Title: Divergence

Summary: Waking up early one morning could very well change your whole life.

AN: Thank you all for the reviews, follows and faves. Now, let's move on to the story.

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Chapter 2

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Route 1 was a dirt trail, a beaten path which led northwards to Viridian city.

There were lush forestry to the sides of the trail, consisting of the many coniferous trees native to Southern Kanto. The cool morning air carried the heady scent of pine, as well as the cries of slowly waking fauna.

A curled purple tail was poking out of a bush in their path. Ash Ketchum noticed it, and so did Charmander.

The tail swayed to and fro, tempting all those who gazed upon it to-

"Pull it," Ash whispered fervently, wriggling his fingers as though he wished to do the dirty deed himself.

Charmander beat his trainer to the punch, however. With the agile grace of a born predator, the little lizard scrambled through the grass and snatched the offending tail in his clawed grasp.

Even though Charmander prized his own magnificient tail, he showed no mercy in his subsequent action.

Yoink.

"Ra-Ratataa!" squeaked the pokemon in the bush, rudely awakened by the feeling of someone yanking on its tail. It hissed and writhed, somehow escaping its aggressor's grip to scamper off to a distance. The rattata then squeaked angrily at Ash and his pokemon, teeth bared and fur almost bristling. Tails were very important things to all those who had them, and rattata are no exceptions.

Charmander leered at the rat, arms crossed across his yellow underbelly in a posture that just screamed Smug.

The rattata attacked.

"You've got longer arms, Char. Scratch!"

Charmander grunted in affirmation, waiting to time it just right. When the rattata was mid-air, mouth wide open in what must've been an attempted bite, Charmander moved. His rising claw nailed the rat in the chin, snapping its mouth shut painfully and throwing it back a good few feet.

"Dayumn. You've certainly got some mad skillz, Char," Ash said with a grin. His charmander gave him a scoff, that clearly translated to, 'Of course. Did you expect any less from one as glorious as I, the great Char? Hmph.'

The rattata gained its wits, and did what rattata do best.

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It ran away.

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Ash and Charmander resumed walking, the latter marching at a quicker pace to catch up with Ash's longer steps.

By now, Ash could hear the cries of a few birds here and there. There was the soft clucking of a pidgey coming from that one tree to the left, while the annoying caw of numerous spearow resounded from multiple directions.

There was one such spearow in sight, screeching and screaming in that nails-on-chalkboard voice.

"Speaaarooow spyarooo spearroww~"

You wanna enjoy a pleasant and silent morning?

Haha, no.

I will sing you the song of my people! All. Day. Long.

"Spearroww spearrooow~"

Ash looked at the spearow and then at his own pokemon.

"I want that bird silenced, Char."

Charmander nodded solemnly. He turned to the oblivious squawking bird, wisps of smoke escaping through the corners of his mouth.

The next moment, a small ball of fire shot out through the air and exploded on the spearow's face.

"...ro..w"

Charmander heard the sound, and shot off another ember at the downed bird. It was silenced for good. Ash patted Char on the head for a job well done, and the little lizard puffed up at the praise.

The two resumed their journey north.

By the time the rest of the spearow flock would notice their fallen kin and get worked up into a frenzy, Ash Ketchum and Charmander would be long gone.

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Ash didn't really expect to see any other trainer that early in the morning, but he did. Almost near the gates of Viridian city, he saw a girl pedalling his way on a bicycle.

And when two trainers meet on the road...

They battle.

Ash flipped his cap around and entered his Battle Mode, ready to win his first trainer-battle. He dramatically raised a finger and pointed at the oncoming cyclist.

"I challenge you to-"

The orange haired girl on the bike didn't even spare him a glance, pedalling away south in a trail of dust.

"-a pokemon...battle..." Ash finished awkwardly. A tumbleweed rolled by, and Charmander idly scratched his bum.

"...Right. Let's just get into Viridian," sighed the boy.

Man, what a letdown. He had been all pumped up, hoping for a real hot-blooded battle with another trainer, but that chick completely ignored him! Where the hell was she going anyway? Only place south of Viridian was sleepy old Pallet.

There was a half-asleep guard at the gates of the city, not even making a grunt when Ash passed through.

The boy moved forwards at a brisk pace, hard pitch and concrete now beneath his shoes instead of leaves and dirt. Viridian city was mostly asleep at that hour. A few fitness nuts going around for their early morning jogs were the only people Ash saw.

Most buildings were the color of slate, so a certain building stood apart from the rest. Its cherry red rooftop stood stark against the grey backdrop, the pokeball sign above marking it as Ash's destination- the Pokemon Centre.

The doors of the centre swung open, and Ash Ketchum stepped into the lobby. It was empty, devoid of any soul except that of the tired looking Nurse Joy's.

Suppressing a yawn, the pink haired woman attempted smiling at Ash- which came out as something more akin to a grimace. "Welcome to the pokemon centre young man. How may I help you?" She asked politely.

"Heal my pokemon," Ash replied, while handing over Char's pokeball.

"Sure, it'll take a few minutes," said the nurse, taking the lone offered pokeball and putting it in the healing machine. While the recovery process went on, Ash leaned against the counter and mulled over his things-to-do list for the day. He drummed his fingers on the smooth white marble, and he thought.

First thing I'll do?

No, not world domination. Not yet, at least. That'll approximately need another year or two to accomplish. Ash's current objective, was a much simpler one.

"Nurse Joy, when do they serve the breakfast here?" Ash asked.

"At eight o' clock sharp sweetie," the nurse replied while yawning.

Very well. What else was on his agenda again?

Ah yes, the gym. Viridian Gym was one of the more less known gyms in Kanto, rarely coming into public view. Ash tried remembering what type of gym it was, but the fact kept eluding his mind.

"All done!" exclaimed Nurse Joy as she handed Ash his pokeball. He looked at the lady in front of him and realised that he could easily solve his mystery by asking her.

"Nurse Joy? What type of pokemon does the Viridian gym use again?"

The nurse peered at him for a moment, "Er...they use ground types, I think? Not really much of an active gym, the Viridian's."

"I see. Thanks a lot!" Ash replied before walking out. A gym badge was a gym badge, right?

Ash had some time to kill before breakfast, so why not figure out his modus operandi for the upcoming gym battle? He walked slowly through the streets of Viridian, pokedex in hand.

The rookie trainer scrolled through the database of his pokedex, and eventually found the page for 'reviewing the ground type'.

"Ground types are one of the more prevalent types of pokemon available in the world, right up there with normal, water and grass. The ground-type is weak to grass, water and ice-type attacks, and is effective against rock, steel, poison and fire-types. Common features in ground types are that most of them fall into the 'heavyweight' classification, with a few exceptions..."

Tch. So basically, his charmander would get screwed, cuz ground types were super bulky or sum shit, and had a type advantage against fire. The situation seemed bleak...

Ash laughed. As if.

Besides battling, there was another skill every pokemon trainer worth their salt knew well.

Catching.

If you don't have the proper firepower to solve a problem? Simple, you go out and get some more. There was always an abundance of pokemon prowling out there in the wilds, untapped gems shining with the dull glow of hot coal. He just needed to find that particular piece of coal, and temper it into an unyielding, dazzling diamond.

Ash gazed out to the west, where the roads of Viridian met the grassy fields of Route 22. To the north, there was the dirt trail of Route 2, which led to Viridian forest.

He unclipped the lone pokeball on his belt. With a click and a burst of white light, Charmander appeared on the ground, arms crossed and tail-flame blazing a pale amber.

"Here's what we're gonna do now, Char," Ash said in a serious tone while the wind nipped at his jacket. "We're gonna find ourselves our first minion."

"Char," said the pokemon while nodding his head.

"Now pick a direction. North or West?"

Charmander contemplated his trainer's words. After a moment, he made up his mind.

"Char!" the little lizard exclaimed while pointing with his claws.

"Very well, west it is."

Charmander fell into step beside his trainer, his clawed toes clicking on the pavement in tandem with the beat of Ash's footsteps.

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They headed west, to catch their first pokemon...

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AN: Review!