CHAPTER 2
Yuki walked behind his family in contemplative silence today was the day that he was going to have to finally make his decision on what Pokemon would be his very first one and he'd have to face his parents after making the decision. The only Pokemon he hadn't even given consideration to was Bulbasaur. As he walked he smiled to himself remembering when he was little he would run around in the fields behind Oak's Lab playing with all of his fathers beloved Pokemon. Bulbasaur was always the reserved silent guardian to the young Pokemon at the lab and while he trusted Yuki he never liked him to get to close to the young Pokemon as it was duty to protect them. Yuki chuckled silently as he remembered one instance where his fathers Heracross had started to suck sap out of Bulbasaurs bulb while Bulbasaur stood in a silent attempt to retain his dignity after having just fussed at a hyper Mankey for getting to close to a young Skitty.
As they walked Ash glanced back and Yuki and thought to himself that his youngest son was finally going to embark on his journey. He was sad at the thought but he soon snapped out of this as he knew Yuki was the one son of his that could become a Pokemon Master. His eldest son had settled into a job as a gym leader somewhere far away after conquering the Kanto League. He had been bursting with pride as his son had accepted that trophy and the invitation to the Elite Four Challenge. His son had lost in his battle against Lance but he had been a long bout and it was about as close as a Pokemon battle could get. His middle son had made it a bit farther, he not only conquered the Kanto League but he was also crowned champion of the Johto League a vacancy that had opened up after Lance retired and held a tournament to fill both champion roles he had occupied. For now the two roles were held by different people, for a long time Johto had campaigned to have its own Elite Four and finally Ash, the Pokemon Master, got Lance to agree to the deal as long as they waited until he no longer held the posts. Lance was never defeated as a champion. Ash had battled him on one occasion, during the Masters Showcase. The Masters Showcase was held at the request of Lance and it was to crown the true Pokemon Master and the winner was to assume the role of heading all things Pokemon. Ash had won the tournament and shortly after he proposed to Misty and moved back to his hometown of Pallet in Kanto. Ash had to give up adventuring after taking the role of Pokemon Master and starting a family. He still couldn't believe some days that he woke up every day and went to an office and actually worked. Of all his sons however, he saw the most potential in Yuki.
Misty glanced over at Ash as they drew closer to the lab and just thought to herself what a journey it had been for them to get to this point. She had ran the Cerulean City gym for quiet some time after Ash had left her to go be… Well Ash. Shortly before he was invited to the first ever Master Showcase he had called up Misty and asked her to accompany him to all the banquets and ceremonies as his plus one. He had told her she was his oldest friend and there is no way he could have made it as far as he did had she never "lent" him her bike. The day he proposed to her was the first time she ever saw Ash Ketchum be a romantic. He had invited her over to Oaks Lab to celebrate him being crowned Pokemon Master. When she arrived at his house all dressed up to be escorted there Ash and all of their old friends and his Pokemon were gathered together and Ash walked over to her and told her to shut her eyes. When he told her to open them he was standing there propping up a bike that looked just like the old one and he then proposed to her in front of everyone. She smiled to herself lost in memories of her boys growing up and becoming men. Yuki was her youngest so he was her baby of course and she couldn't stand the thought of him finally being old enough to venture out on his own. She had secretly always hoped for a daughter and when she was pregnant with Yuki she had told Ash no more after him, that this was it no matter what. Ash had agreed with her and they had never went back on that promise. She had always wondered if she tried again what the baby might have been but then again she knew she could never replace her 3 boys. Smiling to herself she thought, "Make that my FOUR boys."
Delia Ketchum was getting old, she knew this, Ash knew this, heck EVERYONE knew this. She was not exactly jumping for joy at the thought of this but she knew that this was the last one of these ceremonies she'd probably ever see. She was always Ash's biggest fan through the years and of course she was her grandson's biggest fans to this day but she still couldn't shake the sadness at the thought of Yuki being the last one she'd actually get to cheer for.
"Well look at that guys we are almost here and we are going to be EARLY." Delia said shooting a look at Ash.
Ash embarrassed rubbed his head and just laughed, "Well son your journey is definitely starting out much better than mine is!" Pikachu nodded in agreement at this sentiment.
Pikachu was never a fan of Yuki's older brothers they had always taken after the wild side of Ash and were too rough with the aging electric Pokemon. Yuki on the other hand had always treated Pikachu with some kind of respect owing to the fact he was the Pokemon Master's first and most trusted Pokemon. Pikachu had been Yuki's training partner for years. Yuki had insisted on perfecting the basics a year in advance to his journey so he could hit the road running. Pikachu had loved every minute of working with the youngster and it did him a lot of good working out like that too. Pikachu was a little nervous for Yuki hoping that his first Pokemon liked him a lot more than Pikachu himself had liked Ash to begin with.
The party stopped at the foot of the winding staircase that led up to the world-famous Oak's Lab staring up at it before ascending the staircase. It was a party-like atmosphere outside of the front doors as everyone in Pallet Town was waiting for the ceremony to begin they had heard rumors that the last of the Ketchum sons would be getting his first Pokemon today and the Master himself would be speaking at the ceremony for the first time.
Inside Professor Gary Oak was standing in the trademark white lab coat staring outside his window at the gathering crowd smiling to himself thinking this would be a ceremony to remember for more than one reason. He spotted Ash in the crowd and that gave him confidence. This would be the first ceremony without Professor Samuel Oak. He had given the reins to Gary Oak around the time of the Masters Showcase. Earlier that year his grandfather finally passed and it was going to be a hard ceremony for everyone involved. It was a day of great joy but also one of great sadness. These kids were the last of the kids from Pallet Town. It was the birthplace of many great trainers but the fact was it's era of greatness was ending, the economy was only getting worse and the residence were aging and the only draw to the town was Oak's Lab, while a landmark it wasn't something that made you decide to start a family there. It was also a tribute to the life of one of the greatest Pokemon researches of all time. Gary allowed one tear to slip down his face before wiping it away, "I have to be strong, if not for myself, for Ash he took this death as hard as I did."
Outside Ash had led Yuki to the stage that had been set up overnight and standing around were 3 other young kids around Yuki's age, "These are the rest of the trainers starting out, there are 4 this year! It is the first time this has happened since I went on my journey!" Ash exclaimed pointing them out to his son. "I will leave you to get acquainted with them son." Ash wandered off into the crowd after this to find his lifelong friend and rival, Gary Oak.
The group consisted of two other boys and one girl who stepped forward immediately and extended her hand out to Yuki, "Hi there my name is Sarah Summers and you are?"
Yuki had been staring at the crowd scanning it for familiar faces and when he turned to see who was talking to him he did a double take, standing in front of him was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. She was a little shorter than he was and had long curly black hair with shocking green eyes she was wearing a cute pink skirt with a light blue jacket over a yellow shirt. Yuki held out his hand and noticed it was shaking a little before he calmed himself down and grasped hers shaking it, "H-hi I am Yuki Ketchum…"
She cut Yuki off mid-stammer and practically squealed, "Omigosh you are Ash Ketchum's son and the first one of the others I introduce myself to happens to be you how crazy is this?"
Yuki was very embarrassed by this and the other two guys looked like they were practically melting with jealously over her show of affection for him. Yuki walked over to them trying to divert some of the attention to them. He knew one of them already. His best friend growing up, Grant Oak, the son of Gary Oak. He resembled Gary Oak so much it was almost scary, they were practically identical except Grant had blue hair, a trait he got from his mother. The other boy he had seen once or twice at town events but never socialized with.
The other boy stepped forward he was much taller than the rest of them and more muscular than Grant and Yuki combined, "My name is Bruce… Last name doesn't matter, I am going to beat all of you understood? I am going to be the best trainer to come out Pallet since Ash Ketchum himself!"
The other three stood in a shocked silence he was so confident and sure of himself. Yuki stepped forward, "Well I hope you live up to that because it will be an honor to battle you one day." He extended his hand hoping it was a show of kindness, Bruce took it as an insult.
"Look just because you have "Champion lineage" doesn't mean you are better than me please don't talk down to us lesser beings…" Bruce turned and ignored them.
Grant, who was always a little more hot-headed than Yuki, stepped forward to say something to Bruce but Yuki placed a hand on his shoulder shaking his head. "Just leave it." Grant did with a sigh of defeat.
Sarah made it a point to stand next to Yuki when they were escorted onto the stage and introduced to a loudly cheering crowd. "Here they are Pallet Town's future stars!" The event host was a local T.V. celebrity and full of cheer, "I thought it may be fun to have them all say a little something to us about what they hope to accomplish on their journeys!" The crowd roared its approval of this idea and the event host led Bruce to the podium to speak as the crowd fell silent.
"Hello, I am Bruce and my goal is to crush everyone and anyone on my way to the top and I plan on being the best trainer to ever come out of Pallet!" The crowd roared loudly at this loving the audacity of this young behemoth of a boy.
"Alright-y next up we have a lovely young lady!" The host said quickly flustered by the tone of the young man.
"Hi everyone I am Sarah Summers and… I just want to see the world and all it has to offer a gal like myself!" The crowd clapped and wolf-whistled for her but her reception wasn't quiet as enthusiastic as the one for Bruce.
"My name is Grant Oak and one day I hope I can contribute something to our knowledge of Pokemon like the Oak family is known for!" The crowd stomped and cheered for the young man loving that he pointed out how significant Pallet's second most famous family was to the world.
Yuki approached the podium and nervously spoke into it, "Hi I am Yuki Ketchum and… I just wanted to say… Bruce it will be hard for you to be the best… Because I will be." The crowd was stunned for a moment before it absolutely erupted in the loudest cheer yet.
Yuki slowly walked back to his spot his head reeling, he had no idea where that had come from he was never the type to have delusions of grandeur but for some reason in that moment he felt he had to say it. Bruce was staring at him a shocked look on his face but it had a hint of something else… Respect.
The event host told a few more jokes and had the crowd pumped before calling them to a silence to introduce Ash Ketchum, "Without further ado youuuuurrrr Pokemon Master, ASH KETCHUM!" The crowd cheered and whistled some more before calming down.
"I am here to speak today on behalf of not the Pokemon League, but of Pallet Town. This town is where I grew up, it is where I met Pikachu it is where I live now and have raised a family. It is where I always hope to live. Today I am not here to talk about myself, I am here to talk about what today means. Today we celebrate the pride of Pallet. Today we send them off on their individual journeys to find their calling in life. Some say a person's Pokemon journey is a rite of passage. I believe it is more than that. I believe it defines who we are inside, and while some never embark on this journey, or some don't make it as far as others, I can say everyone's journey impacts more than just themselves. I learned a lot from Professor Samuel Oak. His journey through life taught us all something about life, love, and as he'd have us believe, most importantly Pokemon. Samuel Oak was an eccentric man, but he was a brilliant man and he impacted everyone's life in some way. Most of all he changed the world a little bit every day. He was the true pride of Pallet. He set up base here of all places and so many times growing up I marveled at how blessed I was to live here near him. He was more than my coach through my journey. He was like a father to me. He is missed by all of us dearly and I think that most of us can appreciate that he lived his life to the fullest he would want today to be a celebration like this not all of us standing around making sappy speeches and crying. So it is my great pleasure and honor to introduce to you our very own Professor Gary Oak!" The crowd clapped and cheered most having to wipe there teary eyes first.
Gary walked out onto the stage and embraced Ash patting his back before walking up to the podium, "Well today I could make a speech like Ash just did, or I could just talk business with you guys. I decided that I would do a little of both. I just want to say, these kids may be the last we will have for now but, Pallet Town will always be home to the Oak Laboratory and I would never dream of moving it as rumor had it a few months back. Now for those of you that can count you will notice we have 4 trainers this year and it is standard procedure to offer 3 starter Pokemon…" The crowd began muttering and whispering to each other wondering now what they would do about this as most were to caught up into the festivities to notice such a thing.
Gary cleared his throat and gave them time to quiet down, "Well I took it upon myself to find a suitable fourth Pokemon, so without further ado I will show off what Pokemon the kids will be picking from!" The crowd cheered and were all anxious to know just what Pokemon Gary had selected for the fourth one.
Gary pulled 4 Pokeballs from one of his coat pockets and laid them out on the podium. He selected one and gave it a little toss and out came a blue turtle Pokemon, Squirtle, turning to the crowd Squirtle shot a few bubbles and did what appeared to be a dance move, much to the crowds delight. The next Pokeball contained an orange lizard Pokemon with a flaming tail, Charmander, for the crowd he shot out some small flames and swirled his tail around sending of some sparks, the crowd applauded and whistled as Charmander was always a crowd favorite. The third ball contained a green dinosaur Pokemon with a bulb on its back, Bulbasaur, seeing the large crowd he appeared to get awfully nervous just stared at them, the crowd politely applauded him and waited with bated breath for the final Pokemon to be revealed. Gary, not being able to resist took his time fondling the Pokeball making it normal size he even wiped it with his coattail before tossing it. A small brown fox-like Pokemon came out, Eevee, and turned giving a cute smile and wink to the crowd, they crowd exploded with cheers and awwws could be heard from many of the gathered audience.
"Now they make their selections…" Gary announced with flourish.
Authors Note: I know I know I am making you wait yet another chapter before you see who Yuki will choose. I didn't get a whole lot of response to my first chapter so I am a bit disappointed but I understand. So remember I am always open to constructive criticism and ideas I don't have many people to share this with so I need you guys. I do not have a beta reader for this story as of yet and I am self editing which always leads to mistakes. Also the only time I can write is very early morning so mistakes are bound to happen. Also sorry if this chapter was boring I felt I needed to set the framework early for you guys about what the state of everything is. If it felt draggy I am sorry I tried to make it slightly more interesting with shifting viewpoints. That is something I have never tried actually so it was a fun writing exercise. This is only my first story so it will be rough I hope you stick with it but I am not going to beg you to stay. This story is done in theory I just have to write it now. I wrote the outline for the whole first "saga" and it was one page. Don't worry I have a few twists planned for this series currently there are "7" sagas planned which is tentative so it will not just be the 5 regions over and over. Also I need a boatload of characters for the next saga which is now in planning stages (have to know where I am heading) feel free to submit characters rather they be from stories you wrote, cameos, to just plain old fashions OC's I want them all! Thanks for reading!