Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
It's an odd feeling, just falling down. At first, it's thrilling like going down a roller coaster, but after doing it for what seemed to be hours, you just feel and hear the air smacking into your body.
I don't remember how I ended up in this situation or where I was falling too, but all I could see around me was pure black, like a void. Nothing but darkness.
How long had I been falling for? It felt like hours, but for all I know only minutes could have passed. Why was I falling? The last thing I could recall was swimming in the ocean before being slammed by a huge wave.
Was this all a dream?
My thoughts were cut short as a bright light started to push out the darkness. My eyes scanned the light as it came closer and closer to me.
I shut my eyes to stop the pain my eyes were going through from readjusting to the light so quickly and after being in the darkness for so long.
I heard a noise, that sounded like a roar and the air around me began to increase violently with my breath being caught in my throat.
Then nothing. I opened my eyes and squinted as they adjusted to the light peeking out of the window. I groaned as I got up from the bed I was laying in and looked towards the ground where my eyes stopped.
A big Snorlax bean bag was just sitting in the middle of my room. Then I began to look around and quickly noticed that this was in fact... not my room. There was Pokémon crap all over the place. Although I don't ever recall being in this room. I've felt like I have seen it before.
Climbing out of bed I froze when I saw my reflection from the window. Black spikey hair, stupid zig zags on my cheeks, dumb looking face, body of a 10-year-old kid when I definitely remembered being 16.
Why the hell was I staring at Ash Ketchum? More like why was I Ash Ketchum? My brain broke when I saw a Pidgey fly by.
I quickly looked around the room and noticed the poster of the three Kanto starters and then took notice of my clothes.
I was green and yellow pajamas that Ash wore in the first episode of the show.
Did I die? Was this some kind of trick? This must be a dream, right? I quickly pinched myself, bit my cheek, smacked my head, but nope. Nothing happened I was still here.
Why was this happening? Was the roar that I heard some sort of God or Pokémon or something that put me here?
So many questions were flying around in my head. I stood still, took a deep breath and made sense of my current situation.
I am in Ash Ketchum's body, in the Pokémon World, and if I'm right, then this is the day Ash's journey began.
I didn't know whether to feel happy, sad, or scared.
Happy because I mean come on, who hasn't wanted to be in the Pokémon World before, sad because I didn't know If I would ever be able to go back home, and finally scared because I didn't know if I was dead or why all of this was happening.
Sitting down on Snorlax, I took a deep breath. My situation was odd, very odd, but I was kind of excited as well. Pokémon was my thing growing up and I still played it every now and then. Was this a new chance at life?
My old life had been pretty boring. Adopted kid whose parents preferred their actual child, average grades in school, with few friends that only really counted as school friends and not much else.
I didn't think I would be missed much if I was being honest, and if I'm here in Ash's body I might as well make the most it, right?
With those thoughts going through my head, I got up and decided on my next course of actions. First things first I changed out of my pajamas and put on some clothes from the closet.
Light blue pants with a belt that had slots for Poké balls, black shirt, and blue jacket with the collar white. This was the Ash's first fit in the Kanto region.
There were also green gloves, and I could see the usefulness for those in this world, but I decided against it. I'd buy some black ones later or something.
Money. I just realized I had no money. Hmm now I wonder how that worked here.
Opening the door, I slowly walked towards the stairs and began to climb down. Reaching the bottom, I walked around the hall and froze when I saw an older woman with brown hair washing the dishes. I knew that it had to be Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother and my brain started showing me random memories. They showed moments of us together or of Ash and Delia I mean.
This was weird, it was like I had all of Ash's memories.
My thoughts were interrupted when a voice called out to me.
"Ash, your bag is by the door, you better grab it and hurry over to Professor Oak's or else you'll be late to get your Pokémon." said Delia looking at me.
"O-oh okay, I'll head over right now." I replied quickly.
"Alright, I'll meet you by the gate before you leave." she said with a soft smile before turning back to the sink.
I turned around before walking towards the door and picking up the green backpack. Connected to the top of it was a sleeping bag. I opened it to see what I had packed inside. I noticed an extra pair of sneakers with some jeans, nice clean shirts, and underwear. Some snacks alongside a thermal with hot chocolate inside with a pair of rubber gloves.
Satisfied with what I had to start off my Journey I closed it up and placed it around my shoulders. Opening the door, I walked out of the small front yard and reached the road. I looked both directions and then got hit with the memories of the directions to the lab of the Pokémon Professor.
Beginning my walk, I started out my plan of what to do. First things first, Ash was a total idiot. Half of the badges he got in Kanto were basically given to him out of pity, and in my opinion, he caught way too many Pokémon. I mean yea it's cool to be diverse and catch a few of the same types, but this dude had like a dozen different flying types. So, I was going to cut down on some of the Pokémon he had caught.
If I remembered correctly, for Kanto besides Pikachu, he caught a Caterpie that evolved all the way to Butterfree who he later released, a Pidgeotto who became a Pidgot and was also released, a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander who fully evolved into Charizard, Muk, Primeape and Krabby who evolved into a Kingler and like 30 Tauros.
I'll probably still be given Pikachu and I mean I can't really complain since I'll get the chance to catch all the other starters anyways. Besides Pikachu became a beast later on, as long as he doesn't slack off and lose to a starter Pokémon after just beating a legendary then we will be fine.
Caterpie will probably be a no go, sorry little guy.
Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander will all be more than welcomed, but I will defiantly encourage them to all to evolve if they have the opportunity too.
Speaking of evolving, Charmander became a little shit after he evolved and ended up causing Ash his chance in the Indigo Conference when he should have been his damn ace in the tournament.
That crap wasn't flying by me. Although since Ash only actually get half the badges legitimately, it did kind of make sense that Charmander started ignoring him after he evolved.
On another note, I will plan on letting Charizard train in the Charicific Valley. Only if he shows that he isn't the strongest Charizard there, but the moment he's done with his training then he'll come back with me. Besides Pikachu, Charizard will probably be the next Pokémon on my team the most.
Charizard had always been my personal favorite Pokémon.
With an eventual Charizard and Pidegotto, I'd have two 2 flying types and like I said Ash did capture a lot of flying types, which is something that I want to avoid. Although in this case it might be beneficial. Having two flying types that can battle each other in the air would definitely help.
His Pidegot, despite only having a short amount of screen time after it evolved had been powerful. I'd prefer to keep Pidgot over capturing the likes of Noctowl, even though it was a shiny, or Swallow. Staraptor had been one of the Pokémon I really liked and I might capture it depending how are team looks when we get that far,
Well, I'll cross that road once we get to it.
I liked Muk don't get me wrong, but I just feel like he'll be one of those Pokémon that'll slowly just be left at Oak's lab once I get further into the regions. Besides I will already have a poison type in Bulbasaur and I don't see the benefit of having 2 of them like 2 flying types.
I don't know about Krabby though, the only thing I really remember him doing was sweeping the first guy in the Indigo Conference, and if he could do that then I don't really see why Squirtle or someone else couldn't. That was his first battle ever and he swept the dude. That guy sucked, losing to first time battling Pokémon.
The 30 Tauros was a no definitely, and I'll probably not even capture one. Never really liked them that much.
Then finally there was Primeape who Ash had for a whole like 2 minutes before giving him to some guy to leave training and never looked back. Not that I had anything against the Mankey line, I just believed that there were way better options.
That raised another question. Should I branch out and capture Pokémon that Ash didn't capture in canon or should I try to stick to only the ones that he caught?
I'd probably want to branch out more, I mean getting a psychic type would be useful and I don't recall Ash ever getting one.
So far, I have a 5 Pokémon from Ash's original captures in Kanto, meaning I would need to add at least one more and probably a second to have a backup.
Pikachu would most likely always stick with me and there was no damn way that I would be starting "fresh" each region. Don't get me wrong I'll capture more Pokémon as I go but definitely rotate the team around.
If anything, having the newly captured Pokémon train and battle with the more experienced one's would be beneficial.
Ash had around like maybe 40-50 different species of Pokémon. Some of them were beast like his Sceptile, Infernape, Greninja. Some were mediocre like Corphish, Torkal, Buizel. Then some were straight trash like most of his team from Unova besides Krookodile and Snivey if I remember correctly.
God thinking about Unova pissed me off. Ash went from great development in Sinnoh right back to square one in Unova with being a dumbass.
Then there were the ones with wasted potential like the three Johto staters. I mean Bayleef showed promise, Totodile beat a freaking Kingdra, and Cyndaquil evolved the moment Ash brought him back during Sinnoh and don't even get me started with fucking Gible.
Ash had in my opinion the most powerful dragon type line out there in Gible, who was a beast. He came took out a Dusknoir in the lily of the valley, and the fact that the homie learnt freaking Draco Meteor in the little time Ash had him. Just imagine how powerful he could have become if Ash hadn't just left him to rot in Oak's lab to never use him again.
With those thoughts, I needed to figure out what I wanted to do. I mean I don't really care about becoming a Pokémon Master, I mean I'm pretty sure I'll achieve that if I make it big in this world anyways.
Did I want to be a Champion?
For now, I think I want to focus on my first conference and see how really difficult it is and after I'll decide what to do from there.
All of this, is assuming that everything follows like canon. For all I know I could end up not even encountering any of the Pokémon that Ash did, or events may even play out differently.
Shaking my head, I saw the Professors Lab high up on a mountain with a staircase leading to it. Outside of the gate to the stairs, stood a large group of people.
Walking through everyone, I came face to face with my first rival. Gary Oak, Ash's childhood friend turned rival and also the grandson of the Professor.
"If it isn't Ash." said Gary with a smirk.
"Yo." I said with a hand wave and eye smile similar to a certain masked ninja.
Gary blinked at that before smirking all over.
"Late as always Ash. I've already got my Pokémon and you don't. It's looks like you'll always be a step behind me." said Gary with a grin.
I rolled my eyes at that.
"Yea, okay." was my simple reply.
Gary looked at me for a long second before gaining a smile and speaking loudly to the gathered crowd.
"Thank you, fans! Thank you for this great honor! I promise you that I will become a Pokémon Master, and make the town of Pallet known all around the world!
The crowd roared with approval and clapped at his declaration.
I smiled and clapped along; it'll make it all better when I thrash him in the future.
He looked at me again with clear confusion written all over his face, but shrugged and walked around me and jumping in the back of a car and began to drive off while speaking to the crowd who followed after him.
Did he drive all around the region?
Before my thoughts could drive me anywhere else, a voice come from behind me.
"So, decided to show up after all?" someone said who I know instantly recognized as the world-famous Professor Oak.
"Good morning Professor Oak, I apologize for being late, I had a crazy morning." I said with a sheepish smile.
"Hmm, it happens to the best of us, follow me Ash." replied the wise old man with a small smile.
Following him up the stairs, I had to appreciate the view from the top. It was beautiful and gave me a full picture of Pallet Town.
"Something the matter Ash?" asked the Professor.
I turned to him and replied with a simple answer and smile.
"No Professor, I'm just enjoying my final moments in Pallet Town before I head off on my journey."
The aged man looked at me a smiled.
"Ah, I understand. You never truly notice the small things until it's already too late." he replied with an understanding smile.
Going inside a small room, there was a stand with a glass cover that had three Poké Balls with a sticker of fire, water, and grass.
I decided to amuse the Professor and picked up the Poké Ball with a fire sticker.
"It was a hard choice, but in the end my love for Charizard won out."
I opened the Poké Ball and got the expected action. It was empty. Placing it back, I grabbed the one with a water symbol and opened it, but it was once again empty.
"Already taken by another trainer." said the Professor with a smile.
If the events are going like it did, then Gary should have been the one to select Squirtle.
Placing it back, I grabbed the last Poké Ball and was once again given the view of an empty ball.
"The early bird gets the worm... Or in this case, uhm, the Pokémon." said Professor Oak.
"Does this mean you're out of Pokémon Professor?" I asked.
"Well, I still have one more Pokémon up here, although he is a newly captured one." he replied.
"Aren't technically all the starters new captures?" I asked.
The Professor shook his head.
"You see Ash, all the starter Pokémon that I give away are trained from when they are hatched to be given away to starter trainers. They understand that they will be given to a new trainer and are meant to follow their directions." he answered.
I nodded at that. It actually made a lot of sense thinking about it. That must be another reason why not a lot of people are given starters so often, especially from the species that Professor Oak gives out since they are quite rare.
"So, you see, the one I have up here isn't trained to follow a new trainer."
"Hmm, would it still be okay for me to take it? I'll eventually capture new Pokémon, and I'll need to be able to train them to follow my lead and this could be a test for me now plus give me a view of how to do it for the future." I asked.
He smiled and nodded at that.
"That it true, it would be a good way to learn." he said as he pressed a button on the stand that unlocked a fourth slot where another Poké Ball came out with a lighting symbol on it.
"Well, seeing as you're ready for the challenge. This Poké Ball contains the lighting type Pikachu, although if you want, I do have a few other options in the backyard that haven't been fully trained yet as well."
I raised my eyebrow at that. I could potentially start with another starter?
"What options would be available to me?" I asked.
The Professor put on a thinking face and he placed his hand on his chin.
"Hmm, well there are some Nidoran, Oddish, and a couple of young Growlithe."
I instantly ruled out Oddish. Nidoran could be a powerful addition to the team once fully evolved, but I felt like they could be easy to find if I really wanted one. Growlithe on the other hand did peak my interest.
In the end I decided to stick with Pikachu and hope that I would still end up with Charmander.
"Thank you for the options Professor, but I think I'll stick with Pikachu."
The Professor simply nodded and handed me the Poké Ball containing the Eletric type.
I took a breath and released the Pokémon.
In a flash of red, a small, mouse-like Pokémon that had short, yellow fur with brown markings covering its back and part of its tails came out. It also had a black-tipped, pointy ears and red circles on its cheeks, with its tails being shaped in the form of a lightning bolt.
I grinned; it was really adorable if I was being honest.
"Hey Pikachu, my name is Ash and I'm starting off on my Pokémon Journey today. I was hoping that you would like to join me and become my partner." I simply said.
Pikachu looked at me warily and growled at the Poké Ball in my hand as he began to spark electricity from his red cheeks.
I slowly placed the ball on the floor and looked at Pikachu.
"Do you not like the ball." I asked.
Pikachu stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding its head.
"Okay, don't worry. If you decide to come with me you don't have to go inside of it unless it's a big emergency. Other than that, you can simply walk beside me or I can carry you."
Pikachu looked at Professor Oak before casting its gaze back on me. He slowly nodded his head.
I grinned back and looked at the Professor who looked impressed.
"I'm proud of how you handled the situation Ash. I'll look forward to the progress you make with Pikachu." he said as he clapped his hand.
"Now with that being out of the way, let me hand you your Pokédex and 5 Poké Balls."
He grabbed the items out of his jacked and handed me 5 more red Poké Balls similar to the that of Pikachu's except with no sticker or symbols on them. The other item was a small red device.
"Your Pokédex will be one of your biggest tools Ash. It'll let you most of the information of a Pokémon you come across and give a bigger description for the one's you capture. Plus, it will provide information on any Pokémon you type into the search bar and give opinions on how to raise, train, and help them grow. Although currently, it only has the data of Pokémon from the Kanto and Johto Region. My colleges from the other regions are currently gathering the data for me to implement them into the Pokedex in the future with more updates to come."
I nodded at that, the Pokédex seemed a lot more useful than the anime give it credit for.
"It also comes with a built-in map and will give you access to your trainer ID. Finally, whenever you have a battle with a trainer out in the wild, the Pokédex will help setup an official match with the winner receiving 5% money from the losing trainer's own account. Each Pokédex is connected to a personal account and I have already started you and the other 3 trainers with a total of $3000 Pokédollars."
I smiled at that. This was truly a useful device.
"Thank you, Professor. I truly appreciate the opportunity you are giving me." I spoke.
"Think nothing of it my boy, just promise me to do the best you can and stay safe." he replied with a smile.
I nodded with a smile as I placed Pikachu's Poké Ball on my belt along with the 5 empty ones.
Line
Reaching the bottom of the stairs alongside the Professor. I came into contact with a small group of people and my mom. There were cheering and had a small "Go Ash" banner.
I smiled at that and partly felt bad. I had completely taken over Ash's body. I wondered if part of him was still inside of me or if he just disappeared. He had waited for this day his whole life and now it was me in his shoes instead.
I'll do my best to make a name for myself as him I promised myself.
"Oh, Ash I'm so proud of you. You're finally going to fulfill your dream and it starts with your Pokémon training. But I-I'm going to miss you so much. Oh, my little boy." said Delia with her eyes beginning to tear up.
Before I could say anything, she spotted Pikachu by my side and instantly perked up.
"Oh, is this your starter?" she asked with a smile.
"Yea, this is Pikachu." I replied.
"Take care of my Ash, okay Pikachu." she said towards the yellow Pokémon.
Pikachu looked at her for a long moment before slowly nodding its head.
She quickly gave me a hug before giving me a few more heartwarming words.
I smiled and waved at the crowd as I began to walk towards the route that would lead me to Viridian Forest. Although before I could get far, Delia called out once more.
"Don't forget to change your underwear every single day."
I faltered and even Pikachu snickered a bit at that.
I eventually composed myself.
"Yea, laugh it up." I said towards my starter.
In a few moments we were at the entrance for Route 1. I took a deep breath and walk forward.
AN
Well, here is chapter 1 for the SI fanfiction. I'll probably set up another poll on if I should stick to only the Pokémon that Ash captured in canon or if I should add some new ones along the line.
If you have any suggestions of which Pokémon, I should capture down the line then by all means leave a review.
Also, currently I don't know if I want Misty to tag along as I never liked her character much, but to be honest I don't even know if I want to add other traveling companions as well besides Brock. I'd rather just focus on "Ash". Let me hear your opinions on this.
I'll be honest now and say that I probably won't be updating frequently, as of now I have about 2-3 weeks before I head back to school, but I'll try to upload at least once every other week.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this new story.
RNR