This my first time authoring a story so while the story might be a little/lot rough around the edges, I promise that I will try and hopefully get better over time.
The story focuses on an older, more mature Ash relies on his wits and knowledge to overcome his challenges. How will this better Ash stop the resurgent Team Rocket, who is back and greater than ever before?
Pokémon belongs to Game Freak, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.
The sun was shining over Pallet Town, the pidgeys were chirping, and the pokémon at the Oak Ranch were lazing around. Of course, this didn't matter at all to the 15 year old boy who was excited to finally leave for his journey.
Ash had waiting for this day for a long time. Ever since he had seen the battle between his father and Lance. The battle between his father's Charizard and Lance's Dragonite had sparked a fire in Ash's heart, that one day it would be him battling Lance for the championship.
While he waited for the clock to strike 9, he wondered whether he had made the right decision about his starter. But he decided that it was pointless to keep obsessing over it and instead started checking whether he had all the items needed for his journey once again.
Ash had made sure to get the best possible supplies that he could. Thankfully, his dad being the Champion helped pay the bills and afford him luxuries such as this. Though Ash was determined to not take a cent from his father after he started on his journey.
"Ash I can't believe that you're finally leaving for your journey, I going to miss you baby" his mother said, and Ash could see a few tears in her eyes.
"C'mon Mom please don't cry; I promise that I'll call you at every town and wherever else I can find a videophone" reassured Ash.
His mother pulled him into a tight hug, and they stayed that way for a few minutes till the clock chimed 9 o clock. Ash reluctantly pulled away from the hug and made to leave for Professor Oak's ranch.
It was only a couple of minutes away from the lab, but Ash could already see that quite a few townspeople had gathered for the annual event signifying the start of the journey for young Pallet trainers.
Ash pushed his way past the crowd and went to stand near the other trainers in front of the door to Professor Oak's lab. His friend Leaf came to stand near him and wished him a good morning. Ash blushed a little while wishing her back, but his mind was fixated on the closed door which the only thing standing between him and his first Pokémon.
It was only a few minutes till the lab would open at 9:30 am but to Ash the few minutes felt like an eternity. He glanced over to his competition and knew that Gary and Leaf were going to be his true rivals while the others would most likely quit after a couple years of training and poor league placements.
The door swung open while Ash was still deep in his thoughts, but he snapped out of it to go into the lab. Professor Oak and his aides were standing next to a table full of pokéballs. Ash went to stand in the middle of the line next to his classmates and waited for Professor Oak to start speaking.
"Good morning, everyone I'm sure that you're itching to get started with your journey so I'm not going to keep you any longer. Let's get started, as I'm sure you all know that the student with highest score gets to pick first, and it goes on till the student with lowest score picks out his/her pokémon" explained Professor Oak.
Ash was a little nervous about the result but felt confident that he had done well. He just wished that no one picked his starter before him.
"I have arranged the first evolutionary stage of 9 different evolutionary lines and there are 6 of you, so every trainer will have a variety of pokémon to choose from. In addition, the Top 3 trainers will also get a Pokédex to aid me in my research" he droned on .
"The scores are as follows: Gary comes first with a 98 out of 100, then Ash gets a 95 and Leaf edges in third with a 91…" Oak announced the rest of the results, but Ash had stopped listening after hearing that he had come in second behind in Gary.
The Pokémon Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) was the common exams that all trainers had to give to get their travel license. All the passing trainers were given a choice of starters by the local Gym leader, or in Ash's case Professor Oak.
While most Gym Leaders just caught whatever the most common pokémon in the area were and gave to trainers. Professor Oak always went the extra distance in securing the best starter pokémon possible, because he would also sponsor the three best trainers with a Pokédex and free access to the Ranch.
Although he had expected that Gary would come in first, it still stung a little that Gary had beaten him at yet another thing. But Ash decided to let it go and instead focus on meeting his starter for the first time.
"So Gary come and choose your starter. Remember students, your starter is the core of your team. So, choose your starter keeping in mind that they will be your ace and the leader of your team" advised Professor Oak.
The table contained the usual evolutionary line of Kanto starters Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur but Oak had gone the extra distance this year in obtaining Pokémon from faraway regions like Unova. The choices also included Magby, Elekid, Eevee, Solosis, Budew and Natu.
"Don't worry Gramps, I already know what pokémon I want" Gary replied with an air of arrogance around him. He walked forward and picked up the pokéball labelled Squirtle without hesitation. "I'm going to get moving since don't have any time to waste on you losers, smell ya later Ash" taunted Gary.
Ash had grown accustomed to Gary's unimaginative and needless taunts over the years so, he just smiled upon hearing that which, as usual drove Gary mad.
After Gary had left, Ash walked forward and looked over the table hesitating for a second before choosing Bulbasaur as decided. He picked up the Pokéball and took the Pokédex from Professor Oak's hand before leaving the lab to meet his mother to say his goodbyes.
Ash had put a lot of thought into his choice for the past few years but knew that Bulbasaur was unquestionably the best choice for trainers going through Kanto' gym circuit. While both Charmander and Squirtle were fine pokémon, league analysis had shown that Venusaur trainers did far better on average than the other trainers.
This was due to a few different factors. While Blastoise were great pokémon to have, their typing and move pool meant that they were most likely suited to the role of a tank. This often frustrated the quick, hot headed trainers who preferred to rely on more faster, stronger pokémon for their team.
On the other hand was the Pseudo Dragon Charizard. Charizard were the epitome of a glass cannon, hitting extremely hard but falling easily to the ever present rock, ground and water type pokémon.
The Charmander line was also notorious for their tendency to disobey weak trainers. If a Charizard didn't respect their trainer, there was a good chance that he would never listen to that trainer.
Despite these glaring and well known drawbacks, the Charmander line was extremely popular in Kanto and abroad, with flocks of newbie trainers looking to get one as their starter.
The Bulbasaur line on the other hand was often overlooked. Due to Venusaur not being as cool and flashy as Blastoise and Charizard, they were often regarded as the worst of the Kanto starters.
But, Ash knew as well as any well educated trainer that Venusaur was by far the most versatile of the Kanto starters. Their great typing and move pool meant that Venusaur was able to function both as a tank and a sweeper, depending on the situation.
This great versatility was what made Ash so enamoured with getting as a Bulbasaur as his starter. Though, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't a little tempted by the coolness of Charmander.
Going a few minutes outside the lab, Ash walked towards a secluded spot where he often came to, be alone with thoughts or play on his PSP, when his mom kicked him out of the house to get some air.
Walking to the tree under which he often sat, he pulled out Bulbasaur's pokéball and released him. The light materialised a green bulb with four legs and it looked disoriented before seeing Ash and moving near him.
Ash smiled and said "Hello Bulbasaur, I'm your new trainer and my dream is to be the greatest Pokémon Master and I want to be by my side through that journey. Are you excited buddy?". He extended a hand towards Bulbasaur and waited for its reply. Bulbasaur extended a vine from its bulb to shake Ash's hand.
"Great!" exclaimed Ash. "Before we get back to meet my mom though, I need to scan you with the Pokédex to know a little more about you. Is that okay?" he asked.
Bulbasaur nodded its consent and Ash pulled out his Pokédex and turned it on. "Hello, I'm Dexter, a Pokédex designed to aid you on your journey," said Dexter. "Scan a Pokémon to know more about it" it continued.
Ash performed the scanning action as shown on the screen and waited for the results ton process. After a few seconds the Pokédex explained
Bulbasaur – The Seed Pokémon
Bulbasaur can be seen napping in bright sunlight. There is a seed on its back. By soaking up the sun's rays, the seed grows progressively larger.
Gender – Male
Ability – Overgrow
Known Moves – Tackle, Growl and Vine Whip.
"That's great Bulbasaur, you're a great pokémon" praised Ash. "Do you want a nickname?" Bulbasaur nodded on hearing that and Ash started thinking of a good name.
Although Ash wasn't too crazy about nicknames personally, he had read studies that showed that pokémon with nicknames generally had a stronger bond with their trainers.
But, he also knew that pokémon shouldn't be forced into having nicknames, because a lot of pokémon already had their own names and they didn't appreciate being given new names.
"What about Saur?" Bulbasaur nodded his head vigorously on hearing that. "Ok great, let's go introduce you to my mom. You're going to love her." Ash called the newly named Saur back into his ball and set off towards his house.
"Ash what took so long? I've been waiting for you for the past hour" asked Ash's mother in a worried tone.
"Sorry mom, I got a bit distracted introducing myself to my pokémon" explained Ash. "So did you end up choosing Bulbasaur as you were going to, or did you change your mind?" she asked.
"You know mom that once I make up my mind, I never change it" Ash said. He released Saur from his pokéball and held him up for his mother to see. "This is my starter named Saur mom. Saur, this is my mother, the most wonderful woman in the world" he said.
Delia picked Saur from Ash and hugged him tightly." Aww, you're such a cutie. You're going to my little Ashy safe from dangerous pokémon right?" she said while cooing over him.
Saur said his name happily while being hugged tightly while Ash smiled seeing the interaction between his starter and his mother. "I'm sorry, but unfortunately we need to get going before everyone else beats us to Viridian City" he reminded.
Delia put Saur down and Ash recalled him back into the pokéball before checking his bag one last time to make sure he had all the supplies needed for at least the first two weeks of his journey. Ash hugged his mom for the final time before saying and leaving "I'm going to miss you very much mom."
Looking at the rainbow in front of him, Ash was surprised to see a magnificent bird flying within the rainbow. Remembering the tale of the legendary Ho oh, who often blessed new beginnings, Ash smiled at the good omen.
Ash looked at his house for the last time before setting out towards Route 1 and his future.
Ok so this was my first attempt and even to me it's a rough chapter but as they say, "Get better through repetition than pondering." Anyway, I'm looking to put out a new chapter every two weeks or every week if things go well. Please leave a review to let me know your thoughts about the story and how it can be improved further.
I promise you that the later chapters are better in quality, story content, and pacing. Chapter 3 is where the story really gets going in terms of action and adventure. This story will focus on both world building and character development. Ash will indeed get stronger throughout the story, but he will never be OP. He will struggle to overcome his challeneges and sometimes he will lose but those will just help him grow further.
