To those reading this: Hello! It is an honor to attempt writing a story that I've had in my head for some time now. I don't know just how far this story will get and I don't have a promised upload time, but I want to thank any attempts at reading this and any reviews. I would like to give credit to two core stories that led me to this moment and I admire them for it immensely. The first story being, "All for One'' by licoricejellybean. This story is what started me into the world of fanfictions. I was mind blown at the prospect of stories being written for things that I loved. Never had it crossed my mind that people might have written stories on Pokémon outside of the main story, but I'm glad to have stumbled upon your work. Another influential story that really inspired me to take this step is "A New Journey'' by Texas Longhorn. I don't know where I would have been if not for finding this story back in 2009. He is such a wonderful author and a huge reason why I read to this day. If you have time, I recommend checking those out. I've dragged this out enough though. I hope you enjoy my story, review as you see fit, and bear with any grammar mistakes as I'm hoping to learn as I go.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any of its affiliated companies including, but not limited to, 4Kids, The Pokémon Company, Game Freak, or Cartoon Network. The characters written within this fanfiction are solely based upon the fictional characters created by these companies and the story is not meant to, and it won't, receive any monetary funding.

Characters ages:

Ash: 17

Brock: 20

Delia: 40

Gary: 18

Misty: 18

Oak: 55

The wind carried with it a smell of spring. Grass swayed as Rattata ran through, tumbling and playing with each other in the sunlight. The peaceful spring day could only be broken by the sound of a mother trying to wake her son.

"Ash Ketchum, if you don't wake up this instant you're not going to go on your adventure!" stated Delia Ketchum.

"…" Ash rolled over, trying his best to ignore his mother.

"It's already past 10 and you were supposed to be at Oak's over an hour ago!"

"… It's 10?" he replied groggily.

"Yes. Now get ready, come downstairs for breakfast, and get over to the professor's house." She stated with a sigh, turning around to leave with a smile. "That son of mine will never learn."

Ash slowly sat up, stretching away the weariness as he stood up, preparing for the day. His clothes sprawled out on the floor as he sidestepped a pile of clothes. The clock on his wall ticked away as he looked up, finally realizing his blunder.

With a dash of renewed energy, he gathered up his blue jeans, black t-shirt, and hat. After finishing getting dressed, he ran down the stairs and into the kitchen to have a hearty breakfast with his mother.

20 minutes passed, and Ash was out the door. He sprinted the length over to Professor Oak's house within a few minutes and entered the building. Not wanting to be rude, he announced himself before going too far. His footsteps resounded heavily on the metal laboratory floor as his two aides waived a friendly greeting. Down the hall stood a graying man in his fifties, scribbling on his notepad furiously.

"Hello Professor!" Ash excitedly shouted across the room.

"Why, hello Ash!" Oak responded, as he put down the pen and notebook on his counter. "I suppose you're here to pick up a Pokémon. Though it appears you're about an hour late."

"I know Professor. I'm ready to pick though!"

"I'm afraid there isn't anything left for you to take, my boy. I'm afraid you're going to wait until a later time."

"But Professor, I've already waited this long. Isn't there anything I can have?"

As Ash was pleading his case, a Pikachu poked its head around the corner. It sniffed the air before cautiously leaving the safety of the corner and eyeing up the newcomer. His head tilted as the two immediately stopped talking and looked at the Pikachu.

"Ahh, this here is a Pikachu. This one in particular isn't very trusting of humans. I've been taking care of him for the past year." The Professor stated with a warm smile.

Pikachu's head nodded at the sound of his name. "Pika." His head suddenly perked up as he began sniffing the air again. What was that delicious smell, he wondered. Soon as he determined the location was coming from Ash, he ran over and climbed up his leg to start digging in his pocket.

"H-hey! Cut it out! What are you doing, Pikachu?"

Pikachu paid him no mind as he found the prize he had been looking for. A ketchup packet. He clambered the rest of the way up Ash and perched on his shoulder, ripping the packet open with his teeth and happily eating away at the ketchup, one of his favorite snacks. He concluded that anyone that cared enough to carry a packet of ketchup was someone he could trust.

"Well, would you look at that! Pikachu appears to have taken a liking to you Ash." Oak responded happily. "I'll be sad to see him go, but happy he'll be in good hands. That is, if you do want to go with each other."

Ash and Pikachu exchanged a glance before both nodding in agreement happily.

"By the way" Oak began to ask, "Why did you have a ketchup packet in your pocket anyways?"

"Well, last night ma and I went to the local burger restaurant and I was bringing some back for my fries but must have forgotten a packet in my pants." Ash replied as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly with one hand and a grin on his face.

"Well at least it all worked out. I recommend going to Pewter for your first badge, but can you stop at Viridian's Pokémart and drop off this medicine since it's on your way?" Oak inquired.

"You can count on me Professor!" Ash responded happily. If I can't handle a simple task like this, there's no way I can be a Pokémon Master.

Pikachu by this point was finding himself ready to go, with his treat now emptied, he was eager to go on an adventure with his new master. Seeming to realize this, Oak handed over Pikachu's pokéball to Ash and bid him good luck on his journey.

Ash turned around to head for the door before hearing, "Wait!" The Professor was holding up a red object in his hand as he extended his arm out towards the young prodigy.

"This here is a Pokédex and is used for recording pokemon you meet along your journey. My lifelong dream is to catalog all the pokemon in the world, but as I grow on in age I leave such a task up to youngsters such as yourself."

"Thanks Professor! You know you can count on me." With that, Ash thanked the researcher once again and started his journey towards Viridian.

The breeze of the morning ruffled his hair as he headed towards the first route on his journey. A wooden sign planted firmly at the edge of town to mark the start of the road. Gravel and dirt laid a path, a river in the distance laid way for a peaceful afternoon. Pikachu walking curiously next to Ash as some Pidgey fly past catching his attention. One of them made eye contact with Pikachu and flew down expecting a battle.

"Woah, a Pidgey!" Ash stated as he finished scanning the Pokémon with his Pokédex. "Alright Pikachu, lets see what you got! Give em' a Thundershock!"

Pikachu instantly understood the command and ran towards.. Ash! He jumped up onto his shoulder and then launched himself into the air towards the Pidgey. Electricity swelled in the pouches on his cheeks as the power swelled. Almost instantly the attack unleashed shocks of electricity everywhere as several objects in the vicinity were struck. The Pidgey and Ash both shook for a few moments as the attack coursed through their bodies. When the attack finally ended, they were both singed black, but only Ash was still conscious. In the distance there was a strange hissing sound.

"Alright! We did it Pikachu!"

"Pi-Pikachu." Pikachu stated matter of fact, as he put up two fingers in a victory pose.

"Now, to catch this Pidgey." Ash reached into his pocket, but grasped at air. "Oh yeah.. I forgot, I haven't been to a shop yet. Well, come on Pikachu. We still have a way to go before we get to Viridian City."

"Hold it you!" An unknown voice proclaimed.

Turning around, Ash found a woman who looked to be around his age looking pretty irritated with a warped bike next to her.

"Was it you who just attacked my bike?!" The redheaded lady asked angrily.

"What do you mean?" As far as I know, I only fought a Pidgey. He pondered.

"I was referring to the electricity shooting off everywhere. One minute I'm fishing peacefully and the next my bike is fried. Just what in the world were you doing?!"

"Well.." Ash sheepishly stated while putting his hand on the back of his head and looking down, "I was fighting a Pidgey for the first time and we got a bit excited. Isn't that right Pikachu?"

Hearing his name, Pikachu perked his ears up and began shaking his head. He solemnly pointed to Ash and uttered "Pika."

"It's okay Pikachu. I know you couldn't control your strength. Your trainer should have given you better commands!" The redhead retorted towards Ash. "Now, I expect you to pay me back for my bike being broken."

Taken aback, Ash appeared to be in thought. I don't really have any money, since I just started my journey. Though I do feel bad about breaking the bike. Perhaps I can reason with her.

"If we think about this, it wasn't just my fault. It was your fault for being there in the first place!" That'll help convince her it wasn't all my fault.

"What?!" She responded angrily.

Maybe that wasn't the best tactic. Ash thought as he backed up with his hands up in defense.

"Maybe you can tell me why I should have to worry about random lightning striking on a perfectly sunny day near Pallet town!" As she stated this, she was advancing on Ash and poking him in the chest with each word.

"That might be true, but I still can't pay you back. I have no money because I just started my journey. Pikachu and I are really sorry, isn't that enough?"

Pikachu had been watching each figure talk as they had their conversation and at the sound of his name, he eagerly shook his head yes as he clapped his hands together in an apologetic way. "Chu!"

Still fired up, the redheaded lady was not going to back down and give in that easily.

"No! Apologies don't pay for me getting a new bike, but I will forgive you. My name is-..."

All of a sudden a memory flooded into Ash's mind.

** "Hi! I'm Misty Waterflower! Who are you?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum! And this here is Pikachu." At the mention of his name, Pikachu ran up Ash's back and hopped onto his shoulder with a victory pose.**

Ash snapped out of his daze uttering a single word. "Misty".

"Yeah… that's right. Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I'm not quite sure how I knew that myself, but I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet town." That sure was an odd daydream.. "I'm more than happy to have you join me on my journey until we can get this settled" He flashed a big toothy smile at the now calming redhead.

He took a moment to take in her features, noticing she was wearing a yellow ruffled top and teal shorts that matched her blue eyes. She appears to be around the same age as me. At that moment Misty happened to look over and Ash, not so subtly, looked away hoping she didn't think anything of it.

"So where to, Ash from Pallet Town." Misty questioned as she lifted her pack onto her back. She proceeded to lift her bike from the ground, or what remained of it. In the nearby town they had a recycling area and she would dispose of it there.

"Well, I was thinking of doing a little training on my way to the nearest city, Viridian. I'm going to need to stock up on some supplies before I try to take on the forest."

Misty let out a shudder. "Isn't there some other way we could go?"

Ash, catching onto Misty's reluctance, mentioned "Why? You're not scared are ya?"

Whack! Out of nowhere a giant inflatable hammer made contact with his head. The mallet in question was in possession of Misty.

"Okay okay, sheesh. I won't bring it up. Though we do need to get going, night is falling."

The two travelled onward, battling Pidgeys and Rattatas until they passed by a man dressed in nice casual clothes. His attire wasn't too out of the blue, except he was wearing an apron with a logo on it. He noticed the two trainers and ran up to them.

"Hello! Could it be that you two are new trainers? Well I have just the place for you to visit! The Pokemart in Viridan is your local place to stock up, prepare, and take on the world. Here, have a sample on the house!" With that, the nice gentleman handed Ash a potion.

"Don't think I forgot about you miss!" He handed another potion to Misty with a bow. "And with that, I bid you goodbye."

As he ran back to his lookout, Ash and Misty looked at each other with sweat drops forming behind their head, though they continued on grateful to have the extra healing.

A short while later, they entered a somewhat quiet town, but not as quiet as Pallet. The sign stated the town's name as 'Viridian City'. Almost directly in front of them was a giant red building and a blue building. One for healing and one for shopping. The two trainers were aware of this, due to their preparations for being out on the road. This very well could be the lifeline of any trainer out in the wild battling the world.

The town was a quaint place, not too big of a place, but still more so than Pallet town. The two travelers decided getting healed up after being out on the road would be their top priority. As they entered the building, a blinding white light greeted them. Night had fallen and the change in atmosphere was a welcome one. In the building was already a variety of people winding down for the day. At a nearby table, a man was reading a newspaper. To the right of the counter was a younger trainer on the phone with someone, gleefully laughing and retelling an adventure they had.

"Welcome!" The nurse at the counter said with a big smile, closing her eyes while tilting her head joyously. "How may I assist you tonight?"

Ash stretched as he approached the counter. With a contented sigh he answered, "I'm looking to get my Pikachu treated and was wondering if there was somewhere in town to stay for the night."

"Me too! I'm looking to get my Pokémon healed and a place to rest too." Misty stated, trying to stifle a yawn. Truth was, prior to meeting up with Ash she was getting ready to head back as she had been out battling most of the day.

"Well, we can certainly get your Pokémon in tip-top shape. As for a place to stay, we can offer rooms here as an initiative to encourage people to not sleep outside. It gets dangerous at night if you're not prepared." She wagged her finger at the two trainers.

Ash and Misty agreed to the prospect of having a safe place for the night. They handed off their Pokémon and the kind nurse showed them to their rooms. "You guys are quite lucky as there were only three rooms left. By the way if you need anything, my name is Nurse Joy. Please enjoy your stay!"

They thanked Nurse Joy and began unpacking their items for the day. Ash set aside his pack, digging into it to extract some sweat pants and a simple black t-shirt. It was just beginning to enter Spring so nights were still a bit chilly. Ahh, much better. So much happened today and it's only the first day of my journey! I even met a new friend today. She's kind of cute, but that arm of hers could use a little restraint. He subconsciously rubbed the back of his head even though it no longer hurt from the mallet. I'm a bit tired, but not enough to go to bed just yet. I guess I'll drop off that medicine that Professor Oak wanted me to.

With that thought in mind, Ash threw some socks back on and his shoes. After tying the laces, he hopped up and opened the door to his room. Right as he stepped outside, Misty had just exited her door as well. She threw Ash a smile and said "Couldn't sleep just yet either, eh?"

"I was going to walk around town a little bit, maybe check the PokeMart to stock up for tomorrow and drop off some medicine that I was asked to deliver."

"I was thinking of taking a walk too. I can join you if you don't mind my company."

Ash grinned, happy to spend more time with his new friend as they walked out of the center. Misty had thrown on some jeans and a sweater in preparation for the night. The two walked out and with the PokeMart being the closest they decided to stop there first. They learned that the mart was operated 24/7 with rotating staff. Ash dropped off the medicine and they bought some supplies. Stocking up on five pokeballs, two potions, and an antidote each, they both headed back out into the night.

"You know" He began, "I've heard stories about the Gym Leader here".

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I've heard he's actually a bad man. That's why he's never around anymore. I don't know how true that actually is, just rumors."

"Maybe not as bad as someone who blows up others bikes." Misty let out a laugh at her joke.

He just stood there with his mouth open before saying, "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Not till you repay me. I might charge even a little interest." She stated with a wink.

He just simply sighed with his head hung low in defeat. "All right, all right. Though I'm serious about the Gym Leader. Maybe we should check it out?"

"Sure, though if he's as bad as you say he is, perhaps we shouldn't sneak around at night".

"Ah what's the worst that could happen. You're not scared are ya?"

"No! Fine, you're on Ketchum." She stated as she stomped off to the biggest building in the town. Ash followed behind with his hands on the back of his head, taking his eyes off Misty, he looked at the big building in front of him when his vision changed as he had earlier.

** There was the leader of the Gym in front of him. Another obstacle towards his dream of fighting the Elite Four. Though his face was covered by the shadows. "I'm here to challenge you for the 8th Gym badge!" Ash shouted out. "Pika!" Pikachu agreed with his cheeks lit and ready for battle.

"Heh heh heh," The dark figure chuckled with malicious intent. "You've been nothing, but a thorn in my side Ash."

A sudden realization came to him and he recognized the voice. "No! It can't be! Gym leaders are supposed to be role models, the toughest of the toughest! I can't believe it's you, G-.."

He was cut off by a scowl.

"Enough! I don't want to hear your excuses anymore. I just want you out of my way." With that he raised his hand, there was a bang, and all was dark. **

Ash returned from the vision with quick breaths. He wildly looked around in panic as he took in the surroundings. What in the world was that? Thankfully Misty didn't notice me, but what did that mean? He tried to ponder it more, but wasn't successful in making out any information.

"You coming?" Misty said as she reached one of the windows to the Gym.

"Y-yeah."

He jogged the remaining distance and looked into the Gym with Misty, but they couldn't make out any features. Not too surprising as the sun was nearly down by now.

"Well that was a bust, wasn't it?" he exclaimed with a sigh.

"Yeah, but it was a fun little adventure." This time Misty did yawn. "Feel like turning in for the night?"

"Sure, lets head back."

The two walked back with no further communication as he was still thinking about his vision.

Morning came with chirping Pidgey's galore. Ash woke up and got dressed for the day. He put his scattered items in the room back where they belong and slung his backpack back on. Outside the door, Pikachu was sleeping peacefully.

Aww, he probably missed me. He scooped Pikachu into his arms and walked out to the lobby to find Misty already packed and ready.

"Morning, Misty."

"Morning, Ash."

Not being particularly awake this morning, they silently went on their way out the Pokémon Center and towards Route 2. As they went past the Gym, Ash couldn't help but take one more glance at it. Nothing happened this time so he shrugged it off as something to worry about in the future.

While on Route 2, the two walked on, taking in the beauty of the day. The sun was shining, birds chirping, and there was a slight wind. Suddenly, out of the nearby grass, out popped a Nidoran-M. It started kicking up dirt with its foot and shaking his head as if eager for battle. Looking over towards Pikachu, Ash stated "You're up buddy!"

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu leapt off his resting spot on Ash's shoulder and did a somersault onto the path.

Lets see… There's a nearby tree… Oh! I know what might work!

"Pikachu, see that tree, spring off it and use Tail Whip! Then follow up with a Thundershock!"

His face lit up as in realization of the plan and began sprinting to the tree. The Nidoran tried launching a horn attack at Pikachu, but being faster he shifted out of the way. Running up the tree, he kicked off the tree spinning forwards so as to smack Nidoran with his tail. With a resounding smack, Nidoran seemed very off-balanced so his defense was lowered.

A crackling sound started filling the air as a torrent of electricity followed up, zapping the brave battler. Nidoran began panting heavily as it withstood the attack, but barely. Ash recognized this as his chance and dramatically twisted his cap backwards, winded up, and loosed a Pokeball at the weary Pokémon. The pokeball snapped it up and plopped on the ground, before shaking. The two trainers were holding their breath before the third shake revealed a successful click.

"Allllll right! I caught my first Pokémon!" Ash and Misty both high fived as their attention was turned towards a rustling sound. Another Pokémon came out, this one more blue than its purple counterpart. It started sniffing the Pokeball before looking up at the two trainers with its head tilted as if wondering what happened.

"Oh my gosh, it's sooooo cute! I'm going to catch this one Ash, just look at its cute little whiskers. Plus this one might be related to the one you caught."

Misty walked over to the Pokémon as it didn't have any ill will. She held up her own Pokeball as she crouched down. "Did you want to come with us? Maybe join your friend? I promise we're nice." She said with such a genuine smile that the Nidoran-F happily jumped towards the ball and ended up being caught without any struggle.

"Yay! I promise to take good care of you." She stated as she hugged the Pokeball close to her.

Ash walked over to his Pokeball that was still on the ground and released the Nidoran-M. Misty did the same and the two Pokémon certainly knew each other as they frolicked around. The two decided to leave them out as they continued walking up Route 2. Pikachu even joined in the antics, eager to meet his new battling partner, as well as friends.

After that Ash and Misty made it to what appeared to be a rest house. Both of them recalled their Pokémon, except Pikachu and opened the door. They entered an air conditioned room and saw a bunch of people in hiking/bug catching gear. The people were all chatting lively and discussing tactics for getting through the forest.

Misty was the first to speak at this, "Are you sure we have to go through this forest? I've got nothing but bad feelings from this place."

"Ahh don't be a scaredy-Meowth."

With a resigned sigh, Misty reluctantly agreed to go with the plan.

As they entered the forest, all was silent. Even the wind seemed to have halted here, causing a muggy feel to the air. The silence was broken by a loud, "Pidgeot!" As they both whipped their head to look in the direction of the sound, a shadowy figure fell from the tree in Misty's direction.

Author's notes:

I took some layout ideas from other stories and tried to change the wording to my own style, but it's mainly because I enjoyed the clean look they had. I also found it important to note the ages up front in case there is confusion, so I did a style like Texas Longhorn's. I hope you enjoyed the opening story as it is meant to get into the swing of things. It took me about a year or two to even find the motivation to get this written and posted, but I'm hoping to continue this story as I have a lot planned already. Let me know what you think!