Journey of Dreams

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is owned by the Pokemon Company. The only thing I own is this story.

UPDATE: Edits on 3/9/2020

A/N: Hey everyone CyberGuardian7 here! This is actually my first story, but I already have great ideas in mind for it and I would love to see how this ends up taking off. Reviews will be appreciated and constructive criticism will be considered as I know my writing could probably use work, but I'll leave that for the readers to decide.

Please note that important updates for any story I write (such as if they will be on hold, for example) will be in my profile, not in the story itself. Here are a few other assumptions for this story:

1) Ash will still have Pikachu, but it will not be his official starter, but rather his third Pokemon.

2) The starter may be surprising, but I will explain why I chose the starter as I did after the Prologue. Ash's attitude and preferences will be slightly different from the anime, but will maintain the aspects of him that I believe are important. This will mainly be noticed in serious situations (this story assumes Ash is smart).

3) I don't really like Kanto much and it is his home region, so I intend for this region to be last in this story (if I can get around to it), but he will make a small trip through it to obtain several key Kanto Pokemon that were important in the anime. The first pass through Kanto will likely be just 1 or 2 chapters, but I'll make it work. The journey officially starts in Johto.

4) I hate Misty as she seems to be excessively violent and angry in the anime and is just plain annoying, so she will not travel with Ash (her sisters always seem to be goofing off anyway, so somebody has to watch the gym). If you are looking for an AshxMisty pairing, you will need to look elsewhere.

As for Brock….I will have him tag along with Ash, since he is like the big brother to look up to for Ash, and he can learn a lot for him. Not sure if I will have him fall head over heels for any girl he sees though (I'll have to work that out with Misty gone).

5) Two points here: 1) Team Rocket will be in this story and 2) The movies, except for one in particular as it plays an important role in the next story, will be skipped but the top of a chapter will mention if the events of a movie have passed and flashbacks in the movies may be given to further the plot. The story will still have legendary Pokemon appearing outside the movie events as well.

Lastly, Pokemon words are in italics, thoughts are in bold (including telepathy if applicable), and regular talking is in plain text. The current year in the Pokemon world is the year 2000. The start and end points of Flashbacks will have parenthesis around them. This story will be in 3rd Person/General POV for the most part (not Ash's POV) as I think the General POV will be better for this story, but change in POV (this will likely be rare) from the General POV will be mentioned if needed.

CyberGuardian7 (CG): That's all for now, so with that said, let's get on with it!

Starter: About time 'Author', you are going to bore the readers to death!

CG: Hey! I'm just explaining things so they make sense, and to think that I made you the start—

Starter: Whatever, now quiet so we can get on with the story, or do I need to 'convince' you to keep quiet?

CG:….fine

(Present - June 2000)

It was a cool and early morning in Pallet town. The sun has just appeared over the horizon, and the world was preparing to wake from its slumber. The weather outside was about 40° and partly cloudy. The sky was painted a beautiful mix of orange and blue and the wind was blowing ever so gently. Most people would love to experience a morning like this, but some would prefer their sleep.

Ash Ketchum, a 10-year old kid, was no exception to the latter. He was sleeping like a rock, one foot hanging off the bed, snoring. Yes, he was in a deep sleep. As for his best friend however…

BAM!

"Gah! Alright I'm up I'm up!" Ash was holding his throbbing head waiting for the pain to subside and wondering why he didn't set an alarm clock. He sighed, this was a normal occurrence for the last 3 years, and he supposed he should've expected it as he would oversleep from time to time and his closest friend would wake him up via a headbutt to the head. Ignoring his friend in favor of sleep wouldn't work either as he would just continue headbutting him. His friend wasn't exactly human, which would explain why it hurt a lot.

He looked at his closest friend who just looked at him with a grin as he was running to the door to get the day started only to accidentally trip, get back up faster than the eye could see, and continue downstairs. Ash couldn't help but give a light chuckle at his friend's random bursts of energy. One moment his friend would be serious and calm, others he looked ready to have fun or train a bit. He smiled as he remembered the day he met his friend.

(Flashback – 5 years ago)

A man was getting ready to walk out the door when he stopped and turned, "Son, I am going to leave for a while. It may be some time before I return, but I will see you both again as soon as I get a chance. Before I do so, I want to give you a gift."

Ash's eyes widened, "Really?" His father chuckled, "Of course, you didn't think I forgot your birthday did you? Here take this."

His eyes widened further when he saw what it was, "No way, a Pokeball!? You got me a Pokemon!?" His father nodded, "Yes, but you are still a bit young, so your mother will help teach you how to interact and care for a Pokemon, but it will be your responsibility to take care of it, alright?"

He nodded solemnly in reply, understanding just how important this was, but he was ecstatic as he was excited to make a new friend. His father chuckled, seeing the energy in his son's demeanor, "Go on and open it. Meet your new partner."

Ash grinned and opened the Pokeball and the Pokemon was slowly revealed. It appeared to stand on two legs, and was about 2 feet tall. The Pokemon was light blue in color and it had a silver colored head, and cried out.

Ash's eyes were full of excitement, "Whoa, what Pokemon is that?"

His father replied, "That, my son is a Bagon. It is a very young dragon type, and while it may not be very strong now, it can grow to be quite powerful if trained correctly. You said you wanted to be a Pokemon Master, and this could be a great way for you to test your convictions to their limit. Dragon Pokemon are among the hardest to raise, but among the strongest to exist. Bagon is the son of my first Pokemon, so I thought it would be fitting for you."

His father continued, "Before you can train a Dragon Pokemon however, you will need to start developing a close friendship with them first. While you wait to start your journey, why don't you work on becoming friends with Bagon? If you can develop a close friendship with all of your future Pokemon, especially with Bagon, then I have no doubt you will be a Pokemon Master."

Ash nodded and said, "I'll do it! I'll make you proud dad, and one day I will get good enough for us to battle too I promise". Ash's father just smiled warmly and said, "I know son, and I'm looking forward to it. Take care, and I'll check up on you two and your mother soon. I love you son." With that, he started on his path down the road into Viridian forest to get to the port in Vermilion City.

After a few moments, Ash and Bagon looked at each other and Ash said, "It is awesome to meet you Bagon! I'm Ash and my dream is to become a Pokemon Master. Do you have a dream as well?"

Bagon nodded and pointed to some nearby Pidgey that were flying around and looked at the sky with a longing desire to fly. Bagon always wanted to fly, and was dismayed that he was still bound to the ground. He learned not too long ago that if he became a Salamence he would actually be able to do that. He also wanted to become strong.

Ash followed his eyes to see Bagon staring at the Pidgey and thought for a moment. He then broke out into a smile, "You want to be able to fly and become strong huh?" Bagon looked a bit surprised, but simply nodded.

Ash replied, "How about we help each other to achieve our dreams? If we work together, not only can we achieve our dreams, but we will have each other and many more friends as we do so. It may take quite a while, but I know we can do it. So how about it Bagon, does that sound good?"

He decided to wait a moment while Bagon processed this. Bagon then smiled greatly and nodded, followed by a bit of cheering for making a new friend that not only will be able to help him with his dream, but because he felt that this would be the start of a great friendship. Ash just laughed all while thinking the same thing as his new friend.

(End Flashback)

"We've worked hard" Ash thought with a serious face while lying on his bed with his hands behind his head, "but I need to keep going. There is a still a lot for me to learn."

It was true; he remembered how many hours he put into studying everything he could about Pokemon in the past 5 years. He studied Pokemon habitats, moves, types, abilities, preferred food, he even learned about various legendary Pokemon. He figured that despite his studying though, there was still a great deal he could learn.

He rubbed the back of his head subconsciously and winced, remembering all of the previous headbutts, courtesy of his best friend and starter, "of course, it wasn't exactly painless, but since when was working toward a dream ever easy?"

Then he smiled and thought, "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun while I'm at it." He just remembered that today was also the day he was going to start his journey as well. He looked at the clock which read 7:45am. His mind started racing as he remembered that he was supposed to be at Professor Oak's lab at 7am to get his starter.

That did not concern him greatly as he already had a starter, but he still needed to see the Professor before starting his journey. He frowned when he realized that Gary, his childhood friend now-turned rival, was already almost an hour ahead of him!

He jumped out of bed and ran downstairs following his closest friend. He found Bagon and his mother both eating their breakfast and suddenly his stomach growled which caught the attention of his mom and friend, causing him to smile sheepishly and nervously laugh.

They both just shook their heads and chuckled, while simultaneously thinking, "Some things will never change." Ash sat down and started scarfing down his breakfast like a starved Snorlax.

Once he and Bagon finished their breakfast he asked, "Mom, can I have Bagon's Pokeball now? I needed to start my journey almost an hour ago and I'm late to see Professor Oak!"

His mother just responded, "Yes Ash, you may have Bagon's Pokeball." She had kept custody of it as anyone under the age of 10 was not permitted to use a Pokeball. She handed it over to him.

"Just don't forget to call and check in from time to time. Your backpack is next to the door and don't forget to change your un—" Ash started turning a bit red, "Mom, I'll remember. I'm not 5 anymore you know."

His mom just giggled and said, "All right go ahead honey, enjoy your journey." Ash smiled, returned Bagon to his pokeball, and ran out the door while yelling back, "Will do mom, thanks!"

Ash was running as fast as he could to the professor's lab while silently hoping that he was not too late to officially start his journey. He had to get to the professor's lab before the deadline today, or else he would have to wait another year to start his journey.

As he was running, his thoughts turned back to some of his studies, particularly the various regions he could visit. He learned that Bagon was a Pokemon mostly found in the Hoenn region and that his final evolution form, Salamence, was able to fly and he had every intention to help his friend do that.

He also thought that since Gary had such a head start on him, that it would be very difficult to keep up and that he would likely get mocked by him because of it. He hated losing to Gary, but he loved to surprise and beat him. Gary didn't know that he had Bagon this whole time as he wanted to surprise him when they battled at the Pokemon League.

He made up his mind; his journey would officially start in another region, but he wanted to glimpse part of his own region and possibly make a few friends before departing for the unknown, well, unknown to him anyway.

He finally arrived at Professor Oak's lab and knocked on the door rapidly. The door suddenly opened and in front of him was a man, probably in his 50s or 60s, wearing a lab coat and a grin on his face. "So Ash, finally decided to wake up eh?"

Ash blushed at this and said, "Sorry professor, I forgot to set my alarm, so I was woken up with an even less pleasant alternative."

Professor Oak just laughed at that, "It's quite alright my boy, it sounds like Bagon is doing well." Ash was shocked, he never told Professor Oak about Bagon, or at least he hadn't planned to until today.

He replied, "How did you know about Bagon?" The professor chuckled and said, "Your father mentioned it when he dropped by as he was leaving town, right before he gave it to you. Since you were only 5 at the time, he was required to tell the region's professor to gain approval to do so for safety reasons. After I heard about your love for Pokemon and that your mother was to be helping you and holding onto Bagon's Pokeball, I approved as I believed you could handle it. It seems that I was right."

Ash was touched that the professor had that much faith in him and responded, "Yeah, Bagon and I have become the closest of friends." Professor Oak nodded and said, "Excellent! Well come on in, let's get you ready for your journey."

Ash breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed he was not too late after all. They walked in to the main room in the lab and in the middle, there was a machine that had three Pokeballs, all set in a triangle formation and there was a hidden slot in the middle for a Pokeball as well.

Ash thought for a moment and said, "Since I was the last to arrive, I'm guessing that all of the starters are gone right?"

The professor nodded. "Yes, the starters have left with their respective trainers, but there is one Pokemon left that has been a bit…challenging as it has a lot of energy, and I can't really keep it here as it needs to get out and see the world."

Ash considered this and said, "Professor, if you'd like, I'll take it with me. I was able to handle a young dragon for 5 years, so I'm sure I can handle it."

Professor Oak really couldn't argue with that logic and so he grabbed the Pokeball containing the energetic Pokemon from the hidden compartment in the machine holding the Pokeballs. He turned to Ash and handed him the Pokeball saying, "I don't see a problem with that. Just promise me that you will take good care of it."

He promised he would take care of it and opened the Pokeball and the Pokemon slowly materialized. When it fully appeared it turned its head sideways and said….

A/N: Cliffhanger already I know, but it should be worth it when the next chapter is posted. I'm not too happy with the writing though, so I might revise how I word things (not the plot) later and update it, I'm not sure just yet. The only exception is if there is a problem serious enough that merits a timely change. Next Chapter: the start of Kanto and the reveal of Ash's second Pokemon.

Salamence: You just had to make the prologue take forever didn't you?

CG: Okay, so it was long, but this is all intro material anyway, and you aren't exactly a common starter, so I had to provide a bit of background. For the readers out there, A Bagon takes forever to train, but it becomes such a monster when it becomes a Salamence.

Salamence: That's right, and don't you forget it either.

CG: Sigh…why did I agree to watch you while Ash was away on his honeymoon again?

Salamence: Because I'm your favorite Pokemon, because I'm awesome, and finally because you are telling our story to keep us entertained.

CG:….Right. *grumbles* Stupid dragons and their pride.

*A flamethrower suddenly shot towards me and barbecued the chair I was on as I dived away from the flames*

CG: What the heck man!? What was that for? Now I gotta go buy a new chair!

Salamence: I heard your thoughts, so let's be clear, I am nothing short of awesome and if you actually do a good job on this story, perhaps I'll be nicer and we can be friends, got it?

CG: Sigh…fine, I suppose I'll head to the store to get a new writing chair and get back to work.

Salamence: *smirk* Now you're getting the idea. I'll take my leave for now.

CG: *Shakes his head in frustration* Wait….How did he read my thoughts?...SALAMENCE!

…Until next time everyone,

-CyberGuardian7