11 The Abandoned Charmander & Friends

Once again, the gang was lost in the forest on the way to Vermilion City, which really annoyed Misty.

Ashlyn sighed as all she spied in the grass was Spearow, "Nothing but Spearow's around here."

"Right now that's the least of our worries." Misty glowered at her from where she was slumped on the ground, their packs on a tree stump between the three.

"C'mon Misty, lighten up. Just because we're lost, doesn't mean I have to stop looking for Pokémon does it?" Ashlyn asked.

Tesla nodded in agreement, " Rai~"

"(She has a point, Misty)." Lucario pointed out, sitting next to the stump.

"Of course not, enjoy yourself," Misty said sarcastically before slumping and sighing. "I just can't go one step further," she complained. "We've been looking for Vermilion for ten days!" She suddenly shouted.

"Uh, there's a bug on your-" Brock started, but didn't even finish before Misty screamed.

"Get it away!" She yelled as she suddenly jumped onto Ashlyn's back, who grunted at the added weight. She hoped that Misty wouldn't do something like this to her, but she thought wrong.

"Oh, it was just a piece of grass." Brock chuckled, holding up a cattail grass. Misty glared at Brock as he laughed sheepishly and was stopped when Misty gave him a high kick to the face.

"I'm going crazy! Where are we?!" She shouted to the sky.

Ashlyn took out her phone and checked where they were on the map. She moved it around until she saw a red 'P' which indicated that a Pokémon Center was nearby. "Well we seem to be in the middle of nowhere."

Misty groaned at that.

"But Route 24 will take us to Vermilion City and it seems that we're on the right path for it." Ashlyn said.

Misty perked up on that, "Really?! Then let's get the show on the road!" She cheered, only to stop a few feet forward when something large cast a looming shadow.

"Huh? Hey, Ashlyn, take a look at this thing." Misty called.

Tesla jumped on Ashlyn's shoulder and Lucario got up as she walked up to take a closer look with Brock.

"Hey, a Charmander." Ashlyn said, the other two walking up beside her.

The Charmander yawned cutely from where it lay, making Brock and Misty fall over in disbelief while Ashlyn just laughed. She took out her phone.

[Charmander, the lizard Pokémon. The fire on the tip of its tail is a measure of its life. If healthy, its tail burns intensely. If not, its tail burns lightly.]

Ashlyn wanted to catch Charmander, but she had a feeling that Charmander didn't want to and also didn't seem to care that she and the others were here or if they were trainers.

"Tesla, Lucario, could you ask Charmander why its on that rock?" Ashlyn asked.

"Rai (Sure)." Tesla jumped off her shoulder and Lucario walked over to Charmander.

The two talked with Charmander. Then they walked back over to the gang.

"(Charmander is waiting for his trainer to come back and he told him to wait here for him)." Lucario said.

"He's waiting for his trainer? Shouldn't he back by now?" Misty questioned.

"I guess he won't leave from that rock until his trainer returns." Brock said.

Ashlyn gazed at the Charmander who sat on the rock. She didn't want to admit that Charmander had been abandoned, but he was loyal to his trainer and she wouldn't be able to convince him to come with them at the moment. So she took out an Oran berry and gave it to Tesla.

"Could you please give this to Charmander, Tesla?" Ashlyn asked.

"Raichu! (Sure thing)!" Tesla took the berry and went over to the rock and put the berry next to Charmander who looked at it with confusion. "Rai Rai Raichu. (My trainer wanted to give you this.)"

Charmander glanced over at Ashlyn who smiled, "Just wanted to give you some energy until your trainer comes."

Charmander gazed at her, then the berry, and back at her. He picked up the berry and sat up. He sniffed it and bit into it. He smiled.

"Hang in there, Charmander." Ashlyn said, "Tesla, Lucario, let's go."

The two Pokémon nodded and followed after Ashlyn and the others unaware that Charmander was staring at Ashlyn.

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While they walked alone the path, Misty saw a building ahead.

"Look the Pokémon center." Misty cheered.

"Then that means Route 24 isn't far." Ashlyn smiled. Suddenly it began to pour with rain.

"Hurry." Ashlyn said.

They rushed into the Pokémon building before they got soaking wet.

Ashlyn stared unblinkingly out the window in worry as the rain continued to pour down heavily, her foot tapping incessantly as she knew the Charmander was still out there. If Brock noticed her fidgety behavior, he didn't comment.

"Here's some nice, hot soup." Misty said as she came back to the table, serving a bowl to Ashlyn.

"Thanks Misty." Ashlyn replied absently.

"Have some soup, Brock," Misty said as she offered a bowl to him. "What's wrong?" She asked when she saw his scrunched expression.

"I wonder...do you think anyone picked up that Charmander yet? What if its trainer left it there?" Brock questioned before turning to Ashlyn. "You're worried too aren't you?" He said in more of a statement than a question, obviously noticing her behavior.

"I'm worried about whether Charmander would actually wait this long or not." Ashlyn murmured in reply.

"(So am I. However, Charmander's are known to be loyal towards their trainers. So he'll continue to wait there until his trainer comes)." Lucario said.

"Rai Raichu? (Even in the pouring rain?)" Tesla asked.

Lucario nodded.

"I don't think so, the trainer must have gotten him by now." Brock reassured. His reassurance was cut short by raucous laughter coming from the group of boys sitting by the fireplace in the center of the room.

"You sure have a lot of them." one called.

"Sure," the blue haired one with sunglasses said, "Just look at 'em, it's a pretty cool collection." he continued with a strange 'groovy' British accent.

One snickered. "Way cool."

"You're the man, Damian." the short one with the white headband said.

"Yo~, I thought you had a Charmander too!" The one sitting next to this 'Damian' guy said, making Ashlyn stiffen and frown.

"Yeah~, I had one, but that puny thing was so weak it couldn't even beat the weakest opponents." 'Damian' whined out in that phony accent.

By now Brock and Misty were frowning too, Misty taking a seat.

"I don't like his attitude." Misty crossed her arms.

"Charmander may be weak against water Pokémon, but if their trainers try hard enough, they can be strong." Brock backed up.

"So what did you do with the Charmander?" The same guy as before asked.

"Eh~ I left it on some rock in the woods," Damian answered with a shrug, "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." He grinned at his mates. "It fell for it! It's probably still there waiting for me," he laughed, his friends laughing along with him.

Every word that Damian had said made Ashlyn's blood boil as her knuckles turn white from how hard she was gripping her hands into fists. Having enough, she stood up from her seat and stomped over to Damian and grabbed him by his shirt collar and lifted him up where they were at eye level. She glared at him with a look of pure fury that promised an enormous amount of pain and then punched him right in the nose.

"You scum! That Charmander is still waiting for you out there!" Ashlyn yelled angrily.

"What I do to my own Pokémon is none of your business." Damian covered his nose as blood was dripping from it.

"Yes it is," Ashlyn said, "especially since I'm going to get that Charmander." She turned to Misty and Brock. "You two stay here, oh and tell Nurse Joy what just happened."

"But it's dangerous to go out in a storm to help a Pokémon," Misty said worriedly as Ashlyn prepared to go out, quickly finding a raincoat from somewhere and putting it on and grabbed an umbrella. "What if you catch pneumonia?"

"I'll take the risk if it means saving Charmander's life." Ashlyn replied seriously before running out with Tesla and Lucario to rescue the poor Pokémon.

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Ashlyn and her two Pokémon ran as quickly as they could to the boulder from before. She gasped and grit her teeth when she came upon the boulder and saw some Spearow take the opportunity of easy prey.

"Tesla, Thunder Shock!" Ashlyn cried and Tesla complied quickly, jumping off and letting the attack fly, her precision dead on as she only let out three streams of electricity to hit the three attacking birds and chasing them off.

Ashlyn climbed the ledge quickly and held the umbrella out to Charmander.

"Charmander I know that I'm not your trainer, but I'm going to get you out of the rain now." Ashlyn said.

Charmander hesitated, but he noticed the look of worry on the girl's face, he let her. Ashlyn carefully picked up Charmander into her arms as Lucario held the umbrella over them and they ran as fast as they could to the Pokémon center.

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Brock, Misty, and Nurse Joy were already there when Ashlyn, Tesla, and Lucario burst through the door.

"I'm back with Charmander." She gasped.

Nurse Joy ran over to her. "I'll take Charmander while you rest." she said, gently taking Charmander from Ashlyn's arms.

Ashlyn took off her raincoat and sat down by the fire with Tesla and Lucario. Misty and Brock gave the three towels to dry themselves. Ashlyn told Misty and Brock what had happened.

"It's a good thing you got there in time." Misty said.

"Yeah or those Spearow would have caused bigger damage to Charmander." Brock agreed.

"What happened with Damian?" Ashlyn asked as she helped dry Tesla.

"He left some time ago," Misty replied, "but don't worry Nurse Joy contacted Officer Jenny and reported him."

"Good to know," Ashlyn said as she helped dry Lucario, "I bet he treats his other Pokémon badly too."

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Waiting in front of the emergency room for the red light above the door to turn off was torture, but the gang waited there regardless, Ashlyn pacing back and forth before resting on the bench and starting up again a few minutes later when she couldn't sit still.

All of them were relieved when the light went off and Nurse Joy steeped out. She noticed them and gave them a reassuring smile, giving them a peace sign as well. All of them smiled at that and approached the door quietly.

"Charmander is recovering. It should be fine by morning." she informed.

"That's good to know." Ashlyn sighed in relief, happy that Charmander has recovered.

The gang peaked inside, all glad to see the flame on his tail back to a healthy size, but they all seemed to notice something else that was strange.

"Hey, doesn't Charmander's coat seem lighter to you?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, you're right. It looks more golden than orange like before, but it was hard to tell with how dirty it was. What do you think, Ashlyn?" Brock questioned.

"That's a shiny Charmander." Ashlyn whispered in awe when she noticed his coat as she sure as hell knew that the original Charmander wasn't a shiny Pokémon, but she tried to get over it quickly as she assumed this was just another thing that had changed when she was born instead of the original Ash.

"A shiny Pokémon? Just like your shiny Gyarados?" Brock questioned.

"Yeah, I never expected to find another shiny Pokémon." Ashlyn answered.

"(This counts as the second one)." Lucario commented.

"Definitely. I'm not surprised that Damian didn't see his value." Ashlyn said.

"So a shiny Charmander has a golden coat rather than an auburn one?" Brock questioned, ever the breeder.

Ashlyn nodded, "A shiny Charmeleon also has the same golden coloration. The drastic variation comes when it evolves into a Charizard," Ashlyn replied.

"What coloring does a shiny Charizard have?" Brock asked, curious.

"Dark charcoal grey with a light grey underbelly and red wings rather than the usual turquoise." Ashlyn answered.

Brock and Misty's eyes widened at the image they imagined.

"But what about Damian? What if Charmander goes back to the rock to wait for him?" Ashlyn questioned Nurse Joy.

"That is something for Charmander to decide." Nurse Joy replied.

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While Charmander was still recovering Ashlyn, her Pokémon, Brock and Misty decided to set off.

"I'm still wondering what Charmander will do," Brock pondered, "I mean Damian treated him badly."

"That's true Brock," Ashlyn stated, "but Charmander is still loyal to Damian, that's why it's wondering."

Brock agreed with Ashlyn with a smile.

Unexpectedly, Misty felt the ground underneath her foot sink a bit.

"Something feels weird here." she said.

Ashlyn, Tesla, Lucario, and Brock went to see what was wrong when they suddenly all fell into a hole.

"Hey what happened?" Ashlyn asked, slightly dazed.

Team Rocket appeared before them and said their motto.

"What do you want?" Misty shouted.

"What else?" Jessie smirked, "We want your Pokémon."

"Forget it!" Misty shouted.

Team Rocket pulled out a sort of vacuum machine.

"This will suck up their Pokéballs, Raichu, and Lucario." James said.

"Charmander!"

Ashlyn brightened when she heard the familiar call, pausing from her motion to grab Bulbasaur's Pokéball from her belt.

"What is that thing?" Jessie questioned

"Char, char-mander!" He replied.

"Ha, it's saying you better leave those guys alone right now!" Meowth translated.

"It's got to be kidding." Jessie remarked.

"Now step aside you insolent little fire-bug. We don't have enough time to play with you." James added.

"Team Rocket plays rough, so get movin'!" Meowth finished up.

Then Charmander blew flamethrower at them. Team Rocket got burned to a crisp.

Charmander was about to blow another flamethrower, but Team Rocket ran away.

"LOOKS LIKE TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" Team Rocket shouted as they disappeared into the distance.

Ashlyn, her Pokémon, Brock and Misty got out of the hole and thanked Charmander.

"Well I'm glad to see that you have recovered," Ashlyn said, "Charmander... How'd you like to join up with us? I'm afraid your Trainer isn't going to be coming back..." Ashlyn offered, catching the Lizard Pokémon by surprise.

"Hi, Charmander! Been lookin' all over for you!" Damian chuckled as he came over, much to the group's surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Ashlyn asked, not happy to see him.

"I'm here to collect Charmander." Damian replied.

"What the heck do you mean?" Ashlyn frowned, "You abandoned Charmander."

"I came back for Charmander... Just like I promised!" Damian stated, causing the group to be a little surprised.

"So, let's go!" Damian called, causing the Lizard Pokémon to frown as he turned back to where the group was before he turned back to where Damian was standing.

"Careful...This Trainer's already abandoned you once before..." Brock reminded him until the arrogant Trainer reminded the group of who the Fire Type belonged to.

"Charmander is mine. I'm the one who caught it, remember?" Damian reminded them.

"If you know how much suffering you caused to Charmander, then you should know that he never belonged to you truly, considering the horrible thing you did to him by abandoning him in the wild here!" Ashlyn snapped.

"Good thing I did. That toughened it up! Besides... what's wrong with dumping off a weak Pokémon?" Damian asked, shocking Charmander. "I wasn't gonna come back for it, but now that I've seen what it can do, I'm real glad I ran into you guys. The best thing is, I didn't have to raise it for myself!" Damian chuckled.

"That's terrible!" Misty commented angrily.

"Raising a Pokémon is the best part of being a Trainer!" Brock reminded, only to have his words brushed away by the arrogant Trainer.

"You wish! It's the most boring part of the job!" Damian chuckled.

"You see? He doesn't care about you! He just wants to use you to win matches!" Misty reminded, causing Charmander to frown, understanding of what the Water Type user was saying.

"Charmander, return!" Damian demanded as he threw a Pokéball to where the Fire Type was.

But at that moment, the Lizard Pokémon looked like he had made up his mind, as he slammed the ball away with his tail! It hit Damian right onto his face, surprising the group. The furious look the arrogant Trainer had on his face looked priceless to Ashlyn.

Even Tesla and Lucario had to giggle on how funny the arrogant Trainer looked as Damian took out a bunch of Pokéballs he could use to fight back.

"ARGH! That does it! I'll crush you with every Pokémon I've got!" Damian snapped.

But before he could, a Flamethrower was blown right into him! Charmander has had enough with his former Trainer as he shot Flamethrower at him!

Tesla and Lucario backed the Fire Type up with their attacks! Thunder Shock and Swift all hit the arrogant Trainer, causing him to be fully burnt, along with his Pokéballs, as he groaned for the attacks he had to take in.

"MOMMY!" Damian screamed and ran, only to bump into Officer Jenny who was glaring at him with hands on her hips. Before he could even try to run, she grabbed his arms and handcuffed him, dropping the bag of Pokéballs.

"I got Nurse Joy's phone call last night all about you. And I have heard from other Nurse Joys and my cousins all about you. There were reports about you abusing Pokémon and this report is the last straw. Not only are you going to prison; you are also banned from becoming a Pokémon trainer." She picked up Damian's bag of Pokéballs and gave them to Brock and Misty. "Please take them and Charmander to Nurse Joy for me please kids." she said to them. Then she took Damian away.

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At the Pokémon center Nurse Joy released all of Damian's Pokémon from their Pokéballs. Damian had captured a Rhyhorn, Vaporeon, Sandslash, Mienfoo, Glaceon, Lapras, Machoke, Shiny Rapidash, Mudkip, Growlithe, Seadra, Scorbunny, Gengar, Tentacool, Exeggutor, Magnemite, Jynx, Leafon, Golem, Cloyster, Fennekin, Persian, Yamper, and a Roserade.

"It seems that all of these Pokémon are okay." Nurse Joy stated, relieved.

"I'm relieved that none of them have been terribly abused." Brock said, relieved as well.

"Question is what to do with them?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Nurse Joy, would it be alright if we adopt them?" Ashlyn asked.

Nurse Joy was surprised but agreed. "I know that you three are fine Pokémon trainers," she said "I cannot leave these Pokémon in better hands."

The Pokémon then walked over to the gang. Rhyhorn, Sandslash, Growlithe, Magnemite, Machoke, Exeggutor, and Golem went over to Brock and he immediately checked them over which truly touched them. Machoke and Sandslash hugged Brock which made everyone smile. Vaporeon, Lapras, Jynx, Mudkip, Cloyster, Seadra, and Tentacool went over to Misty. They could sense that she had water type Pokémon on her even though Jynx is a ice/psychic type. Mienfoo, Glaceon, Leafeon, Shiny Rapidash, Scorbunny, Gengar, and Fennekin went over to Ashlyn. She also decided to send Roserade, Persian, and Yamper to her mom which she knew that she'll immediately love them.

'They'll have a great life with my mom.' Ashlyn thought.

All that was left was Charmander. Ashlyn walked over to him.

"Hey Charmander want to come with me?" She asked.

"Char, charmander! (Yes, I want to join you)!" He called, looking straight at Ashlyn.

Ashlyn smiled and took out an empty Pokéball. "Then welcome to the team, Charmander. I'll shall name you Natsu."

Natsu the Shiny Charmander tapped his paw on the button and was sucked inside the Pokéball. It wiggled and then it 'dinged'. Natsu was now on her team. Ashlyn held the Pokéball gingerly in her hand.

"I trust all these Pokémon with you." Nurse Joy said with a smile.

The three trainers smiled and nodded at her. So Ashlyn had sent all of her new Pokémon to Prof. Oak's lab while she kept one slot open for another Pokémon which she knew would be for Squirtle.

Then Ashlyn, her Pokémon (Tesla and Lucario), Misty and Brock bid farewell to Nurse Joy and set off again.

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Pokémon on hand: Raichu (Tesla)(F), Lucario (M), Rockruff (M), Pidgeot (F) Clefable (F), Sandshrew (M), Pokémon Egg, Bulbasaur (M), Shiny Charmander (Natsu)(M)

Prof. Oak's Lab:

Boltund (M), Shiny Gyarados (Rory)(M), Scyther (F), Nidoran (M), Nidoran (F), Butterfree (M), Mienfoo (F), Glaceon (F), Leafeon (F), Shiny Rapidash (Comet)(M), Scorbunny (M), Gengar (M), Fennekin (F)