Morning had come. The day had begun, and the residents of Pallet Town were slowly getting accustomed to the daylight making its appearance over the sky of an azure hue. The pokemon around were as happy as usual, frolicking and playing in the streams and grass alike. Regardless of species, regardless of creed, Pallet Town was home to all that believed it to be so. The aura of peace and serenity that came from living in such an isolated location were tantamount to its ; Pallet would not be Pallet if it weren't for that distinct feeling of calm and pleasantness.
This was the place where the Chosen One was born. The place that marked the rise of a legend ; a force that would surpass the current kingpins in this world of possibilities. The world of Pokemon was one the Chosen would do well in, and the existence he would be bequeathed would be spent doing good for others. The Chosen One had a destiny. He was meant to change the world. His purpose was to save it from the brink of catastrophe. And Arceus willing, he would not fail.
Delia Ketchum watched as her son, little more than 4 years old, was laughing and trotting along with her on a walk they were going on together, enraptured at the the sound that the Pidgey made with their wings, and the small chirps that the little Flying types made with their beaks. Even at that tender age, the boy was in love with the beasts he regarded as his equals and his friends for life.
'Ash will eventually surpass his father. I'm sure he will make me proud,' thought a content Delia, on that day. Her expression was one of profound joy as she observed the little boy, petting the pokemon that were sidling up to the human, their curiosity piqued. The Pokemon also had never met a human who was so happy to be around them, a human who displayed the innocence of the mere babe that he was, and yet still showcase unending compassion and love. Even the Pokemon realised the divine presence that surrounded the boy, and they accepted him as a member in their pack hierarchy which was their way of life. Delia had long since realised this limitless potential that her son possessed. She had seen it firsthand, and was of the opinion that one day, her son would be surrounded by the glory and prestige of being a Pokemon Master.
But there was one flaw in the rules set forth by the Pokemon League. Trainers left at the age of ten. While some regarded this as an amazing experience for their child, Delia had always begged to differ. She had known for some time now, that Trainers simply did not possess the maturity required at such a young age, and starting their journey at that age would only lead to an increase in arrogance and bad morals and values showcased by a Trainer. And truth be told, it wasn't their fault. They simply were not ready to handle it.
Looking at Ash, Delia realised that if he was to leave, he needed to be instructed in the more subtle arts of going on a journey. 'I've got six years to work on this. When I'm done, Ash will be ready to leave at last,' she thought, with a smile beginning to form on her face. Ash needed training. His potential needed to be harnessed, starting now, if he was to become a true master. Little did Ash know that his life would be changed forever, thanks to the timely intervention of a caring mother.
Years went by. Ash had matured over the four years in which his mother had helped him prepare for his imminent journey in two years time. When his mother had discovered his passion to learn more about Pokemon, she encouraged it wholeheartedly. With his mother's full approval, Ash took to reading and devouring books as if he were a ravenous monster whose sole purpose was to soak in knowledge like a sponge. As a result of borrowing books and research papers from the expansive library in Pallet funded by the Oak family, Ash had a thorough knowledge of most Pokemon that existed on the planet he lived on. His grades were impeccable, and he excelled the most in Battle Strategy and practical classes which involved using the Pokemon of the teachers to battle with his classmates, who also did so, under the careful supervision of their teachers at the local school, so as to simulate a real Pokemon battle.
This proficiency led to a huge change in attitude. Ash had lost all his friends, who preferred to play and generally cause trouble rather than focus on preparing for their journey. More often than not, Ash would sit in a dark, deserted corner at breaktimes in school to immerse himself within another thesis written by Prof. Oak's Aides on the vast subject of pokemon. At the age of eight, his track record was perfect, academics wise, and Ash had already begun playing his favourite sport, volleyball, at a competitive level for his age group, against various other schools in Viridian and Pewter. He had gained the love of his teachers, but his focused mindset had led to his peers abandoning him, leaving the boy alone.
Ash, at that age, was already used to that kind of behaviour, and had resigned himself to the fact that he was nothing more than an introvert, and his social skills were completely gone, as his confidence in talking and associating with others had taken a nosedive due to him never being able to conform to the social norms that were made up by his chief tormentor, Gary Oak.
'But then again, who needs friends,' he thought bitterly, as the summer of his eighth year came.
Delia could see this. He had long since developed a facade that he displayed in front of her, not wishing for her to see how hurt he was at never being included by other children in Pallet. However, her mother's intuition had led her to the conclusion that was absolutely correct. She sought to remedy this by introducing him, the first week of his summer break, to her close friend from her days as a Trainer, as well as her daughter. After a slightly awkward first meeting, Ash and the bubbly, cheerful girl that was none other than Leaf Green, Pokemon Trainer extraordinaire, as she phrased it, got off to a great start. Their friendship had begun to blossom, and because the two rapidly became best friends, they made a pact to go travelling on their journey together in 2 years time, as both were still 8 years of age.
Ash had wondered where he could improve himself further, but then he realised that he was still ill equipped for his journey, as he had not factored in the other aspects or skills he would definitely need to know. He informed his mother, who simply smiled knowingly and proceeded to teach him culinary skills and basic survival and first aid he would need to employ as his journey progressed. She had ceased from encouraging him and making him improve himself, the pivotal role as a mother she had played in the early stages of her son's life were now over ; Delia believed her son to be at a stage where his proactivity would lead to his success. This new attitude from her led to Ash becoming more and more self reliant, as he would need to be, on a journey away from home. So with Ash seeking to push himself to the limit, alongside his equally eager companion Leaf, the two friends sought to make themselves the best they could ever be.
When Ash was nine, in the penultimate year before his journey, a rather serendipitous series of events occurred, in Ash's favour.
The day was not an ordinary one. The weather was overcast, and looked to be showing signs of a storm approaching. Ash felt a sense of foreboding, and he somehow knew that something would happen that day. What exactly it was, he couldn't place, but something was… different than usual. The boy shrugged, dismissing the notion. His senses were finely attuned to nature, and he would know if something was amiss. Little did he know that today was the day that those senses would fail, but in the process, he would gain something that would finalise his future as a successful Pokemon Trainer. His starter Pokemon.
Ash went to school, like any other day, and used his teacher's Pidgey to have a mock battle against his rival and the school bully, Gary Oak, and his borrowed Rattata.
"Pidgey, use Gust!" Ash commanded. He had a way with Pokemon, requesting nothing other than their unquestionable obedience in battle. The Pidgey recognised him as worthy, and chose to execute his orders perfectly. A small draft of wind blew towards Rattata, who could not evade the attack, due to a subsequent temper tantrum from Gary. Even at the age of 9, a time when boys were supposed to gain some level headedness, Gary was still as immature as ever, and seeing Ash's Pokemon use a Gust attack made him angry. "It's not fair! He got a higher level Pokemon than me," he whined to the teachers that were watching the mock battle. The arrogant Gary did not realise that the Pidgey he was fighting against was on the same level as the Rattata he was using, both were level 9. His temper had led to Ash's victory. "Yes, we beat Gary!" Ash cheered. "You did a great job, Pidgey. Thanks for helping me out there!" Ash told the Pidgey he had borrowed from his teacher. The rest of the day was just lessons, on status conditions and type advantages, all of which Ash breezed through. He had already learnt the curriculum that the rest of the class was using some time ago. He had no issues whatsoever with the current syllabus, and was already way beyond it.
School ended soon enough. Ash left the building, bag in hand, and ran home hurriedly. He wanted to get out of Pallet as soon as possible; Gary and his gang would soon arrive. Without a word of greeting to his mother, he ran to his room, changed, and then left Pallet Town, escaping to his secret refuge on Route 1. A tree had fallen over in a storm some time ago, and ever since, it had been Ash's 'hideout' of a sort.
He ran towards that secluded area with great speed. He needed time to think, and no one noticed the gap between the two trees, simply assuming that there wasn't one. They just thought it was an abandoned forest that led to an 'uncharted zone' . They did not realise that it was actually a Hidden Grotto, and the aforementioned hideout that Ash wished to go to. His small, lithe figure allowed him to slip through the brambles, and enter the Hidden Grotto. He expected to be alone. But the moment he entered the Grotto, he immediately felt the presence of another. Had some other person found his hideout? Filled with a sense of foreboding, Ash moved forward slowly, and moved his head through the gap to see who was there. Then he saw it. A lone pokemon, obviously hurt, lying on the floor. From memory, Ash could tell that this wasn't a species native to the Kanto Region. This was Honedge, a Kalos native, with the dual typing of Ghost and Steel. It was greatly coveted amongst historians, as the scratches on its blade apparently dated back to the medieval era of knights and warriors like Sir Aaron in Rota. As Honedge were ghosts, historians believed that they contained the memories of many individuals who existed at the time. But this Honedge was not like any other Ash had seen in the Pokedex listings that Prof. Oak's aide had so kindly given to him. No, this Honedge was special.
Ash had heard the term before. Shiny Pokemon. Species that were differently coloured than the norm, that far exceeded the normal variant in terms of power and skill. But that was not important. Ash looked upon the pokemon in shock. There were heavy dents upon its blade, and it's ribbon was in tatters. It was evident that this pokemon needed immediate medical attention. Ash approached it with caution ; he did not want the pokemon in question to react violently to his presence. He leant downwards, and examined the blade lying in front of him. It was immediately evident that this pokemon needed immediate medical attention. Ash dared not leave it there - if he did, it would surely die.
He didn't hesitate, and leant down to pick up the blade by its hilt. It wouldn't have been possible to pick it up by the blade - it looked like it was extremely, extremely hot. The Honedge had probably been attacked by some sort of fire type. Holding the Honedge with both his hands on its hilt, the blade almost dragging on the floor behind him, he burst into Professor Oak's lab. Thankfully, there was nobody there. In his time there, he had learned to operate the machine that healed Pokemon. It wasn't too difficult, actually. Just put the Pokeball on the platform and press the button. Then wait for the machine to work its magic. The mechanics behind it were not as important ; it took even Nurse Joy several years to gain an in-depth understanding of what exactly made the machine function.
The Honedge offered no resistance when Ash captured it. Ash needed to capture the Pokemon to put it in the healing machine. The fact that it offered no resistance meant that either the Pokemon subconsciously trusted him, or it was too tired to even put up a fight. Ash suspected a combination of the two ; the Pokemon had been conscious enough when he first arrived, and it would not have let him carry it back to the lab unless it trusted him enough not to harm it. "Of course,' Ash told himself, 'I'll release it as soon as it heals.'
He watched as the healing machine worked its magic. Greenish waves of energy pulsed over the Pokeball, and Ash could imagine the Honedge being healed underneath the plastic-like substance that these magical spheres were made of. It occurred to him, now that the initial panic had subsided, that he was lucky to have gotten here when nobody was around. The old Professor, kind and friendly as he was, had an evident bias towards his grandson and Ash's archenemy, Gary. If Oak had been here, it was possible that he would have allowed Gary to keep the Pokemon, something Ash felt he had to prevent at all costs.
Sure enough, in an hour's time, the machine beeped, signalling to Ash that Honedge had fully healed. He took the pokeball out of the machine, and threw it, releasing Honedge in the process. Now that it had healed, it looked all the more majestic. The ribbon, a mix of dark purple and a reddish hue looked perfectly healed. All the dents had faded, only leaving behind a slight scratch. Healing machines could only do so much, after all. That scar would stay with Honedge for the rest of its days.
Ash walked towards it, again, with caution. Honedge directed its gaze towards the human it regarded faintly as its saviour. An unspoken message of gratitude was already in the Pokemon's eyes. It owed Ash its life. And then Ash felt a slight prod in his mind. A part of his training regime had been meditation, as he had read in a book that Psychic types could communicate telepathically with a person who had sufficient practise at clearing their mind. But never had he read about Ghosts being able to perform the same feat. This was, he supposed, due to the fact that Ghost Pokemon were slightly more rare than the more common Psychic Type. In fact, only one family of Ghost types were native to the Kanto region. Therefore, not many people would be able to see one up close, unless they had the bravery to venture into Lavender Tower. Anyways, he cleared his mind and allowed the Ghost/Steel type to access the segment of his brain that would be a tool used for them to communicate.
'You aided me.' uttered Honedge, in a voice that Ash identified as masculine, as well as slightly curious. 'I was under the impression that humans only help Pokemon to capture them.' Ash looked downwards at this. Technically, he had captured the Pokemon, but only so that it could be healed.
' Honedge…. I apologise for doing so, but I had to capture you…. The machine required you to be in a Pokeball for it to heal you. I'll release you now.' Honedge's eyes moved upwards slightly, indicating curiousity. He wondered why the human was so erratic. But he rather liked that. His fledgling powers as a ghost still allowed him to see into the emotions of people. Ash genuinely wanted to help him. The pokemon could see something else, as well as the selflessness he picked up on when first reading the human's mind. There was… desire. The desire to be something more than what everyone else said he could be. He wanted to prove the people who had hurt him in the past wrong. To break free from the bonds of oppression that separated him from the rest. To become a Master, and become victorious. To that end, Honedge could sense that this trainer would stop at nothing to achieve his goal. In that moment, the Pokemon made its decision.
Honedge would accompany Ash on his journey to the top. The Pokemon realised the boy's potential, and knew the human could only help it get stronger. 'Curious,' the Honedge told the boy. 'I sense limitless potential within you, and yet you are not arrogant or prideful…. I think I will accompany you for now. You seem to hold many surprises, Ash Ketchum. Together, we may rise victorious.'
Ash was dumbstruck. He didn't expect this to happen. He wasn't even old enough to begin his journey. But all those worries dissipated when he glanced at the pokemon that had offered to join him on his journey. 'Of course, Honedge! That would be great! I still have a year before my journey begins, but maybe we can start training now! I can teach you moves, we can do skills training, and so much more! I'm glad I met you, though. I'd like to have another friend I could count on…' Ash told Honedge this in an excited voice, but the last part of his speech was slightly wistful. If steel blades with ribbons could smile, Honedge certainly would have. However, that said, Ash could feel an emotion of satisfaction emanating from the dual typed Pokemon.
"I think you should disappear for now, Honedge, we don't want anyone to see a rare pokemon like you hanging around me," Ash said. Truth be told, he didn't want Gary or the Prof. to see him, as he could predict that Gary would throw a tantrum and ask for Honedge, something the Prof. would happily acquiesce to, seeing as Gary always got what he wanted. Agreeing to this, Honedge promptly disappeared, using his power as a Ghost type to phase out of the earthly dimension and into the realm of distortion, as most ghosts were wont to do every now and then. Ash ran back home, as fast as he could and rang the doorbell, out of breath. His mother opened the door, and gasped.
"Ash! What happened to you! Look at your clothes, they're all tattered! Were you 'exploring' in Route 1 again? It's not safe to explore uncharted territories!" this was said exasperatedly by Delia, her maternal instincts coming into play immediately as she saw the state her child was in. Ash gave an imperceptible shake of the head, and motioned for her to let him in quickly. Delia could see something important had come up, and ushered him in, and then locked the door.
"Mom, I have so much to tell you….. Today, on Route 1, I went to the Grotto, and, caught a pokemon to heal it up and it was hurt and I was wondering whether I could keep it and it agrees and….." Ash said this, quite out of breath, and Delia could not comprehend a single word of what gibberish he was speaking in. "Repeat that slowly, please, Ash?" Delia asked.
Her nine year old son managed to calm himself down, despite his obvious excitement. "So, Mom, I went to the Grotto today." Ash said, taking deep breaths in between sentences. "And there was this Pokemon there. It was badly injured. So I caught it in a Pokeball and brought it to Oak's lab, and healed it. I was wondering whether I could keep it and it agreed to join me and now it's probably-"
"Ash, you're speaking too fast again." Delia said.
"Sorry, Mom." Ash said. "So, I was wondering if I could keep it, and then it started talking to me. We talked for a while, and it agreed to join me. Honedge, this is my mom."
As he said that, there was a flash of red light, and a small ripple in the air - a small rift between this world and the realm of distortion he had disappeared into minutes before. When the ripple calmed down, Honedge had appeared in the room. Delia let out a little gasp, but then assessed the situation slowly. A Ghost/Steel type from the Kalos region had made friends with her nine year old son. She didn't know whether to be scared or happy for Ash, as she knew the challenges that came from raising a Ghost type. But she observed Ash's face. This pokemon truly made him happy, and she would not take that happiness, which he had lacked for so long to be taken away from him.
"That's…. amazing Ash! It's nice to meet you, Honedge! I'm Ash's mother, and I'm glad to see he has made a new friend. I trust Ash's judgement ; I can tell just from seeing the way you're already so well-acquainted with each other, even though you've only known each other for about a day! I think you'll be a great addition to our family, you're always welcome here," Delia said, a smile on her face.. Ash whooped with delight, and Honedge tilted its ribbon upwards, portraying his evident happiness. The two ran (Honedge floated) up the stairs, to Ash's room, and closed the door behind them. Delia smirked, happy at the way things were going. Now that Ash had his first pokemon, it was only a matter of time before he truly came full-circle with the rest of his abilities.
Over the next week, Ash got Honedge accustomed to the town of Pallet, and borrowed a scanner from the friendly aide at Prof. Oak's lab, to scan the moves that Honedge knew. Of course, the Prof. never heard about this little loan, otherwise he would have refused to lend it straightaway. Ash always got the feeling that the Prof. didn't like him simply because of the fact that Ash always outshined Gary at school, and at sports as well. Anyways, Ash scanned Honedge at once, and while it wasn't a full fledged Pokedex, it did give an account of the moves Honedge currently knew. At present, the scanner stated that Honedge was still only 7 months of age, while possessing the simple moveset of Tackle, Fury Cutter and Swords Dance. But the bottom additional note the scanner showed when Honedge was scanned made Ash raise his eyebrows. His pokemon apparently had two Egg Moves. While rare, egg moves were only found on pokemon that had been bred for many generations. The fact that Honedge was still wild and shiny made his existence all the more rarer. One day, Ash hoped he could meet Honedge's parents. They seemed to be very extraordinary creatures, from what Honedge could remember. As such, Honedge had two egg moves : Shock Wave and Iron Head, both of which could be very beneficial in challenging the first two Kanto gyms. Ash smirked at that thought. Next year, he would take Kanto by storm with Honedge by his side.
"Honedge, now that we know your moveset, let's begin training! I read at the library that the best way to begin training pokemon is to help with their overall conditioning! Let's try and begin with some general exercise for you to maintain the levitation you're currently holding for as long as possible, even if we run really fast. I'll go with you!" Honedge was extremely happy to begin his training, and immediately phased out until Ash finally made it onto Route 1. After he made it there, Honedge reappeared and began his exercise. Day by day this went on, until Honedge was able to hold his levitation regardless of the speed he needed to be at, and maintain it for hours on end. It became second nature for the Ghost/Steel type to hold itself aloft in the air. Ash then moved on to tactical training. The idea of tactical training itself was equivocal ; many trainers sought different strategies to give themselves an edge on the battlefield. Ash decided to employ many methods, however, he really wanted Honedge to devote much of their time to learning combinations. As the months went by, Honedge was able to learn how to use moves quickly and efficiently, and quickly mastered his current moveset. After some time, Honedge began to be able to produce vibrations from his sword, that Ash promptly researched, and found out that Honedge had learnt the move Metal Sound.
Of course, Leaf did not simply stand by and watch. While less enthusiastic about the tough and demanding nature of Ash's own training, she also decided to train the Pokemon she had befriended. The Bulbasaur her mother had given to her as an egg had finally hatched, and she had begun to raise it as her own. She preferred to show off the beauty of her Bulbasaur's moves, rather than focus on the brute strength. When Ash noticed her style of training and her preference, he was more than happy to tell her about the art of Coordinating. When Leaf realised this, she read everything she could find on the Contest circuit in the library. She was elated to discover that Kanto had recently opened its own Contest circuit, with there being a Contest Hall with weekly contests in every town that contained a Gym. This matched perfectly with her and Ash's schedule, and so her original dream of travelling with her friends only grew stronger, as her imminent journey came close by the minute.
One day, in the winter, when the ice had turned the whole of Pallet into something new, Ash walked home from school, before he was stopped midway by none other than Gary Oak and his cronies, or, as the idiot liked to call himself, ' The Greatest Pokemon Trainer In The World' in all capitals. It was a slogan he put on all his clothing and personal items. Not only did it make him look arrogant, but the apparent 'cool' look he wanted other people to see was completely lost on everyone who saw him. They just thought his fashion sense was stupid. Except his old, doting grandfather, Prof. Oak.
"What do you think you're doing, Ashy-boy? Did you think you could just avoid me? I've seen you scurrying off to Arceus knows where all the time, but today I'm gonna get you! Come on guys! Let's beat this nerd up!" Gary shouted. His cronies all sneered, and edged closer to Ash. There were 4 of them in total, not including Gary. They all surrounded Ash and didn't seem to have any intention of leaving anytime soon. However, Ash was not fazed in the least. They would see why soon. Gary ran towards him, rage on his face. However, he was promptly stopped by a shadow in front of Ash. Gary stopped, confused. So did his gang. Suddenly, all they could see in their minds were a pair of gleaming, red eyes, infused with malice and the desire to hurt. "M-m-mm-mmmommy!" Gary screamed. He turned tail and ran, his supposed 'friends' in close pursuit. Ash smirked, and beckoned for his trusty friend to phase into his world again. 'You've really gotten better at those mind tricks, Honedge. I've never seen Gary more scared in his life. But to be honest, somehow I think he deserves it,' Ash told Honedge telepathically. 'But of course, Ash. Anyone who threatens my comrade and brother-in-arms needs to get past me before anything,' Honedge responded, quite firmly. Ash sighed and wrapped Honedge in a tight hug, and Honedge took care not to let his blade hurt his trainer. 'Thanks for being there for me, Honedge. These days, I don't tell you enough, but you being there for me has really helped with my confidence. I don't know what I would do if you weren't by my side,' Ash told the pokemon gratefully. Leaf trotted along a few moments later, and Honedge promptly disappeared. Ash hated to keep his friend a secret from Leaf, but he couldn't run the risk of Honedge being seen by anyone until after his journey began.
"Hey Ash! How was school today? I had a mock battle with Lillian and I won with my Rattata! What about you?" Leaf asked amicably.
"It was passable. Gary, the imbecile, lost again, despite having the Pidgey with Gust this time. Honestly, he tries to find every excuse in the book to make sure he doesn't lose. Thank Arceus the teachers aren't as gullible as his grandfather," an annoyed Ash told his friend. Ash simply could not understand how Prof. Oak could believe everything Gary said as true. Leaf simply nodded, as she did not know the full extent of Gary's arrogance, because she was in a different class than the two boys were in. That is, if Gary even classified as a boy. He had been labelled by Ash as a Vigoroth for a long time ; he acted exactly like the arrogant, prideful yet lazy ape from the Hoenn Region. Of course, this reference went straight over Gary's head, as while Gary did possess some level of intelligence, he did not bother to study more than the pokemon native to the Kanto Region. 'So. Damn. Lazy,' Ash thought to himself.
The two companions walked home together, Leaf chatting about the wellbeing of her Bulbasaur, and how the little saurian pokemon had finally learnt the move Leech Seed. Ash was truly happy that she had also gotten the chance to raise a pokemon.
Ash's journey was set to begin in the spring of being 10 years old. His birthday, in fact, was only 2 weeks before his journey began. The time he had from the Christmas break was time that was spent training with Honedge. By now, they had grown strong enough to surpass all the pokemon on Route 1, so they sought to challenge the aquatic pokemon on Pallet Town beach. The aquatic pokemon were significantly stronger, and Honedge had lost some battles against the higher levelled ones, as most trainers only sought to visit that area after obtaining 6 Gym Badges, as Pallet was a point of access to Cinnabar Island. As a result, the wild pokemon were also of a much higher level than a beginning trainer's pokemon would be, so, while Honedge lost a fair few battles, the dual type could only gain valuable experience and tactics from the wild pokemon it lost to. Honedge had begun to share Ash's belief that training with stronger opponents made an individual stronger, and the Pokemon pushed himself every day to gain more strength. The week before Ash's birthday, Honedge learnt Pursuit, after constantly being drilled by Ash to master the components that the move was comprised of. Seeing as Pursuit was a Dark type move, it didn't come naturally to the Ghost/Steel type, so Honedge had to work doubly hard to finally learn and master the move.
Learning Shock Wave had also been difficult to grasp initially. But, it came in time . The genetic mutation within the chromosomes of the sword-like pokemon had led to a natural affiliation for his egg moves. Thus, it took far less time than expected for him to learn the electric type move. Iron Head was second nature to the Ghost. Since Honedge was Steel type, mastering Iron Head was even easier. His parents had the perfect mix of dominant and recessive alleles for the Honedge to gain the ability to use those moves.
When Ash's birthday came around, he only invited Leaf to his house and shared a slice of cake made of a combination of Oran and Sitrus berry shavings, and received gifts from his mother and Leaf respectively. What Ash did not expect was a gift from the kind aide at the Prof's lab who had lent him the scanner and numerous other books and works made by the aide in question. From his mother, he got a leather bound journal to record the happenings in his adventures, as well as new clothes for his journey. His outfit was a dark onyx t-shirt and some travelling trousers. He wore shoes that were fit to trek mountains and hills, as he had told his mother he required them to traverse the mountainous areas of Kanto he knew he would reach at some point in his journey. From Leaf, he got a limited edition Pokemon League cap, except this one was autographed by Champion Lance himself. It was a black hat with an inscription of Lance's signature on the side. He knew that Leaf had spent countless hours on the quiz to get the hat, which was only released each year, with 5 hats being distributed region-wide. He thanked them both profusely, and looked at the parcel he had received from the aide. When he opened it, shock appeared on his eyes for a second, before pure gratitude. The aide had sent him a pen drive, with a note attached to it. The note read:
'Happy tenth birthday Ash. I wish I could be there in person, but the Prof. needs me at the lab currently. Inside this USB drive is my gift to you. It contains the software to upgrade the Pokedex you will receive soon from the Prof. to National Mode. This privilege gives you the ability to scan pokemon from other Regions, as well as a means of calling those who register the number you are given ; a phone app is also on this USB drive as well. I'd appreciate it if a certain old man were unaware of the advancements I have made to the Dex you'll be getting, but I figured I owed you for not giving presents for the 5 years I've known you. Good luck on your journey as well. Not that you'll need it,'
The letter concluded with the final sentence that made Ash's smile became even more pronounced. Ash was met with a quizzical look from his mother and Leaf, he simply laughed and shook his head. Leaf would have to deal with it, and his mother…. he wanted to surprise her by calling her when he reached the next town.
Ash felt…. complete somehow…. His thirst to prove himself would finally be quenched, and training pokemon would soon be his career. 'I'll miss this town when I'm gone,' he thought to himself nostalgically. His last member of family, his mother, lived here. She had been the catalyst for the change in his attitude. After all this, he did not want to leave her. His mind became melancholy, almost weeping at the prospect of leaving behind all he held dear. But Ash steeled himself. This journey would make him stronger. He could finally be himself, and gain recognition for who he was…. He knew that parting would be difficult, but he also thought he was ready. The world awaited him .