AN; I don't own Pokemon. If I did; ORAS contest halls would have been the same as their original counterpart; Normal Rank in Slateport City and so on.
This story was inspired by a couple of stories where Ash is a Pokemon in disguise. I'm sure all of you who knows Pokemon would know what Pokemon he is. Please enjoy the story.
It's a warm and calm night in the town of Pallet. Professor Oak is finishing his preparations for the new trainers who received their trainer license this semester. He is just finishing up the last Pokédex, though this one would be for a special trainer.
There are four trainers who earned their trainer license that would receive them from him; two of them are Pallet Town's favorite. His grandson, as arrogant as he is, which is probably his fault for not explaining about his elders' success isn't his own, has a brilliant mind for Pokémon behavior; a trait for both researching and training. And while he is happy his grandson is getting his first Pokémon from him, his eyes are set on another trainer who might be a bit more important than his grandson.
Yes, a trainer who his grandson has already considered his one true rival. A title he gave when they were still very young, barely met for the first time if his memory is correct.
Professor Oak stopped working on the Pokédex to look at the Pokéballs for the trainers. More specifically he is looking at the Pokéball that is different from the others; a special Pokémon and a special Pokédex for a very special trainer indeed. When the child said they wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer, well, both he was surprised by this and yet not. A part of him knew it was going to happen, but hearing it when he did, well, it was quite unexpected.
The future ahead promises to be interesting, but right now, it's late. Professor Oak finishes with his preparations and head to bed. He needs his rest to deal with the trainers in the morning. He knows tomorrow is going to be an interesting start for this milestone.
The sun shines brightly over the small town. It rises higher and higher as time moves on. The quiet town slowly comes to life as the night ends and the day goes on. The bright rays of the sun shine down and warm the air.
A small black and red fox whines awake as the bright rays of the sun disturb its peaceful sleep. It tries to curl up tightly so the sun can no longer bother it and sleep some more. It almost fell back to sleep before it realize what this day is.
Suddenly bursting with energy, the small fox jumps out of its human bed and change shape to that of a ten year old boy with black hair and golden-red eyes, dressed in travel clothes and ready to leave for an adventure. The boy rushes out of his room only to come back in to grab his travel pack.
He looks at a full body length mirror to make sure nothing is out of place. Satisfied everything is where it should be, the boy runs out of his room, down the hall, down the stairs and into the kitchen where a young woman is cooking. The boy grabs some toast from the toaster and was about to head out the door when something grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Hold it right there," the woman says, pulling the boy back. With a stern voice she asks, "What's so important you were willing to break my 'no eating on the run' rule?"
"I have to get to the lab to get my license before all the Pokémon are gone!" the boy says almost desperately. He really wanted to be there before his rival and the other trainers so he could get to know the Pokémon and chose the right one. "I'm sorry Mom, but I have to go or I'll miss my chance."
"Not like this, you're not," the boy's mother says in her sternest voice. "Your illusion isn't stable and you haven't had breakfast yet. Please eat or I assure you, you won't be going anywhere until you've mature. Do you understand me?"
"What do you mean my illusion's unstable?" the boy asks as though he didn't hear the threat. He reached to somewhere unseen and pulls something out. "I have the charm on me, see?"
The woman grabs the charm the boy held out and studied it. These charms are made by witches to help people and Pokémon hold their illusions better. There are many different charms for Pokémon but this one was made so its wearer would be human. Even today's technology can't tell the difference between humans and Pokémon using an illusion while holding a charm like this. There is only one downside to this.
"It seems the spell has been expired," the woman says. "Eat your breakfast while I see what I can do with this, alright sweetie?"
"Okay," the boy says disappointedly. He sits down at the table while his mother walks off with the charm in her hand. Not for the first time does the boy wished they could get better charms.
They had to get the charms from a black market or something like that. His mother said bad people could follow a 'paper trail', whatever that is, to find those who purchase these charms and do some terrible things to them. The downside is these charms aren't made to last. And with money and sources being tight, the user, the boy, had to do whatever he could to make them last.
But now, with no charm his mother wouldn't let him leave. She made it clear when he declared to become the best Pokémon Master and the first Pokémon to do so. She says if he doesn't have something protecting him from the bad humans, she's not letting him go. Right now, the boy thinks it's unfair.
'What human can tell if I'm a Pokémon?' the boy thought as he ate his breakfast. 'They have poor eyesight and an even poorer sense of smell. Not only that, but they can't understand Pokémon, unless they're psychic. But they won't be a problem; I'm part dark, they can't read my mind or even harm me.'
The boy looks at the clock in the kitchen. It's getting late. If he wants to see the Pokémon, he has to leave now. The boy looks around to see if his mother is nearby; she wasn't.
'All I have to do is meet the Pokémon and get my license. It shouldn't take more than an hour and then I'll go straight home.' He looks at his plate to see all the food gone.
'Well,' he thought, 'Mom wanted me to finish breakfast and I did. I'll only be gone for an hour at most. Once I'm done with the Pokémon stuff I'll come straight back. Nothing bad is going to happen between now and then.' With that, he put the dishes in the sink and quietly, but swiftly, head out of the house.
"If it isn't Ashy-boy," another boy ten years of age says as the black hair boy comes up, "Late to the party, as usual."
"Would it kill you to be nice, Gary Oak?" the boy asks a bit irritated. "And what do you mean I'm late to the party?"
"Man, you are so slow, aren't you?" the boy, Gary, says as he shakes his head amusingly. "What I mean is the others and I already got our Pokémon."
"What?" the boy says as color drains from his face. 'He's joking, he's has to be joking.'
"Yeah," Gary says as he spins his new Pokéball on his finger. "We've arrived early and Gramps agreed to give us our license and Pokémon." Catching the spinning Pokéball, Gary smirk at the boy, "I got the last one and you know what they say, 'you snooze, you lose'."
The boy quietly growls at him. Gary pushes him behind him and faces the crowd also known as the Farewell Supporters.
"Fellow citizens of Pallet Town," the young Oak address, "I, Gary Oak, will be leaving this town as a beginner trainer. When I return, the entire world would know of this little town…"
"Like your champion father and grandfather hasn't done that already," the boy interrupts. Small, amusing laughter came from most of the supporters. All Gary did is deflate a bit in annoyance but he didn't turn around.
"I thank you all for your support on all of the trainers here today and in years past," Gary says after he calmed down from the interruption. "I hope you continue to support every trainer for many years to come. Thank you."
The crowd applauds the speech while cheerleaders chants Gary's name over and over again as the crowd disperse. Gary steps away from his adoring fans while pushing the boy out of his way and the sight of others. The boy didn't notice his illusion flickered for a moment with that, and it seems neither did Gary.
"Wow, for a moment I wondered if I was still asleep and dreaming," the boy says bitterly. "There's no way you made that speech up all by yourself."
"That's what happens when you have a mind as brilliant as mine," Gary boasts. "But you wouldn't know with your dense head."
"If having a brilliant mind means I'm arrogant, then I'll keep my denseness, thank you very much," the boy shoots back calmly, though baring his teeth, which are now slightly sharp. Not that either boy noticed.
"At least I am always on time," Gary shoots back, stepping closer to the boy.
"You cheated this morning by arriving early," the boy says as he steps closer.
"Perhaps if you rise with the sun, you would have had a Pokémon by now," Gary says as they stare into each other's eyes, golden-red turning into red locked onto dark viridian; challenging each other and neither looks like they would back down.
"That's enough!" a voice says with authority. The two boys break their eye contact to see who spoke.
Professor Oak stands on the path to his lab but his eyes are on them. His eyes show he isn't pleased with them. He waits patiently but both boys knew they were in trouble.
"If you boys are done," the professor starts still staring at the boys, "I need Ashton to come with me and Gary; you are supposed to be on Route One."
Gary wanted to protest, and had even opened his mouth to, but the look Professor Oak is giving him cause Gary to fall silent. The tone Professor Oak used tells the boys he doesn't want any arguments with him and expects both boys to comply with his wishes.
Inside the lab, Professor Oak went into his office and got the boy, Ashton, to sit down. Once the boy is settled, Professor Oak closes the door and sat down at his desk. He stays silent, whether it was so he could gather his thoughts or so Ashton could, the boy doesn't know.
"What are you doing here," Professor Oak finally asks. Ashton looks up at him confused. Why would the professor ask?
"I came for a Pokémon and my license," he answers as calmly as he could. He really didn't want to be in trouble. But judging the look on the professor's face, he's already in deep trouble.
"Your mother called me earlier," he explains. Ashton's face paled at the news. He forgot his mother and Professor Oak talk. Does this mean his mother knows he's there? "She informed me you would be running late today and yet here you are. I'm going to assume you haven't told her you were coming?"
It wasn't really a question and Ashton really didn't feel like answering him, though the answer is pretty obvious. Instead Ash just looks anywhere but at the professor. It doesn't stop the feeling of needing to justify his actions.
"I made this walk thousands of time before and everyone is nice and nothing has ever happened before," he say pretty quickly as his voice rises slightly with every word he says.
"And yet the only ones who know you a Pokémon are me and your mother!" Professor Oak says with his voice just barely keeping out of the yelling level. Ashton was about to resort back when his eye caught his reflection.
It takes a moment to see it clearly, but when he could Ashton felt his heart dropping. His eyes are unnaturally red and his teeth are sharp and semi-sticking out. He would almost pass as a vampire if his skin was pale.
"You haven't mastered your illusions under the best circumstances yet," he hears the professor say calmly. "What makes you think you could have handled any situation had I not have been there?"
Ashton doesn't answer. Memories of the morning pass through his head. Sure, there were a few times it almost got out, but humans won't notice.
Then he remembered the cameras. Even if the humans didn't see it at the time, would the cameras have caught it? Most likely. And chances are if people kept looking over the footage, someone would notice and start asking questions. If people start asking question, his mother would make sure he never hears the end of it.
If Gary hadn't pushed him out of view, someone would have noticed.
Ashton realized something then; what if Gary found out? Knowing him, he would battle and catch him without a thought. And then what? Gary would probably use him to get more attention.
Had Gary notice the changes? Had he figured his secret out?
No, if he had he wouldn't have let the opportunity slide. Not in a million years would Gary give up the chance to be better, special.
But how could he have not noticed? They were inches away from each other! Surely Gary noticed the eyes he was staring into weren't normal. Maybe they weren't too far off. Maybe his eyes and teeth really changed once they weren't looking at each other.
Professor Oak sat quietly as Ashton thinks over what he's done. He doesn't know what Ashton is thinking, but he hopes the child would see what the cost might be for breaking rules. He cares for the child just as much as the child's mother, but he knew he can't protect them forever.
"Well, let's not think too hard on this right now," the professor says breaking the long silence. "You still want a Pokémon, correct?"
"Yeah," Ashton says, his voice starting to break as he struggles to control his emotions. "But Gary said he got the last one."
"The last, traditional starters," Professor Oak corrected while heading out the door. He heads towards the room with the starters. "I have a special one for you."
"But…" Ashton starts while watching Professor Oak press a few buttons on the capsule.
"I know you wanted to talk to all of the potential starters to see which one would fit you," the professor interrupts. The center of the capsule opens to reveal another Pokéball. Professor Oak picks it up and hands it to Ashton. "But this one insisted on being your starter."
"Who is it?" Ashton asks as he takes to ball from the professor. He inspects the Pokéball for any clue on who is partner might be. The emblem on the top is a lightning bolt. Ash is pretty sure he doesn't know any electric type Pokémon.
"Why don't you find out," the professor says, much to Ashton's annoyance. "I will say this; it was caught last night and still has its wild personality."
Ashton considers this; an electric Pokémon with a wild personality. It sounds so familiar but nothing is coming to mind. Realizing standing there and thinking about is going to take him nowhere; Ash opens the Pokéball.
As the light forms into the Pokémon, Ashton's mind starts working in overdrive. He doesn't know an electric type with a wild personality. But he does know a Pokémon, who happens to be very protective over him, favors a certain electric Pokémon and is pretty wild around humans. Only this Pokémon made it clear he did not want to leave.
The light takes the form of a seemingly ordinary pikachu, shaking off the effects of being trapped in a Pokéball. Everything about it; the color, the shape, the cheek sacs, the size and the tail all points to a healthy normal male pikachu. But his eyes, while a brown, has hints of red, and his smirk when he looks at him almost seems not like a pikachu but can certainly pass as one.
To anyone else, this is a normal pikachu. But to Ashton, this is a Pokémon pretending to be a pikachu. And is certain he knows this Pokémon. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, this Pokémon is the one who always has to protect him, the one who declared never to leave home, when he opened his mouth and said; "Hello Ash."
Yes, I ended it on a bit of a cliff hanger, didn't I? And not much has been said about Ash's life and past. I wanted it to be different form some of the other stories. Please tell me what you think in a kind and considerate way. If there are any mistakes, please let me know.
On another note; does anyone here want me to continue one of my other stories? If so, which one? While I can't say I'll finish them, I can say that as long as I have people who want to see my stories, I will try my hardest to write them out.
Also, no promises on when the next chapter is coming out. I wanted to wait until I reached Pewter City, but I'm not feeling so great so I figured to see what this gets me. It's the anniversary of Sparky's disappearance...
Have a nice day! Or, at least, try to...