Professor Oak was looking at him with inquiring eyes.
"So what? Which one will you choose as your starting Pokémon?"
Ash could barely contain his excitement.
He looked at the Bulbasaur.
A plant type?, he thought.
He turned his focus to Squirtle.
He's really cute, he thought as he watched the turtle hide into its shell, timid.
Next up was Charmander, a small orange lizard that evolved into Kanto's most popular Pokémon, Charizard.
A Charizard is very valuable, he thought, confused.
That indecision was killing him. He needed to choose his starting Pokémon in order to go on his journey. However, he couldn't decide which of the three he would choose as a partner.
"I..."
Ash was about to say something when he heard a voice yelling in the distance.
Ash. Ash. Wake up Ash, you're already late.
Ash rubbed his eyes, trying to put the sleep away. Ahead of him was his mother, Delia Ketchum, moving him back and forth with her hands.
"What's wrong?" Ash said, still sleepy. He yawned.
Delia looked at him.
"You're seriously late. Professor Oak at this point must be quite impatient with you."
Ash's eyes widened . " FUCK", he ended up blurting out without meaning to.
Delia gave him a reproachful look. She hated when he used that kind of language.
It's true! I can't be late today.
Quickly, he rose from the bed. He wore his trainer outfit and his cap. His backpack was already organized in the wardrobe so he didn't have any trouble getting it.
"Aren't you going to get your breakfast before you leave?"
Ash turned to her with a straight face.
"Mom, I don't know if you noticed but I'm more than late!" He put on his socks and sneakers. "Today I need to choose my starting Pokémon, I don't know why this damn alarm clock didn't go off!"
"Aren't you even going to take a shower?"
"No," he replied dryly. "I need to run as fast as I can. Then I'll be back home."
Ash gave Delia a kiss on the forehead and ran, down the stairs of his house and almost bumping into Mr. Mime, who was cleaning the floor with a broom.
"Mime Mime!", cursed the Pokemon behind Ash's back.
Ash walked out the door. He picked up his bicycle, parked beside the house, and pedaled off along the streets of Pallet town.
When he finally arrived in front of Professor Oak's laboratory, he gasped with fatigue. He got off his bike, leaving it anchored to a wall of the place, and walked towards the entrance.
When he got inside, he pushed his way through Oak's lab assistants and got in front of the old man.
Oak was sitting in his chair. He was flipping through a book when he stopped and looked at Ash.
"Ash, finally, I thought you weren't coming..."
Ash took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Sorry sir... It's just that the alarm clock at home malfunctioned and ended up not ringing."
From the expression on Oak's face, Ash knew something was wrong.
"So... Will I still be able to choose my starting Pokemon?", asked Ash, fearfully.
It couldn't go wrong. Since he was five years old, he dreamed of that moment when he would choose his starter pokémon and go out into the world, discover more about the Pokemons and visit places he never seen before. He's dreamed of that moment all his life and, now that he's finally turned ten years old, nothing could go wrong.
"Ash, unfortunately...", Oak was searching for the right words to express something. And from the tone of voice, Ash could already guess that the news wasn't any good. "Unfortunately all the Pokémon have already been chosen."
Ash dropped to his knees on the floor. "How so?" he asked in disbelief.
"Look... My nephew Gary was the first to arrive and ended up with Charmander. Then Yellow, a trainer from Viridian City, arrived here and took the Bulbasaur for herself."
"Gary..."
Gary was his archenemy and sworn rival. A snobbish boy who thought he was the last cookie in the package. Ash still remembers the time the two had fought in a school fight and were separated by the teacher.
"You two don't have anything else to do?", she had scolded.
It had been a year since he graduated from Pokémon school, even so, he still despised Gary with all his strength.
"But if they're both left with Charmander and Bulbasaur that means there's still Squirtle left," Ash said hopefully.
Oak shook his head in denial.
"I was about to get to this part... Earlier today, even before Gary and Yellow arrived to choose their starter Pokemons, I found out that the lab ended up being robbed. The cameras caught a young woman with brown hair and similar stature of yours. She ended up stealing the Squirtle's Pokeball and ran away. I've already reported everything to Oficcer Jenny, until now I can't do anything... Except wait for the police to work."
Ash turned dark.
This means that I don't have any Pokemon left.
He got up off the floor and collected himself. He suddenly smiled.
"It doesn't matter that I haven't gotten a starter, I'll still be setting off on my journey!"
He tucked his cap under his head.
"Ash, I'm sorry. Your mother told me that it was your dream to choose one of the first Pokemons to go on your journey. If you want..."
Ash didn't let him finish and then said, "If I didn't get a starter Pokemon, that's fine! I'm going to capture a wild Pokemon and soon I'll be leaving Pallet."
Oak got up from the chair where he was sitting and opened some drawer. From there, he pulled out what Ash could identify as a pokédex.
"Here's your Pokédex. I hope you're lucky on your journey and, you know, whenever you want to deposit a Pokémon I'll be there for you!"
Ash nodded. He tucked the pokédex into his pocket and left the lab.
As he pedaled his bike back home, he thought about the next steps he would take.
Although his journey did not start as he imagined, he still knew that, on that day, he was taking the first step towards his dream.
Become a pokémon master!