Pokémon Retold: Part 1 - The Indigo Adventures

Chapter 9 - Squad Without a Cause

   It had been 3 days since Ash rescued Charmander from a toxic situation. Ash and his friends had made it out of the forest and continued through Route 24, setting their sites on Vermillion City, and hopefully, Ash's first gym badge. They walked through a dirt path surrounded by meadows, and Ash was just enjoying himself. Brock was looking at the map, keeping track of the group's progress. Unfortunately for Ash, his foot sunk into the ground.
   "Ash, what's wrong," Misty asked.
   "M-My foot," Ash answered. "It's stuck."
   "Hold on Ash, I got..." Brock's sentence was interrupted by the ground giving way under the trio.
   Ash landed on his front side, Brock landed on his back, and Misty landed on her side. On top of them was Pikachu whining in pain. The only good thing about the hole was that it was big enough for the three to stand up.
   "W-Who the heck put a trap hole in the trail," Misty said in pain.
   "Maybe a prank," proposed Brock.
   "Well I'm not laughing," Ash groaned. "Who'd have a twisted sense of humor like this?"
   Just then, the group noticed five shadows looming over them. They made strange noises that sounded like laughter. It caught Ash's attention, and he began to climb back up with Pikachu on his shoulder.
   "This isn't a joke," Ash grunted as he pulled himself out of the hole. "We could've been critically hurt you know!"
   Misty and Brock pulled themselves out a couple of seconds later, and the group got a good look at the pranksters. They were Pokémon that resembled tortoises with baby-blue skin, brown shells, yellow undershells separated by a white streak, tails that looked like a squirrel, and their eyes were covered by sunglasses. Four had rounded frames with a dark blue tint and one had an angular with a black tint. Brock assumed that one that stood out was the group's leader. Ash gasped in disbelief.
   "SQUIRTLES," he shrieked giddily.
   Ash pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon.
   "Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon," said Dexter's computerized voice. "It draws its long neck into its durable shell to perform powerful water attacks with amazing range and accuracy. The blasts are quite powerful."
   "Squirtle was my first choice at Professor Oak's lab," Ash said with a large grin on his face.
   "Ash, they sent us down a hole," Misty reminded him.
   "Oh that's right," Ash realized. "And just for that, Pikachu, Thunder Shock, let's go!"

   Pikachu lept off of Ash's shoulder and ran toward the Squirtles. He let loose his Thunder Shock attack on the Squirtle with angular glasses, but one with round glasses came in front of it and took the hit instead. The Squirtle with angular glasses called out to its teammate as Piachu stood in front of him with a serious expression. Squirtle stared back at Pikachu; its glasses hid its eyes, but there was still a bead of sweat on the side of its head. A minute later, an alarm echoed from behind Ash and the group. Squirtle called out to its group to grab the one Pikachu knocked out, and ran as fast as they could.
   "What the..." Ash asked.
   A second later, the alarm was so loud, that Ash's senses were overloaded. He held his ears and staggered as Mistyt tried to hold him up. Thirty seconds later, a motorcycle screeched to a halt, and the sirens that were making the loud noise stopped.
   "Is everyone okay," asked the police officer riding the motorcycle.
   "O-Officer Jenney," Ash asked while he was trying to calm himself down.
   "How do you know my name," Jenney asked. "I don't remember seeing you around these parts."
   "We met in Veridian City," Ash explained. "You helped me and Misty get Pikachu to the Pokémon Center. Remember?"
   "Oh, you must have met my cousin," said Jenney. "Sorry about that. A lot of our family members look alike. Anyways, let me escort you to town. I'll fill you all in on those Squirtles at the station."

*

   The town seemed fairly small, mostly built of family businesses and modern housing. Ash, Brock, and Misty were at the town's fairly small police station.
   "The locals call those rouge Pokémon The Squirtle Squad," explained Officer Jenney. "They're Squirtles who were abandoned by their trainers. Now, they run wild and prank the whole town."
   "A-Abandoned..." Ash inquired sadly.
   He remembered his Bulbasaur and Charmander, who suffered a similar fate. Maybe he could help, but after what he did, chances were fatally slim.
   "That's...awful," Misty said sadly.
   "If they had trainers, maybe things could've been different," Brock added.
   "I agree," said Jenney. "But sometimes, there's nothing we can do."
   Ash and the group left the police station, with Ash, feeling the most terrible. He more than likely shattered his chances at helping abandoned Pokémon, especially a Pokémon species he initially wanted.