Old Pokemon fic Ch1 (Unfinished, not being actively worked on) (Patreon)

Hey guys. Remembered I had this and decided to post it., Hope you like it!

So yeah, I couldn’t resist. Kinda been wanting to do a story for this section for a good while now. A GOOD long while. As in, this story idea has been burning in my head on and off for literally years. I’ve been wanting a see a fic with some of my favorite Pokémon being frontrunners for AGES. Hope you all enjoy! (Though before I get into the next section, I really have to ask. What the FUCK is with the sheer amount of Betrayed!Ash fics in this section? What, did all of DLP migrate to Pokémon when betraying Harry got boring?)

Some more important talking points will be at the BOTTOM of the story. If you want to skip it that’s fine, but don’t be surprised if you end up missing something down the line. I PROMISE future author’s note won’t be anywhere near as long as the ones in this chapter.

1. I’m FULLY aware of how much suspension of disbelief is required for Ash’s ‘two’ Pokémon. I LOVE both of them and I can’t think of a single story I’ve read off the top of my head where either of them are a mainstay in his team. Please just bear with me on that. There won’t be many more moments like this, if there are any at all. Plus, I thought it was at least a little more plausible than him casually tripping over one of their Eggs like I’ve seen in some other fics. In Kanto. Or poachers just happen to lose one as he’s taking off and they’re forgotten about for the rest of the story.

2. This will feature Aura. HOWEVER, it will NOT be exactlythe Aura of the movie, nor will it be quite as exclusive. I’m throwing some of my own ideas in here. There will be other characters with it and any main character with it will pretty much still be in training with Aura for quite a while. Why did I decide to go with it? Primarily because I can’t see myself writing “pika-pikachu” or endless other variations of it too often before I start going mad.

3. This fic is AU. Age for starting trainers is sixteen instead of ten, because sending bloody ten-year olds out into the wilds to rough it is fucking ludicrous. ESPECIALLY with the potential murderbeasts that inhabit every goddamn inch of the planet. That and I want to avoid writing children. I’m evidently not too great at it. And it makes any potential relationships not cringe as fuck (or take six years in story and hundreds of thousands of words just to start.). NOTE HOWEVER that NOT everyone will be aged six years. Again, AU here. Some will be younger and some will be older. Don’t assume you’ll know someone’s age just from the timeline shift.

4. No, Ash will NOT have a Pikachu. And perhaps surprisingly, he will not have a Riolu/Lucario either. I really like Lucario too. He’s probably one of the best fighting types. But I feel like he’s in practically every fic. If someone has one it won’t be him.

Anyway, I’ve yammered on for far too long, and will be yammering a LOT more at the bottom of the chapter, so let’s get to the story!

-]|[-

Chapter I -

-]|[-

A crack of thunder roared through the night, following a bright flash of lightning. There was a quiet roar of thudding rain hitting the ground. It had been quite a long time since quiet Pallet Town had a storm like this. Another jagged fork of lightning spat from the roiling clouds, illuminating the town’s power station. A funny-looking little thing raised its head with a tiny grin. It was a bright yellow creature that looked vaguely like a mouse, with long ears tipped in brown and round, red cheeks. Its fur was matted and dripping, but it was happy. It may have been wet and somewhat annoyed at that fact, but it hadn’t had a meal like this in ages. It looked back down at the sparking cable and continued gnawing away at it. Its cheeks sparked slightly as it gorged itself on the electricity. Suddenly, it raised its head again. Its ears quirked a bit, wagging to the side. In the distance, it heard some angry voices. It let out a groan. It must have eaten one of the vital wires for the town, and now the humans were coming to investigate. “Chuu….” The Pikachu let out mournfully as it stared at the sparking wire, before turning and sprinting as fast as it could away from the mess it had made. Like hell it was going to let itself get caught in one of those devil balls.

-]|[-

“ASH!” The boy in question practically kicked a hole into his ceiling as his frantic-sounding mother slammed his bedroom door open. Cursing loudly – and ignoring his mother’s near-automatic admonishment – as he fell onto his hardwood floor and looked to be having a (losing) fight with his blanket. He finally smacked his head on the floor and left a respectable dent in it before stilling, which should have made a normal mother worry. Delia was not a normal mother.

A beat.

Finally, his head popped out of the blanket coffin and revealed his features. He had darker hair compared to his mom’s auburn, and brown eyes. Each cheek had an odd birthmark, which appeared to be shaped like the letter ‘z.’ He glared balefully over his peaceful rest being so abruptly shocked out of his system, “Mom… why?”

“What do you mean why?!” Delia yelled at him, “It’s eleven o clock!”

A beat. They both turned to regard his alarm clock, which was cheerfully flashing 6:27 AM and had clearly lost power during the night.

Another beat.

“SHIT!” Ash cursed as he physically ripped through the blanket and knocked one of his closet doors off its hinges in his hurry to get dressed. His form finally uncovered revealed a tanned, athletic-looking mid-teen with messy dark hair.

“Language!” His mom yelled again, “I’ll get some toast ready for you now. I’ll fix up some real breakfast and I’ll meet you at the lab later.”

“You’re the best mom!” He yelled as he sped past her while still just barely pulling on whatever clothes he’d happened to see first – a black tank and some gym shorts – nearly making her spin cartoonishly as she got out of the way.

She sighed, “What am I going to do with that boy?” She asked herself with a sigh as she hurried downstairs and to the kitchen. “What bad luck though…” She couldn’t help but muse, “For the power to go out on his big day… AND for me to not be home to catch it?” She almost couldn’t help the urge to curse herself. Ash had been awaiting the day he would get his Starter since the day he had first seen Professor Oak’s monstrously-powerful Arcanine. His love of Pokémon had only grown as he had. The toast popped out with a ding and she speedily buttered them, hearing her son’s thudding footsteps coming down the stairs. “Catch!” She yelled and threw the two slices at him, having had to do this charade many times before.

He caught one in his hand as he spun and the other in between his teeth. In the same motion he opened the door and sped out. She could hear him yell out, “You’re the best mom! Love you!” in a shrinking voice as he sped away.

She giggled slightly, “Don’t ever change, Ashy.”

-]|[-

“Shit, shit, shit!” Ash cursed, “Why TODAY of all days?!” His footsteps thudded as he ran through the town towards Professor Oak’s corral and lab. He was going slow. Way too slow for his tastes at any rate. He closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching into the power within him that had just barely begun to sprout. Normally he wouldn’t think of doing this. Not in such plain sight at any rate. He knew it was rare and normally quite frightening for a human to tap into the power every Pokémon could use as easily as breathing. He didn’t even know if it had a name, but he did know no one else in Pallet could use it. His eyes snapped open – glowing slightly – and all of a sudden, his stride lengthened to inhuman degrees. He could have outraced someone on a bicycle easily and maybe even outpaced a moped. He was like a blur. The muscles in his legs started to scream, his sheer inexperience exhausting him. Despite discovering this power years ago, he seemed to have already hit his peak with it. He hadn’t been able to do much more than this in years.

He was lucky the streets were nearly empty or else he definitely would have crashed into and crushed someone. As he neared the lab, he allowed himself to slow down and start catching his breath. He would do himself no good getting there if he couldn’t even talk. His legs were burning and he had to power through the pain just to get to the door. He really hoped Professor Oak would understand.

He could see some signs of a congratulatory confetti on the ground, as well as skid marks from a sports car. He scowled in irritation, “Looks like Gary didn’t have any trouble.” He growled to himself. Only a brat like him would leave a town like Pallet in a bloody convertible. They had been friends long ago, before Gary had let his own talent and relation to his grandfather get to his head. He took a deep breath as he reached the door, ‘Please…’ He thought to himself, ‘Don’t all be gone… let there still be one for me…’ He knocked on the door, each thud of his fist leaving an unpleasant feeling in his chest.

He heard footsteps and backed away slightly. Professor Oak stared at him coolly, “So… you did show up after all.” The old man’s voice sounded exasperated. “Well don’t just stand there boy. Come in.”

Ash followed him in, trying to resist the urge to wring his hands together nervously, “I’m very sorry Professor.” He said contritely, an undertone of anger in his voice, “My alarm clock never went off. Apparently, there was a power outage during the night and my mom wasn’t home in time.”

“Yes, you do look like you just crawled out of bed, don’t you?” He quipped back, a smirk on his face. Ash flushed slightly, “Just threw on whatever you saw first and rushed over here, right?”

“Yeah…” Ash sighed.

Oak shook his head and directed him to sit, “In this case I can’t even blame you.” He pursed his lips, “Something was chewing on the town’s power lines last night. Probably a Pikachu. They’re the only electric types that frequent this part of Kanto.” He groaned and leaned back in his chair, “Didn’t even get the chance to capture it. It fled long before any of us showed up. Smart little bugger. Ones having a meal like that would normally not even think twice about trying to defend it.” He crossed his legs and his fingers in front of him, “But enough about that. I suppose we should get to business, no?”

Ash kept his voice as even as he could, “Please tell me you still have a Starter for me Professor.”

Oak stared at him for a few moments, before letting out a sigh, “You haven’t put me in a position I enjoy being in today Ash.” Ash’s heart dropped, “You were my best student. Better than even my grandson Gary, if only for your attitude.” At that, Ash couldn’t help but preen slightly, “But the League doesn’t really care about that. They sent more trainers to me than they sent Kanto Starters. I tried to save one for you. I knew how much you wanted a Charmander, but one of the wealthier brats threw a fit and threatened to call their bigshot daddy. Even someone like me needs funding and you weren’t the only one to go home empty handed. I’m sorry.”

Ash tried to speak, but there seemed to be a lump in his throat. He swallowed and croaked out, “How long?”

“Until I can get you a Charmander?” Oak sighed helplessly again, “A couple months, minimum. I could try breeding Charizard of course. She’s still of age. But finding a partner she likes and actually hatching the egg would take who-knows how long.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Ash croaked, “I don’t want to be months behind the others! I’ve been looking forward to this for over a decade!”

Oak shook his head, “All I have now are very common Pokémon-”

“I’ll take anything at this point!”

“No, you bloody well will not!” Oak snapped, and Ash jerked back slightly and looked at the normally kindly old man with widened eyes. He sagged and hung his head, “I apologize Ash. This situation has me more than a little bit frustrated because – even with your morning mishap – this never should have happened.” He rubbed his eyes with a groan and continued, “Ash, you probably don’t know this – it’s not a fact that we’re proud of nor one we like to advertise – but the reason Starters – any of the official region Starters at any rate – are so rare is that they are nearly all Recovering species.” Ash’s eyes bugged out, “Surprising, isn’t it?” Oak snorted humorlessly, “Back when I was your age – no, even during my daughter’s training days – there was real worry that some of the Starters were going to go extinct.” Ash was gaping at the old man in utter shock, “Today, they aren’t Critically Endangered anymore. Not like poor Kangaskhan. They take far, far too long to reach maturity, unlike most other Pokémon. Even when a new one is born it isn't ready to be a parent for nearly twenty years. You can’t catch one of them without jumping through literally dozens of League hoops and obtaining dozens of certifications. But I digress. Some of the Starter populations have thankfully improved enough to merely be Vulnerable. It was only the discovery of the miracle Pokémon Ditto – with its ability to scramble its transformed DNA to always form a viable, non-incest-ridden offspring – along with improvements in technology that helped stabilize their populations. But even then, Ditto isn’t exactly a common Pokémon.”

He stopped and downed another sip of his cooling tea, “Still, even though there now is a viable Breeding Population for them, they will almost never be found in the wild unless released by some callous idiot. Charmander in particular is the most at risk. There is only one location on the entire continent that has a real population of Charizard. Even they don’t supply all of the Charmander Eggs we get. There are several League-Sanctioned Sanctuaries that even I’m not privy to.” He leaned forward and crossed his knuckles together, “Which is why this whole bloody situation is beyond frustrating for me. Only the best of the best should be allowed to obtain a genuine Starter Pokémon. Everyone who falls below that standard is told to report to one of however many League Handlers there are in their home city. Those who distinguished themselves but not enough to meet me are given Pokémon that – while still generally considered rare – are much more common in the wild. You could get lucky and find one of them, if you searched for a long time. Only the truly lazy students who obviously didn’t care are given run of the mill Starters. Which brings me to today. Only my fellow Regional Professors and I are authorized to distribute them to rookies, and we generally are only supposed to take from the year’s ninety-fifth percentile. They sent me about double the number of prospects I was expecting and only enough Pokémon for about eighty percent of you.”

Ash’s jaw was still lowered, but now an accompanying eye twitch was present. “That’s…”

“Yes, quite.” Oak scowled, “I’m sure you’re curious as to where you fell.” He let out a little chuckle, “You and Gary were neck and neck, and both landed in the top five of the entire Region. Young Leaf was only slightly behind you in the top ten.”

That information stunned Ash. He knew he had done well. He’d been studying under Professor Oak since he turned ten after all. But that well?

Oak smirked a bit lazily at him, “Wipe that stunned look off your face boy. You worked your pants off.” He paused, and his smirk widened, “Quite literally, that one time.” He nearly burst out laughing as Ash’s face went supernova.

“Moving on!” Ash nearly screamed in panic, “So what are we going to do?”

“Well, you now see why this is such a problem. True regional Starters are a precious gift Ash. They’re statements that we trust you to be a good trainer and keep them healthy. But more than that, they are both a reward and a challenge to all those who have distinguished themselves. They are a statement Ash, that we trust you enough to allow you a Pokémon that not thirty years ago was near extinction. That we trust you to make sure they grow strong and healthy, so that one day they may help dig their species out of the hole that we – in our hubris and our greed – dug for them.” Oak’s tone was solemn as he finished.

“I… I see.” Ash said, very-much taken aback by what he had learned today. This was obviously a dark secret if he hadn’t even an inkling of it before. Or maybe a known Mamoswine in the room most adults knew about but none wished to acknowledge.

“I’ve trusted you with this Ash. It is our great shame, and one which is not nearly publicized enough. Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, and yet most of the higher-ups have tried to bury it.” Ash scowled, and was about to interject when Oak changed the subject, “But while a fascinating – if dark – topic, it does not solve the problem of why you are here.” Oak leaned back again, “I started contacting my colleagues as soon as the rest of rookies left. If that fails I’ll start contacting breeders. I still have good relations with most of them in Kanto and Johto. We’ll get you a Starter Ash. You don’t have to worry.” The teen deflated in relief, “Go home Ash. I’ll call when we’re ready. Hopefully this will take a few hours at most, though be prepared in the eventuality of it taking longer than that. All I ask is a little bit of patience.”

“Thank you, Professor.” Ash bowed his head.

“None of that now.” Oak waved him off with a light flush, “Now scram. I have to get back on that damn phone.”

“Later!”

Oak sighed and got to his feet, popping his back with a groan, “Back at it...”

-]|[-

“I’m sorry Samuel.” His counterpart in Unova – a pretty and slim woman with light-brown hair named Aurea Juniper – was saying sadly, “The rookies cleaned me out over here too. I feel so bad for this Ash. He sounds like a wonderful young man. What bad luck.”

Oak left out a long puff of air from his lips, “Thank you anyway, Aurea.”

“Good luck Samuel.” She hung up.

He let another explosive sigh as he inclined his chair back. He ran both hands through his hair in frustration. “Damn it all, another dead end.” More than three days had already passed and only Professors Birch and Rowan from Hoenn and Sinnoh respectively had yet to respond. He got up and stretched, feeling helpless from the sheer frustration of the past few days. He walked over to the kitchen and started making a pot of tea, before he heard the videophone going off one more time. Looking at his filled teapot mournfully, he sighed and put it back down before returning to the phones. “Nathaniel! Good to see you!”

Professor Nathaniel Rowan was just a hair older than he was, and had a stockier build. His impressive mustache and sideburns dominated his face, and he wore a gentleman’s attire under a long coat. “Good afternoon, Samuel.” He rumbled, “So, what’s this urgent matter you have for me?”

“Yes, let me thank you for getting to me on such short notice. I know the past few days have likely been just as hectic for you as it has for me.”

Rowan snorted, “An understatement if I’ve ever heard one. If it wasn’t the children it was the Pokémon causing havoc.”

“Thankfully mine were a bit better behaved.” He replied with just a touch of smugness in his voice, before even that vanished, “But I suppose I should get to the heart of the issue. Do you have any Starters left?”

Rowan snorted and started laughing way too hard, “Hah! Still a joker in your old age huh?”

Oak sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, “I’ll just take that as a no. Blast it!”

“You were serious?” Rowan blinked dumbly, “Come on now Samuel. Surely you didn’t think any of us would have any Starters left over? That’s a fool’s hope at best.”

“And yet a fool’s hope is exactly what I need.” He groaned out in response, “My best student in years missed his chance due to circumstances outside of his control.”

Rowan shook his head in sympathy, “How unfortunate.” He sighed, “But if that’s truly what you called me – and likely our fellows as well – about, then I’m afraid you were just fooling yourself into thinking there was hope. My apologies, Samuel.”

Oak closed his eyes, “It’s quite alright. It’s not your fault. I’d quite like to just go and give the League a piece of my mind but…”

“You’ll likely have much better luck with breeders.” Rowan said, and gave his counterpart a meaningful stare.

“Yes, that does seem likely.” Oak replied thoughtfully, though he either missed Rowan’s point or purposefully didn’t understand it. “What a pain.” He said in sighed in exasperation, “I wonder if Lance will just get me a Dratini if I let his Dragonite spar with mine.”

Rowan rolled his eyes, “Just call her, Samuel.” Oak paled, finally getting what his colleague was hinting at, “You’ve avoided each other long enough.” And with that, the distinguished old man hung up, but not before sending a tiny little message containing a phone number.

And Samuel Oak could do nothing but stare at that number as if it was the most frightening thing in the world.

-]|[-

Hours more had passed, and yet Samuel had still not called the innocuous little number. He’d already drank two pots of tea, finally talked with Professor Birch who was as empty handed as the rest of them, and had to deal with a distraught Delia Ketchum popping by and asking if there had been any progress. The mother of one had been beside herself with guilt despite the knowledge that her son’s misfortune couldn’t possibly be her fault. ‘If only I’d been home.’ Was the line he’d heard multiple times during her visit. Gary had called and he couldn’t even muster up the enthusiasm he normally would at the knowledge that his grandson had already made three catches. He hadn’t even slept the previous night.

The guilt had caught up with him. He knew there was a distinct possibility that the person who would answer his call could help him, and yet he’d yet to muster up the courage to do something about it. He sat stiffly at his computer, staring at it as if it would jump up and bite his face. “Man up Oak.” He muttered to himself, before clapping his face three times. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, steeling himself. He swallowed heavily and then opened them. The same fire that had burned in them so long ago, during his days in the League shone weakly now.

He pressed call.

The annoying ringing sound he hated when having to wait for a call to pick up sounded in his empty lab. Finally, the other line picked up, “You’ve reached Griselda Shi-” The words died in her throat as she took him in. He was no better as he stared at her, his breath stolen from him. Age had weathered her just as it had him. The golden color of her hair had long-since faded. But her eyes… her eyes shone with that same fire he’d seen in his dreams. He swallowed heavily. She still favored purple, he noted idly. The color dominated her attire. “S-” She croaked, “Sammy?”

“Hey Grizzie…” He replied weakly, heart pounding in his chest.

Her mouth split into a beaming smile, “Sammy…” She said again, a tone of wonder still infusing her voice, “It’s been so long…”

Oak hung his head slightly, “Thirty-one years… six months… four days.” He looked away, his voice getting weaker as the sentence continued, until he was barely whispering the last.

She chuckled lowly, “You kept count.”

“And you didn’t?” He raised his eyebrow knowingly.

“Pff, of course not.” She said, though the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks gave her away. He smirked, and she scowled, “Bah, still the same cocky old Sam Oak huh? You look awful.” She said suddenly, noticing his bloodshot eyes and exhausted look.

“Cocky?” He laughed, “Coming from you? And thanks. I tried hard.” He replied dryly.

She harrumphed, though a slight grin remained on her face, “No sleep?”

“Not a wink.” He confirmed with a fatigued groan. “Stress from a certain situation. Thankfully temporary. It’ll pass, and hopefully by the end of the day.”

“That’s good.” She gave him a little tender smile, “It’s good to see you.”

“I’ve missed you…” Samuel couldn’t help but blurt out.

Her smile widened again, “As have I… We’ve both been a right pair of cowards, haven’t we?” She got serious, brushing her hair back as she did so, “And after thirty-one years, I doubt one of us just randomly decided to grow a pair.” She snorted roughly, “This isn’t a social call.”

“No, it’s not.” Samuel confirmed heavily, “The Conference season officially began two days ago.”

“That’s right!” She exclaimed, “I heard that Nathaniel had a right awful time of it.”

“He did. Apparently, his Starters this year were particularly rowdy.” He smirked suddenly, “Mine were much better behaved.”

“And yet you’re the one that looks like you haven’t slept in weeks. I haven’t seen you like that since Hoenn.” She sniped.

“You have barely seen me since Hoenn.” He riposted easily. Somehow, they had fallen back into their old games as if no time at all had gone by, “It wasn’t the Pokémon but the trainers. Or one in particular. You see… the damn League sent me enough double the amount of trainer prospects I had been expecting, and at least two in every ten went home in tears. They didn’t even have the decency to make sure they matched the number or children to the number of Pokémon they sent me.”

She groaned, “Damn idiots. They were right fools back when we started out and haven’t gotten a lick better have they?”

“No.” He replied dryly, “If anything they’ve gotten worse.” He shook his head and steeled himself, already anticipating the coming explosion, “My best student in years is now without a Starter.” She had been about to take a drink, and she abruptly choked as she finally realized the point of this call. “Grizzie!” He called anxiously as she started coughing hoarsely, “Are you alright?”

“You can NOT be serious, Oak!” She almost snarled back, “I know you’re not fool enough to be asking me what I think you’re asking me.”

“I am.” He replied solemnly.

“Are you mad?” She exploded, “You want me to give a green brat one of my prized Pokémon? They’ll get torn apart, just like every other idiot who thinks they can handle one! I almost didn’t allow even my granddaughter to have one!”

“Rest assured…” Samuel replied easily, having weathered much worse bursts from his old flame long ago, “Were it anyone but Ash, I wouldn’t have bothered. Even my own grandson.”

She started at that, and looked at him oddly. She tilted her head to the side, “Over your own blood? What makes this kid so special?”

“I can name any number of events from his training.” Samuel said easily, “But it’s more than that. I see in him the same potential we had. His love for Pokémon is plain to see, and I believe he has the drive to go far. My grandson is the same, but he’s let his own skill and his relation to me go to his head. That blasted boy left town in a convertible. I don’t know where we went wrong with him.”

Griselda stared at him for a few moments, not saying a word. “You know where I live.” She said with finality. “Bring him to me. I’ll take his measure myself.”

Samuel smiled in sharp relief, “Thank you Grizzie. You won’t regret this.”

She snorted, “I’m already regretting it. Let’s see if he’ll change my mind.” And with that, she hung up.

But Samuel felt like a burden had lifted off his shoulders, “It’s all up to you now, Ash…”

-]|[-

“You called, Professor?” The teen had a cautious note of hope in his voice as Samuel gestured for him to come in.

“I did. Take a seat.” He directed him to the table, where two steaming cups of tea lay waiting. Both took a moment to sip at their cups as Samuel and his mother had managed to drill a small semblance of etiquette into the former slob. He still had his moments of course. He wouldn’t be Ash if he didn’t. But at the very least, he could be dignified if he wanted to be. “You’ll be pleased to know I have acquired you a chance. JUST a chance.” He quickly repeated himself as his face lit up, “The ball is in your court now, Ash. I managed to get in touch with an old… friend and she wants to meet you.” Ash took note of the pause, and couldn’t help but wonder what that was about, “Impress her, and you may have your Starter.”

“Any advice?” Ash couldn’t help but ask.

Samuel smiled, “Just be yourself. She’ll spot fakeness a mile away. She’s like that.”

“How far away are we going?” Ash asked curiously, wondering why his mentor was being so… lively. Animated. He seemed happy.

“Sinnoh.” Came the casual reply.

And it was a rather good thing that Ash had already finished his tea or else it would have been all over the distinguished old man’s face. “Sinnoh!” He yelled incredulously, “That’ll take weeks!”

Samuel chuckled, “Normally you would be right.” His eyes glinted, and he withdrew a Poké Ball, “Normally.” A flash of bright light lit up the room. Ash swallowed heavily as an oppressive aura filled the room. He lowered his hand – which he had raised to protect his eyes – and gaped at what he saw. It was a dull yellowish-brown color, and vaguely humanoid in shape. It only had three digits on each limb, and its head was pointed with two horns jutting to the sides. It was skinny too. Nearly skeletal. On its forearms, knees, and torso were brown armor-like pieces that almost looked like football pads. It had an extremely long mustache and each hand held a silver spoon. It was an Alakazam, and just like Professor Oak’s Arcanine, the amazing being absolutely radiated power. “Meet Fubuki. She was a part of my Champion Team.”

Ash blinked dumbly, “Nice to meet you.” He said in shock. He leaned closer to his mentor, “Why Fubuki?” he whispered.

He heard a feminine laughter in his head, ‘I do not bite, Ash Ketchum.’ His eyes widened again, ‘And as for my name… Samuel was a fan of manga when he was young. Still is, as a matter of fact.’ The Alakazam winked.

“Sharing stories, are we?” Samuel mock-glared at his Pokémon as Ash sniggered, before smiling again, knowing Alakazam had broken the ice with his student. “Shall we?”

Alakazam crossed her spoons, and light lit up the room. When it dimmed, no living being remained.

-]|[-

“Trans-continental Teleportation?” Ash looked at Professor Oak in awe as he took in the sight of the new area. Even the sun’s position in the sky was different. Too different for them to be anywhere near Pallet.

Samuel chuckled heartily as he took in his student’s shock, “I wondered if she would still be able to get us all the way in one jump. She hasn’t exactly kept in practice.” Fubuki glared at her trainer and raised a spoon, “Ow!” He cried when he felt a sharp smack hit the back of his head, “Why you little!”

‘Perhaps if someone hadn’t decided to stop battling we wouldn’t be so bored all the time.’ Her voice hissed in their heads.

Ash took in their antics with a little grin. He couldn’t recall ever seeing his mentor like this, “Are we close?”

“Indeed, we are.” Samuel replied, and steeled himself. The video phone was one thing, but in person? That was another entirely. They finished the rest of the trip in silence, Ash too busy taking in the new sights and smells. The air here was incredibly clean, and it was homely just like Pallet, though surrounded by mountains.

An ancient-looking gated home was their destination. The swung open, seemingly of their own accord. He wondered if it was Alakazam or if they were already expected. They crossed the courtyard, which was filled with Pokémon much like at Oak’s Lab, before knocking at the door. It opened after a few moments, and Ash abruptly realized what his mentor was so happy about. He may as well not even be there. The two only had eyes for each other. ‘Err… do I break the spell? They can goggle at each other later, right?’ He coughed a little uncomfortably.

The two shook themselves in embarrassment, “Ah… right.” Samuel let out a little cough himself, “It’s wonderful to see you again, Grizzie.”

She smirked, trying to hide her embarrassment over being caught staring like a schoolgirl by someone who was only the wrong gender to be a schoolgirl, “You’re a sight for sore eyes, Sammy.” She glanced at Ash, who was goggling at the nicknames, “But business before pleasure, no?” She turned fully to Ash, “So, you’re the one eh? Has this old fool told you what you’re in for, kid?”

He was surprised. Why was she insulting someone she had just been shooting googly eyes at? Professor Oak shaking his head in fond exasperation rather than affront made him realize it must just be their thing. “Wouldn’t say a word.” He grinned sheepishly, “Ash Ketchum.” He said, holding out a hand for her to shake.

“Bah, you always loved being overdramatic.” She snorted and grasped his hand, before her eyes shot open in surprise as she felt his Aura, “You have the Gift!”

Both of the other blinked in surprise, “Uhh?” Ash was slightly wide eyed, “I’m sorry?”

The old woman grinned, and suddenly she was engulfed by a rich, royal purple aura. Her eyes burned with passion and her seemingly-frail frame suddenly didn’t seem quite so delicate. Bidden by her aura, Ash unleashed his own. It was colorless, more of a refraction in the air than a blazing aura like the old woman’s. But it was there, and he still had his deer-in-headlights look. “Wait a darn minute!” Samuel almost snarled, “Do you mean to tell me you knew you had some abilities that were abnormal and you never told me?!”

“Errr…” Ash stammered, “Surprise?” He cringed slightly at seeing Professor Oak’s ire and rising, fire-like aura.

“And what an Aura it is!” Grizzie – that was what Professor Oak called her – started to cackle like an old crone, “Completely untrained – or perhaps badly self-taught – and I could feel it the instant our hands touched. It’s pure! And I can sense your heart, young Ketchum.” She stuck her tongue out at Samuel, “You always were awful at sensing it.” She teased, “Had someone like this on your hands for his entire life and you never realized.” Oak flushed in embarrassment as she started laughing louder, “How amazing. I feel like a young girl again.”

“What is it called?” Ash asked eagerly, now fully aware that he wasn’t unique. He wondered if he would find others with this gift during his travels. “I’ve never heard of anyone else using it! I thought I was weird!”

Samuel snorted, “You just never realized it. Or maybe you thought it was just special effects on TV. Lance uses his own aura fairly often. Though it is rare. Very rare. For three of us to be standing here in one place…” He trailed off, mind whirling at a rapid pace as he tried to make sense of what this could mean.

“And there he goes.” Grizzie shook her head in bemusement, “Never could resist getting all sciencey.” She grinned again at Ash, “Didn’t even answer your question either. It’s called Aura, kid.”

“What can it do?” He asked, “All I’ve been able to do is make myself stronger… faster. And even then, I… kinda suck. I got pretty tired pretty quickly last time I used it.”

She cackled again, “Good, you admit it. You’re already at a level that you probably feel is your peak.” She leaned forward slightly, “And you’ll never get any better until you have a partner.” She leaned back and crossed her arms, “It’s true, Aura allows you to enhance your physical prowess far beyond human norms, but it is so much more than that.”

“With it…” Samuel roused himself, “You can read the hearts and minds of others.” Ash’s eyes bugged out, “You can create literal bonds with others, rather than metaphorical ones. You can even…” He paused and raised his palm, upturned. A fireball engulfed it, causing Ash to jerk back in shock, “Learn to use Pokémon abilities yourself. We are Guardians.”

His voice seemed to echo, filling the air with his power. Grizzie matched him, and then surpassed him, “We defend life against those who would wish to exploit it. We are protectors of humanity and Pokémon alike.” She intoned, her eyes infused with purple power. And then the oppressive feeling starting to rest on his shoulders vanished, “And you, Ash Ketchum…” She smiled brilliantly, her teeth incredibly well taken care of despite her age, “Have potential that surprises me. You may even be a match for my granddaughter.” She looked at him hard, and he met her gaze fearlessly, “No… you may even one day surpass her. I trained her from the moment she learned to think for herself, so I can’t quite be sure of how you would compare with the same level of experience.” She came to a decision, “I never introduced myself, did I? I am Griselda Shirona.” She then dropped exactly the bomb Ash wanted to hear, “And I have seen your heart, Ash Ketchum, and I understand exactly what Sammy sees in you. Let’s see if you’ll live up to that potential.”

“You mean…!” Ash beamed, beside himself.

Samuel also smiled in elation. ‘Excellent work, Ash. I’m glad this happened.’

“Come.” She whirled around and led them into her home. The dramatic feeling was building as they walked, so Ash couldn’t help the sweatdrop that formed on his head as she just led them outside again. He could see the great mountain in the distance. They walked for roughly ten minutes, before they came upon an entrance to a cave.

The rock walls had been carved, with what looked like a dragon’s head hewn into the stone. The hole of the cave was inside its jaws, giving the appearance of the mountain swallowing any who dared venture inside. On the walls to either side inside great dragon’s mouth were little balls of purple flames.  She turned around and gave him a firm stare, “Saturn!” She roared, her voice echoing off the mountain walls.

Ash’s eyes snapped from her to the cave as he felt a faint Aura awaken. And then it turned massive, utterly dwarfing anything he had ever felt. And then the roar hit. It almost felt like a physical wall of air slamming into him. The Aura he sensed for that bare moment vanished, before suddenly, a massive creature was before them, standing behind Griselda. He idly realized the carving on the rock wall ahead of them must have been of this creature.

It was massive. It was even bigger than Professor Oak’s Dragonite, who itself was bigger than average for his species. If he had to make a random guess, he’d say it stood somewhere near 3.6 meters. It dwarfed every Pokémon Ash had ever seen up close. It looked like part shark, part dragon, and part fighter jet. Its body was mainly a light purple, with a red chest reaching right up to its jaw. There was a golden patch on its belly, as well as a star on its snout. Each arm was tipped with a single claw, and there were fins on each forearm and a much larger one on its back. Its thick tail tapered off towards the end, and had a fin that looked shark-like. Its feet had three large claws each, and they were gouging into the dirt. The strangest feature were the two bulges on its horns, which looked like the aforementioned jet engines. “Meet Saturn.” Griselda said reverently, “The legend that won five League Conferences for me.” Ash stared at the behemoth in utter awe, “I raised her from the moment her mother laid her egg. We’ve been through everything together.”

“She’s a Garchomp, Ash.” Samuel piped up, smirking as that took some of the wind from her sails. “Her counterpart in Kanto is Dragonite. You can consider her a Pseudo-Legendary, and just like the Dragonite line they’re even rarer than the regional Starters. You’re looking at the only licensed breeder in the world. While there are pockets of them here and there in the wild, particularly deep in the caverns of Sinnoh – they rarely deign to meet a trainer.”

“She’s amazing.” Ash stared, almost in love. The Garchomp smirked and let out a low rumble. Ash didn’t dare take his eyes off her.

Griselda smirked as Saturn eyed him with interest now, “Nowadays, Saturn doesn’t do much battling. Those days are long gone for me.” She said wryly, stealing a glance at Samuel as she finished the sentence. Their gazes met and both looked away, “Instead, she guards and protects her brood and her grandchildren.” She chuckled suddenly, “Not sure why I took to breeding, or why I continued to do so for so long. I almost never give one out the way other breeders do. I learned my lesson quickly after the first hotshot ended up mauled.” She grinned wryly, “I was terrified for my granddaughter, but I could never say no to that girl. Little devil.” She grumbled.

“Hope you weren’t trying to scare him.” Samuel threw in dryly, “If anything he looks more excited.”

Even Saturn snickered at that. Griselda grumbled some more, “Saturn, this boy has earned my permission to try for a partner. What say you?”

Saturn’s beady golden eyes widened somewhat, before they narrowed. She snorted and bent over, her snout almost touching Ash. Ash fearlessly reached up and rubbed the side of her head, taking care not to accidentally slice one of his fingers off on one of the daggers masquerading as teeth. Her eyes widened in surprise at the action, “You’re amazing!” He whispered, still star-struck.

She backed up and roared towards the sky. “Amazing? What a tough brat!” Griselda cackled as Saturn stepped aside and let them through. The cave was dark as she led them on. Only the fireball clenched in Samuel’s hand gave them light, “Should you find your partner in here Ash, you two will likely bond fairly quickly.”

“But I don’t even know how to do that.” Ash stated quizzically.

“You will.” She said with utter surety, “It is instinctive the first time. You’ll be able to form powerful bonds consciously from that moment on, but it is very likely that none will be as powerful as the first. Your aura will be forever changed from that moment on.”

“Most people are like myself.” Professor Oak stepped up to the plate, “I am limited to only Fire. I was always drawn to it as a child. My father always kept telling me I’d get myself burned if I stared at it any closer, and one day I leaned too close and fell into a fire pit.” He shook his head at the memory, “My mother panicked and burned herself hauling me out, but I was unscathed. Even as my clothes burned off, I only felt warmth and strength from the flames.” He smiled grimly, “Fire cannot hurt me. My choice of a starter was simplicity itself.” Ash remembered. He’d only seen Charizard fight once, and she had given Professor Oak’s moody – and equally brokenly overpowered – Dragonite a beatdown that seemed almost effortless.

“Indeed. Were it not for my granddaughter, I would be pretty confused at your lack of alignment.” Grizzie told him, “I am the same. I was always meant for Dragons. You on the other hand… you’re a blank slate. So when you bond with your first partner, your aura will take on their characteristics. Unlike us and like my granddaughter, you will still be capable of using any Type, though you will likely have extreme difficulty using any moves of the Fairy type. A Fairy partner down the road will lessen that somewhat. It’ll be able to teach you. But it will always be the hardest.” She chuckled, “Assuming of course, that you succeed today.”

“I will.” Ash said with confidence he only partly felt. More like he had to succeed.

“Good answer.” She said in approval, “In this cavern, you will find Gible and their evolved form Gabite. In case you’re getting fool ideas in that head of yours, stick to the Gible. You’ll know which is which.” She turned and reached into a pouch she was wearing. Her hand vanished into it, and then she pulled out a gnarled staff. The impossibility of the feat would have freaked him out if he hadn’t been around the cutting edge of technology all of his life. His backpack had cost him almost half of his entire savings from working for Professor Oak and doing chores at home, but it was well worth it. Every single pocket incorporated a technology called a Depository Case, invented by Silph Co. He could practically carry their entire house in one of the bigger pockets, “This is a focus for my aura. Any item will do for now, but eventually you will find one that calls out to you.” She slammed the staff into the dirt, and a purple flame burst into life at its head. The flame shot up and split into many tiny little fireballs. Each one raced off and found a sconce to light. Finally, the innards of the cave were lit and he could see. He saw dozens, maybe even hundreds of Pokémon down some stone steps, “Well?” Grizzie asked sharply, “Get down there boy!”

Ash steeled himself and bowed his head, “Thank you. Both of you.” And with that he was gone, racing down the steps like a little kid charging towards the Christmas tree. He eyed the Gible curiously. Unlike Dratini – which was the pre-evolved form of Dragonite – the Gible looked very much like the powerful Garchomp. Same general color scheme, just smaller and rounder. They had no necks and looked almost like balls with giant jaws, claws on its four limbs, and a dorsal fin of varying size topping their heads.

Samuel waited a moment, long enough for Ash to have gotten out of hearing range, “Seems a little too easy coming from you, Grizzie.”

She glanced sidelong at him and smirked, “Of course. He has one final test.” She glanced down and pointed at several of the Gible, “I’ve had a… decent number of trainers get this far and then get kicked out rather unceremoniously. Several of the Gible here can definitely be considered traps. All that’s necessary to earn the right to come down here is to impress me and Saturn, after all.” She lowered her voice and started to giggle, as if she had just told a funny joke, “Though sometimes, I just need a laugh. I do love watching hotshots piss themselves in front of Saturn. It’s even funnier when they piss off a Gabite.” Her smirk widened even as Samuel facepalmed. They watched Ash stare at one of the bigger ones in the cavern, before moving on, “I’ve had many trainers just go for one of the biggest ones and get soundly rejected, either by the Gible, or by me when they get back up here.”

Samuel shook his head in exasperation, “No matter how much time goes on, there will still be trainers who think raw power or appearances are everything.” He eyed Ash for a few moments more, but as nothing important was happening he turned fully to Griselda with determination in his gaze, “Grizzie, err…” He trailed off, losing that drive, “Do you…”

“Out with it, Sammy.” She snapped, before glaring at him, “We’re far too old to be dancing around each other like teenagers.” She shook her head and grumbled, “Forget it. I’ll do it myself. Friday at seven. Wear a kimono.”

Samuel sighed in relief, before chuckling in amusement, “You asked first the first time too.”

“Put that head of yours to Pokémon or science and you can’t shut up. Put it to asking a girl out and you clam up.” She groused, “Hello…” Her tone changed and she gazed sharply at Ash. Samuel followed her lead.

Down in the deeper section of the cave, Ash had just passed an utterly massive Gible. It was almost as tall as his chest. It was definitely the biggest in the cave, and could likely swallow him in three or four bites. Their eyes met, before Ash snorted and moved on. ‘Biggest doesn’t mean most powerful in this case. That thing had eyes like that Slaking from the finals three years ago. I didn’t think it was possible for a dragon type to be that lazy.’

Up at the entrance, Griselda was grinning, “That a boy.”

“One of the traps?” Samuel asked curiously.

“Yep. That one was not only the biggest but also the oldest and definitely the laziest. She makes Slaking look like Vigoroth.” She explained, before continuing, “She was the biggest and strongest of Saturn’s first clutch, but her size and power meant she always got what she wanted compared to its siblings. The best food. The best spots to claim for her own. She got lazy and her siblings were afraid of her. Saturn’s next clutch was much smaller but the father was a Hydreigon. Almost all of them were bad tempered and loved fighting. They evolved and she didn’t. She was dethroned decades ago, but was already stuck in her rut by that point. Nowadays she just lazes about and gets fat and lazy during feeding time, using her bulk to intimidate the younger or smaller Gible.”

Down the steps, Ash had met many more of the Gible, but had passed by all of them. Some hadn’t interested him, and some hadn’t even acknowledged his existence. Finally, he came across one. It wasn’t the biggest. Not by a longshot. It was definitely bigger than the average from what he could see, but he’d seen bigger not ten feet from it. What caught his attention was the fact that it had just gotten its ass kicked after challenging a Gabite. The long dorsal fin on its head was a bit larger and had two tiny scars running down to its head. The final difference that he noticed – even in the relatively dim light of the cavern - was that Gible was a slightly deeper, richer purple color rather than the normal blue. It growled and hauled itself to its feet and gave a determined glare towards the one that had beaten it. It started wobbling forward, determined to get another shot in. “You’re a determined little guy, aren’t you?”

“Gib?” The Gible finally registered his presence and turned to him. It eyed him curiously, “Gible!” It responded, swiping its claws in the air and doing a little dance. Ash almost expected to see it surrounded by the red aura of dragon dance, but it didn’t happen. “Gib Gible…” It said, sounding a little sad and morose, before it made its best approximation of fists clenched in determination, fire burning in its eyes. “Gible!” It pointed out towards the entrance.

Ash couldn’t quite understand it, but he got the gist. He grinned toothily, “I’m just starting on my journey and I need a partner. What do you say, bud?”

Its eyes quivered and watered slightly, “Gible!” It yelled in joy and leapt at him far faster than he’d been expecting. His Aura quickly strengthened his head, right before the little dragon’s giant mouth bit onto him. Both of their eyes went wide as his aura immediately changed. He could feel himself grow a little stronger as his Aura went wild, starting to pulse in an even richer purple than Griselda’s own. He felt something almost like a click in his mind, and then realized he could feel his new little buddy. Not the fangs failing to dig into his head, but its – no – his presence. “You okay up there?” He chuckled as he pried the Gible off his head. Maybe nibbling was how they showed their affection?

“I feel great!” His eyes bulged as he realized he could now understand Gible.

“I can understand you!” He yelped, almost dropping his new friend.

“Really?” Gible gasped in turn as Ash set him on the dirt, “Cool!”

“So, what were you so sad and determined for, buddy?” He crouched down to get a closer look at his new friend.

“It’s not fair!” Gible waved his arms up and down petulantly, “I want to go see the world too! My sister left a year ago and I’ve been stuck here!”

Ash grinned brilliantly, “Well, you’ll definitely get your chance now, right?”

“Yes, he will.” Griselda had a strange tone as she and Samuel stepped closer, “I never expected you to pick that one in particular…” She trailed off.

“Hmm, why?” Ash asked as he turned to them, grin still on his face.

“His older sister belongs to my granddaughter.” She smiled slightly, “Their father was one of the rare mates that Saturn liked enough to go for a second round. One of the… calmest Hydreigon I’ve ever laid eyes on. If you’re wondering, that’s the reason your Gible is that rich purple color. The two were born about eight months apart, and they were basically inseparable. When Cynthia left this little rascal tried to escape dozens of times to chase after her.” She rubbed Gible’s fin skillfully, and his new partner groaned in joy. He took note of how the elder was caring for him. She smirked up at him, “Don’t think that Aura bond you have with him now will mean raising him will be easy.”

“You mean…!” Ash’s grin got even wider, and he grabbed her hand with both of his, “Thank you so much, mam.”

“Of course! I could hardly separate you two after a display like that one.” She laughed at his exuberance, “And what’s with this mam business? Call me Grizzie. You’ve more than earned that much by getting one of my Gible to accept you.”

“Then thank you, Grizzie.” He bowed, “Thank you so much!” He was almost starting to sniffle, and had to wipe his eyes.

“That excited huh?” Grizzie chuckled, “Aren’t you forgetting something though?” The question marks appearing over Ash’s head made her cackle again, “Actually catching him, maybe?” Ash’s face went supernova, as all three of them started to laugh at him.

“Crap, I never got any Poké Balls!” Ash exclaimed, clapping his hands to his head.

“Luckily…” Samuel chuckled, “I came prepared.” He tossed a shrunken ball at Ash.

“Huh?” Ash enlarged it and stared, “What’s this? It’s not a regular Poké Ball.” It was pure white except for the red band around its middle.

“That’s a Premier Ball.” Griselda told him, “Not too different from a regular Poké Ball. It isn’t any better at catching them at any rate. It’s sturdier and better put together, and won’t get completely shattered if it fails to catch a Pokémon like a regular Poké Ball, so it is reusable at least. It has a fancier animation too. You get one any time you buy ten Poké Balls.”

“For the special occasion.” Samuel winked at him.

“Cool!” Ash grinned and turned to Gible, “You ready Gible?”

“Yeah! Let’s go! I wanna go out and see the world!” Gible replied eagerly.

Ash leaned down and tapped the ball to his new friend’s head, and he was sucked inside in a brilliant blaze of silver. It almost looked like Gible was engulfed by silver fire, which was very different from the red digitizing he knew from the regular Poké Balls. It didn’t so much as tremble in his grasp after it closed. He had done it! Both fists clenched in front of his chest and trembled for a moment as he shook in glee. He was officially a trainer! “I can’t thank you enough, Grizzie!”

“Bah, enough of that, brat!” Grizzie snapped, though she was smiling, “If you want to thank me, then prove I made the right decision! Get to the top! Raise him well and he’ll be your greatest friend!”

Ash took a deep breath, and stared at her, “I will!” He smirked, “Next time you see us will be at the Indigo Conference!”

“Big words from a rookie!” She laughed loudly, “You best live up to them! Now get out of here, you two! You’re going to vibrate a hole in my cave if Sammy doesn’t get you on the road!” Ash blushed again, and Samuel chuckled as he brought out Alakazam.

“Thank you for giving him the chance, Grizzie.” Samuel said, smiling at her fondly, “I’m not too sure where we would have turned if not for you.”

“Oh, hush you. You would have found a way.” She leered at him, “Though nothing would have compared to Gible, of course.”

He shook his head with a giant grin on his face, “Same old Grizzie.” He turned to Ash, “Shall we?”

“Just a moment.” Ash replied, surprising them both, “Is there anything else that you can tell me about my Aura?”

“Hmm…” Grizzie tapped her chin, “I’m afraid I can’t really tell you how to train your Aura. Everyone is different and everyone has certain things they excel at. You seem to be naturally inclined for physical enhancements. You can use your Aura to make yourself stronger, faster, correct?” Ash nodded, “That will improve at a much faster pace now. Our Auras are naturally weak before we take on a partner, to keep ourselves from getting overwhelmed. That is why you probably felt like you stagnated. Now, you must learn the more… subtle aspects of Aura control. You probably felt Saturn when I woke her, but that is only because of how powerful she is. You will need to train yourself to feel other presences. Once you have progressed enough you will be able to understand any Pokémon as if they were speaking normally, not just your bonded partners. Since you have a variable aura unlike us, you will be able to work with your partners to learn how to take on their traits as well. Soon enough you will learn to shape it into Pokémon moves yourself. But all this will take time. Just work with your Pokémon and don’t allow yourself to get frustrated, understood?”

“Yes! Thank you so much!” Ash bowed his head.

She chortled, “You help him if he needs it, Sammy.” She wagged a finger in Samuel’s direction, “He has potential. Don’t let him squander it. Then again,” She leered, “Maybe you should get to training instead. Sixteen years with the boy and you haven’t taught him a thing.”

Samuel rolled his eyes, “Glad to see our time apart hasn’t changed you one whit. Goodbye, Grizzie.” He waved and released Fubuki.

“Don’t be late, Sammy!” Were the last words the two of them heard, before a bright flash took them away. She stood stock still for a moment, before finally allowing a few tears to drop from her eyes, “Thirty-one years and you still make me feel like a schoolgirl. Thirty-one years we missed.” She growled and punched the rock wall with a glowing fist. It shattered and sent some of the Gible scurrying away as chunks of rock crashed to the floor. When she removed her fist from it, her hand was as pristine as ever, “What a damn fool I was.”

She almost jumped when Saturn started nuzzling her, drawn to her partner’s distress.

-]|[-

“Don’t be late?” Ash blinked, before grinning at his mentor, “Does someone have a date?” He wagged his eyebrows at the older man.

“Hush you!” Samuel blushed, and hid it behind his fist as he coughed. “So, you happy?”

“Are you kidding?!” Ash had a massive grin on his face, “I may be almost five days late, but this turned out way better than I ever expected! Gible is amazing!”

“Good to hear.” Samuel smiled softly, “I’m glad things turned out the way they did.” He walked over to one of the machines, which opened up and revealed dozens of little rectangles, “Come here Ash.” The teen went over and stood next to him, “I assume you know what these are?”

“They’re Pokédex!” Ash answered with a grin, taking an idle glance at each of the models. They were arranged in a stepwise manner, with the least complex looking on the bottom row and the most at the top.

“Correct!” Samuel answered with a pleased grin, “I’m sure you’ve read a little on them before, but I’ll go into a little more detail.” He cleared his throat and quickly continued, “I first created the Pokédex over a decade ago, though I didn’t truly start giving them out until just over eight years ago. The first wave was very rudimentary. A very tiny screen. Only a single voice type. Very much lacking in deep analysis and extra functionality. They could examine a Pokémon and determine the type of the Pokémon and little else. The AI could access the internet and pull references, which was how it made each entry. But they were practically folk tales with some rarer Pokémon. And to make matters worse, trying to scan any Pokémon from a region other than Kanto and Johto was completely useless. Even then, only Kanto had a complete Dex.”

“I mean… it’s useful, but if they were that limited what changed?” Ash couldn’t help but wonder.

“All ten of the trainers that were issued them went farther that year than most of the others. Granted they were already chosen for their potential, but the League didn’t really care whether it was correlation or causation. They saw the potential of the devices and funded my work. Information is power, after all. There’s nothing more dangerous than being in the field and not having enough information on both the area and the Pokémon.” He smiled as Ash leaned in to examine a few of them a little closer, “As more and more trainers across every region started getting them, the entries started coming together into a database in each region, linked to the lab of the Professor or League Official issuing them. Trainers who distinguished themselves as particularly attentive to behaviors and breeders especially started being allowed to write their own entries for Pokémon. The folk tales started going away, replaced by hard data. Pokémon scanned and caught would inevitably end up here at the lab at some point, allowing me and the other Professors to personally study them. The technology in the devices became more potent. Scans started revealing more information. The AI became more intelligent. The Pokédex of today is unrecognizable from the Pokédex of yesteryear.”

“So, what can they do now, Professor?” Ash hoped he would be able to choose his own, because two of them had caught his eye.

“Today?” Samuel chuckled, “It can do… quite a bit more. Firstly, the entries are much, much deeper and more complex. It provides more information; What moves it has available to it; how it compares in size and power to an average member of its species; its cry and print patterns; where you can find others of its species; whether it has anything unique about it like a different color… There is actually quite a bit of information on individual Pokémon.” Ash was staring at it gleefully, “But there’s more. It can be used to access the Pokémon’s known moves, as well as instructions on how to teach a Pokémon a move. You can search up a what flavors they usually like and which flavors they usually dislike. There are tips for grooming and unwinding. It really can be a bit overwhelming, actually. And that’s just the information it can give on Pokémon. It’s a full-on encyclopedia. It can scan your environment and tell you what fruits and other vegetation is safe to eat, and what is poisonous. There’s a weather app. It can record video as well as audio with crystal clarity. You can use it as a journal. It can be used as your Trainer ID as well as your Wallet-”

“I think I got it, Professor!” Ash’s eyes had turned into swirls and he kinda felt dizzy with all the information being shoved at him. These things were amazing.

Samuel deflated a little and blushed, “I went overboard again, didn’t I? Sorry Ash.”

Ash shook his head and chuckled, “I’m used to it, Professor.”

“So, go ahead and choose which model you would like.” Samuel waved him on. Ash had already made his decision, and had grabbed a really sleek-looking one colored white with red accents. “Excellent choice for you, not so much for the league’s pocketbook.” Samuel chuckled dryly, “That one is the newest model, and has a few experimental technologies in it. Let me show you how it works. First, it flips open like this.” He opened it by pressing a button. It flipped open like one of those old-style cell phones, but that was where the similarities ended. The top half separated and revealed a giant screen that couldn’t possibly have fit inside the casing. It was almost eight inches on the diagonal. “The wonders of technology.” Samuel grinned, as the big screen and the smaller screen in the middle flashed on. “I’ll let you have the manual so you can program it to your wishes later. For now, let’s just get it registered to you. By necessity, you’ll have to start with the National Dex, since you won’t be able to use it on Gible with just the Kanto Dex.” He closed it and slipped it into a computer, and started syncing it to Ash’s Trainer Profile. It was sparsely populated, of course, since Ash was just a rookie. A few minutes later, the process was finished and Ash was officially the owner of the Pokédex.

“Awesome! I’m finally ready!” Ash pumped his fist in glee as he slipped it into his pocket.

“Almost!” Samuel grinned, “You haven’t looked outside yet, have you?” He asked in hidden amusement.

A puzzled Ash walked to the window and wailed, “NO! It’s almost night! I have to wait until tomorrow!” Samuel got a good chuckle out of his angst.

“Anyway!” Samuel cleared his throat again, and handed Ash a box, “Here are your first five Poké Balls. Use them well, my boy. And remember that – barring extenuating circumstances – your carry limit as a rookie trainer is six. After that, any Pokémon you catch will be sent to me. If you get a PokéNav, you’ll be able to transfer on the go.”

“I bought a PokéNav Plus.” Ash replied smugly, though he winced afterwards, “Though it, the Xtransceiver, and my backpack blew my savings into smithereens. I had to borrow money from mom too. I’ve barely had two Poképennies to rub together since then.”

“At least you used your money on useful items rather than mindless garbage.” Samuel studiously ignored Ash’s coughed ‘convertible.’ “Finally, as a beginner Trainer you get a small stipend of a thousand Pokédollars. DON’T try to spend it-” He hurried to say when he saw the grin forming on Ash’s face, “if you’re not in an emergency. If you have nothing to wager you won’t be able to make money off of Pokémon battles.”

“Alright, thanks for the advice, professor!” Ash looked like he was ready to go.

Just as he was about to say goodbye to Ash and send him on his way, one of his aides – Jessica – entered, “Oh professor, you’re back!” The redhead chirped cheerfully, “Daisy told me to tell you that Professor Birch was looking for you again. Said it was important.”

“Hmm, I wonder what he wants?” Samuel walked over to the videophone, entirely forgetting about Ash momentarily. Ash decided to stick around, since he wasn’t sure if there was anything else Professor Oak wanted to tell him. “Hello Robert.”

“Oh good!” Professor Birch was much younger than his counterpart, though he had a heavier build. He wore a thin tee and cargo shorts, with a lab coat. “You managed to get back to me in time! I may have a solution to your dilemma!” He chattered excitedly.

“Dilemma? You mean Ash?” Ash perked up as his name was called, and started walking over, “I’m afraid you’re a little late. We already managed to secure Ash a Starter.”

Birch deflated, and was about to reply when a much more cultured voice rang, “Oh, that’s good! I’m glad to hear that.” Professor Oak’s eyes widened as he took in the appearance of the man that appeared next to Professor Birch. He had silvery-blue hair – almost ice-like in color – with matching eyes. He wore a custom-fit suit with purple accents and what looked like metallic, vaguely crown-shaped cuffs. He had two rings on each hand and a red cravat around his neck. On his lapel was a very strange, silver adornment that carried a shiny stone with a weird design set within.

“Steven Stone!” Samuel exclaimed in shock, making Ash’s eyes bulge, “What’s Hoenn’s Champion doing over there, Robert?”

Steven chuckled, “A pleasure to finally meet you, Samuel Oak. Though just between the… four of us-” He stated as he noticed the awe-struck Ash walk into view, “I don’t think I’m going to be Champion for too much longer. If I try to visit another region I have the rest of the League breathing down my neck. I miss being able to travel freely far too much. I’ve been getting the old wanderlust for months now.” He let out a little chuckle, before turning to Ash, “I assume you’re the young Ash Ketchum?”

“Y-yes sir!” Ash stammered for a moment, “Very nice to meet you!”

Steven chuckled again, “You as well, Ash. Though none of the ‘sirs’ please. That’s my father. I’m just a humble explorer.” He turned to Samuel, “I have been wandering for the past few weeks, and my feet found me here in Littleroot. As Champion I decided to make sure Professor Birch here made out alright. I know full well the first two or three days of the season is usually quite hectic, and I came to offer my services if they were needed. We’ve even had reports of some poor rookie trainers being robbed in previous years. If nothing else, my presence will keep some of the… more dangerous elements here in Hoenn away.” He gave a little shrug, “Imagine my surprise when he told me that you’d been in contact, nearly desperate to find a Starter for one of your students. Did Indigo not send enough starters there?”

Samuel started to grumble, “Oooh, if I wasn’t beholden to them for funding…” he trailed off, “They not only sent me nearly double the amount of prospects I expected – which already had me pulling my hair out – they didn’t send me nearly enough to cover them all. I had to send several promising students home in tears over this debacle.” He sighed explosively, “And even if I know it’s not my fault, I still feel awful about it.”

“Don’t you just love bureaucracy?” Steven chuckled dryly, “I’m very sorry to hear about that. If you like, I suppose I could go give Lance a piece of my mind, though it won’t accomplish anything at this point. In any case, since I was here and heard our Professor Birch say you were practically waxing poetic about young Ash here-” Both Samuel and Ash flushed, “I decided to get in contact and offer an Egg. He would have had a bit of a longer wait until it hatched, but it would have been something, right?” Steven smiled softly.

“Thank you, Champion Stone!” Ash said, honestly touched and awestruck. He hoped he could be that awesome far down the line, once he had his team together. “That would have been an amazing gift, if I didn’t already have my Pokémon.”

Steven nodded, “I’m curious though, what Starter did you end up with?”

“The best partner I could have asked for!” Ash didn’t actually answer the question, which made Steven’s lips quirk upwards in a grin, “I got a Gible!”

“What?!” The affable man’s eyes widened in shock, “But the only breeder for that Pokémon…!”

“Griselda Shirona.” Samuel confirmed, a glint in his eye, “Ash here more than impressed her.”

“No kidding! She hardly ever gives out one of her prized Gible. Most trainers have to go digging in deep in Wayward Cave just to try to find one! Even our former Champion Drake got rejected.” Steven exclaimed.

“That’s because Drake hits on her every time he lays eyes on her.” Samuel deadpanned, before mumbling to himself, “Even after I knocked three of his teeth out.” Ash almost didn’t hear that, and he had to fight the urge to turn around and goggle incredulously at his mentor.

Steven coughed in a little embarrassment for his predecessor, before turning to Ash, “I see now why Professor Oak here was so desperate to find you a Starter. You’ll definitely be one to watch with great interest.” He had a gleam in his eye, “I’m even half tempted to send you that Egg regardless of you already having a Starter.”

Ash’s eyes bugged out, “Champion Stone…! That… that would be an utterly amazing gift but I couldn’t possibly accept that, could I? That would give me an unfair advantage over everyone else, wouldn’t it?” Samuel smiled proudly at his student’s maturity.

Steven had an outright smirk on his face now, “I do believe you just proved me right, Ash.” He chuckled, “As for your question… you could take it like that, yes. But you shouldn’t. The egg is nowhere near ready to hatch. It’s got at least a month to go. At least a month. More likely it’ll be two or three. At that point a particularly catch-happy trainer could have enough Pokémon for two full teams, if not more with several backups.” Samuel let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like ‘Gary.’ “Are you quite alright, Samuel?”

“Ah yes, I’m perfectly fine.” Samuel cleared his throat and smiled ruefully.

“Where was I? Ah yes. Hatching an Egg is also a serious responsibility. You’d have a baby Pokémon on your hands, Ash, and you would have to take exceedingly good care of it for it to reach its full potential. It wouldn’t be particularly strong or even fully prepared for real battle immediately. Just having the Egg by itself isn’t a guarantee of anything. It’s the love you give it and how well you train it that will make its potential show. Hell, you might even get one that prefers not to battle. That’s always a possibility, though a rare one.” He chuckled, “And with a Gible on your hands as well… you might just have your hands full.” He looked at him, suddenly serious, “So Ash Ketchum, do you think you’re up to the challenge?”

“I’ll do my best!” Ash said, nervous under his unblinking stare, “And whether it likes to battle or not, it would always be a welcome friend.” He said firmly.

“Good answer.” Steven smiled and leaned back in his chair, “Very good answer. Samuel, do you think he can handle the responsibility?”

“He’s never hatched one before, but he’s helped me with plenty of young ones here at the lab. I have no doubt that whatever Pokémon is inside that Egg would be extremely happy.” Samuel said, “I would vouch for him any day.”

“Excellent!” Steven beamed, “Truthfully this is a bit of a relief to me. I wouldn’t have the time that the Pokémon would deserve to raise it myself. I had started to worry if I shouldn’t find surrogate parents for it, since it would have been dying of boredom in my house otherwise. It was a surprise Egg, you see. I’ll send it over in roughly ten minutes. I currently have some of my more… uhh… motherly? Pokémon watching over the Egg back home.” He stood.

“Thank you, Champion Stone!” Ash bowed to the phone, “I’ll never be able to repay this! Thank you so much!”

Steven laughed, “Enough of that, Ash! I think we’re past titles and last names at this point. Don’t you agree?”

“Then thank you, Steven!” Ash replied instead.

“Never worry, my young friend. Merely remember this in the future. Pass kindness on. That’s how I was taught.” Steven nodded to him, “Samuel, Robert.” He nodded his goodbye at both Professors, and vanished off camera.

Professor Birch came back onto the camera, laughing loudly, “Maybe it was fate that your alarm broke, kid! Hope that doesn’t mean your karma is like a pendulum!” He burst out laughing again.

“I’m fairly certain it is. Why, just last month-” Samuel began with a grin when Ash burst in,

“We swore never to speak of that again!” He waved his hands in front of him in panic. Samuel burst out laughing. They said their goodbyes to Professor Birch and settled down to wait. Minutes later, the lab’s Transfer Machine was glowing a bright white. When the glow faded, Ash couldn’t help himself, “It’s beautiful!” He breathed softly. The Egg in question looked more like a shimmering crystal than an egg. The light caught on every edge and reflected like a big ice-blue diamond. It was inside an expensive-looking incubator and had a black and yellow Poké Ball sitting on top. Steven called in again to make sure the transfer went well.

“It is. I’m quite partial to them myself, though the few dragon eggs I’ve seen are beautiful as well. They tend to look like scaled metal. As though they’re eggs made out of bronze or gold or other exotic metals.” Steven replied with a soft smile, seeing how taken Ash was with it.

“I’ll never be able to repay you, Steven.” Ash said, almost choking up.

Steven shook his head, smile still gracing his lips, “As long as its happy, I’ll be happy. Take good care of it, Ash.”

“I will. I can promise you that.” Ash said firmly.

“One last thing.” Steven said, “The incubator can be used a maximum of three times if you take good care of it and keep it maintained. Your Pokédex can help you with that. Read up on Egg care too, since you shouldn’t leave it in there permanently until it hatches. Anyway, after that, it might not be safe for the Egg inside and you’d be better off buying a new one, okay?” Ash nodded affirmatively, “The Poké Ball the incubator came with is called a Luxury Ball. They’re generally thought to be much more comfortable than other Balls and will help raise friendship. The Pokémon in that egg is a hardy species and it won’t mind a less luxurious ball, so you can either use it on the Pokémon that hatches or keep it for a rainy day. Luxury Balls are a bit harder to get your hands on since they’re too exclusive and expensive for true mass production. It’s really up to you.”

“Thanks for the info.” Ash grinned at the man. He hoped he could be as cool as Steven was some day. Even his suit was badass.

“Then this is goodbye, my young friend. Good luck on your journey!” Steven exclaimed, “As for me… back to Champion business.” His excitement died faster than a bug in a zapper.

Ash chuckled as the screen went dark, and then went back to making goo-goo eyes at the Egg. Samuel shook his head, “Go on home Ash. I bet your mom is frantic thinking you left without your gear.”

“Oh crap!” Ash jerked up in horror, “Mom’s going to kill me!” He carefully grabbed the incubator, “Thank you so much Professor Oak. For everything!”

“It was more than my job Ash.” Samuel smiled brightly, “It was my pleasure. Good luck on your journey, and make sure you keep in touch. Once the Egg hatches, call me immediately. You have a carry limit of six until then, but caring for a freshly hatched Pokémon counts as extenuating circumstances.”

“Sweet!” Ash said, “Later professor!”

“Until our next meeting.” Samuel whispered to the empty room, before collapsing onto his chair in exhaustion.

Outside the building, Ash eyed the dusky sky and knew he had to get home quick if he wanted to survive his mom’s wrath. He tugged on his Aura and was quite shocked when it rose to the challenge with much greater responsiveness than ever before. He grinned as his body started to glow a light purple. And then he moved so fast he practically vanished.

-]|[-

“Mom, I’m home!” Ash had barely finished the sentence when his mom almost barreled into him in her relief.

Instead, she skid to a halt and stared at the Egg in both joy and confusion, “Oh, Ashy! It’s beautiful!” She leaned down to get a closer look, “What kind of Pokémon is in it? Is it close to hatching?”

“I’m not sure.” Ash admitted, “The person who gave it to me never said, and probably on purpose too now that I think of it.” He chuckled ruefully, chastising himself for never asking, “And no, it’s probably still got two months to go, if our guess is right.”

“But!” Delia exclaimed, “Doesn’t that mean you’ll be stuck here? I thought you didn’t want to be left behind!”

Ash grinned as he set the incubator down on the table and pulled out Gible’s Premiere Ball. “Mom, meet Gible!”

“Wow!” Delia’s jaw dropped as Gible formed in that blast of silver fire-like particles. The small dragon yelled his own name joyously and waved at her.

“Meet my mom, Gible!”

“Hey, Ash’s mom! Wow! You’re pretty!” The small dragon jumped up and down in sheer excitement, hardly able to believe his dream had actually come true! He wasn’t in that darn cave anymore!

He grinned at his partner’s excitement at the new face, before the small land shark started zipping back and forth and taking in the sights, “Be careful buddy! Don’t break anything!” He called and winced slightly as it thudded into the sofa and moved it about two inches.

“He’s so cute!” She grinned and then grunted as she picked him up, “And heavy!”

“Hey, who you calling fat, pretty lady?!” Gible yelled in affront, ignoring the fact that he wouldn’t be understood.

Ash chuckled before his mom put Gible down and turned to him, confusion apparent across her face, “Ashy, how did you end up with a Pokémon AND an Egg?” Gible jerked at that and finally noticed the egg on the counter after jumping a few times.

“It’s a bit of a long story.” He smiled before relating it to the both of them, “So Gible, what do you think of a little sibling this time?”

“Nah, I’ll be the uncle!” Gible tossed back. Ash shook his head fondly.

“Well, you’ve had a big day!” His mom exclaimed happily, “And tomorrow will be even bigger! I’ll have dinner fixed up in a jiffy!”

“This’ll be a little bittersweet.” Ash mumbled, “My last homecooked meal for a while…” He probably should have mumbled a little lower because his arms were suddenly full of bawling mother.

“Oh my baby!” She wailed, “Why did you have to get so big and old? Shrink back down now!”

“Moooom…” Ash rolled his eyes, while Gible instead chose to actually roll. In laughter.

“Baby Ash!” Gible cried, “Baby Ash!” He burst out laughing again.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two-tone beach ball.” Ash shot back irately.

“Oi!” The two started shooting lightning at one another.

“Behave!” His mom called before shaking her head and going to blow her nose.

The two stopped and blinked, before starting to chuckle.

…

Much later, Ash was in bed. Gible was already snoozing to his side, and Ash was carefully polishing the Egg, which the guide had recommended. It had also recommended keeping it in close proximity, so Ash put it back into the incubator and laid it down between him and Gible. As he drifted off to sleep, his nascent aura started drifting and engulfed his partner and future partner. It was probably one of the best night’s sleep he ever had.

-]|[-

“Well, this is it!” Ash said as he turned back one last time. Pallet Town had gotten pretty tiny off in the distance, and yet his sharp eyes could still make out his mom in the distance. He had a feeling she would be there, continuing to bawl her eyes out long after he was out of sight. He couldn’t have asked for a better mother. Shaking his head with a smile, he turned a fond grin to his home of sixteen years, “Later!” They turned and continued down the path. No turning back now.

He was in his official ‘mild weather’ training gear now. He had wanted to swap everything for a badass suit like Steven wore, but doubted he’d be able to maintain such fancy clothes for any period of time in the wilds. Instead, he’d opted for some purple cargo pants with many pockets, and a pair of combat boots. The shirt was black with some silvery designs on it. His Xtransceiver – black and purple again. He had a theme going on – was on his left wrist so he would be able to use it as well as his dominant hand if needed. His trainer belt was around his waist, though only Gible’s Premier Ball was magnetically attached to it for now. His backpack was slung over his shoulder. On his belt was also a Tactical Knife for self-defense, and strapped to his right leg was a tomahawk.  The only thing he was missing was a good hat. He’d gotten one ages ago when he was ten. Sent in a million postcards to the Pokémon League to win it. A literal million. Not a figurative one. His hand had felt like it was going to fall off for weeks.

He’d worn it so much that it had frayed pretty much irreparably when he was fourteen. He’d sulked about it for weeks and hadn’t quite had the heart to replace it yet. Oh well. Steven didn’t have a hat and he was still badass. He didn’t need a hat.

He was still salty about the hat, if you couldn’t tell.

Finally, Ash and Gible stopped underneath a tree to rest for a moment. He’d been quite surprised that they hadn’t run into at least a Rattata yet, though given that he’d yet to actually scan Gible he was actually a little grateful. “Okay Gible, let’s see.” He brought his Pokédex out and put it in scan mode. The screen’s coverings split off as it opened and the screen went opaque with a targeting circle in the center. He held it on Gible for barely a second and the scan was already finished.

“Gible! The Land Shark Pokémon. As it once lived in the tropics, it enjoys being warmed by geothermal heat and will regularly seek active areas to build nests. Foes who get too close can expect to be pounced on and bitten.” His Pokédex boomed out in a deep, reverberating voice. He grinned sheepishly as he really heard it for the first time. He’d chosen the voice of a character he’d played in a video game once, and it was as over the top as it could get. The voice actor had really been chewing the scenery for that role, “This Gible is male and has the Sand Veil ability. The slight coloring difference indicates that its father was of a different species, though it is not a Shiny Pokémon. His size of 1.2m and experience relative to other members of his species of the same age indicate that he is at the tail end of Enormous and will have the potential to be Titanic once he has evolved and gotten older, though that is unlikely.” Ash blinked in shock at that information.

“Holy crap!” He cried out, the Pokédex immediately pausing as it recognized his voice, “And you say your sister was even bigger when she was your age?!”

“Just a little!” Gible said defensively, “I heard grandma say she was 1.3m last time I saw her and kept being joyful of how big and strong she was.” He said petulantly.

Ash grinned wildly, “I hope I get to meet her someday. Unpause.”

“This Gible knows the moves Tackle and Sand Attack. He was also born knowing Dragon Breath and Sandstorm as Egg Moves. Finally, he has the genetic memories of the Egg Move Dragon Pulse, but will not be able to use it for quite some time.”

“That’s awesome buddy!” Ash exclaimed, “You’re the best partner I could have asked for!”

Gible predictably puffed up and scuffed its paws on its chest. “Yeah… I’m the best.”

Ash grinned evilly, “So, how good are you at those moves huh?”

He never thought he’d see a dragon with the Stantler-in-headlights look. “Uhhh. I! Err…”

“That’s what I thought.” Ash laughed as his dragon growled at him, “For real though? Can you use them?”

“I’m the best with Sandstorm. I was even better than sis at it.” He said proudly, “But I haven’t actually figured out Dragon Breath.” He whined sheepishly.

“That’s what I figured.” Ash replied, before suddenly he remembered something his mom had asked him the night before the Starters had been distributed, “Oh, before we go on buddy, I have a question. Do you want a nickname?”

“Hell yeah!” Gible cried out! Ash’s next question was if he had any ideas, “Er… not really.” Again, his dragon looked sheepish.

“Well, we’ll figure something out.” Ash said confidently, “Even if it takes a while! We’ll find one you like. How about Bruce?” Referencing the mad shark in Jaws.

“…” The little dragon deadpanned at him.

“Right, moving on.” Ash chuckled, and determined that they’d have a movie night whenever possible, “Just so you know, I’ll be hitting you with plenty of pop culture references. Jaws!”

“This is going to take a while.” Gible lamented, wondering if perhaps he shouldn’t have just kept his huge, gaping mouth shut.

“Oh shut it.” Ash chuckled, “Mach?” And off it went.

-]|[-

They’d shelved the nicknaming for now, since Ash wanted to get back on the road, and hadn’t gone too far from that tree when they’d finally hit their first Pokémon, “It’s a Rattata!” He said cheerfully. The purple rat hissed and half a dozen more jumped out of the long grass. They chattered at one another and kept spreading out, trying to surround them, “Wonder what they’re saying?” He asked himself cheerfully, “Aura can read hearts and minds, right? Wonder if I could get an auto-translate here.” He focused, and loosed his aura just a tad.

“Bite... tatata… ankles… food…” The chattering hoard was saying. He could kinda of understand the gist of it, even if the unfamiliar Pokémon sounded more like bad static with some clarity here and there. Evidently, he would need much, much more experience before he could understand all Pokémon as well as he could understand his partner. Either way, he didn’t like what he was hearing. Bite his ankles, will they?

“Gible!” he commanded, “Let’s go bud! Sand Attack!”

“WHOOOOO!” Gible hopped forward and spat an unending stream of sand directly at his foes. They all hissed and cried as they were blinded.

“Go for Tackle!” Ash grinned, “See if you can line em up and knock em down!”

With a joyful roar, Gible did just that, juking to the right before smashing one of the Rattata so hard that it flew back and smashed into one of its fellows before pinballing forward slightly and crashing into another that was in front of it. “How was that?”

“Three out of seven? Can’t be mad!” He laughed loudly, “Let’s finish this up! Try Sandstorm! Not too big of one though.”

Gible clamped its jaws tight, though even then some sand was leaking out from its mouth, “RARGGGHHH!” It spat a ball of sand forward which smashed into the grass, and then exploded out into a massive dervish of grit. The Rattata howled in pain as the little granules smacked into their furry coats at speed. All seven were swallowed by the Sandstorm, which passed over them and went just a couple more feet before losing power and vanishing. The leftover sand fell harmlessly to the dirt, covering the grass.

“I really hope I didn’t just mess up the environment.” Ash commented blandly, wondering if maybe Sandstorm was a bit too far for some Rattata. All of which were down and out, swirls in their eyes. They had been carried all about the countryside, a decent bit away from the battle’s area. “Good job buddy!” He elected not to catch one of them. Rattata and their evolution Raticate weren’t really Pokémon he was interested in personally training, and he doubted his mom would like one. He wasn’t about to catch one just to leave it in a boll forever. He and Gible continued onward, leaving the twitching purple Rattata behind.

-]|[-

Roughly three days had already gone by, and Ash figured he would still be around two or three days from Viridian City at the relatively slow pace they were taking. No doubt Gary and his damn convertible had already hit Pewter by now. Thus far, he’d been attacked by another couple Rattata swarms and come across a couple Nidoran. Unlike the way-more-common-than-he-thought Rattata, he was actually interested in getting one for himself. Thus far, he and Gible had been pretty disappointed though. Not one of them had any spirit. He knew they were generally a shy species but he hadn’t expected any of them to actually run away like that one female had done. Hopefully he’d be able to find one on Route 2. They were much more common there.

So far, he’d also run into a few Pidgey, though Gible had beaten them easily. They all had been unusually small too, and had only attacked because they’d been in a swarm like the Rattata. After beating them, he’d yet again found himself a tree, though this time he had a little fun and climbed it with Gible. He never thought he’d see the little shark so uncomfortable. He had practically tried to wrap himself around the branch, which he was sadly incapable of doing properly given that he was so round. Eventually, Ash had taken pity on his friend and had sat him on his head. Thankfully he had Aura, otherwise he’d have a hell of a sore neck later. “So, let’s see here…” He mumbled as he pulled out his Pokédex, “Tell me about Pokémon Size.” He ordered calmly.

The Pokédex beeped, “Individual Pokémon can all be different sizes. Each species has a generally accepted ‘regular’ size. The average Gible is 0.7 m in height. It is generally accepted that roughly thirty percent of all Pokémon species can be considered this ‘Ordinary’ size, and the extraordinary fall to either side of the spectrum. The impact of a Pokémon’s size is not always a sure thing. Bigger Pokémon are normally physically stronger, but generally have to work harder to become fast. Fighting past this issue is mostly a trial of their will and spirit. Bigger size can actually be a detriment to a species that prides itself on speed. It will have to train much harder to reach the speeds a regular sized or smaller member of its species can reach. Some will never be able to reach the speeds other members can. For some Pokémon – particularly ones meant to be beefy shields – size will always be a bonus, though again speed will be an issue. One even more magnified than in speedy species. In addition, bigger Pokémon also mean bigger targets. Any larger Pokémon will have to train to take more abuse, because they will inevitably be hit more.

In terms of personality, bigger Pokémon sometimes become bored and lazy, when other members of its species stop being challenges. Trained Pokémon and Pokémon sharing grounds with rival species rarely develop this bad habit as it will be around its teammates or enemies, who may be stronger than it. However, training this detrimental personality trait out of a caught wild Pokémon who already displays it is one of the biggest challenges a trainer can face. Slaking is one of the strongest Pokémon around as a whole and lived in an area where nothing could challenge them. Due to this they developed their legendary laziness as a species. Even today, it is impossible to keep a Slaking motivated for too long. They much prefer to loaf around.

The inverse can happen to smaller Pokémon, though this depends on the individual. In species that have great numbers, smaller Pokémon can be left out of feedings. At times, these smaller Pokémon will be much fiercer and more competitive in order to survive. Fast species will be able to move even faster, and they will be harder to hit as a whole. Because of this, any hit they do take will likely be more impactful. While fragile can be a bad word to use in many cases, it can apply when compared to a regular sized member of its species. Size can be a gift or a curse. It all depends on the individual.”

Gible on his head cackled, “Yeah, just like that fat old Gible in the cave with grandma. Got so used to throwing her weight around that she stopped getting stronger!”

“Is that right? And what about you, huh buddy? You’re much bigger than the average.” Ash grinned at the thought. He wondered how strong his partner could get.

“True.” Gible nodded… which almost rolled him off Ash’s head. Ash had to hurry to stabilize him, “But there were other bigger ones than me, and that wasn’t even counting all the Gabite I constantly challenged.”

“Why did you do that by the way?” The thought had been bugging him for a while. He was glad his Pokémon was so intense, but wasn’t exactly sure on the reasons.

“So I could become the strongest, of course!” Gible roared excitedly, “Sis left me behind over a year ago! Before then, she had been the strongest Gible in the cave! I could never beat her! When she left with blondie, I took her place! None of the other Gible challenged me, so I started going after the Gabite just like she used to. I wanted to prove how strong I was! I didn’t want to be stuck there forever! I wanted to see the outside world! I wanted to find my sister and finally beat her!” Fire was burning in his Gible’s eyes.

“Huh, why you trying to get me all fired up too?” Ash grinned and clenched his fists, “We’ll do it buddy! One day, you’ll be even stronger than your grandma!”

-]|[-

Ash was grinning like a madman, holding tightly onto the brand new Poké Ball in his hand. Another day had gone by, and Ash had already started getting a little bit disheartened. Not one Pokémon had caught his and Gible’s eyes in the two days of travel since leaving Pallet. Not one. He’d started to worry that he wouldn’t be catching any Pokémon at all before Viridian.

And then his new Pidgey had shown up. It was a tad bigger than normal, and evidently didn’t allow that to diminish its spirit one whit. Ash had just casually beaten another group of Pidgey and sat down with Gible to eat. Not a minute had gone by before it had landed near them and almost barked, demanding food and eyeing them with intense eyes. It had more spirit than all the other Pokémon they’d come across so far. Combined. During the battle, it had thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Gible.

Ash grinned widely as he took in the tiny bird, “Well now, you’re pretty brave, aren’t you?” The Pidgey chirped challengingly at him and spread its wings, attempting to look bigger than it really was, “Want our food huh? Why don’t you battle my friend here for it then?”

“Pidgey!” It chirped again and flew backwards to get some distance between them. It landed and stared at Gible before screeching.

“What did you call me?!” Gible growled out. He started waddling forward shaking a ‘fist,’ “I hope you like turkey Ash, because we’re having some tonight!” Pidgey squawked indignantly and took to the sky.

Ash burst out laughing. He had no idea what Pidgey had said, but it sure had Gible fired up, “Beat it quickly then buddy. I really watch to catch that one!”

“Right!” Charged forward and prepared to jump for a Tackle, but the Pidgey raced forward and stopped short and flapped its wings hard, blasting a bunch of sand directly in the dragon’s eyes. Gible shook himself in irritation. Even if it didn’t hurt him due to the second eyelids his kind had, it still blocked his vision temporarily. And then the bird barreled into him with a Quick Attack.

Ash stared in surprise as his precious friend was knocked onto his back for the first time since the cave. That had been a damn good combination! If it hadn’t been for Sand Veil and Gible’s Ground Typing, he probably would have been blinded for at least a minute or two. And that Quick Attack had knocked his much heavier Pokémon down. ‘This Pidgey is no joke,’ he thought in growing excitement. It probably had fought and evaded plenty of trainers around here in the past. He wouldn’t be surprised if it was already more than a couple years old and nearing evolution at this point.

Gible roared as he got to his feet, though it didn’t sound too intimidating due to his age and size. “Why you little!” He cut himself off and spat a wad of sand at the bird, which squawked in alarm, having expected the battle to be over already. It evaded the sand but Gible barreled into it with surprising speed, knocking it to the ground with a Tackle. It screeched angrily and got up immediately, taking to the sky and – in its mind – out of Gible’s reach. It eyed Gible warily, finally taking the dragon seriously. With a proud cry, it sped forward with another much faster Quick Attack, which made Ash’s jaw lower slightly when his partner got knocked back nearly eight feet – his hind paws digging into the dirt and ripping short grass up - before halting. Growling furiously again, it spat another, much more compressed ball of sand at his enemy, which exploded short of it and caught it completely by surprise. This was a new attack they had come up with, taking the principles of Sandstorm and Sand Attack and turning it into Sand Bomb. Pidgey shrieked in shock as it was buffeted by the rocks, and flew away.

Then its wings had started to glow before it flapped them furiously. Some angular, light blue energy blades made of wind had started raining down on Gible, who had to dance around to avoid them. “Is that Air Cutter?” Ash blurted in complete shock. What the hell kind of parents did this Pidgey have? The female obviously had to be a trained Pidgeot, but the father was a different story. He wondered if he would ever know. But it was time for the battle to end. Gible was obviously starting to get frustrated with his lack of ability to hit the damn thing. That was a weakness they would have to improve on. “Gible, time to stop playing around! End this with Sandstorm!”

“Finally!” Gible yelled in joy. And unlike all the other times he’d used the move so far, this time he didn’t hold back. The sand he shot out started to swirl and whip around ever faster, before it became a true storm. The strong winds whipping back and forth and the tiny rock shards flying around smashed endlessly into the strong Pidgey, and ultimately overcame it. Gible cut his control of the storm short, and it dissipated harmlessly. Pidgey lay on the ground, eyes swirling in exhaustion.

Ash wasted no time in tossing a Poké Ball at it, and it didn’t even shake once before dinging a capture. “Alright!” He yelled as he scooped the ball up.

The area had been decimated. Tiny and not-so-tiny rocks littered the ground and there was sand everywhere. Gible was now panting lightly, but held himself proudly, “Great job, buddy! That was a hell of a Sandstorm!”

“Told you!” Gible said smugly, and proudly.

“We’re really going to have to work on Dragon Breath ASAP though. You really need a counter to Pokémon that prefer keeping at a distance.” Ash burst his bubble. He would have gone on but a very different shriek caught their attention. The angry bird Pokémon staring at them with murder in its eyes was as different from the other common Flying Type of the area as could be. Unlike the generally pleasant Pidgey, Spearow were little murder birds. They had been one of the primary reasons a Pokémon was a requirement around Pallet Town. These things liked to congregate into flocks and he’d heard tales of Trainers utterly savaged by them. He swallowed a little nervously. Gible would be able to handle them with Sandstorm, but he was still pretty young AND had just had his toughest battle so far. He’d grow tired if they got truly swarmed. “We probably shouldn’t annoy it.” Ash told Gible, though he cautiously drew his knife just in case. “Let’s back awa-” And then Ash cringed as he noticed something he had been overlooking. On top of the Spearow’s head was a large, pulsing lump. Ash’s eyes panned from its eyes – red and veiny with bloodlust – to the small rock near its feet. No doubt kicked up by Gible’s Sandstorm.

The Spearow shrieked. Ash almost needed to cover his ears. It was that loud and the sound echoed in the suddenly all-to-quiet clearing. Ash’s blood ran cold when dozens of identical shrieks answered it. And then the sky practically filled with angry Spearow. “Gible!” He yelled and dashed over to his Pokémon, “Sandstorm! The strongest you can manage! Surround us!” He touched the Pokémon and engulfed it with his Aura, taking note of how the energy shaping in the small dragon felt like. He did his best to try to match it. As he began to glow a brown color, he idly noticed how different it felt to his normal Aura. He felt heavy. As if he would have trouble moving around. Gible roared and the Sandstorm engulfed them. Ash instinctively covered his eyes as he felt rocks start to pelt him. They were dull little thuds. Not really painful. He barely even felt them really. The Sandstormexpanded around them. With his eyes blocked, he tried to see if he could extend his Aura outwards. He wondered if he would be able to at least feel out the masses of Spearow that had tried to attack them.

And he could. He definitely felt their little spirits. They were in pain, but he couldn’t allow himself to let up. If he did, he knew they would be in severe danger. Untrained Flying types weren’t meant to deal with such a powerful rock type attack. The Sandstorm whipped around them. The howling sounds nearly as angry as the Spearow themselves had been. He felt the little birds start to go unconscious. The presences winked out one after the other. After a few more moments, he tapped Gible, who was now panting pretty hard. “Good job buddy!” He gasped out as the let his Aura fade away. Ever since he bonded with Gible, his Aura had gotten easier to control, but that had been draining. He coughed a bit as the grit settled. His skin was darkened and completely covered in dirt. His clothes were ruined, though thankfully his backpack was made of some really strong stuff. It would have been completely awful if it had gotten damaged this early into his journey. Especially after how much he paid for the damn thing. He whipped out his Pokédex to scan one of the birds. He’d listen to the entry later.

He closed the dex and put it on Gible’s head for a moment while he started brushing some of the dirt off. He didn’t get too much done when an angry squawk interrupted him, “Still awake!?” He stared in surprise at the Spearow – the same one they’d originally pissed off judging from the lump on its head – trying to pull itself together near them. All of the other ones were down for the count, “Hmm, maybe Pidgey would like a partner.” That was evidently the wrong thing to say. The Spearow screeched furiously again and was engulfed in a blinding white light. The tiny bird – which he could have held in his arms like a doll – rapidly grew and changed shape. Ash gasped and picked up the Pokédex again, and set it to scan. Thankfully, doing so was lightning quick because the damn bird was almost as tall as he was. That made it at least Enormous. Hopefully that meant it would be slower too. “Sand Bomb!”

He really, really needed to teach Gible more attacks. The Fearow screeched as it finished evolving and screeched again when it saw the wave of sand rushing for it. With the bellow of its mighty wings sounding more like a thunderclap than anything, it dispersed the attack harmlessly and set Ash and Gible flying backwards, crying out in shock. They hit the ground and cried out, and Ash thanked his lucky stars that the Egg was completely safe in its ultra-durable Depository Case. Those things acted almost like Poké Balls, so there was zero chance of it being damaged. They both rolled, almost knocked for a loop. He brought Gible’s Poké Ball out and returned his friend, “Nope!” He yelped and took off running. No way was he going to try something with a dinky little knife after it had blown apart a Sand Bomb as if it wasn’t an attack type it was weak to.

The Fearow shrieked again and took to the sky, following after the human that had pissed it off so badly. It wanted blood. Thankfully though, it was still pretty unused to its body. It had put on at least 50 Kg from its evolution after all. It soared higher to try to keep an eye on its prey, and screeched again when Ash dodged into the forests. “Fear!” Its wings began to glow, before it started launching dozens of tiny blades of wind at the tree. The Air Slashes felled them like wheat stalks. Each decently sized oak groaned as they crashed to the ground.

“That thing is crazy!” Ash exclaimed in fear as the trees he’d been trying to hide in started falling around him. He took off again, groaning in growing exhaustion as he started needing to force his Aura out again. His sharp ears caught the sounds of rushing water to the left, so he juked that way and rushed towards it. He skidded to a halt at the edge of a large waterfall. He turned back and saw that the large Fearow was currently flying in the other direction. Still, he couldn’t sigh in relief. That damn thing could turn and see him at any moment. Strengthening himself with Aura one more time, he leapt while internally screaming, “I really hope this woooorrrrkkkkssss!” He flew much farther than he rightly should have with the Aura enhancement – though his legs were screaming at him in protest – and landed in the stream. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he realized he just barely missed landing on a Gyarados. A GYARADOS. He nearly cried in relief when it didn’t notice him and just kept swimming.

He just let the current carry him after he managed to breech the surface, trying to keep as low a profile as he could in the water for at least half a mile. Thankfully these weren’t rapids otherwise he’d have been in trouble. Finally, he felt safe in getting out of the water, and managed to climb onto a bank. He rolled onto his back and just lay there, panting and catching his breath and groaning at the aching muscles in his legs. Finally, he started to chuckle, “Thanks Bobby B, you asshole!” He laughed and cursed Professor Birch. He just had to comment on Ash’s karma, didn’t he? What a hell of a start. He pulled himself up with a groan and cracked his neck, before crawling over to a tree and releasing Gible. “Hey buddy.”

“Ash!” Gible leapt and glomped him, “You’re okay!”

“I’d be better if you weren’t gnawing on my head!” He laughed and pried the little dragon off, “Here, chew on this instead!” He brought some food out for the both of them – some generic Pokéfood for Gible, which quite clearly wasn’t too appetizing judging from his expression – and a protein bar for him. He also brought out two bottles of water, which he had to help his Pokémon drink. “That damn bird was crazy!” He exclaimed, “Count me out! Even if we find a Spearow I’m not catching it! No wonder they call them little murder birds.”

“No kidding!” Gible started to sulk petulantly again, “It laughed at my Sand Bomb! I’ll get that bird if it’s the last thing I do!”

“Let’s not declare unholy vengeance on the upgraded murder bird please.” Ash deadpanned, “Hopefully we never see it again. Or at least not until you can use it as a punching bag.” He chuckled ruefully. The fifteen-or-so minute break had done wonders. He didn’t feel quite as exhausted anymore. Which was quite a good thing because a very unwelcome shriek pierced their ears. The Fearow was back. It hadn’t seen them yet, but it was quite clearly trying to find him. It was casually sending Air Slashes at random trees, which was sending Pokémon scurrying away. Finally, it hit the wrong one, and a trio of utterly furious Pidgeotto flew up and started wrathfully engaging it. One of them sent a series of Air Cutters at the larger bird from behind as the other two distracted it, and sliced into its back. The screech probably would have made his ears bleed if he had been closer. Tiny little droplets of blood rained down as the Fearow started to fly faster. Then it disappeared, and two of the crying Pidgeotto rained from the sky. Feathers flipped and flopped through the air as they tumbled down to the earth. Quick Attack. The last one did the same, and managed to get a good Peck right to the Fearow’s noggin, but even it fell as the giant bird simply smacked it with a glowing Wing Attack.

“Time to go!” Ash picked Gible up and raced away, cursing himself for not having done that the moment the Fearow had appeared. The decidedly triumphant squawk told him exactly what he needed to know. The damn thing had spotted them. And as they ran, Ash cursed as they ran out of trees. It was nothing but empty grassland ahead of them now. Drawing on his rapidly draining reserves of Aura, he started trying to cover the most distance possible, but his legs were now burning up. The muscles in them feeling the intense strain from far too much barely-trained Aura usage. If they survived this mess, he had to train his own ass as hard as he would train his Pokémon.

But after only two or so kilometers, Ash completely ran out of gas. He tripped over his own feet and cursed as he smashed into the grass. He and Gible both rolled to a stop and were quite shaky as they turned to the damn bird chasing them. It had murder in its eyes as the hunt finally ended. It was rapidly gaining ground as its beak started to form contrails in the air. The bird was aiming right for him, and was going to run him through. “Leave!” Gible hopped in front of him, “Ash!” His little body was glowing an intense purple, as was the inside of its gullet, “ALONE!!!!!!” He roared and the purple light intensified, before bursting forward as savage-looking purple flames.

The Fearow was far too committed to its attack to strafe away, and was hit dead on. It cried in agony as the Dragon Breathknocked it right out of the sky. The flames stuck to its body and started to char its feathers before it smashed into the grass. It dug an earthy trench and came to a stop not five feet from them. The Dragon Breath on top of the prior injuries it had taken as a Spearow and against the three Pidgeotto finally overcame its endurance. It squawked weakly, but Gible hadn’t had enough. Another blast of dragon fire rained on its body.

Ash’s eyes widened and he put a hand on Gible’s head, “Gible! That’s enough! It’s done buddy!” Gible stopped attacking, and panted triumphantly before slowly keeling over and rolling to face the sky. “You did great…” Ash whispered as he too collapsed backwards and simply stared at the sky. “What a day!” he groaned.

Gible couldn’t even talk in his exhaustion. It was a miracle he was even awake. Neither acknowledged the Fearow next to them. Ash was actually a little afraid that it was dead, after taking that much punishment. After the utter scandal that it had thrown over a damn rock hitting it in the head, he wasn’t too sure if he cared to check. After a moment, he groaned, “Damn me and my bleeding heart.” He dragged himself to his knees and crawled over to it. The fires had gone out, but it was blackened and missing feathers. He felt for its neck, and realized it had a very weak pulse. “This is more than you deserve, you damn bird.” He jabbed it with the weakest potion he had, syringe form. Hopefully, it would recover at least a little. And hopefully, it wouldn’t have such a bad attitude. Either way, he was talking to Professor Oak about this. If nothing else, Charizard would show it some damn manners. He collapsed back onto the ground and groaned, honestly tempted to take a nap right then and there.

A musical trilling filled the air. Ash and Gible both gasped as they stared up at the sky. It had been nearing nighttime. The sun had barely been visible in the sky, falling just past the horizon. And yet it now felt like the middle of day, when the sun had just reached its peak. A bird that dwarfed the Fearow was flying above them, and it shone so brightly it was almost a second sun. Even the temperature seemed higher than it had throughout the entire day! A rainbow followed its path as it flew and sang its song, “It’s beautiful!” Ash breathed helplessly. He and Gible both started feeling their spirits lift. He even felt a little energized. Not as utterly overcome by exhaustion like he had been moments ago. Gible felt the same. He was even on his feet and staring open-mouthed at the sky.

Luckily, the Fearow stayed just as dead to the world as they wanted it to.

Ash hurriedly dug the Pokédex out and pointed it at the magnificent creature. “Scanning… Scanning…” That was weird. It had been almost instant with every Pokémon he had tried it on before. He even had the National Dex because of Gible! “Error. This Pokémon has never been caught nor scanned before. Switching to capture mode.” The camera and directional microphone immediately switched on and started recording, even as Ash worked his jaw in shock. What in the world was he witnessing? The bird passed over him, and the heat – which had been growing – became the most intense. He even felt vaguely uncomfortable. Then it passed overhead and continued on, leaving its rainbow trail as it went. Gible gasped as something came tumbling through the air towards them. He caught it gingerly as Ash continued recording, right up until the moment the Pokémon vanished. “Recording complete. Storing.”

“Amazing…” The spell was finally broken, and the night had properly fallen now. “Did you see that bu…” Ash stopped and stared at the rainbow feather in shock. “Is that…” He gently took it from Gible and they gawked at it in awe. Finally, Ash began to laugh, “Karmic Pendulum huh?” He stored the feather in the most-heavily reinforced pocket in his bag, right alongside the Egg.

-]|[-

“There it is!” Ash gasped in relief. They had long-since left the Fearow behind, and were practically dragging their feet the rest of the way to Viridian. He’d really, really hoped that there weren’t any more psychotic Fearow around for the rest of the trip because they sure as hell weren’t beating a fresh one. Viridian was a very different place compared to Pallet. Back in Pallet there was a whole lot of room. The whole town had only broken ground a few decades ago, with Professor Oak building and opening his lab and corral. Such an endeavor had needed a whole lot of open space and building it really close to an established city likely wouldn’t have worked out for the better. Professor Oak had used most of the money he’d earned as a Trainer and as a Champion – as short-lived as his reign was, since he never wanted to actually be Champion – to buy the land and build the lab. The rest of Pallet had sprung up around it.

Here was a very different story. It was a cityand a beautiful one at that. There were much taller buildings and everything was packed much closer together. He doubted anyone living here was on a first name basis with everyone else, the way they were back home. He came up to the city outskirts and immediately flinched when a whistle blew nearby, “Halt!”

Ash blinked owlishly at the officer coming out of a little police station and gesturing towards him to go to her, “Uhh…” He stared dumbly when he reached her, “Can I help you officer?”

The woman had pale, creamy skin, amber eyes, and teal hair. She really was quite striking. She wore a simple police uniform and indicated a wanted poster. His eyes narrowed as he saw the two depicted on it. A blue-haired man and a magenta-haired woman with a crazy style were practically posing for the camera. They both wore white Team Rocket uniforms, “I’m going to need to see some identification stranger. We can’t be too careful round these parts. There have been sightings of Pokémon thieves nearby.” And then it was her turn to blink curiously at him, “The hell happened to you two, kid?” She indicated his dirt-covered and scratched up appearance, “And what kind of Pokémon is this? I’ve never seen one before. Why is it out of its ball? Did you steal it?” She glared suspiciously.

“HEY!” Gible snarled, though all the woman heard was his own species name.

“Paranoid much?” Ash couldn’t help but quip, “We were training along Route 1 when we pissed off a Spearow flock.” She winced in response, “Apparently one of those damn murder birds hated us enough to go for an upgrade, if you catch my drift.”

“It evolved?!” She yelped in response, “Where is it now?”

“Dead to the world about three miles away.” He deadpanned, “It chased us for about twenty miles I think, give or take. Managed to dodge it through some woods and then we jumped off a waterfall. It found us and pissed off three Pidgeotto. And what luck that was because when we finally got too tired to run, Gible here was able to take it out with Dragon Breath. It was too injured to continue fighting. Gible is my Starter. Had to go all the way to Sinnoh with Professor Oak to get him.”

“Wow!” The woman gaped, but shook her head, “It’s a nice story, but I’m still going to need to see some ID.”

Ash held back an eye-roll, “Will this do?” He brought out his Pokédex.

“Wow, that’s a fancy-looking model.” She took it and fiddled with it for a moment, before confirming that he was indeed who he claimed to be, “I’m Officer Jenny by the way. I’m guessing you two are exhausted. Want a ride to the Poké Center?”

Ash quite nearly started to cry, “Yes please!”

“Alright! I’ll get you there in no time at all!” He followed Jenny into the station, “Did you say you got him in Sinnoh?” The later part of the story finally penetrated, “Really?”

“Yeah, a power outage and some other bad luck meant I missed out on getting a Kanto Starter. Professor Oak had to contact a bunch of people to find a Starter for me, since he didn’t want to just help me catch a garden variety Pidgey or Nidoran.” Ash explained to the pretty woman.

“That explains why you’re getting here so late compared to the other Trainers calling Pallet their home. The last one arrived nearly 4 days ago.” She chuckled.

“Yeah, we decided to take a while on the road to train.” Ash grinned as they entered the garage and he saw her motorbike, “Probably would have taken another day or two if that damn Fearow hadn’t run us ragged. You could have replaced a whole team of lumberjacks with that thing with how much it loved cutting trees down to try to find us.”

“I can imagine. Air Cutter?” Jenny cringed when he corrected her, “Air Slash? That’s even worse! It must have had some bigshot parents for it to have that kind of move as a fresh Fearow.” She shook her head again, “Anyway, strap in kid! Let’s go!” They raced out of the station the moment they could clear the rising garage door. Jenny was a speed demon and Ash had the ride of his life.

-]|[-

Ash breathed a sigh of relief when he finally made it inside. He had a feeling Jenny would have tried to drive right into the center if Gible had been in critical condition. And worse, he probably would have loved it. No need to piss off the beautiful Nurse Joy, “Hello nurse. Can I rent a room for the night and get my two Pokémon looked at?”

“Of course!” The petite woman had bright pink hair done in loops behind her head and a similar skin tone to Jenny. “You look like you might need a checkup too. What’s your name?” She eyed him critically.

“It’s just dirt.” Ash grinned weakly as he told her his name and gave up his Pokédex, “I hope.” The pinkette giggled as she registered his visit after checking his ID, “Though if you insist…”

“No, we’ll skip it for now if you feel fine.” She smiled gently at him.

“Well, fine is a bit relative.” Ash chuckled weakly, “I’m hoping I make it onto the bed and don’t just fall asleep in the shower.”

Her gaze sharpened and she became completely serious, “There are emergency buttons in every room. If you feel like you’re going to pass out hit one. Better some embarrassment than drowning.” She was suddenly all smiles again, though this one was more a sugary-sweet do-as-I-say-or-else smile judging from the light chill that ran down his spine, “And if anything changes and you feel unwell or in pain, just let me know.”

“Of course!” Ash took care not to stammer. That would have been embarrassing, “How long will their checkup take?”

“Hopefully not too long, judging from this one’s state!” She indicated Gible, “If there aren’t any dangerous injuries, a quick scan and some medicine will have them right as rain after they get some rest and some food in them. Oh!” She jumped, “How careless of me!” She then spent the next couple seconds giving him his room key, as well as directions to everywhere he might need to go. A few minutes more than that, he had his Pokémon back and was alone in his room.

He quickly showered and collapsed nearly naked onto the fluffy mattress, “Ohhh I never want to get off this beeeeed.” He groaned in rapture. He reached over to his belt and unhooked Gible and Pidgey’s Poké Balls. Gible appeared and the fire hadn’t even dissipated when he was back to gnawing on Ash’s head, “What is with you and my head?” Ash asked in bemusement. The other flash of white light revealed Pidgey, “How’re you doing, Pidgey?”

“Pidgey!” The bird flared its wings and stretched out the kinks, “Pid!” It chirped cheerfully, feeling much better. He took it in and realized that its feathers had a slightly different coloration. They were a tad more to the red side than the classic brown, and some the feather which should have been pale cream were more towards the gray or silver scale. The tips of its wings were black as were the crest on its head.

“You’re looking jolly!” Ash grinned, “I take it you’re satisfied with having a trainer?” Pidgey nodded and chirped a few more times. Ash had beaten her fair and square. She would be glad to pledge herself to him, if he would make her as strong as her parents had been. “Sweet! Now, this is going to be a little weird. Bear with me.” He put a hand on her head, and his rich purple aura poured into her.

He felt that little click in the back of his head, and knew the bond had been successful, “What was that?”

He grinned as he heard her feminine-sounding voice. “I formed an Aura bond with you. We’ll be able to understand each other!”

“Really?!” She hopped once, “That’s so cool!” She chirped and flapped animatedly. “Do all trainers do that?” She asked a relevant question, while also testing out his claim.

“Nope. Aura is apparently pretty rare, so not everyone can do it.” Ash replied, giving her all the confirmation she needed. “Anyway, I never got a chance to scan you before our battle. Let me do that now.” He brought out his Pokédex – he really need to name it – and scanned her.

“Pidgey! The Tiny Bird Pokémon. Pidgey has an extremely sharp sense of direction. It is capable of unerringly returning home to its nest, however far it may be removed from its familiar surroundings. They are normally very docile and prefer to avoid conflict.” All three of them snorted as one, “If disturbed, however, it can ferociously strike back.”

“Well I don’t know about disturbed.” Ash drawled, grinning at the bird.

She puffed up proudly, “That’s why I’m close to evolving and they’re all losers.”

He grinned and unpaused it, “This Pidgey is female and has the Ability Keen Eye. She is not classified as a Shiny Pokémon despite the odd coloration on some of her feathers. Her father was likely a Pokémon with red and black feathers or fur. Her size of 0.45m and experience relative to other members of her species of the same age indicate that she is at the tail end of Huge. This Pidgey knows the moves Tackle, Quick Attack, Sand Attack, and Wing Attack. She was also born knowing Air Cutter as an Egg Move. Finally, she has the genetic memories of the Egg Moves Air Slash and Steel Wing, but will not be able to use them without practice.”

“You’re even more awesome than I thought you were!” Ash exclaimed happily, “I bet you can’t wait to be a Pidgeot!”

“You really think I can do it?” She asked, suddenly feeling very shy. Not even the rest of her old flock had ever thought she could make it.

“I know you can, girl. You can do anything you put your mind to! We’ll help you at every step of the way!” Pidgey nearly started tearing up, “Anyway, we haven’t found a good one yet, but Gible said he wanted a nickname. How about you?” He grinned at the emotional bird.

“Yes please!” Pidgey chirped again and started hopping up and down.

“Great, because I actually already had one I really liked the sound of for a Flying Type. I hope you like it as well! How does Aquila sound to you?”

She puffed up again in joy, “I like it!”

Ash pumped his fist, “Hah! Got it first try! Told you my nicknames didn’t suck!” he pointed imperiously at Gible.

“Dude, you tried to name me Bruce.” Gible deadpanned, and the newly-christened Aquila started chirping in laughter, nearly falling over.

After a few minutes of getting to know their new teammate, Ash finally couldn’t take it anymore, “Okay, I feel like I got run over by a Dragonite. Bedtime!” Only Aquila was too energized to complain, but Gible was already out like a light. Ash brought out the Egg and tucked it between him and Gible, “Night Aquila!” He turned the light off and was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Once more, his aura unconsciously started reaching to his team members and his future Pokémon. She huffed, having wanted to keep talking. Oh well. No use staying awake for no reason. She tucked her head into her wing and started trying to relax.

-]|[-

Barely three hours had passed when Ash and his Pokémon jerked awake. A loud booming sound had rung throughout the Poké Center and even now, they could feel a rumble. “Whuzzat!” Ash fell off the bed and cried blearily. Aquila had fallen off her post and was now angrily chirping. Gible had his eyes glued to the door.

“Didn’t the nice police lady say something about thieves?” He asked quietly.

Ash growled and went from sleepy to wide-awake in a second at his words, “Get ready for a fight.” He snapped and hurriedly dressed after storing the Egg and incubator away safely, though this time he kept his knife in hand as he edged to the door. It was a bit difficult doing so in the dark, but he didn’t want any light coming from under his door potentially attracting attention. Just in case, he released his aura to try to feel out any presences in the halls. They were deserted. Once they were out in the hall, he realized that those blasts must have disabled the building’s main generators. Only the vital systems were running now. The lights in the halls were all off, and Ash didn’t dare use the flashlight his mom had gotten for him here. He had Pidgey sit on his shoulder as they moved as silently as they could towards the center’s main lobby, hiding in the shadows to watch for a moment. He was forced to bite back a growl when he saw a group of trainers – probably freshly arrived or just leaving – cowering with a large snake Pokémon hissing threateningly at them.

Another round, floating purple Pokémon with what seemed like nozzles jutting out from its body and a shit-eating grin on its face was hovering over an injured-looking Chansey. With Chansey disabled and the generator taken care of, their owners dropped in from the Center’s skylight. They were the two thieves he had seen on the wanted poster, along with a Pokémon that looked like a cat! The woman’s hair looked even more ridiculous in person than it had on the poster. How the hell did she keep it so neat and tidy? A whole bottle of hairspray a day? No wonder they were thieves. And why the hell did the effeminate-looking man have a rose in his hand? Ash switched his Pokédex into silent mode and scanned the three Pokémon. Two Poison Types and a Normal Type huh?

Nurse Joy looked both furious and terrified. Her precious little Chansey wasn’t a fighter. And even if she had been, she had been ambushed. She had very weak physical defenses and that Ekans had bitten her as soon as the Rockets had appeared before the Koffing had Tackledher. Chasey was very bulky but she was very weak to those types of attacks, and these Rockets had exploited that immediately. “Who are you! Why are you doing this?”

“Don’t be frightened, little girl.” The woman – who was admittedly quite a bit more voluptuous than the younger woman – sneered at her.

“Allow us to introduce ourselves.” The blue-haired man continued from where she left off.

“To protect the world from devastation!” She smirked and licked her lips.

“To unite all peoples within our nation!” He raised his rose closer to his face.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” Was this really happening? Ash’s eye was starting to develop a twitch.

“To extend our reach to the stars above!” This was Team Rocket? Really? His mom had always taught him to be cautious about thieves and – once they had sprung out of the shadows officially back when he had been nine with a terrorist attack – especially Team Rocket. That was the entire reason he carried his knife and had started learning self-defense. So he could defend himself if need be.

“Jessie!” Well, she had a name now.

“James!” And so did he.

“Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!”  Oh, Ash wouldn’t mind helping them out with that. There’s no way these fakers were real Rockets.

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!” That was their line. Gible and Pidgey were clearly raring to go.

And then the whole world went weird. “Meowth! That's right!” The Meowth talked. He stared dumbly. That wasn’t Aura. It just talked! And it stood on two legs!

“Team Rocket!” Nurse Joy gasped, and the cowering trainers looked even more terrified, “Why did you attack this place? We only have sick and injured Pokémon here!”

“Oh, that may be true.” James agreed amicably.

“But if there are one or two gems with the rest of the riffraff, then they’ll be quite valuable.” Jessie grinned sinisterly.

“Yeah, so just hand em over, will ya? Save yerselves da trouble!” Yep. It was official. The Meowth could talk. It wasn’t just parroting words it had heard spoken before.

And as for him? Well he’d heard enough, “Surprise attack.” He whispered to Pidgey, “Quick Attack on the Koffing. Gible, prepare to back Aquila up.” Pidgey gave a tiny little chirp, and then raced off his shoulder. He and Gible started running forward.

“What!” Jessie gasped as Koffing was knocked from his floating position straight into a wall. “Koffing! Grrr, who the hell are you?!” She snarled as she saw Ash running in, “We were going to be gentle but you’re dead now, kid! Ekans! Bite that bird and then Wrap him up! Poison Sting on the little thing near his feet if it acts up!”

The snake hissed and slithered forward at a blistering speed towards Aquila. Its hiss alone would normally have been enough to send primal chills down a normal Pidgey’s spine. Not so here. Aquila met its challenge with a shriek more reminiscent of a Spearow. “Quick Attackto dodge! Start flying circles around that damn snake!” Pidgey cried out heatedly and vanished in a blur of speed. It reappeared to the left of the Ekans and made it whip in that direction. But Pidgey merely vanished again and appeared behind it. It continued doing that for a few moments, making the Ekans disorientate itself as it whipped back and forth again and again, “Finish it off! Quick Attack into Wing Attack!” Once it was good and dizzy, Pidgey appeared once more directly in front of it and smacked it right in the head with a wing as it whipped by the snake. It smacked on the floor and hissed woozily. It wasn’t quite out of it yet, but another hit would definitely take it out.

“What the hell is that Pidgey!” Jessie exclaimed in shock.

“We gotta steal it!” Meowth grinned greedily as James ordered a recovered Koffing to use Smog.

Pidgey looked a little bit tired which made Ash curse, “Gible, blow it back with Sandstorm! Try not to wreck the Center!”

The noxious fumes started spewing from the disgusting creature. Why did these Rockets have to like Poison types? Gible retaliated with a large stream of sand that shot from its mouth and exploded as soon as it hit the ground. A tornado of sand rose up inside the Center and Ash winced as he realized Gible had definitely ignored the second part of his order. The winds howled and dirt and sand whipped about the Center, smothering the Smog and pelting everything in its path with tiny rocks. When it finally dissipated, both Poison Types were down for the count and the Rockets themselves were as filthy as Ash had been. They had several bleeding scratches and had crouched and blocked off their faces and torsos with their arms as best they could. Even the walls had paint stripped off. Ash winced, hoping Nurse Joy would be understanding.

“You damn brat! Quick Scratch!” The marred woman screeched in utter fury. Ash’s eyes bugged out as he realized the Meowth had gone missing. Just in case, he fell to his knees and rolled away, and it was a good thing that his instincts had been screaming at him because the talking cat flew past where his head had been a half-second ago, claws extended to tear strips off him. It landed on the ground and used its claws to skid to a halt, leaving gouges in the formerly pristine – well, as of the start of the night, seeing as the Sandstorm had wrecked things first – tiled floor.

“Ya should have just given up, kid! Now Meowths gonna have ta kill ya.” It used Quick Attack again and raced for Gible, but Ash could see him clearly. While it was clearly practiced at walking like a human, it wasn’t its natural state. It was very clearly not as fast as it should be. He could practically see every step it took, whereas he struggled to keep up with Pidgey.

“Dragon Breath!” He snapped as it leapt forward again, claws extended.

“Dragon WHAT?!” The talking cat practically squeaked. And then it ate purple fire. “AHHHH!” It started screaming bloody murder as it dropped and started to roll around. Dragon fire was vicious though, and it stuck on the cat almost like alcohol fire. It would stick to the cat until its damage had been done.

James demonstrated that he clearly had a heart when it came to his friends, because he ripped his shirt off and used it to smother the flames as best he could, “You’re going to regret this, you damn brat!” He snarled as Jessie withdrew a purple ball thing from her pocket.

“Not with you in prison I’m not!” Ash snarled back and prepared to rush them.

“You’ll see us again, brat!” Her hair was finally out of its perfect state. She looked utterly frazzled, “We’ll be back!” She threw the ball down, and it exploded into a smokescreen.

“Dragon Breath again! Aquila! Air Cutter!” The purple fire pierced the smoke and the light blue energy blades pulverized some of the stone, but he heard nothing more. When it cleared, they were simply gone without a trace. “Damn it, they got away!” He snarled, but before anything more could be said, the whole Center erupted into cheers.

“That was amazing!”

“How’d your Pidgey get so strong? They’re terrified of snakes!”

“What’s this Pokémon?!”

On and on it went, as the previously cowering trainers started crowding and congratulating him. Ash started feeling a little claustrophobic. He’d never been crowded like this before and it was making him uncomfortable. Even his classrooms hadn’t been this tight!

“Give him some air!” Nurse Joy ordered as she walked towards him.

As started to sweat as he saw the severe look on her face, “Nurse Joy, I’m really sorry about the Center!” He winced as he saw the gouges in the walls from the missed Air Cutter, “I didn’t mean to damage everything so badly!”

She stared at him with hard eyes for a moment longer, before she gave him her brightest smile and wrapped him up in a hug. Ash blushed furiously as she smiled gently, “Our hero!” His face went supernova when she gave him a small, lingering kiss on the cheek. “You don’t have to worry about a thing, Ash. You saved us all! And you saved all of our Pokémon! They never got a chance to steal anything because of you!” ‘And because those idiots were too busy grandstanding to start off.’ She thought silently. Hey, even nurses as sweet as her weren’t blindlykind.

Still a furious red, Ash started to stammer, “I-i-it was nothing!” He shook his head, “I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing! And either way, Gible and Aquila did all the work!”

She shook her head in bemusement, “But they were your Pokémon and they followed your orders brilliantly. You did an excellent job leading them, so the credit goes to all of you.”

“Is everyone alright!” This time, Officer Jenny really did simply race into the building on her motorbike and sent everyone scattering to avoid her.

Nurse Joy huffed as though this had happened many, many times before, “We have a drive way.”

“This was an emergency!” Jenny defended herself, “I had to get in quickly!”

“Well, it sure was an emergency.” Joy smiled brightly, “Young Ash right here saved us and chased away the Rockets.”

Ash rubbed the back of his head, “I tried to capture them but they had a smoke bomb. They managed to get away.” He frowned, “Were they really Team Rocket though? They seemed more like posers or clowns really.”

“I’m not sure.” Jenny frowned, “They’re definitely considered dangerous around here. You got lucky Ash.” She clapped him on the shoulder, “Do you try to look for trouble?”

Ash snorted, “No, but it seems to find me well enough.”

She chuckled in return, “Perhaps you should join the force. We could use someone like you.”

“Nah, that’s not my calling.” Ash rejected the notion.

“Shame.” She said with a sigh, not really having expected otherwise, “Thank you for the good work, Ash. Do try not to make a habit of it though, will you?”

“They could have killed someone if a critical life support system had been knocked offline. This was a hospital!” He shot back, “If I can do something to help, then I can’t just step back.”

She shook her head, “Then be careful. That’s all I can ask.” She eyed him carefully, “You look exhausted.” His eyes were red and bloodshot.

“They woke us up.” Ash admitted, before having to stifle a yawn.

“Go back to bed, Ash.” Joy interjected with a smile, “We can keep an eye on things now. You’ve earned a rest.” She gave him another peck on the cheek, and the two ladies smirked when he lit up like a Christmas tree again. “We can keep an eye on things here.”

Ash yawned again, “Thanks Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny. Boy, I’m beat.” He walked off after saying his goodbyes, and stopped when Jenny spoke up.

“I’ll have to interview you in the morning Ash. Please don’t leave before seeing me!” She shook her head as he waved behind his head tiredly, “As for you lot.” She eyed the rest of them, “I’ll take your statements now.”

The rest of the teens started to clamor and tell increasingly embellished tales of Ash’s heroics.

-]|[-

And that’s a wrap. I was originally going to go all the way up to Viridian Forest’s entrance, but I decided to cut it. 24k was already respectable enough.

Now, I WANT POSSIBLE NICKNAMES FOR GIBLE! And for any Pokémon which doesn’t immediately find a nickname after it is caught. That means our Pidgey here is already out, as she is named Aquila. You guys could even have some fun trying to guess at future teammates and make up a nickname for them if you like.

Ash’s Pokédex is a combination of the Gen IV dex and the Kalos Dex. The voice is the God Khepri from the game Smite. It just sounded hilarious in my head and I rolled with it. You can search up Khepri Voicelines on google if you want to know what he sounds like.

To end things off, I have some important things to go over, and this is going to be a long one. Sorry about that! I promise my author’s notes aren’t normally this insanely long!

1. So, my first major question is how you guys feel about Fakemon. Personally, I’m not a huge fan in most cases, because either I like a Pokémon to start off with or just don’t care for it regardless. However, there ARE a couple cases where I’ve seen a Fakemon that I like WAY better than the canon Pokémon. My biggest example for this is Dragonite, because the Dratini line goes from one of my favorites of all time to being a disappointment REAL damn quick as soon as Dragonair evolves. In any case, Gamefreak DID kind open the door for us with Alolan forms and now Galarian forms as well.

2. As a bit of a side topic to the above, I will likely be doing a couple Alternate Shinies. Unlike Fakemon, I’m completely on board with these since so damn many of the shinies in canon are barely different. I could maybe even have submissions for alternate shinies from you guys. It isn’t TOO time consuming to do and could create some awesome combinations. Some Pokémon will also be colored slightly differently due to genetics. These will NOT be considered full-on shinies, since it will be a common sight between offspring of certain types of Pokémon.

3. Will Ash capture a bunch of Legendaries? No. Absolutely not. Quite the opposite in fact.

4. Will this follow the games or the shows/movies? Both. And neither. Yeah, I suppose that’s the best way to put it. This is an AU after all. I’ll be taking some concepts from the games and some from the anime and then throwing in some of my own ideas for good measure. Ash will not catch every Pokémon he caught in canon and WILL catch several he never did. Same for his companions. Of which there will be more than in canon.

5. Pairings! Always on people’s minds. For me to know and for you to find out. All I can say is I won’t be taking suggestions for Ash. I already know who I want/may want and I won’t be deviating from that. It will be a Multi-pairing so take from that what you will. For other characters, I am willing to listen to suggestions, though I promise nothing. And one last thing! NONE of the harem members will be one of his consistent travelling companions from canon. That means no Misty, no May, no Dawn, etc. I like all of them, but that’s not for this story.

6. There are several things that I will be ignoring if I think they don’t make sense. As an example, let’s take Gible’s line not being able to learn Dragon Dance. That is a move it SHOULD be able to use, and yet in the games it can’t learn it. Not a huge fan of things like that. Another example would be Metagross taking full damage from Ground Type moves, but only if they are contact moves (Like Bonemarang, Earth Power, etc.) because Beldum’s line is supposed to be able to float. Non-contact moves like Earthquake would still be able to hit, but only if it is physically grounded. Making Gyarados able to fly (it’s partially based on a Chinese dragon) is another. And another would be Arcanine being a Fire/Normal type potentially, because why the FUCK does it not have STAB with what was its own bloody signature move? Basically, there will be some locations where game-canon at least might be ignored a tad. Some Pokémon will be able to use a couple moves that they can’t learn in-game and I won’t be taking things like Stats as gospel. That takes away too many options which could be really fun.