Chapter 1: The Start of Something New
Many many years ago, a boy named Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town began his journey to become a Pokémon Master. He made many friends, fought many foes, saved countless lives on multiple occasions, and saw (and in some cases befriended) many legendary Pokémon.
After what seemed like forever, Ash finally got his wish and achieved his dream, but once his quest to be the best was done, he had another challenge ahead of him...parenthood.
He was so caught up in becoming the best that once it was time to settle down, he had no idea what to do about his young son Ace.
The years passed, and soon Ace will be turning ten as well, and will very soon choose a starter Pokémon of his own...
"Hey kid!" A young boy, about ten years old, with dark eyes and spikey hair, turned around just in time to see a rock hit him between the eyes. He stumbled back, clutching his face, and cracked his eye open just enough to see a larger, older, more vicious boy holding a poké ball in one hand, and a rock in the other. "You got any Pokémon on you?" He asked, ready to throw the rock in his hand. The younger boy clenched his fist,
"No, I don't," he said calmly, holding his ground. The older boy laughed,
"Well that's too bad! I just caught this Beedrill, and was wanting to squash a Pokémon with it!" The bully threw the Pokéball, unleashing a medium sized creature, which looked more like a hornet than a bee to the younger boy, "Guess I will just have to squash you with it instead!" The younger boy braced himself, and the bully shouted, "Beedrill! Fury Attack!" The Beedrill dove for the boy, who crossed his arms in front of himself, squeezing his eues shut and bracing for impact, but right when Beedrill was close enough, the attack did not come. The boy opened his eyes again, this time seeing a pair of vine whips appearing from behind him, constricting the Beedrill. The boy turned around, seeing another boy his age with spikey brown hair, and dressed in blue jeans, a shirt and brown boots, with a small, red eyed, aqua skinned creature with a green plant like bulb on its back.
"Bulbasuar! Use Tackle Attack and get that Beedrill away from Ace!" The Bulbasuar charged, nailed Beedrill in the chest with a hard hitting tackle, making it soar backwards, and hit the bully in the chest, making them both tumble to the ground, making a dirt cloud as they fell. Ace, as we learned his name was, turned to the newcomer,
"Thanks Grant," he said gratefully.
"No problem Ace," said the new boy. He looked down to his Bulbasaur, "Thank Bulbasaur, he did the work!" Ace knelt down to Bulbasaur, giving him a grateful pat on the head,
"Thank you Bulbasaur," said Ace.
"Bulbasaur!" The Pokémon said back. The three turned their attention back to the bully, who had Beedrill return to his Pokéball, and in one final jab at the two, shouted in spite,
"You see that house behind you two?!" They both turned, seeing a two story house, with a Mr. Mime sweeping the front porch, "That's the home of the greatest Pokémon Master to ever live! And you two will never live up to be as good as him!" Ace sighed, and Grant placed a hand on his shoulder,
"Don't listen to him-!"
"It's fine Grant," said Ace, "He's not worth it." The two then approached the exact same house the bully pointed to, with Ace drawing a key from his pocket. To the shock and surprise of the bully, he unlocked the front door, and the two boys dissappeared inside.
It was dark, with both the lights out and the curtains drawn to block out the setting sun, forcing Ace to look for the light switch. He flipped it up, and to his surprise, confetti and balloons were tossed up into the air, several voices shouting in unison,
"Surprise!" Grant was laughing as Ace scanned the room, seeing several of his neighbors in the room, as well as an elder lady with grey hair, and a middle aged man with trimmed down brown hair and dressed in a white lab coat. Upon seeing the elder lady, Ace beamed,
"Grandma!" He threw his arms around her, giving her a tight hug, while Grant waved to the lab coat man,
"Hey dad!" said Grant, "I guess the surprise worked after all!" Ace turnes to Grant,
"You knew about this?"
"You think I would really spoil my best friends surprise birthday party? Besides it was my dads idea, and your grandma went through with it." Ace turned to his grandma and the lab coat man,
"Grandma? Professor Oak? You two planned this? Thanks!" The lab coat man stuck his hands into his pockets and smiled.
"Well I can't take too much credit, it was actually YOUR fathers' idea Ace, I just said it out loud first." Ace backed away from the group that was in his house, and a look of half confusion and disdain crossed his face.
"His idea?" He scanned the room, not seeing him in sight, "If so then where is he?" Aces' grandmother and Professor Oak looked to each other with concern, and Mrs. Ketchum turned to her grandson.
"Ace...your father had to take his Pikachu over to the Pokémon center in Viridian City, and probably won't be back until morning." Ace sighed, and looked down at the floor,
"Why am I not surprised," he muttered coldly to himself, with only Grant actually hearing him. Grant patted Ace on the back,
"Well you know what," said Grant, "If he isn't back when the party is over, I will stay the night here to keep you company." He finished this with a sympathetic smile to his friend, who smiled right back.
"If so I think I will stay too, just to make sure you two don't burn the house down," he said, finishing his sentence with a wink. A loud thud was heard from outside, and everyone saw a massive winged lizard, known as a Charizard, land in the front lawn, with a man Professor Oaks age sliding off his back. He had dark hair on his head, dark eyes, a soul patch on his chin, and the most notable feature being a red and white cap with a green stylized "L" on the front atop his head. Charizard returned to his Pokéball at the mans command, and the man made his way into the house, a forced smile on his face when he saw Ace glaring at him.
"Hey son!" He said nervously, but Ace simply stormed off to the stairs leading to the second floor, leaving the others behind. The man hung his head, clearly ashamed of himself. The rest of the inhabitants shifted unconfortably as they stood in silence. Grant decided to break that silence first,
"Hey! Mr. Ketchum! Uh...I'm going to talk to Ace and see if I can bring him back down here!" He then dashed up the stairs as well, leaving the awkwardness that filled the air.
"So...Ash..." Began Professor Oak, "How did it go in Viridian? Is Pikachu going to be okay? Or was it that serious that you had to almost miss your sons tenth birthday?" Despite the professors cold tone, Ash sighed in defeat,
"Gary..." Ash began, "...It is more serious than you realize." All eyes in the room gave Ash a look of confusion, and Mrs. Ketchum approached her now adult son,
"Ash...is Pikachu going to be alright?" Ash kept silent, but he shook his head. Gary took in a deep breath, now regretting his cold words before.
"I'm sorry Ash, I just-!" The Pokémon Master held up a hand, silencing his formal rival turned professor friend,
"Let's just NOT tell Ace until after the party, please. He's only going to turn ten once, and I don't want to taint it with this."
"Dad." All eyes turned to the stairs, seeing Ace at the foot of them, followed closely by Grant. "Is Pikachu going to be alright?" Ash hung his head low, and out of sight of the others, he let a single tear roll down his cheek,
"Pikachu...isn't coming back son." Gasps were heard all around, while Ace gave his father a look of confusion and concern.
"He's not?"
"...He passed on about an hour before I came back." Ace felt as though a weight had just been dropped into his chest, and actually stumbled back in disbelief.
"The same Pikachu from before?" Asked Grant, "As in...?"
"The same one I left Pallet Town with on day one of my first journey," Ash said. Ace stammered, as several of the rooms inhabitants, including Mrs. Ketchum and even Gary shed a few tears.
"Dad...I...I-I-I am so sorry..." Ash stood in front of his son, and placed his hands on his shoulders.
"Son, tomorrow you're going to begin a journey much like I did when I was your age, but I know you don't want to be exactly like me. In fact, the idea of being remembered as 'The Second Ash Ketchum' is the last thing you want. So when you wake up tomorrow morning, ready to pick your starter, I want you to be better than me. As a trainer, as a Pokémon Master, and when the day comes, a father." Aces' face distorted on the last part of Ashs' sentence, and he quickly added to his sentence, "Not that you will have to worry about that just yet, I just want to throw that out there." Ace sighed in relief. "Now, it's your tenth birthday party, let's celebrate!" Whoops and cheers were heard all around, and Ash ushered Ace towards the crowd of people that was mostly filling the kitchen, revealing a large chocolate cake with ten candles on the table. Songs were sung, food was eaten, and soon ot was just Ace, his father and grandmother, and Grant and his father. Mrs. Ketchum was asleep on the couch next to Ash, while Ace, Grant and his father were all standing.
"Well, that was nice and somber," Grant said sarcastically, noting the still sad feeling in the room, mostly towards Ash and the loss of his first ever Pokémon.
"Yeah, really..." agreed Gary. He cleared his throat, and drew out three poké balls from his lab coat pocket. He set them on the table, and pointed to them as he spoke to Ace and Grant. "Now, since I am the professor, I am allowed to pull some strings, and you two CAN choose your Pokémon out right now if you wish. Or you two can wait till tomorrow and see what's left." Grant stepped forward, and grabbed a pokéball,
"I'm going with the Charmander!"
"Grant, don't you already HAVE a starter Pokémon?" Asked Ace, referring to the Bulbasaur that saved him earlier.
"No, that was just the one from my dads lab. In fact it might even be your dads," said Grant, turning to Ash. Ash looked to the Bulbasaur, who proceeded to walk up to Ash, hopped onto the couch, and sat next to him, extending a vine behind Ashs' back and patting him, knowing what his master is going through.
"Bulbasaur," he said sadly, and Ash patted his head.
"I'm going to miss Pikachu too," said Ash with a sad smile. Ace looked from his father, then to Bulbasaur, his choice made...