"Nidorino use Horn Attack!"

"Gengar, dodge it and use hypnosis!"

"That was entirely unnecessary. Horn Attack wouldn't have affected Gengar anyways."

The scene of the two Pokemon battling zoomed out to reveal that it was being shown on the television, and in front of it sat a ten-year-old boy, with dark messy hair and deep brown eyes that looked almost black.

The boy was called Ash Ketchum, a resident of Pallet Town and an aspiring Pokemon Trainer. He was going to receive his Pokemon the next day and finally start his journey. He has been waiting for this day since he was five years old after he attended the Pokemon Summer Camp arranged by Professor Oak. One he would have almost missed had it not been for his friend who had come to bring him along.

Ash clicked his tongue and turned the television off just as Nidorino's trainer sent out an Onyx.

He stood from his position in front of the television and stretched. It was late into the night and he decided he'd go to sleep now, lest he woke up late the next day. No one's coming to wake him up the next morning after all. Well, his mother was there, but Ash wouldn't want to take any chances.

As the boy lay in bed and allowed sleep to slowly claim him, he stared at the ceiling and wondered how his friend was doing, whether he'd meet her someday in his journey. She'd be starting her journey too, at least he expected her to start soon.

The sun was just rising when Ash woke. He let his body catch up to his mind before slowly pushing himself out of bed.

He took a shower, brushed his teeth and by the time he went down to the kitchen, fully dressed and refreshed, his mother was up and preparing breakfast.

Mother and son exchanged pleasantries as Ash sat at the table and eventually was served breakfast by his mother. The two talked while they had breakfast, about how excited Ash was, and what Pokemon he decided to pick.

Breakfast ended far sooner than Ash or his mother would have liked.

Ash packed his bags with his mother's help, exclaiming in embarrassment when his mother insisted he take extra underwear with him, and finally left for Professor Oak's Lab.

The sun had risen and the town of Pallet was just waking when Ash left his house. The morning air fuelled his excitement and before Ash knew it, he was rushing towards Professor Oak's Laboratory.

The Laboratory was situated at the edge of town on top of a hill, near a river that who knows where it led. Ash used to go fishing there when he was young with his father.

Ash's step wavered when he thought about his father. But he pushed on after a moment.

Ash stopped at the foot of the hill and pressed the doorbell button at the gate, cringing at the buzzing sound. Their house had a similar doorbell when Ash was younger, but had to be replaced after he threw a tantrum about how bad it was.

Professor Oak answered the door and smiled at the young Ketchum.

"Ash! Good to see you're not late."

"Wouldn't want to miss this for anything" Ash grinned, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

Professor Oak ushered him in and Ash followed the older man.

"I still remember you from the Summer Camp all those years ago," Professor Oak said with an amused laugh. "Had it not been for the young lady, you would have missed it entirely."

"And I am thankful for her every single day of my life for that! I learned a lot from you that day. And you encouraged me to learn more about Pokemon from reading about them all."

Professor Oak smiled.

"It warms my heart to know I was able to influence you in such a positive way" the Professor said, "How is your friend, by the way?"

"She's doing well. She's supposed to start her journey around the same time as I do according to her last letter" Ash answered with a grin.

The old man led Ash into the Laboratory building and then to the top floor where Ash saw three Pokemon eating their food on the floor.

"You're the first one here, and quite early too. I just gave them their breakfast."

Ash nodded at Professor Oak's words, wide and excited eyes watching the three Pokemon eat.

There was Bulbasaur, a small quadrupedal amphibian Pokemon with a green plant bulb on his back. A grass-type Pokemon.

Then there was Charmander, a bipedal reptilian Pokemon with a flame at the tip of his tail. A fire-type Pokemon.

And finally, there was Squirtle, a small reptilian Pokemon with a hard shell covering its body. A water-type Pokemon.

Movement caught Ash's eyes, a blur moving in the corner of his vision. He turned his head to see but there was nothing there. He shrugged and turned back to the Pokemon.

The trio had finished eating and were now standing before Ash and looking at him with their large innocent eyes.

"So Ash, have you decided on who to choose?" Professor Oak questioned.

"I have! I gave it a lot of thought and I've decided" The boy knelt in front of the Pokemon and held his hand out, "Squirtle, I choose you."

The Pokemon in question grinned at Ash and shook his hand with its tail.

"Excellent!" Professor Oak smiled, procuring a Pokeball and summoning Squirtle inside it. He handed the Pokeball to Ash, along with five more and a rectangular device after a moment, red with a blue circular bulb-like thing on the top right. Ash flipped the device open and on the inside found a blacked-out screen and buttons on both sides of it.

"That is a Pokedex" Professor Oak informed the boy. "You can use it to scan data on any Pokemon you meet and if you put you press that small circular button on the cover on the right…"

Ash did so and saw a picture of him and his information.

"The device will show your information. That is your identification and proof that I am sponsoring you as a Trainer. And if you place your Pokeball on top of the blue bulb…"

Ash did so and the Pokedex came to life.

"Squirtle, 1'08", Moves include: Tackle, Withdraw and Watergun."

"It will scan the Pokeball and tell you a bit more about your Pokemon" Professor Oak smiled. "Now point the Pokedex at Bulbasaur here, the top part."

Ash did as instructed and the Pokedex blacked out before coming to life again.

"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokémon."

"It will give you information on the Pokemon you are facing."

Ash nodded excitedly as he digested all the information, pointing his Pokedex at Charmander and then his Squirtle.

Professor Oak gave Ash a few more pointers about the Pokedex's use before finally deeming Ash ready to start his journey.

Ash thanked the Professor before leaving. Unbeknownst to him, a pair of beady eyes was watching him closely.

Ash bumped into Gary just as he was about to walk out, the two boys stumbling a few steps back as a result.

"Watch where you're going!" Gary snapped, before seeing who it was and blinking owlishly. "You got here before me?!"

"Yup! Even got my Pokemon" Ash grinned at his childhood rival.

Gary was Professor Oak's grandson, having auburn hair and black eyes. Many compared Gary's looks to his grandfather's in his youth. But the truth of the matter was that Gary took more after his grandmother than Grandfather.

The boy in question growled and shoved Ash aside on his way to the top floor.

Ash snickered and exited the building.

He found his mom at the base of the hills with a small group of people.

"You got your Pokemon?" she asked, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her son.

Ash grinned wide and called out Squirtle.

The small turtle was an immediate hit with Ash's mom, who embraced the Pokemon close.

"You picked Squirtle!" the woman squealed.

Ash sweat dropped at his mother's antics. He knew just how big a fan the woman was of Squirtles. It may or may not have influenced his decision for a starter Pokemon.

Eventually, the woman let Squirtle down and Ash recalled it.

"I forgot to give you this" The mother held a basket out to her son, one he accepted gratefully and looked inside. It had all kinds of medicinal items for his Pokemon and him. "I bought it yesterday and forgot."

"Thanks, Mom" Ash quickly put the things in his bag with a grin.

Deliah Ketchum stared at her boy in silence for a moment before stepping forward and pulling him in for an embrace.

Ash hugged her back and the two remained like that for a moment before separating.

Professor Oak sighed as his Grandson left with his starter. The boy had grown arrogant through the years, and while he was learned and capable, Oak still worried about his attitude. Should things not change soon, a rude awakening waited for the boy.

The sound of glass smashing drew his attention away and Oak rushed back upstairs. His last remaining starter stood there in shock, staring at the broken window. Oak rushed towards it and stared out to see a blur move away. He pulled himself back and noticed the remaining Pokemon point to something on the floor.

It was a broken Pokeball with a small electric symbol on its broken top half.

"Oh dear" the Professor mumbled.

Pallet Town was now a dot in the background.

This was the furthest Ash had ever been from his home town without any form of supervision.

He was excited, but that did not mean that he wasn't afraid.

He had never been alone before, his mother always hovering over him. Well, there was that one time he was alone for half a day when his mother went to the market at the edge of town, but he had a neighbour come in to check on him from time to time.

There were no neighbours here.

Ash was alone.

Well, he wasn't exactly alone.

He had Squirtle with him, his first partner in this journey.

And there was another one in front of him, a small bird eating something from the ground.

But before Ash could get its data, a jolt of electricity scared it off. Ash turned around to see where it came from and blinked in surprise. He fished his Pokedex out and pointed it at the creature.

"Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokemon. It has small electric sacs on both its cheeks. If threatened, it looses electric charges from the sacs."

This creature looked nothing close to feeling threatened. Rather it looked ready for a challenge.

Ash grinned and summoned his Squirtle. But before he could command his Pokemon to attack the little creature charged, its speed catching Ash off guard.

"Squirtle! Withdraw!" Ash called.

Squirtle withdrew into its shell and Pikachu collided against it. And then it kept on attacking, colliding furiously against the shell and not letting Squirtle attack.

Ash bit his bottom lip and watched helplessly as the Pikachu kept on attacking his Squirtle. There had to be a pattern to this attack, Ash knew he had to find a pattern. He had read that in a book about battling, to look for a pattern and to disrupt it.

But Pikachu was moving way too fast for Ash to study it, to find that pattern and disrupt it.

With a deep breath, he decided to throw away what the fuck he'd read and improvise.

"Squirtle! Tackle!" he called out.

Squirtle popped its head out and when Pikachu got close, it slammed its head against Pikachu's. The Mouse Pokemon stumbled back, as did Squirtle.

"Water Gun!"

Squirtle shook out of his stupor first and fired a Water Gun at Pikachu. The Electric Mouse let out a cry as the water hit it and sent it rolling back.

But Pikachu recovered quickly. Its cheeks sparked and a bolt of electricity shot out towards Squirtle, too fast for the Pokemon to dodge.

Electric types were strong against Water types, Ash knew that and saw it first-hand now.

The bolts of electricity were in short bursts, each one hitting Squirtle so fast that Squirtle couldn't dodge it right.

Squirtle withdrew and water burst from its tail hole and moved out of the way using it.

An idea struck Ash as he watched Squirtle move around and dodge like that.

"Squirtle! Tackle!"

Squirtle did not draw its head out of its shell but followed its trainer's orders.

Jets of water shot out from its tail and leg holes and it rocketed towards Pikachu, faster than before. The Electric Mouse was caught by surprise at the speed, and the continuous use of its electricity seemed to have tired it out slightly as well.

Squirtle collided with Pikachu, and it did not stop until it had slammed the Electric Mouse against a tree.

Ash turned his cap around and drew a Pokeball before throwing it.

Squirtle pulled back from the attack, only to be replaced by the Pokeball that arched from Ash's hand to the Pikachu.

It hit Pikachu on the head and the Pokemno glowed red. Its form broke and turned to energy before being sucked into the Pokeball.

The capture device fell to the ground as Squirtle jumped back and began to shake. The button glowed red and Ash watched in silence as the device shook once… twice… and then a third time. It made a clicking sound and stopped shaking, the button turning white.

Ash waited a moment still, watching the ball closely before breaking into cheer and celebration with Squirtle.

Ash had caught his first Pokemon.