Chapter 1: One long day

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It was going to be a good day, I decided. The sun was shining, I could hear the wind rustling through the trees and I could smell the morning dew from my open window and breathe in the fresh outdoorsy smell of a brand new day. Yes, it was going to be a good day.

“Wurmple?”

Wurmple? What was a Wurmple?

“Tangela?”

And what was a Tangela?

I slowly opened up my eyes so the sun wouldn’t burn them and process what I was seeing. I couldn’t see my muzzle for some reason, but I could see grass, dirt, trees, and a giant worm and a tangle of vines.

“Tan, Tangela?”
“Wurmple, Wurm.”

Startled, I sat up and tried to leap away, but my limbs got tangled up and I ended up rolling away from the two creatures. Fortunately, this spooked the worm and vines and the two scurried away from me and into the forest.

“What was that?” I asked, hoping somepony would answer back.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky.

“Ok then. Where to start, where to start?” I started to lift my forehooves only for ten long worms to rise up to my face.

I was not proud of screaming loud enough that ponies in Canterlot could hear me all the way from Ponyville.

Further study showed that the “worms” were connected to my hooves and I couldn’t remove them. At least my hind hooves remained the same, although I felt something wriggling down there.

A look around showed that I was right next to a shallow river. I managed to trot over to the river to look at myself even though it hurt my hind hooves for some reason. Looking into the river, I saw an alien creature that kind of looked like me. I recognized my violet eyes and glasses easily, and my mane, though slightly disheveled, was as distinct as my glasses.

“What am I?”

I wanna be the very best~

I jumped as I heard a surge of music playing behind me. Spinning around to face the music, I saw an odd white and pink rectangular device that was clearly not there when I was trotting to the river laying on the grass. Peering at the screen, I could see the message ‘Incoming call’ displayed across it along with a pair of green and red circles that said ‘Accept’ and ‘Reject’ respectively.

Tentatively, I poked at the green circle causing the device’s song to be replaced by an oddly familiar voice.

“Hello Silver Spoon, enjoying your adventure so far?”

“Discord!?”

“The one and many.”

This…this was bad. Discord was a spirit of chaos and if he was involved then I could be anywhere in Equestria.

“I’m going to guess that you’re responsible for sending me to this place?” I asked, trying to make sure he didn’t hear my nervousness.

“Correct! Although there really isn’t a reason for you to be guessing now is there?”

“What?”

“Oh dear. Looks like a certain someone has a case of dimensional sickness.”

“Dimensional sickness?” I tried to sit down, not liking where this conversation was heading.

“In that case, I’ll make this brief to save on time. A certain pony has been envious of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and all of the adventures that they get to go on and I, as a good samaritan, decided to help that certain pony go off on their own pokemon adventure.”

“That…” That sounded familiar to me. Ever since Apple Bloom met Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo at Diamond Tiara’s cute-ceañera the CMC had gone on so many crusades to find their cutie marks and when they did? Their crusades expanded to helping out other ponies find their special talents, even opening up a Cutie Mark Day Camp to do so. It increasingly felt like I went from antagonist to background pony in their story.

“And that is why I offered you the chance at your own pokemon adventure!” Exclaimed Discord.

“Huh?” I snapped back to attention at Discord’s non sequitur.

“And who could have guessed at how proud you’d make me when you managed to get me to buck starter tradition by issuing you two starter pokemon instead of one…although I will admit to that being recompense for the burns, electrical or otherwise,” Discord trailed off.

“What?” I asked, slowly starting to remember that ordeal.

Discord offered one of five small creatures, pokemon, to accompany me. A small orange dragon shot a stream of fire at me, a blue turtle did the same with a spray of water, and a yellow mouse shocked me. The last two pokemon were a small green quadruped that used vines to pick up my glasses after I dropped them when that electric rodent electrocuted me and a small brown cat/fox thing that licked the burns.

“Yeah, Charmander can be a bit rebellious and Squirtle mischievous, but Pikachu? Tsk, tsk. Well anyway, Bulbasaur are extremely loyal and Eevee are pretty much cute balls of fluff. The two will serve you well on your journey.”

“And where are Bulbasaur and Eevee now?” I asked while looking around the clearing for them.

“Why, it’s a great trick! Check your belt.”

“My belt?” Doing so revealed two red and white balls. I tried to pick one of the two with my hoof, but the “worms” knocked one off the belt and onto the ground where it split in half and released a light. Startled, I jumped back and ended up landing in the river while the light coalesced into the same brown cat/fox that I had just remembered.

“Eevee!” As soon as it saw me it ran up and jumped onto my shoulder.

“What? How?” I asked as Eevee nuzzled my neck.

“Ah, pokeballs. Isn’t it just astounding how pokemon can shrink themselves and fit themselves into such tiny balls.”

“There…there is no way that pokemon can do that,” I said as I pulled myself out of the river.

“Oh? Then I suppose it’s because humans have figured out how to store organic material as data in that universe then?” Discord asked in a teasing tone.

“Humans?” What are humans?

“Hm? You don’t know? Then again it’s not like Twilight to blab about her adventures in the mirror world. Well, allow me to explain. Humans are omnivorous bipeds similar to minotaurs, and that is what you are now.”

So I was human now? And biped? Doesn’t that mean I should be walking on two hooves?

“Feet. Your hind hooves are feet, fore hooves are hands and those “worms” are fingers,” Discord said off handedly.

“Are you reading my mind?” I asked as I tried to stand on two hooves…feet.

“Moving right along, I suggest following the river north to Pallet Town and getting your pokemon checked by Professor Oak before taking the road to Viridian City. Afterwards, you should head down to Viridian Forest and collect some pokemon. Gotta, gotta, gotta catch’em all~”

“...send me back.” I picked the device up.

“Pokegear.”

“I said send me back!” I yelled startling Eevee.

“I will, after your journey ends,” Discord responded nonchalantly.

“And when will it end?” I asked as I glared at the Pokegear.

“When does anybody’s journey end?”

I glared harder at the Pokegear.

“Most people think that a pokemon journey ends at gathering eight badges, and for some that’s enough. For me? So long as there are Gym Badges to collect, my journey shall never end!”

“Discord!”

“Oh fine, spoilsport. Just get eight badges from Kanto and I’ll bring you back in time for dinner.”

“And where do I get these ‘Gym Badges’?”

“Oh Silver Spoon, did you think Twilight got to where she is now by having Celestia hold her hoof? The only advice I’m going to give you for now is to check your pokedex. Not only is it your ID card, by the way Silver Spoon wouldn’t pass as a name there so your official name for the time being is Sarah Silverman, but you can learn alot about pokemon using it such as moves your pokemon know and can learn. Tootles!” With that, the device went silent, the screen displaying the message ‘call ended’.

…

I don’t know how long I was staring at the sky before Eevee’s face was looking down at me. I didn’t even realize I had collapsed onto my back.

“Vee?”

“I’m ok.” I reassured Eevee as I got up.

“Eev, Eevee.” Still worried Eevee jumped up onto my shoulder and nuzzled my neck again.

“Thanks.” I think I was starting to understand why Fluttershy liked animals so much.

This…this wasn’t going to be a good day. Not only was I left in the middle of a forest, but I was also turned into an alien, stranded in another dimension and had barely an idea of how to get back home. But it wasn’t going to be a disaster. I at least had Eevee and Bulbasaur.

Checking my saddlebag revealed a compass and map amongst the camping supplies.

“Ok, so Discord said to follow the river north to Pallet Town and have you and Bulbasaur checked by Professor Oak before traveling to Viridian City.” Looking at the map showed that south of Pallet Town was the river and Route 21. Checking the compass also showed that the river flowed from north to south.

“Ok, Eevee even though trusting Discord got us stuck here in the first place, we’re going to follow his advice and follow the river to Pallet Town.”

“Vee!”

With a cry of affirmation from Eevee, Silver Spoon began following the river to Pallet Town.

“I wonder what will happen.” Discord grinned at the Pokegear.

“Sir, why are you wearing that ridiculous costume?”

“Hm?” Looking over his shoulder Discord spotted a bespectacled blonde man. “Why, I am an actor and all the worlds a stage.”

“...sir?”

"Gather everyone. I want some input for a project.”

It was about two hours before I and Eevee saw Pallet Town after exiting the forest. It was a small farming community and it reminded me more of Sweet Apple Acres than Ponyville. After eating a small lunch, it took us about another two hours to reach Pallet Town.

Upon reaching the town, I asked around for Professor Oak and shortly found myself in his laboratory with a bunch of humans. The only distinct filly among them was wearing a white hat with brown eyes and mane. One of the colts had a blue mane and was glaring at the arrogant auburn maned colt surrounded by cheerleaders.

I couldn’t help staring. There was an actual group of cheerleaders chanting his name. Even Diamond Tiara didn’t have cheerleaders chanting her name back then. Who was this Gary colt, and what sort of name was “Gary”? He noticed me.

“Like what you see? You know, there’s always room for one more on the squad.” He said with a smile.

“Ah, no, thank you,” I stammered. “Really, I’m just here to get my pokemon checked out.”

“Oh, so you’re not here for Starter Pokemon Day?” We all turned to see an older stallion in a lab coat enter the room, pushing a trolley with three pokeballs sitting on it. Each one had a little sticker on it, red, green, and blue.

He had to be Professor Oak, right?

“Hello, dear, what’s your name?” He smiled at me.

“Sarah Silverman, sir.” I was going to continue to trust Discord and accept that my name would sound suspicious here. And with names like “Gary” I was inclined to believe him.

“Hmm, Sarah Silverman?” Did he believe me? He didn’t say anything to imply he did not, nor did he call me out on it though. Was I wrong trusting Discord on this? “What town are you from?”

“Ponyville, sir. I have my pokedex if you want to see it.” I wasn’t sure why the pokedex listed both Ponyville and Equestria if this was supposed to be another dimension. Then again, didn’t Discord mention Twilight’s adventures in a mirror world? Maybe there was a Ponyville and Equestria in this world too? No, that wouldn’t explain the name “Gary”.

“You have a pokedex?” At my nod he smiled. “Ah, splendid then! If you don’t mind waiting, then I’ll give your pokemon a check up after these three here choose their starters.”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.” I was glad he was accepting my story. The sooner my pokemon get their check up the sooner I can figure out what ‘Gym Badges’ have to do with pokemon.

“Heh, guess Ashy-boy’s out of luck til next year.” Gary snickered, immediately stepping forward and claiming one of the pokemon. “Squirtle, you’re mine!”

“Alright Damien, now you.” The Professor urged the other colt forward.

“Heh, those in the know say Charmander is the best way to go.” He claimed Charmander with a smug grin.

“Guess that leaves Bulbasaur with you.” Gary gestured at the brunette.

“Raising Bulbasaur is simple. They’re perfect for beginners.” The brunette rationalized, picking the pokeball and releasing Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur looked up at the brunette with a searching stare.

“My name is Rey, guess we’re partners now.” She crouched down to seem less intimidating. “I hope we get along.”

“Bulba saur, Bulbasaur.” It nodded with a happy smile.

“Alright!” Professor Oak clapped his hands, getting everypony’s attention. “Gary, Damien, Rey, you’re all set up and ready to go! Sarah, if you would put Eevee and Bulbasaur on the table here I can give them a clean bill of health in no time.” He said, patting a nondescript table.

“Right.” Eevee jumped onto the table as I finally released Bulbasaur, who immediately began a staring contest with Rey’s Bulbasaur.

I was a little confused that a pokedex wasn’t being handed out. Discord said you can learn a lot about pokemon from it. Maybe everypony already had a pokedex? But then why was Professor Oak surprised that I had one? Maybe I shouldn’t question it. Gary offered to admit me into his cheerleading squad one more time and then he and the others left.

“Alright, now let’s get you sorted out then.” Professor Oak then began checking on Eevee and Bulbasaur. He started asking questions, but admitting that I only received the two today mollified him.

“Alright.” He leaned away from Eevee and Bulbasaur. “Whoever gave you your pokemon knew what they were doing. Your pokemon are in tip top shape.”

“Thanks Professor.” I returned Bulbasaur just as Eevee jumped onto my shoulder.

“Professor! Professor Oak!” The doors banged open and a colt in green pajamas came crashing in.

“Ash, so you showed up after all.” I looked between the two of them.

“Where’s my pokemon?” His pokemon? But there were only three pokemon, right?

“Your pokemon?” Professor Oak was just as confused.

“Yes, I'm ready,” Ash nodded determinedly.

“You look like you're ready for bed, not for Pokémon training. I hope you don't think you're going to train in your pajamas.” Professor Oak called out Ash’s attire.

“Oh, no, professor. I got messed up this morning, and I was a little late, but believe me, I'm ready for a Pokémon.” Ash strolled to the trolley that now contained three empty pokeballs.

“I thought about it a lot, and it took me a long time, but I finally decided to choose Squirtle.” Ash picked up the pokeball with the blue sticker. The pokeball opened up revealing it to be empty.

“Oh!”

“Already taken by someone who was on time.” Professor Oak intoned.

“Oh, I wish I hadn't overslept. But now I will choose as my pokemon Bulbasaur!” Ash picked up the pokeball with the green sticker only to have it revealed to be empty.

“Wha-”

“That one was also taken by a kid who wasn't late.” I really should be going on my way right now, but at the same time I wanted to see what would happen. He kind of reminded me of Scootaloo, just barging in like that. Also, they called foals “kids”? Like goats?

“Oh, well, that's no problem, because my Pokémon will be Charmander!” For the third time Ash picked up a pokeball.

“Ah!” For the third time it was empty.

“The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the Pokémon.” Professor Oak had to be enjoying this, I thought. He could have stepped in at any time and told Ash that there weren’t any pokemon left.

“Does that mean all the Pokémon are gone?” Ash moaned despondently.

“Maybe next year?” I weakly suggested.

“Well, there is still one left, but I-”

“Professor, I'll take it!” Wait there was one left? Then why not mention it, unless…

“I think I should warn you. There is a problem with this last one.” Professor Oak took out the final pokeball. This one had a yellow sticker.

“I have to have a Pokémon.” Ash said desperately.

“Well, in that case.” Professor Oak started worryingly while handing Ash the pokeball. The pokeball opened up, releasing a yellow mouse onto the table. A disturbingly familiar yellow mouse.

“Pikachu.”

“Its name is Pikachu.” No one noticed as I took a massive step away from Pikachu.

“Oh, it's so cute. It's the best of all.” Ash foolishly said

“You'll see.” Warned Professor Oak.

“Oh, hi, Pikachu.” Ash picked up Pikachu and hugged him.

“Pika.” Pikachu then unleashed what I later learned was a Thunder Shock that would have made its mother proud.

“It's also known as ‘electric mouse’. It's usually shy but can sometimes have an electrifying personality.” It’s official, Professor Oak was enjoying this.

“I see what you mean.” I felt a little bad, but I was so glad that wasn’t me right now.

“Shocking, isn't it?” Was the pun really necessary?

“Now, take these, your pokédex and pokéballs.” Professor Oak held out his hands holding the two items.

“Thank...[ZAPPING] Y-y-you!” Pikachu unleashed another Thunder Shock

“You're welcome!” And Professor Oak was not spared this time.

I walked outside, hoping to make a little distance from the electric mouse and the excitable colt, and found a much smaller but more personal crowd waiting outside. They had a handmade banner with “Good Luck, Ash!” written on it.

“Mom?” Ash came out behind me, staring in shock at the mare at the front of the crowd.

“You left in such a rush you forgot your bag.” She was smiling with tears in her eyes.

This was his mom. These ponies…no people knew him, liked him. He probably grew up here.

…

While I’d been lost in thought, Ash’s mother had shown him everything she’d packed for him, including rubber gloves and a clothesline. Ash’s mom also shared the same love of pokemon too, because when she finished going over everything with him she’d tried to pick up Pikachu to give it a hug.

Unfortunately, I was standing too close to the crowd to avoid the electric shock.

“O-Ow.” I groaned, picking myself up.

“Vee.” Intoned Eevee.

I meant to walk ahead of Ash, make some distance, get some privacy. But he was literally dragging his pokemon behind him on the clothesline and wearing rubber gloves. It was both sad and hilarious at the same time.

“Uh, you could try negotiating? You know, compromise?” I suggested shyly.

“Compromise?” Ash looked up. I think in his struggle to pull Pikachu along he’d completely forgotten me and Eevee was there, three steps ahead of him.

“Well, maybe Pikachu would be willing to be more obedient if you met him halfway?” I shrugged. I knew Pikachu was a colt since his tail wasn’t heart shaped. On the way to Pallet Town I took the time to look through the pokedex like Discord said. I wanted to know more about the pokemon Discord offered me and Pikachu was among them.

“Vee, Eevee.” Eevee nodded.

“Hmm,” He thought about it for a minute. Finally, he gave some slack on the clothesline and pulled out his pokedex.

I didn’t even listen to what it had to say about Pikachu. I was just shocked by how different it looked from mine. I had learned that mine had a touchscreen and Ash’s didn’t seem to have that. Instead, the screen was a little smaller to make room for a small keyboard. They had to be different models.

Discord doesn’t do things by half it seems.

“You don’t like being confined?” I forced myself to pay attention. Ash looked like he’d struck across the solution. “No problem! Here, let’s get rid of this.” He started untying Pikachu and even went so far as to remove his gloves.

I ran behind a tree.

“Alright, my name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and I aim to become a Pokemon Master!” He introduced himself. “So whattaya say? Partners?” He held out his hand, friendly and eager.

And, unfortunately, the perfect target for another Thunder Shock.

“It didn’t work.” Ash groaned as he picked himself up. Pikachu, meanwhile, had climbed up the tree I was hiding behind and was looking down at us with a smug expression.

“Sorry it didn’t work out.” I apologized.

“Vee.” Even Eevee was sorry.

“It’s okay, it's not your fault.” He glared up at the tree. “Fine, who needs ya! I’ll get a way better pokemon, just you wait and see!”

This…this was starting to sound like a friendship problem.

He immediately scrambled up and began searching the grass for a pokemon, leaving his bag by the tree. I had no idea how he expected to catch one. Then again, I had a pokemon.

“Um, Ash,” I spoke up to offer Bulbasaur’s services, but I was a little too slow. He’d already found a Pidgey in the grass and thrown a pokeball at it. It just broke free and scared him off with a gust of sand.

I was going to step forward and reassure him, make my offer, but a rustle by my feet caught my eye. A little purple rat was nosing around Ash’s bag.

“Hey now, shoo!” I scolded it. It jumped in surprise. “You can find plenty of food elsewhere without stealing it from somepony. Now shoo, off you go.”

“Oh hey! A Rattata!” Ash exclaimed. The little pokemon squeaked in surprise and sprinted off, disappearing from sight in mere seconds. “Aw, it got away!”

“You’re lucky it didn’t take any food.” I grabbed his bag and handed it over to him. “You shouldn’t leave your bag unguarded like that.”

“Oh man, it would’ve been a disaster to lose the food Mom packed for me!” He gaped, wide-eyed. “Thank you so much for saving it!”

“Really, it was no trouble.” I laughed. He really was reminding me of the CMC with how earnest he was. “And, if you want, I can lend Bulbasaur to you so you can catch a pokemon.”

“No way!” He denied instantly. “I’m going to catch my own pokemon, on my own! A Pokemon Master doesn’t have someone else catch their pokemon!” He explained passionately. And now I was reminded of Applejack and how stubborn she could be. Like the time she worked herself tired and ended up giving half of Ponyville food poisoning and unleashed a bunny stampede.

“Oookay,” I rolled my eyes. “But you’re not a master yet, and Pikachu doesn’t seem interested in helping you.”

“Vee.” Eevee nodded in agreement.

“That doesn’t matter! I’ll figure out a way to do it!” He declared, stooping down to pick up a rock. I looked where he was aiming. I thought it was another Pidgey, all I could see was that it had wings. Ash’s aim was good.

Unfortunately for us all, it was not a Pidgey.

“Uh-oh!” He gasped as the red bird took flight, darting between us before we could even move. I fell down and watched it graze Ash again, squawking indigently.

“Unlike Pidgey, Spearow have a more confrontational attitude and will often attack other pokemon and people.” His pokedex informed us.

But the Spearow didn’t attack us next. It attacked Pikachu.

“Hey, Pikachu didn’t throw that rock! Leave it alone!” Ash waved his bag, trying to get the bird’s attention.

“Spearow are often known to be jealous of human-trained pokemon and will go out of their way to attack them.”

“Oh now you tell me!” Ash glared at it.

“Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!” I threw Bulbasaur’s pokeball at the Spearow when its attention switched to me and Eevee instead.

“Bulba saur, Bulbasaur!” Bulbasaur whipped out a pair of vines and managed to clip one of Spearow’s wings.

I knew Bulbasaur had vines from when he picked up my glasses, but I didn’t know they were a “move” that Bulbasaur “learned” and could use on command until scanning him with the pokedex.

“CHUU!” At the same time as Pikachu let loose another Thunder Shock.

The Spearow fell to the ground.

“You got it!” Ash whooped excitedly.

Spearow gave us a nasty leer as it stood up.

“Spearow!” With a call of its name a flock of Spearow appeared from a nearby tree.

“Uh, think we should run?” Ash asked.

“Pika!” Pikachu was the first to move.

“Bulbasaur, Eevee, return!” There was no way we’d be able to beat a whole flock of Spearow. I put both pokeballs on my belt and took off after Ash and Pikachu.

I thought I was getting an adventure on par with the CMC, not their sisters! If Fluttershy does have as much influence on Discord as ponies say, then I was so going to tell on him when I got back.

“Pikachu, don’t run ahead!” Ash was yelling. “Stay close so I can protect you!”

“He’s not listening!” I panted for air. Pikachu had pulled ahead of us, but that just made it a tempting target for the Spearow to dive bomb. They were raking Pikachu’s back with their talons.

“Hey, get off him!” Ash leapt forward, snarling at the attacking pokemon. He used his own arms to bat the Spearow off, then gathered Pikachu in his arms before clambering to his feet again.

“We have to get away from them!” He told me.

“No duh, but how?” There was a lot of open field for us to be chased in.

“This way!” He grabbed my hoof…hand and pulled me off the path. I didn’t have any choice but to trust him. Now and then Spearow would dive at us, giving us cuts and scratches with their talons. We were lucky none of the Spearow were using actual moves on us.

I was running out of steam and out of faith. I was about ready to release Bulbasaur and Eevee again stand our ground when I saw what Ash had us running towards.

“That’s a cliff!” I screamed. I would’ve stopped running if a Spearow hadn’t come close to taking my ear off.

“Trust me!”

And can you believe it? I actually did.

When I thought of the phrase “If all your friends were jumping off a cliff, would you do it too?” my response would have been “Diamond Tiara would never do that.” So, what did that make Ash then?

It was way too early in the season to be swimming. The cold stole my air and it was only Ash’s grip on my wrist that kept me from panicking and losing track of the surface. A large reddish-orange fish swam directly in front of my face and I swear I caught a glimpse of a giant sea serpent before we surfaced.

“Sweet Celestia, Ash Ketchum!” I coughed and spluttered. “I have known you for one hour and already you almost got me killed! One. Hour!”

“Oh my gosh, are you alright?” We both looked up to see a red maned filly kneeling in front of Ash.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” He cocked his head curiously.

“Not you!” The filly glared at him. “Your pokemon! The poor thing looks beat up!”

“You should get it to a Pokemon Center as soon as possible.” She told him.

A Pokemon Center? Was that a hospital for pokemon?

“A Pokemon Center? Do you know where one is?” He asked desperately. “Which way?”

I guess it was.

“That way.” She pointed the way.

I heard a sound and turned to look.

“Ash, the Spearow!” I cried.

“They found us!” He turned and started climbing up the embankment. I followed after him with the filly, but we both stopped when we saw him put Pikachu in the filly’s bike basket.

“Hey, that’s my bike!” She screeched.

“Sorry, I’ll pay you back!” He promised, already pedaling as hard as he could.

“Ah, the flock!” They were getting close now.

“Quick, hide!” The filly shoved me behind some rocks. We waited anxiously as the flock passed overhead. When the last Spearow passed us, we sighed in relief.

“Hey!” I flinched away from her. “Your stupid brother stole my bike!”

“He’s not my brother!” I denied automatically.

“Your boyfriend then, whatever! That was my bike!” She fumed.

“Yeah, I know.” I winced. “Sorry about that. But I’m sure if we go to the Pokemon Center you mentioned we could retrieve your bike?” I suggested with a nervous smile.

“He’d better not do anything to wreck it.” She warned me. “Now get up, we’re following him!”

Well, we couldn’t follow him all that far at first. The clouds that had been hanging overhead all day finally let loose, forcing us under shelter. Luckily the filly, Misty, had a rain tarp that she spread over top of us.

“So you both started your pokemon journeys today, but he’s not your brother or your boyfriend?” She questioned me while we waited for the rain to stop.

“I only met him earlier today.” I nodded. “His name is Ash Ketchum and I’ve gotta say, he seems pretty nice.”

Just like the CMC, nice, over excited, and danger prone.

“And he went and got you both attacked by a whole flock of Spearow.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Just because he threw a rock at one of them didn’t mean they deserved to have their eyes gouged out.” I pointed out. “I hope they’re alright.”

“He can put the Pikachu in its pokeball, can’t he? So the Pikachu at least will be fine.” She tried to assure me.

“Except that this Pikachu really doesn’t like pokeballs.” I frowned. “It kept refusing to go inside.”

Pop.

“Vee!” And speaking of pokemon that don’t stay in their pokeballs, it looked like Eevee wanted out of his.

“An Eevee! You have an Eevee?” Misty squealed at the sight of Eevee and moved to pet him.

“Vee? Eevee!” Something that Eevee was more than happy to accept.

“Yeah, I got him and Bulbasaur today.” I said just as Eevee saw me and decided he had enough headpets and lept onto my shoulder.

“Hey, my name is Misty, what’s yours?” She nudged me.

“My name’s Sil…Sarah. All things considered, it’s nice to meet you.” I must be exhausted if I almost said my actual name. Oh who was I kidding? I was almost killed by an angry flock of birds just because some colt threw a rock at one of them and jumped off a cliff into a serpent invested river! Of course I was exhausted. Was this something Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle’s sisters do constantly? And if so, how do they do it?

“Sil?” Misty caught on to my slip up.

“My friends call me Silver.” I might have slipped there, but I wasn’t going to give her my full name.

“...it’s nice to meet you too.” We shared an awkward handshake under the cover of the tarp. Good, she wasn’t going to question it.

It took three or four hours before the storm died out. We were both frozen stiff and damp. Misty’s good mood had long since flown the coop. She packed away her tarp with more violence than was strictly necessary.

“Come on!” She barked at me. “We’re tracking that boy down and getting my bike back!”

“Coming!” I wriggled my toes in my shoes, trying to get a little more feeling in them. “I hope he made it to the Pokemon Center alright. Those Spearow didn’t look like the type to give up easily.”

“I’m not the type to give up easily either!” Misty marched down the road.

We found the bike. Alongside a Spearow.

Well, the remains of the bike, and an unconscious Spearow.

“My bike!” Misty fell to her knees. “Oh, my poor bike! What has he done to you?”

“I didn’t think Pikachu was that powerful. It must’ve been the rain.” I concluded. There were signs of a battle strewn all about. The road was torn up and singed feathers were mixed in with the mud.

“Wait until I get my hands on him!” Misty heaved her bike onto her shoulders. “Let’s go!”

“Ah, wait for me!” I started after her.

“...row.”

Only to freeze as I heard Spearow regained consciousness.

“Well what are you waiting…for?” Misty spun around to look at me while also catching a glimpse at the Spearow.

“Row…” Turning to face the Spearow I saw it slowly and jerkily stand up, glaring at us all the while.

No, while glaring at me and Eevee specifically

“Sarah, I think you'll have to catch it.” Misty said grimly.

“Catch it?” I asked, glancing at Misty.

“We’re going to the Pokemon Center anyway to catch up with Ash. While we’re there we can get Spearow treated too.” Misty pointed out.

She had a point, although I wasn’t so sure on the catching Spearow part. I mean, couldn’t I just carry Spearow to the pokemon center?

“Spearow!”

That option was taken off the table when Spearow lifted itself off the ground and began hovering slightly above the ground.

“Right then.” I nodded determinedly. If Spearow wanted to fight then I had no choice but to catch it. Taking one of six empty pokeballs from my saddlebag I threw it at Spearow just like how Ash threw one at Pidgey.

I watched the pokeball wave back and forth. After a few tense seconds, it finally sealed shut.

“Wow, I caught it.” I stooped down to pick it up. “Look Eevee, we caught a Spearow!”

“Eevee!”

“That’s nice and all, but let’s go already!” Misty roared towards the sky.

The town wasn’t far. Viridian City appeared on the horizon after about thirty minutes. I have to say I was impressed by Misty’s strength. Lugging a broken bike on her back like that without slowing down for anything.

We actually did see Ash at the police station on the edge of town, but he was riding sidecar with an officer. We missed him by seconds.

It did not improve Misty’s mood.

When we finally reached the Pokemon Center I was truly beginning to fear for Ash’s life. She was laughing maniacally as we approached the front door. It reminded me of the time Princess Luna visited Ponyville during Nightmare Night.

I liked Ash, despite the whole Spearow thing, but not enough to go to bat against a filly pushed to the edge because of him. He could deal with the consequences of his actions by himself.

Misty practically lunged for him as soon as she saw him across the waiting room. All without dropping the bike.

“Ha! I’ve got you now! You’re going to pay for what you’ve done!” She declared.

“P-Pay? Pay for…?” His voice trailed off as he recognized the bike. “Oh, that.”

“Yeah, that. How do you expect to pay me back for this?” She seethed.

“I’m really sorry, but I needed to help my Pikachu!” He bowed in apology.

“Ash, where is Pikachu?” I stepped forward, eyeing the sealed doors of the operating room. His glum silence was answer enough.

“It was that badly hurt?” Misty gasped. “Is it going to be okay?”

“I don’t know.” He balled his hands up, shaking. “They haven’t come out yet.”

Conveniently, the light above the operating room door shut off and a nurse and pink pokemon wheeled out Pikachu on a gurney.

The headband and lightbulb was a little weird. Was that something they just used in hospitals here or was it for pokemon? Maybe it was supposed to help recharge Pikachu?

“Your pokemon is going to be just fine.” The nurse informed Ash.

“Really? That’s great!” He bent down by the gurney. Pikachu even seemed a little happy to see him. I would’ve thought getting attacked by a flock of Spearow would make Pikachu even more ornery.

Maybe they reached some kind of agreement. Maybe risking their lives together helped them form a bond. It was a far cry from this morning, that’s for sure.

“Attention Viridian City, an unknown aircraft has been sighted. The occupants are thought to be Pokemon Thieves. Be on the lookout and stay indoors.”

The skylight broke first. We saw two pokeballs hit the floor where they burst open. A large purple snake and a…floating purple ball filled with gas appeared.

“Oh no, not them!” The nurse cried, hugging her pokemon close. “It’s Team Rocket!”

“Team…Rocket?” As in fireworks? Was the name supposed to be threatening?

“To protect the world from devastation,” We saw a silhouette through the smoke.

“To unite all peoples within our nation,” A second one joined the first.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love,” The first became clearer, revealing a mare with a big red mane.

“To extend our reach to the stars above.” The second was a blue maned stallion, holding a rose.

“Jessie!” The mare proclaimed.

“James!” The stallion followed.

“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!” Jessie laughed.

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!” James smirked.

“Meowth, that’s right!” The Meowth spoke.

“Did that pokemon just talk or…?” I blinked.

“Be careful, those two are pokemon thieves!” The nurse warned us.

“Well they’re not getting my Pikachu!” Ash growled threateningly.

“Oh please,” Jessie scoffed. “Why would we waste our time with an electric rat like that? We only go after rare and powerful pokemon.”
“Like that furball over there.” Meowth pointed towards Eevee.

“Vee.” Eevee flinched into my neck.

“This is a Center for weak and injured pokemon!” The nurse argued.

“That may be so,” Jessie allowed. “But I don’t doubt that we’ll find a few pearls among the swine. And on that note, Ekans! Attack!”

“Run for it!” Misty screamed. The nurse led the way and Ash pushed the gurney. We darted into the operation room, then through another set of doors to a hallway. The nurse opened a door on the left and we barely got the door shut and locked when we heard the Ekans and the other one come after us.

“What are we going to do?” Misty leaned against the door. She was shaking as badly as I was. “The power’s gone out!”

“Emergency protocols, the first thing we have to do is ensure the safety of the patients.” The nurse stepped up. “To do that, I’ll get the emergency generator up and running.”

“Can I trust you kids to build up a barricade in front of the door?” She asked us.

“You’ve got it, Nurse Joy.” Ash promised.

While we started moving pokeballs off the shelves and onto a small conveyor belt she pointed out to us, Nurse Joy walked into a sealed off part of the room and released a dozen more pikachu from their pokeballs. They started running on a little treadmill, generating electricity to get the lights back on and have the computer reboot.

“This is the Viridian City Pokemon Center, following emergency evacuation protocols. Please respond.” Nurse Joy tried to reach another Center while we continued piling up our barricade.

“This is the Pewter City Pokemon Center, we’ve received your distress call and stand ready to accept pokemon.” A voice on the other line announced.

“Beginning teleportation.” The big machine I hadn’t noticed suddenly went active. The conveyor belt we’d been putting the pokeballs on started moving.

“That’s…a teleporter?” The machine took up half the room. I didn’t know humans could use magic here. Sweetie Belle said that Twilight told Rarity, who told Sweetie Belle, that Twilight couldn’t use her magic in the mirror world. Different worlds, different rules I guess.

“Whoa, it’s amazing! Look, the pokeballs are disappearing!” Ash leaned in to take a better look.

We didn’t have a lot of time to marvel. Our barricade shook as something pounded against the door. The three of us rushed to reinforce it.

“It’s no good! We can’t hold them back!” Misty grunted as another slam knocked us back before we could react.

“Line in the sand, people!” I snapped, freeing up one hand to call out Bulbasaur. “I’m not going to give up my pokemon without a fight.”

“Bulbasaur, first pokemon you see when this door opens, Vine Whip. Eevee, Tackle the other one.” I ordered.

“Bulbasaur!” Bulbasaur nodded.

“Eevee!” Eevee jumped down onto the floor, positioned to pounce on anypony who came through the door.

I was scared, I was terrified. Dangerous criminals willing to attack a hospital and I was standing in their way. How many times did I feel this way? Nightmare Moon’s return, Discord, the Changelings, Tirek, and that was just off the top of my head. I couldn’t do anything about it every time.

Well, not this time. I may not be a princess or a wonderbolt or an athlete, but I had my pokemon. And together, we could do something about this. Together, we could stop Team Rocket.

The purple ball pokemon broke through the barricade first. Bulbasaur immediately launched a vine whip which wrapped around the pokemon and threw it into the stallion’s face.

“Koffing!” James, the Koffing’s trainer I guessed, cried out. “You’ll pay for that!”

“There, that’s all the injured pokeballs transferred!” Nurse Joy reported.

The next pokemon, Ekans, rounded around the door, only for Eevee to tackle it back into its trainer.
“Ash! Get Pikachu out of here!” Misty yelled at Ash.

“Right!” Determined, Ash pushed Pikachu’s gurney out the door, knocking the two crooks and their pokemon off their feet with the rest of us right behind him.

“Ekans, don’t let them escape!” She shrieked.

“Pika pika pika pika! Pika pika pika! Pika pika pika! Pika pika pika!” I looked behind us to see a wave of yellow following.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Ash almost lost his footing when they began piling up on the gurney on top of his Pikachu.

“Hey now, that’s rude!” Nurse Joy scolded them.

“Scold later, pokemon thieves following us!” I reminded them, moving to help Ash push the extra weight. An individual pikachu might not weigh much, but fifteen of them was another matter.

Then of course we were both nearly electrocuted when all the pikachu lit up at once.

The flash blinded me. I only kept running because I was gripping the gurney’s handle and Ash was still pushing.

“Pikachu!” I couldn’t see which one was talking, but I felt it when the gurney turned and I lost my grip.

“Ow, ow, ow,” I clapped a hand over my eyes, unable to run with nothing to guide me. “Bulbasaur, Eevee, where are you?”

“Bulba, saur!” Bulbasaur pulled on my belt, pulling me down behind a…a counter? Opening my eyes just showed a blur. Bulbasaur and Eevee stood in front of me, growling at the approaching Team Rocket.

“You’re not getting away that easily.” The woman taunted us.

“Pikapi, pika pika pikachu!” There was one little yellow ball on top of a whitish-gray blur. I had to assume that was Ash’s Pikachu. I didn’t know where all the others had gone.

“Pika pika? Pika power?” Ash gasped, grabbing something?

“Hey, what are you doing to my bike?” Misty demanded. I was sure I was hearing things by this point.

“Generating some pika power!” Ash laughed.

“Piii-kaaaa-CHUUUU!” I closed my eyes before the flash this time, but I was not prepared for the blast.

“Did…Did we survive?” I asked incredulously, too afraid to open my eyes to check.

“His Pikachu just…just blew the roof off the Pokemon Center.” Misty sounded like she was in shock. Tentatively, I opened my eyes. It was a little better than before but I was only able to identify people because of the color of their hair or clothes.

“Right…” Suddenly feeling exhausted, I picked up Bulbasaur and Eevee’s pokeballs and returned them. “I’m ready for this day to be over now.”

Officer Jenny arrived a few seconds later and after we gave our statements she was glad to arrange for us to stay the night at a motel for free. We all basically collapsed into the beds provided and slept like the dead until morning.

Well, Ash and Misty were still asleep when I left the room. My eyes are still a little sensitive to light but I’m sure they’ll be fine.

Bulbasaur and Eevee did well in their first battle. I was so proud of them. The pokedex said the two were only a year old and yet they handled a team of pokemon thieves so well. And after it was all set and done I had Nurse Joy look over Spearow and give him a clean bill of health. What happens next, I wasn’t sure.

Officer Jenny did confirm to me that pokedexes are actually pretty rare. Only certain pokemon professors have them, and they only pass them out to certain trainers. Professor Oak must think highly of Ash to give him one. My pokedex isn’t connected to any lab though. It’s got Professor Oak’s lab memorized on the Important Locations page, but that was only filled in when I went there yesterday.

All in all, it was a long day.

Chapter 2: Enter Viridian Forest

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I had my bag and my pokemon. I could set off and continue my journey right now. Discord gave me a potential lead in Viridian Forest. And after that?

The problem was that I didn’t know where to start. Discord wanted me to collect eight gym badges, but where would I find them? Kanto was a big region and it looked like it would take weeks to walk from city to city.

“You’re up early.” I nearly jumped out of my skin when Misty came up behind me.

“Uh, you too.” I noticed. “Good morning.”

“Aw, what’s the matter? Yesterday you really took charge around those Team Rocket creeps!” She smirked. “I have to say, for a newbie trainer you put on a pretty good show.”

“Really?” I laughed nervously. “I guess it was because the stakes were so high. All those pokemon.”

“Yeah, you have to be absolute scum to try stealing sick and injured pokemon.” She made a visible effort to shake them from her mind. “By the way, I’m planning on following Ash until he pays me back for my bike. I guess this makes us travel buddies!” She finished with a much friendlier tone.

“Travel buddies?” I repeated. It was true that I’d started out traveling with Ash. I didn’t exactly have any better ideas. “Yeah, I guess so.”

We shook on it.

“So continuing from where we left off yesterday,” She sat down on the steps beside me. “I’m a water pokemon trainer. I left home to become a Master of water pokemon. What about you?”

“Me? Uh,” It became clear that I had not thought this through. I scrambled to think of something. “I just wanted to go off on an adventure.”

“That’s it?”

“It was a sudden journey.” I said with a small shrug.

“Well if you ever want to talk about water pokemon then you know who to call!” Misty elbowed me jokingly.

I could’ve traveled alone but I was glad I didn’t have to.

Ash and Misty made interesting companions. Interesting the same way Applejack and Rainbow Dash would go on a dare. You just have to know who will win.

“Um, maybe we could talk about something else? Anything else?” I suggested after a record breaking twenty minute argument about the much lamented bike. The argument had brokered no new ground and in fact had gone backwards in progress.

I was about five seconds away from losing my mind.

“You can’t let guys like this think they can get one over you, Sarah.” Misty kept her eyes narrowed at Ash. “They’ll walk away without giving you what they owe.”

“I already promised to pay for the bike!” Ash snapped. “And what do you mean guys like me?”

“I mean rookie trainers who don’t know the first thing about pokemon!” Misty sneered. “Sarah told me about how you threw a rock at a Spearow!”

“And Sarah caught it!” He retorted.

“Well at least she caught something. All you have is that Pikachu!” She put her hands on her hips. “Not much of a trainer at all really.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll show you!” He started scouring the forest for some pokemon to catch.

“At least they’re arguing about something other than bikes now.” I muttered under my breath.

“Hmph, you couldn’t catch a pokemon if one climbed up your leg.” Misty scoffed. “In fact I…I…”

“Misty?” We looked at her quizzically. She’d frozen in place, a statue in the middle of the forest. Her face rapidly lost all trace of color.

All this thanks to the giant worm crawling on her shoe.

“AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

Wow, and I thought Rarity was loud.

Thoroughly deafened, I did my best to comfort Misty after picking the bug off her. “A buuug! It touched me! WAAaaah!”

“There, there,” I rubbed her back.

“Oh wow, a Caterpie!” Ash pulled out his pokedex.

“Caterpie, the Bug Pokemon. It is capable of devouring leaves twice its size and can emit a foul odor from its antennae when it feels threatened.” The Pokedex reported.

“Caterpie, you’re mine.” Ash swore, pulling out a pokeball. “Go pokeball!” He threw the pokeball, once again exhibiting excellent aim.

Caterpie didn’t even put up a fight. The pokeball blinked once and was sealed.

“I did it! I caught a pokemon all by myself! Look at it! Look, Sarah!” He ran up and shoved the pokeball under my nose.

“I’m looking, I’m looking.” I promised.

“I’m looking at a trio of idiots.” Whispered a voice.

“Wha? Who said that?” Ash yelled out glaring around the forest.

“Er! No one! No one but us trees here! Hehehe.” Replied a rustling tree.

“Bulba!

“Look! It’s a talking tree!” Exclaimed an astounded Ash.

“Ash! There’s no such things as talking trees!” Misty berated.

Having had enough of the comedy routine, I walked toward the tree and saw a blonde maned filly sitting on a tree branch with a Bulbasaur on her lap.

“...hello there.” She awkwardly waved at me.

“Why are you in a tree?”

“...ambush?”

“What do you mean by ambush?” Ash and Misty ran up to where I was.

“Ok ok, fine.” The filly picked up her Bulbasaur and jumped down to the ground. “I saw you three entering the forest and thought maybe I could get a decent battle.” She admitted.

“You want a battle? Sure, I’ll battle you.” Ash offered.

“Not you.” She refuted stepping past Ash. “Her.” She looked at me.

“Why Sarah?” Misty stepped in between us.

“I’ve got three pokemon, she’s got three pokemon, so why not a two on two battle?” She shrugged.

“I don’t know.” I wasn’t sure about this. I mean, it was one thing to fight against criminals trying to steal pokemon, but to battle for fun?

“Ah come on. How else are you supposed to earn Gym Badges?” Huh?

“What do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean by that? What do you mean by that? You earn Gym Badges by battling and defeating Gym Leaders, that's what I mean. It’s like the first thing about pokemon. Even a rookie trainer would know that.” She finished with a smirk.

…I don’t like her. She reminded me too much of Diamond Tiara before the CMC got their cutie marks. Before anypony knew how much pressure she went through under her mom. Before I knew…

Pop.

“Vee!” Eevee stood between me and the filly.

“Saur.” Her Bulbasaur glared at Eevee.

Guess I wasn’t the only pony who didn’t like her attitude.

“I accept.”

If Discord will only send me back home if I collected eight Gym Badges then I would play his game. That meant having to battle these Gym Leaders and training for those battles. And if battling random trainers was training then me and Eevee will wipe that smirk off her face.

“Good, I was worried that you didn’t have any back bone.” She looked towards Misty. “Why don’t you play referee?” She walked to one end of the clearing.

“Are you sure about this?” Misty looked towards me.

“Positive.” Before I could walk off Misty grabbed my arm.

“Remember, grass pokemon are weak to bird pokemon.” I nodded my head at her advice and she let go of my arm as I walked off towards the opposite end of the clearing from the blonde while Eevee moved in front of me.

“Ok then.” With a sigh she walked off towards the side between us. “This will be a two on two battle between Sarah and…”

“Flora.” The blonde filly finally introduced herself as she let Bulbasaur jump out of her arms. “Let’s show them our best Bulbasaur.”

“Bulbasaur!”

“Let’s go Eevee.”

“Vee!”

“Let the battle…begin!”

“Bullet Seed!” Flora’s Bulbasaur immediately began launching seeds at Eevee.

“Dodge Eevee!” Eevee leapt to the side and began leaping around his side of the field in hopes of dodging the Bulbasaur’s attack.

“You're not going to win just by dodging you know” Flora taunted as some seeds clipped Eevee.

She’s right, but how was Eevee going to land a hit without getting hit by Bullet Seed? Maybe…

“Eevee! Use your Sand Attack!”

“Vee!” After Eevee’s latest dodge, he quickly stood on his hind legs and slammed his front legs on the ground, sending a big cloud of sand at Flora’s Bulbasaur.

“Hey! I can’t see!” Exclaimed Flora as her Bulbasaur stopped spitting seeds at Eevee.

“Now Tackle Bulbasaur!”

“Vee. Vee. Vee!” Eevee charged through the sand cloud and tackled Bulbasaur, sending it skidding towards Flora.

“That won’t work a second time! Vine Whip!”

“Tackle again!”

Flora’s Bulbasaur quickly unleashed a pair of vines on Eevee, who managed to dodge the vines and slam into Bulbasaur again.

“Bulbasaur!” Bulbasaur slid back to Flora. “Are you ok?” Bulbasaur shook its head and gave a growl at Eevee. “Ok, use Sunny Day!”

“Tackle Bulbasaur.” I was going to need to expand Eevee’s repertoire at some point.

“Vee!” Eevee dutifully followed my order and tackled Bulbasaur who had just unleashed a white beam of light from the bulb of its back towards the sky.

Was it just me or did the sunlight get brighter?

“Now use Solar Beam!” The bulb on Bulbasaur’s back started glowing.

“Tackle!” Eevee charged at Bulbasaur whose bulb had finished glowing.

In the blink of an eye, a beam of energy was fired from Bulbasaur’s bulb, hitting Eevee directly.

“Eevee!” I felt my heart stop as Eevee was thrown across the field, Solar Beam leaving a shallow trench in its wake.

This…this was more intense than I thought.

“Eev…vee.” Eevee twitched before slowly rising back to his feet.

“Tsk, Bulbasaur use Ingrain.” Multiple green vine-like appendices come out of Bulbasaur's bulb and dug into the ground.

“Eevee use Wish!” Eevee let out a cry and a white light shot up around his body healing him.

“Oh no, use Solar Beam!”

“Dodge it! Run around Bulbasaur!”

Eevee just barely dodged the Solar Beam and ran around to Bulbasaur’s side.

“Bulbasaur!...Bulba?” Fortunately for me and Eevee, Bulbasaur couldn’t turn to face Eevee as it was firmly rooted into the ground.

“Tackle!”
“Protect!”

Before Eevee could land a Tackle, Bulbasaur was covered by a light blue sphere that bounced Eevee back.

“Tackle again!”
“Protect again!”

Eevee tried tackling Bulbasaur only for Protect to kick in again a second time.

Thwack.

“Bulbasaur!”

But not the third time.

The third Tackle had even dislodged Bulbasaur from the ground, preventing it from healing.

“Finish it with Tackle!”

“Vee. Eevee!” With one more tackle Eevee launched Bulbasaur back towards Flora.

“Bulbasaur!” Flora could only look on in worry as Bulbasaur tried to stand up only to slump to the ground.

“Bulbasaur is unable to battle.” Misty announced as Flora returned Bulbasaur.

“...I sense I’ve made a mistake of some kind…” Flora deadpanned.

“Yeah, show her how it’s done Sarah!” Ash cheered from the sideline.

“...your foe’s weak, get’em Oddish!” Flora yelled as she threw out her second pokemon.

“Oddish!”

Oddish was about as tall as Caterpie and had a round body with leaves sprouting from its head.

“...Eevee return.”

“Vee!?”

“What!? You’re returning Eevee?” Everyone stared gobsmacked at me.

“Eevee’s been through enough and I still have two pokemon left.” I pointed out as Eevee returned to my side.

“...ok I’m intrigued.” Flora said thoughtfully.

“Ok then.” Misty gave the go ahead.

“Go Spearow!” I threw out Spearow’s pokeball.

“Spearow!?” Flora cried in shock along with Oddish.

“Spearow!” Crowed Spearow.

“Oddish versus Spearow. Begin!”

“Bullet Seed!”
“Quick Attack!”

Oddish let loose a string of seeds as Spearow jumped up and flew up high into the sky before diving down at Oddish.

Thwack.

“Oddish!” Oddish cried as it was thrown off its feet.

“Absorb!”
“Quick Attack again!”

Before Oddish could even stand up Spearow rammed into Oddish again and launched it into a tree.

“Oddish is unable to battle. Sarah is the winner!” Misty announced as Oddish slowly slid down from the tree.

“...yep I’ve definitely made a mistake.” Flora determined as she returned Oddish and stared at her pokeball. Looking up from the pokeball and at me she gave me a small smile. “Ok, that was awesome. Honestly I wasn’t expecting much from ya, but I’m actually glad you proved me wrong. Guess I’ve still got a lot to learn huh?” She held out her hand to me.

“I guess…are battles supposed to be that intense?” I took her hand and she shook it.

“Nope, not at all. Sometimes it’s a quick one shot like Ash’s Caterpie over there.”

“Hey!”

“And sometimes you get a gym level battle like what we just went through. And trust me, you’ve got what it takes to take on the gyms.” She leaned in closer. “You should get yourself a Butterfree and Oddish for utility and teach any of your grass type pokemon Bullet Seed and then you can beat the Pewter and Cerulean gyms easily.” She leaned back and patted me on the shoulder. “Well it was nice to meet you, but I gotta head back to Viridian and heal my pokemon. Take care now.”

With her piece said she began walking away from us.

“See you later Silver!”

We stopped for the night shortly afterwards. I…I didn’t pay attention to what Ash and Misty were saying. My mind was focused on that Flora filly…girl, fillies were called girls here I reminded myself. Specifically the last thing she said.

“See you later Silver!”

She said my name, or at least the first half. Was that supposed to be her nickname for me or did she actually know my name? It seemed suspicious that she would just follow three strangers into a forest just for a battle, or maybe it was just how things were done in this world. If she knew me then why didn’t she say so…actually with Ash and Misty around she couldn’t without sounding crazy and possibly ratting me out. She could have asked to talk to me alone…no that wouldn’t work either. A stranger just following people and asking to speak to one of them, especially if said stranger was hiding in a tree.

And why was she hiding in a tree in the first place?

She did say ambush, so maybe she was ambushing us? But why us? Ash just started his journey and while Misty was temperamental she clearly was a good human. And me?

Ok, if she was from this world then she had no reason to single me out besides the fact I had three pokemon. Maybe Trainers in this world did decide to battle other Trainers just because they made eye contact.

But if she was from Equestria? Then why was she here, in this world, in the first place? As far as I know, and I’ll admit I didn’t know much about this subject, there wasn’t a portal to this world and Discord was the only one who could just toss ponies into other dimensions. And if she was from Equestria then how did she recognize me? I didn’t recognize her and Ponyville was a small town so I’d have to have seen her if she lived in Ponyville. It’s not like I was an Element of Harmony, or a fashion designer or Wonderbolt. I was just a small town filly.

If Discord sent her then why? To check on me? I had the Pokegear, he could call me whenever he wanted and he didn’t seem adverse to reading my mind, as horrifying as that thought was. To spy on me then? She was hiding in a tree and challenged me to a battle. But Discord didn’t seem the type to work with other ponies and who would be crazy enough to work with him?

…maybe I was overthinking this. I clearly didn’t have enough information to draw a conclusion from and I may never even see her again despite her promise. I was just worrying about a strong Trainer challenging me out of nowhere for no reason.

I should be glad I have Ash and Misty traveling with me just in case that encounter turned out worse than what actually happened. Even if they both like arguing too much.

“AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

I nearly gave myself a concussion as I tried to roll out of my sleeping bag. I ended up slamming my fist into my face. It’s not a good way to start your day.

“What? Whu? Huh?” Ash didn’t bother scrambling out of his bag, somehow able to leap to his feet while still bundled up.

“WHY IS YOUR BUG SLEEPING SO CLOSE TO ME?!?!” Misty screamed.

“Wha? Is that why you’re screaming?” He blinked tiredly at her. “Caterpie didn’t mean any harm by it.”

“It’s gross and slimy! Keep it away from me!”

I finished extracting myself from my sleeping bag.

“Caterpie? Hey, Caterpie! Don’t listen to her!” I turned around to see what Ash was worrying about. Caterpie had crawled over to its pokeball and returned itself. Ash picked up the pokeball sadly before turning on Misty.

“Now see what you did? Pokemon have feelings too you know!” He snapped.

“I don’t care about the feelings of icky pokemon! And I’m not going to apologize!” She crossed her arms and huffed. “Now that that’s settled, let’s hurry up and—AAGH!” She, and I, flinched as a large bird flew past and startled her, and me.

“Hah, hah, I thought it was another bug pokemon, but it’s a Pidgeotto.” Misty panted.

“Wow, that’s the evolved form of Pidgey, right?” Ash pulled out his pokedex to check. “I’m gonna catch it!” Ash put away his pokedex and in the same motion took out a pokeball. “Pokeball go!”

Like yesterday, Ash threw the pokeball dead on. Unlike yesterday Pidgeotto swiped its wing at the pokeball sending it back to Ash.

“You don't get it, do you?” Misty began. “ You don't just throw a pokeball and capture a Pokémon. You have to make it battle and weaken it first. The only reason you got to catch Caterpie is because it's already a weakling.” Misty lectured Ash while also insulting Caterpie at the same time.

“I know what I'm doing and you just better quit picking on Caterpie, okay?” Ash replied, walking up to Misty. “And now, if you kindly keep your big mouth shut, you'll see how it's done.” He said into Misty’s face.

Ash then grabbed…no…he wasn’t…

“Go, Caterpie!”

Yes…yes he was.

Ash just took Caterpie’s pokeball and released it with the intent that Caterpie battle Pidgeotto. That a bug would battle a bird.

“Ha, I told you I knew what I was doing.” Ash said smugly while playing with his hat.

“You don't have any idea of the mistake you've just made, do you?”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Caterpie!”

Turning to look at Caterpie did in fact reveal Ash did something wrong as Caterpie ran around like a headless chicken while Pidgeotto pecked at its back.

“Caterpie, counterattack!”

Caterpie…tried…but against Pidgeotto?

Thwack.

Pidgeotto just knocked Caterpie into a tree and looked ready to take a bite out of Caterpie.

“Caterpie!”

“Quick, call it back!” I’m not sure if Misty or I called out first.

“Huh?” That got Ash’s attention. “ Caterpie, return!”

And just in time too as Caterpie was returned just before Pidgeotto got to it. Leaving Pidgeotto’s beak stuck in the tree.
“Pikachu, go!” Pikachu jumped off the log he was on and ran towards the Pidgeotto who had just freed itself and began gaining altitude.

“Pikachu, Thunder Shock, now!” Pikachu launched a Thunder Shock while Pidgeotto was mid turn, landing a direct hit.

“Pokeball, go!” Ash threw the pokeball while Pidgeotto was stunned in midair. The ball dropped to the ground and started swaying. After a few moments, the Ball stopped moving. Ash had captured the Pidgeotto.

“Yes! We got Pidgeotto!” Ash celebrated. “I am the greatest.” He said to Misty as he walked back towards us.

“You're the worst!”

Slap.

Did Misty just…

“You have no idea what you're doing. It'll be a long time till you're a Pokémon Master like, a million years.” Misty refuted.

No, Misty didn’t slap Ash.

“Ugh. I'm trying to-”

“You should try to learn something about Pokémon first. With Pokémon, you've got to use strategy. Pidgeotto is a bird. Caterpie is a worm. Birds eat worms, Mr. Pokémon Master!” Misty lectured.

Where did that sound come from? Was Flora hiding in the trees again?

“Well, if you just try hard enough, things will work out, won't they?” Ash asked despondently.

“No, Ash, I'm afraid things won't just work out if you try hard enough. The pokemon Trainer's judgment is more important than anything else, and unfortunately for you, the Trainer has to have a brain!” Misty stepped forward forcing Ash back as she got into his face.

“Aha-ha.” Laughed a high pitched voice.

“So we meet again.”

“I know that voice.” Ash said as we all looked towards the voices.

“To protect the world from devastation.”

“To unite all peoples within our nation.”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love.”

“To extend our reach to the stars above.”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“No, not this again.” Ash uttered, looking baffled.

“Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth, that’s right!”

“What do you jerks want?” I yelled back. “Didn’t you get enough at the Pokemon Center?”

“Ha! If you think one little setback is going to throw Team Rocket off their game then you’ve got another thing coming!” Jessie sneered. “And this time we’re not going anywhere until we’ve got that Pikachu!”

“That Pikachu is far more powerful than others of its kind,” James commented. “It’s wasted on a kid like you!”

“So hand it over, now!” The Meowth stepped forward threateningly. Jessie and James followed up by releasing their Ekans and Koffing.

“There’s no way I’m giving you Pikachu!” Ash denied, Pikachu jumped to the ground and sparked angrily.

“Eevee, I need you!” I called out my own pokemon. “Remember these guys?”

“Vee!.” He growled.

“Wait, Sarah!” Ash stopped me. “You can’t attack when I’m attacking! We have to go one at a time!”

“What? Why?” I blinked.

“The League rules say only one Trainer can battle at a time.” He stated.

“Ash! If you play by the rules you’re gonna lose your pokemon!” Misty yelled at him. “They’re bad guys, they’re not gonna play by the rules!”

“Indeed we’re not.” James chuckled. “In fact, Koffing, use your Sludge attack!” Koffing sucked in more air and blew out a pair of concussive blasts. Pikachu and Eevee’s faces were splattered with the sludge, leaving their eyes sealed shut.

“Chu! Chu!” Pikachu scrabbled at his face.

“Vee!

“Pikachu!”

“Eevee!”

Ash grabbed Pikachu while I returned Eevee.

“Misty, take him. Don’t let Team Rocket take him!” Ash handed Pikachu off to Misty.

“Pidgeotto, I choose you!” He summoned the bird. “Use Quick Attack on the Koffing!”

Pidgeotto did its best but the earlier battle had tired it out. It was barely staying ahead of Koffing and Ekans attacks and unlike Ash they had no problem attacking together.

“Ash, Pidgeotto needs help!” I reached for my pokeball. “I’m not going to sit by and watch! Go, Bulbasaur! Use Vine Whip when Ekans comes out of the ground again!”

“Bulba!” He readied his vines, waiting until the purple snake burst through a new hole. “Saur!” Ekans hissed as it was batted aside. It wasn’t a full-contact blow but it did give Pidgeotto some room.

“Pidgeotto, return!” Ash recalled the exhausted bird. “Caterpie, I choose you!”

“Caterpie?! Are you nuts, Ash!” Misty screamed.

“Use String Shot!” He ignored her.

“Bulbasaur, keep moving and use Vine Whip!” I hoped that would be enough to keep Ekans from using Wrap and strangling my pokemon. “You’re doing great! Keep it up!”

“FWEEE! FWEEE!” I checked to see how Caterpie was doing, worried that it might be hurt, but Caterpie didn’t need any help from me. It had already managed to wrap Koffing up like a Hearth’s Warming present.

“Whoa, that’s one impressive String Shot.” I remarked.

“Good going, Caterpie! Now help tie down Ekans too!” Ash seemed to have gotten over his hold up with the rules. With Bulbasaur’s help it was easy for Caterpie to line up another shot.

“Well ya ain’t getting away from me!” The talking Meowth yowled.

He was shortly wrapped up just like Koffing.

“Next time you twerps won’t be so lucky!” Jessie vowed. In a flash Team Rocket, and their pokemon, were gone.

“Good job Bulbasaur.” I patted his head when he walked back to me. “Look at that, you’re winning battles all over the place!”

“Caterpie, you were amazing too!” Ash joined in to praise his pokemon.

“They really were amazing.” Misty smiled from where she was still holding Pikachu. Most of the gunk had been wiped out of his eyes but it was still staining his fur.

“That’s right,” Ash grinned mischievously, holding Caterpie out towards her. I could see Misty biting her lip to keep from screaming. “You should congratulate them, Misty. Go on, give Caterpie a pat on the head and say ‘good job’.”

“…Do I…have to?” She whimpered.

“Take things slow and move at your own pace, Caterpie isn’t going to hurt you.” I offered.

“Okay, I can do this.” Misty took a deep breath. Carefully, she inched her hand forward.

I can’t help but feel more progress would have been made if Caterpie hadn’t chosen that exact moment to spray silk from his mouth.

“Caterpie?”

Ash put Caterpie on the ground as the thread covered its body.

“What?”

“It’s evolving.” Misty stated in wonder.

Evolving?

“Caterpie, this is so great.” Ash exclaimed.

Once the silk spray stopped we saw that Caterpie had turned into a green crescent-shaped shell.

Ash took out his pokedex and it had this to say.

“Metapod, Caterpie's next stage. It has encased its body in a hard shell. This specimen reached this stage faster than any previously discovered pokemon of this variety.”

“Hey, maybe that means it could keep on changing and go on to the next stage right away.” Ash wondered.

Can Pokemon do that? What about Bulbasaur, Eevee and Spearow? I should check out my pokedex when I get the chance.

“Nice to meet you, Metapod.” Ash chuckled. “Not in the mood to talk?

“I've never known anyone like him. He really does love Pokémon.” Misty said to herself, eyes closed.

Which was probably why Ash managed to close the distance and taunt Misty into petting Metapot and DEAR CELESTIA THAT WAS A GIANT BEE!

“Oh, I'll do anything. Let's just get out of this forest.”

Couldn’t have said that better than myself Misty. Couldn’t have that better than myself.

Chapter 3: Challenge of the Samurai

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“Deep breaths, Misty, deep breaths. Think of water pokemon.” I reminded her, steering us away from a rustle in the bushes.

“I just want to be out of this forest already.” She obsessively checked to make sure she wouldn’t step or walk into a bug pokemon. “How much longer until we get out of here?”

“Maybe a week?” I was hedging my bets.

“It’s not like any of these pokemon are attacking us so there’s no reason to be scared.” I couldn’t see but I was sure Ash was rolling his eyes while he said that.

“Phobias aren’t logical, Ash. Everyone has something they’re afraid of.” I scolded him.

“Not me!” He boasted. “I’m going to be a Pokemon Master and a Pokemon Master isn’t scared of anything!”

“That’s not funny. You know I hate bugs and I saw one right over there.” She pointed at an orange worm trailing behind us.

“A Weedle!” Ash took out his pokedex and scanned it.

“Weedle, the stinger on this pokemon’s head guarantees that any attacker will get the point right where it hurts.”

Was it just me or did that thing have a sense of humor?

“A stinger, huh? Now, there’s a challenge.”

“Why are you so excited about a bug with a stinger? Make it go away!” Misty screeched.

“You got to be kidding. You can’t possibly expect a great pokemon Trainer like me to let a Weedle escape. I’m going to catch it.” Ash decided, reaching for a pokeball. “Oh! Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. You have to weaken a pokemon before you can capture it.”

Thankfully Ash remembered the last time he tried throwing a pokeball at a pokeball.

“Let’s go, Pikachu.” We all turned to Pikachu.

“Pikachu.” Who had apparently decided to take a nap.

…where did he get a sleeping mat that size?

“Ah, taking a nap, huh? Okay, snooze, you lose. There’s still Pidgeotto and Metapod to do the job, and they give me the respect I deserve.” Ash goaded Pikachu.

“You deserve to have your head examined.” Misty shot off before noticing Weedle climbing up her leg.

…huh I didn’t even see Weedle crawl that fast.

“Don’t just stand there! Catch it!” Misty yelled as she ran away from Weedle who couldn’t hang onto her leg as she ran.

“Wait! Misty!” I ran off after her, stopping only long enough to see Ash release Pidgeotto and Pdigeotto send Weedle flying with a Gust attack.

I hope Ash doesn’t take too long to catch Weedle.

“Misty! Where are you!?”

How could I have lost Misty so easily? She wasn’t running that fast and I didn’t stay that long to watch Ash and Pidgeotto.

Rustle.

I stopped as I saw a bush rustling.

“Misty?”

The rustling stopped and out popped a Caterpie.

“Caterpie?” It gazed at me with a head tilt.

Shortly after Ash’s Caterpie evolved into Metapod, and I made sure another Beedrill wouldn’t jumpscare me and Misty, I checked my pokedex to see if Metapod could keep evolving. I found that it did and evolved into Butterfree. One of two pokemon Flora suggested I capture for utility, and I could see why. Caterpie’s String Shot was pretty impressive and according to the pokedex Butterfree could learn moves that poison, paralyze, and put pokemon and people to sleep. I wasn’t sure about poisoning or paralyzing other people’s pokemon, but putting them to sleep should be fine. Discord even said to go to Viridian Forest and capture some pokemon.

There were a few problems with capturing Caterpie, namely that if I and Ash had a pair of Butterfree it would be confusing. Especially if we ended up battling together again and we both used Butterfree. Sure we could give our pokemon nicknames and I could give my Butterfree an accessory to distinguish my Butterfree from Ash’s, but during the heat of battle I had to assume that it would still be easy to lose track of our respective pokemon and for them to mix up our commands.

And with Oddish? I already had Bulbasaur and I didn’t want another pokemon that was weak to bird type pokemon.

Why would Flora have two grass type pokemon if they both shared a weakness in bird type pokemon?

“You going to catch it?”And speaking of Flora…

“No.” I said turning to face Flora who tilted her confused.

“And why not?”

“Because I’m not going to catch pokemon just to use them to make gym battles easier!” At my answer she shrugged.

“Sure, that’s a good enough answer I suppose.”

“You’re not going to push that idea?”

“Why would I? What would I gain from doing so?” She turned around to leave.

“Wait!” I ran up to catch her.

“What?” She turned around to look at me.

“I answered your questions, so why don’t you answer mine?” I challenged.

“Sure, what’s your first question?”

“Can you teach my Bulbasaur Bullet Seed?”

“What?” Whatever she was expecting I was going to ask, that wasn’t it.

“You said that I should teach whatever grass type pokemon I had Bullet Seed and since your Bulbasaur knows Bullet Seed I thought that maybe you could teach it to my Bulbasaur.” I rationalized.

“And why would I waste my time teaching your Bulbasaur Bullet Seed?” She glared at me.

“Well since you’re going to be following me you might as well make yourself useful.” I said smiling as she blinked in shock.

“And what makes you think I was following you?”

Really? She was really going to play dumb?

“Yesterday me, Ash and Misty left Viridian City early in the morning and we didn’t see anyone when we entered Viridian Forest, meaning you secretly followed us into the forest instead of just challenging me to a battle in Viridian City where you could treat your pokemon. And even if you were already in Viridian Forest when we arrived, the fact that you went to Viridian City to treat your pokemon and in one day still managed to find me in a forest is suspicious, unless you didn’t heal your pokemon.” I pointed out.

“Of course I went back to heal my pokemon.” She shot back. “I care about my pokemon and am not crazy enough to travel inside Viridian Forest without them at full health.”

“So you admit you're following me?” I said, smirking as she realized what she just said.

“And if I were?”

“Then I’m going to haul you to officer Jenny for harassment.” I threatened her with a glare.

“Woah woah woah.” She held up her hands and took a step back. “There’s no reason to bring the cops into this.”

“Oh, I won’t.” I said with a smile. “So long as you tell me why you’re following me.” She stared at me flummoxed until let out a tired sigh.

“You’re really paranoid about this aren’t you?”

“It’s not paranoia if a powerful Trainer and literal criminals are following me around a forest!” I pointed out. “Now don’t change the subject.”

“Wait criminals? What criminals are you talking…about…you’re talking about Team Rocket aren’t you?” She deadpanned.

“Yes! The fact that you even know about Team Rocket is not helping my nerves!”

“Ok, ok! Calm down, jeeze” Whatever she was going to say was drowned out by music playing from my bag.

I wanna be the very best~

“Hold on.” I reached into my bag and brought out the pokegear. “Yes?’

“Can you put me on speaker phone?” Came the voice of Discord

“Oh, let me see.” Fiddling with the pokegear for a few seconds, I managed to put it on speakerphone, whatever that was. “Got it.”

“Good. Flora just give her the TM for Bullet Seed already.”

“What?” We echoed looking at the pokegear.

“Look, the sooner this scene can end the sooner Silver Spoon can leave Viridian Forest. Do you know how boring those two episodes were despite their plot significance? I’d much rather she traipsed through Petalburg Woods, at least those episodes were interesting.”

What was Discord rambling about?

“And you’re just gonna drop the whole mysterious rival angle?”

“I repeat, I want the plot to leave Viridian Forest already.” Discord whined.

Well, at least we don’t have to dance around the issue of my mystery stalker and Bulbasaur gets to learn Bullet Seed…somehow. What was a TM?

“Very well, I’ll give Silver Spoon the TM.” Flora relented.

“Good, and also watch out for those Beedrill.”

Click.

“What Beedrill?” I asked aloud as a low buzzing started getting louder.

I and Flora looked up and saw a horde of Beedrill chasing Ash, Misty, Pikachu and some weirdo in armor.

…

Ok, maybe Discord had a point about leaving Viridian Forest.

Chapter 4: Showdown in Pewter City

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One day…it took one day to leave Viridian Forest.

The Beedrill forced us into the weirdo’s cabin. Misty had apparently ran into the weirdo, named Samurai of all things, who lost against the other three Pallet Town Trainers and challenged Ash to a battle. Of course the interruption let Weedle escape and Ash, rightfully so I thought, blamed Samurai for Weedle’s escape and the two battled. Ash had to have been playing around with Weedle since Pidgeotto “fainted” after one Tackle from Samurai’s Pinsir. Metapod, oddly enough, did better despite being unable to move by using Harden and breaking Pinsir’s pincers. The Metapod versus Metapod bit was something I was having trouble believing.

That ended when the Beedrill swarmed in and kidnapped Metapod. Samurai had the gall to say that Ash abandoned Metapod. Ash was brash, impulsive and an idiot, but I could not believe that Ash would abandon his pokemon. We literally jumped off a cliff to protect Pikachu from Spearow and Ash…borrowed Misty’s bike to get Pikachu to the Pokemon Center. Needless to say, I did not like Samurai.

We spent the night in his cabin and found Ash gone in the morning. Obviously, there was only one place where he could be and we found him there, having gone off to rescue Metapod on his own…correction rescue Butterfree on his own who then followed Ash’s command and used Sleep Powder on the Beedrill.

That impressed Samurai who then showed us the path out of Viridian Forest and to Pewter City. I think Misty’s glad she doesn’t have to worry about bugs so much anymore. I can see the constant stress has worn on her.

Oh, and Ash mentioned that Team Rocket woke up the swarm. He didn’t see what happened to them afterwards. Honestly, I hope they got away. They might be pokemon thieves but I don’t think they deserve to be eaten by Beedrill.

It actually took longer to walk to Pewter City from Viridian Forest than it took to walk through Viridian Forest. In that amount of time Flora not only taught Bulbasaur Bullet Seed but also gave me a Technical Machine case and the TM for Bullet Seed. Apparently Technical Machines could teach pokemon moves instantly, but Flora stated that they weren’t “widespread” yet and “advised” that I don’t promote its existence. After she taught Bulbasaur I tried questioning her. Who was she, how much did she know and why was she working with Discord? She was vague about it and I decided to drop the issue.

We had been walking down a rocky trail for a few days now when we saw a city off in the distance.

“Yay, Pewter City!” Misty cheered as Ash ran off to stand on a stone overlooking the city.

I had to shake my head.

I’m glad everything turned out alright. We can stop by the Pokemon Center and get all our pokemon checked out and then head to the gym there. Ash is excited about getting his first gym badge.

I wonder what kind of place Pewter City is. I wonder what sort of pokemon train at the gym. We’ll see soon enough.

“For a while there, I thought I was going to be in this forest for the rest of my life.” Ash said while sitting on the stone.

“Pewter City is gray, the color of stone.” Who said that? “This town has always been famous
for stone.” Was Pewter City a rock farm like Pinkie Pie’s home? And how did you farm rocks?

We looked down the ledge to see a man sitting on the ground next to a staircase of rocks.

“Huh? What the...?” Ash started. “Who's this old guy?”

“Never met him.” Misty replied while I shrugged my shoulders and Flora twirled her finger around her head.

“The name's Flint. And you're sitting on some of my merchandise, young man.” He said without turning his head to look at us.

“Oh, sorry!” Ash apologized, standing up and jumping down the ledge to the stranger’s level. “Uh, you mean you sell rocks?”

The rest of us walked down the staircase and I noted that all of the rocks had a price tag on them.

“They're Pewter City souvenirs. Want to buy some?”

“No, thanks. I'm traveling, trying to become a pokemon trainer.” Ash declared while Flora looked intently at the rocks.

That got Flint’s attention as he turned to look over Pikachu.

“Well, your Pokémon sure looks worn out.” Flint stood up. “Why don't you follow me? I'll show you to the Pokémon Center.” He offered, walking towards Pewter City.

“See, looks can be deceiving. He's a nice guy.” Ash said, looking over to us.

“Are you sure?” Misty doubted.

“By the way, that'll be a $2 charge for resting on my rocks.”

As Flint promised he took us directly to the Pokemon Center. We left our pokemon with Nurse Joy, the Pewter City Nurse Joy was the older sister of the Viridian City, who directed our attention to a poster promoting the Pokemon League Regional League Championships.

“The Pokémon League Regional Championships! All right!”

“Ha!” Misty walked up to Ash and laughed.

“Huh? What's the matter?”

“To compete in the regional championships, you need to beat Gym Trainers from different towns and get their badges as proof.” Misty stated, ignoring Flora correcting her by saying Gym Leaders instead of trainers. “Can you do that?”

“Of course I can!” Ash responded.

“Don't tell me you plan on challenging Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader.” Flint walked up to us laughing.

“Of course I do. As soon as Pikachu and my other Pokémon are better, I'll have no problem. Take me to this Brock's Gym. I’ll beat him.”

That set off Flint who started laughing at Ash.

“You’ll beat him, heh.” Flint walked away still laughing.

“So, who’s up for lunch?” Flora spoke up.

“Ooh, that Flint, trying to make a fool out of me.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Ash, that's rude.” I chastised Ash as he shoveled rice into his mouth.

At Flora’s insistence we went out to get lunch at a nearby diner.

“Do you really think you can win?” Misty pointed a fork with noodles swirled around it. “Gym leaders are different from your everyday pokemon trainer. They're much, much tougher.”

“Eh, Brock ain’t that tough.” Flora chimed in gaining everyone’s attention. “He’s one of the weakest amongst both the Kanto Gym circuit and rock type specialists worldwide.”

“How do you know that?” I had to ask.

“A serious pokemon trainer ought to know the regional pokemon Gyms that they’re going to be competing in.” Flora pointed out.

Huh, why couldn’t she be so cavalier about what Discord was up to?

“I'll tell you what, Ash, if you ask me really nicely, I'll help you out.” Misty teased.

“I don't need any help.” Ash flat out refused while still shoveling rice into his mouth.

“Huh? Is that so?” Misty stood up. “Fine with me. There's no way you'll beat Brock in the Pewter City Gym. Huh!” With her piece said Misty walked off.

“Hey, you can't leave me with the bill!” Ash quickly stood up. “Come back here!” And ran off to chase Misty.

…

“They left us with…”

“They left us with the bill, yes.” Flora finished.

“So this is Pewter Gym?”

After Flora paid for the bill we met up with Ash at the Pokemon Center and picked up our pokemon. We would’ve asked Nurse Joy where the Pewter City Gym was, but Flora mentioned she knew where it was and, with Nurse Joy confirming Flora’s directions, we shortly made our way to the gym.

It was…certainly unique, the front looked like a giant boulder held up by human sized rocks with a set of metal doors in the middle.

“All right, then.” Ash walked up and opened the doors with me and Flora following. “Hello!”

The inside of the gym was dark, whatever lights that were inside hadn’t been turned on.

Ash kept walking further inside the gym and while I would’ve followed Ash, Flora stopped me and led me up a staircase to a spectator’s box. As soon as we got there, a light shined down on a dark skinned teenager, Brock.

What happened next was kind of a blur. Ash challenged Brock to a match and with a snap of his fingers Brock turned the gym into a rocky field and the lights came on.

“Are Gym Leaders this dramatic?” I asked Flora.

“Girl, you haven’t seen anything yet.” She answered.

In the Pewter Gym, battles are two against two, which I guess explains why Flora wanted a two on two battle.

Ash sent out Pikachu while Brock sent out Onix. I checked out Onix’s entry in the pokedex on our way here, but I never realized how big the Rock Snake pokemon really was. A picture really doesn’t capture the magnitude of Onix’s size.

Like Pikachu I was worried about our chances of earning the Pewter Badge.

“Don’t be, Onix is a paper tiger. Weak to grass type moves like all rock types.” Flora reassured me with barely a glance.

“And Ash?”

“Better luck next time.”

It…it was a short match.

Pikachu’s ThunderShock had no effect on Onix who just used Bind on Pikachu. Without the ability to recall Pikachu, Ash forfeited the match, picked up Pikachu and left the gym. I climbed down the staircase intent on following Ash, but Flora had other plans.

“Sarah’s turn!”

Wait, what?

I turned around to see Flora grinning wildly while pointing at me while Brock looked on intently.

“You wish to challenge me?”

“Er…yeah, but…”

“Kick his but Sarah! Avenge your man!”

What!?

“Very well, I accept your challenge. Onix is still ready to battle. Now, send out your pokemon.”

Glaring at Flora, I walked up to the challenger’s box and thought out my options.

During our training Flora stated that pokemon had one or two types, and each type was strong or weak against other types. Grass pokemon were strong against water type pokemon, water type pokemon were strong against fire type pokemon and fire type pokemon were strong against grass type pokemon. And as Flora just stated, rock type pokemon were weak against grass type pokemon. Ergo, Bulbasaur was my best chance at winning the Pewter Badge.

“Go Bulbasaur!” I threw out Bulbasaur’s pokeball and Bulbasaur stood tall before Onix.

“Hm, you have raised Bulbasaur well unlike your friend.” Brock complemented.

“You haven’t seen what we can do yet! Bulbasaur, Bullet Seed!”

Bulbasaur immediately began launching seeds at Onix and unlike Pikachu’s ThunderShock Bulbasaur’s Bullet Seed had a definite effect on Onix.

“Hm, very well. Onix, Tackle attack!”

“Dodge it Bulbasaur! And watch out for Onix’s tail!”

Despite Onix’s deceptively fast attack Bulbasaur managed to dodge the Tackle and maintain a good distance from Onix’s tail.

“Good job Bulbasaur! Now keep using Bullet Seed!”

“Onix! Keep using Tackle!”

Unfortunately, Onix was quicker on the draw this time and slammed into Bulbasaur.

“Bulbasaur!” I could only watch as Bulbasaur slowly stood back up.

“Your Bulbasaur is certainly tough, but is it tough enough to handle another Tackle attack.”

“Bulbasaur, run underneath Onix!”

Thankfully Bulbasaur caught on to my idea and ran underneath Onix as it tackled the spot where Bulbasaur was.

“Good, now use Bullet Seed again!”

While Onix turned to Bulbasaur, Bulbasaur managed another round of Bullet Seed at Onix’s face.

“Onix Tackle attack!”

This is getting repetitive.

“Bulbasaur underneath Onix again!”

“Onix Rock Throw!”

What?

As soon as Bulbasaur was past Onix’s main body, Onix slammed its tail into Bulbasaur.

This time Bulbasaur could only launch a single seed at Onix before fainting.

“Bulbasaur.” I returned him and stared sadly at his pokeball.

Roar!

I was shocked out of it by a roar and looked up to see Onix restrained by thin vines.

“Impressive, before fainting your Bulbasaur managed to land Leech Seed on Onix.”

Leech Seed.

If I remember correctly Leech Seed was supposed to suck energy from whatever it hit. And considering the red glow coming from the vines, it was working.

That meant I just had to drag the battle on for long enough and Onix would be unable to battle.

That…that I could work with.

“Onix return.”

…what?

I couldn’t help but gawk as Brock returned Onix.

“Why are you returning Onix? He could have kept battling!” I couldn’t help but ask.

“There’s no point in going on. All you would have done is lead Onix on until he was unable to battle and I still have one more pokemon.”

That…he was right of course. I would have just led him on and we both had one more pokemon left. It could go in either direction.

“Go, Geodude!” Brock released a floating rock with a face and pair of arms attached to it.

“Let’s go Eevee!” Like Bulbasaur before Eevee stood firm.

“Eevee, Tackle!

“Stop them.”

Geodude managed to stop Eevee with one hand.

Looks like I won’t be able to beat Geodude head to head.

“Geodude Tackle!”

With his other hand Geodude landed an uppercut against Eevee and launched him into the air.

Chance!

“Eevee, use Double Kick!”

Geodude tried to block the attack with his hands, but because Eevee was falling towards Geodude, Double Kick landed with more power than Geodude had expected and embedded it in the floor.

“That’s the way, good job.” I congratulated. “How’s that Brock?”

“That was a brilliant maneuver, using the speed of Eevee’s fall.” Brock acknowledged with a nod.

“Geodude!” Geodude launched itself out of the floor looking no worse for wear.

“Now Geodude Tackle!”

“Jump and dodge it.”

Eevee jumped backwards as Geodude crashed into the floor.

“Tackle again!”

“Jump on Geodude and use Double Kick.”

This time Eevee jumped on top of Geodude and landed another Double Kick while Geodude was recovering from tackling the floor again.

This time Geodude did not rise again.

“Geodude is unable to battle.” Brock returned Geodude. “As I have no pokemon left, that means you are the winner.”

…

I won?

…

I won!

“Eevee we won!” I raced down towards Eevee and pick him up in my arms cheering all the way.

“Vee! Eevee!”

“Congratulations, you did better than Ash and just as well as the other three Pallet Town Trainers.” Flora complemented from the stairwell.

“You have shown your dedication to being a pokemon trainer.” Brock walked up to me. “You have truly earned the Boulder Badge.” He held out his hand holding a badge in the shape of a gray octagon.

The Boulder Badge.

…

And I’ve been calling it the Pewter Badge…oops.

“Thank you Brock.” I took the badge.

My first badge.

The first step towards going home.

For such a tiny thing, it had a certain weight to it.

I and Flora immediately went to the Pokemon Center to heal my pokemon and check on Ash. He wasn’t there, but Misty was and she knew where Ash was. While we were heading towards wherever Ash was, Flora handed me some more TMs as a reward for beating Brock. Bide, Rock Tomb, Rock Slide, and Headbutt.

It was getting late when we arrived, but we found Ash at the old water mill. Walking on the water wheel like it was a treadmill.

“Hey, Ash. Wouldn't it be a lot better to just ask me for help instead of going with this crazy power plan of yours?” Misty offered again.

“Forget it! I'll win without your help.”

“Huh! What do I care?” Misty fumed.

Ok, Ash may have been rude about it, but he might be right to refuse. If Misty is just offering to lend Ash her pokemon then it wouldn’t really be Ash’s victory, it would be Misty’s.

“I'm going to get a badge all by myself using the Pokémon I'm training!”

“Stubborn. It'd be a lot easier if he used some of mine too.”

So I was right, she was just offering up her pokemon.

“That sounds like cheating.” Flora thought out loud.

“It’s not cheating.” Misty argued.

“You're right. It’s like cheating, but cheating.” Flora said sarcastically.

Better put a stop to this.

“They have a point, you know.” I smiled nervously. “If he wins with someone else’s pokemon, then he didn’t really win at all.”

“Even so, there’s no way he could win with the pokemon he has now!” She argued.

“He can.” I disagreed. “Ash just needs to keep in mind every pokemon’s individual strength. For instance, Butterfree has a very strong sleep powder. Onix can’t fight if it's sleeping.”

“I told ya.” I ignored Flora.

“But that’s strategy, and to use strategy Ash would need a brain.” She huffed.

While we were distracted by our debate, Ash and Pikachu blew up the water mill…what was their plan again?

We all spent a restless night in the Pokemon Center, but bright early the next day we were once again stepping inside the Pewter City Gym.

“Haven't you learned your lesson yet?” Brock tiredly asked Ash.

“We're ready for you this time, Brock!”

I, Flora and Misty were cheering for him from the spectator box. Hopefully he’d been listening when we were talking by the water mill. Hopefully this fight will go better.

“Geodude, center stage!” Brock’s first pokemon was called out. It looked good, like it hadn’t hit the floor multiple times yesterday.

“Pidgeotto, I choose you!”

“Gah!” Flora banged her head against the railing.

“Bad strategy?” I asked.

“Flying pokemon are weak against rock types and I doubt Pidgeotto knows any good moves.” Flora groaned.

Oh, guess Ash hadn’t been listening then.

Ash shortly returned a fainted Pidgeotto who had done no damage to Geodude.

“Pikachu, now's our chance to show him how weak we are!”

Was…was that supposed to be reassuring?

What was reassuring was Pikachu’s attack blowing up Geodude who then promptly fell to the ground knocked out.

“How!?” Flora screeched. “How did Pikachu knock out Geodude with an electric attack!? That shouldn’t be possible!”

“It looks like you've trained it better. But still, it's no match for Onix!” Brock released Onix and it stared down Pikachu.

I guess Pikachu got spooked because it filled the gym with lighting, so much so that I was blinking away stars.

“Onix, bind it!” Brock ordered, soundling less confident.

All the while Pikachu was releasing more lightning that was doing something to Onix if the roars were anything.

“Gah! Is he trying to blind us!?”

Eventually Pikachu ran out of steam and the light show stopped.

“Onix, stop!”

Huh?

Onix released Pikachu who looked like he fainted.

“No, Brock, I want to play this match to the end.”

Ash! What was he saying!? Pikachu was clearly in no condition to battle anymore!

“There's no point in going on. I really don't want to hurt your Pokémon.”

Apparently Pikachu had set something on fire as the sprinkler system was set off and began dousing everyone in water. Onix let out a roar of pain, but I didn’t know what was hurting it.

“Ash!” Misty got Ash’s attention. “Rock pokemon are weakened by water!”

Oh, so that’s why Onix was in pain.

Pikachu, apparently still up, let loose another electric attack that, with the water weakening Onix, sent Onix crashing down to the ground.

“Pikachu, finish it off!” Ash lifted his arm to call one last attack.

Ash! What are you…doing?

A bunch of kids had crowded around Ash, begging him to stop.

Who were they and where did they come from?

“My conscience is holding me back. I can't bring myself to beat Brock. I'm imagining his little
brothers and sisters stopping me from beating the one person they love.”

…are…are you serious?

“Ash, I think you'd better open your eyes.” That was Misty, Flora was off in the corner laughing.

“You leave Onix alone! Our brother worked hard to raise him, you big bully.” I didn’t know which one of the kids was talking.

“Believe me, kid, I'm no bully.”

…Ash, Onix was literally on the ground unconscious and you were going to order Pikachu to keep attacking it! How was that no being a bully? And I should know, considering…

“Stop it. Get off, all of you! This is an official match and we're going to finish it no matter what!”

Brock?

“But, Brock, we know that you love your Pokémon so much.”

“That's why we can't watch Onix suffer from another attack!”

Just call the match Brock. Why was this any different from yesterday?

“Pikachu, return!”

Oh thank Celestia.

“What do you think you're doing? This match isn't over yet, Ash.”

“Those sprinklers going off was just an accident.” Ash had finally gotten himself free from Brock’s…siblings, oh jeez. How many are there? Two, four, six, eight, nine? Oh jeez, was Brock’s family a long lost branch of the Apple family?

“Winning the match because of that wouldn't have proved anything. Next time we meet, I'll beat you my way, fair and square.” Ash walked out of the gym.

“Just when he finally gets a lucky break, he decides to be a nice guy too.” Misty said disappointedly.

…Misty…Ash already had Onix on the ground. He won. There was no need for that last attack. Why was he going for that last attack when Onix clearly was unable to battle?

“I'm sorry if I was too tough on you, Pikachu. But you really did a great job.”

I had just caught up to Ash walking along the river with Pikachu.

“Ash!”

“Sarah?” Ash turned around to face me. “Brock?” What?

Turning around myself, I saw Brock running up to catch up to both of us.

“Ash, you forgot this.” He held out a Boulder Badge to Ash.

“A badge for defeating a Gym Trainer. I can't accept that. I didn't beat you. I gave up.”

“Nah. I lost to you. You beat me in battle and in being kind to all Pokémon.”

That…was he watching the same battle I saw? I mean yes, he had Onix on the ground and beaten, but he was going to have Pikachu attack anyway. He only stopped because…

“To tell you the truth, I get more pleasure from raising Pokémon than from making them battle.” Brock turned to face the river. “I don't care about being a great Pokémon trainer. I want to become the world's best breeder but I can't leave here because I have to look after my brothers and sisters.” He turned back to face Ash. “Ash, I want you to take this and fulfill my dream.” He held out the Boulder Badge. “Will you do that for me?”

Huh, I wonder if any of the Apples felt that way from time to time.

“I will.” Ash nodded “And I'll do my best to deserve this too!” He took the Boulder Badge.

“Brock, you go follow your own dreams.” We all turned to the voice.

“Flint!”

Flint took off his beard and hat revealing a startling familiar face.

“My father.” Brock’s voice hardened.

“You mean you're the good-for-nothing father who left home and never came back?” Ash gaped.

Wait, what? I have a feeling I may have missed something when I was battling Brock myself.

“That's right. It was me. I couldn't become the great pokemon trainer I wanted to be and because I was such a failure, I was too embarrassed and ashamed to go back to my family.”

“But why did you help me instead of Brock?”

“You reminded me of myself.” Flint admitted. “You didn't seem to have a chance.” He looked to Brock. “It's time I started taking care of my family. You go fulfill your dreams and mine.”

“First, I’ve got a few things I’d like to say to you.” My heart jumped at his tone. Cautiously, I edged back.

“After all these years, I understand how you must feel about me so I want you to get everything off your chest.”

“Here.” Brock handed Flint a sewing needle and a spool.

Brock fired off a fast-paced list of his siblings’ likes, dislikes, health issues, school problems, hobbies, habits, friends, favorite cartoons, it was a very detailed dossier. I couldn’t keep more than one or two names straight, and Flint was scribbling it all down on some sticky notes as fast as he could.

“Hey, Ash, are you sure it's okay if I go with you on your Pokémon journey?”

It was night out and Brock was only asking about it now.

“Sure I'm sure. The more the merrier.”

“Well, what about that girl who keeps following you?” We looked back at Misty.

“Don't forget about my bike, Ash Ketchum! I'm going to follow you till you pay me back!”

“I know, I know! Pikachu, let's try to lose her.” Ash and Pikachu began to run for it.

“Wait up, Ash! You won't get away!” Misty began running.

“And what about the blonde girl?” Brock turned to me as we ran to follow Ash.

“She said she was going to stay in Pewter till tomorrow and maybe meet back with us eventually.”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if she would meet back with us. Kanto was a large region and as far as I knew she didn’t have a way to track us. Then again, since she was working for Discord she had to have some way of appearing whenever she wanted.

Chapter 5: Clefairy and the Moon Stone

View Online

We were coming up to the next big landmark on our journey. Mt. Moon. There wasn’t much information in my pokedex about it except that clefairy and clefable were sometimes found here. I had more than one daydream about catching one. They were so cute.

“Mt. Moon,” Misty sighed. “Doesn’t a name like that sound so romantic?”

“Really?” I had to ask. After finding out that Princess Celestia had a younger sister who had turned evil and was banished to the moon, the name didn’t sound so romantic. Different worlds, different stories I guessed

“They say a meteor landed there during prehistoric times.” Brock informed us.

“A meteor?” Ash perked up. “Is it really true?”

“The meteor is called the Moon Stone.”

“Ah. Now that's romantic!”

Before I could even ask, a scream broke out ahead of us.

“Look! Over there!” Ash jumped. A second later we were chasing after him, towards the source of the scream. As we got closer I could pick out the sounds of screeching. Bat-like pokemon were swarming in broad daylight, darting at a man huddled beneath them. “Ah. It's a bunch of Zubat!”

“They're attacking that guy!”

“Dexter, analyze!” Ash pulled out his pokedex.

“Zubat. Flying Pokémon with supersonic powers, Zubat live in caves and hate to fly outside in daylight.”

“Not these Zubat.” Ash muttered.

“This isn’t any time for joking, Ash!” Misty scolded him. “That guy needs our help!”

“You're right. I'm sorry. Pikachu! Thundershock!”

I flinched against the bright light. Most of the Zubat got away unhurt, flying back to their cave. I noticed Brock throwing a pokeball at a particularly unlucky Zubat that had gotten stunned. He looked pretty pleased when the pokeball set properly.

“Wow! You guys are the greatest!” The man Ash saved whirled on him, grabbing Ash in a tight squeeze. “I'm talking superfantabulastic! I mean, two thumbs up! Way up! The best rescue I've ever had!”

Pikachu was looking a little squished. I took two big steps back just before the flash.

“They say a man’s best friend is pokemon, and seeing you two I believe it!” He recovered quickly, wiping off his glasses with a grin. “Oh, a bond of friendship I never thought I’d see, when the Zubat began attacking me! And then two heroes did arrive, thanks to whom I am alive!”

Is he…rhyming?

“He certainly doesn't look like the poetic type.” Misty whispered.

“Did I mention how grateful I am?”

“Yeah. Um, anyway, why were the Zubat attacking you, mister?” Ash asked once it seemed the stranger’s bout of poetic gratitude had ended.

“Ah. Never call me mister!” He turned on us with a glare. “My name's Seymour! Seymour, the scientist. Knowledge! Research! I'm Seymour, the scientist!”

“See? The cave is all lit up inside.”

Seymour had turned on his heel and led us into the cave the Zubat flew into. The first few meters were dark and cool, as expected of a cave. Beyond that though there were lights strung up on both sides, eye watering in their intensity. The kind of lights you’d expect to see in construction zones.

“Somebody has strung these lights through the whole cave. But the Pokémon in this cave need the dark. These lights are upsetting them and making them confused.”

“Which is probably why the Zubat left the cave and attacked you.” Brock realized.

“Look here. These Paras are planting their mushrooms everywhere, and the hot lights are drying up these Sandshrew.” Seymour pointed out the knee tall orange insects with mushrooms on its back and an even larger yellow mouse sprawled out uncomfortably on the ground. “That's why I'm here. On patrol to protect the mountain from the troublemakers' attack against these caves.”

“Troublemakers? Why attack a cave?” Asked Misty.

“I'm afraid it's because of the Moon Stone.” Seymour turned to look at us.

“The Moon Stone?”

“Exactly.” Seymour nodded before going off on another tirade. “The Moon Stone is an awesome boulder a million years old or even older! Deep in these caves, the meteor hides, though no explorer has found the place of the legendary rock from space! We've studied its fragments for many an hour and discovered it increases a pokemon's power! And that is why the attackers are here! They've come to take the Moon Stone or so I fear!”

“The Moon Stone?”

I…increase a pokemon’s power? The Moon Stone could do that?

“Ever since I was a little boy, I've believed the pokemon came to earth from outer space.”

“From outer space?” We all questioned.

“Yes.” Another nod. “And where, you ask, is the spacecraft that brought them to earth? In this cave! It's the Moon Stone!”

Ok, I may be a talking pony from another world, but even I find that ridiculous.

“It sure is an original theory.” Misty commented.

“But, don't you see? It means the Moon Stone belongs to the Pokémon! We humans must not take it from them!” Seymour turned to look at Ash. “You agree with me, don't you?” Seymour took Ash’s hands into his own.

“Uh-huh. Uh-huh.”

“Clefairy. Clefairy.”

“Huh?” We all looked up to see a pink pokemon happily skipping through the cave, holding a glittering stone in hand. It pranced by us, still happily singing to itself.

“That looks like a Clefairy.” Brock stated.

“Ah. It’s so cute.” I and Misty said at the same time.

“Clefairy. This impish Pokémon is friendly and peaceful. It is believed to live inside Mt. Moon, although very few have ever been seen by humans.” Dexter reported.

“Oh, I got to catch it.” Ash declared, already pulling a pokeball from his belt.

But…I wanted to catch one.

“You can't!” Seymour grabbed Ash’s hand.

Oh thank Celestia.

“Sorry, but it's best if you just let it stay here. I hope you understand.”

“Hmm. Sure, Seymour. I understand.”

“Clefairy!” We all jumped before running in the direction Clefairy had gone. It hadn’t gotten very far. A few feet around the bend the Clefairy was huddled up against the cave wall. Overhead loomed the Team Rocket Meowth.

“What are you twerps doing here?” The Meowth gaped at us.

“Looking for troublemakers like you!” Ash growled. “So Team Rocket is causing all the trouble around here. What a surprise.”

“We've got to stop them before they start any more trouble.” Brock stated.

“Trouble?” A feminine voice purred.

“Make that double.” A pair of figures walked into sight carrying a shovel and a pickaxe.

“To protect the world from devastation.”

“To unite all peoples within our nation.”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love.”

“To extend our reach to the stars above.”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“Team Rocket!”

“Blast off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth! That's right!”

Are they gonna do that every time we run into them?

“They sure are show-offs!” Seymour muttered.

“Don't you guys ever get tired of saying the same old thing over and over?” Ash asked.

“You're just jealous, boy.” Jessie started

“Because we won't let you join us.” Finished James.

“I'd never join up with you!” Ash scoffed.

“You put the lights in this cave. It's your fault the Pokémon who live here are so confused!” Brock shot off.

“What a shame!”

“How will we ever forgive ourselves?”

“We want to get our hands on the Moon Stone so we can power up our Pokémon with it!” Meowth explained.

“With the Moon Stone in our hands, nothing will stop us!” Jessie added on to Meowth’s explanation.

“We won't let you get away with it.” Ash shot at them.

“You want a rock?” Brock threw out his hand. “Take one of these. Then get lost!”

“Get lost? How rude!”

“Let's teach him manners.” Team Rocket tossed away their tools.

“Misty, keep an eye on Seymour and Clefairy. Run when you get the chance.” Ash whispered too low for Team Rocket to hear.

I decided to grab Spearow’s pokeball.

Jessie and James leapt off the boulder they were standing on.

“Ready or not!” The two shouted together.

“Ekans.”

“Koffing.”

“Butterfree! I choose you!”

“Here we go!”

Everyone’s pokemon were released at about the same time. Jessie and James’ Ekans and Koffing, Ash’s Butterfree, my Spearow and Brock’s new Zubat.

“Oh yeah, congrats on the capture earlier, Brock.” I blinked. I’d actually forgotten about that.

“Aw, I should have caught one.” Ash slumped.

“Koffing, Smog attack!” James’ Koffing launched into action.

“Butterfree/Zubat, Whirlwind now!” Both pokemon began beating their wings, sending the smoke back to Team Rocket.

“Spearow, use Peck on Ekans!” I didn’t want to forget the snake. Spearow didn’t waste any time, launching at Ekans before the snake pokemon could attack Butterfree. Unfortunately, Koffing made it through to attack Zubat.

“Don’t let up!” Ash growled, twisting his hat backwards. “Butterfree, use Whirlwind and give it all you got! Blow them straight out of the cave!”

“Free!” I watched as Team Rocket, pokemon and all, were blown back until they were out of sight. I don’t know if they made it all the way out of the cave, but they were definitely out of the fight.

“Good job, Spearow.” I offered my hand as a perch. His talons scratched me a little, but it didn’t feel like he was doing it on purpose. I should probably invest in some good gloves or gauntlets.

“Hey, wait a second. Aren't we forgetting something?” Ash frowned.

“Yeah, something's missing.” Brock agreed.

“Missing?” I cocked a brow at them.

They took a moment to think about it.

“Ah. Where's Meowth?”

We emerged through a different entrance. A stream was flowing nearby and there was a natural land bridge over it. Given Misty’s a water pokemon trainer, we decided to head in that direction first.

“Hey! Is everybody alright?” Ash called as we came into view. Everyone looked okay. Wet, but fine.

“We won't be bothered by Meowth anymore, thanks to Misty the mighty!!” Misty sniffed, sticking her chest out.

You know, it occurred to me that I’ve yet to see any of Misty’s pokemon.

“Man, what a wild ride.” Brock chuckled. “I don’t know about you guys, but I could sure use a break. How about we stop and eat for a bit?”

“Sure, I could eat!” Ash grinned from ear to ear.

Oh yeah, he could eat. And eat. And eat.

The lunch was thankfully peaceful. Brock unveiled his own brand of pokefood, which he’d been developing for years. He’d even offered to make a batch for all of our pokemon. Seymour and Ash even decided to both give pokefood a try. Seymour seemed to like it, and it turned out there was something Ash wouldn’t eat after all.

“Well, you might not like it, but the Pokémon sure do.” Brock commented as Butterfree and Zubat kept eating.

We all paused for a moment to stare at Pikachu and Clefairy perched on a boulder behind us, chattering happily away.

“Pikachu makes friends so easily. I wonder what they're talking about?”

Times like this I wish I could talk to animals like Fluttershy.

The clefairy stood and began climbing the mountain again with Pikachu following in pursuit.

It was dark by the time Clefairy led us to another cave and inside that cave?

It was a wondrous sight.

“It's the core of the Moon Stone!” Seymour exclaimed.

“This feels like a dream!” Misty sighed.

“So the Moon Stone legend is true.” Brock claimed.

“Look, Clefairy's doing something!” Ash pointed out.

Clefairy skipped up to the base of the Moonstone and gently laid its stone against the base, where it and all the others began to shine around it.

From every nook and cranny in the cave poured in more Clefairy.

“There are so many of them!” Misty exclaimed.

The Clefairy that brought us here turned to bow at us.

“Heh, I think it's saying hello.” Interpreted Ash.

“Yeah.” Brock agreed.

“Look at them!” Misty exclaimed.

We watched as the Clefairy formed a ring around the Moon Stone and began leaping around it singing.

“Amazing. These Clefairy formed their own society. This is an incredible sight!” Seymour concluded.

“Hey, Pikachu! What's Clefairy been telling you, anyway, huh?” Ash walked towards Pikachu and the Clefairy that led us to this wonderful sight.

Pikachu chatted happily, waving his arms.

“You understand that?” Seymour asked Ash.

“Of course I do. It's my Pokémon!” Replied Ash. “The Clefairy collect all of these rocks and...do the Macarena.”

What’s the macarena? And considering Pikachu’s faceplant, I doubt it was that.

Pikachu got up and dragged Clefairy towards us by the paw.

“The Clefairy…” Ash trailed off as Pikachu picked up Clefairy. “Pick up?”

“A pick-up truck?” Brock guessed.

What’s a pick-up truck?

“Raising.” Misty guessed while raising an arm.

Pikachu pointed at Misty happily.

“I got it!”
“Pika. Pika.” Pikachu held his paws out.

“Sounds like raising?” Misty asked.

“The Clefairy like raisins?”

…Ash is terrible at charades…

Pikachu jumped up and snagged a hair from Ash, waving it in front of us.

“What rhymes with hair?” Misty wondered.

“With hair?” Brock repeated. “Hey, how about prayer?”

Pikachu held up a sign…where did he get a sign?

“The Clefairy pray to the Moon Stone!” Ash exclaimed.

Pikachu held up two signs.

“Is it because the Moon Stone fell from the heavens?” Seymour wondered looking up at the Moon Stone.

“Then maybe the legends are true. Maybe the Moon Stone really did come from space.”

“Yeah.” Ash nodded towards Misty.

“Of course! It all makes sense now!” Seymour twirled around and threw out his hands.

“What does?” Ash asked.

“Outer space!” Seymour pointed up at the sky and towards the moon stone. “Pokémon and the human race will ride the Moon Stone into space! First to the moon! Then to Mars! Then together to the stars!”

…is…is he serious?

“Stars?” We all turned to look at the entrance. “That's our cue!” Cried Meowth.

“Ekans! Koffing!” We tensed, prepared for another battle.

“Eevee!” “Pikachu!” “Onix!”

Pikachu and Onyx were ready for battle. I sucked in a breath to order Eevee to battle, but…

The Clefairy were behind me. They were scared and nervous.Protecting them was more important than fighting Team Rocket. I’d only step in if it looked like the boys were having trouble.

“Eevee, we’ve got to protect the clefairy and the Moonstone.” I told my pokemon.

“Vee!” He nodded seriously.

“Don’t worry,” I smiled down at the pokemon around me. “We’re not gonna let Team Rocket steal the Moonstone. Everything’s going to be okay.” A Clefairy started to wipe away tears as I reassured them.

“Let's show them that size doesn't matter! Ekans, underground.”

“Koffing, Smokescreen!”

“Smoke won't stop us! Pidgeotto, I choose you!” Ash released Pidgeotto high into the air. “Pidgeotto, whirlwind the smoke!”

I didn’t let myself be distracted. I held my breath and held Eevee close to my chest, leading us backwards until we had our backs to the Moonstone while we waited for Pidgeotto to clear the air.

The ground beneath us gave way.

“AAAAAHHH!” I screamed. I barely managed to keep hold of Eevee and his pokeball. I hugged him against my body as we fell down.

We were lucky not to be hurt. It would’ve been so easy to be crushed by the Moonstone when we landed. As it was, the landing was in no way soft. Before I could get my bearings the ground lurched again, forward this time, and we began sliding.

Someone had set up a sled beneath the Moonstone and carved a new tunnel out of the mountain. This one had a downward slope.

I shakily climbed to my feet.

“Eevee, return!”

He wasn’t much use in stopping this thing and if he fell off there was a good chance I’d lose track of him. That just sounded like a bad idea all around with Pokemon Thieves on the loose.

“Hey, we picked up a passenger!” Meowth’s shocked voice came from above. Team Rocket landed on top of the Moonstone and all around me.

“No stowaways!” James landed on my side. He pulled back a leg to kick me off.

“Not happening!” I launched myself at him first. He clearly wasn’t expecting that. He flinched away from my hands, reaching for his face. We wrestled on that moving platform, even as we left the cave. Jessie was on the wrong side to help her partner and the pokemon would fall off if they tried to help.

I didn’t have a plan beyond keeping him from pushing me off. Actually, that probably was the sum total of my plan. Who knows what I would’ve done if Onyx hadn’t tunneled out of the ground ahead of us.

I was knocked free of James.

“Spearow, I choose you!”

We’d stopped, so now it was time to battle. With Onyx as back up I was feeling pretty confident too. And I knew the others had to be coming up behind us.

“Use Quick Attack on Ekans!” I knew the snake was quick to burrow underground for sneak attacks.

“Sarah! Are you okay?” I heard Ash yelling. Back up the mountain I saw the others running towards us at full speed. Seymour and the Clefairy weren’t with them. Were the Clefairy okay? Had some of them fallen with me?

“Spearow!” Spearow roared, striking Ekans head on.

“Good going, get ready for Peck!” I encouraged him.

“Onyx, take them out!” Brock was panting as he reached us.

“Koffing, Counter!” James screeched, sounding a little panicked.

Koffing had a more powerful Counter than I would’ve expected. It actually threw Onyx for a loop and stunned him. It was a pyrrhic victory though, and Ash and I were more than willing to pick up the slack.

“Cle-faaaiirryyy!” The battle paused. Behind me, from the tunnel Onyx had dug, poured all the Clefairy from the cave. Each of them took up positions, almost a grid pattern as they stared down Team Rocket.

They lifted their hands and began to sway.

Back and forth. Back and forth. I couldn’t look away. Back and forth.

“This is the Metronome attack,” Seymour popped his head up from the hole, also swaying side to side in time with the Clefairy’s hands. “I didn’t know they could use Metronome.”

There was a tension in the air, like just before a storm. It was building and building and we were swaying and swaying.

And then…explosion.

I could focus again. And the first thing I did was check on Team Rocket. They’d been sent blasting off. There was a crater where they, and the Moonstone had been.

“It shattered!” I gasped, stricken. Sparkling pieces were still raining from the sky.

The Clefairy didn’t seem too worried though. In fact they sounded…happy? They began running under the falling shards. Wherever a shard touched them, they evolved. Clefairy into Clefable.

“Amazing.” Seymour pulled himself free. “What an astounding sight!”

“Yeah,” My eyes were a little watery. My heart rate had slowed down during the Metronome attack. I didn’t even feel the adrenaline crash I expected. We all just stood and watched the Clefairy dance under the moonlight until all the Moonstones had fallen.

One fell near my feet. I knelt down and tenderly picked up the shard. The sides were a little sharp and it glowed under the moonlight. Glowed and sparkled like the night sky. A little Clefairy waddled over as I continued to stare at it.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want this?” I held it out to it, thinking the little Clefairy wanted to evolve too. It smiled and shook its head, gently reaching out and closing my hand around the shard.

“Oh?” I cocked my head curiously. “Is it okay for me to keep it?” It nodded.

That could be useful. I thanked the Clefairy politely and tucked the shard safely into my pocket.

“I’m glad things turned out okay,” Brock folded his arms.

“Yeah, me too.” Ash laughed, letting Pikachu climb onto his shoulders. The Clefairy all began picking up shards and carrying them back up to the cave, so we stooped down to help.

“I’ve made a decision!” Seymour announced once all the shards had been piled up. “I’m going to stay here and live with the Clefairy!”

“Huh?” We all blinked at him.

“Someday, I just know, the Clefairy will return to the stars! And I intend to be with them when they do! First to the moon, then mars, then off to see the distant stars!” He declared.

“Heh, be sure to send us a postcard when you get there.” Brock scratched his head.

I didn’t get it but if that was what Seymour wanted to do with his life who was I to stop him?

“Clefairy, Clef!” The same Clefairy from before tugged on my skirt.

“Yeah?” I knelt down, smiling gently. Maybe they wanted the Moon Stone shard back now?

The Clefairy jumped up into my arms and made itself comfortable there. Bemused, I stood back up.

“Looks like you made a friend, Sarah!” Misty smirked at me.

“Uh, you think?” I felt myself blushing. I looked down at the Clefairy curled up in my hands. “What do you say, Clefairy? Want to come with me?”

“Clefairy!” She smiled happily.

She went into the pokeball easily. And just like that, I’d made another friend.

Chapter: 6 The Water Flowers of Cerulean City

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I woke up a little later than usual. Brock and Misty looked like they’d already been awake for a while. Breakfast smelled good. Ash was just barely climbing out of his sleeping bag beside me.

“About time you two got up!” Brock teased us. “You were just about to miss breakfast!”

“Wha? Miss breakfast?” Ash yelped, struggling to tear himself free of his sleeping bag.

“Good morning.” I yawned, not in as much of a hurry as Ash. He acted like every meal would be his last. It was amazing he hadn’t eaten all of our supplies yet.

I noticed Misty studying the map as I walked over to some bushes. After I’d finished and washed up a little I came back to find her still sitting in the same spot, frowning at some point on the map.

“Misty, is something wrong?” I knelt down beside her. As far as I could tell we were on course for Cerulean city, the next stop on our journey. We’d probably get there around lunchtime if I was judging the distances right.

“Huh? Uh, no! No, nothing’s wrong!” Misty pasted a false smile, folding up the map and stuffing it away in her bag. “Is breakfast ready? We’d better grab something before Ash eats it all!”

“Uh, okay?” I blinked.

Okay, there was definitely something wrong. What it could be though, I had no idea. Maybe Misty had been here before? Lots of ocean, good for water pokemon. I’d bet anything the Cerulean gym is a water type gym.

“We’re going to reach Cerulean city today, I can feel it!” Ash proclaimed around a mouthful of food.

“Are you sure you wanna go there?” Misty nearly choked on her food. “I mean, there are better places.”

“Cerulean city is the nearest town with a gym, right?” Ash checked. Brock and I both nodded. “Then yep, I’m sure.”

“Urrhh.” She buried her face in her food. I wanted to ask if something was wrong but I’d already tried that and she’d refused. I doubted she’d be more open with other people around.

I wanted to cheer her up somehow. I thought about it the whole time we were breaking up camp. The easiest way to cheer Misty up was probably by using water pokemon. I didn’t have any and I hadn’t seen any in this area yet, so that left drawing her into a conversation about them.

Shouldn’t be that hard. Misty loves water pokemon.

“Uh, Misty?” I made my move as we started walking. Ash and Brock walked together ahead of us, leaving us girls to fall behind.

“Hm?” She still seemed a little distracted.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I gulped. “Uh, what kind of water pokemon do you have?”

“You want to know about my water pokemon?” Her eyes sparkled. It was a full one-eighty from her earlier attitude.

“Yes?” I answered, unsure what I’d gotten myself into.

“Well, first, there’s Starmie! It’s a beautiful violet color with a gold formation on the front with its core jewel. The jewel itself can glow seven different colors!” She began listing everything she knew about Starmie. Appearance, natural habitat, food sources, natural predators, myths and legends, it’s previous incarnation as Staryu, which she also had one of. They evolved using Water Stones.

Like the Moon Stone apparently but a little more mainstream, if you’ll pardon the pun.

She finished talking about Starmie and segued neatly into talking about Staryu. And then her Goldeen. All three she’d personally caught and raised. But of course there were so many water pokemon that she hoped to meet on her journey.

“Beauty, grace, elegance, is there anything that embodies these traits more than water pokemon?” She sighed dreamily.

“Yeah, peace and quiet.” Ash snorted over his shoulder. “You’ve been going on for over an hour, Misty! Give it a rest.”

“Hmph!” Misty turned her nose up at him. “I’ll have you know that Sarah asked me and not you because I know all about water pokemon.”

“Hey, if you ever need any studying snacks, you know who to call.” Brock chimed in.

“Huh, snacks?” If Ash had pokemon ears they would’ve perked up.

“Geez, are you ever not hungry?” Misty huffed.

It looked like I’d managed to distract her. I felt well and truly accomplished.

Ash was about to retort with something but he saw something up ahead and decided to jog towards it instead. We jogged after him and found him scowling at a road sign.

“This way to Cerulean city.” Brock read. There was something scribbled in the lower corner. Graffiti? It was what Ash was scowling at. I leaned in for a closer look.

Gary was here! Ash is a loser!

It took me a moment to place the name. Gary was that arrogant boy with the cheerleading squad from the day I’d first met Ash.

“That…That…!” Ash fumed.

“Ah well, if you want to avoid that jerk we can always go this way instead.” Misty suggested, pointing down the other way. “This road leads to Vermillion city, ocean water with lots of cool water pokemon, lots of good stores, and there’s this park on top of a hill with the most gorgeous view of the sunset! Let’s go!”

“I’ll show him! I’m no loser!” Ash ignored her, already beginning the march down the road to Cerulean city.

My distraction hadn’t lasted very long.

Misty only got more and more anxious the closer we got. She began dragging her feet. I slowed my pace to match hers and pretty soon the guys had left us behind. Ash was so focused on catching up to Gary I doubt he noticed. Brock looked our way but I waved him ahead of us. Hopefully we could catch up at the Pokemon Center later.

“Misty, are you okay?” I placed my hand on her shoulder. She slumped beneath the gentle pressure.

“C’mon,” She groaned, leading me down a different road than the boys had taken. “I’ll show you why I didn’t want to come back here.”

We walked in silence. Misty knew her way around pretty well. We took side roads, short cuts, she even recognized a few people and waved to them. Before long we came to the Cerulean Gym. The building was much larger and more ornamental than the Pewter Gym had been. A huge seal pokemon acted as the Gym mascot.

I was expecting a stadium inside. Instead there was a giant indoor pool with high dives and a roaring crowd. Misty waved to the guy manning the ticket booth and we were both ushered in without paying. Misty led me up to a private box.

“Now introducing the Cerulean City’s Three Sensational Sisters!” The intercom blared. A spotlight illuminated one of the high dives where three young women waved to the crowd.

Synchronized swimming is…It was…

“Well, go ahead and say it.” Misty crossed her arms beside me.

“I’m…not sure what to say.” I admitted. “It…looks pretty, I guess? I can’t say I really see the appeal.”

She tensed up, shoulders nearly coming up to her ears in shock. She looked like I’d just declared Spearow as the world’s greatest swimmer. Did I say the wrong thing? Offend her?

“You don’t…You’re not going totally gaga over Daisy, Lily, and Violet?” Her jaw dropped.

“Um, is that their names?” I winced. Weren’t Daisy and Lily the names of two thirds of the flower trio?

“Is that their…? They’re my sisters!” She cried.

“Oooh, I’m sorry!” This was even worse than I’d imagined. “I just…I’m not really big on the whole swimming thing! I can tell it takes a lot of hard work and practice and dedication! It’s just—!” I was cut off as she wrapped her arms around me.

“Finally! Someone who doesn’t go insane when they see my sisters in swimsuits!” She was practically crying tears of joy. “Sarah, you have no idea how long I’ve waited for this day! To meet someone else who sees what a waste of time synchronized swimming is!”

“I’m glad you’re happy!” My voice was a little muffled with my head buried in her shoulder. It was a little hard to breathe too.

Misty explained that she was the youngest of the Waterflowers, the family that owned the gym. She and all her sisters were licensed Gym Trainers, but Misty had decided to leave on a pokemon journey to become a water pokemon master, rather than continue living in her sisters’ shadows. She’d sworn not to come back until she’d made that dream a reality.

“They’re supposed to be serious trainers, but just look at them down there!” She grunted. They were swimming in a circle, moving apart and together again in perfect harmony. “Ugh, and I hate to admit it but Ash could beat them with both hands tied behind his back!”

“Really?” I’m not afraid to admit I was a bit skeptical. Ash was uniquely talented, but he was still a very new trainer who made rookie mistakes. Considering he had Pikachu, who was already incredibly powerful for an electric type, I had no doubt he could win in a water style Gym, but so easily? And for Misty to be admitting that?

“Well, I’m not going to stand for it!” Misty said, standing. “I’ll battle him myself!”

“Uh, wha?” I had to scramble to follow after her. “Misty, wait up!”

Misty’s sisters really didn’t take their Gym duties seriously. We caught them just as they were trying to give Ash an unearned badge. Unlike Misty, who vaulted the stands in a dramatic fashion, I chose to use the stairs and reached the bottom just as Misty delivered her challenge.

Ash’s first pick, obviously, was Pikachu.

An electric type, especially one as strong as Pikachu, could sweep through most water pokemon with ease.

Unfortunately for Ash, Pikachu had bonded with Misty. Enough so that he didn’t want to fight her. It was…

Well, Pikachu was a rookie too, when you stopped to think about it.

I wasn’t expecting him to choose Butterfree next. I didn’t expect Butterfree to be so effective either. Too bad the powder was so easily washed off.

I was cheering Ash on. I’d spent the whole day trying to cheer Misty up and here I was rooting for Ash. Maybe I could’ve excused it as knowing Ash longer but I’d met them barely an hour apart.

Butterfree was knocked into the water. Bug types didn’t swim well so it was a good thing Ash returned him so quickly. But that left him with just one more pokemon. One more loss and it was all over.

For today at least.

“Pidgeotto, I choose you! Use Whirlwind!” Ash looked fierce, confident. Like losing wasn’t even conceivable.

Pidgeotto beat Staryu and Starmie. That left Ash and Misty even again with one pokemon each. Misty looked grim as she called out her Goldeen.

How the battle could’ve ended, what might’ve happened next, I’m afraid I can’t say. They didn’t even have time to call out any moves before a large machine burst through the walls.

“Prepare for trouble.” Oh no.

“And make it double!” Not them!

“To protect the world from devastation!” Not them again!

“To unite all peoples within our nation,”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

“To extend our reach to the stars above!”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth, that’s right!”

“What’s with the hair?” One of Misty’s sisters, the one with blue hair, asked.

“Yeah, like, who let these losers in here?” The one with pink hair frowned.

“They’re Pokemon Thieves!” I warned them. Unbidden, my hand came down to run over the pokeballs at my belt.

“Indeed we are, and we’re about to catch the motherlode!” Jessie laughed, high and grating.

“The water goes in,” Meowth cheekily flipped a switch. A giant hose extended from the back of the tank and dipped into the pool, sucking up every last drop.

“And the water goes out!” He turned the hose on us. I barely had time to gasp before a torrent of water hit me dead on. I lost my footing instantly and got swept away. My leg hit the edge of the pool but I couldn’t make sense of anything. I couldn’t even tell up from down and water burned my lungs.

And then air. Sweet air. I hacked up half a lung in the brief moment my head was above water. My limbs felt like lead. How did Misty’s sisters manage to make this look graceful?

Oh Celestia, don’t tell me Discord forgot to make sure this body knew how to swim.

My head went under. I hadn’t had time to catch my breath and my chest burned. I tried to find the surface again but I had no idea which way was up. I couldn’t see, I could barely move!

My groping hand broke the surface. I forced my head above water and tried to get my bearings.

“Sarah!” I heard Ash yell.

“Help!” I coughed. It wasn’t nearly as loud as I needed it to be.

“Oh my gosh, she can’t swim!” Was that Misty? My eyes were burning almost as much as my lungs.

Under again. My heart was scraping against my ribs with every beat. Up, I had to get up, I needed air!

Something hit me under the water. Something big and blubbery.

A pokemon. There was a pokemon in the water with me.

Air. I needed help. I needed my friends. Which one? My hand drifted over my pokeballs.

“Sarah! Stop struggling!” Someone yelled. There was the shore, no, the pool edge! The current was pulling us away.

The pokemon in the water with me was the seal pokemon.

Over my shoulder I saw the hose. It was sucking the water back in and us with it.

“Sarah, deep breath!” Misty screamed.

I inhaled.

Underwater again, I hit the side of the hose. My body was pulled in before I could even think of grabbing it. The seal went with me, and now that I wasn’t panicking I could feel the way it twisted so it took the brunt of any impact. But we were underwater again and I couldn’t breathe and if we were being put in a tank there’d be no air!

The seal let go. The seal let go and it was all I could do to keep my last few bubbles of air. It was pitch black and the water stung my eyes. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I was helpless!

There were vibrations through the water, like something breaking. The current carried me and I felt when Seel wrapped itself around me again.

And then we were in the air and falling!

“Ooouuucchhh!” I whined. The landing had been softer than I could have hoped for, but I’d gotten banged up all the same.

“Seel. Seel?” Seel poked me hard enough to make me roll onto my side.

“OOOoowww!” I whined slightly louder. My lungs were on fire. My vision was all blurry.

“Seel!”

A feathery-soft touch filled my mind.

Are you okay?

“Huh?” I craned my neck up.

Whatever it was was a blur of white and green and bits of red.

I blinked again and it was gone, along with its (her?) feathery-soft touch in my mind.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!” I jumped half a mile as Team Rocket came shooting out of the hose. They blasted off into the sky, out of sight before I could even start to understand what was going on.

“…Ow.” I sniffed.

I laid my head down and waited for somebody to find me.

I hadn’t inhaled a lot of water, thankfully. The doctor cleared me quickly. I had some bruises but nothing to be too concerned about. He warned me to watch out for pneumonia and allowed me to sign out.

“Sarah! You’re okay!” Ash wrapped himself in a hug around me. I was in a spare set of Misty’s clothes, given all of mine had been thoroughly soaked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry to worry you.” I smiled, trying to shake the thoughts of my past out of my head.

“Are you sure you’re well enough to be leaving already?” Brock asked with concern.

“The doctor said I’m fine, just bruised up a bit.” I nodded shakily.

“Come on, you’re staying at my family’s place for the night.” Misty pulled Ash off of me and slung an arm over my shoulder. “I asked Daisy to put your clothes through the wash, and here!” She handed me my belt and pokemon. “I figured you’d want this back.”

“Yeah, thanks!” My voice cracked a little. Chlorine had done me no favors. It was a relief to know Bulbasaur, Eevee, Spearow, and Cleffairy were alright.

“We don’t want you catching a chill so let’s hurry back.” Brock decided. “When we get there I’ll whip you up a batch of my famous Brock Stew, guaranteed to prevent any and all sniffles!”

“Sounds good.” We’d missed lunch during all this, as my stomach helpfully reminded everyone.

Pop

“Vee!” Eevee immediately jumped onto my shoulder and made himself comfortable by wrapping his tail around my neck. It did help with the chill a little.

“Pika, pikapi!”

“Vee, Eevee!”

“Pikachu and Eevee were worried too!” Ash laughed.

“We all were.” Misty nodded seriously, giving me a little more space. “And as soon as you’re fully recovered I am going to teach you how to swim. No excuses!”

“None here, promise.” I shook my head. Yeah, I really didn’t want to run the risk of drowning again. That was…

If I’d swallowed more water. If I’d hit my head against the metal edges of the hose. If Seel hadn’t cushioned my fall.

And what or who was that back there?

We went to Misty’s house and had a wonderful dinner. My clothes were washed and returned, which was relieving. Misty and I were the same size but I wasn’t used to having so much exposed skin. I got chilly easily.

Now I’m in her bedroom. We’re sharing the bed since neither of us could convince the other to take it instead. It’s warm and sorta comforting to sleep right beside someone. I have to keep the light of my pokedex dim to avoid waking her though.

After scrolling through 177 entries I was certain I found out what the white/green blur was.

Xatu, the Mystic Pokemon. It has the enigmatic power of foreseeing the future. Some people in different lands have long believed that Xatu are emissaries from another world.

Emissary from another world huh? Sounds like the kind of pokemon a chaos spirit from another world would send. I guess Discord sent her to keep an eye on me. Good thing too otherwise…

Chapter 7: A Cascading Challenge

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“Are you sure you want to do this?”

With no sign of the sniffles, I decided to challenge Misty to a Gym battle over breakfast. After Ash and Misty got over the fact that I challenged and beat Brock after Ash’s match we went back to the Cerulean Gym.

“I’m positive.” I replied as Misty sighed in resignation.

Because the pool was being repaired from the damage yesterday the match would be held in the gym's rehearsal room, how that worked for synchronized swimming I have no idea. That meant she would be using Staryu and Starmie since Goldeen couldn’t battle on land, and since our chat yesterday I knew a lot more about them than Ash did.

“I choose Staryu!”

“Go Bulbasaur!”

Our pokemon barely had a second to contemplate the situation before Misty called out a move.

“Staryu, Water Gun now!”

“Bulbasaur dodge it!”

Staryu blew out a stream of water to strike Bulbasaur, only to miss as Bulbasaur barely leaped to the side.

I guess Misty’s desire to be out from her three sisters’ shadows is getting the better of her.

"Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed."

Bulbasaur fired a seed at Staryu. Vines wrapped its body and drained some energy. Misty got nervous. "Uh oh!"

"Okay Bulbasaur, Bullet Seed!”

“Staryu counter with Swift!”

Staryu began firing multiple white stars from the gem in the center of its body shortly after Bulbasaur began launching seeds at Staryu.

The two attacks met at the center of the makeshift field, neither pokemon letting up for a second.

"H-YAAH!"

Or until Leech Seed began draining energy from Staryu again. The lapse in Staryu’s Swift attack allowed Bullet Seed to break through and hit Staryu repeatedly.

“Staryu!”

“Bulbasaur Vine Whip!”

Without giving Misty enough time to command Staryu, Bulbasaur struck Staryu hard with it’s vines. Unable to stand against the onslaught, the Star Shape Pokemon soon fainted.

"Staryu is unable to battle." One of Misty’s sisters announced. "Bulbasaur wins!"

“Staryu return.” Misty swiftly brought out a second pokeball. “Go Starmie!”

The second Starmie was on the field Misty was pressing the assault.

“Starmie Rapid Spin!” Starmie jumped back and began spinning like a saw before flying towards Bulbasaur.

“Dodge it!” Like Staryu’s Water Gun from before Bulbasaur just barely leaped to the side, dodging Starmie’s Rapid Spin.

“Saur!” Unfortunately, Starmie flew like a boomerang and came around to strike Bulbasaur in the back of the head.

“Starmie Water Gun!” I and Bulbasaur barely had time to react before Starmie unleashed a torrent of water at Bulbasaur, knocking him back towards me.

“Bulbasaur are you ok?”

“Sa…saur.” Bulbasaur slowly but surely stood up while glaring at Starmie.

“Starmie, Rapid Spin again!”

“Bullet Seed!”

While Bulbasaur managed to nail Starmie repeatedly with Bullet Seed it was for naught as Starmie crashed into Bulbasaur from the front before flipping over and repeating the earlier blow to the head.

“Bulbasaur is unable to battle.” Misty’s sister announced when Bulbasaur remained on the floor. “Challenger, choose your next pokemon.”

"Bulbasaur, return."

Misty was really giving me no quarter.

Eevee and Spearow were my only real choices left. I hadn’t had time to train with Clefairy yet. And between the two Spearow had greater mobility with the ability to fly and use Quick Attack.

“You’re up Spearow!”

Spearow quickly took to the air as Misty issued another command.

“Starmie, Water Gun!”

“Dodge with Quick Attack!”

Unlike Bulbasaur, Spearow managed to dodge the stream of water with ease, hovering above Starmie.

“Use Quick Attack!”

“Water Gun!”

Spearow easily dodged the poorly aimed Water Gun and clipped Starmie.

“Starmie!”

“Quick Attack again!”

Again, Spearow dodged the attack while clipping Starmie over and over until Starmie fell to the ground.

"Starmie is unable to battle." Misty’s sister announced. "Spearow wins. The winner of this gym battle is Sarah Silverman from Ponyville.”

"We did it!" I couldn’t help but cheer. Two badges down, six more to go. “Good work Spearow.”

"You're a great trainer, Sarah.” Misty praised, walking over to me. “You definitely earned the Cascade Badge, unlike some people.” She shot at Ash who squawked indignantly. "This Cascade Badge is clearly yours." She handed me the Cascade Badge.

“Congratulations Silver.”

We all turned to look at Flora who was standing by the entrance.

“Flora? Are you here for the Cascade Badge too?” I asked while privately wondering how she was tracking me.

“…no.” Flora admitted with a frown after giving it some thought. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind battling Misty and earning the badge, but it looks like everyone’s just so eager to leave Cerulean City.” She said with a head tilt.

I could see what she was talking about. Ash was more than eager to get this third badge, Misty was getting antsy the longer we stayed with her sisters and Brock…actually where was he yesterday when we were in the Cerulean Gym?

“Besides, her sisters are just gonna give me the badge because I’ve got three grass type pokemon that can totally kick their buts blindfolded." Flora laughed at Misty’s sister's expense. "So how about we get your pokemon treated at the Pokemon Center and I treat you guys to lunch?”

At Flora’s offer at lunch Ash pretty much ran out of the gym and bellowed at us to hurry up so he could eat and head out for his next badge. He was quickly followed by Misty who wanted her pokemon treated and perhaps to put some distance between her and her sisters. That left me and Flora together to chat while Brock followed us from a respectful distance.

“So since you won, here’s the TMs for Water Pulse and Scald.” She handed me the pair of TMs which I took gratefully.

“Thanks. Do you mind answering a question of mine?”

“Sure, go ahead.” She waved me on.

“Does Discord have a Xatu keeping an eye on me?”

That got me a confused head tilt from Flora.

“Xatu?” She repeated.

“Yeah, yesterday I…I almost drowned, but I think a Xatu was looking over me while laying down outside after being sucked into some sort of machine made by Team Rocket.” I explained.

“Xatu?” Flora pulled out her pokedex which was vastly different from mine and Ash’s pokedex. Much more advanced looking. “Xatu?” After a few seconds of looking over her pokedex Flora shook her head. “Sorry, but the bossman doesn’t have a Xatu.”

What?

“But then…what was that? It was green and white and a fill…girl…I think it had a woman’s voice.” I wasn’t sure if I should admit that I heard her voice in my head.

“A girl or woman in green and white…I can think of a few people like that.” Flora said offhandedly while putting away her pokedex.

“But I thought it was a pokemon since it could teleport and…and I heard its voice in my head asking if I was okay in my head.” I reluctantly admitted to hearing the voice in my head.

“A female green and white pokemon that can teleport and…knows telepathy?” Flora trailed off before pulling out her pokedex and peering at it intently. After a few seconds she gave a firm nod. “Ok, while I can still think of a few people in green and white who can teleport because… well d’uh.” She spoke like it was obvious. “If it’s a green and white pokemon with telepathy then it was probably Gardevoir.”

“Gardevoir?” I pulled out my pokedex and tried to spell out the name.

“Yeah Gardevoir.” She turned her pokedex towards me.

Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokémon. Gardevoir will use all of its psychic energy to protect a Trainer it has made a deep connection with.

The image was closer to what I saw yesterday than Xatu, but…

“Why does Discord have a Gardevoir watching over me?” I looked up at Flora.

“Because apparently despite this world being a bit safer than your world, you apparently don’t have plot armor.” She said annoyedly.

“Plot armor?”

“Look, the guy might have a few screws loose, but that doesn’t mean he’s the type to…look you weren’t exactly supposed to drown here.” Flora said frustrated.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means until you make it back home I’ll be traveling with you guys for a while.”

Chapter 8: The Path to the Pokemon League

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Author's Notes:

Fashionably Late here, and apparently writing chapters is easier when you've got a guide line. Last chapter took a while because I wasn't sure how Silver would win, or even if she should win. Bulbasaur has the type advantage I know, but I prefer speed over defense and writing a fight scene where the winner relies on defense doesn't jive with me. Sides, if SIlver lost it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Misty's traveling with Ash, so so long as the party doesn't split Silver could rechallenge Misty at anytime considering we've seen gym battles outside the gyms such as Blaine and Whitney. Anyhow, next chapter is making some serious headway and I'm considering retconning Silver's Bulbasaur into Chikorita. Moveset wise I wouldn't have to change anything, the two can learn Tackle, Vine Whip and Bullet Seed as of Generation IX. Anyhow, enjoy the chapter.

“Okay, Pidgeotto, now use Gust!” Ash called.

After leaving Cerulean City, a problem reared its ugly head. Namely, Ash’s recently inflated head.

Ash is a good trainer. Still a rookie, but he was creative and I found myself watching his battles. He had a real talent for bringing out the best in his pokemon. I’m sure he can go far.

But he hadn’t even been a trainer for two months and his ego had already eclipsed Rainbow Dash’s in size, and I didn’t even think that was possible. It was grating, to be honest.

“And I win! That's number ten!”

“You're a really great pokemon trainer.” Ash’s opponent, whose name I can’t even remember, said as they shook hands.

“Well, I guess I was pretty good there.” Ash said as he ‘nonchalantly’ opened up his jacket and just so happened to show off his badges.

“Wow! You've got badges.”

“Oh, you mean these?”

While the kid was gushing over Ash’s badge Misty and Brock were lamenting that perhaps giving him the badges was a mistake.

“And it is, considering he forfeited his match with Brock and didn’t even beat Misty.” Flora whispered to me while glaring at Ash.

She…she had a point.

“I bet you could even beat A.J.”

Applejack?

“A.J.?” We all were looking at the kid.

“Yeah, he lives over there.” The kid pointed in a random direction from my point of view. “A.J. trains savage Pokémon. He built his own gym. He's never lost a single match.”

"Until now." I could see the grin on Ash’s face as he wagged his finger. "He's never come up against someone like me!"

Well that at least is true, Ash is pretty much unique.

“He's getting a big head." Misty sighed, eyes half-lidded with a mixture of pity, disgust and contempt.

"Yeah." Brock agreed. "But his brain has remained the same size."

“Oh snap.”

The next thing I knew we were standing in front of A.J.’s gym. Strong, stout walls made of logs dominated the area and above the door there was a large sign advertising his 98 wins. A disclaimer disavowing any connection to League gyms was just underneath.

“Why are we even here? Shouldn’t we be heading to Vermillion city?” Flora asked.

“Vermillion city’s not going anywhere but when will we next come through here?” Ash reasoned. “I’ve gotta check this out! This guy’s got almost a hundred straight wins, but I’ll bet he doesn’t have any badges.”

“Oh, well, if you really think that’s best.” I said uneasily. A hundred straight wins was no small feat and Ash wasn’t exactly undefeated himself.

“Hmph, this guy isn’t even affiliated with the league!” Ash scoffed.

“Don’t get cocky, Ash!” Misty warned in a sing-song voice. “After all, you’ve only got nine wins in a row, and he’s got almost ten times that!”

“Yeah, well, I go for quality not quantity!” He retorted.

“I wouldn’t call a weak bug and random bird quality.” Flora shot off before I could…commend Ash on that line of thinking.

It was sort of admirable if harder to pull off I thought.

“Feh, you’ll see, Pikachu and I will win this no problem!” He declared.

"Are you mah next victahm?" asked a hideous accent that sounded more like a parody of the Apple family.

We turned around and found ourselves facing a stocky, green fringed, black haired smirking kid carrying a blue backpack.

"Hmm, you must be the Wild Pokemon Trainer." Ash growled.

"Heh! That's mah job." A.J. smirked. "But beating chumps like you is mah hobby.... ready tah lose?"

The fence gates opened and A.J. led us inside. In the center was a large tent, the roof of which could be seen over the fence earlier, and before that was an elevated arena made from hard packed dirt and marked off in white. On each of the arena's four sides are stairs leading up to the arena floor.

A.J. threw the backpack on the ground as soon as he walked in. A moment later a Butterfree appeared and started to carry it away.

“What’s in the bag?” Ash asked, apparently not having noticed the same thing I had.

“The wild pokemon I just caught.” AJ answered easily.

“Whoa, cool!” Ash beamed, the prospect of wild pokemon erasing any trace of seriousness from his face. “Can I see them after the match?”

“Sure, if ya want.” AJ shrugged, walking over to the battleground. “So, what pokemon are you picking to be my 99th win?”

“Grr!” Ash fumed, turning beet red. He might’ve stomped all the way to the other side of the arena.

“Alrightie then!” AJ pulled a bullwhip out of his pocket. I admit I flinched when he cracked it. And I did not like the implications of him having it. “As my sign says, I’ve got 98 straight wins! And once I reach a hundred, I’m gonna go out and start earning badges!”

“You mean you’ve got 98 wins and no badges?” Ash huffed a laugh. He flipped his vest collar back to show off the Boulder and Cascade badges. “I’ve won nine battles and won two badges!”

Well, “won.” He would have won the Boulder badge if Brock’s siblings hadn’t interfered and convinced him to stop. And it honestly could’ve gone either way against Misty. It had been too soon to tell between them.

"Did yah buy those badges or did ya steal 'em?" A.J. smirked, thoroughly unimpressed by Ash's accomplishments. "Either that or you competed in some loser gyms.... where were they Failure City or Wimpsville?"

“Loser gyms?” Misty and Brock hissed. Standing between them, I did my best to appear small and non-threatening while Flora shuffled away from them.

“Ash, you’d better beat this guy!” Misty declared hotly.

“Yeah, teach him the power of the Pewter city gym!” Brock added.

“Give it a rest! I know what I’m doing!” Ash frowned at them. I did my best to blend into the background.

“Sandshrew, front and center!” AJ cracked his whip. From his side, a Sandshrew pulled free of its pokeball.

A Sandshrew huh, this should be interesting.

"Let's be careful now Ash." Admonished Brock.

"Remember, Sandshrew is a ground type so Pikachu's electricity's no good against it." Misty called out.

"I know exactly what I'm doing. I don't need your help!" Ash shouted back.

“Pidgeotto, I choose you!”

The battle was…enlightening.

Ash ordered Pidgeotto in close. Pidgeotto’s speed and maneuverability? It should’ve been easy for him to keep out of sandshrew’s reach.

But this Sandshrew could almost fly. He rocketed forward, curled up, flying straight into the sky and ramming head on against Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto wasn’t prepared for it and was stunned by the blow.

“Ah, Pidgeotto!” Ash returned him before Sandshrew could finish it. “Why, you! Butterfree!”

“He’s letting himself get angry.” I muttered.

“Yep.” Brock nodded seriously. “If he loses his temper, he’ll lose the match.”

“Butterfree, use Stun Powder!”

AJ cracked his whip again. It must’ve been some kind of signal, though I’m at a loss to explain how Sandshrew could understand different commands from the same sound. Regardless, this one directed Sandshrew to use Dig and burrow underground to escape the Stun Powder.

“Hey, where’d it go?” Ash froze.

“Oh no.” I had a bad feeling.

“Sandshrew, now!” AJ cracked his whip, harder this time. Butterfree had been nervously hovering over one spot of the arena. Sandshrew flew out of the ground behind him, out of sight until it was too late for Butterfree to react. Sandshrew’s Tackle hit head on and drove Butterfree into the ground!

“Ha, ain’t so free no more!” AJ taunted him. “Better call it back before I let my Sandshrew take a bite out of it!”

“Aaarrgghhh! Butterfree, return!” I sighed in relief. I didn’t know if AJ would actually allow his Sandshrew to eat another trainer’s pokemon but I didn’t want to find out!

“That just leaves Pikachu!” Ash realized, turning on his heel to face Pikachu.

Pikachu…refused to battle. With prejudice.

“How could I have lost to someone without any badges?” Ash asked himself after AJ changed the sign and went into the main tent.

“I guess badges aren’t always a good indicator of strength or skill, right?” I looked at Flora who tilted her head in confusion.

“What are you talking about? Gym badges are always a good indicator of strength and skill.” Flora stated before trailing off. “Unless the Gym leader just handed them out of pity or like they were free candy.”

“You’re supposed to sympathize with me.” He pouted.

“I…thought I was?” I fiddled with my hands.

“I am?” Flora tilted her head.

“Don’t blame Sarah, Ash.” Misty put her hands on her hips. “It’s not her fault you let your recent victories go to your head. You got a big head and AJ put a hole in it. That’s all.”

“Who asked you?” He crossed his arms. Maybe he would’ve suggested sticking around a while so he could train and challenge AJ to a rematch. He didn’t have the time before we heard AJ shouting though.

“You call that a battle?” CRACK! Went the whip.

“He’d better not be doing what I think he’s doing.” I surprised myself with a rather fierce growl. Ash had a similar look of distaste as we approached the tent and stealthily pulled the flap out.

Pokemon were everywhere, but they were the common varieties found in this area. Sandshrew was the only real stand out in terms of species.

But they were training and the methods I was seeing.

The pokemon were all wearing some kind of harness. Butterfree were trying to lift weights. Rattata were running obstacle courses.

Sandshrew was diving into a pool of water.

“Hurry it up!” AJ cracked his whip so Sandshrew would jump out and shake itself off. “Back in the water! Go!”

“Hey! Quit it!” Ash launched himself forward. He lunged for AJ’s whip and both of them were sent tumbling into the water.

“Ash!” I yelped, running forward to help him out. I might not be able to swim but I could pull a friend out, right?

“What in tarnation?” AJ spluttered when he surfaced. “What was that for?”

“You were hurting it! Don’t you know that water weakens rock and ground types!” Ash defended himself. I knelt down and offered him my hand to pull himself out.

“Che.” AJ scoffed, climbing out on his own and sending a scathing look to the diving board overhead. “Sandshrew, dive!”

Even if I could swim I wouldn’t have been fast enough to make a difference. Sandshrew was in and out of the water so fast it made my head spin! And it didn’t look pained or weakened at all!

“What? It’s not weakened by water?” Ash looked as stunned as I felt.

“You’re looking at the only Sandshrew in the world that’s unaffected by water!” AJ boasted proudly.

“You’ve clearly never been to Alola haven’t you?” Flora commented.

I took another look around, taking in all the pokemon training here.

AJ was certainly getting results here. Impressive ones, if his Sandshrew was any judge. But looking around at the harried expressions they wore, the harnesses they were strapped into? Looking at his whip and hearing his derogatory remarks?

He might be getting results but I liked Ash’s methods much better.

Brock, AJ, and Misty all got drawn into a conversation about pokemon food. I wasn’t sure how much Misty was getting out of it since AJ didn’t seem to have any water pokemon, but there was probably some overlap there.

Meanwhile, Ash and Flora kept watching the pokemon.

“AJ, I have a question.” I started.

“Yes, little missie?” He looked at me.

“Your pokemon…” How to phrase this? “Do they all stick out with the training? All the time?”

“Mm, well, no.” He shook his head. “In fact, most of them don’t.”

“Because your methods are way too harsh!” Ash pounced on any perceived weakness.

“It’s the method of winners, boy, and every pokemon still here knows it!” He scoffed. “These pokemon you see before you are the cream of the crop, the best of the best! Future champions in the making!”

“Physical strength is all well and good but I don’t see this fostering much in the way of friendship or loyalty.” I sighed quietly.

“Oh yeah.” Flora tuned back in. “That would cripple some pokemon who rely on those feelings in order to develop and evolve.”

Huh?

“Now what are you going on about?” He frowned at Flora. “My pokemon are plenty loyal, and our bond’s stronger than steel!”

Flora turned to look at A.J.

“Power comes from powerful emotions. For example, Rage which is affected by a pokemon’s rage while the moves Frustration and Return are affected by a pokemon’s friendship and loyalty towards its Trainer. And there are also pokemon in the world who can’t evolve without strong bonds of friendship and loyalty, emotional support more than physical. Some pokemon will, even though they may be capable, simply refuse to evolve without that kind of connection.”

Really? There were pokemon who couldn’t evolve without friendship? I guess friendship was an important concept in other worlds too.

I looked around the room at several wondering faces.

“I get what you mean Sarah, Flora.” Ash crossed his arms. “I’ve always thought it was the bonds between trainer and pokemon that were most important. If you’re not friends with your pokemon then what’s even the point?”

“Huh?” Flora turned to look at Ash.

“Hey! The point is that we’re all getting stronger! To be the best!” AJ glared at him. “And we’re friends! Sure we’re friends! Sandshrew and I are close as can be!”

“Oh yeah? Then where is your Sandshrew? Because I don’t see it.” Ash pointed at the training floor.

“He’s right over…here?” AJ walked over to the weights section. For a moment, we all stared. AJ broke the silence. “Boy, what is your Pikachu doing?”

“Ah, Pikachu!” Ash knelt down and began fighting with the buckles. “He must’ve got tangled up in one of these stupid harnesses!”

“Uh, hold on,” I knelt down beside him and began searching for a safety release. Something like this that put such strain on a pokemon’s body had to have an emergency release.

“Right here.” Flora pushed a button and all the joints clicked and opened, letting Pikachu uncurl with a grateful sigh of relief.

“How did you know where to press?” I looked at Flora in confusion.

“It’s very similar to the Macho Brace we use, if not the same thing.” Flora shrugged.

“Now where is Sandshrew?” A.J. muttered, interrupting me. “SANDSHREW! Where’d you go? Training’s not over yet!”

“Close as close can be, huh?” Ash snickered.

“Ash!” I scolded him quietly.

“Oi, you lot.” AJ addressed the other pokemon. “Any of you seen Sandshrew?” A variety of negatives came from the gathered pokemon.

“Maybe it wandered off?” Brock suggested, not sounding very convinced of his own reasoning.

“Or ran away.” Ash muttered.

“Ash!” I glared at him. “How would you feel if Pikachu was missing?”

That got him thinking. The way he instinctively tightened his grip on Pikachu spoke volumes. It might be a low blow but I’ll never find making fun of someone who’s lost their pet or pokemon to be acceptable. That’s a line no one should cross.

“Alright everyone, fan out and search!” AJ didn’t give any indication that he’d heard, but he looked worried all the same.

“We’ll help you look for it.” Brock offered. “Between the six of us and all the pokemon it shouldn’t take long.”

“Yeah.” I stood up. Spearow could search from the air. I thumbed his pokeball.

A faint tremor ran underneath my feet. My heart skipped a beat and I looked around.

The ground broke apart and Sandshrew came flying out, accidentally clocking Ash’s chin in the process. It had used Dig and came up beneath our feet.

“Sandshrew!” AJ grinned, grabbing his partner in a whirling hug. “Where you been, partner? Had us all worried for ya!”

“Shrew, shrew sand!” It pointed at the hole and at something it had dragged back with it.

“Meowth!” We gasped. That was definitely the talking pokemon of Team Rocket lying insensate on the floor. Our raised voices were even enough to rouse him.

“Yikes!” He scrambled back and away from us. “What am I doing here?”

“Team Rocket, I shoulda known you’d be behind this!” Ash growled.

“Prepare for trouble.” I suppressed a groan, turning towards the door frame.

“Make that double.” Sure enough, Team Rocket.

“To protect the world from devastation,”

“To unite all peoples within our nation,”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love,”

“To extend our reach to the stars above,”

“Jessie,”

“James,”

“Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

"Meowth, dat's right!"

"That feels great, we don't need a theme song!" Jessie sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It's a classic!" Agreed a tearful James.

…what?

"So there are the creeps who kidnapped mah Sandshrew?" growls A.J angrily.

“That was an unfortunate little mix-up.” Jessie brushed her hair back. “We don’t have any use for a second-rate sandshrew. We wanted Pikachu.”

“And you…confused Sandshrew for Pikachu?” Flora cocked her head to the side in confusion.

“Our disguise didn’t provide a lot of visibility! We picked based on size!”

“Clearly not by weight.” Flora muttered.

"Second-rate!?!" A.J growled in disbelief.

"The only pokemon we want is Pikachu." Jessie told him, mistakenly thinking she's removing a potential rival.

"You can keep all those other wimps." James nodded, trying to help out as well.

"Wimps are they!" growls A.J.

“Oh, I think we made him mad, Jess.” James smirked.

“I see that, James.” Jessie lifted her nose at him. “Well, if he’s that insulted maybe we can make an exception and take his Sandshrew and all the other pokemon here as well!”

“Why? They’re of no great loss.” Flora muttered distractedly.

“Not on my watch!” AJ snapped his whip, bringing Sandshrew to full attention.

“They have a Koffing and an Ekans, along with the Meowth.” I warned him.

“Thanks for the warning, little missie.” His smirk was cold, anticipatory. “But we’ve got a handle on this. You and your friends just sit back and watch me earn win number one hundred.”

“Ekans, use Bind!” Jessie threw her pokeball.

“Sandshrew, you know what to do!” AJ twirled his whip in the air. Sandshrew curled up tight, making itself impossibly small. Ekans couldn’t get a good grip that way and Sandshrew slid right out.

“Koffing, Sludge attack!” James shouted in frustration.

“Keep up that spin, Sandshrew!” AJ called.

The sludge slid right off Sandshrew’s hide. A tackle took the koffing out of the fight easily. Team Rocket tried to send Meowth in next.

“Sandshrew, finish’em off with a Fissure Attack!” AJ commanded.

The ground began to heave and split apart between my feet. Misty grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back to solid ground but I lost balance and landed hard on my rear.

Huge cracks ran through the earth for meters all around. It was an impressive feat of strength for a Sandshrew. Impressive enough to send Team Rocket fleeing for their lives.

“…We did it.” AJ seemed stunned by the sudden end to the fight. “Sandshrew, we really did it!” He was beaming now, falling to his knees to embrace his partner. “A hundred wins! Today all our sacrifices and hard work have finally paid off, now we can start winning our badges!"

Later, outside the ruins of the Gym, we said our goodbyes.

"When Ah return here Ah'm gonna be.... the number one Pohkemon Master." He declared.

"Why don't you come along with us?" Ash asked.

“After spending the entire day telling him he's a bad trainer who abuses pokemon and trying to drown him? Flora asked incredulously

"Thanks, but Sandshrew and Ah have our own path that we must follow." A.J said politely.

Ash and A.J shook hands.

"Someday we'll meet again at the big Pokémon League competition.” Ash promised.

"Okay! But next time you better be in shape, coz Ah only wanna beat expert trainers!" A.J. bragged.

"That's a deal!" Ash laughed, not quite realizing that he's been insulted in the last minute.

"So long!" A.J called out as he turned and walked away with Sandshrew in tow.

"He's tough but pretty cool." Misty looked on.

"Yeah, looks like you've found another rival." Brock smiled.

"AJ! I'm not going to lose next time!" Ash screamed at A.J, who was only like 10 feet away. "I'll train hard to become the greatest pokemon Master in the world, following my own path!"

Chapter 9: The School of Hard Knocks

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We were traveling through yet another forest, this one foggy unlike Viridian Forest.

I would’ve liked to say that we began our usual daily trek in peace and harmony, or at least in drowsy silence, but by the time I’d managed to drag myself out of my sleeping bag, Misty and Ash were already sniping at each other over the Bike Argument while Flora was in the trees…again.

“This happen a lot?” Brock whispered to me. We were walking a little ahead of Ash and Misty, not that it helped much.

“Oh, trust me, it used to be even worse.” I rolled my eyes. “If we don’t find some way to distract them they’ll go at it all day.”

“Hmm, well, it’s a little early but…” Brock scratched his chin thoughtfully.

“Hm?” I stopped in surprise. He began digging through his bag, setting out a picnic blanket and then pulling out a teapot, along with some easy travel snacks and other supplies.

“Nothing soothes foul tempers like a good cup of Cerulean Coffee!” He boasted. “Ah, but you kids are probably a little too young for that. How does herbal tea sound? Along with my world famous crepes!”

“Ooh, I love crepes!” Misty gasped excitedly.

“Coffee?” Flora pretty much teleported to us.

“Uh, tea sounds…nice.” I nodded hesitantly.

“But there’s just one thing missing.” Brock clenched his fist around a whisk.

“What’s that?” Ash and Flora asked.

“A fire.” Brock nodded seriously. “I can’t make tea or crepes without a fire and a fire needs firewood! Which means one of you needs to go out and get me some!”

“Well, I love crepes and tea but I guess I can surrender the excitement of finding firewood to Ash in order to keep you company!” Misty happily declared, already making herself comfortable on the picnic blanket with Flora.

“Uh, I’ll help Ash.” I volunteered.

“Firewood, firewood.” Ash muttered under his breath as we walked. Most of what we could easily find was too damp thanks to all this fog. If Ash wasn’t constantly muttering to himself I’m afraid I might’ve lost track of him.

“Hey Sarah, I think I see a fire up ahead!” Ash was more of a vague shape than anything, but I heard his voice clearly. I could also see the fire’s glow he was talking about.

“Oh? Do you think someone else is camping near here?” I ran towards the Ash shape.

“Let’s check it out!” He grabbed my hand and started pulling me along. Pikachu could barely keep up. As we got closer we were able to make out more through the fog. Multiple people, surrounding someone, and the flames were too small to be a campfire. Candles? And what was that machine one of them was running on?

“Pop quiz! What is the name of this pokemon and what does it evolve into?” I couldn’t see what they were holding up, but the boy on the machine was panting for breath. “Better answer fast or we’re turning up the treadmill again.”

Treadmill? The machine making him run in place?

“P-Pidgey!” He gasped. “Evolves into Pidgeotto!”

“EEERRR!” The boys surrounding him laughed. “This is a pidgeotto dumb-dumb, and it evolves into Pidgeot! Turn it up to the next setting!”

“Ah, no!” The boy grabbed the handrails on either side of him but it was clear that the treadmill was moving much faster than before. There was no way he’d be able to keep up that pace for long.

“Hey, leave him alone!” Ash burst forward. “Stop bullying that kid!”

“Huh?” Unfortunately, Ash’s attempted rescue managed to surprise the victim enough that he lost his grip and his pace, being sent flying by the machine.

“Ooh, are you okay?” I winced, stepping forward to help.

“I-I’m okay, really.” The boy accepted my hand.

“Sarah? Ash? I thought I heard you two.” Misty, Brock and Flora appeared out of the mist. “What’s going on here?”

“These guys were bullying this kid.” Ash pointed accusingly.

“We were helping him study for Friday’s test.” One of the candle-holders scoffed, turning up his nose at us. “Though I’m not surprised a bunch of wild savages like the five of you wouldn’t recognize studying.”

“We at Pokemon Tech have to hold ourselves to higher standards than you do. Joe should be grateful we took time out of our day to help him.” Another added.

“Why you!” Ash grit his teeth.

These kids rubbed me the wrong way.

“We’ve wasted enough of our valuable time here, guys.” The leader of the group decided. “Joe, we’ll see you later in the dorms for another study session.”

“Yeah, okay.” The boy I’d helped agreed easily.

“Pokemon Tech, where have I heard…Oh yeah!” Misty began digging through her pockets and pulled out a crumpled flier. “Pokemon Technical, the school for future pokemon champions!”

“Champions?” That caught Ash’s interest.

“Says here it’s a school dedicated to teaching students about the fundamentals of pokemon, guaranteed to allow admittance into the Pokemon League upon graduation, guiding young minds to be the next champions, quickly!” Brock read over her shoulder. Curious, I leaned in and scanned over the lines. One in particular caught my eye.

“Graduate in only five years? They call that quick? Ash will be in this year’s Indigo League in ten months!” I spluttered in shock. Admittance at age ten, graduate at fifteen. Why didn’t they just go on a Pokemon journey?

"Wait, there's more." Brock stated as Pikachu angrily kicked the machine and then leaped about in pain. "Student's entrance fees and tuition are in keeping with the high standards set by Pokemon Technical."

Wait a second, if they had the money to cover tuition they certainly had enough to buy a pokemon, right?

"You know what that means, don't you." Misty looked at Ash. "It's one of those snobby private schools only millionaire's kids can go to."

Oh, now it made sense.

“Ha! Haha! Ha! Pokemon Technical. Ha! Sha, ha! Oh hey, look at me, I’m too good to go to public school. I go to Pokemon Technical because my parents are rich!” Flora…did not like Pokemon Technical.

"Oooh that really makes me mad? Where is this place anyway?" Ash roared.

"Right over there." Joe pointed as the fog conveniently rolled away to reveal that we're standing smack dab in the middle of the Quad, and were surrounded on three sides by the school itself. A delightfully inviting cold metallic voice announced over the loudspeaker that today's lesson on battle techniques is over and that tomorrow's will involve snow.

“Huh, good thing we didn’t start a fire.” I said innocuously.

“Speak for yourself.” Flora muttered.

“Oh, well. I guess tomorrow they'll make me into a snowman again.” Joe sighed.

“Do they treat you like that all the time?” I ignored Flora’s comment and turned to Joe concerned.

“My friends are just trying to help me.” He replied.

“You call them friends?” I was shocked.

How was any of that friendly?

“With friends like that, who needs enemies?” Misty squawked while Flora nodded in the background.

“But they helped me learn that Pidgey evolve to Pidgeotto, learn the moves Whirlwind and Wing Attack, and that after evolving to Pidgeotto it can fly at 1200 meters and speeds of up to Mach 2.” Joe rattered off.

"I don't get it. If you know everything about Pidgey, why didn't you just answer them before?" Ash asked.

“Sometimes I make believe that I don't know all the answers, because if I do, they make the questions that much harder.” Joe answered. “But I have to stay here at Pokemon Tech. My mother and father worked hard and saved money so they could pay to send me to school here.”

“You see that guy over there?” Joe pointed out another student sitting beneath a tree studiously reading a book, wearing great googly eyeglasses and had grayish hair with patches of stubble on his chin.

Was that a teacher?

“He's an upperclassman.” Joe kept on talking. “The classes are so hard here, some students are held back for many years. Everybody's too ashamed to go home without getting a diploma. That guy, he's in the beginners' class with me.”

He was an upperclassman! How long has he been here?

“You're a beginner?” Asked Ash.

Joe nodded.

“Beginners have the same qualifications as someone with two badges, the intermediate class has the qualifications of four, and advanced students have the same as six” Joe casually explained. “If you graduate, you can enter the Pokemon League without traveling around to collect the badges. That guy's a beginner, but he's so much older than everybody in the class, the kids don't bother to help him like they help me.”

“What do the teachers say about that kind of help?” Misty asked.

"They don't even know about it." Joe said. "Or if they do, they pretend not to."

What? But, I don’t. Miss Cheerliee may have let Diamond Tiara run wild with the school newspaper, but I was firmly sure she would put her hoof down on this kind of help.

"Well I for one think this is a violation of student's rights that must stop immediately if not sooner!" Ash growled. "I WANT TO MEET THE STUDENT IN CHARGE OF THIS SYSTEM AND I'LL SEE THAT IT STOPS!" He finished with a pouty growl while Brock was…calmly whisking something in a metal bowl.

Oh yeah, this all started when Ash and Misty began arguing again and Brock tried to distract them by offering us coffee, tea, and crepes. Huh, weird how that works.

"Ahhh." Muttered Joe, who reached into his jacket pocket. "Here's a picture."

"It's a girl!" Exclaimed Misty as we all stared at a photo of a, admittedly, pretty girl with her back to the camera, face in profile as she chatted with a friend, I was assuming.

"Oh yeah." Ash…grinned goofily and blushed stupidly. "You're right about that."

Whatever Brock was going to say was interrupted as Flora slapped him in the back of the head before she gained a thoughtful look.

"HEY!" Misty snapped angrily at Joe. "If she's making your life so miserable, how come you're carrying her picture around?"

"I hate the way she treats us, but I like the way she looks." Joe admitted pathetically.

It looked like Flora was going to say something with a catty look on her face before she froze in place and slowly closed her mouth.

“Yeah." Ash sighed. "Not like some other girls who treat you bad and look even worse......"

"Grrrr!" Misty erupted, and I swore I could see head turn huge in fury, as Ash leapt into Brock's arms while Flora hid behind the two. "WHILE YOU TWO ARE SLOBBERING OVER THAT DOPEY PICTURE I'M GONNA FIND THIS LITTLE WITCH AND STRAIGHTEN HER OUT!"

She began stomping her way toward the main building angrily muttering under her breath.

"Hey Misty!" Ash gasped, as he didn’t understand what could have possibly put her in such a bad mood. "Wait up!"

“Giselle always practices here by herself.”

Joe led us through the school and we eventually came to a room with lots of…

“Looks more like an arcade.” Flora muttered.

Arcade? Like those games Button Mash plays all the time? Actually, when I looked a bit more closely I could see the resemblance.

So how does anyone practice pokemon battles here?

"That's what I'm counting on!" I tuned back in as Ash showed off his two badges to an unimpressed Joe.

“But Giselle is the top beginner here at the Tech. That's better than even having three badges.” Joe began. “Even though I'm at the bottom of my class, I'm still more powerful than someone with two badges.” He said in a faux arrogant tone.

"Hold on a second!” Misty snapped and shoved Ash out of the way. “I learned how to be a pokemon Trainer at the Cerulean City Gym, are you saying you can beat me!?!"

"Ahhh, Cerulean City, water pokemon." Joe thought out loud.

"How'd you know?" Misty gasped, surprised.

"I always beat them on the simulator." He explained, turning on one of the arcade machines and defeating a Starmie with a Weepinbell easily. "See."

That…that’s it? A turn based simulator? How was that going to teach anyone how to react in a real time battle in the real world? What good was the theoretical without any of the practical?

"What... is this?" Grunted Misty. "A simulation is one thing, but this is real life.... let's battle!"

"You'll be sorry." Joe smiled, still arrogantly believing his simulation experience will allow him to win.

"What do you two have to battle for?" Ash complained as Joe let us into one of the school’s ‘battle’ rooms.

"Butt out, Ash!" Misty growled, as we entered the room and she and Joe took their positions on the field. "I have the Cerulean City Gym's reputation to defend, and I'm gonna defend it!”

“STARMIE!” Misty called out as she sent out Starmie.

“Too bad your water pokemon won't be able to beat my plant. All right, Weepinbell.” Joe sent out a yellow bell-shaped pokemon.

“Bell.”

“I'll teach him about pokemon. Starmie, go!” Misty threw out her hand and Starmie, without a specific command, lept up into the air and unleashed a Water Gun at Weepinbell who was knocked over Joe’s shoulder unconscious.

“Congratulations Joe, you one hit wonder.” Flora groaned.

"Oooh... but Weepinbell is strong against water pokemon!" Joe gasped in shock.

"True, but there's one thing you didn't know." Said a sweet voice.

We all turned to look at the girl from the picture, flanked by the guys who taunted Joe earlier.

"Your opponent's from the Cerulean City Gym, her pokemon has much more experience battling... you should have known that, you're an embarrassment to the whole school."

She, that…urg!

“But, Giselle” Whatever Joe was saying was lost on me as Ash and Flora started talking.

"She's really pretty." Ash gushed, blushing madly with great big eyes.

“Down boy.” Flora said monotonously as she yanked on Brock’s ear.

As for Giselle…well she began monologuing about being the top student in the most exclusive prep school in the world, how it was sad that others weren’t blessed with her beauty, talent, and…humble attitude. Honestly she was more conceited than Team Rocket.

"I want to continue to help my classmates be the very best they can be." Giselle told Joe. "To teach each other, respect each other, and ensure the Pokémon of tomorrow.... BUT YOU'RE A WEAKLING!"

That! That!

“You better get stronger fast, or before you know it your fellow students will turn their backs on you.... for good!" Giselle walked away from Joe as he was locked in place.

"Not so fast!" Misty cried out. "A true friend wouldn't walk away from someone who needs their help.... you may look beautiful, but you remind me of an old saying about how beauty's only skin-deep."

That’s right! You tell her Misty!

"Jealousy isn't very pretty either, is it?" Giselle giggled.

"I better do something!" Ash gasped, while Pikachu looked on in confusion at all this nonsense.

“Gah! Why do you keep pulling on my ear?” Brock whined.

“I wouldn’t have to if you could keep your hormones in check!” Flora declared.

“Hold up a moment!” Ash butt in between Misty and Giselle. “If anyone’s going to be battling you, it’s me!”

“You? And what’s so special about you?” Giselle sniffed.

“Don’t underestimate me! I’ve already got two badges and I’m going to be in this year’s Indigo League, just you wait and see!” He declared hotly.

“Ash, gah, is a good trainer.” Flora admitted, although it looked like it pained her to do so. “I think you’ll be really surprised if you battle him.”

“Hm, is that so?” She pouted, looking Ash up and down. “Alright then, I’ll battle you. And when I beat you I want to battle little Ms. Cerulean City, got it.”

“If you beat me.” Ash glared. “Are you ready for this, Pikachu?”

“Pi-KA!” Pikachu pumped his tiny fist.

“Hmph, battling me with a Pikachu? And you’ve only got two badges, you said? Bold choice.” She smirked. “I choose Cubone. Let’s take this outside, shall we? I’d hate to damage school property.”

We didn’t go far, just to the pool right outside. It was probably meant for water battle training, judging from the platforms.

“Cubone, huh?” Ash pulled out his pokedex.

“Cubone: The Ground-Type Pokemon, their skull helmets are passed down through their families.” Dexter informed him.

“Right.” He nodded, pocketing his pokedex to focus on the battle ahead. “It’s a ground type so electricity won’t do much good, but we’re still going to win this!”

“Ha, you really are a beginner, aren’t you? It’s true that there’s more to pokemon battles than type advantages, but there are limits, you know.” Giselle laughed haughtily.

I did not like this girl.

I held my tongue though. Ash’s battle would speak for itself.

Pikachu had taken one Bonemerang, but he avoided the second. He jumped as it sailed past him and landed on the Cubone’s head, twisting its skull helmet to blind the ground type. It did keep Cubone distracted until the Bonemerang came back and clapped it against the head.

“See?” Flora smiled as the Cubone began to wail.

“Oh, Cubone.” Giselle kneeled down and wrapped her Cubone in a hug. “There, there, don’t cry. Return and have a good rest.”

After a moment, Giselle stood up and faced Ash directly with an indecipherable look on her face.

“Well, I have to admit I’m surprised.” I saw her glance in Flora’s way and it didn’t curb the feral smile on Flora’s face. “None of the textbooks mentioned Pikachu winning by anything other than electricity, certainly not by using my pokemon’s own moves against it.”

“There are other methods of winning not listed in your textbooks too!” We all jumped, surprised by the sudden arrival of three newcomers.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jesse."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-owth!" Screamed Meowth, falling out of the sky and splashing into the pool before leaping out to pose between Jesse and James, who act like they were expecting him at just this very moment. "I love a splashy entrance!”

I shortly tuned them out as Giselle and her groupies, and Joe, scared Team Rocket off school grounds by pelting them with pokeballs.

It was kind of interesting to learn that James and Jessie both apparently applied for Pokemon Technical and that they both scored the lowest grades in the school’s history.

We quickly left the school afterwards. Joe has decided to return home and start a real Pokemon Journey. Giselle meanwhile promised to be a worthy opponent if they met again and told Ash she hopes to meet him again with Ash and Misty agreeing.

Chapter 10: The Starter/Abandoned arc

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As was becoming normal, thick, dense forest surrounded us in every direction. Sunlight poured in between the leaves above and there were dozens of little streams that we passed along our way. There were places where the grass grew thigh high and more than a few little dips and valleys that snuck up on us.

Walking around it was easy to feel like the only people in the world. There was no path paved by the people before us, or any evidence that there had been any people at all.

No path…Hmm…

“Ash, do you know where we’re going?” I spoke up.

“Vermilion city, of course!” He answered over his shoulder.

“Right, but, are you sure this is the right way?” I asked.

“See, Ash? Even Sarah knows this can’t be right!” Misty snapped. “You’ve gone and gotten us lost!”

“What makes you think we’re lost?” He challenged her.

“Listen up, knucklehead! When you don’t know where you are or what direction you’re going in, then you. Are. Lost!” She yelled at him.

“You’re the one who suggested this shortcut!” He tried arguing.

“No, I didn’t!” Brock, Flora and I sighed on the sidelines.

“Alright, that’s enough, kids!” Brock clapped his hands twice. “Let’s sit down and have a brief rest. Hopefully that’ll cool your tempers.”

I sat down on a free patch of grass. It was a beautiful forest and all but I would’ve liked to know we were going the right way.

“Hey, look over there!” Misty whispered urgently. She pointed at a little stream where an Oddish was getting a drink of water. It hadn’t noticed us yet.

"Oddish, this Pokémon is typically found roaming the forest, scattering Pollen as it walks around." Dexter informs us.

“I'll catch it” Ash stood up with a pokeball in hand.

“Hold it!” Misty stood in front of Ash.

“What for?”

“Because I'm gonna catch that Pokémon.” Misty declared.

“Wait, what? Why!?” Flora squawked in confusion while Ash nodded in agreement.

“Because we found it around the water, and water is my specialty.” Explained Misty.

“Wha? Buh. Oddish isn’t a water type pokemon, Oddish is a grass type!” Flora threw up her arms in exasperation.

“Aww, it’s a grass type?” Misty groaned. “I was hoping it was a water type. I would’ve liked to catch it.”

“But I still can!” Ash grinned excitedly. “Butterfree, I choose you!”

“Free!” Butterfree fluttered in place.

“That reminds me.” I turned towards Flora. “Why do Gym Leaders and you specialize in one type of pokemon?”

“Oh that’s easy. Gym Leaders are kinda limited to climate and geography. Take for example Blaine over on Cinnabar Island and Mr. Moore over in Lavaridge Town. The guys live right by some volcanoes, thus they have an easier time finding fire type pokemon. And it makes breeding, training and grooming easier to deal with since you only need a narrow set of specialized gear to handle a team of the same type.” Flora gave a light hearted lecture.

“What’s—?” I heard Ash gasp in shock. “A Bulbasaur!”

At that statement I turned to see a Bulbasaur standing in between Oddish and Butterfree.

“Bulbasaur: Considered a Starter pokemon in Kanto, this pokemon bears a large seed on its back from birth. Scientists are divided on whether to classify Bulbasaur as a plant or animal. They are also known to be difficult to catch in the wild.”

“A Bulbasaur would be a way better catch than an Oddish!” Ash decided. “Butterfree, use Sleep Powder!”

Bulbasaur took one look at the approaching cloud of blue powder and sucked in a great big breath. I thought at first that Bulbasaur just planned to hold its breath but then it blew out all the air in one big gust. The powder was washed back to Butterfree, who dizzily drifted to the ground.

“Oh no, hang in there, Butterfree!” Ash urged it to stay awake. Bulbasaur wasn’t going to wait for Butterfree to recover though. It launched a strong Tackle attack that put Butterfree down.

While we were distracted by Butterfree’s defeat, Bulbasaur and the Oddish both took off into the forest. Within seconds we’d lost sight of them completely.

“Oh, darn it!” Ash slumped. “I wanted to catch it!”

“There will be other opportunities, Ash.” I tried patting him on the back.

Flora looked like she had something to say before Ash bounced back.

“You’re right! C’mon, let’s chase after it!”

“Ah, hold on!” I made sure my backpack was fastened properly before taking off after him.

“Hey look, a bridge!” Brock spotted it first. It was a swinging rope bridge suspended over a chasm with a rushing river at the bottom. Not something I really wanted to fall into.

“Heh, I’ll bet there’s tons of Bulbasaur in this forest.” Ash snickered to himself as he led us across.

“Ah, geez.” I began making my way gingerly across. The bridge didn’t look to be in good repair. It was the first sign of anything man-made in this forest and I couldn’t help but wonder when it was made.

With good reason, as it turned out. We were a little more than halfway across when one of the supporting lines suddenly snapped. Ash and Flora got a grip on the bridge itself and Misty grabbed him.

I…didn’t grab anything.

“AAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!” I screamed the whole way down. I can’t swim! I can’t swim! I can’t swim!

“SARAH!” My name was the last thing I heard before I hit the water.

The cold shocked all the air right out of me. The current was the only reason I was able to find the surface, but it was strong and there was nothing for me to grab hold of.

“Sarah!” Someone screamed my name again.

“Gah! Help!” I coughed, flailing my arms and hoping one of the others could see me. I lost balance and slipped under the water again. I tried kicking my legs but my clothes and bag were weighing me down.

An arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me to the surface.

“I’ve got you, Sarah! I’ve got you!”

“B-Brock?” My teeth chattered.

“I’m here! Grab hold of me and kick your legs, like this.” I could feel him pumping his own legs. Where mine had been a panicked spasm his motions were smooth and with a wider range of motion. I noticed immediately that it was a lot easier to keep my head above water using his method.

“The current’s too fast to fight, we have to wait and hope it slows down!” He yelled over the pounding rapids.

With a friend, it was easier to push down the fear. I just had to trust that Brock would keep me safe.

“Oh my! Grab hold!” My eyes were blurred by all the water but I thought I could make out a woman standing on the river bank. Brock reached out and caught her hand before we could be swept past her.

“Take Sarah first!” Brock used his free hand to give me a boost. The woman nearly lost her hold on Brock’s arm, but I twisted around and caught his other hand to help haul him out of the water too.

“My goodness, are you two alright?” Once I wiped my eyes I could see she was a young woman. Long blue hair done in a braid, I couldn’t see it that well from the front, and comfortable overalls.

“Yes, thanks to you.” Brock sighed, his face tinted red.

“We really appreciate the help, ma’am.” I turned towards Brock. “And Brock, thanks for saving me from drowning.”

“No problem, Sarah. We’ll definitely teach you to swim soon.” He promised me.

“I’m glad you’re both alright.” The woman smiled. “My name is Melanie, and you are?”

“I’m Brock, Brock Harrison, and this is my friend, Sarah.” Brock babbled, scratching the back of his head. And was that…? He was blushing!

“Uh, hi.” I waved lamely. Quick, think of something to say! “Um, I’m glad to see there are people in this forest after all! Do you live here?”

“Oh, well.” She looked down, fidgeting with her hands. “I’m the only person who lives around here. Why don’t I show you around? It’ll give you a chance to dry off.” She suggested.

“That sounds great!” Brock accepted quickly. “And please, if there’s anything we can do to repay you for saving us?”

“No, no, I really don’t need any thanks!” She refused politely and stood up. “Please, follow me.”

She bent down to retrieve a basket of freshly picked herbs and started leading us down a small foot trail. Not what I’d consider a proper path but it was easy to follow.

“You live out here? All alone?” Brock asked with some concern.

“Oh, I’m not alone.” Melanie smiled. “Alright, we’re here! Welcome to my little village.”

There was one building, a friendly looking cabin by a pond. Bowls were scattered throughout the yard and there was a neat and rather large garden in the back. What really caught our attention though was the pokemon.

“Oh wow!” I gasped, delighted. Oddish, Staryu, Parasect, Rattata, Butterfree, Weepinbell, all the different kinds of pokemon you’d expect to see in a forest like this! They ran around playing with each other out in the open. When they saw us they immediately began circling Melanie, welcoming her home. Melanie was starting to remind me of a blue haired Fluttershy, just not as shy.

“Settle down, settle down!” She laughed, clearly at home with all her friends.

“Are they all yours?” Brock asked, kneeling down to allow a curious rattata to sniff his palm.

“They aren’t mine, but I take care of them.” Melanie smiled sadly. “Sometimes pokemon end up hurt or abandoned, and then they come here. I try to nurse them back to health so they can return to the wild.”

“You’re very good at it.” Brock whistled. “These pokemon look fit and healthy.”

“Yes.” She sighed slightly.

“Um, Melanie?” I started tentatively. “I’m sorry to ask since you’ve already helped us so much, but when we fell into the river we were separated from our friends, Ash Misty and Flora. Do you have any idea how we could find them?”

“Oh dear.” Melanie looked concerned. “They might’ve gotten caught in one of the traps!”

“Traps?” We echoed.

“The pokemon make them.” She explained tiredly. “You see, while they’re here they don’t want to battle or be captured, so they do their best to make sure humans stay away. So they build traps around the area. The traps aren’t really dangerous, but your friends might be stuck for a while if they fall into one.”

“Then we’ll have to go and rescue them, just as you rescued us!” Brock declared.

“They might be following the river trying to find us.” I suggested nervously. At the very least it gave us a place to start looking.

“Wait here a moment, I’ll send Bulbasaur with you.” Melanie told us.

“Did she say Bulbasaur?” Brock gaped. Melanie walked inside her cabin and a minute later she walked out. I couldn’t be positive but I was almost sure it was the same Bulbasaur that Ash had wanted to capture.

“Bulbasaur will lead you to your friends.” Melanie sounded so pleased by that. Bulbasaur didn’t look very happy though.

Well, it did lead us to Ash, Misty and Flora. We found them in a net hanging from a tree. As we walked back to Melanie’s cabin we explained what had happened and what Melanie was doing out here. They seemed impressed by everything Melanie had done so far. Ash even apologized to the Oddish he’d tried capturing earlier.

Bulbasaur wasn’t happy about us still being here though. At one point it even tried pushing Ash to leave. Bulbasaur was the leader of this little village and their guardian, and if all these pokemon had been injured and abandoned by their trainers, then yeah, I could see why it might be protective against humans. It’s kind of sad.

Maybe more would’ve happened but that was when Team Rocket made their regularly scheduled appearance.

“Prepare for trouble!”

“And make it double!”

“To protect the world from devastation!”

“To unite all people within our nation!”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

“To extend our reach to the stars above!”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth, that’s right!”

They had some kind of huge machine attached to half a dozen balloons. A vacuum like the one from Cerulean city. Where did they keep getting this stuff? There weren’t any stores to rob all the way out here.

“Everybody get inside!” Brock shouted, directing us all to the cabin. I bent down and took two Rattata in hand before they could be pulled into the air. Anything not nailed down was flying up towards the hose and that included the pokemon.

“Oh no, Oddish!” Misty screamed. Over my shoulder I saw the little grass type being pulled into the air. It would’ve been sucked down the vacuum’s hose if Bulbasaur hadn’t caught it using Vine Whip.

The winds were strong enough that even Bulbasaur was struggling to stay on its feet. Ash ran out and began helping, keeping Bulbasaur from losing its footing.

“We’re all safe in here.” Melanie sighed with relief, locking the door for good measure.

“Wait, Bulbasaur!” Ash got the rest of us to look over. Bulbasaur was using a vine to pull open a roof access panel and was climbing up the ladder as fast as it could. “It’s going to the roof!”

“It must be planning to attack Team Rocket!” Misty realized.

“Not alone it’s not!” I scowled, reaching for Spearow’s pokeball. Ash and I made it to the front door at the same time and we both released our flying pokemon.

“Spearow, use Whirlwind!” I yelled over the wind.

“Pidgeotto, you too!” Ash shouted beside me.

Our pokemon beat their wings as hard as they could. It didn’t take long for their winds to clash with the vacuum’s winds. The air currents twisted up and formed a raging tornado and since the vacuum was sucking and our pokemon were blowing the tornado went straight for Team Rocket.

“We did it!” Ash whooped and cheered.

“Great job, Spearow. I think you’ve gotten a lot stronger lately.” I offered my arm as a perch.

“Spear, spearow, row.” He preened smugly.

“Are they really gone?” Melanie asked shakily, shielding the doorway with her own body.

“Yep. Pidgeotto and Spearow sent them flying!” Ash bragged. “It’s safe now. You can all come out.”

The pokemon all darted out, running around our feet as they celebrated. It was hard to believe these pokemon had ever been injured; They looked so healthy and energetic.

And that turned out to be a problem.

“This village is well protected thanks to Bulbasaur.” Ash remarked. With good reason. Bulbasaur had used Vine Whip against the vacuum’s hose which was probably the only reason Spearow and Pidgeotto hadn’t been sucked down its gullet.

“Yes.” Melanie agreed with a melancholy smile. “Ash, don’t you think Bulbasaur would make a good addition to your team?”

“Yeah, that’d be amazing!” His eyes drifted off a bit, likely imagining the scenario.

“Then please.” Melanie picked up Bulbasaur in her arms. “Take Bulbasaur with you.”

“Huh? But…what will happen to the village without Bulbasaur to protect it?” His eyes went wide.

“It’s true that Bulbasaur is a great protector, maybe even too great.” She petted Bulbasaur’s head. “You see, the pokemon here feel so safe that they never want to leave, even after they recover. Healing pokemon is my passion, but I know my job isn’t done until they return to where they came from so they can start families or meet good trainers who will treat them well and help them grow stronger.”

“And this village is too small for Bulbasaur. If it stays here I’m afraid it won’t grow any stronger.” She continued sadly. “So please take it with you. I promise it won’t be a burden.”

“Bul-Bulba!” Bulbasaur interrupted, staring Ash straight in the eyes.

“What’s that?” He blinked, thinking something over before his eyes lit up. “Oh, I get it! Before you decide to come with me, you want to have a battle, is that right?”

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur nodded seriously.

“Then okay! Pikachu and I will battle you!” Ash straightened up.

We cleared some space so the match could begin. Pikachu vs. Bulbasaur. Ash sent Pikachu forward quickly, but Bulbasaur was ready and used Vine Whip to herd Pikachu into position for a full on Tackle. It was a harsh move that knocked Pikachu head over tails!

“Pikachu, get up and try again!” Ash called.

“Pika, pi-kaa!” He shot off, this time managing to deliver his own Tackle to send Bulbasaur stumbling back.

“BulbaSAUR!” His vines shot out and wrapped around Pikachu’s middle. With that grip it was easy for Bulbasaur to shake him around.

“Thunderbolt!” But the vines also provided direct conduits for Pikachu’s electricity.

“Alright! Now go, pokeball!” We all watched the pokeball arc through the air, homing in on the nearest wild pokemon. Bulbasaur was sucked in and the button flashed red, shaking back and forth as Bulbasaur tried to free itself.

Once, twice, three times, success! The pokeball sealed shut!

“I caught a Bulbasaur!” Ash jumped in the air and pulled off a victory pose. He ran up to claim the pokeball and spent a moment just basking in his victory before releasing Bulbasaur again.

“Sa-Saur?” Bulbasaur appeared confused for a moment.

“I figured I’d let you say goodbye to all your friends before we go.” Ash offered an explanation. Bulbasaur was clearly touched by this. I thought I even saw tears glistening in its eyes before it turned towards the other pokemon and started speaking to them, rapid fire. A list of instructions and warnings?

“Today’s been a good day.” Misty walked up beside me.

Getting lost, falling into a river with Brock, fighting Team Rocket, a lot had happened today.

“Yeah,” I beamed.

Melanie was able to point us in the right direction, but that still left a lot of ground to cover.

By nightfall I finally had a chance to talk to Flora about the bridge.

“I thought you and Gardevoir were supposed to be watching over me.”

Flora couldn’t help but cringe.

“Yeah, I’m not sure about Gardevoir, but I’m…I’m not that great a swimmer.” Flora admitted.

I just stared at her.

“I mean, sure I can swim, but that doesn’t mean I’m lifeguard material ya know?” She shrugged.

“Then what was the point of you traveling with us?” I couldn’t help but snark.

“Hey! I was only sent after you when you went into Viridian Forest, and so far I’m the only one here.”

“The only one?” I raised my eyebrow as Flora flushed.

The fact that Flora wasn’t the only one working for Discord was suspicious. The fact that someone was even working for Discord in the first place should have set off alarm bells in my head, but I barely had time to think about it when she first dropped that she might know my name as she was leaving, and when a mob of Beedrill chased us in Viridian Forest and when she help train Bulbasaur to learn Bullet Seed. When she showed up in Cerulean City…I guess I wanted to be as far away from the city as Misty did.

“Well, there was supposed to be a trainer or two who would have shown up at Mt. Moon, but…” Flora trailed off. “They would probably have made off with the Moon Stone.”

“What!?”

“And that’s why they weren’t sent.” Flora finished with a shrug. “In all honesty, I’m probably going to be replaced in Vermillion City.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! We’ve been looking for Vermillion city for ten whole days now!” Misty screamed to the high heavens.

“Misty, don’t shout like that! You’re scaring away all the pokemon!” Ash scolded her, peering through his binoculars. “Not that there’s much other than Spearow here.” He added with a grumble.

“Uh, Misty? There’s a bug on your—” Brock was cut off by Misty screaming and jumping onto the stump, waving her arms and legs to dislodge whatever bug type had crawled on her.

“Where is it? Where is it? Is it still on me?” She checked herself over.

“Oh, oops, my mistake. It was just some grass.” Brock held up a large weed.

“UGH! I’m sick of these stupid forests!” Misty screamed.

“Well, Route 24 goes straight to Vermillion city.” Ash told us. He had the map up over his face and he turned it around to show us.

“Really? And does this path lead to Route 24?” Misty smiled hopefully.

“By my calculations it does.” He answered proudly.

“Er.” I winced and gently took the map from him. He’d scribbled his calculations all over it, writing estimates of how far we’d traveled every day, ignoring the legend key at the bottom.

He was in the right ballpark if I was reading this right. And there was a Pokemon Center marked nearby. This path branched out a few times but it was almost a direct shot to the Pokemon Center.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Misty was all gung-ho and eager to get going. I didn’t blame her. I was longing for a real bed myself. “Gah!”

“Misty?” We all rushed towards her. Just a little down the path, just out of sight from our chosen stopping point, was a massive boulder that the path curved around. And on top of that boulder was…

“A Charmander!” Ash grinned.

“Wow, you don’t see many of these in the wild.” Brock scratched his head. “And actually, this one doesn’t look like its doing well.”

No, it didn’t. It looked cut up and bruised, even through the scales. Some scales had flaked off, leaving exposed patches of skin.

“…I’m going to catch it, then we can take it to a Pokemon Center.” Ash decided.

“I don’t think this Charmander could fight right now!” Flora shouted from…behind a tree. “Look at its tail flame!”

“Its tail flame?” Seeking an answer to Flora’s statement, he pulled out his pokedex.

“Charmander: The Fire-Type Kanto Starter Pokemon. This pokemon’s tail flame is directly tied to its life force. If the flame goes out, the Charmander will die.” Dexter’s usual neutral tone only highlighted the seriousness of the situation.

“Try throwing a pokeball.” Brock suggested. Now we were all worried about the Charmander.

“Right. Go, pokeball!” Ash pulled a free one out and let it fly. It arced through the air towards its target and we waited for it to open and pull Charmander inside. But it never opened.

“Huh? What the?” Ash caught the returning pokeball, eyes darting between it and the pokemon.

“That reaction means this isn’t a wild pokemon!” Flora shouted from her position behind the tree.

“You mean it has a trainer?” I looked around the clearing. Where was the trainer? If my pokemon was in this bad a shape I’d be sprinting for the nearest Pokemon Center.

“Piikaa, Chu!” Pikachu jumped from Ash’s shoulder and started scaling the boulder. At the top he started talking to the Charmander. Poor Charmander’s voice was weak and tired, barely audible to us on the ground.

“Pikachu, did it tell you what’s up?” We all knelt down to be more on Pikachu’s level.

“Pika pika, pikabi!” Pikachu mimicked someone adjusting a necktie.

“A tie?” Brock guessed.

“Maybe, a man!” Ash guessed. Pikachu smiled and began motioning putting something away, all the time chattering away in pokemon language.

“Ash, do you know what Pikachu is saying?” Misty frowned.

“I think so. He’s saying that Charmander is waiting here for someone.” Ash translated.

“Pikachu!” Pikachu nodded.

“Then, I guess we should leave it here for its trainer!” Flora ran past us before pointing towards the sky. “It’s going to start raining real soon!”

I looked up and saw the clouds rolling in. It had been cloudy when we set off that morning and true to Flora’s observation it was threatening rain now.

None of us looked happy at the thought of leaving Charmander in that condition or being rained on.

Decidedly, I rolled my bag off my shoulders and dug through it for the umbrella stored inside. It was a plain black one that I’d had since I first woke up, but it was easily replaced.

“Hey, Charmander? Take this.” I unfolded the umbrella and expanded it, showing the fire type how it worked. “It’ll keep you dry until your trainer comes back, okay?”

“Ch-Char.” It nodded, taking the umbrella from me.

“That was a nice thing you did.” Brock smiled at me as I rejoined them.

“We’d better hurry and find that Pokemon Center if we don’t want to get soaked.” Misty told us.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Ash took off running. A beat later we were all trying to keep up with Flora and Ash.

The Pokemon Center was half a mile away. The rain started just before it came into view and it came down hard. In seconds we were soaked. We probably brought in enough water to fill a pond when we stumbled through the doors.

“Phew, we made it.” Ash sighed, happily wringing out his hat.

“Brr, let’s get something warm to eat while we dry off.” Misty suggested. It was too late for lunch to be served but there were snacks in the lobby. One of the machines poured out coffee and hot cocoa and we all got a cup to warm us up.

I heard Brock sigh and saw him staring distantly out the window. The rain pounded down hard enough that we could barely see the other side of the road.

“Still worried about the Charmander?” I asked him gently.

“Yeah.” He admitted. “I just hope its trainer got back to it already.”

“Whoa, Damien, you’re amazing!” We all looked over at another table. I instantly recognized Damien from Professor Oak’s laboratory. He was leaning back with a pile of pokeballs on the table in front of him that all the other trainers were admiring.

“Whoa, he’s got a lot of pokemon.” Ash remarked. At the other table the trainers continued to praise Damien’s collection.

“He’s probably not registered for the League.” Flora hummed absent mindedly.

“What do you mean, Flora?” Ash looked at her.

“A League trainer is only permitted to carry six pokemon, any other pokemon caught are either sent to the place where you first got your pokemon or have their pokeball sealed shut until you transfer one of the other six, it depends on the region.” She explained. “So, say you caught seven pokemon? That seventh pokemon would be automatically teleported to Professor Oak’s lab since that’s where you first got Pikachu. As for Damien…” Flora shrugged. “Those pokeballs are either empty, sealed shut or, as I said earlier, he ain’t registered for the League.”

“Yeah, I used to have a Charmander.” I think we all straightened up when we heard that. “But it was too weak! It couldn’t even beat a Bellsprout!”

“You don’t think?” Ash looked distressed.

“So what’cha do with it?” One of the trainers asked. I was really interested in hearing that answer too.

“Eh, I left it on a rock on the way here and told it to wait there and I’d come back for it. And it believed me!” He boasted. Like there was anything to boast about. Like he hadn’t just admitted to abandoning his loyal pokemon!

I was mad, but Brock? He was furious. And he stood up and stalked over to that poor excuse for a trainer to let him know it.

“Go. Get. It.” He snarled, grabbing Damien by the collar.

“Wha?” Damien tried to pull back which only resulted in Brock shaking him.

“I said go get it! Your Charmander, that poor pokemon you lied to! It’s still waiting on that rock in the rain and if its tail flame goes out, it’ll die!”

“And? Why should I care?” That piece of scum sniffed arrogantly. “It’s survival of the fittest and if that Charmander doesn’t survive, then well it wasn’t the fittest.”

“Then give us Charmander’s pokeball!” I stomped over to him. “We met the Charmander earlier and couldn’t catch it because it’s still registered as one of your pokemon. So hand it over!”

“And why should I?” He shoved himself away from Brock and grabbed a pokeball from the pile.

Oh if it was a fight he wanted he was going to be in for such a burn.

“You’d better not mess with Damien! He’ll cream ya!” One of the other unimportant trainers warned us.

“I’ve fought bigger and badder things than a glorified toddler throwing a temper tantrum because his toy wasn’t as bright and shiny as he wanted.” I snarled at them.

“Break it up! Break it up!” Nurse Joy ran over and jumped between us. “There will be no fighting in this Pokemon Center.”

“Feh, like I’d waste my time fighting a bunch of losers.” Damien huffed, grabbing his pokeballs. I noticed though that his ears were burning.

“You kids shouldn’t get involved with that bunch.” Nurse Joy looked us over. “They’ve got a bit of a bad reputation around here.”

“Wow, she’s pretty.” Brock shot Flora a quick look before continuing on as she waved him on. “Definitely the prettiest Nurse Joy I’ve ever seen.”

“What are you talking about? She looks just like all the other Nurse Joys.” Misty frowned.

“Yeah, it’s a Joy-ful world.” Ash rolled his eyes. “More importantly, Sarah, I’ve never heard you talk like that before.”

It took me a moment to figure out what he meant.

I’d just trash talked that piece of scum, and I’m still insulting him. I mean, he doesn’t deserve any respect but I’ve never gone off on someone like that before.

“AH! The Charmander!” Brock gasped, jolting out of his stupor.

“We’ve got to help it!” He ran to his bag and pulled out a raincoat. The rest of us did the same, although I saw Flora hesitate for a second, and we all ran out the door into the storm.

The road was getting slick with mud and the wind cut through our coats like they weren’t even there. None of us complained. There was a pokemon in trouble and in this kind of storm I wasn’t sure how much good my umbrella could do.

We ran as fast as we could and made it to the rock in time to see a small flock of Spearow attacking the Charmander. Their talons raked through my umbrella, filling it with holes and eventually knocking it out of Charmander’s grip entirely.

“Alright, that’s enough! Pikachu, Thunderbolt!” Ash cried.

Pikachu was standing close to us and with all the rain? Being shocked for the second time was actually worse than the first. My muscles spasmed and locked tight. There was a sharp pain in my shoulder where I was sure I’d pulled a muscle seizing up like that.

“That’s…great, Pika…chu.” Ash coughed weakly. “Next time, not so…close, okay?”

“Pii kaa.” Pikachu apologized.

“It’s tail flame is almost out!” Brock whipped off his raincoat and wrapped it around the Charmander. “We have to hurry.”

“I’ll make sure its tail doesn’t go out.” Ash took off his own coat and used it to shield Charmander’s tail from the wind and rain. Every time the direction of the wind changed, Ash adjusted the coat to better protect the fire.

It was another slippery, hazardous run back to the Pokemon Center. Misty, Flora and I ran ahead, making sure the boys knew where all the slipperiest places were to avoid them. We were panting for breath by the time we got back to the Pokemon Center. That was almost a full mile at a dead sprint, and Brock had been lugging around a thirty-forty pound pokemon in his arms the whole time too.

“My goodness, what happened to you five?” Nurse Joy gasped as we scrambled to get inside.

“This Charmander needs help, desperately.” Brock was a little more coherent.

Nurse Joy took one look at Charmander’s tail and gasped, whirling around to direct orders to her Chansey. We followed her, Brock only letting Charmander go when it was time to put it on a gurney and rush it into the surgery room.

That left us waiting. We’re still waiting now. The others were waiting by the door but I came back out to the lobby.

Damien’s not here anymore. It’s late enough that the curfew has kicked in and all the doors and windows are locked but he’s not listed in the registry as staying the night. I’d probably get in trouble for looking at the registry without permission. I don’t know what I would have done if Damien did turn out to still be here.

Maybe show him what properly trained pokemon can accomplish.

Pop

“Vee?”

In a flash of light Eevee was there, worryingly looking up at me and around for any threats.

“It’s okay, there’s no one around to fight.” I reassured him.

“Vee? Eve, eevee!” Eevee climbed onto my shoulder and nuzzled my neck. “Eevee Eevee! Vee?”

“Are you asking me what’s wrong?” I hiccuped. “Well, we met this Charmander earlier today.” I told him everything. Meeting Charmander, meeting Damien.

“The Charmander is still in surgery and we don’t know yet if it will be okay.” I finished. “That’s why I’m so upset, I guess. I just keep imagining it happening to you. I’d never abandon you, but if something ever happened and you came close to dying? I’d be heartbroken.”

“Vee.” He pressed himself closer to me. His fur was warm and eyes bright and flaring with life.

“Sarah!” Misty came running down the hall. I had a single heartbeat of panic before I saw the great, big smile on her face. “Charmander’s going to be okay!”

“That’s great!” My cheeks ached from smiling so hard.

“C’mon!” She laughed, already running back down the hall.

“Eevee, do you want to come with me?” I asked the pokemon on my shoulder.

“Eevee!” He smiled and nodded. I didn’t bother putting him down. It was just faster to carry him.

“It’s resting now, but Nurse Joy says it will be fine in the morning.” Brock told me as we came in. He paused for a moment then made a little ‘oh’ sound. “You left the waiting room because Charmander made you think of your pokemon?”

“Um, yeah.” I looked at my feet.

“Wait, that’s why you left?” Ash’s eyes went wide.

“I’d just…” I gulped. “I’d be devastated if anything happened to my Charmander, so…”

“But everything’s gonna be fine now.” Ash patted me on the back. “ Charmander will be fine and nothing bad’s gonna happen to our pokemon.”

“Mhm, thanks Ash.” Still, I petted Eevee one more time before I returned him to his pokeball.

This Pokemon Center was on the smaller side and didn’t have as many rooms for visitors, so we camped out in the lobby. Nurse Joy was very apologetic about it but she couldn’t go waking up the other trainers to ask them to move for us. The rooms were first come, first served.

We didn’t mind. The couches were comfortable after ten days of sleeping outside.

“Guys, wake up! Wake up!” The very first thing I heard in the morning was Brock yelling at us. I was startled badly enough that I reached for my first pokeball and summoned Eevee.

“Wha? Who’re we fighting?” I slurred, blinking at the bright sunlight I was only now noticing.

“It’s Charmander!” Brock had no patience for my sleepy head tendencies. “Charmander’s disappeared from the ER!”

“What?” We gasped. Tossing aside our blankets, we ran to the recovery room where Charmander had been resting. The big, open windows and fresh breeze told us all we needed to know. Nurse Joy was staring out the window with her hands clasped over her chest.

“It just left?” Misty said in shock.

“I don’t understand. Didn’t it understand that we cared about it?” Brock asked the room.

Surprisingly, it was Ash who answered.

“Of course it did, Brock. But it’s still loyal to Damien, so it had to leave.” He looked down at Pikachu in his arms. “He’s probably gone back to the rock to wait for him.”

“That poor thing.” Nurse Joy closed her eyes.

“Welp, nothing we can do.” Flora shrugged. “Can’t force Charmander to forget about Damien.”

“We saved its life.” I reminded Brock. “And now that it’s recovered it’ll be able to fight off other pokemon and take care of itself just fine. Charmander wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t strong.”

“Yeah…Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He made a visible effort to appear confident.

No one had much of an appetite at breakfast, not even Ash. We left the Pokemon Center with none of us feeling better but with no better idea of what to do.

Misty, at least, took it upon herself to cheer us all up.

“Alright!” She clapped her hands. “Nurse Joy said this path leads straight to Route 24! We’ll be in Vermillion city before you know it! There’s a gym battle for you, Ash. And Sarah? You can bet I’m definitely teaching you to swim when we get there!”

“Looking forward to it.” I grimaced. It would be nice to not need saving in the water.

One minute we’re walking, just starting to shake off our melancholy. The next? The ground vanishes from under us and we start falling.

It was a sharp drop to the bottom. I landed on my pokeballs and I’m lucky none of them got damaged.

“Who put this hole here?” Ash groaned, hissing as he sat up.

“Oof.” I grunted when his elbow accidentally hit my side.

“My back.” Flora groaned underneath us.

“Aha! Prepare for trouble!” Oh no.

“And make it double!” Not them.

“To protect the world from devastation!” Not again, please!

Just like at Pokemon Technical, I tuned out Team Rocket’s motto.

“Team Rocket, don’t you ever give up?” Ash shook his fist at them.

“Pikapi!” I tensed, looking up.

Pikachu wasn’t in the hole with us.

Pikachu was facing Team Rocket alone.

“CHUUU!” That was the sound of a Thunderbolt. But there was no explosion, no fading cries as Team Rocket blasted off.

“Silly Pikachu, rubber doesn’t conduct electricity!” What was going on up there?

“You’re coming with us now!” I could hear Meowth’s smug smirk.

“Pika!” Pikachu sounded startled, frightened.

“We’ve got to get out of here!” Ash scrambled to his feet, heedless of who might be under them as he tried to climb up the sides.

“Ash, wait!” I got up a little more carefully. “Flora, do you think you can lift me and Ash on your hands and knees?”

“Yeah?” Flora managed to position herself before I stepped onto her back.

“Good. Ash.” I turned to Ash with my fingers laced together to act as a step ladder. “I’ll boost you.”

“Thanks, Sarah!” He put one foot forward. I did my best to heave him up high enough for him to reach the top of the hole while Flora remind steady underneath us.

“Hey, what’s that Charmander want?”

Charmander what?

“It says you should give Pikachu back to those guys or else.” Meowth translated. Ash had his arms over the side and was struggling to pull himself up until Brock came in to give him a better boost.

“Or else what?” Or else turned out to be Flamethrower and whatever they were using against Pikachu’s attacks clearly wasn’t as effective against heat.

“TEAM ROCKET’S BLASTING OFF AGAAAAIIIINNNN!”

Ash got over the top and called back to us that Pikachu was okay, Charmander had saved him. Brock gave Misty and I a boost and then we worked together to bring him up out of the hole while Flora climbed up.

“Charmander, that was amazing!” Ash praised it.

“You really saved us back there.” Brock nodded proudly.

“Hey, Charmander? How would you like to come with us?” Ash bent down and extended his hand. “Your old trainer is—!”

“Has been looking for you everywhere, Charmander!” My hand went down to my belt as we all turned to see Damien coming up behind us.

“Damien, you bragged about abandoning Charmander!” Ash yelled.

“Good thing I did. It toughened it up. And I didn’t even have to put in the time and effort to raise it myself.” He smirked like that was something to be happy about. A bonus. “I wasn’t going to come back but then I saw what it was capable of.”

“You jerk, raising a pokemon is the best part of being a trainer.” Brock scowled.

“Feh, shows what you know. Raising a pokemon’s the most boring part.” He rustled through his pockets and pulled out a pokeball. “Now return, Charmander.”

“Chrr, CHAR!” Rather than allow himself to be returned, Charmander swung his tail and knocked it right back into Damien’s face.

“Why, you!” He pulled out more pokeballs. “I’ll show you!”

“Try it.” I released my own pokemon. Beside me, Ash, Misty, and Brock did the same. Suddenly facing our own pokemon, Damien looked a lot less sure of himself.

“Char, char char!” Charmander stepped in front of us and unleashed another Flamethrower. I could tell it wasn’t very strong but it didn’t have to be against a human. It was enough to singe his hair, maybe a few first degree burns. He ran off screaming, leaving just one pokeball abandoned on the ground.

“Oh!” I quickly plucked it out of the ground and checked it.

“Is that Charmander’s pokeball?” Ash asked me.

“Yup.” And with a vicious grin, I dropped it on the ground and stomped on it. It cracked apart beneath my shoe, splintering into a dozen pieces and releasing Charmander. Now there was nothing left tying him down.

We all returned our pokemon and that left us to decide what to do with Charmander.

“You catch it, Ash.” Brock made the decision.

“Huh? But…you worked so hard to save it.” Ash looked flummoxed.

“You kept its tail from going out, you deserve the credit as much as I do.” Brock protested. “Besides, I know you’ll train Charmander to be a great pokemon.”

“Alright, I will!” Ash grinned down at Charmander. “What do you say, Charmander?” He held out an empty pokeball.

“Looks like you got a new pokemon and a new friend all in one.” Misty commented.

“Ehehehe, I got a Charmander!” He cheered.

“Yay.” Flora sighed.

And then it was back on the road to Vermilion city.

The ground caved in under us. This time I had the dubious fortune of landing on Ash and Misty but that was balanced by Brock landing on top of me. As for Flora?

“Why?” Flora groaned from underneath all of us.

“If this is Team Rocket again I swear.” I huffed, trying to find a way to get up without hurting anyone. It took quite a bit of maneuvering before we could all sit up.

“Squirtle squirt.” That, thankfully, did not sound like the Team Rocket motto.

“Squirtles?” Ash blinked in surprise.

“A whole school of them!” Misty gasped in delight.

Five little squirtles, all wearing shades. One of them had a larger, angular pair of shades that marked it apart from the others. I wagered that one was the leader.

And they were laughing at us.

“Hey, what’s the big idea! Somebody could’ve gotten hurt!” Ash scolded them. That only made them laugh harder, one even turned and wagged its tail at us.

“Here Sarah, let me give you a boost.” Brock patted my shoulder.

“Uh, right.” I stepped into his hand and reached for the lip of the hole. With a little effort I was able to pull myself up. The squirtles all backed up but continued their mockery, more of them wagging their tails at me while their leader stood with its hands on its hips.

“Alright Misty, you next.” Brock boosted her up and I helped her climb out. Then Flora climbed out on her own as me and Misty pulled Ash out and we all worked together to pull Brock from the hole.

“You dirty tricksters!” Ash fumed, shaking his fist at the squirtles. “I’ll show you! Pikachu!”

“Pii-ka!” Pikachu launched forward with an electrical attack. Not quite a Thunderbolt but not far removed either. He was aiming for the leader, but one of the other squirtles jumped in the way instead.

“Squirtle squirt Squirtle!” The leader cried, handing its injured friend over to the others before pointing at Pikachu. “Squirtle!”

“Pika Pikachu!” Pikachu’s cheeks sparked.

Water vs. Electric, I anticipated a quick fight. I knew how strong Pikachu was and the lead Squirtle clearly did too, judging by the stiff way it held itself in front of its friends.

The battle would’ve been short, bright, and maybe a little brutal if Officer Jenny hadn’t arrived then. At the first hint of sirens the squirtles all took off, carrying their stunned comrade, while Flora jumped into the hole.

“Well, that happened.” Ash frowned, disappointed he hadn’t gotten his battle.

“Hey, are you kids alright? Was anyone hurt?” Officer Jenny pulled up alongside us.

“No, officer, we’re okay.” Misty answered her. “A little bruised maybe.”

“I’m glad none of you were seriously injured.” She sighed with relief.

“What was with those squirtles just now? They ran off as soon as they heard you coming.” Brock asked. Did his cheeks look a little flushed just now? And he was holding himself very stiffly.

“People call them the Squirtle Squad, they’re pokemon vandals, always causing trouble in this town.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why not come with me to the police station? My presence should convince the Squirtle Squad not to bother you again.” She offered kindly.

“Thanks, we really appreciate it.” Ash accepted for us. “And can you tell us more about the Squirtle Squad?”

“Sure thing.” She walked her motorcycle and led us to the police station.

“The Squirtle Squad have been running riot for weeks now. They paint graffiti, steal food from the markets, throw laundry off the lines, trample gardens, and just recently they’ve started digging holes like the one you lot fell into.” She explained. “And they’ve all got one thing in common.”

“What’s that?” Brock asked, curious.

“They were all abandoned here by their trainers.” Officer Jenny informed us sadly.

“Abandoned?” We repeated. It was just…just…

What is wrong with all these people that they just abandon their pokemon so often? First the hidden village with Bulbasaur and the other pokemon, then Charmander, and now these Squirtles!

“That’s awful!” Ash raised his voice. “Why would they do that?”

“I don’t understand it myself.” Officer Jenny admitted. “I can’t even imagine ever leaving my Growlithe behind.”

She did tell us that they were all properly released, so they were all catchable, but since they went everywhere as a group they were hard to beat. She advised us to be careful of more pitfalls and told us where the Squirtle Squad usually hang out, just in case any of us wanted to catch one.

“Well, Ash? Do you want to catch one?” Misty asked as we came to a stream. We made ourselves comfortable on the bank and Misty pulled out a rod since, as she reminded us, squirtles were water pokemon.

“Definitely!” Ash clenched his fists. “I could tell that their leader was pretty strong. I’d love to have it on my team!”

“What about you, Misty? They are water pokemon after all.” Brock pointed out.

“Hmm,” She thought it over, flicking her rod over the water. “You know, not this time. Squirtle don’t really interest me.” She decided.

“Well they interest me! With a Squirtle on my team I’d beat Gary, no sweat!” Ash was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Oh yeah, he did choose a Squirtle.” I remembered. I hope he’s treating it well, I didn’t get the best impression of him but he didn’t strike me as a piece of scum.

“Hey, I think I caught something!” Misty cried out, just as Flora was about to say something. We all sat up to see what she’d pull out. At first all we saw was a round, blue head. Then we saw the round shades.

“It’s one of the Squirtle Squad!” Ash realized.

“SQUIRTLE!” It drenched us all with a low powered Water Gun.

“Why…you!” Ash coughed, spitting out half a gallon of water. “Pikachu, Thunder Shock attack!”

“Pika-CHUU!” My muscles all seized up and cramped.

“StOoOoOp PiKaChUuUuU!” Ash was barely able to speak while the rest of us could do nothing but wait for Pikachu to stop.

“Pikapi.” Pikachu scratched the back of its head.

“Water…conducts…electricity.” Brock moaned.

“Oowww.” I whimpered.

“Why?” Flora moaned.

“Squirtle squirt squirtle!” Oh joy, the whole gang was here to laugh at us.

“SQUIRT!” One of them fired a Water Gun before we could recover and knocked Pikachu into the stream.

“Pikachu, swim for shore!” Ash rose to his feet. We all tried to do the same. How did he shake off the shock so quickly? All my muscles felt like limp noodles.

“Pi pi pi pi pi!” It was a little sad to see an electric type was a better swimmer than me. “CHU!” Something underwater struck Pikachu and sent him flying up onto the bank.

“Oh no, Pikachu!” Ash tried to run towards his pokemon but the Squirtle Squad had other ideas. They threw lassos around us and circled us faster than we could keep up. In moments we were wrapped up and helpless. This was going a step beyond pitfall traps.

“Squirtle.” The leader smirked, nodding to its friends.

“Good work, Squirtle.” Meowth stepped out from behind the trees.

“Wha? Meowth!” Ash growled. “You did something to trick the Squirtle Squad into working for you, didn’t you?”

“Trick? Me? Why, I’d never!” Meowth lied. “Leave it to a human to try to muddy the issue.”

We couldn’t convince the Squirtle Squad that Team Rocket was bad news. They trusted a pokemon’s word over ours and Meowth could spin a convincing yarn when he wanted to. They took us directly to their hideout. The path was steep with a rickety old bridge. The whole time I was crossing I felt like it was only a matter of time before we fell in. Gotta say, it was relieving to reach the other side, even when they took us into a cave and tied us to a rock.

“Cha…chaa…” Pikachu whined from inside its cage.

“Pikachu’s badly hurt. It needs a Super Potion.” Brock grimaced.

“Do we have any of those?” Ash looked at us.

“Um, no.” I had poke-medicine, but nothing as strong as a Super Potion and there was no Pokemon Center in town either.

“There’s a store in town that sells them. I noticed it earlier.” Brock told us.

“Wait, really?” Ash turned to the pokemon. “Squirtle Squad, please, you have to let me go buy medicine for Pikachu!”

“Squirtle squirtle squirt!” The leader scoffed.

“The Squirtle says ‘please, I know what humans are like. If we let you go, you’ll just run away.’” Meowth translated for us.

“Please, I promise I won’t run away! I’ll buy the medicine and come straight back!” Ash tried to bargain.

“Squirtle Squad, the rest of us will stay here as your hostages.” I offered, ignoring the squawk of surprise from Flora. “Ash is our friend and he’d never abandon us or Pikachu, he will come back but Pikachu might not survive without that medicine!”

“Please, Squirtle Squad, I’m begging you.” Ash bowed his head. I was on Misty’s other side, but I could hear him stifling tears.

“…Squirtle.” The leader sighed. With a gesture, it directed one of the other squirtles to untie Ash.

“Wait a minute! You’re really gonna take that chance?” Meowth tried to derail things.

“Squirtle Squirtle squirt!” From the way the leader pointed at Pikachu, I got the feeling it was saying something like ‘it could be that pikachu’s only chance!’

“Squirt Squirt Squirtle.” The leader faced Ash.

“Aarrghh, The Squirtle says ‘You had better get back before noon tomorrow or we’re shaving the girls heads.’” Meowth hissed.

“What? Shave?” Misty screamed, appalled. “Ash, you had better get back here on time!” She scowled threateningly.

“I will, I promise.” Ash nodded. A moment later he was gone, taking off at a dead sprint in his rush to get back to town. Meanwhile outside I knew the sun was beginning to set.

“…This is going to take a while, isn’t it?” Flora sighed, slumping in her bonds.

“Looks like.” Brock nodded with a sigh.

Between them, I wished I’d gone to the bathroom before we got captured.

We were tied to that rock until long after nightfall. Meowth started looking nervous when nightfall came and went without his team showing up. For our part, we tried to doze in our ropes. It wasn’t the most comfortable position. Thankfully, the Squirtle Squad did give us a bathroom break, though they also ended up stealing the food from our bags and leaving us with nothing.

It was a long, uncomfortable night. Morning dawned hot and bright and the rocks were no comfier than before. Meowth took to pacing, clearly wondering what was keeping the rest of Team Rocket so long. Hopefully they got themselves arrested by Officer Jenny.

It was getting closer to noon, around ten in the morning, when the Squirtle Squad shook themselves off and started untying us.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?” Meowth protested.

“Squirtle Squirtle.” One of them shrugged.

“But…But what about shaving the girls if the twerp doesn’t get back in time? You’re just letting’em go?” He squawked.

“Squirtle squirt squirt Squirtle.” A second one nodded.

“What? You say you was bluffing?” Meowth jumped back in shock.

“Well Meowth, unlike you I guess they’re still good pokemon.” Misty stuck her tongue out at him.

Meowth couldn’t stop them without blowing his cover. And one Meowth against five Squirtle? That was a sure bet.

“Oh, poor Pikachu.” Misty lifted him carefully.

“We should wait outside. If we tried to head back to town now we might miss Ash on the way.” Brock reasoned. We gathered our things and went out into the sunlight together to keep an eye out for Ash’s return.

We weren’t outside long before we heard rocks shifting inside the cave.

“Pikachu? Oh no. Misty? Sarah? Flora?” Ash came sliding from out of the cave.

How? Was there a back entrance?

“Squirtle Squad, what did you do to my friends?” He demanded angrily.

“We’re over here you idiot!” Derided Flora

“Misty! Sarah! Flora! You’ve all still got your hair!” He laughed.

“Of course, the Squirtle Squad was just bluffing, they wouldn’t really do something to hurt someone.” Misty winked. “More importantly, did you get the medicine?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it right here.” He pulled the potion out of his vest. “Let’s spray it on Pikachu fast.”

Pikachu’s wounds looked a lot better after the first spray. By time we finished the whole bottle Pikachu looked none the worse for wear. And now that he wasn’t in so much pain he’d be able to rest better.

It was a nice, heartwarming moment before Team Rocket had to go and spoil it with their flash bombs.

“Team Rocket!” Ash whirled on them.

“Prepare for trouble,”
“And make it double!”
“To protect the world from devastation!”
“To unite all people within our nation!”
“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”
“To extend our reach to the stars above!”
“Jessie!”
“James!”
“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!”
“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”
“Meowth, that’s right!” Meowth darted past us, swiping Pikachu from Misty’s lap.

“Give me back my Pikachu!” Ash started to run after him but James and Jessie dropped more bombs from above.

“Quick, everybody inside!” Brock grabbed me and Misty by the arms and hauled us back to the cave.

“Squirtle!” We looked back to see the lead Squirtle had been knocked on its back by the force of the explosion. And a Squirtle on its back was totally helpless.

“Squirtle, I’m coming!” Ash yelled, running out into the bomb field. He shielded Squirtle with his own body. The bombs knocked loose whole clouds of dust and debris, obscuring our vision. We waited breathlessly to see if our friend made it out okay.

“I see him!” Misty gasped.

He was bruised and battered and his clothes were torn, but he was okay.

Ash was able to stand up after he’d caught his breath and he didn’t waste any time in going back to the secret entrance he’d used before. There was a part of this small entrance that continued straight and another part that went up, towards the top of the mountain. Ash took that one and we followed him. At the pace we were going it was only a minute before we surfaced nearly on level with Team Rocket’s air balloon.

“How did they?” Jessie screamed when she saw us.

“Squirtle, use Water Gun attack!” Ash pointed at the balloon.

“Spearow, catch Pikachu!” I threw my own pokemon out there. Spearow and Pikachu were close in size but all I really needed was to keep Pikachu from hitting the ground. Spearow was able to slow their descent and the three of us up on the cliff slid down to meet them.

“Pikapi!” Pikachu was awake and happy to see Ash again.

“Pikachu!” Ash pulled him into a hug.

“Good work, Spearow.” I held out my arm for him to roost on.

“Are you kids alright?” Officer Jenny was coming around the mountain. “I’m sorry I took so long, it was hard to find a path around without the bridge.” She looked up behind us. “Oh no!”

There was now a raging forest fire behind us. The wind at our backs was pushing the inferno towards the town.

“If we don’t think of something fast the whole town will go up in smoke!” Officer Jenny jumped off her bike.

“I’ve got an idea.” Ash perked up. “Squirtle Squad, if you all use your Water Gun together then you’ll be able to beat this fire no problem!”

“Squirtle squirt!” The leader nodded. It waved its arm at its friends and they all sucked in a big breath before unleashing their attacks.

“Wow, just look at them go.” Officer Jenny whistled. “They’ll have this fire licked in no time.”

Sure enough, the fire went out before it could reach the town. We found the townspeople had done their best to evacuate and organize a firefighting party, but it was clear they were under equipped for that kind of undertaking. That’s what gave Officer Jenny the idea to fold the Squirtle Squad into the town by publicly thanking them from stopping the fire and naming them the new town firefighters.

We left town glad that the Squirtle Squad weren’t bitter towards humans anymore. It was the best thing we could’ve hoped for really. But it didn’t feel like a surprise when the lead Squirtle followed us down the road and Ash ‘caught’ it. Honestly, I was expecting it.

That brings Ash up to a full team. We’re not far from Vermilion city either. His next gym badge and my first swimming lesson. I guess I should probably buy a swimsuit.

Chapter 11: Mystery at the Lighthouse

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We should have reached Vermilion city in two days.

Obviously, that didn’t happen.

“How did we end up taking the scenic route instead of the fast, straight one?” Misty sighed. The sun was starting to set and we’d have to stop and make camp soon.

“I’m not sure.” Ash turned the map sideways. “We’re on the coast so at least we’re heading in the right direction.”

“This path is going to take us three more days though.” Brock sighed. He made a visible effort to cheer up. “On the bright side, you can challenge the gym when we get there!”

“Yeah, and win my third badge! I need eight badges and six pokemon to compete in the Pokemon League and I’ve already caught the six pokemon!” Ash looked pumped up.

“You didn’t catch most of them, they just decided to follow you!” Misty argued. “A real pokemon trainer battles wild pokemon to catch them.”

“Ash’s methods are perfectly legitimate.” Flora interjected.

“Huh? You can’t be serious? He’s so…” She waved her hand, not elaborating.

“So…what?” Ash frowned at her.

“If Ash can convince pokemon to follow him without a battle, then why shouldn’t he? And he’s not the only person who does that. Cleffairy decided to follow Silver too, remember?” Flora pointed out, although I distinctly did not remember telling her that and I wasn’t sure who told her.

A thought occurred to me, a thought that just demanded to be shared.

“There are a lot of trainers who force pokemon to follow them, right?” At Flora’s nod I continued. “Well, I prefer Ash being who he is rather than being someone like Damien.” I grimaced at the thought.

“Eck.” Misty cringed. “Okay, you got a point there. He’s better than Damien. But that’s not exactly a high bar to jump.”

“Hey!” He glowered at her.

“Besides, he’s always bragging about two measly badges and he’s only caught six pokemon.” She held up her hands.

“That’s true. Most trainers catch twenty or thirty pokemon.” Brock nodded, though he didn’t seem convinced.

“Isn’t Ash the only one here with a full team right now?” Their faces went gray.

“Ha, you tell’em Sarah!” Ash laughed.

“They do have a point about the bragging, Ash. It comes off as rude and insensitive.” I warned him. “Now and again is fine, everyone brags sooner or later, but doing it every time the badges come up in conversation is a bit much.”

“Mm, you think?” He looked thoughtful. “But still, I would like to catch more pokemon.” He nodded, a determined grin sliding across his face. “Right, I’m going to catch another pokemon!” He took off running up the hill without waiting for us.

“Is it true what you said? Are Ash’s methods just as good as the normal methods?” Misty asked as we chased after him.

“If it works, it works.” Flora grunted, darting around a large tree.

“It vanished!” Ash screamed. He was on the beach, staring at his empty hand in amazement.

“Your pokeball?” Misty huffed, putting her hands on her hips. “Remember what Flora said: Trainers registered for the Pokemon League can only carry six pokemon at a time, all others are teleported to the place they got their first pokemon from.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He rolled his eyes. “I was just surprised, is all. I didn’t expect it to really vanish out of my hands! I just caught that Krabby!”

Misty looked a little interested to hear it had been a water type. I wish I could’ve seen the battle. It must’ve been a quick one since we didn’t see it at all. Which pokemon did he use?

“Is there a way to make sure Krabby got to Professor Oak okay?” Ash turned to ask.

“You can switch one Pokémon for another by pressing the white button inside your Pokédex.” Brock pointed out helpfully.

“Wait, what?” Flora looked surprised at that statement.

“Uh... you mean this button?” Ash asked as he took out his pokedex and looked at the button.

“Right. It sends a signal to activate the system that makes the exchange.” Brock finished.

“Why am I only now finding out about this?” Flora pulled out her own pokedex to find that button.

I’m honestly surprised that there was something about this world that took Flora by surprise after all the information she was more than happy to share.

“But I don’t want to switch my pokemon, just make sure Krabby is okay.” Ash frowned. “I guess that means we’ve gotta find a phone, huh?”

What’s a phone?

“Not much chance of that happening.” Brock sighed. “We haven’t passed a phone all day and it’s still a long way to Vermillion city.”

“Ugh, and it’ll be dark soon.” Misty reminded us. “I don’t want to camp outside again! I’m sick of sleeping in a sleeping bag!”

“Pika pika!” Pikachu shouted, jumping and pointing.

“What is it, Pikachu?” Ash followed Pikachu’s gaze. “Hey guys, look over there!”

A little further back was a cliff with a lighthouse situated on top. A good place for it and it looked to be in good condition. Which meant it was likely still in use.

“A lighthouse has to have a keeper, and I’ll bet a keeper has a phone!” Ash cheered.

“And maybe some spare beds!” Misty beamed. “C’mon!”

Turns out, it was farther away than it looked.

“Whoo, that was…a climb.” Ash panted.

“Yeah. You know, this lighthouse looks a little weird.” Brock noticed.

“Yeah, it’s got a bunch of Kanto pokemon etched on the door.” Flora commented.

“Guess we’d better ring the bell, huh?” Misty gulped nervously.

“I got it.” Ash stepped forward. The others all jumped at the orchestra of bells, but I kind of enjoyed it. They were just a recording but they still sounded magnificent.

“Who goes there?” A young man’s voice came over the speakers.

“Eh-Excuse me, sir.” Brock cleared his throat. “My friends and I were traveling and happened to spot your lighthouse. We were wondering if we could come inside and perhaps use your phone, please?”

“And if you’ve got any extra beds we’d really appreciate it!” Misty cut in.

“And if possible I’d love to be able to use your kitchen to make us all something to eat!” Brock offered. Brock was great at open fire cooking but I must admit I looked forward to what he could pull off with an actual stove. His famous Brock Soup had been amazing.

“Really? It’d be great to have something other than tofu! Please, come inside!” The doors unlocked and swung forward for us.

“Um, sir? Could we use your phone now?” Ash called through the entryway.

“There should be a phone on your left as you walk in!” The young keeper informed us.

I looked and saw a table with…a strange device in the shape of what I had to presume was a pokemon.

“I’ll just make sure Krabby’s okay.” Ash sighed with relief. “I hope Professor Oak doesn’t mind me calling collect.”

A second later an image of Professor Oak cooking some ramen in a small pot with vegetables appeared on a mirror(?).

“Oh, Ash! I just got your Krabby a minute ago!” He smiled as he saw us.

“Wait, Professor! You’re not gonna eat my Krabby are ya!?” Ash cried.

What!?

“Oh no.” Professor Oak laughed. “I’d never eat a trainer’s pokemon, Ash, and besides, your Krabby is too small to be a very hearty meal. Gary’s Krabby, on the other hand, could feed me for almost a week!”

Oh thank Celestia.

“What? Gary caught a Krabby too?” Ash blinked.

“Indeed.” Professor Oak moved over to the side so we could see the table behind him. Two bowls were on the desk, both holding a Krabby inside. One was…a good deal larger than the other, shall we say. There was a cute little sticker with Ash’s face on the smaller bowl though.

“Nnng.” Ash bit his lip. From the way he kept looking between the two pokemon I could guess he was comparing them.

“Maybe your Krabby is younger.” I blinked.

“Huh?” He looked at me in confusion.

“I mean, even if pokemon don’t evolve that doesn’t mean they stop growing right?” I looked over to Flora who thought about it for a second before giving me a nod. “I think your Krabby must be very young and Gary’s Krabby is much older.”

“That’s very astute of you, Sarah.” Professor Oak’s eyes sparkled. “And correct, Ash’s Krabby is very young. I’d estimate it’s about a year old actually. Whereas Gary’s Krabby is actually in its thirties!”

“Whoa, really?” Ash’s eyes were wide. “Huh, so mine’s a baby Krabby.”

“Mhm, and Ash, you don’t need to compare yourself to Gary that way.” Professor Oak assured him. “You’re both very different trainers! Why, Gary’s already caught 45 pokemon while this one is your 7th!”

“45!” Ash cried out.

“Oh my.” The professor chuckled nervously. “Oh, by the way, where are you calling me from, Ash?”

“A lighthouse on a hill, why?” Ash calmed down.

“Ah, I thought I recognized the number! That’s Bill’s lighthouse! One of my former students, now a pokemon researcher!” He smiled. “Make sure you pay attention to anything he tells you! He could teach you a lot about pokemon!”

“I’m here, Professor, and I’d be happy to talk to your friends about pokemon!” The keeper’s, Bill’s, voice came through the speakers above.

“That’s great, thank you, Bill! Now kids, I have to go now but call me again when you get the chance!” Ash and I both waved to the professor as he ended the call.

“Well, I can hardly ignore a request from my favorite teacher. Welcome friends, I am Bill, the keeper of this lighthouse and a pokemon researcher!” The lights came on overhead, casting the room in a much friendlier atmosphere.

At the foot of the stairs was a…pokemon of somesort.

“A Kabuto! But they’re supposed to be extinct!” Brock recognized it too.

“A giant talking British Kabuto…” Flora trailed off, flabbergasted

What’s a british?

“I’m not a Kabuto, please believe me! This is only a costume!” The…Bill’s voice came out of the costume. “I’m…actually stuck inside so if one of you wouldn’t mind helping me?”

“Oh, sure, just tell me what to do.” Ash bounded towards it.

“There’s a button under the right arm, if you could please press that.” Bill requested.

“This one?” There was a slight hiss of air as the front face of the costume broke away, allowing the man inside to step out of the shell.

“Oh, thank you for that, my friend! I’ve been trapped in that costume for hours!” He sighed with relief, stretching his arms above his head.

“Did you just come back from a costume party?” Misty asked curiously.

“Nothing of the sort.” He happily denied. “Rather, this costume is for my research. I find that getting into a pokemon’s skin helps me get into their minds, let’s me see how they would’ve lived their lives! Which is vital since kabuto are long extinct.”

“That’s an…interesting school of thought.” I admitted. Dressing up as a pokemon for research. Not something I’d ever want to do, especially if I couldn’t get out on my own again.

“It’s a new one, I’ll admit.” He chuckled. “But one I’m beginning to understand. This planet has existed for roughly 4.6 billion years, and in that time many pokemon that once walked this earth have gone extinct. What were they like? How did they live their lives? With my research, I hope to find the answers to those questions!”

“Although right now there’s only one pokemon I’m really interested in.” He smirked.

“One pokemon? Which one?” Ash cocked his head to the side.

“I’ll show you.” He led us up the stairs to the viewing platform. The walls were all carved with pokemon, just like the door.

“Say Bill, what’s up with all these carvings?” Misty asked. We were passing a section dedicated to water pokemon.

“This lighthouse is decorated with all the currently known Kanto-native pokemon, extinct or otherwise.” He informed us, a hand running over a carving of a pokemon. “There are 150 living pokemon confirmed to be native to the Kanto region.”

“Wow.” Ash breathed as we continued ascending. Finally we reached our destination and we looked out over the ocean as a thick fog gathered.

“Since I’ve stationed myself at this lighthouse I’ve begun picking up readings of a pokemon unlike any other.” He told us. “A pokemon of truly momentous size. Maybe even the largest pokemon ever encountered! And…” He turned towards us.

“That pokemon might also be the only one of its kind.” We all jolted at that.

“The only one? It doesn’t have any friends or family?” Misty gasped.

“None. My readings indicate it’s a single pokemon, traveling alone. And recently I’ve even been able to hear its cries.” He held up a remote and pressed a button. Instantly, a haunting melody of a pokemon’s cry began playing over the speaker. It was sad, lonely, so filled with longing that it could almost bring a tear to your eye.

“I’m lonely. I want a friend.” Bill sighed, wiping away a tear himself. “That’s what this cry says to me.”

I closed my eyes, focusing everything on listening.

It was just crying.

“I made a recording of myself with a similar melody,” Bill informed us after we’d listened for a while. The next song he played was filled with hope just as much as longing. “This one says, I want to meet you. I want to be your friend.”

“After a few days, I began hearing a reply!” He told us excitedly. Another press, another song. “I am coming. Let’s be friends!”

“It’s beautiful!” Misty twirled. “It’s like music!”

“Would the lady care to dance?” Brock bowed.

“Why, thank you.” I watched the two of them smiling and dancing. The recording kept playing.

And then a loud, echoing cry reached us from over the water.

“It’s here!” Bill cried. “The giant pokemon is here!”

The fog was so thick we couldn’t make out any real details, none except for size. Even standing in the water it was taller than the lighthouse. The sheer scale of it was mind boggling. I thought I saw wings on the back, but I couldn’t make out anything clearly.

But it was here, called here by Bill’s recordings. How far must it have traveled hoping to find another one of its kind? And for us to be here when it arrived! I couldn’t do anything but stare up in awe.

Awe that turned to horror as something impacted the pokemon and exploded against its flesh.

“WWOOOAAAARRRRRR!!!!” The pokemon cried out, in pain this time.

“What’s going on?” Ash grabbed the railing to avoid being knocked off his feet.

“Something’s attacking it!” Flora raced to the railing and looked down. I quickly followed her, but I couldn’t see anything, but two more explosions lit up against the pokemon’s stomach.

“Look out!” Ash grabbed us and pulled us to the floor. Overhead the giant pokemon’s arm swept out, easily snapping through the lighthouse’s light and taking off the entire top floor, narrowly missing us on the platform.

“Everybody inside and downstairs, quick!” Brock shouted. The lighthouse shook alarmingly, tilting dangerously over the cliff.

We raced down the stairs. My hand was on Spearow’s pokeball the entire time. As soon as we were outside I had his pokeball in my hand, ready to call him as soon as I found those responsible. I edged towards the cliff and looked down.

There was no one there.

“No, pokemon! Please come back!” Bill shouted. The giant had turned and was beginning to march away over the water.

But it didn’t.

We couldn’t sleep in those beds Misty wanted since the lighthouse wasn’t structurally stable. Brock didn’t get to cook for us on a stove either. So it was another night under the stars with all of us sick and disappointed.

Bill especially seemed quiet all night, but by morning he was already talking about rebuilding and trying again. With perhaps a little extra security to prevent unsavory sorts from making a second attempt.

“Do you think we’ll ever discover all the pokemon there are?” Ash asked him as we were getting ready to leave.

“No, Ash, I don’t.” Bill stated happily. “I believe there are more pokemon than we can ever imagine. But I think we’ll all have some great fun trying, won’t we?”

“Yeah!” Ash grinned.

We left the lighthouse to continue on our way to Vermillion city.

A terrible end, but a hopeful beginning.

My Little Pokemon Silver Spoon Version

by Fashionably Late

Chapter 1: One long day

Chapter 2: Enter Viridian Forest

Chapter 3: Challenge of the Samurai

Chapter 4: Showdown in Pewter City

Chapter 5: Clefairy and the Moon Stone

Chapter: 6 The Water Flowers of Cerulean City

Chapter 7: A Cascading Challenge

Chapter 8: The Path to the Pokemon League

Chapter 9: The School of Hard Knocks

Chapter 10: The Starter/Abandoned arc

Chapter 11: Mystery at the Lighthouse