A little later after Ash's victory and getting the Pokémon Ash used treated in the Pokémon Center, Emma and her friends were now in their cabin, in their shared room. "You know, I'm kinda hungry," Misty said. "Me too," Emma agreed. "We should go out and have a big meal to celebrate Ash's big victory," Brock said.

"I'm in!" Ash said with a grin. "Togy, Togy!" the Egg Pokémon said, jumping up and down. The four friends grabbed their backpack and walked out to head downstairs. At the front door, they met up with Delia and Professor Oak. "Mom, Professor Oak," Ash said.

"We were just about to go out to eat," Emma said. "Wonderful, I wanted to make Ash's favorite meal," Delia said. "Really?" Ash asked with a smile but then frowned, "But where?" Delia smiled, "Leave that to me."

She took the kids and Professor Oak to a restaurant, which she then went into the kitchen herself and started to make the meal herself instead of the restaurant cooks, who merely looked at her in confusion.

Emma, her friends and Professor Oak just stared at her. "This is... unusual," Emma said. "Our customers don't come here to cook," the chef said. Delia smiled, "Well, maybe they should try it. Ash, lunch almost ready."

"Can't wait," Ash muttered, slightly embarrassed. "This should be very good or very bad," Misty muttered with a sigh. After a few minutes, the group were sitting on a table, with delicious looking food. "Wow!" Emma said.

"Well, how does it look?" Delia asked with a smile. "It looks great!" Emma and her friends answered together, which the Pikachu and Togepi agreed, and they all started to dig in. "You know Ash, if you win the next battle, you then be allowed to use up to six Pokémon for match," Professor Oak explained, "Have you decided which Pokémon you choose?"

"Mmm. I thought I'll wait to see who I'm up against first, then I'll decide," Ash said. "Tomorrow it will be decided who everybody battles," Brock said. Professor Oak nodded and looked back at Ash, "Don't forget to let me know if you need anymore Pokémon. Just call me and I'll transport them to you right away." Ash smiled, "Thanks Professor."

...................

After lunch, the group was heading out to the hallway. Just when Ash stepped around the corner first, a little girl that was running bumped into him and she fell back on the floor. "Oh! Are you okay?" Ash asked and helped her up into her feet. "Pika-chu?" the male Pikachu asked her if she was okay too.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking," the little girl said. "Lisa!" a boy that around Emma, Ash and Misty's age ran closer, "Are you okay?" He looked at Ash, "Sorry about my sister." Lisa looked up at the female and male Pikachu with excitement as Ash and his friends smiled at the boy. "No worries," Ash said.

"Ritchie, look! They have Pikachu!" Lisa said with a big smile as she pointed up at the two mouses, "Can I please pet them?" Ash and Emma smiled at her. "Sure," Emma said. "Yeah, go on," Ash said as the Pikachu jumped to the floor as they smiled. Lisa kneeled down and petted them on the heads.

Ash looked at Ritchie, "The name's Ash, and those are my friends, Emma, Misty and Brock, my Mom, Delia, and this is Professor Oak," he said. "I'm Ritchie, and this is my little sister, Lisa," Ritchie said. Lisa stood up as she looked up at them, "Are you all going to have lunch?"

"We just finished eating," Misty said with a smile. "Oh, that's too bad, then I could have played with the Pikachu a little," Lisa said, pouting sadly. Ash chuckled, "Maybe we'll see you two around, and then you'll have the chance to do that," he said. Lisa smiled, "Yayy."

Ritchie chuckled, "Come on, Lis, let's grab something to eat," he said before looking at them, "Hope we get to see you guys again, bye." Ash nodded, "See ya." Ritchie took his sister's hand and leaded her past them as the little girl waved, "Bye-bye." The group started to walk away as Misty comment, "Aw, she's so cute."

...................

Emma, Ash and Brock were outside shops, waiting for Misty and Delia on the benches. "This is taking forever," Brock said as Togepi finally fell asleep in Ash's arms. "We should have gone with Professor Oak to the Pokémon Center," Ash said. "We could go, you know," Emma said.

"When are you gonna compete?"

The trio looked over in surprise to see Lisa and Ritchie walking close by as they talked with each other. "Tomorrow is my fifth round, so remember, while I'm out there, you gonna be waiting at the doors with one of my Pokémon, okay?" Ritchie asked. "Okay," Lisa said with a smile.

Ash handed Togepi to Emma and stood up, "Hey, Ritchie!" The siblings looked over and smiled. "Hey, guys!" Ritchie said. "Pikachu!" Lisa called, and both the male and female Pikachu jumped down and ran closer to the girl so she can pet them again. Ash, Emma and Brock walked closer.

"Are you in the Indigo League like me?" Ash asked. Ritchie nodded, "Yep, I won on my ice field this morning," he said. "That's great," Emma said as they smiled. "Thanks, all though to be honest, at the first round, I was a bit nervous, I didn't even think I could win," Ritchie admitted.

Brock chuckled, "Don't worry, Ash was nervous at his first round too," he said. Lisa took the Pikachu into her arms as she stood up and looked up at Ash, "Can I play with the Pikachu now?"

"Yeah," Ash said with a nod. "Yay!" Lisa said with a grin and ran to the park with the Pikachu, and the others slowly followed. "She sure has a lot of energy," Emma said with a chuckle. Brock chuckled, "Yeah, she reminds me of my siblings."

Emma stopped when they got inside the park, "Wait. I should go and tell Misty and Delia that we at the park," she said and stepped back, "I'll be back in a minute." She walked back to the shops before Ash could stop her.

Ritchie watched Emma leaving before turning to Ash as he tilted his head, "Your girlfriend, right?" he asked. Ash looked surprised, "What?" He blushed, "Uh... No." He rubbed the back of his head while Brock raised an eyebrow in amusement.

Emma reached to the clothes shop when a female voice spoke up behind her, "Excuse me?" She turned around to see a woman in a dress and glasses with a long blonde hair. "Uh, can I help you ma'am?" she asked with a frown.

"I was hoping so, have you seen my little Meowth?" the woman asked. Emma blinked, "Uh... no, sorry," she said. "Oh dear, I've been looking everywhere and it just gone, what if something happened to it?" the woman asked as Togepi suddenly woke up. "Togy?" it asked, blinking as it looked up at the woman.

Emma rubbed the back of her head as she glanced at the shop before at the sad woman, "Well... uh, where did you last saw it?" she asked. "I was with it right around that corner," the woman said as she pointed at around the gift shop next to the clothing shop.

Emma looked over it and then up at the woman. "Will you please help me look for it?" she asked. Emma hesitated for a second before she nodded, "Okay, um, just give me a second." She opened the door and peered inside to find Misty and Delia holding clothes and enjoying their time there, "Uh, Misty?" The redhead friend looked over and smiled, "Hey! Come in, I found something that you may like."

"It will have to wait, um, I got to go and help someone, Ash and Brock are at the park with Ritchie and his sister," Emma said. "Okay," Misty said, and Emma stepped out. She then turned to the woman, "Okay, let's look for your Pokémon."

"Thank you, I'm sure my little Meowth will be very thankful for your help," the woman said and Emma started to walk with her as Ash looked over with a frown, "Who's that?"

He ran out of the park and Ritchie decided to follow to see if everything was okay, so he turned to Brock, "Brock, can you watch over Lisa for a moment?" Brock nodded, "Sure."

Ritchie nodded, "Thanks," he said and followed Ash. "Hey, Emma!" Ash called and Emma stopped to look at him as he and Ritchie stopped next to her and the frozen woman. "Where you going?" Ash asked. "Oh, um, this woman lost her Pokémon, so I'm gonna help her find it quicker," Emma answered as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, I could help with that," Ash said. "So am I, the more to join in the faster we'll find the Pokémon," Ritchie said. "What kind of Pokémon we looking for?" Ash asked. Emma was about to answer but the woman turned to them and smiled a somewhat a nervous smile, "Oh, there's no need for two more kids to help. One is enough."

Ash, Emma and Ritchie frowned and exchanged a confused look before looking back at the woman. "Uh, if my friends will help, it will be much faster," Emma said as she raised an eyebrow. "Oh, no, no, no need," the woman said as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "Shall we go and look?"

"Hold it," Ash said with a frown as he stepped between them and looked at them woman in suspicions, "If you have a Pokémon that is missing, and more people volunteer to help you look, then you should be accepting it, not turn it down and let only one person to help." Ritchie frowned, "Yeah, unless you hiding something and looking for trouble."

The woman froze for a moment and took a deep breath, "Oh, what the hell?" she muttered and the trio looked confused when her sweet voice changed. "Plan B!"

A Weezing floated from around the corner and used Smokescreen everywhere, which surprised Ash, Emma, Ritchie and a few people that were walking on the street, making them all cough.

The Pikachu stopped playing with Lisa as they saw what was happening and ran out of the park to find their trainers. "Hey, what's going on?" Lisa asked Brock before the two followed.

"What's going on?!" Ritchie asked as the smoke slowly disappeared. Misty and Delia ran out of the shop to see what was happening. "Oh my, where did this came from?" Delia asked and they heard laughing.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people's within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extended our reaches to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

"Team Rocket!" Emma, Ash, Brock and Misty called in annoyance. "Team Rocket?" Ritchie asked, "What are they?" Ash glanced at him, "A group of bad people that steal Pokémon, and these three been trying to kidnap Emma for a while."

"Yeah, they fail every time 'cause they can't get through us," Misty taunted. "Not this time, little girl," Jessie told her as the Pikachu stood in front of the kids. "This time we are the winners," James said, "Now!"

Weezing used Smokescreen again as Arbok slid behind Jessie, Meowth and James. Everyone cough as Emma spoke, "I can't see anything!" she said. "Ash, do something!" Misty called, coughing.

Ash threw a Poké ball, "I choose you, Pidgeotto!" The Bird Pokémon was released and imminently used Gust without waiting for Ash to tell it himself. The Smoke started to disappear, but Team Rocket was no where to be found. And so was Emma, Togepi and the Pikachu.

"Oh no! They took them!" Ash said and glared at the spot Emma stood a moment before. "Look!" Misty called as a van started to speed up down the road, and Meowth peered out the window, laughing, "See ya!"

"Let's go, Pidgeotto!" Ash called and he ran after the van on foot, with Pidgeotto following. "Ash!" Misty and Brock called. "Ash! Wait!" Delia called worriedly. Ash ignored them and continued to ran while Pidgeotto flew up on top of the buildings.

"Ash, wait up!" Ash glanced behind him to see Ritchie running after him. The two ran down the road and Pidgeotto suddenly appeared in front of the van's window, surprising Team Rocket and making James turn the van to the right corner, into an alley.

Ash and Ritchie followed but they lost a sight on the van. Ash looked up at Pidgeotto, panting, "Pidgeotto, find that van!" he called and the Bird Pokémon flew forward. Ritchie panted too and looked at Ash in surprise when he ran forward. "Ash, wait!" he said and followed. "I got to find her!" Ash called back to Ritchie.

...................

It was evening when the van was parked in the middle of the woods. Emma was tied with a rope and Togepi and the Pikachu were inside a cage together. "Now what?" she muttered in annoyance.

Outside, Pidgeotto flew up on the sky, watching Team Rocket enjoying dinner for a few seconds before flying off to tell Ash where they were.

Elsewhere, Ash and Ritchie were sitting in front of their made fire. Ash was frowning, looking thoughtful until Ritchie held out a can, "You should eat something while we waiting," he said. Ash took it, "Thanks," he said.

"I'm sure Emma is fine," Ritchie said. "I know," Ash said. "Yeah, but you still worried about her," Ritchie said. "Uh, well, she's my best friend," Ash said, "And I'm also worried about Togepi, my Pikachu and hers." Ritchie smiled, "Yeah, but you've been worried for her since before."

Ash rubbed the back of his head, "Well, uh... I just--I guess, when I see she's by herself, Team Rocket could just appear and try to get to her, you know?" Ritchie gave a small chuckle, "Yeah, I guess it's a good excuse to hid your feelings." Ash blushed, "Huh?!"

"You like her, it's pretty obvious," Ritchie said. "It is?" Ash asked as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, the look on your face shows it," Ritchie said with a small chuckle, "You two been through a lot, huh?" Ash smiled a little, "Yeah, with Misty and Brock too. I had the three of them by my side since I started my journey, I was pretty clueless what to do then, but I've learned a lot. I still have a lot more to learn."

Ritchie nodded, "Same with me. I've been traveling with just my sister. It's just been the two of us since our parents passed away." Ash's smile faded, "Oh, sorry," he apologized, "I've lost my Dad when I was much younger, so I don't really remember him."

"Yeah, but you still got your Mom," Ritchie pointed out with a smile. "True," Ash said. "And you also got great friends that have your back," Ritchie said. Ash smiled, "You too. We friends, don't we?" Ritchie smiled and nodded with a soft chuckle, "Yeah, I guess we are," he agreed and they both chuckled.

They then heard a cry from above, and looked up to see Pidgeotto. "Pidgeotto, did you find them?" Ash asked as the boys stood up. Pidgeotto nodded before flying off, which the boys then followed quickly.

Meanwhile, Emma was trying to get out of the rope but then decided to try and reach to one of her Poké balls, "Come on, come on, come on," she muttered. She reached to a Poké ball and let a Pokémon out, which turned out to be Poliwhirl.

"Poliwhirl?" he asked as he looked around in confusion. "Poliwhirl, help me," Emma said and the Tadpole Pokémon turned to her and walked closer to untie her. Emma smiled as she stood up, "Thanks." She turned to the cage and just when she was about to grab Scyther's Poké ball, the doors opened to show Team Rocket.

"Huh?!"

Emma glared at them while they stared at her. "Poliwhirl, Water Gun!" she said and Poliwhirl used the attack, sending the trio backward into the grass. Emma grabbed the cage and jumped out the van with Poliwhirl.

She grabbed Scyther's Poké ball and threw it, "Go, Scyther!"

"Go, Arbok!"

"Get in there too, Weezing!"

"Arbok, Poison Sting!"

"Weezing, Sludge!"

"Scyther, use Slash on Arbok! Poliwhirl, use Water Gun on Weezing!" Emma ordered and her Pokémon did as told, which made Arbok and Weezing hit their trainers, making them fell back, no one besides Poliwhirl noticed a Water Stone that James stole fell from the man's pocket and to the middle of the field.

Ash and Ritchie ran in with Pidgeotto. "Emma!" Ash said with a relief smile. Emma looked over and smiled, "What took you so long?" she asked teasingly. "Pika-Pi," the male mouse said with a smile. "Are you okay?" Ash asked. "Yeah," Emma said with a nod.

"Poliwhirl." They all looked over to see Poliwhirl picking up the Water Stone. Emma and the boys gasped. "Is that a Water Stone?!" Emma asked. "And Poliwhirl is holding it!" Ash said and Poliwhirl started glowing as Team Rocket looked over.

James gasped, "My Water Stone!" he complained. "The robber got robbed," Meowth said as Poliwhirl grow and the light disappeared to reveal Emma's Poliwhirl had evolved into a Poliwrath. "Poliwrath!" the newly evolved Tadpole Pokémon said and Ash pulled out his Dexter.

Poliwrath, the Tadpole Pokémon. Poliwrath is an excellent swimmer and its powerful muscles make its attacks extremely effective.

"Poliwrath is also a Fighting Type," Ritchie pointed out. Emma and Ash grinned, "All right!" they said together. "Poliwrath, Water Gun again!" Emma called. Poliwrath did as told, his Water Gun was stronger than it was before, and it threw Team Rocket into a tree. "Scyther, Focus Energy!" Scyther did as told, causing an explosion and making Team Rocket fly up into the sky.

"We're blasting off again!"

Later that night, Ash, Emma and Ritchie came back to town, to the relief of Professor Oak, Delia, Misty and Brock, who were also surprised by finding out that Poliwhirl had evolved into Poliwrath. Poliwrath was been admired by the redhead girl, "He looks so strong!"

Emma and Ash on the other hand were surprised to see Lisa playing with another Pikachu which turned out to be Ritchie's, and he went by the nickname Sparky, and it seemed like Emma's and Ash's Pikachu were quickly befriending him.

...................

In the morning, after everyone got a good rest after the events of last night, Emma and her friends meet up with Ritchie and Lisa at the Pokémon Village Center to see who Ash will battle on the fifth round.

"Morning guys!" Ritchie said. "Hey Ritchie, Lisa," Ash said. "Do you know who you gonna battle?" Misty asked. Ritchie shook his head, "No, not yet, but my name and picture is already the screen. You have to fish for a Magikarp to find out your next opponent."

"The next trainer will be Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," the attendant called. Ash grinned, "That's me!" he called and ran forward. "We got here just in time," Emma said as they followed. Ash grabbed a fishing rod, "Let's see." He fished out a Magikarp with A-3 written on it.

"A-3," the attendant said. Ritchie looked surprised, "A-3?" he repeated. Lisa looked confused, "Hey, wait isn't that..."

"That means your next opponent will be..."

Ash's picture was on screen and then next to it appeared Ritchie. The group looked up in surprise, and Ash and Ritchie exchanged a surprised look.