A big thanks to everyone that added this story to their favorites and alerts. And thanks to starlight luna, Slvr0107, CharmedMilliE, JJWalker12, and whomever Guest was who didn't leave their name.
So, Ash makes it to Viridian City. Team Rocket debut as well. Ash's storyline is still sort of similar, but it starts to diverge in this chapter and the next two, and then go really far out after that.
However, some of his beliefs about Pokémon will be shown here, as well as a little bit more about his childhood.
I had to cut it in half: it was too long. Sorry. But I can update faster. I just have to edit the second half a little more.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. *cries pitifully*
Italics are translated Pokémon speech.
As Ash ran through Viridian City carrying Pikachu, a police officer grabbed him by the collar.
"And just where do you think you're going with that Pokémon young man?"" she demanded.
He glared at her. "He's Pikachu and he's hurt and I've gotta get him to the hospital right away!"
Officer Jenny knelt down next to him. "Oh I'm sorry. I thought you might be stealing it. Just show me your id and you can go."
"Id, I don't have any." Ash tried to explain, shifting his grip on Pikachu. "You see, we just came from Pallet, and…"
"You know, you're the fourth person I've seen today from Pallet Town Today." She remarked with a smile, expecting him to be upset at her for telling him so.
Ash didn't care much. He wasn't competing with them, especially not now, and Pikachu was in trouble. "Uhuh, yeah." He muttered distractedly. Her smile widened at his response. He didn't seem to care about them, too worried about his Pikachu.
"It's very unusual for someone to carry a Pokémon around in his arms and not in a Pokeball. How do I know you didn't steal that Pokémon, especially since you don't have any identification?"
Ash was disgusted by the fact that she thought he would steal a Pokémon, and still worried about Pikachu. "Please let me through. I'd never steal a Pokémon and I've gotta get Pikachu to the hospital!"
Officer Jenny was about to argue again, but saw sunlight glint off of something red in his pocket. "Hey, what's that in your pocket?"
He looked down, perplexed. Adjusting his grip on Pikachu, he reached down slowly and pulled out his Pokedex. "This?"
Ash was relieved when she let them go, also giving them a ride to the hospital. He got chewed out by Nurse Joy, but he didn't care, only snapping, "You don't know what happened, Help him, please." It didn't matter whether she believed him or not, anyway.
She blinked at him, surprised at his outburst, before nodding. He kept asking, "Can I help?" But she told him no and sent him to the waiting room.
"Pii. Pikachu." He whispered as Pikachu was rolled through the doors to the Critical Care room. "Get better, friend."
After waiting a while, Ash decided to call home. His mother flicked the video switch immediately after realizing it was her son. "Honey, where are you? Is everything okay?"
Ash shook his head. "I'm in the Pokémon Center in Viridian City, Mama." Her face darkened with worry. "It's Pikachu. He's hurt real bad. And it's my fault. I couldn't protect him."
"It is not. I'm sure that you did what you could." Delia knew that he would blame himself anyway for the suffering of his friend. She sometimes wondered if he thought of himself as human or Pokémon, even after all these years of living with her.
"Yeah." Ash said, discouraged.
Delia smiled at him gently. "I'm sure that Pikachu doesn't blame you, Ash, so you shouldn't blame yourself." She couldn't imagine any Pokémon hating her Ash.
A faint smile graced his lips. "Yeah. He said we were friends after we then to leave us alone."
Delia's grin widened. She knew what Pokémon meant to her son, and had tried to include them in his life as much as possible. She took him to preserves, to camp out in the forest, everything she could think of. And he'd loved it.
But he saw Pokémon very differently than the rest of the world. He saw them as kin, as family, and not as pets or something to use against people. He chatted away with them in their own languages, and never wanted to leave them. Surprisingly to her and the handlers, the Pokémon were fiercely protective of him and didn't seem to want him to leave either, growling and snarling at anyone who came close until Ash calmed them down.
"Now, I want you to take care of yourself, and keep your P-friend nearby." She didn't trust anyone but herself and Pokémon to keep her son safe.
"I will, Mama." He nodded. "I love you. Okay?"
She kissed the screen. "Okay." He'd never let go of his first word.
The connection was cut, and she called Professor Oak. "Professor, you'll never believe where Ash is!"
Ash sighed and glanced around the room. His gaze settled on a picture, and he froze. He'd seen that Pokémon in the picture, flying over the rainbow.
The vidphone started to ring, and Ash frowned. He pressed down on the answer button, and his expression morphed into surprise. He was staring at the back of Professor Oak's head.
"Professor, is that you?" he asked.
"Yes Ash, it's me. Professor Oak. Don't you recognize me?"
"By the back of your head?" Ash pointed out.
"Wrong camera!" Ash smiled as the camera switched and he was staring into Professor Oak's kind face. "Your mother told me where you were, and I just had to call."
Professor Oak and Ash had a very strange but warm relationship, something that made his grandson Gary none-too-pleased. Ash had run into the Professor when he was in a Pokémon habitat when he was younger. The professor was surprised when he saw the human boy practically buried in a pile of Pokémon all cooing in the Pokémon languages. When Delia came to take Ash home, the Pokémon surrounded Ash protectively, pressing him back, growling low and watching the woman and the habitat guardians with hostile, untrusting eyes.
The boy had patted each one on the head and muttered their name, and part of their name, and they let him pass. Professor Oak sought him out, asking how he'd calmed them. Ash shrugged, and the professor remained stunned by this boy who defied logic at every turn.
"Well, it's very nice to see you again, Professor." Ash replied politely.
"How is your Pikachu?" Professor Oak had not been overly worried with giving Ash the temperamental Pokémon. If anyone could tame it, it was Ash.
Ash's face fell. "We were attacked by Spearows. He's getting help."
The doorbell rang behind Professor Oak. "That's my pizza. Call me sometime later, alright Ash? I love our talks." He disconnected yelling, "Coming!"
"Now I've got you!"
Ash turned, "Hm?" he asked.
"I knew I'd find you here!" the red-headed girl screamed at him., holding a charred bike She then ranted until she lost her balance and fell over, the bike crashing to the floor with her.
"Here, let me help you." He ran around the desk to help her up.
"I want a new bike!" she snapped, slapping his hand away and standing herself.
"I can't do anything right now. I—"
"I don't want any dumb excuse. I just want a new bike right now!" she screamed at him.
Ash shook his head at her. "But Pikachu. I have to be here when he comes out." He lowered his head. "Pikachu's not so good."
The girl stopped arguing and looked concerned as well. "Is it really serious?"
Ash's shoulders slumped. "I think so." His eyes were fixed on the door to the Critical Care room. "Who are you, anyway?" he asked suddenly.
The girl blushed a red deeper than her hair. "Oh. My name is Misty Waterflower. Um, what's yours?"
"Ash. Ash Ketchum." He responded absently. The emergency light turned off, and Pikachu was wheeled out on a stretcher by two Chansey, followed by Nurse Joy. Ash ran to her, Misty following him.
"Is he alright?" he asked breathlessly, eyes fixed on Pikachu's face. The Pokémon was still and quiet, with a headband-light bulb attached to his head that was blinking.
Ash just barely resisted the urge to call out Pikachu's name and demand from his friend how he was feeling, and instead made an involuntary soft worried cooing noise that had Misty eyeing him oddly as he waited for Nurse Joy to answer him.
"Your Pikachu will be fine after a little rest in the Recovery Room." Nurse Joy smiled at him, no longer angry. "I think you should go in with it Ash."
"Listen, I'm gonna need a rain check on your bike, but I promise I'll make it up to you." Ash told Misty, resting his hand lightly on Pikachu's head, mindful of the band running across his forehead.
"No way. I fell for that last time." Misty shouted.
Ash blinked, confused. "O-okay?" he asked weakly, defaulting back to his safe word.
Misty sighed. "Just look after your Pikachu. We'll settle up later." She threatened. Ash gulped.
"Uh, okay."
"Your attention please! Our Viridian Sisters' Radar System have detected an aircraft belonging to a gang of Pokémon thieves! If you have a Pokémon in your possession, exercise extreme caution."
Everyone looked up as two Pokeballs crashed through the skylight and opened, letting out Koffing and Ekans.
Ash gasped and wrapped his body protectively around Pikachu. "What are—who are they?"
Koffing conjured a dark smoke that filled the room.
"Prepare for trouble."
"And make it double."
"To protect the world from devastation." A woman said.
"To unit all people within our nation." A man this time, and they began switching off. "To denounce the evils of truth and love." "To extend our reach to the stars above." "Jesse." "James."
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light." "Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
As the smoke cleared, a man and woman came into view. They wore white uniforms over black undershirts with red Rs on them.
A Meowth appeared. "Meowth, that's right!"
"What are you talking about?" Ash felt slightly faint. He knew the words, but they didn't mesh together and make sense in his head. What was Team Rocket? Some kind of group?
"He just doesn't get it, does he?" Jesse sneered.
"How can I? You don't make any sense." Ash defended, straightening up.
"We're here for the Pokémon." James told them.
Ash felt himself stiffen. "Why?"
They stared at him as if he was ridiculously slow, and he felt himself bristle with irritation. Other kids, especially Gary Oaks, had looked at him like that when he was younger. He just didn't fit in, and he asked too many questions, or the wrong questions.
But he couldn't help it. There was just so much that he didn't understand about humans, even after almost five years.
"Because. We search for rare and valuable Pokémon." James informed the kid.
Ash blinked. "But every Pokémon is rare and valuable in their own way." He'd never understood people who tried to rate Pokémon based off of their own ideas of power. Pokémon were much more sensible than humans sometimes.
"You're wasting your time. This is a center for weak and injured Pokémon." Nurse Joy snapped at the two thieves, smiling warmly at Ash. Misty was staring at Ash in wonder. She'd never heard anyone talk about Pokémon that way before.
"Well that may be so. But I wouldn't be surprised to find a few Pokémon gems among all the junk." Jesse answered the nurse, ignoring Ash, who was obviously very dumb and naive.
"If you want Pokémon that badly, why don't you find your own out in the wild?" Ash forced their attention back on him. "Wouldn't they be more valuable that way? Why steal them?"
"Oh, are we bugging you?" Jesse teased, ignoring the uncomfortable tightening in her chest.
"If he's bugged, let's squash him." The Meowth snapped out. Ash frowned. Was that Pokémon speaking in the human language? He only just noticed, being able to speak both languages himself. Could there be another who could speak both languages?
He didn't have long to think about it, because James shouted, "Koffing, attack!"
"Ekans, go!" Jesse cried out.
"Ekans!" Ash shouted. "Koffing!"
The two Pokémon paused. Their masters shouted for them to continue. Ash wasn't sure what to do. Mama and Gran always told him to keep his language abilities to himself. Mama didn't want him to get attacked again and possibly used against Pokémon against his will.
Ash grabbed the edges of Pikachu's stretcher as the room filled with acrid black smoke. He jerked the stretcher away and pushed it in front of him, Misty and Nurse Joy following behind him.
So, what did you think? It was long, but I didn't think that anyone would mind.
Reviews, short or long, are wonderful. Constructive criticism is good. Flames will be used for baking cookies. Yummy!