337This story was last updated on November 20, 2022.
Ash stood there in absolute awe as he saw Team Rocket get away with the Pokémon of everybody on the bridge, including his own. Erika was in complete awe at what happened and she turned to the other and said,
"You're such an idiot, Ash. I never should have saved you at the lake on Route 1 if I had known you were gonna be such a screw up like today!"
Ash couldn't believe that Erika could say such a cruel thing to him. It wasn't like he had any intentions of being a target where criminals would be after him just because he had a Dragonair.
"I'm so sorry, Erika, really, I never meant for any of this to happen!" Ash apologized as he was overcome with guilt and trying to do his best to make the situation better, but to no avail.
"Ash," said one voice.
"Ash," said another.
Ash woke up and shouted "Ow!" and felt a pain in his hand. He looked down and saw that Zorua had bitten his hand! "Hey, what's the matter with you, Zorua?! That hurt really badly!"
He did not want to scold the Pokémon, but he figured that there was no good reason to have his Pokémon randomly bite his hand that hard. Unfortunately, it did break the skin and was bleeding slightly, so he was going to wash the area really well once he left the room. He felt enough pressure around it would stop it and it would be alright.
Dragonair leaned over and licked Ash's face and she rested her head on the bed near his head. She then said to his mind, "Zorua was trying to wake you up because you were having a bad dream. You were talking in your sleep about how you were not an idiot and you looked to be in pain. I tried waking you up by calling your name and even wriggled the tip of my tail on your nose, but that only made your nose twitch."
Ash patted the dragon's head and said, "Thank you for doing what you could to wake me up."
Zorua had a look of remorse on his face and he said to Ash through telepathy, "I'm sorry that I had to bite you, but I didn't want you to be in any distress..."
Ash gently booped Zorua's cold wet nose as a form of affection and said, "I understand. And I'm sorry that I yelled at you." He loved how his Pokémon were so considerate of him, too, much like he was of the others.
"It's understandable, Ash, I would've done the same if I were you and my hand were bitten," Zoroa told Ash's mind. "I also hope I can battle soon." He wagged his fluffy tail when the other touched his nose, showing that he still loved affection.
"You'll get your wish, buddy, I promise," Ash said as he got up. "You may be surprisingly useful if we go face Koga today and he uses something that isn't poison type, much like Erika's sister did at the gym that supposedly uses grass types. But if he does use poison, you'll be super handy, Marowak!"
"Wak!" said the bipedal dinosaur-esque Pokémon with eagerness.
He twirled his bone around like a baton and then with one hand and Ash applauded at this. Ash got up and soon headed for the door. He was eager to get the day started and he wanted to battle the gym leader as soon as possible and visit the Safari Zone.
"I wish I could let you visit the Safari Zone and let you roam around your old home, girl, but they may not like that," Ash said to his beautiful blue Pokémon.
"I would like that, too, but I don't want you to get in trouble," Ash heard the other speak with telepathy. "You need to take care of that wound, Ash; it may not seem much, but I would hate for you to have a mishap like you did with your foot at the lake not too long ago."
"You're absolutely right," Ash said as he had to use the public restroom to clean up since the rooms did not have one. He took some of the tissue that was by the bedside nightstand and covered his wound up before sucking up all the Pokémon to their balls and leaving the room. He needed to hold pressure to his hand, so he put his hand into the other to apply pressure, but he hoped nobody would notice it.
"Hey, Ash!" Ben said, as he, too, took a night at the Pokémon Center. He noticed the younger boy was holding his hand. "What's the matter, Ash? Does your hand hurt?"
After he said that, Stacy and Erika approached as well.
"Well, the thing is, I got bitten by Zorua," he admitted out right, seeing there was no reason to tell a lie. The other three gasped at that.
"Why would such a cute thing do something so mean to you?" Stacy asked as she was astonished. Ash let her see his Pokémon and thought Zorua was the cutest little thing.
"I was having a bad dream and he woke me up by biting me," Ash replied sheepishly. "I could tell he was sorry about it. I'll be okay, I just need to go wash it."
The others seemed more understanding after he had said that and Erika waited for Ash. She began to view Ash like a younger brother, and he viewed her like an older sister that he never could have, so they had a sense of mutual protection.
After he stepped out, Erika said, "Ash, if you need to talk about it to feel better, I'll help you."
Ash felt a llittle bit guilty that he had a dream where Erika was scolding him so badly, but he figured if he didn't tell, it may make their relationship strained, so he said,
"I had a dream where you scolded and blamed me for Team Rocket's attack yesterday. And that...you seemed like you had regret and anger about how you saved me at the lake on Route 1."
Erika was surprised how the other just straight up gave his response like that to her, but she also appreciated how he was able to trust her to tell her this.
"Ash...I don't regret one bit saving you, and it isn't your fault that people are obsessed at Dragonair, even Team Rocket. It's just how some people behave and they should learn how to behave better and leave us alone. So no, I'm not mad at you at all."
She spoke with sincerity in her voice. Ash felt so much relief that she handled this so well and a smile appeared on his face.
"Thank you, Erika, so much for listening to me. I feel better after I've told you this." His words were short and sweet, but that was about all he could say on that score.
"No problem. Is your hand going to be okay?" She asked as she looked down to see his hand was still slightly wet from not drying them fully in the bathroom.
"I think so. It doesn't really hurt or anything," Ash told the girl. He looked over and saw the two teenage siblings talking to one another and said, "Let's not keep them waiting. I'm eager to get a badge and catch some Pokémon at the Safari Zone!"
His optimism came back and Erika giggled. They went over to the siblings and Ben said to the other,
"You seem better now, Ash. I'm glad to see that. So, what would you like to do first?"
Ash really was beginning to enjoy his time with the two teenagers and he said to the older male, "How about we go to the Pokémon Safari Zone first? I first was thinking about the gym, but I'm interested in this Safari Zone."
"It's a huge special conservation area for rare wild Pokémon!" Stacy said with excitement in her voice as she was eager to get started as soon as possible. "'My brother and I've never been, but I would love to see what they got."
"I think it's a wonderful place; it allows a safe place to live for rare Pokémon that are very difficult to find in the wild so they can breed. And people can catch them to prevent overpopulation and the depletion of resources in the area," Erika stated as she supported the cause. "I may catch a Pokémon for myself while I'm there."
"Do you think it'll be a grass type, or perhaps something different?" asked Ash as he was curious as to what the other was going to do.
"You know, considering that I've always really stuck to grass types, I may see if there is something new that may pique my interest," she responded with a nod of her head. Ash smiled and hoped for the best for her.
"I'm really amazed at your Dragonair, Ash, so I may see if there are any Dratini there," Ben chimed in as he was getting ready.
"The only types I have that are good at a poison gym is just Marowak, and Scizor is immune to poison, but doesn't know any super-effective moves," Ash said. "Maybe there will be another ground type."
"Who knows?" said Stacy. "Let's get started with a nice breakfast, yes?"
Nobody disagreed with her proposal and they soon headed downstairs to the cafeteria and had their breakfast. Before long, they got up and they were heading for the Safari Zone and soon, Ash heard a familiar voice. It was...her.
"Ash Ketchum, we meet again." It was Melanie, his rival from school who secretly had a crush on Ash, but she wouldn't even dare admit that to him. Surprisingly, her voice was not really arrogant and she seemed to be actually civil.
"Oh. Melanie. It's you," Ash said in a somewhat bored tone, doing his best not to really say anything to avoid hearing an earful from the spoiled brat. He remembered she was taking etiquette courses, so he would see just how much they really were starting to show.
"Indeed. I was going on to the Safari Zone today and hunt me a Dratini. You know, Ash. It takes a lot for me to feel envy, but I did indeed feel envy for you because you have a Dratini. So what better way to get one than come to the source?"
"Well, your mind does sound made up, Melanie, and I say go for it! It may be interesting to have a battle against your Dratini if you find one," Ash told the other as he thought that would make an ideed interesting battle with the other.
"Looks like you and I are gonna be in some competition as to who can find a Dratini first," Ben told the other girl.
"And you are?" Melanie asked somewhat bored. At least she wasn't being a brat...yet, anyways.
"A friend of Ash's," Ben said, which was a bit true; they had grown closer since yesterday. "Name's Ben. And I, too, have seen Ash's dragon Pokémon and wish to find one myself." He didn't mention that Dratini had turned into a Dragonair for respect of Ash's privacy.
"Oh, I see. I'm a classmate of Ash. Well, don't feel too disappointed if I happen to catch one first! I'll go to great lengths to get what I want, and I want a Dratini of my own."
Ash was starting to feel a bit awkward he had somehow become the center of attention and the others were virtually using him as the central point of their discussion.
Ben could tell this girl had a lot of spunk and he gave her a bit of a glare. "You're on!"
Ash honestly hoped that Ben could catch a Dratini first, since he felt the sixteen-year-old was more deserving and seemed kinder than Melanie. Still, it wasn't his place to decide who got one, but that was his opinion since he still harbored negative feelings towards the girl and he could that the cool trainer spoke about his Pokémon in a more empathic light compared to Melanie.
"Fuchsia City is such a pretty place this time of year," Melanie began as the five of them began for the Safari Zone. "You know, I've never been to the Safari Zone before, but this city does have an amazing traditional Japanese culture."
"Really, now?" Ash asked a bit out of curiosity. "What do you recommend?"
"There is a lot of neat kabuki theatres and some nice sushi restaurants that have interesting local recipes. It's just a lovely place to visit."
"Noted," Stacy said as she was eager to do something fun while she was still staying here in Fuchsia City before she had to return to Lavender Town from the southwestern route.
Fuchsia City indeed had a lot of charm to it and it was a bit different from the other cities of about its size like Pewter, Cerulean, and Viridian. It lacked tall buildings, but it made up with the Japanese culture that was breathtaking and it was considered the most traditional city in all of Kanto. The five of them walked to the Safari Zone and were talking about their life experiences and aspirations and what not and there was a sign that said,
"The Safari Warden has lost his watch and will compensate any who manages to find it!"
"Hmm, I wonder what exactly they are offering," Ash said to the others.
"The warden is a very wealthy man, so there really is no telling," Melanie said as she wanted to show a bit of knowledge but she was trying to keep it under her hat since she was trying to make changes.
Before long, Ash and the others were at the Safari Zone, the large wooden gate was connected to a small cottage-like building where guests were to come in.
"This is an interesting looking place," Ash said to the others as he looked around casually.
"There are strict rules that need to be followed," Erika said. "Let's hear them once we get inside."
When they got inside, they were greeted by an old man with circular glasses, but he had a blank expression on his face that seemed reminiscent of a Slowpoke.
"Good morning, youngsters. I see that you five look eager to begin at the Safari Zone today."
"Sure are!" Ash chirped with enthusiasm.
"Now, I will explain the rules. First, the entry fee is just a mere ¥500. Second, you are not allowed to use any of your Pokémon while you are inside."
Ash felt disappointed in this since he was eager to let Dragonair out so she could experience her previous home, but he was going to obey the rules to avoid getting everyone in trouble.
"You are allowed to take some bait and throw rocks at the Pokémon so they will stay in place, but if you throw a rock at them, you face the risk of them running away. Third, you are only permitted 30 Safari balls as well as a fishing rod, so your time is limited to when you run out of balls or you reach the time limit of three hours. You are to sign a book that keeps us track at the number of guests allowed at one time and to know when you return. It is your responsibility to be back before the time ends or you will pay a penalty. If you incur too many penalties, you will face a ban, is that understood?"
The man was straightforward with his job and wanted both the trainers and the Pokémon inside to have the best conditions.
"Yes, sir!" All five responded.
"Good. Since this is such a large reserve, you may want to spend more time here and pay the fee again, but that is your choice. That's all I got to say, so be off on your way!"
The man stepped out of the way and permitted the five to pay their fees and opened the door into what looked like a jungle at first. There were many grass types as they ventured through the jungle, like Parasect, Exeggcute, and Ash was certain that he even saw a Scyther.
"Hmm, I don't need another Scyther, and I'm not really interested in a Parasect," he said, though he did appreciate the diversity there was already. Ash needed some variety and he was hoping to come across a ground type with to give him an advantage at the Fuchsia gym, but he also figured to have something as a backup since the gym probably expected ground types. As well as psychic or maybe even steel since steel was immune to poison.
"I would definitely like to capture one of those for myself," Melanie said as she looked at the Scyther. "Though they are the same type as Butterfree, a Scyther would prove useful in battles."
"Maybe we can have a battle one day to see how ours compare!" Ash said with a hushed but excited whisper.
"Well, I'm going to search by the rivers and go fishing," Ben said. "I'll probably give up if I don't find anything in an hour and half so I can look for terrestrial Pokémon. And since we aren't allowed to use our Pokémon, I don't find anything wrong with using a rock to weaken them," Ben added.
"He is right; throwing rocks is commonly used here as a method to make the catches easier," Stacy said as she went past her brother and had the fishing rod ready. "Well, I'm gonna go to a separate body of water and hope for the best."
Ash watched as Melanie picked up a rock and chucked it at the Scyther.
"They have a four times weakness, so this will likely work," she stated with logic. She picked up several more and tossed them at Scyther who then was enraged and came for Melanie.
Ash was aware of the aggressiveness of this Pokémon and said to Scyther, "Come after me! I got red on!"
He knew this was impulsive and Scyther directed its attention to Ash after he said that and Melanie threw another rock at the Pokémon, followed by the safari ball. The rock hurt the Pokémon quite a bit but it got sucked into the ball. The two of them watched as the ball shook a few times before it clicked shut.
"Awesome! You got a Scyther!" Ash told his rival.
"Yep, and...thanks for distracting it," she told Ash with a bit of gratitude.
"No problem," Ash told the other. He still wasn't particularly fond of the girl considering how rude she has been to him in the past, but she was a human being, and Ash wasn't going to wish or put her in harm. The two of them were on their way and went separate directions as Ash had so much to explore, but he had to be reasonable in the amount of time he had since he was only allowed three hours. It wasn't expected for visitors to visit the entire park in that amount of time, not by a long shot, but at least the entry fee was cheap. He just wish he could take out Dragonair and talk to her along the way since he really did love her as much as a trainer could for his Pokemon.
Ash really loved the team he currently had, and the one issue he had was that he would not wake up in the morning to see the familiar faces of his Pokemon if he were to catch a new one at the Safari Zone and trade it out. He figured he could at least send back home Rotom to Professor Oak though he feared the mischief maker would wreck havoc for the equipment in the lab. But he was surprised at how well it battled against Melanie back in Saffron. Tough decision!
Soon, Ash was in a section with a hill and he made note of his time.
"Wow, it took me 30 minutes to get here," he said, surprised at how much time had gone by. He looked around and noticed the hill was connecting to some mountains and he saw a Pokemon that was short and greenish brown. It had a tall spike on its head and a conical tail of blunt spikes.
"What is that?" the boy wondered as he took out his Pokedex.
"Larvitar, female, the rock skin Pokemon. A rock and ground type. Larvitar eat soil and are not satisfied until they eat an entire mountain. They are born deep underground and do not see their parents face until they eat all the soil that is on top of them."
Ash was amazed at that and saw the Pokemon begin to sniff the mountain before taking a bite out of it. He wondered if the Pokemon would be interested in the bait he had and tossed some out towards the other while hiding behind the rock.
"Tar!" the rock Pokemon said as she examined the new source of food. Ash was glad to see there was another ground type so he could have an advantage at a poison gym. He wanted another edge against flying types since Rotom was the only one on the team who fully resisted flying moves, but the Pokemon was so unpredictable in battle. The reptilian Pokemon sniffed the food before picking it up and nibbled on it. She seemed quite pleased with this and smiled and resumed eating it. Ash wondered if he could make a throw for the Pokemon now it was distracted, but he felt the chance of capturing her was low.
"Well, here goes nothing," Ash said as he threw a Pokeball at the Pokemon. The Larvitar called out when she was impacted by the ball and got sucked into it. Ash watched as the Pokeball shake a few times before she popped out, now mad at what he did.
"Uh oh," Ash gulped. He saw several rocks on the ground and tossed two of them at the Pokemon and they impacted her on the head. He tossed several more, but they got swallowed after she opened her mouth. Ash knew it was going to take a lot of effort to get this Pokemon to get weak so he continued to lead the Pokemon away from the mountains until they were in the grassy plain. Apparently the Pokemon was hell bent on getting Ash after what he had done. Ash saw there was a twig in the grass it and looked large enough to trip over, so he decided to lead the Pokemon to the twig and hopped she would fall over and weaken her more. Sure enough, she did and was on her stomach and Ash tossed a ball.
"Come on, I wanna catch you because you'll be great at this gym and I want a new friend!" Ash pleaded with the Pokemon. As if the Pokemon was somehow persauded by Ash's reasoning, the ball did not struggle anymore and Larviatar was captured.
Ash picked up the Safari ball and chuckled. "I just got a Larvitar!" he exclaimed to nobody. He had 28 balls left and he figured he may as well look for some more Pokemon. He saw in the grass there were some Pokemon who were munching on grass and seemed pleased to be doing so. He took out his Pokedex and it said,
"Bouffalant, male, the bash buffalo Pokemon. A normal type. Bouffalant have a headbutt that is so strong it can derail a train. The fur on their head absorbs the damage caused by these headbutts."
"Hm. I don't have a normal type," Ash pointed out as he thought about his Pokemon. He knew they were immune to ghosts and their only weakness was fighting, so he figured he could stand a chance of capturing one because they looked like they were pretty strong, especially based off that description he heard from Dexter.
Ash kept low in the tall grass and tossed some of the bait towards the buffalo, causing him to investigate the item that was tossed. He stuck out his long tongue and licked the food, causing him to bleat in satisfaction.
Ash decided that it was time to toss a ball and capture this mammal since he wanted that power on his team whenever he decided to switch out one of his Pokemon. The Bouffalant sure enough was captured without much effort.
"Huh? That was too easy," Ash commented as he picked up the ball. "Well, I guess you'll be on my team now." He laughed nonetheless and wondered how the rest of his fellow travellers were doing.
Just as a reminder, this Melanie is an OC who is based on Giselle from the anime, not Melanie from the Hidden Village. Second part will be on the other characters and their adventures in the Safari Zone!