They were lost.

Ash and Misty thought Brock was silly for relying so much on his map, he thought they were naïve for not using one.

Pikachu was just amused by the whole thing.

Their attempt to ask for directions went… poorly.

And sure, maybe Misty should have realized that having Brick around meant she'd have to play charades to find out what she wanted, and no, not all pokémon necessarily like humans, but sill. Running off crying like that was just hurtful.

And then the bulbasaur showed up, angry, possibly territorial, and they didn't know how the local pokémon were organized, so…

Ash shot a sideways look at his brother. "Pikachu? Buddy? Wanna negotiate with the locals here?"

The mouse sprang forward. *Hi, look, sorry about all this, we're just-gah!* He was knocked into the air by one vine whip then sent back to the ground by the other.

"Pikachu!"

The grass types fled.

"I still think this is a bad idea. That bulbasaur wasn't exactly friendly."

"Exactly. Brock, pokémon don't act like this. Something is wrong here."

"He's right Brock, the way that oddish just bolted as soon as I got close, that bulbasaur attacking Pikachu without even a warning? This is not normal."

Brock's response was cut off by a particularly strong gust of wind.

And then the bridge gave out.

"Brock!"

*Should I go after him?*

*Even if you avoid the rocks, there's no way to be sure you'd wash up in the same place, and then all three of us are separated.*

*But if you have to carry me too…*

*Honestly I'm not sure I'd make it to safety from here if it was just me and Pikachu. It's… one of the things I've learned about myself; I'm no good unless someone's counting on me. So hold on Misty, I'm getting us out of this!*

The pitfall was easy enough to get out of, the net snare…

"Don't suppose Lucario's taught you any of the blade or claw moves yet?"

"Nope. Your blessing gonna help?"

Misty gestured and concentrated, some of her namesake forming around her hand before the energy fell through. "Nope. Maybe Pikachu can blast us out?"

"Except you don't have Lightningrod."

"You again?"

"Bulbasaur?"

"Damn persistent… so and so fracking…"

"Hey get back here!"

"Let us down!"

"Ash? Next town we visit, you're getting a pocketknife."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Don't suppose you can reach any of our pokéballs? Experience says that if Misty or I try we'll just shift our balance and maybe hurt ourselves."

"With these arms?"

"Experience?"

"Riolu are rare pokémon and the entire species is a kidnap risk. Lucario's training was very thorough."

"Why are you hanging around up in that tree!?"

"You're not as funny as you think you are!"

"Melanie, this is Ash and Misty."

"I promised Melanie we wouldn't capture any pokémon here."

"That's fine, Sanctuary and all that."

"You'd have to be pretty rotten to try to take advantage of a sick pokémon like that."

"This is the third hole we've fallen into!"

"Heard about your old trainer. Sorry I scared you like that."

"It's not your fault."

"Still… He was wrong you know. You're not weak."

"I'm not weak? I ran crying at the sight of you!"

"You're the only one here besides Bulbasaur who actually goes past the boundaries of the village. I might have caught you off guard, but you were out there exploring, even though you're still hurting inside. You are strong, and your old trainer was an idiot."

"I… Thank you."

Off to one side Bulbasaur turned aside with a huff. This whole thing was off. Just because these weird humans could speak properly didn't make them trustworthy. They were even keeping it a secret from the others, and how paranoid would you have to be not to trust Melanie? There was obviously more going on here, but…

Oddish didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, so he'd just keep watching quietly for them to reveal their true colors.

He could wait.

Grass types were patient after all.

*To protect the world from devastation!*

Ash shot Bulbasaur a look while everyone else was focused on Team Rocket. "Don't suppose you've got a plan for an airborne assault?"

"Who plans for this!?"

"So we're trapped now, any ideas?"

"One, but somebody needs to get that hose off target."

"Bulba, saur-bulba."

"Alright then, you take care of that and I can handle the rest." Ash pulled a ball off his belt.

*Is her air control good enough for that?* Pikachu blinked.

"The rest of you should stay inside."

*That is neither comforting, nor an answer! I don't like this plan Ash!*

"They know where you are now." Everyone's riding a bit high on victory when Ash brings the mood down. "Secrecy was your greatest protection, and now…"

Melanie nodded sadly. "Even if those three don't come back, they'll tell people and somebody will. I know; we're going to be fighting for our home quite a bit now."

"You know you can't hold out forever. You'll lose eventually."

Brock was staring now. This… this kind of cold, strategic analysis wasn't like Ash, and he'd be really worried about that if Melanie weren't acting like this was expected.

"I know. But I can't just stop, all these pokémon need my help. What else can I do?"

"Run." And now Brock was feeling a little wobbly, because Misty had joined the defeatist camp. "You already have to know you can't save every pokémon in the world, some of them just won't make it here. So why not just move so they don't know where you are anymore?"

Except… this wasn't defeatism, was it? And suddenly things made a little more sense and reality firmed up a bit, because it was just so Ash to respond to something like this by trying to figure out how to lose and then win anyway.

"Where? I wouldn't have the resources I need anywhere else."

This felt more like Brock's area of expertise. "If you can get to any city with a Pokémon Gym, I'm sure you can get the League to help."

"The Pokémon League is part of what I'm protecting these little ones from! Most of them were abandoned or hurt by League approved trainers, using League approved methods!"

And that hurt, because he was part of the League, and… he'd known, on some level, that some of these pokémon had to have been hurt by trainers doing the gym challenge, but… most? Were the methods he'd supported, the organization he'd sworn to uphold, really a problem? He'd thought these pokémon were running from scum trainers, like the ones he'd called the League on when he had a challenger who turned training into abuse, but…

What if these were just the average? Unexceptional circumstances putting these pokémon with ordinary trainers and this was some sick kind of normal?

His blood was running cold and he was too hot and he wanted to vomit.

Ash moved to help keep him upright, and it was suddenly so much worse because these bright-eyed kids he was trying to take care of weren't even remotely surprised.

Misty picked up the slack he'd left with their host. "Are resources the only problem?"

"I – What?"

"Are resources the only problem? Is it just a matter of not having what you need somewhere else? Nobody that can't be moved, no local secrets besides the village itself to protect, no special super herbs that only grow in this forest? Or is it just basic supplies that you need?"

"Just supplies. Food mostly. This place is convenient because the land deed has been in my family for generations, but…"

"Right. Ash, yours or mine?"

Belatedly Brock realized that his friend had transitioned from helping him stay up to helping him sit down. "Mine, too many land-based for yours." He pulled a case out of what had to be the very bottom of his bag and… started stringing beads?

"Hey, there's enough land for a dozen or so… Though I will admit, herbs and berries are a lot easier to come by for yours."

"I'm sorry, what are we talking about here?"

Misty gave her a smile. "Where you're going to go."

"Umm…" And now the poor girl looked a little lost.

"Done." Ash closed the case with a snap and slid it back into his bag. "Here you go." He handed his work to Melanie.

It was a string of beads, handmade from the look of them, and out of various materials too, wood, stone, bits of shell, an acorn, a feather had been woven in at one point, and a leaf that had been preserved in some kind of resin that wasn't quite amber was sitting at the end.

"Thank you? What, uh, what is it exactly."

"Directions." And Ash smiled brightly like he was making total sense. Brock and Melanie's confusion must have shown. "Don't worry; the pokémon'll know how to use them."

Said pokémon indicated in the affirmative. The ones that weren't just staring at least.

Bulbasaur was openly gaping.

"And… this is safe?"

Ash nodded firmly and Misty followed. "Safest place in the world."

"Bulba. Bulba saur."

"Wait, what?"

As they left, Misty idly noted that Brock had spent the entire day around a female he was obviously highly attracted to without making a single display or overture. It would have been one thing if he'd just been shy, but she'd seen him with other women. Apparently human courtship rituals were weirder than she'd thought; she'd have to look into that sometime so she and Ash wouldn't stand out.

On that note, she'd need to have a chat with Pidgeotto soon about her little plumage display back there…

"You're not human at all, are you?"

Ash looked up. They'd set up camp for the night, and Brock was off washing dishes in a nearby stream. "I'm at least a little human."

Bulbasaur shook his head. "Humans don't talk like us. Humans don't know how to make a Homeward String. Humans don't…"

"Well I was definitely born human. Who knows, maybe I just evolved or something."

"And Misty?"

"Same song different verse really. We're just a pair of orphans taken in as babies and raised by wild pokémon."

Bulbasaur hummed at that. "So you are human, you're just pokémon too."

Ash laughed. "Yeah, I guess that fits."

On the other side of the clearing, Misty was having a conversation with her new teammate. "So why'd you really come with? We both know it's not that you're too slow, that excuse was weak when Bulbasaur gave it and you're twice as fast as he is."

"We really are though. Besides, they needed to travel as light as possible, and we both eat more than most of the others."

"But?"

"But I… I also felt like I needed to do something more, like I needed to challenge myself and grow, and… and you believed in me. You're the first one who's ever done that. Not even Melanie thought I was strong, she just told me it was alright to be weak.

"And that was what I needed at the time, but… it's not anymore. So I needed to leave anyway, and I trust you, so I wanted to go with you. And I'm still a little weak and afraid right now." Which was why she's foregone the trial by combat Bulbasaur had given Ash and Pikachu. "But I want to get stronger someday, and I know I can do it with your help."

It wasn't until the next morning that any of them realized they'd forgotten to ask Melanie for directions.

Bulbasaur and Oddish didn't know the way either.

"Charmander: A flame burns on the tip of its tail from birth. It is said that a charmander dies if its flame ever goes out."

"Looks like this guy's in bad shape."

"Why don't you catch it Ash? That way we can get it some help next time we see a pokémon center."

Brock was seeing a lot of new sides to Ash and Misty lately. Sure, they'd gotten on each other's nerves while travelling – it'd be weird if they didn't – but this… This was the first time he'd ever seen either of them angry. It was… actually kind of impressive. They were madder than he was, and he knew his abandonment issues were a large part of his rage.

He was also still reeling from the questions raised at the hidden village, so it was probably a good thing that Ash had stood up a few seconds before he'd had the chance to, or Brock might have done something stupid.

"You think it's funny?" It was a poor warning, if you didn't know Ash you wouldn't know that he was never that calm.

"Eh, Whassat?"

"You think it's funny? That you hurt and abandoned that charmander?"

Damian stood; probably trying to intimidate Ash by showing he was bigger. Ash didn't seem to notice. "Yeah? So what if I do? What I do with my pokémon is none of your business. 'Sides, that charmander was so weak and stupid, how could it be anything but funny?"

Ash nodded along as if that made perfect sense. "Oh, I get it." And then he lashed out, a picture perfect right cross with no warning at all. And for all that Brock was behind him, he could still see the blank lack of understanding Ash was projecting. "What's wrong, why aren't you all laughing? He's weak, stupid, and hurt, why isn't this as funny as the charmander?"

One of Damian's lackeys was outside Ash's field of view; Long-hair moved to hit Ash from behind before folding at the waist over Misty's knee and when had she moved?

"You nerds looking for a fight?"

Brock stood and started over.

Misty piped up, "I mean I knew you were stupid, but you really surpass expectations, don't you?"

Five of them. A tiny part of Brock was just bitter enough to admit that it wasn't so much that he was worried Ash and Misty would get hurt as that he didn't want to get left out of the fun.

Also, if any of them stopped and thought for long enough they'd go for their pokéballs and the ones on the table, and that would slide the odds too far to the other side for his comfort.

"You're really gonna mess with Damian?"

…Then again, Misty had a bit of a point about how stupid these guys were. They might just stand there posturing while Ash beat them into the ground.

Brock threw his hat in the ring. "So I guess you're his purse dogs then? All bark and no brains?"

There was a heartbeat of tension, a calm just waiting for a storm to break as both sides waited for the other to make a move a–

"Let's break it up! You know the rules! No fighting in the Center or I'll be forced to blacklist you."

"They were the ones what started it!"

"I didn't see it, so unfortunately I am unable to do anything about that."

"Feh! Whatever. C'mon guys, it's getting lame here." Damian and his entourage stalked off.

"I think you'd be better off not to get mixed up with them, they have a very bad reputation."

"Why is it always spearow?"

Ash used Rock Throw.

It… probably came off a little weird the way he'd begged Nurse Joy to save Charmander, but… he'd given his badges out to trainers like Damian, given his support to a system that glorified the bastard, and… he honestly wasn't sure what he'd do if Charmander died.

"We're not all like that you know."

The travelers were bedding down in the Pokémon Center lobby. Misty was in the bathroom while Brock and Ash were setting up blankets on the couch. "Huh?"

"Pokémon Trainers," Ash clarified, "We're not all like that. Not even most of us. Damian isn't normal."

He hadn't realized that Ash had picked up on that. "I… I know, it's just…"

"What Melanie said really got to you, huh?" Ash sighed. "She's… not wrong exactly, but…" he hummed. "She has to take an extreme position because she deals with extreme cases. And honestly even most of those weren't as bad as Damian." He spat the name like a curse.

"But… the whole reason Misty and I wanted to become pokémon trainers is because they help pokémon. Whether that means helping them get stronger, or deal with a problem, or even just being a friend. If a pokémon, any pokémon needs help, then we'll be there, because that's what a pokémon trainer is."

"I… thanks Ash."

And then the next morning was missing from the ICU.

Regrets over Charmander were tabled when Team Rocket showed up. Again.

He wasn't sure what was weirder, that they seemed to think they'd invented the hole, or the whole rubber bazooka thing… Also, he felt dumber for even having thought that sentence.

"Pikachu!" And Ash was scaling the sheer side of the pit. How?

"Right, time to get while the getting's good."

"Charmander!"

It wasn't until Damian ran off crying for his mother that Brock felt something inside him unclench. That's right, he'd... apparently managed to forget how much power pokémon had. If every trainer was like Damian, no pokémon would stay with them.

As they left that particular battlefield behind them, Brock realized that a part of what he'd been defending earlier was Ash's definition of what being a pokémon trainer meant. That was… odd. Because honestly he'd never heard anyone describe it like that before. The idea that a trainer was responsible for their own pokémon was common enough, but to be responsible for helping every pokémon they came across? He didn't think anyone else would actually believe that.

But.

That didn't mean he couldn't get behind the idea…

"Who would play such a rotten trick?"

"Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirtle!"

"…Huh." Brock blinked. "Somehow I was expecting someone else…"

"What do you think Pikachu; should we let these guys know what we think of their jokes?"

*On it Ash!*

*Boss! Look out!* One of the backup squirtles dove to take the attack for the leader… Or at least, they assumed he was the leader, since his glasses were fancier.

*Squirtle! Damn idiot, I could have taken that… And you… you hurt my friend*

*You started it. Make a move shell boy.*

*Maybe I will.*

The brief stare down that followed broke when the sirens sounded.

"I'm soaked."

"Misty? You're a water trainer from Seafoam."

"…I have gotten used to this life far too quickly."

"Oh! It's a goldeen! Shellder, you're up!" Misty dove even as she called on her pokémon. Ash made to follow at least to the waterline, but was pulled short by… a lasso?

"They got us."

Ash forced himself not to sigh as Meowth reacted to his tail being bitten. Still no luck on Super Fang apparently – he didn't get it, Rattata made it look so easy... Also… he felt a little guilty about it, but he almost wished it was Misty tied to this rock with him instead of Brock… then again, with Meowth here, he might not have been able to risk things anyway…

Right, the hard way then.

Not for the first time, Ash wished talking to pokémon was just a little less rare…

"Gary?"

"Huh? Oh hey, I know you! You're Yellow's friend, right?"

"Mmhm! My name's Misty!"

"Nice to finally have a name for the face. Yellow around here then?"

"About that…"

"Meowth! Carry Pikachu up the ladder!"

"Ah, one problem with data plan. See, we might've run into one tiiiiiiiiiiny little snag.…"

"What do you mean 'snag?'"

"Well, we got da twerp, but no pikachu."

And that was just too perfect an opening. "Oh, don't worry. We brought plenty of Pikachu to go around."

"Misty! Pikachu! …Gary!?"

"Yellow. Sorry it took so long to find you. We wound up having to follow the dumb balloon in the end."

"Well that makes things easy."

"All we have to do is blast away and take our pick from the craters."

"Everyone! Into the cave!"

The first blast that obscured the boy and the squirtle just about stopped Misty's and Brock's heart. Gary on the other hand… he wasn't worried in quite the same way.

This was Yellow after all. Yellow who grew up in the forest, Yellow who knew the trees and the wind and the land, Yellow who spoke with pokémon and knew their secrets. Yellow had to be alright, that was just how things worked. It never even crossed Gary's mind that the other boy might be hurt.

Instead, what he saw was drive, and sacrifice, and courage, and… and he had a lot longer to go than he'd realized. Yellow wanted to be a Pokémon Master, so did Gary. That wasn't the kind of thing you accomplished entirely on your own, so even though they were racing to see who got there first, they both knew that the other was going to make it too.

But Yellow had, yet again, attained a level of awesome a step above where Gary was at. Because Gary had thought about going back, but the squirtle wasn't his, and another moment to think about it and he hoped he'd have done the right thing, but… Yellow hadn't thought. Yellow hadn't hesitated.

So.

Gary had a new goal to add to the list.

"No more Squirtle Squad. The town's gonna give us medals and we'll be heroes!"

"Not so fast!"

"Who said that?" Yellow was standing atop the cliff face, and Gary was with him, because damn it, he would at least be brave enough for this.

"Weren't they?"

"Didn't they?"

"How did they?"

"Squirtle, Water Gun; Pikachu, Thundershock."

"Growlithe, Ember."

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

"Thanks for your help Gary."

"Not sure what I actually did, but you're welcome."

"You were there. That's enough."

"Heh. See ya later Yellow."

"Oh, right, my name i–"

"Don't tell me."

"Huh?"

"I don't want to know. I haven't earned that right yet. When I'm finally ready to face you, when we have our big match at the Pokémon League, but not before then, alright?"

"Sure thing Gary. I'm looking forward to it."

"So am I Yellow, so am I."

"Hey Ash, that squirtle is following us."