Disclaimer: I don't own characters or locations made by Game Freak or its subsidiaries. Please enjoy.

A walk alone

Chapter 1

Ash woke up slowly. He sleepily thought it was still early with the light outside barely tinged a warm orange. Ash huddled tighter in his bed to ward off the cold air that sat beyond his blankets. Before he was alert enough to realize today was the day he would choose a pokemon, he fell back asleep content to dream of his new partner...

Ash woke again.

The abrupt yell from his mother coincided with his alarm going off. Ash looked at the clock with blurry eyes before realizing he must have put it on snooze. He hopped out of bed stripping off his pajamas as he went. He was nearly naked as he made it half way down the hall.

'I'll be down in a minute mom!' He said in a panic, his voice already being drowned out by the shower head.

With only a pair of pants in his hands and boxers being pulled up barely past his waist, Ash had quickest and shortest shower in his life. It was enough to wake the young ten year old. Ash ran down stairs two steps at a time and out the door with just what he would barely deem acceptable to travel alone. No back pack, just a belt for pokeballs, a hat and blue jacket to protect him from the elements. Ash ran up the steep hill to Professor Oaks' lab.

A crowd of people stood outside to congratulate the group of kids who showed off their pokemon. Ash recognized everyone including Gary who preened under the attention. Gary was a boy who liked to boast of his famous grandfather and his own knowledge of pokemon. Ash would be willing to admit the kid knew more about pokemon than he did, but the instant need for respect the boy wanted of people put Gary in Ash's do-not-like list.

Ash went around the perimeter of the building to the back entrance. The lab supported a ranch for all sorts of pokemon. The fence was more seen as a boundary for pokemon to know where to go rather than something to prevent people from coming or going to the compound. Ash greeted two assistants who instantly recognized him. The pair escorted him to Professor Oak.

'Professor! Looks like you are not getting out that easily.' Called a lab assistant. Ash felt nervous as Professor Oak looked up from his desk. To his right were several empty pokeball stands.

'Ash, I am glad to see you made it. I was concerned when you were not with the others.'

Ash reddened. 'Sorry Professor, I slept in.' Ash did not feel the need to try and explain how he did not remember the button on his alarm was placed on snooze at least five times before it went off a sixth.

'Don't worry about it Ash. However, we have a bit of a problem that developed over the past two nights.' Professor Oak led the boy to the other side of the room. There sat two pokemon who were huddled close together in a dome nest made of straw and earth.

'You see, I normally present new trainers who are ready with a choice of pokemon, the number of students plus one, so trainers would always have a choice when they selected a pokemon. Unfortunately, two of the pokemon, well...' Professor Oak gestured to the nest. Two pokemon cautiously poked their heads out of the small nest opening before going back inside.

'They started a family.' Oak said excitedly even as he gave an apologetic shrug to Ash. Oak gestured for the young trainer to follow him.

'The pokemon who were to be chosen today were a charmander, a squirtle, a bulbasaur, and two nidorans, a female and a male. The two nidorans had escaped for about three weeks before we finally found the couple. They had already laid a nest of eggs underneath the lab in several burrows. Needless to say, I do not want to separate either of them given the circumstances.'

Ash nodded. He swallowed his disappointment. After that kind of explanation Ash felt it would be selfish to ask for a pokemon.'I-I understand Professor. Do you know when a pokemon will be old enough for me to take on a trainers journey?'

Professor Oak shook his head. 'I am afraid I can not be sure, most of the pokemon already on the ranch are way too experienced or too young to be given to a new trainer. The young ones may be ready in the spring, but that is still nine months away.'

'I understand Professor. We'll, if I don't catch one on my own, I'll be here when you re-announce you have pokemon ready.' Ash swallowed the lump in his throat as Oak led them through the compound.

After a moment of hesitation, Professor Oak added. 'Ash, wait a moment, I do have one pokemon who may be ready to be given to a trainer. But he is a little... rough around the edges.'

Ash stopped and turned to look at the professor. The pair started back towards the lab room with the empty pokeball stands. Professor Oak opened a container that had a pokeball with a small yellow lightening bolt above the control button. The professor opened the ball. A red beam of energy hit the ground only to reform into a small yellow pokemon with black stripes and a jagged tail. 'This pokemon is a pikachu.' Ash looked at the small pokemon. Ash noticed the annoyed look it gave him then the snarled glare at the professor. It leaned onto all four paws and bared it's teeth.

'Why is he so different from the other pokemon that he could not replace one of the nidoran couple?' Ash wondered aloud even as he thought the pokemon was already aggressive. Ash knelt in front of the pokemon. Ash decided it was better to lower his head to meet the pokemon eye to eye. The pokemon charged a crackle of electricity from its cheeks in a warning.

Professor Oak happily replied, 'I found this little guy munching on the power supply wires while searching for the nidorans actually. He put up a decent fight before I captured him.'

Ash took a moment and it suddenly clicked why Professor Oak was not willing to put this pokemon with the starter pokemon for trainers. 'He's a completely wild pokemon isn't he? All the starters are raised in nurseries, where this guy was captured. No one earned enough respect in the little guys eyes.'

Ash sat back to give the little pokemon some room. The mouse was following the conversation and looked less hostile but still gave slight glares over to Professor Oak.

Oak looked surprised Ash understood the situation, when the professor was going to comment on it Ash cut him off before he could ask. 'You can thank your grandson Gary. He was giving everyone a lecture about how to treat your first pokemon capture some time last week. I may not like him, but he does know his stuff.'

Professor Oak smiled slightly at that. The professor looked back to the small pokemon. 'While we have decided he is no older than one year old, he was able to feed directly off the electricity conduit that lead to the labs. That's not something we really expect from most fully grown raichu's with out hurting themselves. I was tempted to keep him here to see what kind of technique the pikachu used to accomplish it, but he has been very uncooperative the few times I took him out of his pokeball.'

For the first time Ash looked right at pikachu to address him directly. 'Hello Pikachu. My name is Ash. I came to professor Oak to accept my first pokemon. Only trainers who had completed a really rough survival course can have a shot at being a trainer. Unfortunately a few pokemon started a family before any one knew about it. So that leaves me with no pokemon. Professor Oak offered you as a possible option instead of waiting for nearly another year.'

Pikachu piped in 'Pikapika' in a nearly silent snarl. Ash gently waved his hand in a calm motion.

'After hearing how you got here, I think I agree with you. You are a wild pokemon who was pretty much locked in that pokeball for a while with no interaction with the trainer that captured you. Then given away.' Pikachu nodded but still kept his ears low and his fur stood at attention.

'Pikachu, I am not sure if I can handle you as my starter. I never had my own pokemon before. I have only read about the local ones and how to spot and avoid them.' Ash palmed the red and white pokeball that was Pikachu's home. 'Do you want to be released?'

Pikachu perked up slightly. Ash felt his heart sink, he still had held out hope maybe they could have worked something out. But offering the mouse pokemon freedom felt right.

Professor Oak stirred at this. 'Ash I can not just release the pokemon to you to release in the wild. If you want to release him you will have to accept him as your first pokemon. I will not be able to give you a second.'

Ash looked up surprised. 'But if he just wants to be released…'

Professor Oak sighed. 'If you don't take him I will be studying him for some time. But I would release him as well if it his wish. But that would be a long time where he will be my pokemon to train.' Ash felt himself frown at that and turned away from professor Oak.

'Pikachu is a captured pokemon Ash. It is my fault for not working with him but it is something I can work out on my own with Pikachu. He will be cared for Ash. Are you sure you want to sacrifice your training pokemon to release him?'

Ash looked at Pikachu who looked ready to bolt after hearing what professor Oak said. Ash sighed as he patted Pikachu's head. He couldn't look at Professor Oak but he nodded. Oak sighed in annoyance but nodded before handing Ash his pokedex. 'very well Ash I can't stop you. I just hope you understand what this can do to your carreer.'

Ash remained silent as he got his pokedex and Pikachu's pokeball. Finally he turned back to Pikachu. 'Alright. I can't free you here, but will you be willing to come with me out side? We can go to the edge of the Oak ranch where I can release you.'

Pikachu was immediately suspicious and stared at the ball warily. Ash took the hint and put it back on his belt. He offered the pokemon his arm.

'Come on little guy, hop on, you won't even need to walk.'

Pikachu tentatively walked up the boys forearm then scurried up the rest of the way. Ash immediately felt the static electricity come over him like a wave. Ash tilted his head as two strands of hair 'pop'ed from a electric discharge.

Ash petted the pokemon before looking at Professor Oak. 'I'll be right back professor.' Professor Oak looked amused at the exchanged but nodded his consent.

Ash looked out the door and took off his pokemon league hat and put it on Pikachu. Pikachu squeaked in alarm, but Ash laughed off the static discharge that warned off such quick motions. 'It will keep you dry until we get to the far edge of the ranch, it looks like its going to rain.' Ash pointed to the sky and started walking as Pikachu followed Ashes fingers to the air. Dark clouds had already formed and covered the length of sky in their valley. The air smelled of fresh earth from a distance where rain had already started to fall along the hills.

'I am sorry for the position we put you in, by the way.' Pikachu turned to look at Ash around the boys hat. 'I mean it, the ranch itself is meant for pokemon who are trained by humans. Professor Oak had already told us would-be-trainers what wild pokemon can do in a strange new habitat. Just be sure to be more careful when you go looking for electricity alright?' Pikachu perked up at that and chittered at the boy.

Ash pushed himself up and over the fence with the little pokemon clung to his shoulder. Once the two were inside the tree line, Ash took back his cap. 'Ok Pikachu, I am going to need to set you down and take out the pokeball you were captured in. I'm going to point it at you. It won't hurt but we will know you are released from the balls energy as soon as I let you out again because the ball will fall apart. Are you ready?'

Pikachu nodded and hopped down to face the boy still weary of the energy from the strange ball. 'Pikachu, return.'

The ball shot a red beam of energy and immediately shrank to the pocket sized ball. Ash laughed silently to himself.

'I'm releasing a pokemon before I even caught one.' Ash longingly looked at the ball before he exhaled, releasing any expectations he had for being a trainer... For now at least.

'Pokeball, release!' A beam of blue energy shot out of the ball and immediately made a clank sound before the hinges split.

Pikachu shook off the blue energy before it checked its body and cried out 'Pika pika!' The little yellow pokemon ran and jumped around happily. Ash laughed in celebration for the small pokemon.

'You stay out of trouble pikachu.' Ash placed his hand out for the little pokemon as an offer to be petted. Pikachu sniffed the hand carefully and leaned into Ash's palm. Ash smiled slightly and caressed the little mouse. After a moment the rain started to fall. Ash frowned at the distant thunder. The storm was moving in quickly.

'Just be careful not to wander too close to human buildings if you don't want to be captured again. I should get back before that lightning comes in. Good bye.'

Pikachu watched the boy hop back over the fence. Ash gave the mouse one more look before he started walking the distance to the ranch house. Pikachu jumped onto the wooden fence and shouted 'PIKA!' Pikachu waved his little arm in an imitation he had seen humans do when they separated. Ash turned and laughed before he waved back.

Ash had mixed feelings about his first encounter with a pokemon. He felt they had really connected. Ash was not sure what he had hoped for when he walked the mouse out to the edge of the ranch, but his chest clenched as he understood that he would need to find a way to capture a pokemon on his own. He did not like leaving Pallet Town until he did have one.

His thoughts were cut off as lightning crashed down in the open field of the ranch. 'That was close!' Ash immediately started towards the forest line. Training kicked in and Ash ran to the forest for shelter. The rain took the lightning as a cue and torrents of water began to fall. Ash could feel ground quickly turned to mud under his feet with every step. The last two hundred feet were beginning to feel like miles. Time slowed down as lightning hit somewhere to Ash's left.

That was really close!

Ash pushed himself farther and felt the footing slip under him. The ten year old cried in pain as he felt his ankle roll to the side of his foot. The boy fell to the ground and looked up quickly to the forest line. It was still a ways away. Ash started to get on his feet again and it took some effort to get up with only one good leg. With a groan, Ash quickly as he dared moved along the slick mud.

'CHU!' Ash looked back to where he left the Pikachu. The little electric mouse was running to him.

'Pikachu get out of here! You can't help me. It's too dangerous! I don't have far to go.' Ash and the pikachu knew it was an out right lie, it took them forty minutes to clear the ranch. Ash had just started limping beyond the fence when the pokemon caught up to him. His thoughts were interrupted as lightning hit a random tree in the forest to due south of the pair.

Pikachu looked at the ten year old before turning to see the distance towards the tree line. The pokemon nudged the boy to get a move on before he planted his paws in the muddy earth. Ash followed the nudge and started to walk, believing the little mouse was right behind him and his quick hobble. Ash was almost to the tree line when lightning struck somewhere directly behind him.

'PI-KA!'

Ash turned around. Light flashed around the pokemon. The little mouse released lightning in an arc from the ground into the sky. The flash of light appeared and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Ash, now safely behind the tree line, started to call for the mouse to follow before lightning struck the mouse again. The yellow pokemon's tail was raised straight into the air. His four legs stood strong. Pikachu screamed and directed the lightning in the opposite direction of Ash. Ash felt his hearth thrum from the giant arc that could have hit so close to him.

'Pikachu! I'm safe, come here!' Pikachu turned its head and looked relieved before an unexpected bolt of lightening struck the mouse. The pokemon screamed in pain as the full force of nature coursed through its body. The mouse slumped. Arcs of electricity flowed off the little pokemon.

Ash was not sure if any more bolts would be attracted to the pokemon, but he did know the pikachu needed to be healed. Ash pulled an empty pokeball from his belt. He looked at the distance between him and the pikachu. It was not far, but the rain really would throw off his aim. With an exhaled breathe, Ash threw it at the pikachu. There was no resistance from the capture. The ball flew back to Ash's hand with Pikachu firmly captured in the ball.

'I'm sorry little guy, I'll release you as soon as its safe and healed. I promise.' Ash pulled further into the trees as the rain and lightening took its course. Ash found a relatively dry part of ground under a thick canopy of trees. Ash pulled off his soaked jacket and his shoe to allow his rapidly swelling ankle time to swell with out chaffing against his shoe. Ash only had limited supplies with him, thinking he was going back to his house to get the rest of his equipment after he received his pokemon.

Ash sighed at the single potion he had in his pocket. It was a small cylinder with a trigger at the end. It was the kind of potion you applied directly to the pokemon, not one you can inject through the pokeball's healing system. Ash released the unconscious pokemon and gently moved around the patches of burnt fur. Ash did his best to spray the worst looking spots, but knew pikachu needed to be taken to a care center like Oaks lab.

'I can't have you go back into your ball in this state. I just hope I didn't injure you too bad when I made you go into that pokeball in that condition.' Ash took off his shirt. It was mostly dry thanks to the thick jacket he wore, even if the rain was heavy enough where water was seeping through. Ash wrapped the shirt around the electric pokemon before holding it close. After the adrenaline rush, Ash was feeling incredibly sleepy. The drone of the mid day rain and the fading lightning lulled him into a doze. It was moments later when Ash fell asleep against the base of a tree.

-o-

Ash woke up under a warm blanket. Ash's mind lazily tried to remember where he was but could only remember flashes of falling asleep under a tree. Ash sat up only to wince slightly from the movement. Every muscle ached and he had no idea why. The ten year old laid back down and just tried to think. Now that he was more alert he vaguely remembered a few people hovering over him and lifting him up onto a truck.

Pikachu.

Ash looked around and noticed a lone pokeball was sitting on the nightstand next to his bed. Ash picked it up and was not surprised when the ball expanded to full size and was marked as occupied. Ash exhaled and released the pokemon. Ash was relieved when pikachu appeared in red light. The electric mouse looked around quickly before catching sight of Ash.

'Pikapi!' Pikachu chittered before hopping over the layers of blankets and jumped into the boys chest. Pikachu gave a relieved coo and looked up at Ash to lick the boys' cheek.

'I'm glad to see you are alright. I was worried about you too.' Ash hugged the yellow mouse tighter. 'I'm sorry about throwing a pokeball at you. But there was no other way to save you.'

Pikachu replied with a 'Chaa' before it curled up in Ash's lap and went to sleep. Ash smiled at the small ball of yellow fur. Ash absent mindedly pet the pokemon before he leaned against the head board of the bed and fell asleep.

Ash woke up later with a gentle hand resting on his shoulder. Ash looked blurry eyed at the figure over him and realized it was his mother. 'Mom.'

Delia Ketchum sighed, relieved to see her son awake. 'Hi honey, you gave us a scare.' Delia pulled her son into a hug mindful of the sleeping pokemon still in Ash's lap.

'When was I found?' Ash was still not sure how much time had passed.

'Late the night you went to try and release pikachu. Professor Oak healed pikachu and a doctor discussed how you had such a large amount of electricity in your system. Professor Oak explained pikachu's are a natural lightening rod. Even being around a calm pikachu carries a risk of being receptive to lightning strikes due to the small amounts of electricity the pokemon released to the ground and what ever the pokemon touches.'

'I carried him the whole length of the ranch and walked the same path back to the lab. Do you think pikachu knew? I was surprised when he came running back to me.' Ash gently rubbed the top of the pokemons head.

Ash's mom nodded, 'Probably. Professor Oak says that ground to cloud bolts of lightning are almost a guarantee when an electric pokemon is around. Pikachu would know this for sure. Are you hungry dear?' Ash nodded.

Delia quickly left the room leaving Ash and pikachu to themselves. Ash looked down as he saw pikachu's ears enter his field of vision. 'Pikapi?'

Ash leaned over and grabbed the ball of its pedestal. 'I am sorry you are locked to a pokeball again. I'll let you go in a second let me get up.'

Pikachu bounced on his chest as he tried to get up and Ash fell back into bed. 'Pikapi!' Pikachu announced before knocking the ball out of Ash's hand and it rolled to the floor.

'Pikachu what are you doing?'

The yellow mouse jumped off the bed and picked up its pokeball. On two legs it walked over to Ash's pokebelt that had five other empty balls and Pikachu pushed the ball until it latched to the belt. Satisfied, Pikachu jumped up to Ash's bed and back into Ash's chest making a 'Chaa!'

Ash felt very relieved. And he held the mouse. 'You definitely want to be my partner then?'

'Pika!' Pikachu agreed letting Ash pet him. Pikachu became alert again before getting out of Ash's hands and standing upright. Ash looked at the mouse who put its paw to it self 'Pikachu' The mouse then leaned forward and pressed a paw against Ash's chest. 'Pikapi.'

'You just want Pikachu as your name?'

'Pichu.' Agreed the mouse.

Ash laughed to himself at the absurdity of it all. 'Alright Pikachu. All there is to do now is just get healed up.'

-o-

It took both Ash and Pikachu several days to begin to run around the Ketchum household before the boys' mother told him he looked healed enough to start his journey. Ash cheered with his new partner Pikachu. The two had stuck together at all times in the house and when one left the house the other followed. While Delia gave her son a odd look at times when Pikachu left the house and Ash followed, she felt encouraged that the two were bonding.

Delia looked at message she wrote down when she last spoke to Professor Oak. 'I guess its time for him to really start his journey.'

True to her predictions, two days later, Ash and Pikachu left for their pokemon journey.

-o-

'Hey kid want to battle?'

Ash looked up ahead. A kid a year older than him had a rattata standing by him while they looked at the river. Ash perked up at the idea of an actual battle.

'You up for it pikachu?'

Pikachu looked at him and nodded, 'Pikachu!'

'Looks like we are in, one on one?'

The kid smiled, 'Sure! Lets go Tat!'

Ash put his back pack down and took out his pokedex. He was familiar with Ratttata, but it was good to get into a habit of use it. Ash re-read a few text and nodded. 'Let's go pikachu, tackle.'

'Rattata quick attack.'

Ash saw the attack coming. 'Dodge pikachu.' Pikachu moved to his right but was hit. Pikachu rolled in the dirt before getting up. Ash pursed his lips, the reaction was slow.

'Pikachu thundershock.'

Pikachu stopped moving and started to generate electricity. It shot to the Rattata who shudderd from the attack.

'Pikachu, tackle again.'

Pikachu started moving again. The rattata shook off the thundershock and stood waiting for orders. Ash saw the hesitation and shouted, 'Quick attack.'

Pikachu moved in from a tackle to suddenly burst into a quick sprint that hit rattata again. 'Tackle on the rebound.' Ash called. Rattata was pushed back by the quick attack and was hit again from Pikachu's tackle.

The rattata slumped on the ground. 'Come back pikachu.'

The kid gave a moan in disappointment. 'Good battle.'

'Good battle. My name is Ash, what's yours?'

'Kome.' Kome got a potion out and took care of his rattata. 'Your pikachu is fast.'

'Really? We haven't had too many chances to battle.'

'I am sure if you stay on this road you will find more people looking for battles.'

'Thanks Kome.'

Kome pulled out a pocket of change. 'Here. For the win.' Ash looked at the change in his hand. It was a few hundred pokedollars. 'Just be happy with it man, trainers are always poor. We locals like to support the effort. You keep us all safe.'

The kid waved his hand and started walking away with his rattata trailing behind him.

Ash looked at the change. He knew that trainers were supposed to be protectors for the country. But it never really registered how other people would see him. Ash pocketed the change and said a quiet thank you to the air before resuming his walk with pikachu next to him. Ash gave his partner a sidelong glance.

'Pikachu we are going to have to figure out how to make you move the way I want you to, we are both too slow when we saw what the rattata was doing. We'll work on that charging too. We shouldn't have you be a sitting duck while you get ready to attack.'

Pikachu chittered and nibbled Ash's ankle in protest. Not missing a beat Ash added 'Start practicing swift.'

Pikachu growled in annoyance before sparks of electricity grew from his cheeks. Which promptly popped into gasps of energy from the failed attempt.

-o-

Ash turned back to look at Viridian City silently disappointed. The gym was closed. But a few of the trainers who were at the center said no new trainers should go there first. The Viridian City Gym was the place you go to if you want to find a job. The gym leader Giovanni will stomp anyone who attempts his gym and did not come prepared. Every trainer Ash talked to had at least ten badges and they were all feeling as if they were not ready for the gym. The idea that there was a gym so close to home but with such a reputation made him uncomfortable.

Ash thanked the group for the advice before passing it to go north. A few of the younger trainers said Pewter was actually a good place to start for gym battles. Especially if they grew up in Viridian. Ash wondered why but did not ask.

It was a two day walk when Ash finally slowed to a stop with Pikachu halting and tilting his head in confusion. They had not been walking long. 'Come here Pikachu. I been thinking a lot about how we are going to get our first badge.'

While Ash always knew his pokemon would get hurt, the experience with the lightning strikes put the whole idea of pokemon fighting in a new perspective. 'I don't want to just go into the gym and demand a battle for a badge. You could get hurt for no reason. So we are going to take our time and think about what this gym specializes. I saw a few signs around the last village that advertised different things, but one common link was that they all used rock pokemon, not the grass kind we see in Pallet Town.' Pikachu looked ahead further down the path and noticed how the trees of the forest began to filter as the path wound higher into the rocky hillside. Pikachu chittered a reply of understanding back at his trainer.

'This means that we are going to train to fight against rock pokemon. I only know a little my self and my pokedex will not give me any information I don't already know about from a scan.' Ash took out the pokedex and frowned at it. Ash demonstrated what he was talking about by trying to pull up Charizard on his pokedex. He had seen Professor Oaks Charizard but never scanned it. The pokedex gave a blank screen with a silhouette of a large pokemon. Pikachu hopped onto Ash's shoulder to look at the screen.

'PikaPika' the pokemon sighed in disappointment. Ash just laughed at the reaction.

'All this means is we are going to practice fighting rock pokemon. We'll wander the hills for a bit and try fighting them and learning what we can about them.'

-o-

Ash poked one last branch at the steady camp fire before stretching. Scouting the area for pokemon had been successful for the first few days but as they drew closer to the next town, pokemon were becoming more scarce. Ash looked at the quickly healing marks on his pokemon. Pikachu perked at the look before he ate the last nibble of food.

Pikachu cheered when Ash reached for a few rocks he had picked up from the path earlier in the day. Three branches were picked clean, two were narrowed to a whip like tip. The other had a heavy wooden knot at the end.

Ash grimaced at the realization early on when Pikachu quickly outfought every wild rock pokemon in the area. Ash believed they had all the basics of the rock pokemons strengths' down. But none of the rock pokemon could hold a candle to Pikachu's speed anymore. Ash was reluctant at first but Pikachu encouraged and started to down right play on Ash's sleeping form in the early mornings for some kind of exercise when battling was becoming easier.

The first time Ash had swung a tree branch so sharply it cut across Pikachu's electric sacks, the young trainer was ready to drop the training and take the pokemon to the center. Pikachu ignored the sting, only to growl a combative challenge to his trainer before charging. Pikachu attempted to bite the tree branch. Ash had smiled at his pokemon in relief before continuing the unconventional training.

Ash palmed three smooth rocks with one hand and the tree branch in the other. With a mighty roar Ash threw two of the three rocks at Pikachu who dodged both before swiftly dodging around Ash to get behind his trainer. Ash swung the heavy knotted branch with his left hand first low, then high before throwing his final rock at Pikachu as hard as he could. The pokemon disappeared with a burst of speed before several copies surrounded Ash. Ash thumped the tree branch hard on the ground several times to kick up dust and ignored three of the clones that did not react to the dust. Pikachu avoided the tree branch again before sprinting forward again biting the tree branch with glowing teeth. The branch broke in half.

Ash smiled before picking up the mouse by the scruff of his neck and tossing him into the air. 'Keep me off balance!' Pikachu gathered energy and growled, releasing energy into his vocal cords creating a sound that was far deeper than anything the small pokemon should be able to produce. Pikachu suddenly bent his tail and his body back as the stub of the tree branch flew at him. Pikachu then launched a lightning bolt at the tree branch. Ash let it go before rushing Pikachu. The mouse let him get close and Pikachu dodged a kick and jumped and nipped at Ash's arm in an imitation of the pokemons bite attack. Pikachu nipped Ash's arm several more times in quick succession. Pikachu moved away when Ash reached for him. When Pikachu tried to make room, Ash kicked dirt at the pokemon. Pikachu jumped back to avoid dirt in his eyes and to practice what ever surprise attack a pokemon could produce at that range.

'Good, how do you feel?' asked Ash. His voice was breathless and he hunched over to take slower deeper breaths.

'Pikapika!' came the squeaked reply. Ash laughed when Pikachu came into view just as sweaty and tired with the canteen band in his mouth and the water container dragged behind him.

'Thanks Pikachu.' Ash stood up and recapped the canteen when they were both hydrated. Ash went back to the camp fire and grabbed one of the other branches. 'Remember Pikachu, energy is energy. Swift works just like thundershock does. You just don't use your electric pouches for it.' Ash went to the center of the clearing and moved the branch in front of him.

'Again.'

-o-

'Thanks, we really needed it.' Ash took the dehydrated food and placed it in his bag.

The younger boy laughed at the trainer before walking back to town. The walk was not that far to the pokemon center. The young boy said he did not know anyone else who would want to come out here to challenge him and waved.

Ash shook his head at the latest challenger. Word got around that there was a trainer who was in the hills. The influx of challengers while training with Pikachu was a welcome break and the trade of battles for goods allowed the pair to stay training longer than they expected.

Ash looked at Pikachu who sat on his hind quarters looking tired and sucking on a bottle of water. 'Pika!' it squealed in satisfaction and promptly tossed the empty water bottle at his trainer. Ash gave his pokemon an annoyed look as the empty bottle rolled to his feet.

'Very funny Pikachu. Looks like we need to head to the river. Get in front of me, I'll call out targets for you to hit.' Pikachu perked up at the training exercise and hopped in front of his trainer.

'The flowering red tree to our left.' A chirp of electricity shot out at the tree. Ash stopped and looked at the tree in satisfaction. 'Five more targets and we start throwing swift attack instead.' The electric mouse sagged its head. Pikachu hated using swift.

The pair scaled down a steep hill before Ash called out a boulder just ahead of them at the marker they used to know how close to the river they were. Pikachu obligingly shot an electric shock that hit the rock. The rock promptly vibrated with energy and exploded.

'Whoa what happened to the rock?' Ash looked at his arm and felt the hair of his arm were standing up. 'Pikachu return.' Pikachu snarled as he was absorbed by his pokeball. 'Sorry little buddy, but you were making too much electricity again. Just give me a minute and I'll let you out.' Ash went to a near by tree and touched it until he felt the his body loose the charge of electricity. Normally it was not a problem even when Pikachu was sitting on his head. But lately he had been noticing that Pikachu had been discharging a lot more electricity. Ash only experienced so much electricity after walking on the metal bridges that separate the Viridian Forest and the rocky mountains that lead to Mount Moon.

'That's a thought.' Once the electricity was gone, Ash went to investigate the boulder explosion. He could not feel any of the electricity build up anymore. Looking at the boulder he found flecks of black rock in the boulder. Ash took out his pokedex and looked at the archives for the area. After a few moments of quick research of the area Ash was satisfied that Pikachu hit a heavy vein of iron in the boulder and the surrounding ground. 'I guess that means no more electric attacks until we are out of the area. There is so much iron here I am surprised we haven't blown our selves up yet.'

Ash pulled off Pikachu's ball from his belt and released him. Immediately Ash could feel the charge from Pikachu. Now that he was really looking to feel it, it was hard to ignore.

'Looks like we are just practicing swift now Pikachu. No more electric attacks.' Pikachu glared at him but obediently walked ahead of him waiting for orders.

-o-

With the dwindling supplies, Ash decided it was time to finally finish the last leg of their trip. Ash walked into Pewter City with Pikachu sleeping in his pokeball. Ash had managed to wear out his pokemon early that morning and allowed himself to be absorbed into the small ball with minimal fuss. The city was twice as large as Pallet Town and Ash was thankful the pokecenter was near the entrance to the town they walked into. The young trainer set Pikachu's pokeball on the tray and Nurse Joy took the lone pokemon into the back with the promise Pikachu would be well rested in the morning.

Ash sleepily traveled to his room and unloaded his travel pack. He looked through what he needed for the trip to the next town and then went to find something to eat. A pokemon trainers journey was expensive, but there were usually enough trainers around to bet matches for money or equipment. Ash made enough money from betting some of his supplies to not worry about asking his mom for money. With that thought Ash was about to leave the pokecenter only to turn around and ask for where the communications room was.

It might not have been too late for a call. Ash took off his hat and ruffled his hair. It was matted with sweat from the few days of traveling. Again, Ash just now thought he should really bathe before he leaves the center to look for food. His stomach rumbled in protest as he dialed his home number.

'Ash!' Deliah Ketchum said cheerfully. 'I am so glad you called. I was beginning to wonder if you would be like your father and not call for months at a time.' Ash grimaced at the passive reminder.

'I'm doing fine mom, Pikachu and I thought it would be a good idea to take it slow and train up a bit before we got to town. We are in Pewter now. We will challenge the gym tomorrow.' Ash's mom tilted her head slightly.

'Just with pikachu?'

Ash smiled. 'We wanted to try it at least once before we look for a new team member. We trained hard against a lot of rock pokemon, but I think we both just want to see for ourselves what a gym fight is like.'

Deliah smiled at the response. 'I can appreciate your need to measure your skills against a skilled trainer honey, just remember that every experience is part of learning to be a good trainer.'

Ash smiled at the reminder. It was a kind way of saying don't get your hopes up. 'I will mom, thanks.'

-o-

Pikachu shuddered when he got out of his pokeball. He glared at his trainer who had the audacity to laugh, but quickly forgave him when Ash offered his shoulder to be carried.

'Sorry Pikachu, lets get you fed and we can go to the gym.' It was well past noon when the pair stood in front of a stone building with the sculpted word "Gym" over the double doors.

Pikachu and Ash both gave an awed sound at the size of the gym. Ash was not sure what he was expecting for a Pokemon Gym, but it certainly was not the massive stone building that resembled an ancient temple. Ash walked up the stone steps and pushed open the double doors. The doors obediently opened with little resistance. A heavy thud resounded in the empty gym. Ash was self conscious with every step he made when the sound bounced off the walls. The Gym was well lit and boulders littered the whole gym floor. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and started to look around.

'Hello! My name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. I've come to ask for a gym battle.'

There was a loud laugh at that. A young man in his late teens looked at the pair from the banister well above the gym floor. Ash found him quickly. 'Ash of Pallet, I hope you have a better understanding of pokemon typing if you are bringing an electric type into my gym.' Ash squared his shoulders and looked at the man.

'I know enough to train for this fight. Are you the gym leader?'

The teenager jumped off the banister and landed in a deep crouch onto the gym floor. 'I'm Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader.'

Brock gave Ash and his pikachu a glance over the shoulder when he turned to his seat at the head of the gym. A panel opened to show several pokeballs. Brock placed two off his belt onto the rail with the rest of his pokemon. Brock Hmm'ed.

'You look like a starter.' Ash nodded at the correct observation. 'Then these two should be more than enough.' Brock chose two balls from the rail and hooked them to his belt. Ash looked at him and Brock answered his question before he really asked it.

'Gym battles are different from trainer battles. Each gym leader possess pokemon their family have trained for years. We choose the pokemon based on the challengers experience level. You'll see right away if you make it far enough that the final gyms, which ever ones you choose as your last ones will have more pokemon for you to fight. How many gyms have you visited Ash?'

Ash shook his head and gestured for pikachu to run back to him.

'This is my first. I just headed north from Pallet Town.'

Brock smiled at that.

'I'm pleased to see I'm your first challenge. This will be a two on two battle. The gym leader is not allowed to make substitutions. The challenger may substitute twice but only between his two chosen pokemon. Winner is declared when two pokemon on either side is knocked out. Any questions?'

'If I decided that I am unprepared, am I allowed to forfeit and come back to try again later?'

Brock nodded approvingly. He started walking back to his side of the battle field. 'You may forfeit at any time. Know that what ever rules we apply now may change at a later date. Every gym has had challengers come back to their gym later after beating several others only to realize that the challenge will remain even if they have more experienced pokemon.'

Ash frowned at that bit of information. Brock misunderstood his question. Ash did not plan to leave town until he beat Brock.

'Ok Ash. Here is my first pokemon. Geodude come on out!'

Ash smiled and pulled out his pokedex. It beeped at him as it scanned the rock pokemon. Pikachu ran onto the field needing no prodding from his trainer.

'Ok Pikachu, it's our first gym battle. Just like we trained you. Quick attack to test his speed.' Pikachu started to run and blurred before skidding to a halt behind geodude and ramming the rock pokemon in the back. Geodude barely responded to the attack.

'Pikachu give it some space.' Pikachu backed away as Brock told his pokemon to use tackle. Ash looked at his pokedex and tried to remember what he saw from the wild pokemon.

'Pikachu quick attack around him, pick up the dirt.'

'PIKA!' pikachu cheered as he started circling geodude, dragging his tail along the ground to crate grooves and kick up the dry dirt.

Brock watched for a moment. He was curious what Ash would do after clearly seeing that a physical attack did no damage to his pokemon. 'Geodude, defense curl. Wait it out.'

Ash frowned at Brock's command. Ash had seen a few different notes people made about geodude from his pokedex and noticed most physical attacks would not work and it had high defense. And while the pokemon was as slow as the geodudes they had met in the hills, Brock's geodude has a lot more defense. 'Pikachu we need to intimidate it. Keep using quick attack around him and growl.'

Pikachu sped up his sprint around geodude and collected energy in his mouth before releasing a guttural noise that echoed off the stone walls. The dust was thick enough for Pikachu to loose eye contact with his opponent. With Geodude determined to stay still, Ash saw their opening. 'Pikachu, choose a side and swift.'

Pikachu kept circling Geodude and stopped to gather electrical energy before it changed to pure energy. The balls flew into the dust but not before they formed into stars. Ash was satisfied with the attack when geodude grunted in pain. Pikachu was ordered to give geodude some room in case he tried to counter attack. When the dust settled there was no sign of geodude and the dust covered the ground. Ash furrowed at the missing pokemon.

'How did he escape?' Pikachu looked at his trainer who nodded. Pikachu cautiously got closer to spot where Geodude had stood still. Ash unconsciously moved a little to the left to look around to get a better view of the spot since there were so many boulders on the field. Ash glanced as his pokedex and a note caught his attention.

'Pikachu clear the area, one of those boulders is Geodude!' Pikachu jumped out of the way moments before Geodude broke away from a boulder to grab the mouse pokemon. Pikachu chittered angrily and defensively launched an electrical attack at Geodude. The rock pokemon shrugged off the attack with ease.

Geodude got a good grip on pikachu's tail and pulled the yellow pokemon into a bear hug trapping Pikachu's tail. A moment later Geodude roared his name and began to constrict Ash's pokemon. Brock nodded in approval.

'You better switch out that Pikachu soon. He isn't going to last too much longer.' Brock called across the field.

'Growl, Bite, Swift!' Ash called quickly. Pikachu growled, the vibrations of the sound reverberated in the rock pokemons body making him loosen slightly. It was enough that Pikachu could bite hard on Geodude's arm to get his body off the ground and into the air with Brocks pokemon still holding his grip. Energy snapped around both pokemon before they converged on Pikachu's back slamming the rock pokemon at point blank range.

Pikachu sprinted out as soon as he felt slack on the rock pokemon's arms and pulled up to Ash's side. When both Ash and his pokemon looked at the cleared dust, Geodude laid still arms flat against the ground exhausted.

'We'll done Ash. Geodude is unable to battle. Pikachu wins.' Brock was very impressed. He recalled his geodude. 'You did well out there geodude. He had some moves we would not expect you to see for a few years until you grew a little. Take a long rest.'

Brock smiled at Ash before pulling out his second pokemon. This second battle should be just as short. 'Onix I choose you.'

A giant worm shaped pokemon expanded to take up a quarter of the field. It's segmented rock body rose into the air dwarfing pikachu.

Ash pulled up his poke dex and gritted his teeth at what it said. Pikachu squeaked back at him in support. 'I trust you buddy. If you want to try we'll start from the beginning. Test his speed.'

Pikachu burst into sprint just barely below his quick attack speed. He was not interested in attacking the giant rock pokemon, he just wanted to see how fast the big guy was. Pikachu was immediately slammed away by a rock tail. Pikachu flinched in mid air and landed in a crumbled heap.

Ash was ready to call it but the mouse pokemon released some electricity. Ash stopped himself in mid breath. Pikachu would only loose control of his electricity like that when he was mad. 'Don't let it get to you. We still have a long fight ahead of us Pikachu.' Ash called as a warning and a reminder. Pikachu must have felt a lot of pain to get that riled up. The small electric mouse snarled at the giant rock pokemon. It was the first serious hit he had received in a battle.

Pikachu kicked up dust as he sprinted into a quick attack. The mouse jumped into the air and landed on the giant pokemon. He easily scaled the rock pokemon. A single head toss nearly dislodged him but he needed to get as close to Onix's ears as possible. He knew his growl would only go so far. Moments later, Pikachu stopped and stood on the Onix's head. Pikachu growled loudly trying to intimidate the Onix to show he was not afraid. Onix ignored it and shook his head wildly to attempt to fling the smaller pokemon air borne. After a minute Pikachu finally lost his grip.

The Onix was agile enough to catch the pikachu in free fall. Rolling rocks moved around Onix bulky body in an attempt to slam his tail into Pikachu to end the fight. Pikachu glared at the Onix and began to bare its teeth. Onix hesitated for a moment before he swung his tail at the small pokemon.

The miment wwas enough for pikachu. He bound off a boulder sitting on the gym field. Pikachu immediately leaped off the rock to clear the area. The boulder exploded into fragments.

Ash saw an opening. 'Pikachu skip the rocks!'

Pikachu remembered his training with Ash. His trainer would always bring rocks to throw at him. Pikachu would either dodge or hit them in mid air. It was usually with lightning but Pikachu knew his trainer wanted the harder shot. Pikachu started targeting the chunks of rock still falling in mid air with swift. It was a raw unsuppressed energy shot that slammed into the debris launching the rocks at Onix. For the first time in the fight Onix grunted in pain. Pikachu quickly looked around at the boulders covering four boulders, four shots to take down the Onix.

'Do it Pikachu.' Ash called from Pikachu's left.

Pikachu eagerly charged forward. The first boulder the swift attack targeted flew several chunks of rock into the air. Pikachu launched another volley of swift attacks to push the large boulders at the Onix. The pokemon grunted but started to push the rocks that fell around him out of the way. Dust began to build as chunks for a second boulder launched at him. The onix grunted but broke already caught on.

'Onix break the last two rocks. Take away their ammunition.' Onix complied and with a single tail swipe destroyed the final two intact boulders.

Pikachu panted heavily. All of those swift attacks took a lot out of him.

'You've done great Ash but your pikachu looks about ready to fall over. Did you want to switch him out?' Brock blinked and finally noticed Ash's belt. There was only a single lone pokeball. Brock whistled at the kids' courage to even attempt a gym battle with only a single pokemon. 'Or inexperience. Onix you don't have to worry about a switch out. Finish this.'

Pikachu sprinted around the debris and around the attacks. He had started to pick up how fast Onix moved, but he was tiring. Pikachu grounded his paws into the dirt and noticed something.

'PIKA-PI!' Ash looked from the onix to his pikachu. Pikachu turned away from the onix to clearly give a stance to his partner. It was a stance Ash immediately recognized. It forced Ash to really look around the ring. He smiled at what he saw. 'Ok Pikachu, I see what you mean.'

Pikachu moved back to face the onix, fatigue clearly showing on the small mouse pokemon. With a 'cha' Pikachu burst ahead with speed.

'Pikachu Swift!' Pikachu generated energy around his body and several balls of energy reformed into stars and sped at the onix.

'You need to start thinking of a new strategy or forfeit kid.' Brock said with a lowered chin. He gave a serious look at his opponent's pokemon. 'If you don't, I'll call the match.'

'Don't worry about us Brock.' Ash saw Onix dodge the swift attack. Debris from the boulders began to break apart into finer rocks and dust. 'Pikachu circle around him and start charging.'

The pokemon cried out an affirmative before doing just that. Pikachu took the time to build up energy. Onix continued to try and catch the pokemon only to see the cloud of dust cover him from the repeated break up of boulders. Soon the gym floor was flat with just small lumps of rocks. Ash looked at the ground again. He smiled as the ground began to get a shade darker. At that moment Brock noticed the stadium floor looked different too, but it was too late.

'Pikachu, quick attack to Onix's head.' Just as Pikachu landed on the onix's head, the rock pokemon started to thrash about in attempt to jar loose his opponent. Pikachu simply dug in his paws and raised his tail. Both the mouse and his trainer exchanged a moment that took the pair back to the thunderstorm. Pikachu adopted the same stance at that time too.

'Pikachu, Thunderbolt.' The flash of light was the first thing Brock registered before he realized this was a new attack. A second flash of light lit the ground and the dirt shifted into dark bands. Tendrils of Electricity snapped to life from the ground before the gym leader and the pokemon trainer were blinded by a final massive flash of light. A hollow moan from Brock's pokemon was followed by a large thud as it collapsed to the ground. Ash and Brock waited on steady feet until the ground stopped its rumble of shock waves. The smoke took some time to clear but pikachu had already bounded back to the ready position in front of his trainer with pops of electricity snapping in his fur. The iron flakes on the ground moved and followed in a pattern around the small pokemon.

Brock waited a few moments while the smoke tried to settle, but with no further movement from his pokemon, he recalled him. 'Return Onix. You did an amazing job out there.' Brock placed the pokeball back on his belt and looked back to his challenger. Both Ash and Pikachu were stunned by the victory. Brock laughed quietly to himself as he walked across the field to meet them in the center.

Brock knelt to the ground and picked up some of the dirt. His fingers ran across the dirt in his hand and he smiled. 'You magnetized the field and had it store up energy. The field was a giant dynamo.'

Ash scratched the back of his neck.

'I noticed that the rock in your gym is like the rock where we trained at on the hills. We saw that a lot of the rocks we had pikachu practice on could help the lightning, but we didn't know how well it could be used as a conductor. It was actually Pikachu's idea. It never occurred to me.' Ash said honestly, even as he was unsure if that would disqualify him from earning the boulder badge.

Brock started to laugh. 'The communication between you two is top notch. Well done.' Brock stretched out his hand and handed the boy the boulder badge.

'Take this, you two have definitely earned it.'

Ash took the badge and knelt to pick up his pokemon, 'We did it pikachu.' He showed the badge to his partner who pawed it.

'It was close there before you had that strategy. Do you have any idea what you would have done if I had ended it sooner?' Brock was sorely tempted a few times during the match to end it early citing pikachu was unable to battle with out irreparable damage.

'We would have gone to try and look for another partner. I was not actually expecting a win. I just wanted to see where we stand against a gym leader.'

Brock gave Ash a thoughtful look before asking, 'How is your pokemon? It was pretty damaged already when he summoned that thunderbolt.'

Pikachu looked up if just a little sleepy. His ears perked before lowering back down. 'He will be fine after a trip to the pokemon center. He has channeled more electricity before. He saved me during a thunder storm and redirected lightning a few times from us.'

Brock whistled. 'We'll I have taken care of many kinds of pokemon, let me see him in the next room. I need to care for my pokemon too.'

Ash picked up pikachu. Ash could already feel the zap of electricity from his pokemon as it spread to him. Ash giggled at the feeling even as tufts of his hair stood on end.

-o-

That night Brock leaned back in his chair waiting for the call to connect. Eventually, the other side answered with a sigh.

'What is it this time Brock?'

Brock leaned forward closer to the monitor to admire the woman with a smile. 'Good evening Lily. I actually wanted to speak to Misty gym-leader to gym-leader. But stick around. You should probably hear about the kid with a Pikachu too.'

A/N: Now that I am over a novel length of a story and I am now writing my longest story to date I really need to go back and update the first few chapters. And the plus side I can do this from a phone. I am still currently with out a computer.