Ash's Pokémon Journey

The Abandoned starter trio

After earning his second gym badge, Ash and his friends are off to Vermillion city. They are currently walking on a path through a forest, when they noticed what looked like a trio of different Pokémon, sitting on a rock. Ash: "Hey look... those are..." Brock: "A Charmander, a Bulbasaur and a Squirtle." said Brock, before Ash pulls out his Pokédex to find out more about the trio. Pokédex: [Bulbasaur is the Grass type starter of the Kanto region, with the body of an animal and the plant bulb on it's back, no one is sure if it's an animal or plant.] [Charmander is the fire type starter of Kanto, it can live as long as the flame on it's tail does not go out.] [Squirtle is the water type starter of Kanto, it can shoot a powerful water gun attack from it's mouth and has a tough shell.] Misty: "Wow, those are all three of the starters you get in Kanto." Ash: "Yeah... but what are they doing on that rock over there?" asked Ash, before Pikachu came up to them. Pikachu: [Hey you guys, what brings you here?] Charmander: [Our trainer told us to stay here for a while, he promised us he'll come back.] Bulbasaur: [Charmander, he's been gone for a while now... you need to eat something.] Charmander: [I'll eat when my trainer comes.] Squirtle: "I wouldn't be surprised if he abandoned us.] Charmander: [Don't say that!, our trainer would never do something so cruel!] Bulbasaur: [I don't know... most humans are like that...] Charmander: "[No... he'll come... so I'm staying here...] said Charmander with a cough, which made Pikachu a bit worried for the fire type. Ash went over to Pikachu, who explained the situation to his trainer. Ash: "So those three have a trainer, and is waiting for him to come back?" Pikachu: [Sounds about right... though I don't know how long they've been here...] that was when Misty and Brock came up to the pair, who told them about why the starters are on the rock. Misty: "How did you know that?" Ash: "Uh... lucky guess from what Pikachu was trying to tell me." Brock: "Well if that's the case, there's nothing else we can do, come on, there should be a Pokémon center nearby." Ash: "Yeah..." said Ash, before he and the others continued on to the closest Pokémon center, while still feeling a bit worried for the starters. It wasn't long before the group made it to the Pokémon center, just before it started to rain outside. While the Nurse Joy there was treating the Pokémon, Ash still couldn't help but feel worried for the starter trio, especially Charmander. Misty: "Ash... are you okay?" Ash: "It's those starters... I hope their trainer came back... I mean the rain could put Charmander's life in danger..." Misty: "Yeah... I know what you mean..." that was when they heard some other trainers laughing, bragging about how many Pokémon they have. One of them was a trainer named Damian (voiced by Ted Lewis), and he was bragging about how many he has. Then he mentioned about how he used to own all three of the Kanto starters before he tricked them to stay on a rock until he comes back, which he would never do as really abandoned them. In rage by this, Ash grabbed Damian by the shirt and glared at him. Damian: "What's your problem?" Ash: "How could you do that to your own Pokémon?!, don't ya realized that it's raining outside now?!, if Charmander's flame goes out, he'll die!" Damian: "Who cares?, that little runt was too weak to be mine, same goes for that Bulbasaur and Squirtle." Ash: "Why you..." Brock: "Never mind about this guy, we gotta help them!" Ash: "Oh right!" so with that, our heroes make a run for it outside, in hopes to rescue the starters before it's too late. At the rock, the starters were struggling to keep themselves dry with a large leaf over Charmander's tail, and a flock of Spearow appeared and trying to attack them. It wasn't long before Ash and the others came to the scene and Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the Spearow, scaring them away from the starters just in time. Once the group put a blanket on the starters, they make a ran as fast as they could back to the Pokémon center, in hopes for Nurse Joy to help them. Nurse Joy: "So those three used to belong to that Damian person?" Ash: "Yeah... I can't believe the nerve of that guy... abandoning his own Pokémon to die in the rain like that... just thinking about it makes me sick..." said Ash, before his eyes started to glow blue for a second, which only Pikachu noticed. Pikachu: [Ash, please calm down, I'm upset too... but you're gonna hurt yourself.] said Pikachu in his own Pokémon speak to his trainer, who then winced a bit before rubbing his back. Ash: "Oh... my back..." Brock: "No surprise, you're still recovering from happened at Cerulean city." Misty: "You better get some rest." Nurse Joy: "She's right, maybe a good night's rest is all you need, and don't worry about the starters, they're in good hands." Ash: "Thanks... happy to hear that." said Ash, before he and the others went to their rooms to get some sleep. When morning came, Ash went to the room where the starters were recovering, and he noticed that Charmander was crying a bit, while Bulbasaur and Squirtle were trying to comfort him. Charmander: [It can't be... Damian abandoned us...?] Bulbasaur: [Sorry buddy... but it's true, he never intended to come back for us...] Squirtle: [No surprise, all humans are alike, only caring about themselves and not our well being, I told ya we should have left him when we had the chance.] Charmander: [But... he was our trainer... it's not fair... if only I was stronger... then maybe... he wouldn't got mad... I'm a failure..." Ash: "You are not a failure, the only failure is Damian himself." said Ash, making Charmander and the other two starters gasp in surprise, realizing that not only was Ash behind them, but he understood what they were saying. Charmander: [You... can understand us?] Ash: "Yeah... it's an ability I had for a while now... and I'm sorry for what happened with Damian... if I knew he abandoned you sooner... then maybe..." Bulbasaur: [Wait... you're one of the humans who got us here... you're the one who saved Charmander.] Ash: "Yeah... I have to... cause if I didn't... Charmander would have died... I couldn't let that happen... Pokémon are living creatures, the same as humans... a rotten guy like Damian doesn't have the right to call himself a trainer..." Charmander: [Yeah... I see that now... but what are we gonna do now?] Ash: "Well... that's for you three to decide, I won't stop ya... as long as I know you can take care of yourselves." Squirtle: [Hmm... you're not planning on catching us?] Ash: "Well I wanted to catch ya when I first saw ya... but after everything you went through... I can't force ya... but if you want me to train ya... I'll be happy to." the starters were surprised by this, for this boy in front of them was willing to help them if they let him, and cared about their well being as well. Charmander: [You wouldn't mind training us... including me... even though I'm weak?] Ash: "Hey come on, I don't think you're weak, you were just not being taken care of right, no surprise considering that Damian was a bad trainer no doubt..." that was when Pikachu came to the scene. Pikachu: [Yeah, and believe me when I say it, Ash might be an idiot sometimes, but he's the kindest human I know, he was even willing to risk his life to save me from a flock of Spearow.] the starters was amazed, they've never heard of a human doing something like that. Suddenly, an explosion burst through the wall, and once the smoke cleared up, the Team Rocket trio came to the scene. Jessie: "Well looky here, the twerp, the Pikachu and all three of the Kanto starters." James: "This must be our lucky day." Meowth: "Yeah, and now it's time to nab them all!" Ash: "You're not taking Pikachu or the Pokémon here!" Meowth: "Oh yes we are, cause this time, we came prepared." said Meowth, before he fired a bazooka that shot out a red rubber balloon, which hits Pikachu and forcing the electric type be trapped inside of it, and Pikachu's electric attacks had no effect on it. Ash: "Give back Pikachu!" shouted Ash, before he winced a bit and fell to the ground, groaning a bit while rubbing his back. Charmander: [Hey!, are you okay?!] Ash: "Ah... my back..." Jessie: "Oh?, still have a hurt back?, no surprise after what happened at Cerulean city." James: "Well too bad for you and good for us, as you can't fight back." Meowth: "That's right!" Charmander: [Let Pikachu go or I'll have to stop you!] Meowth: "Oh really?, how do you plan on stopping us?" Charmander: [Like this!, Flamethrower!] shouted Charmander, before he shoots a powerful Flamethrower from his mouth, burning up the Team Rocket trio and the rubber balloon, freeing Pikachu in the process. Ash: "Pikachu... you're free..." Pikachu: [Ash, you can't be here, you gotta go somewhere safe!] Ash: "But if I do that... Team Rocket will surely steal the starters... and I can't let that happen... not on my watch... Pikachu Thunderbolt on them!" called out Ash, before Pikachu used a powerful Thunderbolt on the Team Rocket trio, sending them flying into the sky. Team Rocket trio: "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" shouted the trio, before they went out into the sky and out of the scene. Once the danger was over, Misty and Brock came to the scene. Misty: "Ash, what happened?" Ash: "It was Team Rocket again... but they're gone now, thanks to Charmander here." said Ash, which made Charmander blush a bit while rubbing the back of his head with his hand. That was when Damian showed up. Damian: "Well... Charmander managed to beat a bunch of losers, not that it's all impressive and all that." Ash: "Hey!, Charmander was awesome!, and you had some nerve on leaving him along with Bulbasaur and Squirtle out in the cold like that!" Damian: "So what?, it was their own fault for being weak, and no weak Pokémon should be in my team." Misty: "They wouldn't be weak if you have taken better care of them!" Damian: "Why would I do that?, they're nothing but tools for battle." Brock: "How dare you call yourself a trainer!" finally had enough of Damian, Charmander let out a powerful Flamethrower at his former trainer, who was now burnt up a bit. Damian: "Why you!, I'll make you pay for this!, mark my words!, you have not seen the last of me!" shouted Damian, before he ran off to who knows where, running out of the scene. Once Damian was gone, Ash turned to the starters. Ash: "So guys... would you all like to come with me?" Charmander: [You betcha, you saved my life, my friends, and you've been so kind to me... it'll be a real honor.] Bulbasaur: [Well like Charmander said, we owe you our lives, and you have proven to be different from Damian, so of course.] Squirtle: [Well... I still don't like humans... but I'll make an exception with you, and it's better to stick with you than hanging out in the woods alone.] said the starters, before Ash catches them all inside three Pokéballs, which then made a 'ping' sound, letting the boy know he caught them all. Ash: "Alright!, I've caught a Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle!" Pikachu: [Oh yeah!] Brock: "You're lucky Ash, very few trainers get to catch one of the starters on their journey, let alone all three of them." Misty: "Oh man... I wished I was the one who caught Squirtle..." Brock: "Maybe next time." and so Ash has not only saved the starter trio, but caught them as his new Pokémon as well, who knows what's next for our heroes as the journey continues.