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With a Bulbasaur and two Eevees as her newest Pokemon, Ashley, and her friends are making their way triumphantly to Vermillion City.
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"I just can't go one step further. We've been looking for Vermillion City for 10 whole days. I'm going crazy, where are we?!" Misty states her frustration.
"It looks like we're in the middle of nowhere. However, route 24 leads right to Vermillion City." Ashley says, looking at the map.
"Alright! Then let's get this show on the road."
However, as they start to leave, a big shadow crosses their path. And the group sees that a Pokémon on the rock is a Charmander.
"You know, if I never found Elly a Charmander would've been my Starter Pokémon instead."
"Charmander looks to be in bad shape, Ash."
"Yeah, catch it and we'll take it to a Pokémon Center for help."
"Gotcha. Poke-Ball go!" Ashley throws the Poké-Ball and Charmander goes in, but it quickly comes back out.
"It sure has spunk."
"I wonder what's wrong with it?"
"I'm gonna go talk to Charmander and see what's wrong." Then Ashley climbs up on the rock and talks to Charmander. After the conversation was over she climbed down.
"What did Charmander say to you, Ash?"
"He's waiting on that rock for his Trainer to get him."
"It's Trainer?"
"If Charmander's waiting, I think we better leave him be."
"I hope his Trainer comes back soon. Take care of yourself, Charmander."
Further down the road, Ashley and her friends find out that there is a Pokémon Center on the map. Nevertheless, it starts pouring rain and they run to the Pokémon Center for shelter.
And yet, Charmander is still on the rock trying to protect the flame on his tail with a leaf.
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Back at the Pokémon Center, Misty is serving some soup while Ashley and Brock are still worried about Charmander.
"I wonder, do you think anybody picked up Charmander yet?"
"I know what you mean Brock. I just hope that Charmander at least found a safe place to stay dry from the rain."
Nearby, they hear some people laughing and they all look over to see what's going on. They see a trainer named Damian and a group of trainers who are in awe over his collection of Pokémon.
"Yo, I thought you had a Charmander too."
"Yeah I had one, but that puny thing was so weak it couldn't even beat the weakest opponents."
"So what did you do with the Charmander?
"Ah, I left it on some rock in the woods. That thing is so stupid. No matter what I do to it, it keeps on following me. I finally got rid of it by promising I'd come back for it. It fell for it, it's probably still there waiting for me."
Ashley, Misty, and Brock realize that the Charmander they saw earlier must be the one Damian had abandoned and it is still waiting for him on the rock out in the rain. This makes Brock and Ashley furious and they march over to Damian as he and the other trainers are laughing at how Charmander was waiting for Damian to come back.
"Go and get it."
"That Charmander is still waiting for you, go and get it now."
"Why should I?"
"You had the nerve to lie to your own Pokémon and say you'd be back, now he's waiting out there in the rain for you. If Charmander's tail flame goes out, he'll die. Make it right!" Ashley states Brock's reason with anger within her tone.
"Sorry Sweetheart, but what I do is none of your business."
"You're disgusting!"
("Go help Charmander!")
This leads to an argument that almost leads to a Pokémon battle, but Nurse Joy breaks up the fight saying; "Let's break it up, you know the rules. Pokémon should never be used in personal fights. It's disrespectful to the Pokemon and their Trainer." And so, Damian and his gang leave, while Nurse Joy warns our group that they have a bad reputation and leaves too.
"She sure is pretty, I've never seen anyone as pretty as her."
"What are you talking about? She looks just like all the other Joy's."
"Brock now's not the time! What about, Charmander?"
"Right, we gotta help it."
Then they race off back into the storm and find Charmander being attacked by a flock of Spearow.
"Elly use ThunderShock!"
"Let's get it to the Pokemon Center."
"I'll make sure his tail stays lit."
They quickly wrap Charmander up in their raincoats and take the fire-type Pokemon back to Nurse Joy for help.
"Will it survive?"
"Charmander is very weak. How could you let it get into this condition?"
"Nurse Joy, Charmander doesn't belong to any of us. He's Damian's Pokemon that he abandoned."
"What?"
"Damian promised Charmander to come back for him. Charmander's loyal to Damian, so he believed him."
"Poor Charmander and Damian just left with the rest of his group."
"Joy, I'm begging you, please save Charmander."
"I'll do whatever I can."
For a while, the three of them had waited outside of the Recovery Room to be updated about the news of Charmander's health. Hours passed until Nurse Joy exited the room to inform our heroes.
"Charmander's recovering. It should be fine by morning."
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In the morning, Ashley and Misty are asleep on couches, with Pikachu on Ashley's stomach. Suddenly, Brock yells; "Wake up, everybody!"
"What is it, Brock?"
"Yeah, what's wrong."
("What's happening?")
"It's Charmander, he's disappeared from the ER!"
"I bet he's going back to that rock to wait for Damian."
"We gotta go back."
"That's no use. We can't force Charmander to come with us if it waits for Damian, even if he is a lying creep."
"She's right. There's nothing you can do until Charmander realizes the truth."
"We're just gonna have to hope for the better Brock."
And so, Ashley and her friends leave the Pokémon Center soon too.
"I thought Charmander understood that we cared about it," Brock says, sighing.
"He does Brock. But Charmander still has a little faith in Damian. That's why he went back."
"Come on, route 24 is just ahead. Once we get to Vermilion City, there'll be plenty of Pokemon."
Up ahead, Team Rocket is discussing their newest plan to catch Elektra. Which is just a machine that digs holes really well. Elly goes up to the pit and walks over it, apparently being too light to set it off. And yet, Ashley, Misty, and Brock are heavy enough and they fall into the pit. Team Rocket comes out of hiding, laughing because their plan worked. Elektra tries to shock them, but they're wearing rubber uniforms that don't conduct electricity. Elly tries to make a run for it, but they fire their "Anti-Pikachu Rubber Balloon Bazooka" which quickly catches Elektra.
"Elly!?"
"Hello down there, thank you so much for dropping in."
"Don't worry, Pikachu is safe with us. We won't lose it as you did."
("Ashley.")
"Elektra."
Team Rocket gloats for a little bit, then turns to leave but sees Charmander blocking their way. Charmander, with Meowth, translating, orders Team Rocket to give back Elektra. Team Rocket refuses and tells Charmander to beat it. Charmander instead closes his eyes, focuses, and uses a huge Flamethrower attack that roasts Team Rocket.
In the process, they dropped Elektra and ran off.
"Wow, thanks for the help, Charmander," Brock says, as he's the last one to climb out of the hole.
"You see, Brock? Charmander knew we cared, that's why it's here."
"Thank you again for saving Elly, Charmander. I'm really grateful. How'd you like to join up with us?"
"Hey Charmander! Been looking all over for you."
"What do you want, Damian?"
"I came back for Charmander. Just like I promised. So, let's go."
"Careful, this Trainer's already abandoned you once before."
"The decision is yours Charmander, just be careful."
"Charmander is mine, I'm the one who caught it, remember?"
"And you bragged about abandoning him, remember?"
Damian laughs and says he did that to toughen Charmander up. He also says, "What's wrong with dumping a weak Pokémon?" Damian also brags that he didn't have to toughen Charmander up, making Misty and Brock yell at him.
"That's terrible!"
"Raising a Pokemon is the best part of being a Trainer!"
"You wish, it's the most boring part of the job."
"How dare you call yourself a Pokemon Trainer!"
"You see? He doesn't care about you. He just wants to use you to win matches."
"Charmander Return!" Damian throws Poké-Ball at Charmander but Charmander, realizing that Damian doesn't care about him, whips its tail to knock back Poké-Ball to Damian's face. Ash, Misty, Brock, and Elektra are shocked as Damian is angered.
"That does it I'll crush you with every Pokémon I've got!" However, Charmander burns him by using a Flamethrower, and Elly shocks Damian using her Thunderbolt.
"Boo ooh, mommy!" Damian sobs as he runs away.
"Way to go, Charmander!"
"Yeah, good work!"
"Go ahead, Ashley. Charmander's all yours."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Of course! He'll be a great Pokemon for you. And I have faith that you'll raise Charmander to become a great Pokemon.
"Thank you, Brock. Welcome to the group Charmander," Ashley says as she throws out a Poké-Ball. And Charmander dives in, eager to be Ashley's Pokémon.
"You got a Pokemon and a new friend."
"Yeah."
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And so, Charmander joins Ashley and her friends on their journey. Maybe getting lost isn't so bad after all. Especially when you're lost with your friends! Of course, finding your way with your friends is even better.
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Ashley's Pokemon:
Elektra (female Pikachu)
Aoi (Female Lucario)
Poliwhirl (Male)
Shelly (Female Cubone)
Butterfree (Male)
Pidgeotto (Female)
Suzumebachi (Female Beedrill)
Sandshrew (Male)
Juliet (Female Nidoran)
Romeo (Male Nidoran)
Kori (Female Eevee)
Mizu (Male Eevee)
Bulbasaur (Male)
Charmander (Male)