After Misfits, I wanted to write a more realistic and gritty world, one that I can have a lot of fun writing in. It'll be the Pokemon world, not entirely anime nor games, as I've put in bits from everything I could get my hands on. I hope it'll be long enough to beat Misfits several times over, and it should extend to different regions. For the most part, I will use the Kanto pokedex, but migrations are common. Pokemon can learn all of the moves listed on their Learnset, TM, and Tutoring lists. They cannot learn Breeding moves unless they are born with them. Anyway, please read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but I will be taking creative liberties and will not be following it religiously.

xXx

He would never be more excited than he was today. Ten years had gone by and now a pokemon would finally become his. Ever since he was old enough to remember he had been fascinated by pokemon, and now he would be able to travel Kanto as a trainer and collect a full team of them.

Professor Oak would be showing up in less than five minutes, if the man was on time. Ash ducked under his mother's reaching arm as it tried to fluff his hair, ignoring her amused chuckle.

"Come on, Ash. You still have bed hair! I thought you said you brushed it," she admonished, a smile on her face.

"I did. My hat just messed it up," he said back, holding up the offending object. He jammed it back on his head, twisting the cap forward. His backpack pulled against his shoulders, chock full of everything he would need, a belt wound around his waist.

The corners of her lips twitched up into a warm grin. "And I wouldn't ever part you from your precious hat." She paused and turned to the wall, which proudly bared a clock that Ash had checked more times in the last hour than ever before. "It's 9:13, Ash. Shoes tied?"

He rolled his eyes but did check. They were.

Professor Oak had, for the past twenty years, been gifted three very special pokemon from the League. Bulbasaur, squirtle, and charmander - Kanto's three starter pokemon. Professor Oak trained them to be ready for their trainers and then sent them off exactly one week after the Indigo Conference, which happened once a year. But of course, there were many more than three trainers starting out in Kanto. The League told him which trainers to give those pokemon to, although the professor did get a say. This year, they would be going to his grandson, Gary, the daughter of Charles Goodshow, and a psychic personally recommended by Sabrina. All other trainers received starters either from their parents, breeders, or from the closest gym leader.

For those in the sleepy Pallet Town, that would be Viridian City.

Delia peered toward the window next to their door, her auburn hair drawn back into a tight bun against the back of her head. Ash paced in front of the door, glancing up at the clock yet again. 9:17. Well, the professor and never been known for being punctual. He had another trainer to pick up in Pallet, which was a rather small cast this year, although he knew Leaf was getting her starter from her parents. There were a few other properly-aged trainers in Pallet, but most chose to get their starters from breeders that could promise a rarer pokemon than the free gym leader starters.

His mother suddenly perked up. He spun toward her. "Oh! There he is!"

Ash twisted his cap one last time before opening the door. There, walking casually up with the bright morning sun reflected behind him, was Professor Oak. Another boy, rather lean and gawky, trotted behind him.

Professor Oak smiled at him. "Ah! Saves me the trouble of ringing. Are you ready to go to Viridian City?"

He nodded quickly and trotted off of his porch, turning back to wave to his mother. She waved furiously back, calling out, "Come back right after you get back, okay?"

Ash smiled and nodded. Oak turned back to the other boy - Derrick, Ash remembered, though they hadn't interacted much over the years. "Well then! Have either of you teleported before?"

They both shook their heads. Oak looked around, leading them closer and closer toward the edge of town. "That's fine. I hardly expected you to have done it before - Pallet isn't known for its psychics!" Chuckling slightly, he pulled out a remote-shaped device and pressed a thin button.

"My alakazam doesn't like her pokeball, and I use this to alert her," he explained, and Ash's eyes went wide. He had known Oak for many years and had explored nearly every inch of his fields, but he hadn't ever met his famed alakazam. He and Derrick exchanged wide-eyed looks.

After another moment, the air distorted like a heat wave and a pokemon appeared. She stared over the group, black eyes blank and bushy mustache floating without any feeling of wind. She was mainly a dark yellow and brown, standing easily over Ash's minuscule height and evenly matching Professor Oak.

He smiled, gently tapping her shoulder. "Ah, thank you. We're ready!"

She stared at them with blank eyes, two spoons clenched tightly in her hands. Ash frowned, staring around. The world suddenly went black, like he had blinked, though his eyes were still open. The next second, he was standing on the edge of a very different forest, a burst of colder air hitting him like a wave.

Professor Oak shook it off while Ash and Derrick both stared around. Derrick, in particular, looked at the sprawling Viridian City in awe, eyes wide. Ash hadn't felt anything beyond the temporary screen of darkness, and even that had only lasted for a heartbeat. He couldn't even imagine how powerful she must be.

Oak coughed lightly to get their attention, turning to the city. Viridian was bigger than any place he had ever been before, although he had never been to a city before. Oak gave them one more minute to stare around before starting to walk, leading them toward the city limits.

It was early morning and a Sunday, and the crowds that normally gathered were only grown by the fact it was the day that trainers received their Trainer IDs. Hundreds of people congregated around the sidewalks, holding pokeballs and chattering to their neighbors. Professor Oak smoothly slid through the crowd, ducking his head to avoid being noticed.

In only ten minutes of incredible sights, they pulled to a stop in front of a large building with a dark orange tiled roof. A sign out front proudly proclaimed it as the Pokemon Academy.

"Giovanni's out on League business, has been for nearly three months, so while he captured the pokemon, he can't hand them out," Oak explained. "The Academy was more than happy to allow the starter selection to happen in their battle hall. Come along now."

Feeling a bit like a psyduck baby following its mother, Ash trailed after the professor as he entered the building. It was warm, filled with posters and helpful attendants. One woman wearing a badge directed them to the left, and only two turns later they had entered what had to have been the battle hall.

It was tall, nearly three stories to allow flying types to have their fair share. Bleachers lined one wall and the middle of the room was hard pressing dirt, surrounded by a wide walkway of tiled stone. The platforms for trainers had been cleared away and dozens of people roamed around, voices bouncing off of the walls.

Ash paused, staring around. The ceremony should start in a few minutes, but was he supposed to do something before? Professor Oak cleared that up, coughing again to get their attention.

"I'm going to go sign you in, boys, just wait here - someone will come and start calling names. Make sure get your ID!" With a final clap on their shoulders, Oak turned and walked toward a desk, leaving Ash and Derrick alone.

"You excited?" Derrick asked, voice a fair bit lower than Ash's. He was staring around the room, uncomfortable with the large crowd, but his eyes still flashed with awe and readiness.

"Of course. You?"

"Yeah." They hadn't talked much - at all - back in Pallet, and other than their burning excitement, they didn't have many topics to talk about. They both turned back to watch the growing crowd.

The clock struck 9:30 with a quiet click yet the noise from the crowd picked up several times over. The starting trainers were shoved to the front of their groups, bright-eyed and red-cheeked. Ash walked forward, toward the front of his group.

This was it. He would be getting his pokemon today, as well as the license that allowed him to capture more and compete in the Indigo Conference. It was the moment of a lifetime.

There was the click of heels and a woman marched out in front of them. She had incredibly dark hair and wore a professional suit, thin glasses flashing. A clipboard was tucked in her arms. "My name is Jeanne Matori, and I am Giovanni's assistant. Now, when you hear your name, please step forward - all others are required to either sit on the bleachers or leave."

Professor Oak gave him and Derrick one last cheerful wave from the rows of metallic seating. Parents and friends said their good lucks before moving back as well, leaving the seven trainers tucked together in the middle of the room.

Jeanne began to read off names, pointing each trainer toward a group of two helpers behind her. "Ketchum, Ash!" was the third called, and he trotted quickly toward the small group, backpack bouncing against his spine.

The man stared over him, eyes flicking down to a small page that held his picture. Professor Oak had already signed him in and after a few moments, the man grunted in agreement and turned to the person next to him, a rather squat boy. "Ash Ketchum."

The boy nodded, a bright smile on his face, and gestured Ash over. He extended a thin bracelet, memorized words filling the air. "This is your Trainer ID! It's waterproof, fire retardant, and should stretch to fit you for three more sizes. The League replaces them free for new sizes, but lose, damage, or destroy it, and the cost is three hundred dollars."

It clicked smoothly over his wrist, and the boy pushed him back to the center of the battle hall as the next trainer stepped forward. He brushed his fingers over his Trainer ID. It was a thin bracelet and weighed almost nothing, and if he looked away he couldn't even feel it was there. Thin black and white slashes ran over the inside of his wrist, revealing his code. If he lost it, he'd have to remember a twelve-digit number in order to buy things, at least until he got a new one. The steep price was a firm reminder to keep a close eye on it.

Finally, all seven trainers had been fixed with their Trainer IDs. They stood in the semblance of a line, quiet before Jeanne's impassive gaze. She snapped her fingers and a man stepped forward, seven pokeballs in his hand.

Ash grinned. His starter was in there.

"Giovanni was very kind this year. While he was out on official business, he was able to capture a few more rare pokemon than we normally have, namely several ground types. You will each come up to me and tell me which pokemon you want - if there are several wanting one, you will peacefully come to an agreement. If you cannot, I will decide."

With a flash of scarlet light, two pokemon were released. They were floating rocks with two arms each, wide eyes and a grinning mouth. Both stared around curiously but stayed still, eyes fixed on the trainers. "These are two geodude found in the Rock Tunnel. Three moves each."

Another flash. There were three pokemon - a bluish purple quadruped twitching its large ears rather nervously, a brown bird with a bright crest, and a tadpole with a long, wagging tail. "A female nidoran, a pidgey, and a poliwag. Four, two, and three moves respectively." There were a few excited murmurs at the nidoran's four moves.

The last two pokemon were released. One was a small, mouse-like pokemon with a tough outer shell of stone. The other was shaped like a rhino, thick grey plates covering every inch of its skin. It stared around with bright scarlet eyes, rumbling. "This is a rhyhorn, only a month old from our traveling herd. One move. The other is a sandshrew, with four moves - one of which is a rare egg move."

Dozens of whispers shot out at the sandshrew's movepool, but they each stayed still. Jeanne finally inclined her head and most of the trainers moved forward, trotting up to meet each of the pokemon.

Ash hung back for a moment longer. All but two trainers had gone immediately to the sandshrew, which looked rather panicked, the others going to the nidoran and the two geodude. He avoided the large crowd and went to the pokemon that had caught his attention.

Rhyhorn were powerful pokemon, even though the one in front of him was only a month old. It was almost half of what the average height was - two feet at the top of its spines instead of three and a half - but bulky muscles showed through the thick rock plates and its claws were sharp.

Ash knelt in front of the pokemon, who peered up at him with those scarlet eyes. He remembered they didn't have the best sight and stomped his foot quickly on the ground.

Immediately, Rhyhorn's ground typing sensed the vibrations and turned more cleanly to him, a low rumble escaping its mouth. It didn't seem threatening, and the pokemon seemed more comfortable with Ash kneeling than standing.

"Hey there," he said softly. "Do you want to travel with me?"

The pokemon's scarlet eyes lit up. A puff of dusty air escaped its nostrils. Ash pushed a little harder, a nervous grin on his face. "Would you like to be my friend?"

There was a moment's pause before Rhyhorn stepped forward and butted its head against Ash's knees. The stone scraped past his pants but it didn't hurt. He laughed and patted the ground type on its head, getting a warm rumble in response. His grin strengthened into something excited.

"I'm going to go talk to Jeanne, and then we'll be friends," he promised. Rhyhorn snorted again but stood there docily as Ash rose up to his full height and turned toward Jeanne, who was watching the proceedings quietly. The four trainers surrounding the sandshrew were whispering furiously amongst each other. Ash could see Derrick, the boy's height pushing him above the rest.

Jeanne stared down at him as he approached, eyes calm. "Have you chosen your pokemon?"

He nodded. "I'd like Rhyhorn, please."

"Very well then." She scratched a note on her clipboard before staring back up at him. "I'll ask you to wait a minute here to see whether any others would like it, but if no one does, the rhyhorn is yours."

He had never been more jittery. Rhyhorn narrowed its eyes as a trainer walked past it toward the poliwag, chased away from the sandshrew, but they didn't come close to it. No one wanted the pokemon with only one move, it seemed.

Ash didn't care. Sixty seconds passed and Jeanne raised her voice to call across the room. "The rhyhorn is about to be chosen. Would any others like to contend for it?" The trainer by the geodude raised their head for a moment before turning back to the pair. No one else spoke up.

Jeanne turned back to him. "Well then, Mr. Ketchum, the rhyhorn is yours. My assistant will give you its pokeball as well as a pamphlet about its basic care, and then you may leave with your guardian or caretaker. Have a good day, and a better journey around Kanto."

He grinned wildly, which she returned to a much lesser degree before shooing him behind her, where another desk sat. A tall woman with shortcut brown hair waved him over, a red and white sphere in her hand. "Ash, is it?" At his nod, she continued, a wide grin and excited bounce in her step. "Well then! You're the first of our trainers to choose their starter. We have a herd of rhydon and rhyhorn that travel around here and Route 22, they came down from Victory Road several years ago and don't bother us too much. Giovanni caught it almost two weeks ago, and it's been ready to travel ever since it left that pokeball! Speaking of which, here." She handed over the pokeball. Ash snatched it up and cradled it in his hands, eyes wide.

She chuckled. "Every year, I swear. Here's a pamphlet - there's not much on here except for a few tips, you can look everything else up online or all of the books you can find at Pokemon Centers. I've filled out its basic information on the front page - gender, ability, moves, you know the drill. If you came with anyone else, I'd probably wait for them unless they get mad, but other than that, you're free to go!"

He thanked her profusely, holding the slim pamphlet before tucking it into his backpack. He'd look it over with his mother when he got home. But for now, he sped quickly back toward Rhyhorn.

It looked up at him and rumbled. The three trainers around the sandshrew had marched toward Jeanne and now she was asking them questions, presumably to decide who got the pokemon. There was a trainer with the nidoran trotting quickly by their heels and another with a geodude. They were slowly clearing away, ready for their journey.

"Hey there. Let's go over and see Professor Oak, okay?" Rhyhorn rumbled and stood fully up - Ash noticed it had stretched out on its stomach while waiting for him, not seemingly able to sit properly.

They walked toward the bleachers, Rhyhorn's feet sending tiny tremors through the ground with every step. Professor Oak stepped forward to greet them, a wide grin on his face. "A rhyhorn! They are truly impressive, as I'm sure many will say. We'll just wait until Derrick finishes up before heading back to Pallet - I have some things I'd like to give you." He winked before turning back to the other trainers.

Five minutes passed before the sandshrew was chosen. It was actually Derrick who won it, quickly speeding back toward the rather timid creature and recalling it. The ground type didn't seem to want to be able to crowds very much. He walked triumphantly back toward Professor Oak, a wide grin on his face.

"Well done, boys. Giovanni usually captures several ground types but sandshrew and geodude were never truly common here. Congratulations! Are you ready to return to Pallet Town?"

Ash looked down at Rhyhorn, who had finished staring at Oak and apparently decided he wasn't a threat. He wanted to get to know the pokemon, and there was no better place to do that than at home. "Yes, please."

xXx

The second he opened the door, his mother swooped down upon him with a wide grin and tight hug. He returned it just as warmly, his hat stabbing into her shoulder. She flicked it as she pulled back, grin widening.

"Ash!" She pointed to his belt, where a bright sphere glinted in the light. His grin was enough to answer her.

She smiled warmly and grabbed onto his arm, pulling him through the kitchen to the back door. He trotted after her, dodging her pushed out chair and the cup of cooling tea still settled on the table.

The next moment and he was out in the backyard, grass curling over the edge of his boots. Their picnic table was perched on the porch, and a pidgey sitting on it looked up, startled, and flew away.

Ash pressed the button on his pokeball and released his starter in a flash of scarlet light. Rhyhorn appeared and immediately growled, tensing up and shaking itself, plates grinding each other.

He stepped forward, stomping his feet a little harder than normal, and Rhyhorn peered up at him and calmed slightly, snorting out a puff of dusty breath. Ash grinned and tapped Rhyhorn behind its horn, the stone cool to the touch.

Delia grinned and kneeled down, making herself smaller. Rhyhorn huffed but stayed closer to Ash, plates shifting.

They got out the pamphlet from Ash's backpack, Rhyhorn sniffing curiously at the silver fabric. Just as they opened the page to Rhyhorn's information, there was a hesitant knock on their fence gate.

Ash stood and turned to see Professor Oak by their path entrance, a black bag in his hand. He waved with the other, his bright shock of silver hair shifting as he opened the gate and walked in at Delia's warm greeting.

"Hello again, Ash! And Delia, of course." He smiled and walked around Rhyhorn, keen eyes searching out everything on its body. "A good size for its young age - Ash, expect it to grow rather slowly for pokemon. I'd expect quite a while until it's ready to evolve, though the time will decrease if you train it strongly."

Ash grinned. Rhydon were forces to be reckoned with, although rhyhorn were no slackers. But there had to be some other reason for the professor's sudden visit. "Professor, why did you come here?"

"Oh!" The man perked up and raised his hands, bringing attention back to the black bag. "I have been tasked by the League to create a sort of learning encyclopedia, which I called a pokedex. It scans caught pokemon and discovers their moves, abilities, gender, favourites, as well as other things. For wild pokemon, it can't tell moves and such, but it does tell what they are, as well as having access to a veritable treasury of pokemon habitats and known locations. Truly ingenious, I might add."

Ash blinked, grin growing. Professor Oak was a genius of many levels, there was no doubt in that. But this would revolutionize the pokemon world.

"It will also have a section for trainers to put down notes and such on their own pokemon. I'll go over it first, double-checking it with other trainer accounts, but they'll be able to gather research without making my old bones go out onto the field again."

Delia clapped her hands together. "That's wonderful, Sam!"

He accepted her praise with a wane grin. "But I didn't come here to brag about an old man's accomplishment, of course. The League gave me a grant to start production of them, as test runs to figure out how well they work. My grandson received one, as well as several others, but it turns out I had just enough money to make one last device." With a flourish, he pulled a red pokedex out of his bag.

Ash gaped as he accepted it, but his mouth quickly fell into a wide grin. The pokedex was about the size of his hand and glimmered with bright silver metal, the red outer casing molded smoothly over the device and in top condition. Several buttons lined its outsides. Overall, it looked more professional than anything he had ever owned before. "Thank you, professor. I'll do you proud."

"I know." There was a smile on the man's face as he pointed out the buttons Ash needed for activation. "That's why I trusted you, Ash, you never back down from a challenge. I do believe you might get new facts on every pokemon in Kanto, if not the world!"

There were a few more minutes as Ash figured out how the pokedex worked. It beeped to life, already knowing his name, before displaying a white screen. He felt along the edges and found a circular orb in the back, embedded in the surface. Aiming it at Rhyhorn, he scanned his starter.

Rhyhorn, the spikes pokemon. This pokemon is known for its extremely high defense, its outer shell being made of thick rock plates. They can take several hours to feel pain from blows.

This rhyhorn knows the move horn attack. Its ability is lightning rod, which lets it store electricity in its horn.

Ash glanced down at its horn, which had to be nearly three inches long and impressively sharp. Rhyhorn rumbled at the praise the pokedex offered it. Ash frowned and toggled a few buttons before he found what he wanted - Rhyhorn was male.

Professor Oak nodded warmly before taking his leave. He would have given Gary his starter already but the boy was probably still at his lab, gathering last supplies. Neither would leave without seeing each other.

He sat down on the porch step, pulling off his backpack. The pamphlet was tucked into a safe side pocket - while he had a pokedex now, that didn't mean that the tips and tricks on it wouldn't be helpful. His pokedex went on a small hook on his belt that was normally used for a flashlight, but it would be far more important now.

Delia moved in to help him. Though he had checked everything for the past week and tripled checked this morning, he did it all one last time. A hearty supply of potions, a rather heavily detailed map, and enough food to last him and his pokemon a bit past Viridian, where he would buy the bulk of his new supplies.

There was nothing else to do but say goodbye. He turned to his mom and found the words stuck quite thickly in his throat.

His mother looked down at him with warmth spilling into tears in her eyes. "I'm so proud of you, Ash," she whispered, pulling him into another tight hug. Rhyhorn rumbled but didn't make a move to attack her - he had seemingly attached Delia to the list of safe people around his trainer.

"I love you," he said into her shoulder. She squeezed him tighter before turning him around and pushing him toward the fence gate. It was time to go.

Rhyhorn trotted next to him, plates creaking as they caught on the edge of the gate. His strength was enough to bend the wood before it snapped back into position. He closed it quietly behind him and saw his mother staring past him to the wooded land of Route 1, eyes shining.

It was only a few minute walk to the end of Pallet Town, being situated on the edge as his house was. There was a shape on the edge of the forest, poking around the few trees with a vaguely humanoid figure beside them.

Ash grinned and stepped forward. Romane Chikara, better known as Leaf. She hated her first name.

"Hey-o, Ketchum!" She yelled, waving her hand and forth. "I was 'bout to leave you."

He trotted up next to her, Rhyhorn rumbling as he tried to keep up. The shadows of the trees were pushed back and revealed her starter, the machop she had been talking about for the past two years. It narrowed its eyes across the path to him, arms crossed and blue-gray skin shining.

They had agreed to walk together, at least to the first town before they split up. Gary had originally wanted to come with them but had decided only a few weeks back that he wanted to go solo for most of his journey. Being the grandson of Professor Oak put a fair amount of responsibilities on his shoulders, ones he hadn't really begun to handle.

"So what moves do you have?" She asked, tapping Machop on the shoulder to gets it attention. "He knows low kick, leer, and focus energy right now, but I'll train him up to be the next Bruno."

Ash snorted. "Just horn attack for now, he's only a month old. Have you seen Gary? We've been planning our battle for nearly a year now, and if he even thinks he can escape me I will personally hunt him down." He frowned as Leaf broke into a wide, smug grin.

"Ah, Ashy-boy," a voice said from behind the nearest tree. "I didn't know you cared so much." With a flourish, Gary appeared from behind the thick trunk, a cocky grin on his face as he balanced a pokeball on his fingertip.

Leaf grinned. "He had me hide him before you came - wanted a dramatic entrance. Both of you are hopeless."

Hopeless though they might be, both immediately split up and stopped about fifteen feet apart. Leaf's Machop kicked away a few spare rocks and sticks before retreating to stand calmly by her side, arms crossed.

"So which one were you able to get?" Ash asked, still grinning. Rhyhorn seemed to understand this was a battle and stepped forward, rumbling deeply in his chest. It sounded like grinding stone.

"Gramps made me go last, for whatever reason." Gary snorted. "The psychic wouldn't touch the bulbasaur with a ten-foot pole - something about poisons being bad around psychic types or something. So Goodshow's daughter took it, psychic took the charmander, and you can guess which one I snagged." He stared over Rhyhorn's bulky form, even for his young age. "Although rhyhorn aren't too bad. You ready or what?"

He released his squirtle, which stood tall. It was about a foot and some change tall, blue skin bright and slightly moist. Its shell was hard, rough browns and tans, and it looked ready for battle.

Rhyhorn actually growled at the sight of the water type, age-old instincts coming to the forefront. It hissed back, pounding its arms together.

"C'mon, let's do this. Go get it, squirtle! Tackle!"

Rhyhorn squared up as Squirtle started to charge, feet sturdy against the ground. The tackle would hurt him but Ash didn't know whether Rhyhorn would be able to dodge. "Meet it with horn attack."

Squirtle dodged at the sight of the horn, swerving around Rhyhorn to slam into his side plates. Rhyhorn grunted and moved back a few inches, but turned as fast as he could and lunged again with his horn. Squirtle stumbled back just in time to avoid the attack, dazed from hitting the rocky plates with its head.

Gary called out again and Squirtle circled slowly, looking for a place to hit. It saw some sort of opportunity and charged again, but Rhyhorn was able to spin fast enough to slam his horn right into Squirtle's underbelly. The turtle squeaked and fell backward, writhing for a moment before falling flat, unable to battle.

"Ah, dammit." Gary grinned despite the outcome. He knelt down and tapped Squirtle on the shoulder before recalling it, whispering a few congratulations. "Squirtle's has really soft scales on his underbelly right now, but just you wait until he learns a water move or two. Then you won't stand a chance!"

Ash laughed. "So where are you heading first?"

"I'm not sure yet." Gary shrugged his shoulders, giving Machop an appraising look like he wanted to battle it as well. "Pewter'll be a piece of cake with Squirtle and I'm sure I can find some grass type or something to work with me for Cerulean. I don't know what order I'll take the big three gyms but you can put down that I'll get them all, Ashy-boy."

He couldn't hold back a sigh at the near decade-old nickname. Gary roared with laughter and slapped his shoulder, eliciting a rumble from Rhyhorn.

"I'll see you on a battlefield soon enough though," Gary promised. "You won't escape from me that easily."

Ash bobbed his head, grinning. "I'll be waiting." Gary grinned and walked away, most likely back to his grandfather's house to get his pokemon healed. It wasn't smart to go onto any route with your pokemon injured or knocked out.

Leaf slapped him on the shoulder, grinning. "Hell kid, not bad! You ready to travel? I think we could probably go to the Prof if your rhyhorn needs some healing from the tackle."

Rhyhorn snorted at the very idea. He butted his head against Ash's calf, pushing the boy forward a few inches.

"I think we're fine." He tapped Rhyhorn behind his horn, to which the ground type huffed.

"Should take us either three or four days. What do you think?" Leaf asked, Machop marching a few feet in front of her and test-punching a tree hard enough to make it shake.

Ash stared up at the forest that would mark the beginning of his journey and grinned. "Three."

xXx

Rhyhorn was surprisingly good at trotting along next to them. He was built for incredible charges that could shatter steel but his endurance was far from wanting - night was growing near and he hadn't gotten close to giving up yet.

Leaf had kept up a constant babble about Machop and all of the other pokemon she wanted to catch. Their entire friendship was built around pokemon and their love for it - though while she wanted to specialize, he wanted to be the best. She hadn't laughed when he told her what he wanted not only in his journey but for his life was to become the Pokemon Master - then again, she had followed Bruno religiously for many years and knew of seemingly unattainable goals.

For now, the conversation they had kept up rather easily began to slip away. He didn't have any other ideas to bring it back to life and so let it die, the only sounds their feet crunching against the dirt of early spring and Rhyhorn's occasional snorts.

The sun dipped lower and lower and Rhyhorn had begun to lag behind now. Ash recalled his friend, although Machop was easily able to keep pace with them. The only other trainers from Pallet, Gary and Derrick, were nowhere to be found. While it made sense Gary was behind them, Ash had been excited to battle Derrick and see just how strong his rare egg move sandshrew was. Few other trainers came down Route 1 unless they wanted to see Professor Oak and while several wild pokemon flitted about, Leaf just had Machop chase them away with its fists raised. Both of them wanted a good distance away from town before they started to slow by battling pokemon.

Ash was excited to finally reach Viridian City. When he did, the real challenge would begin. There were several hundred trainers traveling around every year, and most, if not all, were up for battles. Rhyhorn would grow stronger with training, but the real way to win was to battle.

The night grew more oppressive and Leaf began another topic to keep the silence at bay. Ash joined in, both flitting around before settling on the one thing they both loved - the Elite Four. Just last week the Indigo Conference had ended, letting the winner challenge the Elite Four.

Leaf paused during a particularly vicious description of Lorelei's lapras using sheer cold and stared around. Machop had frozen and tensed, fists raising and feet squaring off against the ground. It sensed something.

Ash settled a hand on Rhyhorn's pokeball but didn't let loose the less-than-quiet pokemon. After a moment, he heard it - the whispering buzz of wings somewhere to their left. Beedrill.

It seemed like only one, maybe two, probably scouts for the actual swarm. Several more moments later and the sound disappeared, flitting deeper into the forest. Leaf's scowl grew as she untensed.

"Beedrill." She scoffed, but there was worry in her eyes. "Machop could probably take down a few but it'd hurt. He doesn't have any moves that would be able to hurt them well. Why'd Mew have to make poison types resist fighting?"

"Rhyhorn wouldn't be too hurt by their attacks but there's no way he could knock out more than a couple. He only has one move," Ash admitted, frowning. He needed to start training Rhyhorn up to at least several more moves in order to be able to defeat even just the wild pokemon around here.

A grin appeared on his face. "Why'd you switch from begging your parents for a growlithe to a machop? When you were six, that's all you ever wanted. It could have helped us out here."

"Oh, shut it." She shoved his shoulder. "Although that's not as bad as you trying to get Professor Oak to give you his tauros."

He winced at the memory and conceded defeat.

They walked on for a while longer before ending up at a small pocket of clear ground next to the route. After having Machop check the surrounding forest for anything too dangerous - he had come back once holding onto a caterpie, which both of them had laughed at before Leaf commanded him to let it go - they began to set up camp. Professor Oak had taught all of the trainers the basics of fires and warmth.

Ash frowned, setting down his bag and digging through the side pocket. After another moment, he reappeared with his pamphlet, grinning to Leaf's confused expression. "Rhyhorn is a ground type," he explained, flicking through the short bundle of papers to try and find something. "So, theoretically, he should be able to eat the dirt both for nutrients but also a fire pit."

Her eyes widened and she grinned back at him.

He found a passage a minute later, reading it aloud. Though Rhyhorn was a bit confused, Ash picked up a stick and scratched a circle into the ground, asking him to start eating from there.

It was rather strange to watch as beings that didn't eat dirt. Rhyhorn stretched out next to the circle and stuck his face in, eating it a bit like porridge. Leaf quickly taught Machop how to gather firewood before sending him out, his gray skin blending into the dusk almost as perfectly as if he had come from the trees instead of caves. Ash settled himself by reading the rest of the pamphlet in the rapidly fading light. He'd still have to feed Rhyhorn regular pokemon food, but the bulk of his meals would come from the ground itself. Neat.

After a while, Rhyhorn had eaten his fill. The pit was about a foot deep - a little too much for Ash's likings. He kicked some more dirt to raise it up a bit before waiting for Machop to return. Not too long after, the superpower pokemon reappeared with an armload of sticks, though most of them were too thick and looked like they had been broken off of trees, if the green wood was anything to go by.

Both of them had prepared for not having a fire type. Ash pulled out a bundle of matches, though it took two until he was able to light the tinder. After babying the small flame, a decent blaze flashed light around the clearing.

Their two sleeping bags were laid out, but Ash frowned at their water bottles. It was too dark to wander around the forest to try and find a source of water - they'd have to do it in the morning. Rhyhorn thankfully didn't need too much water, but if he started battling he'd need a fair amount.

Rhyhorn dug into his pokemon food with gusto, the small pellets disappearing quickly down his gullet. Machop ate his slower, though he seemed more displeased with the bland taste. It held all of the nutrients battling pokemon needed, though it rated much lower in appeal.

Leaf turned in quickly. Machop laid down next to her, ignoring the small blanket she had brought for him. Ash turned on his pokedex under the warm flicker of the fireplace and started to scroll through Rhyhorn's description.

Most trainers followed a certain path through their pokemon journey, at least those that started in Pallet and Viridian. They went north to Pewter, then east to Cerulean, then south to the main three cities, and so on. Most didn't even challenge some of the higher level gyms in order to get their eight badges.

Ash didn't want to do that. While none of the Pewter or Cerulean gym leaders were pushovers, they were used to rookies and adjusted their power accordingly. He'd never grow strong enough following the beaten path of every trainer before him. Besides, that was the path Gary was going down. While they were great friends, they had long since decided to battle each other as rivals. He couldn't be any sort of good rival if he just followed Gary around Kanto.

When he got to Viridian, he'd have access to other trainers he could ask advice from. He was going his own way, even if that meant splitting up with Leaf. Rhyhorn deserved to grow stronger.

He blinked for far too long one last time and decided it was time to fall asleep. The fire was barely embers now and he threw a few handfuls of dirt over it, easily putting it out. Rhyhorn rumbled at him as he clambered inside his sleeping bag, escaping the slight chill of the night. He turned to his friend.

"Can you wake me up when you can see the sun?" Rhyhorn frowned at the last word, but once Ash spent enough time describing it, he bobbed his head excitedly. Ash watched him contentedly as he circled around several times before stretching out, plates grinding lightly against each other.

Rhyhorn's spines rose and dipped as he breathed deeply, scarlet eyes closed. It was comforting to watch. Ash fell asleep before he realized it was coming.

xXx

Something cold touched his exposed arm once, twice. There was a grumble before it smacked into him again, nearly throwing him back. He jerked awake, beams of sunlight smacking him across the face.

Rhyhorn stood over him, eyes narrowed. He snorted a puff of dusty air into his trainer's face.

Ash coughed but was now fully awake. "Thanks. I'm up."

Leaf was being jostled - rather nicely - by Machop, eyes bleary but focusing quickly. They packed up their camp, fed themselves and their pokemon, and set off.

Rhyhorn had woken him up at around ten, which made sense. Their cover of trees had made it difficult to see the sun, but in the future he'd have to find some way to wake up earlier. Most pokemon trainers trained at night, after all of their traveling, so they wouldn't have exhausted pokemon while they were walking the routes. He needed to get in a fair amount of traveling before he started to train in the evening.

Time passed quickly. Sometime after noon they found a short stream and filled their water bottles. Ash's mother had bought him a rather enormous bottle of iodine solution, which helped to purify water. He squirted some into the bottles and let them sit for thirty minutes before they were ready to drink, though she had warned him the aftertaste might be a little strange. It was, but it was bearable.

Leaf spoke excitedly of Pewter City, where she was planning on catching her second pokemon. Her team was mostly planned out - she had five pokemon she was going to catch, Arceus be damned, and then a few extra slots for any others. Mankey could be found around Route 3 and she was ready to catch one of the fierce battlers. Machop looked a bit miffed at the topic.

Ash hadn't told her of his plan to find a different path to all of the gyms. It wasn't a topic he knew how to easily bring up. Maybe in Viridian, he'd find a way to tell her.

Now they had started to take the time to battle several wild pokemon. Most of them were wild rattata, which Rhyhorn shuffled to the side with his horn without even using an attack. He was able to swing his head to the side quickly, but when he tried to run after the pokemon, he couldn't turn very easily without slowing down.

"What are you doing to do about Brock?" He asked. Leaf perked up at the sound of his voice and scrabbled at her backpack, sleeping bag bouncing against her shoulders. In another second, she had pulled out a rather thick booklet with an enormous League symbol on the front. She flipped through the pages, Machop carefully steering her away from trees on the side of the path.

"They're weak to fighting moves, right? Machop's really steady on his feet so what I'm going to do is teach him karate chop and then maybe low sweep if I have time. It should be like fifteen days until we reach Pewter - that's what my mom said, anyway - and by then Machop'll be a real fighter! Brock won't stand a chance." She pumped her fist in the air, grinning as Machop copied the motion.

Ash nodded his head. It was a good strategy. "Are you going to catch another pokemon or just wait for a mankey?"

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe if I run against something awesome, but I'd really like to stick with fighting types. Although I'll have to change my name again - ugh, why didn't you guys stop me when I was obsessed with grass types? Leaf is a boring name."

They both laughed warmly. Another day passed them by, traveling quickly with few conversations. By the time it was night, they ran into the Resting Meadow - the halfway point of Route 1. It was simple, a wide, swath cleared patch of clearing in the middle of the forest with several picnic tables and a few premade fire pits stacked high with stones. A pond was tucked into the corner, which would make it much easier to refill their water bottles. But the best thing was the trickle of smoke that crept into the air - someone was already here.

Ash trotted forward, Rhyhorn's pokeball bright by his side. One of the fire pits were already burning, thin flames reaching toward the skies. A boy was stretched over one of the logs, drinking from his bottle. Derrick.

He looked up and waved as Ash grew nearer, face lit up by the fire. His sandshrew wasn't released but Ash could see the pokeball on his waist. "Hey, Ash."

"Hey. Want to battle?"

Leaf sighed but volunteered to watch the fire, sending Machop off to gather a bit more wood. Derrick stood, walking toward a more beaten part of the meadow. Ash followed him, grinning. The light was fading but what remained was plenty for a battle.

Derrick released his pokemon. It was small, maybe a foot tall, made of overlapping tan scales. Its ears twitched nervously.

Ash nodded and pressed his release button. Rhyhorn rumbled as he was released, voice deep and gravely, before narrowing in on the sandshrew. His growl was low as he squared up, plates creaking.

"Mud shot!" Derrick cried. His sandshrew squeaked as a chunk of dirt ripped itself up from the ground, dripping as energy shifted it into mud. Rhyhorn narrowed his crimson eyes but waited.

Ash answered quickly. "Horn attack." It wasn't like there was much else Rhyhorn could do.

With a bellow, his pokemon charged forward. The mud shot slammed into his face but it was only enough to slow his charge - few things could stop it. The sandshrew squeaked again and darted to the side, Rhyhorn's feet clipping it as he went sailing by. He ground to a stop and turned again.

Ash grit his teeth. Rhyhorn desperately needed new moves - he'd start training tonight. "Horn attack," he said again.

This time, the sandshrew wasn't able to move fast enough to dodge. It did tuck its arms and legs into its chest at its trainer's shout for defense curl, but even the position wasn't enough to stop Rhyhorn knocking it across the clearing like a rubber ball. Nearly at Derrick's feet, it rose again, wincing. The boy seemed a bit bewildered and wary but gave his next series of commands quickly.

Rhyhorn didn't need any more commands. He charged forward as the sandshrew's claws shined and scratched heedlessly at Rhyhorn's face as he plunged his horn into its softer underbelly. With a high squeak, it collapsed.

Derrick groaned but recalled his pokemon. Ash happily patted Rhyhorn's head as the pokemon trotted back to him, brushing off the drying mud over his plates. His pokemon wouldn't take a bath to save his life, given his extreme weakness to water, but he would probably find a patch of earth rubbed raw from Rhyhorn rolling around in it.

He accepted a small bundle of bills - the standard one vs one fee. "Thanks."

Derrick snorted, but there was a hint of frustration in his eyes. "Yeah yeah, you earned it." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked around for something else to talk about. Ash looked away, a bit of heat rising to his cheeks. "Come on, I think Leaf's starting to gather water. You want to divide food?"

He agreed, and they both walked back over to the fire pit. It crackled warmly, Machop's tinder sending it near sky-high, and Ash wondered whether he'd even need a sleeping bag as long as he was close enough. Reason won out as he tossed Rhyhorn several pellets of food - he only had to eat once every couple of days with his ground typing and slow digestion, but he had taken place in a battle.

Derrick released his sandshrew, which sagged limply on the ground. Digging through his bag, he pulled out a vial and screwed the sprayer onto open, leaning over the ground type to find the worst of the injuries. Potions had many properties - blood coagulants, pain medication, subclass bacteria made in a mockery of ditto cells - and they could be used on the road to heal basic pokemon wounds. After a moment, the sandshrew's dark eyes opened and it peered around, chittering softly.

Derrick murmured congratulations, patting it on the head as he walked back to the fire pit. Leaf looked up as they approached, a grin on her face. "Nice battle, Ketchum. You too, Dorobo. Either of you want to grab Machop? He's been out for a while."

"I'll do it," Ash offered. Derrick had a hint of anger in his eyes and Ash had never been the best at comforting people. He patted Rhyhorn on the back until he focused again, turning toward his trainer with a low rumble. "Come on, bud. Let's go. Try not to knock down any trees."

A dusty snort and then they both headed off into the forest. Ash struggled with his bag for a moment before finding his flashlight. It was still light but better not to risk it, in his opinion at least. Rhyhorn nearly snapped a tree in half with his frustrated movements but a stern look from Ash and he did his best to put it back.

There were several branches that had been broken off by punches, Ash could guess, and following the trail led them to one grey humanoid, bent over with a rather enormous pile of sticks in one arm.

"We didn't need that much," Ash said, ignoring the stick that Machop nearly launched at his head when the pokemon startled and stood up. "Just a little. Leaf wants you back."

The superpower pokemon glared at him but made no noises of complaint. He knelt and picked up his dropped stick, not dropping any of his others, before turning and marching quickly back through the woods without a backward glance. Ash snorted, a sound which Rhyhorn copied.

"He's only going to follow Leaf, isn't he? Her parents definitely picked one loyal pokemon." Rhyhorn rumbled in agreement before his spines twitched. His plates ground together as he lowered himself to the ground, scarlet eyes narrowing as he stared around.

Ash froze as well. Beedrill weren't normally nocturnal, but hunger did things to pokemon. Was that the buzz of insectoid wings?

No. It was a wild shriek, one filled with righteous fury. Ash only had to look up for a moment before the spearow perched on the tree Machop had been breaking apart lunged for him.

Rhyhorn sprang forward and took the hit. He grumbled but the bird's talons, however sharp, did little to his plates. "Horn attack!" Ash bellowed. "Hit it before it starts to call for others!"

The spearow started to swerve, taking to the skies, but Rhyhorn lunged forward into a charge and nailed it below the wings. Through sheer force of will, even as it plummeted, it shrieked out a warning before Rhyhorn got to it again. The second horn attack flung it against the trunk of the tree it had come from and knocked it out.

There were few creatures on this route that would willingly attack a rhyhorn, especially tiny birds like spearow that were known for only attacking when they had the strength of numbers. This bird wasn't having any of him on its territory. That was the kind of determination he could use on his team. He had a pokeball primed in a heartbeat before lobbing it at the collapsed creature.

Though the spearow had been knocked out, the pokeball twitched wildly with the force of its consciousness. Rhyhorn tensed back up after thirty seconds of flailing, but its struggles grew less and less before it clicked complete.

Ash grinned and scooped it up, admiring the bright surface. Rhyhorn rumbled, though his eyes narrowed at the pokemon that had attacked his trainer. Ash just grinned wider and patted him on the flank.

But the repercussions hit him quickly. Though the spearow had been choked off, the echoing shriek of its warning still flickered around the forest. He quickly clipped the pokeball to his waist and turned back to where his camp was, hat nearly snagged under a branch. "Come on. We've got to get back to camp."

Rhyhorn understood his worry and took the lead, bending and snapping branches and leaving a relatively clear path. In a much shorter time than it took for them to find Machop they had left the forest and appeared back by the fire pit.

Leaf blinked up at him. "What took you so long? Machop got back like five minutes ago." She jerked her thumb at the fighting type, who was training on karate chop by getting the branches into more manageable pieces.

"Oh, nothing." He grinned and held up his newest filled pokeball.

Her jaw dropped. "No!" Springing to her feet, she jumped forward and looked closer at it. "Hell kid, you beat me again! That's not fair. What is it?"

"A spearow. But I think it might have called a warning - I tried to knock it out fast enough but I really don't know."

Derrick stood at that, frowning. "We'll sleep in the cover of the trees, but I'm not hearing anything. Definitely don't call it out until we get out of this part of the forest at least. Keep your pokemon out tonight."

Machop seemed thoroughly put out as they kicked dirt over his fire, but was quick enough to sit down next to Leaf's sleeping bag. She still seemed in awe of the newest member on Ash's roster. "A flying type! Machop could still nail it, of course, but you neutralized its normal type weakness. Any ideas what moves it has?" She coughed lightly, and though he couldn't see her in the darkness he could imagine she was mocking him. "With your fancy-smancy pokecard, of course."

"Pokedex. I haven't had time to check it yet - I'll probably do it tomorrow."

Derrick snorted at both of them. "Get to sleep, will you? I'd like to make it to Viridian tomorrow."

There was no training tonight either, not with the threat of the spearow flock hanging over their heads. But Ash couldn't fall asleep for a long while. Spearow were far from sturdy, their official name even being the tiny bird pokemon, but they could throw all manners of attacks at their enemies from a far distance. It was the complete counterpart to Rhyhorn and exactly what he needed. Rhyhorn, as if sensing his thoughts, snorted again from his stretched out position next to Ash. He poked the ground type in the general direction of his face, which elected him a rumble.

He fell asleep with a grin on his face.

xXx

He woke up without one. Rhyhorn had done his best to get him awake but so tired as he was, it had taken a light stab from his horn to wake up. Ignoring the hissing pain from his leg, he sat fully up, eyes nowhere near adjusted to the dark, and heard the gentle beats of enormous wings.

As the light from the moon filtered through the trees and hit his eyes, he was able to see his friends, sitting stick straight with their pokemon beside them. Machop was flexing his arms but a glare from Leaf put a stop to it - no matter how strong they might think they were, they were nowhere near strong enough to take on a spearow flock with a fearow at its head.

The birds flew overhead, seemingly making sweeps of the forest. Just as Ash thought they were gone they swooped back around for another run of their part of the forest. He didn't dare turn on his pokedex and check the time for fear of the light, but the moon had left its peak in the sky by the time the flock didn't show up for a long enough time they felt comfortable enough falling asleep.

Every night sound sounded like the flap of wings. Every rustle was an emerging spearow. Every beam of light was glinting eyes. Even though it was just his paranoia, his newest filled pokeball seemed to shudder.

There was little sleep to be had that night.

xXx

The next morning dawned without them, exhausted as they were. Ash felt a light kick to his shoulder, which was soon replaced by a kick than nearly punted him around the clearing. Eyes fully open and completely awake, he swiveled back over to glare darkly at Leaf. She shrugged, looking innocent. "You weren't getting up. Come on. We've already lost enough daylight as is."

Ash turned back over to glare at the peacefully slumbering Rhyhorn, who seemed wholly unconcerned with how his trainer was woken up. Most likely because he hadn't seen it. He entertained himself with cheerful thoughts of a full-grown Rhyhorn carrying Leaf far away, shrieking.

His sleeping bag seemed heavier than normal, and his movements sagged as they each packed up and fed themselves and their pokemon. Rhyhorn still didn't need another serving of dirt, though he did eat what must have been a particularly tasty rock by the trunk of a tree. Ash snorted.

Their morning daze was sobered by the sight of the Resting Meadow. Dozens of talon imprints swarmed around the remains of their fire and one of the picnic tables had a gouge that could only have been done by an irate fearow. If Derrick hadn't pulled them into the forest to sleep last night, there was little doubt on their mind that they would have been found. Both thanked the boy profusely, who perked up at the praise.

Though it hadn't been officially decided, they all left toward Viridian together. Safety in numbers and all that, and Derrick was far from a terrible traveling companion. Though he was still a bit miffed at Ash's win over him, he was clever and popped back some witty comebacks to Leaf's remarks.

Those two were getting along like a house on fire. Ash was more than worried.

His spearow's pokeball was warm to the touch. Pokemon were put into a sort of muddled state for their consciousness, but he bet that the avian would be mostly healed by that night if they were far enough away from the fearow's territory that he felt safe releasing it. If not, it'd definitely be healed by Viridian.

The day passed rather quickly, but Ash's excitement skyrocketed a mere three hours into the journey. There were trainers along the route.

A few were powerful, with six pokeballs on their belt and a look that suggested they'd rather use Ash for target practice than battle him, but the rest were just as eager as him. Rhyhorn spectacularly cleared the majority of their competitors, though a poliwag brought him close. It only had one water move, bubble, but he was able to power through and slam it into the nearest tree.

Leaf fought a few, and Machop was no slacker. His low sweeps were something to be admired and when he was able to charge up with focus energy, there was little that his attacks couldn't bring down. Two battles named others victors but the rest gave him the crown.

Sandshrew got into even fewer battles, but its wins made up for its few losses. It had its egg move down to a point, which was rather uncommon, and even pidgey couldn't stand up to its assault. Derrick accepted all of his winnings with a smug, self-satisfied grin on his face.

Around noon, they stopped for lunch. Derrick had decidedly delicious looking sandwiches, though he winced and said they were from his father and he wasn't sharing. Ash and Leaf chowed down on their basic trainer meals while he stared at his pokemon's pokeball. It had started to quiver while he was walking - the spearow was obviously healed enough to want to fight, but the pokeball's forced daze didn't allow it to escape. Fearow had large territory and they'd all heard distant threatening shrieks, though no searching flock ever got close. He sighed and clipped it away. Later, maybe.

But by Derrick's backbreaking pace, they'd reach Viridian City before the end of the day. The boy loomed behind Ash's shoulder at every battle, waiting for him to finish so they could move on, and even though Rhyhorn was still raring to go after every battle, Ash eventually limited their battles in order to avoid Derrick siccing his sandshrew on him to get him to go faster.

The sun was threatening to slip beneath the horizon just as the dim roar of humankind reached the trio's ears. Rhyhorn immediately perked up and started a slow trot down the route, bellowing a challenge. Ash raced after him, patting his head and tugging on his spines as best he could. Rhyhorn slowed, staring up at him in confusion.

"Just a town," he explained. "There's a lot of people but it's nothing to worry about, Rhyhorn."

The ground type calmed, though he still snorted out a puff of dusty air. Leaf slapped him on the shoulder, Machop crossing his arms beside her. "Forgot your pokemon was just a baby, Ketchum. You're not a half-bad battler, I'll give you that."

He punched her back. She looked like she barely felt it, grinning.

Derrick coughed and they all snapped back to attention, turning to face what must be Viridian around the corner. After another ten minutes, the route switched to be more hard packed dirt, footprints easily visible. Another minute and Ash could make out where he, Derrick, and Professor Oak had teleported in. And there was Viridian City.

It was just as large as he remembered, strong and bold and imposing. Metal gleamed from nearly every corner.

Leaf and Derrick both sighed with relief but Ash was jittery - there wasn't a gym to challenge here that he had any chance at. Giovanni was a fearsome opponent who didn't believe in lowering his power for weaker challengers. Ash would end up fighting a steelix with his spearow if he tried to fight him. So that was a no.

But there were trainers here that could tell him everything he needed to find his own path through Kanto for his eight badges. Leaf barely had a minute to admire the sight before he grabbed her arm and started trotting into the city. Derrick followed at a more sedate pace, hand on his pokeball.

Rhyhorn was recalled quickly. Even though he wasn't full grown, he was still too large and clumsy and be around all of the people in the city. Derrick followed his example though Machop stayed out.

He hadn't ever been to a Pokemon Center, but Professor Oak had enough pictures of the red-roofed buildings that he was able to recognize it once he turned the corner. Pushing past an oncoming crowd of chattering people in suits, he pushed at the glass door and entered the air-conditioned building.

It was a large open room, lined with couches and tables. A door to the pokemon store was in the back and the desk that held Nurse Joy was in front. The pink-haired woman perked up as he walked in, a gentle smile on his face.

"Hello! How may I help you today?" She said, leaning forward on her desk.

Leaf pushed forward first, recalling a disgruntled Machop. "I think my pokemon are fine. You normally only heal really wounded pokemon, right?"

She nodded. "Pokemon heal much faster than humans, and some time in a pokeball will fix up their exhaustion or minor injuries rather quickly We take more serious problems here."

"Well, I don't think Machop needs that. He got a bit of a nasty slash but I sprayed a potion on it."

"That should be fine, dear." Nurse Joy swept her gaze to the rest of them. Derrick bobbed his head but didn't offer anything more, eyes shifting downward.

"I knocked a spearow out, but that was a couple days ago. Should it be healed by now?" Ash asked, patting the pokeball in question. It was warm to the touch, brimming with life and fierce determination.

"It should be perfectly okay, although I would ask you release it outside first instead of in here. They can take a while before accepting their new trainers," she cautioned, settling back behind her desk.

He thanked her, turning back to his group. "Regroup in an hour? I'd like to meet spearow and see how that goes." They both nodded back at him, splitting almost immediately. Leaf ducked toward the store in the back while Derrick went to ask about a room key.

Ash tapped his newest member's pokeball. It was time to meet it.

xXx

The sky was growing darker, but there was plenty of daylight in the training fields in the back. A few trainers were spotted around the large area, but he hung tight to the edge of the forest and found a relatively clear spot.

Rhyhorn rumbled happily as he was released, butting his head against Ash's thigh. He was going to be one big bruise by the time he won the Conference, but he just grinned and patted the ground type.

He voiced what he was going to do to his friend, and he immediately squared up and bristled his plates. His spines ground against each other, scarlet eyes narrowed. All in all, he was a rather intimidating pokemon. Ash couldn't wait until he was the full three and a half feet tall. With a click, he released his other pokemon.

It landed on the ground, staring around at the new environment. The moment it saw him, it squawked furiously before shrieking out a summoning cry to all other members of its flock. Smug in is victory, it turned to him and waited. Nothing happened.

Ash frowned. "Spearow, I captured you. You are now my pokemon, and there is no flock to hide behind anymore. Either you will let me make you strong and accept that I am your trainer, or I will lock you in your pokeball for the next year. What will it be?"

Spearow shrieked again before taking to the air, brown-red feathers cutting through the wind as easily as a magikarp in water. It swerved, launching itself in a mockery of quick attack toward Rhyhorn.

He rumbled but braced himself, silver claws digging into the earth. Spearow pushed him back a few inches but it just didn't have any force behind it, blunt beak scratching heedlessly at the thick stone plates. It let loose an almost impressive growl before taking off again, wings beating against the air.

Ash could see the thin beams of light blue energy lift off of its feathers and shoot toward Rhyhorn, glistening in a burst of enhanced wind. Not gust, but something different. No wonder it had been confident enough to attack Rhyhorn if it had a special move at its disposal.

Rhyhorn rumbled with pain at the attack. He was built against physical hits, not energy, but even that move didn't do much other than annoy him. Roaring a challenge to the flying type, he squared up and waited.

Spearow tried its wind move again. Rhyhorn shifted back but it wasn't enough. With a fearsome shriek, it dove again, talons extended. Ash recalled it before it came within a foot of his starter, releasing it immediately several feet away on the ground. Now that it wasn't soaring through the air, he was suddenly aware of how large he was compared to the tiny creature.

It stared up at him with bright black eyes. "You're weak," he started. "All of your moves and you couldn't hurt my starter. But if you come with me, I'll make you strong."

Its eyes flicked to Rhyhorn. After a moment, it sagged and conceded defeat, chirping softly. A fair amount of the fight had gone out of the bird, who shuffled against the trimmed grass and twitched its wings.

Ash unclipped his pokedex and held it in front of the pokemon. "I'm going to scan you. Stay still." It only took him a moment to lock the sensor onto the still bird's form and press the button.

Spearow, the tiny bird pokemon. They are a fiercely territorial pokemon - their summoning cry to their brethren can be heard from half a mile away. They compete constantly with pidgey for food and nests.

This spearow knows the moves peck, growl, fury attack, and razor wind. Its ability is keen eye, which prevents it from losing accuracy.

He nodded at razor wind - an egg move of some sort. It had the beginnings of a powerful pokemon, one he was going to take full advantage of. "Would you like a nickname?"

Rhyhorn grunted at the word but when Ash offered the same to him, he shook his head. His name was enough. Spearow, on the other hand, seemed to be considering it. As soon as Rhyhorn turned it down, the bird shrieked and bobbed its head.

Razor wind was a powerful move that summoned wind. "What about Gale? It's a wind strong enough to do some real damage."

A shriek was his answer. Gale puffed out its feathers - his feathers, Ash found out with the push of a button - but didn't take to the air. After another moment, he relaxed and let them fall flat. He stayed on the ground, staring up at Ash with those same angry eyes, even though he had no reason to be angry. It was just part of his face, it seemed.

He returned both of them to their pokeballs, preparing to head back to the Pokemon Center. Tomorrow, he'd ask around and find another route to the gyms before finding some way to break the news to Leaf. While they had known they wouldn't be traveling together forever, they hadn't expected to break apart so soon.

The ground shivered beneath him, like the pounding of dozens of feet, or a ground type asserting its dominance. Ash frowned and stared toward the training fields - only a staryu and a starmie were on them, both in the care of an orange-haired trainer, and neither of them could use earthquake.

Something flickered in the corner of his eye, and he turned just in time to see the ponyta herd barrel toward him.

Their manes burned with fury and panic as they stampeded over the ground, fire flickering from their hooves. They had no direction, just a primal fear that forced them in any direction it pleased.

He threw himself to the side, running as fast as he could. Heat washed over him and flames nipped at his heel as the herd raced by, dozens lined up one after another. They seemed to have come from the forest. There were no ponyta herds anywhere near here.

Ash had just made a step toward the safety of the Pokemon Center when the lead ponyta shrieked, wild and fierce. The herd slowed, hooves pounding, before they turned and raced toward the red-roofed building with fury in their movements.

He released Rhyhorn in a flash of scarlet - there was no way he would survive the attacks if they turned on him. Rhyhorn narrowed in on the herd in a second and rumbled, deep and gravelly. Indeed, not a moment later, two ponyta at the back of the herd twisted at his ground type's rumble and narrowed their eyes, manes sparking.

Rhyhorn could resist fire attacks well enough. "Horn attack!" He bellowed.

One of the ponyta charged, flames splitting from its mane to encircle its cream body. In only a second, it was surrounded by a blazing fire, its charge only accented by the hissing sparks.

Rhyhorn had no chance to dodge. The ponyta slammed into him, whinnying. It only had a second to stumble back before Rhyhorn lunged and slammed his horn right into its chest. Shrieking, it stumbled back, pawing furiously at the air while its brethren finished charging up a fireball and spat it at the ground type.

He hadn't faced many - any - fire types before in his life. Already parts of Rhyhorn's plates were charred and a thin layer of soot covered his face, though he bravely charged forward to slam another horn attack into the second ponyta's chest, throwing it back even farther.

The first rushed him before he had even made contact, leaping up to slam its hooves into his spine. He roared with pain, the vibrations from its diamond-hard hooves rippling through his entire body. The second staggered back upright from his horn attack and spat another ember, which exploded against his head and forced him to the side.

They were double-teaming him, and well. He needed a distraction.

Gale appeared with a shriek, wings spread and blinking rapidly. Ash gave him a moment to absorb the situation. "Time to test your mettle," he called. "Up! Razor wind! Aim for the one on the left!"

He took off, short red wings spread and glistening with the bluish energy. The ponyta glared at the newcomer but Rhyhorn took the opportunity to bodyslam into the second ponyta without even a move, throwing it to the ground. The first moved in to attack but a sudden burst of wind from above made it stagger, whinnying wildly.

At Ash's shouted command, Gale tucked in his wings and dove, beak shining. Fury attack landed on the back of the first ponyta with reckless abandon, ripping away fur and exposing the more sensitive skin beneath. It shrieked and its mane flared up, burning Gale's exposed wings. He took off almost immediately, primaries trailing a thin tendril of smoke before the wind put it out.

Rhyhorn bellowed from another hurried flame charge from the second ponyta, but his horn gleamed past the burns and slammed into the horse's flank, throwing it down. It struggled once more weakly before passing fully out, mane fading down to mere embers in the growing dark.

The second ponyta shrieked at the sight of its fallen comrade and charged Rhyhorn, hooves shining with stomp and an ember building in its mouth. His ground type faithfully turned to face it, bracing against the ground with his horn extended.

Gale launched a razor wind, but it was only enough to bluster the ponyta before it finished its charge and slammed its hooves against Rhyhorn's head plate. He roared and jabbed his jab at its underbelly. It punctured right past the skin and threw the fire type back half a dozen feet back, skidding against the rough terrain. There weren't any more movements as it collapsed against the ground.

Ash let out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding before his mind clicked again. He scrabbled through his bag for a potion. He had been lucky - the two ponyta had left the rest of their herd but that didn't mean the others weren't coming as soon as possible, and Rhyhorn couldn't stand up to the dozens that had been there while injured, even with Gale distracting them. Just as he found one of the spray bottles, the click of hooves and the snort of fiery breath made him freeze and look up.

An enormous rapidash, one that easily towered over him, peered down at the twin collapsed ponyta. Its horn glinted brightly as it spat out a thin ember, which exploded harmlessly against one of the fire type's side. It didn't even stir.

It turned to him, black eyes shining. The flames spread down its back blazed up, shining with power. Rhyhorn bellowed and charged forward, earth trembling.

With a grace that he couldn't fathom, it leaped over his head and landed easily on the other side. It snorted a fiery breath as Rhyhorn, spun, confused, before rearing up and whinnying out a shrieking call.

Ash furiously called his pokemon over. Gale hovered for a second, frustration in his eyes, but his burnt primaries made it far from fun to fly. The ground put him at both Rhyhorn and Ash's mercy so instead he settled for the next highest perch - Ash's shoulder, talons digging through his thin shirt.

Rhyhorn rumbled by his side as Ash furiously poured the potion in the cracks between his plates. The rapidash stared at them almost curiously, horn glimmering in the fading sun, but it didn't attack or come closer. It stood guard over the unconscious ponyta, nosing at the wounds from Rhyhorn's horn.

Almost as soon as Ash finished applying the potion, something appeared toward the training fields. The staryu trainer had long-since fled but now a man jogged toward him, whistling sharply. The rapidash's ears perked up at the sound but it stood strong, mane flaring slightly.

Rhyhorn rumbled a warning as the man grew closer, scarlet eyes narrowed. Even Gale shrieked, the sound deafening from how close he was to Ash's ear.

But then the man held up two pokeballs and the ponyta disappeared in a flash of crimson. The rapidash neighed and trotted up to him, butting its neck against his side. He grinned and stroked just underneath its sparking mane.

"Who are you?" Ash said, still tensed. Gale spread his wings, ready to take off again, but the man hurriedly shook his head and held up his hands in a position of surrender.

"I do apologize! My name is Gideon Jobane. This is all a big misunderstanding."

Ash's eyes narrowed.

In another flash of light, the rapidash disappeared into the man's hand. "Again, I'm really very sorry. See - I have no pokemon with me. The rest of the ponyta were recalled, but I sent my rapidash to find the two stragglers. Thank you for knocking them out. They could have caused quite a bit of damage to themselves."

"What happened?" He tapped Rhyhorn's head and the ground type relaxed, only slightly, but he was still squared up and ready to charge. Gale lowered his wings, still trailing smoke, and narrowed his keen eyes.

Gideon frowned, eyebrows coming together above his nose. "This is my herd of ponyta. I breed and raise them for trainers and such, but some people in black outfits stormed my farm and drove them mad," he spat. "My rapidash was able to find and calm them down but not until after they reach Viridian. I wish I would have been able to catch those idiots who thought it would be smart to mess with a fire type herd."

"Oh." Ash frowned. "Who would do that?"

"I have no idea, but thankfully I capture all of my pokemon as soon as they hatch so I prevent thieves from snatching them out in the fields. Otherwise they'd all be gone." His tone was both furious and frustrated. Gideon swept a hand through his hair that was so dark it was almost blue. "I'll tell the news everything I can but I don't think they'll be caught. They ran as soon as they couldn't catch my pokemon."

He brightened, if slightly. "Your team has to be hurting after standing up to my pokemon. Come on - I'll show you to the Pokemon Center. You're a trainer, right? If not, I'll pay for your healing myself."

"I'm a trainer." The man seemed to have switched gears quickly. "I do know the way to the Center-"

"Nonsense! It's the least I can do." Gideon started to walk quickly and Ash shrugged before following. Gale shrieked at the motion, scratching at Ash's neck with one talon, but he calmed down at Ash's narrowed eyes. Rhyhorn rumbled along beside them, soot trailing from his plates.

There was a camera crew around the training fields, made of three people. Two men spoke with microphones while a woman angled the camera down toward the dying embers and imprinted hoofprints over the dirt, armed with several lights to counter the disappearing sun. They both straightened as Gideon grew nearer, eyes lighting up.

"Ah! And here's the man himself, once again!" One of the reporters sprang up, the camera following him smoothly. "Everyone, for a refresher, this is Gideon Jobane, owner of the ponyta herd and close friend of our very own gym leader, Giovanni. Sir, what just happened when you ran away just five minutes ago?"

Gideon strood forward, smile warm. Ash crept away from the bulky black camera, Rhyhorn lumbering beside him as quietly as he could.

"My rapidash alerted me to the fact it had found the last two ponyta that had broken away from the main herd. They were giving my friend here a hard time, but he was able to fight them off. Now I can say that every one is accounted for and safely in their pokeball!"

The camera swung toward him despite his attempts to move away. He managed an awkward wave before turning away again. The reporter looked like he wanted to pursue him but found a juicer story with Gideon. "Before we were interrupted, you were telling us what those dastardly men looked like. Care to pick up your description?"

Ash used the distraction to flee.

xXx

"And your spearow's wing is just burnt, correct?"

He nodded at Nurse Joy. She accepted the two pokeballs and set them on a side counter, turning back to him. "I can promise them back in the morning - from what you've told me, it doesn't sound like they were very injured. Maybe don't let your spearow fly for several hours, but he should be just fine. Thank you for getting them checked up! Would you like a key?"

Ash took the wide bronze key, which had his room number inscribed on the side. Hooking it on one of the various spots on his belt, he thanked her again before walking away. Now that he wasn't in the battle, he sighed at the now useless potion he had used. While it would have kept Rhyhorn fighting, he was getting his pokemon checked up with Nurse Joy anyway.

He had barely made it three steps up the stairs before Leaf barreled into him from behind, nearly slamming him onto all fours. "Ketchum! I left you alone for barely ten minutes. How the hell did you already get attacked?"

The laugh rose quickly through him as he spun around to face her. "I swear, it was nothing. Rhyhorn and Gale were able to knock them out pretty fast and then Gideon came over and collected them. Nurse Joy is going to heal them up tonight and they'll be fine in the morning."

Leaf switched topics faster than an arcanine. "Then we seriously have to work on your news face. I mean, really? A wave? No proudly declaring your name and that you'll be glad to help anyone else? Hell, kid, you should have at least dragged some sort of compensation out of the Jobanei guy."

"Jobane," he corrected. "Where did you see that?"

She pointed over to the crowd of couches, where two thin televisions stood on tables. They were currently showing Gideon's face as he spoke passionately about what had happened. Ash winced.

Leaf noticed the moment his adrenaline rush wore off, though the effects were easy to notice. He visibly sagged, closing his eyes for a minute too long. A grin curved her lips. "Come on, off to bed with you."

"I can't go to bed yet," he protested. "I haven't called my mom yet."

Leaf looked like she wanted to argue a bit more, but she knew Delia Ketchum. Sighing, she pointed him toward the videophones in the back and went back to watching the television. He thanked her and walked over.

Scanning his Trainer ID, the screen flickered to life and brought up a number page. It took him nearly five minutes of scrolling but he finally found the Ketchum Household, saving it to his favourites before clicking call.

Its melody chirped quietly through the Center. He wondered briefly whether it was too late for his mother to pick up before the screen switched suddenly to a white color that meant someone had picked up. "Hello, Ketchum residence."

"Hey, Mom."

Barely a second had gone by before the screen switched to his mother's wide, smiling face. "Ash! You made it!"

He smiled back at her. "I just got here around thirty minutes ago. I'm traveling with Leaf Chikara and Derrick Dorobo - do you know them?"

"Of course, honey. I know just about everyone in this town," she teased lightly. "But that's great! Did you have any problems? I heard there was a nasty little pikachu around the beginning of Route 1."

"Well, I did catch a pokemon. A spearow. His name is Gale." He almost reached down to release the pokemon before realizing that he was with Nurse Joy and settled for smiling. "He helped me take down a ponyta herd that had gotten loose."

He saw her eyes widen before narrowing and leaped it to contain the damage. "It wasn't that bad! Some people made this guy Gideon's herd angry and they went toward town. I only fought two ponyta and my pokemon are already at the Center. Everything is fine!"

"If you say so, Ashy," she said, though her eyes were still narrowed. "Are you sure you're okay? Is Giovanni back from the League business?"

He shook his head and she smiled softly, before suddenly breaking into a yawn that seemed to take up the entire screen. "Well, I've got to get to bed. Sorry to cut this short, Ashy, but the restaurant's been getting more customers than normal. Call me from the next city! I love you!"

The call cut off. He smiled and shut the videophone off, his own yawn loud.

Leaf appeared from behind him, arms crossed. "Now, off to bed. Tell me everything else in the morning."

"I already told you," he protested, but let her drag him up the stairs and toward his room. Unlocking it, he said his goodnights before immediately jumping into the shower. It was short and brisk, but three days of traveling had left their marks that he was happy to wash away. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

xXx

Ash danced around a bit nervously in the cafeteria section of the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy, while handing back his pokeballs, had said that Gideon had wanted to talk to him once he woke up.

After only a couple more minutes that had Ash fold his napkin into a strange variety of shapes, the man appeared into the room with a wide grin. Now that it was fully light, he could see the dark clothing and leather vest he wore. Three pokeballs were on a string around his neck.

"Ash! Nurse Joy was kind enough to give me your name," the man said as a greeting, sliding into the seat opposite of him.

"Why did you want to see me?"

Gideon shrugged. "Just to offer some advice, I guess. A trainer for only four days and you took down a few of my ponyta - its a trait to be admired, and I'd like to help. Besides, I was planning on meeting Giovanni but he's not here, so you're the last task I'm wrapping up here before I go back." He shook himself before grinning.

"So! Any questions? I have plenty of knowledge for a beginning trainer such as yourself," Gideon winked.

Ash did actually have something to ask. "I'm collecting the eight badges to challenge the Indigo Conference, but I don't want to start with Brock and do the same path as everyone else. I just don't know where else to start, or how to get there."

Gideon's eyes narrowed in thought. "You've got a rhyhorn and a spearow, right?" At Ash's nod, he continued. "Brock would be a bit of an issue, but you could fight him successfully then skip Cerulean and go on. There's always Cinnabar Island, although the cost of renting a boat at this stage in your journey-" his wince was shared by Ash. All of his funds, even the ones that he hadn't earned yet, would be sucked into that endeavor.

"Well." Gideon's eyes suddenly brightened. "Have you ever heard of the Diglett Cave?" Ash shook his head. "It's a pokemon and man-made tunnel that stretches through a little cave system. The ol' League doesn't take as much care over it when compared to Mount Moon or the like, but it'll be plenty of protection for you. They hardly watch it at all except for where it counts."

That sounded far better than any plan of his. "Where can I find it?"

"Six-ish days into the Viridian Forest, as long as you stay on the path. Take a turn left when you see the sign, you can't miss it unless someone else had their pokemon knock it down for fun." He rolled his eyes. "Happens more than I like."

He steepled his fingers over the table. "It'll drop you off toward the end of route 11, only a day or two away from Vermillion City, and at Vermillion, they train-"

"-electric types," Ash said, grinning. Rhyhorn not only was a ground type but he also had lightning rod as an ability. While Gale would be at a disadvantage, that didn't matter if his starter steamrolled the competition.

Gideon nodded. "Bit of a sucky journey but I have no doubts you'll make it through just fine. As for your pokemon, a few more tips. Your rhyhorn won't take too much to learn basic physical moves - stomp, fury attack, things like that. I'd give it a couple of days each. But spend a fair amount of time on rock and ground moves, which you'll need to take down Surge. Your spearow needs some serious buffing - get it some moves that'll put some force behind it. Maybe pursuit or aerial ace. Those will put some actual weight behind its words, if you know what I mean." Gideon stretched, leaning back. "I'll take my leave, if you will. The farm calls." He smiled one last time before standing up from the table, vest nearly catching on the edge before he jerked it away.

"Six days," Ash repeated as he watched the man walk away.

Now he had a plan, which also meant he had to break it to Leaf. Sighing, he walked outside and prepared for that conversation.

xXx

Leaf and Derrick actually took it much better than he would have thought. He had cornered them just as they finished buying the last of their supplies - he had woken up early so he wouldn't slow them down buying his own - and on the way to Route 2 had told them everything. Leaf had a steely gleam in her eyes but Derrick seemed indifferent. The boy had never warmed up much after he had beat him in a battle. Leaf pulled a joke about him closing his doors just like Kalos, and that had resulted in a delightful little chase around the streets of Viridian.

But, as Leaf had said, he wasn't leaving yet. With that thought in mind, they entered the thick forest of Route 2.

It was a different place entirely from Route 1. The trees made it feel crowded, even though they were cleared a few feet from the actual route. Rattata scampered almost constantly around them, pidgey swooping through the trees to screech warnings. The sun only appeared in bursts, the rest gelled a light green by the leaves.

The largest - and best - difference was the trainers. Mainly the fact that they were actually here.

Ash must have battled a dozen or more on the first day alone. While a few were trainers starting out their official, League-recognized journey - he ran into the trainer from Viridian that had gotten the female nidoran - most were bug catchers. They hung around Viridian Forest for most of the years and tried to train the easy-to-catch pokemon into beings that could generate them all the money they'd ever need.

The trio was quite happy to cut them down a few notches. Derrick battled the least yet again, only choosing the battles he knew he would win, but Ash threw himself full force into every trainer that passed by. His streak continued on.

Gale finally accepted him after seeing Rhyhorn rip into an enemy beedrill. The bird had been stuck to Ash's shoulder for the first day because of Nurse Joy's warnings, but every time after that he took to the skies and shrieked warnings to anything that dared challenge him. He saw his fair amount of use - his pecks were vicious and he could take out most pokemon teams without breaking a sweat.

The bug trainers were the worst example of Kanto trainers. Only a few had anything to challenge them, as they went after the easy caterpie and weedle instead of grabbing anything else.

Ash was able to rake in a fair amount of cash, which only made him more ready. Each of the trainers he fought made him more excited for the next.

At night, they trained. He let Leaf and Derrick use his pokedex for when they started to train, as he scanned it while they were walking. Both had books, but the device was simpler to use and generated more results. Leaf had stolen it for nearly ten minutes while showing Machop a video of another pokemon using karate chop.

Derrick had decided on training his sandshrew's other moves first, but eventually, he'd start on rapid spin to get away from more enemies, though it almost seemed like it didn't need it. During the training, it was clear his sandshrew was able to use its claws when it wanted to.

Machop made more progress. His instincts were made to use karate chop and the videos Leaf had found didn't hurt. After a mere couple of hours, his hand had started to shine rather brightly when he attacked the tree.

Ash had focused on Gideon's advice. Rhyhorn took to stomp easily enough - while he didn't have the bulk of a fully grown rhyhorn, his feet were strong enough and rocks shattered under his weight. Fury attack was giving them a bit more trouble, but normal type moves were among the easiest to learn. There was no energy involved in the physical ones.

Gale was given the task of perfecting his other moves. His training at this point seemed to just be hurtling himself at any surface while shrieking furiously and while that worked for most of the bugs, Ash made sure to refine his methods.

Days passed quickly. A steady clock ticked in the back of his mind, and by the time they had reached day six he was jittery with nerves. Gale was searching overhead for any sort of entrance, but it would be just his luck if he managed to miss the entrance to the Diglett Cave.

Finally, he found a thin sign tucked away into the undergrowth. He might have missed it if Gale hadn't dived from above and perched smugly on top, chirping. It proclaimed the Diglett Cave was to the left with a large arrow.

Leaf sighed, more than a little downcast. But she hid it quickly and pounded him on the shoulder in her typical goodbye. "Well Ketchum, I'll see you as soon as I can. Machop'll beat your rhyhorn and your spearow, no doubt about that!"

"We'll see." He grinned back. It was another second before they broke and hugged each other - it had been a very long time since either of them had been any more than a block away, and now the distance would be increased to an entire region. He shook hands with Derrick, said his true final goodbyes, and set down the much thinner road.

It was a short walk - less than an hour - before Gale swooped suddenly ahead and shrieked. Not a moment later, he stumbled across the entrance to the Diglett Cave. It was a hole carved into the earth, concrete stairs leading down with a steel rail on the side. The sunlight sliced through the shadows but it was clear that once he went in, he wouldn't be able to see much with the sun. But the electric lights on the side of the tunnel looked promising.

The entire cave was around ten feet tall and mostly circular, but one thing was clear. Gale, even with his powerful eyes, wouldn't be able to fly without crashing into every wall on every turn. The spearow shrieked and puffed out his crest, but after Ash explained it, he accepted being recalled with only little complaint.

With Rhyhorn at his side, he stepped into the cavernous maw of the tunnel.

xXx

The darkness was pressing, but he quickly adjusted as best he could. Blue League lights were attached to the walls, wires hidden in tiny pockets drilled into the wall. They were created to mimic moonlight as best as man-made things could be as to not disturb the hundreds of diglett and the line that lived in the caves.

His pokedex hadn't been kidding when it had talked about the number of the ground type evolutionary line.

Diglett were moles that were about eleven inches long, though only the top five inches were normally seen when they poked their bulbous heads through the ground. They spent around 87% of their lifespan underground, swimming through the dirt as easily as water. Their evolution grew two more heads - though researchers still couldn't figure out why - but still mainly stayed beneath the earth.

Except in the Diglett Cave, where they roamed free.

He ran into his first labour of diglett half an hour in. They chittered at him, black eyes flashing in the beam of his flashlight. Four dug beneath the earth almost immediately but two more stared distrustingly at Rhyhorn, who glared right back.

By the end of the first day, he had run into nearly half a hundred. He never got within more than five feet before they scurried away, but a trainer dedicated enough to catching one would have plenty of options.

The good side was how happy his starter was. Rhyhorn was a ground type, and rumors spoke of his kind having been carved from stone itself. Being under thousands of pounds of earth carved by foot long moles made him feel more comfortable than open air ever could.

Ash did not feel the same. It was cold and damp but not enough that it could be called miserable, stale air filling his lungs. He could feel dust swirling around him with every step, no rain to weigh it down, and there would be no comfort from a fire at night when there wasn't any wood for miles. That was without the fear of the tunnel itself. He would gladly turn right around if he didn't know this was what he wanted.

Then there was training. While Rhyhorn picked up fury attack within another few days, the presence of all of the earth sped up his next moves tenfold. He wouldn't even think about any sort of ground move - not while in the tunnel - but the easiest rock type move for Rhyhorn learn was coming along nicely.

Smack down was a relatively simple move, or at least that was what his pokedex told him. Rhyhorn would summon thick dirt and throw it at his opponent, weighing them down to the point it would pull flying types out of the air. So far, he had been able to pull up dirt from around him, though the act of 'throwing' it was still rather weak.

He released Gale every night, even though he couldn't do much training. It could mess up a pokemon's mind to be in their pokeball for too long, and the week that it would take to get through the Diglett Cave was far too long for his spearow. The avian shrieked constantly whenever he was out, feathers puffed up and crest flared, but he was scared. There were no skies in the pits on the earth.

There was no way to tell the passage of time. He glanced down at his pokedex and saw it was nearly nine, which explained his eyelids that felt heavy enough to fall right off of his eyes. Calling Rhyhorn off of his training, he spread out his sleeping bag and tucked everyone in closer. Gale shrieked as he was forced to hop off of Ash's shoulder, sharp eyes easily picking apart the dark of the cave with the thin light of the light above them as he landed. It was no substitute for the actual moon, but the gentle blue rays helped lull him to sleep faster than the other nights.

xXx

Seven days passed slowly in the darkness. He had only stumbled across one other trainer, someone several years older than him. There was no way they could battle safely in the dark and cramped spaces, so they merely exchanged greetings and how many days it had been since they'd went it.

Rhyhorn had - he guessed - mastered smack down. It was an almost extremely easy move to learn, utilizing only the most basic of rock type power, but it would hopefully be the cutting edge between victory and defeat in the Vermillion Gym. Gale hadn't been able to much other than attack the ground with pecks and fury attacks, but he was getting stronger as well. Both of them were.

His first guess was when the League lights began to disappear, blue light fading away and his flashlight the only thing keeping him from stumbling into squeaking masses of diglett. Rhyhorn rumbled into the darkness, plates grinding, but Ash only sped up, days of exhaustion put on hold as warmth touched his skin. Warmth he hadn't felt since he'd entered the Diglett Cave.

An hour later, the ground swerved sharply up and he emerged into bright light. He was extremely thankful he'd read the pokedex inscription on the subject - after spending so long below in almost complete darkness, coming straight up into sunlight had the chance to instantly blind him. He wrapped three cloths around his eyes and used Rhyhorn to navigate, stumbling around in a manner most ungraceful. As soon as his starter told him he was in the light, it had been nearly twenty minutes before he was able to adjust well enough to take the cloths off. When he did, he ran forward and laid down on the sun-warmed dirt, sighing up at the brilliant blue sky. Pidgey chirped on either side and an actual breeze stroked his cheeks. He was never taking this for granted again.

Gale was released only a moment later. The bird prepared himself for the darkness of the cave but shrieked in delight as sunlight hit him, spreading his wings and taking off almost instantly. He challenged all other pokemon with a vicious shriek, burning with the joy of being outside.

Ash winced. It had been the hardest on his spearow. Gale just wasn't meant to be inside anything in the ground. Rhyhorn had enjoyed it but, on the other hand, he didn't mind being outside - that same could not be reversed of Gale.

They relaxed for nearly an hour before starting their way towards Vermillion City. All three of them were raring to go. In the darkness of the cave, he hadn't noticed the loss of Leaf and Derrick, but now it struck him harder than ever. They had bonded on Route 1 and some of Viridian Forest.

Ash challenged every trainer he came across. Gale was particularly vicious and Rhyhorn had been able to rip a pidgey out of the sky with smack down. Both of them were ready and raring to fight, and a steady sum of funds funneled their way into Ash's pocket.

Their fire burned high that night and both threw themselves into training. Ash did the best research he could on the Vermillion City gym. It trained electric types, he knew that, and its leader was Lt. Surge. There wasn't much information about him on the pokedex, which was mostly only for pokemon information, but the page or so about the gym helped him nonetheless. He was a powerful, fierce man who was known for using his electric types to their full potential in every battle he was a part of. There was no mention of how he had gotten the ranking Lieutenant.

Ash frowned. That stood out rather starkly to him. Clicking on the man's name, he searched through his basic bio but found nothing on any sort of war or military training. The League's page yielded no other results either.

The man's page was strangely blank as well. Most gym leaders listed a few of their pokemon as to give new trainers a chance - though Giovanni did no such thing - but Surge had nothing but times, location, and a picture of his badge. There was no picture of himself either on the page, just an expanded picture of his Thunder Badge.

Even as he searched on for other information of Kanto's electric types, he frowned. The League wanted their trainers to be prepared, but the glaring holes in Surge's bio spoke otherwise.

He didn't find anything else for the rest of the night.

xXx

The next day, he stumbled blearily into Vermillion City. Gale shrieked and dove from the sky, landing with talons curled on his shoulder. He was a mere four pounds, maybe a little more, but Ash knew he'd start gaining weight as soon as he was ready to evolve. Already his crest had lengthened somewhat, though not nearly enough for Ash to start looking for the more visible signs. Rhyhorn lumbered up beside him, rumbling distastefully at the large city. The chatter of hundreds of people had never appealed to him.

Vermillion City was even larger than Viridian. Skyscrapers lunged upward with the force of hundreds of tons of steel, windows gleaming. The sun shone sharply from above, lighting the paths with the glimmering orange of day, clumps of people schooling around as they walked downtown.

But no. The greatest thing was the water.

Pallet Town had access to the ocean, but it was a day's walk away and Ash had only seen it a few times in his life. This was a town built for its ocean view, sea breeze thick and cloying over the entire city. Clouds hide none of the sun's intensity and the thick scent of salt and brine nearly swallowed him whole.

He loved it.

There were probably dozens of trainers out on this road alone and he wanted to battle them all - but not yet. He was here for something very different right now. His pokemon weren't injured, though Gale had gotten a nasty vine whip from a bellsprout, and both of them were ready to throw themselves fully onto the gym battle that was sure to come. But his backpack was far from light with his sleeping bag and all of his supplies, so he wanted to drop it off first at the safest place for a trainer.

The Pokemon Center was the same red-roofed quaintness here as it had been in Viridian. It took him nearly twenty minutes of wandering around in awe of the huge city before he was able to find it, but he was grateful for the break from the pounding sun as the cool air from inside washed over his face.

Nurse Joy smiled warmly at him as he entered. "Just a room, please," he asked, holding out his wrist. He slid it under the scanner, waiting for the pleasant chirp that marked him as a trainer that got room and board paid for by the League. She nodded her head and passed him a bronze key, pointing the way up the stairs.

There was no Leaf to greet, but he still looked around the room with appreciation. It was no Pallet Town, but the bed was undoubtedly softer than any hard-packed earth with only a sleeping bag to protect his back. The beanbag for his pokemon would be plenty for Rhyhorn, and the gnarled branches used for perches would make Gale happy, at least.

Dropping off his bag, he stretched a few times and splashed water in his face. Both of his pokemon were ready on his waist, having been prepared when Ash recalled them. Lt. Surge wouldn't know what hit him.

It took another ten minutes and several instructions from Nurse Joy and other passersby before he found the gym, although once he saw it he wondered how he hadn't noticed it before. It was an enormous building, stretching up high. Different steel lightning bolts were raced over its surface, the tops tipped with lightning rods presumably to power the gym and feed its various electric types.

There was no one by the doors, so he laid his shoulders into them and pushed. They must have been four feet taller them him but they swung open surprisingly easily. Stepping in, he let them swing close behind him and stared around.

He hadn't ever been in a gym before, but they were impressive. Several stories high for fliers, high-quality stone making up a pathway around the wide ground floor that made up the battlefield. It would certainly be better than anything he'd ever fought in before, that was for sure. A referee looked up as he walked in, sitting safely behind a plastic shield on one side of the battlefield.

A door in the back opened, and a man stepped out. Ash blinked - even from an entire battlefield away, it was easy to see he was nearly seven feet tall, spiky blond hair pushing up a few more inches. Ash was dwarfed by nearly two feet, and boy did he not like it. Surge made no effort to hide his height or muscles, muscle shirt cut to free his arms and army green shorts unrestricting.

Ash stood as tall as he could, eyes narrowed. The man's personality looked like it would match his appearance, if the arrogant smirk over his face meant anything.

"Huh, a baby." Surge scratched at his stubble, entirely unconcerned. "Normally they're taller before they challenge me, or maybe you haven't learned a lesson yet." His grin showed all of his teeth.

"My name is Ash Ketchum, and I'm here to challenge you for the Thunder Badge." Surge grew closer, forcing him to look almost straight up, but he refused to let the man force him back. He wouldn't give up.

"And how many badges do you have? Two, I'm guessing, for a runt. Go listen to the stories and come back when you're worth my time."

He narrowed his eyes further. "I don't have a badge yet. I'm hoping you might be enough of a challenge to make me actually have to try and get one."

Surge barked out in surprised laughter. His grin faded from sharp edges into something more broad and pleased. "A teething baby, but a baby nonetheless. Fine. Get on the field. Two on two, or do you only have one pokemon?"

"Two on two." He stalked toward the closer side, letting Surge lope over to his side with casual, easy steps. The man made everything look easy, even as he grabbed a pokeball from a nearby bench and pressed the release.

A small pikachu appeared on the field. It twitched its long ears, looking around before focusing on Ash. Despite its size, its growl was surprisingly deep.

Ash released his starter and took pride in how Surge's eyes widened. Rhyhorn bellowed his arrival at the pikachu, who only narrowed its eyes and let its tail whip around its body, sparking softly. "Damn. Viridian or Lavender? Heard they were offering a few rhyhorn as starters."

"Pallet Town."

Rhyhorn squared up, horn poised. Ash let Surge finish signaling the referee before lunging into the attack. "Horn attack!"

With a roar that shook the stone beneath him, Rhyhorn charged across the field. Pikachu zipped out of the way, but if the narrowed eyes on Surge's face were anything to go by, the strategy wouldn't work for long. Rhyhorn's typing had probably taken away most of Pikachu's long-range moves, which meant it had to get close.

"Quick tail." Pikachu instantly reacted and flung itself across the field, silver building around its tail. Rhyhorn lunged to the side and managed to avoid the iron tail that cleaved a hole in the ground.

Rhyhorn hip-checked the electric type, slamming it back to where it laid on the ground, struggling to get up through its daze. He lunged forward and reared up as best as he could, coming down and jabbing Pikachu right in the chest with his powerful horn. For good measure, he tried to use stomp on its chest but Surge recalled it before then with narrowed eyes.

"Well shit kid, wasn't expecting that. I don't ever take it easy, but you might have the balls to handle this." With a grin, he tapped the release button on another pokeball. Before the pokemon had even formed, Surge called out, "Count yourself damn lucky my raichu's still resting. 'Course, you'll have enough trouble with this one."

The pokemon was tall, maybe three feet. Yellow fur overlined with jagged black slashes that looked more like wounds than stripes. Barbs stuck out from the top of its head, twitching.

Then there was the fact Ash could feel the electricity as soon as it came onto the field. Jabbing its fists together, it grinned as Ash's hair on his arms stood straight up. There was no doubt in his mind. Gale had no chance against it. Rhyhorn had to knock it out.

Rhyhorn shivered. His ability trumped his typing and he could sense the electricity crackling over his body as it traveled up to his horn, where it would wait until he used it or it dissipated.

Surge counted on Ash's shock and took the first move. "Low kick. Punch that pretty horn in if it gets too close."

Electabuzz was slower than Pikachu, but that still put it a slice above Rhyhorn. His friend valiantly bellowed a challenge and lowered his horn, but Electabuzz sidestepped him smoothly. With its foot glowing, it kicked Rhyhorn's front leg out from under him.

Rhyhorn bellowed as he was thrown to the ground. "Smack down!" Ash shouted, fists clenched.

Electabuzz padded over the struggling pokemon, kicking out again and landing a hit directly on Rhyhorn's spines. The ground type roared in pain but Electabuzz, in its victory, never noticed the dirt rising in clumps around Rhyhorn's horn.

Surge narrowed his eyes, but Rhyhorn got to his feet and spun around, furious. The smack down slammed into Electabuzz's shoulders and forced it to its knees, eliciting a hiss of surprise.

Electabuzz's fur crackled as it tried to push the heavy dirt off of its shoulders, but Rhyhorn had charged long before then. He slid into fury attack, jabbing and slashing with his horn as best he could. Electabuzz screeched with pain.

Surge bellowed a command. Ash's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to shout for Rhyhorn to get away, but it was too late. Electabuzz's fist was slowly covered with frost, chilling the air around it. Rhyhorn stepped back a moment too late as Electabuzz's fist caught him right below his chin.

The chill froze his muscles and he struggled a step back, but Electabuzz was done playing. Teeth bared in a vicious snarl, it leaped forward again and slammed two more punches below Rhyhorn's chin. They were enough to throw him upside down, wriggling on his back.

Ash shouted out, but there was nothing he could do. Electabuzz hopped up and landed on Rhyhorn's chest, eliciting another bellow of pain. The ground type scratched him with his silver claws but Surge's pokemon was confident in its victory and did nothing to stop the weak attacks.

"You're welcome to forfeit," Surge called, a wide grin on his face. Electabuzz grinned back, just as arrogant, and punched Rhyhorn again, almost indenting him into the ground of the battlefield.

Ash was reaching for his pokeball when he noticed something. Electabuzz had the static ability, which meant they had a constant stream of electricity running over their bodies. As Electabuzz stood on Rhyhorn's chest, that electricity was being sucked into the ground type's body and subsequent horn. It was beginning to spark, but just slightly. "Hold it in, Rhyhorn!" He shouted. "Just a little longer! "

Surge scoffed. "Electabuzz, wreck it."

The electric smirked and raised its arms just as Ash shouted, "Release!"

Rhyhorn had gotten his tip and, with a shriek like grating stone, pulled his head forward and released a blast of electricity from his horn. It lit up the battlefield, uncontrolled and untamed, but it slammed unhindered into Electabuzz's chest and threw it backward. Rhyhorn rocked until he was able to flip over, roaring.

"Horn attack! End it!" Ash shouted.

Electabuzz hardly had a moment to look up before Rhyhorn slammed his horn into its yellow chest and threw it back. It didn't get back up.

Ash blinked as Rhyhorn immediately sagged, breath harsh and dusty. His friend was covered in electric burns with water dripping from his chin where the ice punch had melted. In short, he looked miserable.

But also victorious. He gave his trainer one last look with prideful scarlet eyes before he was recalled, thoroughly exhausted.

Surge had a look in his eyes that said he'd very much enjoy tossing Ash off of a cliff, but it broke into a grin a moment later. "It's not every day I'm defeated, runt. Hats off. Here's your gimmick."

He tossed a bright orange badge at him, which Ash barely caught. It was shaped vaguely like a sun, all bright colors. "It'll prove you actually defeated me, which is more than what most others can say. Your rhyhorn ain't shit and using my own damn lightning against me wasn't bad." A chuckle built in his chest. "Runt, if you wanna come back after getting a few more badges, I won't say no to a real battle. Raichu hasn't had a good battle in a while."

Ash grinned and nodded his head. That had been the most exhilarating battle of his entire journey so far. "You can count on it. Maybe you'll give me a challenge."

"Ha!" When the man clapped him on the shoulder, he nearly doubled over. "Now go to the Center. Probably a night's healing for it." Ash followed the gym leader over to the door, which Surge easily pried open with one hand and gestured him out.

"Thanks, Lieutenant." And he meant it.

He could just see the man flinch at the name before the door shut in his face.

xXx

Nurse Joy paused right in the middle of congratulating him. Her eyes flicked over the screen that showed his information after scanning his Trainer ID. "Excuse me, Ash, this says this was your first badge?"

He nodded.

"Well then!" She chuckled. "Those are some pretty high standards you're setting yourself up for! Very few trainers battle Surge first, and fewer even win."

Pride unfolded in his chest. This was why he was going this route. He had to set himself apart from the other trainers and make a name at the Indigo Conference if he ever wanted the Champion to notice him. "Will Rhyhorn be okay?"

"Oh, he'll be fine. I'll inject some potions around the bruises but other than that, he should be good in the morning. A little tender under the chin and on his chest, so perhaps take it a little easier on the battling, but nothing too terrible."

"Thank you." He took his leave and headed back up to his room. Gale shrieked as he was released, flapping around for a second before spotting the perches and landing proudly on one. He fixed Ash with a steely eye, waiting.

"We won. Rhyhorn creamed a pikachu but got into a bit more of a spat with an electabuzz, but pulled a victory." He held out the Thunder Badge, though quickly retracted it before Gale could peck it, chuckling. "You'll have your own badge soon enough."

He fumbled for a moment before spreading out his map over the bed. Gale chirped as he stared over it, attention half divided between that and preening his wings.

"We're going to Sabrina next," he offered. "She trains psychic types and is rumored to be one of the most powerful gym leaders in both Kanto and Johto, but she's nicer than Surge and even Giovanni. If I tell her I only have one badge, she should lower her power enough, and we'll pull a victory."

Ash stared at the wall, eyes narrowed. Gary had probably already gotten his first badge and was moving quickly toward his second. Ash didn't intend to lose.

He would win against Sabrina, no matter his skill now.

xXx

And it's finally up! This has been a while in the making. While I may call it a rewrite of Misfits, I am keeping very little of what you remember so it would be better to call this a new story. I am not only going a different route than the norm, but as you will soon notice and perhaps already have, Team Rocket and politics are not something to lightly touch upon in this story. It may get dark at times. I hope it won't turn people away, but I won't change it.

Please enjoy and review!