Chapter 3

AN: For the record, I have not decided on a final pairing for Ash. Just because there is Pokeshipping in the chapter doesn't mean I am going with Misty. Ash is only fifteen so I am going to have him be a few relationships before he finally finds the one.

Ash pushed a branch out of his way and let Misty through before turning and smiling at the sight of Pewter City. Over the last two weeks, the two teens had spent time training and capturing any pokemon they felt would be useful. At the coast, Misty had captured a Poliwag, which had quickly evolved into a Poliwhirl, a Shellder with the ability skill link, and finally at Ash's urging she had captured a Magikarp to get over her fear of Gyarados. Overall the water trainer was pleased with her haul and was very thankful to Ash.

Said trainer was slightly more selective about his captures. When he had talked to Professor Oak the man had told him that Gary had already captured over twenty five pokemon but that included multiple of the same species. Ash frowned at this. Why should he waist not only the money for pokeballs, but the time he had on capturing the same pokemon. Granted they were all special but it wasn't fair to the team if only used the strongest. While walking through Viridian Forest, Ash had captured a Caterpie which quickly evolved into its final form of Butterfree, a Pidgeotto, and his most valuable capture…a Scyther. Once they arrived at the edge of the forest, they spent four days training and preparing for Ash's gym battle. Misty had complimented Ash multiple times on his abilities with pokemon and joked that he must have been blessed by the Legendaries.

Ash suspected that his three starter pokemon were close to evolving and he was certain that Shinx would evolve with one more battle. The little electric type had grown very aggressive which was a sign in his species that they were going to evolve. Aside from that the only thing different was the attacks that his pokemon had worked on. Each of them had mastered two new moves which was unheard of without the use of a TM. Ash smiled at the progress he had made and knew that they would only grow stronger in time.

"Ash?" The teen looked at Misty and smiled, "What?"

The redhead shook her head, "You seemed to space out, are you alright?"

Her friend chuckled, "Yeah I was just thinking about our progress over the last two weeks. I still am trying to figure out what Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle are working on."

Over the two weeks, the three Kanto starters had taken an hour each day to work on a secret project for their trainer. Ash was very eager to figure out what it was but they refused to let him in on the secret.

Misty thought, "It could be some kind of attack or maybe they are trying to evolve for you sooner."

Ash nodded at the possibilities as they arrived at the center, "I guess, but I'm not sure why they would try and force themselves. We are a team and I want them to work at their own pace."

Ash and Misty healed their pokemon before they headed to the Pewter Gym. Misty decided to go to some of the local stores and shop while Ash battled. Ash knew the Kanto region by heart as well as the gyms and the types they specialized in. In total, there were fifteen gyms in each region but they had a specific eight that were considered the 'poster' gyms. These were the gyms that were on the main routes of the region and were the most accessible to trainers. This also meant that they were stronger than the other gyms considering the high number of battles.

Ash pushed open the doors to the gym and let his eyes get use to the darkness, "Hello?"

A deep voice spoke in the darkness, "What do you want?"

Ash grew determined, "My name is Ash Ketchum and I'm here to challenge Brock of the Pewter City Gym."

A low chuckled responded, "You really think you have a chance at beating me?" The lights in the gym flashed on and Ash found himself looking at a tan skinned man with squinty eyes and spiky hair.

"I know I have a chance, I have been preparing for two weeks."

Brock raised an eyebrow, "That is something that most trainers don't do. I had three battles yesterday and all of them were new trainers who thought they would win by just type advantage. I showed them how wrong they were." Brock stood up from the chair he had been sitting in, "This will be a two on two match and the victor will be decided when both pokemon of one trainer are unable to battle."

Ash nodded and pulled a ball from his belt.

Brock chose first, "Geodude let's rock!" A large boulder like pokemon with two arms appeared and floated over the field.

Ash threw his ball and called out, "Shinx I need your assistance!" The small electric type appeared and instantly started growling at the rock type.

Brock laughed deeply, "You are really think just because you have a rare pokemon that you can win? Do you even know about types and how they play roles in battle?"

Ash remained silent and grew serious. Brock shook his head, "Geodude use rock throw and end this!" The rock type grabbed several small boulders and tossed them at Shinx. "It's over."

Ash glared at the rocks, "Protect." A large shield appeared around Shinx and the rocks simply slammed into it and bounce off.

"Get in close." Shinx rushed forward and growled at Geodude as he ran towards him.

Brock was caught off guard by the move but quickly countered, "Geodude use tackle attack!" His pokemon pounded his fists together before rushing forward.

"Shinx full power iron tail now!" The little electric type jumped up and spun around before bringing his glowing tail down upon Geodude's head. The rock type crashed into the ground, unconscious.

Brock looked on in shock, "How?"

Ash ignored him and smiled when Shinx gave a loud yelp and was engulfed with a bright white light. His body grew to a medium size before finally dimming down. The pokemon that now stood there was the same coloring as Shinx except he had a more feral look to him. The first signs of a mane could be seen and his eyes held a sharp look to them. The pokemon took a deep breath and let out a cry, "Luxio!"

Ash smiled and pumped his fist, "You evolved Luxio, great job my friend!" The electric type smiled and walked over to Ash and sat down next to his trainer.

Brock returned his fainted pokemon, "It seems I underestimated you, something that I will now fix, Onix let's rock!" A massive snake like creature appeared on the field. Its body was made of massive boulders that were connected together all the way up to its head. The head of the pokemon had a large pointed horn and it opened its jaws and gave a powerful gravely roar.

Ash sized up the new threat and while Luxio was still fresh the fact remained that Onix was huge. Taking a moment to weigh his options, Ash finally pulled a ball out, "Bulbasaur I need your assistance!" The grass type starter appeared and glared at the opposing pokemon.

"Onix tackle attack!" The giant rock snake charged forward with his head bent low.

"Bulbasaur counter with magical leaf and then razor leaf." A swirling vortex of multi-colored leaves shot forth from the bulb on the grass type's back before a second volley of green leaves shot forward and joined the attack. Onix had no time to protect himself as the super effective move engulfed him and caused him intense pain.

"Onix break free and use bind." The rock type thrashed his body around and managed to finally be rid of the leaves. He rushed forward and managed to catch Bulbasaur in a stony death grip that squeezed down hard. Ash's eyes went wide when Bulbasaur cried out in pain.

He looked at his pokemon and then to Brock who was wearing a smug smile, "You better forfeit, once Onix has his opponent in his grasp there is nothing they can do."

Ash shook his head, "I didn't come here to lose."

Brock shrugged, "Onix finish it off." The rock type roared as he began to squeeze down harder, steadily weakening Bulbasaur more and more.

Ash kept his eyes on his pokemon until he caught the faintest sight of a green aura envelope his friend. "Bulbasaur energy ball full power!" His Pokémon's eyes opened and flashed green before the opening on his bulb shot out a powerful orb of luminous green energy. It struck Onix right in the face and forced him to lose his grip.

"Onix attack him with tackle!"

Ash smiled as Bulbasaur's ability overgrow took full effect, "Alright buddy, use magical leaf one more time." The multicolored leaves shot forward and a much faster pace than before and slammed into Onix.

Brock's pokemon roared in agony before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground. Brock looked on in shock before sighing and returning his pokemon. Once Onix was in his ball,

Brock smiled weakly at Ash, "I highly underestimated you Ash. For your victory over the Pewter City gym I hereby award you with the boulder badge." Brock pulled out a small gray badge that looked like it was a piece of stone. He handed it to Ash who looked at it and smiled as he put it into his badge case.

"Thank you Brock. I look forward to having a rematch with you in the future." Brock nodded and shook Ash's hand before watching the young man walk out.

*PSOR*

Ash met up with Misty at the Pokemon center and saw that she had several bags with her, "What did you find Misty?"

She smiled, "Oh just a couple of clothes and accessories, nothing to major."

Ash chuckled, "And where is all this going to be put?"

Misty sweat-dropped at this, "I ah, I hadn't really thought about that yet."

Ash shook his head, "You could always mail it to Cerulean."

Misty thought for a moment, "You're right Ash. Give me a few minutes and then we can go."

Before Ash could respond, Misty ran off towards the post office. Deciding to waste some time, Ash slowly walked towards the museum that was on the north side of the city. Upon entering he spent his time looking at the fossils of ancient pokemon and couldn't help but be in awe at them. Of all the exhibits, his favorite was that of a large dinosaur like skeleton with a large cap of bone upon its head. The skeleton had several spikes along the brow of its head and held a very menacing look to it.

Ash looked at the information and read to himself, "Rampardos…If two of these pokemon were to smash their heads together, their foot-thick skulls would keep them from fainting."

Ash whistled, "Sounds like my kind of pokemon." A soft snigger brought his attention away from the skeleton to reveal a man in a lab coat leaning up against the wall. Ash ignored him but when he made a sound Ash looked over at him, "Can I help you?"

The man looked around and then gestured to Ash for him to follow. Ash walked over and followed the man into a lab. "What is this about?"

The man pointed to the table and Ash found himself looking at a group of rocks and a piece of amber colored see through material. Ash's eyes widened as he realized that he was looking at fossils.

When he opened his mouth to talk the man spoke first, "You are a pokemon trainer are you not?" Ash nodded, "Well as you can see here I have fossils of nine prehistoric pokemon. My team and I have been working on a little project that we hope will work…and that is bringing pokemon back to life."

Ash's eyes widened dramatically, "That's not possible."

The scientist chuckled, "My boy, there have been leaps and bound in the field of pokemon resurrection. My team has a facility on Cinnabar Island and to date we have brought twenty pokemon back to life. In fact, two of the gym leaders from Sinnoh use two of the pokemon we brought back."

Ash shook his head in shock, "Then why did you bring me back here?"

The man smiled wider, "I have a proposition for you my boy. I know who you are Ash Ketchum and I know you are destined for greatness. I want to give you a choice of two fossils to have restored at our facility on Cinnabar Island."

Ash's eyes widened at the prospect of getting fossils restored. He was about to say yes but then he thought of something, "What is the catch? Why are you giving me this chance and no one else?"

The scientist smiled wider and brushed a strand of his white hair out of his eyes, "Can't I be nice to a trainer that shows promise?" When Ash was silent he continued, "Let's put it this way, these fossils will be put on display for a few months and then put into storage as new ones are found. The way I see it, they are much better off with the chance of being restored back to life then collecting dust."

Ash looked at the fossils and noticed the one with a round dome like shape to it with spikes running around the sides. He gently touched it and heard the scientist, "That is the skull fossil and from what we can tell it has the DNA of a Cranidos."

Ash's eyes glanced back at the skeleton of Rampardos and picked up the fossil, "I will pick this one for sure."

The scientist nodded and smiled as Ash looked over the rest of the fossils. He finally made up his mind and selected the dome fossil that held the DNA of Kabuto.

The man clapped his hands together, "Excellent choices my boy. Now, I will take the liberty of getting them to Cinnabar and you should have your new pokemon within a few weeks."

Ash nodded slowly still trying to process the information. The man escorted Ash out of the back room and patted him on the back, "It was good to finally meet you my boy. I can't wait to see what happens to you in the future."

Before Ash could respond the man closed the door and Ash simply walked out, not noticing the sign on the floor that said broom closet.

*PSOR*

As the man closed the door he let out a breath of air and cracked his neck before his eyes flashed blue and the room shifted back into a broom closet. His eyes flashed again and he vanished and reappeared on the top of a tower in the region of Johto. His body flashed white and he grew to a massive size with a white body and hand like wings. Upon his back was a line of blue fin like spines that would mold to his skin. The creature craned his long neck and looked at another bird like pokemon that was nesting across from him.

"It is done."

The pokemon across from him nodded her head, "Thank you Lugia."

Lugia looked at a group of six pokemon sitting on the far side. Three of them were birds with obvious elemental ties to each. The other three pokemon were dog like and also looked to have some tie to an element.

One of the dogs that was colored yellow and resembled a tiger growled, "I don't like it. Why should we waste our time helping this child? Humans have no right to control us or receive our blessings."

Ho-Oh glanced at the dog, "Peace Raikou, you know as well as I do that the Chosen One is going to bring balance to the world. We are simply helping him along the way."

Another dog spoke up, "Just because the child is destined for greatness doesn't mean we should go out of our way."

One of the birds that was blue and had a long elegant tail flapped her wings, "And what would you have us do Entei? Let the child be left to fate and hope he is ready?"

The legendary dog grumbled to himself. Ho-Oh and Lugia looked to their charges and then to each other, "Lord Arceus has declared that we are all to watch and protect the Chosen One until such a time as he has to save the world. He did not say that we could not aide the child in his journey."

Lugia nodded in agreement with Ho-Oh, "The boy is as pure of heart as Arceus foretold. Granted he has some anger issues thanks to the bullying he received as a child, but he would never harm a pokemon out of hatred. I will continue to watch the boy as I hope you all will as well." The other seven legendaries nodded in understanding before they all decided to return to their respective posts.

*PSOR*

Later that night, Ash was curled up in his sleeping bag surrounded by Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle. Misty was on the other side of the fire in her own sleeping bag. Ash was staring at the star filled sky as he tried to fall asleep. His mind was going wild with hundreds of thoughts but the most prominent was the scientist from earlier. When Misty had found out, she had been very concerned about it and wasn't sure if he should keep the fossils. For all they know, the fossils could have been stolen and sold on the black market which would put them in danger.

Ash chuckled and calmed his friend down by saying that he would return them the moment he heard something about stolen fossils, otherwise, he was going to keep his new pokemon when he got them. Another thought that was plaguing him was his luck with pokemon. Most trainers didn't have a full party until they had their third or fourth gym badge yet here he was with eleven pokemon…nine if you didn't include the fossils. Not only that, but most of his team were pokemon that were considered rare in this portion of Kanto.

For one thing his three starters should have only been one. His Luxio shouldn't even be in Kanto but since his Dad had a Luxray that one was explainable. Spearow, Butterfree and Magikarp were not unusual for this area but Pidgeotto and Scyther were. Granted the bird pokemon was seen in the area but only once in a great while. Scyther on the other hand was very rare. In fact, outside of the Safari Zone they were almost unheard of in the wild. The fact that he had been this lucky so far was starting to make his mind wonder.

The young man shook his head and brought his pillow over his face in an attempt to drown out the world but sadly sleep continued to elude him. Putting the pillow back under his head, the young trainer looked to his three starter pokemon. Each of them was powerful in their own right and the fact that they had together for several years helped him understand their bond. He knew that each of them had been abandoned by their previous trainer and it had scared all of them heavily…especially Bulbasaur. Granted he was fiercely loyal to Ash but when another person is concerned, it would be best if they stayed clear from the grass type. Charmander had a very timid nature about him when Ash first befriended him. The scar upon his face was a reminder of the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his former trainer, something that made Ash's blood boil. He had vowed to the little fire type that if they ever came in contact with his former trainer that they would destroy him with no remorse. Charmander had only been too happy to agree to this and had thrown himself into training like no tomorrow. The image of him being fully evolved and standing over the smoldering corpse of his former trainer being his drive. Squirtle was another interesting character. The water type was fond of playing practical jokes but also had a large passion for battling and becoming stronger.

The thing that Ash couldn't wrap his mind around was why people would abandon their pokemon. Any pokemon could be strong, it just took work. Look at the Kanto Champion Lance, he started out with a simple Dratini but through lots of hard work, the little dragon pokemon had grown into most likely the most powerful pokemon in the Kanto Region…outside the legendaries of course. The only pokemon that could possibly come close was the starter of the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, her Garchomp.

The Pallet Town trainer shook his head as his mind started to over think again. He growled in frustration when sleep continued to elude him so he simple rolled over in his sleeping bag and put his pillow over his head.

*PSOR*

The next thing Ash realized was that he was being shaken awake by Misty who was looking at him strangely, "Are you alright Ash? You look like you are getting sick."

He simply shook his head, "I didn't sleep well last night, nothing to worry about."

Misty slowly nodded her head, "Ok…are you feeling up to tackling Mt. Moon today? We have two options with that. We can go through it and be out within a day or we can go around it and take another week."

Ash thought about the options. While he wanted to get to the badge as fast as he could, he didn't want to slump on his training either. And truth be told there wasn't anything he really wanted to capture outside of a Clefairy…but the odds of him actually encountering one were about a million to one.

"Let's take the long way around Mist." The redhead blushed at the nickname; this didn't go unnoticed by Ash.

"Are you sure Ash?"

Her friend nodded, "It will give us some more training time and I really don't like the prospect of having to fend off hundreds of Zubat."

Misty nodded in agreement and started to walk ahead of her friend as to hide her blush…not that Ash minded at all. It gave him a view that he was quickly growing a custom to…Misty's sharply swimmer behind.

Now, by no means did Ash consider himself a pervert, but he wasn't going to turn down the chance to admire the beauty of a teenager like Misty. Living with parents that were as sexually active as Silver and Delia you couldn't help but learn about this stuff early on, hell his father gave him 'the talk' when he was only seven…a full two hours of his life that he will never look back upon.

Ash had experimented with a couple of girls from Pallet but nothing more than kissing and light petting. The one he got the furthest with was surprisingly Daisy Oak, Gary's eighteen year old sister. Ash had been running around Pallet with his shirt off and Daisy was sunbathing in her backyard. Let's just say that she was very happy for him running past her. Ash felt his hormones start to rush forward but he forced himself to think clean. He wasn't about to become his father until he met the right girl.

Ash blushed deeper when Misty bent over and picked up her bag, forcing Ash to clear his throat and finish cleaning up the campsite…maybe the cave was a better idea.

*PSOR*

The week turned out to be better than Ash figured it would have been. It gave Ash and Misty a chance to become closer as friends and the young girl trusted him enough to fill him in on the way her sister's treated her. When she had spoken of it, Ash noticed that tears formed and the young man made a bold move. He pulled his friend to him and wrapped her in a hug which she quickly returned. Misty silently cried into Ash's shoulder and felt her breath hitch when he kissed her forehead and said in a hushed whisper, "You don't have anything to fear Mist, you are beautiful."

This single act had led to the friends holding hands while they walked. It was very comforting for them and the slowly budding feelings seemed to amplify from this. The two spent four to six hours a day training before making their way around the mountain. Ash knew that if they wanted their pokemon to evolve then they would have to work hard at it. The only reason Shinx evolved so quickly was because he had been at a decent level when Ash got him. He figured that his three starters would evolve soon and his personal goal was to see them in their final stages before their sixth gym battle. This was a phenomenal feat and would require constant training, dieting, and proper health. If he wanted any chance of going far in the Kanto League, he would have to make sure he had a good team of evolved pokemon.

Most trainers that enter their first league only have maybe two or three completely evolved pokemon. These would be considered the leaders of the team and would be the last resorts of the battle. The rest of the team would be first evolution or not have evolved at all. The victors of the League usually had a team of mostly evolved pokemon…these being trainers who have at least one League of experience under their belt. There were cases though in which trainers would take time to train their teams before attempting gyms and the best examples are the current reigning champions.

Lance of Kanto, Wallace of Johto, Steven of Hoenn, Cynthia of Sinnoh, and Adler of Unova. Each of these powerful trainers had taken time to train before they went on their journeys. It had served them well and each of them had become champion of their home regions.

In Wallace's case, he had taken the Championship from Steven but then the Master of Steel had come back a year later and devastated his opponent. Wallace accepted the defeat and went on to Johto and quickly claimed the title there, finally separating the Kanto and Johto Elite Fours.

*PSOR*

As the two friends came over a hill they stopped and smiled at the sight of Cerulean City laid out before them. The city was a beautifully sculpted jewel on the coast of the North Sea. Ash's eyes flickered to the large bridge sitting in the northern portion of the city and then to the building sitting in the center. It was larger than most of the others and had what appeared to be a large swimming pool. "I'm guessing that is the gym?"

Misty smiled at her friend, "You would be correct Ash. Cerulean Gym is the most beautiful place in the city…outside of Cerulean Cape."

Ash noticed Misty's blush and smiled at her, "Let me guess, the romantic hotspot of the city?"

When his friend's blush deepened Ash decided to make her day, "Well, I guess we will have to check it out."

Misty looked at him with a shocked expression, "But Ash that is for…you know…couples."

A light shade of red appeared on Ash's cheeks and he mumbled, "Well, I was actually thinking…you know, considering how close we have been lately."

He stopped speaking the last portion and Misty got a wide smile, "Mr. Ketchum are you trying to ask me on a date?"

Ash took a deep breath of air and nodded slowly, "Yes I am."

His friend jumped at him with a powerful hug, "Yes!"

Slightly taken aback by her reaction he slowly wrapped his arms around her, "Did I miss something?"

Misty giggled into his shoulder, "You just made me very happy. Wait until my sisters see the fine piece of man that I am going to bring home."

Ash gulped and looked at his new…date? "Why do I suddenly have a chill running down my spine?"

Misty simply giggled again and pulled Ash with her towards the city.

Just another reminder, THIS DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL GET MARRIED!

I am simply having Ash have a few girlfriends before he finally meets the one. I am a fan of multiple shipping types so they may make appearances throughout the story.

As always my friends send in ideas for pokemon, pairings, and reviews.

KingFatMan25

Ash's Current Team

Bulbasaur: Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, Magical Leaf, Razor Leaf, Energy Ball

Charmander: Scratch, Growl, Flamethrower, Ember, Dragon Rage, Metal Claw, Protect

Squirtle: Tackle, Tail Whip, Bubble, Water Gun, Aqua Jet, Protect, Water Pulse

Luxio: Tackle, Growl, Charge, Spark, Night Slash, Shock Wave, Protect, Iron Tail
Spearow: Peck, Leer, Aerial Ace, Agility, Fury Attack, Protect, Mirror Move

Magikarp: Splash, Tackle

Butterfree: Confusion, String Shot, Sleep Powder, Gust, Poison Powder, Psybeam, Silver Wind

Pidgeotto: Quick Attack, Twister, Gust, Tackle, Sand Attack, Steel Wing

Scyther: Quick Attack, Pursuit, Wing Attack, Bug Buzz, Slash

Cranidos: Unknown, still a fossil

Kabuto: Unknown, still a fossil