Disclaimer: Pokemon and its characters are copyright of Satoshi Tajiri. Additional characters and story by me.
(A/N: I consulted the Helix Fossil and it told me I would have this chapter edited and uploaded before I went to bed. These next couple of chapters are a bit awkward for me given that in order to keep the story flowing properly I had to actually write the events of the first two episodes of the Pokemon Anime. I've tried to add my own spin on things where possible; some things have been added, some omitted. Please bear with me ^^; )
Chapter 3
Between the worry of people finding the body and the desperation to leave before he killed someone else, time was passing all too slowly for Ash. It was making him all the more unsettled that a body left out in the open still hadn't been discovered yet and he didn't want to be led into a false sense of security.
On top of that, Gary wasn't even speaking to him anymore with the exception of insulting his intelligence whenever they met. According to the older boy it was because he was "sick of having Ash clinging to him like a lonely puppy."
It was hard to hear his fears confirmed directly by Gary himself but rather than send him back into the quiet dejected state he'd been in before he'd met his former best friend, Ash found himself all the more determined to show Gary he could hold his own in Pokémon Training -the day he left couldn't come fast enough.
When the big day did arrive however, it didn't go quite how he'd planned; he wasn't quite sure how, but at some point in the night his alarm clock had wound up broken on the other side of the room- needless to say it didn't go off. When Ash finally woke he was already pretty late and in a panic he bolted to Professor Oak's Research Centre- he couldn't miss this, even if it meant receiving his first Pokémon in his pajamas.
Ash arrived to find a crowd of people gathered outside blocking the entrance to the laboratory and in pushing past them as politely as he could he accidentally crashed right into Gary. Of course Gary couldn't possibly have been late; he was Gary Oak!
"Well look who it is!" Gary sneered. "Surprised you showed up at all!" Ash seethed. He was used to hearing him give others this crap. It still pissed him off that he was now on the receiving end.
Ash got back up off the floor and brushed himself off.
"You got your Pokemon already?" He asked after giving himself a brief moment to cool off.
"Yep!" Gary replied smugly, showing Ash the red and white pokeball containing his very first Pokemon.
"Which one did you get?"
"The very best of course! Think Pops would let me have anything else?" Gary ended his conversation with Ash right there and turned to the crowd "And now I'm off to become Pokemon Master and make Pallet Town known around the world!" Ash could only watch as his former best friend made what could possibly be the most dramatic send off in history; jumping into a chauffeur driven car which was followed by a group of cheerleaders chanting his name and the rest of the crowd. Trust Gary not to walk, he never changes!
"I'll show him!" Ash mumbled determinedly.
"Oh Ash, you made it after all!" Ash looked round to see the professor standing at the gate.
"Professor Oak! I'm sorry, things went a bit wrong this morning so I wound up a little late, but I'm here now and I'm ready for my Pokemon!" The Professor looked sceptical. Okay, so Gary wasn't the only one who thought Ash wasn't ready to do this. In fact a lot of people seemed to think that - himself included - but this was the only way he could protect his friends and family without actually running away from home.
"Very well." Oak lead Ash inside to his lab where three Pokeballs were laid out on the table ready for the receiving trainers. Ash had been thinking long and hard about which Pokemon he was going to pick and he'd selected the water type turtle, Squirtle. However he picked up the Pokeball only to find it was empty.
"Sorry, that one was already taken by a trainer who was on time," Oak stated dryly.
"Oh okay, that's not a problem." He picked up the next one. "I'll have Bulbasaur." However that too was void of its grass type Pokemon.
"Also taken by a trainer who wasn't late" Oak pointed out. Yeah, I can see that! Ash thought getting irate.
"Just have to be Charmander then," he said, picking up the fire type lizard's ball. Yet that one also proved to be empty. Dammit! "Have all the Pokemon been taken?" If they had the Professor was playing one horrible joke.
"Well... there is one more..."
"Professor I'll take it!" Ash cried excited, it didn't matter what type it was, as long as it was a Pokemon. Oak took out a forth Pokeball handing it to Ash.
"I must warn you there's a problem with this one..." Ash opened the Pokeball and in a flash of light a small yellow Pokemon appeared on the table. It had to be one of the cutest Pokemon he'd ever seen. It was obviously an electric type from its black and yellow colour and lighting bolt shaped tail. Its long black tipped ears perked up in curiosity as it adjusted to its surroundings. "Its name is Pikachu" Oak explained.
"Hi Pikachu!" Ash picked up the Pokemon, giving it a hug. Suddenly pain ripped through him as the Pokémon unleashed its electrical Thundershock attack on him. This must've been the problem Professor Oak had mentioned. Great... I get the unfriendly one! Oak handed Ash his starting gear, consisting of a digital encyclopedia and a set of spare Pokeballs.
"Good luck!" he added, almost apologetically.
When Ash headed back outside it was to his own group of cheering fans. His mother had rallied round her friends to give him a good send off. It was incredibly embarrassing but at the same time he was moved she'd gone to this trouble for him.
"Mom, what're you doing here?' He asked.
"To wish my only son luck on his big journey of course" Delia replied beaming at him "It seems like only yesterday you were just learning to walk!" Ash blushed "Also you left in such a hurry you didn't take your bag! I packed some clothes for you..." Ash didn't think he could get anymore embarrassed as his mother reeled off the list of things she had packed for him; okay so maybe in retrospect some of the items included would be useful, but only his mother would think of packing them for this. "Oh, is that your Pokemon?" She asked suddenly, noticing the little yellow creature standing next to him.
"Yup! That's my Pikachu!" He replied
"Aren't Pokemon supposed to stay inside their Pokeballs?" Delia asked curiously.
"Oh right!" Ash held the Pokeball in the rodent's direction, "time to get back in the ball Pikachu." Pikachu shook its head. Ash dropped the ball onto it however Pikachu just knocked it back to him with its tail. Ash tried again but received the same reaction. Pikachu obviously wasn't going back in.
"Oh that's so cute! You're playing catch!" Delia stated happily. Thank God she sees it that way! Ash thought to himself.
"Uh yeah, we're friends already." He picked Pikachu up, much to its obvious disgust.
"Still, it's a little weird," Delia continued. Ash tensed as Pikachu flattened its ears and let rip with another Thundershock attack which spread throughout the whole crowd.
"Well at least those rubber gloves will come in handy!" Oak called out.
Pretty quickly everyone had sorted themselves out and Ash had been able to change out of his pajamas into the jeans, dark t-shirt and blue and white jacket his mother had packed for him. Thankful that she'd also remembered his favourite baseball cap, he straightened himself out and after an emotional farewell to his mother he finally started out on his journey. His departure could've gone better to be honest and he had his work cut out for him if he couldn't get Pikachu to cooperate. As it was he'd had to resort to wearing the rubber gloves and dragging it along behind him with the washing line. It was undignified for the poor Pokemon, but it was the only way he could get it to follow him.
As it stood it was lucky he was able to do this at all; with Josh's killer still not found the authorities had come close to ordering a cancellation of Pallet Town's new trainer event; with a killer on the loose it wouldn't be a good idea to let kids out by themselves, even if they did have a Pokemon with them. Still with no more murders occuring since then - at least that they knew of - they had decided to let it continue, much to Ash's relief.
Ash looked around nervously as he passed the site of his last kill. He hadn't returned to that spot since the day of the incident; too worried about the lack of a news report leading him into a trap, but this was the only way to the next city and he couldn't avoid it. Ash stopped abruptly when he found the body missing. This would explain why there was no news reports yet, though the question of what had happened to it still burned in his mind.
"Piiika?!" His pokemon's squeak knocked him out of the scenarios going through his head and he realised he'd just been standing there staring into space with Pikachu giving him an odd look. Ash regained his bearings then started dragging Pikachu along again. For the moment he remained silent; remembering the incident was reminding him that he was entering that mood again and he wondered if Pikachu could sense that.
Ash moved on a short distance along Route One then stopped again. This was ridiculous; he couldn't keep dragging Pikachu along like this forever.
"Come on Pikachu, are you ever gonna listen to me?" He asked kneeling down next to it. Pikachu shook its head. "Is it because you don't like me?" Pikachu nodded. "Well I like you! Maybe this will help..." Ash untied the washing line and ditched the gloves; there would be no way he could gain the pokemon's trust if he didn't trust it in return. Pikachu turned its nose up. "Still not good enough?"
Before Ash could continue a small bird pokemon flew past, landing nearby. He quickly pulled his pokedex from his pocket and scanned the bird with it -the personal device was designed to record a trainer's progress and provide them with information and helpful tips to aid their journey. Right now it was telling Ash that the pokemon in front of him was a Pidgey.
"A Pidgey huh?" Ash pulled an empty pokeball from his belt and threw it at the Pidgey. It was drawn into the ball in a flash of red light, but promptly escaped again.
"To capture a pokemon a trainer usually has their own pokemon battle with the other." The pokedex piped up. If Ash didn't know any better he would've said it was taking the piss.
"Alright then! Go Pikachu!" Ash ordered. Pikachu instead ran off and climbed up a tree. Ash sighed; that had been too optimistic. "Fine, I'll catch it without your help" Ash snuck up behind the Pidgey, tensing as it turned and looked at him then slammed his pajama top down over it. For a brief moment he thought he had it, until it blasted free with what the Pokedex told him was a Gust attack then pelted him with sand for good measure. Ash was just glad no one else was here to see the complete balls up he was making of this; especially with his own Pokémon stubbornly lodged up the tree and looking thoroughly entertained at its trainer's ineptitude.
Frustrated he picked up a rock and lobbed it at the bird sending it plus a few others scattering -all but one! Ash readied another rock
"I'll get ya this time!" This rock hit its mark and the victim turned to glare at him -it was clearly not a Pidgey. A quick scan with the Pokedex told him that this bird was a Spearow, not forgetting to inform him of its species volatile nature. On cue it took to the air, making a beeline for Ash before spotting Pikachu and changing it's trajectory to dive at the electric rodent, almost knocking it off the tree branch and leaving it clinging on for dear life.
"Hey don't attack Pikachu! It didn't throw the rock!" Ash protested.
"Wild Pokemon tend to be jealous of human trained Pokemon" The Pokedex offered. Ash tried desperately to think of a way to stop the Spearow as it turned for another attack on his Pokemon. Pikachu had this covered however with its Thundershock. Unfortunately it wasn't over with yet!
The stunned Spearow fluttered about on the ground for a moment before managing to get back on its feet and letting out a loud screech to call its flockmates. To Ash's horror they answered and what seemed like hundreds of Spearow flew out of the trees and grass straight towards the trainer and his Pokemon.
Pikachu jumped down from the tree immediately and both made a run for it
"Stay near me Pikachu, I'll protect you!" Ash called out but it seemed even in this situation Pikachu wasn't going to listen; instead pulling away ahead of him. Without Ash as a shield it suddenly became an easy target and the Spearow descended on it, forcing it to the ground with relentless pecking.
Ash dived into the mob and grabbed the Pokémon -holding it close and taking the brunt of the Spearows' attacks- before breaking free from the flock and running like crazy.
"Don't worry, I'll get... WHOA!" He screeched to a halt as his path was blocked by a steep drop into a waterfall; he couldn't go any further and going back would take them straight back into the flock. There was only one escape route - as crazy as it was. Steeling himself and making sure he had a good secure grip on Pikachu, Ash jumped over the edge.