It was a few days later after finding the Tech school, that we all were walking through the forest following a supposed 'shortcut' from Ash. I don't know why we listened to him, knowing perfectly that Ash has a terrible sense of direction, plus the fact that Ash never left Pallet Town. So this 'shortcut' is more than likely something he guessed, after giving Brock's map a look. Anyway, it is already too late to turn back and we are probably already very lost.

I sigh, I let things roll out, because getting Bulbasaur will be very important for Ash. Although, that doesn't mean, I like our current situation.

Reaching a small stream, we all sit down for a small break. My head is spinning, after I was forced to listen to Ash and Misty constant squabble. I smile, as I feel Milo sitting on my lap also getting comfortable for our little moment of rest.

"Oh wow, a Pokemon!" I hear Ash exclaim.

Opening my eyes, I look in his direction to see a small Oddish. The Pokemon seems to have been having a drink before Ash attracted its attention.

Having pointed his Pokedex towards the cowering Pokemon, we all hear the Pokedex give a brief description of the Oddish.

"Oddish. This Pokémon is typically found roaming the forest, scattering pollen as it walks around," the Pokédex recites from its records.

"I'll catch it!" Ash enlarges one of his empty pokeball.

"Hold it, Ash." Misty interrupts him, walking in front of him.

"What for, Misty?" Ash asks.

Turning to face him, Misty points her finger to her face, "because I'm going to catch that Pokemon."

"No way, Misty. I saw it first," Ash protests, while clenching his hands into fists.

"But we found it around the water, and water is my specialty. That means it is my right to catch that Oddish," Misty argues, giving rather questionable reasoning. Facing her target Misty throws her pokeball, releasing Starmie against the already fleeing Pokemon, "Water Gun, now!"

Jumping in the air, the Pokemon releases a powerful blast of compressed water that makes the Oddish fall back rolling, before becoming unconscious. Happy and confident of her win, Misty throws her empty pokeball, aiming for the fallen Pokemon, only for it to be blocked by a sudden and unexpected Vine Whip attack coming from a Bulbasaur that seems less than pleased.

"Whoa, a Bulbasaur," Ash exclaims, excited, from the sidelines. Opening his Pokedex, the machine quickly explains the Pokemon.

"Bulbasaur. It bears the seed of a plant on its back from birth. The seed slowly develops. Researchers are unsure whether to classify Bulbasaur as a plant or animal. Bulbasaur are extremely tough and very difficult to capture in the wild," the machine's voice uttered.

Not appearing amused, Bulbasaur lunges forward with a Tackle or Take Down attack, I can't really tell the difference, hitting Misty's Starmie and making it fall back, weakened.

"Oh no, Starmie. Are you alright?!" asks Misty, worried. She holds her Pokemon and looks it over. I keep putting Starmie as an it, as it IS genderless, but it feels kinda wrong… But Misty is always referring to it as he, so I guess I'll too. I don't like referring to Pokemon like animals or things, even if it's only in my mind.

"Now it's my turn to try, Bulbasaur is mine. Butterfree, I chose you!" Ash shouts while releasing his bug type Pokemon, "Butterfree, Sleep Powder."

Slowly beating his wings, Butterfree releases small particles of powder from his wings. Although, it appeares that Bulbasaur is not having any of it, as he takes a deep breath before releasing a small gust of wind that blows back Butterfree's powder right into him, making him fall asleep.

I'm not going to lie, I want Bulbasaur. He's not only my favorite of the Kanto starters, but this specific Bulbasaur has an incredible personality and willpower, that is shown in the series. Although, I don't like much that he doesn't want to evolve, but I can deal with this and respect his choices. But Bulbasaur is such an important character in the anime, him being always the most mature and responsible of the group and winning countless battles for Ash, so I'm quite conflicted.

As I come back from indulging in my thoughts, I see Bulbasaur leaving while taking Oddish with him and leaving a defeated Ash throwing a small tantrum in frustration.

Well, I'll see how it goes. Only my presence here might have or will change something in the events, so I'll leave it to chance. I let out a sigh as Mile and I exchange a look, trying to ignore Ash yelling in the background.

After we finally get back to track, it doesn't take us long to reach a wooden bridge suspended above a cliff. Looking down, I see the raging river moving at fast speed inside the bottom of the cliff.

I have no intention of falling like Brock. So I pick Milo up, putting him on my shoulder, and carefully make my way first. The bridge doesn't seem that unstable and I breathe in relief that maybe this time the bridge won't end up falling.

"Careful, Ash." I tell him, as he walks on the bridge, stomping on it without a worry, "if you aren't more mindful of the bridge's state, it may end up giving out."

"What are you talking about, Aaron?" he asks, "are you scared? Look there is nothing to worry!"

Ash jumps on the bridge a few times, just as a strong gust of wind hits us and the bridge ends up giving away and snaps in the middle. We scream and hold on as strongly as we can, as the bridge tears down into two, making us crash into the rock wall of the side of the cliff. Misty, Ash, and I breathe a small sigh in relief, just to see Brock fall into the river below, as he couldn't get a good grip.

"Brock!" we all scream.

"Ash, you have to pull us back up, it is our only chance," yells Misty, who had grabbed Ash's legs to avoid falling into the river herself.

"Go, Ash, we need you to pull us," Pikachu joins in.

"I can't!" Ash shouts back.

"Yes, you will," Misty's desperate voice echoes in the rock walls. "Just pull as hard as you can."

"Aaron, you too. I'm counting on you to pull us out of here." Hearing Milo's voice makes me come back to my own predicament, and with a strained smile, I slowly start making my way up the rocky wall, using the ropes of the bridge to pull myself upwards. I swear, I'm never more thankful for all the physical training, I made myself pull through than right now.

Though through sweat and effort, I climb to the top of the steep wall. Looking down, after regaining my breath, I see that Misty and Ash are still climbing, and are about two thirds of the way Taking out my backpack, I quickly take out a big rope that I have for these types of situations, and after tying one end of the rope to one of the bridge wooden stakes that still stands strong after the bridge snapped, I throw the rope to Ash and Misty.

"Hey, Ash, Misty!" I shout to them, gaining their attention, "grab the rope, I'll pull you two out." Without waiting for an answer I release the other end of the rope and let it fall to the two struggling trainers.

After they both grabbed the rope leaving us fairly secure, I hold the other side, and with the help of Milo, I start pulling it with all my strength.

Now thinking about it, if only Zion would be already proficient enough in using Teleport to carry someone with the mass of a human together with him, this would be much easier. After some testing and a rather illuminating talk with Brock, I learned that Teleport will get harder the more mass and size the Pokemon try to bring with them, and after testing Zion limits were revealed to be something like Milo or Staryu. I guess a wild Pokemon doesn't care for the scientific explanation for how his movement works.

"Alright, we made it!" Misty, Ash, and Pikachu yell, relieved, after finally reaching the top of the ravine.

Sighing, I collapse with exhaustion alongside them, my hands already having small blisters forming after grabbing the ropes so much.

We all stay still in silence for a few moments, trying to regain our breath and calm our fast-beating hearts. I look up to the sky, clearing my mind, and simply focusing on the white fluffy clouds floating above.

As we finally got hold of ourselves, Misty stands up, "guys, we need to find Brock and see if he's alright."

"You are right," Ash exclaimes loudly, "let's go, hurry up!"

Nodding my head, with my hand for support, I stand up and dust off my clothes. Looking over to the forest, we quickly set out running to find Brock.

It doesn't take long for us to navigate the sea of trees, trying to find a way towards the shore of the river that Misty falls into a hole trap. After having pulled my two companions, I'm somewhat in an exhausted state, which is totally justified. And Milo has no right to make fun of me on this matter, even though he is doing it right now.

"Hiya!" Misty and Milo yell as the ground gives up under them, and they end up falling in a hole.

Hum, maybe staying behind is a blessing in disguise, I think as I watch with some glee, Milo coughing up some dirt. Vengeance is sweet.

"Whoa, Misty. How did you get down there?" Ash looks at her, stunned.

I give him a deadpanned face as Misty screams that she fell in the hole.

"What's a trap doing here?" she asks, enraged.

"I don't know," Ash puts on a thinking face, "but this seems pretty weird."

"Do you two think that maybe the reason why the bridge fell, was that someone bobby trapped it?" I ask seriously, as I help Misty with Milo on her head out of the trap.

"I don't know, but if it was, then we know that there is definitely someone here that doesn't want us to continue," Misty says, her voice cold, as she looks up into the deep forest.

We continue searching, and with Milo's accurate nose we eventually find the continuation of the ravine river. We decide to continue following the water to see if we find any sign of Brock. If something like this ended up happening to someone in my old world, the person would be declared dead, but here they aren't even considering the possibility. I'll always be amazed by the resilience of the humans in this universe. Even if it kinda makes sense, since humans are fighting to live in a world where giant poison spraying snakes and deadly fire dogs exist, or I doubt humanity would still be alive.

"Hya!" Misty and Ash scream at the top of their lungs, as a net springs out of the ground, trapping them both hanging in a net from the branch of a tree.

"Hey, how did we get to the top of a tree?" Ash asks loudly.

"It's another trap," Misty exclaims frustrated, "do something, Ash."

I watch as the two trainers and Pikachu, struggle to try to get out of the net trap. Hearing laughs, I look down to see Milo rolling on the floor, latching at the others misfortune. Thankfully, we both had the idea to walk a little behind and didn't get caught in the trap as well.

"Bulbasar." I hear on my side, and turn to see Bulbasaur looking up to the wiggling trainers.

It seems that Ash and Misty also heard him, as the former shouts, "Hey, Bulbasaur. Hold it there, I want a match!"

Bulbasaur completely ignores Ash and goes back into the bushes. Hum, strange that he ignored me, or maybe he simply didn't notice my presence. Although, I find that possibility quite improbable, as Milo is acting very loudly.

I stay about five more minutes watching my two companions and their pitiful attempts to escape, before I decide to remind them that I actually wasn't caught in the trap together with them, and could help them down.

"Hey, you two dunces. Do you want help to get down?" I asked, face blank.

The effect is immediate, and both trainers' heads snap in my direction, eyes wide as plates as they look at me in disbelief. I just keep staring back at them with a blank face for a few seconds of silence, until hell breaks loose.

"Aaron! For how long were you there?!" Ash yells surprised.

I just raise an eyebrow and he blushes in embarrassment. Putting his hand behind his head, he grins sheepishly, "sorry, hehe."

Shaking my head, I take out of my backpack one of my kitchen knives and cut the rope securing them in the air. They both shout in surprise when they suddenly are sent falling on the floor. I don't have to look to my side to see what Milo is up to, as the sound of laughter is enough to answer any of my suspicions.

I sigh, looking at Ash and Misty slowly getting up, while dusting off. Looking at the sky, or more accurately, at the sun's position, I think we have about two or so hours before midday.

"Aaron," Misty calls me, "why didn't you help us earlier?"

I grin, "you never asked, and it sounded like you two were having fun up there."

She blushes, before humphing and walking off, "come on we still have to find Brock." She says before starting to walk alongside the stream on the rocky shore.

I laugh a little alongside Milo as we follow Misty. I smile amused at the small fluff ball, who is happily looking around excited, while maintaining a 'safe' distance to the water.

Yet, the quiet walk is quickly spoiled as Misty and Ash start screaming at each other again. Those two really can't stay without squabbling for a minute. You'd think, I would be already used to it by now, but I think I'll never really get used to it.

However,all the noise the two are making maybe isn't all that bad, as I hear a voice, "Misty, Aaron, Ash, you're all safe!" I look to the direction the voice was coming, and my face lits up when I spot Brock. The only 'normal' person in our group, as I don't think I can really be classified as normal, and Misty and Ash don't need an explanation. Although, Brock does have his moments when in front of a beautiful woman.

"Brock!" We all shout surprised and relieved, thankful that he is alright.

I am afraid that maybe with my presence Brock could have fallen in a different place and ended up hurt, so seeing him alright is a great relief. Of all three of my human companions, Brock is definitely the one I'm closest to, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself, if something happened to him.

"You're okay! We saw you be washed away by the river, what happened?" Ash asks, looking into Brock's eyes.

"Well, I was being carried by the violent currents, when someone grabbed my hand and helped me out of the water. When I looked up, I saw the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." He explains with a vague look in his eyes, recalling the incident.

"Wow, a beautiful girl, huh? That's even better than pirates. Unless of course, she was a pirate in disguise." Ash nods with his head while talking.

"And maybe it is time to get a reality check." Misty voices.

"Anyway, you should come with me to meet her," Brock says, "I'll lead you there, follow me."

After seeing us ready to follow him, Brock starts walking in the direction from where he came from -leading us deep into the sea of trees and vegetation.

"So Brock," I start, "does this girl live in the forest?" I ask less because of information, as I already know the answer thanks to the anime, and more to simply start a conversation. I'm bored right now.

Brock looks at me, "Yes, she has a wooden cabin, where she lives together with Pokemon."

Misty walks up behind me after overhearing our conversation, "do you mean she lives alone? That must be hard."

"Maybe, but she has the company of various Pokemon that live with her." Brock gains a slight red tint on his face.

"That's so cool!" Ash exclaims, pumping his fist on the air

We stop talking as we enter a clearing. Looking forward, I take in my surroundings. On one side there was a wooden house, with was the river on the opposite side of it, and sitting on the grass, I could see a lot of diverse Pokemons who appear to be having a meal. But what really got my attention was the stunning young adult woman that was together with the Pokemon petting a Caterpie's head.

As we approached, she notices our presence and got up. She wears a small smile on her face as she looks at us before Brock moves forward and introduces us.

"Melanie, these are the friends I talked to you about: Ash, Aaron, and Misty. Everybody, this is Melanie." I nod a little at her as my name was called.

"So you're Brock's friends, he told me all about you," she says with a smile.

"Great!" Misty chirps smiling back at Melanie, "but wow, look at that. Do all those Pokemon belong to you, Melanie?"

She shakes her head, "Oh, no."

Brock bends down at the side of a Paras and pets it softly, "this is a place where Pokemon can come to rest and relax."

Ash tilts his head, "so it's like a summer camp?"

"Kinda, but all year long," Brock answers. "You see, when a Pokemon gets abandoned or injured, they can come here, and Melanie treats them until they feel better, and then they leave."

"So this is like a Pokemon centre and Melanie is a Pokemon doctor?" Misty says.

Melanie laughs a little, "oh no, I'm not qualified to be a Pokemon doctor."

"I would say this place is more like a Pokemon spa or something," Brock adds.

"I'm impressed, it is very nice to meet someone who would help any Pokemon like this," I speak for the first time, gaining everybody's attention.

Melanie flushes slightly, "oh no, I'm not that special. I just like helping Pokemon."

"It is all the same. I feel relieved that somebody is helping the Pokemon that were abandoned by irresponsible and bad trainers," I persist.

"Aaron, it's not only that," Brock announces sounding proud, "Melanie also collects herbs from the forest to help to treat the injured Pokemon."

"Wow, you really love Pokemon, don't you Melanie?" Misty asks, amazed.

"Yeah," she bends down to pet a Weedle that had stopped eating and was clinging to her leg, "I hope to be able to help as much Pokemons as I can."

"That sounds great," I beam down at her.

She really is passionate about helping hurt Pokemon. Maybe when I finish my journey, I could be something like her. I love Pokemons and would be more than happy to spend my time helping hurt ones to recover and give them a safe heaven.

"But, Melanie," Misty asserts, "it looks like this forest is packed with traps, you should be careful."

I can only give Misty a deadpan face. Did she really not realize that it was Melanie that set up the traps to keep trainers away?"

"Yeah, we ended up falling into two of them," Ash adds.

"Oh, sorry," Melanie says, gathering Ash and Misty's attention, "it was me that set those traps. I wanted to catch the Pokemon trainers before they reach the village."

"You mean that the bridge was also a trap?" Ash asks and Melanie nods her head in confirmation.

I mentally frown. I think the bridge was actually very dangerous and could end up in getting someone very hurt. Well, but I guess since everybody is incredibly resistant and can survive flames and shocks, their common sense of danger is a little different from mine.

"Melanie, if it isn't much trouble. I'm studying Pokemon diet and if you have the time, I would like to ask you to teach me a little about herbs," I ask in the most polite way I can, although, it is possible to notice my excitement in my voice.

She looks at me surprised before breaking into a heartfelt laugh, "sure, I'll teach you what I know." I smile widely at her declaration, but then her face turns more serious, "but before we do anything, I want you to promise that none of you will catch any of the Pokemon resting here."

I nod seriously, and all the others follow my example, promising that we wouldn't try to catch any of the injured Pokemon that are living in her village, and she nods approvingly.

"Melanie, would it be okay, if we released our Pokemon to have some fresh air and play?" I ask her.

"Oh sure, feel free. I don't see any problem in that," she answers. "In truth, I think that is an excellent idea."

Smiling, I take all my pokeballs from my belt, and throw them, releasing my Pokemon, and it doesn't take long before my fellow companions follow suit. Kneeling, I let Milo jump from my shoulder, where he was resting, and let him go to enjoy time together with the other Pokemon.

"Okay, everybody. You're all free to do what you want, just don't start fights or make trouble. And please stay within the clearing," I explain to them.

"Yay, come on grandma, I wanna have some fun!" Milo exclaims, while jumping up and down in excitement.

"Calm down you impertinent boy. And don't jump like that or you could end up falling and hurting yourself," Kayda responds.

"Oh, are your old bones so fragile, they will break so easily?" Milo teases her.

A tick mark grows on Kayda's head, and the air around her seems to grow colder, "now you did it, young man!" She shouts before praying water at Milo, running (more like jumping, since she's a Horsea after all) after Milo, who starts to run away in horror.

I chuckle at their antics, before picking up Rapier and letting Zion sleep in peace. I sit at a table where Brock has already set up and accept a tea that Brock made. When did he have time to do all this? Well, I don't care, more tea for me.

I sip my delicious tea, which is just right, before Melanie decides to join Brock and me to have a drink. This seems like the perfect opportunity to ask about Herbs!

"Hey Aaron," Melanie says, making me look up from my tea, "I could not help but notice that your Kakuna's coloration is very different from the ones I've seen. Is it sick?"

My eyes widen, I forgot how only a handful of people know about shinies since they are so rare. "Oh, no it is not that. Rapier here is a shiny Pokemon."

She looks at me strangely, "a shiny Pokemon?"

"Yes, it's the name we give to a Pokemon that is born with different coloration. They are very rare so it isn't uncommon for someone to not know about them," I explain.

She looks at Rapier with renowned interest before looking over to me again, wearing a soft smile. "You are very close to your Pokemons, aren't you?"

"I like to think I am," I say, puffing up my chest.

She lets out a laugh, before she turns to look at my other Pokemons. "Did you name all of you Pokemon?"

"Yes…" I feel my face heat up a little, "the Abra is named Zion, the Horsea is Kayda, Kakuna here is Rapier and my first Pokemon, the Eevee, is Milo."

"That's nice of you. And, I see all of them are very healthy, too." I suddenly feel like my cup of tea is a very interesting object to look at.

"T-thanks," I mumble.

I stay silent, while Brock and Melanie start a conversation between themselves, and decide to simply listen and sip my tea. The warm breeze of the day softly brushing my hair and the songs of the Pokemon having fun creating a comfortable and agreeable atmosphere.

"Hey, Aaron." Brock calls out to me, "Melanie here is going to explain now about her herbs, do you want to hear, too?"

I nod slowly, as I look up to Melanie, who has an old-looking book in her hands. It seems like one of those old books I saw in my father's study room.

"This is a book from my grandma. She was the one who taught me all I know about herbs and plants," Melanie explains, while putting the book delicately at the table.

Moving to sit beside her, I glance at the pages of the book, while she flips through them. When we are all comfortable, she starts talking, while using the book's images as references, although Brock seems to be looking more at her than the book.

We stay about an hour simply talking about herbs among ourselves, while watching all the Pokemon play. Although, most of the knowledge Melanie has to share isn't that useful to cooking Pokemon food, the real gold mine is her mastery in finding and intensifying these herbs from the wild.

After she lived on her own for so long, only going to the city to buy resources once a month, she learned where all the native herbs grow, and how to best process them. Yet still, I learned about some new herbs that I maybe could use in my recipes, as we read through her grandmother's book. All in all it was an enjoyable experience, and I only regret not having my laptop to take notes and my cellphone to take some pictures.

But we are suddenly interrupted, when we hear Misty's scream of pain. Getting up I rush to the place I think where the sound is coming from. Looking over, I see Misty getting up from the floor, while Bulbasaur is in a very suspicious position as he growls at Misty. There is also Ash and Oddish, this must be the part Bulbasaur thinks Misty is attacking Oddish again and tackles her.

"I know," Ash declares confidently, "you are just mad, because I was going to beat you, but then you chickened out and ran off!"

"That must be it," Misty agreed.

Those two don't know how much I want to facepalm right now. "Of course, that's not it, you two," both of them turn to me, surprised at my appearance, "Bulbasaur must have thought Misty was trying to hurt Oddish and wanted to protect it, like last time."

Their faces light up in understanding, as Bulbasaur continues to growl at us. Slowly making my way in front of him, I kneel down and hold out my hand.

"Bulbasaur, we won't hurt any of the Pokemon in the village," I say, but he continues to eye me warily. "If it makes you feel safer, we promised Melanie."

He still doesn't seem to believe me, but thankfully before he decides to attack me, Melanie appears. And, following behind her Milo, who jumps on my shoulder and snuggles his head on my neck.

"Bulbasaur, please wait. These aren't bad people." She exclaims to the plant Pokemon, who stops at the sound of her voice and looks up at her.

Turning to us, she explains, "you see Bulbasaur is the protector of our village." Misty and Ash gasp, "he volunteered himself to protect all the injured Pokemon, when enemies try to attack them. Bulbasaur is the most courageous and loyal Pokemon, I know."

"So you were right, Aaron, Bulbasaur attacked me because he thought I was taking Oddish from the village."

Suddenly Ash looks down, and following his gaze, I see Bulbasaur trying to push Ash away from Oddish.

"Bulbasaur doesn't like Pokemon trainers, he wants you to leave the village now," Melaine says, explaining Bulbasaur's behavior.

"But we don't want to capture any Pokemon, we want to help you!" Misty protests.

"Misty's right, Bulbasaur. They're our friends." Melaine tries to help.

Again, I go down to Bulbasaur level and extend my hand. "Please, Bulbasaur. We really don't have any intention of harming any of your friends. Will you give us one chance?" I say softly.

He bares his teeth and growls, "You humans are all the same. I'm not going to be deceived by your honey-sweet words."

I mentally grimace, Bulbasaur's abandonment must have hit him hard. "I promise you, I would never hurt a Pokemon from your village. Isn't that right, Rapier, Milo?" I ask for support from my partner stationed on my shoulder.

"Yeah! Let's be friends, Bulbasaur!" Milo exclaims, beaming happiness onto Bulbasaur.

Before the plant Pokemon has a chance to reply, we all feel a great tremor on the ground and see a plume of dust and dirt be elevated on the clearing side, as if something big has fallen there. Sadly, as the smoke dispersed, Team Rocket's strange circular disk thing supported by balloons, that I don't think should have the ability to fly, was revealed together with the three culprits.

"Not them again!" Ash whines, in frustration, gathering the attention of Bulbasaur and Melanie.

"You know these people, Ash?" Melanie asks,.

Ignoring whatever James and Jessie are saying on that strange machine, as we are too far away to be able to hear them anyway, I explain, "these guys are from Team Rocket, an organization that steals Pokemons from trainers. For some reason, they keep following us in order to capture Ash's Pikachu."

Melanie's eyes light up in horror as she looks at the trio, and Bulbasaur starts growling again. Unfortunately, for us a big tube grows out of the strange disc and starts sucking everything.

"Quickly everyone, run inside the cabin," Brock shouts, as he leads most of the village's Pokemon behind him inside the wooden house.

Ash grabs a Staryu at his side and Misty attempts to pick up Oddish, only for the winds to lift it off the ground and send it in the direction of the tube. Thankfully, after all my training, this wind isn't that much and reacting quickly, I run forward and jump, while reaching my arm, and grab Oddish off the air. The only problem is that now I have three Pokemon on me, and no contact with the ground to resist the winds. And so I'm sucked forward by the strange cousin of the vacuum cleaner made by Team Rocket.

I start to panic, as I try to think a way out of this situation, only to feel two rope-like appendages circle my waist, and give me a chance to get a stable stance on the ground. Looking down, I see green vines entangled, helping me not to get sucked by the tube, and when I glance back, I see their origin is Bulbasaur with a determined glint in his eyes.

Fighting against the powerful winds that now have gotten stronger as I'm closer to the machine, I struggle to not get swept by them, and hold firmly onto Oddish, Rapier, and Milo. Gritting my teeth, I feel sweat running down my forehead and hear Team Rocket laugh. Pushing with all my strength, I start to make progress and at every step, it seems the sucking force gets a little weaker. Hopefully, I am increasing my efforts and continue to push forward, ignoring my surroundings with only one mission in my head, to get to the cabin.

Suddenly the force of the wind increases tremendously, taking me by surprise. Looking back, I see that Team Rocket steered the tube to get closer to me. I grimace, as I feel myself losing the battle, and with a last step, my feet get taken off the ground. With Bulbasaur's vine as my only support, I see that slowly but surely I will lose. And, with a last push, Bulbasaur's vine is completely disentangled and I'm sent flying in the direction of the big tube.

I tighten my hold on all of the Pokemon I'm carrying, preparing for impact. When suddenly I'm blinded by a white light coming from inside my arms. Looking down, I see Rapier shining a stunning and beautiful white color, that I remember seeing only once. Rapier is evolving again.

Time seems to freeze, and I can only watch fascinated as the cocoon that Rapier was in for such a long time cracks open on the back and two pairs of clear transparent wings spread out, only to be followed by the rest of the body that has a stunning pattern of emerald green and black. Not to mention the eyes that seem to be two perfect sculpted sapphires, shining with life and power.

As the evolution appears to finish, the rest of the Kakuna cocoon seems to turn to dust and disperse in the wind. Quicker than I could currently follow, Rapier grabs all of us and puts us down at Ash and Bulbasaur's side.

Getting back my breath, I hand Oddish over to Bulbasaur and turn to face the newly evolved Rapier. Looking him over, he is definitely bigger than the average Beedrill, but still not as big as his mother. I smile proudly and hug him.

"Congratulations on evolving, Rapier" I say, "I missed talking to you."

The now not so small bug nods his head and I can see a small blush on his cheeks. It is nice to have Rapier back, well technically he never left, but you know what I mean.

"Nice going Rapier," Milo yells happily, "but I won't lose to you. Just you see, I'll evolve too."

"Well, congratulations are in order, but right now, we have a Team Rocket to defeat," I exclaim and Rapier nods in agreement.

Turning my head to Team Rocket, I start, "Rapier, use String Shot to clog that tube!"

Not hesitating, Rapier releases a stream of string that sticks to the mouth of the tube. As he continues the attack, the machine starts to make strange sounds, and as the entry for air is closed completely, the machine starts to let out smoke in some places. I see that Team Rocket is talking among themselves looking at them, but because of the distance, I can't make out a word.

"Finnish them with Fury Attack!" I command.

Rapier readies his two lance-like appendages, and flies to the machine, reaching it in a span of seconds. In five swift motions, Rapier carves various holes in the disk that explode making Team Rocket fly off into the distance, while screaming.

"Team Rocket is flying off again!" I hear.

As Rapier returns to my side, I engulf him into a hug together with Milo, while laughing. Rapier, a little shy at first, slowly returns the hug, making Milo and me grin widely.

"You did it, Rapier!" I exclaim happily, "and you became so strong too."

"Way to show those Team Rocket grunts who's boss." Milo puts his paw on Rapier's left white stinger.

"T-thanks," Rapier replies, while beating his new wings happily.

"What were you thinking, young men!" I hear, before being engulfed by a weak powered Water Gun, that drenched me completely.

Looking behind, I see a furious looking Kayda looking at me with cold eyes. I feel my instincts telling me to run, but my body is frozen, as I stare back at her.

"Do you know how stupid it was to jump to save Oddish?" she continue, "you could have gotten seriously hurt!"

I gulp, as I shift, uncomfortably, "maybe, but I couldn't just let Oddish be taken by Team Rocket." I say, forgetting that I am not alone with only my Pokemon at the moment.

As the words left my mouth, I see from the corner of my eyes Bulbasaur's eyes widen. Until now, everything I answered to Pokemons could be seen as good guesses. But to him, who understands Kayda, he should know that only someone who spent years with his/her Pokemon could understand it perfectly, but it couldn't be that way because he knew from experience that we are trainers that didn't start our journey that long ago.

I'm brought out of my thoughts, as Kaydas eyes bore into my head. If glaring could kill, I would already be dead a lot of times over. Staring down at her back, we stay there until she finally seems to give up, as she sighs.

"I guess, you're like this. I grin sheepishly at her, making her shake her head before looking at Rapier and getting a motherly look in her eyes, "and look at you, all big and strong now," she says, making Rapier flush.

I decide to let them talk and head to Brock, Misty, Ash and Melanie, although, Bulbasaur at Melanie's side is staring at me with a strange look and making me slightly uncomfortable.

"Aaron, you're alright," Misty says, as soon as she sees me.

I grin, "you'll have to try harder if you want to get rid of me," I joke.

Brock puts a hand on my shoulder, "congratulations on your Kakuna evolution, Aaron."

"Thanks, Brock," I smile at him, "Rapier is now stronger than ever."

Melanie comes forward and grabs my hands, surprising me. "Aaron, I wanna thank you for all you did to protect Oddish."

I softly scratch my cheek, mildly uncomfortable. "Ah, you don't have to thank me. Anyone would have done the same, if they were at my situation."

Her expression turns more serious, as she stares down into my eyes. "No, I've seen a lot of people, who wouldn't dare to do what you did to help a Pokemon. Don't sell yourself short, Aaron," she insists.

I nod dumbly, as she smiles again. I watch as she bends down and picks Bulbasaur up. Ah, and this is the part Ash gets Bulbasaur.

But to my surprise, she turns to me. "Aaron, do you think Bulbasaur would be a great addition to your team?" she asks.

I nod slowly trying to understand where she is taking this. At my answer, her smile widens, "then what do you think of taking Bulbasaur with you?"

I can only stare at her with widened eyes and my mouth hanging open in shock. Wasn't Bulbasaur supposed to be Ash's? Did my presence already start to change such important things? Is it fine for me to take Bulbasaur, and wouldn't affect it too much?

But as I look at Bulbasaur, I can't help but feel, as if he would be a great addition to the team, and also a great friend. Well, then screw the cannon. It isn't like I'm in the Narutoverse and these changes can cause the impending doom of the universe. What's the worst that can happen? Archie and Maxie drying or flooding the world, Lysander using a max destruction weapon, Ultra Beast taking over the world or maybe Cyrus recreating the universe? Well, shit. There is actually a lot that could go wrong. But Bulbasaur isn't that important character is it? It's not like I've taken Ash's Charmander. And, if the apocalypse does show signs of happening, I can always go there to beat up the villain.

With my solid resolve, I strengthen up and look into Bulbasaur's eyes, who are right at my level as he is on Melanie's arms, and she's very much taller than me. "Bulbasaur, if you'd let me, I'll be honored to be your trainer."

He stares back at me, "on one condition, you must battle me," he declares.

Melanie, assuming that I didn't understand what Bulbasaur is saying, translates, "he's saying that he'll join you, only if you battle him."

"If that's what you want, then so be it. I think Rapier would love to have an actual battle to test his new strength. What do you say, Bulbasaur?" I ask the plant Pokemon.

He nods, "alright."

He jumps off Melanie's arms and runs to an empty patch of grass, while I make my way to where Milo, Kayda, and Rapier are.

"Hey, Raper," I shout, making them stop talking and look at me. "It seems Bulbasaur wants to join the team, but first we'll have to battle. Do you want to test your strength in a battle against a real opponent and not a machine?

He seems unsure, but looks at his new stingers, before he nods determined. I smile at his decision, before making my way in the opposite direction of Bulbasaur with Rapier flying in front of me.

"Alright, I'll start then. Rapier, Poison Sting!" I shout, starting the battle.

Rapier positions his lower stinger, before shooting a medium purple dart, that resembles a needle. Bulbasaur jumped to the side to evade the attack, but that gave space for my fast Beedrill to attack.

"Twineedle now, Rapier," I say, making use of the other move he learned when he evolved.

With fast movements, Rapier approaches Bulbasaur and hits him with his lower stinger, causing a super-effective move. But Bulbasaur doesn't give up, as he gets up and tries to hit Rapier with his Vine Whip, succeeding a few times.

It's time to end this, "Rapier, Bug Bite."

As those words leave my mouth, Bulbasaur's fate is sealed, and he faints, when the super effective move hits. Going to the field, I get on my tiptoe to pet Rapier, making him zuum happily. Before walking and kneeling at Bulbasaur's side, I pick him up and bring him to my bag and taking an Oran Berry from it, which I offer the now waking Pokemon.

Slowly opening his eyes Bulbasaur sees the offering Berry and bites a small part of the Berry, before swallowing the rest as a whole, happily munching the regenerative fruit.

"So, Bulbasaur," I start. "Was the battle satisfactory?"

"I guess you're not that bad. Alright, I'll accept you as my trainer" he declares, seriously.

Enlarging one of my empty pokeballs, I offer it in front of me. In a small movement, Bulbasaur clicks the button and is sucked in. Everyone around me eyes the ball expectantly until it finally releases the sound showing a successful capture.

"You did it, Aaron!" Ash yells at my side, making my ears ring.

"Bulbasaur I'll miss you…" Melanie says softly, as she stares at his pokeball.

Grabbing the pokeball, I throw it, releasing Bulbasaur. "I'll be counting with you for now on then," I say and receive a nod in response.

"Okay, now that you are part of the team, I'll introduce you to everyone. This lady here is Kayda," I say pointing to the small blue seahorse. "Here on my shoulder is Milo," I point at the brown fluff ball, who found his way back into his favorite spot. "The Beedrill is Rapier," I point in his direction. "And the last one is the Abra named Zion. The only problem is that he sleeps twenty-three hours a day, so he must be sleeping somewhere." He nods.

"As you can see, I like to name my Pokemon, because I feel that helps us to become closer and differentiates you as an individual rather than a species. So I would like to ask you, if you are okay with a nickname?"

He seems to think it through before looking back at me, "I'd-I would like to have a nickname."

I smile at his answer and stop to think about what would be a good name for a Bulbasaur. "I know, would you accept the name Freyr?"

His eyes lit up as he nods vigorously. I bent down and picked him up in my arms, "Welcome to the family, Freyr."

We all spent two hours letting Melanie, Freyr, and the other Pokemon have some last time together, because even if we come back here to visit, it is improbable that the other Pokemon still wouldn't have left. So I decided to spend this time having a good time with my Pokemons as well, and we played, talked, and joked. I stayed decently far away from the others, as I'm constantly talking with my Pokemon, but I did see Ash relaxing with Pikachu and Misty swimming together with her Pokemon. But time passed quickly and it was time to say goodbyes.

We stand at the end of the clearing. Milo, Rapier, and Freyr are currently out of their pokeballs, and all of the Pokemon of the village are reunited to say their farewells to their friend.

"Bulbasaur, no, Freyr, thank you for protecting us all for such a longtime," Melanie says, as she embraces Freyr in a hug.

"I'll miss you too, Melanie…" Freyr mumbles.

"Don't worry, Melaine. We all will take good care of Freyr," I try to reassure her.

"Yeah," Milo adds.

"Thanks, Aaron." She wipes away some tears from her eyes, "I know Freyr will grow strong in your hands."

"Ah, Melanie I've been thinking. Since Bulbasaur is leaving, I wouldn't mind staying and helping you out," Brock decides to ruin the little moment we were having.

"It is very kind of you, but I wouldn't want to keep you from all your wonderful adventures," and she crushes Brock.

"Goodbye, Melanie," we all shout as we leave.

"Goodbye, take care," she yells together with the Pokemon of the village.

And so we continue our journey towards Vermilion City. Although, I know we are in fact walking the opposite direction. Maybe I shouldn't have come with them? But I look at Freyr walking alongside me. Meh, I'll leave before S.S. Anne, so I guess I'll just endure it until then.

Well, I'm impressed I actually made it, there was this sudden surge of inspiration and I was able to write everything on time. Truth be told, when I was planning the story, Aaron didn't get Bulbasaur, but when I was looking over the episodes, I started to think Bulbasaur had a lot more potential that wasn't explored by Ash or the anime. Same with Squirtle actually, the spotlight is very centralized on the fire starter. Not that I'm complaining, just that I think, it will be interesting to see until how far I'll be able to take Bulbasaur, or Freyr now. Anyway, again thanks for all the reviews, I enjoy reading them, and hope to see you all again next week.