Thanks for making it this far, everyone! It's finally time for Ash and Dawn's Kanto expedition to begin! We hope you stick it through and enjoy their adventure. Of course, it can only improve with your feedback; opinions and thoughts are very much appreciated.
With that said, enjoy!
After a hearty breakfast courtesy of Delia, Ash and Dawn were all packed up, only Rosa, Pikachu, and Piplup remaining outside of their pokeballs. Standing at the gate of the front yard, the duo waved vigorously to Delia and Mimey one last time before they'd leave the little garden and head towards Viridian City. With a backpack over his shoulder, cap properly fitted atop his messy head, and his trusty sneakers tied snugly on his feet, Ash was eager and ready to go. Dawn was much the same, with her hair properly groomed and her yellow bag slung over one of her shoulders.
"Ash, honey, please don't be late for the League! You two should have plenty of time to go at your own pace, but you know how they are about late entries!"
"I got it, Mom, thanks!" Ash thanked, a little miffed she doubted his ability to keep track of time. Though, he knew it was merely second nature as a mother. With that, he and Dawn started walking down the gravel road.
"And, Ash! If you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call! You, too, Dawn! Johanna watched after my baby boy, so I'll happily return the favor!"
While Ash merely yelled back an affirmative and thanks, Dawn turned to wave over her shoulder, likewise thanking Delia.
"Oh!"
A cold sweat broke down Ash's back as Delia's final, fading yell came. They just had to make it around the corner and they'd reach a street with car traffic, busy enough to block out his mother's yelling.
"Don't forget to brush your teeth and eat properly! Make sure you change your -"
They weren't gonna make it. Ash grabbed a branch above them on the shady path into the main part of Pallet which would eventually lead up to Route One. He pulled it with enough force to cause it to shift and rustle, canceling out the distant calls of his mother.
"Hehe, I used to climb in this when I was little!" he quickly covered.
Dawn quirked her brows before sputtering out a laugh. "Yeah, well, I bet you couldn't now."
"Could so! Like a Mankey!"
"Is that seriously the pokemon you're going to represent yourself with…?" Dawn deadpanned. Somehow, she'd imagined him as something more cool and sporty. Mankey were an odd mix of… non-traditionally cute, traditionally cute, and flat out annoying or terrifying, given their mood. Then again, she'd only really learned about them in school.
"Hey, Mankey's a good pokemon!" Ash argued. Then, reconsidering it, he smirked. "I look more like a Primeape, though." If there was ever an unsubtle brag about his own body, there it was.
"...Your hair, maybe, but it's darker."
"That wasn't what I meant."
Dawn puffed up her cheeks, confused and a little frustrated. "Then what did you mean?"
Bragging was one thing, but actually meaning what he said when he was talking about himself… Gosh, that was actually kind of embarrassing, no matter how good of a friend the person he was talking to was. Scratching the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't carrying Rosa, the trainer dodged. "Never mind. What pokemon do you think I am, then?"
The coordinator tilted her head up, hand under chin. "Hm… right now, the only thing that's coming to me… is a mix of a Raichu and a Lucario?"
Ash rolled his eyes. "Why Raichu?" Clearly Pikachu was the superior choice, right?
Back on the porch, Delia shook her head, watching as the duo rounded the corner and were out of her sight. "Oh, Mimey, I'm so proud. I know I get teary every time, but you can really tell this time! He's growing up…"
"Mime," the psychic type agreed.
Pallet Town was soon just a background to Ash and Dawn, who'd managed a rather easy walk out of town after managing to leave the Ketchum home. The arcadic fields and placid little homes were replaced by a sprawling myriad of trees. Eventually, even these trees thinned until they were shady oasis in the open, grassy plains of Route 1. Rattata periodically scampered by, as did other commonplace pokemon that weren't quite bold enough to approach two trainers, who clearly displayed three pokemon.
"Huh. This should be an easy route," Dawn remarked, looking about. It was certainly less clustered than the routes on the beginning of her journey. "It seems so peaceful."
An audible laugh left Ash, his free arm folding behind his head. "Yeah, easy for you to say."
"There's no way you had a hard time here. What could've happened?"
"Well, it's kind of a funny story…" He and Pikachu exchanged glances, smiling at the memory, now. "First of all, when we first began our journey… Pikachu and I didn't get along well at all."
Dawn nodded, swearing she remembered Ash bringing this up at some point. Rosa, however, gave the two an incredulous look. Ash and Pikachu, not getting along!? That was kind of scary…
"No matter what I tried, he wouldn't listen to me at all! You gave me a lotta grief back then."
"Pikachu…" The mouse reached to rub the back of his head, as if to give a very late apology.
"...And, I ended up ticking off a Spearow! Pikachu took that one down, which got a whole bunch of 'em mad at us! They chased us all the way down the route towards Viridian City… I tried to protect Pikachu, but I think he finally understood that I cared about him, 'cause he jumped in and blew 'em away with an attack like I've never seen! That was a really close call." He still remembered the way his heart pounded that day. "We've been best friends ever since, though."
Awestruck by his story and its similarities to her own, Dawn couldn't help but look down at Piplup. "Well, I know a thing or two about wanting to protect your starter. Actually, Piplup, I don't even think you were my starter yet!" Dawn realized. "All those Ariados against us… But, Piplup had my back when I needed it!"
"Piplup!" the little water type agreed, rather proud of himself.
"Seriously!?" Ash and Pikachu gawked, slack-jawed. Finding a good deal more meaning in this than their smaller companion, "Too weird… It sounds like the beginning of our journeys were almost the same! Hey… Didn't you say you saw a legendary pokemon when you started, too?"
"Mesprit, yeah!" Dawn clarified. She realized where he was going with this and snapped her free hand's fingers. "Uh, um, not Hoothoot. What was the name of yours? I think it's… not from my part of the world at all."
"Ho-oh, yeah!" Ash's gaze turned up towards the sky. Almost as if he expected the rainbow bird to appear right out of the clouds. "When I saw it, it wasn't even one that Kanto knew about. It showed up after Pikachu defeated the Spearow… We've seen it a couple of times since then."
"It's the… pokemon that revived some other pokemon, right?" Dawn mumbled, not entirely sure of herself. On top of there being so many legendaries, this one was a foreign one. It was only because she'd had some free time as of late that she'd done more personal reading. Lightly glossing over various myths and legends happened to be included, while she was seeking the meaning behind Absol's Pokedex entry. She grinned. "Maybe it came to check on you?" Turning to look towards the sky as well, she instead mused on how that must have looked. "A rainbow after a storm… a blessing after your trial, maybe?" she teased.
"I guess so!" Ash chuckled. That kind of thing just tended to go over his head. Either way, all the coincidences were really amazing. By now, though, they'd passed through the open fields. A small lake bordered their path, just over a waterfall. "Remember this, Pikachu?" He looked to the mouse, who nodded. "When we were trying to run away from the Spearow, we jumped off the waterfall here. I coulda sworn we were gonna get eaten by a Gyarados!" Characteristically enough, Ash laughed.
"...Then we ended up coming out, over there!" Ash pointed to the other end of the body of water, which was now within plain sight. "Then, we got fished out of the water! That's how our friend Misty met us. She was looking for a water type pokemon, but she got us instead." What were the chances of that happening, anyway? "We got off to a rough start too, but I guess we were lucky. All of us… Just getting to meet each other, I guess. I dunno why it happened, but I'm not complaining."
"So, Misty rescued you?" Dawn echoed, imagining the situation. Between the feat itself and how highly Ash seemed to praise her, Dawn was pretty eager to meet Misty. She sounded incredibly cool. "I'm glad she kept you from drowning, though, haha!"
"Sure did. Man, was she mad, though. I ended up using her bike to get away! I never heard the end of that." The boy couldn't help but grin. No matter how much that annoyed the hell out of him in the past.
"I'm gonna guess she never got it back." Though, Dawn wondered why Misty never got her bike back. Was it fried, too? Dawn subtly snuck in a look at Pikachu. Didn't he know he wasn't poison or ice type? Metal wasn't his enemy. She chuckled about her own unspoken joke.
"Nope! The fight we got into messed it up pretty bad." He declined to shudder over all the crap he got for it. "Hey, there's Viridian City! We should be over there in no time!" Beaming, eager to submit his challenge, Ash sprinted off towards the city, with Pikachu and Rosa hitching a quick, easy ride.
"You don't have to run there!" Dawn reminded. Honestly, she was grateful she'd at least kept up exploring, or it'd really suck to have to keep up with him all the time. Despite a little disdain for his need for speed, she couldn't help but admit she was eager, too. The sooner they got to Viridian, the sooner they'd be in Pewter and they could see Brock again!
As was almost tradition, the first stop in the city was the Pokemon Center. Ash headed straight for the counter, a power walk rather than a run his pace out of respect for being in doors.
"Nurse Joy!" Ash called out. "I'm here to register for the League and issue a formal challenge to the Gym Leaders!"
Having successfully gathered the attention of the few other patrons strictly with his yelling, Nurse Joy blinked and looked around at everyone nervously before turning her attention to Ash. "Oh, well, I'll need to see your Pokedex for a moment, and then I'll need you to clarify in writing what you're wanting as far as a formal challenge." There were certain legal standards that had to be kept, after all.
The other trainers assumed this was business as usual and went on about their own affairs.
Dawn couldn't help but giggle a bit as Ash's bravado was faltered by paperwork.
"Oh." Ash handed over his Pokedex while taking the stationary and pen Nurse Joy handed him. He furrowed his brows before looking to Dawn. "Hey, you like poetry, right? So, you should be good at writing. Can, you, uh, help me write this letter?"
Grinning, the girl nodded. "Sure! Let's step to the side, though, huh?"
The two found a small, slightly secluded area of the lounge to begin the letter in. After a couple of minutes of talking back and forth, they had a nice letter to turn back into Nurse Joy.
It read as follows:
Gym Leaders of Kanto:
I formally issue a special challenge for you! I have previously collected eight gym badges in Kanto, so your normal teams are no longer an appropriate challenge for me. I want to take on your personal teams, the ones suited to your true strength! Give me a battle I have to work for!
-Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town
Upon turning being turned in to Nurse Joy, the letter was accepted after a short review. Ash soon found himself with his Pokedex back in his possession, as well.
"You'll probably need recommendation from someone to get this. Do you have any contacts you'd like to ask to back up your challenge?"
"Professor Oak should be sending out an email for me!" Ash answered jovially.
The pink haired nurse nodded. "Understood. Thank you so much. Will that be all for you two today?"
"Yep! Thank you, Nurse Joy!" Ash chimed, chipper as ever.
With that, the two headed out. To the forest, then!
"So, is this gonna be better or worse than Eterna Forest?" Dawn joked as they navigated the seemingly endless maze.
Sunlight, filtered through emerald leaves, gave the whole place a jade dappling of light. The scent of all the wildlife and flora - wet with yesterday's light showers and already pointing towards spring - was intoxicating and lovely. Thin, pole-like trees lined the route itself, though ancient, gigantic trees loomed beyond the shrubbery and saplings. Even the path they followed seemed barely tamed, thin dirt over eagerly growing grass.
If winter had ever truly come to put the Viridian Forest to sleep, it awoke from that slumber vigorously.
"Not nearly as long," Ash clarified. "On the other hand… it can be a lot scarier than Eterna if you tick off the wrong pokemon!" He'd take a herd of Stantler over that swarm of Beedrill any day. Thank goodness Samurai had been there the first time.
"That means you, Piplup." Dawn lifted the little penguin away from her, looking him in the eye as she held him at arm's length. He crossed his arms and angrily chirped at her, offended she thought he had so little self-control.
As if he would embarrass himself so soon in front of Pikachu and Ash! He had to act like a big boy, clearly! There was no need for Dawn to chide him like a mother.
Chuckling at their exchange, Ash minded his feet. Between the occasional root on the path and the slight risk of a curious or brave pokemon venturing out of the grass, he had reason to keep aware.
"I wonder if anyone else is here," Dawn mused, Piplup returned to her embrace. "It's so serene. I feel like we're a million miles from anyone else, haha!"
"Just one guy, as far as I know."
Deciding it was quiet enough that most of the wild pokemon were probably nowhere near them, Ash stepped off the path. Dawn hesitated, then followed him through the knee high and sometimes waist high flora. He turned corners, blazing an olive trail as the blades of grass bent to the stepping of their feet, and the limbs of bushes and low branches were gently pushed out of their way.
"Only one?!" she asked, astounded.
Though Dawn felt very confused, and was beginning to grow worried he was getting them lost, Ash truly did know the area by heart. It was home, after all. Or, near enough to it.
"He was a trainer who stuck around to face trainers from Pallet Town. He was here when I first started out." Ash had been prideful, even back then, concerning himself as a trainer. However, the black haired boy had proven himself… after some difficult trials and tribulations, of course. "I kinda wonder if he's still around." It didn't seem likely, but it would be nice to make some more contact in the forest. He probably shouldn't complain. As much as he liked Misty now, it had actually given him a headache to deal with her bickering back then, and Dawn thus far hadn't done much but get his memory racing.
Somehow, that seemed awful lonely to Dawn, who had always traveled with someone. As Ash's shortcut returned to the path, she moved to walk beside him. "Did he live here or something? Or, maybe in Viridian or Pewter?" Why would he stay here though? Did he have young pokemon he was training against starters? Or, did the path beyond prove too challenging? "I'd go nuts if I had to stay in the same area all the time like that," Dawn confessed, not at all finding any appeal in the mysterious challenger's methods.
"Never said. We were too busy battling with Metapods and getting chased by Beedrill." The battle of the ages, clearly. "But, yeah, he's probably long gone by now." There was a hint of sadness in Ash's voice. "... Aw, man! We were supposed to have a rematch, too!" There was a sulk in his step.
"How do you even battle with Metapods?" Dawn was thoroughly confused and at least half convinced that the battle he was talking about had to be the most boring thing since watching paint dry became an activity. Still, she supposed she could comfort him.
As his trainer was too busy soaking in self-pity for a missed match to notice, it was Pikachu whose ears picked up the rustling of leaves. "Pi?"
Rosemary, likewise, had begun to observe the area more closely, her hold on Ash's jacket tightening. She picked up on one scent then another. Something was fishy.
Dawn noticed next, not quite as caught up in her emotions as Ash. Seeing something in the hazy green distance approaching them, Dawn patted Ash's shoulder a few times to get his attention. "What kind of pokemon is that?!"
The "pokemon" stepped forward. Clearly it was the stranger's get-up that had confused our heroine. She hadn't seen anything like that since she'd last cracked open a history book.
"What kind of pokemon is -" As he turned his head to see what she was talking about, the trainer's jaw dropped. "No way!" He was in shock. Speaking of the Giratina, they'd just been talking about him!
While Dawn still confused and Ash was reeling in shock, the mysterious figure reached for their waist and pulled out, of all things, a sword! "HIYAH!" The silver blade was drawn, swung towards Ash in a dramatic overhead motion that would be enough to scare just about anyone out of their boots! … Except for Ash, apparently.
"No!" Dawn shouted, she and Piplup alike worried.
Rosa held onto Ash's red coat for dear life, eyes shut tight with fear. Pikachu's ears had perked, but like his trainer, he didn't seem particularly shocked.
Was there something wrong with these two? They had a sharp blade pointed right at them, mere inches away from Ash's nose!
"Samurai!"
Hand still trembling from where it had fished Mamoswine's pokeball out of her backpack, the girl spat out an answer. "Y-Yes, he's a samurai! Or, dressed like one anyway!" She then looked at Samurai. "Why'd you jump us?!" Dawn demanded, surprise fading into anger. "Get that thing away from him!"
Ash just let out a chuckle. "Man, come on, is that you? I haven't seen ya' in years!"
Samurai lowered his blade, sliding it back into its sheath before lifting the cover of his mask to reveal his face. The mystery man was actually a somewhat brawny teen, looking a bit older than Ash. His smirking expression mirrored Ash's own. "The one and only, Ash. Call me crazy, but I could've sworn you were talking about me!" Turning to the one Samurai considered a stranger, then, the teen continued. "It's the same thing I did when Ash and I first met! I guess it was for old time's sake." Now, back to Ash. "So, you're not traveling with the redhead anymore, huh?"
"If you say so," Dawn mumbled, hesitant to trust Samurai, but feeling like it was silly to be wary of him anymore. At the mention of redhead, though, Dawn put two and two together. Was he talking about Misty? If he was, this guy had been in here since… Oh, man! She knew Ash had been through Kanto and Hoenn, plus she knew about the Orange Islands from Tracey! He'd been in here all that time?! From when Ash was in Kanto through when he was in Sinnoh, and now back in Kanto?!
"That's 'cause I was!" Ash confessed. "Dawn, this is the guy I was talking about before. Samurai's an old friend!" The trainer was extremely casual about it all, enough to worry Dawn slightly. Regardless of his traveling companion's expression of disbelief, he continued speaking to Samurai. "Nah, Misty's back in Cerulean City. This is my friend, Dawn. I'm going back through Kanto and she came along with me!"
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Dawn," Samurai greeted with a warm smile and a nod of his head. "Forgive me. I had to greet Ash like that, but old habits die hard! I'm surprised to see him here again."
"It's alright," she supposed. If Ash wasn't upset, she shouldn't be. "Nice to meet you, too. Oh, right! Ash, if you still want you rematch, I think this is your chance!" Though, she decided to herself, if they used Metapods somehow, Dawn was going to try to find some local pokemon. It'd be so boring!
"You're right!" Ash chimed. He turned to Samurai, a smirk on his lips. "Whaddaya say, Samurai?"
Again, mirroring the trainer's expression, Samurai reached for his belt. "I'd say that's an excellent idea! It's about time we fulfilled our promise! I hope you're ready to stand up to the wrath of my bug types!"
"I was born ready!" Ash quickly answered. He looked to Rosa. "Hey, I'm gonna need my arms, and I don't want you getting hurt or wandering off, so I'm going to put you in your pokeball for a little bit, okay?" The Riolu accepted this and was quickly returned.
"They're back in the groove, I guess," Dawn said to herself, leaning against a tree. She set Piplup down, allowing him to play a little and stretch his legs. However, a distinct click added an extra layer of excitement.
"Absol?" the coordinator questioned.
The white furred dark type snarled, staring into the depths of the forest with her fur bristled.
"Hey, what's up with -" Ash was about to ask when a Pidgeotto darted by, nearly knocking him over. Several Pidgey followed after, and then Rattata and an occasional wild Pikachu. A few unusually swift Oddish also came along, scrambling past the group of humans and their pokemon.
"Beedrill!" Samurai exclaimed as a small swarm of them appeared. That must have been what was scaring the others! But, no, they flew by.
What was Absol so angry about? And, why had all of the pokemon - even the Beedrill - run away? There were no answers, only Absol snarling louder and louder.
And, then the dreadful buzzing, heavy and horrid enough to be felt uncomfortably in everyone's bones, started.
