As the sun set upon the land, throwing it's golden rays across the sky, a campfire sparked to life. A young man struck his flint countless times before catching the patch of brush on fire, kneeling down and blowing on the flame to enlarge it and keep it alive. As he did that, a young woman was busying herself with setting up her tent, Misty was her name, and she was the supplier of tonights meal for Ash.
"Again, i'm really sorry for what marill did, i'll pay you back, I promise!" Ash sighed heavily as he repeated himself again.
"Like I said before, this meal makes up for it, honestly." He was able to get the fire to a decent size and rubbed his hands together, it had been ages since he last had seaking, let alone magikarp! He gathered the pans needed for the meal and placed them on their make shift table stand next to the fire and stretched his back out, gazing up to the sky and looking at the colors mesh together as the sun went down.
As he was looking upon the sky, Misty studied the man that was just a few feet from her, his pants were a light blue and really faded, he had a dark green shirt that was somewhat clean but a few dirt spots could be seen on his back and sides. A black bandanna was tied around his forehead to most likely keep the sweat at bay, and his hair was slicked back, short on the sides with the top being a little long.
"So Ash, what is it you do, if you don't mind me asking."
Ash looked away from the sky and smiled at Misty.
"Breeder and small time farmer in Pallet. Yourself?"
"Trainer, been going around Kanto to explore and train some of my pokemon." The two of them smiled at each other, neither knowing where else to take the conversation without seeming awkward. A few minutes passed before Ash spoke up
"You mind if I gut them? Been quite some time since I've prepared some Magikarp."
"Of course!" Misty beamed at Ash before he rummaged around his pack and pulled out a small knife sheathed in leather, pulling it out and testing it's sharpness on one of the goldeens scales. The knife cut through with ease and Ash smiled at his handy work, he grabbed a few fish and washed them, getting them ready to be gutted and cooked up.
"So what kind of Pokemon do you breed in Pallet?" Misty sat down on a stump a few feet from Ash, if they were going to eat together she might as well get to know him.
"Mostly the family lines of meowth, poliwags, krabby, caterpies and weedles. Good money from people passing through or pets for the folks of pallet, although I have bred an eevee and growlithe once." He said with pride as the last two pokemon were considered rare throughout the land.
"No way! How did you get you hands on pokemon like that?" Misty was surprised, it wasn't common for anyone to have a pokemon like that, let alone have it breed.
"I swear! A wealthy family passed by and left me two eevees to breed while they went on vacation in Cinnabar for a few weeks, they were more than happy with the litter, I think it was three eggs, I can't remember. And the growlithe was from a family that were living in Cinnabar, had them sent via cargo ship and hade them mate, only one egg from them, but it was worth it to be honest."
Misty was stunned, this young man seemed to known what he was doing when it came to Pokemon.
"What about that Pikachu? Did you breed it?"
"No, I actually found him a couple years ago digging through my garden, didn't like me at first and would scatter when I came close, coaxed him with food and water every night until he let me near him, took me a few weeks to get him to let me pet him, but we've been best friends ever since." Ash smiled as he remember that day, many of the electrical shocks he got were pretty bad.
"Seems like it, he never wants to leave your side from what I can see." She leaned back and gazed at the two, Ash was smiling and pikachu was nuzzling it's cheek against his, she liked that.
"What about you Misty? Just a traveler or do you have a home?" Ash had finished with the fish and threw them on the stove, with the spices they had it would be one delicious meal.
"I came from Cerulean and was on my way to Cinnabar, but decided against it at the last minute, now i'm just making my way back, might even head out to the west this time, but we'll see." She trailed off at the last bit, mumbling a few things under her breath before shaking her head and looking up at the sky.
"What Pokemon do you have?" Ash asked as he stirred the stew in the pot
"As you know, Marill, the brat of my litter. I also have a staryu and starmie with me."
Ash almost fell over as he heard that.
"Are you kidding me?! Would you mind if I have a look! I've never seen either before!" He grinned and clasped his hands together before bowing deeply.
"Please! I beg you!"
Misty giggled at his antics, but saw no problem with it, she reached into her bag and pulled out to capsules, most people these days called them Pokeballs now, she turned the knobs on. She held them out and they burst open with a bright white light that engulfed the surrounding area, two creatures materialized from the capsules and hovered above the ground.
The staryu to Ash left was astounding, it's outer shell was slick and the red jewel, it's core, glowed beautifully in the setting sun. It had a golden ring surrounding its core that looped around its midsection, it was absolutely amazing. Ash then brought his attention to the Starmie, the evolved form of staryu, it basked in the sun set and gave a presence of great power. It's back half appendages rotated at random and it's core was gleaming stunningly.
Ash touched it's violet shaded body and relished in the smoothness, one would thing it's skin would be rough at first glance, but most people would never get the chance to see such a pokemon, only fisherman and people living on the coast on the rare occassion.
"Misty! These pokemon are beautiful!" He grinned from ear to ear as he kept observing the pokemon in front of him. Misty smiled warmly as the young man admired her pokemon, it was a different aspect from her normal mind set of most people.
"Would you mind if I write down a few things and get a quick sketch of them while dinner cooks?" He already had his pad and pen in his hands, and was jotting down notes before finishing his sentence.
"Sure, I don't see why not." It was that weird she thought, these pokemon are not common to many people but no one went to this extent. She brushed it off and looked around the campsite, Ash seemed to be busy and she didn't want to interrupt his focus. She noticed the large backpack near Ashs' tent and was curious as to what could be in that one if he had another one that he wore on his back.
Maybe another time, she didn't want to pry too far.
Dinner was finished and Ash had gotten the notes and sketches he wanted, the two of them then sat down and continued to talk to each other, learning more about one another and coming to the conclusion that if they were headed in the same direction that they would travel together.
"Do you mind if I ask a personal question?" Misty leaned back and stared up at the sky, the two of them were relaxing by the campfire before bed.
"If it's nothing too serious I suppose I could."
"Those notes and sketches you did, what were they for?" Misty was curious when Ash asked her earlier in the day to document her pokemon and find out it's strenghts, weaknesses and prowess in battle, along with their common nature around other pokemon and humans. She didn't really mind seeing how they were uncommon pokemon and had many people ask her before, but nothing this to this degree.
"It's just a little something me and the professor are working on, a little side project to go along with his ranch and research." Ash had finish cleaning his knife and put it away along with the pots and pans that were used for dinner.
"I see, I was also curious about that pack that you always wear around you chest, seems like an odd place to store your capsules."
"No no I don't keep those in there." He laughed to himself softly before turning to Misty.
"Do you wanna see?" His eyes gleamed from the fire.
Misty nodded her head, unsure if she should be excited or completely terrified. The question was harmless, but what did he really have in the pack?
Ash still had a grin from ear to ear and he carefully handled the pack and sat closer to Misty, placing it gently on the ground.
"Open it." He said, sitting calmly with the smile still plastered on his face.
Misty sighed heavily and slowly reached for the zipper, undoing it slowly and averting her eyes a bit preparing for the worst, but as the pack opened misty was silent.
Before her sat three large eggs.
One was a pale green with dark spots scattered throughout, the one next to it was a dark red, the bottom half of the shell fading into a light shade of orange, and the last one being a light blue with brown spots speckled around. Each of them moved slightly and almost rhythmically as they sat on the ground, the light from the fire basking the eggs in the small field and making the shells gleam beautifully.
"Are these?" Misty couldn't believe her eyes, she was staring at Pokemon eggs! She had only heard from rumors that Pokemon give birth through eggs, but the process of pokemon birth was still a mystery.
"Yes! You would not believe what I had to do to get these!" Ash ran his hands over the eggs, his eyes gazing upon them with tremendous pride.
"What are you doing with them?" Mistys' brain was a blur right now, so many questions bombarding her at the same time.
"They are mine, I was studying a few different species and was able to breed a few of them, they were born roughly at the same time a few weeks ago."
"That's unbelievable." Misty stared at Ash as he continued to stare at the eggs, his chocolate brown eyes gleamed from the fires light, his hair was messily hanging over his headband, his face was relaxed and dream like.
"Well if you don't mind, I'm going to get some rest, you're more than welcome to hold ones of these and get a closer look tomorrow when we reach town." He smiled as he gently packed the eggs away and gathered his things.
"Thank you, I can't wait." She was excited, many questions came to her head as they retreated to their tents for the night, hoping she would remember them all in her excited state.
Ash and Misty had woken up early in the morning to make better time on making it to Viridian, then after a day or two of resting they would traverse through the Viridian forest on their way to Pewter city.
"So you don't like bugs huh?" Ash laughed quietly to himself as Misty told him one of her fears.
"It's not funny! They are gross and disgusting and just plain creepy!" She shivered at the thought of the little pokemon that made up the entire population of Viridian forest.
The two of them were only a few miles from Viridian city and noon was only just passing, Ash figured they would be there in the next couple hours depending on their pace, but he didn't really mind since Misty was keeping him company, he liked having her around to talk too.
Ash looked up to the cloudless sky above, the large trees on the side of the path sometimes blocking his view and casting a shadow upon them, but it was a spectacular view none the less. A few pidgeys scattered from the branches above as the two friends came closer causing small berries to scatter across the ground, Pikachu noticed this and jumped off of Ashs' shoulder quickly, the berries from the top of the tree line were the best tasting, but a hastle to get too.
He plopped down next to a cluster of them and began eating, his ears flicking back and forth. Ash and Misty stopped for a drink of water as the small rodent pokemon continued eating until a shriek pierced their ears.
Pikachu jumped to all fours and sparked his cheeks, scanning the tree lines and focusing his ears. Ash and Misty looked around as well, most likely a spearow claiming it's territory, but they didn't want to stay around for long, if shown as a threat they have been known to attack and they did not want to risk those odds.
"Come on Pikachu, leave it be." Ash began to walk when the shriek was heard again, a large bird appeared fifty feet away from them and swooped down low to the ground and made a path straight for the group before opening it's wings full span and flapping tremendously. Ash was shocked, a large pidgeotto had landed a few yards away from them and it was a stunning appearance. The pokemons wings had a beautiful sheen to them, it's talons were sharp and looked to be heavily used but the pokemon landed with a graceful manner.
Ash stared down the bird pokemon in front of them, both of their eyes connected and he grinned.
"Pikachu, give it a small jolt, I want to keep this one." He slipped his front pack off and handed it to Misty.
"I'm sorry, but this will only take a minute." He grinned from ear to ear and she smiled and took the pack from him, he then reached into his backpack and took out a rather large metallic capsule.
Pikachu eyed down his opponent before bursting into a quick sprint towards the pokemon, each jump becoming quicker and quicker, the Pidgeotto grasping what was happeneing flapped it's large wings bringing up a small wall of dirt that headed towards the group, pikachu was hit and slowed down for a second before resuming his sprint, sparks cheeking and chittering loudly.
The small rodent stood it's ground once closer and released a small jolt of electricity that raced towards the bird pokemon, missing it as it flew into the sky above. Pikachu kept grounded and stared at the sky, it's ears flicking back and forth.
"Let it come to you buddy, send out a shock wave when it gets close and i'll take it from there."
The small rodent pokemon held it's ground as it waited for the bird to make its move, he had battled a handful of pidgeys and felt confident in his skills to ensure a quick victory.
A minute passed before the Pidgeotto came in for it's attack, this time from the heavily forested part of the trail to the left. It swooped in fast and shrieked, pumping it's wings to go faster and gaining speed.
Ash turned the knob on the top of his capsule slowly, timing it perfectly with the pokemon in front of him.
The pidgeotto came in fast and extended it's wings that began to glow a faint silver, the pikachu sparked it's cheeks and and circulated electricity around it's body, it's legs ready to jump and evade the attack.
When the bird was a foot away, Pikachu released it's electricity and bombarded the bird pokemon, jumping as soon as he let loose the attack but ending up colliding with the bird pokemon. Pikachu flew back and skidded to a halt, chittering madly at the bird pokemon who had crash landed a few feet from the group.
Ash grinned and jogged towards the pokemon, turning the knob completely and holding it out towards the Pidgeotto. The capsule opened and bright light engulfed the bird pokemon, it's form melting into the capsule as it clapped shut and locked on it's own.
Ash pumped his fist and held the ball tightly, his pikachu jumping up onto his arm and licking his fur where the pidgeotto collided with him.
"At least we now have protection from all of those scary bug pokemon in Viridian forest." As laughed as Mistys face turned sour and rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, I had a feeling you would have caught that pokemon regardless of me or bug pokemon."
"He seemed like a good specimen, so you're probably right." He smiled and retrieved his belongings from Misty.
"Shall we continue?" He turned the knob on the capsule and released the bird pokemon, commanding it to take flight and spread out it's wings to shake off the thunder wave.
Ash and Misty had made it to Viridian city, the two of them staying at the local pokemon center to have their pokemon looked after and stay the night, it being all free was also a nice perk.
"Why are you headed to Pewter city?" Misty asked after the two of them finished their dinner.
"I'm going to meet Brock, he's a local gym leader and breeder enthusiast, just wanted to meet up with an old friend and compare notes is all." Ash was preparing a small package for the courier pidgey to take back to Pallet town for professor oak, he had copied all of his work hastily when they arrived and waiting for the nurse to finish up with their pokemon.
"I see.." Misty shuffled in her seat and fiddled with her thumbs.
"Something on your mind?" Ash asked as he finished tying up the package and placing it to his side and looked up to Misty, her face scrunched up in a quisitive look.
"I was just wondering if you were going to head back to Pallet or head through Mt. Moon." She gazed to her side, mumbling underneath her breath.
"I'll be headed through no doubt, maybe make my way around the whole Kanto region." He responded, propping his head in his hands and staring at a map that was on the table.
"I was actually hoping to plot out my course before I headed out." He looked up and noticed Misty glancing at it out of the side of her eyes. He smiled and flipped the map around and placed a pen in front of her. She turned and raised an eyebrow at him quizzically.
"Anywhere you want to go?"