Here's something I always wanted to do, have Ash specialize in my favorite type of pokemon: dragon-types. So obviously he won't have too many pokemon, but the one's he will get will be good.
There were many potent and regal pokemon in the world, Ash had to admit, but by far the most awe-inspiring were dragons.
They were gargantuan creatures, brimming with power just a step below Legendaries. Their heavily armored and scaled bodies were virtually impenetrable, capable of weathering anything short of a barrage of Hyper Beams, and even then, there were dragons who could persist through even that. They were like creatures out of fairytales: monstrously powerful and capable of flying miles high into the sky, their majestic bodies being outlined in the glow of the sun or luminosity of the moon.
Ash was currently waiting patiently outside the legendary Professor Oak's laboratory where he would collect a starter pokemon. Once trainers were 13, at least in Kanto, they were allowed to embark on their own journeys. As far as Ash knew, the starting age in Johto was the same, although it was 11 in the other regions. He supposed it should make sense, since Kanto and Johto were united under the same League, led by the champion Lance.
The titanic red haired man played a huge role in Ash's dreams to be a dragon master. The Champion was like a hero out of the same stories dragons were from, capable of taming the nigh indestructible beasts. Standing at well above six feet with his tattered yet regal cape swaying behind him and his juggernaut of a dragonite flanking him, he exuded command, respect, and power. He was Ash's role model.
"Hey loser, I'm surprised you even came. Do you honestly think you'll be able to manage as a trainer?" An obnoxious sneer broke in to his thoughts, and Ash groaned silently. It was Gary, Professor Oak's grandson, and Ash's former best friend now rival. Ash wasn't exactly sure what exactly had spurned the two apart, but he knew it was Gary who had changed; Ash remained the cheerful yet wise child he'd always been.
"Yeah I do, actually." Ash retorted. "You should be asking yourself that, since you're the one who's lounging around in the lab all day instead of getting used to the outdoors." Perhaps it wasn't the most witty of retorts, but it had served its purpose well. Gary gritted his teeth and the other two trainers lightly giggled.
Ritchie and Leaf. They were the other two trainers awaiting their pokemon. Ash was quite close with them, although the one-sided crush Leaf had on him made situations quite awkward at times. Ritchie was friendly enough, although he behaved too much like Ash for the latter's comfort. The fact that before Ash's haircut Ritchie had looked almost exactly like him wasn't disquieting either.
"Ah, hello Leaf, Ritchie, Ash, Gary." The Professor's warm greeting broke the tension as he stepped out of his lab. "Today is perhaps the most important day of your lives. You are now ready to embark on your journey as a pokemon trainer! Perhaps you may not like training and you will pursue the path of a coordinator-" Gary snorted -"but either way, you are about to leave home to make the best friends you'll ever make in your lives."
Ash was listening intently. He respected the Professor greatly. The aging man was almost as reverent to him as Lance was. The Professor had been the Champion in his youth, perhaps in his mid-twenties, and he certainly had an impenetrable team to sport. The aging man even owned a dragonite of his own, one that could pose a serious threat to Lance's cornerstone dragonite, taking into account its decades of laziness. Oak had been virtually omnipotent before he decided to settle as a researcher; he could boast of myriads of pokemon under his possession, all fully capable of defeating Elite Four leveled pokemon. All in all, the Professor remained formidable even after all these years of research, and still commanded great reverence from the pokemon community internationally.
Oak continued droning on, and Ash caught on that pokedexes had already been preprogrammed for them, which was definitely a boon in terms of time. Ash was now tiring of the Professor's speech, and was relieved when the old man finally stopped, although he snickered as Oak glared at Gary's open acts of impatience.
"Now, I have the three standard pokemon to offer as a starter to you, or you may wait for a bit before you choose the other pokemon I offer." Before Ash could react, oblivious to Gary's chortles that it wouldn't be him, the Professor shot a meaningful look at him and subtly nodded. Ash grinned and instantly stepped forward, saying, "I'll do it guys. I'll take the one later."
Leaf beamed at him in admiration while Ritchie nodded in approval. Gary yawned, uninterested by Ash's ostensible forfeit, and when the old man plucked three pokeballs from his belt, each emblazoned with symbols of fire, grass, and water respectively, Gary immediately dove for the pokeball sporting the design of water. The Professor groaned at Gary's antics whereas the other three rolled their eyes. The spiky-haired boy had been crooning about the future blastoise he'd have by his side ever since he was ten, and the other three aspiring trainers had come to accept that they simply could not choose squirtle as a starter.
Leaf stepped forward next, pausing for a moment before delicately plucking the ball with a leaf engraved on it from Oak's palm. It contained a bulbasaur, Ash knew, which was essentially a dinosaurian creature with a bulb on its back. It would evolve to a venasaur one day, which was simply a larger and bulkier version of bulbasaur.
Ritchie was last, and maintained a pleased countenance as he grabbed the ball engraved with a flame, containing the pokemon Ash had initially opted to choose: charmander. The spirited lizards would evolve into the massive, incredibly powerful dragons, charizard. Their power and temper were infamous and could careen to no bounds. But Ash knew that the pokemon Oak had preselected for him would diminish any qualms he had about not receiving a charmander.
Ash watched with idle interest as the three trainers released their starters. Gary immediately crooned, "Hahaha, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you losers. Which one of you is up for a defeat on your first day?"
Leaf stepped forward, exuding a calm demeanor. Then again, Bulbasaur did have the type advantage, yet Ash doubted any of the three pokemon knew any moves of their respective typing yet. True to his thoughts, Bulbasaur did win. It wasn't much of a victory, just repeated tackling from the dinosaurian plant and its superior mass that brought down the turtle. Gary sneered, "You got lucky, Leafy. Next time I'll win." He sprayed a potion on Squirtle, recalled it, and hastily made his way out of the town. Ash hoped that he'd not need to encounter his rival again until the Indigo Conference.
The Professor sighed at his grandson's brashness and impromptu loss. "I hope he doesn't blindly challenge trainers again. He really needs to think more sometimes." The three trainers were tempted to add on to that remark, but wisely decided to stay silent.
"Well, Professor, this is it, me and Ritchie will be off. We'll be travelling together until Cerulean." Leaf turned to Ash, a hopeful expression on her face. "And Ash, you're welcome to join us too of course." Ritchie nodded in ascent. The wilderness surrounding Pallet could pose a significant threat to novice trainers, namely the flocks of tenacious spearow residing there. It was rare that trainers emerged unscathed from there.
Yet Ash shook his head no. "Sorry guys, but I want to do this myself. I'd rather travel alone than with others, even if its for a short amount of time." He couldn't help but feel guilty at the look of hurt splayed over Leaf's face, but he couldn't have feelings interfering with his path as a trainer.
"I see...just...give me calls from time to time, ok?" She waved as she and Ritchie began trudging towards the path leading out of Pallet.
Ash gave a genuine grin in response, nodding at her retreating form. He'd been planning to do so anyways. "Now, Professor, let's see about that pokemon now, huh?" He prodded, barely able to conceal his excitement. "How long is it going to take?"
"I already have the pokemon ready." The renown man laughed. "I just said it would take time to procure it to keep the other three from deciding to ask for it. I only got it yesterday, so I had no time to tell you I meant it for you.
"Now, Ash, I know you've been interested in becoming a dragon tamer, much like Lance is. You've always been helping me out at the lab and you've shown great promise, so I feel like you of all people deserves this." The Professor pulled out another pokeball from his pocket, this one lacking any form of emblazoning. He handed it to the eager raven-haired teen before him and continued, "Now, why don't you go on and call it out. Don't worry about any disobedience, it gets along surprisingly well with others for its kind."
Without further ado Ash released the pokemon from its confines, blinking in the face of the blinding light that flickered for a moment. It died down quickly to reveal a small creature, standing at about two feet high, covered in blue scales and sporting an iron dome on the top of its head. From years of studying and fascination, it instantly registered in Ash's mind what pokemon it was: a Bagon.
The premature form of salamence, the draconic terror of Hoenn for centuries in the past and easily on par with dragonite. But Ash would harness his bagon to exceed dragonite.
He couldn't believe his luck. He'd been expecting a dratini, and would have been pleased with the exceedingly rare horsea, but bagon was simply far more exotic. It would be focal to strategies meant to unnerve opponents. If Ash started out with bagon, his opponents would assume he had more foreign pokemon to call upon, and wouldn't know what to expect of his next pokemon. Not to mention that the prospect of harnessing a salamence seemed far more promising than possessing a dragonite.
"Professor...I..." Ash was at a loss for words, drowning in gratitude. There simply wasn't any verbal response deserving enough of Oak for his gift.
The aging man merely smiled back in understanding. "Don't worry, Ash, you deserve this. No need to feel indebted to me. I still owe you for all your care and help. Now, take these pokeballs and this pokedex. Here's some potions while I'm at it, you never know what dangers you'll encounter on Route 1."
Ash glanced down at the minute dragon eyeing him with interest. "Well, Bagon, my name's Ash Ketchum, and I'm your new trainer! I'll make you as strong as you can be and I'll try my hardest to help you evolve into a salamence, but only if you accept me as your trainer!" The dragon nodded enthusiastically, having heard Ash say "salamence." It was the dream of every bagon to one day mature to their final stage and take to the skies with power and glory. "Well then, welcome to the team." Ash finished with satisfaction. He had already procured a dragon, and a pseudo-legendary on top of that. 'Hah, take that, Gary!' Ash thought with a smirk. Under the proper training regimine, his bagon would far outpace Gary's squirtle.
"Well Professor, I think it's time for me to head out. I already said bye to my mom, so I'll be leaving now."
"Ash, one last bit of advice. I understand you wish to be a dragon tamer, but that doesn't mean you can't have a few other pokemon that aren't dragons at all. If you find a pokemon to your liking, by all means, catch it, regardless of whether or not it's a dragon."
"I'll think about it, Professor. I guess I'm off now!" The young teen instantly took off, followed by a joyfully growling bagon. The Professor stood on his porch, watching his favorite pupil until he was a mere dot in distance. Oak smiled; he knew Ash would go far.
There were myriads of pokemon to be found in the vast wilderness that encompassed Route 1: pidgey, spearow, caterpie and their evolutions, rattata, geodude, and the odd pidgeotto or fearow. Yet Ash had no interest in catching any of them.
Pidgeotto could learn the dragon-type move, twister, where the user summoned a swirling tornado of draconic energy, yet it was too avian for Ash to want it. No, he would be very selective in his captures.
The journey to Viridian City wasn't a waste, though; there were many young trainers to be found, mainly self-proclaimed bug specialists, and Bagon garnered tons of battle experience. According to the pokedex, the little dragon knew the moves: Leer, Bite, Ember, Dragonbreathe, and Rage. It was a versatile skill set, especially at such an early age, and with these moves Bagon made short work of the bugs standing in his way.
A low growl scattered his thoughts, and Ash looked up at the source. He grinned as he eyed the lone male nidoran that lowered its head aggressively, brandishing its poisonous horn. Bagon instantly stepped forward, snarling at the creature that dared provoke its trainer. Nidoran certainly weren't dragons, but they evolved into the proud monarchs, Nidoking. The monstrous dinosaurian creatures had always been awe-inspiring, and their versatility could only serve as a boon. It was decided, then. He was going to capture that nidoran.
"Bagon, leer!" Bagon's eyes narrowed menacingly and lit up a dark red color, effectively lowering the nidoran's defense. The poisonous rodent growled more intensely as it suddenly charged forward, ready to stab Bagon with its horn and inject its potent poison into the dragon's body. "Don't let it touch you or its over! Dragonbreathe!" Bagon immediately complied, opening his maw and hurling scalding green flames at the approaching nidoran. The unnatural flames certainly dealt massive damage, but to Ash's shock (and interest) the nidoran continued its charge, albeit greatly slowed, so when nidoran finally ran into Bagon, its horn failed to puncture the rough scales of the dragon.
"One more Dragonbreathe, Bagon, we've got to avoid physical moves!" Ash decided, knowing all too well the ability of all nidoran, Poison point. Physical contact with the creature would likely induce Bagon to become poisoned by the innumerable scales covering Nidoran, oozing with poison. The attack hit home, and nidoran was knocked back, the fight taken out of it. It was clearly at a far lower level than Bagon, but at least its efforts strained Bagon far more than the premature bugs he'd taken to beating in the past few hours.
Ash hurled a pokeball at the fallen nidoran, watching in anticipation as it opened up, producing a white light cloaking nidoran and brought him in the ball. It dropped to the ground with a dull thud and shook once...twice...and then a third time...
...
Ding.
The slight sound resonated in his head, refusing to be silenced. The moment was almost surreal. He, Ash Ketchum, had caught his first pokemon. It was only when a concerned Bagon prodded him when he really felt the euphoria.
"I just caught a pokemon!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs, listening with idle interest to the echoes of his voice bouncing off against the innumerable trees surrounding him. He picked up the pokeball containing the injured nidoran and attached it to his belt. Bagon eyed Ash curiously, unsure of whether he should mimic his trainer's actions. In the end, dignity won out, and Bagon simply growled in victory.
"Great job, Bagon. All those bugs must've toughened you up for you to not be tired." The dragon growled again in affirmative, but an odd gleam shone in his eyes, and he froze as he glimpsed something behind Ash. "What is it?" Ash asked in concern as his body swiveled, already terrified of what it was that troubled the insurmountable dragon so greatly. He turned his head, and wished he hadn't.
A monstrously large avian raptor leered at him, perched on a branch a few feet above Ash's head, with a murderous and...unstable look in his eye. It was a fearow, cruel airborne raptors that showed no mercy to those that found themselves within the territory of a fearow. But this specimen was far larger and more potent than what Oak's books had documented them as, and the obvious lack of stability the bird exuded only frightened Ash further. He would not delude himself; Bagon stood absolutely no chance of surviving against the carnivorous raptor leering at them, despite the dragon's half-hearted growls.
He would die on his first day as a trainer.
Mere hours ago, he'd been in a petty squabble with Gary, but now, he was moments away from death. Bagon lurched forward, head held high in dignity, but Ash knew the dragon knew the futility of any resistance. Fearow simply did not let trespassers of its territory weaker than it out alive.
The bird suddenly sprang into motion, diving at Bagon trailed by a white aura. It was using Quick Attack, Ash realized, but the target wasn't Bagon; it was him.
He threw himself out of the way, but yelped in pain as the fearow grazed him with a wing, snorting in murderous glee. "Bagon!" Ash yelled as he pushed himself up. "No sense in running, he's too fast! We'll keep fighting no matter how hopeless it is, now Leer followed up by Dragonbreathe!" Lowering Fearow's defense was essential if they wanted to secure any hopes of surviving. Fearow snorted in disdain, oblivious to its lowered defense, and batted aside the green flames launched towards it, though its wings were singed at the tips.
"I think it just got angrier..." Ash muttered, and yelped again as Fearow flapped its wide wings, creating a heavy gust that sent Bagon reeling towards Ash. The dragon was panting heavily now, and struggled to upright himself. Fearow was already inching towards them again, so there simply wasn't any time to heal Bagon with a potion. "Bagon, Leer lowers defense, not special defense. So use Bite when it comes closer. For now, play like you can't get up." Ash whispered, hatefully glaring at the raptor, who mockingly looked back. It abruptly dove towards Bagon, brandishing its wings as though they were blades. "Now!" Ash cried, and Bagon threw himself to his feet and opened his gaping maw, black aura flickering on his teeth. He ducked at Fearow jabbed a wing at him, and leaped up, latching onto Fearow's neck and slamming his jaws closed.
Ash blanched at the crimson drops of matter falling from Fearow's neck. He was torn between jumping in joy at Bagon's triumph and recoiling in abhorrence from the brutality of the blow. Ash never wanted to seriously injure a pokemon or...kill one. But it seemed Bagon was in the process of doing just that, yet Ash couldn't find it in himself to halt the dragon. Fearow were simply too dangerous to be left beaten. Once they recovered, they would relentlessly track down their adversaries and brutally maul them to death. Yet...he couldn't allow a pokemon's life to be taken, even if the said pokemon wanted to do the same to him.
With a surge of resolve, Ash opened his mouth to call off Bagon, unwilling to jeopardize Fearow any further, but blanched once again as Fearow stopped its pained caws and mockingly glared at him. It was a facade...the whole time, Bagon had barely been dealing any damage. It was a twisted joke Fearow had performed, at Ash's expense.
Fearow took to the skies at a breakneck speed, soaring high past the canopy of the forest they were in, and swiveled and turned its body in the air, knocking Bagon loose and sending him plummeting to the earthy floor. "Bagon!" Ash screamed. He leaped into action, rushing to catch Bagon in his arms, uncaring of whether his arms would be broken from catching the dragon.
But he was too slow; with a thundering crash, the dragon hit the earthy ground, indenting it and instantly going unconscious. "No..." Ash said softly. It was over. The unstable raptor was simply too elite a pokemon to even attempt opposing. Ash didn't doubt it would take an elite four member to depose of it from the forest if it could sustain a crushing blow on its defenseless weak spot after having its defense lowered, without taking any damage. Bagon had only drawn mere drops of blood, the same negligible amount of blood Ash could shed from a scratch.
But Ash refused to die meekly, to give Fearow what it wanted: total and complete fear. He would defy the titanic bird to his last breathe, and he wouldn't let Bagon be harmed any further over his dead body. "Hey, Fearow! Are you ready to kill us yet? Ready to kill us for stepping in your territory accidentally and with no bad intentions? I can't believe I was worried if Bagon was seriously hurting you or not, its pokemon like you that scare poeple away and give so many other pokemon a bad name." It was true; mainly because of territorial pokemon like Fearow, people assumed the worst about all pokemon.
Ash's eyes widened in begrudging awe at the sight of Fearow's lengthy and narrow beak spinning, rapidly building momentum. It was Drill Peck, Fearow's most powerful move, capable of penetrating virtually anything, especially if such a high level fearow was using it. It was rare for people to witness the raptors utilizing the attack, mainly because those that were seeing the attack were often the victims of it.
"Do it, then! Kill me!" Ash shouted, still standing over Bagon. He would do his best to keep the miniature dragon from being harmed. He was only grateful that Nidoran would remain unscathed, safely locked in the confines of the pokeball's stasis. Fearow had not seen the pokeball, and would not know how to open it anyhow, so the poisonous rodent was safe. It was a pity that Ash wouldn't be able to bond with it or ever raise the proud nidoking he'd always wanted to.
The bird finally dove at him, harnessing its rotating beak, ready to impale him. Ash shut his eyes, not willing to bear witness to the gore that would soon follow.
A fierce gale of wind sent him tumbling, and his eyes snapped open, fully aware that even Fearow, in all its power and glory, could do no such thing at such a close range.
Words failed him as his wildest dreams came to life, right before his very eyes. A mammoth orange-scaled behemoth, belittling even Fearow, hurled an arcing beam of vibrant thunder at the bird, knocking it out in a single blow.
"It's about time I got rid of that pest, I've been hearing about it for weeks now." The voice that inspired Ash's life cut into his thoughts. Callous, reckless, wild, and powerful. Ash turned numbly to greet the wild-haired redhead approaching him.
Champion Lance grinned.
Very, very short, I know, but it would've been really bad to keep this going after the place where I ended things. I'll update the diamond and pearl story soon, but I likely will not continue The Trainer. I'm going to try and finish this story though. Anyways, please read and review!