Hello again, everyone! It's update time!
A while ago, I did a chapter where May, Drew, Paul and Gary met starter Pokemon at Professor Oak's lab. I then got a suggestion saying I should do one where the rest of the main eight meet starters as well. So I found myself wondering how exactly I would make that happen, since I wanted them to be close to the same age, but Misty and Dawn didn't come until later. So I thought for a bit, and then I got it! So here is the next chapter!
Today's topic was suggested by jg13145.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape or size!
At The Lab Again
(Summer after) Kindergarten
Gary (6), Leaf (6), Ash (6), Misty (6), Dawn (6)
A little blue-haired girl bounced up the steps leading to the laboratory at the top of the hill.
"Slow down, Dawn dear!" her mother called. "You don't want to fall."
"No need to worry, Mom!" Dawn said cheerfully. "I'm being careful!"
"That's when I worry the most..." The mother smiled at her daughter's eagerness.
They had been driving in the area when Dawn had caught site of the building at the top of the hill. She had curiously asked her mother what it was, and her mother had explained that it was the famous Professor Oak's lab. Dawn, wanting to see all the Pokemon there, had begged her mother to take her there, and that was where they were going now.
Once the two reached the door, the woman knocked and waited patiently. An elderly man answered the door.
"Why hello there!" he greeted, smiling widely. "What brings you here?"
"You must be Professor Oak! I'm Johanna, and this is my daughter, Dawn. She wanted to visit your lab, so I was wondering, if it isn't any trouble..."
"No, not at all! Come in, come in!" Professor Oak led them into his lab. "I love having visitors, and I wasn't busy right now, so I would gladly give you a tour!"
"Where are all the Pokemon?" Dawn looked around excitedly.
"You want to see the Pokemon? They're outside. I know! I'll call my grandson over to take you to them. He's about your age, and he's here with his friends right now."
Oak opened a door that led to the ranch behind his lab. "Gary! Can you come here for a moment?"
A boy with spiky hair, followed by a girl with bright, green eyes and brown hair, and a boy with black hair wearing a baseball cap, answered the man's calls.
"What is it, Grandpa?"
"This is Dawn." Oak introduced them to the blue-haired girl. "She wants to see the Pokemon outside. Can you, Ash, and Leaf show her around?"
"But Grandpaaaa!" Gary whined. "We're playing a game!"
"Can I play too?" Dawn asked, eager to make new friends.
"Yeah!" the boy named Ash cheered. "It's a lot more fun with more people!"
Gary scowled, but begrudgingly agreed. The four made their way outside.
"Wow!" Dawn ran to a tree, where some Pidgey were perched. "They're so cute!"
"They're Pidgey." Gary drawled knowledgeably. "Nothing big."
"And what are those?" Dawn noted some more Pokemon running in the distance.
"Tauros."
"And those?"
"Vulpix."
"And what about those?"
"Can we just play?" Gary said irritatedly, finding the girl to be nothing but a bother.
Dawn put her hands on the hips, frowning. "You don't have to be so rude!"
"Hey, I know!" Ash said enthusiastically. "Do you want to see the starter Pokemon?"
"You mean the ones you get when you turn ten?" Dawn turned to him interestedly.
"Yeah!" Ash gestured at her to follow him. "Come on!"
The two hurried off to the lakeside, where a Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle were playing.
"Hey!" Gary called after them, clearly annoyed. "I thought we were going to play!" When nobody answered, he folded his arms angrily. "Fine! I'll just play with Leafy then!"
He turned to face the green-eyed girl, only to find she was no longer standing beside him. Instead, she was up ahead, chasing after Ash and Dawn.
"Hurry up, Gary!" she called back to him. "Let's go say hi to the Pokemon!"
Grumbling, Gary felt he had no choice but to follow them.
"They're all so cute!" Dawn was saying, as she observed the three starters in front of her. "Hi, Squirtle!" She waved to the little water-type that was curiously looking up at her.
"I'm gonna pick Squirtle when I turn ten. It's the best out of all of them." Gary boasted.
"I wanna pick Bulbasaur!" Leaf announced, petting the grass-type on its head.
"Ooooo, it has a plant on its back!" Dawn observed. She turned to Ash. "So, what are you gonna pick? Charmander?"
"Maybe." Ash answered, shrugging. "I haven't decided yet. They're all so cool!"
While the four talked about their future starters outside, Professor Oak was having a nice chat with Johanna. He was interrupted suddenly when there was a knock at the door.
"I wonder who could that be. My, I'm sure getting many visitors today, aren't I?" The scientist opened the door, and came face to face with four girls. The oldest one was a teenager, and so was the second one. The third looked like she was either a preteen, or in her early teens, and finally, the youngest one appeared to be about six.
"Hi." said the oldest one. "Like, I'm Daisy, and these are my sisters, Lily, Violet and Misty. We were, like, trying to get to a swimming competition, but then we're not from this area, so I kept getting all mixed up. So can you, like, give up directions or something please?"
"Of course! Please, come in! I'm sure I have a map here that I can show you."
Professor Oak led the girls inside. He took out a map and began showing the older girls the way they should go. The youngest one, Misty, started to get bored very quickly.
"Daisy, hurry up!" she whined, tugging on her sister's shirt.
"Yeah yeah, in a minute!" Daisy pointed at one of the roads on the map. "So, I should go from here?"
"No no! From here!"
"Wait, so, like, which way should I turn from here?"
"This way. And then follow this road here..."
"Daisy!" Misty pouted.
"Like, calm down, Misty." Lily scolded.
"Yeah, you, like, have to be patient!" Violet added.
"But-!"
"Misty, ssh! I'm trying to understand this, but I can't if your gonna, like, keep complaining every second." Daisy managed to quiet her sister.
Professor Oak, noticing the large scowl on the little girl's face, smiled. "I know! How about you go outside and see the Pokemon on my ranch while you wait. My grandson and his friends are outside as well, and they're about your age."
"Are there water Pokemon?"
"Yes, especially by the lake."
Misty faced her older sister eagerly. "Can I, Daisy? Can I?"
"Yeah yeah, just, like, let me concentrate." Daisy replied, barely paying attention.
Oak led her outside to the lake, where the other four were observing the Pokemon. "Gary!" he called. "We've got another visitor!"
"Another one?" Gary grumbled when he saw the orange-haired girl.
"Now play nice!" With that, his grandpa started to head back to his lab.
"Hi, what's your name?" Ash asked cheerfully.
"I'm Misty!" Misty introduced herself.
"I'm Leaf! That's Gary, and Ash, and, um..."
"Dawn!" the blue-haired girl reminded her.
"What are you guys doing?" Misty asked curiously.
"We're looking at the Pokemon!" Ash announced. "Look, I think I see something in the water!" He pointed to a spot in the lake.
"I see it too!" Misty saw what Ash was watching.
"That's a Poliwag." Gary informed them, sounding like a know-it-all.
Misty rolled her eyes. "I know that. I know all the water type Pokemon!"
Gary raised an eyebrow. "Oh ya?"
"Ya!"
"Well, what's that, then?"
"Goldeen!"
"And that?"
"Horsea!"
"And that?"
"Staryu!"
Gary frowned. He was the one who knew the names of all the Pokemon, and it annoyed him that for once, he was being out-done. He scanned the lake, searching for a hard one. "What about that?"
"Oh that? That's uh, um..." Misty was finally stumped. She had never seen that Pokemon before! It looked kind of like a flying type, but its wings didn't look like they let it fly.
"Ha!" Gary shouted triumphantly. "So you don't know all the water Pokemon!"
Misty faced him angrily. "Oh ya? Then why don't you say what it is?"
"That's easy! It's a, um..." Gary tried to remember. His grandpa had told him the name, but he couldn't quite recall...
"It's a Piplup!" Dawn exclaimed. "It's one of the three starters you can get where I live!"
"Professor Rowan left it here with Gary's grandpa." Leaf explained. "He left the two others too!"
"Chimchar and Turtwig?" Dawn's eyes lit up. "Are they here? I wanna see them!"
"Yeah, they're over here. Come on!" Ash began to once again run off, this time heading towards some trees.
The others followed, but Misty stayed put, watching them reluctantly. She wanted to stay by the lake and watch the water Pokemon. However, when she turned back to the lake, she paled. Some bug Pokemon had decided to come by for a drink, and bug Pokemon, like Beedrill, were swarming over the water. Suddenly, sticking with the others didn't seem like such a bad idea, and Misty began chasing after them.
"Oooo, there's Chimchar!" Dawn pointed to the fire-type swinging from a branch.
"And here's little Turtwig!" Leaf peeked at the other side of a tree to catch sight of the napping grass-type.
As they admired the two, something small and yellow darted past them, jumping into a bush.
"Whoa, what was that?" Ash peered over the bush, trying to find out what it was.
"It was probably a Rattata." Gary said, uninterestedly.
"Rattata aren't yellow." Leaf pointed out.
"Hey, I see it!" Ash finally managed to spot the little Pokemon. The others joined him, and saw a tiny electric-type, nibbling on a berry. It looked up curiously at them.
"A Pichu!" Leaf exclaimed.
"Aww, it's so tiny!" Dawn squealed.
"Careful." Gary warned. "It can shock you if it gets scared."
"No need to worry, I won't scare it!" Dawn told him.
"Yeah!" Ash chimed in. "I'm gonna be its friend, so it won't be scared of us!"
He jumped over the bush to head towards the Pichu.
"Ash, what are you doing?!" Misty called out to him. "It may be small, but it can still attack!"
"Don't worry, Mist! I'm not bothering it; I just wanna say hello!"
"But Misty's right!" Dawn said anxiously. "Sometimes, electric-types can attack even if you don't do anything to them!" She was thinking of a recent experience she had with a Plusle and Minun in kindergarten.
"It's okay." Leaf assured them. "He always does stuff like this. He'll learn."
The minute Ash came too close for the Pichu's comfort, it let out a small blast of sparks from it's cheeks. Ash ended up on the ground, his hair sticking up, and his shirt charred. The Pichu had shocked itself too, but the second it recovered, it scurried off, trying to get a safe distance away from the boy. Gary burst out laughing, while Misty and Dawn just looked worried.
"Wait!" Ash yelled, getting up and running after it. "I just wanna be your friend!"
"Actually, I don't think he'll learn." Leaf changed her mind as she watched Ash disappear into the shrubbery.
"Like, Misty? Where are you? We have to leave!" Misty heard her sister calling.
She turned to the others. "Bye, I have to go now!"
As she hurried off, there was another voice, this time calling Dawn.
"Dawn, dear?" Dawn quickly got to where her mother was.
"Aw, do we have to go already? I was having so much fun!" Dawn pouted.
"It's getting late. Say bye to your new friends, and we'll be on our way."
Dawn turned around to face where Gary and Leaf were standing a short distance away.
"Bye bye! Say bye to Ash for me too!" She waved to them. Leaf waved back, but Gary just looked like he was glad that she was finally leaving.
Soon, Dawn was in her car, chattering non-stop to her mother about her experience at the lab's ranch.
So Dawn and Misty just happened to be in the area when they ended up visiting the lab. And since they were little, and only met once, these five probably won't even remember meeting when they meet again in the future.
I'm closing my poll tomorrow, so if you want to vote, feel free to! Hey, do you guys want me to tell you the results in an author's note?
Next weekend, next chapter! See you then!
Please review, and thanks for reading!
Bye bye for now! And have a smiling day! :)