Chapter 1-The Future's Bubbling with Excitement!

"It's Onix!" the announcer exclaimed. "And now this giant Pokémon is on the attack!"

Ash watched the TV eagerly as the Onix charged the enemy Gengar. Tomorrow he would be getting his starter Pokémon from Professor Oak and he would start his journey as a Pokémon trainer. His dream was to become a Pokémon master.

"Ash! What are you doing up? You should be asleep!"

"Aw come on Mom! I can't sleep. I'm too excited!" Ash said.

Standing in the doorway was Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother. Her hands were on her hips and an angry expression adorned her normally cheery face.

"I don't care. It's 11 PM, you should be resting for your journey tomorrow." Delia pressed.

"But Mom…" Ash wined.

"No buts! You are going to sleep right now, and that's final."

"Alright…" Ash sighed in defeat. His shoulders sank as he turned off the TV.

Delia's expression softened. She sighed and pulled Ash into a hug. "You know I love you, right?" she asked softly.

Ash returned his mother's embrace. "Yeah. Love you, too, Mom," Ash murmured into her blouse.

"Good, now get to bed, alright," Delia smiled.

"Alright, alright, I'm on it," Ash said. He pulled from the hug and started getting ready for bed.

Delia smiled fondly as she closed the door and walked to her room. Hopefully Ash wouldn't sleep through his alarm. Delia paused in her step. She'd check on him in the morning just to be safe.


The next morning, Delia cast a nervous look at the clock as she finished cooking breakfast. Ash should have been up by now. Maybe he really did sleep through his alarm. Delia sighed and wiped her hands clean on her apron.

Delia climbed the stairs to Ash's room and knocked on his door. "Ash, honey, are you awake?" Delia called. Ash's silence wasn't very reassuring.

Delia opened the door quietly and blinked in surprise at the sight of Ash' alarm clock, which was in the shape of a pokeball, laying on the floor, smashed to pieces.

"Ash, wake up!"

Ash shot up in a bleary-eyed state, looking around the room in confusion.

"Huh, wuh, was goin' on?" Ash drawled.

"You overslept, now get up!" Delia ordered.

"Huh…" it took a moment to process what she'd just said. His eyes flared open to the size of tennis balls.

"Overslept!?" Ash yelled. He hopped out of bed and hurriedly began getting dressed. In his rush he tried putting on his shirt and his pants at the same time, which resulted in him putting an arm through the shirt's hole for his head and falling with one leg in his pants.

Delia sighed and began walking back downstairs. "Be ready in less than ten minutes. You'll have to eat quickly if you want to make it to Professor Oak's lab on time."


Ash rushed down the street to Oak's lab as fast as he could. The lab rested atop a hill next to the road. Stone steps curved from the door to the gate next to the road. Behind the lab, a windmill spun in the wind, stretching towards the sky. But what caught Ash's eye was the crowd outside the gate.

Ash was confused. As far as he knew only three other people were getting a starter. What was even more confusing was the red convertible and the squad of cheerleaders in front of it.

Ash quickly spotted the other new trainers, Red, Leaf, and Gary. Red and Leaf were twin siblings. Like Ash, Red was determined to become a powerful trainer. Leaf on the other hand wanted to become a Pokémon breeder. Ash wasn't very close to the twins, but they were still friends.

Gary was more of a frenemy to Ash, and that was putting it lightly. They used to be friends once upon a time, but Gary became snobbish and arrogant as they grew up. And Ash's hot-headed nature didn't make their relationship any smoother either.

Ash approached Red and Leaf. "Hey guys, what's this big crowd doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, hi Ash!" Leaf greeted. "Apparently they're all here in support of Gary."

"Really? I wonder how many of them he paid off to be here," Ash said, eyeing the cheerleaders as they chanted Gary's name.

"He might be trying to compensate for something," Red suggested with a small smile.

"Red!" Leaf slapped his arm but sported her own grin all the same.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was," Ash laughed.

Red was a man of few words and little displayed emotion. He usually didn't talk much, but when he did, it was usually important.

"But Gary aside, I'm still not sure which starter to choose," Leaf admitted.

"Not me, I know exactly which one I'll choose!" Ash declared.

"Really? Even with the Kalos starters?"

"Wait, what?"

"Professor Oak got a trio of Kalos starters a little while ago, so we're going to have a bigger selection this year," Red said.

"Really?! That's awesome! But how did you guys hear about that and not me?" Ash asked.

"It was on Oak's infomercials for new trainers. Didn't you watch them?" Leaf asked.

"Well, I watched them, but it was a long time ago. I didn't know they were different, so I didn't think I'd need to watch them again," Ash explained.

"Makes sense," Red nodded.

"So who are the new starters?" Ash asked excitedly. He always loved learning about new Pokémon as a child, and it stayed true to this day.

"They're called Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie," Leaf said.

She pulled out her phone and showed him a picture of three Pokémon and pointed to the one on the left. It looked like a mix between a mole and a hedgehog. Its chest and face were brown, but its back and head were green. It stood on its back legs and had sharp spines on its head, as well as a pointed tail and feet.

"This one is Chespin, the grass type starter. I looked up its evolutions and I found out that it'll get really strong. It'll be able to take a lot of damage and deal it right back, but it'll also be a bit slow."

She pointed to the middle Pokémon. It was a yellow fox with tufts of red hair sticking out of its large ears. Its large fluffy tail had red hair on the tip.

"The one in the middle is called Fennekin, the fire type starter. When it evolves, it'll be able to use some really strong ranged attacks. It'll be faster than Chespin, but not nearly as fast as this last one," Leaf said, pointing to the third Pokémon.

It was a blue frog with large yellow eyes and white hands akin to gloves. Fluffy white frubbles surrounded its neck like a scarf. Two little ball-shaped frubbles rested above its mouth like a mustache.

"It's called Froakie. It'll be pretty balanced when it comes to physical and ranged attacks, but its speed is supposed to be amazing. Unfortunately, it's not very good at taking a lot of hits; its battle style will likely focus on a lot of quick, smaller attacks and doing a lot of dodging," Leaf finished.

Ash blinked in surprise. "Wow, how do you know so much about those Pokémon?"

"Well, I'm gonna be helping Red care for his Pokémon as well as mine, so I've been studying Pokémon that we might catch, including the starters of course. It's so I know what types of Pokémon food to make."

One of the reasons that Red and Leaf would be traveling together was so Leaf could practice Pokémon breeding by caring for both her and Red's Pokémon. Red also had more interest in catching lots of Pokémon than Leaf did, so it was a symbiotic relationship.

"That really impressive Leaf! Which one do you think would be best for me?" Ash asked.

"Can't say. I've never seen you battle before, so I don't know your battling style yet." Leaf shrugged.

"Aw, that's a bummer. But don't worry about it, I'm whichever Pokémon I choose will-" he was cut off by an excited yell from the crowd in front of the gate.

"There he is!"

"He's coming down!"

"Hurry up old man, we don't have all day!"

The crowd continued to shout and holler as Professor Oak walked down the steps to the gate.

"Back, back up!" Oak shouted from behind the gate. "Let the new trainers through!"

Ash, Red and Leaf pushed their way through the crowd to the gate. When they made it through they saw Gary standing next Oak on the other side of the fence with a smug smirk.

Oak quickly cracked open the gate and pulled them through with surprising strength. He slammed the gate shut and quickly locked it.

As Oak led the new trainers up to the lab the cheerleaders began to chant.

"Gary! Gary! He's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"

Gary stopped climbing the steps and turned to the crowd with his arms spread wide.

"Thank you! Thank you all! This is my first step to becoming a Pokémon master! I shall return to you with a Pokémon of awesome power! With it I will-"

Gary wasn't able to finish his monologue because Professor Oak had grabbed the back of his shirt and began pulling him up the stairs.

"Hey, what's the deal, Gramps?! Let go, you're stretching my shirt!" Gary protested as he struggled.

" I thought I told you not to make a production of everything. This is the exact opposite of what I said," Oak scolded.

" All right, all right just let go already," Gary relented.

Ash and Leaf looked back at Gary and snickered. Gary sent them a glare and straightened his shirt. Red was ahead of them, so they weren't able to see his small smile as he stepped up to the door.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's get you your starters," Oak said.

Professor Oak's lab wasn't very large compared to some other laboratories, but it was filled with top of the line equipment that a former champion could buy. That title was one of the many reasons why Oak was widely respected across the world.

In the middle of the room stood a long wooden table with six pokeballs lined across it. The new trainers lined up before it.

"Now, as you probably know, this year's selection of starters is a bit different than normal," Oak began.

"Not only are the starters you're used to up for grabs, but the Kalos starters, as well!" He said excitedly. He seemed to have completely forgotten about the annoyance from Gary's crowd.

Oak snapped his fingers and the Pokémon popped out of their pokeballs in a flash of blue.

"First up, we have the grass type Pokémon, Bulbasaur and Chespin."

Bulbasaur nodded to the group with a grunt while Chespin greeted them with a bright smile and a happy cry.

"Second is the fire type Pokémon, Charmander and Fennekin."

Charmander waved calmly while Fennekin yipped cutely.

"And finally, the water type Pokémon, Squirtle and Froakie."

Squirtle put his hands on his hips and let out a proud 'Squirt!' Froakie remained silent and eyed them strangely, as if studying them.

"Now the question is: Which will you choose?"

There was a moment of silence as the new trainers took in the moment. They knew they'd be getting a Pokémon, but the reality of it was just sinking in.

Gary was the first to step forward.

"I know exactly which one I want," he said confidently. "As much as I'd like to get a rare Pokémon from another region, none of the others match the strength and power of a Blastoise."

Gary approached the Squirtle and smirked. "I'm gonna become the strongest trainer in the world, so only the best Pokémon will do. Think you can make the cut?"

Squirtle smirked right back and did a mock salute. "Squirtle!"

At first, Ash was confused. If Gary wanted rare and super strong Pokémon, then why didn't he choose Chespin. Chespin would be strong and durable once he evolved, just like Squirtle's fully evolved form, Blastoise.

But Ash remembered that Balstoise had two cannons on their backs that allowed them to use powerful ranged attacks. Chespin's evolved form must not have as powerful ranged attacks as a Blastoise.

While Ash was thinking, Gary had stepped back in line with Squirtle, and Red had stepped forward. "I've known which Pokémon I wanted to be my partner for some time now." He approached the fire types.

"Charmander, would you like to be my partner?"

Charmander looked Red straight in the eyes as if it were looking for something. A smile grew on Charmander's face and he nodded with a happy 'Char!'

With a smile, Red set Charmander on the ground and the two stepped back in line.

Ash and Leaf turned to each other.

"You can go first," Leaf said.

"No you go, my first pick's already been chosen anyway," Ash said sheepishly.

"Well, if you're sure…" Leaf said nervously.

With a gulp, Leaf stepped forward and approached Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, do you want to come with me and be my Pokémon? Fair warning, I don't plan on getting into a lot of battling. I'll actually be taking care of my brother's after their battles. So… what do you say?" She said nervously.

Bulbasaur seemed to think for a moment, causing Leaf's nerves to grow.

After a moment, Bulbasaur looked up at Leaf and nodded. "Bulba."

Leaf's shoulders sagged in relief. "Thank you," she said. Leaf and her new partner stepped back in line.

Ash looked at the remaking Pokémon and took in his options: Chespin, Fennekin, or Froakie. Power, range, or speed. Which one would suit him the best?

Ash thought hard and tried to match himself with the starters' strengths. He could be pretty stubborn from time to time, so Chespin might work well.

But he was also known for thinking outside the box and finding 'creative' solutions to solve problems, so Fennekin might be a good match.

However, Ash was so energetic that his mother often called him a ball of energy that just couldn't sit still, so he might be able to figure out a good battling style for Froakie.

Ash was stumped. They all seemed like good choices, but he needed to pick one.

As Ash continued to think, Gary became impatient.

"Would you just hurry up and choose already?" he said exasperatedly.

Ash turned to Gary to tell him to shut up, but his words died in his throat when his eyes fell on Gary's Squirtle.

Ash had wanted to pick Squirtle, but that wouldn't be happening now. He knew which one to pick.

Ash turned back to the table, swallowed his nerves, and stepped forward.

"I choose you, Froakie."