Welcome to Steps to Becoming a Master! This is a rewrite of my previous project "Steps to Championship", which I felt dissatisfied with and cancelled, however I have since come around to that decision and decided to rewrite the story entirely with my improved writing skills. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1: The First Step of Many
Sitting on top of a house in the distance was a sleeping Dodrio, stirring awake before announcing the day starting by screeching, waking the unfortunate residents of said house. As the sun rose, the Pidgey that awoke early flew from their homes to start the day, however, the same could not be said for the protagonist of our story, who remained asleep in bed with his alarm clock in hand, held like a Poké Ball.
"Squirtle… That's the one for… me…" He said in his sleep, somehow sitting up and holding out the alarm clock as if brandishing the Poké Ball of his beloved partner Pokémon. As he dreamt of the Pokémon he would choose, he threw the Poké Ball that it was contained in, however outside of his dream what he threw was the alarm clock, destroying it in the process.
The boy's mother, Delia, sat in the kitchen with a cup of tea as she thought about the coming events. Today was the day her son would become a Pokémon trainer, a dream of his since he first learned it was a thing at four years old.
Looking at the clock hung up on the wall, she noticed it was almost 10 AM. Shaking her head, she placed the now empty cup into the sink and thought to herself. "What's taking Ashy so long? He'll miss out on a Pokémon if he doesn't wake up soon."
"Bulbasaur… It's perfect for… beginners…" He stirred in his sleep and turned over, still sleeping soundly. Before his dream could move onto Charmander, he was woken up suddenly by his mother, who gave him an annoyed look.
"Why is your alarm clock smashed to bits? You had better clean this up before you leave to Professor Oak's lab, Ash Ketchum" She said angrily. He was lethargic and groggy from just waking up until the mention of Professor Oak's lab.
"Oh no, I can't be late! I'll do that right away mom!" He hopped out of the raised bed and fell straight to the ground with a thud before jumping right back to his feet, trying to waste as little time as he was able to. She merely sighed, before leaving the room again and getting ready to make breakfast as he finished picking up the remains of his alarm clock
Stepping out of his room, he was clad in an outfit his mom made for him in anticipation of this day. The outfit consisted of a red jacket with white cuffs and the zipper and hem lined with a gold colour. He also wore simple dark blue jeans and carried a pair of red and white sneakers in his hand, as well as his official Pokémon League cap, which was white on the front and red everywhere else along with having a green L symbol on the front.
"These clothes fit great, thanks mom!" Ash thanked his mom before sitting in the kitchen and smelling the breakfast that was being cooked. He looked at the clock, which read 10:12 AM, and tapped his foot impatiently. He didn't want to skip breakfast, but he also didn't want to skip getting a Pokémon.
Now that breakfast was ready, Ash quickly ate his food before choking on some of it, prompting his mom to chastise him.
"What have I told you about eating too fast? Slow down a little, OK? I'm sure you'll get a Pokémon when you get there" She assured him, as he nodded and took a drink of his water, before returning right to eating. Delia didn't grab as much food as he did, so she finished sooner and sat in silence for a while before clearing her throat.
"Once you get your Pokémon, I want you to come back here so I can meet it, alright?" She asked him, to which he smiled and nodded.
Running down the dirt road, Ash eventually came across the short bridge over a stream leading to the lab and noticed a large crowd of people cheering and chanting a name that made Ash wince. Of course Gary Oak was there, and he could be seen standing in front of the gate to the lab with a Poké Ball in hand.
"Oh, well if it isn't Ashy-boy! Better late than never, or so they say." He said with a sneer, making Ash roll his eyes as he ran right past Gary and up the steps to the lab before seeing another kid exit the lab while carrying a Poké Ball as well. She had brown hair that reached her shoulders and wore a blue sweater, orange pants, white and blue shoes and a cap that was completely white with various differently coloured symbols on the front above the brim.
He had no time to say anything to her though as the two ignored each other. He knocked on the door and was greeted by Professor Oak almost immediately since he had just finished seeing off a beginning trainer, much like Ash was about to be.
"Ah, I'm glad you could make it, Ash my boy. Come in." He stepped aside and allowed Ash in. The two entered a room with a machine in the center containing three empty spaces, which confused Ash.
"Professor, where are the Poké Balls?" He asked, as the professor bowed apologetically.
"I'm sorry Ash, but you came here just a little too late, all three Pokémon have been taken already by three other kids who were less tardy." Ash was about to protest, when he noticed something red in the middle of the pedestal where the Poké Balls once were. He approached the pedestal and pointed to the center.
"What's that?" He asked simply. Professor Oak sighed and pressed a button on the pedestal, which caused the object to rise from its spot to reveal it was a Poké Ball with a lightning bolt sticker.
"This is a Pokémon I had just caught today, but I wouldn't recommend taking it, it has a bit of a nasty attitude." He warned Ash, who didn't care and took the ball from its spot.
"Are you kidding? There's no way I'm leaving without a Pokémon! Besides, I'll take such good care of it that it'll lose its bad attitude and come to love me!" Ash said so surely that Professor Oak had no choice but to nod in defeat. Grinning ear-to-ear, Ash pressed the button on the ball and released the Pokémon, which after the red energy dissipated was revealed to be a Pikachu, who shook its head and looked up at Ash with an unassuming expression. Finally it realized it had been released and immediately started looking around, noticing it was no longer outdoors.
"That is Pikachu. This invention of mine, the Pokédex, will tell you all about it." Professor Oak turned the machine on and scanned Pikachu, as it promptly started explaining information on the Pokémon.
"Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon, an Electric type. It generates electricity in the red spots on its cheeks, known as "electric sacs". It uses electricity to damage foes and roast berries to perfection." It said, as images of Pikachu were shown on the display on the left side of the small machine.
"Wow, sounds handy! You're such a cool Pokémon, Pikachu!" Ash immediately lifted up Pikachu and hugged him, which angered it and caused both him and Professor Oak to be shocked with a Thunder Shock attack. After the attack ended, the two humans were covered in soot, as Ash shook his head.
"We'll work on that…" He sighed and shrunk the Poké Ball, clipping it onto his belt. Professor Oak, once he recovered, handed Ash the Pokédex and five Poké Balls before wishing the boy good luck on his journey
"Now that you're a Pokémon trainer, you'll finally get the chance to achieve your dream eh Ash?" He nodded at Professor Oak's words and grinned, as Pikachu looked up at the two humans and tilted his head curiously. Ash then turned to Pikachu and knelt to his level, causing Pikachu to step back.
"Okay Pikachu, from here on out let's try to get along, okay? I'll introduce you to my mom and then we'll leave Pallet Town." Pikachu nodded hesitantly, before leaving the room and Ash behind. He sweatdropped before catching up to Pikachu and clipping the rest of the Poké Balls on his belt. Ash had his work cut out for him, but he believed he could befriend Pikachu, even if it took weeks or months.
When the two approached the gate, he saw that the large crowd was replaced by a much smaller group of Pallet Town residents, who were led by his own mother. He even saw a sign that had the words "GO ASH GO!" written on it, which embarrassed him slightly. His mother stepped forward and immediately noticed the Pikachu next to Ash.
"Hi sweetie! I forgot we were going to wish you good luck when I asked you to come back to the house, so now I get to meet your new Pokémon! And what a cute Pokémon it is!" She knelt down to Pikachu and gently pet him, which although unexpected, it wasn't unpleasant either unlike the sudden hug its owner gave it. Delia was slightly confused though.
"But um, I thought Professor Oak only gave out Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander?" She asked, to which Ash shrugged.
"There weren't any more Pokémon except for Pikachu, but I'm happy with it!" He said while smiling at Pikachu, who awkwardly turned away from him, causing pretty much the entire group to sweatdrop.
"Oh, well I'm glad you have a Pokémon now! But aren't they supposed to be inside of their Poké Balls?" She wondered, as Pikachu tensed up at the mention.
"Right, I almost forgot about that. Pikachu, return!" He took the ball from his belt, expanded it with the push of its button, and tried tossing the ball at Pikachu, however it used its tail to bounce it back at Ash, who caught it. He tried tossing it again, but Pikachu did not relent and kept bouncing it back. The two went at it for a few more seconds, prompting Delia to smile.
"Aww, you two are such good friends that you're already playing catch!" Ash chuckled nervously and placed the ball back on his belt.
"Ahaha, I guess so." Pikachu finally sighed in relief, hoping the kid never tried that again.
Before Ash decided to leave with Pikachu, he figured he'd say something to the crowd first. He picked up Pikachu and faced them.
"People of Pallet Town, I will challenge each gym of the Kanto region and enter the Pokémon League! With Pikachu at my side, we will win each badge and then defeat everyone in the league and become the Kanto Champion!" He declared, as the group cheered in support. Unfortunately, Pikachu was getting sick of being held and shocked Ash, resulting in the cheering turning into laughter.
After he recovered, Delia hugged Ash. "Make sure you stay safe on your journey, got it? And take care of Pikachu as well."
"I promise, you can count on it!" She smiled and waved at Ash as he left with Pikachu to Route 1. Ash was glad Pikachu would at least walk with him, but he wished he would stay in his Poké Ball instead. He'd forget about that for now though, and instead focus on the journey ahead. After Route 1 was Viridian City, which as far as he was aware had a gym.
They must have been walking for at least an hour now, and the city was nowhere in sight, so Ash decided to take a break and rest. He spotted a tree that looked perfect, and set his backpack down before sitting next to it. Pikachu decided to climb up the tree to take a nap, which Ash didn't really mind. That wouldn't last long though, as he would mind almost immediately after hearing rustling in a nearby patch of grass.
He watched the grass for a few moments before a Pidgey popped out, and immediately stood up from his spot next to the tree. He quickly pulled a Poké Ball off of his belt, expanded it, and then looked at Pikachu.
"Pikachu, there's a wild Pidgey. Let's battle it!" Pikachu yawned and sat up on the branch before shaking his head at Ash, stretching his paws in the air and then rubbing his face with his arm idly. Annoyed, Ash took matters into his own hands and decided to catch it without Pikachu's help. Before that, he was curious about what the Pokédex said about the Pokémon before him.
"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokémon, a Normal and Flying type. It is very docile unless threatened, but instead of fighting it will kick up sand and escape." Satisfied, he put away the machine and readied the Poké Ball, before giving it a toss at the unsuspecting Pidgey. It was a clean hit, and Ash celebrated prematurely.
"Alright, it's caught!" His cheers were ended abruptly by the ball's shaking, as he returned to focusing on it. After a solid half a minute of shaking, it finally broke and the Pidgey escaped successfully. At this failure, Pikachu fell on its back in a fit of giggles, staying on the branch during the whole thing. Ash's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment as he got a bright idea. Taking Pikachu's Poké Ball, he tried returning it again with the idea of sending it back out right away, and this time Pikachu was unaware of it.
"Return!" Suddenly, he pressed the ball's button and a red beam was shot at Pikachu, who squeaked in surprise.
"Aha! Not so bad, is it?" The ball shook violently in response however, which startled Ash into pressing its button, thus releasing Pikachu and undoing Ash's mistake. Pikachu shook his head and zapped the ball out of Ash's hand while shaking its head.
"Pikachu! Chupika Pika Pika!" It started saying while crossing its arms into an X shape.
"Wait, are you trying to say you don't like being in Poké Balls?" Ash asked, to which Pikachu nodded vigorously and swatted the ball away and back towards Ash. He knelt down to pick it up, looking at it for a second before shrinking it and placing it in his jacket pocket.
"I'm sorry Pikachu, I didn't think about that. Do you think you could forgive me if I never put you in your Poké Ball again?" Ash asked, to which Pikachu sighed and nodded. Ash smiled, before hearing another rustle, however this time it came from his backpack. When he turned towards the tree, something small and purple was digging around in it.
"H-hey! Get out of there!" The purple creature was a Rattata, who popped out of the bag while carrying a bagged sandwich in its mouth and running away with it.
"Ugh, what Pokémon was that?" Ash asked himself. His Pokédex answered for him, which made Ash jump when it started talking suddenly and without warning.
"Rattata, the Mouse Pokémon, a Normal type. Its fangs constantly grow throughout its lifetime, resulting in it gnawing on everything. It also steals food wherever it can find any." It explained. Ash turned to Pikachu, who shrugged and got into a battle stance. The wild Rattata seemed keen to oblige and fight Pikachu, which made Ash smirk.
"Use… Wait, what moves do you know?" Pikachu and Rattata fell over in surprise at the boy's idiocy. The Pokédex spoke up again.
"Pikachu knows the following moves: Thunder Shock, Tail Whip, Play Nice, and Thunder Wave." Now knowing what he's working with, Ash resumed the battle and told Pikachu to use Thunder Shock. Rattata tried to dodge the attack, but it was fast enough to come into contact before it could move, resulting in Ash gaining the upper hand.
Rattata got up from the ground and shook its head before running straight into Pikachu while being engulfed in a white energy. It was so quick that Ash didn't react until Pikachu had taken damage already. He had Pikachu use Play Nice next, which caused Pikachu to give Rattata a handshake, or is it a paw shake?, and lower its Attack stat, as signified by the red energy that swept Rattata downwards for one second.
"Thunder Shock, go!" Pikachu released one more bolt of electricity at Rattata, who was promptly knocked over. Before Ash could celebrate, he threw a Poké Ball in the hopes of having at least one more Pokémon besides Pikachu.
The ball shook on the ground for a solid half a minute as Ash watched in anticipation, however the Rattata wasn't weakened enough and escaped, leaving another Poké Ball used without the party growing any bigger. The Rattata then escaped, to make matters worse.
"Aw man, catching Pokémon is hard. We did a good job in the battle at least, right Pikachu?" Ash went to pick up the Poké Ball to see that it was in an unusable state.
Before he continued on the trip to Viridian City, he heard more rustling once more and noticed it was in the grass this time. Slowly he approached the grass and watched as a Spearow popped out.
"A Spearow?" He took out his Pokédex to scan it, only this action angered the Spearow. He didn't notice this, however, and listened to the Pokédex entry while unaware of the impending danger.
"Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokémon, a Normal and Flying type. Its terrible temperament makes it a danger to approach carelessly." As it finished, the Spearow was already right in front of Ash and ready to attack him until Pikachu suddenly used Thunder Shock, startling and shocking the Pokémon who was just about to threaten Ash.
"Pikapi, Chu Pika!" Pikachu cried as it ran towards the city. Ash wasn't sure what it said, but decided to run with Pikachu and leave behind the stunned Spearow. As it turned out, Pikachu was right to run, as Spearow could be heard crying its name out. The two kept on running down the dirt path, as a flock of Spearow emerged from a nearby tree at the call of the lone Spearow from earlier.
"Pikachu, I promise I will protect you from them!" He said as he picked up Pikachu and kept running. Eventually the Spearow managed to catch up to the two, as Ash felt some of them swoop down and peck at Ash. Pikachu carefully released bolts of electricity at incoming Spearow, but it was incredibly difficult to avoid shocking Ash, so Pikachu only hit one before giving up.
They came across a river flowing quickly, before Ash made the hasty decision to jump in the river in the hopes of losing the Spearow, however he was unaware of how persistent they would be as they patiently waited for Ash to surface from the water, following his silhouette as it went down the river.
"Bwuh!" Ash shouted and quickly shut his mouth again as a wild Gyarados lazily swam towards the two in an attempt to eat them, but Ash managed to narrowly avoid becoming its lunch, before being swept in the current again. They wouldn't be in the water for any longer though, as he felt a tug on the collar of his jacket.
Sitting on the edge of the river on a chair was a girl holding a fishing rod. She had been sitting there for a few hours now, waiting for something to catch, only she was having no luck.
"It's taking forever to catch something, I better get at least one thing before I pack it up-" She was cut off by a tug at the rod which made her stumble and nearly let go of the rod. Quickly she recovered and started reeling in.
"Wow, this must be the biggest catch of my life! It's so heavy!" Finally, she reeled in whatever was caught on the line, only for it to be a boy her age.
"What? It's just a kid! What a disappointment." She said in annoyance, until she noticed the Pikachu in his arms. "Oh, there's a Pokémon!"
She dropped the fishing rod and approached the boy, who woke up. "Are you alright?" She asked with worry. Ash shook his head and looked up to see the girl looking in his direction with worry.
"Oh I'm alright, thank-" His gratitude was cut short by the girl slapping him. She then got very angry, which confused Ash greatly.
"Not you! I meant that poor Pikachu! You shouldn't have let it get in that condition." She began chastising him. Who did she think was? Slapping him like that when he was no worse for wear.
"What was that for?! Do you slap every person you reel in?" He asked incredulously. She better have a good explanation, otherwise he'd never forgive her.
"What kind of trainer lets his Pokémon get that hurt? If anything, you deserved it. Anyway, you better give it medical attention. There's a Pokémon Center in Viridian City, you better take it there." She did sound genuinely worried about his Pokémon, but he still thought she was too harsh.
"How did your Pikachu get like that anyway?" He was about to answer when the sound of Spearow could be heard.
"That's why! We're being chased by Spearow." Ash looked around and noticed a red bicycle, which he immediately ran towards and set Pikachu in the basket.
"I'm going to borrow this, I'll definitely repay you some day!" He said while pedalling away as the Spearow flew right by Misty, ignoring her entirely. Just then she realized what had happened.
"Hey, you can't just steal someone's… Ugh!" She groaned in anger, wondering what to do.
As Ash pedalled down the dirt path towards the city, the Spearow were hot on his tail, though they were no longer swooping down and pecking at Ash because of his consistent pace due to riding a bike. He was so focused on making it to Viridian City that he hadn't noticed it started raining.
He glanced down at Pikachu and silently hoped he would be alright, however he didn't notice he was about to lunge right off a cliff, causing him and Pikachu to be tossed from the bike and land on the ground.
Ash groaned in pain as he slowly got up from the ground, before turning to see the large group of Spearow about to strike. He held his arms outwards in a protective stance as Pikachu slowly opened its eyes and glanced up at its trainer.
"My name is Ash Ketchum! I won't let you hurt Pikachu, you hear me? I'll defeat every last one of you!" Lightning struck as he said that, as a great flash filled the sky. Pikachu's eyes started to water, as it steeled its resolve. As if everything were in slow motion, it gathered strength and hopped onto Ash's shoulder, before attracting a bolt of lightning with its tail to super-charge its Thunder Shock attack into a Thunder attack, which struck the Spearow, the bike, and even Ash. Both Ash and Pikachu promptly fainted
When Ash came to, he noticed that the sky had cleared and it stopped raining. He then saw Pikachu who was also just waking up. He smiled as Pikachu licked his cheek affectionately, signifying their newly formed friendship. Who knew that all it took was being chased by an angry flock of Spearow and defeating every single one with a single attack?
He weakly got up from the ground and carried Pikachu, looking up at the sky. Just then he noticed a golden Pokémon flying high in the sky, shimmering in the sun as a rainbow formed behind it. He quickly pulled out his Pokémon, which miraculously survived that entire ordeal, to attempt to scan it.
"Error: too far away." It said simply, though the Pokémon was photographed after the machine finished speaking. Ash shook his head as he watched the mysterious Pokémon disappear into the clouds.
With a renewed sense of determination, Ash walked with Pikachu back on the dirt path, to reach a bank that overlooked their destination: Viridian City.
"There it is Pikachu, you'll be all better at the Pokémon Center, so just wait a little longer." The two kept walking, as a wondrous journey filled with fun, surprise, and even romance awaited them. These are the steps Ash took on his way to becoming a Pokémon Master.
I know it's basically a slightly different version of the first episode of the anime, but it's absolutely going to deviate from canon in the very next chapter, so I hope you stick around to see how differently I handle Ash's journey! Until next time!