Authors Note:
This story was inspired by Red, by Curse of the Ninth, and Sun Soul by 50caliberchaos.
This story will be portraying an OOC Ash, but doesn't all fanfic do something similar?
Disclaimer:I own nothing.
Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, did not want to be a Pokemon Trainer. Who would? Ash wasn't delusional, not like all the other kids anyways. He wasn't blind or stupid enough to think that the world outside of his little town was a safe paradise, not when it had already claimed both his parents.
His adoptive grandfather, the renowned professor Oak, had explained to him that Pokemon were not harmless creatures. They were terrifying, lurking beasts, and even the smallest could tear a man apart with minimal effort.
A Charmander, was one of the three starter Pokemon handed out to ten year old starters. There nails were claws, and even a playful swipes could create gouges capable of bleeding a man dry. There teeth, two perfectly pearly rows of teeth, were made for processing meet, a gift given to them by their draconian ancestors. If met with a wild charmander, there is every chance you'll be eaten. That's before you get onto their powers. Does the ability to spit fire sound safe?
A simple ember attack could leave a man with their degree burns, while a full powered flamethrower would result in instant death.
On top of the inherent danger Pokemon represent there would be the regional criminals like Team Rocket, and their yolk. Thieves and murderers, who form collective crime syndicates, and whose goals are unclear. With them around, not even the large towns are safe.
No, Ash had no desire to become, a Pokemon trainer, but as of today, he would be one.
Simply because he had no clue what to do with himself. He knew that he couldn't live off of his grandfathers hospitality forever. Be it tomorrow, the day after, or a eight years from know (when he turned eighteen), he would eventually have to rely on himself. He would have to get a job and make money, and he would have to support himself. Or he could become a hobo and live on the streets, but that wasn't a choice that Ash was considering.
How he did it was what he had a choice in. Everyone had a choice in that. The first choice was to enroll at civilian school at nine, where they would learn the basic skills required to gain employment in later life, and civilian careers were rather diverse. This was the choice that most people chose, mostly because parents prefer this choice, due to its safety. No one wants to learn that there kid was found lying dead in a ditch somewhere, after all.
Ash didn't choose this, mainly because it would mean acting a year early. He did not want to get to work a year early, preferring to laze around, and with no parents to push him, and a grandfather who was busy with whatever research project he was working on, Ash didn't have to do anything.
His next two (also his final two) options would come today, and three years from now.
The two options that the Kanto Governing body, also known as The League, would prefer that children went with.
The war with Hoenn hadn't come cheap after all.
The first, and the one he had chosen, was to become a Pokemon trainer. Pokemon trainers were the reserve forces for the Kanto army, and served a major role in population control for local Pokemon, a population check on local humans, they served as entertainment, guard forces, and militia men.
Pokemon trainers, like the name suggested, tamed and trained wild Pokemon, through any means necessary, with an emphasis on any means. Pokemon were dangerous, and everyone knew it. Time and time again, news articles showed Pokemon killing humans, invading cities, and slaughtering towns.
Fun fact, did you know there used to be a town in between Pallet and Viridian? A checkpoint on route one, where beginning trainers would go to purchase equipment (namely pokeballs), in order to make there first captures. It was destroyed by a few flocks of Spearows lead by two Fearow's. The Gym trainers from Viridian were too late to do anything.
Common consensus was that it was better that a Pokemon be harmed than a human, and as such, trainers were given a longer and longer leash on how to train their Pokemon.
Come Modern Day, Pokemon were no longer being viewed as living beings, instead they were classified under Kanto Law, as semi sentient objects. The only Pokemon that were now protected by law were those who were captured by trainers. After all, destruction of property was illegal, was it not?
Pokemon Trainers, especially those who chose to settle down in cities, were given certain privileges (like being exempt from taxes), in exchange, they served as a cities first line of defense against Pokemon invasions.
In addition, Pokemon Trainers stopped Pokemon invasions from becoming too powerful, as they captured Pokemon to tame, hunted wild Pokemon for food , and killed wild Pokemon while training keeping the numbers low.
When wars started, and general soldier numbers ran low, Trainers served as elite forces. A Trainer with a Gyarados was more than a match for your average submarine, or ship, while a Charizard could annihilate any plane.
Due to all there services to the local population, Trainers, especially good Trainers, were given a celebrity like status.
How to tell whether a trainer is good or not? Why, through the greatest spectator sport of all time, of course. Pokemon Battling.
The art of tossing two Pokemon against each other, while the humans stood behind them and barked out orders, was the clearest demonstration of human superiority. It was the leagues way of showing the world that despite how ferocious, and how powerful Pokemon may be, the human was in control. The human was giving the orders while the Pokemon, the mindless savage, was obeying.
Pokemon battles was also the way Trainers earned money, with wins earning them cash, while losses lost them Pokemon and cash. On top of all this, it also raised the Pokemon in terms of strength, and increased the Trainers strategic aptitude, resulting in more competent soldiers.
It was the path of a Pokemon Trainer that Ash had decided to walk, and it was this path, that brought him to the entrance of his grandfathers lab.