Well, let's try not to fuck this up, shall we?
Anyways, I suppose some exposition is in order: trainers may start their journeys at age 10, but only get one year away from school. If they do not make a significant placing during a league cup, they are returned to school until they finish their education. If they do well, however, an advanced trainer will take them under their tutelage. As such, trainers can delay their journey if they wish to start off with more knowledge or experience. Ash will also be slightly more mature, though he's still a kid and will make rash decisions. Additionally, let me be honest and say that someone that enthusiastic about Pokémon will never pass up the chance to study under Professor Oak when given the chance, so that's changed.
He's still a dense idiot for now.
Edit 11/4/18: This was a poorly managed chapter. I've edited it to be more consistent with my other chapters. Thank you to Farla and Dark Lord Slytherin for pointing out the many inconsistencies of my writing.
Edit 3/1/19: Looks like I'm actually doing something now.
Revised Chapter 2 should be coming sometime after this, and afterwards, chapter 3 will finally arrive.
Ash coughed as a blunt force hit him in the chest. The sunlight lit up his face as telekinesis opened up the window shades, and he groaned, harsh light striking his half-closed eyes.
'Wake up!'
"Five more minutes," he said, burying his face into his pillow. Vani was a sweet kirlia, that little bundle of joy that her mother had caught back when she went on her journey, but sometimes he just couldn't deal with her antics. Namely, when he was enjoying a good night's rest.
'I thought you'd be more considerate of how I woke you up on time.'
"She's right, Ash," noted Delia, stepping into his room. The smell of breakfast lingered around her, causing him to sit up, rubbing his eyes. "I know you want a Pokemon, but you won't receive one by sleeping in.
"Sorry mom, sorry Vani." Stretching, he got out of bed, shooing out the kirlia and his mother before changing.
"Mom," he said through the door, grunting as he put his jeans on. "Can I go get my pokemon before eating breakfast?"
"If you want to."
Grinning, he finished changing and barged out of the room, kissing his mother on the cheek and rubbing Vani's head before running to Professor Oak's lab.
"Professor!" he called out. "I'm here!" His call got the attention of Professor Oak, who was standing outside, and the professor smiled before waving back.
"I expected you to get here earlier," teased Oak.
"I'm on time, aren't I?"
"Yes, yes," the professor agreed. "Now, I assume you filled out the paperwork?"
Ash nodded. As a minor, he couldn't simply apply for a license by talking to a professor and then being signed. No, he had to fill out the paperwork that allowed him to take a gap year from education.
Of course, he could have done it all the way back when he was 10, but he wasn't a fool. Even if the roads were safer than before, he wanted to make the most of his time.
"You remember the rules, correct? Any broken laws and your license gets revoked immediately and you will be prosecuted as an adult," started Oak seriously. "If you end the year with less than four badges, you go back to school and must reapply for a license if you want to continue your journey after graduation. If you receive all eight badges but no notable placements in the Indigo League, we will allow you to keep your license throughout your remaining education, and we will find an internship for you. If you place above Top 8, then a Gym Leader will mentor you and you can continue your education out of school."
Ash nodded, imagination running wild. This was everything he wanted. Unlike most people, he decided to hold back on taking his gap year. He wanted to make the most of his journey. He didn't want to have to go back to school.
"Well, have you decided on your starter?"
"Come on, Oak," grinned the boy. "You know I want Pi."
"Are you sure? I don't think the two of you are on the best of terms."
"I can't just back away from taking care of someone for over two years! I finish what I start!"
Pi, the pichu from two years ago, had been a hassle to take care of, especially after he had evolved into a pikachu. Distrusting Oak for disturbing his meal, he found himself grudgingly allowing the idiot kid that accompanied the professor like a puppy to take care of him.
Time around the brat named Ash did mean he didn't have to stay in those infernal pokeballs or whatever. That was always a plus in his book.
With the evolution came pride. No matter the fact that he had been under care of the kid for two years, he was tired of being under a human's control.
As Professor Oak handed Pi's ball to Ash, the presence of the boy caused Pi to burst out of his pokeball, cheeks sparking with electrical energy. The sight of the hostile pokemon caused the two humans to back away, causing the electric rodent to grin. Ah, the fear.
An excellent lesson on how much he hated those infernal contraptions. Never again would he let someone force him back in.
"Ash, quick, the pokeball!" The sound of the old man's statement caused him to whip his head towards the boy, but Ash had not moved to return him. Instead, he slowly placed it on the counter behind him, careful to not startle Pi.
"Hey, Pi, it's me, remember? It's Ash." The tone of Ash's voice caused Pi to scoff. Who did this human think he was talking to, an infant? Of course he remembered the boy.
"I chose you to go on a journey with me, buddy. Are you okay with that? I promise I won't make you go into your pokeball." This caused Pi to lower his guard slightly as he weighed his options. He could fry these buggers and make a run for it, and hope that the old man didn't sic his dragonite, or he could play along with the kid, and get a free ticket away from the professor.
It wasn't a hard choice to make.
"I will repeat myself, where is the captive?"
"We lost it over Route 1!"
J's knuckles turned white upon hearing this, her grip on the subordinate tightening. Route 1, close to Pallet Town, the home of Professor Oak.
A thorn in her side, if the thorn was the side of a tree trunk.
No matter, she'd kill the senile old bastard soon enough. But for now, she had more pressing matters to attend to.
"Failure? J, you know I can't accept that."
"Forgive me, sir."
"Hmpth. Report yourself to the chamber. We'll have to settle the payment another way. I suppose that the good doctor has quite a few new torture tools for our clients to play with."
"Sir-!"
"Shut up!" A loud smack rang through the empty hall, and J fell to her knees, clutching her face. "I didn't raise you to be a failure, I raised you to be a mercenary. You make money, regardless of how you do so! Be glad I've forbidden them from violating your body in more explicit ways."
"...Yes, sir."
The man closed his eyes and poured himself a glass of wine, closing his eyes and embracing the sounds of her screams.
She couldn't allow herself to fail again. Not after that night, the night she lost her pride as a Hunter, the night her teacher turned her into a tool for them to take out their perverse sadism on.
"Hmm, I guess you are worth something after all. They are willing to pay three times the value of the cargo for another round with you. You must scream especially loud."
"Sir..."
"Silence!" Another smack rang, and tears stung her eyes. Try as she might, J had been conditioned to listen to her teacher unfailingly, unable to answer to his punishments with her own violence. "To a mercenary, the means do not matter. Only results. And as far as I can see, you bring excellent results."
Six years. Six years of absolute agony stemming from that one day – the day she tried to steal a pokémon from Professor Oak's ranch.
Her first and only failure.
"Heh... to think, you really had it in you. Kind of makes me not want to die, just to see how you turn out."
"Fuck you."
"Hah! So feisty! I would have loved to see that spirit in you while I was training you. Ah well, I trust you'll do fine. Or at least, decent for a women."
"I don't think you're in a position to be condescending to me."
"I'm still your mentor, brat."
"Mentor or not, I don't take kindly to you looking down at me.
"Does it look like I- urk!"
It was two years since she had ended it at last, two years where she had lost all hope for humanity. All she wanted was, as her teacher prophesied, results. No matter how unscrupulous her methods were, at the end of the day, the money was all she needed. Well, those and her pokémon.
She could trust them, as they trusted her.
"I'll get the damn cargo back myself," she muttered. She paused, and looked back at the subordinate, who was terrified beyond his wits.
"I don't know or care who it was but tell the rest of the crew that the next idiot who anonymously sends a vibrator with the note 'Loosen Up' will become food for Drapion."
Degenerates, all of them.
"How do you feel up there, Pi?"
The pikachu shrugged, lounging leisurely on the boy's shoulder. As long as he didn't have to follow the kid's orders, it was all a relaxing event to him.
He could run away later, he supposed.
"What would you like as our first friend? Pidgey? Caterpie?" Pi laughed upon hearing this. Like he gave a rat's ass about companions. No pun intended, of course.
A muffled roar came from within the forest, causing the two to jump. "What was that?" Ash jumped, jostling Pi off his shoulder and causing the pikachu to scowl.
"Should we check it out?"
"Pi-pika!" Crossing his arms over his chest, Pi shook his head. Like hell he would get close to whatever just roared. He could still see the pidgeys flying away in fear.
Seeing his trainer run into the forest, Pi sighed before scampering after him. He may have been annoying but the trainer did have all the food.
Another roar rang out, accompanied with a plume for green fire in the air. From all his studies in school, Ash recognized the attack immediately.
"Dragon Breath," he muttered. Ash watched in awe the plume was followed by three more. The plumes scorched the sky erratically before tilting towards one another, meeting at a vertex and creating a deafening explosion.
The shock wave that ensued flattened several trees in the immediate vicinity and knocked over Ash and Pi.
Coughing as he forced himself away from the tree he had landed against, Ash immediately looked for Pi, who had been slightly less unfortunate, and had landed in a bush.
"Pi, let's get out of here!" shouted Ash. The ringing in his ears might have prevented him from hearing the pikachu's response, but he saw his partner run up to him.
Never had the pikachu agreed so deeply with his trainer's decisions, but there was always a first for everything.
Just as he ran up to Ash, a snarl rang out, quieter yet far more threatening than the roars from before. Fear seized the two and they slowly looked up to see the belligerent close by: a hydreigon.
The trademark dragon of Unova, it embodied all the stereotypes that Ash had heard about the region: cruel, indifferent, and above all: savagery despite sophistication.
He had heard stories and rumors of trainers who had visited from Unova, whose borderline abusive commands had allowed them to steamroll through trainers who were ill-prepared for the show of ferocity. Relations between Kanto and Unova were not particularly good, though not quite as dangerous as the one between Unova and Sinnoh, and he remembered seeing Lance storm away from a joint regional conference after meeting the current Unovan elites.
In the words of the great champion himself, "They've got no regard for rules or regulations. I will not revel with a band of leaders who make Giovanni look like a therapy doctor."
Another quiet snarl brought Ash back to the real world. His breathing started becoming more rapid, his heart racing. The dragon's six wings, impossibly thin for his massive frame, beat lazily against the air. The tank-like scales of the beast were marred with healed gashes, reminiscent of battles in his past. Shackles and chains dangled off the body, suggesting the dragon had escaped from captivity.
The hydreigon lowered his body before staring right into Ash's eyes. His heart racing, Ash tried not to make a sound, remembering how violent the species could be. However, something caught his eye.
A collar connected to the main collar was beeping and shocking the dragon every few seconds, though the tough hide of the beast meant that the shocks were only irritating him further, causing his two arms to spit out flames licking away at whatever unfortunate thing lay in the side heads' wakes.
Ash walked forward, putting his hand forward hesitantly. The hydreigon tilted its central head curiously, though the growl in its throat signified that his patience was running thin.
"You're hurting, aren't you?" asked Ash, who gripped the collar, biting back a scream as a shock struck him. "Do you want me to remove the collar?"
The hydreigon's eyes narrowed before nodding slowly, lowering his main neck.
It was a Hunter Lock. Ash remembered from his studies last year that such tools were popular among Hunters due to being incredibly resistant to a pokemon's natural defenses as well as any attacks that a pokemon typically knew. Easy to produce and excellent at their purpose, it was no secret why it was universally deemed illegal across all regions.
Due to a need for anonymity and quick resell value, there was no set DNA lock: all that was required to open one of them up was a human fingerprint.
As Ash removed the collar, the hydreigon suddenly lurched backwards, before roaring, sending Dragon Breaths scorching the air. This caused Ash to flinch and throw himself over Pikachu, clenching his eyes as the pokemon let loose.
Better to die protecting his friends, he supposed.
J blinked as she saw the Dragon Breaths and the roar from within the forest. It got out?
As she crept towards the clearing, she noticed the Hydreigon looming over a boy and a pikachu, possibly the boy's. As she prepared to fire her gauntlet, something unexpected happened.
The hydreigon licked the boy.
Ash opened his eyes, surprised that instead of being killed, he was feeling a wet sensation. The middle head of the Hydreigon licked his cheek, and the two other heads nibbled affectionately.
Perhaps affectionately is too strong a word. Non-hostile would be more appropriate.
The hydreigon was surprised to meet a kind human. For most of its life, it was chased by the ambitious and the traitorous, those who wanted it due to its rarity in the wild.
To have a kind human, it was a rarity. One that helped it, despite how intimidating it was, and one that didn't try to take advantage of it. It wanted to eat, yes, but, it wasn't dumb. Eating someone like this would mean it'd be lonely again. At the very least, this boy wasn't a threat.
There could be worse fates than affection.
"You're really nice, aren't you," asked Ash softly. He got a low growl in exchange. He took out Dexter and scanned the Hydreigon with it.
Hydreigon, the Brutal Pokémon. It responds to movement by attacking. They use all three heads to consume and destroy everything.
"You're amazing," breathed Ash, as he slowly pet the hydreigon's heads, getting a growl of content out of its heads.
Pikachu stared in amazement of his trainer, who managed to calm down the beast. Respect for Ash surged within his heart, and shame suffused him when he realized how much of a brat he had been to his trainer, especially one that was willing to sacrifice his life for him.
Pikachu walked up to Ash and hugged his leg. Ash saw the gesture and smile softly, rubbing his starter's head. "Hey, it's okay, Pikachu, I know you didn't have a reason to trust me."
Pikachu looked up at his trainer before smiling back. "Chaa!"
And thus, the start of an everlasting friendship began.
J lowered her gauntlet seeing this sight. This... comfort, the calm of seeing the boy handle his pikachu and the hydreigon, the lull of peace...
She envied it. She would never admit it, but a small part of her wanted to have her head patted as well. Just... the idea of someone taking care of her...
It wasn't fair.
"Trust me," she heard the boy say. "I will make sure you're safe."
A piece of her wanted to prove him wrong, that she could easily take his Pokémon away from him easily, and he'd be helpless to stop it.
And yet, she didn't. Try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to break up such a beautiful sight. She hated herself for this weakness, but regardless... she let them have their happiness.
Anything to avoid looking at them – the sight that ignited her heart with envy.
"Fuck you," she spat out under her breath, as she walked off quietly.
"It's not fair that some people get all the love they want..."
"Well, Pi, did you think this would happen?"
Pikachu snorted at this. As if he could ever prepare for meeting a pseudo-legendary on his first day as a starter. "Heh," chuckled Ash lightly. "You're right."
Ash sighed. "Honestly, the chance to interact with one of these pokémon, it was worth waking up late and not getting a normal starter.
Pikachu tugged at his sleeve, grabbing his attention and pointed to an empty pokeball on his belt. The message was clear: Aren't you going to make him your pokémon?"
"I'm not like other trainers," laughed Ash. "I won't force a pokémon to follow me if they don't want. I mean, if they want a battle first, then sure, I'll battle them, but I won't attack them unprovoked. That's what pokémon battles with trainers are for."
The hydreigon rumbled, impatient, and nuzzled Ash's hand with its left head. This message was even clearer than Pikachu's.
It would go with him.
Ash gaped. 'Wait, really?" A nod. "But...I'm just a-" He was interrupted by a roar by the hydreigon. It was going with him, and that was final.
Ash sighed before holding up a pokeball. "I can't believe this is really happening on my first day too..." The hydreigon nudged the center button and was absorbed into the ball. It shook once, twice, then stopped.
"I caught a hydreigon," mumbled Ash, still in a stupor over the events of the day. "On my first day." A grin threatened to split his face. "Imagine how Gary will feel knowing I have one of these pokémon." He blinked, before remembering he didn't know what Hydreigon could.
"Alright, buddy, come on out." Ash released Hydreigon from his pokeball, who emerged with a roar before floating down in front of Ash. "Let's see what you can do."
Hydreigon, the Brutal Pokémon. This Hydreigon is a male. It has the ability Levitate, and knows the moves Outrage, Dragon Rage, Bite, Headbutt, Dragon Breath, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Roar, Crunch, Dragon Rush, Hyper Beam, Tackle, and Body Slam.
"You really are powerful, aren't you?" spoke Ash softly, to which Hydreigon smirked in agreement. It was liking this trainer more and more.
"Come on guys, let's get moving."
Misty was absolutely mortified. Yes, she had left to go get stronger water pokémon, and hopefully become a Water Master. Yes, that meant running into powerful trainers.
That did not, however, mean she was prepared for the boy. Initially, she had been foolhardy, and said that the boy could not use his Pikachu against her. She thought this would even it up, or even tip the scales in her favor. How was she supposed to know his only other pokémon was a hydreigon?
This was bullshit.
"Sorry," apologized the boy – Ash was his name. Ash… she wanted to throttle him for not warning her ahead of time. "He's the only other pokémon I have."
So not fair.
"I forfeit," she grumbled, returning Staryu. "Like hell I can do anything to touch that beast of yours." Hydreigon growled at this. He took offense to that. "How the hell did you even find one?" she complained. "It's a pseudolegendary!"
She then turned to her destroyed bike, which Hydreigon had flung Staryu into during her moment of disbelief. "This is your fault!"
"That was just part of the battle."
"I challenged you to a battle, not your monstrosity! Not only that, but my bike had no part in it!"
Before Ash could retort, a swarm of Beedrill descended on the two, aggravated by their bickering. Ash was tempted to leave the girl – Misty, was it? – behind, but decided against it. While he was annoyed at her comment, it didn't mean he was willing to leave her alone, especially when her pokemon were incapacitated
"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock! Hydreigon, use Dragon Rage!" The attacks scared most of the beedrill, and those that remained found themselves incapacitated easily when Misty's polywag sniped them out of the sky with Water Gun. A lone one evaded, however, and rushed in with Poison Jab. Ash pushed Misty out of the way, and grunted as the attack connected with him, coughing out a bit of blood from the impact.
Blood. The red liquid of prey.
Seeing this, Hydreigon went wild. Roaring madly, he slammed into the beedrill hard and held up her head up with one head before releasing a Dragon Breath in her face.
"Hydreigon, no!" Hearing his trainer, the dragon stopped his attack, leaving a badly scorched beedrill limp on the floor. His heads wheeled towards the boy, confused at the call for mercy. Ash coughed a bit, spitting out the metallic taste in his mouth. "I know it attacked me, but it wasn't intentional." The dragon growled at this. He was all too eager to murder the filth that dared hurt his trainer. His trainer, however, was too nice.
Then again, that was what made him want to follow Ash.
"Besides, at least it didn't get under the skin."
Ash took a look at his pokeballs before shaking his head. "Look's like I'm carrying you." Picking up the limp beedrill, he grunted before climbing onto his dragon's back. Without looking back at Misty, he allowed Pikachu to climb onto his shoulder and rode on the mighty dragon towards Viridian City.
"Alright, we're here," murmured Ash. "Do you mind if I return you? I don't think you'll fit through the door." Hydreigon growled softly, annoyed, but agreed. After doing so, Ash walked through the door with Pikachu on his shoulder, the beedrill still in his arms
Misty had followed them for a bit, but to his relief a group of Caterpie had crowded around her, buying Ash enough time to speed off on his Pokémon away from her.
"Welcome to the Pokémon center," greeted a Nurse Joy. Despite the smile on her face, it was clear that she was exhausted. "What can I do for you?" That smile of hers soon fell off when she noticed the condition the beedrill was in.
"Hi, um, an... acquaintance and I were having a battle when this Beedrill attacked us. I had my pokémon protect us and he kind of went overboard." Joy nodded in understanding as she took his two pokeballs as well as his Pokedex. Many pokémon were known to be highly protective of their trainers. Most of the time, so long as the injuries weren't fatal, it wasn't too serious of a matter.
If it was though, she'd need to have a talk about what he sicced on the beedrill – especially if he only had two other pokémon.
As she scanned the beedrill's injuries, she winced slightly. Her head was completely covered in burns. Not untreatable, but certainly painful. Trauma around the neck – a grab perhaps?
She shook her head. It must have been a fierce charmander or even a charmeleon that the boy had to do such damage.
Pokémon number two, a pikachu. Weird. That was his starter? This Pokedex – Dexter, it called itself – given by Professor Oak himself said so ... but... that didn't make sense. No electric move that she knew could be that devastating and affect only one part of a beedrill as opposed to the rest of her body.
Not to mention, there weren't any fire type pokémon that she knew of that could be easily found on Route 1.
As she moved onto number three, her eyes widened in disbelief once she read it. As a nurse she was trained to recognize all known pokemon, however unlikely they were to arrive at their doorsteps.
But a hydreigon?
"Ash Ketchum" announced a loudspeaker. "Please report to the front desk to retrieve your pokémon." Ash looked up from his book, and hurriedly went towards Nurse Joy.
"Will the beedrill be okay?"
Nurse Joy gave him a curious look before nodding. "Correct, Mr. Ketchum. The most severe injuries have been taken care of. All she requires is a good night's rest. However, in regard to your other pokémon..." Ash winced. It was obvious what the problem was.
"I question not just how you obtained your hydreigon, but your control over it. While it was relatively complacent once I mentioned you were waiting outside, had I arrived a few seconds later, it would have destroyed the pokémon center in a fit of rage." She paused, seeing the worried look on Ash's face. "As of now, no harm is done, however, I cannot in good faith leave this pokémon with you until you learn to control him. If you leave his sight, I fear that others may not be able to control him should he become angered."
Ash's jaw dropped in horror. Was she going to take them away?
"I will not take your pokémon away," continued Joy, dispelling his fears. "Still, however, the pokémon is too powerful and dangerous to be left in the hands of an unsupervised rookie. I'm afraid I'll have to detain you here while I find a suitable person to supervise your journey." Ash nodded obediently. He knew better than to disobey a Nurse Joy. Despite their harmless demeanor, they were tested by the League itself to be excellent in handling and subduing most, if not all, disobedient pokémon and trainers. Not only would they take away his friends, but he'd be blacklisted, never able to own a pokémon ever again.
It was, to Ash, a fate worse than death.
"Now, I've contacted your sponsor – Professor Oak. He will send someone to supervise your journey, though I cannot say I know who it will be. Until then, I'd advise you to make yourself comfortable. You may release your pokémon if you wish, though I must warn you that any damage caused by your pokémon will be your responsibility."
"Honestly, never would I imagine this would ever happen," muttered Professor Oak, as he went to another number.
He was shocked to hear that Ash had somehow gotten his hands on a pseudo-legendary. His excitement at being able to study such a specimen was dampened by the grave words of the Viridian City Nurse Joy.
"While the pokemon in question does not mind the company of Ash Ketchum, I fear that it will rampage should Mr. Ketchum become injured or become missing."
When he saw what happened to the beedrill, he winced. While the pokémon would live (Nurse Joy had assured him that much), he had a suspicion that Ash had stopped the hydreigon from killing outright murdering the pokémon.
Most dragon tamers he knew were either unavailable or downright terrified of the beast. Hydreigons were known for being insanely vicious even by Dragon-type standards, and their Dark-typing meant that the typical Psychic-lock that most people wielded in handling rogue pokémon was out the question. Even if it meant they were particularly vulnerable to Fairy specialists, those were few and far between, and he knew none of them personally.
Due to the necessity of gyms being open, Giovanni's elusiveness notwithstanding, he couldn't afford to have them waste their time. Asking the Elite Four was no less of a pain. Agatha was more reluctant than ever to do her duties as a Kanto elite, Bruno would probably provoke the beast even more, Lorelei was considering retirement as well, and Lance well... as champion of both Kanto and Johto he barely had enough time to visit his own family. As for Will and Karen, even though by the edicts of the Tohjo Convention Kanto and Johto were to be united, they still fell under Professor Elm's jurisdiction.
Unova, Kalos, and Alola were out as well, reasoned Oak. They were simply too far, and he didn't figure it was fair to have someone travel that far to look over one of his trainers. Hoenn wouldn't work either. Unlike other regions, they had two villainous groups to deal with – it wasn't right to take away manpower from a region that was at its wits end trying to fix this. Sinnoh had just had a new champion, causing their entire League to be a mess. And the less said about Orre, the better.
"Looks like I'll have to hope Elm can help me..."
"I see. Well, Professor, I accept."
The woman ended the call before returning to stroking her Liepard. Tilting her head, she basked in the soothing air of the dimly lit room.
"Elm received a call from Oak," she explained, allowing her Umbreon to come to her side. "There's a kid who somehow got his hands on a hydreigon." Seeing the surprised look on Umbreon's face, she chuckled. "Your guess is as good as mine as to how he found one. Arceus knows I can't even find a deino..."
She stood up, alerting her Pokemon. "Elm wants us to mentor the kid. I've got nothing else to do until they decide to assign me somewhere, so it can't hurt to try."
"... do you understand?" finished a stern Professor Oak. Ash winced, having had to bear the brunt of the lecture.
"Yes, professor," he answered. "I will inform you as soon as something like this occurs in the future.
On his shoulder, Pikachu patted the back of his head in comfort. Despite not having to be lectured by the good professor, he winced at the severity of Oak's tone. Empathy could be annoying at times. Hydreigon growled at the tone of the professor, but several head rubs by Ash had subdued his anger.
"Now Elm has informed me that his chosen mentor will come see you later tonight. I suggest you stay at the Pokémon Center until they arrive."
"Yes sir."
Ash sighed as the professor ended the call, thankful that his mother hadn't made him quit his journey right then and there. She had been horrified, of course, to hear that Ash had been injured by a beedrill and nearly fainted once she learned he had caught a hydreigon. Had Vani and Professor Oak not stood with him, he was certain that his journey would have not lasted even 24 hours.
Beedrill, to her credit, had adjusted to being under the care of humans relatively quickly. She had been a little fearful of Hydreigon; however, Ash had swiftly ended any bad blood between her and Hydreigon by reminding the two that they were to bury the hatchet.
Truth be told, that didn't sound too bad.
"Koffing, use Smokescreen!"
Suddenly, the power cut out for the Pokémon Center. Before Nurse Joy or Ash could react, the doors burst open and the building began to fill up with smoke. As the group coughed, three figures could be seen through the smoke.
"Prepare for trouble!" started the first voice, a female one.
"And make it double!" continued a second voice, this time a male.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within the nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!" finished a third voice, which had a subtle accent to it.
Ash barely gave them or their attention any notice. Instead, he turned to Nurse Joy. "Will the injured pokémon be okay? I mean, there's all this smoke and we're being attacked..."
Joy nodded grimly in response. "The chambers are built to withstand smoke. However, we need to buy time to secure them."
"Ignore us, will you?" barked an angry female's voice. "Ekans, use Poison Fang!" The woman's ekans lashed out and prepared to bite Ash-
-only to be interrupted in the process by a Hyber Beam from Hydreigon. The force of attack sent Ekans smashing into a wall, where she laid unconscious.
"Koffing use Poison Gas!" ordered the male. The koffing lumbered forth before being hit with a Fury Attack from Beedrill. Eager to reciprocate the help she received, as well as avoiding the wrath of Hydreigon, she pursued the koffing relentlessly before smacking it onto the ekans. Out of energy, the koffing fell from the air onto the ekans, adding insult to injury.
"Hey, who do you think you are!" yelled Meowth, running forward for a Scratch attack, only to be stopped by a powerful Thundershock from Pikachu. "Gah, h-hey this is-isn't f-fair!"
Suddenly the doors opened, and a figure stepped in. "Honchkow, use Defog."
A massive flying type burst in and with a mighty flap of his wings cleared the smoke. Not missing a beat, the honchkrow knocked down the two Team Rocket members and squawked in triumph.
The woman returned her pokemon with a murmured thanks before looking at Ash, who was stunned at her appearance. "I'm Karen. Professor Oak asked me to look after you. And you are?"
Of course he knew who she was. She was an Elite Four! One of the best trainers in the world, a cornerstone their region. he would have been a fool not to know her, especially not after the Tohjo Convention.
He was brought out of it when Pikachu jumped up on his shoulder. Glancing around, he saw Beedrill and Hydreigon ready at his sides, while she was looking at him expectantly. Taking a deep breath, he gave his answer with a smile.
"Ash Ketchum. I'm honored to be under your care."
Now to address the elephant in the room, yes, I'm pausing all other fanfiction projects for this one. If there's one thing I know about myself, it's that trying to force a dead fic only makes everyone upset. So officially, the other fics are "on hiatus" so people quit bugging me about them, though they're functionally dead.
Part of the problem, I suppose, is how bizarrely unoriginal they were. Just by skimming over the basic plot points, it's absurdly easy to see where my inspiration came from. Actually, inspiration is too politically correct. I basically copied them while tweaking some minor points.
I cannot guarantee that this fic will not follow the same fate as them. This idea was heavily inspired by Ashes of the Past by Saphroneth, Traveler by The Straight Elf, and Legend by Dark Lord Slytherin. I can, however, guarantee that as long as I remain inspired enough to actually pump out chapters, this fic actually will be updated.
Or maybe it won't. I've been known to break promises before, I fail to see how this will be any different.
Edit: 3/2/2019: As you can see, I've removed Cynthia from the story. Why? Well let's put it this way.
I've already established that there's an assload of crime going on, which is stretching the regions thin. Why the fuck would the Champion of a region as far as Sinnoh come all the way down to Kanto just to babysit Ash?
I was supposed to finish updating this two months ago. I have yet to finish the second chapter. Let's hope I don't mess up too much.
