All right, I think I stalled long enough... let's give Ash his actual first Pokemon, shall we?

Ash sighed as he felt the sun's rays shining above. The first sign of morning had long since past, and it was now mid-morning when he first opened his eyes, trying to get himself up. And the first thing that woke him up this morning? It was the small Caterpie, who had awoken from its slumber, and was crawling towards Ash as it looked at him with a pure innocence in its eyes.

"Hey…" Ash smiled as he turned his head. "Do you want Star?"

The Caterpie trilled a bit as Ash tried to turn his body, but found he couldn't, due to being a little locked in with arms wrapped around him. Ash turned his head to see the still sleeping Starfire giving a small sigh of content. "Star? Star? Wake up. Someone wants to see you."

Ash struggled a bit as he tried to nudge Starfire awake, then to get his arm loose around to try to wake her up… only for him to jump up and hop on the sleeping bag, unintentionally bringing the sleeping girl with her. Ash groaned as he tried to reach for the zipper, only to slip down and fall to the ground.

SLAM!

"AHHH!"

That woke her up… and in turn, Starfire's scream also woke up Pikachu and Clefairy from their sleep as they jumped up, looking rather alert, wondering what was going on.

Starfire groaned a bit as she tried to get her eyes adjusted to see an awkward, staring Ash being right on top of her. Needless to say, both boy and girl stared at each other for an uncomfortably long time.

"Morning." Ash said with an awkward smile. "Caterpie wants to see you."

Starfire just looked over to see Caterpie staring as it turned its head. She gave a warm smile as she spoke it its trilling language. "Hey, little sweetie. What is it?"

"Actually, I just wanted to talk with Ash… if that's okay?" Caterpie said in embarrassment as it looked down, its stomach growling. "I'm starting to get hungry."

"Oh! Okay, I'll tell him…" Starfire trilled as she turned back to Ash. "Caterpie's hungry."

Ash looked confused, before his eyes lit up as he turned to the little worm Pokemon. "You want food, little guy?"

Caterpie trilled once more. "Yes, please!"

"Just give me a moment to get ready, then. I'll get breakfast right away!" Ash nodded as he turned back to Starfire, a blush still running on his face. "Uh, Star, I kinda need my hands to…"

"Oh! I am terribly sorry, Ash!" The beautiful red haired alien yelped as she loosened her grip on Ash, letting his hands and arms slip as he reached for the zipper. Ash finally got up as he tried to look up and away from Star's beautiful, nearly naked body.

"You might want to change into your clothing, Star. We've got a big day ahead of us." Ash said as he stumbled towards his backpack and opened it up to get some Poke chow out of the bag.

"I will get right on it, Ash." Starfire said as she picked up her clothes and was starting to get her bra on. Thankfully, Ash was more focused on getting the chow for the three Pokemon he wasn't even looking in Starfire's direction as she seemed to be changing out in the open.

Ash hummed a bit before pulling out some brown chow as he handed some to Pikachu and Clefairy, who seemed rather eager.

"Thank goodness! A growing Pokemon like myself needs her chow, after all!" Clefairy smirked before casually munching on the chow.

"Thank you, Ash!" Pikachu nodded before going with Clefairy and sitting down near the tree trunk as they ate the chow, feeling up and energetic.

Ash could only give a small laugh as he pulled out a bit more Poke Chow and put it in front of Caterpie. "Here you go, little guy. Help yourself."

The Caterpie could only trill, looking up at Ash in fascination before crawling over and eating out of Ash's hand. Ash couldn't help but smile at the small thing of a little Pokemon eating some chow. He knew this was Starfire's Pokemon, but if anything, it made for some good practice just in case he would get some Pokemon of his own.

Speaking of Starfire, she was adjusting her top on herself before observing Ash feeding Caterpie. She curiously floated over and looked down at the small feat. "You two are so the cute."

Ash blushed a bit as he looked up. "Thanks. I don't mind feeding your Pokemon, since you don't have the proper equipment at the moment…"

Then, an idea came to Ash as Caterpie finished the chow in quick succession, before the little worm looked up and trilled some more.

"Oh, do you want more?" Ash said, before pausing as he turned to Starfire. "I need to change real quick. Starfire, would you mind feeding Caterpie a little more?"

"But of course I will." Starfire smiled as she reached into the box and pulled out a handful of brown chow. Ash could only watch as she put it in front of the worm as Caterpie trilled happily and ate from her hand now. "Awwww, Caterpie, you look so adorable, my little bumgorf! Eat to your heart's content!"

Ash raised an eyebrow at Starfire's strange word, but figured it was another word in Starfire's language. Choosing not to question it, he grabbed his backpack to get into a clean change of clothes. "Well, I'll be right back. You just focus on Caterpie, and I'll be back to cook us something quick."

Starfire seemed to be too focused on cooing on the little worm to notice Ash's words as the boy went a little deeper in the woods to change really quick. Starfire continued to watch as the little worm took a few more bites of food from her hand until lifting itself up, feeling full.

"Caterpie? You have not finished any of your food." Starfire said in curiosity.

"I'm a little full now. Thank you." Caterpie said as it started to crawl over to the other Pokemon, who had just finished their meal.

"You are the full? What are you full of?" The red haired girl asked curiously as she looked at the food. She questioned herself as she looked at the food itself and sniffed it. She raised an eyebrow as a new curiosity befell her. She opened her mouth and popped the Poke food inside before chewing on it a few times…

And, to her surprise, the more she tasted it, the more she realized that the food was particularly… good. As she swallowed it, she felt it go into one of her nine stomachs. Giving a small smile, she pulled out a little more food from the box and started to eat some more. She licked her lips with content.

PIkachu and Clefairy could only watch flabbergasted as they turned to each other. "Did Starfire just eat Pokemon food?"

"Girl, what are you doing? You know that's ours!" Clefairy frowned as Starfire stopped and turned towards the two Pokemon in curiosity, food still in her mouth.

The girl swallowed it as she responded back to Clefairy, "But it tastes so good!"

"Wait, you actually LIKE the little brown stuff? I tolerate it at best, but it's not the BEST food in the world." Clefairy frowned.

"My people usually eat a lot of food. After all, we all have nine stomachs, and we use it to store food during meager times." Starfire explained.

"NINE STOMACHS?!" Pikachu shouted out in pure shock.

"Gosh, and I only have the one stomach…" Caterpie paused, listening to the conversation with curiosity.

"Star, girl, listen, you're wonderful, but maybe try to restrain from eating the Pokemon food box. We don't want you eating it all when we're lost somewhere in Viridian Forest!" Clefairy berated, before noting Starfire unconsciously reaching into the box and taking another bite of Poke chow. "I said restrain from doing that!"

"But it is the delicious! I can't help myself!" Starfire argued.

As Starfire and Clefairy were arguing in their Pokemon language, from not so far away, Proton and Petrel were only watching in mere confusion as Proton turned to Petrel. "It would seem that this girl not only flies, BUT finds Pokemon food delicious AND can talk to Pokemon."

"Indeed…" Petrel said as he put his hand on his muzzle in curiosity. "While I do find this girl's… taste in food rather strange… it's the Pokemon talk AND the flying that catches my interest. No wonder Giovanni is so interested in this girl."

Proton nodded as he pulled out the Poke Ball. "Should we do it now?"

"Not yet. Wait until we get the boy here…" Petrel raised his arm, stopping Proton from throwing the ball.

"You really have to control your- stop that!" Clefairy argued angrily as Starfire took another handful and ate some more Pokemon food.

"I can not help it. The food is too good!" Starfire argued.

All of a sudden, before Clefairy and Starfire could argue any further, they heard a screeching sound from above. Pikachu yelped as he jumped behind the tree trunk to hide. Starfire dropped the box of Pokemon food as she and Clefairy went to the side to avoid the incoming bird swooping right by them.

Of course, it was a bird from up close as it had brown and white feathers, and pink feathers styled like hair atop its forehead. The bird landed as it poked around for food.

"What is that?" Starfire asked in amazement as she pulled out her Pokedex.

"Pidgeotto. The evolved form of Pidgey. This Pokemon is full of spirit and can fly in wide areas in search of prey." Starfire's Pokedex explained as the abilities "Keen Eye, Tangled Feet or Big Pecks" appeared under the picture, with the moves it came with, "Gust, Whirlwind, Sand Attack and Quick Attack".

"Ohhhhh…" Starfire said in awe as she looked at the majestic bird.

It was at that moment Ash came back out, all dressed in his regular clothing as he put his hat back on. "Sorry I'm late, I ju-"

"Sh!" Starfire whispered as she pointed over in the direction of the Pidgeotto pecking for something in the dirt.

Ash looked over and gasped in delight. "A Pidgeotto! This one is mine!"

The young trainer then pulled out his Poke Ball in delight before turning his hat around and throwing it. "Poke Ball, go!"

The ball flew right towards Pidgeotto, but as if seeing it coming, it blocked the ball with its wing, causing Ash to stare dumbfounded, wondering what had just happened.

"What happened?" Starfire worded Ash's thoughts, looking in surprise.

Clefairy groaned as she slapped her forehead. "Do you kids SERIOUSLY not understand how this works? You can't just catch a Pokemon at full health! You have to weaken it in battle before you catch it!"

Ash blinked as he looked at the Clefairy in curiosity before turning to Starfire. "What did she say?"

"She says we have to weaken Pidgeotto in battle before we catch it. It can't be caught at full health." Starfire explained.

Ash blinked twice. "But… you caught Caterpie in full health!"

"That's because I felt like I could trust you two… and I wanted to get stronger." Caterpie trilled in delight.

"Now?" Proton asked, ready to throw the Poke Ball.

"No, no, not yet! Let's get a safe distance first. I don't want anyone to spot us!" Petrel frowned as he pulled Proton back as they left the two Trainers talking amongst themselves and the Pokemon.

Ash blinked twice as he gave a chuckle, before giving a frown. "All right, all right! If it's a battle Pidgeotto wants, a battle Pidgeotto shall get! Pikachu!"

"M-me?" Pikachu looked up, a little surprised.

"Buddy, you're my only Pokemon I can do this with…" Ash nodded. "So come on, go!"

Pikachu shuddered a bit as he bent down, scared. Ash growled angrily as he narrowed his eyes. "Pikachu, will you pleas-"

"Ash, Ash, don't yell. He's afraid." Starfire said, holding Ash back.

"Afraid? Of what? He-" Ash paused as he remembered what happened. "Ohhhh…"

Ash calmed down as Starfire let go of his arm. It was then Ash went over and bent down as he patted Pikachu on the head. "I know you're scared buddy because of what happened with the Spearow… but I've seen you, you're a tough one! You managed to survive getting pecked… and I know you're still new to fighting, but you're probably the best person I know that can shock anybody or anything! Come on, Pikachu! Please… try for me…"

Pikachu's ears went down, looking like he was hesitating. Starfire, Clefairy and Caterpie could only watch as Clefairy gave a sigh, before saying, "Come on, Peeks, you can do this! What's a bunch of Flying types anyway! Look, you're an electric type! Just swallow that fear and face it head on!"

Pikachu paused in its hesitation, before looking at his friend and master, who was staring at him with a comforting, yet understanding look on his face. Pikachu paused as it looked over at the Pidgeotto, who had surprisingly not looked up from its meal or flown away. Pikachu's ears then raised up, his eyes opening in determination as the electric mouse Pokemon got itself up and jumped on the stump, ready for a battle.

Ash laughed a bit as he pointed towards the Pidgeotto. "Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!"

"Yes sir!" Pikachu nodded as he started to spark up. "PIIIIIII- KAAAAAAAA- CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Then, a large string of lightning from its cheeks popped up and shocked the bird, causing it to turn around and ruffle its feathers a bit. Ash smirked as he went into a stance. "Now I'm getting into it! Pikachu, keep shocking it!"

"Right!" Pikachu nodded, sending more electric attacks towards the bird's way before Pidgeotto flew up into the air to avoid the attack. Pikachu, however, kept a close eye on the bird at all times as the bird swooped down to try to catch it in a Gust attack, only for Pikachu to roll over as the mouse sent another Thunder Shock once more, causing the bird to trill a bit as it tried to fly away, though it looked slower to fly than normal.

"All right, NOW I go for a Poke Ball!" Ash laughed as he pulled out a Poke Ball. "Poke Ball, go!"

Ash then threw the ball right at Pidgeotto, as it hit the slowly flying bird, with the ball opening up and engulfing it in a red-like energy, causing the ball to fall down to the ground and roll down below. Ash, Pikachu, Starfire, Clefairy and Caterpie could only watch in curiosity as the ball started to shake at least a few times… before finally calming down as the ball clicked, with the Pokemon staying in the ball.

Ash's eyes lit up as he jumped up in the air and held up two fingers in victory. "YES! We caught Pidgeotto!"

"And I think I lived through my fear of Flying types!" Pikachu laughed. "Not bad for the third day!"

Ash laughed as he ran and picked up the ball, looking at it with a smile. "This is amazing! My very first Pokemon caught in a Poke Ball! Finally, we're getting somewhere!"

"Congratulations, Ash!" Starfire smiled as she hugged the boy from behind, surprising him. "I just knew you could do it!"

Ash blushed a bit, before giving a laugh. "Of course I could do it! After all, I AM the best!"

"Considering you only had Pikachu as your fighter, that was probably your only strategy, considering you throwing a ball at a Pokemon in FULL health didn't work out! Not all Pokemon are friendly, you know!" Clefairy said with a frown.

Ash ignored Clefairy a bit as Starfire let go of the boy as he looked at his Poke Ball with glee. "And to think, Pidgeotto today, and maybe a lot more in the coming hours!"

"Well, you still did pretty good, Ash." Starfire said with a smile. "And it does look like we both have two Pokemon each now."

Ash paused before looking at Clefairy and Caterpie, then turning towards Pikachu and the Poke Ball in his hand. His eyes lit up. "Hey, you're right! Looks like we're about even in the race now!"

"Ash, come on, you're acting like this is a competition." Starfire said.

Ash paused slightly as he looked confused. "Isn't that how you vie-"

"No, Ash, that's not how I want to view Pokemon." Starfire said as she bent down and picked up Caterpie as she petted it on the head. "I want to meet with Pokemon to befriend them, to give them a great confidence boost, and if we do have to battle, we work together as a team."

"Hate to say it, girlfriend, but that is NOT how things work around here!" Clefairy said as she narrowed her eyes at Starfire. "Yes, it's nice to make friends with Pokemon, but not all Pokemon can be friendly to you! You have to make sure you're well prepared for anything that comes your way. There are friendly Pokemon, but there's also BAD Pokemon, one's like those Team Rocket people we met the other day!"

Starfire paused as she grinned sheepishly. "Well, you have to admit, Clefairy, it's a valid point…"

"Well, even so…" Ash gave a confident smile. "I feel all invigorated! I'm ready to take on the next challenge! What Pokemon should I confront ne-"

All of a sudden, Ash's thoughts were interrupted by a very loud roaring sound.

"RHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY!"

Ash, Starfire and their Pokemon immediately turned their heads as they saw, not too far away, a rather large rhinoceros like Pokemon stomping around, its eyes glowing red as if possessed by something.

Ash looked up and gasped. "Wait… a Rhydon? In Viridian Forest? How is that even here?"

Immediately, Ash pulled out his Pokedex and put it in front of the rampaging Rhydon.

"Rhydon. The evolved form of Rhyhorn. It is known as the Drill Pokemon. Its horn is powerful enough to crack diamonds." Ash's Pokedex explained as the abilities 'Lightning Rod, Rock Head or Reckless' can be seen underneath the picture, with its starting learnset, "Smack Down, Bulldoze, Hammer Arm and Earthquake" underneath it.

Starfire couldn't help but look at the rampaging Rhydon with awe. "Why are its eyes like that?"

"It must be an Alpha Pokemon! I heard about Alpha Pokemon in the old legends of Hisui. I didn't think I'd actually see one here…" Ash said as he pulled out a Poke Ball. "Still, it looks strong! Oh, I just got to have it!"

"I don't know, Ash, that looks a little too dangerous!" Pikachu said as he noted the Rhydon. "Besides, those eyes aren't glowing a natural red. I don't think it's an Alpha!"

"Pikachu doesn't think it's an Alpha Pokemon." Starfire repeated what Pikachu said to Ash.

Ash raised an eyebrow, before looking determined. "Well, Alpha or not, it's still a Rhydon! I'd be stupid to NOT leave it behind! Starfire, bring Clefairy and Caterpie. I might need a little help taking it down!"

Starfire looked concerned as she hugged Caterpie. "I don't want Caterpie to get hurt! He's still just a little bumgorf!"

"No, I can help!" Caterpie begged as Starfire pulled out Caterpie's Poke Ball.

"I'm sorry, Caterpie, but I can't risk you in danger." Starfire said as she tried to remember what Gary did in her battle with him. "Caterpie… return!"

A red beam then shot itself as it engulfed Caterpie, much to the trilling caterpillar's protests as it went into the Poke Ball. Starfire then put Caterpie's Poke Ball in the backpack as she gave a nod. "Sorry, Caterpie, it's for your own good. Clefairy, come with me!"

Clefairy blinked, before giving a smile. "Ha! I'm ready for a challenge!"

Starfire then turned to Ash with a nod. "All right, Ash, we're ready!"

Ash nodded as he turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu, are you ready for this?"

"I just want to say now, this is an extremely bad idea! Something's off about this!" Pikachu said as he looked around warily, before sighing. "But you're already determined to go, so we don't have a choice!"

"All right!" Ash nodded as he pointed to the rampaging Rhydon. "Then let's slow this big guy down! Team, GO!"

With that, Ash, Pikachu, Starfire and Clefairy charged straight for the Rhydon, little realizing that two Rocket members were watching with curiosity.

Petrel nodded as he pulled out a walkie talkie. "Boss, we have Cinderblock underway. And as requested, we'll be watching the girl in action, see what she does. And what of the boy?"

"Keep an eye on him too." Giovanni said through the walkie talkie. "Remember, we're spending today just observing her and seeing how she works. If what the other operatives says are true and she does have powers, then it's something we'll need to prepare for. Just be on the lookout…"

"Right!" Petrel said as he put the walkie talkie away as he settled down, with Proton looking towards him.

"What if they lose?" Proton asked in curiosity.

"If it looks like they're getting too close to losing, we'll call Cinderblock back." Petrel said. "But why wait? After all… it IS only a test…"

Meanwhile, in the town of Viridian City, an orange haired girl wearing a yellow shirt and blue shorts held by red straps had just came out of the impromptu Pokemon Center and looking at her Poke Balls, seemingly satisfied that her Pokemon was healed.

"All right, Pokemon all healed, bike is fine… and my fishing gear is all ready… let's see what I can fish up today at the old lake…" The young girl, known as Misty, said as she went on her bike and started to cycle through the city, passing by various houses.

She gave a small sigh, feeling a small wave of relief. It had been a few months since she left Cerulean City to become the best Water Type trainer… and to be free of her sisters' bullying. Not like she needed to be humiliated after everything she went through. Just the peace, the quiet and the fishing usually calmed her mood. So far, she's managed to go around all of Pewter, Viridian and Pallet to fish up any good water types to train, but so far, all she found were Magikarps and Goldeens. Sure, she managed to catch a Goldeen on one of her bouts, but only because she wanted a backup just in case her Staryu and Starmie weren't good enough to fight.

Still, it was interesting to see how things went down, and to be free from her sisters and their laziness. Like they could even run the Cerulean Gym. She bet they were even being lazy and just giving badges away like candy… not even bothering to battle trainers, and were just focused on their little cutesy shows. She scoffed in anger, not wanting to think about her sisters anymore than she needed to. It's not like they were in any danger…

As Misty kept cycling along, she passed by a shop that had a TV in front, which was turned to the news as one of the news reporters uttered the name 'Cerulean City' within Misty's hearing distance. Misty stopped and cycled back, curious to hear what the news had about Cerulean City.

"Last night, the Cerulean City Gym was attacked from out of the blue, with its wall blown up and most Pokemon stolen." The news reporter said.

Misty's eyes widened in horror as she covered her mouth. Cerulean Gym? This was… that was her home! Her mind then caught up to her as she then thought about… her family! Her sisters! What of-?

"Not only were at least a dozen Pokemon stolen, but three girls, the Cerulean City Gym Leaders, the Sensational Sisters, have also been taken! We go live to one of the pre-gym trainers for a report." The news reporter said as the screen turned to see a rather scared swimmer wearing red shorts and swim goggles just shaking nervously.

"I heard an explosion last night and called the Sisters to come to the gym. When we arrived, we saw the wall had been torn down by a strange machine that seemed to be sucking up the water and getting the Pokemon that were swimming over there. The Sensational Sisters went in… and yet they never came back out. The next thing I knew, smoke filled the area and left me unconscious… the last thing I heard was one of the sisters screaming before getting muffled, as if being gagged…"

"Oh no…" Misty gasped in horror as she covered her mouth. "Violet… Daisy… Lily…"

She shook in fear. Sure, she didn't like her sisters's bullying, but at the end of the day, they were still family to her…

"Upon hearing the dreadful news, all Gym Leaders in Kanto are said to report to Rota for safety and to discuss what is to become of the Cerulean City Gym… seeing as how the three did NOT, in fact, name other Gym Leaders to take their place." The news reporter announced.

Misty paused for a brief moment as she looked back towards the fishing gear she had… before looking back towards the news. As she watched the news reporter talking about the damages down to Cerulean City's gym, her mind thought back to her three sisters, worrying about them, wondering who would kidnap them? But then, she thought about the teasing she had to endure and how they managed to call her the runt. It sickened her to no end, and part of her WANTED to say those three deserved to be kidnapped…

But she gave a heavy sigh, knowing that she TRULY didn't mean it. She wanted to be the best Water type trainer… but she was also the final girl of the Sensational Sisters that have not been kidnapped. She shut her eyes, contemplating her choices, tears falling from her eyes…

And then, she opened them, frowning as she felt content. She turned her bike around and started to head out to Viridian Forest… on the path to Rota.

After all, she was the only girl that could help run the gym…

In case you're wondering what happened with Misty's sisters, I recommend going back a few chapters regarding a certain discussion. As for where the sisters are being taken, a future chapter will reveal it soon enough. But next time, Ash, Starfire, Pikachu and Clefairy are going to fight against Rhydon (Cinderblock)! However, when even the Pokemon's moves aren't enough, and when Ash is being threatened, will Starfire be forced to step in? And what of little Caterpie? Find out next time!