To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 1

Getting Started

"Ash!" his fair mother called from the kitchen as she slaved over the burning hot stove. "Dinner's almost ready!"

Ash shook the SNES controller in his hand and moved with the game as he replied "Okay!" to his mother hastily, trying not to draw too much of his attention away from the exciting racing game. He was in first place on the final lap and nearing the finish line- certainly one of the most critical moments of his life. But the wafting aroma of baked potatoes smothered in gravy and butter with deliciously cooked, well-done steak complimenting it, followed by succulent vegetables was too much for him. The fragrance of the masterfully cooked food lifted him into the air as he fluttered down the stairs and drooled over the delicious food placed on the table. "Wow, mom! Dinner looks great!" he exclaimed as he quickly sat down and pulled plate after plate of food toward him.

His mother, Delia, could only let out a small sigh and smile at her gluttonous son as she pulled a few plates of food toward her and joined him. "You've always loved your food." she smiled. "When you're gone tomorrow, I'll certainly have some cash in my pocket with all the money I'll save on food!"

Ash only had time to smile as his hand brought up a whole steak on a fork up to his mouth and he just had to take a large bite of it.

"So have you given any thought on what Pokémon you were gonna pick?" she asked.

Ash managed to pause from stuffing his face, as most of his food was on his face anyway, and thought for a second. "I'm not really sure. There's Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander, right?"

His mother nodded. "Squirtle is a Water type, Charmander is a Fire type, and Bulbasaur is a Grass type. I've heard that most trainers pick Bulbasaur because it has a type advantage over the first three gyms."

"I'm sure I'll know when I get there." Ash simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating. He soon paused again and placed his silverware on the table, looking up at his mother with a stern expression on his face. His mother saw him and trembled slightly, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "What did dad choose?"

Delia's silverware fell to her plate as she sat there, utterly silent with a dark, grim expression on her face. The afternoon was going os well until her son just had to go and pry on things that had been better left forgotten. Her blood boiled and veins crinkled up her neck as she did her best to conceal the rage building up inside that could surely do more than just flip the table she sat at. "Ash, you know your father is not a subject up for discussion."

"Come on, mom!" he annoyingly groaned. "I'm ten years old and I'm getting ready to start my adventure tomorrow! Don't you think its time I know who he is? I could meet him and never even know it was him!"

Delia's fist slammed on the table in anger as she rose up and barked down at her son "You will never meet your father! He's taken a different road than you're taking. One that surely will never allow your paths to cross."

"Can't I at least know his name?"

Delia vigorously shook her head and retired from the room, leaving him with the closing remark of "Some things are just better left unknown. Leave it be, Ash. Get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

Poor Ash Ketchum was left alone at a table of what was delicious, amazing food but now churned his stomach just to look at it. Never before had he seen a rage such as that overcome his mother to the point of having to leave the room and run from the situation. It broke his heart to see his mother so angry and he wanted to apologize, but chose not to in fear of another yelling session between the two. Following her orders, the boy went to his room and prepared for the big day that awaited him tomorrow.

That next day, a bright, shinning sun in the sky pierced through his window and awoke him from his deep slumber. As he rubbed his eyes, a smile painted itself across his face as he realized what day it was and he quickly got up. With a quick dash into the bathroom, he brushed his teeth, combed his black, spiky hair, and got dressed. A turn of his official Pokémon League Expo baseball cap, a pop of the collar of his blue jacket, and snag on his brown belt that held up his blue jeans, he deemed himself ready to head on over to Professor Oak's Laboratory.

Ash quickly rushed downstairs, almost falling multiple times, and arrived in the living room only to see his mother nowhere to be found. "Mom!" he yelled after checking around the house for a few minutes, but no answer was called out back to him. It wasn't long before he began to worry about where she was and decided to go to her room. Upon arrival, the door was tightly shut and locked seeming to be with the explicit purpose of keeping him out. He knocked softly on the door and waited, but no reply was heard. Sadness and worry began to fill the soon-to-be trainer's heart as he kept knocking and even tried breaking the door down with his shoulder. "Come on, mom! I'm gonna be late! I just wanna say bye!" but after multiple attempts to enter her room ending in failure, all his body wanted to do was lean his back against the door and slowly slide to the ground with his knees up to his face.

Delia also sat in the same position on the other side of the door with tears slowly streaming down her face. All her son wanted to say was good-bye, but her heart could not bear such a parting, having already had her husband leave on less than better terms. She was grateful her son had no memory of that event, only being five at the time, but was also fearful of the same thing happening to her with him. Would she say something that she regretted? Would she upset him? Would she accidentally let information about the demon that is his father leak? She didn't know and she cared to never know. Her heart only shattered and rendered her motionless as she heard small, soft whimpers of her son from behind the door. The already shattered pieces of her heart shattered into even tinier pieces as she remained in a quiet sadness as to not worry her son even more. After moments passed, a small piece of paper was slid underneath her door and the footsteps of her soon slowly faded away until the door downstairs slammed, which meant that he left. Delia's fingers slowly moved to grab the piece of paper as she unfolded it.

"Dear Mom, I guess you're sleeping, so I won't bang on your door anymore. I'm sorry if I woke you, but I just wanted to say good-bye before I left today. You are and always will be my mother and you're an incredible one. I just wish I didn't make you so upset last night when I asked about dad. I didn't mean to, I was just curious. I don't even know his name or anything. But I will uncover the mystery about my father, whether you like it or not or whether you tell me who he is or not. I'm sorry, mom, but I have to know who he is and why he just left us. But remember, no matter what happens, you're still my mother and no one can take you away from me.

Especially dad.

Love, your son, Ash Ketchum"

Ash wiped the tears from his eyes, ready to begin his day anew, and rushed through the streets of the small Pallet Town, up to the top of a hill where a large, white building with a large windmill resided. Tall, brass gates and a brick fence surrounded the property with a little buzzer off to the side on the fence. The boy pressed the red button and knelt down to speak through the intercom. However, before he could present himself, a womanly voice spoke.

"Professor Oak's Laboratory- how may I help you?"

"My name is Ash Ketchum. I have an appointment with Professor Oak today."

"Oh!" the womanly voice exclaimed happily. "Of course, of course. Please, come on up!"

The gates slowly opened up, but in his impatience to wait for them to open all the way, he slid through the opening once it was large enough for his slender body. The boy quickly ran up the hill and marveled at the sight of all the Pokémon that lived on the premises. Pidgey and Fletchling flew through the skies above him, chirping happily, Aipom and Mankey swung from tree branch to tree branch, Lillipup ran through the fields playing together, and Goldeen and Basculin jumped beautifully from the ponds. All of the Pokémon nearly took Ash's breath away as he continued to the laboratory and upon arriving, flew open the doors. Ultimately, the boy was let down when he saw not Professor Oak, but something he never expected.

A boy stood in the middle of the main room. His hair was brown and spiky. A green jacket covered his torso and somewhat wrinkled, purple pants covered his bottom. He turned around with a snide expression on his face and smirked at Ash. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Ashy-boy! Haven't smelt you in a long time."

Now Ash's breath was taken away as he stared right into the face of his old childhood friend, Gary Oak. The two had rocky history together, being friends since they were in diapers. That was back when things were good. They even participated at Professor Oak's Summer Camp when they were younger, but a scuffle over a girl turned the two best friends into what they were today- rivals. That isn't to say that they hated each other, but feelings of friendship weren't all that were present between the two. "Gary?" Ash nearly gasped. "What're you doing here?"

Gary folded his arms and groaned impatiently. "I'm waiting here for gramps to get back so I can get my Pokémon! What's a shrimp like you doing here?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders and sat down in a nearby chair. "Looks like the same thing."

"Pfft. Figures. He always liked you more anyway." Gary scoffed.

Ash raised an eyebrow at his rival's words. "What are you talking about? You're his grandson. Obviously he likes you more."

Gary scoffed again and turned his head away, ending that conversation and starting a new one. "So what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much, really. Just-"

"Alright!" Gary quickly interrupted. "You're boring and this is boring." he started towards the door and called Ash over to follow him. "C'mon, let's go find gramps."

Ash stood up hastily walked over to his side, trying to keep up with Gary's fast-paced walking as he started down the hill. "Ah! Hey, shouldn't we wait for Professor Oak to come back?"

Gary put his hands behind his head and continued to leisurely, but quickly, walk down the hill, already nearing the gates. "Pfft. If I know gramps, he's just studying out on Route 1. It isn't that far away but he'll be out there for hours if we don't go get him."

"That doesn't sound very sa-"

Gary stopped and turned around to Ash, looking him dead in the eye with a sly smile and teased him by asking "What are you, Torchic?" (Pokémon slang for "chicken")

Ash was taken off guard by the question and paused for a second, unable to answer the question.

Gary had begun to place his arms on his sides and cluck circles around Ash, mercilessly taunting him. "Tor-tor-tor-torchiiiiiiiiiic!"

Ash suddenly found himself grabbing his rival by the collar of his black t-shirt and holding him up to his face with an offended, angry expression on his face. "I'm no Torchic!" he growled.

Gary slapped his rival's hand off his shirt and smirked at him. "Then come on. Let's go find him."

Having been callously persuaded by Gary, the two would-be trainers set out for Route 1 as fast as the possibly could. They blazed through the small town like Ninjask with a Burn condition and arrived at a patch of tall grass. Gary stopped and skimmed the area, hoping to find his grandfather, but had no such luck. "He's got to be around here somewhere..."

"Hey, look!" Ash said, pointing off in the distance to a rustling patch of grass. At the sound of his yell, the rustling patch began to quickly move closer and closer to the two boys. Electricity sparked up from the grass and the two came to a sudden realization that it wasn't Professor Oak, but a small, yellow rodent with electricity crackling from its cheeks as it eyed the two boys angrily.

Left with no other choice, all the boys could do was stand there, frozen in fear and shock as they were certain the small rodent could outrun the two of them. Careful not to make any sudden movements, Gary tried to slowly back away, but soon saw a spark of electricity fly straight toward him. Suddenly, a rogue, blue, pulsating orb of energy blew the electric shock away as a large, yellow Pokémon with oddly small wings landed in front of them. It roared loudly as it turned and smacked the rodent with a powerful whip of its tail into a nearby tree. A Poké Ball flew from behind the two boys and bounced off the rodent, enveloping it inside a red beam and pulling it inside. The ball fell to the ground and wiggled back and forth until it finally stopped. Ash and Gary could only stand there and look on in shock and confusion at both the large Pokémon that stood before them, seemingly to work in their favor, and the ball that now contained the electric rodent that was ready to shock them.

"You two know you shouldn't be out here by yourself." A man in a white lab coat sternly said as he went to retrieve the Poké Ball. "I'm thankful my Dragonite and I were in the right place at the right time. Now come on back to my laboratory with me and we'll get started."