AUTHOR NOTE: Before you get started to reading this story, I'd like to clear out a couple of things.

One. I don't really have anything against Pikachu in general, but I decided to get Ash a different starter. Personally, I would've liked a preference for a particular type than a generalist as happens in most fanfictions. There are some things that you might want to keep in mind while reading this story.

Two. In this AU, trainers get their licences at 14, at least in Kanto region. I confess that I cannot really write like an eleven-year-old, nor are eleven-year-olds especially expressive or witty (to my knowledge).

Three. This world is much harsher than canon, so you might expect to find character death in general. I've tried to make Ash a little more… introspective, and a little less stupid than canon.

Four. Ash does NOT have Aura in this story, nor is he a BORN PSYCHIC or able to POKESPEAK or anything like that.

Five. This story is not limited to the leagues, and gym battles. Please keep that in mind.

Six. For those who want to see the canon captures, please stop reading right now. You might just not find them.

And lastly. This is not canon. And thus, please do not relate the strengths, tactics, battling styles and power, of both pokémon and trainers compared to the anime or the games.

Okay, that was all. Thank you for bearing up with me if you have been reading the above. Now on to the story.

"Get him to the ICU, quickly. His nerves are flaring."

This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. After all, one only turns fourteen once, and once that day has come to pass, it is time to finally appear for the Pokémon Trainer Examination. Ash had barely managed to scrap through the theory portions, though the practical ones were an all-out-blaze. After all, who needed the boring theory when one had pokémon battles to take part?

"His nervous system is giving in! Fetch the super potion immediately!"

Now that he thought of it, he had always wanted a Charmander. After all, those stubborn, little orange fire-breathing lizards were the ones that evolved into the powerful pseudo-dragons of Kanto. Of course, the evolved versions of the other starters, namely Venusaur and Blastoise, were undeniably powerful in their own way, but nothing beat the awesomeness that was Charizard.

He had never quite known his father, not even heard his name so to say. For as long as he could remember, his mom had always been Professor Oak's assistant, and hence, little Ash Ketchum had looked up to Lance Wataru, the Pokémon Champion of Kanto and Johto regions, the most powerful Dragon Master in the world. Ash could sit and wax lyrical all day about the man's team- the dream team- Dragonite, Charizard, Dragonair, Gyarados, Kingdra, and Flygon. Or at least, that was the team that Lance ever displayed in public.

"When I become the Champion, my team will be one full of dragons as well." His little ambition. Make out whatever you want from it.

Or at least, that was the plan.

"Chansey, I will need some heal powder. Ampharos, we need to stabilize the excess flaring of his nerves."

"Ash, I uh… had to give away some of the Kanto starters to Professor Sycamore of Kalos. Maybe if you could wait a week or three, I could probably get you a charmander from the next batch."

He stared blankly at Professor Oak, as feelings of resentment flooded through him. "Two… three weeks? That would be forever, Professor Oak. Gary would already have gotten his first badge at least."

The older man looked back with a slightly disappointed face. "I'm sorry, Ash. I am unable to get you a starter as of now."

None of them? Maybe I could get a Squirtle or a Bulbasaur and catch a charmander on the way…. He mused furiously.

"Pfft!" The more cynical part of his mind scoffed. "Catch a charmander on the way? What do you think they are? Rattata?"

"Please professor, can't you do anything?" He pleaded again.

Oak cast a thoughtful expression. "Come to think of it, there is a pokémon. But…" He paused, "I'm… not sure if giving it to you would be a good idea."

"Huh?" Ash protested indignantly. "Why not, Professor? I can take care of any pokémon."

Doesn't he have that much trust in me?

"It's not about you, Ash, but about this pokémon. It's… quite difficult. I cannot, on my conscience, give it to you as a starter."

"Try me!" On second thought, fourteen-year-olds weren't that intimidating, but it seemed to work well enough for the old man. That, or Oak had run out of excuses.

"All right, follow me!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ketchum. He is currently comatose, his mind barely functioning, heldby psychic energies, and his vitals are unstable. You cannot see him."

"But, I just want-"

"I'm sorry." The patient voice continued. "You shall have to wait. This treatment as you know… is rather new. We cannot allow any kind of interference."

A Pikachu?

He had expected something out of the common, maybe a rogue Spearow from the forest, or maybe a Nidoran or even worse, a Rhyhorn of all things. Not that he had anything either of them, but they weren't Charmander. Full stop. But… Pikachu? Pikachu weren't exactly common in Kanto, and usually tended to be found in flocks somewhere closer to Mount Mortar or in the off skirts of Chrysanthemum Island. . That he knew this just showed how dedicated he really was. Who remembered something like this, even if they never thought they would need it?

But, a Pikachu, really?

After their evolution from the adorable and frankly, weak Pichu, Pikachu were pretty versatile and powerful pokémon to begin with, especially if they had passed their so-called 'cute stage'. Yes, initially Pikachu were quite… unhelpful, but this was the stage when they learnt an entire array of moves, and once they were powerful enough, needed a thunder stone to evolve into a Raichu, which were, in effect, one of the most powerful electric types, ever.

"But Pikachu isn't a charmander, Pikachu isn't a dragon." Ash didn't say.

It was a difficult choice. One that he felt, was too soon for him to take. He had always wanted a charmander, and now, he could either try to get this Pikachu to be his starter, or… wait forever while Gary gets all the pokémon for himself.

No way. No freaking way.

"So what did you decide, Ash?" Professor Oak inquired, pointing at the little yellow rodent. Said rodent was too busy biting into a set of electric wires, feeding off the electricity flowing through them.

"Uhm… I'll take Pikachu, Professor." Ash replied, his best fake smile on his face.

The professor gave him a hard stare. "If you wish." He paused for a moment. "However, you'll need to convince him to join you. Pikachu are generally more… unruly than Pichu."

Ignoring the oddly cynical voice in his head, Ash nodded in agreement.

That was around ten days ago.

Ash Ketchum sat up straight, his back supported by the wall, as he pulled the covers of his bed. From what he had been told, he had been electrocuted by the tiny rodent, enough to maim his limbs and send his nerves into a frenzy, no thanks to the powerful electrical impulses raging through them. Apparently, he had been driven into a violent spasm and lost voluntary control over any and all bodily function, rendering himself completely comatose. It was only because Professor Oak had managed to stop Pikachu (literally), all thanks to the rapid reaction time of the old man and the near-unparalleled psychic strength of his Alakazam, he had been able to put his body into a- psychic stasis was it? Anyway, he had apparently been comatose for three days straight, before finally regaining consciousness. The doctors had… treated him with a newly patented therapy (he still wasn't sure if he should be happy or afraid that the doctors had taken his dying self as an adequate lab rat) - and after four more days, he had been declared good enough to return back home, with all the time to consider his new status in the world.

Fourteen, and with a trainer's licence, and a failure.

Gary must have already conquered the Viridian and Pewter Gyms and gotten the badges, or worse, he might even have gotten to Cerulean and gotten the next badge as well. That was without considering the number of awesome and powerful pokémon he might have caught already on the way. Gary, Leaf, Jonathan… all of them now had a headstart on him, and he, the failure Ash Ketchum, was sitting on his bed, moping about his misfortune.

"Ash?"

The familiar voice shook him out of his reveries. Standing at the doorway, was Professor Oak.

"Professor?" Ash wished in a rather… uncertain voice.

'How are you, Ash?" The white-haired, sixty-ish man, dressed in blazing white coat as always, stepped into the room, wearing a slightly strenuous expression.

Ash just raised his shoulders, before drooping them. "As always. Mom said I could go out in a couple of days."

"I'm really sorry, Ash… about what happened." Oak began.

"Hey- hang on, why are you apologising?" Ash moved towards the man in confusion. "I don't-"

"I should've seen that coming, Ash." Oak returned apologetically. "I should've known better than to try get that Pikachu as your starter."

Ash frowned at the mention of the rodent. "But that's not your fault." He pushed himself off the bed, his legs still slightly weakened, as he stood, supporting his weight on the hard bed. "I was the one who asked for it."

"And I am the experienced Pokémon professor here." Oak refuted. "I should've known better than to go ahead with the whim of a fourteen-year-old."

"But-" Ash whimpered a little, before he changed the topic. "What's going to happen to the Pikachu?"

"I'll let him stay at the coral for now. If it turns out worse, I'll probably have to ship him to a Pokémon Reserve, under care of the Rangers."

"Oh." Ash replied in a hollow voice. "Then, I suppose I just lost my only starter."

"Pikachu wasn't your starter, Ash." Oak returned passionately. "It was just… a mistake I made in my enthusiasm and nonchalance."

"Alright, I understand all that, and I promise to look up nonchalance the first chance I get to open a dictionary, but the fact remains that I just lost my only chance at a starter. I mean… you yourself said that the next batch of starters aren't due yet."

"True." Oak nodded. "And in all possibility, the new batch might be taking a little longer to arrive."

Ash's countenance fell.

"However," The professor continued. "Considering everything that has happened, I feel that I am to blame for your… injuries," he raised a finger to stop the boy from refuting, "regardless of your justifications, I feel I must make up for it." The man had a strange gleam in his eyes.

That shut him up, as he waited with baited breath for the man to continue.

"As you might remember, I had sent the current batch of Kanto starters to Professor Sycamore for his studies on Pokémon Evolution. In return, however, I asked him to deliver me a pokémon, specifically, one for you."

Ash pushed himself up against the bed, sitting with his back against the pillow to pay his undivided attention to the man. "A pokémon native to the Kalos region?"

"Not quite, though this pokémon is indeed found in Kalos, if you know where to search. Though, it is actually a native of the Hoenn region." The older man explained with a flourish. "Now… this isn't exactly charmander, but it is indeed a dragon."

Ash blinked.

Then blinked again.

A dragon? An honest-to-god dragon? The man was kidding, wasn't he?

"You are not kidding, are you?" He asked slowly, fearing to even accept the fact.

"Certainly not, Ash." The professor's lips lit up with a smile. "Tell me, how would you like to have a Bagon for your starter?"

Bagon. The baby dragon pokémon. Bagon has a dream of one day soaring in the skies. In doomed efforts to fly, this Pokémon hurls itself off cliffs. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel.

The pokedex Dexter, one that now belonged to Ash Ketchum, went on.

This Bagon is male, and knows the move set leer, head butt, ember and rage. It has the unlocked egg move Dragon Pulse.

"So Ash…" The sly old man drawled. "Do I take it that you are happy with your starter?"

Happy? Happy? Is this man kiddin' me?

"This is… This is an actual dragon pokémon?" Ash gushed.

"Indeed it is, and quite rare. Its' final evolution forms are rather frightening, and on par with the strongest Charizard."

Pfft! Ash scoffed internally. Nothing beats Charizard. You just needed to see Lance's Charizard in action to sediment that fact in your mind forever.

The professor took the pokedex and hit a couple of buttons. "I have programmed this pokedex so that it can recognize both Kanto and Johto pokémon, though you might find some Hoenn ones enlisted as well. It's far from perfect, and it might… occasionally fail to recognize some, but this is the best I have so far. Perhaps after a couple of months when I am done with acquiring enough licenses to get access to the other region's pokémon database for my invention, then I might be able to get you an upgrade."

"It's great, professor." Ash gushed. He was a newbie trainer. He was starting out with a dragon. He had a device that recognized pokémon from the entire Kanto, Johto and then more, and revealed more than enough information that he could possibly have memorized himself. What more could he even want?

Oak paid no heed as he turned the pokedex towards Ash. "Check this out."

On the wide screen, there was the pictorial representation of a large, blue and red dragon with orange wings.

Salamence. The flying dragon pokémon. It is the final evolution of Bagon. When enraged, Salamence loses all control and begins destroying whatever comes near.

"It's the Hoenn equivalent of Dragonite." Oak confirmed. "While slightly shorter in size than your average Charizard, it is just as powerful as a Dragonite when trained well."

Ash's eyes turned into saucers. As powerful as a Dragonite?

"Yes," The professor emphasized, subconsciously answering his unasked query. "And are capable of going further with evolution as well."

Ash's face scrunched. Further with evolution? "What do you mean, Professor?"

Oak sighed. "I forgot that you aren't as well versed with theory as with battling. Theory has its benefits, Ash Ketchum. If you would have paid a little more attention to what I have been working on at my lab, instead of playing with Poliwag, then you'd know what I'm talking about."

Ash gave a mature reply to that. By rolling his eyes.

"Anyway," Oak continued without skipping a beat. "It is what Professor Sycamore is studying, anyway. The prospect of a fully-evolved pokémon to evolve further, and attain power-levels, features and characteristics through artificial means." He paused for a second." Mega Evolution."

"Mega—Evolution." Ash repeated the words in his mouth. "And Bagon is capable of doing that?"

"Once he is fully evolved to Salamence, and is powerful enough, yes. We are living in exciting times, Ash. Exciting times." His enthusiasm was contagious. "If you want to know more about it, you'll have to ask Professor Sycamore about it, but the tests have only just begun. Maybe with the correct training, pokémon like Charizard or Blastoise might be able to mega-evolve as well."

"Mega Evolution." Ash repeated inside his mind.

Four days later.

"Are you ready, Ash?" Professor Oak asked the overly enthusiastic kid in front of him.

"As ready as I can ever be, Professor." Ash returned, without missing a beat. He was standing here, dressed up and ready with his backpack. The league provided backpacks for pokémon trainers at cheap costs when they passed out with flying colours in the Trainer certifying exams. These… backpacks, were in effect, built using the same folded-space technology that allowed tiny pokeballs to hold within them, the much larger pokémon in suspended animation. The standard backpack, which was barely over two feet in length, had enough space to hold several travel-bags worth of substance, which for young trainers, meant more than enough space to contain several sets of clothes, ropes, potions and medicines, a knife or two, food, sleeping bags, tents and importantly, large repositories of pokémon food, potions and reserves. Straightening the official Pokémon league Cap on his head, he turned towards the little baby dragon on his right. "Ready to go, Bagon?"

"Gon." The baby dragon emphasized, the solid crust on top of his head glowing in the sunlight as if it were made of steel.

"Very well." The old man replied amiably. He took out a pokedex from within his robes, and returned it to Ash. "Your pokedex. I expect you'll make good use of it."

Pokedex. The most famous invention in the past century, one that pushed Samuel Oak's fame to the skies. A supercomputer connected to the man's immensely detailed and expansive research database, one that contained information on Pokémon in and out of Kanto. It was still incomplete, of course, and the old Professor had the habit of giving out Pokedexes to important people, like the Elite Four of Kanto and other regions, and importantly, the Champions. Ash knew that he should consider himself extremely lucky to have gotten his hands on one.

"The pokedex will also act as proof about your license as a trainer, as well as help you in case you run into a tight spot. I am sure that any Pokémon center will recognize this device when they see one, and contact me if needed."

Ash bobbed his head. "I will."

"Now," The old man had a mischievous glint in his eye. "Gary has informed me that he has already won the Boulder Badge, and has set his eyes to Cerulean city." He made an intentional pause, enjoying the pale look on the boy's face. "He also might have mentioned something about having caught twenty pokémon."

"… So what?" Ash had had enough. "I have a dragon as my starter. He doesn't. Besides, his pokémon are all freshly caught. Me and Bagon can defeat all his pokémon, wont we Bagon?"

The baby dragon agreed enthusiastically.

The old man smirked. "I believe that his starter… Squirtle, has already evolved."

"…."

"…."

Oh dear, I might have pushed it a little too much. The old man mused.

Ash was bubbling with anger and jealousy… "Rrrr…." He gave up one thinly veiled glare at the older man, snatched the pokedex from his hand and put it into his pocket. "I'll show you, Professor. I'll defeat that grandson of yours, you'll see."

Oak merely raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go, Bagon." Ash half-snapped.

"Bag-gon."

He picked up the baby dragon with great enthusiasm, and began running.

And running….

And stopping….

"Err… Bagon?" Ash asked with uncertainty. "Would you mind returning to your pokeball? You aren't exactly… light and everything, you know."

"…. Bagon." The baby chirped.

The worn-out, dirty road that led to Route 1 left Ash somewhere near the entrance of the forests that outlined the north-west boundary of Pallet Town. Ash had released Bagon out of the pokeball, allowing said blue dragon to slowly walk beside him. It wouldn't go on for long, considering its heavy weight, stubby paws and slow speed… it was bound to fall tired after a while. Still, Ash had no issues with slowing down a little if it meant spending more time with his adorable starter.

"So Bagon, I ever tell you about my dream to become a Pokémon Master?"

Bagon nodded, rolling his eyes, or at least what eye-rolling meant for a Bagon anyway. His trainer might have mentioned the topic some… twenty times? Over the last three days? He didn't truly mind, considering that the trainer boy was much more… comfortable to be with than he expected.

"I cannot wait to catch other pokémon, train them and be the best pokémon trainer in the world. Then, I will go and challenge Lance."

Right. Lance. Bagon remembered seeing this 'human clad in red' on the television. His trainer had been… talking, a lot about this red-clad man. Besides, he did have several powerful dragons at his side, and Bagon would die before allowing his dragon-pride to be wounded by losing to those dragons. He would train with Ash, grow stronger, and evolve into a mighty Salamence, and when he did, he would be able to soar through the skies like he always wanted. However, that was for later and Ash was talking.

"-Gary might have caught twenty or more pokémon, but I am not interested in that." Ash muttered, more to himself than to his starter. "I mean, of course, I'd like to catch them all, but…" He turned towards his starter. "I only want to catch the ones, the ones which give off the feeling of being… being something special, you know."

Bagon nodded, though he was outright confused about what his trainer meant.

"I mean… I think there's this feeling in me that says that, that's the pokémon I wanna catch. I want to make an impressive team, and then together, we'll go take part in the Indigo Conference."

The dragon shook his head. He did catch the Conference part. He had seen on television, how powerful pokémon fought each other in front of hundreds of people. He wondered how he would fare against them now.

"And that is why, we need to train. I want to help you become the strongest Salamence… ever."

Now that Bagon could agree on. He turned towards his trainer and barked agreeably.

The forests lining Pallet town were home to several native Kanto pokémon. Many a trainer often captured a Pidgey from a flying horde, and if not, then a Catterpie or a Rattata is a rather easy game. Though it was nothing like the Viridian forest of course, the forest path did have the advantage of being a shortcut to Viridian city, the only other alternative being to take the steamer that took a total of three days to reach Viridian. Already being late in the first place, there was no reason for Ash to slow himself any further, and hence, took the path through the forest.

"This forest is supposed to have hordes of flying pokémon." Ash mused loudly, "I am not sure why the entire place feels so silent."

Bagon agreed, rubbing his tougher-than-steel head against the ground in a rather comical fashion.

"We'll need to begin your training shortly. I've heard that the Pewter Gym leader uses only rock types. We need an ace to fight against him."

The dragon grunted in agreement. Well, perhaps.

A rustling of leaves to the right made the conversation pause right there. He paused, turned around, and took a step back. Almost gleefully, he turned towards his starter.

"Think it's a pokémon?"

The dragon grunted in agreement.

"Alright, Bagon. Use ember." Ash commanded, as the baby dragon let out a tiny screech, before emitting out tiny balls of fire at rapid speed out of its mouth, all of them projected towards the thick clump of bushes.

"Hey wait, Wha-", came a surprised voice, before said person fell over his back, having been hit with the ember attack right on the face. "What's the big idea?"

Ash blinked. This wasn't a pokémon. It seemed like another trainer, another guy dressed in shades of red walking the streets just like him, and at his side was a-

Pikachu.

Almost instinctively, a dark scowl marred his face.

"What's the big idea?" Said pokémon trainer who had gotten off the ground retorted with indignation. "Why did you attack me like that?"

"Uh… sorry!" Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, doing his best not to stare at the electric rodent on the boy' shoulder. "Sorry, I thought it might have been a pokémon behind the bushes."

"Eheh…" The other boy chuckled oddly. "That's all right. Sparky and I were thinking there might be a pokémon on this side of the bush as well."

Sparky?

"Hi, I'm Ritchie." The boy replied enthusiastically. "And this," he nodded towards the Pikachu, who leapt from his right shoulder to the left, "is Sparky."

"Pik—ka!"

Oh.

"I'm… I'm Ash, and this is my Bagon." He pointed towards the baby dragon on the ground.

"A… Bagon? What's that? Never heard of such a pokémon before." The boy, Ritchie asked in confusion.

"He's from the Hoenn region." Ash returned enthusiastically. "And he's my starter."

"Ah, so where are you from?"

"Pallet town." Ash answered, raising his right hand in direction of the town that was around two miles away. They were standing on a higher terrain, and past the flowing river, the beautiful town of Pallet was distinctly visible in the evening light.

"I'm from Frodomar city." Ritchie replied with pride in his voice. "So… you must be participating in the Indigo Conference eh?"

Ash's face hung at that. "Nah not really. I just started my journey today."

"Today?" Ritchie frowned. "I thought I saw some people from Pallet town like… two weeks ago, in Pewter city. Aren't you a bit, I don't know… late or something?"

"Yeah, well, long story." Ash dismissed the topic. "Are you a new trainer as well?"

"Not so sure about new," Ritchie boasted. "I have been on the field for months now. Already got two badges."

Two already? Ash did his level best to not hyper-salivate at the thought. "So what are you doin' here?"

"Ah… well," Ritchie looked away in embarrassment. "I heard rumours about a Scyther nearby, and was hoping to catch it. That was two days ago, and I am still… um."

"So you're lost." Ash pronounced.

"Not lost!" Ritchie complained defiantly. "Just, a little confused about which road to take."

Of course you are. "I'm going to Viridian city from here." Ash exclaimed.

"Viridian, nice place." Ritchie agreed. "I do hope that you aren't planning to challenge the gym leader, right?"

"Yeah, I am." Ash looked confused. "What about it?"

Ritchie scowled. "I tried my hand at it. The gym leader isn't interested in battling anyone who hasn't had seven badges yet."

Seven badges huh? That means his team must be really strong. He considered Ritchie again. "How many pokémon do you have so far?"

Ritchie smirked. "See for yourself." He pulled out the tiny pokeballs from his belt, and yelled," come out everyone."

There were multiple bursts of light as the pokémon were released out, each of them condensing into their respective sizes. There was a Butterfree, a Zubat, a Tentacruel and a…

Charmander.

"Wow," Ash gushed, doing his best to not show the jealousy in his mind. "So many pokémon."

"Yep." Ritchie agreed. "Meet Happy," he pointed towards the Butterfree which trilled, "Zippo," he indicated the charmander, "I am yet to find a good name for Zubat and Tentacruel though." He finished lamely.

He named a Charmander after a Lighter? Seriously?

"Where did you find a Zubat?" Ash asked, ignoring the irrepressible urge to snort at the other boy's naming conventions. By definition, Zubat were primarily found in clusters, usually inside mountain caves. Considering that the nearest mountain was…..

"Mount moon." Ritchie answered at the same time as Ash came to his own independent conclusion. "This little thing has been rather good at helping me find directions. I confess I'm quite the expert at getting lost now and then."

Said pokémon agreed in its own way, swerving left and right.

"What about you?"

"Just Bagon, so far." Ash returned with a shrug. "Hey, tell you what? Let's have a battle between you and me. What do' a say?"

Ritchie smirked. "You are on." Then, suddenly, he frowned. "But wait a second, what type of pokémon is your- Bagon was it?"

The baby dragon repeated his name in indignation.

"He's a dragon." Ash returned with pride. "My dragon."

"A dragon… eh?" Ritchie muttered with surprise, before a smirk appeared on his face. "Good to know." Bracing himself, he yelled, "Zippo, I choose you."

"Char!" The fire lizard growled with enthusiasm, as it jumped a few steps up front, ready for battle. Ash observed how brightly the flame on its tail was burning. It was a sign of its health and nearing evolution.

Charmander versus Bagon, eh? Maybe this will tell whether the professor was serious or not. "Alright, I choose you, Bagon."

Said pokémon was already up and ready, facing charmander with a mad shine in its eyes.

"All right Zippo, use ember at Bagon." Ritchie began.

"Jump." Ash commanded, and almost at the very last instant, the tiny dragon jumped high up, by least three feet, a surprise considering its heavy weight. "Now head butt on Charmander!"

The baby dragon coordinated its location mid-air as it jumped down with gained momentum, down towards the lizard, which stood on the ground.

"Use flame burst."

The ball of flames emitted from the lizard's mouth met head-on with Bagon's sharp head, causing a miniature explosion. From within the smoke, came out the tiny missile that was bagon, hitting Charmander face-first, banishing it away.

"Whoa, that flame burst didn't affect it at all." Ritchie exclaimed in shock. "All right, Zippo, use metal claw."

"Use head-butt again, with full force."

With a speed unbelievable for someone of its physical features, the tiny dragon raced towards the Charmander, who was coming up towards him in return, its sharp claws glowing with power.

The two attacks collided midway, as Zippo's metal claw hit Bagon's head with full force, the resulting collision pushing back both backwards.

"What's that head made up of?" Ritchie asked, frowning. "No worries, Zippo. Flame thrower."

"Ember."

The two attacks faced each other, with flame thrower getting the better of its opponent, as it struck bagon face-first, hurling it away as it hit the ground with immense force. After the smoke dispersed, the signs of indisposition were clear for Bagon, while Charmander stood its ground, breathing heavily.

"I… lost?" Ash muttered.

The fire lizard groaned, before losing all strength and falling down flat onto the ground.

"The flame thrower must have taken everything out of him." Ritchie muttered, walking up to his pokémon and pulling it into his arms. "You did well, Zippo. Have some rest now."

The fire lizard groaned, as it got sucked into its pokeball.

"I must say, Ash." Ritchie laughed. "That's one hell of a pokémon you got there. Zippo's won me most of my battles, and your starter tired him out. That baby dragon does pack a hell of a punch."

He does, doesn't he? Ash thought to himself, caressing his Bagon. "Do you want to get some rest, Bagon?"

The dragon pokémon accepted with a nod, before getting sucked into its pokeball.

"Thanks for the battle, Ritchie." Ash smiled gratefully. "At least I know just how far I have to go to train Bagon now."

"And don't you forget it. If you make it to the League, then you'll face me there for sure."

"And I'll win, next time. You'll see." Ash countered exuberantly.

"Promises, promises." Ritchie waved his enthusiasm away. "Anyway, I heard that this place got a nasty flock of Spearow, but I don't see any."

"There used to be one." Ash answered without missing a beat. "Professor Oak got rid of them with his Dragonite when he heard about them attacking trainers out of nowhere."

"You know Professor Oak?" Ritchie asked, impressed.

"Of course, he's the one who gave me my Bagon." Ash returned.

"Damn. Some people have all the luck." The other boy muttered, though his grin showed that he wasn't serious. "So no Spearow then." Ritchie pronounced in disappointment.

"Nothing like that. Professor said that there was this large Fearow who was ruling over the Spearow flock. He defeated and caught it. So, I suppose you might still find a Spearow here and there, just not a nasty flock anymore."

"Ah." Ritchie nodded at his answer. "Well then, Ash. See you again then."

"But Viridian city is this way." Ash asked, puzzled.

"The Scyther, remember? I want to catch it." Ritchie explained with a laugh. "See you later."

"Later." Ash muttered, seeing the slowly fading image of the trainer, as he turned away and began walking the forest path.

"See this? This is the highest point on this land." Ash exclaimed as he stood on the edge of the cliff overlooking the river. From one side, there was a thin winding road that went down to the base of the cliff, leading to the bridge over the river, leading to Viridian city.

"This is like… the most dangerous place in all of Pallet." Ash continued. "My mum's Mr. Mime once threw me down from here to the river, before catching me midway. That thing's… always hated me."

"Bagon." The dragon answered, something else going on, on its mind.

"Seriously, like what kind of normal pokémon would do that? Imagine if one would fall down this thing even by mistake. It would mean sure dea- hey, what are you doing with that pacing-"

"Bae—gon!" Said baby dragon had paced back a few steps, readying itself, jumped head-first down the steep cliff, into the rocky shore beneath.

"Bagon!" Ash yelled in terror, as he muddled his way, running and tumbling down the windy road until he had reached the base of the cliff, panting and completely out of breath. "Bagon!" he shouted again.

"Bae-" came a disappointed voice. From within the broken chunks of rock, walked out his familiar baby dragon, grunting in disappointment.

Bagon will often jump down cliffs in doomed efforts to fly. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel.

The source of that information was his own pokedex, still in his pocket. "Thanks, Dexter." Ash murmured softly, as he walked up to his starter and laid a hand on the dragon's head.

"So you want to fly eh?"

A disappointed grunt came in response.

"Then your worries have come to an end, my friend." Ash returned with contagious enthusiasm. "You've got me, and together we will make sure you evolve quickly. And when you do, you will have your wings and be able to fly."

For once, the words of his trainer touched a raw nerve inside the tiny dragon. His trainer's enthusiasm was truly contagious, he would give him that. Perhaps… perhaps, it wasn't that bad of an idea to have a trainer like Ash after all. Looking up, he gave a grin as he answered, "Bae-gon!"

"Yes!" Ash returned. "Now all we need is to-bluhbluhbluh-" Whatever he wanted to say was left unsaid, as a torrent of water shot straight up to his face, hitting him face-first as he fell on the ground.

"Hey, what's with the-?" His indignation stopped midway, as he observed the tiny blue tadpole standing in front of him. Besides the slightly purple tail wagging at its posterior, the tadpole had a swirl of black on its front.

"Poli!" The tadpole pokémon barked.

"Wow, a Poliwag." Ash got up, grinning, opening up his pokedex.

Poliwag, the tadpole pokémon. Poliwag has a very thin skin. It is possible to see the Pokémon's spiral innards right through the skin. Despite its thinness, however, the skin is also very flexible. Even sharp fangs bounce right off it.

"That's right, I'm so going to catch it. You are going to be my replacement for the Poliwag at the camp." He exclaimed. "Get ready, Bagon. We have a new opponent."

The baby dragon barked, standing ready for his next command.

"Okay, Bagon. Head butt." Ash ordered, holding out an extra pokeball in hand, ready to catch the tadpole.

The dragon shot towards the tadpole, the top of his head shining brightly, as it raced towards its opponent.

"Poli?" The tadpole crooked his eyes in confusion, before suddenly sidestepping at the very last moment, and firing a jet of water gun at Bagon's back, sending him tumbling into the water. He barked again, hurling another jet of water at Ash, hurling him back onto the ground, again. The water jet knocked the pokeball from his hand, as it fell onto the rocky shore, tumbling and rolling down until it reached Poliwag's tail.

The tadpole stood musing at the strange little sphere, as he hit the queer-looking ball with its tail, right exactly on the capture button. The ball opened, and in a bright jet of light, Poliwag was captured inside it. The ball shook for a moment.

"Hey, I'm going to get back to-" Ash yelled, as he got himself up, before he stopped midway, looking at the pokeball.

"Ding…."

Meanwhile, Bagon was barking himself mad, somehow managing to get himself stay afloat in the water, as it looked in alert, wondering where its opponent had vanished.

"I guess… we captured a Poliwag, Bagon."

"Bae?"

"So… this is Viridian city." Ash muttered to himself, as he witnessed the sky-scraping buildings all around him, quite a contrast compared to the expansive grasslands that abounded Pallet town. It had taken him another couple of hours to finally cross the outskirts of the city and reach into its heart. That, and the time they had taken to stop for a quick meal. God knew the two had had a very rough day. He had taken the time to get to know his starter a little better.

Quite surprisingly, Poliwag hadn't been much of a pain over its getting captured. That was without, of course, considering the jet of water it had drenched Ash with, its first activity after getting out of the pokeball. Once it was made clear about how Ash was a trainer, and he had captured it, and would help it grow, Poliwag had decided to go with the flow as well.

Then again, water pokémon were quite friendly that way. The Poliwag at the camp sure was one!

"First step. Pokémon center." He mumbled to himself.

At first sight, there was nothing spectacular about Pokémon centers. Aside from the whitewashed walls outside and in, and the giant pokeball banner on top, it was pretty much the same as any other hotel or private clinic. There was a large help desk on the front, and behind it, stood a pink-haired nurse clad in white. Then again, he was probably too sore to notice anything at all.

Pokémon centers were, in effect, the official pokémon hospitals and hostels for visiting trainers. Once a person passed the trainer exam and acquired his licence, any Pokémon center in Kanto was obliged to get him free food and lodging while he stayed there (the maximum time limit being three days) alongside any and all kind of medical help that the trainer and/or his pokémon might have warranted. Considering that most newbie trainers got their pokémon injured as a result of battling the gym leaders, the pokémon centers were usually built close enough to the gym for quick rejuvenation of both trainer's pokémon and the gym leader's, though the latter often had their own medical equipment and facilities. As for the trainers, all you needed was proper identification, a problem that was solved by Professor Oak's highly advanced Pokedex.

"I'm Nurse Joy. I'll need to check your identification, please." The pink-haired woman spoke in a mild tone.

Ash handed over his pokedex, and watched her place it into a slot designed specifically for that device. She ran his identification over the Pokémon league database, making sure he wasn't some kind of fraud- a rather good approach considering the increasing cases of fraud happening all around- before returning the device back, along with a key card.

"Room 13, Mr. Ketchum. You're all set." She cast a passing glance at the tiny pokémon standing beside him, and continued. "Do you want me to check your pokémon for injuries and the like?"

"Uh, yes please." Ash replied.

Casting a sideward glance at Bagon, he took out its pokeball, and sucked it in. Pulling out Poliwag's pokeball out as well, he handed both to the Nurse, who registered them to his Trainer ID.

"I'll send for you when your pokémon are ready, Mr. Ketchum."

"Thanks… err… Nurse Joy."

The nurse gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Room 13." And with that, the rest of the conversation was cut short.

The rest of the evening was spent in registering himself for the Indigo Circuit, one that required him to acquire any eight badges from a total of eleven gyms located in eleven different cities, all of them registered with the Indigo League. Once a trainer was done collecting eight badges, he was eligible to register himself for the Indigo Conference which was held every year at Indigo Stadium, the humongous edifice built on a single monolith on the apex of Indigo Plateau. For someone like him, it was the logical (and economical) thing to collect the badges from the cities closest to him, which happened to be Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion, Saffron, Celadon, Fuchsia, Cinnabar and Viridian. Also, all of these cities were near the Indigo Plateau, and were home to several kinds of pokémon, unlike the ones like Frodomar city, which was in itself, more like an industry belt than a niche for wild pokémon. Ash had also spent some time refilling his rations for himself and pokémon, as well as acquiring some medicinal supplies in advance. From general knowledge, it was more probable to come across other trainers, and thus, challenges (and money to be made), which meant that there was a good chance of his pokémon getting hurt or worse.

The next morning, Ash found himself in the main lobby, waiting in line to get his pokémon back. Poliwag had been a ball of positivity, and bagon himself looked ready to jump off another cliff, given the chance. Thanking the kind nurse for her help, Ash turned and walked out of the place.

First stop: Viridian forest, or as it was better known, the haven of bug pokémon.

I wonder why Ritchie was looking for a scyther back there. Chances of finding it are better over here than there.

He had left the city lanes, and was trudging along the grassy path that led to the Viridian forest, one that ran parallel to a thin stream connecting Viridian city to Ecruteak City in the Johto region. Both Bagon and Poliwag had had a full breakfast earlier in the morning, which meant that there was no need to take a break for a while.

Now that I think of it….

"Poliwag, come out." He clicked the pokeball, letting the tadpole out in front of him.

The tadpole looked at him in confusion.

"I just… forgot to check up a couple of things." Ash replied, slightly embarrassed at forgetting to check up his new capture's stats. "Hold on a second." He replied, holding the pokedex in front of the tadpole, which looked at it curiously.

This Poliwag is male, and knows the moves Water Gun, double slap, bubble and mud shot. Its ability is Water Absorb.

"That's a… surprisingly good number of moves, Poliwag." Ash congratulated the tadpole. "What do you say, is a demonstration in order?"

"Poli." The tadpole was game.

"Okay…" Ash paused, before an idea hit him. "Poliwag, water gun on the-" His words remained unsaid as he leapt to the side, barely missing the jet of water as it sped past him, hitting the person right behind. Said person was an orange-haired girl, who just happened to be sitting on the bank of the stream, a fishing rod in hand, with the sinker down into the water. The water gun hit her straight on the head, as she yelped out in pain and shock, before losing all resemblance of control and falling head-first into the stream. Bagon, who had apparently decided that this was the right moment to get out of his pokeball, got encouraged by the girl's motions and jumped into the stream as well, with an enthusiastic screech.

Ash face-palmed.

I am never going to get a single badge if this continues.

"You absolute moron! What the hell were you thinking?" cried a certain enraged girl, standing in the middle of the stream, her clothes now completely wet, as she held her fishing net in her left hand.

"Uh…. Sorry?"

An hour later…

"I had no idea you were such a sore loser." Ash deadpanned.

After the redhead had gotten herself out of the stream (and Ash had gotten his baby dragon out as well), the redhead had all but claimed that Ash was a hopeless amateur who had no business in capturing water-type pokémon, who obviously needed a better trainer, someone like her. Also, considering that it had all happened no thanks to a poliwag, which was, for the record, a water-type and thus, her specialty, it would be correct that Ash would hand over Poliwag to her. Ash, who had no love for the girl's declarations, had offered a middle path. Should she be able to defeat him in a one-on-one battle, against his Poliwag to be precise, he would consider her proposition.

Said red-headed girl, whose name happened to be Misty, frowned, before looking away. "It's not my fault. I have been training water pokémon all my life, and I get beaten by a newbie's pokémon." She gave a stink eye to her Psyduck, who looked fashionably oblivious to the world outside its head. Letting out a long-suffering sigh, she lifted her pokeball to recall the duck pokémon.

"Poli." The champion tadpole made his opinion known with pride.

"I wasn't congratulating you." Misty warned, giving the little thing another stink eye.

"Poli?" Poliwag glared back at her.

"Ignore her. She's just sore because she lost to you." Ash rubbed Poliwag on its head.

"Pol-eee." Said tadpole agreed willingly, throwing up a tiny fountain from its mouth. Then again, considering that he was currently sitting, cradled in Ash's arms, throwing up a fountain wasn't the best idea, the jet of water hit his trainer straight on his chin, making him fall onto the ground, making Poliwag fall down on the ground with a thud.

"Poli?" He accused loudly.

"That's your fault and you know it." Ash retorted back.

"Poli." The tadpole fixed him with a bored expression, which Ash translated to Poliwag-speech for 'whatever…'

At least one good thing had come out of it. Misty seemed to have completely lost her rage and was laughing, her hands on her stomach, as she saw the entire interaction happen. Calamity averted, and everything in place, Ash returned Poliwag into his pokeball, as he continued walking with Misty through the grassy path that led into the Viridian forest.

"So tell me… Misty, where are you from?"

"Cerulean." Misty answered with a slight frown. "I was in Viridian for some work, and was returning home, when I decided to fish in for some Magikarp in the stream."

"Magikarp. You want a Gyarados eh?"

Misty rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Yeah, well, I have one, but I would like to start again, if only to get her… a mate."

Ash wondered for a moment how this… awfully young girl would, in any universe, be able to control a Gyarados of all things. The image of Misty petting a Gyarados created a powerful juxtaposition, more than anything he had ever imagined.

"Lance has a Gyarados, and it is way too powerful." Ash spoke, a little awe filling into his voice.

"Lance? As in Champion Lance?"

"The very same." Ash returned with vigour. "Someday I also want to own my own team of dragons, just like him."

"Speaking of dragons, I've never seen a pokémon like the one you have. Where did you get it?" Misty inquired.

"Oh that? That's Bagon, my starter. He's… not from around here."

"Then?"

"Hoenn." Ash specified.

"Pshew!" Misty let out a breath. "I've heard that it's incredibly difficult to properly train a dragon. Gyarados are partly draconic, and even she can be a handful at times."

"You can say that again." Ash muttered to himself.

"So… you must be going to Pewter city." Misty inquired.

"Yep. I want to see how Poliwag and Bagon fare against Brock and his rock pokémon."

"Hmmm. Poliwag is a good choice against rock pokémon. Your Bagon… well, he's draconic, so that's something I guess."

Ash shrugged. "You don't seem to hold that in high regard."

"I love water pokémon, they're simply the best." The girl declared, ignoring Ash's rolling eyes. "Oh, and I hate bugs." She shivered at the mere thought.

That stopped Ash short.

"What?" Misty asked, looking at the stationary trainer.

"Uh… you do realize that this forest is famous for bug pokémon, right?"

"Yes, yes, I didn't know that." Misty returned with a glare. "Thank you for reminding me that we are standing inside a forest filled with creepy, crawling bug pokémon."

"Okay, that was just overdo." Ash didn't say.

"Why do you think I'm travelling with you?" Misty continued without missing a beat. "You got me wet in the stream. You're my insurance as long as we are in the forest."

So that's how it is. "Okay, but I'll tell you first hand that I plan to capture pokémon for myself."

"If it's a bug, just keep them away from me, and we'll be fine." Misty declared.

"Yeah, I got-", Ash's words stopped midway, as he saw something crawling and green on Misty's shoulder. "Uh, Misty-"

"And you are the dragon pokémon tamer over here, and so you'll be keeping me safe from those bugs-"

"Misty-"

"And you'll always walk three steps ahead of me, so that you get to cross those creepy bugs first, and not me-"

"Misty-", Ash tried raising his voice.

"WHAT?" Said girl yelled, "Stop interrupting me when I'm speaking. You shouldn't do that to a girl and why are you pointing at my should-"

Pin-drop silence pervaded the Viridian forest.

The shriek that resonated out the very next second was enough to scare any flock of flying pokémon to a mile away, more because said shrieking girl bumped and raced her way ahead through the forest, leaving the undeniably innocent Catterpie fallen onto the ground, shivering in terror.

"You know…" Ash muttered to the baby dragon walking slowly beside him. "I think…. Misty might just have run her way out of the forest in one go."

The pokémon tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah, well even I don't know what's with that girl… She was so… hyper, I guess, at everything?"

Bagon simply stared at him, puzzled.

"Never mind." Ash answered back. "Let's get on. You want to get back inside the-?"

There was no point in continuing the sentence. The reason behind that was sitting a few steps ahead, on top of a branch, staring at him with speculative eyes. Now while Ash might have had the best start when it came to flying-type pokémon, he was able to deduce that the one in front of him was interested in battling him.

That, or he was going to have to join Misty in her venture of racing his way out of the forest.

Pidgeotto. The bird pokémon, and the evolved form of Pidgey. Pidgeotto claims a large area as its own territory. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its living space. If its territory is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws.

Said bird was perched on the branch, staring at Ash, who observed from his vantage point, that it was slightly smaller than the average Pidgeotto, which was usually around four feet in height. This one, seemed to be around three feet at most, and could be easily misunderstood to be just an overgrown Pidgey, if not for its specific plume. Another specific thing to note was that its feathers, along with its plume, were radiating a golden sheen, instead of their normal crimson coloration.

A shiny Pidgeotto. What are the chances?

His fingers slipped to his belt, as he clicked the other pokeball, summoning Poliwag out. Holding an empty pokeball in reserve, he stared at the shiny bird in front of him. "Pidgeotto, I challenge you to a battle."

Said bird crooked her head for a moment, before raising her wings and blowing them towards Ash and Company.

Gust. Ash realized. "Bagon, ready for battle. Poliwag use water gun on Pidgeotto."

Thankfully, Poliwag had decided not to pull a prank at this extreme moment, as the tadpole nodded in unison and propelled out a jet of water towards the avian, which flew away, missing the water gun by several inches.

Pidgeotto flew up in the air, missing another jet of water, before its eyes glowed brightly, as it sent out two slashes of energy, cutting through the air towards Ash, who managed to jump his way out, as the waves struck the ground with visible impact.

"Damn, an air slash? How does a wild Pidgeotto-?-never mind!" He faltered, as he jumped again, missing another of the strikes from the angry avian.

"Poliwag, bubble." He commanded.

The tadpole hurled a jet of compressed bubbles towards the avian, hitting it straight in the abdomen, making it screech in pain, as it glared at the tadpole. Beating its wings tightly, it summoned a miniature gale and sent it towards the tadpole.

"Poliwag, endure it and then use water gun. Bagon, use ember."

The mix of ember and water had an adverse impact on the avian which got blown off, but not enough to beat it. Screeching angrily, its eyes glowed again, as multiple copies of itself formed all around it, all of them glaring towards the trainer and his unfortunate pokémon who had made the mistake of injuring it.

"A wild Pidgeotto that knows double-team? Why am I even surprised?"

Another enraged screech came in his direction, as the several illusions of the avian shot towards the tadpole and the baby dragon beside it.

"Bagon, hold Poliwag and jump." Ash commanded. It was rather unconventional, but the baby dragon's body was built powerfully enough to hold up the tadpole and jump in the air, before landing on the ground a few feet away.

The avian screeched in frustration, as the double-team attack failed. With extreme prejudice, it cancelled the existing illusions and shot head-first towards the baby dragon.

A tackle attack? "Bagon," Ash commanded, "endure it."

BANG!

"Uhm…. A little softly?"

"On second thought, I should've just walked back to Viridian Pokémon Center." Ash murmured to himself, slightly confused over his choices. "I'm not sure if hitting Bagon, head-first, has left Pidgeotto's brains intact."

It had been a remarkably dull affair after that kamikaze attack by the angry avian on Bagon. After all, there is only so much a solid can withstand before giving out. Just ask any of the rocks beneath the Pallet town cliff, they'll know.

Sucking the rather… disoriented (probably the biggest understatement of the century) avian into the empty pokeball without any resistance, Ash had recalled his pokémon and continued walking down the forest path. There had been the slight humming of Beedrill now and then, along with several Rattata, dozens of Catterpie and a rare Nidoran throughout the journey, but overall, it had been a rather dull affair.

Bagon, Poliwag, Pidgeotto. A dragon, a water-type and now a flying-type. Not a bad progress considering it's been just three days.

He quietly wondered whether the team would be good enough to defeat Brock when he got there. Poliwag was a water-type, which would have an advantage over rock-types, so that was something. Pidgeotto… should it work out between them, could be an ace too, considering its wide move set. Maybe if he could manage to teach it steel wing, it would be an asset against rock type. As for Bagon….

What if Bagon head-butts onto the rock type, and it breaks…? Will I get sent to prison for killing the rock type?

He shuddered at the half-amusing, half-terrifying prospect. On second thought, he might have to look into the other moves learnable by his starter before making an attempt on the Pewter gym. At least, he would have the handicap, considering that this was his first badge.

That's something… I guess.

He glanced at his pokeballs.

Three of them are filled. I can keep more three. The hell? Just three? I'm not sure if I'd want to send my pokémon to the coral in the first place. I captured them, they should stay with me. What's with this ridiculous rule and-?

Wait.

He pulled out his Pokedex, and spoke clearly. "Get me the rules for Pokémon roster for trainers, Dexter."

The machine blinked at the top for two seconds, before the oddly mechanical voice came out once again.

Pokémon trainers are allowed to keep a maximum of six pokémon with them at all times. Any more pokémon captured are automatically sent to the Pokémon coral they are registered with, upon acquiring their trainer's licence. A trainer can however, rotate his pokémon from the coral and back as he wishes from a transport system placed at Pokémon centers and gyms.

There went his hope of cutting short his limits.

Dexter however, wasn't done yet.

The safety limit of six pokémon is done to make sure that newbie trainers have sufficient rations and resources for themselves and their pokémon. In addition, sending them to the coral is a way to make sure that the pokémon remain in their best health. Trainers who have gained the title of Elite can however, increment their roster to a maximum of twelve pokémon. The roster regulation is maintained in accordance to Silph Co. and the League. Ace trainers are allowed to maintain a roster of twenty pokémon, since the nature of their work demands it.

"So… the only way of increasing the roster is to become an Elite trainer? Fat chance of becoming that in two weeks." Ash scowled in frustration, before shutting the pokedex off, as he continued to walk.

This Pidgeotto is female. Current move set: Tackle, sand attack, gust, air slash, double-team, pursuit and peck. Its ability is big pecks.

Pursuit? How does a wild Pidgeotto know pursuit? Can Pidgeotto even learn pursuit?

He remembered what he knew about those that were known as Egg moves. Did Pidgeotto had a dark type for a parent? Is that why it's… shiny? Ash wondered. He closed the pokedex and looked up at the avian in front of him. It had taken an hour but Nurse Joy had released all of his pokémon, declaring them to be of perfect health after the treatment.

Said avian was currently giving him a blank stare from its vantage point.

"Say… Pidgeotto, you know that I've defeated you using my pokémon and captured you. So that makes you my pokémon. So I was wondering if, you would like to train under me, and help me defeat my opponents."

Pidgeotto tilted its head, staring at Ash like he was a particularly interesting specimen. She might have been a wild one, but she knew what captured pokémon did. Besides, getting captured wasn't something Pidgeotto was averse to. On the contrary, she knew very well that challenging a trainer like that was a sure way of getting captured by one. She knew that her chances of getting stronger increased with being with a powerful trainer, and that was the reason behind all of it. So why was this buffoon asking her like she had a damned option to choose from?

Pidgeotto barked in confusion.

"What I mean is… I want to become the strongest trainer in the world, and along the way, make sure that you, as part of my team, become the most powerful Pidgeot there is, and will be,"—Pidgeotto perked up at that-"but I don't want to force it on you."

Pidgeotto slanted her head on the other side. Her trainer was a strange one- that much was sure. With that punk of a tadpole, and that annoyingly strong draconic baby of his, Pidgeotto was sure that her trainer would be nothing but entertaining.

She barked again, nodding her sizable head in agreement, much to her owner's satisfaction.

Okay, so that went well. Ash sighed inwardly. "Do you… want to return back to the pokeball?"

The avian shook her head, before she threw up her wings on either side, before soaring up into the air, flying around her trainer.

"I guess, that works just as well.

AN: Chapter updated and reposted on November 11, 2018. Minor editing mistakes removed. Elisabeth Mably is now helping me with the beta-work for this chapter. If you like the story so far, please leave a review. Constructive suggestions are highly appreciated.

Thank you.