Kanto

Ash and Misty walked through the forest till late evening, the forest was starting to look dark by then. The two of them stopped walking and set up their tents opposite each other with the fire between them. Ash slept snuggling with Pikachu, Mankey and Lucario while Feebas' pokeball was next to his head and Fearrow made himself comfortable on a tree nearby, not to forget it gave him a vantage point to keep an eye out on the surroundings. From what he saw before going to sleep Misty had started to talk to Caterpie and unlike before she now had no problem sitting next to the little guy. He was happy for his friend but man did he want a Caterpie of his own, they were truly powerful and magnificent if raised right. He sighed as he made himself comfortable between his Pokemon, it was pretty warm sleeping together like that and he didn't even need a blanket. The next morning Ash woke up to the noise of bug Pokemon buzzing around, as he peeked outside his tent he saw Fearrow was still sleeping and it was still early in the morning around 05:30 am.

Ash, 'Never thought I would wake up this early. Guess camping in the forest really is different. Huh?'

Ash turned his head towards where he thought he saw someone only to realize no one was there. Ash half wondered if he'll run into the samurai Gary had told him about, from what his childhood friend had told him, this samurai was a bug Pokemon fanatic and wanted to be a bug Pokemon Master. Not exactly an easy title to achieve if you are going the battle route but he could respect his perseverance.

Ash yawned noticing his Pokemon had woken up as well, "Well, let's get some warm up done before breakfast, as after breakfast we are traveling again. This forest is bigger than it looks and it already looks gigantic."

Lucario nodded and Ash called Feebas who he told to practice moving on land, the Fish Pokemon took it as a challenge. She had been miffed when she saw how easily Squirtle had moved around and wanted to be able to do the same thing. Ash had to give her kudos for determination and moxy for not allowing anything to hold her back. He then told Fearrow to practice running fast on the land as you never know if someone might get a lucky shot making him unable to fly. The bird Pokemon nodded as the reasoning was not without possibility and got to work racing Pikachu and Mankey. Lucario had Ash join him in warming up and practicing hand to hand combat again, it showed Ash exactly how much effort his Pokemon put into the attacks and moves. Misty woke up around six and seeing Ash train she decided to get some training before breakfast as well. When she looked inside her tent to wake her Pokemon, she was pleasantly surprised to notice Caterpie had slept right next to her and yet she had not freaked out at all. Misty was happy with the progress and woke her Pokemon up and told them, they would be training before breakfast. The Pokemon seeing her excited attitude got pumped up for training and followed Misty a little further from the camp and started training. After training they sat together for breakfast and cleaned up the camp before walking through the forest again.

Ash looked around, "So many Metapod and Kakuna but not a single Caterpie or Weedle!"

Misty, "You wanted a Caterpie and a Weedle?"

Ash hummed, "One of those two yes, but all I see are the secondary forms and Paras of course, plus Butterfree and Beedrills chasing that girl."

Ash backtracked, "Wait..... Whaaaaaa?"

Misty looked terrified, "It's coming this way!"

Ash, "Fearrow screech! Pikachu use thunderbolt!"

Fearrow flew down with Pikachu on his back and screeched high and loud freezing some of the bug types who looked at the bird Pokemon warily. Pikachu jumped up and used thunderbolt infront of them as a warning not to get closer. Lucario stepped up and asked them why they were attacking the child. The leader explained the child had walked into their territory and hurt their little ones. When Lucario explained this to Ash he got angry and turned around on the girl hiding behind Misty.

Ash, "Young Lady! What in sanity's name were you thinking? You came into this forest, that too without a single Pokemon, on top of that you even went and hurt one of their baby Pokemon? Have you lost your mind?"

Misty when she realized what happened simply moved out of the way and started lecturing her as well, "You know, I understand the desire to have a Pokemon of your own but what you did was completely foolish. What if you had gotten poisoned by their poison sting, be thankful they didn't use that on you!"

The young girl didn't look older than ten, shrinked in on herself and started to apologize, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I just wanted to meet a Pokemon, so I.... I.. I'm so sorry!"

Ash sighed noticing she was about to cry, "It's not us you should apologize to, it's them!"

The girl turned to the Beedrills, who had finally calmed down after watching her get berated, and bowed to them, "I'm very sorry for causing so much trouble! I didn't mean to hurt anyone I swear."

The Beedrills nodded before turning to Lucario and telling him they needed help in caring for the hurt Weedles. Lucario nodded and told Ash who agreed to help them and followed them to their hive. Misty would have followed him but one Beedrill got between her and Ash and pointed to the girl. Despite feeling scared, Misty understood the Beedrill wanted her to keep an eye on the younger girl and did not want anyone else following. She nodded her head and stayed behind after telling Ash to return quickly.

Misty turned to her, "By the way my name is Misty, what is your name?"

The girl smiled, "My name is Cindy and I'm really sorry for creating trouble."

Misty shook her head, "The Beedrills already forgave you so it's okay. What were you doing in the forest and how didn't anyone notice you?"

Cindy looked away embarrassed, "Like you said earlier, I wanted my own Pokemon. And I know a passage that is not guarded enough to enter."

Misty looked at the girl exasperated, "I see, well we all saw how that ended up, didn't we?"

Cindy flushed red in embarrassment, meanwhile Ash followed Beedrill towards a large tree what had Weedles and Kakuna all around it. From what he could tell it was a maple tree and that too a large one and perfect for Weedles to feed from before they evolved into Kakuna. Ash noticed some of the Weedles look at him warily but at Beedrills prompting approached him.

Ash, "Hello, I was told you were hurt, I'm here to help you get better, okay?"

The Weedles looked at him, before nodding and allowing him to approach them. Ash took out the capsule and clicked on the plus sign before taking out the healing potion that he brought from the Pokemon pharmacy. He started to spray on the Weedle who recoiled surprised at the liquid but soon felt better. The Weedles thanked him before returning to the tree but one of the Weedles who was talking to Mankey had stayed behind curious about him.

Lucario, -She wants to join us, Ash!-

Ash blinked, "Really?"

Lucario nodded, -But first she wants to battle Mankey.-

Ash looked up at the Beedrills and Mankey, "You are all okay with that?"

Mankey nodded and the Beedrills moved back watching, making Ash smile, "Alright then, Mankey get ready to battle!"

The Weedle, got ready and attacked Mankey.

Ash, "Mankey dodge to the right then drain punch!"

Weedle missed Mankey but was hit by a punch that drained her strength. She shot string shot at her opponent but Mankey jumped and avoided the attack. Weedle then attacked with poison sting.

Ash, "Mankey jump high and counter with thunder punch."

Mankey dodged the poison attack and came down on Weedle with his punch effectively knocking her out. Ash threw his pokeball and waited till he heard the alert.

Ash, "Alright! I caught a Weedle!"

Lucario and the other Pokemon cheered before Ash called Weedle out and sprayed her with the potion. The Pokemon welcomed the new addition to the family happily while the Weedle's friends wished her luck. During all this Ash didn't notice a certain small Pokemon watching them from the foliage. He had stayed hidden watch the group as the human healed the Pokemon despite the fact most humans tended to ignore Pokemon who are hurt in the wild. He made up his mind to follow them as the human, Ash was it, promised to take good care of Weedle and left. Half way through he was stopped by the Lucario who stood infront of him and Pikachu who was behind him.

Ash was on one knee, "Hello there! My friends here tell me you have been following me!"

The Caterpie looked up at Ash before looking away with pink cheeks. Ash giggled and picked him up, "I don't mind you know. I'll happily add you to my family if that's what you want!"

Caterpie looked at him with hopeful eyes when he heard that, his old friend the female Weedle laughed at him and said 'told you so', which he ignored in favor of crawling to Ash's other shoulder. Pikachu was on his head, the group welcomed a new member before leaving to rejoin the two girls.

Misty brightened, "Ash you are back, Cindy and I were about to search for you, and are those yours?"

Ash grinned, "They are now. Cindy right? Why don't you come with us? I'm not comfortable letting a kid wander around the forest without a Pokemon."

Cindy wanted to retort but bit back her comments, Ash was terrifying when angry almost like a disappointed mother, "Yeah, okay!"

Ash nodded and led the way, he was following Fearrow's lead, as the bird Pokemon had flown through Pewter and Cerulean during migration season. Misty was walking slightly behind Cindy and the group covered a good distance before stopping for the night.

Ash, "According to Fearrow if we keep walking at this speed we'll reach Pewter by the end of the week."

Misty, "That's good, man I never thought I would take ques from a Pokemon while traveling, not that it's a bad thing, it's actually pretty cool."

Fearrow nodded his head in thanks to the compliment before settling down to eat dinner besides his partners. Weedle and Caterpie were being welcomed by Feebas who was delighted to have more family members join them. When Caterpie asked why Ash had not captured him yet, Lucario explained the six pokeball rule and it was only after collecting five badges or five ribbons Ash can carry more than six, currently Ash only had one ribbon. Caterpie pouted at that, he just met his new friends he didn't want to be separated from them.

Lucario pat him, -Don't worry, Ash will catch you after winning the badge not before, you will have plenty of time to get to know us.-

When night fell, the three stopped talking and Misty had lent, a sleeping bag to Cindy who went to sleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Fearrow and Starmie volunteered to watch over the younger human while they slept. Ash and Misty thanked them before going into their tent to sleep alongside their Pokemon. Misty could admit sleeping while cuddling with her Pokemon was one of the best ideas Ash had. The next morning Cindy woke up to Misty screaming her lungs out, hearing her shout Ash came running from his training to see a guy holding his friend at sword point.

Ash, "Lucario!"

Lucario hit the sword away with aura sphere while Misty's Caterpie tackled him away from his human. Caterpie watched him warily while Misty picked him up thanking him and Lucario for the help. If one good thing came out of this Ash concluded, it's that Misty was no longer scared of Caterpie.

Ash asked sternly, "Who are you?"

The boy got up, "Wait don't attack, I can explain, my name is Samurai and I am looking for a trainer from Pallet town."

Ash had a click go in his head, 'Oh oh! Him!', "Well you really should rethink how you do it, people will think you are nothing but a no good troublemaker."

Samurai blushed at the small reprimand, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to challenge the trainer to a battle."

Misty who was hugging Caterpie while being surrounded by the rest of her Pokemon looked at him warily, "Well I'm from Cerulean, not Pallet town, the kid who woke up is from Pewter."

Cindy blushed at being called a kid, "Ash is from Pallet town, not us."

Ash had walked over to the teen and held his hand out, "Nice to meet you Samurai!"

Samurai took his hand, "Likewise and I apologize for giving you the wrong impression."

Aah shook his head, "It's fine! Now I believe you wanted a battle, yes?"

Samurai nodded, "Yes and I'm guessing you already have six Pokemon? I would like to request three on three battle. Best two out of three wins!"

Ash, "Fine by us! Pikachu you up for your first official battle after Viridian?"

Pikachu jumped up, "Pika pikachu!" (Yes I'm ready!)

Samurai, "Wonderful, Caterpie I choose you!"

Misty, "I'll referee! If the challengers are ready, let the battle begin!"

Samurai, "Caterpie string shot!"

Ash, "Pikachu agility!"

Pikachu ran around the Caterpie asked the bug tried to hit the mouse Pokemon.

Ash, "There, tackle followed by thunderbolt!"

Pikachu took advantage of Caterpie's blind spot hitting him and shocking him knocking him out!

Misty saw Caterpie was out, "Caterpie is unable to battle, Pikachu wins! Challenger choose your next Pokemon."

Samurai, "No Caterpie! You are stronger than I had thought. Return Caterpie! Let's go Weedle."

Ash, "Pikachu return! Great battle bud! Weedle ready for battle.", he got an excited cry in return.

Misty, "Are the challengers ready? Begin!"

Ash, "Weedle agility!"

Samurai, "Quick attack!"

The two attacks collided head on and the Weedles refused to back down.

Ash, "Now poison sting."

Weedle slipped from the hold and poisoned her opponent getting a worried cry from Samurai. Samurai's Weedle stood stubbornly not wanting to back down.

Samurai, "String shot!"

Ash, "Like we practiced agility tackle."

Weedle dodged the string shot and tackled her kin making him hit the ground hard and fainting.

Misty saw Weedle was out, "Samurai and Weedle lost the match, the winner is Ash and Weedle."

Ash picked Weedle up congratulating her only for her to glow and evolve into a Kakuna much to everyone's surprise. They all congratulated Ash and Kakuna before Ash invited Samurai to join them for food. The teen was about to decline when his stomach grumbled making Misty and Cindy giggle, Ash even offered to heal his Pokemon as he had extra potions. Samurai accepted the offer after hearing that.