When we leave the Pokemon Village, we groan a little because Gary is now in front of us. I don't know why he's here, but for some reason, I don't like it... "Yo! Ashy Boy! You're still struggling along back here?"
"Not really, what about you?" I decide to play nice and ask.
"I'm doing great! I caught a bunch of strong and smart Pokémon! Here, let me see what you caught with a battle!"
So he wants a battle, that's fine for me. He goes for four Pokemon: Pidgeotto, Rattata, Abra, and his own Squirtle. I decide to go with Pikachu, Female Nidoran, Clefable, and Bulbasaur. He might be having a great ego because of his grandfather, but I still win the battle.
"Hey! Take it easy! You won already!" Gary tries to brush it off and says, "Hey, guess what? I went to Bill's and got him to show me his rare Pokémon. That added a lot of pages to my Pokédex! After all, Bill's world-famous as a PokéManiac. He invented the Pokémon Storage System on PC, too. Since you're using his system, go thank him. Well, I better go rolling! Smell ya later!"
"Yeah, we hope not to see you again." Insey sighs, but then he stops again and says, "Oh yeah, right. I feel sorry for you. No, really. You're always plodding behind me. So here, I'll give you a little present as a favor. A chatty gossip like you."
Then he gives me a Fame Checker. I know about this one since it records about other people. Gary says, "That thing's perfect. I don't need it because I don't give a hoot about others. All right, this time I really am gone. Smell ya!"
After he leaves, Serena says, "Glad to see that he's acting nice a little."
"Yeah." I say while putting the item away. Brock says, "Looks like we're now at the Nugget Bridge."
"You're right, it is said that those who beat all the trainers on the bridge will be receiving a Nugget, which probably costs a lot of money." Misty says.
"Sounds like a challenge to me." Then we decide to battle the trainers on the bridge, and after we defeated all the trainers, a man in front of us says, "Congratulations, you beat our trainers! Here's your prize!"
And as the name implies, we got the Nugget from the man. But after we get the Nugget, the man suddenly turns into a Team Rocket grunt and says, "By the way, how would you like to join Team Rocket?"
"Like we will join Team Rocket!" We realize that the whole Nugget Bridge is what Team Rocket used to recruit members, and we decide to battle the grunt, he uses Zubat and Koffing, but they are no match for Pikachu.
The grunt is trying to run away, but it is teleported away by a mysterious force. Yellow asks, "Hey, where did that trainer go?"
"It was teleported away by an Abra." Serena says while pointing at the Pokemon.
"An Abra... this is going to be a tricky one to capture. Considering its only move is Teleport." I say as I throw a Pokeball, and like I said, Abra just teleports away. Insey says, "What should we do to stop it from teleporting?"
"I think I have an idea. Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" I say, and Pikachu manages to make it paralyzed. Then I throw the Pokeball again, and this time Abra is captured.
Abra: The Psi Pokemon. Psychic Type. Using its ability to read minds, it will identify impending danger and Teleport to safety.
We send the Pokemon back out again and asks, "So Abra, where did you teleport that grunt?"
The Abra says, "A nearby Police station, duh." And suddenly, it starts to glow and Serena asks, "Evolving already?"
And now the Pokemon in front of us is a Kadabra. Ash says, "It's a Kadabra..."
Kadabra: The Psi Pokemon. Psychic Type. Evolve from Abra at LV:16. It emits special alpha waves from its body that induce headaches just by being close by.
"Okay, I wasn't expecting to have an evolution right away." Brock says. "But it has to be already Level 16 when you captured it."
"Yeah. And now that I think of it, I can probably evolve it into an Alakazam as well." Ash says.
"Right, Kadabra evolves into Alakazam by trading. And now our phones can help us trade Pokemon." Insey says.
Then with Insey helping them out, they trade the Kadabra and help it evolve into an Alakazam.
Alakazam: The Psi Pokemon. Psychic Type. Evolve from Kadabra by trading. Its brain can outperform a super-computer. Its intelligence quotient is said to be 5,000.
"I can't believe just within minutes, you turn an Abra into an Alakazam in the end..." Misty says.
"But I'm not complaining about it. Having an Alakazam is cool." Serena says.
As we continue moving, I notice that there aren't any new Pokemon but Spearow around here. Brock tries to prank Misty with the bug, and he got kicked in the face.
But when we continue moving, we find a Charmander lying on a rock. Serena says, "A Charmander?"
The Charmander yawns, and I say, "Why is it on a rock?"
"I don't know, but do you think it's a wild Charmander?" Insey asks.
"Maybe you should capture it because it looks like it's in bad shape and we should probably bring it to the Pokemon Center for help."
Then I decide to throw the Pokeball, but the Charmander just uses its tail to knock it back to me. I say, "It looks pretty healthy to me."
Brock says, "Take a look at the flame on its tail. There's no way it still has the strength to battle."
Serena says, "Maybe Charla can talk to him first?" She throws the Pokeball and sends out her Charmander. Misty asks, "Charla? When did you give her a nickname?"
"We decided a lot of days ago." I say.
Charla asks, "What are you doing here? Did you know that your flame is weaker?"
The Charmander stares at Charla and feels a little heart beating. He says, "I'm waiting for my trainer to come back. If I leave, he would have missed me."
"I see... so if it's waiting for his own trainer, then I think we should better leave." Yellow suggests.
"You're right. I hope his trainer comes back soon." I say.
Then we all bid the Charmander farewell, although I could see that he was sad that Charla is leaving with us. I frown and say, "Hey, do you think Charmander was abandoned?"
"Why do you think so?" Insey asks.
"Well, I was just worried about him." I say while looking up at the dark clouds approaching.
Then we arrive at the Pokemon Center to heal Pokemon, and then we hear someone laughing nearby. We find that a trainer named Damian is surrounded by a group of people, and he also has a lot of Pokeballs in front of him. Strange, I thought that a trainer can only have 6 Pokemon in the team unless he has a remote PC like us.
"I thought you have a Charmander too." A boy says to Damien.
"Yeah, I had one. But that puny thing was so weak it couldn't even beat the weakest opponent." Damien laughs.
We were a little eavesdropping, and Misty says, "I don't like his attitude."
"Charmander maybe weak against Water Pokemon, but their trainers work hard, it can even be strong." Brock says.
"So what do you do to him?" One goon asks.
"Meh, I left him on a rock in the woods, that thing was so stupid, no matter what I did to it, he kept following me. I finally got rid of him by promising I'd come back for it. He fell for it, he was probably still there waiting for me." Then his friends laugh.
I grit my teeth in anger. He's the one who abandoned the Charmander. I decide to confront the trainer by grabbing his collar. "You've better go and get it. That Charmander is still waiting for you. Go and get it now."
I give him a menacing glare, but he doesn't seem to be fazed. "Why should I?"
"You lied to your Pokemon and said you'd be back. And now it's waiting for you under this rain. If its flame on the tail went out, it would probably die!"
He shakes off my hold and says, "What I do to him is not your business."
"You're disgusting." Misty says.
"You want to fight with me?" Damien says as he tries to pick a Pokeball, but Nurse Joy stops us and says, "Let's break it up. You know the rules! Pokemon are never used in personal fights! It's disrespectful to the Pokemon and their trainers."
"Yeah, tell the one who started it." Damien says and his goons leave. So he's trying to play the victim, huh?
"I think you'd be better off not to get mixed up with them. They have a really bad reputation." Nurse Joy says.
I ignore Brock's affection towards Nurse Joy, and I decide to run off.
"Brother! Where are you going?" Insey yells.
"Saving the Charmander!" Ash says.
"Wait, I'll come with you." Serena says. Pikachu and Charla also come with us and rush out. Misty and Brock wanted to, but Insey stops them. "The weather is not nice now, we can only hope that they are fine."
The four of us manage to find the Charmander, and he's trying to use the leaf as an umbrella, but the Spearows are attacking him.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Serena throws the rocks at the Spearow, and I take off my raincoat and wrap it around Charmander. Serena yells, "Thunderbolt! Pikachu!"
After the Spearow fly away, Pikachu turns to see us on the ground. "Next time you shouldn't shock us as well..." I mutter with electricity over my body.
"Sorry." Pikachu says.
"The tail is almost out..." After I get back up, I notice the Charmander's tail flame is about to put off. Then we rush back to the Pokemon Center in a hurry.
"Ash! Serena!" Brock and Misty are sighing in relief that Ash is safe. Insey asks, "How is Charmander?"
"Talk later, its health is in danger." Ash says as he takes the Pokemon to Nurse Joy.
"There's not much time." Nurse Joy says as we quickly bring him to the bed. After trying to heal him up, I ask, "Is he okay?"
"His tail is getting weak. How could you get it into this condition?" Nurse Joy scolded them.
Serena says, "Nurse Joy. This is not our Charmander. Damien is the one who abandoned it. He lied to him that he would come back for him and leave him on the rock."
"Poor Charmander..." Nurse Joy frowns.
"Nurse Joy. I'm begging you. Please save Charmander. He has to get better." I say, and Charla is also showing her concern with the Charmander.
"I am sorry for doubting you. I will do what I can." Nurse Joy says.
After an intense and distressing wait, Nurse Joy finally comes out of the operating room and reports success. The Charmander has pulled through, and it will be fine by morning.
When morning comes, Serena, Insey, Yellow, Misty, Brock, and I are asleep on couches in the lobby, Pikachu and Charla asleep below. But when I wake up, I realize that Charmander is gone.
"Guys! Wake up!" I yell to the others, who slowly wake up. Yellow asks, "What's the matter?"
"It's Charmander. He has disappeared from the ER!" I yell. "I think he went back to that rock to wait for Damien!"
"Even if he released it, why is he still loyal to him?" Insey is amazed at the loyalty.
"If it is his choice, then we can't force him. We can only wait for him to realize the truth..." Serena says.
"But still..." We still decide to leave the Pokemon Center to find Charmander. But we are careless as we fall into a trap made by Team Rocket.
"Don't tell me Team Rocket did this..." Insey says.
And much to our annoyance, they appear with some sort of protection suit, and I yell, "Pikachu! Run!"
Pikachu tries to run, but they fire some sort of red bubble and it keeps chasing after him. When the bubble catches him, it traps him inside. Pikachu tries to use Thunderbolt, but it can't break.
But before they can leave, the Charmander comes and yells, "Give Pikachu back to those guys right now."
"You've got to be kidding." "Now step aside, you insolent firebug. We don't have time to play with you." "Team Rocket plays rough, so get moving."
Charmander is furious, and he goes for the Flamethrower, which also breaks the protection suit and also the bubble that traps Pikachu. And the three of them also run off.
After we get out of the hole, I say, "Thanks for your help, Charmander."
"Yeah, it seems that he knew we cared." Insey says.
"I've been looking all over for you, Charmander." Just then, Damien shows up, much to our anger.
"It is you, what do you want?" Serena asks in anger.
"As I promised, I am here for Charmander, abandoning him was a good choice, he sure got stronger."
He tries to throw a Pokeball, but Charmander throws it back to his face.
"You had lost my trust, I will never go with you again!" Charmander says, much to everyone's delight.
"You little..." Damien yells.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on him!" Ash says coldly. Pikachu fires a Thunderbolt and Charmander shoots another Flamethrower, causing Damian to get hit. He is furious, and he turns to Ash, "Fine I don't need something as weak as a Charmander, as for you, I heard you were partaking in the league, I will destroy you and the Charmander!" Then he leaves angrily.
"Now that is done. Charmander, do you want to go with me?" Ash asks him, he agrees and goes into Ash's arms. Ash then captures it with a Pokeball.
Charmander: The Lizard Pokemon: Fire Type. The flame at the tip of its tail makes a sound as it burns. You can only hear it in quiet places.
Here is a new chapter, and now Ash gets his own male Charmander, I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be Route 25.
Ash + Serena's Pokemon:
Bulbasaur, Charmander x2, Butterfree, Beedrill, Pidgeotto, Rattata, Spearow, Ekans, Pikachu, Sandshrew, Nidoran (F), Nidoran (M), Clefable, Wigglytuff, Zubat, Oddish, Paras, Alakazam, Bellsprout, Geodude, Magikarp (S)
Insey's Pokemon:
Bulbasaur, Beedrill, Pidgey, Spearow, Zubat, Paras
Misty's Pokemon:
Goldeen, Staryu, Starmie
Yellow's Pokemon:
Rattata, Pikachu, Geodude
Brock's Pokemon:
Zubat, Geodude, Onix