The sun shone bright as the afternoon dragged on and down below, a crowd of people, both old and young said their goodbyes to Ash. He was the last to leave for his journeys due to being delayed by his worrying mother who, to his embarrassment, had handed him a bundle of underwear he had forgotten to bring in front of everyone, making Ash want to curl up and hide.
Nevertheless, he was now off onto Route 1, the first step of what he was sure to be, an epic journey.
Ash marvelled at the rolling fields of grassland that stretched towards the distant coast, as well as the forests that seemed to hold mysteries of the world, waiting to be discovered. The dirt track was relatively smooth, though overgrown and untended as flying pokemon became more popular, thanks to the distant region of Galar. The path was still used occasionally by cars that were used by civilians, or trucks that brought supplies to the small town.
Ash smiled and brought out Froakie, who looked around tensely before relaxing when he saw no opponents. The two continued walking like this for a while, resting for a couple of minutes and continuing. While they were walking past a particularly tall patch of grass, a cry split the air and out from the tall grass burst out a rattata.
Ash stepped back in shock, and Froakie tensed up, but was confused when the rattata didn't pay attention to them at all, instead focusing in fear of something else. The rattata darted across the path, seemingly swallowed by the tall grass, when a second cry followed and a second pokemon ran from the grass.
A blur of red was all he saw before it went dashing after the rattata. Ash grew excited and with Froakie, chased after the two pokemon. Stopping behind a tree, Ash watched as the rattata suddenly darted on a boulder and leaped off it at its attacker with their fangs glowing a bright light. The attacker leapt off to the side, opening its maw and launching dozens of sparks of Embers at the rattata.
"A Vulpix!" Ash exclaimed excitedly, while Froakie just watched, intrigued at the battle.
This drew the vulpix's attention, giving the rattata an opportunity to bolt away. The vulpix growled when it noticed that and focused on Ash, whose messy black hair painfully stuck out of the bushes. Noticing this, he quickly grabbed Froakie and leaped away, narrowly dodging the barrage of Embers that ignited the bush Ash was hiding behind.
"Froakie, Quick Attack!" Ash ordered excitedly, it was his first battle with a wild pokemon, the next step in his journey.
Froakie glowed before speeding at the vulpix. The vulpix launched more Ember at Froakie, who leapt past them and hit the vulpix. The fox pokemon flew off into the grass before darting back, more angry than before. It growled as its eyes glowed, to which Ash cried out in alarm.
It was too late. Froakie also glowed a dim light before it disappeared as quickly as it came. Ash frowned before ordering a Quick Attack. Froakie nodded, just as determined as Ash was but when he started the attack, Froakie suddenly found himself tripping up and tumbling into the ground.
"Froakie, are you alright?" Ash called out in worry, who was greeted with a croak of affirmation.
"Keep away from its attacks!" Ash yelled out before grabbing out his pokédex.
Uhh, I don't want to learn about vulpix's breeding rates, or habitats, or diet, I just want - oh - known moves list, uh Ember, Tail Whip, Disable! The vulpix had used Disable on Froakie.
"Froakie, Frubble as much as you can." Froakie complied, leaping up and slinging globs of foam at the vulpix, who got hit despite its impressive speed.
At Ash's next command, Froakie got close before firing multitudes of Bubbles at the vulpix.
Ash enlarged one of his pokeballs and with years of practice, threw it at vulpix, who had collapsed in a fit of exhaustion. It glowed a red light when hit before being sucked into the capsule.
The pokeball rocked a few times before its button flashed. A second later, Ash's pokédex chimed, signalling that Vulpix was now registered into Ash's record.
Ash sighed in relief, picking up the pokeball in elation.
"Yes, we did it!" Ash couldn't hold back his happiness as he looked back at Froakie, who seemed strangely relieved and proud.
Even though he had finally got Froakie to accept him, Ash had still felt an unsettling worry as his adventure had started on a rather bad note. But now that he had caught his first pokemon in the wild, it felt that the blanket of worry had been lifted, like things were going to change, for the better. Even though it wasn't a dragonite like he had secretly hoped, catching a vulpix was still rare.
A quick glance at Froakie made Ash suspect that Froakie was feeling the same.
Ash stared puzzledly at Vulpix's pokeball as he followed the path. Vulpix's weren't supposed to be found in Route 1. That was something that he had remembered clearly from the Trainers course in school.
Ash mentally noted to ask the professor when he got to Viridian City before grabbing a razz berry from the many pouches of his rucksack and feeding it to Froakie, who gladly accepted it. Ash looked up at the sky, which had darkened a couple shades more than when he had left Pallet Town.
I should find a place to camp soon, Ash decided, continuing on.
Ash trekked for a bit until Froakie called out tiredly. Ash mentally face-palmed, Froakie had a smaller body and even though it was much tougher than his, his small frame was not for long distance travelling.
"It's alright, we can camp here anyways." Ash reassured Froakie and set down his rucksack, pulling out his Xtra sleeping bag and mat, camping kettle, pokemon food and camping meal packs.
Ash looked around, they were on the outskirts of a nearby forest and if his ears didn't deceive him, there was fast flowing water nearby. Ash had Froakie gather wood while he went to fill the kettle with water.
While near the river, Ash heard squawking in the distance and froze. Professor Oak had warned the new trainers of the dangerous flocks of spearows, which had been responsible for many violent attacks. Hopefully they wouldn't fly his way or he and Froakie would be in trouble. Arriving back to the campsite, Ash found Froakie waiting on top of a bunch of sticks and logs, eating a razz berry.
"Good job Froakie," Ash smiled and put down the heavy kettle in relief.
Ash grabbed out Vulpix's pokeball, and with a bit of hesitation, released the vulpix with Froakie at his side. It looked worn out with foam in its damp fur, nothing like the lively hunter that Ash had battled, which made Ash frown and purse his lips.
When it noticed Ash and Froakie however, it quickly got into a defensive stance while growling, though its attempts to appear threatening failed with its wet messy fur and the visible fatigue from its body.
"Hey, it's alright. No need to be scared." Ash held his hands out palms-first while Froakie watched them.
The vulpix still had its tails up, though they had lowered a bit.
"Here," Ash slowly grabbed an oran berry and placed it in front of the vulpix. "You must be hungry from the battle, and wet. You can warm yourself by the fire." Ash pointed at the campfire that he had got going after a lot of effort.
The vulpix warily took a bite out of an oran berry and when nothing happened, ate the rest of the berry quickly.
"You go get warmed up, I've got some food that should be ready soon." Ash slowly stood up and went to prepare his trainer meal pack.
Grabbing the small kettle, he poured hot water into the relatively large pack, then filled two bowls with standard pokemon food. Ash brought the food to where the other two were, who seemed to be conversing. Ash placed down the bowls and sat down next to the fire, eating his tasteless meal.
After a while, Ash spoke, "I caught you. You may not like it but that's how it is. It means that you're under my care from now on." Vulpix kept on eating though its ears were alert. "I promise to feed you everyday, to take care of you, to help you grow stronger, because now we're a team."
Vulpix looked up at this, finding itself staring into the eyes of Ash Ketchum, which seemed to shine with passion and warmth, far warmer than the campfire beside them. After what felt like an infinitely long moment, Vulpix chirped in acceptance, earning an excited grin and cheer from Ash. He grabbed another oran berry and fed it to Vulpix. At that moment he realised something that he had forgotten in all the chaos.
"Do you guys want names?" The two nodded and Ash smiled.
"Alright then, let's start with you Froakie. How about Koga?" Froakie shook his head.
"Um, Ninja?" Ash suggested, remembering the pictures of a greninja, to which Froakie also rejected.
"Bubbles, Gamabunta, Torrent?" It was still a no.
Ash got an idea. "Riptide?" Froakie seemed to think about it but still didn't like it.
Maybe Froakie didn't want such a flamboyant name like those. He then thought of the stream that he had gotten the water from.
"Brooke," Ash suggested half-heartedly but to his surprise, Froakie's eyes lit up..
"Wait, but that's a girl's name…" Froakie kept on staring like he wasn't seeing the point, "…oh fine, Brooke it is." Froakie looked content and Ash turned to Vulpix.
Ash thought about it, Scarlet wouldn't work as ninetales were white, and Ember was a bit bland.
"Cinder?" Vulpix seemed to ponder a bit and was about to nod when a certain past champion popped into Ash's head.
"Seraphine!" When Vulpix looked a bit confused at the sudden outburst, Ash quickly explained that it was the name of the 45th champion, who had a powerful Rapidash as her cornerstone.
Vulpix seemed to mull over the two names and nodded twice, agreeing to the second name. Ash held his hand out, rubbing the newly-named Seraphine's head. She must have been really excited, as sparks of embers flew out of her mouth, landing on his cap.
Ash frantically patted his special hat, taking it off to make sure it wasn't badly damaged. He sighed in relief when he realised that apart from a small scorch mark near the base, it wasn't damaged.
Seraphine licked Ash's hand, ears and tails down. Ash realised she was sorry and rubbed her head in reassurance, which made her perk up again.
As he lay down in his sleeping bag with Froakie and Vulpix beside him, he shuffled in discomfort. The occasional stones seemed to poke him in the most uncomfortable places, and sleep pervaded him as the sounds of the wild kept him up. From the occasional rustle to the beat of wings and to the chirpings of nocturnal pokemon, it all put him on edge.
Despite all this, Ash felt his heart soar. He had caught his second pokemon, his new friends had names, and he hadn't run into any trouble so far.
Life was good.
In the morning, Ash woke up to the loud chirps of flocks of pidgeys in the distance. He blinked groggily at the horizon, which was glowing a soft orange, illuminating the long clouds. He rolled up his sleeping bag and mat, went to collect water from the stream and by the time he got back, Sera - short for Seraphine - and Brooke had already gotten up.
After eating a quick breakfast and packing up his equipment, Ash and his team of two set off to Viridian City, where the closest Pokemon Center was so he could sign up for the Kanto Gym Challenge.
On the way Ash gazed at the grasslands of Route 1 and the pokemon that travelled across it. The occasional herd of nidos (nidoking and nidoqueen) lumbered across and flocks of dodrios zipped around. Meanwhile, solitary arboks slithered around, eyes scanning for prey. All this fascinated Ash, who couldn't keep his eyes off the scene.
Ash looked up at the sky when he felt a few droplets of rain splash on his skin. The sky was rapidly darkening, obscured by dark clouds. The previous light shower steadily became heavier, forcing Ash to return Sera to her pokeball.
It was when they had found shelter under a large branching tree when it happened.
A screech from above scared Ash, who whipped his head back in horror to the sight of a flock of a dozen spearows and a couple fearows, all of whom had a menacing gleam.
"Run!" Ash yelled, getting Brooke on his back before sprinting off.
Ash heard squawking behind him and willed himself to run faster. He felt something scratch his cheek before Brooke croaked in worry. Ash had to do something or they would get hurt, really bad.
"Frubble! As much as you can!"
Ash couldn't see much but the indignant screeches of the spearows filled Ash with relief.
That dissipated as soon as Ash turned back to look.
The flock was like a cloud of death behind him. There were less spearows than Ash remembered but the fearows were still there.
Ash grit his teeth, Running's no use, Sera can't stand the rain and I can't run anymore, it's all up to Brooke.
"Let's do this Brooke!" Ash suddenly stopped and turned around glaring at the bird pokemon.
Brooke landed at his side, ready to fight no matter what. At Ash's command, Brooke used a series of Quick Attack and Frubble to disorient and slow down the flock.
Despite taking down as many as he could, he was being overwhelmed.
"Sera, Disable!" Ash released Sera, who quickly glowed and a second later, so did one of the fearows.
Everything went downhill when the birds realised that he was the leader.
They started focusing their attacks on Ash, which caused Brooke and Sera to lose focus and come protect him. Seeing that there was little hope, Ash had the two use a final Frubble and Quick Attack before returning them and sprinting away.
He held their pokeballs tight to his chest as he ran.
Despite the ferocious flock of bird pokemon taunting him, and his body screaming for him to rest, just a bit, Ash never stopped running. That was until in a second that seemed to last an eternity, Ash's body gave in and his muscles completely froze, causing him to collapse on the ground.
His head felt dizzy and disorientated, his heart hammered and he felt the tears and jabs into his body. Ash whimpered, making sure not to expose his friend's pokeballs. They had helped a lot and he was not going to fail them.
Ash's eyes flickered as he desperately tried to keep them open, but right before he drifted away, a powerful screech - no, a bellow - resounded through the sky.
This was followed by arcs of rainbows that pierced the gloomy clouds. The spearows and fearows seemed to have stopped screeching and seemed awfully silent and when a beam of rainbow shone down on Ash, they fled as quickly as they came.
Ash suddenly felt revitalised. He had never felt any better, the tears on his body had completely healed, leaving behind only a couple scars. He even felt that he could continue running like he had been forever.
Ash sat up, frantically looking for any danger, before checking his pokeballs. Releasing his pokemon, he smiled at the sight of Sera and Brooke healthy and alive. They quickly buried close to Ash and at the sight of the tears on his clothes and the faint scars, Sera licked the scars in an attempt to heal them while Brooke applied some foam on them.
Ash smiled and laughed, "Thank you, you two. I'm glad you're safe."
Brooke and Sera seemed to smile as well and Ash felt his smile grow even more at the indescribable warmth between them, until he suddenly felt an urge to look up. The rainbow that was somehow focused on him was starting to fade and out of the corner of his eyes, noticed something that glimmered floating down.
Reaching out to grab it, it seemed to float down quicker into his hands. He examined it when he grabbed it, noticing that it was a magnificent plume that glowed an assortment of colours, including red, yellow and green. It was a bit longer than his forearm, and felt soft yet powerful to the touch.
Another cry, much softer than the first one rang through the sky and Ash looked up just in time to see a strange bird-like pokemon glowing of gold soaring across the sky, leaving behind a rainbow in its path.
Despite the distance, Ash felt the creature looking at him.
At that moment Ash saw fire, a golden inferno blazing in the sky, powerful yet warm and comforting. He saw a blue horizon with arcs of magnificent rainbows crossing the sky. He saw a smaller fire, a spark that seemed to have died out, only to come back, blazing stronger than ever.
Then his visions shifted.
A humanoid being, glowing an icy blue in the shadows of a bloody red horizon. A shadowy figure behind Ash's reflection with a knife in its hand. They were about to shift again but Ash was abruptly brought back to reality by Brooke and Sera.
"Ahh!" Ash groaned in pain, gripping his head in an attempt to stop the painful headache.
Brooke and Sera peered worriedly at Ash, who after a moment plopped himself beside a tree, sweating an abnormal amount. As he sat there, he pondered what everything he saw meant and in particular, what the two visions at the end were. Ash felt chills when he thought of the humanoid being, filled with power under a bloody-red sky.
What was that?
The second vision worried Ash. There was a reflection of himself with a tall figure shrouded in darkness behind him. The only other things visible had been a malicious smirk and the glint of a knife pointing at Ash's back.
What did it mean? Was someone going to betray him?
Ash frowned, What even was that thing?
It seemed like a pokemon, though much more powerful than any he had ever seen. Ash grabbed one of his jackets from his rucksack and wrapped it around the feather, before setting it carefully back in his bag.
Could it be a legendary? Beings so powerful yet shrouded in mystery, with little veritable claim outside of stories of old. Ash chortled at the idea.
It was crazy to think that he would ever see a legendary, let alone on his first day as a trainer.
Though it does look legendary, Ash thought with excitement.
The pokemon had golden tail feathers and wings with the colours of a rainbow. The combination of its scarlet upper body and long beak reminded Ash of Moltres from the textbooks of Ancient Kanto.
Ash mentally decided to add this on to the list of things he would ask Professor Oak and got up, having drunk some water to cool off and compensate for the water he lost sweating. Looking out along the path he had been running across, Ash noticed a tall wall that stretched out.
Ash grew excited and shouted. "Look! It's the Viridian Wall!"
Brooke and Sera followed his gaze and looked equally awed at the formidable wall. Ash gulped, this was the famous wall that had made Viridian City almost impenetrable in the Bloody Era. He didn't pay much attention in History class but it was impossible not to listen to the stories of the battles that had occurred there.
"It's really close now, let's hurry and get there before night!" Ash cheered and with the others, started to make their way towards Viridian City, where he would register for the Gym Challenge at last.
Hope you enjoyed, please comment if you have anything to gripe or compliment about. Do share this with people who could be interested, like on reddit. This is ultimately for my IG Language and the more people to critic my writing skills, the better:)
