Hi, hi. Here's my second Pokemon story and like the one before, it's based on the theory of what if Ash was actually a competent trainer with good Pokemon. Oh and Pikachu isn't technically his 'starter' in this story, but I won't spoil what that means just yet. I hope you enjoy this story, as I have thought long and hard about it. It was what was gonna originally be 'A Different Tale', my other Pokemon story, before the character of Luchia came into the picture.


In the vast Kanto Region, the forest known as Viridian was generally disliked for it being the home of it's region's bug types: Caterpie, Weedle and their evolutions. But not at the moment, for there is a Summer Camp going on for kids of many different regions. One of these children, by the name of Ash Ketchum, happens to be directly from Kanto but he is also a descendant hailing from the more legend-based Sinnoh Region. Even at the tender age of 6, he already has the dream to one day become a Pokemon Master like his father, who died shortly after his third birthday. Presently, he is planning on finding a Pokemon to befriend and catch when he finally gets his starter when he turns 10.

He looked around and muttered. "Come on out, little Pokemon." He looked around, with curiosity. He was just so excited to meet a Pokemon. He looked again and saw a little blue Pokemon. It was bipedal, walking around on it's two dinky feet. It's long, near transparent tail of 2 versions of blue and tipped white swished behind it as it looked around for food. Ash remembered his studies with the region's Professor, Samuel Oak, and recognized the Pokemon as a little Poliwag. "Cool, a Poliwag. But there's no water around, why is it this deep in the forest?" He wondered out loud.

The Poliwag must've heard him, because it looked up and instantly gained a frightened face. It then turned and fled, in a complete fright. "Poli!" It cried, scaring many different Pokemon of the forest. "Poliwag!" It cried again, more loudly.

"Ah, Poliwag." cried Ash, knowing that the Pokemon could get hurt if it was blindly running away. Especially on it's not fully formed feet. He instantly followed the Pokemon through the trees, hoping to find it before a hungry and aggressive wild Pokemon did or it fell over and injured itself. Suddenly, a scream rippled through the forest that wasn't the Poliwag's cry. He somewhat recognized the voice as one of the girls from the training camp. He tried to remember her name, eventually coming to the conclusion of Serena Yvonne, a somewhat shy girl who hailed form the Kalos Region. He decided to head in the direction of the scream, which just so happened to be the same way that the Poliwag went.

He finally made it to Serena, who was huddled up by a tree. She was staring at the equally terrified Poliwag, her eyes filled with tears. Her foot, however, didn't look as 'safe'. It was twisted in a such a direction that it was clear that the ankle was broken. Ash sighed, it quickly figured out what happened. He went over, picking up to Poliwag, who looked up at him with shock but didn't run away, and then kneeling down next to the blonde haired child. "Are you okay? Are you stand?'' He held his hand out, hoping that the girl's ankle wasn't indeed broken.

She whimpered, taking his hand reluctantly. She tried to stand, putting weight on the foot. But suddenly she let out a yelp and fell back to the ground, hand clutching her injured ankle. "I can't..." She muttered, weakly and fearful. Her face was full of pain for about a second, before she began to pant.

"Okay." Ash nodded, his thoughts formulating a plan. He knelt down in the opposite way, and patted his back with the hand that wasn't holding the tiny Poliwag, who was still looking quite curiously at Ash. Serena blushed scarlet, causing Ash to chuckle a little before reassuring her. He gave a almost cocky smile that warmed Serena's heart as her cheeks continued to flare with something new as well as the embarrassment."It's alright, no need to get embarrassed. I need to get you back to camp so Prof. Oak can take a look at that ankle."

She continued to softly blush, as she managed to heave her way onto his back. Ash pushed himself back up, surprising Serena at first. Once she settled down and had wrapped her hands around his neck loosely, he smiled. "Lets go." He petted the Poliwag's head as he carried Serena back to the camp. He made within a short 5 minutes and didn't wait long before he called for the professor. The Pokemon Professor came over very rapidly the moment he caught eye of Serena's limp, twisted ankle. He asked what happened. "I was out in the forest, came across this Poliwag here and wanted to befriend it. It ran off and must have scared Serena, here, until she fell over and hurt her ankle."

"I see. Thank you, Ash, for bringing her here. I just need you to carry her a little longer to get her inside, so that she can rest her ankle." Ash nodded and followed the Professor inside. He gently helped the girl sit down on a seat, as she looked at her ankle. The professor sighed, before saying. ''Serena, I need you to bare with me. I need to reset your foot into the correct position so that it doesn't heal incorrectly.''

She nodded, though you could tell she was scared of the upcoming pain. The Professor gently took hold of her ankle and as quickly as possible moved the foot back in alignment with the rest of her leg. Serena tried to grit her teeth and bare with the pain, but the expression on her face and the tears showed how she felt about it in truth. When the Professor let go of her ankle, she breathed in and out a few times as the pain receded. She then turned to Ash, who was caressing the Poliwag, but also looking at her with concerned eyes. She smiled. "I'm fine now...did I hear that your name was 'Ash'?" The boy nodded. "Thank you, I appreciate the help."

Oak smiled at the two, before turning to Serena again. ''I'll need to call your mother over to pick you up now, Serena. I'm sorry, but your time at the summer camp is over. You can't take part in the activities with that ankle. You don't want to risk it healing incorrectly and your mother can also take you to the nearby hospital, so that you can get a cast."

Serena sighed, she knew it was gonna come to that. It was obvious the moment she felt her ankle crack out of place. "I understand." She said sadly, she wanted to stay and get to know Ash now that she was properly met him. She sighed, not looking forward to going home. Her mother was a Rhyhorn Racer and expected the young 5 year old to follow in her footsteps, despite Serena's wishes to be a Pokemon Coordinator or fashion designer. A broken ankle wasn't new to her, it hadn't been the first time. The actual first being the first time she tried to get on her mother's Rhyhorn. The thing bucked her off within seconds of her stepping foot on it.

Ash sighed. ''It won't be the last time we see each other, Serena, so don't look so downhearted.'' He gave a warm smile, that made the girl smile again. He was right, it wouldn't be the last time. They could make next year for the Summer Camp or even when they become Pokemon trainers. "There ya go, now your smiling." He gave her a thumbs up that made her giggle cutely.

She then looked at Poliwag, petting it slightly. The still clearly confused Pokemon smiled and leaned into her hand, wanting more of a petting. "So this was what scared me, your such a cutie. What are you going to do with it, Ash?"

''Well, I was hoping to find a Pokemon to befriend so I could capture it after getting my starter in a few years. Poliwag, here, was the first to appear." He gave the little Pokemon a petting, which made it smile. He then continued after noticing the tiny and blue Tadpole Pokemon smile at him. ''It seems to be accepting me now, which is a good sign.''

"Did I just hear you correctly, my boy?" said Oak, turning to them. His hand seemed to be grasping onto something, but it wasn't clear to either of the children as to what it was. "You wanted to catch this Poliwag after becoming a trainer."

Ash gave a grin and a nod. ''Yep!" He gave a quick answer that confirmed what Oak wanted to hear.

He smiled at the young boy. ''Well, normally I don't fully agree with giving children under the age of 10 the ability to have Pokemon. In this case, Poliwag is a very harmless Pokemon and I'm sure you'll look after it. So, here you go. Your very own Poke-ball. But, you'll still have to turn up at my lab when your 10 to obtain your actual starter Pokemon from the 3 as I taught you about.''

Ash grinned, taking the red and white ball from the professor. ''Thank you, sir. This'll make it easier. It'll be my only Pokemon until I'm ten, I promise.'' He then looked at the Poliwag, who was patiently looking at it. ''Time to get into the ball, Poliwag.'' It nodded happily as the ball gently tapped the ball on it's head. The ball cracked open and the Pokemon was absorbed in a glistening red light. The ball wiggled around in his hand, but eventually clicked to indicate a successful capture. He grinned, before letting the Poliwag back out and putting the empty ball in his bag. Oddly, only one person noted the strange sparkle that appear when Poliwag left the ball. ''You won't have to go back in there for a while, little one. You can stay out as long as you want to.''

The Poliwag smiled and hopped onto his head, making a nest for itself in his hair. Everyone in the room chuckled at the Pokemon's antics. Professor Oak took one look at the Tadpole Pokemon before looking at Ash. ''Just for your information, Ash. I'd say that this little one is a female and shiny at that Poliwag, if that ever effects your decision on how you wish to raise her. With a Poliwag, it's hard to see the coloration, but I'd say that you got a lucky find here.''

''Whoa, thanks for the knowledge, Professor. That only makes me like her better, as she looks cooler. Don't you, Poliwag!'' Ash said with glee, causing Serena to chuckle at him.

''You sure are a lucky boy, Ash. Shinies are so hard to come by.'' She said, noting the point of how rare the condition of shininess was. Only one of about 4096 are actually shiny, as it can be seen as a birth deflect and many are killed by the parents as they can't camouflage to protect from predators or because they cannot catch prey without being seen.

The days that followed was a up and down string of emotions for Ash. On one hand, he was upset about Serena leaving to go back home to Kalos so she could heal her ankle. On another, he was now very excited about being a true Pokemon Trainer with his Poliwag. It couldn't believe that his technical 'starter' was also a shiny Pokemon and adorable at that. But he just decided to look to the future, to the day when he obtained his Pokedex and other starter Pokemon from the Kanto Regions trio of starters.


Okay, the first to name the manga where the reference of Poliwag comes from gets a Cookie and the ability to choice Ash's first Pokemon after he obtains Pikachu next chapter. But, besides that. I hope you enjoyed and I can't wait to continue this. As for you fans of my other Pokemon story, it'll be updated sooner or later. I want to focus on this first.

Pokemon Lists:

Ash

Poliwag (Female)(Shiny)