Hello my readers, Unknown entity328 with a brand new fanfiction! For those of you who read my previous fanfics, you'll notice that this'll be the very first AU I have ever written. It took a while to decide the plot, but I think I figured out most of what to write. For those of you who are new, I would like to welcome you all first and hope you enjoy my writing. Furthermore, this'll be the first time I attempt a AU when I'm more used to writing OC fanfics. I'll also be attempting a crossover fanfic in the near future, just need to decide what kind of crossover. Anywho, please enjoy the first chapter of my first AU fanfic that I put my all in.
Chapter One: Fated Encounter
The Pokeball, an invention that's captured the imagination of people everywhere, thanks to its ability to capture the most marvelous of creatures, pokemon. And to catch one is an experience like none other. Each of these spectacular species has amazing powers and attributes that set them apart from one another in ways too numerous to list. But unique as they are individually, together, they make up the incredible world of pokemon.
People and pokemon can come together as a team, for once they're captured in a pokeball, pokemon bond with their human trainers as friends, partners, family. On their journey of discovery, trainers and their pokemon learn as much about themselves as each other. And they also realize that there will always be more pokemon than they could ever have imagined. You see, for each pokemon that's discovered, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds more, we have yet to meet. One thing's for sure, with each of these new pokemon comes new possibilities, new stories, new friendships, and new adventures.
It was a beautiful day in the town of Pallet in the Kanto region, clear skies, the sun shining brightly, and it was time for another of Prof. Oak's pokemon summer camps. These summer camps are always looked forward to by the children of Pallet Town. During these summer camps, Prof. Oak, a leading researcher on pokemon, teaches kids about pokemon. He holds many events involving observing, petting, and even playing with pokemon.
However, not all was going well, as one day a little girl wearing a straw hat got lost in the nearby forest. This girl has fair skin, gray eyes, and honey-colored hair that reached just below her shoulders. Aside from the straw hat, she is also wearing a pink dress and pink shoes.
"Where is everybody?" The girl asked herself, wandering deeper into the forest in an attempt to find everyone. The farther she went, the more scared she got as the thought that no one would find her crept into her mind. "Where did you all go?!"
The sudden rustle of a nearby bush caused the girl to recoil and scream in fright of the sudden movement. She attempted to run from the bush, only to trip and fall to the ground, scraping her knee in the process. The girl grew more scared as she looked back to the bush to see a Poliwag jump out. The tadpole pokemon gave the girl a brief glance, startling her, before hopping away.
"I knew I didn't want to come to camp, I knew it." The girl whimpered, tears building up in her eyes and trailing down her face. She sobbed out of both fear of being alone and pain from the scrap on her knee. "Mommy!"
The bush began to rustle again, catching the girl's attention as she fearfully watched it as more tears fell down her face. Her fear was unfounded when a boy with dark black hair, slightly tan skin, and brown eyes with two distinctive lightning bolt-like markings underneath each one. He wore a red and yellow sleeveless shirt, blue shorts, and a pair of red and black shoes.
"Poliwag?" The boy looked around for the tadpole pokemon, but saw the girl instead and noticed she was on the ground crying. "Hey, are you alright?" He gave her a friendly smile as he pointed to himself with his thumb. "Hi, I'm Ash, who are you?" He then noticed the girl was still crying and started to get worried something was wrong. "What's wrong?"
"I… hurt my leg." The girl replied through her sniveling, looking down at her scraped knee.
"Don't worry." Ash knelt down in front of the girl and reached into his pocket to pull out a blue handkerchief with a pokeball design in the corner. "See this, this'll make it better." He then folded it in half before wrapping it around the girl's knee. Once it was wrapped, Ash tightly tied the handkerchief in place. "All done." The girl attempted to get up, only to stop as soon as pain went up her leg. "Now watch this." He began to wave his hands over the girl's knee as if he was casting a magic spell. "Feel better, feel better right away!"
The girl attempted to get up again only for it to end with the same result. "It still hurts, I can't get up!"
"Don't give up 'til it's over, kay?" Ash said encouragingly as he got to his feet and held out his hand to the girl. "Come on." The girl stared up at the boy before hesitantly reaching for his hand. Once she grabbed his hand, Ash pulled her up and held her close when she stumbled forward. "There you go!"
The girl stared in awe at the boy grinning at her so brightly she could go blind. Her face felt warm and her heart was beating slightly faster than usual. She even forgot about the scrape on her knee for a moment.
"I think we should be getting back to the campsite." Ash suggested before leading the girl by the hand towards the direction of the camp. He looked over his shoulder to address the girl behind him. "Oh yeah, I still didn't catch your name."
The girl was caught off guard of being addressed and shyly looked down. "It's Serena."
"Serena, huh?" Ash smiled brightly after hearing the girl's name. "That's a great name!"
Serena's face started to feel warm again and chose not to say anything as the two walked hand and hand. As they walked, they took in the scenery of the forest and the pokemon that they passed. A Caterpie crawling up a tree, Pidgey perched on branches preening themselves, Poliwag playing with each other by a river. All was peaceful in the forest with its pokemon inhabitants.
Suddenly, a large group of Rattata, Oddish, Gloom, Pidgey, and Poliwag burst out of some bushes. Ash and Serena were startled by the pokemons' sudden appearance as they sped past them. They seemed to be in a hurry somewhere, from what the two children could surmise. Childish curiosity got the better of them as they followed after the pokemon to see what happened.
They had a tough time keeping up with the pokemon, Serena in particular as she wasn't used to running in a forest. The only reason she hadn't tripped and fell is because Ash kept a tight hold of her hand and supported her when she lost her balance. He helped her get through bushes, over fallen trees, and encouraged her when she felt like she had enough. Ash's encouragement was enough to help Serena continue on until they caught up with the pokemon.
When the pokemon finally stopped, they arrived at a small clearing where there was a single tree in the center. Surrounding the tree were the pokemon Ash and Serena saw before, but there were also Beedrill, Butterfree, Pidgeotto, Spearow, and many other Kanto pokemon. The children were awed by the sheer number of pokemon gathered in a single secluded location. They saw a number of bird pokemon flying into a hole in the base of the tree followed by Rattata.
"What do you think they're doing?" Serena asked, feeling both scared and nervous of all the pokemon that surrounded them.
"I don't know." Ash replied, not taking his eyes off the hole in the tree before bravely took a step forward. "But I'm going to find out."
"What?" Serena looked at Ash with a look of shock as the boy took another step forward. "You can't, what if they attack you?!"
"I'll be fine." Ash said reassuringly, giving the girl a confident grin before slowly approaching the pokemon again.
He stopped and went completely still when all the pokemon turned their eyes to him. Serena placed her hands over her eyes as she didn't want to see what happened next. Ash, on the other hand, stayed where he was and tried to remain calm as he waited to see how the pokemon would react. They all continued to stare at the boy and girl that followed them before looking at each other. Coming to an agreement, they started to part ways to create a path to the tree.
"We can go?" Ash asked the nearest pokemon, which was a Scyther, and received a nod before turning to Serena. "Hey Serena, they said we can go!"
"Really?" Serena lowered her hands to see that the pokemon had created a path for them.
"Yeah." Ash nodded, walking over to the girl and took her hand again before pulling her towards the tree. "Come on!"
"Ash, wait!" Serena said in protest, looking around as the pokemon watched them approach the tree.
Once they were at the base, Ash and Serena peered inside to see the bird pokemon and Rattata huddled together three feet off the ground. The first to react were the Rattata, who each scurried deeper into the tree to make room for the human children. Accepting the invitation, Ash and Serena stepped into the tree, crouching down to avoid hitting their heads. The bird pokemon let out their individual cries as they carefully watched the human children. They then ruffle their feathers before half of them flew out of the tree, much to the children's surprise.
Serena was the first to get over her surprise and gasped at what she saw. With half the bird pokemon now gone, she could clearly see what they were huddled over. It was a pair of pokemon eggs, the first ones she's ever seen. They were red and blue respectively, with the red egg having blue triangles and the blue had red triangles. Two of the remaining bird pokemon, a Pidgeot and Fearow, each wrapped a wing around the eggs to keep them warm.
"So cool." Ash muttered, in just as much awe as Serena as he stared at the eggs. He inched closer to get a better look at the eggs.
He was greeted with a cry of warning from the Fearow and Pidgeot and he immediately backed away. Seeing that the boy wasn't getting any closer, the Fearow and Pidgeot continued warming the eggs. The eggs began to give off a pulsating glow, which caused the pokemon inside the tree to get excited. Ash and Serena looked around as the Rattata and bird pokemon continued to cry out excitedly. They may not know much about pokemon, but Ash and Serena knew what a glowing pokemon egg meant.
"They're close to hatching." Serena said softly in an attempt not to set the pokemon off.
"Yeah." Ash nodded in agreement as he looked around at the excited pokemon.
Suddenly, for some unknown reason, the ground began to shake, startling the pokemon and children. The Rattata ran out of the tree in fright while the bird pokemon flew away, with Fearow and Pidgeot staying behind. The shaking got worse and the two bird pokemon tried desperately to keep the eggs safe while Ash and Serena held each other for support. The eggs rattled in their feathery embrace before the shaking got so bad they flew out of the bird pokemon's hold. Without thinking, Ash and Serena jumped into action to catch the eggs.
Ash was able to catch the blue egg and Serena caught the red egg just as the shaking finally came to an end. They both gave a sigh of relief and inspected their respective eggs for cracks. Ash gives Serena a thumbs up as he saw no cracks and she just smiled back in relief. The eggs then started to glow brighter, catching the children's attention. The glow became so bright, they had to close their eyes. When the glow ceased and opened their eyes, the children were surprised and awed at what they saw.
In Ash's arms was a dragon-like pokemon with features resembling a jet plane. The upper portion of its body is mainly white, while the lower portion is blue. It has triangular ears, and a patch of blue with a smaller patch of white, on its face. On its back are two jet plane-like wings, and lower down are two fins. It has blue and white arms and on its chest is a red triangle symbol.
In Serena's arms was a similar looking pokemon, except it was slightly smaller and red where the blue would be. Both pokemon slowly opened their eyes to reveal the blue pokemon had red eyes while the red pokemon had yellow eyes. They each looked up at Ash and Serena as their vision became clearer and took in both children's facial features. They each let out small coos as they curiously took in their surroundings.
"What pokemon are they?" Ash asked softly, taking in every detail of the pokemon in his arms.
"I don't know." Serena replied just as softly, lightly petting the red pokemon's head which she received another coo. "But they're beautiful."
Pidgeot and Fearow let out a cry, snapping Ash and Serena out of their trance as they looked up at the bird pokemon. They both spread out their wings and eyed the human children carefully. The two felt nervous from the stares they were receiving from the bird pokemon were giving them. The blue and red pokemon looked at the children curiously before nuzzling them, getting small laughs from Ash and Serena. Seeming satisfied, Fearow and Pidgeot gave another cry before flying out of the tree.
"I guess they like us." Ash said between laughs, gently pushing the blue pokemon back to pet it on the head.
"Looks like it." Serena said in agreement, doing the same with the red pokemon.
"I wonder what pokemon they are." Ash said curiously, his eyes looking over the blue pokemon for any familiar traits. "I haven't seen any like them before."
"Me neither." Serena shook her head as she too took in every trait of the red pokemon. She then suddenly gasped when she remembered something. "The camp!"
"Oh man, I forgot!" Ash exclaimed as he too remembered the reason they were out there. He set the blue pokemon aside and stepped out of the tree. "We gotta hurry back, everyone must be worried by now!"
"Right." Serena moved to follow the boy, but hesitated as she looked back to the newly hatched pokemon. "But what about them?"
"Oh right, we can't just leave them." Ash went back into the tree and stared at the two pokemon that stared back curiously. "What should we do?"
The pokemon looked at the children before closing their eyes in concentration. Ash and Serena were confused as to what they were doing. They had their answer and were surprised when they started to float unsteadily. They staggered, much to Ash and Serena's worry, but steadied themselves and floated towards the children. The blue pokemon floated around Ash while the red pokemon did the same with Serena.
"I think they want to come with us." Ash guessed, watching the blue pokemon float around him.
"I think you're right." Serena agreed, watching the red pokemon when she had a sudden thought. "Hey, do you think Prof. Oak might know what they are?"
"He might." Ash nodded in agreement, placing his hand against the blue pokemon's neck. He then reached a hand out to Serena. "Let's go and see if he does."
"Kay." Serena nodded, timidly taking Ash's hand while the two pokemon watched the children curiously.
With their decision made, the children helped the newly hatched pokemon through the forest. As they progressed through the forest, the pokemon got better at floating with each passing second. They eventually float on their own without any help and are now darting through the air. Watching the pokemon have fun as they fly around brought a smile to Ash and Serena's faces. Ash must admit that he wanted to ride them to see what flying felt like, but refrained from doing so.
Serena just enjoyed watching the pokemon flying, but stayed close to her and Ash. She then gave the said boy a side glance and saw he was enjoying watching the pokemon as well. She looked down at their tightly held hands and felt her face get warm again as a blush painted her cheeks. She didn't know why, but Serena wouldn't mind if they stayed like this for a while longer.
"I see the camp!" Ash's exclamation brought Serena out of her thoughts and saw he was pointing ahead.
Ahead of them were an assortment of differently colored tents spread throughout a small field. They could see there were other kids their age scattered around and playing with a few pokemon. Upon seeing the camp, the pokemon seemed to shimmer for a moment before vanishing into thin air.
"Where'd they go?!" Ash asked in shock, looking around for the pokemon.
"I don't know." Serena nervously looked around for the pokemon as well. It was only brief, but the girl liked being around the newly hatched pokemon. "Please come back!"
"Yeah, Prof. Oak is nice!" Ash called out, hoping that the pokemon didn't just leave them as he wanted to be friends with them. For a brief moment, the boy thought he saw them only for them to vanish again. "I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise!"
There wasn't a response for a moment when Ash once again saw the pokemon. Curious, the boy released Serena's hand before approaching where he saw them and slowly held out his hand. He was surprised when he felt the soft feathery down of the pokemon. In a shimmer of light, the pokemon reappeared.
"You can turn invisible?" Ash looked at the pokemon in admiration. He beamed at learning something new about these mysterious pokemon. "That's so cool!"
"Ash." Serena lightly tugged the back of the boy's shirt and pointed towards the campsite. "We should really get back to camp."
"Right." Ash gives Serena a nod before turning to the pokemon. "Will you come with us?" The two pokemon looked at each other with uncertainty. "Prof. Oak won't hurt you, I promise."
The two pokemon looked at each other again before vanishing again. Ash and Serena were disheartened, but cheered up when they felt themselves being nuzzled. That alone was enough to let them know that the pokemon were still there. Reassured, Ash and Serena made their way to the campsite.
Overlooking the children was none other than Prof. Oak, keeping a watchful eye on them all. He's glad to see children playing with pokemon, but he still needs to be on the lookout in case they get too excited and scare the pokemon.
As he looked around, Oak noticed that a couple of the children were missing, one of which he knows well. He knew Ash for a long time and that the boy would never pass up a chance to be with pokemon. So the fact he was missing was a surprise and a bit worrisome. Then there was the girl all the way from the Kalos region, Serena. She seemed shy and didn't interact with the other children.
'Where could they have run off to?' The pokemon professor wondered, looking around in case they were around and he missed them somehow.
"Professor!" Oak turned in the direction the voice came from and saw Ash and Serena walking into the field from the forest.
"There you are, Ash." Prof. Oak said, relieved that the boy is alright and approached the two children. He placed his hands behind his back and gave them a stern look. "Where have you two been, I was starting to get worried."
"Sorry professor." Ash apologized, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I saw a Poliwag and wanted to be friends with it." He then pointed to Serena and her bandaged knee. "But then I found Serena and she hurt her knee."
"You're hurt?" Prof. Oak asked, dropping his stern face and knelt down to untie the handkerchief. He inspected the scrape before gently dressing it again and standing up. "Well, it doesn't look serious, but we should disinfect it to be safe."
"Kay." Serena nodded before she was led to a medical tent with Ash following.
"Oh yeah, professor!" Ash said, watching as Oak disinfected Serena's knee before dressing it. "We saw something amazing on our way back here!"
"Did you now?" Oak said inquisitively, curious of what the children saw that got the boy excited. "What was it?"
"We saw pokemon eggs hatch!" Ash replied excitedly, remembering how amazing it was to see a pokemon egg hatch. "And we don't know what they are!"
"What?!" Oak looked at Ash in surprise before turning his attention back to Serena. "Is that true?"
"Yes." Serena nodded, pressing her index fingers together. "And they're here."
"They're here?" Oak raised an eyebrow and looked around the medical tent. "I don't see any pokemon in here."
"That's because they're invisible, professor." Ash explained, feeling himself being nuzzled and brought a hand up to touch the invisible pokemon. "You can come out, it's alright."
Oak looked at the boy weirdly as it seemed to him he was talking to thin air. The old professor almost had a heart attack when there was a shimmer and the pokemon showed themselves. It wasn't their sudden appearance that shocked him, no, it was what the pokemon were. He knew who they were right away, but never thought he'd see them. The reason the old professor thought he would never see them is because they're pokemon of legend.
"Ash, Serena, do you truly not know what pokemon they are?" Oak asked in astonishment as he stared at the blue and red pokemon floating beside Ash and Serena respectively.
"No." Ash shook his head, confused about the old professor's reaction upon seeing the pokemon. "That's why we thought to ask you."
"Are you okay, professor?" Serena asked, a look of concern on her face as she stared at the old pokemon professor.
"I'm fine, dear." Oak replied, taking a deep breath to compose himself before giving the two children a serious look. "Listen you two, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone else."
"Why?" Ash and Serena asked, tilting their heads in confusion about the old professor's sudden seriousness.
"Because bad people might take them away." Oak replied, giving the two pokemon a brief glance. He noticed how the pokemon got closer to the children at the mention of being taken away. "The reason is that those are legendary pokemon with you."
"Legendary pokemon?" Ash and Serena looked at their respective pokemon in shock as they didn't know they had legendary pokemon following them.
"Yes." Oak nodded in confirmation, looking towards Ash. "Ash, the pokemon with you is Latios." He then turned his eyes to Serena. "And Serena, next to you is Latias."
"Latios." Ash muttered, making eye contact with Latios who seemed to be staring at his very soul.
"Latias." Serena placed a hand against Latias' next, getting a satisfied coo in response.
"But how did their eggs end up in Kanto?" Oak muttered, cupping his chin in deep thought as he eyed the two legendary pokemon nuzzling the children in front of him. "They're normally native to Hoenn."
"What should we do, professor?" Serena's question brought the old professor out of his thoughts. "They just hatched, and we didn't see their parents."
"That is worrisome." Oak frowned at that information as he thought of what they should do. He watched as the children played with the legendary pokemon and had a sudden thought. "How about you two watch them until camp is over?"
"Us?" Ash and Serena looked at the old professor in surprise, turning to stare at their respective pokemon.
"Of course." Oak nodded, expecting that reaction from his suggestion. "They most likely imprinted on you both when they hatched."
"Imprinted?" Ash tilted his head in confusion, trying to understand what that meant.
"It means that the pokemon comes to recognize another pokemon, person, or thing as a parent or other object of habitual trust." Oak explained, once again watching the behavior of Latios and Latias. "And it would appear these two will trust the both of you much better than me."
"What about when camp is over?" Serena asked, hugging Latias' neck who nuzzled closer to the girl.
"We'll discuss that with both your parents." Oak replied, slowly raising his hands and reaching out to Latios and Latias. He then gently patted both legendary pokemon on the head, getting satisfied coos in response. "For now, take good care of them."
"Kay." Ash nodded, giving Latios a big grin. "Let's be great friends, Latios!"
"Do you want to be friends, Latias?" Serena shyly asked the red legendary pokemon she was hugging.
Both pokemon gave happy coos as they once again nuzzled the children, getting laughs in return. Oak smiled at the sight before him as nothing warms his heart more than seeing people and pokemon happy together. As a researcher, it's his life's goal to understand everything about pokemon, and find ways to better coexist with them. Seeing the interaction between the four in front of him further solidified this goal.
"Now then." Oak finally said, getting the attention of both children and pokemon. "While we're here, why don't we give these two a check-up?" The children gave the professor a confused look as both pokemon seemed fine. "You said they just hatched, so I want to make sure they're healthy and that there are no problems."
"Oh, that makes sense." Ash nodded in understanding before looking at Latios and patting his neck. "Latios, the professor's going to check if you're sick or not."
"It won't hurt, promise." Serena said reassuringly, giving Latias another hug before separating.
The two legendaries were hesitant, not wanting to separate from their new friends so soon. But despite only just hatching, they were smart enough to understand what they were saying. So with a nod to each other, the two of them floated over to Oak. Seeing this, Oak guided them to a couple medical beds while still giving them space. After settling on the beds, Latios and Latias watched as Oak fiddled with some equipment and started the examination.
And that's it for the first chapter, I sincerely hope that you enjoyed reading it. Any and all feedback is welcome to help make this fanfic the best it could possibly be. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions in your reviews and hope to see you all again!