Disclaimer: I do not, nor I cannot, own Pokémon. Pokémon is owned by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Creatures, Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri. No profit was made in the writing of this fanfic. And that's all I have to say about that.
Chapter One: Lost Opportunities
Ash Ketchum was a boy from Pallet Town.
He lived in the incredible world of Pokémon, a world full of adventure, wonder and excitement. In the land of Kanto, when children reached the age of ten, they could register to receive their Pokémon license, and become an official Pokémon trainer. For some, Pokémon were pets. Others use them for battling. Local ten year olds were given their beginner Pokémon from Professor Samuel Oak, the town's Pokémon expert. They could choose from three starters, the Grass type Bulbasaur, the Fire type Charmander, and the Water type Squirtle. This choice was of the utmost importance, for the trainer would help these young Pokémon to develop their powers and grow strong. Nobody was quite certain how many types of Pokémon there are, for they came in all shapes and sizes, but Pokémon Masters aimed to catch them all.
Ash Ketchum was one such aspiring trainer. Like many others, ever since he was little, he had hoped of one day becoming a Pokémon Master. The way to become one was complicated and often highly disputed, but normally, a trainer had to battle their way through the eight Gym Leaders of Kanto and defeat every trainer at the Indigo League Championship. Once a League Champ, a trainer could then challenge the infamous Elite Four, and finally, the current Regional Champion. Kanto's Champion was the Dragon Master Lance. Only after he's defeated was one declared the new Champion and official Pokémon Master.
For Ash, that journey began today. It would be a long one, but Ash was ready. He was determined. He was also... running late.
"Oh no! What time is it?!" Ash pulled himself out of his bed's tangles, Voltorb alarm clock broken at his feet. Shoving on shoes on over his green pajamas, he raced out the front door of his house, desperate to reach the Professor's on time. "Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander! Anyone's fine! Just save one for me!" Sprinting across the small country town, he reached the front steps of Professor Oak's Research Laboratory, panting for breath. Outside the Lab, a veritable parade stood waiting as a sendoff to the town's prodigal son, and grandson to the Pokémon Professor, Gary Oak. Ash shoved his way through the well-wishers, before suddenly bumping into Gary himself, resulting in his feet being knocked out from under him.
Gary turned angrily to the grounded Ash. "Hey, watch where you're going!" He made a show of straightening out his purple long sleeved shirt, which in turn jostled a yellow and green yin-yang pendant he wore around his neck. Noticing who it was that had bumped into him, he continued with, "Oh hey, it's Ash! Better late than never, I guess! At least you get the chance to see me off!"
Gary?" Ash wondered as he climbed to his feet. How could he not recognize the boy standing above him? The two didn't exactly have the smoothest history with one another.
"Mr. Gary to you! Show some respect!" Gary said in a lazy attempt to instigate a fight. "Well, Ash, you snooze, you lose, and you're way behind right from the start! I've got a Pokémon and you don't!"
Discouraged, Ash asked, "You… got your first Pokémon?" That meant the choices would be fewer now. He frowned at the implications.
"That's right, loser! And it's right inside this Poké Ball." Gary expertly spun a standard red Poké Ball on his finger. Turning to the gathered crowd, he addressed his loyal subjects. "Thank you fans! Thank you all for this great honor. I promise you that I will become a Pokémon Master, and make the town of Pallet known all round the world!" The crowd broke into cheers at his proclamation.
"Excuse me?" Ash interrupted again. He had to know, if only so that he would be able to pick the Pokémon with an advantage. "I was just wondering if you could tell me what kind of Pokémon you got."
Gary shoved his face into Ash's, forcing him to lean back. "None of your business! If you showed up on time, you woulda seen that I got the best Pokémon from Professor Oak! It's good to have a grandfather in the Pokémon business, isn't it!" Making his way to his nearby red convertible, he said his farewells, now expertly ignoring Ash. "Thank you for coming out to see history in the making! Now I, Gary Oak, am off to learn the ways of the Pokémon trainer!" His car quickly disappeared into the distance, the crowd following as well, leaving Ash standing alone in front of the Laboratory.
Gary's disappearance only served to fuel Ash's determination. Ash clenched his fists, letting a cocky smirk smear itself across his face. He said a quick, "I'll show you," to the departing vehicle, and turned to run up the steps. He made his way through the halls of the lab to Professor Oak's office, where he knew the Professor to be waiting. He made sure not to run too much, having been scolded for doing just that in the past.
Arriving at the right room, his hand settled around the doorknob, but paused in hearing an unfamiliar voice from inside. The voice was deep enough to be male, but definitely young. It probably belonged to another hopeful trainer. At the moment, it was asking, "Does that mean all the Pokémon are gone?"
Professor Oak responded with a tentative, "Well, there is still one left, but I…"
Immediately, the voice rushed to say, "Professor, I'll take it!"
At that, metaphorical alarms blared in Ash's mind. Twisting the doorknob, he stormed into the room as well, and yelled to its occupants, "No, wait! I want it!"
Professor Oak and the other child turned towards Ash at his interruption. Oak's face twisted into a slight scowl, as he observed Ash's disheveled appearance. "Ash? So, you decided to show up after all."
Ash answered back with a quick apology. "Yes, sorry Professor! I got messed up this morning, and I was a little late. But believe me, I'm ready for a Pokémon!" He stood firm, not wanting to miss his chance to become a trainer.
Unfortunately for Ash, fate seemed to have a different idea in mind. "You look like you're ready for bed, not for Pokémon training. I hope you don't think you're going to train in your pajamas." Ash moved to defend himself, but the Professor had already moved on. "Besides, I was just saying how all of the Pokémon but one were already taken by kids who weren't late. And seeing as how Yellow was here first…"
Ash felt a great rush of shame, which quickly evolved into unjust anger. He turned a glare onto the trainer who was going to get what should be his Pokémon, whose brown eyes shifted away from his uncomfortably. Yellow fiddled with a round straw hat of theirs, clearly uncomfortable to be in the position of standing in the way of Ash's journey.
The whole situation struck Ash as odd. Pallet Town was a small and pretty place, as rural as you can get. Everybody knew everybody here, and yet this Yellow was completely unfamiliar to him. Obviously, he was from another city. Who was he anyway? Ash decided to ask just that.
"I'm Yellow de Viridian Grove. Nice to meet you." The kid treated him with a small wave as well.
Ash muttered back a less than heartfelt greeting in return. Viridian City, huh? Setting aside his frustration for a moment, he couldn't help but think of what an odd name this Yellow had. Considering the mass of blonde hair hidden underneath that hat, it was actually quite fitting.
He turned his attention back to more important matters. There was still one question Ash had to ask, but hadn't yet out of fear. Fear of that which he already knew. A fear of being left behind. He set that fear aside long enough to ask the question they all knew was coming. "Does that mean that I don't get a Pokemon?"
Professor Oak looked uncomfortable at crushing such an enthusiastic kid's dreams, but he couldn't dance around the facts. Not even for Ash. "I'm afraid not."
So his adventure was to be over before it ever even began. Ash tried to hold it back, but with that simple sentence ended all of his dreams. Ash slumped his head forward in defeat, and refused to make any more eye contact.
Yellow decided to take that moment to interject. "Umm… can I get my Pokémon now?" Having not wanted to draw Ash's anger upon anyone else, the question came out more hesitant than intended.
Back on track, Oak responded with an, "Ah yes. One second." He walked back across the room to where there sat a mechanical stand, upon which were arranged three empty Poké Balls in a triangle. Pressing his thumb onto a nearby button, a Poké Ball with a yellow lightning bolt appeared out of the center of the formation. Picking it up out of the device, Professor Oak warned Yellow, "I think I should tell you, there is a problem with this last one."
"Don't worry, I can handle it!" Yellow insisted, looking particularly excited to be receiving a starter now that the awkwardness had passed.
"Well, in that case." Oak handed over the Poké Ball to Yellow, who quickly released the Pokémon caught inside. A bright light filled the room, as the Electric Mouse's form took shape. "It's name is Pikachu."
Clipping the lightning marked Poké Ball to their leather belt, Yellow shifted a knee length sleeveless orange shirt out of the way in order to kneel down in front of the Pikachu.
"Hi there Pikachu! I hope we can be friends." Ash and Professor Oak watched as the boy brought a hand to Pikachu's head, but stopped short when the Mouse let off some sparks in warning. Yellow's hand halted, but did not pull away. "What's wrong?"
Pikachu merely turned his head away with a disinterested "Pi."
This seemed to mean something to them both, as Yellow asked, "Why not?"
A mere "Pika-Pika" was the reply.
This disappointed his new partner, as Yellow rushed to answer the unintelligible PikaSpeak. "Th-that's not true! We're partners now!" Standing up, determination shone on the kid's face, despite Pikachu's indifference. "You'll see, we'll make an awesome team in no time!"
When it came to Pokémon speech, Professor Oak was deeply out of his depth. Perhaps Yellow actually understood Pikachu, or maybe this was just a quirk. Truthfully, nothing he knew would point towards either answer, which was seen in the utterly lost look he bore.
After snapping himself back to attention, Oak continued the process of setting Yellow up as a trainer. He handed over half a dozen Poké Balls and his famed Pokédex to Yellow, who accepted them with gusto.
Meanwhile, Ash, fists clenched firmly by his sides, was immersed in an entirely different mindset. Bitter feelings raced through his mind: Why does he get a Pokemon but I don't? He was, what, two minutes ahead of me? It's not fair! At that moment, Ash wanted nothing more than to have Pikachu as his own, even if that meant it wouldn't listen to him. At least then he wouldn't be stuck in Pallet Town.
Noticing the boy's attitude, Professor Oak took pity on him. He had heard from Delia how excited Ash was to begin his journey. The way she had put it, Ash would talk to anybody who would listen to the rantings of a ten year old these days. To have that stolen from him was cruel. He laid a hand on the boy's shoulder to get his attention. Allowing him a moment to recollect himself, he tried to cheer the boy up. "Don't worry Ash. I raise a fresh batch of Pokémon every six months. While that may seem like a long time now, the time will fly by before you know it."
Ash understood what Oak was attempting, and flashed a smile to relieve him of any worry. "Don't worry Professor. I'll be fine. Like you said, it's only six months." Six endlessly long months to go. Gary will practically be an expert by then.
Samuel Oak was no fool. He could see that Ash would, in fact, not be fine. Despite the boy's beliefs, he was not a very good actor. Oak decided to try another approach. "You know, Ash, I could use a little help around the ranch, what with this new batch of trainers going out."
That caught Ash's attention. In the past, he wasn't allowed access to any of the Pokémon under the Professor's care, the work being considered far too dangerous. Such an offer would have been a dream come true before today. Still, could such a thing truly compare to being a trainer? "I just really wanted a Pokémon of my own. How am I going to become a Pokémon Master if I'm stuck in Pallet Town?"
Oak pressed forward. "Working here would help you prepare for your journey, you know. Why, you could learn how to care for all of the different types of Pokémon I keep in my lab! Going out into the world unprepared isn't going to get you anywhere but in trouble." To sweeten the pot, he added, "Besides, I'd be more than happy to pay you for your time."
Ash relented just a little bit. After a self pitying sigh, he despondently said to Oak, "I guess..." His eyes drifted to Pikachu, who was still pointedly ignoring his trainer.
"Excellent! Meet me here at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning." An idea seemed to occur to Oak, as he rushed back to his desk. "Here, a little reading material for you." From deep within, he pulled out a worn red textbook. Across the front cover, in a faded bright yellow, were the words, 'The Official Pokémon Handbook'. "Seeing as you're not a trainer, I can't give you a Pokédex, but this will serve you just as well."
Ash gripped the offered book, his hand brushing past a singed mark in the corner from a no doubt a long forgotten incident. Opening the cover, Ash flipped through the old tome, finding more than just trainer tips. Sitting alongside the fading text of the notebook were intricate drawings of a wide variety of Pokémon, a number of them completely unfamiliar to Ash. Some sections were crossed out, while others were rewritten completely by hand. On the inside cover, in that same scrawl, was the name Sam.
"In there are several methods every trainer should learn in order to properly care for their Pokémon," Oak said, pulling Ash out of his scrutiny. "Why, in my training days, I carried that book around so often, Agatha used to say I'd wash out and end up a breeder if I wasn't careful." He let out a deep laugh at the nostalgic thought.
Ash listened with half an ear to what was be said while guessing at the meaning of this unusual gift. Sensing the Professor's eyes on him, he rushed to find the appropriate response. "Thanks." He didn't know why he was receiving it, but from the heartfelt look about the Professor, Ash knew it must be quite meaningful. Feeling a mere thanks to be inadequate, Ash tried again to show his gratitude. "Thank you very much!" He added in a bow for good measure.
"Take good care of it." Just then, the moment was interrupted by a blast of Thundershock, as Yellow's electrified form lit up the room. "Excuse me one moment!" He rushed back to help the poor kid with their Pikachu, leaving Ash to his thoughts.
Hours later, Ash lied face down on his bed, alone in his room. The Pokémon Handbook lay by the foot of his bed, forgotten. Despite everyone's best efforts, the small happiness he had found from Oak's gift had left him the moment he stepped outside the Professor's Lab, only to come face to face with his mother, Delia. She had been standing there in tears, oblivious to her son's fate, waiting to see off her baby boy on his journey. Ash barely had the heart to tell her what happened.
For the last few weeks at least, he had been obsessing over the ever advancing date that he'd become a trainer, able to travel throughout the world, discovering new Pokémon. The thought had never occurred to him that he'd be stuck lying in bed, left to merely dream about what he's missing out on. Even with his Pokémon Trainer's license, his mother wouldn't have him traveling to Viridian City, let alone throughout the world, without a Pokémon of his own to protect him.
While that darned Gary! Ash could only guess at how much of a lead he would have, and what he would have to say to Ash the next time they met.
Ash could just imagine it now: In six months time, Gary would return to his grandfather's Lab with an enormous Indigo League trophy hefted upon his shoulders. Ash, fully decked out in a maid outfit, would peer pitifully at his former rival from the Ponyta stables that he's cleaning, envy filling his heart. "I bet you wish that you woke up on time now, don't you Ashy-boy?" As the dream faded away, a fist found itself buried into his old Snorlax plushy to help relieve some of his frustration. It wasn't very effective.
Eventually, he grew tired of the disheartening thoughts, and he made his way to the room's window, where storm winds railed against the side of the house. It had begun earlier in the day, accompanied by the occasional clap of thunder, and did absolutely nothing to improve his mood. Something in his very soul ached to be out in that storm, amongst his fellow trainers and the monsters of the world.
Compelled by his despair, he couldn't even give the time needed to even consider helping out at the Lab. It wasn't that the Professor's offer wasn't appealing. Few things could be further from the truth. Like his father before him, training Pokémon was just in his blood. He had to experience it for himself! No amount of lab work would ever matter to him if they weren't his own hard-earned Pokémon staring back at him every day.
Time passed. He wasn't sure how much exactly, but dinner had been a while ago, if the plate of cold cheeseburgers by the foot of his door was any indication. His mom must have gone all out to try to cheer him up. It wasn't until the thunderstorm began to clear that Ash's mind refocused on what was happening around him. As if from a legend or dream, the clouds parted to reveal a colorful rainbow, as bright as the sun. Its golden glow drew the eye, as the light stretched out to fill the entire sky. Ash stared long at the colorful arc, perfectly framed in his window, as if a gift from the Gods. Silently, and without recognition, a spark of happiness returned to him for the first time in hours.
As the seconds ticked by in front of that window, a thought occurred to the boy. Why should his journey be stopped? It's not like he couldn't catch a Pokémon of his own. People in other cities catch their starters by themselves, so why couldn't he? He could leave in the middle of the night, so as to avoid detection. There wouldn't be anybody would be waiting on the edge of town to stop him from entering Route 1's tall grass. If he left now, Gary and that Yellow guy would barely have a head start. He could catch up.
That day, under the rainbow's light, he made his pledge to the world. "I will be the strongest trainer there ever was: a Pokémon Master!"
Ash waited until nightfall to leave. If his mom or Professor Oak caught him before he can catch a Pokémon, then he'd be right back where he started. He grabbed his green rucksack, packed that morning by his mom. She had listed everything that was inside as she prepared to send him off on his journey. He wavered for a moment from the awkward weight. Some things in it more necessary than others, but it would have to do. Grabbing his Official Pokémon League Expo hat off of his bed stand, he placed the coveted hat on his head. He took a moment to pack away Professor Oak's handbook as well, despite how undeserved it felt to take. Still, there was no turning back; he was ready. Under the cover of darkness, Ash slipped from his home of ten years, out the back door and off to adventure.
Author Note: This was my first attempt at fiction of any kind, so if possible, be considerate and point out any faults. It was originally designed as a For Want of a Nail fic, but the story evolved to include elements that would have clearly been unaffected by the original change. Call it what you will, but that's how the story will unfold. While based in the anime universe, a good number of the changes will be inspired by one series or another, including the introduction of Yellow from the Adventures manga. Go read it. NOW!