Hello, and welcome to what is my first story. I have a few things that you may wish to know before starting.

Ash isn't really in character here, I'll do my best to get his character right, but the Ash in this story is smarter than the one you'd find in the animated series. This is what I would do with Ash if I had the creative control (which I don't). If you want a story that sticks to the anime, then this probably isn't going to be for you.

I'm a new writer, I've never written any kind of story or novel before, so you'll have to forgive me if the quality isn't as high as some of the people on this site. Constructive criticism is welcome, as I'm doing this to improve my skills as a writer.

I'm British/English/From the UK. That means that some of the words and spellings I use may be different to what you would consider correct. I ask that you bare with it, I write how I was taught to, and I spell how I was taught to. (Example: Mum = Mom)

As of now, I'm still unsure if Ash will have any human traveling companions, and if he does then I'm unsure about who.

Finally, I don't own Pokemon.

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Pallet Town – April 1st 2041 - 6:41AM

Dawn approached in the small town of Pallet. The hills partially illuminated by the upcoming bright golden sunrise, and the trees swaying gently in the crisp spring breeze. Hidden in the quiet hills was a small home, a brightly coloured house, with a well kept garden that greeted the sun as it began it's ascent of the sky.

Inside, a teen slept soundly, his shallow breathing barely audible. His messy jet black hair was poking out from under the covers. His room was small, but neat. A desk in the corner, with neatly piled paper to the side. Next to the pile was a keyboard and mouse, which connected to a modern looking computer. Posters of Pokemon, galaxies and various sports teams adorned the walls of the small room. The teen slept quietly in a single bed, with plain black covers and his head resting two plain white pillows.

This teen, of course, was Ash Ketchum. A sixteen year old, brought up in the quaint town of Pallet.

Ash had grown significantly in recent years, he only just still fit in his small bed. When he was 10, he was a mere 5 feet tall. Now he was a towering 6 foot 2". He had also grown in strength. As a result of daily exercise, and (fairly) healthy eating, the teen had a pretty built body. His arm muscles would stretch the sleeves of most of his shirts.

Today was a big day for the teen. He'd spent most of his life preparing for this one day. He was a smart boy, at the age of 14 he'd been picked for special tuition, which led to him completing his school education two years early at 16. When he was 12 he'd attended a survival camp in the summer, which taught him vital skills for use on a journey. His mother had forced him to learn to cook, which to start with, he resented. But he soon realised that this would be invaluable in the future.

Later today the boy who had put a massive amount of time and effort into preparations, would become a Pokemon Trainer.

Pallet Town (Ketchum Residence) – 7:45AM

The teen woke up with a start, and jolted quickly out of his bed. He quickly changed into the black jogging bottoms and a bright red sports shirt. He quickly put on his white trainers, opened his bedroom door and rushed downstairs. There was no sign of anyone downstairs.

'I guess mum slept in today' the boy thought to himself.

He shook his head, took a small metal key from his pocket and unlocked the front door to his house. As soon as the teen walked out, he was greeted by the bright radiance of the sun. The teen squinted his eyes, and put his hand out in front of his face to protect his eyes.

The teen continued to walk away from his house until he reached the edge of the front gardens' fence. He then turned right, and began to run towards a large looking building up a fairly steep hill.

It didn't take long for the boy to reach the building, he didn't enter, however. He ran straight past the building, and continued towards a small forest further along.

'I'll be back here at the lab later' the teen thought to himself, as he allowed a small grin to creep onto his face.

About an hour later, the teen had arrived back at his home. Leaning against the wooden fence, and panting heavily. The door to his home opened, and a young looking woman appeared in the door frame. The woman was his mother, Delia Ketchum. She had light brown hair tied in a pony-tail with a light blue bobble, and large chocolate brown eyes. Clad in a long blue skirt, with a pink cardigan, buttoned at the top, and a bright yellow under-shirt that was tucked neatly into her skirt.

'Morning Ash, did you enjoy your run?' Delia asked, as a sweet smile formed on the lips of the woman.

'Yeah, thanks mum. I suppose you had a nice sleep in this morning?' The black haired teen replied, giving his mother a cheeky smirk.

Delia gave a short giggle at her son's response.

'You know I need my beauty sleep, Ash.' Delia gave her son a hard glare as she saw him roll his eyes. 'But anyway, I've made you a special leaving breakfast. You'll need to keep your energy up for the start of your journey today.' A smile returned on the mother's face as she saw Ash's reaction.

With the bright smile still plastered on her face, the mother turned back to return into the house. With an eager teen not far behind.

In the kitchen there was a large table at the back of the room. On the table was an assortment of various breakfast dishes. There was bacon, sausage, waffles, pancakes, cereal, toast, baked beans and fried eggs. Along with this, there were four jugs of juice, and 3 types of jam with butter placed neatly beside it.

When Ash saw the mound of food at the table his eyes lit up, completely forgetting the exhausting exercise that he'd done not minutes before.

The black haired teen was always amazed at how his mother could cook up meals like this in seemingly no time. Not that this mattered to the, now very hungry teen.

Ash quickly took his seat, and started to pile food onto his plate. Delia watched on with a smile on her face. She always loved to see Ash enjoying the food that she provided. The happy mother, sat down opposite to Ash, and began to fill her plate, with a much more modest amount of food.

Not long later, the food that had been sat on the table was now gone. With a satisfied look on his face, Ash scooped up the last of the food on his plate, and ate it quickly.

'Thanks mum, that breakfast was great!' the teen almost shouted as he leaned back in his chair.

'I'm glad you liked it, Ash. I thought you'd enjoy a big meal considering it'll be your last at home for a while.'

The smile on Delia's face fell slightly, she didn't want Ash to leave. But she knew that this was his dream, and this quickly perked the young woman up again.

Ash gave his mother a reassuring grin, then began to gather up the dishes. He took the pile to the dishwasher under the counter, placed them carefully in their respective places, closed the washer, pushed a button and set the machine going.

30 Minutes Later...

Ash was in his room gathering the equipment that he needed for his journey. He had now changed into what he would call 'more appropriate clothing'. He had a pair of dark grey trousers, that had more pockets and zips than he could count. A black belt with hooks upon which various gadgets and equipment could be placed. He had a dark blue jacket on, with a plain black under-shirt. His ankle-length walking boots were a light grey colour, and were fastened tightly to his feet. Finally, he had a dark blue cap on, which had a white symbol of a pokeball etched into it.

The teen completed his checklist of equipment, and place them carefully and neatly into the large black hiking bag, that his mother had got for him on his 16th birthday. He was ready.

The raven haired teen then threw on his dark brown jacket, hauled his bag onto his back and walked out of his room. He stopped, to take a last look at his old room, then made his way quickly downstairs where his mother was waiting for him.

'Oh Ash, I'm going to miss you. You're all grown up, going on an adventure.' Delia smiled as she took Ash into a tender embrace. 'Don't forget to change your underwear.' The mother giggled softly as Ash broke the embrace.

'C'mon mum, I'm 16. I can look after myself!' Ash gave an embarrassed look. 'I'm going to head out now, I'll call you once I get to Viridian City.'

The teen gave his mother a grin, then turned towards the door. But quickly halted as he heard his mother speak again.

'Please, Ash, look after yourself.' Delia, for the first time gave a worried look.

'I'll be fine, mum. Remember I learnt a lot on that survival camp.'

Ash gave his mother a more serious look. Delia couldn't help but allow a smile to form on her face, she knew that Ash was more than prepared for the tasks ahead.

'Okay. Good luck Ash! I know you'll be a great Pokemon Trainer one day!'

Delia watched, as another grin found it's way onto Ash's face.

'Thanks mum, I'll do my best!'

With that, Ash turned, opened the door and headed out to the lab.

Five minutes later, Ash had arrived at the Pokemon Lab. He walked up to the door, knocked loudly, and then opened the door and allowed himself in.

Not long after, a man, dressed in a plain white lab coat appeared. The man had short grey hair, which stuck out to the left. He had large black eyebrows, that were furrowed as if the man was concentrating on something. He had a pink working shirt on underneath the lab coat, and had light brown working trousers.

The man relaxed, and gave Ash a smile once he realised who his guest was.

'Ah, Ash. Good to see you. You sure did arrive early today. I remember when Gary started his journey, he was 2 hours late!' The man chuckled, as he made his way towards the raven haired teen.

Ash gave a smile. Gary was Ash's best friend. Unlike Ash, Gary had opted to start his journey as soon as he had turned ten. Gary had an air of arrogance to him. But Ash never paid it any heed, he often spaced out, while Gary ranted about how great he was. Gary had been disappointed when Ash had told him that he was going to wait until he was properly prepared. Gary had so far, traveled though four of the surrounding regions; Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. Each time, he had collected the eight necessary badges to compete in the region's league. Though he never got better than last 32, he would still always come back to brag about his achievements to Ash.

It was finally Ash's turn now though, and he was determined to do better than his best friend, and now rival.

'Hi, Professor. It's good to see you too. How is Gary doing?'

Ash walked up to the Professor, and extended his arm for a handshake, which the professor gladly took.

'Yes, Gary is now in Unova. He tells me that this is going to be his last region.' The professor seemed to regret his words almost immediately.

Ash looked a bit crestfallen. The news that Gary was going to be stopping his league challenges disappointed him greatly. He'd often fantasised about beating his rival in the final round of the Indigo League Tournament. It now seemed like a dead dream, he had missed his opportunity to compete with Gary.

The professor saw Ash's disappointed look. He couldn't help but feel bad for the teen.

'Well Ash, let's get to it. Are you ready to pick your starter Pokemon?'

Upon hearing this, Ash immediately perked up, and a large grin appeared on the face of the raven haired teen.

'Yes Professor, I'm ready!' Ash excitedly responded. Giving a fist pump to show his eagerness.

'Alright then, let's go.' The professor chuckled, as he led Ash further into the lab.

The pair eventually arrived at a room with three red and white Pokeballs set out neatly on a table.

'Now then. I know you've gone through a lot of preparations for this day, so I'm going to assume I don't need to give an introduction for each of the starters, correct?'

Ash gave a calm smile, as he walked up to the table.

'You're right professor. I've already given this some thought.' Ash paused, then gave an exasperated sigh. 'I actually don't think any of these starters are right for me'.

The professor gave Ash an odd look, then chuckled.

'You know, Ash, you're the first starting trainer that's ever said that to me.' Ash looked back at the professor, giving him a confused look. 'As it so happens, I do have one other Pokemon that you could pick.' The professor paused, and gave Ash a serious look. 'This Pokemon, it's not the most friendly. It doesn't seem to trust humans, and it took me quite some time for it to allow me to even feed it. Are you sure that none of the starters are for you?'

The professor watched Ash, as he slowly nodded towards the professor.

'Yes, professor, I'm 100% positive.'

Professor Oak gave Ash a smile, the professor knew his mind was set.

'Very well.' The professor pushed a button, and a fourth Pokeball appeared from inside the table.

The professor picked up the Pokeball, which Ash noticed had a lighting bolt on the top of it. Professor Oak then pushed the button in the centre of the Pokeball, and an explosion of dazzling while light materialised from the ball. Ash watched carefully, as the light began to take the shape of a small mouse. The mouse had long ears, that had somewhat pointed, black tips. It's tail was shaped like a thunderbolt. It's cheeks were a bright red, and it's body fairly slender for it's species.

'Pikachu!' The Pokemon squeaked faintly.

Ash cautiously walked up to the Mouse Pokemon, knelt down in front of it and smiled.

'Hi there, Pikachu. My name is Ash Ketchum, I'm a new trainer and I want to pick you as my starter. Would you like to join me on my journey?'

The Mouse Pokemon seemed surprised. Usually the humans would choose their partners, and assume that the Pokemon were okay with it. This human, however had asked him if he wanted to join him. The human was giving him a choice. The Pikachu felt as though he could trust this human. Not like some of the other trainers that had come in the past.

The Mouse Pokemon tilted it's head, as it looked curiously at Ash.

'Pika?' The Mouse Pokemon questioned.

'Yes, I choose you, Pikachu! Will you join me?'

Ash looked at the Pokemon with a hopeful look. Ash knew that he had at least gained a little trust from the Mouse Pokemon. But would it be enough for the Pokemon to choose him as a trainer?

'Pi.' The electric mouse nodded his head, and Ash gave a huge grin and let out a loud laugh.

'Thank you Pikachu! I promise, I'll be the best trainer a Pokemon could ever want.' Ash picked up his new Pokemon, and brought him into his chest in a small embrace.

The professor had wanted to warn Ash about this Pokemon's rather volatile nature. However, Professor Oak's sudden look of panic had changed into one of surprise. When the professor had first tried to pick up the yellow rodent, the Pokemon had given the researcher quite the shock.

'I'm impressed, Ash. It took me a while to gain any sort of trust with Pikachu. All you had to do was talk with it. But I must know, why weren't any of the starter Pokemon for you?' The professor enquired with a curious look on his face.

Ash looked up at the professor and gave a calm smile.

'Because I couldn't choose between them. I thought that you might have another Pokemon that was completely different. Luckily for me, you did.' Ash chirped as he placed his new Pokemon on the table in front of him. 'It's not like I can''t catch them in the wild either.' The teen added.

'Very well, Ash. If this is your choice. Now, this Pikachu doesn't like being in a Pokeball, so I would suggest that you not try to force it into one.'

Ash turned back to the Mouse Pokemon. Giving the electric mouse a long hard look, before giving a smile, and nodded.

'That shouldn't be a problem. You can travel along with me, besides it'll be nice to have some company.' Ash gave the small rodent another bright grin.

Pikachu again looked at his new trainer with surprise. The Mouse Pokemon hadn't expected the teen to be so understanding. Pikachu was glad that he'd agreed to go with this boy. The Pokemon allowed a small grin of his own to form on it's small face.

'Now, Ash.' The professor broke the moment of silence that had gripped the room. 'I have a couple of things for you before you set off.' Then man turned to another table behind him.

Ash and Pikachu made their way over to where Professor Oak was standing. Ash noticed 3 items on the table. One, the largest of the three, caught his attention. It was a glass case, with a metallic top and bottom. Inside the case was an egg. This particular egg was mainly dark blue, but had odd wave patterns of black towards the top.

'That's for me?' Ash had mixed feelings. He was shocked that someone had left this for him. He was curious about what Pokemon was held inside. And a part of him was happy that he would, eventually, be making a new friend.

'That's right Ash. This egg came all the way from Hoenn, from one Mr Stone. I believe you're familiar with him?'

Ash smiled, it made sense that Mr Stone had left the egg for him.

During his time in school, he had met Mr Stone in a chance encounter. Ash had impressed the president of the Devon Corporation. So much so that Mr Stone had given Ash a small task for him to do. Ash had completed this task, very quickly. Because of this, Mr Stone had offered Ash a position in his company. Ash, of course declined. But this was probably Mr Stone's way of returning the favour.

'Do you know what type of Pokemon will hatch from this egg, professor?' Ash enquired.

'I'm afraid not, Ash. Pokemon breeding isn't my area of expertise. But I'm sure a surprise will be better any way.'

Ash nodded in agreement. Catching the nod, the professor then picked up the second object from the table. The object was about the size of a fist. It was a glossy black colour, and had a large smooth button on the top. The button had an image of a green, old style tent.

'This Ash, is your tent. It came in the same package as the egg. Along with this letter'. The professor took out an envelope from his coat pocket, and handed it to Ash. 'You don't have to read it now, but I imagine it might have some information on the type of egg you have, and this tent device.'

Ash gave the envelope a quick look, then slid it into the left inside pocket of his jacket.

'And of course, every trainer needs a Pokedex.' The man picked up the final object on the table, and showed it to the raven haired teen. 'As I'm sure you'll know, this device will give you information on Pokemon that you meet. As well as that, it can give you more detailed information on Pokemon you've caught. So that would be moves, abilities, strengths, weaknesses and so on...'

Ash gave another short nod as the professor handed the device over.

Ash looked down upon the Pokedex in his hand. It was fairly rectangular, with curved corners. The device was bright red in colour, and had large light blue button on the top left. Directly to the right of this were three smaller LED lights – red, yellow and green from left to right.

The teen flipped open the device to find a large LCD screen on the left hand side, with a smaller screen on the right. The screens were above various buttons on each side. Happy that everything seemed in order, Ash closed the Pokedex and slid it into the free, right inside pocket of his jacket.

'Is that everything then, professor?' Ash asked, once returning his attention to the grey haired man.

'I believe so. I'd like to wish you the best of luck on your journey, Ash. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Do give me an occasional call to update me on how everything is going. And if you run into any problems, then I'd be happy to assist you in any way I can.' The famous professor gave a small grin, before extending his arm out to Ash. He teen gladly accepted the handshake,

'Thanks professor, I'll let you know if I need anything.' Releasing his hand from the professor, he carefully picked up the container that was still on the table. Turned and started to leave, with the yellow rodent in tow. Before the boy reached the door, he turned his head back towards the grey haired man.

'Bye for now, professor!' Ash gave the professor a final grin before turning again, and exiting the room, and the lab.

'Good luck to you my boy.' The professor softly uttered, as he stared at the now empty door frame.

End of Chapter 1

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed!

If you have any criticism, then feel free to leave a review. Same for anything that you enjoyed.

The next chapter will be up once I've finished writing it, which I hope will be soon.