Here's the start of a new story that I've had the idea for, for quite a while now. Hope you enjoy and I'll see you at the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Character ages:
Ash-18
Misty-18
Gary-18
Brock-20
Tracey-19
Cilan-19
Iris-17
May-15
Dawn-13
Max-12
Delia-44
Prof. Oak-67
Giovanni-46
That seems about right.
On with the story:
Pokémon: Infinite
By
Th3nerdy0ne
Chapter 1: Prologue
"Would you mind running that by me again?"
The ruthless leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni, was sitting at his desk in the main Rocket HQ, his Persian resting comfortably on his right. A grunt with blond hair and green eyes was standing across from him on the other side of the desk, trembling slightly at the calm yet threatening tone his boss had.
"I-I... S-said that w-we l-l-lost over ten p-point nine billion dollars over t-the last eight y-y-years, sir." The grunt stammered.
Giovanni leaned back in his large leather chair. It was no secret that the feared leader hated news of the bad kind. What was a secret however, was what he did to the ones that brought it. He stared at the shaking grunt in front of him with an unreadable expression on his face.
"How?"
The grunt handed Giovanni a disk. Giovanni put the disk into his computer and flipped a switch on his desk. A large set of monitors appeared on the wall to his left. Each monitor flickered to life with different recordings on each one. Giovanni glared at the grunt.
"And what exactly am I looking at?"
The grunt stepped over to the set of screens and pointed to the monitor with a recording of a boy, about eleven years old, with raven-dark hair, russet eyes and a Pikachu, destroying a giant satellite.
"This was taken from Mandarin Island seven years ago, sir. Our records show that this kid and whoever he travels with have sabotaged a large number of our operations in the past." He turned to look at his boss who was just staring at the screens, the unreadable look still present on his face. The grunt took this as a sign to continue. "We have three agents who've been following him around since he was ten and they say he's a very strong trainer with even stronger Pokémon. His friends as well."
Giovanni stared at each screen with great interest. He found it hard to believe that a group of children were the cause for so many projects failing. Giovanni turned his gaze from the monitors to the still trembling grunt.
"This is unacceptable! You mean to tell me that these little pests are the cause for our substantial loss?! That they've practically made this organization a laughing stock?!" Giovanni's eyes were flaring with rage.
The grunt began to tremble even more at the ever growing anger in the Rocket boss's voice.
"Y-yes s-sir. W-what should w-we d-do?"
Giovanni sat back in his seat and began petting the Persian. The Persian gave a content purr at the touch.
"I want you to get me every ounce of information you can find on these children. I want to know where they live, who their families are and most importantly, I want their names. No one interferes with my organization and lives to talk about it. And make the final preparations for Operation Indigo. Now go."
"Yes, sir." The grunt saluted and left the office very quickly.
Giovanni turned his attention back to the monitors and looked at the people on each one. An evil smile soon appeared on his face.
[Indigo Plateau]
"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce the new Pokémon master. ASH KETCHUM!"
The crowd roared with applause as the Raven-haired teenager stood up on the large stage with Pikachu on his shoulder. Pikachu jumped off of his masters shoulder and stood next to him on his back legs. They looked at each other with large smiles on their faces. They then faced the crowd and took a bow and then stood back up to face the crowd in the large ballroom.
The ballroom contained around one-hundred to one-hundred and fifty round tables. Each having at least eleven to twelve people sitting at each one. At one of these tables, which was specially reserved for friends and family of a new Pokemon master, sat eleven people who had very happy smiles on their faces.
They were, Delia Ketchum, Professor Samuel Oak, Gary Oak, Misty Waterflower, Brock Slate, Tracy Sketchit, May and her younger brother Max, Dawn, Iris and Cilan. They were all incredibly happy for their friends new position and very proud of him. Two, more so than the others.
"Oh, my Ashy's finally made it. I'm so proud of him." Delia said as a few happy tears escaped her eyes.
"I never doubted for a second that he'd do it." Said Misty, a sense of pride for her best friend flowing through her.
Ash was handed a microphone by Mr. Goodshow, the head of the Pokémon leagues, and walked to the edge of the stage with Pikachu. He tapped the mic to make sure it was on and then spoke.
"Uh... Hey everyone. Um... Not gonna lie, I'm terrible with the whole speech thing. But really, what can I say? What can I possibly say to express what I'm feeling exactly about what's going on? It still hasn't hit me and Pikachu yet. Right, buddy?"
"Pika!" Pikachu gave a nod and a big smile. The crowd laughed a little at that. Ash smiled and continued.
"I guess, if I'm gonna be perfectly honest, there were times when I thought I'd never actually be here in a million years. But at the same time, I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for my incredible Pokémon and let's be honest, this is as much their victory as it is mine. If it weren't for them and the amount of determination and trust we have for one and other, getting here would've been a lot harder."
The crowd gave a quick applause to that. As it was dying down, Ash saw the table his friends and mother were sitting at. He smiled at them and instantly knew what to say next.
"But I know for a fact that there's some people out there that, without them, getting here would've been impossible. And these people are actually here right now. There sitting right over there."
Ash pointed to the table with his mother and friends and as he did, a spotlight shone on their table.
"My mom, Professor Oak, Gary, Brock, Tracy, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan and Misty." His smile grew a little at the last name but it went unnoticed by everyone watching.
"They never stopped believing in me and were always there to give me support when things looked tough and picked me up when I was down. I'm lucky to call them my friends."
The group at the table were very moved by what Ash had said. What Ash said next surprised them the most.
"But for me, calling them my friends doesn't cut it. We've been through thick and thin together, we've fought criminals, battled legendaries, saved the world. We've done all these incredible things together and stuck together for so long that, and I know how corny this'll probably sound, but it's true, I see them like a family. And I love you guys so much."
The group at the table couldn't believe what they heard, but they were happy they did.
"So how do I feel about becoming the new master? Words cannot describe how I feel. But I'll do my best not to disappoint. Thank you."
With that, Ash and Pikachu left the stage as the crowd gave a thunderous applause. Ash went to the table were his mother and friends sat and was instantly greeted with a bear hug from his mother.
"Oh Ashy, that was so sweet! My little baby's grown up!" Delia gushed.
"Mom!" Ash whined. Delia giggled and let her son go.
"Sorry sweetie, I'm just so very proud of you. What you said was very sweet."
"I meant every word." Ash said with a smile.
"We love ya too, buddy." Brock said, giving Ash a friendly pat on the back.
"So when do you start your new job, Mr. Pokémon master?" Misty asked with a smile.
Ash smiled back. "I start next week. Lance is going to show me around the new league headquarters."
"Are you nervous?" May spoke up next.
Ash puffed his chest out and gave his familiar cocky smile. "I'm Ash Ketchum, I'm never nervous."
"Pika Pika." Pikachu said, mimicking the same action as his master.
The group at the table laughed and continued chatting until their food arrived. After half an hour, a band began playing music on the same stage Ash was just on.
"Hey, Misty." May whispered to the red-head.
"What?" Misty whispered back, a little confused as to why they were whispering.
"You should ask Ash to dance." May said, a sly smirk appearing on her face.
"May, I don't know..." Misty trailed off. A while ago Misty had told May of her secret feelings towards the raven-haired master and since then, May has made it her personal mission to help get them together.
"Why not? Slow music, romantic place, he's just gotten his dream job, it's the perfect setting."
Misty bit her lip slightly, thinking over what May just said. After a minute Misty finally came to a conclusion.
"Alright, I'll do it." She finally said.
"Great." May silently squealed.
Misty rolled her eyes at her friends girlishness and was about to stand up and walk towards Ash. However, she stopped when she realised he was standing right next to her, a warm smile on his face. Misty looked at Ash quizzically for a moment before he held his hand out for her to take.
"Would you like to dance, Mist?" He asked rather sheepishly.
Misty couldn't help but smile at Ash's awkwardness. 'He can be so cute without realising it sometimes.' She thought happily.
Misty took his offered hand and stood up. "Lead the way." She said softly, a smile gracing her lips.
Ash lead her to the dance floor and as they walked, Misty looked back towards May who was giving her a thumbs up. When Misty turned to face the right way again they were already on the dance floor. They looked at each other for a moment, waiting for either one to make the first move. After a minute, Ash finally placed his right hand on her waist and took her right hand in his left. Misty placed her left hand on his right shoulder and the two then began swaying back and forth to the rhythm of the music. The two remained silent for a while. Ash was the first to brake the silence.
"You look really... Beautiful tonight, Mist." Ash said, a small blush appearing on his face.
Misty was taken slightly of guard by this. A small blush appeared on her face too.
It was true, Misty did look stunning in her dress. It was a silk dress, aqua in color, that ended in a skirt that reached just below her knees. It swayed as they moved. She wore heels of the same color that brought her to eye level with Ash. Her hair was taken out of its usual side ponytail and was instead tied in a small bun with strands of her fiery hair left hanging out in certain places. She was wearing a pair of water drop shaped ear rings, a small charm bracelet with a charm of each of her Pokémon and a locket around her neck which was given to her by Ash for her eighteenth birthday two months ago. It was her favorite piece of jewelry.
"Thank you, Ash." She said softly.
From the table, the group of friends were watching the scene before them with smiles on their faces.
"Do you think she'll tell him?" Dawn asked quietly.
May looked at the bluenette with a smirk. "Of course she will. Don't worry" She said giving a thumbs up.
"Well I'm bettin' it'll be Ashy-boy that'll tell her. Why else would he ask her to dance?" Gary said with a knowing smile.
"Oh please." Iris jumped in. "Ash is too dense to be this romantic. He's probably just doing it as a best friend. Misty's definitely gonna be the one to tell him. Right Cilan?" Iris turned to the green haired young man sitting next to her.
"I'm actually going to agree with Gary on this." He said.
Iris's eyes widened. "What?!"
Cilan nodded then continued. "Well, Ash has been acting rather differently around Misty these past few months. Maybe he's finally maturing."
"I agree with Cilan." Brock said. "Ash has definitely been acting more shy around Misty."
"Pika." Pikachu agreed as he squirted his plate with ketchup.
"Well if you three are so confident, how about we make things interesting?" May said with a sly smile.
Back on the dance floor, Misty and Ash had just finished dancing to their third song. Ash looked into Misty's cerulean eyes and his stomach instantly filled with butterfree.
'Just tell her, Ketchum. Now's your chance.' He thought to himself. Little did he know that a similar thought was going through Misty's head.
'Just tell him, Waterflower. You've never had a more perfect setting.' Misty yelled at herself inwardly. Summoning up her courage, Misty spoke and at the same time, so did Ash.
"I need to tell you something."
Well there's the prologue ladies and gentlemen. I hope you enjoyed it and as usual, leave a review letting me know what you thought and if there's anything that needs tweaking.
The speech seems a little OOC for Ash but I can actually see him saying something along those lines if he ever does become master in the show. Granted it'd be better written than this but still. If the romance seems a little off I apologise I'm still not used to writing romance, I'm more of an action guy. Also, does anyone no what May, Max, Dawn, Iris and Cilans last names are?
Any way, I'll get to work on chapter two and have it out as soon as humanly possible. It might be a while though as I started college recently so, yeah, I'll have a lot of stuff on my plate. Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.