Chapter 1 - Pallet Town Summer Camp

Hello, and welcome to my retelling of the Pokémon anime. I know it's not the most original idea out there but I just felt like doing this. I'm going to be using the information from Pocket Monsters: The Secrets of the Pokémon Anime book for Ash's backstory and various scenario's. This includes Ash's Birthday which, according to calculations, is May 22nd. I will create birthday dates for the other characters as well. I will go into more details at the end of the chapter. So let's get started.

I do not own Pokémon!

It was a beautiful day as the sun shone brightly over the small village of Pallet Town it the Kanto Region.

In a small restaurant called the Pallet House, a young, six-year-old boy with black hair and brown eyes was enjoying some delicious soup that his mother had made with an old man in his late fifties with grey hair and wearing a lab coat sitting across from him. The boy was named Ash Ketchum and the man he was sitting with is none other than the world renowned Professor Samuel Oak. The professor was just telling the boy about a summer camp he was hosting in a few days. At this summer camp, children would be able to interact and learn more about some of the Pokémon that inhabit this world.

"That's sounds like fun," said Ash. "Can I go Mom, please?"

He turned to the service window where a young woman in her mid-twenties with brown hair tied into a ponytail was standing. This was Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother and owner of the restaurant.

"Sure you can sweety," said Delia. "I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun."

Ash cheered for joy as he finished his meal and walked out the building with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait the the summer camp to start so he could meet all the different Pokémon and play with them. He just hoped that none of the bullies he knew from school were going to be there.

Yes, Ash used to bullied. He didn't know why, but he would always tell the teacher or the bullies father to get them to stop. The latter option didn't usually work as the fathers would just ignore him and their kids. It wasn't until Delia got the fathers of all the bullies father's together at her restaurant and scolded them. He didn't know what she said, but whatever it was got the bullies to stop. That doesn't mean Ash is friends with them though.

He knew for sure that Professor Oak's grandson, Gary, was going to be there, as well as his twin sister, Daisy. Ash didn't see them very much because they we went to a school in a different town and they weren't exactly the best of friends. Gary was very arrogant and had the ego the size of a Snorlax since he was related to the Oak family; his great great grandfather, Pallet Oak was the one who gave Pallet Town it's name, and his great uncle was the Mayor. Daisy was much nicer and didn't have much of an ego, but she still didn't interact with him much because Gary kept dragging her away before she got a chance.

Aside from those two, he didn't know if anyone else would be there. He did hope he could make at least one friend.

The day of the summer camp had finally arrived and just as Ash predicted, the Oak twins were there. Gary had brown, spiky hair and brown eyes and was wearing black shorts and a light green polo shirt, his sister Daisy also had brown eyes, but her hair was long and a lighter shade of brown and was held back by a green headband and was wearing a green sundress. He saw a few of his old bullies and some faces he didn't recognize. No one seemed to be making any effort to make friends so Ash was just sitting by himself, making him feel very lonely, and he hated being alone.

The first activity the campers had was a Pokémon Scavenger Hunt, where there were different Pokémon scattered across the ranch and the campers had to bring them back to the lab. There were four Pokémon on the list:

Oddish x6 - 2 points

Poliwag x4 - 3 points

Bellsprout x2 - 4 points

Pichu x1 - 5 points

Froakie x1 - 6 points

Ash was a bit puzzled by the last entry so he raised his hand and asked, "Professor, what's a Froakie?"

"Ah yes, Froakie is one of the starter Pokémon from the Kalos region," said the Pokémon Professor. "Professor Sycamore thought it would be a great experience for you all to meet Pokémon outside of Kanto, so he sent Froakie. Here's what he looks like."

The Professor showed all the campers a picture of a light blue frog with yellow eyes and a collar that seemed to be made of foam bubbles.

Gary raised his hand and asked, "Can we team up?"

"That is an option yes," the older Oak replied. "The scavenger hunt ends in two hours. Begin."

"Come on Daisy, let's go." Gary immediately grabbed Daisies hand and took off along with everyone else, each kid going in a different direction. Leaving Ash without a partner.

Ash sighed as he went off to look for one of the Pokémon on the list. He hated being alone, absolutely hated it. He was an only child living with his single mother. His father… well, he didn't really want to talk about him. He didn't have any friends thanks to all the bullying he went through. He just wished he could have just one friend.

Ashe had traveled near the forest at the edge of the ranch when he spotted one of the Pokémon on the list, a Poliwag. The Poliwag seemed to have noticed Ash as well and took off into the forest. Not wanting to lose it, Ash followed the Tadpole Pokémon into the forest.

In an area of the forest not too far from where Ash was, a young girl with honey-blonde hair, blue eyes and wearing a pink sun dress and straw hat was wandering around, not aware of where she was at all. She was trying to follow another group of kids. She didn't know them, she just hoped they would at least let her tag along. Once she had entered the forest, she had lost sight of them. Now she was lost and frightened.

The girl in the straw hat continuously cried out for them, hoping one of them would answer. When suddenly, she was startled by something rustling in the bushes. She tried to turn and run be she quickly tripped and fell, feeling her knee hit the ground, she looked back as whatever was in the bushes was coming closer. The source of the noise emerged, revealing a Poliwag, the one she and the other campers were supposed to look for. Though it was pretty harmless, the young girl was still so frightened, she didn't move a muscle. The Tadpole gave one look at her and then proceeded to run off.

The young girl started to cry. She didn't even want to go to this stupid camp. Her mom said it would be "a good opportunity to make new friends," and "see the world beyond Vanville Town." She was happy in Vanville Town, it's where her home was, it's where her bed was, it's where she felt safe. Here, she lost, hurt, frightened, and alone. She wanted her mommy to hurry up and find her so she could just go home.

Suddenly, the young girl heard some more rustling in the bushes. She was so frightened and scared she closed her eyes and didn't move, hoping whatever Pokémon was there didn't notice her.

"Poliwag," said a voice. The girl was confused but did not open her eyes. The voice didn't sound like it belonged to a Pokémon.

"Hey are you alright?" The voice said again. Knowing it was human, the girl opened her eyes to see a boy around her age with brown eyes and messy, black hair in front of her.

"Hi, my name's Ash," said the boy, but the girl was still to frightened to give her own name.

"Hey, what's wrong," the boy asked. She wasn't sure if she could trust this boy, but the girl figured that it was better than being here all along.

"I-I hurt my knee," she said, looking at her injured leg.

Ash looked down at the injured knee and kneeled down to get a closer look.

"Don't worry," he said as he pulled out blue handkerchief from his pocket. "This will make it better."

He then proceeded to tie the small piece of cloth around her injured knee. The girl was surprised at the generosity this boy was showing. She tried to get up but her knee, still hurt.

"It's a good luck charm," said the raven haired boy. "Pain, pain, go away!"

It was a silly little chant in the girl's mind but for some reason it made feel a bit better. She tried getting up again but she still felt the pain in her leg.

"It's no use, I can't stand up," the girl whinned.

Ash seemed to feel a little sad. He was sure that would have at least helped her a little. He then remembered a quote from one of his favorite books so he got up and said, "Don't give up until it's over, okay."

He then extended his hand out for the girl to grab. She was a little hesitant, but she decided to place her trust in this boy and grabbed his hand. Before she knew it, Ash had pulled her up and she was suddenly pressed against him. She then realised that she was standing up and her knee didn't hurt as much. She stepped back a bit to see the raven haired boy's smiling face.

"See, you stood," Ash said as his smile grew.

"Come on, let's go," he said as he kept his grip on the straw hat girl's hand as he helped guide her out of the forest, which she seemed to do unconsciously. She wasn't sure why, maybe it was because he helped her, maybe it was because he was nice to her, maybe because of what he said, but she had this feeling that he could trust this boy.

"By the way, I never got your name," said Ash, snapping the girl from her thoughts.

"Oh, um, Serena," said the girl. "Serena Yvonne."

"Serena, huh? That's a really pretty name." Serena's cheeks seemed to get warmer when he said that.

As they were reaching the edge of the forest, Serena noticed something blue up in the branches.

"Hey Ash," said Serena, trying to get the boys attention. "There's something in the trees."

Ash looked up and saw what Serena was talking about. Sitting there in the branches was a small, light blue frog, Froakie.

"Hey, it's Froakie," Ash said.

The Bubble Frog Pokémon seemed to here the boy. Upon knowing it had been discovered, it got up and got ready for a fight. He was just trying a nice place train and not be bothered by these kids. He doesn't even know why Professor Sycamore sent him here in the first place.

"Are you going to take try and take it back to the lab," Serena asked.

Froakie tensed up even more. If these children were going to try and catch it, he was definitely not going to make it easy for them.

"No, we need to get back to lab quick so the Professor can look at your leg," said Ash.

This caught the blue frog off-guard. They weren't trying to capture it? It then looked down at the girl's leg and saw that it was wrapped in a blue cloth.

"Sorry Froakie," said Ash. "But once Serena's feeling better, we're gonna come back for you."

"We are?"

"Sure we are," said Ash. "See you Froakie."

Froakie watched as the two human children left the forest. That boy put the girls safety before this silly scavenger hunt. He had run into a few of the other campers and they all tried to catch him before he gave them the slip, but this boy just ignored him to help his friend. Froakie then thought it might be good to watch this boy.

Ash and Serena came back to the lab and immediately saw Professor Oak standing outside.

"Ah, greetings you two," said the Professor.

"Hey Professor," Ash said. "I know we didn't bring back any Pokémon, but Serena hurt her leg, so I brought her back her so you could look at it.

The professor knelt down and looked at Serena's knee.

"I see, I will definitely have one of my staff members look at it," said Professor Oak. "But I wouldn't say you didn't bring back any Pokémon."

Ash and Serena were a bit confused by what the professor had said. They turned around to see that Froakie sitting right behind them.

"Did you follow us Froakie?" Ash asked the Kalos Starter. Froakie nodded in response.

"Well then, 5 points each to Ash and Serena," Professor Oak said.

Ash and Serena turned to each other a gave a small smile. They didn't plan on it, but they just got the most points that they could get.

"Hey Professor," a loud voice. Everyone turned to see a girl with brown hair and a blue sundress running towards them holding an Oddish above her head.

"Professor look. I got an Oddish," said the girl. She then turned to Ash and Serena and saw that Froakie was next to them.

"Ah man, you guys got the Kalos Pokémon! So lucky."

"Anywho," said the professor turning back to Serena. "Let's get that leg looked at."

Inside the lab, Ash and the new girl were patiently waiting with Froakie as one of Professor Oak's assistants properly treated Serena's leg.

"Alright, we're all done," said the assistant. "Just take it easy for a few hours and your knee will be much better."

"Thank you," said Serena as she went to join Ash and the brown haired girl.

"All set," said Ash.

Serena gave a happy nod in response.

"Hey do you guys mind if I join you," the other girl asked. "I mean, I'm sure this will be a lot easier with more people. I'm Leaf by the way."

Both kids were a bit surprised by her request, but Ash simply smiled and said, "Sure, I'm Ash. This is Serena."

"Ash? That name sounds familiar," Leaf mumbled. "Hey, aren't you that kid who always got bullied in elementary school?"

"Yeah," Ash said in sadness, remembering the earlier days of elementary school.

"Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up," Leaf apologized.

"No, it's okay," said Ash. "It's all in the past now."

"There you are Little Ash," a new voice called.

Ash and the others turned to see Gary and Daisy standing at the doorway with A Pichu under his arm looking rather uncomfortable.

"Hey there Gary," said Ash, obviously annoyed the young Oak boy's presence.

"I see you got Froakie here, not that it matters," Gary gloated in a snarky tone. "Me and Daisy have already brought back 2 Poliwags and 3 Oddish, and now that we have this Pichu, that means we have the most points."

Gary heald the Pichu above his head as he gave a mocking laugh. The Pichu seemed to have enough of this boy's grip on him and decided to teach him a lesson. Pichu's tiny, pink cheeks began to spark before letting out a small Thunder Shock attack that gave Gary a big shock. After receiving the attack, Gary fell to the floor, allowing Pichu to escape his grasp and run off to another part of the lab.

"Pichu wait," Daisy called out, hoping to apologize to the small electric type. Pichu turned back to Daisy only briefly before continuing to run off somewhere else. Disappointed that she couldn't apologize to Pichu, she turned to face Ash, Serena, and Leaf.

"I'm very sorry for my brother's behavior Ash," she said, giving a small bow.

"It's okay, Daisy," said Ash. "I think I'm used to it at this point."

"Why do you always hang out with him anyway," Leaf asked.

"Well he's my brother, why else would I be," said Daisy.

"I-it just seems like you don't like being with him," Serena said nervously.

"Oh, I do," said Daisy. "It's just that I want to make more friends. Gary doesn't really let me do that though."

"Let me guess, he says something like, 'I don't want my sister being friends with anyone who isn't as great as me,'" said Ash, trying to mimic Gary's voice. This earned a chuckle from the girls, Daisy as well.

"Something like that, yes," Daisy said, still chuckling.

"Hey, since your brother will need some time to recover, want to join us," Leaf asked. "It will be a big blow to Gary's ego."

"If it's okay with the rest of you," said Daisy.

"It's fine with me," said Ash.

"I wouldn't mind," said Serena.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, let's get to it!"

The four of them had brought back two Oddish since their team up. They were unable to catch more since Ash suggested that they take it slow so Serena's knee could still heal. A choice she would be forever grateful for.

By the end of day, Daisy had obtained the most points with Gary coming in second place. Ash and Serena were falling a bit behind and Leaf being right behind them.

"Ah man, I was really looking forward to getting more Pokémon than that," said Leaf.

"Well we had to make sure we weren't pushing Serena too hard," said Ash.

"Oh I'll make up for it," Leaf stated confidently. "When I become a trainer, I'm going to catch every Pokémon in the world!"

"That's a very interesting dream Leaf," said Daisy.

"I really want to rub it Gary's face when he sees I've caught more Pokémon than him," Leaf said. "What about you guys, what do you want to do when you're trainers?"

"I'm not sure yet," said Serena. "I know I don't want to do Rhyhorn Racing like my mom, but I do think there's something else out there for me."

"Well I think I want to be a researcher like my grandfather," said Leaf. "Being a trainer will give me a more in-depth analysis on human and pokémon relationships. I might be able to get some data grandpa didn't get when he was a trainer."

"Well I know what I want to be," said Ash. "I'm going to become a Pokémon Master."

"Pokémon Master," the girls asked curiously. "How are you going to do that?"

"Well I… uh… I'm not exactly sure," Ash admitted embarrassingly. "But I the first thing I'm going to do is win the Pokémon League. I'll figure out the rest from there."

"Well, I'm sure you'll do great Ash," said Daisy. Leaf and Serena gave Ash equal praise when they were interrupted by a croaking sound. The group turned to see Froakie sitting behind them.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that he was following us," said Leaf.

It was true, ever since the group teamed up, Froakie had been following them non-stop. They weren't sure why though. What they did notice that it's eyes were always focussed on Ash.

"I think one of you might have caught Froakie's interest," came a new voice.

The four children turned once again to find Professor Oak.

"Professor Sycamore told me that this particular Froakie has had an issue with trainers in the past," the professor explained. "He would end up finding them unworthy af them being their trainer and came right back to Sycamore's lab. The trainer would then call him and say they didn't want Froakie anymore. I think this little fella might see one of you as it's next trainer in the future."

"One of us," Daisy asked.

"Well it's been following me and Ash since we ran into it in the forest," Serena said,

"Yeah, and he's mostly been watching Ash," Leaf added.

The same thought came to everyone's mind, Froakie wanted Ash to be his trainer when he was old enough. There was no other reason for Froakie to follow Ash.

Ash then went up to Froakie and asked, "Is it true, do you really want you to be my Pokémon when I become a trainer?"

Froakie responded with an nod and a small croak.

"Alright then, I'll tell Professor Sycamore the news and get Froakie's Pokéball," said Professor Oak. "You'll still need to get an official starter the April after you turn ten like the everyone else though."

"That's alright Professor," said Ash. "I'm sure me and Froakie will get along great."

"Man, you sure are lucky Ash," said Leaf. "You get to have a Pokémon before the rest of us."

"Gary won't be happy when he hears this," Daisy thought out loud.

Ash didn't pay much mind to Daisy and Leaf's comments, he was just focussed on Froakie and thinking about the amazing adventures they'll have.

"Froakie," said Ash. "I'm sure we're going to be great friends."

And that is Chapter 1! Now let me answer a few questions you guys may be having right now. First, why did I make Gary and Daisy twins? Well, with Serena being in Kalos when Ash, Gary, and Leaf pick their starters, and because I don't want to go through all the trouble of making an OC, I wanted there to be some trainer to pick Charmander. Also I think this can create some very interesting scenarios. Second, why did I have Ash and Froakie meet in summer camp, again, I thought it would make things more interesting. I was originally going to have Serena give Froakie to Ash on his eleventh birthday as a gift, but that didn't seem as interesting. Third, is that Pichu Gary caught Ash's Pikachu? You'll see. Fourth, will Ash have a Harem? NO! Ash will only have one girlfriend at a time.

If you have any other questions I didn't cover, please ask one in a review and I will answer the ones I think should be openly shared so they aren't asked again. Please do not ask anything that could be considered spoilers. So until next time.