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Our heroes - Ash, Misty, and Brock - had been wandering through Vermillion Forest for hours when they happened upon a familiar wild Grass-type Pokémon.
"It's an Oddish!" Misty exclaimed.
Brock nodded. "That's right... like the one we saw in Bulbasaur's garden."
"Alright! Stay back, Misty, this one's mine," Ash said, flipping his hat and summoning a Pokémon. "Butterfree, Sleep Powder!"
The Bug-type Pokémon flew over Oddish, shrouding it in a green-tinted powder that made it drowsy. Ash then commanded it to use Tackle, which knocked Oddish back and rendered it unable to battle.
"Huh, Ash is getting a lot better at this," Misty said to Brock, who nodded in agreement.
"That's it!" Ash exclaimed, reaching for his belt. "Now-"
"Go, Poké Ball!"
Ash froze mid- Poké Ball throw as he watched another Poké Ball absorb Oddish. It whirred three times - each more agonizing than the last - before finally beeping and sealing shut.
"Hey!" Ash gaped, shooting a glare at Misty. "I told you, this one was mine!"
"Wasn't me," Misty said sincerely, shaking her head.
"Then who?"
The group's question was answered as a boy who looked to be Ash's age, sporting a gray and red hoodie, sprinted over to the Poké Ball and raised it triumphantly. "Alright! I caught my first Grass-type!"
"Hey!" Ash shouted as he hastily approached the stranger. "That was mine!"
The boy raised his eyebrows, startled, before crossing his arms and turning away from Ash. "'Fraid not, it's mine now."
"But I... you can't... it's not fair!"
"Here we go again..." Misty sighed. "Something's always not fair with him."
Brock nodded in resigned agreement. "It's a low blow, but it's definitely fair game."
"Well, you should've just been faster," the boy retorted as he began to walk away.
Gritting his teeth, Ash caught up to the stranger and lunged for the Poké Ball in his hand. "Give it!"
"No way!"
The boy dodged Ash's continuous attempts to take his Poké Ball, and it culminated in Ash tackling him to the ground and knocking the Poké Ball out of his hand.
"Get off!" the boy shouted as he rolled away and retrieved the Poké Ball.
"Ash, just go catch another one!" Misty said.
"But that was supposed to be my Pokémon, Misty," Ash complained. As he stood up. he noticed a strange-looking white, bipedal rabbit Pokémon with orange markings lurking by the stranger's side. "Whoa, what's that Pokémon?"
The boy hastily lifted the Pokémon into his arms. "That's my Pokémon, thank you very much, and it's a Scorbunny."
"A Scorbunny?" Ash said, pulling his Pokédex out of his pocket.
"I've never heard of that Pokémon before," Brock said.
"No data available?" Ash repeated after his Pokédex.
The boy rolled his eyes. "It's a Fire-type Pokémon, originally discovered in the Galar region."
"Galar?" the trio said in unison.
"Wait, I've seen that place in movies, I think," Ash said. "Isn't that where everyone talks like 'oi matey, et's tea toime, innit'?"
Brock and Misty slapped their hands against their foreheads in disappointment, while the other trainer groaned. Meanwhile, a familiar group of troublemakers was listening in on their conversation from afar.
-----
"You hear that?" Jessie said from behind a row of bushes. "That rabbit Pokémon is from some faraway place."
"I can't believe it," James said. "This might be the rarest Pokémon ever to exist in the history of the world!"
"Forget Pikachu, let's snatch dat Scorbunny for da boss!" Meowth said.
"Great idea, Meowth. If we can do that, we'll be richer than rich!"
-----
"Hold on a second, you're not gonna get away with stealing my Oddish!" Ash exclaimed, interrupting the boy's factoids and pointing an accusatory finger at him as Brock and Misty groaned. "I know. How about we battle, and whoever wins gets to keep Oddish?"
"No way, forget it," the boy said.
"You're just scared you're gonna lose!"
"Hold on, Ash," Brock said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't we all have lunch first?" Ash groaned and began to protest, but Misty reminded him that they hadn't eaten in hours, and his grumbling stomach forced him to agree.
Brock gave a friendly smile to the other boy. "Care to join us, uh... what's your name?"
The boy's eyes widened for a moment, and his cheeks pinkened as he looked away and frowned. "Goh, and no thanks."
Misty shrugged. "Suit yourself, Goh, but Brock's sandwiches are the best."
Goh stalked off, ostensibly to search for more nearby Pokémon, but as the trio set up their table and readied the soup and sandwiches, they noticed that Goh kept shooting curious glances at them. His poker face was failing him - he was definitely hungry, and perhaps a bit lonely.
"Don't be shy, Goh, there's plenty," Brock called.
With that, Goh hesitantly shuffled over and sat down next to Ash, and the trio introduced themselves and their Pokémon to him.
"You have all three starter Pokémon?" Goh asked Ash.
"Sure do," Ash said, smirking. "Caught 'em all myself."
"Got any other Pokémon with you, Goh?" Brock asked. "I don't have anything for that Scorbunny of yours, but I might have special food for the rest."
"All kinds," Goh said triumphantly, releasing his other five occupied Poké Balls in the air to reveal a Venomoth, Spearow, Rattatta, and female Nidoran, along with the Oddish he had just caught. "And there's fifteen more back at Professor Cerise's lab."
"I see," Brock said, pulling satchels of food out of his backpack. "Well, I have something that should work just fine for your Poison-type Pokémon, at least." Goh nodded and thanked him as he showed him the food he had brought for his other Pokémon.
"What's that Pokémon?" Ash asked, pointing his Pokédex at Venomoth, only to have it slammed on the table by Goh.
"Venomoth, a Bug- and Poison-type, and the evolved form of Venonat," Goh recited. "The dust-like scales covering its wings are color coded to indicate the kinds of poison it has."
"Wow, you know your stuff," Misty said.
"It's just basics," Goh said. "You've never seen a Venomoth before?"
"I have, but... I just like to brush up," Ash said. "What's your problem?"
"Nothing. What's yours?"
"Hey, enough!" Brock chimed in. "So, Goh, that Galar region, are you from there?"
"Nope. I'm from Vermillion City."
"No way, we were just headed there for my next gym battle!" Ash exclaimed.
"Oh, how is it, Goh?" Misty cooed. "I've heard great things about their romantic sunsets!"
"It's... fine," Goh said, blushing slightly. "Uh, I'd stay away from that Gym, though. Lt. Surge is tough - like, really tough."
"Well, he just hasn't met me yet!" Ash said, flashing the inside of his jacket to reveal his badges from the Pewter and Cerulean Gyms. "Hey, how many Gym badges do you have, Goh?"
Goh huffed. "None. I don't battle."
"You don't battle?!" Ash exclaimed. "Then why'd you catch that Oddish, then?"
"What's wrong with not battling?" Goh asked, looking away from the table as his cheeks flushed. "If you must know, my dream is to catch every Pokémon so that I can meet Mew."
"Mew? Like... the rare Psychic Pokémon?" Ash asked, to which Goh nodded
"That's a big goal," Brock said. "Most people don't meet Mew in all their lives. I'm not even sure it's possible to catch it."
"Well, I already met Mew once. So I know I can do it again," Goh said as he explained how three years ago, he attended Professor Oak's summer camp and saw it when he and his friend Chloe got separated from the group.
"No way," Misty said.
"But... what does catching every Pokémon have to do with that?" Ash asked.
"Simple. Mew has the DNA of every single Pokémon. So, if I catch every Pokémon, that brings me closer to finding Mew," Goh said, looking down at the table and clenching his fists. "I know it's tough, but the future's in the palm of my hand. I can do it!"
The group gave him some words of encouragement before the conversation moved onto other topics - such as how Ash had seen a big, rainbow-colored bird Pokémon that his Pokédex couldn't identify, and how Goh felt that Professor Oak was overrated and not that knowledgeable compared to himself and Professor Cerise, a Pokémon Professor stationed in Vermillion City.
As the group packed up from lunch, a realization hit Ash. "Hey Goh, you know you're gonna have to battle if you wanna catch Mew."
Goh didn't respond, leaving Misty to fill in the silence. "Ash is right. No way Mew will let you catch it without a serious fight."
"I can fight just fine," Goh protested.
"Oh yeah?" Ash said. "Then let's battle."
"Fine," Goh eventually agreed, moving to stand opposite Ash as Brock assumed his position as referee and determined that this would be a 1v1 battle. "Scorbunny, let's go!"
Ash called upon Pikachu and got the battle underway by commanding it to use Thundershock. Only a few turns into the match, however, a net fell over Scorbunny and whisked it across the field.
"Scorbunny!" Goh called, looking over to see that the net was attached to a Meowth-shaped air balloon, which two adults in weird suits were standing in front of. "Hey, what are you doing with my Pokémon?!"
"Team Rocket!" Ash, Misty and Brock shouted in unison as Jessie, James and Meowth recited their motto, leaving Goh in shock about one thing in particular.
"What?! A talking Meowth?!" Goh gasped.
"Yeah, yeah, get it outta your system..." Meowth groaned.
"Wait, Meowth, how can you talk?" Misty asked.
"That's a story for another day. We gotta get dis Pokémon to da boss, stat!"
"Hey, give back Scorbunny!" Ash protested.
Jessie chuckled menacingly. "We'll give back your poor bunny, if..."
"...you give us Pikachu," James finished.
"No deal!" Ash exclaimed. "Pikachu, Thundershock!"
"I thought so. Oh well, then," Jessie said as Meowth hit a button on a remote, causing an inflatable hand to stretch out of their signature balloon and snatch Pikachu, absorbing its electricity.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried. He looked around and noticed Brock and Misty standing by idly, as per usual during their encounters with Team Rocket. "Hey, aren't you guys gonna do anything?"
"I got it, Ash," Goh said, stepping forward. "Oddish, let's go! Use Stun Spore!"
Oddish let out a fast-moving, yellow-tinted powder that landed on the foes and rendered them unable to move.
"Alright!" Goh exclaimed. "Ok, let's see, um, what other attacks can Oddish use...?"
Before Goh could give his Pokémon another command, Ash sent out Pidgeotto, who broke Scorbunny out of the net and popped Team Rocket's balloon to free Pikachu.
"Alright!" the boys exclaimed in unison.
"Not so fast," James said, finally regaining the ability to move. "Koffing, Sludge attack!"
"Ekans, go!" Jessie commanded.
"Oddish, return!" Goh said. "Scorbunny, Double Kick!"
"Pikachu, Thundershock!" Ash said.
Goh's Scorbunny launched Koffing into its trainer, while Pikachu's Thundershock sent Team Rocket blasting off. Ash and Goh embraced their Pokémon and congratulated them on a job well done, and then the trainers glanced at each other and smiled in mutual respect.
-----
The sun was now setting, and Misty decided that they should probably bid farewell to Goh and try to make it to Vermillion City before it got dark. Goh gave them directions, and Brock wished him good luck with his goal.
"Hey, you did great back there, Goh," Ash said.
Goh's eyes widened. "Really? Thanks. You did, too."
The silence between the two trainers lingered for a few moments before a thought occurred to Ash. "Hey, uh, wanna come with us?"
"Uh... no," Goh blurted out, avoiding Ash's gaze. "Nope. I should... finish up around here, make sure I've caught everything before I move on."
Ash chuckled. "Alright. Well you better bet I'm gonna catch 'em all before you do. Later!"
The group enthusiastically waved goodbye to Goh as they set off for Vermillion City. "You think he'll actually catch Mew?" Misty wondered aloud once they were out of earshot.
"Who knows?" Brock said. "He's got potential, that's for sure."
Ash nodded in agreement as he thought about his new friend. They hadn't gotten along at first, with Goh's arrogance and all, but even though their goals and training philosophies were different, Ash had to admit that Goh was smart and capable. And, come to think of it...
"He's pretty..."
"Ash, what was that?" Brock asked.
"Huh?!" Ash yelped, blushing as he realized he might've said that aloud.
Misty smirked. "It's okay, Ash, you can say I'm pretty."
"In your dreams, Misty!"
And so, after making an unlikely new friend, our heroes make their way to Vermillion City, where Ash plans to win a Gym Badge from the tough Lt. Surge. Will Ash have what it takes to defeat him? And what other surprises await our heroes?