Ch 2

Moving right along! In this Chapter we will meet professor Oak. Please dont get the wrong Idea. I have nothing against him or Gary, I just thought it would be different to show him as a little bitter. Gary is going to be right on target with how he was in the beginning, but at least you now have a reason why.

To those who left questions and comments, I will leave answers at the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer!: Like I said I do not own pokemon! That belongs to a Mr Satoshi Tajiri!

As Ash woke up the sound of his alarm clock the next morning, he and Charmander both stretched out their bodies in sync. When Ash looked down at him, he couldnt help but chuckle, and petted the fire type's head gently. He then got out of bed and immediately dropped to the floor, doing what had been his morning routine for the past 2 years.

First, he did 50 pushups, then 50 sit-ups, then arm thrusts, and a bit of light shadow boxing. Charmander watched all of this is curiosity and fascination. Ash then threw on an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts. As he prepares to walk out the door for his daily run he hears a small voice and the sound of footsteps "Charmander!"

Ash looks down behind him and smiles "you want to come with me?" he asks the yellow lizard "Char!"

Ash laughs Lightly and nods "ok, but let me know if you start to lag behind" he says as he heads out, taking a back way that he usually took around town. 1, no one would bother him this way, and now, 2, no one would see Charmander, preventing some not so easy questions from being asked.

As he ran, Ash thought about what would happen later today at the Professor's. Now that he had Charmander, he didn't really need one of Oak's starters. However, he did need a pokedex and pokeballs. He also needed his official license. Maybe if he played his cards right, he could get an extra pokemon from the old man. A magikarp wouldn't be so bad.. considering what it evolved into..

They had been running for a good half hour before Ash noticed that Charmander was starting to look tired. So, picking the little lizard up, Ash ran the rest of the way home to get ready for the day.

Upon arrival to his house, Ash immediately showered, dressed (first season clothes for now) and ate a light breakfast. Then he was out the door, Charmander's pokeball well hidden for now under his jacket.

By the time he arrived at Professor Oak's Laboratory, it was just after 10 o clock. Ash took a deep breath climbed up the stairs. He knocked on the door and waited a few moments before it was opened by one of Professor Oak's assistants. The man merely nodded to Ash and let him in.

"Down the hall , last door to your left" was all the assistant said before going back to work. Ash merely nodded and headed the way he was told.

As Ash approached the room where Oak and the other trainers were, he saw 2 other kids there, one of them being one of the biggest thorns of his childhood: Gary Oak. Grandson of the 'prestigious' Professor Oak. Ash calmed himself before entering, his strong feelings for that kid and his biased Grandfather almost making an appearance. The other kid in room was named Bobby, just another kid from town.

Professor Oak just stood there, eyes closed as he entered the room. The old man then cracked an eye open and stared at Ash for a moment, then his gaze went to Bobby, and then Gary. Then, as Oak looked at his watch, there was the sound of running steps in the hallway. Then, a young girl made her way in, panting and out of breath.

"Sorry I'm late Professor" she says as she walks in

The Old Professor just smiled, for the first time since Ash and the others arrived "that's quite alright Janine, now that your here, all 'ahem' important future trainers are here." he said, putting a slight emphasis on the word 'Important'. Ash raised a brow at that, but Gary didn't miss a beat.

"You hear that Ashy-boy? Only future trainers with potential are invited here. I don't even know why you showed up" He said with a smug grin

Ash merely growled in his throat, then as he thought about his new friend under his jacket, he smirked "you'll be eating your words soon enough Gary"

At that, the Professor coughed "Ash I would appreciate if you didn't talk to my grandson in such a way" he said in a leveled, just condescending tone. Ash just growled and crossed his arm, looking away from Oak.

The Professor then nodded "Now then, as I was saying.. today you will start your journeys as pokemon trainers. Those of you who have proven yourselves as responsible young adults will receive a starter pokemon, a pokedex, and 5 pokeballs to get you started" he says as as gestures to a table that had the aforementioned pokeballs on them. Then the girl, Janine, hesitantly raised her hand and pointed out "umm, Professor? Theres only 3 pokeballs and 4 of us"

The Professor just waved her off "we'll get to that eventually, but first" he then smiled at her "but first, why don't you go ahead and pick out your first pokemon?"

The young girl quickly did a turn in attitude and was jumping for joy "yay!" she exclaimed as she ran over to the table. Gary, however, was not happy about this "aw come on Gramps! I got here before she did!"

The Professor merely held his hand up to halt Gary's whining "all in due time Gary, I assure you" he says as Janine picked her starter, a bulbasaur.

The Professor then nodded to Gary, who then smirked towards Ash before stepping foward, picking the squirtle he always wanted. Then the Professor nodded to Bobby, who picked the charmander that was left. The Professor then turned to Ash, who stared right back at him.

In truth, Professor didn't really hate Ash, he just deeply resented him. He remembered how his son, Joseph, and Ash's father Matthew, both got their starts in this very lab so many years ago. He also remembered how delighted and proud he was when he found out that his son had become a Champion, and then how devastated he was when he found out that he was beaten so quickly and thouroughly. By Matthew of all people.

Now, it seems that history may repeat itself. For, while Gary had a lot of potential, so did Ash, and as much as he hated to admit it, he possibly had more than Gary. That was a scary thought.

In a way, Professor Oak was afraid of Ash, afraid of what he would be able to do given the right opportunity. So in his mind, it was best to nip this issue in the bud before it grew anymore.

Professor Oak stared down at the pokeball in his hand, one that contained a magikarp. Still, the fact that he had to give the boy a pokemon at all made him groan inwardly. But Alas, rules were rules, and he had to be somewhat fair to the boy. Besides how far can he get with a magikarp?

Mind made up, Professor Oak turned to Ash and the others "As mentioned before, there are four of you and 3 starters" he started "for the fourth trainer here" he looked at Ash "I have a starter that I collected from the ranch, one that I feel would be a perfect match for you young man" he states as he shows Ash the pokeball and hands it to him.

Ash stared at the pokeball a second, and he couldn't help himself as a somewhat evil looking smirk broke out across his face "let me guess.. a Magikarp?" he rhetorically asked, already knowing the answer.

Upon hear his response, the Professor grew wide eyed and took a step back, then furrowed his brows "how did you know that?" he asked, raising his voice at the still smirking boy.

Ash just let out a low chuckle "lucky guess?" he says, shrugging his shoulders as he goes attaches the ball to his belt. The Professor just grumbles a bit and moves on with the rest of the 'New Trainers' ritual. Ash can't help but have a look of satisfaction on his face, partially from the look on the Professor's face, but mostly from the knowledge of what his true starter is. He could even ignore the good laugh Gary was having at his expense at getting a magikarp as a starter

The Professor then comes back with a wheeled table full of empty pokeballs and four red pokedexes. He then proceeds to hand out one pokedex and 5 pokeballs to each trainer. "This pokedex will have invaluable information for your journey. It will also be your ID and license when on the road and traveling. Do take care of it, for if lost or stolen, it cannot be replaced"

Each trainer looked at their pokedexes to make sure they were working and had the right information. Janine was fawning over hers, Bobby just smiled like a fool. Gary wore the proud, cocky look he always had. Ash just merely nodded and slipped the pokedex into his back pocket. Unfortunately, he forgot to be more careful, and just for a second, a white premier ball could be seen from under his jacket. That half a second was all Gary needed to call him out "Hey! he has a second pokeball! Gramps! thats not fair!"

The other two trainers looked at Ash in shock and bewilderment. The Professor looked at him with confusion and, perhaps anger? Ash just face-palmed and groaned, mentally kicking himself for being careless.

He looked forward as the Professor approached him with a stern stare"Ash, is this true? do you have a pokemon already?" he asked, crossing his arms. All the while, the Professor was wondering, 'how could he have gotten a pokemon? It shouldnt be possible..'

Ash just sighed and pulled the almost pure white pokeball out "it was a gift, from my mother, thats all you need to know" he says, glaring at the professor

The Professor looked taken back, where could Delia had gotten the money for such a thing, the pokeball itself was worth more than what she was paid in a month, without the pokemon. Gary on the other hand, just snorted "oh really, and what did mommy get you? a caterpie? oh! or maybe a baby pidgey" he sneered, laughing a bit afterwards.

Ash just growled, angry that Gary would make fun of his mother's gift. "It's none of your business, you annoying little brat!" he yelled. Oh how he wanted to pull Charmander out to shut him up, but decided not to, as it would only lead to more questions.

Unfortunately, the decision was literally taken out of his hands as the Professor grabbed the pokeball "Ash, what have I told you about talking to Gary in such a way! Now, as your sponsor, I need to see what's in here to make sure it's safe for a beginner" he said, which as the truth in a way, but he also wanted to see what Delia had managed to get him. In a bright flash of light, the pokeball was opened, and low and behold was a shiny yellow charmander for all to see.

The room was dead quiet for a moment before the silence was broken by a single "Char?" Then, upon seeing Ash, Charmander rushed over to him and pulled on his jeans "Charmander char!" Despite the building tension of the situation, Ash couldn't help but smile and bend down to pet the young pokemon on the head. He then turned to look at the Professor again with a cold glare "I'll have that pokeball back please"

Professor Oak, however, was reluctant to give it back to him as a million thoughts rushed through his mind 'how could he have gotten such a pokemon? So rare.. No way Delia could have been able to afford it.. Where could it have come from? is it stolen? That's a possibility... still the pokemon seemed very attached to him...still it is quite young.. very impressionable..'

As the old Professor just stood there, in what appeared to be shock, Ash grew impatient "hey! Professor! my pokeball?" he shouted as he went to grab it. At the last second though, Oak snapped himself out of his throught process and yanked the pokeball away, staring at Ash intensely "Where did you get this Pokemon, boy? and tell the truth!" he all but yelled.

Ash growled and shouted back "I told you I got it from my mom!" he said as he stared at the pokeball. As the Professor was about to reply, Gary beat him to it "Tauros Shit! There's no way a homemaking woman like your mother could have afforded to get a pokemon like that for you! The Pokeball alone is worth more than 3 of her so called 'blue ribbon' gardens!"

Ash growled and clenched his fist as he looked around the room, everyone was staring intently at him, as if daring him to make a move or say the wrong thing. Two of the Professor's assistants had also entered the room, wondering what the noise was. Ash took a few deep breaths to steady himself and stated as calm as he could "I told you once, I'll tell you again. My mother got me Charmander. She said she had a friend who was a breeder, and he gave her the pokemon and the ball. End. Of. Story" he said, making sure that they knew intently that that was all they would get out of him. "If you don't believe me, ask her yourself, she's home right now" he added, crossing his arms.

The Professor shook his head "I find your story very hard to believe, Ash" he stated as he stared at the ball. "For one, if this pokemon was yours, you should have told me from the beginning. Second, theres also the fact that you still have magikarp in your posession"

Ash looked like he was ready to strangle the old man, and yelled out "I didn't know if I could trust you! so I.." he was cut off by the professor's hand as the old man continued, "therefore, until this is all settled and a more.. suitable and trustworthy trainer is found, I will keeping Charmander with me.."

That was all Ash needed to hear before something snapped, and he rushed at the professor, knocking him down and grabbing the premier ball from his hand. Ash then turned to see the other three trainers and two assistants look on in shock, before going to their belts to ready their own pokemon for battle.

Ash looked around, desperate for a way out, then saw that Charmander was still out from his ball. He smirked at the little pokemon, in which Charmander smirked back, ready for any. Ash the pointed and shouted "Charmander, Ember!"

The yellow pokemon replied with a wide spread ember that made everyone back up from fear of being hit or burned. This made Ash smirk "now, Smokescreen!" he yelled, hoping Charmander knew that move, which he indeed did as a thick black smog was released from the pokemon's mouth and quickly filled the room. Everyone covered their mouths as they waited for the smoke to disappear. When it did, the Lab was a mess, the Professor was still on the floor, and Ash and Charmander were nowhere to be seen...

AAAAND Done with Chapter 2! Few! this one was much longer than I thought it would be x.x

Not sure if I like how it turned out, the beginning is the roughest part. I promise after this it will be a lot smoother.

Q&A:

1.I know my grammar isn't the best. And on occasion it does get a bit slippery. So, apologies ahead of time and as I see any issues, I will correct them.

2. When I say darker Ash, I mean he's colder to the world, and to humans. He will be his warm, nice self around his pokemon though. I will also make this Ash a little more power hungry, just slightly. He will not be immediately friendly towards most people, unless they're little kids.

3. I don't have an update schedule at this time, though I do know that I will be doing most of my updates on weekends. whenever I can afford time.

4. I'm not quite sure which mega charizard I want to use, i like the coloring of the shiny charizard y, but the X design looks so badass. hard to say right now ..

Please review and leave suggestions, comments, and constructive critism. No Flames Please!