The Pokémon Professor

A Pokémon story

Summary: After his loss at the Silver Conference, Ash begins to re-examine his life, and finds himself wondering if it's going the way he'd like it to.

Ash sat on the edge of a cliff, looking up.

It was night at the base of Mt. Silver, and it was beautiful. The skies were clear and the stars were bright, and Ash had always preferred it that way. Ever since he was a small child, he'd always stargaze at night with his best friend.

It was the annual Silver Conference, and the quarter-finals had just finished. Ash had done well for himself, especially considering it was only his second try at a Pokémon League, but he had lost from a foreign trainer named Harrison.

If he was being honest with himself, it was starting to get stale.

But soon enough a familiar voice pulled him from his musings. "Hey." A hand was laid on his shoulder, and his former best friend sat beside him.

"Hey." He answered back, gaze still locked to the heavens.

"Still sulking, Ashy-boy."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Come on, that's not like you. Where'd all that energy go?" Ash shrugged. "And where's Pikachu? He'd help get you out of this funk."

"Inside. I needed to think about a few things."

"Like what?"

"You know what the best part of my travels were?" He ignored the question. "Meeting new Pokémon, seeing them in their natural habitat, getting to learn new things about them."

"I didn't figure you'd know a word like 'habitat'."

"Be nice or you won't be getting a present." He put his hand in his pocket, pulling something small and metallic out."

"Is that… half a Pokéball?"

"Yeah, you remember this? When we were both fishing in that stream, and we both caught this Pokéball. We started fighting over it, and it split. And that was the day we decided…"

"We were no longer friends. We were rivals, now. Yeah, I remember." The answer was low and sad. "What about it?"

"It's yours now, Gabby." He put the Pokéball half in his best friend's hand.

"Ash, what…?"

"I'm retiring from training after this Conference."

"What?"

"Yeah. Sad, right? So much for being the greatest, like no one ever was."

"Ash, you don't have to quit just because you lost a Conference. You went further than me, and I'm not surrendering yet."

"No, you don't get it, it's not about surrendering, it's about shifting focus." He smiled at the brown-haired girl. "When we get back to Palet, I'm gonna be asking your grandfather to take me in as an assistant. I want him to teach me everything he knows."

"You want to be a Pokémon researcher? You?"

"No, I want to be a Pokémon Professor, like he is. I want to learn to understand all Pokémon, and I want to help everybody understand them too." She just stared at him. "I know it's kind of stupid, but-"

"No." Her lips stretched in a smile. "No, it's not stupid. I think it's great motivation. And I know you'll do it."

"Thanks Gabby."

"You know, I never said how sorry I was." She lowered her gaze, eyes locked on the fist that held that Pokéball half. "I never wanted to break our friendship like that."

"I know." He smiled at her. "I'm sorry too." She returned the smile for a moment, before pulling him into a hug.

"And if being the Pokémon Professor is your goal, and I'll support you 100%. I'll be the best source you could ever wish for."

"I know you will, Gabby." He smiled into her hair, a faint blush on his cheeks.

The next day Ash gathered his Pokémon.

"Alright guys, so we lost." The Pokémon frowned. "I just want you to know I don't blame any of you. You all gave it your best, and that's all I could ever ask for. I'm very proud of all of you, and I'm sorry I failed you." There were general sounds of protest, and Ash managed a small smile. "That being said, I've had a lot to think about yesterday. I decided I don't want to be a trainer anymore. I want to be like Professor Oak." All that gathered Pokémon looked at him in shock. Even Heracross had focused. "It's not just about this last battle, or even just the Conference. I've been feeling like that for a while, and yesterday gave me the push to decide. But now you have to decide for yourselves." The Pokémon looked among themselves. "I'll be asking the others this question too, when I get back to Palet. If any of you want to go, I'll release you."

"Pikapi?"

"I know this isn't what some of you want out of life." He looked at Charizard when he said this. The large fire-type just stared back at him. "And I won't hold it against any of you if you ever want to leave and find another trainer, one who can take you farther than I can."

The clearing they were in was tense for a few long moments. Ash was staring down at his feet, refusing to meet the eyes of any of his Pokémon. Even his ever-faithful Pikachu was staring at him with worry in his eyes.

All of which meant Ash was completely unprepared when a large jet of fire was sent directly at his face.

"Yeow, hot, hot, hot!" Ash yelled, glaring at Charizard. "What's the big idea?" The red lizard just snorted, black steam coming out of one of his nostrils. He almost looked offended Ash had even asked the question.

That exchange opened the doors for the other Pokémon to voice their opinions, which they did by dogpiling the raven-haired boy, sending him to the ground. Ash just laughed from beneath the pile.

It took a while, but Ash was finally ready. After a few months of studying and filling the appropriate paperwork, he was now a junior researcher based at the Oak Ranch in Pallet Town. Professor Oak was significantly easier to convince than Ash had thought. It was almost as if the older man was chomping at the bit to pass on his knowledge to one of the two children that used to frequent his lab. And his mother took it far better than Ash feared.

She even said she was proud of him. He totally didn't cry, no matter what Gabby said.

As for Professor Oak's granddaughter, she was with him every step of the way. She stayed in Palet Town with him, even helped him study sometimes, when she wasn't too busy training. It really was great having her around. It was just like when they were younger and would spend all their time together, only somehow even better because of the hardship their friendship went through.

She smiled at him when he told her that, and then called him an idiot. It was a little weird.

But now it was time to begin his career as a Pokémon researcher.

"You've been doing very well these past few months, my boy." Professor Oak pulled him aside one day while he was helping Tracy feed the Pokémon. "Very well, indeed."

"Yeah, thanks again for agreeing Professor." Ash smiled, scratching the back of his head.

"No problem at all Ash. But now, it's time for you to go out and gain some experience."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a few errands for you to run, which will take you all over the regions. Use this time to speak to some of our colleagues, and gain some more experience. I always say, a researcher is wasted behind a desk."

"Right, of course. What's first?"

"First I want you to go to Hoenn and see the regional Professor there. His name is Birch, and his laboratory is in Littleroot Town. He specializes in Pokémon habitats."

"Pokémon habitats… right, got it." During the past couple of months Ash got into the habit of writing notes. They usually helped. "When do I leave?"

"There is a ferry that leaves from Vermilion City next Wednesday. I have tickets here for you."

"There are two tickets here." Ash commented.

"My, whoever said you'd be going alone?" There was a curious twinkle in Professor Oak's eye. "Now get going, you'll need time to pack. If I know my granddaughter, she'll want to leave as soon as she can." Oak gave a grin at his apprentice.

Alternative title: They Call me the Pokémon Professor

Something fun I thought up a while ago. The inspiration for it was that one time I wondered how Pikachu would look in a lab coat. Less of him in this chapter than I'd like, but he'll be going along to Hoenn.

This marks the start of my new Chronicles, this one focusing on Pokémon. I'll be putting all of my Master of series on here, instead of making each one a separate story. I'll transfer the first one now, those should be the next two chapters. I'll consider leaving the story as is for a while, but I'll be taking it down soon enough. I'm fine with the chapters as they are, I'll just see if there are any spelling errors or other mistakes.

Sidenote, I'm employing a new line break stile. I like it a bit more than the last one, which was just a string of exes.