Hey guys! sorry i haven't updated in a while. i actually finished this on Saturday but FF was being mean to me and wasn't letting me upload it. Well as long as i have it up now. As i was waiting, I actually finished chapter 11 as well.

yeah, anyway this is the chapter that a lot of you been waiting for. Richie finally enters! i know you were already to kill me if ididn't put him in soon. j/k.

it's mostly narrative explaining Richie's life story. ya might want a tissue cause there's a sad part in it. there's one thing i need point out. In one of the pokemon chronicles, Richie mentioned he came from somewhere called Frodomar City. I don't know if he was telling the truth or not but i put it as the city he's from.

Enjoy! Please R&R

Who is Richie Belmont?

To the far east of Kanto exists a place called Frodomar City. It is a large metropolitan area that consists of a lot of big businesses. Many of the business tycoons started their businesses here and built homes there. Because of the large population of big business owners, Frodomar City mainly consists of the rich or people with high social status.

But one of the main tycoons is a man named Robert Belmont. His father played a big part in the creation in the newer modeled pokeball. He took over his father's business after he died and inherited his mass fortune.

However, even after becoming one of the richest men in the world, he still felt he was missing something in his life. That was until he met the stunning actress known as Penelope Holmes. She had long blonde hair and the most beautiful blue eyes you've ever seen. Robert knew from the second he laid eyes on her that he wanted to marry her. After about five months of dating they decided to tie the knot.

About a year of marriage they felt that they were ready to take on the responsibility of raising a baby. Nine months later, Penelope gave Robert a son. The baby also had inherited Penelope's blue eyes. They both decided to name him after Robert's father, Richard. Thus he was known as Richard Belmont II. Though later on, he would love to go by the nickname, Richie.

Being born into a rich family, Richie seemed to have everything a little boy could want such as toys and a fabulous place to live. But still, he was a somewhat sad child. His parent's were never around due to their jobs and he really didn't have any friends. The only time he'd ever had someone to talk to was when his grandfather, from his mother's side, came to visit him every weekend. His grandfather had been a pokemon trainer in his younger days and brought some of his old friends along on visits. This caused Richie to be intrigued by the world of Pokemon and made him want to become a pokemon trainer himself one day.

Even though Richie's father, Robert, owned a company that manufactured pokeballs, he did not like pokemon whatsoever. Quite strange, considering the fact that his father adored them. The reason why he disliked them so much was always unknown to Richie. That's why, when Richie reached his tenth birthday, he was not at all thrilled of his son's decision. Robert always wanted Richie to inherit his company instead of him being one of the "suckers" that but the products. After a long while of begging and with the help of his grandfather, Richie was finally able to convince his father to let him chase his dream.

Of course, every starting trainer needs to have a starting pokemon right? That's why, the following day, Richie's grandfather took him to a local breeding center to pick out his very own Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. Though he had his heart set on getting Charmander, his favorite pokemon, something would happen on the way over that would make him consider on choosing another certain pokemon.

As his grandfather was taking a route through the city to reach the breeding center, they came across a block that was completely blacked out. All the traffic lights were out causing the traffic to be in complete chaos. Richie and his grandfather found all this to be very peculiar. Why was there no power here? Just then, out of the blue, a large thunder bolt appeared from behind one of the buildings nearly causing everyone to trip. Being that there weren't any clouds around; Richie's grandfather knew it had to come from a pokemon. He, along with a few others, went to investigate what kind of pokemon it was. Even though told by his grandfather to stay by the car, Richie followed behind the crowd of people who were walking into the alley.

Richie managed to push past some of the adults and that's when he saw it. A small pikachu with a tiny tuft of hair sticking out from its forehead. However, something didn't seem right about it. It was lying on the ground with its cheeks sparking lightly. It was also weakly crying. Richie then over heard his grandfather saying that it was sick and needed help immediately. He also explained that the pikachu was giving of a negative current which was probably the reason why everything electric suddenly stopped working. Even though it needed help, the pikachu would launch a thunderbolt at anyone who approached. Concerned, Richie ran up to his grandfather and asked how they could help it. This didn't surprise his grandfather at all. Richie always had a love for pokemon just like he did. Then Richie tried to talk to the ill pikachu in a very gentle voice. He tried to explain to it that he was only there to help and that he meant no harm to it. Though its cheeks were still sparking, the pikachu did not fire a thunder bolt at Richie when he approached. Richie continued to talk to it in a gentle voice while walking slowly towards it until he finally reached the pikachu. Fortunately, the pikachu began to trust him enough not to attack and Richie was able to pick him up. That's when he found out how hot it was. His grandfather said that there was a pokemon center just a block away and the two rushed over quickly. Once they got there, because of the pikachu's negative current it caused the power of the pokemon center to cut off as well. But fortunately the center had a back up generator that was not affected by electricity. Richie gave the ill pikachu to the Nurse Joy and she quickly took it into the ER.

After a few minutes past without Richie budging, his grandfather mentioned that they still had time to get his starter pokemon. But he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay until he knew that pikachu was alright. His grandfather agreed and phoned Richie's parents that he and Richie might spend the night over there.

The next morning came and Richie woke up around 9 am. His grandfather had just come back from the cafeteria with some breakfast for him. Richie immediately asked if the pikachu was alright but his grandfather said that he hadn't heard anything yet. A few minutes later, Nurse Joy came out of the emergency room. She told them that the pikachu was doing just fine now and could probably leave the pokemon center by that night. Relieved, Richie hugged his grandfather with joy. A minute later, he asked Nurse Joy if he could possibly see the pikachu. She agreed and took him back to the recover room.

The pikachu was asleep on the bed. But as soon as Richie entered, it began to wake up. He asked how it was doing and held out his hand. It was a bit shy at first, but once it knew Richie was no threat to it, it quickly became fond of him. Through out the rest of the day, Richie stayed with the pikachu and built a friendship with it. Nurse Joy even commented to his grandfather on how close they were already. Then he explained to her that they were on there way to get Richie's first pokemon before the situation happened. But he now believed that there was no need to go to the breeding center. It seemed that Richie had discovered his first pokemon all on his own. Richie overheard what his grandfather had said. Was it really possible for him to start of with a pikachu? The two of them talked it over and decided that since Richie had already bonded with this pokemon that it would be a great companion along his pokemon journeys. Of course, it had to be okay with the pikachu as well. Richie asked his new pokemon friend if it would like to become his first pokemon. Without hesitation, the pikachu smiled and jumped on to Richie's shoulder.

Now that Richie had his own pokemon, he felt it best if he gave his new friend a nickname. Because the pikachu's cheeks frequently sparked when it became excited, he gave him the name "Sparky". The very next day, Richie left on his pokemon journey in hopes of becoming a pokemon master.

During his journey through Kanto, he had come across many pokemon and managed to catch and train some of them. And if you travel, you are bound to come across interesting people and even make new friends. Richie had made many friends during his journey but there was one in particular that stayed in his mind. It was boy by the name of Ash Ketchum who bared a slight resemblance to Richie. He even had a pikachu with him. Richie met him when he reached the Indigo Plateau. Ash was also going to participate in the pokemon league competition and the two became fast friends. But of course that friendship would be put to the test when the two were pitted against each other in the tournament and became rivals. When the time came for the competition, Richie walked into the arena not seeing Ash anywhere. He waited for hours for Ash to arrive but he still hadn't shown. The referee was about to disqualify Ash but Richie insisted that they wait just a bit longer. He knew that Ash was one determined trainer and he would never not show up for a battle. Soon enough, Ash finally came. He didn't have enough time to explain what happen to him and the battle began. However there was something really wrong. All of Ash's pokemon were exhausted and hardly put up a fight against Richie's. The only pokemon on Ash's team that wasn't weakened was his disobedient Charizard. It quickly knocked out Sparky with a flamethrower but Richie still had one pokemon left. His charmander named Zippo. However, Ash's charizard refused to fight Zippo being that it was the pre evolved form of it. Because of Charizard's refusal to fight, Ash was disqualified and Richie was declared the winner of the battle. Though, Richie didn't feel too good about winning being that Ash's pokemon weren't even at there best and neither was he. Richie felt so guilty about beating him that he couldn't concentrate in the next battle and lost making him only best 8 instead of the winner.

After the loss, Richie sat by a lake cradling the injured Sparky. All of a sudden some one called him from behind. It was Ash. He had been watching Richie's battle and saw what happened. Ash was just checking up on him to see if he was alright. At that moment, Richie didn't really care about the lost of the battle. He was just glad Ash didn't hate his guts. He didn't admit to him, but Richie seemed to have a small crush on Ash. He didn't want to tell him because he thought Ash had feelings for Misty. But still, that didn't stop him from enjoying the rest of the day hanging out with Ash. It wasn't until the two of them were inside the competition stadium that they said their goodbyes. That's when to two of them promised each other that they would both become successful pokemon masters.

Since meeting Ash, Richie really hadn't been interested in battling. Instead he was interested in learning about all of the legendary pokemon such as Lugia or Ho-oh. He even managed to meet up with Ash once more in the Whirl Islands were they got to save a mother Lugia and her child from Team Rocket. Since then Richie and Ash hadn't seen each other for a while. But Richie was also lucky enough to get to see a Celebi and a Moltres. After a couple of years had past, Richie got word that Ash had become the Battle Frontier champion some time ago. Wanting to be able to congratulate him in person, he made his way towards Pallet Town and met up with him. The two were happy to see each other and Richie even got to meet Ash's new friends, May and Max. Ash described what the battles were like in the battle frontier which caused Richie to become interested in battling again. It was then that he decided that he was going to compete in it as well. Richie didn't know why but he asked Ash if he started dating yet. Ash said that he went out with Misty before and after the Battle Frontier but the two realized that they really weren't into each other as much as they thought. While Ash was in the Hoenn League, Misty had spent a lot of time with Tracey and the two fell for each other. As for Ash, he couldn't get himself to be romantically involved with Misty. And for those reasons the two of them both decided that they were better off as friends than as lovers.

On the night before Richie would leave Pallet Town, Ash's mother had thrown a party for Ash. Ash was going to start another pokemon journey as well. Richie felt that this would be his only chance to tell Ash how he felt before they would part ways again. Once the two of them were in Ash's room alone, Richie confessed that he was in love with him. Ash was a bit shocked but not at all hostile. Then he also the realized that maybe the reason he wasn't interested in Misty was because he was gay. In a way this offered closure for Ash. The two sat on Ash's bed and talked a little while longer. As they did, they found themselves lovingly touching each other. As time passed on they began to kiss and eventually had sex. That one night made Richie feel better than ever before. He no longer had the worry of never being able to express his true feelings. However, he knew his parents, especially his father, would never except who he really was. So he asked Ash that they keep their relationship a secret. Ash agreed thinking that his mother and friends might not understand either. The next day they would have to separate once more and they bid each other farewell.

Since then Richie had been trying for the Battle Frontier and managed to win 3 frontier symbols. As he was training in preparation for the next Frontier Brain, he got a call from his mother who had devastating news. Richie's grandfather had fallen gravely ill and was now hospitalized. She told him that she didn't know how much time he had left. Without hesitation, Richie returned home immediately to see his grandfather possibly for the last time. When he arrived at the hospital he was met by his mother. She showed him the way to his grandfather's room. When Richie saw him he was in utter shock. His grandfather didn't look like himself at all. He was extremely pale and appeared to have lost a lot of weight. He had machines hooked up to him left and right that were keeping him alive and stable. Though weak, he was happy to see that his grandson had come to see him. He wanted Richie to tell him how his pokemon journey was going. Richie complied telling him about the legendary pokemon he saw and the Battle Frontier all the while trying to choke back tears. They spent the rest of the day together talking until the visiting hours were over. But before Richie left, he felt that he had to tell his grandfather one more thing incase he wouldn't get a second chance. While trying to hold back the tears in his eyes, he came out to his grandfather about his sexuality. After he said it he couldn't hold it back any longer and began crying. His grandfather then put his hand on Richie's face and wiped the tears from his eyes. He told Richie that he loved him and it didn't matter to him what he was. No matter what he would be proud of Richie for just being a great grandson. However, he did make Richie promise that he would tell his parents soon. There was no reason for him to hide who he truly was. He thanked his grandfather and gave him a hug. He told him he loved him too and said goodbye.

The next morning, the Belmont home got a call from the hospital telling them that Richie's grandfather had passed away in the night. Though it had been expected, Richie was still in shock. The only family member that Richie felt had understood him had died. Who could he talk to now?

It had now been a few months since his grandfather's death and Richie had been at home. He had been too depressed to leave on another journey. Instead he was at home on a sort of "vacation" as he put it. Richie only wanted to be alone with his pokemon but then he realized that made his parents worry about him. So to make himself have some form of human contact, he began to hang out with his childhood friend named Clara. Every since Richie knew her, she had been in love with him. Now that they were spending time together, Clara thought that they were a couple now. Of course Richie didn't feel the same way. Though he believed Clara was a nice girl, he hated hanging out with her. She didn't know anything about pokemon and only wanted to go shopping all the time. Also there were many times were she would come to the house unannounced and Richie wasn't in the mood to see her. Today had been no exception. Richie had been up in his room reading a book with Sparky by his side sleeping when Clara barged in on him.

"Oh Richie...?" she said as she opened the door to his room.

"Huh??" he said as he looked up. "Oh hi Clara."

"Is that any greeting for your girlfriend?" she said as she leaped on his bed and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. This also woke up Sparky.

"Come on... stop it." he said as he gently pushed her away.

"Oh you're so cruel!!" she pouted. "Why can't you just drop the attitude? Why are you always like this?"

"I don't know... I'm just not in the mood right now..."

"You're never in the mood..."

"Piiikaaa..." yawned the awakened Sparky.

"Oh hey Sparky." Richie said happily. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Pikachu!" said the happy pikachu.

"I swear!" Clara yelled. "You treat that pikachu better than you treat me!"

Just then the phone rang.

"Oh! Hold on, I need to get that." Richie said as he got up from his bed and darted to the phone. He wasn't expecting anyone; he just wanted to get away from Clara. She and Sparky then exited the room after him. He then answered the phone. "Hello?... Excuse me?... Whatever, get a life why don't cha?" He then slammed the phone back on the hook.

"What was that all about?" asked Clara.

"Pika pika?" asked Sparky.

"Just someone with a lame prank phone call."

"Typical. How juvenile! Don't these poor children have anything better to do?"

"You just can't assume that they're poor. They could be other rich kids doing it."

"Please… We wouldn't waste our time with such petty pranks."

"Um… okay. Why don't we go down stairs and I'll get us something to drink?"

"Now you're speaking my language!" she said as she locked arms with Richie's. Richie then sighed a little.

"Pikachu!" said Sparky.

Once down stairs, Richie got out the drinks for Clara, Sparky, and himself. Sparky jumped up on the table to have his drink which freaked Clara out a little.

"Richie! You know what your mother thinks about Sparky being up on the table!!"

"Well she's not here right now. Besides, Sparky had a bath today didn't ya Sparky?"

"Pika pika!!"

"It's still gross..." she said sounding rather annoyed as she took a sip of her drink. Then she began to think about the prank caller. It made her think of another time when she answered one of them. "Now that I think about it, there was another time were someone prank phone called your house."

"Really? When was this?"

"About a month ago."

"Wait a minute. This was in my house? And you answered the phone? Where was I?"

"I don't know. Probably playing with your pokemon. You weren't inside the house. The phone rang so I answered it.

"Ugh… Yeah, go on…"

"The caller apparently wasn't smart enough to turn off his camera so I saw what he looked like. He was a boy who was about the same age as you. Strangely enough, he claimed he wanted to speak to you."

"What…?"

"I told him I would take a message for you, but then he laughed at me and said he had the wrong number and hung up."

"Hmm... That is pretty strange."

"I should have known it was a joke after he gave that pathetic excuse for a fake name. I don't remember the first name but the last name was truly ridiculous. Now what was it now... um... Oh yes! Ketchum!"

As soon as the name hit his ears Richie spit out his drink all over the place.

"Richie! What the..."

"ASH!!! Ash Ketchum!?"

"Yes Ash. That was his first name... Wait how do you..."

"You said he called over a month ago? And you waited NOW to tell me?"

"Well I didn't think it mattered! I thought it was a joke!"

"What exactly did you say to him before he hung up?"

"Well I said I'd leave a message for you... That's it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! What's so special about this Ketchum boy anyway? You never talked about him!"

"Yes I have! You just hated listening about my pokemon journeys that you probably weren't paying attention!!"

Clara then gave him a look as if she was about to cry. She put her hands over her eyes and began to sob. This made Richie feel really bad.

"Pikachu..." Sparky said looking sad as well.

"Look Clara... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"You're always treating me this way..." she said as had her head buried in the arms on the table. "You're never nice to me anymore and you treat me as if I'm in the way..."

"Look it's not you... It's me... I'm just, I guess I'm not over my grandpa being gone and... I guess I've might have taken it out on you a little... I'm sorry. I know it was wrong and I'll try not to do it anymore." he said as he put his hand on her shoulder.

"You... you really mean that?" she asked as she lifted her head up. Richie nodded in agreement. "I always knew you were the sweetest." she said as she trapped Richie in a hug.

But now Richie had another problem on his hands. Why did Ash want to contact him? Did it have something to do with that night? The night where they exchanged their affection for one another. And why didn't Ash ever try to call back. As soon as Clara left, he would find out everything.

well whad'cha think? Be on the look out for 11. it should be up soon!