A/N: Wow, it's been ages since I have written a story. I've had this thing swirling around my head for days now and I had trouble starting on it. Bear with me here. Oh and yes, it is a Pokemon fic. Not my first one, but my first one to be published on here. The last Pokemon fic I wrote was years ago.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokemon franchise. If I did, well, this story is what I think should have happened.

They made Ash dumber than dirt, which I found rather odd considering how much he loves Pokemon. One would think he would study up on them as much as possible before starting his journey. Well, no need to worry, he won't be as stupid here, but the story starts off after he throws that rock at those Pidgey.

Oh and as a side note, he doesn't go on a catching spree, but he does catch more Pokemon than he did in the Anime. No, he will not be a total genius in this, he does a lot of research and training to gain his knowledge more than anything. Ash gets one, count 'em, ONE legendary, and he doesn't get it until much later (meaning, not this story but its sequel). You are more than welcome to try and guess which one it is. He doesn't use it during gym battles, but he does use it as a last resort in league battles.

Also, Team Rocket is not an established group in this story. No, it's on the verge of being formed instead. My reason for this? I hate Team Rocket with a passion. However, Ash does meet Meowth later on in the story. Whether he befriends him or makes an enemy of him is a secret.

Anyway, onto the story since I know you are tired of reading these boring notes! (By the way, I am looking for a beta reader. Send me a message if interested.)

Chapter 1

Ash sighed and sat down against the tree Pikachu was in after putting away his pajama top. He tilted his head upward looking at the laughing, yellow mouse as it rolled around on the branch in obvious amusement.

"Think it's funny do you?"

"Pika Pika!" nodded the giggling Pikachu as it held its paws up to its mouth in a poor attempt to stop the laughing.

Ash growled under his breath as he decided to stand back up to look at the Pokemon who, for some unknown reason that only it would know, would not listen the the raven haired trainer. He crossed his arms in front of him and glared at the little menace before turning his back to the Pikachu.

"Look, I'm going to go down to the river and get some water. You stay here and do... Whatever it is you want to do. I'll be back in a little bit." With that, Ash walked over to his backpack, picked it up and started heading toward the nearest river he knew of. He visited this route often enough when he was younger that Ash knew the place by heart. Pikachu merely yawned before curling up into a ball and falling asleep.

Ash finally found his way to the river he often played in before his journey and sat down in the grass along the bank of it. He put his head in his hands and sat staring at the river for some time just thinking about his journey ahead of him. There won't BE any journey unless I can get Pikachu to start listening to me! Or by some miracle, capture a Pokemon that will listen without Pikachu's help. Ha, as if that will happen! The unfortunate trainer just sighed and fished his water bottle out of his backpack and held it in the river to catch the flowing water. After filling it to the brim, he capped the bottle and put it back in his backpack.

As he stood up, a keening cry of pain in the distance caught his attention. He straightened himself up and ran down along the side of the river in the direction the cry was coming from. Something's hurt! Ash finally made his way near where the noise came from and shoved his way through some bushes, not minding as he got scratched by the branches.

Finally breaking through, Ash stopped dead in his tracks as he saw what lay before before him. A long, pink, serpentine creature was curled up crying out in obvious pain. Ash noticed it was covered in scratches and cuts and was bleeding somewhat.

Gritting his teeth in anger at whatever or whoever did this, Ash stepped forward cautiously towards the pink Pokemon and dropped down to his knees in front of its head and gingerly stretched out his hand to pet it. Being careful of the scratches on the head, Ash gently stroked the creature, prompting it to open its eyes a bit to look at him. Ash noticed that despite the skin being pink, the eyes of the hurt creature were a beautiful sapphire blue that were currently dulled with pain.

Blinking out of his trance, the beginning trainer pulled out his PokeDex to quickly scan what this serpent-like creature was. He wasn't disappointed.

Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon. Thought of only to be a legend in the past, more and more are slowly being discovered. The most common evidence these "Mirage" Pokemon have are the shed skins they leave behind.

Ash was floored! A highly rare Pokemon was right in front of him, and a Dratini no less! But why is this one pink and not blue like the one in the PokeDex? He snapped back to reality faster than a whip as the Dratini gave another cry.

"Hey, don't worry Dratini, I'll get you some help, I promise! First though, let's heal some of those cuts on you."

As he was saying that, Ash started rummaging around in his backpack looking for the Potion that he was saving in an emergency. Ah ha! I found it! He pulled out the bottle of Potion and gently lifted the head of the little dragon and laid it in his lap.

"Now this will sting a bit, but only for a couple of minutes, OK? That just means it is working to heal your wounds."

Dratini gave a weak but affirmative keen as Ash set to spraying the worst of the wounds. These look like they came from either banging into rocks or an attack from bird Pokemon. The little dragon tensed up and grit its teeth as a stinging pain washed over its body as the Potion went to work in healing its body. All the while Ash was gently stroking its head in a calming manner.

After about 5 minutes, Dratini was looking better and stronger than it did and thanked Ash in the only way it knew how: A tackle and nuzzle to the face. The trainer laughed as Dratini did so and eventually sat back up from the ground that he was knocked to.

"I'm glad you're OK now Dratini, but we should still get you to a Pokemon Center for a full recovery. Though I'm not sure it would be safe for you to stay out in the open like this. Most people tend to get greedy when they see a Pokemon like you."

Dratini simply tilted its head in a cute way as though contemplating Ash's words. Its face lit up in happiness as an idea popped into the dragon's head. Using it's tail, it wound it around Ash's waist and plucked an empty PokeBall from his belt and held it up in front of the trainer's face waiting for a reponse.

Ash was gobsmacked as the Dratini pulled off a PokeBall from his belt and held it in front of him as if to say "what are you waiting for?" Ash took the PokeBall from Dratini's tail and clicked the button to enlarge it. Looking back at the little pink dragon, he asked, "Are you sure?" Dratini nodded yes and Ash literally beamed as he touched the capture device to the side of the dragon's body.

The ball wriggled back and forth a few times in his hand before finally giving a "Ping!" to declare a successful capture. Ash stood up to stretch his aching legs before happly decalring, "I caught a Dratini!" He was about to start running toward Viridian City before he remembered he had to go back for Pikachu. Well, maybe this will get that disobedient rodent to listen to me. Hopefully...

End of Chapter 1

Well, there's the first chapter! Next chapter we head for Viridian City and hang out in the Pokemon Center for a bit. Will Pikachu also start listening to Ash? Stay tuned.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes it is a shiny Dratini and yes he does keep it for the remainder of his journey just like he does Pikachu in the Anime. And while he does develop a bond with Pikachu, it will be like any of his other Pokemon since he will be rotating. You'll see how that works out next chapter. *Wink*