This kind of story has been tried countless times and I know that a lot of writers never complete a Pokémon journey. However I was inspired to give it a go by FanaticLAguy06, one of the few writers who was able to complete a journey through an entire region and is still going to write stories about travelling through several more.

This story takes place in an alternate version of the anime universe. I've decided to enable Pokémon to use six moves per battle with seven moves being the absolute maximum and only used if I feel the seventh move is vital for the outcome of the battle.

Please review and I hope you like the story.

Harry Rowan was the grandson of Professor Rowan. Tomorrow was going to be his tenth birthday which means that his grandfather would finally allow him to choose his Starter Pokemon and begin a journey. Harry sat in his room with his eyes glued to the television screen.

"And Cynthia has sent out her Lucario to face off against Bertha's Golem!" the commentator's voice blared through the television and Harry grinned when he saw the two women battling. The first woman, Bertha, was rather old, late sixties or early seventies and looked more like a harmless grandmother than a member of the Elite 4. The second woman, Cynthia, was tall, slender and extremely beautiful with very long blonde hair, with fell down her back and over one of her piercing grey eyes. The camera returned to focus on their Pokemon. One looked like a turtle made out of heavy stones and the other looked like a bipedal jackal, much like the Egyptian god Anubis. Harry was focussed mainly on the Lucario.

"And Golem is down and out!" yelled the commentator, "Lacking Rhyperior's Solid Rock, it was unable to withstand Lucario's Aura Sphere!"

"Well done, Golem," Bertha recalled her Pokemon and although Cynthia was in the lead, she smiled at her challenger, "And well done to you too, young lady. But I saved my most powerful Pokemon for last! Hippowdon, let's go!"

A large Ground type that looked like a hippopotamus, exploded out of the Poke Ball and landed on the battlefield. Lucario looked weary from her battle with Golem but launched another Aura Sphere. Hippowdon grunted and stumbled backwards but shrugged off the attack and smirked at Lucario as if to say "Is that all?"

"Hippowdon, Yawn!" Bertha ordered and Hippowdon yawned. Lucario began to get drowzy.

"Lucario, use Flash Cannon!" Cynthia yelled. Lucario shook her head, opened her mouth and fired a silver beam at Hippowdon. Once again Hippowdon stumbled back, but quickly recovered. Lucario then collapsed as she succumbed to the effects of Yawn.

"Hippowdon, use Slack Off!" called Bertha and Hippowdon closed his eyes and glowed white for a moment. When the glow faded he looked like he had only just entered the battle. Meanwhile Lucario was still fast asleep on the other end of the battlefield.

"Lucario, return," Cynthia held up her Poke Ball and the Aura Pokemon disappeared in a red beam of light. Cynthia smirked at Bertha as she took out another ball, "Garchomp, battle dance!" A large creature that looked like a cross between a dragon and a shark, burst out of the Poke Ball and roared at Hippowdon. "Dragon Rush!"

"Iron Head!" Bertha countered. Garchomp was surrounded by blue light and dived at Hippowdon. Hippowdon became surrounded with silver light and lunged forwards with surprising speed. The two Pokemon collided and the explosion sent both of them skidding backwards, "Now use Earthquake!" Hippowdon stomped on the ground and it began to shake.

"Garchomp, jump and use Brick Break!" Cynthia countered and Garchomp leapt into the air to avoid Earthquake. One of the fins on her arms glowed white as she dived down at Hippowdon.

"Ice Fang!" Bertha ordered and Hippowdon reared up as his large teeth turned to ice. He chomped the frozen fangs onto Garchomp's fin and she roared in agony.

"Flamethrower!" Cynthia yelled and Garchomp fired a stream of flames from her mouth right into Hippowdon's face. Hippowdon released her and stumbled back. "Now Dragon Claw." Garchomp swept her other arm forwards, although this time it was only the sharp claw on the end rather than the fin on her arm that glowed. She slashed Hippowdon in the face, hard enough to knock him off his feet.

"Hippowdon, Slack Off!" Bertha ordered again. Hippowdon healed himself again then bellowed at Garchomp, demanding a greater challenge.

"Harry!" called Harry' mother, "time for bed!"

"Hang on, mom!" Harry yelled back, without looking away from the screen, "Just let me watch the end of this battle!"

Eventually Hippowdon and Garchomp broke away from another collision of Iron Head and Dragon Rush. Garchomp fell onto her knees in exhaustion and Bertha smirked at Cynthia.

"Slack Off!" she called again and once again Hippowdon started to heal.

"Quick, Dragon Rush!" Cynthia commanded and despite her exhaustion, Garchomp smashed into Hippowdon yet again whist enveloped in blue energy. Hippowdon was so surprised that Garchomp had hit him before he even finished his Slack Off that he flinched. Cynthia took advantage of the opening, "Draco Meteor!" Garchomp shot a huge, yellow orb into the air. The orb exploded and meteor's rained down on Hippowdon creating a huge explosion. Cynthia gave her next command before the smoke had even cleared. "Giga Impact!"

"Quick Iron Head!" Bertha yelled as Garchomp surrounded herself with purple and yellow light and dived at Hippowdon. There was no time for Hippowdon to do anything except intercept Giga Impact with another Iron Head. The two Pokemon collided for the last time. Giga Impact was even more powerful than Dragon Rush so after a short struggle, Garchomp overpowered Hippowdon and sent him flying across the battlefield. Hippowdon didn't get up.

"Hippowdon is unable to battle!" cried the judge, "Garchomp wins! The victory goes to Cynthia!"

The crowd erupted into applause. In his bedroom, Harry sat back on his bed and grinned as he watched Cynthia congratulate her exhausted Garchomp.

"Time for bed," said his mother and Harry jumped; he hadn't even noticed her enter the room. She switched off the television then the light. Harry' father peered in and smiled.

"You've got a big day tomorrow, kiddo," he said.

"I know," Harry said.

"Good night, honey," said his mother.

"Night, son," said his father.

"Night," Harry said and his mother switched off the light.

When Harry woke the next morning he eagerly dressed, including his favourite scarf and hat and darted downstairs. He wolfed down his breakfast, ignoring his father's scolding when he spilled milk on the table and ran all the way to his grandfather's laboratory.

Harry slowed down when he arrived. Professor Rowan had been expecting him and greeted him warmly.

"Harry!" he said jovially, "Ready to begin your journey!"

"Yes Grandpa!" Harry said, "This is the best birthday ever!"

"Well, come in!" Rowan stepped aside and Harry entered. He had been in the lab many times and knew his way around. Rowan brought a few Poke Balls to his desk. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I thought there were only three Starter Pokemon," he said.

"Normally yes," agreed his grandfather, "But I captured this Pokemon when I was doing research at Mount Coronet last month." He opened all four Poke Balls. "You know Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup." Piplup and Chimchar waved and Turtwig smiled; all three of them had met Harry the last time he visited the lab. "But you haven't met this little guy." Rowan opened the fourth ball.

The Pokemon inside looked very similar to Cynthia's Lucario, only much smaller and without the spikes on its hands and chest. It looked around, then up at Harry nervously.

"Riolu," said the Pokemon.

"Wow!" Harry said excitedly, "You found a Riolu!"

"Indeed," Rowan smiled, "I thought you would like him. But which of these four do you like enough to take as your Starter?"

Harry examined the four creatures. While Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup all seemed comfortable in his presence, Riolu looked nervous. Harry ran through what he knew about each species. Turtwig was a Grass type with good defences to make up for its mediocre speed. Chimchar was the agile one with a focus on attacking rather than defending. Piplup was not very fast but was capable of taking hits and had decent offensive power. As for Riolu, Harry' knowledge about that species was sketchy, although he knew it was a Fighting type. The Emanation Pokemon seemed like the most interesting choice to him.

"I'll go with Riolu," Harry decided and looked at Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup, "Sorry guys." The trio looked crestfallen. Riolu looked rather surprised.

"Very well," Rowan said and recalled Riolu before handing Harry the Poke Ball, "I have another birthday present for you." He went over to a shelf and picked up a small red device. Harry recognized it.

"You finished the pokedex?" he said excitedly.

"Indeed," Rowan handed him the device, "It has data on every known species of Pokemon, even those outside Sinnoh. You can also find a Pokemon's movesets, types and stats." Harry looked at the device then smiled at his grandfather.

"Thank you, Grandpa," he gave the old man a hug. Rowan wasn't the kind of man who felt comfortable about hugging but since he probably wouldn't see his grandson for a long time, he hugged back.

"You'll need a lot of Poke Balls too," Rowan said and held out five, "These will get you started but you should buy more regularly."

"I will," said Harry, "And I'll make you proud of me." Rowan smiled and nodded. Harry waved and ran out of the lab.

After saying goodbye to his parents and stocking up on items at the Poke Mart, Harry left Sandgem Town. He found an isolated spot outside the town and opened Riolu's Poke Ball. The Emanation Pokemon emerged.

"Rio?" it said. Harry scanned it with his pokedex.

"Riolu, the Emanation Pokemon. Riolu has the ability to feel the emotions of other creatures. It can walk for a day and a night without stopping for rest."

Upon further examination, Harry confirmed that his Riolu was male and knew the moves Quick Attack, Hidden Power and Brick Break. Satisfied, Harry put away the pokedex and knelt in front of Riolu.

"Hello, Riolu," he said, "I'm Harry and I'm your trainer. I hope we can make a great team."

Riolu just looked at him. He didn't say or do anything until Harry began to feel awkward. Riolu's lip curled slightly. Harry realised what he was doing.

"Oh, you can feel my emotions so you're making this awkward on purpose!" he exclaimed. Riolu nodded, still smiling rather cautiously, "Well now that the greetings are out of the way, I think we should get going." He held out his Poke Ball. Riolu shook his head. Harry raised an eyebrow, "You want to walk?" Riolu nodded, "Well I suppose that's not surprising since your species can walk a day and a night without rest." Harry put the Poke Ball in his backpack and then held out a hand to Riolu. Riolu looked at the hand for a moment, then shook it and smiled a bit more genuinely this time.

"Riolu," he said.

"Come on then," said Harry, "Let's have a great journey together."