The Flight to Destiny

I had been thinking about writing this story and its finally here. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Ash took a deep, long puff of air inside as he eyed the door of a white-colored one-storey building. He was nervous no doubt. This was the day; the day he would be getting his trainer license to travel around the world and catch Pokemon. And along with that, he would also receive his first Pokemon – his starter.

The thirteen year old boy had already decided on the Pokemon he would choose of the three that would be available to him. The Pokemon that he would pick over Bulbasaur, the Grass-type starter of Kanto and Squirtle, the Water-type starter would be Charmander.

He'd always dreamed of owning a Charizard and he knew that if he raised the Charmander that he would be getting right, that dream could soon become reality. His choice was made long before this day. From his childhood, he'd always been fond of seeing a Charizard on television and the raw power and speed that those massive dragons displayed was something he awed each time he got a look at it.

After what had seemed like eternity standing before the door to Professor Oak's lab, the boy dressed in red jacket with blue trim, red collar and sleeves, a full-sleeved blue t-shirt inside the jacket, blue jeans with white sneaker and black fingerless gloves rang the bell. Soon, the face of a woman in her twenties who wore a white lab coat over her clothes, greeted him through the door.

"You must be one of the new trainers!" The woman said with a bright smile. "Come in. The Professor is inside." She showed Ash the way and the boy strode inside the lab.

There were many machines in the hall that Ash passed through but he wasn't completely unfamiliar with them. He'd been to the Professor's lab a lot of times to not be aware of what the basic function of most of them were.

The woman led him to a hall inside of which, a white-haired old man with a lab coat on, could be seen. "There's the Professor." She smiled. "Best of luck!"

"Thanks!" Ash flashed a smile back to the lady, who walked in another direction. after she'd showed him to the Professor. He stepped inside the hall where he saw Professor Oak staring deeply at a Pokeball on the table in front of him. "Hey Professor," Ash called to the Researcher. "Good morning!"

The Professor shifted his eyes to Ash and instantly, a grin replaced the serious expression he held a moment ago. "Good morning, Ash." He put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. "Are you ready to get your first Pokemon?"

The concerned boy gave a nod. "You bet I am!" he grinned. He was quite thrilled to begin his Pokemon journey and who wouldn't be? It was the most anticipated day in the life of a boy or girl who wanted to become a Pokemon trainer.

"You definitely are!"

A voice that approached from behind the Professor commented. Ash's hair stood on end when he realized who the voice belonged to. The man who smirked from behind the Professor was a man of the highest stature in the Pokemon world. He wore a medieval-looking navy blue tunic with red-orange trim and a brown belt around his waist.

"Lance…" Ash mumbled in disbelief as his shoulders stiffened. He never expected the Champion of Kanto and Johto to be here in the Professor's lab on the day he started his Pokemon journey.

Ash had known Lance; he'd known the Champion for a few years now. He recalled just how amazing he felt when he'd talked to Lance for the first time. His nerves almost got the better of him at that point and it had taken him a while to comprehend that he was actually meeting with one of his idols at the time.

"It's been a while, Ash." The man with red-hair said, snapping Ash out of his train of old thoughts. However, his eyes suddenly widened. He realized something at that moment. "Your timing couldn't be better."

Ash shook his head and snapped himself out of his stupor. "Timing for what?"

"The Professor told me that you were going to choose a Charmander." Lance moved his body to the side and placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. When he received a nod of affirmation from the black-haired boy, he shut his eyes. "I am sorry Ash, but I was supposed to provide the Charmander to Professor Oak today but sadly.."

At what Lance was apparently pointing at, Ash's mouth opened up agape. His eyes were on the stalks, his heart beating harder than ever before. There was silence around for the next few moments before he eventually gathered the courage to ask if what he thought was true. If it was, he was going to flip.

"Do you…" he faltered, his body beginning to tremble. "Do you mean that there's no Charmander for me?" Ash's eyes were glued at Lance for a reply, his hands thrown wide. His insides screamed for the Champion to deny his claims.

However, that didn't happen. Lance shook his head, all the while his gaze was fixated at the floor. Ash couldn't believe it. His day had been spoiled. His Charmander, the one which he planned to conquer the world with was not here. His eyed were red due to the adrenaline that had pumped throughout his body because of Lance dropping an unwanted bombshell on him.

Eventually, Ash calmed himself down. His breathing had normalized; his racing heart pulling back speed. Although this wasn't because he'd come to terms with what had happened. He was utterly disappointed. Even that would be putting it lightly.

As Lance placed a comforting hand on Ash's shoulder, the Champion's expression changed. The look that his face held right then was one which he wore during intense battles. He picked up the Pokeball that Professor Oak had been looking at a minute ago and stepped forward. "I am sorry, Ash," he spoke in a low voice, his own disappointment in apparently failing to bring in Ash's Charmander audible in his tone. "I couldn't get you a Charmander but I have another Pokemon that you might like."

Ash didn't respond in any visible way. He didn't nod, didn't move his body in the least. He considered Bulbasaur and Squirtle to be amazing Pokemon as well. But the Pokemon he wanted was a Charmander – the Pokemon which would turn into a terrifying dragon. Nothing but a Charmander would do for him.

Lance narrowed his eyes when he didn't receive an answer from Ash. "It's a Pokemon that is just as good as a Charmander." But his words brought the boy no relief. Eventually, Ash picked up his shoulders and faced Lance, although his eyes still remained empty. "The Pokemon that I have here is a Dratini."

At the mention of the name of the Dratini, Ash's eyes almost bogged out in astonishment. "A Dratini!" he hollered. His heartbeat rose once again. Instead of a Charmander, the young man had the choice of getting a Dratini. He couldn't believe if he heard it right but a couple of nods from the now grinning Lance confirmed for him that it was no mistake.

A Dratini wasn't a Charmander but a Dragonite was just as awesome as a Charizard. Dragonite was considered to be almost Legendary and Ash wouldn't have dreamed that he could own one. If owning an intimidating Charizard was his wish, owning a majestic Dragonite was something he'd never even thought about in his wildest dreams.

"I want the Dratini!" Ash declared, excitement in his voice. His spirits flew higher than ever before as he awaited with glittering eyes to see what Lance would say.

"Then that's what you'll get." Lance replied and raised the Pokeball in his hand. The red light from the Pokeball shone through, and on the table materialized a blue serpentine Pokemon with a white underside. It had three-pronged fins on either side of its head and white bump on its forehead.

"That really is a Dratini!" Ash exclaimed. He couldn't move his gaze off the amazing Dragon-type that opened its eyes sharply.

"Yes, that's now your Dratini," Lance chuckled as he saw the look on Ash's face. However, his expression changed soon enough. "But that Dratini is somewhat different to a normal one." He warned with a stern gaze.

"Different?" Ash raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"As you probably know, Dratini are generally very calm Pokemon." The Dragon Master said. "But this Dratini is very aggressive."

Just as Lance finished his explanation about the strange Dratini, the Dragon-type launched a greenish-blue breath of draconian energy from its mouth. The Dragon Breath fired by Dratini whizzed past Ash and struck one of the machines in the room. To say that it was utterly destroyed would be an understatement. In that one instant when the attack met with the round machine, it had made a large, gaping hole inside. One could now see the wall through the electronic machine that was in contact with the wall.

"Hey!" Professor Oak, who'd just been listening to the conversation between Ash and Lance, roared. "What are you doing letting it out in my lab like this, Lance?!" His eyelids were raised and his mouth open due to the raging anger. One of his all important machines was just destroyed.

Lance sighed as he again witnessed what this Dratini could do. He tapped the little Dratini on its head with the Pokeball. "You see Ash," he turned back to Ash and offered him the Pokeball. "This is the kind of trouble this Dratini can cause. Do you still want it?"

This question was something that had even the Professor turn his attention to Ash. Both, Lance and Oak were curious if he would be willing to train a Pokemon who could cause so much trouble early in his journey. Any new trainer could be scared of having a Pokemon as dangerous as that. A Pokemon which went off on its own wouldn't be the easiest to handle.

Ash stated at the machine that had been demolished by Dratini with wide open eyes. Smoke still rose from it, just showing that the dragon Pokemon hadn't held back. Contrary to what a normal boy would do, he smirked. "That's one heck of a Pokemon. I definitely want it."

Instead of being afraid of what the Dratini could do to him, the amber-eyed trainer was simply excited. The thought of having a Dratini could already do so much made his body tremble with enthrallment. A Dragonite, he remarked in his head. That was the Pokemon he wanted now.

Lance handed the Pokeball that held Dratini to Ash. "I am looking forward to what you can do with this Dratini."

Ash grasped the Pokeball of his starter tightly. "I will do my best." He grinned. "Thanks!" he then turned to the Professor and spoke. "My Pokedex, Professor?" He was getting impatient to begin his journey now. He couldn't wait to get on the road, catching and training more Pokemon on the way.

The Professor sighed after glancing at the machine that could no longer be used and nodded. He opened a drawer and removed a flat, red-colored device and several red and white balls and walked offered them to Ash. "Here's your Pokedex. Not only will it provide you with information on the Pokemon you face, but it will also give you detailed information about the Pokemon you've captured like the moves they know and what their ability is. It also acts as your trainer identification." He explained as Ash took the Pokedex and examined it for a second. As the new trainer nodded, Oak continued. "And these are some Pokeballs."

Without another thought, Ash grabbed the shrunken Pokeballs from Professor Oak's hand after he'd kept his Pokedex in his pocket. "Thanks for these!" He gripped the belt of his backpack before turning to Lance. "I won't disappoint you, Lance. I will train Dratini well."

"I am sure you will." Lance winked at the young boy, who'd turned around. "I believe in you, Ash!"

With a smirk, Ash waved to the Champion and then to the Professor before walking off the room and towards the exit of Professor Oak's lab. The strides he took were confident. They were of someone who had absolute faith in himself.

As Ash strode out through the door, Professor Oak put his hands on his hips. "Why did you do that?" he asked, glare so sharp that it could pierce almost anything in its path.

"I brought that Dratini here so that you could keep it alone in your huge ranch somewhere." Lance began, still staring at the path Ash had left from. "But in Ash, I am sure it will be in even better care."

"Couldn't you just let him get the Charmander he wanted and then give him Dratini?" Oak asked as he raised an eyebrow. "And from when did you begin providing me with starter Pokemon?"

"Come on, Professor," Lance let a ghost of a smile play on his face. "You know that I would never just gift a Pokemon to a starting trainer after he has already gotten one to start off with." He chuckled. "I just made some stuff up. Aren't you interested to see how Ash trains that Dratini?"

"If you put it that way…"

The breeze of Pallet Town gently caressed Ash's face as he stood on the edge of Town. He stared at the board which pointed forward and read Route 1. The path that Ash was about to take a road that connected Pallet Town to the closest major city of Viridian. Route 1 had some wild Pokemon that could be caught easily even by new trainers. He could catch a Pokemon and fight with his very own Dratini. He was exuberant.

The beginning trainer wanted to see his mother and hug her for one last time before he left. But he knew he had to control himself. He'd already said his farewell to his mother and he wasn't about to go back to his house just yet, no matter how much he wanted to. The next time he would see his mother was only after he'd become a trainer that she could be proud of.

Ash gazed at his hometown one last time before he took his first steps on Route 1 with his Dratini. The town of Pallet that had a population of just about a thousand and that was what made it so peaceful and calming. The morning walks, the evening strolls, the picnics that he so often went for just outside the town; those were things Ash was going to miss. He'd already met the friends he knew across town the day before and quite those were people whom he had spent a lot of his childhood with. He would definitely be missing some of those.

And just like that, Ash Ketchum had begun his journey to be the best with his Pokemon. He'd begun his journey to fulfill his lifelong dream. He'd begun his journey to become a Pokemon Master.

And we're done with the first chapter. I know it's a little short but I wanted a short intro before I begin the main journey. The next chapters will be quite longer than this one.

Also, many of the things like how and when Ash met Lance will be explained in the future chapters. As I said, this was just an intro.

If you have any suggestions, any ideas, please let me know about them in the reviews. Also tell me if you liked the chapter or not.