Vermillion City…

Another day, another training session for Ash Ketchum and his Pokémon. Having already stocked up on supplies, they had decided to spend a couple days training before challenging the local gym. Misty had found a rather ample city park where they had plenty of room for sparring with each other, plus in the middle there was a huge fountain for her Water-types to relax at their leisure. Ash had Pikachu and Charmander sparring against Bulbasaur and Squirtle in a double battle, mostly to practice dodging techniques as well as perfecting the Counter-Shield as much as possible.

"Okay, that's enough!" said Ash. The four Pokémon ceased their fighting at their trainer's call. "Good job, all of you. Now it's a good time to take a break."

"Phew, I'm beat…" Pikachu dropped himself on his back.

"Bah, don't tell me you got tired just with that?" said Charmander. "It wasn't even a good warm-up!"

"Says the guy who's always on fire, you don't need warm-up," Bulbasaur snarked, getting a glare from Charmander.

"Hey Ash!" Misty called. "Are you up for a double battle?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Ash answered. He pulled out his other two Pokéballs to release Butterfree and Aipom. "Okay, you two come with me, we'll do some sparring with Misty. The rest of you, take a break and eat something in the meantime. We'll be right back."

Before leaving, Ash pulled out of his backpack a few Pokémon food cans for them to replenish their energy, and then left with the monkey and butterfly to meet up with Misty. Charmander quickly chowed down his portion in less than a blink, while the others took their time to taste it. Obviously he was more eager than the rest to keep training.

Halfway through eating his meal, Squirtle glanced around the park. He had been so focused on the training he hadn't noticed how familiar the place was. Memories of some old friends came back to the turtle Pokémon's mind. Memories of the life in that timeline, of some happy times with his old crew.

"Something on your mind?" asked Pikachu, noticing he had stopped eating.

"Huh? Yeah, I just was remembering some stuff," said Squirtle. "This park… I used to come here often with my old gang."

"The Squirtle Squad?" said Bulbasaur. "Come to think about it, you never told us what happened to them."

"Speaking of, none of us has talked about their lives during this timeline before we reunited with Ash," added Pikachu. "Don't you think now's a good time to talk about it?"

The foursome exchanged glances. Bulbasaur didn't seem to mind, Charmander looked somewhat uncomfortable, and Squirtle… apparently didn't know what to think. Pikachu then tried to break the ice.

"Well, my current life wasn't much different from the old one," said Pikachu. "I was just another Pikachu wandering around Route 1, when Professor Oak caught me, and I lived in his lab since then. This time around, at least I didn't shock him as much, but only because he offered me ketchup."

"Other than living in a different place, I was the same too," said Bulbasaur. "I helped Melanie in guarding her place, and keeping the Pokémon she cared for safe from trainers who might want to take them away."

"Lucky you guys," said Charmander. "I can't believe I ended up in care of the same dumbass jerk I had for a trainer. If I ever see him again, I'll be ready to give him a Flamethrower right to his face."

"Yeah, provided that you've relearned it by then," said Bulbasaur, getting another glare. Pikachu was about to intervene before they got into an argument, but surprisingly, Charmander sighed and softened his expression.

"Then again… not all of my memories of this lifetime were that bad," he looked up to the sky. "Before him, I actually had a nice trainer… for about one day."

Everyone's eyes widened at this. That seemed interesting, and they were hoping to hear more. Charmander looked like he didn't want to talk about it, but upon seeing their faces, he realized they wouldn't leave him alone until he told them.

"Okay, so... her name was Kaia. Really cheerful girl, I'm sure you guys would have liked her. We had just begun our journey, everything seemed good, and then… we got attacked. Skipping the worst parts, I tried my best to protect her, but in the end, she was the one who protected me. I didn't see her again until one year later. She was alive, but… those psycho Spearow left her blind."

Pikachu cringed. Mentioning that Spearow flock definitely brought to his mind horrid memories, but to think Charmander had actually lost someone dear to those psychotic birds, even if she hadn't been killed, was something else.

"After that, I ended up with Damian, and the less I say about that time, the better. Suffice to say that some things don't change much from one timeline to another."

The other Pokémon silently agreed that could be a story for another day. They definitely weren't in a rush for the full details about what surely had been a nasty experience.

"You're right, some things don't change much," Squirtle intervened. "Just like before, the Squirtle Squad and I loved to go around causing a big mess all over the place… good times."

Squirtle suddenly took on a nostalgic expression. The memories of the old timeline, where they found themselves a purpose and an honest job helping the community as firefighters, mixed with the ones from the current timeline, triggered by their arrival to that familiar place. More specifically, the park used to be one of their favorite graffiti spots.

"I guess I never talked much about those times, did I?" said Squirtle. "How about I tell you a few of the best pranks we pulled off?"

Pikachu glanced at Ash and Misty's double battle. They'd be busy for a while, so listening to a good story seemed the perfect way to kill time while they rested. The mouse nodded, and Bulbasaur and Charmander followed suit. Taking a deep breath, Squirtle began…

About one year before…

Humans usually said something about 'strength in numbers'. As much as he disliked them, he could see there was a slice of truth in that. It was easy to get caught when you were on your own, but if you had someone to watch your back, there was more you could do. That was exactly what had prompted him to gather his current gang.

They were all like him; abandoned by their trainers because they apparently weren't good enough, and they had been on their own since then. At first glance, anybody who saw them would think they were all the same, but they were all different in what each could and couldn't do. Each one had a particular talent; all they needed was a leader.

That was where he came in. He gave them names based on their talents and personalities, which they gladly embraced. There was Thinker, who was the smartest of the group and pretty good at coming up with plans for their raids; Scout, who was a master of sneaking in unnoticed, perfect for reconnaissance duty; Heavy, who despite being the shortest was also the strongest of the lot; and Joker, who despite his knack for looking for trouble, knew how to push other's buttons and lead them to wherever they needed them to go. With him as the Boss, the Squirtle Squad was born.

At the moment, they were hiding in an alley, watching a shop across the street. Normally, their raids were to get food, wreak havoc to have some fun, or to get something they wanted. That time, it was the latter.

"Okay, guys, you all know what to do. Heavy, you hide behind the trash can and get ready to push it on my cue. Scout and Thinker, stay behind for backup and get ready to splash anybody who gets close. Joker, you distract the humans while I get inside and get our stuff."

"Yes, Boss!" everyone replied making a military salute.

The place they were planning to attack was, as the humans had called it, a "sunglasses shop". While being Pokémon they had no need for clothes, they could see the appeal of those things humans liked to wear to cover their eyes. First, they looked cool, and they came in pretty handy to shield their eyesight on those days when the sun was too bright for their tastes. If they were troublemakers, why not look the part?

Everyone took their positions right where the Boss had told them. The human woman running the place was cleaning the windows, so Joker slowly approached her while she prepared to splash some water on them from a bucket. Maybe she would appreciate if he gave her a hand?

Before the woman grabbed her bucket, he used his Water Gun all over the window, easily clearing it all of soap.

"Hmm?" The woman glanced at him upon feeling a little splash. "Hey, what's this? Did you come here to help me?"

He nodded, and gave her his biggest smile, all the while looking how the Boss managed to get inside unnoticed, giving him a thumbs up. Now all he had to do was play along helping the human wash her windows. Poor fool, she had no clue what he had in store for her.

Inside the store, the Boss glanced around. There were too many pairs of glasses all over the place. Many of them looked really cool, but he wasn't sure which one he should pick. The others had said they liked round ones, but he personally preferred the long, triangle-shaped ones.

"Hmm… this one? Nah…" he said as he took a pair that was black on the outside and red on the inside. He grabbed a similar one, but blue instead of red. "Now that's more like it."

Satisfied as he watched himself in the mirror, he turned to the outer window, seeing Joker still helping the human. He waited until Joker noticed him through the window, and showed him a pair of shades he had snatched from an open rack, pointing at them to ask if he liked them. Joker, while the human wasn't looking, shook his head, so the Boss grabbed another pair and asked again. A nod was all the response he needed, so he grabbed three more pairs and gave him the cue to act his part.

Outside, Joker continued to help the woman, dousing water to clear the soap off the crystals. He almost seemed to feel bad for having to trash the place when they were done. Almost.

"You've been really helpful, maybe I should give you something for your trouble? Hold on, I think I have some Pokémon snacks in the backroom. Just wait for a bit."

The woman entered the store, but just two steps in, she stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of a glass shattering. "What the-?"

"Oh, sorry, I did help you clean your window, but I never said I wasn't gonna break it, right?" Of course, she wouldn't understand his speech, but him sticking out his tongue and pulling his eyelid, that was bound to get the message across.

"Why you-" The woman was cut off by a Water Gun to her face that pushed her against one of the open racks.

The broken window now served as a faster exit for the Boss who quickly high-fived Joker and gave Heavy his cue. Sure enough, when the woman tried to run after them, she slipped over the trash by the door, and to add insult to injury, Scout and Thinker splashed her with their own Water Guns too.

"Thanks for the shades, lady!" Joker shouted as he mocked her by swinging his tail, until the boss grabbed him and dragged him to get away along with the others, while the woman tried to get back up, only slipping and falling on her rear due to the mix of trash and water all over the floor. Her angry face was priceless.

Escaping through a manhole into the sewers, the Squirtle Squad made a clean getaway, since not many people would dare follow them in there. Sure, it did reek a bit of Grimer, but it worked as a quick hiding place after a raid, plus they knew the sewer maze and where the nearest exit was.

"Okay, boys, here you go," the Boss said as he handed each of them their new shades. They all gladly accepted and donned them immediately. The Boss then raised his fist. "We're the Squirtle Squad, and we wreak havoc in style!"

"YEAH!" the other four yelled in triumph, raising their own fists as well.

…

"I'm telling you, Boss! You're gonna love this!"

The Boss wasn't sure what could be so appealing about these… wheeled-boards. One of their latest graffiti raids had been to a strange park inside a building full of ramps where the humans rode either these boards, the large two-wheeled metal steeds or went around wearing those wheeled shoes. While the others were busy still spraying paint all over the place, Joker went and snatched one of those… skateboards, the humans had called them.

"Check this out!" Joker placed the board on the floor, jumped on it and began pushing it with one foot to gain momentum. He rolled towards a small ramp, and flew through the air a few feet before landing and going off to the next one. The Boss followed his movements as he continued to roll around from one ramp to another, jumping and performing several acrobatic moves. He was particularly impressed when Joker jumped to land and slide down a metal rail. After an entire lap all over the place, he returned to the starting point.

"So, what do you think?"

"Not bad." The Boss smiled and nodded. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Heh, I watched the humans doing this all the time. It's not that hard once you get the hang. Just try it."

The Boss hopped on the board and pushed towards the ramp, but as he jumped off, the board flew without him and he ended up falling on his back. He got back up and rubbed his shell, glaring at Joker, who puffed his cheeks trying to hold back the laughter.

"Maybe… we just need to practice a bit."

Still obviously trying to shake off the mental image of the Boss tripping and falling, Joker proceeded to explain him how to do it. The key was to lean and use his weight to keep balance, and move accordingly. However, right then, the lights turned on, and the doors opened.

"What the hell?! How did you get inside?! And what is THAT?"

The human was pointing at the image they had drawn, specifically the female as shown in that weird magazine. Why did they seem so disturbed? Didn't they enjoy that kind of stuff?

"Aw, just when it was starting to get fun," Joker lamented, seeing the park staff had arrived. "How about we take this to the hideout and I teach you later?"

"Fine by me," the Boss replied. "Boys, it's time to get out, clear the way!"

"YES, BOSS!"

While Scout, Thinker and Heavy fired their Water Guns together to blast away the humans and clear the entrance, Joker told the Boss to hop on the board and hold on tight, and then began pushing to roll out of there. The others grabbed a second skateboard, with Thinker and Scout riding on top and Heavy pushing it from behind to catch up. They'd have to ask Joker to teach them how to ride by themselves later.

"Get ready, Boss!" said Joker. "This is gonna be a wild ride!"

They reached a slanted road and began rolling down, leaving their pursuers behind in matter of seconds, since they couldn't run after them without risk of tripping on the way down. As they started to pick up speed, the Boss grinned in excitement, feeling the wind as they rolled down the street.

"Hey, you were right! This is real fun! Faster, let's go faster!"

"Told ya, Boss! Don't worry, with my help you'll be doing these in no time!"

The ride down was pretty fun all the way, though not so much the stop, since they literally crashed against a brick wall and couldn't turn or brake fast enough. Fortunately, the area was clear enough and they were able to sneak into a dark alley to avoid getting caught by any onlookers. Joker apparently hadn't learned how to stop when going at high speed downhill. They'd have to work on that, to make their escapes faster and funnier too.

…

It was somewhat late at night when the Squirtle Squad finally approached the comics shop, one of Joker's favorite places in the whole city and a general favorite for the gang whenever they wanted something fun to do in their hideout in between pranks and missions. Going through the door proved rather easy with how Heavy smashed it with one punch, and by virtue of being Pokémon they didn't even need to bother with disguises or even to stay hidden from the cameras: in fact, they all blew a raspberry and saluted the security camera like they were celebrities before they went perusing through the latest releases of the week, with Heavy keeping guard next to the unhinged door.

"So, what do you want? This or this other one?" the Boss asked, holding a manga with an Aipom with a straw hat on it and a comic volume with a guy in a Gligar costume in silhouette standing near a lightning flash.

Joker just gave a shrug after a look. "Let's get both, it's not like I can read the words anyway."

"Fair point." The Boss tossed the books to Joker who caught them giddily, before he and the wild card of the team resumed their search for something new.

And then, Joker noticed a new issue, flipped through it, and then beamed happily. "Hey, look, this one has a team of ninja Squirtle! Like us, but cooler!"

"What? You're kidding! Nothing is cooler than us!" Thinker said with a frown. Boss agreed with a quick nod.

"Just see it!"

And so Thinker, Scout and Boss reached close to Joker to check his supposedly awesome comic. As they went from page to page, the Boss launched a couple of quick looks to Heavy at the door, always receiving a head shake in return. The Squirtle Squad allowed themselves to relax a bit as they checked Joker's and other comics on the stands. With the strongest Squirtle out there as their vanguard, they had nothing to worry about.

"Freeze!"

Oh, right. The shop had a backdoor too. They should've listened to Thinker's worries instead of glossing him over.

All the Squirtle held their comics close as a turquoise-haired police woman and her Growlithe barged in, wearing a serious expression trained on them. Boss grinned; he was wondering when she would show up after the last time they humiliated her.

"Look if it isn't our little nemesis! How's the job going, miss cop?" he asked, waving his hand in salute.

The woman wasn't in the mood for games as she pointed ahead. "Growlithe, Bite!"

"On it!"

The dog quickly leapt towards them, fangs bared and ready to strike. None of the Squirtle seemed impressed, and before he even touched the ground again, two rather strong blue arms held him in place. Heavy tackled the Growlithe in a tight grip, cracking a rare grin along the way. As always, his superior strength proved outstanding.

"Nice teeth. You got some training done?" Heavy asked, pulling Growlithe's lips up to check his canines.

Growlithe barked and glared at Heavy from his disadvantaged position. "I will do all I need to take you down! You know that!"

"That's good, it makes things more fun for us," Heavy said as his grip tightened and his smirk widened.

While Heavy continued to wrestle the Growlithe and Scout and Thinker tag teamed the policewoman to keep her busy, the Boss gave a cursory glance at the shop for a quick distraction. His eyes fell on a row of shelves right where the policewoman and her Growlithe were, precarious-looking enough that they could've tipped them down with a few Water Guns and turn both their nemeses into a fine jam on the ground.

The Boss quickly banished that thought away; too gruesome for them, and not fun enough. Instead, his eyes fell on the several sprinklers that dotted the shop's ceiling, and then on Joker jumping up and down while he pointed at a button with a fire sign on it, wearing a face-splitting grin. Boss was quick to give him a thumbs up, and Joker pumped his fists and sprayed a Water Gun on the button and giggling all the while.

The sprinklers opened up instantly, and the poor policewoman and her pup ended up soaked. All the Squirtle laughed at once as Heavy disengaged from the whimpering Growlithe, then wagged their tails at them and made a beeline for the destroyed door; the Boss spied the human rushing towards them, only to slip face-first on the now wet floor.

The Boss laughed again, giving her another wave. "See you later, miss cop! Have a nice shower!"

The Squirtle Squad then left the comics shop in a hurry, with Boss and Joker trading a quick high five while the latter, Scout and Thinker hid the comics they stole inside their carapaces. However, the Boss noticed Heavy stop midway, eyes back on the comic shop in contemplation. That was enough to stop him and the rest of the gang, and have them all focus back on the building.

Thinker frowned. "What's the matter, Heavy?"

"We're not done yet," Heavy said as he folded his arms and stared at the entrance.

The other four turtles focused back there, and they saw an injured and rather pissed off Growlithe scampering outside, glaring daggers at the squad.

"I won't let you go this time! This is the end of the Squirtle Squad!" he yelled, Bite ready to strike as he charged for the group.

Before Boss or Thinker could order any strategy, Heavy raised his arm and then cracked his fists. All the other turtles took the cue and stepped back while Heavy stared down the coming Growlithe.

He waited as the Fire-type ran at him, and just as he was an inch from his face, Heavy blasted a full-powered Water Gun right on the dog's face. Growlithe stumbled back, giving Heavy enough time to deck him right in the face, sending him rolling on the ground until he hit the comics shop's wall.

"Ooof!" Growlithe cried on impact. He tried to raise back up, only to stand on shaky feet and fall as soon as he stood.

Thinker folded his arms and puffed his chest while giving a mocking stare to the dog. "Type advantage, pup! Get used to it!"

Growlithe replied with another glare, but didn't manage to move. Heavy stared at his opponent for a second, then walked closer to him with a hand inside his carapace.

"You resisted the shower pretty well. Have you taken some endurance training?" Heavy asked, checking the Fire-type's soaked body as he adjusted his sunglasses.

The Growlithe's glare sharpened. "I need to brave the water to stop you! My trainer is already working on a plan to put an end to you once and for all!"

"Yeah, yeah, she says that every month. Look where we are now." Scout put his hands behind his neck, shrugging. Heavy seemed just as unimpressed, but he cracked another grin at the Growlithe.

"You fought pretty well." Heavy grinned as he finally produced an Oran Berry from his carapace. "Here, a prize for your hard work."

Heavy placed the Berry on the ground at quite a few feet from Growlithe, enough that he'd need a few minutes to reach it. He then petted his head and turned tail to rejoin the others. "Keep improving, I want to have some more fun throwing down with you!"

And thus, Heavy and the others ran away in high spirits, ignoring the cries and menaces of the weakened Growlithe. Just in case, though, they hid in a city park to give them the corner, staying out of sight and using their water attacks to wash away any trail of their smell the lapdog could have tracked.

...

Scout was more used to doing only reconnaissance job whenever they did their stuff. Very rarely he took an active role to initiate their pranks, but whenever he did, he always made it count. The Boss and the others would just wait for the signal to get inside, and then they could have their feast.

The hardest part was getting inside the supermarket without being noticed. Luckily for them, a very large, fat and muscular woman pushing a twin baby carriage made the perfect "Trojan Ponyta" for him to hide. The woman was so strong she didn't even notice when he slipped underneath her babies, and got him inside. He let himself enjoy the ride for a bit, it was a nice way to rest his feet for a while before going.

Once he was deep into the supermarket's hallways, he got out of his hiding place and quickly began doing his namesake job: scouting around for his target. With so many people, it would be much harder for someone to notice a Squirtle walking around the halls. When he got to the candy section, he figured the others wouldn't mind if he took a little snack, so he grabbed a couple of chocolate bars and chomped on them before going to find what he was looking for.

"Now… where's that thing?"

The thing he was looking for was a red switch, which humans very often had in their buildings. Whenever someone pulled it, a very loud sound, either a bell or a siren would go off all over the place, and the humans would go running off in a panic, leaving the place all deserted and free for them to snatch whatever they wanted, with little to no interference. He finally spotted it after a few minutes.

"Okay, here we go!" He jumped and pulled the switch.

Immediately, the alarm went off. As expected, all of the humans went into a panic and ran off to the exit. Meanwhile, the Boss and the others waiting outside watched them, trying to find a chance to slip past them and get their reward.

"Let's get in, boys! The food's ours for the taking!"

"YES, BOSS!"

The foursome went into the supermarket, when almost all of the humans had left, except for a few of the staff who had stayed to check out where the fire was. Heavy immediately snatched a cart so they could get their loot and make a quick getaway.

"Hey!" someone yelled. "It's the Squirtle Squad!"

"Crap. Get a move on, boys!" he said before blasting the humans with a Water Gun attack. The others quickly followed suit to help.

The turtles quickly spread out around the hall to avoid getting caught, while the supermarket staff chased after them. To make things harder, they doused the floor with Water Gun attacks to make it slippery, and started pushing some of the racks to tip them over, snatching whatever wasn't behind glass to get it inside the cart. Quickly they got it filled with fruit, canned Pokémon food, all kinds of candy and anything else they could fit in. The Boss quickly got on top, while the others rode on the lower part of the cart.

"Heavy, start pushing! Get us outta here!"

"Yes, boss!"

Off they went, in the middle of the screams of the staff. Heavy pushed the cart and then got into it, letting it roll down the street. They were lucky there wasn't much traffic that day, save for one or two cars forced to brake when they spotted them rolling down the street (one of which ended up ramming a lamp post).

"Not them again!" The driver got out of his smashed car, and angrily shook his fist against them. "Someday I'm going to catch you, you little miscreants!"

…

After a successful raid, there was nothing like slacking around and enjoying your loot. They had left those stupid humans all wet and angry, and their expressions had been priceless as usual. No matter how hard they tried, they would never catch them. They had been lucky to find that old building to use as their personal hideout, since nobody ever dared to get in there.

While the Boss was resting on an old and ragged, yet still comfy sofa, his companions were all minding their own business. Scout was still snacking on a pile of varied chocolate bars, Joker had decided to go for another little ride on the cart, Thinker checked out his city map to decide where they would go for the next raid, and Heavy lifted some iron barbells for workout. Yeah, everything was cool at the Squirtle Squad hideout. For about ten seconds, at least…

"Hmph?! Bleh!" Scout spat out and wiped his tongue. "Coconut?! I hate these!" He then threw the half eaten bar away, landing on Thinker's map and staining it.

"Hey!" Thinker glared at him. "Throw your garbage somewhere else!"

Thinker grabbed the bar and threw it back at Scout's face, who deflected it with a hand slap, sending it to Heavy, still busy in his workout. He was about to complain, but when he saw the bar, he figured he shouldn't waste it and ate it, as he watched the incoming fight between Thinker and Scout.

"Look at what you did with my map, you dolt!"

"Just get a new one, how hard is it?!"

"Why you!" Thinker grabbed a piece of stick and threw it at Scout, who replied in kind grabbing a box and throwing it back.

The two turtles quickly got into a brawl, punching, kicking and biting each other, knocking each other's shades off and breaking some of the wooden crates scattered around the room. All the while, Joker laughed at them, Heavy just ignored them and kept on his weightlifting, while the Boss finally got fed up of the ruckus when one of the boxes flew up in his direction, interrupting his rest.

"CLAM UP, YOU TWO!" he yelled. "DON'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO GET SOME REST HERE?!"

Scout and Thinker quickly stopped their fight, but they continued to glare at each other.

"He started!" They pointed at one another. "No, YOU started!"

The two seemed to be ready to resume their brawl, until the Boss jumped off his seat and smacked them both in the back of their heads, leaving a couple of painful lumps.

"I don't care who started!" the Boss yelled again. "The two of you behave, or else I get to keep your shares of the next raid, understood?!"

"Ouch… yes, Boss…" said Thinker as he rubbed his lump.

"Sorry. It won't happen again." Scout assured, but as soon as he turned his back, they glared at one another as if saying 'we'll sort out this later'.

The Boss went back to his sofa to continue his rest. Keeping order in his little crew was hard sometimes, but he knew they wouldn't disobey him as long he was around: if they had issues to smooth out and stuff like that, they knew better than do that in front of him. And after they smacked each other for a bit and vented their anger, they'd promptly go back to be best friends, just like always.

Back to the present time…

Even if some of Ash's Pokémon wouldn't approve of that kind of behavior, they couldn't help but share a few chuckles. Plus, it wasn't that bad considering that none of them caused any real harm (to people or other Pokémon, at least), and it was nice to know that Squirtle had such a close bond with his old crew. However, the funny part was about to end.

"So… what happened to them?" Bulbasaur finally asked.

Squirtle sighed. "Well, I guess we pushed our luck one too many times. We thought we were unstoppable, that nobody would ever catch us… and you know what happens when you get your head too high."

Everybody glanced at Charmander after hearing this comment. The fire lizard looked away, but no matter how much he tried to ignore it, he was the most familiar with that feeling. Thinking you're invincible, and then suffering a rude awakening.

Squirtle continued. "The worst part, what happened to them… in the end it was my fault, and only mine…"

Around a month before, at the Squirtle Squad's hideout…

"Just a little more, Boss. C'mon, up!"

"Urgh… oof, no I can't… too heavy for me."

The Boss had requested Heavy to give him some workout to build up strength. They were doing some basic weightlifting, although the Boss had decided to start with quite a bit of weight, despite Heavy's warnings that he might not be able to carry it. And he was right, in the end the Boss dropped the makeshift dumbbells aside, having to stretch his arms to relieve himself of the pain.

He once asked Heavy about how he had become so strong, especially for their species standards, and he told the Boss that his former trainer had forced him to wear heavy training armbands and anklets to toughen him up. They made it really hard for him to move around, but after getting used to them, he could see they worked. In fact, for all the torture they were, in the end they made him pretty strong, so he properly thanked his former owner before leaving, by dropping them on his foot.

At the time, Joker was taking a nap, having fallen asleep after checking a comic book they had stolen in their last raid for about two hours, and with Scout and Thinker having gone out to plan their next raid, they had nothing better to do for the time being.

"Told ya. You have to start with a bit less weight. Don't try to rush it, I didn't become as strong as I am overnight."

The Boss sighed, but grabbed a pair of smaller weights to continue his training. Heavy was right; he shouldn't push himself too much. After all, it wasn't like he was in a rush to become stronger.

"Boss! We're back!"

Right then, the other two returned. Joker woke up and removed the comic from his face, as the five Squirtle gathered together.

"So, did you guys find a good place for our next raid?" the Boss asked.

"Yeah, we did. Though while we were coming back… something weird happened," Thinker replied.

"Weird? 'Weird' how?"

"Well… there's that woman, the police officer who's always trying to catch us," said Scout. " We saw her on our way here."

"Did she follow you?"

"No, and that's the weird part," said Scout. "She must have seen us, but she acted like she didn't. She just let us by."

The Boss became thoughtful. That was weird alright. Having had their fair share of encounters with that policewoman, he knew that she always chased after them whenever she saw them. Of course, she never caught them, but… he didn't believe she would be giving up on the chase just like that.

"What do we do, Boss?" asked Thinker.

"Bah, who cares about that woman?" the Boss finally said. "Let's go do the raid as planned. Where are we going?"

"There's a new fast food restaurant a couple blocks from here," said Scout.

"We can sneak through the back alley and snatch all the stuff we want when they go out to take the trash," said Thinker. "And it's almost lunch time anyway."

"Alright. Joker, did you have a good nap?"

"I'm up and ready when you are, Boss!"

"Okay, Boss, let's go!"

The five-turtle gang left the safety of the hideout and took to the streets, heading for the aforementioned restaurant. It was a recent one, so they still didn't know how good the food there was. Well, there was no better time than the present to find out, right?

They were slightly disappointed to learn that the new restaurant didn't have anything they hadn't tasted before, being an all-you-can eat with burgers, pizza, pasta and other stuff which, while still good, wasn't quite as prime quality as other places they had raided. Furthermore, they were confused as to how easy it had been to sneak in and get the food before being found out, and the owner didn't chase them further than the back alley, just yelling at them as he shook his fist.

"Meh, that felt too easy, it was almost boring," said Joker as he munched on a sandwich.

"This is good, but the other places have better stuff," added Thinker, finishing a slice of pizza.

"At least there's variety to choose from," the Boss declared. "We could come here every once in a while."

As they turned around a corner, however, they saw the turquoise-haired policewoman walking in the opposite direction. They stopped, and so did she, both sides staring at one another. The Boss glanced at the officer, who just stood in her place, not making any moves whatsoever, until her Growlithe turned to her and growled something the Boss heard as "May I?", and she nodded in response. The fire dog then stared at him with a smug smile.

"Well, well. So you guys are the troublemakers I've been told about. Can't say I'm too impressed, though."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you," the Boss replied. "I seem to recall that the lapdog working for that woman was a little different, though."

"Oh, my little brother is just on leave to recover," said Growlithe. "I'm just here for a little job."

"Let me guess, trying to catch us?" the Boss guessed. "If your little brother couldn't, what makes you think you can?"

"I'm just feeling lucky today. Also, did you call me 'lapdog'? Was that meant to be an insult? Because I prefer to be a lapdog instead of a turtle who retreats into his shell when scared."

"…Say that again."

"You've heard me," Growlithe continued. "My little brother told me, you guys always run away, because you're afraid to fight. Not even against him, who has a type disadvantage, you just splash him and then run to the hills, or should I say the sewers? Face it, you're just a bunch of cowards."

"Er, Boss, please don't let him get to…" Thinker was about to say something, but the Boss raised a hand to silence him.

"If the new lapdog is looking for trouble, he found it. He wants a fight? He gets it. Bring it on!"

The Boss adjusted his shades and took a stance. The other members knew that was his way to tell them not to interfere. Growlithe followed suit and bared his fangs as he stared him right into the shades. The policewoman didn't say anything, she just stood there watching.

"C'mon, feel free to attack me first, if you're not scared."

"Why you!" The Boss got angry and quickly spat out a Water Gun at full force. If this dog was just like his little brother, one of those would be enough to leave him out of commission. Surprisingly though, other than flinching slightly, he didn't seem that much affected. He just shook his fur like a dog to dry himself and stared back at him.

"What was that? The hose they use to wash me would have hurt more."

"I'll show you!"

The Boss jumped at him to give him a Tackle. The dog once again didn't bother to dodge; instead he engulfed himself in flames and charged at him head on. Both attacks collided, but only the Boss was knocked back. His shell protected him from the brunt, but he still felt the heat on the front.

"Well… so the older brother is tougher? This is gonna be fun."

Getting back on his feet, the Boss shot another Water Gun, which Growlithe dodged darting to one side before charging with his fangs bared for a Bite. The turtle immediately withdrew into his shell before they made contact. Growlithe still managed to get a hold of him with his jaw and tossed him aside to force him to come back out, and when he did, he got hit again by a flaming Growlithe, faster and thus harder than the previous time.

"Had enough yet?"

"Not even close!" The Boss charged for another Tackle, which the Growlithe dodged, but not before making a swipe with his paw at his face, and when he had noticed, he took his hands to his eyes. "Hey! Those are my shades! Give them back!"

"Here you go." Growlithe tossed them at him, and he donned them back. "Well, I say play time is over. Let's see how you handle this."

Growlithe crouched, and suddenly, yellow electric sparks began surrounding him. The Boss and the others flinched: where did he learn that? He didn't even realize when it hit him until he had landed on the other side, and prepared for another charge.

"Now it's over!" Still coated in electricity, Growlithe jumped on him, baring his fangs for another Bite. The Boss clenched his teeth, he couldn't lose like that…

"BOSS!"

And with that yell, the electrified Bite landed, but not on its intended target. Thinker had jumped in between them, Growlithe's fangs landing on him instead. The electricity traveled through them, and Thinker took the full brunt of the attack, ending up on the ground, smoldering and sparking.

"You idiot! What did you do?! I told ya I would take care of him myself!"

"Better me… than you, Boss…" said Thinker as he twitched.

"Darn it… Squirtle Squad, retreat, now."

If one of their own was hurt, they had to flee, that was the rule. Heavy and Scout quickly lifted him and the four quickly joined in a getaway run carrying their electrified partner over their heads. Surprisingly, the policewoman and her lapdog didn't give chase until they had a bit of a head start, but they didn't care, all they had to do was run away.

Unfortunately, their getaway wasn't quite as clean as they expected. At the first turn of a corner to try and lose her, they ran into a small group of trainers who had Electric-types with them, a couple of Pikachu and Magnemite. As soon as they spotted them, they all fired their Thundershocks in unison, forcing them to double back and return to the main street. They tried another, but the result was the same: an Electabuzz was waiting for them with a Thunder Punch in the ready.

"Crap, another dead end!"

Turning around to the main street yet again, the Squirtle Squad continued their getaway, but no matter which way they took, wherever they approached one of the streets with a manhole to escape through the sewers, they found opposition in the form of more Electric-types with their attacks ready, though they couldn't help but notice that they missed their attacks a lot. But with the policewoman, her lapdog and several of the other trainers they had encountered hot in their tails, they couldn't stop to think about that.

And then things took a turn for the worse when a trio of policemen showed up at the other side of the main street, one of them with an Arcanine whose bared fangs sparked electricity. After dealing with that Growlithe, he wasn't foolish enough to take his chances with a bigger one.

"Boss, over there!" Scout pointed at a stairway leading underground, the only seeming getaway path they had left.

"Let's get down there, quick!" the boss ordered.

The turtle gang quickly turned to the stairway to escape their pursuers. Little did they know, that choice had just sealed their fates.

...

The Boss and the others didn't have time to enjoy the scenery as they rushed through, but it wasn't like there was much to see beyond a lot of half-finished tubes and metallic structures intermingled with rocks, with lots of warning signs of construction and digging placed at the sides. It was an old underground tunnel that was apparently meant to provide a faster route between Cerulean City and Vermillion City together by the chatter he heard from the humans, but its usage and expansion was suspended after safety concerns. Hopefully, that would mean the humans wouldn't chase them through there.

As he and his gang scampered forward, the Boss' gaze went back to Thinker in his arms, sparks still travelling through his body as he writhed in pain. He grimaced.

"Come on, stay with us! We're almost there!" He shook his comrade vigorously, then shot a glance at the side. "Scout, how's the road ahead?"

"It's too dark, but we've been through this place before," Scout said as he lowered his sunglasses and squinted his eyes. "There should be some side paths to reach the sewers nearby. We just need to reach them!"

The Boss frowned and looked straight ahead. "Then let's do that!"

None of the other turtles needed to hear that twice, as they all sprinted to a run one second later. As they did, however, Boss could notice Joker approaching them, his usual smiley and jokey attitude completely absent as he looked over Thinker in concern.

"He's gonna make it, right?" He gulped as he glanced back to the Boss.

The Boss replied to that uncertainty with the brightest smile he ever pulled off. "Heh, who are you taking us for? We're the Squirtle Squad, and we always make it through!"

Joker pulled off a smile of his own at that reassurance, and Boss sighed in relief, trying to ignore the odd, worried look Heavy was giving him from the side. Then his eyes fell back on the injured Thinker in his arms, and his expression darkened again. It was all his fault, if he had ignored that stupid lapdog's taunts, then they wouldn't be in that situation. He needed to be more careful from the next time onward, his family didn't have to pay for his own problems.

His train of thought was interrupted, however, as the group noticed a light in the distance. They all beamed in relief and sprinted even faster than before, thinking it'd be an easy road to safety.

And then they all had to roll to the side to avoid a Thunderbolt flying from them.

As the Squirtle Squad got back up and turned their gazes ahead, the Boss and his comrades gave a wide eyed expression from beyond the Sunglasses. Quite a few feet from the exit, there were several humans with Pokémon stationed to the sides, now all walking closer to them. The Boss could recognize several of them: there was the owner of the supermarket, that woman from the sunglasses shop, the director of the skate park, and a lot of the other people they pulled pranks on regularly alongside many, many more, all accompanied by Electric-type Pokémon. And ahead of the group was the turquoise-haired woman and her stupid lapdog, staring them down.

"This is the end for you, little turtles," the Growlithe said with a cocky grin. "You fell right for our trap here! You're finished!"

The Boss knitted his brow at that. Now it all made sense: why their last raid was so easy, why that dog baited them, and why everyone seemed to know where they would've popped out. They wanted them there, where they wouldn't have any way out. The fact that the sidepaths mentioned by Scout were blocked by a couple of other people didn't help their position, here. The Boss gulped; he had been an idiot.

However, he pulled off a cheeky smile and walked ahead towards the Growlithe. "Come on, guys, they were just some harmless pranks! Sure you can let it-"

The Boss ducked under a Thunderbolt just at the last second. That was enough to confirm that no, they wouldn't let it go.

"This is the end of the line for you." The woman strode closer to the turtles, inching down towards them with a harsh glare. "You can come with us peacefully, or we'll have to capture you. You've been a nuisance for Vermillion City for the last time."

As he and his comrades saw the several Electric-types ready to strike, they all took a few steps back. Turning back around was an option, but given how thorough they seemed to have been, nothing said that they didn't place some other people right at the other end of the tunnel.

"B-Boss," Thinker whispered, weakly rising a hand. "Just let me go. You can run faster without me."

"You're the smart one, Thinker, so don't be an idiot." The Boss managed to smirk once more as he held his partner in crime tighter. "We either make it out of this together, or no one does. That's how the Squirtle Squad rolls."

The Boss then stared at the policewoman for just a second, as if contemplating her warning, before his gaze went back to Thinker, Scout, Heavy and Joker. They all nodded back, and the Boss walked closer to the woman.

And then, he splashed a Water Gun right on her face, knocking the woman on her rear. The woman wiped it away and stared through the turtles, clearly having expected that reaction.

"Very well. Open fire!" she shouted, pointing ahead.

Everyone ducked again for the next barrage of electric attacks. Heavy was the first to spring to action as he went for the Electabuzz, fist ready to strike; the Electric-type proved faster, and Heavy was sent smashing over the wall, with a few Thunderbolts homing on him, cracking the wall and making the turtle scream in pain.

Scout charged a Water Gun and sprayed it at the Electric-types, and many lost their footing; quite a few Magneton, however, seized the chance and shocked him through his own puddles.

Joker simply tried to run through the humans and their Pokémon towards safety, only for an Arcanine to home and bite at him with a Thunder Fang; the turtle let out a piercing cry, and the dog tossed it away on another wall, a spiderweb crack forming on impact. Heavy tried to grab him, which only allowed the Growlithe from before to go at them and shock both at once, while the rest of the Electric-type troop closed in on them and Scout.

The Boss simply tried to stay out of the fight, searching for a way out towards the main or the side path, only to realize none of their escape routes was unguarded. He gulped; if the situation wasn't so grim, he'd almost want to praise them.

True to their tenacity and drive, none of the Squirtle Squad members backed down as they continued to escape, braving way more Electric-type attacks than they should have and always rising back up, no matter how much punishment they took or how many times they ended up crashing on the walls. Even as the Electric attacks became stronger and more frequent and the policewoman yelled at them to give up, no one did, even if they were all clearly fatigued.

Cradling Thinker on his arms, the Boss didn't know what to think anymore. Things should've never got to that level, and the least he could do was finding a way to get out of that mess-

Right then, he felt a pebble bounce off his head, and his eyes turned back up. As he saw the expanding spiderweb crack over the ceiling and the pebbles and pieces of concrete falling down, he paled while everyone else stopped to look up. As the shards of rocks, concrete and metal grew larger and heavier and the whole tunnel started to tremble, everyone panicked.

"Everything's collapsing!"

"Run away!"

"We're gonna die!"

Those and more screams were uttered as the humans gave up on their attack and ran towards the exit, only for a barrage of debris to stop them dead on their tracks. They all yelled at their Pokémon to blast the rocks away with their attacks, to little effect and with too many pieces of ceiling still falling to take a steady aim. More and more rocks fell on both ends of the road, trapping the humans in the middle of the collapsing tunnel.

In the middle of all that stood the Boss and the rest of the Squirtle Squad. The lead turtle spared a glance at the now uncovered side paths, their way to safety. They just had to rush in, and it would all be a bad memory.

More debris fell around them. The Boss' gaze went to the policewoman and the humans trying to scrape through the rocks, their Pokémon continually blasting the path to little effect.

The Boss clenched his fists around Thinker's shell and grimaced. He knew that the best idea was to leave the humans alone. They came first, their safety was above the one of those stupid humans, and-

The leader shook his head, took a deep breath, and stared into his compatriots. They all nodded no matter the uncertainty, and thus, the Boss pointed to the wall of debris gathered ahead.

"Squirtle Squad, let's clear a path there!"

"YES, BOSS!"

Leaping out of the way of a chunk of rocks, all turtles (included the injured Thinker) charged up and fired their Water Guns at once, blasting enough of the debris away to open a path. The policewoman and the other humans were left speechless, but after a quick Water Gun to the face they all understood what to do.

"Let's go!"

And with that, all the humans ran away post-haste as the tunnel continued to collapse around them. The turtles tried to follow through, only for a large and heavy rock to land right on the open path. The Boss froze in place, but quickly focused again as he turned for a sidepath.

And then more debris fell.

Boss, Joker and Heavy managed to jump out to safety. Scout wasn't as lucky.

At their comrade's piercing scream, the remaining turtle turned around, eyes wide as they saw Scout with his leg crushed under a boulder.

"Scout!" Boss yelled; Heavy sprung to help him, only for another piece of debris to fall in the way and forcing him to stay back. All around them, the rain of rocks became stronger and more persistent.

Joker could only look around in fear as he inched closer to his leader. "B-Boss!"

But the Boss wasn't listening, too busy looking left and right and making sure he and Thinker didn't get crushed too. In the chaos, he couldn't even tell if the side paths were free of rocks or not, and as he tried to make sense of everything, the Boss lost track of Joker as well, probably buried by some rocks too. For the first time in forever, the Boss truly felt at a loss of what to do.

And thus, his eyes went back to the brains of their team in his arms. "Thinker, what should we do?"

"L-let me down," Thinker managed to say.

The Boss beamed. "Sure!"

Thinker managed to place his feet back on the ground, and then sent a glance at Heavy. The strongest member of the Squirtle Squad didn't need anything else to run towards the wall at their backs, punching it with all his strength and then blasting the point of impact with Water Gun. He seemed pained, but the attack paid off as a small crack formed under the barrier, large enough for a Squirtle to crawl through. The Boss kneeled on the ground and spied through it, pleased to see the light from the hole.

"Great thinking! Let's rescue Joker and Scout and go there!" he said, facing back towards his comrades.

And getting three bursts of Water Gun to the shell, all knocking him towards the open crack. The Boss had no words as he saw Thinker, Heavy and even the injured Scout blast him out to safety, with Joker still nowhere in sight.

His shock quickly turned to rage. "What are you-"

"We don't have time to make it bigger! You save yourself first!" Heavy said between bursts.

"I can't leave you like this! We're a team! A family!"

"We'll find a way out!" Thinker said with a smile. "We either make it out of this together, or no one does, right? We'll escape this somehow. That's how the Squirtle Squad rolls!"

The Boss felt his heart sink. "Guys, don't-"

None of his comrades stopped, blasting him further with a full force Water Gun as they struck a salute for him. The pressure was too much and the leader was forced to go back into his shell, and with that he slid through the crack to safety. The shell slammed onto another end of the tunnel, and the Boss popped out of his shell right away.

His gaze immediately went back to the crack as he ran as fast as he could. And then, more debris fell, right over the only way back. The Boss froze in place, fear having gotten the best on him.

"No! No! Please! No!" He rushed closer, charging a Water Gun and trying to free the path. The rocks didn't budge.

He tried again, and again, punching at the rock in a vain effort to blast it out of the way. The rocks remained in place, and after minutes of trying to open a path, the noise of falling debris from the other side stopped, and a deathly silence took its place. The Boss could feel his body freeze in fear as reality finally sunk in and dread crawled under his shell. He stared in anger at the rock, and then punched, punched, and punched over its surface.

"It can't go like this! It can't!" He kept punching, even as his hand started bleeding and his strength started to wane, tears welling in his eyes as he weakly stopped punching. "It... can't..."

The Boss fell on his knees, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed loudly. He was the only one that made it, the last survivor of the Squirtle Squad, and it was all his fault. If he just had not reacted to that Growlithe, none of that would've happened.

As he continued to cry, though, a realization wormed in his head. No, that wasn't true. It wasn't him that caused this. It was all fault of the humans who made that trap for them without thinking. Yes, it was the humans' fault! Only theirs! Always theirs!

The Boss clenched his ruined fists, his teeth bared as his sadness turned to rage. Humans only ruined everything, and now they took away his friends. There was no way he'd ever forgive them now. He needed to avenge his friends, by any means necessary.

The last survivor of the Squirtle Squad turned around, staring at the light in the distance and the buildings of Cerulean City several miles away. The Squirtle glared at it in anger, and then sprinted towards it, his mind whirling with thoughts.

He would make humans pay for what they caused, and he would show them no mercy.

Again, back to the present…

"So, all in all, that was basically what happened."

It was strange; it all happened a few weeks ago at worst, yet it felt like a far more distant time. Was that an effect of regaining the memories of the old timeline? In any case, he was glad to have regained his memories before he could do anything he would later regret.

"Wow, that was… really sad," said Pikachu.

"They might still be alive, who knows," said Charmander. Pikachu and Bulbasaur glanced at him. "Just saying, I mean, it's not like you saw them die, did you?"

"I guess not," Squirtle admitted. "But if they were still around, maybe we should've seen them by now. This place being so clean and neat means they haven't been here in quite a while."

"You must miss them a lot," said Bulbasaur.

"I'll always miss them. When that cave in happened, I was really angry, I wanted to take it out on someone. And then my old memory was restored. I was confused at first, but then… I realized. Maybe the reason they saved me was because I still had something to live for. I had to live to reunite with Ash and you guys."

Squirtle once again glanced at his one-time hideaway to escape Officer Jenny. "Even if they're gone now, I have to live on, for all of them. For you guys, and for Ash too."

"You're right." Pikachu stood up. "Arceus entrusted Ash with saving the world, and he needs our help to do that."

"We still have a long way to go, many more friends to find," added Bulbasaur.

"And we all have to grow stronger." Charmander clenched his claws. "Ash is counting on us, and we can't let him down."

Pikachu placed his paw forward, followed by Charmander's claw. Bulbasaur placed his vine, and then Squirtle finished with his own hand. They all shared determined glances, but none was stronger than Squirtle's. He might have lost his old gang, but he would never forget them. He still had friends to live for, and he had to keep going to honor the memory of his old family. Like Bulbasaur said, they still had many friends awaiting them on the road ahead. But even if some things had gone differently this time around, at least it seemed fate was on their side in that regard. They had all been reunited for a reason, for a bigger purpose, and they all planned to see it through all the way. They would all stick by their trainer's side, until the very end.

Vermillion Police Station…

Officer Jenny still hadn't gotten used to the peace and quiet. Her clean desk and the silent telephone felt so… off now. Sure, that was what she wanted, but at what price?

"Squirtle?" The policewoman glanced to her side. She managed to smile seeing the small turtle was bringing her a glass of icy water.

"Thank you." She gladly accepted it. It was weird; two months ago she wouldn't have ever thought she'd be caring for a former Squirtle Squad member.

…

Jenny had no choice but to go find tools and machinery help to clear off the debris. The Squirtle Squad might have been a bunch of hooligans, but no matter what they had done, they didn't deserve to be buried alive. Still, she had been wielding that pickaxe for over eight hours, and most of the debris had been cleaned up so far, yet there was no sign of them at all.

"… squirt…"

"Hmm?" That weak groan got Jenny's attention. A few debris shook around, and then, a very badly battered Squirtle popped out, his glasses missing.

"Hey, are you alright?" Jenny asked picking him up.

"Squirtle? Squirtle! Squirt, squirt squirtle!" The turtle pointed at the fallen debris. Jenny didn't need to know Pokémon speech to know that he was begging them to try and save his other friends.

"Hurry, we need to find the others! They might still be alive!"

Jenny and the others began digging. If this one had survived, maybe the others had too, possibly needing urgent help. No matter the trouble they caused her, she couldn't just leave them to die.

…

Unfortunately, they couldn't dig much further without risking another cave in, and in the end, they didn't find any more survivors. Jenny deduced that even though it was nigh impossible, there was a slim chance that they had ended up on the other side. For the following two weeks, she waited and hoped for a call from her cousin in Cerulean, of a group of Squirtle wreaking havoc around town, but it never came.

Jenny decided that she would take care of the surviving Squirtle herself, at least until she could find him a good trainer. Surprisingly, the Squirtle never tried to escape or pull a prank on her; in fact, he had become unusually helpful and always tried to assist her with anything she needed, be it to bring her something to drink or using his Water Gun to help in keeping the place clean. Jenny wondered if it was out of gratitude, regret for his past pranks, or just his way to cope with the loss of his friends. Maybe a mix of all three.

'Wherever they are, I hope they're alright,' thought Jenny. Hopefully, if there were more survivors, she could only pray that they could have found someone who cared for them. They all deserved it.

FIN.

OMAKE by Viroro-kun (canon)

One, two, three slashes- one Dragon Tail, an Ember and a kick for good measure, then rinse and repeat, over and over.

Charmander rubbed the sweat off his face, took a deep breath, and resumed his training routine. There was still a bit of time before Ash would finally challenge Lt. Surge's Gym, and every second was precious: he could feel his former power growing closer with each swing, hit and move, and he needed to reclaim it. That way he would've strong again, nothing would end up badly anymore, Master would be happy and-

Charmander paled and rubbed his forehead, grumbling; those memories were messing with him again. It was hard to tell who the real was him anymore: was he a puny, worthless Charmander that would've been better off dead and only caused problems? Was he the first stage of one of the strongest Charizard to ever exist? Was he both, or neither? As the memories of two lifetimes played over and over, Charmander only grew more confused. He rubbed his forehead and let out a heavy sigh.

"Stupid Atrice whatever," he grumbled as he stared in the distance. The knot in his stomach only grew tighter. For all he tried to act tough, those thoughts continued to creep by. It's all my fault; Kaia is blind because of me; I will only fail Ash again; Master dropped me because I was useless...

Charmander growled and blasted an intense Ember skyward, before clawing his forehead and taking a deep breath. The thoughts stopped, and the Charmander sighed in relief. He quickly looked back at his surroundings, and was incredibly disappointed to see no trees, rocks or other amenities he could've destroyed with impunity. Where were some conveniently empty buildings to destroy when you needed them?

Furrowing his brow, Charmander resumed hitting the air with even more intensity than before. He needed to grow stronger, claim his power again, and maybe even get back with Charla once they finally returned to Johto. But to do so, he needed much more training. With a loud roar, the Fire-type flailed around his arms and tails wildly, trying to go faster with each slice.

In fact, he was so intent in his task that he almost jumped on his feet as he felt someone tap on his shoulder. He paused his strikes and turned around to see Squirtle waving at him.

"Hey," the Water-type said with a smile.

Charmander's frown returned. "What do you want?"

"Well, I was thinking of what you said." Squirtle scratched his neck. "About your previous trainer, I mean. Not the jerk, the girl."

The Fire-type squinted his eyes. "What about her?"

"Nothing much." Squirtle extended an arm, giving another sunny grin. "I just wanted to say that if you ever feel like you need to talk about your issues, I'm here. Alright?"

Charmander's body language shifted as he gave a quizzical look at the hand and then Squirtle. The same Squirtle that had told them of his friends' possible death just a little while before. He gave his old friend a long stare before scoffing and slapping his hand away. "Don't be a masochist, please."

"What?" Squirtle tilted his head in response.

Charmander tensed up and glared at the Water-type. "You have your own issues to think about. Do you seriously think I'd ask you for help now?"

"Hey, slow down. I just wanted to lend a shoulder if you need it."

"Well, I don't need help, unless you want to be a punching ball." Charmander cracked his fists as his gaze turned even more hostile. "And you don't want to be kicked by the most powerful Charizard out there, for sure."

Squirtle didn't seem to be particularly amused or impressed by that boast. Indeed, he grumbled and shook his head in response.

"Yeah, right." He crossed his arms, and his icy gaze matched Charmander's burning glare. "Hope you enjoy your testosterone poisoning, then."

"What?" Charmander furrowed his brow.

"We've known each other for a lifetime, literally." Squirtle sighed as he eyed his friend again. "I can tell when you're overcompensating, you know."

Charmander fumed as he stomped on the ground. "I'm not overcompensating for anything, here!"

"Then let me help you! I can see you're troubled!"

"I've got no use for the help of someone who has his own moping to do!"

"Say that again!"

As Charmander and Squirtle's voices raised, the two starters got progressively closer as they bared their teeth at each other, smashing their heads together. They both seemed ready to unleash their strongest attacks at each other, if a pair of vines didn't pop up between them and parted the two away, while a rather miffed Bulbasaur coming into view right after, with Pikachu by his side.

"Calm down, you two." The Grass-type's tone was strong and firm, as expected from the premier safekeeper of Oak's Laboratory.

Pikachu for his part massaged his forehead and exhaled. "I can't believe it. You're seriously fighting over who had it worse?"

Charmander raised a finger and opened his mouth, only for no reply to come out. He just stood there dumbfounded, as sweat ran down his face. Squirtle seemed similarly perplexed on what to say, as he tried to meet the Fire-type's gaze again.

"I... huh..." Charmander gulped, no lie coming to mind.

For his part, Pikachu only pinched his nose and shook his head several times.

"You're the worst best friends I've ever seen." Pikachu grumbled and rolled his eyes, shifting between Squirtle and Charmander until he focused on the latter. "If there's anything any of you needs to talk about, just say it. We've been through a lot together, and if you ever need us, we'll be there. This goes for Squirtle as much as you."

As he heard that, Charmander's loss of words grew even worse. It was nothing revolutionary or that he didn't know about, but hearing it again, right then, somehow felt good to know. Charmander would've probably questioned the fine details and told them to shut up and leave him alone, but as he observed Pikachu, Bulbasaur and finally Squirtle, a comforting sense of relief washed over him. He couldn't help but sigh as a brief smile flickered over his face, which he tried to immediately hide under a gruff scowl.

"I guess I can do that at times. When I really need it. If I want." Charmander's cheeks grew redder as he blushed, fidgeting and hugging his body in hesitation. Then, he sniped at the other gathered Pokémon. "... But don't you dare saying a word about this to the others. I've got a reputation to defend."

Pikachu giggled and gave an understanding nod. "Nothing to worry about."

"So, tough guy, what'd you need?" Squirtle folded his arms again, grinning as he waited.

Charmander was quick to grin back, taking a battle stance and giving his friends the pointer finger. "What about a good free-for-all? To reclaim my rightful power, I should be able to handle three opponents at once."

The trio seemed only mildly surprised at the request, sharing a brief glance before they all nodded in unison.

"Sure, we can do that," Squirtle replied for everyone.

Charmander chuckled and stretched his claws. "Prepare to get destroyed, then!"

And thus, after a shared nod, all four of Ash's Pokémon took a battle stance. It didn't take long for all four to lounge against each other, trading blows and dodging hits. And as the sparring grew more intense, Charmander and the rest couldn't help but grin all the way through, all his issues and pain forgotten if just for a moment.