AN: Hello, everybody, and welcome to a new fic! Yes, yes, I know that IaFoA hasn't been updated in a long time, but I received a challenge which seemed very interesting, so I agreed to write it. The person who challenged me was Storylover213, in case you wondered, and if you're reading this, thank you!

But anyways, this will hopefully be interesting. Yes, there is a pairing, so don't ask me for one that you like, please.

Oh yes, Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything else that I reference. So please don't sue me!

And so we begin! The time: A few years before Ash gets started on his journey.

Funeris

Ash stared blankly at the coffin as it was lowered into the ground, eyes dry. He had cried all his tears in the past few days, ever since his mother's body had been found.

"We have gathered here today to express our regret at the demise of Delia Ketchum..." the orator droned.

Ash stood at the grave, everyone else having left previously. Staring at the dirt and stone, Ash sunk to his knees, unable to express his grief in any other way. His shoulders shaking, he knelt there for an hour, before a hand was placed on his shaking shoulder.

Ash looked up at the grave face of Samuel Oak. The old man said, "Ash... Let's go."

At Professor Oak's laboratory, Ash sat in the corner, while Oak spoke to a group of men in dark suits. "Look, the boy is seven. He can't be sent to an orphanage now."

"I apologize, Samuel, but there's no choice. You have no authority here," The first man spoke.

Oak ground his teeth. "What would have to happen for him not to go? Do I have to adopt him?"

The second man, who was in fact a woman, said, "Samuel, you aren't able to take care of a child. We could not, in good conscience, allow you to care for him. What you would need now would be Lance to vouch for him."

"What about Red? Would he do?"

One of the men snorted. The first man, ignoring it, said evenly, "If you were able to get Red to approve, then Mr. Ketchum would be allowed to remain with you. If you want to try, you have two days before he has to be at the orphanage."

Oak nodded grimly. "Fine. Now get out."

The man who had laughed smirked, before looking at Ash. "What chance do you think that you have of not having us get him? Give him to us now."

"Get. Out."

"Why are you fighting so hard? After all, it's not like this brat'll ever amount to anything. If he doesn't have people looking after him then he'll end up as a spoiled, idiot, brat, and end up like his mother. Dead," the man continued, never looking away from Ash, who at this point was about to cry.

Oak growled lowly as he stared at the offending man. "Get. Out. Of. My. Lab."

The man held up his hands and backed away slowly, looking away from Ash. "Hey, hey, I'm just saying. But why do you really care? After all, if his father doesn't care, why would you?"

The woman looked at him and shouted, "Sidney!"

At that same moment, Oak shouted, pulling out a pokeball, "GET OUT OF MY LAB, OR I'LL MAKE YOU GET OUT!"

The group in suits couldn't move fast enough to flee from the lab. Professor Oak sighed, looking older than ever before. He moved over to a video phone and began to dial numbers.

"Samuel, I only took this call because I respect you. But never call me again. Understood?"

"Yes, Red. I only thought..." Red hung up. Oak sighed as he looked at Ash, who was rolling an empty pokeball on the floor. "Don't worry, Ash. I have an idea."

"Idea?"

"Hello, Samuel. Did you need something?"

Oak grinned wryly. "Yes. Yes I did."

The other man paused for a second, before nearly shouting, "I told you, Oak, I need a bit more time! You'll get your payment, I swear it on me family! Just give me another week!"

Oak sweatdropped. "You'll get your week. No, what I wanted was something different. Did you know the Ketchums?"

"Judging by your use of words, I assume that Delia died?"

"Yes. A couple days ago."

"I see. I offer you my condolences."

Oak grimaced. "Thank you, but I don't deserve them most. Anyways, Delia may have died, but her son, Ash, did not."

"No. Money, sure. I am not taking in a child!" the man replied.

"Rowan! The boy is seven! Just take him in for a few years, until he can go on his journey!" Oak pleaded. Rowan remained unmoved.

"No, Samuel. I'm too busy."

"He could help you. Besides, you owe me."

Rowan was visibly flustered. "What? How?"

"Cherrygrove-"

"I paid that back!"

"-Five years ago."

Rowan was silent. "Oh. That Cherrygrove. Damn fangirls."

"Yes. You owe me, Rowan. You owe me your life!" Oak proclaimed, while Ash stared at the big machine in the back of the lab. He slowly made his way over towards it.

Onscreen, Rowan sighed. "Fine, I'll take in the boy. But now we're even!"

Oak smiled at his friend. "Don't worry! The boy'll grow on you, and I'm sure he'll help you out!"

Rowan considered his for a second, while Ash looked at the machine he had found a minute before. He slammed his hands on as many buttons as he could reach at once. An alarm went off, before the machine sparked and fell to pieces. Rowan, seeing this, deadpanned, "Yes, a great help. Oak, we're not even. You owe me big." Oak laughed sheepishly as he hurried off to stop Ash from playing with the controls that could release every pokemon in the lab.

Oak handed Ash the two tickets that he would need. Ash was due to be turned over to the dark suits tomorrow, which was why Oak was in Vermillion.

"Now, Ash, what are you going to do?"

Ash thought for a second, before answering, "Set the papers on fire and live in the wild, while I pretend to go on the boat to fool the authorteas. Then, I make my way to Hoesen and talk to Professor Bit-"

"No!" Oak all but shouted, cutting Ash off. In a quieter tone, he said, "Don't say that word, Ash."

"What, bitter? But I'm joking, Professor. I'm going to get on the boat, give them the ticket, and then in Sinnoh get on a bus to Sandgem. Then I meet Rowan."

Oak wasn't satisfied. "And?"

Ash sighed. "Don't break the boat or the bus."

Oak smiled. "Good boy! And remember to come back to get a pokemon!"

Ash stood in front of the large building that was Rowan's lab. The professor was showing Ash around.

"And over there is while you're sleeping. Any questions?"

Ash fidgeted, before asking, "Can you teach me to be a pokemon trainer?"

Rowan looked down at him, before starting to walk off. "If you help me with my work, then I'll teach you to be a trainer." He suddenly stopped, and turned to face Ash, eyes glowing slightly and a shadow over his face. "Oh, and if you break anything, I'll break you."

Rowan turned back around, a cheerful expression on his face again. "Well, good luck!"

Ash watched the pokemon carefully. Any sudden movements would give away his position, and that would be terrible. Rowan had taught him better than that.

A sneeze welled up inside the seven-and-a-half year old, who desperately tried to suppress it. Unable to help himself, he let out a strangled sort of sound, which alerted the pokemon to his whereabouts. Ash began to run, but the pokemon was too fast, and it tackled him. Ash was completely at its mercy.

"Tur-turtwig!"

Ash laughed with the turtwig on his chest, before a pair of legs caught his attention. Looking up, Ash saw the stern face of his mentor, and he squeaked before running off to edit the papers people had sent to the professor.

Rowan sighed, but there was a faint smile tugging at his lips.

"Happy birthday, Ash," Rowan said, looking in on the boy. Ash hadn't left his room all day, and Rowan was slightly worried about the boy, especially when he saw Ash just staring at the ceiling, his face glistening.

Ash looked briefly at the professor, before looking back up at the ceiling. "Hi, Professor."

Rowan was concerned. He knew that children Ash's age shouldn't act like this. "Ash... I was wondering..."

"Yeah?" Ash said blankly, no emotion whatsoever on his face.

"Do you..." Rowan sighed. "Would you like anything?"

"No thank you, sir. I just want to take the day off," Ash said. Rowan nodded, and nearly took a step towards his charge, before he paused and walked out the door, leaving Ash with the question of what Rowan had been about to ask.

Rowan paused in the hall, waiting a minute, before he grimly walked away.

From where he was standing, it was impossible to not hear quiet sobs.

Ash looked at the list in disbelief. "You mean that I can pick any pokemon from this list?"

"Of course, Ash. If you're going to be a field researcher for me, then you need a pokemon to help protect you," Rowan remarked, idly wondering what the boy would choose. He saw this as a way, too, to give the boy a present for his birthday.

Ash smiled, occupied with the list. "Well, what'd you say?"

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want me to tell you what your first pokemon should be?"

Ash shook his head, before a comfortable silence enveloped the two, disturbed only be the rustling of paper. After about five minutes, Ash looked at Rowan, and asked, "Sir? There are two pokemon on the list that I really like, but I'm not sure which one to choose."

After Ash showed Rowan the two pokemon, the old man sat back and began to consider. "Well, Ash, how about both of them? That way, you'll get two friends."

Ash's eyes widened, this beyond his wildest dreams. "Really?"

Rowan nodded, before Ash lept at him, shouting, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyou!"

"So, you're the guy that Rowan said was his top researcher? Awfully young, aren't you?" the man who had requested help asked, leading Ash to the building.

Ash was silent, letting it speak for him.

Inside the building, the man, who said his name was John, led him to a room with another man in a lab coat, who was frantically operating a machine. "John! You're back! Where's the expert?"

John mutely pointed at Ash, who stared at nothing.

The second man blinked several times. "Funny. No, where is he?"

Ash finally spoke. "I'm right here, sir. What do you need?"

John looked warningly at the man. "Seymour..."

Seymour shrugged it off. "What do we want from this pipsqueak? I'd guess that Rowan figured out what we were planning, and decided to send this guy."

"You idiot! Don't talk about that with the kid here!"

Ash blinked, as Seymour grinned evilly. "Well, the brat won't be talking after this! Magnezone, fry him!"

The electric type moved out from behind a piece of machinery, sparking. Ash, furious, pulled out a pokeball, and said, "So you're trying to kill me? Then I can't hold back!"

Ash stood over the two groaning scientists, before calling back his pokemon. "See, it's people like you that make me believe that most people are scum. I'm leaving now, and alerting the authorities. Any objections?" Ash asked as he looked down at Seymour and John. Neither of them moved, and Ash sneered, before leaving.

Rowan was, to say the least, unhappy, and the two 'scientists' received jail sentences of twenty years, for attempted murder.

In conclusion, within Kanto, a dark/ghost type is one of the most useful pokemon to bring. Due to the lack of dark types, and the rarity of steel types, the magnemite family being the only Kanto native, most trainers have agreed that psychic types are the strongest, partly because bugs are not known for their power, but also because the only ghost types native to Kanto are the gastly family, who are also poison types. The eight 'mainstream' gyms, as the best known gyms are called, match up against a dark/ghost as follows:

Pewter- Rock- neutral.

Cerulean- Water- neutral.

Vermilion- Electric- neutral.

Celadon- Grass- advantage.

Fuschia- Poison- advantage.

Saffron- Psychic- major advantage.

Cinnabar- Fire- neutral.

Viridian- Ground- neutral.

In type, ghost/dark types are some of the strongest. In terms of usefulness, Shedinja works exceedingly well for six gyms, but will lose to Pewter and Cinnabar. Electross is also a good choice, but ultimately fails against Viridian. Other us-

Ash paused in his writing. "Hello, Professor."

"Good to see you, Ash. I have some news for you," Rowan said, walking into Ash's room.

Ash put away the paper, before turning to face his mentor and father figure. "Yeah?"

Rowan paused, before sitting on Ash's bed. "I bought you a ticket for a boat to Pallet Town."

Ash's face went blank, before the boy emotionlessly asked, "Why did you do that?"

"The ticket is for you. Ash, I know that you don't want to go to Pallet-" Rowan said, sighing.

Ash cut him off. "Don't want to? My mother died there! Why would you do this to me?" Ash started to sound like what he really was- a ten year old boy.

Rowan grimaced. "You made a promise to Oak, remember? He contacted me, and said that he at least wanted to see you, as well."

"Well, I don't want to go back to Kanto."

Rowan sighed, before he threw an envelope on the bed. "You won't have to stay in Pallet long, Ash. Besides, I would like it if you went on a journey like every other kid your age. The ship leaves in two days."

Rowan walked out of the room, frowning, while Ash stared at the envelope. He got out of his chair and picked it up.

Ash stared out at the ocean, recalling everything that he knew about Pallet. Remembering Gary, he smiled a little sadly. One of his two pokemon noticed, and poked his shoulder, slightly worried. Ash started, before smiling at one of his two friends.

Over time, his opinion of humanity had changed, and Ash had become colder. In fact, this was part of why Rowan agreed to send Ash back to Kanto: so that Ash would gain human friends.

In the meantime, however, the lonely boy looked out at the sea, thinking, 'Well, here I come, Kanto. I wonder, is it wrong if I want to make everybody terrified of me?'

Atop a cold mountain, a single figure wandered through the snow. He listened on the wind, but no sound came to him. Sitting, the figure waited for the storm to end.

A few days after the storm had begun, a brief patch of clarity shone though the night. The figure, an absol, looked up at the sky. It shivered, like it had been for days. It's own senses had made it come to the top of the mountain. 'What's going on?'

High above him, a single star winked out. Absol shivered, but it had nothing to do with the cold now. 'The end times... Are they upon us?'

The storm returned with a vengeance a minute later, but the dark type had fled before its fury. All that was left was the snow, and a howling wind that sounded remarkably like a high, cold, cruel laugh.