Hi! I redid this chapter because I wanted it to improve it, since I wrote the original in like, 30 minutes. Italicized means Ash's thoughts or a dream. This story will still remain in third person. And a reviewer made me add that this story will not have any type of romance; someone mentioned that the Pokemon's affection headed more towards love, but it isn't. Just wanted to clarify that if anyone had any ideas of that in mind. I also created a new story, Sabrina's Reincarnation, so please feel free to look if you are interested in Sabrina.

I give a whole-hearted thanks to Silverkiwi78 from deviantArt who gave me permission to use this Dratini as my cover image. Check out her work! It's awesome!

Mid August, 2013. The sun was well into the sky as it had just risen some three hours ago on a blazing August day in the southern Kanto region, radiating its light energy to provide the initiation of the late harvest of the season. The setting: Pallet Town, given the boisterous nickname of the Pokémon research capital due to the well-recognized laboratory of Samuel Oak. This established Professor had earn his Ph.D some thirty years ago from the best institution in the region, located in Cinnabar Island. Since 1980, he has devoted his time to study the still mysterious depths of Pokémon in his lab.

Here, trainers from around the region would go to this lab in order to start the path to any dream they aspired that involved Pokémon: primarily Pokémon masters, whose aim was to vanquish the Elite Four and earn the coveted spot in the Pokémon Hall of Fame; a lofty ambition, but that did not stop the most determined soon-to-be trainers. Among one of the most determined, Ash Ketchum, constantly boasted that he would be the first in Pallet Town to win the title. At school, all the children would giggle and laugh at his audacious pursuit, even claiming that he wouldn't make it past Viridian forest before he would call it quits.

Ash lived in a two-storied house on the outer edge of the town with his mother, Delia, who did her work at home on her computer. His father, unfortunately, had passed away in a car crash on a stormy night when Delia was just twelve weeks pregnant. Delia was beside herself in grief and almost thought she was going to have a miscarriage, but luckily, the remainder of her pregnancy went smoothly and gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Ash was lying in the bed fast asleep, dreaming of what his journey would be like. He had always wanted to get a Squirtle since they had the fewest weaknesses of the three starters of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle.

"Come on, Squirtle, let's go!" said Ash as he left the Professor's lab with the water turtle by his side. He felt like the coolest kid in Pallet Town, until all the sudden, a voice broke his grandiose state of elation.

"Oh, my gosh, is that Ash Ketchum, with a Pokémon?" teased a girl who was in Ash's class. She was very wealthy and always belittle people on a harsh scale. "Don't even think of going far in life with it; just because you got a Pokémon doesn't make you special."

"I'll show you!" said Ash as he clenched his fist. "Squirtle, use water gun on her!" The turtle did not hesitate and splashed the girl's face with the water, causing her hair to mess up.

"You little brat! Staryu, use water gun on Ash and see how he likes it!" An orange star-shaped Pokemon blast Ash in the face with icy cold water, making him mad.

"How you like that, Ash...Ash...Ash..." Her voice was strangely echoing, but the weird thing was, it didn't sound like her normal self. It sounded oh-so familiar. "Ash. Ash..." He knew whose voice it was. It was...

"Ash, wake up!" shrilled the feminine voice of his mother that reverberated through the walls of the bedroom of her son's room. She looked at the clock and noticed that it was already 9:41 in the morning. "We had a bad storm that cut the power off and you were supposed to get to the Professor's lab at 8:00 am! It's 9:41!"

"What?!" shouted Ash, who hastily threw the covers to the foot of the bed. The boy was completely shocked that he did not wake himself earlier at the sound of the Dodou singing when the sun first rose. He was well over an hour and a half late to get his first Pokemon!

"My chances of getting Squirtle are low, but maybe he has a few that are weak," Ash trailed off as he got off his bed and began to get dressed; his attire consisted of blue jeans, black and white tennis shoes, his blue and white jacket and green gloves. He put on his hat and grabbed his green knapsack and headed to the front door. His mother, who had watched Ash leave as she was sipping her coffee, she noticed that Ash forgot to tie his shoes.

"Ash, you forgot to-"...Too late. He slammed the door and was off.

Ash began to walk down the street to the front of the hill that Professor Oak's lab was. It took him about a minute to go up the hill from the base, but it didn't seem to bother him that the slope of the hill imped the boy's quick speed. Ash touched the door bell, which then made a ding-dong sound followed by a male voice that shouted "Come in!". Ash did so and looked in amazement at the huge surroundings; it was the first time he had ever entered the professor's lab as the middle aged man in his late 50s with a lab coat and greyish hair approached him.

"What can I do for you today?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum and I've come to get my starter Pokemon and register myself as a trainer," responded the black-haired boy with a smile of confidence.

The professor shook his head in dissapointment at the boy. "I'm sorry, but I've already given the three starters away as well as seven others," confessed Professor Oak. "The three first-come-first-serve trainers got Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, and the ones behind got a Pokemon of their own; there were Nidoran male and female, Sandshrew, Pidgey, Spearow, Oddish, and Zubat."

"Oh," said Ash as he looked down in sadness and was mentally kicking himself for getting up late, not that it was completely his fault. "I guess I'll see you next month."

In Pallet Town, one could obtain a Pokemon and register as a trainer either on the day of their 10th birthday or at a special distribution that occured twice a month. Ash walked towards the door but he tripped on his shoe laces and fell down face-first against the linoleum.

"Ash, are you okay?" asked Professor Oak as he offered a hand to the young boy who gladly accepted it and pulled himself together. He got down on his knees and quickly tied his shoes to avoid another embarrassing moment in front of all the people in the lab.

All the sudden, a low crying noise was heard and Ash looked around to see what it was and noticed that in the corner there was a large tank filled with water and a rather large teal serpentine-like creature in it. Around the tank were several of the Professor's aids, monitoring the creature very closely. Ash kept his distance from the scientists, but was still able to see the animal that was inside.

"Dra...niiii..." it said hoarsely. It was definitely a Pokémon, a rare one at that. A Dratini, one admired by many and said to even bring good fortune to those who see it, but it was certainly not an act of fortune to see one in such beat up shape and suffering.

"Professor Oak, what's wrong with that Dratini?" asked Ash as Oak approached the other scientists and looked down into the tank.

"Some spoiled rich kid got this Dratini as a gift from his father who was at the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City and the boy abused it because she was so weak. It pains me to think of the fact that such cruel people exist."

"I know, and I plan to one day vindicate Dratini," spoke Ash with a composed attitude.

Such a miserable being to do such a thing to a sweet Pokémon. So...majestic and beautiful, not just this Pokémon. All are like that if you look inside their soul. I...

Silence dampened the atmosphere as all the assistants of Oak were looking at Dratini. Ash, too, looked at the Dratini and noticed that she was looking at Ash with an expression deep in contemplation and wagged the end of her tail slightly.

"Wow, this is a spectacular improvement!" said one of lab assistants, breaking the gloomy silence. "She's wagging her tail! She has never done that in the days she's been here. Maybe that Ketchum kid made her excited?"

No...could she have...heard my thoughts? But she isn't a psychic type. As soon as that thought escaped his mind, he saw a sparkle in Dratini's eyes.

I...I feel something resonating through the air...something...I've never felt before...in the depths of my body..

"Ash, what's the matter?" asked Professor Oak, who looked into Ash's eyes with concern since the boy appeared to have zoned out.

"Yeah, I'm okay. So, what will happen to her?" asked Ash, completely changing the subject and was clearly emotional about the well-being of the Pokemon.

"Once she is better she will go to a trainer who will love her and raise her properly," said Professor Oak. He approached the tank and she moved back slowly away from him, but he patted the Pokemon's head and she made a low cry in response. Ash went over and asked for permission if he could do the same, and the Professor granted it. Ash patted the Pokemon's head and she began to wag her tail happily and started to lick Ash's cheek with her warm tongue. The scientists and Oak all gasped.

"What? What's the big deal?" asked Ash as he took a step back.

"This Dratini has been here for only six days and she hasn't even gain the trust from me," said Oak who was astonished. "I somehow detect a presence that I cannot describe. But it seems that since she has gotten to like you in such a short period of time, we will allow you to have her as a starter Pokemon once she has healed."

"Say what?!" shouted Ash in astonishment.