On their way to Vermillion City, Luneth, Alain and Mairin defeated a group of Pokémon hunters and were able to help free the captured Pokémon. A shiny Charizard and a shiny Fennekin joined Luneth's while a Hisuian Braviary and shiny Squirtle joined Alain's team and Grookey joined Mairin's team. Right now, Officer Jenny and the gang are unable to leave the Pokémon due to the heavy rain.
"Well I guess I have to wait this out." Officer Jenny commented sheepishly.
"It would seem so." Luneth agreed.
Ginko's ears twitched when she heard a familiar voice and turned to the source and saw Ash and his friends. "Eevui. (Hey Luneth, it's Ash.)" Ginko spoke up.
Luneth turned to where Ginko was looking and saw her brother with his friends.
"Ash!" Luneth called out.
Ash and his friends turned to the sound of Luneth's voice.
"Luneth!" Ash beamed and ran over to her with Pikachu beside him, "It's so good to see you!'
"It's good to see you too, Ash." Luneth smiled.
"Pika!" Pikachu chirped as he jumped into Luneth's arms.
"Hey Pikachu! You keepin' my brother out of trouble?" Luneth teased.
Pikachu smiled, "Pika! (Yup!)"
"Hey! I'm not getting into trouble!" Ash whined.
Luneth arched her eyebrow at that, "Oh really?" She smiled.
Ash pouted as Misty chuckled.
Suddenly Brock noticed Officer Jenny next to Mairin.
"Why Officer Jenny, it must have been fate to make us to meet here! How about we have a little- OW!" Brock yelped when Misty grabbed his ear and started pulling him away.
"Cool off will ya'?" Misty grunted.
"The ear! The ear!" Brock yelped.
Luneth and the others sweat-dropped at the sight.
And so, the group talked about what happened before they all met up as they began eating some soup that Misty, Mairin and Luneth brought over.
"Here's some nice, hot soup." Luneth placed a bowl of soup in front of Ash.
"Thanks, Luneth." Ash said, absently.
Luneth placed a bowl in front of Alain as Mairin handed one to Officer Jenny.
"Have some soup, Brock," Misty offered a bowl of soup to Brock. Then she noticed his scrunched expression, "What's wrong?"
"I wonder...do you think anyone picked up that Charmander yet? What if its trainer left it there?" Brock questioned and before he turned to Ash, "You're worried too, aren't you?"
"I'm worried about whether Charmander would actually wait this long or not." Ash answered.
"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."
One snickered. "Way cool."
"You're the man, Damien." the short one with the white headband said.
Luneth noticed that Officer Jenny seemed to be glaring at Damien. She knew why she was.
"Officer Jenny, who are you looking at?" Mairin asked.
"That boy." Officer Jenny replied, referring to Damien.
"I thought you had a Charmander too!" The one sitting next to this 'Damien' boy said, making Luneth stiffen and frowned.
"Yeah~, I had one, but that puny thing was so weak it couldn't even beat the weakest opponents." 'Damien' whined.
By now Officer Jenny and the gangs were frowning too.
"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." Alain backed up.
"Really?" Ash asked.
Alain nodded, "Yeah."
"So what did you do with the Charmander?" The same boy asked.
"Eh~ I left it on some rock in the woods," Damien 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 friends. "It fell for it! It's probably still there waiting for me," He laughed, his friends laughing along with him.
Every word that Damien had said made Luneth's blood boil as her knuckles turned white from how hard she was gripping her hands into fists. Having had enough, she stomped over to Damien and grabbed him by him 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.
"What is your problem?!" Damien exclaimed angrily.
"How dare you?!" Luneth exclaimed angrily, "How could you do such a thing to an innocent Pokémon?!"
"What I do to my own Pokémon is none of your business." Damien covered his nose as blood was dripping from it.
"Well, I think you don't deserve to be a trainer, considering how you easily abandoned poor little Charmander." Luneth stated.
"I don't need such a weak little Pokémon, what's wrong with dumping it off? All I need is strong and powerful ones that don't need raising." Damien retorted.
The gang were shocked at that.
"Raising a Pokémon is the best part of being a trainer!" Luneth shot back.
"You wish! It's the most boring part of the job!" Damien chuckled.
At that moment, a Flamethrower attack was launched at Damien, burning him. When the flames ceased, Damien was burnt brown. He let out a puff of smoke from his mouth and collapsed on the ground, twitching.
"Eevui evee!"
The gang turned to see that Ginko was the one who did the attack.
Luneth smiled at her shiny Evolution Pokémon, "Nice Flamethrower, Ginko."
Ginko smiled, "Eevui! (Thanks!)"
Nurse Joy approached the fallen boy with her Chansey behind her with an angry expression on their face, "I suggest you don't try to escape! Also, I'll be holding the Pokémon you brought in with you, if you try to escape, I will not hesitate to have my Chansey put you to sleep with Sing! And that's a promise!" She growled out.
"Chan Chansey! (Try it you little brat!)" The Nurse Pokémon threatened cracking her knuckles.
Despite the serious air in the atmosphere the others couldn't help but sweat drop at the rough and tough Chansey.
"Ash, Misty, Brock, you guys go find Charmander. We'll take care of these guys." Luneth ordered.
"O-Okay!" Ash stuttered when he saw the angry look on his sister's face.
Then he and his friends took off into the rain to rescue the abandoned Charmander.
Luneth and Officer Jenny stared down at Damien.
"As for you." Luneth glared.
Damien could only whimper in pain and fear.
Ash and his friends were able to rescue Charmander in time and luckily Nurse Joy was ready for Charmander to be treat for his injuries. It felt like days went by as Nurse Joy and her Chansey were looking after Charmander. When she was done, she assured everyone that Charmander will be okay. Then Nurse Joy decided to treat Damien's Pokémon as well.
As it turns out, Damien had more than twenty Pokémon! Not to mention that all of her Pokémon showed signs of forced battling, which made Nurse Joy furious. Nurse Joy released all of Damien's Pokémon from their Pokéballs. Damien had a Mienfoo, Glaceon, Leafeon, Gengar, Shiny Chimchar, Galarian Ponyta, Lokix, Shiny Chespin, Magby, Axew, two Rockruff's, Cufant, Growlithe, Alakazam, Yamper, Alolan Raichu, Turtwig, Piplup, Pansage, Roserade, Azumarill, Skitty, Finizen and a Meowstic pair.
"Wow, so many Pokémon." Ash awed.
"There are some that I haven't seen before." Brock commented.
Officer Jenny turned to Luneth and Alain, "So do you know where these Pokémon came from?" She asked.
"Yes, most of them are from other regions. Ponyta, Yamper and Cufant are from the Galar region. The two Rockruff's and Alolan Raichu are from the Alola region. Finizen and Lokix are from the Paldea region. Skitty is from the Hoenn region. The Meowstic Pair are from the Kalos Region. However, the Shiny Chimchar, Piplup and Turtwig are the starters from the Sinnoh region." Luneth informed her.
Nurse Joy nodded, "That's right," she glared at Damien, "I'm very curious to know how you've obtained these Pokémon."
Damien scoffed, "Like I'd tell you!"
Ginko growled and sent a Flamethrower at the boy's face, surprising everyone, even Damien.
"Good job, Ginko." Luneth smiled at Ginko.
Ginko smiled back, "Eevui!"
"Alright, I'll talk, I'll talk! I got them from a trade, okay!" Damien panicked.
Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny's eyes narrowed at the boy.
"And the Sinnoh starters?" Nurse Joy demanded.
Ginko growled at the boy as well.
Damien gulped, "Alright! Alright! I got them from this guy who was also selling them all for a high price and he told me that they were rare! I got most of the money from winning tournaments, so I had a lot and I bought them from him!" He explained, quickly.
The Pokémon nurse looked at all of the Pokémon gathered and smiled, "You all have nothing to fear," she said, getting their attention, "These trainers will be taking care of you from now on."
All the Pokémon looked at the trainers and noticed Ginko standing loyally next to Luneth. The look in her eyes told them that her trainer was responsible for saving them from Damien.
"You can trust them," she continued, "You can choose who you want to go with."
They looked at Ginko earning a nod confirming that the trainers would let them choose who they want to go with.
Pansage, Turtwig and Skitty went over to Mairin. Mienfoo, Glaceon, Leafeon, Gengar, Shiny Chimchar, Galarian Ponyta, Shiny Chespin, Alolan Raichu, Rockruff and the female Meowstic went over to Luneth. Then Piplup, Cufant, Lokix, Magby, Axew, the other Rockruff, Alakazam and the male Meowstic went over to Alain.
They soon noticed that Roserade, Yamper, Azumarill, Growlithe and Finizen didn't move from their spots.
"How come they're not choosing partners?" Ash asked.
"My guess is that these guys were forced to do battling, right?" Alain inquired.
The Pokémon nodded their heads.
Luneth felt sorry towards the Pokémon. They were forced to battle other Pokémon against their wills. She knew that Damien was crueler than the show projected him. Looking at Roserade, Yamper, Azumarill, Growlithe and Finizen, she got an idea.
"Hey Brock, why don't you let Growlithe go to your family and Finizen can go to Misty's sisters?" Luneth suggested.
"But what about Roserade, Yamper and Azumarill?" Brock asked.
Luneth walked up to the three and knelt down in front of them, "Would you three like to stay with my mom?" She asked.
The three blinked in confusion.
"You see, my mom is all by herself now while my brother and I are on our journeys. I know that she would like some company. Also, she will never force you to battle. Plus, she likes gardening and I'm sure that she would like some help with it." Luneth explained.
Roserade, Yamper and Azumarill seemed to beam happily at the thought of staying with Luneth and Ash's mom.
"I think they want to stay with her." Ash smiled.
Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy smiled as the Pokémon stood next to their new trainers. Then Officer Jenny turned to Damien who started shaking at the murderous look in the officer's eyes. She grabbed Damien's arm and pulled him upright.
"Damien Farley, you are hereby under arrest! The charges are Pokémon abuse, neglect and stealing!" Officer Jenny announced the charges, "Your trainer's license is hereby revoked and you will serve jail time for buying Pokémons from poachers!"
Damien paled at those words. Then Officer Jenny dragged the bratty boy away.
"Serves him right." Mairin crossed her arms.
All of the Pokémon nodded.
And so, Brock and Misty had called their families and let them know about the new Pokémon who was joining their families. Brock's family were excited that Growlithe will be staying with them and couldn't wait for him to come live with them. For Misty's sisters, they were also happy that a new water Pokémon will be able to join their shows and promised that the Dolphin Pokémon will be treated with great care. Luneth and Ash called their mom and let her know that Roserade, Azumarill and Yamper will be staying with her and she was very excited to meet her three new friends.
"I trust all these Pokémon with you." Nurse Joy said with a smile.
The trainers smiled and nodded at her. As the gang got new Pokémon and introduced them to the others they have, they decided to remain one more day at the center before leaving tomorrow.
It was the next day when the group decided to see Charmander after Damien was arrested, they were shocked to see that Charmander was gone.
"Charmander must have gone back to wait for Damien." Luneth stated.
"I'm afraid so." Nurse Joy agreed.
"But why?" Ash asked.
"Charmander is loyal to Damien. I'm afraid that there's nothing we can do for him if he doesn't realize Damien abandoned him on his own." Nurse Joy lamented.
With heavy hearts, both groups left the Pokémon Center. They were so distracted by their thoughts that they didn't notice the discoloration of the dirt on the path and how it seemed slightly more raised than the dirt around it. When Ash stepped onto it, the ground broke beneath them and they fell into a pitfall. Luneth gasped awake from her dazed, semi-conscious state when she heard a cry of help come from Pikachu above ground and Ash attempted to claw his way up the pit with little success.
"Pikachu!" Ash called up worriedly. His only response was Jesse's cackling.
"Hello again! Thank you so much for dropping in on us," she taunted from where the trio stood staring down at them, Pikachu trapped in what looked like a semitransparent rubber ball.
Luneth was glad that Ginko was still in her arms while Chespie was in Mairin's arms.
"Don't worry. Pikachu is safe with us. We won't lose it like you did." James taunted next.
"Chu~" Pikachu whined sadly, his ears drooping.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried out.
"Let's get outta here." Meowth said, the first to step out of sight.
"Charmander!"
"Is that-" Ash trailed off.
"What is that thing?" Jesse questioned.
"Char, char-mander!" He replied.
"Ha, it's saying you better give Pikachu back to those guys right now!" Meowth translated.
"It's got to be kidding." Jesse 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.
"Chaaaar!" Ash and Luneth gaped up at the opening when they heard the sudden roar after a strange, short silence, staring at the inferno that flew over the opening of the pitfall, heartened to know that Team Rocket was definitely hit by that all over. Luneth snickered when she saw Team Rocket leap over the pitfall and run off.
"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They heard their fading voices cry in the distance.
With the help of Bulbasaur and Minerva, the group was able to get out of the pitfall.
{A/N: Minerva (Shiny Snivy)}
"Thanks for the help, Charmander," Ash praised as he snuggled Pikachu close to him, cooing at him and loving how Pikachu rubbed his cheek against his in return, cooing back. "How would you like to come with us?" He offered after letting Pikachu climb onto his usual perch of his shoulder.
"I'm afraid you trainer won't be coming back for you...or even be a trainer for much longer." Luneth informed.
Charmander tilted his head curiously at that and Pikachu chattered at him, Ash thought informing him of everything that had transpired. Charmander looked sad at first but then angry at other parts and eventually looked determined.
"Char, charmander!" He called, looking straight at Ash.
"I think he's willing to take your offer, Ash." Brock said.
Ash smiled and took out an empty Pokéball, "Then welcome to the team, Charmander," Ash said warmly as he tossed the Pokéball to him gently, he smiles widening when Charmander jumped towards it enthusiastically, smiling as well. Ash held the Pokéball gingerly in his hand when it returned to him.
"Well, Ash looks like you've got a new Pokémon and a new friend." Misty said.
"He's in good hands." Luneth added.
Ash nodded, "Yeah."
And so, after adopting the Pokémon that were abused by Damien Farley and Charmander joining Ash's team, the gang head off to Vermillion City where Luneth and Ash will earn their next gym badge.
Pokémon Obtained:
Luneth: Shiny Eevee (Ginko)(F), Pidgeot (Cardinal)(M), Sandshrew (Digger)(M), Scyther (Hecate)(F), Shiny Riolu (Cairo)(M), Shiny Snivy (Minerva)(F)
Alain: Charizard (M), Metagross (Genderless), Unfezant (M), Steelix (M), Zubat (M), Shiny Zorua (M), Frigibax (M)
Mairin: Chespin (Chespie)(M), Gogoat (Grazer)(F), Paras (Kinoko)(F), Clefairy (Pixie)(F), Petilil (Lily)(F), Sewaddle (Taylor)(F)
Professor Oak's Lab:
Luneth: Nidoran (Fonda)(F), Beautifly (Choko)(F), Swablu (Avaley)(F), Mankey (Bruce)(M), Buizel (Itachi)(M), Clefable (Shayla)(F), Shiny Feebas (Moana)(F), Shiny Charizard (Freya)(F), Shiny Fennekin (Rogue)(F), Mienfoo (Mulan)(F), Glaceon (Aira)(F), Leafeon (Patia)(F), Gengar (Jasper)(M), Shiny Chimchar (Pyro)(F), Galarian Ponyta (Nelia)(F), Shiny Chespin (Eithne)(F), Alolan Raichu (Capala)(M), Rockruff (Remus)(M), Meowstic (Yuki)(F)
Alain: Beedrill (M), Nidoran (M), Scyther (M), Tyranitar (M), Chestnaught (M), Hisuian Braviary (M), Shiny Squirtle (M), Piplup (M), Cufant (F), Lokix (M), Magby (M), Axew (M), Rockruff (M), Alakazam (M), Meowstic (M)
Mairin: Butterfree (Nabi)(M), Clefairy (Pixie)(F), Flabébé (Bébé)(F), Grookey (Hiro)(M), Pansage (Sage)(M), Turtwig (Ardan)(M), Skitty (Kissa)(F)
