A/N: 2/20/2014

This is a total rewrite of chapter one. I'm afraid I am very unhappy with the early chapters of this story and I want to completely rewrite them. Well, some will have edits while chapters 1-3 will be totally rewritten to my liking. This is also to hopefully get me back into writing this story. It's been a long time since I posted anything and I feel bad about it. I actually have about 5k words written for chapter 10, I just need to get back into writing this story in order for me to finish it.

Oh, and, I've noticed some stories copying the old first chapter of this story. Some word for word while others edit things. Really people? All you have to do is ask me or give me credit in some form. I'm very disappointed in those of you who did this act of plagiarism. I'm strangely flattered as well, but it is still plagiarism and I don't appreciate that.

Anyway, on to the rewritten chapter! Hopefully people will like this!

Chapter 1: Pokemon, I Choose You!

A young ten year old boy by the name of Ash Ketchum sat on the floor of his bedroom staring at his television; transfixed by the images playing across the screen. It was shortly after midnight, and he knew he should have been in bed a few hours ago, but there was no way he was going to miss the Pokemon battle between Champion Lance and the challenger, who had made it past the other three Elite Four members without too much difficulty, that was set to start in a few minutes. So in a bid to keep his mother from finding out he was awake, he had stuffed some old shirts up against the bottom of his door, turned off his bedroom light, and turned the volume down to where he could still make out what was being said. Well, barely, anyway.

The would-be trainer had changed into his pajamas fifteen minutes ago just in case he needed to make a quick setup to fool his mom into thinking he was asleep if she came in to check up on him. This would not be the first time he had done this to watch late-night Pokemon battles so he was practically a pro at the act.

Stuffing a fist to his mouth to keep come exclaiming his excitement out loud, Ash focused his eyes on Lance as the champion made his appearance on the battlefield looking cool, calm and collected as he always did before all his matches. Ash's warm, brown eyes lit up in anticipation and he smiled around his fist as Lance grinned and shook hands with the challenger, Rodney Tusarks, before heading to his side of the field; cape billowing behind him in a show of power and confidence.

Soon the battle started and Lance sent out his Gyarados, who roared in challenge as it was released from its Poke Ball. Ash noticed that the champion always sent out his Gyarados first in these challenger battles. He just assumed it was a way to test the challenger to see if they were indeed worthy of challenging him. The thing was a behemoth on steroids, but it was nothing compared to the power of his two Dragonites. Still, its power was nothing to sneeze at. Ash had seen some matches where it took the challenger four Pokemon to take down Lance's Gyarados. Some challengers couldn't even lay a scratch on the powerful Water type even with a full team of six. It always made Ash wonder how those people made it past the first three Elite Four members in the first place.

Rodney sent out his Electabuzz to challenge the water dragon. From his previous battles, the would-be trainer knew that Electabuzz was one of Rodney's most powerful team members, so he was quite excited to see how it would fair against Lance's Gyarados.

An hour and a half later, Ash was squirming in an attempt to not shout and cheer at the amazing battle before his eyes. All too soon, for him anyway, the winner was decided and Lance kept his title by the skin of his teeth. Ash was glad he stayed up to watch this match, it was the most exciting battle with Lance in years! The champion actually had to use his Dragonites!

'That Rodney guy sure came prepared,' Ash thought as he stood up from the floor. He turned his television off and stretched to get the cramps and kinks out of his body from sitting for so long. Yawning, he turned to look at his digital wall clock and his eyes widened when he saw the time. 'Two in the morning?! Oh man I need to to get to sleep, I have a Pokemon to get today!' With that thought, the soon-to-be trainer quickly got into bed and under his covers, completely forgetting to set his alarm clock.

Though he was tired, Ash could not fall asleep right away, so he laid there staring up at the ceiling in thought. 'One day that challenger is going to be me!' Grinning at the thought, Ash fell back into his memories. When he was four years old, Lance had just become the new League champion at the young age of twenty and had held that title for six years now. So far, only one person has ever managed to defeat him, but who he or she was Ash did not know as he was in school during that match. He did hear that the person let him retain his title though. For what reason exactly was a mystery to him, but he figured he would find out one day.

Ever since he saw that battle between Lance and the former champion, the raven-haired boy had made the Dragon type user his idol and someone he wanted to become. Dragons became his passion that day and he studied everything he could on them, his previous displeasure of having to read and study anything totally forgotten. He had even enlisted the help of Professor Oak, much to his mom's approval, to learn more on Pokemon. Of course the guy was always busy to really teach someone, let alone a child, so Ash had asked if he could help around the ranch as a way to learn about the various species of Pokemon. Most of the time he spent his days outside on the ranch admiring all the Pokemon Professor Oak kept watch for trainers when the professor didn't have anything for him to do, especially the the Dragon types, which were few and far between as they were the rarest type after all.

Sadly, with him spending so much time with the old professor, it gained the jealousy and hatred of his one time friend Gary Oak.

Ash's thoughts turned sour when he started thinking of the arrogant brat and bully that Gary had become. He blamed Ash for not getting to spend as much time with his grandfather as he would have liked. That and he despised the fact that his grandfather seemed to like Ash so much for some reason.

Turning his thoughts away from the arrogant brunette, Ash started thinking of which starter he should choose. 'All three are really good, but my choice is between Squirtle and Charmander.' Working at the ranch all these years gave him a heads up on the starters that the trainers in Kanto got to choose from, and he was definitely enticed by Squirtle and Charmander. He had seen what their final forms could do from tournaments and league battles he watched on television, and while he gave props to Venasaur for its power, he was more interested in Blastoise and Charizard.

Sighing, Ash decided he would choose when he got to the lab later on. Turning on his side to face his bedroom wall, he finally fell asleep, dreaming that he had just beaten Lance with an unknown Pokemon in silhouette by his side through the entire battle.

TDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDT

Ash grumbled in irritation from under his covers as the loud call of the local Dodrio rang through the valley that Pallet Town resided in, waking all of those who were still blissfully asleep. Growling a bit as sunlight hit his eyes through his eyelids, Ash covered his head with his blanket and sighed in comfort as the annoying light vanished. Just as he was about to fall back asleep, the Dodrio called out once again, keeping him from his peaceful slumber.

Grumbling in irritation, Ash kicked his blankets off of him and sat up on his bed.

"Alright alright, I'm up," he mumbled to himself. Sighing, he rubbed his face and ruffled his messy raven locks, making his bed-head even worse. Not that he cared of course, his hair has always been a rather untidy bird's nest of spikes.

Letting out a huge yawn, Ash swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, stretching his body as he did so. Moaning at the feeling, he flopped back down in a sitting position on his bed and let out another sigh.

"That Dodrio is going to be the death of me one of these days, I just know it," Ash said to himself as he continued to sit there on his bed trying to abate his sleepiness. "Oh well, at least I won't have to put up with it on... my... jour-" Eyes suddenly going wide, Ash swiftly looked at his wall calender where he had marked "Pokemon Journey Begins" on April the fourth and circled it with a red marker so he would not forget about it.

'Wait... Yesterday was April the third!' Now starting to panic, Ash quickly picked up his Voltorb alarm clock and flipped it open to look at the time.

It read 11:24.

"AAAAAHHHHHH, I'M LATE," Ash shouted and started rummaging around his room for something quick to throw on. 'Why didn't mom wake me up?!' Hurriedly throwing on a pair of grey sweatpants and a black tee shirt, he practically flung open his bedroom door and raced downstairs, briefly noticing that his mother was not in the house.

Hastily slipping his only pair of sandals on his feet, he swung open the front door and slammed it behind him, not caring that Delia would have his ear for doing so, before running at top speed down the lane that led to Professor Oak's lab.

"Charmander... Bulbasaur... Squirtle... I don't care which one I get at this point, just save one for me," Ash uttered through his huffing as he ran.

Before long, he was at the bottom of the stairs that led up to Professor Oak's lab. He stood there with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath by taking in large gulps of air. 'Man, I didn't realize I was this out of shape!'

After catching his breath, he ascended the stairs to the lab and pounded on the door while calling out to the professor. A moment later the door opened and Professor Oak came into view.

"Ah, Ash, I didn't think you were going to show up! Well, come in come in before you collapse boy," he told Ash and stepped aside, letting the young man step inside the building.

A blast of cold air from the air conditioning hit Ash's sweat-covered face. Only now did he realize just how hot it was outside and he sighed in pleasure at the cold air.

"Yes, it's quite the scorcher today if I do say so. Highly unusual for this time of year..." The professor trailed off as he led Ash into the lab part of his home. The raven-haired young man did not respond to this though, he was not in the mood for small talk.

Entering the lab, Ash glanced around before setting his eyes upon the professor.

"Professor, please tell me you saved a Pokemon for me?" Ash practically begged with his hands clasped in front of him and his eyes pleading with the professor. He suddenly looked devastated as the professor sighed and stared straight at him with a sorrowful gaze.

"I'm sorry Ash, I really am, but I had an unexpected new trainer show up today and I couldn't just turn him away," Professor Oak stated apologetically.

Ash nodded with a blank face. Legs suddenly feeling weak and numb, he sought out a nearby chair and flopped down in it, covering his face in his hands. He had to force himself not to cry at this point.

"Professor, don't you have anything that I could have as my first Pokemon?" Ash pleaded after looking up at the professor with tears in his eyes.

The old professor just sighed and held his chin in his left hand as he thought. He felt horrible about this whole situation and he knew that Ash would not wait another year to get a starter Pokemon. Heck, even he himself would not have done that!

"Alright Ash, wait here while I go and see what Pokemon I have that you could take with you," he told Ash and disappeared into another room.

Ash sighed and leaned back into his chair to get comfortable while he waited. He was not a happy camper about this whole thing, but he did not blame the professor for it. No, he blamed the whole system. If it were up to him, new and upcoming trainers would have to register at least a year in advance with the Pokemon League so that sponsoring professors would not run into this type of problem; they would have the starting Pokemon they needed for each trainer. 'Heh, maybe when I become the champion I'll have something like that put into place so that no one else has to feel the despair of something like this...'

He was broken out of his thoughts as Professor Oak walked back into the room; a Poke Ball in his hand. Ash immediately launched out of his chair at the sight of the ball and his whole face lit up in glee. The professor came up to him with a gentle smile on his face and held out the Poke Ball for Ash to take.

"Here you go Ash. I originally wasn't going to give this Pokemon to anyone, but I figured if anyone deserved him, it was you," he said as Ash gingerly took the Poke Ball from the professor's hand.

"What is it?" Ash asked as he stared at the ball in reverence. The professor chuckled.

"Well, why don't you open it and find out," he said.

Taking a deep breath, Ash slowly extended his arm and tapped the top of the ball, causing it to open and emit a bright flash of light as the Pokemon within was released.

Clearing the spots out of his eyes that the bright white light caused, Ash tilted his head down and openly gaped at the Pokemon on the floor before him.

"Professor? Is that a- a-"

Professor Oak grinned.

"Indeed it is! I've known for years that you wanted to follow in Lance's footsteps and become a Dragon trainer, so I thought this little guy would be perfect for you to start with," he told the new trainer with a jovial tone to his voice.

Ash fell to his knees and gently picked up the small-for-its-species Pokemon after putting the Poke Ball into his right pants pocket and held it in front of him as he looked at the creature in awe. Said Pokemon just tilted his head and jaws to the side and blinked at his new trainer.

"Trap?" the Pokemon exclaimed in confusion. He had never seen that look on a human's face toward him before.

"I can't believe you're giving me a Trapinch! Where did you even get him?" Ash asked the professor as he stood up and held his new Pokemon snugly against his chest, being careful not to hurt him. This was better than receiving a Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle by a long shot!

Professor Oak's face fell at the question, but Ash did not notice as he was too busy admiring his new friend and partner.

"Well... I received him from Professor Birch over in Hoenn a few months ago. I had been studying Pokemon that lived in desert climates at the time and he offered to send me that Trapinch you're now holding. I eagerly agreed of course, but as soon as his Poke Ball arrived over the transporter, Professor Birch decided to tell me how he acquired Trapinch." Professor Oak sighed and closed his eyes. Ash's attention was now on the professor, both eager to hear how he got him and dreading to know at the same time.

"I could tell he was debating on telling me something the whole time we were talking. Anyway, he explained that one of his lab assistants found him rooting around someone's trash in Littleroot not too far from his lab. The assistant tried to capture him, but the Poke Ball just bounced off of him, indicating that he already belonged to someone. Apparently Trapinch wasn't all that afraid of the assistant and let him pick him up instead. He brought him back to the lab after that. My good friend then assumed Trapinch was a lost Pokemon as they don't naturally live around Littleroot Town and decided to put up a bulletin with Trapinch's information and a picture on the trans-regional website for lost Pokemon. When the three month limit passed and no owner was forthcoming, Birch decided to override the capture of the old Poke Ball and captured him in a new one," Professor Oak explained.

Looking shocked, Ash asked the old professor if he knew what happened to Trapinch's old owner. He just shook his head negatively.

"I'm afraid not, Ash. I can guess, however. Either his old owner died and the Poke Ball was never deactivated, doesn't or didn't know about the website, or..." Here he trailed off with a pained look on his face. "Or they abandoned him."

At the word "abandoned", Trapinch flinched against Ash's chest, though he tried to suppress the action. It did not stop Ash from noticing it, however, but the new trainer decided not to remark on it at the moment. Instead, he looked at Professor Oak with horrified shock.

"What?! People abandon their Pokemon?!" The Pokemon professor just nodded sadly.

"Unfortunately, there are some trainers who do abandon their Pokemon for one reason or another. Regrettably, it's not against the law as it doesn't harm the Pokemon physically," he explained and sighed in irritation. Turning away from Ash so as not to show him how truly angry this made him feel, he clasped his hands behind his back and resumed talking.

"Those blasted lawmakers in the league don't seem to understand that it harms the Pokemon mentally and emotionally," he exclaimed loudly with conviction. Taking a deep breath, the professor calmed down and turned back to face the raven-haired child, who was looking down sadly at the Trapinch in his arms and softly rubbing the top of the Ground type's large jaws. Said Pokemon had his eyes closed and was making small noises of contentment at the gentle stroking from his new trainer.

The old professor smiled as he saw how happy Trapinch seemed at the moment. He originally was not going to give Trapinch to another trainer as he suspected the Ground type had indeed been abandoned by his previous owner, but he decided that he would give him to the one person he knew and trusted would take care of and love the little guy - Ash. They deserved each other was his thinking. It was his own fault for not having a Pokemon ready for Ash when he eventually came by the lab, so what better way to make it up to him then to give him a Pokemon that evolved into the one type that the young man wanted to train above all else? On the other plus side, Trapinch got a trainer who would love him no matter what and never abandon him! It was a win-win situation in his eyes. Plus, he just knew that the two of them would be as close as two peas in a pod; friends to the end.

The Pokemon professor's eyes glazed over and a small smile adorned his face as he got lost in his memories.

Snapping out of it quickly, Professor Oak suddenly clapped his hands, scaring both the trainer and Pokemon out of their wits.

"Right, enough of this doom and gloom talk, this is your first day as a trainer, you should be happy and ready for a brand new adventure in your life!" Ash smiled brightly at that, his sadness for the Pokemon in his arms totally forgotten.

"You're right professor! Well, thanks for giving me Trapinch, I really appreciate it! I'll see you in about a year, bye," Ash said as he tightened his grip on Trapinch slightly so as not to drop him (he did not want to put the Pokemon back into his Poke Ball just yet) and started making his way to the front door in a sort of sprint-walk. He stopped as the professor called out to him.

"Wait, Ash! I have some things to give you before you leave!" The new trainer stopped in his tracks and turned around just as the professor came up to him holding some items in his hands.

"Here, these are for you to help you out on your journey," he told Ash and said trainer took the items and examined them after putting Trapinch up on his shoulder to free his hands. He recognized the five Poke Balls of course, but he had no idea what the small, square and sleek black thing was. Slipping the Poke Balls into the pocket opposite of the one holding Trapinch's Poke Ball so as to not mix them up, he turned his complete focus on to the small black device.

"Hey professor, what is this thing," he asked in curiosity. Trapinch, too, looked curiously at it.

"Ah, that's the new advanced PokeDex I've been working on lately. It's only a prototype, so I was hoping you could test it out for me in the field as you travel," the professor replied with a hopeful grin.

"Wait, is this an upgrade to that older version of the PokeDex you created a few years ago? You know, the red one?" The professor shook his head signifying "no".

"No, not an upgrade per say, it's a brand new model that I have put a lot of work into. Here, let me have it for a second please." Ash handed it to him and Professor Oak turned it on its side and fiddled with a few of the buttons before handing it back to the new trainer. Ash looked confused, but the professor just took a pen and notepad out of his lab coat, ignoring him for the moment, and quickly wrote some things down on it and tore out the piece of paper he had written on. He handed the paper over to Ash and explained what he did.

"The new model is voice activated and only responds to the first voice that says that phrase I wrote at the top of the paper. Had I told you what to say, it would have then only responded to me and I would have had to reprogram it again. So go on, activate it," he said with an excited smile.

Looking up at the professor then at Trapinch, he shrugged and read the top-most phrase on the piece of paper. 'OK, got it.' Holding the PokeDex firmly in his hand, he said the phrase that would open it.

"PokeDex, activate!"

Ash almost dropped the thing from shock when the black apparatus started moving on its own. The top module slid upward until the bottom part of it was even with the top of the bottom module, exposing the bottom screen, then clicked into place. The lid covering the top part flipped open of its own accord, revealing the screen it was protecting. The whole process only took three seconds flat. The dual screens then turned on at the same time and a cool female voice droned out of the device.

"Voice activation synthesis complete. Now waiting for new command."

Ash stared at the apparatus in his hands in astonishment before grinning like a loon.

"Wow, this thing is awesome professor," Ash told him in amazement. Even the Pokemon on his shoulder was looking at it in awe. Professor Oak chuckled and thanked him.

"By the way, Ash, it also has a touchscreen mode for scrolling through information and taking notes at your leisure if you so wish. The stylus is hidden in the bottom, so you'll have to command the PokeDex to release it," he explained to the trainer.

"Wait, I can take notes with this thing? Cool, it acts like a notepad too," Ash exclaimed. Looking at the list of commands, he decided to try a couple.

"Deploy stylus!" A clicking sound was heard and Ash saw the blunt end of the stylus popped out from the bottom right of the device. Pulling it out, he noticed that a hole was left in its wake it put it back into.

"The PokeDex locks the stylus in place so it won't fall out on you and have you accidentally lose it," the professor explained. Ash just gave an "ah" at that and said a new command.

"Touchscreen mode!" At that command, the bottom screen flickered a bit and a menu popped up on it. 'Data Menu, Notes, Trainer I.D., and System Information huh? I'll have to look through them at a later date.' Deciding he could play around with the PokeDex later, he slid the stylus back into its hole and another click was heard as the PokeDex locked it into place.

"OK, I can play around with this thing later, Trapinch and I have a journey to go on," Ash mumbled to himself and looked at the list of commands once more.

"Normal mode." The screen flickered once more and the menu disappeared.

"PokeDex, deactivate." Once more a clicking sound was heard as the top screen detached itself from the bottom screen and slid down over it. The cover for the top screen flipped up and over at the same time and closed down just as the top screen finished covering the bottom part of the apparatus. Once again, it only took about three seconds for the whole process to happen.

"Well I see that you like the new PokeDex,"Professor Oak commented on.

"You bet I do! Hey... Did the other trainers get this PokeDex by any chance," Ash asked out of curiosity with a tilt of his head.

"No, this is only the second prototype I've created. The others got the older version of the PokeDex instead. I would have given it to my grandson, but he's a bit, er... Well, a bit of a show-off to put it gently, and I don't know the other two trainers that well to entrust them with it. I actually planned to give it to you in the first place when I first started making it," Oak explained.

Ash was absolutely gobsmacked at that. The professor did not want to give the PokeDex to his own grandson? He nearly snorted out loud when he heard the professor say "show-off" as that was a huge understatement for the "Great" Gary Oak, but he held it in. Barely.

"Thank you so much for giving this to me Professor Oak," Ash said in gratitude. After all, how could he not thank him for giving it to him over his own grandson?

Professor Oak just waved off his thanks.

"Think nothing of it my boy. Oh, and by the way, it does have manual control. There are buttons on each side that you can use just in case you don't feel like yelling out the commands for it," he said while chuckling a bit. Ash turned the device over in his hands looking at the various small buttons that were indeed located on each side. He looked back up when the professor continued to talk. "Right, well, I think it's time for the two of you to head out, don't you?"

Looking at a nearby clock, Ash noticed it was 12:45. Had he really been here that long? He quickly, though gently, stuffed his PokeDex and command list into his right pocket, being careful not to let Trapinch's Poke Ball slip out.

The new trainer grabbed Trapinch off of his shoulder and held him once more to his chest; he did not want him falling off as he ran home after all.

Thanking the professor once more, he turned tail and left the lab for home. Hopefully his mother was home by now, he wanted to show her his new Pokemon!

End of Chapter 1

A/N: Yeah, so I hoped you liked the rewrite! This means I'll have to go through the chapters I'm not rewriting and fix things due to the changes I made with this chapter (though I might rewrite chapter 5, I'm not too happy with it either). Ah well.

Chapter 2 rewrite will hopefully be up soon now that I've gotten back into writing.

No Gary in this chapter, he shows up in chapter 10 for the first time.

If anyone sees any problems with this chapter (and I mean any) please leave a review letting me know so that I may fix it, thanks!