt with a brilliant tail-flame.
"Well, isn't this a surprise," Dianthia, the Dianthia said from behind her Mega Gardevoir. "Alright, now things are getting interesting."
"Yeah," Ashley said, older and more beautiful, touching her Mega Ring before tossing her hat skywards. "Charizard, let's have a Ketchum time!"
"Graaaaaarooooarrr!" her Charizard, her Charizard said as his horns grew bigger and his fangs sharper, little wings sprouting out from his arms. He raised his head to the sky, and a tower of fire erupted from his mouth.
"Moonblast!" Dianthia said as the crowd roared in delight.
"FIIIIIIIIREEEEEE BLAST!" Ashley said, and the two attacks collided…
Then, Ashley was back in the hospital room with her Charmander holding onto her chest tightly. And when she looked into his eyes, she saw nothing but adoration and devotion in them.
"I'm sorry, you're right… I should give myself more of a chance, thanks for believing in me little guy even when I don't believe in myself. Maybe… maybe I should more often. That vision… that dream we shared, let's see if we can make it a reality huh?"
—-
"So…" Ashley said that next morning, Charmander by her side looking happier and healthier. "What'd I miss?"
"Damien and his whole crew have been arrested, I don't think they'll ever hold Pokeballs ever again," Brock said.
"Awwwwww, I missed it?" Ashley whined. "Damn! I was hoping I'd get to see Giselle punch him!"
Charmander looked equally disappointed.
"You missed me biting him too," Giselle said. "Erika said you'd rubbed off on me, whatever that meant."
Ashley snorted. "You bit him?"
"He tried to Tackle me after Officer Jenny cuffed him, I used Bite as my counter-attack. It was super effective! Anyways, suspecting you'll be needing one of these?"
She tossed a spare Love Ball to Ashley, who looked at Charmander.
"Whaddya say? Wanna come along, and see that dream come to reality? We shared a vision, it's got to be our future right?"
"Vision?" Erika asked. "What vision?"
"The one with us beating Diantha, the one with us as the shining stars of the Pokemon world."
"That seems like a good vision," Erika said. "I can't wait to see it come true."
"Yeah! And I'll need your help to do it. I think Tadashi works as a good name for you, you're a loyal little guy after all," Ashley said, looking at Charmander. Her Charmander. "So, wanna come along for the ride?"
"Char!" Charmander said, and a new chapter in Ashley's life began…
Notes: So, yeah... Ashley needs a hug, Tadashi needs a hug, Brock needs a hug, everyone needs hugs in this party. Now this might be the last chapter for the month, so decided to give y'all a high note with Charmander's official introduction to the story. Apologies, but one of us needs to work on our personal projects for another fandom that they meant to get to a while ago so like the next chapter probably will take a bit to get to. Next time, Brock's forced to make a fateful decision... Ashley's Pokemon:
Hope (Pikachu) Female
Clint (Spearow) Male
Amethyst (Vivillon) Female
Gale (Pidgeotto) Female
Mustard (Beedrill) Male
Moltenpaw (Houndour) Male
Tadashi (Charmander) Male
Unknown Alpha Pokemon Egg Erika's Pokemon:
Meadow (Leafeon) Female
Rafflesia (Gloom) Female
Ichigo (Shiny Lokix) Male
Venom (Beedrill) Male Brock's Pokemon:
Quake (Onix) Male
Bolin (Shiny Grotle) Male
Geodude (N/A)
Razzberry (Zubat) Male
The Lady Raevyn Branwen (Corviknight) Female
