Chapter Text
The start of February brought the tail end of winter.
The start of February signalled the beginnings of new journeys.
The start of February was the dawn of the story of the very best, like no one ever was.
The air was chilly, and water dews on green grass glimmered in the morning sun. Ash Ketchum sprinted across the modest roads of Pallet Town to the bottom of a hillside that overlooked the quiet town. The magnificent lab, owned by the world-renowned Professor Samuel Oak, sat proudly on top, a beacon of pride for the idyllic village.
As the glistening windows of the building and the sounds of countless pokemon drew closer, Ash’s excitement, anxiety, and the small amount of fear all skyrocketed. The next few minutes were going to be one of the most important few minutes in his life. Ever since he was young, when he went to the Indigo Conference back in the year 992, Ash had been obsessed with building a team of his own that could best the best.
However due to the many dangers and responsibilities of pokemon training and travelling through the wilderness, the legal age permitted to officially register as a Pokémon trainer was 12. Now though, having passed the annual trainers license exam on Jan 25th, as well as having turned 12 last year on May 22nd, nothing could deter Ash from achieving his dreams. Arriving at the base of the hillside, Ash found his way blocked by a lot of the townspeople who had already congregated there.
“Ash my boy! The others are already there!” yelled out one of the townspeople.
Ash hastily waved thanks before hurrying up the winding stone stairs up the hill. Reaching the top, he gave the magnificent entrance, two large oak doors with a chiseled stone arch, a quick appreciative glance before opening the doors, with not a little amount of effort. Stepping inside the magnificent lab, the whiny voice of Gary Oak reverberated through the entrance hall and Ash mentally prepared himself.
“You’re late Ashy-boy! Did mama tuck you in too tight?” called Gary from one of the many couches dotted around the entrance hall.
In any other circumstance, Ash would’ve fired right back, they famously got along as well as a zangoose and seviper. But just for this special day, he would put up with the annoying prick. Ash opted to ignore him, instead focusing on the other two people in the room. One of them, Ash noted with a smile, was Leaf Green, a spirited girl who had moved to Pallet Town when she was seven. She was wearing a short red skirt, the baby blue tank top that she was fond of, and in addition to that, her favourite sun hat adorning her messy brown hair.
“Oh be quiet Gary,” Leaf rolled her eyes. “Hi Ash, have you met the new kid?”
The new kid, whose manner of dressing eerily resembled Ash’s own, turned around and waved.
“Hey,” he said with an unsure smile, “I’m Ritchie, Ritchie Williams.” He played with the hem of his shirt, “I’m from Celadon City.” Ash greeted him with a bright smile.
Ritchie nodded, pulling out a pokegear from his baggy turquoise pants and started tapping away at the screen. The rest of the occupants of the hall sat there quietly, with the occasional cough or tap of a foot resounding through the tall hall. Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Soon, the four of them would be choosing their very own starter!
Wait four? There were three traditional starters, one for each of the top three, new trainers who had either gotten the best theory score, practical score and overall score in the license exams of their respective territory. Why was Ritchie here? Ash had gotten the best practical score in the Viridian Prefecture. Leaf had gotten best theory and Gary had gotten best overall, miraculously beating all of the city folk. Would there be two sets of starters? That seemed a bit unlikely. Starters were hard to order as they had to be raised and conditioned to be non-aggressive. Then perhaps there was an extra Pokémon that the professor had on him.
Who would have to pick the extra Pokémon then? Every single person in the room had already chosen who they wanted to pick. While Ash didn’t know about Ritchie, he knew both Gary and Leaf wanted a Squirtle and he himself wanted a Charmander. If one of them had to give up their dream starter, would they do it?
Ash’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted when the doors connecting the hall to the rest of the lab opened and a young woman in a white lab coat walked out. Her soft, olive-green eyes swept over the four eager trainers, lighting up as they noticed Gary, Leaf and Ash.
“Hey guys, grandpa is ready to see you now!” The lady called cheerfully, brushing off what seemed like little bits of foam off her coat sleeves.
When she noticed Ash looking curiously at the foam, she smiled. “The new Pokémon got a bit unruly but everything is good now. Let’s go!” she waved them over, and turned around, causing her long brown hair to rise behind her.
Ritchie whispered, “Who is she? She’s really pretty!” with his mouth open and Ash mentally agreed, but before he could say anything—
“Oi, that’s my sister!” Gary glared lividly at Ritchie while Ritchie’s face turned red like the dawn sky, before hurrying off to escape Gary, or to catch up with Daisy, maybe even both.
The rest of the lab was just as, if not more impressive than the entrance hall. Ash smiled. No matter how many times he had walked through those doors, the sight of the shelves upon shelves of books as well as the chandelier would always take his breath away. The others weren’t doing that much better, Ritchie had his mouth wide open, hardly believing he was in the main lab of the Professor Oak, while Leaf, whose parents worked here, looked around with a reminiscent smile.
“You guys nervous?” the brunette lady asked with a sweet smile.
“Pfft, only losers would be nervous sis! Like those three.” Gary scoffed.
“You know Gare-bear, you weren’t the most relaxed person either. You were panicking quite a bit yesterday.” Daisy noted with a smirk.
“What! No! No I wasn’t!” Though for the rest of the short walk going up the stairs, Gary was noticeably quiet and sullen, a nice change from usual.
Ash shook his head, how could Daisy, such a sweet and nice and caring and pretty person be related to the very loud, unlikeable boy that was Gary? Reaching the top of the flight of stairs, Ash’s eyes instantly focused on the man in a lab coat sitting on an office chair, though his eyes wandered to the bits of foam scattered around.
“Ah,” Professor Oak noticed them, “Thank you for bringing them up Daisy, could you go grab some cleaning supplies in the basement?”
“Sure, see you guys later!” Ash, Ritchie and Leaf waved back at Daisy before turning their attention back to Professor Oak.
“You four have studied hard for this day to come, working hard to be applicable for the Top Three program,” he began, “and I think you are ready. Now normally, there are three for each of the starters, but due to Ritchie’s rather abrupt request to get his starter from me specifically,” Ritchie blushed a bit, “I wasn’t able to procure two sets of starters by the League in time.
“However luckily, a colleague of mine in Kalos had sent over a pokemon that he needed help with, and I believe that this pokemon is just as fine a choice as the others, only a bit more problematic.” Professor Oak finished, and while saying that flourished his hands towards four pokeballs laying on a table surface, shiny and pristine.
“Now inside of this one,” Professor Oak said while pointing to the one on the far side of the table, “is Charmander,” while he said that an image of the fire lizard popped up on a screen nearby, “Bulbasaur and Squirtle.” The images of the other two pokemon popped on the screen as well.
“Now in this pokeball, we have the pokemon Froakie, which is actually a starter from the Kalos region.” an image of an aquamarine blue frog appeared on the screen, with a ring of foam around its neck. It looked rather cute.
“Froakie is part of the Amphibian class and is actually distantly related to the Poliwag species here in Kanto. In fact, some experts say that—”
“Gramps you’re doing it again.” Gary drawled, tapping his foot impatiently.
“Right, sorry.” Professor Oak looked a bit flustered, “Anyways, Froakie is a water-type, and actually has unique cultural ties back to our continent of Japan. Now, who wants to pick first?”
Resounding sounds of “Me!” filled the room and Professor Oak was faced with four teens eager for a pokemon.
The professor silenced them with a raise of hand. “I understand you all are excited to pick the starter you want, but one of you will be disappointed. Before we start, I wanted to ask, would one of you children volunteer yourselves to take Froakie? He is a wonderful pokemon full of potential, you just have to unlock it.”
The room was suddenly silent. The four looked away, rather interested in different parts of the room.
Nobody’s going to pick, Ash realised. They’re hoping for someone else to pick.
Professor Oak sighed, “I guess not. Now then, we will do this by—”
“Actually professor, I will take Froakie.” Ash stepped up.
His heart felt heavy but stayed firm in his decision. He had seen Ritchie’s face light up when he saw Charmander’s pokeball and it was clear none of the others would volunteer to lose out on getting their dream starter.
“Thank you Ash,” Professor Oak looked proud, “Now then, let’s have Ritchie pick first shall we?”
Ritchie stepped forwards and released a long breath, before going over to Charmander’s ball and releasing it. A ray of mysterious blue light flashed out of the ball and merged together, revealing a bipedal, red lizard, with a tiny flame on the tip of its tail. Ash stared with envy.
Ritchie smiled a genuine smile, “Hello little guy,” which caused Charmander to peer curiously up at Ritchie’s face, before releasing a couple of embers in happiness at Ritchie’s cap, who frantically patted it out.
“Oh, I’m so sorry Ritchie.” Professor Oak rushed forwards, making sure Ritchie was okay. “You see, charmanders, like many fire types, spit embers as a form of affection to those they like. You will have to train Charmander out of this habit early on, otherwise when she is more powerful, it will be quite dangerous.”
“Got it, no problem,” though he looked considerably more wary of Charmander before smiling and returning her.
“Awesome, my turn now!” exclaimed Leaf, until Gary grabbed onto her, which in turn had them start fighting again.
“Now now, how about you two settle this with rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets to pick first.” The professor sighed, knowing that either way, this would not end well for one of them.
The two agreed to play, both with a rather serious expression, while Ritchie and Ash tried not to laugh.
“And shoot!” Leaf and Gary both revealed their hands at the signal, their eyes widened before Gary screamed in ecstasy and Leaf clenched her fist, eyes downcast. Gary strutted up to the table and snatched Squirtle’s pokeball and released it. Leaf came moments later and begrudgingly took Bulbasuar’s pokeball.
Finally after they met their pokemon, it was finally Ash’s turn. He walked up to the last remaining pokeball on the table and grabbed it. It was cool to the touch, and looked pretty new. Ash gulped and pressed the release button. The same blue light appeared and disappeared, just like the others’ pokeballs, leaving behind a small blue frog with a ring of foam around its neck.
Ash’s eyes widened, “Hey,” he said breathlessly while crouching down. “I’m Ash Ketchum. I hope we can be the best of friends!” He held his hand out in a fist. Froakie stared at Ash for a while uncomfortably, as if it was judging him. Then Froakie did a sort of shrug before tapping the pokeball button and returning itself. The others looked on with pity except for Gary.
“Ha, even your own pokemon doesn’t want to be with you! This is perfect!” Gary mocked gleefully.
Ash clenched and unclenched his fists several times.
“Gary.” Professor Oak said warningly. “Now, there is one more thing I need to give you guys. This—” he said while pulling out what seemed like a red mechanical notebook, “—is a pokedex and it—”
“—was created by you, a genius invention, blah blah blah.” Gary interrupted rudely, looking as if he had heard it a thousand times, which he probably had.
“Enough Gary.” The professor’s tone turned dangerous. “Anyways, before I was so rudely interrupted,” Professor Oak glared at Gary, “ it is essentially a digital encyclopaedia about everything pokemon related. You can use it to instantly obtain information about a species that you encounter with the camera.
“And thanks to cooperation with the League and other industries, it also serves as a Trainer ID, allowing you to access places and privileges that you can’t with a regular ID. There are many more features, but I will let you children discover it for yourselves.” Professor finished off with a smile.
Ash grinned. Despite not getting his ideal starter, and the little guy he got not liking him much, Ash didn’t let it faze him. He would get Froakie to acknowledge and be friends with him. He would collect the Kanto gym badges and fight in the Indigo Conference, and become strong, just like his father.
I promise, no matter how long, how tiring, I will do it! Ash promised to himself, and his previous grin settled into a determined expression. Professor Oak, noticing this, smiled.
“You three can go. Ash, I need to update your pokédex with the Kalos dex entries and also give you some information about Froakie.” The other three, still feeling euphoric, walked out, while Ash stayed in the lab, not quite sure what the Professor needed to talk about.
“Ash, Froakie has had a complicated childhood,” Professor Oak sighed, plugging Ash’s pokédex into his computer. “He’s always yearned to grow strong, and this mindset isolated him from the rest of his colony. Froakie actually was handed out by my colleague to numerous trainers and they all have either returned him due to disobedience or Froakie had run away from them.”
Ash stared at Froakie’s pokeball. Could Froakie really be so picky? Of course he had heard of pokemon being disobedient, but he had never thought that he would ever get a pokemon like that.
Ash looked back at the professor as he continued, “So, my colleague sent Froakie over as this was my area of expertise. It’s clear that Froakie here wants a trainer that he respects and believes in that can make him strong.”
“Do you think I can do it, get Froakie’s respect I mean?” Ash squirmed, eyes glancing towards the floor.
Froakie had turned down multiple beginner trainers, then why wouldn’t he turn Ash down. After all, Ash was also a beginner.
“Ash, you are a bright child, with a heart of gold,” Ash blushed furiously which had Professor Oak chuckle. “If you show your heart, what makes you, you, then Froakie will in turn open his heart for you, and in there a bond as great as family and friendship will form.” The professor ended with a strong, confident tone that sent a feeling of warmth through Ash, burning away all the doubts and fears he had.
“Alright then, I’ll do it Professor Oak! Thank you!” Ash received his newly updated pokédex, waved thanks and left the professor’s personal lab.
Outside the lab, he was about to climb down the stairs when suddenly, Gary’s voice sounded beside him.
He had Squirtle’s pokeball out, tossing it up and down, and an uncontrollable grin. “This ass kicking has been a long time in the making, wouldn’t you say Ketchup?”
Ash scowled, but couldn’t help the grin right after. He had wanted this for so long, ever since Gary had declared that he could easily defeat Ash in a pokemon battle, he had wanted to wipe the dumb, arrogant smirk off his face.
“Try me Gare-bear, I’ll have you crying for Daisy,” Ash declared, before running off to the battlefield near the back of the lab, discreetly checking Froakie’s dex entry.
The two stood on opposite sides. Even from far away, their wild grins were apparent.
“3,”
“2,”
“1!” They yelled in unison, throwing their pokeballs.
Squirtle looked around. When he realised he was in a battle, he grinned unnervingly like Gary. Meanwhile Froakie looked just as disinterested as in the lab.
“Froakie,” Ash shouted out, “let’s both give it our all!”
“Squirtle, use Tackle!” Gary commanded with an arrogant grin. Squirtle charged forwards at Froakie. He was getting closer and closer, and about to hit—
“Jump and use Quick Attack!” He jumped, however instead of preparing to land and counterattack, Froakie used Pound, dropping down from the sky with his forelegs outstretched.
“Withdraw!” Gary smirked as Squirtle withdrew his body into his shell, protecting Squirtle from the Pound.
Ash frowned at Froakie’s disobedience, but pushed it aside. “Froakie, listen! Use Frubble at Squirtle!” Froakie used Bubble instead which popped against Squirtle’s hard shell but was otherwise ineffective.
Gary crowed out, “What a loser, your Froakie doesn’t even listen to you. Tackle it!” Squirtle popped out of his shell and charged at Froakie. He struck Froakie, causing Froakie to tumble back in pain.
Ash grit his teeth. This was going terribly. How was he supposed to beat Gary if he couldn’t even get his pokemon to listen to him?
“Froakie!” He continued to watch Squirtle and Gary, who looked amused. “We need to work together. You’re strong, but so is Squirtle and he is winning. Do you know why?” Ash noticed a subtle shrug. “It's because he is working with Gary. We need to work together like them, and that means we have to trust each other. Okay?” Ash’s voice softened at the end. Froakie didn’t seem to respond, yet Ash somehow knew he was listening.
“Are you done with your pep talk Ashy-boy, cuz time’s up! Rapid Spin!” Squirtle withdrew into his shell, before starting to spin and roll in Froakie’s direction.
The spinning makes Bubble and Frubble useless, and Pound and Quick Attack would also hurt Froakie, but that’s the only way! Ash grimaced, but called out his order.
“Puff yourself up! Quick Attack head on!”
Ash hoped that Froakie would listen. After all he had just won his trust yet already Ash was asking Froakie to get himself hurt. However this was the only way to destabilise a Rapid Spin.
Froakie concentrated, causing his coat of foam to increase and cover more of his body, before he charged forwards. Glowing with a faint white light, he collided with Squirtle, causing the two to both be launched back. Froakie got back up, bit bruised but otherwise fine, thanks to his naturally secreted foam which absorbed some of the damage taken.
Gary looked surprised but continued on, “Water Gun,” to which Squirtle responded and sprayed a powerful jet of water at Froakie, who dodged and used Pound at the command of Ash.
“Withdraw!” Gary ordered, to which Ash quickly countered with a Quick Attack, landing a hit on Squirtle.
Gary smirked forebodingly, calling out a Rapid Spin. Froakie was still close to Squirtle and as a result was heavily damaged by the brutal spin.
“Frubble!” Ash yelled out but it was too late.
Squirtle reappeared and bit down on Froakie. He struggled desperately, but became motionless after a bit. Ash’s eyes widened in horror, disbelief, and a rather unpleasant emotion. Ash silently returned Froakie, hating himself more than ever.
He and Gary had always been competitive with each other. Who could get the girl—Gary won that—who befriended Professor Oak’s charizard—Ash won that—who had more friends—Gary won that by a long shot—who received better grades—Gary somehow also won that—and so on.
The one thing Ash had full faith in though, and what was most important, was who would win in a Pokemon battle. Ash had worked hard in planning his perfect battle where his charmander would beat Gary’s squirtle, he had even studied up on the standard moves that all new starter charmanders were taught and useful tips online. However in the end, none of that mattered. Ash had come close but he was crushed.
“I won, Ashy-boy! I guess the apple does fall from the tree with you!” Gary taunted and jeered with vigour that even had Squirtle joining in.
Feeling something burst within him, Ash glared and yelled out condescendingly, “Whatever, it’s only because you’re Professor Oak’s grandson!” A traitorous part of him grimaced with guilt, but the other half felt a vindictive satisfaction.
Gary’s face turned blood-red, an ugly scowl plastered over his stupid face, “Shut up you bum, I won and you know it!” He sounded noticeably less confident. He sneered a final time before storming off with Squirtle at his heels, who struggled to keep up.
Ash relaxed, though he felt even worse than before. Ash squeezed his palm, before remembering the injured Froakie that was in the pokeball. Ash hightailed away from the lab, sprinting back home, the slight feeling of giddiness to travel returning.
Arriving at his mother’s home, Ash grabbed the house key from under the potted plant, before entering. He instantly relaxed at the warm smell of cookies and soup in the house, as if his worries were being melted away by the heavenly scent of home and his mum’s cooking.
“Hi sweetie, you’re back already?” Delia Ketchum, Ash’s mother, called from the kitchen.
Ash took off his jacket and threw it on the couch while entering the kitchen, “Yep, do you have some potions I can use?”
Ash entered the kitchen, smiling at the sight of his mother–a kind-looking woman with smile lines–grabbing a tray of delicious smelling cookies out of the oven. With her brown hair tied up in a bun, she looked much younger, though her weary chocolate-brown eyes revealed the life her thirty-something years had led.
“What happened, is your starter hurt?” Delia asked in concern, placing the tray down on the dining table.
“He fainted.” Ash let out with a sigh, the feeling of disappointment with himself threatening to engulf him, before he felt the warm embrace of his mother around him, keeping them away.
“Oh sweetie, you can’t expect to win every battle right away, was it with Gary?” Delia asked with an eyebrow raised.
Ash nodded and Delia smiled warmly, “You have to crawl before you walk honey, remember that.” Delia smiled before hurrying over to the medicine kit, unwrapping a diamond shaped hard candy, a revive, as well as what seemed to be a purple spray bottle, a potion.
“Oh, what pokemon is this?” she asked when Ash released his fainted pokemon.
Ash answered her while carefully placing the candy into Froakie’s mouth. Revives were simple in concept yet such a revolution in the advancement of modern medicine and pokemon battling. A hard candy made of ground up revival herbs and sugar that would stimulate the consciousness of fainted pokemon, giving them a level of alertness, some numbing of pain, as well as aiding in the recovery of the mysterious ‘infinity energy’ that all pokemon had.
Froakie slowly got up, murmuring in confusion. “Oh, she’s adorable.” Delia cooed at the little frog pokemon, who was starting to get up.
“He,” Ash absent-mindedly corrected her, more worried about Froakie, and losing the little trust that he had gained.
Froakie discreetly glanced at Ash, who was frowning. “Mum, could I talk with Froakie for a bit?” Ash asked, still focused on Froakie, whose eyes were now locked with Ash’s.
Delia patted Ash’s back, smiled at Froakie and left to bring out the rest of lunch. The two left in the room sat in silence, mind muddled with conflicting thoughts.
“I’m sorry, for messing up that battle,” Ash started, shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch. Froakie continued staring. “I was thinking of it and I realised I should have had you stay at a distance, Squirtle would have made himself dizzy, and we could have struck then. That was a stupid mistake from me.” Ash clenched his hands. “I know I’m not what you wanted. I’m not experienced or super smart. But I’m just starting out, everybody starts as a beginner, no experience or knowledge. It’s the same with you, right?” Froakie made a little motion that seemed like a shrug.
“My point is,” Ash straightened his back, “we all have to start at the beginning to get stronger, and I know that you and I can both do that individually, but together we can push each other to the top much faster.” Ash felt more confident and a warm feeling spread through him.
“You just have to trust me.” He held out his hand in a fist, just like before.
This was it, Froakie would either accept his offer and they could work together to rise to the top, or he would still not accept Ash as a trainer and Ash would probably get another pokemon to start with. But Ash didn’t want that. He had felt something, something brief yet special during the battle, when he and Froakie felt like one. This feeling, Ash felt in his gut, was something different that no other pokemon could replicate with him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Froakie mirrored Ash’s gesture, bumping their fists together. Ash’s hesitant and nervous smile widened until it shone like the afternoon sun. Ash felt a few tears build up in his eyes, which he quickly wiped before cheering in elation. Quick footsteps sounded as Delia rushed over, concerned with the loud shout.
“Ash, are you crying?” When she saw him hugging Froakie though, her worried expression melted into a smile and gestured to them for Ash’s final lunch at home for a while.