Route 4: Day…
A Dedenne scurried up a tree and began trying to get a berry off the branch. On the path below below, Bonnie was running slightly ahead with Froakie while Riolu walked alongside Ash and Clemont. Ash's pokemon had wanted to be out, and he saw nothing wrong with it.
Suddenly, Froakie stopped and looked around, prompting Ash to speak up. "Hey, what's up Froakie?"
The Dedenne above got his berry free, only for it to end up falling and hitting Froakie on the head. It wasn't anywhere near hard enough to hurt, just that he took note of it. Bonnie ended up picking the berry up while the wild Dedenne scurried down with the intention of taking it.
Riolu immediately took note of the oncoming pokemon before stepping in between the girl and wild pokemon. "Rio!"
Dedenne stopped, though he was clearly frustrated. "Dedenne!"
Bonnie fawned over the pokemon. "Aw, it's so cute!"
He looked at the treat in her hand before turning his attention to the fighting type. "Dede dede dede nne nne!"
"Rio rio lu lu lu." Riolu retorted.
While those two talked out things, Ash took out his pokedex:
Dedenne, the Antenna Pokémon. Dedenne communicates long distance with other Dedenne by sending radio waves through its antenna-like whiskers.
"Sounds like an electric type to me." Ash noted.
"It's also so cute." Bonnie tugged on her brother's sleeve. "You'll keep it for me, right? Pretty please. I promise I'll take care of it."
Clemont scratched his cheek, unsure. "Hm, let me think."
"I think you should do it." Ash smiled as he dug around in his bag. "This little guy doesn't seem all that threatening." He pulled out a canister of average pokefood. "If anything, I bet he's just hungry." He tossed it to Clemont, who caught it. "In that case, feeding him should help."
While Ash did have specialized pokefood on hand for Riolu and now Froakie, he made sure to have a few canisters of your average food too since you never knew. A wild pokemon might just be enticed to join you if they're fed well enough.
"Well, alright." Clemont gave the canister to Bonnie. "Let's catch Dedenne."
"Right." Bonnie walked up next to Riolu, cutting off his conversation with the wild pokemon, before kneeling. "Hey Dedenne, you want food, right?" She opened the canister, getting the electric/fairy type to slowly approach. "Yeah, it's all yours."
He soon stuck his head in and ate one of the pieces of food. While by no means spectacular to a pokemon whose had specifically made pokemon food, this was leagues above what smaller wild pokemon could get. Ultimately, Dedenne began digging in with gusto.
"Dedenne, if you let my brother catch you, there'll be plenty of food." Bonnie voiced as the electric/fairy type ate. "I'd also take really great care of you, and we'd have so much fun together."
Dedenne took his head out of the canister, having heard everything and gotten his fill in the process. While he had certainly not been sure of these people before, the food made him rather agreeable.
He ultimately approached Clemont. "Dede!"
Riolu looked at his trainer. "Rio."
"Dedenne has decided to come with us." Ash informed, his bond of aura with Riolu helping him understand his starter.
"Yippee!" Bonnie celebrated.
"That means it's time." Clemont took out a pokeball and threw it. "Go pokeball!"
It hit and sucked in Dedenne before proceeding to shake. Bonnie was silently pleading for it to work until the pokeball dinged to signify a successful capture.
"I did it." Clemont approached and picked the pokeball up. "I caught Dedenne, and I'll be keeping it for Bonnie!"
"This is so cool!" Bonnie celebrated with him. "Thank you!" She then ran up to her brother. "Can you let Dedenne out now? I want to take care of him."
"Sure." Clemont nodded. "I'll do it right now."
He let the electric/fairy type out. Dedenne and Bonnie then proceeded to run up to each other, with the former jumping into the latter's arms.
"Dedenne, yay!" Bonnie cheered. "Hi there, I'm Bonnie." She then showed him to the others. "See, that's my brother Clemont. Those are Riolu and Froakie, who are Ash's pokemon.
"Nice to meet you." Ash voiced.
"Dedenne!" Dedenne replied.
"Here." Bonnie plopped down while pulling out a cloth. "Let me get you cleaned up." She proceeded to wipe the antenna pokemon down, and he certainly liked it. "Look, Dedenne likes it when I pet his tail."
"Well, I never would have guessed." Clemont stated.
"You're going to have fun with Dedenne, aren't you Bonnie?" Ash asked.
"Yeah." Bonnie stood while smiling. "Dedenne is just so cute." She proceeded to rub his cheek against hers. "Nuzzle, nuzzle, nuzzle."
Dedenne took that as an order and utilized the move, shocking Bonnie.
"Nuzzle happens to be a common electric type move." Ash informed.
"Noted." Bonnie stated, shocked, before Dedenne yawned and drifted to sleep. "He's sleeping?"
Of course." Clemont nodded. "Dedenne tend to fall asleep a lot to conserve energy."
"Okay." She lowered him into her bag. "He can nap in here then."
"Alright, looks like we can move on then." Ash voiced.
"Yeah." Bonnie agreed.
Lumiose City: Professor Sycamore's Lab
Serena opened the door to the lab. "Hello, is Professor Sycamore around!"
"That's me!" Sycamore called down from the stairs. "I'm up here!"
"Oh, hello there." Serena greeted. "I'm Serena."
Sycamore walked on down. "I'm betting you're here to become a pokemon trainer."
"Yep." She moved to stand before the man. "Also, I saw this trainer on the news. The report was all about how he had saved a Garchomp."
"Ah, you're talking about Ash." Sycamore smiled.
"Ash." Serena smiled as he just had to be the same Ash she met at that summer camp three years ago. "I knew it."
"I'm afraid he already left, though I do believe he mentioned going to challenge the Santalune Gym." Sycamore noted.
"Santalune Gym…" Serena nodded. "Professor, may I choose a pokemon?"
"Of course, though someone took the Chespin I had." Sycamore retrieved two pokeballs from his coat. "As such, these are the pokemon you'll have to choose from." He threw them out. "Come on out, Fennekin and Froakie. Go ahead, select your partner."
"They're both so cute." Serena smiled. "That said, I made up my mind on which pokemon I wanted before leaving my house." Fortunately, the person before her hadn't taken her choice. "Fennekin, I pick you." She smiled as she knelt before the fire type. "I'm Serena."
Fennekin stared at this girl before happily smiling herself. "Fenn."
"Now that you've made your decision…" Sycamore voiced, getting her to stand. "Here is your starter's pokeball as well as a starter kit consisting of five pokeballs and one pokedex."
"Wow, thanks so much professor!" Serena declared.
"The pokedex can be useful in telling you a lot about a pokemon, though it also has extra information for pokemon you receive or catch." Sycamore explained before motioning to the fire type. "Here, why not try it out on your starter?"
Serena nodded before scanning her pokemon:
Fennekin, the Fox Pokémon. Fennekin expels hot air that can reach nearly 400 degrees. It likes to snack on twigs.
Type: Fire
Ability: Blaze
Sex: Female
Current Moves: Scratch, Tail Whip, Ember
Route 4
The group had come across a log on the path and decided to take a break. Bonnie was currently cleaning Dedenne while Ash and Clemont drank from their canteens.
"There, all done." Bonnie announced. "Now you're clean."
Dedenne hopped down beside her with a smile. "Dede."
"You must have a lot of practice with pokemon." Ash noted.
"Of course." Bonnie pet the electric/fairy type. "It's only natural I would sinceI absolutely love them." She then pet his tail some, which the little guy loved, prompting her to pick him up. "Oh, you are just so cute!"
"Here, let me try." Clemont stated, coming over and petting Dedenne's tail as well.
"Hey Ash, can you let out either of your pokemon?" Bonnie asked. "I want to take care of them."
"Bonnie, don't you remember?" Clemont asked. "Riolu's rather independent."
Ash smiled apologetically. "Sorry to say, Froakie's shown to be much the same."
Bonnie looked down sadly.
"There's always Bunnelby." Clemont ended up letting his normal type out with a smile. "You know he likes to be taken care of."
"Bunn!" Bunnelby declared in agreement.
"Hey Bunnelby." Bonnie immediately cheered up as she plopped down next to the normal type. "Do you mind if I clean you?"
"Elby!" Bunnelby declared happily, allowing Bonnie to clean him.
"Heh, looks like Clemont was right since Bunnelby is all smiles." Ash voiced.
Bonnie squealed in absolute delight.
"Taking care of pokemon makes you really happy, doesn't it?" Clemont asked.
"Yep!" Bonnie declared.
"Well, I make no promises, but I'll see about making my next capture a pokemon who'd actually like you taking care of them." Ash collected their canteens. "Anyways Clemont, that map of yours showed a river nearby, right?"
"Yeah, should just be through the tree line." Clemont answered.
"Good, I'll see about filling our canteens." Ash voiced.
"Thanks!" Bonnie exclaimed.
"Yeah, thanks a lot." Clemont added.
Ash nodded with a smile. "Don't mention it."
River
Ash eventually made it to the stream before kneeling and starting to fill canteens. As he worked, a Litleo emerged from the brush on the other side of the river. She climbed atop a nearby log, intending to cross to the other side, before finally noticing the trainer curiously.
"Lit?" Litleo tilted her head, inadvertently taking a step forward at the same time.
As she wasn't staring ahead, the fire/normal type ended up misplacing her footing to the point she collapsed forward. The lion cub ended up sliding off the right.
"LITLEO!" Litleo cried out.
Ash heard the pokemon cry out and just managed to look in time to see Litleo hit the water. Without even needing to think about it, he abandoned the canteens to dive into the water himself. While the current wasn't strong, Litleo wasn't able to swim.
It was unlikely she even knew since to Ash this didn't look like a water type. Baring knowing or not, the fact was that the fire/normal type was currently flailing and desperately trying to keep her head above the water as the current carried her.
Ash cut directly across the water and was able to get into position to catch the lion cub, wrapping his arms around her in a way that prevented her from struggling. "It's alright!" He swam with the current, back towards the bank he started from. "I got you!"
Upon feeling the arms around her, Litleo managed to look at Ash in surprise. A memory was stirred in her mind of her own mother, a Pyroar, rescuing her from a lake when she was much younger and had fallen in attempting to get a drink. It was comforting…
Something she hadn't really felt for a little while. Ash eventually made it to shore before carrying Litleo back to where he left the canteens and his backpack. He pulled out a towel before using it to dry Litleo.
"It's alright, Litleo." Ash assured. "You're safe now."
"L-lit." Litleo voiced, uncertainly.
"Let's see here." Ash carefully checked over Litleo, relieved to not see any form of injury. "Good, you seem okay. I was worried you'd been hurt."
Litleo began to tear up as this human's words contained a genuine warmness. As Ash dug around in his bag for a canister of food, Litleo ended up tackling into Ash's stomach. He wasn't prepared for that and ended up falling back while his bag hit the ground.
A couple of his empty pokeballs ended up rolling along the ground, which certainly didn't go unnoticed by the fire/normal type. Litleo immediately moved towards the nearest pokeball. Ash just managed to get to all fours in time to see the lion cub touch her head to one of his pokeballs.
A red light engulfed the fire/normal type, and she was sucked inside. It was then followed by an immediate ding showing she put up no resistance. Ash stood and slowly approached the pokeball before picking it up in disbelief.
Ash let the lion cub out, only for her to happily tackle into him again and send them both to the ground. "Whoa, you really want to come with me?"
Litleo nodded excitedly. "Lit!"
"Well, alright then." Ash smiled as he pet his new pokemon. "If you want to be my pokemon, welcome aboard."
He then pulled out his pokedex:
Litleo, the Lion Cub Pokémon. Litleo must leave its pride and fend for itself to grow up strong.
Type: Fire/Normal
Ability: Moxie
Sex: Female
Current Moves: Leer, Tackle, Ember
"Oh, you're a fire/normal type." Ash voiced, interested. "Alright, what's say we see what you can do?"
A test of strength, Litleo was suddenly filled with worry. Even though the lion cub knew what a trainer was, as well as what she had agreed to by catching herself, it was her seeming lack of strength which led to her being alone now.
While Ash didn't know exactly why Litleo was worried, he could wager a guess based on how it was his words which impacted the lion cub. "Don't worry, I just want to see what you can do." He smiled reassuringly. "I'm certainly not about to turn away a pokemon so willing to join me."
There it was again, the warmth and compassion reminiscent of Litleo's own mother. As such, it was enough for the fire/normal type to nod with determination as she moved to stand across from her new trainer. Ash smiled as he selected his other new pokemon's pokeball.
"I choose you, Froakie!" Ash declared, throwing out the Kalos starter. "Alright, this is my newest capture, and we're going to see just what she can do. Are you willing to help us out?"
Froakie nodded. "Froa!"
"Then, give it your all you two!" Ash declared.
Ash vs Litleo
Litleo started off with a leer, lowering Froakie's defense by one stage.
"A status move is a good choice, though your opponent can potentially counter it." Ash informed. "For example, use growl Froakie." Froakie let off a growl, lowering Litleo's attack by one stage. "Now, follow it up with pound."
Froakie charged forward with his fist coated in normal type energy while Litleo rushed in to meet him head on with a tackle. The two pokemon collided, fist to head, with neither willingly back down. Litleo soon jumped back, generating a small sphere of fire.
"That's her ember." Ash noted. "Froakie, use water gun."
The lion cub released the fire while Froakie let off a pellet of water, which trumped the fire before smashing into Litleo. The super effective blow had the lion cub reeling back.
"Lit…"
"Froakie, let's step it up." Ash declared. "Start moving around Litleo."
Froakie began speedily moving around Litleo, whose head turned every which way to follow the water starter's movements. It was all so overwhelming to the point she began letting off embers and moving to tackle him to no avail beyond wearing herself down.
"Alright, finish this with a water gun!" Ash instructed.
Froakie let off the pellet of water, and while Litleo attempted to dodge it, she was simply to warn out. The pellet of water hit the lion cub head on, knocking her back until she hit the ground with swirls in her eyes.
River
"That was great Froakie." Ash complimented.
"Froakie!" Froakie declared.
"Now, return." Ash returned his pokemon before walking up to Litleo and kneeling by her side. "You were great to Litleo." He managed to rouse the lion cub before pulling an oran berry from his bag and giving it to her. "You fought right up to the end."
"Leo." Litleo managed, before eating the berry offered to her.
"Fighting until the very end shows you have the potential to be a truly strong pokemon." Ash declared.
Litleo looked at her new trainer in awe. He was strong like father yet kind like mother, exactly what she had wanted to be at one point. With him now, that old dream of hers was rekindled where it had once been extinguished.
Litleo smiled. "Lit!"
"Alright." Ash nodded. "Let's go collect the canteens before heading off to reunite with my friends."
Route 4
"Clemont, Bonnie!" Ash called out, running back onto the path. "Guys, I caught my second Kalos pokemon!"
"That's great to hear, Ash." Clemont smiled.
"What'd you catch!?" Bonnie asked excitedly.
"Take a look." Ash grabbed his newest catch's pokeball and threw it out. "I choose you, Litleo!"
The lion cub was released.
"Oh, it's a Litleo." Clemont nodded. "That's a nice catch."
"She's so cute!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Can I take care of her?"
"Litleo didn't seems to mind me helping her, so I think it's worth asking." Ash voiced.
"Hi there, Litleo." Bonnie crouched beside the fire/normal type, with her cloth in hand, smiling. "Would you mind if I cleaned you?"
Litleo tilted her head before smiling and sitting. "Lit!"
"Oh, thank you Litleo!" Bonnie exclaimed before tending to her.
Ash has acquired a new friend in Litleo. With her capture, their break will soon be over, and the group will press onward to Santalune City as the Kalos Journey continues.
Evening…
Serena worriedly held Fennekin as she made her way down Route 4. "Oh, this is terrible." She looked around. "The sun is setting, yet we're still in the middle of the woods."
"Fenne." Fennekin attempted to assure her trainer.
"Wait." Serena looked at her starter. "Does this mean we're sleeping out in the open tonight?" She looked at a couple of Venipede eating dinner. "I don't think it's my style. If we could just find a pokemon center, we'd be able to stay there.
Though, I don't know where it is." She soon spotted who she thought was a person. "Ah, I see somebody." She rushed right over to them. "Excuse me! Could you please tell us if there is pokemon center close by?"
The figure revealed themselves to be Vespiquen, scaring Serena to her butt before lashing out with struggle bug. As the Kalos native closed her eyes, Fennekin lept out of her arms. She used ember, managing to block the bug type move and scare of Vespiquen.
Serena was a bit stunned before being grateful as Fennekin brought her hat. "Thanks, Fennekin. You saved me."
Fennekin smiled. "Fenne."
"Is everything okay!?" Nurse Joy called out as she and Wigglytuff arrived on the scene. "I just heard somebody screaming."
"Nurse Joy!" Serena happily exclaimed as she stood. "I was just a little startled by a pokemon."
"Oh, I understand." Nurse Joy voiced. "Though, are the two of you alright?"
"Yep." Serena nodded. "Hey, could you tell me if there is a pokemon center around here please?"
"Yes, it's actually just up ahead." Nurse Joy informed.
"Thank goodness." Serena then addressed her starter. "Fennekin, we're going to stay at a pokemon center tonight. Let's have a race to see who gets there first!"
"Fennekin!" Fennekin called out in agreement, the pair rushing on ahead.
Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff shared a look before smiling as they followed the pair.
While Ash's Kalos team is one of his most iconic, said team still exists within the canon. While I have nothing against people who give Ash his canon teams, that isn't how I'm going to roll. As such, his first new capture is Litleo.
dophnyxD: Thank you.
ShadeOClutch: As I've stated before, canon Ash was ten every region he went to, so I'm going with the idea that the stories of the region don't happen until Ash decides it is the region he shall travel. With this in mind, Charmander is in no danger of perishing to the rain.
