Well, for anybody wondering, this is a self-insert, original character fic (SI-OC), that is story focused. The main character is the twin of Ash, and while Ash will be a bit different from the anime, the primary reason for the differences is due to him having a twin, specifically me. Don't expect our journey to frequently intersect Ash's, and after the first region is over, I plan to diverge from Ash's route completely and head from Kanto to Hoenn, eventually.

There is no romance planned for this story, but then again, my muse is very random. If what I write naturally leads to romance, then romance there shall be. I have a few potential options available but don't expect me to sacrifice story for romance. I will only add it if it supports the story.

In regards to the pokemon that the MC will catch, I already have an idea of the pokemon that I want. You can try to persuade me to a pokemon of your liking, and I may or may not work it in the story, but for now, I have 26 specific pokemon for him to have by the end of the series. He may have other pokemon, but they may leave him for some reason or another, but those 26 are final, for now. Everything is, of course, subject to change.

The MC will go from Kanto-Honen-Sinnoh, but he may or may not visit other regions in between. While I have story ideas for the three regions, I am willing to consider other regions as possibilities, so if you want him to go somewhere, please give a reason as to why.

Lastly, the story will be semi-realistic. Not as realistic as Traveler, but more realistic than the anime. This will also NOT be a Gary-Stu fic. It may seem like that in the initial chapters, but the fact of the matter is, any flaws that the MC has will not be detrimental until he is traveling. Since he has an idea of what will happen, he can plan ahead, but even the best of plans won't survive the fact that this is an AU. There are differences from the anime, and even if there weren't, he would eventually run into a problem regardless.

Warnings: Possible vulgar language, death, minor mentions of sexual events, pokemon/human abuse, and other events may or may not happen. For now, the story will stay at a T rating. If the story starts to approach an M rating, I will give another warning and will update the rating accordingly.

Disclaimer: Why do I have to write a disclaimer? Shouldn't the requirement be to write a claim? I mean, this is FanFiction, so it should be expected for everything to be written by fans. Anything that is written by an actual author or something of the series should have a tag where they claim ownership of the series or franchise in whatever way they do.

Chapter 1

Death was a turbulent process. Despite the build-up being excruciatingly painful, exceedingly so, the sudden arrival of 'nothing' caught me by surprise. The last thing I remembered was being trapped under a building that was on fire, as I was slowly smoked and tenderized for hours on end. If I had made a mistake, it was when I had relaxed upon hearing familiar voices approach and had, subsequently, passed out.

The next time I came to, I felt… confused? It was as if I was floating in warm water if the liquid was more gel-like in substance. Opening my eyes, I saw nothing but darkness incarnate as everything was completely black, to the extent that I even wondered if I had succeeded in opening my eyes in the first place. I tried to process what was happening, but I was… 'tired.' For some reason, mental exhaustion was flooding my head, and I quickly fled to the realm of Morpheus.

Time seemed to have no meaning as I lingered on the edge of consciousness. For all I know, it could've been seconds, or hours, months, or even years, yet I swear that it felt like an eternity had passed. It was almost as if my mind was trapped in stasis, as thoughts slugged through my head with great difficulty, yet simultaneously I found that I couldn't feel my body. Everything was just… gone. From my extremities to my body, even my eyes themselves, there was nothing really there, or at least nothing that I could feel. The only thing that I COULD feel, in the first place, was the warm, damp, cozy feeling that enveloped my… form.

After another eternity had passed, I finally gained a sense of hearing, of sorts. It was muffled to the extent that I had no idea what was being said. Often, instead of possible voices, I heard a faint lullaby, one that distinctly reminded me of the ocean. Whenever it would play, the aura that encompassed me would spread, and I could somehow feel a presence next to me that was also basking in the warmth. And whenever it would stop, a sense of loneliness would appear, just until I would fall asleep once more.

Occasionally, I could feel myself being shifted around, almost as if I was in a vehicle of sorts. Simultaneously, feeling was beginning to spread to the rest of my 'body,' if you could call it that. Stubs were in place of my legs and arms as I curled inwards, and I couldn't help but aggressively react whenever I was jostled, or worse, whenever the lullaby ceased. Using what I assume to be my legs, I lash out as hard as possible, tiring myself back to sleep.

Soon, the sounds that were previously muffled cleared up and the darkness around me lessened in intensity. While I still couldn't really see anything, I am introduced to a color that differs from black. For some reason, whenever the ocean song is playing, I can, in addition to sensing the presence of another nearby, see a turquoise haze before me. It's a warm feeling, somehow bringing a sensation of ease in a place that was already full of comfort, and I find myself often dozing off before the song even finishes. Whenever that happens, I always find myself reaching out towards that light.

The warmth that always surrounded me washed away; the walls tightened up as realization slapped me in the face. 'I am going to be a newborn… I am being reincarnated.' Disbelief painted my mind as the walls tightly collapsed, before relaxing a moment and collapsing again. I was born in shock before cold air smacked me to my senses, making me cough and splatter for a moment before I began to cry at the injustice of the situation. I had died, only to be reborn. If I was going to be reborn, couldn't I have at least forgotten my memories? Life is troublesome enough the first time around, but to go through it once more?

The next few moments went by in a blur as I was moved around to be cleaned and vaccinated. My attention was finally caught when I heard a cry originate from where I was first taken from, comprehension dawning on me with the fact that I may just have a twin. Finally, after what could've been a few minutes or an hour, I was finally settled into an area of comfort. The first warmth that had always surrounded me was once more holding onto me, 'my mother,' and the other warmth, the smaller turquoise one, it was right next to me. Basking in their 'heat,' I quickly dozed off to sleep, peacefully ignoring all the loud voices that echoed across the room.

The following weeks flew by in a blur as I tried to get acquainted with my… new skillset. Being a newborn, I suffered a lack in just about everything, so I was determined to gain a measure of control over my body as soon as possible. From the smallest things, like flexing my hands or even gripping other objects, to trying to focus my vision on objects within spitting distance. Progress felt… stagnant. Oh sure, within a few days, moving my hands or mouth felt more natural, but neither motion was being made in any meaningful way. My eyes would indeed focus on an object, if only for me to identify the object as a blurry color of one type or another. At least, with my latest efforts, I had noticed when the world around me shifted from a neon white to a friendlier pale brown.

After we had finally left the hospital, I tried to focus all of my attention on my new family, but despite my efforts, various distractions were abound in my new house. In regards to my new sibling, there was only so much attention that I could give to a bundle of blue and brown that was always with me, so I had attempted to focus more on my mom. The weird thing was, while I spent a significant amount of time with her, I also found various other 'creatures'abound. I mean, I guess they could be pets, but they were unique enough to at least catch my attention, and distract me from any meaningful deliberation. The first one was a light-blue being of bulk that usually hung around my mother from time to time. I would've guessed that it was my father, if not for how… blue it looked. It didn't look human, and the fact of the matter was, I didn't even want to contemplate the fact that I may be a half-human, as that would mean that I was in another world. Alongside the blue 'blob' was a white and pink humanoid that was often seen working around the house. The only thing I could guess was that it was a housekeeper of sorts, but its getup looked ridiculous, and I couldn't even see properly, yet.

The next two creatures looked more like pets and were comfortable to be around. The only weird thing about them was that I had yet to see either of them move in my presence. Sure, they've been in different locations and different positions, but they were always in the exact same position during my wake. The first one was a bit easier to understand why it never moved, as it constantly looked to be asleep. It was a massive bundle of cream-colored, regal fur that curled inwards. From what little I could tell, the creature was vulpine in nature, but I couldn't even be sure of that. The final animal that 'dogged' the place was an oddly colored cat. It looked to be a light brown of sorts, but it was always far away, usually in a seated position, and was never close enough for me to focus on.

These creatures had alternated their presence around both my twin and me whenever we were awake, though usually they were accompanied by my mom. She was a brunette whose hair-color lied in the lighter end of the spectrum. She frequently wore a fuchsia pink blouse over a lemon-colored yellow shirt. Below that, she usually wore a violet skirt and a pair of white slippers. Whenever she was around, she always had a bright smile on her face as she tended to both my twin and me, though I am obligated to tell you that it often became uncomfortable. Whenever I was hungry, or I had lost control of my bowels, I couldn't help but get embarrassed about the solutions to those problems, but that's a problem for never to talk about.

Outside of my obligatory embarrassment, she often took the time to talk to us, usually with a book in hand as she told many fairy tales. Thanks to my prior knowledge in English, I was able to quickly adjust and understand the words that were being said, but it did take a few weeks for me to be able to properly hear her. Anyhow, thanks to my being able to understand what was being said, I found the stories to be interesting, but the thing that perplexed me was that most of the stories involved pokemon, or referenced the world of Pokemon in ways that I'd never heard about before. Sure, I wasn't the biggest fan of the lore or even the games, but the number of details that were casually mentioned in these fairy tales baffled me. Besides, why would she only use pokemon based fairy tales and not others?

Confusion aside, I couldn't help but learn a lot by hearing tales about the various legendaries that were scattered around the world. From the original pokemon, Arceus, to the diverse number of trios that protect and monitor each region. She even had detailed stories about Pokelantis and Pokemopolis, to legends about the personalities and feats of the hidden legends, like Mew, and Ho-oh. It was interesting, but I couldn't help but wonder about her choice of stories, and why many of them were focused on the region of Kanto. The only, reasonable, guess that I could make was that I was born to a Pokemon-fanatic and that I would probably be watching the anime within a few years. I resolutely refused to even contemplate about any other possibilities that could be the reason for why she was orating stories of that fandom.

Speaking of interesting, there was one thing that caught my eye as my vision improved. The world looked a little… different from what I had remembered. Not too different, mind you, but everything had taken a… softer edge of sorts. Everything and everyone seemed to have rounded edges that seemed to be easier to blend together, than the distinct and sharp images that I effortlessly remembered from my past life. Regardless, as I adjusted to the world around me, nothing significant happened until my first birthday.

Because I had nothing to do as an infant, time seemed to stretch on forever, blurring together into a mesh of nothingness. In spite of that, or perhaps because of that, whenever anything important happened, I couldn't help but focus on the event at hand. Case in point, me and my twin were subject to a birthday party the signified that we were a year old. The party wasn't anything extravagant, but it did allow me to finally meet somebody new in the shape of an old man, along with a younger adult and two kids.

The two older men seemed to look similar, with the primary difference being their wrinkles, clothes, and hairstyle. They both had brown hair and were light skinned, but while the older man sported shorter haircut that was slicked to the side, the younger man had a wild bundle of hair that spiked in every direction. In regards to what they were wearing, the older man went with a professional set of clothes that reminded me of a scientist, what with the white overcoat that opened up to a redshirt. To complete his look, he had a pair of khakis and brown boots that complemented the redshirt, while simultaneously contrasting with the white overcoat. The younger man wore a casual black shirt over a pair of cargo pants and had a confident aura around him.

Despite having seen the two men for the first time, I couldn't help but recognize them somehow, much to my utter confusion. Ignoring my puzzling thoughts, I focused on the younger pair that accompanied the two men. The youngest was easy to overlook as he was an infant like me, wrapped in a dark-blue bundle, oblivious to the world around him, so I focused my attention on the elder of the two.

The first thing that grabbed my attention was that she seemed to be around eight years old. Old enough to be a grown child, but still young enough to lack the growth that comes from the start of puberty. She had light-brown hair, almost blonde in color, and seemed to favor a bright green dress that hung down to her knees. There was also a daisy flower design that tastefully accented the bottom right of her dress, and she seemed to move about with a sense of purpose.

Upon entering the house and meeting my mom, she had quickly focused her eyes on both my sibling and me and made her way to us. It quickly became apparent that she found us cute, and thus started to entertain herself by playing around and trying to make us laugh. After her initial gambit of making me laugh through the evil art of tickling failed due to my skin lacking enough sensitivity for it to succeed, she switches targets over to my twin, with significantly more success. After a few seconds of playing around, she splits her focus to the both of us and engages in a bit a baby-talk before introducing herself as Daisy. After playing around for a dozen or so minutes, we are interrupted by the arrival of the two adults.

The two pick up both my twin and me and proceed to move us back and forth in a rocking motion as they engage us in a mix of baby-talk and actual dialogue. After a few minutes of them holding us, they return us to our crib, where I can peacefully watch the rest of the day go by. It isn't until after the group has left that it happens. My twin starts to cry, getting the attention of my mother, who notices that he seems to be running a fever. After verifying that I am healthy, she softly tells me that she'll be back before taking my twin with her to another room.

Seeing that I was now alone, I sat down and decided to look around for a bit, just in case anything was able to grab my attention, as I had nothing better to do. It was at that moment that I realized that something was different. The oddly-colored cat that usually sat far away from me was now next to the crib, close enough for me to casually observe it, and what I saw did not bode well for my sanity.

The first thing that stood out to me was the dark magenta sclera that, meshed together with the pure-white irises, peered upon me. It stood still, almost like a statue, as it watched over me with nary a worry. With great difficulty, I finally pulled my attention away from those conspicuous eyes, only to feast upon the brilliant lavender fur that sleeked its way down its body. Comprehension dawned on me before I quickly turned my attention to the final piece of the puzzle that would act as confirmation. Glistering in all its brilliance, the light-ruby colored gemstone was the corner piece that affirmed my suspicions. Perfectly circular with no flaws, the ruby was naturally embedded into the magnificent creature's head.

My mind screamed in denial for a few minutes. This couldn't be possible, as such a creature did not exist. I roamed my eyes across its body, looking for anything to affirm my disbelief, but nothing did. Even the mauve colored fur that was visible inside its ear flap served its purpose in making it seem real. The only thing left that soothed my clearly addled mind was the fact that the 'cat' had yet to move. For all I knew, it could've been a realistic sculpture to distract my child-like mind.

Eyes glistening with determination, I reached out towards the animal, demanding it to prove that it was alive. I wanted, nay, needed the final bit of proof to rationalize the situation before me. After all, if I had somehow reincarnated, then this situation is just as, if not more so possible than a simple reincarnation. What happened next had finally caused me to relax. With a soft coo, the 'cat' leaned forward and nuzzled its nose into my hand, before it decided to shift its attention towards my head. Smiling in relief, only one thought went through my head as I enjoyed its soft ministrations, 'It really is an Espeon. I'm somehow in the world of Pokemon.'

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I don't plan for most of the story to be in first person POV, or to avoid specific details as much as I am right now, but my muse directed me to do so for my first chapter. If my story has a problem, let me know, but yeah, don't flame. Constructive criticism only, please.

For the people that are lost, a lot of the details will be filled in next chapter. As this is an SI/OC, I am having my character act in a similar fashion to me. While I wouldn't have a problem with it, the fact of the matter is that I would willfully ignore something that blatant, until the facts were staring in my face. I have a laissez-faire personality, but mostly because I like to ignore stuff that I find irrelevant.

In regards to my release schedule, there is none. I will only release when I feel confident in my chapter. What I upload is what I consider the best chapter that I can write at the time, in regards to what I'm hoping to write. Obviously, I hope to improve, but I feel that if I can enjoy my own chapter, then its good enough to upload.