Eight years later...

"Yes! I am Ash! And now that I'm ten, I can..."

"Bro?" Ash Ketchum turned to his older brother Percy, who was lying lazily on Ash's bed. "Shut up. You're talking to yourself again." Percy snickered at him.

Blushing, Ash turned back to the TV, which showed the battle between a Nidorino and a Gengar. Ash tied his shoelaces.

"Dude why are you tying them? You're not even going anywhere anymore."

Ash shrugged. "I dunno. Gotta ask that weird brain of mine."

Percy laughed. "So, have you decided on what you going to do first?" Ash looked at him confused. "I mean, it's the first time you're traveling without mum!"

Ash looked at him. "You know I leave the pranks and doing bullshit to you!"

"Whatever. I'm off again tomorrow as well."

"You are?" Ash asked surprised. "Where to?"

Percy pondered this. "I think I might do the Kanto Region this time."

Ash's face brightened. "Then we can go together!"

Percy smiled. "We could! Though, I need to get some things done in Cerulean City. We can meet up there, though."

Ash looked thoughtful. "We could..."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "What's up? You don't want your big brother to leave?"

Ash scratched the back of his neck. "I haven't really thought of a route yet, that's all!"

Percy face palmed. "Hey you're not one to talk!" Ash said, pouting as Percy laughed at him. "You didn't even know, which region to go to, when you were ten two years ago!"

That shut Percy up. "Yeah, yeah."

Suddenly Delia knocked on the door. "Why aren't you two in bed yet?"

"Uh, we were talking about traveling together." Percy said quickly. 'The Stolls would've been proud.' He thought as his adopted mother ponders the reason for staying up late.

"Ok. But now, go to bed! Don't want you to sleep in tomorrow!" She said and left.

Percy patted his brothers shoulder. "Well, I'll be off early tomorrow. I call you when I arrive in Cerulean." Ash nodded. "Good night bro." He said and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

~line-break~line-break~

The next morning Percy got up at half past six. He got dressed, grey sweatpants and a marine blue hooded T-Shirt, courtesy of his adopted mother. Then he carefully he slipped past his brothers bedroom and his mothers bedroom and into the kitchen. He made himself a cup of hot chocolate. Then he took out slice of bread and put jam on it. Just as he was about to eat it, he heard a noise from the door. "Lucario! Why are you up so early?"

'I could ask you the same.' The aura Pokemon smirked. It had taken a while, but a few weeks after his partner Riolu had evolved into Lucario, it had learned the speak through telepathy. Even as a Riolu it had been able to shoot an Aurasphere, though it was very small and barely did anything.

"I think we should leave soon. I want to be in Veridian by noon." Percy nipped on his hot chocolate.

"By noon?" Lucario asked. "Isn't that a little too little time?"

Percy took another sip. "We're going on Rapidash." He ate his bread and packed a small rucksack with food and his traveling clothes. Then he wrote a small note to Ash and Delia and walked outside.

"Rapidash, come on out." He said and released the Fire Horse. It reared and snorted a flame out of its nose. "You ready?" Percy asked Lucario, who was standing next to him, and Rapidash.

"I will walk, Perce." Lucario said with a skeptical look at Rapidash.

Percy shrugged. "Fine. More space for me." He smirked and jumped onto Rapidash's back. "Let's go. I need to see the professor before we head for Veridian."

~line-break~line-break~

As he raced through the streets on Rapidash, he replayed the last few weeks in his head.

Firstly, the wildcard offer of the Pokemon League to participate in the Lily of the Valley Conference. It would've been two weeks of pure stress and Percy was no fan of stress. He had had denied the request, even though Mr. Goodshow and Cynthia had tried their best to persuade him. Then he had started traveling with Riley and trying to learn the ways of the Aura Guardians. After a few weeks, Percy had come to the conclusion, that he wasn't up for it. He bummed around Kalos for a few weeks, before he went back to Kanto, where he had been contacted by the three Gym Leaders, Daisy, Violet and Lily, who came to him with the proposal of taking over the gym. He told them he would think about it, even though he already knew he wouldn't do it. Now he thought it would be time to tell them.

He arrived the lab and got of Rapidash. "Yo!" He called as he ran up the stairs.

"Percy! It's been a long time, hasn't it!" Professor Oak said, when he saw the twelve year old coming up the stairs.

"It has!" They shook hands. "So, what can I do for you?" Oak asked.

"I want to ask you a favour. Do you have only the three normal starters?"

Oak raised an eyebrow. "Actually, no. There's a Pikachu that Officer Jenny brought."

Percy looked satisfied. "Good. Because I think Ash will oversleep."

Oak looked at him strangely. "And why do you think that?"

"Because he destroyed his alarm clock while dreaming." There was a short silence.

Suddenly Gary came barging in. "Gramps, when can I have my Pokemon?"

The professor face palmed. "I told you, Gary. Not before ten o'clock!"

Percy smirked. "A little eager, aren't we?"

Gary blushed. "Shut up. Just because you grew up with a Pokemon..."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway I gotta go! Got a long way ahead of me." He walked to the door. As he walked out, he turned back to Gary. "See you at the Indigo Plateau." Then he sprinted down the stairs to where Rapidash and Lucario were waiting. "Let's go, guys. We need to get going." And a few moments later he was galloping over the road to Veridian City.

~line-break~line-break~

A few hours later Percy arrived in Veridian City. He got of Rapidash in front of the Pokecentre and and brought him to Nurse Joy. "You can stay here as well, Luacrio. Get some rest."

The aura Pokemon shook his head. "Nah, I'll come with you. Haven't been to Veridian in forever!"

Percy shrugged and started walking into town. They got themselves an ice cream and decided to head back to the Centre and rest a little more, so they could start their way to Pewter City. Finally Nurse Joy came back with Rapidash's Pokeball.

"It's had a nice, long rest. He should be up for traveling already!" She said, smiling at Percy.

"Thank you." Percy said. As soon as he was outside, he released Rapidash.

"Lucario, you up for another round of running?" Lucario winced. "Maybe a few klicks. Might have to stop, though."

Percy nodded, but looked at his best friend in worry. "You sure?"

"Yes I am." Lucario said.

"Ok, then of we go." He mounted Rapidash and they sped of again.

~line-break~line-break~

"I really hate this Forrest." Percy muttered to Lucario, who was sitting behind him on Rapidash. "I'll never understand you." Lucario muttered back. Percy turned to face him. "Why?" "As we left Veridian, you said you couldn't wait to reach Veridian Forest. Now you say you hate it!" Percy rolled his eyes. "Ever heard of sarcasm?" He turned back to Rapidash. "Come on boy. We're nearly there." The Fire Horse snorted, but started going again anyway.

An hour later, they were deep in the forest and it was starting to get dark. However, Percy had decided to take a short break and pit stop. They both got of Rapidash, who started prancing and stretching.

"Man, I'm hungry. Could you gimme one of those chocolate bars?" Lucario asked.

"You know they're not good for you." Percy said but gave him one anyway. He took one out for himself and opened it. Suddenly a movement between the trees caught his eye. A strange glittering, like a sword being pulled from the scabbard. He put his hand in his pocket and gripped Riptide. A few weeks before his 'vacation', Hephaestus had took all their weapons and intertwined them with a small amount of steel, not enough to kill a mortal, but enough to hurt them.

Suddenly something rustled behind him he turned pulling his sword and was ready to eliminate any threat. It was a boy, jumping from the bushes and... was he dressed in a Samurai costume? Before Percy had time to think about it, their blades met. Percy swiped at his opponents feet, but he deflected it with a quick jab. Percy jumped back and rolled to the side, when his opponents stabbed at him, standing up very quickly and knocking his elbow into his opponents head. He crumbled and fell flat on the face. Before he could get up, Percy put the tip of his sword to his chin. Now Percy could get a closer look at his attacker. It was indeed a boy with in a Samurai Costume.

"Exactly why did you attack me?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's my way of challenging people. I'm sorry if I hurt you. But it seems more like the only that's hit here is my pride!" He laughed and Percy put away his sword. Then he helped the boy up. "My name is Samurai. I heard Pallet Town had its License Day today, so I wanted to test the capability of the new trainers." The boy explained.

Percy nodded. "Good idea." He put two fingers in his mouth and let out whistle. It wasn't to loud, but Percy still had the feeling he would regret that later.

"What are you doing?" Samurai asked.

"I'm calling my Rapidash. I'm planning on being in Pewter City before tomorrow." Percy said, as if talking to a toddler.

"In case you didn't notice I just challenged you!"

Percy turned toward him. "Did you call me a novice?" He asked with narrow eyes.

"You are from Pallet Town, aren't you?" Samurai asked. "So you've got to be one of the new trainers!" He concluded when Percy nodded.

Said boy face palmed. "So just because I'm from Pallet Town and am her on the day new trainers get their Pokemon, I am a novice." Percy laughed. "Please explain how I got a Rapidash then."

Samurai blushed. "I hadn't thought of that, I was so excited to finally get a battle!"

Suddenly Lucario came back from his stroll through the woods. "Yo, Perce. Who's this weirdo?" He asked his friend telepathically.

"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Samurai asked astonished. "I've never seen it before!"

"It's not from this region." Percy explained.

"Samurai, this is Lucario. Lucario, this is Samurai." Lucario turned to the boy and nodded to him.

"So, do you want to have a battle?" Samurai asked. "I could show you a short cut to Pewter afterwards."

Percy pondered this. He hadn't had a battle since he left Kalos, so why shouldn't he.

"Ok. But don't be surprised. I need to make this quick." Samurai smirked and went to one side of the clearing. "Lucario, you do this one." Lucario walked into the middle of the clearing.

"Ok, Metapod! Come on!" He released the Pokemon. It looked like a leaf.

"Bone Rush, Lucario." Percy said, sounding bored. Lucario grew a long bone in his hands, it was about three feet long and glowed a bright blue. Lucario spun it in his hands and brought it down in Metapod.

"Metapod, Harden!" Samurai just about yelled, before the bone came crashing down on Metapod, smashing it into the ground. "Metapod!" Samurai screamed.

Lucario jumped back. When the dust cleared, they saw Metapod was still standing, even though only barely. "Keep it up, Lucario." Percy said. This time Lucario used the bone like a club m, smacking Metapod over the entire field. Samurai was able to see in Metapod's eyes, that it was unable to battle. With a sigh he returned it, just before it hit tree. "Ok. Pinsir! Come out and use Tackle!" Samurai yelled.

Percy sighed. This was too easy. "Lucario dodge and use Bone Rush." As Pinsir came running at Lucario in an attempt to tackle it, Lucario side stepped. Pinsir flew past the Aura Pokemon, which then proceeded to smack the bone into Pinsir's back. With that, Pinsir was unable to battle.

Percy sighed. He had hoped that it would be a little more of a challenge.

"Pinsir return!" Samurai said. He looked at Pedcy sadly, noticing that he had a long way to go if he wanted to be a good Pokemon Trainer. "I'll show you the short cut."

Percy whistled again. This time Rapidash appeared instantly and Percy returned it. "You lead the way." He told Samurai. They walked in relative silence the all the way to Pewter City.

At the edge of the Viridian Forest, Samurai stopped. "This is were we say goodbye." Samurai said.

"Aren't you going to bring your Pokemon to the PokeCentre?" Percy asked confused.

Samurai just shook his head. "Nah, I do the healing myself. I learned a little nature healing from my father. Anyway, I hope I'm a more worthy opponent next time we meet. Bye!" He ran into the woods.

"Hey, wait a second!" Percy called. "If you meet my brother Ash, tell him he's a noob for oversleeping." Samurai smiled and disappeared into the dark. "Pewter City PokeCentre, here I come." Percy returned Rapidash ran into the City, in anticipation of the bed in the PokeCentre.

~line-break~line-break~

A few minutes later he arrived at the Pokemon Centre. "Man, I'm starving!" He said to Lucario.

'It can't be that bad.' The bipedal Pokemon chuckled. Percy turned to the entrance. "I am very hungry." His stomach rumbled to prove his point. "Let's go!" He said smiling.

You know," Percy said quietly, as they sat over their food. They had already checked in. "It's been far to long. It's been years since I've seen Annabeth."

Lucario grimaced. He knew Percy didn't like to talk about her. 'I bet well find her while traveling with Ash. You know he's the king of coincidences!' Percy smiled sadly. "Yeah." Then he got an idea. He went over to the phone and called the Professor.

"Hello, Percy! Have you reached Viridian?"

Percy snorted. "I'm in Pewter at the moment. I'm trying to go through Mt. moon tomorrow. But that's not why I called. Could you tell me if someone named Annabeth Chase, contacts you, or if she has already contacted you?"

The professor thought for a while. "That name sounds familiar. I can give it a look." He promised.

Percy felt relived. "Thank you. I'll catch up with you later." He waved and ended the call.

Suddenly Lucario slapped his head. Hard. "What was that for?" Percy cried.

'For not thinking of that sometime earlier in eight years.' His friend said.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Percy said. 'That's probably why Annabeth calls me a Seaweed Brain.' He thought to himself. "I need to make one more call. You can go to bed if you want to."

Lucario shrugged and walked away. Percy put in the phone number of his phone. After a few beeps, his mother and his brother appeared on the screen in front of him.

"...oh, he'll be so proud! You're the apple of his eye!" His mother was telling Ash.

"Yeah, a rotten apple." Ash replied. Percy nearly snickered.

"So Percy taught you how to be sarcastic." Delia said angrily.

"It wasn't as if he was never sarcastic before!" Percy said. "Hey mum, hey Ash." He greeted them.

"Percy!" His mother called. "Hey bro." Ash said.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Oh nothing much. Just the fact that I'm the worst trainer ever."

"Ash Ketchum! I won't let you speak about yourself like that! Just be confident! You can do anything you set you're mind to! Do you understand?" Delia nearly shouted.

"Yes." Ash said.

"And are you changing you're underwear every day?" She continued.

"Mum, leave the poor boy alone! He's literally been gone only one day!" Percy said with a laugh.

Delia scratched her neck sheepishly. "Sorry, I got so carried away. Good night, you two! I love you!" She waved and ended the call.

"So Ash, what's gotten you so down?" Percy asked his brother.

"It's nothing." Ash said, but looked down.

Percy knew his brother was lying. "I know something is up with you, what happened?" He asked again.

Ash sobbed. "My first day and I blew it!" He said sadly and told him the story of how Pikachu was hurt.

"Ok, wait. You took some girls bike and and it was destroyed? Awesome!" Ash gritted his teeth.

"Not the point!" "Sorry. But don't worry, Pikachu will be fine. He sounds like a fighter." Percy smiled.

"You know, on my first day in Sinnoh, I wanted to take a short cut to the town Professor Rowan lives in and fell of small slope. I had to walk on crutches for three days! I didn't show mum or you though because I wanted to continue my journey and not have mum bring me back after just three days." Percy chuckled.

"That happened to you?" Ash asked sceptically. "If so: You're stupid."

Percy snorted. Look who's talking brother dear." He looked at the time. "I think you should be going to bed. I'll see you in Cerulean City."

"Bye Perce! See you in a few days!"