Chapter 1 – Pokemon Summer Camp

The hot summer sun was shining on the quiet Pallet town. A small town in the southern – western corner of the Kanto region. Pidgey chirping in the trees, a summer breeze gently blowing, and the town was calm.

With such wonderful weather it was perfect for the first day of Professor Oak's yearly Pokemon summer camp. The Professor held his summer camp at his lab in Pallet Town. The camp was for kids ages 4 – 7, with children from different towns and cities in the Kanto region coming to take part.

There were four children from Pallet Town enjoying the camp. The first is Ash Ketchum. A six-year-old boy with messy raven-black hair and brown eyes. He is a very kind, if not a bit stubborn, boy. It was known to everyone that he always puts his friends and family first. Since he could remember he has always had an easy time befriending Pokemon and could understand them. It was a trait Ash inherited from his father, and it ran in the family, though most people didn't know what caused the ability.

The second child, who was practically like Ash's sister, was Leaf Green. She has long Chestnut brown hair and eyes. She was very energetic and has a very bubbly personality, and because of that, she and Ash had become fast friends. They were so close, only people who didn't live in Pallet Town would have guessed that they were brother and sister. They would often play with the wild Pokemon around Pallet and go on adventures around town.

The third child was none other than Professor Oak's grandson, Gary Oak. He was slightly taller than Ash and almost always had a smirk on his lips. With his grandfather being an authority on Pokemon and his father, Blue Oak, being the Champion, Gary had a very arrogant attitude. He was always showing off to the other kids and trying to get a rise out of Ash.

The final child was a bit of a new arrival, as she had moved to town about a month before camp. But there is something different about her than the other children. She has Asperger's Syndrome. A disability that makes it hard for her to read social cues and be able to interact socially with kids and adults. And with how the disability wired her brain she gained the ability to understand Pokemon. And despite all the begging and crying she did to her mother, she was made to go to camp as her mother hoped that she could finally make some friends, her name is Nicole (Nikki) Lazario. She had short blue hair that was styled in a pixie cut with long bangs pushed behind her left ear to hide the small star shaped birth mark behind her left ear, sapphire blue eyes, a blue t-shirt, red shorts and red trainers in the same shade. She is weary of trying to make friends as she was made fun of a lot before they moved. Plus, the fact that her father had passed away didn't help the cold front she put up.


Professor Oak's assistant had released the Pokemon that had been specially selected for the camp and there was enough for one Pokemon per kid, with a few extras. Nikki, however, was standing under a tree with her mother's Eevee. Her mother, Diana, had trained her Eevee to help Nikki when she had a panic attack, or she was getting overwhelmed.

It isn't that Nikki feared Pokemon or anything like that. Her dream was to be a Pokemon Master. She didn't, however, like her mother's Magnemite's wakeup call every morning. Why Diana thought using a tackle attack to wake Nikki up was a good idea was beyond her.

Leaf saw Nikki standing there with the Eevee and walked over with the Vulpix she had been given to play with. "Hi there." Leaf said in her normal bubbly tone, a friendly smile on her face. Nikki had jumped as Leaf had surprised her coming up from behind her.

"I'm Leaf," she said extending her hand. "What's your name?" Nikki gave Leaf an unreadable expression, she was afraid of being made fun of, but Leaf did seem nice. And she did promise her mother that she would try to make friends.

"…I'm Nikki," she said after hesitating a little. Leaf frowned a little from hearing Nikki's hesitating. Though it didn't stay on her face long as she was still too hyper about camp and what was to come. Nikki didn't know what to say, she could feel Eevee nudging her leg to encourage her, but she was nervous and a bit uncomfortable.

"So, Nikki, where did you get the Eevee? It wasn't one of the Pokemon that was released." Leaf said as she pets the Vulpix she had been paired with. Vulpix purred happily, she had been trained to be friendly with children and just wanted to make friends. Nikki looked down at the happy Pokemon and smiled. She had to admit the Pokemon was cute and fuzzy, but she was still too uncomfortable to really say anything. Vulpix took Nikki's smile as an ok and excitedly jumped at her. Nikki quickly backed away as Eevee tackled Vulpix away from her. Nikki looked at Leaf with fear in her eyes and bolted into the nearby forest. Tears fell from her eyes as Eevee ran after Nikki. Nikki was sure that she had messed up any chance of making friends now. Leaf was probably telling the other kids what a weirdo she was. It seems like she wouldn't be able to keep that promise to her mom.


When a few adults left after finishing their quick talk with Professor Oak, a woman walked up to the professor. She had long length blue hair in a ponytail, a pink blouse, a dark pink skirt and black flats.

"Hello Professor," the woman said as the Professor turned towards her. "My name is Diana. Diana Lazario." She offered her hand and Oak gladly shook it.

"Yes, Ms. Lazario. If I'm not mistaken, you and your daughter moved to Pallet fairly recently," he said with a friendly smile. Diana smiled and nodded as she ended the handshake.

"Yes, my daughter Nikki and I moved here last month. I hoped that this camp might help her make friends as she has a disability that makes it hard for her to interact socially with anyone except for Pokemon."

"Don't worry, Ms. Lazario. I'm certain that she will have no trouble fitting in," Oak said reassuring her. "We have three other children from Pallet Town. My grandson, Gary. Leaf Green, a very friendly girl who will make friends with her. And Ash Ketchem. Ash is… Where is Ash." Oak pointed out each child as he named them though when he got to Ash, he couldn't spot the raven-haired boy. Diana looked around and couldn't see Nikki or her Eevee.

"Professor," Diana said as Oak looked at her. "I can't see Nikki or my Eevee who is her support Pokemon."

"Don't panic, Ms. Lazario," Oak said reassuring her. "Ash is one of the nicest kids I've ever met. I'm sure if they are together then Nikki will be just fine." Diana smiled a little, although the Professor couldn't confirm that Nikki was with this Ash boy, there was a good chance that they were together. And if what the Professor said about the boy is true, then Nikki would be fine.


Nikki had stopped running from the incident with Vulpix and Leaf. She was panting to catch her breath as she wiped the tears away. "I can't believe I messed up that badly. I freaked out because a Pokemon jumped at me…that girl is probably telling the other kids that I'm a weirdo." Nikki started to sniffle as her eyes watered again. "I don't know why I can't make friends with kids…." Nikki started to cry. "Mama! Eevee! I want to go home!"

The bushes near Nikki rustled as she cried for her mom and Eevee. Nikki gasped and backed away from the bushes. Eevee hasn't caught up with her yet and she didn't know if she could outrun an angry Pokemon. "Eevee, where are you?!" Nikki cried out as a head with messy raven hair came out of the bush (it was Ash).

"Hey, Cubone, where'd you go?" Ash asked. He then noticed Nikki crying and shaking near a tree. "Hey, are you okay? Why are you crying?" he asked as he walked to her standing by her side.

"I…I'm scared that I messed up any chance I had to make friends," She sobbed.

"No need to worry," Ash said with a smile as he pulled out a handkerchief and hands it to her. "I'm Ash, by the way and I'll be your friend."

"I'm…Nikki," she says, trying to calm down. She takes the handkerchief wiping her tears away.

"It's nice to meet you, Nikki." Ash said with a friendly smile. Nikki gave a soft smile as she felt her heart race. But why? Why was a boy, who found her and helped her suddenly make her heart race? But Nikki's thoughts were interrupted with a cry of, "Nikki!"

Nikki turned to see Eevee jumping at her. Nikki smiled as she grabbed Eevee holding her tight. "Eevee! I was worried about you!"

"Sorry, Nikki. You run a lot faster than I do. I got a little lost. But when I heard you cry out my name in a scared tone I ran as fast as I could."

Nikki just smiled and hugged Eevee tight. "I'm just glad that you found me."

"Wow! Nikki, you can understand Pokemon too," Ash asked excitedly. He couldn't believe his new friend could understand Pokemon like him.

Nikki blushed a little and nods. "Well, yeah. The way the doctor explained it to me is because of my disorder my mind is wired differently than someone like you, Ash. But is wired even more differently than someone else with this disorder. And the doctor thinks this is way I can understand Pokemon…I know you probably think I'm a freak, but I promise I'm not!" Nikki says as she started to panic.

Ash started to laugh. But Nikki didn't frown like she normally would have if someone laughed at her. Because it didn't sound like Ash was laughing at her. More like he was laughing at something she said.

"I…I don't think you're a freak, Nikki," Ash says as he tried to stop laughing. "I can understand Pokemon too! Though it's something I got from my…father… Anyway, I'm just excited that my new friend can understand Pokemon too!"

Nikki couldn't stop the pink tint that covered her cheeks. No one had ever not thought she was a freak when they found out. Not only did he not think she was a freak, but he could understand Pokemon too?! Nikki smiled and giggled a little bit. She could see the excitement twinkling in his eyes as he looked at her. It was cute seeing him so excited. WHOO! HOLD UP! HANG ON! Did she just think Ash was cute?! But Nikki never found anything cute! It was always cool or girly. The pink tint on her cheeks started to get darker.

"So, is Eevee your Pokemon? She sure seems like a service Pokemon the way she was running to you like that," Ash says as he had started to rub behind one of Eevee's ears. His question snapped Nikki's attention back to him.

"No, Eevee is my mama's Pokemon. But she had Eevee trained to be a support Pokemon for me until I turn ten and become a trainer. Then I get to pick one of the Pokemon mama will breed to be a service Pokemon and possible a Pokemon I can rely on for battles too."

"That's so cool! Maybe your mom will let me pick an egg!"

Nikki smiled as she set Eevee down. "I'm sure I could talk my mom into breeding random Pokemon for my friends when we become trainers."

Ash just grinned as Nikki spoke. "We should start heading back to camp. I bet Professor Oak is probably looking for us. After we talk to the Professor, I'll introduce you to my friends!" Ash said, showing her a toothy grin, leading her out of the forest by hand.


As Ash lead Nikki and Eevee back to the camp, only Ash and Eevee saw the two adults looking for them while they walked. One was Professor Oak, and the other was Diana. Nikki, however, didn't see them as she was in her own little world staring at the boy who accepted her.

'I've never met anyone like Ash…. He is nice, kind and very sweet. And he can understand Pokemon too. He was like a guardian when he found me upset and freaked out. He put off what he was doing without an adult telling him and put making me feel better first. Found me being able to understand Pokemon the coolest thing. And he wants to be my friend? It was so…cool, nice, sweet…

"Nikki, I found the Professor," Ash said as he stopped and turned to her. Nikki snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her name. She could see that they had made it back to camp.

"But I must find Cubone. He doesn't know what's going on and he ran to far ahead for me to tell him." Ash said rubbing the back of his head.

"I'll help you, Ash. And I'm sure Eevee can help find him too."

"I can use my hearing and sense of smell to find him," Eevee said happily.

Ash smiled hearing that they both wanted to help him find Cubone. They began to look around the camp for Cubone. It hadn't been long that they started searching when they heard a snide voice.

"Well, well if it isn't Ashy-boy. What happened to the Cubone you were playing with? Did it realize what a loser you are and leave you?" Gary Oak asked with a smirk on his face.

Ash glared at Gary as he stood in front of Nikki to protect her from him. "Of course not! Cubone ran ahead of me while I was helping Nikki calm down and we became friends."

Nikki leaned over a little to look at Gary. She had seen him around town when she went shopping with her mom. He always seemed like a showoff. And she didn't like how he was talking to Ash now.

"Yeah, right Ashy-boy! That's the worst lie I've ever heard! And dragging that poor girl into this when she looks like she wouldn't want to be friends with a loser like you!"

Hearing that had Nikki seeing red as she got in front of Ash and in Gary's face. "I would rather be friends with a kind and caring boy like Ash than a showoff and mean boy like you!" Ash was the first friend that she made that wasn't a Pokemon and she wasn't going to lose him because she didn't defend him.

Ash smiled as Nikki defended him. He could tell they were going to be great friends. And that Nikki would get along great with Leaf.

Gary scowled at Nikki hearing her defend Ash. He rolled his eyes and walked off.

"Wow, Nikki! Other than Leaf no one else has stood up to Gary defending me."

Nikki blushed a little as she turned to look at Ash. "You're the first friend I've made that isn't a Pokemon. I wasn't going to just let him talk to you like that."

Ash just smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Nikki. I know that we are going to be great friends."

The blush on Nikki's face intensified when Ash hugged her. The only human male that she has ever hugged before was her father. Ash's hug felt so safe and warm.

"Ash, my boy." Greeted a voice that made Ash and Nikki jump apart from each other. They see Professor Oak and Diana Lazario. The Professor is holding Cubone in his arms. Diana dropped to her knees in front of Nikki and Eevee hugging Nikki tight.

"Oh, Nikki, I was so worried about you when I didn't see you in camp."

"Mama, I'm fine. My new friend found me when I was freaking out. He calmed me down and brought Eevee and I back to the camp."

"Ash, one of the camp monitors found Cubone wondering around near the forest. Would you mind telling me why that was?"

"It's just like Nikki said, Professor. I stopped to help Nikki and Cubone was too far ahead for me to tell him." Ash looked at Cubone with an apologetic expression. "I'm really sorry, Cubone."

"It's alright, Ash. You did the right thing helping her." Cubone said reassuring Ash. Ash smiled happy that the little Pokemon wasn't mad at him.

"Ash," said Diana as she stood beside Nikki. "Thank you for helping my daughter. And I'm very happy that Nikki has you as a friend."

It was now Ash's turn to blush a little as he listened to Diana. "It was nothing ma'am. I'm just happy that I made a new friend."

"Ash!" Called a familiar bubbly voice. Everyone turned to see Leaf running toward Ash with Vulpix. Nikki frowned seeing Leaf again and quickly moved behind Ash. She was scared that Leaf was going to tell Ash that he shouldn't be friends with her. Leaf stopped in front of Ash with a smile on her face. "Where have you been?"

"Cubone and I were playing tag in the forest, and I ran into a girl when Cubone ran ahead of me. I helped her calm down and we became friends." Ash said as he turned to look at Nikki. "It's okay, Nikki. Leaf is one of the friends I was telling you about. She won't make fun of you I promise."

"But, Ash, she is the one I first started to freak out in front of." Nikki says with a frown as she felt Eevee rubbing against her leg.

"Give it another try, Nikki. It was my fault what happened last time. Don't close yourself off from making more friends." Eevee said as she nudged Nikki forward beside Ash.

Nikki looked at Leaf still scared. She took a deep breath as she tried to relax. "Hi, Leaf. I'm sorry about earlier. I have a disability that makes it hard for me to interact socially with other humans. It's hard for me to make friends."

Leaf just smiled as Nikki spoke. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have let Vulpix try to jump on you. But we can be friends if you want. It will be nice to have another girl around."

Nikki smiled at Leaf's words and nods. "I would like that very much, Leaf."

Diana just smiled listening to her daughter making a new friend. She had been worried that Nikki might not try to make friends but with the help of Ash Ketchum she is making friends with human kids. The move to Pallet Town seemed to be a good choice. She had been sad to leave her in laws but knew this was for the best. With one last glance at the three, Diana smiled. With that she turned and walked away from them. If Nikki was making friends, then she should to.


When introductions were done, the camp has continued over a four-week course. Nikki was fitting in just fine. She had become best friends with Ash and Leaf, though she spent very little time with Gary. She could tolerate him, but Eevee was the one that kept Nikki polite…for the most part.

When camp ended, Ash and Leaf helped Nikki adapt to her new hometown. Diana also became friends with Delia and Rose (Ash's and Leaf's mothers), and the Lazario's fitted right in. Nikki had also told her mom and Leaf about the weird feeling she got around Ash, and regretted it, as they both knew Nikki had a crush. And they wasted no time in teasing her about it. Though once Nikki had accepted her feelings after much arguing and denying, it became common knowledge about her crush on the raven-haired boy, though only one person wasn't aware of her feelings…and not for a lack of trying on Nikki's part. The person was Ash himself.

As time went on, that long awaited date got closer and closer…. The day that they could begin their Pokemon journey.