Clear skies were soon overshadowed by blackened clouds of smoke and ash, screams erupting from the small town known as Pallet Town as home after home was set ablaze. Men and women wearing black uniforms cackled and laughed to themselves as they watched the destruction with blood-hungry glee. A young boy barged through these monsters before running into a home that had been just set on fire, and was already starting to crumble.

"Mom! Mom!" Ash called out, smoke clouding his eyes, making things harder to see and clogging his throat and lungs, making it nearly impossible to breathe. He coughed violently, swatting away at the smoke as he moved deeper into the home, trying to find his mother.

"A-Ash! In here!" He could hear her desperate cry for help, and despite fiery pieces of wood falling all around him, he kept pushing forward through the house and into the kitchen, where his mother's plea came from. He found her pinned to the ground, being crushed under two beams of wood and attempting to crawl her way out but to no avail.

"Mom! It's okay, I'm here, I'll get this thing off!" Ash shouted over the roaring fire as he crouched down to grab onto one of the beams of wood. He hissed and recoiled in pain, staring down at his now red and blistering hands. He breathed in and out rapidly, preparing himself before grabbing onto the wood again and trying to lift it, screaming in pain and aggravation as the fiery wood burned his skin. No matter how hard he tried, it wasn't working, there was too much wood and it was too heavy. "M-Mom I-I can't, I can't- I'm so sorry," he wept, still trying even though they both knew it wasn't going to work.

"L-Leave, escape while you still can," Delia said, coughing up a storm as the smoke invaded her lungs. They were both crying now, but Ash shook his head, trying yet again and screaming towards the heavens, begging Arceus to lend him any and all strength to make the wood budge. Ash opened his eyes, just in time to see a beam falling towards him.

(-)

Ash's eyes shot open and he screamed as he sat up in his bed, panting and sweating as he looked around the room wildly, not spotting any signs of a fire like from his nightmare. He felt something tightly wrap around his arm and something else nudging his side. He looked down, seeing Growlithe staring up worriedly at him after she had just nudged and nuzzled his side, and Ekans gave him a similar look as she coiled around his arm. It took Ash a few more breaths as the brain fog and tiredness lifted, allowing him to remember his surroundings.

He was in his new bedroom at Professor Oak's laboratory, not currently being burned alive in his home with his mother; their house was fine, and she was safe in the Viridian City hospital. Based on the looks his starters were giving him, it was clear they had been worried about him, and were probably trying to wake him up this whole time.

"Heh, s-sorry about that, girls. I'll be okay, I promise, it was just another dumb nightmare," he chuckled while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. His pokemon, however, looked unconvinced at his attempt of reassurance. Ekans slid further up his arm to nuzzle his neck while Growlithe climbed into his lap and nuzzled against his free hand, each telling him in their own way that they were here for him. Ash smiled warmly and petted his starters with a small sigh of happiness. "Thanks, girl, that means a lot."

Despite it being several weeks since Charles brought these two beauties into Ash's life, it still seems like yesterday he was kneeling down to their height to greet them. Back then they were little babies, but now they were bigger and stronger than ever before thanks to all the training Ash has put them through. It was the second night of Ash having his new starters when they woke up to Ash missing in the bed before finding him outside running. When Ash explained he was training to become stronger for their journey, the fire and poison type pokemon were both eager to join him. From that moment, they would spend almost everyday training, with Gary and Professor Oak offering their pokemon for some mock battles to level up and strengthen Ekans and Growlithe. They did everything together, from training, sleeping, attempting (and usually failing) at cooking, and more, the three of them have bonded an incredible amount. He was thankful for them, especially as they always tried waking him when he had a nightmare and would stay up to comfort him.

There was a sudden soft knock at his door, causing Ash and the others to perk up.

"Ash? Are you awake? Breakfast is ready," Professor Oak said from behind the door.

"Yeah, I'm awake, we'll be out in a minute!" Ash called out despite the whines from his starters to stay in bed. "Now now you two, we slept in long enough as is. It's time to get ready, you both know what today is," he said while scooping Growlithe up into his arms in order to toss the blanket off of himself. He kissed them both on their little foreheads before setting Growlithe down and scratching Ekans under her chin, causing the snake to uncoil from around his arm before he set her down as well. "Thank you girls. I love you both so much, never forget that," he whispered down to them, scratching their little heads before standing up and grabbing some clothes to get dressed.

He loved them both so, so much. But Ash wasn't aware just how much they loved him back.

(One hour later, Professor Oak's kitchen)

"C'mon and hurry up, Ash! How long does it take to try on new clothes?" Gary called out from the kitchen, waiting for Ash to get out of the bathroom to show him and his grandfather how the new clothes fit him. Professor Oak was busy putting away the dishes from their breakfast.

Today was a special day indeed, as Ash would officially start his journey and go out into the open world, like he should've all those years ago. Professor Oak had cooked a special breakfast for them, and he and Gary presented some gifts for Ash, one of which was a set of new clothes Ash would wear for his journey.

"It takes time to look good, Gary! Some people actually care about their appearance, not all of us wanna wear the same pair of ripped jeans five days in a row and slap on a half gallon of hair gel every morning!" Ash fired back, causing Professor Oak to snicker and Gary to huff in annoyance. "Alright, I'm coming out… and I'm gonna kick whoever chose this belt buckle," he grumbled, this time causing Gary to snicker.

Ash stepped out of the bathroom and presented himself in his new clothing, drawing a smile from Professor Oak and an impressed whistle from Gary. The boy wore bright red sneakers, black jeans, a belt with six spaces for his pokeballs and a belt buckle which said "PKMN MSTR'' in gold lettering, a form-fitting black t-shirt, black and white vest, red baseball cap with white brim and a white pokeball on the front, and red and black fingerless gloves. It could clearly be seen that the boy was blushing a light red from embarrassment.

"This buckle is the equivalent of a 'kick me' sign," Ash growled, causing Gary and Professor Oak to laugh out loudly, with the younger Oak slamming his hand against the table.

"Oh! Strike a pose, strike a pose!" Professor Oak requested as he dried his hands and grabbed his camera before rushing over to the table, causing Ash to groan.

"Professor Ooooooak—"

"Don't 'Professor Oak' me, young man, we're making memories here! One little picture won't kill you… or five, maybe fifteen—"

"Okay, okay, I get it! You get one picture for now," Ash sighed before changing his demeanor, giving a big smile as he placed one hand on his hip and the other grabbing the brim of his cap. Despite his 'one picture' rule, he could still hear snap about 20 pictures, with him moving a few inches to grab a new picture at different angles. Ash let out a happy sigh of relief once Professor stopped taking pictures, letting him sit down at the kitchen table as Oak checked the pictures to make sure he got some good ones.

"Oh, one last thing," Gary reached to his side as he said this before lifting and setting a new backpack on the table, black with blue highlights. "Figured you'd want a new backpack for the road. Even has a few surprises in there for you," he chuckled, which didn't dull Ash's nerves as he grabbed and inspected the new bag.

"Thank you… you guys didn't have to do any of this, I hope you know that," Ash said, causing Gary to smile as he patted Ash on his shoulder.

"No, we did. You're family now, and we know how much this journey means to you. We'll have your back no matter what, even if gramps and I don't exactly agree with your little… side quest," Gary trailed off, causing Ash to smile and nod in understanding.

"I appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart." He smiled.

"Ash! Gary! Come in here, please!" Professor Oak called from his lab, causing the two boys to get up and trail towards the lab section of Professor Oak's property. Ash's smile got even wider as soon as he stepped in, as there was a giant banner hanging from the ceiling which read 'Good luck on your journey!' hand painted by the Oak's, and Ash could see hand/paw/wing prints from their pokemon as well. He could even spot a small paw print and tail print from his own two pokemon right in the center. Ash could see how eager Professor Oak was as he beckoned them closer, and for a second he questioned who was more excited about all of this, between him and the older Oak, who cleared his throat as they stood in front of him.

"Hello there! Welcome to the world of Pokémon! My name is Oak! People call me—"

"The Pokemon Professor," Ash and Gary finished in unison. "We've heard this speech like a thousand times, gramps, can we fast-forward a bit?"

"You two never let me have any fun," Oak mumbled before turning around to grab something off of his table and presented it to Ash. It was a small red, handheld device. "This is your pokedex, in a way it's your lifeline out there on the open road. You can use it for a wide variety of reasons, the main being you can scan any type of pokemon and it'll give you several facts about their species, including a quick description, its typing, level, and even gender. It can also be used as a cell phone, and if you want to replace a pokemon from your 'party' for one here in the lab, you can do that as well. You can carry six pokemon on you at a time, any more you capture will be sent here," Oak explained as he handed the pokedex to Ash, who beamed bright at having the device in his hand.

"These are your pokeballs, you'll use them to capture pokemon. Most of the time you'll battle them, but on occasion some may willingly join you. I'll be giving you five to start off with, if you need more you can call me and I'll give you some more or you can buy them at shops. Some shops will have better versions such as the great and ultra ball, among many more," Oak further explained while handing the four pokeballs to Ash to place on his belt.

"You have a long journey ahead of you, Ash. Trainers old and new, strong and weak, will challenge both when you most and least expect them. Some play clean and others dirty, so it's your job to make sure that not only your Pokémon are prepared, but that you are as well. I've watched you grow from a wee baby to the fine young man you are t-today," Oak cleared his throat, voice wavering as his emotions were getting the better of him. From the day Ash was born, he had dreamt of giving him this speech when he turned 10, and it hurt that it took so long to finally be able to say it. "I know you'll not only do me and your mother proud, but Pallet Town as well." He smiled, managing to get through his speech. Ash smiled and wiped his eyes dry, it felt nice to hear those kind words. Oak brought him into a hug, which Gary soon joined. After a minute, they separated before the three walked outside through the front door, the sun high above and shining down upon them.

"So this is it, the first day of my official journey." Ash beamed, a gentle wind greeting him as he breathed in and out to calm himself. "I'm a bit afraid to be honest… I don't want this to be a dream again," he said before feeling a sharp pain in his side. "Ow! Gary!"

"What? Just helping you see this is real life," Gary grinned innocently before yelping in pain as Professor Oak grabbed his ear.

"Don't be a stranger, okay, Ash? You're free to call and visit as much as you want. And don't forget to take breaks and rest, oh and also eat and stay hydrated and—"

"I got it, Professor Oak, I got it." Ash laughed, grateful for him, for them both actually but he'd never admit that to Gary, his ego was big enough as is. "I promise to stay safe and eat and everything else. You have my word." He hugged them each once more before taking another breath and descending down the stairs. "Wish me luck! I'll call when I reach Viridian City!"

"Good luck and stay safe! Don't do anything stupid!"

"Take care of your pokemon and they'll take care of you, my boy!"

As Professor Oak and Gary shouted out their respective farewells and waved, Ash waved back before turning and continuing down the path that led to the Viridian Forest, unaware of what was awaiting him.

(Route 1 and Viridian Forest)

The further he went into the forest, the harder it got for Ash to not frown at the sight of the passing trees. He was so ecstatic to start his journey, and yet sadness and disappointment still filled inside him. This was where he and Pikachu first finally met eye to eye, the fearsome battle against the Spearows in heavy rain brought them closer and was what made them become friends, brothers even. Viridian Forest is where he met Misty, the girl who had more attitude than body mass, one of the few who had captured his heart. And of course, this is where he captured his first pokemon, Caterpie, and watched it evolve into a Metapod with their first ever trainer battle. Sure, he could go ahead and walk about five feet in any direction and catch another Caterpie, but that didn't feel right. It would be like he was trying to replace the one he captured in his dreams, replacing the memories he had with it.

It still hurt, knowing the dream was just a dream, and none of his old 'friends' would recognize him. He just hoped he would get over this feeling of dread and grief before meeting any of them again.

"Shut up, ya dumb mutt!" a gruff sounding voice bellowed in the distance, followed by a sound of a pokemon whimpering and something meaty hitting metal. The sound interrupted and distracted Ash from his spiraling thoughts, and he went to investigate. He followed the whines of the pokemon and the sound of two people talking further into the forest, eventually coming nearby to a clearing and hiding behind a tree. He peeked from behind it, his fingers digging into the bark as the sight.

It was two grown men each wearing black pants, gray knee-high boots, gray gloves, and black shirts with a bright red R in the middle across their chests and stomachs. Beside them in a small and cramped cage was a pokemon with snow-white fur and a dark blue tail and face, with a matching sickle-shaped horn coming out from the side of its forehead. It was an Absol, and from what Ash could tell, it wasn't doing so good.

"Where is this guy? He was supposed to be here 20 minutes ago," one of the men growled as he walked back and forth in aggravation.

"No clue, but he needs to hurry his ass up. Last thing we need is Boss finding out about this little deal," the second man said, and Ash let out a small growl at the mention of Team Rocket's leader. His anger only grew more as the Absol whimpered in pain before the second man kicked the cage yet again. "Shut the fuck up! Arceus, if I would've known how annoying you were, I would've left your ass to die back in Hoenn and grabbed another useless mutt."

"How dare you?!" Ash hissed, stepping out of his hiding spot and releasing Growlithe and Ekans, surprising the two grunts. "You should never treat a pokemon like this, they deserve love and respect like anyone else!" he growled, with his pokemon giving their own cries of anger. Absol perked up slightly within the cage, a sparkle of hope in its eyes at the new human. It wasn't much, easily overshadowed by fear but it was there.

"The hell? Where'd the kid come from?" The first grunt asked as he and his comrade got out their pokeballs.

"Don't know and don't care, but we gotta take care of him before he blabs about the deal," the second grunt responded before they released their pokemon, which were a Rattata and a Mankey.

"Ekans use Wrap on Rattata, Growlithe use Flame Wheel on Mankey!"

Ash's pokemon gave nods of understanding before proceeding with their attacks; Ekans dashed and slithered towards in a serpentine fashion the rat pokemon and Growlithe breathed fire from her mouth which soon engulfed her entire body before she sped off towards the pig monkey pokemon.

"Rattata, use Quick Attack and get behind that stupid snake and then use Bite!"

"Mankey, dodge and use Fury Swipes!"

The grunt pokemon gave their cries of understanding before doing as instructed; Rattata dashed forward, faster than expected, running towards Ekans before suddenly appearing behind her. Rattata leapt forward with its mouth wide open and teeth shining, ready to bite. Mankey watched its opponent with fierce eyes, letting the Growlithe get closer and closer before jumping over her. With its paws ready, Mankey descended down upon the fiery dog in order to attack.

"Ekans, use Glare and then Wrap! Growlithe, use Ember and shoot Mankey out of the sky!"

Ekans turned towards the rat and hit him with a devastating glare, and Rattata froze in fear from the vicious predator for just a moment. This gave Ekans enough time to close the distance as she jumped onto and coiled her body around Rattata, wrapping up its entire body and head, keeping its mouth shut and unable to use Bite. The fire around Growlithe faded before she turned, opening her mouth and shooting embers towards Mankey. With Mankey in the sky and with no way of dodging, the fire blasted it with perfect accuracy and caused the pig monkey to come crashing to the ground.

"Rattata!" "Mankey!"

"Ekans, Growlithe, it's time to finish this! Ekans use Poison Sting and Growlithe use Flame Wheel!"

Ekans hissed as she followed the command, opening her mouth wide and aiming for Rattata before she fired several poisonous needles into the rat. The attacks mixed with the poison were too much for the little pokemon as Ekans could feel it stop struggling in her grasp pretty soon, the rat clearly knocked out. Growlithe growled at her opponent as it struggled to stand up, fire engulfed her body before she charged. Mankey could do nothing as the dog encased in fire charged and rammed into it, sending the pokemon flying and smacking into a tree. It fell to the ground, unconscious, much like the other Rocket pokemon. Mankey and Rattata both automatically returned to their pokeballs as the grunts gave each other a nervous look.

"H-Hey, you seem like a smart and… strong trainer. How about we work out a deal? We give you Absol, and you let us leave," the second grunt suggested, much to his partner's annoyance.

"Are you mental?! After all the hard work it took to capture her and bring her here?"

"How about this instead, you two surrender and I take her to a Pokemon Center to get her healed. Sound like a fair trade?" Ash offered, trying to be nice not for their sake, but for Absol's. A surrender would mean he could get her away and healed much faster. He watched them look at one another and nod, before they turned and started running away. "After them!"

Ekans hissed and Growlithe barked as they charged forward, each going after a different grunt. Ekans was fast enough to catch up to one, coiling around his leg and slithering up his body before wrapping around his neck, trying to knock him unconscious. Growlithe jumped forward and bit another on his leg, causing him to scream in pain. He shook his keg rapidly, trying to knock her off before eventually changing tactics as he used his free leg and kicked Growlithe off, sending her flying into a tree.

To say something snapped inside of Ash would be an understatement, not only watching his pokemon getting kicked into a tree, but it being done by Team Rocket scum set something off inside the young man. Ash moved without thinking, a war cry erupting from his throat as he charged the grunt, reaching out and grabbing the man by his throat. His fingers squeezed, crushing the grunts' windpipe as he lifted him off the ground and into the air. Ash reeled his fist back, not noticing as it glowed a beautiful yet sinister mixture of blue and black energy. He punched the grunt square in the stomach, sending him flying and crashing straight through a tree, knocking him unconscious.

Ash huffed and puffed, a fierce growling clawing its way out of his throat as he turned to where the other grunt was, only to see he was long gone. Ekans has let him go and slithered towards Growlithe to check up on her, the sight of which snapped Ash out of his rage, taking a second to massage his right hand in shock and confusion before rushing to his starters' side. He could hear the poor dog whimpering in pain before he ever so gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms. She was trying her best to move, to prove that she was alright and could keep going, but Ash held her tight to comfort her.

"Hey, hey, hey it's okay Growlithe, you don't have to fight anymore. You did such an amazing job and I'm so proud of you. Of both of you," Ash whispered down to them, trying to comfort Growlithe as he leaned down and kissed her on top of her little head. She licked his chin and smiled before closing her eyes, succumbing to her injuries and going unconscious. He returned her before turning and petting Ekans to comfort turned again and he and Ekans approached the cage, slowly and calmly, in an attempt to put Absol at ease. She stared at them with a mixture of fear and hope, she was happy the other two humans were gone, but was still hesitant to trust his new one. Ash knelt down next to the cage to inspect her and grimaced; she had several cuts which hadn't been cleaned, bruises on her face, and her back left leg seemed to be in terrible shape. On top of that, he could see her rib cage, meaning she hadn't been fed for quite some time. She needed professional help, and she needed it now.

"Everything is going to be okay, Absol, I promise," Ash whispered in a soft and gentle tone, trying to coax her into trusting him. "You have some serious injuries that a regular potion isn't going to fix, you're going to need some professional help. I can get you there, but I'll have to capture you in order to do so. Would you be okay and comfortable with that? I swear, if you want, I'll release you into the wild once you're all healed."

Absol whined, feeling hesitant about the proposal. While she was grateful for this new human and his help, to allow herself to be captured… she'd be putting her entire existence into the hands of a human. A hiss caught her attention and Absol turned her attention from the human to the Ekans he owned, she started hissing again.

"After all you've gone through, it makesss sssenssse why you wouldn't trussst humansss anymore. But I can promissse you that my massster isss the most kind and caring human you'll ever meet. He isss telling the truth, he'll happily let you go once you're all better if that isss your wisssh. Pleassse, come with usss."

Absol sighed, grateful for Ekans reassuring her that this human could be trusted. With no other choice, she agreed, weakly nodding her head. Ash smiled, petting Ekans and thanking her for whatever she did to reassure the poor prisoner, before he turned towards the lock on the cage. Staring down at his hand, he breathed in and out, closing his eyes before grabbing onto the lock and trying to concentrate.

'C'mon now, c'mon. Do it for Absol, do it for her. Locked in this cage for so long by those bastards, those monsters,' a small growl escaped Ash again, his hand glowing a faint blue before he crushed the lock into tiny pieces. He tossed it aside while opening the cage and grabbing a pokeball before gently tapping it against Absol's forehead, sucking her in. With a relieved smile, he clipped her to his belt and returned Ekans before eyeing the passed out grunt. He walked towards the man, holstering him up onto his shoulder before running towards Viridian City, hoping Absol would be okay…

As the journey continues!

gofund .me /092671e9

Yup that's correct, that's a Go Fund Me campaign I've started for myself, and partially why it took so long to update this. My brother has gotten mixed up with bad people and owes them money, so he decided to steal some shit from me and give it to them to make up for it. One of those things being the laptop I use for college and fanfiction, I managed to get it back but the rest of my stuff is still missing: a Meta Quest 2 VR Headset, Nintendo Switch, Pokemon Scarlet, and a 128 GB SD Card for my Switch. I'm currently trying to raise the money so I can buy new versions of these items, as the police aren't too confident about finding my originals stuff. If any of you can donate or even share my link, I'd appreciate it. Worse comes to worse I'll take fanfiction commissions, meaning you pay me and I'll try writing just about anything you want.

Author Notes

Honestly with the whole brother drama I don't know exactly what to say, my mind is muddled right now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are excited for more at least. I wrote and completed 3 more chapters before everything happened so expect chapter 5 in a week or so, depending on how fast my beta is.

Leave comments and suggestions about what, or who, you'd like to see. Especially Pokemon.

See ya in chapter 5 :)