Disclaimer: No ownership of Pokémon or Dinosaur King

Dinosaur King: Taylored to Ketchum

Chapter 1: Camped in a New World

A breezy plain under a partly cloudy sky… An orange puppy slept under a lone tree under its shade. It had some pale hair on its head and black stripes on its back and legs with a furry mane below its head. It slept for sometime when another puppy flew out of nowhere and slammed into the tree. From a cubbyhole, a plastic egg-like capsule fell. It hit the ground and cracked open to which the attacking puppy turned to the capsule breaking. The resting puppy growled at the other. ("What was that for!?") it barked.

("C'mon, bro!") the hopping puppy barked. ("I need a little exercise!") Both puppies circled each other.

(You're that antsy, huh?")

("That, and I managed to learn a new attack.") That got the upset puppy to become interested.

("Really? Let me see what you have!") The eager puppy took a deep breath before unleashing a fire stream. It burned the grass and around the capsule. ("Flamethrower, nice…") The flames reached the capsule and a card with a flame on the back. A breeze blew the card into the burning grass. Instead of burning, the flames made the card to glow. The pups now saw the glowing spot. Before they realized the occasion, a large grayish-green lizard appeared and roared at the pups.

("What's that!?")

("Not a Pokémon, that's for sure!") The lizard stepped toward the two who had one option.

("RUN!") The two pups scamper in fear at the giant lizard who roared. Somewhere around a forest, a group of kids were enjoying a camping trip. A blond boy in blue and a pigtail pink-haired girl in a yellow midriff jacket over a black midriff tank-top, yellow shorts and black stockings under green shoes. The pink-haired glanced to the side.

"Ever since he watched that championship, he's been going nonstop on his celebration," she mulled. The blond seemed to think it was someone else.

"You mean Max?" he asked.

"Who else, Rex!? Chomp!?"

"Okay, Zoe… Look, it's not often that Max cheers on a pro sports team, it's just this basketball team had a dinosaur name and now they're champions." Looking down, there were two tiny dinosaurs sleeping: a blue Carnotaurus and a white and green Parasaurolophus. "Ace and Paris have heard plenty from Max during this school camping trip."

"So have we! All Max thinks about is dinosaurs and it doesn't help that Toronto's team is named after that and they just so happen to win a basketball title." Just then, a brunette boy in red t-shirt and yellow sweatpants emerged with a tiny orange Triceratops appeared. The boy wore a visor with plastic horns on it.

"Hey, Dad was also hyped that they'd win it all after that buzzer beater against Philadelphia," he defended. "Even he knew Toronto had a chance to win the trophy."

"We know, Max!" pained Rex. "We need to make sure we're packed up and ready to head back home. The bus leaves today!"

"Don't you mean… you have to? Chomp and I've been set for sometime." Rex and Zoe seemed a little flustered by this. Suddenly, a buzzer. Max turned to his friends who had to retreat with their tiny dinosaurs. Max pulled out a hand-held device that had a fang on one end. A screen seemed to be appearing from the watch as a grown brunette with a beard and a stetson showed up.

"Max, you copy?" he called out.

"Dad, what's up?" Just then, a blond woman in glasses appeared on the screen.

"Kids, we've detected a dinosaur unleashed and we need you to go find it," she demanded.

"Don't tell me it's in Toronto, Reese," Zoe groaned.

"Actually, we're not entirely sure where the dinosaur is," Dad shrugged. All three darted looks to each other.

"What's that suppose to mean?" questioned Rex.

"It means it's not exactly here on Earth," Dad clarified. "All you need to worry about is finding the dinosaur and I'll have a surprise at the end." To Max, Dad had something with basketball.

"Is it the parade in Toronto?" he guessed.

"I won't tell you until you get that dinosaur back!"

"And besides," Reese jumped in. "We need to beat the Alpha Gang to the dinosaur."

"Good point, sis," Zoe agreed.

"In addition, there's a small town to gather info so that way, you're not lost." The trio realized if they need to get the dinosaur, they didn't need to waste another second.

"Reese, take the reign," Max instructed.

"Understood." With a flash, the kids and dinosaurs disappeared. At an island fortress, a short man with a rootser crest of white hair and a wild white beard and a lab coat ran around the hallway. Outside, a green-haired woman in a lavender bathing suit lied on a poolside chair as a rotund purple-haired man wearing suspenders and a tall raven-haired in a business suit flapped fans over her.

"Come on, you two," she nagged. "You call that flapping? You need to put some muscle into it."

"Like you've ever held fans bigger than yourself, Ursula," the purple-haired complained. The green-haired sprung up and smashed her fist into his head. The rotund dropped his fan and held his head in pain.

"You're holding a body that's bigger than your brain!" Just then, the old man appeared behind the green-haired.

"Break time's over, you three nincompoops!" he shouted. The green-haired jumped before swatting the old man's head.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to do that!?" Holding his head, the old man picked himself up.

"Anyway, there's a new discovery!" The tall raven-haired irked to the news.

"A new dinosaur?" he guessed. "Can you tell about it, Doctor Z?" Hearing one's interest, Z's smug was apparent.

"The computer's picked up on a new hit. It's somewhere in a new land, not on Earth." The other three blinked to Z's report.

"Let me see if I understand…" Ursula guessed. "A dinosaur is active but not on this planet?"

"It's a little hard to configure but the instruments are never wrong. If we hurry, we'll beat those brats to it!" The adults nodded, ready to go.

"Ed, go get our dinosaurs!" the tall man urged to take action.

"Why should I, Zander!?" the purple-haired whined.

"I've got to make sure we have what we need to cross into this new land. At least the task of getting Terry, Tank and Spiny shouldn't be a problem with you." To Ursula, Zander wanted an excuse to stay from his duties.

"You know, those dinosaurs also like you," she nagged. "Or, do you want Helga to hold your hand?" Out from behind Ursula was a gray-haired large and aged woman in a white maid outfit.

"You should be ze one to hold my hand!" she scolded in a German accent. "Ze way you've neglected your chores!" Ursula jumped in fright of the maid. She took Ursula by the collar and dragged her away. Not long after that, the others followed.

"Have I told you how much Helga scares me?" muttered Ed.

"Believe me, we all do," Z mulled. In another forest, Max, Rex and Zoe arrived with their dinosaurs and looked around.

"Okay, so where are we?" asked Max. They viewed the forest with all sorts of creatures like little red pigeons, yellow horned worms, purple mice…

"Look at this place!" awed Zoe. "They look a bit… unusual… but they're also rather cute!" They also saw a round brown owl on one leg with red eyes, ladybugs with large eyes, even a couple of small green spiders with markings on their abdomen.

"Where did Dad take us?" asked Max. The Parasaurolophus cooed to a green caterpillar with huge black eyes and stubby yellow legs. It also had a red horn-like feeler on its head. Zoe came to the Parasaurolophus.

"Paris, what is it?" she asked as she knelt down. Seeing the caterpillar, she awed its size as it became a little timid. "Oh… it's okay…" She reached out and the caterpillar seemed unsure.

"Zoe, what are you doing?" asked Max.

"This little guy's hard to look away!" she replied. The caterpillar nuzzled Zoe's hand before it started to crawl up her arm a little. "Well, that didn't take long. I think I got a new friend." Paris cooed to the caterpillar as it approached. It squeaked to Paris while the Triceratops and Carnotaurus had some interests. Max was the first to come over.

"I see that you like to climb," he giggled. The caterpillar squeaked to Max's compliment.

"See, even someone like Max who has dinosaurs on the mind can see something like this and appreciate it." Max groaned and turned to Zoe.

"Hey, I'm not that bad…" The caterpillar squeaked to the horns on Max's visor. Zoe saw the caterpillar's eyes looking at Max's headgear.

"Max, why not show this little guy what your horns can do."

"Okay…" He reached his visor and pressed a button. Instantly, his horns lit up. The caterpillar awed Max's horns. "You like? And they're not as sharp as Chomp's horns." The Triceratops and Carnotaurus came to see the caterpillar. When it saw the sharp fangs on the Carnotaurus and the horns of the Triceratops, it shrieked and shook its feeler, releasing a pheromone at the two tiny dinosaurs. One sniff made them back away and turning their noses.

"Ace, are you okay?" the blond asked the Carnotaurus.

"Chomp. what's wrong?" the brunette asked the Triceratops. When they scented the pheromone, they too had turned their heads away from the stench. The caterpillar jumped off and crawled away. Zoe had an idea what happened.

"That little guy's scared of Chomp and Ace because of the horns and teeth!" she determined. Feeling apologetic, Max and Rex reached the little dinosaurs and comforted them.

"It's alright, Chomp," Max assured. The group soon got back on track where they spotted a town. "Hey, this is what Reese brought up!"

"This town?" opened Rex. Looking over, the trio seemed interested with the town. "I mean… it's pretty quaint…" Chomp barked to a sign which got the kids' attentions.

"Chomp, what did you find?" They looked to the sign.

WELCOME TO PALLET TOWN – HOME OF POKÉMON RESEARCHER, PROFESSOR SAMUEL OAK

The kids tried to read the sign. "Home of… Poke… mon… Researcher?" stuttered Max.

"Yeah, I'm having a hard time understanding that word," Zoe shrugged. "But the researcher may be what we need."

"Good idea," Rex agreed. "Let's get into town and find out about the dinosaur." The trio entered Pallet Town where people welcomed them and see their dinosaurs.

"I've never seen those Pokémon before," a bearded brunette man noticed. He had a blue human-like creature with hard fins on his head.

"Must be a super rare Pokémon to get," a young teal-haired woman studied. She had a large white cat with a ruby embedded in its forehead. Hearing what they called their dinosaurs clued the kids into the word they couldn't pronounce.

"Now, I'm starting to get what that word on the welcome sign was," Zoe started.

"Okay, but are they talking about our dinosaurs?" questioned Max. Chomp and Paris felt rather uneasy.

"Maybe, but at least they're giving us a heck of a welcoming," Rex noted. They stopped by the fence of a white house with a front porch. "Maybe I'll ask about this Professor Samuel Oak. We may get some answers about him." He broke from the group to the door which Rex didn't like. "I don't think it's a good idea to barge into someone's house without knowing if someone's home."

"Relax… when I ask, we'll get answers." Zoe looked to the garden to see a garden of blooming flowers.

"Check this out," she called. Paris stood by and smelled the flowers, hooting about the sweet smell. "You like it too, Paris?" Max was at the door and reached for the handle.

"I'm sure whoever is here will help out," he said as he opened the door… and out came a grown ponytail brunette woman in a pink button-down shirt and white skirt.

"You're finally home!" she cheered with her eyes closed and hugging Max. Zoe looked up to see the brunette's embrace on Max. Rex and the dinosaurs gawked to what happened. "I thought you'd be home after your time at Mount Silver but I'm glad you're back here, my son! I bet you wanted to check on me before going to see the professor!" Max now realized that the brunette somehow mistook him for her child. It got worse as she pelted Max's face with kisses. His friends stood frozen in shock. Finally, she opened her eyes to see Zoe and Rex. Something felt off and she began to be clued in. "Wait… you're not Misty or Brock." Finally, she looked to see Max and his swirling eyes… and gasped. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! Let me help you up!" Rex, Zoe and the dinosaurs came over as Max returned to consciousness.

"I don't think your mom gave you that many kisses that I've seen, Max," Zoe teased.

"That… I can't argue," Max sighed. The brunette finally seemed to realize her error.

"I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "You sound a lot like Ash so I thought he finally came back." Her confusion made the kids understand her blunder.

"Well, everything's okay now," Rex comforted. "I'm Rex Owen."

"I'm Max Taylor," Max named himself.

"And I'm Zoe Drake," Zoe finished. The brunette giggled and nodded.

"I'm Delia Ketchum," she introduced herself as she noticed the dinosaurs. "And I… highly doubt they're Pokémon." The kids shared nervous giggles.

"We can explain our partners to you," Max offered.

"Sure… and I'll have Mimey make some tea for us." They all entered the household as back at the town's entrance, a boy and mouse arrived. The raven-haired boy wore a red baseball cap with a white front with a green triangle outline. He also wore a blue light jacket over a black t-shirt and jeans as the yellow mouse stood on his shoulder. It had red circles for cheeks, brown streaks on the back and a lightning bolt as the tail.

"Well, Pikachu…" the boy started, sounding very similar to Max. "We're finally home in Pallet Town."

("I can't wait to see Mom, Ash!") the mouse squeaked. Was this the boy Delia was waiting on? And what about the dinosaur that appeared?

TO BE CONTINUED…