Chapter 1: The First Step
A boy with raven black hair wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans sat in front of a TV watching a battle between a man using a Pokémon called Nidorino and a woman with a Gengar and the woman was winning.
This boy's name was Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and he is getting his first Pokémon tomorrow morning along with his rival Gary Oak.
"Man I can't wait." Ash clasped his hands together as he watched the fight with Gengar defeating Nidorino with a Hypnosis attack before the trainer switched out for Onix. "I wonder what Pokémon I'll get."
The trainers of Pallet receive one of three Pokémon from Professor Samuel Oak the Fire Lizard Charmander, the Aquatic Turtle Squirtle or the Green Plant Bulbasaur and Ash has his sights set on a Squirtle because of how cool it looked.
That was why he had his alarm set to wake him up early the next morning because he wanted to be the first to choose his Pokémon and he could hardly contain his excitement before his door opened to show his Mom Delia Ketchum who was a brunette wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans.
"Ash, get to bed so you'll be wide awake for your journey tomorrow." Delia chastened her ten year old son. "You don't want to be tired during your first battle do you?"
That got Ash to settle down. "No I don't." He agreed. "But Mom I can't wait! I'm finally going to get my first Pokémon! Who wouldn't be excited?"
Delia smiled as she heard that but she still looked stern. "I should really think about getting a Drowzee so I can use it to put you to bed."
Ash chuckled nervously knowing that she was only kidding but he nodded. "Okay I'm going to bed."
But as the clock ticked on getting closer to midnight Ash found himself wide awake wondering what kind of adventures he would have. There was one trainer he wanted to battle named Red who just left Pallet Town about two days ago and he had a Poliwhirl that was powerful. The funny thing was that Red looked exactly like him except they weren't related as far as they knew.
Heck just before Red left Ash saw him teach two kids how to catch a Nidorino that was nearby by having his Poliwhirl fight it and Ash was captivated by the fight itself. Red was a good trainer already and Ash swore that the next time they met they would battle and Red chuckled saying he was looking forward to it.
'Now I just need to get a partner and raise him or her before I can carry out that promise.' Ash thought before he turned over and eventually he fell asleep.
After what felt like seconds the alarm went off and Ash slammed the snooze button before jumping out of bed and in a frenzy he threw his black shirt and a blue vest over it as well as his blue jeans, black sneakers, a red and white hat and green fingerless gloves before he took off downstairs to see Delia cooking Breakfast.
"Bye Mom I love you!" Ash shouted as he ran out the door before Delia could blink.
"Wait!" Delia tried to call out but Ash was already long gone. "Oh that's just like him." Delia said with a small smile on her face.
Faces became a blur as Ash ran as fast as he could to get to the Lab without stopping with a happy go lucky grin on his face because in just a few moments he would have his very first Pokémon and he couldn't wait to see who it was.
As he ran Ash saw Gary Oak exiting the Lab with his usual blue shirt but Gary smirked as he saw Ash. "Well hey there Ashy-Boy." Gary teased as he held a Pokéball. "About time you got here I just got the last Pokémon."
"W-What?" Ash asked in shock.
"Yeah apparently my bro Green took a Charmander while the Bulbasaur took a shine to that Red loser." Gary chuckled and Ash had a sinking feeling.
"S-So you got Squirtle?" Ash asked feeling let down.
"Yeah, he's the best out of all three." Gary boasted knowing fully well that Ash wanted that one. "I don't know what Grandpa has for you maybe a Magikarp."
Gary laughed as Ash walked in hoping for a good Pokémon when he saw a grey haired man in a white lab coat with a red shirt underneath it and brown pants. "Prof. Oak?" Ash called out hesitantly.
"Ah Ash!" Prof. Oak smiled widely because he knew Ash for years after Delia introduced them. "I take it that you're here to get your Pokémon?"
On hearing that Ash felt hope light up in him. "There's still one left?"
Prof. Oak nodded. "It's one that I prepared for you after much debating."
If possible Ash's grin got wider, a Pokémon prepared just for him? It seemed too good to be true but he frowned a bit. "Wouldn't you have given it to Gary or Green?"
Prof. Oak frowned as he heard that. "They might be my Grandkids but Gary is too arrogant while Green is too hard on his Pokémon while I've seen you care and love Pokémon that other trainers introduced to you as a kid so you're the best choice for this Pokémon that was shipped from Hoenn.
Now Ash was even more excited because he knew that Hoenn Pokémon were incredibly rare in the Kanto Region and lately people have been trying to get Pokémon from other regions to start migrating to the other ones including Kanto but it wouldn't happen for a few years.
'If I remember correctly the Hoenn Starters were Torchic, Mudkip and Treeko.' Ash thought as Prof. Oak gave him a Pokéball. 'I wonder which of the three it is.'
Not wanting to waste anytime Ash threw up the Pokéball but to his complete surprise it wasn't any of the three Pokémon that he thought off.
It looked like a human child at first glance with the body being white and it had a green helmet with two red horns on the top and the curious looking Pokémon yawned as it looked around before seeing Ash and looking curiously at him.
"His name is Ralts." Prof. Oak answered Ash's unspoken question. "He's a Psychic Type Pokémon."
"Whoa." Ash breathed as he got to one knee causing Ralts to take a step back nervously. "Hey, it's okay I'm not going to hurt you."
Ralts tipped his head to the side debating on whether or not to trust Ash.
"My name is Ash and I just want to be your friend." Ash said as he held his hand out but stopped only halfway to Ralts and in a moment Ralts timidly walked forward before putting his own hand forward and the two shook.
Prof. Oak watched in amazement. "Incredible." He said getting a look from Ash.
"What?"
"Ralts here is a very timid Pokémon especially one for its species. It took me a week to earn his trust and you managed to earn it in a few seconds." Prof. Oak explained causing Ash to go red from the unexpected praise. "That proves that you can be trusted as Ralts trainer."
Reaching into his pocket Prof. Oak held out a red device.
"This is a Pokédex and I only gave three away before." Prof. Oak handed it over as Ash looked at it curiously. "It can record a Pokémon's data and show what moves it can learn as well as their stats."
"Whoa." Ash didn't know what to say but then he caught something in that statement. "You only gave three away?"
"Yes two of them went to my two Grandkids while the third went to Red after he showed how dependable he could be." Prof. Oak smiled. "I want to create a catalog of every Pokémon in the world and with you four I know that I can count on it. Go ahead and try it out."
After a moment Ash pointed it at Ralts and pressed a button causing it to light up and Ralts picture showed on the screen. 'Ralts. The Feeling Pokémon. Cheerful people are more likely to see Ralts because they can sense emotions due to the horns on its head.'
"Cool." Ash smiled before pressing another button.
'Known moves Growl, Confusion and Teleport. Ability: Synchronize'
"Not a bad lineup right?" Prof. Oak asked as Ash put the Pokédex up in his pocket before picking the Pokéball up.
"Ralts is a cool Pokémon." Ash said without any hesitation before looking at Ralts. "I'm going to return you is that okay?"
Ralts nodded after a second's hesitation and Ash returned him to his Pokéball before putting it on his belt and in a second Prof. Oak handed him five empty Pokéballs.
"You are officially a trainer Ash." Prof. Oak said causing Ash to smile in happiness as he put a hand over Ralts Pokéball happy that he had a great friend to travel with. "Now go out there and aim high."
"I will." Ash left the Lab with a grin but it quickly faded when he saw Gary still outside.
"About time Ashy-Boy." Gary sneered. "I was wondering whether or not Gramps saw you as someone worth wasting a Pokémon over."
Ash held up Ralts Pokéball. "As you can see I have a Pokémon and he is a great one."
"Well then how about a battle?" Gary asked with an arrogant smirk as he threw up his Pokéball and in a flash of light a bipedal blue turtle with a yellow underbelly and a brown shell came out.
'Squirtle.' Ash held his Pokédex up.
'Squirtle. The Aquatic Turtle. Striking regularly with spouts of water, Squirtle can be tricky to see since it hides in its shell a lot. Known Moves Tackle and Tail Whip. Ability: Torrent.'
"Are you done analyzing my awesome Pokémon?" Gary asked while his Squirtle copied him. "Let's see what sorry Pokémon that Gramps gave you."
With a smirk of his own Ash sent Ralts out causing Gary to gape.
"Why did he give you a Hoenn Pokémon?!" Gary asked with jealousy in his voice while Ash took that as a win.
"Trade secret." Ash teased causing Gary to scowl.
"Whatever, Squirtle can beat that puny wimp down easily." Gary got in a stance. "Squirtle use Tackle!"
Squirtle came in slow and sloppy so Ash smiled. "Ralts, Teleport."
In a flash of light Ralts disappeared as Squirtle reached the spot causing the turtle to look around as Ralts reappeared right behind it. "Squirtle behind you!"
As Squirtle spun around Ash called out another command. "Confusion!"
Blue energy surrounded Squirtle holding the turtle in place before he was sent flying into a tree at least three times and that was enough to knock him out as he fell to the ground with swirls in his eyes and all banged up with bruises.
'I think that Ralts might've overdone it a bit.' Ash thought with a sweat drop.
Gary scowled as he returned Squirtle. "You just got lucky Ashy-Boy." He scoffed glaring hatefully at Ash. "Next time Squirtle will be more than enough to take you down." With that he walked off while Ash blinked slowly before another grin broke over his face as he thought about what just happened.
He beat Gary… He, Ash Ketchum has defeated Gary Oak his rival since school in their very first Pokémon Battle without any difficulty whatsoever.
"ALL RIGHT RALTS!" Ash picked Ralts up quickly and danced around holding Ralts up in the air. "YOU DID IT!"
Ralts gave a squeak of surprise when Ash picked him up but he got used to it because he could sense extreme happiness coming from his trainer.
After dancing around for a few more minutes Ash quickly composed himself and walked home still holding Ralts instead of putting him back in the Pokéball as he made it home to grab his bag. "Okay I'm going to introduce you to my Mom and grab a few supplies then we'll eat before we leave." Ash explained to Ralts before pausing. "Do you want a nickname?"
Ash knew that some trainers give Pokémon nicknames but he wanted to only do it if his Pokémon partner was okay with it and after a second Ralts nodded.
"Okay how about Rally?" Ash asked getting a look from Ralts before he shook his head. "No? Maybe Sight? Port?"
Ralts shook his head at all of the choices that Ash listed so far.
"… I got it!" Ash declared happily. "Raze!"
Ralts gave him a confused look.
"Because you are going to be a powerful Psychic type someday and you will raze your opponents to the ground." Ash explained with a smile and after a moment Ralts nodded. "All right, Raze it is."
Raze smiled. "Ralts." He said happily as Ash walked to his home before he saw Delia whose eyes immediately landed on Raze.
"Oh he's so cute!" Delia cooed as she hugged Raze who gave another squeak of surprise but he didn't do anything as Delia hugged him. "Now you must be hungry since you skipped Breakfast."
That was when Ash's stomach growled causing him to chuckle sheepishly and Raze laughed a bit at Ash's dilemma. A few minutes later Ash was eating a stack of Pancakes that Delia made earlier while Raze was eating Pokémon food as Ash told his Mom all about him beating Gary.
"Winning your first battle that's great." Delia said with a smile as Ash dug through his Pancakes. "You're just like your father."
"… Mom what was my father like anyway?" Ash asked causing Delia to stop smiling. "You told me that I have his looks and personality but besides that nothing."
It took a while for Delia to answer and Raze blinked in confusion as he sensed some sadness coming from Delia. "He was kind, good-natured and he had spirit." Delia smiled apparently lost in memories. "He would be very proud of you."
Ash smiled as he heard that and he rubbed Raze head causing his partner to sigh in bliss.
"Now." Delia had a gleam in her eyes. "Did you pack everything you needed?"
"Yes." Ash was a little concerned on what his Mom was thinking about at the moment.
"So you got a supply of food for the road?"
"Yes."
"Map?"
"Yes."
"Rope and potions?"
"Yes."
"Fresh Underwear-?"
"MOM!" Ash looked mortified at that question.
Delia laughed at her sons face and Raze joined in causing Ash to give his partner a mock glare before he finished up.
"I'm going to grab my backpack and then Raze and I will be on our way." Ash stood up not seeing the sadness in Delia's eyes but she quickly hid it before he saw it. Raze felt the sadness though.
"Just remember to be safe." Delia gave Ash a look. "And promise me that you won't get into any trouble."
Ash smiled and hugged his Mom. "I won't." He promised before walking to his room as Raze teleported after him and he grabbed his backpack checking to make sure that he had everything before he looked around his room one last time and he saw half of a dirty Pokéball and he grabbed it. "Nearly forgot my good luck charm."
"Ralts?" Raze looked at Ash in confusion.
"My rivalry with Gary started when we fished up a decrepit looking Pokéball and had a fight on who kept it." Ash explained to his partner as he showed the half he had. "In the fight the Pokéball split in half signifying that we had a tie, although Gary will never admit to it."
Raze chuckled.
"But it was the beginning of our rivalry where we promised to always challenge each other to become the greatest." Ash put the Pokéball half inside of his backpack before shouldering it. "We should go."
Raze nodded and teleported on top of Ash's head while he walked downstairs and said good bye to his Mom again and he walked outside before making it to the gate.
"And so our journey begins." Ash commented. "Are you ready for the adventure Raze?"
Ralts gave a cry of agreement as Ash took his first step out into the world.
On the road Ash took on a few trainers that only had Rattata's and Pidgey's. They weren't too tough but they were the perfect practice for Raze to gain experience from and he was winning them quite a bit and before he knew it three hours have passed since he stepped out of Pallet Town.
Ash has also seen quite a bit of Wild Pokémon and while he was aching to catch his first one he waited because he only had five Pokéballs anyway and plus he wanted to train Raze a bit more because he was aiming for the Pewter Gym which used Rock Types and while Raze had no weakness against them he had no advantages either outside of Teleporting and even that had limits so Ash was hoping to teach Raze a few more moves by the time he gets there.
Looking at more information of the Ralts species, Ash found the moves that they could learn instinctively and he showed it to Raze. "We're going to try to get you to learn Double Team all right?"
Raze nodded eager to learn a new move.
"Okay then, give it a try."
Raze closed his eyes and focused and Ash swore that he saw an afterimage appear but it disappeared just as quickly so he wasn't sure and Raze looked disappointed.
"Keep at it." Ash encouraged.
Nodding with determination Raze kept trying but he got the same result and Ash had him stop before he could tire himself out.
"We should probably keep going." Ash grinned. "It wouldn't do to tire you out and give the other rookies an easy win right?"
Raze gave Ash a look but he relented and Ash returned him and kept walking for another hour before he saw a wild Pokémon that was unusual to see at these parts.
It was a yellow armadillo looking Pokémon and Ash pointed his Pokédex at it. 'Sandshrew. The Mouse Pokémon. This Pokémon curls into a defensive ball when attacked, and survives in mostly arid areas. Known moves Scratch, Defense Curl, Sand Attack, Poison Sting, Rapid Spin, Swift and Dig. Ability: Sand Veil'
Ash blinked in surprise at the sheer amount of moves that this Pokémon knew and he smiled widely.
'A perfect addition to my team.' With that Ash sent Raze out and Raze saw the Sandshrew so he got into a defensive stance as Sandshrew gave a growl of defiance.
"Raze use Confusion!" Ash called out and as Raze focused Sandshrew went into the ground causing Raze to look around in shock. "Below you!"
Raze looked down only for the ground to break and Sandshrew used Scratch to send him flying back and Ash narrowed his eyes as Sandshrew shot a blast of Swift causing Raze to teleport behind Sandshrew.
"Growl and then Confusion!"
Raze growled causing Sandshrew to hesitate a bit before blue energy surrounded Sandshrew causing it to be slammed into the ground and Ash quickly threw a Pokéball and it sucked the Sandshrew in causing the ball to move around a bit before it relaxed and Ash smiled widely again.
"ALL RIGHT!" He shouted as he ran over and grabbed Sandshrew's Pokéball cheering while a panting Raze smiled along with his partner. "Way to go Raze-." Ash stopped cheering when he saw a cut on Raze's arm showing some blood. "Hold on."
Digging through his backpack Ash pulled out a Potion and had Raze hold out his arm.
"This is going to sting." Ash warned Raze who nodded to show that he understood and Ash sprayed the Potion on Raze's arm causing him to hiss in pain. "You all right?" Ash asked as he finished wrapping the arm up.
Raze flexed his arm a bit and winced but he nodded to show that the pain was lessened then how it was before they continued to walk on but Ash stopped that evening to make camp.
"I'm going to let Sandshrew out okay Raze?" Raze nodded as Ash had the Pokéball and he got in a defensive position just in case the Sandshrew proved to be hostile.
Upon coming out of the Pokéball Sandshrew attempted to flee but Raze halted that by using Confusion to keep it in place.
"Now there's going to be none of that Sandshrew." Ash said as he checked his Pokédex to see that it was a female. "I caught you fair and square so you know what that means?"
Sandshrew snorted and turned her head away clearly being stubborn.
"Come on Sandshrew I just want to be friends." Ash motioned for Raze to let her go and he did but Raze was prepared to do it just in case Sandshrew got any funny ideas.
Sandshrew sat down glaring at both Ash and Raze before Ash snapped his fingers.
"Do you want a nickname?"
Sandshrew turned her head stubbornly causing Ash to sigh because this wasn't getting him anywhere.
"Look I know that you don't like me but I want to train you to be the strongest that you can be." Ash tried that approach and he saw interest in Sandshrew's eyes but she remained hostile. "If you promise to not run I'll keep you out of your Pokéball."
Sandshrew agreed but as Ash turned around she took off and Raze used Confusion again so Ash sighed as he returned her.
"Well that went well." Ash sarcastically said and Raze nodded in agreement before he got onto his mat near the fire and closed his eyes as Raze slept with him.
The next day he was walking again before Ash saw a Spearow and he knew that having a flying type would be a great asset to his team especially since bug types could easily beat Raze so he got ready but he heard something behind him so he turned to see three Fearow's glaring at him with beady eyes causing him to back away slowly because while he was confident in Raze's abilities fighting three Fearow's was beyond his capabilities right now and Sandshrew won't listen to him but one of the Fearow's gave a cry and an army of Spearow's came at them so Ash grabbed Raze and took off running.
The Fearow's were more relentless than the Spearow's as Ash made his way through the plains hoping to outrun the ferocious flying Pokémon but his lungs were burning because he wasn't used to running this fast for this long and as he was slowing Raze focused and teleported the two of them across a stream that was quite a distance away where he could hide behind some trees as they tried to find them.
After a few minutes the Bird Pokémon left causing Ash to let out a sigh of relief as he gave Raze an appreciative look. "Thanks Raze."
Raze smiled but Ash could see that the teleportation took a lot out of him because of the distance and the fact that he teleported Ash as well as himself.
So taking that into consideration Ash returned Raze and kept walking before he saw something in the sky and Ash put a hand over his eyes to see near the sun a rainbow looking bird Pokémon and his eyes widened as he recognized it from the pictures from a book of Legendary Pokémon.
'Ho-Oh.' Ash smiled widely because on his second day as a trainer he saw a legendary Pokémon before he looked in another direction to see what looked like Viridian City. "We're here." Ash walked towards the city in high spirits ready to take on anything that will be in his way.
To Be Continued…
Phew so how was that for a first chapter? I decided to take the Pokémon Anime, Game and Manga and mix it all together to make what I hope will be a great story. But instead of Ash getting a Pikachu I figured a Ralts will work.
I hope that you all enjoyed the length of this chapter and the twists I did in this story and I already have his team planned.
I will make one thing clear though.
This is going to be a realistic version of Pokémon where there will be violence, injuries and occasionally death. So review and tell me what you think and I will get back to you with the second chapter soon.