Kanto

The group walked together on the road and watched as Charmander ran around playfully with the other Pokemon, a week after the Damien fiasco. Bulbasaur, Oddish, and Bonsly ran after Pikachu, Hoppip and Charmander who played around with the fire type lizard happily. Ash smiled as he watched the smile Charmander had now, he had decided to send Pidgeotto back so she could catch a break. After Red and Charizard left, Charmander had happily walked beside them together before panting after an hour. Ash had picked him up and held him but Charmander had taken one look at the Pokemon still walking and had become ashamed. Ash poked his head and reminded him, he was still hurting and needed to heal properly before he could do anything. The Pokemon had nodded trying to cheer him up as well, Pikachu had climbed his shoulder to join him too.

That night Charmander was shocked learning that Ash slept together with his Pokemon, Damien never did that. Pikachu scoffed saying Damien could never hold a candle to Ash, Ash always put their needs before his own unlike Damien. Lucario told Charmender, he probably didn't remember Ash but the two of them had babysat him and his hatchmates once as a Riolu. Charmender looked at Ash wide eyed as he made sure the Pokemon were comfortable before settling down to sleep. Ash pat the space next to him and Charmander dived in snuggling up to him trying not to cry again. Ash simply hugged him close and Lucario joined them next to Charmander, Milotic was behind Ash, Fearrow was overhead and Pikachu and Bulbasaur were by Ash's head sleeping peacefully.

The first night was fine and passed by without any problems, however on the second night a problem cropped up. Charmander was sleeping peacefully snuggled in Ash's arm when he started to whimper and cry, he was having a nightmare. Ash and the Pokemon were woken up by the cries and they woke Charmander up who looked around frantically before his eyes settled on Ash and he started to bawl. Ash shushed him whispering words of comfort Milotic hummed softly, Lucario and Pikachu snuggled closer to Charmander, Fearrow trilled a tune, that Ash figured is meant for newborns and Bulbasaur released sweet scent that helped in calming Charmander down. Ash sang a song that he was pretty sure from his previous life, called 'You will be in my heart', which helped in lulling the little one back to sleep.

This happened for three more nights, on the fourth night they were joined by Meowth who talked to the young fire lizard till he fell asleep. Ash was surprised he talked infront of him but didn't say anything about and instead thanked him. Meowth nodded before making himself comfortable next to them. The day before James and Jessie had joined Meowth in his tent and had cuddled with him on both sides making him sleep without worry. They had noticed his exhaustion but chose not to comment on it, instead made an agreement among the four of them. Last night Misty and Brock had joined him and helped them sleep without having to worry about nightmares.

Ash smiled, 'I got lucky not just with my new family but with my friends too. I'm not loosing them without a fight. Not this time, I'll fight tooth and nail to stay with them.'

Jameson, "You look happy!"

Misty, "Yeah, you have not smiled carefree for a week now."

Brock nodded, "Really missed that smile!"

Jessilina, "It's understandable why though."

Ash grinned, "Charmander is having less nightmares since we started sleeping in the same tent. Do you think we should get a bigger one?"

Misty blinked, "Not sure that's possible. Your tent is easily the biggest among ours."

Ash, "It would be useful if we came across a problem trainer similar to Damien."

Misty was about to answer when they heard the Pokemon cry out. They rushed and saw Bulbasaur, Oddish and Bonsly had fallen in a pit while Hoppip avoided it because of her light weight and Charmander was pushed off by Pikachu. Fearrow and Butterfree flew down worried about them, this hole was not natural.

Misty, "Oddish? Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

Brock, "Bonsly are you okay?"

Ash, "Bulbasaur say something buddy!"

The Pokemon cried in answer before Bulbasaur lifted himself up using vine whip and then pulled the other two up. They heard a few snickers coming from the side making them look. To say Ash was shocked to see eight Squirtles with glasses laughing at them was an understatement. Fearrow screeched at them loudly making them flinch.

Misty, "That wasn't funny."

A Squirtle copied her, "Squir Squirtle." 'That wasn't funny!'

Jameson, "Our Pokemon could have gotten hurt."

Another Squirtle, "Squirtle!", 'Sure!'

Charmander however looked at her in recognition, "Char charmander!", 'Squirtle, that you?'

The squirtle looked at him before pointing at him, "Squir squirtle?", 'Is it you little flame?'

Lucario, -You know her? Don't tell me she was Damien's Pokemon too?-

Ash, "Lucario what do you mean she was Damien's?"

Misty looked shocked, "Wait what? You belonged to that bastard?"

Squirtle shook her head, "Squir Squir squirtle. Squir!", 'Not anymore, he got rid of me!'

Misty looked at her softly she didn't need a translator to explain, "I'm so sorry you had such a horrible person as a trainer. Don't worry though, he's behind bars now and won't bother any Pokemon anymore."

Squirtle looked at her like she didn't believe her but before anything else happened they heard Officer Jenny's siren. The Squirtles rushed off as Officer Jenny stopped infront of them.

Officer Jenny, "Is everyone okay?"

Ash, "We are fine, Officer."

Jessilina, "Just another practical prank."

Brock, "Seeing your face made my auvk...."

Zubat, "Zu zu!"

Officer Jenny sweatdropped, "I'm sorry about the Squirtle Squad. They go around playing pranks on others a lot. It wouldn't have happened if they had not been abandoned by their trainers."

Ash rubbed Charmander's head as he watched where his friend left sadly, "It's not their fault then. We met the trainer of one of the Squirtles, he is behind bars now."

Officer Jenny, "Oh! That's one good news."

Misty nodded, "It is."

Officer Jenny sighed, "Well I better go and make sure they don't cause more trouble. There is a town nearby if you need to stock up on anything. See you folks around."

The Officer left them after that and the group decided to make a pit stop at the town to buy a few more berries and fruits. Charmander enjoyed his first shopping trip pointing at the different fruits that he enjoyed especially the Tomato berry. Ash brought a large amount of it for him to enjoy and he could even add it as spice to his curry. Unknown to them they were being watched by the group who wanted to prank the town but got caught off guard by the peculiar group. They never met any human who let alone five of them who let their Pokemon choose what they want, it was always the trainer ordering them. The squad followed them to a field outside of town that had a river running by it's side, they had decided to set up camp there. They released all their Pokemon and three of the humans started to train while one started to cook and the last one was reading.

Misty had joined the water Pokemon in the river and was swimming with them before moving to training. Ash had decided to meditate with Lucario and practice forming aura spheres that shocked the Squirtles and still awed Charmander. Then he swam around with Milotic for a few minutes before drying up and started to run around with the other Pokemon. They were practicing on mastering their moves so they could manipulate them easier, Milotic was focusing on mixing Dragon breath with water pulse. When Charmender saw she could use Dragon breath he wanted to learn it, Ash was honestly speaking reluctant to let Charmander train so soon. But the little fire type gave him the watery eyes and Ash folded only under the condition they will train for half an hour not more than that.

Brock smiled as Ash sighed, "Don't worry Ash, Milotic will keep an eye on him."

Ash, "It's not that, I'm just worried what Damien did is still lingering."

Jameson put the papers he was signing down, "I see, I understand where you are coming from but you must also remember Damien abused Charmender probably right after he got him. It'll take time to get over what happened."

Ash bit his lip before nodding, "Yeah I hope so. Red suggested I should schedule a meet with Surge after reaching Vermillion City."

Jameson, "Surge? Of course, he has a Mastery on Pokemon psychology, if anyone can help, it would be him."

It was soon time for lunch and Milotic had to carry the stubborn lizard using Confusion back to the others and dropped him on Ash's lap. Ash poked Charmender and told him to take it easy, he can train as much as he wants when he is 100% healed. Charmander pouted at Ash but was distracted when Ash started to feed him Pokefood, it was one of the things he loved even though he would not admit it out loud.

Ash turned to the bushes, "Aren't you going to join us? There's more than enough for everyone you know."

The Squirtles looked at each other before looking at the leader who decided to join them, they were getting food after all. They were welcomed by everyone and Milotic, Starmie and the other water Pokemon called them to share the Pokefood made specifically for water types. Misty grinned as the Squirtles enjoyed the food they had made, she noticed the leader of the Squirtles kept looking at Ash while the only female in the group sat next to her. After lunch the leader thanked them and were about to leave when they heard a siren wailing from the direction of the town.

Misty, "What's going on?"

Brock, "That doesn't sound good!"

Jessilina, "Let's go check it out!"

The group cleaned up before leaving some of the Pokemon in charge of the camp, Onix and Bulbasaur were in charge. As they rushed back to the town to they saw three buildings had caught fire.

Brock, "Officer Jenny what happened?"

Officer Jenny, "One of the houses caught on fire and it spread to the adjoining houses, we are trying to put it out but because it's very dry it's hard."

Ash, "Milotic can help, Milotic rain dance!"

Misty, "My Pokemon can help too, Starmie, Cloyster, water gun."

Jessilina, "Sandshrew mud shot."

Brock, "Graveller use mudshot."

The Squirtle squad watched them before talking among themselves and joining them in helping them put the fire out. Jameson meanwhile looked around the place before he noticed something. The Squad and the group worked together and put the fire out getting a cheer from the townspeople.

Jameson called them, "I found what started the fire, someone left this flammable liquid here. It must have caught fire by accident."

Officer Jenny, "Ah! That's..... A group in black clothing left it here but never return to take it."

Ash frowned, "They didn't bother warning you about it either?"

The Officer shook her head making Jessie and James look at each other, they had a feeling they knew who it was and asked for details on what they looked like. The Officer described them and Jessie grimaced, it was Arrianna who had come here. They thanked the Officer before they left and returned to the camp where Charmander jumped on Ash the moment he saw him. Ash laughed as he hugged Charmander close to him and Pikachu climbed his shoulder nuzzling his cheek.

They spent the night there and Ash once again sang the song he sung a week ago to help Charmander sleep. Meowth commented he could probably sell it if he recorded it and Ash just smiled saying it was for Charmander no one else. Meowth nodded and slept, if Jessie and James were surprised by the fact Meowth trusted Ash to speak, they didn't show it. The next day Ash woke up to find a few extra Pokemon in his tent, the squad has stuck close to them last night and heard him sing and couldn't help but join him. Ash laughed saying he didn't mind the extra audience as they left his tent he saw Misty coming out with a Squirtle as well. Officer Jenny came by later and informed them there town wanted to thank them for their help and ask if the Squirtle Squad would consider becoming the town's firefighters. The Leader thought about it before nodding his head in agreement.

Officer Jenny, "We are here to thank the Squirtle Squad and these fine trainers for their help yesterday in helping this town avert a crisis. This town now officially has a Fire Fighter squad to help during crisis."

The leader of the Squirtles moved to the Squirtle standing next to him and gave him another pair of goggles before taking off his uniform and goggles and standing infront of Ash. The female Squirtle did the same only she stood infront of Misty.

Ash, "You want to come with us?"

Misty looked at the female who was infront of her, "You want to come with me? Really?"

The two Squirtles nodded and the two trainers asked to use the videophone and pokeball transfer device in Officer Jenny's office to send their Butterfree and Pikachu over to the gym and lab to have a break before catching the two Squirtles. Charmander was happy his old friend joined him again, even though she was with a different trainer. Brock made a comment on how it was the Pokemon who were catching them not them catching the Pokemon, to which Misty blew him a raspberry. Ash just welcomed his new addition to the family before they once again hit the road.