Torchic Farm

Sometime after the Fallabor contest, the gang was in the countryside.

"It feels like being out in the countryside like this, especially when the weather is nice." May said.

"Funny to hear you say that May." Max smirked. "It's usually the cities that you like the most."

"Hey I like being in a green area too thank you Max." May argued.

"I think this is a good place for us to relax a bit." Brock suggested.

The others agreed with him.

Suddenly a Torchic appeared in front of the gang.

"Did you call your Torchic out of the Poke Ball May?" Max asked.

"No that's not my Torchic." May answered.

"And that's not my Torchic either." Ash added.

"Maybe it's wild." Tomo said.

Just then a young man came over and picked the Torchic up.

"You can't just rush off on your own Torchic." The man said.

Ash asked the man if the Torchic was his.

"Well this Torchic is one of the many Torchic that my dad and I look after for a while." The man said.

"Oh I get it." Ash said. "This means that you and your dad breed Torchic and look after them for a while before they go off to new trainers right?"

"That's right, but how could you know that?" The man asked.

The gang told him about the time they met Mr. Swampy and all the Mudkip he looked after.

"Oh yes, Swampy actually told my dad and I about you guys." The man said. "He also told us that you saved his Mudkip from thieves."

"That's right." Ash responded.

"Can we see the other Torchic?" Max asked.

The man agreed to show them the other Torchic.

The man who's name was Keith led the gang to where he and his dad lived. It resembled a farmhouse. Keith introduced his dad Rooster to the gang.

"Ah it is so nice to see trainers once in a while." Rooster said. "I used to be a trainer myself when I was a kid, but I decided to be a breeder instead."

"Why did you choose to be a Torchic breeder?" May asked.

"I had a Torchic as a starter Pokemon and it evolved all the way into Blaziken." Rooster said. "And our partnership is what made me decide to be a Torchic breeder."

The gang nodded in understanding.

"Is your Blaziken here with you?" Tomo asked.

"Unfortunately no, it died from old age a few years ago." Rooster answered.

"Oh sorry." Tomo said.

"Ah it's all right." Rooster replied. "Besides I have plenty of memories of my old partner in my head."

Keith asked his dad if the gang could see the Torchic and Rooster agreed.

Keith and Rooster led the gang to some sort of big chicken coop and there were lots of baby Torchic running around.

"Wow so many Torchic." May said.

"This definitely reminds me of the baby Mudkip we saw with Swampy." Max said.

"Are there any Torchic eggs here as well?" Tomo asked.

"Yes there are and we keep them in the house." Rooster said.

There were lots of Torchic eggs in Rooster and Keith's house; the eggs were orange with a yellow pattern. The gang couldn't take their eyes off the eggs. Ash and May sent out their Torchic so Keith and Rooster could see them.

"Aw you two have fine Torchic." Rooster said. "I bet you got them from Prof. Birch right?"

"Well I did." May admitted. "But Ash received his from a Nurse Joy in Slateport City."

"Ah I see, well you two have done a wonderful job raising them." Rooster said.

Ash and May thanked him.

Suddenly a crash was heard outside.

"What was that?" May gasped.

Rooster and Keith feared the Torchic were in trouble, so they quickly ran outside to see what was going on. The gang ran outside too. There was trouble brewing outside; two women were stealing the baby Torchic.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?!" Rooster shouted.

"We'll be taking these Torchic, they'll be great Pokemon for us." One of the women said.

"Oh no you don't!" Keith yelled.

He released a Mightyena to stop the women.

"Ha that pup can't stop us." One of the women smirked.

She sent out a large brown Pokemon that had a long white mane and three leaves at the end of it's arms.

"Uh oh that's a Shiftry, a rather ferocious grass type Pokemon." Max said.

Ash looked Shiftry up on the Pokedex.

"Shiftry, the Wicked Pokemon and the evolved form of Nuzleaf. Shiftry is a mysterious Pokemon that is said to live atop towering trees dating back over a thousand years. It creates terrific windstorms with the fans it holds."

Shiftry attacked Mightyena with Razor Wind. Ash released his Torchic because of type advantage.

"Use Flamethrower Torchic." Ash said.

Torchic fired Flamethrower straight at Shiftry which hit it.

"Grr get out of our way annoying brats." One of the women growled.

"No way. You're not taking these Torchic anywhere." Ash said angrily.

The Torchic chirped in agreement.

Suddenly Torchic started to glow. Everyone watched as Torchic grew and changed from a little chick into a chicken.

"Wow, that's a Combusken." Max said.

"So my Torchic will evolve into that." May said.

She took out the Pokedex.

"Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokemon and the evolved form of Torchic. Combusken toughens up it's legs and thighs by running through fields and mountains. This Pokemon's legs possess both speed and power, enabling it to dole out ten kicks in one second."

Ash was happy with the evolution and ordered Combusken to use it's new Sky Uppercut. Combusken's claws glowed light blue and then he landed a uppercut on Shiftry.

"Now use Flamethrower one more time Combusken." Ash said.

Combusken released Flamethrower and then Shiftry fainted. The women tried to run away, but Mightyena and Combusken stopped them.

Rooster tied the women up with rope and Keith called for Officer Jenny.

"Thanks for your help Ash." Keith said. "If it wasn't for you and your Combusken, these women would have gotten away with the Torchic."

"I'm glad we were able to help." Ash smiled. Combusken chirped.

Soon the two women were taken away by the police and the gang thought it was now time to leave. Rooster and Keith thanked the gang and said goodbye to them. May was thinking about Ash's Combusken and she couldn't wait for the day that her Torchic would evolve.