"Last time Logan challenged a skilled Pokemon trainer A.J. at his unofficial gym and successfully beat in a Pokemon battle. After saying goodbye to A.J., Logan, Elaine, and Pearl continued their path to Vermillion City as they traveled through thick and dense woods," The narrator said as the gang was seen walking through the woods.

"So where exactly are we?" Elaine asked, looking around.

"Yeah, I figured we would almost be to Vermillion City," Pearl stated.

Logan then took out his Pokenav to look over his map. "It seems that we're near the Pokemon tech school," He said, reading the map.

"I heard of that school. It is where people go to enter the Pokemon league without physically earning the badges," Pearl stated.

"I believe traveling to earn the badges gives you more experience," Logan said."Anyway, why don't we stop for a break to eat? One of you set up the cooking supplies, and another get water for the soup while I go get the firewood," He said, placing his bag down.

"I gather the water," Elaine said.

"Then I get the pot and other supplies ready," Pearl said.

"Alright, I will be right back shortly," Logan said."Let's go, Ruby," He called out as he and Ruby headed off to find some firewood.

***

"Alright, Ruby, let's find some firewood," Logan said, looking at Ruby walking on his left.

"Lit!" Ruby cried out, looking around.

"Let's see; there should be some around here," Logan said, looking around until he finally spotted a few sticks on the ground."Here are a few sticks, but I need to gather a few more."

"Litleo!" Ruby suddenly cried out.

"What is it, Ruby? Did you find more?" Logan asked, glancing over at Ruby.

"Lit!" Ruby cried out, shaking her head and lifting a paw.

Logan turned toward the direction and narrowed his eyes as he noticed a familiar blue hair boy near a lake.

"River, is that you?" Logan asked, walking over to the boy

"Ah, Logan, good to see you," River said, looking over at Logan and Ruby walking his way.

"I agree. What you up to?"

"Lit!"

"I was just taking a break to fish on my way to Vermillion," River replied."What about you?" He asked.

"My group decided to take a lunch break before continuing the journey to Vermillion," Logan said."You can join us after I find a few more pieces of wood."

"Sounds good; I wasn't finding much over. I might as well eat something before I continue to Vermillion City, which has lots of water that will definitely have more water Pokemon to catch," River standing up and putting his fishing rod back in his bag.

"Lit!" Ruby cried out, bringing a few sticks in her mouth toward Logan.

"Alright, that should be enough to start a fire to cook with," Logan said, taking the sticks from Ruby's mouth.

"So you know how to cook?"

"Yeah, my parents always allowed me to help them, and I eventually got the hang of it; not anywhere as great as them, but it pretty decent."

"Lit!"

"Don't worry, Ruby, the food won't take long," Logan said, smiling at Ruby.

"She ready to eat lunch," River said, smiling.

"Yeah, we have done a lot of walking, so not surprised she worked up an appetite," Logan replied.

"Makes sense," River kneeling and rubbing Ruby's head.

Logan smiled at Ruby, enjoying the stroking as he led River to where the rest of the group was waiting.

***

"Hey guys," Logan said as he arrived at the break site to see Elaine pouring water into the pot and Pearl placing the ingredients next to the pot.

"Logan, you find firewood and River with you," Elaine said.

"Yeah, I found him fishing and offered for him to join us," Logan said, putting the wood together before having Ruby light it with an Ember.

"That's right Hope you don't mind," River said, sitting down.

"No, it's good with us," Pearl said, taking out her pokeballs."Come on out, you guys!" She said, sending out her three Pokemon.

"Drowzee!"

"Slowpoke!"

"Fairy!"

"Cool Pokemon," River said, looking at them.

"Thanks," Pearl said.

"You guys come out as well. Lunchtime is coming soon," Elaine said, sending out her Pokemon as well.

"Horsea!"

"Growl!"

"Butterfree!"

"Vee!" Eevee cried out, jumping down from Elaine's head.

"You have a nice team as well," River said, looking at Elaine's Pokemon.

"Ruby, let my Pokemon out as well as I get the Pokemon food ready while the water boils," Logan said, putting the Pokeballs near her.

"Lit!" Ruby cried out, using her paw to push the buttons to release the Pokemon inside of them.

"War!"

"Doduo!"

"Meowth!"

"Ekans!"

"Sandshrew!"

Logan's Pokemon cried out as they were let out of their Pokeballs.

"Woah, a shiny Wartortle, and it seems you switched out your Bellsprout and Rataicate for two different Pokemon," River commented.

"Yeah, I figure it has been an excellent idea to let those two rest and use two of my other Pokemon for now," Logan replied, adding berries to some of the Pokemon food."Alright, Pokemon food is ready to eat now to cook the soup," Logan said, placing six bowls in front of his pokemon, and then the rest headed to Elaine and Pearl.

"What about your Pokemon River?" Elaine asked.

"Don't worry, I got them handled myself," River replied, pulling out cans of Pokemon food and a few oran berries.

"Alright then, I'll get the soup ready to eat," Logan said, putting the ingredients in the bag and starting cooking.

After fifteen minutes, the soup was finally ready to go, and Logan headed to a bowl for everyone as they started eating lunch.

"Hey guys," Logan suddenly said after he was done eating."I'm going to take a walk for a little bit," He said, standing up as he put his bowl to the side for cleaning.

"Alright, probably get ready to leave once my Pokemon are done eating," River said.

"Well, bye if you're gone by the time I get back," Logan said, waving bye to Ruby, following him on his walk.

***

Logan and Ruby were walking through the woods when he suddenly stopped and sat against a tree across the river from earlier.

"What do you say about relaxing here for a moment before continuing the walk," Logan said, rubbing Ruby's head.

"Lit," Ruby said happily.

The next moment a rustling sound was heard, causing them to turn and see Jessie coming out of the bushes.

"Hello," Logan greeted.

"Um, hi, Teal twerp," Jessie said wide-eyed as she noticed Logan."I wasn't expecting you."

"We stopped for a lunch break, but I decided to go for a walk. What about you?"

"Lit?" Ruby questioned, looking at Logan.

"James and Meowth, we're taking a nap, and I decided to get some air since I wasn't feeling tired," Jessie said.

"Well, you can join me if you want, as long don't try to steal Ruby," He stated, rubbing Ruby's head.

"I won't, don't worry. That's not the plan just need fresh air," Jessie said, sitting beside Logan.

"Oh, so what are you doing around here planning or stealing from the Pokemon Tech?"

"Pokemon tech that brings back memories," Jessie said with a sigh.

"Really?"

"Why are you talking to me instead of being suspicious after everything we did?" Jessie said.

"I told you that you don't seem that bad of a person," Logan replied.

"I actually used to go to Pokemon Tech it, where I first met James, and the two of us failed the exam with the lowest scores," Jessie replied.

"Oh, that sucks. I'm sure if you tried again, you would pass with flying colors," Logan said with a smile.

"You think so?" Jessie asked, blushing slightly at Logan's smile.

"Yeah, of course, you seem smart."

"Uh, thank you, know you're a pretty swe-" Jessie trails off, hearing a whimper.

"Hold on for a second," Logan said, holding up a hand and walking towards the bushes, where he spotted a badly beaten-up golden reptilian Pokemon with a flame on its tail.

"Oh my, a Chamander," Logan said, holding the Chamander close and looking at its flame."It worked pretty and definitely doesn't look like the work of a wild pokemon," He commented, examining the injuries."

"Teal twerp another shiny, and you seem to know a lot about wounds to tell the differences," Jessie commented, getting closer to Logan.

"I help my father a few times treat his Pokemon and wild Pokemon," Logan said, placing his hands on Chamander."This should help ease the wounds slightly," He said as his hands started glowing yellow, slowly healing the scars of the Charmander.

"Lit?"

"Don't worry, Chamander will be okay but definitely will need to get to a Pokemon Center soon as we reach the next one," Logan said, removing his hands.

"How did you heal some of the wounds?" Jessie asked curiously.

"We never figured it out. Just one day, this aura came out of me when I met Ruby here poison and decided that maybe one day we would figure out where the power came from," He replied, gently picking up the Chamander.

"You're full of surprises, teal twerp," Jessie said, leaning closer to Logan's shoulder.

"You getting tired? I can carry you back to your break site," Logan said.

"Lit!?"

"Relax, Ruby; I won't leave the Chamander."

"It's okay. I can walk back myself," Jessie said, moving away from Logan, seeing his focus on her.

"If you're sure, then guess, see you around and take care of yourself," Logan said, picking up the Chamander and started heading back to his friends.

"Lit!" Ruby cried out, following him close by.

Jessie silently watched them leave before heading back to James and Meowth.

***

Logan and Ruby arrived, where they spotted to take a break to see that the pot and bowls were in a neat pile and that River was still here and returning Logan's sleeping Pokemon.

"Hey, River, you're still here?" Logan questioned.

"Logan, you back. You were gone for a long walk," Pearl stated.

"Oh yeah, sorry, found an injury Chamander," He said, holding out the Chamander.

"I told you Pearl he was okay, but that Charmander not," Elaine commented.

Pearl simply looked away, embarrassed by how worried she had been earlier.

"What happened to that poor shiny Chamander?"

"I think somebody attacked it, maybe a Pokemon trainer trying to catch it but failed or an abusive Pokemon trainer who abandoned it heard of them from my parents," Logan said.

"I have too, and seen a few at the gym before," River said.

"So why didn't you catch the Chamander?" Elaine asked.

"I think getting it to a Pokemon Center soon as we can find someone who can heal it properly is important, and maybe once it feels better, I can try to catch it," Logan replied.

"That's very respectful not to try and catch Chamander during injury like this," Pearl said, smiling at Logan's kindness.

"Well then, the four of us better get going," Elaine said as Eevee hopped onto her head.

"The four?" Logan questioned.

"Yeah, I decided to join you instead of traveling alone any longer," River replied.

"Sound good to me. Let's get going soon as I pack my bag and put my pokeballs back on my belt," Logan said, heading Chamander to River for a moment.

"Chamander seems to be relaxed," River commented.

"Yeah, I was able to heal it somewhat, but it probably needs more treatment guess we'll see when it wakes up," Logan said, taking Chamander back and looking at its flame, seeing it wasn't as weak but definitely not as significant as it should be."Let's go."

"After stopping for a break to rest and eat lunch. Logan runs into River and invites him to eat lunch with them. He then goes for a walk and runs into Jessie and learns she used to go to Pokemon tech, but the conversation soon ruin as they encounter an injured Chamander. Now with a new addition in River and possibly a Chamander. The gang now continue their journey to Vermillion City," The Narrator said as the gang is seen walking away further through the woods, passing the gates of a large school to their left.

To be continued...

Question of the Chapter: What do you think Chamander will decide once it's awake?

Logan's Team:

Litleo (Ruby) (F)

Shiny Wartortle (Shelly) (F)

Doduo (Sora) (F)

Meowth (Mittens) (F)

Ekans (Fani) (M)

Sandshrew (Sandy) (F)

Pokemon at Lab:

Beedrill (Venmon) (M)

Raticate (Patrick) (M)

Shiny Ralts (Colgate) (M)

Shiny Bellsprout (Floral) (F)

Onix (Rocky) (M)

Elaine's Team:

Eevee (F)

Horsea (M)

Growlithe (F)

Butterfree (M)

Pearl's Team:

Drowzee (M)

Clefairy (F)

Slowpoke (M)

River's Team:

Squirtle (M)

Seel (F)

Vapereon (F)

Shellder (M)