A Boy and his Cat:

AN: Yup, from Naruto to Pokemon. The reason for this fic is really an author in this site. One: 0 Jordino 0. I've been recommend his fictions and when I read the pokemon ones (all three of them), I just couldn't help myself.

This is going to be a real AU fic. And I want to stress the "real" part. I want you guys to think of the "chaos theory" or the "butterfly effect", different Ash means different pokemon, different friends, different rivals and different travel companions. I just hope I'm creative enough for all that.

I plan to make this a long fic, from Kanto to Sinnoh actually. So please sit down and enjoy the story.

Nevertheless, disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, both the franchise or any of the little buggers. The very few OCs can be used without permission but please send people my way if you do.

Chapter 1: The Journey of a Thousand Steps

"Use Taunt and stay right were you are." the trainer ordered, smiling warmly.

His pokemon, a Meowth, gave no indication that it heard but without any hesitation followed the command. The Cat Scratch pokemon lost it's ready stance and blinked at it's opponents, with a shrug it started liking itself clean. Even if surrounded by half a dozen Spearows.

The birds eyes flared with anger and they all descended as one, readying their becks for Peck.

His smile turning into a smirk, the trainer ordered "Flash. Now."

Crying it's name, Meowth unleashed a blinding light from the coin on it's forehead. Slowing down the Sparrows and even causing a collision between two of them.

"And now Shockwave."

With the very same sound as before the pokemon obeyed and released a thin static wave. The super effective attack nailed the disoriented birds, bringing down two and forcing the rest into retreat, angry or not, that did hurt.

Meowth moved back and sited in front of it's trainer. The boy, with a smile on his face, petted the cat and said "No serious injuries but all soundly defeated. Well done, little lady."

The pokemon purred happily while being returned to her pokeball. Oddly enough, the trainer kept all his pokeballs on his belt and at the left side of his hip, except for Meowth's which was alone on the right side.

"So you're the reason I've found ONE healthy pokemon between here and Pallet." came a voice from behind, turning back the young trainer found someone who started his journey just a few hours later then him "What are you doing Ash?"

Ash was a good looking boy, for a ten year old, he had a slightly tanned skin and clear brown eyes. His black hair used to spike, oddly enough, only at the front and back until he cut it a little shorter, letting it fall on both sides of his face, behind his head and a little on his forehead.

He was wearing a thin white jacket with two pokeballs imprinted on it, one on the right shoulder and the other on his left elbow. The jacket had a high collar but was zipped only until the middle of his chest, showing a simple blue shirt beneath it. The same dark blue was found on his jeans while his sneakers were black and white

"Oh, hey Mike." he great with a smile "We're trying to catch some pokemon."

The other boy's eyes drifted to the downed Sparrow. Ash had made sure they would live and forgotten about them.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Ash really looked confused.

The other rookie trainer sighed and asked "Have you caught a single pokemon yet?"

"Well... I liked this one Ratata a mile back, but Meowth told me it wasn't really brave. More like stupid..." he scratched the back of his head.

Mike just shook his head and rolled his eyes. With a sigh he walked past a Ash and said, over his shoulder "Well, I've gotten two of every critter here, thanks by the way, so I'll be going to Viridiam City now."

"See ya!" waved Ash but he wasn't really paying attention, he had just seen a rather large Pidgeotto in the distance.


As he set up camp, Ash was feeling a little frustrated. It was obvious that nothing here would measure up to Meowth, when he found the Scratch Cat pokemon it was but a baby. A baby he didn't want to just give to Professor Oak but knew he couldn't just take car of her, he had no idea how.

So he learned. With access to the good Professor's library he researched the species. What they ate, when they should be feed, how to care for their fur, claws and fangs. After she was happy and healthy he played with her and tried to get her to play with other pokemon.

The first worked, the second was a disaster. Meowth was a violent little freak and could only get along with other pokemon if it had given her at least one nice bruise. Keeping in mind that getting along meant not fighting it ALL the time.

Since she liked fighting so much, Ash helped her, he discovered what attacks she would learn and which ones he could teach her. And there was some many of them... Luckily Meowth didn't mind practice, at all really. But that also meant that they wouldn't be having any real challenges for a while. Meowth was simply not at the level of a starter, much less this critters.

He moved to start on the cat's food but Ash stopped when he heard a human voice mixed with yelps of rage and cries of pain. Moving over a small hill, the rookie trainer found the source of the sounds, it was battle.

He used to find excitement in pokemon battles before but after turning his Meowth into the pokemon king of Pallet Town, though they never fought against any real trainers that left their pokemon with Professor Oak, he truly saw the beauty of it. It was the ultimate competition. Brain, brawn, luck and skill. You needed everything and winning proves that you have it.

But this battle was only beautiful on one side. A wild Mankey, the biggest he had ever seen, standing at 1'5'' while most of the species stop at 1'1'', was beating the ever living crap out of two Ratatas. A young, blue capped trainer, was doing a surprisingly good job in controlling the two pokemon. But when he challenged that Mankey, he bit of more then the three of them could chew.

When the trainer made a mistake, the Pig Monkey pokemon really took advantage of it. Pushing the least injured Ratata against a rock, he really began laying on him with what Ash identified as Fury Swipes.

"Ra, no! Ta, go from behind him and tackle!"

Without hesitation the second rat leaped into the fray to try and rescue his friend, but the Mankey only grunted when he was hit. Turning back the wild pokemon smashed a Karate Chop into the Ratata and Ash decided that enough was enough. He was mistaken before, this wasn't a battle, it was a beating.

"Use Attract." he ordered while releasing Meowth.

The Scratch Cat winked at the Pig Monkey and created a floating pink heart that hit the wild pokemon on the back. When it turned with hearts in it's eyes Ash let out a sigh of relief, right gender.

"Now do Toxic." the trainer said, then turned to the only other human there "Get your pokemon to a Pokecenter, I think I heard something crack."

The boy nodded, returned both pokemon and ran, in his panic he didn't even remember to thank Ash. Not that the boy cared, now that his good deed was done he could focus on his future fighting type pokemon.

Turning back to the battle, the now poisoned Mankey still had hearts in his eyes. But just when Ash would capitalize on it, the wild pokemon broke free from the effect and charged at Meowth.

"Double Team!"

When another dozen Meowth appeared in the field Mankey was only confused for one second, choosing the stupid route it tried to attack them all. Or it would have been the stupid route if it didn't work.

By pushing himself at an impressive speed with only two of his members the pokemon was able to attack with the other two as soon as he reached a Meowth. And with a little luck he found the real one in the third try.

Crying her name, Meowth flew back with an angry red scratch on it's torso. Gritting his teeth Ash chose the brute route as well.

"Dig and catch your breath. Then knock him off his feet and hit him with a Return."

Before Ash was done speaking Meowth was already halfway underground. The trainer counted to three and did something pretty stupid, he threw a rock at the wild pokemon. With blazing, angry eyes, Mankey charged at Ash.

But before it could make it halfway, Meowth came out and smash her head into it's stomach. Then she spun around, her tail glowing pink and digging into the Pig Monkey's side. The Mankey's eyes were wide in pain and surprise with the power of the blow. It flew and just before it could smash against a rock another projectile hit it. This one sucked Mankey inside.

The pokeball was still for a second before the pokemon understood what was happening and tried to fight it. The ball shook twice before going still for a while, another shake and it stopped moving. Mankey was captured.


Ash chuckled while applying some ointment to Meowth's injury, the little lady was still hipper from the battle so he could barely get her to stay still. He wondered if her personality had anything to do with her coloring, the Professor did tell him he wasn't sure what it affected. The pink inside her ears, in her back pawns and tail, along with her darker fur supposedly made her stronger, faster and all that. But maybe it didn't just make her a better fighter, maybe it made her want to fight. He didn't really care.

Well, maybe a little. With Meowth's personality being so different and Mankey's being the normal one for his kind, Ash had to treat them separately since the two of them still wanted to fight. And that could wait until they were both better.

Meowth's injury wasn't a big deal, there was little blood and three small cuts. Nothing he couldn't fix, after all, he had been taking care of her for a while now.

Mankey on the other hand had a two cracked ribs, he couldn't help but feel happy about how much his cat loved him. Still, a berry to get rid of the poison, a potion injection, a muscle massage and some tape meant that Mankey would be fine in the morning. Ash just loved how fast pokemon healed.

The Pig Monkey pokemon had accepted Ash as it's master with little trouble. The fact that Meowth almost broke his ribs with one blow spoke to him about Ash's abilities to raise his pokemon. And like most fighting types, Mankey wanted power. He also felt that Ash could give it to him.

Placing a bandage on top of Meowth's wound, Ash nodded to himself and congratulated his good work.

"Good, you're going to be fine, kitty. Now let's eat and sleep."

Said kitty agreed and asked something using her name a few times.

"I've already feed him, but it was with your food so I'm going to need to stop at Viridiam and figure out how to raise him."

The pokemon rapidly agreed with her trainer, she would hate to eat Mankey food so the opposite was probably true. And their Mankey needed to be strong. Yes, their.


It was around noon of the flowing day when Ash arrived in the Viridiam City Pokecenter. There, he found an interesting sight. There were dozens of trainers around, most hugging their pokemon like the haven't seem them in years with a few petting them like they were just glad they were ok. Inside he realized that he had no hope of speaking with the nurse, there was a giant line of people taking their pokemon out.

Finding the boy he helped sited on a bench, Ash moved towards him.

"Hello."

The kid seemed startled that someone was talking to him, but then he recognized Ash and smiled.

"Hey! Thank you for helping me!" he said.

"No problem, but say. Can you tell me what happened here?"

The boy nodded quickly and started explaining. He told Ash that a group called Team Rocket tried to steal all the pokemon that were at the center, poor Nurse Joy really couldn't do anything against them but they weren't the brightest of fellows and tried to make their escape in an air balloon of all things.

Since the pokemon were safe inside their pokeballs the police simply waited until they were out of the city and used a Pidgeotto to burst the balloon and bring them down. A man and a woman were arrested and their pokemon apprehended. What really surprised Ash was that one of the pokemon was a talking Meowth. It was also on it's way to Professor Oak so he could be studied.

"Wow..." Ash admitted, then he remembered something "That's right, I need to let the Professor know I got here safely."

Thanking and saying his goodbyes to the kid, Ash moved towards a phone. Noticing that the line had gotten somewhat shorter. The phone rang for a while until the Professor picked it up.

"Hello? Ah, Ash! I take it you are in Viridiam City?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes, Professor. I heard you're getting a Meowth even weirder then mine."

"That's true, I can't wait to get my hands on him!" he rubbed his hands giddily, then stopped and turned back to Ash "But did you have any problems? You were the first trainer to leave and the last one to arrive..."

The rookie trainer smiled "I just took my time, and it was worth it."

"Ah! Do did you catch many pokemon?"

Ash shook his head "No, just one. And that's really why I'm calling you, I need you to name me a few books were I can learn about raising a Mankey."

"You have only caught a Mankey? I can't imagine that Meowth would have problems in battle..."

The raven haired boy just rubbed the back of his head and admitted "Actually he was the only pokemon I wanted to catch."

"Must be quite a Mankey then." said the older man.

"He is, so I want to get started on him as fast as I can. So the books, Professor?"

"Oh, right." Oak took a moment to think and said "Life in Route 1 by Prof. Hauston, The Body of a Fighter by Ms. Greta and that's it. Necessary diet and nutrient effects will be in the first book while moves and necessary body characteristics for a fighting type will be in the second."

Ash clapped his hands and bowed his head "Thank you very much, Professor! I'll get right on that!"

And he did, before Oak could say more then "Remember to call-" he was already gone. The line was still too big to talk to Nurse Joy, so Ash decided that he would just ask for directions from someone on the street.

He would have some problems, since the people of Viridiam city weren't very trusting of strangers right now. But Ash would get to the library sooner or later.

"(Sight) Again, Ash?"

Ash looked over the book he had just opened to see that Nurse Joy had three pokeballs on a tray and there was a boy wearing a straw hat and carrying a bug catching net in front of her. Ash allowed himself a small smile and rubbed his chin.

"I think half the reason they challenge me is because you tell them not to." he shrugged "Probably trying to impress you."

The kid turned beat red and Nurse Joy huffed, before turning back to her job and taking the pokemon away.

His distraction gone, Ash went back to his book. He just took a few more notes and made sure he had bought everything necessary to make Mankey's food and resupplied for making Meowth's. Read a little on how the Seismic Toss was supposed to go and smiled since it looked like Mankey had already gotten it. Now he just needed to increase it's body weight to make it stronger.

That's when he realized that that an hour had passed and hurried away. Giving his goodbyes to Nurse Joy, Ash took of towards the Viridiam Forest, he need to get to Pewter City and he had wasted a whole week here just studding on Mankey and training his pokemon. While necessary, it wasn't that exciting.

"I Samurai-Challenge you!" said a... Well, Samurai. He was coming out of the forest just as Ash was entering it.

"That's a first." admitted Ash.

"What?" it seemed the challenger was just a confused as Ash.

"First time I've been Samurai-Challenged. How is it different then a regular challenge?"

"Oh..." He rubbed the back of his head a few times before admitting "It's not..."

"Ok, then. My name's Ash Ketchum and I come from Pallet Town. Can we do this two on two?" the raven haired boy asked, enlarging Mankey's pokeball.

"I am just Samurai and I accept those terms! Go, Pincer!"

"Bug, huh?" Ash nodded and released his pokemon "This is your fight, Mankey."

Both trainers and pokemon tensed and Ash started the match.

"Leer, then Focus Energy."

Mankey's Leer froze both Pincer and the Samurai for a second, before the trainer gulped and shouted.

"Pincer, don't let him finish! Use bind!"

But by the time the order was through and his pokemon began to move, Ash's had already clenched his muscles and started breathing loudly. Just as Pincer reached the Pig Monkey the Focus Energy was complete.

The Bug pokemon grabbed the Fighting one with it's pincers and gripped him hard. Luckily, Bind isn't a particularly powerful move at first, they had time so Ash smiled and gave another order.

"Screech now."

The earsplitting sound reduced Pincers defense even more and just as it tried again to crush Mankey, Ash spoke.

"Fury Swipes."

Mankey descended on the Bug pokemon in righteous fury and clawed him once, twice, thrice and maybe he would have attacked again but Pincer let go of him and fell. The pain was too much for him to get up and the Samurai was forced to call him back in.

Ash took notice of the bruises forming on each side of his pokemon but decided that there was no need to call him back just yet.

"Ok then, I choose Metapod!"

"But a Metapod can't move... Right?" asked Ash.

The Samurai just gritted it's teeth and told it to use Harden. Ash grimaced when he realized that this might take a while.

"Fury Swipes."

It took Ash two days to get out of the Viridiam forest, and he wouldn't have taken another second. Simply put Ash hated that place. He wasn't overly found of Bug Pokemon and aside from the rare Pidgeotto that was all there was in there. There was also the fact that he fought four trainers who tried using Metapod. So it was now, officially, his least favorite pokemon.

"Nurse Joy..? But I just saw you in Viridiam City..."

Said Nurse just smiled at Ash and explained that there were dozens of Nurse Joys out there. Also Officer Jennys, even though he had yet to meet any of those. Truth be told those facts scared him a little.

"So she was your sister?" he tried to confirm.

"Yes! And she told all about you Ash." Joy said, with a big smile "She told me that you take very good care and work really hard to raise your pokemon." then her eyes narrowed a bit "But she also said that you are not so careful when it comes to others."

Before Ash could give some sort of excuse, her mood shifted again.

"So, are you going to participate in the Regional Championships?" she asked with another pleasant smile.

Ash raised an eyebrow but just went with the flow "Yes, I am. I'm here to challenge this city's gym."

Before the nurse could answer their conversation was interrupted by a loud laugh, turning towards the door, they saw an older bearded man standing on the door.

"You think YOU can beat Brock? The Pewter City Gym leader?"

"Yes, I think I can do it."

The calm confidence in his voice and the slight smile on his face was enough to raise Flint's eyebrows. Not that they could see it, since he hid half of his face with a red beanie.

"Well, Nurse Joy." the older man said "Make sure your ready for when the kid comes crying back."

He laughed again and headed for the exit, but he stopped when he heard Ash talking to Nurse Joy.

"I wonder if he realizes how stupid he sounds."

Flint stopped and turn "What was that, brat?"

"Uh? Oh, well... You have never seen my pokemon fight, you don't know which and what kind of pokemon I have and for all you know this could be my first or last badge." Ash explained, before he turned to the nurse "Can you tell me where I find the Gym?"

Ash didn't stop walking. He didn't take any deep breaths as he pushed the doors open and he didn't slow down as he walked into the pitch black gym. It's not that he wasn't nervous, it was just that he didn't want to calm down, this fear mixed with excitement and doubt was necessary in his opinion.

This were the emotions Ash liked when going into battle, as long as he controlled them, they gave him focus. Allowed him to make split second decisions.

The young trainer couldn't see anything inside, so he thought best to stop and wait. And he did. After a few moments a spot light flared and showed a very tanned teen, standing in the back of the room.

"I am Ash Ketchum. I came from Pallet Town and I want to challenge this Gym." he explained.

"Is this your first Gym battle?" the teen, Brock, asked and after Ash's nod continued "A Gym match is different from other battles. This match is for Pokemon League Authorization, so there are a few special rules."

Ash didn't say anything, but gave him his undivided attention.

"We will use two Pokemon each, understood?" said Brock.

"Can I switch between my fighters?"

"Yes." the Gym leader answered calmly.

"Then let's go." smiled Ash.

"Yes, I choose Geodude." shouted Brock, throwing a pokeball forward.

Enlarging a pokeball, Ash released Mankey. A tense moment later and Brock started the match.

"Geodude, use Roll Out!"

"Leer, then keep your eyes on him." said Ash.

But Brock wasn't a gym leader for nothing, he knew what the challenger was planning. Decrease the defense and let the Rock pokemon get close for a fighting type move, well he would have to do better then that.

Just as the rolling pokemon was about to hit Mankey, Ash spoke "Use-"

But Brock cut him of "Geodude, use Dig!"

"-Screech."

The Gym leaders eyes widened, there was no counter coming?

"Again and again." ordered the rookie trainer.

With every Screech Geodude's defense feel, even if underground. So Brock realized that Mankey was a sacrifice, he was to lower Geodude's defenses so another pokemon could pack a punch.

So Brock shouted "Geodude, stop it! Hit it now!"

With a roar, the Rock pokemon burst from the ground and slammed himself against Mankey. The Pig Monkey yelped but refused to be toppled.

"Karate Chop."

With an ear splitting screech, the fighting pokemon delivered an unbelievable blow on top of his opponent. There was no grunt or cry, Geodude was just smashed between Mankey's hand and the floor , losing consciousness.

"Well done, Champ." smiled Ash, petting his pokemon "Now back inside, your turn is over."

By then, Brock was done gasping at the fact that his Geodude went down with a single blow "I guess I'm going to have to bring out the big guns." he said "Onix! I choose you!"

When the massive rock snake appeared on the field Ash was really intimidated. But that's ok, because the one that needed to be strong would. He released Meowth and took it upon himself to start the match.

"Fake out, Rain Dance."

In a blur of speed Meowth was in front of the Rock pokemon and she slammed her palm against it's head. Onix barely felt the blow, but he did flinch. With time to spare, Meowth did a little twirl and water started to fall from the Gym's roof.

While wondering how such a think was possible, Brock ordered his Onix to use Rock Throw. The massive pokemon grunted because of the rain, but began hurling stones at Meowth.

"Protect, now!" commanded the challenger.

Standing on two legs and crying her name, Meowth created a pale blue shield that kept the rocks away.

But the Gym leader shouted "Onix, use Bind!"

Before Ash could give another order, or so Brock thought, the Rock Snake pokemon had wrapped itself around Meowth, it's head a just a feet above her.

"And now what? Your pokemon is trapped." asked the Gym leader.

"I thought you knew better then that." commented Ash "Water Pulse, hit it right between the eyes!" he ordered.

"Onix, get away!" shouted Brock, but if there was one thing the Rock pokemon did not have, it was speed.

Before it could get away Meowth had gathered moisture in one of her pawns and pointed it straight at Onix. With a cry she shot the attack at almost point blank range and the massive rock pokemon flung himself back, roaring in pain.

"Do Taunt!" said Ash and Meowth proceeded to point and laugh at the trashing rock pokemon.

Said pokemon heard her laugh and it's anger was enough to break through the pain. The Rock Snake launched himself into Meowth without any prompting from it's trainer.

"Endure." the challenger said, after taking a deep breath.

His pokemon agreed and stiffened it's muscles for the incoming blow. The rock pokemon did hit her, and pushed her all the way from the middle of the battlefield to one of the walls. While it tried to crush the smaller pokemon, they both heard Ash's voice.

"Iron Tail, same spot."

Crying her name and twisting herself, Meowth's smashed a glowing white tail into Onix's forehead at the exact same spot as the Water Pulse. Something cracked and the Rock pokemon went down without another sound.

When Onix flashed in red light and disappeared, Ash turned to Brock with concern "Is it going to be ok?"

"Yes, it's not rare for Rock pokemon to break a little. As long as it's not to deep he could heal without any help, but this wound is definitely going to need a Pokecenter." then the Gym leaded smiled "You've surprised me Ash, I never thought I would see the day were a Meowth would defeat my Onix."

Ash smiled and turned to see his pokemon picking herself up, that last one was a nasty blow "Yeah, but that's just because my Meowth always wins."

Since Ash has just defeated him, Brock choose to think of that as a joke instead of having to lecture the rookie on overconfidence "Well, as proof that you have defeated me I present you this Boulder Badge. Congratulations."

"Thank you, Brock. But know I'm going to take Meowth back to the Pokecenter."

"I'll walk with you, Onix is also in a bad shape."