The group walked up to the post that read 'Vermillion City' in large signs and gave a sigh of relief. They finally made it to the large bustling Metro City and couldn't wait to hunker down and relax at the centre, especially after a week of travel. They went to the centre to book a room and get their Pokemon checked first and as they were waiting Ash heard a familiar voice. He turned around and much to his delight saw three very familiar faces.
Ash, "Gary, Goh, Chloe!"
Misty got up, "Chloe? Goh? Guys I missed you."
Gary teased, "Only them? Not me?"
Misty, "I saw you a few weeks ago."
Chloe, "Long time, Ash, Misty! And friends. I'm Chloe."
Gou, "Yeah, how have you been? I'm Gou. I saw your performance Ash. It was amazing."
Brock, "Hi, I'm Brock."
Jessika, "I'm Jessilina and this lump here is Jameson, sorry he's knackered out."
Jameson, "I'm fine. Nice to meet you two."
Misty, "Missed you guys a lot."
Ash, "Thank you Gou. So what are you doing here? Don't you have school Chloe and Gou you are a research assistant now right? Are these cuties your Pokemon?"
Scorbunny blushed, "Scor!"
Chloe, "School ends early on Saturday and we promised Gary we would watch his battle."
Yamper, "Am!"
Gou grinned taking out his Rotomphone, "Yup Scorbunny is my partner. I got really good materials for research after recording the battle."
Ash brightened, "You won the battle? Which means you got your Rainbow badge!"
Gary took out his badge, "Sure did, check it out. Now we are even."
Ash blinked, "Even?"
Gary, "Red told Blue who told me you won against AJ and received a wild badge, so yeah, we are even now that we have a similar number of badges."
Ash sweatdropped, "I didn't realize it was a competition."
Gary, "Well it is now."
Misty, "Never change Gary."
Nurse Joy called Ash and the others, "Your Pokemon are fine, just a bit of exhaustion nothing a good night's rest can't fix. Ash, Charmander is healing well physically as for mental healing I scheduled a meet with Lt Surge today early evening if that's okay with you."
Ash, "That's fine, as long as my Pokemon are healed, I'm up for it."
Chloe, "Why don't you guys go and clean up while we wait for Gary's Pokemon to finish healing. We can go together to the Vermillion stake house and chat."
Jameson, "That's not a bad idea, honestly speaking our clothes need a wash and our shoes. It either needs a mend or a change."
Jessilina, "Shoe shopping after lunch."
Misty, "Sounds good to me, see you in an hour."
Ash grabbed his own pokeballs, "Yeah!"
Gou watched as they left, "Someone was actually dumb enough to hurt a hatchling that belonged to the Champion's Pokemon? I still can't believe it."
Scorbunny, "Scor?"
Yamper, "Amp!"
Gary sighed, "Well believe it, my friend. It was a horrid experience."
Chloe, "And Ash actually punched that guy? Our Ash punched him!"
Gary nodded, "I don't blame him. I would have too if he had not beaten me to it."
Gou, "Well he's in jail now so it's fine, right?"
Gary nodded, "For five years yeah, his father managed to lessen it from ten to five."
Chloe frowned, "That's not.... What the heck?"
Gary looked at the ground darkly, "Money talks, money silences. Apparently!"
Gou scowled, "They didn't let him go just like that, did they?"
Gary, "Well he has to do community service first and get therapy as well. I don't know how much that will help. I swear though if I see him."
Chloe put her hand on his shoulder, "Don't do anything stupid on your own."
Gou nodded, "Yeah Gary, between you and Ash, it was you who kept him out of most trouble."
Scorbunny nodded, "Scor scor!"
Chloe, "Call me, I'll cover for you."
Gou and Scorbunny faceplanted, "Chloe, seriously? Oh who am I kidding? I would do the same."
Ash on the other hand had settled in the warm bath beside Lucario and Squirtle, he had washed his clothes and shoes before turning to the Pokemon, he really did need to shop and get new shoes. Fearrow got preened, washed and massaged first, before Ash gave Charmander a nice clean up and massage. He then moved to Bulbasaur and Squirtle cleaning and massaging them making them purr in happiness before moving to Milotic and lastly Lucario. Despite being cleaned the fire lizard stuck around in the bathroom waiting for Ash to finish his bath and come out. Ash smiled at Charmander as he carried him to the room and sat him down before dressing up, instead of the blue jeans, this time he wore grey with a white T-shirt and gray jacket with his red cap. He took out the second pair of shoes he had and put them on before returning the Pokemon except Lucario and joining the others.
Ash, "Hey guys, Brock and Jessilina aren't done yet?"
Misty, "Well Onix is quite large so it's probably gonna take a while."
Jameson, "It's fine Gary's Pokemon are not done yet either."
Ash, "That bad?"
Gary, "Surge is a tough opponent and he fought in a war way before we were born so it's to be expected."
Nurse Joy came out at this point, "Gary your Pokemon are all healed. Take it easy for three days at least however, before you start training again."
Gary released Haxorus, "Awesome thanks Nurse Joy. You hear that bud."
Haxorus gave a purr before seeing Ash and Lucario greeting them, the two greeted him back in return. Brock and Jessilina soon joined the group and they left together for the stake house that catered to trainers and Pokemon both. Lucario, Haxorus and Scorbunny walked ahead of the group as the talked among themselves with Scorbunny asking what exactly happened to Charmander his trainer didn't tell him much except it was bad. Lucario and Haxorus sighed before he explained the events of almost a month ago and the horrid trainer they ran into.
To say Scorbunny was shocked was an understatement, he had lived in Galar and for all that he could remember no human ever treated him or his Nickit friends cruelly. They got angry when they stole food yes but outside of getting scolded and lectured they were not hurt in any other way. Haxorus smiled telling him he was one of the luckier ones to not run into horrible humans like some of the unlucky Pokemon. Even he and Lucario were abandoned as eggs before they were found by the Meemas. They soon reached the stake house and went to the table they had booked before ordering the food.
Chloe, "Ash, Misty, Jessilina, can I have a look?"
Ash, "Huh? Sure!"
Misty, "One sec, here we go."
Jessilina, "Only the badges I won or do you want to see my previous ribbons? Cause I don't have those on me right now. I left them in bag at the centre."
Gou, "We can look at the ribbons later then, for now badges."
Ash, Misty and Jessilina had both the Pewter and Cerulean gym badges with a wild gym badge being an extra in Ash's badge case. Gary looked at it with a little bit of envy, when he had returned for a rematch, AJ had already disbanded the gym and had gone on his journey, when he had learned Ash had won his match against AJ, he had become more dedicated to training and battling. He had declared Ash as his rival that day unknown to the dark haired boy and there was no way he was gonna tell him either. He knew his friend would simply laugh and ask if he wanted to drive Lance up the wall like their brothers did.
Gou, "So that's what a wild badge looks like."
Scorbunny, "Scor?"
Chloe, "It's pretty, that's for sure."
Brock nodded, "You can tell AJ put a lot of thought into it."
Jessilina, "He was pretty tough to beat too."
Misty, "He was pretty cool too."
Gary gave her a grin, "Dawwwwww does Misty have a crush?"
Misty blushed embarassed, "I just think he is cool. I don't have a crush!"
Gary raised his hands, "Just pulling your leg Misty."
Jessilina, "Anyway I booked my battle with Surge for day after tomorrow."
Gary, "Oh yeah! If you win you get tickets."
Jameson blinked, "Tickets?"
Gary nodded, "To board the luxury ship, Nautilus. Yeah, I know after the SS Anne incident you'd think, they would not hold tournaments again but they decided to do it again with tightened security. I'm taking Gou and Chloe along with me as my group have some practicals to perform here."
Gou, "It'll be fun, I heard there were trainers who were coming from other regions."
Ash looked unsure, "I don't know if I will be going there."
Jameson, "Hey don't cancel it before trying it, who knows maybe it'll help Charmander if he met more Pokemon outside ours in a friendly meet."
Ash nodded, "That's true, but that's not what I meant."
Misty, "Oh I get it. You are not sure if you will get to battle Surge before the Ship leaves port."
Ash nodded, "I don't plan on using Charmander yet. I need to wait two more weeks before I can actually even let him get involved in serious training. Plus I don't know how long the treatment will take."
Jameson frowned, "I see well if you are not going I'll stay back."
Jessilina, "Me too. As much as I want to check a luxury ship out, I'm not leaving the little one behind."
Gary, "Hey don't sweat it, the ship doesn't leave till three weeks from now, I am just the first winner and it was just announced today after I won."
Misty, "Which means you are going, so don't worry about it."
Brock, "What are you going to do for a almost a month?"
Gary, "I'm going to Saffron city and challenge Sabrina, when Ash wins he'll have four badges, I'm not getting left behind."
Gou, "Ash would you mind if I shadow you when you go to meet Surge?"
Ash blinked, "You want to record how we help Charmander, don't you?"
Gou, "I'll be honest I'm curious and a bit worried about what I'll do if I come across a hurt Pokemon so....."
Ash smiled, "Alright!"
Gou, "Really? Thanks you don't have to worry about me though, I won't interfere just record."
Ash turned to where the Pokemon were, "If Scorbunny is coming with you, I think Charmander will be more comfortable having a friend there with him."
Gou, "Right, you hear that Scorbunny."
Scorbunny, "Scor Scorbunny."
The group went different ways after their lunch together. Gary went to the exam centre where his group were at finishing their paper while Brock went to meet the other breeders in Vermillion. Chloe decided to go to her father's lab in Vermillion and Misty joined her, she was curious about the new Professor in Vermillion city. Jessilina and Jameson went to get some training done while Gou returned with Ash to the gym.
Ash, "Hello, I have a meet with Lt Surge."
Receptionist, "Battle? Ah you are back again kid? Another battler then?"
Ash shook his head, "No, afraid not, I'm here for my Charmander."
The receptionist's eyes widened, "Oh! Please go straight in."
A trainer spoke up, "Wait why did he get to go in before us?"
The receptionist looked at her blankly, "It is Pokemon business, also nothing you should get involved in."
Surge came out then, "Ash Ketchum?"
Ash, "That's me, Sir."
Surge, "Did you bring your Pokemon?"
Ash nodded, "Yes I did, today is for him."
Surge, "Push the battles from today to tomorrow we have an emergency. Come on kid."
Ash blinked and followed the gym leader with Lucario, Gou and Scorbunny coming after him, "Yes Sir!"
Surge led them to another room before turning to Ash, "Sit. Now I was told aside from Charmander you have two other Pokemon who were likely abandoned as well."
Ash nodded as Gou started to record, "Yes, Bulbasaur was the first abandoned Pokemon I met, then Charmander and last is Squirtle. My Charmander is the worst of among the three of them."
Surge, "Let's see him then!"
Ash released Charmander who looked around before seeing Ash and clinging to him, "Hey buddy, I want you to meet someone. This is Lt Surge, he is here to help us."
Surge frowned looking at the fire lizard's submissive state, "He really went too far with this little one."
Ash sighed, "I know, I'm trying to help but beside being there for him during nightmares and watching over him when he insists on practicing new moves he insists on learning and giving him hugs when he needs it. I'm kinda lost."
Surge, "Well you have a good start already on taking care of him. Now how are his physicals, before handling mental health you need to heal the physical."
Ash took out the copies Nurse Joy made for him, before letting him leave earlier and handed them to Surge. The man took the papers and went through them before frowning, a year long case of physical abuse, dehydration, malnutrition and forced battles before Ash found him. He should have added more than just five years to that brat's punishment, this was the reason why he almost agreed to work with Team Rocket before his investigation proved they were worse. He sighed before looking at the Charmander who clung to Ash's leg like an anchor, at least he didn't have to worry about him turning his back on his trainer. But that would complicated things a bit as well, there was a large chance he would fight with the other Pokemon once he evolved which could stress and cause problems in the group harmony. Not to forget once he evolved he would become possessive in the not really nice way as well. They would have to handle this by the ear as he grew up, bit by bit, this will not be solved in a few days or months. It may even take years if he was being honest, like Lance's Altaria, it's been three years but he still showed anxiety and depression from time to time.