Author Notes: So this is my first attempt at writing a story. I decided on Pokémon due to it being the simplest to write. I hope to make this epic length, but we will see were time takes me. I make no promises on update speed; I have school, work, and a somewhat social life.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon; if I did I would be Japanese, and not needing to write this. Thank you

Ash Ketchum is a boy of 10 years old, with a head of messy black hair. He is currently sitting in his room watching the latest Pokémon League battle. The battle is a fierce match, between a Nidorino and a Gengar. The announcer's voice rings out, "Nidorino begins the battle with a horn attack! Oh, but Gengar bounces right back with Hypnosis. And there it is the hypnosis power of Gengar!"

Ash was watching the battle with extreme focus, and learning as much as he could. 'I start my journey tomorrow, and I will receive one of the 3 starters from Professor Oak. I'm hoping for a Charmander, but honestly I would be ok with any of them'.

He had thought long and hard about which one he wanted, but in the end he just couldn't make up his mind, at least not until he met them himself. After all, Pokémon have as many personalities as humans do, and reading into generalizations on how a Pokémon behaves can only go so far.

As he was deep in thought, the door swung open revealing a middle-aged woman with long brown hair, whose name was Delia Ketchum, the boy's mother.

Delia spoke with a stern, yet kind voice, "Ash Ketchum what are you doing awake at this hour, you have an early day tomorrow after all."

He responded sheepishly, "Sorry mom, I just got so caught up thinking about my journey."

"I understand honey, but even young Pokémon masters need their sleep. How do you expect to make the right choice with no sleep?" she asked.

The boy chucked, "Your right mom, you normally are."

Delia smiled, gave Ash a hug and said, "Just get to sleep, because you need to get yourself up. It's one of the many things you will have to do by yourself, including remembering to change your-"

Ash quickly cut her off, "Underwear, yes I know Mom, I am 10 years old now. But I'll turn off the TV, and set my alarm."

"Goodnight dear." Delia said, as she thought sadly, 'This is the last time I will get to say that to him for a while.'

"BEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEP" Ash's eyes shot open in excitement, today was the day, he would get to choose…CRAP.

He looked at his clock, it read 8 A.M. That meant he set his alarm for the time he was supposed to be at the professors ranch. He cursed his tired mind, and rushed getting ready. Quickly he changed out of his pajamas and into his clothes. He also grabbed the bad he had packed the day before luckily, and rushed downstairs.

He waved bye to his mother as he zoomed out the door, he heard her yell after him, "I'll meet you there Ash, don't you dare leave before giving your mom a goodbye kiss."

Sitting on a hill, above the rest of Pallet Town, sat a building with a pink roof and a windmill behind it. This was none other than the Ranch of the famous Pokémon Professor Samuel Oak. He is renowned across the world for his study on the interactions between humans and Pokémon, as well as the person to introduce so many young trainers to the world of Pokémon.

As Ash climbed the steps to Professor Oak's ranch, he saw Gary Oak coming down the long stair-case, looking like he just won the poke-lottery. Gary Wore a simple blue shirt, jeans, boots, and the green/yellow necklace he always wore.

"Hey Ashy-boy, looks like your already behind me. I got my starter already, I choose Squirtle. This little guy is going to be strong, I can feel it. Which one are you planning on getting, even if you are late" laughed Gary.

Ash and Gary have a long history together. The boys grew up as friends, but like most friends, eventually got into a fight. Looking back, Ash decided it was probably the dumbest fight they could have had. One day about a year back, the pair were fishing in a nearby river. All of a sudden, they hooked a pokeball at the same time, and broke into a tuck-of-war over the pokeball, ending in them breaking it. Each blaming the other, they didn't speak for weeks. Eventually, Ash decided he wanted his friend back, so he sucked up his ego, and walked to Gary's house. When he got to the house, he offered to give Gary his part of the pokeball. Gary thought about it for a second, took it, and to Ash's surprise, gave Ash his own half. Since that day, they have been best friends.

Ash smirked and replied, "I'm hoping for a charmander myself, but I might have to take bulbasaur now that I know what yours is."

Gary then said "We both know you aren't one to take the easy way Ash."

"You know me to well, but honestly though, I'm not sure which one to get, it did just get a bit easier though with one already chosen." Ash observed.

Gary then got close and whispered in his ear, "Between you and me, Gramps actually has another Pokémon he got specifically for this group of trainers. I don't know why, but I remember him saying something about this being meant to be or something. Probably just old people talk though, but that means you still have 3 choices because you're the second one here. Leaf is still probably sleeping; she always did enjoy her beauty sleep too much."

Ash chuckled and asked, "Well if you got to see all of the starters what is it?"

The young Oak smirked and started spinning his pokeball on his finger, "Sorry, but unlike you I already knew what Pokémon I wanted. I didn't even look at any of the others."

"Fine, I guess I will just have to go and find out myself now" replied ash as he pretended to be annoyed with his friend. "Just make sure to get a good head start on me, because you're going to need it to keep ahead!"

Gary laughed and replied, "Ok, if you want to give yourself a handicap who am I to complain, just don't take too long, I'll get bored because I doubt any other trainer will be able to give me much of a challenge."

Chuckling once again at Gary's antics, he waved goodbye, and continued up the stairs to the legendary professor's lab.

After arriving at the door, knocking, and shown in by an assistant, Ash found his way into the professors main lab. When he go into the room, the first thing he noticed was a machine sitting in the middle of the room with 2 poke balls sitting on top of it. Next, he saw Professor Oak sitting in his favorite chair typing away at the computer. Ash cleared his throat, causing the processor to turn around and smile. Oak is a grandfatherly looking, 50 year old man, with white hair and a clean shave. He was wearing his signature lab coat as well.

"Well Ash, I'm glad to see you made it here even if you are a good 15 minutes late. I thought you were going to be the first one here, what happened?" the professor kindly asked.

Ash sighed. "I set my alarm for 8 instead of 7 by accident"

That would definitely do it", laughed the Professor, "Now let's get on with while you are really here. Since I'm sure my Grandson has already told you which starter he picked, the only 2 Pokémon that would normally be left are charmander and Bulbasaur. But due to certain…circumstances…I have another Pokémon you might be interested in. It is a bit rebellious and won't listen to me, but I am sure I'm just too old. I believe it needs a young, ambitious trainer to train it properly."

Ash's was getting a little fidgety now, "Gary mentioned that to me too, claimed he didn't know what it was. What is it? Some sort of exotic Pokémon, like a beldum from Hoenn, or maybe a cool, rare one like dratini?" Because despite his normal composure, something about Pokémon just got him incredibly excited.

Once again laughing at the enthusiasm of the youth, Oak replied by pressing a button. This caused the machine sitting in the middle of the room to make some noise, and out of the middle came a third pokeball with a lightning bolt on it. Grabbing it, he prepared himself for the inevitable, and hit the release mechanism on the pokeball. A white light came out of the opened ball, and small yellow rodent appeared. The rodent was sitting on the machine, looking very irritated.

Oak let out a sigh of relief 'thank god Pikachu didn't shock me' he thought, and then explained to Ash "This here is a Pikachu, a small electric rodent. A very unconventional starter, but it would make a fine partner if you can get him to listen to you, what do you say? I know you had a hard time picking from the 3 normal ones, so how about something you never even thought of before? After all, most new trainers don't think about what starter they want beforehand like you and Gary."

Ash thought about it, 'He's right, maybe I put too much thought into this. Perhaps I should try something unexpected…' and he made up his mind. After all, electric types were hard to come by. "I choose Pikachu then, even if he has an attitude, I can fix that, I mean I fixed Gary's didn't I? "stated Ash with a goofy grin.

Oak smiled at this, 'I'm glad I played my part, time to see were you will go Ash'. "Very well, here is your pokédex, pokéballs, and some basic supplies for your Pokémon; I hope you have a safe journey my boy."

"Thanks professor, I'm sure I will see you soon, after all I only need to catch 5 Pokémon before they are sent to you now don't I", said Ash, as he walked out of the door, and to the start of his Pokémon journey.

Let me know what you think, like the direction I am taking ash's character? Do I explain stuff enough? not enough? Easy to follow? Let me know, all you have to do is hit the review button below!