Ok I know that I said that the next chapter would take a week or two, but I got so enthused on seeing the great reception that this story got that I just wanted to get this next chapter out as soon as possible.
The first few chapters in this story will be dedicated to fleshing out the specifics of this world and the changes in it compared to the anime and game verses. The story will hopefully pick up pace after finishing up Mount Moon and moving on to battles and stuff instead of travelling and training.
Afternoon, Middle of Route 1
Ash had been walking for the past few hours and by now the sun had reached its highest making Ash sweat profusely through his shirt. He decided that now was a good time to stop and eat something before training for a couple of hours.
Ash released Saur from his pokéball and started to prepare meals for both of them. They both ate their bland Pokemart meals in silence for a while. Ash was scrolling through his Pokédex for information about how to best train Saur and how to teach him moves.
After they were finished eating, Ash stood up and started explaining how today's training was going to go. "Saur, today we're going to focus on perfecting your moves for the first hour and then you're going to start learning how to use the move Growth."
"First, I want you to show me your tackle and vine whip on that big rock there" he said while pointing at the afore mentioned rock.
Saur exclaimed his name and started performing the instructed moves. After observing Saur use the moves, Ash understood that while the moves were still weak and slow, Saur at least had the basics of using the moves down very well.
"That was good buddy, I want you to focus on shortening the time needed to release your vines for vine whip and gain greater control over them. After half an hour of that, we're going to take a 10 min break and then focus on strengthening your body by performing Tackle repeatedly on that rock" Ash explained.
Saur nodded his consent enthusiastically on hearing that and started with his training while Ash started setting up the tent because there wasn't going to much opportunity for travelling after they were done with training for the day.
Although Ash had learned in class how the basics of travelling such as setting up a tent and searching for the water, he found that he was rather dusty in his skills about actually doing it. It took him quite a few tries before he managed to successfully do it and by then Saur was close to finishing up with his training.
"That was an amazing effort, now let's take a break and then we'll move on to the next part of your training" he praised. "After the break, you'll try to start learning the move Growth. The move will help strengthen your moves during battle and help us gain an edge during long battles."
They both sat next to each other, and Ash pulled up a video of a Bulbasaur using Growth to give Saur a reference on how to learn the move by watching how the move was used. Saur looked through the video a few times before standing up again and trying to perform the move.
After an hour, Saur still hadn't managed to get the move down but at least he was successfully gathering the move needed for the move. He just needed to learn how to properly apply the energy to his body. It would probably take him a few more hours of practice to get the move down, and a lot of practice to reduce the time needed to perform the move rapidly during battle.
There were still a few hours till sundown so Ash decided to see if he could find a new pokémon to catch. He looked through the list of species inhabiting Route 1 and the only pokémon Ash found worth catching was the Shinx line.
"Saur, we're going to find and catch a new member for our team. We're looking for this pokémon called Shinx, see it looks like this" he said while showing Saur a picture of Shinx on his Pokédex.
They searched for a while but unfortunately, they couldn't find Shinx anywhere, though they did find a lot of pidgeys rattatas, and an awful lot of bug type pokémon. But Ash had little intention of catching such common and weak pokémon.
Even though they didn't find a pokémon, at least Ash was able to stock up on berries through the berry tree populating the route. He fed a couple to Saur as a reward for the great effort today and saved the rest in his Berry Pouch.
Middle of the Night
Ash was sleeping soundly next to Saur when suddenly a loud sound by Saur woke him and he scrambled around trying to make sense of what was happening. Even though he couldn't open his eyes completely, he was at least able to ascertain what the situation was. Apparently, a Shinx was rummaging through Ash's bag to eat the berries, but the sound woke up Saur who was able to subdue him in his vines.
"Let him down buddy" ordered Ash. "Hey, hi there little fella, you wanted some berries, didn't you?" he asked. "You can have some now, and if you come with us, then you can food and berries every day. Do you want to become a part of our team?" he asked while gesturing towards him and Saur.
Shinx looked a little apprehensive but after a couple seconds took the berry in Ash's hand and nodded his consent. Ash smiled at Shinx and tapped an empty pokéball gently on its head. The pokéball absorbed it and started shaking gently, after three shakes the pokéball went still and let out a loud beep.
Ash felt proud but he was still sleepy and decided to check out Shinx tomorrow morning, so he let Shinx out of its pokéball for now and decided to go to sleep. He crawled into his sleeping bag again to try and go to sleep but he was giddy at the fact that he had caught his first pokémon.
Next Morning
Ash had awoken early and packed up his camp quickly so he could get going and reach Viridian City by nightfall. Before he started though he wanted to scan Shinx with his Pokédex to know more about it.
He pulled out Dexter and pointed it towards Shinx.
Shinx – The Flash Pokémon
All of its fur dazzles if danger is sensed. It flees while the foe is momentarily blinded.
Gender – Female
Ability – Intimidate
Known Moves – Tackle and Leer.
Ash now understood why she was stealing berries from his pouch. She was too young to survive out in the wild, evident by the fact that she didn't even know an electric move. He knew that he would have to spend a week training her before she would be ready to start battling other pokémon.
He was happy that she had the ability Intimidate though. Intimidate was one of the best abilities that a pokémon could have. It was a little complicated how it worked though.
Intimidate working successfully and lowering a opponents Attack was a tricky business. A little baby pokémon like Shinx wouldn't be able to successfully intimidate any pokémon but as she grew stronger and evolved, it would start working on more pokémon.
"Hey, you're a tough pokémon Shinx, but before we get going, do you want a nickname?" he asked. "Bulbasaur here is called Saur." Shinx didn't like the idea very much, so he let it go.
He decided to put both pokémon on each of his shoulders instead of recalling them back into their pokéballs to have some company during the journey and so that Saur could absorb sunlight to grow further.
Viridian City, Evening
It took him nearly all day, but he was able to reach Viridian City before night fell. Ash was thankful that he wouldn't have to spend another night on the ground but could instead sleep on a comfy bed. But as he reached the city, he could see barricades covering the entrance to the city.
He went to the Officer Jenny behind one of the barricades to enquire about what was happening. He politely asked, "Hello Officer, can you please tell me what's happening?"
"There have been reports of Team Rocket occurrences in the city. Giovanni has shut down the city and stationed Police Officers at all the entrances and exits to prevent them from leaving" she explained.
"Wow, great to know that at least one Gym Leader is being proactive about the safety of their city. Can I get into the city though?" he appreciated.
"Yes, just show me some form of ID and you can go." Ash pulled out his pokédex to prove his identity and Officer Jenny looked it over once before nodding and letting him pass into the city.
Aah was a little worried and surprised about Team Rocket reappearing right now. His father had almost eliminated them nearly two decades ago but had been unable to completely root them out due to the secrecy surrounding their leader.
After the leader of Team Rocket had gone underground, the whole organization had mostly direction and leaderless, allowing the League to eliminate the organization almost completely from Kanto.
He called both Saur and Shinx back into their pokéballs because they could get lost or god forbid it, stolen in the crowd. He walked towards the Pokémon Center to get a room for the night and get his team checked out.
The center was a bit empty as expected, the bulk of people came through here only to get to Indigo Plateau, but the tournament was still more than a year and half away.
"Nurse Joy could you check my team and make sure they're okay?" he asked. She took his pokéballs and put them into the machine to heal them. While the pokémon healed, he went over to the Videophone to call his mother.
"Hi mom, sorry for calling you so late but I wanted to let you know that I reached Viridian City safely" he said. "Aww baby, I'm so glad that you reached Viridian so quickly. You know, it took your father 3 days to reach Viridian. I know if he were here, he would be proud of you" she said in a misty tone.
"I know but he's not here, is he? He off gallivanting wherever instead of being with us" he replied in a bitter tone and hung up.
The topic of his father and his disappearance would always be a sore topic in the Ketchum household. His mother always defended his father instead of recognizing that he was useless deadbeat that had abandoned his family on a quest to become the strongest trainer in the world.
That was why Ash wanted to become a true Pokémon master, to prove to his father that he didn't need to abandon his family in pursuit of strength and to prove to him that they were better off without him. He was ashamed of his father, and that was why he never told anyone that his father was once the Kanto Champion, and why he always left out his middle name when introducing himself.
One day, instead of being known as the Ash Red Ketchum, the son of the "Great" Red Ketchum, he would be known only as Ash Ketchum, the "Greatest" Pokémon trainer in the world.
That's it for this chapter. Unfortunately, we're approaching exam season and I'm going to busy with that for the next few months. Hopefully, once that's over I can focus on writing stories primarily and figuring out what I want to do in college.
