A/N: Welcome to my first story. Please read my profile and look into the guidelines I have specified. They are just meant to be suggestions though, not edicts which you absolutely have to follow. Without further ado, lets get right into it. Hope you enjoy reading it and please review, if possible.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in any way whatsoever. The rights belong to Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures.

Chapter 1: Origins

The Ghost Mistress.

The Butcher of Viridian.

The Plague of Lavender.

Agatha of the Elite Four.

She was known by many names across the Pokémon world.

But, before she had earned all her titles, before she had instilled fear in the hearts of the enemies of Indigo, before she had become the bitter, disillusioned and cantankerous old woman that she is now, she was simply known as Agatha Ketchum. A quite, determined and focused girl from Lavender whose only goal had been to conquer Indigo as its champion.

She proved her strength through many battles, hard-fought victories and became the woman that she is now. An inspiration to young battlers world-wide, a pillar of strength for Indigo and a quintessential example of how a Ghost specialist should be. She was the unbreakable wall of the Elite Four which stood between prospective trainers and the champion. In her reign as Indigo's Elite Four, she had been defeated a grand total of three times. In 40 years. Two of these times, she had been asked to go easy on the trainer, so that there could be a new champion and once by Lance, Indigo's current champion who attained his title by defeating the then champion, Marcus.

It was a quiet evening in Pallet - the only sounds which could be heard were her near-silent footsteps, the gentle rhythmic tapping of her cane and the cacophony of noises which accompanied the daily life of the Pokémon residing here. The approaching winter had put mellow inhabitants of Pallet into a state of hibernation. As she walked towards her destination, she could see the town coming into view and in the distance, the scenery was dominated by the Pride of Pallet, the laboratory of Dr. Samuel Oak.

She couldn't help the twinge of bitterness and disappointment that welled up inside her when she saw the lab, the shadows responding to her agitation. Her rivalry with Oak had been legendary, a thing of beauty. He had been her better during all of his training career and even beaten her to her dream, to obtain the title of champion. Only to abdicate the championship back immediately and retire from his training career to shift his focus to becoming a Pokémon professor. "I want to lead a quiet life of researching Pokémon from now on" he had said when he quit. She had never felt more abandoned in her life. 7 years of back & forth and fierce rivalry between them, and he had broken it off with just a single conversation. With that, the position of champion just became tainted for her. She ended up defeating Champion Graham the next year, but refused to be a champion after that. And now here they are, 40 years later, and all that is left of their abandoned rivalry is at best a professional courtesy which they afforded to each other, a quite sense of discontentment, and laundry list of unresolved issues.

As her twin Gengars, Blacky and Shiny, emerged from her shadow to comfort her, she just gave them a small smile as she reached her destination. The house that stood in front of her was a small two storey building which radiated a sense of homeliness and warmth even in the surrounding cold.

She walked past the kissing gate, rapped her knuckles on the door and it opened to reveal her daughter-in-law, Delia. Agatha could also hear her 11-year old grandson, rushing down the stairs to meet her. Ash barreled into his grandmother with a shout of "Grammy!" and gave her a toothy smile as he hugged her tightly. Delia gave Agatha a quick smile, which didn't quite reach her eyes as Agatha could sense of weariness in her otherwise vibrant demeanour. She reached out and took Delia's hands in hers and then enveloped her in a firm hug along with Ash. She reveled in their combined warmth and felt her lingering bitterness slowly but surely disappear. Agatha was home.

It has been close to 6 months since the loss of her beloved son, Richard. Agatha could almost hear his laughter still echoing in his house and from what she could see his loss had hit Delia really hard as well. Dark circles and stress lines marked her beautiful face, even though she tried to hold it in for her little boy. A sense of melancholy permeated from their little family as they settled down in the kitchen and Agatha could see the tears shimmering in Delia's eyes, despite her best efforts. Ash tried to bring some cheer by excitedly chattering to his grandmother about his day at the lab. She gave a knowing smile to Ash, as he cuddled with his mother.

Richard had been Agatha's greatest accomplishment, even if he had been the unintended by-product of the last few days of her turbulent relationship with Oak. A sweet, kind and energetic boy, he was her polar opposite and yet she loved him with all her heart. He was like a breath of fresh air for her. He could light up any room with his sunny personality and had a habit of making great friends wherever he went. She suspected that Samuel knew that Richard was his son but he never approached her out of (a probably) misguided sense of respect for her.

Richard grew up to be a fine young man and a fantastic trainer in his own right. Finishing in top 8 twice, and then finishing runner-up in Johto in his last ever conference, he gave up his travelling days to join the esteemed Ranger forces in an effort to do good for the community. He climbed the ranks of the Ranger forces almost meteorically before he finally ended up in the 1st Regiment in the Indigo Ranger forces, leading his own little squad.

It was there in his travels as a Ranger that he met his future wife. When he saw her dazzling the crowds as a coordinator with her Gardevoir, he knew he was in love. They kept running into each other throughout her journey to the Wallace Cup, eventually falling in love. He proposed to her after what would be her last performance as a coordinator, when she finally clinched the Wallace Cup. They ended up marrying each other, a couple of years later. Three years later, they welcomed their son, Ashton, into their lives and their little family was complete.

To keep their family away from the spotlight which came with being related to an Elite Four member, they moved out from their ancestral home in Lavender to a small cottage in Pallet about 6 years ago. Prof. Oak readily (read - gleefully) welcomed Delia into the ranks of his assistants in the laboratory (shocker!). They led a wonderful life together and even though, Agatha disliked coming to Pallet, she still visited them regularly to be with her beloved family and the apple of her eye, her little prodigy, Ash.

And then tragedy struck. Richard and his team of 5 other Rangers ran into a massive underground smuggling operation in the wilds of Fuchsia led by Team Rocket. He and his team, held off the miscreants admirably for back-up to arrive, before ultimately falling one by one. By the time, the Agatha-led league forces arrived they had been too late. Richard's Gengar, Genji, stood vigil over his body in utter grief as his team lay dead around him. She broke down over her son's body and then and there vowed vengeance on Team Rocket in her rage. The only team members of Richard who survived were Genji and his Metang (who had been in the Pokémon centre at the time of the attack).

She got her opportunity for revenge when the Elite Four discovered Team Rocket's headquarters 3 months ago in Viridian under the leadership of the traitorous Giovanni. Oh how she loathed that bastard! She led her own meticulously trained Ghost Company Regiment of the ACE forces along with Elite Four trainees, Karen and Will, in her quest to destroy Team Rocket. She slaughtered hundreds of Rockets along with 3 of their so-called executives Archer, Petrel and Proton, dealing a massive blow to the organization and leaving it a shell of what it was. It was there that she earned one of her most feared titles, the Butcher of Viridian.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Ash vying for her attention. "Grammy! I was near the lake today, when I was at the lab. There were so many Pokémon in there. I even saw a Horsea evolve into a Seadra today. It was so cool! I wish I could start training a Pokémon. These 3 years can't pass soon enough!" Ash exclaimed.

"Really now, a Pokémon evolution is indeed a rare event. You don't see those often. And Seadra are pretty powerful Pokémon. Great swimmers those and have tremendous aquatic abilities. Lance has a ridiculously powerful Kingdra in his team", Agatha replied. "Don't worry about training yet, young one. You need to prepare for your journey before you can do that, and you need to pay attention to school. It really does help."

"Yes, Grams! I do pay attention at school. I am top of the class you know. Even better than Gary and Leaf", Ash sighed dramatically. "It's just so boring though. I have way more fun in the lab and learn much more about Pokémon by observing the assistants and Prof. Oak. Whenever we get to talk, he tells so much more than what we learn in school and he explains it all in a really fun way too. Besides, the teachers at the school just keep on repeating the same stuff over and over again. And the simulated battles are such a poor reflection on actual ones. Plus, nobody in the class apart from Leaf and Gary, takes the training stuff seriously. They just run around screaming and whine about if they lose battles on the simulator, even though they have no clue about Pokémon battles in general." he said, rolling his eyes. "Its like they are trying to fail their evaluations. Idiots!"

"Now, now Ashy! If you just 'ran around screaming' with them, you might actually enjoy it and end up making some more friends. It might be nice instead of just hanging out with Leaf and Gary. School is not all about preparing for your journey, you know" Delia smiled at him exasperatedly.

"Aw Mom! I hate hanging out with those phonies. I wish we could just start training or at least hang out physically with some Pokémon. Get some one-on-one training with them. It might help in the future" Ash almost whined at her.

"That's enough, young one!" Agatha rebuked Ash sternly. "There's a reason why the age to start your journey is 14. It's still too soon for you to start thinking about going out and looking for Pokémon yet."

Ah! The classic "age to start" debate. The starting age for young trainers had been a topic for discussions and debates all over the world for a very long time. As recent as 2 years ago, the age had varied across regions with Kanto and Johto at 10, Hoenn and Kalos at 12 and Sinnoh and Unova at 14 respectively. Others had not set up their leagues yet. Although rapid strides are being made in Alola and Galar, despite both of the regions still remaining largely insular. On the one side stood traditionalists and established clans in each region who believed that the trainers needed to continue the traditions and customs which hadn't changed for generations. And on the other side stood the stream-liners & the progressive-minded, who believed that 10 or even 12 was way too young for trainers to go out and face the dangers of a trainer's life. They believed that all the established regions need to have a stream-lined age to start and it should be 14.

She, herself had been firmly on the side of the "stream-liners", despite both she & her son starting their respective journeys at the tender age of 10. Ultimately, the stream-liners won out and in what was an unprecedented, unanimous decision by the various leagues, the "age to start" was set to 14 for all the regions. There were exceptions of course. Few famous clans and families had wrangled certain concessions for their young ones - early training with Pokémon procured from within their compounds or reserves, reserve subsidies, priority deals with breeders etc. The only successful ones from these clans in recent past that came to her mind were the psychic twins from Mossdeep and that brat from Mt. Pyre, Phoebe, all of whom had ascended to their positions in the league only a few months ago.

And here they are two years later, the "stream-liners" stood vindicated. Trainer & Pokémon deaths and Pokémon abandonment & abuse, all had gone down enormously. Fewer trainers quit their journey in their 1st or 2nd years, managed their funds better because of their more mature outlooks and they were better equipped to handle the rigors of a trainer's life. There had even been a subtle rise in 1st and 2nd year trainers making it to the conference these past couple of years. She had never been happier to be a part of the league and even Delia had been secretly relieved that her son wouldn't leave her so soon.

"Aw, but Granny!" Ash pouted.

"Alright! That's enough of that. Why don't you go out and play in the backyard, sweety? Grandma & I have some stuff to talk about" Delia admonished Ash gently.

"OK Mom!" Ash grinned widely and kissed the both of them and ran out to the backyard.

Delia smiled as she watched her son race back into the backyard. He immediately jumped in the middle of the baby Pokémon sprawled in the garden, rough-housing with a few Poochyena arrayed there. She could see her amused Mightyena watch her kits, as they yipped loudly while playing with Ashy. She could see her stoic Pidgeot up on the trees carefully watching his flock as they kept an aerial guard over her house. She saw her sweet and adorable Vileplume keep careful vigil on the flowers, vegetables and exotic plants, lest the children end up spoiling her garden. You could see her gently admonishing the babies, when they came too close to the hedges. She could see her starter, Vaporeon giving small performances, dipping into her own bag of tricks, while melting into the pond and appearing in between the kits, much to the delight of the baby Pokémon arrayed all around the pond. She could still the glimpses of the starry almost diva-like quality her starter had. She was a tremendous performer and had been the reason for so many of her victories during her coordinator days.

Her loyal Arcanine, however lived in the Oak reserve these days. She had her own brood with one of the sons of Prof. Oak's own Arcanine. Both herself and Ash spent some time every evening with her Arcanine and her messy pups, when they were in the laboratory. And in return, Arcanine made it a point to visit the Ketchum residence at least once a week with her brood, so she could spend some time with her original team. This wasn't one of those days, though.

She could also hear her Mr. Mime, clanging away in the kitchen, while meticulously cleaning the dining room. He was the only one of hers, who wasn't a part of her original team. He had just appeared out of nowhere into their house one day last year, as she was cooking in the kitchen to escape an amusing (yet irritating) circus performer who wanted the wily Mr. Mime for his own team. She had driven the performer away viciously with her Pokemon when he aggressively demanded that she hand him over, only to turn around and find an overawed Mr. Mime. He had promptly devoted himself to protect the Ketchums with his life, much to her exasperation and her husband's amusement.

She also could make out her Absol sprawled out contentedly on the ground, while watching his mate, her Gardevoir, explain the fine-points of telepathy to her children, the twin Kirlias. They had given up one of their brood a few years ago to Daisy, when she started her journey and now their son, a Gallade, was an integral part of her coordinator team. She knew of course, even without anyone telling her, that Richard was Sam's son, but she never brought it up with either of her in-laws or her husband. She kept in touch with the Oaks though and doted over both Gary and Daisy, whenever she met them now that both their parents were dead. So, when Daisy had cutely requested one of the Ralts in her home for her team, when she left for her journey, both her Gardevoir and herself couldn't resist acquiescing to it. A few weeks ago, Gardevoir had approached her for permission to have more kids and even expressed a desire to have one of her possible future kids join Ash when he started his journey.

She smiled at them in adoration. They were her rock, both her Pokémon and her son.

"He is a sweet one, that kid. He is going to be a great trainer one day" Agatha said as they watched Ash pet one of the Poochyena and others vying for his attention.

"Yes, he is" Delia confirmed without a hint of doubt in her tone. "You know what he told me the other day? He said that he shares his Grammy's dream of being Indigo's Champion one day. He wants to be the very best. And I will do everything in my power to make it happen" she said determinedly.

"And so will I" Agatha proclaimed. She looked in deep thought however.

"What did you want to talk about, Mother?" she gently coaxed Agatha into talking about what was on her mind.

"I have been thinking for a while, Delia. You know that the league has been in a flux, since the Viridian incident and that rat Giovanni and his wife, Arianna escaped from our clutches. So, I thought about giving some additional protection to Pallet and to this house. So, I posted a few ACE trainers in addition to the Ranger regiment posted here for the protection of the laboratory. I also wanted to give some more personal protection to Ash, maybe posting one of the ghosts in my possession in his shadow. So, I trained up Genji for this purpose for the past 3 months and he has been very determined and improved rapidly. He is definitely good enough now to serve as the last line of defense for Ash" Agatha said.

"That's a great idea, Mother! Why do you seem unconvinced though?" Delia questioned.

"While I came today to convince you to do just that, I now think that we should go another way. Maybe, its time that we gave Ash a head-start for his journey. While he can't quite catch any Pokémon, he could theoretically take both Genji and Richard's Metang as his own Pokémon. This way he gets some one-on-one training with more experienced Pokémon in a safe environment and he is able to learn the fine points of training methodology in the process.

Besides, both Genji and Metang aren't too powerful for him to handle. I had given Genji, a Ghastly then, to Richard only after he had proven himself in his first conference and he had been a Haunter until recently. And Metang is a pretty recent gift from Steven, only about a year old" Agatha said trying to convince her.

"Maybe you are right, Mom. After all, both of them do adore Ash. It will almost be like Richard is watching over his journey, somehow. This might even be a more productive usage of his free time. Maybe, we should prepare further for his journey though" Delia thought out aloud. "I could give him some lessons about cooking for himself and his Pokémon, some tips from my coordinating days for healthcare, survival training etc."

"Hmm, you are right. Maybe I could even reach out to some of my friends to teach him some things. Maybe, I will give a call Kizashi. He used to be Saffron's Gym leader and specialized in Fighting-Type Pokémon before his brat Koichi took over and lost the position to Sabrina. He could give Ash some self-defense lessons, maybe even some tips for how to train Fighting-Type Pokémon, if he ever decides to have one in his team" Agatha added.

"I may also be able to take month-long vacations every year which coincide with Ash's summer vacations. He can go to those infernal summer camps which Oak sets up and then he could come over Lavender for the month and I will able to give him teach the old ways of our family - methods to tame Ghost Pokémon" she continued.

"How, in the name of Arceus, will you be able to take a month-long vacation from your job and that too every year?!" Delia exclaimed.

"I am an Elite Four, brat. I can do whatever I want. Besides, it's time that Karen and Will slowly start taking over my responsibilities. I am not getting any younger after all. And what better to reason to ease out of my position than to train my only grandson in the noble art of taming Ghosts" Agatha cheekily replied.

Seeing Delia's concerned eyes, she continued "I am fine, Delia. I just want to spend some more time with my family. If these past few months have taught me anything, it's that we don't know how much time we have with our loved ones. Besides, I might also get to travel the world once again. I hear Orre is an interesting place these days."

"Orre is no place for a vacation, Mother" said Delia rolling her eyes. "You know what? I agree. I think that's a decent enough plan. I might also request Samuel to give some extra lessons in the evenings to Ash, Gary and Leaf - maybe some battling experiences, knowledge on Pokemon interactions and habitats. He might even be able to arrange some one-on-one time with his sponsored trainers whenever they are around. Some Move Tutoring might be a good idea as well. Maybe not his painful poetry though. He should able to take some time off his insane schedule for them. Seriously, that man needs a vacation."

"Yes. I suppose that man could help as well" Agatha sniffed distastefully. "Don't roll your eyes at me, you brat. I can see you" she grumbled reaching out halfheartedly to wack Delia with her cane. "And thank Arceus that somebody else agrees with me that his poetry his horrific. Anyway, give me a couple of days. I will make a few calls to my old friends and then we will get together and make a solid plan to prepare Ash for his journey" she continued as Delia nodded along agreeing with her.

She looked out once again to Ash still playing in the backyard and mentally re-affirmed her upcoming plans. She was Agatha Ketchum of the Indigo Elite Four, Lavender's Ghost Mistress. And she would do everything in her power to ensure that her grandson fulfilled his dreams of becoming the Champion of Indigo.

A/N: So, we reach the end of the first chapter of my story guys. What did you think? Please let me know. Reviews are definitely appreciated.

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all the writers of fanfiction stories who have written hundreds of thousands of words regardless of the number of favorites/followers they have, simply because they are dedicated to their craft and want the world to know their about the unique twist they provide to any preexisting story. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to my younger brother, who is my greatest supporter and also my harshest critic.

Until next time!

Delia's Pokemon:

1. Vaporeon (Female, starter)

2. Gardevoir (Female)

3. Absol (Male)

4. Vileplume (Female)

5. Pidgeot (Male)

6. Mightyena (Female)

7. Arcanine (Female)

8. Mr. Mime (Male)