Pikachu

"Just how could I be so stupid!" Ten year-oldAsh thought to himself as he rushed to Professor Oak's lab. "All my hopes and dreams rested on this, and I overslept!"

He made an odd figure as he ran through Pallet Town's streets. His unkempt hair was in even more of a mess than it usually was, and his blue and white striped pyjamas were obviously not meant to be seen outside of his house. This time, however, he'd had to make an exception because he didn't have the time to get dressed.

Finally, exhausted, he made it to the driveway of the lab where a crowd of people had gathered. They were cheering Gary Oak's name; yes in fact he even had some cheerleaders! No one seemed to notice his arrival, but this didn't really surprise him. It did make him feel incredibly jealous though.

Ash pushed his way through so that he could get to the buzzer, but before he managed to reach his target Gary was blocking his path. "Hey there Ashyboy! A little late I see. Well, I got me the best Pokemon there is, so you might as well go home and forget it!"

"Get outta my way Gary! I need to get to Professor Oak now!" screamed Ash red-faced.

Gary sniggered. "Okay Ashyboy. I'll just go now then. In my car."

True to his word, the brown-haired cool boy hopped in, followed by the cheerleaders. One "So long, sucker!" later and he was off in a cloud of dust, followed by the crowd who wanted to see more of him.

"How did he even get a licence?" wondered Ash before realising he was wasting even more time and finally pressing the buzzer.

"Yes?" enquired a voice from the speaker.

"Uh, hi, I'm Ash Ketchum! I'm here to get my first Pokemon?"

"Ash Ketchum? I figured you'd given up before you'd started, so I gave the last Pokemon away." Answered what Ash assumed to be Oak's voice.

Ash was dumbstruck. How had this happened? What was he going to do now?

"However, do come in. This is highly irregular, but you leave me no other choice."

The gate opened automatically with a faint creaking sound and Ash walked up the winding path, hoping he still had a chance. "Man, I really screwed up this time!"

Oak was already waiting for him at the door, arms crossed and a stern look on his face. "Why are you in your pyjamas Mr Ketchum?"

"I overslept! My alarm didn't ring!"

Oak sighed and motioned for the boy to come in. He followed and stared in wonder at the huge rows of books, computers and Pokeballs that decorated the room he was in. They passed through a thick door and Ash just stared. The whole room was essentially lined in shiny chrome, except for the red, blue and green buttons that lined the walls, each next to a dial. He had absolutely no idea what this machine was for, but he was sure it was incredibly complicated. Ash's gaze went to the middle of the room, where a sort of table stood. In it were three round grooves. There was no guessing what had been there before: Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle's Pokeballs. And they were all gone!

"What I'm going to do now is probably a bad idea and certainly against protocol," Oak started. "If you can't even keep up with time I don't really know how you could with Pokemon – especially this Pokemon. It's a Pikachu."

The professor pressed a button and the middle of the table seemed to split apart. A little tower rose out of it, revealing a Pokeball with a lightning sticker stuck to it.

"I'll take it Professor! Anything to get me started! I'm sure me and him are going to be best buddies!"

Oak smiled despite himself. Ash looked so happy, so excited to be receiving a mere Pikachu – it had only been captured that day.

"Now now, I must warn you that it is still a little temperamental," Oak lectured. "But with time and training I'm sure you two will be a formidable team!"

He didn't really believe this, but he knew the Pikachu would soften eventually. It was the trainer that worried him – he looked like an absolute shambles and would definitely need to buckle his ideas up.

"Can I see it?" pleaded Ash. "Please?"

"Of course," Oak replied. "It's your Pokemon now. Here are your Pokedex and six Pokeballs to get you started!"

Ash took the gear out of the Professor's hands and quickly stowed it away before turning his attention back to his Pokemon. Suddenly, he felt a little nervous. Would it like him? Would it be any good? Eventually, he decided to just see.

He threw the ball in the air. "Come on out, Pikachu! Let's take a good look at you!"

A white shape appeared before his very eyes before quickly morphing into a Pikachu. It did not look happy.

"Chuuuu!" It suddenly screamed and fired off an electric shock at the Professor and the boy who both flashed their skeletons several times before collapsing in a smoking heap that smelled suspiciously of fried bacon.

Oak got up to check on the boy. The shock hadn't been that strong, so Ash would get up any second.

Unfortunately, Ash had an undiagnosed heart condition and the electric shock had been enough to exacerbate its effects. He was dead instantly.

Pikachu giggled.