"Man. What a storm." Ash looked back to the dark gray clouds as he and his friends had just made it into the lobby of the nearest pokemon center soaked to the core and dripping water all over the tiled floor. "Guess we're staying here tonight."

Pikachu made a noise of agreement and gave a quick shake, getting Ash all wet all over again. Ash let out a noise of surprise and tried to back away only to slip on the now soaked floor.

"Ash!" Dawn and Brock cried out as he went down and hit the floor with a sharp cry of pain.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried out, moving over to make sure Ash was okay.

"Don't worry about me Pikachu. It didn't hurt that bad." He assured as Brock helped him back to his feet.

"Oh my!" Came the familiar voice of the Center's Nurse Joy. "I'm so sorry. I told Chansey to put the rug out before it rained again."

"Never fear my darling!" Brock was suddenly upfront in center and holding the nurse's hand. "Ash isn't hurt, but my heart absolutely aches for you!" A sharp jab to his side from Crogunk's poison jab had him sliding down to the floor. "-As well as a few… other places…" He stated as his pokemon pulled him away from the confused nurse.

"Sorry about that-Brock can get really weird around a pretty girl." Ash laughed nervously, hoping that she wouldn't get upset at his friend. Nurse Joy waved it off good naturedly the way all the other Nurse joy's usually did and Ash felt relieved.

"Oh don't worry about it. I'm concerned about you though-that was a nasty fall young man." She looked at Ash intently.

"Oh. That was nothing-I'm fine." He assured her. Nurse Joy looked skeptic so Ash prompted for a subject change. "That weather really came out of nowhere." He looked back towards the clear double doors.

"Yes. It wasn't even supposed to rain today, so the fact it blew in so quickly is a little strange." She commented. "You kids had better stay here for the night."

"Thanks! My name's Ash-from Pallet town." Ash introduced himself.

"Pika-Pikachu." Pikachu spoke up, jumping back up on Ash's shoulder.

"I'm Dawn-From Twinleaf Town." Dawn stated. "And you already met Brock."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Nurse Joy smiled at them, bowing her head slightly. "Ash, are you sure you don't want me to get you an ice pack or something?" Ash shook his head.

"Really, I'm fine." He turned her down. "I fall down all the time." The look on the nurse's face told Ash that was the wrong thing to say. Nurse Joy opened her mouth to say something but sighed instead.

"Well, I should take a look at your pokemon for you while you're here, at least."

"Could you?" Ash asked happily. "I know Pikachu could use a checkup." At the Nurse's nod and he turned towards his little partner. "I'll be right out here, okay buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed happily before jumping over to Nurse Joy's shoulder. The Nurse smiled at the pokemon and then took all the other pokeballs before she headed off behind two double doors. Ash turned back to the windows and watched the storm raging outside.

"It's really coming down out here, you know?"

"Yeah." Dawn agreed. "It was really weird how it started out of nowhere. It wasn't even cloudy."

"And Nurse Joy said it wasn't even supposed to rain today." Brock commented. He was about to say something else but never got the chance as someone dashed into the pokemon center and immediately crashed on the floor.

"Oh no!" Nurse Joy moved over to the newcomer, having returned from the back rooms. "Are you alright? I'll do something about that floor right away."

"It's...fine." Came the voice of the young man sprawled out on the ground, soaking wet and clutching something tightly to his chest that he'd covered with a jacket. "But please-Conan."

"Conan?" Nurse Joy blinked, the three kids and their Pokemon looking on in interest. This gave the man time to recover and he sat up again, revealing the thing he'd been shielding was infact a child baring a striking resemblance to himself. "Oh! Goodness! Is he alright."

"This is Conan-He has a fever." He explained. "My name is-Kudou Shinichi."

"Well Shinichi, you've certainly come to the right place-I'll treat your little brother immediately." Nurse Joy knelt down to take the unconscious boy from him and disappearing behind some double doors.

"Thanks. But he's my little cousin." Shinichi stated. Brock offered a hand to help the other get to his feet. He was a good several inches taller than the pokemon breeder meaning he had to be a few years older.

"You okay?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, just peachy." Shinichi sighed. "There really should be a sign there. Someone could get hurt."

"Don't worry, Chansey will put the rug back." Ash said. "The same thing happened to me just before you got here. My Name's Ash."

"I'm Dawn."

"And I'm Brock."

"Pika Pikachu."

"Nice to meet you a-" He faltered, gaze falling on Pikachu. "-all"

"Something wrong?" Ash asked. Shinichi shook his head quickly.

"N-Not at all." He was quick to deny but faltered. "Actually. Everything is wrong."