Ashton Hale: Pokemon Master
When a family vacation to Greenfield leads to romance btw. Delia Ketchum and Spencer Hale, Ash Ketchum isn't sure how to react. He's happy when he gets a new father and sister out of the deal. Growing up under the tutelage of a top Johto scientist, Ash is finally ready to undertake his Journey. Now Ashton Hale, and his starter, Cyndaquil, are out to conquer the Indigo League! Slash
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Chapter Two
"So, you're the poor soul that has to follow my brother around then," Molly said, kneeling down to rub the fire Pokemon's head, "It's nice to officially meet you, Aiden."
"Cynda," Aiden squeaked, offering his paw to the brunette girl. She shook it solemnly, as a grin crossed her face.
"Can I ask you for a favor?" Molly asked, "Keep an eye on Ash for me? He has a knack for getting himself into trouble." Cyndaquil made a huffing sound reminiscent of laughter, as he shook his head.
"I resent that," the boy in question complained, fiddling with the Pokedex in his hand, "If anything, I only get into trouble when I'm following one of your reckless plans. Or need I remind you of the Golduck Incident?"
"How was I supposed to know that they could use Psychic attacks?" Molly huffed, "Honestly, Ash, don't you think it's time to let that go?"
"It hasn't even been a month yet," Ash reminded her. The snickers of a certain red-haired lab assistant reminded the siblings that they weren't alone, and both promptly stopped bickering.
"Aiden was a good choice," Schuyler, a young man with brown hair, round glasses, and the air of a perpetually harried assistant, said "I wish you two the best of luck together."
"Thanks," Ash finished inputting the required numbers into his Pokedex, and then slipped the device in his bag, "I'm glad that all of you came out here to wish me luck, but Cyndaquil and I should leave soon. I want to make some good progress on the road."
"Yeah, you have to go," Molly agreed, blinking her eyes rapidly. The thin layer of tears made the light blue orbs shine. "Call often, Ash."
"I will," Ash replied. He wasn't entirely comfortable dealing with crying little sisters, but he shoved that discomfort down, and gave Molly a hug. "Don't worry about me. Cyndaquil and I will look after each other, and soon we'll have a bunch of other friends too. I might even catch a Gyarados for you."
"You better," Molly sniffed, hugging him back tightly, "And I'm not worried. In fact, with you out of the house, I can finally move to a bigger room."
"If you do that, then I'll have my Gyarados hit you with a Hyperbeam," Ash said, not entirely kidding.
A few more farewells and hugs later, the dark-haired boy turned and headed down the worn forest path out of Greenfield. He had considered leaving the town through the south entrance, but didn't want to run the risk of more teary moments with his neighbors. Padding along at his side was Aiden, whose soft paws barely left a dent on the packed soil.
"Are you sure you don't want to be carried in your Pokeball?" Ash asked, looking down at the small, bipedal Pokemon. While Cyndaquil's species could move easily on land, they weren't known for their endurance. However, his starter firmly refused the offer, and Ash decided to trust the little Pokemon's judgement in this matter.
Instead, the twelve-year-old boy focused his attention on the surroundings. The tree-lined, well-worn paths through Greenfield's forests weren't a new sight for him. Ash had traversed them many times before, but there was something different about this trip. The sunlight was brilliant, the air was crisp, and Ash was starting his Pokemon journey, with Aiden by his side.
"Is this everything we've dreamed of, Aiden?" the dark-haired boy asked, looking down. "Sleeping under the stars, fighting powerful opponents, and becoming famous Pokemon champions? There's an entire world out there for the taking, and now, you and I see every part of it."
He had spent a lot of time playing with the fire Pokemon in his lab, so Ash had some experience in reading Aiden's facial expressions. His Cyndaquil made a snuffling noise of agreement, and then waved one paw challengingly in the air.
Ash laughed. "Yeah, we'll definitely have to get stronger first!"
Aiden had a reserved, soft-spoken personality, but, like most fire types, a burning ambition to grow stronger and test himself against worthy opponents dwelled within him. Ash had chosen him for this reason, and because Aiden was an utterly loyal Pokemon that the twelve-year-old knew would stand by him through thick and thin.
They continued walking for another two hours, intermittently chatting or falling into a comfortable silence, until Aiden began to lag behind. Since his fire type was barely older than a baby by his species terms, Ash decided that he had pushed himself enough and offered to return him again.
"Cynda-quil, quil," Aiden whined softly, looking at his Pokeball.
"Do you not like your Pokeball, Aiden?" Ash asked, puzzled. When the Cyndaquil shook his head, the twelve-year-old boy considered other reasons for his starter's reluctance. "Oh, I get it! You want to spend more time with me, right?" The fire type rapidly nodded.
"Why don't you rest in the Pokeball for a little longer?" Ash proposed, "I'll release you when it's time for lunch, and we get some training done then." His fire type didn't look thrilled with the idea, but gave a hesitant nod and allowed Ash to click the return button on his capture device. In a flash of red light, Cyndaquil had been sucked back, and the dark-haired boy found himself standing alone in a forest full of wild Pokemon.
'I can definitely feel the difference,' Ash thought to himself, noting his sudden onset of loneliness as his Pokemon left. Although he had only been Aiden's trainer for a few hours, they had known each other since the little fire type first hatched, and were almost an inseparable as Ash and Molly were.
There was also the little matter of being deep in a forest full of wild Pokemon, but Ash could push that minor anxiety aside. The area around Greenfield was mostly filled with common Pokemon, such as Rattata, Pidgey, and Sentret, that rarely attacked unless provoked. Besides, if he came across any trouble, then Ash could call on Cyndaquil to protect him.
With this reassurance, Ash continued his hike through the forest, and considered the most immediate milestone to his goal of becoming a Pokemon Master. There were 21 gyms in the Johto Region, but the Elite 8 were considered to be the most prestigious and difficult ones of the lot. The first gym in that circuit, the Violet City gym operated by Gym Leader Falkner, specialized in flying types, and needed at least two Pokemon to challenge. Aiden would fill one of those slots, but Ash needed to capture a second Pokemon before he reached Violet City, and then spend at least a week or two training them against flying types.
'It'll take me a few days to reach Violet City, and I could probably catch a Pokemon in that time,' Ash mused, 'Along with Falkner's gym, I'd like to check out the famous Sprout Tower. Maybe I can find an interesting Pokemon there. And, of course, I'll get to see Volkner.'
The mental reminder of the sunny-haired teenager predictably made Ash's cheeks redden, which the dark-haired boy ignored through ease of practice. He wondered what the package that his Dad needed transported contained, and why he hadn't used PsyTrans to do it. The item transportation system used psychic energy to digitize objects, and transfer them via satellite to molecule arrangers around the world. The technology had been initially developed for the Pokemon Transport System, but had been adapted to non-living objects as well.
There were still some limitations, such as an inability to transport humans, electronic devices, or injured Pokemon, but the technology was immensely useful nonetheless. Since the fourteen-year-old gym leader was an engineering genius, the package probably contained something with delicate wires and transistor chips.
When the sun had reached its zenith in the sky, and Ash's stomach began grumbling for sustenance, the dark-haired boy began looking for a good spot to eat lunch. He finally decided on a mossy log overlooking a thin stream, and dumped his thick, yellow backpack on its wooden surface.
"Cynda?" Aiden looked around curiously for a moment, before giving an approving nod. "Quil!"
"I'm glad you like it," Ash responded, opening his bag and shifting through it, "Let's see. The Pokemon food should be… eh?"
The twelve-year-old boy removed one of his pre-made Ziploc bags filled with one helping of Pokechow and looked bemused. "I could have sworn these were all filled last night. Maybe Dad's Ledian broke in?" Nearly half of the nutritious pellets had been eaten, and crumbs littered the top of the bag.
There was a white spot amidst the wave of brown pellets, and Ash blinked at it. The spot blinked back.
"Ah! Eyeball!" the dark-haired boy shrieked, instinctively throwing the plastic bag away from him. It's zipper slipped open mid-flight, and Pokechow went flying everywhere. Along with the food, a tiny black mass escaped from the bag's confines, and hovered confusedly in the air.
"Cynda!" Aiden scampered forward, and opened his maw. A spark of flame grew between tiny, sharp teeth, before Ash got another look at the intruder.
"Aiden, stop!" Ash shouted, causing the Cyndaquil to snap his mouth shut. Unfortunately, the flame was still burning in his mouth, so his starter now had an unbearable heat on his tongue.
"Cynda, cynda, cynda, cynda!" Aiden started jumping from one foot to another in panic, small paws waving in the air. "Quil! Cyndaquil!"
"Spit it out, spit it out," the dark-haired boy said hurriedly, looking around wildly, "Spit it into the lake!" Aiden promptly aimed his half-formed Ember into the stream, and then scampered after it to take a deep drink of the cool water. Ash hovered over his young starter, still mildly freaked out by the entire event, and hoping that Aiden was okay.
"Need a Burn Heal?" Ash questioned, receiving a shake of Aiden's head, "Are you sure?"
The Cyndaquil offered him a dry look that assured him of the Pokemon's confidence, but Ash only stopped worrying, when Aiden gestured to the hovering black mass. Their intruder had been silently hovering the the entire time, and, despite the rarity of its species, Ash instantly recognized the key-shaped being with the single eye.
"Unown," the twelve-year-old groaned, "Sneaked into my bag?" The Unown gave a happy nod of its head.
"Well, this will be annoying, but I guess we can turn around and return you," Ash grumbled, glowering at the F-shaped Psychic symbol. "I just want you to know that I'm very much not happy with- Ow!"
The Unown had flown forward, and harshly bumped the dark-haired boy's head. Aiden, recognizing the mysterious Pokemon to be harmless to his trainer, busied himself with the remaining Pokechow in the Ziploc bag.
"What was that for?" Ash said, aggravated, as he rubbed his forehead. "You need to return- Ow!" The dark-haired boy stared at the Unown, unimpressed.
"I'm guessing that you don't want to return then?" Ash asked. The Unown bobbed its head again.
"You can't come with me," the human declared, exasperated. "I'm training to be a Pokemon Champion, and your species doesn't even battle."
The Unown rotated its entire body around in a circle that the twelve-year-old boy suspected was mocking him, before rapidly flying down. Ash nearly stepped back, but the Unown unerringly threw his head against one of the boy's Pokeballs, and, one red flash later, he had caught himself another Pokemon.
"Okay, so I guess you can come with me," Ash mumbled, unclipping the Pokeball, "I'm pretty sure you just cheated your way onto this team, Unown."
The released Psychic didn't seem to have any problems with that, as it bobbed its head once more, and then flew over to Cyndaquil. Aiden offered the rare, genderless entity a Pokechow pellet, and Ash watched, interested, as a swirling dark portal appeared in front of the Unown and sucked the food in. The twelve-year-old had an exasperated smile on his face, as he took out another Ziploc bag of Pokechow, as well as a sandwich for himself, and sat down to eat.
Had his first catch belonged to any other species, Ash would have hurried to scan them with his Pokedex. The dark-haired boy knew though, that the information in that device would be woefully incomplete, as his Dad had only submitted the basics of his research to the PokeLeague. Ash was probably one of the few trainers in the world that knew anything about the ancient Pokemon, and was possibly the only one to have caught an Unown.
'First day on my journey, and I'm already breaking Pokemon records,' Ash thought wryly, 'Not the ones that I wanted to break, but still a record.'
There were 28 types of Unown that had been discovered, with each symbolizing a letter, question mark, or exclamation point. The 26 Unown types that symbolized letters also stood for some meaning, with Ash's newest capture associated with the word 'Find'. The species typically didn't lend itself to battling, Ash knew, since they could only utilize the totally unreliable Hidden Power attack. Though maybe his Unown could help him through other means.
"Unown, do you have any special abilities in finding rare or unusual Pokemon?" Ash asked hopefully, turning to his newest Pokemon.
The Unown looked up from Pokechow, flew up until it was right in front of Ash's face, and then gave a slow, deliberate, and mocking eye blink.
Ash wilted. "It was a reasonable question. No need to be mean about it…"
The Unown rotated its body in a full circle again, and Ash got the impression that his newest capture was wholly unimpressed with him.
"Hey, you chose to get caught," the twelve-year-old protested, "You can't blame me, if you end up regretting your decision."
"Cynda, cyn-quil," Aiden helpfully added, finishing his meal. He walked back towards his trainer, and scrabbled on top of the mossy log. "Cynda?"
"I was thinking we could start off with a proper Ember," Ash answered, efficiently cleaning up his temporary picnic site, "Aim over the stream again, and let's see how long your range is."
Since lunch was over, the twelve-year-old began testing all of his starter's attacks. Cyndaquil's Ember had impressive reach and aim, but the flames could use greater concentration. Though he was relatively inexperienced, Ash estimated the fire type's Tackle and Scratch to be mastered, while deciding that Quick Attack could use more power behind the strike. Ash couldn't conceivably test the Leer, but since Aiden's adorably scrunched-up face didn't inspire much fear, he guessed that technique needed a lot of work.
"Continue shooting Ember over the stream," Ash encouraged, "Try to increase the size of the fireball with each throw." Cyndaquil immediately began to follow the orders, as the dark-haired boy turned his attention to Unown. The Psychic had been noiselessly observing them so far, but, despite Ash's reluctance to engage with his unwanted catch, the trainer knew that he couldn't ignore it forever.
"Do you want to get some training in, Unown?" Ash asked, causing the Unown to blink its eye rapidly. The ten-year-old guessed that the Pokemon was surprised by the question, before it made the bobbing head gesture again. "That's great. By the way, I forgot to ask, but do you want a nickname?"
The Unown spun around, and, since the bobbing head gesture meant 'yes', he supposed that this was used to signify 'no'.
"I wonder what attack you'll use," Ash mused, a feeling of anticipation rising in him, "Let's step a few meters away from Aiden. Now, Unown, face the stream and use Hidden Power!"
One of the most devastating and bewildering attacks in the world occurred, as shards of white, Psychic energy gathered into a spherical formation in front of Unown. Ash resisted the urge to cover his eyes as the light grew brighter, and then snapped- in one heartbeat- from effervescent to solid form. Then, glowing, crescent-shaped leaves flew out of the attack.
"Razor Leaf?" Ash shouted, excitedly, "No, that's a Magical Leaf attack!"
The psychic-tinted leaves flew in a spiral-shaped pattern into the blue sky, and Ash was immediately enthralled by the beautiful display. Then the leaves changed direction in the air, and the dark-haired boy was left to gape, as the powerful attack swung downwards into a tree several meters away.
"Hoot!" A round-shaped ball of golden feathers was thrown back to the ground, and the beginner trainer now had red eyes the size of tennis balls glaring at him. "Hoot, hoot, hoot!"
"For the record, I regret nothing," Ash told his Pokemon sincerely, "That Magical Leaf was amazing. Now, let's see if our luck strikes a second time. Use Hidden Power."
Unown's second use of Hidden Power drew the requisite energy much more rapidly than the first, and released a silver-blue attack that Ash identified as Ice Beam. Unown's erratic aim meant that half of the bushes on the other side were encased in ice, before Hoothoot was struck by the attack. The super effective move knocked the flying type out, and left one trainer utterly stupefied.
"I think we just won our first Pokemon battle," Ash said, in awe. His heart was still beating quickly from the spike of adrenaline, and a wide, almost silly, grin crossed the twelve-year-old's face. "That was brilliant, Unown! You defeated Hoothoot with two moves!"
He turned towards the levitating Pokemon, in order to exchange a high-five or something, but recoiled a moment later. "Ow! Why do you keep- oh. Right."
Had Unown been able to do so, he probably would have rolled his eye as his trainer hurriedly unclipped another Pokeball from his belt. Ash's hands were shaking from nerves, so he the red and white capture device nearly slipped through his fingers, but he was able to throw it forward. The Pokeball's internal mechanism drew it to the unconscious Hoothoot, and a beep signaled his success.
Unown flew erratically through the air in celebration, and Aiden made huffing noises of happiness, as Ash waded through the stream. He ignored his wet pants, and the soggy squelch his sneakers made, as the twelve-year-old eagerly scooped up his newest catch. When he had returned to 'his' side of the stream, Ash took a deep breath, released it, and pressed the Pokeball's center button.
"Hoooot?" His new Pokemon squawked blearily, blinking crimson eyes up at the young boy. Ash crouched down to get a closer look at Hoothoot. The large red eyes, rimmed in tiny black feathers, dominated the bird's face, but the diamond-shaped ears sticking out of his forehead were also noted. He had one four-clawed foot out, with the other withdrawn, a pale yellow underbelly, and stubby wings. The most stunning feature though were the bright golden feathers lining each part of his body.
"A shiny?" Ash stared at Hoothoot. Hoothoot stared back at Ash.
Their silent fascination with one another was only broken when Aiden stepped forward, and stuck one paw out. "Cynda, quil-quil."
"Hoot," Hoothoot responded, struggling to get back up. Ash gave a light push on his back, and the flying type was able to stagger to his foot from that.
"I'm Ashton Hale," Ash began, gesturing to himself, "Though I prefer to be called Ash. These are my Pokemon, Aiden and Unown. I'm the one who caught you, and I would like for you to join me on my journey to become a Pokemon Master. I plan to challenge all of the elite gyms in Johto, and win the Indigo League. So, uh, what do you think?"
The shiny Hoothoot cocked his head to the side, in apparent consideration, and Ash waited anxiously for his response. Finally, the bird gave an affirmative chirp, and beat his stubby wings. Despite Ash's skeptical look, he was able to clumsily hold himself aloft, and fly over to Ash's shoulder. The curl of the flying type's talons stung his shoulder, but Ash ignored that, as Hoothoot gave a friendly nudge to his face.
"That's great." A genuine smile crossed the boy's face, and he stood up. Ash was careful to move slowly, so Hoothoot's impromptu perch didn't become destabilized, as he headed to the mossy log and took out his Pokedex. "Would you mind if I scanned you?"
Since the shiny Pokemon fluttered down to the wooden log, in response, Ash took that for a 'yes'. He pointed the scanner feature towards his third Pokemon, and pressed the appropriate button.
'Hoothoot, the Owl Pokemon. It always stands on one foot. It changes feet so fast, the movement can rarely be seen. It has a perfect sense of time. Whatever happens, it keeps rhythm by precisely tilting its head in time. This Hoothoot is Level 8, and Male. This Hoothoot can use Foresight, Tackle, Hypnosis, Peck, and Reflect. It's activated ability is Insomnia.'
"One flying type move, two normal type moves, and two psychic type moves," Ash read, pleased, "This is an excellent moveset, Hoothoot, and we might even be able to add one more attack before our first gym battle. It'll be against Falkner in Violet City, and he specializes in flying types. What do you think?"
"Hoot!" Hoothoot squawked eagerly, and Ash grinned at the response. Not only was his new Pokemon a shiny with a great moveset, but he was also a natural battler. First day on his journey, and Ash had already come across an incredible find. He was really luc- Ash paused and eyed his new Unown.
He was really lucky. But maybe not in the way that he had originally thought.
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Ash's Pokemon:
Cyndaquil (Aiden): Male, Level 5
Unown: Level ?, Genderless
Hoothoot: Male, Level 8
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Okay, so I'm kind of in the middle of two other stories right now, that are currently driving me crazy. In order to regain some semblance of literary control, I've decided to update this story instead, and had Ash catch that shiny Hoothoot, as that was the most commonly suggested catch. There were a few other Pokemon suggestions that I also liked, but they won't show up until later in the story.
On the subject of the pairing, I've tentatively settled on Ash x Volkner, though since the former is twelve and the latter resides in another region… well, romance was never the main theme of the story. Mostly, it will be Ash's one-sided puppy crush on an oblivious older boy, which I can see a lot of fun in writing. Maybe I'll add more scenes with other characters.
Update: I've made a change to the official ages of both Ash and Volker. Now, Ash is twelve years old, and Volkner is fourteen years old, so I'll feel much less creepy about working on a pairing for them.
Next Question: Should Ash receive a Pokemon or a Pokemon egg from Volkner?