Hey everyone this is Shadow12 co-writing for my little cousin, Forever Insane123. She hasn't had much time to write lately so i'd like to apologize on her behalf for how long this took to get out.

Disclaimer: I nor Shadow12 own Pokémon or any of the affiliated characters, series, games, movies, ect.

This is ForeverInsane123, I would like to thank my cousin for co-writing this for me while I was busy with school and to all of the readers who has read this story and gave a review. Sorry for the long wait.

Chapter 2: Meeting a new friend.

It had been six months since the day Ash had found the Lugia egg on the side of the road, and since then Ash, along with his mother, had taken extremely good care of the egg; he made sure it was warm at night before going to bed, he scrubbed it clean with a soft rag every time he found even the smallest speck of dust speckling its shell and on advice from both Professor Oak and his mother, Ash would talk to the unhatched egg.

Delia had told him, with conformation from the good professor who was visiting at the time, that if he were to speak to the still developing Pokémon inside then it would start building on the bond that would need to be established with Lugia especially if Ash was to be its trainer.

It was with this advice that Ash really took to talking to his future Pokémon, he told it everything from the happenings of each day in the outside world to the dreams he would have at night involving his future journey as a trainer and all the adventures they were going to have as partners.

Speaking of his mother and her wisdom, Ash shuddered when he thought of his mother and her reaction to him bringing home the egg...it hadn't been pleasant. He could still remember her reaction when she had caught him trying to sneak it into the house and just what bringing the egg into the house entitled.

'Flashback'

"ASH KETCHUM, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT GOING OUT BEFORE I WAKE UP?!" was the shout that resonated through the Ketchum household as a light flickered on from a side table in the living room.

Ash, being the young child he was, began to shiver in fear at his mother's angry voice as he clutched the Lugia egg to his chest, hoping Delia hadn't seen it when he tried to sneak back into the house.

Slowly he turned to the angry form of his mother; slipping the egg behind his back as he did so, to see Delia Ketchum sitting in a chair, her arms crossed and an angry scowl across her usually smiling face.

"G-Good morning, M-Mom." Ash stuttered in greeting, only to shrink back under his mother's glare.

"Don't good morning me young man." Delia growled; her glare worsening. "Now where have you been?" she asked sending him a warning gaze.

Ash gulped and was about to try to say something in his defense when Delia caught sight of something sticking out from behind his back.

"Ash," she asked, anger leaving her voice in favor for a more curious tone, "what's that?" she asked pointing to something behind him.

"N-Nothing." Ash stuttered nervously trying to discreetly make it to the stairs, but it didn't work as Delia had suddenly appeared in front of him and snatched the egg from behind him.

Her eyes darkened upon seeing what was in her hands. "Ash" she growled, a dark aura appearing around her as she turned to her cowering son. "Where did you get this?" she whispered, her voice becoming deadly.

Ash gulped audibly as he stared at his mother's angry expression. That was a look that said quite simply, explain NOW!

"W-Well," he stuttered. "I-I was walking along the path in the forest looking for things to help me in my journey, when a bright light appeared a-and when it cleared…." He trailed, unable to finish under his mothers gaze.

"And?" Delia urged, lessening her glare so that he could speak without fear.

"And when it cleared the egg was there and I took it to professor Oak to see if he could tell what it was-it's a Lugia by the way-and after finding out he told me I could keep it if I wanted, since he was too busy with Gary and taking care of the other Pokémon!" Ash said quickly, managing to get it out in one breath.

Delia looked at her son wide eyed as she processed what he had said. Several things ran through her head as she processed Ash's tale, but one thing stuck out more than anything. "L-Lugia?" she stuttered out in shock.

Ash nodded excitedly, "yeah!" he said, happily now that Delia's glare had disappeared. "Professor Oak said that it's a really rare and legendary Pokémon! And the best part is that he said I could keep it!" he exclaimed.

Delia looked on in continued shock as Ash said this; she knew only one other person who had a Lugia for a partner and he was long gone now, or so she had thought. She turned to look at the sky through the window, unconsciously running her hand over the unhatched

egg. 'I knew you were to stubborn to really be gone,' she thought, as an image of her missing husband seemed to appear in the clouds bringing forth a small smile to her face. 'But what are you planning…Red (1)?' her thoughts turned to worry now as she glanced to the egg in her hands.

If Red had left the child of his Lugia to Ash then whatever it was he'd been up to at the time of his disappearance meant that he and his Pokémon had been unable to complete it, and he was leaving up to their only son.

'You never did give up.' She ruefully thought shaking her head. 'But you had better know what you're doing.' Was her last thought to the image as it seemed to nod to her before disappearing. Delia sighed and was about to continue to ponder on her husband and his plans when she felt a tug on her robe.

She turned and had to resist the urge to shiver at the sight before her.

There was Ash standing in front of her, his eyes wide and sparkling; his hands were clasped under his pouting lip. This is what Ash had affectionately dubbed as the look. This is what he used when he really wanted something that he knew she wouldn't approve of. And Delia had a feeling that she knew what her son wanted.

"Pwease mommy, can I keep the Wugia egg?" her suspicion was proven to be correct when he asked this, batting his eyes for added effect.

Delia fought valiantly against the urge to give in, but her motherly instinct was telling her to give in so her son could stop looking at her like that, and it won when Ash decided to up the act and added tears to the look.

'Damn you, you brat!' Delia thought, as her shields gave out and she nodded with a reluctant sigh. "Fine," she muttered, "you can keep the egg." She relented. It wasn't like she was against him having Pokémon at all; she just wanted him to be the proper age to receive his starter.

When he heard this, Ash, proving that he was still a small child, began to jump up and down in joy and excitement. However, that was soon put to a stop when Delia spoke up next.

"On one condition," she said, causing Ash's celebrating to halt and give his mother his full attention. "You must promise me that you will watch over it and when it hatches, you must train hard with it and make sure it to feed and care for it." She said with a smirk at Ash's downtrodden face. It was always nice to know that she could make her son both happy and scared, it was with this method that she had won numerous arguments with both Ash and his father, Red.

Ash meanwhile was going through all the pros and cons of the condition. If he agreed to what his mother asked then he would have to bathe, housetrain and feed, the young Pokémon, but he found that having a Pokémon and becoming a trainer long before any of his other friends or kids his age was too much of an enticer and he made his decision.

He looked up to his mother with a bright smile and nodded again, his excitement growing. "I can do that!" he almost shouted and jumped up to wrap Delia in a hug, making sure to not crush the egg between them. "I promise you mom, when this egg hatches I will be its best friend and take good care of it!" he exclaimed in joy as he buried his head into his mothers chest to hide the sudden tears of joy falling from his eyes.

Delia smiled at the small form of her son as he embraced her, and once again looked at the sky through the window, 'whatever it is you're planning Red, I'm sure Ash will be able to challenge it head on and bring you home where you belong.' She thought happily at the idea of her husband coming home after so long.

'End Flashback'

Ash shivered again at the memory, it wasn't very often he actually saw his mother get angry, but when she did like she had that day it was always a fearful sight. Luckily though, he'd gotten off light and only had to do a few extra chores around the house. Which, while being a small child of age five, there wasn't much he could do.

But anyway, in the last six months Ash had really gotten the hang of taking care of an egg, but as time passed and he talked and bonded with it more, he began to feel…funny.

Not bad funny or laughing at a joke funny. It was as if there was something…extra…in his head. It was like another presence had suddenly planted itself there, and to tell the truth, Ash wasn't really bothered by it as most of the time it was just a momentary occurrence, just a soft whisper in his ear, or a little giggle here and there as he talked.

And more often than not those whispers and giggles were accompanied by a small pulse of warmth from the unhatched Lugia. Something that led Ash to believe, and be overjoyed about, was the Pokémon inside trying to talk back.

Which actually leads us to our hero's current activities.

Ash sat in the center of his bed, the Lugia egg in front of him and resting on a small pillow, describing his latest adventure.

"…and then Gary got so mad at me when I started telling him that I'm gonna have a Pokémon before he does and all the adventures we're going to have. He started complaining about how it wasn't fair and that he was going to ask Professor Oak for his own egg." He exclaimed as he smiled broadly and waved his hands around wildly, remembering when the good professor's grandson had found out about the egg.

This was met with a small pulse of warmth from the egg and a small giggle in his mind; {you…funny.} whispered a small voice.

Ash smiled wider and was about to speak again when his mother's voice called from down in the kitchen. "Ash! Dinners ready!"

Ash's eyes widened and he practically flew off his bed. "Coming!" he called, already racing for his door.

However, just as he reached it, something happened that made him stop abruptly.

A cold, cold, feeling descended around him, and he could swear he heard something sinister in his head. {…out!...must….get out…and…destroy!}

Ash's eyes widened when he heard this and he whirled around the need to protect the egg resting on his bed filling his veins; only to find the feeling was resonating from the very egg he had turned to protect.

Its soft silvery color had shifted to a dark purple almost black and the stripes on its sides had also turned form a dark blue to a light pink. And the egg the visibly radiating shadowy waves of some type.

Ash stood there, frozen in pure fear at both the sight and the cold feeling coming from it.

But, just as suddenly as it had it had came, the feeling vanished. Ash watched as the egg slowly faded back to its original colors and heard a steady and deep breathing in his mind.

He could only stand there, still frozen to his spot. Ash just couldn't figure out what had just happened.

It was then that his door suddenly burst open and Delia came flying into the room, her eyes wide and rapidly moving from one end of the room to the other, and a Pokeball, belonging to their Mr. Mime, in hand, ready to be opened at anytime.

However, once Delia saw Ash, still standing in his prior position and still staring at the egg, her expression went from fierce to worry. "Ash?" she asked, "are you alright?"

Shakily, Ash nodded, but his hand rose to the egg in the center of his bed and his mouth opened and closed, as if he was trying to speak but was unable to do so.

Delia got the picture though, that feeling she had felt down in the kitchen had been because of the egg. But she had to know what happened.

"what happened?" she asked, dropping to her knees after stowing the Pokeball in her pocket and turning Ash to face her.

"T-The egg, i-i-it-" Ash tried, but was unable to finish.

"What, what did the egg do?" Delia urged him.

Ash shook his head, "I-I don't know!" he exclaimed wrapping his arms around his mother and burying his head into her shoulder.

"I was just getting up to go downstairs and it started changing color," came his muffled voice, "and it-it-"

Delia didn't need to know anymore, she knew what had happened after that as she had felt it too. The cold feeling, a feeling of evilness. She didn't know what had caused it, but she was now doubting her decision to let Ash keep it.

"Ash," she began, pushing the boy to arms length. "If you don't want to keep it anymore, I'd understand-"

"NO!" Ash suddenly exclaimed; his brow creasing and a fierce look on his face. "I'm not going to just abandon it!" he stated, turning away from his mother and walking back towards his bed. "I'm not going to abandon it just because it scared me! I promised you mom, I'd stick by this egg and when it hatched, I'd train it to be the strongest! I'm going to stick to that promise!" He said as he reached over and scooped the egg into his arms and held it close. He was taken aback as he did not expect it to be as warm as it was when he touched it.

Delia recoiled a bit at her son's determined look. In that moment she swore she could see her husband standing in Ash's place; their expressions matched so much that if he'd been older than he was then she'd be hard pressed to tell them apart and even then it was well apparent to her just how much of his father's son Ash was.

That was an expression she had seen often enough when she had met Red, and even more after they had started dating and got married. It was an expression that Delia knew she would not win against, or even hope to fight as it was of sheer determination.

Finally, after a moment of staring at her son, she sighed in resignation, "alright," she relented. "But promise me something else Ash. If this happens again, you go straight to Professor Oak. I don't want anything bad to happen to you," she paused and took a look at the egg in Ash's arms, "either of you." She corrected.

What could she say; she wanted to see the egg hatched just as much as Ash did.

Ash grinned happily and nodded his consent to the promise. But just as he was about to speak something happened, only this time it was a cause for joy.

The egg began glowing a bright white light.

Both the residents of the Ketchum house stared in shock before the glowing died down and revealed the egg just as it had been before. They both knew what that meant.

Delia was shocked because she hadn't expected it to start the hatching process so soon and could only wonder why it was happening now.

Ash was shocked because he hadn't expected this to happen just yet. Sure he wanted to meet the Lugia inside the egg and was starting to get a little impatient, but he knew it usually took more time for most eggs to hatch, a year at the latest and Professor Oak had said it was only about a month or two when he found it, which would make it roughly eight months now. So seeing it glowing so soon in his arms was a shock to his system. So much so that he had almost dropped the egg.

"Mom?" he asked looking up to his mother to see her staring at the egg as well. "Does this mean what it think it does?" he hopefully asked again.

Delia nodded, still staring, "it does." She said, before her eyes widened and she stood up hurriedly. "Ash, put the egg back and start getting some hot water ready. I'm going to get Professor Oak. I think we're going to have another addition to the family within the next day!"

Ash nodded to her and sat the egg back on his bed as he was told before heading down to the kitchen to fetch the water as his mother headed down the stairs and out the door.

The day had finally come. Lugia was about to be born.

Meanwhile, away from all the preparations in Pallet there was a small port city to the east. This city was called Vermilion. Being situated near the southern edge of the region, and more specifically the sea, Vermilion City was a key access and way point for trainers leaving for and coming from different regions. While many trainers made use of the port, most trainers from the Kanto Region only made their way to this city to battle the leader of the Pokémon Gym, Lt. Surge.

But at this very moment a rather large ship could be seen entering the port from beneath the large bridge running across the harbor.

As the ship moved towards port a group of five people could be seen standing at the front of the ship.

The person at the head of the group, a man with light brown hair, dark eyes and a short beard covering his chin, he wore a white lab coat over a dark Blue T-shirt and tan cargo shorts, looked upon the approaching city in anticipation.

"It's been a while since the last time I was in Kanto." He commented lightly, a smile adorned his face as he looked at the approaching city.

His comment brought him the attention of the other male of the group. This one, wearing a dark red, long sleeved zip up sweater, held a small girl with dark brown hair and two long bangs framing her face, on his shoulders and nodded in agreement.

"How long's it been, Professor Birch? Five years now?" he asked curiously.

The now named Birch nodded, "give or take a few months," he said, not taking his eyes off the city. "The last time I came to Kanto it was to do a bit of joint research with Professor Oak."

"Who's Professor Oak? Is he like you, daddy? Does he train Pokémon too?" The girl on the man in red's shoulders asked, looking down at her father in eager curiosity.

The two men shook their heads in amusement. "No. But he used to; at his best he could give even the Elite Four a run for their money." The girl's father replied earnestly, smiling up at her.

"Oh." The girl said dejectedly as she looked down, her light blue eyes showing disappointment, she had been looking forward to meeting someone like her father during this trip.

"Don't be that way, May. I'm sure you'll be able to meet a fair few trainers once we get there." came an amused voice from the only other adult of the group.

Turning, the others and the now named May saw a women with the same hair color as May's though the style was different, being bound for the most part and having two ponytails shaped like zigzags hanging down from the back. She wore a light pink dress and in her arms she held a small three year old boy.

The woman smiled at her young daughter and turned her attention to her husband. "Besides, I'm sure you father's friend will be happy to have a battle you can watch, right Norman?" she asked.

The man in red, now known as Norman, nodded happily to his wife. "Of course! If there's one thing I know Red enjoys, its a good battle." he said before looking up to May. "He even has a son about your age, May. I'm sure you two will get along perfectly."

The child's eyes widened, "really?" She asked excitedly and through her arms up in delight upon her father's nod.

"I can't wait!" she exclaimed in joy.

May didn't have very many friends back home, but was always eager to make one when the opportunity presented itself.

The others chuckled at her exuberance, though before they could say anything the ships intercom went off, "ATTENTION. THE SHIP WILL BE ARRIVING IN KANTO IN FIVE MINUETS. ALL DEPARTING PASSENGERS PLEASE GATHER YOUR BELONGINGS AND PREPARE FOR DOCKING."

"Well, might as well get our bags, it won't be too much longer now." Birch sighed as he turned and started heading for cabin deck.

The other adults nodded to each other before they too turned and headed for their cabin with their family.

If only they knew just what this visit would mean in the coming future and just how much it would shape two children's lives.

Hope you guys like this chapter. Please review.