Ash and his friends were walking down a road one sunny day. It was mostly dirt and field, with a light forest and dense brush to one side. As they walked, Ash was listening to his Pokédex run through descriptions of known Pokémon, trying to learn more about them. Pikachu sat on his backpack, quietly lapping up ketchup from a small container. Misty and Brock talked about what city they should go to next. "I'm telling you Brock, she said, We should go to Vermilion City. I hear that there are tons of water pokémon around there." "Well, I think we should go to Celadon city." Brock argued. "I wanna check out a Pokémon Breeders Expo that's going on there." As they continued to argue, there was a loud rustling in some tall grass to the right of them. There were several yelps and growls coming from the bushes. "What's that?" Asked Misty. She backed up slightly behind Brock. Ash looked up from his Pokédex. "Hey! Maybe it's a pokémon!" He sounded very excited at the aspect of catching a new pokémon. Suddenly, with a slight shout, a boy about 14 years old went flying out of the brush and landed on his back several feet in front of them. He sat up and rubbed his head. "Man, he's got a good arm." He muttered to himself. "Are you okay?" Ash asked. The boy hadn't seemed to notice them until just now. He smiled, but stayed sitting down. "Yeah, he said, I'm fine. I was just having a wrest..." Suddenly, a loud grunting was heard from the bushes. They began to rustle and shake violently. "Pra...pra...Primape!" something shouted. "A Primeape?!" Misty shouted. She quickly ducked behind Brock. She remembered what happened last time they met a Primape. Faster than the eye could see, a Primape leaped from the bushes straight at the boy! It landed on him and they began to roll across the ground, the pokémon having the advantage, then the boy. They wrestled savagely, not one of them ever getting any slack from the other. "We've gotta help him!" Ash shouted. "Go Charmander!" Ash tossed out a pokéball. It landed about five feet from the fighting pokémon and boy. A Charmander burst from it in a flash of red energy. "Char! Char!" it shouted. "Charmander, Flamethrower attack!" Ash yelled. "Chaaaaaarrrrrrrr!!!!!!" It yelled. The Charmander let loose a burst of flame directly at the Primape, who had just gotten the advantage over the stranger. Being attacked so unexpectedly, it was blown off of the stranger with a yelp of pain. "Hey! the boy yelled, what do you think you're doing?!" The boy pulled out an empty pokéball and enlarged it. He then chucked it at Ash, leaving a large bruise on his forehead. "Yeeow!" Ash yelled falling over. "Hey! Misty said, Why did you do that?!" She was obviously very angry at the boy. "Yeah, Brock said, "we were saving you." "Saving me from what? A wrestling match with one of my best pokémon?" He yelled. Ash sat up, looking puzzled. "A wrestling match?" He asked. "Yes." the boy said, picking up the pokéball that he threw at Ash. He walked over to his Primape, who was getting ready to wail on Ash and Charmander with everything he had. "Calm down Prime." The boy said. "They didn't know we were friends." The boy sprayed some Burnz Heal on the Primeape to help him feel better. He then held out a pokéball and had Primape return into it. The pig monkey disappeared in a red flash. Ash called back his Charmander too. "Now if you don't mind, the boy said, I have to get going. I was on my way to Vermilion City when you three interrupted my training Primape for the battle with Lt. Surge." "Oh! Misty said. We're going that way to!" Brock looked disgusted at the fact that they were going to Vermilion instead of Celadon. "Hmm." the boy said. "Well, would you three mind if I trailed along? I was getting lonely walking all the way to Vermilion alone." He turned to Ash. "I'm sorry for hitting you. I was just angry." Ash sighed. "It's all right. I shouldn't have had Charmander blast your Primape." "So can I come along?" Suddenly, Pikachu hopped up on Ash's head. He eyed the stranger curiously. "Oh!" The boy said. "You have a Pikachu!" Pikachu hopped off of Ash's head and walked over to the stranger. "Pika pika?" He asked. "Yeah. I have some ketchup." The boy said. He pulled out a large bottle of ketchup from his backpack. Pikachu squealed with delight at the sight of a special, jumbo sized bottle of gourmet ketchup. He snatched it from the boy's hands and began to lap away. "Pika Pika!" He said happily. "You're welcome." The boy said. He looked up and saw the three friends staring at him. "If you're wondering how I understood him, he said, I just used a Pokétranslater." He pulled a small earphone out of his right ear, and a tiny microphone from his collar. "I bought it at Celadon city." he said. "Pretty nifty little thing actually. It was worth the 200 dollars." "Why'd you have ketchup in your backpack?" Brock asked. "I have a Pikachu too." He said. "But plain ketchup isn't really that good for Pikachus, so I put some vitamins in my batches." "Hmm." Brock said. "So you obviously take good care of your pokémon." "Yep." He said as he started they all started to walk down the road. "I'm very proud of my pokémon." "You know, Ash said, we never got your name." "It's Stephen." He said. "Glad to meet ya." "Well, I'm Ash, she's Misty, he's Brock, and this is Pikachu." Ash explained. The five of them continued on the path to Vermilion city. Ash went back to his Pokédex, Misty carried Pikachu while he continued to lap up his ketchup, and Stephen and Brock traded recipes for food and health care tips for their pokémon. After about half an hour of walking, they came upon a large field with waist high grass. Suddenly, Ash's Pokédex beeped. "There are several different types of pokémon within a 100 yard radius." it reported. "All right!" Ash said, looking into the field. "Let's go get some pokémon!" They five of them headed into the field. Ash continued to wave his pokédex around, looking for pokémon. It beeped as it locked onto a pokémon hiding in the grass. "Exeggute: A hypnotic pokémon that have a resemblance to eggs." "Yes! Ash said. "Okay Pikachu, get ready." Pikachu finished the last of his ketchup and hopped from Misty's arms. "Pika pika!" They made their way into a clearing where they found not only Exeggute, but several Ekans, Pigeots, and several different varieties at a large pond of water. "Wow!" Misty said. "Look at all of them!" "Hey! Stephen said, "a Meowth!" About 40 feet away, a Meowth stuck it's head out of the brush. It saw the five humans and ran back into the brush. "Let's go!" Stephen said. They ran over to where the Meowth had been and looked around. It had seemed to disappear. Suddenly, the ground beneath them gave way. "Ahh!" Misty, Brock, Ash, and Stephen yelled. They fell through the ground and into a large, dark cavern. After they landed, they stood up and looked around. "Is everyone okay?" Ash asked. "No." Misty groaned. "I think I sprained my ankle." Brock helped Misty to her feet while Ash and Stephen each pulled out a pokéball. "Charmander! Light this place up!" Ash said. "C'mon out Ponyta!" Stephen called. The two fire pokémon popped out of their pokéballs and the cavern was instantly as bright as it was outside. "Ponyta, Stephen said, let Misty ride on you for a while." Brock, Ash, and Stephen helped Misty up onto Ponyta and Pikachu hopped onto Misty's shoulder. "Pikachu." he said. They group walked down the cave with Charmander lighting the way. Soon, they came upon a gigantic cavern about the size of a football stadium. "Whoa." Stephen said. "Pika." Pikachu agreed. Suddenly, the cavern was lit by giant spot lights, which focused on two figures standing in the center. One was a redheaded girl, and the other was a boy with blue hair. "Prepare for trouble." "Make it double." "Oh man." Ash said. "Not them again." "To protect the world from devastation." "To unite all people within our nation." "Don't they ever get tired of saying that?" Brock asked. "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." The Meowth that they had seen earlier jumped in between the two. "Meowth! That right!" Team Rocket finished their intro. and looked to where Ash, Brock, Misty, and Stephen were, only to see them sitting on the ground, playing cards and completely ignoring them. "Hey!" Jesse said. "Knock it off an pay attention." James said angrily. "Huh?" Meowth asked. "Who's the new guy?" "Name's Stephen." Stephen said, still paying attention to the pair of queens that he was holding. "Ugh." Jesse said, seeming to be very annoyed. "Forget him." They turned to Ash, who had just put down a full house. The others tossed in their cards, but Pikachu laid out a royal flush. "Pika!" "Will you stop playing cards and pay attention!" James yelled. "Just hand over Pikachu and you can get back to your game." Meowth said. Ash, Brock and Stephen stood up while Misty braced herself against Ponyta and stood as best she could. "So, Ash said, you guys still want Pikachu huh? Well, you'll have to go through us first." "Fine, Jesse said while pulling out a pokéball, Go Ekans!" "Koffing! Go!" James yelled. The two pokémon burst from their balls, ready to fight." Brock, Misty and Stephen pulled out some pokéballs while Ash was getting Pikachu ready. "Go Zubat!" Brock yelled. "Go Starmie!" Misty yelled. "Go Scyther!" Stephen yelled. "Scyther?!" Meowth yelled. He looked very freaked as a blue bat, a over sized starfish, and a giant mantis with blades for hands appeared in front of him and his fellow pokémon. "Ekans, Jesse commanded, bite those pokémon!" Ekans launched himself at Starmie and latched his jaws down on it's bright jewel. It bit down until the gem in it's center shattered. "Starmie!" Misty yelled, "Return!" The Starmie vanished from the snake's jaws, who accidentally clamps down on his own tongue. "Scyther! Stephen said, Quick Attack! The giant insect coiled it's massive legs and fired itself at James' Koffing. The Koffing dodged Scyther's razor sharp blades, but was kicked out of the air when Scyther flipped around and booted him like a soccer ball. "Pikachu! Ash yelled, Thundershock!" "Pika-chuuuu!!!" Pikachu shouted. A bright blast of electricity surged through the Ekans and left smoke rising from the over sized snake. "Zubat! Brock said, Confuse Ray!" The Zubat fired it's supersonic waves at Koffing, which became so confused that it flew right into the cave wall, knocking itself out. "Meowth! Jesse shouted, Get that Zubat!" "Are you kidding?" Meowth complained. "That thing will thrash me!" "You wimp!" James yelled. "It's just a rat with wings!" "Oh all right!" Meowth said. He hastily made his way towards the hovering Zubat. "Take this!" Meowth yelled. He unsheathed his three razor claws and took a swing at Zubat. Unfortunately for Meowth, Scyther stepped between the two and punted Meowth so hard that he flew between two stalactites and straight into Jesse and James. "Field goal!" Stephen shouted. "So, Ash said, do you guys still wanna try to take Pikachu?" "Of course. James said. And we're prepared too." Because they were concentrating on the battle, they hadn't seen Jesse and James slip on full body jumpsuits with the words "Electric Proof" printed on the front. They grabbed Pikachu and tossed him into a rubber sealed cage. "Electric proof huh?" Stephen said. "Well, are they fire proof?" "Uh-oh." Jesse and James said. Stephen pulled out three pokéballs and Ash sent his Charmander into the battle. "Go....Vulpix! Dugtrio! Grimer!" Stephen yelled. The three pokémon burst from their pokéballs. "Dugtrio! Dig out the ground under Team Rocket!" "Dugtrio, trio, trio." It repeated as it dug the dirt out from under Team Rocket. The three members dropped into the five foot deep ditch. "Grimer! Sludge attack!" Stephen shouted. Toxic sludge flowed from the Grimer's mouth and filled the ditch up to Team Rocket's knees. "Yuck!" Jesse yelled. "I'll never get this stuff out of my fur!" Meowth screeched. "Charmander! Vulpix! Fire Spin Attack!" Ash and Stephen yelled in unison. The two fire pokémon let loose a burst of flame that melded together to make a giant tornado of flame that ignited the sludge at Team Rocket's feet. Up on the surface, some Team Rocket terrorists had cornered a young trainer and stolen his pokémon. They jumped into a jeep and drove off. Suddenly, a rumbling came from underground. The Rocket member lost his grip on the pokéballs. They fell from the jeep where the young trainer gathered them up and ran like nobody's business. A gigantic explosion ripped through the ground and tossed the jeep and it's riders into a nearby lake. Jesse, James, and Meowth were launched through the air. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They yelled as they flew off into the distance. Down in the cave, Ash, Misty, Brock, Stephen and their pokémon had hidden behind a large boulder to avoid the blast. Upon coming out from around it, Ash promptly asked, "Where's Pikachu?!" The four humans and the six pokémon searched around the cave. For a while, they thought Pikachu might have gotten swept up in the blast. But soon, Brock heard a faint, distant voice. "Piiiiikaaaaaa!" "Hey guys!" Brock yelled. "He's over here!" The others rushed over to where Brock was kneeling. He was by a thin crevice in the ground. They all looked down it and saw Pikachu hanging onto a small root that was extending from the wall. The cage that had held him was shattered. It balanced, teetering on a small outcropping on the opposite side. The outcropping gave way and the cage fell out of view. It was several seconds before they heard it hit the bottom. Ash laid down and reached for Pikachu, but couldn't reach him. "I can't send Pidgeotto down to get him because there's not enough room." Ash explained. "Can your Zubat do it Brock?" "He could fit, but he wouldn't be able to lift Pikachu out of there." Brock said. "I have an idea." Stephen said, pulling what looked like a laptop from his backpack. He connected a wire from the device to the enlarger button on one of his pokéballs. He pressed a button in the corner of the machine and a small microphone extended from the base of the device. "Transfer pokémon number 93 from box number 5." He said into the microphone. "Sending." A robotic voice said. "Transfer complete." Stephen stood up and dropped the pokéball to the ground. As it fell, he said, "Go Haunter!" The purple ghost pokémon appeared in a flash of red light. "Haunt, haunt, haunt!" It laughed. Stephen kneeled so he was looking Haunter in the face. "Haunter, he said, I need you to go down there." He pointed to the crevice a few feet away. "Once you're down there, bring Pikachu back up, okay?" Stephen asked. "Haunt haunt." Haunter said while floating over to the crevice. He lowered himself through the floor. A few seconds later, he floated back up carrying Pikachu in his disembodied hands. Pikachu leaped to the floor and ran over to Ash. "Pikachu!" Ash said picking Pikachu up in his arms. "Are you okay?" "Pikapi, Pikachu, Pika pik." Pikachu said calmly. "He said he's had better days, but he'll be fine." Stephen translated. "Thanks for saving Pikachu Stephen." Ash said. He shook Stephen's hand and shook Haunter's too. "Okay. Misty said. Everyone's here and we have a way out." She motioned towards the gaping hole in the ceiling. "But how do we get out?" They all thought for a minute. Brock tried using Onix as a stairway, but he couldn't reach the top. Ash suggested using Pidgeotto, but he could only carry Pikachu to the top. The group was still wondering what to do as Haunter was floating in and out of the walls, trying to find something to entertain himself. He burst from one wall screaming his head off. Well, he would be if he had a head. The wall began to shake. A small crack appeared in the wall. The crack got bigger and bigger. Suddenly, the wall broke into pieces as a huge bird like creature flew from the hole. It landed in front of the group, towering above them. "What's that!?" Ash asked, holding up his pokédex. "Aerodactyl." The pokédex reported. "This rare pokémon has been extinct for many centuries. Some are brought back to life by genetics, or have stayed alive from being in a frozen state. Use extreme caution as it is an extremely dangerous pokémon." "Oh this isn't good." Stephen said. "Hey!" Ash said. "If we can capture it, it could fly us out of here!" "Sounds like a good idea, Brock said, but who gets it?" "Whoever can beat it." Ash confirmed. Then he shouted, "Go Pikachu! Charmander! Bulbasaur! Squirtle! Pidgeotto! Butterfree!" He tossed the five pokéballs before the Aerodactyl, who found itself surrounded. "Squirtle, Charmander, Skull Bash attack! Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, Tackle attack!" Ash commanded. The five pokémon charged at the giant from different sides. They all made contact, but Aerodactyl didn't seem hurt too much. "Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf! Squirtle, use Water Gun! Charmander, use Flame Thrower!" The three pokémon used their long distance attack on the beast. Bulbasaur's razor sharp leaves pelted it's rocky skin, Squirtle's Water Gun knocked it off balance, and Charmander's flame scorched it badly. It seemed like Ash had the upper hand, but then... "Hey!" Misty yelled. "What's it doing?" The Areodactyl had started to bounce up and down. Suddenly, it turned in midair and latched onto a stalactite. Ash's pokémon accidentally attacked each other! Charmander's flame scorched Bulbasaur, whose razor leaves pelted Squirtle, whose water gun soaked Charmander. They all fell to the ground, weak and beaten. Ash called them back and told Pidgeotto and Butterfree to tackle the beast. Just as they were about to make contact, Aerodactyl dropped from the stalactite, causing the two to smash into each other, knocking each other out. "Pikachu! Thunder Shock!" Pikachu dived at the pokémon and let loose ten thousand volts of pure electricity. The Aerodactyl staggered, but remained standing. It knocked Pikachu back at Ash with a flick of it's wing tip. "Your turn Brock." Ash said as he called back his pokémon. "All right. Go Onix!" Brock yelled. The gigantic rock snake erupted from the pokéball with a deafening roar. The Aerodactyl was almost dwarfed by the massive pokémon. "Onix, Brock said, Bind him!" The Onix lunged at Aerodactyl and rapped itself tightly around it. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn't get loose from the snake's grip. "Go Geodude!" Geodude blasted out of it's ball and flew at the Aerodactyl's head. "Geodude! Tackle attack!" The Geodude put it's arms forward like a battering ram and jetted towards Aerodactyl's face. Without warning, the Aerodactyl got it's tail loose and whipped Geodude out of the air. It then clamped down on Onix's horn with it's powerful jaws. It was just enough to get it to loosen it's grip. The Aerodactyl burst from it's coils and knocked the Onix unconscious with it's wing attack. "You're up Misty." Brock said as he called back his pokémon to their balls. "You got it." She said. "Go Staryu!" The Staryu leaped from it's ball and did an instant Tackle attack aimed for the Aerodactyl. Being off it's guard, the beast took the blow straight to it's chest, knocking it over. But it easily sent Staryu flying with it's take down attack. Luckily, when it used Take Down, it hit with recoil so it grew weaker. "My turn." Stephen said. He already had his laptop hooked up for a continual pokémon transference. He wasn't gonna go without taking Aerodactyl out first. Stephen called out his first three pokémon. "Go Vulpix! Growlite! Flareon!" The three fire pokémon popped out, ready to fight. "All of you, Fire Spin!" The three pokémon each let out a tornado of flame, completely engulfing the Aerodactyl. "Now, go Magneton!" The robotic pokémon flew from the pokéball and straight into the fray. "Magneton! Use Thunder Wave!" The Magneton fired a continuous blast of high voltage electricity into the center of the cyclone. It kept on going until it could barely keep aloft. "Okay guys. Get ready!" Stephen yelled. "Go Kadabra!" The psychic pokémon appeared in a flash of light before the funnel of fire and electricity. "Okay guys" Stephen yelled. "Cut it!" All of the pokémon assaulting the Aerodactyl instantly cut their attack short. The funnel disappeared to reveal a very angry, but very weak Aerodactyl. "Now Kadabra! Psybeam!" "Kadaaaaabraaa!" It yelled as it let loose a multicolored psychic blast of energy at the monster. It hit the beast full force, knocking it off it's feet and into the far wall. The pokémon fell to the floor, barely conscious. "Pokéball! Go!" Stephen shouted as he threw a pokéball at Aerodactyl. The ball hit the Aerodactyl in the head and sucked it inside in a brilliant flash of red light. The ball sat on the ground. It shook once...twice...three times. Stephen crossed his fingers and hoped it wouldn't break out. Then, the ball lay still as they light in it's center flickered off. "Yes!" Stephen announced as he picked up the pokéball. "I caught Aerodactyl!" Stephen held the ball above his head, enjoying his victory over the prehistoric pokémon. "Great job Stephen." Ash congratulated him as he walked back to the group. "Now let's get out of here." "Good idea." Stephen agreed. He tossed the pokéball away from him and called, "C'mon out Aerodactyl!" The Aerodactyl formed from the flash of red light as it exited it's pokéball. The group filed onto it's back while Brock and Ash helped lift Misty onto Stephen's new pokémon. Stephen sat up by it's head and held onto it's two horns. "Let's go Aero." Stephen said. The giant pokémon flapped it's huge, leathery wings and flew out of the cave and over the field above ground. "Where to now?" Stephen asked. Before Brock could say Celadon City, Misty piped up, telling him to go to Vermillion City. The Aerodactyl turned west towards the setting sun and flew into the distance. And so our heroes gain a new ally in their quest to defeat the pokémon league. But first, to help defeat Lt. Surge. But that's another story, and this one is at....
