This is my first Pokemon series, taking place between when Ash leaves Johto and begins his Hoenn journeys. The prologue is the first of many parts I hope to be adding. Please forgive the short length, as it is only a prologue ;) Oh, and I'd better tell you the approximate ages of the characters:
Ash Ketchum: 12-13 years
Delia Ketchum: 38 - 39 years
Misty Waterflower: 12 1/2 - 13 years
Brock: 16-17 years
Hope you enjoy the story!
The sun shone softly through the lace curtains in the Ketchum home; the wind billowed in the light draperies, tossing them this way and that. Down the hall, the sound of clacking shoes sounded briskly. As they came closer, a shadow fell across the hall, then an auburn-haired woman appeared. She strode down the sunlit hall and stopped at a door, frowning slightly. "Ash! How are you doing in there?" Delia's voice floated over the gurgling sink and the hiss of the shower within to reach her son's ears.
"Fine, Mom," said Ash tiredly. "Almost done." His hands worked steadily through his Pikachu's matted yellow fur, rubbing the grime of several days' dusty journeying down the tub drain. He wiped his own dripping, dark hair out of his brown eyes and concentrated still harder on bathing his Pokemon.
"Okay." The caring mother paused for a moment, noticing the dejected note in her son's voice. "Come down whenever you're ready," she said, a tender note in her tone.
"Sure thing, Mom." Ash's fingers ached from all the scrubbing, but that wasn't the only thing that was aching…the real sore spot was within him. He winced, trying to block out the memory of his friends' emotional departure that morning. That would have to wait until he was free to be alone, to contemplate on the parting. Had he been ready to leave them? It was all so…sudden.
"Pika?" The mouse Pokemon's ears twitched dreamily, its eyes half closed.
"Ya like that, Pikachu?" A small smile flickered across the Trainer's features as he scratched his beloved first Pokemon behind the ears.
"Pikachupi!"
Ash grinned. "At least I still have you with me, buddy." Lifting the little mouse carefully out of the tub, he towel-dried his hair and then scrubbed Pikachu with a soft cloth.
Yes, he would have more time to think about the day's events later…alone.
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"Mmmm. Mom, this is delicious!"
"Thank you, dear." Delia beamed at her son. He had grown so much since he had started on his journey…and even since she had gone to visit him recently at the Johto League Silver Conference. And yet – she bit her lip – something seemed different, too - and she wasn't sure she liked it. Her mind flashed back to when he had first arrived home that afternoon.
Ash knocked at the door, softly at first, then more insistently.
The latch clicked; the door swung open with a creak. "Hello?…Oh, Ash! Honey, it's you!" Delia rushed forward to embrace her son. "How have you been? Why are you back home so soon? Come in!"
She watched him like a mother hen as he entered the tidy house. "Hi, Mom," her son said. His smile didn't reach his voice – or his eyes. They looked slightly empty.
"Come and eat lunch! Oh, and hello to you too, Pikachu!" The mouse Pokemon leaped into its Trainer's mother's open arms. In a moment of joy, Delia reached out and included Ash in the hug also.
"Thanks, Mom." To his mother's surprise, Ash seemed to be unable to speak much. "It's good to be home," he said, his voice cracking ever so slightly.
But did he really believe that?
Delia blinked, rushing back to the present as Ash asked hopefully about dessert. Now that's like the Ash I know! "Of course!" she said happily. "I always keep some…just in case." She giggled.
After dinner, Ash asked to be excused early and went to bed promptly, ignoring his mother's questioning (and maybe worried?) glance as he washed up. Finally, he could recount the day's events…and yet, was he almost afraid to?
The covers felt cool and light. With the window open, it was almost as if he were a little boy again, smelling the fresh night air and wishing he were sleeping under the stars like a real Pokemon Trainer. It smelled like freshly mown grass…it smelled like the beginning of his journey, before Misty and Misty's bike and Brock and the Kanto and Johto Leagues…those people and events, and all of the countless adventures they'd had together.
How did they feel about leaving him? He knew how he felt about leaving them…Ash felt his throat tighten, and he rolled off of his bed and began rummaging through a battered cardboard box next to his ancient TV set.
"Pika pi?" Pikachu scurried to his Trainer's side and contemplated the various video tapes, now strewn across the carpet, with a cocked head.
"Professor Oak's tapes, Pikachu. That was before we teamed up…before I had my first Pokemon." The dark-haired Trainer carefully selected a tape from the myriad and inserted it into the VCR, which hummed loudly in protest as he pressed "Play".
"Welcome to Professor Oak's Pokemon Spot. Today we will be learning about Choosing Your First Pokemon…" Ash leaned back and watched the tape he had seen so many times that it was ingrained in him. Pikachu curled up at his shoulder as he sank back onto his pillow.
"…Now, Bulbasaur is a good choice for a beginning trainer…" What were Brock and Misty doing right now? Probably cleaning and training at the Cerulean City Gym's pool, respectively. Ash grinned, picturing the two in opposite roles. Misty cleaning? As if. And Brock had an affinity for Rock-types. He'd never train in the pool…
"…Charmander is a powerful starting Pokemon, weak to Squirtle but strong against Bulbasaur…" Would they remember their adventures together? They'd had so many…almost too many to recall…through all sixteen Gym Badges, all the tournaments, the many losses – and victories.
"…Finally, Squirtle is an excellent starting Pokemon; it's very easy to raise…" Which Pokemon had he originally wanted as his starter? Was it Charmander? No, it must have been Bulbasaur…or Squirtle? Ash's hand dropped gently beside the bed, and the remote bounced harmlessly off the carpet. Professor Oak's Pokemon Spot droned on as the Trainer and his Pikachu drifted off to sleep.
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Rrrring! Rrrring!
"Bulbasaur…Charmander…Squirtle…" Ash twitched in his sleep.
Rrrring! Rrrring!
"…Pikachu…HUH?" The boy nearly fell out of bed. "I got it, I got it!" He snatched the phone from the cradle clumsily and pressed the receiver to his ear. "Hello?" he mumbled.
"Ash! ASH! Is that really you?"
"Tracey!?" Ash, flabbergasted, held the receiver several inches from his ear. Tracey! Memories from the Orange Islands came flooding over him like a river.
"Ash? This is you, right?"
Ash recovered and replied hastily, "Yeah, it's me. What's up? How's it going for you?" He rubbed the bleariness from his eyes. It was really Tracey!
"It's going great! I'm still with Professor Oak, as you probably guessed." Ash could hear his friend chuckle. "How are things for you? How are Brock and Misty?"
Ash sobered. "They're…not with me anymore," he muttered.
"What?!"
"Yeah…Misty had to take over the Cerulean Gym for her sisters, and Brock left too."
"Oh."
The line was silent for several seconds, then Tracey spoke up brightly. "Hey, the Professor has a note for you from somebody."
"Who's it from?" Ash was distracted from his regret by curiosity. Surely anybody sending him a note would know that he was busy on his journey and was hardly home?
"We don't know, it's just marked L.T."
"Whoa. Well, I guess I'll come over tomorrow to pick it up."
Tracey sounded bemused as he said, "Well, I'll see you in a couple of hours, then."
"Huh?"
"Ash, it's nearly five in the morning."
"What?!" Ash glanced at his clock. "Why'd ya call me so early?"
"I just now heard from the Professor that you might be home – he said he went to see you at the Silver Conference."
"Yeah, he did. Well, I'm really glad you called, even at this hour -" he glanced at the clock again and chuckled, "- but I guess I better get some sleep now."
"Okay. See ya later!" Tracey sounded satisfied as he hung up.
"Bye!" Ash set the receiver back on the cradle happily. As he settled back down under the covers, he made a victory fist. Tomorrow he began a new set of adventures!
…Little did Ash know how right he was.
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Please comment; I'd love comments/critiques!