Chapter 2

To say Professor Oak was surprised was an understatement. His eyes went wide, his pupils dilated and his jaw dropped. He had expected the little red fish, which he helped to rise. Instead before him was a giant not very happy Gyarados, with shiny blue scales. Raising her head as high as she could, nearly reaching the ceiling, she frowned at the man with the white lab coat in front of her and let out an intimidating roar. The Professor was caught off-guard and stumbled a few steps backward, still staring at the big Pokémon before him.

Ash observed the gaping man with a bit of satisfaction.

"If he wasn't a Pokémon-Professor he could give it a go at imitating Pokémon. He's a really good Magikarp. He would be the star of every show " thought the boy chuckling and imagining Oak in a circus tent, in front of a crowd screeching and giggling children, while impersonating a Magikarp.

"What…how? Is that the Magikarp I gave you a month ago?!" Hydra spotting her trainer moved near him and coiled behind Ash. The 10-years old boy chuckled again and patted her head, earning deep content purr. Well, better say growl.

"Yes Professor, don't you recognize her? Isn't she beautiful…"

"I…she changed a bit, don't you think? You could have told me, that your Pokémon evolved" frowned the elder man, still looking at the impressive watertype.

"You didn't ask." It wasn't the best answer Ash could have given, but he wanted to end the conversation as soon as possible. His test was waiting.

Oak shook his head, sighed and went to a computer to begin his work. He still could not believe this ignorant boy had managed to rise and evolve a Pokémon in so little time. Gary had always told him how Ash is a loser who would never even manage to catch a Caterpie. But this… It was impossible to not notice how shiny and colourful the scales were and this Gyarados was bigger than a normal one. Ash had raised his starter well. There was no way he could use his trainer skills as a reason to not give him an official trainer licence and allow him to start his journey.

The following hour Ash concentrated on the questions. They mainly were about caring different types of Pokémon and how a trainer should act in some hypothetic situations.

"Your time is up, Ash. " the Professor collected the test adding "it won't take long to evaluate it. Please wait here a moment" and took off. Samuel Oak hoped this test would show the boy's lack of knowledge and therefore an excuse.

Ash calmly resumed spoiling Hydra. He was petting her head when a extremely pale Professor Oak returned.

"I have to say, that I'm extremely surprised by your score. Congratulation my boy, you have reached enough points to increase the number of Pokémon, which you can carry. You have a maximum of ten Pokèmon. I have already registered it into your trainer account. Please let me know if ten are too much to handle." Ash absentmindedly nodded.

"Good, I also have to give you my ok to start travelling. A Gyarados is a powerful Pokémon. Take good care of her." Oak studied Ash with a serious look while adding " and remember to see off your mother. She will dearly miss you." Luckily Ash had turned around to recall Hydra or the man would have noticed an angry and sad expression on the boy's face.

"Of cause I will Professor Oak" he answered, deliberately not specifying. Clothing his face in smiles, he said goodbye to the old Professor, took his big backpack and exited the lab.

"This will be the last time in a long time that I will see Pallet Town…" he murmured before turning and heading to Route 1.

Route 1 was not very exciting. The wood was the same as by his home. Wild Pidgey and Spearow were flying from one tree to another. He spotted also a Rattata eating some berries. The sun was shining through the crown leafs and Ash could feel a fresh breeze. It was a relaxing atmosphere where everything seemed OK.

"I do not have much time to enjoy the scenery. We must reach Viridian before Mom sees the note. Luckily it's still relatively early." he thought looking at his wristwatch. It was 10:22 am. The meeting with the professor took more time than he had expected. Ash continued walking on the path until late afternoon, when he decided to look for a nearby clearing, where his family and him could eat lunch. While looking around he collected different fresh berries for his Pokémon. It took him a lot of time to spot the perfect place, mostly because the open place had to be big enough for Hydra.

Throwing his three Pokéball in the air, he called "Hydra, Clementia, Valeo, come out, it's lunch time!" The spheres opened and after three white beams a Gyarados a Kirilia and a Riolu were standing before him.

"Master, how may we help you?" inquired the Dog-like Pokémon after they had assures no treat could be detected. Ash chuckled at them " We can stop here to have lunch. I've some Poffins with fresh berries for you and a sandwich for me. " They ate and then decided to sleep a little while. They were nearly in Viridian City and Ash estimated that they would surely reach it before the down.

They were all napping, when a pained scream echoed through the wood. Ash abruptly opened his eyes, and sat up. His Pokémon also woke up and jumped on their feet listening into the darkness. Ash eyes widened "How could we sleep that long… It's already 9 pm…"

Another scream full of fear could be heard not very far from where they were. Ash recalled his Pokémon and picked up everything left from the lunch with fast motions. He then began to run in the direction of where he heard the heard screaming noises.

It was not easy running without light, but luckily the full moon shone bright above him and he could at least recognize trees and big obstacles. He fell a few times stumbling at some roots. In few moments he could see a light in the wood. Lowering his speed, even if he could still hear the pained noises of a Pokémon as well the laughing of humans, he approached the fire illuminated clearing. Watching from behind a tree he saw two mans wearing a black uniform with a big R on the chest. They were looking with evil amusement on a little whimpering form on the floor. One of them had a whip in the hand. Before them there were two brown rat-like Pokémon.

"…you are sure that this is a rare powerful Pokémon? To me it looks like a weakling."

"Boss orders you know. And don't say it isn't fun.. we only have educate it a bit.." a cruel smirk formed on the one with the whip. He raised his arm "Well, let us continue! It had enough rest!"

On their right Ash could not bare the sight before him and without thinking he sprinted to the little curled Pokémon, picked it up without sopping and ran to the other side of the clearing in the dark forest. As fast as he could he tried to run as farther from the man dressed in black as he could. Behind him he could hear angry shouts and orders. They were following him and clearly faster. The voices behind him became louder and louder.

"THERE! RATICATE HYPER FANG ON THAT BAS***D!" Ash didn't even look behind him and kept running until suddenly he couldn't feel soil beneath his feet anymore. He screamed out of surprise and fear while feeling himself falling into nothing. Tightening his grip on the little Pokémon in his arms he tried to protect the little one. Then it came the impact. The temperature fell in one moment to ice cold and he could feel his clothes soaking on the water surrounding him. "A river.." was the last thing in his mind before the powerful current pushed him under water. Panic filled him as he tried to return to the surface only using his legs. After a few tries just as he thought it was over he managed to push himself and the Pokémon on the surface so that they could take few breath of air before a tree trunk that was transported by the river collided with Ash's head. While loosing his consciousness, he though that hopefully the Pokémon in his arms would save himself. The last thing he was aware of was a white flash. Then came darkness.

Hallo! So I finally managed to find a bit of time to write this chapter J

I'm now a bit unsure how to continue the story.. so I decided to let you vote:

Would you like that Ash continues his journey in Kanto(A) or (B) in an other region?

Also I'm interested to know your opinion if Ash should specialize in a type or not..

Well, I hope you liked this chapter!

Bye!

Mir