A/N: With my revitalized interest in Pokemon, I have decided to write a story about it. This story will not follow the anime canon very closely, simply due to it not taking place in the same place (Johto, as opposed to Kanto), or the same time (I'm estimating Ash's Kanto journey, his Orange Islands Journey, and time in between as having taken roughly a year combined) There will, of course, be a few things from the anime that I do follow, but this is going to be pretty AU. Edit: I should note that I am adding my own ideas into this. Clearly, the Pokemon League regulations I reference in this story are not canon, they are a plot device I am using to further my story. There are going to be other small and large changes down the line, but this is the most immediately noticeable and the first one that gained a comment of its own.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, and never will.

An Altered Adventure

Chapter One

The Early Bird Gets The Worm

Professor Oak was… disappointed, to say the least. His grandson had came and went with his chosen starter, the water pokemon Squirtle. Another child from Pallet, a girl by the name of Leaf, had left with her pokemon, Bulbasaur. The last starter, Charmander, had been taken by that troublemaker Damian. Standing before him was a messy haired boy in his pajamas, apparently he'd been in quite the rush. Oak let out a deep sigh, briefly closing his eyes before addressing the boy in front of him.

"The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the pokemon." Near the professor and prospective pokemon trainer was a stand containing three empty pokeballs, which had contained pokemon until recently. They were all wide open, having been opened by the boy now speaking to Oak as a somewhat heavy handed lesson. "Does that mean all the pokemon are gone…?" The boy was understandably saddened by this news. It was an important lesson, however and one he would have to reinforce in this case, both due to his own lack of league approved starters and the boy's own need to be prepared for the difficult journey ahead of him. Oak let out another sigh. "Unfortunately so, my boy. I gave the last one to that boy, Damian. I had hoped you would be able to join my grandson on his journey, perhaps as a rival, but it seems that will not be the case…"

The boy looked down at the floor, looking crushed. Oak didn't want to do this to the poor boy, but he did not have any other starters prepared. "You'll just have to wait until the next cycle, it seems…" If only he'd captured that Pikachu earlier, he could have tamed it enough to be a suitable starter for the boy. As it was, giving an unprepared boy what amounted to a wild animal, without any tamed pokemon to assist him, would do him no good.

The boy looked up from the floor at him, tears in his eyes. "...T-There's nothing you can do?"

The Pokemon Professor hated letting down young new trainers, but… "At the moment, I'm afraid not. The next batch of starters, as you no doubt know, will be given out in about six months. Other than that…" Oak briefly paused, racking his mind for alternative options for the boy. It would take at least a few weeks to tame the Pikachu he had captured earlier that day, but it would do as a starter should the boy wish for it. Other than that, his only real option was to contact his colleagues in the other regions, but they were all far too distant… Other than Elm, that is. "I'll look into it for you, perhaps I can find an alternative."

The boy turned his gaze back to the ground, looking resigned to his fate. "Okay Professor…" As the boy walked out of the door, Oak couldn't help but feel sorry for him. To be told for months, years even, that he'd be leaving on his pokemon journey on this day, only to find that that simply wasn't the case? It was the stuff of broken dreams. The Pokemon Professor sighed and walked over to his computer, preparing to send an email he had no doubt would gain no results… Very rarely were any pokemon left over on the day the League issued new starters to trainers, he doubted today would be an exception. Regardless, he pressed the send button, and a message was sent to Johto.

Hours later, in Viridian City

Gary Oak had had a long, long day. Well, it hadn't seemed so long just an hour ago, but things had… changed. Just over an hour ago, he'd arrived in Viridian City, taking under a day like his father had before him, and managing to catch his very own spearow on his way there. He'd arrived in the pokemon center, and managed to get one of the rooms there they kept for trainers. After that, he'd called his grandfather. That is when his day became long. Very long.

His grandfather, Samuel Oak, the Pokemon Professor, had told him that his childhood friend, and hopefully, pokemon rival, wouldn't be joining him on his journey. He and Ash hadn't been getting along terribly well for the past year or so, partly due to Gary's own rising arrogant behavior, and partially due to their perceived incoming rivalry. Now… What had been the point of that, if they weren't going to be rivals? It felt like Gary had really wasted a perfectly good friendship, and now he wasn't even going to get a rival out of it like he'd wanted.

He wished he could change things...

Edit: A/N: Due to a review from the anonymous reviewer Eevee, I have begun editing Gary Tales into the main story. Hopefully it turns out well. For now the parts about Gary will be pretty short, but they will likely get longer as the story goes on.