Pokémon Tails: A Journey to the East

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DBZ or Pokémon.

CHAPTER 1: The Boy From Outer Space

A pair of young children could be seen traipsing through the thick woods of the Viridian Forest. One of the kids had blue shorts, yellow shirt, suspenders, red hair, and emerald eyes — the other had blue jeans, black T-shirt, leather vest, red cap, and black hair and brown eyes. Misty Waterflower and Ash Ketchum and currently they were both embroiled in another argument, as usual.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight for a second, Ash Ketchum!" Misty growled angrily.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Ash demanded. "I'm sorry about what happened to your bike, but I had to do it!"

"Just because you had a good excuse doesn't mean it's not an excuse!" Misty snarled. "I swear, if it's the last thing I do, I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth until you pay me back for my broken bike!"

"I know, I know!" Ash snapped.

"And don't you forget it!" Misty huffed.

"I won't, you've told me a hundred times!" Ash retorted.

"I have to to penetrate that thick skull of yours!" Misty griped.

"Better a thick skull than a big mouth!" Ash shot back, taking the time to stop and stretch his mouth and stick his tongue out.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were doing this on purpose, but now I know!" Misty fired back. "You're just an idiot!"

"Oh, is that so?" Ash said, folding his arms. "An idiot, huh? Well, who's the bigger idiot, the idiot or the idiot who follows the idiot?"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Misty complained furiously.

Ash laughed haughtily. "Only to a stupid girl like you!"

WHACK!

In a flash, Misty had smacked Ash with her hidden mallet, leaving the poor boy lying on the ground with Xs in his eyes, stunned.

"No, Mom, I don't wanna go to school today..." Ash babbled, dazed.

"DUMB BOY!" Misty screamed, stalking off with a disgusted harrumph.

Pikachu just stood there, sighing in exasperation at the antics of his human companions. Suddenly, its delicate little nose pricked up and in an instant the little Electric Rodent was off and running right through the woods, catching the attention of both Ash, who stood up recovered from his beating, and Misty, who turned to see what was happening.

"Huh?" she said.

"Hey, what's wrong with Pikachu?" Ash wondered, blinking.

The two kids shared a look, nodded once, and took off after Pikachu.

"Hey, wait, slow down, Pikachu!" Ash said, huffing and puffing.

"I wonder what has it so worked up!" Misty added.

After several seconds of dashing through the woods, the little Pokémon came up next to a tree, sniffing at something unseen. An instant later, Ash and Misty came running up alongside Pikachu.

"Pikachu, what's wrong?" Ash asked, worried.

"What made you take off like tha —" Misty began, but then she suddenly gasped as she caught sight of something leaned up against the tree trunk that Pikachu was closely examining. "Oh, it's a boy!"

"What?" Ash said, and then he spared a glance at the tree too. "Oh, you're right!"

The boy, who looked to be their age, with spiky, messy black hair, light peach skin, and the oddest clothes was laid out against the trunk with both his arms propped up behind his head, snoozing peacefully.

Misty turned to face the yellow rat. "Is this what got you so worked up?"

Pikachu nodded vigorously. "Pika Pi!"

"Who do you think he is?" Ash asked, leaning in for a closer look.

"Aw, who cares?" Misty replied dismissively. "He's probably just some Pokémon Trainer like us."

Suddenly the boy began grunting and turning in his sleep. A second later, his eyes fluttered open, and he rubbed sleepily at them.

"Who are you?" he asked groggily.

"Oh, I'm Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!" Ash said.

"The name's Misty Waterflower," Misty sniffed.

Sitting upright, the boy yawned widely, and suddenly, a brown furry appendage worked its way up to rub at his forehead.

"Hey, what is that?" Ash asked curiously.

"That..." Misty said, her complexion now totally white. "That looks like a... a tail..."

"It is," the boy said, standing up completely even as he fought the sleep out of his system.

"No way!" Ash exclaimed. "Wow, that's so cool!"

Misty fell over. "Doesn't anything faze you?!"

Ash scratched his head nervously. "Um... not really."

Misty just sweatdropped angrily but didn't say another word.

"So why do you have a tail?" Ash asked the boy excitedly. "Are you a Pokémon?"

"A Poké-what?" the boy asked as his senses fully returned to him.

"You mean you don't know what Pokémon are?" Misty repeated. "Who are you and where have you been living for the past ten years?"

"Actually, the truth is, I'm not really human," the boy admitted. "My father was an alien."

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu freaked out.

"A-A-A-A-A-A-A-An alien?" Misty stammered.

"P-P-P-P-P-P-P-P-Pikachu?" Pikachu added.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You're not here to harvest our bodies and stick brain-controlling slugs in our ears, are you?" Ash put forth.

"What?" The boy laughed. "Of course not! Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you. I just needed some time to myself for a while, that's all."

The two human children both breathed a huge heartfelt sigh of relief.

"Whew, that's good to know," Misty muttered.

"Yeah, no kidding," Ash agreed.

The tailed boy suddenly smiled, and inclined his head respectfully. "Hi! I'm Son Gohan! Nice to meet you both!"

Misty seem surprised. "Wow, you're polite, aren't you?" She glanced aside. "Unlike some other people I know!"

Ash just laughed sheepishly.

"Pika Pika," Pikachu muttered with a head shake.

Gohan stared down at the little creature with a confused look.

"I've been meaning to ask you, what's that little creature down there?" Gohan asked curiously.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked, gesturing to itself.

"Oh, well, this is Pikachu!" Ash introduced. "It's a Pokémon!"

"Pika Pika," Pikachu said proudly, inclining its head.

"Oh wow!" Gohan gushed. "It's so cute! I've never seen anything like it!"

"Pika Pika, Pikachu, Pika Pi!" Pikachu said, sounding very flattered.

"Tell me, Son, what kind of animals do you have back on your planet?" Misty asked Gohan.

Gohan glanced away from Pikachu to focus on the human children again.

"Oh, the name's Gohan, actually. Son is only my family name," Gohan explained. "And we certainly don't have any creatures like this."

"Oh, wait a minute, I've got a great idea!" Ash said, sounding like he had figured out the answer to the million-dollar question, and his eyes sparkled. "Hey Gohan, why don't you come with us and we can show you more of our planet?"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu burst out, sounding excited at the idea.

Gohan blinked. "Come with you? You mean it?"

"Now hold on, Ash!" Misty protested. "I'm not so sure about this!"

Gohan turned to face her, and Misty found herself disarmed by those oh so adorable puppy-dog eyes of his.

"What's the matter?" Gohan said sadly. "Don't you like me, Misty?"

Why is it so hard looking at him? Misty wondered. Is he using some kind of weird alien hypnosis on me?

"Not... not at all!" Misty said weakly. "But we shouldn't be running around with aliens! Who knows the trouble it can cause?

Gohan drooped sadly.

"Aw, come on, Misty, what's the harm?" Ash argued.

"We already have it bad enough roughing it out here in the woods every night without someone else slowing us down!" the fiery redhead retorted, and Gohan perked up upon hearing Misty's last statement.

"Oh, that's all you care about?" Gohan said. "Well, I think I can help you with that!"

The two kids turned to stare at Gohan again.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu said.

Gohan motioned to them with his arm.

"Stand back," he instructed them.

Looking confused, Misty and Ash did as they were told, and Gohan pulled something small and tiny out of his pocket. Clicking a button on the top, he tossed the item as hard as he could, which detonated in a poof of smoke, revealing... a comfortable-looking house!

"OH WOW!" Ash exclaimed. "You can make a house appear out of nowhere!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, sounding just as shocked.

Gohan laughed. "Actually, it's called a capsule. It's used for mass storage where I come from and you can fit anything from a house to a plane to the smallest bookshelf into a capsule, and it will store it for you, no problem!"

"Amazing!" Misty said, inching closer to the capsule house. A few seconds later, she reached forward hesitantly and poked it, as if she were terrified that it would bite her. "It feels real and everything!"

"Well, of course it's real, silly," Gohan said. "It's just technology."

"Wow, Ash, think of how useful this is going to be on our travels," Misty said, and she clapped both hands to her cheeks as she happily fantasized away. "Having a nice little home to go to every night, a nice, warm, relaxing bubble bath before bed..."

"So does this mean I can come?" Gohan asked anxiously.

Misty turned to him with a smile, as if thinking. "Well, the risks are pretty high, but what's life without a little risk?"

And just like that, she winked at him.

Flustered, embarrassed, Gohan could only blush in response.

"All right, this is awesome!" Ash whooped. "You're gonna love it here on Earth, Gohan! It's a nice place to live!"

Gohan frowned. Earth, huh? So it has the same name as my home.

He looked up at the gathering stars, and realized for the first time just how late it was.

Oh Mother... he thought. If only you weren't so overprotective. Why, Mom, why can't you just let me live my own life?

Suddenly, something grabbed at his arm. He turned to find that it was Ash.

"Come on, Gohan, let's go inside!" Ash babbled like an overexcited three-year-old.

Gohan stifled a giggle. He's just like Father.

"Pikachu!" the Electric Pokémon piped up as Ash dragged Gohan into the capsule house.

From the bushes, three people emerged from the bushes, looking dumbfounded.

"Did you hear that?" a blue-haired man said. "That little brat is from another planet!"

"Unbelievable!" the red-haired woman said. "This could be the greatest discovery in history!"

"Da Boss is gonna be very pleased when we tell him dis!" the small, catlike Pokémon next to them said gleefully.

"That settles it then," Jessie said with a smirk. "From now on, we only have those twerps in our sights!"

James nodded. "It seems following them was the right move."

"Exactly!" Jessie said.

"We'd better go and dell da Boss about dis right now!" Meowth said.

"Right!" the other two agreed, and they all slipped back into the bushes, leaving just as quietly as they came...

Well, what do you guys think? It has a simple premise, for now, but like the Pokémon anime itself, it's gonna get more fleshed out as time goes on. I'm open to any reviews. Also, can anybody guess what my shippings are gonna be? :P

And yes, the name is a pun on Gohan's tail and the inspiration for the original Dragon Ball, A Journey to the West. XD

Also, can anyone spot the Animorphs reference? I'll give the one who does a special treat!

Anyway, please review!