Author's Note:
Hey guys, this will be my first ever story and it's quite an ambitious one to say the least. It's a story that will focus on Ash's journey to becoming the Pokemon Master and this story in particular will focus on Ash and co. travelling through the Kanto region. Essentially it is a re-write of the Pokemon anime with my own little twist and will be combined with story elements from the game and the Pokemon Adventures manga. Ash will get smarter as this story progresses apart from a few comedic moments and will be joined by familiar characters and a few new ones as well.
Anyway with that being said, Let's get into it.
Chapter 1: Ash and Pikachu
"Aaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh!" a loud voice bellowed, echoing over the peaceful tranquillity that the small yet quaint Pallet Town usually experiences. The culprit of this disturbance is ten year old, Ash Ketchum, an aspiring Pokemon training with ambitions of becoming the Pokemon Master. Today is a special day for young Ash Ketchum as it marks the day that he can receive his very first Pokemon from the highly revered Professor Oak.
"Ash? Are you alright dear?" a concerned motherly voice called from downstairs. This voice belonged to none other than Ash's Mother, Delia Ketchum. Delia was a young, single mum that had her brown hair tied into a ponytail that extends to her mid-back and auburn-brown eyes. She was currently wearing a long blue dress that originates from her waist and a pink buttoned short-sleeved shirt.
Suddenly, Ash jumped downstairs and dashed across the hall exclaiming "It's 10 o'clock! I'm gonna be late! I'm gonna be late!". Ash had his mother's auburn-brown eyes with messy black hair hidden underneath his lucky red and white hat and was sporting a black T-shirt covered by an unzipped blue jacket with short white sleeves, blue jeans and a white pair of sneakers, useful for when he is in hurry.
"Oh, for Pete's sake Ash! I told you to get some sleep last night otherwise you would be late!" Delia berated frustratedly. She was generally used to Ash's childish antics but he still never failed to surprise her with his thoughtlessness. "Make sure you come back here before you leave" she reminded.
"Yeah, okay. I'm sorry." Ash replied sheepishly as he slammed the door behind him and sprinted down the dirt road towards Professor Oak's lab. "Oh man, oh man, oh man I can't believe I fell asleep." he mentally berated himself. He continued to do this until he came across a familiar face.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here. I can't believe you're late for one of the most important moments of your pathetic life." Gary said with a condescending tone. Gary had messy brown hair and was wearing a deep-blue long-sleeved sweater with black long pants. Gary Oak was the grand-son of Professor Samuel Oak and son of the current Champion of the Kanto Region, the great Blue Oak, and so he has greatness running through his veins and this is a fact he brought up as often as possible around his greatest rival, Ash Ketchum.
Ash and Gary's rivalry goes way back and could be seen in every activity they did with each other. They were highly competitive and everything they ever did was a competition whether they were fishing, running or swimming. Even daily arbitrary tasks like eating or sleeping was like its own little event in the Olympics. No matter what they were doing, they were constantly at each other's throats but underneath this fierce rivalry was a deep friendship that was obvious to everyone but Ash and Gary.
"Uhhh… yeah, I may have overslept a little..." Ash admitted, scratching his neck nervously.
"What did you do? You didn't try and stay up all night trying to be the first one there, did you?" Gary asked sarcastically.
"Uhhhh…" Ash trailed off into thought.
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"Ash Ketchum! It is 10 o'clock! You should have been asleep hours ago!" Delia yelled angrily at Ash as she grabbed the remote and turned off his TV.
"Well you see Mum..." Ash responded in an attempt to explain. "If I stay up all night, I'll be able to get to Professor Oak's lab really early and get first pick of the Pokemon."
"You do realise what's going to happen don't you?" she asked rhetorically. "You're going to fall asleep in two or three hours and sleep in way too late and be the last person to choose and you'll be stuck with whichever Pokemon is left."
"Nah, I'll be fine Mum." Ash poorly reassured Delia who clearly had no faith in Ash's ability to be able to pull this off.
"Fine, do what you want. But if you fall asleep, I will not be waking you up. You're about to go off and see the world on your own and you need to start dealing with the consequences of your actions." Delia explained sternly.
"Thanks Mum, I'll be fine. Just you wait and see." Ash said with a stupid grin on his face.
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2 hours later…
"Ash? Ash, are you still awake?" Delia queried, quietly knocking on the door. Upon not hearing a response she slowly inched the door open to see the general mess that was Ash's room with the light on and the TV still buzzing in the background with Ash sprawled across the floor snoring in a deep sleep without a care in the world. "What an idiot." Delia couldn't help but have a chuckle at her son's antics.
XXXXX
"...maybe." Ash reluctantly muttered.
"Hahahahaha!" Gary couldn't control himself. "Leave it to you Ashy-boy to come up with some idiotic plan to get ahead of me. I know you need that little head-start to even be on my level with me having greatness in my DNA and what not."
"Grrrrr..." Ash vented. There was nothing he hated more than letting Gary get the upper hand. In this moment of frustration, Ash noticed something of interest that put a small mischievous grin on his face. "Are those bags under your eyes Gary?"
"Huh?! No! What are you on about?" Gary blurted out in a futile attempt to cover them up.
"Yes they are! You stayed up all night too, didn't you?" Ash inquired cheekily.
"Alright you got me. I had the same idea as you but clearly I was able to succeed in my endeavour" Gary admitted.
"Yeah I guess so," Ash muttered. "But I don't understand. I practised staying awake all night the day before to make sure I could do it and I pulled it off just fine then." Ash added bemusedly.
"..." Gary stared blankly back at Ash.
"What?" Ash asked defensively.
"You truly are an idiot amongst idiots," Gary replied with a smart-ass tone. "Anyway Ashy-boy, you'd better get your sleepy butt to Gramps' Lab or there might not be any Pokemon left."
"There's no way the Professor wouldn't have a Pokemon for me. He had three Pokemon; One for you, one for me and one for Alain, so I'll just take what's left." Ash said.
"I'm just saying, you never know what could happen and it's our new job as Pokemon trainers to be able to expect the unexpected." Gary replied.
"Oh yeah, which Pokemon did you choose?" Ash inquired.
"Only the best Pokemon there!" Gary answered confidently as he unclipped a Pokeball from his belt which opened to reveal a light blue turtle with a brown shell and pale yellow belly. "Let me introduce to the greatest Squirtle to have ever graced this land!"
"Squirtle Squirt!" the Tiny Turtle Pokemon responded arrogantly matching the mannerisms of it's new trainer.
"Oh wow, so you chose Squirtle? That's so awesome!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, you don't have to tell me twice!" Gary arrogantly replied. "I chose this little guy to be one up on our pal Alain who chose Charmander as his first Pokemon."
"So Alain chose Charmander hey? Damn! That's what I was gonna choose." Ash said to himself.
"Well you shouldn't have fell asleep then Ashy-boy!" Gary taunted.
"Oh well. I guess that leaves me with Bulbasaur and that's just fine!" Ash said with a determined expression. "That's the same Pokemon my Dad had when he left for his journey and it will give me the advantage over you and your Squirtle when we battle."
"Don't count on it bud!" Gary responded confidently.
"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle also responded backing up Gary.
"I could have chosen to have the advantage over you but I knew that Alain was going to be a much stronger rival for me that you could ever be!" Gary added mockingly. "I'm not even slightly worried about you!"
"Hey!" Ash responded angrily. "Just you wait, I'll beat you and your Dad and then I'm on my way to becoming the Pokemon Master!"
"You becoming the Pokemon Master? Don't make me laugh! There's no way you could ever become the World's Strongest Pokemon Trainer when you couldn't even become the strongest in Pallet Town." Gary arrogantly retorted. "There is greatness in my blood! You just can't compete with that Ashy-boy!
"We'll just see about that!" Ash responded defiantly.
At this point both young trainers were in each others faces with looks of pure determination in their eyes.
"Well, I had best be on my way," Gary finally said after several moments of their intense stare-off. "Squirtle, return." he said as he recalled his new Pokemon.
"Yeah, I guess so," Ash replied. "Next time we meet lets have a Pokemon battle!"
"Heh, I can always make time to humiliate you!" Gary remarked. "Anyway, I'll smell ya later Ashy-boy!"
"Alright, see ya!" Ash said walking off in the direction of Professor Oak's laboratory whilst Gary had his sights set on Route 1 to start his adventure.
With a quick wave from both Ash and Gary, they were on their way to bigger and better things.
After realising that he has still yet to pick a Pokemon, Ash had once again taken up running towards Oak's Lab and after what seemed like miles, he had finally arrived at his destination. He lunged up the last few steps to arrive at the huge front door of the lab. Exhausted, Ash weakly knocked on the large wooden door.
"Coming." Ash heard an elderly voice call out. Moments later the large red wooden doors opened revealing the figure of one of the most revered Pokemon Professors in the world. Professor Oak was an older man with neat grey hair and large black, bushy eyebrows. He wore his white lab coat over a red polo shirt which were neatly tucked into his khaki pants. "Ah, Ash my boy! I was wondering where you might have been." Oak greeted happily.
"Yeah, sorry I'm late Professor. I may have overslept a little." Ash replied sheepishly.
"No matter Ash, right this way I have some news for you." Oak said gesturing for Ash to follow him.
The room Oak had brought Ash to was one of the main rooms of the laboratory. Looking around this room revealed loads of high tech equipment including a large circular table in the centre with three Pokeball sized indentations.
"I ran into Gary and he said that Alain chose Charmander," Ash explained, "but I'm hoping he's lying because I was really hoping to be able to choose Charmander as my starter."
"Well you know what they say. The early bird gets the worm. Or in this case the Pokemon..." Oak commented. "But that isn't the news I had for you."
"Oh yeah, what is that news you wanted to speak to me about?" asked Ash.
"Well Ash my boy, I'm afraid it isn't good news." Oak begun to explain. "You see, I had originally planned for each you, Gary and Alain to receive a Pokemon from me as I had three to begin with."
"Right. Gary received Squirtle and Alain received Charmander so there should still be a Bulbasaur left for me to collect." Ash deduced.
"And there was. Up until a few minutes ago when a young girl not much older than yourself snuck into my lab and stole the Pokeball containing Bulbasaur that would have ordinarily sat in one of those Pokeball holders on that desk over there." explained the Professor who was gesturing towards the large circular table in the centre of the room.
"Wah! You've got to be kidding me!" Ash exclaimed in surprise. There was no way this could happen Ash thought. Just a few moments ago he was speaking to Gary. Surely his Bulbasaur couldn't have been stolen in that time he spent with Gary. "Isn't there anything we can do about it Professor?" he asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid not. She could be anywhere by now." exclaimed Oak. Truthfully, Professor Oak knows that she couldn't have gone too far as the event had only occurred a few minutes ago and he could have stopped the young girl but decided against it as he had this overwhelming feeling that she could do some real good in the world.
"Oh man..." Ash muttered feeling defeated. "You don't happen to have any more Pokemon, do you?"
"Well..." Oak said drifting into thought, "I do have one..."
"Please Professor, you have to give it to me or there's no way I can become the Pokemon Master." Ash pleaded.
"Well okay but I must warn you that it is quite hostile around humans as it has had quite a troubled past." Oak warned as he pressed a button that caused a Pokeball with a unique lightning bolt pattern to come out from the centre of the circular desk. Oak picked up the Pokeball and handed it to Ash. "Here you go Ash. Now, be careful."
"Thank you so much Professor! I promise I will be." Ash exclaimed excitedly. He immediately released the Pokemon from it's Pokeball to reveal a yellow rodent with black-tipped, pointy ears, red, round cheeks and a lightning bolt shaped tail.
"Pikaaaachuu," the Pokemon yawned as it stretched. It then gave a look of content, seemingly happy to be outside of it's Pokeball.
"That's a Pikachu." explained Oak. "It's an electric type Pokemon that stores it's electricity in electricity pouches found within their cheeks."
Ash's smile grew from cheek to cheek as he finally had his first Pokemon. "Hey Pikachu, my name is Ash Ketchum and I think you and I are going to be great friends." Ash said warmly extending a hand to symbolise the beginning of their friendship.
Pikachu just stood there and stared back at this Ash Ketchum boy. Pikachu didn't trust humans for a reason; they abuse him when he fails to do their dirty work for them properly, even if he was morally objected to the stuff they were doing and he was sure this guy was no different. With that in mind Pikachu turned away from Ash in defiance wanting nothing to do with him.
"Oh, come on. Don't be like that." Ash said in a reassuring voice as he raised his hand to give Pikachu a comforting pat on the head.
"No Ash! Don't do that!" warned the Professor.
This warning came too late as Ash had already laid his hand between the Mouse Pokemon's ears which caused it to release a powerful Thunderbolt which fried Ash causing him to collapse onto the floor.
"I tried to warn you Ash. It's shocking isn't it." Oak joked.
"You… can say… that… again." Ash managed to stutter as electricity still crackled through his body.
Pikachu just sat there. Half of him was satisfied to give that kid a reality check but the other was terrified that he would retaliate violently like all of his other owners have done in the past when he electrocuted them.
"Ash my boy, are you okay?" Oak asked with a hint of concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ash replied. "Man was that Thunderbolt awesome!" he then exclaimed.
Pikachu looked around with intrigue. No one has ever responded to being shocked with a compliment like that. In fact, no one has even complimented him before. There was something different about this boy.
"Clearly this was a bad idea," Oak said. "I'll see if I can find you another Pokemon."
"No!" Ash responded defiantly. "It was my fault Pikachu shocked me. I must have startled it when I reached out to pat it."
"If you insist. But I must tell you that I received this Pokemon from a rescue shelter because it was too hostile to keep there." Oak warned. "I must also tell you that this Pikachu was rescued from the dangers of Team Rocket. These are the only type of people this Pokemon knows about which is the cause of it's distrust. I'm afraid raising your first Pokemon will be the ultimate test for you as Pokemon trainer and that I'm throwing you into the deep end, so to speak."
"That doesn't matter to me," Ash said warmly as he glanced towards Pikachu. "I experienced first hand how awesome this Pikachu is and I won't let anyone else hurt it the way Team Rocket did."
Pikachu still looked on with awe at this boy. Perhaps he was different from the rest. He would still have to keep a wary eye on him to make sure he didn't go back on his word but he at least deserves a chance to prove his friendship.
Oak smiled at Ash's nurturing and compassionate nature. Maybe he could be the one to help this Pikachu forget his past. "Very well then, it's settled. Pikachu will be your very first Pokemon." he declared.
"Alright!" Ash celebrated. "You aright with that Pikachu?"
Pikachu didn't respond immediately as he was trying to gauge Ash's reaction to sense any evil in his face. After finding nothing to put him off he gave a small nod without any hint of a smile.
"Then let's get this show on the road!" Ash said with determination.
"Before you leave I request that you take this." Oak said as he handed Ash a red, rectangular box.
"What is it?" Ash asked.
"This is a Pokedex." Oak explained. "It can be used to record and give out any information about the Pokemon you may encounter on your journey. Unfortunately my age is creeping up on me and I am too old to do the field research that I would like to do. It can be very useful to you by telling you the moves of your Pokemon."
"Let's give it a crack then." Ash said as he pointed his Pokedex to Pikachu.
"Pikachu: The Mouse Pokemon. Pikachu has stores electricity in the electric sacs on its cheeks. When it releases pent-up energy in a burst, the electric power is equal to a lightning bolt.Known moves; Thunderbolt, Quick Attack." The Pokedex said in a robotic, monotonic voice.
"Awesome, so Pikachu knows Thunderbolt and Quick Attack?" Ash confirmed.
"And finally here's Pikachu's Pokeball and some spares for you to catch some more." Oak said giving Ash a handful of Pokeballs.
"Thanks for everything Professor." Ash thanked.
"You're welcome Ash my boy." Oak replied. "Now I think it would be a good idea that you see your mother before you head off on your adventure."
"You're right, I better get on my way before Gary gets a bigger head-start than the on he already has." Ash said. "Alright Pikachu, let's get going. Return."
Pikachu immediately startled at this statement and instinctively jumped out of the way of the red beam. "Pika Pikachu, Pika Pika!" he angrily shouted at his new trainer as he pointed to the Pokeball indicating that detests being confined in a Pokeball.
"Hmm?" Ash muttered in confusion. "Oh I get it! You don't like being in your Pokeball, do you?"
"Pika Pi." Pikachu nodded giving Ash some confirmation.
"Alright then, you don't have to be inside you Pokeball if you don't want to be." Ash said warmly. "You can walk outside with me!"
"Are you sure that's alright Ash?" Oak queried. "Pokemon typically don't tend to stay outside of their Pokeballs."
"Yeah it's fine." Ash confirmed. "I won't force Pikachu to do anything it doesn't want to do."
"Okay then, as long as you're okay with it." Oak said with a sense of doubt.
"Well thanks again for everything. I better get going but I'll be sure to fill you in on everything that's happening." Ash said waving goodbye to the Professor with Pikachu following two or three steps behind.
"Goodbye Ash my boy, have fun on your journey and make sure you record as much information as you can in your Pokedex." Oak called out whilst waving back.
Ash and Pikachu walked the dirt road back to the Ketchum household with some relatively awkward small talk. Pikachu was still very cautious of Ash and Ash knew that the instant he makes even the slightest misstep, Pikachu will shock him and run off. But Ash was committed to making this work and to help Pikachu overcome his past.
"Alright Pikachu, get ready for some of the best food we're going to get for a while." Ash said encouragingly.
Pikachu just nodded with an empty expression to signal that he was ready to meet his Mum.
"Hey Mum, I'm home," Ash called out as he opened the door and walked right in.
"Right on time, I've just finished breakfast!" Delia replied from the kitchen.
Ash and Pikachu just followed their noses right into the kitchen where a giant spread of food was laid out on the table. This contained plenty of bacon, eggs, pancakes and more!
"Wow Mum, you've really outdone yourself this time." is all Ash could say with all of the drool coming out of his mouth.
"Pikaaaa..." Pikachu was also fixated on the food and was only now understanding what Ash was saying at the front door.
"Well I have to make you a big farewell breakfast before you go away on you're big adventure." Delia said lovingly before turning her attention to Pikachu. "Is this the Pokemon you've chosen Ash? It's so cute!"
"Oh yeah, that's Pikachu. Be careful not to startle it otherwise it'll hit you with Thunderbolt." Ash warned with a mouthful of pancakes.
"Oh my. Well Pikachu, you can help yourself to anything on the table." Delia offered with a friendly grin.
"Yeah Pikachu," Ash said pausing to swallow, "dig in."
Pikachu, who was eyeing off a bottle of ketchup, accepted the invitation taking the ketchup bottle and drinking straight from it whilst cradling on its back.
"Hahahaha you really look like you're enjoying that ketchup there Pikachu!" Ash laughed but those words fell on deaf ears as Pikachu seemed to be somewhere else. "I'll have to remember that when we travel."
"I've taken the liberty of packing you're bag for you while you were out." Delia said as she prepared to eat her first pancake.
"Oh thanks Mum!" Ash thanked as he started to get into the bacon.
"I've packed you everything you could need; sleeping bag, fresh clothes, pyjamas, rope, rubber gloves, toothbrush, toothpaste, a bar of soap..." Delia listed.
Ash zoned out as he was now helping himself to a large serving of eggs. Whenever his Mum does this he never ends up using half the thinks she packs and he was sure this time would be no different. He does admire her ability to fit this into one backpack because whenever he has to repack he always has to throw away some of the more useless items as he can't fit them back in again much to his mother's dismay.
"...thermometer and plenty of pairs of clean underwear." Delia finally finished.
"Got it Mum, thanks." Ash thanked without really knowing what she packed for him. "Anyway, I think it's time Pikachu and I were on our way."
"What?! You're not going to eat anything else?" Delia asked before looking down to see that all of the food is already gone.
After Pikachu had drunk all of the ketchup, he moved on to the rest of the spread and Ash had probably eaten a good 70-80% of the food.
"But this is my first pancake..." Delia muttered feeling defeated. It's not like she isn't used to Ash's incredible appetite but it never ceases to catch her off guard.
"Uhhh… sorry." Ash said insincerely.
"Pika..." Pikachu said following suit.
"No matter, I'll just cook something else for myself after you leave..." Delia commented.
Ash gave a sheepish laugh as he picked up his over-packed backpack and started to head out the front door. Delia and Pikachu followed Ash and they all ended up outside the front door.
"Goodbye Mum." Ash said with a hint of sadness.
Goodbye Ash." Delia responded whilst pulling her son in for one final hug. "Have fun on your journey Ash but above all, stay safe."
"I will Mum." Ash replied.
"I'm going to miss you Ash." Delia said.
"I'll miss you too Mum." Ash said as they both pulled away from the embrace. Ash then started to walk to the town's exit onto Route 1 and turned to wave one last goodbye to his mother. "Bye Mum, I promise I'll keep in touch as often as I can." he called out.
"Bye Ash, take care." Delia then called out as she waved goodbye as well. "Don't forget to change your you-know-what's every day!"
"Uhhh..." Ash muttered in embarrassment.
"Pikakakaka!" Pikachu laughed at his new trainers expense. Pikachu still wasn't completely trusting of his new trainer but so far he seems to be proving himself as a trustworthy person.
Ash and Pikachu walked towards Route 1 to start their journey together. Little do they know that huge adventures await them on the roads ahead.
So, how was it? I'd love to hear what you all have to say. If you have any constructive criticism, I want to hear it! If this chapter is any indication, each chapter will probably be around 4000 words give or take.
You may have noticed that I always said 'the' Pokemon Master implying that there can only be one. That's another difference to the anime where becoming a Pokemon is some sort of vague ambition. In this story there is only one and this Pokemon Master stands above all the regional champions.
Thank you so much for reading and please tell me what you thought. I'll try my best to answer any questions you may have about the series and the next chapter should be out soon.