" Staryu, Starmie use Water Gun!" Misty sent her Pokemon out trying to put the fire out before it got worse.

"Wartortle you too." Gary sent his starter out as it landed and began firing streams.

But the fire was spreading too fast, smoke was now filling the air.

"This is bad." Brock had a handkerchief over his mouth and one over Yellow's as he sent Geodude out to use Sand Attack to help with the fire, Yellow had to return her Pokemon as they didn't have any moves to put out the fire.

Austin returned a protesting Bulbasaur as he didn't want him to get hurt while Charmander looked horrified at what he just did.

"Tle!" The cry caused Austin to look over to see that a burning tree fell on the leader of the Squirtle Squad, pinning him while the rest of the Squad was separated from him with the fire going on.

"Squirtle!" Austin shouted as he ran towards the tree.

"Hang on." Austin said as he stopped with the flames on the log kicking up. 'I could really use some help right now.'

He would normally use either Scyther to slice this tree up or Butterfree to use Confusion to lift it, but with the fire around them it was bad.

"Squirt?" Squirtle looked surprised as Austin grimaced before he grabbed a part of the tree that wasn't on fire and strained, trying to lift it enough to where Squirtle could get out.

"Ash!" Brock saw what he was doing. "Get out of there."

"Not yet." Austin muttered as he wasn't making any progress, Pikachu was trying to help despite the fact that his size wouldn't work like that.

Charmander was even trying to help, trying not to think about how he had a hand in starting out the fire.

"Hold on Squirtle, almost have you out." Austin said as he kept going.

"Tle." Squirtle looked over to see the rest of the Squad using their Water Guns, trying to get to their leader before another shape made it to the tree and picked it up.

"Get a move on Ashy!" Gary snapped as he had a Machoke lifting the tree trying to ignore the fire burning his hands.Giving a nod, Austin grabbed Squirtle and moved, letting Machoke drop the tree to avoid getting burned.

But another tree fell, cutting them off as the rest of the Squirtle Squad made it to them, checking on their leader who waved it off.

"Tle, Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle gave an order as he pointed at Austin while Gary's Wartortle was using Water Gun to blast the fire with Machoke throwing dirt at the fire.

The Squirtle Squad didn't hesitate as they began to fire their Water Guns, everyone working together managing to put the fire out, much to the relief of everyone.

"Oh man, that was close." Austin muttered as he coughed, the smell of smoke still in the air.

"Tch, I can't believe you." Gary said with a frown. "At least make sure your own Pokemon don't start a fire in a battle."

"Hey , Charmander didn't mean that ."

Austin snapped at him as the fire lizard looked down in shame blaming itself for the fire despite Pikachu trying to tell him otherwise .

"That doesn't change the fact that it happened." Gary said as he returned his Machoke and Wartortle before he turned and left, not bothering to continue the battle after what happened.

"That was very irresponsible of you." Austin winced as Officer Jenny was glaring at him with all of them inside of the Police Station after what happened. "Do you realize the severity of what could've happened if that fire wasn't put out?"

"I do." Austin said looking down.

"Officer Jenny, Ash did not mean for that to happen." Misty tried to say but Jenny shook her head.

"That's why he is not behind those bars." Jenny said making Austin wince. "You are lucky that the fire was put out or this would've been a lot worse for everyone here."

"Yes ma'am." Austin said looking down.

"By law I'm supposed to take the Pokemon that started it away from you because of your actions." Jenny began as Austin's eyes widened and Austin quickly placed a hand over Charmander's Pokeball protectively while the others tensed. "But I've heard from my sister on what happened with your Charmander's old trainer and what you did to save him, so I'm giving you a warning. If something like this happens again, you will lose your Charmander. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Austin said as he never knew about that law and made a note to be more careful in the future about that.

Jenny glared at him before her gaze softened up as she could see that he got the message.

"Thankfully something good came out of that mess." She said looking outside as the Squirtle Squad now had coats on, being greeted warmly by people. "The Squirtle Squad are appointed as this town's Firefighters."

"That's good." Brock said with a smile at the idea that the Squad wouldn't cause anymore trouble like this.

"Yes, now all four of you better get going before anything else happens." Jenny said to them as they quickly left.

"Ash, it wasn't your fault." Brock said as they were traveling again on the road the next morning. "No one would've expected for that to happen."

"Brock's right, who knew that could occur during the battle." Misty said as Austin kept quiet.

"I know, but still." Austin had his hand on Charmander's Pokeball as he looked at it. "I almost lost Charmander because of what happened."

"How is Charmander doing?" Yellow asked in concern.

"He's blaming himself for this." Austin said gripping the ball. "His first win and this happens, I should've waited until Charmander was ready instead of just throwing him in like that."

Austin was even blaming himself considering it was his strategy that lead to that.

"Charmander wanted to battle." Brock reminded him. "Ash, sometimes things can happen in a battle intentional like Damian hurting Fearow or unintentional like this, you can't just focus on what went wrong."

Austin went to say something else when another voice cut him off.

"Squirtle!" All four of them stopped and turned to see the leader of the Squirtle Squad standing nearby looking at them.

"What's Squirtle doing here?" Misty asked in surprise before Squirtle ran forward and pointed at Austin.

"Tle Squirt." Squirtle said pointing from Austin to him to the Pokeball before he crossed his arms with a smile.

"Ash, I think Squirtle wants you to catch him." Brock replied causing Misty to groan.

"Lucky, I need another Water Pokemon."

Austin blinked before smiling. "Sure thing Squirtle." He said a little relieved that this part of Canon wasn't screwed up.

Despite the fire being his fault, it was probably because he wouldn't leave Squirtle under the tree.

Pulling out an empty Pokeball, Austin paused before sending Raticate out.

"Hey Raticate, I'm sending you to Prof. Oaks for now." Austin said causing Raticate to glare. "I'll be bringing you out for more training when we reach Vermillion and I will be using you in the Gym Battle as I promised."

"Cate." Raticate muttered before accepting the situation as she saw the Squirtle who gave her a curious look.

"I'll see you later." Austin promised as he returned her before looking at Squirtle. "Are you ready?"

"Squirt." Squirtle smiled as Austin lightly pressed the Pokeball to his forehead as he was sucked in, sunglasses and all.

One button press on the Pokedex later and Raticate took his place of being sent back.

"I guess that's another good thing that came out of this." Brock said with a smile as Austin grinned.

"Yeah, it is." He said taking out the Pokedex as he scanned Squirtle.

"Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokemon, Squirtle's shell is not merely used for protection. The shell's rounded shape and the grooves on its surface help minimize resistance in water, enabling this Pokemon to swim at high speeds." The Pokedex beeped. "This Squirtle is Male and the Ability is Torrent. Currently this Squirtle knows Tackle, Tail Whip, Bubble, Withdraw, Water Gun, Bite, Rapid Spin, Protect and Aura Sphere. The Age of this Squirtle is Two Years and Four Months."

Austin's eyes widened at that last move.

Squirtle knew Aura Sphere?!

How did Ash even miss that ? Austin wondered .

"Nice moveset." Brock complimented. "Squirtle seems to be a powerful addition to your team."

"Y-Yeah." Austin said in shock.

Aura Sphere was learned in the games as an Egg Move, so maybe that was how Squirtle learned it this time.

"Come on." Misty said cutting into his thoughts. "We're still on the road, we need to get to Vermillion soon."

"Right." Austin said as they continued down the road.