Updated and Rewritten 10/9/2022
This chapter was actually pretty well done considering when I wrote it, but I felt it was too short, and skimmed over some things so I came back and redid it.
Ash being a Zorua has been done before. Not too many times and I'm unsure whether I came up with the idea first and went looking or if I found one and it inspired me originally. There are a few bigger ones, like "Master, Pokemon?" but I'm firmly taking this in my own direction
Wherever I first got the idea, it doesn't matter too much. I decided to take elements from multiple sources to create this so if something doesn't line up with the anime, I probably meant for it to be that way. I hope you all enjoy it.
Once again, Zorua was cold.
Of course, this was hardly a new experience, he was almost always cold. Although it was worse at night with no sunlight he could try to warm himself in.
Despite this, he tried his best to look on the bright side; it wasn't raining tonight, and the wind wasn't biting bad enough to rip through his fur. It could definitely be a lot worse.
This was the mantra he repeated to himself as he trudged down the alleyway.
He wanted to complain about it to someone, but he'd learned that no one cared enough about him to listen to his complaints. With only a few exceptions, he was lucky if they just ignored him. But if he was unlucky, then he'd find himself running as fast as he could to avoid an attack.
So instead of complaining he just had to tough it out and mind his own business. Most of the time at least. Sometimes he'd see another Pokemon struggling with something, either stuck in a bad spot or trying to climb something, things like that and he'd try to lend them a paw.
While he hadn't managed to win any friends with his kindness he had at least been able to avoid making any enemies so far.
The gnawing pain that twisted his stomach was an unfortunate reminder of how much he had been able to eat today, that being nothing.
He'd just had some bad luck. Sometimes he was able to find a decent snack or even a good chunk of food in a trash can near some human eating places. Restaurants they were called, which was a dumb name. Just call them eating places, they don't need a weird name.
To be fair though, humans themselves were strange. They were big and loud and they made a bunch of weird sounds. Zorua was able to understand what they said, but they couldn't understand him. He wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing although sometimes he wished he could just ask for some spare food instead of digging through the waste.
There was a Pokemon he could ask at least, Trubbish, one of the few Pokemon who didn't ignore him and also wasn't a big jerk, in the next alley over normally had some food to spare. It was no feast but a few bites of anything were appreciated at the end of a sparse day, even if the smell was horrible.
He felt bad that he would practically bolt away after eating but the stench was so much worse than most other dumpsters. It was almost enough to make him gag the food right back up. He needed to walk through his own alley first to get there, thankfully the smell didn't spread in his direction.
Not wanting to waste the energy it took to run he stared at the ground and started tracing the cracks with his eyes, trying to draw pictures. He'd played this game plenty of times but he was almost always able to come up with a different picture.
Three long wavey cracks formed a sky, the smaller cracks below could be buildings, and that rock could be a human. Maybe he could be one of the little cracks? Or he could kick a pebble over and run through his imaginary city, oh and those cracks there going be an eating place just for him!
His stomach growled as the imaginary city faded, right, the dangers of imagination. It always led back to food, especially when he was already hungry.
Sighing, he turned the corner into the alley his small box shelter was in and immediately his ears were prickled with sounds.
He looked up and felt a rush of horror as he saw three other Pokemon, Purrloin if he was right, pulling apart his shelter and making themselves at home.
They were talking with each other but he was barely paying attention to their words, too busy coming to terms with the fact that the alleyway he'd known as home his whole life was being invaded and ruined by these intruders.
Zorua's horror quickly gave way to anger and his vision was read. All thoughts of food were forgotten now, the only thing that mattered was getting these three away from what was left of his home.
He Tackled the nearest one full speed and managed to knock them over. They let out a yowl of surprise and the other two quickly rallied to their comrade's defense.
He braced himself low to the ground and growled at them. "That's mine! Get away!"
The one he had tackled got back up and sneered at him. "I think you mean it was yours, this is a nice alley, easy dumpster diving, well sheltered. Scram, find a new home."
"There are plenty of other alleys," this one didn't sound quite as mean, "go and find someplace else."
He was probably right, there were other places where Zorua could go. But that didn't stop the anger of seeing his box torn up or dry the stinging tears that were pricking the corners of his vision.
This was his home. His first memory was in that box with a dingy old blanket wrapped around him. It was the last time he could remember feeling warm and safe. The blanket had been ruined and fallen to threads the first time it had rained and the box scarcely held itself together but it was all he had.
With a scream of fury and fear he leaped forwards again and did the only thing he knew how to do other than Tackle.
In the air, his whole shape shimmered and for a moment he exactly mimicked the Purrloin he was hurling himself at, full body. The sudden shift and light caused all three to hesitate and that was just the time he needed to hit the leader again.
The disguise fizzled and died when he crashed into the invader again, it was weak, but it had done its job. He just needed to do enough damage to scare them all off. So he bit and scratched at the other Pokemon with all he had.
It wasn't enough.
The leader raked her claws across his torso with enough force to knock him off of her. One of the others tore her claws into his side rapidly, weaker but with a lot more frequency.
He struggled up again in a daze, trying to ready himself to Tackle one of them, any of them, again but the last one made a move towards his head and he flinched only to be kicked hard in the shoulder.
Zorua heaved for breath on the ground, willing his legs to get back under him with all his might, but they weren't responding fast enough. Just about everything hurt now, which wasn't helping matters at all.
"I told you to get lost, you stupid little fox." The leader hissed at him.
"It's just a kid, look how small he is." The one who had sounded nicer before spoke up.
"I don't care, he's not one of ours, it's not our job to take care of someone else's trash." He was allowed to lie in peace for a moment, not quite long enough to recover his breath or bearings but it was still a wonderful moment.
Then he found himself dragged from his alley, his home, and tossed out onto the street. "Don't even think about trying to come back!" Were his only words of sympathy.
It was a long time, or at least it felt like a long time before he felt like he could try moving again. He struggled to his feet, or most of his feet at least. His left front leg had a shooting pain run through it every time he tried to put pressure on it.
With three legs under him and a barely steady gait, he glanced back at the shadowed alley, he could make out the shapes of the three new residents making themselves at home. For a moment, he entertained the idea of running back in there and fighting them off, for real this time!
But he wasn't strong enough.
And he was all alone.
Defeated, he limped away from the only home he'd ever known. There was no destination, and there was nowhere to go, there were other alleys but he wasn't familiar with them, he only visited others during the day and didn't know if others lived there at night.
His stomach reminded him of his old worries and he moped as he realized that he had no idea how to get to Trubbish from this side of the buildings, maybe he could go around? The pain made it hard to think straight.
This was far from the first time he'd been hurt but it might have been the worst. That wasn't a problem, right? He'd just have to wait it out and he'd feel better soon. That was it, his leg would heal on its own and the scratches would too. He just needed to rest…
Somewhere.
A new cold feeling began to wash over him now. One that was well removed from the weather. He couldn't go home, he was hungry and didn't know how to get food, he was hurt and couldn't stop and rest on the side of the road.
The feeling of helplessness hurt almost as much as his injuries and tears of frustration began to well in his eyes now.
It wasn't fair, why did they have a group and why was he alone? It wasn't his fault he was alone! He hadn't asked to be put in his box with the blanket and hatch in an alley without anyone around! How come the Purrloin got to have friends and a team? He'd tried to help others but no one wanted him around, it's not his fault!
All the thoughts and feelings in the world didn't solve anything though, his only option was to keep moving and hope he found either a place to rest or something to eat. Both would be nice.
He heard the human before he saw him, lumbering around like the bigger humans normally did. Up ahead somewhere in the gloom, maybe in between the big lights that lined the roads. It didn't matter, he was going this way until he accomplished something, staying still or trying to hide wasn't going to solve his problems.
It wasn't like he could run anyway so if this human had a problem with him walking down the road that was his fault.
The sudden voice didn't stop him but it did slow him down.
"Hey there buddy, you don't look so good, are you okay?"
Zorua looked up at the human, now only a little ways ahead of him. He was one of the taller ones, his form silhouetted against the light behind him. His voice was softer than the dark-type would have thought. Almost melodic, it sounded a little strange coming from such a big creature and if he had the strength to laugh he would have.
"Not okay, but it's not like you can hear me," Zorua muttered and kept going. It was nice of the big human to act concerned but he couldn't ask him for help, better if it had been another Pokemon.
"Oh, you really don't look so good, little guy." He already knew that, but it still stung to hear. "You definitely need some help, I hope you're ready for a big adventure."
Big adventure? What was that supposed to mean? He glanced back towards the human, just in time for something hard to bounce against his head. It hadn't hit him too hard but it had been so unexpected he had no time to react and just froze.
What happened next was hard to describe. Suddenly he wasn't himself anymore. Or well, he was himself but he wasn't in his body or… It was weird.
One minute he'd been standing on the road, cold, hungry, and in pain. The next he felt like he was surrounded on all sides by a protective bubble. Like nothing could touch him, or hurt him. But not in a way that left him trapped he felt like he could burst out if he wanted to.
Zorua didn't want to get out though. While he was like this, he didn't feel hungry, he didn't feel hurt or cold or exposed. For the first time in a long time…
He felt safe.
When Delia received a call from her old friend, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting.
She did get calls from old traveling companions and people she'd met during her journey, but she'd been stopped wandering for so long that it felt like a lifetime away, even though it had just been seven years or so.
There was a slight regret when she wondered if she could even call herself a Pokemon Trainer anymore, she still had a set of Pokeballs, a Pokedex, and of course her starter.
But she'd manage to chip her way into her own little slice of happiness. She might not be a world-famous champion or coordinator, but she was Pallet Town famous. Inheriting the only restaurant in town had its benefits. Not to mention that she could honestly say she was happy running her diner.
It was weird how things worked out, but she wasn't entirely removed from the Pokemon world, not when she had her Blastoise, Shelldon wandering around. She was actually a little worried about him, he had been alright for a while but seemed to be starting to go stir-crazy.
Besides that claim, she also found herself welcome at Professor Oak's lab whenever she felt like it. It was nice of the old man, it was nice seeing all the Pokemon there and the younger trainers going off on their journeys every now and then.
Despite this, her own wanderlust never quite returned to her. Occasionally she'd take it into her head to try going on another journey, catch some new Pokemon, maybe take another shot at the gym circuit, but it never amounted to anything. Whenever it came down to it she'd start overplanning and then rethinking whether it was worth going at all and she ended up stalling.
Maybe that was why most people started as a trainer at age ten, they didn't spend as much time thinking about all the details adults might get caught up on.
All of this musing on theoretical adventures and whether or not she was still a trainer. was beside the point, however. As it did not change the fact that she now had a Tricky Fox Pokemon cautiously exploring the room.
Apparently, her friend had found this little guy wandering around the streets of Castellia City late at night, looking like he'd just been in a fight. Obviously, the best option that came to his mind had been to chuck a Pokeball at the poor thing.
He'd then taken the Pokemon, Zorua, she had been told, to a Pokemon Center where he'd made a full recovery. The issue was, that while he couldn't just leave the dark-type on the street, he wasn't able to care for a young Pokemon at this point in his journey, and Zorua was probably a month old at most.
She had been a little bit reluctant to make the trade at first, but after some talking, they decided it would be a trade in name only. Delia would send Shelldon to her friend and take his latest catch in exchange, but she could just say the word and get her starter back home.
It certainly helped matters that her water-type was eager to get back out and do some battling and adventuring. It would do him some good after spending so long cooped up with her, even if he did try to help out at work.
But now he was in Unova, and she was going to be taking care of a young, probably half-feral Pokemon she'd never heard of before today.
With that in mind, she pulled out her old Pokedex, somehow it still had a working battery despite sitting at the bottom of her drawer for at least two years.
Delia flipped the device open, blew some dust off the screen, and then pointed the device at her newest Pokemon. Hiding might have been the wrong word for what he was doing, but skittish was definitely in the running. Zorua seemed to be trying to explore without leaving himself out in the open.
Mostly this just translated to the Pokemon skirting along the walls and trying his best to stay in the shadow of furniture. For the most part, he seemed to be ignoring her, she figured he was doing so deliberately since she was a bit hard to miss.
The dex lit up and a picture appeared that matched the Pokemon who was carefully exploring his new home. "Zorua." The familiar digital voice spoke up. "The tricky fox Pokemon. Zorua hides its true form by changing shape into people and Pokemon, and loves to surprise people."
Delia looked up from the Pokedex entry and compared the image to the Pokemon that had finally seemed to notice her and was now staring at her intently. So he could change shape like a Ditto or something? Spencer would probably be interested in it, not to mention Professor Oak. She'd bring it up the next time she saw them.
Crouching down she fixed Zorua with a stare as he sniffed at the ground near the hallway door. It was probably a smart decision to close the doors when letting him out for the first time. She doubted he would have bolted but it was easier to keep an eye on him while he was in one spot.
The trainer crouched down, trying to get closer to his level, maybe helping him feel a bit less nervous.
"Hi there, welcome to Pallet Town." She said to him as nicely as she could. It was a tossup with younger Pokemon whether they could understand humans or not, so she did her best to keep her tone comforting.
Zorua finally looked at her, acting as though he had just noticed she was there. It wasn't always easy to read a Pokemon's expression but she thought she caught a few emotions flickering there. Curiosity, confusion, maybe the smallest hint of fear but she might have imagined that.
"I know this all must be new and confusing for you." Delia maintained her friendly and comforting tone. "This is really far away from where you were before. I don't know exactly what happened to you there but you were hurt pretty bad."
Her new Pokemon began to approach her and stared at her, tilting his head as he appraised her. "Zor?" He seemed confused about something.
Taking a shot in the dark, she tried her best to answer the unknown question. "I'm not the one who caught you, that was a friend of mine, he wasn't sure what to do after he helped you so he asked me if I would look after you."
That seemed to have hit the right mark because he bobbed his little furry head in what could have been a nod. He then returned his attention to the furniture of the living room, walking up to the couch. He wasn't acting nearly as cautious so she must have been making some progress.
"This is a house, it's where humans live, and sometimes Pokemon too." She decided to give him the guided tour, and help him feel a bit more at home. "We keep our stuff here, like furniture and food."
Zorua seemed a bit confused by the couch, sniffing at it and prodding it a little with his paw.
"That's a couch," she explained and walked over to it, taking a seat on the cushions. "It's just a comfortable place to sit."
He looked from her to the edge of the seat and came to a decision. He braced himself and did a small hop up onto the padded seating. He was unprepared for the bouncing springs though and quickly lost his footing, gasping in a brief panic.
Moving quickly, she reached out and helped him stabilize. She felt him tense as she touched him but she was gentle, not forcefully holding him, just giving him something to balance against.
"Sorry about that it's a little bouncy." She apologize to him as he made himself comfortable on the seat, putting his head against the surface as though testing its support.
"Since I'm your trainer now, I guess I should come up with a name for you," Delia muttered, half to herself. He glanced at her but other than that remained quiet, well verbally anyway. Now that he realized that the couch was safe he was testing the spring strength and comfiness levels. Partly by rolling around, partly by bouncing.
The fox-like Pokemon made a snickering noise and seemed to grin as he had fun on the furniture. Well, based on the laugh alone she could call him Joker or something.
Then again while hearing a Pokemon snicker like that was rather unusual he didn't look like a "Joker", besides she could do better with names. She wasn't ten years old anymore, thinking of puns for Squirtles. She'd always suspected Shelldon had a bit of a chip on his shoulder because of it.
She took a good look at the little Zorua who had seemingly grown bored of the couch in record time too. Now that he was feeling a bit more comfortable he was becoming braver, he got back off the couch and started sniffing around the floor, from the carpet to the wood, just exploring the room in general. Likely because he was used to walking around on either pavement or grass.
Taking stock of his appearance she noted the fur first, which was soot-like gray and mixed with bits of red, it reminded her a bit of cinder and ash.
Well naming him Cinder could work but it sounded more like something you would name a fire-type Pokemon. Then again the name Ash made you think of fire typically, but with his mostly gray fur, along with the red highlights, it certainly matched the colors that came to her head when she thought of ashes.
Delia took stock of the other characteristics she had to work with. She didn't want to give him a name in reference to something, she wanted one based on him, it only seemed right. The eyes were a bit strange, a pale green and blue color, but that didn't bring any thoughts to her mind apart from something relating to the ocean.
Without too much time to get a good gouge of his personality, she narrowed it down to her first two choices, Cinder and Ash. Although, she did like one more than the other.
"How does the name Ash sound?" She asked Zorua, thankfully regaining his attention. The small dark-furred fox looked at her confused, apparently not sure how to respond.
"Some trainers do it differently but I like to give my Pokemon nicknames, let them have a bit of individuality I guess." It always seemed to be one or the other for trainers, either they nicknamed all of their Pokemon or none of them.
He seemed agreeable to this notion, perhaps even a bit excited, "Zor." He pronounced, using a slightly different tone than before. "Zor! Zorua, zor!" The newly named Ash seemed to take quite a liking to his new name.
Now that she had a name for Ash, she needed to figure out what kind of food he ate. He wasn't from Kanto after all, so it might be hard to find one that suited a Pokemon from Unova. Once again she was probably going to have to speak to "Professor Pokemon" himself, Samuel Oak. It was unlikely that he would mind though, he loved learning about Pokemon after all. Especially rare or unusual ones and one from Unova would likely qualify in that regard.
Although she was a bit concerned about the whole changing shape thing the Pokedex mentioned, it would probably be fine though. She could worry about it at a later date.
She got off the couch and walked over to him again. Once again she crouched down and began talking. "Welcome home Ash, you don't have to worry or be afraid, I'll take good care of you, I promise."
No response this time but at her words, his eyes widened and seem to shine with awe and wonder. He was a cute little guy, and she would do her best, maybe not as much battle training as she might have once done but she'd make sure he felt like he had a home here.
"Ash!" Delia called looking around for her Pokemon. She'd just sent the last of the lunch rush off and was leaving the diner in the capable hands of her sole employee while she took a break.
In the four years since she'd first welcomed the dark-type home, he'd changed a lot from the skittish Pokemon he used to be. His interest in exploring had long since left the house and begun to extend to the rest of town. Not that many people realized that she had a Zorua though.
Unfortunately for her, his ability to change shape was some sort of illusionary ability and it made finding him when he went off somewhere problematic, to say the least. Not that she was bitter or anything, she had run into problems while raising all her Pokemon, and Ash wasn't causing any trouble really, he was just a bit… adventurous.
So far he had only been able to make himself look like Pokemon he had seen before, and normally he would make a mistake of some kind, usually his tail, and that would help her spot him when he was off on his little adventure.
That is if she could figure out where to look for him first. On the bright side, he knew not to run off too far so it shouldn't be too hard.
While his trainer searched for him, Ash was experimenting with his illusion ability, intent on developing it further. He'd been able to make himself look like all kinds of Pokemon but it was always hard to get perfect. Even just getting the eyes a little too far apart could ruin the entire disguise. Which was why he made use of one of the small lakes that dotted the town.
Besides, he had a magnum opus to perfect, he was going to figure out how to make himself look like a human as well!
Truth be told, his desire to do this had been inspired by his trainer. He had known her for nearly as long as he could remember and every day spent with her was a day farther from his cold and painful earliest memories. If he was able to pretend to be human then she wouldn't have to put him in his Pokeball anymore when they went to certain places. They may be comfortable but they were a bit short on open space for his taste.
That was the only problem he had with his home, the fact he wasn't able to get out too much, not that he blamed Delia, she just didn't travel much anymore. Her adventuring days were behind her. But that didn't mean anything about his adventuring days! Ash wanted to explore all the forests around town, meet every Pokemon at Professor Oaks' lab, and maybe even explore other cities and towns!
But his thoughts were getting away from him, for now, he had to focus on his practice. He could probably do this at home, and Delia would probably help coach him, but he wanted to surprise her! It would be so much fun!
He looked at the reflection of himself in the water. His own furry features stared back at him. He concentrated and leaped into the air a bit to give himself some growth room. He applied his illusion, landing back on the ground with two feet instead of four…
… and promptly fell over.
The Zorua's frustration manifested in a growl. How did humans walk around like this all the time!? There was no balance while standing on two feet! What was the benefit of it?
Not one to just roll over and give up, he pushed himself back up, carefully holding his arms out to try and keep balance in the awkward standing position. He grinned for a moment but it quickly faded as he began tipping over again.
Ash yelped as he pitched forward landing in the water this time, the shock of cold liquid caused him to lose focus on his appearance and revert to his original shape. This water wasn't too deep at least, so he was able to just push himself back out again.
Now his fur was soaked, clumping and weighing him down in an uncomfortable manner leaving him to sigh. He needed way more practice before he could properly utilize his human illusion.
He trotted out of the water and shook himself out as best he could on dry land. He was still wet but at least his fur wasn't dragging him down as much. He wondered if clothes were any better to deal with when wet.
"Ash!" He heard Delia call him and perked up, he knew she would have found him eventually but he was hoping to have more time to practice, he had wanted to show off a finished new illusion!
But she soon came into view and decided he would have to try another day. Running off now would just be mean, he didn't want to hurt her feelings.
"Just where have you been?" Delia demanded when she arrived at the clearing, bending over so she could give him a proper inspection. "And why are you all wet!?"
Ash smartly did his best to look as innocent and adorable as possible. "I was just looking around when this lake suddenly jumped out and challenged me to a battle! I won of course."
His trainer's unamused look was his only reward for a well-fought battle. "I wish I could understand that, I'm sure it would have explained everything. Now come on, I told Professor Oak I'd have lunch with him today. He said he had something to show us."
Ash was silently annoyed, not about the fact that they were going to the Professor's lab, he liked that place, it gave him plenty of new ideas about what kind of Pokemon he could attempt to transform into. No, he was annoyed that she couldn't understand him, he wanted to talk to her, a lot! He wanted to thank her for taking care of him and training him and feeding him and being the best trainer ever in the history of the world!
But even if he were to climb on the roof and yell it to the world she wouldn't understand a word of it.
The trip to the lab was uneventful as usual, save for the usual game Ash made of their trip.
Every time they took the trip to visit the professor, Ash would try and use his illusion to match another Pokemon. Not to show off or anything, just for fun. There was always one part he messed up on though…
Today he flashed in his trainer's arms, and she found herself holding a red and white ball.
"A Pokeball?" She wondered out loud, used to his little game by now. She turned him around and saw the eyes and it became clear though. "Oh! A Voltorb, pretty good one, no tail, and the eyes look right."
"Voltorb!" Ash declared, pleased with her assessment. This however proved to be the great undoing that he always faced.
"Hmm, nope sorry, still just hearing 'Zorua.' Although it was a lot gruffer, you definitely have the accent down." She told him.
The lab hadn't changed since the last time he had been there, of course, it never really changed much, apart from maybe a few desks or tables moved around and various stacks of papers and books in different spots. But it was familiar enough for him to navigate around it without help anymore.
Back when he was younger, maybe on his third or fourth visit, he had managed to get himself lost among the machines and had panicked quite a bit. Fortunately, Delia and the Professor found him after a short while.
The humans had left him alone in the main room of the lab, giving him a chance to keep on practicing his illusion where no one would be around to spy on him. Ash decided to ignore the fact that the use of the word 'spy' was a bit of a stretch, given the fact that the only reason he was trying to hide it was so he could surprise his trainer… and maybe use it as a disguise and trick a few people as a joke.
When he was sure the humans were long gone, Ash hopped over to the middle of the room. Replicating the attempt he made at the lake he stuck his arms out as soon as he could and used them to make sure he didn't topple over again.
It was a bit shaky for a few seconds but he managed to find equilibrium and not fall over, frontwards, or backward. Ash's lit his face, filled with the euphoria of victory. Slowly he started moving his arms down, trying not to upset his delicate balance.
"Great, another human!" Someone commented behind him.
Ash was so startled by the voice he fell over again and his illusion collapsed leaving him in his normal shape. Darn it all, and he was so close this time! He scrambled to his feet and glared around to give whoever it was that had surprised him a piece of his mind.
"Okay, what's the big idea!?" Ash demanded locating the target of his aggression on top of a bookshelf behind him. It was another Pokemon, a yellow one with a few black markings and red cheeks. It was smaller than he was and had a head too big for its body.
"Wait a second, I thought you were a human!" The yellow Pokemon pointed at him, confusion written on his face.
"Well maybe, if I had a bit more practice you wouldn't be able to tell the difference," Ash responded in a tone that clearly said who he blamed for not having more practice.
"Well maybe, if you weren't making yourself look like a stupid human, you wouldn't need practice." The smaller Pokemon said, hopping down from the ledge it was standing on and coming up to Ash. Small sparks of electricity lit its cheeks up and it pressed its head against Ash's, clearly attempting to intimidate him.
"Well maybe, you should mind your own business!" Ash shouted back, pushing harder against the other Pokemon.
"Well maybe, I will!" The electric-type finished, trying to get the last word in, but didn't appear to be backing off any time soon.
Ash didn't want to get into a battle in the middle of the lab both because he'd get in trouble but also because he didn't want to mess with Professor Oak's things. Quickly, he hatched a new plan.
Snickering, both with amusement and anticipation, he jumped back from the yellow Pokemon applying an illusion as he did so. When he landed, he appeared to be an exact replica of the other Pokemon, save for the sly grin that split his face.
"H-how are you doing that?!" His new enemy demanded. "Cut it out!"
"Maybe if you weren't such a jerk." Ash teased snickering again. Hah! That's what he gets for ruining his training!
"Why you!" The other Pokemon leaped at him knocking them both over and causing Ash to lose concentration on his illusion forcing him out of his new appearance yet again.
All bets were now off, this guy had attacked him first, and he was in the clear to kick his stupid butt.
When Delia and Professor Oak returned to the room, now with lunches in hand they found two small Pokemon rolling around on the floor, biting and scratching at each other. They also found that most of the room was kind of a mess at this point.
"I see that Ash has met Pichu!" The professor laughed awkwardly. "Not quite how I intended when I invited you two over."
"This seems about right to me actually." Delia confided, her tone more fond than annoyed.
Oh boy, how do I start talking about this? There are obviously some pretty significant changes to how it played out this time, mostly in the first two thirds. But overall no major plot beats have changed.
To those of you just joining this story, welcome! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, and I'm sorry if you're reading this before I get around to editing the next two chapters because there will be a drop-off in quality, it does get better though, I promise.
I also have a discord server now! So here's that: discord gg kESdTfhAwG
For the sake of posterity, I have included the original note I had at the bottom of this chapter.
OLD NOTE:
And that's where I'm cutting it off for now.
To be honest this was my effort to get the idea that's been rolling around in my head, out of it and let me focus on some other things because this was the only thing I could think of any time I brought up a document to start writing something. And I figured, what do I have to lose? Maybe people might actually like this!
But yeah, this was my first attempt at a Pokémon fanfiction, but not my first fanfiction whatsoever. So I'm not new to the site, just new to the category. Hopefully it turned out okay, because I'm a bit biased here.
Anyway, the idea behind it is simple, Ash is a Pokémon and he goes on his journey, makes new friends ect. It would certainly explain why he never ages! (Although apparently in recent anime episodes Brock and Misty have returned and they're the same age too, I haven't been watching like I used to)
I'm not sure if this is going to be continued or not, I have plenty of other stories that demand my focus and I actually have no plan for this one. Basically, if you want to see more of it, let me know and I'll see what I can do!
Well next week I should be able to update one of my other stories that haven't been updated in awhile. Maybe MT or SS, possibly GG.
Until next we meet! See ya!
~FriTik
R&R