Please Note that this is my First fan fiction.

This Story Is a combination of the Anime and Manga.

The Rules this Fan Fiction will Follow:

Ash must catch all cannon Pokemon, and can catch any others.
Ash is not super powerful, instead i have simply made him a little smarter and that he will still learn about the Pokemon and the world.
His rash attitude and selflessness is still there, essentaully he is still Ash.

Character Ages:

Ash - 10
Misty - 10 (Two Weeks Older)
Brock - 15
Gary - 10
Delia - 29
Professor Oak - 52

Other Character Ages will be Announced once they are introduced.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon!

Chapter One: The Journey Begins

What a year it had been for Ash Ketchum. Tomorrow he turned ten and could finally start his Pokémon journey. But it wasn't just the beginning of his journey that he was thinking of as he cleaned the remaining bits of paper off a desk at Professor Oak's lab. No, it was how he had come to this point. A year ago, if you had asked him which Pokémon type had the advantage over another, he would never have had a clue. But that all changed on the day of his ninth birthday.

One Year Ago

It was a typical morning in the small town of Pallet Town. The sun was shining brightly in the sky and through the small bedroom window, of the Ketchum residence, illuminating the single occupant, who was still fast asleep, that is until… "Ash! Dear! You have a package!" Delia, his mother, yelled from down stairs. As usual she was up bright and early, eager to make a delicious breakfast for her special little guy, after all it was his birthday. Ash slowly opened his eyes, and upon realising what day it was, lunged out of bed and rushed downstairs, clad only in his boxers and a green pyjama shirt.

The smell of pancakes and bacon and eggs could be smelled from the top of the stairs. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose, Ash forgot where he was going tripped and fell down the stairs. "Oh my! Ash are you alright?" Delia gasped at the sight of her son as he slowly rose to his feet. His black unruly hair cascading down his face.

"Yeah I'm fine," Ash answered as he brushed some of his hair away from his brown eyes. Upon dusting himself off, he noticed the package in his mother's arms. "Who is the package for?" he asked.

Shaking out of her shock, Delia answered. "Oh! It's for you," she stated, handing the package to her son. Taking a closer inspection of the box, Ash realised that is was not quite heavy, but what was ever inside resembled the size of one of Professor Oak's textbooks. Opening the box rather quickly, he pulled out a fairly sized book with a piece of paper taped to the cover, with his name on it. Removing the paper and turning it over, Ash began to read the message.

Dear Ash Ketchum,

Happy Birthday, It's hard to believe that you are nine years old. But now is when the hard work begins, in just a year you will turn ten and finally be able to go on your very own Pokémon journey. The world of Pokémon can be a very dangerous place and this is why I have sent you this book. It will be your guide to help to achieve your dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. As of this day I would like you to read the book and prepare yourself for the amazing journey you are going to have. And know that no matter what happens I will always be proud of you.

With Love, Your Father, Red Ketchum.

Ash's eyes widened as he read the final words of the message left by his father. Delia noticed the change in Ash's demeanour and became curious. "Who's the package from dear?" She asked.

Ash looked up from the note before answering. "It's from dad," he stated. For the second time that day Delia gasped. She rushed forward and took the note from Ash's hands and read it silently. As she read the message tears started to form in her eyes. It had been years since she had had any communication from her husband, and now here he was sending a present to Ash on his birthday. For the longest time she had thought that Red was dead, but here was proof that he might in fact be very much alive.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Delia turned back towards her son. "You should listen to him. Next year you will be going on your Pokémon journey," she said, hold back further tears. "And it's going to be tough. If your father has sent this to you, in order to help you prepare for your journey then you're going to start reading that book tomorrow. But for now, how about we celebrate your birthday and after breakfast we'll go to Professor Oak's lab," Delia said as she watched her son's face light up with a big smile.

So much had changed since that day. As his mother, and his father, had requested, he read the book he was given. Inside it had many descriptions on the different types of Pokémon, how to catch a Pokémon and train them, the various items that could strengthen a Pokémon, even the guide on how to become an Aura Guardian, and much more. Ash had taken all of this to heart and this had eventually led him to study at Professor Oak's lab, while helping the Professor with his daily work of caring for the Pokémon at the lab.

Ash slowly closed the book as he looked up from the desk and noticed that it was getting late. Collecting the papers strewn across the desk and packing his things, Ash sensed a presence behind him. Ash had been practicing aura for about six months now and in that time he had only learn't how to sense the aura around him, and recently, how to form empathy links.

Turning around, Ash found a very disheveled Professor Oak enter the room. The Professor was wearing his usual white lab coat over his red button up shirt and light brown khaki pants. To Ash it was clear that some of the Pokémon had recently caused some trouble. "Are some of the Pokémon causing trouble?" Ash asked as he finished packing.

Straightening up his lab coat, Professor Oak answered. "Yes. It was that dam Pikachu, he won't let anyone near him. It took me an hour just to get him back in his Poké ball," he stated as he lifted up the red and white ball with a yellow thunderbolt on it. "This is going to be the spare Pokémon for tomorrow's new trainers if there aren't enough starter Pokémon for them all," he continued.

After he finished packing, Ash threw his green backpack over his shoulder before heading for the door. "It's getting late Professor, so I'm going to head home a get ready for tomorrow, see ya," Ash said as he walked past the Professor.

"Oh, yes it probably is time you head home, I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget to be here by ten or you may miss out on one of the regular starters. Bye Ash," Professor Oak replied.

Ash woke the next day to the beautiful smell of the breakfast that his mother was obviously making. Sitting up, he turned towards his Poké ball alarm clock. It was eight thirty in the morning and he didn't need to be at the Professor's for another hour and a half, but he wanted to start his journey early. Ever since his ninth birthday he had begun to wake up early to try and get ahead in his studying.

Climbing out of bed, he grabbed his travel cloths; a black t-shirt, blue khaki pants and his blue, red and white jacket, and changed. He clipped on his Poké belt and placed his trusty Pokémon League hat on his head before leaving his room with his backpack.

Walking into the kitchen, Ash gasped at the site of the Delicious meal that his mother had made. "I just wanted to make you a special meal as today is not only the day that you turn ten, but also the day you start your Pokémon journey," Delia said upon noticing her son in the room, hold back a tear.

Ash quickly said. "Thank You," before diving into the breakfast in front of him. Although he was more mature, his apatite had never changed and he could eat so much that it seemed that he had a bottomless pit of a stomach. After quickly finishing his breakfast, Ash started to head for the door tell his mother that he was off to Professor Oak's lab and then a quick goodbye.

Less than ten minutes later Ash was at the door to the Professor's lab. Ringing the bell the Professor quickly answered the door. "Oh, Ash!" Professor Oak exclaimed. "What a pleasant surprize, I wasn't expecting you or any of the other trainers before ten."

"Well yes I know, but I want to start my journey early, if that's alright?" Ash asked.

"No, it's not a problem at all. I'll show you to the selection room where you can chose your starter," Professor Oak answered. Ash proceeded to follow the Professor through the lab. "Here we are Ash," Professor Oak said, leading him to a contraption in the middle of the room. It had a glass dome that slid away once Professor Oak pressed a button, revealing three Poké balls.

"Here we have the three starter Pokémon. First is Bulbasaur, the grass type," he pointed to the Poké ball with a leaf symbol on it. "Next is Charmander, the fire type," he pointed to the Poké ball with a flame symbol on it. "And finally, here is Squirtle, the water type," he pointed to a Poké ball with a teardrop symbol on it. "So, which one will it be?" Professor Oak asked.

Ash studied the three Poké balls for several seconds. He had studied the three Kanto starters for a while now and had been questioning whether to select one of them or not. Suddenly he remembered something that the Professor had said last night, before looking back up at the Professor.

"Last night you said that you had a Pikachu in case you didn't have enough starters, may I look at it?" he asked.

"Well yes, but if you remember, I said that he was very hard to control. I only caught him recently when I found him chewing on the electrical wires," Professor Oak answered.

"That doesn't matter to me. If I want to become a Pokémon Master than I'm going to need to learn how to control my Pokémon. Pikachu may be my chance to learn what it takes to become a Pokémon Master," Ash replied as he eyed the now visible Poké Ball.

"Hmm… That's very smart of you Ash, your show real maturity for a person of your age. I just wish Gary had the same mind as you," Professor Oak said, as he grabbed the Poké Ball with the lightning bolt on it.

Ash raised his head when Professor Oak mentioned the name of his grandson. Shortly after turning nine, he and Gary had become heated rivals, trying to beat the other at everything. And now that they would be going on there Pokémon Journey, Ash knew that rivalry would certainly increase.

Handing the Poké ball to Ash, Professor Oak watched as Ash opened the Poké ball. In a flash of light Pikachu appeared. "Pikachu?" the little rodent asked. Ash bent down and placed a hand on Pikachu's head.

Although he was fairly new at this, Ash tried forming an empathy link through his Aura with Pikachu. He poured all of his happiness, love and kindness into the link, trying to communicate to Pikachu that he was a friend.

Pikachu was not very trusting of Humans but he sensed goodness in Ash's heart. Deciding for now to trust Ash, Pikachu relaxed before letting out a 'cha' as Ash scratched behind his ears. "I'm going to be your trainer Pikachu," Ash said as he stood back up.

Professor Oak had left the room while Ash was bonding with Pikachu and had now returned. "Alright, here you are Ash," he said as he handed Ash a red device and five shrunken Poké balls. "This is your Pokédex," he pointed to the red device.
Ash had a large smile on his face. "Thanks Professor," he said cheerfully.

"Ok, I hope you have fun on your journey Ash," Professor Oak said as he led Ash to the exit. As they arrived at the exit, Professor realized something. "Oh! Can you wait here a second Ash, I have something else for you," He said as he dashed back into the lab.

Ash didn't have long to think about what the Professor had forgot, as Professor Oak quickly rushed back holding and egg inside an incubator. Ash looked at the Professor before being handed the egg with a note. "It's from your father. It arrived here yesterday after you left," the Professor said simply. Ash placed the egg in his bag before reading the note.

Dear Ash,

This is my gift to you at the start of your journey, may it bring you great success and companionship.

With Love, Red Ketchum.

Ash looked up from the note. "Thank you Professor," he gratefully said before heading for the door.

"Oh, one more thing Ash, when you get your second gym badge could you call me?" Professor Oak said as he opened the door.

"Sure thing Professor!" Ash called out as he walked down the driveway.

As Ash walked down the driveway he noticed a small gathering at the bottom. As he got closer it was clear that Delia had organized a small sending off party for Ash of all of their friends from around town. Ash smiled at the sight and walked up to his mother and gave her a hug, "Goodbye mum," Ash said. "I'll call you once I reach Viridian City."

"Be good out there Ash," she said with tears forming in her eyes, "And don't forget to change your underwear." Ash blushed in embarrassment as a few members of the crowd snickered.

"Mum!" Ash called out in embarrassment before giving his mother one last hug before walking down the road towards route one.

So i Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. Chapter 2 will be up shortly as i plan to finish that tomorrow, but after that i will try to update regularly every 2 weeks.

As for the Pokemon egg, the reason i have not described it is because i have not decided what Pokemon it will be at the moment, so i would like people to message me with there ideas of what the Pokemon should be.

Please Review, Follow and Favorite!

Until Next Time, AshleyH30 Out.