Bulbasaur

Right now Ash, Misty and Brock were having trouble walking through a pathless forest.

"Ash, you need to learn how to read the map correctly." Misty complained.

"What are you talking about, you're the one who looked at the map." Ash corrected her.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Misty sweat dropped.

"Okay you two, we're all exhausted. Let's take a break and figure out what to do next." Brock said.

Ash and Misty had nothing against it.

The three then took a break by a stream. Misty then spotted a Pokemon by the water.

"Hey look, a Pokemon." She said.

Ash scanned it.

"Oddish, the Weed Pokemon. During the day, it keeps its face buried in the ground. At night, it wanders around sowing its seeds."

"I'm going to catch it." Misty declared.

"What?" Ash asked. "Even though it's not a water-type."

"I know it's not a water type, but it's so cute and I'm going to catch it." Misty said. "Go, Seel." Seel came out of it's Poke Ball.

"Use Aurora Beam on Oddish." Seel releases a multicolored beam from the horn on its head at Oddish, hitting it directly.

"Now, Headbutt." Seel repeatedly slams its head into Oddish, knocking it out.

"Okay, go Poke Ball."

Before Misty's Poke Ball hit Oddish, a vine came out of nowhere and smacked it away.

"Hey, what just happened?" Misty asked.

A blue-green Pokemon with a bulb on it's back came out of the grass.

"Hey!" Ash exclaimed. "That's a Bulbasaur."

He took out the Pokedex.

"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokémon."

Bulbasaur knocked Seel out with it's Vine Whip attack.

"Oh no, Seel." Misty said, running over to it. "Are you okay?"

"I'll handle it from here." Ash said. "Pidgeotto, I choose you."

"Wing Attack!" Pidgeotto prepared to hit Bulbasaur with one of it's wings, but it released some leaves from it's bulb to attack stopping Pidgeotto in it's tracks.

"Air Cutter!" Pidgeotto flapped it's wings and a strong gust with S shaped energy blades in it flew and slashed Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur then extended it's vines and smacked Pidgeotto into a tree.

"Pidgeotto!" Ash shouted. Bulbasaur and Oddish ran away. Ash ran towards Pidgeotto to see if it was alright and it nodded. Ash then returned Pidgeotto to it's Pokemon so it could rest.

After Bulbasaur and Oddish escaped, Ash, Brock and Misty continued walking. At some point they came across a wooden bridge.

"That's weird." Brock said. "This bridge doesn't appear on the map."

"Should we cross it?" Misty asked.

"Maybe." Ash shrugged. "But who knows, someone might live on the other side of it. They might be able to help us." Misty and Brock thought this was a good idea.

As they began crossing the bridge, it wasn't very stable and they had to hold on to the ropes as they walked. Then out of nowhere a big gust of wind rocked the bridge and the ropes snapped. Ash grabbed the rope and tightly held it as Misty held onto his right leg. Brock grabbed hold of the rope as well, but soon lost his grip and fell into the river.

"Brock, no!" Ash exclaimed in concern.

"Ash, hurry!" Misty shouted. "Pull us up."

Using all his strength, Ash pulled himself and Misty up onto the cliff.

"Talk about a close call." Ash sighed.

"Come on." Misty said. "We should try to find Brock."

They tried looking for him, but soon ran into trouble. Apparently, someone had placed traps along the path which they kept falling into.

"This is ridiculous!" Misty shouted. Ash helped her out of a hole. "What is going on?"

"Not completely sure." Ash admitted. "These traps were placed here for a reason. Let's keep going before we fall for any more traps." As careful as they tried to be, they fell into another trap. Ash ended up tripping another trap, this time though it was a net.

"Ah, not again!" Misty shouted.

As they were trapped in the net, Ash and Misty grew concerned about Brock.

"I hope Brock's alright." Misty said.

"Brock will be fine." Ash replied. "His Pokemon are with him."

Just then the two heard a voice.

"Hey there." It was Brock.

"Brock, you're alright." Ash said.

"Free us from this net." Misty said. Brock sliced through it with a hunting knife.

"Thanks." Misty said. "What happened after you fell into the river?"

Brock revealed that after he was washed away by the river, a beautiful girl rescued him. "Come on, I'll introduce you guys to her."

Brock led the two to a small wooden cabin, where a blue-haired woman tended to several Pokemon.

"Oh are these your friends?" The woman asked.

"They are." Brock answered. "Ash, Misty I'd like you to meet Melanie."

He explained to them that Melanie looked after wild Pokemon that were either injured or abandoned.

"So this cabin is like a Pokemon Center and Melanie's a Pokemon doctor." Misty said.

"Not exactly." Brock corrected her. "It's more like a health spa, the Pokemon can stay and recover before going on their way."

"Excuse me, but on our way here, we ran into some traps. Is there a reason why those traps are set up?" Ash asked.

"My apologies, but I was the one who set those traps up." Melanie apologized to them. "The traps are meant to keep Pokemon poachers and thieves away."

"Like the bridge?" Misty asked.

"Yes." Melanie nodded.

'How effective is that though.' Ash thought.

He was right to be apprehensive. Team Rocket found out about the hidden village and decided they wanted the Ash, Misty and Brock were helping Melanie care for the Pokemon. Ash was tending to a Staryu, Caterpie and two Rattatas. Brock and Melanie tended to a Paras and Weepinbell. Meanwhile Misty was talking to the Oddish she battled earlier.

"Sorry for hurting and scaring you like that." Misty said. "Melanie told me that you were abandoned, because your trainer thought you were weak." Oddish nodded.

"Some trainers can be very cold-hearted. But don't worry Oddish, not all of us are like that." Misty said.

Suddenly she was tackled by Bulbasaur.

"Ow, what are you doing?!" Misty shouted. Bulbasaur growled at Misty; it wanted her to leave the village. Melanie, who saw what transpired ran over to them.

"Sorry Bulbasaur's acting like that." Melanie said. "It thought you were going to take Oddish away. See Bulbasaur is the village bodyguard and it doesn't really trust trainers." Ash was watching and thought it was a remarkable Pokemon.

'It would be nice to have a Pokemon like that.'

Suddenly a giant shadow appeared over the group.

"What the?" Ash stated. The four then heard Team Rocket's motto. They were flying up in their balloon.

"Who are those guys?" Melanie asked.

"That's Team Rocket, they're bad guys who steal other trainer's Pokemon." Misty explained.

"What do you three think you're doing here?" Brock demanded.

"What do you think twerp?" Jessie smirked. "To take the Pokemon obviously. Show them what we mean Meowth."

Meowth pressed a button. A huge vacuum came out from underneath the balloon. It began sucking in air.

"They always come up with something new." Ash muttered. "Let's get the Pokemon inside." He grabbed Staryu, Melanie grabbed Weepinbell and Misty grabbed Oddish. They ran towards Melanie's cabin. Before they got inside, Ash noticed Bulbasaur was struggling due to the strong wind. He handed Staryu to Misty and then went to assist Bulbasaur. Soon everyone entered the cabin.

"If they think hiding in the log cabin will help, think again." Meowth smirked. "Our vacuum will suck them all up." Bulbasaur climbed up onto the cabin's roof and struck the hose with Vine Whip. Ash released Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto, Gust." Pidgeotto blew Team Rocket's balloon away.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

After Team Rocket was driven off, Melaine thanked the group for their help. She then turned to Ash.

"Ash, there's something I need to ask you." She said, picking Bulbasaur up. She explained that it was a good time for Bulbasaur to leave the village and explore the real world.

"These Pokemon shouldn't stay here forever. They need to leave soon and grow up in the world. So please take care of Bulbasaur."

Ash accepted and asked Bulbasaur for a rematch. Bulbasaur nodded, indicating it agreed to a battle. Ash used Charmander for the battle.

"Charmander, Ember." It struck Bulbasaur with a small fire ball. Bulbasaur used Razor Leaf to blow Charmander away, but it dodged the attack.

"Metal Claw!" Charmander's claws glowed metallic silver then it ran forward and slashed Bulbasaur. This dazed Bulbasaur.

"Go, Poke Ball!" Ash shouted.

The Poke Ball hit Bulbasaur and Ding, it was captured and sent to Prof. Oak.

Ash looked it up on the Pokedex.

"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokémon.

Type: Grass/Poison

Gender: Male

Ability: Overgrow

Current attacks: Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, Take Down, Razor Leaf and Power Whip.

Ash promised Melanie that he would take good care of Bulbasaur.

"I know you will." Melanie said. Brock asked her if he could stay and help her with the Pokemon; truth be told he liked her. But Melanie told him that he should continue traveling on his journey.

Just then Oddish walked up to Misty and rubbed it's leaves against her.

"Huh, what's wrong?" Misty asked.

"It seems that Oddish wants to travel with you." Melanie said. "So would you take care of it?"

"If Oddish wants me to, I will." Misty said. She pressed a empty Poke Ball on Oddish's head and soon it was caught. Brock ended up leaving with a Pokemon as well. The Weepinbell he looked after earlier, gained affection for Brock and wanted to stay with him so Brock caught it. With several new Pokemon in tow Ash, Misty and Brock said farewell to Melanie and continued their journey.