Well here it is, chapter 1! Thanks so much for the favorites and reviews from the last chapter... er... prologue. I guess since this IS technically chapter 1 the last was a prologue and... oh forget it! Thanks! I have to stop before I confuse myself with unimportant details.
Anyway, on with the show!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon in any way. I only own the plot of this fic and, subsequently, my messed up mind. Ah insanity...
Chapter 1: Complications
Pallet Town - Kanto
The sun shone brightly in the sky over Oak's Pokémon Research Lab. Pidgey could be heard chirping from miles around; it was another calm and peaceful day by no stretch of the imagination. Professor Oak was sitting at his computer frowning, despite the beautiful weather outside.
"This just doesn't make any sense..." the old man mused to himself. "No matter what I try I just can't seem to find any information on this strange metal object. Blast it Gary, why did you have to bring something so enigmatic home? I don't care if you found it in the mountains in Sinnoh, it doesn't do me any good if I can't figure out what the hell it is!"
Professor Oak scratched his head in frustration as he gave the object his grandson brought home another look. Saying it was strange was an understatement to say the least. It was clearly made of some form of metal, but wouldn't melt under any amount of heat or become malleable either. Ash's Torkoal and Quilava could attest to that. Even stranger though was its shape. It was sort of funnel shaped with an opening on both ends. One end looked like it was meant to be fit into something and the other end was shaped like a musical instrument almost. Oak was having more than a hard time finding out what this thing was. Fire didn't melt it, water didn't rust it, and none of his colleagues from the other regions had any idea what it was. Oak got so frustrated once that he threw it into Ash's herd of Tauros to be rid of it, only to find out that, despite the trampling it received, it was completely undamaged. He could have sworn the thing was mocking him at that point...
Oak sighed before shrugging, "Maybe this is one of those things that will never be solved..."
"Professor? What are you doing?"
"Ah Tracey, I was wondering when you'd return."
"Yes professor, I just finished taking care of the Pokémon now. I must say, being your assistant is never dull. I was tackled, trampled, and almost eaten within the past two hours..." Tracey deadpanned.
Professor Oak sweat dropped at this information. Tracey Sketchit was a talented Pokémon Watcher from the Orange Islands who joined up with Ash and Misty while they traveled through the tropical area a few years ago. Upon learning that Ash was well acquainted with the professor, he immediately decided to travel with them in order to meet his "hero" and wouldn't take no for an answer. It turned out to be a very good deal as Tracey was a good trainer and knowledgeable about the Pokémon world to boot. Plus when they returned to the Kanto region and Pallet Town, Tracey decided to work at his lab as an assistant, which in turn helped lighten his workload immensely.
Tracey was very adept at handling the different Pokémon at the lab and was also able to offer decent opinions on most of the professor's different research projects. Unfortunately for the dark haired youth, the Pokémon at the lab loved the boy a little TOO much... which is why he was normally, more often than not, "attacked" by the Pokemon that were in a mad rush to see him. This usually ended up in the occasional tackling or trampling and now almost being... eaten apparently.
Oak placed a reassuring hand on his aide's shoulder, knowing full well who the culprit was.
"It was Muk again... wasn't it?"
"Yes... professor." Tracey shakily responded. "Oh, the nightmares I'm going to have..."
Oak sighed knowing full well what nightmares Tracey was going to have. He had them too for over a week when he was almost ingested by the Sludge Pokémon.
"Well, horrific nightmares aside... are you sure you can handle everything until I get back? I should only be gone about a week or so."
"Don't worry professor! I'm sure I can take care of everything while you're on vacation." Tracey looked at the desk Oak was sitting at and noticed the strange metal object. "You're still trying to figure out what that is? Any luck?"
"No, not in the least." Oak sighed. "This blasted thing is still a mystery to me."
"Hmm..." Tracey looked at the metal funnel intently.
"Well either way, I refuse to even think about it while I'm in Unova! The whole point of this trip for me is so I can finally stop losing sleep at night over this... this thing! It's like it's laughing at me... telling me I'll never figure out what it's made of or what it's purpose is or anything! The laughter keeps me up at night sometimes..." Oak cried.
"... you really do need more sleep, don't you Professor Oak?" Tracey sweat dropped.
"More than you can imagine, Tracey my boy..."
"Speaking of sleep... he should be up and almost here to see you soon..."
Before Tracey could finish his thought, the front door opened and they could hear a loud voice full of energy boom through the lab.
"Professor Oak! Me and Pikachu are here!" Ash said brightly.
Tracey grinned at the sound of his friend. "Ah... speak of the devil."
Twinleaf Town - Sinnoh
The Sinnoh region, a region known for it's natural beauty, exotic Pokémon, and a slightly colder climate compared to Kanto. Here people and Pokémon live together in peace just like any other region in the world. Twinleaf Town was no exception to this fact. Here in this quiet little burg lives a rambunctious 13 year old girl...
"Dawn! How many times have I told you not to practice Piplup's routine in the house!"
"But mom..."
"No if's, and's, or but's! Now you help me clean up this mess you've made!"
"Tch... fine..." said girl pouted.
Dawn slowly sulked off to find a mop before her mom decided to get on her case again. Couldn't she tell that she was just getting anxious to start adventuring again? She really should have planned what she was going to do when Ash and Brock left ahead of time... she was now stuck at home with nothing to do but train until some sort of new opportunity came along.
The blunette sighed. "Man... if I knew it would end up like this, I would have gone to Kanto with the two of them. I would have loved to see it! I wonder what Ash's home town looks like...? Is it it like mine?" Dawn began to blush slightly as the thoughts crossed her mind.
"Meh, not like it really matters now..." she said as she snapped herself out of her thoughts. "Now where did that mop go?"
"We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you some breaking news."
"Huh?" Dawn looked into the living room to see the news on the T.V.
"Recent reports say that at 10:38 p.m. last night, the Pokétch company, located in Jubilife City, was broken into by an unknown intruder. Authorities claim that nothing has been reported stolen as of yet and there have been no signs of property damage as well. The president is baffled as to how someone managed to break into the building and authorities would like the citizens' cooperation to apprehend the suspect. In other news..."
"Whoa... how weird. Now why would anybody do that I wonder?" An evil smirk suddenly developed on Dawn's face, causing her partner Piplup to begin to worry about their safety.
"Pip... piplup pip...? Piplup asked nervously.
"Hehehe... oh don't worry Piplup... this is nothing that Ace Detective Dawn can't figure out!"
Piplup paled. Now he was REALLY worried about their safety...
"Come on! Let's go to Jubilife right away!"
Dawn left no room for arguments as she dragged her water starter out the door with her bag packed in a matter of seconds. They were off on another crazy adventure and the poor little penguin had no idea what was in store for them.
"... Dawn? Where's that mop? Dawn? DAWN!" yelled an irate Johanna.
Dawn was already a mile away when she felt a sudden chill go down her spine. Somehow, she felt like she wasn't going to want to go home anytime soon...
Pallet Town - Kanto
"Hey guys! Did you all miss me?" Ash asked his Pokémon who were all crowded around him at that point.
Ash's Pokémon all yelled in confirmation. They were overjoyed to see their trainer back home again and were all wondering what was next on his to do list.
"Well first things first..." Ash unhooked all his Pokéballs from his belt. "Time for all of you to meet my Sinnoh team!"
Ash tossed all of the balls into the air at once, causing five different Pokémon to appear. A massive green turtle, a burning monkey, a lithe and agile weasel, a medium sized bird, and finally a small blue land shark.
"Everybody meet Torterra, Infernape, Buizel, Staraptor, and Gible! Guys, meet everyone else!" Ash chuckled as he watched his Pokémon begin to interact with each other.
Staraptor and his other bird Pokémon began doing aerial tricks and maneuvers high above the rest of them, almost as if they were in a friendly competition with each other. Buizel seemed to have paired up with Corphish and the two of them had a mischievous look in their eyes along with an unnerving grin. They were up to something and for some reason Ash had a bad feeling about it...
Ash looked to his right to see his Totodile dancing on top of Torterra's large back along with Gible. Torterra didn't look to upset about it so Ash decided to let them have their fun. Finally, off in the distance Ash could see Infernape, Sceptile, and Snorlax taking a nap in the shade of a tree.
All in all, Ash felt that all of his Pokémon were going to get along well with each other.
"I see you've added some very interesting Pokémon to your collection again, my boy." Oak said with a smile.
"Haha! You know it Professor Oak! I'd never have made it through the Sinnoh region if it weren't for these guys. They're all so powerful in their own way and made one hell of an awesome team."
"Ah I see... it sounds like you've had quite the adventure Ash. I must ask though... who are you going to bring with us on our trip to Unova? Or are you going to bring only Pikachu with you again?"
"Well... I hadn't really thought about it yet..." Ash frowned. " I suppose that I'd like to start fresh again just like Hoenn and Sinnoh. I feel like I get a lot stronger by doing that."
"Well it's your decision Ash, but I'd be sure to let your current team know what you decide as soon as you know." Oak put on a thoughtful and distant expression. "Bonds of trust and bonds of faith, nothing can break which trainers and Pokémon make... ooh, I should write that one down..."
Ash sweat dropped. "Professor, I wonder how big your book of poetry is by now..."
"Hoho! Not nearly big enough! I do wonder how I can keep coming up with new lines every so often... you would think I'd have run out of ideas by now.
"If only..." Ash muttered
"Hm? Did you say something?"
"Oh, nothing! Nothing at all! I'm going to go let my team know what's up now! I'll be back later professor!"
Before Oak could question him further Ash ran off into the fields to find his newest team of Pokémon. It wasn't hard to find them and before long Ash had his five new Pokémon all sitting in front of him.
"Hey guys... I have something... important to tell you all." Ash said slowly.
"Nape?"
"Buizel bui!"
"Well... man this is never easy to do..." Ash clenched his fists into balls before continuing on. "Please don't take this the wrong way guys, you all mean so much to me and have done so much... but, usually when I go on another adventure, I only take Pikachu with me..."
The Pokémon looked at each confusedly until they all slowly got the message Ash was trying to convey. He wasn't taking them with him. They were being left behind here at the lab.
"Please don't look so down guys! I'm not going to forget about you all, I'd never do that! I might even call on you guys at some point or another to help me out in the future. So please don't think this is the end... you're all just going to be resting and training here at the lab while I'm away." Ash put on a grin. "And I expect you guys to stay in top form too, because when I call you guys for another league battle in the future I need you at your best."
His Pokémon all grinned at their trainer; their fears of being abandoned were misplaced and they now knew that he was still counting on them to be as strong as they can be. Who knows what he'll be fighting when he calls them for help.
They all gave a nod of approval and a few yelps of encouragement. They were with Ash 100% of the way, and nothing was going to stop them now.
"Thanks guys! I knew I could count on you. Now as for training... Infernape, I'd like you to work on..."
BOOM
Ash was cut off mid sentence as he heard an explosion ring out from the direction of the lab.
"Wh-what the? Come on Pikachu, let's take a look! Everyone else, find the rest of the Pokémon and let them know what's going on!"
"Pika!"
Ash and Pikachu ran back to the lab as quickly as they could. As they neared the building they saw black smoke rising into the air and the cries of a certain Pokémon.
"Houndoom!"
"That was... a Houndoom! Just what is happening here!" Ash exclaimed.
As he ran into the building he noticed that parts of the room were on fire and burning slowly. What worried him even more was that there was no sign of either Tracey or Professor Oak anywhere to be seen. He continued to search until he found Tracey trapped underneath an overturned bookshelf, struggling to escape.
"Tracey! Hang on!"
"A-Ash... don't worry about me... go find... the professor..."
"Don't move I'll get you out of there!"
"NO! I'll be fine! Now please...! Find Professor Oak before it's too late..."
"Too late? What do you mean too late? Just what is going on here!"
"I... couldn't stop him... from barging into the lab and... setting fire to the building. He just... knocked me to the side and... took the professor with him into the other room. Hurry Ash! This guy is... dangerous!"
Ash froze at this information.
'He's after the professor? Oh no... I have to save him!'
"Sorry Tracey, I'll be back for you in just a second! Hang tight!" Ash quickly leapt up and ran down the hall with Pikachu following close behind.
"Please Ash... hurry..."
"Ah... so here it is... you really shouldn't have tried to hide this from me old man. If you hadn't I might have spared your precious little laboratory from becoming cinder."
The masked man picked up the strange metal object before turning back to Oak.
"You... cough... what do you want with that thing? What is it's value to you?"
"What it means to me is of little concern to you... now for you to join your laboratory in becoming a pile of ash...!"
"Did someone call me?"
"Oh?"
Ash stared down the masked man from the doorway with an expression of pure anger.
"Now... you're going to tell me why you're here and what you think you are doing... RIGHT NOW!"
TO BE CONTINUED
Oh I just had a thought. It might be a good idea to say how old everybody important is in this story. Well currently it's like this:
Ash - 15
Brock - 19
Misty - 16
Tracey - 16
May - 14
Max - 10
Dawn - 13
Gary - 15
Paul - 15
So that's that! Ages are established! Now some people might be wondering where May is in all of this and are confused as to why she hasn't appeared yet. Or why I'm focusing on Dawn before May for that matter. To answer it simply, yes this is an advance shipping story or whatever the term is called (I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff. *gasp* you heathen! But anyway...) but I don't write fluff. Or at least if there isn't a crap ton of humor or drama to go with it. For my plot, Dawn plays a big role. In fact, EVERYBODY plays an important part. May won't be appearing until a little later in the story. I prefer an epic story to a cheesy romance, just saying. There is nothing wrong with liking the cheesy stuff, some of it can be really well written and power to you if you do, it's only my opinion.
Anyway, please rate and review! I can't tell you how much reviews mean to me. It makes me feel like this is worthwhile and that people really like my story.
InfinteImmunity out!
