Hello! So, I was feeling dissatisfied with the state of my project "Steps to Championship", so I wanted to start anew with this project, please enjoy it! And be sure to give a constructive review, I wish to become a better writer and anything meaningful helps a ton.
Chapter 1: First Impressions Matter!
"Ashy, wake up." A soft, motherly voice spoke, as she gently shook her son. It was barely daybreak, and even she yawned, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.
The name of the boy was Ash Ketchum, his head adorned with jet-black hair that pointed wildly, and wearing a pair of green pajamas with thin yellow stripes on the sides of both garments.
Despite his mother's attempts, he didn't even stir as he continued to sleep, unaware of what was to come as she leaned back with a frown.
She squeezed her eyes and took a breath, before- "WAKE UP ASH!"- was screamed at the top of her lungs, startling the poor boy.
"I-I'm up! I'm up!" He said, jolting up with eyes wide with shock. He frantically looked around before his eyes rested on his mom, who was giving him a stern frown.
"Ash, you're gonna be late! We don't want to miss your first day, right?" She asked, as Ash groggily shook his head, mimicking a motion she made earlier to remove the sleepiness from his eyes.
"First day of what?" He asked in tired confusion, as he stood up in his bed and begun getting out of bed.
His mom shook her head, her short curled ponytail waving back and forth with the motion.
"For Pokémon training school, silly!" She responded, as Ash blinked before the previous night finally played back in his head.
Ash looked up at the old man dressed in a white lab coat and wearing brown pants, with a head of thinning grey hair as he explained something to his mom.
"You see Delia, just this morning I had received an email from an old friend in Vermilion City," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "He wants me to become a teacher at the prestigious Vermilion Trainers' Academy, and you-know-who is almost ready to receive a starting partner from me." He pointed to Ash, who couldn't see his hand and was absolutely confused by the conversation.
"I understand he's the sort of kid who is very active, what with him playing outside practically every single day," Delia nodded, recalling all the times he came home covered in leaves and mud. "But in my opinion this experience could really be a boon." He finished. Delia glanced down at him, and her eyes hit the floor as she was feeling a little torn at the opportunity presented to her.
On one hand, she knew her son usually went on about becoming a "Pokémon Master", but he never took well to watching the Professor's televised Pokémon lectures. Begrudgingly, she caved in and turned to Professor Oak and nodded.
"He can go, if nothing else he should learn the proper way to take care of himself in school without learning the hard way roughing it out there." She explained her reasoning, as Ash immediately clung to the word "school" in her sentence and made a childish frown at it.
His mom turned to him with a gentle smile and kneeled down to become level with him, before she spoke.
"Ash, I know you might not like it, but going to this school will be a good learning experience for you," He continued to pout with eyes closed, and turned away, not uttering a verbal response. "Ashy, I promise this will help you become a Pokémon Master, trust me" Ash opened an eye and cocked his head towards his mom, who was giving him an honest expression. His pout turned into a frown as he thought about the proposition, before he turned to her and looked down, nodding in defeat.
"Fine, I'll go..." He relented, as his mom gave him a hug.
"That's my little Ashy"
He was still rather unsure of it, the only other person who ever played with him growing up was a cocky boy named Gary Oak, Professor Oak's grandson, but even he eventually stopped giving him the time of day, as he started picking on Ash before a rivalry was born between them.
Gary aside, he never had any other friends, no human friends anyway, so he was feeling unsure about what school would be like, he'd hate to have another Gary situation from the start and get picked on.
His mother's cough pulled him from his thoughts however, as she motioned for him to follow her.
"Come along now, let's have breakfast."
The morning flew by faster than Ash expected, his nervousness eventually was replaced with a strange excitement, perhaps at the prospect of the school experience arming him with knowledge to assist in achieving his dream.
Earlier that morning after a hearty breakfast (and the last of his mom's he would get for a long time), Delia gifted Ash a special outfit she made for him, which consisted of a blue jacket with yellow accents lining the inner edges and two pockets on one side each, along with a darker blue shorts with thick black stripes on the sides, he also wore a green backpack with black buckles on the back and a red cap his mom purchased. Under the jacket was a white shirt with a red stripe in the center, and on his feet were black running shoes with white crosses on the top, big blue spots on the sides and lined with white underneath.
Ash looked to the side out of the Professor's jeep while keeping his hand on his head to prevent his hat from being blown off by the wind, watching as the trees of the thick green forest whisked passed before being replaced with the sight of sprawling fields with Pokémon coming into view. Ash saw what he could recognize as Ponyta galloping along the grassy field, following their evolved form Rapidash who were a lot faster. As Ash turned his attention to the skies he could see flying Pokémon overhead, such as flocks of Pidgey, and even others he couldn't recognize, however he would be learning about them soon enough.
The ride continued for around an hour, the entire trip being about two and a half hours, before Ash could see Vermilion City coming into view. Ash had never been to the city before, only hearing about Viridian City from his mother who would go there to shop, and now he'd be living the next year here before graduating, at least to his understanding, he didn't think to ask Professor Oak and hasn't thought of it now for some reason.
"We should be arriving soon enough young Ash, hopefully you haven't been bored out of your mind the whole way." Oak said with a chuckle as he briefly glanced at the overhead mirror to watch Ash's expression, who gave him a smile in return.
"Don't worry, I saw Pokémon we passed on the way." He said, brushing off the old man's comment at the end.
"Of course. Just so I can be sure you're ready for this, could you recall each Pokémon you saw?" He asked in a sort of teasing manner, which Ash took as a challenge.
"Sure! I remember us seeing Rattata and Nidoran peaking out of the forest, both variants of Nidoran, and then I spotted Ponyta and its evolved form Rapidash running super fast in an open field! And when I looked at the sky, I could see flocks of Pidgey lead by a much bigger bird Pokémon, probably its evolved form." Ash explained in detail, recounting the species of Pokémon he could recognize.
"I see, you seem to understand some Kanto Pokémon, however when you become a real Pokémon trainer and begin your travels you'll see so many new Pokémon you've never met, perhaps even from other regions." He replied, casting a glance again.
Ash could hardly sit still as the jeep was finally coming to a stop at a building. It wasn't especially tall, but it was way longer, a lot more than Ash was familiar with, the nervous feelings he had that morning begun to creep up on him, at least until he got a look at a puppy Pokémon that had a brown body, with yellow fluff surrounding its neck and yellow highlights around its eyes, with the brown fur meeting white in the middle of its face and down to its muzzle. Its tail was shaped like a lightning bolt, which might've been Ash's favourite feature of the mystery Pokémon, he guessed it was an Electric type from its colour and tail shape.
"Wow! Who's that Pokémon?" He asked while exiting the vehicle, as the Professor Oak and Ash's mom walked up to his side.
"I believe that would be a Yamper, they come from the Galar region and are exceptionally rare elsewhere." The old man explained, as sparkles filled Ash's eyes.
Walking up to the premises was a girl Ash's age, whose maroon hair was tied to the side in a ponytail with a flower-shaped ring easily reaching her waist. She wore an outfit consisting of a grey shirt with white stripes, and yellow overalls. She also wore a smile on her face at the sight of Yamper, however it dropped when she noticed the three people standing nearby it.
"Can I help you?" She asked politely, as Professor Oak immediately recognized her.
"Ah, you must be Professor Cerise's daughter! I'm a colleague of his. Your father wanted to have me over to discuss something relating to the school." Professor Oak explained, as the girl frowned for some reason.
"I see." Is all she could say as she walked passed them and into the school.
Ash didn't know what to say, she seemed to only be interested in the Pokémon at his feet-
-well the one that was there. Shrugging, Ash made his way up the steps as the two adults followed.
Once Ash stepped inside the main lobby he immediately noticed that the Yamper from before simply followed the girl from earlier, leading Ash to believe she owned the Pokémon. Aside from that, he continued scanning the interior of the room, as the two adults following him stepped ahead.
Ash and his mom followed Professor Oak as he headed up to the Principle's office, where his friend apparently was.
When he entered the room, he noticed a man with hair as grey as Professor Oak's, wearing a brown suit and a gentle smile. Next to him was a younger man with hair a lighter shade than the maroon-haired girl, along with a lab getup not unlike Oak's.
"Ah, good to see you old friend!" The man Ash presumed was Professor Cerise greeted Oak, holding his hand for a handshake which his colleague accepted.
"It's a pleasure to see you again. So, while I go over this manner Ash can continue to explore the school, get a feel for the layout, seeing as he'll be enrolling here." Oak said, with Cerise nodding.
"Got it, see you later Professor Oak." Ash waved as he and Delia excused themselves.
The two of them wandered around the halls as Ash looked around, trying his best to make mental notes of things of interest, like the names of particular rooms which he assumed were classrooms. After about half an hour of walking around, he and his mom took a break.
"This school sure is big, huh." Ash remarked, with Delia nodding.
"Yeah, it isn't nearly as big as Celadon University though." She responded. He wondered why she made that comparison, but he'd be snapped from his thoughts when a chubby boy with short brown hair ran up to them and exclaimed something like "A Legendary!" and dashed out the door, which immediately caught Ash's attention.
"Mom, it sounds like a Legendary Pokémon! Do you think we should check it out?" He asked, giving her pleading eyes as she shrugged, placing her hands on her hips.
"I guess so, but I dunno if there really has been a sighting, Legendary Pokémon are incredibly rare after all."
At her confirmation he quickly dashed out of the building, only he didn't actually get any details of where it was spotted, however a weirdly isolated group of stormy clouds formed over in the west, Ash presumed that's where it would be. As Ash broke out into a run towards the direction of the clouds, he very nearly bumped into a boy who was headed in the same direction.
"W-Woah, sorry 'bout that!" Ash apologized quickly, as the boy only nodded and continued running, leaving Ash to blink.
It didn't take long for Ash and the earlier boy to make it to the city harbor, where the clouds continued to swirl. Strong winds blew as Ash held his hand on his head, before the clouds began to swirl into a circle? Ash wasn't sure what was going on, but then jumped when the boy next to him finally spoke.
The boy in question had fairly dark skin, eyes a shade of blue, and black hair with peculiar red accessories? His outfit consisted of a grey sweater lined with red at the hem of the body and short sleeves, he also had grey pants a darker shade than the sweater, as well as shoes that were the same colour as the sweater save for some stripes from the middle of the top to the sides, which were the same as the pants.
"Finally, my chance to encounter the rare Lugia!" He shouted excitedly, as Ash looked at him with astonishment as his statement.
"W-wait, what did you just say?" Ash asked, seriously surprised at the implication, but it would soon become truth as the clouds begun to swell, circling into a perfect sphere before it blasted away, leaving a huge gust that nearly knocked Ash and the strange boy off their feet. Emerging from the clouds was an enormous Pokémon, bigger than Ash has ever seen in his entire life. The Pokémon itself had a mostly white body, with its underbelly being blue. It also had wings that appeared vaguely hand-shaped, as well as blue plates along its back that flapped wildly with the strong wind it created, with blue spikes pointed backwards over its eyes.
The Legendary Pokémon screeched, as its eyes scanned the harbor before landing on the boys, which made Ash's face turn white. Seeing such a big thing up close, and with it noticing him, he had ever reason to be afraid, however its eyes became gentle. Lowering its head, Ash got a better look at its eyes, of which had black pupils that reflected the blue sea below it. Ash felt less tense as the Pokémon closed its eyes with a nod, before immediately cocking its head towards something that struck it.
"Let's have a battle!" A man shouted, as three other Pokémon trainers stepped up besides him, brandishing red and white balls Ash recognized as Poké Balls. Not a moment sooner, the three trainers released their Pokémon one by one, which weren't foreign to Ash save for the one a girl sent out.
From left to right were one Pokémon that was spherical and had a body that looked like it was made of many rocks, it had two short arms and legs, but appeared to have a better way of getting around. The next was a Pokémon that Ash thought he knew, but looked different from his old picture books, the Pokémon in question being a mouse Pokémon that has a brown body, blue eyes and red circles on its cheeks, as it seemed to float in the air on its tail as if it were a surfboard. The third Pokémon was one that Ash recognized as Pidgeot, it had light brown plumage and a darker brown body, while its crest had red feathers on the outside and a yellow feather between, its tail feathers were similar, only having four red feathers. Lastly, there was a Pokémon that was canine-like, its body was black and light-grey with shaggy black fur running in two stripes from the top of its head to the back of its body, its eyes were red with yellow sclera while there were triangle shaped streaks underneath. Ash had never seen this Pokémon before, but would learn of its name as its trainer called for an attack.
"Mightyena, use Howl!" The girl said, as her Pokémon stood and made a howling noise while a red aura circled it briefly, but Ash had no idea what the purpose of the move was. The next attack came directly after, with the odd mouse Pokémon making its move.
"Use Thunderbolt again Raichu!" One of the trainers said confidently, as this strange looking Raichu generated electricity and launched it at the Legendary Pokémon, however it didn't appear to do anymore than tickle it.
"Rock Blast, let's go!" The spherical rock Pokémon kicked up rocks with a stomp and launched them at Lugia, who lazily floated up to dodge the rocks, not that it would have dealt much to the experienced flier to begin with. The Pidgeot trainer was getting fed up with the lack of progress and called for a move Ash recognized from a battle he watched on TV (but couldn't finish due to his bedtime).
"Use Brave Bird!" He shouted, as Pidgeot was engulfed in a blue aura and launched at Lugia with remarkable speed, Ash wasn't even able to keep up with what he witnessed, however it hardly pushed back Lugia who screeched in annoyance before it flapped its wings to blow a gust of wind, which Ash assumed was a Gust attack. Lugia decided to fly upwards and swoop down and over the trainers, before making another loud screech and immediately leaving the area and a dumbfounded Ash, who was silent the entire time.
"WHAAAT!?" Professor Cerise responded in complete and utter shock, as the boy Ash now knew was named Goh submitted some photos he took on a smartphone of some sort that Ash was unfamiliar with.
"See for yourself, this guy and I saw Lugia in the flesh and scales!" He admitted with glee, though Ash felt a bit skeptical that it actually did have scales.
"That's amazing Goh! By the way, that guy would be Ash Ketchum, he's gonna enroll here this year, though the semester doesn't begin for another two days." He explained, introducing Goh to Ash in the process.
"Alright, well nice to meet you Ash!" Goh said, holding out his fist as Ash looked at it for a second.
"Right back at ya!" He replied, meeting his fist with his own for a fist bump.
Later that day, Ash and Goh arrived with Professor Cerise at his research facility. He offered to Delia that Ash could stay at the guest room in his lab with Goh during the semester. He also explained that the semester follows about three months of school, a short break, and then another three months before the summer break begins. Students enrolled will go through three years of this until a final test is issued, putting the knowledge of trainers to use in a battle, the victory of which held no bearing on the passing mark but instead used the performance as a benchmark.
"My, that sounds tough." Delia responded, as Ash had a frown on his face at the plan that the school followed.
"As I said, winning the battle doesn't necessarily secure your graduation, but I have faith that you'll pass without issue, Ash and Goh." He said, turning to the boys. His words didn't make him any less nervous, but his frown softened at them.
The rest of the talk didn't interest Ash too much, only perking up at the Professor's words when he mentioned that students would be permitted ownership of a Pokémon personally trained by the school to be easy to care for, which they would use to assess certain skills. After explanations, Delia realized it was time for her to head back to Pallet Town, so she'd have to say farewells to her son until three months from then.
Delia kneeled down to Ash's level to give him a hug as she embraced him, with Ash wrapping his arms around her, as he knew her cooking wouldn't be the only thing he would miss.
"Ash, be good in school OK? And report your progress to me every day, I know that the school will very generously offer you a Rotom Phone which has a call function, promise me that alright?" She asked, her breath slightly shaky from sadness. Ash nodded in response as he went in for another hug, as both Professors and Goh smiled at the scene.
Later that night, Ash had unpacked some of his stuff from a travel case he put in the back of Professor Oak's jeep prior to setting off for the city, before he did his usual nightly routine before lying in bed, clad in his pajamas. However, sleep wouldn't come, even with stubborn yawns Ash couldn't hold. He decided to knock on the wall to see if Goh was still up, but he could only mumble a sleepy, yet annoyed response, something about "scaring away the good dreams", whatever that meant.
Ash sighed and closed his tired eyes again, in an attempt to sleep. At last, he managed to slip into dreamland nearly half an hour later.
The next two days flashed by, Ash getting to know Goh a little better when he took Ash with him on a quick excursion to study a Pokémon species, like Goh usually did. The two were investigating a strange influx of Bulbasaur, and had an argument over whether they should interfere with a wild Bulbasaur struggling to clear a wall or let it help itself. Bulbasaur eventually cleared the obstacle it was faced with and Goh gave Ash a knowing grin, making him frown in annoyance. Half an hour later they followed more Bulbasaur to a construction site and attempted to follow them up, with Ash climbing up the site with relative ease, however Goh wasn't nearly as adept at the task as Ash was.
After settling their differences, Ash and Goh finally saw that the Bulbasaur, along with its evolved form Ivysaur, were looking for a high enough place to sunbathe. Eventually, some of the Pokémon begun evolving as the flowers on their backs bloomed and released seeds, as well as a pleasant scent all around Vermilion City.
With Ash and Goh settling their differences earlier, they finally became fast friends. A delighted Cerise patted Ash's shoulder as Goh gave him a smile.
"Thanks boys, it's fascinating to see what these Bulbasaur were up to, no doubt that their blooming flowers will help many others open up, much like Goh here," The mentioned boy rubbing the back of his neck as Ash wrapped his arm over it. "Thanks to you two, we solved that case!"
In the background, the girl with the Yamper sat at a couch and watched the screens, seeing the photos Goh captured. She didn't think much of Goh's friend on their first meeting, as a matter of fact she hadn't thought of him at all until he managed to befriend Goh, though it's not like she could since she didn't even learn of his name that day. She figured that if Goh could trust him, then perhaps she could too, but that'd be the most she could afford as she didn't hold much interest in either of their antics, only hoping to have a quiet school life as she rested her hand on her chin thoughtfully, wondering how the first day would go.
"Well, starting tomorrow school will begin, so I'd like for you boys to go to sleep early, perhaps at eight o' clock?" He said, looking at the time on his watch with the big hand pointed at the eight, and the little at the seven.
"No problem! Isn't that right Ash?" Goh inquired, with his friend nodding.
"Of course!"
"Good! Now, I'll see you tomorrow at school, all three of you." He said while directing a pointed finger at his daughter, who suddenly looked up from a book she was reading with a deadpanned expression.
Ash remembered seeing her at the front of the school a while ago, though all he could recall was that she only made a friendly look at her Pokémon and appeared indifferent towards himself and the two adults he came there with.
Figuring that she couldn't be that unfriendly, he decided to walk up to her and introduce himself.
"Hello, my name is Ash Ketchum!" He said with a friendly smile, hoping that he could try to be friends with her too. His hopes were dashed slightly when she looked away and sighed, as if he were bothering her.
"My name is Chloe, as you're already aware my dad is a professor." She almost spat, however her eyes widened when she realized that she might have sounded harsh there.
Her face became a frown as his smile remained, however.
"You sound kinda bothered..." He started, as her frown morphed into a small worry that she might have left yet another bad impression, but it then became confusion when his words finished.
"...that your dad is a professor, right?" He finished. In the span of three seconds she went from instinctual annoyance to worry to confusion, before stifling a chuckle as she made a face she only ever reserved for her family and Yamper—she smiled.
"How did you get that?" She asked curiously, as the smile dropped into neutral again.
"Well, I didn't, at least until you said so." He admitted while scratching his cheek, which made her own cheeks flush red.
"Wh- How... Am I that easy to read?" She stuttered, to which Ash shrugged.
"I dunno, I mean I'm just as surprised as you, I'm not great at putting two and two together." He chuckled, which she didn't immediately realize made her chuckle in return. All of a sudden, she made a terrible realization. Save for Goh, this is the first time she ever held a conversation with someone her age. She tended to push away people who only recognize her as a result of her status as the daughter of a Pokémon Professor, which she didn't even realize was a thing she'd do until that day. She supposed she could make an attempt at being more outgoing, but the first hurdle she felt was becoming Ash's friend.
Ash, on the other hand, was surprised at himself at the earlier exchange. He knew that he was pretty good at guessing what a Pokémon wants or was feeling, so for his attempt at applying that knowledge to guessing Chloe's feelings actually working out came as a shock.
Later, after Chloe left, Ash and Goh retreated to their room as, following the nightly routine, they went to bed early as promised. Ash had trouble falling asleep again, this time because he was anxious about whether or not he and Chloe could become friends like he and Goh did, but unlike yesterday he managed to sleep sooner.
The following day, school had officially begun. Ash and Goh met up with Chloe at the lab early in the morning, as they all ate breakfast in the lunch room. As Ash abandoned all table manners and quickly gobbled down his food, he quickly got to work... waiting. In his rush he realized that it might still be too early to leave, at least not until Goh and Chloe finish (after she shuddered at his lack of delicacy at the table).
Finally with his two new friends ready, they all headed to the school. The first day was nothing more than an orientation day as Ash and company arrive in their normal attire. Ash learned that the school had a strict dress code for students and only permitted use of the school's uniforms. The uniforms in question were, for the boys, a shirt with blue on the top half and white on the bottom, with the hem of the shirt being a blue many shades darker than the top half of the shirt, with shorts the same white as the bottom half of the shirt. The girls uniform consisted of a dress that was white all over, except for the big blue anchor patterns on the sides connected with a rope pattern that was yellow. Both uniforms had yellow ties cut short and white collars lined with blue on the edges.
The three of them decided to enter a classroom, and saw some other kids looking around the empty classroom, as posters and such decorate the walls. Ash figured that the other classrooms would be similar.
Ash wasn't wrong, as he entered a room that seemed to be for Pokémon Breeding and general first-aid. The room appeared a lot more white than the last one, and there were fewer posters that covered different topics than the ones Ash checked out in the previous room.
The rest of the hour was spent with the three of them continuing to explore the school, though Ash already got that chance ahen he first arrived and only decided to hang around Goh and Chloe because he was familiar with them. All of a sudden, a beep was heard, and soon after came a voice from the intercom.
"This is the principal speaking, I hope you have all become accustomed with the layout of the premises, as you'll be here for some time I'm sure," He begun, sounding rather cheery. "Today is a short one seeing as it's only an orientation, so starting tomorrow you'll be asked to start coming to school with your issued uniforms." A brief pause came before the sound of rustling paper went through, before he continued. "A word for newly attending students this year: I wish you good luck with your studies." He finished, as a click was heard followed by the intercom shutting off.
Ash felt that nervousness he felt the day before arriving in Vermilion City, and he tried his best to push back that feeling as he offered a smile to Goh, and then Chloe, though the latter only looked away on reflex before remembering that she wanted to try to be friendly with him, before she awkwardly returned it. Ash felt like he was getting somewhere there, but he had no worries about the friendship between Goh and him.
As lunchtime rolled around, Ash and Goh left to the lab as Chloe went a different way to her own home. As the two realized they had the rest of the day to spend, they decided to go on another excursion somewhere to study more Pokémon, which always had Ash's attention.
Next time: Classes? Go! Rivals? Go!
That was a bit of a simple chapter, but it's more of a prologue than anything I guess? The real meat of the story is in the next chapter, expect future chapters to be double the length of this first one, and at least. Until next time!
