Chapter-1: Humble Beginnings!
It's a bright summer morning in Pallet Town and a very special occasion for the Ketchums. For today is the fifth birthday of the twins, Drake and Ash. Their mother Delia woke up early as usual to prepare for the occasion.
Speaking of the twins, Drake Ketchum, the older one by two minutes is a child of very few words, just like his father. He prefers to study in silence, spending his time to plan out his first journey which was still five years away.
Unlike his older brother Ash Ketchum was the fun loving happy-go-lucky boy. He had a special gift, which allowed him to communicate with any living being, including Pokemon. So he loved to spend his time in the ranch and forest playing with them all day long.
Their father, the Legendary Red Ketchum. Starting his journey about fifteen years earlier, at the age of fifteen, Red won the Pokemon League in his first attempt, beating his close rival, and friend, Blue. After serving as the champion for a decade, he gave the throne after the birth of his sons. However he continued to stay away from home, much to the dismay of his sons, to train; or so he told.
But today he was coming back, to celebrate his boys' birthday. And he knew exactly the right gift for the boys. He spent months trying to find them, and now he has them, right in his bag.
"Charizard, let's go home!" Red said to his partner, summoning it from its Pokeball. The Flame Pokemon agrees and crouches a little to allow the Man to mount its back.
With a mighty roar the fire lizard takes off, leaving a powerful gust of wind behind.
"Drake! Ash! You both better wake up!" The boys heard their mother from downstairs.
After a while both boys exited their rooms in their PJ's. Drake walked down calmly, but being the excited Aipom he was, Ash jumped on to the stairs and sliding through it he landed with a back flip.
"Ash Ketchum! Is this how you behave in the house?" The brunette scolded her son as Drake made his way to the breakfast table.
"I'm sorry mom! But daddy's coming back today for our birthday! I'm just so happy!" The raven haired boy replied Mareepishly, beginning to run around in excitement.
"Honey, calm down for a moment, and go have your breakfast with your brother." Delia pleaded.
"Okay Mommy!" Ash replied with a toothy grin, as he ran over to the Dining table. He took the seat near his brother and began gulping like a Gulpin.
After they finished their breakfast, Delia came over to the two boys and gave them a sweet hug. "Happy birthday boys."
"Thank you mom." They both replied happily. Delia then crouched down to their level. "Now listen to me you two, go outside and have fun until your dad comes back okay? He's got special gifts for you both.
While Drake seemed to take it neutrally, Ash got excited. "He does? Yay! This is gonna be the best birthday ever! Thanks mom! You're the best!" He squealed before running off out of the house. Drake quietly took a book on the Sinnoh Legends and walked out to the backyard to read in peace.
Red's Charizard let out a mighty roar as it began to descend to the backyard of his home.
"Thank you Charizard, now go to the lab and take a good rest." He said to his starter, who flew off to the hill. He watched his boy who came and hugged him happily.
"Daddy! I missed you!" The older twin expressed happily. Red reciprocated the hug with a smile on his face. "I missed you too Drake. Now where's your brother?" He asked.
Drake frowned for a moment, before Ash entered the backyard. "Hey Daddy! You're back!" He squealed, tackling the man into a big hug. "I missed you so so so so much!" He continued in his excited voice.
"I missed you too Ash. Now tell me, you haven't been troubling your mom are you?" He asked.
"Of course I'm not! I'm just having a lot of fun!" Ash declared happily.
Red sighed before bringing the two boys closer, keeping a hand on each of their shoulders. "Now you two, wish you a very happy birthday boys."
"Thanks Dad." Drake replied calmly.
"Dad! Mom said you brought special gifts for us? Can you show us? Is it a Pokemon League hat? Is it a..." Ash asked excitedly, before Red cut him off. "There there little one. You need to learn some patience from your big brother here."
Ash pouted, Drake smirked, and Red chuckled. "Now let's go in and see your mom first 'kay? Then I'll give you your gifts.
"Really? Yay! So cool!" Ash squealed, jumping his way back into the home. Drake moved behind silently, while Red stood outside and took a deep breath. "*sigh* It's been a while." Before he too walked into the place.
Delia was working in the kitchen when two strong arms hugged her from the back. She instantly knew it was her husband. Turning around she swiftly smashed her lips into his, as their boys puked.
"Yuck!" They both said together.
"Hey! You you both shouldn't intrude on anyone like that!" Red complained. "And even if you do, then don't make noise!"
"Whatever you say dad!" Drake replied in an unamused tone.
"Dad! Can we have our gifts now? Please?" Ash pleaded.
"Of course Sweat pea. Now let's get your gifts." The former champion said and walked to his bag. Taking out a Pokemon egg with golden spot and turned to Drake. "Drake. This is for you. Take good care of it."
Drake continued to stare at the egg with utmost interest, while Red continued. "It's going to be with you for your entire life.
"Thank you dad! This is really the best gift ever!" He replied with a glint of excitement.
"Wow! That's so cool drake! You're gonna take care of a Pokemon Egg! Now, my turn dad!" Ash said spreading his arms happily.
"Yeah Ash." The man replied, taking an egg with Silver Spots on the egg. "Here ya go little one..."
"Hey dad! You know which Pokemon is goina come out from this egg?" Ash asked cutting his daddy out.
"Hold your Rapidashes Ash." Red replied to calm the Aipom down. "Now, yes. I know what Pokemon's going to hatch from both your eggs. But I won't tell you. That would kill all the excitement you know."
"Okay." Ash said with a sullen face, while Drake maintained a neutral one.
It's been over two years since Red gave the boys their eggs. Drake's hatched into a Shiny Charmander, one with a golden skin color. Drake trained hard with it every single day, and now it was a powerful Charmeleon.
Ash's egg hatched into a special Riolu. It had a Silver coat for its fur, and grey torso. Ever since it hatched, Riolu and Ash have been the closest friends. Riolu would train with Ash everyday for an hour, developing his physical prowess.
Today they were going to Professor Oak's summer camp. This was their annual routine and the boys, and they enjoyed it every year. This was going to be their final camp, and Ash had decided to make the most out of it.
"Hey there Ashy Boy! Drake!" The Mahagony haired boy greeted the twins, before turning to Ash. "I didn't think you'd be here Ashy Boy. This camp is for those who wanna be serious trainers.
"For your information Oak Tree, I already have a Pokemon, you don't!" Ash shot back with a counter.
"Haha! You should've looked at your face Gary!" Leaf giggled at him, while Gary scowled in anger.
"Alright everyone fall back into the group!" Daisy Oak called out from the distance, as the Pallet Quartret walked back to the lab, with Ash and Gary racing neck and neck, literally.
"Alright boys. You better cool your jets right now!" The Older Girl chided them.
"Okay Daisy" Ash replied with his cute charm.
"Aww, now how can I be angry with that cute face of yours?" Daisy said, while Gary cringed.
"Alright everyone, today's the first day of our week long summer camp. I am Professor Samuel Oak, and I'll be hosting you for the next week. I hope you will all have a wonderful experience, and that this will help you out when you go out on your journeys in the next few years." The Professor explained. "Now why don't you all go explore the ranch and look at all the Pokemon around?"
"Alright! This is going to be so much fun!" Ash declared enthusiastically.
"Ugh, there he goes again." Drake scowled, as he watched his twin run into the forest. He then reached for his belt to find his Pokeball. "Well, I say we go and get in some training!"
Ash continued to venture into the forest with Riolu by his side. A particular feline Pokemon was watching all this from over and giggling to itself.
It quickly flew to the ground and transformed into a Poliwag, and jumped in front of the unsuspecting boy.
"Huh? Oh WOW! A Poliwag!" Ash squealed happily.
The Pokemon gave a smile, before it began hopping out of the area on its tiny foot.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Ash screamed out to it, following it into the bushes.
Riolu gave a sigh, looking at his energetic master, and followed him quietly.
Drake Ketchum walked into a clearing by the lake. He clenched Charmeleon's Pokeball in his palms. Taking a deep breath, and throwing the contraption with all his might, he called out his Partner.
A golden Charmeleon materialized out of the device and looked ahead of itself. In front of the two was Red's Snorlax, who was resting after a nice long snack.
"Hey Snorlax!" The boy called out, and in response the Sleeping Pokemon waved a small hello. "So, how about today's training?"
Snorlax looked back and grinned.
"Alright! Charmeleon! Flamethrower!"
The Fire Lizard opened its mouth and sent out flames at Snorlax, who was completely unfazed by the attack.
"Alright now move in with Dragon Claw!..."
As he continued to train, a young girl appeared from behind him. She wore a white shirt and a blue skirt, looking like a school girl. She had Black-ish hair and grey eyes, which perfectly contrasted her fair color.
Noticing her Snorlax and Charmeleon stopped their battle, which made Drake turn around, to find the girl, staring at him nervously.
"Umm... Hi, I'm Diantha." She replied, while shuffling her feet nervously.
"Drake. Nice to meet you Diantha." He said in an unusually pleasant tone.
"How do you... have a Pokemon already?" The girl asked.
"Oh." He breathed out. "Well, I've raised him from an egg my dad got me on my fifth birthday."
"Really? That's so amazing!" The girl praised.
"Uh... Thank you Diantha." Drake replied nervously.
"Why don't you continue training, and I'll sit here and watch you train." She said with a beautiful smile, while sitting by the lake side.
"Sure." Drake replied. "Focus Drake!" He turned towards Charmeleon, who was ready to go. "Alright Use Focus Blast!"
A young girl dressed in a pink dress, adoring a cute straw hat, walked in the forest, trembling with fear as she was lost.
"Where is everybody? Where did you all go?" She called out in fear.
The bushes continued to rumble, which startled the little girl. She jumped and fell down, scraping her knee, while a Poliwag jumped out of the bushes.
Scared and anxious, tears began to form in her eyes. "I knew I didn't want to come to camp! I knew it!" She said through her sobs. "Mommy!" She screamed out to her mother.
In a few moments, the bushes rumbled again, causing another stream of tears to roll out of her eyes.
She clenched her eyes in fear, trying her best to not look over to the bushes.
"Poliwag?" A boy asked. She opened her eyes to see a boy of her age walk out of the bushes.
The boy looked at her in confusion. "Are you... alright?" He asked nervously and in concern.
The girl couldn't give any answer as she was still sobbing.
"Hi, I'm Ash." The boy introduced himself cheerfully. "Who're you?"
"I... I'm Serena" She replied with a whimper.
"Huh? what's wrong?" Ash asked, trying to figure out why this girl was crying.
"I... I hurt my... leg" Serena managed to reply through her tears.
"Hey, no need to worry." Ash replied, getting on to his knee, and bringing out his handkerchief. "See this? This will make it better!" The boy declared before tying the piece of cloth on her knee. "All done!" He said with the widest grin ever.
Serena tried to move her leg, but it still hurt her. But Ash got her attention again, to give her some relief. "Now watch this!" He started moving his hands around the knee, like performing a magic spell. "Feel better! Feel better! RIGHT AWAY!"
For a moment Serena watched him curiously, forgetting all the pain.
"Ah! It still hurts! I can't stand up." The Honey Blonde Haired girl replied.
Ash got up to his feet and extended his arm to her.
"Don't give up till it's over! 'kay? Come on!"
Serena hesitantly forwarded her hand slightly, and Ash took her hands into his. He then pulled her with all his might, and she got up, landing into a hug.
At that moment she felt a warm feeling inside herself, the embrace felt really good and she just wanted to stay like that.
"Oh Ash you're so lovely, sweet, and amazing! You're going to be my bestest friend ever! You're just amazing! My knight in the shining armor!" Serena thought to herself as a blush formed on her face, as she continued to fantasize Ash dressed up in a medieval armor, helping her, the princess, after saving her life. Oh it was so romantic.
Breaking the hug, Ash gave her the goofiest grin she'd ever seen. "There you go! C'mon, I think we should be getting back to the campsite!" He said, continuing to hold her hand in his palms. When the bushes rumbled again. She quickly brought him into another hug, while Riolu emerged from the shrubbery.
"Hey, it's okay. It's just Riolu. He's my Pokemon." Ash said to calm her down.
She opened her eyes and saw the Emanation Pokemon standing obediently in front of them.
"Hey Riolu. Did you find anything interesting?" Ash aske.
"We always come here Master. But you seem to have found someone interesting." It answered back.
"Yeah, this is Serena." Ash replied with a goofy grin. "Now why don't you come back and rest for a while?"
"If you promise to train with me tonight." Riolu argued.
"Alright! I promise we'll get some training done tonight. I promise!" Ash ansered, before calling Riolu into its Pokeball. "Alright Serena, now let's go back!" He said, guiding her by his arms while the Poliwag transformed back into its original feline form and giggled joyfully.
"Alright! That's enough for today. Charmeleon! Return!" Drake said, calling the Flame Pokemon back to its Pokeball.
"Drake that was amazing! I'm sure you'll make a wonderful trainer!" Diantha exclaimed cheerfully.
"Thanks Dinah!" The boy replied goofily, which made her blush.
"Di... Dinah?" She asked shyly.
"Oh, I just thought... since we're friends... why not give you a nickname. You don't like it?" Drake answered nervously.
"I love it!" She screamed happily and gave him a hug, which Drake returned.
"Drake's so amazing, I really really like him" Diantha thought to herself.
"She's so great and supportive! This is amazing!" Drake thought to himself.
After sharing a comfortable embrace for a few minutes, they decided to go back to camp before everyone started to search for them.
"Hello Professor." A brunette lady called out to the Professor.
"Ah! Miss Yvonne. Allow me to welcome you to Pallet Town, I hope you didn't have any issues with moving in." The professor greeted her.
"Yes professor, we didn't have any issues with that." Grace replied. "I just want to thank you, for inviting my daughter to this camp. She's a really shy kid. She didn't even have too many friends back in Kalos."
"Ah. Serena right?" The professor asked and the mother nodded. "Well, she's a lovely girl, I'm sure she'll make good friends in this camp."
Just then Ash walked out of the forest with Serena's hand in his palm. Looking at her mother, the honey blonde ran to her and gave her the biggest hug she could.
"Mommy. I was so scared." She said in a scared tone.
"It's okay honey. Everything will be just fine. Now why don't you tell me what's wrong?" Grace said, crouching down to her daughter's level.
"I... I fell down and hurt my knee, and then... and then this Pokemon jumped out of the bushes... I was just so... scared. And then Ash came in and he helped me out." Serena croaked out.
"Oh dear." The brunette said, pulling her daughter into an embrace. She then turned to Ash. "Thank you for helping my daughter Ash."
"It was nothing. I just did what I had to do." The Raven Haired boy replied with a toothy grin.
"Now Ash, why don't you take Serena along with you? You could introduce her to the Pokemon in the ranch." Professor Oak suggested.
"You don't mind?" Ash asked excitedly.
"Mhm... I'm sure this will be a wonderful experience for her." The professor replied.
"You heard that Serena?" Ash asked her, brimming with excitement. She stared at him for a moment, before he pulled her along. "Let's go! I'll show you lots and lots of Pokemon! We'll have so much fun!"
And the two friends disappeared in the vast ranch.
"Are you sure it's okay professor?" Grace asked, fearing her daughter's safety.
"Oh don't you worry. Ash comes here regularly and all the Pokemon are really friendly with him, even the big ones. Besides, if something were to happen, he has his own Pokemon to help." The Professor shrugged it off.
Drake and Diantha walked back together. In the few hours they'd become good friends. Suddenly another pair bumped into them.
"Huh?" Diantha and Serena looked at the two brothers in confusion.
"Uh... Drake, sorry about that." Ash said nervously.
"*sigh* Ash, why can't you just slow down a little?" Drake asked, knowing that did nothing to the boy. "By the way, who's the lovely lady Ash?" He asked in a teasing tone.
"Oh, She?" Ash asked pointing to Serena. "She's Serena. I met her in the forest today." He said introducing the Honey Blonde. "So, who's with you?"
"This is Diantha. We're... Good Friends now." Drake replied.
"Hah! You finally made an actual friend! That's so cool!" The younger twin squealed excitedly, before turning to Diantha. "Diantha, Drake maybe a little rude at times, but he's the bestest brother I have! Please make sure he stays happy like this."
"Oh! You don't have to worry about that. Drake's in good hands, and I will make sure he will be happy." Diantha replied, giggling at the antics of the younger twin.
"Serena, let's go meet all the Pokemon!" Ash said pulling her again.
"You and your brother, seem a lot different." Diantha said while smiling as she saw the Younger Ketchum leave.
"Yeah, he's always been the Excited Aipom." Drake groaned.
"Don't say like that! He's enjoying himself out there. Why don't you take some time off too? It's a good thing to do once in a while." Diantha said to him, giving him a side hug.
The kids spent the entire camp playing around with the Pokemon and learning all about how to take care of them. Throughout the entire camp Serena and Diantha stuck by the Ketchum twins, and finally it came to an end.
Drake shared an emotional goodbye to the Kalosian, who surprised everyone with a quick peck on his cheeks, leaving the older twin with a small blush.
Drake called out to her and she turned around. He ran over to the girl and gave her a bear hug, as Delia watched her boy grow up so quickly.
Since then Drake would regularly be in touch with Diantha, through their video phone, while Ash continued to spend his time with Serena and his newly evolved Lucario. Together they'd go spend their evenings in the forest. Lucario would spend his time training Ash by sparring with him physically. They'd also battle with their father's Pokemon in the ranch. While Serena would stare at him in admiration.
And now, in a few days, after Ash's tenth birthday, they'd all be starting their first Pokemon Journey.
AS THE JOURNEY CONTINUES!
AUTHOR'S NOTES
This concludes the introductory chapter. I got the idea of this series from two particular books on , Journey of a Pokemon Master Series by Heracross0122 and The Road to be a Pokemon Master Series by FanaticLAguy06
So our Ketchum brothers have met their Kalosian girls, what does the future hold for them. To know, keep following this story
