Edited 08/06/2017
Word Count: ~1000 to ~4000
Major changes: removed Mac from they story. Some chapters will be more confusing now, but I promise to fix them in the future.
Ash was lying against tree just outside of Pallet, protected from the hot sun by the overhead shadow. Pikachu was sitting on his lap, squeaking in delight as he was being scratched like a cat. To Ash, Pikachu was less like a mouse and more of a domesticated vet that could just happen to discharge 240 volts if you got on his bad side.
"I did it again, didn't I?" Ash reminisced as if he was remembering an old memory. "Pika?" asked Pikachu, confused about what Ash was talking about. His ears twitched, and signalled for Ash to keep scratching.
"I was a little bit hasty, and I ran into that argument. Lance won his first Pokemon championship when he was 12. I'm 15, 16 next month." Ash said in an just audible tone to his companion, who was currently occupied by the ear scratches. Pikachu only heard him because of his sensitive ears, and figured it was easier not to distract him with a response since he liked the current rhythm.
"I didn't think about my other friends opinions. Just Misty and Max, the two that are most critical about Pokémon training. I didn't consider what May or Dawn would've said, nor did I think about Brock, who's probably the most experienced of all of us. I'd like to go back...but I've started a new journey now."
"I didn't even get to say goodbye to mom. But I have been too reliant on my friends, whenever I go on a journey I always have Brock cooking, a sparring partner to help train my Pokémon, a guide through the woods and mountains. They aren't gonna be there forever, they have their own lives." His voice was getting. He stopped scratching Pikachu and put him in his rightful place, his shoulder, despite his whining and small shock for disturbing his peace. He slowly stood up, and faced the town of Pallet from the hill, where he could see the Ranch and his own home in clear view.
"Hear me, Pallet Town!" He started to shout. Pikachu dimly remembered this speech from when got attacked by Spearows five years ago. He seemed exasperated by Ash's dramatic nature. "I am Ash Ketchum, and I am going to be a Pokemon Master! And a couple of obnoxious kids aren't going to stop me!" By the end of his sentence he was roaring like a Luxray who just got bit by a Rattata. Pikachu was folding his ears now and half heartedly shouted his agreement.
He sat back down and contemplated what he was going to do.
"Every time I start a new journey, I have a new outfit. This journey is no different. Let's head to the Celadon Department Store." Pikachu agreed, knowing he'd get to nap the entire four and a half hour walk to Celadon - that's if Ash ran, took all his short cuts and avoided trainers. Life was good for the yellow rascal.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Brock, May and Dawn all screamed. They were in the garden because Misty and Max had been too scared to tell Mrs Ketchum, who was currently in the kitchen baking cookies for Ash, not aware that he'd never eat them.
"Well, uh yeah," Misty began, "But we just didn't want to see him get demolished by the Elite 4!" She held her hand up in defence, while the other three bore down on them like a pack of hungry Mandibuzz eyeing up Rattata.
"Really? You know how hard Ash would take his training just to get a chance to battle Lorelei! Of all people Misty, you saw how he did in the Orange Islands five years ago! You guys were being way too critical of him. You underestimated his battling skills. He was the first person to defeat the Battle Frontier, and the first person to refuse a place as a Battle Brain. In his first league he was placed in the victory tournament, and in Sinnoh he came in top four, which is unheard off since the inception of the league seven years ago for anyone younger than twenty.
Yeah, Lance and Cynthia may have been champions since they were fourteen, but did you forget there was hardly any competition? It used to be a four badge league and a thirty person Indigo Plateau. Ash has beat Paul, who's always been stronger than him, without succumbing to those cruel methods applied by his rival or actually sticking to a proper training regime at all! Not too mention he'd have many more well trained Pokemon when he finally got around to completing the challenge. If he had trained any of his regional teams for his all his entire journeys he would have won by Ever Grande - he would've swept it!
You know he doesn't take well to criticism, yet you still pushed him. He's so headstrong, screaming that he couldn't do it would just encourage him!" Brock said, being a few years older than any of his friends, knew he had life experience over all of them. He'd seen the personal growth in Ash after watching him stay in the Lily of the Valley instead of departing immediately like usual. He was even got to suggest to the Pallet Town native to try the Kanto League again, with the hopes of taking up the big prize this time around.
When he was Pewter City gym leader, he would constantly get beat, as being the first gym leader meant you weren't allowed or supposed to use any stronger level Pokemon. Even though Brock was a nice guy, if you saw into his mind a couple years ago, you'd have no idea how many times he wanted to stick his onix on a cocky rookie with a rattata who was going for an easy win. He'd have to use a level 12 geodude, which was literally a rock with arms. Granted he loved and trained it regardless, making quick work of any bug catcher or ill prepared preteens.
He'd still win by a landslide of course, a level four Rattata wasn't going to do anything. But Brock would get annoyed - the lack of challenge in his gym frustrated him. There was only a few trainers that do something different. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Caterpie, Pidgey, and Rattata. Those were so common, that he seen them day in and day out. The only 3 trainers that he really remembered was a small kid with a machop, and a larger kid with fiery red hair and a dratini, and Ash. The first two, his father had battled before he left. Who would've ever guessed that these two were Bruno and Lance; some of the strongest Pokemon trainers in the world. They managed to stick out from the crowd even then, with Bruno being the swolest ten year old kid ever, most likely pumped on roids, with a Machop who did curls while on the battle field. On the other hand, Lance paraded around in his cape which still dragged along the floor as it was too big for him, and a Dratini - not even a foot long - who evolved to be the most feared Dragonite in the Regional alliance. 'Everyone has to start somewhere.' Brock thought to himself, and remembered his life changing battle.
Ash - he was the first, and only trainer to beat his onix, who had just got cleared for battle by the league, with a Pikachu that only knew thundershock and thunderbolt. Technically he actually forfeit, but neither he or Onix took it as anything less than a hard loss - granted there was luck involved.
'Good Times'; Brock remembered the Kanto league as well, there was only one bad memory. Ash deserved to be in top 8, if only his Charizard just listened. He wished he had never chosen him; there was a chance Ash could have reached the final if his most powerful 'Zard wasn't so arrogant. They made up eventually, as Brock's mind wandered off to Lisa in the Characific Valley. Maybe he'd 'check up on her' later on tonight. He snapped out of his thoughts with May physically abusing her younger sibling.
"...He's a great Pokemon trainer! You guys are idiots! Arceus! Mew! Any other damn legendary! You guys have known him for almost 7 years!" May finished, releasing Max's ear, while he tried to get his bearings. Brock looked at his watch and realized that May and Dawn had been shouting at Misty and Max for the last ten minutes, and they probably had to get around to the real issue on the table.
"Okay guys," Brock started. "But now we have a real problem, and we have to address the Donphan in the room." Everyone just gave him a confused look. He noticed this and then gave a small chuckle. "Who's known Ash longer than any of us?" Again, all he got was confused looks. His friends were certain that they were his oldest and most loyal companions, if not pseudo-family. He sighed. "Who's gonna tell Mrs Ketchum?" Everybody elses eyes widened at the horror of the action.
"Not it." Misty spit.
"Not - damn it." Max was slightly too late.
"We're finally here!" After six hours of walking straight, Ash had arrived in Celadon at around eight pm, and was soaking in sweat as the sun went down in Erika's city. "Shower then the mall?" Ash asked his furry yellow companion, who agreed after taking a whiff of Ash.
"No, it's ugly." Ash said, tossing a Hawaiian shirt. "I don't wear skinny jeans." He threw the near-leggings over his shoulder. "Bowler hats are for Bulbasaur smokers." He put the hat back on the Mannequin. The employees were at least glad there was one item they didn't have to replace.
Pikachu began pointing at different outfits.
"I train electric types. You expect me to wear flames?" Ash replied in reference to a Team Magma outfit.
"Bubbles?" Shaking his head at Team Aqua.
"I'm not teaming up with Galactic scum."
By this time, Pikachu was quite annoyed. They had been looking for an outfit for over an hour, and the store was about to close. Ash kept making excuses not to wear something, so Pikachu improvised and just did whatever he usually does in a situation like this.
"Pi...ka...CHU!"
It was only a thunder shock, but it was enough to make Ash stumble backwards into a rack of clothing, bringing down an outfit with him, while the retailers just watched hopelessly at the mess Ash was making. He stood back up and was about to put it back until he saw it. His eyes widened. "This... is perfect. Pikachu, your a genius." The employees sighed in relief that he had finished his destruction - er, browsing.
After Ash finished putting his outfit on he looked in the mirror.
He wore a black cap with a blue thunderbolt in the middle. He had a white t-shirt with the Pokémon league logo embroided over the front, with a small pocket to the left. He had a black zip-up jacket with yellow zips and trimmings over that, and straight black jeans to finish the outfit. He looked 'fly' in his opinion - 'shocking' in Pikachu's.
Finally, Ash picked up a pair of the newest sneakers. Researches discovered it was possible to harness the power of Pokemon abilities, to help out specialised trainers who would be coping in tough environments.
Most of the Eeveelution's had been harnessed, with an entire line dedicated to resistance to burning and melting for fire type trainers, assistance for swimming for water type specialists and so on. The technology was new and very expensive - something that didn't occur to Ash when he was trying on and using his new sneakers. In fact, the only when they could've gotten more expensive is if he'd opted for the Yeezy x Zebstrika 350 V2's, which were currently sold out and selling out one hundred thousand Poké a pair, with only the most exclusive trainers having access to such a privilege.
Ash was currently wearing Volt Absorb trainers, inspired by Jolteon. They were pale yellow, with three thunderbolts lining the centre of the shoes. There was a small jolteon at the back of the shoe, embroiled on the pull tab. The sole features some of the most iconic and recognisable electric types in the world.
Lt. Surge's Raichu, Wattson's Manectric, Volkner's Electivire, and a small fish that Ash hadn't seen before. He asked the shop assistant who it was. "Oh, that's Elesa's Tynamo. Elesa is a gym leader and supermodel in Unova."
'Unova, hmm. I remember Professor Oak saying something about that Region.'
He turned to the furry ball of fluff that he called his best friend. "Pikachu, what do you think?" A happy 'pika' was good enough for him, although he didn't realise it was just so Pikachu could go back to the Pokémon centre and take a nap. He walked to the cashier's table and then realised that he had no idea how much money he had on him, or how much the outfit cost.
"What am I going to use to pay? Brock always bought everything for us." He said to the Pikachu on his shoulder.
An older girl put a hand on his shoulder. "Ash?"
It took a second to realise who it was.
"Oh Erika, hi!" The girl herself was dressed down, only donning jeans and a green top, while carrying a metric tonne of bags on her left hand, indicating she had finished her shopping spree.
"You still are a trainer, right? How do you not know how to buy things?"
"Yes, but I used to travel with my friends, and Brock used to pay for everything." he answered.
"I did notice the absence of Brock, and the lack of being proposed to. You know, that always got in the way, as well as Misty...I never really had a chance to repay you for saving the gym." She said biting her lip, and blushing furiously.
"Oh that is totally fine, you gave me my badge! We are even now." Ash said, somehow still dense as rock at sixteen years old.
"Well your Pokedex should gather all the money you win and lose from battles, league winnings, side jobs and in the casinos around the region." Erika said, fighting down her blush and swallowing the lump in her throat in disappointment.
"Oh, thanks. I'm not very good on my own. I'm struggling to be independent at the moment." Ash said rather nonchalantly, ignoring all signs of Erika's embarrassment.
"Well, you have to be when you run a gym and a city with a dodgy casino. I was impressed with your battling skills this year. The only person to beat Tobias' Darkrai, AND the only person to beat his Latios. Apart from Cynthia in the friendly battle afterwards of course.
She beat his Latios and Darkrai, just with her Garchomp - that thing is more scary than Moltres himself. I couldn't believe what his last four Pokemon were though."
"Wait, I never saw that battle. What other Pokemon did he have?" Ash said, intrigued.
"4 Magikarp. He thought his Latios and Darkrai were strong enough to beat any Pokemon team in Sinnoh. Later that day somebody found him abusing his Pokemon, scarring his Darkrai with those machines developed in the Orre Region. Turns out he caught them illegally, and was actually an Admin in Team Galactic that had nothing to do after they disbanded; although I heard they're getting back together now. He was arrested in the end, and Latios and Darkrai were both released. End of the story.
"Wow, what a douche nozzle. Anyway, it was nice seeing you again Erika!"
"You too Ash." And with those words, she ended for the escalator and disappeared.
"That'll be 7800 Poke, please." The cashier said, obviously bored, and uninterested in Ash.
"Um, okay." Ash took out his pokedex and found his trainer card page, and after stumbling through his options he found his card and bank details.
"Uh.. lets see.. Oh my Mew!" He suddenly shouted. After battling for the last 5 years, placing high in leagues, and catching several Pokemon hunters, criminals and thieves and not even touching his savings account, it meant that Ash had a pretty penny stored across the National Banks.
His pokedex displayed 7 different bank accounts.
National Bank Of Kanto;
Owner: Ash Ketchum;
Set Up by Legal Guardian.
Balance: 9'999'999
[The Indigo Plateau]
National Bank Of Kanto;
Owner: Ash Ketchum;
Set Up by Legal Guardian.
Balance: 9'999'999
[The Battle Frontier Challenge]
National Bank Of The Orange Archipelago; Owner: Ash Ketchum;
Set Up by Legal Guardian.
Balance: 9'999'999
[The Orange Islands]
National Bank Of Johto;
Owner: Ash Ketchum;
Set Up by Legal Guardian.
Balance: 9'999'999
[The Silver Conference]
National Bank Of Hoenn;
Owner: Ash Ketchum;
Set Up by Legal Guardian.
Balance: 9'999'999
[The Ever Grande Conference]
National Bank Of Sinnoh;
Owner: Ash Ketchum;
Set Up by Legal Guardian.
Balance: 9'999'999
[Lily of the Valley Conference]
National Bank Of Kanto;
Owner: Ash Ketchum;
Inherited, Blood Relative.
Balance: Infinite
Inherited from Pokémon Master Red
[Missing - Presumed Dead]
He handed her his pokedex. "Take it out of the first one. The Indigo Conference challenge. Also...give me that cloak." He pointed to a long blue cape with a triangle hood with a lightning bolt on. He said feeling like a millionaire, which in fairness was true. He wasn't just rich, he was ballin. He decided to try and not let it go to his head. He had always lived in a small town in a small house. But that last Bank account..
Pokémon Master was the title they gave to the Champions, but the catch was that you had to have all the Pokedex data of all the regions, including legends. There was only one Pokémon master ever, Master Red. He was the Champion of Kanto. He never spoke and when he did he said things like 'Yes.' 'No.' 'Okay.'
The only time he was heard speak a sentence was just a few words. "I'm going to train on Mt Silver for an indefinite amount of time." that was 10 years ago. There was no other Pokémon Master since then, all though it was said that Cynthia was close, but she couldn't find a few of the legendary Pokémon. Ash was one fourth of the way there. He still had to become champion, after mostly completing his Pokédexes. 'But.. Blood Relative?' Ash thought. 'I can't ask mom though. I promised not to go back to Pallet until I was Champion."
He was brought back to the real world by the cashier. "Thank you, sir. Please come again." she said handing him his pokedex with a much more lively tone, also noticing the last bank account. "Thanks." Ash mumbled, in deep thought.
Ash reached the Pokémon centre, still thinking about what he had seen today. His thoughts were preoccupied by what could be, and laying in bed he finally thought about his next destination.
'Master. Master ball. Saffron...Silph... master's only...hmm...'
Ash knew where he had to go. He had to go to Silph Co.
The next morning, he began his journey again. As he started walking in the direction of Saffron, he put on his cloak. He didn't want to be seen by one of his friends that would convince him to go back, since he was committed to finishing this quest on his own.
He felt something tap him on the knee. He froze. Pikachu was on his shoulder, so what else could it be? He looked down slowly to find an extremely beat up eevee with an Usaring chasing very quickly behind it - what was worse was the trainer shouting the commands.. "Good Job, Ursaring. Wow. You've come far in training. I hate to say it, but I guess Ash was right. Being kind pays off eventually." Paul rubbed his bear's stomach while Ursaring let out a happy roar.
Ash just smirked. He took off his hood while Paul watched and he began to treat the eevee with a full restore and picked it up. He looked at Paul straight into his wide eyes. "Damn. Wish I could've recorded that." Ash joked. "Here, catch the eevee. You beat it. But next time try to tone it down. This is a level twenty Eevee and that's a level fifty Ursaring. You could've killed it."
Paul eyed Ash suspiciously. "Why are you wearing that? Is there now a Team Ash going around raiding and terrorising Kanto?" Ash laughed, and just quickly explained the situation.
"So are you going to catch this Eevee or not?"
"You can have it. Consider it an apology to the way I acted in Sinnoh. It looks like you don't have any Pokéballs. Take this." Paul handed Ash a Masterball, pulling the purple orb out of his pocket.
Ash looked at it, his eyes bugging out. "Where did you get this?"
"I raided a Team Galactic base. Found it there. It was the only one I've ever seen in person." Ash was going to protest but Paul cut him off. "It's just a glorified Pokéball - maybe one day you can pay me back."
"Thank you Paul, I appreciate it." "You're welcome Ash." And with that he walked away, deeper into the forest with Ursaring trailing him.
"Eevee, I need to tell you something." Ash said. "I'm only going train electric type Pokémon, like Pikachu, from here on out. Look at your evolutions." Pulling out his Pokédex, he searched for the page that contained every single 'eeveelution'.
"Which one do you like the most?" He asked. Eevee immdieately pointed to the Jolteon.
"Okay then. That was easy. Eevee, welcome to the family."
Okay, done. Mac and Paul are not going to be companions but will make regular appearances. He caught an Eevee, with a master ball, which is the only pokeball he will be using from now on. If I'm not mistaken then the only place you could get the masterball in Kanto is Silph co. Also, I know Paul got his from Team Rocket, but think like he was raiding the team aqua/magma base or something. Red is a relative of Ash's. Strange, hmmm?
There is one more thing that I'd like to address. I try to take every review to heart, so feel free to correct my grammar or any mistakes that I've made. But if it's a review like:
"omg ash wood neva abndon his pokemon dumass this story is stupid i hate it"
Then with my kindest regards, Fuck you and get the fuck out. I hate being like this, but this is my story, okay? Any plot twists or OOC acting has a reason. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Anyway, See you next chapter,
TheBlueFlygon
I'm in the process of fixing this story, I promise.
Love, T.B. Flygon
