Ash Ketchum was sitting in his room watching a fight between a Nidorino and a Gengar on the television when his mother, Delia Ketchum, suddenly startled him.
"ASH KETCHUM! You should be in bed mister! It's almost eleven o'clock at night!" Delia exclaimed.
"Sorry mom," Ash said sheepishly. "May I please finish watching this battle?"
Delia sighed and said, "As long as you promise to go to bed right afterwards and remember to keep the alarm clock away from you. We do not need a repeat of the alarm clock being thrown in the middle of the night."
Ash blushed a deep red and promised to do both things. He tried to focus his attention back to the television to watch the battle, but his own excitement of getting his first Pokemon was making him lose focus. He turned off the television, got into his pajamas, brushed his teeth, and crawled into bed with the alarm clock clear on the other side of the room set to go off in the morning. He fell asleep and began to dream of which starter he was going to choose in the morning while thinking about the pros and cons of Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. Unfortunately, the alarm clock despite it being on the other side of the room fell and broke into a million pieces. Ash woke up in the morning to smell his mother's excellent cooking and because he was wondering why his alarm didn't go off. He looked over to his right to see the Pokeball shaped alarm clock broken and on the floor. He got dressed into his blue cargo pants, a black t-shirt with a green vest over it, and put his hat on over his messy raven black hair that had a Pokeball design. Ash wanted to run down the stairs, but instead walked down calmly to avoid getting yelled at by his mother. He then turned to the left to walk into the kitchen to see his mother setting a plate of food down onto the table.
"Morning mom," Ash greeted her.
"Morning Ash. Ready to get your very own Pokemon?" Delia asked.
"I am and I think I am going to go with Charmander as my starter," Ash responded.
"That's good sweetie. I just can't believe that my little boy is going to be on his own adventure," Delia commented.
"Don't worry mom. I will call you every chance I get when I am in civilization again," Ash said after swallowing the food he had in his mouth.
"I know you will sweetie," Delia replied with a smile. "Now, finish your food before you're late."
Ashes wolfed down the last couple of bites he had left on his plate and put his plate in the sink. He walked outside to see it was a beautiful day and took off running to Professor Oak's laboratory. He arrived to see that the other trainers that were starting today, which included Gary Oak, arrive as well. Gary smirked at Ash and tried to get under his skin to no avail. They all walked inside to find Professor Oak standing next to a circular machine with three Pokeballs containing the Kanto starter Pokemon, which caused Ash to frown a little wondering why there were only three when there was four of them starting today.
"Ah, I see all of you have arrived on time to receive your Pokemon," Professor Oak stated.
"Can we just choose our Pokemon already Grandpa?" Gary asked impatiently while sticking his hands into his pockets.
"Be patient Gary. I need to explain that only three of you will get Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur. The fourth will get this Pokemon," Professor Oak replied while pressing a button.
The button caused an area just above the three Pokeballs to open up and show another Pokeball. This Pokeball was red with a lightning bolt above the button and Ash began to wonder what kind of Pokemon was in there.
"You see, I only have three of the starter Pokemon and will have to wait until a assistant of mine goes out to get some more for future trainers. Inside the fourth Pokeball is a Pokemon named Pikachu that I found just this morning chewing on some wires and doesn't seem to trust humans very well, so it will need some extra attention to get him to obey," Professor Oak explained while rubbing the back of his head.
As if it heard its name, an electric mouse popped out of the Pokeball with its cheeks sparking daring anyone to come near it. Gary and the others backed up a little away from Pikachu, but Ash stepped forward towards the Pikachu.
"Ash, be careful," Professor Oak warned.
"I will Professor," Ash replied.
'Don't come any closer, human,' Pikachu growled out while giving a warning with his cheeks sparking more getting ready to attack.
Ash stopped approaching and this made Pikachu blink in shock wondering if this human could understand him.
'Can you understand me human?' Pikachu asked while slowly letting his cheeks stop sparking.
"Yes. I have always been able to understand Pokémon, Pikachu," Ash replied.
Professor Oak and the others gained shocked looks wondering why in the world they never knew about Ash's ability.
'My name is Raiden,' Pikachu said while jumping off the machine and onto Ash's shoulder.
"Do you want to join me on becoming a Pokemon Master, Raiden?" Ash asked with a small smile.
Raiden nuzzled Ash's cheek with his own cheek as his answer and Ash immediately knew that was a yes. Ash grabbed Raiden's Pokeball and clipped it to his belt knowing that most likely Raiden wouldn't go back into it.
"I will be taking Raiden as my starter Professor Oak," Ash said with a grin and Professor Oak nodded his head.
"Here is your Pokedex, named Dexter," Professor Oak said while handing over a little red machine to Ash. "Also, here are six Pokeballs in order to catch some more Pokemon and when you catch more than your limit they will be transported here where I will let them out to explore the corral."
Ash thanked the Professor and left the laboratory with Raiden riding on his shoulder. He stepped outside to see his mother and huge group of people waiting and began to cheer for Ash as soon as they spotted him. Delia gave her son a hug while being careful not to grab Pikachu.
"Ash I am so happy that you chose your starter, but I thought you were going to go with Charmander," Delia said while also being confused.
"I chose Raiden, that is his name by the way, and he chose me after the others backed away from him after coming out of his Pokeball," Ash replied. "I can always just find a Charmander while working on becoming a Pokemon Master."
"Well, as long as both of you are happy with each other then I cannot argue with you about your decision," Delia replied with a smile.
Raiden jumped from Ash's shoulder to Delia's to nuzzle her cheek and then went back to Ash's shoulder. Delia smiled at Raiden and then gave Ash his backpack with the necessary supplies he would need including a fishing rod. She then told Ash to change his underwear everyday causing Ash to blush a deep red and Raiden laughed at his embarrassment. After hugging his mother once again and saying goodbye to her, Ash and Raiden left Pallet Town to Route 1. Ash sees a Spearow on the way to Viridian City, but knew if he attacked that Spearow or any Spearow, then they would cry out for their flock. Suddenly, it started to rain and Ash put Raiden in his vest to try and keep him dry. Ash ran the last few miles to Viridian City when the storm stopped. He then noticed a rainbow and a mysterious Pokemon that Dexter said could not be identified. He then rushed into the Pokemon center, where he politely walked up to the counter to get a room.
"How may I help you?" Nurse Joy asked.
"I would like to check out a room for a couple of days and I would like to sign up for the Indigo League please," Ash politely responded.
"Of course. Here is your room key and I will need your Pokedex please," Nurse Joy said with a smile. "Also, do you need your Pikachu checked out?"
"Raiden should be okay since I haven't battled anyone or any wild Pokemon yet, but I think its still a good idea for him to be checked out. Its just that he won't go back into his Pokeball," Ash replied while handing Nurse Joy his Pokedex.
"That is perfectly okay. Its not the first time I have had to deal with a Pokemon that didn't like going back into their Pokeball," Nurse Joy happily replied. "Here is your Pokedex back Ash and here is a badge case to put all your badges into once you have received them from their respective gym leaders."
"Thank you Nurse Joy and how did you know my name?"
"Not a problem and I know your name from your Pokedex."
Ash blushed and Raiden jumped from Ash's shoulder to the counter and let Nurse Joy pick him up. She then carried him through the double doors and Ash walked over to some seats waiting for Nurse Joy to come back with Raiden. He then spotted a girl with orange hair with a little ponytail carrying a charred bike into the Pokemon center and he rushed over to help her.
"Hey, do you need help?" Ash asked.
"No thanks. I just need someone to point me in the direction of the bike shop," the girl politely declined.
"Up one street and it will be on the left," Nurse Joy said causing them both to jump. "Ash, here is Raiden back and he is in perfect condition."
"Thank you Nurse Joy," they both replied while Raiden jumped onto Ash's shoulder once again.
"Not a problem," she happily responded. The both left the Pokemon center to go to the bike shop.
"My name is Ash Ketchum," Ash introduced himself to the unknown girl while holding his hand out and she shook it. "And this is my starter Pikachu, whose name is Raiden."
"Misty Waterflower," the girl said. "I want to become a Water Pokemon Master."
"I want to become the greatest Pokemon Master," Ash replied with determination burning in his eyes. "Are you going to take on the Indigo League to become a Water Pokemon Master?"
"I actually hadn't even thought of taking on the Indigo League since I actually can't get one of the main badges," Misty replied thoughtfully.
"The Cascade Badge right?" Ash asked.
"That would be the one," Misty replied. "My last name gave me away didn't it?"
"Yeah, but I didn't want to say anything thinking it would be a little rude," Ash said sheepishly while they walked into the bike shop.
Misty handed her bike over to the owner saying that a bolt of lightning from the storm wrecked her bike and the owner said that it would take a long time to replace everything, so she was going to have to go without a bike for a while. They then left back to the Pokemon center where Misty had her Pokemon checked out, who all came back out healthy once again. Misty then decided not to take on the Pokemon League saying she didn't want to do that for wanting to show that even trainers that don't take on the League could become Pokemon Masters. They then had to deal with Team Rocket agents named Jessie and James with a talking Meowth. Raiden sent them flying after Misty got them wet from her Staryu's water gun. Nurse Joy thanked them for saving the Pokemon from those thieves since they still needed to be healed. Ash then offered to let Misty sleep in the room he checked out for the next couple of days and that he would sleep on the floor. She accepted and they both crashed for the night.