"Both Ash and Tyson are now down to their final pokémon," The announcers voice rang throughout the stadium and inside many homes for those who were watching on TV.

May Maple was shocked to say the least. After spending another Saturday doing homework and texting her boyfriend Drew, she decided to sit down and watch some TV.

While May was not the biggest fan of pokemon battling she did enjoy watching an occasional battle and the pokemon league tournaments. So she decided to watch some of the closing rounds of Johto's pokemon league.

Seeing Ash Ketchum, a fellow classmate of hers, in the final 8 of the Johto League, completely caught May off guard.

Both Ash and May attended Kanto High in Viridian City, May being from Pewter City, while Ash lived south of Viridian City in Pallet Town.

The two were both juniors and while they had never really spoken to one another, May seemed to know a bit about Ash, or so she thought.

Ash Ketchum was by far the quietest person in the junior class, if not the whole school. He had only one true friend, Gary Oak. Ash and Gary were childhood friends, and grew up spending lots of time together.

Gary flourished in high school, becoming one of the best players on Kanto Highs soccer team, as well as being a well-known heartbreaker to many of the girls.

Despite Gary's newfound popularity he was still best friends with Ash, they always enjoyed battling and hanging out in their free time.

Gary Oak was one of the few people who even knew that Ash both loved to battle, and was a serious trainer. Not a soul at Kanto High had known otherwise, mostly because Ash never really spoke much, or had any other friends aside from Gary.

May Maple was definitely surprised to see the shyest kid from her school, being the center of attention with thousands of fans cheering him on.

"That can't be… is that Ash Ketchum?" she said to herself.

May's Brother, Max Maple, happened to walk out of his bedroom door a few seconds earlier. Max was a huge fan of pokemon battling; he studied battle strategies and watch battles during most of his free time.

Max was a freshman at Kanto High, and was a stereotypical pokemon nerd. Despite his love for pokemon he was rather well known and generally liked by most other students.

"Ash who?" asked Max. Despite how much he kept up with pokemon leagues he didn't even recognize Ash.

"Ask Ketchum, He's in the same grade as me. He goes to our school Max." May told her brother.

"Wait really, that's so cool!" Max immediately found himself a new idol to look up too, and couldn't wait to talk to Ash at school the following week.

The two Maples' both turned back to the TV to see Ash's Pikachu and Tyson's Sceptile battling it out.

"Pikachu hit it with an Iron Tail"

"Iron Tail? That's a steel type move; I've never seen a Pikachu use that before! Exclaimed Max in awe.

"Counter it with a Leaf Blade!" shouted Tyson.

The two pokemon collided, sending each of them hurtling backwards. Both Sceptile and Pikachu had taken direct hits, now everyone watched as the two attempted to struggle to their feet. Sceptile found the strength in it to stand back up, but Pikachu was exhausted. After a few more moments of struggling, Pikachu collapsed in defeat.

"Pikachu is unable to battle, the victory goes to Sceptile and Tyson!" The referee announced as the crowd applauded both trainers for the great battle.

Ash ran over to Pikachu to make sure he was ok, before congratulating Tyson.

"That was an awesome battle Tyson, you've really trained your pokemon well!" Said Ash.

'Thanks Ash, your also a great trainer, I'd love to battle with you again someday".

After a handshake and some more words of encouragement the two went their separate ways. Tyson would now advance to the Top 4 while Ash's time in the Johto league was over.

"That was an awesome battle, both of them were really good!" Screamed Max.

"I still can't believe that that was really Ash out there…" Said May

"He seems so much different out on a battle field then he does at school." She thought to herself.

"Hey Kids, we're home!"

May and Max's Parents Norman and Caroline entered through the front door. Norman was a teacher at the Pewter City high school, which was much smaller than Kanto high. Caroline worked for a day care, as she absolutely adored children, and was beginning to miss them now that May and Max was growing up.

"Who's ready for dinner?" Asked Caroline.

Upon hearing this both May and Max raced each other to the kitchen, each hoping to get to the food first.

Ash was now at the pokemon center, retrieving all of his pokemon that he had used in his battle with Tyson. Despite losing, Ash held his head high with pride. In just his first every pokemon league competition he had made it to the Top 8. He was sure that with this experience he would be able to do even better next spring in the Indigo League.

The Indigo league would also be more convenient when it came to gym battles too. In Johto Ash would have to take weekend trips just to challenge a gym. Now back in Kanto Ash would be able to go after school and battle gym leaders, at least in Viridian and Pewter City.

Unfortunately for Ash he did have school on Monday, so he wouldn't be able to stay for the finals. As Ash began to walk out of the pokemon center, he was tackled to the ground.

"That was a great battle Ashy boy, it's a shame you couldn't pull it off."

Ash looked up to see none of then his childhood friend Gary Oak. Along with him was his mother Delia, and professor Samuel Oak.

Ash shoved Gary off of him and stood up. "What are you all doing here?" Ash asked.

"We came to cheer you on of course, I couldn't stand staying at home when my little boy was off becoming a pokemon master." Delia teased him.

"Ya and while you were winning battles I was winning girls hearts." Laughed Gary.

"We're all very proud of you Ash, you've certainly come a long way." Professor Oak told him.

"Now how about we get something to eat and then head on home" Delia suggested.

Ash certainly didn't object. There were two things he loved in life, pokemon battling, and food. After arriving at the restaurant it wasn't long before Ash had finished two helpings of food at the all-you-can-eat buffet, before anyone else had even touched their food.

The ride back to Pallet took several hours, and it was about 10 P.m. by the time they returned. The Oaks said their goodbyes and headed back to the lab, while Ash and Delia went inside before collapsing on their beds after the long day.

After a good nights rest Ash was up by 6 A.M. as he had a lot planned for today. He was going to evaluate his team and decide which pokemon would suite him best for the Indigo league.

"Ok, Pikachu, Froakie, Staraptor, and Charizard. How do you guys feel about competing in the Indigo League with me?"

The four pokemon happily agreed and nodded to their trainer.

Ash figured that he would meet some new pokemon along the way and therefore left two spots open for now. But now it was back to training.

While Ash Ketchum certainly didn't seem the type, he was one of the fittest people around. He believed that training along side his pokemon helped them bond together as a team.

After his 3 mile run, Ash immediately began the strength portion of his workout. He jumped up and grabbed a tree branch. After knocking out over 20 pull-ups he immediately went straight into pushups.

After doing an ungodly amount of pushups, he went to go train his pokemon. The Pokémon's training wasn't any easier. They knew that they would have to work hard if they wanted to have a shot at winning a league championship.

"Well, well, well. I should've figured you'd be out here training already." Came the familiar voice of Gary Oak.

"Of course, we gotta be ready for the Indigo league next spring." Ash said as he ordered his pokemon to practice their attacks.

"Ha, even if you win a league you still won't be able to beat me." Laughed Gary.

Ash laughed back nervously. It was true; even though Gary didn't train as seriously and hadn't even participated in a pokemon league he always found a way to beat Ash.

"Well todays a new day, it's also the day I finally beat you Gary!" Exclaimed Ash.

"Oh is that so, we'll see about that."

After some more banter between the boys they agreed to a one on one battle.

"Alright Charizard, let's win this." Ash said, calling out one of his strongest and most intimidating pokemon.

"Let's get this over with already, come on out mudkip." Gary yelled.

Ash nearly fell over when he heard what pokemon Gary chose.

"I didn't say to go easy on me, you think I'm going to lose to a mudkip?" Ash asked. Charizard certainly had a big advantage, despite the type advantage mudkip had.

"Mudkip quick attack"

Mudkip charged towards Charizard before changing direction and heading towards a nearby tree.

"What's it doing?" Ash wondered to himself.

Before Ash could even realize it, Mudkip bounced right of the side of the tree and flew right towards Charizard, hitting it right in the face. Charizard quickly recovered and sent a flamethrower attack in all directions. But mudkip was nowhere to be seen.

"It's on your back Charizard, try to shake it off." Ash tried to warn his pokemon, but it was too late.

"Iron tail mudkip!"

An Iron tail from mudkip sent Charizard straight to the ground, a few moments later being dowsed by a water gun attack. It was clear that after just three direct hits, Charizard was unable to keep going.

"That's what, 103 wins in a row against you now Ash. Maybe someday you'll beat me." Gary said as he recalled his mudkip and went on his way.

"Uh, someday I'll beat him, but for now my focus is on winning the Pokémon league. You guys did great today, especially you Charizard, now go take a long rest." Ash told his pokemon.

After a quick shower and some breakfast, Ash ran out onto the bridge by his house. This was where he had his battle with Gary earlier. The bridge ran right over a river and lead to a trail through the woods.

Ash enjoyed coming out here often, as it was a place where he could be alone and enjoy nature. After climbing up the side of the bridge he sat down, with his feet dangling off the edge.

"I'm going to win the Indigo League, I can just feel it." Ash said, trying to motivate himself.

Back in Pallet Town, Gary was heading back home to the laboratory.

"Hmm, maybe I should become a pokemon trainer like Ash. Considering I've got 103 wins and 0 losses so far, ha-ha!" Gary laughed to himself. Despite his sense of humor he sometimes debated becoming a pokemon trainer. While he was a talented soccer player, he wasn't sure that he'd be able to make it to a good enough college to pursue soccer professionally, and pokemon trainer certainly was a popular and exciting route to take.

Gary's phone lit up with a text message:

From: Jasmine

"Hey are you here yet?"

"Oh whoops!" Gary said to himself, "forgot I had a date with her today, eh I never really liked her that much anyways."

With that Gary put his phoned back into his pocket and continued on his way.

The Next Morning

Ash rolled over and turned off his alarm before getting ready for school. Ash never really enjoyed school, as his goal was to become a full time trainer after he graduated. Becoming a real trainer was certainly difficult as normal exhibition matches wouldn't provide a reliable income, he'd have to consistently do well in competitions and tournaments.

After a quick breakfast that Delia had cooked Ash was out the front door and began his walk to school.

Viridian City was only about a 20-30 min trip on foot so Ash walked every day, figuring that he could use the exercise, and possibly have a battle or two along the way.

Ash reached the front doors of Kanto high and sighed as life was back to usual. When Ash was training or battling he was having the time of his life, but the eight-hour school day was an absolute bore.

While Kanto High offered several classes relating to pokemon Ash was unable to sign up for them as the classes had already been filled before he got a chance to.

The instant Ash Ketchum walked through the doors he was immediately swarmed. People were shouting his name and congratulating him, they even picked him up and placed him on their shoulders.

Meanwhile Ash was utterly confused and even a little scared of what was happening.

"Who are you guys, and why the hell are you carrying me around?" Ash asked as he was carried around the hallway.

"We're your fans of course! Your battling at the Johto league championship was incredible.

Ash was at a loss for words.

Fans?

He had fans; his finally sunk in as he was dropped back to the ground only to be buried in questions.

Ash, not being used to talking to so many people, struggled to find words.

At that moment the bell to signal the start of first period rang.

"I'll catch you guys later, I got to go to class." Ash said as he snuck his way out of the circle and turned the corner to head to his first class.

He sighed as he finally got away, while he did like the idea of having fans, he certainly didn't like being mobbed out of the blue.

Even when Ash entered his chemistry test his teacher came up to him and shook his hand, congratulating him on his great battling. The students in that class also continued to bombard Ash with questions and compliments.

While the class was a boring lecture everyone's eyes were on Ash Ketchum. Everyone in the school was shocked that the quietest kid at Kanto High, could be so, awesome.

As soon as the bell rang signifying the end of class the questions continued, everyone trying to talk to him.

At this point it was becoming a bit much for Ash to handle. Instead of going to his next class, Ash ran outside before heading out to the schools pokemon-battling field. He needed some quiet, when all eyes weren't on him.

Even when battling in front of thousands of people he was never nervous like he had been earlier, he accounted this to the intensity of the battling, allowing him to forget about everyone watching him.

30 Min Earlier

"Ah! What time is it?" May Maple shouted as she ran out of her room, her hair in a complete mess.

8:25

"Oh great, I'm already late for school" May grunted. She decided that if she was going to be late she might as well look good doing it.

After a shower and getting dressed, she walked out the door as she tied her signature red bandana on her head. After a quick drive through the Viridian Forest she arrived at Kanto High, just in time for the start of 2nd period.

As she parked her car and started walking towards the building, she noticed someone walking towards the pokemon-battling field.

After further investigation she noticed that it was Ash Ketchum. Immediately thoughts of watching him battle in the Johto league flooded her mind. Without even thinking she paced after him and began calling his name.

"Hey Ash!"

Ash spun around as he heard his name being called.

"Dear Arceus did they follow me out here?" Ash whispered to himself, who had hoped that he would have been able to find some peace and quiet out here.

To his surprise it was May Maple, all alone. Several questions came to Ash's mind as to what she was doing out here, but he figured that she would also congratulate him or something of the sorts.

"What are you doing out here?" May asked the raven hair boy, catching him off guard.

"Oh, um…" Ash replied trying to think of a good excuse.

"The fame a little to much for ya?" May giggled.

"You could say that." Ash said with a sigh.

"Well don't worry I won't go all fangirl on you." She said.

Relief immediately washed over the boys face.

"Although, what you did was incredible, Top 8 in any pokemon league is absurdly good, everyone's talking about you." May told him.

" Thanks I guess," said Ash, who rubbed the back of his head, something he did when was embarrassed.

The two had slowly made their way onto the field by this point and had come to the bleachers on the sideline. They both sat down, Ash still trying to let everything sink in from the past hour.

"Oh shoot!" Cried May. "I've got to get to class." She hopped off the bench.

"Aren't you coming too Ash?" She questioned him. They had history class together next and even sat right across from each other.

"Nah, I'm just going stay here for awhile." Ash told her. While he did enjoy her company he surely didn't want to head back inside.

"Oh alright, I just wanted to say congrats Ash, your really a great trainer, keep working at it. I'll see you around!" The brunette said as she turned and walked towards the school.

Ash let a smile slip out from his usually serious looking face. He was proud of what he had been able to accomplish, but he had so much more planned for his future.

After about an hour Ash decided that he should get back to class. On his way he noticed a sign up sheet posted near the fields.

"Kanto High Pokemon Tournament" It read. Ash, always ready for a good battle, didn't hesitate to sign up. "

Matches on Tuesdays and Thursdays until tournament ends." With Ash being the 16th person to sign up. He would have to win just 4 four matches to win.

Ash eventually returned to class, who then had to endure several more hours of his newfound fame. After the school day had ended, Ash started his journey home.

As he neared Pallet town Pikachu's ears perked up.

"What is it buddy?" Asked Ash. The small yellow mouse leaped off Ash's shoulder and ran over to several bushes, which were rustling around. As Ash approached the bush a small green pokemon popped out, now standing in front of them.

"Wow a Bulbasaur!" Ash said excitedly. He grabbed an empty pokeball, determined to catch it. Before he could even begin to battle however, the bulbsaur had already taken a liking to Ash and Pikachu. Soon Pikachu and Bulbasaur were running around playing together.

Ash sat back and laughed as the two pokemon enjoyed themselves. After several minutes of chasing each other around the two came back and sat by Ash. It was clear to see that the wild Bulbasaur enjoyed their company, which led Ash to ask Bulbasaur if he wanted to join his team. Bulbasaur agreed but not before wanting to battle, just to show off its strength. Ash did need a grass type pokemon as well, so a small and fast one like Bulbasur would be perfect.

Despite their friendly faces just seconds beforehand, the faces of both Pikachu and Bulbasaur turned serious, as the battle was about to begin.

"Ok Pikachu, this will be a good time to get some training in. I'm going to let you decide your attacks and movements." This was something that Ash rarely did, but he enjoyed doing it once in a while. Letting the pokemon trust themselves and their own instincts would be helpful, instead of just following Ash's orders all the time.

Bulbasaur took the first move and knocked over an unprepared Pikachu with a vine whip attack. Pikachu stood back up and charged in with a quick attack. The mouse's tail began to glow as it jumped above Bulbasaur, going for an iron tail attack. Bulbasaur sent it flying with a razor leaf.

Immediately afterwards Bulbasaur fired a leech seed, which coiled around Pikachu and drained its energy.

"That was great bulbasaur!" Ash said, deciding to end the battle now so that he wouldn't have to travel back to Viridian City in case Pikachu got too tired. With that Bulbasaur was satisfied and went into one of Ash's pokeballs, becoming the fifth member of his team.

Ash got home and spent some time completing his homework, to which he then went right back to training. A 5-mile run around Pallet town and a hardcore ab workout left him exhausted. He had little time to relax though as his pokemon needed training too.

Ash's introduced Bulbasaur too the rest of his pokemon, and had some light 1 on 1 battle between each of his pokemon before calling it a day.

Back at Kanto High

Drew, the star soccer player for Kanto High walked out of the locker room after a long practice. Drew had an interesting reputation around school. He was popular because he was the best soccer player at Kanto High, and one of the best high school players in the whole region of Kanto. His personality though varied, he could be nice and charming when he needed to be, but could also be a complete asshole. He was also a "player" as some would say, when it came to girls, and would commonly cheat on his previous girlfriends. No one at Kanto High knew about that though, as Drew had just transferred there this school year.

May Maple had only seen his charming side so far. The couple met outside the school before going to get dinner. While she listened to Drew boast about his goals that he scored in practice, a reoccurring thought kept popping into her head, Pokemon.

While she had never owned a pokemon or particularly liked them, she did find some of them to be very cute, and would like one to keep as a pet.

May however, didn't know a single thing about raising a pokemon, so she always immediately shut down the idea of owning one rather quickly. She quickly remembered her previous conversation with Ash Ketchum that morning.

"Hmm… maybe I could ask him how to raise a pokemon." She thought to herself.

"Are you even listing to me?" Drew asked, puzzled by the blank stare in his girlfriends eyes.

No response.

"Uh, hello, earth to May!" The green haired boy said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Oh um…." May said, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Is everything alright May?" He asked her.

"Ya of course, I was just thinking about some things."

"Like me scoring a hat trick this Friday against Fuschia City?" Drew said cockily.

"I better see you there cheering me on."

As the two parted ways and returned home, May Maple had come to a decision. She would ask her parents if she could get a pokemon.

Later that night in Pewter City

"Of course May, that sounds like a great idea." Her father Norman told her. May jumped and hugged her dad in excitement.

"Thank you so much Dad, I'll make sure to take good care of it."

May had just asked her father if she could get her first pokemon, and much to her surprise he actually said yes.

"So which one are you gonna get?" Asked Max as he walked into the room.

"Um… I don't know. I didn't think I'd get this far." May said with a laugh.

"Well make sure it's a cool one, Trecko's are my personal favorite starters." The boy stated.

"Well I just want one that's cute and will be a good friend." May said enthusiastically.

"Well that'll be a first." Max said.

"A first what?"

"You having a friend." The boy said laughing at his older sister.

May sighed in embarrassment. It was true, aside from Drew, and her friend Dawn, she really didn't talk with anyone else, aside from a girl named Serena, which she saw occasionally.

"You better shut it before I teach that pokemon some attacks!" May said jokingly as a threat to her brother.

The boy then stuttered nervously before running out of the room, not wanting to anger his sister anymore. May laughed as she saw him run, she then went up to her room and sprawled out onto her bed.

"Maybe I can talk to Ash about raising pokemon tomorrow, oh, I also need to figured where I get my pokemon." She said to herself, so that she wouldn't forget the following morning.

The Next Day

Ash made sure to grab each of his six pokeballs before heading to school. Today the pokemon tournament at Kanto High started, giving Ash something to look forward too.

May Maple was also excited, today she was going to ask Ash Ketchum how to raise her own pokemon, as well as hopefully find out where to get a starter pokemon, as she frankly had no idea. She hoped to catch Ash after school and talk with him then.

The school day went by rather slow for the both of them, each wanting to get onto something more exciting, pokemon.

After the school day ended, Ash headed out to the schools pokemon-battling field, as did seemingly half the school. Someone had told everyone that Ash had signed up, so naturally everyone wanted to come see his battling skills.

As the rest of the trainers came together one particular one stuck out to Ash.

Gary Oak.

Ash sighed and dropped his head, as he knew what this meant. Gary had also entered the tournament, and Ash certainly wasn't blooming with confidence anymore. He'd just have to hope that someone else took out Gary.

"Alright everyone listen up, I'm going explain the rules!" Said Tracy, head of the schools pokemon club. "Since there are 16 trainers, 4 wins will give you the championship. All battles will be single battles, and the number of pokemon used in a battle will be randomly decided by this!" Tracy told them as he rolled over a giant spinning wheel, segmented into six parts reading 1-6. "Also the matchups have already been randomly chosen. So if everyone's clear on that lets get started. First up is Richie against Paul."

A short brown haired boy named Richie and a tall purple haired boy named Paul each took their sides on the field. Both Paul and Richie were some of the very few serious trainers at Kanto High, so this would be a good matchup. Tracy spun the wheel and after several seconds the pointer landed on a one.

"Ok this will be a one on one battle between Paul and Richie." Said Tracy, who was also judging. "Let the battle begin!"

With that Paul and Richie each threw a pokeball. Paul's revealing a Drapion and Richie's being his Pikachu, which he called Sparky.

"Pin Missile Drapion!" Paul shouted.

"Dodge it Sparky!" Richie told his Pikachu. As the Pin Missile came hurtling past, Sparky used its Quick Attack to get away.

"Ok Sparky, keep going with Quick Attack, straight to double team." As Sparky reached Drapion many more Pikachu's surrounded it because of Sparky's double team. Drapion had no idea which one was the real one.

"Now use Thunder!"

From behind Drapion, Sparky leaped into the air and delivered its most powerful attack, which stunned Drapion.

"Now Slam!" Pikachu took advantage of Drapion's lapse of focus and knocked it over with a Slam Attack.

"Finish it with Iron Tail!" Richie yelled. An Iron Tail sealed the deal as the final blow left Drapion unconscious.

"Drapion is unable to battle, Sparky and Richie are the winners, they will advance to the 2nd round."

"Wow, he's really trained his Pikachu well!" Ash said to himself as he observed them.

Richie was smiling and thanking his pokemon while Paul was obviously disappointed, and immediately walked off. Paul certainly had talent for pokemon training, but talent alone. He was stubborn very often refusing to take anyone's advice or tips.

"Ok the 2nd match today is Ash against Jackson."

Ash took his side of the field, happy that he didn't have to go up against Gary right away. After a quick spin of the wheel the match was ready to begin.

"This is a two on two battle between Ash and Jackson, let's begin!" Called Tracy.

Ash grabbed his hat and spun it backwards on his head, officially entering "Battle mode".

Jackson threw out a Magnemite, while had called out his Cyndaquil. A lucky guess for Ash, as Cyndaquil had the type advantage here. Ash had brought his Cyndaquil along, just in case he got stuck in a 6 on 6 battle.

By this time even more people had crowded around, once they had heard that Ash was battling next, May Maple being one of them.

Magnemite started the battle with several Thunder Shock attacks. However Cyndaquil was one of the best attack dodgers Ash had ever seen, therefore the pokemon simply danced its way around the bolts of electricity.

"Cyndaquil use Smokescreen!" Ash said, already having a plan of attack formulated in his mind. As smoke covered the field no one could see where Cyndaquil had gone, not even Magnemite.

"Use Flame Charge then Swift!'

In a moments notice Cyndaquil appeared out the smoke surrounded by burning flames. It crashed into Magnemite, severally damaging it. Cyndaquil stood on top of Magnemite, before looking straight down and using Swift, sending Cyndaquil back into the air while Magnemite took more damage.

"Finish it with flamethrower!"

Cyndaquil reared back and sent a scorching Flamethrower at Mangemite. Sending it toppling backwards.

"Magnemite is unable to battle, Jackson now has one pokemon left!" Announced Tracy.

"Great job Cyndaquil!" Ash said happily, his strategy having worked.

"Ugh" Grunted Jackson in frustration. Despite going up against Ash Ketchum he'd hoped that he would be doing better.

"Alright lets go Meganium!"

Jackson's second and final pokemon Meganium materialized out its pokeball and faced its opponent.

"Use Razor Leaf!" Jackson said, making the first move.

"Dodge it Cyndaquil!" Once again Cyndaquil danced around the leafs effortlessly, evading every single one.

"Tackle attack Meganium!"

Meganium charged ahead full speed towards Cyndaquil.

"Now use Dig Cyndaquil!" Ash called. Just before Meganium reached it, the small pokemon had burrowed its way underground. It was a matter of moments before Cyndaquil popped back out of the ground right behind Meganium.
"Overheat!"

As Meganium turned around to find its opponent, it was sent flying by Cyndaquil's most powerful attack. Despite a super strong and super effective point black hit, Meganium was somehow able to get back on its feet.

"Solar beam Meganium!" Jackson yelled to his pokemon.

"Use Quick Attack!" Ash told Cyndaquil hoping to get the attack of before Meganium launched the Solar Beam Attack.

The two pokemon and their attacks collided, knocking them both to the ground.

Cyndaquil struggled to its feet, obviously very tired. Meganium on the other hand hadn't fared so well, as it stayed down on the ground.

"Meganium is unable to battle! Ash and Cyndaquil win!"

"Alright, way to go Cyndaquil, you were incredible." Ash said as he embraced his pokemon. "Take a good rest now."

Both Ash and Jackson shook hands and went back to watch the other matches.

Meanwhile those watching stood in awe of Ash and his battling skills. He had absolutely dominated; Cyndaquil had taken down two pokemon and only took one hit right at the end. So everyone congratulated Ash, some even asking for his autograph. Ash scratched the back of his head and smiled as he signed various items for his fans. This was definitely something new for him, In the matter of two days he'd gone from the least popular person at school to basically a celebrity status.

Ash was quickly cut off from signing autographs as he learned that Gary was battling next, and this was a match he totally wanted to see.

Gary battled against another trainer named Steven, each using four pokemon. With just two of his pokemon, his Mudkip and Nidoking, Gary took down Steven and his pokemon rather easily. After the rest of the matches, Tracy announced the eight trainers who would go to the next round on Thursday. Ash was disappointed to learn that he wouldn't know whom he would be battling to the day of the match, but was still excited nonetheless.

Ash stood off to the side, getting ready to head home, while Gary went off to soccer practice.

Ash felt two small taps on his right shoulder. He turned around to finding the same smiling face that he'd encountered early yesterday morning.

"Oh, hey May! What's up?" Ash asked the brunette.

"Nothing much, I just want to ask you for a favor." May responded.

"Uh sure, what do you need?"

"Well I want to get a pokemon! Except I don't know where to get one, or a pokemon license, or how to raise one." May said, sighing at the end. What was she getting herself into?

"Well that's great May, and don't worry, I can help you figure all the other stuff out."

"Oh thank you so much Ash!" May said excitedly giving Ash a hug. She quickly retreated from the hug however, blushing slightly.

"So when do you want to get your first pokemon?" Ash asked, completely unaware of May's blushing.

"Well as soon as I can I suppose." Said May thoughtfully. Mentally deciding that she was ready for this new responsibility.

"How about tomorrow after school then? You can get registered for your pokemon license right here in Viridian City along with some pokemon food. Then we can go to Professor Oaks Lab in Pallet town to pick out your pokemon!" Ash said. Even he was slightly excited about this, he enjoyed teaching others about pokemon. This also brought back memories of when he had received his first pokemon, Pikachu. While Ash and Pikachu had a rough start they soon became the best of friends, as he was with all his other pokemon.

The two said goodbye and went home, each excited for what the next day would bring.