A few days later, somewhere outside Cerulean City, Ash frowned at a map.
"Um… which way did we go when we left Cerulean?" he asked. "I think we were heading for Vermillion, right?"
"You can't get to Vermillion without going through Celadon, or Saffron, or Lavender," Misty told them. "Not without a lot of effort."
She frowned. "Though, in hindsight… Ash, if we're aiming for Vermillion then why didn't you say something when we went onto a trail?"
"The main road from Pewter to Cerulean goes through a cave," Ash defended himself.
"It doesn't," Brock corrected. "That's the route we took because we were interested."
"I certainly managed to zap a lot of Zubat," Pikachu conceded. "Seriously, though, we're lost?"
He jumped up at Ash's belt. "If we're that lost, then get Zapdos to see where we are!"
"That's a good point," Ash agreed, plucking a Pokéball off his belt and expanding it out. "Is that okay with you, Zapdos?"
Zapdos emerged with a flash, wobbled slightly, then thumped onto the ground.
The impact woke her up, and she blinked sleepily. "Huh?"
"Oh, uh… sorry, Zapdos," Ash said. "I never really thought about when Pokémon sleep before."
"Those things are surprisingly comfortable," Zapdos said, getting up and shaking the grit out of her feathers.
"Speak for yourself," Pikachu snorted. "What does Bulbasaur think about them?"
Brock sent out Bulbasaur so they could check, and the Grass-type shrugged.
"They're not bad," he said. "A bit zen. But I'd much rather sleep under the stars."
"So… outdoors, unless it's raining?" Ash checked.
"That seems about right," Bulbasaur confirmed.
Ash then snapped his fingers. "Right! Um… yeah, we're kind of lost, and I was wondering if you could have a look to see where we are?"
Bulbasaur blinked, then looked at his trainer. "...didn't you only catch me yesterday?"
Brock didn't reply, but he did look at Ash for translation as Zapdos took to the air.
"Yeah, we did only meet you yesterday," Ash confirmed. "But I think we might already have been lost then."
Zapdos came swooping back down, then. "There's a town over that way," she said, indicating with a wing. "I think that's the place we were at before. But it kind of feels like it's going to rain, and there's a Charmander sitting on a rock over in that direction…"
"If it's going to rain, it's going to rain," Charmander said. "But Damien told me to wait here for him, and I'm not going to let him down."
"You know, that's kind of-" Pikachu began, but Bulbasaur stepped in front of him.
"This Damien, he's your trainer?" he asked. "Pretty much has to be but I want to make sure."
Charmander nodded. "Well… yes, he is my trainer."
"Then why do you trust him?" Bulbasaur said.
Charmander blinked a few times, like he wasn't sure what the question was getting at.
"Maybe I'm not the same sort of Pokémon you are," Bulbasaur went on. "But I don't really trust humans, in general. I kind of trust Brock now, a bit, because he's a doctor for Pokémon, but if he told me to stay somewhere dangerous and that I had to wait until he got back then I'd have a lot of questions. I don't trust him enough yet for that."
"But… I'm his Pokémon," Charmander insisted. "Isn't that enough?"
"It's nothing like enough," Bulbasaur said.
Then another one of Ash's Pokéballs burst open with a white flash.
"Actually, I think I know a way to test this," Butterfree said. "So, Charmander, I think Damien might have released you, and if he did then that sucks. Right?"
Charmander tilted his head, confused. "But he said I was still his Pokémon?"
"I think I get it," Ash said. "Butterfree is saying that either he released you, and if he did then you're not his Pokémon, or he didn't release you and then you're still his Pokémon. Right?"
"Exactly!" Butterfree agreed. "And if he released you and lied about it, that means he's a meanie buttface. But it's actually kind of easy to check."
He flew over to Ash, landing on his bag, and rummaged around inside.
"Umm…" his voice drifted out. "No, wait, that's a lunchbox… and… hold on… there!"
Emerging again, the Bug-type put a Pokéball down between them.
"If he released you, this'll work,"Butterfree explained. "And he's a buttface. But if he didn't, this won't work. Hey, Pikachu, want to demonstrate what happens?"
Pikachu crossed his arms, but didn't object, and Butterfree blew the Pokéball at him with a gust from his wing. It bounced off with a fizz, and Butterfree did a loop.
"Ta-da," he announced.
"Well…" Charmander said, a bit concerned. "If he did, then… won't that just mean that your trainer's caught me instead? How do I know he's better, if my old trainer was that kind of person?"
"Because Ash isn't a meanie buttface," Pikachu answered, then blinked. "...wow. Sometimes you end up saying the strangest things, don't you…"
"Thanks, Pikachu," Ash said. "That means a lot to me."
Later that evening, the friends sat down outside a Pokémon centre.
"When you think about it, that was kind of an amazing coincidence," Brock said. "I mean, really, it's astronomically unlikely."
"Is it as unlikely as a kid trainer befriending a Zapdos with mochi?" Misty asked.
"Hey, Zapdos likes mochi," Ash protested. "So, really, that's kind of likely if you think about it."
"If you think about it the way you think about it," Misty said. "But I don't think it's astronomically unlikely, Brock, it's just a bit weird."
"To run into the same trainer who abandoned Charmander, while he's bragging about abandoning him on a rock?" Pikachu said. "Yeah, that was… kind of unlikely. And awkward."
"I know what you mean," Ash said. "Poor Charmander…"
The Fire-type had been so angry and upset that he'd emerged from his Pokéball, shouted something incoherent even to other Pokémon, and then returned himself to his Pokéball and not come out yet.
"I'll see how he is in the morning," Ash added. "I don't think he's met Zapdos yet."