Pokemon: The journey begins anew.
Chapter 1: The battle of a lifetime
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
Ash Ketchum, age 24, renowned Pokemon master, stepped into the arena. Normally is he were entering a place such as this, there would be cheering from thousands of fans, however this building was quiet. Only two people were here, Ash, and his opponent. A man who would not reveal his true name, but simply referred to himself as Oblivion.
"Well Ash, so glad to see you could make it." Oblivion said. "For a little while, I thought you might be too scared to face me."
"I'm not afraid to face anyone. I'm sick of you using your Pokemon as tools to try to conquer the world. That's why I've brought out my best for this occasion." Ash said.
"Glad to hear it. Shall we begin?" Oblivion asked.
"I'm ready if you are." Ash said.
Oblivion reached toward his belt, and grabbed a pokeball and tossed it into the arena. It opened with a blinding light, and when it subsided, a giant flaming bird stood before Ash.
"Moltres?!" Ash gasped. "You captured one of the three legendary birds? Your better than I thought."
"Glad to hear it. What is your first Pokemon?" Oblivion asked.
"Heh, even against Moltres, I'll win." Ash pulled a pokeball from his belt and tossed it. "Come on out…" His pokeball flashed open, and revealed a huge turtle with two cannons on it's back. "Blastoise." The Pokemon roared. "It's been far too long since we've had a good battle."
"Well, I promise you a good fight, until you lose. Moltres, Fly." Moltres flapped its great wings and soared into the air. Ash merely watched.
"Blastoise, wait until it comes closer, and then hit it with you…" Ash began. Moltres began to dive at Blastoise from its position high above the arena. Ash waited until Moltres was mere yards from Blastoise before finishing his command. "Hydro Pump!" Ash yelled. Blastoise aimed its cannons at the mythical bird and unleashed a torrent of water directly at it. The force of the jets pushed Moltres back, almost into its trainer. It attempted to get back up, but the attack had been perfectly aimed.
"Heh, seems I was the one that underestimated you." Oblivion said as he called Moltres back into its ball. "But, I won't make the mistake twice." He reached for his second pokeball and tossed it into the air. It opened to reveal a bird with sharp, yellow feathers. Electricity shot out of its body.
"Well, I'll be. A Zapdos also? That's quite impressive." Ash said.
"Yes, I suppose it is." Oblivion said. "Enough trying to put this off. Zapdos, Thunder!" As soon as the order was given, the electricity that surrounded the second legendary birds body began to increase. Finally, it shot directly at Blastoise, hitting with the force of a lightning storm. Blastoise was brought down with this one attack, being at the natural disadvantage.
"You did well Blastoise, you can rest now." Ash said. The tortoise was called back to its ball. "Now, it's your time. Come on out, Venusaur!" The huge Pokemon with a flower on its back emerged from its ball. "Now Venusaur, Sunny Day!" Ash yelled.
"Why use that move? It won't beat Zapdos." Oblivion said. "Zapdos, use Thunder." The lightning attack struck Venusaur, but seemed to do little damage. "What?!"
"Lightning type attacks don't affect Plant type Pokemon too much. This will work however. Venusaur, Solar Beam!" Ash yelled.
"Fool, I'll just strike before the move launches. Zapdos…" Oblivion began.
"Not so fast." Ash said. "Sunny Day allows Solar Beam to launch instantly." The flower on Venusaurs back began to glow, and then launched a huge blast of solar energy. It struck Zapdos directly in the chest, grounding the bird. "Finish it Venusaur, Vine Whip." Two vines launched from the flower on Venusaurs back, picking up Zapdos and slamming it down. Zapdos was left unable to fight any longer.
"Very good Ash. You have indeed earned the right to be a Pokemon master. But your Venusaur can't win this next round. Come out, Articuno." Oblivion threw another pokeball, and from it emerged a giant blue bird. "Ice Beam." The bird opened its beak, and blasted a flow of ice at its foe. As it struck Venusaur, it left the plant-type unable to continue the battle.
"Return, Venusaur." Ash said He grabbed another pokeball. "Your right, Venusaur didn't stand a chance against Articuno. But I think this Pokemon does. Come on Out, Charizard!" Ash said as he tossed his third pokeball into the arena. The huge winged Pokemon emerged into the arena. "Charizard, Fire Blast!" Ash yelled. Charizard soared into the air and got above Articuno, and then released the Fire-based attack. It struck the bird with incredible force, ending with Articuno striking the floor of the arena with incredible force.
"Hmmm, return Articuno." Oblivion said.
"Do you give up yet? Do you understand now that I won't let you win?" Ash asked. He looked down to the Pikachu that sat at his side. They had been through many adventures over the years. And it was his strongest Pokemon. He then looked toward his Charizard, probably one of the most difficult to train Pokemon he had ever had. Earning its respect had been one of his best days as a trainer. "I won't lose."
"Hmmm, I see. You are correct. Those three birds wore my three best attackers. So now, I must resort to a tactic I would have much rather avoided. I call you out, Jirachi, Celebi." The two small legendary Pokemon emerged from there pokeballs. Oblivion then pulled something out of his pocket. "Do you know what this is?" he asked.
"It's a…" Ash began.
"A wishing stone. It forces Jirachi to grant my wish. See, it doesn't like to obey me right now, so I need this to make it do what I please." Oblivion explained.
"Why did you call out Celebi?" Ash asked.
"Just incase my wish doesn't work. Now, Jirachi. I wish for you to remove my foe from existence." As soon as the wish was spoken, everything around Ash went black. He was afraid for the first time that day. Afraid that this would be where his life would end.
"Do not fear, trainer. There are ways around my masters wish." A voice said.
"Who's there?" Ash asked. Celebi and Jirachi appeared in front of him.
"We are here to aid you." Celebi said.
"How? You heard that wish. And even if there is a way around this, he could just wish again." Ash said.
"We will just have to grant an approximation of his wish. We shall send you back in time, to the morning that you became a trainer, but as a different version of yourself. This way, you will have much more time to prepare, and his wish will be fulfilled." Jirachi explained.
"I guess that could work, but I'll have to go through all of that training again." Ash said.
"But you will be able to prepare for this ultimate goal. To defend the world from the man who wishes to threaten it."
"Fine, I'll do it." Ash said.
"We shall do one more thing to aid you. Your Pokemon and you have developed a close bond over your years of training. I shall allow you to keep this bond, so that they will obey you always, and fight fully for you. They will not be any stronger than they were when you acquired them, however." Jirachi said.
"Thank you, you two." Ash said.
"We wish you luck on this upcoming journey trainer. Please, become stronger." Celebi said. Then, Ash's world went black.
When Ash was finally regaining his senses, the first thing he noticed was that he felt smaller. He shot up out of bed.
"Whoa, they actually did it." He said. But his voice sounded…off. He found a few stray black hairs in his eyes. "I don't remember my hair being that long." He ran over to a mirror and couldn't believe what he saw. He saw a girl that looked a lot like him. She had black hair down to the middle of her back, was pretty cute, and was wearing a pink pair of pajamas.
Before Ash could say or do anything, her mother stuck her head in. "Ashley, you better get over to Prof. Oak's lab, or you'll be late." Ash was shocked. For one thing, her mother had called her Ashley. For another, she remembered that she was late the day her journey began. She looked over at the clock that said 7:30. The meeting was scheduled for 8:00.
"Okay, they changed me into a girl, and everyone thinks it's been that way. They also made me on time for my meeting today, but I got Pikachu because I was late. I have to go though, I'll think about this later. If they were telling the truth, I'll end up on that day again, and I'll be able to wish myself back to normal." Ash said. She decided to get ready, and see where the rest of the day, and her life would take her.