"See ya later!" Ash waved, as he left the house he had grown up in. It had been a while since he started his journey, and now he was back for a visit. There were a few new faces in his hometown, but he didn't pay much attention. He had already talked to his old family and friends and was ready to get on with his adventure.

"Wait!" A boy shouted, trying to keep up. He had short black hair, wore blue jeans and a green shirt, and had a black hat with a white streak. "You're Ash Ketchum, right?" He asked, after collecting his breath.

"Yeah, that's me. You are…?"

"Call me Jase! Now, I challenge you!"

"A Pokémon battle? You sure?"

"Of course I am! Let's go!" Jase quickly pulled out a Pokéball.

"All right! I won't back down from a challenge!" Ash smirked. He then whistled, causing a Pikachu to fall from a nearby tree, half-asleep. It shook itself awake, and then prepared for battle. A girl near Jase's age also loomed close by.

"Let's go, Pumper!" Jase called, opening the ball and releasing a Squirtle. It made a noise, and then poised to strike on command.

"Go easy, Pikachu. Try a thunder shock," Ash said, with another smirk. Pikachu nodded, then dashed forward.

"You know what to do," Jase said. Squirtle nodded and stood his ground. Pikachu ran behind it and shot out small bit of electricity. Squirtle withdrew into his shell and preformed a rapid spin, absorbing the electric shock. It stopped spinning with some electricity still going through its body. "Thunder punch!" Jase shouted.

Ash and Pikachu were surprised by this, so they didn't come up with a counter. Squirtle quickly summoned his electricity into a punch and struck. Pikachu took the hit and winced.

"Great!" Jase exclaimed. "Now, tail whip!" Squirtle was now out of electricity, ending his special move. He spun around and tried an attack with his tail, but Pikachu ducked.

"C'mon, Pikachu! Agility!" Ash shouted. Pikachu responded with an instant burst of speed. He traveled around Squirtle several times, then tried a tackle. Squirtle took the hit and flew back, another hit, another hit, and another hit as Pikacu moved from spot to spot at lightning speed.

"Water gun!" Jase quickly shouted. Squirtle shot a blast of water out at Pikachu from mid-air, nailing a direct hit.

"Ka!" Pikachu cried. It fell into a back flip, but landed softly.

"Thunder bolt!" Ash commanded, starting to take the fight seriously. Pikachu charged up its energy and jumped on top of Squirtle. It then let out a massive electric charge. Squirtle took it with a loud shriek, but slightly regained itself and tried to shake Pikachu off. After a few efforts, Pikachu did fall off, but was still prepared. "Quick attack!" Pikachu dashed again, instantly.

"Dodge it!" Jase shouted. The Squirtle obeyed by jumping out of the way. "Alright, go with a combo!" Squirtle nodded in agreement. It ran at Pikachu and leapt over it with a flip. As it landed, the Squirtle withdrew into his shell and preformed a rapid spin. It hit the electric mouse, came out of its shell, and made an aggressive spin. His tail whipped across Pikachu, momentarily stunning it. Squirtle continued with a direct skull bash. As his opponent was sent airborne, he finished it off with another water gun. Pikachu flew back, but was still able to land.

"Whoa. Not bad," Ash commented. "Fine. Pikachu, finish it! Thunder!" Pikachu nodded, then built up its energy. Using all every ounce of power, a lightning bolt appeared and struck the tiny turtle. Squirtle let out a cry of agony.

Jase took out his Pokéball and withdrew his Pokemon before it was hurt too badly. He then sighed. "Nice job, Pumper."

"Hey you didn't do too bad!" Ash said, as Pikachu hopped on his shoulder. "Are you a Pokémon trainer?"

"Well, no. Not yet," Jase replied. "Do you think I have what it takes?"

"Definitely!" Ash smiled. "Good luck, Jase, I hope I battle you again!" Ash waved, and left to continue his journey.

"Ah," Jase sighed. He had moved to Pallet Town several years ago. He was fourteen years old and had a slight interest in Pokémon. His dad had been a trainer before, and still kept some of his original Pokémon. One of them had left an egg, which in time, had hatched a Squirtle. Jase named it Pumper and began to raise it for over two years. They worked on different types of battle strategies and together, they had beaten every trainer in the town at least once. The only true rivals that they had were a girl named Trinity and her pal, Rena, a female Nidoran with almost as much experience.

"So, you lost?" Trinity teased, as she revealed herself. She was around Jase's height with long brown hair. She wore jeans and a sleeveless white shirt and thin purple vest. "Well, he was a decent trainer."

"Yeah," Jase agreed. He let out another sigh. "I'm leaving."

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna head out and become a Pokémon trainer! I'll collect the gym badges and raise an unbeatable team! It'll be fun!" Jase grinned. He stared out as the sun had started to set, a small gleam in his eyes. Trinity seemed to be in thought. "I'll leave tomorrow. Me and Pumper will set out and start an adventure!"

"Alright then, good luck with that," Trinity smiled.

"I'm going back home. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay Trin?"

"Yeah, sure," Trinity nodded. Jase left towards his house, thinking about how to prepare for the next day, not sure of what could happen next.

Jase had woken up early the next morning, just as he expected. He had told his parents the night before that he'd be leaving, and even though they were sad, they weren't surprised. He had decided on visiting Professor Oak after breakfast, but he also wanted to say goodbye to Trinity. When Jase arrived at her house, however, Trinity's mom told him that she had already left.

"Sorry, Jason. Trinity left earlier this morning. She had told me that she was going to become a trainer as well. She had this all planned out for a while now, and I thought you already knew?"

"Oh, well, I don't think she mentioned it. If she is out there though, we might cross paths," Jase replied.

"Good luck then, dear."

"Thanks!"

Jase went directly over to Prof. Oak's lab and was greeted by an assistant. He was escorted over to Oak, who looked like he was expecting him. "Hello, Jase!"

"Hi, Prof."

"So, you want to start your journey?"

"Yeah. Did you already know that I was coming?"

"Trinity had stopped by last night. She mentioned that you'd probably come. Frankly, I had figured that you two would have left a lot earlier then now. My grandson left at an age two years younger then you, but he hasn't seemed to make much progress until recently."

"Oh, Gary, right? Well, I'm sure that Trinity is already way ahead of me. Is there anything that I'll need? Maybe some advice?"

"Here's some extra Pokéballs that you could use, and I have a new version of the Pokédex I used to be handing out! It's in the shape of a watch, see? It should give you information on nearly any Pokémon, and tell you the level of their strength from one to one-hundred! You can figure out some more things with it if you try, I'm sure, and it should be pretty handy!"

"Cool," Jase replied. He let out his Pumper to see if it would work.

"Squirtle!" the small Pokémon cried.

"Hold still for a sec', Pump. Let's see, you are at level… 12. Not bad, I guess. With some more training, I bet we even beat the first gym, no sweat!"

"You wanted some advice? Well, your Squirtle's unique ability to absorb weak elemental attacks should come in handy. His body can only hold a very small amount though, so try to master it. Squirtle is also weak against electric attacks, so get a stronger Pokémon before going to Vermillion city. And one last thing, remember that Pokémon are your friends and should be treated as such. I'm sure you understand, but don't exert your pals when they can't go on much longer."

"Got it. Thanks, Prof.!" Jase took Squirtle and waved good-bye. He continued on and said bye to everyone else he knew, and finally left.