My Little Pokemon Silver Spoon Version

by Fashionably Late

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, Comedy, Pokémon, Adventure, Crossover, Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Silver Spoon
Length: 110937

Finding herself in a a forest with strange creatures and in an alien body, Silver Spoon must go on a pokemon journey in order to return home.

Silver Spoon was Diamond Tiara's best friend and the two tormented the CMC when they were blank flanks. The CMC went on many crusades to find their special talents, and when they found them?
They went on many more crusades to help other pony's find their special talents. As for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? With the CMC's help Diamond Tiara rediscovered her special talent and worked to be a better pony. And Silver Spoon? She started fading into the background.

And Discord? Well he decided to be a good samaritan and send Silver Spoon off on her own pokemon adventure.

Published 2024-04-05 19:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-12-01 21:02:45 UTC

Chapter 1: One long day

Author's Note

Hi, hi! This is Fashionably Late, and depending on how the cookie crumbles this is either my second or first fanfic. Did not know that it takes days to weeks to get the ok to publish. Oh well. Gave me plenty of time to write this up. So please enjoy the show.

Chapter 1: One long day

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 cream colored bird 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 the same bird, all I could see was that it had wings. Ash’s aim was good.

Unfortunately for us all, it was not.

“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 8: The Starter/Abandoned arc

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 15: Abra and the Psychic Showdown

The sun wasn’t up yet. Considering sunrise happened around five-ish in the morning that didn’t say very good things about the time. It was early and then there was just cruelty.

“Oh sure, Misty, this is definitely the way to Saffron city! Now you’ve got us lost!” Ash’s loud grumbling startled me.

“Me!?” Misty snapped at him. “With your sense of direction you’d get lost in a mirror!”

“At least I don’t crack them!” He yelled back.

“Guys, calm down. You don’t really wanna stand around arguing, do you?” Brock stood between them, trying to defuse the situation.

“Yes we do!” Their response snapped the last strand of Brock’s patience. All three started yelling and arguing, taking the early morning hour out on each other.

I leaned against a tree with Weiss and rubbed my face. If I was up then I was going to be up. I needed my wits about me.

“Hey, look over there!” Ash broke up the fight, distracted by something past the trees. I had to move closer to the others before I saw what he did. A little girl dressed in white, playing with a ball.

“Excuse me, little girl? Are we close to Saffron city?” He called.

“Hehehe!” She continued to giggle and play with her ball. Without any indication she’d heard us she turned around and started to run.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Ash, of course, took off after her.

An early morning run is a surprisingly effective way to wake up in the morning. As soon as I was really moving I was wide awake. Weiss and I dodged trees and large rocks, jumped over smaller plants to keep up with Ash. Misty and Brock struggled in our wake but were keeping up admirably well.

And then Ash ran straight off a cliff.

“ASH!” I screamed, hand diving down to Fearow’s ball. How steep was the cliff? How tall? What was at the bottom?

Ash tossed up a pokeball faster than I could. Bulbasaur had barely materialized before his vines snagged Ash. I got to the cliff edge and sighed with relief when I saw the vines wrapped around his waist.

It was a long fall.

“Ash, you scared me half to death!” I helped him up. “You have to watch your footing in the dark!”

“Yeah, sorry.” He looked a little shaken by his close brush with death. We were both trembling from the sudden shock of adrenaline hitting our veins.

“Are you guys okay?” Misty and Brock caught up to us.

“Yeah, yeah we’re fine.” I nodded shakily.

“Where’d that little girl go?” Brock asked.

That’s right. It wasn’t just Ash who’d been running around in the dark. Nervously, I looked over the edge again for a hint of white. I didn’t see anything.

“Look! Saffron city!” Misty pointed the way. Beyond the cliff was a beacon of shining lights. Saffron city didn’t look quite as big as Viridian city but it was definitely more colorful.

“Maybe the little girl went there?” Ash suggested uncertainly.

With all of us now wide awake and a pre-dawn light beginning to show we made our way safely down the cliffside. We kept an eye out for the little girl in case she was still wandering nearby but she didn’t turn up. None of us wanted to risk running off another cliff so we decided to head straight to the city first before we considered seriously searching for her. With luck she was a local who knew the place well and just snuck away from her parents. If not, then we’d be back out to help find her.

“Wow, so this is Saffron city!” Misty’s eyes gleamed as we entered the gates.

I was just looking around at the signs and billboards, eyes scanning for the Pokemon Center logo, when the ground below us erupted into a series of bangs and bright lights.

“Congratulations!” Two girls in hula skirts stepped out of the shadows and pecked Ash on the cheeks.

“Huh? What’s going on?” Ash was right to be suspicious. When something happened out of the blue like this it usually had something to do with Team Rocket.

“You’ve won a fantastic prize!” The hula girls cheered. “You’re the millionth visitor to Saffron city!”

“Wow, really?” We started to relax.

Do people really get prizes for stuff like this?

“Please, follow us!” They led us towards a big tower. A few signs identified it as the Saffron city TV Network Building. “This way, step lightly now!”

“What great luck!” Ash grinned, looking around excitedly. “Do you think we’ll get to be on tv?”

“I hope they let us get cleaned up a little first.” Misty ran a hand through her hair.

The lobby was empty. The sun was just barely creeping over the horizon but there should’ve been someone at the front desk, right?

There was a bright flash of light. Colors swirled and sounds grew garbled. It was like a full body twitch.

And then we were somewhere else.

‘Teleportation.’ I realized.

“Whoa, where are we?” The others were recovering.

A flat screen TV descended from a slot in the ceiling.

“You’re watching the ‘Prepare for Trouble, Make it Double!’ Show!” The hula girls appeared on screen, sans Pikachu.

They then proceeded to duck below the camera and, from the clothes and wigs thrown haphazardly about, tore off their disguises. Jessie and James jumped back into view, both trying to hide their panting.

“Team Rocket!? Again!?” Ash groaned loudly. “And…Yuck! They both kissed me!” He ripped off the flower necklace and began scrubbing his cheeks.

While they did their motto the rest of us began looking around the room for a way out. The walls looked pretty solid and I’d hate to have to destroy public property but if that was our only option then we’d just have to live with it.

“Hey! Don’t ignore us!” Jessie screeched. It was no wonder it had taken me so long to realize they were close to Brock in age, considering how shrill she could get her voice to sound.

“Maybe this will get your attention.” They both stepped to the side, revealing Pikachu tied up in rubber ropes with Meowth standing guard over him.

“Give me back Pikachu right now!” Ash yelled in warning.

“Or what? Hm?” Jessie gave him a smug smirk. “The only way in or out of that room is through the Warp Tile and we’re in the control room, not you. Oh but don’t worry, I’m sure the staff will let you out in a couple of hours!”

“Or we can just break out with our pokemon.” Weiss pulled out a pokeball. “I doubt the walls here are as thick as the hull of the St. Anne.”

That made them sweat. But a second later the screen turned to static.

“Hey! Come back! Leave Pikachu alone!” Ash slammed his fist into the screen. He quickly turned back to us. “We’ve got to get out of here before they get away!”

The sound of displaced air, like a gentle shush.

Behind me, not on the Warp Tile, was the little girl from the forest, holding Pikachu.

“You’re…that girl.” Ash looked a little stunned as Pikachu jumped into his arms. “You saved Pikachu for us? Thank you, I—!”

Colors blurred and swirled together. Sounds became garbled and meaningless. Every muscle in my body twitched and I barely kept my feet under me.

Ugh. No wonder not a lot of unicorns teleported, it was disorienting.

I slowly took in my new surroundings. We were in a courtyard or a pavilion with lots of pathways and benches. There was one building with unique, sweeping pillars in the center of it all.

“Did that little girl teleport us here?” Misty rubbed her sore bottom as she stood up.

“Where is here anyway?” Ash grumbled, making sure he had a secure hold on Pikachu as he climbed to his feet.

“Exposition please.” Weiss asked after standing up.

“You folks come to this city and don’t know Sabrina’s gym?” Everyone but Weiss was startled a little to find a man in a green jogging suit behind us.

“Word of warning to you, if you’re hoping to challenge the Pokemon League this is one gym you’d be better off avoiding.” He warned us before he turned and continued on his way.

Huh, what timing.

“Well, that was…strange.” Misty shuddered.

“I don’t care what this gym’s reputation is! I’ve already decided this is where I’m going to earn my next badge!” Ash declared confidently.

“Do, um, do any of you guys know what type of pokemon Sabrina uses?” I asked nervously.

“Psychic types.” Weiss stated while looking at the gym worriedly.

“C’mon Sarah, it’ll be fine!” Ash slapped me on the back. “Just watch, pretty soon we’ll be leaving here with a Marsh Badge.”

“If you say so.” I couldn’t help but shiver as we walked closer to the gym.

“Hello, is anyone home?” Ash called as we walked in.

“I don’t like this place. It’s creepy!” Misty grabbed my arm for comfort.

“It’s not so bad.” I tried to put a brave face on it but I was getting more and more worried by the second. After a while we started to pass some doors and we stopped to peek inside one.

“What are they doing?” Ash asked.

“Practicing psychic abilities.” Weiss answered easily. “The people at the card table are practicing mind reading. The people with spoons are practicing telekinesis.”

Telekinesis? I thought only unicorns could do that with magic.

“Psychic stuff? I thought that stuff was fake! Only pokemon have those abilities, right?” Misty looked at Weiss in shock.

“Some humans are born with amazing abilities. They make up less than one percent of the world’s population.” Weiss shrugged.

“Well at least one of you has some prior knowledge.” Only Weiss managed to keep from jumping with the rest of us but I was getting a little sick of all the jump scares lately. The man who’d appeared before us had long red hair and wore a lab coat with a medical mask over his face.

“Though I am astonished so many of you came here in ignorance. What is your purpose in the Great One’s gym?” He demanded from us.

“I’m Ash Ketchum, and I’m here to challenge the Gym Leader Sabrina for a Marsh Badge!” Ash stood straighter.

“Ha! You fool!” The man pulled a spoon from his pocket and glared at it heatedly for…for a while actually. He didn’t seem to be breathing and the veins around his forehead grew more pronounced, what we could see of his face began to flush.

“Aha! You see!” The spoon bent.

A little.

I felt kind of awkward watching that. He looked so proud of himself and it had taken him a whole minute just to make that much difference.

“Are you alright? You look like you’ve got a headache.” Ash asked in concern.

“Fool, it’s telekinesis! You can’t control a Psychic type pokemon without telekinesis!” He declared.

I looked over to Weiss who shook her hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture.

“Psychic or no psychic, I’m going to challenge Sabrina to a Gym Battle!” Ash boldly declared, taking the spoon from the man’s hands and bending it through sheer strength. “See? Muscle over mind!”

“Just pretend we’ve never met him.” Brock muttered to the rest of us.

“Guys.” I scolded them in a whisper.

“Ash.” Weiss grabbed everyone’s attention as she grabbed the spoon from Ash’s hand. “You’re an idiot.” She said as she held up the spoon and it was bent back into position.

Without Weiss touching it.

“Impressive.” The man looked at Weiss wide eyed before turning back to the rest of us. “However there’s no saving those determined to doom themselves.” The man scoffed. “Very well, follow me.”

“I didn’t know you were psychic.” Misty whispered as we followed the lab coat wearing psychic.

“Hm. Could be psychic.” Weiss then leaned over to whisper in my ear, away from the rest of the group. “Could be magic.”

“Here we are.” I didn’t have time to contemplate Weiss’s statement as the psychic threw open the doors to the arena. A chill swept up my spine.

“Sheesh, this looks more like a temple than a gym.” Brock shivered.

“Whatever’s it’s like I don’t like it.” Misty began to rub her arms for warmth.

It had a standard arena but the walls were lined with torches. Smoke gathered in pools at the ceiling and were drawn off into vents. The room smelled like incense and the unseen pressure I was feeling much stronger here.

On the far side of the room was a reed curtain. Our guide crossed the arena quickly and knelt before it.

“Oh great Sabrina, these unworthy ones have come to challenge you! Though I do not know why you should bother with such pathetic im—Hack!” He was lifted off his feet, nothing we could see supporting him. He flailed for a second and then was still with a kind of rigidness that made me think he couldn’t move.

“For-Forgive me, Great One! It is not I who should decide who is worthy! Please, forgive me!” He pleaded. He fell to the ground and quickly jumped to his feet, crying apologies as he ran straight past us and into the hall.

Behind the curtain came a giggle.

“Huh? Wait a second,” Ash stepped forward hesitantly.

Although the lighting didn’t change we were suddenly able to see beyond the curtain, just a little. Enough to see that on a big throne there was a familiar little girl.

“You’re the girl who saved Pikachu!” Ash smiled. “You’re Sabrina?”

“That’s right!” She said brightly. “Do you want to battle me?”

“Yeah, I’m here to earn a Marsh Badge!” He nodded decisively.

“Okay! But if you lose, you all have to be my friends and play with me!” She added warningly.

“Play? Sure, we can do that!” Ash agreed easily before turning to us. “See, guys? She might have some telekinetic powers but she’s still just a little girl.”

“Don’t underestimate her, Ash.” Weiss frowned, looking over his shoulder.

“And, uh, I wouldn’t be so sure about the ‘little’ part.” Brock stammered, pointing.

The curtain had pulled up. Instead of a little girl there was now a much older, but similar looking, girl. She looked around Brock’s age, give or take a year. Long, dark green hair and a face chiseled from marble. And the little girl in her lap dangled in her grip like a doll.

“This will be a one on one, all out match, no substitutions. Do you accept?” The older girl spoke tonelessly.

“Yeah, I’m ready!” Ash nodded, looking much more serious now.

“Abra.” The little girl’s pokeball flew out, opening to release an Abra.

“Pikachu, you’re up!” Ash refocused, sending Pikachu out into the ring.

“Pika! Pika pika, pikachu pika!” Pikachu waved his tiny fist in challenge. Abra, being asleep, didn’t respond.

“It’s not really sleeping is it?” Ash asked uncertainly. “Who sends out a sleeping pokemon?”

“What did I just say about underestimating them?” Weiss remarked.

“Abra: This pokemon sleeps for eighteen hours a day and can even Teleport away from danger without waking up.” Ash’s Pokedex read off the short entry.

“Then we’ll just have to be fast. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!” Ash jumped right in.

As expected, the Abra Teleported away without moving. Ash and Pikachu tried it a few more times and never came close. Abra could probably keep up that teleport for a while before it got tired.

A white glow began to emit from every inch. I blinked and missed the transition. Suddenly there was a larger pokemon wielding a spoon, awake and ready to bring the full brunt of its abilities to bear.

“It evolved!?” Ash gulped. “I guess that doesn’t count against the no substitutions rule, huh?”

“No such luck.” Misty shook her head though Ash wasn’t looking our way. He was totally focused on the battlefield in front of him.

“Pikachu, fill the whole stadium with lightning!” He ordered.

Pikachu outdid himself. Launching a Thunder attack at the ceiling it pooled into itself as a massive vortex that started raining lightning bolts toward the field.

The sight would have impressed a lot of pegasi and unicorns back home.

Unfortunately, Sabrina trained her Kadabra really well and being a psychic she didn’t have to waste time saying her orders.

“Kadabra is using Confusion to control Pikachu’s attack.” Weiss stated as the individual lightning bolts combined to form a serpent-like dragon. The attack quickly caught up to Pikachu, dealing serious damage.

I hate to admit it, but this was the most impressive battle Ash has had so far. Brock, Misty and Surge pale in comparison to Sabrina.

“Pii…kaa…” Pikachu groaned. His fur was singed along his back.

“Pikachu, can you stand?” Ash was shaken. He would either make a great comeback from this or he wouldn’t.

There was a very real possibility he wouldn’t.

Pikachu stood, but not under his own power.

“Why is he dancing?” Ash was incredulous.

“Kadabra is using Psychic.” Weiss stated as Pikachu’s body flew up and hit the ceiling with a loud smack! Down, faster than mere gravity could pull, until he hit the floor.

It was brutal. No hint of mercy or kindness. Every hit was as strong as the first. For a horrible second that stretched into eternity we stood there frozen, watching it happen.

“Stop the match!” Ash recovered first. He ran out onto the field and was just two steps too late to catch Pikachu on their final descent. He wrapped his arms protectively around Pikachu, but Kadabra made no move to continue the beating.

We ran out after him. Pikachu didn’t look too badly hurt. A couple of hours in a Pokemon Center and he’d be good as new. Still, that kind of brutality wasn’t something we’d faced before. We hadn’t expected it.

“Remember, you promised you’d be my friends and play with me when you lost!” The little girl chided us with a giggle.

And then, well…colors blurred, sounds grew garbled, everything twitched and suddenly we were somewhere else.

With an abrasive headache in the back of my skull.

“I am getting really tired of being Teleported around like that.” I fumed quietly.

“Where are we?” Misty climbed unsteadily to her feet.

It was a neighborhood, somewhere in the suburbs. Immaculate lawns, perfectly trimmed flower bushes, white picket fences. The houses had a little individuality in terms of color but the designs were all identical.

“Seems pretty empty.” Brock commented. Not a single blade of grass stirred. There didn’t seem to be anyone around at all.

“Let’s look around, see if we can find some answers.” Ash was still cradling Pikachu as we walked.

“That house has a door open.” Brock pointed out. Lacking a better idea, we decided to investigate.

My headache wasn’t going away. The others were surprised to see a dinner table set with cake but no one around but I just took the opportunity to sit down. It felt like we’d been going at a hundred miles an hour since chasing Ash to the cliff.

That hadn’t been too long ago. More than an hour less than three? Say, two or so?

I sighed and tried to make myself comfortable. The chair didn’t have much cushion though. Ash went off to explore the rest of the house, calling for any occupants as he went. From the corner of my eye I spotted the plush couch in the living room, with throw pillows and a blanket folded over the back. It was calling me.

Silver. Silver Spoon. Come lay on me.

I sighed again and stood up. A few short steps and I twirled on my heel to sprawl onto the cushions.

And slammed into the plastic furniture hard enough to see stars.

“OOOowwww!” I moaned, rolling onto the floor and cradling my head.

“Sarah?” Misty and Brock ran in from the kitchen.

“It’s hard!” I whined, sitting up and patting the back of my head. Right next to the still healing cut from the St. Anne too. Ouch!

“The couch is plastic too! Just like the cakes!” Brock gasped.

“Whyyyyyyy?” I cried. This has not helped my headache. What was before a nuisance to be endured had now rocketed up to a relentless pulse that refused to be ignored.

“Guys, I think I know where we are.” Misty gulped. “We need to find Ash, quick!”

I forced myself to my feet and followed her. We found Ash upstairs, outside the bathroom. He was gaping at something inside like he couldn’t make sense of it.

“Ash, I don’t know how but we’re inside a—aaAAAHHH!” Misty’s voice turned into a scream as the roof was lifted off the house. Above us was the little girl and Sabrina. But the little girl wasn't so little anymore.

“Let’s play!” The littlest giant laughed.

“Run!” Brock grabbed Misty and I and pulled us through the door. We leaped downstairs with Ash and Weiss close on our heels.

“These are dollhouses! I think this whole place is a toy box and she somehow shrunk us to fit inside!” Misty explained hastily.

“That’s crazy! Can telekinesis really do that?” Ash and Weiss caught up and ran alongside us as we pelted down the street.

“Transmutation can.” Weiss replied.

I didn’t know what we’d do when we got to the edge of the box. Could Fearow fly us all out of here? Would we return to normal size or be stuck like this? Would Fearow have shrunk too?

Underneath us the earth jumped and shook as the littlest giant followed us, bouncing her ball along the way.

“I wanna play catch!” I risked looking over my shoulder at that. She had her ball, now the size of a boulder, in hand.

“Look ahead!” Misty screamed.

A dead end, marked by a giant photo of the little girl and two people, presumably her parents.

Huh, her mom actually has the same hairstyle as Fluttershy.

“Catch!” She threw the ball towards us.

“At least we died as Ash lived. Being crushed by a trainer stronger than him due to his own arrogance.” Weiss deadpanned as I slapped her in the back of the head.

There was the distinctive shush of displaced air again and the jogger from earlier appeared before us.

“Let your minds rely on mine!” He told us.

Colors blurred together, sounds became garbled, my entire body twitched as we settled someplace new. The only thing lacking was the abrasive static in the back of my mind. The headache was still there, but it hadn’t gotten any worse and in fact even felt a little better. The only lingering sensation was a warm press, like someone laid a hot, damp rag on my brain.

We were in the courtyard in front of Sabrina’s gym again.

“You…You saved us.” Ash panted.

“Thanks for that.” Misty gulped in air beside him.

“Yeah.” I coughed.

“I won’t be able to do that a second time. Take my warning to heart.” He narrowed his eyes. “Leave this city and never return.”

“I need a Marsh Badge.” Ash’s own eyes drilled into him.

“There are other gyms, boy.” The man said gruffly. “Try your luck at one of those. If you face Sabrina again you will end up as her playthings for the rest of your life.”

“Not if I win.” Ash clenched his fists. “Next time, we’ll just have to be faster! We’ll have to pour on the lightning before she has a chance to start in on that psychic stuff.”

“Not a good idea, Ash.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Sabrina doesn’t have to give vocal commands and the attacks were nearly instant.”

“Then what should we do?” He looked at me and I looked at Weiss.

“Psychic type pokemon are weak to ghost and dark type pokemon or you could bring your own psychic pokemon.” Weiss revealed, sighing in the process.

“Are you nuts? Go back there? What if we end up as dolls? C’mon Ash, there’s plenty of gyms and you only need eight badges to compete in the Pokemon League.” Misty tried reasoning.

“Listen to your friend, boy. I will not be able to save you a second time.” The stranger cautioned him.

“Listen to the magic jogging hobo Ash.” Weiss stated, earning herself a look from the jogger.

I didn’t try arguing. I trusted Ash to be a good person and do what he felt was right. If he felt driven to earn the Marsh Badge over trying for an easier one, then I’d support him in whatever he chose.

Besides, Sabrina was a problem and someone needed to stop her.

The jogger tried to discourage Ash. He tried to scare Ash with a show of his own psychic abilities, pulling down his pants and then increasing his weight until he was pancaked against the road.

I ended up joining in on that show. What was I supposed to do? Watch? I ended up pancaked beside him after I tried dividing the stranger’s attention by throwing rocks.

But I guess Ash’s determination got through somehow. He told us there were ghost pokemon to be found in Lavender town and Weiss confirmed it with the addition that a colleague was opening up a ghost type gym there. Before we left the city we stopped in at the Pokemon Center to make sure Pikachu was really okay. I took the chance to do a little digging and make sure we weren’t being sent on a wild goose chase.

It seemed the two were honest about it though. Now we’re camped out on the side of the road. Lavender town isn’t far, we should get there tomorrow.

If Ash is set on earning the Marsh badge, then I might as well see about challenging the newly formed Lavender gym.

Chapter 2: Viridian Forest

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.

“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 3: Showdown in Pewter City

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 4: Clefairy and the Moon Stone

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 5: The Water Flowers of Cerulean City

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…

“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 6: The Path to the Pokemon League

“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 7: The School of Hard Knocks

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 9: Mystery at the Lighthouse

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.

Chapter 10: Electric Shock Showdown

The journey was…frustrating, to say the least. But we made it! Vermillion city! Dirty, bruised, battered, and not just a little hungry after short rations for three days, but we’d finally made it.

Of course Ash wanted to hit the gym as soon as we arrived, but the rest of us managed to slow him down long enough to realize that Pikachu, and all of us, needed a rest first. And some food. A shower maybe.

So we asked directions to the Pokemon Center. There was a nurse Joy at the front desk, as expected.

“Welcome to the Vermillion City Pokemon Center!” She greeted us as we stepped up to the desk. “How can I help you?”

“My Pikachu and other pokemon need a good rest before our gym battle.” Ash informed her, pulling out his pokeballs and depositing Pikachu onto the front desk.

“Your gym battle?” Nurse Joy’s shoulders slumped. “I see.”

“Is there something wrong?” Brock asked in concern, placing his hand over hers.

She was interrupted by a Chancey shoving the front doors open, pulling a gurney with an injured Rattata. A young trainer was following behind them, tears streaming down his face as he fought to keep up.

“That’s the fifteenth one this month.” Nurse Joy moaned, tiredly rubbing her face before standing up.

The Rattata must not have been injured badly enough to demand her immediate attention, because she led us to a room filled with recovering pokemon. Oddish, Sandshrew, Pidgey, Rattata, fourteen of them all lined up with their trainers hovering over their bedsides.

“They all came from Lt. Surge’s gym.” Nurse Joy informed us sadly. “Most Gym Leaders stagger their teams to provide a fair challenge to trainers, but Surge doesn’t subscribe to that practice. He uses his toughest pokemon every time.”

“That’s cruel.” Brock’s eyes hardened.

A door on the far side of the room opened up, admitting the unlucky number fifteen to the room with its trainer.

“So, still feeling confident, Ash?” Misty elbowed him. “All these trainers took on the Gym Leader and look how they ended up.”

“Yeah.” Ash gulped nervously but quickly puffed out his chest. “But I’m not afraid. My pokemon are strong!”

“You sure? Because the badges you have now you only got out of pity, remember?” Misty continued to egg him.

“I earned those badges fair and square!” Ash defended himself. Loudly. “Just you wait, we won’t end up like those other trainers! We’re gonna face Lt. Surge and we’re gonna win!” He declared.

He then raised his arm as if he was going to bop Misty on the nose before Flora got in between them.

“Woah, woah, woah! Could you not. There are children watching in the audience.” Flora chastised.

“Audience?”

I think we all, except Flora, forgot that we were in a hospital with a bunch of children. Who were now staring at us.

“Just chill out, and eat a Snickers or something. You two obviously dig each other anyway.” Flora finished.

They both reacted as you might expect, snapping that they didn’t care about the other, causing Nurse Joy to laugh.

Back in the pick-up room we found Pikachu finishing up a snack. He’d clearly had a bath and looked much better on a full stomach. Ash happily let Pikachu finish eating, clicking his pokeballs back into place along his belt.

“Alright, you ready to do this, Pikachu?” He posed bravely.

“Pi-ka!” Pikachu posed as well, much more adorably.

The doors slammed open and another gurney, this one with an injured Pidgey, was rushed through straight towards surgery.

“Another victim of that Gym Leader.” Misty bit her lip.

“Pi?” Pikachu’s ears twitched. “Pi pika?”

“Hm, what’s the matter, Pikachu?” Ash looked down at him.

“Pika, Pika pikachu pikapi!” He flapped his arms and mimed fainting, chittering furiously the whole time.

“Huh?...Do I want you…to end up like that Pidgey?” Ash guessed.

“Pi!” Pikachu nodded tearfully.

“Of course not!” Ash looked affronted. “I’d hate it if you were hurt!”

“Pi-kaa,” Pikachu sighed with relief.

Knowing Ash and what to expect, I took a big step back along with Flora.

“No problem! You won't end up that way, 'cause you'll win!” Boast given, he tried to lift Pikachu into his arms and march proudly for the exit.

I say tried, because Pikachu clamped onto the table and refused to be lifted. When Ash attempted to yank Pikachu’s tail, he decided to electrocute.

“The way they fight must mean they care a lot.” Misty muttered.

We did make our way to the gym though. Pikachu must’ve resigned himself. From the lightning bolts decorating the outside of the gym it was easy to guess what type they specialized in. All that was left was to go inside and let Ash demand a gym battle.

“Last chance to back out, Ash.” Misty taunted in a sing-song voice.

“Not a chance!” He huffed, shoving the doors open.

The room was darkened, for ambience. As we stepped in further we could make out the silhouettes of three people near the back.

“I’m Ash from Pallet Town, and I’m here to earn a Thunder Badge!” Ash clenched his fists.

“Ha!” One of the silhouettes snickered. “Look at that, boss! Another victim for the emergency room.”

“I can see that.” The silhouette in the middle stood from the chair they’d been reclining in. I expected him to top out a little taller than Brock.

He didn’t.

He was twice as tall as Brock was! Lt. Surge was easily the biggest man I’d ever met.

“Which one of you is my next challenger?” He looked over the five of us. He zeroed in on me, Misty and Flora quickly.

“Him first!” Flora shoved Ash in front of Surge before he could say anything more.

“I’m the challenger! I already said it! Ash, from Pallet Town!” Ash groaned.

“Relax, baby, I’m just messin’ with ya.” Lt. Surge straightened up.

“Don’t call me ‘baby!’” Ash fumed.

“I call everybody who loses to me ‘baby.’” Lt. Surge waved him off, not paying any attention. He did spot something low on the ground.

Pikachu, clutching onto Ash’s pant leg. I didn’t blame him for being intimidated. Pikachu was barely one foot tall.

“HAHAHAHAAA! Guys, check this out!” He bellowed over his shoulder. “Baby brought a baby pokemon!”

“Where do you get off calling Pikachu a baby?” Ash growled.

“Heh, I’ll show you.” He pulled a pokeball from his belt and threw it up into the air. It released mid-spin and the light reformed into a large yellow mouse. Like Surge it was twice the size of Pikachu and just as mean looking as its trainer.

“Anyone aiming to be a pokemon trainer ought to know enough to evolve their pokemon as quick as possible to get all their best moves.” Lt. Surge snorted.

Which was…why did so many people believe this. It just feels wrong. Even Misty and Brock believe it to some degree. Ash and I are clearly in the minority here.

“Raichu: The evolved form of Pikachu. This pokemon is capable of summoning over 100,000 volts, enough to render a Dragonite unconscious.” Ash’s pokedex informed us. He glared at the device for a moment before he shut it with finality, lifting his chin to face his opponent.

“We’re not afraid of you.” He said.

I would’ve expected Pikachu to be afraid. Up until today Pikachu has never struck me as a hot-blooded pokemon. But today things were different. Here and now, Pikachu’s cheeks were already sparking with electricity.

“Can Pikachu beat Raichu?” Misty asked Brock.

“I seriously doubt it.” Brock stated while Flora nodded in agreement.

I tried not to pay them any mind.

“So, Baby, did you just come here to show us your baby pokemon?” Lt. Surge mocked them.

“We came to earn a Thunder Badge.” Ash stated, not intimidated in the least.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one getting sick of this evolutionary mindset.

We relocated to the arena. Brightly lit and fairly clear, no major obstacles. Raichu and Pikachu were already on the floor ready to begin. Brock, Misty, Flora, and I were relegated to the audience section.

The referee took his place and held up a microphone.

“This battle will be a One-on-One, no substitutions allowed. The Gym Leader has chosen Raichu, the Challenger has chosen Pikachu.” He stated formally. “Begin!”

“Pikachu, give him a Thunder Shock!” Ash yelled. A fast opening move, but not enough to catch Surge off guard.

“Feh, you call that an electrical attack?” Surge scoffed. “Raichu, show’em a real Thunder Shock.”

“CHUU!” Raichu didn’t hesitate. Pikachu didn’t have a chance to dodge. He took the full force of that blow, getting knocked for a loop.

“Heh, one hit KO.” Surge smirked.

“Pikachu, are you okay?” Ash almost left the competitor’s box.

“Piii-ka!” Pikachu painfully climbed to his feet.

“This isn’t looking good. Pikachu took a lot of damage.” Brock grit his teeth.

“They won’t win with electrical attacks.” Flora nodded. “It has to be physical or nothing.”

Pikachu did his best. I think even Surge was surprised by how much punishment he could take before falling. Finally though, the referee had to call an end to the battle for Pikachu’s own safety. It was a loss and we had to retreat to the pokemon center.

“My turn!”

Well most of us.

“Flora?” We all turned towards Flora, who strutted towards the arena.

“I’m going to win me a Thunder badge!” She declared before turning to us. “I’ll meet up with you guys at the pokemon center, kay.”

With that said, the rest of us then went to the pokemon center.

Within the hour we were sequestered around Pikachu’s sickbed.

“Piikachuu…” Pikachu grumbled, not looking at any of us.

“Pikachu was badly hurt.” Brock muttered, a touch too loudly to avoid being heard.

“I can see that.” Ash snapped angrily.

Brock shook his head.

“I meant his spirit was hurt. Pikachu tried its hardest to beat that Raichu and just…couldn’t measure up.” Brock clarified.

Ash didn’t have anything to say to that and neither did I.

“…We’ll get him. Next time, Pikachu and I will win!” Ash vowed.

“But Pikachu already did its best today, how do you think you can pull off a win after that?” Misty huffed.

“We’ll train for it! Night and day, as long as it takes!” Ash stood from his seat.

“Maybe you ought to rethink your strategy and use a different pokemon.” She tried suggesting.

“Pika!” Pikachu protested, turning to look at us for the first time since he woke up.

“Pikachu wants to beat that Raichu, and I want to help him!” Ash held a hand over his heart. “I just know there’s a way for us to beat Surge!”

“Excuse me, I couldn’t help overhearing.”We all jumped, turning to see Nurse Joy standing in the doorway. “And I think I have something that might help.”

She walked forward until she was right in front of us, then moved her clipboard to reveal the little velvet box she held. Inside was a sea foam green stone with a lightning bolt inside.

“This is a thunderstone, it came into my possession a few months ago. With it, you can evolve your Pikachu into a Raichu.” She held it out for Ash to take.

Huh, come to think of it, I still had that one moonstone shard in my bag, didn’t I? Maybe Cleffairy would want to use it to evolve someday.

“But if I use this…won’t that make me just like Surge? Evolving my pokemon just so that they’re stronger?” He wondered.

I grimaced. First because the image of Ash’s face on Surge’s body floated to the forefront of my mind. Then because I didn’t want Ash to change like that.

For a new trainer though he was pretty firm in who he was. Rather than make the choice himself, he gave the decision over to Pikachu. He offered the thunderstone and gave Pikachu the choice.

And Pikachu refused.

I might never know exactly what Pikachu said, but I feel like I understood. Pikachu wanted to win this fight, as a Pikachu, for his own pride as a pokemon. He refused to change himself for that.

Of course, Ash would’ve liked to go and challenge Surge for a rematch right away, but Pikachu still wasn’t fully recovered and wouldn’t be until tomorrow. We left Pikachu to get some rest and met up with Flora in the break room to get something to eat.

“Man, this whole thing has me so nervous.” Misty sighed, putting in the coin for a soda.

“There’s nothing to be worried about.” Ash dismissed her.

“I’m not worried about you! I’m worried for Pikachu!” She sniffed.

“Hey guys.” We all turned towards Brock. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but Surge said he evolved Raichu as soon as he caught it, right?”

“Yeah.” Flora nodded while looking at her new Thunder Badge.

“Good.” Brock smirked. “Then I think I know a way Pikachu can win.”

Hearing his idea and his thoughts on the matter, I had to agree it sounded reasonable. Better than that even. It sounded brilliant! I almost can’t wait until tomorrow to see it in action.

I’d like to skip forward to Ash’s rematch, but I can’t.

You see, all told between arriving in Vermillion City, visiting the Pokemon Center, the Gym battle, and returning to the Pokemon Center afterwards, we hadn’t eaten up more than an hour or two.

There was still plenty of time for Misty and Flora to drag me off for my first swimming lesson. Since Discord saw fit to make sure I had a swimsuit, a swimsuit Flora derided as a school swimsuit, the first step was locating the nearest public pool which Flora said was where her friend was waiting for us.

“Weiss!” Flora waved at a pale girl with short blue hair and magenta eyes.

“Flora.”

If I hadn’t been looking at her I probably wouldn’t have known she had said anything.

“Who is she?” Misty looked between Flora and Weiss.

“Weiss is my friend and she’s going to teach Silver how to swim.” Flora threw an arm over Weiss’s shoulder. “We go way back.”

“But I was going to teach Sarah how to swim.” Misty challenged.

“Eh, our sponsor wanted Silver to train under our supervision.” Flora shrugged.

“Your sponsor?” I couldn’t help but question.

“Our sponsor.” Flora reiterated. “The guy who gave us our pokemon and pokedexs and sent us out on our journeys.”

Oh, that meant Weiss was also a part of…whatever Discord had in mind.

“Well I promised Sarah that I would teach her how to swim.” Misty insisted.

“Well I’d rather not explain why Silver ended up drowning again.” Flora countered.

“Can’t we settle this in a reasonable manner?” I tried to interject.

“We’ll teach her together.” We all looked at Weiss. “We can get the basics of swimming down before moving on to one on one sessions.”

“You sure Weiss?” At her nod Flora looked over Misty. “How about you?”

“Fine, but she better not get in my way.” Misty relented.

The lesson itself went well. Misty had me walk around in the waist deep section first, just to get used to being in the water at all. I hated the way it made me feel slow and clumsy, but this I could handle. It helped that the water was crystal clear and free of any wild pokemon.

The next step was to get me used to floating.

“Here, just lean back and let me hold you.” Misty held my upper arms as I leaned back, trusting her to keep my head above water. Actual floating was an unusual experience.

“How’s that?” She asked, smiling brightly.

“Not bad.” I tried to return the smile. Experimentally, I kicked my legs around a little. Misty and Weiss helped me adjust my position a little until I could float on my back without support. That one was a little nerve-wracking to be honest, but I got through it.

“Okay! Next up, we’ll try a simple stroke!” Misty cheered. “Stand up for a sec, Sarah. Watch what I do, okay?”

I watched her and Weiss demonstrate a few swimming styles. They were good teachers, using the demonstrations and then talking me through her actions for each one. By the time the lifeguard announced the pool was closing I felt I had a decent handle on the stroke. At least enough to hopefully save myself the next time I fell into water.

We toweled off and changed back. I was extra thankful for my covered skin as the air started getting chilly. We got back to the Pokemon Center and met the guys in the cafeteria for dinner. We still had a couple of hours before curfew and light’s out so Weiss made her move.

“Misty of Cerulean City, I challenge you to a pokemon battle.” Weiss declared in that soft spoken monotone voice. Like some combination of Fluttershy and Maud Pie.

“What?” Misty squawked.

“Ha! I was wondering when you’d challenge her.” Flora laughed as she looked on at the baffled Misty and stone faced Weiss.

“You knew she would pull something like this” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course.” Flora replied. “After all, Weiss is our water specialist.”

“Water specialist?” Misty looked at Weiss intrigued. “That means you have water pokemon?”

“Of course.” She replied. “Water pokemon are the best.”

“Ah hahaha. Grass types are better.” Flora interjected. “Hey Brock. Mind refereeing this one?”

“Sure.” Brock nodded.

We quickly went to the training field behind the Pokemon Center, Misty and Weiss on opposite sides of the field, Brock in between the two on the sideline and the rest of us sitting on the benches overlooking the field.

“This will be a two on two battle between Misty and Weiss.”

“Wiesbaden.” Weiss corrected.

“Wiesbaden.” Brock amended. “Trainers. Send out your pokemon.”

“Go! Staryu!”

“Let’s go Yun.”

To our surprise Weiss matched Misty and sent out her own Staryu to battle Misty’s Staryu.

“Oof, she nicknamed her pokemon? No wonder I’m getting replaced. I can’t even think up a nickname for Bulbasaur.”

Ash and I ignored Flora’s non sequitur, concentrating solely on the battle.

“Let the battle begin.” Brock declared.

“Light Screen.” Weiss immediately ordered the second the match began.

Staryu’s…Yun’s gem began shining as an octagonal blue screen appeared before it.

“Staryu, use Water Gun now!” Seemingly thrown for a loop, Misty threw out a command.

"H-YAAH!" Without delay, Staryu shot out a torrent of water that hit Yun head on.

“Yeah! You show her Misty!” Ash cheered.

“Why didn’t Light Screen stop Water Gun?” I asked out loud.

“That’s because Light Screen halves damage done by special attacks instead of blocking them.” Flora answered just as Yun countered a Swift attack with Protect. “Misty is going to lose.” Flora stated confidently.

Her piece said, we returned to watching the battle.

“Staryu Rapid Spin!”

Staryu leapt into the air before spinning like a saw, launching itself at Yun.

Weiss, seemingly unconcerned, waited till the last moment before issuing an order.

“Thunder Wave.”

Unable to change course, Staryu took the attack head on. Spasming in midair, Staryu fell to the ground, sparks of electricity jumping out from its body.

“Staryu!” Misty was stricken with surprise and concern.

“I didn’t know Staryu could learn Thunder Wave.” Ash said surprised.

“Neither did I.” I responded.

Misty told me alot about Staryu and Starmie back on the outskirts of Cerulean City before we entered the city proper, but admittedly she didn’t talk about the moves they could use. From the looks of it, I guess even she didn’t know that Staryu could learn electric type moves.

“Ice Beam.”

Once again, Yun’s gem shone before streaks of light were fired at Staryu. This time the lights froze Staryu to the ground just as it got onto its legs.

“Thunder.”

Without mercy, Yun unleashed an electric attack that, before today, I had only seen Pikachu perform. I had to look away, the attack was that intense.

As soon as the light died down, I looked back at Staryu.

Staryu was in no condition to battle.

Seemingly reading my mind, Brock announced that Staryu was unable to battle and told Misty to send out her next pokemon.

Misty, shaken from the ordeal, wordlessly returned Staryu.

“Go. Starmie.”

Misty sent out Starmie without the bravado she had at the start of the match.

“I would like to substitute Yun.” Weiss spoke, surprising us.

“Very well.” Brock recovered quickly. “The challenger is substituting her pokemon.”

“Yun return.” Weiss returned Yun and replaced its pokeball with one of four other pokeballs on her belt. “Let’s go Mien.”

“Yun, Mien? Seriously! Did she really just take the last two or three letters in their species name and add a N!?”

Like last time, we were surprised as Weiss sent out the same pokemon as Misty while Flora complained in the background.

“Let the battle resume.” Brock declared.

“Light Screen.”
“Water Gun!”

The two ordered at the same time and like last time Light Screen appeared before Water Gun could connect, the damage being reduced to the point that Mien looked unaffected by being sprayed by a stream of high pressure water.

“Swift!”
“Protect.”

Mien’s Protect blocked Starmie’s Swift attack, smoke kicking up from where each star-shaped attack hit the shield.

“Keep it up Starmie!” Misty ordered, some mix of fear and determination leaking into her voice.

“Rapid Spin.”

The second Protect failed, Mien jumped back, coincidentally avoiding Swift, and launched itself as a spinning disc at Starmie.

“Water Gun Starmie!” Misty cried out.

She barely got the words out before Mien nailed Starmie from the front before flipping over and hitting Starmie again from the back, knocking Starmie to the ground.

“Confuse Ray.”

Mien landed on the ground and a sinister red glow emitted from its gem. Starmie, in the process of standing up, fell back to the ground with a cry, squirming helplessly.

“No, Starmie!” Misty cried out. "C'mon Starmie! Get up! I know you can do it!" She pleaded with such hurt and desperation that forfeiting instantly came to mind.

“Ice Beam. Thunder.” Weiss ordered in quick succession.

Like Yun before, Mien released streaks of light that froze Starmie to the ground before releasing a powerful, blinding, electric attack that put Starmie down for the count.

“Starmie is unable to battle.” Brock declared after a second a stunned silence. “The winner is Wiesbaden.”

Wordlessly Misty walked over to Starmie, collapsing to her knees and hugging Starmie close to her.

“Misty, I think you should take Staryu and Starmie to the Pokemon Center and have them checked out by nurse Joy.” Brock said gently to Misty crouching right by her so the two were eye level.

Misty simply nodded her head, stood up, returned Starmie and walked back to the Pokemon Center with us in tow.

Once again we found ourselves in the break room after Misty handed over her pokemon to nurse Joy.

Even Weiss was with us.

“Why are you following us? Ash snapped at Weiss.

“I’m keeping an eye on Silver.” Was the response.

“Silver? You mean Sarah?” Brock clarified.

“Yes.”

“Why do you need to keep an eye on her?” Ash asked indignantly.

“Probably because Silver’s had way too many near death experiences in these last few months.” Flora jumped into the conversation.

“What are you talking about?” Ash turned to Flora.

“Let’s see. There’s the Spearows on day one, Beedrill in Viridian forest, near drowning in Cerulean, near drowning again right after you tried capturing Bulbasaur and then there was the lighthouse. Oh man, and all of that was before we even got here for our third gym badge!” Flora listed off, finishing off surprised at how many times I could have died.

Which was almost half a dozen times at this point…how am I attracting more trouble than the CMC? Wait, no. The first two cases were angry pokemon that I had no part in, the next two cases…yeah were about me almost drowning, but I blame Discord for not bothering to make sure my new body could swim and the last issue was over a giant pokemon.

An issue that can not possibly happen again.

…

Why was Weiss looking at me with pity?

In the end it was decided that Ash, Brock and Misty would have to tolerate Weiss’s presence so long as I traveled with them.

I offered to separate myself from the group, but they weren’t having any of it. I was their friend, and Weiss wasn’t going to change that. Besides, Misty now had someone else to talk to about water pokemon and she could learn a thing or two from Weiss and use that knowledge to beat her later.

It was…enlightening how Weiss trained her pokemon, Misty had decided after a night’s rest. Especially after we all found out that Weiss had earned herself the Boulder badge and Thunder badge, despite having a handicap against Surge’s Riachu.

Ash was pumped at breakfast and Pikachu was determined. We ate quickly and left for the Surge’s gym.

On the way to the gym something happened that was so weird that I’m still not entirely convinced it actually happened. It started within minutes of us leaving the Pokemon Center.

“Alright, Pikachu are you ready for this?” Ash pointed his finger at the sky. “We’re going to challenge Lt. Surge and we’re gonna win! Our lucky star is shining today!”

“Really? I don’t see it.” Flora made a show of looking around for the star while Misty remained suspiciously silent in thought.

“I don’t mean it’s actually shining!” Ash shoved her. He and Pikachu looked so affronted by Flora’s joke, I had to hold a hand over my mouth to hide my smile. They stepped away, moving ahead of us.

“They seem determined.” Brock commented.

“They’re going to win today.” I nodded.

We walked for a little while, passing some houses on our way to the gym. I was just thinking that it was a nice day and wondering where we’d be heading after we were done here when out of nowhere three people jumped out in the middle of the street ahead of us.

“Hey, what? Who are you guys supposed to be?” Ash tensed up.

The people were covered head to toe, with even big shades obscuring most of their faces.

“To protect the world from devastation—!” The two taller ones were cut off by the short one whacking them with a folded up fan.

But that was all I had to hear to know who they were.

“We’re the Pokemon Gym Battle Cheering Squad! Here to cheer for your Pikachu!” Meowth introduced them.

And then…bedlam.

It was…cheering, I guess. Three separate cheers even. Performed at the same time.

“Go, Pikachu!” With a final…rousing…cheer, they all quickly began running away.

“That was really disturbing.” Brock muttered.

“Thanks for the cheer, Team Rocket!” Flora called after them.

“I don’t…understand what just happened.” I watched until they were out of sight.

Weren’t they Pokemon Thieves? Dangerous criminals? Willing and able to use potentially lethal force to reach their dastardly goals? I even compared them to Nightmare Moon, Discord and Tirek upon our first encounter. Was…was I wrong?

It distracted me the rest of the way there. I was constantly on the lookout for pitfalls or snares or some kind of trap. That had to be what that was, right? The set up for some kind of trap?

But we got to the gym without any further harassment. Ash issued his challenge and we were once again in the arena, Raichu vs. Pikachu.

“Alright baby, ready for another beating?” Surge snickered. “You didn’t even evolve your Pikachu!”

“We don’t need to. We’re going to win this!” Ash declared.

“Let the battle begin!” The referee called.

“C’mon, Pikachu! We planned for this!” Ash sent him out.

“Ha, so you planned a new way to lose? Raichu, give’em the whip!” Surge ordered.

Pikachu’s timing was off. He didn’t dodge it in time and one whip was quickly followed by a half dozen more.

“Now Body Slam!” We all flinched as Pikachu squealed under Raichu's weight.

“Finish with another Body Slam, Raichu!” We tensed.

“Watch out!” Ash yelled, encouraging Pikachu just enough to get up and dodge, letting Raichu slam face first into the floor. “Good, now Agility!”

Pikachu blurred around the battlefield, circling Raichu over and over again. It kept trying to follow its trainer’s orders, but Pikachu never stayed still long enough for the Body Slam to connect. Once, twice, three times Raichu slammed itself into the ground before Surge cut in.

“Raichu, give’em a Thunderbolt!” He roared.

“RAI-CHUUUUUUU!” The Raichu was mad now and unleashed a powerful blast. Arcs of lightning blasted all around, shattering the windows above us. I counted ourselves lucky that the Raichu still had enough control to keep the attack away from the humans in the room.

But for all the attack’s power, none of it matters if it doesn’t hit.

“He grounded himself with his tail!” Brock laughed in delight. Pikachu stood on his tail, glaring at the Raichu with all his might. I leaned forward eagerly, ready to see the rest of the match play out.

“Give’em another Thunderbolt!” Surge growled.

Raichu tried. I saw its cheeks spark even from the other end of the room. It tried and tried, panting hard. A slow smirk found its way across my lips.

“It lost its temper. It overextended itself with that last attack!” I realized.

“Now Pikachu, Quick Attack!” Ash leapt for the opportunity. Pikachu sprinted forward and slammed directly into Raichu’s stomach. Another dash, another sprint, and then Pikachu hit it from the side. Raichu’s cheeks sparked brighter, a sign of its rising temper, but it did nothing as Ash and Pikachu finished with a Thunderbolt of their own.

“Raichu is unable to battle! Pikachu wins!” The ref called it.

“Whoo! Yeah!” Misty jumped to her feet.

“We did it! We did it, Pikachu!” Ash happily ran out onto the field, grabbing Pikachu into a warm hug.

“Ya sure did.” Surge sighed, smiling. “You’re no baby, Ash Ketchum, and in honor of that I award you this Thunder Badge.”

“Oh, wow!” Ash took the badge in hand. This one was shaped like a sunflower which I found a little odd. What did sunflowers have to do with an electric gym?

“Look, Sarah! Brock, Misty!” He waved it at us.

“I see, I see!” I giggled. It was so good to see him win, to see him grow into a better trainer!

After Ash’s battle I asked about challenging Surge myself, and Surge offered to battle me after lunch once Raichu recovered from battling Pikachu.

Hours later saw me facing down Surge and Raichu with Bulbasaur

“Let the battle begin!” The referee called.

“Bullet Seed!”

It was a fast opening move that managed to catch Surge off guard for a second, but it just barely did some damage to Raichu before they retaliated.

“Feh, you call that an attack?” Surge scoffed. “Raichu, show’em a real attack.”

“CHUU!” Whatever electrical attack it was, it vaporized Bulbasaur’s Bullet Seed and struck him head on. Unlike Pikachu though, Bulbasaur managed to hold his wits together after the attack.

“Heh, looks like I’m getting some real tough trainers these last few days.” Surge complimented.

“Leech Seed!”

I didn’t want to give him time to think. Bulbasaur might have been resistant to electrical attacks, if Flora was correct, but Pikachu was just as resistant to electrical attacks and Raichu managed to beat Pikachu the first time with an electrical attack.

I could not afford to let Bulbasaur take any more damage.

Leech Seed connected, but Raichu didn’t look at all winded.

“Raichu, give’em the whip!” Surge ordered.

“Dodge it Bulbasaur!”

Bulbasaur was on the defense, barely managing to dodge Raichu’s tail.

“Now Body Slam!” We all flinched as Bulbasaur groaned under Raichu's weight.

“Vine Whip now!”

Taking advantage of Raichu’s proximity, Bulbasaur’s vines could not miss at that distance. One whip was quickly followed by a half dozen more and Leech Seed began taking effect.

"Raichu, use Thunderbolt on those vines!"

Raichu grabbed a vine and fired a bolt through it, causing the electricity to travel to Bulbasaur.

“Bulbasaur!” I cried out in concern.

“Bulba-saur!” Gritting his teeth in pain, Bulbasaur retracted the vine Raichu was holding and landed a Tackle attack on the startled Raichu, launching the mouse pokemon back.

It was at that moment that Leech Seed kicked for the second time.

Despite all that, Raichu was still standing, but it was breathing heavily just as Bulbasaur was.

“Raichu, give’em a Thunderbolt!” Surge roared.

I…I didn’t know what to do. Bulbasaur couldn’t dodge it and we didn’t have a counter to it like Protect. Thunderbolt would just vaporize Bullet Seed.

Despite my thoughts, Bulbasaur growled and began launching leaves at Raichu. Leaves that disintegrated under the onslaught of Thunderbolt, but…but…

“It missed?” I was stunned.

Thunderbolt had missed Bulbasaur, striking the ground right next to him.

How? How did Raichu miss? It didn’t look like the leaves deflected Thunderbolt. Did Raichu just lose sight of Bulbasaur underneath the waves of leaves that Bulbasaur was launching?

“Raichu!” Whatever Surge was going to say was lost as Raichu cried out as Leech Seed activated a third time and drained Raichu’s energy.

“Bullet Seed!”

I had to capitalize on this. Raichu was almost done, the mouse was starting to sag in place.

“Thunderbolt!” Surge ordered.

Raichu tried. I saw its cheeks spark even from the other end of the room.

Bulbasaur’s Bullet Seed attack slammed into Raichu. Again and again, Bullet Seed was raking Raichu as its cheeks sparked brighter, a sign of its rising temper, but it did nothing.

Raichu was running out of energy.

For the fourth time Leech Seed activated and zapped Raichu’s energy.

It was the last straw.

“Raichu is unable to battle! Bulbasaur wins!” The ref called it as Raichu collapsed.

“We did it? We did it, Bulbasaur!” I happily ran out onto the field, grabbing Bulbasaur into a warm hug.

“Ya sure did.” Surge sighed, smiling. "Impressive battle we had, miss Sarah. To prove you defeated me in a fair battle, I give to you the Thunder Badge."

"Thank you, Lt. Surge, sir."

Three badges down, five to go.

Chapter 11: St. Anne

There was still plenty of time left in the day and no real reason to lounge around doing nothing. We started walking through the city and found our way to the port. Misty had the idea that we might find a better swimsuit for me than the school swimsuit I had.

“Man, look at all these ships.” Ash gasped in wonder.

“They sure are impressive.” Brock hummed.

“Can you imagine how luxurious it would be to travel on one of those?” Misty sighed. “The sun, the surf, lounging on the deck working on my tan!”

“You’d probably see lots of interesting water pokemon traveling that way.” Brock chuckled. “But there’s no way we’d ever be able to afford it.”

“Darn, reality can sure be a bummer.” Ash groaned. Brock and Misty both nodded, looking equally disappointed at the reminder while Flora and Weiss glanced at each other.

“Just ride a pokemon.” Weiss stated. “Lapras are good for traveling between islands and are capable of long distance travel.”

“A Lapras?” Ash pulled out his pokedex.

“Lapras. This intellectually advanced Pokémon is able to understand human speech. With its mild temperament, Lapras prefers to carry humans on its back, rather than engage in Pokémon battles.”

“They look beautiful.” Misty giggled. Her smile quickly turned to a melancholy frown as she looked up at a big, fancy ship. “Still, it would be nice to go on a luxury cruise someday.”

“HEL-LO~!” We all jumped back as two girls broke away from the crowds in front of us. Both were deeply tanned, one had short blonde hair and the other had long light-red hair.

“Like, you’re trainers, aren’t you?” The redhead asked us.

“Yeah, why?” Ash tilted his head curiously.

“Like, how would you like to attend the most cool, unforgettable trainers-only party? All aboard the St. Anne!” She waved a ticket in his face.

“It’s gonna be, like, totally radical!” The blonde cut in.

“Oh but, we can’t possibly afford the tickets.” Ash’s shoulders slumped.

“Like, not to worry!” The redhead giggled. “See, we were gonna go with our totally hot boyfriends, but they cancelled last minute, so, like, we were looking for some totally cool trainers to go in our place!”

“Yeah, you guys, like, look totally cool!” The blonde agreed.

“So, like, here’s the ticket! Have fun and, like, tell us all about it when you get back!” She pressed the ticket into Ash’s hands and she and her friend ran off.

“That seemed…a touch suspicious.” I muttered. “Ash, may I see that ticket?”

“Uh, sure.” He passed it over.

I had no idea what a legitimate cruise ticket looked like in this world, but this one didn’t look fake to me. It was a pass for a group between 2 and 5 people to board the luxury cruise liner the St. Anne. The date and time of departure were stamped at the bottom.

“Why would they just give this away to some total strangers?” I flipped it back and forth, as if that would reveal some flaw.

“Who cares?” Misty snatched the ticket out of my hand. “The St. Anne is famous! I’ve always wanted to ride it someday! This is like a dream come true!” Her eyes read over the ticket and she gasped.

“Guys, it’s going to be leaving soon! We have to hurry!” She rushed us, running down the pier.

“Hey Misty, wait up!” Ash called as the rest of us followed her.

Something really didn’t sit right with me about this.

“Look, there it is!” She came to a stop in front of the biggest ship in the port. I’d wager that two to three thousand people would have fit on board.

“C’mon, it’ll be leaving in a few minutes!” Misty rushed for the stairs.

“Wait a second!” I grabbed her hand before she could climb the stairs. “The ticket is only good for five people at most and there’s six of us.” I pointed out.

“That means one of us is going to have to sit this one out.” Brock thought out loud.

“Welp, that’s my cue to leave.” Flora declared getting everyone’s attention.

“Flora.” She held up a hand interrupting me.

“The past couple of days have been a lot of fun and pretty wild! But our biggest concern is you drowning, so Weiss is better suited to watching over you. Besides, this way I can head over to Celadon City and hang around there.”

“Take care Flora.” Weiss walked up to Flora and the two shared a hug.

“We’ll keep an eye out for you.” Brock promised.

“I hope we meet again real soon.” Misty added.

And that was that. Flora went down the road and we went up the stairs to board the St Anne. We parted ways as good friends.

At the top was a man in uniform who barely even glanced at the ticket before waving us through. I looked over my shoulder at him, watching as he welcomed another late arrival with the same casual attitude.

When I looked forward again I found myself standing in an opulent room crowded with people and pokemon. Stalls were set up, the dull roar of people talking made me feel like a man lost at sea. And the worst part?

I’d somehow managed to get separated from the others.

“Come with me.”

Well…almost everyone, as Weiss took my hand and pulled into a crowd of people.

“Where's Ash and the others?” I jumped to the side, almost colliding with someone carrying an Oddish. “Where are you taking me?” A step to the right and I nearly tripped up a waiter. “My bad, sorry!” Why couldn’t I slip out of Weiss’s grasp?

“Ash is watching a pokemon battle with Misty and Brock, and I want to check something out.” Weiss said, stopping in front of a stall so suddenly that I almost fell on her.

“Hey, girls.” I froze, expecting someone else to scold me for standing in their way. When nothing else was forthcoming I looked up and saw a salesman behind a stall, standing over a tank of large reddish-orange fish. “Like what you see, eh? Behold, the king of carp! The Magikarp!”

“Um, yeah.” I had no choice but to follow Weiss as she walked up to the tank. Only then did she finally release my hand.

“Are you…selling Magikarp?”

“Aha, figured it out at just a glance, eh? Beauty and brains!” He dipped his arms into the water and held out the Magikarp towards us. “Now look at this, look at this! See how healthy this Magikarp is?”

“It, uh…” It flopped and wiggled in his hands. “Looks lively, the scales look shiny and the fins look strong.”

“Mhm, mhm.” He nodded along. “And between us, these pokemon are a goldmine! A goldmine, I tell you! Do you know what’s so special about Magikarp?”

“They evolve into Gyarados.” Weiss stated, seemingly mesmerized by the giant fish.

“True! But also…” He leaned forward conspiringly, nearly dropping the Magikarp back into the tank. “Magikarp lay a thousand eggs, did you know that? And all those eggs hatch and lay a thousand more eggs each, that’s ten thousand Magikarp! They lay eggs, that’s a million Magikarp! Sell them for just a hundred dollars apiece, and by generation three you’d be a set for life! A billionaire!”

That’s not how supply and demand works.

“And girls, you look to me like someone who’d like to live the high life! So I’ll cut you a deal!” He pushed the Magikarp into my hands and pulled out a crate of items. “Not only will I sell you this Magikarp for 100, but the breeding kit, the polishing kit, the owner’s manual, all for just 300 dollars! I’m practically giving it away!”

“Ah, wait, I don’t need all that.” Thankfully Weiss took the Magikarp out of my hands, literally, so I didn’t have to worry about dropping it. “Your business model is—!”

“Deal.”

I stopped.

“You said 100 for the Magikarp by itself, right?” Weiss interrupted. I was almost surprised by her boldness. “I’ll just take the Magikarp, please.”

“Oh? You sure?” He pouted.

“Mhm.” Weiss bent over to put the Magikarp back in the tank so she could rifle through her bag. “So does it already have a pokeball or…?”

“One pokeball, free of charge!” He quickly smiled, snapping the money from her hand and tossing a gold painted pokeball at her. She returned the Magikarp to it and thanked him politely before we took our leave.

“And hey! If you change your mind about the breeding kit!” He yelled after us. Over my shoulder I saw him pull out another pokeball and release another Magikarp into the tank. A man in the St. Anne’s uniform was walking by and I saw the salesman stop him, likely giving him the same spiel he’d given us.

“Are you sure it was a good idea?”

“Yes.” Weiss nodded curtly. “We’ll meet Ash and the rest at the buffet.”

Of course. Sooner or later Ash would end up wherever the most food was and the others would follow him.

Suddenly the whole ship shuddered.

“Passengers, please be aware that the St. Anne has officially left port. We hope you enjoy your stay!”

We were moving. I waited a moment to see if the moving would bother me but it didn’t look like the rocking was bad enough to trigger any nausea.

I ran up to Weiss, passing by several different stalls. Some were pokemon salesmen like the one we’d just left, but with better variety and much higher prices. Another waiter carrying a tray of tiny sandwiches walked past as we approached the buffet.

The buffet table was…It was…

I’ll be honest, my jaw dropped. The amount of food available was staggering. There were dishes I didn’t know the names of. A wide variety that seemed to have no end with something for everyone.

I took a plate and served myself some creamy mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and buttered rolls. Weiss…

Weiss was balancing three plates, a pair in her hands and one atop her head. Some sort of pasta dish, a risotto, and prench fries with something that looked deep fried.

We found a table and began working through the food, bite by bite.

“Sarah, there you are!” I nearly choked on a bread roll. Ash and the others had found us.

“Wow, hungry much?” Misty laughed, setting her own plate piled high with desserts down beside me.

“There’s just…so much food.” Weiss…I think she actually had to blink back a few tears.

“Hey Sarah, you missed it! Butterfree and I won a fight against a Raticate!” Ash informed me. His plate was piled with foods I did not recognize.

“Congratulations on winning.”

“Yes, it was a most exciting match!” A strange man and woman, both dressed finely, approached our table. “Your Butterfree is certainly impressive, young man.”

“Thanks, I put a lot of work into raising it.” Ash blushed lightly.

“Indeed.” The man leaned forward on his cane. “And tell me, what did you think of my Raticate?”

“It was awesome!” Ash was never shy about praising a pokemon. “You trained it really well!”

“I’m glad you think so! That’s why I propose a trade!” He held up a pokeball, presumably the one with the Raticate in it.

“Huh? A trade?” Ash repeated, confused.

“When two trainers like each other’s pokemon, then they trade!” He spread his arms wide, nearly swinging his cane into a passing girl. “You raise your pokemon, build bonds of friendship with them, then you meet another trainer, trade with them, raise and bond with their pokemon as they bond with yours! That’s how friendship spreads across this great, big, beautiful world of ours!”

That…that sounds nice. Spreading friendship across the world.

“That’s why I want you to trade your Butterfree for my Raticate!” He finished.

“Uh, I dunno.” Ash looked at us. “What do you guys think?”

“Spreading friendship is wonderful, I’d love to trade!” Brock’s whole face was red and he was staring at the pretty lady who was with the gentleman.

“Can you trust a stranger to look after your pokemon as well as you did?” Weiss…actually made a good point between bites of sushi with some sort of pink topping.

When did she get another plate…no three more plates of food?

Ash’s eyes widened a little, like that part hadn’t occurred to him.

To be fair, this gentleman was a much better talker than the salesman I’d met, better than the Flim Flam brothers even. I didn’t even recognize it as a sales pitch.

Ash stared at his plate for a moment before he raised his eyes to look the strangers in the eye.

“I appreciate how much you like Butterfree, but I’m not going to trade.” He straightened his spine.

“I understand, and thank you for your time.” I might have imagined it but I thought I saw him look in Weiss’s way before he left.

“Alright, let’s get back to the food!” Ash grinned, lifting his fork and knife.

Ah yes, the wonderful food.

At last though, only Weiss was still eating. My own stomach felt like I’d gained ten pounds. Considering I went back for thirds I didn’t consider that much of a stretch.

“So Sarah, where’d you go after we got separated? One second you’re there, the next you’re gone!” Brock asked me.

“I couldn’t find you guys so Weiss dragged me to the stalls. There was one man selling Magikarp and she decided to buy one.”

“What? Why would anyone want one of those? They’re…” Misty struggled to find a word to describe them.

“Magikarp: The fish pokemon, these pokemon are notoriously weak swimmers and lack any attacks other than Splash. Their only claim to fame is that they evolve into Gyarados, though no one is sure how.” Ash smiled sheepishly as the pokedex finished.

“Weiss did mention Gyarados.” I offhandedly mentioned as I fished out my own pokedex and looked up Gyarados’s entry.

“Gyarados: The Water Dragon pokemon, this pokemon has a vicious temper and is largely regarded as the king of the seas.”

“Ugh, Gyarados.” Misty shuddered.

“Um, Misty, you don’t like Gyarados?” I frowned. “Even though it’s a water type?”

“I like all other water types!” She quickly reassured us. “It’s just that, well, I had a bad experience with a Gyarados once. They’re the only water pokemon I don’t like.”

“But Weiss, how do you plan to get your Magikarp to evolve? The pokedex said no one knows how it evolves into Gyarados.” Brock pointed out.

“By training him and developing our bond.” Weiss stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Misty huffed a laugh. “Now th—YIPE!” She jumped back, pointing behind us.

Behind me and Ash were the windows and they were all, throughout the whole room, slamming shut with big metal shields. The other exits were being sealed shut too.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Someone yelled.

The sound of a dozen machines powering on caught my attention. Nearby I saw a waiter tear off his red and blue uniform, revealing a black one underneath. He also pulled out a large backpack with vacuum hoses attached to it.

My eyes landed on the big red R emblazoned on his chest.

All through the room more people began to do the same, tearing off their uniforms and revealing menacing technology and a red R stamped on everything.

“Team Rocket!” I snarled, pulling out my first three pokemon. Up till now I hadn’t even considered the fact that Team Rocket was a much larger organization. We’ve only encountered Jessie, James and Meowth so far.

“Pikachu, Thunderbolt!” Ash rallied fastest.

“Bulbasaur, Razor Leaf! Eevee, Spearow, Quick Attack the machines on their backs, there are pokeballs inside!” I commanded them, keeping an eye on where they went and how far from me they were.

“Charmander, Bulbasaur, Butterfree, help us out!” Ash pulled out more pokemon.

“Geodude, you too!”

“Starmie!”

“Yun, Mien, Mr. Krabs!”

Huh, apparently Weiss also had a Krabby.

Team Rocket wasn’t expecting such a strong resistance. And when other trainers saw us fighting they started fighting too. Pretty soon the whole room was in on it, fighting anything wearing a red R. Every time a Rocket goon went down someone would take his vacuum bag and empty it out, allowing people to reclaim their pokemon.

“They’re falling back, keep it up!” I shouted over the commotion. “Spearow, Quick Attack left! Eevee, Quick Attack right! Bulbasaur, don’t get too far away!”

I saw Weiss vault over a table and grab a tray one of the former waiters had dropped. She let it fly, knocking the feet out from under one goon who’d been trying to leave with his ill gotten goods.

I saw a black blur out of the corner of my eye and I dropped to my hands and let loose a kick that would have made the Apple family proud. The Rocket goon grunted as he fell over and Spearow was at my side in an instant, cutting apart the straps holding the machine.

“Damn you brats!” A goon rolled to his feet. “You’ll regret the day you ever went up against Team Rocket!”

“Not now and not ever!” I retorted. “Surrender now and there’ll still be something left for Officer Jenny to arrest.”

The ship lurched to the side and dropped three feet. Only Weiss managed to stay standing but the goon I was talking to used the confusion to get away.

“Gang, front and center!” I pushed myself up. I needed to make sure my pokemon were okay.

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur came first, seeing how he stayed by my side the entire time. Eevee came next, followed by Spearow.

“Spear Spearow!” Spearow was glaring off at where the Rocket goon had disappeared to. The force of his glare was actually, no, that wasn’t the glare!

Spearow glowed hot, bright white. Each beat of his wings came stronger than the one before, until I was almost knocked back by the force behind it. The light faded away and where my Spearow once was there was now a Fearow!

“You evolved!” I gasped, delighted.

“Feeeaaaa!” He cried, proudly stretching his wings. “FeaROW!”

This time the ship lurched, tilting almost dangerously. I slid along the floor, arms flailing to find something to grab. Fearow’s talons latched onto one arm and lifted me up.

“Eevee!” I cried as he was sent tumbling towards the wall. I noticed that the doors and windows had been unsealed, leaving one open nice and wide for them to tumble through. “Oh no! Fearow, put me down!”

“Fear fear!” He released me. My arm was red and definitely going to bruise but I’d take that over slamming through a window.

“You did good, Fearow and I’m so proud of you but you can’t fit in the halls!” I pulled out his and Bulbasaur’s pokeball and returned them. “Eevee, I’m coming!”

Behind me I heard someone shout my name. I didn’t pay them any attention. I leaped over any obstacle in my way and grabbed the door frame to turn me in the right direction.

“Eevee, shout if you can hear me!” I yelled as I ran. My bag thumped against my shoulders with every step, not secured as tightly as it should be. I didn’t care, taking the next turn so fast I almost twisted my ankle.

“Vee!” Luckily Eevee was right around the corner.

“You’re okay!” I dropped to my knees and wrapped him in my arms as tight as I could. “Oh, thank you Celestia!”

“Vee Eevee!” Eevee sobbed into my chest.

“Hey now, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” I reassured him. “That was scary but we’re okay now, and you earned a good rest.”

“Sarah!” Ash and Weiss came running after me, followed by Brock and Misty. “We have to get to the lifeboats! The ship is sinking!”

“What!?” I nearly swallowed my tongue. I let Eevee go and fumbled with his pokeball. Okay, back in your pokeball, now!”

Another wave hit the ship. Everything happened in slow motion. Eevee turned to light and was pulled inside his pokeball. I lost my balance, tipping forward.

I lost my grip on his pokeball.

“No!” I was on my feet before the ship righted itself. “Eevee!”

“Sarah!” Ash and the others chased after me.

The floor was tilted almost forty degrees. I kept running, using corners and door frames to slow myself down and control my turns. The pokeball kept rolling, always just a little bit out of my reach.

“Almost, almost.” My pulse pounded in my ears. I couldn’t bear to leave him. My fingers brushed against the pokeball just as another wave hit, this one harder than all the rest.

Then everything went black.

Consciousness returned…fitfully. It was nothing like that morning in the forest. It was peaceful then and I felt well rested.

Now it felt like Apple Bloom had kicked me in the head, my arm throbbed, and for a scary moment I couldn’t remember who or where I was.

That passed quickly, thankfully, but the panic did push me to sit up before I was really ready. The world spun and I gripped my head between my hands and felt something wet on one side.

“Vee?”

Eevee was standing right next to me.

“You’re ok.” I hugged Eevee close to me.

I was in a lounge, with everything flipped upside down in a way that made my stomach tie itself in knots. Ash, Misty, and Brock were with me and none had regained consciousness yet. None looked seriously injured either though I could see some bruises forming on Misty’s skin.

“You’re awake.” I saw Weiss standing by the window with Mien out and about.

“What happened?” I asked as Weiss walked over to me and sat down, looking over my injuries.

“The ship capsized.” Weiss stated as she used a water bottle to wash out the wound on my head and trace it with a fingertip. She then took out a gauze and wrapped it around my head, stopping the bleeding. “It’s not long, but you should still see a doctor.”

“Mmmggghhh.” Brock moaned, slowly coming to as Weiss finished dressing my wound and applied a cream to my arm that stopped the throbbing.

“Nnn.” Misty jolted out of her sleep, hand rushing to clutch her shoulder. “Oooww.”

“Easy there.” Wiess approached her cautiously. “Let me take a look at it.”

“Weiss?” Misty turned to look at Weiss and incidentally caught a look at me. “Sarah?” Tears started falling out of her eyes. “Oh my gosh, what happened to you?”

“Uh, hit my head against something, I guess.” I shrugged. “Does your shoulder hurt?”

“Urrggh, yeah.” She tested the range of motion. “I think it’s okay, just sore.”

“Let me feel it.” Weiss gently laid a hand on Misty’s shoulder, feeling the joint. “It’s going to be sore for a while.”

“Ugh, wha?” Brock finished rousing himself, blinking blurrily up at the…floor.

“Brock, does anything hurt?” Weiss crawled over to him and leaned over his face.

“Weiss? Geez, feels like Onyx Body Slammed me.” He winced, sitting up. “I think I’m okay though? You guys?”

“I’m fine but Sarah hit her head on something.” Misty tattled on me.

“It’s not that serious, just a cut in an awkward position.” I reassured them. “Ash and Pikachu are still out.”

“Piii.” The electric mouse proved me wrong, rolling onto his side before pushing himself onto his feet. “Pika! Pikapikapika, Pikapi!” He ran over and started shaking Ash’s shoulder.

“Nn-huh? Shto-stop it, Pikachu!” Ash thrashed a little. His eyes blinked open and he froze, staring up at the…floor. “Am I still dreaming?”

“If this is a dream, I’d like to wake up now.” Brock deadpanned.

“Guys?” Ash rolled over. “Whoa Sarah! Your head!”

“Yeah.” I hissed, patting the tender spot on my head. “Weiss already treated it. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Uh, no, I feel fine.” He answered after a brief pause. “Why’s the ship upside down?”

“The ship capsized.” Weiss repeated.

Misty made the mistake of craning her head to look around. Apparently that range of motion did not agree with her shoulder.

“This will help.” Weiss poured some of the cream she used on my arm and started rubbing it into Misty’s shoulder.

“Whoa, there are fish swimming out there!” Ash gawked at the window. “We’re underwater!”

“This is bad.” Brock grit his teeth. “We need to find a way back to the surface.”

“Yeah.” Misty nodded. Her shoulders were finally able to relax now that whatever muscle she’d pulled wasn’t screaming in agony.

“We’re not far from the surface.” Weiss stated, standing up and walking towards the door. “Seaweed doesn’t grow too far from the surface. It would get too dark and cold for plant life otherwise.”

That gave us hope.

“Let’s find a way out then.” Ash got to his feet.

We left the lounge and wandered through the halls. Even if we’d gotten a chance to explore the ship earlier it wouldn’t have done any good with everything flipped upside down. Eventually we found the stairs only to find everything below us was flooded.

“Do we go up or down?” Ash asked.

“Up is where the ship bottom is, down is where the deck and all the exits are.” Misty grimaced. “So we go down.”

“Ah.” I gripped my backpack tightly. I wasn’t that confident in my swimming.

“But if there’s a dead end we’d be goners.” Brock reasoned.

Weiss turned and kneeled to look Mien in its gem.

“Mien, go look for a way out. If you find one, bring something from outside.”

Mien nodded before jumping into the water and diving, leaving us to wait for its return.

While we waited my hands drifted over my pokeballs, back and forth. One, two, three, four now.

I was clutching Eevee close to my chest.

If I hadn’t lost my grip on Eevee’s pokeball we wouldn’t be in this mess. We would’ve made it to a lifeboat and we’d be heading to safety already.

But I lost my grip and the others chased after me. I was glad to not be alone, but I hated getting them mixed up in my mess. What if there wasn’t a way out?

I shook my head and forced myself to think about something else.

I thought about Discord instead. I know Discord said he wouldn't be holding my hand the entire way, but he wouldn’t just leave me in a capsized ship, right? Fluttershy wouldn’t like that. Besides he had sent Gardevoir to check on me when I almost drowned in Cerulean and had Flora follow along since then, even if the two did nothing when I fell into a river. Then, presumably, he sent Weiss to teach me how to swim and she helped Misty to teach me, and today Flora split off from the party and Weiss treated my and the others' injuries.

“Guys, I’m sorry.” I couldn’t look up from my feet. “If I hadn’t lost my grip on Eevee’s pokeball…”

“Hey now, that wasn’t your fault.” Brock placed a hand on my shoulder. “If anything, blame those Team Rocket guys for sending the ship into a storm like that. None of us regret following after you.”

“That’s right! We’re your friends, Sarah!” Ash declared fiercely.

“Yeah, we know you’d do the same for any of us.” Misty ran her hand over my back.

“Mien sure is taking a long time.” Ash frowned at the water.

“Maybe it can’t find a way out.” Misty worried.

“If so, then we go up and make a way out.” Weiss declared.

“Hey, there’s something coming!” Ash knelt down by the water. I refocused and saw a dark shadow rising towards us. A shadow too big to be Mien.

“Uh, Ash, you might want to step back!” I warned him just as the shadow breached the water.

Everyone but Weiss screamed, jumping back to avoid the bodies being thrown at us. We got back as far as we could on the landing, staring in fear at what Mien had brought back.

Team Rocket. Specifically, Jessie, James, and Meowth.

“Whoa, they don’t look so good.” Brock hissed in sympathy. The trio was half-drowned, with blue lips and coughing up a great deal of water between them.

“Prepa-prepare for…trouble.” Jessie burbled.

“Make…double.” James coughed.

“Meowth, that’s right,” Meowth shivered.

“Uggh, what…?” Jessie blinked, her eyes focusing on us. “Twerps?”

“What? The twerps?” They all jumped up, nearly landing back in the water again.

“Looks like we’ve finally got you cornered!” Jessie smirked.

“And now Pikachu will be ours!” James concurred. Both whipped out their pokeballs.

“If it’s a battle you want then it’s a battle you’ll get!” Misty and Ash stepped forward.

“NO!” I screamed, darting between the groups and spreading my arms. “No battling!”

“Eh? And why should we listen to you, little girl?” Jessie put her hands on her hips.

“We’re miles underwater and a battle could destabilize the ship and lose what little air we have left.” Weiss offered, pointing at the water lapping at their feet. The water level had already risen since we arrived here.

“Just what I was thinking.” Brock joined in. “If we battle here and now, both our groups will die! For now, the only thing we can do is try to escape together.”

“A truce? With these guys?” Ash grumbled.

“There aren’t any better options, Ash.” I sighed regretfully. Personally I would’ve loved to really see what Fearow could do to these guys.

“Hmph, I hate to admit it, but you’ve got a point.” Jessie huffed, though she didn’t put away her pokeball. “Fine, a truce. For now.”

“Mien, did you find any way out there?” Weiss asked her pokemon. Mien sadly shook its head. “Thanks for trying.”

“So nothing but dead ends down below.” Brock crossed his arms, eyeing Team Rocket suspiciously. “Anyone got any ideas?”

“As a matter of fact, I do!” Misty stuck out her chest. “I built my own "St. Anne" once.”

“Huh?” That got Weiss' attention. “Really?”

“It was a model.” Misty admitted, resulting in the rest of us grumbling. “So I know where the hull is thinnest. If we go up past the engine room we can cut our way out and make it to the surface!”

“Well, sounds like a plan.” Ash nodded. “But I don’t think we’ll be able to use these stairs.”

I walked over to see what the problem was and winced. Big pieces of furniture and what looked like a door were piled up there. Not to mention the difficulty of trying to climb upside down stairs in the first place.

“There’s a stairwell with a more open plan back the way we came.” Misty informed us. “Alright everyone, let’s go!”

I kept an eye on Team Rocket as we watched. They took turns giving me the stink eye back. With every step my hand would brush my belt. In these cramped quarters Bulbasaur and Eevee would be my front liners, but I was all too aware of the metric tons of water all around us. Fearow would have a problem moving in any direction other than forward. That left me with Cleffairy, and I really needed to start training her.

“There, the stairs!” Misty pointed ahead.

Yep, those were stairs. Above us.

“Hmm.” I chewed on my lips trying to think of a way to get us up there. Did I have rope?

“Mien, use Light Screen to form a staircase.” Weiss ordered.

Mien could do that?

A rectangular blue screen formed in front of Mien before laying down parallel to the floor. Then another blue screen formed and laid parallel to the first screen. The process repeated until there was a blue staircase leading up to the next floor.

“Woah.” We all looked in awe before quickly following behind Weiss and Mien.

Between one hallway and the next the lights went out. Some wiring must have been damaged or destroyed.

“My turn.” I heard the sound of a pokeball opening and then Charmander was standing in front of us, tail providing light to see by.

“It shouldn’t be far now.” Misty narrowed her eyes.

As we walked the air started getting a little smoky. Entering the engine room revealed a sea of flames below us.

“The bridge is out! How are we going to get across?” Ash groaned, eyeing the twisted metal.

"Jessica." James said in a more serious than usual tone.

"Yes, James?" Jesse looked back towards James.

"Whoever said beauty doesn't last, must have been thinking of us!" James took Jessie’s hand into his own.

"I'll always remember what a wonderful dresser you were." Jesse sniffed leaning into James.

"So will I." Agreed James.

“Will you two knock it off?” Misty snapped at them angrily, clearly done with their sappy sentimentality.

“Mien, bridge the gap with Light Screen.” Weiss simply ordered.

Mien obliged, forming a rectangular screen that floated towards the bottom of the door across from the fiery pit which then extended towards us and formed a bridge.

“Bulbasaur, I choose you!” Ash brought out Bulbasaur, drawing everybody’s attention. “All right, Bulbasaur! Vine Whip! Extend your whips to the other side!”

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur obeyed without question, using Vine Whip and extending the vines all the way towards the door.

While Mien made a bridge, Bulbasaur made a handrail so that we could balance on the bridge.

“Bulbasaur! Good job!” Ash congratulated Bulbasaur.

“That was a great idea, Ash!” Misty patted Ash on the back.

“Yeah, we can use the vines for balance while we cross the bridge!” Brock finished.

One by one everybody crossed the bridge until we all were on the other side.

Above us the metal creaked and groaned.

“Hear that?” Misty smirked in satisfaction. “The metal’s really weak here, this must be the place!”

“Right, Charmander, we need you to weld through the hull.” Ash ordered.

“Alright everyone, once the water starts pouring in, tie yourselves to a water pokemon!” Misty ordered.

“I’ve got some rope here.” Brock quickly passed out a line to everyone.

“Here Brock, you take Starmie. Sarah, you take Staryu.” Misty unleashed pokemon for us, while I returned Eevee, and we quickly tied our lines.

“Hey wait, what about us?” Team Rocket cried.

“Grab a water pokemon!” Misty snapped impatiently.

“Uh, Misty? I’m pretty sure they don’t have any.” I pointed out.

To everyone’s surprise James began snickering.

“I don't see what's so funny, James.” Jessie snapped at James.

“The poor guy must be cracking up just like this ship!” Meowth rationalized.

“You really made fun of me. But who's got the last laugh now?” James looked towards Jessie and Meowth. “Well, a true genius is never appreciated until there's trouble.” He pulled out a pokeball. “I knew we'd need this in a tight spot! Look!” He showed off the pokeball to Jessie and Meowth.

A gold pokeball.

“You bought a Magikarp too?” I gasped in shock.

“Wait a moment, if you bought a Magikarp, why aren’t you tying yourself to it?” Jessie asked, though she was already hard at work securing herself to James’ Magikarp.

“Because they’re weak swimmers.” I winced at Weiss’s deadpanned tone and Team Rocket’s look of bewilderment.

They didn’t know that? Magikarp would never be able to pull them through the torrential waterfall!

Even as I was thinking it, Charmander finally finished cutting through the hull. Water came crashing down in big waves. Ash almost didn’t return Charmander in time!

“Quick, get over here!” Brock and I could both take an extra and Meowth didn’t weigh that much. Misty could take him and—!

Team Rocket was struggling with the knots they’d used for their Magikarp’s harness. That was the last I saw of them before the hull started to split above us.

Ocean water is freezing. My muscles seized up immediately. I had enough presence of mind to take a big gulp of air before Staryu started pulling me upwards, fighting against the current.

Leaving Team Rocket behind.

It was a good thing I had the harness because I never would’ve been able to hold onto Staryu. The current by itself was strong enough to rip me away but the cold numbed everything. The salt burned my eyes and I struggled in the dark just to hold my breath.

How long would it take to reach the surface? Would I run out of air first? I didn’t dare count the seconds.

Were the others okay? Would Team Rocket make it out?

Everything was so cold. The water pressed in on all sides. My chest began to burn, aching for sweet oxygen.

Air, I’ll never take you for granted again.

“Sarah, over here!” My eyes were too blurry to make anything out but I could hear Misty calling. I tried to kick my legs like she’d shown me but swimming’s a lot harder in full clothes than in a swimsuit. Luckily Staryu saw me struggling and provided itself as a buoy for me to grab.

“Sarah, I’m here!” I heard Misty splashing to my left.

“Misty, it’s…cold!” My teeth started chattering.

“Yeah, I know.” My vision was starting to clear up. Misty looked half drowned herself but she was swimming under her own power, not Goldeen’s. “C’mon, there’s a makeshift raft over here. Don’t worry about swimming right now, just let Staryu carry you.”

“No…arguments.” I was shivering. Weiss had to haul me onto the raft. Brock and Ash were also shivering, looking damp and miserable. Pikachu was shaking himself out, causing his fur to fluff up.

Weiss looked completely unaffected by the cold.

“Team Rocket?” Ash asked in concern.

“They haven’t surfaced.” Misty answered somberly, climbing up to join us. With the exception of Weiss she seemed to be handling our dunk in the ocean the best. Probably thanks to past experience. “There's nothing more we can do except try to find some dry land.”

“We should send out our bird pokemon to find land.” Weiss suggested.

“Hey, yeah!” Ash jumped to his feet, digging through the pile of clothes for his belt. “Go, Pidgeotto!”

“Pidgeooo!” The bird pokemon flew up.

“Fearow can help too.” I threw his ball in the air.

“Whoa, Sarah! When’d you get that?” Ash squawked louder.

“Spearow evolved during the battle with the other Rockets!” I told him excitedly. “Isn’t he gorgeous?”

Both bird pokemon locked eyes, sizing each other up.

Ah, maybe releasing a Pidgeotto at the same time as a Fearow wasn’t the best idea.

“Alright you two, try to find some land! Bring something back if you find anything!” Ash yelled up at them.

With a caw and a squawk they took off in opposite directions. From the speed with which they flew I wagered that they were going to compete over who found land the fastest.

Weiss and Brock took a look at my head injury. Brock replaced my salt encrusted bandages with a fresh set.

“Pidgeooo!” We all looked out over the water at Pidgeotto’s return. He was towing something through the water. Before I could realize what they were Pidgeotto had already dragged them onto the raft.

“Team Rocket?” We all stared in shock.

They were…very still. Pale white, with blue lips. The only sign of life was their Magikarp, now flopping on our deck.

“Are they…?” Misty didn’t finish her question.

“I’ll check.” Weiss edged forward uncaringly, kneeling down beside them. She tested James’ pulse. Then Jessie’s. Then Meowth’s.

“They're alive.” Weiss reported.

I sighed, torn between relief and aggravation. On the one hand, I never really wanted them dead. On the other, somehow I doubted any of this would inspire them to turn over a new leaf.

Pikachu, I noticed, looked equally conflicted.

After a while Team Rocket woke up. Invisible lines were drawn along the raft while we waited for Fearow to return.

“It sure is taking a while.” Ash commented.

“Heh, maybe that Fearow’s decided to run away. I know I would if I were that twerp’s pokemon.” Meowth snickered.

“You take that back! Fearow would never run away from Sarah!” Ash and the others leapt to their feet.

“Guys?” I blinked.

“Facts is facts, twerp. And the fact is that Fearow ain’t—”

“FEEEAAAAA!” This time I was the one who jumped to their feet. I looked up and out over the water, watching a distant speck grow closer and closer.

“Fearow! Great to see you!” I welcomed him back with a wave.

“Fea-Fearow!” He flew over, dropping something from his talons into my arms as he passed overhead and began circling.

“A tree branch!” Brock grinned.

“That means Fearow found some land!” Misty cheered.

“You did amazing, Fearow.” I held the branch tightly.

“Everyone find something we can row with.” Misty stretched out for a piece of flotsam.

“Grr, why don’t we just get the pokemon to pull us?” Jessie complained.

“Because if an emergency hits then we’ll want our pokemon fresh and well rested! That’s why!” Misty waved her makeshift oar around threateningly. “Now c’mon and row! We don’t know how far it is to the nearest land!”

“Fearow, return!” I recalled my friend. I was about to join the others in rowing when I noticed one pokemon hadn’t been returned yet.

“Um, James, right? Aren’t you going to…” I gestured to his Magikarp.

“Are you kidding? That thing is worthless and I’ll not bother myself with it!” He lifted his nose high in the sky before following it up with “Besides, I lost its pokeball.”

“Ah.” I winced in understanding.

Our heading was almost due west so it wasn’t hard to stay on course. At least, not until the sun went down. The air grew crisper as stars began lighting up the night sky. It was safer if we didn’t try to navigate at night, though I knew the current would still be carrying us. I just hoped it would carry us towards land.

Normally we’d sleep in our separate tents or at least in our separate sleeping bags, but we didn’t have that option tonight. Our sleeping bags were still wet and there wasn’t nearly enough room to set up a tent. It was cold though, and we all ended up lying side by side trying to suction some warmth from each other. I placed myself on the outside, with Misty and Ash lying between me and Brock.

Team Rocket didn’t stay up long. Even now they’re snoring away. Shipwrecked with our worst enemy, what a cliché.

Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll find land.

The sun was brighter out on the ocean. It woke me up long before I was ready. Long before anyone was ready.

We sent Fearow and Pidgeotto out to confirm the direction we needed to row in, then we got started.

“So hungry.” Ash’s stomach grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

My own stomach felt like a hollow middle. With all the food I’d eaten on the St. Anne I couldn’t believe I was hungry at all, but there it was.

“If I’d known we’d be starving I would’ve stuffed my face on the St. Anne.” Misty pouted.

“Ugh! Can’t…row…anymore.” Meowth slumped down behind us. “I’m wasting away here!”

“Karp karp karp Magikarp karp.” James’ Magikarp continued flopping on deck.

“I’m so hungry I could eat…I could eat…” Ash started drooling a little. “Filleted Magikarp.”

What?

“Oooh, or fried Magikarp.” Brock stared off into space.

Are…are they serious?

“Mm.” Jessie licked her lips. “Marinated Magikarp!”

Those can’t actually be real food, right?

“That’s it! Dinner is now served!” Meowth pounced on the Magikarp.

CLANG!

Meowth had just learned the hard way that Magikarp’s scales weren’t just for show.

“Geez, look it up! Magikarp are nothing but scales and bone!” Misty shook her makeshift oar at everyone. Her face and shoulders were turning red from sunburn, and I had a feeling mine weren’t much farther off. Weiss, however, wasn’t turning red, but seemed to be suffering from the heat.

“So not only can this thing not swim but it can’t even be eaten?” James shook his fist. “Why, you! I don’t want to be your master anymore!” He reared back and delivered a solid kick, sending his Magikarp flying off into the water.

“Hey!” I shouted. “There’s no call for that!”

“It’s a worthless pokemon and I dearly regret paying my advance salary for it!” He defended himself.

“Guys? Guys!” Misty screamed, pointing at the water.

A bright, white light that every trainer should know was emerging from Magikarp. In seconds the source of the light had more than quintupled in size.

“It evolved.” I realized.

“Wow, so that’s a real, live Gyarados!” Ash scanned it with his pokedex, though as I recalled I already looked at that entry.

“GYAAAAAAAAA!” Gyarados roared.

“It’s a real, live nightmare is what it is!” Jessie screeched. “James, control that thing!”

“Gyarados, it’s me, your master!” James struck a heroic pose, proving once and for all that an IQ minimum in the double digits was not a requirement for Team Rocket, although it actually did get a laugh out of Weiss.

“GYAAAAAAAAAA!”

“Leave this to me!” Misty threw all her pokemon out while Weiss only released Yun and Mien.

“What’s the plan?” Brock widened his stance.

“The plan is…Run away!” Misty screamed. She and Weiss grabbed the rope harnesses and tossed them to their pokemon, who slipped them on quickly and began towing us as quickly as possible.

“Row row, row for your lives!” James squealed. We all grabbed our oars and did our best to push ourselves faster.

For a while Gyarados kept up with us, then it just suddenly stopped.

“It did just evolve, maybe it’s out of energy?” Brock suggested hopefully. Up above, I saw storm clouds gathering with unnatural quickness.

“That’s not it.” Misty looked pale beneath her sunburn. “I’ve heard stories from sailors. This…is Dragon Rage.”

“We need to keep rowing.” I gripped my oar tight enough to turn my knuckles white.

We didn’t get far.

One gyarados is cause for fear. A school of them was enough to make all attempts at escape meaningless. They swam in circles, faster and faster, roaring the whole time as we desperately tried to make distance.

And they formed a cyclone.

“Everyone, hold on!” We latched onto each other’s hands. Team Rocket was gone and I had no way of knowing where. I couldn’t even keep track of my friends with the way we were spinning through the air.

And our grip was slipping.

“Hang on!” Ash was across from me and I could still just barely hear him. “We have to ho---AAAAAAHHH!”

And just like that, we were torn apart.

Chapter 12: Island of the Giant Pokémon

“Sarah! Sarah, wake up!” Someone shook my shoulder.

I came up swinging.

“Whoa, watch out! It’s just me!” Brock yelped, dodging my flailing punch.

“Wha-huh? Oh, I’m so sorry!” I flinched back, bringing my hands in close.

“Hey, no worries.” He reassured me with a chuckle.

We were on a beach. Everyone looked okay, if a bit battered. The sun was burning bright up above, it had to be close to noon already.

“Pikachu?” Ash looked around. “Pikachu! Are you here?” He shot up, turning in circles looking for a bright yellow furball. His hand went down to his belt and I saw Ash go pale for the first time ever.

“I’m missing three pokeballs!” He cried in distress.

The rest of us felt the same panic and we rushed to check our own belts. I counted mine. One, two, three…

“I’ve got all mine.” Brock sighed with relief.

“Same here.” Misty nodded.

“Silver?” Weiss looked at me concerned.

“I’m…I’m missing someone.” I looked down at my belt and saw a pokeball with a green sticker on it and two without any stickers meaning…

“I’m missing Eevee.” I reported, shaken.

“I…I think I still have Butterfree and Pidgeotto.” Ash held up the two pokeballs to study.

“Then Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Eevee are the ones missing.” Misty realized.

“They must have washed up somewhere else.” Brock concluded. “Let’s start looking for them.”

“Right. Pidgeotto, I choose you!” In a moment the bird pokemon was hovering over us. “Pidgeotto, Pikachu, Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle are missing! Try to find them!”

“Fearow!” Instantly the bird pokemon was in the air. “Eevee is missing! I need you to look for him in the air!”

The two took off, flying out over the beach.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, Ash, Sarah.” Brock patted Ash on the shoulder. “In the meantime, we can search too.”

“Yeah.” He still seemed worried. I couldn’t blame him. We’ve just escaped from a school of angry Gyrados and a capsized ship. I don’t even know how long we were unconscious in the St. Anne, but we’ve at least spent a day stranded at sea. And now our pokemon were missing and we were still lost in who knows where.

We searched, walking along the beach and calling out for them. Only when Pidgeotto and Fearow came back reporting nothing did we turn to the forest.

“PIKACHU!” Ash bellowed. All of us were calling out for the lost pokemon. Ash and I both sent out our bird pokemon but they weren’t out long before they came back in a panic.

“What do you think spooked Fearow and Pidgeotto like that?” Brock asked me as we brushed aside some frond leaves. It was getting dark out and soon we’d either need to stop and make camp or make some torches to see by.

“Honestly, I have no idea.” I frowned.

“I think I know.” Misty said shakily.

“Huh? What?” I watched as she raised a trembling hand, pointing at something above us and coming closer.

It was big. It flashed with occasional bursts of lightning. And the screech!

But my first impression was BIG!

“G-G-Gi-GI-!” Weiss began shaking head to toe.

“It’s heading straight for us!” Brock gasped. “We’ve got to run!”

“GI-GI-!” Weiss kept trying.

“Weiss, run!” Brock grabbed her hand and began pulling. Ash, Misty and I were right beside the two as we pelted through the jungle.

“GIANT ZAPDOS!” Weiss screamed.

“A WHAT!?” Misty screamed beside me.

“ZAPDOS! LIGHTNING POKEMON! LEGENDARY!” Weiss ranted.

My heart was trying to beat itself out of my chest.

“GIANT! Oh, Articuno, Suicune, Kyogre, Regice, protect us.” Weiss prayed.

I didn’t know what she was praying to exactly, but I hoped that they were listening!

“That’s a legendary pokemon?” Ash had to leap over a large rock in his way. I thought I saw him stick a hand in his jacket where he kept his pokedex, but he must’ve thought better of it because he didn’t pull it out. “That thing’s huge!”

We ran and ran with that thing overhead. We tried to stay away from trees but that’s kind of hard to do in a jungle.

Finally we lost it. Or maybe it just lost interest in us. Either way, the five of us collapsed and tried to soothe the aches in our sides.

“…We can’t…hah…stay out here.” Brock was taking in big gulps of air. “We need to find…hah…a safe…a safe place…hah…for the night.”

“Agreed.” Misty moaned, clutching a cramp in her side.

We all fell asleep almost before our heads hit the ground. None of us even bothered to pull out the sleeping bags and we were even too exhausted to think about food. We just found a cave and slept like rocks.

Morning was another matter.

“Let’s get going.” Ash put on his hat. “We need to find Pikachu and the others and get off this crazy island.”

“No arguments there.” Brock nodded.

We were more cautious this time. We didn’t want to run into that giant Zapdos again. I couldn’t believe how big it was.

And it wasn’t the only one we saw.

“That’s…That’s, uh.” My mouth was dry. I could only stare up and hope it didn’t turn around and see us.

“A Charizard.” Brock sounded rather meek. “But it’s jumbo-sized.”

“We need to run, don’t we?” Misty laughed nervously.

“Yup.” Ash gave one quick, stiff nod and then led by example.

Giant pokemon abounded. Giant Oddish, giant Pidgey, giant everything!

“I don’t understand!” I cried as we ran. “What do these pokemon eat!?”

“Who knows? Who cares! I just don’t want it to be us!” Ash screamed. “PIKACHU! WHERE ARE YOU?”

We found a land bridge and we were making our way across when a giant Pikachu came around the cliff-side.

“Not the Pikachu I was looking for.” Ash whimpered beside me.

“It doesn’t…hah…make sense!” I panted, dropping my hands to my knees while I tried to catch my breath.

“PIIIKAACHU!” It sounded cheerful enough, but it bumped against the cliff and the land bridge under us began to crumble.

We all screamed on the way down. I can only be thankful it wasn’t actually that high up. We landed in a confusing mass of limbs and pain. I got someone’s elbow directly in the head, right over the cut I’d gotten on the St. Anne. I think I might’ve kicked someone in the neck too.

Somehow we got ourselves righted and found, to our surprise, that we were in a runaway mine cart with the human members of Team Rocket.

“We’ve got you cornered now, twerps!” Jessie smirked. “Hand over Pikachu!”

“GAH! But not that big one!” James squealed, shaking at the sight of the giant Pikachu still chasing us.

“Look over there!” Misty pointed to one side. Two more giant pokemon were running and just ahead of their feet was Eevee and Ash’s pokemon! Along with Team Rocket’s!

“They’ll get trampled if we don’t think of something!” Misty grunted.

“We have to stop the cart.” Weiss nodded. “Where’s the break?”

“Here.” Jessie handed a metal rod to us.

“Oh thanks.” Weiss took the rod and paused.

“Ah! It’s broken!” Ash despaired.

“Guys, up ahead!” Brock shook our shoulders. We turned around in the cart and saw…

“Why is there a loop on a minecart track?” I asked, my voice reaching at least two pitches higher than normal.

“I hate roller coasters!” Jessie wailed.

We clung to the cart as best we could. Getting turned upside down like that wasn’t easy on the stomach. I felt myself being lifted up and held on all the tighter for it.

“Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, Eevee! Jump in!” The loop had given the pokemon time to catch up with us but the giant ones were catching up too. Ash’s pokemon dogpiled him while Eevee leapt into my arms. Ekans, Koffing, and Meowth all jumped too and were caught by Team Rocket.

“I missed you guys!” Ash hugged Pikachu tightly. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Vee!” Eevee exclaimed as I brought him to my chest and buried my face in Eevee’s fur.

“We’re not out of the woods yet!” Brock reminded us.

“The way our luck is going, next the line will snap.” James stated, sounding unusually calm and resigned.

Snap!

A black cord I hadn’t noticed behind us suddenly snapped.

“Then we’ll be tossed into the air.” Jessie sighed with a pout.

“Uh, guys?” Brock tensed up. I didn’t even have time to look before our cart flew up into the air.

“The Zapdos!” Ash screamed. We were flying straight at it. We all ducked under the lip of the cart, kneeing and elbowing each other even as we crashed straight through it.

“It was an animatronic?” Weiss gaped at the metal falling around us.

“Then we’ll fall into the water after a long fall.” Meowth nodded sagely.

“Water?” I repeated. Ash was holding Charmander. Below us, the ocean.

“Ash, Charmander’s ball!” I screamed. Luckily for us, Bulbasaur was carrying everyone’s pokeballs in his seed and he quickly handed Charmander’s pokeball to Ash. There was barely enough time for Charmander to turn into light before we hit the water.

The water was a shock of cold. I flailed around at first, panicking. Thank Celestia for Misty and Weiss’s lessons. I saw sunlight above me and started kicking for the surface.

“Everyone okay?” Brock called.

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur was floundering in the water.

“Bulbasaur, where’s your pokeball?” Ash coughed. Bulbasaur’s seed spat out three more pokeballs and Ash gave me Eevee’s pokeball and quickly returned his. “Squirtle?”

“Squirtle squirt!” Squirtle was doing just fine, carrying Pikachu on his back.

“Hey guys, look over there!” Misty, one of our better swimmers, was treading water and able to point out a boat passing nearby with Pokemon Land written on the side.

“A tour boat?” Brock cocked his head in confusion.

Turns out, the island of Giant Pokemon was a theme park. All the giant pokemon were mechanical.

And we’d just wrecked the place.

“So we’re agreed that we take this to our graves?” Brock clarified as we snuck in with the tour group.

“Agreed.” Even Team Rocket was nodding along.

I’m not proud of it but I’m also not in a hurry to confess. None of us were in a hurry to admit we’d been the ones to trash the place. Ash even let me wear his hat to hide my bandages. We got a ride back to the nearest island, Porta Vista, and parted ways.

Porta Vista is a beautiful island resort. Surf, sun, and fun abound. After the morning we’d had we were all glad for the chance to relax and soak up some rays.

“C’mon Sarah, the shops here are bound to have more variety!” Misty started tugging me towards the boardwalk.

“We’ll wait for you guys by the snack bar!” Brock waved as we walked away.

“Don’t take too long!” Ash called.

“What are you shopping for?” Weiss asked in a school swimsuit like my own.

…wait.

“When did you change into your swimsuit?” I asked as we walked into a store that sold beach things.

“Just before we separated from the boys. I was wearing it underneath my clothes.” She explained.

“Well, we were going to shop for a new swimsuit for both of you now.” Misty explained as she combed through the aisles.

“What’s wrong with school swimsuits?” Weiss asked tersely.

“They’re just so…” Misty waved her hand. “Childish.”

“And you’re how old exactly?” Weiss asked.

“How about this one?” I picked out a violet one piece, hoping to distract the two from their argument.

“Oh, I like it.” Misty handed me a few other sets. “Go ahead and pick a few out to try on.”

I only tried on two of them before choosing to keep the violet one.

“I definitely like this much better.” I said to myself as I checked myself out in the mirror. This and a pair of sandals and I’d be ready for the beach!

“Great!” Misty clapped her hands before turning towards Weiss.

“What if I wore a full body wetsuit?” Weiss offered.

“Fine.” Misty relented. “Did you see any on the way here?”

“I already have my own.” Weiss said, entering a changing room.

Misty decided to leave well enough alone and entered another changing room to change into a red two-piece and even pulled out an inflatable beach ball from her bag.

After paying, we left the store and found Ash and Brock playing in the water.

“What happened to waiting for us?” She asked them teasingly.

“Whoa, Misty?” Ash’s jaw dropped as he stared.

“What?” Misty frowned, looking down at herself.

“I’ve just never seen you look so much like a girl before.” Ash blinked, still totally stunned.

“Why, you!” Misty pulled back and threw the beachball with enough force to send Ash toppling backwards into the water.

Weiss opened her mouth to say something before freezing and closing her mouth shut.

“Sarah, you’re looking good.” Brock complimented me.

“Thanks.” I smiled.

I didn’t play in the water as much as the others. I’d had enough swimming over the last few days but it was nice to wade in the shallows. It wasn’t long before everyone decided to get out and play in the sand for a bit.

Misty, Weiss and I reclined on a couple of towels the two had. Misty was probably getting a better tan than I was but I was just happy to be warm. Weiss, on the other hand, was huddled underneath an umbrella looking miserable, even though her expression hadn’t changed.

“Guys!” Ash ran up to us. “C’mon, Brock found a diner selling shaved ice!”

“Shaved ice?” Weiss jumped up. We followed Ash to the diner where Brock and Pikachu were.

Judging from the umbrella tables set up in front and the trio advertising the place with a waiter running out with food before disappearing inside and quickly returning with more food, the diner was packed.

We entered the diner although I noticed that Weiss nodded to the only girl of the group and one of the two male advertisers, the remaining guy was busy…posing. Showing off his arms and chest to onlookers.

Inside a faint buzz of chatter and noises rose from the diner and a pair of waiters were bustling to and fro, carrying trays and refilling water.

“Ash!”

We turned to the door and, lo and behold.

“Mom?” Ash was stunned.

“Oh, I’m so glad we’re here at the same time you are!” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “The Pallet Town Volunteer Patrol is taking a tour of Porta Vista.” She informed him.

“Mom!” Ash, typical ten year old boy that he was, pushed her away and brushed off the kiss.

“She’s not the only one here, Ash.” Professor Oak stepped inside.

Considering I hadn’t said a word to Ash’s mom the first time we met, and Misty and Brock hadn’t even met her nor Professor Oak, introductions were made by the time a server got to us.

“I apologize for keeping you waiting. Welcome to Elko’s. How many…” The server trailed off, eyes wide as she looked over the group. “You're not all together, are you?"

“Of course we are.” Ash’s mom said. “I haven’t seen my son in months, it would be wonderful to have lunch with him.”

“I see.” The server plastered on a falsely cheerful smile. “In that case, we can accommodate eight people. May you excuse me for a minute?” She walked off, grabbing the other server who looked just like her, trading the blue eyes and long blue hair for red eyes and red long hair. She pointed at the group, then started whispering.

The two servers had a quick exchange, the second server growing more heated. She threw up her hands, then started helping the first server move a group of empty, not entirely clean tables at the center of the diner. Some of the patrons looked on curiously. Once they'd managed to assemble two tables into a table for eight, the second server hurriedly wiped everything down while the first server came back, a huge stack of menus in her arms.

"Right this way." She said in a quiet yet overly syrupy sweet voice.

We followed her, seating ourselves. The server passed out menus, then pulled out a notepad. "I'm Himeko, I'll be one of your servers. Let me get you started with something to drink?"

After ordering our drinks Himeko walked off to get our drinks while the red haired server came up to us.

“I’m the loveliest server Ako!” She did a twirl and made a little pose in the cramped diner. “What can I get you all?”

It took us several minutes to decide what to order, during which Ako’s enthusiasm slowly eroded away. When she finally walked away, it was obvious that she was done with her shift.

We talked a bit after that. Ash exaggerated about his adventure while me and Misty, who were there since day one, had to explain what actually happened along with clarifying some details that Ash conveniently left out. Misty had to explain why she was traveling with Ash which almost led to another bike argument before Ash’s mom, Delia, asked why Ash had to borrow Misty’s bike which led to me explaining how Ash and I were chased by a flock of Spearow.

By the time the drinks had come in the three of us had gone over what had happened on Ash’s first day as a Pokemon Trainer. Our food was going to take a bit longer to be served because the kitchen wasn’t expecting eight orders at the same time.

It took ten minutes for us to be full served and we spent half an hour eating lunch. That gave us enough time to cover everything up to Vermillion City.

“We should be going now.” Ash smiled as we left the diner. “I promise I’m going to make you proud, Mom.”

“I already am.” She assured him as we walked away.

“Your mom is pretty great, Ash.” I clutched the straps of my backpack.

“Yeah, she is.” He agreed with a grin.

We had to walk to the far side of town where the ferries came. There we’d get a ride back to the mainland.

Too bad we had the misfortune of arriving after the ferry left.

“It’s not too bad.” I tried to reassure them. “It’s only three hours until the next ferry.”

“What are we gonna do for three whole hours?” Ash groaned, flopping down on the pier. “We can’t go back to the beach because we might miss the next one and there’s no Pokemon Center to wait in here.”

“Guess we just have to sit around and wait.” Brock concluded.

“Well this wait won’t be so bad!” Misty giggled. “Look, a Horsea!” She pointed out at the water.

“Wow, a Horsea?” Ash perked right up, already digging for his pokedex.

“Horsea, the Water Dragon Pokemon. Thousands of eggs are laid each year which the males of the species then raise. When threatened it will spew ink from its mouth in order to escape.”

“It looks injured.” Brock frowned seriously. It was true, the little Horsea had a black eye and some bruising along its head.

“Oh, the poor thing! And there’s no Pokemon Center around.” Misty crooned. “I’m going to catch it and treat its injuries!”

“Sea! Hor-Sea!” The little Horsea surprised us by spewing ink over the water. It wasn’t trying to hide itself so it could run away though. It was painting a picture.

“Tentacool and Tentacruel.” Weiss stated, watching the lines of ink connect.

That was some impressive artistic talent for a wild pokemon.

“What do you think it’s trying to tell us?” Ash asked.

“Maybe it was hurt by Tentacool and Tentacruel?” I shrugged helplessly as Weiss stared out at sea, silent.

An explosion knocked us for a loop. A boat on the water had suddenly just exploded and several people were jumping overboard to escape the flames.

“Oh no! We’ve gotta help them!” Misty threw out all her pokeballs. “You guys, find us a boat!”

“Right!” The boys shot up.

Brock and Ash found a little motorboat for us to use and we began pulling sailors out of the water.

“They can’t move!” Ash realized with shock as we pulled another on board. Indeed, the men were mostly conscious but none of them were doing more than twitching!

“Have ta…tell boss.” One of them babbled. “Tell boss,”

“Tell your boss what?” Ash leaned in to hear him better.

“Te-Tenta…cool.” His eyes rolled into the back of his head.

“Eeh, is he okay?” Ash flinched back.

“I’ll check.” Weiss leaned down and began checking the sailors. None of them seemed to be struggling for air. Their arms and legs had ropey bruises on them. “They’re just paralyzed. A few hours and they’ll be fine.”

“Looks like someone called emergency services.” Brock noticed as we pulled up closer to the dock. Paramedics were waiting to take the people we’d saved.

“You kids did good saving these men.” Officer Jenny nodded respectfully. “Your quick action saved a lot of lives today.”

So it seemed we wouldn’t be getting in trouble for stealing this boat. Nice.

“It was our pleasure, Officer Jenny!” Brock rushed up and clasped her hand in his. “Indeed, how could we have seen such danger and stand idly by with you to act as our example?”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Misty grabbed Brock by the ear and pulled him back. “Remember, we still have to see their boss and tell them what happened!”

“Maybe their boss will be a beautiful woman in a stylish suit.” Brock drifted off into a daydream while Weiss covered a laugh.

Teenage guys are kinda weird.

“Oh, the Horsea!” Misty gasped, turning around to scan the water. The little Horsea was much nearer the dock now and we could see its injuries more clearly. “You poor thing, hold on, I’ve got just the thing!”

She started digging through her bag and pulled out a deflated rubber…thing. It was bigger than the beach ball had been. It took a while for her to blow up but eventually I could see that it was a tiny swimming pool. She probably had it for her pokemon and now she filled it with seawater for the Horsea.

“C’mon little guy.” She knelt down and held out her arms. “Jump up here. I’ve got some medicine that will make you all better!” She enticed it.

“Sea? Hors-Horsea?” It was a trusting little guy and only hesitated a moment before jumping into Misty’s arms. She gently carried it to the kiddy pool and set it down before digging out a Super Potion from her bag.

“Now this might sting a little but I promise it’ll make you feel better.” The whole time she treated it she kept up a gentle stream of encouragement and praise while the rest of us could only watch.

“Wow, when it comes to water pokemon she’s really something else.” Brock muttered to us. Ash, Pikachu, and I could only nod.

“We still need to go see their boss, Misty.” Ash reminded her.

“I know.” She frowned. “I don’t want to leave Horsea all alone though.”

“Pika! Pikachu!” Pikachu jumped off Ash’s shoulder and rummaged through Misty’s bag until it found a floaty. “Pika!”

“You’ll stay with Horsea until we get back?” Misty checked.

“Pika!” He confirmed, holding up the floaty for her to inflate.

“Alright, we’ll be back soon, Pikachu.” Ash agreed. With that, the four of us left to meet this mysterious boss and tell them what had befallen their men.

Their boss did turn out to be a woman. However she was most definitely not Brock’s type.

“Welcome, friends, to Nastina’s office! I’m Nastina!” She welcomed us while surrounded by a cadre of young men in…minimalist attire. “I can’t thank you enough for saving my men today!”

“You could give us a ride to the mainland.” Ash suggested hopefully.

“Oh I can’t do that! How could I possibly let you leave before you see the wonders of Nastina’s Resort?” She gestured to a table with a bunch of plastic figurines on it. “It’s not finished yet but once it is it’ll be the jewel of the ocean!”

“Hundreds of gorgeous suites, all surrounded by the most beautiful coral reefs in the world!” She spoke with passion. Passion that quickly turned to rage as she continued. “Or at least it will be if I ever get rid of those Tentacool!”

“Tentacool?” Misty repeated, worried.

“Ever since construction began it’s been one thing after another with those despicable water vermin!” Nastina raged. “And it’s been getting worse too! Today’s attack is just the latest! Who knows how they’ll try to top themselves next time? Or…”

“Or?” Ash prompted nervously.

“Or you young trainers can help me exterminate the nasty vermin!” She offered in a cheerful tone. “And as a reward you’ll get free luxury class dinners for a year, a million dollars in cash, and vouchers for free stays at the hotel! Isn’t Nastina generous?”

“You’re disgusting!” Misty scowled, grabbing the guys by the arms and pulling them to the door. “C’mon guys, we’re leaving!”

“Huh? But, Misty!” Ash protested the whole way back to where we’d left the Horsea and Pikachu.

“I can’t believe anyone can be so despicable!” She stormed down the street as we walked along in her wake.

“Not to mention the damage to the ecosystem, the Tentacool aren’t the only ones who would suffer.” Weiss added quietly.

“I don’t understand how a person like that can exist!” Misty continued her one-woman march. “How could anyone want to exterminate such beautiful creatures?”

“Beautiful creatures?” Ash echoed. “Hold on, let’s see, Tentacool…”

“Tentacool: The Jellyfish Pokemon. This pokemon is 99% water with the remaining 1% being the organ which creates its poison.”

“Yikes.” He hissed. “You call that a beautiful pokemon?”

“I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Brock muttered.

“Tentacool are beautiful!” Misty rounded on them. “That smooth blue skin! Those graceful tentacles! The red spots on their heads are called the Rubies of the Sea!”

“Who calls them that?” Ash asked, raising a skeptic brow.

“I do.” Misty proclaimed proudly.

“Sheesh.” He scoffed. “When you talk about water pokemon it’s like you get a whole different personality!”

“Hmph!” Misty put her hands on her hips and looked away. “I don’t get why you guys don’t see water pokemons natural beauty! Like that Horsea! It was such a talented artist!”

“Oh, yeah.” I remembered that. “It drew a Tentacool really well.”

“Hmm, do you think it was trying to tell us something about the Tentacool? And why the boat sank?” Brock suggested.

“Maybe.” I shrugged, uneasy. It was certainly possible.

“Pika!” Oh, we’d arrived. Pikachu and Horsea were still happily splashing in the kiddy pool.

“Horsea’s looking a lot better already.” Brock smiled gently.

“Are you feeling better, Horsea?” Misty knelt down by the pool.

“Sea!” The little pokemon nodded.

“Attention all citizens of Porta Vista!”

We all jumped, surprised by Nastina’s voice broadcasting throughout the city.

“This is Nastina of Nastina’s Ocean Resort speaking! And I am offering a one million dollar reward to whoever can exterminate the Tentacool that so trouble our fair city! Isn’t Nastina generous?”

“Why that old bag!” Misty scowled.

“If you want mone—I mean, if you care about the development of our city, come to Slowpoke Square for more information!”

“Ha! No one but pure monsters would ever agree to something so horrible just for some money.” Misty declared confidently.

The ground trembled beneath our feet.

“Oh look, pure monsters.” Weiss pointed behind us at a…

A whole sea of people were running headlong towards us, presumably in the direction of Slowpoke Square.

“Oh no, Horsea!” I turned and saw Misty had lost her grip on Horsea. The people were overtaking us and for a second I was afraid the poor thing would be trampled underfoot. Luckily it got to the water before that happened.

“It’s okay! It jumped into the water!” I grabbed Misty’s arm so we wouldn’t be separated as the crowd carried us away.

Finally the crowd came to a stop and Misty and I were able to hook back up with the boys. That’s when I saw…

“Where did she get a tank?” Weiss appeared out of nowhere, scaring the daylights of me and Misty.

“Alright, listen up!” Nastina popped out of the box on top of the metal machine. “You all heard me! There’s a one million cash reward to whoever can exterminate all the Tentacool!”

Out of nowhere, a rose arrow stuck itself to the gun of the tank.

“Prepare for trouble.”

Out on the water on a motorboat stood the people I least wanted to see.

“Make it double.”

Seriously, hadn’t we had enough since this morning?

“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, blasting off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth, that’s right!”

“Hey now, those guys have a lot of spunk!” Nastina nodded approvingly.

“That’s a new definition of the word ‘spunk’.” Ash snorted.

“So you three think you’ve got what it takes to get rid of these vermin?” Nastina eyed them. “Then give it a go! And if you succeed, it’ll be one million dollars for ya!”

“Go ahead and start getting our money ready!” Meowth laughed as their boat pulled away from the dock.

“I do not see this ending well.” I grit my teeth. With the crowd in the way there was no way for us to get to the water in time to stop them, but we tried anyway. We pushed our way to the water and watched their boat get further and further out towards the construction site.

“They didn’t look like they were carrying weapons. What do you think their plan is?” Brock worried.

“The…” Weiss swallowed, gathering her nerves. “The easiest way to kill water pokemon would be to poison the water.”

“But if they do that, they won’t just kill the Tentacool!” Misty realized.

We couldn’t let this happen! We had to find another boat and go after them! But there wasn’t one in sight!

“Look!” Misty cried. Out on the water and surrounding Team Rocket’s boat were hundreds, maybe thousands, of sparkling red lights.

The Tentacool.

I’d thought things would be bad.

I was not picturing a fifty-story Tentacruel evolving from the depths.

Tentacruel had risen up in a foam of water and light and it wasted no time in wrapping its many arms around the hotel construction site. We could hear the metal screech as it was bent and broken beneath his grip.

And once the hotel was destroyed, Tentacruel turned its eyes towards the city.

“We need to get to high ground! Now!” Brock shouted, grabbing me by the hand and tugging me away from the water. Ash grabbed Misty and Weiss and we and the rest of Porta Vista did our best to reach the highest point of the city, the skyscrapers.

The tidal wave was devastating. I watched it flatten homes, smash concrete, rip poles from the ground. And the Tentacool swarmed, using their attacks to further destroy everything the wave hadn’t already broken.

This…this is a level of destruction I only ever saw once, and that was when the Parasprites started eating Ponyville. Even that didn’t match what I was seeing now. The effects of Discord’s reign was undone by the Elements of Harmony, I’ve never been to Canterlot during or shortly after the Changeling attack and Tirek only really destroyed the Golden Oak Library before fighting Princess Twilight outside of Ponyville.

“We’ve got to stop this. Don’t they realize this will only make things worse?” Misty was getting teary eyed beside me.

“Tentacruel just grabbed something!” Brock hissed.

“Humans, hear us now!”

That…that came from Tentacruel.

The giant Tentacruel that was holding something.

The giant Tentacruel that was holding Meowth and speaking through him.

“For too long humans have destroyed our nesting grounds! We have tried time and again to turn you away and still you insist on destroying our homes!” Tentacruel continued to broadcast, ensuring we all heard his message. “No more! Now it is you who will know the pain of lost homes and lost lives!”

“Hm?” Tentacruel turned towards the water slightly. “It is too late for that, Horsea. The humans have gone too far.”

We couldn’t see Horsea but we knew he was trying to help.

“We will not meekly allow our homes to be destroyed any longer!” Horsea must have said something to really tick him off, because one of Tentacruel’s tentacles swept out over the water and sent Horsea flying straight at us.

“Pidgeotto, catch it!” Ash had the fastest reflexes. Pidgeotto was able to save Horsea from a terrible fall and bring him safely to Misty’s waiting arms.

“We can’t let this happen!” Ash shook beside me. “Everyone, come out!” He threw his pokeballs in the air. The only one he didn’t send out was Charmander, who’d be severely risking his life fighting all those water pokemon.

“Yeah, go Zubat!” Brock followed.

“Eevee, Bulbasaur, Fearow, Clefairy!” I almost rethought sending out Clefairy, but Clefairy did need experience and this is kind of an all hands situation.

“Staryu, Starmie, Goldeen!” Misty threw hers out too, though I knew how much it had to pain her to fight Tentacruel when they had such grievances.

“Yun, Mien, Mr. Krabs, Magikarp.” Weiss sent out all but two of her pokemon. Why? I didn’t know and I needed to focus on the task at hand.

With all our pokemon working together the Tentacool could be fought. Their numbers were vast but they didn’t have the same maneuverability that ours did. Even Magikarp could use Tackle, though it wasn’t doing much damage, mostly acting as a distraction for the others.

Tentacruel was another matter. But Pikachu was brave. On Pidgeotto’s back he flew right up to Tentacruel and started talking to it, trying to reason with it.

“Do you think Pikachu can convince it to back down?” Brock asked.

“I…” I couldn’t answer. Stop the fighting? In any way other than overwhelming force? Was that even possible?

“If you side with the humans then you will be treated as the enemy!” Tentacruel started broadcasting again and struck out against our pokemon. I saw Fearow nearly get thrown out of the sky and he had to abandon his next attack to save Clefairy when she fell off.

“PLEASE STOP, TENTACRUEL!”

“Misty!?” We looked but she was gone, left when we weren’t looking. It sounded like she’d gotten up on the roof! I leaned out the window, holding one of the bent supports to try to get a glimpse of her.

“WE UNDERSTAND NOW! WE REALIZE THAT WE’VE HURT YOU! WE’LL STOP, I SWEAR!” She yelled, doing her best to make herself heard. “SO, PLEASE! TAKE THEM BACK TO THE OCEAN!”

It worked. How, I don’t know. But it worked. She got through to him. The fighting stopped.

I actually fell to my knees. The fighting stopped.

They were leaving. All the Tentacool were slithering back to the ocean. Tentacruel tossed Meowth away and started making his way through the wreckage left in his wake. That should’ve been the end of it.

Except Nastina had ammunition to spare.

I saw red. Without thinking, I stood and yelled. “FEAROW! CATCH ME!” And leapt.

“Sarah!” Ash yelled but he was too late to stop me. The wind whipped at my face and hair. I spread my arms and legs wide to slow myself down a little but I trusted my pokemon. Fearow was there in a second and I landed on his back, already directing him towards Nastina.

“Use Whirlwind to knock those weapons out of her hands!” I held tight to Clefairy as we soared closer. Fearow beat his wings, knocking Nastina clean off her feet and, yes, sending the weapons flying. “Now grab her!”

“What! Hey, what’s the big idea!” She thrashed ineffectively in Fearow’s talons.

“Drop the attitude or I’ll drop you!” I gave her a piercing glare. Only after she went limp did I look up into Tentacruel’s eyes. “I’m sorry! We’ll make sure she’s held responsible for her part in this! Please know that this woman does not speak for the rest of us!”

Tentacruel narrowed his eyes at me but in the end he continued on his way and had soon vanished beneath the waves.

“Fearow.” My bird pokemon looked at me. “Drop her.”

“WHAT!? AAAAIIIIEEEE—!” SPLASH!

“Sarah!” I checked over my shoulder to see Ash, Brock, and Misty all running down towards the waterfront while Weiss followed them seemingly in shock. Our pokemon were with them, though I noticed Pidgeotto was carrying Magikarp. Was it my imagination or did Magikarp look slightly bigger?

“We did it!” Misty jumped on me with a hug. “We stopped the fighting!”

“Yeah!” I choked up a little.

“You kids are something else.” Officer Jenny, looking more than a little water logged, limped over to us. I noticed her leg was inexpertly wrapped and her red dog was favoring one of its legs. “You saved a lot of lives today.”

“Aw shucks, we were just trying to help.” Ash blushed.

“What happens now?” Brock looked around at the wreckage.

“First, we get in touch with the mainland and organize an evacuation, as well as getting volunteers to start, ah…” Officer Jenny cut herself off with a cough. “First, you kids follow my Growlithe to the nearest intact police department. Wait there until I or another officer comes to get your statements, okay?”

“Are you sure? We could help.” Ash offered.

“You’ve done enough for today.” She reassured us. “I think you and your pokemon have all earned a good rest. I’d appreciate it if you could look after Growlithe for me too.”

“Well, alright.” He agreed hesitantly.

“Growl!” Growlithe barked and started down the road. We all returned our pokemon and followed him. It took a while to reach the police station since we had to go around some wreckage and Growlithe couldn’t move too fast with his hurt leg.

We walked along the water for a good portion of the way. Water was still draining out of the city and we were all soaked up to our knees before long. The most interesting part of the walk was when we came across the remains of Team Rocket’s boat.

“Phew, I’m glad all that’s over.” Ash collapsed on the couch with a sigh. We were in the break room, helping ourselves to the comfortable seating. Brock was on the floor doing what he could for Growlithe.

I couldn’t believe it. I woke up today in a cave on an island full of giant pokemon and after lunch I had to deal with a giant Tentacruel and a horde of Tentacool lay waste to a city. How many more times was this going to happen!?

…

And Weiss is looking at me and holding up two fingers.

…

Yay.

Chapter 13: The Ghost of Maiden's Peak

Officer Jenny came back, along with other officers and they took our statements on everything that had happened. Officer Jenny assured us that the boat was under guard and the mystery substance that grew Tentacruel would be delivered safely to Professor Oak’s lab. Then we were escorted to the docks to take our ferry back to the mainland.

Almost everyone on Porta Vista was taking a ship somewhere but we got on the ferry heading for the town of Maiden’s Peak. I guess I should be grateful Ash woke me up in time for breakfast. I’m so glad to finally put yesterday behind us.

“You’re bigger than you were before.” Weiss remarked to Magikarp as we watched it splash in Misty’s kiddy pool. “Too big a change to just be age. A change in diet?”

“Magi-Magi-Magikarp-karp.” Magikarp happily splashed in his kiddy pool.

“You’ll never guess what I heard one of the other passengers say!” Misty was bouncing in place with excitement.

“What did they say?” I asked.

“There’s a big end of summer festival happening at Maiden’s Peak today!” She squealed. “There’ll be rides, games, all sorts of food stands, it’s going to be great!”

“Especially after yesterday. We deserve a chance to unwind and have fun!” Ash declared boldly.

“Yeah, have fun.” We all looked quizzically at Brock.

“Um, Brock, is there something wrong?” I half reached out.

“It’s the end of summer.” He moaned. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it until now.”

“So? What’s the big deal?” Ash frowned in confusion.

“The big deal? The big deal!?” Brock grabbed him by the shoulders. “The big deal is that the end of summer means the end of bikini season!”

“Summer means bikinis and bikinis mean pretty girls to wear them! And I’ve just wasted another summer without getting a girlfriend!” He started off shaking Ash by the shoulders but slowly lost energy, falling to his knees in despair.

“Oh don’t be such a downer, Brock.” Misty huffed. “You’ll meet plenty of other girls over the year.”

“But…But…bikini season!” He whined.

“This…This is a teenage male thing…right?” I blinked slowly.

“If it is then I never want to grow up.” Ash muttered.

Weiss just laughed.

Now that would be a sight to see, Ash being as girl-crazy as Brock was turning out to be.

The last leg of the trip passed quickly. Soon we were all gathered by the rail straining our eyes to see the landmass coming into view.

“Oh, I see it! Maiden’s Peak!” Misty pointed to a jute of rock.

“And there’s the festival!” Ash grinned ear to ear.

The festival was amazing to see. Hundreds of stalls were set up with colorful banners and decorations. People were all over the place, laughing and smiling and eating foods I’d never seen before. Some of them were dressed in outfits I only saw in foreign comics. There were these big machines that I guessed were the rides.

“It looks like fun!” Misty gushed. “Let’s check it out!”

“I’ll ride the Ferris Wheel alone.” Brock sighed to himself.

I was so busy taking in all the sights with Ash and Misty that for a moment we completely lost track of Brock and Weiss. Brock was trampled by the other passengers disembarking the ferry, although he was alright if a bit out of it, while Weiss was standing off to the side.

“She was…the most beautiful…” He was slack jawed on the floor, staring at another pier.

“Who was?” Ash looked in the same direction as me.

“She vanished!” He groaned.

“C’mon Brock, forget about your fantasies and let’s have some fun!” Misty pulled him to his feet and dragged him towards the festival.

There were so many games and exhibits! The games had prizes! If I’d had the money to spare I would’ve tried to win a few. I saw a cute Bulbasaur plushie that I would’ve loved! Ash bought us some caramel candies to eat while we walked too.

“She was so beautiful.” Brock didn’t seem to be cheering up though. Whatever or whoever he’d seen before was still weighing heavily on his mind.

“Hey, you there!” An old woman in priestess garb came up behind Brock and leveled a magnifying glass at his face. “I can see it! A beautiful woman will lead you to a cruel fate!”

“Well I’m the most beautiful woman here but I’d never hurt Brock.” Misty fanned herself.

“What?” Weiss posed to the side, seemingly challenging Misty.

“I was talking about an elegant, young woman.” The priestess scoffed. “Not scrawny ragamuffins like you two.”

“Pfft! Scrawny!” Ash doubled over laughing.

“Why, you!” Misty seethed. Pikachu had to jump into my arms to avoid being pummeled along with Ash. Then Misty started carting both Brock and Ash away while Weiss’s eye twitched.

“Ah, well, that was certainly…something.” I coughed awkwardly. Looking back, I tried to find the old priestess in the crowd but she’d already disappeared.

“Pikaaa.” Pikachu nodded in agreement.

We found ourselves following a crowd up towards Maiden’s Peak itself where a temple stood. An elderly priest was standing on the veranda with a covered painting.

“2,000 years ago there lived a maiden in this fair town!” He began. “Her lover was a soldier who sailed off to join the great war plaguing these lands in those days and she vowed to wait for him at the cliff until his triumphant return! She waited and waited, even after news of the war’s end reached the village she still waited, hoping to see his sails on the horizon!”

“She continued to wait, never leaving her spot. Legend says that in time her body turned to stone, the same as the cliff she stood on!” He reached for the cover. “And this is the maiden in question!” He ripped it away.

“It’s her!” Two voices cried out in shock. Brock was one of them.

James of Team Rocket was the other.

In sync, they staggered forward and started climbing the steps towards the painting. The priest had to physically bar their way to stop them.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Misty leaned in to whisper to me. I numbly shook my head.

“Wait, you fools! This painting is over 2,000 years old and is removed from this shrine only once a year!” He yelled at them.

“The Maiden’s rock, where is it?” Brock demanded.

“Hmm? Why, it’s just over there, behind the temple.” The priest answered, looking a little confused.

I wanted to know what James was here for but he split off too fast and with Brock acting strange I decided it would be better to stick with my friends. Besides, I figured Team Rocket would pop up again sooner or later.

“So that’s it, Maiden’s Peak.” Brock gazed out towards the jute of stone that was the town’s claim to fame. It really did look like a woman was standing there.There seemed to be a red flower growing out of the side of her head.

“If she was my girlfriend I’d never let her out of my sight.” He sighed, leaning against the fence that lined the cliff side.

“A rock’s a rock, Brock.” Misty frowned. “Just forget about it. Let’s go have some fun at the festival.”

“Are you coming for dinner? It’s food, your favorite.” Weiss was either trying to coax Brock to come along with us or a dog that I didn’t see.

“You go, I’ll catch up in a bit.” He sat down without turning to face us.

We exchanged looks.

“You remember where we’re staying?” Ash asked, hesitantly adjusting his backpack.

“The Pokemon Center by the docks.” Brock recited immediately. “I’ll be back before curfew.”

“Is this more teenage guy stuff?” Ash wondered as we left Brock.

“I don’t know.” Misty shrugged. “Granted, most teenage guys I’ve met were always going ga-ga over my sisters so this isn’t too unusual, I guess.”

“Sarah, Weiss?” He looked at us.

Weiss just held up her hands and shrugged.

“I, uh, have no clue.” I shrugged helplessly. “I guess, if he’s not better by tomorrow, we could try to cheer him up?”

“Then that’s what we’ll do!” Ash nodded, determined. “But in the meantime, let’s enjoy the festival!”

And we did enjoy it. This might’ve been the most fun I’ve ever had since coming to this world. For a while I even forgot about Team Rocket! The only thing that would’ve made it better was if Brock had been there with us.

We rode rides, played a few games, and ate festival food. We had takoyaki, though only Weiss finished hers as the rest of us spat ours out after being reminded it was made from Tentacools. Or rather after I found out it was made from a living breathing creature.

And we rode the Ferris Wheel twice! The second time was after it got dark and all the paper lanterns got lit. Misty was right, it was definitely even better that way!

But it was getting late by then so we decided to call it a night and get to the Pokemon Center.

“Today was great, huh Pikachu?” Ash sat down on a bench.

“Pika Pikachu!” Pikachu rubbed his stomach, stuffed full with a caramel apple. I wasn’t sure caramel was good for pokemon but Pikachu looked happy enough.

“Hey guys, look at the time.” Misty pointed to the cuckoo clock on the wall. Ten minutes until eleven.

“Almost curfew.” Ash realized.

“I’ll check to see if Brock made it back ahead of us.” I stood and walked to the front register.

“Can I help you?” Nurse Joy smiled.

“Yes, ma’am.” I bowed politely. “We were wondering if our friend made it here ahead of us. His name is Brock Harrison.”

“Hm, Brock Harrison.” She worked on the computer, opening the registry of trainers staying at the Center that night. “I’m sorry, it doesn’t look like he’s here right now. We still have room available for you and your friends though. Is one room okay?”

“Oh, yes, that would be fine. We usually share a room.” I nodded, concealing my worry. I handed her my license briefly and then rejoined the others.

“He’s not here?” Misty guessed from the look on my face.

“There’s still time.” Ash pointed out, though I’d eaten five minutes getting us registered for the evening.

But five minutes passed without Brock showing up and the shields descended over the door.

“It’s curfew time! The light’s will be going out in ten minutes!” Nurse Joy informed us.

“But our friend’s still out there! Let me go out and find him, please!” Ash pleaded.

“I’m sorry, but it’s officially past curfew.” Nurse Joy said sternly. “That means the doors stay locked until morning.” She softened a little. “I’m sure your friend will be fine.”

We didn’t have much of an option. We retired to our room and tried to get some sleep. The others took a while to drift off so I could write this.

Brock, I hope you’re okay.

The next morning we were up bright and early. As soon as the doors opened we were running back to the temple and Maiden’s Rock to start searching.

“His bag’s still here!” Misty gasped. Brock’s bag was left abandoned by the fence, the same place we’d seen it yesterday.

“Brock! Brock, where are you?” Ash yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“James! James, you’d better come out right now!” Another, frustratingly familiar, voice called out.

We circled around the temple and by the doors we found two thirds of Team Rocket, Jessie and Meowth.

“Yuck.” Jessie stuck up her nose at us.

“Double yuck.” Ash stuck out his tongue. “What are you guys doing here? Are you looking for someone too?” He asked pointedly, staring at the space James would normally stand.

“Hmph, twerps like you should mind their own business.” Jessie sniffed. Then, she struck a pose, filling me with an emotion I can only identify as aggravation.

“Prepare for trouble!” For the second line her voice deepened. “And make it double!” Back to high. “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!” Came a warbling voice.

For a second we were all frozen, then Jessie rallied herself and continued.

“Jessie!” She cried, brushing her hair away from her ears.

“JaMeS!” Slowly, we all turned towards the temple. I tiptoed up the steps towards the door.

“Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!” Jessie followed me, equally cautious.

“SuRrEnDeR nOw Or PrEpArE tO fIgHt!” We threw the doors open and jumped back out of the way as James and Brock fell through.

“Brock!” “James!” We took our respective friends and tried to rouse them.

Brock’s skin was clammy and cool to the touch. His eyes weren’t tracking movement, or at least not tracking movement the rest of us could see. He was awake but not aware.

“So beautiful…” He sighed. “I want…to be with…you.”

“He’s delirious.” Misty cringed.

“Looks like James is too.” Ash commented, looking over at where Team Rocket was trying to slap some sense into their teammate. “Right. Pikachu,”

“Pika?” Pikachu looked inquisitively up at him.

“Thundershock both of them.” Ash ordered. The rest of us quickly dumped our friends and jumped out of range.

“CHUU!” Just in time it seemed.

Brock sat up.

“Uh, who am I? I am Brock.” Brock nodded to himself.

“So it is exactly as I predicted.” My nerves must’ve already been shot for the day because I nearly jumped a foot in the air. The old priestess from yesterday was back, leaning on her cane as she approached us and inspected the two teenage men we were crowded around.

Huh, you know, this is the first time I’ve realized that Jessie and James are around the same age as Brock. They’re maybe, what? A year or so older? Sixteen or seventeen and already criminals.

Moving on.

“Every year this happens.” She tutted, using her cane to lift James’ chin for inspection. “Every year she lures in hapless young men and does this to them.”

“She? Someone did this to them?” Misty asked.

“Yes, there’s no mistaking it!” The priestess clucked her tongue. “This is the work of the Maiden’s ghost!”

“The, uh, the what?” I schooled my expression to keep from gaping. Ghosts. We get to deal with ghosts now.

Are they real in this world? Do some humans just linger after death? I’m not sure what to believe and today’s events really don’t help matters.

“Every year for 2,000 years the ghost of the Maiden makes herself known.” The priestess began to explain, moving past us to enter the temple. “She longs for the return of her soldier and so she lures in young men. She sucks up their life energy and leaves them babbling and confused here in this temple.”

“Even so, she’s so beautiful I’d give her my very soul if that is what she desired.” Brock sighed, lovesick.

“EEK! Not me!” James shivered. “I don’t want to get my soul sucked out!”

“If you wish to keep the Maiden’s touch off you, then you will need these.” She opened a chest and pulled out a pack of talismans.

“Do they really work?” Misty was the first to step forward.

“They do, but there is one small problem.” The priestess fanned herself with them.

“What sort of problem?” Jessie sneered suspiciously.

“They don’t come cheap.” The priestess moved to the side and revealed a cash register behind her.

A funny thing to note: Discord was giving me a biweekly stipend. How that worked, I did not know and did not wish to know. How much was it? Just barely enough to pay for half of the talismans while Ash paid for the other half. And since the Priestess was having a two for one deal Team Rocket got the free talismans.

Those talismans were not cheap.

We plastered a bunch of them to Brock himself and then used the rest of the pack to cover the temple, focusing mainly on the doors and walls. Team Rocket did the same with James. Once that was done all that was left to do was wait for nightfall.

“Man, I wish we could go back to the festival.” Misty sighed regretfully. “I know it goes on for three days but I wanted to ride the rides again.”

“I want to eat more festival food.” Ash mumbled. Our stomachs all rumbled in agreement.

“Ha! That just goes to show how childish you twerps are!” Jessie snickered. “We members of Team Rocket are much more disciplined than—!” The rest of her sentence was cut off when her own stomach rumbled.

“I’ll cook.” Weiss started searching through Brock’s bag.

“Wait, you can cook?” Ash’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“I can help.” I eagerly volunteered. I may not be as good a cook as the Apples but I atleast did not burn juice.

“Wait, that isn’t necessary.” Weiss waved me off, eyes just as wide as Ash’s.

“I insist. I like cooking.” I took the cooler out of her hands and opened it.

…

“What…what is this red, pink stuff?” I was starting to feel a bit queasy although I didn’t know why.

“That’s…that’s meat.” Weiss slowly and gently took the cooler out of my hands.

…

“Oh.” I just stared at the ground where the cooler was.

…

I stood up, walked to the door, opened it, stepped outside and closed the door behind me.

I don’t know how long I was outside for. Actually, Weiss came outside to check on me and suggested that I tell Ash, Misty and Brock that I didn’t eat meat, after we dealt with the ghost. She then had me go back to the festival to get more food and stop by the Pokemon Center to inform Nurse Joy that we would be staying at a friend's house for the night and wouldn’t be returning for the evening. So, I guess I was outside till lunch.

When I got back to the temple Ash was taking a nap, Misty had a novel out, Weiss was on her Pokegear and Team Rocket were huddled in a corner.

The priestess told us the Maiden’s Ghost usually began to act at midnight. It felt like forever before the sun set. Midnight came and we were all waiting.

The wind picked up, shrieking and howling like it was something alive. A scraping sound like claws on wood reached us, like the Maiden’s ghost was trying to get in. Brock and James shifted between trance-like and aware. Sometimes one or the other would get up and shamble towards the door and we’d have to dogpile them.

My arms were covered in goosebumps and the hairs on my neck stood on end. Ash and Misty were both looking a little wild eyed long before two A.M. came around while Weiss looked bored, as if she had done this before. Pikachu’s cheek pouches kept sparking whenever the wind picked up and I saw Meowth drop to all fours and bristle more than once.

“Gosh, I’m tired.” Misty yawned. She pinched her own cheeks to wake herself up. “I hope morning comes soon. What time is it?”

“4:50.” Weiss answered immediately.

“Sun comes up at, what? About 6:00?” I rubbed my arms, trying to get the goosebumps to go down.

“Sun comes up early at this time of year.” The priestess nodded. She hadn’t moved since dinner, sitting in a meditative pose at the temple altar. I admired her discipline but I couldn’t even begin to imagine how stiff she had to be.

“Nnng. An hour?” Misty whined.

I didn’t even know I was asleep until I was suddenly awake. The wind howled! The whole temple shook with it and we could hear paper tearing as the talismans were ripped off.

We didn’t even have time to climb to our feet before the doors suddenly burst open. A pale silhouette floated a foot in the air and she reached out a hand towards the guys. Another blast of wind knocked their talismans off too.

“My love.” We all shook. Her voice was sweet but echoey. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Yes.” Brock began levitating. “I’m here now.”

“AAAAIIIIIEEEE! I don’t wanna go! I don’t wanna go!” James tried to grab something to slow himself down.

“Brock, hang on!” Ash tried to grab Brock by the leg. The ghost sent another blast of wind to knock him off his feet first.

“Wait! Leave him alone! He’s not your lover!” I screamed, scrambling to follow them outside. They were heading towards the cliff!

“You will not interfere.” The Maiden frowned.

BANG!

A smoking hole appeared in her midsection and the guys dropped. We barely caught Brock before he went over the edge and James had to save himself by grabbing the ledge. When I looked over my shoulder I saw Jessie with a…

“When and where did she get a rocket launcher?” Weiss wondered out loud.

“Women like you make me sick.” She declared haughtily. “Always whining and complaining, needing a man in your life. I would’ve waved him off with a see ya later! There are plenty of fish in the sea!”

“You will cease interfering.” The Maiden repaired the hole and glared at us.

The forest shook and shuddered. Every leaf rustled and from between the trees came a steady stream of what looked like lost souls. Laughing, crying, screaming in rage and denial.

“Ah! What are those?” Misty screamed. We put our backs to Ash, watching the phantoms surround us.

“They’re not like any pokemon I’ve ever seen!” Ash protested, shakily bringing his pokedex out.

I pulled out my pokedex too, hoping that I wasn’t looking at human souls. I didn’t expect what happened next though.

“No pokemon detected. Searching, searching.” The pokedex hummed. Distracted from his fear, Ash started waving it slowly side to side. Finally, he pointed the camera at the Maiden. “Pokemon identified! Gastly: The Poison/Ghost pokemon. This pokemon and its evolutionary line are the only ones known with its unique typing.”

Oh good, we weren’t dealing with ghosts. We were dealing with a ghost type pokemon.

“Well.” She, he, revealed his true form. “I suppose the fun had to come to an end sooner or later. Yes, I am indeed a pokemon. I sometimes appear as a Maiden.” He turned into the Maiden again, then became the old priestess. “Or the mysterious old woman! But!” He took his true form again. “I am always and forever awfully Gastly!” He cackled, spreading his dark purple cloud further.

That could create really good illusions and has been putting men in trances and luring them for years. How was that any better!?

“Well, a pokemon is a lot easier to handle than a ghost.” Ash reasoned. “Pikachu, give him a Thunderbolt!” He provided his arm as a springboard for Pikachu to launch himself from.

“For a mouse, a mousetrap!” Gastly became a comically oversized mousetrap.

That began to chase Pikachu as Pikachu ran around like a headless chicken.

Meowth and even Team Rocket joined in…with predictable results.

Ghastly turned into a giant ball for Meowth to play with, Ekans was scared by a mongoose and Koffing was scared off by a…mongoose wearing a gas mask…huh.

Ash then sent out Charmander who was then chased by a fire extinguisher.

Ok, that made sense since a fire extinguisher could be deadly to Charmander.

“Grr! Squirtle, Bulbasaur, attack together!” Ash must’ve had the idea that Gastly couldn’t scare them both at once.

Unfortunately, he was wrong about that. Gastly could create their evolved forms, Blastoise and a Venusaur, both at once. He could also fuse them together. I wish I had a camera for that! In fact, I’m making a note of it. The very next time I’ve got the extra money I’m buying a camera! It’ll provide great evidence for everypony else when I get back.

Misty then tried to scare Ghastly off with a cross, garlic, a stake, and a hammer. Huh, I did not know vamponies were a thing here, or rather vampires as Ghastly stated he wasn’t one.

We didn’t get to try that strategy though, as the first rays of sunlight reached over the horizon.

“Gah! How I hate sunlight!” Gastly pinched his eyes closed and slunk back into the shadows. “Well, it seems our time is up. Until next year!” His voice and his form both faded from view.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Brock sat up.

“You’re back to normal?” Misty checked.

“Normal? What do you mean?” He took a look around, giving a brief double take to the Maiden’s Rock. “Ah! Now I remember! I was hypnotized by a ghost pokemon!”

“I was hypnotized too!” James wailed, grabbing Jessie by the leg.

“Quit your crying! The ghost is gone now!” She scolded him, shaking him off.

“So, we did it?” Ash blinked. “We won?”

“I…” I hesitated. “I don’t know if it was a win, but it is over.”

“So…” He blinked slower. “Does that mean we can sleep now?”

We all paused to think this over. Pikachu came to a conclusion first and quite happily flopped onto his back and started snoring.

I’m not really sure when Team Rocket took their leave. We just grabbed our bags from the temple and found a shady spot in the forest to nap in. We didn’t get up until noon and by then we’d restored enough energy to gladly participate in the final day of the festival.

And with Brock there it was even better than before. The festival committee was even loaning out robes called yukata for people to wear for the final night. We got a little boat with a candle and sent it drifting out on the tide then changed clothes and danced! It was kind of fun to dress up! Even Ash liked how Misty looked in her yukata with her hair down.

All in all, a good day.

Chapter 14: Bye Bye Butterfree

With our latest adventure behind us, we began the next leg of our journey. The nearest gym was the Saffron gym. Brock had the map today and we were walking along the coastline.

“Hey, I can see the edge again!” Ash broke out into a run. The road had led us away from the water for a while but now it had curved back to the ledge and we all gathered to look down at the crashing waves below. “Whoa, look at those rocks down there.”

“One wrong step and the ball game’s over.” Misty snarked.

“There’s the ridge that leads to Saffron city.” Brock gasped. He pointed down along the coast. The ridge looked good, decently stable. I’d probably still keep one hand on Fearow’s pokeball the whole time though.

“Hey, look up there. What are those?” Ash pointed above the ridge. A bunch of glittering shadows were flying around, weaving around each other.

“Just a bunch of Butterfree.” Weiss stated.

“Butterfree?” Brock pulled out a pair of binoculars. “Oh, that’s the Butterfree migration! I guess we’re in time for their season of love.”

“Season of love?” Ash’s expression curdled.

“Yup.” Brock nodded sharply. “Every year the Butterfree gather in this spot to pair off and find mates, then they fly across the ocean to lay their eggs!”

“The Orange islands are in that direction.” Weiss added. “After several stops on the islands they’ll fly back to the Johto region before flying over the mountains back to Kanto.”

“Whoa, that’s a lot of flying.” Ash hummed thoughtfully.

“Ah, a round the world trip sounds like the perfect honeymoon, doesn’t it, girls?” Misty sighed.

“Oh, um, yeah. I guess.” I chuckled nervously as Weiss just stared blankly. Romance was really the last thing on my mind after the whole Ghost of Maiden’s Peak thing.

“So, all Butterfree do this?” Ash looked at Brock for the answer.

“If they want to have babies, yeah.” Brock nodded seriously. “In fact, lots of trainers will come here to release their Butterfree so they can start families.” He paused suddenly and turned his binoculars to scanning the area. “Actually, I’d bet you anything there’s—Aha! Hot air balloons! There must be someone renting them out!”

Brock found the salesman and led us to him. We stopped a little ways away when we saw the prices.

“Yikes.” Misty grimaced. “I know it’s a one-day rental but that is steep.”

“I could afford it.” Ash didn’t sound too enthusiastic about it though.

“Better think hard about this, Ash.” Brock cautioned him. “If you just want to get up there to watch the migration, that’s fine. But you have a Butterfree too, remember.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ash pulled Butterfree’s pokeball from his belt. “This migration and this season of love thing is really important to the Butterfree, which means…” He frowned. “I should give my Butterfree the chance to start a family too.” Determined, he walked up to the salesman and used his pokedex to pay for a one-day balloon rental.

“You know, sometimes he can be almost admirable.” Misty huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Just sometimes though.”

“Heh, right.” I chuckled.

I wasn’t sure we’d all fit at first. Ash had bought a small balloon and I was a little leery of summoning Fearow with all these free bug pokemon around. I figured it might be in poor taste. I didn’t have to worry though. Weiss volunteered to stay on the ground, saying ‘I don’t do flying’. Even then, there wasn’t much in the way of personal space but we all fit in the basket.

“Alright, here we go!” Brock manned the engine and soon had us up in the air.

Flying in a balloon is different from riding Fearow. I feel like I have much less control with the balloon and it’s so much slower. The ride is smoother though and a lot easier on the thighs.

“Check out that view!” Ash looked all around. This was his first time flying somewhere at all. Come to think of it, the times I’ve ridden Fearow I never really had the opportunity to just look around and take in the sights.

“And there are the Butterfree!” Brock grinned. Watching them from the ground was amazing enough. Seeing it all on their level was breathtaking. Most of them were doing courtship dances. Some were showing off their moves like Tackle, Gust, and Stun Spore. The last one required that we all keep some distance between us and the flock but it was gorgeous to watch from afar.

I really wish I had a camera!

“Right.” Ash took a deep breath. “Butterfree, come on out!”

It didn’t take more than a second for Butterfree to realize what was going on. I swear we could see his shock just from the twitch of his antennae!

“Butterfree.” Ash got his attention. “It’s your migration, right? If you want to, then go and find yourself a mate!”

“Free! Free!” Butterfree trilled and happily leaned forward, nuzzling Ash with his antennae as a thank you before flying off to find a mate. Ash looked a little watery eyed for a moment but he quickly blinked it away.

Around us more balloons were releasing their Butterfree. They joined the main flock, showing their dances and moves to attract mates.

“Hey look, Ash’s Butterfree found one it likes!” Misty pointed at a pink Butterfree and presumably Ash’s Butterfree dancing around said pink Butterfree.

“Oh wow, I really wish I had a camera!” I moaned.

“Oh no, it got rejected!” Misty cried out. Butterfree was drifting, falling down towards the forest while the pink Butterfree continued to fly.

“Shot down by its one true love, I know the feeling.” Brock clenched a fist. “How tragic! I could write a book on love and heartbreak!”

“Would it be your auto-biography?” Misty rolled her eyes. “Hurry up and take us down!”

“Right!” He shook himself, working at the engine to bring us down into a clearing.

Ash hardly waited for the balloon to reach the ground before vaulting over the side of the basket. Misty and I followed right away while Brock waited to secure the balloon first. We wouldn’t be able to get Ash’s deposit back if the balloon flew away without us.

“Butterfree!” Ash bellowed.

“Pika! Pikachu!” Pikachu joined him. We all started calling for him.

“Butterfree!” Ash yelled again. He stopped, doing a quick double take in one direction. “Butterfree, there you are!”

“Did you find it?” Misty asked.

Butterfree was on the ground. His wings were limp and his antennae were curled in tight near his forehead. I was pretty sure that position indicated embarrassment.

Poor Butterfree was devastated by his failure. Pikachu even tried to talking to him but that didn’t seem to help.

“Do ya think Dexter could tell us how Butterfree could get that other butterfree to be his mate?” Ash pulled out his pokedex and started searching for Butterfree’s entry.

“Dexter’s never been in love.” Misty pointed out.

“I just don’t get why that other Butterfree can’t see how great my Butterfree is.” Ash glared at whatever the screen was showing him. He shoved the pokedex back in his pocket.

“If the dance didn’t work.” I started, getting everyone’s attention. “I noticed other Butterfree showing off their Stun Spore and Sleep Powder. You should definitely avoid using Gust and Whirlwind, the other Butterfree didn’t like those. Tackle might get the pink Butterfree’s attention, but if your Butterfree can show how strong its Stun Spore is that might convince her to mate with you.” I finished by addressing Butterfree directly.

“Interesting that the wind-based attacks would prove so unpopular.” Brock hummed thoughtfully.

“So we should use Tackle, then Stun Spore and Sleep Powder, right, Sarah?” Ash asked.

“Right. Try going for a large area of effect with the Stun Spore, that seems to be a good indicator of strength without actually hurting the other butterfree.” I finished my observation.

“Right then.” Ash nodded decisively. “Butterfree, we’re gonna win you a mate!”

“Free!” Butterfree got a little spirit back, jumping back into the air with a happy trill.

“Hold on a sec!” Brock hit his fist against his open palm. He dug through a side pocket in his bag and pulled out a length of yellow ribbon.“A little extra plumage never hurts and this’ll help us keep track of you in the flock!”

“You look great, Butterfree!” Misty clapped her hands. “That pink Butterfree doesn’t stand a chance!”

In the air again, Ash commandeered Brock’s binoculars to find the pink Butterfree.

“Where is it? Where is it?” He muttered.

“You’re really serious about this, huh?” Misty commented.

“Of course! I raised that Butterfree and I want everybody else to see how great it is!” He retorted without giving up his search. “Ah, there it is! Butterfree, go!”

I looked up blankly. Far ahead I saw Butterfree pulling off a good sized cloud of Stun Spore. I saw plenty of other butterfree giving him due attention for it but I couldn’t see the pink one’s reaction.

I was a little more preoccupied with the odd noise coming towards us. A whirring chop-chop noise that sounded kinda like that flying contraption Pinkie Pie had a long time ago before that griffon showed up.

“Prepare for trouble!”
“And make it double!”

Like the flying contraption Team Rocket were flying with a big banner with Jessie and James’ faces printed on it.

“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, fight, fight!”
“Meowth, that’s right!”

“Not them again!” I wasn’t sure which of us groaned. Probably all of us to be honest.

A long pole was extending out from the bottom with a giant ball at the tip. With a clatter of smoke and metal the ball fell open and a huge net unfolded.

“They’re trying to steal the Butterfree!” Brock cried in horror. “Hey Team Rocket, stop this! You’ll disrupt their whole egg laying season!”

“Can’t you see these Butterfree are in love?” Misty shouted angrily beside him

Team Rocket either didn’t hear or didn’t care. They passed through the flock, catching dozens of Butterfree in their giant net.

Including the pink one.

“Look at Butterfree!” Ash pointed. His Butterfree, identifiable by the bright yellow ribbon around his neck, began using Tackle on the helicopter’s windows.

Butterfree might as well have been a squeaky toy for all the good he was doing.

“It’s not working! Butterfree’s not strong enough.” I grit my teeth.

“Butterfree, try your Stun Spore!” Ash called out. Butterfree heard and flew over the helicopter, dusting the blades with the yellow powder.

“Stun Spore only works on something alive, Ash!” I gripped the edge of the basket.

I just so happened to look down and see we were over the water now.

Team Rocket’s net was full. Butterfree kept on them, throwing Tackle after Tackle at it. Trying to find a weak spot.

“If Butterfree can’t do it then I’ll have to use Pidgeotto!” Ash declared.

“Ash, wait!” Misty grabbed his hand before he could throw the pokeball. “Look at Butterfree! It’s trying its hardest!”

“But Misty, in love or not, those pokemon need all the help they can get!” I argued.

“There’s a fog up ahead!” Brock warned us. Cliffs and bluffs jutted out from the ground.

We’d lost sight of Butterfree but we could still faintly hear the sound of the machine. We followed that as best we could until it stopped too.

“BUTTERFREE!” Ash shouted himself hoarse. “BUTTERFREE, WHERE ARE YOU?”

“…free!” A tiny sounding trill reached us. From beyond a craggy cliff came Butterfree. He was breathing hard and covered in bruises but still looked fit to battle.

“Butterfree, is the pink Butterfree over there?” Ash asked.

“Free.” Butterfree nodded. If he’d had the anatomy for it I’m sure he would’ve growled.

There was a warehouse. The machine was sitting outside and Team Rocket and all the stolen butterfree were inside.

“The doors are locked.” Ash scowled. We had to circle to the side to find the windows.

“Right then.” I measured the height and distance with my eye. Then I hefted up a big rock.

For the record? Turning their motto on them is so satisfying.

“Team Rocket, prepare for trouble!” Ash started us off, posing dramatically.

“And make that quadruple!” Misty chimed in.

“To protect the world from your infestation!” Brock held a flashlight under his chin.

“To save pokemon from across the nation!” I smirked.

“Defending the beauty of truth and love!” Misty pulled out a pokeball.

“To send you flying to the stars above!” Ash and Butterfree looked ready to go to war.

“We’ll send you packing at the speed of light! So give up now or prepare to fight!”

And then? Anarchy.

Butterfree targeted the cage the Butterfree were in, hitting it with Tackle again and again. Misty called out Starmie and attacked Team Rocket directly. I called out Bulbasaur for the same thing while Brock ran to the door, ready to throw it open once the Butterfree were out.

Butterfree shattered the cage. Most of the Butterfree scattered to find an exit but I saw the pink one hovering near him.

“This way! Fly out through here!” Brock directed them towards the big doors.

“No, they’re getting away!” Meowth yowled.

“I’ve had enough of this!” Jessie screamed, hefting a sledge hammer. There wasn’t time for Starmie to dodge before she swung.

“Bulbasaur, give her a Bullet Seed!” I called, giving Starmie time to recover.

Team Rocket’s slippery, I’ll give them that. They threw down some smoke bombs and made a beeline for the machine. We couldn’t get there before they took off again but our balloon was still ready to go. Geodude had been holding it down for us so we didn’t have to worry about tying it down.

“Can’t this thing go any faster?” Ash complained.

“We’re going as fast as we can!” Brock did pull on the rope again though.

“Free! Freee!” The pink one fretted.

“Easy, easy there.” I gently pet her head. “We’ll stop them. Don’t worry.”

But they were catching up to the flock and we were falling behind. They were extending the net for a second round.

“Free!” Butterfree flapped his wings. He looked at Pikachu and repeated himself.

“Pika!” Pikachu jumped from the basket, landing on Butterfree’s back.

“Huh? Pikachu, Butterfree, where are you going?” Ash reached out an arm for them.

“I think they’ve got a plan.” I smirked again, eager for the lightshow to come.

And it did not disappoint.

The Butterfree flock was safe at last. Butterfree brought Pikachu back and we made our way back to the coastline. The other hot air balloons had mostly been returned to the man renting them out. We returned ours, reunited with Weiss and stood on the coast to say our goodbyes.

“Hey.” Ash got down on one knee to address the pink Butterfree. “This is a really good Butterfree, so take care of him for me, okay?” She nodded.

“And Butterfree, you…” Ash sniffed, voice cracking under the pressure. “You take care of yourself. I’ll let the others know what’s going on and maybe we’ll see each other again someday.”

“Free, Butterfree.” Butterfree’s eyes watered. Ash pet him once gently behind his antennae, then the two bug pokemon lifted off to join the main flock.

“Your babies are gonna be beautiful.” Misty’s smile wobbled a little.

“Have fun out there, watch out for any more pokemon thieves.” Brock waved as they left.

I couldn’t think of anything to say. I could barely see anything with the tears in my eyes. I had to settle for smiling and waving and hoping they knew how happy I was to see them off on this next step of their lives.

I remembered Ash catching Butterfree back when he was still a Caterpie. How kindly he’d treated it. The way he’d tried to console him after Misty hurt his feelings. To think that little Caterpie would grow up to be such a strong, confident Butterfree!

Ash was crying now too. Tears streamed down his cheeks even as he kept yelling encouragements.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Misty sighed, leaning against me as we looked over the water. I had to wipe my eyes to see it better but she definitely wasn’t exaggerating. The Butterfree were still throwing Stun Spore and Sleep Powder attacks as they flew and the light of the setting sun glinted off them. I don’t have a camera so I just had to burn it into my memory and hope I never forgot it.

Ash stopped waving. I watched him pull Butterfree’s pokeball from his belt. It was easy to reset a pokeball back to factory default, thus freeing the pokemon registered to it, but he didn’t do that. He shrunk the ball down, pulled out his pokedex and typed something into it, then teleported the pokeball away.

“Ash?” I stepped up beside him.

“I don’t want to free Butterfree because I don’t want anyone else to catch it.” He explained, taking a moment to wipe the drying tears from his face. “So I sent the ball to Professor Oak. I’ll call him and explain in the next town.”

“Pretty smart.” I looked up but the flock was out of sight now. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon now.

Good luck out there, Butterfree.

Chapter 16: The Tower of Terror

We continued to Lavender town bright and early, but thankfully we didn’t have to get moving before sunrise this time. We actually slept in a little. It was nice.

The road was easy to follow up until we got to the forest surrounding most of Lavender. A thick fog started rolling in.

“Do we really have to do this?” Misty sounded uneasy.

“We’ve come this far.” Brock pointed out, though he didn’t sound too happy either. The fog cast everything in an eerie light.

“Quit your bellyaching, you don’t hear Sarah complaining.” Ash huffed at them. He paused to look around. “It would be easy to get separated in this fog though, we should hold hands.”

“Right,” Misty sighed, taking one of his. I held onto Brock’s with one hand and took Misty’s other one while Weiss held Brock’s other hand. As a human chain we continued down the road.

“I hope this fog lifts soon.” She groaned. “I’ve heard stories of Lavender town and none of them are nice, happily ever after stories!”

“Ah, really? I’m sure they’re not real though.” I tried to reassure her.

“There have been strange reports from this area though.” Brock spoke up behind me. “People run afoul of the ghost pokemon here and then sometimes aren’t found for weeks.”

“Weeks?” Misty squeaked.

“That just means the ghost pokemon are powerful! You remember how strong that Gastly on Maiden’s Peak was?” Ash pointed out cheerfully.

“I remember.” Brock shuddered. “And I don’t want to end up in love with a rock again.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad.” I laughed nervously. I’m pretty sure the Gastly we’d faced before was extraordinarily strong and likely very old if it was the same Gastly that had been around for hundreds of years.

“We’ll have to be prepared…for ANYTHING!” Ash whipped around without warning, a skull mask where his face should be.

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!” The three of us, except Weiss, jumped back, nearly tripping over ourselves. Even Pikachu was startled by his transformation.

“Oh man, that was great!” Ash doubled over laughing. He pulled the mask off and stowed it back in his jacket pocket. “Sorry guys, but you’re gonna have to get used to fear if we’re gonna catch a ghost pokemon!”

“Pii-kaa!” We wisely decided to take two steps back as Pikachu’s cheeks sparked.

“Uh, c’mon buddy, can’t you take a joke?” Ash gulped.

“CHUUUUUUU!”

“That should teach you not to play pranks.” Misty humphed. “Now let’s hurry up and get to Lavender town so you can get your ghost pokemon so we can leave!”

“Everybody’s a critic.” Ash pouted. After a minute to make sure he was alright we started moving again. The fog was starting to lift but it was getting late.

Lavender town isn’t very big. Most of the land is dedicated to graveyards.

“Geez, this place really is creepy.” Ash commented as we passed the third grave site for pokemon.

“Lavender town is considered sacred so trainers bring their pokemon here to be buried.” Weiss stated. “That is also why there are so many ghost pokemon reported to be here.”

“Do people come from all over?” Ash asked in a subdued tone.

“No, other regions have places similar to Lavender town, and some people prefer their own graves.” Weiss looked through a chain linked fence.

Three Cubones led by what I assumed to be its evolved form were dancing around a grave.

“Most trainers like to rest their pokemon where they know they’ll always be tended to.” Weiss finished.

“Is that what those pokemon are doing?” Misty asked.

“Mm-hm.” Weiss nodded.

“It was interesting enough to keep us distracted until we arrived, look up ahead.” Brock pointed down the path. We’d left the town and arrived at the Pokemon Tower.

“I…like what they’ve done with the place.” Ash chuckled nervously.

“Alright Ash, good luck in there.” Brock patted his back.

“Huh?” He blinked at him.

“You wanted a ghost pokemon so you can go inside. Without us.” Misty said, hugging my arm.

“Yeah, besides you know how sensitive Sarah is. It’d be better for us to stay out here and keep her company so she doesn’t get scared.” Brock nodded hastily.

“I’m going to challenge the Lavender gym.” Weiss stated before teleporting away.

“Um, what?” I blinked at the scene in front of me.

“Grr! Well, if that’s the way you feel about it then fine!” He spat. “Pikachu and I aren’t afraid. We’ll go in there and…” Pikachu jumped from his shoulders with a small blanket in his mouth. In seconds Pikachu was curled up and fake snoring like his life depended on it.

“And…err.” Ash faltered. He took another look at the tower then at his pokemon, still fake snoring.

“You know what? When you’re right, you’re right.” He nodded and slung his backpack off his shoulders, going for the sleeping bag. “It’ll be better to get a fresh start in the morning.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Misty stopped him. “I am not camping outside a creepy tower! It would probably give us all nightmares!” She seemed to rally herself. “We’re going to go in there, get a ghost pokemon, then get out and away from this creepy town!”

“And you’re going first!” She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him towards the door.

“AAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaHHHHHhhhhHHHH!!!!!”

I froze mid-step.

With that blood curdling scream left hanging in the air around us, I suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Do-Do you think that was…a ghost?” Misty clamped herself to Ash’s back. For his part Ash had tensed so much he might’ve been paralyzed.

“I’m…I’m sure there’s a…reasonable explanation for this.” And then he looked at me to provide said reasonable explanation.

“Um, yeah, probably.” I nodded absently.

“AAAAAIIIIiiiieeeEEEEE!!!”

“And the explanation is…screams of the forsaken dwelling within, yep.” I nodded once before backing away slowly.

“Not so fast.” Brock grabbed the back of my jacket to stop me. “Look, it’s scary, sure, but we can’t just ignore those screams. Someone could be hurt in there.”

“So we’ll go in, together.” Ash checked. We exchanged looks, gathering our courage. Misty grabbed my hand as we walked to the door.

“It’s pitch black in here.” Misty whimpered. She had a steely grip on my hand that was slowly cutting off circulation. Not that I was complaining. I liked the reassurance of a living person’s hand in mine too.

“Charmander, I choose you!” Charmander’s tail light did help a lot.

“Whoa, watch your step. There’s a big hole in the floor.” Misty gasped.

“Hey, I found some candles.” Brock brought over a candle stick for Charmander to light.

“Chaaar!” Flamethrower straight to the face. Poor Brock’s eyebrows would never be the same.

“Gah! Light the candle, not me!” He snapped, patting his singed eyebrows.

“Where should we start?” Ash put his hands on his hips.

“There’s a room over there. Might as well start down here before we think about climbing.” Brock suggested once he’d recovered. With his candle and Charmander’s tail light we were able to see a bit around us in all directions.

The door Brock had suggested led to a dining room, but instead of being rundown and abandoned, this one looked like it had jumped straight out of a storybook. Everything was clean and polished, the food was still lightly steaming and looked as delicious as the stuff on the St. Anne had.

“There’s a rope with a card attached.” Ash walked over to it. It was connected to a ball hanging from the ceiling. “Huh, ‘Pull this.’” He shrugged and did so.

A burst of confetti and streamers was accompanied by a large banner, spelling out Welcome.

“Friendly bunch, aren’t they?” I hummed thoughtfully.

“Hello? Any ghost pokemon there?” Ash called out.

I couldn’t see anything but that didn’t mean nothing was there. There was a chance that if I pretended to be bored and uninterested the ghost pokemon would take that as a challenge and appear. I walked closer to the table to inspect the food.

It was past dinner time and the food looked good.

Unfortunately, it was nothing but a beautiful trap. As soon as I reached for an empty plate the whole table began to shake. Dishes and silverware and even the chairs flew into the air, circling each other, sending food and broken glass flying in all directions.

“Duck and cover, people!” I screamed, grabbing a passing tray to use as a shield.

“Agh! Help!” Brock got caught by one of the chairs. Pikachu and Charmander were both scooped up on big platters.

“Quick, jump!” I called. I swung my improvised tray to send forks and knives flying away. Misty and Ash made for the door, grabbing it before it could swing closed on us. Brock, Pikachu, and Charmander jumped from their platforms and we all ran, chased by everything not nailed down. It didn’t stop until we were out of the tower and the doors slammed behind us.

“That was horrible!” Misty clutched her side. Her whole body was shaking and I still had a hold of the tray.

“It’s easy to see why a ghost pokemon is the best pokemon to send against a psychic.” Brock nodded in agreement.

“Okay, one more time!” Ash declared.

“What? Ash, are you serious? After what just happened?” Misty gaped.

“I need a ghost pokemon to beat Sabrina, so I’m going to get one.” He spoke decisively.

“Piiii.” Pikachu’s ears tucked back. Charmander was holding his nervously.

“Hey.” Ash gentled his voice and knelt down. “I know it’s scary, but we can do this. I believe in us. We can beat a ghost pokemon and we can beat Sabrina. I know we can.”

“But not unless we’re willing to face our fears.” He took a deep breath. “So, are you guys with me?” Pikachu and Charmander looked at each other, then nodded, bravery shining in their eyes.

“Right!” Ash stood up, facing the tower the same way he faced tough opponents. “Let’s go.”

I started following automatically. It felt like ever since he’d led us over a cliff away from a flock of Spearow that’s what I’d been doing, following him.

There are probably easier ways to make a friend for life but if there are I certainly don’t know them. I wasn’t exactly the Princess of Friendship.

Misty and Brock stayed behind.

“All you, Ash. Good luck!” They waved cheerfully, already several feet back down the path.

“Mmm. Sarah?” He looked at me questioningly.

“I’m with you.” I did a little fist bump for support. Ash grinned and together we reentered the tower.

“Hello? Ghost pokemon? Come out, come out wherever you are!” Ash yelled.

“Hold on.” I held up a hand. “Do you hear something?” We both stood in silence for a moment before I heard it again. Voices, or something like that, but not with any words I could make out.

“It’s coming from down there.” Ash pointed to the big hole we’d skirted past before. Carefully, we crept up to it, making sure the rest of the floor wouldn’t give out on us. There was a murky mist hanging below and voices drifted up to us.

“Alright, this is it.” Ash pumped himself up. “Pikachu, give it a Thunderbolt.”

“Pii-kaa-CHUUUU!” The lightning hit something down below. We heard its shriek.

“Now Charmander, Flamethrower!” I moved aside so Charmander could have a clear shot. We saw it hit something down below. A second later a ball of fire began circling the room, accompanied by some high pitched squeals.

“Huh, a fireball? Could it be a Ghost/Fire type?” Ash wondered.

I quickly pulled out my pokedex.

“My pokedex doesn’t list any Ghost/Fire types.” I frowned, putting it away.

“PIKA!” Pikachu screamed, scaring us both.

“What? What is it?” Ash and I turned to look. There was nothing there. “Are you seeing things?”

“Um, maybe, maybe not. Ghost types can become invisible, remember?” I pulled Ash up by the hand and positioned us back-to-back. “Keep an eye out, don’t let it sneak up on you.”

“Right.” He was determined, focused.

I didn’t focus too narrowly on one place, letting my vision spread out as I waited for some sign of motion. The room was dark and chilled. The furniture cast odd shadows and Charmander’s tail was the only light we had.

“It’ll be okay, Sarah. Don’t be scared.” Ash tried to reassure me.

“I’m…fine?” I turned my head a little.

There was something big and purple holding Ash’s hand. It came up past my waist, had dark purple fur and skin, big, pointed ears and a devilish smile. It saw me looking and playfully put a finger to its mouth, telling me to keep quiet.

“Um, Ash?” I started hesitantly. “There’s a…uh, a ghost pokemon, I think.”

“A what?” Ash looked over his shoulder and saw the ghost pokemon. “AAAAAHHHH!”

“Gengengengen!” The pokemon laughed as Ash ripped himself away from it. He tripped over Charmander, scaring him into letting out a Flamethrower that nearly barbecued me. I dived to the ground to avoid the flames and shimmied back up as soon as I could.

My vision went dark as two clawed hands covered my eyes.

“Haunt haunt?” The pokemon responsible jokingly asked.

“Ash! Get it off!” I shrieked, stumbling around. I tried to grab the pokemon’s hands but they just phased right through. Shaking and twisting did nothing to loosen its grip.

“Hold on Sarah, I’m coming! Charmander, use your Growl attack!” Ash was somewhere to my right. Where was that hole from earlier? I didn’t need to fall and break something.

It wasn’t hurting me. Okay, just calm down. It wasn’t doing anything but hanging there, blinding me. Was it playing?

“Ha…ha…” I tried to force out a laugh. “Okay, you got me. You, uh…” What had it said? Haunt? After encountering that Gastly at Maiden’s Peak I looked into the ghost type in Kanto and Johto and only the Gastly line and Misdreavus had entries, so if there was a Gengar here then, “Haunter?”

“Haunter!” It cried joyfully, lifting its hands away from my eyes. Once I was able to see it my heart rate slowed down. It was smiling and googling its eyes, laughing at the ‘game’ we’d just played.

“Good one, really had me there.” I smiled sickly.

“Charmander, return!” Ash had been trying to battle the Gengar and the Gastly that had shown up.

“Ash, they’re playing! Play along!” I called. Haunter flew over to its friends and the Gengar pulled out a folded paper fan. Gengar slapped Haunter so its eyes bugged out again while I walked over to Ash and Pikachu.

“They’re playing?” Ash repeated, sounding not just a little confused.

“Uh, yeah, I think so.” I chuckled nervously. The three ghost pokemon had seen their slapstick was having no affect so they were moving to a different gag, ‘dying’ dramatically like our response had fatally wounded them.

“Oh, wow, you guys are really talented!” Ash clapped. He looked at me to check he was doing the right thing. I gave him a quick thumb’s up and joined in the applause.

“Mmhm, you must practice a lot.” I laughed. The pokemon seemed happy.

“Now let’s see what Dexter has to say.” Ash snickered.

“Haunter: The Ghost Pokemon. No information is available at this moment.”

“Gengar: The Ghost Pokemon. No information is available at this moment.”

“What? Nothing on either of them?” His jaw dropped.

“I guess research about them is still on-going.” I shrugged helplessly. “If it helps, Gastly evolve into Haunter which then evolves into Gengar, so they’re all from the same line. They’re all ghost/poison mixes.”

“Well, they’re ghost types so that’s good enough for me!” Ash decided. He put the pokedex away and pointed at the pokemon. “Hey there, I’ve got an important battle with a psychic coming up and I’m here to capture one of you for it! So who’s it gonna be?” In answer, all three pokemon began to sink through the floor.

“Maybe, um, that wasn’t the best way to go about it.” I winced.

“Hey, don’t go!” Ash dived after them, trying to get a grip on one before they could all sink out of view.

There was a jingle overhead, like rusty chains brushing each other. Over Ash and Pikachu’s position was a big chandelier, shaking ominously.

“Ash!” My feet moved faster than my tongue. No time for thought. I dive tackled them both and knew I’d be too late.

And then…

One second unconscious and the next I’m wide awake.

And transparent. And floating. And Sweet Celestia, is that my body!?

My hands came up and squeezed my head, tugging at strands of hair that felt too ephemeral to be real. I could see straight through my body to the broken chandelier and our broken bodies below.

Our bodies.

That knocked a little of the shock off. I went from panicking about myself to panicking about Ash and Pikachu. My thoughts scrambled, part of me screaming into the void and another more irrational part trying to figure out how I’d contact his mom.

“Sarah, are you okay? Calm down, it’s fine.” Ash…floated…up in front of me and grabbed my hands. I allowed him to pull my hands free as I took in his translucent face. Pikachu was hovering over his shoulder, looking just as concerned.

“Nnng.” I couldn’t form words. Below us our bodies were tangled together. It looked like I’d tried to throw Pikachu clear but he must’ve hit his head on something. I was mostly on top of Ash, a fruitless effort to shield him from a few hundred pounds of rusted metal.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He said again. “I don’t think we’re dead.”

“We’re not?” I wanted to cry and then suddenly there were tears in my eyes. I’d just wanted them and they’d appeared.

I looked down again. Slowly, my ghostly form lowered to the ground until I could make out the sounds of breathing and see the rise and falls of our chests.

“We’re alive.” I fell back and started floating on my back. Tiredly, I wiped my face.

“Haunter haunt!” In my panic and subsequent relief, I’d failed to realize we still had company. Haunter passed through me, laughing and enjoying himself. He pointed to Ash, then me, then at himself, laughing the whole while.

“You’re saying we’re alike now?” Ash interpreted.

“Haunt haunter!” He nodded.

“Um, not that this isn’t fascinating and all, but there is a way to kinda reattach to our bodies, right?” That was a major concern for me.

“Gengengen!” Gengar and Gastly circled us with their own bursts of laughter. Gengar grabbed my hand and Gastly used its body as a platform to carry Pikachu. Haunter grabbed Ash and the six of us ascended through the walls and upwards, out of the tower.

“Whoa, what a view!” Ash’s eyes sparkled. “I can see Misty and Brock!”

“Er, yeah.” They were standing under a couple of lamp posts.

“Let’s have a little fun with them!” Before I could say anything or think of something to say he’d already gotten down to Misty.

“Let’s go for a little ride, Misty!” He grabbed her under the armpits and rose up.

“AAAAHH! The ghost got me!” She screamed, flailing her legs.

“Ash, that’s mean!” I fretted underneath.

“It’s just a little fun!” He defended himself. “Look, I’ll put her down now.”

He dropped her through me.

“That’s not funny!” I snarled, launching myself at him. And it really was a launch.

Brock caught Misty below us as I tackled Ash through several trees.

With an inarticulate yell he kicked me away. It didn’t hurt, I barely felt it as I went flying into the ground. Luckily I still had a natural orientation for where up is so I could find the surface again.

I came up behind a rock a few feet off from where I’d entered. Ash was hovering over that spot worriedly with Pikachu scolding him.

Well, he wanted to have a little fun.

Pikachu saw me coming but I guess he decided not to warn Ash. I hit him full throttle and we wrestled our way through trees, rocks, shrubs, and on one occasion a young Cubone who angrily shook his bone club at us.

“Man, that was great!” Ash laughed as we separated. We were both laughing, grinning ear to ear and breathless.

“Gastly gastly.” The ghost pokemon came up to us again. They each took hold of us again and pulled us back to the tower. Instead of the entryway though they took us up to the top floor.

It was like night and day compared to the rest of the tower. Not a lick of dust anywhere. Everything was brightly colored and filled with toys. There was a carousel like the festival at Maiden’s Peak had, but smaller. Little slides, a rocking pony, balls, a swing, everything a child could ever want and more.

“Look at all this stuff!” Ash watched in wide-eyed amazement as the trio of ghosts began playing with everything. “I guess you guys must’ve really wanted someone to play with.”

“It looks that way.” I agreed. Gastly was playing on the swing with Pikachu. Gengar was standing on a ball and rolling around, managing to keep his balance quite well.

“Haunt haunt, haunter.” Haunter floated up and offered a stuffed bear to me.

“But we can’t stay and play with you forever.” Ash frowned a little regretfully. “We have to get back to our bodies. We’ve got too much stuff to do to hang around as ghosts.”

The trio were saddened by it but they didn’t get aggressive. We went through the other floors of the tower towards the entry. The different rooms really made me wonder about the people who built this tower. Was it supposed to be someone’s home?

Misty and Brock must’ve gotten worried about us. We got there in time to see Brock holding up the chandelier so Misty could drag Ash out. My body and Pikachu’s was already lying prone a few feet away.

“Ash, Sarah, please wake up.” She sniffled as she laid Ash out next to me.

“Uh-oh, we’d better get moving.” Ash ducked under me for his body.

I was a little worried about how to reattach but it was surprisingly intuitive. As soon as I was close enough to touch it felt like my soul or spirit was simply sucked back in.

Gaining full awareness of my body after existing as a spirit is interesting. My body felt heavy and clumsy. I was aware of every square inch of cloth. My backpack was curling my spine at an uncomfortable angle.

“Hey Misty.” Ash sat up first, readjusting faster I guess. I sat up a little more gingerly, clenching and unclenching my hands to test my fine motor control. Everything seemed to be in working order and wow, was I hungry!

To summarize, Ash initially decided to give up catching a ghost pokemon in favor of a different strategy but Haunter decided he wanted to come with us. Weiss teleported back and teleported us to the nearest Pokemon Center and we had ourselves a late dinner. Weiss won herself the Phantom badge and we agreed that I would challenge the Lavender gym.

Honestly there wasn’t a lot of time to strategize, we all needed our sleep.

Chapter 17: A Ghost of a Chance

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast Weiss, annoyingly, teleported me and herself directly in front of the Lavender town gym. Once again colors blurred, sounds became garbled, and my entire body twitched as we settled someplace new. Weiss’s teleport was characterized by a sudden chill like someone splashed me with ice cold water.

“Did you have to do that?” I shot at her, shivering in place.

“Yes.” Weiss entered the gym without looking back to answer me.

Looking up revealed a cathedral-like gym that was seemingly built into the side of a mountain.

With a sigh, I followed Weiss into the gym and entered a modern lobby. There was a carpet that led from the entrance to a set of doors directly across from the entrance, guarded by a person in a referee uniform. The doors and referee were in between a pair of shops and there was a scattering of sofas and chairs around the room. Despite it being early morning, there were a few people loitering around and Weiss was talking to one of them…who was wearing an oversized anthropomorphic pokeball mask, as if he were a mascot of somesort.

Weiss looked towards me and pointed me out to the mascot, who then walked towards me.

"Hey there! Your friend says it’s your first time challenging the Lavender gym, is that true?” At my nod he continued talking. “In celebration of your first attempt for the Phantom badge, I’ve got the perfect pokeball for you.” He held out his hand to showcase a dark green pokeball with light green spots. “As it turns out, the Lavender gym is built into a system of caves. The Dusk ball is the absolute best for catching pokemon at night and in caves. Pokeballs are just full of surprises, don't you think?"

I thanked him as he gently dropped the Dusk ball onto my hand.

"In case you were wondering, I'm not just any old Pokeball! But then who am I, you ask? Well, the answer is simple. They call me the Ball Guy! I'll be rolling around gyms here and there, so if you see me, don't be shy! Come up and say hi!" Ball Guy then walked back to his original position as Weiss walked back towards me.

“Is he supposed to be a mascot or something?” I couldn’t help but ask Weiss as we walked past him and towards the referee.

“He’s the unofficial mascot of the Galar Pokemon League. The sponsor wanted a look-alike to be at Lilith’s gym and anymore that he sponsored.” Weiss stated.

“So Discord didn’t make him up?” I was surprised. Ball Guy looked like something Discord would cook up.

“No.” Weiss shook her head and we were now standing before the referee.

“If you’re here to challenge the Lavender gym you must have a uniform with your preferred number on the back for any official match.” The referee gestured to the shop on her right. “You can purchase uniforms and have them customized here. Then you must be registered and complete the gym challenge, only then can you battle Gym leader Lilith.”

“Uniform? Gym challenge?” I looked towards Weiss as we went to the uniform shop. This gym seemed a bit more structured than I thought given who was pulling the strings here.

Weiss simply shrugged as I bought a uniform and had it numbered one twelve. And can I say that these uniforms were expensive? I could have bought ninety pokeballs for one uniform.

I was then pointed in the direction of a locker room and in quick succession I was dressed in my new uniform complete with belt bag, registered for the gym challenge and led through the doors into a creepy cave that was refurbished as a mansion. Exposed wood framed the purple walls and tapestries, patches of missing wall frames revealing the rock underneath. Despite being built into the side of a mountain the foyer was huge with stairs leading to a balcony, although the foyer maybe wasn’t as large since the room was mostly empty.

Hidden speakers suddenly sparked to life.

“The gym mission for the ghost gym is this! Battle and catch pokemon to earn the most points! Earn five points to clear the gym mission! You’ll earn one point for defeating a pokemon and two for catching a pokemon. You’ll have twenty minutes to earn the five points necessary to complete the challenge and battle Lilith. If you do not earn five points in the allotted amount of time or all of your pokemon have fainted, then you will have failed the challenge and will be escorted back to the lobby. You can challenge the gym the next day if you fail the challenge or lose to gym leader Lilith. Let the challenge begin!”

Ding! Ding!

With that I quickly brought out Bulbasaur and a flashlight. We went deeper into the cave/mansion to search for ghost pokemon.

An unexplainable chill ran down my spine and I heard a young girl giggling behind me. Spinning around revealed a still empty room. More giggling and footsteps, this time coming from the door opposite of the entrance had me turning around…

“Gastly!”

And jumpscared by a Gastly.

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur, who did not appreciate the jumpscare, let loose a barrage of Razor Leafs at Gastly.

“Gastly!” Unprepared for the barrage, Gastly took the attack head on before dropping to the floor in a faint.

Ding! Ding!

“Challenger Sarah claims one point!”

“Huh, that was easy.” I couldn’t help but say out loud. After Maiden’s Peak and the Pokemon Tower, I was expecting all ghost pokemon to be powerful. I guess the Gastly at Maiden’s Peak was the exception rather than the rule.

The room was silent after that and we opened the door which led into a hallway lined with doors. With no other leads I began opening the doors. The first door revealed a room with a pedestal in the center that housed a red haired porcelain doll in a glass case. I took a moment to examine the room when the doll opened her eyes. Just as she was opening her mouth I slammed the door shut.

“Nope.”

The next door revealed a room filled with inky humanoid creatures. As I stood still in the hallway all of the blobs turned their heads towards me, revealing glowing yellow eyes. I quickly closed the door and as an afterthought I pushed a nearby table in front of the door, knocking over an inkwell on the table in the process.

The third door revealed a large checkered dining room that was out of place in the mansion/cave setting. What immediately grabbed my attention was the stage at the other end of the dining room. On the stage was a red humanoid fox wearing an eye patch and a metal hook for its right ‘hand'. With patches of fur missing, exposing bits of metal, it was obvious that whatever it was it wasn’t alive, and yet it was moving in place and singing.

“You can be a pirate. But first you have to lose an eye and an arm.” It sang repeatedly, each reiteration becoming more and more unhinged until it stopped singing and moving.

With a twitch of its head the fox suddenly looked in my direction, as if it were staring straight at me.

“Lose an eye and an arm.”

Slam!

“What is wrong with the gym leader here!?” I yelled out, leaning back against the newly closed door.

Suddenly a purple gas rose from the cracks in the wooden floor. The gas rosed into the air above me before coalescing into a familiar form.

“Haunter!”

Before I could do anything the Haunter opened up its mouth and sang loudly, releasing black waves of energy in the process that passed over me and Bulbasaur.

“Bulbasaur!” Turning to Bulbasaur, I was worried when I saw a crimson static appear over him that seemed to be hurting him. “Use Leech Seed!”

“Bulba!” Glaring at Haunter, Bulbasaur launched Leech Seed at Haunter, whose eyes were closed as it was fully engrossed in its song.

“Haunt?” Opening its eyes, Haunter saw that its gaseous body was wrapped up in vines that were sapping its strength. “Haunter.” Glaring at Bulbasaur, Haunter threw out a punch at Bulbasaur, its clawed hand being surrounded with a dark purple misty energy.

“Bullet Seed!” Despite being launched across the hallway from Haunter’s attack and in pain from the crimson static, Bulbasaur stood up and launched a hail of Bullet Seeds at Haunter.

“Haunt.” Haunter quickly countered with Protect, decidedly unimpressed with Bulbasaur’s Bullet Seed. Unconcerned with Leech Seed sapping its strength, Haunter emitted a sinister red glow from its eyes.

“Bulb!” The Bullet Seed in Bulbasaur’s throat suddenly loses cohesion and just explodes out of his mouth as the red glow ensnares Bulbasaur’s mind.

“Bulbasaur!” Whatever that crimson static was, it was taking its toll on Bulbasaur despite Leech Seed leeching energy from Haunter. Factor in what had to be Confuse Ray and Bulbasaur was in no position to battle.

“Haunter.” Looking back at Haunter, I saw it floating down to the ground. Unlike the ghost pokemon in the Pokemon Tower, its ‘death’ was less dramatic and didn’t seem to be played for laughs considering how exhausted it looked.

Ding! Ding!

“Challenger Sarah claims two points!”

“Bulbasaur.” I quickly rushed over to Bulbasaur, kneeling right next to him, and applied a potion to his wounds before returning him to his pokeball. After some time in his pokeball Bulbasaur would be cured of its confusion, but I wasn’t sure about the crimson static. At this point it was the only thing I could do.

“Gengengen.” Having seen two-thirds of its evolutionary line I looked up at a Gengar waving his arms and its eyes…glow…red…

Omake 1: Earning Gym Badges

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 18: From Ghost to Ghost

Author's Note

Fashionably Late here, and sorry for the wait. Creativity and I were in a trial separation and it wasn't working out for me. Writer's block, what are ya gonna do? Well, apparently all I had to do was switch perspectives with the peanut gallery, put on Jonathan Young singing Unbeatable and watch the Ash vs Morty episode. Who knew? Anyhow, I've got the Ash vs Sabrina episode written out...except Silver ain't gonna be doing much, so I'll try to justify a certain tag then.

Chapter 18: From Ghost to Ghost

Ding! Ding!

“Ten minutes remaining!”

Startled by the bell, I jolted awake atop a bed in a decrepit looking room. Sitting up I looked around the mostly empty room, save for a wardrobe closet and a desk with a mirror, and tried to remember what had happened and where I was. The last thing I remembered was looking up at a Gengar and…

The gym challenge!

I stood up quickly. I only had ten more minutes to earn three more points and challenge the gym leader! I moved my hand to my belt to bring out Bulbasaur.

And grasped nothing but air.

Looking down I saw that not only was Bulbasaur’s pokeball was missing, but my entire belt was gone!

With no time to lose I threw open the desk and closet to find nothing but dust before rushing to open the door.

Jiggle jiggle.

Locked.

Bam!

Not anymore as I shoulder checked the door open, splinters falling around me. Seeing an exit sign above a door at the end of the hallway I ran towards it, opening the door revealing that I was on the balcony in the foyer.

“Gen Gengar Gen.”

“Mis mag Mismagius.”

And right in the middle of the foyer was Gengar, two pokemon that I did not recognize and a table that wasn’t there before with my belt and pokeballs. Gengar and the pokemon that looked like it was wearing a witch's hat were arguing over something with the witch-like pokemon gesturing at my stuff while Gengar was counting something on its paws. The third pokemon that looked like it was wearing a ruffled dress was watching the two.

Before I could do anything, Gengar suddenly had a look of realization before holding its paws at the witch and launching a Shadow Ball that the witch barely dodged. And then bedlam as Gengar began attacking the witch who weaved to and fro, dodging Gengar’s attacks while the ruffled dress pokemon was panicking on the sidelines.

Taking this as my opportunity, I snuck down the stairs and towards the table with my belt and pokeballs. Just as I was almost within reach of my belt the ruffed dress pokemon glanced in my direction.

“Misdreavus?” The pokemon, Misdreavus, looked shocked before a look of inspiration overtook it. Suddenly it picked up my belt and pokeballs off the table and brought them to me.

“Mis Misdreavus Mis.”

Slam

“Weiss!”

Looking over towards the entrance Weiss saw an irate Ash and Misty pair and an exhausted Brock. Spotting Weiss sitting on a sofa eating an ice cream cone, the trio walked over to her.

“Ash, Misty, Brock.” Weiss nodded toward the group.

“Don’t just ‘Ash, Misty and Brock’ us, why didn’t you bring us here with Sarah?” Misty grilled Weiss face to face with her hands, balled into fists, laying on her hips.

“Yeah! I’m going to watch all of Sarah’s gym battles!” Ash declared.

“But you missed her gym battle with Brock.” Weiss pointed out.

“I’m…more than…happy to tell you…what happened.” Brock panted, resting himself and his bag on the sofa.

“Don’t change the subject! Now, why did you teleport Sarah here instead of walking here with us?” Misty demanded.

“The sooner she challenges the gym here the sooner we can deal with the Saffron gym.” Weiss admitted, her gaze turning back towards one of the many TVs scattered around the lobby.

“Huh? Hey, Sarah’s on TV!” Ash pointed out toward the TV Weiss was looking at.

“What? Why’s Sarah on TV? And are those ghosts!?” Distracted by Ash’s outburst, Misty glanced at the TV before fully turning her attention towards the screen which showed Sarah with a trio of ghost pokemon.

“Sarah’s currently participating in the gym challenge.” Seeing their clueless looks Weiss explained further. “In Galar and Paldea, trainers have to complete gym challenges before battling the Gym Leader. That is how we separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“What does wheat have anything to do with gyms?” Ash asked with Pikachu sharing in his confusion.

“Arg, it means they only want to battle serious Trainers and not rookies like you.” Misty fired at Ash while taking a seat on the sofa.

“Hey! I am a serious Trainer!” Ash fired back, taking a seat on a nearby chair.

“Pika-pika.” Pikachu gestured back to the TV where Sarah was battling a Gengar while the other ghost pokemon were watching on the sidelines.

“So, what’s the gym challenge for the Lavender gym?” Misty asked while glancing at Weiss' sandwich.

“Earn five points. Defeating a pokemon is worth one point, capturing a pokemon is worth two, and Sarah has defeated a Ghastly and Haunter.” Weiss rattled off.

“That means Sarah has two points already.” Brock answered once he was sure his lungs weren’t on fire.

Ding! Ding!

“Five minutes remaining!”

“Hm, and Sarah has five more minutes to earn three more points.” Weiss added after taking a bite of her ice cream. Just as she finished her statement, Silver finally managed to defeat Gengar.

Ding! Ding!

“Challenger Sarah claims three points!”

“Yeah! Go Sarah!” Ash cheered, leaping up from the chair.

“Do you think Sarah can beat those last two pokemon?” Misty worriedly asked.

“....maybe…although I don’t think she’ll have to.” Weiss started before noticing what was happening on the screen.

“You want me to catch you?” I couldn’t help but feel surprised.

That Gengar had apparently decided to beat the witch pokemon, I identified as Mismagius from its cry, just so I couldn’t beat the challenge and battle Lilith. The ruffled dress pokemon, my pokedex identified as Misdreavus, had decided to return my belt and pokeballs so I could battle and beat Gengar before it could knock out Mismagius. And after a long and drawn out battle I finally beat Gengar with only five minutes remaining. So, I was glad that Misdreavus was just going to let me catch it.

“Mis Misdreavus Mis!” Misdreavus trilled happily while Mismagius nodded in assent.

“Ok, then welcome to the team.” I smiled, taking out the Dusk ball Ball Guy gave me and gently tapping the ball to Misdreavus’ head. Misdreavus happily let herself be sucked into the ball, the Dusk ball immediately clicking shut.

“Challenger Sarah claims five points! Mission clear! Congratulations! You’ll be escorted down the hallway and enter the waiting area. Your pokemon will be treated by our onsite nurse before your gym battle.”

Immediately after the announcement, the door opened and the referee walked over to me.

“Clearing Leader Lilith’s gym mission like that… That was fantastic!”

I could only blush as we walked down the hallway towards the waiting area.

“Next you’ll be facing Lilith, the leader of the Ghost Gym. Since you have three badges this will be a three on three battle. On you go, challenger!”

It all happened so fast, I walked through the door and was immediately accosted by nurse Joy. A short time later, my pokemon were cleared for battle and I found myself in a hallway leading towards a stadium with a girl, slightly older than me wearing a black and purple outfit, standing in the opposite end of the stadium. She walked towards the field, motioning for me to walk towards the field, and we stood in the middle of the stadium filled with chanting spectators.

“Hmhmhm. So this is my challenger? Looks fun. I’m Lilith, the Gym Leader of the Lavender gym. Here I go.” Lilith turned away from me, once again motioning for me to follow her lead, and walked back a few paces.

Lilith then sent out a Ghastly as her first pokemon.

“Go Bulbasaur!”

“Bulba, saur!”

“Let the battle begin!”

“Bulbasaur Tackle attack.”

I wasted no time in ordering Bulbasaur just as Bulbasaur wasted no time in charging Ghastly. Against anyone else, I would have thought I caught them off-guard as Bulbasaur launched himself into the air at Ghastly.

Against anyone else that was.

Bulbasaur just…passed through Ghastly like it was an illusion. Bulbasaur must have been just as stunned as I was as he fumbled the landing a bit.

“What? How?” I couldn’t help but ask as Lilith caught my attention.

“Ghost type pokemon are immune to Normal and Fighting type moves.” She answered in a similar monotone voice as Weiss before focusing on the battle.

“Ghastly, use Lick.”

“Dodge Bulbasaur!” I shouted out as Ghastly revealed an abnormally long tongue and began whipping it at Bulbasaur who was leaping around the attack.

“Put some space between you two and use Bullet Seed.”

“Counter with Nightshade.” Lilith ordered just as Bulbasaur jumped back and released a torrent of seeds at Ghastly. Ghastly responded by firing a dark beam of energy that disintegrated the seeds and struck Bulbasaur head on.

“Bulbasaur!” I cried out as Bulbasaur stood up defiantly against Ghastly.

“Use Lick again.” Lilith ordered.

An idea formed in my head.

“Bulbasaur, restrain Ghastly’s tongue with Vine Whip!” I ordered just as Ghastly revealed its tongue with saliva comically dripping from its tongue.

“Bulba saur!” Bulbasaur did just as ordered and revealed his vines just in time to wrap around Ghastly’s tongue just as it closed in on him.

“What? Lilith stared at the scene before her confused while Ghastly flexed its tongue experimentally to see just how tightly Bulbasaur was holding onto its tongue.

“Leech Seed.”

“Bulba!”

Taking advantage of Ghastly and Lilith’s confusion, Bulbasaur launched a single seed at Ghastly that quickly took hold of the…Gas Pokemon. I’m sorry, how exactly is Leech Seed latching onto Ghastly when its body is made of gas?

“Nightshade!”

My musing was quickly cut off as Ghastly launched another beam of energy that struck Bulbasaur head on. Bulbasaur grunted in pain, but remained firmly attached to Ghastly’s tongue.

“Bulbasaur! Throw Ghastly into the ground, now!” I ordered, hoping to stop Ghastly’s Nightshade.

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur, while under the effects of Nightshade, yanked Ghastly towards himself, interrupting Ghastly’s Nightshade attack, before swinging Ghastly to the side and throwing it to the ground.

“Ghastly.”

“Razor Leaf.”

“Nightshade.”

Seemingly stunned from being thrown to the ground, Ghastly took a second to compose itself. A second that Bulbasaur used to launch a barrage of leaves at the Ghost pokemon. The first few leaves had just cut into Ghastly’s body before it retaliated with another dark energy beam. This time Bulbasaur managed to leap away from the attack. Whatever Lilith was going to order stalled as Leech Seed took effect. A combination of Leech Seed, being slammed to the ground and Razor Leaf putting Ghastly out of commission.

“Ghastly is unable to battle!”

“Huh.” Lilith returned Ghastly and looked at its pokeball before trading it for another.

“Go Haunter.”

“Haunter.” The Ghost pokemon floated above Lilith, learing at Bulbasaur.

Ghastly and Haunter. Did that mean her next pokemon was Gengar?

“Hypnosis.”

“Look away!” I ordered just as Haunter’s eyes started to glow.

Fortunately Bulbasaur looked away just in time to avoid Hypnosis.

“Shadow Punch, Lick.”

Unfortunately, that meant Bulbasaur wasn’t looking when Haunter launched a right punch at Bulbasaur, Ghastly’s hand being outlined in a dark aura.

“Saur!” To further rub salt into the wound, Bulbasaur had just enough time to turn his head and get punched in his face, launching Bulbasaur backwards. It was quickly followed up by Ghastly’s tongue wrapping around Bulbasaur and spiking him into the ground.

“Saur.” Bulbasaur…he tried standing up only to collapse to the floor.

“Bulbasaur is unable to battle!”

I returned Bulbasaur and thought about my next move. Eevee and Clefairy didn’t know any moves that could hurt Ghost pokemon, so that left Fearow’s Flying type moves and Misdreavus. I knew what Fearow could do, but would it be enough?

Pop.

“Misdreavus.”

Huh, and here I thought only Eevee could pop out of his pokeball.

“Misdreavus, what are you doing?” I couldn’t help but be a tad bit bemused when Misdreavus flew down towards me and began chattering excitedly, even turning to the side and throwing some quick jabs. “You want to battle don’t you?” At Misdreavus’ expectant look I caved in. “Ok ok fine. You can fight.” I couldn’t help but smile at Misdreavus' pleased trill as she got into position.

“Risky move, bringing in a brand new pokemon you just caught.” Commented Lilith.

“True, but I’m going to put my trust in her. Misdreavus, use Psybeam!”

“Shadow Punch, Haunter.”

It was a game of chicken that no one won or lost. Misdreavus had launched Psybeam only for Haunter to just barely dodge the attack after launching a right hook at Misdreavus who in turn dodged after cutting off Psybeam. Haunter continued to punch at Misdreavus while Misdreavus was launching Shadow Balls as she dodged. The two entangled in a sort of mesmerizing dance.

“Confuse Ray.” Lilith commanded.

“Use your Confuse Ray Misdreavus!” I ordered just as Haunter pulled back its hands and began staring at Misdreavus.

I couldn’t see Misdreavus' eyes from behind her, but I could see a gleaming red light emanating from her head just as Haunter’s eyes began to glow red. Shortly afterwards both pokemon stopped gleaming red. Misdreavus started swaying while Haunter continued to just float.

“Nightshade.”

“Payback!”

Haunter’s Confuse Ray must have worked because Misdreavus was staggering towards Haunter while Haunter launched a beam of dark energy at Misdreavus that connected.

“Misdreavus!”

I could only watch as Misdreavus took the hit head on before shaking her head. Suddenly Misdreavus rocketed towards Haunter, striking Haunter while Haunter was still using Nightshade causing an explosion of smoke. I didn’t have to wait long before the smoke cleared, revealing a no longer swaying Misdreavus and a wounded Haunter.

“Tsk, don’t tell me Nightshade canceled out Confuse Rays effects.” Lilith asked rhetorically, covering her mouth with a fist.

Huh neat, and if Payback worked as advertised then it would have done twice the damage after Misdreavus was hit by Nightshade.

“Confusion attack, Misdreavus.”

“Shadow Punch.”

Haunter actually managed to launch its fists at Misdreavus, but Misdreavus’s Confusion attack managed to blow Haunter’s fists back before blowing Haunter down to the ground.

“Haunter is unable to battle!”

“Misdreavus never showed such power during the gym challenge.” Lilith thought out loud as she returned Haunter. “She must want to fulfill Sarah’s trust in her.” Lilith looked at Misdreavus before focusing on Silver. “As much as I want to congratulate Misdreavus, this is a gym battle and it’s my job to push Trainers to their limits. Go, Gengar.” Determined, Lilith sent out a Gengar that stood confidently before Silver and Misdreavus.

Knew it.

“Misdreavus, Psybeam.”

“Gengar, Shadow Ball.”

The two attacks met head on before exploding, showering everyone with dark energy. The force of the explosion threw Misdreavus back slightly while Gengar began floating upwards, never losing its confident smirk.

That power. Ghastly and Haunter were strong, and Misdreavus too, but Gengar was stronger than both of them. And now Gengar disappeared!

“Nightshade.”

Suddenly Nightshade attacks came out of nowhere, Misdreavus miraculously dodging each one.

“Look out.” I could only cry out as Misdreavus dived down toward the ground, sticking closely to the floor. Either Gengar couldn’t attack from underground or it was humoring us. I know Gengar is out there, but how do I attack it if I can't see it? What if…

“Misdreavus, send Confusion throughout the field.”

Misdreavus gained some altitude before unleashing a Confusion attack that swept the field, revealing Gengar who looked affected by the attack.

“Psybeam.”

Misdreavus quickly attacked Gengar with Pysbeam, the attack doing further damage to Gengar.

“Shadow Ball.”

“Payback.”

Misdreavus charged Gengar, taking a Shadow Ball to the face and causing an explosion of dust. The cloud of dust quickly dispersed as Misdreavus rocketed towards Gengar, sending Gengar crashing into the ceiling of the stadium.

“Gengar!”

Gengar crashed to the ground with a flop, having enough energy to look up at Misdreavus before collapsing.

“Gengar is unable to battle! The match goes to the challenger, Sarah Silverman!”

The crowd exploded in cheers and applause, initially surprising me. During the battle I completely forgot about them. Still, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be thanking Misdreavus right now.

“Misdreavus you did it!” Misdreavus trilled happily.

“You put up a great fight, Gengar.” Lilith returned Gengar before muttering under her breath “They just put up a better one.” She then walked over towards me and Misdreavus. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting much considering the badges you already earned, but apparently I was wrong. So.” She reached into her outfit and pulled out a badge in the shape of a wispy ghost. “In honor of beating me I present to you the Phantom badge.”

"Thank you, Miss Lilith.” I said as she laid the badge in my hand.

“Also I want you to have these, too.” Lilith reached into her clothes and pulled out…three TMs. “They’re Shadow Ball, Shadow Claw and Hex. Use them if they appeal to you." She handed me the TMs.

Four badges. I’m halfway towards getting home. I can’t wait to get a camera and show everypony my adventure here. I’ll buy one after Ash defeats Sabrina. With Haunter it should be a cake walk.

Chapter 19: Haunter versus Kadabra

In retrospect, Ash taking Haunter to a big gym battle right after catching him might have been a mistake. Haunter liked to blink in and out of visibility, but we’d learned on the walk back to Saffron city that he was always nearby and ready to jump out to scare you. We didn’t think anything of it when he went invisible before we entered the gym.

Sabrina seemed surprised to see us return. The little girl doll seemed happy. Ash challenged her to a rematch then called out Haunter and…

Haunter didn’t show.

“He’d better come back and save us.” Misty fumed. I was sitting across the coffee table on the love seat, she, Brock and Weiss were on the couch. A fourth doll of an older woman sat in the armchair at the end of the coffee table.

“He will. You know Ash. He’ll figure something out.” Brock reassured her.

We were sitting in a little room. The only furniture was the love seat, couch, armchair, and coffee table. A few bland paintings hung on the wall behind Brock and Misty but they were so flat and one dimensional I suspected they were actually stickers.

Instead of shrinking us to doll size Sabrina had instead turned us into actual dolls. You’d think being made of plastic and cotton fluff would make it impossible to have a headache.

“I did not sign up for this.” Weiss deadpanned.

“I am so sorry for my daughter’s actions.” The older woman apologized again.

This was Sabrina’s mother, turned into a doll years ago. She explained the whole story to us.

Both of her parents were psychics, Sabrina’s father could teleport while her mother was a telepath. Their daughter Sabrina was three when she began manifesting her powers and it was quickly revealed that she was much stronger than either of her parents.

“She grew obsessed with her newfound power, abandoning toys and dolls in favor of finding new applications for her abilities.” She told us sadly. “We tried to help her, turn her interest to other things, but Sabrina eventually decided we were only holding her back. My husband got away but teleportation was never my gift. He comes back to visit me every day, but he has to be careful not to let Sabrina catch him. He can’t transmute so if she transforms him he’ll be just as trapped as me.” She continued.

“What about the doll? What part does it play?” Brock asked.

“That doll is actually a phantom hosting a split personality of Sabrina’s, specifically, the personality of herself before her powers began to overwhelm her. Happy, eager to make friends,” She sighed. She might’ve slumped if she was able to move. “That doll holds all her emotions, leaving only the cold, logical side of her mind in her body to control her actions.”

“That’s…frightening.” I tried to gulp. Lacking every bit of muscle control necessary, I failed.

“Oh, after a week or two she’ll get bored with playing with you three and she’ll turn you back to normal! She may erase your memory of what happened though.” She reassured us.

Above us, the roof came off the dollhouse. Sabrina and her doll looked inside.

“Sabrina!” I’d never been so happy to hear Ash’s voice. “We’re gonna battle and you’re gonna let my friends go!”

“I knew he'd be back.” Sabrina commented to herself. She replaced the roof of the dollhouse, all but cutting us off from the outside world.

“Think Ash can win this?” Misty asked, voice quavering. It made the plastic perfection of her smile creepier somehow.

“He can. He’ll win this.” I tried to interject as much confidence as I could into this statement. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that hard. I did believe Ash could win this.

All we had to do was wait for it.

The big toy box and doll house were actually behind the curtain at the far end where we’d first seen Sabrina sitting on her throne. I got a pretty good look as we were being carried here.

We could hear the fight, mostly, but it was hard to make sense out of. It sounded like Pikachu was fighting. Could he not find Haunter?

“How do you think it’s going?” Misty asked. We could hear something going on out there but it didn’t sound like a battle.

A sudden explosion caught us off guard. We would’ve jumped if we could move. There was a beat of silence afterwards in which we had time to fear the worst, then we felt it when Sabrina changed us back.

Oh it felt so good to have my body again. I bent to touch my toes at the first opportunity, luxuriating in the stretch of my muscles. Contrary to how I’d felt after the astral projection thing my body now felt energized, unstoppable! I wanted to run a mile! Climb a mountain!

“My, that feels nice.” Sabrina’s mother sighed, stretching her arms above her head. Years trapped as a doll, all that time unable to move must’ve been like torture!

“Hey, look at that!” Misty brought our attention to Sabrina. She was laughing, no doll in sight, covered in soot and with tears in the corners of her eyes. Haunter was floating beside her, eyes bugging out of his head as he laughed right alongside her. Kadabra was rolling on the floor of the arena, utterly helpless with their bond as strong as it was. Sabrina’s father, Ash, and Pikachu were all standing at the other end of the arena, smiling and laughing too.

“Did we miss something?” I wondered.

Sabrina’s laughing was apparently the key for reuniting her emotions with her body. Ash gave Haunter to her, figuring they’d both be happier that way. Ash got his Marsh Badge and we left Weiss behind to challenge Sabrina’s father, who would be taking over Sabrina’s role as gym leader. I…honestly did not like the gleam in her eyes when Sabrina’s father accepted the challenge. In the meantime, we left for the Pokemon Center for some well earned rest.

“This has, by far, been the strangest three days of my life.” Misty flopped down on her bed, freshly showered and dressed in her pajamas.

“Stranger than a giant Tentacruel tearing apart a resort?” Brock asked. He was still toweling off his hair.

“The Tentacruel didn’t turn me into a doll!” She puffed out her cheeks. “What about you, Sarah? Do you think the past couple of days have been the strangest?”

“Hm.” I gave the matter some serious thought.

Without a doubt it was a yes. Astral projection and being turned into a doll were not things that happened on nice, boring days.

“Yeah, it’s been…lively, hasn’t it?” I chuckled sardonically. “I’m glad Sabrina’s taking a break from being a gym leader to get a better handle on her emotions though.”

“Yeah. You know, something about that bugs me.” Misty rolled over to frown at us.

“Huh? What does?” Ash was laying on the top bunk of the boys’ bed. Pikachu was dozing off on his stomach.

“Sabrina’s been the gym leader for four, almost five years, right?” We nodded. “And that whole time whenever someone lost to her she turned them into a doll for a few weeks?” Another, more uncomfortable, nod.

“So how come no one reported it to the Pokemon League?” She asked.

“Her mom already told us. Sabrina erases her victims’ memories.” Weiss told us from her position by the door frame. Her match with Sabrina’s father was surprisingly a quick one with her earning the Marsh badge. “After erasing the memories Sabrina could put a compulsion on them to not think about the time they were missing, and to not come back to Saffron city.”

“Man, psychics are kinda scary when you think of it like that.” Ash pulled himself closer to the edge of the bed.

“Yeah.” I swallowed anxiously. “I never want my memories erased. Ever.”

“Me neither. That just feels so sketchy!” Misty stuck out her tongue.

“Well, it’s all over now. No one else is getting turned into a doll ever again.” Brock heaved a weary sigh. “I say we get some sleep, do some shopping tomorrow, and head straight to the next city.”

“Oh yeah!” Ash perked up. “Where is the next nearest gym anyway?”

“Celadon city, the gym there awards the Rainbow Badge.” Brock informed him.

“Celadon, huh.” That actually reminded me of something.

“Sarah?” Ash looked at me in concern.

“I was just thinking. Wasn’t Flora heading to Celadon city after we boarded the St. Anne?”

“That’s right! Flora was going to hang around there.” Misty sat up on her bed.

“Do you think she went to the gym there!?” Ash nearly fell out of his bed in a rush. “And won herself another badge?”

“Maybe.” Brock hummed thoughtfully, looking between me and Weiss.

“She did, by the time we got to Porta Vista.” Weiss confirmed. “She told me the night we were…watching for Brock’s maiden.” She finished, relishing in Brock’s shudder.

“Maybe we’ll see her before we get to the gym.” Misty jumped in. “We can ask her a bunch of questions about the gym there.”

“Hmp, like I need help taking on the gym there.” Ash crossed his arms in displeasure.

“I wouldn’t mind just seeing her again.” I decided.

“Then it’s settled! Celadon city, here we come!” Brock nodded.

We turned in shortly after that.

“Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to go through any trouble.”

“You? Trouble? Never! Not a single thing will make me miss our teatime. Not changelings, not parasprites nor ancient magic-draining conquerors. Woe for the poor fool that dares to try to keep the Spirit of Disharmony from spending time with his best friend.''

Knock knock knock

“Oh dear, that sounds serious.” Fluttershy got up from her couch and walked toward the door. “Could you give me just a second?”

“Of course, take your time.” Discord waved her off with an eye twitch.

Knock knock knock

“Yes?” Opening the door, Fluttershy saw a filly wearing a tiara.

“Is Discord here?”

Chapter 20: Primeape Goes Bananas

I checked my bank balance before we left the Pokemon Center. It wasn’t much after we started shopping for supplies. Brock always chose the best brands and was good at finding discounts. Ash lost interest in shopping quickly, preferring to look at the cool gear he couldn’t afford. Misty had him well in hand, but I could tell she wasn’t too interested in shopping for supplies either. Still, she treated it seriously and took it upon herself to make sure Ash and Pikachu didn’t wander off. Weiss pitched in, but she always hung around behind me. Honestly, it kind of creeped me out considering what we’ve gone through these past few days.

Still, I found myself pausing by a camera shop.

“See something you want, Sarah?” Brock noticed me staring.

“I wanted a camera but I’m not sure I can afford one yet.” I shifted my weight side to side. “Do you mind if I just check the prices real fast?”

“We’re not in any hurry. Let’s check it out.” He smiled and readjusted the bags we’d already gotten.

The store was packed with cameras and reels of film. They were mostly disposable cameras that I saw could hold a single reel of film. The example photos didn’t have very good quality though. Too bad, considering they were well in my price range.

“Anything I can help you with?” The store’s clerk walked up to us.

“I want a camera that’s good for taking detailed photos.” I explained. “We’re only looking for now.”

“Well, these disposable cameras aren’t so good for detail. They’re mainly for tourists. What you’re looking for is something more along these lines.” He led us over to a different wall. Half a dozen shelves were dedicated to different kinds of cameras. They were bigger than the flimsy disposable ones, easily the size of two of my fists. Some were even bigger and had accessories like a tripod or extendable scopes.

I didn’t need anything like that. Which was good considering the prices on those things. Most of the remaining cameras were still out of my reach but I did find a few I could afford.

I’d need to wait for my next stipend next time we stopped for supplies. It wasn’t fair to the others to splurge and not contribute fairly.

But photos of my pokemon, Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Brock and their pokemon. I want pictures of them to show to Diamond Tiara and everypony back home. To show them the adventure that I had.

I chose a camera that could take the detailed pictures I wanted. I’d have to go into town every so often to get the film developed and I’d need an address for them to send the pictures to but that was something I’d think about when the time came. I might just have them mailed ahead to the next Pokemon Center on our route. That would be the simplest solution.

We finished up our supply shopping and started down the road to Celadon city. Ash and Misty almost restarted the bike argument until Brock and I separated them. He took Misty so I took Ash.

“This button changes the focus to make fine details easier to see.” I was explaining the various functions of my new camera. “If I twist the scope a little I can zoom in on far away stuff like that mountain.” I looked up further along the path.

“Or like that phone booth!” Ash ran towards a tall glass box down the dirt road. “This is great! I totally forgot to call Professor Oak before we left! He’s gonna be stoked to hear about my latest badge!”

“A phone booth?” I glanced towards Weiss.

“They’re booths with a phone that you can use to call for help if you're lost or stranded.” She responded with a shrug. “Honestly, it’s been awhile since I last saw one.”

“Huh. But we aren’t lost or stranded, so should Ash really be using one to call Professor Oak?”

“If Ash has the spare change then that shouldn’t be a problem. In the meantime, how about we take a break and I prepare some lunch. I packed rice balls.” Brock offered temptingly.

“Oooh, sounds good! You coming?” Misty smiled at me and Weiss.

“You sure took your time.” Brock held up a lunch box as Ash walked up. “C’mon and dig in, the round ones are filled with pickled plums and the triangles contain freshly picked kelp!”

“Are you okay, Ash? You look a little down?” Misty jumped down from the rock.

“I just found out Gary already has five badges and over fifty pokemon.” He groaned, slumping dramatically.

“Oh, I get it. You feel like you’re falling behind.” Misty glanced at Weiss before nodding to herself. She put on a smile and clapped him on the back. “Well cheer up, unlike those other trainers you’re going to become a Pokemon Master your own way, right?” I shot her a quick smile over his shoulder. It was nice to see that she was beginning to accept Ash’s methods as being legitimate.

“Plus, Gary’s being driven around.” Weiss pointed out as she ate one of the triangular rice balls.

“Right, so it’s really not fair to compare your rate of progress and with fifty pokemon I doubt he’s spent much time getting to know them.” I said.

“Right, it’s quality not quantity.” Brock handed him a rice ball.

“I guess.” He didn’t look convinced. He did start eating so hopefully he didn’t feel too discouraged. “I definitely wanna catch more pokemon though.” He said around a mouthful of rice. He stopped chewing for a moment, staring at a bush across the road.

It rustled, in defiance of the still day we were having.

“It’s a pokemon!” He quickly scarfed down his food and pulled out his pokedex, ready to scan whatever popped out.

I saw white fur first, then a lanky limb.

“Mankey: This Fighting Type pokemon is known for its fantastic footwork and terrible temper. Once it begins to Thrash it is almost impossible to stop.”

“Huh, I wonder what that means.” Ash frowned at the pokedex in his hands.

“Thrash is an uncontrolled physical attack.” Weiss explained as she brought out Yun. “Basically it just starts wailing on whatever made it mad.”

Sounds like one heck of a temper tantrum.

“Maaan.” The Mankey’s snout twitched. Slowly, it eased out of the bush and approached us. It jumped side to side, and when none of us made any threatening moves it went right up to Brock and started sniffing at the rice balls.

“You want one, little guy?” Brock chuckled, keeping his voice low and soft. “Here, try one.” He offered it a round rice ball.

“Maaaan.” Mankey seemed a little uncertain. It had probably never seen rice balls before. I know I hadn’t until this journey. Maybe I could have Brock teach me how to make them so I could make them back in Equestria.

“Pika pika chaa!” Pikachu darted up and held up his own rice ball, taking a nice big bite out of it to show Mankey it was safe.

Watching a wild pokemon up close like this was amazing. It snatched up Brock’s rice ball and raced away almost too fast to keep track of. It didn’t go far, deciding to perch itself on another large rock where it could keep an eye on us and eat its treat.

“It likes it!” Misty looked delighted.

“I made them with my own special recipe, no artificial ingredients.” Brock boasted proudly.

“I’ve never caught a Fighting type before!” Ash put the pokedex away and reached for a free pokeball.

“Ash, you are going to weaken it first, aren’t you?” Misty challenged him.

“How stupid do you think I am?” He glared. “Just watch, Pikachu and I will catch Mankey, no sweat!”

“Pika?” This seemed like news to Pikachu.

“C’mon, Pikachu, we’ve fought way tougher than a Mankey. Remember Kadabra?” He knelt down, eyes shining bright.

“Chuu.” Pikachu nodded reluctantly. “Pika pika pikachu.”

“Great!” Ash jumped back to his feet. “Mankey, prepare to be caught!”

“Maan?” It looked up, stuffing the rest of the rice ball in its mouth.

“Pikachu, Thunderbolt!” Ash was standing tall and ready, sure in the victory ahead.

Too bad Mankey had already been putting that fancy footwork to use. It was inches away from Ash in the blink of an eye and then knocking him over before I could even realize what I saw.

“Water Gun.”

Apparently Weiss processed what was happening before any of us did and Yun managed to blast Mankey off of Ash. Mankey scuttled away, climbing the only tree in sight. We watched it scurry up to the top before it turned and began waving a hat.

“It stole my hat!” Ash seethed as he stood up. Before I could check on his face Ash ran towards the tree and began climbing it.

“Jeez Ash, it’s just a hat. Get a new one.” Weiss said uncaringly.

“It’s not just a hat.” Ash grunted from his position on a tree limb. “I got it from the official Pokemon League Expo.”

“The Pokemon League Expo?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah! I can’t just replace it!”

“Oh, I remember it now!” Misty exclaimed while scratching her head. “I tried to win that hat too.”

“Yeah, and I had to send a bunch of postcards to win that hat.” Ash cried out from just beneath Mankey. Just in time to be sent hurdling to back down, courtesy of Mankey.

Just as I was about to help Ash three figures jumped out ahead of us on the road.

“Prepare for trouble!”

“And make it double!”

And I started tuning them out.

“Can’t you see we’re a little busy right now? Scram!” I tuned back in to see Ash back on his feet.

“That’s why it’s the perfect time to strike!” Jessie declared. “Hand over your Pikachu, boy, and we’ll let you go free.”

“Not on your life!” He retorted.

“Yeah, not happening.” I brought out Clefairy’s pokeball. Huh, I can’t remember the last time I sent her out to fight. Maybe I should see if she could learn a move via TM.

“Maan?” Team Rocket had thoroughly distracted us from the thieving Mankey. Mankey, however, had only grown more curious.

It jumped from the tree onto Jessie’s head.

“EEEEEEKK! James, Meowth, do something!” She pinwheeled her arms back and forth. Mankey wasn’t hurting her, just inspecting her. Up close.

Mankey must’ve gotten bored though because it jumped on James next. He screamed even higher than she did. I lost the fight against laughter and the others were already doubled over holding their sides.

“Get off, you stinking hairball!” James pried it loose and kicked it away harshly.

“Hey!” I sobered up quickly. “It wasn’t hurting you!”

“It was sniffing and messing up my hair!” He defended himself, still speaking two pitches higher than normal.

“Maan…Maaaaaan!” We all looked at Primeape.

“What is it with James’ kicking things that makes them evolve and want to rip out his sternum?” Wiess thought out loud.

“What!?”

“Feh, I’m not scared of a dirty, little hairball like that.” Jessie tossed her hair over her shoulder. “It’s hardly bigger than it was as a Mankey.” She leveled a cold stare at it.

I took perhaps a bit too much pleasure in watching the disaster unfold. Team Rocket would definitely be feeling the results of this attempted heist for the next few days.

“Man, this is going to make catching it even harder.” Ash muttered before shaking his head. “I’m gonna catch that Primeape and get my hat back!” He boldly declared for all the world to hear.

The world included Primeape.

“Don’t look it in the eye!” We all took off running as fast as we could, hoping to lose it in the bluffs. It was pretty hopeless considering this was likely its territory but we didn’t have a whole lot of options.

“There’s a fork in the road! It can’t follow all of us!” Ash cried.

Brock was…not with us. But Primeape was still following us so hopefully Brock had just found a convenient hole to hide in. The fork was a two lane road so while Misty took one, Ash took the other and Wiess chose to teleport us up the side of the cliff. We took off after Primeape who was focused on Ash.

It was the sound of battle that led us to Ash. We caught up to him as he was battling Primeape. Squirtle, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Charmander, he used them all in turns to weaken Primeape and keep it from being able to adapt. His pokemon moved between and around each other easily, following his commands. I don’t remember seeing him train…at all, or at least since Pewter City and that was more like Ash charging up Pikachu by turning a waterwheel. The only other place he would have fought like this was the St. Anne. Did he really learn so much then or was he a natural?

“Charmander, finish it with Flamethrower!” The final attack. I kept my eyes open wide for the whole thing. A little streak of yellow darted between the fighters, Pikachu taking back Ash’s hat, and then Primeape crashed and burned.

“Go, pokeball!” I held my breath with Ash as the pokeball thrashed back and forth violently. Would Primeape escape and the battle continue?

Another shake, less violent than the last. One more.

Click.

“I…I did it! I caught Primeape!” Ash whooped, picking up his new pokemon. “And you got my hat back, Pikachu! Thanks!” He happily replaced his prized hat upon his head.

I started clapping.

“Sarah, did you see?” He waved his pokeball.

“I saw!” I confirmed, leaving off on the clapping. “That was a great battle, Ash.”

“Ha, we finally caught up to you twerps!” Team Rocket was panting. Jessie put on a decent façade of being unaffected by the run, but James had his hands on his knees for support and Meowth just flat out collapsed on the ground. “And now we’ll…we’ll be…Er, where’d the Primeape go?” She looked around, afraid it would jump down and ravage her hair again.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” Ash cheekily tossed his pokeball.

“PRIIIIIME!”

And so Team Rocket blasted off again.

“We got here a lot sooner than I thought we would.” Brock remarked as we entered the Celadon city Pokemon Center.

“Yeah, what with Primeape chasing us all over the place.” Misty yawned. “It’s not even dinner time yet but I’m already exhausted.”

“I say we get a bite to eat and turn in early tonight.” Brock nodded. “What about you guys?”

“I’m going to give my pokemon to Nurse Joy for a check-up first.” Ash started heading for the front desk. “I want to make sure everybody’s in top condition for our gym match tomorrow.”

“I’m glad he’s waiting until tomorrow.” Misty bent backwards to stretch out the kinks in her spine. “I think we all deserve a good rest.”

“Yeah, after dinner.” I commented.

“Looks like we still have an hour until dinnertime.” Brock checked the Center schedule, helpfully posted on the wall for traveling trainers.

“I’ll reserve a room for us.” Weiss stepped up to the desk.

“I’m going to take a shower then.” Misty decided. “A nice shower, some good food, and then sleep!”

“I hear that.” I joked with Misty.

“So let me get this straight. You’re saying that Discord whisked your friend, Silver Spoon, off on an adventure in another world?”

“That’s right!” The tiara wearing filly shouted.

“But Discord and I were having a tea party in my house for the past hour.” Spoke a concerned Fluttershy.

“And need I mention that I would never do anything to risk my teatime with Fluttershy?” Discord interjected.

“Need I mention the Gala?”

“Hey! I was invited and you know it!”

“You threatened to send one of the guests to another dimension!”

“Twilight!” A rainbow maned pegasus rocketed into the castle from the open window before halting above the group. “I searched everywhere and talked to everypony, no one’s seen Silver Spoon. Applejack’s leading a search party into the Everfree forest and Rarity is talking with the mayor.”

“Ok, Discord? You need to work with us here because this is not looking good for you.” Twilight stared sternly at Discord. “A filly has gone missing and her friend says that you literally sent her to another world.”

“And I still say I had no part in her mysterious disappearance.” Discord turned up his nose before pausing. “Although that would explain the rip in the space-time continuum.”

“What?”

Chapter 21: Pokémon Scent-sation!

The next morning we were up bright and early. We figured we didn’t need more supplies just yet so we’d leave right after our gym battle. The Pokemon Gym was located a little further out so we had a bit of a walk ahead of us.

“Mm?” Misty took a deep breath and sighed. “Smell that? I’d heard this town was famous for their perfumes!”

“Huh?” Brock took a sniff and stopped. “It smells heavenly.” Brock and Misty then began moving towards one of the stores. I, Ash and Weiss could only shrug and follow. A woman stood with a tray just outside, minding several small vials.

“Welcome to Grassy Fragrance, can I interest any of you in our perfumes?” She held up a vial of perfume.

“Oh, that smells heavenly!” Misty gushed. The bottle was open and airing freely.

“Yeesh, can you believe this, Pika—…Eh?” When I looked I noticed Pikachu had abandoned Ash’s shoulder for Misty’s and was enjoying another vial. “Pikachu! Not you too!”

“What about you two? I’m sure we could find a perfume to make you feel beautiful, energetic, and soothe away all your worries!” The saleslady looked at me and Ash. I looked behind us and didn’t find Weiss.

Did Weiss just ditch us to challenge the gym without us?

“I’ll pass.” He folded his arms. “I’m plenty energetic all on my own and perfumes stink anyway.”

I didn’t get to say anything as the saleslady took exception to Ash’s opinion. I admit, he could’ve been a little more sensitive. Misty, Brock, and Pikachu were happy to go right inside and enjoy the smells while we were left on the sidewalk.

“Ugh, I can’t believe them! They’d rather waste time with that junk than go to the gym with me?” He shook his head. “At least you’re normal, Sarah.”

“I didn’t even get a chance to smell or say anything.” I shrugged as we headed for the gym. “We should be able to see the gym soon.”

“Fifth badge, here we come!” Ash took off running which, naturally, meant so did I.

One thing’s for sure, I’ll never have to worry about my figure if I keep traveling with Ash.

“Is this the place?” It looked like a greenhouse, probably styled after a pokemon, the restrictions of architecture made it hard to tell from the ground.

“Maybe they train Grass types here.” I suggested. It would make sense considering the greenhouse and the fact that Flora wanted to hang around here. She did like grass type pokemon afterall.

“Grass types, huh? Alright, let’s go!” He bounded up the steps two at a time. I followed at a more sedate pace and saw a group of girls gathered at the entrance.

“Hold it!” One of them parked herself directly in Ash’s path. “You can’t come in here!”

“What? But…This is the Celadon city gym, right?” I couldn’t see his expression but I could imagine the wide eyed look of shock.

“It is.” The girl in charge crossed her arms. The others looked none too friendly either.

“Well I’m here to challenge the Gym Leader to a match so you have to let me in!” He argued.

“We don’t allow anyone in who insult perfume.” She declared with a haughty sniff.

“Wha?” Ash and I shared a look, bamboozled. “But why?”

“Because.” She leaned in to make her point clearer. “We make that perfume here.”

They shut the door in our faces.

Either the perfume store had a phone and they called ahead of us to tell the gym that if we arrived we weren’t to be let in, or Weiss mentioned it. Exactly how widespread were phones? I couldn’t think of anything like them back in Equestria.

I’m not sure if I was included in the ban or not but I preferred to watch Ash battle the gym leader before challenging them myself.

“What now?” Ash began to walk despondently away.

“I’m not sure.” I rubbed my chin in thought.

Weiss could teleport us in, but would the gym leader accept Ash’s challenge or would he and I need a disguise? I hoped so because I couldn’t exactly make a pair of disguises in such short notice. I wasn’t Rarity after all, though Sweetie Belle could probably put something together.

“Gary will probably have eight badges before I can even get my fifth!” He complained. “All because I insulted their stupid perfume!”

“If you’re talking about perfume, do you mean the perfume that gym sells?”

We both stopped in our tracks.

That was a voice we were well familiar with, but we weren’t used to it coming from up a tree.

Team Rocket was strung up in the tree, dangling from the largest branch

“If you twerps get us down from here we’ll help you get into the gym to challenge the Leader.”
Jessie gave us an evil smirk.

“I have several questions.” I raised my hand. “First, what’s in it for you? Second, why are you tied up in a tree? Aren’t you guys supposed to be wanted criminals? Why didn’t they just call the police?”

Jessie sniffed arrogantly, paused and turned to James. “Why didn’t they, James?”

“Well you got me.” James shrugged. “By all accounts it doesn’t make sense.”

“Oh well, back to business.” She shrugged before turning back to us. “Now what are you two waiting for!? Get us down from here!” She pinwheeled her legs for a minute, getting nowhere.

“What do you think, Sarah?” Ash whispered.

“Honestly?” I wanted to call the police. Let Officer Jenny handle them. Lock them away and throw away the key.

But that’s not what I said.

“I still want to know what they’d get out of this. I’m pretty sure they aren’t supporting us out of the goodness of their hearts like in Vermillion City.”

“Oh, come now, what do you have to lose?” James wheedled, not denying that they were the…cheer squad from Vermillion.

“You need eight badges to qualify for the Pokemon League, don’t you? There’s not much time left before the Indigo League takes place again.” Jessie pressed.

Ash’s face twisted. A delay here, a delay there, and Ash could risk not qualifying in time and he’d have to compete next year. By then Gary would probably have already competed in the tournament and would never let Ash hear the end of it.

Ultimately, I left the choice to Ash. I trust him to do what’s right and if he makes a mistake then I trust him to do everything in his power to fix it.

“I regret this immensely.”

Jessie ignored me, teasing and tugging various strands.

I trusted Ash enough to help him get a team of Pokemon thieves out of a tree. We were in a department store and Jessie of Team Rocket was trying to fashion my hair into a more masculine appearance.

The plan was for me and Ash to dress as moderately wealthy twins, gender swapped, with Team Rocket posing as our parents to sign us up for trainer classes at the gym. Ash only had to keep the act up long enough to reach the Gym Leader, Erika, and make a challenge in person.

The perfume rule was not an official rule, meaning that Erika would be forced by League rules to accept his challenge. The only real problem was getting Ash into the building to make said challenge. I think I prefer the rules in Galar and Paldea. Beat their challenge and then you can battle the gym leader in front of a stadium of people. The only issue with that was if the challenger had stage fright or something.

“Why can’t I just get a wig like Ash?” I carefully kept from groaning or whining. Team Rocket, at least these members, may not be all that competent but they were still vicious criminals. I shouldn’t show weakness in front of them.

“Wigs are harder to pull off than you think.” She huffed. Finally, she grabbed a brush and comb and started working with my hair. I couldn’t see what she was doing but I was confident Misdreavus could do a lot worse on her if I didn’t like it. “If the twerp had hair even an inch longer we’d style it into a cute pixie. As it is, we simply have to improvise.”

She was surprisingly polite as she worked with my hair, not tugging too hard or scraping the comb against my scalp. She was quick about it at least. I didn’t recognize myself when I looked in the mirror twenty minutes later.

I was starting to get used to seeing myself as a human, but the boy staring back at me was a stranger. Azureish white hair had been smoothed back into a low ponytail, a few subtle bobby pins kept the illusion that the hair was shorter than it really was. A small, almost undetectable hint of makeup to change the shape of my cheekbones and jaw. I was dressed in dark semi-formal attire that hid my figure.

“Your own mother wouldn’t recognize you!” Jessie clapped her hands. “Now let’s see how James, Meowth, and the other twerp is making out.” She grabbed me by the shoulders and steered us to the next dressing room.

Ash, I recognized, if only because I’d spent the past few months in his company. He didn’t look too happy with the orange dress he had on or the blonde wig. Despite what Jessie had said earlier his wig looked fairly natural. If I didn’t know he had black hair I would’ve been fooled. The ringlets and curls were a little much though.

“Sarah?” He gave a double-take when he saw me.

“Hey, Ash.” I waved.

“Right.” Jessie clapped her hands once, sharply. “You two wait here a moment while we get changed. Think of alternate names you can answer easily and give each other tips on body language.”

“Names?” Ash gulped. He clearly hadn’t expected this ruse to require so much forethought.

“Better keep things simple, I guess.” I tried to remember, did we introduce ourselves at either the perfume store or the gym doors? Ash might have but I didn’t talk to anyone much.

“My mom once told me that if I’d been born a girl she would’ve named me Ashley.” Ash revealed to me. “I’ll just go with that. What about you?”

“Smith?” I shrugged. Ash was lengthening his name to make it easy to remember and answer to. I was…

"Alright, now how do I act like a girl?”

That took a little bit of thinking.

“Maybe, don’t gesticulate so much.” I saw he didn’t understand. “Don’t gesture with your hands so much. Try keeping them folded in front of you, like this.”

“Oh.” He tried it out. “And that means that you should move your hands more. You’re supposed to be a guy, so try sounding more confident too.”

“Can’t I be the strong, silent type?”

Like Big Mac?

I sighed. I scratched the back of my neck and put my hand on my hip, the way I’d seen Ash do when he was feeling sheepish.

“Yeah, that’s pretty good!” He nodded excitedly. “This’ll be a piece of cake!”

“Now, now, that doesn’t sound very ladylike.” Jessie scolded, stepping back into view. She was wearing traditional looking clothing.

“Oh.” He cleared his throat. The next words out of his mouth came out in a false soprano. “I’ll get those meanies!”

“Please…don’t talk like that.” My eye began twitching.

As Ashley and Smith, fraternal twins from a moderately wealthy family, we went to the Celadon gym.

“Good luck, sweeties! Mommy and Daddy love you!” Jessie put on a show of giving us big, slobbery kisses and waving a handkerchief as she left with James.

I remember how seeing Mrs. Ketchum with Ash felt. It made me homesick for something I can’t even remember.

This…did not inspire that feeling.

“Not a lot of boys join our classes here.” The lady at the help desk mentioned, as she led us into the greenhouse portion of the gym.

It took me a minute to realize she was talking to me.

“Ashley and I both like pokemon so we both wanted to take lessons.” I pitched my voice lower and hunched my shoulders defensively. Was that appropriately masculine?

“Yeah!” Ash’s voice almost cracked and he had to cough nervously, using his hand to curl a strand of blonde hair in his fingers.

“We always do these kinds of things together!”

“That’s so sweet.” The lady giggled. “Well, Erika is right in here with the rest of our beginner class.” She pointed through the window of another closed off room.

Erika was the woman at the front of the group, holding up a board with movable picture slots. We couldn’t hear anything until our guide opened the door and motioned us through.

“Erika, we have two new students for the beginner class.” She announced. “This is Ashley and Smith.”

“New students are always welcome.” Erika put her picture slides to the side so she could greet us. “Everyone, let’s help Ashley and Smith feel welcome.” She motioned for everyone to stand up.

I think Ash and I both had small panic attacks when we saw Pikachu, Misty, and Brock, among the class. Oh look, Flora and Weiss were there too…staring at us. Don’t tell me they recognize us.

“Excuse me, Miss Erika?” Misty held up her hand politely and waited for Erika to turn around and face her. “I was just wondering, how are we able to sit here with Gloom like this? I’d always heard their strong smell kept people and other pokemon away but this Gloom doesn’t smell bad at all.” She even lightly petted the Gloom’s petals to highlight her point.

“Glooms won’t release that foul odor unless stressed or frightened, otherwise they have a fairly neutral scent. In fact, this Gloom in particular once used its scent in order to save my life.”

“Really?” Misty’s eyes widened.

“Oh yes.” Erika bent down to pick up Gloom. “You see, when I was around five years old, I got separated from my parents in town and got lost. I ended up in an alley with a Grimer in it and got cornered. I was so scared, too scared to run or cry for help. When suddenly, I saw a Gloom out of the corner of my eye. Gloom saw how scared I was and it rushed to protect me. It chased the Grimer away, then led me back to the street and stayed with me until Officer Jenny found me. Gloom’s been by my side ever since!”

“Wow, what a heart-wrenching story.” Brock sniffed, tenderly wiping his eyes with a handkerchief.

“Yeah, too bad Ash and Sarah aren’t here to hear it.” Misty sighed.

“We heard it.”

Well that didn’t last long, I thought when Ash responded in his normal voice. Misty and Pikachu took a closer look at Ash, only for Ash to push Pikachu away and Pikachu zapped Ash in retaliation, destroying his disguise. Oh well, there wasn’t any point in keeping the charade up. We were inside, face-to-face with Erika so Ash could deliver his challenge.

“I’m Ash, from Pallet town, and I’m here to challenge you to a Gym Battle!” He declared, remarkably unruffled for a boy who looked like he got struck by a bolt of lightning.

For her part Erika looked gobsmacked at this turn of events.

“I…accept.” She blinked. “But why did you sneak in here in disguise instead of just walking through the front door?”

“We tried that but they wouldn’t let us in!” He pointed at our guide, now looking extremely embarrassed.

“Sasha, is this true?” Erika frowned.

“Well, see, the thing is…He insulted our perfume!” She broke down quickly. “We worked so hard to make it and he just blew it off like it was nothing!”

“Girls.” Erika dropped her face into her hand. Even Gloom looked disapproving. “Just because someone doesn’t like our perfume is no reason to refuse them entry into the gym.”

“Um, does that mean I can wash my face?” The makeup itched. Come to think of it, so did my hair.

After a few minutes for Ash and I to change and wash up we were led to the main part of the building. The biggest portion of the green house was here, along with the arena.

“You know, Ash made a surprisingly cute girl.” Misty commented as we sat down at the bleachers. “I never would have recognized you two if Ash hadn’t blown your cover!”

“Are you kidding me? That was totally just Ash in a dress and wearing a wig. Right Weiss?” Flora just played off twenty minutes styling and makeup.

“Mm.” Weiss had nothing to say to that. She and I had more important things to think about.

“Alright, this will be a three-on-three match, get two out of three wins and you’ll earn a Rainbow Badge. ” She held up one as an example. “Substitutions will count as a withdrawal. Any objections?”

“None here!” Ash adjusted his hat and grabbed his first pokeball. “Ready when you are! Bulbasaur, I choose you!”

“Then I pick Tangela!” Erika decided, throwing her own pokeball out.

Grass type versus Grass type, but Ash had no idea what Tangela was capable of. He was probably holding Charmander and Pidgeotto in reserve, a good strategy in a Grass gym.

He briefly scanned Tangela in his pokedex before he focused completely on the match.

“Bulbasaur, keep your distance and give it a Vine Whip!” He ordered.

Decent strategy, always good to be a little cautious.

“Tangela, draw Bulbasaur in close!”

“Bulba!” Bulbasaur struggled to pull its vines free as Tangela began to spin. They reached the end of their slack and Bulbasaur scrambled for something to hold onto. Bulbasaur could only use two vines at a time though, so it had no way of securing itself and was drawn in.

“Now use Stun Spore!” I winced as the orange cloud was thrown directly into Bulbasaur’s face. Paralysis set in almost immediately.

Ash pulled Bulbasaur back quickly. That would be a trip to the Pokemon Center.

“Charmander, I choose you!” Erika’s face flickered into uncertainty. She covered it up quick and returned her Tangela.

“Weepinbell, go! Use Razor Leaf!” She started out fast, already knowing this match up was bad for her.

After seeing Bulbasaur she probably didn’t expect Charmander. Most trainers only get one starter, if they have one at all. Ash was a little remarkable for having all three and none of them were given to him by Professor Oak. Well, directly that was. Charmander was Damien's pokemon and I was there when Damien got Charmander from Professor Oak. That reminds me, I should talk to Professor Oak about Charmander’s origins. Bulbasaur and Squirtle were abandoned as well, but Charmander was actively abused by Damien. If nothing else I’d like Professor Oak to be aware of Damien’s character. I’ll make sure to mention that next time.

“Charmander, Flamethrower!” I’d gotten so wrapped up in my thoughts that Ash’s shout startled me.

“He might actually win.” One of the gym trainers groaned.

“Yeah, he’s better than he looks, that’s for sure.” I made sure to glare at that one. Then Misty caught my eye and we both grinned.

“Weepinbell, return!” Erika caught our attention again. “Alright Ash, I respect the dedication and determination it took for you to sneak your way into my gym, but you realize I can’t let you off that easy, right? Time for you to learn that type isn’t everything!” She reeled her arm back, pokeball firmly in her grasp. “Go, Gloom!”

Gloom wasn’t happy and relaxed anymore. I was very glad the spectator seats were so far from the arena itself. Poor Charmander was hit by the stench full force.

“Oooh.” Misty winced in sympathy.

“Yeah.” I nodded. Ash had no choice but to pull Charmander out. That left him and Erika even. This last battle would decide everything.

“Pika!” Pikachu jumped from Misty’s lap and raced for Ash. “Pikapi!”

“Pikachu, you want to battle?” Ash kneeled down.

“Pika pikachu chu!” Pikachu nodded, as serious as I’d ever seen him.

“Alright, let’s win this!” Ash stood up, filled with new determination. I leaned forward eagerly, waiting to see how he’d get around gloom’s stench. Distance attacks like Thunderbolt would be good. Pikachu probably wouldn’t even have to get in close to finish it.

Unfortunately, before the last match could officially begin, a voice came from the rafters.

“Jeez, is that the Gloom or your pokemon skills making that awful stench?” Jessie purred, a large vial in her hands. Perfume?

To all our surprise, Team Rocket jumped from the rafters and landed in the center of the arena.

“Prepare for trouble!” Jessie made her landing with poise.

“And make it double.” James landed beside her so they linked arms.

“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.”

He landed on their linked arms and…was that a detonator?

“That’s…right!”

Weiss pulled me and Misty down, twisting us so we fell beneath the bleachers just ahead of the blast. She didn’t waste any time after the blast while my ears were still ringing. Weiss pulled us crawled out from under the bleachers.

The gym was ablaze. Team Rocket was nowhere to be seen but there was a new hole in the high ceiling and a crater where they’d been standing.

“Silver!” Weiss yelled into my face, shaking my shoulder to get my attention. She pointed at a pokemon that looked like a group of large eggs and then toward the exit. I nodded and scooped the pokemon. I turned my attention to everyone else.

Misty and Flora were gathering a trio of Grass pokemon. Brock had called out Geodude and was directing him to move some burning timber. Geodude wasn’t bothered by the flames and Brock was already searching for trapped pokemon. Ash had Pikachu, a Bellsprout, and an Oddish in his arms and was already making for an exit. Weiss had Yun, Mien and Mr. Krabs douse the flames with Water Gun, clearing a path for all of us.

We each left with an armful of pokemon. Outside, a fire brigade had been formed. Trainers and students passed buckets to each other and a few were manning hoses. The siren of a fire truck was approaching but at that point the whole building was burning.

“Is that everyone?” I asked the gym trainer I’d escaped with.

“I don’t…I don’t know!” She cried. Now that we were out of the fire there were tear tracks washing away the soot on her cheeks.

I looked back at the gym and saw that Ash and Misty had their water pokemon out and Brock was directing Geodude to throw dirt over the blaze.

“Sarah, there you are!” Misty smiled when she saw me.

“Have any of you seen Gloom?” Erika was limping hard in our direction. When none of us answered she turned back to the burning building, fear and determination shining in her eyes.

“You can’t go back in there!” Misty grabbed her arm. “You’re already hurt!”

“Gloom’s my best friend, my partner, I’m not leaving it!” She snapped, trying to shake Misty’s grip.

“I’ll go!” Ash took off.

And I, of course, took off after him.

“Ash! Sarah!”

I think Ash and I both blame ourselves for what happened to the Celadon Gym. If we hadn’t relied on Team Rocket, if we’d just been more patient or tried to get in on our own, then they wouldn’t have gotten in so easily.

With their skill in disguise though, I can’t help but think they would have gotten in with or without us. We just served as a distraction for their true goals. All this destruction over perfume!

I’m firmly with Ash on this one. Perfume is nothing but trouble.

Gloom wasn’t in the arena.

“Where is it?” He cried, voice choking on a cough.

“Think, you’re a scared Grass type! Where do you go to hide?” There was nowhere in the main arena room to hide in. Everything was bathed in flames.

“This way!” Ash led the way to the same closed room where Erika had been teaching the beginner class. Through the glass we saw Gloom, sitting with its hands over its eyes and crying.

“Gloom, it’s okay, we’ll get…you…” Ash went in first and hit a solid wall of stink. My stomach revolted at the smell and for a second there was a very real risk that I might just throw up. We both had to retreat behind the glass again to get away from it. “The smell!”

“We’d need something like a gas mask!” I hacked up a lung.

“Please Gloom, we’re here to help you!” He called out. “Hold your breath Sarah!”

“C’mon.” He picked up Gloom one-handed, using the other to cover his mouth and nose as he held his breath.

But no one can hold their breath forever.

We bent over coughing up our lungs for a full minute before we realized we couldn’t detect anything like that overpowering smell from before.

“Gloooom.” Gloom was smiling. It wasn’t crying or shaking anymore.

It knew we were here to help.

The building’s integrity was being damaged. Pieces of the ceiling were collapsing around us and we had to be careful.

But we got out. We got out with Gloom. We got to hand it over to Erika and watch her sob with relief at having her oldest and dearest friend safely returned to her.

It doesn’t make up for our part in things.

But it helps.

We stayed and continued to do what we could to help until the fire was finally put out, thanks to the fire department. Everything smells like smoke and charcoal and we were all soot streaked by the end of it. The hour was late too, the sun had set without any of us noticing.

Mostly while the fire department did their job we kept the Grass pokemon occupied. They’d all been deposited in part of the courtyard surrounding the gym. We made sure none of them wandered off or got stolen and tried to calm them down.

Erika’s burn was only first degree. Painful, yes, but nothing that absolutely required a hospital visit, which was her argument for staying until the flames were completely put out. She held tight to Gloom the whole time.

Since I was looking her way I happened to notice when Ash quietly separated himself from a group of bellsprouts to approach her.

I followed him.

“Erika, I’m sorry.” He bowed, I followed a half second behind. “If it weren’t for me, Team Rocket wouldn’t have snuck in and gotten your perfume formula.”

“If it weren’t for us.” I corrected him, softly but firmly. “I agreed to let them help sneak us in. I shouldn’t have.”

Erika looked down at us for a minute. I risked a glance up and saw her slowly move her gaze to Gloom, dozing off in her arms. Finally, she sighed.

“Neither of you could have imagined they’d do something like this.” She said. “It was Gloom and I who caught those three breaking in this morning and instead of informing the police I decided to simply ban them and have them hung from a tree instead. I didn’t think they’d be so…” She failed to find a word to describe them.

“Thank you both for coming forward about this.” She continued. “And, even more, thank you for going back to save Gloom when I couldn’t.”

“And you know.” The change in her tone had us both looking at her questioningly. A slow smirk grew on her face. “Just so you know, I think those Team Rocket guys will be pretty surprised when they find out what’s actually in that vial they took.”

“Why? What’s in it?” Ash asked.

“Essence of Gloom.” It was a small thing, a tiny bit of revenge in return for all the damage they’d done, but it was enough to make us all laugh.

“That said.” She dug around in her dress pocket. “I want the two of you to take these.”

She held out two Rainbow Badges.

“I…I don’t…understand.” She smiled softly at me.

“The most traditional way of earning a Badge is through battle, but it’s not the only way.” She explained. “Here at the Celadon Gym, we value empathy for each other above all else. Your honesty in telling me about this and your bravery and empathy when you went to save Gloom, tell me that you two are exactly the kinds of trainers the world needs more of. So please, take them.”

“Are you sure?” Ash accepted his hesitantly.

I…

Weiss and Flora were behind Erika. Weiss stared impassively at me while Flora glared darkly. Did they…did they not want me to take the badge like this.

Not like this.

“I can’t.” I said shocking Ash and Erika.

“Everyone makes mistakes and I don’t believe you should be punished for yours.” She tried to assure me.

“No, I can’t. Not unless I beat you.” I stood firm, wondering if I was hearing Discord due to stress or telepathy. The former sounded like it should make sense, but considering it was Discord and what I went through in Saffron I wasn’t taking any chances. Not when going back home was on the line.

After that, we were given a lift to the Pokemon Center. We gave our pokemon to be checked for smoke inhalation and other things, we were given another room key, then we all took showers and Nurse Joy offered to wash our clothes for us while we slept. Because of the fire my gym battle with Erika would take place in a park close to the gym.

Despite our late night I was awake by breakfast, but I wasn’t the only one awake.

“You refused to take the Rainbow Badge.” Weiss looked down at me from the top of the bunk bed.

“I think you guys didn’t want me to take the badge that way.” I threw off the covers and sat up.

“Dam-darn straight.” Flora stuttered angrily from under Weiss’s bed.

“I mean, I think I heard Discord say ‘Not like this’ in my head.” I specified as I got up to get dressed. I glanced at Misty who was still fast asleep on the top bunk of our bed.

“Yeah, that sounds like him.” Weiss muttered tiredly.

“But why?” At their confused looks I continued. “Why does he want me to earn badges the ‘traditional’ way like everyone else?”

Flora opened her mouth, paused, and shared a look with Weiss before Weiss answered.

“Maybe we’ll tell you later.”

Chapter 22: Hypno's Naptime

My battle with Erika was rather quick, it was almost like Ash’s battle. I sent out Bulbasaur while Erika sent out Tangela and while Bulbasaur did better with Bullet Seed Tangela still managed to land a Constrict attack and Stun Spore. Unlike her battle with Ash, Erika didn’t immediately swap out Tangela when I sent out Fearow. Battling in the park worked in my favor since I could make use of the open space to allow Fearow to attack Tangela and Weepingbell from the air. Fearow didn’t even faint from Gloom’s stench, instead it took a combination of Gloom’s Petal Dance, Mega Drain and Sleep Powder before Fearow fainted. Weiss and Flora were right to suggest that I send out Misdreavus on account of her psychic moves. Misdreavus was barely phased by the smell and her Confusion and Psybeam attacks dealt a lot of damage to Gloom.

I had earned the Rainbow badge, Flora gave me the TMs for Mega Drain and Giga Drain and we were off to our next gym battle. Flora intended on staying in Celadon City for a while longer, but she was more than happy to escort us out of Celadon. She mentioned that with the gym under repairs she would be hanging around the Celadon Department Store for a while, although I thought I heard her mention something about a game corner under her breath.

“This is the biggest city I’ve ever been to. You can barely even see the sky for all these skyscrapers.” Misty frowned.

Celadon City is enormous, bigger than Manehattan even. Frankly, it’s overwhelming. There’s so many people and so much noise, at the further reaches where the Celadon Gym was it wasn’t so bad, but in the heart of the city it was another matter. I didn’t like it.

“No kidding.” Brock had his own guidebook out, but he was careful to keep looking up and keep track of his surroundings.

“This is the HopHopHop district, it’s the last one you guys need to pass through to leave the city.” Flora said with a hop.

“HopHopHop district?”

“I didn’t name the place.” She said while holding up a peace sign.

Did Discord get to name this place?

“She’s not joking, that’s really the name.” Brock sounded like he couldn’t believe it either.

“Arnold!” We were all surprised by an older woman running up and pulling Ash into a firm embrace.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you! You had me so worried!” She cried, tightening her hold despite Ash’s muffled protests.

What?

“That’s not your Arnold, that’s our friend, Ash!” Misty settled the matter neatly.

“Hm?” The lady blinked at us curiously and then took a second look at her captive. “EEP!”

“I’m so sorry for the mix-up!” She bowed profusely. “It’s just…you look like my son from behind and I—!” She cut herself off.

“Is your son missing?” Brock asked in concern. Having raised his brothers and sisters by himself this had to have been a trigger for him.

The lady led us over to a small square and shared her story. Her son, Arnold, had gone missing three days ago. She’d gotten a call from his school that he never showed up for class and he never came home. She filed a report right away but the police hadn’t found anything yet. He was simply gone.

“Could he have run away to become a trainer?” Ash asked her.

“Arnold certainly likes pokemon, but he never talked to me about wanting to become a trainer. I’ve always made it clear that I’d support him in whatever goal he strives towards.” She wiped her eyes. “He didn’t have any problems at school, his grades were good and he had lots of friends, he isn’t a runaway!”

“We believe you.” Brock reassured her.

“Huh, I’ve actually been hearing about that.” Flora admitted to our shock. She pointed at one of the walls. “Look over there.”

The wall was probably used by the community to post job listings or ads for yard sales. But it seemed that everyone had agreed to remove their posters to make more room for the new additions.

Over a dozen posters for missing kids.

“All of them over the course of this past week.” The mother turned away from it, new tears filling her eyes. “Us families of those kids, we’re all so worried doing everything we can to find them, but so far…”

An Officer Jenny pulled up in a motorcycle. With solemn remorse she began putting up another poster.

“Excuse me, Officer Jenny?” Ash’s eyes flashed with determination and he bounded right over. “Do you mind if we ask about these lost kids?”

“I have to get back to the investigation soon, but sure.” Officer Jenny sighed. It must’ve been hard on her having all these children disappearing out from under her watch.

“Do they have anything in common?” He asked as the rest of us joined him.

“Nothing we’ve found so far.” She sighed, leaning against her motorcycle. “They come from different backgrounds, have different interests, and most of them attended different schools. The only thing they do have in common is that they all live in the HopHopHop district now.”

“Please, miss.” Brock fell to his knees, grasping her hand in his. “Allow us to aid in your investigation!”

“At the moment, I’ll take any help I can get.” She roughly pulled her hand free. “Since you’re not police officers maybe more people will be willing to talk to you. I’m heading to the Pokemon Center now to ask around.”

“Then that’s where we’re going too.” Ash nodded decisively.

“You seem pretty gung-ho about this.” Misty commented as we hurried to the nearest Pokemon Center.

“That lady back there.” He meant the sad mother back in the square. “She reminds me of my mom. I know she’d be real worried if I ever mysteriously vanished, so I want to help her find her son.”

“Plus, some of those kids were so young.” Brock grit his teeth. “If it was my own brothers and sisters missing I’d be using Onyx to tear the city apart to find them.”

The Pokemon Center was busy when we got there. Lots of trainers just passing through and even more local trainers hanging out, swapping tips, looking worried. Worried trainers in a Pokemon Center meant only one thing.

Sick and injured pokemon.

Officer Jenny was already going from group to group so we decided to see Nurse Joy first. We found her anxiously studying something on her screen. She was so distracted it took one of us clearing our throats before she even noticed we were standing there.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I’ve been rather distracted lately.” She got up and closed her laptop. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“We were wondering if you heard anything about the missing kids.” Ash explained.

“Oh, I keep seeing that on the news.” She slumped a little. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about them, though I admit I haven’t been paying much attention lately. I’ve been trying to solve my own little mystery.”

“What do you mean?” Misty asked.

“I don’t want to alarm you, but there’s some kind of new illness spreading through the local pokemon.” She informed us. “If at all possible you should keep your pokemon in their pokeballs to avoid getting them infected.”

“Infected?” Ash and Pikachu both looked alarmed.

“It’s not a serious illness, at least not yet.” She quickly reassured them. “But it sets in quickly and no treatment I’ve tried has managed to make any difference.” She looked to Pikachu, perhaps wondering how often he was out of his pokeball. “Has your Pikachu been out since you arrived in this district?” She asked.

“Yeah. Pikachu doesn’t like going inside his pokeball.” Ash swallowed nervously.

“Then it’s likely he’s already come into contact with the illness and just hasn’t started showing symptoms yet.” She stood up. “Please, I beg you, allow me to examine your pikachu! Perhaps if I’m able to catch the disease in its earliest stages then I’ll be able to narrow down the cause.”

“You really think he might be infected already?” Ash held Pikachu closer.

“At the very least, he’s probably already come into contact with it.” Her tone softened. “No pokemon has died of it yet and it’s not a painful illness. So please,” She bowed deeply at the waist, as formal as it was possible to be without getting on the floor.

“Piiikaa.” Pikachu licked Ash’s cheek. “Pika, Pikapi.”

“…Alright, you can examine Pikachu.” With Ash’s agreement, we were led into an examination room. It was already occupied by several pokemon but none of them looked to be in any shape to protest intruders.

“The main symptom is extreme fatigue.” Nurse Joy explained. “These pokemon are the worse off, so I’ve been keeping them in here to constantly monitor their vitals.”

“I didn’t hear anything about any new disease before we got here. How long has this been going on?” Brock frowned deeply. He reached out to comfort the Cubone lying forlorn on one of the beds but then must’ve thought better of it.

“The first cases showed up last week. At first I thought their trainers were just pushing them too hard,” She gently took Pikachu and set him down on a free bed. With rubber gloves she started feeling his cheek pouches. “But their pokemon didn’t recover. They’re tired and listless but have trouble sleeping. And when they can sleep the poor things are plagued with nightmares.”

“Shouldn’t there be some sort of quarantine in place?” I asked, the first time I’d found my voice in a while.

“Once I realized it was an illness and not just over-training, I did put up a brief quarantine and examined the pokemon in every way I knew how.” She nodded and then put two cables up to Pikachu’s cheeks. “But no matter how much I looked I wasn’t able to find any trace of illness. I checked for parasites, I tested their saliva, and blood. And in every pokemon I’ve examined, I’ve found nothing. All the tests say they should be perfectly healthy! But they’re not.”

“Pii…yaaaawwnn…” Our eyes locked on Pikachu. “Pika?”

“Pikachu, how do you feel?” Ash leaned down.

“Pika, pika pikachu.” He rubbed his eyes.

“As I thought, he’s in the earliest stages.” Nurse joy took a seat.

“Nurse Joy, could I have a moment of—!” Officer Jenny looked surprised to find us all in here. “What’s wrong?”

“Pikachu, and all these other pokemon, they’re sick.” Ash gently picked up Pikachu and cradled him in his arms.

No physical trace of illness except for the fatigue. Characterized by insomnia and bad dreams? I’ve heard that Princess Luna could enter ponies dreams from the CMC, but could there be a pokemon that could do the same thing and cause nightmares instead of getting rid of them?

“The cause must not be physical.” Weiss stated loudly enough to get everyone’s attention. “It must be the work of an angry Darkrai or upset psychic pokemon in this area?”

“A Darkrai?” Ash automatically reached for his pokedex but Pikachu protested the movement.

“Darkrai are legendary pokemon from Sinnoh that are known to cause bad dreams in other pokemon.” Flora explained while giving Weiss a look. “Psychic pokemon can do that too, but unless everyone managed to upset the same psychic then this isn’t a targeted attack.”

“Well, I’ve never heard of a Darkai.” Officer Jenny crossed her arms. “But if it’s a legendary pokemon from a different region then surely someone must have spotted a mysterious pokemon skulking around the city.”

“Right. That’s why I think it’s more likely to be a psychic pokemon instead.” Weiss insisted.

“What do you mean by saying this isn’t a targeted attack?” Misty asked.

“It’s more like a ripple or cascade affect. Which means that, whatever psychic pokemon may be causing this, it probably doesn’t know.”

“Doesn’t know?” Officer Jenny focused intently on Weiss. “Can you be sure of that? Because if this is some kind of attack then there’s going to be legal trouble for the pokemon and possible trainers involved.”

“I’m sure. If it were on purpose it wouldn’t be so widespread. It might be a case of power incontinence. A psychic pokemon might have evolved recently and doesn’t know how to control its new power, so psi waves ripple outward without any control and hit pokemon in the surrounding area.”

“If it’s psi waves causing trouble.” She snapped her fingers. “Then I’ve got just the thing!”

The thing turned out to be a piece of equipment in her motorcycle. It was some sort of radar with a clunky antennae and a variety of knobs and buttons.

“This is a top of the line Psi Detector.” She held it up proudly. “Made by Silph Co. They just came out of beta a few months ago. If there’s an angry or out of control psychic around, this will tell us how to find them.”

Top of the line? What kind of range could something like that even have?

“It’s getting something!” Officer Jenny was officially the happiest we’d ever seen her. It probably felt good to be making progress on at least one case.

We followed the radar to one of the taller skyscrapers. The strength of the signal didn’t change when we circled the building so we entered. Officer Jenny led us to the elevator, reasoning that if they passed a floor and the signal started to dip that would give us a better idea on where our target was.

But as we climbed the signal only grew stronger.

“Whoa!” We went all the way to the roof. It was almost like we’d left the city entirely and stumbled upon some country mansion. Yes, we could hear the traffic and crowd way down below, but it seemed much more removed up here.

It reminded me of Pokemon Tech, only even fancier. Ash was psyched to catch the culprit and he sprinted for the door, keeping low and ducking to the side so no one would see him from a window. He pressed his ear to the door and motioned for us to follow him.

There were people inside. I heard them as we drew close. We exchanged looks and I subtly tested the door handle.

“Locked.” I reported to Officer Jenny.

“I don’t have a search warrant, but if they’re involved in any of this I don’t want to give them a chance to hide anything.” She grimaced. “We’ll break the door down.”

Nodding, Ash and Brock positioned themselves at the door.They both aimed their kicks close to the handle and they leaned in with their full body weight. The doors slammed open.

“This is the police! Nobody move!” A flash of light and a Growlithe was in the room with us, acting as crowd control.

We must have arrived in the middle of some sort of party. Everyone was dressed up in fancy clothes and jewelry. Some of them were carrying wine glasses.

But the most interesting part was that at the center of the room was a table with a pair of pokemon on it.

“I say, what is the meaning of this?” One fancily dressed man walked up to us. He was keeping a close eye on Growlithe and had his hands fully visible.

“We are investigating the source of a psychic epidemic in pokemon as well as a serial kidnapper.” Officer Jenny stated brusquely. “We’ve traced powerful psi waves emerging from this point.”

“Psi waves? Do you mean from Drowzee and Hypno? How could they be involved in an epidemic?” He looked aghast at the very notion.

“Excuse me, sir?” I stepped forward. “In the nearby Pokemon Center, pokemon by the dozens are suffering from extreme fatigue due to the ambient psi waves produced by your pokemon. Can you tell me if your Hypno recently evolved?”

“My word.” He reached for his pocket then thought better of it when he looked at Growlithe. Slowly, making sure not to alarm the fire pokemon, he drew out a handkerchief to mop his brow. “Yes, Hypno evolved from a Drowzee just last week.”

“Last week, the same as when the pokemon started getting sick and the kids started vanishing.” Flora cupped her chin thoughtfully.

“Please, feel free to search the whole premises but I swear to you I have nothing to do with the missing children!” He quickly defended himself. “I am Romain B. Devall, head of the Pokemon Lovers Club.”

“I have reason to believe the epidemic was not caused by malicious intent.” Though I noticed Officer Jenny didn’t mention anything about the kidnapping not being malicious. “If you don’t mind, I would like to search the premises, just as a formality.”

“Of course.” He bowed, first to her and then to her Growlithe.

“You kids, wait here and ask a few more questions. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She told us.

“Yes, Officer Jenny.”

That settled, Weiss walked up Drowzee and Hypno. Both of them met her eyes evenly. I dare say they even looked…surprised?

“Hello. My name is Weiss.”

“Young miss, you say these psi waves are making pokemon in the city ill?” Mr. Devall asked me.

“Yeah, even my Pikachu and we only got here today!” Ash grumbled, pulling off his backpack. Pikachu was curled up inside, sleeping but not peacefully. Every now and then he’d spark, which was the only reason Ash wasn’t carrying him directly in his arms.

“My word, how dreadful.” He looked truly sorry to hear it. “Please accept my humblest apologies. I’d never dream of hurting a pokemon intentionally! And if my Hypno has caused such problems it is fully on me as his trainer to take responsibility.”

“No pokemon have died yet so there aren't any legal consequences just yet.” I coughed awkwardly at Weiss’s statement. “Hypno, can you feel the psi energy we’re talking about?”

“Hyy.” He nodded, turning his pendulum over in his hands.

“And this started after you evolved, right?” Another nod.

“Okay, so you and Drowzee don’t have any older psychic pokemon friends to teach this to you.” For a second, Weiss closed her eyes.

“Does your friend train psychic pokemon? Trainers with psychic pokemon are so rare in this area, I was quite fortunate to be given their eggs as part of a business deal a few years ago.” Mr. Devall asked as he stared at Weiss.

“The only psychic pokemon Weiss should have is a Starmie.” Flora admitted thoughtfully.

“Is she speaking with them mind to mind? Is your friend a psychic?” One of the rich spectators asked.

None of us answered. Maybe Ash, Misty and Brock wanted to respect Weiss’s privacy, but I wasn’t sure about Flora. Weiss and Flora could be cavalier about revealing certain things, but they were still keeping things to themselves. I, for one, still remembered what Weiss said back in Saffron.

Could be Psychic. Could be magic.

“Weiss, are you okay?” Brock’s hand was on her shoulder.

“I’m fine.” Everyone was staring at her.

“You looked like you were in a trance.” Misty’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

“Not a trance. I was showing them a trick to keep their energies from spilling out in waves.”

“Everything alright in here?” Officer Jenny came back at a jog. “My detector told me the psi waves just stopped.”

“Hypno didn’t mean to.” I rushed to explain. “There just weren’t any older psychics to teach him how to control it! He, uh, probably would have figured it out himself, right Weiss?” I glanced at Weiss who nodded in agreement.

“Maybe in a few more weeks but we don’t have that kind of time.”

“Mm, well, I’m sure so long as all the pokemon at the Center make a full recovery there won’t be any charges over this.” Officer Jenny sighed. “But that still leaves the case of the missing children unsolved.”

“Actually, I have an idea.” Misty raised her hand. “Weiss, Hypno’s psi waves were affecting all the pokemon in the nearby area, right? So is it possible the psi waves could affect certain people too?”

“Yes.”

“Well, what if we got Hypno to do the same thing, but as a targeted attack on just one person? Then we follow that person to lead us to where all the kids are.” Misty grinned.

“Risky.”

Wasn’t that an understatement? What if Hypno couldn’t undo it?

“Drooowzeeee.”

“Hyyypno.” Hypno held up the pendulum.

“I’m not afraid.” Still, Misty made it a point to hand her bag and trainer belt to Brock, just in case. The members of the Pokemon Fan Club got a chair for her so she could sit directly in front of Hypno.

“Hypno, hypno, hypno.” The pendulum swung slowly back and forth. Back and forth.

Misty’s eyes began to close.

“Hypno, hypno, hypno.”

Snap.

“Seel seel. Seel seel.” We startled as Misty began clapping. Before any of us could react she was up and running for the door.

“After her!” Officer Jenny shouted.

“Ah, sir, could I borrow Hypno and Drowzee’s pokeballs?” I jogged in place.

“My dear, I’m coming with you!” Mr. Devall produced two pokeballs and we rushed to chase Misty. She had gone for the stairs, closely followed by Officer Jenny and Ash. The rest of us opted for the elevator.

We had to chase Misty for a while. It led to some interesting observations. She seemed to have no awareness of herself as a human being, acting totally as a pokemon lost in the big city would. She was trying to find someplace without any humans, dodging traffic and people as she went. We had a few close calls until Officer Jenny radioed her fellow officers to cordon off the streets.

“Is that a…park?” Ash was panting for breath.

“Celadon Memorial Park, it’s kept as…a nature reserve for…hah…pokemon!” Mr. Devall could barely keep up with us.

“People aren’t usually allowed beyond the approved trails.” Officer Jenny continued for him. “See the fence?”

We saw the fence. It was a big, twelve foot chain link fence with electricity running through it.

“Misty, stop!” Ash tried to put on a burst of speed to stop her.

“Seel seel. Seel seel.” Misty ran along the fence until she found a drain and crawled through.

“Looks like something cut these.” Brock made a visible effort not to double over as he caught his breath.

The drain bars were cut, rusted away in a manner that me think of a water pokemon’s attack. Water and fire pokemon working together would be able to get through this.

“Darn it, that means trainers have been sneaking in here again!” Officer Jenny cursed. “I’ll have to get someone to guard this spot until we can get it repaired, but that’s for later. For now, we have to keep following her!”

We lost Misty through the trees but it didn’t take long for us to find clues. We found discarded shoes, a shirt, a hat, backpacks and books, signs of the other kids. We followed them to what must have been the center of the park.

“Magikarp. Magikarp.” A young girl was splashing in a puddle, genuinely acting like a magikarp.

“Caaaterpie. Caaaterpie.” A younger boy was nibbling on a leaf.

“Gloom. Gloom. Gloooom.” There was a girl acting like a Gloom.

“Seel seel. Seel seel.” Misty was sitting by the water, clapping her hands.

“They’re all really acting like pokemon.” Officer Jenny’s jaw hung loose. It only took a moment for her to start laughing and crying in relief. “They’re here! They’re all here! Thank goodness!”

“Sir.” I nudged the gentleman.

“Oh yes, right!” He called out Drowzee and Hypno. “Drowzee, Hypno, please return these children to their right minds.”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” A voice coming through a megaphone scared us all out of our wits. The kids scattered, running for hiding places as three shapes came circling down from the clouds.

James, Jessie, and Meowth on paragliders.

I wasn’t even surprised. We did all that running around to solve the twin mysteries and of course Team Rocket made their daily appearance. At this point it was just part of the regular routine, with one minor exception.

Pop.

“Leaf Storm.”

“Prepare for troublaaaAAAAHHHH!”

“And make it dooooAAAAAHHH!”

A cyclone of glowing green leaves threw them back up, bending the frames of their gliders in the process, in response to Bulbasaur’s call.

“That’s for blowing up the Celadon Gym!” Flora shouted out at Team Rocket as they faded into the distance, arm raised and shaking in their direction.

“Wow, you sure handled that quickly.” Brock stared in shock.

“Yeah, well, they deserve it.” Ash crossed his arms. I didn’t say anything to contradict him.

“Ahem.” Mr. Devall got our attention. “Drowzee, Hypno, if you would please?”

Of course then we had a dozen or so kids of varying ages suddenly waking up in a place they didn’t recognize, surrounded by strangers. The youngest ones couldn’t even look on Officer Jenny with relief. The little girl who’d thought she was a Magikarp had screamed and clawed so fiercely that we couldn’t do anything to soothe her.

Pikachu woke up around then and allowed some of the more nervous kids to cuddle and pet him with good grace. Ash would pick him up for a breather whenever he noticed Pikachu’s cheeks sparking. I let out Cleffairy and Eevee to soothe the Magikarp girl and the two turned out to be really popular with the little kids. Then we just had to wait as Officer Jenny radioed her station and informed them that all the kids had been found and to please contact their parents.

We got to see the same lady who’d drawn our attention to the problem again and her reunion with her son Arnold.

“I’m glad everything worked out okay.” Misty sighed as we gratefully passed the last child to their relieved parents. I was holding Eevee now, counting my breaths to avoid tearing up in front of everyone.

“Yeah.”

“Oh Mary, I’m so glad you’re safe!” The mother of the Magikarp girl was crying. The dad too, both just holding her even though she was still soaking wet and covered in mud.

None of the kids, Misty included, remembered what happened. They’d all need to be checked out at the hospital since they’d been following a pokemon’s diet as closely as they were capable of, but no one appeared to be seriously sick or hurt. Just extremely hungry.

The parents were crying as much as the kids and…drat!

“Vee?” Eevee pawed his way up to my shoulder to lick away my tears.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” I assured him.

“Sarah?” Ash turned his head.

“Just…a little emotional is all.” My cheeks burned. I turned away to give myself a little more privacy.

“Sometimes happy endings call for a few tears.” Brock spoke wisely.

We got a ride with some police officers back to the Pokemon Center. It was getting kind of late and we figured if we were still in town we might as well try to get a room at the Center.

Should’ve known the lobby would be filled to bursting with overjoyed trainers and their recovered pokemon.

“Nurse Joy, I’m glad that dark cloud has vanished from over your lovely head!” Brock gripped her hands in his.

“Can it!” Misty yanked him back by the ear.

“Yes, all the pokemon have made full recoveries.” Her face fell. “Well, almost all of them anyway.”

“Almost?”

“Come see.” She invited us back to an observation room. There was only one patient inside, a lone Psyduck holding its head and sighing as it stared blankly ahead. “This one is still in pain.”

“That’s a Psyduck. They’re always like that.” Weiss explained.

“Huh?” Ash wrinkled his nose. From his pocket came the pokedex. “Psyduck: The Water Fowl pokemon. This pokemon suffers from chronic headaches. When these headaches worsened this pokemon can sometimes exhibit strange powers.”

“Mhm.” Weiss nodded along with what the pokedex said. “They have psychic abilities, not as much as a Psychic type but pretty strong.”

“Really? It doesn’t look like much.” Misty walked up to it. “Is there even anything going on behind those eyes?”

“Hm, chronic headaches.” Nurse Joy sighed thoughtfully. “No wonder the regular treatments weren’t working. The whole species suffers like this?”

“The headaches go away after they evolve, although there is a medicine for them in Sinnoh.” Weiss reassured her.

“Hey!” Misty’s shout caught us all by surprise. Psyduck had shifted and lost its balance, nearly toppling off the bed if Misty hadn’t dived to catch him. That was thirty pounds of unexpected pokemon though, and it jostled Misty’s bag, causing an empty pokeball to roll out.

Psyduck saw it and jumped out of Misty’s arms, landing on the floor in front of the pokeball.

It…didn’t stick the landing.

Like watching a train wreck or a pegasus dive, there’s just some things you can’t look away from. Psyduck catching itself by accident is just one of those things.

“What? No!” Misty grabbed the ball a second too late to prevent it from sealing shut. “I didn’t want to catch you!”

“But Misty, it is a water pokemon.” Ash held up his pokedex as proof.

“But it…it’s…AGH!” She screamed in frustration.

We barely managed to get a room at the center when Weiss revealed that she had her own Psyduck, nicknamed Donald, after Misty tried to get her to take Psyduck. Weiss’s point that Psyduck evolved into Golduck and that they were powerful pokemon that were well suited to battling got Misty determined to evolve Psyduck. Hopefully she grows to appreciate Psyduck for who he is.

I have top bunk tonight. Our stay in the city is turning out to be a little longer than we’d planned on. Not that I have any complaints.

Chapter 23: Pokémon Fashion Flash

“Alright, on to our next Gym Battle!” Ash whooped. Pikachu pumped his tiny fist from Ash’s shoulder.

“And I want to get some training for Psyduck.” Misty gave her belt a quick glare. “How about some practice matches later on?”

“Hope you’re ready to lose!” He sure was cheerful. A deep sleeper, thankfully, but once he was up Ash Ketchum was up. As bright and energetic as the electric mouse on his shoulder.

These sleeping habits are going to kill me.

“Where is the next gym anyway? Brock?”

“Let’s see…” Brock stopped walking so he could flip through his guidebook with both hands. “Next nearest gym is the Fuchsia Gym. It’ll be quite a walk to get there. Good thing we’re stocked up.”

“The Fuchsia Gym, alright! I can’t wait to earn my sixth badge!” He had to make an effort not to start running but thankfully for my sleep deprived brain we were standing at a crosswalk and it wasn’t safe to cross. By time the lights changed his little burst of energy had dulled enough to continue walking.

“Hm, it’s got to be around here somewhere.” Brock mumbled under his breath.

“Huh? What does?” I tugged on his hand when he didn’t hear me. “What are you looking for?”

“We’re going to be passing through a very special street on our way out of the city.” He grinned to himself, holding his guidebook to make sure I couldn’t see what he was looking at. “We should be there soon. It should be just around the corner now!”

“What?” Ash asked him just as we made that turn.

“Scissors Street.” We read off the big billboard.

It was store after store advertising pokemon breeder gear and accessories. Tools of the trade, books, food stores, salons, they had everything!

“Is this what Breeder Heaven looks like?” Misty wondered aloud, to which Flora snickered and Weiss muttered ‘phrasing’.

“I guess that explains why you were excited to get here.” Ash chuckled. “Did you want to look at these shops?”

“Yes, and there’s one in particular I want to find.” He snapped his guidebook shut and continued down the street.

This street didn’t have car access, meaning it was safe for people to walk along at all times of the day. The stores themselves were pretty interesting. I saw some interesting books through a window and lots of places had posters advertising various Pokemon Breeder Programs, including one for Lapras, I saw.

We passed some salons too. Some trainers were clearly just here to spoil their pokemon rather than preparing to compete. I dreaded coming here with Diamond Tiara, although I wondered what sort of pokemon she would have. And the Crusaders too. I could see Applebloom with a grass type like Bulbasaur, Scootaloo would have a fast flying type like Spearow, and Sweetie Belle would have something cute and adorable.

“Let’s see…Hmmm….” Brock kept scouting the area, twisting his neck around to make sure he didn’t miss whichever store he was looking for.

“Wow, look at that!” Misty walked right up to where a big poster was plastered. It featured an Ekans and Koffing dressed up…I’m not sure how to describe it. There were stars and sheets of fabric in a kind of dress for the Ekans and…eye shadow? Some sort of color powder.

“This must be the latest style!” She went gaga over it. “It’s so cute!”

“Huh, Ekans’ outfit is kind of growing on me. It kind of reminds me of Serperior.” Flora’s comment earned her a glance from Weiss.

“Cute? Seems stupid to me.” Ash was keeping his voice down, maybe remembering how a similar comment got him preemptively banned from the Celadon gym, but he wasn’t quiet enough to avoid Misty hearing him.

“Hmph! That’s just because you have no fashion sense.” She put her hands on her hips haughtily.

The main thing about the poster that caught my eye was the logo. A pink R in a white bubble with a red background. It had to be a coincidence, right? Team Rocket was a criminal organization dedicated to stealing pokemon. They wouldn’t run a salon. They definitely wouldn’t run a salon and put their symbol down as the logo, right?

“Oh! I see it!” Brock cried out, taking off down the street. “The store I’ve always dreamed of visiting!”

“Brock, wait up!” We called after him.

This salon was far more humble than the Lovely-Charmy salon. The logo was a sleeping fox pokemon and the name of the store was simply Suzie’s. Brock was hovering outside the door, one shaking hand stuck extended over the handle.

“Well, are we going in or not?” Ash pushed past him.

“How does that feel, Chancey?” A young woman was massaging a Chancey at one of the tables.

“Chancey chan chancey!” Chancey certainly seemed happy with her massage.

Brock was frozen in place, staring at the woman. He didn’t seem to be in his, now, normal state of infatuation though. This was different. More awkward and nervous.

Behind us, the bell suspended over the door rang. “Chancey darling, I’m here for you!” The…man? The person who walked in was a tad androgynous, and from the wardrobe and make-up I guessed it was a purposeful effect. For a second there I thought James had walked in considering they had similar voices.

“Chancey!” Chancey bounced off the table, fur gleaming shiny and smooth. She seemed full of energy, even more so than the Chancey normally seen at Pokemon Centers.

“You look divine, darling!” Chancey’s trainer welcomed her back and together they exited the store.

“May I help the next customer?” The woman approached us, using a towel to wipe massage oil off her hands.

“Oh, we’re just sorta kinda browsing.” Ash answered uncertainly.

“Oooh, look at this Vulpix!” Misty gasped. Behind the curtain was a fox pokemon fast asleep on a fancy chair, identical to the logo of this salon. “This one’s so gorgeous, those flowing tails, that soft and silky fur.” Misty bent down.

“Ah, wait! Please don’t touch her!” The woman started forward.

“Misty!” Flora grabbed her hands before she could make contact with Vulpix. “Are you nuts!? Vulpix breathes fire!”

“I was just going to pet it.” She pouted.

“I’m sorry, but Vulpix doesn’t like to be touched by strangers.” The woman sighed in relief. Looking down, I noticed Vulpix had one eye cracked open and she didn’t look particularly pleased with how close Misty was, Flora having taken an impressive leap back.

How Flora could remain calm in a building fire but still freakout over fire type pokemon would remain a mystery to me. Weiss wasn’t jumpy about traveling in a group with a Pikachu. Maybe it was the same thing with Misty and bug pokemon, and Flora just didn’t like fire types.

“Oh, sorry.” Misty laughed nervously as she stepped back.

“Uh, Suzie?” Brock stepped forward, standing straight with his arms locked at his sides.

“Yes?”

“Uh, my name's Brock. Nice to meet you, Suzie. Uh, I want to breed like you.” He grimaced, eyes going wide. “I-I mean I want to be a Breeder like you!”

“Oh!” She smiled at him. “I’m flattered you’d choose me as your model, Brock.”

“Yes, I want to model you. I mean, I'm flattered that you're flattered. I mean, your Vulpix is nice.”

“Is she really that great a Breeder?” Ash asked the question that I was thinking.

“Have you been living under a rock?” Brock rounded on him, making me doubly glad I’d kept my mouth shut. “Suzie Hollingshead is the three time champion of the International Pokemon Breeders Contest! She’s also been voted as Pokemon Lovers Monthly’s Top Breeder, four years running!”

“On top of that, this Vulpix is a champion in the Contest Arena, single-handedly winning more than a dozen ribbons for her trainer!” He positioned himself over the antsy pokemon. “Take note of that gleaming coat, the silkiness of her tails, the—!” FWOOSH! “…strength of…her flamethrower.”

“I’m terribly sorry about that, she can be a bit testy around strangers.” Suzie bowed apologetically. “Please, let me make it up to you. Why don’t I treat you all to lunch?”

“Lunch?” Ash, Weiss and Flora pounced.

Suzie handled tea and snacks for us while Brock dished out some food for Pikachu. “So you’re all traveling together on your pokemon journeys?”

“That’s right.” Ash kept one eye on the snacks even when he was talking.

“Getting to travel with friends must be nice. It was just me and my pokemon during my journey.” She commented. “Do you plan to stay in Celadon city long?”

“Only me. They’re planning on leaving later today, but I’m sure Brock wouldn’t mind staying as your pupil.” Flora explained, getting catty about Brock’s obvious crush on Suzie.

“Oh. While I’m flattered, I don’t have pupils. Breeding takes up all my time.” Suzie waved off Brock’s embarrassment at Flora’s comment.

“Ooh, by the way, do you know anything about that new trend going around? I saw some of their advertisements, the pokemon looked so cute!” Misty attempted to change the topic.

“New? Oh, you must meant the Lovely-Charmy’s signature style.” Suzie’s shoulders slumped.

“Their really tacky style.” I looked back to Ash and saw he’d stuffed half a muffin in his mouth.

“They’re part of a new line of thought among stylists, that a pokemon’s outer appearance is best enhanced through props and make up.” Suzie explained, not seeming to mind Ash’s poor manners.

“Vul?” Our conversation faltered as Vulpix jumped onto the bench with Pikachu, sniffing curiously at his dish. Pikachu wasn’t stingy with his food and happily offered some. “Vul!”

“Oh wow.” Suzie breathed. “I’ve never seen Vulpix eat food that I haven’t prepared myself before!”

“That’s Brock’s personal recipe!” Misty was quick to hype. “He makes the food for most of our pokemon! Mine love it a lot more than the store bought brands, that’s for sure!”

Suzie laughed, relaxing in her chair. “I see. You know, it was pokemon nutrition that first got me interested in Breeder work.”

“I’m honored that Vulpix likes my food!” Tears streamed down Brock’s face. “I’m not worthy!”

“It’s clear you’re very talented too. If you make all of Pikachu’s meals that certainly explains his gorgeous coat and shiny cheek pouches.” She continued.

“Yeah, and Pikachu doesn’t need any goofy dresses or make up to look good.” Ash put his hands on his hips, almost elbowing me in the ribs.

“Pikachu looks good now but a few accessories would really make him irresistible.” Misty countered.

Sensing a storm brewing, I shuffled closer to Brock.

“Pikachu’s perfect the way he is! It’s what’s on the inside that counts!” Ash started strong.

“I never said the inside wasn’t important but you should keep the outside in mind too!” And Misty rose to the challenge with aplomb.

“If you like their fashion so much why don’t you take Psyduck there?” Ash jokingly suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Misty stood up, calling out Psyduck. Her double-take at his appearance made it clear she was rethinking her stance. She rallied fast, shaking any doubt out of her head. “We’ll go to that salon and Psyduck will end up even cuter than Pikachu!”

“Pfft, yeah right! We’ll see who gets the last quack!” He had to lean against the table to catch his breath.

“You’ll see!” Misty had made up her mind though. There was no way she’d back down from any kind of challenge from Ash.

I am so glad I didn’t get caught up in that.

“I wonder if I haven’t been giving the outside enough attention.” Suzie’s sigh could be heard over the ringing of the doorbell. “Ever since that new salon opened up I’ve been questioning my own methods.”

“Suzie, you mustn’t doubt yourself!” Brock stood up, almost knocking his chair to the floor. “You have to stand up for what you believe in! Defend it with all your might!”

“Yeah!” Ash pumped his fist.

“But…How?” She blinked at them.

“That other salon makes a lot of style without substance, right? Then we’ll just have to give them substance with style!” Brock declared.

“Ah, so uh, how can we help?” I furrowed my brows as Weiss looked on impassively.

We could help by advertising a series of Pokemon Health Lectures for Suzie to give. Brock and Flora drew in customers and explained what each lecture would be about. Ash and I brought out our pokemon, allowing Suzie to demonstrate various techniques for the audience.

Different pokemon require different massage techniques. Giving a Pikachu a massage should generally focus on the cheek pouches, where they store their electricity. Charmanders should be given back massages, focusing heavily on the shoulders, especially as they get closer to evolving. A Bulbasaur carries most of its tension in the neck.

As she walked us through the different techniques she also talked about other things. How to check for parasites and what to do if you found some. A Pikachu with lice was a nightmare waiting to happen and anything burrowing into a Bulbasaur’s seed could be fatal.

Suzie’s lectures were proving popular. Brock and Flora filled every spare inch of space with customers and Suzie herself was in her element, calmly demonstrating everything with Ash and I as her volunteers. At the moment I had Clefairy in my arms. She was bubbling over with energy after her turn on the massage table.

“After a battle a pokemon should be given a firm deep muscle massage.” Suzie explained, showing the different points of interest on Pikachu as she talked.

“PSYPSYPSYPSYPSYPSYPSY!” Myself and a lot of other people jumped at the sudden caterwauling. People shifted to make room for the extremely distressed psyduck trying to get through.

“Psyduck?” Weiss recognized him first. “What’s wrong?”

“PSYPSYPSYPSY!” He kept crying, clutching his head like it was going to explode.

“Did something happen to Misty?” I asked as Weiss knelt down beside him, offering a hand in comfort.

“Psy!” He nodded, tugging on her hand to lead us out the door.

“Let’s go!” Ash barreled past me. He even picked up Psyduck so we wouldn’t have to wait for him to waddle. Behind us I heard the crowd murmuring in concern but I paid them no mind. I had a friend in trouble to save.

Psyduck led us to the Lovely-Charmy.

Because of course Team Rocket would use an R as their logo despite the name of their establishment not having the letter.

On a side note, Team Rocket is surprisingly good at face paint.

Misty had been tied to a chair with Team Rocket flanking either side. They’d done something to her clothes, adding accessories, a jacket, and buttons, but it was her face that really caught the eye.

I was suddenly very disappointed that my camera was in my bag back at Suzie’s.

“What took you guys so long?” Misty didn’t seem upset, actually managing to joke around despite her position as a hostage.

“Misty…your face…” Ash and Brock’s cheeks puffed out in a clear attempt to hold back gales of laughter.

“Bahaha! I didn’t know the circus was in town!” Flora…didn’t even try.

“It, um, it’s not…” My kingdom for a camera!

Ash quickly smothered his amusement. “Let Misty go, Team Rocket!”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait your turn. We’re not finished with her make-over just yet.” Jessie smirked.

“We’re conducting some important beauty research.” James nodded, flicking one of Misty’s buns.

“Beauty research?” Suzie’s voice shocked us all. She and Vulpix, along with most of the crowd from her store, had followed us. “All you’re doing is obscuring a pokemon’s natural beauty! A true Pokemon Breeder works with pokemon to bring out the best of them from the inside out!”

“Please, what would some nobody know about Breeding?” James flicked his hair.

“Aren’t breeding and fashion separate areas of expertise?” Weiss…actually brought up a good point.

“You don’t know anything about Breeding either!” Meowth snapped, swiping ineffectively at James and Jesse. “Remember this whole salon business was a scam! We bring in customers and make up dopey fashions for them to pay us hundreds for, then when a trainer brings in a rare pokemon we steal it! Why is that so hard for you to remember?”

“Oh fine, it was nice while it lasted.” Jessie sighed, forlorn. She gave us a wicked smile. “How about a trade then? This twerpy girl for your Pikachu?”

“There’s no way we’re letting you take Pikachu!” Pikachu jumped from Ash’s shoulders, ready to fight.

“If it’s a fight you’re after then you’ve got it!” Brock pulled out a pokeball.

“Then come one, come all to Team Rocket’s fabulous new battleground!” James held up a remote. Smoke enveloped the room and the sound of grinding gears filled the air.

When the smoke cleared the salon was gone, replaced with a battleground that gave Team Rocket the high ground and kept Misty well out of reach of any rescue attempts.

Team Rocket themselves were halfway up the stairs, dressed in radically different outfits. James was in a wine red dress and a wig. Jessie was dressed like a prince. They were both posed in the most dramatic position possible.

Which could only mean one thing.

“Is there a pokemon I can ask for patience?” I groaned out to Weiss as I took out a pokeball.

“If you ask us this or that…”

“The pity of the world is what responds!”

“To prevent the destruction of the world!”

“To protect the peace of the world!”

“To stand by the evils of love and truth!”

“The lovely, charmy villains!”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“The pair from Team Rocket soars through the galaxy!”

“A white hole, a white tomorrow awaits us!”

“Something like that!”

Well at least they changed the motto to fit their salon’s name.

“We’ve really got to fight on this?” Ash asked with a groan.

“Ekans! Koffing! Take center stage!” And the evidence keeps piling on. A Koffing and Ekans, paired together even with that ridiculous fashion in the way? I feel kinda dumb for not realizing it sooner.

“Should we get involved?” I heard Flora whisper to Weiss.

“Not yet.”

“Misdreavus use Confuse Ray!” I sent Misdreavus out as I wasn’t going to hang back while Misty was in danger.

“Mis drea vus.” Misdreavus laughed, the large orb on her neck glowing a sinister purple.

“Oh, the pretty colors.” Meowth sighed as he, Ekans and Koffing became disoriented.

“Geodude, Seismic Toss!” Brock capitalized on the opening I’d made. Geodude swept Ekans up and tossed it back to the ground with ease.

“Ek…Ekaaanssss.” It collapsed, too disoriented to try breaking the fall.

“Koffing-cutie, hit them with a Sludge makeover!” James called.

“Koff…” It whimpered, eyes unfocused.

I smirked.

“Misdreavus, Shadow Sneak.”

A shadow appeared below Misdreavus before extending towards Koffing. The second the shadow reached Koffing it sprung up and attacked Koffing, launching him up the stairs and into Ekans.

And that was all the opening Ash needed.

“Pikachu, give’em a Thunderbolt!” He yelled.

I braced for the flash. Once I blinked away the spots I checked on the enemy pokemon and Team Rocket, expecting them to either be twitching on the ground or blasting off into the sky.

Ekans and Koffing were unharmed.

“Wha? How?” Ash looked at me with wide eyes.

“See? Our fashions are beautiful and functional!” Jessie held up a saber. “Now Ekans, Koffing, attack!”

“Vulpix.” There was a streak of red positioning itself firmly between us and Team Rocket. To my left, Suzie appeared.

“Fire Spin.” With one cold utterance the entire world lit aflame. A raging tornado of heat that blew onto Ekans, Koffing, and didn’t stop there. Up the stairs it went.

I had just enough time to fear for Misty’s very life before the Fire Spin stopped, gone as quickly as it had come.

With Team Rocket nowhere in sight.

“Whoa.”

“Guys!” Misty shouted, still in the chair at the top of the stairs, unhurt except for some stray ash coloring her hair. “Aren’t you forgetting something? Hurry up and untie me!”

“Psyyyy!” Psyduck burst into tears of joy, waddling up the stairs as quickly as he could.

“And Psyduck, how could you just run away and leave me like that, huh?” Misty stopped him cold.

“Ah, Misty? He’s the one who got us.” I explained just as Weiss let off a low growl.

“He did?” She looked him over again. He was now standing by the chair, fiddling nervously with his hands and looking up at her with a hopeful expression. Finally, her features softened. “Thank you, Psyduck.”

“Everything looks to be wrapping up here, why don’t we go back to Suzie’s?” Brock suggested. He’d returned Geodude while I’d been occupied and Ash had untied Misty. She hadn’t returned Psyduck yet, choosing to shower him in affection first.

“The three of you battle well together. Your teamwork was quite impressive.” Suzie praised us as we reentered her shop.

“Oh please, you’re making me blush!” Brock laughed a little too loudly. He really did blush at that and coughed into his fist.

“I was impressed by your Vulpix. That had to be the strongest fire attack I’ve ever seen!” Misty declared as I heard one of the girls mutter that they’d seen better.

“Vulpix and I have been partners for years now.” Suzie smiled for a moment before something occurred to her.

“Ah, uh, Misty?” She was still wearing Team Rocket’s…style. Where was my bag?

I grabbed it and dug for the camera. Found it!

“Yeah, Sarah?” She turned towards me, unknowing. Before she could react I lifted the camera, aimed, and took the shot.

“Sarah, what was that for?” She grimaced, rubbing spots out of her eyes.

“PFFFTHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!” Ash broke down in tears. “Your face! Look at your face!”

“Wha?” Misty turned towards one of the mirrors set up around the salon. I saw the very moment when she fully took in what Team Rocket had done to her.

I snapped another shot.

“Sarah…” Her voice was more growl than words.

I edged back, trying to keep the smile off my face.

“Give me that camera!”

She chased me around the massage tables, trying to corner me. I happily sprinted and vaulted over the tables while she had to take longer rounding them. It was easy to keep two or three tables between us, even when she angrily ordered Psyduck to help.

Eventually she was panting on the floor and I was feeling the burn. Psyduck had collapsed some time ago and Suzie was giving him a massage. The others were talking, content to watch us playfight.

“You’d better not show that to anyone.” Misty conceded with a sour look.

“I won’t.” I promised.

But I will have it printed and put in an album.

“The five of you are leaving soon, right?” Suzie checked in after we’d rested a little. Misty was still wiping her face of all the paint, leaving angry red spots where she’d scrubbed too hard.

“Yeah, we’re off to Fuchsia city for my next Gym Battle!” Ash and Pikachu pumped their fists.

“In that case.” She picked up Vulpix and walked over to Brock. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Anything, just name it!” He agreed enthusiastically.

“Please take Vulpix with you on your journey.” She requested.

“What? But isn’t Vulpix your prized partner?” He stumbled over his words.

“That’s true, and I love her dearly.” She nodded, looking down at the pokemon in her arms. “But today has helped me make up my mind. I’m going to do some traveling and further my education as a Pokemon Breeder. But Vulpix gets bored when I’m so focused on studying and I know she misses having battles now and then. So please, take her with you for the time being.” She offered a pokeball in one hand.

“I…I would be honored, Suzie.” Brock accepted it solemnly. With shaking hands, he returned Vulpix. “I promise I’ll take good care of her until she’s safely returned to you.”

“Thank you, Brock. And here.” She pulled out a slip of paper. “This is my email so you can get in touch with me.”

“O-Oh! Here, I’ll give you mine too!” He scrambled for something to write with.

We didn’t stay long after that. We had our supplies, Brock had Vulpix, and it was time to get moving. Suzie had some packing to do before she left but she and Flora saw us off on the road that led out of Celadon city. An actual paved road this time, which was an interesting change of pace.

Chapter 24: The Punchy Pokémon

The next day we continued following the road. Misty initially wanted Psyduck out with us as we walked but the day quickly grew too hot to keep a water pokemon out for long. Over the asphalt we could see lines of heat and there was no breeze to cool us off.

“Chan! Chan! Hitmonchan!”

Where was…?

“Wow, a Hitmonchan! In person!” Ash grinned, already lifting his pokedex at the humanoid pokemon throwing practice punches left and right as it jogged down the road.

“Hitmonchan: The Punchy Pokemon. This pokemon packs an incredibly fast punch.”

“Oh, I just gotta catch it!” He danced in place. “Pikachu, are you ready for this?”

“Pi?” Pikachu stiffened. “Pika pikachu!”

“It’ll be fine! I know you’re strong enough to take on that Hitmonchan!” He reassured him. “I’ll even teach you my secret punch if that’ll make you feel better.”

“Since when is Ash a boxing expert?” Misty quipped as Ash began tutoring Pikachu in how to throw a punch.

“That’s…surprisingly good form.” At our stares Weiss continued. “He’s keeping his wrist straight and not tucking his thumb into his fingers.

How many fistfights has Ash gotten into?

“Alright, let’s do this!” Ash belted out his challenge. The Hitmonchan had noticed us, more specifically it had noticed Pikachu stepping up to the plate with two tiny fists raised.

“Ah, maybe setting Pikachu against Hitmonchan in a boxing match isn’t the best idea.” I almost covered my eyes.

“It’ll be fine, you’ll see! I’ve taught Pikachu my secret punching technique!” There was a fire in Ash’s eye.

Secret punch or no, small mouse pokemon against big fighting type in a boxing match? Winner is the big fighting type, every time.

“Yep, that’s… that’s what I figured.” My shoulders slumped as Pikachu was instantly knocked for a loop.

“Hey now, what’s going on over here?” A man in workout clothes jogged up to us. “Hitmonchan, no sparring without me!”

“Excuse me, sir? Does this Hitmonchan belong to you?” Misty asked politely.

“Indeed it does!” He might’ve gone on to say more but a girl jumped out from behind a tree, surprising us all.

“Rebecca? What are you doing here?” Thus identified, she planted her feet firmly in front of Hitmonchan's trainer.

“Daddy, it’s time to come home.” She stated, hands clenched into fists at her side. “You haven’t been home in weeks and the last time was just so Mom could do your laundry! Come. Home.”

“I’m training to win the P-1 Grand Prix!” He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I’ll come home after I become the P-1 Champion. C’mon, Hitmonchan.”

“Hitmon.” He and his pokemon left. All the fight seemed to drain out of the girl as he walked away.

“I’m…sorry you had to see that.” She sighed, turning towards us.

“Please, don’t trouble yourself with our opinions!” In a flash, Brock was at her side, offering a comforting hand and a winning smile. “Only tell us what we can do to help!”

“Help?” She faltered.

“What was he talking about? The Grand Prix thing?” Ash asked.

“It’s a tournament for fighting type pokemon.” She explained with a deep sigh. “Fighting types are my dad’s favorites and he’s always wanted to win the tournament but lately he’s just been obsessed with it. He doesn’t come home anymore. He quit his job. It’s….it’s been hard to deal with.”

She looked at us, studying us. She took in our travel worn clothes and our backpacks, the trainer belts at our waists.

“You five are trainers, right? Do any of you have fighting pokemon?” She asked us.

“I have a Primeape. Why?” Ash’s head tilted to the side.

“Please, I beg you, enter the P-1 Grand Prix!” She bowed deep at the waist. “Enter and defeat my father!”

“Wait. You want me to beat your dad?” Ash’s jaw dropped.

“I see.” Brock cupped his chin. “You think that Ash defeating him in this tournament will shock him to his senses so he’ll go home with you.”

“I hope so because I’ve tried just about everything else.” Rebecca sighed, still holding herself in that bow. “Things are so bad at home. I don’t want to lose my father. I don’t want my little brother to lose our father over this! So, please?”

“Sure, I’ll enter the tournament and I’ll make sure your dad goes home, even if Primeape and I have to kick him the whole way there!” Ash thumped his fist against his chest.

“Thank you!” She finally looked up, a teary eyed smile beaming up at us.

As it turned out, the Grand Prix tournament was being held tomorrow. An extra day in town wasn’t too bad. Rebecca invited us to her house for dinner and then we retired to the Pokemon Center for the night. Her family was nice, though her mother looked more than a little stressed by the situation at home. Her younger brother was eight years old and didn’t understand why their dad refused to come home.

Frankly, I don’t get it either. He could train for the tournament without abandoning his family like that. I think this is maybe reminding Brock too much of his own family situation. Mrs. Pondel has had to work double shifts to pay for everything and she looked exhausted. Brock did most of the cooking and tidying up afterwards just to let her get some rest.

He calls home whenever we stop at a Pokemon Center but I know he has to be worried about his brothers and sisters. Not sure how he feels about his dad. I don’t think any of us know anything about his mom, or at least no one told me.

I don’t understand Mr. Pondel. His family depended on him. How he can leave his family behind for this one tournament. It’s not like he had to embark on a journey to see it come true, it’s held in his own hometown!

I don’t get it. I don’t get any of this. Why did–!?

…

Calm down Silver. You’re getting too invested in this.

Tomorrow Ash will enter the P-1 Grand Prix, beat Mr. Pondel and knock some sense into him.

If only I could knock some sense into him.

The P-1 Grand Prix had a specialized stadium. Registration was the day of the event and every contestant had to be inspected by Nurse Joy prior to approval to make sure the pokemon were in good shape for the tournament. I got the impression that some Fighting types had hidden injuries from previous tournaments.

Primeape was cleared quickly and Ash was led off to the room the competitors would wait in. Meanwhile the rest of us, except Rebecca who already bought a ticket days ago, had to buy tickets for seats in the stands. Except…

“Hey Val.”

“Weiss? What are you doing here?” Asked the green haired girl wearing a similar outfit to Misty, a tank top and shorts, who was already standing in line to enter the stadium with a guy wearing a getup that wouldn’t seem out of place in an Apple family reunion.

“Destroying a man’s dreams so that he’ll go back to his family.”

“...what?/You’re kidding right?” The two blurted out at the same time.

“Nope.”

Well…she could have worded it differently.

“You three know each other?” Misty looked between the three.

“Yeah, we go way back.” The guy simply nodded.

“They were the one’s advertising Elko’s diner back in Porta Vista, remember?” Weiss pointed out.

Huh, I thought they were familiar for some reason.

“Where’s Alexis? Is he competing?”

“Nah, he’s still trying to get a water stone for Poliwirl. In the meantime, he’s also currently filling out paperwork to run a fighting type gym.” Val revealed with a smirk. “We still got a group ticket for five people if ya wanna join us.”

And that’s how I, Misty and Brock got our seats for free. Weiss declined and, with Val and their friend Billy keeping an eye on me, went off on her own to train Magikarp.

Sitting down with people on all sides, ribbing and jostling each other, calling for popcorn and hotdogs and drinks, staring down at a darkened stadium ring. Honestly? Not worth it.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEEEEEN~!” The speakers crackled to life. “WELCOME TO THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL P-1 GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT, KANTO STAGE!”

“It’s starting.” Rebecca sat up straight. In the ring below contestants were being lifted from an underground chamber. Rebecca’s dad stood out in the crowd but Ash was easy to find. He was searching the whole crowd trying to find us until Misty stood up and waved.

“FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE,” A spotlight suddenly shown on Rebecca’s dad. “THE FAN FAVORITE TO WIN, ANTHONY LEE AND HIS HITMONCHAN!” Lights came up on a few other contestants. “VERSUS RETURNING CHALLENGERS, INCLUDING LAST YEAR’S FINALIST, GIIIIAAANNTT!”

A large man in a trench coat with a Hitmonlee standing beside him. The only defining feature was his red hair… in a very distinct shape.

The announcer continued, introducing several other returning challengers with their pokemon. Mostly Machokes and Machamps with them. One person had a Machop with them. Honestly I was kind of disappointed at how few fighting type pokemon there were, although Rebecca pointed out that other regions had their own tournaments and that the winners of each one will meet up to decide who is this year’s Ultimate Grand Prix Champion.

“AND FINALLY, A NEW CHALLENGER MAKES HIS P-1 DEBUT! ASH KETCHUM WITH HIS PRRRIIIIIMEAAAAAPPE!” Ash waved to us while Primeape just snorted angrily.

“NOW, LET’S GET READY TO RRRRUUUUUUUUUUMMBLLLLLEEEE!”

Ding ding!

First round, right off the bat, Ash and Primeape against a Machop. In some ways it could be a good warm up, Machop being the only non-evolved competitor in the tournament. But if this guy had competed before then he knew he’d be up against fully evolved pokemon and he entered anyway. He had to be confident in Machop’s strength.

Up here with the crowd roaring around us we couldn’t hear what commands the competitors gave their pokemon. We could see Ash’s face though and his expression didn’t inspire confidence. Primeape launched itself forward with a Mega Kick that Machop easily blocked and we all winced as Primeape was given a devastating bombardment of Karate Chop attacks.

“I was afraid of this.” Brock hissed. He saw me looking and continued. “Primeape still isn’t listening to Ash.”

I winced, turning back to the fight.

Ash was gripping the arena rings, saying something we couldn’t make out over the roar of the crowd. Whatever it was it was clear Primeape wasn’t listening as it launched into a Mega Kick again. This time the Machop caught his foot and began winding up for a Seismic Toss.

“Oh no!” Misty gasped beside me, almost squeezing Pikachu too hard. He wisely decided to move from her lap to mine.

“C’mon.” I bit my lip. Primeape went flying. The rules didn’t include loss by Ring Out so that at least wasn’t a concern.

But a bad fall could seriously hurt an—Ash was moving!

Ash dived under Primeape and broke his fall.

If I didn’t have Pikachu’s warm weight on my lap I would’ve jumped to my feet.

Even the crowd grew hushed, waiting for Ash to pick himself back up again.

He didn’t look hurt, didn’t move like he was anything worse than shaken. He was even smiling at Primeape, probably reassuring him.

He was fine.

It was easy to see the change that had come between them. Now Primeape wasn’t wildly attacking without thought of strategy. Ash even whipped up a clever maneuver to use the stadium lights to blind Machop so Primeape could land a devastating Mega Kick.

“Well, would you look at that?” Misty chuckled. “Primeape’s actually listening to Ash now.”

“Mhm.” I nodded, smiling back at her.

They won and kept winning. He made it all the way to the semi finals where he faced a Machamp and Primeape still came up a winner. Ash had a place in the finals.

The next match was between Anthony and the mysterious Giant. Hitmonchan vs. Hitmonlee.

“IT’S A BATTLE FOR THE AGES FOLKS! THE PUNCHING CHAMP VERSUS THE KICKING FIEND! WHO WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS AND PROCEED TO THE FINALS OF THIS, THE KANTO REGION P-1 GRAND PRIX!” We were on the edge of our seats.

Anthony was a skilled trainer and Hitmonchan was top notch. They’re teamwork was amazing too. They’d been knocking out opponents left and right all day.

I have my suspicions now about what really happened but at the time it came as a total surprise. The fight started off well but suddenly Hitmonchan stopped dodging. Hitmonlee showed no mercy, landing kick after kick until Hitmonchan was battered and bruised.

“Oh no!” Rebecca jumped to her feet, trying to get around me and Misty to reach the aisle. “Stop! Stop the fight!”

“Rebecca!” I cried out. I got up to follow her, idling noting that Val was right behind me. I had to shove Pikachu into Val’s arms and wrap my arms around Rebecca’s waist to keep her from climbing into the ring.

“AAANNND TRAINER ANTHONY HAS THROWN IN THE TOWEL! THE WINNER IS GIANT AND HIS HITMONLEE!” The announcer startled us.

“Hiiit….chan!” Hitmonchan tore himself from the arena floor. He limped to the edge of the ring and gratefully slipped between the ropes into Anthony’s arms.

“You did good, Hitmonchan. Took it like a champ.” He was saying, reassuring his pokemon as he checked over the bruises.

“Oh, daddy.” Rebecca seemed calm enough so I let her go run to her father.

He turned to look at her, squeezing Hitmonchan’s shoulder one last time.

“Rebecca, I have never been so scared in my entire life!” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Trying to run between two fighting pokemon? You’re lucky your friend stopped you! Hitmonlee wasn’t pulling any punches! You could’ve been seriously hurt!”

“I…I just…” Her eyes welled up with tears. Anthony cut her off, pulling her into a hug and holding her like he…

Like he never wanted to let her go.

“Guys, is everything okay?” Ash and Primeape came running over. Blearily, I heard the announcer state that there would be a brief intermission before the final round.

“Oh, it won’t be for long, twerp.” You might as well have injected my spine with molten lava. It still would’ve been cooler than the burning resentment I felt upon hearing that word.

“No way! You guys? Again?” Ash growled.

‘Giant’ turned out to be Team Rocket. Specifically, it was Jessie sitting on James’ shoulders while wearing a big trench coat. And James was…Well.

“To protect the world from devastation!” Jessie began their motto immediately after throwing off their coat.

“To unite all peoples within our nation.” James was groaning and his legs were shaking so badly that I could almost hear them.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” I exchanged looks with Ash.

“To extend our reach to the st… oh I can’t take it!” James’ face and neck were turning red.

“Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!” She sang, still not giving any notice to her friend’s struggles.

“Surrender now… surrender now… or prepare to f… prepare to fou ho ho ho!” I winced in sympathy as he dropped to his knees. “I can’t take it!” It sounded like he was crying on the floor.

“At least finish the motto.” Jessie scoffed, climbing up.

“Uh, is he okay?” I asked hesitantly.

“And what did you do to the real Giant!?” Val demanded with her hands on hips and Pikachu having scampered over to Ash.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEEEEEN!” The announcer broke up our stand off. “IT IS TIME FOR THE FINAL ROUND OF THIS YEAR’S KANTO REGION P-1 GRAND PRIX! WOULD THE CONTESTANTS PLEASE GO TO THEIR CORNERS?”

We all gathered at Ash’s corner, waiting for the fight to start. Billy joined up but slipped back into the stands after whispering with Val.

“AND NOW FOR THE FINAL CONFRONTATION! PRIMEAPE, WHO’S BATTLED TO THIS LAST ROUND WITH TREMENDOUS ATTACKS, FACES THE FEROCIOUS FOOTWORK OF HITMONLEE, THE KICKING FIEND! GET READY FANS FOR A MATCH YOU’RE NEVER FORGET!”

And the announcer was right, no one was going to forget the match. Between the upset of Primeape beating last year’s finalist’s pokemon and said finalist reappearing, in his underwear, just after Team Rocket was spontaneously electrocuted, combusted and blasted through the roof and into the distance the audience had plenty to talk about…

Celestia give me strength.

I, on the other hand, was going to remember this day as the day when Ash gave Primeape, a pokemon that won a fighting tournament, to Anthony, a man who had neglected his family over a fighting tournament… I know that Ash wanted to let Primeape pursue the chance to become the world’s strongest fighting type pokemon and give Mr. Pondel the same chance to become the P1 Grand Prix champion, but after what he put his family through? …I know that Rebecca made him promise that’ll go back to his job and spend more time with his family and that Primeape would make sure that he doesn’t get obsessed with training again…

It was her family... She should be allowed to put her trust in her father and Primeape, not me. No matter how I felt about that subject.

I almost forgot about Val being fired up from the tournament and challenging Ash to a battle only for Weiss to pop up and tease Val with fighting her Gyrados. Don’t know what happened afterwards as Weiss teleported somewhere and Val immediately took off after her in what I thought was her own teleport. Billy said otherwise, that Val didn’t teleport, but was silent about what Val did, suggesting that I might find out if I ever went to the Hoenn region. Meeting back up with the two in the Pokecenter with Val and Billy leaving to challenge the gyms on their own and Weiss keeping quiet about the training and the battle did little to alleviate my anxiety today.

I can’t wait to get back to Equestria and tell Diamond Tiara all about my adventures here.

And watch her tell her dad about it… At least she had one parent who cared.

Chapter 25: Sparks fly for Magnemite

The next day we got a late start. There was no particular reason, it just felt like a lazy day. I even had time to fully wake up before we got on the move and we were walking slowly the whole way there. As a result, it was nearing dusk when we finally hit the outskirts of Gringey City.

There was a noticeable drop in air quality but it was the water that convinced Weiss this wasn’t a good place to be. Would it be possible to convince everyone to just push on out of town instead of staying at the Pokemon Center?

“Where are all the people?” Ash asked.

“Gringey city doesn’t have very many.” Misty had Brock’s guidebook today. “The guide says this place is mostly automated factories. The few people who do live here just maintain them.”

“Perfect place for Grimer.” Weiss muttered while eyeing the water.

“Piii…kaa…” I looked down.

Pikachu was shuffling along on the ground instead of riding Ash’s shoulders. His cheeks were sparking and his tail dragged on the ground. He didn’t even seem to notice we’d stopped at first. He just shuffled along until he nearly collided with Ash’s legs.

“Pikachu? Buddy? What’s wrong?” Ash kneeled down. As if in slow motion I saw him reach out a hand.

Weiss and I took three big steps back.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!” Ash fell to the side. His hair stuck up in every direction but he didn’t look hurt. “What was…that for?”

“I don’t think he meant to.” I knelt down, making sure to stay out of Pikachu’s reach. “I think Pikachu is sick.”

“What?” Ash pushed himself onto his knees. “Why didn’t you say anything, Pikachu?”

“Piiika pikachuu.” His ears folded back.

“Mm. You didn’t want to slow us down? Is that what you’re saying?” Ash’s brows creased as Pikachu nodded.

You know, it’s kind of impressive that Ash can understand his pokemon so well, especially Pikachu. Almost makes you wonder if he doesn’t have some latent psychic ability, or was related to Fluttershy. With Discord you could never know.

“We should hurry to the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy will be able to help.” Brock decided.

“Right.” Ash nodded decisively. Also decisively, he reached out to pull Pikachu into his arms.

I almost fell in the water with how quickly I tried to scramble backwards.

“Okay…that…didn’t work.” Ash smelled a little crispy this time.

“Piii.” Pikachu whined, entire body flinching back like he expected to be punished.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Ash smiled, even as he winced and pulled off his backpack. “I still have those rubber gloves from when we first set out. I’ll just use those.”

“Rubber gloves?” Brock repeated, cocking his head curiously.

“Ash and Pikachu didn’t exactly get along at first.” I coughed awkwardly.

Hard to believe they’d come this far.

Ash had to be careful as he cradled Pikachu. The shock didn’t reach through his clothes, only activating with skin contact, but Pikachu kept fidgeting like he couldn’t get comfortable.

We rushed to the Pokemon Center.

“Nurse Joy? Hello?” There was no one at the front desk but there was a bell with a sign. Ring for service.

I rang the bell. We waited.

I rang the bell again. Paused.

Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ring. Ringringringringringringring—!

“Coming.” A tired voice yawned. From out the back came Nurse Joy, rubbing sleep from her eyes and with her apron undone. “Don’t you kids know how late it is?”

“Sorry.” Ash said reflexively. “But my Pikachu is really sick!”

“Oh?” She leaned against the counter, studying Pikachu before she shrugged dismissively. “Just a cold. Nothing to worry about.”

What kind of Pokemon Center is this?

“A cold.” Ash repeated numbly. “Miss…You wouldn’t happen to be the oddball of your family, would you?”

“Oh no, I’m just the only one who went to medical school.” She giggled after muttering something underneath her breath.

“Aaaaahhhh.” She yawned again. “Enough joking around. Let’s get your Pikachu situated for the night. Do you mind if I borrow your gloves? I’d have to wake Chancey to get one of the electric-type gurneys.”

“Uh, sure.” Ash set Pikachu on the counter so he could take them off.

“Alright, now then.” She was at least professional as she picked up Pikachu. For all that she was odd for a Pokemon Nurse she at least seemed to know what she was doing.

Then the lights went out.

“What on Earth?” She gasped as we were plunged into darkness.

"H-yaah." Mein came out readily, its gem providing light to see by.

“A power outage?” Misty reached for my hand.

“Oh no.” Nurse Joy looked pale in the light. She spun on her heel and darted to the back. After a moment’s pause we followed her through the hallways to the Intensive Care Unit.

“Whoa, what happened to all these pokemon?” Ash hissed in sympathy. They were all on life support machines. None of them looked in good shape.

“They’re all rescues from a Pokemon trafficking operation!” Nurse Joy fretted. She put Pikachu down on a free bed and rushed to the first machine, flipping open a panel and pushing the buttons inside. With a low hum the machine came to life and I could see the Growlithe inside breathe easier.

She kept talking as she went from machine to machine. “It took hours for us to stabilize these pokemon and their conditions are still fragile! What a time for the power to go out!”

“Isn’t there a backup generator?” Weiss questioned her.

“There was.” She grimaced, standing up from one machine with a Spearow inside. “But two days ago I went to inspect it and found that it was choked up with some sort of ooze. It’s still awaiting repairs!”

Ooze?

The city was quiet, empty save for our group. We left Pikachu back with Nurse Joy and Brock. Weiss suggested that someone stay behind to protect Nurse Joy and the pokemon in case the Grimer were staging an attack on the Pokemon Center, Brock was thrilled to spend the night alone with Nurse Joy. Weiss pointing out that Brock’s pokemon were resistant to poison types was a footnote in that decision. I’m just glad that we had plenty of pokemon with psychic type moves considering poison types were weak to them, according to Weiss.

“I see the police station!” Misty brightened a little. We hurried down the street and looked through the windows.

There was an Officer Jenny working by flashlight. When she heard us tapping at the window she shined the light in our faces.

“Kids? Do you need something?” She opened the door to ask us.

“We came from the Pokemon Center. There’s lots of pokemon in intensive care but their backup generator is in need of repair and with this black-out.” I trailed off.

“Right, the pokemon from that rescue operation.” She hissed, adjusting her hat. “I tried getting ahold of the people at the Power Plant already but didn’t get a response. I didn’t know the Pokemon Center’s backup generator was on the fritz.”

“We’re heading to the Power Plant next to see what’s going on. Can you give us directions?” Ash asked.

“I appreciate good trainers like you stepping forward.” She smiled at us. “You can actually see the Power Plant from here. See those four big smokestacks? That’s the place.”

“Ma’am.” Weiss spoke up for the first time. “Nurse Joy said the generator was clogged up with ooze, any estimate on the size of the local Grimer population?”

Officer Jenny winced, this time pinching the bridge of her nose in pain.

“I wish I could give you some reassurance. The Grimer population has been getting worrisome lately. There’s been some tentative plans to start cleaning up the area but no real progress yet.” She admitted.

“Wait a sec.” I held my hands up. “Grimer? Those are pokemon, right? Why are lots of them being around a problem?”

“Grimer: The Sludge Pokemon. They are born in areas with high concentrations of pollution and will drive out other pokemon and people from what they see as their territory.” Ash had his pokedex out.

Well… that’s just great.

“All the pollution here gave rise to a high Grimer count, maybe a few Muk too.” I grimaced, casting around the streets for anything moving.

“The ooze Nurse Joy talked about was probably the first stage to the Grimer attempting to run out the people and pokemon in this area. They’re smart enough to know we like our electricity.”

“That’s a worrisome theory. For our sake I hope you’re wrong.” Officer Jenny frowned at Weiss. “Regardless, that doesn’t change what needs to be done now. You kids get to the Power Plant and see if there’s anything that can be done there. I’ll head to the Pokemon Center and prepare to defend it. Stay together and don’t go into the sewers.”

“Right.”

“Chaa….chaa.” We all turned towards the bushes in disbelief. Another rustle and then Pikachu stumbled free of the branches, panting for air and still sparking at the cheeks.

“Pikachu, what are you doing here?” Ash gasped and dropped to his knees. “Buddy, you’re sick, you should’ve stayed with Nurse Joy!”

“Chuu chuu! Pika Pikachu, pikapi!” He shook his head hard enough to twist his ears.

“Afraid? What?” Ash blinked, uncomprehending. “Why would you be afraid of us not coming back for you?”

“Pikachu was worried we’d leave him behind?” Misty held a hand over her mouth.

“Pikachu, buddy.” Ash leaned down until Pikachu met his eyes. “That’d never happen. But if it makes you feel better you can come to the Power Plant with us. Just promise you’ll take it easy, ok?”

“Pikapi!” Pikachu was so overjoyed and relieved that he launched himself forward to give Ash a 10,000 watt hug.

Mentally patting myself on the back for having the good sense to not stand too close, I swept the area with a glance to make sure nothing else was sneaking up on us.

Pikachu kept up gamely and didn’t complain. Nurse Joy still had Ash’s rubber gloves so he had to walk instead of ride. It didn’t take long for us to reach the Power Plant though. Soon it was looming directly overhead.

“Eck, it’s even uglier up close.” I muttered under my breath. Frankly the whole city is ugly. It’s no wonder no one wants to live here.

“Jeez, this place gives me the creeps.” Misty complained as we walked inside. “Everything looks abandoned.”

“Mm, too clean.” Weiss shook her head. “Not enough dust, all the windows and furniture are intact.”

“Where do you think the people are?” Ash walked up to the front desk and looked down as if someone might be crouched under it.

“This map shows the main control room!” Misty pointed to the poster on the wall. “Sounds like a good place to start?”

We started down the hallway. It branched off a few times but we ignored the other rooms and facilities. The only light came from the overhead lights occasionally flickering and Pikachu’s cheek pouches. Weiss brought out Mein and its gem began to glow, illuminating the hallway before us.

“This is just like those horror movies.” Misty whined to herself, reaching out to grab my hand with both of hers.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Ash forced a laugh. “Do you want me to break out the mask again?” He smirked impishly.

“Don’t you dare, Ash Ketchum!” Her grip tightened, forcing me to wince. She eased off quickly though.

“You should take this more seriously!” She scolded after she’d calmed down a little and we’d continued. “Everyone has been treating this as serious since we got here. You could stand to be a…aaahh…” She stiffened, pale skin growing paler under the sparse lighting.

“Misty?” While Ash expressed concern I turned my head so fast I almost got whiplash. Nothing in the direction she was staring.

Behind her? My hand unclipped Misdreavus’s ball from my belt.

The hairs on my arms were prickly. I brushed the pokeball and felt a static shock.

“I heard something.” She whimpered, moving closer to me.

“There’s nothing there, Misty.” I could hear Ash rolling his eyes.

“All right, whoever’s out there, show yourselves.” Weiss stared down the empty hall. “And if you’re a ghost or a monster, then you can stay where you are.”

Misty and Ash were nodding their heads in agreement.

I looked over my shoulder and saw a shape hovering behind Ash.

I reacted without thought. I dropped Misty’s hand and called out Misdreavus even as I lunged forward to pull Ash behind me.

In a flash Misdreavus was floating between us and… a floating metal sphere with a pair of magnets attached to it and a single large eye.

…

What? I’ve seen some weird pokemon, but this takes the cake.

“It’s… just a Magnemite.” Weiss stated from behind Ash, although I thought I could hear a tremor in her voice.

“And that’s a relief?” Misty asked incredulously. “What if it was this thing that caused the power outage?”

“It’s not a relief, and Magnemite wouldn’t do that.” Weiss was either trying to assure herself or Misty. “They like electricity, feed off it. Turning the power off wouldn’t do them any favors.”

“So what’s it doing here then?” I asked. Now that it was clear the other pokemon wasn’t going to attack us, Misdreavus relaxed as Magnemite flew past her and down to Pikachu.

Pikachu’s cheeks sparked. Magnemite’s faceplate turned red.

“What’s it want with Pikachu?” Ash asked as Magnemite was flying in a slow circle around Pikachu.

“It’s blushing like it’s in love or something.” I commented offhandedly.

“I don’t get it. Magnemite’s an inorganic pokemon, so why is it attracted to Pikachu? They don’t even experience attraction the same way an organic pokemon does.” Misty scratched her head.

“It must be the electricity.” Weiss coughed awkwardly. “Pikachu’s sick so he keeps sparking, that must be affecting his magnetic field. And a magnetic field is what inorganic electric types look for in potential mates.”

We all glanced at our little Romeo.

“He’s just following Pikachu around like a streaker or something.” Ash crossed his arms.

“Ash, you mean a stalker.” Misty corrected brusquely.

“What’s a streaker?” Everyone turned to stare at me. “What?”

“Chaa…chaa…” Pikachu didn’t seem too fond of the attention. He backed away from Magnemite and leaned up against Ash’s pant leg.

“Hey, cut it out!” Ash took his hat off and used it to fend off Magnemite. “Pikachu doesn’t want to mate with you so stop it!”

A little ruder than I would have done it but Magnemite didn’t seem to take offense. Suit rejected, it backed off into the shadows without a fuss.

Or it might’ve just been trying to get away from the Grimer.

“Ugh! What’s that smell?” Everyone but Weiss clenched their noses shut. The background odor of smog and oil had now been joined by something only a little better than Gloom’s stench. A smell that was somehow slimy and stung every nose hair at the same time.

A sound that can only be described as schlorp came from above.

Vents.

“Mein, freeze the vents!” In an instant the vent grates were frozen shut. “This way, to the main control room!”

We quickly returned Misdreavus and Mein before running.

We just passed another grate before the first Grimer dropped through. One was followed by two, then three, four, five. And then a larger pile of purple slime.

“Grimer’s grandpa?” Misty gagged.

“That’s a Muk!” Weiss shouted back.

“Muk: The evolved form of grimer. Use extreme caution around this pokemon as its slimy form contains poison strong enough to kill a human adult.”

“Put your dex away and run!” I clapped my hand on his shoulder and shoved him ahead of me. We could hear them following us, the chills-inducing schlock of their steps.

I was trying to remember alternate exits when we rounded a corner and ran straight into two workers.

“What are you kids doing here?” One of them reached out to steady Ash.

“No time! Muk incoming!” I shoved Ash and Misty forward again.

“This way! The main control room!” One of the workers took off to lead us there. Every inch of my being cringed at the idea of trapping myself in a room with one exit but I couldn’t leave the others to fend for themselves. I followed everyone in and we slammed the door closed behind us.

“What the heck happened here?” Ash turned, demanding. “This blackout is a disaster and there’s a lot of sick pokemon at the Pokemon Center! We need to get the power back on!”

“If we could, we would!” One of the workers snapped. “Those Grimer have clogged up the seawater intake valve! The water can’t get in, which means we can’t boil it to turn the turbines, which means no power!”

“Then we fight them off.” Declared Weiss.

I steeled my nerves. The Grimer outside were quiet. Too quiet. Nervously, I eyed the vents.

The door shuddered in place.

SCHLOP! SCHLOP!

Weiss and I rushed to reinforce it.

“They’re ramming the door!” I gasped. The lock broke and disengaged on one strong hit and we started moving forward every time they slammed into the door. Ash and Misty did their best to support us.

“Beat the Muk and we should—!” SCHLOP! “Scare the Grimer off!” SCHLOP!

SCHLOP!

We fell forward, half crushed under the door as it finally broke free of its hinges. We fought to get back on our feet as the wave of Grimer rushed in. The Muk oozed in through the door at the rear.

“Alright Pikachu, give’em a Thunderbolt!” Ash called. Pikachu answered.

One Grimer fell, two, three, but there were plenty still between Pikachu and Muk. I could hear more of them in the hall behind them too.

I brought up Misdreavus’s pokeball.

The vent was above us and the clang it gave as the covering fell out had my heart juddering in place. For a terrible moment I expected Grimer to fall on us from above. I was already mentally writing my will when I realized it was Magnemite.

“The Magnemite and Magneton!” The workers cheered behind us.

“MaaagneMITE!” “MaaaagneTON!”

I had to shield my eyes. Electricity arced through the air, making every hair on my body stand on end.

“Our little stalker brought some friends!” Ash laughed beside me. I risked peeking to see the Mageneton herding the Grimer away. I was happy enough with just that but then the lights flickered on.

“The intake valve must be clear!” One of the workers ran to the monitors, checking everything. “Power’s returning! The whole city should have power again in five minutes!”

“Uh, guys? The Magneton didn’t chase away all of them!” Misty warned us.

Muk was still holding his ground.

“Pikachu, you ready to finish this?” Ash was breathing shallowly.

“Pii…kaa…CHUU!” A Thunderbolt with everything Pikachu could put into it slammed directly into Muk. Muk flinched, held in place by the shock, but it didn’t fall like the grimer did.

“That’s some tough sludge.” Ash huffed.

Luckily for us, Magnemite was here to help.

It was enough, barely. Muk fainted under their combined assault just as Pikachu’s power ran out. Ash didn’t waste any time before throwing an empty pokeball. We all watched Muk be pulled inside and waited.

The pokeball rocked back and forth, release button flashing. None of us dared breathe until we heard it click.

“It worked.” He was stunned for a moment. “Yeah! It worked!”

“Great catch, Ash.” I congratulated him.

Muk was caught, the Grimer had run off, and power was soon restored to the city. The workers gave us a lift back to the Pokemon Center where Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny and Brock met us. From scattered bits of sludge and some burn marks I could tell they’d had a battle of their own. But the pokemon in the ICU were all safe and recovering from their terrible ordeal.

“We can’t thank you trainers enough for the assistance you gave us today.” Officer Jenny saluted us.

“Well you can start by cleaning up your ocean a little.” Misty put her hands on her hips. “Something needs to be done or those Grimer will just come back and start trouble all over again.”

“I think with this latest incident we’ll finally be able to start some clean-up projects around here.” She smirked. “Might even be able to bring this town back to life!”

“There is something you could do for us if you don’t mind.” Ash raised his hand.

“Yes?” Nurse Joy looked at him curiously.

Ash pulled out Muk’s pokeball. “Can you let me use your transporter to send this to Professor Oak, please?”

I’m glad to put Gringey city behind us. Now we’re in the mountain range we need to cross to reach the Fuchsia gym. It’ll probably be a few days before we get there.

Chapter 26: Dig those Diglett!

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.