Disclaimer: I do not own the Pokémon Series, I do not have any rights to the Pokémon Series and I do not make any money from writing these fic's.

A/N: Written for Remi's Novel length challenge and different POV Challenge. The prompt for this chapter is Introduction and the POV for this chapter is Red's.

Chapter 1

Red let out a heavy sigh as he lifted his hat off of his head and ran a hand though his short brown hair. As he walked along the cobble street that led to the Professor's lab he could not help but wonder just what was going on, why did the Professor want him of all people to do another favour for. Sure he had managed to complete the Pokedex and defeat Team Rocket and become the Pokémon Champion but still...there was no way that Red could possibly help the Professor anymore as his fame had travelled too far and no one was willing to have a Pokémon battle with him.

Placing his hat back onto his head Red did his best to ignore the pointed looks that he gained from the passerbyres only to hold himself tall and proud as he did his best not to flinch at the mixture of looks that he also received which seemed to go from hero worship all the way to fear. Not wanting to take any chances and wanting to get out of Pallet Town as fast as possible before the scared people could turn dangerous Red speed up and jogged the last few feet to Professor Oaks' lab.

'Now I know why I decided to stay in Mt. Silver for' Red thought with a groan as his hands went down to his Pokeballs on his belt on reflex as several people whispered to their Pokémon companions and pointed at him 'I sure do hope that whatever Professor Oak wants me to do for him does not involve staying in Pallet Town for any reason.'

Quickly running Red allowed his feet to carry him though the open wooden gate and entered one of many large open green fields that surrounded Professor Oak's lab. As he made the last of his way to Professor Oak's lab Red could not help but to let out a sigh of relief as he felt the glares and stares from the people of Pallet Town disappeared.

As Red got closer and closer to the lab and he spotted the familiar windmill going around and around a happier more relaxed smile appeared on his face as he found extra speed and ran the last five minutes to Professor Oak's lab.

In no time at all Red found himself opening up the main door to Professor Oak's lab and unable to help himself from doing so Red allowed himself to fall back into his old habit and called out.

"Professor Oak! I'm here!" Red called out as he entered the lab, being careful not to slam the door as he did not want to startle any Pokémon.

Red did not have to wait long as a few seconds later a familiar man appeared in a white lab coat with a small smile on his face.

"Hello Red, it is nice to see you again," Professor Oak said kindly as he held his hand out to Red, "Though...I do wish that it could be under better conditions..."

"Is something wrong Professor?" Red asked with a confused frown on his face as he shook the Professor's hand, "Does this have something to do with why you called me here?"

"That it does Red," Professor Oak replied with a sad look over his shoulder, "How would you feel about travelling with a friend of mine who is also a trainer to a new region?"

"Sounds interesting but I would like to know what region we would be going to and I would like to meet my maybe travelling companion," Red answered as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, a new region meant no one would treat him how they did in Kanto and he would be able to find new people that would be willing to battle with him and be friends.

"Very well, I see no problem with that but I have to warn you about something first," Professor Oak said as his face suddenly took on a depressed look, "The trainer who will be your travelling companion is Ash Ketchum and his Pokémon Pikachu. Normally I would have no problem with the a Trainer and their Pokémon going off on a journey but Ash is...well his a bit different from the normal trainer. Both Ash's mother and myself feel that Ash would benefit from going on a Pokémon journey..."

"I am sensing a but here," Red said slowly as he eyed the Pokémon Professor, "What are you not telling me?"

"Ash..he suffers from a sleep disorder called Narcolepsy, I won't bore you with detail Red but Ash can fall asleep at any time in any place which is why his mother and I are so worried about him for," Professor Oak said as he gave Red a serious look, "What if Ash is climbing up a cliff or battling against a particular angry Pokémon who might seriously hurt him and he has an attack and falls asleep?"

"I understand Professor and I will travel with Ash but only on two conditions," Red said seriously as he looked Professor Oak straight in the eyes, "I will only travel with Ash if he wants me to and if we do not travel around the Kanto region. I know with it being Ash's first journey and all its sort of tradition but I want to get away from all the glares and whispers. Why do you think I normally stay hidden away for?"

"Very well, if it is alright with both you and Ash you can travel around the Johto region together, I have a couple of tickets for the journey that I was going to give to Gary if he decided he wanted to travel around the Johto region instead of the Kanto region but he chose to travel around the Kanto region," Professor Oak said as he reached into his white lab coat and pulled out an envelope, "If you give these tickets to the man in the cafe opposite my lab with an Abra he'll use teleport to take you to the forest just outside of New Bark town."

"Thank you Professor," Red said as he accepted the envelope from the Professor and slipped it into his jacket pocket, "Can I met Ash then? Is he ready to go straight from here? I made sure to stock up on supplies on my way here so I'm ready to go whenever if Ash agrees and we can get along."

"Well then let's make the introduction so you can both get going then," Professor Oak said as he turned to face the way he had come, "Ash is already to go, his said his goodbyes and his been bonding with his starter Pokémon while we wait for you."

"What Pokémon did he chose? Bulbasaur? Squirtle? Charmander?" Red asked as he tried to guess, you could learn a lot about a trainer by their Pokémon.

"No, it turns out that this year I did not have enough Pokémon to give out to the new trainers so I gave him another sort of Pokémon," Professor Oak said as he walked back into his lab, "I gave him a wild Pikachu that I caught the other day and-"

"Professor!" Red cried out in shock as he ran to catch up with Professor Oak, "You gave a new trainer a wild Pokémon to begin with?"

"I did and I know that the two of them will become best friends, I have a feeling in my stomach," Professor Oak said with a calm look as he came to a half open door and stopped, "Are you ready to met Ash?"

Red took a deep breath and nodded his head, in his mind he did his best to try and picture just what his maybe new travelling companion might look like through the only thing he could decide on was that they were male, a new trainer and had a Pikachu. Even though he was not sure about this new trainer there was one major plus going for Red, it would get him out of not only Pallet Town but the Kanto region. It would be a new start for him...through first he would have to met and introduce himself to Ash. Turning to look at Professor Oak Red nodded his head causing Professor Oak to give him a smile.

"Alright, let's do this then," Professor Oak said as he pushed the door open and walked into the large main room of his lab.

Following Professor Oak into the main room Red scanned over the room trying to spot Ash and Pikachu. His black eyes landed on a small figure sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with a happy Pikachu 'talking' like mad to the small human.

'His so small compared to how I was back then' Red thought as he took in the boy who looked like a miniature version of him 'He looks like a strong gust of wind could blow him over.'

"Ash! I have your travelling companion with me," Professor Oak called out alerting the new trainer to their arrival.

As Red's and Ash's eyes connected and they looked at each other for the first time Red found himself with a need to protect Ash. The small innocent form Ash processed seemed to call out to Red, asking for protection and it was not a call Red was going to ignore. Ash had found himself a protector.

To Be Continued...