The sun awoke Billy, and he groaned. He spoke aloud to himself, "Wow, what a crazy dream… dang it, though, I missed the bidding window…" He went to push himself up out of his bed, only to find it wasn't his bed he was laying on. He looked down to see he was lying on a dirt path, and something was weird about his hand. He gasped.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HAND?!" It wasn't human anymore; it looked like a drawing, as if he was in a painting. Except, the style reminded him of a very familiar show, "Wait… am I… really here?" He looked up the dirt path and saw a large white building that basically resembled Oak's laboratory. "There's just no way…" He stood up and faced the building, a place he had only ever seen on the television screen. And there it was, right in front of him.
He started walking toward it, in a daze from what he was seeing. He kept pinching his arm, and it kept hurting; so it wasn't a dream. But there was no way it could be real. He reached the front door and knocked, very softly, as if too much force would cause its destruction. The door opened quickly and rather harshly, making Billy jump.
"Come in, quickly!" The man they called Oak, the greatest Pokemon researcher of his time, was standing there, right in the door. Before Billy could take in the full significance of the moment, Oak was dragging him by the arm into his laboratory.
He tried to view everything, all the equipment, the books, but Oak dragged him along quickly, until he came to a room he knew very well: it was where Ash Ketchum and all the other trainer's from Pallet Town had gotten their first Pokemon from Professor Oak at the beginning of the series. It was the episode he was trying to watch before fate brought him to the actual spot.
"Now, pick a Pokemon, any one besides Pikachu, of course," Oak stated very plainly. Billy just stared in awe.
"Wait, you're letting me take a Pokemon? But, why?"
"Well, obviously, you came here for a purpose, and even if you don't know what it is yet, you're adventures here are going to require a Pokemon companion. Now, just pick your favorite one!" Oak was almost pressuring him into taking one, but Billy was still confused.
"All right, but, you have to answer a few questions for me," Billy said, being as forceful as he could be. He wasn't complaining, but he needed to know what was going on.
Oak sighed, "Okay, make it quick."
"Pikachu's still here, which means that none of the trainers came to get their Pokemon yet, right? So if I take one, the two unknown trainers will take the other two, and since Gary will get here before Ash, he'll get Pikachu. What about Ash?"
Oak chuckled, and looked in awe at the boy standing before him. "Well now, very observant! However, since you're here, you've taken the role of one of the two unknown trainers, and thus the count will remain the same. However, which Pokemon you choose now will affect how the rest of this plays out."
Billy thought for a moment, then continued, "So into my next question, me being here is going to affect the story? How?"
"Young man, you are the 'X' factor in this series, you're a new addition to something that has already happened in one way, events you know very well. Trust me when I tell you, even if you think you know exactly what's going to happen, it's not. Events will be slightly altered, sometimes completely different; some events may not happen, new adventures may unfold. You'll just have to find it all out on your own."
"But what am I doing here? This is not making any sense…" Billy's head was starting to hurt from the thought of being in this place, the world he had always admired. As much as it hurt, though, it felt good.
"You'll figure that out in due time. Now, if you would please choose a Pokemon," Oak said, motioning towards the three Poke balls sitting in front of them.
Billy thought very carefully about which one he would take. It was almost too tough to decide, but thinking of their evolved forms, he chose his favorite of the three:
"I want Charmander, please," he added on the end, just remembering his manners.
Oak handed him the Poke ball which contained the fire type, Charmander, and then reached into his pocket to present Billy with five empty Poke balls and a Pokedex. Billy took all of it with extreme caution.
"Now, I'm guessing you don't need me to explain to you what you're going to need to do. You know what you're doing, based on your Pokemon training in the games, and your knowledge of the anime. Just enjoy yourself, and don't get into too much trouble."
Oak smiled down at Billy, and then looked at his watch. He gasped, and then quickly finished, "Now you need to get going! Before everyone else shows up, so you don't affect anything just yet. Also, I need you to promise me you won't try to catch any Pokemon until after Ash takes Misty's bike. Can you do that for me?" Oak asked this and looked very serious about this.
"Okay, I guess. What am I gonna miss out on, a couple Spearow, a Pidgey, and a Rattata, right? No biggie." Billy wasn't bothered at all by this, since he knew they weren't the most powerful Pokemon out there.
Oak sighed in relief, "Thank you very much. Oh, and try not to battle until then, either. I hope you understand; it's for the best."
"Whatever." Billy shrugged, and walked out of the lab, stepping back out into the fake sunshine and down to the end of the dirt path. Oak waved goodbye to him, and Billy began walking.
*With no idea what he was doing there, or where he was going, Billy only had one goal in mind: to figure out what his purpose was in the wondrous world of Pokemon*
Billy looked behind him, then to each of his sides, a curious look on his face. He then said aloud, "Is somebody there?" When no one replied, Billy just shrugged and kept on walking.