The Story of Silver Ketchum
By Mewgirl
Chapter 1- The Discovery
Mew was acting strangely. Ever since she had run away with the wild pack that prowled the streets of Pallet Town, she had never acted the same. Sure, she was still affectionate towards Silver, but it was almost as if she wanted more out of this Pokémon- Owner relationship. Outwards, she was still the same Mew she had always been, but she had developed some very odd tendencies, such as roaming the house. She was doing this now.
Silver flopped onto the couch. She was tired of looking for Mew, so she decided to let Mew find her for once. Glancing about her surroundings, and not seeing the familiar pink-and-white tail of her best friend, Silver sat back and began to think, not of anything in particular, just letting her thoughts go where they wanted.
Silver was 13. She was also a direct descendent of the greatest Pokémon master of
all time, Ash Ketchum. His great-granddaughter, to be exact. But he had been dead for longer than she had been alive. Silver reflected on how different their worlds were. No longer were there flocks of wild Pidgey roaming the land. Rattata did not roam the fields of wild grasses. Bellsprout no longer spread their roots in the shade of the forests. Silver's world was one of created, cloned, and manipulated Pokémon. Almost all of the 150 Pokémon Ash had known were extinct. Strangely, all of the Pokémon known as rare in Ash's time were now abundant, having been captured and cloned multiple times.
Silver's thoughts drifted to Mew. Mew had been Silver's pet and best friend since Silver's fifth birthday, when her father had found it in the backyard, alone. On her tenth birthday, when most children in Pallet Town begin their Pokémon journeys, Silver was not allowed to go with the others. Her parents claimed that Mew had become too domesticated during the five years Silver had owned her.
Silver's parents were very protective of her, perhaps since she was an only child. They had decided that Silver would not become a Pokémon trainer like everyone else in the Ketchum family. Silver resented this. It wasn't like she had any friends in Pallet Town, or even anything to do. All she had was Mew. But her parents were firm in their decision. Or were three years ago.
Silver's reverie of thought was broken by a noise. "Mew!" The small, familiar Pokémon hopped onto her lap. "Mew, mew!" it squeaked, "Mew!" Mew jumped off Silver and ran to the doorway, still mewing for Silver to follow. Silver did. Mew led her all the way to the attic, where she had obviously been exploring. Mew bounded up the stairs and to a desolate, dimly lit corner of the large attic, disappearing into a large trunk that her stubby arms had somehow forced open. Silver peered inside.
"Mew, it's only a bunch of old clothes," Silver said, puzzled. "What's so important…" Silver trailed off in mid-sentence. She stared at what Mew had found at the bottom of the trunk. A moth-eaten red-and-white baseball cap, several dog-eared photos, yellowed with age, and a small leather-bound book.
Silver gingerly touched the antiques. She carefully picked them all up and headed downstairs with Mew. Reassuming her seat on the couch, Silver studied the items. The baseball cap yielded no clues, except for the fact that the strange symbol on the front matched the symbols on the Pallet Town local baseball teams uniforms. The photos were more interesting. One showed a group of three people, kids about Silver's age, and a Pikachu. The smallest boy in the picture wore a baseball cap, jeans, and a blue-and-white jacket. The Pikachu was sitting on his head. The taller boy had spiky brown hair and squinty eyes set in an angular face. He looked like a gym leader Silver had seen somewhere. The girl had bright red hair and looked kinda… well, conceited. But the picture was too worn out for her to see any more. She moved on to the other pictures. The next three weren't much better. Just close-ups of the girl, the tall boy, and the Pikachu. Silver flipped them over. On the backs of the first two were names, Misty for the girl and Brock for the boy. Nothing special. The last picture was the most interesting. It showed the smaller boy, close up, and was in surprisingly good condition. Silver stared. He was wearing the hat that she now held in her hands. And his face was so familiar… Silver turned toward the window to take a better look. As she turned, she caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror, and realized that she looked exactly like the boy in the picture. Her hands trembling, she turned the picture over. The caption on the back read Ash Ketchum. Now everything fit together. It was her great-grandfather.
"Mew, how did you know?" Silver whispered to her companion. Mew looked at her, silent. Silver really didn't expect an answer. She hugged her friend.
"Mew, mew," Mew squeaked, nudging the small book toward Silver. Silver wondered what it was. She opened it. The Diary of Ash Ketchum, Silver read.
To Be Continued
