A/N: Hey there! If you're reading this, that means you must be interested in this story or you accidentally clicked on it. If it's the first one, then I hope I don't disappoint you! This AU story is about Ash Ketchum's journey throughout the Kanto region. Except instead of Pikachu, there's going to be Tangela. So why Tangela? Well, have you ever read a fanfic about Tangela? Of course you haven't. Oh, and there's going to be AmourShipping too, because I'm the author and I have the power to do that. But I don't want to spoil the entire story, so why don't you just start reading?
It was a starry night in Pallet Town. Everyone in the whole area was asleep, except for one young man.
This young man was named Ash Ketchum. He had brown eyes and messy black hair. He was sitting on his bed watching TV.
"Nidorino! Use Poison Sting!" A trainer yelled to his Nidorino.
"Nido!" Nidorino shot poisonous white needles at its opponent, who was a fearsome Gengar.
"Gengar, dodge the attack and use Shadow Ball!" The second trainer exclaimed.
The Gengar managed to jump high into the air and begun to form a large sphere-shaped attack.
"ASH KETCHUM!" A woman furiously yelled.
"What is it, Mom?" Ash asked. "I'm trying to watch TV. There's a battle between a Nidorino and a-"
"It's past midnight! You need to go to bed." Delia said.
"It's my tenth birthday tomorrow. You know I'm not going to be able to sleep!" Ash told his mother.
"Yes, but you don't want to oversleep and miss out on getting a Pokémon." Delia told him.
"But-" Ash said.
"I'M NOT ASKING AGAIN!" Delia yelled at the top of her lungs, scaring Mr. Mime, who was doing the dishes in the kitchen downstairs.
"OK, Mom." Ash said.
"Good night, dear." Delia said, closing the door and mumbling something under her breath.
I guess I need to decide what starter Pokémon I'll choose, Ash thought to himself. As he thought about it, he slowly fell asleep.
The next morning, Ash's alarm clock started going off.
I don't want to get up right now, Ash thought. I'm going back to sleep...
"I'm so tired…" Ash said, letting out a huge yawn and hitting the snooze button on his clock. However, the button didn't work and the alarm clock kept beeping
I guess I'll just unplug it from the wall, Ash thought. He unplugged it and went back to sleep.
About two hours later, Ash woke up again to hear a bunch of people talking outside.
"What's that noise?" Ash said, rolling out of bed and opening his window. He saw a bunch of people gathered around Professor Oak's laboratory.
"Those kids are so lucky." A man said.
"Getting a Pokémon would be really awesome." Another guy said.
"Yeah! If I got a Pokémon, I could get rid of my annoying husband." A woman replied.
What are they talking about? Ash wondered. Oh well, I guess I'll just go back to sleep…
Suddenly, he realized what everyone was talking about.
"Oh no! I overslept!" Ash yelled. He ran out of his room and towards the stairs as fast as he possibly could. Mr. Mime was busy mopping the stairs, which resulted in Ash tripping and falling down the entire flight of stairs.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Delia asked.
"I'm going to get my first Pokémon!" Ash said, getting up off the ground and running towards the door.
"You're still in your pajamas!" Delia pointed out.
"Oh yeah." Ash said, suddenly realizing that.
"Go upstairs and take a shower! And brush your teeth while you're up there! And don't forget to brush that messy hair!" Delia told him.
"Yes, Mom." Ash sighed as he walked upstairs.
As Ash put on his blue jacket on over his black shirt, he started thinking about his Pokémon journey.
Today's finally the day, Ash thought. I've been waiting ten years for this day to come!
Ash put his red hat on and ran back downstairs, ready to head outside.
"Alright, Mom! I'll see you later!" Ash said, waving to his mom and Mr. Mime.
I can't believe it. In a matter of seconds, I'm finally going to become a Pokémon trainer! Ash excitedly thought as he ran through the quiet streets of Pallet Town.
He found a small path heading to Professor Oak's laboratory.
However, yet another obstacle stood between him and the lab. There was a huge mob of people gathered around one person.
"What's going on here?" Ash asked.
"Hey, Ashy-boy. Long time no see!" Gary said, surrounded by a huge mob of followers. "I just got my first Pokémon! And look! This huge group of people came to cheer me on! Isn't that wonderful? Well, I guess you wouldn't know about that kind of stuff!"
"Hello, Gary." Ash said, trying his best to ignore Gary and walk past him.
"Where are you going, Ashy-boy?" Gary asked.
"I'm going to get my first Pokémon." Ash told him.
"Well, I apologize to whatever Pokémon ends up with you as its trainer!" Gary laughed. "Come on, everyone! There's no need to spend anymore time near this guy!"
I'll show him, Ash thought as he walked into Professor Oak's lab.
"Hello there, Ash." Professor Oak said.
"Hey there, Professor Oak!" Ash said. "I'm here to get my first Pokémon!"
"Well, Ash-" Professor Oak began.
"I've came to the decision that I will choose... Charmander!" Ash yelled with confidence.
Professor Oak shook his head.
"You see-" Professor Oak began.
"OK, then I will choose Squirtle!" Ash decided.
"Ash-" Professor Oak tried to speak, but Ash completely ignored what he was trying to say.
"And if you don't have Squirtle, I guess I'm cool with taking Bulbasaur. It's not really a big deal." Ash continued to ramble on.
"Ash, there aren't any available Pokémon for you to take." Professor Oak told him.
"Say what now?" Ash asked.
"I'm sorry, but you're too late. Three different trainers already showed up today. I'm afraid that I don't have any Pokémon left to give you." Professor Oak said.
"W- W- What?" Ash asked. "This has to be… some kind of joke… right, Professor?"
"I'm sorry, Ash, but-" Professor Oak began, before Ash once again interrupted.
"Look, Professor, there has to be some Pokémon that I can take!" Ash said.
"Ash, you are very sweet, but unfortunately-"
"Professor, there has to be some Pokémon that I can take! Please?" Ash begged, starting to cry.
"I'm sorry, Ash, but my answer is still the same-"
"Professor! Isn't there any way that I can get my hands on a Pokémon! I've been waiting my entire life for this moment!"
"Well-" Professor Oak began.
"Yeah?" Ash said.
"There is one Pokémon." Professor Oak said. "However-"
"I'll take it!" Ash exclaimed, jumping in the air.
"Well, follow me." Professor Oak said, walking with Ash into a room in the back of his laboratory. "You see, one of the subordinates at my lab found the Pokémon injured in a nearby forest. We took it to a Pokémon center and got it back into good health, but I don't believe it has a trainer."
"Well, Professor, I'm sure we'll be perfect for each other!" Ash yelled.
"Here it is." Professor Oak said, showing Ash his new Pokémon.
"Tang! Tang!" The Pokémon yelled. The Pokémon had thick, blue vines that hid his face. Only his white eyes could be seen.
"This is Tangela," Professor Oak said. "It's actually quite rare. You won't find many Tangela in the wild."
"Hey there!" Ash said, leaning down and reaching out to Tangela. However, the Tangela got scared and started shaking.
"Now, the problem is," Professor Oak stated. "Tangela is very shy around humans."
"Excuse me, Professor Oak?" A scientist asked. "Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something."
"Ash, I'll be right back." Professor Oak said. "Just wait here until I get back, got it?"
"Got it!" Ash yelled. He looked at Tangela.
"It's OK, Tangela." Ash said, reaching his hand out further. "I won't hurt you. I promise."
"Tang…" Tangela retreated as Ash got closer.
"It's OK…" Ash said, getting closer to the shivering Pokémon.
"Tang!" The Tangela yelled, unleashing a powerful Vine Whip attack on Ash's left cheek. While Ash rubbed the red spot on his cheek, the Tangela ran out of Professor Oak's lab.
"Wait! Come back!" Ash yelled, running out of Oak's lab and chasing the scared Pokémon. "Tangela!"
"Tang!" The Tangela yelled as it ran away and left Pallet Town.
"Wait up!" Ash yelled. As he continued running, he felt a raindrop on his head.
"Oh well, it's just a raindrop-" Ash began before it started thunderstorming.
"Where are you, Tangela?" Ash yelled. Unable to see anything through all of the rain and trees, Ash listened closely to see if he could hear Tangela.
"Tangel! Tang!" A faint voice came from the distance.
"There you are!" Ash continued his sprint through the desolate forest and managed to catch up to the exhausted Tangela.
"Now, Tangela, let's go home." Ash said.
"Bee! Bee!" A Beedrill showed up behind Ash. Tangela saw the Beedrill and started to panic.
"What's wrong?" Ash asked.
"Bee!" The Beedrill tried to puncture Ash with its stinger, but Tangela hit the Beedrill with Vine Whip.
"Tangela…" Ash said. "You saved me…"
"Tan!" Tangela let out a happy noise.
"Now, let's go home." Ash said. Turning around, he saw about twenty Beedrill ready to attack him.
"OH NO!" Ash yelled before the Beedrill all began to attack him.
That was the last thing Ash remembered before everything faded into black.
Ash rubbed his eyes. He saw a bright light on the ceiling.
I must be in a bed, Ash realized, as he leaned forward and looked around.
"W… Where am I?" Ash said, scratching his head.
"Oh! You're awake!" A female said. "Oh, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Nurse Joy. Are you feeling better?"
"I don't really remember what just happened…" Ash said, trying to remember how he ended up where he was. But his mind was completely blank.
"We found you and a Tangela lying in the middle of Route 1. You were really injured." Nurse Joy said. "We took you here, to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City. That was nine hours ago."
"Wow, I must've been asleep for a really long time." Ash said.
Suddenly, he remembered everything.
"Where's Tangela? Is he doing alright?" Ash asked.
"Oh, yes." Nurse Joy said. "You actually managed to shield him from most of the attacks. You're a lot more beaten up than he is."
"That's a relief." Ash said. "I actually feel pretty good. The pain's not bad at all."
"Oh, well, the worst of it hasn't started yet." Nurse Joy said, pointing to the doorway.
"What do you mean by-" Ash asked before he saw a familiar face walk through the door.
"ASH KETCHUM!" Delia yelled.
"Hey, Mom." Ash said, sighing.
"Don't give me that! What happened?" Delia said.
"It was just a minor incident." Ash told her. "But I'm perfectly fine."
"Perfectly fine? You could've been killed! I was so worried about you, Ash." Delia said, beginning to tear up.
"Mom, I'm fine. I promise-" Ash began.
"Hello there, Ash." Professor Oak said. "How are you doing? I hope you're recovering."
"Yeah." Ash said. "I'm doing just fine, Professor."
"Good! Good!" Professor Oak said. "By the way, Tangela's here to see you."
"Tang!" Tangela jumped into Ash's bed.
"He was very concerned about you." Professor Oak told Ash.
"You were?" Ash asked Tangela.
"Tan! Tan! Tan!" Tangela said, jumping off Ash's bed and happily pacing around.
"So how much longer does Ash need to stay in the Pokémon Center?" Delia asked.
"He can leave whenever he wants to-" Nurse Joy began.
"Alright!" Ash yelled, jumping out of bed. "Let's go, Tangela!"
"Tang!" Tangela yelled.
"Wait, Ash!" Delia said. "Here's your backpack. I packed everything that you'll need for your trip. There's food, drinks, a map, underw-"
"Thanks, Mom!" Ash said, grabbing his green backpack and putting it on his back.
"You know," Delia said. "You better call me every now and then. Or I'm going to be really worried, alright?"
"Of course I will, Mom." Ash said.
"Ash. I have something to give you too." Professor Oak said. "It's a Pokédex. It contains entries on all the different Pokémon that you'll find in the Kanto region."
"Thanks, Professor!" Ash told him.
"I also want you to have this." Professor Oak said, handing him a Poké Ball. You should officially catch Tangela and make him your Pokémon."
"Good idea!" Ash said. "OK, Tangela, you ready to come with me?"
"Tan! Tan!" Tangela yelled.
"Alright then! Go, Poké Ball!" Ash yelled, throwing the ball towards Tangela.
The ball wiggled once.
It wiggled a second time.
Then, it wiggled a third time and Tangela was caught.
"Awesome! I caught a Tangela!" Ash yelled, holding his Poké Ball up in the air.
"Good luck, Ash!" Delia yelled as Ash walked out into the streets of Viridian City.
"You don't need to be so worried," Professor Oak told Delia. "Ash is a strong young man. He'll be perfectly fine."
"I know." Delia said. "He's just like his father…"
"I need to figure out where my next destination should be…" Ash said, looking at his map. While he was searching for Viridian City on the map, he heard the voice of someone he didn't feel like dealing with.
"And that's how I got my third car," Gary Oak said, bragging to a bunch of girls. "Look at that! We're finally in Viridian City! I bet that loser Ashy-boy Ketchum hasn't even made it past the-"
"What's going on, Gary?" Ash asked, smiling.
"Ash? H- How did you make it to Viridian City already?" Gary asked, trying to hide his increasing frustration.
"I guess you're just really slow, Gary." Ash said, grinning. Gary was extremely angry.
"You're the one who's slow." Gary smirked. "I mean, at least I have an umbrella."
"What are you talking about?" Ash asked. "It's perfectly sunny outside-"
All of a sudden, it started to thunderstorm again.
"See you later, Ashy-boy!" Gary and all of the girls that were following him obnoxiously laughed.
"That guy is so irritating…" Ash said, finding a bench where he could sit down. "Man, this rain is really pouring down hard…"
Wow, Ash thought. So much has happened to me today. And now I finally get to begin my Pokémon journey! I'm going to be the best trainer that ever existed!
"Excuse me?" A girl asked.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Ash asked, turning towards her.
"B- By any chance, are you Ash Ketchum?" The girl asked. She had long blonde hair, a pink hat, black shoes, a black shirt and a red skirt.
"Yeah. Who are you?" Ash asked.
"Oh… I guess you don't remember me! My name is Serena!" The girl smiled.
A/N: And that concludes the first chapter! I would absolutely love it if you reviewed this story. I'll try to answer any questions that you have in the next chapter. Until then, adios! :)