The sun was shining, the pidgey were chirping and Ash Ketchum was sprinting across the modest roads of Pallet Town to the bottom of a hillside. On top of the hill was a lab, with a large corral behind it. This was the magnificent lab of Professor Samuel Oak, a former champion of the Indigo League and more importantly, a world-renowned scientist who had revolutionised the world of pokemon trainers with his inventions and discoveries.
As the glistening windows of the building and the sounds of countless pokemon drew closer, Ash's excitement, anxiety, and the small amount of fear all skyrocketed. The next few minutes were going to be one of the most important few minutes in his life. Ever since he had watched the finals for the Indigo Conference when he was small, Ash had desperately wanted to train a team of his own to face the best of the best.
However due to the many dangers of Pokemon training and travelling through the wilderness, the legal age permitted to officially register as a Pokémon trainer was 12.
Now though, having graduated from the Pokémon Trainers course as well as turning 12 a month ago, nothing could deter Ash from achieving his dreams. Arriving at the base of the hillside, Ash found his way blocked by a lot of the townspeople who had already congregated there.
"Ash my boy! The others are already there!" yelled out one of the townspeople.
Ash hastily waved thanks before hurriedly skipping up the granite stairs that winded up the hill. Reaching the top, he gave the magnificent entrance, two large oak doors with a chiseled stone arch, a quick appreciative glance before opening the doors, with not a little amount of effort. Stepping inside the magnificent lab, the whiny voice of Gary Oak reverberated through the entrance hall and Ash mentally prepared himself for the insults.
"You're late Ashy-boy! Though I shouldn't be surprised. Losers will be losers after all, am I right?" called Gary from one of the many couches dotted around the entrance hall.
Ash bristled, but opted to ignore him, instead focusing on the other two people in the room, who had turned around to look at him. One of them, Ash noted with a smile, was Leaf Underhill, a spirited girl who had moved into Pallet Town when she was seven. She looked the same as usual, with her short red skirt and the baby blue tank top that she was fond of. In addition to that, she had her favourite sun hat adorned on her messy brown hair.
"Oh be quiet Gary," Leaf rolled her eyes. "Hi Ash, have you met the new kid?"
The new kid, who's manner of dressing eerily resembled Ash's own, turned around and waved.
"Hey," he said with an unsure smile, "I'm Ritchie, Ritchie York." He played with the hem of his shirt, "I'm from Celadon City."
"Hi Ritchie," Ash responded with a bright smile, "I'm Ash."
Ritchie nodded and pulled out a device from his baggy turquoise pants - A Pokégear? - and started tapping away at the screen. The rest of the occupants of the hall sat there quietly, with the occasional cough or tap of a foot resounding through the tall hall. Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Soon, the four of them would be choosing their very own starter!
There was a problem though. There were three traditional starters, the fire lizard Charmander, the flower bulb Bulbasaur, and the turtle Squirtle, but there were four new trainers. Would there be two sets of starters? That seemed a bit unlikely. Starters were hard to order as they had to be raised and trained to be obedient. Then perhaps there was an extra Pokémon that the professor had on him.
Who would have to pick the random Pokémon then? Every single person in the room had already chosen who they wanted to pick. While Ash didn't know about Ritchie, he knew both Gary and Leaf wanted a Squirtle. He himself wanted a Charmander, which would go on to evolve into the powerful and popular Charizard. If one of the new trainers had to give up their dream starter, would they do it?
Gary definitely wouldn't, Ash mentally scowled, but could he do it?
Leaf might, after all, she was very nice but he didn't want to take advantage of that. While they weren't particularly close, Ash knew that she really wanted a Squirtle, if her loud arguments with Gary in the past had been an indication.
Maybe Ritchie?
Ash cringed. How could he ask someone to sacrifice their dream starter when he himself couldn't do it. His spiral of thoughts was abruptly interrupted when the doors connecting the hall to the rest of the lab opened and a young woman in a white lab coat walked out. Her soft, olive-green eyes swept over the four eager trainers, lighting up as they noticed Gary and Ash.
"Hey guys, grandpa is ready to see you now!" The lady called cheerfully, brushing off what seemed like little bits of foam off her coat sleeves.
When she noticed Ash looking curiously at the foam, she smiled. "The new Pokémon got a bit unruly but everything is good now. Let's go!" she waved them over, and turned around, causing her long brown hair to rise behind her.
Ritchie whispered, "Who is she? She's really pretty!" with his mouth open and Ash mentally agreed, but before he could say anything-
"Oi, that's my sister!" Gary looked livid and offended at Ritchie while Ritchie's face turned red like the dawn sky, before hurrying off to escape Gary, or to catch up with Daisy, maybe even both.
The rest of the lab was just as, if not more impressive than the entrance hall. Ash smiled. No matter how many times he had walked through those doors, the sight of the shelves upon shelves of books as well as the chandeliers would always take his breath away. The others weren't doing that much better, Ritchie had his mouth wide open, gawking at the seemingly endless amount of books while Leaf, who had not been in the lab as much as Ash and Gary, was eyeing the various interesting machines dotted around the first level.
"You guys nervous?" the brunette lady asked with a sweet smile.
"Pfft, only losers would be nervous sis! Like those three." Gary scoffed.
"You know Gare-bear, you weren't the most relaxed person either. You were panicking quite a bit yesterday." Daisy noted with a smirk.
"What! No! No I wasn't!" Though for the rest of the short walk going up the stairs, Gary was noticeably quiet and sullen, a nice change from usual.
Ash shook his head, how could Daisy, such a sweet and nice and caring and pretty person be related to the very loud, unlikeable boy that was Gary? Reaching the top of the flight of stairs, Ash's eyes instantly focused on the man in a lab coat sitting on an office chair. He idly noticed though, the bits of foam in a few places as well as the pillows on the couch, which looked like a pair of children had wrestled there.
"Ah," Professor Oak noticed them, "Thank you for bringing them up Daisy, could you go grab some cleaning supplies in the basement?"
"Sure, see you guys later!" Ash, Ritchie and Leaf waved back at Daisy before turning their attention back to Professor Oak.
"You four have studied hard for this day to come," he began, "and I think you are ready. Now originally there were only three new trainers registering this month, but due to Ritchie's last minute decision," at which he nodded at Ritchie, who smiled with uncertainty, "I wasn't able to procure two sets of starters by the League in time.
"However luckily, a colleague of mine in Kalos had sent over a Pokémon that he needed my help with understanding, and I believe that this Pokémon is just as a fine choice as the others, if not a bit more problematic." Professor Oak finished, and while saying that flourished his hands towards four pokeballs laying on a table surface, shiny and pristine.
"Now inside of this one," Professor Oak said while pointing to the one on the far side of the table, "is Charmander," while he said that an image of the fire lizard popped up on a screen nearby, "Bulbasaur and Squirtle." The images of the other two Pokémon popped on the screen as well.
"Now in this pokeball, we have the Pokémon Froakie, which is actually a starter from the Kalos region." an image of a aquamarine blue frog pokemon appeared on the screen, with a ring of foam around its neck. It looked rather cute.
"Froakie is part of the Amphibian family and is actually distantly related to the Poliwag species here in Kanto. In fact, some experts say that -"
"Gramps you're doing it again." Gary drawled, tapping his foot impatiently.
"Right, sorry." Professor Oak looked a bit flustered, "Anyways, Froakie is a water type known as the Bubble Frog Pokémon. Now, who wants to pick first?"
Resounding sounds of "me!" filled the room and Professor Oak was faced with four teens eager for a pokemon.
The professor silenced them with a raise of hand. "I understand you all are excited to pick the starter you want, but one of you will be disappointed. Before we start, I want to see if one of you children would like to take Froakie?"
The room was suddenly silent. The four looked away, rather interested in different parts of the room.
Nobody's going to pick, Ash realised. They're hoping for someone else to pick.
Professor Oak sighed, "I guess not. Now then, we will do this by -"
"Actually professor, I will take Froakie." Ash stepped up.
His heart felt heavy but stayed firm in his decision. He had seen Ritchie's face light up when he saw Charmander's pokeball and it was clear none of the others would volunteer to lose out on getting their dream starter.
"Thank you Ash," Professor Oak looked proud, to Ash's delight and Gary's dismay. "Now then, let's have Ritchie pick first shall we?"
Ritchie stepped forwards and released a long breath, before going over to Charmander's ball and releasing it. A ray of mysterious blue light flashed out of the ball and merged together, revealing a bipedal, red lizard, with a tiny flame on the tip of its tail. Ash stared with envy.
Ritchie smiled a genuine smile, "Hello little guy," which caused Charmander to peer curiously up at Ritchie's face, before releasing a couple of embers in happiness at Ritchie's cap, who frantically patted it out.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Ritchie." Professor Oak rushed forwards, making sure Ritchie was okay. "You see, charmanders, like many fire types, spit embers as a form of affection to those they like. You will have to train Charmander out of this habit early on, otherwise when she is more powerful, it will be quite dangerous."
"Got it, no problem," though he looked considerably more wary of Charmander before smiling and returning her.
"Awesome, my turn now!" exclaimed Leaf, until Gary grabbed onto her, which in turn had them start fighting again.
"Now now, how about you two settle this with rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets to pick first." The professor sighed, knowing that either way, this would not end well for one of them. The two agreed to play, both with a rather serious expression, in contrast to Ritchie's and Ash's who were trying not to laugh.
"And shoot!" Leaf and Gary both revealed their hands at the signal, their eyes widened before Gary screamed in ecstasy and Leaf clenched her fist, eyes downcast. Gary strutted up to the table and snatched Squirtle's pokeball and released it. Leaf came moments later and grudgingly took Bulbasuar's pokeball.
Finally after they met their pokemon, it was finally Ash's turn. He walked up to the last remaining pokeball on the table and grabbed it. It was cool to the touch, and looked pretty new. Ash gulped and pressed the release button. The same blue light appeared and disappeared, just like the others' pokeballs, leaving behind a small blue frog with a ring of foam around its neck.
Ash's eyes widened, "Hey," he said breathlessly while crouching down. "I'm Ash Ketchum. I hope we can be the best of friends!" He held his hand out in a fist. Froakie stared at Ash for a while uncomfortably, as if it was judging him. Then Froakie did a sort of shrug before tapping the pokeball button and returning itself. The others looked on with pity except for Gary.
"Ha, even your own pokemon doesn't want to be with you! This is perfect!" Gary mocked gleefully.
Ash clenched and unclenched his fists several times.
"Enough Gary!" Professor Oak said sternly. "Now, there is one more thing I need to give you guys. This-" he said while pulling out what seemed like a red mechanical notebook, " -is a pokedex and it-"
"-was created by you, a genius invention, blah blah blah." Gary interrupted rudely, looking as if he had heard it a thousand times, which he probably had.
"Be quiet young man." He reprimanded Gary, who looked abashed. "Anyways, before I was so rudely interrupted," Professor Oak glared at Gary, " it is essentially an encyclopaedia about everything pokemon related. You can use it to obtain information about a species that you encounter with the camera.
"Also thanks to cooperation with the League and other industries, it also serves as a Trainer ID, allowing you to access places and privileges that you can't with a regular ID. There are many more features, but I will let you children discover it for yourselves." Professor finished off with a smile.
Ash grinned. Despite not getting his ideal starter, and the one we got not liking him much, Ashdidn't let it faze him. He would get Froakie to acknowledge and be friends with him. He would collect the Kanto gym badges and fight in the Indigo Conference, and he would become the Pokemon master.
I promise, no matter how long, how tiring, I will do it! Ash promised to himself, and his previous grin settled into a determined expression. Professor Oak, noticing this, smiled.
"You three can go. Ash, I need to update your pokédex with the Kalos dex entries and also give you some information about this particular Froakie." The other three, still feeling euphoric, walked out slightly dazed, while Ash stayed in the lab, not quite sure what the Professor needed to talk about.
"Ash, Froakie has had a complicated childhood," Professor Oak sighed, plugging Ash's pokédex into his computer. "He's always yearned to grow strong, and this mindset isolated him from the rest of his colony. Froakie actually was handed out by my colleague to numerous trainers and they all have either returned him due to disobedience or Froakie had run away from them."
Ash stared at Froakie's pokeball. Could Froakie really be so picky? Of course he had heard of pokemon being disobedient, but he had never thought that he would ever get a pokemon like that.
Ash looked back at the professor as he continued, "So, my colleague sent Froakie over as this was my area of expertise. It's clear that Froakie here wants a trainer that he respects and believes in that can make him strong."
"Do you think I can do it, get Froakie's respect I mean?" Ash was unsure.
Froakie had turned down multiple beginner trainers, then why wouldn't he turn Ash down. After all, Ash was also a beginner.
"Ash, you are a bright child, with a heart of gold," Ash blushed furiously which had Professor Oak chuckle. "If you show your heart, what makes you, you, then Froakie will in turn open his heart for you, and in there a bond as great as family and friendship will form." The professor ended with a strong, confident tone that sent a feeling of warmth through Ash, burning away all the doubts and fears he had.
"Alright then, I'll do it Professor Oak! Thank you!" Ash received his newly updated pokédex, waved thanks and left the professor's personal lab.
Outside the lab, he was about to climb down the stairs when suddenly, Gary's voice sounded beside him.
He had Squirtle's pokeball out, tossing it up and down, "Hey Ashy-boy, 'bout time I kicked your ass."
Ash scowled, but couldn't help the grin right after. He had wanted this for so long, ever since Gary had declared that he could easily defeat Ash in a pokemon battle, he had wanted to wipe the dumb, arrogant smirk off his face.
"Let's do this," Ash declared, before running off to the battlefield near the back of the lab, discreetly checking Froakie's dex entry.
The two stood on opposite sides. Even from far away, their wild grins were apparent.
"3,"
"2,"
"1!" They yelled in unison, throwing their pokeballs.
Squirtle looked around. When he realised he was in a battle, he grinned unnervingly like Gary. Meanwhile Froakie looked just as disinterested as in the lab.
"Froakie," Ash shouted out, "let's both give it our all!"
"Squirtle, use Tackle!" Gary commanded with an arrogant grin. Squirtle charged forwards at Froakie. He was getting closer and closer, and about to hit-
"Jump and use Quick Attack!" He jumped, however instead of charging energy for a quick attack, Froakie used Pound, dropping down from the sky with his forelegs outstretched.
"Withdraw!" Gary smirked as Squirtle withdrew his body into his shell, protecting Squirtle from the Pound.
Ash frowned at Froakie's disobedience, but pushed it aside. "Froakie, listen! Use Frubble at Squirtle!" Froakie used Bubble instead which popped against Squirtle's hard shell but was otherwise ineffective.
Gary crowed out. "What a loser, your Froakie doesn't even listen to you. Tackle it!" Squirtle popped out of his shell and charged at Froakie. He struck Froakie, causing Froakie to tumble back in pain.
Ash grit his teeth. This was going terribly. How was he supposed to beat Gary if he couldn't even get his pokemon to listen to him?
"Froakie!" His gaze continued to watch Squirtle and Gary, who looked amused. "We need to work together. You're strong, but so is Squirtle and he is winning. Do you know why?" Ash noticed a subtle shrug. "It's because he is working with Gary. We need to work together like them, and that means we have to trust each other. Okay?" Ash's voice softened at the end. Froakie didn't seem to respond, yet Ash sensed he was listening.
"Are you done with your pep-talk Ashy-boy, cuz time's up! Rapid Spin!" Squirtle withdrew into his shell, before starting to spin and roll in Froakie's direction.
The spinning makes Bubble and Frubble useless, and Pound and Quick Attack would also hurt Froakie, but that's the only way! Ash grit his teeth, until an idea clicked.
"Quick Attack head on!"
Ash hoped that Froakie would listen. After all he had just won his trust yet already Ash was asking Froakie to get himself hurt. However this was the only way to destabilise a Rapid Spin. The attack was like a spinning top, meaning that the best way to knock it over was to hit it head on. The only consolation was that if the pokédex's entry on Froakie's physiology was right, then he would not be damaged too badly.
Froakie charged forwards. Glowing with a faint white light, he collided with Squirtle, causing the two to both be launched back. Froakie got back up, bit bruised but otherwise fine, thanks to his naturally secreted foam which absorbed any damage taken.
Gary looked surprised but continued on, "Water Gun," to which Squirtle responded and sprayed a powerful jet of water at Froakie, who dodged and used Pound at the command of Ash.
"Withdraw!" Gary ordered, to which Ash quickly countered with a Quick Attack, landing a hit on Squirtle.
Gary smirked forebodingly, calling out a Rapid Spin. Froakie was still close to Squirtle and as a result was heavily damaged by the brutal spin.
"Frubble!" Ash yelled out but it was too late.
Squirtle reappeared and bit down on Froakie. He struggled desperately, but became motionless after a bit. Ash's eyes widened in horror, disbelief, and a rather unpleasant emotion. Ash silently returned Froakie, hating himself more than ever.
He and Gary had always been competitive with each other. Who could get the girl they both liked - Gary won that - who got along better with Pokemon - Ash won that - who got more friends - Gary won that by a long shot - who received better grades - Gary somehow also won that - and so on.
The one thing Ash had full faith in though, and what was most important, was who would win in a Pokemon battle. Ash had worked hard in planning his perfect battle where his charmander would beat Gary's squirtle, he had even studied up moves and useful tips online. However in the end, none of that mattered. Ash had come close but he was crushed.
"I won Ashy-boy! Though I shouldn't be surprised, losers can only lose!" Gary taunted and jeered with vigour that even had Squirtle joining in.
Feeling something burst within him, Ash glared and yelled out condescendingly, "Whatever, it's only because you're Professor Oak's grandson!" Ash felt vindictive.
Gary's face turned blood-red, with an ugly scowl plastered over his stupid face, "Shut up loser, I won and you know it!" though he sounded noticeably less confident. He sneered a final time before storming off with Squirtle at his heels, who struggled to keep up.
Ash relaxed, though he felt even worse than before. Ash squeezed his palm, before remembering the injured Froakie that was in the pokeball. Ash hightailed away from the lab, sprinting back home, the slight feeling of giddiness to travel returning.
Arriving at his mother's home, Ash grabbed the house key from under the potted plant, before entering. Ash instantly relaxed at the warm smell of cookies and soup in the house, as if his worries were being wafted away by the heavenly scent of home and his mum's cooking.
"Hi sweetie, you're back already?" Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother, called from the kitchen.
Ash took off his jacket and threw it on the couch while entering the kitchen, "Yep, do you have some potions I can use?"
Ash entered the kitchen, smiling at the sight of his mother, a woman in her 30's grabbing a tray of delicious smelling cookies out of the oven. With her brown hair tied up in a bun, she looked much younger, except for her weary chocolate-brown eyes.
"What happened, is your starter hurt?" Delia asked in concern, placing the tray down on the dining table.
"He fainted." Ash let out with a sigh, the feeling of disappointment with himself threatening to engulf him, before he felt the warm embrace of his mother around him, keeping them away.
"Oh sweetie, you can't expect to win every battle, was it with Gary?" Delia asked with an eyebrow raised.
Ash nodded and Delia smiled warmly, "You have to crawl before you walk honey, remember that." Delia smiled before hurrying over to the medicine kit, pulling out a diamond shaped capsule - a revive - as well as what seemed to be a purple spray bottle - potions.
"Oh, what pokemon is this?" she asked when Ash released his fainted pokemon.
Ash answered her while pouring the powder from the capsule into Froakie's mouth. Froakie slowly got up, murmuring in confusion.
"Oh, she's adorable." Delia cooed at the little frog pokemon, who was starting to get up.
"He," Ash absent-mindedly corrected her, more worried about Froakie, and of the little trust in Ash that he had dissipating.
Froakie discreetly glanced at Ash, who was frowning.
"Mum, could I talk with Froakie for a bit?" Ash asked, still focused on Froakie, who's eyes were now locked with Ash's.
Delia patted Ash's back, smiled at Froakie and left to bring out the rest of lunch. The two left in the room sat in silence, mind muddled with conflicting thoughts.
"I'm sorry, for messing up that battle," Ash started, shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch. Froakie continued staring. "I was thinking of it and I realised I should have had you stay at a distance, Squirtle would have made himself dizzy, and we could have struck then. That was a stupid mistake from me." Ash clenched his hands. "I know I'm not what you wanted. I'm not experienced or a battle genius. But I'm just starting out, everybody starts as a beginner, no experience or knowledge. It's the same with you, right?" Froakie made a little motion that seemed like a shrug.
"My point is," Ash straightened his back, "we all have to start at the beginning to get stronger, and I know that you and I can both do that individually, but together we can push each other to the top much faster." Ash felt more confident and a warm feeling spread through him.
"You just have to trust me." He held out his hand in a fist, just like before.
This was it, Froakie would either accept his offer and they could work together to rise to the top, or he would still not accept Ash as a trainer and Ash would probably get another pokemon to start with. But Ash didn't want that. He felt something, something brief yet special during the battle, when he and Froakie felt like one. This feeling, Ash felt in his gut, was something different that no other pokemon could replicate with him.
After a moment's hesitation, Froakie mirrored Ash's gesture, bumping their fists together. Ash's hesitant and nervous smile widened until it shone like the afternoon sun in the sky. Ash felt a few tears build up in his eyes, which he quickly wiped before cheering in elation. Quick footsteps sounded as Delia rushed over, concerned with the loud voice.
"Ash, are you crying?" When she saw him hugging Froakie though, her worried expression melted into a smile and gestured to them for Ash's final lunch at home for a while.
So, how was it? I have a bunch of cool ideas involving the stuff that I mentioned in the story's description and the cover. What were some places that were good? What were places that were bad and that I could improve on. Were there any clunky places?Should the paragraphs be thinner?
This story is mostly to get my imagination written down since it's been stuck in my head for months, but it's also to help me improve the Language part of IGCSE English.
I'll upload the next part after sorting through you guy's criticisms and using it to make the next chapter flow better.