So, quick AN. This darn story is 50k in, thus far, and looking like it might be a monster soon. It is a beast. Yes, some of my rules are different than the rules in the anime or the games. Anyways, have fun!

~D. O.

Ash grumbled to himself as he forced himself up. He had slept really badly, tossing and turning for most of the night. Normally, he would have let himself rest a little longer, but today was a big day, the biggest one in his eleven year long life. It was the day he was going to get his starter.

Today, a Squirtle, a Bulbasaur, and a Charmander would be leaving Pallet Town. Today, the first stage of the three Kanto Titans would be released into the wild, becoming whatever their trainer helped them.

While normally, this would have been a huge deal, it was made even bigger by the fact that Professor Oak only had three of the traditional Kanto starters. There were five of them, including himself, that were supposed to set out today. That meant two of them wouldn't be able to have the normal trainer experience.

Luckily, Professor Oak had just given him a secretive smile, saying that he had an idea, before shooing him off. He groaned again, but got up and dressed.

Ash knew who would get Bulbasaur, a girl named Lillian- Rose Parker. Like most grass types, Bulbasaur were versatile Pokémon, specializing in using status conditions to take down their prey. They were capable of using a variety of attacks, from Poison Powder to Razor Leaf, they could poison and stomp on most Pokémon, especially once they grew into a Venusaur.

He knew that the Squirtle would go to Gary, Professor Oak's grandson. They were the defensive specialists of the trio, with hard shells that became practically impenetrable the older they grew. They could take hit after hit, and still come out of their shell and strike back. Blastoise more so than the others, as it could literally tear through metal with its hydro cannons.

The Charmander on the other hand, could go to Blake Samson or Vesper Cormac, though he was leaning towards Blake getting it. They were the attack specialist of the trio. Their flames, teeth, claws, and tails were all built to damage anything stupid enough to challenge them. By the time it became a Charizard, its true power could be seen. The flames of a Charizard were only one reason why it was considered to be a pseudo- dragon type.

As for himself, well, he had no idea. He too had been leaning towards getting a Charmander, mostly because of his obsession with dragons, but he had stepped back to let the other two fight over the small orange lizard. As much as having a powerful Charizard on his team would help him take the League by storm, he honestly wasn't thrilled about having one of the same Kanto Titans that a third of the population now had.

Ash shook himself a little bit, got dressed quickly, and went through his backpack one more time. He threw on his jacket, an ankle length, high necked, dark purple trench coat, and fixed his black ivy cap over his head. He looked himself over and nodded at his reflection. He had on a short sleeved turtleneck black shirt and dark jeans under his coat. His hands were covered by long, black gloves with purple swirls stitched randomly on them. He may not look like a normal trainer, but he wasn't planning on being one either.

Unlike the other kids, he had a plan. Fuchsia city was his first stop once he had his Pokémon. He would be able to travel by Alakazam from Viridian to the Safari zone almost instantly. From there, he would go south. He had a ticket for three weeks from then to go to Kalos. He had four Pokémon he wanted from the region, and he knew where to find them. He gave himself a month there, before he would head back and dock in Vermillion City. From there, he would end up back where he started.

It was a plan, or the start of one at least. He wasn't sure if he would go challenge the gyms yet or not, seeing as he had a full twenty four months before the Indigo League started. He knew that everyone else wanted to just get their badges out of the way, but he had to be careful. Dragons like the ones he planned on getting, grew very, very slowly. He couldn't rush it unless he wanted to ruin the chances of his Pokémon becoming powerful in their own right.

He needed to take his time, and work on getting them comfortable with their draconic energies before they would be useful against strong trainers like the Gym Leaders. It would take a lot of work to get them anywhere near where the Kanto Titans were, power wise, but eventually, he knew what would happen.

One day, maybe in a few years, his Pokémon would be unmovable titans.

If he stuck to his plan, of course. If not, then he would end up wherever he dreamed he would. Possibly.

He shook himself mentally as he arrived downstairs. His mothers Mr. Mime, Mimey, waved cheerfully at him. He waved back, looking past his mothers other Pokémon, a Cleffable named Star, who just ignored him. The fairy type had a grudge against him for stepping on her a few years prior. He knew her other Pokémon were around somewhere, watching over both her and the house. One, her grumpy Alakazam named Ancient was probably somewhere with Professor Oak's own monster. The other three, a cheerful Beedrill named Sting, was probably stalking his mother like always. Sting liked to think he was invisible, and the others simply played along with it. Her Venusaur, Violetta, was most likely watching the small bakery that she worked at. The last of her once titans was a Nidoqueen named Pearl, and was most likely at the corral, watching over it like a silent protector.

All of his moms Pokémon were powerful in their own right, but they had grown stagnant by the time he came along. He had seen videos of them at their prime, but it was impossible to see them as anything other than another set of lazy protectors. His mom had her adventures, and had settled down to become a mother at nineteen. Not that she stayed as a mother. Oh no, by the time he was eight, she had opened a bakery, and that had become her baby. If he saw her once a week, it was considered a lot. She was a busy lady, and simply didn't have time for him, now that he could take care of himself.

Besides, he knew that she regretted having a child. She regretted getting married. She regretted that she hadn't left him with someone who could have taken care of him, and went back for her dream.

As much as he loved her, Delia Ketchum wasn't meant to be a mother. She loathed the life she had, and practically everything in it.

He didn't want the kind of life that she had. He wanted to always grow, always learn, always be better. It wasn't about fighting or not, it was about being the best he could be. He wanted to be passionate about what he was doing, not ashamed of it. He didn't want to look back ten years from now and wish he had made other choices like his mother seemed to do with him.

Mimey pushed a small package into his hand, making him smile. He had practically been raised by the Mr. Mime, and cared for Mimey more than he did his mother. He knew that Mimey would worry about him, and hope that he was alright. Mimey loved doing the domestic things around the house, including cooking and taking care of Ash.

He knew without having to look that the package was a lunch, made just for him, by his mothers Pokémon. He hugged the psychic type, relaxing into the embrace, before heading out of the house.

The ten minute walk to the Professor's lab was strangely soothing. There were Pidgey everywhere, chasing each other in a game. They were singing loudly, content with their lives for now. A Spearow danced through the air, sending him a grumpy glare as it flew. There were other bird Pokémon around, but none of them enjoyed playing as much as Pidgey did, and few were as territorial as Spearow, instincts constantly demanding them to check for intruders in their space.

Pallet Town was a beautiful place. It wasn't like a big city, no, this was where most Pokémon came to lay their eggs, where they came to be safe. The stronger Pokémon in the area were either captured or moved to a better environment. It wasn't the most well known place in Kanto. In fact, it was hardly mentioned compared to, say, Cerulean City or Saffron City .It had a charm, though. None of the buildings were very tall, and most were made of either brick or wood. The only impressive building in the entire town was Professor Oak's Laboratory. Other than that, there were only a handful of places that weren't homes located in the town.

As one of the most coveted professors, Oak could be as picky as he wanted, and could refuse to allow a family or person to move here. Seeing as most of the people here were families with dreams of letting their children become one of Professor Oak's students, there was hardly any people. Professor Oak only accepted a certain number of students, and most people had to make do with another professor to watch their Pokémon. Most kids had to go to a minor Professor to get their starter.

He was extraordinarily lucky that the man had agreed to take him on. He had learned a lot under the man. He had considered what he wanted to do with his life, but was still mostly undecided. He wanted to be a trainer, that part was obvious, but he wasn't sure where he wanted to go after that. He hoped that he would be able to attend the Indigo League Conference, but after? He was leaning towards becoming a Pokémon doctor. He knew Gary was likely to take after his grandfather and become a researcher, Lillian- Rose wanted to become a coordinator, Blake wanted to become a breeder, and Vesper simply wanted to know everything.

That was what made them stand out compared to most wanna be trainers. They had a passion for knowledge and were willing to put in the work to get where they wanted to go. They wanted to take the world by storm.

Thankfully, they had the opportunity to do so, because they were the students of Samuel Oak. Every single trainer that he had gifted the starter to became someone. He was one of only two professors in all of Kanto that was licensed to give out a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. Unless their parent gifted one to them, other trainers had to make do with one of the other species in Kanto. His mother had been one of Oak's students, making it to the top sixteen her first year in the Indigo League Conference, while his dad had started with something else, a humble, but irritable, Poliwag that had become a fearsome Poliwrath once he had grown up.

He knocked on the door to the lab, and waited semi-patiently. It was still early, somewhere around six as the sun was starting to rise higher into the sky. That didn't mean anything though. They were supposed to meet at six fifteen, so that they had an entire day to bond with their starters and get used to being actual trainers instead of just children.

The door was opened by Gary, who looked just as tired as he felt. The normally energetic brunette simply waved him inside and yawned. He placed his backpack down beside Gary's next to the door, noting that no one else was here yet from the lack of other bags, and followed the half asleep other boy to the main lab.

Gary Oak was not a morning person. His grandfather, on the other hand, looked awake and cheerful with a cup of coffee in his hands. Ash could smell it from across the room. The older man waved happily at him and came across the room quickly.

"Good morning, Ash. Are you ready for today?" The Professor greeted happily, before taking another sip of his coffee.

Ash gave a small shrug. He wasn't sure how to describe how he was feeling. He was nervous, nauseous, excited, a little depressed, and a shaking ball of nerves. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

The Professor gave him a grin. "I remember getting my first Pokémon. Ignus was such a tiny little thing back then." By Ignus, he meant a now Charizard with a bad attitude. It stayed away from the towns people, but acted as a silent threat, along with the Professor's other Pokémon. They were all abnormally strong considering their age. "You know Ash, Ignus was actually the one who gave me the idea for your starter."

He felt dread in his stomach at the thought. "Really." He said dryly. Ignus wasn't his biggest fan, preferring to burn whatever he could reach with a breath whenever Ash was around. It seemed as if Ignus wanted to make him match his name, becoming nothing but ashes under the powerful flames of the Charizard.

The older man nodded excitedly, but held a finger to his lips. "You will have to wait until the others get there to find out what you're getting though."

That made him raise an eyebrow. Normally, one could come and leave within the span of a few minutes. He had never heard of Professor Oak holding back the new trainers until all of them were present. It also meant that he wasn't getting the Charmander. He knew it was coming, but that didn't stop the little ball of disappointment that had started in his stomach. He would get a starter, that much was obvious, but it wouldn't be one of the Kanto Titans.

Still, he just shrugged and sat down next to a half asleep Gary. Once, the two of them had been best friends, going everywhere together and getting into all sorts of trouble. Then, they had started arguing. Gary believed that he would be able to make it to the Champion's Chair by simply blasting his way there. Ash had known that it would take an unbreakable will and precision to even get that far.

It was the first argument they had ever had, and was made a hundred times worse when the two of them heard that Gary's parents died. He had tried to be there for his best friend, but Gary had shoved him away, yelling at him to go slash his throat, before hiding away at his grandfather's. Ash, for his part, still felt awful for yelling, but there was nothing that he could do to repair the relationship they once had.

That had made Ash more cold, turning to frost for a couple of months when his own father had killed himself and Gary had simply laughed. While there was too much water under the bridge to actually fix anything, Ash hoped that one day, Gary would accept him again. Until then, he was fine on his own, watching over Gary from the distance.

He shot his once best friend a concerned look. Gary was used to pulling insane hours, even now. For him to be this tired and out of it, he must have gone without sleep for close to a week. Nightmares, Ash confirmed to himself, shoving the pity he felt rising up back down. The brunette would sleep better once he had a Pokémon nearby. He had as a child, and would now as well.

He stayed quiet as Gary fell deeper and deeper into sleep, freezing only when he felt his soon to be rival's head fall onto his shoulder.

Another knock came at the door, and Ash hushed the Professor before he could wake his grandson with a finger on his lips. Professor Oak simply gave him a beaming smile when he realized the position they had ended up in. For his part, he simply rolled his eyes. It was weird, sure, but if Gary wanted to use him as a pillow, then who was he to deny it? Besides, he thought with a slightly evil smirk, when Gary woke up, Ash would have blackmail. Well, more blackmail. He could never have too much when it came to the cocky brat that was Gary Oak.

Around fifteen minutes later, four people came back into the room. Professor Oak led the way, sipping his coffee to hide his smile, followed by Lillian- Rose dressed in a short ivy green dress and red tights, with a vibrant green jacket decorated with vine designs, Vesper, in his usual dark blue jeans, white shirt, and red hoodie, and Blake, who was in a crimson red vest over a black shirt, with light blue jeans on.

He moved his arm, the one Gary wasn't laying on, and poked the other boy in the head. Gary's long sleeved purple shirt and green jeans were more practical than any of the others. He guessed that Lillian- Rose would tear her tights in less than a week, and Vesper's white shirt would be nothing but scraps in less than two. He wanted to ask if they realized they would most likely be traveling by foot, but kept himself silent.

It wasn't his business.

Gary awoke with a start, causing the other kids to start laughing until Ash glared at them. Unlike Gary, Ash had never been friendly with the other three. Lillian- Rose was a drama queen, who believed that she should always get her way, even when they were still being trained at the academy. She looked down on anyone that wasn't rich. She had curly, bright blonde hair and deep green eyes. She always looked perfectly put together, this morning was no exception. Ash wondered for a moment how she would look after a couple of months on the road, but shoved it out of his head. He really couldn't have cared.

Vesper had been picked on for years, due to his white hair tinted red at the tips. His eyes were cold and black, unfeeling if one didn't know how to look. He was the type that held a grudge against everyone, and had a cruel streak that made him vicious. Ash pitied whatever Pokémon he got, especially if they didn't grow fast enough. They would be abandoned. Probably.

Lastly was Blake, Lillian- Rose's henchman if nothing else. He followed her every word like it was written in the stars. He was a fiery redhead with light lavender eyes, and hated anyone that Lillian- Rose showed even a hint of disdain towards.

He knew that Lillian- Rose and Blake would travel together, though he wasn't sure if they would actually make it to the Indigo League Conference or if they would give up halfway there. Vesper would probably tag along with someone, probably Lillian- Rose and Blake, for a few weeks before leaving them behind in his search for power. Gary would go alone, like he was going to.

He planned on spending some time fishing at the river in the forest around route one, before making his way towards Viridian. He had plenty of time, after all.

Now that all five of them were here, Professor Oak moved towards the head of the room, and removed a sheet from the three pokeballs on his desk. "Good morning, everyone. You five are very special, because you are the future legends of Pallet Town. In front of me, I have the pokeballs for Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander, the official starters of Kanto trainers. Don't be fooled by their size, they have the potential to be massively powerful Pokémon. As you know, because there are five of you, not six, two of you will be going on a slightly different journey than the rest. But I'll explain that more in a minute." The professor clapped his hands together. "Let's get started, shall we? Ladies first, I believe."

Lillian- Rose moved forwards, a determined glint in her eye. She knew which starter she wanted to make her legend with. Her hand hovered over the pokeball on the far left, just for a moment, before her fingers closed around it. Professor Oak nodded to her, as she turned it, and pushed the release button.

The small, green Pokémon with deep scarlet eyes looked around, confused, before spotting the girl still holding the pokeball. Lillian- Rose knelt down next to it, folding her legs gracefully under her and held out her hand. "Hello Bulbasaur. It's nice to meet you. I've been waiting for you for years now." The Pokémon looked at her curiously, and carefully approached. "My name is Lillian- Rose. I'm going to be your trainer from now on."

Slowly, the Pokémon touched her out reached hand with the tip of its nose, and watched as she moved her hand to scratch behind its ear. She smiled beautifully as the little grass type purred under her touch.

"I'm going to return you for a little while, okay? I'll let you back out later, so we can get to know each other." She scratched one more time, before reaching to return the little Pokémon.

"Please leave him out, Lilly dear. I have something else for all of you." The Professor pulled something out of his lab coat, and handed a green and pink device to her as she stood. "Normally, I would give you all pokedex's, but this time, I was asked to try something different. Lilly dear, you are getting a pokedex, one that's set up just for you. I'll let you go through on your own time and figure out the surprises, alright? Now, I believe its Gary's turn to pick his Pokémon."

Gary strode forward tiredly, yawning behind his hand as his fingers closed around the pokeball of his choice, the middle one, Squirtle. He expertly shifted his grip and released the Pokémon. The little turtle was blue and brown, looking at the world with boredom. Squirtle looked around at them, silently judging them with its light red eyes. They finally landed on Gary, who was yawning again.

The Pokémon smirked at him, smugness in its eyes, before launching into a light bubble to wake his trainer up fully. The attack landed, mostly harmlessly. It made Gary fall on his butt, but it had done the job and woke up its trainer fully.

"Thanks for that." Gary said flatly, locking his eyes with the Pokémon. It snickered at him. "You're gonna be a handful. I can already tell." He said, resignation written on his face as the turtle Pokémon snickered again. "At least you have guts."

Ash silently wished his one time friend luck. It seemed like the little water type had an attitude problem. One that would get the two of them into a lot of trouble. Still, it reminded him of a younger Gary, and from the smile that Professor Oak was hiding, he wasn't the only one. It couldn't go to a better person.

Gary walked back to his spot, grumbling as he ran a hand through his now wet hair. He didn't bother trying to return his starter, as Professor Oak had already told him beforehand not to bother. He clipped the pokeball on his belt with his other, and simply glared at the little brat of a Squirtle. "I'm calling you Brat, by the way." He muttered out to the Pokémon, getting yet another smug smirk from his starter.

The professor shook his head in amusement. "For Gary, I have a Pokègear. I was asked to give this to whomever got Squirtle as a starter, with a message of 'Good luck with him.' Ornery little thing, isn't he? Ah, moving on, Vesper, did you want Charm-"

"Yes." The white haired boy interrupted, walking quickly to pick up the third pokeball with a smug look. Blake scowled in annoyance, but said nothing. The orange lizard was released in a moment, and the Vesper sized it up. For a Charmander, it was smaller than average, and it seemed nervous. It waved a little orange paw at its trainer, crooning out its name.

Vesper scowled at it, apparently, it didn't meet his standard, but he was too proud to say anything to Professor Oak, especially since he had interrupted the man. He stuffed the pokeball in his hoodie and moved back to his place in the line.

"This is a C-Gear, Vesper. It will serve you well. And don't let Charmander's appearance fool you. He's a fire type, after all, and has a thirst for battle that will do nothing but grow as he does. Blake, come here for a moment."

The fourth teen took a breath, and followed the professor out of the room. Apparently, his Pokémon was meant to be a surprise. A few minutes later, he came back with a little floating ball behind him.

Ash's eyebrow shot up. That was a Solosis, a rare psychic type that was native to the Unova region. The Professor went all out apparently, to get his starter. Very few people could handle a psychic type Pokémon, and even less knew how to bond with them. For the Professor to trust Blake with a Pokémon like this said a lot.

Finally, it was his turn. He was nervous, especially because Blake was sending him pitying looks, and whispering quietly to Lillian- Rose, who seemed to gain the same look.

Without waiting for the older man to call him forward, he simply headed in the direction that Blake had come from. As soon as they were out of ear shot, the Professor stopped him.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Ash. It took me months to convince the League to let me give you this Pokémon as your starter, especially because it will be impossible for a normal trainer to handle. Ignus brought it to me, because it was terrorizing the beach Pokémon, and those who live on the Cliffside. If you were anyone else, I would never let you take it. I'm saying this so you understand how serious this is." The Professor looked him in the eye. "The League will be watching you, and you will have to prove to them that you can handle this. If not, they will step in and revoke your license. If anyone can handle him, it will be you." And with that, the Professor turned and continued down the hallway until he reached a closed off room.

In it was a metal cage with a black and blue four legged dragon constantly bashing itself against the bars. It was covered in open wounds and sores, but it didn't seem to care. Suddenly, it snarled wildly, sensing that it wasn't alone any longer.

It took Ash all of two seconds to recognize the Pokémon. That was a Deino, a dark/ dragon duel type, and one of the most violent Pokémon in the world, compared only with Sharpedo and Gyarados. Its evolutions, Zweilous and Hydreigon, were known as the two headed demon, and the three headed gatekeeper of hell.

It was like most dragons, regal and dangerous, except it was ten times worse than most others. He could see why Professor Oak had to get special permission for him to take it. The Professor must have cashed in several favors to get the League, including Lance, to allow him to take on the Pokémon.

Even Lance, the Dragon Master Champion, didn't have a Deino, or any of its evolutions. Most Deino had a flee on sight order for trainers with less than seven badges.

Still, his eyes inspected it. The Deino was violent, surprise, surprise, but it wasn't very strong. It was having trouble with the metal bars of a cage, which should have been no problem for it. It wasn't using its dark type energy to get free, or its dragon type energy to blow the cage up. It was simply rushing at it.

The movements were unrefined, and choppy too, showing off how little control it had. He could practically feel the dark type energy bleeding off of it, but it wasn't being used in a way that could benefit the little Pokémon. It was only around two feet tall, if that, and it's black longer fur was matted around its face.

Ash frowned to himself, that would affect its sense of smell, causing the rage to intensify, especially as its fur was longer than usual, covering its nose in a way that it shouldn't. Its ears were hidden under the dark fur as well, probably not helping the terrified creatures. Its shorter blue fur was covered in sticks, thorns, and other things. It needed to be brushed down badly.

He knelt down next to the cage, and simply watched it, taking note that the usually furious Pokémon was more terrified than angry at that point. "Hey there, Deino." He muttered soothingly, not reaching out or even moving just yet. "I know your scared, I would be too if I was in a cage and couldn't smell or hear very well. My name is Ash Ketchum, and I'd like to show the world the power of dragons. I would like to take you with me, and help you become a powerful, unbeatable, titan of a Hydreigon. We would get to fight all different types of Pokémon. It would take a lot of work, but I want to try if you do. Would you like that?"

To his surprise, the Pokémon stopped moving about halfway through his speech, and simply waited, listening as he spoke.

"That would mean no more cages, but you would have to trust me to be your eyes for a while. I want us to be able to work together and become the strongest pair out there. Do you think, if I let you out, that you could stay calm for a little while longer? Just until we get outside? Then I can fix your fur and you should be able to smell and hear again, okay?"

It tilted its head in consideration, before sitting down, its head pointed towards him. He opened the cage, understanding the silence. He had one chance. The second he did something that the Pokémon didn't like, it would snap and prove how dangerous it was.

He kept still as it stood again, and walked slowly towards him. He could sense the dark type energy getting ready to hurt him if he hurt it. Slowly, it butted its head against his arm, getting permission to pet it. He did, moving slowly towards its snout and moving the long fur out of the way. It took a long, curious sniff, and nodded slightly.

Professor Oak had stayed back, not wanting to provoke the dark/ dragon type. Slowly, Ash stood up, and very carefully, he picked up the dragon. "I'm going to call you Barastyr. It means 'Ruler of the Dead'. Do you like that?"

"Dei." It grumbled out, accepting the nickname for now. Barastyr stayed still as the Professor handed him his pokedex, or actually, Pokènav, he noticed with surprise. He tucked it inside his trench coat, shifting the blue and black Pokémon slightly so he could reach the pocket he wanted. After it was tucked away, the Professor gave him Barastyr's pokeball, and he clipped it on his right side, seeing as he was left handed, it would make it easier to grab in battle or in an emergency.

Once he was set, the two of them, with Barastyr still calmly in Ash's arms, went back to the others. He had been gone around ten minutes, he guessed, but no one rushed a dragon type. Especially a dragon type that was also a dark type.

He mentally adjusted the team he would need to keep up with the titan of death in his arms. He still wanted a Kingdra and Dragonite, so he still needed a Horsea and Dratini. Axew and Gible were probably good choices, as they would be able to keep up with Barastyr. He wasn't sure what his last one would be, but he supposed he would figure it out later. Right now, he wanted to focus on the Pokémon in his arms.

Gary's eyes widened when he came into view, Blake and Lillian- Rose had dropped their jaws, even though they had known what he was getting, in surprise, while Vesper almost fell over. Barastyr wasn't a typical starter. There were very few people who were allowed to pick up a Deino, and even fewer who were able to carry them around.

"Now that all of you have your Pokémon, I have one last thing to ask of you. Have fun. Take chances. Learn new things. Don't let fear hold you back. Don't be afraid of failure, and don't let it hold you back. Right now, you can be anyone you want to be, and you can do anything you want to do. You kids are the future that us old folk look to. I wish all of you luck with your journey, and I hope that each of you stays safe, and finds whatever you are looking for out of your lives." The Professor made a show of bowing to them in an over the top way, before shooing them out of his lab.

All five stopped by the door, looking at their bags lined up one by one. They looked at each other, and Ash picked up his bag first, before taking his first steps out of the lab.

He was as ready as he could be.