I don't own anything. I'm broke.

For Mat, Word, and Scelf.

Ch. 1 The New World

This is the most important day of my life, Ash realized while he lay in bed, early light barely filtering into his room.

Thirteen years of his life waiting for this day. A couple short hours before he would finally leave little, cozy Pallet Town behind for a greener pastures.

He would be getting a pokemon today, and hopefully, if Professor Oak pulled through for him, he wouldn't have to crush Katie or Jordan's dreams.

Honestly, who'd have thought that absentminded Jordan would manage to pull out the same score as Katie on the Trainer Exam, and also force there to be a tie for the third highest score.

It wasn't often when a tie occurred, but in cases like these, with three Kanto starters given to the top three scores on the Pallet Trainer Exam, the only course of action was to relegate third place or one of the third places to receive a starter at a later date or to receive a pokemon out of the Kanto three.

Ash himself had scored perfectly on the Trainer Exam, even the dreaded survival portion that seldom didn't take points away. Somehow, he had managed to pull out a flawless run.

The rest was a cakewalk, but of course when news broke there was a tie, Ash couldn't just let Katie or Jordan have to wait for another batch of Kanto starters or be forced to take a replacement pokemon. Well, at the very least he couldn't let that happen to Katie who had once been his close friend in the earlier days of his life when Ash had been a quieter boy.

So, he dashed his initial choice of a powerful Charmander and asked Professor Oak for a personal request for a starter. It wasn't a normal replacement, but the pokemon he had requested coupled with the reasoning he gave would, hopefully, be accepted.

If everything went according to plan, Ash would start the new season with the partner he wanted, he would challenge the gyms of Kanto, get his badges, storm the Indigo League Conference, and get strong enough that nobody could stop him from traveling the world.

An errant ray of brighter light broke through his window, momentarily blinding him, and Ash took a glance at the clock, it was just before seven.

Good enough, he thought.

Throwing himself out of bed, he pulled on the only pair of jeans he had that didn't look like a Scyther had cut it up (even though there were some tears), fastened his trainer utility belt, and tied his favorite jacket, a red and black windbreaker, over the bottom of the loose, sleeveless black shirt he'd worn to sleep. Ash slung his pre-packed backpack over his shoulders, and slipped his trainer-knife into the side of his utility belt as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen where he could hear his mom humming a tune.

Delia Ketchum was the nicest person in the world, or at least that's what Ash would tell people. She had a kind, soft face, the same shape as Ash's, light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, and the same hazel eyes Ash himself had.

That piece of shit, Giovanni, had only passed on his raven hair (not that people could see it nowadays) and his tall height to Ash. That was far more than enough in Ash's opinion.

"Ash!" his mother exclaimed as she turned around from the stove to see him resting against the wall of the kitchen.

Ash smiled softly, "Hey, Mom."

"Oh, Ash. Today's the big day," she said tearfully back to him.

Ash felt his smile dip as he stared back at his mother who had raised him when Giovanni dumped them both off.

"Do you mind if I help, Mom?" Ash asked softly.

His mother sniffled, but beckoned him over to the stove.

Breakfast was an emotional affair, but after liberal amounts of hugging and promising to call every time he could, Ash had separated from her as he began his way out the door.

"Ash!" his mother yelled from behind him.

He looked back to see his mother holding a red and black hat in her hands. She held it out to him, her hands shaking slightly.

"It matches your jacket," she said, her voice wavering.

Ash gingerly took the hat from her, and she grabbed him for one last rib-crushing hug.

"Thanks, Mom," he whispered into her neck.

She kissed Ash on his head and gave him one last squeeze before pushing him out the door and into the world.

Ash slipped on the hat over his mess of hair and looked back once more at his mom, memorizing her face.

"Love you, Mom," he said as he began his walk up the road to Professor Oak's lab.

"Be safe!" she yelled as he made it past the neighbor's house.

"I will!" he yelled back as he tipped his hat down over his eyes.

The sun was past the horizon now, and Pidgeys flew overhead as they chirped at one another. A couple of Rattata scurrying past on the gravel road.

"Make sure to wash your underwear!" she shouted at the top of her lungs when he had made it to the end of the road. If any of the neighbors were awake, they definitely heard that.

A sad smile tugged at his lips once again, but he didn't look back.

"I will!" he hollered back.

Looking down, he said softly to himself, "I will, Mom," all the while stubbornly wiping at his eyes.

There was something to say about the beauty of Pallet Town, Ash remarked mentally as he walked through the quaint town center.

The buildings were immaculately built in a traditional Kantoan style with a touch of Kalosian architecture. Tall and tiled like Ash's ancestors had built their homes long ago, but also with sloping arches and marbled supports.

There was beautiful vegetation, at least twenty separate flower species as well as apple trees, all of which never required maintenance due to the perfectly balanced ecosystem. An ingenious design that utilized the local pokemon populations of Pidgey and Rattata to manage the floral wildlife.

All in all, Pallet Town was a beautiful place, but regardless of that, Ash needed to spread his wings and see the world.

"Wanderlust," his mother would tell him when he told her of his dreams, "it's wanderlust."

The desire to travel and see everything the world had to offer, it was the only thing he had ever wanted after he learned there was more out there past Pallet Town.

That wasn't to say Pallet Town wouldn't have been on his list of places to see if he didn't grow up there.

Pallet Town was known far and wide as the pinnacle of the New World, post-The Great War. Pallet Town was built as an example of what peace could look like. Spearheaded by Professor Oak, the project culminated into a peaceful, quiet, and successful little town, far away from the devastation left behind by the The Great War.

The Great War was the first and, by Mew, hopefully the only of its kind. Ash had never witnessed the War, not like how Professor Oak had or how any of the soldiers who had lived through it had, but he had heard enough stories about it. The Great War, The Bloody War, The Last War. It had stretched on for only thirteen months, but in those thirteen months, humans and pokemon went from friends and allies to soldiers and weapons.

All the nations of the world, sparked by a power grab by Unova and a heated retaliation by Sinnoh, were at war with one another, fighting for anything they could get their hands on: land, pokemon, food, life.

Salamence and Garchomp roamed the skies in an unholy agreement looking for fleeing people only to snatch them up and tear them limb from limb, cryobombs were launched from afar to destroy vegetation and food, kamikaze electrodes were dropped on unsuspecting towns, burning them to the ground, Scythers painted black were sent in the night to assassinate high-ranking officials, Gengars possessing people only to make them kill themselves, and Hypnos stalked the dreams of others, hypnotizing under the will of others.

Those were just some of the stories told in Trainer School of the horrors of what happened fifty years ago before the world had been changed by the Treaty of Nations.

Toward the end of the Great War, the now retired Champion Daeron lost his noble partner, Sunfyre the Dragonite, in a skirmish along the eastern border of the Sevii Islands to an invading force commanded by Drake of the Hoenn Elite Four.

Reeling from his loss, Champion Daeron managed to push back the army from Hoenn, but retreated back to Indigo. At the time, the other leaders saw it as a sign of mourning, a sign of weakness, but after the war it was said that the three months Champion Daeron barricaded himself in his room at the Plateau were the three months required to finish developing the weapon which ended the war.

Three months after the loss of his partner, it is said that Champion Daeron left his room and marched to where the Kanto War Council was in session, claiming that in three days time the Great War would end. Some of the council thought the champion addled in the head or perhaps hallucinating. One man even dared to answer back, asking how Champion Daeron meant to end the war without his fearsome dragon partner on their side.

The man was summarily kicked off the Council for his comment, but not before Champion Daeron famously said: "My friend, Sunfyre, may be gone, but Indigo still has a dragon. And he stands before you."

Champion Daeron with his War Council sent out a missive to every nation, threatening to drop a weapon of mass destruction capable of reducing the entire unpopulated northeastern region of Unova to ashes if every leader of the world did not assemble at the Indigo Plateau within two days.

The other leaders had laughed at Champion Daeron's message, thinking him obviously mad from the loss of his partner. Three days later, news reached across the world that all of Unova's northeastern region, an area that ranged close to fifty square miles, was a crater, devoid of life.

And so, when Champion Daeron sent another message requesting the leaders of the world come to Indigo, some twenty odd leaders fled the safety of their countries and met at the Indigo Plateau. Accounts say it took all of thirty minutes for a ceasefire to be agreed upon and an hour for the first draft of the Treaty of Nations to be created.

The specifics of what happened that day where the ceasefire was called and before the subsequent weeks of drafting the Treaty of Nations will likely never be known to the public, but some sources claim that while there, Champion Daeron was asked by many world leaders what assurances they had that Indigo wouldn't use its weapon again in an act of war. The answer Champion Daeron gave ranged wildly from which person told the story, but whatever answer he gave managed to placate the world leaders.

Following the end of the Great War, Champion Daeron became the hero of the world, not just Kanto. He ended the suffering of hundreds of thousands, closing the greatest and most terrible war in the world's history. And so, Daeron of the Wataru clan became henceforth known as Daeron the Peacemaker, Daeron the Hero, and Ash's personal favorite, Daeron the Dragon.

Stories like those turned the stomachs of Ash's classmate's, but while his peers turned queasy or in some cases burned with patriotic pride, Ash had always found himself half fascinated by stories of the other regions of the world and half embarrassed to be fascinated by them.

But regardless of the terrors of the Great War, the world had patched itself back together, and with the help of Mr. Goodshow and the leaders of the New World, cooperation between nations was at an all-time high.

There were whispers of those still looking to subjugate the world to more fighting though, some credible and some hearsay, but largely more the latter than the former.

Ash sighed and kicked a pebble on the road as he rounded the last corner to see Professor Oak's laboratory.

There's time for those thoughts later, Ash thought as he spied Professor Oak's lab.

The laboratory was a towering monstrosity considering the coziness of Pallet Town. Built atop a hill overlooking the pokemon ranch, it was four stories high and stretched as wide as all the houses on Ash's entire street combined. It was made from grey-white steel, probably from the armor sheddings of Steelix or Aggron. Large, tinted glass planes, reinforced to withstand all manner of attacks, finished the building's look. Multiple wind turbines and solar panels lined the outside along the hill, miles of crops along the backside, and irrigation canals dug to keep the soil wet. A completely self-sustaining pokemon research facility, equipped to withstand an invasion and also house all the pokemon of Professor Oak's sponsored trainers.

There was no mistaking the influence and sway the great Professor Oak held within Kanto, a veritable living legend: a once-Champion, the world's leading pokemon professor, and if stories were true, just a teenager when he held back an entire Unovan invasion at the north of Cerulean all by himself until reinforcements could arrive.

A flash of pink in the corner of Ash's eye drew him to the right. A small purple Rattata stood on its hind legs watching him from just outside the tall grass, silent as opposed to the normal chittering he often heard from the species. As his and the Rattata's black eyes connected, the Rattata held his gaze for a second before dashing off into the tall grass, purple flashing within green flora, and another flash of pink before any trace of the Rattata was gone.

Weird, Ash thought as he turned back to continue his trek up to Professor Oak's lab.

There was one good thing about being a gym leader's son, Ash realized, considering the downsides at least. Ash had seldom seen Giovanni, birthdays were skipped and calls almost never came, and when they did come, it was late at night when the Pidgey and Pidgeotto were roosting.

It seemed though, as Ash stared at the pokeball in Professor Oak's outstretched hand, some good things did come from being the son of an asshole who never came home.

"Ash, my boy, I forwarded your request to Giovanni when Katie and Jordan scored the same on the Trainer Exam, and he sought out a breeder for you considering your own score," Professor Oak's eyes twinkled at the hidden message.

A perfect score on the Trainer Exam didn't happen often.

"Congratulations, and thank you for doing this," Professor Oak's wizened face smiled at him.

Ash's hand tentatively reached out and gingerly took the pokeball from Professor Oak's hand, holding it close to his heart and let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"No," he said to the kind face of the Professor who'd been his role model since he was a child, "Thank you, Professor."

Ash stepped back with the other trainers who'd graduated with the top scores to receive the Kanto starters. Gary Oak, the Professor's grandson and a couple of inches shorter than Ash with his smug, punchable face, rolling a pokeball containing his Squirtle in his hand, Katie, short with black hair under a white beanie, beaming at him with her Bulbasaur already clipped to her belt, and Jordan, with pasty white skin, looking like he was about to explode in song with his Charmander's pokeball held between both of his hands.

Professor Oak clapped his hands together.

"Alright children, today's the start of your journey. I'll not hold you for long so pick up your starter packs, and enjoy the beautiful world of pokemon!" he yelled joyously.

Ash laughed at the eccentricity of Professor Oak and they each grabbed the pokedex, five starter pokeballs, and a complementary potion to get them through Route 1. Walking out of the Professor's lab and down the steps of the hill, the sun was shining even brighter now and a cool breeze was blowing through, the perfect day to start their journey.

"So, Ashy-boy," and there goes his perfect day, "How 'bout a battle? I wanna see what shitty pokemon you had your Daddy pick up for you," Gary nudged Ash with his finger, his shit-eating grin on.

He sighed, and looked at Katie who rolled her eyes at Gary's taunt, and Jordan who was too busy staring at his Charmander's pokeball to notice their dialogue. He gave Jordan six months before he either became Charizard food or achieved world domination.

"Alright, let's go," Ash said defeatedly back to Gary, "Just let me talk to my new pokemon, we haven't even met them yet."

Gary just smirked back at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, loser. Take however long you want. You're not beating me," he taunted.

Ash ignored him as he walked a decent distance over to a small clearing away from the others.

Taking a deep breath, Ash hit the release button on his pokeball.

The pokeball opened at the hinge and light shot out, coalescing into a small quadrupedal form reaching up to his knees with an immaculately groomed brown coat, lighter around the neck and at the tip of its bushy tail. Soft brown eyes stared up at him as Ash softly smiled.

"Eevee is the only pokemon with the ability to evolve into different pokemon," Ash remembered writing in his starter request letter, "versatility and choice is the entire point to the traditional Kanto starters, and there is no greater choice and versatility than the evolution pokemon, Eevee."

"Hello, Eevee, my name's Ash," he said as he kneeled down slowly and stretched his hand out low to the ground, palm facing upward for the evolutionary pokemon to see he was non-threatening.

The Eevee took a hesitant step forward and sniffed his palm. He held it there as it licked between Ash's fingers and he laughed a little as it nuzzled its head into his hand.

Ash scratched its ears as it chittered and purred with its eyes closed.

His smile widened and he spoke again, "You're just too cute."

The Eevee proved his point as it rolled on its back, looking at him with its wide, chocolate brown eyes as he scratched its belly.

Glancing farther down its body to the base of its tail, he stopped scratching and started combing his hands through the longer hair along the newly discovered female Eevee's neck.

"So, girl," she perked up at his voice and rolled over onto her paws, "I'm going on my journey today and I'm looking for someone to go with me."

The Eevee peered into his hazel eyes with her chocolate brown ones as Ash said, "It'll be really dangerous, we're gonna be battling a ton of strong pokemon. I can't tell you if everything is going to be alright, but I want to see everything this world has to offer. And somewhere along the way, I want to find a family."

Ash's smile turned into a grin as the Eevee took a step closer, she'd probably never seen anything more than the laboratory she was raised at and the fields outside it.

"So, do you wanna come with me and see the world?"

The Eevee peered into Ash's eyes for a moment more before she launched herself into his arms. She chittered and squeaked as he overcame his surprise, and he laughed and combed a hand through her fur, holding her tight.

Standing up with the Eevee in his arms, Ash looked down into her soft brown eyes again.

"Looks like it's our journey now," Ash said with his partner cradled in his arms.

The Eevee squeaked and nodded in agreement, and Ash spent a little while just looking at her brilliant brown coat.

"Do you want a name, girl?" Ash asked.

The Eevee squeaked again in agreement.

Ash hummed as he looked at her warm, cute exterior and scanned the green trees with their leaves swaying in the wind, the tall grass, the white flowers dotted around the Professor's lab, the clear blue sky, and the shining sun.

"It's June today you know, the first of June," he said as the Eevee's ears twitched at the word.

"Oh, you like that? June?" Ash asked and she squeaked.

He laughed, "Okay, June it is."

A poetic name. I'm such a cornball, Ash thought as he set the newly-christened June down, and smiled as she sat on her haunches, looking at him as if waiting to be told what they'd be doing next.

Ash looked back at Gary, Katie, and Jordan who looked to be talking with their new pokemon.

"Hey, June," she perked up, her ears twitching up, and he smiled, "How about we have our first battle?"

A quick scan of June with his pokedex showed her basic information: age, height, weight, and species information.

June really was bred to fight, Ash thought.

She was two years old at this point, taller at the shoulders and longer from head to tail than the average, and she weighed about average, likely indicating she was more lean muscle than bulk. That lean muscle probably translated into speed.

June's movepool was limited at the moment due to her being a freshly-given starter pokemon, but Ash could definitely work something out.

Gary's Squirtle, he noted from a quick glance, looked larger than most he'd seen around the ranch, but was likely to be slow with its extra bulk. In a battle of attrition, Squirtle would take the win every time, but Gary was as hot-headed as he was an asshole. He'd want to win by beating Ash down, not by making Squirtle hide in its shell.

A grin spread across Ash's face as he took in the gravelly ground beneath his feet, perfect.

He whispered a rundown to June of what he wanted to do to beat Squirtle, and she nodded with a chirp as he told her what commands meant what.

"Oi, Ashy! You done giving your pokemon a pep talk?" Gary hollered over as Squirtle already stood ready, its stubby, blue arms crossed and a smile spread across its reptilian face that eerily reminded Ash of Gary's own smug smile.

He just smiled down at June, "I know you can do it."

She nodded back at me, her ears pulling back as she spun around to face Squirtle.

Katie looked at both Ash and Gary and rolled her eyes as she raised her arm, Jordan behind her watching them as their Charmander and Bulbasaur sat down to look as well.

"Begin!" Katie yelled.

"Squirtle, Water Gun!" Gary yelled as Squirtle shot out a jet of water from its mouth.

June was already strafing left, just like Ash had told her to do when Gary inevitably told his Squirtle to use Water Gun at the start of the match.

June shot off in a quick sprint to the left, gaining impressive ground while Gary screamed for Squirtle to keep firing Water Gun at her.

June was fast, Ash realized, like really fast. It reminded him of the speed Quick Attack went at, but he shunted that to the back of his mind for the moment.

When she was close enough Ash shouted, "June, Tackle!"

June launched herself at the unprotected head of Squirtle, gathering energy to protect her own skull as their heads collided, making a resounding thudding sound and stopping Squirtle's misaimed Water Gun in mid-air.

June recovered quickly, leaping back a few feet as Squirtle woozily shifted from his left and right foot.

Gary shouted something, but the blood pumping to Ash's head had him focused on the battle.

"June, dig up the dirt, aim for his eyes!" he shouted.

Twisting around, June aimed with her back legs and began digging up the gravelly ground, making it spray right into Squirtle's open eyes.

Squirtle made a strangled sound as it rubbed its eyes as best as it could with its balance still woozy from the Tackle earlier.

"Now, June! Knock it out with Tackle!" June shot forward one last time and Gary's shouting voice cut off as Squirtle was knocked unconscious by June's Tackle.

Ash whooped and his grin hurt his face. He ran straight for June and picked her up, nuzzling her nose.

"You did amazing, June!" Ash laughed as June attacked his face with licks.

From the corner of his eye, Ash saw the flash of red that signified the return of a pokemon. Looking across the little field they battled at, Gary looked dumbstruck, disbelief that he lost written on his face.

Ash wished he had a camera.

Gary quickly wiped the look off his face as he looked over at Ash, and pointed at him with his finger, an ugly sneer coming over his face.

"I'll beat you the next time we battle! Not even that shitty, rare-candied pokemon will help you then!" and just liked that Gary stomped off.

A brief surge of anger shot through him at June being called "shitty" and that she'd been given rare candies, but he let it slide this once for the look that Gary had when Ash beat him.

Katie and Jordan laughed as Gary ran off, and Ash couldn't help it either. Even June joined in, snickering at Gary's exit.

When they'd finally stopped laughing, Katie and Jordan made their way over to Ash and June.

Katie instantly attacked Ash with a hug which left June crushed between two humans, squeaking in protest. Katie murmured a thanks for embarrassing Gary in his ear, and Jordan gave one of his fists trapped by Katie a fist bump and a grin while June continued to struggle between the two.

Katie pulled away, freeing both Ash and June and beamed up at him, "Ash, you're the best!"

Ash scratched the back of his neck as he smiled back at her, knowing she didn't mean the battle with Gary but rather what he had done to ensure Katie and Jordan had gotten their starters.

"It was nothing, I couldn't just let you guys get screwed over like that, plus me and June are best friends already. There's no way anybody could separate us now," Ash said as he looked down at June still in his arms looking at Katie warily as if she was going to be attacked by another hug.

Katie's eyes narrowed as she pointed her finger at him.

"Don't pull that humble shit with me, Ash Ketchum!" she yelled back at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! You're right, you're right!" Ash yelled back, waving his hands in clear surrender.

Katie smirked, "Oh, is poor whittle Ash Ketchum still afraid of my noogies?" He blushed and looked away.

"No," Ash said quietly.

She hummed back like she didn't believe it, but it didn't look like she'd put him in a headlock and give him noogies like she used to in grade school.

"Well, you already know me and Jordan are gonna be going together, offers still open for you to join," Katie said, trying to tempt him into having company on his journey.

Unfortunately for her, Ash was steadfast in having his journey alone, taking on the world with him and his team. Plus, he liked to set his own pace.

"Sorry, Katie," Ash said shaking his head, "I have to do this alone."

She sighed, but seemed accepting of his decision, "Well, alright then. Just know if you need anything, send a call to my parents, alright?"

Ash smiled at her, "Of course."

Jordan popped in then, "Feel free to ask anything from me too, I owe you, man!"

Ash laughed, "For sure, dude."

Katie and Jordan looked at each and Katie piped up, "Me and Jordan are heading to our parents houses to show our pokemon, and we're heading onto Route 1 tomorrow. Are you going out today?"

"Yeah, I'm heading out now," Ash said back as he patted himself down to make sure he had everything on him one last time.

Katie attacked him with one last hug that left June squirming again. Squeezing as hard as she could, she parted after a moment and dashed back to grab Jordan and pull him along back to their houses.

"See you later, Ash!" Katie called back.

"See ya, Ash!" Jordan followed.

"See you guys later!" Ash yelled and watched as they disappeared back towards .

He looked down at June in his arms, who was watching Katie and Jordan vanish with a glare.

"Come on, girl! Katie's alright." Ash said to her and June huffed in his arms.

Ash laughed and turned toward Route 1.

"Let's go, girl! This is it!" Ash shouted and June jumped out of his arms, face still quite angry from Katie squeezing the life out of her, but her tail wagging, trotting behind him as they started making their way toward Route 1.

There wasn't much to say about Route 1; it was a relatively straight and short road, bordered by tall, calf-high grass and deciduous trees, with slight jumps in height the farther up one went towards Viridian City, a hint of the mountainous terrain just west of Viridian. A mere six hour walk to traverse the route from Pallet. It was by far the shortest route from two cities or towns anywhere in Kanto due to the initial hesitation at the idea of building a self-sustainable civilization by the Indigo League. They built Pallet Town within a reasonable distance from Viridian City just in case things panned out poorly, but their fears were unfounded, especially with Professor Oak heading the project.

June hadn't taken any damage from her battle with Gary's Squirtle, but she didn't seem fond of her pokeball when he suggested she rest in it.

Come to think of it, Gary had ran straight on toward Viridian without healing his Squirtle. Although, chances were he had plenty of healing products beyond the starter pack considering who his grandfather was.

Ash just sighed and pushed Gary out his head as he watched another Rattata skitter by. Honestly, despite Rattata being necessary for Pallet Town's continued self-sustaining nature, there was such a thing as too much. Not that he was one to judge pokemon, but Ash reflectively knew that Raticate was more pest than pokemon. Enough to kill a person, but to another pokemon, likely a midday snack.

All Route 1 was most of the year was Rattata and Pidgey, but at this time of year the weather in Unova, Sinnoh, and Galar would force certain flying types to migrate south to Kanto and even the Sevii islands to enjoy the more temperate climate. It happened more often than not, and this year's summer seemed to be following the trend of it happening. It was the reason why the Kanto rookies began in June and the Indigo League Conference ended in May, to help add variety to new teams as avian pokemon migrated and pokemon in the sea followed the warmer or colder currents. Hopefully, he'd spy something in the sky that wasn't the tell-tale wings of the Pidgey line.

Not to say that Pidgeot were weak. Pidgeot are true birds of prey, capable of flying at mach 2, and if they're powerful enough, create hurricanes with their wings, but they're so common that while Pidgeot are one of the staples of Kanto teams, it's also one of the most overused pokemon in the Indigo League Conference.

Ash sighed and looked down at June who resolutely followed him, looking none worse than when she first came out of her pokeball.

Looked like she really was as a strong battler as his pokedex alluded she wa-

A flurry of grey and white crashed into his face sending him to the ground on his ass, sharp pain erupted along his collarbone as something beat him over the head from both sides. Before he could bring his arms up to rip the thing off, it was tackled from Ash's face. Ignoring the pain along his collarbone, Ash watched as June held down a flapping, struggling bird pokemon he'd only ever seen in pictures.

A body and wings covered with grey feathers, an off-white plumage around its head, a single red feather tapering into white, and talons covered in blood.

A smile broke across Ash's face, and he ignored the probable holes along his collarbone from the Rufflet's talons in exchange to watch as it flapped its wings helplessly to fight off June who held it down with a rather mean snarl on her face.

"You want a battle, don't you?" Ash called over to Rufflet, who stopped fighting for a moment to regard him and nodded.

"Alright, then! Here's the wager, one on one, you and June! You win, I'll concede you're the better pokemon! I win, you come with me on my journey!" he shouted as a grin spread across his face.

The Rufflet didn't even bother thinking it over and started struggling against June again.

They're as prideful and battle-hungry as the stories say, Ash thought.

"June, get off him. Let's show him how strong we are!"

June backed off and lowered her front half with her head low, growling at the Rufflet. Even when she's angry, June is just too cute, Ash thought distractedly.

Shaking his head, Ash peered back at the Rufflet who already had righted itself and fluffed up its body to appear bigger. Ash snorted and whistled to get June's attention.

June's head snapped back to peer at him and Ash smiled, "You take this one, show it how strong you are without me."

June smiled back, looked at the Rufflet and dashed off to take it down.

As June struck the Rufflet several times with Tackles, Ash absentmindedly went over all he knew about the Rufflet line. Rufflet challenged anything and everything to a battle; that was probably why it blindsided him.

Ash tore his eyes away from June ducking under a slash of the Rufflet's talons to peer at the holes the Rufflet left along his collarbone. They didn't look too deep, but there was definitely blood leaking down his shirt from the eight holes, six along the top of his collarbone and two on his chest. Without the sudden rush of adrenaline, Ash could feel the pain leftover by Rufflet's crushing talons, but there didn't look to be too much damage. Ash resolved to make it to Viridian soon to get checked out.

He looked back at the battle to see the Rufflet in June's mouth being slammed into the ground consecutively. Ash winced, but was impressed to see the Rufflet continuing to try and strike the Eevee back with its wings and beak.

While Rufflet were known to fight just about anything to get stronger, Braviary were just as aggressive but also fierce protectors of friends. The more scars along its front gained it more respect as it was seen to fight head on, while scars along its back usually meant it had retreated, garnering disdain and shame from fellow Braivary.

The heroes of the sky, Ash thought as he considered the stories told in Alola and Unova, as Rufflet was finally knocked unconscious by being thrown into a tree and a final Tackle that left June panting more from effort than injury.

Quickly grabbing one of the empty starter pokeballs from his belt, Ash primed it and threw it. The aim was slightly off-center, but nonetheless the Rufflet vanished into light, getting sucked into the pokeball.

Without a twitch, a resounding click signified the capture of his first pokemon.

Ash grinned down at the still panting June, who smiled back up with her tongue lolling out.

"We did it, June! That's our first new family member!" Ash hugged the Eevee, mindful of the pain along his collarbone, the punctures, and the blood.

June yipped and licked his face, clearly happy she had won.

Kissing her head, Ash set her down.

"Look I know you want to celebrate more, but we have to get to the Pokemon Center. I need to get fixed up and the Rufflet needs to get checked out too. I'll release you when we get there okay?" Ash said.

June looked disappointed but acquiesced to being returned.

With June recalled, Ash began jogging to Viridian City along the dirt path, the leaves on the trees swaying in the wind and his two pokemon resting in their pokeballs on his belt.

It ended up taking only twenty minutes to finish the last stretch to Viridian, and the gouges from the Rufflet were hardly more than a nuisance compared to the soreness from their crushing power. It was a shame to pass the scenery so fast, but it was best to make sure the Rufflet, June, and himself were okay.

Jogging into Viridian City, the sun had finally reached the horizon, giving the city an orange hue. Just from a glance, it was obvious to see the history behind Viridian City. Viridian was one of the most traditional cities in Kanto, acting as the gateway to the Indigo Plateau. There was a sprawl of houses, all distinctly weathered and low to the ground with sturdy green tiled roofs. The earthquakes felt from Tyranitar and Onix were always a problem in Viridian so the houses were built low and strong to withstand the shakes of the earth.

Ash knew without seeing them that below the ground, the houses were anchored down by steel supports, stopping any underground pokemon from jeopardizing the infrastructure of the city.

Beyond the domestic homes, Ash spied a couple of open markets for fresh produce, a steel and marble bank, and a police station that looked like it had seen better days.

Not that that was a problem. With Giovanni, no matter how much Ash disliked him, he knew that with his father here there was no need for a bustling police force. Giovanni wasn't the leader of Viridian for nothing.

The dark green, sleek street lights looked more like Johtoan lamps than the lights in Pallet Town or the lights he'd seen in photos of Saffron, but Johto had always been more traditional than Kanto in that regard.

With temperate forests surrounding Viridian, Mt. Silver peaking over in the far distance over the treeline, and the Plateau visible, it did set the scenery for the last city before the League's Gate. It really was a beautiful city, and not even the thought of Giovanni living here could ruin that for him.

Although Ash might have to make a quick visit to the gym to thank him, no matter how dirty the words would make his mouth feel.

Shaking his head, Ash made a quick scan of the city, and picked out the bright red roof of the Pokemon Center quite fast. Ignoring the people looking at his bloody neck and shirt, he rushed over.

The Pokemon Center was quite empty, devoid of most trainers considering it was the beginning of the new season. Beyond any trainers from Pallet, nobody came to Viridian until much later in the season. Giovanni refused to give challengers a normal gym challenge, as gym leader of the city that guards the League, he only gave challengers a restricted six on six. There was no babying with him or accommodating for beginners.

Ash ran up to the counter, and the Nurse Joy, pink hair and all, gasped at his bloody collarbone.

Ash just rubbed the back of his neck at her furious look and smiled, "Um, some help would be nice."

Thirty minutes later, after a stern talking to by the Nurse to use a base potion—a clotting agent—next time, and after being treated for his wounds, Ash was in a free if rather utilitarian room with bandages covering his lower neck and collarbone.

The Rufflet would have to stay overnight for observation from the beat down June gave it as well as in accordance with New World procedure. In order to ensure the safety of both pokemon and trainers' health, any newly captured pokemon were kept overnight at the next Pokemon Center the trainer entered in order to vaccinate the pokemon.

June was released back to him though after a quick appliance of base potions for her scrapes and a single super potion for the minor blood loss, and when Ash got into his room for the night, he released her for a quick free meal and a washing.

After filling up on the Pokemon Center food and after a quick shower later for both of them, Ash began combing through June's fur with his hands as best as he could while she licked herself down; he resolved to buy a comb and hair dryer as soon as possible.

As Ash sat down on the bed, June curled up in his lap, eyes staring up at him, waiting expectedly for him to recap the lost hour.

A giddy smile bloomed across Ash's face.

"We found our next family member!" he exclaimed as June shifted slightly in discomfort, a contrast to her behavior before.

She was probably still a little miffed the Rufflet had blindsided him and gouged his chest.

"Oh, don't be like that, June. It's just in his nature. Give him a little bit and he might surprise you," Ash explained.

That was undeniably true. Rufflet were by nature extremely aggressive, beyond the ingrained desire to prove their dominance, they were also an entirely male species. The sheer amount of testosterone biologically programmed into their DNA served to both ensure they grew strong albeit slowly and also boost their aggression levels until they achieved evolution.

It was a curious notion for Rufflet and Braviary to be solely male, meaning Braviary were forced to breed with other compatible species. It was even more curious that when bred with other species, the female produced solely male Rufflets, but that, Ash conjectured, was just one of the mysteries of the world.

June yipped to get his attention, and Ash focused his attention on her again. She didn't seem that much more convinced about their new team member, but she didn't look like she would try and attack him if they got together, not that the Rufflet would give her much of a chance to instigate anything considering its nature.

"Well look, tomorrow we're gonna explore Viridian and get some real training in," Ash's eyes glimmered at the thought of their first training session, he knew just what they would need to work on.

June perked up at the mention of exploring and her bushy tail wagged a little. Ash just smiled and reached both hands down to scratch around her ears, she seemed rather sensitive around there, going limp in his lap and beneath his hands.

Tomorrow would be a big day for their growing family. Ash could already feel fatigue setting in from not only the blood loss but also the trek. June was probably feeling it too after two battles. Some good rest would do them both some good.

Laying down with June on his chest, everything that had happened today finally hit him. Ash had gotten his first pokemon, decisively beaten Gary, captured his second pokemon, and even made it all the way to Viridian City on his own.

The future was bright for him; he'd be chasing the horizon with his burgeoning family for, hopefully, the rest of his life, discovering, adventuring, and battling.

With a smile and June's warm body on his chest, Ash's eyes closed letting sleep take him.

The next day, Ash and June had rushed down to the Nurse Joy there, thanked her, retrieved Rufflet's pokeball, and scampered off west to find a nice training field to work in.

Eventually finding a decent field not sporting too dense vegetation, he settled down to start training.

"Alright, June. Today's our first day of training, but first we have to meet our new partner," Ash told June, who sat on her haunches, looking at him expectantly.

A dirty look crossed her face at the mention of the Rufflet.

Ash sighed, "June, the Rufflet's here to stay, that means we have to get used to him and help him, he's part of our family now."

June lost the dirty look, but she still looked unconvinced.

Ash sighed again, better than nothing, he guessed.

Ash palmed the Rufflet's pokeball in his hand, primed it, and threw it high into the air. Light coalesced on the ground into the same grey and off-white feathers from the last day, and Rufflet stood there, free from his stasis.

The look on his face, surprisingly, was one of acceptance as he looked at him and June. The Nurse Joy had probably helped him out by explaining what had happened to the Rufflet while healing him. It was nice of her to do so for a rookie trainer. Ash resolved to thank her profusely when he saw her again.

Focusing back on the Rufflet, Ash kneeled slowly to the staring Rufflet.

"Hey, my name's Ash and this here," Ash gestured to his left, "is June. I'm guessing the Nurse Joy already explained a little bit, but I'm a pokemon trainer. I'm on a journey to travel the world, see the sights, and along the way build a family out of pokemon and become the strongest."

The Rufflet, fluffed his wings at the mention of becoming the strongest. Ash smiled, got him, he thought.

"I know you may not be the happiest right now, but I'm asking you to give me, give us, a chance. I can promise you, I'll make you stronger," Ash told the Rufflet.

The Rufflet fluffed his wings again, chirped, and hopped a step closer in a showing of trust Ash had often seen displayed in other avian pokemon.

Ash stretched his hand out, palm up, "Do you mind if I pet you?"

The Rufflet eyed him carefully before nodding and Ash's hand began smoothing out his mess of off-white feathers around his crown causing the Rufflet to tilt his head towards him. Ash's smile brightened at that.

June appeared out of his left eye as she trotted up and sniffed the Rufflet. The Rufflet shook himself a little, but allowed her to get close, probably an acceptance that she was stronger than him.

June stepped back a bit, clearly satisfied with checking out her new family member, she seemed less uncomfortable knowing that the Rufflet wouldn't attack Ash.

Giving the Rufflet one last rub around his single red-and-white feather, Ash stood and June walked back to him, circling his legs.

"I know we really just met, but do you want a name?" Ash asked.

The Rufflet chirped again, this time Ash knew it was a chirp to mean yes.

Ash's eyes gleamed, he'd had plenty of thoughts while he had slept the previous night, and the same one kept popping up, stories from Alola and Unova replaying in his head.

"They say that Braviary are the heroes of the sky, that they fight to protect those too weak to do it themselves. So, how would you like to be called Hero?" Ash asked.

The Rufflet immediately flapped its wings and lifted off the ground a little while kicking his legs like he was trying to hit an imaginary foe, all the while chirping up a storm.

Ash smiled widely, "Hero it is."

The first training session went pretty well considering it was their first. Ash had begun by explaining to both of them about gym battles and the Conference. Hero seemed completely taken by the idea of fighting the strongest trainers in Kanto, while June just seemed content that she'd be doing it all with Ash.

Then he had gotten to the more pressing matter, elaborating that Brock, their first gym battle in Pewter City, would probably be their toughest battle. His entire team was built around the "rock type." Typing was really just a generalized category to simplify the biological characteristics of pokemon, and more times than not it was a useless categorization. For Brock though, it was not. His rock pokemon with their stone exterior and hardened hides would be incredibly hard to beat with June and Hero.

So, he began by telling June he wanted her to start on Quick Attack, basically channeling a Tackle all-throughout her body instead of just her skull, as well as to begin on Double Team, channeling her energy to create illusions of herself. She got Quick Attack down in minutes while Double Team left her quite stumped. By the end, she managed to create only one illusion, but its form was shaky and did little to hide her real form.

For Hero on the other hand, Ash had started by scanning him with his pokedex. Hero weighed a hefty amount, not unsurprising from their encounter the other day, and he was also around five years old, an age for when Rufflet's start picking up bulk in order to evolve. Quite lucky for Ash considering the slow growth it took for Rufflet to evolve into Braviary. Braviary were much more physical than other avian pokemon, but also fast when manipulating air currents and very capable of creating hurricanes if needed. At the Rufflet stage though, Hero's flying was slightly limited compared to other similar first stage pokemon, but it was enough to get by.

After asking Hero to demonstrate his attacks, Ash surmised that beyond his base attacks of using his beak, wings, and talons, he also had Hone Claws, an attack that channeled dark energy into his talons that would burn the opponent with the otherworldly power if they dug in. Dark energy was considered quite mysterious in the world, nobody knew quite where it came from, only that it seemed to bypass straight through psychic power and left people and pokemon alike in debilitating pain.

Ash was just glad Hero hadn't used it against him the other day; his collarbone was still sore from Hero's crushing talons not empowered by Hone Claws.

In contrast with June, Ash had started Hero on Double Team which he got quite easily surprisingly, creating multiple copies of himself without tiring. At the moment, it seemed his limit for control was ten so a happy medium of five would ensure most battles went well. For the rest of the training session, Ash had Hero begin learning Aerial Ace, an attack that manifested as a swift diving attack utilizing the wings in avian pokemon. By the end, Hero's Aerial Ace was more of a brutal diving headbutt than a sweeping wing strike, but it seemed to get the job done. Hero's head had more power in it than his wings anyway; a Rufflet's wings were the weakest part of their body while their talons were the strongest, a sharp contrast to other single stage avian pokemon.

Ash had concluded the training session with a quick lunch, taking out the stored pokemon food and his own stored food in his pre-packed backpack. The shrinking technology available in the world was amazing, Ash had about a month's worth of food in his backpack for the three of them, it would probably end up as three weeks though if they picked up another family member soon though.

Now, with June and Hero in their pokeballs from being healed by the Nurse Joy, whom he had ended up thanking profusely for explaining things to Hero and healing all three of them, Ash was on his way to his father's gym, taking in the sight of Viridian City in the afternoon daylight.

The green roof tiles shimmered brighter in the day than in the dying light of day, and although Ash could feel slight tremors from who knew what pokemon that lived near Mt. Silver in the distance, the buildings didn't give way and the tiles didn't seem any nearer to falling off then when the ground wasn't shaking. Even the fragile-looking black lamps didn't seem affected by the tremors.

Ash redirected his attention to the low, and well-worn gym occupied by his father. It looked as it had always looked, as sturdy and grounded as the pokemon that his father used. Made of rough yellowed, cemented sandstone and grey hardened clay with thick Kantoan pillars to support the building. There was green and brown paint highlighting the edges, denoting it as the gym building and two grey Rhydon statues occupied either side of the entrance, a reference to the first Kantoan Champion's cornerstone.

With a sigh, Ash spied the gym trainers guarding the entrance take a look at him and bow low in deference to the son of their leader.

Looks like nothing changes around here, Ash thought.

As Ash walked through the entrance and into the reception area, he wished he had June and Hero out right now, but no pokemon were allowed to be out in gyms unless they were the gym trainer's, the leader's, or if trainers get permission from the leader to release them.

Not even Ash, the son of the gym leader got an exemption from that.

Ash walked up to the receptionist who took one look at him and pointed towards the right where a doorway Ash knew led to his father's personal office was.

Ash just sighed at the formality and gruffness and took off towards where Giovanni would be.

Moving past the wide double doors and traversing through the long, dim hallway led Ash to his father's massive office, and without knocking Ash pushed the doors to open. The office was dimly lit just like the hallway leading up to it, with a single mahogany desk and two chairs on either side with his father's resembling a throne more than a chair. Giovanni was lounging on said chair watching the news on the TV hanging from the left wall, an image of a black clad person with a red R emblazoned on the front of the person's shirt flashed on screen before it was summarily shut off and his father whirled around to look at him.

The similarities between the two were as sparse as they had always been, if it weren't for the raven black hair and the height, people wouldn't even believe they were related. Ash took more after his mother in that regard, appearance and personality-wise. Where Ash was relaxed and let life take him where it wanted, Giovanni was tense and gruff, always straight to the point.

"Hello, son," Giovanni said to him. A rare smile bloomed on his face at the sight of Ash's trainer gear and the two pokeballs on the right side of his belt, signifying his caught pokemon.

"Hey, Dad," Ash said back softly. It was usually Father or Giovanni when Ash talked about him, but he'd never had the heart to call him either of those to his face.

"I see you got the pokemon you requested," Giovanni said after he gestured for Ash to sit in the chair opposite of his own across the desk.

"Yeah, thank you," Ash smiled as he sat down. He was grateful to have June. They'd only been together barely for a day, but he'd already bonded closely with her.

Giovanni gave another rare smile and leaned forward, "I'm glad that you are, it's rare I see you so happy. Now tell me, I spy another pokeball on your belt, what did you catch?"

Ash leaned back into the chair, resolving to talk with his father about his new capture before he was inevitably taken away by his gym work.

It took only twenty minutes for Giovanni to be taken away by a "pressing matter," but Ash was secretly glad, talking with his father was a stressful experience, and as Ash took in the warm air of the Viridian summer, he allowed the tension to fall out of his shoulders.

For the rest of the day, it was just past midday, it would probably be a little exploring of the League's Gate and then beginning the trek to Viridian Forest, which was just an hour out from Viridian City. Ash would camp just outside of the forest for the night, and then hopefully spend just three days traversing it and training for Brock against the bugs that roamed the area, teaching Hero and June two new techniques crucial to defeat Brock's rock pokemon, Steel Wing and Iron Tail.

As Ash began walking out the western exit of Viridian, he released June and Hero. June yipping and circling his legs before taking her place by his right side while Hero puffed himself up and hopped around. Looking up at him, Hero's eyes narrowed before suddenly lifting up and landing on his left shoulder, his talons surprisingly gentle when gripping it.

Jolting in surprise, Ash almost sent Hero flying off his shoulder which resulted in an offending screech and an errant peck at Ash's hat covered head.

Watching Hero warily in case he decided to take an eye out while he lowered himself down to rest on his shoulder, Ash reached down to pet June before tentatively rubbing Hero's crown of feathers.

June gave a purr as she rubbed herself against his hand while Hero seemed, at the very least, unlikely to attack him.

And so, together they walked along the beaten path, almost devoid of trees and with only short blades of grass. The terrain, already shifting to match the mountainous terrain of the Indigo Plateau.

Ash spied a couple of Spearow in one of the few trees and wisely moved away from where they were roosting, not in the mood to draw the attention of the moody Spearows or, Mew forbid, a combative Fearow.

Ash had no desire to be swarmed by Spearows or gored to death by a Fearow. Especially when there was nowhere to hide in this sparsely forested area. Too many young trainers forget the cruel nature of some pokemon.

The jagged grey stones of Mt. Silver, rich in minerals, grew increasingly more prevalent as Ash approached the League's Gate. The mountain itself stretched so high that the peak disappeared into the clouds and Ash couldn't see how far the base stretched along the horizon.

After only a little bit of time, a looming arch that marked the first entrance to the League was visible, and Ash spied the insignia of the Boulder Badge decorating the middle of the arch with a pair of Indigo League Officers guarding it. The archway was made of the same rough sandstone that the Viridian Gym was made from as well as shining metal that served to outline it, and present on either side of the arch were the same old, worn statues of Rhydons outside of Viridian's Gym. The huge, grey Boulder Badge symbol shined in the light, appearing different shades from a light grey to pitch black.

The Officers' attention snapped towards him, but Ash ignored them. Peering past the Boulder Badge gate, Ash spied the archway emblazoned with the sea blue of Cerulean's Cascade Badge, and then past that to see the one with the shimmering yellow and orange of Vermillion's Thunder Badge. Ash knew there were five more after, but those gates were too far to see. All Ash could see past the Vermillion archway was the imposing mountain that was Mt. Silver and the lower, but not any less striking Plateau.

The Indigo Plateau was a flat stretch of land reaching close to thirty square miles atop a mountain about half the size of Mt. Silver. To reach the Plateau one had to move past all the gates with the necessary badges and climb the long set of steps up the mountain, the Steps of War. Ash had only seen pictures of them, but they stretched as wide as the gate arches and they reached at least two miles up the mountain.

Stopping a moment to take it all in, and also to make the Officers squirm a little, Ash committed the sight to memory, and looked left to Hero who seemed ready to fight just by the sight of the archways and to June who seemed just as awed by him by the surroundings.

They would be back here, without a doubt.

Committing the view to memory and spurning June to tear her eyes away from it, Ash and his burgeoning family turned from the League's Gate and began the hour-long trek back to Viridian.

The walk back to Viridian from the League's Gate was as peaceful as their walk there, although the view was different. As they had traveled up slightly to reach the gateway, seeing Viridian City from a higher elevation really did the city justice. The green roofs, the low, sturdy sandstone buildings, the people milling about, and the sound of the wind blowing really did give credence to the title of Viridian City, the City of Last Rights.

The Indigo Plateau was chosen as the base for all Kantoan and Johtoan operations after the merger of the two regions some three centuries ago because of the strategic positioning of it. Bordered by mountains on all sides, it was a veritable fortress, no army could climb those mountains and any attempts at an aerial attack would be stopped by the harsh winds and chill of Mt. Silver.

The only entrance to the League was through Viridian, the city where you say your last rights before going to war, at least for those that were actually going to war. Now, it was more of a rite of passage for trainers participating in the Indigo Conference. A rite that Ash would most assuredly take.

Beyond picking up a couple of antidotes, paralyze heals, and super potions from the blue roofed Poke Mart, Ash had no need for any other materials. Although the need for just those three things was enough to take a chunk out of his starting salary.

With everything packed and a plan in mind, Ash took one last look at the City of Last Rights before he began his trek to Viridian Forest.

Going north of Viridian City onto Route 2, it was much like Route 1 except for a wider expanse of forest, beginning to take shape into the monstrosity that was Viridian Forest, the greatest concentration of bugs in all of Kanto.

The greatest concentration, but not necessarily the strongest, Ash thought.

Viridian Forest was filled to the brim with the Beedrill line, the Butterfree line, and the odd Pidgey and even odder Pikachu. Beyond that, there wasn't much else. Some people claimed sightings of Pinsir and Scyther, but those pokemon were incredibly endangered in the wild due to the demand for them and lived exclusively in the Safari Zone, a protective habitat for the rarer wild pokemon.

For now though, Route 2 was a good place to fight some weak pokemon for experience, already June had taken out four rattata and a pidgey that tried to pick a fight with her and Hero had blindsided at least five pidgey with his version of an Aerial Ace, sending them unconscious after one hit with his apparently rock-thick skull.

As the huge canopy of trees that signified Viridian Forest grew closer and closer, Ash finally spied a young trainer with two pokeballs on his belt.

"Hey!" Ash called over to the youngster, "Let's battle!"

The yellow-shirted trainer looked over at Ash, then at June walking alongside him and Hero on his shoulder, and shrugged.

"Sure, two-on-two, and 500 sound good?" the trainer asked.

"Sounds good to me, what's your name?" Ash returned, taking out his pokedex from his belt.

"Joey," the newly named Joey said and pulled out his pokedex from his pack.

The two pokedexes connected wirelessly, and after a quick input for a single, two-on-two battle with a 500 dollar bet, they were good to go.

Moving a good distance away to a nice clearing, Ash peered down to see June looking up at Hero. She yipped and Hero fluttered down to the ground and puffed himself up, presumably to take the first pokemon.

Ash smiled at June who laid down to watch the battle, June probably just wanted to see how good the trainer was before actually battling.

"I'll be choosing my Rufflet as my first pokemon!" Ash yelled over to Joey who had his pokeball in his hand.

"And I'll be choosing my Pidgey!" Joey yelled back.

With a throw, Joey's Pidgey was on the makeshift battlefield. From a quick glance it was quite average, probably two years old if it wasn't already a Pidgeotto and recently caught as well.

At the sight of the Pidgey, Hero started screeching, a warning that he wouldn't hold back as it tried to intimidate the Pidgey. The Pidgey didn't even seem to acknowledge the sound, more focused on its trainer, riling up Hero even more.

Ash looked back to Joey and called out, "You can make the first move!"

Ash readjusted his hat to block out the glare of sunlight as Joey nodded.

"Pidgey, use Tackle!"

Adrenaline pumped through Ash, this was his first real battle, wager and all.

The Pidgey immediately spread its wings and was flapping through the air, white energy glowing around its skull. It was clearly faster than Rufflet, but that didn't matter, not here.

"Double Team and mix in!"

Hero split into five copies of himself, and in a flurry of grey and white they were in the air, dashing between and around themselves.

The Pidgey ignored the new development and tackled the first copy it came across, the illusion dispersing into air.

"Keep using Tackle! Take them all out!" Joey yelled at the Pidgey that looked confused why it hadn't hit anything.

"Sideline it! Aerial Ace!" Ash could feel all the blood pumping to his head.

The copies split from their confusing, intersecting formation to all come at the Pidgey from the left and right.

The Pidgey chose a random direction and shot forward at full force, plowing through an illusion only to have Hero slam into the back of its head with his Aerial Headbutt.

The Pidgey fell to the ground, out before it even landed.

"Good job, Hero!" Ash yelled over the buzzing in his head, battling was exhilarating.

Hero's illusions dispersed into the air as he landed. He puffed himself up, clearly proud he had taken out the Pidgey with one hit.

"Let June take the next one, you did great!"

Hero was less than excited to stop battling, but reluctantly fluttered back on Ash's shoulder. A few quick head rubs had him placated though.

June strolled up from where she laid during the battle, her enthusiasm clear from her wagging tail.

Spying Joey across the field, he saw that the Pidgey was already recalled and that the trainer already looked like the battle was over. With a sigh, the other trainer threw his last pokeball and a Rattata took the battlefield.

Rough purple fur and quite large teeth compared to its body. It was a fine example of the species.

Gotta watch those teeth though, Ash thought, a good bite and June'll be missing a chunk of herself.

Without waiting, Joey called, "Rattata, use Quick Attack!"

The Rattata was off in a purple charge, heading straight for June who had leaned the front half of her body down, ready to battle.

"Match it! Quick Attack, don't get hit head on!" Ash commanded.

And with that June was off in her own Quick Attack, her body a brown blur, dashing through the wind.

At this point, the battle was more of trying to keep track of the two pokemon as they moved around one another, looking to get a hit in. June was obviously faster though, even if her bigger body meant a bigger target.

It seemed though that June was letting the Rattata chase her, she, herself, looking for an opening to counterattack.

Good, June can't be taking too many hits. She'll go down too fast otherwise, Ash thought.

It seemed the Rattata was getting impatient with the chase as it jumped off the ground, looking to hit June with a leaping strike.

June strafed and matched the leap, sending the Rattata flying from a hit to the side.

It landed, rolled and came to stop with no sign of getting up.

"Yes!" Ash yelled as June threw her head back and yipped happily, coming down from her adrenaline high.

"Nice job, June," Ash told the Eevee as she strolled back up to him, a skip in her step.

He gave her head a few rubs and smoothed out her coat, eliciting a few licks in return.

Across their makeshift battlefield, Joey sighed and returned his Rattata; the ding of their pokedexes signaling the battle was over, and Ash knew the 500 dollars were already in his trainer account.

Joey gave him a tight smile and waved as he started on his way back to Viridian, probably to heal up his pokemon.

Spying the sun, it was already dipping a little, just hitting the treeline. Ash would have to set up camp soon if he wanted to wake up early to get through the vast Viridian Forest in three days.

Making it through Viridian Forest was the first major wild area a Pallet Trainer had to survive in as a trainer.

Giving one last rub to June and giving Hero a pat on his head, Ash looked over to a nice, uninhabited tree a bit away and began walking to it. A good place to set up camp.

The sun had vanished behind the treeline, the sky now an orangish hue. Ash had been getting his team started on their respective steel moves. It was entirely unlikely that any starter pokemon could learn to harness true steel energy within the first week of training, but Ash would do his best to get June's tail and Hero's wings to at least harden up.

As long as they don't break the first time they swing them at Brock's rock pokemon, it'll be worth it, Ash thought.

To be honest, it would probably be better to just battle a minor gym in place of Brock, but just the thought left a sour taste in Ash's mouth.

No, Ash thought while watching June slam her tail and Hero beat his wings into a tree, uncaring of the damage, we'll defeat Brock.

Trainers were allowed up to two minor gym badges to replace normal badges, but Ash would not resort to taking a minor badge in place of a normal badge. Not ever. He remembered the brilliant archways at the League's Gate, the gleaming badges embedded into them.

I will walk through those gates with all the badges, even Koga's, even Sabrina's, even Blaine's, even Giovanni's. Brock won't be the one to stop me.

Ash rolled out his sleeping bag under the sole tree in their clearing and called over Hero and June who stopped their training to come over. Placing two bowls filled with pokemon food and two bowls with water on the ground, Ash leaned back against the tree, relaxing as he watched his new family start to eat and recover, their bodies sore from battles and training.

Ash's eyes closed. He took a moment to breathe in the air, feel the wind sweep past him to ruffle his clothes and hat, and let the grass tickle his hands. Ash could even hear the faint sounds of buzzing, indicative of the bugs that lived in Viridian Forest.

Feeling June's fur brush his hand knocked him out of his meditative state as she curled in his lap with her ears down, ready to sleep. Hero fluttered up into the tree, and looking up at him, his head disappearing as it lowered into his body like a Hoothoot, Ash presumed he was going to roost.

"Good night, girl. Good night, Hero," Ash said softly, and a purr and a weak chirp were his response.

Ash could feel his eyes drooping, the exhaustion from the day finally settling in. His calf muscles ached a little from all the walking and his collarbone was still a little tender from Hero's attempt at murder, but Ash had never been happier in his life.

With June curled in his lap and Hero above him in the branches, Ash felt complete.

I don't want this feeling to ever end.

The last thing he saw before sleep took him was the golden light of the last minutes of day, and faraway glittering wings soaring through the sky.