Note: Hello Readers! Sleepy(Formerly MCcheif25) here, it has been a couple of years since my last entry and I apologize to any of my former readers who may be reading this. Please enjoy Birth Of Legends, a spiritual successor to Journey Of Future Masters, my first story I uploaded back in 2014. This story will feature many characters from the Pokémon franchise, both already established characters and ones of my own creation, as well as a more mature and somewhat realistic story-line. Any feedback is welcome, please let me know what you liked about the story, what you didn't like, and any recommendations you may have. Even though this story takes place in the Kanto region, I will not limit myself to the first 151 Pokémon. However, Pokémon outside the Kanto Pokédex will not be featured as prominently as native Kanto Pokémon.
Birth Of Legends Chapter 1
Exposition and Introduction
The region of Kanto in its past has been a rather peaceful one, Pokémon trainers of all ages and backgrounds explored the region with various goals. During this time, the age that trainers were eligible to receive their training licenses was age 10. However, that was before the rise of a crime syndicate known simply as Team Rocket. These heinous individuals first made a name for themselves by poaching endangered Pokémon from protected areas. Team Rocket soon moved on from poaching wild Pokémon to attacking unsuspecting trainers and robbing them of their Pokémon partners. As a response to Team Rockets aggressive tactics, wild Pokémon became more agitated and territorial, causing Trainers not only to have to worry about attacks from Team Rocket but attacks from wild Pokémon as well. The dangers posed by Team Rocket and the increasingly aggressive wild Pokémon caused the League to raise the minimum age requirement for trainer licenses to 15 in hopes of minimizing trainer injury.
Despite the League's best efforts, the career of Pokémon trainer become increasingly less popular. As a result, towns and cities that pride themselves on producing the best Pokémon trainers took a heavy hit in both reputation and population as people were afraid living in these areas would make them a target for Team Rocket. No town took a heavier hit than Pallet Town, A town that was famous for producing skilled Pokémon trainers like no other. Despite the threat posed by Team Rocket, Pallet town still managed to churn out successful Pokémon trainers, but nowhere near the scale of past years. This year however, Pallet town would produce some of the greatest Pokémon trainers the region had ever seen.
Professor Samuel Oak's institute of Pokémon Research and Trainer School in Pallet town has been regarded at the Regions finest research facility and Professor Oak as the worlds leading researcher on all things Pokémon. In his heyday, Professor Oak himself was a world-renowned trainer, but nowadays he prefers to study Pokémon from his lab and to help raise future generations of Pokémon trainers. This year, Professor Oak eagerly looked forward to the graduation of his student. Because of the decreasing popularity of Pokémon trainer as a hobby and many parents refusing to allow their children to attend, Oak's graduating class had dwindled down to 5 students. But Oak had a great deal of confidence in these students, he believed them all to be prodigies in their own ways.
Ash Ketchum was among the 5 graduating students, a raven-haired boy with an intense love for Pokémon and was likely the most well rounded of all his students. Ash had lived in Pallet town his entire life and had been visiting Professor Oak's laboratory since he could walk and enrolled at the school the moment he was of age.
Serena Yvonne was a bubbly girl with honey colored hair from the Kalos region. Unlike her classmates, Serena never showed any aptitude for Pokémon battling but has showed heavy interest in being a Pokémon coordinator or performer. Due to not being a Kanto native and being the last of her classmates to enroll, Serena suffered from confidence issues when it came to her skills as a trainer. But Professor Oak had noted that Serena is incredibly quick to create strong bonds between her and almost any Pokémon she meets, and he was confident in her ability.
Thomas Stars was perhaps Professor Oak's most knowledgeable student, constantly reading books about Pokémon behavior and battle strategy. Thomas was one of the 3 students that planned on taking part in the Pokémon League and Professor Oak was confident that he would go far with his defensive battling style. Thomas's parents were Pokémon researchers from Cinnabar Island who retired to Pallet town when the Cinnabar Volcano erupted and leveled the island. Since the move, Thomas made daily visits to Professor Oak's research lab and school where he eventually enrolled as a student. Thomas's laid-back personality and defensive battling style are in stark contrast to his best friend and fellow Cinnabar native.
Macy Cinders lived on Cinnabar island before the eruption with her mother who ran a popular inn and tourist trap. Macy is an incredibly hot-headed and energetic girl with a hyper aggressive battling style. Her appearance matches her personality with wavy red hair with flashy streaks of purple. Her stubbornness is coupled with a sense of humor and a sharp instinct, but she was still quick to make friends at the school and has shown that she is a caring individual underneath all the fire.
The fifth and final student was a bit of a sour subject. He was a prodigy in all aspects of Pokémon Training and researching but hardy attended classes. However, because of his immense aptitude for all things Pokémon and his lineage, he was still able to graduate and receive his training license. This student was Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandson. Despite his immense talent, Gary was incredibly arrogant and thought highly of himself, instigating a rivalry with Thomas and Ash as they all planned to take the League challenge.
"There, that's all you need to know about my graduating class this year. I have a lot of faith in these young ones and if the League sent you to administer their licenses then I bet they think so as well." Professor Oak said as he gathered up his files and notes he had taken on his students. The man he was talking to a Pokémon League official with spiky carbine hair and brown eyes.
The man shook his head and sighed with a smile. "You don't have to regard me so highly professor, after all you used to beat me in Pokémon battles all the time!" the man chuckled.
"That was a very long time ago Lance, I'm nowhere near the trainer you are." The elderly professor laughed, it was nice to reminisce on old times. But his joyful expression soon faded as a more serious tone overtook his voice. "Now, I know the League Champion wouldn't come down here just to reminisce on old times and register a few new trainers."
"Its not like you to get right to business professor, you used to be much more relaxed." Lance said with one last chuckle before gaining a very serious expression, the wrinkles and grey hairs that went way past his years became way more apparent. "As you know, Team Rocket has been getting much more aggressive in the past couple months. Even with the help of the elite four and the gym leaders I find myself stretched way to thin, and we have intel that tells us that sometime soon, Team Rocket plans on attacking this facility for the rare Pokémon that reside here."
Professor Oak crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I see, I've been expected them to attack this place for some time now. That's why I've moved most of the rarer and endangered Pokémon that I cared for here to the Safari Zone reserve." The Professor began rubbing his chin quizzically, thinking about what their possible target would be until it clicked. "They are probably after the abundance of Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur that I keep and breed here at the lab for new trainers. After all they are almost extinct in the wild."
"That's was exactly my thought, and with tomorrow being the graduation of your students in which they will all receive one of those three Pokémon the danger is high." Lance said as he unclipped a Poké ball from his belt. "The League choose me to come here as their official to act as a deterrent, Team Rocket are much less likely to attack if the Champion is in town."
"Is that what you think Lance? How incredibly naïve." An ominous voice echoes from the open door behind them.
Lance and Professor Oak immediately shot up from their chairs and face the source of the taunt. Two figures emerge from the darkness, one of them a tall middle-aged man with teal hair and eyes and a white uniform. Next to him was a younger boy, Professor Oak judged that he wasn't too much older than his students. He had brown hair and was wearing a green hoodie. Lance immediately noticed that both had a large red R on their clothing.
"Team Rocket!" Lance erupted in anger as he prepared to send out his Pokémon. "So, you're recruited kids now? Just when I thought you couldn't get more despicable."
The older Rocket chuckled, a look of smugness on his face. "Him? He is just here to distract you while we rob the poor Professor blind."
"Distract? You don't think a child could keep the Champion busy for long." Professor Oak retorted, in that moment, he noticed a small Pokémon hiding behind the legs of the younger Rocket.
"Just shows how naïve you really are Professor." The man said, maintaining his aura of smugness as he nodded to his accomplice. "Show them."
The teen nodded before kneeling to the Pokémon hiding behind him. "Go on, you can do it." He said encouragingly to the mystery Pokémon, it nodded understandingly as it moved itself into the light, revealing it to be a small, light purple blob-like Pokémon. Professor Oak stared at the strange Pokémon, flabbergasted by appearance of a Pokémon he had never seen before.
"Goomy…Draco Meteor." Its trainer commanded as the small Pokémon became enveloped in a strange draconic energy.
Lance's eyes widen in horror as he throws down the Poké ball in his hands. "Dragonite quickly! Protect us!" he shouted as the whole room quickly became flooded with a mixture of blinding orange and white light.
It was the next morning, the incident regarding Team Rocket the previous night was under investigation by the local police force but otherwise the town's population was oblivious to the happenings, including soon-to-be trainer Ash Ketchum.
Ash had torn up his room on the second floor of his home, flinging clothes, magazines and papers all around as he muttered to himself "Where is it, it got to be here somewhere, I can't be a trainer without my hat!" He got down, pressing his cheek against the floor as he scanned the underside of his bed frantically until he spotted the familiar shape of his official Pokémon League hat. He sighed in relief as he reached out his arm to grab his prized possession, he had probably sent in thousands of tickets to win that hat.
A little bit down the street from the Ketchum residence, Thomas was snoring rather loudly in his bed. Stacks of research papers and candy wrappers scattered around him, little did he know he was about to receive a rude awaking. His window opened as Macy popped her head into the room, noticing he was still asleep. "Aww look hes still sleeping, I can fix that." She giggled to herself as she took a deep breath.
"WAKE UP YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Thomas awakened with a jolt and a scream, moving his head around in a panic looking for the source of the booming noise and rubbing his eyes. "Dear Arceus! Macy you are going to give me a heart attack!" Thomas shouted back, still rubbing his eyes as his messy dark hair stuck up in several directions.
"Well maybe if you weren't up all-night reading and eating I wouldn't have to wake you up this way!" the fiery girl retorted. "Me and Serena have been waiting for you! We have to go meet up with Ash and get to graduation!"
"Hey Macy?" a soft voice shouted up at her. Macy took her head out of Thomas's window and looked down the ladder to Serena who was waiting on the ground.
"Yes, what is it?" Macy shouted back, Serena shuffled her feet nervously before asking "Why didn't we just use the front door?"
"Because this would scare him more." Macy replied.
"Hey guys! What are you doing?" a voice shouted. It was Ash who was jogging over to his friends.
"Waking Thomas up because the idiot slept it." Macy replied from the top of her ladder.
"Again?!" Ash said with a loud sigh.
"I CAN HEAR YOU GUYS I'M RIGHT HERE! CAN I AT LEAST HAVE BREAKFEST FIRST?" Thomas shouted out his open window, prompting all his friends to laugh.
The four graduating students chatted amongst themselves as they walked together to the Research lab, excited about receiving their licenses and starter Pokémon.
"I think I want to choose Squirtle, it seems really well rounded compared to the other two." Ash said as they walked.
"I never really thought much about it, but Squirtle seems like a good choice to me too." Serena replied, a light pink blush forming on her face.
"Well I'm going to choose Charmander, a lot of raw fire power!" Macy proclaimed, her amber eyes burning with competitiveness. "What about you Thomas? Probably Bulbasaur huh?"
"You guessed it." Thomas replied without looking up from his notebook, periodically taking bites from a candy bar. "Its defensive stats fit my battling style the best."
Continuing their excitable chatter, the group was surprised to be met with a crime scene when they arrived at the laboratory. There was a massive hole in the side of the laboratory where the Professor's office was originally, with nothing left was dust and rubble. The students stared in stunned silence, unable to fully believe the sight they were seeing. One of the officers investigating the scene took notice of their arrival, he ran over, waving them down.
"Hey! You're the students that were supposed to graduate today right?" The officer said as the paused to catch his breath. "The Professor told us you'd be coming."
"The Professor?!" Ash shouted, seeming to forget everyone was standing only a few feet away from him. "Is he okay?!"
"Yes, son he's okay just calm down." The Officer said, motioning he hands to try to get Ash to lower his voice. "He asked me to keep an eye out for you kids and escort you to him."
The group let out a collective sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness." Serene said, the feeling of a thousand's pounds lifted off her chest.
"There were only four other Pokémon left in the lab after Team Rocket cleaned it out." Professor Oak reported to the detective, who was recording everything for the police report. "Lance and I believed that they were after the starter Pokémon that I keep in the lab for new trainers, but two of the four they left behind were a Squirtle and a Charmander so it's possible there were other motives."
"Professor! Did you know there's a huge hole in your building?" Macy said jokingly as they group of graduates and the officer approach.
"Its nice to see that the sight of your school in pieces hasn't ruined your crude sense of humor." Thomas mumbled, still upset about how he was woken up. "So, what happened here Professor?"
The Professor cleared his throat. "Well first let me apologize that your graduation won't be as grand as you thought. Last night Team Rocket attacked the lab and stole most of the starter Pokémon I raised."
"Does that mean we won't be getting our Pokémon today?!" Ash exclaimed before being smacked in the back of the head and given a look of disapproval by Macy.
"Our school and Professor were attacked last night, try to be a bit more sensitive." Serena said with her hands on her hips.
The Professor then laughed and shook his head. "No Ash, I still intend on providing you four with starter Pokémon."
"What about Gary?" Thomas said bitterly. "I don't see him here."
The Professor then chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Well, he wanted to head off on his journey as soon as possible, so I had his license and starter Pokémon delivered to his house earlier this morning."
"Of course, he had to get his license before us! That spoiled pompous jerk!" Macy yelled as she kicked some rubble angrily.
"But if Team Rocket stole the starter Pokémon from the lab, what Pokémon are you going to give us?" Serena asked quizzically.
"Well, that brings us to an interesting situation." Oak said as he presented the four remaining Pokémon inside their Poké balls to group. "Two of these Pokémon are your standard Charmander and Squirtle, for some reason they weren't taken like the others."
"What about the other two?" Ash asked, pointing at the other two Poké balls.
"Erm...well, I am willing to give these other two Pokémon to you, they are not your conventional starter Pokémon and will come with their own unique sets of…challenges." The Professor said nervously. "You will have to choose amongst yourselves, but if you are willing to wait a few more weeks I can probably have some more starter Pokémon brought here from one of the Leagues reserves."
"I wouldn't be okay with that." Thomas spoke up after hearing the options given by the Professor. "The starter Pokémon that you raise here at the lab are bred for the purpose of gifting to newly licensed trainers and are used to being around people, plucking a Pokémon from a reserve where they are already comfortable and have had little human interaction just seems cruel." The others nodded in agreement.
The Professor smiled, clearly pleased with their answers. "In that case, please help yourselves. But first I must present you with these" The professor said as he pulled out four, phone-like devices from his bag. "There are your Pokédexs, they automatically record data on any Pokémon you encounter, and they also serve as your trainer certification." Professor Oak said as he powered on one of the devices, revealing that it had a picture of Thomas as well as all his trainer information. He then handed them each their respective Pokédexs before presenting them with the four Poké balls containing their soon-to-be starter Pokémon. "Usually an official sent by the Pokémon League presents you with your licenses, but the representative they sent had to return to the League immediately after the attack to report it."
"I think Serena should take the Squirtle! She said on the walk here she wanted one." Ash said as he urged her forward.
"W-what? I did say that, but I-I only said it because you..." Serena trailed off before Ash interrupted her with "Then there's no need to hesitate! Take it!"
Defeated by Ash's persistence, Serena nervously picked up the Poké ball. "Um...Squirtle I choose you?" she said as she pressed the release button. A small white light erupted from the open Poké ball and a small, blue turtle-like Pokémon with a brown shell and pale underbelly materialized in front of her. It had a small, heart shaped birth-mark like pattern on its shell.
Thomas knelt and studied the tiny turtle Pokémon. "It's a bit smaller than normal." As a gift for his comment about its small stature, Squirtle sprayed him in the face with a stream of cold water. "It has attitude too." he muttered, drying off his face.
Serena giggled and kneeled to pick up the tiny Squirtle in her arms. It looked at her a bit suspiciously, wondering if this human was going comment on its height too.
"Hi there Squirtle." Serena gave the Pokémon are heartfelt smile, causing Squirtle to abandon its suspicions and smile back. "I was wondering if you'd like to come with me and help me become a Pokémon trainer." Squirtle wasted no time in nodding it head excitedly and attempting to give its new trainer a hug with its tiny arms.
"It seems like you and Squirtle will get along just fine." Professor Oak smiled. Like he predicted, Serena had immediately made a connection with her Pokémon.
"Then I guess that means Charmander is mine!" Macy said impatiently as she excitedly snatched the Poké ball from Professor Oak's hands.
"Whoa now fireball, don't you think you should ask your fellow classmates first?" Professor Oak snickered, Macy was still as stubborn and impatient as always.
"I'm sure they don't mind! Thomas wanted a Bulbasaur and I bet Ash wants to see what your mystery Pokémon are." Macy said, still turning towards the boys to make sure they were okay with it.
Thomas shook his head and sighed. "She is right, a Charmander just doesn't fit my style of battling, and she's wanted one ever since we were small."
"You heard him, go ahead and send it out." Ash affirmed, nodding his head.
"Alright then! Charmander, come on out!" Macy said happily as she pressed the release button on the Poké ball. A bi-pedal, orange lizard-like Pokémon emerged from the following flash of light. It had a long orange tail with bright flame lit at the end. Charmander let out a spurt of small flames from its nose as it looked around the area, immediately locking eyes with Macy. It could sense the competitive fire inside her.
"Okay Charmander, here's the deal, if you want to be my Pokémon then we are going to win a lot of battles and have a lot of fun, sound good?" Macy said as she held out her hand to the fiery lizard and smiled. Like Squirtle, Charmander didn't hesitate in the slightest before shaking Macys hand happily.
"Well, that just leaves you two. Remember that these Pokémon are unique cases." The Professor warned. "They were young Pokémon that were abused by humans in the past and I've been caring for them since a colleague of mine that works for the League rescued them."
Ash frowned in disgust, the idea of people abusing their Pokémon was criminal to him. "I promise Professor we will make sure to give these Pokémon the care they need." Ash said as Thomas nodded in agreement. Serena smiled at Ash's sincere words as Macy poked her teasingly in the side.
"I'm glad to hear it, I couldn't think of better candidates to care for these Pokémon." The Professor said as he placed one of the Poké balls in Ash's hand and then Thomas's.
Ash and Thomas both pressed the release button on their respective Poké balls at the simultaneously, filling the area with a flash of light before two very different Pokémon materialized before them.
In front of Ash, a yellow mouse Pokémon with pointy black-tipped ears and a tail resembling a thunderbolt appeared. It scowled angry at him as sparks flew from the red pouches on its cheeks.
Thomas's Pokémon was a small bipedal Pokémon with golden-brown hide and two dorsal spikes. It appeared to wear a skull on its head as a mask and it carried a small club made from bone. The Pokémon let out a lonely cry as it trembled, seemingly terrified of Thomas.
"A Cubone and a Pikachu?" Serena said, surprised.
"That's right." Confirmed the Professor. "Pikachu is very distrusting of people, it took months for me to even approach it without being electrocuted."
Ash frowned again before looking down at Pikachu, the yellow mouse Pokémon still scowling angrily at him. "No Pokémon should have to suffer at the hands of their trainer." He said as he kneeled before Pikachu. Pikachu let another set of sparks fly from its cheeks as a warning even though it had sensed no malice from the human before him.
"And Cubone...well..." The Professor trailed off sadly before Thomas finished his sentence.
"Its Mother was killed by poachers, wasn't she?" Thomas said, closing his fists angrily. He read that the bones wild Cubone and its evolution Marowak make their weapons and helmets out of sell for a lot on the black market, making them a prime target for poachers. Hearing the mention of its deceased mother caused Cubone to let out a series of lonely, heartbreaking cries.
"The poor thing..." Macy said, kicking another pile of unsuspecting rubble in an attempt to mask her own sadness.
Without warning, Thomas picked up the crying Pokémon and held it close, giving it a hug. Cubone was frozen, not knowing what to do or how to feel. "Its okay to cry, I once lost my home too and it broke my heart. But its okay now because I'll give you a home." Thomas said softly to the orphaned Pokémon, showing an abnormal amount of sympathy and gentleness. Macy knew that Thomas was referring to the eruption of Cinnabar Volcano that destroyed their home island.
Cubone broke back out into tears, but this time its hugged Thomas and cried into his shirt as he assured it that everything was okay.
Inspired by Thomas's initiative, Ash turned to Pikachu and held out his hand. "Hey, I know that you've had some crappy experiences with terrible people in the past. But me and my friends aren't like them and I'll take care of you." Pikachu's cheeks stopped producing electricity, but it kept a defensive posture before turning its intense glare to the Poké ball in Ash's hand. Ash took notice of this and put the Poké ball in his back pocket, out of sight. Pikachu relaxed a noticeable amount once its Poké ball was put away.
"Oh, so you don't like your Poké ball, do you?" Ash said, Pikachu shook its head in acknowledgement. Being inside its Poké ball reminded Pikachu of its time with its past trainer.
"So, if I promise not to force you into your Poké ball, will you give me a chance?" Ash said, still holding out his hand to the electric mouse. Pikachu stared at Ash's hand and thought for what felt like an eternity, until finally it cautiously shook Ash's hand.
Professor Oak couldn't help but smile widely. Despite the catastrophe the night before, this day turned out better than he ever could have hoped. "Okay then you four, now I have something to warn you about." The four students and their Pokémon turned to the elderly Professor as he took a more serious tone. "The Kanto region has become more dangerous than ever with Team Rocket out there attacking Trainers and in turn making wild Pokémon more skittish and willing to attack. So, I request that you all travel together, look out for each other as I have looked out for you during your time here. I believe that all of you have the capability to become amazing Pokémon trainers, legends if you will. Now go out there and make me proud."
"Yes Professor!" The four of them said in unison, their Pokémon letting out cries of their own in affirmation. They then headed out to their homes to prepare for their long journey and to write their own stories.