Author's Note

Disclaimer: I, in know way, own Pokemon. Though I wish I could, as do most, if not all, of you reading this story.

Hello everyone, this is the prologue of a new story that I'm working on. I hope you like it but I will also say that the start of this chapter may not be for those who have experienced traumatic events in the past or are 'faint of heart' as some people say. Though, I don't believe that phrase is fair on such people as it implies that it is some sort of weakness but I think it only shows that they have a stronger sense of empathy for others in cases such as that in this story. It is not that the event that may cause this will actually take place but it nearly does and, I don't know myself as I have never experienced it, I imagine that simply the mention of it is enough to bring back horrible memories for some people who have experienced it. If you wish to question my use of if then please read the note at the end of the chapter as I will explain it further there. So if you wish to skip it then avoid the first few paragraphs.

Anyway, on to the lighter topics. This is a story that I thoroughly look forward to writing in the future as I am starting right from the beginning and have no idea exactly how far I will go with it. Though you will find out next chapter the minimum that it will go to. I won't be satisfied until I reach that point so I can guarantee you that I will be writing until then, unless everyone hates the story.

As with my other story, I will happily listen to any ideas you guys want to throw at me for incorporation into the story. Though, if you send it through a PM you may have to specify which story.

Wow, I really can't think of an awful lot to say... Oh! This is the start of my regular updating system, I will be attempting to release one new chapter at the beginning of each month from now on. It may be a few days either side and I may not always be able to meet that deadline so please bear with me and don't bug me too much if I miss it, I do know you're waiting.

Well, now I really can't think of anything else to say here, so on with the story!

Speech types:
"Normal Speech"
"Telepathic Speech"
'Private Thoughts'
'Quoting Someone/Something'

!Happy New Year Everyone!

Prologue – The Black Dragon's Curse

An eight year old girl was curled up in a ball, her back pressed against a wall of ice. She wore light blue shorts and a light blue shirt which matched her long, sky-blue hair. She screamed in pain as an older and larger boy kicked her in the side.

This boy was not alone, beside him were two others and the state of the girl clearly indicated that she had suffered several kicks and punches from them. The central boy, that one would rightly assume to be the ringleader, delivered another kick before speaking to the girl in a harsh tone. "This is just a warning. If you ever think your better than us just because of who your family are then we'll hurt you even more." The other two boys snickered as the girl lay on the floor, crying in pain. "Hey, why don't we have some fun to finish off? I heard it's really nice when a girl plays with your privates."

"Cool, maybe we should try it then. You go first." Another of the boys said. The central boy lowered his trousers and underwear. Just as he was about to take a step towards the girl a loud crack echoed around the cave and the boy froze in place.

The other boys looked at him and saw a foot driven firmly into his crotch. The girl looked up in fear, only to find that someone had finally come to find her. "Leave Clair alone!" A boy, a year younger than her, yelled as his victim collapsed to the floor in pain. She instantly recognised the boy. He was her playmate for several years and they were the best of friends. Her eyes shone with newfound hope as she saw his black hair and chocolate eyes.

"What do you think you're doing, Ash? If you don't get out of here we'll hurt you too." One of the boy's cronies threatened, clearly not at all fazed by the appearance of the boy three years younger than him.

"Yeah right!" The boy, now known as Ash, yelled. Though he put up a brave front he knew that the only reason he was able to harm any of them was that he had surprised them. "You lot are just wimps!"

"That does it!" The third boy yelled. He and his comrade dived at Ash and an all-out brawl soon followed. Clair, the young girl, watched in horror as the boy that had come to her rescue was quickly overpowered and beaten roughly, over and over again.

Ash soon lay on the floor panting, covered in bruises and small cuts. The other two boys decided they had finished and dragged their leader with them as they left. Though they overpowered Ash quickly, several large bruises were quite visible on the boys and they knew they would have some explaining to do. Once Ash had recovered his breath, he crawled over to Clair and spoke to her. "Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that!" Clair screamed, tears coming to her eyes. "How could you do something so stupid, Ash!?"

"Well I couldn't just let them hurt you." He said with a grin. Ash then pulled himself up with a nearby boulder of ice. Without any warning, he proceeded to pick Clair up and held her in his arms, as if she were a princess.

"Ash! Put me down! You can't carry me when you're like this!" She yelled. Ash however, decided to ignore her and began to take one unsteady step after the next. Clair continued to protest but Ash would have none of it and continued the journey, refusing to surrender to the immense pain that was coursing through his body.

They arrived at her home a short while later and Ash pushed the door open without knocking. He took a single step into the room before he put Clair down and collapsed to the floor unconscious. "Ash!" She screamed.

Her grandmother and elder brother came through from another room a moment later, drawn by her scream. The second they saw Ash, they stepped into action. "Lance, carry Ash to the spare bed. I will be up to find out his condition once I have everything I may need to treat him." The elderly woman ran around the house, at a speed unheard of for someone of her age, and gathered all of her medical equipment together. The young man, that was Clair's elder brother, scooped the unconscious boy up and carried him upstairs with the girl following right behind, tears in her eyes.

Her grandmother soon arrived in the room the two had taken Ash to and set to work examining him. "Hmm… He's not in a good way. I can treat him but he's still not in a good way. What happened to him Clair?"

"Some of the other boys… started kicking me and punching me… They said that I shouldn't think… think that I was better than them…" She managed to force out between the sobs that were now racking her body. "They said that I… I shouldn't think I'm better… just because of my family… Ash tried to stop them and then… and then they did this to him."

Lance stood up, shaking with rage, and walked towards the door. "Stop Lance." His grandmother commanded. "I know what you want to do, but violence isn't the answer. You're eighteen now so you should know that. I need you to go and get Delia; she needs to know what has happened."

Lance sighed and took a deep breath. "Yes Grandma Blackthorn." He then left the room to get on with his task.

"Will Ash be okay, Grandma?" Clair sobbed.

"He'll be fine once I finish treating him and he gets enough rest. Here, why don't you help me by holding this in place?" Clair nodded as determination took over her features and she began to help her grandmother treat the boy. At the elderly woman's request she gave some more detail of the encounter so that it could be dealt with appropriately.

Lance returned with Delia ten minutes later and she gasped as she saw the state Ash was in. "What happened?"

"It seems that your son defended Clair from a group of bullies in the ice path. In doing so he was injured though and, even then, he insisted on carrying Clair back here." Grandma Blackthorn explained.

"I'm sorry Mrs Blackthorn! It's all my fault!" Clair wailed as she broke down into tears once again. She was surprised when she felt Delia pull her into a hug and rub her back soothingly.

"Shh… You've done nothing wrong, dear. The only ones at fault here are the bullies and I'll be sure to get them punished." Everybody in the room shivered. Though the Blackthorn family was renowned for its fearlessness, the ability that made them so good at training dragon-types, there was one thing they all feared. That one thing was the wrath of Delia Blackthorn when her son was put in danger or harmed. Even the Dragonite around the village were terrified of what would happen should they harm him.

"Come now, Delia. Let's not be too hasty." Grandma Blackthorn said, trying to calm the young woman down. Just then there was a knock on the door. "Clair, would you be a dear and get that?"

"Okay Grandma." The girl mumbled before she trudged downstairs to answer it.

"Delia, about the condition of your son. Other than the visible bruising, he has a broken rib and a couple of fractures in the bones of his arms. I'm afraid he's going to have to stay here for a week or so while I treat him and even after that he'll have to rest."

Delia sighed heavily. "I don't care; just so long as you can help him recover, I don't care."

Downstairs, Clair opened the door to find the mothers of the three boys that had bullied her earlier that day. She glared at them but they didn't notice. "Hello Clair, is Ash here? We need to have a word with him and he wasn't at home."

"Yeah, he is, but why do you care?" Clair growled viciously. The women took a step back, surprised to find that they they felt almost as intimidated by her as they did by an angry Delia, and she wasn't even a third of Delia's age. One of them managed to compose herself though and spoke for the three of them.

"Don't talk to us like that, young lady. He's injured all of our boys and needs to be punished."

"Injured them!?" Clair shouted, movement could be heard upstairs as the others heard her shout and came to investigate. "Ash only tried to protect me! He's much more hurt than any of them! Don't you dare to come here acting like you know what happened when you don't know anything!"

Just then the others arrived and the women took several steps back as they saw Delia's face, darkened with rage. "So it was their sons that put Ash in that state was it, Clair? Then I think we need to talk about how your sons are going to be punished."

"Wh-what are you t-talking about?" One of them stuttered.

"My son is upstairs with his entire upper body covered in bruises, a broken rib and fractured arm bones." The women gulped as they realised just what exactly had happened. "Care to guess who put him in that state? I think you'll all agree that the punishment for those people should be severe as you're here to ask for punishment over a few bruises."

"Umm… Yes?" One of the mothers mumbled meekly.

"That's right, I think a week alone in the ice path should be enough. What do you say?"

Just then the small, raven haired, form of Ash came stumbling down the stairs. "Clair!? Where's Clair? Is she alright?" Was all he managed to say before he collapsed to the floor again.

"Ash!" Clair screamed, running over to the boy and turning his unconscious body over to face her. "Grandma, he's bleeding again!"

The woman took a quick look. "Hmm… It looks like his broken rib may have punctured the skin. Lance, take him upstairs again. You know how to treat this don't you?"

"Yes ma'am." He answered before carrying the boy upstairs with Clair trailing behind him once again.

She turned to face the other women and only Delia was not in a state of shock. "You see now, the full extent of what your sons did to Ash? Not only that but had he not arrived when he did, it seems that your sons may have raped my granddaughter. That calls for even greater punishment I believe, even if they didn't know what they were doing."

"Y-yes, you're right."

"Very well. Return this evening with your sons and we shall discuss the severity of their punishments. For now I must tend to Ash, though my grandson has some skill at treating injured people he isn't as good as I am. Goodbye." The elderly woman closed the door in the faces of the three mothers and went upstairs with Delia. "I have to thank you Delia. If you hadn't raised such a caring young boy then I worry about what would have happened to Clair today."

Delia smiled at the praise for her son. "Not at all ma'am. I never raised him to act like that; it was completely his own personality. Although, I am certainly glad that he has grown to be as caring as he is. I just hope this doesn't change it."

"I hope so too."

Three years later, Ash and Clair were running around in the boy's garden, playing games. Both had grown considerably in the time since the incident in the ice path and they were even closer now than they had been then. The entire town knew that, if one was around, the other was likely close by and many wondered just how close they would become in the years to follow.

Their games were interrupted as an elderly man with a bushy white beard came around the corner of the house to speak with them. "Ash, Clair, could you come over here please?"

"Yes Chief Blackthorn!" They cried in unison, giggling at that fact. They darted over to the man and stood before him, smartening themselves up slightly.

The elderly man chuckled. "Well, the time has come for each of you to find your starter Pokémon. As you know, each child is given a Pokémon on the first of April after they reach the age of ten. This is done so that you may bond with it in preparation for the day when you are given your trainers license at age sixteen. Clair, you asked to have your choosing delayed by a year so that you could choose at the same time as Ash. We consented due to the depth of the bond between you two and the fact that it saves visiting twice for one person each time. Today however, you will both come with me and find the Pokémon that will be your starter. Now, follow me to the Dragon's Den."

"Yes sir!" They cried, earning another chuckle from the man as they pretended to salute him. He led them through the village where many of the other locals wished them good luck. Soon, they crossed the small lake at the northern end of the village on the Chief's Gyarados and met the other elders.

"Good morning children." The elderly men and women greeted.

"Good morning." The children said shyly, never having come before so many of the important members of the village at once.

"Well then, now that everybody is here, I believe we should make our way inside. Follow me." The chief said. He then led everyone into the cave in front of them, the two children right behind him. As they walked, they saw several mature dragon-types that had evolved past their basic forms. "We will soon come to the entrance to the birthing chamber. In that room are all the eggs and recently hatched Pokémon that are dragon-types or will evolve into dragon-types. There are even a few that have no relation to any dragon-types but still have draconic tendencies in their current or evolved forms, Magikarp for example. When you enter this room you will wait for ten minutes. If no Pokémon chooses you before that time is up then you will have to try again next year. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir." The two children replied before several of the elders opened the door in front of them to let them through. Once they were inside, the doors were closed and the adults motioned for the children to move forwards to the edge of the pool. They did so and were quickly surrounded by Pokémon. They played with the Pokémon and chatted happily with them. Within five minutes, a Horsea had jumped into Clair's lap and Ash cheered happily for her. However, time continued to pass but no Pokémon made a move to join Ash. Just as Ash was beginning to give up hope he heard a voice.

"Ash!" It cried. He looked around wildly, searching for the source of the voice. Everyone else watched him in confusion.

"What's the matter Ash?" The chief asked.

"Ash!" The voice cried again, more enthusiastically this time.

"Can't you hear it? There's a voice calling my name."

"What voice, there isn't any voice. It seems the poor boy has given up hope." One of the elders said.

"Not necessarily." The chief corrected. "There have been cases of telepathic dragon-types. Perhaps a dragon-type is calling Ash to claim it as opposed to the other way round."

"The voice seems really powerful and older than any of the Pokémon in here should be too." Ash said somewhat dejectedly.

"Ash!" The voice cried again. Ash's head snapped round and looked directly at a sand coloured egg. He began to approach it as he realised that it was the source of the voice.

The elders began to whisper amongst themselves and the chief mumbled something to them all. "It looks like I may have been right. His description of the voice being older than it should be would match that egg; it's been here for ten years. In fact, it may even have been laid on the same day that Ash was born now that I think about it."

"This does seem to be a rather large coincidence." One of the others analysed. "Perhaps it really is calling him."

At that moment, Ash reached the egg and rested his hand on its rough, sandpaper-like surface. The moment he touched it, the egg began to glow and cracks formed in the shell as it broke apart to reveal the Pokémon it held. The elders all gasped as they saw the glow die down to reveal a black Trapinch, so dark that it made you feel as if you were being pulled into a black hole.

They all began to whisper to each other about the consequences of the event as Ash happily began to play with the Pokémon. The one thing everybody but Ash failed to notice was that the belly of said Pokémon was as white as freshly fallen snow, but Ash didn't care as he was too happy that he finally had a Pokémon.

The chief finally decided to speak up, however his emotionless tone was not what had been expected. "I'm sorry Ash, but you will have to leave that Pokémon behind. Once we leave this cave you are to go straight home and from there, leave this village."

"What!?" Clair yelled angrily. "Why does Ash have to leave!? He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"It isn't what he has done Clair. Black dragon-types are heralds of chaos and the trainers they choose are the ones who bring that chaos. For that reason, anyone chosen by a black dragon-type must leave the village."

"That's stupid!" Clair yelled. She was stopped from saying any more by a slap from the chief.

"Stupid girl!" He roared in an uncharacteristically harsh tone. "Never disrespect our traditions. The only reason our village and family has survived this long is that we continued to follow our traditions. If we do not continue to follow them then there is no doubt that we will die out." He then picked up Ash and dragged him out of the cave, kicking and screaming, because the boy hadn't listened to a word he said.

Once they were all back across the lake, Ash was thrown to the floor. "Leave this village, boy! You are no longer welcome here!" The chief cried, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. This included Ash's mother.

"What do you mean he isn't welcome here anymore?" She asked sharply. The chief flinched but held his ground.

"Your son has been chosen by a black dragon-type, if he remains here then he will only bring chaos to our village." With that said, the old man turned and began to walk away. Just then, a stone was thrown from the crowds and struck Ash on the face. It drew blood and everybody present whirled around to face the culprit.

"Get lost!" A boy yelled, Ash recognised him as the ringleader of the bullies he had stopped years ago. They had always held a grudge for the half-month that they had been left to fend for themselves in the Ice Path and were now taking their chance to act upon it.

"Yeah! We don't need anyone bringing trouble here!" Another of the three yelled as he too hurled a stone. This one was stopped though, it seemed that Clair had knocked it aside for she now stood in front of Ash protectively and glared ferociously at all those who were murmuring their agreement.

She decided to take an action that might be the only way to help him. She turned around and looked him dead in the eye, speaking loudly so that everyone could hear her. "Ash, I should have told you this a long time ago, but I was too scared to. I love you, Ash." She then placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him into a deep kiss.

Everyone in the crowd froze as they watched the scene; they began to doubt themselves as they remembered how little trouble the boy had ever caused. Their convictions were reborn, however, when a man charged from their ranks with a broom held high over his head. He swung it down at Ash and only missed because Delia pulled him back, out of Clair's grip. The rest of the crowds began to chase after the boy and his mother as his eyes remained locked with Clair's. She could clearly see every emotion in their great depths. Sorrow, pain and confusion. But most of all, fear. Fear - not for himself - for her. And in that moment, she fell even further in love with him as he worried for her, despite the mob chasing him.

As Ash and his mother reached the edge of town, there was an explosion in the distance. A column of smoke began to form in the air above their old house. It seemed that the Blackthorn family wanted to get rid of every last trace of them in the village. Delia looked to her now-crying son and spoke. "Ash, honey, we're going to have to change our names after this. From now on our last name will be Ketchum instead of Blackthorn, okay?"

Ash responded with a nod, too sad to even process what she was actually saying.

Back in the village, Clair, Lance, their Grandmother and Grandfather, also known as Chief Blackthorn, were in their house. "Clair, Lance, you have to try to understand that nothing good can come of his remaining here." The old man said.

"So you keep saying, Grandfather. Yet Ash has never done anything wrong without very good reason, has shown greater courage than most in the village, protected your granddaughter – my sister – and helped you personally on a couple of occasions. There is no reason to believe that he would bring any chaos other than the words of some ancient historian who died hundreds of years ago. Why do we believe the words of some ancient book, which might be wrong or we may have mistranslated, above our own logic? You are too locked in the past, Old Man." Lance said with seriousness and conviction clear in his tone.

"Please Grandpa!" Clair beseeched him. "Please let Ash come back! I don't even want to live here if Ash isn't here!"

"Don't try and judge me Lance, I have far more life experience than you. Clair, he cannot come back and I won't have any of this nonsense about not wanting to live here without Ash. There is far more here than he can ever offer you."

"Dear, I don't like to say this but I think you might be wrong on both those points. Sometimes the emotions and inexperience of the young are the most valuable things in the world. You should try to remember how you were at their age. As for what he can offer, I think he can offer her more than the village. All of the other young ones stay away from Clair because of the age difference or her position, Ash cared about neither of those things. It was quite clear to me for a long time that he also loved our Clair a great deal, perhaps even more than she loves him." Clair gasped at her grandmother's statement; she had never thought for a moment that Ash might return her feelings.

"She means the world to him and he's probably done a better job of looking after her than we have over the years. He's always there when she needs someone to talk to, always there when she needs protecting or helping out of a tight spot, always there to offer her a place to stay when she needs it and always there to simply be her friend. He devoted himself to her wellbeing while we spent most of our time devoted to the wellbeing of the village. I honestly don't think we can say the village has more to offer her than he does."

"She still has a life here though!" The chief roared, angered by his wife's 'betrayal'. "With him she has no future; here she will become the next leader of the clan as Lance has his other responsibilities. I have made my decision and it is final. Also, if you should try to make any contact with him you will be severely punished."

"I hate you!" Clair screamed before running out of the room.

"Well, you certainly could have handled that a lot better Grandpa. I have to be going now; I have some training to do. I challenge the elite four for the first time in a couple of months and I have to be ready, even if I probably won't defeat them all this time around." Lance finished coldly.

Two months later, Ash and Delia were moving into their new home. It was a small, but comfortable, house in 'Pallet Town'. They had discovered the location by chance when they were looking for a new home in the estate agents of Goldenrod City, a long way from the property and town. It was a quaint little town and the only notable building was the laboratory of Professor Oak, a world renowned researcher.

Just as the Machoke and Machamp finished moving all of their new belongings into the house, a man with greying hair pulled up on a bike. He was wearing brown trousers and a red shirt, over the top of the red shirt was a white lab coat. "Good afternoon. I'm Professor Oak; I run the lab in town. I saw you moving in and thought I'd come and say hello."

"Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name's Delia and this is my son Ash." Delia said brightly.

"Hello sir." Ash added.

"It's nice to meet you young man, but please feel free to call me Professor. Sir is a bit too formal I think. How old might you be though?"

"I'm eleven now." Ash said cheerfully.

"Eleven eh? A fine age to be. Though I must admit, I'm slightly surprised that I can't see a Pokémon running around the house." Ash's face fell and the Professor immediately realised he had said something wrong.

"Ash, dear, why don't you go and unpack your things?" Delia suggested softly. Ash smiled again at the thought of getting all his new belongings out to look at and he dashed off to find them. Delia giggled as she watched him go.

"I'm terribly sorry for that. I had no idea it was such a touchy subject." The Professor said with his shame clear.

"Oh, that's alright, it isn't your fault."

"Would I be overstepping my bounds to inquire as to what happened?"

"Not at all, I'm sure there will be plenty of people asking and it's best that Ash isn't reminded of it for now. You see, I'm actually a member of the Blackthorn family. Ash was taken to receive his starter Pokémon on the usual date, a couple of months ago, along with his friend Clair. Do you know how the Blackthorn's usually choose a starter?"

"Why yes, I briefly investigated it in the past for some of my research. The child sits and waits for a Pokémon to choose them in the birthing chamber of the Dragon's Den. Don't tell me none of the Pokémon chose him."

"No, if that were the case we would have simply waited another year and tried again. Do you know any of the legends and myths associated with the Blackthorns?"

"Yes, I believe all of them were explained to me while I was there."

"Then perhaps this will explain things to you, he was chosen by a black Trapinch."

"Oh, dear. I can see why that would upset him."

Delia shook her head. "No, that wasn't what upset him, he didn't care about that. What upset him was that he was taken from the Pokémon by force and then we were run out of town by the other locals. They set our house on fire before we had even left the area and he had to leave behind the closest friend he has ever made, possibly the girl he loves, as well as his first Pokémon."

"That's terrible!" Oak exclaimed before he gained a thoughtful expression. "Tell me, does Ash only like dragon-type Pokémon? I know that many members of the Blackthorn family feel that way."

"No, Ash loves all Pokémon. He just has a special place in his heart for dragon-types. But might I ask why that matters?"

"Well, I give out starter Pokémon to all the local trainers you see. In the last batch that I received there was one extra Pokémon and one of them was a shiny Pokémon. Because of that, I decided not to give it to a rookie trainer but I can't stand to see such a seemingly wonderful boy get so down because he has no Pokémon. Would you like to come by the lab with him later, shall we say five o' clock, and pick it up?"

"You'd really do that for him? And if so, what Pokémon is it?"

"Of course I would, I have a grandson about the same age as Ash and I couldn't stand to see him in such a state. It is quite the same with other children about the same age; they should all be running around and playing happily. As for what the Pokémon is, it is a shiny Charmander."

Delia squealed in delight. "Ash will adore it then. The Charizard they evolve into are so similar to dragon-types that the difference would barely matter to him."

"Well that's good to hear. Bring him by later and we'll sort it all out."

"Thank you very much Professor. I'll see you later." Delia confirmed cheerfully before she went inside to begin unpacking her own belongings.

Ash and Delia had just finished a tour around the grounds of Professor Oak's laboratory and were now sat inside having a cup of tea. "So what did you think, young man?" Oak asked Ash.

"It was awesome! I've never seen so many Pokémon in one place! You must know loads about Pokémon if so many live here." Ash exclaimed excitedly.

"Well I do know quite a bit, perhaps I should teach you some of it for when you become a trainer." Ash's face fell again as he remembered that he had no Pokémon. "Don't get too down, young man. Your mother told me about what happened earlier and I have an offer for you." Ash looked up, his eyes sparkling with hope. "I give out starter Pokémon to new trainers in Pallet Town and this year I received an extra Pokémon. As one of them was slightly abnormal I decided not to offer it to the trainers who would get their new Pokémon. However, I can't stand to see a young man, with a bright future ahead of him, get as sad as you are at the moment. Therefore, I am willing to give you this Pokémon should you want it. Would you like it?"

An almost impossibly large grin spread across Ash's face. "Yes please sir! I'd love to have a Pokémon. What type of Pokémon is it?" The Professor handed him a pokéball.

"Why don't you find out?"

Ash threw the pokéball into the air. "Go pokéball!" He cried and as the sphere reached the apex of its journey it opened. A small, bipedal, yellow lizard with a flame at the tip of its tail appeared in front of him. "Awesome! It's a Charmander!" Ash yelled in joy.

He approached the small Pokémon and began cuddling it. The little lizard took to the boy in seconds and they began playing with each other happily. "Ash, dear, do you know what Charmander evolve into?" Delia asked in a seemingly innocent tone.

Ash's eyes widened and he whispered the answer as if he couldn't believe it. "Charizard…"

"That's right young man." The Professor confirmed.

"Awesome! Lance has a Charizard too!" Ash cheered. "That's even cooler than a Charmander!" He then turned serious and looked at Charmander. "But that doesn't mean I want you to evolve just because I'll think you're cooler then, okay Charmander? You evolve when you want to."

Professor Oak was shocked; most children Ash's age were only interested in power so they wanted the Pokémon to evolve as soon as possible. Yet here Ash was, telling his Pokémon not to evolve unless it wanted to. "Well I must say Ash, that's a good way to treat Pokémon. Many people believe that you should have a Pokémon evolve as soon as possible, but to let them evolve when they want to will deepen your bond a great deal."

"Thank you sir, for the compliment and the Pokémon."

"That's quite alright Ash. But, what did I say earlier about calling me sir?"

Ash scratched the back of his head mareepishly. "Sorry Professor. I was taught to always call my elders sir, when they're a man."

"Well it is good manners to do so but I just prefer to be a little less formal with the younger generations myself."

"I'm afraid we'd better be going now, Professor Oak, but why don't you come over to our house for dinner in an hour or so? It would be nice to have a guest." Delia offered cheerfully.

"I'd love to, but I'm afraid I have to get home and look after my grandchildren."

"Well, why don't you bring them too? The more the merrier I say, isn't that right Ash?"

"Yeah!" Ash cheered, barely aware of the conversation as he played with his new Charmander.

"Oh alright then, I'll see you in an hour." The Professor said, admitting defeat. With that, Ash and Delia left with the young Charmander following at Ash's heel as they chatted amicably.

Ash's Pokémon:

Trapinch(M)(Seperated), Charmander(M)

Clair's Pokémon:

Horsea(F)

And that's that folks.

Okay, so the serious stuff first. On the matter of the events of the first section, I do not and will not regret my usage of this however I do understand that some people may have concerns about it. I understand that such things are not to be joked about, especially as I recently discovered that a member of my extended family was abused by a neighbour when he was a young teenager. It has ruined his life so far and affected the life of his son as well due to the ways in which he has attempted to deal with it. I do not claim to understand the pain anyone who has gone through such an event may feel as I am sure that it is not something one can simply imagine so I will not insult them/you by pretending that I do, however that does not prevent it being a valid and often effective (whether or not you believe that to be true for this story is up to you) plot device. I do not use it lightly and doubt I will use it again, and if I do it will not be without reason with regards to a plot. If I have insulted you or brought you suffering then I apologise with the utmost sincerity as that was not my intent. I would also like to say something, just to be absolutely clear. I, in no way, shape or form, condone the act of rape. It is amongst the most severe crimes and, in my mind, should be punished by the harshest possible sentencing wherever you may be, harsher in some places.

And now for the lighter stuff again.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please leave reviews with your opinions, so long as they aren't just flames. If they are, then I will probably ignore them. 'Constructive criticism' as people always say, if you have a problem with something or wish I had done something wrong or have noticed a recurrent grammar or spelling problem then tell me what it is and how I could have corrected it. Don't just say 'You did this, that and x wrong. This is terrible.' I will happily take advice to heart but if you just rant at me then I'll ignore you, unless your ranting good things. ;P

I've put a list of Pokemon at the end of this chapter and will try to include one at the end of each chapter for now. If you are against the idea then let me know. There will probably be two lists soon enough, on hand Pokemon and Pokemon being cared for by Oak, so it's easier for you to know what's happening. I will write them for the list at the end of the chapter and will try to keep the team consistent through to the next chapter, if I make a change then I will try and do it at the beginning of the chapter for continuity purposes but I might change things when there is a larger time gap between sections/chapters.

Once again, happy new year!

Good morning to you all. (Unless you're in a different time zone or reading this at any time after I publish this in which case it will probably be different.)